MONDAY 12TH DECEMBER 2022

NLNG’s Year-to-date Gas Delivery Gap Drops to 1.3bcf Due to Feedstock Supply Constraints Decries missed opportunities across Nigeria's gas value chain Peter Uzoho The Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) has recorded 37.5

per cent year-to-date gas delivery gap, translating to about 1.3 billion cubic feet of gas (bcf) deficit, with negative implications on both the

company's export and domestic gas delivery obligations as well as revenues.

The Deputy Managing Director

of NLNG, Mr. Olalekan Ogunleye, disclosed this during a panel session at the just-concluded Practical Nigerian Content Forum (PNC) in

Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, where he also lamented that Nigeria missed a lot of opportunities across the upstream, midstream and downstream gas

value chains.

Ogunleye said at the moment, the Continued on page 5

Atiku Condemns Killing of Young Deborah Samuel for Alleged Blasphemy...

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Monday 12 December, 2022 Vol 27. No 10107. Price: N250

www.thisdaylive.com TR

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& RE A S O

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You Can’t Bully Free Press, Silence Media, THISDAY/ARISE Editors Tell Alake, Onanuga

Say duo want to use press council to gag media, create dictatorship Assure Tinubu of fair, robust coverage

The Board of Editors of THISDAY/ ARISE News yesterday accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council’s (PCC) Director of Media and

Publicity, Mr. Bayo Onanuga and its Director, Strategic Communication, Mr. Dele Alake of attempting to silence independent media, cower as well as bully free press ahead of

the 2023 general elections in what they described as a copycat style of former US President, Donald Trump against independent media.

The THISDAY/ARISE News

Boards of Editors stated this in a joint statement titled: “Tinubu and THISDAY/ARISE Media Group and the Attack on Free Speech.”

They also noted out of envy and

pettiness, the continuous attacks on their Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, Prince Nduka Obaigbena by both Alake and Onanuga.

The editors pointed out that

in at least four separate press statements and interviews in the last three weeks, Onanuga and Continued on page 5

Tinubu: I’ll Be President of All Nigerians, Fair and Just Atiku is articulating boldfaced lies, says APC Come clean on your source of wealth, ex-VP tells former Lagos governor Northern group urges Nigerians not to return ruling party to power Emmanuel Addeh, Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja and Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano Presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has assured Nigerians that there would be equitable treatment of all citizens on his watch if elected president next year.

Tinubu’s assurance came as Presidential Campaign Council of APC accused the presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, of trying to swindle Nigerians with sugarcoated promises and flagrant lies, saying he does not mean well for the country.

But Atiku, yesterday, asked Tinubu to explain the source of his wealth to Nigerians and stop beating around the bush.

Continued on page 5

OPENING OF TIFFANY AMBER GARDENS… L-R: Style icon, Nkiru Anumudu; Mrs Awuneba Ajumogobia; Creative Director, Tiffany Amber Nigeria, Folake Coker ; Managing Partner, Udo Umo & Belo-Osagie, Myma BeloKUNLE OGUNFUYI Osagie, and her husband, Hakeem Belo-Osagie, during the grand opening of Tiffany Amber Gardens and Fashion Exhibition in Ikoyi, Lagos...yesterday

Ortom: PDP Failing to Take Advantage of Crisis to Make Party Stronger...

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PAGE FIVE YOU CAN’T BULLY FREE PRESS, SILENCE MEDIA, THISDAY/ARISE EDITORS TELL ALAKE, ONANUGA Alake, instead of responding to issues or sending petition to the organisation’s Ombudsman, have variously accused the group of bias against the APC Presidential Candidate, Mr. Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“They are wrong. Truth and the pursuit thereof, and the reporting of facts is no bias. The duo has taken unprofessionalism, recklessness, picayune politics and blackmail to a new art form. After their first press statement, we ignored them; but they authored a second statement, which we again ignored, not wanting to insert ourselves into the political discourse.

“But the more we have ignored them the more they have mistaken our silence for cowardice and continued their unrelentless attacks with virulence, even threatening us with The Nigerian Press Council.

“A Press Council that has been completely rejected by the mainstream independent Nigerian media precisely for this reason: misuse and abuse by an incipient dictatorship.

“Imagine these insecure duo of Onanuga and Alake already threatening the free press when they are seeking our votes. What will they do if Tinubu was elected President? Kill independent media or take their markets over using the power of the state and replacing them with media platforms they control and which kowtow to them?” the editors stated.

The editors pointed out that the attacks intensified since the publication in the THISDAY edition of 18th November, 2022 of the death of one Mueez Adegboyega Akande, a Tinubu associate mentioned as being involved, by US authorities, in a drug trafficking investigation of the APC candidate in 1993.

According to the editors, the THISDAY report introduced the person that died as Mueez but included a condolence message from Lagos State governor to the family of Dr. Kolapo Akande.

“Did THISDAY mix-up the identity (of two brothers?) We

needed to be sure before issuing an apology. We needed to hear from the family. Till date we have not heard from the family. The fact is that mistakes in reporting the death of someone who may not have died is not unusual in the media.

“But then a quick statement from the family of the person so reported to have died, as happened when the media mistakenly reported the death of the late nationalist and past President, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, in the ‘90s, would have quickly laid the matter to rest.

“Most newspapers, including the national television stations (Except THISDAY) made the error and was quickly corrected. THISDAY later became the first newspaper on May 12, 1996, to exclusively break the true story of the passing of Nnamdi Azikiwe,” they added.

However, for some strange reasons, Mueez, since the publication of the story, has not disowned the THISDAY report that he was not dead, nor has any of his family members.

Therefore, the editors stated that they found it curious that it was the APC Presidential Campaign Council that would issue a statement that the person that died was Kolapo, not Mueez.

In a statement he issued on 21 November 2022, Onanuga had accused THISDAY of denigrating Kolapo, a medical doctor and “an Accord Party candidate for the House of Representatives some years back”.

But a quick internet search showed that the Accord Party candidate in question was indeed Mueez, not Kolapo.

“Where was Onanuga’s professionalism in passing off Mueez for Kolapo? Did he verify his story as a journalist of several decades? Strangely, the trio of naijanews.com, sarconnectmedia. com, kossyderrickent.com, which highlighted the poster in an internet search outline, have since deleted it on their websites.

“What a curious coincidence!

Perhaps, Onanuga, the self-assigned publicist of the Akandes, may wish to clarify this. He should also clarify his relationship and the relationship of the APC PCC with the Akandes and why they would issue a statement on behalf of the family.

“Or better still, get Mueez Akande to step out, so we can close this matter. We note that the APC campaign council is riled by our report on Akande’s death,” the editors stated.

According to THISDAY/ARISE

despite some of the acrobatics of APC spokesmen trying to make light of forfeiture of funds linked to drug trafficking.”

“Have the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) investigated this? We need their reports and clarity, one way or the other, in this most important national security question on the 2023 elections with implications for our democracy.

“We also note that two senior APC campaign officials had separately requested that we move THISDAY Editor and columnist, Shaka Momodu, and The Morning Show co-host on ARISE News, Rufai Oseni, from their current positions to stop the attacks or get reprieve from a future Tinubu presidency.

“The Boards of Editors of THISDAY Newspapers and the ARISE News Channel would like to state without equivocation that we do not fire journalists because of their views.

“Facts are sacred and opinions free is the age-old dictum to which all free-thinking men subscribe. We allow our editors the freedom to air their opinions unfettered and

have created The Office of the Ombudsman to take any complaints and discipline any abuse of office by any of our staff members,” they explained.

However, despite the unwarranted attacks, unprofessionalism and envy of THISDAY and ARISE successes by Onanuga and Alake in the face of their journalism failures, who both wish to create a cabal to ring-fence Tinubu (away from more moderate and reasonable APC leaders), they assured the APC, it’s PCC and the Tinubu Campaign of fair and robust coverage of THISDAY and ARISE Media group as they do for other political parties.

“We will continue to be open, unbiased and professional.

However, we will not be intimidated by the bullying tactics of some APC campaign officials. As Michelle Obama said in response to Donald Trump, when ‘they (Onanuga and Alake) go low, we go high’, for the greater good of journalism and Nigeria.

“A journalism that holds leaders accountable to the people by always telling truth to power. In the words of Othman Dan Fodio, “Conscience is an Open Wound, Only Truth Can Heal It,” they added.

Anwar-ur-Deen Movement, Sheikh Ahmad Abdulrahman, said the gathering was not to campaign or endorse Tinubu or any candidate, but to seek to know if Tinubu could still deliver for the country as he did as governor of Lagos State.

Meanwhile, Director of Media and Publicity, APC Presidential Campaign, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, said, in a statement, that Nigerians should not be fooled by boldfaced lies being enunciated by Atiku and PDP. Onanuga said PDP should be eternally shameful of its appalling record in governance between 1999 and 2015. He alleged that PDP was busy rewriting history and embellishing the locust years as if it was a golden era in the country's history.

The APC campaign spokesman stated, "We need to warn Nigerians to be wary of the sugar-coated promises of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and his Peoples Democratic Party as they embark on their inordinate and desperate campaign to gain power at all cost.

"Of course, this is fake history at its worst. We are not fooled. Nigerians should also not be fooled about the boldfaced lies, being articulated by the candidate and his party."

Onanuga.pointed out that what was more shocking was Atiku's audacity in standing up to ask for votes despite what his boss, President Olusegun Obasanjo, wrote about him in his book, My Watch.

He said Obasanjo wrote that it would have been an unpardonable mistake “and sin against God to foist him on Nigeria”, saying Obasanjo still believes so till tomorrow.

committee set up to investigate his “dubious” academic records in 1999 that he could not complete secondary school because his family was too poor to sponsor him.

The statement said, “The governor spoke about his difficult and traumatic youth and how he scaled the hurdles of life as a self-made man. After his primary education, the governor said he was admitted into secondary school but he could not further his education because of his poverty. The governor, thus, had to engage in menial jobs before he proceeded to the United States of America in search of the Golden Fleece.

“So, how did Tinubu, whose family was too poor to send him to school, despite a free education policy at the time, inherit properties from the same family? This is obviously balderdash. Tinubu would do well to stop comparing himself with Warren Buffet, whose source of wealth has never been linked to narcotics by US authorities.”

The statement added that the controversies surrounding Tinubu’s source of wealth did not start today.

It quoted the US authorities as having said Tinubu revealed in bank documents that he worked with Mobil Nigeria Limited in 1989 and his salary was just $2,400 and he had no other sources of income.

TINUBU: I'LL BE PRESIDENT OF ALL NIGERIANS, FAIR AND JUST Nonetheless, a group of prominent northerners declared that returning the ruling APC to power in 2023 would be destructive to the country.

The group is led by former Executive Secretary of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Professor Usman Yusuf, Mahdi Shehu, and former Director General of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Ladan Salihu.

Speaking at a town hall meeting with Muslim leaders from the South-west in Ibadan, Tinubu commended religious leaders in the country for their continued prayers and sermons, which he said had contributed to national unity and peaceful coexistence.

In a statement by his Media Office, signed by Mr. Tunde Rahman, Tinubu promised to apply his wealth of experience to lead Nigeria in the spirit of innovation and pragmatic vision, uplift the nation, and renew the hope of Nigerians.

The APC candidate, who spoke partly in the Yoruba language, said, "This election season has been a hybrid of facts and falsehood, truth and lies. I would like the election to be one based on facts and truth.

"What is a candidate's record of performance and what are his policies? I ask you to urge your followers to come out and vote and to do so wisely. Vote for a candidate that has a vision for a

NLNG'S YEAR-TO-DATE GAS DELIVERY GAP DROPS TO 1.3BCF DUE TO FEEDSTOCK SUPPLY CONSTRAINTS NLNG was only able to deliver 62.5 per cent of the 3.5bcf gas requirement in its six-trained 22 million tons per annum (mtpa) processing plant in Bonny Island, Rivers State.

THISDAY had exclusively reported in August that the NLNG had suffered $7 billion year-to-date revenue loss due to inadequate gas supply and under-capacity production at the company's processing plant, a situation caused by the shutdown of major oil and gas pipelines, particularly the Trans-Niger Pipeline (TNP).

The company’s General Manager, Production, Mr. Adeleye Falade, had while speaking at an energy conference in Lagos, said the company’s production was trending at 99.4 per cent year-to-date availability while utilisation hovered around 68 per cent.

He had explained to the audience that the data between the 99.4 per cent availability and the 68 per cent utilisation at the time was equivalent to almost $7 billion revenue.

However, with the 62.5 per cent year-to-date available gas delivery disclosed by the firm's deputy managing director, NLNG's gas delivery has now fallen by 5.5 per cent from the 68 per cent reported in August.

"So for us as Nigeria LNG, it's not just us, we see a lot of missed opportunities. Our train 1 to 6 gas requirement is about 3.5bcf of gas.

Year-to-date, we have a gas delivery gap of about 37.5 per cent, only 62.5 per cent is our gas supply," Ogunleye said.

He added that, "there are missed opportunities everywhere you look in the value chain, whether it's upstream, midstream or downstream in terms of what can be accomplished commercially at a time that the shareholders, the country, we all need the funds.

"So it's critical that we step up our collaboration to address this issue because it's not just an NLNG issue.

Board of Editors, with documents already in the public domain about Tinubu’s funds forfeiture over drug investigation in the United States of America, it was important to state that for national security, foreign policy, and national interest, any candidate aspiring to be the president of Nigeria should not shy away from media scrutiny concerning any link with drug trafficking, or be associated with anyone so involved, however tangentially.

They stressed that it was a national security question for which all patriots must seek answers, saying it goes to the heart of the country’s nascent democracy and indeed its political stability.

Furthermore, they demanded for full and complete answers on the entire circumstances leading to the forfeiture.

They recalled the case of Manuel Noriega, the Panamanian leader who the US helped to put in power between 1983 and 1989, and whose involvement in drug trafficking later led to the US invasion of Panama, and his capture, trial and conviction in Miami.

As a result of the foregoing, the editors warned that Nigeria, “cannot afford a Noriega moment

It's an issue for everyone. It's also domestic. There are also issues with gas supply to domestic market and the challenges are known."

He said in the last two decades, there had been priority attention on gas and gas matters, starting with the Gas Master Plan and the current Decade of Gas agenda, noting that there was virtual unanimity amongst all stakeholders on gas development and the potential for gas to unlock economic development.

He said it was also clear that a lot of progress had been made around enabling policies in the oil and gas industry, particularly with the sanctioning of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

Noting that the industry still has security challenges, Ogunleye added that there was significant cooperation by all actors to address the security challenges.

While observing that the country and the oil and gas industry were not where they should be, the NLNG official stressed the need for all stakeholders to differentiate between efforts and outcome -tracking effort and linking same with outcome. He stressed that participants must step up actions around that.

In the area of security, Ogunleye said industry stakeholders needed to start focusing on outcome, pointing out that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and the federal government were doing a lot to resolve that.

"We need to double down as of what the security agencies are doing. We need to leverage on intelligence gathering, we need to leverage on technology and it can be done. And more importantly, we need to understand that security is the responsibility of everyone and that it's something that everybody is losing to.

"The security has to be effectively addressed and we must be tracking not just the efforts but their outcomes because you can track gas production,

you can track oil production. And we need our communities to step up their partnership by providing information, by supporting the security agencies," he said.

He stressed the need to incentivise investments in the country considering the fact that gas projects were highly capital projects and cost of fund in the domestic market now an issue still needed to be addressed.

According to Ogunleye, "we need to remove the blockages and make sure that we're incentivising gas development and attracting foreign investments, and the way to do it is, we need to embrace decarbonisation, we need to adopt ESG standard and make sure that our projects are attractive from a financing point of view.

"Ease of doing business: We've talked about this a bit today. It's important to understand that the ease of doing business is an issue that we must wrestle down because Nigeria has to be that hub of gasbased investment and unless we deal with value attack, multi agencies and all these constraints, it's going to be a challenge."

Commenting further on the missed opportunities in the country, Ogunleye cited the now-forgotten multi-billion-dollar Brass and Olokola liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects that would have added significant value to the country if they had been completed and production started.

"Most of us on this panel were involved to some extent in the Brass LNG, in OK LNG. They are mega billion projects that have struggled till date without taking FID. "If today, we had three LNG projects in Nigeria, we can only imagine what that would deliver in terms of Nigerian content opportunity, value to shareholders, etc. So there is no-do-nothing option. We must come together; we must start tracking outcomes. As for Nigeria LNG, we are cooperating with all our shareholders and stakeholders," Ogunleye added.

peaceful, prosperous Nigeria where tolerance and compassion undergird our constitutional and legal rights."

Describing the 2023 general election as Nigeria's momentous encounter with destiny, Tinubu urged the Islamic clerics to educate their followers on the importance of exercising their franchise and voting only tested candidates with a track record of excellent public service.

He warned against falling for the lies and gimmicks of those with nothing to offer.

The former governor of Lagos State assured Nigerians that he would be "a fair and just leader," stressing, "My pledge for fairness and justice is consistent with the tenets of Islamic faith. A leader in a plural society like ours is enjoined to be a leader of all. If elected, I shall govern in an honest and democratic manner in harmony with our nation's constitution."

On security, Tinubu vowed to end the reign of terror, kidnappings and other violent crimes by recruiting more personnel that would be trained and retrained, in addition to providing more security tools and gadgets for effective fight against criminal elements.

The APC standard bearer promised to diversify and restructure the economy towards achieving at least six per cent growth rate annually. He said the goals would be achieved through the reform of the country's industrial policy, infrastructure enhancement, power sector innovation, and significant budgetary reforms.

Tinubu told the Muslim leaders, "Regarding the economy, we seek to repair the very structure of the economy. We can no longer flourish as an economy based on natural resource extraction.

"We must become a dynamic, diversified economy, where those who want to work can find a good job. But let us also be a society sufficiently compassionate to help those, who cannot help themselves.

"We must revive manufacturing and industrial growth so as to create jobs as well as produce the goods and services that improve the daily lives of the average person.

"We seek a minimum of six per cent growth annually through reform of our industrial policy, infrastructural enhancement, power sector innovation, and significant budgetary reform."

Earlier, President of South-west Muslims, Alhaji Rasaki Oladejo, said the event provided an opportunity for the APC candidate to interface with Muslim leaders in the geopolitical zone on his plans for the country if elected, "particularly on how he could make the country a land of great opportunities, where no man will be oppressed".

National Chief Missioner of

Atiku to Tinubu: Come Clean on Source of Your Wealth Presidential candidate of PDP, Atiku Abubakar, asked his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Bola Tinubu, to explain the source of his wealth to Nigerians.

In a statement released by his Special Assistant, Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president accused Tinubu of telling a “fable” about how he made his money, and wasting an opportunity to put the matter to rest once and for all.

A BBC reporter had asked Tinubu to disclose the source of his wealth, to which he responded by asking, “Are you an enemy of wealth?”

Tinubu, however, added that he inherited property.

“He subsequently told a fable of how he inherited properties and also traded stocks like Warren Buffet. This is complete hogwash,” Atiku said in the statement.

Atiku alleged that Tinubu had told a Lagos State House of Assembly

Don't Return APC to Power, Northern Group Warns A group of prominent northerners, led by Professor Usman Yusuf, Mahdi Shehu, and Ladan Salihu, warned against returning the ruling APC to power in 2023, saying that would be destructive for Nigeria.

The group also called on northerners, in particular, and Nigerians, in general, not to support Tinubu in order to save Nigeria from economic crisis, insecurity and disunity, and give Nigeria leadership with credibility and integrity.

Addressing reporters on Sunday in Kano, the northern leaders explained that they had embarked on massive awareness across the region to educate people at the grassroots on the need to vote out the ruling APC. They described Tinubu as incompetent and battling with health issues.

The group further called on Nigerians, particularly, northerners, to vote for Atiku Abubakar of PDP due to his pedigree and ability to head the Nigerian economic team that paid off the country’s debts in the past.

They also condemned the APC-led federal government for leading over 130 million Nigerians into poverty Continued on page 49

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2022

NEWS

Group News Editor: Goddy Egene Email: Goddy.egene@thisdaylive.com, 0803 350 6821, 08074010580

ROAD TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE AT THE 17TH STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING… L-R: Representative of ECOWAS, Commissioner for Infrastructure and Director Transport, ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Chris Appiah; Togo's Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Mrs. Zourehatou Kassah-Traore; Minister of Works and Housing and Chairman of Steering Committee, Mr. Babatunde Fashola; Ghana's Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako - Attah and Representative of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, Mr. Sani Garba, at the 17th Steering Committee Meeting of the Abidjan - Lagos Corridor Highway Development Project held in Lome, Togo…recently

Atiku Condemns Killing of Young Deborah Samuel for Alleged Blasphemy To entrench accountability in disbursement, spending of security votes Pledges to curb IPOB agitations by devolving power to sub-nationals Promises to end multiple exchange rates, remove fuel subsidy To adopt Dubai security strategy, deploy technology Says he personally met Wike five times to sort out differences Chuks Okocha and Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, yesterday, condemned the murder of Deborah Samuel, a young student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education Sokoto, by

irate Islamic students for alleged blasphemy in May this year.

Atiku spoke when he and his running mate, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, appeared on “The Peoples Town Hall”, organised by Channels Television, last night.

The former vice president was responding to a tweet read on the programme querying the

Court Orders AMCON to Vacate Land at Victory Park Estate Wale Igbintade Justice Olukayode Ogunjobi of the Lagos High Court has ordered the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to vacate a disputed property at Block F, Plot 18, Victory Park Estate, Osapa, Lekki Peninsula, Lagos State to its rightful owner, Mr. Temilola Fatai Okesanjo.

Delivering Judgement in suit number LD/2801LM/2020, Justice Ogunjobi held that the claimant's title to property covered by Deed of Assignment registered as instrument No. 57 at Page 57 in Volume 2150 of Deeds Register at the Land Registry Office of Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos State was valid and subsisting.

The claimant, Temilola Okesanjo had sued AMCON, and the Registrar of Titles Lagos State, praying the court for an order of perpetual injunction restraining AMCON or its agents, privies or any person acting on its behalf from entering into or take possession of the property in any manner contrary to the Claimant's proprietary interest.

The Claimant also prayed the court for an Order of Mandatory Injunction compelling the 1st Defendant (AMCON) to evacuate its agents, servants, armed security men and remove its signpost and banner affixed on the Claimant’s property.

However, AMCON in its defence contended that the suit was an abuse of court’s processes for the reason that the claimant filed Suit No LD/2667LM/2020 and LD/3165LM/2021 against it prior to the filing of the suit.

In his judgement delivered on October 26, 2022, Justice Ogunjobi

had granted reliefs 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, and 11 in the claimant's originating summons.

The court held that the uncontroverted averment of the claimant was that he brought the subject land from Knight Rook Limited in 2003, and registered his title in November 2006.

The court held that the claimant’s deed of assignment was a prima facie evidence that Knight Rook Limited had diverted its interest in the land to the Claimant.

The judge held, "I have perused the averments in the 1st defendant's counter affidavit. Paragraphs 12, 13,14,15,16 and 17 are legal arguments on the reliefs sought in the originating summons vis a vis the judgment of the Federal High Court in Suit No. FHC/ CS/L/774/2017 as affirmed by the Court of Appeal in Appeal Number CA/L/698/2018.

"I have considered the Judgment of the Federal High Court in Suit No FHC/L/CS/744/2017. In the Judgment the court granted inter alia, “an order empowering the claimant (1st defendant) to take over all the movable and immovable properties of the Defendants including but not limited to House J1 Olajide Awosedo Avenue, Goshen Beach Estate Lekki Lagos registered as No. 96 Page 96 Volume 2184 in the Land Registry Alausa Ikeja for the satisfaction of Defendants’ indebtedness Knight Rook Limited is the first defendant in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/744/2017.

“In my view, the order covers all movable and immovable properties of Knight Rook Limited as at the date of Judgment.

Continued online

sense in taking down a post on Twitter initially condemning the murder in May. Atiku said he condemned the murder because it was against the tenets of Islam for anybody to take someone’s life without following due process.

He said, “I have said that I asked that the tweet be deleted because I normally approve every tweet. So, since I didn’t approve

it, I said delete it.

“If you read my subsequent statements on that matter, I condemned it. There is nowhere, where it is said or it is an injunction in the Islamic faith that you can go and take somebody’s life. Nowhere! It has to be through due process.”

Samuel, a Year Two student of the school located in Sokoto was murdered and burnt by some

irate young Muslim students for allegedly blaspheming against their faith in a post on her class' WhatsApp group.

However, in a post on twitter, Atiku had initially condemned the incident and called for the arrest of those behind the dastardly act, declaring that all those behind the killing must be brought to book.

“There cannot be a justification

for such gruesome murder.

Deborah Yakubu was murdered, and all those behind her death must be brought to justice. My condolences to her family and friends,” he had written.

But the post was taken down afterwards, to the surprise of many Nigerians. But Atiku explained then that he did not Continued on page 50

NSIA’s Innovation Programme to Catalyse Domestic Capital, Ideas, Says Umar-Sadiq Obinna Chima The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Mr. Aminu Umar-Sadiq has said the Prize for Innovation Programme (NIPP) introduced by the agency at the weekend, would help catalyse domestic capital for domestic ideas.

Umar-Sadiq, who prior to his elevation to the office of MD/ CEO in October, was an Executive Director at the NSIA, said this during an interview in Lagos, on the sidelines of the launch of the NIPP. The NSIA Prize for Invocation Programme was structured as a business enhancement programme to support early-stage, growthdriven ideas through education, mentorship, and financing.

The Programme is a strategybased initiative of the NSIA Board which will run for at least three years.

Through the NPIP initiative, the NSIA stated that it was poised to identify, build, and channel the country’s latent potential in innovation and technology to catalyse economic growth, enhance the nation’s productive capacity, create jobs, and optimize resource sustainability.

In addition, the NPIP was designed to encourage and support creativity and ingenuity within the technology space and to fund new ideas that could result in cost-effective, scalable, and transformative positive impact.

The NPIP priority sectors are technology-enabled businesses in key seven priority sectors of the Nigerian economy.

The key sectors are Financial Services, Agriculture, Health, Education, Manufacturing, Renewables and Power.

Umar-Sadiq explained further: “This programme is supposed to catalyse domestic capital for domestic ideas. This is an initiative of the NSIA that does two things for the NSIA. Firstly, it is to put us in front and at the centre in the tech econsystem of Nigeria. Secondly and importantly, it is to ensure that those great ideas that Nigerians have find local capital in order to take them from success to significance. I think this is a very important initiative, not just for the NSIA, but also for the country in general.”

He also pointed that that the initiative would also consider the ideas stage, “but want to balance that carefully with the kind of capital that the NSIA manages.”

“The NSIA is a conservative capital manager. We manage capital for future generations of Nigerians. So, on one hand, we would support the tech ecosystem at the pre-seed stage, but on the other hand we have to ensure that there is real protection to ensure that capital is adequately managed for future generations of Nigerians. So, it is a very careful balancing act, but this is an important sector for the country, particularly the youth and NSIA must be at the

centre of supporting it.”

Responding to a question on how the NSIA would select or shortlist start-ups, he said: “There are three different service providers that we have brought on board. The first is a technical service provider that is going to be in charge of the process and ensure that there is a website that is going to receive the ideas. “They are going to be in charge of seeding the ideas and leading the accelerator stage and more importantly, they are going to ensure that the 10 ideas that are going to get to the demo day stage are going to essentially have the requisite basis to present to a fantastic panel of judges.

“Secondly, we have a venture partner because the price that these ideas would in part be cash, but would also be equity

by NSIA in those businesses.

So, we would have a venture partner that would help NSIA manage those businesses to have value creation.

“Importantly, the last part is to have an auditor to ensure that all of the rules that have been in place in terms of application, the criteria set for review and the basis upon which these ideas would be judged. Basically, an auditor that would hold the entire competition to account to make that the transparency and accountability that the NSIA is known for continues to abide.”

Also a Non-Executive Director of the NSIA and Chairman of the NIPP launch, Mr. Ikemefuna Isiekwena said: “Like all great

ideas, the Innovation prize itself is not the end we hope to attain but a means to an end. The outcome we seek is an “idea” economy for Nigeria. In this age, success in any discerning economy is defined by the ability to turn ideas into value faster than competition.

“We’re hopeful that this programme will inspire ingenuity, creativity, and inventiveness amongst our teeming youths which will result in ideas that become scalable businesses and in so doing, cause positive economic shifts in our country as we diversify away from traditional.”

He added: “To expand our presence in innovation and emerging technologies and replicate the success achieved in our other focus sectors, we established the NSIA Innovation Fund in 2020 with $25 million of our own capital.

“Recognising the need to make projects in the digital economy bankable, NSIA has created the Prize for Innovation as a platform to educate, train and reposition local technopreneurs for bankability. With the NSIA Innovation Prize, the Authority will contribute significantly towards cultivating a pipeline of investible companies.

“The Prize is expected to catalyze the growth and development of the Nigerian technology ecosystem over time by identifying aspiring technopreneurs and innovators, developing their skills, and providing them with a platform to showcase Nigerian technological solutions globally.”

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13TH ANNUAL BANKERS' COMMITTEE RETREAT...

L - R: Deputy Governor (Economic Policy) Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Kingsley Obiorah; CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele; Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Chairman, Bankers' Committee Subcommittee on EDSG and MD/CEO, Citibank Nigeria, Ireti Samuel-Ogbu; Deputy Governor (Operations), CBN, Adebisi Shonubi; Managing Director, FCMB Plc, Yemisi Edun; and MD/CEO, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Bello Hassan at the 13th Annual Bankers' Committee Retreat in Lagos...recently

SERAP Gives Nine Govs Seven Days to Disclose Spending of N625bn 13% Derivation Refunds Udora Orizu in Abuja The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the nine oil producing states in Nigeria to provide and widely publish details of their spending of the

oil derivation refunds of N625 billion recently paid them by the federal government.

SERAP also demanded that they should include details and locations of projects executed with the money.

The federal government

recently paid N625.43 billion oil derivation refunds to the governors of Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Rivers, Ondo, Imo and Cross River states.

The payments covered 13 per cent oil derivation, subsidy and

SURE-P refunds. The refunds dated from 1999 to 2021.

Owing to this, in the open letter dated December 10, 2022, and signed by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said it was in the public interest to publish

FG Urged to Be Decisive on Removal of Fuel Subsidy Nigerians want Warri, Port Harcourt, Kaduna refineries fixed Fuel scarcity: group commends DSS’ intervention Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The federal government has been urged to be more decisive on the issue of petroleum subsidy removal.

Participants at a weekly discussion programme of the African Media Hangout, a platform made up of a group of diverse media professionals made the call at the weekend.

Discussants at the weekly programme included Prof. Tony Afejuku of the University of Benin, Benin City; Pa Patrick Omhonriawho; a Publisher, Oray Osawe, and a retired Editor of News Agency Nigeria (NAN), Mr. Celsius Ohain, among others.

In his contribution, Afejuku identified Nigeria's major problem as that of leadership, which according to him is the cause of the "subsidy woes."

While calling on journalists to carry out their watch dog role by doing more investigation on the fuel subsidy in Nigeria, Afejuku urged citizens to protest against fuel scarcity which he said had become a source of trauma, pains to Nigerians.

He said: "Nigeria has only one huge problem. What is this huge problem? The huge problem of leadership. It is the cause of our subsidy woes. With or without subsidy Nigeria will be the progressive country we want it to be if we have the right leadership; if our political leaders are political leaders and not political rulers."

Another contributor with the username Mr. Oyo said fuel subsidy was not the problem but, "the issue of greed and pursuit of wanton wealth at the expense of Nigerians by the country's petroleum company, the NNPC and its management."

Questioning Why the NNPC

should be the sole importer of fuel since Nigeria fails to refine her crude, Mr. Oyo said: "Until Nigeria refines her crude locally, the solution lies in deregulation of the market so that importers can set up an independent monitoring body."

On his part, Osawe, also faulted the payment of subsidy.

He added that since successful governments had failed to stop the payment of subsidy, it meant the government itself was complicit in the fraud.

Also contributing to the discussion, Elder Patrick Omhonriawho popularly called PGO viewed the challenge of subsidy from multiple perspectives, saying "leaders slow pace of decision making with a bicameral legislature; lack of leadership and corruption in every facets of government are major banes."

He added: "Our leaders slow pace of decision making with a bicameral legislature has not helped matters. This is visible in contract awards for building roads, bridges, fuel depots and rail lines.

"Lack of leadership and corruption in every facets of government is a major issue."

On his part, Ohain posited that, "fuel subsidy has become somewhat of a mysterious phenomenon in Nigeria because of the aura of secrecy and controversy that surrounds it over the years."

According to him, "as a nation, our ‘subsidy’ does not seem to meet that acceptable universal stand but has instead become a means to bleed the nation financially."

While noting that many persons who condemned subsidy while seeking power do the same thing when they get to power, the media practitioner urged government to fix the

nation's refineries so as to stop the importation of fuel cum subsidy.

He added: "Successive governments have done exactly the same thing they condemned on their journey to power, thus making ‘subsidy’ a jinx the nation has found it difficult to extricate itself from.

"Few years ago, there was a subsidy probe and cans or rather, drums of worms were exposed about people getting paid for importing ‘fuel’ with non-existent vessels on high seas.

"The critical question is: Why continue to import finished products when our refineries which remain in comatose could be fixed to enable local refining and export of finished product?

"Why can’t the Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries come to life? These are begging questions. Suffice it to say that successive governments have shown lack of political will to do the needful as the lure of ‘free monies’ flowing therefrom is too attractive to ignore."

Meanwhile, a civil society organisations (CSO) under the umbrella of The Natives has commended the Department of State Services (DSS) over the recent intervention to end artificial scarcity of fuel by the marketers across the country.

The State Security Service had given the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and oil marketers a 48-hour ultimatum to make petrol available for Nigerians, while threatening to activate its operations across the country if they failed.

But a statement yesterday by the President General of the group, Smart Edwards, explained that the intervention was a success, adding that the secret police must be commended for rising up to the challenge in

defence of ordinary citizens to resist calculated plot to unleash untold hardship on Nigerians.

The group said the DSS intervention drastically reduced the hardship motorists were going through as a result of long queues in filling stations.

It stressed that it has now become a norm that as every festive season approaches, national saboteurs would embark on their evil ride to create artificial scarcity and ensue hardship on citizens to satisfy their profiteering.

It added that last month, the ex-militant Government Tompolo's made a grand exposure of the conspiracy in and around Nigeria's crude oil

by IOCs, powerful forces and locals, adding that the revelation also exposed collaboration by security agencies.

The group noted that in the same vein, the General Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, had alleged that his life was under threat, saying this no doubt revealed that there were hidden powerful cartel behind this plundering of the nation's wealth who are economically profiting from national sabotage.

It stated: "The Natives commend the Department of State Services for their prompt decision to intervene in the organised sabotage of the wellbeing and peace of Nigerians as the yuletide season approaches.

"We commend the Director General of the State Department and his team for being proactive and responsive to the yearnings of Nigerians, indeed there seems to be a ray of hope, when the intelligence community rises to defend its citizens.

"We are glad to hear and see the DSS as not only restraining or curtailing threats but rising up to enforce sanity and order."

the details of spending of the refunds, “as Nigerians have the right to know how their states are spending the refunds.”

SERAP said if the spending details were not published within a week, it would take legal action against the governors.

The letter, read in part: “Widely publishing details of the spending of the oil derivation refunds would ensure that persons with public responsibilities are answerable to the people for the performance of their duties in the management of public funds.

“We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within seven days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard

from you by then, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel you and your state to comply with our request in the public interest.

“SERAP also urges you to disclose details of spending of the refunds to local government councils through the state accounts, and to explain the role played by your government in the spending of public funds meant for the councils.

“The constitutional principle of democracy also provides a foundation for Nigerians’ right to know details of spending of the oil derivation refunds.

Citizens’ right to know promotes openness, transparency, and accountability that is in turn crucial for the country’s democratic order.”

HYPPADEC Tasks Communities to Take Ownership of Executed Projects

Laleye Dipo in Minna

The Hydro Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC) has tasked communities to take ownership of projects executed for them for their sustainability.

The Governing Council of the organisation gave the charge during an inspection of projects executed for riverine communities in Niger state.

The inspection team led by Prof. Salleh Kanam Galadima, inspected projects at Sabuke primary school Borgu LGA, Tatabu community Mokwa LGA, Kuchi Enagi Edati LGA, EtsuTasha community Edati LGA, Lagun Community Lavun LGA, Kwatache and Egbanti in Katcha LGA and Jebba in Mokwa LGA. A statement on the inspection made available to newsmen in Minna, yesterday, by the Head Media and Public Affairs of the organisation, Mr. Nura Tanko Wakili quoted Kanam as saying that the advice was necessary as government purse was very lean and as such could not afford any project being allowed to fall into disuse after being executed.

"We encourage the communities to take ownership and ensure sustainability of these projects as there are too many demands for services with little resources for government to provide such services," Kanam was quoted as saying.

The statement claimed that the communities visited were

satisfied with the quality of the projects executed for their wellbeing though they requested for more.

"It sounds fulfilling to know that your target beneficiaries are really benefitting from the projects strategically located to address their challenges," Kanam added, saying some of the ongoing and completed projects inspected were Solar Powered Boreholes, Solar street lights, Blocks of three classrooms, office and toilets, as well as HYPPADEC Youth Transformation Centre (YTP).

The Managing Director Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission, Mr. Abubakar Sadiq Yelwa, according to the statement assured the communities of more interventions within the capacity of the commission and expressed satisfaction with strategic siting of most of the projects.

Yelwa said the commission would provide furniture and hand pumps for all the schools constructed and promised specific interventions to some communities to address their pressing challenges.

The village head of Lagun community where a block of three classrooms, office and VIP toilets were constructed who spoke through his spokesperson, Muhammad Nma Tsadu described the commission's unprecedented intervention as moral booster for parents and pupils in pursuit of education.

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Acting Group Politics Editor DEJI ELUMOYE

POLITICS

Email: deji.elumoye@thisdaylive.com 08033025611 SMS ONLY

M O N D AY D I S C O U R S E Will Tinubu Sign the Peace Accord?

With presidential election less than three months away, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, has refused to sign the peace accord, a development which has come as a surprise to many. Adedayo Akinwale writes

Tinubu

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ess than three months to the February 25, 2022 presidential election, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has refused to commit himself to a free, fair, transparent and violent free election which other 17 presidential candidates have subjected themselves to by appending their signatures to the peace accord.

THISDAY checks revealed that in September, 2022, Tinubu was absent at the signing of the peace accord for the 2023 elections initiated by the National Peace Committee.

At the said event, the candidate of Labour Party, (LP), Peter Obi; Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Rabiu Kwankwaso, flagbearer of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP); and Omoyele Sowore, standard bearer of the African Action Congress (AAC), were present.

However, the vice presidential candidate of APC, Senator Kashim Shettima, was at the event to represent Tinubu.

In spite of the signing of the peace accord, pockets of violence have been recorded. For instance, last month, campaign convoy of the presidential candidate of the PDP was attacked in Maiduguri.

The spokesman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)’s Presidential Campaign Team, Senator Dino Melaye had alleged that no fewer than 74 persons were hospitalised while several vehicles were vandalised as hoodlums attacked the campaign convoy of Atiku.

He said: “They deployed their thugs to attack our convoys with stones, sticks, matchets as we left the Shehu’s Palace to come to the Ramat Square, all in an attempt to stop our rally. But we want to assure them that nobody can stop us.”

Even, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has not been immuned in the ongoing pre-election violence, about six of its offices have so far been attacked and in some cases burnt down by hoodlums.

The National Peace Committee (NPC) is a non-governmental initiative conceptualised in 2014 in response to emerging threats occasioned by the 2015 general elections. It was an initiative made up of eminent elder statesmen who undertake efforts to support free, fair and credible elections

Abdulsalami

as well as intervene in critical issues of national concern through high-level mediation and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.

At inception, the NPC had an urgent, broad based mandate to make modest contributions towards a smooth and peaceful conduct of the 2015 elections, devoid of any breakdown of law and order before, during and after the electioneering process.

Consequently, the core mandate is: To observe and monitor compliance with Abuja Accord signed by the political parties during elections; to provide advice to the government and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on resolution of political disputes and conflicts arising from issues of compliance with the Abuja Accord; to make itself available for national mediation and conciliation in the case of post-electoral disputes or crises; to ensure peaceful outcome of General Elections that is acceptable to a generality of Nigerians and the international community.

Needless to say that the Core values of the National Peace Committee include neutrality, integrity, transparency, efficiency and effectiveness through: fairness; confidentiality; meritocracy; justice and patriotism.

Some members of the committee are: former Head of States, General Abdulsalami Abubakar; Catholic Bishop of

Kukah

Adamu

Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah; former Chief of General Staff, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe (rtd); ex-Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Yahale Ahmed; former Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. General Martin Agwai; founder of Channels Television, John Momoh; Director at the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Miss Idayat Hassan, among others.

At the moment, Tinubu’s refusal to sign was an indication that he hasn’t committed himself to free and fair elections as far as the 2023 elections are concerned.

THISDAY investigation revealed that while Shettima represented Tinubu at the ceremony in September, when other presidential candidates signed the peace accord, he wasn’t allowed to sign on behalf of the former Lagos State governor.

Based on this, an agreement was reached with the NPC that Tinubu who was out of the country then would pen his signature whenever he returned to the country. THISDAY checks revealed that since then, Tinubu has not made efforts to sign the peace accord.

A member of the NPC told THISDAY on condition of anonymity that the committee made it very clear to the Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu that its doors are open for him to come and sign when he returns.

The source said: “On that day the NPC made it very clear to the Chairman of the APC that our doors are open for him to come and sign when he (Tinubu) returns. After all, it happened with Atiku in 2019. He (Atiku) was not at the event in 2019, but he turned up the next day to sign. I also recall that Oby Ezekwesili was not there as well, but they all turned up the next day to sign.

“So, as far as the NPC is concerned, our doors are open. We fixed the day and anybody that was absent can always come back to sign. We didn’t allow the vice presidential candidate to sign because there was no space for his vice to sign. What we have on the form was only the names of the presidential candidates and the chairmen of the parties. The policy is that nobody can sign for somebody by proxy.”

When asked if the NPC has reached out to Tinubu since his return from London, the source said: “It is not our responsibility to reach out to anyone.

The chairman of the APC was there, the vice presidential candidate was there and so we are not under obligation to be chasing anyone about.

“After all, when Atiku didn’t sign on that day in 2019, it was same APC that were up in arms. So, it not our business. We as members of the peace committee, we have only moral authority, our doors are open.”

Ironically, at the Chatham House in London last week, Asiwaju Tinubu, who was yet to sign the peace accord almost three months after his co-contestants had appended their signature, said the 2023 presidential election should be determined by voters making their choice freely rather than the domineering intimidation of the troublesome few.

The former two-time governor of Lagos state who also kicked against all forms of electoral violence and intimidation ahead of the 2023 polls said having spent most of his career in the political opposition, he had long fought against electoral malpractice and any attempt to extinguish the legitimate choice of voters, while assuring that he would continue to do so.

He said: “I stand firmly against all forms of electoral violence and intimidation. Having spent most of my career in the political opposition, I have long fought against electoral malpractice and any attempt to extinguish the legitimate choice of voters.

I will continue to do so.

“And I urge all my fellow contestants in this election to do the same.

Let the sovereign will of the people decide the path of our nation. And let this election be determined by voters making their choice freely rather than the domineering intimidation of the troublesome few”.

Whether Tinubu will eventually sign the peace accord before next year ’s election still remains to be seen.

Ironically, at the Chatham House in London last week, Asiwaju Tinubu, who was yet to sign the peace accord almost three months after his co-contestants had appended their signature, said the 2023 presidential election should be determined by voters making their choice freely rather than the domineering intimidation of the troublesome few

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CITYSTRINGS

Group Features Editor: Chiemelie Ezeobi ×ËÓÖ ÍÒÓÏ×ÏÖÓÏ˛ÏäÏÙÌÓ̶ÞÒÓÝÎËãÖÓàÏ˛ÍÙט ͖͕͔͑͑͒͑͒͑͑͘

Taking Stock as Flood Recedes in Bayelsa As the floods recedes in Bayelsa State, it's been stock taking time for residents even as the government set up a post-flood committee to collate damage estimates. Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa reports that an oil company also recently provided succor for effected communities

Homebound IDPs at the Ox-bow lake, Yenagoa, going home after the camp closure

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s many Bayelsans gradually begin their journey back to their homes and communities after over a month of the rampaging and devastating flood wrecked havoc in the state, many of them have begun to count their losses.

With billions of naira lost especially with many farmlands swept away and livestock farmers including those who are in poultry and fishing businesses submerged in flood, expert says it will take billions of naira to repair the damages left by the now receding flood.

With over a 100 deaths recorded and over one million victims seriously affected according to a data by the Bayelsa State Emergency Management Agency (BYSEMA), these damages done on individuals and government made Bayelsa State the worst hit with over billions of Naira lost in properties and infrastructure.

From the two entry points at the boundaries with Delta and Rivers states to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to Forcados River, River Nun and the Taylor Creek, the destruction caused by the floods forced many to flee their homes and communities making them Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

Yenagoa, the state capital, the whole of Ogbia, Southern Ijaw, Sagbama, Kolokuma/ Opokuma were all submerged, while parts of Nembe and Brass councils suffered same fate.

The state SEMA officials put the total number of persons affected at 1,344,014, and communities destroyed at over 300, with the attendant hardship as prices of commodities, especially food, skyrocketed.

The East-West road connecting over six states in the Niger Delta region was submerged with many passengers stranded, making it difficult to reach Bayelsa State. It led to shortage of essential commodities like food, gas, fuel, and meat, usually supplied from the Delta and Rivers end of the road.

Roads leading to the state- owned university, Niger Delta University, Amassoma in Southern Ijaw Local Government and that of the Federal University, Otueke were cut off, making the universities only accessible through rivers, which had also overflown its banks.

Similarly, the University Teaching Hospital at Okolobiri, shut down services as the flood sacked both the workers and the patients.

The spreadsheet by the agency showed 96 deaths, with Yenagoa Council posting the highest fatality figure.

Confirming the figures, BYSEMA Chairman, Walamam Igrubia, who said collation of data from the field were still ongoing, said farmlands, school buildings, health structures and other facilities were also affected.

A poultry farmer, Mr. Chukwudi Onyechefule, said he invested over N1m in the business in December 2021 and had 1,000 fully matured birds before the flood swept them away.

He said: “The onei that are alive are few and sold between N3,000 and N5,000,” lamenting that he would have sold each of the chicken between N10,000 and N12,000 in December.

A widow from the Ikarama community, Theresa Godfrey, who took our correspondent around her farms and properties damaged by the flood, said she lost over N3 million to the flood which swept away everything

she labored for including her farm and livestock.

She called on the IOCs and the government to come to the rescue of the community and help them with farm implements and seedlings as the flood ravaged everything they had including seedlings and plantain suckers which they can use to start all over again.

According to the state Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Hon. Ayiba Duba, the level of flooding this year was more than any year the state can recall, as the entire state was under water.

He said though the state government cannot immediately put a figure in monetary terms what was lost, he stated that what the government is doing right now is to set up a committee, the Postflood Management Committee.

Headed by the Deputy Governor, he said the committee will collate, identify the infrastructure that is damaged, collapsed and aggregate everything and sum it up to what cost implication each and every one of those projects is worth.

He said, "I am aware that the committees have already been sub-divided into other technical committees where professionals of the rehabilitation committee will join hands with others. They have engineers, quantity surveyors, civil engineers, electrical engineers.

"All the nine ministries are part of that committee, because everything we are trying to do is to have a holistic view of the destructions, so that they will come up with the cost of what we are losing and what it will take use to reconstruct, rehabilitate the damaged infrastructure; that's what we are doing.

"The food security committee will try to access what level of damage and what level of assistance we can render to our farmers and that one too we are collating the cost implications.

"You will recall that this situation is not just those who were in the camps that are affected.

What I have just told you is a state wide thing. If you are a farmer and the food security committee is looking at what farmers would need, whatever the committee comes out with and its agreed by government it will affect everybody.

"The camps were for those who couldn't go back to their houses during the flood because the flood has taken over their houses. So government has provided a place for them to stay within that period. There were more persons who were outside of the camps than those who were in the camps.

"You also know there are a lot

Admiral Akinjide Akinrinade (rep) Osahon Okunbo, Project Director, PINL handing over palliatives to one of the community leaders of persons who couldn't come from the villages. They were managing in places where they could have a little space to put their heads together, put their heads for the night and things like that.

"So, whatever government is doing is for everybody. So to now isolate people that have gone back to their houses, I don't see.

It's for everybody, it's for the entire state.

Whatever we are doing is for the entire state and like I said, we are proactive enough to say there is post-flood, so the committee is already working. It's for everybody."

Just as the government is trying its best to see that victims are rehabilitated, compensated and infrastructure re-built, Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), companies, firms, oil majors and corporate bodies are also contributing their quota in the post flood management.

One of such company is the Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Ltd. (PINL) who has distributed over N150million worth of food and non-food items to the various communities affected by flooding in Bayelsa, Imo, Delta and Rivers States.

Mr Osahon Okunbo, the Project Director of the company, who coordinated the distribution of the materials in Ogbia, Southern Ijaw and Yenagoa Local Government Areas of Bayelsa State, said over 100 communities across the four states were affected.

Speaking with THISDAY after the distribution of the items, he said the gesture was part of the company’s corporate social responsibility to support the victims, who lost properties and sources of livelihood.

The items distributed include over 1000 bags of rice, cartons of noodles, bags of garri, bags of beans, palm oil among others.

Okunbo, represented by Admiral Akinjide Akinrinade, the Project Lead of the company, said they were key partners in the fight against pipeline vandalism and oil theft in the Niger Delta region.

He said the company has spent over N150 million for the purchase of the items they have so far been donated to the affected communities across four states.

He said, "The federal government recently assigned us the responsibility of providing surveillance and maintenance of the Trans Niger Pipeline due to our track record of excellent service delivery.

“As a socially responsible company, we are not insensitive to the plights of our partners who have been rendered homeless, asides losing human lives as a result of the ravaging flood.

“We can only be happy if our host communities are happy since we are in business to achieve a mutually beneficial goal.

“Suffice it to say that we are partners in progress to sustain production of crude oil which remains the major source of revenue to governments at all levels.

“We are also to save the communities from environmental pollution arising from the activities of illegal crude oil refiners.

“Our action is further informed by our social obligation as good corporate citizen to support efforts of the government by providing solutions to current multifaceted socio-economic challenges in the midst of dwindling revenue.

"When the flood started about two months ago or thereabout, our chairman including the Board of Directors were so worried and because of that we created this mission.

"If I may mention we were just recently assigned the Trans Niger pipeline which runs from Diobu creek to Bonny; and we also recall that this flood impacted very negatively on a lot of the communities within the pipeline right of way and this was what agitated the minds of our chairman, the board of directors and they instructed us that we should quickly go round the communities and assess all the communities that were highly impacted.

"And we did that and based on the assessment they gave us the go ahead to carry out this intervention and that's exactly what we are doing. Like I said it has been a wonderful experience."

On the flood, he said, "I think this is the worst I've seen so far. I've been here all my life as a young officer as a commander before I was the Joint Task Force (JTF) Commander.

"So this particular flood is one I've never experienced before because even when the water has receded now, I can still see the level of damages and destruction in the communities."

Okunbo assured the traditional rulers, chiefs, youths and women leaders of the affected communities of their determination to carry everyone along with transparency and accountability.

He thanked the people for their unflinching support and cooperation since inception of the project.

The director however, wished them speedy recovery from the physical and psychological trauma occasioned by the flood.

Mr Marcus Danami, the Community Development Committee Chairman, (CDC) of Otuesega community, in Ogbia LGA, while receiving the items, commended PINL for the donation of the items to the host communities.

The chairman accused the IOCs especially, SPDC and AGIP of neglect and wished that PINL takes over the responsibilities of the two companies operating in their community.

He said no company have done what the PINL have been doing for the host communities affected by the flood disaster.

Earlier, the Paramount Ruler of Ikarama Community, in Yenagoa Local Government Area, said the gesture was the first of its kind, urging other oil firms to emulate the goodwill of PINL to their host communities.

He commended the firm for the donation of the items to the host communities, assuring them of the safety of their pipelines.

Also, Chief Livingston Fortune, the Deputy Paramount Ruler of Elebele community, in Ogbia Local Government Area, said the company was special for donating the items to their host communities.

He, however, commended the firm for including the Niger Delta leaders as part of the contractors.

Mr Marcus Raniya, the Chairman of Otuesega Community Development Committee (CDC) in Ogbia LGA, while receiving the items donated to the community accused the IOCs especially, SPDC and AGIP of neglect and wished that PINL takes over the responsibilities of the two companies operating in their community.

While commending the surveillance company for the donation of the items to the host communities, Raniya said no company has done what the PINL have been doing for the host communities affected by the flood disaster.

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Tech Top 5 News NCC-CSIRT WARNS AGAINST TIKTOK CHALLENGE SPREADING MALWARE he Nigerian Communications Commission’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT) has warned Nigerians to be mindful of their cyber safety.

They warned users against the recent viral trend on TikTok being used by Cyber attackers to spread malware.

The team revealed that through the viral TikTok challenge, Invisible Challenge, threat actors are spreading information-stealing malware known as the WASP (or W4SP) stealer.

The challenge sees people use a filter to make their body appear to see through, leaving just the silhouette visible.

The WASP stealer, which is high in probability with critical damage potential, is a persistent malware hosted on discord that its developer claims is undetectable.

“Attackers are uploading videos to TikTok with a link to software that they claim can reverse the filter’s effects,” NCC said. “Those who click on the link and attempt to download the software, known as ‘unfilter,’ are infected with the WASP stealer, which searches the infected device for passwords, crypto wallets, credit cards, and any other files that might be interesting, and sends all of it to the attacker.”

The advisory body urged users to avoid clicking on suspicious links and use anti-malware software on their devices. They also advised removing apps that they did not install.

The CSIRT is the telecom sector’s cyber security incidence centre set up by the NCC to focus on incidents in the telecom sector as they may affect telecom consumers and citizens at large.

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APPZONE REBRANDS, POWERS GLOBAL PAYMENTS WITH REGULATED BLOCKCHAIN NETWORK One of Africa’s leading fintech software providers, Appzone, has rebranded to ‘Zone’, a regulated blockchain Payment Infrastructure company. By building Africa’s first layer-1 blockchain network, Zone will enable payments and the acceptance of digital currencies for Financial Service Providers globally. Zone’s regulated blockchain network enables direct transaction flow between financial service providers without an intermediary, bringing reduced transaction costs, instant dispute resolution, and absolute reliability across Africa’s payment borders and beyond.

As part of its evolution, Appzone is pivoting from its cloud-based SaaS infrastructure to offer payments processing services that support both fiat money and digital currencies to enable a hybrid interim period in finance where TradFi and DeFi will coexist seamlessly. In the case of fiat payments, Zone connects some of Africa’s most prominent Banks and fintechs within and across countries and utilises a native stable coin to provide real-time settlement for cross-border transactions.

Following the rebrand, Appzone’s Bankingas-a-Service business has been carved into a standalone company known as Qore to continue serving existing clients and growing the SaaS platform’s reach.

Speaking on the rebrand, Co-founder and CEO Zone, Obi Emetarom, said, “As Appzone, we launched the first core banking and omnichannel software on the cloud as well as the first multibank direct debit service based on single global mandates.”

According to Emetarom, the firm is utilising blockchain technology to connect every monetary store of value and enable dependable, frictionless, and universally interoperable payments.

“In doing this, we are building one global network to pay anyone through any means, in any currency, which will maximise financial inclusion and accelerate economic prosperity for Africa and the rest of the world,” he added.

KUDA UPGRADES APP FOR USERS TO ACCESS MORE SERVICES Digital banking platform Kuda recently upgraded its app to make it easier for users

Tech Personality of The Week DEBORAH OJENGBEDE

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his week’s tech personality is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the cryptobased startup AFEN Blockchain, Deborah Ojengbede.

Ojengbede, a former banker, raised $1 million for her technology startup through the NFT initiative token sales round. She also oversees the Non-Fungible Tokens, NFT initiative.

AFEN is a leading platform for African Blockchainrelated collaborations focusing on decentralised finance, arts, real estate, and education. It is the first government backed NFT initiative.

The startup held one of the quickest public sales in the cryptocurrency space in April 2021, raising over a million dollars in her token’s sales round.

Deborah now joins the list of women revolutionising the African Femtech space.

The startup is helping to build Blockchain infrastructure to reduce the deficit by innovating multiple blockchain products designed to prioritise the needs of African Blockchain users.

It aims to combine Blockchain’s immutable data structure and the backing of government bodies to provide legitimacy to products.

The Nigerian-based tech startup is set on a path to expose more people to crypto and support careers in Blockchain technology by enrolling newbies and startups to start training in any area of interest.

It also intends to revolutionise the real estate industry by authenticating homeownership and making peerto-peer property sales possible on the Blockchain.

Ojengbede has launched two products: NftyTribe and BloomOne Academy.

BloomOne Academy was soft launched in February 2022 to empower African youths with Blockchain skills to help increase their impact and earning power.

NftyTribe BETA was launched in June 2022, a multi-chain NFT marketplace facilitating next-level experiences in exchanging NFTs.

to have more access to financial products and services, including investments and UK-to-Nigeria transfers.

Customers have been advised to upgrade their mobile application to the latest version to enable them to enjoy the new features embedded in the app.

According to a statement by the company, the newly launched money app for Africans in Nigeria and the UK offers convenient, easy access to frictionless and affordable financial services for users as transactions can be done faster and seamlessly.

To enjoy the new service, an existing account holder must upgrade their Kuda App via the Play Store or App Store on their smartphone to download the latest version of the app.

After that, customers need to sign in to the app with their registered email address and their old Kuda password once and then create a new password. Once this is done, the outdated version of the Kuda App will be disabled automatically, and the upgraded version with the new features will be installed.

New customers can also onboard by downloading the Kuda App from Play Store or App Store and registering by following the app’s registration prompts.

The old app will no longer be supported after January 9, 2023, so downloading the new app is important for continued access to the Kuda range of services.

The latest version offers users investment opportunities as those in Nigeria can now buy stocks in some of the world’s most successful companies and rising startups at a fraction of the usual cost. In a few minutes, customers can take a step away from local inflation toward financial freedom.

Kuda users in the UK can also send up to £10,000 to Nigeria daily at a transaction fee of just £3, and their Nigerian beneficiaries

can receive the money as a transfer or pick up cash at one of several banks in Nigeria.

APPLE RELEASES THREE NEW SECURITY MEASURES Tech giant Apple has released three new security features: iMessage Contact Key Verification, Security Keys for Apple ID, and Advanced Data Protection for iCloud.

The new security solutions are specifically designed for high-value users who face extraordinary digital threats, Journalists, human rights activists, government members and others. iMessage Contact Key Verification and Security Keys for Apple ID will be available globally in early 2023. The company assures it will expand cloud protection to all U.S. users by the end of 2022 and globally in 2023.

To strengthen security for users facing extraordinary digital threats, Apple will release iMessage Contact Verification globally in the coming months.

All Apple users’ SMS are secured via end-to-end encryption — only senders and recipients can read the messages.

The encryption also extends to FaceTime to keep conversations private and secure.

With iMessage Contact Key Verification, high-value users can further verify that they are messaging only with the people they intend.

Twenty-three data categories, including iCloud Backup, Notes, and Photos, will now be protected.

While some privacy and security experts applauded the move to encrypt data in the cloud for Apple users, the announcement did not come without controversy. It was reported that the FBI was still deeply concerned with Apple’s security features.

The FBI wants technology companies

to provide encryption systems providers can decrypt when dealing with legal orders. The bureau added that “lawful access by design” is vital to conduct investigations and keep up with “adversary tradecraft.”

CHIPPERCASH LAYS OFF WORKERS Chippercash, an African cross-border payments company valued at $2.2 billion last year, recently laid off a portion of its workforce.

In a LinkedIn post, Chipper Cash’s Vice President of Engineering, Erin Fusaro, confirmed the development.

“A significant number of Chipper staff were let go in a layoff. While I was not among them, many of my close colleagues and friends were. If you are looking for talented engineering leadership, engineers, technical program managers, analysts, or IT staff,” stated Fusaro.

The Chipper vice president added, “Please comment here, and I’ll do my best to start connecting people. To those let go today, please feel free and welcome to DM me. I will help you find a soft spot to land if I can.”

More than 50 employees were affected across multiple departments; the engineering team took the biggest hit, with around 60 per cent of those laid off coming from the department, according to people familiar with the matter.

Its recent move comes two weeks after it announced plans to acquire Zoona Transactions International (Zoona), a Zambian fintech firm, as part of its plans to expand its offerings by acquiring all the services under the Tilt Africa brand.

Chipper Cash is one of Africa’s unicorns, valued at $2.2 billion as of 2021. Last November, the fintech startup raised $150 million in a Series C extension round led by Sam Bankman-Fried’s now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX. There are speculations that the downsizing of Chipper Cash may be linked to its relationship with FTX.

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2022

22

PERSPECTIVE Tony Elumelu: Buhari’s Testimony

Elumelu (left) and Buhari

Femi Adesina What a delightful week it has been for Mr Tony Elumelu, Chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA), Heirs Holdings, and the Tony Elumelu Foundation.

On Monday, he stood tall in Sokoto at the Chief of Army Staff Annual Conference to receive a Recognition Award, handed out by no less a person than President Muhammadu Buhari himself.

Elumelu was recognized alongside Chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Chairman of BUA Group, Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu, Founder and Chairman of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia, Col Hameed Ali, Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, and Lt Gen Tukur Buratai, a former Chief of Army Staff. All these people had made salutary impact on the Nigerian Army in different ways.

What qualified Elumelu, particularly, through his Foundation? Entrepreneurial and philanthropic activities for our soldiers, both living and dead. He organizes and funds skill acquisition trainings for the army, extending his bowels of mercy to both the living and the dead. The Foundation cares for widows and children of deceased soldiers, and no less than 220 widows

have been given succor, without a prompting.

After being trained, each widow is given a start up capital of two thousand dollars, while job opportunities are also given to retired and ex-service personnel in the conglomerate headed by Elumelu.

This goes a long way to boost the morale of serving troops.

The next day after Sokoto, what news did we hear again about Elumelu, this worthy son of Nigeria, and of Africa? He had been named one of the winners of TIME 100 Impact Awards for 2022, for his selfless humanitarian activities and support for business upscaling for Africans in Africa. He had in 2020 also been named on TIME’s list of 100 most influential people in the world.

Of course, we know what Elumelu does for youths in Africa, spending millions of dollars annually to empower them for entrepreneurship. At a time people are bringing out smelly currencies from damp and dank places, to avoid the trap of naira redesign deadline, this Chairman of Elumelu Foundation is receiving National and global recognition for making money a servant, rather than a master.

What are the secrets of his success?

This master investor with the touch of Midas gave a glimpse in a recent thread on Twitter. He said he is where he is today because of luck, noting: “luck is important but that doesn’t make it a substitute for hard work or labor.”

He added: “hard work and passion are the two most important ingredients for luck.

“I am where I am today because of luck. Let me be clear, luck is important, but it is not a substitute for hard work or labor. Luck is part of the cocktail that you need for success.

“There are two ingredients for luck – hard work and passion. The more work you put into something and the more passion you apply, the ‘luckier’ you find yourself.

You have to work hard and be more passionate and committed about what you do, to be successful and make your own luck.

“Hard work and passion are within your power and control, and you should apply them to earn your own luck and to help us foster a better and more prosperous world.”

Elumelu has successful investments in banking, power, oil and gas,

hospitality industry, and many others.

Self-effacing and hardly one to throw his weight around, he is a model, an icon for Nigerian and African youths.

In June this year, we were in Kigali, Rwanda, for the 26th edition of Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, and among the many world leaders that President Buhari met privately was Jamaican Prime Minister, Andrew Holness.

Before the bilateral meeting started, Holness disclosed that he had just finished meeting with Tony Elumelu from Nigeria.

And with a chuckle, the Nigerian leader said: “Tony? He’s a restless young man.

Quite irrepressible. I see him all over the place.”

That’s our President for you. He does his things quietly, unobtrusively, but he notices everything. He sees people all over the place. He cares for the big, and the small. The billionaire investors, and the start-up farmer. He keeps tabs on everyone under his care, including the Dangotes, the Rabiu Abdulsamads, the Jim Ovias, and the Tony Onyemaechi Elumelus. *Adesina is Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity

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26 T H I S D AY MONDAY DECEMBER 12, 2022 TR

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BONIFACE CHIZEA argues that the policy is for the good of the nation

See page 27

THE PAUL OF POLITICS Paul Ekpo is a dependable political colossus, writes ANIETIE USEN

See page 27 EDITORIAL

DSS ULTIMATUM AND FUEL SCARCITY

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opinion@thisdaylive.com

www.thisdaylive.com

WHO WANTS THE CASHLESS POLICY REVERSED?

Monday December 12, 2022 Vol 27. No 10106

Artificial intelligence helps to make pharmaceutical research and new drug discovery less expensive and more productive, argues JULIUS ADELUSI-ADELUYI

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With AI, we can create better, safer and more affordable medicines, within a much shorter time frame too

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MONDAY DECEMBER 12, 2022

Boniface Chizea argues that the policy is for the good of the nation

WHO WANTS THE CASHLESS POLICY REVERSED?

The obvious answer to that poser above is many people want the cashless policy reversed, particularly politicians. And the reasons are not far-fetched. Most of us have been nurtured in a culture that is cash- led and cash- driven. Some of us will need to pinch themselves to ascertain that they are not dreaming; as it were in a trance! Twenty thousand Naira limit a day is unbelievable. It is unthinkable. But there comes a time when hard decisions must be taken because you have a tough problem on your hands deserving of hard decisions. How could you ever imagine yourself that 85% of the money in circulation in Nigeria could be outside the banking system! And are we still wondering then why we are where we are today in terms of development?

Let’s get some important issues out of the way before we continue with this conversation. The Central Bank as per its

extant Act enjoys instrument autonomy.

Perhaps we have to break that down for all to ensure that we are all on the same page.

It means that nobody, including members of the National Assembly for that matter, should dictate to the Central Bank what strategies to adopt to solve whatever problem it wants to tackle. Therefore the CBN in pursuing Cashless policy has decided that daily cash withdrawals on all platforms for individuals is 20,000 Naira and for corporate bodies 100,000 Naira and so shall it be until the limits are revisited. But thinking deeply about it the limits now imposed is really tight.

We must recall that at inception when the cashless policy was introduced in 2012 the limit before payment of processing fees for individuals was N500,000 while for corporate bodies it was N3,000,000. That policy thrust was announced to the best of my recollection without a whimper because nobody thought that was going to cause any problems.

So one begins to understand the deafening outcry coming from important stakeholders in the Land. Like I earlier commented in a platform to which I belong when arguments on this account was raging; this policy thrust is not made by angels and to the best of my knowledge, it is not cast in stone. And as we undertake this enlightened discourse, we must always remember that one is at privilege to exceed the limit only that for individuals there is a processing fees of 5% while the equivalent fees for corporate ERGLHV LV *RYHUQRU (PHÀ HOH KLPVHOI as he was interviewed on Channels Television recently is on record to have observed that the Bank is open to

adjustments in the light of experience or if they encounter superior logic on the matter.

Let us remind ourselves why this cashless policy thrust was introduced in ,Q WKH À UVW SODFH DV ZH DOO DVSLUH IRU the rapid growth and development of the Nigerian economy we must bear in mind that certain conditions are necessary and PD\ QRW EH VX΀ FLHQW RQ WKHLU RZQ WR OHDG us to our desired Eldorado. You cannot have growth if all the liquidity in your economy is outside the banking system.

Such a situation will make monetary SROLFLHV DE LQLWLR LQHͿ HFWLYH 7KHUHIRUH in the interest of massive numbers of the unemployed in our country the imperatives of cashless policy couldn’t have been more urgent.

There are also some concerns with regard to the costs of the sustenance of a cash- based economy. The costs of withdrawals of dirty notes and reprinting could be substantial. Which explains why the CBN introduced the clean notes policy program.

The clean notes policy was introduced in 1999 as concerns loomed about the worrisome poor quality of Naira in circulation. Under this policy banks were obliged to ensure that they do not recirculate dirty notes as that constituted a major part of the problem. Aggressive campaign was mounted against the poor handling and abuse of the Naira by those who use the money as their notepad and particularly those who engage in spraying of Naira at parties while at it this attitude became criminalized.

There was also the problem of counterfeiting by unscrupulous elements amongst us as this culture of a cash- based economy persists. On the part of the individual Nigeria excessive possession of cash exposed one to robbery and theft and therefore avoidable losses. But an overall consideration is that as we aspire to join WKH OHDJXH RI WKH À UVW :RUOG FRXQWULHV our overriding situation must also be consistent and mimic theirs. There is no developed country anywhere that has a cash- based economy; even Italy with its formal sector that compares favourably with that of Nigeria does not have such amount of cash in circulation outside the banking system.

The National Assembly members have invited the Governor of the Central Bank to come along to explain the rationale behind this policy. But meanwhile to put the policy on hold! Well the Governor of the Central Bank does not have reporting relationship with the National Assembly to the best of my knowledge and therefore should not be taking instructions from them and what for me is a more overriding consideration is that this is a policy thrust which received the President’s approval before introduction. It will therefore amount to going over the edge for anyone to comply to counter instructions.

The Governor has no choice but to respond to this invitation from such an important stakeholder body. We advise that he goes with an open mind armed ZLWK SURIHVVLRQDOO\ LPEXHG Á H[LELOLW\ Dr. Chizea, BIC Consultancy Services, Lagos

Paul Ekpo is a dependable political colossus, writes A N I E T I E U S E N

THE PAUL OF POLITICS It was billed to be a local political event.

But midway, the local event in the Secretariat of Etinan LGA, Akwa Ibom State, acquired the character and paraphernalia of a grand State function. Practically every notable politician from every part of the State was on ground. They squeezed themselves into (WLQDQ &RXQFLO KDOO DQG RYHUÁ RZHG LQWR WKH tents and canopies outside, with hardly a place to stand.

Obong Paul Ekpo, better known as OPE, the acronym of his names, who is the PDP candidate for the House of Representatives from Etinan Federal Constituency in Akwa Ibom State had only planned to inaugurate his campaign team for the race he is expected to win without stress. But his enviable

political antecedent and pedigree dictated otherwise. Any politician who got wind of the simple event wanted to stand up and be counted for OPE. From the State Chairman of the party, Hon Aniekan Akpan to serving and former National lawmakers, serving and former State lawmakers, serving and former Commissioners, serving and former board members, serving and former heads of parastatals. All the known, trusted and revving political machine of the PDP in Akwa Ibom State were on ground, both physically and represented.

This was not altogether surprising. For 15 uninterrupted years, OPE has weathered every storm and consistently remained the right hand man of all PDP governors and government. In good times or tough times and even at some points when he had been SUDFWLFDOO\ ZULWWHQ RͿ DQG KLV SROLWLFDO 1XQF dimittis sang across the landscape, he rose like a phoenix from the ashes to emerge stronger, smarter and more powerful. Some just call him the cat with nine lives. +H VHUYHG VHYHUDOO\ DW GLͿ HUHQW WLPHV in the State Executive Council in multiple portfolios including Commissioner for Local *RYHUQPHQW DQG &KLHIWDLQF\ $Ϳ DLUV DV ZHOO as Commerce and Industry.

While he grounded himself as the veritable grassroot man during his tenure as Commissioner for Local Government and &KLHIWDLQF\ $Ϳ DLUV LW ZDV RXWVLGH WKH 6WDWH EXCO that OPE proved his political mettle and established himself as a staunch and dependable political powerhouse and ally.

As State Chairman of the PDP for two unprecedented terms of eight years under two governors, Godswill Akpabio and Udom (PPDQXHO 23( H[HPSOLÀ HG LQ WKH ZRUGV RI *RYHUQRU (PPDQXHO ´D À UP GHFLVLYH impactful and transparent” leader, who is “never afraid to stake his all in defending and doing what is right and proper”. And

for Moses Ekpo, the Octogenarian deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State, a man loved and reverentially referred to as Uncle Mo, OPE is a “tested and proven hand in every sense of the word…and represents an invaluable marksman, a game-changer, a showroom material and a brass hat”.

Uncle Mo is a veteran journalist and his adjectives and distinctive choice of words lend weight to what Governor Udom and the entire PDP family think about OPE. The many accomplishments of OPE include his election by all PDP State Chairmen in Nigeria as their chairman of chairmen and his current position DV WKH 1DWLRQDO ([ 2΀ FLR PHPEHU RI the PDP. But all that seems to pale into LQVLJQLÀ FDQFH ZKHQ DQ\RQH FRQVLGHU the fact that the best PDP Secretariat in Nigeria was built under OPE’s leadership in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. It is a State Secretariat that outclasses even the National Secretariat of the party in Abuja, till today. It is probably infra dignitatem to therefore describe him as the Paul of Akwa Ibom politics. He may as well emerge soon as the Paul of Nigerian politics.

Many may not know that the oft repeated statement that “PDP is a religion in Akwa Ibom State’’ was coined by OPE. The saying was taken negatively by some pastors and political opponents but it was OPE’s way of expressing the undiluted loyalty and single minded followership that PDP enjoys in Akwa Ibom State since inception. As a committed Christian and member of Bishop David Oyedepo’s Winners Chapel, he said that he could not have compared apples with oranges.

At 52 with one of the richest political testimonials and credentials in the State, OPE was not only setting his eyes on the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he was gunning for it with the zeal of Paul of Tarsus. Governor Udom and Uncle Mo were right when they predicted in 2020 when OPE stepped aside as State Chairman of PDP that OPE “will continue to be a dependable partner and …his services will certainly be in great demand” in future. That golden moment presented itself as preparation for the 2023 election ensued. OPE bought the PDP senatorial nomination forms with a tidy N3.5 million.

But when the PDP consensus for the governorship candidate was crystallising rapidly around Pastor Umo Eno, another great son of Etinan federal constituency, who eventually won a landslide on May 25, 2022, OPE had to display the political maturity he is reputed for. He made the QHHGHG SROLWLFDO VDFULÀ FHV DQG VHWWOHG IRU the House of Representatives’ contest.

And he is very enthusiastic about it in the true character of a team player. With initial backgrounds in banking and federal civil service as well as leadership qualities dating back to his days as a labour prefect in Apostolic Secondary School, Ikot Oku Nsit, he is expected to put up a credible representation not just for Etinan Federal Constituency but of Akwa Ibom and the Niger Delta.

Mr. Usen is a multiple award- winning journalist, author and technocrat

28

MONDAY DECEMBER 12, 2022 • T H I S D AY

MONDAY DECEMBER 12, 2022 • T H I S D AY

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T H I S D AY

MONDAY DECEMBER 12, 2022

EDITORIAL

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

DSS ULTIMATUM AND FUEL SCARCITY A full deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector will end shortages

L

ast week’s intervention by the Department of State Services (DSS) on the lingering fuel scarcity in the country was an act of desperation by a government that had lost ideas on how to resolve a persistent problem. The 48hour ultimatum to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and other stakeholders in the oil sector could ensure availability of fuel for a few days. But it is not a solution to a systemic problem that has been with us for decades.

1R VHFWRU H[HPSOLÀHV the failure of Nigeria more than the oil and gas industry. Aside from having to contend with wasting trillions of Naira annually on subsidy payments, a resurgence of fuel queues in major cities across the country has exposed the mess in the sector and there is need to demand accountability. The expectation now is that a full deregulation of the downstream sector (with implication of high fuel price) could guarantee fuel availability and free funds hitherto used in subsidy payment for other development. But in the absence of any clarity on that policy decision, the federal government must deal with the current problem.

For the past six months, the federal capital territory has been hit by acute shortages of petrol. This has led to long queues of vehicles at fuel stations causing WUD΀F VQDUOV DQG VORZLQJ GRZQ FRPPHUFLDO DQG VRFLDO activities. But the situation has since degenerated and is now national. As the problem persists, numerous productive hours are being lost while people’s savings are getting ruthlessly depleted. At a period of extreme hardship with millions out of job, the patience of Nigerians is ebbing fast.

It is unfortunate that in the past six decades, oil has continued to raise hope and despair among

1LJHULDQV $V 1LJHULDQV JURDQ GDLO\ DW ÀOOLQJ VWDWLRQV the stark irony of our predicament is that citizens of the seventh largest producer of oil cannot fuel their vehicles. It is as confusing as it is frustrating.

Yet, resolving the logjam is not a mystery. After all, countries like Ghana and Niger, who are not in the same category as we are, seldom witness such fuel scarcity.

The question that remains unanswered is whether Nigerians would ever see an end to the perennial VFDUFLW\ WKDW KDV FRPH WR GHÀQH WKH PDQDJHPHQW RI the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.

This should worry the current administration, especially since there seems to be no coherent policy in place to deal with the issue in a holistic and lasting manner. For years, the falling price of crude was the ‘saving grace’. But the country is now badly exposed at a time of high crude price occasioned by the current war between Ukraine and Russia.

0HDQZKLOH WKH UHÀQHULHV KDYH FRQWLQXHG WR IDLO LQ terms of satisfying the essence of their establishment, given that the importation of petroleum products has become a major and running routine in the economic management of the country. The reason, as often adduced by the industry experts, is that the UHÀQHULHV KDYH HLWKHU DOO EURNHQ GRZQ GXH WR SRRU maintenance culture or that the installed production capacity cannot meet the ever-growing local demand for petroleum products. Yet, hundreds of billions of Naira are pumped into them every year.

While it makes no sense that Nigeria continues WR LPSRUW ÀQLVKHG SHWUROHXP SURGXFWV DW KXJH FRVW to the economy, experience has also shown that the JRYHUQPHQW LV QRW DGHSW LQ WKH H΀FLHQW PDQDJHPHQW of businesses. If anything, the tales of corruption, ineptitude, sabotage and other sharp practices in the RLO DQG JDV LQGXVWU\ KDYH FRQWLQXHG WR FRQÀUP WKLV widely held opinion.

The question that remains unanswered is whether Nigerians would ever see an end to the perennial scarcity that has come to define the management of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry T H I S D AY EDITOR SHAKA MOMODU DEPUTY EDITORS WALE OLALEYE, OBINNA CHIMA MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR ISRAEL IWEGBU CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI THE OMBUDSMAN KAYODE KOMOLAFE

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

Letters to the Editor Letters in response to specific publications in THISDAY should be brief (150-300 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 (750- 1000 words). They should be sent to opinion@thisdaylive. com along with photograph, email address and phone numbers of the writer.

LETTERS ON CBN CASH WITHDRAWAL LIMIT The decision by the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) to peg cash withdrawal to N20,000 at Point of Sale (POS) and N100,000 over the bank counter weekly has continued to generate mixed reactions in the country. The policy is slated to begin on 9th January next year. The policy has come few weeks after President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled the new re-designed naira notes DLPHG DW LVVXLQJ 1LJHULDQV ZLWK FOHDQ DQG ÀW FXUUHQFLHV for transactions of good and services. While I worry over the apex bank’s for spending billions of naira annually to SULQW GLͿHUHQW GHQRPLQDWLRQ RI FXUUHQFLHV DQG WKH QHHG to move to cashless economy as being practiced globally, there is no doubt the country is not ripe for it. The cash withdrawal limits in a country where 99 percent of businesses are cash-backed or transacted in cash states the obvious facts that the country is not ready for it.

The rural communities will be devastated or hit hard if CBN does not rescind its plan to implement the policy.

Many people in rural communities do not have bank accounts let alone the idea of electronic banking. Besides,

the cashless economy the CBN wants Nigerians to adopt will be hampered by network problems and erratic power supply. Sometimes, customers who want to perform electronic transactions are struck with poor network resulting to transaction failures. One imagines how the policy will become possible and successful with majority of Nigerians lacking bank accounts. Other people who ZLOO VXͿHU VHULRXVO\ IURP WKH FDVK ZLWKGUDZDO OLPLWV SROicy are the operators of POS. These operators are mostly JUDGXDWHV RU XQHPSOR\HG \RXWKV ZKR ÀQG VRODFH LQ WKH business. With the transaction limits pegged at N20,000, many operators will close down their business. The negative impact will be more crimes in the country.

Some senators last week expressed their dissatisfaction with the policy and promised to debate it next week Tuesday, when they resume. However, the green chamber called for the immediate suspension of the policy. To them, it will lead to the collapse of many businesses and throw millions of Nigerians into poverty. There is nothLQJ ZURQJ ZLWK FDVKOHVV HFRQRP\ 7KH EHQHÀWV RI WKH

policy are many and can be seen thus: it will improve HDV\ DQG HͿHFWLYH WUDQVDFWLRQ VDYH JRYHUQPHQW UHVRXUFes, improve tax collection, monitor illicit cash transfer DQG DERYH DOO WUDFN WHUURULVP ÀQDQFLQJ 1RWZLWKVWDQGing, the policy needs to be temporary suspended to give more time for Nigerians to prepare for it. Government should embark on massive sensitization of Nigerians on the need to open bank accounts and create conducive atmosphere for the exercise. Cashless economy can only thrive if majority, not minority of Nigerians own or operate accounts. The country’s telecommunication sector is central to the success of this policy. The network providers should tighten their belts and improve their service delivery. By so doing, incidences of transaction failures will be addressed. This will go a long way through encouraging Nigerians to embrace the cashless policy with little resistance.

Ibrahim Mustapha, Pambegua, Kaduna State

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2022

31

BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET

A S

A T

REPO

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

08056356325

D E C E M B E R

S & P INDEX

9 , 2 0 2 2

S & P INDEX

EXCHANGE RATE

OPR

11.25%

CALL

10.25%

INDEX LEVEL

613.31%

1/4 TO DATE

-0.85%

N416.86/ 1 US DOLLAR*

OVERNIGHT

11.50%

1-MONTH

9.56%

1-DAY

0.16%

YEAR TO DATE

7.64%

*AS AT LAST FRIDAY

3-MONTH

10.52%

MONTH-TO-DATE

0.44%

Nigeria’s Debt Service Cost Up 23.4% to N3.04 Trillion

Kayode Tokede With its current N44.06triillion total debt stock as of September 2022, Nigeria has spent N3.04trillion to service external and domestic debts in nine months of 2022, representing an increase of 23.4 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) from N2.46 trillion reported in nine months of 2021, the Debt Management Office (DMO) data has revealed.

A breakdown of the N3.04 trillion debt service payments revealed a total N2.15trillion was used by the federal government

to service domestic debts in nine months of 2022.

The DMO numbers revealed that federal government debt service payments for domestic debts such as Treasury bill, FBN Bond, Green Bond and Sukuk bond borrowings increased by 23.5 per cent YoY in nine months of 2022 over the need to bridge 2022 budget finance deficit.

On the external side, the FG debt service payments with multilateral, bilateral, Eurobond and Diaspora Bond also increased by 23.14 per cent in the period under review.

Analysis of the DMO data revealed that the federal government domestic debt service payments in first quarter of 2022 stood at N668.69 billion but dropped to N664.7billion in Q2 2022. The figure increased to N820.59billion in Q3 2022 as government intensifies selecting N685.61 billion FGN Bonds borrowing.

On the flipside, the government service its external debt with N288.5billion or $694.01million in Q1 2022 and N247.98billion or $597.95million in Q2 2022, according to DMO

report.

In Q3 2022, the government debt service payment closed at N346.43billion or $801.23million.

The government has intensified its external borrowing debt service payment with international agencies such International Development Association (IDA), EXIM Bank of China and Eurobond.

Investigation by THISDAY revealed that the federal government debt service payments with EXIM Bank increased to $252.07 million in nine months of 2022 from $207.67million reported

by the DMO in corresponding nine months of 2021.

The government had borrowed from these agencies to finance projects such as: Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Idu-Kaduna Section), Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Lagos - Ibadan Section), Nigeria Abuja Light Rail Project, Nigeria ICT Infrastructure Backbone Project, Nigeria Four Airport Terminals Expansion Project and Nigerian Zungeru Hydroelectric Project.

Other projects are: Nigerian Rehabilitation and Upgrading

of Abuja-Keffi-Makurdi Road Project, Nigeria Greater Abuja Water Supply Project and Nigeria National ICT Infrastructure Backbone Phase II Project.

Experts have raised concerns as the federal government continues to obtain new loans from both local and external sources, despite growing debt profile and servicing cost.

The Director-General, Debt Management Office (DMO), Ms. Patience Oniha, recently in Lagos disclosed said the Continued on page 33

FG to Earn $3bn Annually from Hibiscus Export to Mexico James Emejo in Abuja The Comptroller General, Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), Dr. Vincent Isegbe, has said the country is expected to earn about $3 billion annually from hibiscus exports to Mexico.

Both NAQS and its Mexican counterpart body, SENASICA, signed a phytosanitary protocol in

November to stabilise and grow the export of Nigerian hibiscus flowers (zobo) to Mexico.

Speaking at the 4th CG’s Summit and Management Retreat in Abuja, Isegbe, noted that the framework was designed to futureproof bilateral trade in hibiscus “between Nigeria and the largest importer of Nigerian hibiscus against avoidable disruptions.”

He described hibiscus as a metaphor for the countless high-value exportable agro-commodities, which Nigeria underutilise and take for granted.

Isegbe pointed out that agroexport intensification will boost the country’s overall agricultural productivity, generate sustainable wealth, and improve household incomes among the large swath

of the 70 per cent population that is engaged in agriculture and agro-allied industries.

He also said the service is currently working to democratise the involvement of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in agro-export activities under its Export Improvement Initiative and Export Certification Value Chains.

Isegbe said, “Our people toil, in

the rain and in the sun, to cultivate crops and rear animals. However, the majority of them reside in rural areas. They eke out their subsistence in the low returns of the local market.

“Many of them are unaware of their right to access the ECOWAS and African Continental Free Trade Area markets. Moreover, they know little or nothing about

export standards. They don’t consider themselves qualified to export because they presume that only the rich and the affluent can export.

“We are working to overcome this challenge of the ‘last mile’ by targeting grassroots farmers, off takers, and processors.”

Continued on page 33

M A R K E T D ATA A S AT F R I D AY, D E C E M B E R 9 , 2 0 2 2 BILLS

BONDS DESCRIPTION Price ^14.20 14MAR-2024 13.53 23MAR-2025 ^12.50 22JAN-2026 ^16.2884 17MAR-2027 ^13.98 23FEB-2028

Yield

101.21

13.08

99.08

13.99

96.58

13.87

107.27

13.95

99.53

14.10

Change Updated Time (%) December -0.27 9, 2022 December 0.01 9, 2022 December 0.00 9, 2022 December 0.00 9, 2022 December 0.00 9, 2022

MATURITY

Discount

Yield

NTB 26-Jan23 NTB 9-Feb23 NTB 9-Mar23 NTB 27-Apr23

5.40

5.44

5.68

5.74

6.24

6.34

7.22

7.42

NTB 11May-23

7.50

7.74

Change Updated Time (%) December 0.00 9, 2022 December 0.00 9, 2022 December 0.00 9, 2022 December -0.01 9, 2022 December -0.01 9, 2022

OTC F X F U T U R E S

CPS MATURITY FDHP CP III 17-MAR-23 VHPL CP III 1-APR-23 MREP CP VI 11-APR-23

Change Updated Time (%) December 0.00 9, 12.42 12.85 2022 December 17.35 18.33 0.00 9, 2022 December 14.01 14.70 0.00 9, 2022

Discount Yield

.

.

.

. .

.

.

.

. .

CONTRACT TENOR Contract (MONTH) NGUS DEC 28 1 2022 NGUS JAN 25 2 2023 NGUS FEB 22 3 2023 NGUS MAR 29 4 2023 NGUS APR 26 5 2023

Current Rate Updated Time ($/₦) December 454.73 9, 2022 December 456.93 9, 2022 December 459.12 9, 2022 December 461.32 9, 2022 December 463.51 9, 2022

32

MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

PenCom Yet to Receive RSA Mortgage Financing Application as Pension Assets Hit N14.42tn Three months after the National Pension Commission (PenCom) approved Guidelines on Accessing Retirement Savings Account (RSA) balance for payment of equity contribution for residential mortgage

by RSA holders, the commission has said it has neither received nor approved application from RSA holders to this effect.

This is despite the ovation and jubilation that trailed the release of the guideline by contributors into the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

The commission however said 50 percent of the total 9.9 million contributors into the CPS qualified to access their retirement savings for the mortgage financing going by the stipulations of the guidelines, which it released in September this year.

The commission at the 2022 media retreat organised by the Pension Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp) for Pension journalists said on its part, it was waiting for the Central Bank of Nigeria to release list of eligible mortgage institutions which hopefully would commence

next week.

This is as PenCom has announced that total Pension Assets generated

by Pension Fund Administrators and Custodians since the inception of Contributory Pension Scheme to date now stands at N14.42 trillion.

The commission said the above figure was generated between 2004 and September 30th 2022.

PenCom, said out of the above figures, N10.31 trillion came from RSA ‘Active’ Funds (i.e. RSA Funds I, II III and V); N1.15 trillion from RSA Retiree Fund IV; N1.49 trillion from Closed Pension Fund Administrators (CPFAs); and N1.44 trillion from Approved Existing Schemes.

It said Fund VI Active and Retiree Fund amounted to N32.68 billion.

The commission in its quarterly report for the third quarter 2022 said greater part of this assets were mainly invested in federal government securities (FGN), which accounted for 63.73 percent of total assets.

According to the PenCom report, the total pension contributions remitted to individual RSAs in Q3 2022

stood at N223.82 billion. Out of this total, the public sector accounted for N120.62 billion or 53.89 while the private sector contributed N103.20 billion or 46.11.

“The cumulative pension contributions from inception to the end of the third quarter of 2022 amounted to N8.24 trillion, which is an increase from N8.01 trillion as at the end of Q2 2022. “ Presenting the 2022 last quarter report, PenCom Director General Mrs Aisha Dahir Umar, said despite the overwhelming head-winds in the global economic climate and the country’s challenging macroeconomic environment, the Pension Fund Assets under Management (AuM) within two years increased by N156.74 billion from N14.27 trillion as 30 June 2020 to N14.42 tril- lion as at 30 September 2022.

“This laudable performance, in the growth of the AuM, points to the fact that the pension industry will continue to deliver value and benefit to its stakeholders and the nation’s economy, ”she said.

How Pension Funds are Invested Under Multi Fund Structure (3)

IoD Blames Inadequate Attention to Corporate Governance for High Mortality Rate of Businesses Gilbert Ekugbe The Institute of Directors (IoD) Nigeria has stated that inadequate attention to governance issues in business is a leading factor that has contributed to the high mortality rate of millennial businesses in Africa.

The president, IOD Nigeria, Mrs. Ije Jidenma, at the Network and Knowledge Sharing Session (NKSS) of the Young Directors Forum (YDF) themed, “Unlocking millennial directors’ potentials: The place of corporate governance,” in Lagos said oftentimes, the practice of emplacing corporate governance structures is not treated as a priority, saying that it ultimately checkmates the growth of promising businesses.

In her words: “I strongly believe that the insight gained from today’s session will change the narrative for many young businesses being

nursed by some of our young directors present here.”

According to her, the YDF was created by IoD Nigeria to serve as a network of young, talented and up-coming board leaders who are keen knowledge seekers interested in taking advantage of the IoD Nigeria platform to build capacities in corporate governance skills and practices.

She said members of the Forum will also be able to access the free mentorship services of the Institute, while creating strong peer networks that add value in the course of discharging their roles and responsibilities as directors.

“Ultimately, they are groomed to become IoD Chartered Directors who give back to the society by mentoring others and supporting the growth of IoD Nigeria. The forum is also IoD Nigeria’s way

of giving back to the society by committing to building a pipeline of future generation of technocrats, stellar board directors and business icons whose businesses outlast generations because of their ethical leadership practices and sound corporate governance,” she added.

Earlier, the Chairman, Young Directors Advisory Committee, Dr Adeyinka Hassan, said the young directors forum is all about developing capacity of young fruitful business start ups and even the older people who are known in business, while also helping them to put in place appropriate governance structure in running their business and making impact.

He also noted that the IoD sees the young directors as today’s leaders and not the leaders of tomorrow as been designated by the outside world.

Patrons Seeks FG, Corporates’ Support to Drive Nigeria’s Art Industry Gilbert Ekugbe A Representative of Patrons Modern & Contemporary African Art, an art advisory and dealership firm, Peter Imo, has called on the federal government and corporate bodies to support the growth of the nation’s untapped art industry.

He said the Nigerian art industry has the capacity to engage the nation’s teeming unemployed youths while also creating wealth for the country.

In an interview with newsmen at the recent miniature art exhibition titled, “Small is Beautiful,” Imo said the federal government and corporate bodies have not done enough to support the art industry to tap into

the $13 billion African art market.

In his words: “I think if we are talking about driving art as a project or as a tool for communicating, I will say the government is not doing a lot and even corporate bodies. I think the government should actually make it a policy to have Nigerian artists, and not just Nigerian but African artists, to patronise art for public buildings. They should have arts as part of their plan when they are constructing a building. We can also create lots of employment opportunities for Nigerians while also generating foreign exchange for the government by way of export of Nigerian arts. I think there is a lot they can do right now and this is the time.”

Also speaking, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Liquiditti, IK Oragwu, who is also a collector of art works, also called on the federal government to create the enabling environment for the art industry to thrive, stating that Nigeria has the largest population in Africa with many big names who have made their marks in the African art space.

On her part, the Head, Sales, Commercio Partners, Taiwo Adegbulugbe, said art is an important tool for preserving wealth, adding that as financial advisors, Commercio identifies art as an area it would tap into to drive the nation’s art industry.

FSDH Merchant Bank, IFC To Boost Businesses with $33m Facility Nume Ekeghe The International Finance Corporation (IFC), has approved a credit facility totalling $35 million in partnership with FSDH, Merchant Bank to be used to improve access to finance for medium-scale businesses in the emerging sectors of the Nigerian economy.

The facilities are of two folds; $20 million Working Capital Solutions (WCS) and the Global Trade Finance Program (GTFP).

In a statement, the Managing Director, FSDH Merchant

Bank, Bukola Smith said: “We are committed to our mission of empowering businesses and partnering with them to achieve sustainable success, the IFC facility brings us closer to the actualisation of that mission.

It avails us of the right capital from a reputable partner at such a crucial time.

“Also, partnering with a credible, leading global funder like IFC is a boost for our credibility and viability as an institution. We are well positioned and on course to reach various segments in the emerging economy through our

different interventions in growing sectors like health, agriculture, technology, renewable energy and the female economy. Our commitment is to the success of our clients, partners and ultimately, the growth of the economy at scale; we will not relent.’’

“This partnership reflects IFC’s strategy to engage the private sector as a way to end extreme poverty, promote economic growth, and boost shared prosperity in emerging markets and developing countries, “she said.

PENCOM DG, Aisha Dahir-Umar In continuation of the series of articles on

the investment of pension funds under the muti-funds structure, we will be turning our attention in this feature to Fund V or the Micro Pension Fund. The Micro Pension Fund is a pool of money accumulated by Micro Pension Plan participants to pay them pensions when they retire.

OVERVIEW OF THE MICRO PENSION PLAN The Micro Pension Plan (MPP) is an arrangement that allows the self- employed and persons working in organisations with less than three employees to make financial contributions towards the provision of pension at their retirement or when they cannot work. Persons eligible to participate in the MPP are mainly in the informal sector. They constitute the vast majority of the working population in Nigeria but are not covered by any retirement benefits scheme.

A self-employed person or an employee in an organisation with less than three employees interested in participating in the MPP must also meet the following conditions: i) be a Nigerian; ii) have a legitimate source of income; and iii) belongs to a trade/association/ profession.

An eligible MPP participant can register through any Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) of his choice by obtaining and completing the MPP account opening form either physically or electronically.

A unique Personal Identification Number (PIN) is issued to the participant once he has been successfully registered. The participant can now start contributing to his micro pension account. There is no stipulated minimum amount of contribution under the MPP because it depends on the contributor’s pension aspirations and financial capacity. Consequently, higher contributions will result in more money available for pensions. Furthermore, contributions can be made daily, weekly, monthly or as may be convenient for the contributor. Also, contributions can be made by cash deposit or electronic transfer or through any payment platform approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Contributions made by an MPP

participant are divided into two. The first part, which represents 40% of the account balance, is the Contingent portion.

In contrast, the second part, which has 60%,of the balance, is the Retirement portion. The purpose of this division is to ease the financial pressures of the micro pension contributor by allowing him to withdraw from the contingent part of his account when in need while allowing him to maintain 60% of his funds for pensions when he retirees.

The contributions made by all the participants in the MPP are pooled into a fund and invested by the PFA. The fund is called the Micro Pension Fund.

PFAs manage the Micro Pension Fund as stipulated by the Investment Regulations to meet the needs of MPP contributors for financial security at retirement while providing liquidity for them in times of need.

MICRO PENSION FUND INVESTMENTS The overarching objectives of pension fund investments, as stipulated by the Pension Reform Act, are safety and fair returns on the amount invested.

Accordingly, the Regulations on Investment of Pension Fund Assets allowed MPF to be invested in Government securities, Corporate debt, Money market instruments issued by financial institutions approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria and Equities traded on a stock exchange approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

To protect the MPF, the Regulations on Investment established an allocation limit of 5% for variable income securities such as equities in the MPF portfolio.

As of 30 September 2022, 4,193 new contributors were enrolled in the Micro Pension Plan (MPP) by 18 Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), bringing the total number of Micro Pension Contributors (MPCs) to 84,612. A total of 9,000 micro pension contributors contributed N45.14 million during the period. The total value of Micro Pension Funds at the end of Q3 2022 was N325.92 Million.

The Commission approved the requests of eight MPP contributors for contingent withdrawals amounting to N901,714.26.

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2022

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BUSINESSWORLD

STATUS REPORT

Interest, Non-interest Income Drive FCMB Group’s PAT

Kayode Tokede

T

he FCMB Group’s unaudited interim financial statements for period ended September 30, 2022 showed a further pace in profit growth, hitting an all-time profit after tax high N22.9 billion as against N13.8billion reported in the corresponding period.

The bank’s closing profit at the end of the nine months of 2022 is already ahead of the full-year profit of less than N21 billion in 2021.

It represents a top record growth of 66 per cent year-on-year from N13.8 billion in the same period last year to register the biggest profit for FCMB in its post-consolidated history.

The marked improvement in the bottom line remains the strongest the bank has seen since its profit tripled to N14.3 billion as far back as 2016. It also beats the existing net profit peak of N22.1 billion the bank registered as far back as 2014.

The bank’s galloping profit growth reflects an upswing in gross earnings and a slowdown in operating costs.

The group’s gross earnings have maintained a major upswing from 6.9 per cent growth at the end of 2021 to an almost 34 per cent increase to N200 billion at the end of the nine months of 2022 from N149.47billion reported in nine months of 2021.

This was driven by a 33.1per cent growth in interest income and a 36.1per cent growth in non-interest income.

Earnings growth drivers for the year are other revenue – which is recovering from a 50 per cent drop last year and fee and commission income

which is maintaining a strong upturn for the second year.

Other gross earnings multiplied more than 20 times to N1.9 billion, recovering from a loss position of N641 million at the half year. Also, fee and commission income expanded by 35 per cent to N34.6 billion over the review period.

Interest earnings – the main gross earnings line of the bank maintained a strong growth at 33 per cent year-on-year to N154 billion in nine months of 2022 from N115.75billion reported in nine months of 2021.

This remains the strongest improvement in interest income for FCMB since 2013, breaking out from a seven per cent increase at the end of the preceding financial year.

Net trading income lost its lead in revenue growth at half year but retained a strong growth record for the second year at 29.5 per cent to N8.6 billion over the period.

The bank stepped up cost savings in the third quarter, which reinforced revenue gains and stretched out profit margin further. The cost of funds slowed down from 28 per cent growth at half a year to 21 per cent to stand at N61 billion at the end of the third quarter. This afforded the bank a wider margin compared to the 33 per cent increase in interest earnings.

The improved margin reinforced net interest income, which stepped up from a 40 per cent increase at half year to over 42 per cent growth year-on-year to close at N93 billion at the end of the third quarter.

This represents an increase of close to N28

billion in net interest income over the review period.

Net interest income for the nine months of the year has already exceeded the full-year figure of about N91 billion in 2021.

Cost saving from operating expenses was maintained in the nine months of 2022, which stepped down from a 19 per cent increase year-on-year at half-year to 18 per cent to N86 billion at the end of the third quarter.

That lowered the claim of operating cost on revenue from 49 per cent in the same period last year and from 45 per cent at the end of June to 43 per cent at the end of September 2022.

The challenge for the bank remains loan impairment expenses that have already surpassed the full-year numbers over the past four years.

Net impairment losses on financial assets swelled from N10.7 billion at half a year to N18.7 billion at the end of the nine months of 2022. This is an upsurge of 292.5 per cent year-on-year, accelerating from a 168 per cent increase at half a year and already ahead of the full-year figure of N15 billion in 2021.

FCMB Group strengthened its position where gross earnings its growing and costs are slowing, which improved net profit margin from 10.8 per cent at half year and from 9.2 per cent in the same period last year to 11.4 per cent at the end of the third quarter.

This remains the highest profit margin the bank has seen since 2015.

The bank ended the nine months of operations with earnings per share of N1.16, improving from 70 kobo per share in the

same period last year. It earned N1.05 per share at the end of 2021 and paid a cash dividend of 20 kobo per share.

FINANCIAL POSITION The group reported N1.2trillion loans and advances to customers as of September 30, 2022, representing an increase of 22.5 per cent from N967.5billion in 2021 financial year, while Customer deposits grew by 25.3per cent from N1.5 trillion in 2021 to N1.8 trillion in September 2022 It brings the group’s total assets to N2.9trillion in September 2022 from N2.4trillion. Assets Under Management grew by 48.2per cent from N510 billion to N756 billion in September 2022

ACHIEVEMENTS The bank in the period under review said it acquired over 1.2 million customers, taking its customer base to 10.4 million customers.

FCMB Capital Markets raised and advised on investments totaling N599.8 billion in the first nine months of months of 2022, compared to N463.9 billion in nine months of 2021. This delivered an 88per cent growth in fees from capital raising and financial advisory services over the period.

According to the management, “We continue to leverage our unique group structure to build a technology-driven ecosystem that is fostering inclusive and sustainable growth in the communities we serve. This strategy is enabling us to deliver robust performance in spite of the challenging domestic and global environment, and barring unforeseen circumstances, we believe this performance trend will continue.

NIGERIA’S DEBT SERVICE COST UP 23.4% TO N3.04 TRILLION federal government between 2015 and 2021 debt service payments was N14.86trillion and revenue generated was at N25.43 trillion.

She also disclosed that debt service payments between January and June 2022 stood at N3.09 trillion, while revenue was at N3.66trillion.

She, thus, stressed on the need for Nigeria to operate an efficient tax administration to tackle revenue challenges.

According to her, Nigeria needs to operate an efficient tax administration that would

ensure greater compliance to remittances devoid of all forms of evasions in the system.

Speaking from a different perspective, the CEO, Wyoming Capital & Partners, Mr. Tajudeen Olayinka stated that the debt servicing by the federal government over the years has encouraged investors to provide additional support to the government with respect to further investment in government securities.

According to him, “It presents government in good light, with the opportunity to fund developmental projects across

the country. The negative aspect of debt servicing in Nigeria is the sustainability problem that has now greeted the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, whereby, more than 100per cent of revenue is now being expended on debt servicing, giving room for possible default and failure of government in no distant future, especially with respect to foreign debt component.

“The fact that government spends its entire revenue to service debts, despite introducing new taxes and raising rates

in some others, is an indication that economic agents are not generating enough outputs, sufficient to put Nigeria’s economy in the positive territory. It is actually a sign of declining output. It is simply a failure of fiscal policy.”

He hinted that the only way to cut the debt service figure down is for government to shift away from its current public sector dominance, and allow private sector businesses to occupy the driver’s seat, so as to consistently put the economy in the positive territory.

FG TO EARN $3BN ANNUALLY FROM HIBISCUS EXPORT TO MEXICO He said, “The urgent task that must be done is to reposition our food production system to straddle our local market and the export market like the one and only giant of the continent.”

According to him, “NAQS is entrusted with the critical mandate to inspect and certify food and agricultural products for export and to facilitate international trade.

“The nature of our mandate

puts us at the front of the federal government’s drive to maximize its vast potential in non-oil exports.

“Our work is essential any day, any time –it is all the more so considering the dire need for

the country to escalate national revenue earning, create jobs for the teeming unemployed and underemployed youths and lift millions of our citizens out of poverty.”

“Government should begin to consider removing subsidies in phases, in a manner that will not add more to the hardship on the ground. It also presents an opportunity to allow the economy to run a normal course of adjustment,” he added.

On raising debt profile, the CEO, Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr Muda Yusuf, said, “Although government tends to argue that the conditions was not a debt problem, but a revenue challenge. But debt becomes a problem if the revenue base is not strong enough to service the debt sustainably.

It invariably becomes a debt problem and possibly a debt crisis.

Government actual revenue can hardly cover the debt service obligations.

“Which implies that the entire capital budget and the recurrent expenditure may have

to be funded from borrowing.

This is surely not sustainable.

The finance minister reported recently that in the first four months of this year, debt service to revenue ratio was over 100per cent.”

According to him, “What is needed is the political will to cut expenditure and undertake reforms that could scale down the size of government, reduce governance cost and ease the fiscal burden on the government.

“It is important to ensure that the debt is used strictly to fund capital projects, especially infrastructure projects, that would strengthen the productive capacity of the economy. This is the position of the Fiscal Responsibility Act. Additionally, emphasis should be on concessionary financing, as opposed to commercial debts, which are typically very costly.”

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

Umar: Lax Resource Mobilisation Hampering Inclusive Growth James Emejo in Abuja The Executive Secretary/ Chief Executive, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Mrs. Saratu Umar, has said the country’s level of resource mobilistion was insufficient to deliver inclusive growth.

She said investment

remained critical to promoting economic growth, creating jobs, generating wealth for Nigerians as well as facilitating development.

According to her, investment promotion remained key to attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and mobilising

Local Direct Investment (LDI) to fully harness the potential of the Nigerian economy as well as set it on the path of sustainable progression towards becoming a prosperous nation.

Speaking at a stakeholder engagement with Ministries, Departments, and Agencies

of government (MDAs) in Abuja, Umar, stressed that Nigeria remained a resource-rich country with potential that is unrivaled by any other country in the world.

The NIPC boss, however, pointed out that this potential had not been fully harnessed, “hence the

situation we find ourselves today”.

She said if the country is to assert its position as a dominant African investment destination, “we must enhance our investment drive”.

She argued that the global FDI market had become competitive and versatile

where the investment promotion thrust of successful jurisdictions that are attracting the largest global market share of FDI inflows are driven by effective, efficient, and performance-driven Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) over the last decade.

Golden Penny Noodles Introduces New Spicy Flavour Golden Penny, the iconic brand of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (FMN) launches a new spicy noodles flavour tagged Golden Penny Jollof Hot Hot noodles.

The introduction of this new and tasty noodles variant is part of the Group’s commitment to providing a wider range of superior quality food product options for consumers to give them a delicious taste and satisfy their daily dietary needs at an affordable budget.

This brand-new flavour offers Golden Penny Instant Noodles consumers and customers, an extra spicy, tantalizing and also nutritious Jollof noodle option. The new product also symbolizes FMN’s dedication to providing affordable high-quality food products while listening to customers’ varied tastes and nutritional needs.

Commenting on the timely and beneficial impact of the new Golden Penny Noodles flavour, the FMN Head of Marketing, Mr. Ilyas O. Kazeem stated, “As a leading food brand in Nigeria, our goal is to continuously innovate and provide good quality products that impact positively, the lives of every

Nigerian, as such Golden Penny affords Nigerians great tasting, superior quality, and nutritious food products. Our unwavering commitment to this mandate for over six decades endeared millions of consumers to our Brand and product range.

It is therefore based on this that we launched the new Golden Penny Jollof Hot Hot noodles, to satisfy the unique taste profile and needs of our consumers. Also, the new Golden Penny jollof hot hot noodles flavour is launched at the right time as it allows consumers to enjoy the special hot Jollof flavour with their families, especially during this festive season. We would continue to evolve and innovate across all our value chain and products in line with our consumers’ feedback and product needs”.

Also, highlighting the nutritional value and benefits of the newly launched noodles flavour, the Noodles Category Manager, Mr. Ayokunle M. Iyiola stated “The new Golden Penny Jollof Hot Hot noodles flavour has a rich blend of unique ingredients that gives a spicy and tasty Jollof flavor and colour.

7Star Global Hangar Breaks Record, Successfully Concludes C-Check on MD 83 Aircraft Chinedu Eze 7Star Global Hangar Limited has announced the successful conclusion of a C-Check for the MD83 aircraft belonging to Dana Airlines.

The collaboration and the success of both companies led to the release of the Certificate of Airworthiness by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

7star Global Hangar is the biggest independent MRO in sub–Saharan Africa in terms of capability.

A statement signed by the Director of Business Development / Corporate Affairs, Sani Ahmadu said that 7star Global Hangar, was committed to providing responsible, professional and premium quality aircraft maintenance services.

He said the success was a great achievement for both 7Star Global Hangar and Dana Air in particular and the country in general as this would in turn reduce capital flight, as Nigerian airlines would now

maintain their aircraft in the country.

“With such collaboration, the industry will witness a cost saving maintenance culture capable of sustaining airlines in Nigeria.

Greater thanks to the NCAA for their continued support and oversight throughout the project, ensuring that every task is carried out in accordance with the approved documentations”, Ahmadu said.

The statement further quoted the Accountable Manager of Dana Air, Ememobong Ettete as saying that it was a great achievement for both Dana Air and 7star Global Hangar and that Dana Air is proud to have pioneered this feat.

“This is a huge win for our industry and we are delighted to be part of it.

Dana Air remains committed to the growth and development of Nigeria’s aviation industry and the economy at large and we will continue to contribute our quota in this regard,” he said.

L-R: Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE), Akin Akeredolu-Ale, Chairman, Chief Onyenwechukwu Ezeagu, 2nd Vice Chairman, Association of Securities Dealing Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), Ify Ejezie and Member, Board of Directors, LCFE, Alhaji Rasheed Yussuff during induction of 83 Commodities Brokers, by LCFE in Lagos… recently

US Secretary of State, USAID, Tony Elumelu Foundation Host Opening Reception for President Biden’s US-Africa Leaders’ Summit The U.S. Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Tony Elumelu Foundation are partnering to host an official kickoff event to increase trade and investment between African nations and the United States.

This dynamic evening event will open President Biden’s U.S.Africa Leaders Summit today, bringing together investors, entrepreneurs, members of the Diaspora, influencers, and media leaders to celebrate and strengthen cultural and economic ties between the U.S. and African nations, support young entrepreneurs, encourage

relationship building and deal making, and highlight the opportunity and dynamism across the U.S.-Africa investment ecosystem.

The welcome reception themed, “The Innovators Gathering: Investing in U.SAfrica Cultural and Economic Ties,” will be hosted by the Secretary of State and the Prosper Africa Initiative, in partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Tony Elumelu Foundation.

The Innovators Gathering is the first U.S. government hosted event during the week of President Biden’s U.S.-Africa

Leaders’ Summit, bringing together African and Diaspora innovators, entrepreneurs, and U.S. investors for an evening to celebrate and strengthen U.S.Africa cultural and economic ties.

The evening will support in catalysing partnerships between African and Diaspora innovators/ entrepreneurs and U.S. capital/ technology. It will showcase how the United States and its partners such as the Tony Elumelu Foundation, are bringing together U.S. and African investors, entrepreneurs, members of the Diaspora, influencers, and media leaders to strengthen cultural and economic ties between the U.S.

and African nations.

Also, the reception will celebrate and strengthen USAfrica partnerships, serving as a milestone for the work achieved together so far, and as a catalyst for future action. It will showcase the dynamism and depth of the multi-dimensional cultural and economic ties between the U.S. and African nations, and highlight the opportunities in Africa as one of the fastest-growing startup cultures in the world. The event will feature U.S. government leaders, young entrepreneurs, investors, sports figures, artists, and influencers who show the rich ties between the U.S. and African nations.

PressPayNG Disburses N7m Scholarship Grants to Students James Emejo in Abuja The Chief Executive, PressPayNg, Mr. Abiola Metilelu, has said that the education support platform had disbursed over N7 million in scholarship grants to students, one year after its launch.

He also said the intervention had impacted over 60,000 students and parents across several platforms, onboarded over 55 agents spread across the six geo-political zones as well as offered scholarships to over 35 students in both

public and private institutions spread across the country.

Speaking at a media briefing to mark the company’s first anniversary in Abuja, Metilelu, said the funding innovation was constantly changing the narratives of education finance in the country– particularly at the tertiary level.

He said the aim of the education finance solution was to create an App that would deliver an integrated approach to the provision of tertiary education support

to students and parents through products such as tertiary education savings, tertiary education scholarships, tuition crowdfunding, tertiary education loans, student HMO, insurance among others.

He said, “One is a milestone. It is an occasion to celebrate- an opportunity to momentarily look back but a golden ticket to chart the path forward. In one year, despite the fact that an eight-month ASUU

strike kept the doors of our universities closed, we have recorded a significant impact.”

Also, speaking at the occasion, Vice President, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Babatunde Afeez Akinteye, hailed the funding initiative, adding that the leadership of the student body will provide unflinching support as partners with shared value to the company to deepen the adoption of the solution.

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2022

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BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

Adesina: Diaspora Remittances Largest Financiers in Africa James Emejo in Abuja The President, African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has said diaspora remittances remained a new form of concessional financing that is the key to livelihood security for millions of Africans.

He said Africans in Diaspora are particularly critical for Africa’s economic development as they constitute the continent’s largest financiers through remittances.

He spoke at a function on “Development Without Borders: Leveraging the African Diaspora for Inclusive Growth

NEPC, Netherlands Institute Partner to Boost Market Access for 17 SMEs in Ginger Production James Emejo in Abuja The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) in collaboration with the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries (CBI) of the Netherlands is currently on a Market Orientation Mission (MOM) to the Netherlands and France.

Also, on the entourage are 17 Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs) in the ginger value chain.

The objective of the programme is to leverage the potential of the commodity to get more value and diversify its market through sustainability, improved quality, certification, organic production and refined processing.

The Executive Director/ Chief Executive of NEPC,

Dr. Ezra Yakusak, said the partnership will enhance the quality of the commodity through capacity building and market access programmes as well as consideration for the establishment of a Common Facility Centre (CFC) in ginger production hubs in states where it is cultivated and produced for export in Nigeria.

In a statement by NEPC’s Head, Corporate Communications, Ndubueze Okeke, he noted that the activities of the mission will include practical workshops on export market access, visits to companies who are prospective buyers of Nigeria spices in Rotterdam and participation in Food Ingredients Europe (FIE) in Paris, France.

and Sustainable Development in Africa” which was organised by the Bank in collaboration with the African Union Commission, the International Organization for Migration, and the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat. Adesina said the value of remittances from the Africans in the diaspora

doubled from $37 billion in 2010 to $87 billion in 2019, reaching $95.6 billion by 2021.

Yet, he said official development assistance to Africa in 2021 was $35 billion, or 36 per cent of the remittances from the diaspora as Egypt and Nigeria are among the top-10 remittance recipients globally,

with $31.5 billion and $19.2 billion, respectively in 2021.

The AfBD boss added that the African diaspora had become the largest financier of the continent, noting that “It is not debt, it is 100 per cent gifts or grants, a new form of concessional financing that is the key for livelihood security

for millions of Africans”.

He noted that while remittances have helped to meet financial, food, education, and health needs, as well as serve as countercyclical sources of finance and social protection, much can be done to better tap into these remittances for Africa’s development.

PayConfidence App Launched to Raise Trust Level in Online Transactions Emma Okonji PayConfidence (PAYC), an online payment transaction assurance solution that is accessible via mobile, web and the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) codes, has been launched in Nigeria to raise the trust level in e-Commerce business that is fast growing in the country.

Despite Nigeria’s rating

as the 33rd largest market for global e-Commerce, with a projected yearly growth rate of 12 per cent between 2021 and 2025, the issue of trust has been a major challenge impeding e-Commerce growth in the country.

The PayCofidence app, which has 100 per cent local content, was developed

by Nigerians to address various challenges in online

transactions and to raise the issue of trust between the buyer and the merchant for every online transaction.

PayC aims to help the industry to fulfill this potential and empower more citizens, by bridging the trust gap.

Speaking about the core values of the app and the mission of the developer, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of

PayConfidence, Mr. Austin Onwughai, said the app was developed to facilitate end-to-end seamless transaction between parties with absolute confidence, with a vision to become a global leader in the fintech space.

Speaking during the launch, Onwughai, said the issue of distrust was fast hindering the growth of e-Commerce in the country.

LASU Begins Training on Deployment of Leave Management System Emma Okonji The Directorate of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Lagos State University, Ojo, will today begin the training of key stakeholders and staff of the university on its Leave Management System

solution called LASULEMS, a web based software that has passed through several levels of penetration testing with validation collocated with other DICT services.

The Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, approved of the immedi-

ate deployment of the software solution for use by both academic and nonacademic staff members of the university.

The Ag. Director of LASU ICT, Professor Oluwatoyin Enikuomehin, who confirmed that all staff members would be

trained on the usage of the application, said: “The Directorate will be open to collaboration with other institutions and organisation, so as to help deploy this and other solutions that have made LASU a top tech university at the current time.”

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MONDAY DECEMBER 12, 2022 • T H I S D AY

37

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2022

HOMES&DESIGN

SAPETRO TOWERS

Highrise of Shimmer and Glimmer There is an evergreen shine that stands Sapetro Towers out on Adeola Odeku Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, which is replete with top-rate towers. The glassy Sapetro Towers glows at night. Bennett Oghifo writes

T

he Sapetro Towers is situated on a corner piece of highlypriced land on Adeola Odeku Street. It is one of the landmark projects in Victoria Island Lagos. The twin 13–storey office/mixed residential development was completed in a record time of 24 months.

The contract includes the design and construction of 24 three–bedrooms, flats and office buildings of 7523m2 and 9452m2 gross floor areas, respectively.

The entire ground is for car parking and is designed to accommodate 190 cars. The design and construction

contract includes a generator house, gatehouse, underground water tank, water treatment plant, and sewage treatment plant, complete with all electrical and mechanical installation works.

The structure comprises concrete columns and beams on a concrete pile foundation and pile caps.

While the residential building has the traditional reinforced concrete slabs sitting on the beams, the office slabs were constructed in concrete post-tensioned slabs. Both the office and residential development are finished with first-choice finishing

materials. The floors are finished with imported vitrified ceramic tiles and selected marble and granite tiles to meet the client’s special needs and requirements.

The contract for the construction was awarded to ITB Nigeria Limited in 2000 by its owner, South Atlantic Petroleum, a Nigerian oil and gas exploration and production company. It has a share in the development of the Akpo deepwater field off the coast of Port Harcourt.

Its chairman is General Theophilus Danjuma. The company

is also known as ‘SAPETRO’.

ITB Nigeria Limited was established in 1995 to address the growing demand for innovation and improved engineering expertise in Nigeria, according to the company’s officials.

With over two decades of experience in the construction industry, “our teams of builders and civil engineering contractors have” established ITB as the leading provider of top-quality construction services across the country.

Its successful track record of delivered projects and strong relationships with clients reinforced its position as a leader in the market.

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSSPECIAL

Editor: Obinna Chima obinna.chima@thisdaylive.com 08024557078

Ighodalo: I’m Optimistic That with Right Kind of Leadership, Nigeria’s Economy Will Rebound

Mr. Asue Ighodalo recently ended his tenure as the Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group.

He is a Nigerian lawyer and founding partner of the law firm of Banwo and Ighodalo, a corporate and commercial law practice in Nigeria. In addition, among several other board positions he currently holds, Ighodalo is the Chairman of Sterling Bank Plc. In this interview, he speaks about the Nigerian economy as well as his tenure at the NESG. Obinna Chima provides the excerpts: Looking back through the number of years you served with the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) that culminated in you becoming the chairman, what would you say your greatest accomplishments are? would like to think that during our strategy sessions last year, we were able to look at where we are today at the NESG and where we think we should go; the sessions were quite revealing. We will evolve into a major think-tank independent of any party apart from our stakeholders.

We will be a major policy formulating and influencing environment that will help shape public thinking on the direction we think the economy should be going.

We will focus a lot on our research base; we are already working a lot on evidence-based policy formulation and we have also restructured our secretariat to be able to deliver that institutional framework. These are some of the things I am proud of and I see as the future of the NESG. The new chairman who was heavily involved in formulating our strategy going forward would take it and run with it. But to speak to your question directly, we achieved so many things during my four-year term as chairman; you will find more information in the green book published after every summit, its widely available.

We have a policy innovation centre that we just set up where we do a lot of work with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation, looking at the social issues in Nigeria and how we can help our policy formulators to focus on these social issues. When this government came in and said they wanted to raise 100 million out of poverty, it was something we took extremely serious at the NESG. Unfortunately, in the last few years, it didn’t seem as if the implementation of those policies worked very well because we seem to have more people going into poverty. There is a combination of endogenous and exogenous factors. In the last few years, we had the pandemic, which unfortunately the world had never seen before.

For the first time in living memory, movement of people was restricted, Covid-19 shut the world down and its impact was terrible on individuals and the world economy. The number of people we lost, economies and companies had to shut down, world logistics became totally dysfunctional and on the back of that the Russian-Ukraine war followed.

So, the world has had a lot of massive shocks, a combination of all of that and some of the things we haven’t done well internally put our economy where it is today. There is a lot of work to be done and I think the NESG will continue focusing on the things that need to be done.

I

Can you highlight specifically some of those policies under your chairmanship that were adopted and implemented by the government, and maybe some that still require attention.

Let me go back to the environmental roundtable where we worked with the National Assembly and other stakeholders to look at laws that affect business and investment in the economy and we tried to see how we can work with them so that we can get fit for purpose laws. During this period, you’ve had enactment of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, the enactment of the Petroleum Investment Act, and we worked with the National Assembly, the Nigerian Bar Association and other stakeholders to ensure that we had fit for purpose laws.

Those are examples of policies I am proud of.

There are other policies such as monetary policy, fiscal policy and trade policy that we have made input to. Some of the things we talked to government about, they do incorporate. I think the problem is not so much about having appropriate policies, but more of the implementation process and I think that’s where we need to pay a lot more attention - both this government and whatever government comes into place next year. If you go into any government department you will see tonnes of documents that have policies, proposals, policies’ suggestions and many don’t get implemented for different reasons.

Our focus should be on effective implementation, there are too many leakages in the system which don’t allow for proper policy implementation.

There are too many subjective views and subjective positions thus we need to work on our public sector to make them more fit for purpose in the implementation of our policies. But aside from that, through our

Ighodalo policy commissions, through our annual summit, through usual and consistent engagement with government comes with different policy suggestions in different areas. One of the things I also tell people is that every government in power has come with his own ideas and manifesto and his own views on how he wants to run the economy. So, parties like us (NESG) can only help support that process.

What is your assessment of fiscal and monetary policy in the country and how best do you think we can improve on the relationship between both sides of the economy?

I think every government decides its own policy direction. And I will come back to what I said initially – it is an implementation issue.

There will be some governments that inflation targeting is key; there will be other governments that as far as they are concerned, they will be looking at interest rate and foreign exchange policy. Most times economist say you can’t do all at same time. So, for me, the key is really what is the position of the government and how well is it going to focus on this position to ensure there is achievement of the indices to ensure that position. I don’t criticise government for its philosophy because we choose the government based on what they say they can do. So, I don’t criticise any government based on its policy or philosophy.

My criticism is on the implementation mechanism. We have too many gaps, too many leakages and lack of effective implementation.

If we look at our foreign exchange policy, we can disagree with the monetary authorities, but

whatever policy they determine to do, they should implement it effectively so that we’ll see the impact of the economy. You know I’d like to be liberal in my thinking and say that we all want a much better Nigeria. We all want a Nigeria that is a developed Nigeria, where peace and justice reigns; where we remove as many people from poverty as is physically possible.

So, I start from that premise.

Unfortunately, it’s not everything that’s been done that seems to suggest that’s the premise we are all on. But I start from that premise that anybody that’s in a leadership position always wants to do well and they want the best for Nigeria; that is why I said I’m not going to criticise that people have a certain economic philosophy. What I criticise is that you should put in place the policies that would ensure the implementation on that philosophy in such a way that we’ll have a better country and a better economic environment. Again, one of things we’ve done at the NESG is to offer alternative views. Sometimes people can determine that that’s criticism, but we offer alternative view.

We work hard to offer alternative views as to how we think things can be done effectively and efficiently for the good of all us Nigerians.

If you go out there you see queues almost everywhere. What do you think is the way out of this perennial problem and what is your opinion on fuel subsidy?

You know I was talking to you about growing an inclusive economy and about looking out for people that are really poor. Unfortunately, in other economies, they have social security nets.

In Nigeria there is no formal process by which we take care of the truly poor people. And I think the initial thinking for the subsidy regime was a way in which you could lower prices of energy used by our people such that the impact of high pricing doesn’t affect them.

But when we are in a situation where we are spending so much money on subsidy, where our revenue, debt service and repayment is higher than the money we earn, we need to take a step back and look at okay how can we in trying to help those that require support and help also ensure that we have a strong fiscal base.

Those who manage our economy say the problem we have is a revenue programme, part of that revenue problem will be able to capture fuel subsidies. My feeling is that the way the Nigerian economy stands today; we cannot afford fuel subsidy. Secondly, we are subsidising petrol, who are the users of PMS? Is it the truly poor that are the users of PMS? So, I would remove subsidy and I would channel the gains of the savings from subsidy removal into different aspects of a particular infrastructure – health or education – those are the areas in which we can help the truly poor.

So that’s what I’ll do especially when we are in a position where we are not doing very well. We can’t afford subsidy. If you are in a home and you can’t afford certain things, then you recalibrate and that’s what I will suggest we do.

Government must have its reasons why it hasn’t done that yet, but with all economists, that’s one issue that I think there’s alignment. All those who are economists and talk about economy, all know we can’t afford this. we need to look at other effective ways of help the poor. I think the problem of our economy is multidimensional. But one of the things we must resolve immediately, and I know government is trying its best, is the issue of security. There is no economy in the world that is under such major security dysfunctionality that can develop, grow and be stable. So, if we’re going to look at things holistically, we need to deal decisively with our security issues at every level.

Then we need to look at our economy, what are the real issues? If I was going offer my own views, I will say it clearly that we have a lot more people that are unemployed, underemployed and not gainfully employed today than we had at seven or eight years ago. There are certain figures that we’ve seen recently that said that seven years ago, we had 68 million gainfully employed Nigerians, today we are only under 40 million.

That is not a good indication. And you can link unemployment with insecurity. When people are gainfully employed, when people have things to lose, they don’t get entangled in these things that cause insecurity. So, for me, a major, major issue will be the issue of unemployment – job creation. How do we encourage jobs to be created? Who creates jobs? The private sector. How do you encourage the private sector to invest more in this economy? So government must create an environment where it’s not difficult for private sector investors. Just last week a friend of mine who’s investing in the health sector just sat in front of me and said ‘I just want to talk to somebody. I brought a lot of investment, my own money into the health sector in Nigeria and every turn is problematic. To get approvals, to even move medical equipment which is supposed to be zero duty to this economy, at every turn.’ Investment is like water flow. There are people that still believe in the Nigerian economy, that believe that we have a population that is one that will encourage investment and from which you can buy and sell. But if we have a population of poor people, they can’t even buy and those investments become a problem. And that’s why you see a lot of investments turning away from coming into Nigeria.

So, I would support the private sector and encourage investments and part of that also has to do with monetary policy. If I’m coming into an environment where the minute I bring my money into Nigeria, it loses 15 per cent of its value, it doesn’t make sense. That’s why we need to have proper policy coordination. Our regulators should understand that they are supposed to be enablers; they are not supposed to be strangulating businesses and not supposed to make life difficult for us. There are certain aspects of what our regulators do that suggests that they don’t understand their roles in an emerging economy, and

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2022

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BUSINESS SPECIAL

ANALYSIS

Ighodalo: Nigeria’s Future is Bright they need to understand that. And we all need to be talking to each other which is also the essence of the NESG. Where do we or how do we attract patient capital into the Nigerian economy? There are trillions of dollars of capital in the world that are looking for where to flow to, but they are not flowing here because our environment doesn’t seem to encourage that. So, I’ll try and create an environment where that level of patient capital earning zero interest flows in here into our infrastructure development. I think what people just want is certainty, just policy certainty.

They need to be able to trust the system; they need to be able to know that the system would work in a certain way. One other thing I would talk about is in my area. People also need to trust rule of law and our dispute resolution processes.

There’s a lot of work to be done but I’m a very optimistic person. I’m really optimistic that with the right kind of focus, the right kind of leadership, and with the appropriate understanding, we can move Nigeria in a space of four to five years. We can reset Nigeria on a firm path to economic development.

There are countries, such as Bangladesh that was in a bad place in 2010, Vietnam was in a bad place in 2010. Those countries are changed countries now and that’s in a period of 12 years. So, I know with the entrepreneurial capacity of Nigerians, with focused leadership, I know that Nigeria in 10 to 15 years can be a totally different country. A major part of our problem is that there is no sense of being Nigerians.

There is a sense of being Ijaw, of being Igbo, but there is no sense of being Nigerians among us. We must create that sense.

Once we create that sense of being Nigerians and we don’t think it doesn’t concern us, or we don’t benefit from it, then we may have a different country.

The duty of our leaders going forward is how do we forge a national consensus and the true spirit of being Nigerians? I envy the Americans sometimes when they say I’m an American. The Americans believe that the state is there for them; that nothing will happen to them and that they will be protected by the state. And with that, they are committed and realistic. And it’s like that for the Israelis too, even the Egyptians. Like if you go to Rwanda post the genocide, everybody is nationalistic. So, maybe what we need to do is work on our national psyche. Let’s be Nigerians. It hasn’t been achieved since 1914 but maybe we should start the hard work now and see how we can achieve it. With that, it is easier for us to absorb all these policies that can be painful in the short-term, so as to get a longer-term benefit.

There is a recent report by the NBS.You’ve spoken so much about poverty. 133 million Nigerians are said to be in a state of multidimensional poverty. How do we reverse this trend?

People are poor because they don’t have money to feed and money to meet their daily obligations. You don’t have money because you don’t have work or you don’t have the kind of work that can give you the level of money that will take you out of poverty.

So, I’ll go back to job creation. We need to be able to create an environment where we create more jobs for our people. Which aspect of our economy can employ the most people? Maybe agriculture. Maybe, because agriculture is becoming technologically important now and the more technology, the less people will be employed. It may be agriculture; it may be trade.

Whatever it is – it may even be manufacturing – there’s no country in the world that is developed without a strong manufacturing base. So, we need to focus and sit down as a government and review our direction for job creation and ask, how do we achieve it? How do we do encourage our private sector to invest in different aspects of our economy that creates more jobs and how do we educate our people to be fit for purpose, to be able to work in these areas? We need to keep on creating jobs, be it in agriculture, manufacturing, services, be it in trading; just look at that area of economy that creates the most jobs.

Then we need to get into our rural areas. How do we encourage the economy of our rural areas?

I have a personal project in my village, I set up a micro-credit financing for certain amount of money to empower widows and women for trading and for their farming. People apply, they have the loans for six months or one year and they can reapply with a minimal interest charge. So, what we need to do is just help the rural areas and then we start looking at when we bring out the products from rural areas, do we have the roads that can take them to where those products are needed. And how do then start adding value to those products. If we pay attention, we’ll be amazed at the level of jobs we would create.

For me, the important thing for this economy is job creation. Let’s create jobs as much as we can.

Let’s support people who want to start their own vocation, their own ventures. That’s what we need to do. And when the government is crowding out the private sector from financial support and financial availability, then that causes its own problem. People that want to start their businesses or want to invest in their businesses do not have the financial wherewithal to do so and they cannot to turn to our financial institutions because they do not have the resources.

For me, I think Nigeria is not a difficult country to rule. Nigerians need to be able to trust leadership, they need for you to not say alone, but do, and they’ll follow you when you do. But if you say and do differently and distrust comes in, that’s when

Ighodalo Nigerians start losing faith in Leadership. But once Nigerians haven’t lost faith in leadership, they follow their leaders. If you look at Nigeria’s history over the years, you’ll see that Nigerians are probably some of the easiest people to rule.

I think what we need is leadership that loves the people. Once we have leadership that loves the people and the people know that they are in position of authority and power for a period of time to contribute their own quota to the development of their country, then it’s easier for us to achieve greater things.

So, what do you think would be the lowhanging fruits for whoever becomes Nigeria’s next president?

There are many low-hanging fruits, but I’ll tell you a few. One of the things that we seemed to have lost is trust and understanding of our capacity. So, the new government should quickly set up a strong team; a strong advisory team so that certain key offices of states should be made to be manned by people that have the track record regardless of whether they are politicians or non-politicians. And there are great people on all sides of the divide - civil society, political class, democratic class, business class, academia. For everything, let us just look for the best possible persons within the confines of the constitution because our constitution has certain restrictions regarding these kinds of things.

But let’s look for the best kind of persons possible so that we can formulate those policies and implement those policies that would move us out of where we are. We are not in a very good place as a country, but many of us are truly optimistic that with just a bit of tweaking we can do so much better. So, my first low-hanging fruit is a strong team. The new government comes in with a very strong team, a focused team, with the determination to work in the best interest of Nigerians. Then there are all those other policy issues. I would remove fuel subsidy if it’s still in place so that we can transfer the resources and locate them to areas that would help grow the economy.

This fuel subsidy is not doing anything for us.

We are losing so much money and it’s not helping the development of the country in any way. I would converge the foreign exchange rates. The issue is not really the level of the exchange rate, it’s the stability of exchange rate. For investors and for people that are participating in this economy, it is the certainty and stability. I will look at how to have an exchange rate regime that is stable and certain. You know multiple exchange rate regimes just benefits a few people. It doesn’t

“I’m optimistic about 2023. I’m not as pessimistic as many people that say ‘oh, we don’t have good candidates.’ I’m one of those people that believe in making lemonade from lemon.”

benefit our economy on the whole.

Those are three things that could be done immediately a new government comes into place.

And now you know it takes time to look at other things and then start looking at where we can help. Maximum work needs to be done on job creation. We need to be able to work on creating an enabling environment. We must deal with our security issues. People don’t want to come and invest in an area or an environment of unstable security, or insecurity. Our people are not farming as hard as they should because they are afraid of going into the farms. People don’t travel as easily as they should do because they are afraid of moving from one place to the other.

Not to talk of bigger issues like Boko Haram, Niger Delta militancy, see how much money we are losing from theft—whether it’s ground theft or sea theft. The combination of both of them will cost a lot of money. See what revenues we could have been able to harness for the country if that level of theft was not in place. We’re the only country in the world that’s an oil producer that didn’t benefit from the high oil price during the Russian-Ukraine war. So, there are many things systemically wrong that we need to deal with and can be dealt with. Anybody that comes into government in May 2023, actually needs to roll up their sleeves and start looking at what is in the best interest of our country.

What is your outlook for 2023?

I’m optimistic about 2023. I’m not as pessimistic as many people that say ‘oh, we don’t have good candidates.’ I’m one of those people that believe in making lemonade from lemon. Whatever you get, you see the best you can do with what you get. There’s a lot of good and some people say not too good in all the candidates we have. But I think that we can make the best out of our candidates. One of the things I’ve always told people, and if you remember some time back people were joking about, ‘oh, it’s not the leader that’s bad, it’s the adviser that’s bad.” I can tell you the other way round. Leaders that have great advisers and listen to their advisers and take directions from some of what their advisers are saying once they are good advisers, would always do well.

History and experience from other countries are replete. Some people that we consider to be great personalities themselves, have been surrounded by strong and great personalities who have turned their countries around and have done well as leaders. What I’ll be looking for –and I’m not critiquing any particular person or the other — but what I’ll be looking for as we go into the polls in February, I’ll be trying to look at people’s antecedents and past records and in combining that, I’ll be asking myself the question, “which of these gentlemen if they get into position will use good people and will listen to their advice? Will not make themselves captive of the usual leadership cabal that we have in Nigeria? Who will love Nigerians and want to work for the improvement of the country and a better Nigeria? So that’s what I’ll be looking at. That’s going to be my comparator for them.

These (presidential candidates) are what we have.

How do we get the best of what we have? Who will form the strongest cabinet of Nigerians that know what they are doing and love Nigerians and will help grow the economy, help create a Nigeria where no one is oppressed, and we are all happy. You know there was a time they used to say Nigerians are the happiest people in the world, I think that’s a long time ago. We must

remove poverty from our system, create more jobs and ensure that we have an economy that is ready to grow at double digits. It’s not impossible. If we have a population growth rate of nearly three per cent, to rebalance, we need to be growing at about nine per cent. It has been done before.

Between 2002 and 2008, we were growing at an average of nearly seven per cent. Now, if we had continued at that growth rate and improved on it, you don’t want to imagine the level of development we would have had in our country today. If we can grow at that growth rate, I can promise you that in the next 10 to 15 years, we’ll be a different country.

If you remember, around 2007, Goldman Sachs and the major world institutions, were looking at Nigeria as being one of the top 20 economies in the world by 2020. So that means they had projected that if we had continued growing at that rate, by 2020 we would be one of the top 20 economies in the world. So, what went wrong? There was a disconnect between 2008 and today, what we should do is to take the lessons. Like I said, I don’t want us to dwell on the past, for me the future for Nigeria is bright. When a number of young people come to me and tell me they’re leaving the country, I tell them that I can understand their reasons for leaving the country, but I don’t think it’s the right decision. But it’s difficult to tell any young person that thinks they are a world citizen not to leave the country today with all the problems we have, but i keep telling them.

I’ve had nearly 30 of my staff leave to go to different countries in the world and I keep telling them I don’t think it’s the right decision, but I can understand. Few years ago, I would tell you that I don’t understand, that I don’t think it’s right, but today I say I can understand but I don’t think it’s right. It will take a level of immense courage to be a global citizen and not take your chance of leaving Nigeria because life is hard. People leave home at 4am, and get back home at 1am on a daily basis. And I tend to look at our leadership and I say you know you can solve this problem of lack of effective transportation, even congested roads you know, with a bit of thinking and a bit of imagination. But for some reason, we don’t get that level of thinking or imagination from our leaders that can solve this problem. So, I think there needs to be a lot more thinking in government and a lot more consideration and love for our people. So, what we need is more true servant rulers. What we seem to have today are rulers.

Finally, after the NESG, what next for you?

I’m in my law firm. One of the things we set out to do when we set up our law firm 32 years ago was to create a law firm that’s definitely one of the world’s best. So, now I will work harder. Now I’ll have a bit more time. When you are the board of the NESG and definitely when you’re the chairman, it’s a lot of hard work, plenty of hard work, particularly when you have specific objectives you want to achieve.

Our secretariat is working 24/7 and as the leader, you have to support the secretariat fully. Sometimes I’m here at work and i will just get a call that we have an urgent meeting tomorrow. Whatever it is I’m doing, I have to move my calendar and arrive there. It’s difficult and you’re think-thanking, you’re collaborating and talking with your colleagues, you’re working with different policy commissions, they are reviewing what has been done, you must be up to speed. So, it’s tough work but I tell you, it’s been one of my most fulfilling roles as an adult. The part that you can contribute to policies that can move your country to the next level, whether accepted or not. One of the things that I keep telling people is that from the beginning of the NESG, it was formed because we wanted to create this bridge between the public and the private sector. Our founding fathers saw that the economy was in bad shape and one of things that we needed was to have a bridge between the private and the public sector. That was why the first summit was convened in February, 1993, by Chief Ernest Shonekan, when he was head of the interim government.

From that time till today, there’s certain policies recommendation that we made that have turned into law and have actually turned part of our economy around and we are responsible for the growth of the economy particularly between 2002 and 2009.

If you recall before 1995, the foreign exchange in Nigeria was totally strangulated. We had the 1962 Foreign Exchange Act before 1995, and then you couldn’t take money out of Nigeria. Anytime you needed to take money out of Nigeria, you needed a Central Bank’s approval; there were all kinds of strong restriction. Based on the advice of the NESG, there was a total deregulation of foreign exchange in 1995. The same thing as regard foreign investment. Remember, there was a time in this country foreign investors couldn’t go into certain areas of the economy, or they couldn’t go into more than 60 per cent or 40 per cent, but we totally deregulated based on the advice of the NESG in 1995. It helped with total deregulation of the investment framework and that’s how the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission was established. And then privatisation. We worked on Vision 2020, we worked with the government on the ERGP, the PIA, power sector and different areas of the economy in which we have had massive change. There is nothing more fulfilling than the ability to contribute my quota.

T H I S D AY ˾ DAY, DECEMBER 12, 2022

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BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Sonola: Human Capital Key to Achieving Online Banking Security Oluchi Chibuzor

There is urgent need to develop and effective human capital management system in order to forestall cyber risks and ensure greater safety of the internet banking space, Managing Director, Polaris Bank Limited, Mr. Adekunle Sonola has said.

He said the human factor is a major factor in addressing challenges of cyber-security and all stakeholders must pay attention to recruiting and managing reliable human capital.

Sonola spoke at the 54th quarterly meeting of the Association of Chief Audit Executives of Banks in Nigeria (ACAEBIN) at the weekend in Lagos.

The theme of the meeting was: “Cybersecurity threats and the challenges of building a sustainable financial sector: The way forward.”

According to him, at the top of the cyber threats that the financial services industry is facing is human capital issue as people are responsible for both the threats and security

of the system.

“If we talk about phishing attacks, people are the delivery medium. If we focus on malware, people are largely the execution factor, if we talk about weaknesses in systems configurations that allow an attacker to succeed in compromising systems, people are responsible for maintenance of such systems. If we take a look at insider related frauds and irregularities, we will see that people are at the centre of them all.

“The people factor remains a formidable threat agent for the survivor of any organization and its cyber resiliency. An emerging issue around people is the current high rate of staff attrition occasion mainly by “japa” syndrome and the attendant difficulty in resourcing to fill human capital vacancies,” Sonola said. He also pointed out that the third party risk has also been amplified by open banking with increasing interconnectivity in the financial services sector and the growing global concept of open banking, making banks

and other financial institutions increasingly susceptible to cyber risks “Financial services currently rely heavily on the use of APIs to facilitate business-to-business connectivity. No matter how well protected an organization is, if a third party is weak, collectively the entire financial services industry will be weak because a chain is as strong as its weakest link,” Sonola said.

He added that technology and innovation are also a major risk factor for the financial services industry as the same cutting edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics that are available to run businesses are also available to hackers and fraudsters who are using them against organizations.

Chairman Association of Chief Audit Executives of Banks in Nigeria (ACAEBIN), Mr Felix Igbinosa, said ACAEBIN will continue to seek ways of enhancing the existing relationships through constant engagement and collaboration with all stakeholders.

From left: Executive Director, Lagos Business, Polaris Bank, Mr Segun Opeke; 2nd Vice Chairman, Association of Chief Audit Executives of Banks in Nigeria (ACAEBIN), Aina Amah; Chairman, ACAEBIN, Mr. Felix Igbinosa and Representative of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Makinde Kayode, at the 54th quarterly meeting of ACAEBIN hosted by Polaris Bank in Lagos at the weekend

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

Aruwa Capital Surpasses $20m Target in First Institutional Offer James Emejo ÓØ ÌßÔË Aruwa Capital Management has announced the successful close of its first institutional fund, which was reportedly oversubscribed, and surpassed its $20 million target.

Founded in 2019 by Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes, Aruwa seeks to address the investment gap that women-led enterprises face in Africa.

The fund plans to invest between $500,000 and $2.5 million in women-focused small and growing businesses in Nigeria and Ghana, targeting investments in critical sectors such as healthcare, fintech, renewable energy, and essential consumer goods.

The fund’s first institutional and anchor investors include Visa Foundation, Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth

Fund, and leading family businesses from Africa, Europe, and the United States.

To date, the fund has made six investments, committing over 45 per cent of its capital into a diversified portfolio of rapidly growing companies.

Head of Investments at Visa Foundation, said, Najada Kumbuli, “Visa Foundation is pleased to be the first institutional investor in Aruwa Capital Management. We deeply believe that in order to address the financing gap that women-led small businesses face, we need to empower and invest in more women-led investment funds like Aruwa.”

Also, Chief of Party at the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund (MFAGF), Samuel Akyianu, said, “We selected Aruwa Capital as

one of our first investments because we were impressed by the team’s grit, conviction, and depth of analysis, their value addition for early-growth stage SMEs in Nigeria, and their commitment to driving impact for women and youth.

“We look forward to working with the team to help make Aruwa Capital a success story.”

On her part, Rhodes, in a statement, said, “Having launched the fund in October 2019 shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic, we are very grateful for the confidence of world-class institutional investors who have put their trust in us and share our vision for the continent - generating superior returns, whilst having a significant socio-economic development impact in the countries we invest in.

CIBN Grants Practising License to EDP Consultants Nume Ekeghe ËØÎ Oluchi Chibuzor The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) has granted a Practice License of Entrepreneurship Development Programme to over 23 consultants.

The Entrepreneurship Development Programme of the Institute is aimed at sharpening the entrepreneurial skills of professional members of the Institute to enable them to successfully build capacity and win in the business ecosystem including Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Speaking at the CIBN 2022

Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) and Public Presentation of Practice licence event held in Lagos, the President of the Institute, Ken Opara, said essentially, the practice license enables the holders who have acquired robust banking and financial experience to consult and render services in banking, finance, economic and allied matters to clients.

He challenge them to exhibit a high degree of expertise, advisory, and professionalism in the discharge of their role, noting is one of those events “I always look forward to essentially because it provides

strategic leadership direction in the SME space-a critical sector of the economy as well as an engine of economic growth.

However, for the special guest of honor and the CEO Air Peace Limited, Allen Onyeama, said SMEs in the country must embrace integrity to their banks, financiers, staff, and to customers.

He said, “You have to show integrity to your staff and banks if you borrow money to run your business. You have to make your staff see that the business belongs to them. They must understand that you have to nurture money to grow by saving.”

LibertyPay Rewards Agents with Cash Prizes Nume Ekeghe LibertyPay, a digital payment solution and distribution brand has rewarded its outstanding Mobile POS agents to the tune of five hundred thousand Naira in the just concluded Black Friday Sales campaign.

LibertyPay is a developing and growing Pan-African Fintech

solution company that deploys Point of Sale (POS) terminals with its customised online and offline payment software, which enables digital lending to the underbanked and unbanked. The organization also offers bills and utility payments across its digital platforms.

Managing Director of

Liberty Pay, Oritsetimeyin Igbene at the reward ceremony in Lagos recently said: “We are glad to continue empowering our top performing POS agents with cash prizes for their unrelenting effort in ensuring that our services and indeed general banking services are present in the unbanked and underbanked communities across Nigeria.”

(MILLION NAIRA)

AUGUST 2022 Money Supply (M3)

49,356,443.6

-- CBN Bills Held by Money Holding Sectors

50,601.36

Money Supply (M2)

49,305,842.3

-- Quasi Money

27,869,678.3

-- Narrow Money (M1)

21,436,164

---- Currency Outside Banks

2,680,236.81

---- Demand Deposits

18,755,927.2

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

5,074,909.92

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

27,869,678.3

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

61,195,142.4

---- Credit to Government (Net)

21,001,401.5

---- Memo: Credit to Govt. (Net) less FMA

0.00

---- Memo: Fed. and Mirror Accounts (FMA)

0.00

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

40,193,740.9

--Other Assets Net

6,785,979.22

Reserve Money (Base Money

14,040,351.9

--Currency in Circulation

3,210,664.98

--Banks Reserves --Special Intervention Reserves

10,829,686.9 390,557.8

˾ ÙßÜÍÏ ̋

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month

July 2022

Inter-Bank Call Rate

13.00

Minimum Rediscount Rate (MRR) Monetary Policy Rate (MPR)

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

2.76

Savings Deposit Rate

1.42

1 Month Deposit Rate

3.64

3 Months Deposit Rate

4.96

6 Months Deposit Rate

5.87

12 Months Deposit Rate

5.76

Prime Lending rate

12.10

Maximum Lending Rate

27.61

˾ ÙØÏÞËÜã ÙÖÓÍã ËÞÏ ̋ ͯͱϱ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT 24 OCTOBER, 2022

The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $92.17 a barrel on Monday, compared with $92.09 the previous Friday, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), Zafiro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basrah Medium (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

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T H I S D AY ˾ DAY, ͯͰ˜ ͰͮͰͰ

Adedipe: Sectors That Contributes to GDP Not Represented in Capital Market KayodeTokede

A senior partner at Biodun Adedipe & Co, Dr. Abiodun Adedipe during the weekend in Lagos expressed that major sectors such as agriculture, power, and real estate that drive Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth are not well represented in the capital market.

Speaking at the 11th annual conference, Investiture of Fellows, Inductions of Associates, and Annual General Meeting of the Institute of

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

85 per cent of the Nigerian GDP are yet to be incorporated into the Nigerian Capital Market.

He said, “In fact, movements in the market and the economy are no longer synchronized because they do that for just a while and thereafter they diverge.

“I found a very weak correlation between the movement’s growth of the major metrics in our stock market, with the growth of our GDP, very weak and negative covariance. The market capitalization

Capital Market Registrars, he revealed that the current performance of the Nigerian capital market bears no reflection on the GDP growth.

While speaking at the conference which was tagged, “Sustainability of the Nigerian Capital Market as a catalyst for Economic Growth and Prosperity,” he said the common assumption that the stock market and economic move in concert has weakened in recent times, stating that critical sectors that largely contribute between 70 per cent to

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is less than 10 per cent of GDP. In some jurisdictions, you see it up to two 250 per cent and 300 per cent.

“The relative size of the market against the economy. Some of the major sectors that contribute the most to GDP are not well represented in this capital market.

“I found six sectors in our economy and I’ve got to tell you when they’re figures together between 77 per cent and 82 percent of our GDP, and that is

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

agricultural, trade, ICT and then take manufacturing.

“Then we will take mining, quarrying, and real estate. If you check your data, those six sectors contributed between 77 per cent and 82 per cent of Nigerian GDP.” Speaking on the topic, “Role of Digital Technology in the Nigerian Capital Market”, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeran Exchange Limited (NGX), Temi Popoola, said the country and the globe have made huge

A S O F

progress in digitalisation.

According to him, “When we talk about digitalization, for example, it’s important to realize that we made a lot of progress, both globally and also in Nigeria. It’s over 25 years now that the capital market globally has been paying attention to technology.”

He added that,“Once COVID kicked in for almost three years, there was no single physical trading on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange in our country.

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NEWS

NWODO'S 70TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION...

R-L: Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State; former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo; Leader of Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo; former President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, and Presidential Candidate of Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, during Nwodo's 70th birthday celebration at St. Mulumba Catholic Church, New Haven, Enugu... yesterday

Consult Professional Bodies in Forming Your Cabinets, APBN Advises Incoming President, Governors NITP seeks creation of Ministry of Physical Planning for Proper Land Use Sunday Aborisade in Abuja The Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN) has urged the incoming administrations in Nigeria, at the federal and state levels next year to consult it while putting their cabinets together.

The APBN said unethical practices by professionals, either self-motivated or influenced by the political class, were responsible for poor governance in Nigeria.

The group's President, Manason Rubainu, spoke in Abuja, during his investiture as the 18th

president of the association.

He said though the political class was populated by poor leaders, this was not enough explanation for poor service deliveries being witnessed in different sectors.

According to him, the responsibility of implementing laudable policies and programmes fell squarely on professionals either in the public or private sector.

He, however, assured that the association was determined to address the ethical issues among professionals.

He said, "There are enough

Firms Partner to Advance Nigeria’s Renewable Energy Daikin Middle East and Africa FZE, one of the leading manufacturers of air conditioning, heating, ventilation and frigeration solutions and Panaserv, the authorised distributor in Nigeria have announced a new partnership agreement with Arnergy, a renewable energy company to promote its environmentally sustainable HVAC solutions across Nigeria.

Speaking on the agreement, the Country Manager - English West Africa at Daikin Middle East and Africa, Vineeth Vijayan, was quoted in a statement at the weekend to have explained that the partnership empowers Nigerians through sustainable solar solutions.

“By providing state-of-the-art Daikin solutions to residential and commercial customers, Arnergy and Panaserv seek to deliver better air, reduce health hazards, and critically reduce pressures on the national grid across Nigeria,” Vijayan said, adding that, “Daikin has continued to invest in Nigeria and for the people of Nigeria. This partnership addresses the country’s energy needs by delivering reliable electricity to power various quality lifestyle appliances including air conditioning, and commercial equipment.”

Also, the Chief Commercial Officer, Arnergy Solar Limited, Omobola Omofaiye said: “We are excited about the partnership with Panaserv & Diakin, and we are optimistic that it would see both our organisations making giant strides in leading innovative change in renewable energy and energy efficiency in Nigeria and other African markets.”

In the same vein, a Director at Panaserv Nigeria Limited. the authorised distributor of Daikin in Nigeria, Suraj Rupani said: “The Nigerian consumer is highly sophisticated when it comes to new technology, and inverter technology combined with a more environmentally friendly refrigerant will bring more effective cooling and lower running costs.

“The brand speaks to the quality of the product, and the new series of air conditioners is a huge win for Nigerian consumers.”

Rupani emphasised the need of partnering with Arnergy who specialises in offering sustainable solar solutions to address the energy needs and deliver reliable electricity to power various appliance, air conditioning and commercial equipment.

“This has already been tested with GTKL-TV1 series air conditioners which boast the reliability and unparalleled quality that the Nigerian consumer has come to expect from Daikin products and incorporates functionality that is beneficial given the unique requirements of Nigeria.

“Daikin recently opened its first Brand Shop in Nigeria in partnership with ACE Solutions and its first training center in partnership with ETIWA TECH LTD/GTE to provide quality technical vocational training and manpower development to bring the knowledge and expertise to build a generation of well-equipped technicians and installers in Nigeria,” the statement added.

professions in Nigeria at the disposal of government organisations to provide quality services to Nigeria and Nigerians.

We are ready to assist in the process of cabinet formation.

"Nigerian professions, like all over the world, have codes of conduct that control the individual personal behaviour and professional conduct that ensure good quality of service deliveries.

It is worrisome to witness the failure of governance to meet the needs of Nigerian society.

"We are quick to point at the politicians for this failure. The political class indeed seem to be occupied by poor leaders and people who cannot mobilise the instruments of governance for quality services delivery to the populace.

"This, however, is not enough explanation for the stated failure.

Politicians do not sign cheques, they do not raise certificates of valuations, and they do not design, value and construct structures that collapse regularly

in Nigeria.

"They do not care for the sick or design disease prevention and control programmes. All these are done by professionals."

The theme for this year's investiture, delivered by Maiyaki Bala, SAN, was titled, "Professionals and Governance in Nigeria, The 21st Century Expectations."

Bala called on professionals to acquaint themselves with digital technology to support the government effectively in policy design and implementation.

The former president, APBN, Mr. Akinloye Oyegbola, called on members of the association to get involved in political activities to promote professionalism in governance.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) has advocated the creation of the Federal Ministry of Physical Planning for proper for proper use of land resources.

The institute also lamented the non-implementation of the law

on urban and regional planning, which was enacted in 1992.

NITP stressed the need to set up relevant structures to promote the planning and development of human settlements.

NITP National President, Mr. Nathaniel Atebije, made the call at a quarterly press conference in Abuja, at the weekend.

He said in the past 18 months, the institute had gone around 27 states and held town hall meetings and press conferences to call on all stakeholders to adhere strictly to town planning law but they had all paid deaf ears to physical planning.

He said without physical planning, economic planning and development would remain a mirage, while the country's population continues to grow exponentially.

This, he said, may result in a disaster of high magnitude.

Atebije said, "We are faced with insecurity, insurgency, lack of safety, flooding, desertification, diseases, slum, environmental filth

and squalor making it difficult for Nigerians to live a good life.

"And because the leadership of Nigeria has paid deaf ears to physical planning, they have opened their ears to being reactionary by standing by to combat disasters through humanitarian services. This is a grossly misplaced priority.

"Prosperity is achieved where the environment is orderly, functional, aesthetically pleasant and safe. These are the attributes that any planned space is endowed with."

He, however, said the institute would continue to engage governments at all levels to develop and implement national, regional and local area master plans respectively to tackle and mitigate flooding and other environmental disasters.

Atebije also enjoined both federal and state governments to ensure that land should not be dispensed and shared among people as a reward for political patronage.

Edo Not Listed among Top Most Indebted States in Nigeria Rivers, Lagos, Ogun top list Obaseki explains how state tackled illegal migration, human trafficking Edo State is no longer on the list of top ten most indebted states in Nigeria, a statement disclosed yesterday.

It quoted the Debt Management Office (DMO) third quarter 2022 data on the state of Nigeria’s debt stock to have revealed this.

According to the statement, the country’s total domestic debt stocks for all states, as of September 2022, had increased to N5.36 trillion, an increase of 128.44 billion Naira from the previous quarter’s N5.28 trillion.

The report listed Lagos, Delta, Ogun and Rivers State as the most indebted with N877,035,995,031.70; N272,612,510,528.95; N241,782,021,304.96 and N225,505,011,356.00 respectively.

The statement, Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media Projects, Crusoe Osagie, noted that the report was a testament to the accountability, transparency and the prudent management of resources by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led government.

The fifth most indebted state, according to the report by the DMO, was Akwa Ibom with N219,617,660,991.63, closely

followed by Imo, Cross River, Oyo, Plateau and Bayelsa States with 207,520,959,471.52; 175,198,799,155.96; 160,071,143,937.27; 151,903,415,543.09 and 151,158,248,963.07 respectively.

According to Osagie, “The Edo State Government, under the sterling leadership of Governor Obaseki, has been very intentional in its vision to achieve economic prosperity for the state and has continued to adequately deploy all resources that accrue to the state to projects aimed at improving the livelihoods of the people.

“The recent report by the DMO is a testament to that fact. Edo State today, is witnessing an increase in Internally Generated Revenue on the back of nuanced reforms in the state to boost revenue inflow.

“Amid dwindling revenue from the federal government, the governor has continued to pursue life-transforming industrial and infrastructural projects and other massive developments to engender economic prosperity, leveraging private capital.

“Through the yearly Alaghodaro Summit alone, the government

has attracted the inflow of over $2 billion investments into the state, including the $500 million attracted through the Edo State Oil Palm Programme (ESOPP).

“Saro Africa Group of Companies also began injecting about $250 million in the state through its Integrated Agricultural Project. The $10 million Edo Refinery project is another signature project. There are also investments in the technology, creative, manufacturing, food processing and energy sectors, among others.”

Meanwhile, Obaseki, has revealed how his administration’s education reforms and youth development drive helped the government address the scourge of illegal migration and human trafficking among youths in the state.

The governor, while speaking to in Benin City, hailed partners and stakeholders, including the World Bank, International Organisation for Migration (IOM), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Italian Government, among others, commending them for their support towards the gains

recorded in tackling the hydraheaded monster.

He noted, “I thank you for the support you all have given us over the last few years. We would not have achieved a fraction of what we have without your support, encouragement and push.”

On how the government addressed the scourge, Obaseki noted, “When we came into office, we had a big problem. Our young people did not want to stay here anymore; they all wanted to emigrate. The traffickers had a full day. The reputation of this state was at its lowest ebb. We had transport services in this town who on a nightly basis carted away young people with a promise of taking them to Europe or somewhere they could get a better life. At one point in time, we had over 30,000 young men and women waiting in Libya to cross over to Europe.

“It was the number one issue we had to face coming into office and in trying to understand what was going on, it was clear that our society had failed our young ones.

To them, anywhere else but home and for us, that was dangerous.”

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NEWS

OFF TO WASHINGTON DC FOR US-AFRICA SUMMIT...

L-R: President Muhammadu Buhari; Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari and Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed shortly before departing Katsina State for Washington DC ahead of US-Africa Leaders' Summit...yesterday

Agora Policy: Nigeria Incapacitates Itself by Excluding Women, Youths Says country’s gender policy observed in breach Notes 15 states without a single female legislator Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The exclusion of women, youths and other marginalised groups from social, economic and political opportunities in Nigeria severely limits the capacity of the country to achieve its full potential, a new report by Agora Policy, an Abujabased think tank, has said.

According to the report, while women and girls constitute about half of the population and citizens under 35 years account for at least seven in 10 Nigerians, the capacities of women and youths for full actualisation are constrained by unequal access to power and resources as well as exclusionary norms, practices, laws and policies.

This in turn, the report stated, negatively impacts development outcome for the country as a whole.

“Low level of inclusion in Nigeria incapacitates not just the excluded groups but the country itself,” stated Agora Policy in its report titled ‘’How to Deepen Gender, Social

and Political Inclusion in Nigeria.’’

It added: “Nigeria undermines itself by limiting the potential of significant segments of its population. Continuing on this path amounts to Nigeria shooting itself in the foot or punching grossly below its weight.

“Deepening inclusion is thus not a favour to the excluded groups but a sensible route to overall national development. It is in Nigeria’s self-interest to be a more inclusive society,” it said.

Put together by a group of experts on gender, political and social inclusion and produced with the support of MacArthur Foundation, the report by Agora Policy examined the reasons women, youths, people living with disabilities (PWDs), and ethnic/religious minorities are excluded from economic and political opportunities in the country.

It also made extensive recommendations on how to consciously remake Nigeria into a more inclusive society.

I'm Beginning to See Nigeria of My Dream, Akpabio Declares Okon Bassey in Uyo

Former Minister, Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio has described his being alive to witness his 60th birthday celebration as the benevolence of God. Akpabio stated this at the 2022 Christmas Carol Service of St. John Paul 11 College, held at Uyo, Akwa Ibom State at the weekend.

He expressed happiness over the celebration of his birthday, declaring that the Nigeria of his dream was already taking shape.

He also stated that he wanted to bequeath to future generations of Akwa Ibom people and Nigeria a better society where all Nigerians irrespective of where they come from would be proud of.

According to Akpabio, the future that he longed for has started taking shape with what he witnessed in the state.

"You all have demonstrated that given the right atmosphere, you can make this country great and I am happy for that," he said.

He added that, "the major reason I approached governance

with anger, when I was elected governor was to ensure that an Akwa Ibom child would no longer be treated as a slave, because the difference between the driver and the man at the back of the car is education."

He charged Nigerians to be committed to the unity of the country and not allow ethnicity and religious differences to divide us.

"God kept me alive today not by my power, carefulness or righteousness. It is God's love that has kept me till today.

"God did not look at where I come from before he kept me alive to witness my 60th birthday.

Let us therefore, eschew ethnicity in our dealings with each other because in heaven there would be no designated place for the Yorubas, Hausas, Igbos, christians nor Muslims."

Events to mark the 60th birthday of Senator Akpabio were medical outreach, visits to orphanages, hospitals and the Nigerian Correctional Centre, Ikot Ekpene, road walk by the youths, Carol night and football tournaments.

The recommendations ranged from expanding access to marketable skills, job opportunities, credits and markets to making and enforcing more sensitive and more inclusive laws and policies as well as providing dedicated funding.

They also include greater implementation-coordination and budget-tracking mechanisms, re-orientation campaigns, and increasing political representations for the excluded through greater devolution and constitutionallybacked power rotation and affirmative actions.

“There is no better time than this critical electioneering and transition period to discuss the need to make Nigeria a more inclusive society,” said Waziri Adio, the founder and Executive Director of Agora Policy.

“Most of the issues causing friction in the country today are rooted in the exclusion of substantial part of the population. This is also a major subtext of the 2023 general election. “ It is therefore important to use the period before, during and after

the elections to discuss and exact commitments on how improve the participation, representation and agency of a significant number of Nigerians who have been alienated, locked out or left behind,” the organisation stated.

According to the Agora Policy report, Nigeria’s gender policies of 2006 and 2020 which respectively assign 35 per cent and 50 per cent of appointments to women have been observed largely in the breach.

“Though females constitute 49.3 per cent of the population, women amount to only 4.26 per cent of the members of the national parliament.

This is not only way below the African average of 23.4 per cent but also compares dismally with the 32.8 per cent for Uganda, 43 per cent for Senegal and 47.95 per cent for Rwanda. Nigeria takes the rear in a ranking of female legislators in national parliaments in Africa,” it stressed.

Within Nigeria, it said, the parliaments in 15 states, or 41.66 per cent of the 36 states, have no female legislators, quoting data

from Invictus Africa.

It noted that the 15 states, which have a combined 410 state legislators, are: Abia, Bauchi, Borno, Edo, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.

“Beyond the political arena, the exclusion of women is equally pronounced in areas such as financial inclusion, ownership of landed property, access to education, health, ICT and wealth creation opportunities and others,” Agora Policy said.

Some of the recommendations of the report on gender inclusion include: enhancing the capacity of women and girls through better access to health and education, especially Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Despite constituting the bulk of the population, it said Nigerian youths are excluded and disempowered.

“Nigeria’s median age is 18.1 years and citizens under the age of 35 constitute 74.22 per cent of

the Nigerian population, which shows that Nigeria has a youthful population.

“Yet, Nigerian youths are disempowered, alienated and excluded, which negatively impacts the wellbeing of the youths and limits their contributions to national development,” the report added.

It explained that youth inclusion in the economic, social and political life of the nation seems to have stalled, arguing that the constructive engagement of youths has given way largely to restiveness.

“Some youths have become a reserve army of the unemployed, manipulated and used by politicians and religious bigots to perpetuate violence, thuggery, banditry and terrorism,” Agora Policy stressed.

Despite their numerical advantage, the youths, it maintained occupy only 6 per cent of elective and appointive offices in Nigeria.

“Some of the politicians that have been holding political offices since the 1970s have continued to dominate the political space,” the report noted.

Wike Tackles PDP Leaders for Condemning Muslim - Muslim Ticket Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt Governor Nyesom Wike has slammed political critics and members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who had condemned the same faith ticket but support a presidential candidate from the north.

The Rivers State governor who was referring to the PDP national leadership, made the assertion yesterday, at the special dedication service for the Rivers State PDP 2023 general election campaigns rallies, held at St. Paul's Anglican Church, Port Harcourt.

Wike maintained that those involved in such double-speak and try to hoodwink some gullible few, knew that they were insulting the sensibility of well-meaning Nigerians who want a united country that advances national cohesion.

“You play on people's intelligence; you say Nigeria is not ripe for Muslim-Muslim ticket, I agree. But Nigeria is ripe for

presidency to remain in one zone?

I mean, just look at the insult. You blow hot and cold."

Wike urged those people who condemned the same faith ticket to also know that Nigerians were also saying it was wrong to retain the presidency in the north after President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight years.

"Most of you just sit there, you don't ask yourselves questions.

Somebody continues to sell this kind of cheap ideas,” he added.

He added, "Your party wants the presidency to go to the same zone where president Muhammadu Buhari is coming from. Who is cheating who?"

The Rivers State governor also spoke reminding the church of the need for it to participate in the voting process. However, he said, it should not get involved to the extent of serving as cannon fodder against any political party or political actor.

Wike pleaded with the church to be careful and resist those politicians who come to mobilise

them as if there was a religious war to wedge.

"It is not now that politics have come, you want to come and tell the church a different story for your own personal interest. We have to be careful so that the church is not destroyed.

“Because, all of us, for example, we are Anglicans, I will not allow anybody, for his selfish interest to destroy the church of Nigeria. I will not allow that."

Wike also, warned that his administration would not allow those who in the past instigated wanton destruction of lives and property in the state under the guise of politics to repeat same.

He appealed to members of the PDP in the state to resist deliberate attempt by some disgruntled politicians to provoke them ahead of the 2023 general elections.

He described as ludicrous and cheap blackmail the allegation by Dr. Abiye Sekibo that the state government recently resent thugs to attack them.

“Some people are saying we sent

thugs to attack them. You see, when people see failure, they will begin to plan excuses. These are people all of us know our background and how we have won election in our various local government.

“I remember one of them during the last election could not even go to his local government. He ran down to Port Harcourt and stayed with me. Instead of you to tell your principal, this will be difficult for me, you are giving excuses.”

The governor who declared that he had never engaged in any acts of political violence in all his political career, urged those who might be planning to plunge the state into chaos to have a rethink.

“Anybody who knows me know, that I have never been violent. If I am violent, I won’t go to court.

But we know those who planted killings in this state when they were Secretary to Government. We know them, but that killing will not happen again in the State. We will not give you the opportunity to try it again.”

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NEWS

60TH BIRTHDAY AND 5TH CORONATION OF AKARIGBO OF REMO… L-R: Alake and Paramount Ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo; Akarigbo and Paramount Ruler of Remoland, Oba Babatunde Ajayi; Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun and Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi at the 60th Birthday and 5th coronation celebrations of the Akarigbo at Sagamu on Sunday

Agbi Slams Omo-Agege, Says Deltans Shouldn’t Entrust Him with State’s Gov Sylvester Idowu in Warri Governorship candidate of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in Delta State, Mr. Goodnews Agbi, has taken a swipe at his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, describing him as a politician that should not be trusted with votes come 2023 general election. Agbi stated

this yesterday while addressing a cross-section of Isoko people, who paid him a condolence visit on the demise of his cousin in Lagos.

He cautioned all Deltans, especially, the Isoko people, to be wary of Omo-Agege, whom he described as "a green snake under the green grass”.

Agbi said of Omo-Agege, "He is very cunning and sweet-

talking, deceitful. Deltans should not give him the chance. If they do, the state will be finished.

"This is the man that was the Secretary of the State Government for six months only but built a mighty structure at Uvwie, built a sprawling residential estate at Orogun and bought N600m house at T. Y Danjuma Road at Asokoro, where he is staying till today.

“This man should not be allowed to be governor of Delta State.”

Agbi told the visitors that they should mobilise all the Isoko people, who registered in Isoko and had their PVCs to come home and vote massively for him.

He also reminded them that it was the first time an Isoko man was coming out positively and

Ortom: PDP Failing to Take Advantage of Crisis to Make Party Stronger Says arrogance fueling disunity in party Chuks Okocha in Abuja Benue State Governor, Mr. Samuel Ortom yesterday reaffirmed his position that the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was failing to take advantage of the challenges within the party to make it stronger.

Ortom made this remark yesterday, while briefing journalists after a closed-door meeting at the Benue Peoples House, Makurdi with his Sokoto State counterpart, Governor Aminu Tambuwal who visited him over the lingering crises in the party.

According to Ortom, the meeting, which was held at the instance of Tambuwal discussed a variety of issues bordering on the internal wrangling rocking the party.

In his words, "Governor Tambuwal is the Chairman of PDP Governors Forum and currently the acting Chairman of Nigerian Governors Forum and the Director General of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation. This meeting is at his instance.

"We have discussed quite a number of issues including the division in the PDP and the G-5, which I am a member. He is principally here to see how we can team up and work together as a party.

"I have told him we are members of the PDP and like I have always said, the leadership of this party has failed to take advantage of the challenges of the party and make the party stronger right from when we held our national convention."

He added: "Instead of the party deploying its internal conflict resolution mechanism to look at the grievances that arose as a result of the primaries, no matter how stupid they were, they have failed to do this.

“Rather it is arrogance and a nonchalant attitude. Nobody has cared to reach out to us even when we voiced out that things were not going on well.

"For me, I commend him (Tambuwal) for taking this step to visit me and we have discussed

my opinion on how I think this matter can be resolved and I believe that as a leader and as DG of the campaign, he will do the needful because I am not alone.

“Talking to me alone will not solve the problem, but reaching out to others will be more meaningful.

I also believe he will also try to do the needful to put the party together as it is.”

On his part, Tambuwal disclosed that he had a fruitful conversation with Ortom whom he described as one of the leaders of the PDP who hold important position in the affairs of the party.

In his words: "We have had time to converse and engage on what is happening in our party.

He is the leader as of right in this party. And when you look at his trajectory, his political history and where he is today, he holds a very important position in the affairs of our party.

"I have said this before that internal party wrangling are normal and what we have been having is not a war of attrition,

but political disagreement. Even in our families, we disagree and when you have such disagreements and come back, you even bond stronger and work stronger.

"So it is work in progress. We have said it several times that we are interested in bringing everybody together, to work together for this party and that is the mission of my being here in Makurdi."

Tambuwal further stated that "He (Ortom) is one of the principal persons on the issues that we are handling and I have a very useful conversation with him which I will of course engage with the rest of our colleagues and other leaders and see how best we can come back together as one family and work towards making sure that the PDP come out stronger and win the elections of 2023 convincingly."

Former Benue State Governor and Senator representing Benue North-East, Dr. Gabriel Suswam accompanied Tambuwal on the visit to Ortom.

Bauchi APC Youth Berates Abubakar for Backing Mohammed’s Reelection Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi The National Youth Caucus of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bauchi State Wing, has berated the immediate past Governor of the State, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, SAN, for declaring support for the reelection bid of the incumbent, Governor Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir, saying it was an act of anti-party.

The group, therefore, called on the National Secretariat of the APC to immediately constitute a high-

powered committee to investigate the actions of the former governor and impose necessary action on him in line with the constitution of the party.

State Chairman of APC National Youth Caucus, Comrade Alkaseem Nuhu Abdulkadir, who addressed journalists yesterday, stated that, "As patriotic members of our great party, the All progressive Congress (APC) from Bauchi State, we humbly urge the National Executive Committee of our great party to as a matter of urgent responsibility

set a committee to investigate into the Anti-Party activities, conduct, which is likely to embarrass or have adverse effect on the Party and bring the Party into hatred, contempt, ridicule and disrepute by the conduct of His Excellency, Muhammad Abdullahi Abubakar SAN, the former Governor of Bauchi State as provided under article 21 (1) (i) and (ii) and the provision of article 21 (2) (i) and (ii) of the APC Constitution.

"Subject to the provisions of this article and the right to fair

hearing, the party shall have power to discipline members of the party.

The power shall be exercised on behalf of the party by the respective executive committee in line with the provisions hereunder.”

“The offences which are against the party shall include the following: Article 21.2 A breach of any provision of this Constitution.

Anti-Party activities or any conduct, which is likely to embarrass or have adverse effect on the Party or bring the Party into hatred, contempt, ridicule or disrepute.

aggressively to seek the votes of all Deltans to be the governor.

Responding to the group, led

by Chief Rapheal Igbudu, who hails from Oyede, Agbi assured the people that he would not disappoint them if elected, maintaining that no matter the outcome of the election, he would stand anywhere to defend the Isoko interest.

Igbudu had told Agbi that they came on behalf of the Oyede

people and, indeed, Isoko people resident in Lagos, to express their support for his ambition and at the same time to condole with him over the demise of his first cousin last weekend. He called on all Isoko people in Nigeria and the Diaspora to stand strongly behind their son, not only because he was an Isoko man, but also because he was very qualified, capable, and bold enough to defend the Isoko interest.

NDDC: N'Delta Group Rallies Support for Acting MD, Seeks Complete Tenure for New Board Sylvester Idowu in Warri The Community Development Committees of Niger Delta Oil and Gas Producing Areas (CDCNDOGPA) has applauded President Muhammadu Buhari for the appointment of an Acting Managing Director for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Emmanuel AuduOhwavborua.

The group also expressed optimism that the new board of the NDDC would usher in development to the region in line with extant laws.

The group, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Board of Trustees, Joseph Ambakederimo, said it was satisfied with the performance of the Acting Managing Director since his appointment in setting up a template on which the incoming board would anchor its infrastructural programmes to dovetail into the vision of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Timipriye Sylva for the region.

In the statement titled, "We welcome the new NDDC board" the group stated: "In the penultimate month we have recognised and applauded the appointment of the Acting Managing Director as a precursor to ushering the board that will birth a new dawn to the region.

"The Acting Managing Director was brought in to clean the augean stable and on a transitionary mission to set a template on which the incoming board would anchor its infrastructural programmes to dovetail into the vision of the Minister for the region."

CDCNDOGPA noted that the misconception of the failure of the commission which could either be political or pecuniary, had stifled whatever achievements it had recorded, hence the Acting Managing Director was appointed

as a transition to prepare the template for the new board to take a cue from.

The group expressed expectation that the incoming board would be allowed to complete its four years tenure, to at least show some sense of responsibility from the government that was expected to emerge recalling that no board had completed its tenure since the establishment of the NDDC. "We are urging that boards appointed must be allowed to complete their tenure so we can hold people to account for their stewardship.

“The incessant dissolving of the board overtime has become counterproductive to the regions development and a drawback on human capital development as well.

"It is on record that the CDC has been at the forefront advocating for the enthronement of a substantive board and we shall continue to push until the board is inaugurated having made it known in the past that the CDC will only support genuine efforts and clear processes that will lead to the realisation of the aspiration of our people," it stated.

The CDCNDOGPA vowed not to stop at this point of the appointment of its agitation for a board, warning that it shall continue to play a pivotal role of carrying out oversight function on the activities of the commission now and in future.

"We must also make it clear and warn that what happened to the set of appointees that was duly made by the President, screened and cleared by the Senate and was not inaugurated does not happen to this appointed board again.

“We are watching with keen interest and hope this time around the good intentions of the Minister is not consigned to the dustbin of history," it stated.

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PROMOTING RENEWABLE ENERGY...

R-L: Country Manager, English West Africa, Daikin Middle East and Africa, Vineeth Vijayan; Director, Panaserv Nigeria Limited, Suraj Rupani; Chief Financial Officer, Arnergy Solar Limited, Omolara Ojo, and Chief Commercial Officer, Arnergy Solar Limited, Omobola Omofaiye, during the signing of a new partnership agreement to promote environmentally sustainable HVAC solutions across Nigeria, held…recently

Fashola: Buhari Addressing Poverty Through Infrastructural Development Says 2nd Niger Bridge to open for festivities Insists on minimal road closures, diversions to ease movement Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) has declared that the Muhammadu Buhari administration is already addressing poverty in the country, with investment in infrastructure renewal and expansion.

Fashola’s comment came against the backdrop of a report released in November by the National Bureau

of Statistics (NBS) on the country’s poverty index which recommended investments in health, education and infrastructure, among others as a viable means to reduce poverty.

While presiding over the 2022 Ember Month Programme’s Press Briefing of the Ministry, Fashola, who noted that many people had been quoting the report in terms of the poverty rate, explained to the audience that what the NBS

recommended were already in the works.

“That (infrastructure) was already happening before the recommendation came. President Buhari had started investing in infrastructure. That is why you and I are here,” he said.

The minister pointed out that the importance of infrastructure development lies in the fact that it not only addresses monetary

poverty but also multidimensional poverty which, according to him, includes absence of access, choice and efficiency.

“And so for me, why is infrastructure so important? It is addressing poverty in the monetary and multidimensional modes because it provides jobs during construction and makes life better after construction. And as we have seen, as construction

NHIA Clarifies Stance on Removal of HIV Management from PHC Scheme Oluchi Chibuzor The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) yesterday clarified the removal of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus and the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) management from primary healthcare (PHC) services obtainable for enrollees in its scheme.

It explained that the decision was because another government agency was responsible for the coordination of the activities regarding people living with the HIV/AIDS in the country.

The clarification was in response to an article earlier published in THISDAY titled: “Stakeholders Fault Removal of HIV Management from NHIA’s Primary Care Service Delivery Scheme,” on 30 November, 2022.

However, in its reaction on the removal of HIV/AIDS on

the primary healthcare scheme expressed at the forum by a medical doctor, Dr. Abideen Gbolahun, which was not captured in the published report, the Deputy General Manager, NHIA Ikeja State Office, Mrs. Aisha Abubarka-Haruna, had explained at the event that it was because there was another government agency responsible for the management of HIV/AIDS in the country.

According to her, the NHIA does not provide for HIV/ AIDS treatment at primary level of care in its benefit package for obvious reasons.

She said: “This as there is another government agency - the National Agency for Control of AIDS (NACA) which is responsible for the coordination of all activities regarding the control and treatment of people living with HIV/AIDs and provision of antiretroviral therapy (ART).

“This notwithstanding, the NHIA has made provision for screening, confirmation and management of opportunistic infections, voluntary counseling and health education at secondary level and also the management of complications of HIV/AIDs at tertiary level of care.

“It is also worthy to note that there's no cure for HIV/AIDS at the moment. However, for the management of victims, there is effective ART for people living with HIV provided by NACA." Meanwhile, speaking at the interactive stakeholders' engagement meeting held in Lagos, Abubarka-Haruna, acknowledged that the forum was to enable all stakeholders address areas that were needed to increase quality access to healthcare in the country.

According to her, in the NHIA's Group, Individual and Family Social Health Insurance Programme

(GIFSHIP) scheme, it was mandatory for service providers, HMO and the NHIA to ensure that no enrollee suffers any point of contact within the process of seeking quality access to healthcare in the country.

She warned that the agency remained resolute to delist any stakeholder found to be jeopardising the federal government's efforts to enlist all Nigerians to the net of the NHIA. Also responding to questions from the enrollees, she said according to the NHIA’s Act, “subscribed enrollees have the right to change their primary healthcare provider once it has closed down, relocated or been delisted by the Authority.

“There is right to change your primary healthcare provider once you have been transferred to another location and right to choose an alternative primary healthcare provider for dependents if they are living in a different location."

Garba Shehu Charges Katsina People to Vote for Tinubu, APC Candidates Deji Elumoye in Abuja Presidential spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, has asked the people of Dumurkol, Daura and the entire Katsina State, to vote for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from top to bottom in the 2023 general election.

The Senior Special Assistant (Media and Publicity) to the President enjoined the Katsina people to vote for APC from the presidential candidate to House of Assembly members saying, "whoever come here after defecting to another party and say he is with President Buhari, he is a liar; he is not with President Muhammadu

Buhari. It's APC all the way."

According to him, the ongoing campaign is a journey of success, adding, "I work with some people in the campaign train and they proved that they have capacity and they will never fail."

Shehu, who represented the president at the APC governorship campaign at Buhari's village in Dumurkol, Daura, Katsina State, weekend, said, "Coming to campaign here is just to thank the people of Dumurkol, because they need no lecture on whom to vote for to succeed President Buhari in 2023."

According to him, what President Buhari said was 'vote for Asiwaju

and Shettima, Dikko Radda and Jobe for governor and also vote for Nasiru Sani as your Senator and other legislators.'

"Every individual from Dumurkol or Daura or Katsina will market APC and anybody contesting under any other party should not be campaigned for because Nigeria has given Dumurkol, Daura and Katsina State, what other states wanted to have and they never get because over 200 million Nigerians choose someone from this domain to lead the country for good eight years.

"Nigerians have done everything to this community, Daura and Katsina State, so nobody can

shame him here.

"President Buhari has done everything to Daura and Katsina state. Just yesterday, we were in the road, when I saw a trailer with load of irons for railway tracks to be laid from Daura to Katsina to Maradi and by God's grace by the end of this admnistration, train services will start from Kano to Daura," the presidential aide said.

Meanwhile, the District Head of Dumurkol, and President Buhari's nephew, Alhaji Musa Haro, has assured Nigerians that the people of Daura and the entire state would vote massively for the presidential candidate of APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in the 2023 elections.

is going on, journey time is getting better year-on-year”, he said.

Fashola said that results would manifest in due course, adding that people who express anxiety over the seeming delay in the results of the investments should commend the administration for investing the nation’s resources for the benefit of the people.

He recalled that there was a time before the present administration when funds were being taken out of the country and also from an agency of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to fund elections in the country, adding, “If they took away funds meant for national development, that was one of the causes of poverty.”

He added: “NNPC is now investing N621 billion in road construction but that was the money some people used to fund electioneering campaigns and provide cars for friends in the past. Buhari has put back the money where it belongs. These are things that are heading in the right direction.”

The Minister explained that when crude oil prices crashed at the onset and revenues fell, this government found other funding sources.

“So, we now talk of the SUKUK; we are now talking about the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme, we are now talking about the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund”, he said.

The minister, while reiterating

his challenge to the opposition for a debate on the role of infrastructure development in achieving economic growth and poverty eradication, said the opposition has a penchant for celebrating the negative figures often thrown up by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and similar bodies .

On the opening of the Second Niger Bridge, Fashola explained that the bridge would be open to traffic from December 15, 2022 to January 15, 2023, pointing out, however, that the access would only be for traffic going from the West to the East of the country.

He added that the flow would be reversed on January 15, 2023 to benefit traffic from the East to the West of the country.

He emphasised that work on the access road to the bridge was not yet finished, explaining that the reason for the temporary opening was to ease pressure on the first bridge which was usually congested as a result of the huge traffic on it during the yuletide period.

“I believe it is good news so I can confirm it. As I have told you we have completed work on the bridge. So, as it is now you can walk from one end of the bridge to the other; you can drive from one end to the other. But the connecting roads that link the bridge are what we are working on; that has not finished”, he said.

Continued online

TINUBU: I'LL BE PRESIDENT 0F ALL NIGERIANS, FAIR AND JUST in the last eight years, citing the records by Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), and neglecting the plight of 20 million out of school children.

The group stated, "The present administration told us eight years ago that they want to fight corruption, they want to secure this nation and they want to improve the economy, all they have done so far is the opposite.

"I am from Katsina, one third of my state is under siege by bandits.

We have never seen IDPs in Katsina until this government came in. My state capital is filled up with IDPs. "We gave President Buhari 1.2 million votes in the last elections, what have we to show for it? Death and destruction.

“Kano gave him 1.8 million votes, what do you have to show for it?

The whole of the north has nothing to show for the eight years of the APC rule.

"In recent years, we have not seen as much poverty as we have seen today. The National Bureau of Statistics said 133 million Nigerians are now in multidimensional poverty.

We have never seen that, we have come to a time, when the president himself is blaming the governors for poverty.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we did not give him this presidency to blame anybody else, now that the game is over, you are blaming somebody else?

"They have failed, the APC government has failed. Fighting corruption, we have seen a lot more corruption cases under this government. He has not fought corruption, he has not improved the economy, the economy is worse and where we are today, insecurity is the worst ever in our lifetime.

"We are, therefore, educating our people that it is going to be suicidal for people to vote APC to power again."

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BOOK ON MAKING NIGERIA WORK...

L-R: Senator Uche Ekwunife; Chairman, Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema; Former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki; Author of Book, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo; Mrs. Gina Obiora; Chief Alex Onyido, and Chairman of the occasion, Senator Ayim Pius Anyim, during the presentation of the Book, ‘Making Nigeria Work,’ in Abuja…recently KINGSLEY ADEBOYE

FENRAD: Buhari's Anti-corruption War Lacks Potency, Political Will Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia After over seven years of fighting corruption, the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, has failed to make appreciable impact in cleaning up the rot in the Nigerian system, a prodemocracy and environmental advocacy group, The Foundation for Environmental Rights Advocacy and Development (FENRAD), has said.

FENRAD) said the anticorruption war was not making the expected impact due to absence of potency and political will.

The group came up with this verdict following its survey of the nation's anti-corruption trajectory since 1999 with special focus on the last seven years, when the Buhari government said it has been fighting corruption.

In a statement by the executive director of FENRAD, Comrade Nelson Nnanna Nwafor, to mark this year's Anti-corruption Day (IACD), which was read

by Benedict Anaebo at a press conference in Umuahia, weekend, the group said Nigeria still has a long way to go in winning anti-graft war.

"It is alarming that Nigeria does not rank among countries with

low incidences of corruption yet," he said, citing the Transparency International (TI) 2022 corruption perception index(CPI) report, which ranked Nigeria 154 out of 180 countries.

According to the advocacy group, rather than abetting, corruption has continued to spread, mutate and manifest in various dimensions despite the anti-corruption war of the Buhari government.

“The anti-graft war is being fought on two fronts, waged by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic Financial Crimes

Commission (EFCC).

"Under this administration, issues of corruption like oil theft, subsidy scam, vote buying, budget padding, trading in influence and sundry corrupt practices bedevil Nigeria and Nigerians.

"Both public sector and private sector corruption increased in an unheard of scale in the last seven years," the group said, adding that corrupt officials now use ridiculous tactics not only to cover their tracks but also to evade justice.

According to the group, "Animals like rodents, reptiles and primates were reported

ATIKU CONDEMNS KILLING OF YOUNG DEBORAH SAMUEL FOR ALLEGED BLASPHEMY sign off on the tweet before it was posted, as he usually did.

Atiku relayed his plan to rescue the country if elected in the 2023 general election, promising to undertake critical decisions to tackle insecurity and revamp the dwindling economy.

He vowed to ensure accountability in the spending of the controversial security votes handed down to chief executives at the federal and state levels monthly, but noted that he won’t scrap the practice.

The PDP candidate expressed the hope that by devolving power to the sub-nationals, the agitation of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) will be greatly reduced while strategic negotiations will be embarked upon with those open to talking with government.

He also pledged to end the current multiple exchange rates, remove petrol subsidy and channel the funds to areas of infrastructure where they were desperately needed.

He, again, highlighted the combined “experience” of the PDP team, insisting that the best hands to manage Nigeria given its current precarious state, is the Atiku/Okowa ticket.

Describing Nigeria’s poverty rate as the worst in the world, Atiku stated that unemployment and illiteracy had become critical problems, which only people with a record of performance like him could resolve.

On IPOB, Atiku said, “The IPOB issue, as far as I am concerned, is a fight for the realisation of Biafra. Is it possible for Biafra to be realised today?

How will it be achieved? Is it by negotiations or do we need another civil war, which we can’t afford?

“So, I believe we will negotiate with the agitators from the Southeast as far as the issue of IPOB is concerned. We believe that what they need is more autonomy as far as their sovereignty is concerned and that’s why we propose the restructuring of the country, which will mean devolution of more powers to the federating units.

“After all, there was Eastern Nigeria in the First Republic and they developed at their own pace and with their own resources, so I see no reason why a middle of the road solution should not solve the agitations.”

He stressed that there was the political part of the agitation, but said that there was no way a part of the country could secure political power without friendship across the Niger.

Atiku also stated that security votes had always existed even before independence, maintaining that he will ensure that it is properly disbursed and well spent.

He stated, “The problem is allowing the federal government, states and local governments to expend the security votes as they like. It has been abused and there’s no doubt about that and we cannot close our eyes to that. Just like you are called to account for your budget, you should be called to account for security vote.”

Atiku said if elected president next year, his government would adopt the Dubai policing strategy, stating that it is rare

to see policemen in uniform or soldiers in the streets of that country, yet there is constant monitoring of what is happening all around, with the deployment of technology.

“From the moment you step into the country, you are being monitored,” he noted, adding that the most immediate requirement to curb the crimes in the country is to reform the structure of policing in the country and then work towards the use of technology.

Okowa, in his contribution, stated that politicians as well as civil servants must be on the same page with the security agencies who must have a seamless relationship, rather than what currently obtained. “We must also begin to think about how to get Nigerians gainfully employed,” he stressed.

On the possible return of militancy in the Niger Delta, Okowa stated that the restiveness in the past was because of government neglect, but noted that the Atiku/Okowa government will carry everyone in the region along.

On the economy, Atiku stated that the sale of state assets and removal of fuel subsidy would save as much as $10 billion for government, which will be deployed in revamping small and medium scale businesses. He noted that he would work closely with the National Assembly on the matter.

Atiku stated that he would not scrap the so-called pro-poor programmes of the current administration, including tradermoni and others, but said

that they will be institutionalised to remove some of the current problems bedevilling the programmes.

He promised to direct the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop multiple exchange rates and incentivise foreign investors to bring in foreign exchange into the country.

Atiku described the current multiple exchange rate as corruption-ridden, explaining that the central bank will deploy all the tools available to it to, at least, bring the rates to dual instead of multiple rates.

“We will remove subsidy and establish palliatives and whether we like it or not, by June next year, by law, subsidy will have to stop,” he said on the rising cost of petrol subsidy.

Okowa also said monies recovered from subsidy removal would be deployed to revamping education, health, road infrastructure, among others, describing the current budget as abnormal.

On the lingering disagreement with the governor of Rivers state, Mr. Nyesom Wike, Atiku stated that he had met Wike five times in person in the last few months, stressing that the problem is not from him, but from the Wike team.

“I have met with Wike two times in Port Harcourt, two times in Abuja and one time in London, personally,” he stated.

Atiku also promised to revamp the creative industry by ensuring that government invested in the sector, which he described as one of the biggest employers of labour, aside agriculture.

to have swallowed monies conveniently stashed in official vaults," stressing that, "perceived corrupt officials being questioned by lawmakers slump, are rushed to hospitals and cases closed or are discontinued".

While noting that Buhari has not helped matter, following his

granting of pardon to "convicted former governors, and even extending such clemency to terrorists," FENRAD stated that the Buhari government appears overwhelmed by the corruption monster hence it has invented excuses, telling Nigerians that "corruption is fighting back".

Okonkwo Advocates Management of Diversities as Model for Restructuring Ex-minister calls for review of NYSC scheme Emameh Gabriel in Abuja The Chairman, United Nigerian Airlines, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, at the weekend said there was no better way to restructure Nigeria than the equitable management of the country's diversities.

This was even as former Minister of Science and Technology, Prof.

ABC Nwosu called for the review of the National Youth Service Scheme (NYSC) to extend its service duration to two years.

Okonkwo stated this during the launch of a book: ‘Making Nigeria Great: Pathways to Success,” he authored.

The book, with 15 chapters, brought fresh insights and incisive reasoning into nagging issues such as, how Nigeria's diverse ethnic groups could be welded into a truly united and peaceful nation.

The event which was attended by former Senate Presidents Bukola Saraki and Pius Ayim, former PDP national chairman, Baraje, former Minister of Sport Bolaji Abdullahi, former police IG, Solomon Arase and other prominent Nigerian also marked the author's birthday.

The most captivated among the issues raised in the book was the idea of Value of Diversity: Restructuring to Save Nigeria and a quest for a new Nigeria.

Okonkwo said: "For example, nothing stops the states in the south -east from collaborating to build railways or monorails, to connect all state capitals in the region and boost economic activities that will drive development of the region.

"Such collaboration could also extend to the south-south region for mutual benefits, states in other regions could also collaborate to pursue development that are of mutual benefit to them.

"In doing this, states are now forced to look at their diversity to

get, integrated backwards and make use of the best, because regions will be in development competition.

"This is the sort of thing that restructuring will achieve. It is not already happening because our current system of government enthrones a leadership recruitment system that does not allow for the best from our diversity," he wrote in the book.

Okonkwo explained that the book was his gift to the educational institutions, gift to intellectual team, warning that the longer the nation waits to restructure, the deeper the wound and the hurt it experiences.

He added: "When we talk of true federalism, it does not mean taken what does not belong to anybody, it means people having what they should have and doing what they should do.

“The center has taken so much, the center still remains, active, with its own dedicated area of activities.

In true federalism, you have powers in different states, doing also what they ought to do given by the constitution.

"This was a negotiated constitution before independence, it helped us, it brought about the fastest development, we have ever seen in this country.

"It will bring an end to a lot of issues, I hope the argument and opinion I have in the book will help people to know that this is not intended to hurt anybody or deprive anybody, but is to make us happier in this one entity Nigeria, where there will be equity, justice and fairness."

Meanwhile, Nwosu, who wrote the forward of the book joined other prominent Nigerians at the event to extoll the virtue of Okonkwo, describing him as a rare breed that has successfully combined entrepreneurship, intellectualism and politics for betterment of Nigeria.

MONDAY DECEMBER 12, 2022 • T H I S D AY

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RECOGNITION FOR STERLING BANK…

L-R: Head, Investment Products, Sterling Bank Plc,Jennifer Omame; Marketing Manager, Products & Partnership, Franklyne Ikediasor; Group Head, Customer Experience; Ojiugo Emeruem; Chief Product Officer, Mustapha Otaru; Head of Retail Marketing, Abena Annan, and Team Lead Customer Engagement, Braide Clinton, at the Netcore 25th anniversary in Lagos...recently

Masari Rejects Terrorists’ Demand for Fresh Negotiation Francis Sardauna in Katsina

Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State has reiterated his administration’s stance not to negotiate with terrorists

again, “because I will never trust them again.”

Masari, who restated his government’s position while reacting to media report that some terrorists’ leaders have

Bayelsa Begins Door-to-Door Campaign for Tinubu/Shettima Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa The Bayelsa State chapter of the Tinubu-Shettima Independent Campaign Council (ICC) has launched a door-todoor, hamlet-to-hamlet and neighborhood-to-neighborhood (DDHHNN) campaign for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shettima.

The state chairman of the council, Prince Preye Aganaba, said the unique approach was initiated to spread the gospel of Tinubu’s competence, capacity,

fitness and experience in all the nooks and crannies of Bayelsa.

Speaking at the weekend when he led members of the state ICC to visit a former Bayelsa Deputy Governor, Werinipre Seibarugu in Yenagoa, Aganaba said the campaign approach would also help to correct misinformation, half truth and outright lies against Tinubu.

He said their findings showed that persons against Tinubu had not come to know him personally and only depended on lies told them by opposition political leaders.

Police Arrest Septuagenarian for Raping Four-year-old Niece in Nasarawa Igbawase Ukumba inLafia Operatives attached to the Obi Division of the Nasarawa State Police Command have arrested a septuagenarian, Isa Nana Okpoku, for allegedly raping his four years old niece.

The Public Relations Officer of the state Police Command, DSP Ramhan Nansel, revealed this in a statement in Lafia.

According to Nansel, “Isa Nana Okpoku, who is a 75 years old man, hails from Daddare Development Area in Obi Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.”

The PPRO explained that

the arrest of the septuagenarian followed a report that was lodged at the Obi Divisional Police Headquarters on October 10, 2022 at about 0800hrs.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect and his niece are both residents in the same house thus, he lured the victim into his room and willfully had unlawful carnal knowledge of her,” he explained.

The state police command image maker continued that the victim was however, rushed to the hospital for medical examination where the doctor confirmed the hymen was broken.

Investment Banker, Olaolu Mudashiru, Killed in Lagos Rebecca Ejifoma

The Co-founder and Deputy Managing Director of Vetiva Capital, Olaolu Mudashiru is dead.

He was said to be cycling with a group of cyclists when a car rammed into their bikes on Gerrard Road in the Ikoyi area of Lagos.

While the car reportedly sped off the scene, the cyclists were said to have been left with severe injuries.

It was learned that Mudashiru

and two bikers were rushed to the Lagoon Hospital on Bourdillon Road where Mudashiru later died from head injuries.

Mudashiru, an investment banker, earned his medical degree from the University of Lagos (UNILAG). He got his MBA from the University of Reading in the United Kingdom.

He was the son of late Air Commodore Gbolahan Mudashiru, a former Military Administrator of Lagos State.

started surrendering their arms to government, said he would only enforce laws that would help security agencies and relevant authorities to prosecute people who commit offences in the state.

Governor Masari had in 2019 granted second amnesty to the terrorists after a tour to Fulani settlements and strong enclaves of the hoodlums

in Rugu Forest between September 4 and 9, during which the terrorists and their forest commanders denounced terrorism.

The peace accord was adopted by the North-west governors following a peace summit convened in Katsina by the former Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, that facilitated discussions with

representatives of the terrorists from the affected states of Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto, Kaduna and Zamfara States.

But during the interview, Masari said the hoodlums who are seeking another rapprochement with his government should go and make peace with their family members in their respective villages and communities

“because I will never trust them again.”

While denying the report that some terrorists’ leaders in the state have started surrendering their arms and ammunition to the government as a result of the ongoing military onslaughts again them, the governor insisted that he would never trust the criminals again.

NDLEA Intercepts Brazil Returnee with Parcels of Cocaine

Michael OlugbodeinAbuja

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, have intercepted parcels of cocaine concealed in different parts of a travel bag brought into the country from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Doha, on a Qatar Airways flight by a Brazil returnee, Nwadinobi

Uchemadu.

A statement yesterday by the spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi, revealed that Uchemadu was arrested last Monday, at the Lagos airport during inward clearance of passengers on the Qatar airways flight following the discovery of three parcels of cocaine weighing 2.7 kilogrammes factory sealed in parts of his travel bag.

Babafemi said at the SAHCO export shed of the airport same day, NDLEA operatives equally intercepted cans of powdered milk, baby food and beverages used to conceal 3.4 kilogrammes of cannabis going to Dubai, UAE, adding that a freight agent, Ewelike Cyril who presented the consignment for export was subsequently arrested.

He further revealed that parcels of cannabis weighing 6.3

kilogrammes concealed in sound systems (speakers) going to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea through the SAHCO export shed of the airport were also seized last Thursday, by the operatives who initially arrested a freight agent, Joseph Obiji involved; then last Friday, nabbed another agent, Mbanu Ifeanyi in a follow up operation at ASPAMDA market, Trade Fair complex, Ojo area of Lagos State.

2023: Middle Belt Restates Support for Obi, South-east Presidency Obasanjo, Ugwuanyi, Obi, Adebanjo honour Nwodo at 70 Gideon Arinze in Enugu and Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia President of the Middle Belt Forum, MBF, Bitrus Pogu, has said that the north central zone of the country remains committed to supporting a president of Southeast extraction for the purpose

of fairness, equity and justice.

Pogu made this known yesterday in Enugu at a colloquium held as part of the 70th birthday celebration of the former President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Nnia Nwodo.

The ceremony was graced by former Nigerian President,

Olusegun Obasanjo who was its chairman, leader of Afenifere, the Yoruba apex sociopolitical group, Ayo Adebanjo and presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi. In his address, Pogu praised Nwodo over his role in the emergence of Obi as presidential candidate from the Southeast,

noting that hopefully, the LP candidate will emerge as the next president of Nigeria by 2023.

“We have said it again and again that Interest of equity, fairness and justice, the president should come from the south, particularly, the Southeast” he said. In the middle Belt, we are with Obi for a better Nigeria.”

Sack Randy Lecturers, Buhari Tells Varsities

Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

President Muhammadu Buhari at the weekend enjoined authorities of Nigerian Universities to emulate the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun state in ensuring the termination of appointment of lecturers guilty of sexually harassing female students.

President Buhari, who was the visitor to the university, while speaking at the 46th

convocation ceremony of the school at it campus in Ile-Ife, explained that lives of female students cannot be entrusted in the hands of randy lecturers across universities campuses in Nigeria.

The president, who was represented by the Director of Education Planning at the National Universities Commission, Dr Noel Saliu, noted that government will not sign any agreement it cannot fulfill with school unions.

According to him, “I will be failing in my duty as visitor if I do not commend the council and management of this great citadel of learning for dealing, very decisively, with cases of sexual harassment. In fact, this university deserves commendation on the way and manner it is tackling sexual and other related harassments headlong, without minding whose ox is gored. “ “I want other institutions of

higher learning to emulate O.A.U in summarily terminating the appointment or dismissing any lecturer who uses or is using his advantageous position to sexually harass our young, unassuming, innocent and impressionable girls.

We cannot continue to entrust the lives of our promising young girls into the hands of some sexually reckless individuals who are masquerading as lecturers on our campuses,” he stressed.

Kogi PDP Accuses APC of Destroying Billboards Ibrahim Oyewale The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi State has accused the ruling party, All Progress Congress (APC) of destroying the billboard of the PDP Kogi Central Senatorial district candidate, Natasha AkpotiUduagha at weekend.

THISDAY learnt that the suspected hoodlums have

destroyed several billboards belonging to the PDP senatorial candidate across the senatorial district Despite the fact that Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan paid N11.2 million to the Kogi State Government as signage fee, her billboards across the five local governments were destroyed

by APC thugs .

Efforts to confirm the allegation that APC thugs is responsible for the destruction of PDP Senatorial candidate proved abortive Our correspondent put a telephone call to the State Chairman of APC, but his line was not responding as at the time of filling this report.

An inside sources from the Kogi State Internal Revenue

Service told THISDAY that the signage law was not made to witch hunt anyone, noting KGIRS has nothing to do with politics.

It was gathered that the every clients is expected to obtained receipt and notification of such payment , this it was learnt was not peculiar to politicians alone and other businesses in Kogi State.

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NEWS XTRA

Police Repel Terrorists’ Attacks, Arrest 10 in Zamfara

Onuminya Innocent

The tactical operatives of the Zamfara State Police Command yesterday said they repelled terrorists’ attacks, arrested 10 suspected terrorists and recovered two AK-47 rifles, two magazines, 104 round of live ammunitions, large quantity of dry leaf suspected to be cannabis.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Mohammed Shehu, said the police tactical operatives while on confidence building patrol in Zurmi and Shinkafi Local Government Areas of the state when they received a distress call about terrorists’ plan to attack some villages in the two LGAs, and they swiftly mobilised to the scene and engaged the terrorists in a gun

battle which they (terrorists) retreat into the forest.

The PPRO stated that their men foiled the terrorists’ attacks in Zurmi and Shinkafi LGAs of the state after engaging them in a gun duel that lasted for hours, thereby forcing the suspected terrorists to retreat into the forest with possible gunshot wounds, and recovered two AK-47 rifles and 104 rounds of live ammunition from the scene.

He also said the men arrested two suppliers of hard drugs to the terrorists in the forest, Murtala Dahiru, 25, from Galadi village in Shinkafi LGA and Sani Mohammed, 39, of Talata Mafara LGA of the state.

The four suspects were arrested on a 18-seater Toyota vehicle conveying

large quantity of dry leaf suspected to be Indian hemp from Lagos which is to be delivered at Kaura Namoda in Zamfara State, and the suspects, in the course of interrogation, confessed that the consignment was meant for terrorists operating in a forest in Shinkafi LGA in the state.

The police tactical operatives also arrested two suspects for partnering terrorists to impose levies on Kwarya Tsugunne and Yanbuki villages in Maru and Zurmi LGAs of Zamfara State.

According to the police, the suspects had during interrogation confessed to them that on several occasions, they imposed levies on villagers that amounted to millions of naira and delivered same to the terrorists while gotten their percentages.

Brain-drain: 140 Medical Personnel Resign in Babcock Teaching Hospital Funmi Ogundare The Director of Clinical Services and Training, Babcock University Teaching Hospital (BUTH), IlishanRemo, Ogun State, Dr. Titus Oyedele, has expressed concern over the issue of brain drain in Nigeria, saying already about 50 of its doctors and 90 of its nurses have resigned to seek greener pastures abroad.

Oyedele, who disclosed this at the weekend, while taking journalists on a tour of the institution’s facilities, blamed the issue of brain drain popularly known now as ‘Japa’, on leadership failure and having people

in position who do not believe in the system.

He said retaining the best hands in the hospital has been challenging as it has to pay so much just to get competent and qualified personnel.

According to him, “At times, we have to source for highly skilled personnel even at a very high cost.

For instance, in a system, you can have 10 people and many institutions struggling to get them. It has become the highest bidder, but the university has been trying its best to ensure that no matter what it costs, we have to ensure that the system is running.

“God has been helping us; we have been trying to attract the best hands in the country.”

Asked how the hospital copes with the number of patients in hospital, he said: “We try to survive.

It’s difficult really especially when you have personnel who are just getting used to the system, and the next minute they are leaving.”

The director, however, said the university does not have a problem replacing staff who are out of the system, adding that it replaces them immediately and even attract personnel from outside the country.

Anti-Corruption Group Advocates Life Imprisonment for Corrupt Officials Adibe Emenyonu in Benin-city

The Africa Network for Environmental and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) has advocated for life imprisonment for corrupt government officials as a way to nip in the bud the problem of corruption that has become endemic in the Nigerian state.

Speaking at a press briefing in Benin-city, Edo State, at the weekend to mark the occasion of the International Anti-Corruption Day, Deputy Executive Director of the group, Leo Atakpu, who represented the Executive Director of ANEEJ, Rev. David Ugolor, reiterated the group’s opposition of death penalty, but said the organisation is urging the National

Assembly on legislation prescribing long prison terms for corrupt practices.

He said with over 133 million or 63 percent of Nigerians living in multi-dimensional poverty, there is need for concerted efforts against the high cases of corruption in the country.

The anti-corruption crusader lamented Nigerians growing concern over how governments at the federal, state and local government levels are managing the nation’s wealth.

Atakpu challenged Niger Delta governors to give accurate account of the N625.4 billion refund of 13 percent oil derivation, subsidy and SURE-P from the federal account in 2021 and 2022.

“These resources have not translated to significantly improving the living condition of the people.

The people must now begin to hold these governments to account on the use of public funds,” he said.

Flanked by a member of the board of ANEEJ, Nowinta Igbotako and the Mentoring and Evaluation Manager, Sandra Eguagie, Atakpu maintained that corruption attacks the foundation of democratic institutions by distorting electoral processes, perverting the rule of law and creating bureaucratic quagmires, adding that it also stunt economic development while foreign direct investment is discouraged and small businesses find it very difficult to survive.

Don’t Be Carried Away by Rallies, Okotie Warns Nigerians Segun James As the political parties and their candidates embark on massive campaign activities for 2023, interim government campaigner, Rev Chris Okotie, has warned Nigerians not to get carried away by the crowds they see at political rallies, saying this does not truly reflect the political realities in the country.

Okotie in a statement signed by his Media Adviser, Ladi Ayodeji, said the presence of the mixed multitude at campaign rallies is no indication that presidential candidates enjoy

the support of the people.

He explained that some people attend these rallies purely out of curiosity or to catch a glimpse of the political leaders or to be part of the action.

Okotie, whole is promoting his Aboriginal Democracy agenda as an alternative to the current system of government, said crowd-renting is mainly responsible for the crowd we see at rallies, which is why, sometimes, the people are found at different rallies.

According to him, “Aboriginal Democracy is the only concept

that could produce the change Nigeria needs, not an election as being pursued.

“Nigeria’s second attempt at democracy has failed us as a nation,” even as he insisted that an interim government is required to fashion a new effective constitution that would be acceptable to all the federating units before a realistic election could be conducted.

“The present constitution is a unitary one and it’s inconsistent with our cultural realities being a product of retrogressive elements,” he said.

Soludo: We’re Moving to Secure Anambra People at Yuletide David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, has said his government is making every effort to ensure that the state is secure during the yuletide.

The governor stated that besides checkpoints and security patrols, it is also using technology and putting in place hitch-free call mechanisms to ensure people report criminals timely enough for action.

The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Christian Aburime, in a statement issued on the governor’s behalf dismissed a viral message circulating in the state, which has warned Christmas returnees to avoid certain roads as they have been taken over by criminals.

He said: “The state is leveraging technology to make it possible for people to make distress calls and share messages, videos and otherwise of incidents that would enhance security response and

services.

“The toll free 112 call centre line is available 24 hours a week as well as the police phone numbers.

Well-meaning citizens should make calls to the lines for security or related matters.”

Speaking on the viral message, Aburime said: “The attention of the Anambra State Government has been drawn to a viral message by an anonymous writer, insinuating insecurity in some parts of the state during the yuletide period.

MONDAY, ͹ͺ˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ ˾ T H I S D AY

54

MONDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor: Duro Ikhazuagbe Email: duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

Africa’s Biggest Football Payday Beckons to Morocco Regragui insists: ‘S’final ticket result of hard work and not miracle’ Croatia, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal without letting in a goal,” the 47-year-old insisted after the match.

The Moroccan gaffer attributed the fairy-tale run of the Atlas Lions at Qatar 2022 to hard-work and careful planning. “That’s not a miracle, it’s the result of hard work. We’ve made our people happy and proud, the continent happy and proud, and so many people around the world happy.”

Regragui called the Atlas Lions the ‘Rocky Balboa of the World Cup’.

“When you watch Rocky (movie), you support him because of his heart and commitment. We are the Rocky of this World Cup,”

Diary

DURO’s DOHA A

2022 Finish

DURO IKHAZUAGBE Reporting live

stressed the clean-shaven coach.

Now, even if Morocco fail at the semi-final hurdle against defending champions France on Wednesday, the Atlas Lions are guaranteed to return to Rabat with a cool $25,000 (about N11.1billion) as prize money

Sponsored by:

After his wards defeated Portugal 1-0 to make history as first African country to reach the semi-final of the FIFA World Cup, Head Coach of Morocco’s senior football team, Walid Regragui, has insisted that the victory of the Atlas Lions was not a miracle but the result of hard work.

Speaking at the post match late on Saturday night, Regragui said for a team that played Croatia, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal without letting in a goal, it was unfair to call Morocco’s victory over Cristiano Ronaldo’s team a miracle.

“It’s no miracle. Many will say it’s a miracle, especially in Europe, but we’ve played

from Qatar 2022. This is the biggest payday in African football.

Their worst classification at the Qatar 2022 will be the losing of the Third-place match which will rank the team as the fourth overall at this tournament. And

the prize money for the fourth placed team is $25 million (which is about N11.1billion).

What they will earn here in the Semi Final and third place match (that is if they fail to reach the final match is more than the prize

Group stage Round of 16 Quarterfinals Fourth place Third place Runner-up Winner

Prize money (USD) $9m $13m $17m $25m $27m $30m $42m

money paid to Italy at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Should they overcome France and be in the frame to win the biggest prize in football, a $42 million jackpot. By losing the final, Morocco will still get $30 million.

In the event they lose to France in the semi-finals and win the third place duel, Morocco will win $27 million.

‘Expensive’ Nigerian Soups in Doha

I just hope my wife is not reading me this morning. After over three weeks of eating hotel meals and getting bored, my craving for Nigerian meals became real. The adventure to sample Nigeria’s local delicacies here in Doha took the better part of the first two free days of no matches. As it is common in countries where Nigerians are few and in between, locating restaurants to eat our meals wasn’t an easy task. However, a Nigerian resident here offered a solution.

He directed this reporter and another colleague to a Nigerian lady whose job is to cook any of our meals or soups for a fee. Of course, we traced her and a deal was reached to prepare two pots of Egusi and Okro respectively. As is typical of Naija men, we demanded that the soups be rich in the usual condiments: Fish, goat meat, orishirishi (cow leg, ponmo, shaki, etc). Our ‘contractor’ said it was no problem as she was even going to add stock-fish and shrimp for us. We then asked her how much was her bill. “It is not much.

Each pot will cost you 300 riyals plus 50 riyals for Uber to bring the soups to your hotel.” At 1 riyal to N122, we were going to pay her N79,000 for the two pots barely enough to last two days. Wraps of Poundo and Semovita attracted different fees. Don’t ask me if I ordered the meal. Madam is reading this and I do not want increase in cost of upkeep at home in Lagos

Death and Sports Journalists Here

It is no longer news that an American journalist, Grant Wahl, died here late on Friday night after suffering what doctors termed “acute distress” while covering the World Cup match between the Netherlands and Argentina at the Lusail Stadium.

What most people didn’t know was that before Wahl’s death, there have been almost four near death situations due to similar exhaustions.

At the Main Media Centre inside the Qatar National Convention Centre, there were three cases of sports journalists collapsing and rushed to the Medical Unit here. Two Ghanaians, One Senegalese and another Cameroonian journalist had similar cases of exhaustion and had to stay on bed rest. A Nigerian official with FIFA came to the rescue of one of the Senegalese who slumped and hit his head on the hard floor. He ordered he be taken to hospital facility where the reporter was placed on oxygen and treated for exhaustion. A Nigerian journalist battled stress-related illness for almost four days before he could return to the beat. Asked what was his problem, he attributed the hundreds of kilometres of walking around stadiums and metro stations for the exhaustion being experienced by journalists here. “We have been to several World Cups in the past but the kilometres of walking we do here compares to no other before this tournament.

It is good for our health due to our sedentary life of sitting in front of computers, this one here is aseju, meaning in excess.

Mega pay in the kitty but another big matchday beacon as the Atlas Lions of Morocco await France in the semi-final on Wednesday

Petkovic: Croatia Have No Need to Delegate a Defender on Messi Croatia will not attempt to stop Argentina superstar, Lionel Messi, by man-marking him but instead will focus on immobilising the entire team in their World Cup semi-final on Tuesday.

Speaking at a pre-match conference on Sunday here, Croatia striker, Bruno Petkovic, insisted the 2018 finalists said their game plan is not on any specific player but the entire Argentina squad on the field.

Croatia are bidding to make it to the final for the second World Cup in a row after losing four years

ago to France in Russia.

They stunned tournament favourites Brazil in the quarterfinals after going a goal down in extratime but dug deep to bounce back with a late equaliser and force a penalty shootout that they ended up winning.

"We don't have a specific plan yet for stopping Messi and usually we don't concentrate on stopping one player but the entire team," striker Bruno Petkovic told a news conference on Sunday.

"We will try to stop them as a

team and not with man-marking.

Argentina are not only Messi; they have a number of great players. We have to stop the entire Argentina team," he said.

Seven-time Ballon D'Or winner Messi has so far been the driving force for the Argentines, who also needed penalties after squandering a two-goal lead against the Dutch in their quarterfinal.

With no players suspended and no injury concerns following the return of Croatia defender Borna Sosa, Coach Zlatko Dalic's team

Morocco, the New Face of Africa

Those who coined that phrase “Success have many relations,” perhaps had Morocco in mind when composing it. Following the beautiful run of the Atlas Lions at this tournament in Qatar, every African here today is a Moroccan! We have all appropriated that North African country as the face of Africa and are glad to identify with their success so far. It doesn’t matter that Morocco see herself first as Arab and Muslim country, we are comfortable with the fact that they are on the African map and a member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Even citizens of Algeria that are barely on talking terms with Morocco are here celebrating their successes so far, becoming the first team from the continent to make it to the semi-final of the World Cup. Inside Metro, at Fan Fests, on the streets and in malls, every African takes pride in waving the Moroccan flag and dance to the drumbeats and songs of fans celebrating the feats of the Atlas Lions. However, we are not the only ones doing this.

Almost all the Arab fans here have joined us in identifying the Atlas Lions as our worthy ambassadors. Even if Morocco fail to make it to the final on Wednesday when they face defending champions France, they have created a piece of history and brought honour to Africa. By the way, reaching the semi-final and playing in the Third Place match on Saturday (that is if they fail to beat France) will guarantee them a whopping $25million (about N11.1billion)!

Think about what the Nigeria Football Federation could have done with this money if only ……

The Netherlands' chasing pack against Messi last Friday but Croatia coach has a special plan for the Argentine genius tomorrow

is brimming with confidence and ready for more.

Their midfield comprising Captain Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic will be key to dictating the pace, as they did against Brazil, and defender Josip Juranovic said the three were utterly dependable.

"Mateo, Luka and Marcelo are the best Croatia midfield in history.

I don't think it can be repeated.

When you pass them the ball it is safer than having your money in the bank," the defender said.

Super-sub Petkovic scored the 117th-minute equaliser against Brazil to force penalties, with Croatia having now won all four of the shootouts they have taken part in at World Cups.

"I think many people who are not professional footballers can take successful penalties," Petkovic said. "The difference is how mentally tough you are. There is huge pressure you have never experienced before. But it also helps when you have a world class keeper."

Keeper Dominik Livakovic saved one spot kick against Brazil after also saving three in their Round of 16 shootouts against Japan.

But it was Petkovic's dramatic equaliser after Brazil's extra-time lead that carried them to the shootout.

"I am becoming more and more aware of the magnitude of this goal with each passing day," Petkovic said. "Maybe I'll experience something similar in the semi-final or beyond."

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SPORTS

I Won’t Quit, Says Ronaldo Five-time ‘World Footballer of the Year’ Cristiano Ronaldo has said that he has put behind the off-field drama and the eventual elimination of Portugal at the on-going FIFA World cup and insisted that his commitment to his country has never wavered.

Ronaldo scored in Portugal's opening game against Ghana, but was unceremoniously dropped to the bench by head coach Fernando Santos in response to his reaction to being substituted against South Korea.

While the 37-year-old came off the bench in the quarter-final against Morocco, he was unable to make an impact as Portugal lost 1-0 to see their World Cup dreams dashed.

Ronaldo was seen walking down the tunnel at full-time in floods of tears and did not speak to the media directly after the game.

In a lengthy Instagram post, Ronaldo wrote: "Winning a World Cup for Portugal was the biggest and most ambitious dream of my career.

Fortunately, I won many titles of international dimension, including Portugal, but putting our country's name on the highest foot in the World was my biggest dream.

"I fought for it. I fought hard for this dream. In the 5 appearances I scored in World Cups over 16 years, always by the side of great players and supported by millions of Portuguese, I gave my all.

Leave it all out on the field. I never turned my face to the fight and I never gave up on that dream.

"Sadly yesterday the dream ended. It's not worth reacting to heat. I just want you all to know that much has been said, much has been written, much

has been speculated, but my dedication to Portugal has not changed not for a moment. I was always one fighting for the objective of all and I would never turn my back on my colleagues and my country.

"Not much more to say for now. Thank you Portugal.

Thank you Qatar. The dream was nice while it lasted...Now, it's hoping that the weather will be good advisor and allow each one to draw their own conclusions."

Ronaldo became the first man to score at five World Cups with his goal against Ghana, but now looks certain to retire without having scored in a World Cup knockout match.

Given that he will be 41 by the time the next edition of the tournament rolls around, it seems this may have been Ronaldo's last dance for Portugal.

…Santos: No Regrets Dropping Ronaldo to the Bench Portugal coach Fernando Santos, has said that he has "no regrets" about not starting Cristiano Ronaldo despite their World Cup exit to Morocco.

Ronaldo was introduced off the bench in the 51st minute with Portugal down 1-0, but the 37-yearold couldn't inspire a fight-back as Morocco became the first African side to reach a semi-final at the World Cup. Santos also named Ronaldo, who was seen leaving the field

Ronaldo

Adidas Unveils ‘Al Hilm’ Official Match Ball for the Final Matches FIFA long-time partner, Adidas, yesterday unveiled Al Hilm as the official match ball for the semi-finals and the final of the on-going finals in Qatar.

Al Hilm, which translates as “The Dream” in Arabic, follows on from the official match ball used in the group stages, Al Rihla, meaning “The Journey”.

Both balls feature the same technology, engineered to support the highest game speeds as they travel faster in flight than any other World Cup ball.

Utilising the latest technological advances in ball design, Al Hilm includes the same ‘Connected Ball’ technology as Al Rihla, which has proven invaluable in helping match officials make faster and more accurate decisions during this World Cup. Combined with player position data, the innovation offers Video Assistant Referees instant data, to help optimise decision-making for a seamless fan experience.

By combining the ball tracking

Official match balls for the semis and final match of the World cup data captured by sensors within the ball and applying artificial intelligence, the new technology provides an automated offside alert to the VAR team.

Designed from the inside out using data from rigorous testing in adidas labs, wind tunnels, and

on-pitch, Al Hilm features the same new panel shape and surface textures as Al Rihla, namely: An innovative core within the ball that is tuned to support fast, precise play with maximum shape and air retention The ball’s polyurethane (PU)

skin featuring micro and macro textures and a 20-piece panel shape Al Hilm has a unique graphic design – set on a textured gold base colour and featuring a subtle triangular pattern, it draws inspiration from the sparkling deserts that surround the city, as well as the colour of the Fifa World Cup trophy and pattern of the Qatar flag. Bold red accents complement the graphic, reflecting both the architecture of Qatar and the country’s flag.

The ball encapsulates its namesake, Al Hilm – “The Dream”, as it connects to the twilight hours, where the red sky meets the desert sand at dusk – a time when dreams are set to come true under the floodlights of the Lusail Stadium – the stage for the Final.

The ball was designed with the environment at its heart, and is the first World Cup ball used in the semi-finals and final, made using water-based inks and glues.

Fearless Energy Drink Thrills Auto-Drifters, Sports Lovers at Fanfaro Autofest 2022 The Managing Director, Rite Foods Limited, makers of Fearless Energy Drink and the official sponsor of Fanfaro Autofest 2022, Seleem Adegunwa, said that his company is committed to partnering initiatives that involve community and nation-building as well as consumer-centric activities that ignite fun amongst people. According to him, the partnership between Fearless Energy Drink and Fanfaro Autofest works perfectly.

“How do you have fun without energy? This is the biggest auto-sport event in the country and you cannot enjoy such an event without an

increased boost in your energy levels, whether you are a drifter, biker, lover of the sport or consumer/fan watching the games. The only way you can embrace the thrill of the sport is to be energized, and this is what the Fearless Energy Drink is providing”, he said.

Mr. Adegunwa, who audaciously faced his fears also embraced the thrill of the sport by riding with a drifter.

He added that the initiative is also in line with the company’s vision of promoting sports development and youth empowerment in the country.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Fanfaro Oil Nigeria,

Adekunle Olanrewaju, commended Fearless Energy Drink for the sponsorship, and said that the Fearless brand resonates with what the auto sport stands for.

“It is a fearless sport, tough, energetic, with maximum thrills to excite fans, auto lovers and consumers,” he stated.

The Fearless Classic and Red berry flavours energized the drifters for breathtaking auto-drifting that left the crowd in awe. The drifters include Mustapha Zakaria, aka Zaka, a 25years old drifter from Borno State who drove a BMW E46 with 220 horsepower;

Abdullahi, a 33years old drifter from Kano State, who drove a BMW E46 with 220 horsepower; Ahmad Alil Amir, a 34years old Lebanese Nigerian drifter from Kano State, drove a BMW E30 with 195 horsepower; Antonio, a 35 years old Lebanese drifter living in Lagos, Nigeria drove a Nissan 350Z stingray; Captain Awaa, a 23years old Nigerian drifter from Bauchi State drove a BMW E46 with 220 horsepower; JBash, a 25years old Nigerian drifter from Borno State drove a BMW E46 with 220 horsepower, and Argo Raak, an Estonian drifter, Infiniti G35 with 320 horsepower.

in tears at the end of the match, as a substitute for their 6-1 win over Switzerland in the round of 16 and said the result was enough to convince him to keep the same team for the quarterfinal.

"I don't think so, no regrets," Santos said. "I think this was a team which played very well against Switzerland. Cristiano Ronaldo is a great player, he came in when we thought it was necessary, so no regrets.

"If we take two persons that were the most upset it is Cristiano Ronaldo and myself. Of course we are upset, but that is part of the job of the coach and the player."

Morocco won thanks to Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri's first-half header when he outjumped Portugal keeper Diogo Costa to score a historic goal for his country.

Portugal only managed three shots on target as they went in search of an equaliser, and afterward Bruno Fernandes was highly critical of Argentinian referee Facundo Tello.

"I don't know if they're going to give the cup to Argentina," Fernandes said. "I don't care, I'm going to say what I think and screw them. It's very strange that a referee from a team that's still in the cup

officiates us. They've clearly tilted the field against us."

Fernandes' teammate Pepe also questioned Tello's performance and suggested Lionel Messi's criticism of the referee during Argentina's penalty shootout victory over the Netherlands on Friday had played a part.

"We dominated the game 100 percent of the time," Pepe said. "I think what the referee did today; this is an Argentinian referee. After what Messi said yesterday it seems there's something very weird. We couldn't play in the second half because the referee kept stopping the game.

"I'm very angry, very angry because the referee didn't let us play."

Asked afterward about Tello, Santos played down his impact on the result while also leaving his future as Portugal boss up in the air.

"I think we could have done more and we failed to do so, so I don't think we should blame the referee," Santos said. "I reiterate what I said before the competition, I have a discussion with the president and when we go back to Portugal we will deal with the issue of my contract."

Abuja International Marathon Moved to Next Year The much advertised Abuja International Marathon has been postponed to April 2023 according to a statement signed by the Race Director Olukayode Thomas.

The race first of its kind in Abuja and FCT was slated for December 17, 2022 at an elaborate press conference that unveiled the race on June 30, 2022.

Thomas said everything was in place for the first international marathon in the FCT, until the security threat issued by the American Embassy and other foreign missions in Nigeria in October 23, 2022, that there are plans to bomb the FCT and some part of Nigeria.

“We have already put everything in place to organize a great race.

Our route has been measured and calibrated by Norrie Williamson, one the best route measurer in the world, we have signed on about 120 foreign elite runners and about 200 locally and thousands of runners, both avid marathoners and fun runners but, the security threat especially with the press release mentioning that they are planning to attack an athletics event in the FCT and our race is the only athletics event planned for the FCT, we have to go back and strategize”

Thomas said that there were series of meetings with top echelon of the security agencies to find a way around the situation and prevent the postponement not only because of the efforts Unicentral Resources Generation Limited and the FCT has put in place to organizing a successful race but because of runners, managers, sponsors and others stakeholders in the marathon and road races who have invested so much in the race.

Unfortunately, the security agencies insisted on postponement and advised that the best time to organize the race is after the elections.

“We did all we could to avoid this unfortunate postponement and make history by organizing the first international marathon in FCT but the security agencies advised that we postpone. As a responsible organization that place premium on human lives, we have no option but to listen to experts in the security matter. We sincerely apologize for the inconveniences we have caused runners and other stakeholders in the industry. A new date will be announced soon, it will be shortly after the elections, most likely in April 2023, probably the last Saturday of the month,” said Thomas

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MISSILE Onaiyekan to FG “The situation of our social services that have been running down is affecting almost everyone. In particular, social services under government control have suffered major neglect, whether in education, health, roads or sanitation. There is also growing poverty in the land. But there is a limit to how much individuals can cater for all their needs...A bad or weak government is better than no government at all” – Cardinal John Onaiyekan, bemoaning the country’s current situation, assuring that there’s still hope.

MAHMUDJEGA VIEW FROM THE GALLERY

Sirika, in One Fell Swoop I n nearly eight years as Minister of Aviation, he failed to get Air Nigeria off the ground. But in one fell swoop last week [or, as one of my reporters once wrote in a feature article, in one swoop fell] Captain Hadi Sirika got many things, not launched into the skies, but flat on the ground.

He demolished the central mystique of the Buhari Administration, namely the anti-corruption fight. He demolished the Presidency and INEC’s strident campaign against vote buying. He demolished APC’s claims that it came to correct the political and governance “rot” left in 16 years of PDP rule. He demolished all claims that recent electoral reforms have improved Nigerian politics. He demolished CSO and international partners’ exhortations that votes should count in next year’s polls. And he demolished all hopes by pro-democracy activists that issues, not money, should determine election victory.

It was at a fund raising dinner in Abuja on Sunday last week for APC’s Katsina State governorship candidate, Dikko Radda. Incidentally, Katsina is President Buhari’s home state, so there was the assumption that clean, moneyfree politics will kick off from there as an example to the rest of the country.

The video clip from the event that went viral on the social media did not cover the whole event, so maybe some context was missing. But it was as damaging as anything I have ever seen on the Nigerian political soap box in more than 40 years.

Sirika said, “Even if you are allan musuru [a magician], I don’t believe you can go to Musawa and defeat Abu Ibrahim. You cannot go to Dutsi and defeat Hadi Sirika. Or you go to Kafur and defeat Aminu Bello Masari. Wallahi [I swear to God]. It is not possible! If you think it is possible, bisimillah [proceed in the name of Allah]. Election day will soon come. We will amass money and we will amass essential commodities. We have them already! You mean money?

Wallahi we have it! Wallahil azim [Allah is the witness to what I am saying] we have money! We have working tools, i.e. money. Wallahi we have them! I repeat, wallahi we have them!” Sirika spoke in Hausa, so the English speaking audience missed the import of his remarks.

The first question to ask Minister Sirika is, you said “we” have money. Please, who is the “we”? Is it national APC, is it Katsina State APC, is it the governorship candidate of APC in Katsina who until recently was heading a federal agency, or is it you, Hadi Sirika, who in the last

Sirika

seven and a half years headed the Aviation sector, first as Minister of State and later as a full-fledged Minister of Aviation? Pray, is it your political godfather President Buhari, who was widely thought to be “clean as a hound’s tooth,” to use a phrase that US President Dwight Eisenhower used in 1952?

The second question to ask is, if you have so much money, where did you get it? For seven and a half years now Sirika has been a public officer, a Minister, who is prohibited by law from doing any business other than subsistence farming. The same thing applies to his other Katsina APC top gun colleagues, who are also Federal or state public officers. Only seven short years ago, the new Buhari Administration chased officers of the former PDP Administration up and down the country because they shared billions of Dasukigate funds to fund the 2015 election. To their credit they never boasted publicly about it. If President Jonathan had not lost the 2015 election, we probably would never have known about it. Even Madam Patience Jonathan never did a video boasting that PDP had money. She only said in 2015, “We must do our second term.”

But here is an APC top shot publicly boasting that he will deploy money to win an election.

The most visible thing Hadi Sirika did as Aviation Minister in the last seven years was trying to refloat the grounded Nigeria Airways, which he rechristened Air Nigeria. Nearly everybody was skeptical. Old timers remember the logo of Nigeria Airways, the Flying Elephant.

It was probably the most illogical logo in the world because nobody ever saw an elephant flying. Now that Nigeria Airways is properly grounded, why should anybody try to resuscitate it? Anytime we heard in the news that Federal Executive Council had approved huge sums of money for the Air Nigeria bottomless pit, there was grimace all around. Some people will now say they know where the money went.

Since 1978 when I became old enough to follow the antics of politicians on the soapbox, I heard many politicians accuse their rivals of using money to win elections, but I never heard any politician ever boast that he had enough money to win elections, until Sirika came along. Since the Second Republic we have had politicians who were reputed to be millionaires and billionaires. In the 1970s, GNPP leader Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim was thought to be the richest person in Nigeria. I saw him speak at several rallies but he never boasted that he had “working tools.”

National Party of Nigeria [NPN] was said by its opponents to be a party of millionaires, but it never boasted that it had enough money to win elections, or call the Almighty as its witness that it had money.

When he contested elections in 1993, Chief M.K.O. Abiola was widely thought to be the richest person in Nigeria. MKO flaunted his credentials as international businessman, telephone mogul, newspaper publisher, Baba Addini, holder of over 100 traditional titles, Pillar of Sports in Africa, philanthropist extraordinary and repository of local adages and parables, but he never boasted that he had “working tools” of politics. How much money has Hadi Sirika got, compared to Uncle Waziri or MKO? International business journals say Aliko Dangote is the richest man in Africa. Kano State is a tiny dot in Africa; did you ever hear Aliko boast that he has enough dollars and euros to buy it up?

The next logical question is, what do Sirika and his candidates intend to do with this money in the upcoming elections?

He should be made to say how much money they are holding. The Electoral Act has pegged spending by a governorship candidate at N1 billion and N5 billion for a presidential candidate. I thought that was mean of the Electoral Act, because election logistics are costly. I am referring here to the legitimate costs such as moving around, opening and maintaining offices, printing posters and souvenirs, advertising, hotel accommodation, hiring halls, legal and security costs. But these are not the costs that Sirika was talking about when

he boasted that they have enough money.

No wonder that criticism of Hadi Sirika’s gaffe came in thick and fast on the airwaves. One senator said he poked directly into poor voters’ eyes, told them that they are hungry and that they are chicken, who will go after any grain of millet that is thrown at them.

Another Katsina politician said if Sirika has so much money, why is it that he did nothing when people in his ward are dying of hunger? Yet another, this time Katsina academic said Sirika made this boast because they used money to bribe delegates during the party primaries, and they believe they can do the same in the general election. He also asked, where is EFCC? Its agents have been looking for stashed money all over the place.

Someone has just made it easy for them by boasting that he has loads of it, and for that matter he is a public officer.

If the purpose of Sirika’s boast was to intimidate election opponents, it is likely to backfire. National Bureau of Statistics recently revealed that 133 million Nigerians are in the firm grip of poverty, millions of them in Katsina State alone. There will now be a stampede to Sirika’s house to get the money, with no guarantee that the people who collect it will do his bidding in politics. You see, the poor Hausa man is very arrogant in his own way. He wants rich people to give him money but he wants them to give it to him in a dignified way. A Northern talakka does not want to be called matsiyaci, another name for a koboless bloke, and he hates it when rich people boast that they assisted him.

President Buhari said in London when he met King Charles last month, and reiterated when he met West African Elders Forum Pre-Election Mediation Mission led by former Sierra Leonean President Ernest Bai Koroma last Tuesday, that the 2023 elections will be clean and that no one will be allowed to use money or thugs in the elections. This reminds me of an incident during the Obama presidency, when Vice President Joe Biden accidentally revealed a social plan that Obama was billed to announce the next day. The White House Chief of Staff was outraged. He said, “No one upstages POTUS [President of the United States]!” Sirika more than upstaged Buhari. He contradicted him in every material particular, to use the notorious phrase in Decree 4 of 1984.

When will Chief of Staff Prof Ibrahim Gambari be outraged and declare that no minister contradicts POFREN [President of Federal Republic of Nigeria]?

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