thursday 5th december 2019

Moody’s Changes Nigeria’s Ratings from Stable to Negative Affirms 'B2' ranking Says Nigerian banks’ reducing NPLs lowers capital erosion risk Obinna Chima Moody's Investors Service, one of the global credit rating agencies, yesterday changed its outlook on Nigeria's ratings to negative from stable.

Concurrently, Moody's affirmed its B2 long-term local and foreign currency issuer ratings, the B2 foreign currency senior unsecured ratings, and the (P)B2 foreign currency senior unsecured

MTN programme rating on the country.

According to the rating agency, the negative outlook reflected Moody's view of increasing risks to the government's fiscal strength

and external position.

It explained: "Already weak government finances will likely weaken further given an extremely narrow revenue base and persistently sluggish growth that hinders

fiscal consolidation.

"As pressures mount, there is a risk that the government resorts to increasingly opaque and costly options to finance a moderate but rising debt burden.

"Moreover, vulnerability to an adverse change in capital flows is building in light of Nigeria's increasing reliance on foreign investors to fund Continued on page 8

Senate Increases 2020 Budget by N450bn, Passes Bill Today... Page 6 Thursday 5 December, 2019 Vol 24. No 9005. Price: N250

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Court Saves 21 States Billions, Orders AGF to Recover Pension from Ex-Govs Akpabio, Amaechi, Shettima, Goje, 10 others affected Fashola, Sylva, Aregbesola yet to draw benefits Yemi Ajayi in Lagos and Alex Enumah in Abuja For 21 states with pension laws stipulating post-office benefits running into billions of naira for their former governors and deputies, it was a sigh of relief yesterday as the Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos ordered the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister

of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, to recover all funds paid as pension to erstwhile state chief executives, who are also serving in the National Assembly or as ministers.

The court, presided over by Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo, while delivering judgment in a suit filed by the Socio-Economic Continued on page 8

Edo Crisis Worsens as Assembly Declares 12 Seats Vacant Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

The crisis in Edo State House of Assembly worsened yesterday as the seats of 12 members-elect, who have failed to present themselves for inauguration, as well as two others, who didn't meet mandatory sitting requirement to continue as members of the House, were declared vacant.

Speaking with journalists, Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon. Yekini Idiaye,

representing Akoko Edo State Constituency I, said the resolution was reached at a plenary of the Assembly yesterday.

The Assembly has been in crisis as a result of a dispute between Governor Godwin Obaseki and the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, over the control of the party in the state.

Continued on page 8

FOR A SECURED NATION...

L-R: President Muhammadu Buhari; Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege; and Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, during the launch of National Security Roadmap by the president in Abuja… yesterday godwin omoigui

Soyinka: Disobedience to Court Order is Thuggery... Page 5

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

Soyinka: Disobedience to Court Order is Thuggery Rates Buhari govt as leading culprit in disregarding judiciary Yemi Ajayi Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has excoriated the Buhari administration for its serial disobedience to court orders, which he likened to thuggery.

Soyinka, in a statement obtained by THISDAY yesterday, also lampooned the Department of State Services (DSS) for its continued refusal to release rights activist and Coordinator of #RevolutionNow, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, despite being granted bail by the Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja.

He dismissed as "childish pretext" the excuses DSS had been proffering to keep Sowore in detention.

The laureate said he could not keep quiet and watch the degradation of the judiciary in which he had formative interest in its health as he was once saved from being sent to life imprisonment by a judge, who "refused to bow to external pressure in adjudicating a case whose conclusion, had this accused been found guilty as charged, would have been life imprisonment."

He was referring to the late Justice Kayode Eso, who in the 60s presided over his trial when in 1965, he was accused of seizing the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service studio at a gunpoint and broadcast a demand for the cancellation of the Western Nigeria Regional elections.

Soyinka, in the statement titled, "Between Thuggery and State Disobedience," chronicled the disregard for the judiciary by successive governments and rated the Buhari administration as one of the leading culprits.

He said: "It would be most surprising if my own brush

with the law has not crossed my mind since the predicament of Omoyele Sowore, journalist and former presidential candidate began. The Nigerian judiciary was not thereby, nor is today a model of perfection. Nonetheless, exemplars such as Justice Eso have succeeded in creating, in some of us, an exceptional respect for the Bench, instilled a conviction that the law, despite its lapses, demands respect, autonomy and obedience. “Much of the judiciary across the continent remains constantly under siege - Nigeria is no exception. Needless to say, it often strikes me that the “learned brotherhood� could do more to protect, and assert itself."

According to him, it is surprising that the judiciary, however, has failed to rise up to defend itself from attacks from those he described as "Scofflaws."

The Nobel Laureate said:"Apart from the obvious and numerous scandals of moral deficit that require constant internal purgation, there are instances where it (judiciary) does fail to protect itself even from putative and/or illegal power.

"Take the assassination of the Minister of Justice and AttorneyGeneral, Bola Ige, on his way to a UN appointment. The presiding judge on that case cried out against unseemly interference from ‘least expected quarters.’ He kept a diary of coded names and times, two pages of which came into my possession. His cries petered out in void. Justice Abass, feeling vulnerable and isolated, bowed out of the case.

The judiciary lamely acquiesced, certainly with a huge sigh of relief in some sectors. A robust opportunity lost to burnish the image of the law."

He also accused the judiciary

Court Okays Magu’s Continued Stay as EFCC Acting Chair Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, yesterday dismissed the suits challenging the stay of Mr. Ibrahim Magu as Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The suits were contesting the legality of Magu’s position as EFCC acting chairman after the refusal of the Eighth Senate to confirm his nomination.

But in her judgment, Justice Ojukwu dismissed the suits, saying: “This case cannot be entertained as it has failed and accordingly dismissed.�

She held that the EFCC Act, especially Section 2(3) did not restrict the powers of the president to retain Magu as acting chairman of

the commission.

Sounding poetic, the trial judge noted that the lacuna in the law literally handed President Muhammadu Buhari, the “proverbial yam and the knife to do as he pleases, being that there is no specific time stipulated for acting capacity.�

Justice Ojukwu stated that Order 1(2)1 of the Senate Rule applies only to ministerial appointees and cannot be enforced on the position of the acting chairman of the EFCC. Additionally, the judge noted that despite the fact that the plaintiff is a legal practitioner and a Nigerian, he lacked the locus standi to challenge Magu’s stay in office as the acting chairman of EFCC.

of doing nothing to defend itself when a former Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, as governor-elect, slapped a judge and allegedly ordered thugs to beat up the jurist.

He said: "I waited to see what would be the response of the judiciary. There came none.

Naively, I thought, surely, this institution will rise and defend its very existence through some form of action, even if merely symbolic. Not a squeak. Not even after that governor left office and thereby lost his immunity. “What to me appeared to be the collapse, not just of a pillar, but of the edifice of human culture, appeared to

be no more than a blip on the judicial template.

"There are of course more effective ways of degrading a judiciary than merely brutalizing a judge, and leaving his judicial robes in tatters. One of the most effective, increasingly optimized in Nigeria, is simply by not only ignoring, but treating its orders with disdain, encouraging its agencies to trot out cynical excuses for disobedience while laughing all the way to the citadel of power.

"In that regard, there does appear to be an undeclared contest among succeeding governments, intensified since the return of the nation to civilian government in 1999

for placement in the Guinness Book of Records as the most notorious Scofflaw in the field of democratic pretensions. Or could it be an anticipation of a proposal I made at the Athens Democracy Forum some months ago, calling for an annual award – such as an Order of Demerit - for such an achiever?

"Perhaps we have finally attained maximum saturation, and there is no need for any further record keeping. It is extremely difficult to imagine a further lowering of the bar of disdain for law than we have witnessed under the present regime. The degree of cynicism in the conduct of State Security agencies has attained

a level of consistency that is surpassed by only one other previous government – but it is a close call."

Soyinka attacked the DSS for failing to release Sowore, saying: "Not only does a security agency refuse to obey a court order to release a suspect after fulfilling his bail conditions, that agency manufactures one childish pretext after another, including a claim that no one has shown up to receive the detainee.

"The nation continues to undergo the chagrin of having the rug pulled from under her feet while waiting on the long queue for judicial redress against the strong-arm culture of state, as well as unlisted power interests."

CELEBRATING THE CENTENARY...

Former Anambra State governor, Mr. Peter Obi (left), and former Minister of External Aairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, after the delivery of the Centenary Anniversary Lecture of the Diocese of Lagos Anglican Communion at All Soul Church, Lekki, Lagos‌ yesterday

PDP to APC: Your Coup against Democracy Can’t Stand Says ruling party’s one-party state plots will fail Chuks Okocha in Abuja The war of words between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) continued yesterday with the opposition party accusing the ruling party of plotting a coup against democracy in Nigeria.

The PDP said it would not allow the coup to stand, in spite of the alleged orchestration of violence, killings and seizure of electoral processes by the APC. It added that no amount of blackmail, innuendos, threats and direct attacks by the APC would make it to drop its demands for electoral reforms that would return the country to the democratic practice that engenders respect for the rights of the citizens for free, fair, clean, clear and credible elections.

The party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, accused APC of waging a blackmail war

against the PDP as part of its diversionary tactics to enable it to sustain its coup against democracy through the “use of state apparatus of power and paid hoodlums to unleash brute force, arbitrary arrests, bloodletting and killings to terrorise and suppress Nigerians, snatch their franchise and continue to seize power with impunity."

It recalled how the APC allegedly used firearm to seize power in Ekiti State in 2018; unleashed cudgels in the March 2019 governorship election in Kano and allegedly unleashed violence on the people in the November 2019 governorship and senatorial elections in Bayelsa and Kogi States.

It also accused APC of annexing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), altering election results, violating constitutional provisions and threatening institutions of democracy such as political

parties, the judiciary and civil society groups.

According to PDP, "Such impunity, violations and political brigandage are not part of the tenets of democracy and Nigerians, who have become disillusioned, have continued to express their disenchantment for such bloodstained political process."

PDP said the silence of the police hierarchy to the use of police helicopter to attack voters in Kogi State as well as the failure to parade those said to have been arrested for the burning of a PDP Women Leader, Mrs. Salome Abuh, only pointed to suspicions of conspiracy at very high places.

PDP said the APC’s ultimate design was to use violence, intimidation, attacks, blackmail and threats against the PDP to frighten Nigerians and scare them from participating in the electoral processes so it could foist a one-party state on the

people.

It also accused the APC of being averse to electoral reform so it could achieve its alleged sinister agenda of a one-party "despotic regime."

However, the main opposition party warned the APC that such alleged plots against the people would not stand because Nigerians would never accept a one-party system with its attendant despotic proclivities.

The APC, it said, should, therefore, perish the dream of imposing a one-party state as well as its distortions that the PDP would not participate in the Edo and Ondo governorship elections.

"Such ignoble script cannot succeed as the PDP remains the corner stone of Nigerians’ participation in the democratic order; hence our unshaken resolve to stand with the people on the insistence for electoral reforms in our country," PDP said.

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Senate Increases 2020 Budget

by N450bn, Passes Bill Today House jacks estimates up by N260bn Deji Elumoye and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The National Assembly yesterday finalised arrangements for the passage of the 2020 budget with the submission of reports by the Committees on Appropriation of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

However, going by the reports of the two committees, the nation's expenditure profile for the new fiscal year would be higher than the N10.33 trillion President Muhammadu Buhari proposed to the legislature.

While the Senate Committee on Appropriation increased the budget proposal by an additional N450 billion to bring it to N10.78 trillion, its House counterpart raised the budget proposal by over N260 billion to bring it to N10.59 trillion.

The Senate, however, has confirmed its readiness to consider and pass the 2020 federal budget represented to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari on October 8.

Its committee on Appropriation at plenary yesterday presented the 2020 budget report to the upper chamber of the National Assembly.

Its Chairman, Senator Barau Jibrin, at plenary laid the budget report, which is to be debated and passed today.

A ranking senator from the North Central Zone and member of the committee told THISDAY that the committee in the course of its work in the last one month tinkered with the final figure of the N10.33trillion 2020 budget proposal sent to the National Assembly.

The senator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the committee increased the 2020 budget proposed by government

by additional N450 billion.

According to him, some of the sectoral allocations were adjusted and at the end of the day based on presentations by the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) the budget had to be increased from N10.11 trillion to N10.56 trillion.

He stated that copies of the bulky budget document had since been circulated among all senators in preparation for the budget debate today.

THISDAY further learnt that the only agenda that will be on Senate Order Paper will be consideration of the budget report.

The budget report will be considered at Senate plenary by Committee of the Whole headed by the Chairman, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, through a clause by clause perusal of the proposal before being passed by the upper chamber.

The Senate also yesterday amended the Public Procurement Act 2007 and increased mobilisation fee of local contractors from 15 to 30 per cent.

The passage of the Public Procurement bills by the upper chamber was sequel to presentation and consideration of the report of the Senate Committee on Public Procurement.

The three amendment bills were sponsored by Senators Shuaibu Isah, Uche Ekwunife and Danladi Sankara.

Chairman of the Committee, Senator Shuaibu Isah Lau, in his presentation, said certain amendments were made on the bills to encapsulate the ingredients of the varied views collated from experts and professionals, aimed at adding value to the Procurement Act. The Senate, in a clause-byclause consideration of the bill, adopted the recommendations of the committee with slight

amendments made to Section 1 under the Establishment of National Council on Public Procurement.

The amendment to clause 1 of the bill provides that the Council shall consist of a chairman who shall be appointed by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as against the previous provision of the 2007 Act, which specifically names the Minister of Finance as chairman.

The Senate also adopted the committee’s recommendation on the issuance of Certificate of No Objection, which shall be issued by a Committee of Directors of the Bureau to the chaired by the

Director-General of the Public Procurement Bureau.

Similarly, the upper chamber considered the recommendation of the committee to review upwards the mobilization fee from 15 percent to 20 percent for local contractors as insufficient.

Accordingly, Section 35 of the Act was amended to provide for not more than thirty percent mobilization for local contractors.

The amendment for an upward review of thirty-five percent mobilization for local contractors was initially proposed by Senator Jibrin Barau and seconded by Senator Ibikunle Amosun.

The Senate, however, settled

for a 30 percent review moved

by Senator Abba Moro and seconded by Senator Rose Oko. In his remarks, the Senate president said that the passage of the Public Procurement Bill would complement the 2020 budget set to be passed today by the Senate.

According to Lawan, the Public Procurement bill passed by the Senate would be forwarded to the House of Representatives for concurrence.

House Jacks Estimates Up by N260bn Meanwhile, the House of

Representatives has also increased the 2020 budget proposal from N10.33 trillion to N10.59 trillion, an increase of over N260 billion.

The report was laid before the House at the plenary on Wednesday by the Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Muktar Batara.

The report, which was read by the Speaker of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila is expected to be passed today and given the disparities between the figures from the two chambers, ammonisation would have to be done by a conference of the two.

WELCOME TO OWERRI...

Imo State Governor, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha (left), and Archbishop of Jos Province and Primate-elect of the Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Henry Ndukuba, during the Primate-elect’s visit to the governor in Owerri‌yesterday

FG: IOCs Using Subterfuge to Avoid Payment of Outstanding $62.1bn Revenue Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja The federal government has accused International Oil Companies (IOCs) of plotting to deprive Nigeria of $62.1 billion Production Sharing Contract (PSC) accrual by instigating unnecessary media conversation over the five per cent recovery fee.

A senior government official raised the alarm yesterday over the alleged plot by the IOCs to frustrate the bid to recover the oil revenue arrears.

The Office of Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation had recently asked the affected oil companies to settle their unpaid arrears estimated at $62.1billion.

It said since the signing of the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act CAP D3 Law of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 (as amended) 2019 for oil exploration in deep offshore and inland basis, the federal government was to get more shares of the oil revenue, which the IOCs did not pay.

The arrears of what the IOCs were yet to remit to the federal government was estimated, as at 2018, at $62,190,679,793.

But of recent there has been controversy over the five per cent professional legal fee charged

by Trobell International Nigeria Limited, appointed by the minister, to recover the arrears.

However, the senior government official confided in THISDAY that “it is obvious that the judgement debtors (IOCs) are doing their best to distract attention of the general public by dwelling on the five per cent professional fee."

Defending the charge recently, the Office of Attorney General of Federation (AGF) had said the five per cent as a recovery fee was a product of innovation introduced by the federal government upon the assumption of office of President Muhammadu Buhari as against the 30 per cent and above, which was the traditional fee by the previous administration.

The AGF had explained that it did not accord with ‘’reason and logic’’ for the federal government to overlook, forgo and condone the loss of $64.1billion on account of ‘’meagre’’ five per cent fee payable upon recovery. “The accumulation of over $62.1billion in unpaid arrears of revenue due to the federation plus interest under the deep offshore production sharing contracts and the subsequent steps taken to recover the amount from the oil producing companies have

sparked national interest and media debate. “What appears apparent from the imbroglio was the fact that such Nigerian revenue, assets and resources were left at the mercy of winds and tides with little or no efforts in the past to recover the huge amounts. “It is interesting to note that since January 19, 2017, Trobell International Nigeria Limited had identified the accrued and unpaid revenue arising from the profit sharing contracts as a huge recovery prospect and sent a proposal to the Federal Ministry of Finance applying to be engaged as recovery agent to recover the accrued revenue,’’ the source explained.

The source added that Trobell's motives for sending the proposal were ‘’purely altruistic’’, aimed at serving Nigeria's interest by helping to recover huge amounts of revenue due to the federation, against the backdrop that the agencies of government responsible for the recovery of these revenues accruing since 2003 had for some unknown reasons either ignored the matter or chose not to act on it. ‘’Moreover, Trobell was convinced that with Muhammadu Buhari in office as Nigeria's president and Minister of

Petroleum Resources, there was no better leader with the courage and conviction to confront the big oil companies and recover all the monies due to the federation, especially at a time when the Nigerian economy was in a very bad shape due to recession and government finances were in dire straits with no alternatives but to go borrowing through floating costly bonds,’’ the source added.

He said despite the glaring prospect of recovery of additional revenue to the federal government and ‘’for reasons unknown’’, the firm’s proposal was neither processed by the Federal Ministry of Finance nor forwarded to the Attorney General of the Federation who as the custodian of public interest, has been vested with constitutional responsibilities for further action. ‘’One year after Trobell's proposal to the Minister of Finance, and precisely on January 19, 2018, the firm forwarded same proposal to the office of the Attorney General of the Federation requesting to be engaged as agents to recover the diverted proceeds of the Government of Nigeria due from the share of profit oil under the various production sharing contracts made pursuant

to Section 16(1) of the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act Cap D3 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004. ‘’These two letters were written

by Trobell to both the federal ministries of finance and justice, wherein the firm had reported how the Government of the Federation had been losing billions of dollars as a result of certain infractions arising from the negligent non-compliance with the provisions of S. 16 (1) of the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act by the contracting parties’’, the source stated.

He said the action conformed with the procedure of engagement of recovery agents in the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation when whistle-blowers report cases of fraudulent activity or similar issues of contravention of the law that are detrimental to the Government of the Federation.

Engagement of recovery agent is triggered by such disclosures in deserving cases, he added. ‘’Worthy of note also is the fact that in April 2017, the Attorneys General of three oil-producing states of Rivers, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom (as plaintiffs) brought an action against the Federal Government of Nigeria

and the Attorney General of the Federation. ‘’The implication of which was that the Attorney General of the Federation being the chief law officer of the country was sued by the three attorneys general representing their individual states. ‘’The plaintiffs sought two declarations and a consequential order compelling the second defendant-AGF, Abubakar Malami SAN, to recover and pay immediately all outstanding statutory allocation due to the plaintiffs from August 2003’’, the source added.

According to him, having established a valid claim, in November 2017, the parties applied for amicable settlement, which was granted by the Supreme Court in October 2018.

He said: ‘’One of the classical orders of the Supreme Court in the ruling is that the AGF should establish a body, which will be the vehicle for the recovery. ‘’Hence, the major flanks of the settlement reached by the parties at the Supreme Court were constituting a body to be set up by the AGF with representation from the three oil-producing states and the plaintiff's solicitors to jointly pursue recovery of the amounts in contention."

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PAGE EIGHT COURT SAVES 21 STATES BILLIONS, ORDERS AGF TO RECOVER PENSION FROM EX-GOVS Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), seeking an order of mandamus to compel the Attorney General of the Federation to file action to challenge states’ pension laws for former governors and recover public funds collected by them in the public interest, also ordered the AGF to challenge the legality of states’ pension laws permitting former governors and other ex-public officials to collect such pensions.

A total of 21 states had at various times promulgated pension laws allocating huge benefits to their former governors despite public objection. They are Lagos, Akwa Ibom; Edo; Delta; Kano; Gombe; Yobe; Borno; Bauchi; Abia; Imo; Bayelsa; Oyo; Osun; Kwara; Ondo; Ebonyi; Rivers; Niger; Kogi; and Katsina.

Immediately affected by the order are five ministers in the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari and nine senators.

The ministers are Mr. Babatunde Fashola (Lagos, Housing and Urban Development), Senator Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom, Niger Delta), Hon. Chibuike Amaechi (Rivers, Transportation), Mr. Rauf Aregbesola (Osun, Interior) and Chief Timipre Sylva (Bayelsa, State Petroleum).

The senators caught by the judgment are Orji Uzor-Kalu and Theodore Orji (Abia), Kassim Shettima (Borno), Sam Egwu (Ebonyi), Danjuma Goje (Gombe) Rochas Okorocha (Imo), Ibrahim Shekarau and Kabiru Gaya(Kano) and Ibrahim Geidam (Yobe).

Although it was not clear at press time, how many of the ministers and senators affected by the judgement had started drawing the benefits as a couple of them just exited from office

in May, Fashola, Sylva and Aregbesola had explained in the past that they were not drawing any post-office benefits from their state’s coffers.

Theodore Orji also issued an immediate rebuttal last night, saying he had refrained from enjoying any financial benefit from Abia State since he left office in 2015.

Generally, the pension laws differ from state to state with some of them prescribing 100 per cent of the basic salaries of the incumbents as entitlements of their predecessors.

However, many of them make provision for generous welfare packages for the former governors.

For example, the Akwa Ibom State pension law, enacted in 1998, provides free medical treatment, with no cap for expenses, for ex-governors, their spouses, ex-deputy governors and their spouses. However, the law was later amended to cap the medical fees at N100 million for a former governor and spouse and N30 million for a former deputy governor and spouse.

Both former governors and their deputies are also entitled to 100 per cent of their annual basic salary as well as one house not below 5-bedroom building in either Abuja or Akwa Ibom for the former governor and 500 per cent of annual basic salary for the deputy.

Like Akwa Ibom State, a former governor and deputy in Lagos are entitled to 100 per cent of the basic salary of the incumbents. However, the state pension law, passed in 2007, has a more generous welfare package than any other states.

It has provision for six new cars every three years for a former governor as well as

houses in Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Also, a former governor and his immediate family are entitled to free medical with no cap and 300 per cent of annual basic salary every two years as furniture allowance.

A similar law in Rivers State, which was passed in 2012, prescribes that a former governor is entitled to one house anywhere in Nigeria and three new cars every four years as well as 100 per cent of annual basic salaries of the incumbents for a former governor and former deputy.

A former governor also gets three cars every four years and two cars for a former deputy at the same period.

The Gombe State version titled "Executive Pension Law, 2008," provided a monthly salary for life for all former governors and deputy governors, at the rate equivalent to their salary when they were in office, among others.

In the judgment, Justice Oguntoyinbo disagreed with the argument of the AGF that the states’ laws were duly passed and cannot be challenged. “With respect, I do not agree with this line of argument by the Attorney General that he cannot challenge the states’ pension laws for former governors,� she said.

The judge also said: “The question that comes to mind is: who should approach the court where a particular law is not in the best interest of Nigeria as a country or national interest? Who should approach the court where a particular law is detrimental to the interest of the country? Who should institute actions in court for the purpose of recovering public funds collected?�

In answering the questions,

Justice Oguntoyinbo said: “In my humble view, the Attorney General should be interested in the legality or validity of any law in Nigeria and how such laws affect or will affect Nigerians, being the Chief Law Officer of the Federation.�

She adjourned the suit to February 3, 2020 for hearing on report of compliance with the court orders/judgment by the federal government.

She ruled: “I resolve this issue against the Attorney General, in favour of SERAP. I hold that the motion on notice for mandamus dated 6th February 2018 and filed on February 7, 2018 has merit. It is, therefore, granted in the terms sought. “In other words, the Attorney General is hereby directed to urgently institute appropriate legal actions to challenge the legality of states’ laws permitting former governors, who are now senators and ministers to enjoy governors’ emoluments while drawing normal salaries and allowances in their new political offices and to identify those involved and seek full recovery of public funds from the former governors. “I take judicial notice of the essence of the creation of SERAP. I believe that SERAP has the locus standi to bring this suit. More so, this is a constitutional matter. In constitutional matters, the requirement of locus standi becomes unnecessary to a great extent as it may merely impede judicial function. This issue is, therefore, resolved against the Attorney General, in favour of SERAP.�

The judgment is coming on the heels of the invalidated pension law for former governors and other ex-public officers in Zamfara State, which

provided for the upkeep of ex-governors to the tune of N700 million annually.

The state has produced three former governors since 1999.

SERAP had in July 2017 requested Malami to urgently institute appropriate legal action to challenge the legality of states’ laws permitting former governors, who are now senators and ministers to enjoy governors’ emoluments while drawing normal salaries and allowances in their new political offices and to seek full recovery of public funds from those involved.�

Section 109, subsection 1 of the Constitution of Nigeria made reference to members and not members-elect.

He said in Law, "We say the express mention of a thing is the exclusion of another."

According to him, “Onethird of the total number of days during which the House meets in any one year cannot be determined until the end of the legislative year. Again the Section in question applies to members and not members-elect that sat during that particular year.

"The existence of the power purportedly exercised by the speaker is by no means clear. A member-elect is not a member for the purposes of section 109.

The only remedy lies with the people (constituent) to recall a

member-elect, who refuses to take his or her seat.

"Another issue is: how can the minority declare the seats of the majority vacant? It is an anathema and amounts to standing logic on its head.

The purported declaration is an illegality ab initio and it will not stand the test of law."

Also reacting, spokesman of members-elect whose seats were declared vacant by the House, Mr. Washington Osifo, representing Uhunmwode State Constituency, described the purported declaration as a laughable, wondering why the Assembly continued to fumble and stumble.

He said the action of the House was subjudice because the matter was before a competent court of law.

Lawyers Disagree over Judgment Senior Advocates of Nigeria yesterday expressed divergent views on the judgment of the Federal High Court in Lagos ordering the federal government to recover the pensions collected by former governors now serving as ministers and members of the National Assembly.

The two senior lawyers who spoke with THISDAY were Chief Mike Ozekhome and Mr. Ahmed Raji.

While Ozekhome said it was a welcome relief, Raji raised certain posers that he felt must first be resolved to get a proper position on the issue.

Ozekhome stated that all the allowances received by the former governors must be recovered because they are daily fleecing the country and their states.

He said the judgment would sanitise the heavily fouled and putrid political environment.

The senior lawyer stated the judgment has opened up new vistas and re-jigged the weak moral fabric with which politicians' garments of public

service is sewn. “They behave as if they are God's gift to mankind. These humongous and heartless severance allowances, pensions and gratuities are running into billions of naira,� he said.

He called on state Houses of Assembly to emulate the Zamfara State House of Assembly and Governor Bello Matawalle by repealing their pension laws, describing them as obnoxious.

But in his reaction Raji raised certain posers that he felt must first be resolved to get a proper position on the issue, first among which is the issue of fair hearing.

Raji sought to know if the affected persons were made parties in the suit.

Secondly, he asked if the monies paid to the beneficiaries were in line with an extant law.

He also wondered whether the AGF has powers to recover monies on behalf of the states.

"Were the affected persons, parties to the case and were they heard? If they were not heard can the judgment be enforced against them?� He asked.

He further wondered if the AGF could recover money on behalf of any state.

"If such payment were made pursuant to an existing law did the judge nullify those laws or directed the various state Houses of Assembly to revoke or amend or cancel the laws."

He cited the case of Zamfara State where he said the state assembly had already repealed a law that placed past governors on pension and other allowances.

While noting that Nigeria currently runs a federal system of government, Raji asked if the AGF has what it takes to carry out the order of the court.

EDO CRISIS WORSENS AS ASSEMBLY DECLARES 12 SEATS VACANT Following disagreement over the convening of the Assembly by the governor, 12 members, believed to be allies of the national chairman of APC, have stayed away from the state legislature since inception in June, culminating in the declaration of their seats as becoming vacant yesterday.

Idiaye said yesterday that the seats declared vacant were Etsako West I, Etsako West II, Owan East, Owan West, Etsako Central, Etsako East and Esan Central.

Others were Uhunmwonde, Oredo East, Oredo West, Egor, Ovia North East I, Ovia North East II and Ovia South West I. He said two of those affected from Oredo East and Owan East, were sworn-in but failed to meet the mandatory 181-day sitting

requirement for a member in a calendar year.

For others, who hadn't been inaugurated since the proclamation of the House, he said: "Their constituents have been complaining and have come to us that they want their voices and concerns to be heard at the House. So, people who are willing to provide quality representation have to be elected to bring the matters of the distraught constituents to the floor for debate and legislation, where necessary."

He noted that the House also passed the 2020 Appropriation Bill and affirmed the removal of the suspended Chairman of Etsako East Local Government Area, Alhaji Aramiyau Momoh, after receiving the report of the investigation committee on

appropriation of funds and undermining the financial rules and regulations of public service.

The other matter considered at the sitting, according to him, was the confirmation of the members of the board of the Edo State Internal Revenue Service (EIRS).

Declaration Illegal, Cannot Stand Test of Time, Says Lawyer However, a lawyer Douglas Ogbankwa, has declared the pronouncement of the Edo State House of Assembly as illegal, noting that it could not stand the test of time.

Ogbankwa, who spoke to THISDAY in Benin City, said the House misfired because

He said: "We are challenging the illegal inauguration of the House and anything put on nothing cannot stand. So Okiye is a man that is in search of identity. He is working with the governor in the pursuit of a blind ambition. They have hit the rock.

"The information got to us as early as last week that he (Okiye) met a group, who call themselves a union of PDP candidates, who contested the election. He held a meeting with them and they agreed that they should write a petition to the house and it is on that premise they did what they did today. It also confirms what has been on the ground that the governor wants to hand over the state to the PDP."

MOODY'S CHANGES NIGERIA'S RATINGS FROM STABLE TO NEGATIVE the country's foreign exchange reserves."

Furthermore, it pointed out that Moody's decision to affirm the rating at B2 recognized a combination of credit strengths, including the country's large and diversified economy supported by vast oil and gas endowments, notwithstanding persistent credit weaknesses such as its very weak institutions and governance framework and in particular poor public finance management.

"Concurrently, Moody's has maintained Nigeria's country risk ceilings at their current levels: Foreign Currency bond ceiling at B1, Foreign Currency deposit ceiling at B3, and Local Currency bond and deposit ceilings at Ba1."

Moody’s also said the drastic reduction in Nigerian banks’ non-performing loans (NPLs) will help in reducing the risk of

capital erosion from unexpected losses and lessens the need for loan loss provisions.

Nigerian banks’ NPLs reduced to 6.6 per cent at the end of October compared to the 14.1 per cent it was in 2018.

This was the first time the NPLs would drop to a single digit in the past 42 months.

But the rating agency's banking analysts, Mr. Peter Mushangwe, in a note obtained

by THISDAY yesterday, described the development as credit positive. “The Nigerian banking system’s non-performing loans ratio reduced to 6.6 per cent at the end of October from 14.1 per cent a year earlier, according to the central bank. This is credit positive, as lower NPLs reduce risk of capital erosion from unexpected losses and lessen the need for loan loss provisions.

The improvement in asset

quality is mainly due to banks’ growing loan books, write-offs and successful workout of exposures,� he stated.

Moody’s has maintained a stable outlook on the Nigerian banking system. “Our view reflects the banks' resilient capital buffers and their stable deposit bases. Although Nigerian banks' asset risk and profitability will remain key rating challenges, we expect these challenges to gradually ease in 2020 as the economy improves further,� the agency added.

It predicted that economic growth would be modest as the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would expand to 2.3 per cent in 2019 and 2.8 per cent in 2020, up from 1.9 per last year.

However, it noted that the GDP projection would be well below the level required

to improve Nigerians' living standards.

It said: “Lending growth will recover in the second half of the year following a contraction in 2018, but it will remain subdued and will not appreciably boost banking revenue. “The Nigerian economy will remain vulnerable to oil price movements. Loan quality pressures will ease but remain banks' main weakness. “Higher oil prices will constrain new NPL formation while high loan-loss reserves will allow banks to write off some of their bad debts. “These credit positives will be moderated by lingering risks from high loan concentrations and high delinquency levels.

Capital buffers will remain stable. “System-wide tangible common equity will be stable at 16 per cent of risk-weighted

assets at year-end 2018, which will be sufficient to absorb losses under our baseline scenario.�

A member of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), Prof. Adeola Adenikinju, had said the financial systems indicators were in the right direction.

He noted that unemployment, poverty and weak growth were major structural problems in the economy, saying that unfortunately, there was a limit to the potency of monetary policy alone to address problems of power deficit, infrastructural gaps and other factors contributing to high costs of doing business in Nigeria.

These problems, unless addressed, would also limit the extent to which the country can effectively benefit from the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), he said.

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NGN NGN 0.02 0.22 0.19 2.14 0.10 2.00 0.01 3.85 0.05 1.48 NGN 0.13 6.34 0.02 0.33 0.06 1.80 NAHCO 0.07 2.43 HONEYWELL 0.03 1.07 HPE Nestle Nig Plc â‚Ś1,350.00 Volume: 112.886 million shares Value: N1.076 billion Deals: 3,041 As at yesterday 04/12/19 See details on Page 39

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As Buhari Launches National Security Roadmap, NSA Insists Almajiri System Must Go Kingsley Nwezeh and Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

As part of his commitment to enhance the security of the country, President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday launched the National Security Strategy (NSS) 2019, his roadmap to a more secured environment for Nigerians.

The security roadmap was launched at the State House, Abuja a day after the president unveiled the first Made-in-Nigeria Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles at the opening ceremony of the 2019 Chief of Army Staff Annual Conference in Kaduna.

THISDAYhad on Tuesday exclusively reported that the president had received the NSS document from National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd), and was ready to swing into action with it.

Seizing the opportunity of the launch, Monguno reiterated his position that the federal government must phase out the Almajiri system. “If the alms-seeking practice is not phased out, it will come back to bite us big time,” he said.

He said the Almajiri system, which was linked to illiteracy, could no longer be swept under the carpet in view of its far reaching implications on national security and wellbeing of the nation.

“The issue of illiteracy is directly linked to the issue of children not going to school, this

Almajiri phenomenon, which we have been talking about, we cannot continue to push it under the carpet because what?

Eventually, it will come back to bite us in the butt big time, we need to deal with this issue and it is the responsibility of all of us to try and take care of this issue without any inhibition,” the NSA said.

Monguno explained: “Fundamentally, if we are going to take care of these problems, we need to try and safeguard the fast-growing young population of Nigeria and guess what? We need to look at issues of poverty eradication and illiteracy. I will tell you one thing.

“The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in its pursuit for greater and enhanced security will not allow itself to be blackmailed or handcuffed by the disarming philosophy of compliance with certain aspects that are sociocultural in nature, which people tend to be averse to dealing. We must grab the bull by the horn and deal with these issues.”

He also affirmed that insecurity in the country was tied to international influence, adding that both internal and external factors have combined to result in a complex constellation of threat and risk to Nigerians.

He said the revised strategy is designed to tackle the root causes of insecurity, education and healthcare challenges.

“The issue of insurgency in the North-east is directly linked to the issue of terrorism in the

Sahel, which is an increasingly volatile neighbourhood and the situation is also derived from what is happening in Libya, which in turn is affected by the lack of security in Syria, which derived its own situation ultimately from Iraq,” he said.

Speaking earlier at the formal launch of the roadmap, Buhari expressed happiness that the National Security Strategy 2019 is a product of painstaking and rigorous deliberations by relevant stakeholders committed to the task of safeguarding the nation from internal and external threats.

He noted that the plethora of security challenges confronting the nation had made it expedient to come up with articulated, comprehensive and coordinated response that involves all segments of the society and all elements of the national power.

The president said the strategy represented a thoughtful, strategic and practical expression of the resolve to make Nigeria safe for development, investment, growth and prosperity for everybody.

He said: “As we continue to work towards completely ending insurgency in the North-east, and laying the foundation of sustainable peace and development in the region, we are also addressing conflicts between farmers and herders, banditry and various forms of security challenges.

“In addition to security, economic diversification and fighting corruption, our administration priorities for the second term include pursuing improvements in education, healthcare and agriculture.”

Buhari stated that these priorities reflected his

administration’s commitment to enhancing the social security of Nigerians as a means of improving their physical security.

“I’m happy to observe that the National Security Strategy reflects this thinking with emphasis on overall human security,” the president said, adding: “I’m pleased also to know that the strategy emerged after a long time consultative and participatory process that elicited contributions primarily from our security, intelligence, law enforcement agencies and the armed forces”.

Other stakeholders such as ministries, department and agencies and the civil society were also contributory to this strategy.

“As such, this strategy will inform government wide and society wide measures designed

to promote the public safety and the national security.” Buhari said.

He described security as a bottom to top operation, saying failure at any level will lead to serious lapse in overall security.

He called on all stakeholders from heads of MDAs to see themselves and as stakeholders and partners in the onerous task of securing “our people and to demonstrate unity of purpose in implementing this strategy.”

The president commended the NSA and his team for delivering on the document.

He added that the urgent task before the country was how to execute the strategy and achieve a safer and more secured nation, saying it was a task to which his administration remained fully

Cont’d on page 53

House Urges FG to Conduct National Population Census in 2020 Adedayo Akinwale ín Abuja The House of Representatives has called on the federal government to provide necessary logistics for the conduct of a national census in 2020 as a way of ending the uncertainties surrounding Nigeria’s actual population.

The House also urged the National Population Commission (NPC) to come up with a feasible time table for the conduct a National Census not later than year 2020.

The House decision was sequel to the adoption of a motion moved by Hon. Ademorin Kuye at the plenary yesterday.

He said that the holding of a population census is an important national assignment because its figures are critical for national planning and it is for this reason, among others, that most countries of the world carry out this exercise once every ten years.

Kuye noted that without a census, and an accurate data of the number of people in a given country, no government can provide adequately for its citizens as government requires data to know the number of children being born, the number of schools and hospitals that would be needed, how many workers are in a given town and how many foreigners are in the country, for proper provision of infrastructural facilities.

The lawmaker stressed that most times, Nigeria’s population is predicated on projected figures provided by foreign organisations like the United Nations, thus making planning extremely difficult.

Kuye noted that the last national census was conducted in 2006, adding that until it becomes mandatory to conduct census at given intervals like elections, Nigeria would continue to have delays in organising national census.

The lawmaker expressed worry that if adequate measures are not put in place where population census is conducted periodically at least once every 10 years, Nigeria would be lacking in the statistical data of its citizenry either politically or economically.

The House therefore resolved “to set up an Adhoc Committee to liaise with NPC, the Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning and the National Bureau of Statistics to work out modalities on how to conduct a census in 2020 and also to liaise with other foreign donors such as UNFPA, EU, USAID, UNESCO, AU, etc. for necessary support for the exercise.”

“Also urge the federal government to provide necessary logistics for the conduct of a national census in 2020 as a way of ending the uncertainties surrounding Nigeria’s actual population.”

FOR SECURITY MATTERS…

L-R: Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha; National Security Adviser, Babagan Monguno; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and President Muhammadu Buhari, during the launch of the National Security Roadmap by the president at the Presidential Villa in Abuja...yesterday GODWIN OMOIGUI

AuGF: MDAs Failed to Remit N20.67bn Surplus to Treasury Laments major lapses in management of public funds Classifies N28.56bn contracts as mere waste

James Emejo in Abuja The Auditor-General for the Federation (AuGF), Mr. Anthony Ayine, has indicted about 45 revenue generating agencies of failure to remit over N20.67 billion into the federation account as their operating surpluses.

He also identified major weaknesses and lapses in the management of public funds and resources across several ministries, departments and agencies of government (MDAs).

He said although there had been a marked improvement over the years, violations of statutory financial reporting obligations by parastatals were still rife among some public institutions.

His comments were contained in the 2017 Audit Report, which was posted yesterday on the website of the Office of the AuGF.

The AuGF said the payments, totaling N26.60 billion made by MDAs, were fraught with 140 infractions.

Besides, the audit further revealed breaches in the Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2007 by MDAs as the sum of N28.56 billion spent on various contract-related transactions reflected waste or loss of public funds.

Ayine said 10 MDAs embarked on international travels and trainings without requisite approvals from appropriate authorities.

He recommended stringent sanctions, including withholding financial releases and punitive measures against chief executives of defaulting agencies, which do not render timely accounts, as provided in the constitution, financial regulations and other relevant laws.

According to him, some of the government corporations,

companies and commissions have not submitted their audited accounts to the AuGF despite the provision of Financial Regulation 3210(v), which details chief executives to submit both the audited accounts and management reports not later than May 31 of the following year of accounts.

Ayine said 160 agencies defaulted in submission of audited accounts for 2016 while the number of agencies, which defaulted in submission of audited accounts increased to 265 agencies in 2017 and 11 agencies had never submitted any financial statements since inception.

He stated that the findings ranged from irregular expenditures to failure to surrender billions of naira in surplus revenues to the treasury by public agencies.

Among other things, the report also revealed that 12

MDAs had procured store items valued at N825.87 million, which did not pass through necessary documentation and were not taken on store charge.

The report also indicted the National Assembly for incurring unapproved overdrafts amounting to N95.21 million without due process.

It noted that payment vouchers amounting to N235.74 million between April and June 2017 and N437.33 million between July and October 2017, were not produced for audit.

The AuGF consequently recommended the Clerk of the National Assembly should recover a total sum of N673.08 million and return it to the treasury while evidence of such transactions should be made available to the office of the AuGF.

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COMMENT

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

RAINBOW RUGBY MATCH TRIUMPH

Okello Oculi writes that the triumph of the South African team under the leadership of a Black player throws shame at the American game

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outh Africans combined historical memories of defeats of British troops by ancestors of Blacks and Boers, to humiliate the England’s team at the Rugby World tournament in Japan. Having defeated highly rated New Zealand, the England’s coach boasted about taming the ’’physical’’ game of the South Africans. There was an offensive hint of being Rerebral against Brutes.

The pain in what a British commentator depicted as the ‘’crushing’’ of England under Japanese skies by scores of 32 to 12, was the way the South Africans scored two ‘’tries’’ to earn six points each. In the first score, three Black players run abreast, tossing the ball between themselves. Faced with an England defender, the player at the left flank kicked the ball forward and, running past him, a teammate grabbed the bouncing ball and passed it back to the kicker who surged across the line. South African intelligent play had trounced England’s defence.

The second score followed a hit which forced England’s fumble‌ A Black South African grabbed the ball when it bounced up and tossed it to a waiting White teammate who dribbled past five opponents and crossed the line without English hands touching his jersey. South African brawn had combined with inter-racial wit to humiliate England in broad view of global television audiences.

On receiving the winner’s cup from Japan’s Emperor, the captain paid tribute to a home crowd whose love and support inspired their volumes of sweat and grit. Aware of the negative image that ‘’Afro-Phobia’’ had earned their people around the world plus a pandemic of violence against children and women – including girlfriends – the captain ignored to salute a widely recognized habit that in global tournaments, participating African teams get around them support from ALL African viewers.

American ‘’football’’ was adapted from Britain’s colonial Rugby and renamed ‘’Football’’ even though only one player is allowed to bash the ball with one foot. The game has struggled to overcome the racism in the space it is played.

Although African-Americans have become dominant players in most teams, the position of ‘’Quarter Back’’ (who directs play from the relatively safer shelter provided by rhino-like defenders), continues to be monopolized by Caucasian players. He symbolizes cerebral authority over ‘’physical’’ as brain power is racialised.

THE GAME OF RUGBY HAS SERVED IMPERIAL ADVENTURES OF BRITAIN, THE UNITED STATES AND GENOCIDAL IMMIGRANTS IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND. IN SOUTH AFRICA IT FUELLED A SYSTEM LATER DESCRIBED BY THE UNITED NATIONS AS A ’CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY’

The triumph of the South African team under the leadership of a Black player within the political vision of building a nation based on a ‘’rainbow’’ of colours less than 25 years after the end of apartheid throws shame at the American game. This is the more so considering the legacy of Rugby being a Tribal Game for Afrikaaners. The Captain in the game is as steeply involved in the physical ‘’scrum’’and defensive play of the two teams pushing and hitting against each other. Aye Kwei Amah’s ‘’chikadoodo’’ (in his novel ‘’THE BEAUTIFUL ONES ARE NOT YET BORN’’), does not exist here. That little bird likes to eat maggots that crawl out of human waste but loathes its feathers and toes messed up.

As a tribe which had fought to rob land from various African populations, and after 1948 won political power in an election which excluded the Black population, used that power to win economic paradise here on earth for themselves, the game of Rugby became a tribal game for training warriors. In this regard, it is surprising that the African National Congress as descendants of the grand warrior and military strategies, Chaka Zulu, opted for the less war-like game of Football.

In 1995, Madiba Nelson Mandela arranged to enter the field before the throw-in to commence a rugby match. He wore the ‘’Number 6’’ jersey won by the captain of the South African team. The act was probably based on an ancient Xhosa juju ritual. Its effect was electrifying for the Afrikaaner tribal carnival. The team won and a legendary symbolism was born to irrigate the vision of building a multi-racial society. His personal history of fighting inside a boxing ring gave his gesture vital credibility. He later called for vigorous efforts to recruit Black South Africans into previously racially segregated sports.

The game of Rugby has served imperial adventures of Britain, the United States and genocidal immigrants in Australia and New Zealand. In South Africa it fuelled a system later described by the United Nations as a ‘’crime against humanity’’. That blood-drenched record cannot be blamed wholly on the game. But it is a Curriculum Vitae which must be noted both as a warning and an invitation to hug its spread across the continent.

The record of selfishness and debauchery among Africa’s political leaders at local and national levels raises questions about tools for training future age-grades in imperial visions in a world dominated by such monsters, who, like rugby champions, crush jokers in their way.

THE ORDEAL OF GETTING NATIONAL ID CARD The activities of NIMC should be decentralised, writes Adewale Kupoluyi

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few days ago, I attempted to obtain a reprinted copy of my national identity card, which I could not trace but what I experienced was disturbing.

I decided to share the ordeal with the hope that those concerned would do something urgently to redress to the plight of Nigerians. Initially, I had reported at one of the closest collection centres on obtaining relevant information on what it takes to get the national identity card reprinted but I could not complete the exercise because I needed to make an online payment and thereafter come along with the printout for further processing.

After making the online payment and returning to the same collection centre, it was practically impossible for me to gain an entry as a result of the mammoth crowd of people, mostly students, waiting to obtain copies of the national identity cards for registration for examinations conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), and Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), which has now been made compulsory. According to the examining bodies, the policy was introduced mainly to curb impersonation and malpractices.

The truth is that examination malpractice not only breeds corruption, but it also lowers educational standards, encourages social vices, and eroding moral values, integrity, and ideals.

Hence, the reason why legitimate and concerted efforts should be geared towards stamping out any form of moral turpitude from our national life. As laudable as this idea may look like, the unnecessary burden placed on students to acquire the national identity cards before they can be registered for the examinations should be reconsidered. Back to the ordeal of the students, they thronged the collection centres in large numbers struggling to gain an

entry into the premises of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), which was established by the NIMC Act No. 23 of 2007. At the commission’s office that I went to, there was only one gate where the candidates were being screened before they were allowed to go inside the building.

Apart from the youths, I saw elderly persons probably trying to obtain the cards for their children and wards. I felt bad seeing such elderly people being maltreated inside the harsh weather condition. Some students were seen fighting and scuffling in an attempt to be called and allowed inside the office ahead of others. After watching the melee from afar, I eventually spotted two persons that were trying to penetrate the crowd to gain an entry, I sensed that they could be officials of NIMC and I quickly joined them in maneuvering ourselves inside the centre. After gaining an entry, I saw another set of candidates seated without much attention given to them. Surprising, when I got inside, I stood for almost one hour before I could be attended to while none of the students that I met already seated was ever accorded any attention, despite their wailing in the stuffy room that they were crammed into.

As I was leaving the jam-packed office, I saw another group of students loitering around, looking confused, tired, exhausted and frustrated.

It was revealed that the candidates have been at the centres as early as 4a.m. to get enrolled but were left stranded due to poor network, faulty working tools, and power failure. Many of them complained of preferential treatment by officials of the commission, who allegedly attended to enrollees based on their relationships.

Exiting the compound was another tug of war.

Already, the small gate that served as the entry point had been almost blocked because of the huge crowd, while the second gate had to be opened for me to move out. By the time I got out, the number of students struggling to move

inside had almost doubled under the intense heat and biting sun. My pity for the students increased as I was driving out of the street only to see many students still approaching the main road leading to the commission’s office, definitely gearing up to face the harrowing experience. I left the place annoyed, sad and disappointed that fellow citizens’ time is being wasted and subjected to unnecessary punishment; all in the name of obtaining a national identity card. The time wasted and suffering meted out to the students can be attributed to poor logistics on the part of the authorities concerned.

To begin with, why the sudden recognition and acceptability accorded the identity card? I remembered that about four years ago when I first obtained mine, the identity card was never officially recognised as a means of identification in banks and other places. I had to ask some stakeholders then that what had gone wrong with our institutions that they should reject what is supposed to be valid means of identification, just like the international passport, driver’s licence and voter’s card. For me, the national identity card should be accorded more credibility than the others. Suddenly, the disposition changed and hence, the sudden prominence and rush for the acquisition of NIMC cards said to have captured only about 37 million people, which is less than 20 per cent of Nigerians, out of which over 700,000 cards are said to be uncollected. If due recognition had been accorded the identity card at its inception, the mad rush that we are seeing today would probably have been averted. This is the Gestapo manner that we usually run state affairs in the country.

As a way forward, NIMC would have to harmonise all existing database sitting in silos into a single database, where information, data of individuals and companies operating in Nigeria, could be accessed. The National Identity Number (NIN), which is generated, is unique with social

security numbers that can be used for health care, education, and pensions, among others.

NIN ties together all records such as demographic data, fingerprints, head-to-shoulder facial pictures, biometric data, and digital signature. By an Executive Order signed by President Muhammadu Buhari, one cannot obtain a passport or driver’s licence without the National ID Card.

The federal government also approved September 16 of every year as National Identity Day, also called 16.9 and the Identity Day (IDDay), to create more awareness and acceptability.

To abate the continued punishment being meted out to innocent students, the activities of NIMC should be decentralised with immediate effect.

More issuance and collection centres should be opened across the country such that students would no longer be made to suffer for the deficiencies of our public administrators.

Students should be allowed to obtain identity cards at the point of purchase of the forms.

There is a need for public-private partnerships in tackling this problem as NIMC could be seriously handicapped in carrying out its duties effectively and efficiently.

The current challenge being experienced is not limited to NIMC, as most state institutions in Nigeria provide poor services, lack the discipline to accord customers due respect and value for their hard-earned resources. This ugly trend has also crept into the business sectors such as banks, insurance, and manufacturing industries where people are treated shabbily. It is rather unfortunate that offices such as the Service Compact with All Nigerians (SERVICOM), and Consumer Protection Council (CPC) appear to have neglected the people and are not seen as doing enough to protect the people when it comes to quality service. For now, the burden placed on students should be removed.

Kupoluyi wrote from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta

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EDITORIAL RASH OF FAKE CERTIFICATES IN NIGERIA Those who fake certificates should be severely sanctioned

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he Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim recently accused universities in Benin Republic of presenting unqualified persons for its one-year mandatory national service.

“We are presently investigating some of such so-called graduates, many of whom cannot write or spell any word in English,” said Ibrahim. Indeed, the federal government, through the Ministry of Education, earlier in the year, set up a committee to screen over 40,000 degrees claimed to have been obtained from Nigerians who studied in foreign institutions.

However, fake degrees are not a preserve of foreign universities. The country has a surfeit of them. Among a recent batch of corps members, 95 fake graduates were discovered, 60 of them from Nigerian universities. Also recently, the NYSC had cause to inform the National Universities Commission (NUC) of corps members who displayed glaring lack of academic ability THE MENACE IS AIDED and intelligence level

BY THE ABSENCE OF A expected of genuine RELIABLE DATABASE, CORRUPT GOVERNMENT Nigerian graduates.

These deficiencies OFFICIALS AND “were consistently DISHONEST TERTIARY exhibited by three INSTITUTIONS’ students from the PERSONNEL Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT)”.

In one particular instance, one of these corps members was unable to fill forms correctly, besides inability to teach pupils at the nursery school level. Another could hardly write the Roman figure from one to 10 in words, just as she could not write three states and their capitals.

The last, said to be a “graduate” of Electrical/Electronics, was rejected by King’s College Lagos for “gross” incompetence. It was discovered that she failed all science subjects at the senior secondary school level. So, how did she get into the university? The Senate of ESUT at its 239th regular meeting had to withdraw their certificates.

Letters to the Editor

Between 2015 and 2017, no fewer than 20 persons were arrested for being in possession of forged certificates.

The list is of those who parade fake degrees and certificates in Nigeria today is long and very disturbing.

From fake schools to fake teachers to fake doctors, the entire country is suffused with fakes in practically all areas of our national lives. In the police, armed forces, academia, ministries and government agencies and of course politics, fake credentials are now paraded by many for jobs they are not qualified to undertake. In the political arena, making dubious claims, including faking credentials, seems to be the route to power in the country today.

T T H I S DAY EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI DEPUTY EDITOR YEMI AJAYI, DAVIDSON IRIEKPEN, MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR JOSEPH USHIGIALE

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 BOLAJI ADEBIYI, PETER IWEGBU, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS PATRICK EIMIUHI, SAHEED ADEYEMO CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

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.

IS THE NIGERIAN FIRST LADY A REALIST?

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ealism is described as a systematic mode of thought with distinctive principles clearly opposed to every form of subjectivism and idealism (John Wild: 1947). From the above assertion, a realist individual never believes in illusion or imagination as guiding principles. An individual who is a realist understands the source, the use and management of power. This knowledge of power guides his/her actions or reactions to issues.

In another development, a realist is a truthful and objective individual who stands on a platform made of unshakable facts to act or react. Some of those unshakable facts are: no leadership lasts forever, no political party rules forever, no presidency lasts forever, etcetera. A realist is therefore an individual who does things, having in mind the likely repercussion of actions or reactions. And those repercussions could either be positive or negative.

The First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari believes that support for the President should not be based on sentiment. Hence, she uses constructive means to express support for the president.

Nevertheless such support is being misinterpreted in some quarters. However, she has remained determined and committed to the success of the present administration. These are reflected in her efforts to continuously draw the attention of the stakeholders of this government to sensitive issues that need urgent attention in the interest of Nigerians in general.

It is also obvious that, the First Lady does not support the crusade tagged “My Husband must Rule”. She prefers leadership embedded in integrity. That is why she is always critical on issues of political leadership such as transparency, fairness, justice, etc.

his menace is aided by the absence of a reliable database, corrupt government officials and dishonest tertiary institutions’ personnel. There are so many criminals who parade chains of degrees in medicine, who put the lives of Nigerians at risk on a daily basis and there are others who teach in our universities even without possessing a genuine first degree. Only this week, Prof. Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, Executive Secretary of the NUC, revealed that about 100 fake professors have been uncovered in our institutions of higher learning.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) spoke to this issue at the 65th Annual Council Meeting of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC). “Cheating in examinations and fake certificates simply do not generate the sort of outrage that such conduct would have generated years ago,” Osinbajo lamented. With that people of questionable character are celebrated in one form or the other--alumni recognitions, chieftaincy titles, honorary degrees and even higher religious titles. “Often, cheating is with the collusion of parents and teachers. This only reflects the failure of values in our larger society,” said Osinbajo.

It is heartening that the NYSC, in collaboration with the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other security agencies are working in their little ways to combat this national malaise. We must support their efforts. Only severe sanctions can stop this menace from becoming another epidemic.

No wonder she is always drawing the attention of the president to delicate issues. Notable it is to mention that, she always expresses her mind with courage. Her honesty in promoting national interests to the best of her knowledge places her above those who clamour for regime interest only. For instance, in Africa and the world at large, most first ladies grab the presidency as if it is a permanent position, whereas no condition is permanent.

Political ideology has not yet taken its rightful place in the Nigerian politics. The first lady is one of the hardened advocates of political ideology in Nigeria which according to her will enthrone discipline in promoting women in politics, party politics and national politics.

Mrs Buhari also demonstrates patience in the face of political challenges which is depicted in her formidable way of downplaying boiling issues, for example, she goes to the extent of apologising when the need arises.

It is important to reveal that the first lady is mindful of the less privileged Nigerians and she is contributing her quota in addressing their challenges through her Future Assured project.

Several less privileged Nigerians benefitted and are still benefiting from her empowerment programmes in all the geopolitical zones.

Her capacity of discernment and her leadership posture point to her hope for the present administration to have a soft landing at the end. This article is derived from a critical appraisal of her utterances, her cautious use of power, her commitment to fairness, justice and equity. The first lady is a realist.

Farida Funmi Akanji, Coordinator, Nigerian Youth Organisation for Good Governance

NIGER ROADS AREVERY BAD

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r. Governor, I am extremely worried. I am worried about the deplorable state of virtually all the major roads in our beloved Niger State. The roads have not only become death-traps, they are now labelled ‘killer abattoirs’.

It is now a suicidal mission for motorists to ply the crater-riddled and gully-infested roads. They are highways many commuters terribly dread with passion. Yes, I mean the popular Bida-Minna, Mokwa-Tegina, Minna-Suleja, and Suleja-Lambatta-Bida roads, among other notable intra-state roads.

Not too long Sir, federal lawmakers from the state and members of the House of Representatives, decried the appalling state of road infrastructure in the state. Contributing to a motion on the state of highways across the country, they pointed out that the ‘Trunk A’ roads in the state have all become death traps.

They further posited that the decrepit state of the roads have led to avoidable road mishaps, resulting in deaths and fatal injuries. The Honourable members added that the ugly situation has also made road users vulnerable to terror-inducing gunmen, aside the bad roads causing enormous damage to vehicles. According to the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), about 147 people lost their lives and 915 persons were injured in 361 road accidents in the state, between January and September 2016. The FRSC, equally added that 197 deaths were recorded in no fewer than 516 road crashes in 2017. It also revealed that last year alone, 476 crashes claimed 289 lives. These are frightening statistics to say the least.

It took the intervention of Almighty God and some key government functionaries (in your cabinet) to assuage angry Minna youths in October. The youths, who paralyzed economic activities in the town during a protest, demanded an urgent rehabilitation of the Suleja-Minna road. Barely two months after the protest march, it seems little or zero progress has been recorded in terms of properly, and permanently fixing the roads. The roads are still nightmares for motorists and commuters. Nobody will dispute the fact that economic activities are being hampered owing to the decayed state of several Trunk A and B roads in your (our) state.

Shuaibu Usman Aisha,

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY DECEMBER 5, 2019

POLITICS

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

‘Lagos Cannot Become a One-Party State, But There is a Ruling Party’

Nseobong Okon-Ekong was among a team of journalists who interacted with the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State, Tunde Balogun, on the Governor Sanwo-Olu administration, defection from the Peoples Democratic Party to the APC and the challenge of reconciliation in the ruling party

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ome local governments and constituencies are complaining that they are not adequately represented in the Lagos State Executive Council. How is the party and the government mitigating their feelings?

APC is a strong family in Lagos. The members see themselves as one family. We don’t discriminate between one local government and the other. All local governments in Lagos State have a sense of belonging. They will be represented as much as there are vacancies.

We make all efforts to ensure that they are equally represented. Expediency comes in.

Geographical location comes in. Some appointments are mainly and most of the times based on merit in Lagos State. Of course, the educational background of candidates are looked into. Their contributions to our elections and victories are put into consideration.

I mentioned expediency. In past years, some local governments were not represented in the exco. Some of them may come in now while those who have been there in the past would have to wait. That is what is happening. Not all the local governments will be in the exco. It may not be possible. We have about 40 persons to represent about 20 million people. You have to consider a lot of things.

How is the state government, which is the product of the party, carrying along the party in its activities?

This is very apt. Recently, we held a ‘Community Day’ that brought together the communities in Lagos; rural as well as urban communities, were together with the governor and myself at the Ikeja Police College. We interacted in various ways. That is the kind of interaction you are talking about. There are interactive sessions between the governor and the people again. This is done regularly. Every month, he organises meetings so that people can bring to the fore whatever they feel should be done.

How about the House of Assembly. Do they also carry along the party in their activities?

You are talking about the interactions between the House and the party, and their various constituencies. There are constituency meetings.

Members of the House of Assembly go back to their constituencies. That was done about two months ago. The lawmakers were in their constituencies to meet with the people, give account of their stewardship and get feedback.

Lagosians are complaining about service delivery by local governments. How can their capacity by strengthened to foster effective service delivery?

I know the local governments have the capacity to work along the line of programmes laid down by the state government. The local governments need to complement the efforts of the state. They should work with the state to achieve the development of their areas; clearing drainage, making roads, doing all necessary things that are important to the people in their various local governments. We expect them to be working to complement the state government.

How is reconciliation effort in the Lagos APC going?

It is going on fine. It is going on well. The party is also expanding. In a few weeks time, we will invite you to come and see what is happening here. People are coming to the APC, not only the aggrieved members. A lot of PDP members are defecting to the APC. We are inviting you to come and see the positive growth of APC. In few weeks time, you will see the formal

Balogun reception for leaders and prominent members of the PDP who are coming to the APC. Does it mean Lagos State will become a one party state?

It doesn’t follow. It depends on your programmes and how you are implementing it.

See what is happening at the federal level.

APC is implementing a lot of programmes.

They are unprecedented in this country. I will mention some of it. Only five days ago, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, told the world that in about five months, the end of April, there will be the commissioning of railway lines from Lagos to Ibadan.

APC is a strong family in Lagos. The members see themselves as one family.

We don’t discriminate between one local government and the other.

All local governments in Lagos State have a sense of belonging. They will be represented as much as there are vacancies. We make all efforts to ensure that they are equally represented. Expediency comes in. Geographical location comes in. Some appointments are mainly and most of the times based on merit in Lagos State. Of course, the educational background of candidates are looked into.

Their contributions to our elections and victories are put into consideration

It is the first time that kind of thing will be coming up. It is a special railway connection.

It has never happened since independence.

With that kind of railway line; it is not going to stop there. There will be Ibadan to Kano.

This thing will cut across the whole country.

There will be massive construction under the Buhari administration for the next three and half years. It has never happened. It shows you what a progressive government can do and is capable of doing.

This brings me also to what the APC government is doing about the closure of borders. It is unfortunate that the small countries around us were conducting international trade with us in a bad manner. It has been very awkward.

Their names bring smuggling connotation. Go to these border towns, smuggling is a way of life for some of them. Their activities have led to the proliferation of arms. Their activities have fuelled the insurgency. It has affected our local producers. With the closure of borders now, you are able to see the gains. Not only have we been subsidising the oil to these countries through smuggling, their activities have been affecting our local producers. With the closure of borders, we discovered that we have people who can produce local items that we consume here. Poultry farmers are enjoying the closure now. We should encourage our local producers, instead of exposing them to smuggled rice.

The poultry farmers should be encouraged to produce under favourable conditions for local demand. Our rice producers have been showing greater capacity. There should be an atmosphere where their trade will not be brought down by smuggled rice from China and Indonesia. For a long time, there have been smuggling through the borders. We support the closure of the borders. Our local producers should be given the opportunity to produce to feed the nation and thrive.

What is your assessment of the SanwoOlu administration?

In the last six months, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has been implementing his laid down programmes. He has a plan, which he titled: ‘THEMES.’; T stands for transportation and traffic management. H stands for health and comprehensive health insurance. E stands for education and technology. M stands for making Lagos a 21st century state. E stands for entertainment, and making Lagos the centrepiece of African tourism. S stands for

security. The administration is centred on these.

In the area of transportation, he has prepared ground, not only for the use of our roads, he has made efforts to ensure that Lagos makes use of the inland waterways. He has made arrangements for the procurement of some ferries. Some of the jetties in Lagos are being developed. The available ones have been enlarged, extended and consolidated upon for effective use.

He has made appointments to ensure that the tight and innovative people manage these key areas. He has brought on board people who can think for the state and do things in a modern way. Of course, I give credence and commendation to him for the fact that, not only has he been able to tackle traffic gridlock, he identified at a point that we have 60 traffic gridlock points in Lagos and he has been making sure that the gridlock disappears. Of course, he has mended some roads. He has fixed roads where necessary to ensure smooth transportation and ease of movement on the roads. A lot of work has gone into mending roads, filling potholes where necessary. The interconnectivity of various areas in Lagos is being enhanced now.

On the issue of health, he has done a lot in the various hospitals and the teaching hospital.

The effort in education is considerable. He has gone round to see schools that are in bad shape and he has commissioned committees to embark on renovation of schools across the three senatorial districts. That has been going on in the last six months. Kudos to him for the fact that a lot of things are coming on board.

He said Lagos will have the Fourth Mainland Bridge within the period of his administration.

That will be fantastic for Lagos, in terms of transportation of goods and commuting. A lot of things will still come on board. Lagosians will be better for it.

It is gratifying that the governor will be paying the N35,000 minimum wage to workers in Lagos. This underscores his commitment to the welfare of workers. The workers will be motivated by this to increase effectiveness and productivity at work.

Should Lagosians take the governor for his words that after the rainy season, the state will be turned into a huge construction site?

Of course. Go to some of the areas where you notice bad roads, you will see work going on there.

A lot of equipment are there. The work is done in the night to avoid causing untold hardship to motorists and other people. Those areas and points where roads are to be mended are being mended on daily basis. Sometimes, in the day, a lot if work is going on in the state.

I think that is just the beginning. A lot more will come as time goes on.

There are vacant positions in the Lagos State Executive Committee of the APC under your leadership. How and when are they likely to be filled?

There are three vacant positions brought about by the appointment of three members of the committee as members of the State Executive Council by Governor Sanwo-Olu. Commissioner and special advisers are among the three. Those positions will be filled. We have procedures. That procedure must be our guide.

It is not being delayed. We want to ensure that things are done properly and appropriately so as not to run foul of the procedure and the law. They would soon be filled.

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

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POLITICS

‘Why Ondo Ex-Deputy Governor Is Fighting Akeredolu’ The Publicity Secretary of All Progressives Congress, Ondo State in an interview took a swipe at the former Deputy Governor, Alhaji Alli Olanusi over criticisms against Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu-led administration, James Sowole brings excerpts:

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PC has been in the saddle in Ondo State for over two years what are your achievements?

The achievements of APC--led government in Ondo State are enormous. I can tell you confidently that we have fulfilled very largely our electoral promises in less than three years. As at today, the APC government can boast of over 78 Km of roads that are completed with asphalt overlay in three senatorial districts. In Owo, we have completed more than 15km. In Ifon, we have constructed about 6km of roads. Another 18km of road is ongoing in Ute, In Akoko axis, the dualization of Ikare Akoko Road is ongoing; in Ugbe, more than 4km of road had been constructed. The Oke Alabojuto in Ikare had been leveled and the disaster spot reconstructed. In the Central Senatorial District, in Akure, the state capital, more than 28 Km of road had been tarred including the High Court - Hospital Road - Iwalewa Road and so many others. In Idanre Township, a 4.2km road has been constructed. Idanre to Akure, through Ijoka Road, about 18km is on-going. In Ilara Mokin, Oke Ogba, the roads there have been completed.

In the Southern Senatorial Districts, the flyover in Ore would be completed and inaugurated by December. The road network in the Ondo State University of Science and Technology (OSUSTECH), Okitipupa had been completed and another 5.2km roads construction completed in Ile Oluji/ Okeigbo, while Ese-Odo is not left out.

Aside road infrastructure, the chain of industries in Ore, can only be imagined by most state governments in the country. There are three factories that are going to take off simultaneously at the Ore Industrial Park. The factories are being built to create more employment opportunities for our teeming youths, and boost the economy of the state. We are strongly committed to the Deep Sea Port in Ilaje Local Government Area, while government has encouraged investors to commence bitumen exploration. In the education sector, many schools have been built, renovated and reconstructed. In agricultural sector, the Akeredolu-led government has been able to make farming more attractive to our youth.

What is the state of the party in this state as at today?

The Ondo State chapter of APC is very healthy, vibrant, and focused. It is arguably the party to beat in a any election and our confidence is borne out the fact that we have justified the confidence reposed in us by the electorate. If you move round the state, the people will gleefully attest to all the claims I have made so far. The State Working Committee (SWC) under the Chairmanship of Engr. Ade Adetimehin shortly after the election held reconciliatory meetings with the party stalwarts round all the local governments. We met with leaders that were not happy with some decisions. The SWC engaged the executive members at the local government and ward levels; the political appointees and party elders that are genuinely interested in the development of the party, and we identified those who were aggrieved. We have been doing this and it has been giving us results and most of the aggrieved members are now back on board. The Chairman of the party, Adetimehin is a grassroot person, who knows and understands the importance

will get it. That depicts there is a level of closeness between them; it shows that the governor is accessible to leaders like Alhaji Olanusi, who has his ears at all times. The governor does not run a one-man show. I have a feeling that Alhaji Olanusi has a personal grouse against the governor. This ill-feeling is not unconnected with his carryover of emoluments from the previous government. Ordinarily, one would expect that the governor gets kudos rather than knocks for approving the release of almost N150m which was paid to the account of Olanusi. He was encouraged to approach the court, and Mr. Governor acted promptly on the judgment of the court by approving the payment. No sooner was this done than Baba came up with fresh claims that were turned down. The governor advised him to go back to court and get a judgment to that effect. I think that is the crux of the disagreement between the governor and Alhaji Olanusi.

Olanusi

of holding regular meetings. He has been in the game for years and knows what we should be doing to keep our people on the same page.

How would you react to insinuation that if APC in the state goes for an election today, the party may not make any impacts?

APC in Ondo State remains a party to beat in any election. Some of the things I mentioned earlier as our achievements were some of the measures and strategies to ensure we have a walk over during the next governorship election. We have

Ordinarily, one would expect that the governor gets kudos rather than knocks for approving the release of almost N150m which was paid to the account of Olanusi. He was encouraged to approach the court, and Mr. Governor acted promptly on the judgment of the court by approving the payment.

No sooner was this done than Baba came up with fresh claims that were turned down. The governor advised him to go back to court and get a judgment to that effect. I think that is the crux of the disagreement between the governor and Alhaji Olanusi

appealed to all aggrieved members and have resolved to give priority to the interest of the party. There is only one political party that is visible and viable in Ondo state today; and that is APC. We are viable, stable, healthy and organised. We won’t lose sleep over any election. APC in Ondo has proved to the good people of the state that it is here to serve them and to work for them.

We have so many things to showcase in virtually every sector, and this has endeared the party to the people, and have assured us of their consistent support, encouragement, and votes.

The civil servants, for instance, have been receiving their salaries promptly, and we have done so much to ensure that there is no disruption in this arrangement. Those that have been plying the roads and shouting, ‘Halleluyah’ will ensure the government remains in power to keep enjoying more of these infrastructure in the state.

Is it true that Governor Akeredolu does not consult party members before taking decisions?

Put unambiguously, it is not true. The governor consults and meets regularly with the party executives and leaders to fashion out decisions. There is no political appointment made without the consent of the State Secretariat of the party. Governor Akeredolu consults very regularly with the party even on such matter as citing of projects. There is continuous rapport between the party and the government, which, in a any case, is the baby of the party.

If all you have said are true, why did the former deputy governor of the state, Alhaji Alli Olanusi, say that the governor is not accessible and running a one-man show?

I am particularly surprised that the former deputy governor, His Excellency, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, could made some of the statements attributed to him.

Having said that, he confessed in the said interview that if there’s anything he wants from the governor today he

So, he is fighting a personal cause I strongly believe so, but sadly enough, he is using a platform called the Unity Forum. Those who are familiar with the political development of Ondo State, particularly from 1999, would recall that no governor has been spared by him. From Chief Adebayo Adefarati, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, to Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, the trend has been the same, so it would be unusual to expect that Akeredolu would be spared.

There is a belief that Akeredolu may not be given the ticket of the party in 2020 election, how true is this?

APC is a party that is being guided by constitution, and believes in the collective interest of members Although, Governor Akeredolu has not come to the party to discuss second term, but we believe he is a bonafide member of the party, and is constitutionally entitled to it What happens If other members of the APC show interest in the governorship race?

That is the beauty of democracy, and we believe in internal democracy in APC; the more the merrier. They are welcome and I want to believe that some members have been showing and expressing interests for the seat. We will show the world that we are impartial and we will provide a level playing ground for all the aspirants who are interested in the race. Our duty as a party is to ensure that whosoever emerges as the party’s candidate wins the governorship election in the state.

What is the relationship between the APC in the state and the national level?

The relationship is very cordial. You will recall that when the election campaign for Kogi governorship election was being set up, the National Secretariat thought it wise to appoint the state chairman of the party in Ondo State as a member of that electoral campaign.

This shows the level of confidence the national secretariat has in him as a person; and the level of relationship between the national secretariat and Ondo State . So we are together, working towards the same goal to ensure the prosperity, stability of the party whether in the South west, North Central or anywhere in the country.

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FEATURES

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

A Fight against Adulteration David-Chyddy Eleke reports that as the sole franchise owner of the distribution of SC Johnson Kiwi Shoe PolishinNigeria,SamAnyanwutaku,whoistheManagingDirectorofAscoInvestmentsLimited’sjourney has been fraught with fighting adulterated knock offs of the brand

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f there is any challenge faced by SC Johnson, maker of Kiwi brand of shoe polish, it is the activities of fake producers of the brand who adulterate his products. Describing them as economic saboteurs, the representative of the company who spoke during a destruction exercise, in which the court had awarded them right to destroy three truckloads of fake kiwi polish, said those adulterating the products can best be labeled as haters of the country because they destroy the country's economy with their nefarious activities.

The official who refused to disclose his name, because he was not empowered by the company to speak on its behalf, said the adulteration of its product was most prevalent in Nigeria as such problem had not been noticed in other West African and African countries, except Nigeria. He lamented that as acceptable as the Kiwi brand of shoe polish was, adulterators had spoilt their name by importing substandard products branded with its logo and deceiving the unsuspecting public with it.

Speaking unofficially with our reporter, the official said, "These people are smart.

They know our brand is very popular, so instead of manufacturing their product under their registered name, they prefer to import fake products and brand them as Kiwi. They leverage on our quality and the fact that we have spent lots of money on publicity, campaigns, advertorials to make the brand popular, and they just cash in and reap from it. “Can you imagine that this is three trucks of fake product amounting to about 201,600 tins of fake Kiwi shoe polish worth over N42million. And we are going to destroy them here and now, according to court order."

This is not the first time the company would be intercepting and destroying fake products. For years now, the company has had the headache of seeking out fake kiwi polish in various markets and also charging the importers to court and subsequently having the products destroyed.

The man charged with this task is Nigeria's representative of the company, Mr Sam Anyanwutaku. His company Asco Investment Limited is solely charged with the distribution of the product in Nigeria.

He told THISDAY during the destruction exercise that it costs his company a lot of money to seek out the fake products in various markets in Onitsha.

"We pay people to go into the markets, monitor warehouses in various markets and report back to us. This fight has not been easy, but we are determined to protect the quality of our product, and also ensure that the people get the best for choosing kiwi polish. We have had death threats, we have had people confront us and make all manner of threats at us, but we are not deterred because we are fighting a just war. You have just seen three trucks now, consisting of 201,600 tins of polish. The

They will rather fake other people's product instead of starting their own brand.

They know that our product is of high quality and they leverage on the brand name which is already popular, to cheat unsuspecting users

Three trucks of fake Kiwi shoe polish impounded from a warehouse in Onitsha

Mr. Sam Anyanwutaku, distributor of Kiwi shoe polish in Nigeria, gives the peace sign after the fake products were set on ďŹ re

market value of this if they had succeeded is N42million.

"We have set it ablaze as you can see, and imagine the loss the person who imported this into the country has incurred, but I can bet you that they are not relenting, and we are not relenting also. These ones you see are just the ones we were able to seek out, a lot of them may have succeeded in distributing theirs into the market, but we are calling on the adulterators to stop because what they are doing is economic sabotage."

Moved by their unrelenting attitude, Anyanwutaku had previously approached the court and obtained an order for the destruction of fake kiwi polish anywhere

in the country by burning. A Federal Hight Court in Awka, presided over by Justice Bature Gafai had granted the order. In granting the order, Justice Gafai directed that the products be burnt in the presence of a court bailiff, police officers, officials of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and journalists.

So far, just this year, Asco Investment Limited has been able to intercept and destroy fake kiwi polish in their numbers, three times, leveraging on the order of the court. Anyanwutaku, commended the judiciary for the judgement which he noted, will help end the efforts at economic sabotage by the illegal importers.

He said, "This is worrisome. We spend a lot of money to track this importers of

fake kiwi shoe polish.

They will rather fake other people's product instead of starting their own brand name. They know that our product is of high quality and they leverage on the brand name which is already popular, to cheat the unsuspecting users. The fake shoe polish, were intercepted in a warehouse in Onitsha after they were imported by some importers, we don't want to mention their names.

"We must let members of the public know that a good polish is not only meant to make your shoe retain its colour or makes it shine, it is also meant to nourish the leather of your shoe and make it last. So, they must be wary of the products they patronise."

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#THISISNIGERIA Seun-Onigbinde

Border Closure, Import Substitution & Nigeria’s Denial of its Structural Challenge

T

he pronouncement by the government directing the CBN to stop providing foreign exchange for importation of food should require rigorous interrogation. What is unfortunate is the worn-out narrative that removing the importers from the “official� FX list will spur domestic production and also conserve foreign currency. This is partly untrue. We have also taken this further with border closure, fully expanding the import substitution policy of the current government.

We must dig deep to understand the real issues. What sucks Nigerian currency and what constitutes Nigeria’s external reserves? In the 2018 trade report as presented by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s imports were put N13.17tn ($43.18bn). Compare these imports to African peers such as Egypt (2017: $64bn) and South Africa (2017: $82bn), Nigeria’s imports are relatively low. However, what makes the bulk of Nigeria’s import? It is not food. According to NBS, in 2018, 30.16% of Nigeria exports is linked to imported fuel.

Nigeria mostly operates a trade surplus (exports higher than imports) and in the sixteen quarters between 2015 and 2018, it only experienced trade deficit thrice, mainly during the difficult period of recession, especially when oil prices tanked across the globe. When oil prices dropped in 1981, 2009 & 2014, we were witnesses to how the economy ran aground. The currency weakened, growth slumped, and we faced FX shortage except in 2009 when we had excess crude reserves to intervene.

The current policy of the Federal Government as directed to the CBN points back to the existential issue that Nigeria tries to run away from. Nigeria’s external reserves vulnerability is largely linked to two elements - the continuous dependence of foreign exchange earnings from oil exports and a surge in portfolio investments,

which are taking advantage of Nigeria’s equity and bond offerings.

The issue of basing restricting FX from CBN for importers is to constantly dodge from the main issue of Nigeria’s severe dependence on oil exports. In 2018, 96.2% of Nigeria’s official exports was linked to oil. In 2016, where Nigeria faced severe FX challenges that finally resulted in devaluation, it was because oil prices tanked.

Why is Nigeria not focusing on the core issues of balancing its export portfolio? What will the removal of agricultural imports (raw and processed) valued at $4.9bn, being 11.34% of the entire import bill do when oil prices slip?

Nigeria external reserves are also vulnerable to sudden repatriation of funds by portfolio investors.

In 2018, out of the $16.8bn capital imported into Nigeria, $11.8bn (70%) was linked to portfolio investments, largely invested in money market instruments. As analysts continue to point out that the US might largely land itself in recession in Q4 2019, there is a tendency for the huge outflow of funds as capital managers will request a recall in an era of panic. While Nigeria could do better to seek more Foreign Direct Investments, pronouncements such as a political entity such as the Presidency, openly influencing monetary policy will not sit well with long-term investors. In fact, this might be more dangerous to the narrative of seeking more FX into the country. While FG might have other motives of boosting using such policies to boost domestic production and provide employment, the continuous over-reach of thinking it can use import substitution to fix its structural issues around oil dependence is wrong.

Nigeria has agricultural exports that are currently on the incredible upward swing. For example, Nigeria’s agricultural exports have grown from N60bn in 2016 t0 N170bn in 2017 to N302bn in 2018, showing huge potential with such rapid scale despite its smallness. Why is the Nigerian government not doubling its effort on smoothening the

process of exports which improves standardization, ports, business registration, packaging and other value-added processing? For example, Nigeria exports N33bn worth of sesame seed in Q4 2018 and while there is a continuous demand for this in light of the recent spat between US and China, isn’t this a space that Nigeria with improved agriculture practices can take advantage of?

It is a dangerous approach for a country to push agenda on import substitution as most countries that tried this methodology found that expanding exports and seeking new markets is sustainable to keep the economy afloat, import foreign capital and provide jobs on a massive scale.

China, South Korea, Japan and so on have seen that autarky that comes with import restriction does not scale the income level of countries, neither does it raise standards. China became the global economic superpower because of its export status and title as “workshop of the world�.

I have maintained that the extreme poverty you see in Nigeria is because its people do too little to sell to the world. Vietnam, China India are doing their all to plug into the global marketplace because after China shut its border for years, it found out that export-led growth in a diversified manner is most sustainable way out of extreme poverty.

I am not for smuggling and practices of unfair trade but if we look deeply, have our own institutions not failed? Is the answer to smuggling solely the closure of borders? We need to get our neighbours to act right, but this is an indictment on our institutions and failure of our infrastructure.

We deserve to have varied trade practices but our obsession around rice is just comical. There's no compulsion about why we should eat the rice we produce. Every country chooses to protect certain products but that's in the context of a larger strategy around exports. If the comparative advantage of our land is to export sesame seed, soybean or cow milk, why not give this intense focus?

There is a more important reason why we aren’t

aggressively targeting exports and we are excited in this frenzy of import substitution. We have wasted our years of growth and right now, we aren't ready to accelerate our reform. An export-led economy is extremely competitive, so you have to get the infrastructure (ports & access roads), processing, business registration and standardization, education, the skilled economy right. We aren't ready for that hard work with all the elements moving at the same pace.

So, in the end, we hope for $40bn exports (still dominated by oil) and maybe $25bn in imports (less food and refined crude imports), that's what I mean by playing and thinking small. Analysts would say I am asking us to walk before we crawl but targeting exports as a policy is not sudden work but the signalling must be clear.

However, we can continue to drag with the Benin Republic with 11m population and a $10bn economy or just learn how China's boat lifted smaller economies around it such as Vietnam (with over $200bn in exports). The world is aggregating towards the influence of large economies. This is not our time to think small, but we are playing on a short-term strategy that packs emotive nationalist arguments.

What Nigeria needs is the discipline that export systems bring along in terms of skills development, operational excellence and product development.

Managing imports keeps Nigeria’s fry small and circles resources around a country with poor and disparate income levels. Nigeria has an export problem with its immense dependence on oil and without solving this existential issue through rigorous thinking, it will continue to wonder how development keeps eluding it. Just because it continuously seeks quick exits rather than confronting its existential problem- the severe dependence of its economy on oil, a volatile commodity. t4FVO 0OJHCJOEF JT UIF DP 'PVOEFS BOE %JSFDUPS PG #VEH*5

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

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Quick Takes Group to Launch Innovation Sandbox

The Financial Services Innovation Association (FSI), supported by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems Plc (NIBSS), the Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) and Flourish (a member of the OmidyarNetwork),willnextweeklaunchthemuchawaitedindustryinnovationsandboxinNigeria.Thesandboxisintendedtolowerthebarriers toinnovationinthefintechindustryforyounginnovatorsacrossthecountry inourdrivetomakeNigeriaagloballeaderinfinancialservicesinnovation.

AccordingtotheChairmanofFSI,IyinAboyeji, thedeveloperswouldbeabletotesttheirideasinthesandboxandthen decidewhethertobeafull-fledgedfintechcompanylicensedbytheCBNor positionthemselvesforpartnershiporacquisitionbyanexistinglicensed financialservicesprovider. “WhatevertheirdecisiontheFSIwillprovidesupportandguidancethat ensuresthemostinnovativeproductscometolife,�thestatementadded.

TheEFInA’sFinancialInclusionConferencewilltakeplaceinLagosonthe 9thofDecember2019.

The topic for discussion at the second session would be, “The Promise of Digital Financial Inclusion – Jobs, Jobs and More Jobs,� and would examine the economic impact and transformational benefits digital financeinclusionoffers.

Vivo Supports Nigerian Phone Market

COURTESY VISIT

L-R: Director, West Africa, Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft(DEG), Bernhard Tilemann; Ambassador of Germany to Nigeria, Ms. Birgitt Ory; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, and Managing Director/Member of the Management Board, DEG, Monika Beck, during a courtesy call on Osinbajo in Abuja‌recently

NCC Directed to Implement Executive Orders on Contract Awards Stories by Emma Okonji Following complaints from industry stakeholders that the awards of telecommunications contracts have been lopsided, and that most indigenous companies in the sector have been sidelined from getting telecoms contracts, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami has mandated the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), to adhere strictly to the provisions of the Executive Orders 003 and 005 as contained in the Presidential directives of 1st May 2017 and 12th February 2018 respectively, in awarding contracts in the sector.

TELECOM According to a statement signed by the spokesperson to the minister, Mrs. Uwa Suleiman, stakeholders had drawn the attention of the minister to the non-compliance of the sector regulator with the policy, as a result of which indigenous companies in the sector have continued to be sidelined. “The Executive Orders 003 of 2017 and 005 of 2018, were specifically enacted to give impetus to the Local Content Development and Promotion drive of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration as the telecommunications sub-sector is one of the most important.�

“Executive Order 003, which is aimed at supporting local content in public procurement by the federal government of Nigeria, expressly states that, all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) shall grant preference to local manufacturers of goods and service providers, in their procurement of goods and services. Executive Order 005 which was signed by President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, on 12th February 2018, however, is even more specifically directed at the sector. “The document titled Planning and Execution of Projects and Promotion of Nigerian Content in Contracts of Science, Engineering and Technology,

directed all MDAs to engage indigenous professionals in the planning, design and execution of national security projects and maximise in-country capacity in all contracts and transactions with Science, Technology and Engineering components,� the statement added.

Pantami, therefore said: “In the light of this, it is our obligation to entrench the rule of law and ensure as much as possible that National Security Infrastructure and information is domiciled locally with local companies as a first choice, and indigenous innovation is developed by adhering to the tenets of the Executive Orders Continued on page 24

Institute Pushes for Repositioning of Ministry of Information The Institute of Information Management (IIM) is advocating for the transformation and repositioning of the Ministry of Culture and Information for effective data management.

The President and Chairman Governing Council of the Institute, Dr. Oyedokun Ayodeji, made this known at a media briefing held in Lagos recently.

He also called for the establishment of National Information Management Development Agency (NIMDA)) for a better data and information governance regime in the country.

According to Ayodeji, “The

TELECOM National Information Management Stakeholders’ Forum would like to recommend the need for the Ministry of Information and Culture to be transformed and repositioned to enable it take its rightful position as it concerns data, information, records, archives, and contents management in Nigeria. “We need a possible separation of the Ministry from Culture and the ultimate establishment of a relevant agency (National Information Management Development

Agency (NIMDA)) which will be tasked with managing the Information Lifecycle of data, information, documents, contents and archives generated by all government agencies, ensuring enabling standards, specifications, processes, laws, and policies are in place for a good data and information governance regime in the country. “The agency will set the standards and ensure that qualified and certified personnel are assigned to the management of government data and information. Developing and promoting best practices in

government business processes and providing adequate training and monitoring for data and information management personnel in government, is key.�

Ayodeji said the proposed agency would ensure that all government MDAs comply with standards, processes, procedures, and specifications as it applies to data, information, records, content, and archives use, classification, storage, collaboration, retention, and disposition. He added that the proposed agency would work Continued on page 24

Vivomobilephonemakerhassaiditwillcontinuallyprioritisetheneeds ofitsconsumersintheNigerianphonemarketbyplacingapremiumon innovationinallitsproductsdesignedfortheNigerianmarket.

AccordingtoVivo,themobilephonemarketinNigeriahaswitnessedmany competitionssinceitsemergenceintotheNigerianmarketin2000and onlyafewmobilephonebrandshavebeenabletosurvivethecompetition.

Inovertenyears,Nigeriahaswelcomedanumberofmobilephonebrands, hencethelikesofVivo,OppoandXiaomirecentlyjoinedintherace.

Sinceitsglobaldebutin2009,vivohasproducedandshippedwellover 10millionsmartphonedevicesaroundtheworldwitheachdeviceboasting new unique features. An example is the vivoV7 and V7plus devices launchedattheMobileWorldCongressandwerethefirstsmartphones to spot an elevating 24MP front camera from APEX. In January 2018, vivoonceagainintroducedthefirstIn-DisplayFingerprintsensorandthe featcameatatimewhentheindustrystandardwashavingafingerprint sensoreitherattherearofthedeviceoronthehomebutton.Justrecently, theyintroducedyetanotherfeaturewithitslatestdevice–theV17Pro

Founder Institute Elevates Agbata

Founder Institute, a Silicon Valley based pre-seed Accelerator has announcedtheelevationofChukwuemekaFredAgbataJnr,aNigerian,to the position of Regional Director. Agbata’s appointment came barely less than a year, after he was selected, as one of the four Directors of FounderInstitute(FI),Lagos.

The Lagos chapter of Founder Institute graduated 21 founders, from its first cohort, after a rigorous 14-week session. Founders, who have experienced,aNavySeal-likecurriculumandtrainingarebetterequipped to add value to both the Nigerian and the African continent, with their innovativesolutions.

Thejourneyofthefounders,throughtheFounderInstitutesessions,didnot gounnoticed,asStanbicIBTC,recentlyannounceditslatestpartnership, withtheSiliconValley-basedInstitute.

Firm Launches Electronic Logistics

Funnel Logistics Technologies Limited, Nigeria’s pioneer e-logistics technology company has launched its electronic courier aggregation platform – FunnelThe platform, which is an electronic facilitator for efficient and seamless request/fulfilment of deliveries through the best courieroperatorsacrossNigeria.

The Funnel technology platform brings together customers in need of courierservicesandadiverserangeofcourierserviceoperatorsatvery competitiverates.SubscribersontheFunnelplatformcanrequesttohave theirparcelspicked-upanddeliveredbytheirpreferredcourierservices athighlydiscountedrates.

Speaking at the launch, the Chief Executive Officer at Funnel Logistics Technologies Ltd said, Mr. Tunde Oloyede, said: “We are excited to be launching this pioneer service in Nigeria.The Funnel platform provides innovativesolutionstoeaseNigerians’everydaylast-milelogisticspain points. At Funnel, our mission is to be the primary electronic facilitator forefficientrequest/fulfilmentofdeliveriesacrossAfrica�.

“As at 2001, Nigeria was lagging behind counties like Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Tunisia, who were already having 2G services in their countries, but today, Nigeria has overtaken these countries with the deployment of 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G technologies�

Chairman, MTN Board,

Dr. Ernest Ndukwe

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BUSINESSWORLD NCC DIRECTED TO IMPLEMENT EXECUTIVE ORDERS ON CONTRACT AWARDS outlined above.�

Pantami, in line with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) Policy also as directed the sector regulator to immediately, review the telecommunications sub-sector activities and give top priority and preference to Nigerian companies, with the requisite skills and qualifications; provide an enabling environment for local capacity to develop through collaborations with foreign companies, in the event that the contract is awarded to a foreign company, where indigenous capacity is lacking; and ensure that patronage of indigenous content, as outlined in the Executive Orders are complied with, in the sub-sector.

INSTITUTE PUSHES FOR REPOSITIONING OF MINISTRY OF INFORMATION with other relevant government agencies in ensuring appropriate information management and technology tools are deployed at all government MDAs for effective information security and governance, among others.

He noted that the pace of change and the challenges of the digital era, propel new opportunities despite the new risks.

Ayodeji stated that strong leadership, governance and professionalism in data, information, records, contents and knowledge management were key, to seizing opportunities and meeting the challenges ahead.

The IIM President noted that government and a good number of organisations were yet to regard data and information as essential corporate assets, with a clear understanding of the difference between information technology and information management.

He insisted that there was need for the industry to effectively and consistently engage the Ministry of Information and Culture, as effective data and information governance would go a long way in ensuring the success of the initiative for an effective National Digital Economy Policy implementation.

NEWS

Adegbite: FG to Offer Incentives to Mining Companies Kasim Sumaina in Abuja

establishment of the defunct Makeri Smelting Company and Nigerian Coal Corporation with attendant infrastructural and employment generation coupled with the current exploit in limestone exploitation for cement manufacturing are great pointers that the country’s downstream mineral development was a possibility and could be sustained if deliberate policies are enacted and implemented.

He said the bad mining

deals that had plagued the nation in the past, especially as it relates to the legal logjam bedeviling the Ajaokuta Steel Company and others would be resolved by the enactment and enforcement of good policies and legislations to sustainable development of our various minerals downstream initiatives.

According to him, for too long, Nigeria had been unwittingly exporting wealth and employment, by not adding

value to our mineral sectors. “That mineral supply chains are essential to everyday life, from the technology, smartphones and computers, to the cars and even the homes we live in. “They are also crucial in the ministry’s efforts to promote a more sustainable and inclusive growth. “We are therefore taking a hard look at the potential for downstream processes to benefit from these enviable

mineral resources. “I expect a draft of clear policies that are implementable and enforceable at the end of this workshop. “We are willing to give good incentives of lowering export levies for mining companies that are willing to commit to developing processing and refining facilities and give licensing supports to any investors who meet our mineral downstream criteria,�

Adegbite said.

The federal government has disclosed its willingness to give incentives to mining companies by lowering export levies for firms that are ready to commit to developing, processing, refining facilities and give licencing support to any investors who meet its mineral downstream criteria.

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Olamilenka Adegbite, disclosed this during his opening speech at the first ever downstream mineral value chain policy workshop, in Abuja.

According to him, “We are witnessing increasing efforts to promote responsible management of mineral supply value chains at the global level through impactful publicprivate platforms. “This is why the ministry has spearheaded this policy initiative in collaboration with the Lagos Business School (LBS) and the Mineral sector support for economic diversification (MINDIVER).�

He said no doubt, that the mineral downstream holds great opportunities for entrepreneurs from other sectors to participate in the mining value chain.

To this end, he promised to change the narrative by enacting policies to help develop the downstream industries that add value to mineral resources, such as beneficiation, smelting and refining in the country.

Adegbite, explained that the county’s past experience L-R: Organiser, Top50 Brand Nigeria and Project Director #IAMBRANDNIGERIA, Taiwo Oluboyede; Acting Director, Marketing, in the development of tin ore 9mobile, Layi Onafowokan, with the Top50 Brand Nigeria Award plaque won by 9mobile; and Head, Regulatory Aairs, Arinze PHOTO: ETOP UKUTT and coal value chain by the Chidozie at the Top50 Brand Nigeria Awards and Gala held in Lagos recently

SPECIAL RECOGNITION

‘How Konga Will Break e-Commerce Sales Record’ Stories by Emma Okonji Africa Chair for IEEE-World Forum on Internet of Things (IoTs), Dr. Chris Uwaje, has declared that foremost e-Commerce giant, Konga will beat the record for the biggest single day sales in the near future.

Uwaje, made the disclosure in an interaction with the media recently.

The Co-founder and former President of the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON) was reacting to the figure of $38 billion set

by Chinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba for its 2019 Singles’ Day sales. “One day - very soon -, Konga will smash the ecommerce biggest day-sale record. If you follow the strides recorded by Konga within the past 18 months, you will agree with me that it’s only a matter of time before Alibaba’s Singles Day sales record is within reach,� Uwaje said.

Equally important, Singles’ Day has grown steadily to become a global sales phenomenon.

Launched in 2009, Singles’

Day has become China’s version of US online sale event Cyber Monday; which follows America’s Thanksgiving holiday. Furthermore, analysts monitor sales on Singles’ Day to gauge consumer sentiment in China. This year’s sale was closely followed across the world.

The Chinese shopping festival is held on Nov. 11 and is also referred to as Double Eleven because of the date – incidentally the same day on which Konga flagged off its annual Black Friday sales known as Konga Yakata.

Furthermore, Uwaje, a fellow of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), has credited the management of Konga for creating a thriving brand which all Nigerians should be proud of. “The management of the new Konga has created a massive brand out of Africa.

Today, Konga Yakata, its version of the globally celebrated Black Friday sales, has become undoubtedly the sales event in the annual shopping calendar in Nigeria. “Also, Konga boasts arguably the best brains in technology

in Nigeria, even more than any bank in the country. This is due to its cutting-edge team of engineering talent at its disposal. “The touching aspect of the Konga miracle is the fact that, if not for the intervention of the Zinox Group which stepped in to acquire the business from its erstwhile owners, Nigeria would have suffered huge brain drain. Although Naspers admittedly made the initial investment in Nigeria, Nigerians are now the beneficiaries of the massive revolution taking place in Konga,� he added.

‘MainOne’s Submarine Cable Ready for Service in Cote d’Ivoire’ Group Business Editor

Obinna Chima

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

Senior Correspondent

Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents

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

Nume Ekeghe (Money Market) Nosa Alekhuogie (ICT)

MainOne has announced that its submarine cable in Cote d’Ivoire is live and ready for service. The project, notable for being the first commercial cable system in service to deploy spectrum sharing capabilities, will offer capabilities to deepen infrastructure sharing and lower the cost of delivering broadband services to the region.

MainOne’s entry into the Cote d’Ivoire market is expected to facilitate worldclass infrastructure availability and accessibility that meets

market needs at any time.

The network would ensure its customers continue to enjoy maximum uptime performance and reduced latency as the company increases bandwidth capacity and maintain direct connections to various regional and global Internet Exchanges including the Nigerian Internet Exchange (IXPN), Ghanaian Internet Exchange (GIX), London Internet Exchange (LINX) and Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMSIX).

The company’s network will deliver affordable and

scalable broadband services, together with secured and reliable solutions, providing support services for service providers in Cote d’Ivoire.

This will offer optimised Internet connectivity for business, as well as providing point-to-point International Private Leased Circuit (IPLC) communication services for businesses and enterprises, riding on its submarine cable along West Africa to the rest of the world.

Speaking on the impact of MainOne’s services in Cote d’Iviore, the Regional

Executive, MainOne, Kazeem Oladepo, stated that, “We remain committed to providing infrastructure and connectivity services that support the digitisation journey and economic development of the region. “Our investment into Cote d’Ivoire will see MainOne contributing to the growth of the local economy, by serving enterprises and telecommunication providers with world-class connectivity solutions and data center expertise.�

MainOne’s submarine cable

is the first private subsea cable to deliver open-access, broadband capacity to West Africa in 2010, heralding the explosion in Internet access witnessed in the region. The MainOne system traverses the coast of West Africa with fully operational landing stations from Seixal in Portugal through Accra in Ghana to Lagos in Nigeria, the addition of new branches in Dakar, Senegal and Grand Bassam, Cote d’Ivoire and additional branching units in Morocco and Tenerife yet to be connected.

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Startups Pitch to Top UK, African Venture Capitalists Stories by Emma Okonji Google recently hosted its first Google Startup Week in Lagos, which saw its Launchpad Accelerator Africa graduates from across Africa, pitch for funding from some of Africa and the United Kingdom’s top venture capitalists (VCs).

The Google Startup Week also showcased Launchpad Accelerator Africa class 4 graduating from the

programme. Select alumni from classes 1, 2 and 3, just returned from a three-month Google for Startups UK Africa Immersion Programme in London. It is a 12-week immersion programme designed to bring the best of Google and the London startup ecosystem to tech companies from Africa that do not yet have a presence in the UK. In partnership with Launch-

pad Accelerator Africa, the programme aims to connect high potential early stage startups with the dedicated support of Google for Startups UK to help them take their startup to the next level.

Head of Google for Startups UK, Marta Krupinska, said: “Every year, Africa’s economic growth continues to strengthen. Google for Startups has put its weight behind

supporting the continent’s startups as they continue to build great products tackling key global social issues. This is an incredibly exciting space which is very relevant to UK ecosystem and investors.�

Having completed their London Immersion, Launchpad Accelerator Africa Class 1, 2 and 3 alumni met with investors from the UK and Africa during Google Startup

Week in Lagos to pitch for funding to take their businesses further.

Launchpad Accelerator Africa Class 4 graduated last week, as part of the Google Startup Week activities. Class 4 comprises 12 startups from six countries, addressing six different sectors.

Google Startup Week also saw participants from all 4 classes get a chance to meet,

engage with each other, and share their experiences for the first time.

Class 4’s startups have collectively raised $4.3 million, created over 300 jobs and signed up over 110 000 users.

They had collectively raised in excess of $600 000 before the programme, and have been able to use Launchpad Accelerator Africa to scale their businesses to new levels.

Cisco to Empower SMEs in Nigeria, West Africa Determined to accelerate digital transformation in Nigeria and other West African countries, Cisco, a global technology firm, has demonstrated its commitment to grow small and medium enterprises (SMEs), through its provision of simple, secure and flexible portfolio of solutions.

The initiative to empower small businesses was disclosed at a media roundtable, which held in Lagos recently.

Built under the Cisco “Designed for Business� brand, the small business portfolio delivers the right products at the right price for small businesses to thrive. To further accelerate growth, Cisco is doubling partner investments in Nigeria and creating an easy and frictionless experience for both partners and customers with faster response times and immediate access to expertise.

Commenting at the Small Business media roundtable, General Manager of Cisco Nigeria and West African Countries, Mr. Olakunle Oloruntimehin, said, “Today, every business around

the world is in a position where they have to strategize in order to stay ahead of the competition. At Cisco, we have become dedicated to helping these small businesses leverage emerging technologies to accelerate their growth, thereby providing a fair ground where every business no matter their size, can access the opportunity to realise the full potential of digitisation in their operations�.

Small Business Manager of Cisco West Africa, Lela OmoIkirodah, said: “About 90 per cent of businesses worldwide could be considered small or medium sized businesses. We at Cisco carried out some intense research to see what we can do globally to cater to this market, and I must say that Cisco is increasing the focus on small businesses globally. “The Cisco Designed for Business portfolio delivers the right products at the right price for small businesses. It also provides increased investment in partner programs to incentivise partners who are focused in the small business space.�

Stanbic IBTC Promotes Technology for Social Change Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, a member of Standard Bank Group, has reaffirmed its commitment to promoting technological initiatives and fostering partnerships that will result in better living conditions for the citizenry.

Group Head, Marketing and Communications, Stanbic IBTC, Mrs. Bridget Oyefeso-Odusami, made this assertion at the breakfast session held in Lagos recently Oyefeso-Odusami’s comments were coming on the heels of a presentation by Mr. Ahmad Modibbo, Founder/ CEO NorthEast Humanitarian Innovation Hub (NEIH), a social enterprise, on the firm’s involvement in a technological project that produces 3D prosthetic limbs for individuals who have lost their limbs.

According to Mr. Modibbo, the 3D prosthetic limb gives beneficiaries a new lease of life and an opportunity to contribute to the development of the society.

He added that while the 3D prosthetics was a cheaper option to conventional prosthetics, it also has a robotics feature for improved functionality.

Expressing her delight at the initiative, Oyefeso-Odusamin

drew comparisons between the project and a scheme initiated by Stanbic IBTC. She said: “Stanbic IBTC also has an initiative which we call Together4ALimb through which the organisation has provided prosthetic limbs and education trust funds to cater to the needs of children who have lost their limbs. Over the last five years, Stanbic IBTC has supported 30 children through this initiative and we will continue to lend support to this cause, because we pride ourselves in making progress real.�

Oyefeso-Odusami further commended the Techplus team for devoting the 2019 edition to exploring ways of utilising technology for social change and development of Nigeria.

The theme of this year’s edition, which had Stanbic IBTC as a sponsor, was “Digital Social Innovation: The future is ours to change�.

Oyefeso-Odusami applauded Techplus team for its unrelenting efforts at promoting the good use of technology in Nigeria.

She further stated that the developments in Nigeria’s technological space has the potential to steer a positive narrative for the country.

SME DEVELOPMENT

L-R: EMEAR Commercial Regional Manager, Cisco, Steven Kewley; Small Business Manager, Cisco West Africa, Lela Omo-Ikirodah; Small Business Manager, sub-Saharan Africa, Shelly Wanless, and General Manager, Cisco West Africa, Olakunle Oloruntimehin, at a media roundtable ahead of the Cisco Small Business Summit holding in Lagos‌recently

Experts Identify Ways to Deepen Financial Inclusion The burden of delivering financial inclusion to the last mile, calls for strategic participation of all industry stakeholders in the ecosystem, so as to deliver value propositions that will deepen financial services culture for the benefit of the citizenry.

These were the views of participants at the 2019 Mobile Money Conference, organised recently by the Association of Licensed Mobile Payment Operators (ALMPO) in Lagos, with the theme: ‘Beyond Payments.’ Chairman of ALMPO, Chinedu Onuoha, noted that the aims of financial inclusion should not be limited to payments and receiving of money only.

He stated that financial services should be made to cover areas that are germane for the average citizen if we are to achieve the objectives

of financial inclusion.

He explained that financial services should be all encompassing and focused on rendering everyday services that go beyond payments services. “The theme of this year’s conference aptly captures the general direction of the industry. We are of the opinion, and rightfully so, that for the objectives of financial inclusion to be realized, we must go beyond payments, as we try to attract more people into formal financial services. “We are aware that the financial needs of the average citizen are much more than pay and receive. People want to save and earn interest. “They want to participate in pensions, they need some form of insurance, and many more. We also know that for all of this to realized, there must be adequate security and trust

in the system.�

Onuoha called for collaboration of security and other government agencies, which according to him, would create the right synergy that will secure the payment system and provide adequate protection to operators as they go about their business.

Deputy Governor, Financial Systems Stability, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Aishah Ahmad, stated that mobile money remained vital to CBN as a regulator and as such, they are open to suggestions on the way forward, without holding on to rigid regulations.

Ahmad, who was represented by the Assistant Director, Payments System Management Department at CBN, Aisha Isa-Olatinwo, noted that since estimated reports show that Nigeria has over 100 million unique mobile numbers, if

mobile money operations work, there will be over 100 million subscribers.

She enjoined everybody present at the conference to work together to create a success story that will be beneficial to the ecosystem and the entire citizenry.

Group CEO, BlueTag Group, Uzo Eziukwu, in his keynote address, said Mobile Money was fast becoming Africa’s legacy to the world, using Kenya’s MPESA as a typical example, performing about 1.7 billion transactions per year and making up to 50 per cent of Kenya’s GDP. He revealed that there were over 120 Mobile Money Operators (MMOs) in sub-Saharan Africa and they came into Nigeria in 2010 with a focus to drive financial inclusion and as an adjunct to mainstream banking.

9mobile Promises Enhanced Customer Experience Telecom company, 9mobile, has introduced exciting new data plans and revamped its existing ones to enable customers on the network enjoy more value for their money.

The initiative is to enable 9mobile customers have more data to stay online and enjoy superior browsing and streaming experience, as quality data just got more affordable.

9mobile is offering new and existing customers on the network an amazing increase in value at the same

price while also introducing aggressively priced new data offers to ensure that all segments of customers can enjoy the superior online browsing and streaming experience from the network.

Acting Director, Marketing at 9mobile, Layi Onafowokan, in a statement, disclosed that customers can dial *200*3*1# to enjoy the enticing data offers available as daily, 3-day, weekly, and monthly plans.

He said subscribers would now enjoy exciting new data

plans like 1GB plus free access to social media sites such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, valid for 1 day at just N300 or 2GB plus free access to social media sites valid for three days at just N500 Onafowokan further added that customers interested in the weekly plans could go for a whooping 7GB plus free access to social media sites valid for seven days at just N1,500 or get 15gb for N5000 valid for 30days if they prefer

the monthly plans. “We are a caring network that believes in showing love to our customers especially in this season of giving. We want them to be able to browse and stream online without the fear of quickly exhausting their data and having to spend more. We believe doing this will boost the internet experience of our customers across the country.

The beauty of this revamp is that it’s not limited to a few packages; it involves all our data plans,�Onafowokan said.

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Titinger: Compliance with Cyber Laws Will Address Security Breaches Partner at CyberDome, Mr. Eyal Titinger, speaks about the implications of the high rate of global security breaches and the need for organisations to constantly review their online security policies and comply with the Nigerian Cyber Act and regulations, to address such breaches.

Emma Okonji brings the excerpts:

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implementation of these regulations.

Regulations are key, but we must execute implementation and expertise.

hat are the dangers of cybersecurity in Nigeria and why is it that most organisations, especially financial institutions are into non-disclosure of security breaches?

According to Section 21 of the Cyber law, it is very important for organisations to inform the public of any breach of security. We do know that breaches happen, which can be due to many factors which could be from inside or outside of the organisation, and the law is clear on this. These breaches should, as a matter of transparency, be known to the public.

It is never good to have secrets, they are hard to keep. In terms of the broader picture of Nigeria as a nation, every person has a right to know that he has been breached, and there should be laws in place to support that. I also think that organisations that adopt this policy of disclosure – would build tremendous trust with their customers.

There is a paradigm shift in cybersecurity from capital expenditure to operating expenditure. As cybersecurity expert, what is your take on this?

The capital expenditure (capex) and operating expenditure(opex) transition reflect a global trend, as we see the intensive transition to the cloud. In our case, this is even more significant, even if we assume that the organisation has enough money to build such a cybersystem, regular maintenance, renewable licences, and building capacity. All these can kill the cyber operation, and don’t forget, this is not even the core business of this organisation, CyberDome has a multi-million dollar investment in cyber technology, we have a very innovative centre located in Abuja, and our team has the expertise.

What is CyberDome all about and what do you offer?

CyberDome is a Cybersecurity and research firm located in Abuja with branches in Israel and the United States.

We provide bespoke cyber services such as analysis, critical infrastructure and defence mechanisms. Every cyber solution we have is tailored to the organisation’s specific threat landscape, as well as their industry and market to enable them to anticipate breaches before they occur. The platform that we set up for each client provides them with the ability to respond quickly, decisively and effectively. CyberDome maintains an up to date threat intelligence database from all over the world and real-time discovery of cyber-attacks. We are constantly adding new technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovations to our portfolio to keep ahead of the curve.

The CyberDome is a next-generation Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP).

We are currently the only facility in the country today offering twofold; it is a round the clock security monitoring and advanced data breach prevention services with full-service solutions portfolio to meet all security risks. We deploy also, the complete installation of Cyber Security Operations Centers (SOC) at the client’s site or to enable CyberDome to provide on-site services on behalf of the client. In the area of capacity building, CyberDome’s Academy courses are certified. We provide capacity building and all trainings are customized based on the organisation’s needs.

Cybersecurity is a peculiar and sensitive area of information technol-

In the area of expertise, do you think that organisations are doing more in the area of cybersecurity. What advice do you have for them?

Well, my advice is simple, I will advise that they concentrate on their core business and leave their cybersecurity protection for people like us to handle it for them.

In today’s world, organisations are tilting towards outsourcing and we have organisations that can handle this cyber security for these firms. Let the competent hands take care of this on or off premises. So concentrate on your core business. You do not need to put so much resources or funding in cybersecurity today. The best thing organisations should do is to outsource and let the professionals handle it.

Titinger

ogy. What will make organisations outsource part of their cyber operations to organisation like CyberDome?

We do not have the credentials of the customer; we only analyze the logs.

This is one thing that differentiates us from the rest. Unlike others, we only analyse logs, we do not ask for login credentials. This has made a lot of people have confidence in us.

How can customers decide between a managed security services and an on-premise solution?

The customer should ask himself if he is ready to pay the high initial capital investment and operational costs of an individual on-site cyber solution. Is he ready to increase his workforce to handle the demand of on-premise cyber department? Does his team dedicate the appropriate amount of time to reviewing logs and customizing alerts without impacting daily operations? Does he have the right workforce to deal with him? If they answered no to any of these questions, then their organisations may want to consider managed security services.

By working with CyberDome, customers will have 24/7 security support, with a tailored cyber solution aligned with their business goals and objectives, at an affordable price, with no need for upfront investment. And with the shortage of cyber professionals, staffing the operations are completely our responsibility.

Are you in line with Nigerian Cyber Act and Regulations?

Apart from being a top-notch Cybersecurity firm that is focused on providing innovative cyber security solutions in Nigeria, we are a combination of Israeli and Nigerian. We are a fully Nigerian firm located in Abuja that ensures that we adhere strictly to the laws and regulations of the country. We offer cybersecurity as a service in this country. According to Nigeria Information Technology Develop-

ment Agency (NITDA) we are mandated to have all the data domiciled in Nigeria, we are in tune with this mandate. As a Nigerian firm, we ensure that we localise our solutions to suit the Nigerian firms.

Our entire database is in Nigeria and this is in line with the Nigerian cyber act law and NITDA. We have invested so much in Nigeria that we want Nigerians to experience, the expertise, technology and service.

Most people push updates as a standard procedure, but from your solution you have a bouquet of cybersecurity solutions. Can you explain more?

Our security solution is based on the most innovative technologies available in the market today, with highly experienced and highly skilled people and if you come to us, we will provide you with the protection that you need in a short time. You connect to our platform and it will fulfil its mandate. As a customer all you need is tell us what you want, you don’t even need to pay anything until you see how our solution works. I know that in Nigeria, there is a lot of cyber talk, but perhaps a little less doing in terms of its complexities. We cover the entire life cycle of security operations: prevention, detection, response and investigation.

As cybersecurity expert and stakeholder, what is your view about the Nigeria Cybersecurity Act. Is it in tandem with what is applicable in other climes?

Well, Nigeria is in good shape as it pertains to the regulations, but we are a little bit lacking in the implementation and in the ability to catch the criminals.

This implementation requires technology and expertise, as per Nigerian data protection regulations and cyber act laws. But overall, Nigerian security laws are great.

I must say we must start looking at full implementation and building capacity in this space. We are here to support the

Trust is an issue in the area of outsourcing, especially with financial institutions. How safe are these data in the hands of cybersecurity firms like yours?

Well, it depends on the cybersecurity solution provider they are engaging, but ours is a different approach. With our AI approach, we don’t need to have access to customers’ data, credentials or logs. This is what makes us unique from others, all we need is to collect the logs and analyse the logs. We have been in conversation with NITDA, Galaxy Backbone, among others and we have worked with the government and the issue of trust shouldn’t arise because we have a reputation here.

How do you offer support services and what kind of robust support services do you offer in the case of breaches?

Our company is divided into various levels of intelligence: Incidence response to penetration testing and ethical hacking. We ensure that we have a dedicated support system for Nigerian firms in the case of any breach. We take the matter of support very seriously here in CyberDome.

Our incidence response is located in the country, we have that in place and our customers can testify to this.

Cyber Security is a branch of Information Technology (IT) that needs expertise and high capacity and Nigeria is a country that is trying to build skills set in this area. As a stakeholder in the industry, how is CyberDome contributing to changing this narrative?

Capacity building is a critical area in the provision of cyber security solution anywhere in the world. As an organisation, we are doing our best to bridge these gaps in our own little way. Our Cyber Academy provides professional instruction for cyber security experts to further develop their skills as cyber forensic information technology scientists and information security professionals.

CyberDome instructors are among the leading professional trainers and information security specialists that are not only trainers, but are also practicing professionals, performing regular incident response and processing digital forensic cases. All of our professional courses are taught at several levels, and we can customise training courses based on the needs of the organisation. We believe Nigerians will have access to our facilities and benefit from them.

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Of ADVAN Assessment and Winning Campaigns Raheem Akingbolu reviews the 2019 assessment of campaigns and brands by the Advertisers Association of Nigeria

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ntil few years ago, today’s Airtel brand was a controversial corporate entity.

Or how best can one describe a brand that have changed name five times in the same market?

From Econet to Vodacom, Vodacom to Vmobile, Vmobile to Celtel, Celtel to Zain and in 2010 came out with Airtel.

At the climax of the game, it got Nigerian thinking about how many times they have seen the telco change its identity (and management). There was a very fun guessing game analysts used to play back in the day – How long before Celtel/Zain/Airtel changes its name again? Most times, the guesses were spot on; anything between two and three years was mostly accurate.

Fast forward to around November 2010, Zain clipped its wings and morphed into Airtel Nigeria. The change was brought about by an acquisition where Bharti Airtel paid a hefty sum of $10.7 billion. The rest as they say is history.

Much as analysts would want to give the credit to effective management of the new owners, findings in the market in the last few years have confirmed that the brand began to appeal to more Nigeria the moment a new creative agency -Noah’s Ark clinched the creative account of the company.

On winning the creative brief of the Telco brand, the team was said to have gone to the drawing

board to gauge the market and know what faces and concept would re-connect Nigerians with the ailing brand. This perhaps informed the recruitment of many known faces in the Nollywood who are already household names to fly their various campaign. Like a magic wand, the approach has not only unsettled the market but drawn more attention to Airtel and its numerous products.

As a result of this, recognition and awards have been coming in the ways of the brand and its campaign. Since 2016, Airtel has revolutionised the marketing communications domain with creative, innovative and award-winning advertising campaigns, thereby deepening emotional bond with its numerous stakeholders.

At the 2019 ADVAN Award of Excellence, the Airtel team and its Agency, Noah’s Ark led by Lanre Adisa, CEO/ Chief Creative Officer, were delighted as the Airtel brand, again, coasted home with the Gold plaque in the “Campaign of the Year� category for its outstanding campaigns. Last year, Airtel’s SmartRecharge advertising campaign was also adjudged the Campaign of the Year by the same ADVAN. The 2019 ADVAN Awards themed: “The Business Value of Creativity� and currently in its 26th year, is an annual event designed to celebrate brands and individuals who have contributed to setting standards

Insight Publicis Partners UPG Stories by Raheem Akingbolu Insight Publicis recently partnered with United People Global (UPG) in an advocacy campaign to initiate impactful interactions between citizens in Lagos state and the government.

The campaign tagged, “Towards a Greater Lagos,’ was an effort to stir community conversations in a bid to get the opinions and ideas of citizens on what it takes to make a greater Lagos. UPG is a global initiative on the move, in partnership with the Lagos state government to foster citizen participation in governance.

As a leading marketing communications agency in Nigeria, Insight was said to have initiated the first community conversation for the campaigns and provided creative communications support.

The community interactions focused on the six development pillars of the Lagos state government led by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. The pillars, captured in the acronym – THEMES represent Traffic Management and Transportation; Health and Environment; Education and Technology; Making Lagos a 21st Century state; Security and Governance.

Being a socially responsible company, Insight’s partnership

stems from its resolve to support, in particular, the strides of the Lagos state governmentand its current agenda to deliver on a greater Lagos. The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Tendai Mhizha, remarked: “Our partnership with United People Global and extensively the Lagos state government is both noble and timely.�

She further explained that, “as an organisation with a track record of excellence in delivering on engagements in our forte as the leading communications group in Africa, we consider it a thing of pride to partner with UPG and extensively the Lagos State government in starting this journey toward a greater Lagos. The partnership is also timely because it is coming at a period when preparations for our 40th Anniversary is underway.�

Expressing delight at the partnership, UPG President, Yemi Babington-Ashaye expressed profound gratitude to Insight Publicis for choosing to host the first of the series of community conversations and for being an integral part of the campaign from the inception, Insight Publicis is West Africa’s largest communications outfit and a member of the world’s third largest communications group – Publicis Groupe.

in the marketing and communications industry in Nigeria with compelling campaigns and public engagement.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, the First Vice President of the association, Bunmi Adenigba, noted that the awards had, in no small measure, provided fillip to the brands and advertising industry, adding that innovation and creativity drove business performance. “What we have been able to showcase with this event is to demonstrate the excellence in all of the ground that has been done by players in the industry, and the reason why we do it is to promote marketing excellence so that any brand

that has won today will be inspired to do more and the brands that haven’t won will be challenged to take their creativity to another level. “Essentially, we want brands to have a say and a voice to things that really matter to consumers and we want to be sure that the brands are doing exactly that,� she said.

Adenigba stated that advertising had come of age in the country and Nigeria’s ad spend was over N200billion, adding that a lot had been put in. “Beyond the quantitative of what we are doing, I think the bigger proposition is on the quality of what we are achieving; the kind of narrative and

conversations that we are using our brands to drive. Regardless of the absolute amount that we put into it, what matters more is brands connecting to the heart of the consumers and also proper representation of the interests of the consumers.�

On how she would describe the ADVAN awards in terms of the growth of advertising and marketing in Nigeria, Adenigba added that the awards had helped the industry to increase the quality of work that is being put out.

Molfix Baby Diaper manufactured by Hayat maintained its fast-rising profile as it won the most coveted award for the night, emerging as the “Brand

of the Year� having won the same the previous year.

Molfix Hayat also won in the Experiential Marketing and CSR Category while the brand also took home a silver in Digital Marketing.

Nigerian Breweries’ Heineken won the Gold in the “Product Packaging� category award, with Goldberg and Munch IT coming second and third respectively.

For the media category, O’Lekan Babatunde, Publisher/ Managing Editor, BrandCrunch. com.ng and Lekan Ajayi, Asst.

Editor won the Bronze and Silver medals respectively while Azeez Disu of Brand Communicator took home the gold plaque.

Artisans, Technicians Hail La Casera on Product Quality Artisans and technicians under the auspices of Nigerian Artisans and Technicians Association of, Nigeria, NATAN, have hailed The La Casera Company (TLCC), makers of the natural apple tasting La Casera apple drink on the originality and product quality coming out of the company.

The accolades were showered on the company on behalf of NATAN recently

at the Nigerian Artisans and Technicians Association of Nigeria conference held in Lagos.

The State Chairman of Nigeria Automobile Technicians Association and Board of Trustees Chairman of Lagos Artisans and Technicians, Ashiwaju Jacob Omonide Fayehun, commended the company for supporting the group with large sums of money despite the harsh

economic atmosphere in the country. He revealed that La Casera is loved by all and sundry and it’s the soft drink of choice for most artisans and technicians because it helps to refresh them and keep them going due to the nature of their jobs.

Ashiwaju Omoniyi while lauding the effort the company in supporting and empowering members of the association reiterated

that NATAN and its members have never and will never use the La Casera apple drink for anything else except refreshing consumption.

Speaking earlier, the Managing Director of the La Casera Company, Mr Chinedum Okereke, assured members of the association of originality in product quality blended with top notch innovation to give consumers refreshing satisfaction.

Evolution of LG’s TV Picture Quality Hamid Ayodeji Televisions can be found in billions of homes around the world. But 100 years ago, nobody knew what a television was.

Since replacing radio as the most popular mass medium in the 1950s, television has played such an integral role in modern life that, for some, it is difficult to imagine being without it.

Both reflecting and shaping cultural values, television has at times been criticised for its alleged negative influences on children and young people and at other times lauded for its ability to create a common experience for all its viewers.

How such a ground-breaking technology turn from a niche invention to a living room mainstay remains one of the most interesting story about human development over the last decades.

Interestingly, the world’s first electronic television was created by a 21-year old inventor named Philo Taylor Farnsworth. That inventor lived in a house without electricity until he was age 14. Starting in high school, he began to think of a system that could capture moving images, transform those images into code, then move those images along radio waves to different devices.

We can see the advancement and the evolutionary journey of how the TV resolution and picture quality have improved in the last 20 years.

The changeover from analog to digital television technology was a slow process, and it wasn’t until the mid-1990s that HDTV broadcasting began. At that time, most HDTVs were plasma TVs, which were expensive, so HDTV adoption was slow. By the mid2000s however, affordable 40-inch LCDs started to be sold.

However, in the last two decades, LG has taken a lead in the adoption of Artificial Intelligence, 8K technology; dived into gaming innovation, Nano Cell, OLED, projector and introduced some of the best TVs with high-quality resolution. It’s a range of TVs has covered all the new innovations in OLED TVs, NanoCell TVs, ULTRA HD 4K TVs, Full HD Smart TVs and Full HDTVs. According to the General Manager, Home Electronics Division at LG Electronics West Africa, Mr. Vanjamin Kim, “Life’s about more than having the latest technology. It’s about the experiences technology creates.

Beyond technology, the picture quality of our TV is second to none. We are a pacesetter in the industry and we will continue to deliver consumer electronics that let you embrace life and prepare you for its greatest

moments. “LG Electronics designs consumer electronics that are intuitive, responsive and energy efficient so you can spend wisely, be more productive and lessen the impact on the world around you. We’re committed to providing electronics that work best for the way you live and to keeping you updated with the latest technological advances.

After all, life’s better when you’re prepared. “LG guarantees memorable, cinematic viewing sessions with LG 8K OLED TV and 8K NanoCellTV that feature Cinema HDR, encompassing support for Dolby Vision and Advanced HDR byTechnicolor up to 4K and HLG and HDR 10 up to 8K. LG’s first Ultra Short Throw (UST) 4K UHDCineBeam Laser projector produces amazingly sharp and large-scale images�, he said.

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How NEITI Plans to Make Oil Companies, Others More Accountable Chineme Okafor, writes on efforts by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative to enthrone more transparent oil, gas and solid minerals sectors

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n 2016, Nigeria and other countries at the Anti-Corruption Summit in London came forward to pledge to establish public registries of beneficial ownership of companies operating within their jurisdictions, especially those in their extractive sectors.

In taking the decision, the country recognised that publishing registers with beneficial ownership information in its oil, gas and solid minerals sectors would help shine light on secret corporate structures which could be used to exploit her minerals without benefits to her people.

The country equally considered that if it had the identities of people holding mining acreages publicly published, it would be able to cut off or reduce instances of laundering of financial proceeds from the sectors, unveil and address existing conflicts of interest, get rid of wrongful allocation of mining rights, as well as end frequent tax evasion by operating entities.

Above all, it would make available to Nigerians information with which they could use to demand for accountability from the operators of companies in the extractive sectors, who regularly explore, mine, and sell minerals expectedly owned by the commonwealth but which only satisfy a few.

For so long, the lack of openness in how the extractive sector operates in Nigeria has reportedly bred instances of corrupt practices, leading to the country’s mineral resources frittered away and not properly used to develop her economy or people.

An early commitment The commitment by Nigeria to establish a public beneficial ownership register got off in 2016 when President Muhammadu Buhari announced at the London anti-corruption conference that Nigeria would officially join the Open Government Partnership (OGP).

At the conference, Buhari had indicated that the country would commit to end secret company ownership as part of the anti-corruption obligations in the OGP framework by opening a publicly accessible beneficial ownership register in the extractive industries.

Furthermore, during his submission of Nigeria’s national action plan for the OGP at the at the 4th OGP Global Summit in Paris, France, Buhari had reiterated that it was part of the government’s effort to enthrone a culture transparency and accountability in conducting its affairs.

He had explained that the OGP represented for Nigeria an opportunity to do away with the culture of opacity through transparent management of public resources.

Accordingly, the country’s OGP national action plan was developed to cover fiscal transparency, anti-corruption, access to information, and citizen engagement. The commitments were equally co-created through a reported robust collaboration between the government and civil society organisations in the country.

As part of its key deliverables, the plan would ensure that Nigeria adopts and practices open budgeting, open contracting, revenue transparency, and publication of a register of beneficial ownership especially in the extractive industry among others.

The plans were equally expected to help the government consolidate its anti-corruption reforms within a time frame and through such efforts – the beneficial ownership register especially, Nigeria would mostly bring an end to situations where individuals and entities disguise their identities to retain controlling powers over companies, corporations and assets.

NEITI on the lead Following the country’s commitment to the OGP framework, the NEITI which is statutorily responsible for keeping an eye on the country’s extractive industries by setting up accountability mechanisms in Nigeria’s extractive sector, took the lead on the beneficial ownership register.

Partnering with key government agencies such as the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), ministry of justice and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the NEITI developed a roadmap for the implementation of the beneficial

and mining projects in any of the countries.

The EITI equally recommended that the register be published at least in the country’s EITI report. However, the NEITI indicated that while the codification would be done through the adopted legal framework, access to all information disclosed in the register would be limited for security reasons.

It equally stated that the very sensitive information provided in the register would only be available to competent authorities as defined through further consultation with stakeholders such as the Nigeria Police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).

Adio

ownership register in the country.

And through a consultative workshop endorsed by its National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG), it began to draw up implementation mechanism expected to lead to a December 12, 2019 timeline for the opening up of a public register on beneficial ownership in Nigeria’s extractive sectors.

In its justification of the move, the NEITI explained that a growing international recognition that anonymous companies constituted real dangers to the economic, security, and well-being of countries where they operated from meant that the register was important.

It also stated that in an updated reporting standard of the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), member countries were compulsorily required to report beneficial owners of companies operating in their extractive industries. “Section 2.5 of the Standard specifically requires implementing countries such as Nigeria

The EITI requirements have sparked reform in 20 countries now working on establishing public registers. Hidden ownership also poses problems for honest companies because they don’t know who they are doing business with. Publishing the real owners will help ensure that there is a level playing ďŹ eld for all companies and allow them to know who they are doing business with

to maintain a public register of the beneficial owners of the corporate entity(ies) that bid for, operate or invest in extractive assets, including the identity(ies) of their beneficial owner(s) and the level of ownership,� said the NEITI in the roadmap document for the framework which it published.

According to the report, because such anonymous companies tend to deny countries of valuable revenues through tax avoidance, and sometimes outright tax evasion, and could equally mask links to corruption, money laundering, drug trafficking, and even terrorism financing, the EITI considered the beneficial ownership register a practical means of dealing with such flaws.

It further said that, “all EITI-implementing countries are expected to publish a beneficial ownership roadmap by January 2017 and commence full implementation by January 2020,� adding that the need to develop an implementable roadmap on the framework in Nigeria was quickly adopted.

What the register would contain In approving the roadmap for beneficial ownership disclosure in Nigeria, the NEITI stated that its NSWG took into consideration some ongoing reforms in the country which include the government’s anti-corruption agenda and oil sector reforms, as well as government’s commitment to implementing open contracting data standard.

It added that while the implementation of the beneficial ownership register would expect to eliminate acts of corruption through transparency and accountability in the extractive industry, its consultations with stakeholders indicated that the EITI template for disclosure would be adopted but with some modifications embedded for local appropriateness.

According to it, the EITI had indicated that by 2020, all countries implementing its principles would have to ensure that all oil, gas and mining companies that apply for, or hold a participating interest in oil, gas or mining exploration or production license or contract in their countries publish the names of their real owners.

The register it said should include the identity of the owner including the name, nationality and country of residence.

Companies with such license would also have to publish further details such as the date of birth, national identity number, residential address of their beneficial owners, while the register would be expected to publicly identify any politically exposed persons holding ownership in oil, gas

High expectations Based on the World Bank’s estimation that roughly 70 per cent of the biggest corruption cases between 1980 and 2010 involved anonymous companies which are often used to mask corruption, industry experts informed THISDAY that it is expected that the implementation of beneficial ownership register in Nigeria would apart from engendering transparency, also help the country strengthen its tax collection efforts by clamping down on tax evaders.

They noted that complex company structures which could be unmasked through the beneficial ownership register have been found to also be used for tax evasion and money laundering acts, adding that the Panama and Paradise Papers were typical examples of such occasions.

According to them, through such complex company structures, individuals move funds across borders without alerting tax authorities either as launderers or to reduce a company’s tax burden.

They stated that with regards to the extractive sectors, the such revenue losses could be heavy and with immediate impacts on the society.

Speaking during the recent visit of the head of EITI’s international secretariat in Oslo, Norway, Mark Robinson to Nigeria, NEITI’s Executive Secretary, Mr. Waziri Adio, explained that expected beneficial ownership register for the extractive sectors would contain information on the actual owners of the extractive industries companies, irrespective of the names of those who manage them in trust for their principals.

Adio, thus implied that despite the possibilities of extractive companies in Nigeria being held in trust for people, the real owners of the companies would be disclosed in the register to be published on December 12.

Similarly, the Nigeria Natural Resource Charter (NNRC) which measures with established frameworks how countries manage their natural resources for the development of its people, stated that once published, law enforcers, civil society and others stakeholders would have a responsibility to scrutinise the information therein, and take action to hold to account those who misuse the country’s natural resources through anonymous companies.

Tengi George-Ikoli, who is the Programme Coordinator at the NNRC, stated that by 2020, when Nigeria and all EITI countries have to ensure that companies that apply for or hold a participating interest in an oil, gas or mining license or contract in their country disclose their beneficial owners, Nigeria would have begun to gradually eliminate unfair practices in her extractive sectors. “The EITI standard also requires public officials – also known as Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) to be transparent about their ownership in oil, gas and mining companies.

This information will be publicly available and will be published in EITI reports and, or public registries. “The EITI requirements have sparked reform in 20 countries now working on establishing public registers. Hidden ownership also poses problems for honest companies because they don’t know who they are doing business with.

Publishing the real owners will help ensure that there is a level playing field for all companies and allow them to know who they are doing business with,� George-Ikoli said.

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Pushing for More Oil Exploration Stakeholders have called for concerted effort to ensure that the country embarks on oil exploration to grow its reserve, writes Peter Uzoho

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he Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) recently alerted the nation about the risk of low exploration activities in the petroleum industry as well as the continuous depletion of the country’s crude reserve.

NAPE had then warned that the reduction in hydrocarbon exploration and steady depletion of the oil reserves could drive Nigeria into the risk of long-term disruption to oil and gas supplies, power generation, collapse of industries and significant loss of revenue.

The association had also declared that with Nigeria being a mono-economy and largely dependent on the proceeds of crude oil for its sustenance, such inactivity in the exploration business will have dire consequences for the country.

NAPE’s outgoing President and a staff of Agip, Mr. Ajibola Oyebamiji, in a pre-annual conference meeting with energy correspondents in Lagos, stated that the nation’s oil and gas business was being hampered by several factors, including long procurement and contracting cycles, insecurity, oil theft and illegal refining, saying, the later even poses bigger threat to the sector than the fall in oil price.

According to him, “Nigeria is at risk of long-term disruption to oil and gas supplies, power generation, a collapse of industries and significant loss of revenue due to continue reduction in hydrocarbon exploration activities. Reduction in hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation has dire consequences for a country like Nigeria with a mono-economy hinged on crude oil. “Procurement and contracting cycles in the Nigerian oil and gas industry is about 36 months, making it the longest and most inefficient in the world. “The long contracting cycle results in high level of uncertainties in costing and planning, thereby creating a sluggish business climate. “Insecurity, oil theft and illegal refining are bigger threats to the oil and gas industry in Nigeria than the declining price of oil. The current low oil price is rather a reflection of an over-supply of oil in the world market. “In Nigeria, the low oil price regime has led to dwindling national wealth, more burdens on foreign reserves, pressure on infrastructure and social services, inability to meet commitments to institutional lenders, and the list of untoward outcomes is long.�

Oyebamiji, however, admitted that technology was the heart of all significant achievements in the oil and gas industry, adding that the way hydrocarbon was discovered, developed and produced has been impacted by evolutionary technologies that have emerged since the Drake well of 1859.

While noting that the challenge for Nigeria in this era of technology-driven oil and gas sector was how far the country had embraced the new trend, Oyebamiji stressed that with the new era of disruption blowing across virtually all industries, the time had come for the country to embrace new technology, as sustained low oil prices are driving the adoption of digitalisation across the oil and gas industry.

Speaking at NAPE’s 37th annual international conference and exhibition, with the theme, ‘’Enabling Nigeria’s Petroleum Landscape: Digitalisation, Innovation & Emerging Technologies,� held recently Lagos, Oyebamiji said the oil and gas industry had witnessed rapid technology advancement in recent years.

Among those that attended the conference were the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari; Lagos State Commissioner for Energy and Natural Resources, Lere Odusote; Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC)/Country Chair, Shell in Nigeria, Mr. Osagie Okunbor; and Managing Director, Total, Mr. Sangster, amongst others.

Furthermore, Oyebamiji said, “With the era of cheap -to-discover oil and gas gradually coming to an end, new digital technologies are coming on board aiding the imaging and

Oil workers

discovery of new oil and gas fields that were hitherto undiscoverable while reservoirs at deeper depths concealed under thick layers of shakes that were previously undrillable due to high temperatures and pressures have become accessible through improved drilling technologies in complex structural and stratigraphic traps. “Technological changes, in turn, are the main driver of the global trend in oil and gas industry and is of particular importance for government, policymakers and all stakeholders to have the necessary knowledge of how such technological changes can be deployed and sustained in developing countries (Nigeria inclusive)�

According to him, the development of relevant technologies suited to the Nigerian market should be a key driver in guaranteeing energy security and diversification thereby boosting Nigeria’s industrial development.

The NAPE boss added that a tailored and efficient technological growth strategy will play a major role in the further development of the oil and gas industry and spur future economic growth.

In his keynote address, Mele Kyari, also decried the continuous decline in exploration activities in the country, saying in the last ten years, not much has been done in exploration activities.

He attributed the situation to lack of clarity in fiscal terms, pointing out that investors would want to know the basis of their investment in exploration before they can go back to exploration.

Kyari said: ‘’We know clearly that there is decline in exploration and production in our Industry today. In the last ten years not much has gone into exploration due to two reasons. “One is that there is some level of clarity that is required for oil and gas investment.

We know that our attempt to put the appropriate legislation in place since 1999; has not worked. Till date we have not been able to achieve much in that regard. ‘’And I believe that, as an investor, what will be the basis of our investment? Will I recover my money? Can I recover my costs?

And also what margin am I going to make?

What stability do I have around what margin of investment I am going to make from this business? “And of course, that automatically means that you maintain status quo. Exploration means banking on oil. That we find oil and make sure we produce them and make some money from it. “If you are not sure that you will make money from it, it will likely mean you will back out of the business, and I can understand that that is one of the reasons why exploration

investments low is because of lack of fiscal clarity. “The second reason is, apart from the spike in crude oil prices that we had in 2012 and there about, we know that crude oil prices have not been at the level that we all want it to be. Of course it is not necessarily going to be fair to everybody but obviously not at the level we are seeing it today.

Everybody will like to see a plus $70 crude oil price. And our average for this year is definitely below $70 per barrel.’’ Kyari also said that the third reason why there has been low exploration activities was apathy in the industry and competition from other sources, particularly, renewable energy.

According to him, “the optics around renewable have made it very difficult for oil companies to look more critically with exploration activities. And I know there are some jurisdiction today that are considering banning exploration activities in oil and gas for. And that of course, affects our mood and our decisions to go back into exploration activities. “But that is the situation. We are unable to increase our reserves. From the level that we know, we have been counting 37 billion barrels and that 37 billion has remained at 37 billion. If we fail to increase our reserves definitely what we will see is massive depletion in the available resources. “Our target is beneath 40 billion barrels of reserve. Unless we go back to exploration we can’t achieve that because the production is ongoing, the additions are not matching with production and therefore, what ultimately we will see in the short term, probably is a decline in the reserve that we have�.

He reiterated his position that oil would still be relevant by 2040, contrary to perception by some persons and organisations, saying, there could still be oil consumption in the region of 100 million barrels per day globally, even by 2040 due to population increase and increase in needs Kyari also called on the members of NAPE to assist the corporation with their expertise, skill and knowledge of emerging technology to achieve its goal of ensuring energy security for the country.

He added: “And as we worry about the situation in our country, we are also proud as a national oil company that we have found oil particularly, in the Cretaceous regions.

Today I can confirm to you that we have made significant find. And that has opened a new frontier for us and as an industry in general. “Of course we cannot achieve any success without collaboration across the industry, between partners, we as national oil company, our Joint Venture partners, our Production

Sharing partners and the independents “We, the NNPC, are poised to ensure that this industry progresses. We will support every process that will bring clarity to our fiscal terrain by supporting the necessary industry legislation�.

Delivering the sponsor’s remark at the pre-conference workshop the previous day, the Deputy Managing Director, Deep Offshore District, Total Exploration and Production Nig. Limited, Mr. Ahmadu Kida-Musa, said there were still billions of barrels of oil and trillions cubic feet of gas yet to be discovered in Nigeria.

Kida-Musa added that Nigeria had not fully explored its oil fields even in the so called matured areas, not to mention the frontier areas yet to be explored.

While stressing the need to embrace new technologies in the nation’s oil and gas activities, he explained: “The dependence on conventional technologies that have been used in the past will surely not be the only solution to harness the Yet-To-Find (YTF) oil and gas potential, especially in Nigeria. “Those technologies were good then, they worked well in the past and we are all happy with the results. However, the days of easy oil and gas discoveries are gone. “We need innovations in order to continue and come back to the era of more frequent giant discoveries as was obtained before 2012.�

According to Kida-Musa, Nigeria needs to embrace the use of emerging and innovative technologies on safe exploration to Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) compliant exploitation of the discovered resources.

Kida-Musa noted that there was an evident decline in giant exploration discoveries since the country was now dealing with more complex traps that need to be properly understood before drilling of exploration wells.

He stated that conventional technologies in most cases had reached their limit in terms of subsurface imaging and interpretation given the complexities of YTF prospects.

He added: “It is expected that by 2035, the deep offshore oil and gas production which currently stands at less than 14Mboe/d worldwide should attain the level of about 32Mboe/d. “For the last 15 – 20 years, exploration activities have been conducted in the deep offshore in water depths of around 2,000 meters and most current developments are generally at a maximum depth of around 2,000 meters.�

Also contributing, Country Manager, Google Nigeria, Mrs Juliet Ehimyan-Chiazor, said the use of digital application could increase the country’s oil production by more than eight percent annually.

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BUSINESSWORLD

DEVELOPMENT

Adebiyi: Quality Control Traders Lament Excesses of Vital in Manufacturing Customs Men at Checkpoints The founder, Cotton Loops, Bolupe Adebiyi, in this interview speaks about efforts by the company to reposition the fashion industry in Nigeria. Ugo Aliogo brings the excerpts:

R

ecently, you won an award at an event organised by Access Bank and the International Finance Corporation. What was the main focus of the event?

Cotton loops is an ethical black and white fashion lifestyle brand. The event was the womepreneur Pitch – A – Ton programme event and it was put together by Access bank and supported by International Finance Corporation (IFC) which is under the World Bank group. It was a programme that had over 36,000 female businesses in Nigeria and a few people were chosen from the 36,000 to attend a mini- MBA and after the MBA you had to give an elevator pitch. The MBA was in Access Bank Training School, it was facilitated by Rainbow Consult which is a Ghanaian company that is under the international finance corporation umbrella and the owner of Rainbow consults is Mrs. Margret Jackson. She is a master trainer with the IFC, seeing that she was working with ISC, Access Bank brought her into training.

What were the opportunities you leveraged on from attending the MBA training, and meeting designers and entrepreneurs?

The event was not only for designers, there were green companies that are recycling companies, saloons people in tech, it was just like innovative businesses, and it was open to all businesses across Nigeria, which explains why 36, 000 women that applied for the programme. So what did the programme mean to me? First, I want to say thank you to access bank and ISC. It was absolutely fantastic MBA training; there were lots of areas in business we covered, such as strategy, brand positioning, sales, financial, customer relations, people management and others. It was great for me because again, I met a lot of other business female owners, we were able to collaborate and innovate together, and we are friends now. I am in business with a lot of them. So beyond the grants of the MBA, it also helped to open up my business and helped to forge a better community between the business owners in Nigeria.

Regarding the award, what category were you recommended?

There were 36,000 women that applied, out of the 36,000, 500 women were selected to send in their videos and talk about their business and also send their business plans, just to understand what your business does.

Out of the 500, 50 of us were selected for the mini-MBA. We went in for the mini-MBA for a couple of weeks and after the MBA, based on what an individual learnt and what the individual does, she supposed to give an elevator pitch. You pitch to a panel of judges who have not heard about your business before, the judge base on a few parameters such as social impact, in terms of how your business impact socially, scalability, (how scalable is your business) and innovation of ideas, how innovative are your ideas, how does it solve a problem, how does it help people? Can it employ people and if it has people content?

Is it solving a problem? Is it useful and is it something that is exportable to the rest of the world beyond the shores of Nigeria? I did not win the best designer, I won the grand prize overall, and there were three prizes.

Regardless of what category your business is operating, you were supposed to pitch your business. So different people pitched their business and there were three grand prizes, 1million prize for the third winner, N3 million prize for the second winner and the grand prize of N5 million which was won

by Cotton Loops. So Cotton Loops was the best out of 36, 000 business.

Why did you delve into production of high street wear?

Adebiyi

I recognised that there was a gap for high street wears in Nigeria. High street wears are like casuals, and work wears. Easy wears that are still cool, stylish and edge. High street wear is something you can play up or play down in day time. When you can wear for date night, work or to the beach and that has good price for it. Well finished, high quality, and good price point where the things that were lacking in the market. In most stores, where you get a good quality high street wear, it is usually very expensive (N50,000 and N40,000) and we found out that it was not nice and stylish enough, so that was the gap we identified and tried to fill. So for me personally, why I started Cotton loops, because I thought it will be great to have a line of casual, cool, stylish high quality wears that is also produced ethically. I realised that a lot of fashion companies or brands in Nigeria do not think of the sustainability effects of how they produce their clothes. We are big on being ethical; stylish, edgy and good clothes.

Why black and white?

We invested in black and white, because we wanted classic pieces. We wanted pieces you could dress up or dress down which any colour can match. Our goals by 2023, to be among the top-selling high street brand in Africa. So we want you to be able to wear any sort of colour you want, who doesn’t want a classic white shirt or classic white shirt dress that you can wear and still look good. It’s called black and white because it is easy to wear, maintain and its classic colours spread across the board.

In the next ďŹ ve years, what is the target for Cotton Loops?

Our goal is to be the top-selling ethical high street brands in Africa in 2023 that is the biggest thing for us. We are expanding to the African market. We want more people to wear our clothes; we are extending and expanding our factory. At our factory, we have all local artisans, so all the artisans that stitch for us are Nigerians and we don’t engage in child labour and they are all over 18 years. We upcycle all our production waste, we want to do more in terms of upcycling, currently, we are working with a lot of green companies on green projects in order to make the fashion industry more sustainable. Even though we are expanding, but we still practice low fashion as against fast fashion which is obviously killing the environment. The two main things are to be the top-selling brand in Africa in 2023, and also be the global focus, to be present in Europe and America. Those are our focal points for now within the next five years, and also increase our organic cool footprints, and we are doing more in being ethical and sustainable in all our practices.

Seriki Adinoyi in Jos

Members of the Shoes Dealers Association have raised the alarm over what they described as unnecessary harassment of its members by men of Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), calling on the Comptroller-General of Customs to immediately intervene in the situation.

Addressing journalists in Jos the Plateau State capital, the Organising Secretary of the association and member of the North Multi-various Traders Union of Nigeria, Umar Umar, cited Lagos-Jos roads where his members are always unduly embarrassed, adding that they are just minor traders in the north who buy their goods in Lagos, especially Oluwole market, and convey to the North.

Umar, said his members always buy their goods from open markets in Lagos, which are not illegal markets, but lamented that they were always extorted by officers of the NCS who demand cash before allowing them passage.

He explained: “The most annoying aspect of the whole drama was that the customs men demanded and forcefully collected N300, 000 from his members on November, 22 as they were returning home from Lagos to Jos. They were coming from Lagos and the articles they bought were not illegal.

They were not contraband materials. But they were arrested and later released after paying the amount. “Our worry is that last week, we heard the Director-General of Customs saying that his men should not collect any money from traders or stop any vehicle conveying traders. But unfortunately, customs men on the roads have neglected that clarion call, harassing us as if we are going contrary to the country’s aspirations. “So, we are urging government to take necessary steps to stop the illegal extortion by the customs men on the roads. We buy our goods from markets in Lagos, Aba, and Onitsha recognised by government,

and the goods are made in Nigeria. “Our members are young ones who do not want to just lay idle. What they get from the trade is used to feed their parents and their immediate families of procreation.

They don’t want to steal thereby being liabilities to the society.�

Also, the Chairman of the association in Jos, Sadiq Adams, said he was greatly upset by the activities of the customs men and called on the federal government to check the excesses of the customs.

He appealed to the federal government through the Director-General of Customs to come to their aid over the incessant harassment. “We know this government is fighting the war against corruption.

If we are forced to give our hard-earned money, then that’s bad. So, we are calling on the attention of the federal government and EFCC in particular to intervene to save innocent Nigerians who are trying to make ends meet.�

Ojikutu, Others Canvass Ethical Rebirth for National Devt Oluchi Chibuzor A former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Hajia Sinatu Ojikutu, has joined other stakeholders to canvass for ethical rebirth in Nigerian if the country aspires to meet its projected development and growth.

This formed part of the discussion at a one-day workshop organised by the National Orientation Agency (NOA) in collaboration with a non-governmental organisation, Foundation for Value Transformation (FVT) in Lagos, recently.

The event had in attendance leaders of the various stakeholder groups including faith groups, local government, community, youth, NGOs, the media, performing arts, security agencies and royal fathers.

Speaking at the event, chairman of the occasion, Ojikutu, said the much-

needed development and growth of the nation would not come to pass until the people engage in value re-orientation through selfintrospection, adding that it would have lasting effect in leapfrogging Nigeria to the desired developmental level. “Let everyone examine himself to know what is wrong from what is right. Many people don’t know that what they do is wrong or right. We are all collectively guilty of putting the country in this current position that we have found ourselves,� she said.

Delivering his paper titled: “Nigeria and the Crisis of Values,’ a Senior University Lecturer, Prof.

Bolade Adeniji, who traced the origin of value erosion in the country to the aftermath of the civil war, expressed optimism that the trend could be reversed

with concerted efforts of all Nigerians to effect the right attitudinal change. “After the civil war, which took place mostly in the South East, people began to see the country as a market where they thought they should grab whatever they can for their immediate family because you don’t know what tomorrow holds. This problem has been further aggravated by the quest for material wealth on the part of the citizens,�

Adeniji said.

The Director of the NOA in charge of Lagos, Mr. Waheed Ishola, who described the event as epochal, lauded participants for finding time to attend; also expressed the resolve of the agency to partner with likeminded organizations in its quest to effect the right attitudinal changes needed for the development of the country.

Real Estate Firm Launches Scheme for Cheap Housing Real estate company, Dpkay Homes and Properties Limited along with her brand ambassador, brand ambassador and Nollywood star, Adunni Ade, have unveiled the company’s new affordable housing initiatives from the company and its end-of-the-year yuletide promo.

The Managing Director, Dpkay Homes, Oluwole Sholola, who represented

the Company’s Chairman, Dele Akinola, stated that the present objective and sole aim of the company is to provide and build standard, affordable housing for everyone; irrespective of their social class.

According to him, the real estate company is reputable for enabling the average person “own a part of Lagos� with pocket friendly land sales at the choicest locations and

migrating into infrastructure developments and building suitable homes for everyone. “All to be equipped with quality infrastructures made available at affordable prices. Also going on, is the 15 per cent promotional slashing on every purchased lands and properties from Dpkay Homes which runs till the end of February 2020,� he stated.

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

L-R: Lagos Regional Operations Director, Olusina Adegoke; CSR lead, Chioma Okolie; Head: PR/Communications, Erhumu Bayagbon and Director, Corporate Communications & CSR, Emeka Oparah, all of Airtel Nigeria, during the SERA Awards, where Airtel was awarded with ‘Best Use of Storytelling’ in Lagos, recently

L-R: MultiChoice Talent Factory Director for West Africa, Femi Odugbemi; Award-winning cinematographer, Tunde Kelani; Public Relations OďŹƒcer, Actors Guild of Nigeria, Anambra State, Obinna Mmuoma and MTF Alumni, Minwon Metong during the Masterclass Series on Cinematography, Sound and Storytelling held at Sweet Spirit Hotel Asaba, Delta State...recently

L-R: CEO All-On, Dr. Wiebe Boer; MD/CEO REA, Damilola Ogunbiyi; Head, Renewables REA, Lolade Abiola; Head SHS NEP REA, Ifunanya Nwandu and Executive Director, Rural ElectriďŹ cation Fund, Dr. Sanusi Ohiare during the Rural ElectriďŹ cation Agency (REA) Energizing Education Programme Female STEM Workshop in Lagos... recently

L-R: Member, Arise Committee Abuja,Mrs. Grace Akpoyibo; Founder/CEO, Arise Women, Dr. Siju Iluyomade; Representative of the First Lady of Niger State, Hajiya Zainab Bima; Village Head of Kabusa, Chief Saka Busayi; and Ambassador Regina Edzuwah, at the commissioning and presentation of the Borehole to kabusa community in Abuja... recently

L - R: Inspector General of Police, Mohammadu Adamu; Chief of Sta to the President, Abba Kyari and Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola during the Stakeholders meeting on Petroleum Products distribution in Abuja ..recently GODWIN OMOIGUI

R-L; Vice Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University, Prof Eyitope Ogunbodede; Risqua Murtala-Muhammed and Coordinator, Murtala Muhammed Foundation (MMF), Solomon Okonkwo, at the unveiling of the statue of General Murtala Muhammed at the university in lfe...recently

President Muhammadu Buhari(right) and Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State as the president arrives Katsina State enroute Daura on a 4-day OďŹƒcial Visit...recently .STATE HOUSE

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L -R: Chief Executive OďŹƒcer, Airopay, Charles Oyakhilome; Chief Executive OďŹƒcer, Richway MicroďŹ nance Bank/ Winner, SME Bank of the year 2019, Adenrele Oni; Executive Director, Nigeria Entrepreneur Merit Award, Joshua Uwabor and Shareholder, Richway MicroďŹ nance Bank, Margaret Oni, during the presentation of award to Richway MicroďŹ nance as the SME Bank of the year 2019, at the Nigeria Entrepreneurs Award held in Lagos...recently L-R: Chairman, League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC), Mr. Olusegun Koiki; Acting Director General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Abdullahi Sidi; Treasurer, LAAC, Olapeju Olubi and Vice Chairman, Mr. Anthony Omoh, during Executive members of LAAC’s courtesy visit to the Acting D.G, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos...recently

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L-R; Member of the Campaign, Adana Peace; Communication OďŹƒcer National Agency of TraďŹƒcking Campaign, Nnoli Cynthia; Policy Research Inuencing Plan manager Mr. Tunde Aremu; and member of the campaign Adedeji Adewunmi; during the Launch of NoToTraďŹƒcking Campaign in Abuja...recenty

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L-R; Vanguard ICT Editor, Prince Osuagwu; Emirates Regional Manager West Africa, Afzal Parambil; ThisDay ICT Editor, Emmanuel Okonji; and the Independent Aviation Editor, Olusegun Koiki shortly before the departure of the journalists to Dubai for Familiarization Trip courtesy of the Emirates Airline in Lagos... recently

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY, December 5, 2019

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Group Features Editor: Chiemelie Ezeobi

HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

Email chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com, Tel: 08038901925

Tackling Challenges in the Pharmaceutical Sector While the Nigerian economic situation has been fingered as the major factor affecting the pharmaceutical sector, experts at the 92ndconference of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria believe this can be addressed, Chinecherem Ojiako writes

T

he 92nd conference of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) which held recently at the Kaduna Trade Fair center, Kaduna, may have come and gone, but its key messages are worth highlighting.

Appropriately themed, “Navigating the Winds of Change in Professional Practice in a Volatile Economy,” the conference took a hard look at the impact of Nigeria’s economic volatility on the pharmaceutical landscape and offered some thoughts on the way forward.

In his opening address, the President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, alerted the conferees to the many changes in the global economy with implications for the pharmaceutical sector.

Particularly, the challenges occasioned by the new African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

He warned that if Nigeria fails to make very strong strategic moves and find ways to optimise the opportunities and challenges presented by the changing global dynamics in trade, commerce and services, Nigeria’s manufacturing sector may be in for a long hard struggle. He expressed worry that the earliest casualty of this struggle may be the pharmaceutical industry given the marginal role they currently play in the Nigerian economy.

The PSN president also called on the federal government to accelerate the pace and scope of the improvements in Nigeria’s ease of doing business and competitiveness, in addition to enthroning legislative reforms that will further improve the attractiveness of Nigeria as an African investment hub.

He also used the opportunity to call on President Muhammadu Buhari to give assent to the long-standing Pharmacy Bill. Ohuabunwa believes that the Pharmacy Bill will help sanitise the pharmaceutical environment to make it more conducive to practice and invest. It will, according to him, also help to stem the tide of migration of Nigerian pharmaceutical professionals to other climes.

In his passionate delivery, the USA President of the Nigerian Association of Pharmacists and Pharmaceutical Scientists in the Americas (NAPPSA) Inc, Dr Anthony Ikeme, implored the conferees that it was time to “stop whining and start strategising”. According to him, “The time has come for us (the key players in this sector) to become more assertive, more proactive and to take our destiny in our own hands.”

He acknowledged the multiplicity of challenges facing the pharmaceutical sector, including, but not limited to: a lack of local raw materials; underdeveloped petrochemical and primary API manufacturing capacity; import dependence; low uptake of pharmaceutical technology; low research and development (R&D) capacity; and misaligned government policies. He, however, expressed the belief that the pharmaceutical sector should “adopt a problem-solving mentality rather than throw our hands in the air and complain.”

According to Ikeme, solving the above problems require collaboration and the elimination of silos amongst pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists, not just within Nigeria but with their counterparts in Diaspora. He provided examples from the Indians, the Chinese and the Jews to demonstrate the transformational impact to a national economy that results from the synergistic collaboration between the homeland and Diaspora. He pointed out that in all the examples, the private citizens led the collaborative effort, and the government came along after momentum has been built.

He concluded with a clear message to his fellow pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists: “If we truly want to become part of the global pharmaceutical economy, if we

Dr Anthony Ikeme

Ohuabunwa

Nigeria can address its population surge

El-Rufai

want to be the driver of the change we seek, if we want to lift the pharmaceutical economic sector to take its rightful place as a major engine for economic growth, employment and overall national progress, then let us stand together in unity and work collaboratively with Nigerian Diaspora for the growth of the pharmaceutical sector by forming a purely private-sector driven PSN-NAPPSA Pharmaceutical Sector Development Focus Group”.

The keynote speech was delivered by a Professor of Political Economy and Management, Prof. Pat Utomi. In his highly informative speech, he identified education and the healthcare system as the fundamental determinant of economic development and national success.

According to him, the people who have the right to know-how, and know why and how well, can do anything. They can build roads; they can do all those things that translate to national development. But if they are not educated and are not well, human progress is fundamentally challenged.

He decried the current poor state of the Nigerian pharmaceutical sector. According to him, the fact that we live in a time where the majority of the pharmaceutical products consumed in Nigeria comes from India, China, Turkey and Indonesia suggests that something is fundamentally wrong with our national strategy.

He noted that no nation travels so far without

Pat Utomi

a clear direction of where it is going. He suggested that Nigeria must go back to the drawing board by creating a national strategy for pharmaceutical sector development.

Prof Utomi agreed with the observation made by Dr Ikeme that the Nigerian Diaspora must be invited to the table and be integrally involved in the Nigerian transformation project. He charged the attendees to believe in themselves and their ability to make change.

“It is possible for a determined people to convert adversity to triumph. He asked the conferees to feel inspired by the story of Singapore.

Prior to 1965, Singapore was a country with no natural resources who felt that the only way itcould survive was if its northern neighbour accommodated it. But in 1965, the unthinkable happened and Singapore wasejected by its northern neighbour. Things were so bleak that itsPresident, Lee Kuan Yew, literally cried. But he did not give up or despair. Rather, he rolled up his sleeves and went to work, and 35 years later, he wrote a book “From a Third World Country to First: The Story of Singapore – 1965-2000.”

The Governor of Kaduna State and chief host, Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, challenged the pharmacists and pharmaceutical science professionals to get actively involved in politics. He argued that progress is slow in Nigeria or lacking because the brightest amongst us cede the political stage to the touts and non-patriots.

He reminded the conferees of the words of the famous Greek philosopher, Plato, uttered 3000 years ago: “The danger we face when good people run away from politics is that we end up being governed by the worse people.” He implored the members of the pharmaceutical profession to change their mindset and see politics as a means to exerting influence on the process of transforming the pharmaceutical sector.

He shared four ways by which professionals can get involved in politics. The first being to join a political party and sit at the table when they are discussing; second is to choose to contest for leadership of the political party in wards or states and in that situation one can have a say in determining who leads the party or who becomes the governorship candidate or even the presidential candidate; three is to support a candidate with one’s money or influence; and four is to be a candidate for political influence.

Other dignitaries at the conference included: the Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, Dr Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe; Minister of State for Health, Dr Adeleke Mamora; the DirectorGeneral of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Christiana Moji Adeyeye; the CEO/MD of Emzor Pharmaceuticals, Mrs Stella Okoli; past Presidents of PSN, including Alhaji (Pharm) Ahmed Ibrahim Yakasai, Pharm Olumide Akintayo, Pharm Azubuike Okwor, Pharm (Sir) Anthony Akhimien, and many others.

T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY, December 5, 2019

35

NEWS

Nigerian-Born Prodigy, Igwilo Performs Landmark Surgery in US Aloy Nduka At the Fayetteville Veteran Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in North Carolina, new ground was broken in the field of medicine and surgery.

The hospital, working in collaboration with the Department of Defense (DOD), recently recorded its first robotic surgery using the Da Vinci surgical system technology.

Da Vinci surgical technology is a state of-the-arts technology designed to enable surgeons perform complex surgeries through minor incisions using minimally invasive technique with the surgeon at the console operating with system-assisted clear vision and precision. With Da Vinci technology, the surgeon’s hand motion maintains accurate movements in four robotic arms operating inside the body of the patient.

The surgeon at the console, steering this pioneer joint project is Nigerian-born prodigy and celebrated surgeon, Dr. Obinna Igwilo, who worked with a team of clinicians and other employees of the Fayetteville Coastal Healthcare system.

At the core of the surgical breakthrough is the desire of the Fayetteville VAMC and DoD to overcome some of the endemic problems facing the healthcare systems in the US: high cost of care.

Da Vinci technology was approved by the FDA in 2000 as the first surgery system technology for general laparoscopic surgery in US hospitals, according to RoboticOncology.com, and since then, the use of this cutting-edge technology by surgeons has been on the rise due to its stated effect on cost reduction. Because the technology is precise and minimally invasive, post-surgical bleeding is minimised while hospital stay is drastically shortened, leading to reduction in hospital cost.

Other benefits specific to VAMC and DoD, according to VAMC Chief of Staff, Dr. Jeffrey

Igwilo

Morgan include a productive “partnership and collaboration resulting to beneficial resource sharing, commitment to good stewardship of taxpayer resources and best patient care possible” According to a release by the medical center, Dr. Igwilo said that the veterans who received the surgeries were happy and appreciative of the benefits.

Within Fayetteville VAMC, Dr. Igwilo’s robotic surgery remains a historic event being the very

Lagos to Eradicate Schistosomiasis in Seven Endemic Local Governments Martins Ifijeh The Lagos State government said it will commence medical intervention campaign against Schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease, which is endemic in seven local government areas of the state.

The Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, Professor Akin Abayomi, who disclosed this during a press briefing in Lagos recently, said the affected local governments are Ikeja, Ifako-Ijaiye, Amuwo-Odofin, Oshodi-Isolo, Agege, Lagos Mainland and Alimosho, adding that health workers will go round schools, homes and other important places to administer on children between ages five and 14 from Monday December 2, to Sunday December 8, 2019. Abayomi emphasised that parents and guardians should ensure their children and wards eat well before taking the drugs.

He noted that the administration of medicines for control of the disease during the weeklong campaign would be carried out in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, World Health Organisation (WHO) and Mission to Save the Helpless (MITOSATH).

Answering questions on the cause and mode of transmission, the commissioner explained that Schistosomiasis, also known as snail fever and bilharzia, is a disease caused by parasitic flatworms called schistosomes and acquired when people come into contact with fresh-water infested with the larval forms of flatworms adding that the microscopic adult worms live in the veins draining the urinary tract and intestines.

Abayomi listed symptoms of the disease to include abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloody stool, or blood in the urine with the possibility of death in the case of chronic

schistosomiasis.

“To eliminate the disease, interventions in the general hygiene of the environment, nutritional status and strengthening public health systems at both the primary and secondary healthcare level would be deployed”, he added.

Abayomi explained that the diseases are generally termed neglected because they tend to be slow chronic diseases that don’t force patients to present and do damage slowly.

Earlier, the Executive Director, Mission to Save the Helpless (MITOSATH), Dr Francesca Olamiju, said that the disease commonly affects school-age children who come into contact with it during their daily chores or at play in activities involving freshwater.

She said that from the mapping of the state, seven local government areas were shown to be endemic to schistosomiasis.

FG Seeks Ways to Curb Spread of Cancer Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire has said the federal government is worried by the alarming spread of cancer, and the fact that it now affects people in all age brackets.

The minister, who expressed this concern at the strategic stakeholders engagement for the Pharmaceutical group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (P-MAN) in Abuja recently, said the ministry will welcome all constructive initiatives that will assist its efforts to curb the rage of cancer among Nigerians by ensuring easy access to cancer drugs, both in terms of cost and availability.

At the engagement organised

by the National Health Insurance Scheme(NHIS), Ehanire said he awaits the development of modalities that will help the country expand access to cancer drugs.

“This government is worried by the alarming spread of cancer, and the fact that it now traumatises people in all age brackets. Perhaps the seriousness of the cancer scourge is better imagined when it is viewed from the other dimensions of its social and economic consequences,” he said.

The minister commended NHIS for embarking on the recent rapid appraisals and bridge building process as part of its ongoing reforms under the new leadership of Professor

Mohammed Nasir Sambo as Executive Secretary.

He said the inter-agency collaborations, as well as publicprivate-partnership initiatives will help create capacities and enhance availability of resources in the healthcare delivery system.

Earlier, Sambo said theme of this meeting “Making Quality Drugs Accessible and Affordable for the Attainment of Universal Health Coverage” was one that was very timely and critical to the country’s development.

According to Sambo, rising cost of drugs for treatment of communicable and noncommunicable diseases has become a global phenomenon.

first to be performed in the 80 years old hospital.

Yet Fayetteville VA isn’t the robotic surgical root for Dr. Igwilo who holds the fellowships of The Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) Glasgow and Edinburgh, and American College of Surgeons (FACS).

A member of SAGES Society of American Gastro-intestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, with special surgical interests in Robotic/laparoscopic/

minimally invasive surgery; Endocrine and Colorectal surgery, Dr. Igwilo has been performing robotic surgeries since 2014. A consultant General Surgeon at VAMC and WAMC, he has been cited by his employers for his “active engagement with the training of medical students and surgical residents while also serving as clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery with Campbell University School of Osteopathic medicine”.

Igwilo, who was born in Nigeria, graduated from Ngwa High School Aba in Abia State in 1980 with a distinction, where he was nicknamed ‘Archimedes” - after the Greek Mathematician and Physicist – because of the ease with which he handled mathematics.

Although he is a native of Ozubulu in Anambra State, he grew up in Aba. He was in 1980 admitted to the University of Nigeria College of Medicine and Surgery, where he graduated in 1986 with MB.BCh. Following his Internship at University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu, Nigeria, and Clinical externship at Whipps Cross University Hospital in London, UK, among numerous clinical exposures in Europe and America, the budding MD emerged onto the US medical ecosystem, making sure to take a front seat in the ever-changing and technologically driven world of medicine and surgery. Among Nigerians in diaspora and the homeland, Igwilo’s exploits in medical practice abroad has brought pride and inspiration to many both young and old.

This groundbreaking surgery bears clear testimony to the leading roles being played by Nigerian doctors in the US and around the world in promoting health and advancing the cause of humanity. t/EVLB XSPUF JO GSPN )PVTUPO 5FYBT

Breast Cancer: Oncologist Discovers New Treatment Method Away from Cutting Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City A Consultant Radiation Oncologist, Dr. Oludare Adeyemi has uncovered a new method of treatment of breast cancer away from the conventional cutting of the breast.

While advising women to go for regular screening for early detection of the disease, Adeyemi who disclosed this in Benin City recently, reiterated that the breakthrough does not require mastectomy; a surgical operation that required the cutting of the breast.

Adeyemi who is also a lecturer in the Department of Radiotherapy, University of Benin, and a Consultant, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), defined the medical feat as Microseeds treatment using radioactive seeds.

The Chief Medical Director of La’ Newton Oncology Clinic in Benin City, while defining breast cancer as “a cancer that forms in the cells of the breasts”, pointed out that Microseeds procedure was first performed in Canada about two years ago which is now being practiced in few places in USA. “This Microseeds treatment is the first in the whole of Africa.

It has come to Africa through Nigeria”, he declared, adding that the procedure conserves a breast which is vital for cosmetic reasons.

“The Microseeds treatment takes a day procedure unlike the convention radiotherapy that takes four weeks to be completed.

The procedure is done when Microseeds are placed in the tumor bed under ultrasound guided”.

Adeyemi said that the commonest cause of advanced breast cancer in Nigeria was fear of mastectomy which he said was equivalent to death. “It must be emphasised that Microseeds treatment procedure is only appropriate for now and for early breast cancer”.

Adeyemi said the factors that cause breast cancer were mainly hormonal factors, age, environmental factors and lifestyle.

He said the symptoms of breast cancer includes: breast lump or thickening that feels different from the surrounding tissue, change in the size, shape and appearance of a breast, changes to the skin over the breast such as dimpling, among others. He therefore called for self-examination/awareness, among others.

World AIDS Day: NiBUCAA Stages Awareness Walk, Screens 5,000 Ayodeji Ake To commemorate the World AIDS Day, the Nigerian Business Coalition Against AIDS (NiBUCAA), not just staged a three-kilometer walk to create awareness on HIV/AIDS, they also screened 5,000 residents of Lagos.

Addressing the media at the National Stadium after the walk, the Executive Secretary, NiBUCAA, Mr. Gbenga Alabi, called on Nigerians to know their HIV status for early detection.

He said: “The 2019 World AIDS Day is particularly significant. This year’s commemoration is the 31st edition of the international day set

aside to raise awareness about HIV and to show support for people living with the virus.

It is a symbolic opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV. The day demands attention and support from everyone.

“As the voice of the private sector’s response to HIV/AIDS and other associated health issues, NiBUCAA is bringing stakeholders together to address pertinent issues including awareness campaign, provision of HIV testing services and promotion of healthy behaviours.

“As part of the global efforts towards ending AIDS by 2030, series of activities for the coalition to commemorate the

occasion, includes free testing services to reach over 5000 people across various local government areas in Lagos State.

The co-Chair, NiBUCAA, Mr. Mike Sangster, who is also the Country Chair, Total Nigeria, noted that the walk was in support of the ongoing conversation on how to stem the spread of the virus.

He said: “We are walking in solidarity with all Nigerians struggling with the consequences of living with the virus. The walk is a demonstration of our collective resolve as coalition of business and corporate citizens of Nigeria to confront and end this epidemic.”

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY, December 5, 2019

HEALTH

Eight Years of Safe Motherhood Initiative: Progress, Lessons, Prospects Uchechukwu Nnaike highlights the efforts of an indigenous oil and gas firm to reduce the maternal and child mortality rate in the country and the progress made so far

I

f the reports of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG3) and World Health Organisation (WHO) on the good health and child and maternal mortality rates are to be taken seriously, initiatives that support women of childbearing age to safely deliver their babies must be emulated not only by the government, but also by corporate institutions in Nigeria.

According to a 2010 report by the WHO, the infant mortality rate in Nigeria was estimated at 71 deaths per 1,000 live births and a woman’s chance of dying from pregnancy and childbirth was put at one in three.

The UNs’ SDG 3 aims at “ensuring healthy lives for the global population and promoting well-being for all ages”, and the main targets include reduction of the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030 and ending preventable deaths of new borns and children under five years old by the same period. All countries are expected to aim for reduction of neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-five mortality to at least 25 per 1,000 births by 2030.

These and other healthcare reports inspired government and other organisations to work on changing the narrative for mothers and infants by supporting actions targeted at reducing maternal and child mortality in Nigeria, through corporate sustainability efforts and actions geared towards equipping women of child-bearing age with safe pregnancy and childcare guidelines to address matters relating to child and maternal mortality in the country.

An example of a corporate institution that cares for women of child-bearing age in Nigeria is Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, an indigenous oil and gas firm doing its bit to uplift mothers and children. It pioneered the ‘Safe Motherhood’ initiative eight years ago in Sapele, Delta State as an outreach programme for its Western Assets operational base.

The initiative was also organised at other Seplat’s operational areas in Edo and Imo States.

The event, which is organised annually, has consistently addressed the needs of pregnant women in Seplat’s host communities and educated mothers with vital information required for safe pregnancy and childcare.

Cross section of participants during the Safe Motherhood programme in Delta State recently

The annual Safe Motherhood programme is targeted at addressing the rising child and maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa.

A UNICEF report on maternal and child health revealed that “in a single day, Nigeria loses about 2,300 under five-year-olds and 145 women of childbearing age”, making the country the second-largest contributor to under-five and maternal mortality rate globally. To reduce this trend, there have been several interventions by the government and private sector, among which is the yearly Safe Motherhood Programme initiated by Seplat. The initiative has touched many lives and reduced maternal and child mortality in the impacted communities; besides providing life-saving tips and training to mothers, essential drugs and insecticide-treated mosquito nets and maternity bags are given to all expectant mothers by Seplat during the event.

In the past five years alone, more than 24,499 expectant mothers and thousands of infants have benefited from the free maternal health care initiative.

At the Safe Motherhood medical outreach held recently in Sapele, Delta State, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc exposed mothers to training and pregnancy tips.

Speaking at the event, the General Manager,

External Affairs and Communication, Dr. Chioma Nwachuku, represented by the Base Manager, Western Assets, Mr. Emmanuel Otokhine, indicated that from the onset, the company was motivated to embark on the initiative “to provide maternal and child health interventions and the revitalisation of primary health centres in our communities which will lead to the reduction of maternal and infant mortality”.

Also speaking, the Deputy Manager, Seplat JV, NPDC, Mr. Efifia Chu said: “Safe Motherhood Programme is implemented in Seplat communities in the Niger Delta that have very limited or no access to quality health care. These communities have a high rate of teenage pregnancies because of the inherent socio-economic factors. The programme provides education and relevant information on modern safe pregnancy and delivery practices for the expectant women.”

He further highlighted the practical nature of the programme, which includes the distribution of safe motherhood kits, vitamins and mineral supplements, as well as insecticide treated mosquito nets for the prevention of malaria.

As a result of the Safe Motherhood initiative, the lives of pregnant women in over 60 communities have been positively impacted.

The Assistant Director (Geology), Gas Depart-

ment, Delta State Ministry of Oil and Gas, Dr. Ikoro Efe, who represented the Commissioner for Oil and Gas, Delta State, commended Seplat for the CSR programmes, which have positively impacted the lives of members of the host communities. He urged the company to sustain the initiative.

“This is very commendable and I would like to say a big thank you to Seplat for coming up with such an initiative to support the Delta state government and its people,” he said.

The Safe Motherhood initiative however, goes beyond just maternal and child mortality issues. The programme also teaches child spacing methods for the well-being of mother, child and the whole family and provides counselling for women with other ailments such as high blood pressure in pregnancy, gestational diabetes and anaemia.

By focusing on the salient issues, the Safe Motherhood programme helps Nigeria meet up with SDG 3 which promotes good health and well-being.

Though it has been established that there have been other government and private sector interventions in Nigeria, the Safe Motherhood initiative is unique because of features such as: Buy-in of institutional stakeholders comprising the state governments, ministries of health, medical and professional associations and community health centres; cooperation from communities derived from the trust and transparency resulting from mode of deployment of the programme; and Seplat board and management commitment with the provision of budget for executing the programme in view of its numerous benefits.

With this level of backing, it is hardly surprising that over the last five years alone, the programme has achieved screening of 24,499 pregnant women, vaccination of 1,500 children, renovation and equipping of a 30-bed female and children’s ward in a hospital, revitalisation of three health centres in various communities and driving traffic to them, and integration of Traditional Birth Attendants to modern safe delivery methods in Seplat’s Western Asset communities and making inroads in the Eastern Asset.

Though Seplat’s intervention has made an impact in its host communities, much more effort is required by individuals and other organisation to reduce the maternal and child mortality rate across the country so as to attain the SDG3.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities: No Nigerian Child Must Be Left Behind Oluwafisayo Aransiola It is estimated that no fewer than 25 million people are living with disabilities in Nigeria.

This includes millions of children who daily face discrimination and in some cases abuse.

Earlier in the year, there was the case of sevenyear-old Imran Kanun Muhammad which was widely reported in the media. As a child with a disability, Imran allegedly suffered sexual violence and inhuman treatment at the School for the Deaf in Kuje, Federal Capital Territory.

He was withdrawn from the school by his parents and the case is currently the subject of a criminal action. However, as a result, for several months Imran had no access to education as most government schools did not have the capacity to accommodate him, some were unwilling. This was despite the fact that all children have right to education in Nigeria, which the government is legally bound to implement. While his peers were in school, Imran was at home. Eventually he was able to attend another school.

However, his mother pays N50,000 from her income every month for special education teachers to tutor him. Sadly, such a case is not an isolated one. Some months ago, there were allegations of rape of female students in the School for the Blind, Utako, Abuja. This led to the suspension of two teachers by the FCT Administration. In another case, the dilapidated state of the Kwara State School for Special Needs in Ilorin was recently uncovered by the governor and he made commitments to improve the conditions in the school. Incidences such as these give credence to the fact that children with disabilities continue to face discrimination, neglect and in many cases abuse and violence

which not only amounts to criminality but also violates their fundamental rights including their right to education.

Children with disabilities continue to face multiple barriers, despite the Sustainable Development Goal four to ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, which Nigeria has signed up to achieve. These barriers include: lack of access to mainstream schools, the high cost of education designed to meet their particular needs, physical inaccessibility, negative attitudes and stereotypes. Often, these barriers will intersect with a cumulative impact on the child. More broadly, entrenched inequalities persist within the educational system that impact on children with disabilities: inadequate teaching materials and assistive devices, violence in schools, lack of an inclusive curriculum, poor welfare of students, untrained teachers and deficient teaching methodology. Sadly, these inequalities do not end in schools; people with disabilities also face discrimination in seeking employment.

In Nigeria, the educational model mostly practised is segregation, where children with disabilities are educated at special schools.

Segregation can often reinforce discrimination against children with disabilities, excludes them from socialisation in a diverse society and makes them vulnerable to a range of human rights abuses.

In line with its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, inclusive education should be the goal of the Nigerian government. Inclusive education provides an avenue for mainstream schools to

accommodate all children, regardless of disability with sufficient and appropriate assistance and support.

Children with or without disabilities can learn, play and interact at the same level and in a diverse environment. At the same time children without disabilities can appreciate the need to treat their peers living with disabilities with dignity and understanding. Although the government has some margin of appreciation as to how it implements inclusive education, it must ensure reasonable accommodation for the individual needs of the child, provide suitable curriculum and appropriate training for teachers and staff who work with children.

Every child has the right to education, a right which is essential for the exercise of all other human rights. Both national and international laws guarantee the right to education for all without discrimination. The recently passed Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act provides that a person with disability shall have an unfettered right to education without discrimination or segregation in any form.

It further stipulates that all public educational establishments shall be run to be inclusive of and accessible to persons with disabilities. In 2015, Nigeria adopted the National Policy on Special Needs Education.

Additionally, the Child Rights Act outlines that every child has the right to free, compulsory and basic education and it shall be the duty of the Government in Nigeria to provide such education. Yet clearly Nigeria is breaching its own laws as well as its international commitments.

Internationally, Nigeria has made a significant commitment to the right to education for children with disabilities by ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Dis-

abilities, Convention on the Rights of the Child and International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights.

All these international instruments place an obligation on Nigeria to ensure that children with disabilities enjoy a full and decent life, in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child’s active participation in the community. Despite these national and international laws and standards, many children with disabilities remain excluded from the educational system. For some of those within the educational system, they continue to face various forms of violence and disability-based discrimination.

As we commemorate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the Nigerian government must ensure that the rights of persons with disabilities are better respected, protected, promoted and fulfilled.

While the enactment of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act is a move in the right direction, all state governments must expeditiously domesticate the Act. At the same time the government must ensure the effective enforcement and implementation of the Act across the country.

Quality and inclusive education for children with disabilities is a human right and not a mere charitable act. In the words of John F. Kennedy, our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource. No child must be left behind. t"SBOTJPMB JT BO &DPOPNJD 4PDJBM BOE $VMUVSBM 3JHIUT 3FTFBSDIFS GPS "NOFTUZ *OUFSOBUJPOBM /JHFSJB BOE TIF XSJUFT GSPN "CVKB

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY, December 5, 2019

NEWS

NAFDAC Warns against Revalidation of Expired Rice r 'MBZT SFQBDLBHJOH PG MPDBM SJDF BT GPSFJHO Martins Ifijeh The Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Christiana Adeyeye has warned business owners involved in sharp practices of revalidating expired rice and repackaging local rice as foreign to desist from the act.

In a statement made available to THISDAY recently, she called

on Nigerians to be vigilant, and exercise discretion when purchasing rice and other food items.

“NAFDAC is fully alive to her responsibilities of assuring the safety, wholesomeness and quality of foods and other regulated products offered for sale to the public.”

She said the Ogun State office of NAFDAC received a report from the Department of State Services (DSS) in the state, of

ongoing food fraud at Oke-Aje market in Ijebu Ode. “We, in company of men of the Nigeria Police Force proceeded to the scene of the illegal activity. On arrival, the suspected perpetrators of the food fraud instigated unnamed persons to unleash mayhem on the team

of investigators.

“However, enforcement officers of the agency and its Federal Task Force team stormed the market in company of DSS officials. They sighted miscreants at the market who took to their heels.

“Bags of expired rice, caked rice, bags of local rice, bags of

popular foreign rice and sealing machines were found in the shops the NAFDAC enforcement team finally gained access into.

“Three shops were sealed during the operation. It is instructive to note that expired and caked rice are unwholesome as they contain moulds and microorgan-

ism that cause diseases which are of immense public health concern.”

She called on Nigerians to report cases of re-bagging and sale of caked and expired rice or other food items to the nearest NAFDAC office across the federation.

COPE Advocates for CCC to Reduce Cancer Mortality Ayodeji Ake A nongovernmental organisation, Care Organisation Public Enlightenment (COPE) has advocated for Comprehensive Cancer Centres (CCC) in Nigeria to provide quality healthcare services to cancer patients.

Speaking at the Annual Love Feast, held in Lagos recently, the President, COPE, Mrs. Ebunola Anozie noted that the CCC will provide enough oncologists that will give maximum healthcare support to cancer patients.

Ebun, however, appealed to the media for more awareness on cancer to compliment the efforts of cancer organisations like COPE. She said: “We need a CCC in Nigeria. They have it abroad and it should be where cancer patients get swift treatment and attention to ensure as

oncologists will be trained to provide services. Nigeria is not a poor country and I know we can afford it.

“Breast cancer examination is also very important. Lying down on your bed and using your hand to observe your breast can reveal whether or not you are feeling lumps.”

Ebun said the gathering brings together breast cancer survivors to celebrate God for the year’s activities, most especially in 2019, because COPE did not record any mortality. One of the survivors, Miss Akpan Trinita, commended COPE for its devotion in ensuring reduction of breast cancer mortality in the country.

“I’m excited because we don’t have cause to mourn anyone this year. We are celebrating survivor’s anniversary and we are here happy,” she said.

Physio Centres of Africa Named Private Physiotherapy of theYear Martins Ifijeh Physio Centers of Africa (PCA), a Lagos headquartered physiotherapy, rehab and home care business, has been rated as the “Private Physiotherapy Provider of the Year” by the Lagos Physiotherapists.

The award, which was announced at the 2019 annual conference of the society recently saw PCA emerging with the highest number of votes in the category among other nominated private organisations offering physiotherapy services in the country.

PCA opened its doors in mid-2018 with the intention of enhancing the healthcare landscape by providing world class services with a differentiated approach never piloted in the country.

In her reaction, the coFounder and Managing Director, Physio Centers for Africa Ms. Ngozi Edozien described the award as uplifting and a booster to PCA’s resolve to provide world class physiotherapy services to Nigerians.

“It is heart-warming that we are being recognised for our unique services just within the short time we commenced the business of providing high standard treatment for a wide variety of clientele from elite level athletes, the general population, to children and the elderly.

“We provide an integrated service as it’s not just physio in and out of our clinics but also equipment and home care to support recovery and wellness. To promote skill enhancement by offering training courses to physios, healthcare professionals and those providing care to elderly and home bound.

“We accept this award and thank the Lagos Physiotherapists immensely for this recognition which has boosted our resolve to ensure that Nigerians will no longer have to travel abroad to receive world class physiotherapy care in orthopedics, sports-medicine, neurology, pediatrics, geriatrics or in home and elder care.

We are truly grateful to our patients and supporters who helped bring us this far.”

Institutional winners in the public sector include the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Physiotherapy Department, General Hospital, Gbagada and Physiotherapy Department, College of Medicine, University of Lagos which won the “Physiotherapy Department of the year” (Public), “Excellent Service Delivery in Orthopaedics/Sports”, “Excellent Service Delivery in Paediatrics” and “Excellence in Cardiopulmonary/ Women’s Health” categories respectively.

L-R: Managing Director, May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Nnamdi Okafor; General Manager Rx and Country Chair, Sanofi Nigeria-Ghana, Folake Odediran; President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Sam Ohuabunwa and Director, Registration Regulatory Affairs Directorate, NAFDAC, Dr. Monica Eimunjeze, at the official signing of contract for Local Manufacturing of Sanofi Products in Nigeria by May & Baker Nigeria in Lagos recently

Minister of State Flags off FCT Health Insurance Scheme Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja The Minister of state, Federal Capital Territory, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, has launched the FCT 2019 second round of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and the enrollment of area council employees in the FCT Health Insurance Scheme as part of efforts to deliver key health interventions.

The minister noted during the official flag off that the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) scheme has been set aside specially to deliver a package of key maternal, newborn

and child survival interventions that have been proven to reduce maternal, neonatal and child mortality in the territory.

She revealed that FCT has shown over 400 per cent performance improvement in eight years as in the last first round of 2019 MNCHW, noting that a coverage of 98 per cent was achieved against 24 per cent in 2011.

She further revealed that reports of studies, particularly the recent report of 2018 National Demographic and Health Survey, has shown FCT coverages of fully immunised children at 49 per cent

which is above the national average of 31 per cent.

“Since my inauguration and deployment to the FCT, I have engaged with stakeholders in health and social services subsectors at all levels and it is important to mention that we have developed a blueprint for positively touching the lives of all the residents of FCT by way of a five-year, 2019 to 2023, Strategic Plan. “The launching of the enrollment of all Area Councils employees in the FCT health insurance scheme today is one of such initiatives to increase access to

good quality health services towards achieving universal health coverage for the FCT,” she said.

In his address, Chairman of Kuje Area Council, Hon. Abdullahi Sabo, noted that maternal new born and healthcare was a biannual event aimed at reducing maternal death, child mortality and morbidity.

He called on beneficiaries who are children from age 0-59 months and women of child bearing age to avail themselves of the opportunity by coming out enmasse to be part of the programme.

Gatefield, Psychiatric Provider Association Launch New Movie on Mental Health Seriki Adinoyi Worried by the increasing number of Nigerians suffering from mental health illness, Gatefield, a public strategy firm in collaboration with the Association of Psychiatrists of Nigeria has moved to tackle the challenge with release of a series of micro movies about mental health issues.

The series, with the theme ‘Not Exactly’ was screened at Gatefield TV’s studios in Abuja before a

private audience comprising mental health professionals, diplomats, international development professionals, entertainers and young digital media.

Speaking at the event, a psychiatrist, Dr. Thank-God Ocheho, disclosed that 30 per cent of people living in Nigeria were suffering from at least one mental health illness, adding that among the most affected were the Nigeria’s youth population, who are largely unable to access required care and lack sufficient

information to tackle these challenges themselves.

A panelist at the event, Anto Lecky, former reality TV star (Big Brother Nigeria), called for expansion of advocacy scope suggesting that the messages should be translated into local dialects, and that cultural and religious leaders should be integrated.

The Lead Strategist, Gatefield, Adewunmi Emoruwa observed that the movie series, which include; depression, bipolar disorder and posttraumatic

stress disorder were part of what was expected to be a sustained campaign in partnership with Nigeria’s psychiatry association.

“Our plan is to expand the reach of this vital message by seeking out more partners and collaborators. With less than 200 psychiatrists in Nigeria according to a 2016 report, the long-term objective of our campaign will be to ensure that there is a significant policy change to address these institutional gaps,” Emoruwa added.

USAID Welcomes Firm’s Support to Eradicate HIV/AIDS in Bayelsa Rebecca Ejifoma As part of efforts to involve private sector in Nigeria’s healthcare, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has accepted contributions from a leading telecommunications infrastructure firm, IHS Nigeria, to support its activities in eradicating HIV/AIDS in

Bayelsa State.

IHS Nigeria, a subsidiary of the international telecommunications infrastructure provider, IHS Towers, will contribute 60,000 rapid test kits to the Bayelsa State government through USAID’s HIV/AIDS programme.

The kits will specifically be used to test young women and children to prevent mother-tochild transmission and help

health clinics improve antenatal services.

USAID Mission Director, Mr. Stephen M. Haykin said at a signing ceremony, “This collaboration is a great example of USAID’s new approach of engagimng the private sector to help Nigeria develop local solutions to solve local problems.”

He added that the donation also shows the commitment of

IHS Nigeria to social responsibility, in this case advancing HIV epidemic control measures in Bayelsa State.

The Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mohamad Darwish, said IHS Nigeria’s contribution to HIV control in Bayelsa underscores the company’s support for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals through its sustainability programmes.

38

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ Íł Ëœ 2019

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

CBN to Auction N795bn Treasury Bills in Q1 2020 Obinna Chima The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will in the first quarter of 2020 issue treasury bills worth a total of N795.427 billion. The debt instrument would be made up of 91-day, 182-day and 364day bills.

The breakdown of the Nigerian Treasury Bills Programme for the first quarter of 2020 released yesterday, showed that the banking sector regulator would issue a total of N68.625 billion 91-day bills; N129.036 billion for the 182-day bills and N597.765 billion for the

364-day bills.

In all, a total of five treasury bills’ auctions would hold in the period under review.

Equally, treasury bills also valued at same amount would be maturing during the period under review.

The CBN had in October, completely prohibited individuals and local firms from investing in both its primary and secondary open market operations (OMO) auctions.

Since the directive, investing in OMO bills has been for banks and foreign investors alone.

President Muhammadu

Buhari recently re-sent the 2016-2018 external borrowing plan to the National Assembly for consideration and approval.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) had approved the financial plan in August 2016 and sent to the Eighth National Assembly in September 2016 for consideration but it rejected the request.

However, Buhari in a letter to the Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan and House of Representatives Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, read at plenary of the two chambers, had sought the permission of the legislature to borrow the fund.

Train 7, Next Big Deal for Nigeria, Says NLNG Boss Peter Uzoho The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Liquefied Natutal Gas (NLNG) Limited, Mr. Tony Attah, has described the NLNG Train 7 project as the next big deal for Nigeria.

The Train 7, whose Financial Investment Decision (FID) was expected to be signed this month is projected to increase production capacity by 35 per cent, generating huge value for the company, its shareholders and the country.

Attah, stated this at the opening ceremony of the ongoing ninth Practical Nigerian Content Conference holding in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, According to a statement by the Manager Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, NLBG, Sophia Horsfall, Attah said the project was coming to reality, adding: “Train 7 is real; Train 7 is here. If you come to Bonny Island today, you will see that

early site work has commenced and we are 97 per cent prepared, just waiting to take that Final Investment Decision (FID).�

He noted that the relationship between the NLNG and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) on the Train 7 project was that of a partnership for progress.

He said: “We co-created the Nigerian Content Plan, working in harmony with the agency just to understand the interpretation of the law and then co-creating how we comply. “Overall, it’s all about consolidation and co-creating the future. I am proud to say in March 2019, we signed off the Nigerian Content Plan for Train 7 project, delivering 100 per cent Nigerian content in construction, production of cables, welding, valves, scaffolding, furniture, painting and medical. “It is going to be 55 per cent of in-country engineering and procurement man-hours.�

Attah added that the project would generate over 12, 000 direct jobs during construction phase and in the upstream industry, with multiple spin-off effects in other sectors of the economy, increasing the number of jobs that will be generated over a six-year project window.

He stated further that the project would help reduce restiveness in the Niger-Delta region by providing jobs, calling for more projects in Nigeria to change the socio-economic narrative in the country.

Making a case for gas development in Nigeria, Attah said: “we believe the future is gas; we believe the future is bright for Nigeria.

We are a gas country with some oil because in reality, we have more gas. With the energy transition, gas will play more actively and that is why we say let’s focus on gas. But the question is how focused is Nigeria on gas?

UK Partners SON on Capacity Building Olawale Ajimotokan Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;ÔË The UK Government, through the Commonwealth Standards Network (CSN) and the Global Trade Programme (GTP), has implemented technical training activity on standards development for Nigerian Standards Agencies.

The Head of Prosperity, British Deputy High Commission, Mr. Guy Harrison, said the UK government was committed to the partnership with the federal government, to promote an inclusive economic growth, by providing technical assistance to improve the country’s trading capabilities. He said it has championed the design of different programmes to deliver specific technical assistance to Nigeria to eliminate non-tariff barriers to trade.

The event also witnessed the signing of an MoU between the British Standards Institute (BSI) and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).

Speaking at the event, the Director of Standards Development of the SON, Mrs. Chinyere Egwuonwu said, “with this MoU, both agencies have agreed to share information to support standards development and improvement, to design capacity building activities to promote standards capabilities, and disseminate information on export and import standards requirements for both countries.�

The Head of International Engagement, BSI, Mr. Peter Sissons said as the business improvement company and UK National Standards Body, it signed the MoU with SON,

the national Standards Body of Nigeria, to advance cooperation between both organisations.

The agreement was to share good practice between the two organisations, promote productivity and efficiency, reduce costs and barriers to trade between the UK and Nigeria, by increasing the use of standards.

Confirming this, the UK Global Trade Programme Manager, Obosi Philip, noted that the training activity and MoU would translate to a more capable standard bodies in Nigeria, with access to global standards development programmes and wider standards information sharing platforms. This would in effect, promote export of Made-in-Nigeria products to the UK and the World.

FCMB Rewards More Customers in Promo The season six of the First City Monument Bank (FCMB) bumper reward scheme tagged, “FCMB Millionaire Promo,� has come to an end with the grand finale draw held recently.

At the end of the promo, which ran from March to October this year, another set of 16 lucky customers of the bank emerged as millionaires by winning cash ranging from N1million to N2million.

In addition, 2,560 others won LED televisions, generating sets, decoders, tablets and smart phones.

The winners emerged through electronic selection of all qualified customers at the colourful grand finale draw of the promo held at the four regions and nineteen zones that make up FCMB across Nigeria on November 27, 2019.

It had in attendance officials of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Consumer Protection Council, thousands of customers of the Bank and other top dignitaries.

At the Lagos grand finale regional draw, Obiajulu Ujunwa won the star prize of N2million, while Nabegu Bushira smiled

home with the same amount at the Abuja & North regional draw which took place in Abuja.

Nwachukwu Chigozie emerged winner of N2million at the SouthEast & South-South regional draw held in Umuahia, Abia state, just as Yetunde Olubanwo got the reward of the same amount at the South-West regional draw in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun state.

The winners were unanimous in commending FCMB for sustaining and boosting its support to customers through various empowerment opportunities, including the millionaire promo.

L-R: CEO, RMB Nigeria & Regional HeadWest Africa, Michael Larbie; Head, Custody, RMB Nigeria, Abiodun Adebimpe; Head, Global Markets, Nadia Zakari; Coverage Head, Ngover Ihyembe-Nwankwo; Head, Structuring, Mike Okon, and Deputy CEO & Head IBD, Dalu Ajene, at the RMB Nigeria clients’ appreciation event, RMB Nigeria Custody Launch and art exhibition, held in Lagos‌recently

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

SEPTEMBER 2019 Money Supply (M3)

35,029,779.72

-- CBN Bills Held by Money Holding Sectors

7,374,356.91

Money Supply (M2)

27,655,422.82

-- Quasi Money

116,533,891.21

-- Narrow Money (M1)

11,121,531.60

---- Currency Outside Banks

1,625,047.69

---- Demand Deposits

9,496,483.91

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

13,911,335.83

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

21,118,443.89

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

35,918,179.45

---- Credit to Government (Net)

10,452,199.38

---- Memo: Credit to Govt. (Net) less FMA

11,007,422.79

---- Memo: Fed. and Mirror Accounts (FMA)

25,465,980.07

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

-14,799,735.56

--Other Assets Net

7,000,253.07

Reserve Money (Base Money

2,005,600.83

--Currency in Circulation

4,677,530.81

--Banks Reserves

317,121.43

Ëž Ă™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă? Ě‹

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month

March 2018

Inter-Bank Call Rate

15.16

Minimum Rediscount Rate (MRR) Monetary Policy Rate (MPR)

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

11.84

Savings Deposit Rate

4.07

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.82

3 Months Deposit Rate

9.72

6 Months Deposit Rate

10.93

12 Months Deposit Rate

10.21

Prime Lending rate

17.35

Maximum Lending Rate

31.55

Ëž Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂ‹ĂœĂŁ ÙÖÓĂ?ĂŁ Ă‹ĂžĂ? Ě‹ ͯ͹Ϲ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE Ëœ Íą Ͱ͎ͯ͡

The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $62.57 a barrel on Tuesday, compared with $62.50 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), Oriente (Ecuador), ZaďŹ ro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

SOURCE: OPEC headquarters, Vienna

39

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ Íł Ëœ 2019

MARKET NEWS

CCNN Shareholders Approve Merger with BUA’s Obu Cement Goddy Egene in Lagos and Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja Shareholders of Cement Company of Northern Nigeria and BUA’s Obu Cement Company yesterday approved the merger of the two companies at two separate court-ordered and extraordinary general meetings(EGMs) held in Abuja.

After final regulatory approvals CCNN would merge with the BUA Obu Cement Company and solidify BUA Cement’s drive to

be the country’s second largest producer of cement by volume by 2020.

Upon regulatory approval and completion of the merger, the new entity, which currently has a combined installed capacity of eight million metric tons per annum will increase to 11million mtpa by first half of 2020 and is set to remain the dominant cement player in the key regional markets in Northern Nigeria, South-South and South-East Nigeria with almost unfettered

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R

DEALS

access to key export markets in West Africa due to the prime location of its plants.

Speaking on the approval by shareholders, Chairman, CCNN and Founder, BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu, thanked the shareholders for their support throughout the process.

He said: “We thank shareholders of both companies who voted overwhelmingly to approve this merger to mark the completion of yet another phase of our local cement expansion programme.

S E C U R I T I E S

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

This deal will create one of the largest companies in Nigeria and the Nigerian stock exchange. It will also ensure a more efficient operation, improved financial performance and create better value for all stakeholders. “We are certain that the new entity can continue to compete effectively in the cement industry in Nigeria with its more advanced plants and geographical advantages whilst maintaining its market dominance in its key regions.

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

According to him, the new, enlarged cement companywill be a stronger platform to capture significant synergies and create value for the benefit of the shareholders in the form of stronger competitive position, economies of scale, enhanced operations and administrative efficiencies which are expected to accrue. “Our commitment towards the Nigerian economy remains strong and this new entity further deepens the capital market and

O F

is a pointer to the continued resurgence of the economy. We remain committed to delivering exceptional value to stakeholders at all times. Innovation, efficiency and best-in-class technology will continue to be the key drivers of our cement business,� he said.

Meanwhile, trading at the stock market remained bearish as the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index shed 0.02 per cent to close at26,938.58, while market capitalisation shed N2.8 billion to close at N13 trillion.

3 / 1 2 / 2 0 1 9 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

40

MARKET NEWS

Vetiva Projects 2.5% Growth for Nigeria’s Economy in 2020 Goddy Egene Vetiva Capital, an investment banking firm, has projected a growth of 2.5 per cent for the Nigeria’s economy in 2020, with higher growth potential expected from the non-oil sector.

Highlighting the short-term benefits of the border closure

and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s drive to spur real sector expansion, Vetiva said: “In 2020, we expect agriculture growth to edge higher to 2.5 per cent, as the CBN’s supportive initiatives continue to bolster farming operations amidst improved security conditions. Specifically, we highlight that the CBN’s

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

Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP), geared towards spurring credit facilities to the agriculture sector, has significantly helped to boost rice output across the country. Furthermore, the government’s recent trade protectionist stance against its neighbouring countries (Benin and Niger) is expected shore

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 03Dec-2019, unless otherwise stated.

up food output growth in the near term, as food (mainly rice) demand is completely channeled to local producers.”

According to Vetiva, the manufacturing sector is expected to expand by 1.2 per cent in 2020, supported by a mild recovery in textile output, which contracted for

two consecutive quarters in 2019.

On the oil sector front, Oil & Gas Analyst at Vetiva, Luke Ofojebe, said: “Going into 2020, growth in the oil sector is expected to slow, as potential investments in crude exploration remain on the sidelines amidst regulatory

uncertainty. We note that delays in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) have halted investment inflows into the oil and gas space over the last five years, with Nigeria’s crude production remaining predominantly static at 2 mb/d, despite increasing oil reserves.

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 145.93 148.67 -7.00% Afrinvest Plutus Fund 100.00 100.00 8.77% Nigeria International Debt Fund 300.11 300.11 11.24% ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund 0.89 0.90 6.28% ACAP Income Funds 0.77 0.77 34.65% 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 11.39% AIICO Balanced Fund 2.43 2.47 9.64% 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 15.08 15.54 -9.10% ARM Discovery Fund 343.32 353.68 -3.73% ARM Ethical Fund 28.99 29.87 2.67% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 10.94% 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 96.47 97.15 -4.66% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 10.37% 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 1.89 1.89 4.54% 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 0.12 0.10 11.78% Paramount Equity Fund 12.43 12.52 5.19% Women's Investment Fund 110.25 111.15 6.57% 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 10.55% Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 98.92 99.63 Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 100.71 101.59 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 10.56% Coronation Balanced Fund 0.92 0.92 7.10% Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.32 1.32 18.23% 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 10.79% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 10.33% EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund 1,183.08 1,189.27 18.63% FBNQUEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Fixed Income Fund 1,255.99 1,257.13 17.65% FBN Balanced Fund 143.19 144.24 0.29% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 11.37% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional 118.49 118.78 8.90% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail 119.05 119.34 9.66% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 126.95 128.60 -15.37% FCMB ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED fcmbamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Web: www.fcmbassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Legacy Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 9.88% Legacy Debt Fund 3.63 3.63 11.86% Legacy Equity Fund 1.09 1.11 -10.59% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.08 1.08 4.77% FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Growth Fund 3,063.45 3,097.05 2.69% Coral Income Fund 3,069.57 3,069.57 12.00% FSDH Treasury Bills Fund 100.00 100.00 12.51% GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 10.17% Nigeria Entertainment Fund 116.31 116.86 7.82% GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gdl.com.ng Web: www.gdl.com.ng ; Tel: +234 9055691122 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn GDL Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 11.88%

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 0.00% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.18 2.21 1.22% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 11.02% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 141.84 141.98 13.51% LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund 1.17 1.19 6.15% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,116.87 1,116.87 12.06% 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 9.39 9.48 -11.85% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 10.25% PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.30 1.32 5.35% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 12.31 12.38 9.98% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 11.09% PACAM Equity Fund 1.01 1.02 PACAM EuroBond Fund 102.45 104.48 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 128.27 129.60 6.55% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.02 1.02 12.81% STANBIC IBTC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD assetmanagement@stanbicibtc.com Web: www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 280 1266; 0700 MUTUALFUNDS Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund 2,469.60 2,481.00 6.66% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 209.72 209.72 12.66% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.85 0.86 -10.00% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 272.75 272.84 12.39% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 148.41 150.09 -9.02% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 10.36% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 7,594.75 7,676.55 -10.59% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.16 1.16 6.63% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 101.83 101.83 0.00% UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 803 306 2887 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund 1.17 1.18 1.07% United Capital Bond Fund 1.72 1.72 16.28% United Capital Equity Fund 0.65 0.66 -9.09% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.29% United Capital Eurobond Fund 111.05 111.0489 8.22% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.06 1.07 6.15% QUANTUM ZENITH ASSET MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENTS LTD service@quantumzenithasset.com.ng Web: www.quantumzenith.com.ng; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Equity Fund 10.26 10.42 -9.05% Zenith Ethical Fund 11.60 11.74 -7.47% Zenith Income Fund 22.75 22.75 12.55% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 10.26%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

5.40 118.46 53.38

-44.85% 6.57% 3.17%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

8.41 89.60 71.76

8.51 91.53 73.12

-15.43% -20.84% -16.42%

Fund Name FSDH UPDC Real Estate Investment Fund SFS Skye Shelter Fund Union Homes REIT

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS Fund Name Lotus Halal Equity Exchange Traded Fund SIAML Pension ETF 40 Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 Fund

VETIVA FUND MANAGERS LTD Web: www.vetiva.com; Tel: +234 1 453 0697 Fund Name Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Griffin 30 Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

3.60 5.42 12.08 10.57 162.11

3.64 5.50 12.18 10.77 164.11

-9.97% -28.74% -17.35% -14.36% 21.84%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

108.40

17.40%

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.

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THURSDAY DECEMBER 5, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSEXTRA

We’ll Order Your Arrest If, Senate Threatens NIMASA DG Deji Elumoye in Abuja The Senate has threatened to order the arrest of the Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency ( NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, if he fails to appear before its joint committee on Navy, Marine Transport and Finance on Thursday.

The committee investigating the N263.89billion illegal security services carried out by the Ocean Marine Solutions Limited ( OMLS) at the Safe Anchorage Area in Lagos Ports , issued the threat Wednesday when the NIMASA DG failed to appear before it .

Chairman of the committee, Senator George Sekibo gave Peterside up till Thursday to appear before the committee unfailingly failure which a warrant of arrest will be issued against him by the Senate .

Said he: “This investigative hearing supposed to have been held last week but shifted to allow the NIMASA DG and other key players in Marine Transport to attend the IMO conference which took place in London last weekend. It is annoying that after that grace given to him , he still refused to appear before us today . This is unacceptable as submitted by other members of the committee and on account of this, the Committee is giving him another chance to honour our invitation on Thursday, 5th December 2019 by 3pm prompt .”If the NIMASA DG to fails to appear in person before this committee tomorrow ( today), warrant of arrest will be issued against him by the Senate for

that purpose “ , he warned Although the NIMASA DG was represented at the investigative hearing by the Principal Legal Officer of the Agency, Haruna Argungu but the committee refused to honour him in that capacity and walked him out of the session in the presence of the Minister of State for Transportation, Senator Gbemisola Saraki.

Trouble for the NIMASA DG started when the committee Chairman, read out list of heads of Marine Transport agencies invited for the hearing and discovered that the NIMASA DG , was not present.

Though Peterside’s representative made spirited efforts to justify the absence of his boss , but the Committee Chairman and other members like Senators Muhammad Danjuma Goje, Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, Betty Apiafi, dismissed his explanations as balderdash.

While Argungu in his explanations said the NIMASA DG couldn’t make it because of International Maritime Organisation ( IMO) conference he attended in London few days back, Senator Goje who also attended the conference in his capacity , as Chairman, Senate Committee on Marine Transport , countered him saying “I also attended the conference and I am here now”.

Goje further stressed that even the Minister of State for Transportation, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, attended the same conference and honoured the committee’s invitation.

His words: “Your explanation that the NIMASA DG couldn’t make it to this investigative

FG Files Charges against Ifeanyi Ubah over N135bn Debt Davidson Iriekpen The federal government has filed criminal charges against Ifeanyi Ubah and his company, Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited, at the Federal High Court in Lagos, for an alleged indebtedness of N135billion to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

In the charges, the prosecution said the N135billion emanated from a July 2013 consent judgment between Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited and AMCON but accused Ubah of frustrating AMCON’s efforts to recover the judgment debt.

The prosecution alleged that in a bid to defeat the realisation of the judgment credit, Ubah and Capital Oil “made false claims in relation to the actual values of certain assets transferred to AMCON under the consent judgment delivered in Suit No. FHC/ ABJ/CS/714/2012.”

The prosecution alleged that they “did obstruct the implementation of the provisions of the AMCON Act vis-a-vis the realisation of part of your outstanding debt of N135bn, by frustrating the sale of the landed property on Banana Island to Dayspring

Development Company Limited, which property you both transferred to AMCON by virtue of the Consent Judgment delivered by this honourable court on the 1st day of July, 2013.” The defendants were said to have acted contrary to Section 54(5) of the AMCON Act, 2010 (as amended).

However, the arraignment of Ubah and Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited scheduled for yesterday before Justice Nicholas Oweibo could not hold as Ubah was absent from court.

Mr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), who appeared in court for Ubah, told the judge that the federal government was yet to serve the charge sheet on his client.

Besides, he said there was an ongoing mediation move to resolve the matter amicably since it was about money.

Mr. Ajibola Oluyede, who appeared for Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited, said his client had been served but had filed a preliminary objection to challenge the competence of the charges.

The prosecuting counsel for the federal government, Kunle Adegoke, said he might have to apply that court issue an arrest warrant if Ubah refused to show up in court.

hearing because of IMO conference he attended in London few days back is not tenable because I was also at the conference and even Senator Gbemisola Saraki , the Minister

of State for Transportation was there and both of us are here now.

“Mr. Chairman, the NIMASA DG should should look for another excuse for not

honouring the committee’s invitation which to me is unacceptable”, he said.

Earlier in her submission before the committee, Senator Saraki, said OMSL contract on

security services at the ports has not been suspended or dismantled as claimed by the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority ( NPA ), Hadiza Usman on Tuesday.

DECISION MAKERS …

L-R: Minister of State for Mine and Steel Development, Uchechukwu Ogah, Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba; Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, and Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resouces, Mustapha Shehuri, during the Federal Executive Council meeting at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa , Abuja ....yesterday GODWIN OMOIGUI

Otedola, Zenith Bank Donate N400m to Lagos Security Trust Fund Philanthropist and business mogul, Mr. Femi Otedola, has once again demonstrated his generous and giving spirit by donating the sum of N100 million to the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, making him the largest individual donor.

Zenith Bank took the lead for corporate donors, with its donation of N300 million to the fund.

The donors were appreciated by the Lagos State Governor,

Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu at an event tagged “Transformational Security’ and organised by LSSTF at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Tuesday.

Other top corporate donors on the list include Access Bank, First Bank, Xenon Construction Ltd and Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB).

The governor of the state, while addressing the guests present said he was happy that other states had adopted the security trust fund idea initiated some

years back, and that this showed that the initiative is worthy of emulation.

“The present administration under my watch also introduced new security strategies to combat security issues including making available new equipment for our security agencies,” he said.

He went on to state that “We have revitalised security strategies to combat security coverage in Epe and Ikorodu waterways and other areas through a regional

security outfit code-named ‘Amotekun’, to combat banditry and kidnapping.

“Also with the ongoing road upgrades across the state I believe that we can achieve significant improvements in security of our state.”

Chairman of LSSTF Board of Trustees Oye Hassan-Odukale, also noted that crime fighting is mandatory and the fund will not stop promoting the fight against crimes.

Malpractices: WAEC Withdraws 1992, 1993 Candidates’ Certificates The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has released the list of impounded certificates of candidates, who were believed to have engaged in malpractices during its examinations held as far back as December 1992 and 1993. The council released the examination years and certificate numbers of the affected candidates, noting that the nature of their malpractices was impersonation.

The list of indicted WAEC candidates as published in the weekly bulletin of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board was released on Monday.

In the JAMB bulletin, WAEC identified the candidates as, “Ukaumunna C. December 1992 examination with certificate number, NGSP 0233613; Chinna H. December 1993 with certificate number, NGSP 0572427; Koffi E.

December 1993, with number NGSP 0455669; and Oham J. December 1994, with certificate number, NGSP 0177271.”

Others are “Mbara G. December 2001, with certificate WNR 2248072; Ifo S. December 2001, with number NGWASSCP 1307367; Ugwu P. December 2005 with certificate number, NGWASSCP 4534182; Anene J. December 2008, with number, NGWASSCP 5505913; Ogbenna C. December 2011,

with certificate number, NGWASSCP 06927486; and Nwangwu I. December 2014, with certificate number, NGWASSCP 8392056.”

JAMB noted that in order to avoid such impersonation during its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UMTE), it was partnering the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to enforce candidates’ registration for the national identity number.

Senate Rejects Osun Nominee as REC Administers oath on Adeyemi Deji Elumoye in Abuja The Senate yesterday confirmed two of the three Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC) nominees for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) sent to it by President Muhammadu Buhari.

This is just as Senator Smart Adeyemi was also yesterday administered oath of office as senator representing Kogi West Senatorial district.

The Senate however rejected the nomination of Muyideen Olalekan from Osun State for being a card carrying member

of one of a registered political party.

Olalekan had while appearing before the Senate Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) for screening along with other nominees last month, admitted that he is a card-carrying member of the All Progressives Congress(APC).

Those confirmed are Umar Muktar, from Borno State, and Serieke Johnson, from Bayelsa State.

Submitting the report before the Senate at plenary, Chairman of the Senate Committee on INEC, Kabiru Gaya, said the committee had

gone through the resume of the nominees and believe they are qualified to be appointed as REC. He, however, told the Senate that a nominee from Osun has a petition against him for being a card carrying member of a political party, which he was said to have admitted publicly.

Gaya explained that for this reason, the committee decided to stand down the screening of the nominee, adding that the rest of the nominees were successful at the screening and should be confirmed as recommended by the committee.

Contributing, Deputy Senate

President, Senator Ovie Omo Agege, cautioned against rejecting the president’s nomination, saying even during the screening, the petitioner was not available to lead in testimony against the nominees, even though such opportunity was given.

Meanwhile, the number of senators elected on the platform of the ruling APC in the Ninth Senate, increased to 63 from 62 yesterday with the swearing in of Senator Smart Adeyemi for the Kogi East senatorial seat as replacement for Senator Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

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AI: Hate Speech, Social Media Bills are Dangerous Attacks on Freedom of Expression Davidson Iriekpen Amnesty International yesterday joined the ranks of those calling on the National Assembly to drop the two bills - Hate Speech and Social Media Bills – currently before the Senate, saying when enacted, they would constitute dangerous attacks on freedom of expression.

The Senate is currently sponsoring the National Commission for the Prohibition of Hate Speech bill and the Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulation and other Related Offences bill.

The two bills which have been described as harsh, relate to freedom of expression online, including one which proposes the death penalty for hate speech.

Amnesty International said the bills represent an alarming escalation in the federal government’s attempts to censor and punish social media users for freely expressing their opinions.

A statement by the Programmes Manager Amnesty International Nigeria, Seun Bakare, said social media is one of the last remaining places where Nigerians can express their opinions freely since harassment of journalists and bloggers and the introduction of the Cyber Crimes Act have already shrunk the civic space and created a climate of fear.

He noted that the bills would give the government arbitrary powers to shut down the internet and limit access to social media, and make criticising the government punishable with penalties of up to three years in prison.

“We are urging the Nigerian authorities to drop these bills, which are open to vague and broad interpretations and impose incredibly harsh punishments simply for criticising the authorities,” he said.

Bakare noted that there are many provisions in the bills that do not meet international human rights standards.

“For example, section 4 of the “hate speech” bill prohibits abusive, threatening and insulting behavior, which is open to very wide interpretation.

This section would pose a threat to critical opinion, satire, public dialogue and political commentary. “The social media bill contains overbroad provisions that unduly restrict access to and use of social media and seems designed to gag freedom of expression.

“For example, section 3, which relates to the transmission of false statements of facts, contains provisions against sharing statements ‘likely to be prejudicial to the security of Nigeria, public safety, tranquility, public finances and friendly relations of Nigeria with other countries.’”

He contended that this could be easily abused to punish critics of government policies and actions, and anyone who asks difficult questions could find themselves liable for ‘diminishing public confidence in the government.’

Court to Hear Adoke’s Application for Exclusion in Malabu Fraud Case, December 12 Alex Enumah in Abuja Justice Danladi Senchi of an Abuja High Court yesterday adjourned till December 12, hearing in the application filed by a former Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke SAN, seeking the removal of his name from the Malabu Oil scam trial.

Adoke is currently being held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by Interpol for nearly three weeks now.

He was arrested on November 11 in Dubai, where he had visited to get medical attention.

The Interpol said their action was based on an international bench warrant for Adoke’s arrest issued on April 17, 2019 by Justice Danlami Senchi of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). However, Adoke’s extradition is facing some huddles following the

setting aside of the said warrant of arrest by the same judge, whose latest order was yet to be communicated to Interpol and the authorities in Dubai.

Justice Senchi had on April 17 issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Adoke and other defendants in the case but vacated it on October 25 following an application made

by Ozekhome to that effect.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had in 2017 filed charges against Shell Nigeria Exploration Production Company Limited and 10 others, including Adoke and Nigeria Agip Exploration Limited.

EFCC in the suit marked FCT/HC/CR/124/17, accused the defenfants of fraudulent allocating the Oil Prospecting Licence 245 otherwise known as Malabu Oil. They were also accused of other forms of offences involving the sum

of about $1.2 billion, forgery of bank documents, bribery and corruption.

The alleged $1.2 billion scam involved the transfer of the OPL 245 purportedly from Malabu Oil and Gas Limited to Shell Nigeria Exploration Production Co. Limited and Nigeria Agip Exploration Limited.

However, Adoke had in a motion, M/763/19, filed by his counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome SAN, sought an order of the court striking out his name as a defendant in the case pending before the court. His request was predicated on the grounds that he had secured a judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, against the Attorney-General of the Federation, representing the Federal Republic of Nigeria wherein he was completely exculpated with respect to the facts and circumstances relating to the Malabu Oil scam.

Julius Berger’s MD, Richter Gets Global Best Practice Award The Nigerian Business Coalition Against Aids, (NiBUCAA) has presented the Managing Director of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, Engr Lars Richter the organisation’s prestigious Award of “Global Best Practice in the fight against HIV/AIDS”.

According to NiBUCAA, the award “is in recognition of your outstanding commitment towards corporate Global Best Practice for sustenance of the environment and humanity.”

NiBUCAA joins the global health community to mark the World Aids Day December 1 yearly even as it uses such occasions to review progress made on all fronts in the fight against HIV/AIDS just as outstanding efforts in that direction are recognised.

This year’s event which held inside the National Stadium,

Surulere, Lagos like previous ones was kicked off with a National Aids Walk around parts of Lagos.

In his citation for Richter, Executive Secretary of NiBUCAA, Mr Gbenga Alabi, said, “In my interactions with staff and representatives of the management of Julius Berger, I have seen a huge growth in their passion for the fight against HIV/AIDS. The commitment by all at Julius Berger under Engr. Richter has been awesome. That we now have NiBUCAA’s Abuja office inside Julius Berger’s facility there is a solid pointer to the company worthy commitment to the health of Nigerians.

“Today we have Julius being as our landlord in both Lagos and Abuja. It takes a committed person in the mould of Engr.

Richter to not only provide us

with the land space for an office; but to largely build and furnish it the way the most recent effort of Julius Berger shows. We are grateful to the MD for this unique role in the fight against AIDS. It is in tandem with the cherished global best practices for not just the environment but human cooperation and well being, too”

Engr Lars Richter

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US Indictment: South-east Govs Ask Buhari to Protect Onyema

Governors of the Southeast states have expressed support for the Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, who

was recently indicted for fraud by the US authorities.

The United States Department of Justice had accused Onyema of moving

Lawan Urges Service Chiefs to Repel Attacks, Assault by Bandits President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has called on the Service Chiefs and security agencies in the country to immediately swing into action by repelling the attacks and assaults by armed bandits on Nigerians across some states in the north.

Lawan made the call yesterday after consideration of a motion brought to the floor by Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East).

He said, “The motion we have just taken is a very serious one and I would urge the security agencies to act as quickly and expeditiously as possible to repel the attacks and assaults by the bandits.

“The essence of any government is the protection of lives and properties, and this is what we have to do for our citizens as an administration and as a government.

“We hope that this situation will be brought to an end and we will do everything possible, working with the executive to ensure that we secure the lives of our citizens and their properties.”

Earlier, Senator Sani Musa, in his motion, said confirmed

reports from Madaka ward, Burwaye, Tagina, Gaude, Ungwar Sarki Noma, Gyaramiya, Maganda, Samunaka, Kurmi villages of Alawa, all in Rafi and Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, have been under attack.

According to the lawmaker, “many people have been killed and abducted including the District Head of Madaka.”

He bemoaned that “these attacks continued without any presence of Security Personnel in the Communities leaving them in the hands of the bandits.”

He added that, “the current criminal wreckage among other havoc on fire Victims, set many homes on fire and carted away many cattle and other valuable assets worth millions of naira.”

The Senate, accordingly, urged the Service Chiefs and other Security Agencies to deploy immediately troops and materials to tackle the menace and to change the Security architecture of the area to forestall and bring back peace and order.

more than $20 million from Nigeria through US bank accounts in a scheme involving “false documents” based on the purchase of airplanes.

Onyema was indicted alongside Ejiroghene Eghagha, the airline’s chief of administration and finance, who is said to have committed aggravated identity theft in connection with the scheme.

Subsequently, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) reportedly seized Onyema’s passport to temporarily restrict his movement.

But the South-East Governors’ Forum in

a statement, said there was no strong indication that Onyema committed any crime, adding that businesses were meant to have one issue or the other to settle.

They also called for the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari and the US Ambassador to Nigeria.

“The insinuation that some Nigerians or some government officials are against Onyema and would want to pull him down, by all means, is a ploy to instigate hatred against him,” the statement read.

“He has remained in the aviation industry which is

highly challenging in our country when many people could not cope.

“Onyema is at peace with the federal government and has on various occasions, commended the president for assisting him get up to five international licences.

Many officials of Buhari’s administration had stood for him many times in promoting and encouraging Air Peace operations in and outside Nigeria.

“Air Peace is a business and most businesses usually have one issue or the other to settle and this one is not an exception. We plead with Buhari to please continue to give Onyema all the

necessary support and protection to enable him sort out this matter peacefully.

“The governors of the South-east will do everything within the law to support Onyema overcome this issue so as to continue to offer more excellent services to Nigeria.

“We request the US Ambassador to Nigeria to please step into the matter so as to peacefully resolve the issue without destroying Onyema’s reputation. We also urge Onyema to engage experienced and external financial managers to work with the US government in resolving and rectifying his business tax matter if any.”

BEHIND THE LENS… Ekiti Varsity Alumni Calls PEOPLE L-R; Photo Editor, Daily Independent Newspaper, Mr. Kunle Ajayi; Photo Editor, Vanguard Newspaper, Mr. Joseph Akintola; Chairman, NUJ Council, Dr. Qasim Akinreti,and Chairman Photojournalists Association of Nigeria, Lagos Chapter, Mr Ademola Akinlabi, during the for Unity among Members Lagos opening ceremony of a three-day Photo Exhibition organised by PJAN Lagos Chapter in Lagos....Tuesday Ezekiel Okpuzor Ekiti State University Alumni Association, Lagos Chapter, has deviated from its usual jamboree in order to harmonise and sustain unity among the members of the association.

Speaking at the event held in Lagos recently, the Chairman of EKSU Alumni Association, Lagos State chapter, Mr. Tolu Egbeyemi, stated that the gathering was majorly meant to upscale and identifying the cause of slight disunity among members.

According to him, “It is a wellknown fact among all alumni that the change of name has affected us in so many ways especially our camaraderie, and these changes have successfully divided us rather than unite us. We gather here as EKSU Alumni not as OSUA or

UNAD Alumni but to see the advantages of coming together under the national umbrella to build a new frontier.”

Also, the guest speaker at the event, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Dele Adesina, commended the Alumni members for the great works over the years, and urged them to apply more effort to take the institution to a great height.

He noted that “the Lagos State chapter is the strongest chapter.

Lagos is a commercial state and this chapter has a great impact on the Alumni nationwide.”

The Alumni association also took the opportunity to facilitate job opportunity and financial support for five EKSU Law graduands who recently bagged first class honours (summa cum laude) at the Nigerian Law School (NLS).

Slain Cops: Anambra Community Bans IPOB, Masquerades The Oraifite Community in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State has banned the activities of members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra in the area.

Also banned in the community were six masquerade groups.

This followed the fracas that claimed the lives of two police officers in the community on Monday.

Our correspondent gathered

that the Monday feud was allegedly ignited by rival masquerade cults in the area before some people suspected to be members of IPOB infiltrated them. An Assistant Commissioner of Police and Assistant Superintendent of Police were killed in the violence The Oraifite Improvement Union in a statement on Wednesday in Awka, the Anambra State capital described the action as lawless and

avoidable.

As a consequence, it banned six masquerade groups whose activities allegedly caused the problem in the community.

The masquerade groups are Otu-Eke, Otu-Afor, Otu-wo, Otu-Orie, Otu-Ube, and Otu Ayaka and all other forms of night masqueraders.

The President General of Oraifite Improvement Union, Offor Uche, and the traditional ruler of the Oraifite, Igwe Daniel

Udeoji, signed the statement on behalf of the community.

They said, “The leadership of Oraifite town cannot keep quiet and allow criminal gangs, cultists and miscreants take over the town and tarnish the image of the good people of Oraifite.

“What happened on December 2nd 2019, leading to the killing of some men of the Nigerian Police Force was uncharacteristic of Oraifite culture and tradition.

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Border Closure, Hate Speech Bill Illegal, Falana Insists Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana(SAN), has declared that the federal government was allegedly misled into having the erroneous impression that only border closure can guarantee food security and economic development in the country.

Falana, a social crusader and human rights activist, added that the National Assembly lacked the constitutional powers to promulgate any law under the guise of Hate Speech, saying such was not captured under the exclusive and concurrent lists of the 1999 constitution.

The human rights lawyer clarified that going ahead to promulgate such law would not only betray the trust reposed in the National Assembly by Nigerian populace, but would erode the powers of the state legislative arm, since Nigeria operates a federal system of government.

Speaking in his Ilawe Ekiti country home yesterday during the burial procession for Mrs. Ibijola Falana, the lawyer said it was wrong for President Muhammadu Buhari to have closed the border indefinitely without minding that it would inflict serious pains on the already overburdened Nigerian citizens.

“I don’t support the closure

because it is illegal, immoral and economically senseless. It cannot be defended under the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement of Persons and Goods. Punishing millions of community citizens for the offence of a few smugglers is immoral. Contrary to the claim by the federal government that smuggling has stopped, the criminals involved in the nefarious trade have merely changed tactics.

“Following incessant transborder crimes including armed robberies and smuggling of vehicles from Nigeria to Benin Republic in 2003, the Olusegun Obasanjo administration closed the land border between Nigeria and Benin Republic for about a week. Before the border closure, the federal government had investigated and confirmed that one Mr. Ahmadu Tijanni, a highly influential citizen of Niger Republic based in Cotonu was the mastermind of the transborder criminal activities. Even though he was a sacred cow in Benin Republic, Mr. Tijanni was arrested by a team of the Nigeria Police.

“Tidjani was tried, convicted and jailed for armed robbery by the Ogun State High Court. In view of the fact that the customs service in Benin Republic is hampered from collaborating with its Nigerian counterpart

to stop the smuggling of goods from Benin Republic to Nigeria, the federal government ought to have reported President Patrice Talon for using private company to manage its customs affairs.

This is the only way to stop smuggling, not border closure alone.”

On the vexatious hate speech bill proposal, Falana insisted that the Supreme Court had declared in a number of cases that the National Assembly lacks the constitutional powers to make laws outside its legislative competence, which are by implications are residual matters meant for the states’ houses of assembly .

“The attention of the National Assembly members ought to have been drawn to the fact that the Penal Code and Criminal

Code applicable in the Northern and Southern states respectively have made provisions for hate speech because it is a state offence. Hence, the House of Assembly of each of the state has enacted laws against incitement, false accusation, sedition and criminal defamation. No doubt, the constitutional validity of the hate speech bill will be challenged in court if it is passed by the national assembly and assented to by President Buhari.

“Unfortunately, while the attention of Nigerians is fully concentrated on the hate speech bill, the state governors are using the Terrorism Prevention Act, Cybercrime Act, penal code and criminal code to suppress press freedom and freedom of expression in the country. The authorities of Cross River State,

Akwa Ibom State, Kano State, Kaduna State, Katsina State, Delta State and Zamfara State have charged the opponents of their governors with criminal offences including terrorism and treasonable felony.

“Two students were rusticated by the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, and Taraba State University for exercising their freedom of expression via social media. State governors who are waging such reckless attacks on freedom of expression ought to be exposed and fought” Falana said the proponents of the seemingly clandestine third term agenda were ill advised on the venture, which he described as a sad reminder of the military era.

“Indeed, the case is a sad

reminder of the case filed in court by the Association for Better Nigeria set up by Senator Arthur Nzeribe to pave the way for General Ibrahim Babangida’s agenda to extended the tenure of his administration.

“I was compelled to conclude that all manifestations of the third term agenda are present in Nigeria. Even though President Buhari has distanced himself from the third term agenda, his administration must go beyond the verbalisation of the denial.

“Instead of constricting the democratic space the regime should be open. Rigging of elections should be completely outlawed in the country. The suppression of the media should end while court orders should be fully complied with,” he added.

Buhari Approves Appointment of New Perm Secs President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday approved the appointment of nine Permanent Secretaries in the Federal Civil Service.

In a statement signed by the Director, Communications, Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Olawunmi Ogunmosunle, the Acting Head of the Civil

Service of the Federation, Dr FolasadeYemi-Esan, said their swearing–in and assignment of portfolios would be announced in due course.

The new permanent secretaries are Musa Hassan from Borno State; Ahmed Aliyu from Niger State; Olushola Idowu from Ogun State; Andrew Adejoh representing

the North–central zone; Umar Tijjani representing the North–east zone; Nasir Gwarzo from the North–west zone; Nebeolisa Anako representing the South–east zone; Fashedemi Peter representing the South– west zone; and Evelyn Ngige from the South–South zone of Nigeria.

The new permanent

secretaries were picked from the 48 directors who attended the oral interview which held last week Wednesday.

The 48 senior officials had earlier emerged successful among the 87 candidates who sat for the second set of examination for applicants which was held last week Monday.

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Witness: How Usoro was Paid N700m Udom Idongesit, a prosecution witness in the case of an alleged N1.4 billion money laundering involving the President, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Paul Usoro, yesterday, told Justice Rilwan Aikawa of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos how a sum of N700 million was paid into Usoro’s account on the instruction of Linus Nkan, a former Accountant-General of Akwa Ibom State.

Usoro was first arraigned before Justice Muslim Hassan of the same court on December 18, 2018.

He was later re-arraigned on Friday, March 1, 2019 before Justice Aikawa on a 10-count charge.

Idongesit, a Relations Manager at the Aka Road branch of Zenith Bank in Uyo, told the court that the bank, on March 10, 2016, was given a withdrawal instrument of N700m on the imprest account of the Akwa Ibom State payable to Usoro’s Zenith Bank account.

Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, the witness further said she made moves to get Usoro to open an account with the bank so that the money could be paid to him.

An EFCC statement said the witness also told the court that she opened an account for the defendant due to the fact he never had an account with the bank prior to that transaction.

She said she got Usoro’s

contact from the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, on March 14, 2016 and later put a call through to him to inform him about the payment.

Giving further testimony, Idongesit said: “Mr. Paul Usoro instructed me to work with two of his colleagues.

“When I confirmed the exact names registered on the form, I sought the approval of my Zonal Head to open the account and also made the deposit while waiting for documentation.

“I filled the deposit slip; and the depositor’s name that I filled was Paul Usoro.”

Idongesit further told the court that a sum of N300 million was first credited to the account on March 14, 2016 in cash and that more funds were subsequently credited to the account to the tune of N400 million.

The transactions, according to her, were carried out on the instructions of the defendant.

Idongesit, in her evidence, also told the court that monies were transferred to individuals and companies from the defendant’s account on his instructions.

“On March 22, 2016, Mr. Paul Usoro instructed me to transfer the sum of N2.5million to one Assam Ekanem; N7.5million to Taiwo Oyetibo & Co; N7.5million to Oyechi Ipeaza; N5million to Uzuegbu Nelson Aju; N30million to OEB Offiong and N7.5million to DD Dodo

& Co. “A transfer of N3million was also made to one Reginald Nwobbi; N2million to Sevanne Chambers and N20 million to Theophilus Oyesanya,” she

also stated.

The witness said there were emails to show and reflect the instructions given to her by the defendant regarding all the transactions.

The emails, instruments of payment, account opening package, certification of identification and statements of account were tendered by the prosecution counsel, Oyedepo,

and admitted in evidence by the court.

Justice Aikawa adjourned the case till January 13 and February 11 and 12, 2020 for continuation of trial.

TOURISM CHAMPIONS…

L-R: Wife of former Governor of Cross River State, Onari Duke; her husband, Donald Duke; Convener, Mrs. Omotayo Omotosho; CEO, Africa Fashion Week, Princess Ronke Ademiluyi, and Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Mrs Shulli Adebolu at the 2019 Destination Tourism Night in Lagos...recently

Emmanuel Eze Win Award FEC Approves N4.8bn Kwara, Osun Road Projects

Emmanuel Eze, a staff of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), has won a continental tax essay competition organised by the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) for 2019.

Eze beat 132 other tax writers from across the African continent to emerge the best essayist. Eze, who received the award at the just concluded ATAF’s 10th Anniversary and the International Conference on Tax in Africa (ICTA) held in Kampala, Uganda, submitted an entry titled: “Taxation Of Digital Economy and Africa’s Quest For Fiscal Justice: Challenges And The Need To Put Our Best Foot Forward”.

A letter by ATAF’s Director, Research, Dr. Nara Monkam, notifying Mr. Eze of the Award

stated: “A total of 103 essay submissions from across the continent were received out of which 93 were accepted for evaluation.”

The evaluation process consisted of two main phases.

In the first phase, seven tax professionals shortlisted the best 15 essays out of the 93.

In the second and final phase, a jury comprising of three experts in the field of tax and digitalisation (from the ATAF Secretariat and University of South Africa) identified the first, 2nd and third award winners.

“The jury also selected seven other best essays to make a total of top 10 essays that are to be published in ATAF’s 2020 Compilation of Abstracts on Tax Systems in Africa,” Monkam said.

Edward Obadan for Burial The funeral of a retired director of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (now Radio Nigeria), Pa Edward Imogbore Obadan, begins today with a service of Songs at St James Anglican Church, Akpakpava , Benin City. It is scheduled for 4p.m.

A statement by his son. Mr. Oje Obadan, a commendation service will hold at the same venue on Friday at 10a.m. He said thereafter, his remains would leave for his village, Oke old site in Owan West Local Government Area, Edo State where Service of Songs/ Lying-in-State holds at Obadan Family Compound in the village at 5p.m On Saturday, December 7, 2019, Funeral Service takes place at St Paul’s Anglican Church, Oke old site, Ora at

10a.m followed by Internment.

Reception follows immediately.

Pa Obadan was born on May 24, 1932 . He died on November 13 in Benin.

He is survived by his wife, children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, in-laws and cousins.

Obadan

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has at its weekly meeting held at the State House on Wednesday, approved two memoranda for the construction of inherited roads in Kwara and Osun States at the total cost of N4.8 billion.

The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said while briefing State House correspondents, that the first of the presented memoranda, related to the Ajase-Ipo/ Offa/ Erinle Road in Kwara State.

The contract for the 18km section that completes the entire length of 26km of the road was awarded at the cost of N4.027

billion. The road is strategic as it connects Kwara State to Osun State.

Fashola said the contract that was awarded by the previous administration was just 8km of the entire 26km stretch.

“So, what we have done now is to award 18 km so that the full stretch of 26km is now under construction for the purpose of completion. That comes to a sum of N4.027 billion for the 18km stretch.

The previous contract is still going on. This is an addendum to that contract,” he said.

The second road is the Osogbo/Ilesha Road in Osun State. According to the minister, though the road contract was

awarded in 2012 but was not being funded, adding that about 76 per cent of the entire project had been constructed.

“What we awarded today was a variation of N825m.

This is to expand the original contract by 3km to enable the road links into Osogbo town, the built-up area, because it ought to bypass the town.

So, this is the 3.4km that the Governor requested then when I went on nationwide road tour.

Going through procurement and other things, we finally got approval today for N825m to include that part,” Fashola said.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed,

said the Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mohammed Sabo Nanono, presented to the Council, a memorandum for the supply of inputs for vaccines production and research for National Veterinary Research Institute at Vom, Plateau State.

Nanono told correspondents that a contract of N244 million was approved by the Council for the purchase of raw materials for the production of vaccines for use against animal diseases, poultry, dogs and the likes for the National Veterinary Research Institute, which is the centre for research and production of animal husbandry and vaccines.

Nigeria, UAE Trade Volume Hits $1.5Bn Alex Enumah in Abuja The Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Dr Fahad Al Taffaq, has put the volume of trade between his country and Nigeria around $1.5 billion, the figure which is based on trade in 2018 was mainly from the non-oil bilateral trade.

Ambassador Taffaq who made the revelation in Abuja, noted that the figure is expected to rise with the recent opening of a consulate office in Nigeria’s commercial capital; Lagos in June this year.

He was speaking at an event organised to commemorate the 48th anniversary of the UAE in Abuja.

The envoy said to further show increasing bilateral relations between the UAE and Nigeria, the two main UAE airlines (Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways) now operate a combined 28 flights weekly from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to

Lagos and Abuja, representing the highest flight route from Nigeria to any other country globally.

“On December 2 of each year, we reflect on our nation’s achievements and what we need to accomplish in the coming year. Ours is a comprehensive development agenda which aims to look after the present as well as to plan for the future and to compete with confidence on the world stage relying on proper planning, technological know-how and our extensive human capital- the most important resource of the country.

“In this regard, as part of the ongoing effort to increase cooperation between both nations, the UAE based University; Skyline University Nigeria was opened in 2018 and is fully operational in Kano state offering over 15 degree courses in both under graduate and Postgraduate

studies in Arts, Management and Social Sciences as well as Science and Information Technology to over 200 students, this provides excellent higher-education opportunities for young Nigerians and the West-African sub-region.

He said the leadership of the UAE declared 2019 as the Year of Tolerance to reinforce the fact that more than 200 different nationalities live in an atmosphere of openness, mutual respect and coexistence based on the principle of tolerance, a policy which has helped the country gained great mileage in its developmental quest.

Taffaq while disclosing that his country in pursuit of its humanitarian policy assisted over 22,000 Nigerian victims of insurgents in the North East in 2019 alone, said the mission has targeted over 7m Nigerians in its eye treatment for the next four years.

The Eye Treatment

programme is run by a UAE based non-governmental charity organisation, Noor Dubai Foundation, under the Mohammed Bin Rashid Global Initiatives.

The programme throughout its four year span will provide sustainable, preventative and curative eye care services for the people of Katsina and the region at large as well as improve the quality of lives of the people.

“On the occasion of the UAE National Day, Noor Dubai Foundation celebrated by launching an eye treatment camp to screen and treat people who are in need of eye care, prevention and management services in Daura, Katsina State.

“This eye camp is part of the activities of the comprehensive eye care programme that was launched under the patronage of the Wife of the President of Nigeria, Dr. Aisha Muhammadu Buhari in July 2019.

THURSDAY DECEMBER 5, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

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PERSPECTIVE...

Between Thuggery and State Disobedience Wole Soyinka I have no hesitation in admitting that I have a, personal, formative interest in the health of the Nigerian judiciary, deeper perhaps than the average Nigerian. At a critical junction in the life of this writer, a judge resolved to give primacy to the call of conscience, affirm his professional integrity and defend the supremacy of law in defiance of state interference. He refused to bow to external pressure in adjudicating a case whose conclusion, had this accused been found guilty as charged, would have been life imprisonment.

That individual, the late Justice Kayode Eso, has narrated the event in his autobiography – The Mystery Gunman with his noted wit and judicial poise. The Deputy Premier of the then Western region of Nigeria had summoned the judge to his residence, lectured him on his duty to protect the interests of the government against the accused. Justice Kayode listened politely, re-affirmed his commitment to the rule of law, and took his leave.

It would be most surprising if my own brush with the law has not crossed my mind since the predicament of Omoyele Sowole, journalist and former presidential candidate began. The Nigerian judiciary was not thereby, nor is today a model of perfection. Nonetheless, exemplars such as Justice Esho have succeeded in creating, in some of us, an exceptional respect for the Bench, instilled a conviction that the law, despite its lapses, demands respect, autonomy and obedience. Much of the judiciary across the continent remains constantly under siege - Nigeria is no exception. Needless to say, it often strikes me that the “learned brotherhood” could do more to protect, and assert itself. Apart from the obvious and numerous scandals of moral deficit that require constant internal purgation, there are instances where it does fail to protect itself even from putative and/or illegal power.

Take the assassination of he Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Bola Ige on his way to a UN appointment.

The presiding judge on that case cried out against unseemly interference from “ least expected quarters”. He kept a diary of coded names and times, two pages of which came into my possession. His cries petered out in void. Justice Abass, feeling vulnerable and isolated, bowed out of the case. The judiciary lamely acquiesced, certainly with a huge sigh of relief in some sectors. A robust opportunity lost to burnish the image of the law. I was left aghast.

From tragedy to slapstick tragi-comedy - let us pull up an eye-witness account from the Nigerian PM News of Thursday, September 2014: Temperamental Ekiti state Governor elect, Ayodele Fayose, slapped a court judge today for being rude to him and then ordered his thugs to beat him further.

The action of Fayose and his thugs triggered some pandemonium in the court, with judicial workers and others running into safety. The sitting of the Ekiti State Governorship Election petition Tribunal could also not hold.

Immediately, thugs numbering about 20 pounced on Justice Adeyeye, beat him up and tore his clothes, while his co workers scampered and shouted for help.

Following the development, judicial workers hurriedly shut down the court premises thereby preventing any court proceeding for hours before the police fired tear gas canisters to disperse the hoodlums.

For a week, two weeks, then forever, `I waited to see what would be the response of the judiciary. There came none. Naiively, I thought , surely, this institution will rise and defend its very existence through some form of action, even if merely symbolic. Not a squeak. Not even after that governor left office and thereby lost his immunity. What to me appeared to be the collapse, not just of a pillar, but of the edifice of human culture, appeared to be no more than a blip on the judicial template.

There are of course more effective ways of degrading a judiciary than merely brutalizing a judge, and leaving his judicial robes in tatters. One of the most effective, increasingly optimized in Nigeria, is simply by not only ignoring, but treating its orders with disdain, encouraging its agencies to trot out cynical excuses for disobedience while laughing all the way to the citadel of power. In that regard, there does appear to be an undeclared contest among succeeding governments, intensified since the return of the nation to civilian government in 1999 for placement in the Guinness Book of Records as the most notorious Scofflaw in the field of democratic pretensions.

Or could it be an anticipation of a proposal I made at the Athens Democracy Forum some months ago, calling for an annual award – such as an Order of Demerit - for such an achiever?

Perhaps we have finally attained maximum saturation, and there is no need for any further record keeping. It is extremely difficult to imagine a further lowering of the bar of disdain for law than we have witnessed under the present regime. The degree of cynicism in the conduct of State Security agencies has attained a level of consistency that is surpassed by only one other previous government – but it is a close call. Not only does a security agency refuse to obey a court order to release a suspect after fulfilling his bail

DG, DSS , Yusuf Magaji Bichi,

IG, Muhammed Adamu

conditions, that agency manufactures one childish pretext after another, including a claim that no one has shown up to receive the detainee. “His sureties have yet to show up to collect him”, declared the DSS, prime candidate for special featuring in my “Interventions” series, periodically dedicated to the theme of The Republic of Liars. Are we speaking here of a full grown adult, a journalist and former presidential aspirant, or an overnight bag awaiting the rightful claimant in a LOST AND FOUND department?

The nation continues to undergo the chagrin of having the rug pulled from under her feet while waiting on the long queue for judicial redress against the strong-arm culture of state, as well as unlisted power interests. For instance, Lagos state, the former capital, and still the acknowledged commercial capital of the nation, once found herself denied statutory allocation for several years, despite repeated court declarations that such withholding by the central government was unconstitutional and should be remedied forthwith. That president took sadistic pleasure in simply playing deaf. It took his successor to end the abuse and restore the full entitlements of that state, a disobedience that went beyond mere churlishness but affected the development and welfare of the indigenes

of that state. And so on, and on, waiting in vain for that day when the Rule of Law becomes commonplace, and its benefice is not doled out by the drop to famished mendicants.

So, finally, what do thuggery and court disobedience have in common? Everything! They are both Scofflaw manifestations. Unilateral declarations of Supra-Law delusions. One is simply a more structured, more hypocritical version of the other. One knows itself for what it is, while the other tries to camouflage its abnormality under a higher purpose , the more elastic the better . Such is that often specious alibi labeled “national security”. Is Sowore Myetti Allah? As for those agencies that actually think to inhibit social revolution by fastening on the alarmist association of the word ‘revolution’, half the citizens of this nation should be in permanent detention. From pulpit to minaret, from clinic to fish market, from student club to motor park, the wish for drastic transformation of this nation is staple discourse. Perhaps we should begin with its application to that institution whose decisions affect both society and individuals with such finality, for good or ill – the judiciary.

Prof. Soyinka, a Nobel Laureate, writes from Lagos

AS BUHARI LAUNCHES NATIONAL SECURITY ROADMAP, NSA INSISTS ALMAJIRI SYSTEM MUST GO and unreservedly committed to.

On his part, the NSA described the national security strategy 2019 as a cornerstone document that enshrined the deep abiding commitment of the president to ensuring that Nigeria was a secure, peaceful and prosperous nation.

He said the core philosophy of this strategy was human security, which was a shift from the state-centric orientation to a new paradigm where the safety and wellbeing of the individual citizens were the primary bases for all national security measures.

According to him, the review of the national security strategy that was first was published in 2014 was necessitated by evolving trends in the security environment that gave rise to new and more complex challenges.

The NSA noted that the document had addressed the current threats faced by the nation as well as those threats that were anticipated to emerge in the near future.

According to him, “We have also proffered appropriate strategy to address these threats, which demand a whole of government approach in combination with a whole of nation to achieve a whole of societal approach in dealing with these challenges.

“This is critical because the perceptible trend in the national security landscape is that the traditional clear cut issues of internal and external security as it affects us today in the globalised world without borders are no longer the sole requirement for categorizing national security risk. Therefore, in the context of today, there is a vigorous interaction between internal and external threats thereby creating a complex constellation of threat and risk to all of us.”

He noted that the farmers and pastoralists conflict was linked to the influx of armed groups and the proliferation of small arms and light weapons across porous borders from the volatile Sahel region and Libya,

which had become politically fragile since the uprising that led to the death of Muammer Ghaddafi over a decade ago.

He said the national security strategy aimed to mitigate adverse national security indicators in its desire to achieve the delivery of positive governance outcome for all the people of Nigeria, adding that the document took a comprehensive look at how to enhance the capacity of security agencies and how they need to collaborate with each other.

Speaking further on the NSS, the NSA maintained: “What the strategy does is to look at our national security objectives and align these objectives with this administration’s goals in fighting corruption, giving access to improved education, taking care of the healthcare problems as well as increased productivity in the agriculture sector. But rooted in the strategy are issues that may not be visible to the necked eyes, but issues that have tended to be malignant to cause a lot of

greater problems to this society.”

He said the revised strategy placed emphasis on human security as against state-centric orientation.

“It addresses the current threats faced by the Nigerian nation as well as those threats that are anticipated to emerge in the near future. We have also proffered appropriate strategy to address these threats, which demand a whole of government approach in combination with a whole of nation to achieve a whole of societal approach in dealing with these challenges,” he said.

Monguno concluded: “The core philosophy of this strategy is human security. This is a shift from the state-centric orientation we have been used to, to a new paradigm in which the safety and wellbeing of the individual citizens are the primary bases for all national security measures.

And this is what I call the Muhammadu Buhari approach to national security.”

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THURSDAY DECEMBER 5, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

THURSDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

Sports Ministry Sanctions Change of Guard at AFN Gusau’s faction declares autonomy from sports ministry Duro Ikhazuagbe

The suspension of Ibrahim Shehu Gusau as President of the Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN), has received the blessings of the country’s apex authorities on sports matters, the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development.

Gusau’ deputy, Olamide George who is acting as AFN president until the outcome of the panel set up on Tuesday in Abuja to investigate allegations of infractions against the former member of the House of Representatives, was received at the ministry yesterday.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Adesola Olusade,

received in audience George as the acting president of the athletics body.

Although details of the meeting remained sketchy as at press time, receiving George by the permanent secretary appears an approval of the decisions taken at the AFN meeting in Abuja on Tuesday. Nine members of the athletics board met earlier in the week and suspended Gusau and announced George as acting president.

However, in a swift move to denounce the meeting in Abuja, Gusau led some of his loyalists on the AFN board to another Congress in Awka, Anambra State where he denounced the Sports’ Ministry’s alleged interference in

Osimhem, Ndidi Dropped as Ighalo Listed in Last 10 for CAF Awards Femi Solaja with agency report

Former Super Eagles striker and highest goal scorer at the last AFCON 2019 in Egypt, Odion Jude Ighalo is the only Nigerian in the final 10-man shortlist for the prestigious African Footballer of the Year awards.

In the the same vein, the duo of Wilfred Ndidi and Victor Osimhen are no longer in contention for the ceremony after dropping out of the original 30-man shortlist compiled by CAF. As the list is prune to 10, the only Nigerian who made the cut is Odion Ighalo, the top scorer at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations who also features for Chinese clubside,Shanghai Shenhua.

However, Ighalo has a packed field to contest with when a further cut is made, possibly from 10 to five and later to the top three.

Among those jostling are the usual top three suspects, Mohamed Salah of Egypt and Liverpool, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Gabon and Arsenal as well as Sadio Mane

of Senegal and Liverpool.

Also in contention is the man whose prowess wrecked Nigeria in the Africa Cup of Nations’ semifinal, Riyad Mahrez of Algeria and Manchester City.

Still in contention areAndré Onana of Cameroon and Ajax, Hakim Ziyech of Morocco and Ajax, Ismail Bennacer of Algeria and AC Milan, Kalidou Koulibaly of Senegal and Napoli as well as Youcef Belaili of Algeria and Ahli Jeddah.

According to a press release

by CAF, the current shortlist of 10 is the result of conclusion of the first phase of the voting which was done by CAF Technical & Development Committee and a panel of media experts with emphasis on the nominees’ performance of during the year under review, 2019.

The final phase of voting for the men’s and women’s African Player of the Year, as well as the male and female Coach of the Year, will be selected

by Head Coaches/Technical Directors and Captains of senior national teams from CAF Member Associations.

New Book on S’Eagles Unveils Hidden Facts of Nigerian Football Nigeria has undoubtedly made major marks in global football with Nigerian teams hitting notable milestone as first side outside Europe to win the Olympic Games gold medal in 68 years following the exploits of Kanu Nwankwo-led Dream Team exploits of 1996.

That is not all, the Nigerian U23 football team also became the first in the world to win gold, silver and bronze medal of the Olympic Games three years ago before Brazil later on the same day equalled the mark.

Those and more are the marks of the Nigerian football on the global scene that most football followers may not have noticed.

Those are just the tips on the iceberg as the upcoming book, “Super Eagles@70; Soaring on the Wings” unveils the hidden treasure of information on Nigeria’s national team.

Written by Kunle Solaja, the book is easily a major Nigerian contribution to global football

literature. Some intriguing revelation are made. For instance, while it may be known that Nigeria’s first national team was composed in 1949, the actual date may not have been known before now.

The latest work of football historian, Kunle Solaja has revealed the fact. The book reveals the first player to score a hat trick for the national team.

Some other issues that got answered include Nigeria’s first scorer in a World Cup qualifying match; the first scorer in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series; the first match in which the offside rule was first applied in Nigeria among others.

There are more. The book offers the information on the first time the Nigeria national team wa involved in a tie-breaker, penalty shootout and the first Nigerian player to be expelled at an international match.

the affairs of the athletics body.

A Twitter message posted after it’s socalled ‘Extra Ordinary Congress’ in Akwa came out with a resolution declaring it’s autonomy from the ministry, citing ‘interference’ as reason to stand alone.

The tweet read in part: “Following the resolution by state chairmen at the just concluded AFN Extraordinary Congress attended by major stakeholders in athletics, the board has decided to declare autonomy from the ministry citing interference” as reason to end years of going cap in hand for government money to fund its activities.

Gusau dismissed his suspension, insisting that it was a “waste of time and null and void.”

Although the embattled AFN president claimed to have 27 of the country’s 36 states athletics association chairmen with him, insiders at the gathering in Awka revealed that majority of those Gusau claimed to be representing the states were nothing but coaches and some hanger-on in sport.

“Who are those they are claiming to have as state athletics chairmen? Majority of them are jobless former athletes and coaches. Let’s wait and see how they will operate their so-called faction when the time comes,” a respectable voice on track and field who did not want to be quoted due to his position in Nigerian sports told THISDAY on telephone last night Nigeria’s Sports Minister, Sunday Dare, who has been calling for a new beginning

for the sector in other for the country to take her rightful place in global sports, clocked 100 days in office yesterday. He is out of the country attending the 2019 African Economic Conference on Jobs, Entrepreneurship and

capacity building for African Youth in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt.

The minister was rankled by the shoddy handling of Nigeria’s participation at the last IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar.

His ministry directed the AFN to investigate the reasons leading to the disqualification and later reinstating Nigeria’s top athletes, Blessing Okagbare and Divine Oduduru from their respective events.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Adesola Olusade (Left) in an hand shake with Acting President of Athletic Federation of Nigeria, Olamide George (Right) during a courtesy visit to the Sports Ministry yesterday

Ogunkoya Thanks Ogba, Predicts Double Celebration at Remo 2019 IAU

The African 400m Women record holder, Falilat Ogunkoya has thanked the President of International Association of Ultrarunners in Africa, Solomon Ogba for bringing the first edition of Valuejet IAU African Championships to Remo, Ogun State The event Tagged ‘Remo 2019’ is slated for Saturday, December 7 and it is presently the most-talkedabout running event in Nigeria and across borders.

Thirty African countries have registered to participate in the

50km race while fun runners also have the opportunity to participate in the 5km fun run which starts at the Ikenne Central Mosque and ends at the Sagamu International Stadium.

Ogunkoya noted that this is the first IUA event in this part of the world in 35 years and one would have thought that Ogba will have taken it to his domain but he has chosen to allow Remo Town to get the honour.

“The people of Remo and indeed Ogun State are grateful to Chief Ogba for being a true

Nigerian and for giving us the opportunity to host runners from across the different countries.

“The whole town is grateful and I can assure you that everyone is looking forward to this weekend, apart from the race, everyone would also have a chance to explore the tourism potentials of Ogun State” Ogunkoya who is the President Of the Ogun State Athletics Association stated.

Ogunkoya also thanked Valuejet and other sponsors that are supporting ‘Remo 2019’ for making what seemed like a tall

dream to become a reality.

The President of the South-West Athletics Association also expressed gratitude to the likes of Kunle Soname and Bukola Oloopade who both have been supportive in organising this epoch-making event.

While Ogunkoya is confident of brilliant races at the weekend, she has also predicted that there would be more cause for celebration when the son of the soil Anthony Joshua takes to the ring to reclaim his world boxing title form Andy Ruiz far way in Saudi Arabia.

Zenith Bank Proud of Delta Principals’ Cup Impact Sponsors of the just-concluded Delta State Principals’ Cup football competition, Zenith Bank Plc, has expressed delight over the overall assessment of the 4th edition which ended at

the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba on Thursday, November 28.

School of Commerce Warri defeated Zappa Mixed Secondary School 2-1 in the final

to lift trophy and a brand new coaster Bus. Executive Director, Zenith Bank, Mr. Henry Oroh, who represented the Group Managing Director/Chief

Governor of Delta State , H.E. Sen. Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa and the NFF President, Mr. Amaju Pinnick at the Finals of the 4th Edition of the Zenith Bank Delta Principals’ Cup Football Competition in Asaba recently

Executive of the bank, Mr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu, stated that the sports-loving outfit was proud of the youth developmental competition.

Oroh said: “I congratulate all the schools that participated in this year’s edition – from the Local Government Stage to the Final. I commend you all for your rare display of sportsmanship, tenacity and hard work throughout this tournament.

“Zenith brand is well known for its immense contributions to the development of youths and sports through diverse investments in youth-focused initiatives in the country including the Zenith Bank/Delta Principals’ Cup, Annual Zenith Bank Youth Parade, Zenith Women Basketball League, Zenith/NFF future Eagles and Next Gen Tennis Championship, amongst many others.

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THURSDAY DECEMBER 5, ͺ͸͹΁ ˾ T H I S D AY

THURSDAYSPORTS

Messi Celebrates with Barca Mates a Contract Extension Looms Lionel Messi has been snapped celebrating a sixth Ballon d’Or alongside his Barcelona teammates, with the La Liga champions reportedly confident the Argentinian will renew his contract.

The 32-year-old had clinched the coveted trophy once again on Monday, and toasted his victory alongside Antoine

Griezmann and Marc-Andre ter Stegen on the flight back from France.

And Messi is reportedly on the verge of further good news, as Mundo Deportivo report that Barcelona believe the superstar is open to extending his stay at the Nou Camp.

Messi had fended off firm competition from Liverpool

stalwart Virgil van Dijk to win the award with Cristiano Ronaldo, who snubbed the ceremony, finishing in third spot.

The superstar pipped the Dutchman to the top spot by just seven votes, and was also supported by his wife Antonello at the star-studded event in Paris.

In the wake of yet another

accolade, the Spanish publication highlighted that Messi has the choice to terminate his contract next year, as stipulated in his current deal, but holds no desire to leave the club.

President Josep Bartomeu had previously stressed that Messi’s priority is to remain with the top flight giants, and the club’s hierarchy are keen

to secure the star’s future in Catalonia.

There are concerns, however, that Messi only wants to remain with Barcelona for as long as he is able to compete at the highest level, and the Argentinian is believed to not be focused on battling for the sake of his career or record at the top of the game.

The same outlet also

understand that the mercurial forward wishes to avoid the same fate as idol Ronaldinho, who had endured a sharp decline in the latter stages of his career at the club.

Bartomeu has reportedly taken charge of negotiations surrounding Messi’s potential renewal and is the main point of contact for the player’s agent.

Anthony Joshua Looks Beyond Ruiz Rematch Anthony Joshua issued another broad hint that he will spare the fireworks in favour of a functional win when he embarks on his rematch with Andy Ruiz on Saturday.

Joshua has appeared considerably more slender in Saudi Arabia than he was when he suffered a monumental upset loss against Ruiz in New York on June 1.

That first fight developed into a thriller with Ruiz dropping Joshua four times before the seventh-round stoppage and the Brit flooring his opponent once – but all indications this time suggest Joshua will strike and move as he attempts to regain his IBF, WBA and WBO titles.

It could make for a lesser spectacle but Joshua, in their final press conference on Wednesday, said: ‘I’m not here to put on a show, I’m just here to win.’

He added: ‘It is interesting being on this side of the table.

In my 16th fight I challenged

EPL RESULTS Man Utd Chelsea Leicester S’hamton Wolves

2-1 2-1 2-0 2-1 2-0

Spurs Aston Villa Watford Norwich West Ham

and I challenged for a title against Wladimir Klitschko and I challenged against Alexander Povetkin. It is my fourth title challenge in a short space of time. I am used to this. You need to have a challenger mindset.

I had that when I had the belts around my waist and I have it now.

‘I have been boxing a while now. When I came in I didn’t come to take part - I came to take over, full force, fully committed. I never had the chance to reflect on all that.

Olympic title, European, world – boom, boom, boom.

Looking at Ruiz, who has come in a shade a lighter than the 19st he weighed for the first fight, Joshua said: ‘Andy and I are very different. But we have time in common.

As soon as I got back from New York I didn’t lose any heart or fire and I started punching the heavy bag at Finchley and looking forward to this chance.

‘I was asked if winning would be special but I said no because I know I belong there. When I regain those belts I will stay cool and keep my focus and keep that challenger mindset for the next one. Ruiz is just my next target.’

Special Olympics Nigeria Concludes Sports for Hope Initiative Special Olympics Nigeria has successfully concluded the Sports for Hope Initiative with a grand finale tournament featuring football and volleyball, informative talks, entertaining performances as well as health screening for attendees.

The event which held last Saturday at the Campos Mini Stadium on Lagos Island was sponsored by the Embassy of France in a bid to foster amongst communities the inclusion of persons with disabilities (PWIDs), psychological empower them and promote a positive lifestyle choices with the use of Football and Volleyball as its driving sports tool.

Through this initiative, the organisation equipped 224 people with intellectual disabilities and 160 people without intellectual disabilities with vital information on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), financial management, and health promoting behavior to enable them to make better life choices.

The official kick-off of games was done by the Ambassador of France to Nigeria, Jerome Pasquier, signaling the start of the first set of competitions.

Speaking at the event, Special Olympics National Director, Naomi Ejobe whilst addressing attendees thanked the sponsors of the event, appreciating them for their continued support.

She noted that the event wouldn’t have possible without their support. Naomi also commended athletes from the various communities for participating in all activities that was organised by the team stating that the impact of what they have learned in the past few months has been visible.

Also speaking at the event, the Ambassador of France to Nigeria, Pasquier who stated that, “the embassy is very happy to support Special Olympics team in carrying out this noble course noting that France is well recognised in sporting activities and we take the game of Football very important.

Sponsoring the Sports for Hope initiative is an avenue to foster relationship amongst both countries and most importantly to understand the people, its culture and values”.

Pasquier also noted that the Embassy of France was willing to continuously support Special Olympics Nigeria.

Lionel Messi, celebrating his sixth Ballon O’Dor success with some team mates

Adebayor Ponders on Future after Kayserispor Exit Togo legend Emmanuel Adebayor is considering his future after quitting Turkish top tier strugglers Kayserispor.

The 35-year-old joined Kayserispor in August following a spell with rivals Istanbul Basaksehir and had high expectations when he made a return to the country.

He scored in Kayserispor’s 4-1 loss at giants Besiktas on Monday before announcing his departure from the Kayseri outfit who are bottom of the 18-team Turkish Super Lig. “Everything was quite difficult for me and this is one of the most important decision to make in my career,” he told reporters.

“I joined this team with a lot of ambition, to make history

but at some point you have to look at your health, family, everything around you and make a decision.

“I’ve come to a conclusion where I have to move forward.

Obviously, I have to leave this team but my thoughts will always be with the club.”

The former Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham and Crystal Palace striker established himself in Turkey by scoring 28 goals in 76 appearances for Istanbul Basaksehir.

Adebayor admits he does not have any new club lined up for the time being as he hopes to sort out his future, but has not ruled out a return to Turkey.

“A footballer can never close a page, let me just go now and

clear my head about my life and career. We’ll see if I come back to Turkey or not,” he added.

“I had a beautiful three years in Turkey and I just wish this league to be one of the best leagues in Europe.

“Going back home to see my family, childhood friends, and a change of atmosphere for a couple of weeks and I will take it from there.

“A lot is going on and I just need to go back home to know the next thing that I will do.”

Kayserispor was Adebayor’s ninth professional club since leaving his native Togo in 2001 and he has previously played for French clubs Metz and Monaco as well as European football powerhouse Real Madrid.

Named the 2007 BBC African Footballer of the Year and the Caf African Player of the Year the following year, Adebayor’s only silverware at club level was the Spanish Copa del Rey in 2011 with Real Madrid.

Despite his on-off relationship with the football authorities in Togo, he remains his country’s all-time top scorer with 32 goals and played for them at their only World Cup appearance in 2006.

He has played for the Sparrow Hawks in four Africa Cup of Nations in 2002, 2006, 2013 and 2017.

Adebayor’s last appearance for Togo was in a 2-1 away defeat to neighbours Benin in March in a 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.

A cross-section of swimmers in action during the 2019 swimming Gala ofDay Waterman College (DWC) in Asu Village Ogun State, recently

Thursday, December 5, 2019

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MISSILE Uche Secondus to INEC “The effect of bad elections in our polity has been far reaching, stagnating political and economic development, and permanently foisting on the people unpopular and incompetent leaders” – PDP National Chairman, Chief Uche Secondus, who threatened a visiting INEC team that his party may not participate in future elections if the Electoral Act is not amended to ensure electronic voting.

OLUSEGUNADENIYI THE VERDICT

olusegun.adeniyi@thisdaylive.com

Illusion of a Food Pack Economy O

n 7th November, I was in Afiesere, Ughelli for the Service of Songs for late Pa James Okpako Edevbie, father of Olorogun David Edevbie, Chief of Staff to the Delta State Governor. At the end of the ceremony, each guest was handed a take-away food pack. Congregated outside the venue was a large crowd, a common sight at public ceremonies in our country where people mill around for crumbs. As I made my way to the vehicle, a lady accosted me and said, “Please dash me your food pack.”

I obliged her, even though the lady did not appear hungry to me. Perhaps the food pack delicacies—which may have offered something different from what she was used to eating—were the attraction. But however rich the contents of that food pack, they could only satiate her appetite for a day, at best. These were my reflections as we drove away from the venue and in the days that followed. Sadly, we live in a society where people scramble for food packs. More disturbing is that this food pack mentality is symptomatic of the way we run our country.

In the ‘2019 Nigeria Economic Update Report’ released on Monday, the World Bank projected that the number of Nigerians living in extreme poverty may increase by more than 30 million by 2030. According to the report, our country could be home to 25 per cent of the world’s destitute people within the next decade if government, at all levels, fails to revive the economy and create jobs.

“With population growth (estimated at 2.6 per cent) outpacing economic growth in a context of weak job creation, per capita income is falling. Today, an estimated 100 million Nigerians live on less than $1.90 per day,” says the World Bank.

In calling for reforms, the report highlights the urgency of creating jobs for our growing (and young) population. The challenge is our lack of any grand vision to address the problem because the ethos driving our economy is still that of scrambling for food packs. For instance, at the end of every month, representatives of the three tiers of government still gather in Abuja for the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meetings where oil proceeds are shared. After that, we borrow heavily to finance both recurrent expenditure and capital projects that are being managed with subsidies.

Meanwhile, the 2019 Finance Bill presented

by President Muhammad Buhari along with the 2020 budget has scaled the second reading in both chambers of the National Assembly.

The most controversial aspect of the bill is the proposition to increase the Value Added Tax (VAT) from 5 to 7.5 percent.

It is not as if we do not know why. The federal government is hard pressed for cash to fund the recently announced minimum wage and the consequential adjustments. In fact, the VAT rate increase was part of the critical recommendations by a team set up to advise government on how to fund the minimum wage increase. So, it is about generating more revenue for national consumption at a period when every effort should be geared towards creating jobs and therefore based on the ‘food pack’ philosophy - satiating

Elumelu the immediate ‘hunger’ of government with little or no thought for tomorrow.

Last Thursday in Abuja, seven organisations and 26 individuals, including Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Mr Tony Elumelu, Mr John Momoh and Mr Sam Omatseye, FNAL, were honoured at the 2019 National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM) award. Speaking at the ceremony, Elumelu harped on the need for job creation, poverty reduction and economic development in Nigeria. “We need jobs to be created in Nigeria to take our young ones off the street, to reduce insecurity and promote national development and cohesion,” said Elumelu who was merely re-echoing the conclusions at the 2019 Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) entrepreneurship forum held in July this year which was attended by several leaders from across the continent. It is noteworthy that statistics from the TEF reveal that on average, revenue generated by their entrepreneurs increased by 189% post-graduation while the number of additional jobs created by beneficiaries increased by 197%. Meanwhile, 15 percent of these entrepreneurs also employ at least 10 staff, and in terms of revenue growth, 13 percent of them generate above $50,000 annually, after the programme.

The import of TEF figures is that we have a fertile environment for entrepreneurship on the continent and especially in Nigeria, if only our government can put in place the right policies. That also means that we have capacity to take many of our people off the streets by enabling small businesses to grow. I have practical evidence of this.

About three months ago, my aburo, Seyi Adekunle sent me two pairs of shoes made by his company, Vodi which is diversifying from clothing to other businesses in the fashion industry. The shoes are as good as any from Italy. With only one female assistant earning N8,000 per month at his Wuse 2 shop some few years ago, Vodi is now a thriving enterprise employing 157 tailors and features a training school. It is the same with the business of my friend’s wife, Mrs Sandra Adio. I was there the day she officially opened her ‘Metro Bread’ bakery in December 2014 with just two support

staff. Now, the business has diversified into pastry and food with a staff strength of 108.

During the week, one of my professional mentors, Dr Chidi Amuta, told me that after just five years in business, his wife’s health and fitness outfit has grown to employ 40 staff ranging from gym instructors to spa therapists, hair stylists and beauticians.

Sadly, in addition to spending a fortune every month on diesel, Mrs Amuta has had to contend with tax men from both state and federal authorities as well as local government touts etc.

The foregoing speaks to the potentials (huge markets for quality products and services) and challenges (unconducive operating environment) that impact on doing business in Nigeria. Increasing VAT cannot be the way to help those that we need to create jobs. In other countries, they offer such entrepreneurs incentives for their businesses to grow, not tax them to death.

We must make begin to make the business environment more friendly for them and policy goalposts more realistic and predictable, in our collective interest.

Let me state clearly at this point that governments all over the world collect VAT as a ready source of revenue. In fact, several European countries operate VAT rates of 20% and above, and a majority of African countries are in the 15% - 18% bracket. Therefore, even with the current proposition, Nigeria’s VAT would still be the lowest in Africa. However, while a 2.5% increase may appear a rather small number, in the context of our current VAT structure, it represents a 50% increase. That is huge.

Besides, since VAT is regressive tax usually paid in the value chain, any increase, no matter how small it may seem, is a further squeeze on consumer disposable income in Nigeria. Of significance will be the impact on the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), businesses we need to support to grow.

This brings me back to TEF. Established in 2010, the idea of Elumelu is that the private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, remain the catalyst for the social and economic development of the continent. With an initial commitment of $100million to empower 10,000 entrepreneurs

across 54 African countries over a 10-year period, no fewer than 7,531 have already benefitted from the scheme with interesting stories to tell. The creation of young African entrepreneurs, Elumelu believes, will not only ginger hope for a burgeoning youth demographic, it will drastically reduce the economic underpinnings of Africa’s migration crisis.

However, to support these types of businesses that can take many of our young men and women off the streets, taxation should not be the priority. We need to go back to the regime of giving new SMEs tax holidays. As it is now, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) doesn’t do that. So once you start a business you are expected to pay tax the following year. This makes it difficult for them to thrive. Meanwhile, the basic infrastructure needed for successful business operations are not on ground to cushion the effects of the VAT increase.

Take for example power. Majority of SMEs run on generators. So, a further increase in VAT means that they may be forced to reduce salaries and other emoluments or sack staff which will further increase the level of poverty among Nigerians, since majority of our people don’t buy the idea of being made to pay additional cost to their purchase prices.

The other side of course is that at a period when we should be increasing the tax net, a 50 percent increase in VAT will actually create an army of tax evaders instead of loyal tax payers, because majority of SMEs will now be forced to do what is common in Nigeria: Forge tax clearance documents!

While I am an advocate of running our country on the basis of tax in order to instill sanity in the system and encourage responsible citizenship, the challenge is that those in leadership positions do not inspire confidence that the money generated will be used to advance the public good. Besides, the more you tax incomes and profits, the less savings and investment. With that, poverty increases and is passed from generation to generation. To develop as a society, we must move away from the idea of scrambling for food packs by initiating policy measures that encourage wealth creation and put our people to work.

Another Laurel for LJC Last Thursday, a team from the United States visited Loyola Jesuit College (LJC), Abuja to congratulate one of their final year students, Miss Shashe Ojuba who achieved what is described as ‘Perfect Score’ (100 percent in all subjects) at the American College Testing (ACT), which is used for admission into their Colleges (Universities), alongside Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). With Shashe being the first student in Africa to achieve such a feat in ACT, it is another laurel for LJC that continues to set high standards and break records.

By creating a competitive environment through their grading system from JS1 to SS2 where students are given positions based on total numbers in their entire set; by preparing

their students to be globally competitive through an awareness of opportunities that exist beyond the shores of the country; by allowing their students to freely access their teachers on a one-on-one basis to go over difficult subjects; by encouraging their students to participate in local and foreign competitions and by enforcing a strict regime of discipline, Loyola Jesuit College is, without doubt, one of the best high schools in the country today with their graduates easily admitted into Ivy League Universities in Europe and the United States.

While there is much those who manage the education sector in Nigeria can learn from LJC, let me extend my congratulations to Shashe.

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