WEDNESDAY 15TH DECEMBER 2021

UK Bows to Diplomacy, Scraps Controversial Red List To enforce pre-departure tests, other safety measures

Chinedu Eze

The United Kingdom (UK) has removed the travel restrictions placed on Nigeria and 10 other countries due to the Omicron

COVID-19 variant. The British High Commission announced this yesterday.

The UK diplomatic mission said all 11 countries, including Nigeria, were removed from the COVID-19

red list from today.

The travel restrictions on Nigeria, Angola, Botswana, Eswantini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe had provoked

global outrage.

The scrapping of the red list was disclosed in a statement signed by the High Commission. It, however, stated that pre-departure tests and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

testing measures on or before day two after arrival remained in place, with a planned review of all travel measures in the New Year.

The British High Commission said in the statement, “Following

review of the latest risk assessment from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Nigeria and the other 10 countries and territories on Continued on page 12

UAE Backs Down, Gives Air Peace Flight Slots in Dubai... Page 12 Wednesday 15 December, 2021 Vol 26. No 9746. Price: N250

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Nigeria's Public Debt Rises

by N2.5trn to N38trn Govt targets N4.6trn borrowing next year Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja and Nume Ekeghe in Lagos

BUILDING RESILIENCE FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH...

L-R: Managing Director/CEO, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Mr. Bello Hassan; Managing Director/CEO, CitiBank, Mrs. Ireti Samuel-Ogbu; Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability Directorate, CBN, Mrs. Aishah Ahmad and Deputy Governor, Economic Policy Directorate, Dr. Kingsley Obiora, during the 12th Annual Bankers’ Committee retreat held in Lagos ... yesterday

Nigeria's total public debt rose by N2.54 trillion, from N35.465 trillion at the end of the second quarter of 2021, to N38.005 trillion ($92.626 billion) at the Continued on page 12

Tinubu: I Won’t Decline Calls to Contest for Presidency Promises to consult widely and effectively before taking steps Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja With deft political subtlety, a former governor of Lagos State and one of the national leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday, cleverly declared his decision to take his chances in the 2023 presidential election, saying he would not decline the many calls by supporters and admirers for him to contest.

By this statement, Tinubu has

made it clear that his resolve to contest the 2023 presidential election was no longer in the realm of speculation, but when to officially declare, after he might have consulted widely and effectively as he had stated explicitly yesterday.

Tinubu, who hinted at this in Abuja after a closed-door meeting with leaders of the Northern Alliance Committee (NAC), however, insisted he would still consult Continued on page 12

EXTRAVAGANZA...

Jimoh Ibrahim’s Suit to Recover Assets JOY L-R: Globacom’s Revenue Coordinator, Gerard Lokossou; car winner in Joy Unlimited Extravaganza promo, Oseni Afeez; Lagos Regional Activation Manager 3) Akinsola Williams, and Hon. Adedamola Kasunmu of the Lagos State House of Assembly, when Afeez received the key to a brand new car at the Struck Out, Not Dismissed... Page 43 (Lagos presentation of prizes to winners of the promo in Ikeja, Lagos... yesterday

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

NEWS

WHEN SPEAKER OF ECOWAS PARLIAMENT VISITED THE VILLA...

L-R: Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; Chief of Staff Prof. Ibrahim Gambari; President Muhammadu Buhari; Speaker, ECOWAS Parliament, Sidie Mohamed Tunis; third Deputy Speaker, Hon. PHOTO: GODWIN OMOIGUI Maimounatou Ibrahima and fourth Deputy Speaker, Hon. Adja Pinto Camara, during a courtesy visit to the Presidential Villa , Abuja... yesterday

Finance Bill: Ahmed, FIRS, Others Disagree with RMAFC over Revenue Monitoring Commission declares amendments of the finance, management control act unconstitutional Deji Elumoye, Juliet Akoje in Abuja and Adedayo Adejobi in Lagos There was sharp disagreement over constitutional mandates and extant laws between the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Ellias Mbam; the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed and the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Dr. Muhammad Nami, over the revenue monitoring provision in the 2021 Finance Bill The opposing views of the heads of the various agencies on powers for collection and monitoring revenues accruing into the Federation Account and the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) was displayed yesterday in their separate submissions at a public hearing on the 2021 Finance Bill at the Senate.

While the Chairman of RMAFC

faulted section 68(2) of the proposed bill seeking exclusive power of revenue collection, monitoring and enforcement to FIRS, the Minister of Finance, the Accountant - General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris and FIRS Chairman, said RMAFC functions held different view on the proposed legislation.

Section 68(2) states that the FIRS is the primary agency in charge of administration, assessment, collection, accounting and enforcement of taxes.

The RMAFC Chairman in faulting the provision said there was no objection to the FIRS being the primary agency responsible for assessment, collection and accounting, but objected to the exclusive power of enforcement.

According to him: "This word (enforcement) is infringing on the monitoring mandate of RMAFC in the area of enforcement and compliance.

"RMAFC shall not wait for FIRS as a primary agency to carry out enforcement of lost or unremitted government revenue before performing its monitoring functions or seek approval of the Minister of Finance before carrying out its constitutional mandate of enforcement.

"The exclusivity clause of enforcement to FIRS should not be granted and as such, be expunged.

In a separate submission, the FIRS Boss said the RMAFC mandate to monitor revenue was not exclusive, saying other relevant agencies or bodies such as the Budget Office, Office of Accountant General of the Federation, Ministry of Finance, Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), among others, have concurrent mandate to monitor revenue.

He argued: "What is clear and exclusive is that FIRS possesses the mandate to access, collect and account for taxes accruing into the

federation account.

"Monitoring revenues is not the same as collecting and enforcing them in form of taxes".

This position was also supported by the Minister of Finance and the Accountant General of the Federation.

Ahmed in her submission said the RMAFC fundamental function was to monitor revenue accruing into the Federation Account and not even the CRF.

The African Development Bank’s (AfDB) board has offered Nigeria a $210 million facility to co-finance Phase 1 of the Nigeria Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone Program (SPAIZ).

The initiative is expected to unlock Nigeria’s agriculture sector potential and promote industrialisation through the development of strategic crops and livestock.

The first phase would be implemented with co-financing from other partners at $538.05 million and designed to concentrate production, processing, storage, transport, and the marketing of commodities such as cotton or maize, increase productivity, competitiveness and reduce logistic costs.

Other funding institutions include the Islamic Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development that would provide parallel co-financing while Nigeria’s federal and state governments would contribute both in cash and in kind.

According to a statement from the AfDB, the facility represented one of its most ambitious operations

in terms of scale and scope to date, stating that the project areas would account for 19 per cent of Nigeria’s total land mass and would benefit 50.4 million people.

It would also target seven Nigerian states and the country’s Federal Capital Territory.

“The Nigeria Phase 1 Zone construction is expected to augment the following value chain commodities: Cross River State – cocoa, rice and cassava; Federal Capital Territory – beef and dairy livestock; Imo State – beef and dairy livestock; Kaduna State – tomato, maize and ginger; Kano State – rice, tomato, groundnuts and sesame oil; Kwara State – livestock; Ogun State – cassava, rice, poultry and fisheries and Oyo State – cassava, soybean, rice,” it added.

The project, according to the AfDB, was envisaged to support Nigeria’s efforts to raise agricultural productivity, promote investment, create wealth and jobs, and transform rural areas into corridors of economic prosperity.

“We have several million hectares of available arable land and have embarked on the creation of Special Agriculture Processing Zones (SAPZs) across the country,” Nigeria’s President Muhammadu

Buhari had told world leaders at the recent Future Investment Initiative Summit in Riyadh, adding that, “these initiatives, we believe, will make it easier for investors in agriculture.”

According to the President of the AfDB Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, “this first phase of the program is not government-driven.

It is government-enabled and private sector-led. That is the critical way in which you have structural transformation of agriculture.

“It is impressive to see a strong commitment from the Nigerian government – a very strong commitment from the Nigerian Minister of Finance and from all of the state governments because they have to give the land, they make sure that all the regulations and incentives are provided.”

Similarly, the Director General of the AfDB’s Nigeria Country Office, Lamin Barrow, said: “Phase 1 of the Nigeria SAIPZ program will mobilise private sector investment in the agro-industrial hubs and agricultural transformation centers.

“It will impact some 1.5 million households as direct beneficiaries, with a target of creating 400,000 direct jobs and up to 1.6 million

Tax Act, Companies Income Tax Act, Customs, Exercise Tarrif, etc (Consolation) Act, Federal Revenue Service Establishment Act, Personal Income Tax and Stamp Duties Act. Others, according to him, are Value Added Tax Act, Insurance Act, Nigerian Police Trust Fund (Establishment) Act, National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure Act, Finance (Control and Management) Act and Fiscal Responsibility Act.

House Approves Buhari’s Request for $5.8bn Loan, $10m Grant Finance bill passes second reading

Udora Orizu in Abuja The House of Representatives at plenary yesterday approved

AfDB Offers Nigeria $210m Loan for Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone Dike Onwuamaeze

According to her, the FIRS in the proposed bill, was empowered to sanction non- compliant banks that fail to deliver quarterly returns, investigate tax evasions and other related crimes and several others.

Declaring open the public hearing, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Olamilekan Adeola disclosed that the 2021 Finance Bill has a total of 12 existing Acts for amendments.

They include: Capital Gains

indirect jobs.”

The SPAIZ was described as AfDB’s flagship for the implementation of its Feed Africa Strategy. The bank said that it planned to establish these zones in 18 African countries, including Nigeria.

It was expected to bring economic infrastructure to rural areas of high agricultural potential and attract private agro-industrialist and entrepreneur investment, contribute to Nigeria’s economic and social development and stem rural-to-urban migration.

The states where the first phase of the program would be implemented were selected based on a readiness criterion as well as the need to ensure geographical balance across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.

The African Development Bank’s Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development, Beth Dunford, said: “Equitable employment and economic opportunities are the cornerstones of the bank’s work.

This program will target at least 50 per cent women participation.

The gender action plan will help ensure that there’s facilitation of broader lending to women.”

President Muhammadu Buhari’s $5.8 billion loan request and a grant of $10 million.

This was just as the House of Representatives also yesterday, passed the Finance Bill 2021 for second reading, after holding a public hearing on the proposed legislation was held the day before.

The approval for the loan request followed the consideration and adoption of report presented by the Chairman, House Committee on Aids, Loans and Debt Management, Hon. Ahmed Safana.

Safana, explained that the loans which were part of the federal government’s 2018-2020 external borrowing plan would be sourced from the World Bank, Islamic Development Bank, China Exim bank, Chinese Africa Development Fund, and International Fund for Agricultural Development.

He said, “That the House do consider Final Report of the Committee on Aids, Loans and Debt Management on the Proposed 2018–2020 External Borrowing (Rolling) Plan. That the House do approve the under listed ongoing negotiation of external borrowing of $5,803,364,553.50 and a Grant component of $10,000,000 under the 2018-2020 External Borrowing (Rolling) plan and a Grant component of $10,000,000 (Ten Million USD) under the 2018-2020 External Borrowing (Rolling) plan. Funding agency, World Bank (WB), German Consortium, Islamic Development Bank, China Eximbank, Bank of China, International Fund for Agricultural Development."

Approving the loan, the House asked that the terms and conditions of the loan from the funding agencies be forwarded to the

National Assembly for proper execution and commendation.

Meanwhile, on the Finance Bill, according to legislative rules, the presiding officers of the House, Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila or Deputy Speaker, Hon. Ahmed Wase, was to presides over the second reading of a bill and refer the proposed legislation to the relevant committee, which would thereafter conduct a public hearing and report back to the House.

However, the House Committee on Finance first held public hearing on the Bill on Monday, before it was considered and passed for second reading on Tuesday.

President Muhammadu Buhari had transmitted the Finance Bill 2021 to the National Assembly for consideration and passage to give legal backing to some of the proposals in the 2022 Appropriation Bill which will soon be passed by the lawmakers.

The letter, dated September 30, 2021, titled ''Transmission of the Finance Bill 2021 to the National Assembly for Consideration and Passage into Law in Support of the 2022 Budget," was read at the plenary on December 2 in both chambers by the presiding officers.

The proposed legislation was titled, "A Bill for an Act to Amend the Capital Gains Tax Act, Companies Income Tax Act, Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, Personal Income Tax Act, Stamp Duties Act, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (Establishment) Act, Value Added Tax Act, Insurance Act, Nigerian Police Trust Fund (Establishment) Act, National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure Act, Finance Control and Management Act, Fiscal Responsibility Act; and for Related Matters."

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CHRISTMAS PRAISE CONCERT AT THE STATE HOUSE...

L-R: Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha; Vice President Yemi Osinbano; His Wife Dolapo; Founder and General Superintendent Deeper Christian Life Ministry, Pastor W.F. Kumuyi ; His PHOTO: GODWIN OMOIGUI wife Esther and Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Talen, during the Christmas Praise Concert at the State House Conference Center , Banquet Hall, Abuja....yesterday

Why Buhari Will Sign Amended Electoral Bill Before Dec. 19 Olawale Olaleye

Although under intense pressure from different quarters, particularly governors elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), President Muhammadu Buhari, might have resolved to sign the amended Electoral Bill, forwarded to him by the National Assembly on November 19.

Sources within the presidency told THISDAY that the delay had been largely due to pressure on Buhari from governors, who were uncomfortable with the idea of direct primaries and wanted the clause expunged from the amended law.

But the president, the source said, was convinced by the new electoral bill as proposed and the need to ensure participatory democracy, especially, having promised to leave a legacy of credible electoral system, of which the law is critical.

According to the source, who

News Analysis

preferred anonymity, “You also need to understand the process, because there is a process, or if you like, protocol to these things.

Remember that immediately the bill was forwarded to the president by the National Assembly, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, wrote to the president and advised against it.

“It was after this that the governors took up the campaign and asked for the aspect of direct primaries to be yanked off, citing many reasons that could not fly in the face of logic. But if the president was going to listen to his AGF or give in to the pressure by the governors, the process is that he would have instructed the AGF to draft a letter of response back to the National Assembly.

“Thus, if a process like that has been triggered, then you would have known that the president was

not going to sign it, following the same channel of communication and as advised by his AGF. But since it was sent to him, the president had just kept quiet.

Knowing that signing is just about a small ceremony and solely the call of the president, so, he could choose to delay it and just sign whenever he wants for as long as it is before the deadline.”

Citing another reason why Buhari would sign the bill into law, the presidency source said the National Assembly was going on recess this Thursday, December 16. If there was going to be any communication rejecting the bill, he would have triggered the process before they embark on their recess, as they wouldn’t be back until later in January, and by which time, the process for the Ekiti State governorship election would have begun.

The source explained, “It belies logic that the president would write to the National Assembly after they had proceeded on recess. Therefore,

if he is not writing them between now and Thursday, when they would go on recess, then, it is a deal. He will sign it, since the signing ceremony is his personal business.”

However, listing another equally important reason why Buhari would sign the bill before the deadline, which is Sunday, December 19, the source said, apart from the fact that the diplomatic community was also mounting pressure on the president, his commitment to ensuring a free, fair and credible election was another thing he could not renege on.

The source explained that at a recent virtual Summit for democracy organised by the United States President, Joe Biden, Buhari in his speech reiterated his commitment to leaving behind a lasting legacy of credible poll for the nation’s democratic development, and this, he added, the diplomatic community would hold him to.

Buhari’s address stated: “I am proud to state that Nigeria has had

over two decades of uninterrupted democratic governance and has unequivocally remained committed to upholding the core values and principles of democracy. Since assuming office in 2015, we have been able to introduce mechanisms to ensure free, fair and credible elections.

“We have strengthened our key anti-corruption agencies in collaboration with international partners and have undertaken several anti-corruption measures and initiatives. However, despite our democratic achievements, Nigeria continues to face the challenge of insecurity, which poses a threat to our democracy. We therefore call on global partners to support our efforts in tackling insurgency and terrorism.

“As we countdown to our next general elections in 2023, we remain committed to putting in place and strengthening all necessary mechanisms to ensure that Nigeria will not only record another peaceful transfer of power to an

FG, Stakeholders Oppose Bill Seeking Customs’ Autonomy Udora Orizu in Abuja The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed and members of the organised private sector (OPS) yesterday opposed the passage of a bill which seeks to Repeal the Customs and Excise Management Act, 2004 and enact the Nigeria Customs Service (Establishment) Bill.

The stakeholders including the Association of Customs Licensed Agents (ANCLA), National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF); Mr. Lucky Amiwero, member of Presidential Task Force to reform Nigeria Customs and others unanimously expressed concerns during the public hearing on the bill organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise, chaired by Hon. Leke Abejide.

The stakeholders while expressing displeasure over the overlapping functions among various regulatory agencies, described the proposed legislation as draconian, saying any form of overbearing powers would erode citizens’ human rights.

In her presentation, Ahmed who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of Finance, Aliyu Ahmed, while expressing support for the modernisation of the legal framework for the administration and management of the Nigeria

Customs Service to complement ongoing reforms initiated by the Ministry, however argued that the move to create an autonomous Customs regulatory body that is separate from the supervision of ministry was not in line with international best practice.

According to her, the Customs Administration in most developed democracies, “and indeed our peer developing nations is under the supervision of the Treasury, or the Ministry responsible for Finance or economic management, such as United Kingdom, New Zealand, Argentina, Spain, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, Ghana and Uganda.”

She said in the United States of America, the Customs and Internal Revenue Services had traditionally been part of the Treasury Department, reporting to the Secretary of the Treasury until the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, led to a fundamental repositioning of the Customs service under the Department of Homeland Security.

She said, "The contemplation of an autonomous Customs Service is in abeyance with extant laws regarding the treasury, supervision of the treasury and all agencies which remit funds to the Federation Account and the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

“In line with the Finance (Management and Control) Act,

FMFBNP is the relevant authority charged with the responsibility of ensuring compliance with the Customs and Excise legislations regarding trade and fiscal policies and where appropriate, apply other relevant provisions applicable to goods subject to such measures.

“The composition of the Board as proposed by the Bill is unwieldy with the inclusion of the Chairman and thirteen other members and the DCGs. Ministries like Aviation, Interior, Transportation and Foreign Affairs need not be represented on the Board. Also, the intention to replace the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning as the Chairman of the Board with an appointee of Mr. President subject to confirmation by the National Assembly, will limit the supervisory authority of the Federal Government.

“This is not in alignment with Section 80 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which creates the Consolidated Revenue Fund and the provisions of Section 4 of the Finance (Management and Control) Act (2004) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria,” Speaking further, the minister also kicked against move to empower the NCS to engage in border enforcement and regulatory activities, saying it was an infringement on the mandate of the Nigerian Immigration Services

(NIS) by virtue of the provisions of the Immigrations Act (2004) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, which empowers the NIS to act to protect Nigeria’s borders.

Continuing, Ahmed said: "The bill seeks to authorise the NCS to make regulations concerning the manufacture of beer, tobacco, carbonated drinks (etc) which is firmly an infringement on the provisions of the Nigeria Factories Act which places the mandate to oversee the manufacturing of certain products in the purview of the Minister of Industries, Trade and Investments and the Minister of Labour.

“In the context of a major reform of customs administration—including legislative changes, the degree of administrative autonomy required to support the reform needs to be considered. Increased autonomy does not automatically solve the problems of a weak customs administration and may lead to new problems if the newly autonomous administration is not properly supervised and made accountable to prevent leakages and abuse of power.

“At this stage of our development, especially given our peculiar political economy, a complete independence from the supervision of the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning is not desirable as it can lead to

conflicts in the area of tax policy and revenue administration.

“Accordingly, since the activities of the NCS are directly related to fiscal and trade policies of the nation they should be subject to the direct supervision of the FMFBNP in line with the provisions of the Finance (Management and Control) Act and international best practices.

“The proposed law must be seen to clearly place the Customs Service under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance Budget and National Planning with clear reporting relationship and an unambiguous retention of the NCS original mandate of regulating the influx of goods and collection of revenue from customs and excise levies and fees."

In his remarks, the Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila assured of the House determination to implement a wholesale reform of customs and excise operations in Nigeria.

In doing so, Gbajabiamila said, the House needed the support of the relevant stakeholders, whose contributions are critical in the legislative process that would strengthen customs operations.

He said the bill was the product of a coordinated effort by the House, working with stakeholders in the sector, to implement a wholesale reform of customs and excise operations in Nigeria.

elected democratic government, but will also ensure that the elections are conducted in a free, fair and transparent manner.

“Your Excellences, Nigeria will continue to actively support the democratisation processes in our region West Africa and the African continent at large. But regrettably, our democratic gains of the past decades are under threats of unconstitutional takeover of power.

“This unwholesome trend, sometimes in reaction to unilateral amendments of constitutions by some leaders, must not be tolerated by the international community.

Nigeria fully supports the efforts

by ECOWAS to address this growing challenge and appreciates the support of both the African Union and the United Nations.

“I will conclude by reaffirming Nigeria’s enduring commitment to upholding, promoting and protecting democratic values and principles and strengthening the institutions that underpin a resilient democratic society.”

With these, the source maintained that the president would sign the bill before the Sunday deadline as part of his commitment to bequeathing on the nation an enviable electoral legacy.

Meanwhile, those pushing for the direct primaries to be taken out are not resting on their oars.

They were said to be mulling their options, too. They were alleged to have recently advised the president, through their inner contacts, to inform the principal officers of the National Assembly that he would withhold his assent and urge them to reconsider the timing for the submission of candidates list from 180 days to 90 days, as it stipulated in the 2010 amended electoral act.

But others, believed to be interested in the legacy of the president have told him that even if he would return the bill on the grounds of a few contentious clauses, including the direct primaries, he must ensure that the entire effort at amending many other clauses did not go to waste and get the legislature to return it in record time, after their final alterations for his eventual assent.

Whichever way this is programmed to swing, analysts have contended that the credibility and legacy of the president are at stake. He would, therefore, have to choose between his own legacy and the need to please some vested interests.

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CHANGE OF GUARD AT THE COMMAND IN ABEOKUTA...

L-R: New Commandant, 35 Artillery Brigade, Alamala, Abeokuta, Brigadier General Isah Abdullahi: Outgoing Commander, Brig. Gen. Adewale Adekoya, and Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, during a courtesy visit on the governor to announce a change of guard at the command in Abeokuta, Ogun State... recently

WithRenewedCOVID-19Threat,BePrepared for ‘Hurtful’ Policies, Emefiele Tells Banks

Urges financial institutions to enhance lending to boost growth CBN disburses N370bn targeted credit facility to households, MSMEs Sanwo-Olu commends bankers’ committee’s COVID-19 response Nume Ekeghe Following the renewed threat of the COVID-19 that was occasioned by the new Omicron variants, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele has said banks should be prepared for policies that could upset their quest to make more profit for their shareholders.

Speaking in Lagos yesterday, he also appealed to members of the Bankers’ Committee to be prepared to lend their support to the country whenever the need arises as they did in the past under the umbrella of CACOVID. This is just as he revealed that the CBN through its Target Credit Facility (TCF) had disbursed a total of N370 billion to households as well as micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) in line with efforts to stimulate economic activities.

Emefiele said these at the 12th Annual Bankers’ Committee retreat with the theme: ‘Building Resilience for Economic Growth.’

The CBN had as part of efforts to cushion the devastating effects of the COVID-19 on households and firms introduced the TCF in March 2020, which has since attracted 800,000 beneficiaries till date with an outstanding of N30 billion still available for disbursement.

“Yes, the economy is growing, inflation is moderating, we are beginning to see signs even in the midst of the third or the fourth pandemic, but I must say that whereas we see the green light at the end of the tunnel, I must say that the road ahead for us to get to the green light remains very rough.

“We will continue to crave your support to work with us because we will continue to come up with policies that in your own boardrooms you will find hurtful to your own quest to make more profit for your shareholders,” he said.

Emefiele who thanked members of the Bankers’ Committee said: “When COVID-19 broke, we called on the banks under the umbrella of CACOVID and the banking industry stood strong with the private sector and we did the little we could to help our country and to help our people to overcome the challenges of COVID-19.

“The banking industry

constitutes a very important segment of the monetary policy and of government, even from textbooks that we have read in economics, banks constitute what we can call catalysts to growth in any economy.

“We called on you, we did several things appealing to you, it got to a point where I was beginning to appeal to say, look, how can we have a situation where the banking industry is growing, the banks are declaring profit but the economy is not growing well, or that our people are living in destitution and that it is not possible for us as bankers to live a comfortable life and yet in the midst of destitution and problems in our country.

“We did call on you and you rose to the occasion and you supported.

I thank you, sincerely. I cannot say that central bank did this alone, everything that we have done since February 2020, realising your importance as a catalyst to growth in the economy has been with your support, I thank you.

“I must say, yes, the economy is growing, yes, inflation is moderating, yes, we are beginning to see signs even in the midst of the third or the fourth pandemic, but I'm most say that whereas we see the green light ahead of us at the end of the tunnel, but I must say that the road ahead for us to get to the green light at the end of the tunnel remains very, very rough.

“We will continue to count that you rely and work with us to say that it's not just about you making profit for your shareholders but it is also about you contributing to the growth of our economy even where there are some discomforts, you will play your part, stand strong and support the government and support the Central Bank of Nigeria to deliver a stronger and resilient economy.”

Also, Emefiele, while addressing participants at the retreat called on banks to enhance credit to critical sectors of the economy, stressing the need for the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to rise above five per cent annually, higher than its present average growth rate of 2.7 per cent.

Emefiele said: “Given our mandate to promote a sound monetary and financial system, and working with the fiscal authorities, the CBN took unprecedented

measures to contain the effects of the pandemic on our economy and spurred increased productivity in key sectors.

“First, the CBN collaborated with the fiscal authorities to formulate strong policy support measures through the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) to restore stability and catalyse growth.

“In support of the recovery efforts, the bank deployed more than N3.5 trillion, which is about 4.1 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP, to support critical sectors including agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, electricity, and construction. Other CBN policy measures that we took to help the economy recover included a reduction of the monetary policy rate from 13.5 percent to 11.5 percent to spur lending.

“The reduction of the interest rate on all CBN intervention loans from nine per cent to five per cent, extension of the moratorium on principal repayments for CBN intervention facility to March 2022, regulatory forbearance for banks to restructure loans to sectors severely affected by the pandemic and creation of a N400 billion TCF for

households and small and medium enterprises. Of this, nearly N370 billion has been released to over 800,000 beneficiaries.”

Speaking further, the Emefiele also pointed out that a N1 trillion facility for local manufacturing and production in critical sectors of the economy was also established. On this, so far, 53 manufacturing, 21 agriculture-related, and 13 service projects had been funded from this facility.

In addition, he reiterated that a N200 billion healthcare intervention fund for pharmaceutical companies and healthcare practitioners was also established in the wake of the pandemic, to expand and strengthen the capacity of the country’s healthcare institutions and mobilise.

Furthermore, he disclosed that the CBN mobilised key stakeholders in the Nigerian economy, under the Private Sector Coalition Against Covid-19 (CACOVID) team that raised N39.65 billion to tackle the scourge.

“Continued implementation of efforts to boost credit to productive sectors is required to sustain the recovery, quicken growth, and

improve the livelihood of Nigerians.

“With population growth at about 2.7 percent annually, it is important that we continue to deploy measures that will enable our economy to attain faster and balanced growth rates of over 5 percent on an annual basis.

“In furtherance of these efforts and given current global realities, I enjoin and challenge this Bankers’ Committee Retreat to focus on fashioning out strategies to fortify the fabric of the Nigerian economy, boost growth and engender resilience especially to exogenous shocks.

“To spur growth, we will need to assess policy measures that can address subsisting imbalances and constraints to finance. This retreat should provide actionable steps to ensure that the Bankers’ Committee continue to make meaningful contributions to Nigeria’s growth and development,” he added.

Also, the CBN Governor outlined some of the policies the apex bank has undertaken in recent time to support the federal government in its job-creation as well as economic diversifican drive.

The he listed to include the 00 for

100 Initiative, under which targeted credit of up to N5 billion would be provided to 100 firms every 100 days.

Selected firms would be those investing in Greenfield projects, significantly able to create employment opportunities, and use local raw materials. The initiative will also support firms producing goods for the export market.

“On the growth of the digital economy, the CBN is focused on building a robust payment system in Nigeria which is cheap, fast, efficient, and safe. With the growing pace of digitalisation globally, we will continue to leverage digital channels in fulfilling this objective.

“Reflective of the confidence in our payment system, between 2015 and 2020, about $700 million has been invested in firms run by Nigerian founders,” he added.

“The eNaira which is the first central bank digital currency in Africa and one of the first in the world, the eNaira will foster greater financial inclusion using digital channels, support cross-border payments for businesses and firms, and provide a reliable channel for remittance inflows into the country.

Judiciary Urged to Support AMCON in N4.4trn Debt Recovery If the country really wants to recover the N4.4trillion outstanding debt burden currently shouldered on its behalf by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), then the role of the judiciary in the execution of the corporation’s mandate cannot be over emphasised as it plays major role in making key recoveries possible against varying odds using the mechanism of adjudication.

This was the position of Honourable Justice Salisu Garba Abdullahi, the Administrator of the National Judicial Institute (NJI), when he addressed Judges of the Federal High Court at the Federal High Court complex Abuja on Monday, for the annual 2021 Judges Conference/interaction with relevant government agencies in the country.

According to a statement, this year’s interaction had as its theme: “The Federal High Court in the Digital Age, For Economic Development and the Stability of the Financial System.”

According to Abdullahi looking at the huge outstanding debt burden of AMCON, the critical role the corporation plays in the financial sector, and the resistance the agency was facing especially from obligors in the recovery drive, the judiciary cannot afford to be lax or take a back seat approach to the issue but must strive to do its best in executing its responsibility actively with passion and vigour.

The NJI Administrator added that the feedback received over the years had gone a long way in improving the debt recovery efficiency of AMCON through the different amendments to the AMCON Act. These amendments to the principal instrument in 2015, 2019 made it possible for the corporation to enjoy some special powers that are fortified with the 2020 AMCON Rules at the Federal High Court.

Again, he said: “Indeed, a formidable milestone accomplished through the interactions of AMCON with the Hon. Judges

is the constitution of the AMCON Task Force at the Court of Appeal and I want to believe my Lord, the Hon. Chief Judge of the Federal High Court will like a replication of such at the Federal High Court.

Notably, viewing AMCON’s sunset date, my Lord, the Hon. Chief Judge of the Federal High Court has since constituted AMCON Track Judges in the Federal High Court.”

In his own remark, Hon. Justice J.T. Tsoho, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court who said he was in tandem with the position of the NJI Administrator said it was because the Federal High Court recognised the strategic importance of the AMCON assignment that the Judiciary in the country has been very supportive of AMCON’s recovery activities especially with the very many cases AMCON has in the courts.

In his own contribution, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Asset Management Corporation of

Nigeria (AMCON) Mr. Ahmed Kuru, said the interaction came at an important and time when the corporation is reviewing its strategy towards sunset.

Kuru said the gesture would not only help speed up the time with which AMCON cases are heard and determined, but also assist the corporation in achieving its mandate prior sunset date, which was fast approaching.

The AMCON boss added that there was need for speed and strategy especially from the Judiciary as far as handling the AMCON matters because the total current exposure on all Eligible Bank Assets (EBAs) in the portfolio of AMCON stood at N4.4 trillion.

Of this huge sum, he explained that only 350 outstanding obligors account for 83 per cent of the total EBA balance; 244 of the top 350 obligors are in various courts while the collateral coverage is only 16 per cent of the total current exposure.

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Orji: How NSIA Crashed Fertiliser Prices from N13,000 to N5,500 Says subsidy slumped from N76bn to N2bn

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The Managing Director of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Mr Uche Orji, yesterday disclosed that the restructuring of the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative (PFI) led to a crash in fertiliser price from N13,000 to NN5,500.

Speaking at the BusinessDay Breakfast Meeting in Abuja, with the theme: “Macroeconomic Outlook, Innovation and Technology,” Orji noted that the subsidy that was hitherto paid by the federal government on the commodity had fallen from N76 billion to N2 billion.

The NSIA MD, who spoke on the need to pay more attention to how technology could be applied to all sectors of the Nigerian economy, pointed out that with the cleaning up of the system, today, Nigeria has an excess of 10 million bags of the product.

With the programme now handed over to the private sector to manage, Orji stated that any pressure it posed to the balance sheet of the NSIA has now been removed.

“In agriculture, we have done two or three things. But one of the things we have been working on and which proved controversial in some aspect for the last five years, is that the NSIA has been in charge of the presidential fertiliser initiative.

“A few key points just so that you understand the impacts of this

programme. When we started the PFI programme, there were only four fertiliser plants in Nigeria. The subsidy bill that was established was N76 billion. Fertiliser was N13,000 a bag and it was scarce.

“Twelve months after this programme, fertiliser prices dropped to N5,500. We had 20 blending plants working in the country and the subsidy bill was only N2 billion.

“We have now restructured the programme and taking it off our balance sheets, put it back in the hands of the lenders, make people put bank guarantees on it and put up cash so we took pressure off the NSIA balance sheet last year,” he said.

Admitting that many people did not like the restructuring programme, Orji noted that the move had completely transformed the sector.

“The restructuring that we did, we went from a subsidy to now running a plus N5 billion profits on that programme, 52 blending plants in the country, we have 20 million bags of fertilisers , we have 10 million in inventory, excess fertiliser within the country.

“But we are now out. We've taken the sector, restructured and we have handed it back to the private sector,” the NSIA boss stressed.

In addition, Orji noted that the other thing, NSIA did in terms of agriculture was to embark on a demonstration farm in collaboration with another company to build a farm in Nasarawa state.

“These are not Genetically

Modified Organisms (GMOs), we made sure we had the right farming practices. So it's one of the things we're doing in agriculture and we are going to be running the special agricultural processing zones. That's also a programme that we will announce next year,” he stated.

In his remarks, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, lamented that for too long, the nation had not effectively utilised the strong relationship between science,

technology and innovation and business.

“Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) serve as the mother of business. It will be difficult for business to thrive without the effective deployment of STI,” he posited.

He explained that agriculture was at least 80 per cent dependent on STI, whether in plants or livestock, the production of seeds that are high yielding, disease resistant and climate smart.

According to the minister,

countries with the largest economies in the world, are those that effectively deploy STI to nation building.

Hence, for business to grow faster in Nigeria, and for the private sector to be stronger than they are today, Onu opined that the country needs to effectively deploy STI to nation building.

“The federal ministry of science, technology and innovation is ready and prepared to work with the business community to make our economy stronger, our nation

greater and Nigerians happier.

“This is the best way to ensure that we create new jobs, feed ourselves, improve our economy, reduce poverty and recreate the middle-class and make the nation self-reliant for the good of all,” he noted.

Also speaking during the programme hosted by the Publisher, BusinessDay Media Limited, Frank Aigbogun, the Managing Director of the company, Dr. Ogho Okiti, argued that Nigeria has a balance of payment crisis.

UAE Backs Down, Gives Air Peace Flight Slots in Dubai Chinedu Eze The diplomatic row between Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over flight operations may be coming to an end, as the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) has given Air Peace weekly flight slots in Dubai.

In a letter by the DCAA, dated December 13, 2021, and addressed to Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, the Dubai authorities said in order to maintain good relations between both countries, it had offered to block some slots for the Nigerian carrier.

DCAA Director General, Mohammed Ahli, signed the letter, titled, “Operation of Air Service between Dubai and Nigeria,” The letter stated, “The Dubai Civil Aviation Authority presents

its compliments to the honourable management of Air Peace, Nigeria.

“Your Excellency, relations between our two countries go a long way back and we value these relations immensely. We surely wish to facilitate easy and safe travel for the people, between our two brotherly countries.

“We write in reference to Air Peace’s possible/intended operations to/from Dubai Airport (DXB)Terminal 1 and as a gesture of goodwill and in support of UAE and Nigeria relations, in case Air Peace wishes to start flights, slots have been blocked by Dubai Airports as detailed below: “Slots available and blocked for Air Peace are the following: A0540LT D0800LT-All days and A0510LT D0800LT- without day 6.”

The letter stated further, “As these

slots cannot be blocked indefinitely, we would highly appreciate if Air Peace could kindly reach out to Dubai Airports-ACL and inform them of their intentions to operate

by Thursday December 16, 2021 and accordingly confirm the blocked slots.

“Dubai airport has also confirmed that dnata-the ground handling agents at DXB have sent the ground handling quotation to Ms. Reham Mustafa-Country Manager and also, Emirates Flight Catering is working on the quotation and should send it out latest by tomorrow morning.

“For landing permissions, they could contact our Air Transport Section as detailed below: Landing Permission: air.transport@dcaa.gov. aer.”

The letter added, “Dubai Civil

Aviation Authority avails itself of the opportunity to renew to the honourable management of Air Peace, the assurances of its highest consideration and reiterates its support at all times.’

Although THISDAY could not confirm the total number of flight slots granted to Air Peace, a Nigerian operator who had serviced the Dubai route said the letter indicated Air Peace hasd been given 13 slots, which means they could operate twice daily, except on Friday.

“The best they can do is to go every day and they will need two aircraft. The landing charges and the other charges are high at that airport,” the operator said.

An Air Peace source confirmed the letter to THISDAY that it had received the letter.

heightened restrictions we made clear that we would remove them as soon as we could, and that is the decision Ministers have taken today.

“I know this will be welcome news for students, tourists, businesses and families in the UK and Nigeria, although I recognise the impact that these temporary health measures have had.”

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid also said, “The red list bought our scientists time to learn more about Omicron and to slow the seeding of the variant from abroad into the UK. “Now that there are high levels of community transmission, it is right to remove the red list and focus on our national effort to tackle Omicron.

“With cases doubling every two to three days, we’ve turbocharged our booster programme, we’re asking arrivals to keep testing to limit the spread of new cases, and we are introducing Plan B measures to protect the country from the threat of this new variant.”

The High Commission noted that while all countries had now been removed from the red list, the managed quarantine hotel policy remained in place to act as a crucial line of defence against the importation of variants of concern.

The statement added, “Restric-

tions will be re-imposed should there be a need to do so to protect public health. Airlines will continue to check all passengers for pre-departure tests alongside their completed passenger locator form, and passengers will not be allowed to board a flight without providing evidence of a negative test result.

“The government will take further action if necessary to contain the virus and the new variant, as has been the case throughout the pandemic.

“The UKHSA continues to monitor the situation closely, in partnership with scientific and public health organisations across the world, and the government is working collaboratively with the World Health Organisation and countries around the world to better understand the new variant.”

Commenting on the development, the CEO of Airlines UK, the industry body representing UKregistered carriers, Tim Alderslade, said removing the countries from the red list made complete sense, “but doesn’t go nearly far enough.”

Alderslade explained, “If the red list isn’t necessary given that Omicron is established here at home, then neither are the costly emergency testing and isolation measures imposed on even fully vaccinated travellers, which again put us completely at odds with

the rest of Europe. It is testing that is the deterrent to travel, not the relatively limited red list.

“Government has admitted that the measures introduced are disastrous for the travel sector, and the science says they aren’t now required.

“The Health Secretary says he wants to act quickly to remove unnecessary restrictions, and we implore him to make good on this by scrapping testing as soon as possible, otherwise the key Christmas and New Year booking period will be undermined. “This is make or break for UK aviation and if government is unable to row back from these restrictions over the New Year, it will need to step in with further economic support for a sector that again has been singled out.”

Many world leaders and organisations had expressed outrage at the restriction on travels from Nigeria and the other countries.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Rev. Justin Welby, condemned UK’s inclusion of Nigeria in its COVID-19 red list without justification, calling it “travel apartheid”, and suing for its cancellation.

United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres, also described the action of the UK government as travel apartheid targeted at poor nations.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said blanket travel bans would not stop the spread of the variant, and could potentially discourage countries from reporting and sharing important data on coronavirus.

Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had described the decision of the UK government targeting Nigerian travellers as discriminatory, unfair, punitive, indefensible, and unjust.

Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the UK, Sarafa Tunji Isola, who went on a media round in UK, had also criticised the move and said what was expected on the matter was a global approach to halt the spread of the disease and not selective punishment.

In a similar vein, the Nigerian Senate had insisted that the travel ban was discriminatory, describing it as an attack on diplomatic relations between Nigeria and the UK. It called on the British government to reverse it.

UK BOWS TO DIPLOMACY, SCRAPS CONTROVERSIAL RED LIST the red list will be removed from 4am Wednesday, 15 December.

“Passengers arriving from Nigeria, Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe will not have to stay in a managed quarantine hotel on arrival in England from this date.”

It noted that as Omicron cases rose in the UK and in countries around the world, “the travel red list is less effective in slowing the incursion of the variant from abroad and these temporary measures are no longer proportionate.

“The red list has successfully served its purpose in delaying the spread of Omicron into the UK to buy time for scientists to learn more about this variant.”

But the High Commission

stressed that all vaccinated passengers arriving in the UK must continue to take a pre-departure test two days or less before they depart for the UK and must take a PCR test on or before day two and self-isolate until they receive a negative result. It stated that these testing measures were vital in helping to prevent any additional cases of Omicron from entering the UK and stopping people from passing it on to others.

The UK mission also observed that the present situation was a critical phase in tackling the Omicron variant, saying the government’s focus remains slowing the spread of the variant in the UK through maintenance of testing requirements at the border, introduction of Plan B measures, and turbocharging the booster rollout.

British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, was also quoted as saying, “On Tuesday 14th December, UK Ministers made the decision – based on scientific and public health data – to remove Nigeria from the UK’s travel red list.

“The emergence of the Omicron variant is a reminder that the COVID-19 pandemic is not over, and like all countries around the world, the UK has had to take difficult decisions to protect public health.

“We took this necessary precautionary action to give us time to understand the challenge we and others faced, and to slow down the spread of Omicron while scientists urgently assessed what impact the variant has on vaccines, treatments and transmissibility.

“When we announced the

N I G E R I A ' S P U B L I C D E B T R I S E S B Y N 2 . 5 T R N TO N 3 8 T R N end of the third quarter.

Statistics released by the Debt Management Office (DMO) indicated that the debt comprised total external and domestic debts of the federal government, 36 state governments, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The DMO explained that the increase of N2.540 trillion, when compared to the corresponding figure of N35.465 trillion at the end of Q2 2021, largely accounted for by the $4 billion Eurobonds issued by the federal government in September.

The debt management agency stated that the issuance of the $4 billion Eurobonds brought significant benefits to the economy by increasing the level of Nigeria’s external reserves, thereby supporting the exchange rate of the naira, and providing necessary capital to enable the federal government finance various projects in the budget.

The triple-tranche $4 billion Eurobond, issued in September, was for the implementation of the New External Borrowing of $6.18 billion in the 2021 Appropriation Act. Meanwhile, Director General of the DMO, Patience Oniha, yesterday said the federal government would reduce local borrowing next year, with the expectation of increased internal

revenue. Oniha also disclosed that in 2021, the federal government borrowed a total of N5.134 trillion from the local debt market and targeted borrowing for 2022 was N4.6 trillion.

She made the assertions while speaking at a webinar organised

by Coronation Merchant Bank, in partnership with the DMO, where she spoke on “Nigeria moving beyond COVID-19: Opportunities for Investors.”

Oniha said while the country’s treasury bills’ obligations seemed to be rising in recent times, the debt office had been able to reduce its share of the local debt portfolio to less than 25 per cent. She said the share of treasury bills currently in the local debt basket was around 21 per cent.

According to her, “We have done better than keeping TBills at 25 per cent. We actually came down to 21 per cent from that in terms of total domestic debt because we wanted to reduce the re-financing risk.

“Even with the increase we are still below 25 per cent maximum in terms of total domestic debt.

The target is not to go up. We just kept it there because there are other transactions, such as promissory notes that we are issuing that will increase the short-term component.

“What is driving the additional issuance of TBills is because the

new borrowing levels are extremely high. Last year, it was N4.6 trillion, while the initial budget was about N1.7 trillion. All of that couldn’t have come from bonds only at decent rate, so some of it is being taken from TBills usually at the long end.

“If you see the auction results you see that we are more at the 360-day tenure. It is true we are issuing more TBills, but more like new borrowings to fund the budget.

Again this year's new borrowing is about N5.134 trillion, next year we are still in the range of N4.6 trillion.”

On the planned borrowings for next year, Oniha said, “The assumption is if we make 100 per cent of that revenue in the budget and then incur all the expenditure that we have we are still going to borrow.

“Unless we double or triple those revenue in the budget that is the only condition in which we won’t borrow. If revenue performs 100 per cent we are still going to borrow, anyway, based on the medium term expenditure framework.

“We keep telling the public and those tracking the debt profile of the country that actually the source of the borrowing is coming from the budget and in a few cases the separate projects that were approved and those are usually external.”

TINUBU: I WON’T DECLINE CALLS TO CONTEST FOR PRESIDENCY widely before finally declaring his intention for the 2023 presidential poll.

His words: “I am not going to turn them down but I will still effectively and widely consult, particularly brainstorm with my friends and find a date to come out openly and tell Nigerians.

“But the President is still in office. I don’t want to distract him from all the challenges he might face today. So, don’t muddle the political waters. Consult, make our programme known to the people later. And the intention is clear. So, you can keep guessing.”

Leader of the group, Mr. Lawal Munir, while endorsing Tinubu's presidential ambition, also revealed that the meeting resolved to work towards the actualisation of his ambition in 2023 due to his

superlative qualities.

According to him, “The meeting ended very well. We are working for him. We are working for him because we know he will win the election when the time comes.”

Despite the fact that the former Lagos governor has not formally declared his intention to run, one of his mobilisation machines, Tinubu Support Group (TSG), has already commenced mobilisation of party faithful across the country in order to ensure his 2023 presidential ambition comes to fruition.

The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had in October inaugurated the South West Agenda 2023 (SWAGA ’23), a political movement that has been mobilising support for Tinubu to throw his hat in the 2023 presidential ring.

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COMMENT

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

MY MAN OF THE YEAR

Sonnie Ekwowusi pays tribute to Obadiah Mailafia, columnist, social justice crusader and former deputy-governor of the central bank

L

ike most of his contemporaries, he would have remained in his comfortable cocoon massaging his ego or basking in what he had achieved in life. Amid the moral and political crises of our times, he would have sought alibi in sentimental falsifications or taken refuge in caricature religiosity. Like many cowardly high-profile men and women of our times, he would have become a hypocritical praise-singer of the powers that be in order to be in their good books. But he refrained from doing any of the aforesaid. Instead he decided to confront evil with his bare hands in order to bear witness to the truth and justice. He was not afraid of death. He said he was ready to lay down his life to save Nigeria. Citizenship, for him, was not something to toy with: it was to speak truth to power no matter whose ox is gored. The shrouded circumstances surrounding his demise four months ago at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, Abuja might suggest that he is a political martyr, or, as some would like us to believe, a victim of state murder. Prior to his death, he had complained that he was being hunted for elimination. “I have received serious warnings that my revelations have angered some members of the political class to the extent that they want me physically eliminated. I have been warned to beware of polonium poisoning and sharp objects concealed in chairs. I know that killer squads have been paid undisclosed sums to hunt me down and to have me dispatched to Elysium. I have been told that some dark forces want me in their net so that I would be poisoned by gas administered through an air conditioner.

When I am getting weak and delirious, a fake doctor would be brought in to administer an injection. That injection would be my death sentence,” he wrote. Some alleged that truly to his prediction he was murdered through food poisoning.

His first name means “man of peace”. His surname means “servant of the most powerful God”. He was eloquent as much as he was unabashedly vociferous. He was a consummate advocate of social justice. He feared no man. He feared only God. Like the Biblical Moses, his commitment to the deliverance of his people from the slavery and oppression of a tyrannical government was phenomenal. In the fashion of prophet Obadiah, one of the prophets of the Old Testament, his voice rang out like a lone voice in the wilderness in denouncement of the sponsored genocide against the Southern Kaduna Christians. He exhorted the people to trust in the power of God and justice of God, and not in the fleeting and precarious power of tyrannical rulers. Southern Kaduna is the kingdom of God not the kingdom of the devil. Justice is coming, nemesis is coming, he boldly announced. Unlike the cowardly men and women of our generation, our man of the year fearlessly spoke truth to power. Hear him, “…they told us that one of the Northern governors was the commander of Boko Haram in Nigeria.

Boko Haram and the bandits are one and the same. They have a sophisticated network. During this lockdown their planes were

HE LEFT THIS WORLD FOUR MONTHS AGO AGED 64. THIS POSTHUMOUS AWARD IS A TESTAMENT TO HIS CRUSADE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE. WE WILL MISS HIS VOICE OF REASON IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE. WE WILL MISS HIS COURAGE

moving up and down as if there was no lockdown. They were moving ammunition, moving money, and distributing them across different parts of the country. They are already in the South, in the rain forests of the South. They are everywhere. They told us that when they finish these rural killings, they will move to phase two.

Phase two is that they will go into urban cities, going from house to house killing prominent people.”

No man, no woman of good conscience could have kept quiet in the face of genocide which overtook Southern Kaduna. No Street, no Broadway could have remained silent amid the stillness of death lying everywhere in Southern Kaduna and other parts of Nigeria.

What do the living gain by keeping quiet in times of religious persecution and genocide? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! If at all they do gain anything it is the hottest places in hell as Dante would make us believe in his Inferno. Our man of the year 2021 never kept quiet until he was allegedly murdered. But what do murderers gain by spilling the blood of the innocent? Nothing! Absolutely nothing!! Since civilization is not an attribute of religious fanaticism or religious killing, curling of hair or human accent we should re-scrutinize our heritage with sharper eyes than before in order to win our civilization. The killing of our fellow human beings ought to stir in us the revulsion to hate our existence. Our generation has gone down in history as the generation in which wielders of power who know what to do to stop the killing of our fellow human beings, our brothers and sisters and members of the same human family, but, who, out of their wickedness, decide to sit back and refrain from doing anything at all. In his last literary work entitled, “There Was a Country,” Chinua Achebe regretted this wicked attitude in the following words, “My feeling towards Nigeria was of profound disappointment. Not because mobs were hunting down and killing in the most savage manner innocent civilians in many parts of Nigeria, but because the Federal Government sat back and let it happen…”

Like Chinua Achebe, it pained our man of the year that the government which ought to protect the citizens from religious massacres had been sitting back and allowing the massacres to take place. Consequently, he spoke out loudly, “I am not making this up. I have a PhD from Oxford. I am not a sensationalist, I am an economist and a central banker; by nature we are not given to sensation. Let me make it clear: I am a humanist; I am a man of peace. From the bottom of my heart, I love our country dearly and I abhor all the killings and violence which the innocent people of this country have been subjected to. I pray that Nigeria will never experience another civil war. The most elementary duty of the government is to protect its citizens. When a government fails to protect its citizens, to protect little children that is a serious matter.

Any innocent boy or girl that is killed is my own child. I love Nigeria. Like Mandela, let me say if need be, I am prepared to give my life for Nigeria.”

NIGERIA’S HIGHWAYS OF RISKS AND INSECURITY FERMA should live up to its responsibility, writes Boniface Enekwechi

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hile it can be acknowledged that infrastructure remains a top priority of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, there are still concerns among travellers, road users, transporters and indeed most Nigerians about the dilapidated state of most federal roads where terrorists and kidnappers have now turned into their operational areas.

Because some sections of the roads are so deplorable, drivers plying such roads usually ask passengers to disembark to enable them drive through the very bad portions. That is when the unsuspecting passengers often come under heavy attack from hoodlums who emerge from the surrounding bushes.

In most cases, such ugly experiences result in the loss of innocent lives, the relations and family members of the victims will be traumatised while some of the victims remain in the den of the kidnappers. What about the very negative impression such illegal acts give to foreigners and tourists about Nigeria!

Apart from the kidnappings being experienced on the bad portions of our federal roads, vehicles owners also suffer huge losses on their investments as the luxury buses, mini-buses, cars and trucks are regularly damaged, thereby resulting in high cost of maintenance. These nefarious activities of hoodlums also result in low revenues and patronage for the transport companies and the resultant effect is that many of them are folding up with the concomitant job losses. This ugly state of affairs occasioned by the deplorable state of the roads also discourage local and foreign investors from showing interest in the country’s transport sector, and this weighs down the economy and complicates the unemployment situation in the

country.

Nigerians recall with nostalgia the presence of federal highway patrols teams in the past, and one wonders why those outfits have gone moribund.

In the light of the existential threats posed by kidnappers, robbers and bandits, time has come to revive the outfits to help in securing lives and properties, especially along identified black spots where these crimes usually occur.

Similarly the lending institutions like banks presently do not want to lend money to transporters for expansion, and the reason as already enunciated is obvious. With the deplorable state of our roads and the incidents of kidnappings it becomes highly risky for the banks to lend their funds to transporters and this portends more danger to the society as a lot more people will be rendered jobless, thereby creating another cycle of hoodlums.

It must be acknowledged that the transport companies have over the years played a patriotic role by employing so many youths, and if they are forced to start laying off their workers, this set of people and area boys will be willing tools in the hands of bandits and kidnappers, thereby worsening an already complicated security issue. In short they will be easy recruits by bandits and terrorists organisations.

Meanwhile due to the negative impact of the bad roads on their investments, transporters still in the business cannot expand as expected, while the ultimate losers are Nigerian road users who must contend with limited choices in the vehicles/ companies to patronise as well as the imminent hike in transport fares.

It is common knowledge that the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) was established for the primary purpose of rehabilitating such dilapidated portions of federal roads by applying palliative measures, but the reality is that the agency

has not lived up to expectations, and their approach has been very lackadaisical. Otherwise, they ought to have identified the critical areas that pose danger to motorists and travellers and make frantic efforts to address them urgently. By failing to do this they are failing in their responsibility as well as derailing in the president’s avowed commitment to develop the country’s infrastructure with a view to stimulating the economy.

With the increasing risks which the dilapidated portions of our federal roads pose to commuters’ lives, time has come for the FERMA to wake up from their slumber by immediately taking statistics of the most dangerous portions of the roads and commence palliative work on them immediately.

There should be no further delay or excuses as human lives, properties and huge capital investments are daily being endangered as long as the bad portions of the federal roads are not repaired.

It is regrettable that a journey that ordinarily should last between eight and nine hours from Lagos to Abuja today takes between 17 and 19 hours, and the transporters still collect the same fares from passengers. Again while the cost of diesel has risen to N345 from N65 per litre, the transporters still bear the brunt of high cost of diesel and other attendant operational costs. For example due to the bad condition of the roads, the lifespan of new vehicles has been reduced to two years at most, and this comes with huge financial loss to the investors. Similarly the negative impact of this has chased many transporters out of business. At present we have about 10% of them remaining in the business.

The question is for how long will this continue, as the transporters are already choking under the heavy burden of subsidising road transportation?

The FERMA must lead the charge towards ensuring that they activate the early warning systems

where dilapidated roads are likely to pose danger to commuters. Once these areas are identified, emergency measures bereft of any bureaucratic bottlenecks should be put in place to restore the areas to good condition, and by so doing lives of the travelling public and the huge capital investments of vehicles owners will be saved.

With the numerous challenges on the economy, all hands must be on deck to support the President Buhari administration’s efforts at creating jobs for the teeming youths, and so far the FERMA has not lived up to expectation.

Furthermore, there is the need for a synergy among the various tiers of government, FERMA and security agencies in order to curtail the nefarious activities of highway kidnappers and other criminal elements who take advantage of the bad portions of the highways to unleash terror on innocent citizens. Such synergy will entail establishing proper communication channels and desks set up to coordinate their activities.

There is also the need for FERMA to synergise with the transporters to identify the dilapidated portions of federal roads. This clarion call has become urgent as a situation where transport fares are increased across board it will lead to an instant social dislocation in the country with the attendant consequences. The implication of any transport fares increase is that the cost of transportation for Nigerians will triple and the travelling public will bear the brunt.

As a people we must make concerted efforts towards curtailing the activities of highway kidnappers, and one of the ways is for communities where these incidents occur to always raise the alarm on the dangers such deplorable portions of the roads pose to travellers so that the relevant government institution will swing into action.

Enekwechi is a Public Affairs Analyst

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T H I S D AY • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2021

EDITORIAL RISING CASES OF SUDDEN DEATH A healthy lifestyle may help in taming the scourge

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he rising number of Nigerians who suddenly die without explanation is increasingly alarming. On 20th November, a former senator, Gbenga Aluko, 58, slumped and died in his office in Abuja. His close aides said he had no symptoms of any sickness.

Within the same week, a lecturer at the Federal Polytechnic, Offa, Kwara State, Ayatu Momoh, was attending a community meeting when he slumped and efforts to revive him failed. While there may be no accurate figures, the rate of unexpected natural deaths is worrying.

Indeed, health experts say that hundreds of thousands have lost their lives to sudden death in recent times, even though it’s only the cases of prominent Nigerians that are mostly heard. At a recent sensitisation programme on health issues, the office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation expressed worries over rising cases of stroke and fatalities, especially among civil servants in the country. But EXPERTS ARE OF THE so many questions VIEW THAT NIGERIANS remain addressed: SHOULD BE MORE What are the causes HEALTH CONSCIOUS AND of unexpected DO ROUTINE MEDICAL natural deaths, often CHECKS, ESPECIALLY FOR called sudden death syndrome? What PEOPLE WHO ARE 40 are the predisposing YEARS AND ABOVE symptoms?

Sudden death is said to occur when a clot suddenly cuts off the blood flow, thus preventing oxygen from getting to the heart. This ultimately results in the loss of heart muscle. Perhaps this may be why a renowned cardiologist and Nigerian Heart Foundation (NHF) boss, Kingsley Akinroye, defines sudden death as an “unexpected natural death due to cardiovascular disease, which occurs within one hour of the onset of symptoms.” He said a major proportion of sudden death “is of cardiac (heart) origin.”

The explanation chimes with that of another cardiologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH)

Letters to the Editor

Idi-Araba, Amam Mbakwem. According to the professor, the causes are majorly from cardiovascular disease: either a massive heart attack or abnormal electrical activities in the heart which could be either very fast, chaotic, and ineffective abrupt cessation of electrical activity.

Meanwhile, research carried out in many of the country’s universities and beyond have also established that heart failure occurs more in males than in females, while the major cause of heart failure among young people is genetic.

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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

n autopsy review of sudden unexpected deaths in a suburban Nigerian population published recently in the journal, ‘Population Health Metrics,’ revealed that cardiovascular, respiratory, central nervous system, and cancer-related causes were the major causes. The review further said that hypertension-related disorders “constituted a large proportion of cases” especially in people over 40 years, whereas infectious diseases are more common below this age. It argues that since majority of these deaths occur outside the hospital setting, “it is imperative that appropriate public health strategies be developed to address these issues.”

To address the increasing rate of Nigerians dying from this preventable disease, awareness about the condition needs to be promoted among Nigerians, particularly those in the age bracket of 15 – 45 years, and among athletes, footballers, referees, and coaches. The sudden death of one of the country’s greatest footballers and coach of the national team, Stephen Keshi, and another former coach, Amodu Shuaibu, are perhaps sad reminders. Experts are of the view that Nigerians should be more health conscious and do routine medical checks, especially for people who are 40 years and above.

A healthy lifestyle is also highly recommended. People are advised to eat right, reduce excessive refined sugar, their salt and fat intake while increasing their vegetable and fruit intake. Besides, they must stop smoking, reduce alcohol consumption, reduce weight and exercise regularly. These are not foolproof measures, but they will certainly help in reducing the scourge of sudden death that is assuming an epidemic proportion in Nigeria.

TO OUR READERS Letters in response to specific publications in THISDAY should be brief (150-200 words) and straight to the point. Interested readers may send such letters along with their contact details to opinion@thisdaylive.com. We also welcome comments and opinions on topical local, national and international issues provided they are well-written and should also not be longer than (9501000 words). They should be sent to opinion@thisdaylive.com along with the email address and phone numbers of the writer.

IMPUNITY AT BUREAU OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

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read a report published in THISDAY on the need for the federal government, the Senate Committee Chairman on Procurement, House of Representatives Chairman on Procurement, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Head of Service and Secretary to the Government of Nigeria, to quickly look into the impunity at the BPP, but it seems nothing has been done.

I am both a contractor and a public affairs analyst particularly on issues pertaining to federal government operations. As someone who follows trends in public service, and in the know of most happenings in federal establishments, I found the concerns raised by the writer not just troubling but a matter that needed urgent attention from authorities concerned.

Based on that, I decided to embark on a research to ascertain whether or not there was unprofessional conduct and practice at the BPP regarding the Batch 2 of 2021 Conversion/induction which is the Foundation Training Course into the procurement cadre in parastatals, institutions, commissions and agencies of the federal government. As someone in the know, professional values are sacrosanct. And I find the issues raised in the write up troubling if indeed true.

My desire to embark on checks is borne out of the need to remind authorities that if indeed mandatory requirements have been breached for any reason, then the practice of procurement and breeding of core professional procurement officers in govern-

ment establishments is being threatened to the point that it could be counter-productive in near future.

To my greatest surprise, I stumbled on some shocking realities after visiting the BPP website to see things for myself. First, the writer had mentioned that rules and regulations, including standards set by the BPP on the exercise were not followed or adhered to. That breach was verified when I went through the list of nominees for training. True to the writer’s observation, my checks revealed that some of names on the list, between 268 and 340 are not eligible to attend the conversion training based on mandatory requirements clearly stated by the BPP as posted on their website.

In the BPP guidelines for nominees, as posted on their website, the mandatory/guidelines made it clear without any ambiguity that no nominee shall be above GL 15 or its equivalent.

Looking at the list from number 268 - 340, shows that this mandatory requirement was breached with total disregard to set rules and regulations with the inclusion of few ineligible names. In fact, to the chagrin of observers and myself, full fledged directors and deputy directors are on the list.

I still cannot comprehend the rationale behind this dubious decision when the whole world knows that once a requirement is said to be mandatory, you do not change it no matter what.

Furthermore, one of the mandatory requirements is to present a copy of letter of first appointment, confirmation and last promotion letters; but it also appears the BPP corruptly turned a blind eye

to this; otherwise these manipulators of set standards would have been caught and fished out. It still beats my imagination how these persons scaled the clearance process. Does it mean that they did not submit their letters of first appointments, confirmation and last promotions? Or better still, is it that money changed hands to the point of dubious compromise?

To serve as deterrence to future occurrence, the BPP must do the needful and fish out these unqualified persons based on their mandatory requirements set; otherwise this precedence could portend great danger in the nearest future in the professional practice of procurement. I must state that failure for the BPP to do the needful, will lead to legal redress because it appears conversion certificates are for sale now on the training ground in Lagos.

My curiosity led me to check what BPP stands for, and to my surprise, I discovered that the agency was established by an act in 2007, and saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that public funds are expended appropriately, perform the regulatory responsibility of monitoring as well as oversight function in public procurement and practices by regulating, setting standards and deploying legal framework and professional capacity for procurement in Nigeria.

For the same arm of government saddled with this huge responsibility to throw caution to the wind, put aside their set rules and professional standards and embrace unethical practices, calls for urgent scrutiny as regards this conversion list.

Afolabi Atoyebi, Ilorin, Kwara State

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WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 15, 2021 • T H I S D AY

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 15, 2021 • T H I S D AY

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 15, 2021

MIDWEEKPOLITICS

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

Ekiti 2022 and The Intriguing Battles Over Zoning Despite the unambiguous choice of governorship candidates in Ekiti State made by Governor Kayode Fayemi and former Governor Ayodele Fayose, Victor Ogunje writes that agitation for a governor from the Southern senatorial district is stronger than ever

Fayemi

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ith the political manoeuvrings going on in Ekiti State currently, the reality is gradually dawning on all politicians from Ekiti South Senatorial district that it would take providence and concerted efforts of political bigwigs for them to produce the next governor of Ekiti State in 2022.

Before their hope was became dim and shattered, politicians from that axis were of the high spirit that Governor Kayode Fayemi will hearken to their voices this time and back an aspirant from that axis to continue with his much-desired continuity agenda.

But two minutes is too long a time in politics, game changes every minute and second.

The rumour of Fayemi having on his card a member of the House of Representatives, Hon Yemi Adaramodu, his Special Adviser, Makinde Araoye and the Special Adviser, office of Transformation and Delivery, Prof Mobolaji Aluko as part of his game plans for 2022, had earlier kindled this hope and gave respite that the task of a southern governor will be accomplished this time.

But the current change of events, which signaled that the governor and his handlers had shifted preference for the Secretary to the State Government, Hon. Biodun Oyebanji, is causing a lot of ripples and unsettling the system in Ekiti. In fact, the zone is no longer comfortable as the political matrixes unfold and tilting away and putting them in a disadvantaged position.

Oyebanji is a consummate politician and humane personality. Quiet, humble , highly experienced, being a former Personal Assistant to Otunba Niyi Adebayo. He had also been a Governor’s Chief of Staff and Commissioner to Fayemi before becoming the State’s Scribe.

He is also considered a good spender and unfetteredly accessible, which had buoyed his magnetic and electrifying acceptability and broadening his support base among the All Progressives Congress members, elites, and civil servants.

But without the risk of being immodest, as intimidating as the foregoing scorecard seems to be, the issue of zoning is one glitch and one albatross that is constituting a stump and barricade on Oyebanji’s way.

Though, himself and his handlers are rising to scale the uphill and thorny hurdles as well as obliterate the appeals and sympathies it has attracted among the members of the public by reaching out and lay a solid reason for why critical stakeholders , including Fayemi are solidly backing his aspiration .

But time will tell how well these pleas and highwired political horsetrading being spewed by his supporters in APC will sink to pacify the highly aggrieved APC members and others from that enclave.

Since the advent of democracy in Nigeria in 1999, the zone remains the one being sidelined in the Ekiti political equation. It has not produced any democratically elected governor for once.

Fayose

Olujimi The only time the zone had ever come close to the coveted seat was in February 17 ,2009 when the Appeal Court sitting in Ilorin, Kwara state removed the then sitting Governor, Engr. Segun Oni and brought in the Speaker, Hon Tunji Odeyemi in acting capacity.

Odeyemi only had a stint as he could only rule for 79 days after which Oni won the controversial and litigation- dogged rerun and returned to the saddle of governance.

The immediate past Governor of the state, Mr Ayodele’s Fayose also brought a ray of hope in 2018. Through manipulation and armtwisting, Fayose succeeded in picking his deputy, Prof Kolapo Olusola as the candidate of the Peoples Demicratic Party for the July 14, 2018 election, but lost. So many shenanigans were responsible for that loss among which was the unbridled tyranny and inability to brook opposition by the then governor .

Despite that colossal and unexpected loss, the people then had a ray of hope that they were gradually inching towards that seat. But with the current permutations in town, the equation had tilted and boxing the highly agitated people of the zone to a corner as the 2022 governorship election beckons.

Fayose who was boisterous in his believe in Southern agitation in 2018 was the first to betray the course in 2021.

When it was least expected, the former governor hastily picked former Commis-

sinoer under him and incumbent PDP State chairman, Hon Bisi Kolawole as his preferred candidate in the PDP. This was the beginning of the troubles for the South. Kolawole is from Efon Alaaye in Ekiti Central.

The likes of former Minister of Works, Dayo Adeyeye and Senator Biodun Olujimi tried to enforce zoning in the PDP in 2018, and it worked out. The then Governor, Ayodele Fayose backed his deputy,Prof Kolapo Olusola from Ikere local government and headquarters of the district, but was eventually defeated

by Fayemi from the North.

What makes the election wondrous was the fact that Fayemi won four out of the six councils in the district to emerge victorious over Prof Olusola, despite the zoning hoopla . This was a clear indication that the zoning mantra didn’t get the expected and desired resonation at that time.

With the body language of some of the politicians from that axis and their conducts then, the zoning thing was sabotaged completely and this could be hinged on divergent interests of political bigwigs and many other primordial sentiments.

But heaven, they say, helps those who help themselves. The mantra seems to be gaining ground with politicians of Ekiti South extraction from the ruling APC and PDP converged and jointly demanding the zoning of the governorship tickets of the parties to the district

The stakeholders , at a political summit tagged : ‘Ekiti South Conference Towards 2022 Governorship Election’, held at Uncle Eagles Civic Centre along Ikere Road, Ado Ekiti on December 2 , convened by a group called Concerned Ekiti Citizens’, chaired by Hon. Femi Babalola, opined that something is automatically amiss in Ekiti if the South could not produce a governor 25 years after its creation. Addressing the mammoth crowd of party members that thronged the venue of the political event, a member of the House of Representatives and APC governorship aspirant, Hon Femi Bamisile, boasted that the South will produce the next governor of the state

Adeyeye as the gubernatorial election holds in the state in 2022.

The political heavyweights, including aspirants on the platforms of the two dominant parties clearly told those perceived as godfathers of Ekiti politics that no effort will be spared to resist attempt by anyone to sideline the zone that has not produced the governor since 1999.

The stakeholders , at a political summit tagged : ‘Ekiti South Conference Towards 2022 Governorship Election’, held at Uncle Eagles Civic Centre along Ikere Road, Ado Ekiti on December 2 , convened by a group called Concerned Ekiti Citizens’, chaired by Hon. Femi Babalola, opined that something is automatically amiss in Ekiti if the South could not produce a governor 25 years after its creation.

Prominent politicians at the event were: Former Speaker and serving member of the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Bamisile, Senator representing Ekiti South, Chief Biodun Olujimi, former Works Minister, Senator Dayo Adeyeye, Commissioner for Public Utilities, Hon Bamidele Faparusi, former Deputy Governor Biodun Aluko, Special Adviser to Governor Fayemi on Federal Matters, Mr. Makinde Araoye, former Commissioner for Special Duties, Adewumi Apalara, PDP governorship aspirant, Kayode Adaramodu, an ex-Commissioner, Mr. Debo Ajayi Others include: Former Deputy Governor, Kolapo Eleka, ex-Speaker, Ekiti State House Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin, former Acting Governor, Ekiti State, Hon Tunji Odeyemi, Special Adviser to the Governor , Office of Transformation and Delivery , Prof Mobolaji Aluko, former Commissioner for Lands, Mr. Remi Olorunleke, Commissioner in the Public Complaints Commission, Mr. Kayode Bamisile, a PDP governorship aspirant, Mr. Kayode Adaramodu and monarchs.

Addressing the mammoth crowd of party members that thronged the venue of the political event, a member of the House of Representatives and APC governorship aspirant, Hon Femi Bamisile, boasted that the South will produce the next governor of the state.

“We are beginning to feel that the elites from the North and the Central are conspiring to sideline us. How can the South with six local governments higher than any other zone be treated as the minority? This is unfair and unacceptable.

“We are not here to fight anybody. It is our time to produce the governor. Even our dialects in Ekiti are not the same, it will be deceptive to say we speak the same dialect. Let us tell the government that it must do what is right, O to ge (enough is enough).

“We have so many good and competent people in the present cabinet of Governor Fayemi and if they need people, we have too many competent people in the south. We are not going to fight, because Governor Fayemi is a reasonable person. The presence of appointees of government here today shows we are not

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 15, 2021

POLITICS

Ekiti 2022 and The Intriguing Battles Over Zoning

GOVERNANCE IN PHOTOS

L-R: Secretary, South south in APC, Hon. Paul Fregene; Chairman, Mr. Napopleon Amans; Ex-Officio, Mr. Kelvin Onjideka; and the Treasurer, Chief. Denis Obawae, at the media briefing and launch of their support for Bola Tinubu 2023 Presidential ambition bySouth South in APC held in Amumo Odofin, Lagos recently PHOTO: ETOP UKUTT

Oni

Adaramodu

fighting the government , we only want to correct this anomaly. On Ekiti south agenda we stand.”

In her submission, a PDP chieftain, Senator Biodun Olujimi, maintained that there is no doubting the fact that Ekiti South has the highest number of local governments, regretting that the district remains the one that has not produced the governor, adding that the neglect must stop, if truly Ekiti is one.

“What we are asking is that all parties’ candidates must emerge from the South. That is when we will know that you have us in mind . What we want is equity, justice and fairness and this is the time justice must be done to the South in the eyes of God and man. “ Why should they be insulting us? The reason for the insults was that we are not united. This is not about political parties, but about being responsible. We have the majority and we can work together”.

In his message to the agitators, a serving Special Adviser to Governor Fayemi, Prof.

Bolaji Aluko, advised that affirmative action must be taken to address the injustice being meted to the South, saying the state was created on the pillars of justice, fair- play and equity.

“We are capable, able, willing and ready to rule this state. Some people might want to entice you with deputy governorship slot, don’t accept that . They had even spoken to me about this, but I rejected. Let us be united.

Many of those from the North and South are supporting us, let us reach out to them.”

The former Works Minister and National Chairman of Southwest West Agenda for Tinubu 2023 presidency, Senator Dayo Adeyeye, said it was sad that Ekiti South indigenes are now having a psychology of a second class citizens, saying this is the time for the trend to change.

“How can a state that was formed on the basis of justice and equity now become a centre of injustice? We must work together and resist this oppression in the interest of our today and our future.”

A former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Oyetunde Ojo and a PDP governorship aspirant, Mr. Kayode Adaramodu, said the people of Ekiti must encourage the leadership of the parties to hearken to the voice of reasoning and pick their candidates from the South.

Ojo said: “The likes of Senator Babafemi Ojudu, Hon Bimbo Daramola and myself are with the Southern agenda that was why we picked Senator Adeyeye from the South as the candidate of our group in APC. “If the Southern Nigeria is saying that Presidency should come to the South in 2023, what has Ekiti South done to deserve marginalisation?

It is your time to produce the governor. Some of us from the Central and North of Ekiti are in support of a southern governor in 2022.”

Speaking on the way out of the zoning conundrum, a Professor at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Dr. Philips Adetiloye, said it is a democratic right for the South to produce the governor, adding that this is part of the ways to further unite the state.

Prof Adetiloye expressed regret that Ekiti that was being respected for their integrity and honour are fast degenerating in the handling of political issues in the state. He warned that sidelining the South may have a dire consequences on the unity and peace

being enjoyed by the populace.

As plausible and sympathetic the zoning mantra seems to be, people were of a contrast view that political delineation shouldn’t be allowed to divide Ekiti that was widely adjudged to be one in terms of culture, dialect and way of life.

Former Governor Oni was the first to counter zoning while declaring his governorship intention by saying that the PDP can’t embrace this political calculation now being an opposition party. He stated that doing so may produce a weak and unreliable candidate that would be defeated by the ruling party.

Bearing in mind that former governor Fayose had endorsed the candidacy of Hon. Kolawole, Oni averred that the party members know the right man that can win the election and would not want to gamble with the choice of candidate.

Despite the fear over zoning, the unfazed Oni expressed confidence that he would triumph in the poll if given the party’s ticket, while also assuring that the national leadership of the party would be fair to all aspirants in the conduct of the primary.

“PDP doesn’t want to lose and the people who will vote at the primary know who can win for us. Though I am contesting with the aim to get the ticket, but I won’t be a desperate person to achieve this. If you gauge the mood in town now, Ekiti is friendly with PDP and we shouldn’t miss that opportunity.”

Governor Fayemi himself had at various times punctured the zoning being relied on by some politicians. He had always harped on commitment and competence as the two most pivotal qualities to look out for in any candidate and not where he comes from.

But in sharp contrast to the anti-zoning views, the current Commissioner for Infrastructure and Public Utilities, Hon Bamidele Faparusi, had objected, describing such as delusive and selfserving. He warned Fayemi against endorsing any aspirant outside the zone, saying it would be tantamount to fatal error and disrespect to the Southern citizens, for the governor to abandon zoning being agitated for by some APC members.

“My thought is not different from what Ekiti people are saying on the streets that there is power inbalance in our state. The central had served for 11 years, while the North had served 11 years, leaving the South in the lurch .

“This issue is a matter of equity, fairness and justice . The political parties must ensure that they embrace zoning. The electorate and average voters on the streets said they prefer a candidate from the South in 2022, the noise was becoming deafening for those who care to listen.

“It is going to be in the best interest that the candidates from parties are picked from that zone. It would be a costly mistake if my party, APC should do otherwise. I am still very confident that the stakeholders will look towards the South and get a viable candidate from that zone that can deliver for our party”.

The convener of the pro-zoning summit, Mr. Femi Babalola, said they won’t backdown on the agitation until the right thing is done across parties. The battleline seems to have been drawn with this determined comment and only God knows how the frightening and intriguing games will end.

From left- Osun State Secretary to the State Government, Prince Wole Oyebamiji; Deputy Governor, Mr Benedict Olugboyega Alabi; Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor, Prince Abdullah Binuyo; Osun State Governor, Mr. Gboyega Oyetola (holding a sample of raw Gold) and Chief Executive Officer, Segilola Resources Operating Limited, Mr.Segun Lawson, during the unveiling of Gold ounces from Odo Ijesha/ Iperindo Community in Atakumosa East Local Government

Minister Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio (l), exchanging pleasantries with Nigeria High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Ambassador Sarafa Tunji Ishola, who represented President Muhammadu Buhari at the 5th Coronation Anniversary of the Oba of Benin, His Royal Majesty, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare 11 and the Signing of Deed of Transfer of Cambridge and Aberdeen Bronzes, Benin City the Edo State capital

L-R: Deputy Governor, Ekiti State, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi; Osun State Governor, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola; Ondo State Governor/Special Guest, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi; and Owa Oroo of Agbado Ekiti; HRM Oba Adesina Samuel Obafemi; at the inauguration of Agbado-Odeisinbode-Omuo Road, in Agbado Ekiti

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 15, 2021

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FEATURES

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

Navy's Fleet Recapitalisation Drive Gets Huge Boost Chiemelie Ezeobi reports that the fleet recapitalisation drive of the Nigerian Navy recently got a massive boost with the inauguration of 100 epenal and suncraft boats, a helicopter for its air wing and six warships, including the third indigenously constructed Seaward Defence Boat III, NNS OJI, built by the Nigerian Navy

Some of the inaugurated warships

Some of the inflatable boats

President Buhari led by the parade commander to inspect the parade mounted in his honour

R-L: President Muhammadu Buhari; Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; and his Ogun State counterpart, Dapo Abiodun at the inauguration of six warships and 100 epenal boats at Naval Dockyard, Victoria Island, Lagos

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lthough 70 per cent of Nigeria's economic growth lies on the waterways, the maritime domain is often fraught with the challenges of maritime illegalities ranging from piracy, sea robbery, smuggling, illegal fishing to crude oil theft and others.

Although these challenges have always been in existence, it is today heightened by global contemporary changes especially with regards to security, which is characterised by diverse threats such as terrorism, transnational organised crimes, trafficking and illicit economic activities enhanced by the interconnectedness of the maritime domain.

To tackle this, the Nigerian Navy has had to patrol the endless miles of waterways despite some major challenges like shortage of Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV), budget constraints, inadequate local ship building capacity for constructing naval vessels and inadequate surveillance.

Meanwhile, asides protecting Nigeria's territorial integrity, the NN also contributes its quota at the regional level, by patrolling the waters of the Gulf of Guinea, which is a vast expanse of water stretching almost 6,000km from Senegal to Angola.

Today, some of these challenges are gradually receding especially when it comes to fleet acquisition, surveillance and ship building capacity. This is because the Nigerian Navy (NN) fleet has over the years received a major boost of warships and boats, with

some built indigenously.

Nigeria’s Maritime Space and its Attendant Challenges With a coastline of about 420nautical miles (nm), the Nigerian maritime domain lays claim to 200nm of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in line with United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

This maritime space has tremendous economic potentials due to its rich hydrocarbon deposits, fishery resources, and several port facilities which if well harnessed are capable of improving the livelihood of the nation’s population.

However, despite the aforementioned prospects, the frequent abuse by diverse interests across the vast maritime domain has continued to buoy concerns and this is so because considering the wide expanse of the nation’s maritime

domain with over 3,000 creeks and the frequent mutation and transnational nature of maritime crimes, the NN has had to initiate various independent operations and collaborative efforts with relevant stakeholders to curb the menace.

Fleet Recapitalisation Any force is only as good as its military hardware and in the case of the NN, its platforms. This is because in improving the domestic and even external maritime environment, aggressive fleet recapitalisation strategy must be enabled.

Firm believers of this ideology, the NN recently boosted its fleet by inaugurating six warships including the third indigenously constructed Seaward Defence Boat (SDB) III, NNS OJI, built by the Nigerian Navy.

The federal government is aware of the navy’s dedication towards ensuring the security of the vast oil and gas industry in the nation’s maritime environment as well as our sea lanes of communications

Aside the 100 epenal and suncraft boats, as well as an helicopter for its air wing, President Muhammadu Buhari also unveiled the acquired Inshore Patrol Craft (IPC), Fast Patrol Boats (FPB) including NNS LANA, KANO, IKENNE, ABA, SOKOTO and OSUN. Inauguration The president inaugurated the platforms at the Naval Dockyard in Victoria Island, Lagos.

Present at the occasion were the Minister of Defence, Magashi Bashir; Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor; Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya, represented by GOC 81 Division, Major General Lawrence Fejokwu; and Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba.

Others include MD Bridevine Resources Limited, Okunade Ojengbede; former NDC Commandant, Rear Admiral Ilesanmi Alade (Rtd); Senate and House of Reps Committee Chairmen on Navy, Senator George Sekibo and Hon Babajimi Benson, respectively.

Senior officers at the event include Rear Admiral Chris Ezekobe, Rear Admiral Abraham Adaji, Rear Admiral Oladele Daji; FOC West and NAVTRAC, Rear Admirals Jason Gbassa and Kamarudeen Lawal, respectively while billionaire businessman, Prince Authur Eze and National President, Naval Wives Association of Nigeria (NOWA), Hajiya Nana Gambo also graced the occasion.

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FEATURES

President Buhari unveils the keel of the IV and V indigenous Seward Defence Boats

L-R: Governor Dapo Abiodun; Minister of Defence, Magashi Bashir; President Buhari; Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari and Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo assessing the prototype

L-R: Minister of Defence, Magashi Bashir; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo; Governor Dapo Abiodun; and Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor

L-R: 81 Division General Officer Commanding, Major General Lawrence Fejokwu; Rear Admiral Sileranda Lassa FOC Logistics Command; former NDC Commandant, Rear Admiral Ilesanmi Alade (Rtd); and MD Bridevine Resources Limited, Okunade Ojengbede

Building Capacity in Local Content Development Aside the inauguration of the platforms, it was more historical with the inauguration of the third indigenously built Seward Defence Boat, NNS OJI, built by the Nigerian Navy.

It would be pertinent to state that many of the locally fabricated parts used onboard the construction of the SDB III were produced in the Naval Dockyard Limited (NDL) workshop using the onboard equipment.

This was done at the heavy engineering workshop.

Also, at the steel workshop, the fabrication and welding of various steel structures for SDB III was done, especially for the construction of fuel and water barges were prefabricated in the workshop using the available equipment.

Meanwhile, the electrical workshop played a part while the Arsenal Workshop, dedicated to the repair and installation of electronic equipment onboard and ashore, was used for construction and assembling of electrical/electronics panels for SDB III. The carpentry workshop carried out carpentry, joinery and cabinet work onboard the SDB III before they were taken onboard for installation.

Impressed by what he saw on ground, President Buhari commended the navy for maintaining a steady course in its drive for local content development, which he said was in tandem with the philosophy of his administration.

He went on to lay the keel for the construction of SDB IV and V, while adding that the new inductions to the naval fleet would boost their capability in securing Nigeria’s maritime domain.

For him, the inauguration was nostalgic given that he had in 2016, inaugurated NNS KARADUWA, the second locally built SDB and TUGBOAT UGWU, which were constructed. The second SDB was constructed following the successes recorded

by NNS ANDONI, the first locally made warship commissioned by then President Goodluck Jonathan.

FG's Commitment While reiterating the federal government’s commitment to properly equip the navy

with the right mix of platforms, the president said: "Let me assure you that the government will continue to support the ideals of the Nigerian Navy in the performance of its constitutional duties".

Commendation Commending the navy for its drive in securing the maritime space, the president said: "The federal government is aware of the navy’s dedication towards ensuring the security of the vast oil and gas industry in the nation’s maritime environment as well as our sea lanes of communications.

Given our present high dependence on oil and gas revenues, the navy is undeniably a major contributor to the economic well-being of our country.

"Arrests of those involved in illegalities have yielded results as some pirates, illegal bunkering syndicates, pipeline vandals and other miscreants have been convicted during this year.

Such successes were made possible through the enforcement of our new anti-piracy law on Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Act 2019.

"Furthermore, the provision of the new policy directives by the current administration of the Navy codified in such documents as the Nigerian Navy Strategic Plan 2021-2030; the Chief of the Naval Staff Strategic Directive 2021-5 and the Total Spectrum Maritime Strategy have given the Service credible guidelines and leverage for improved

operational efficiency.

"I therefore commend the Navy’s efforts in the fight against maritime crimes in the Gulf of Guinea region.

Again, I congratulate our N navy under the able leadership of the Chief of Naval Staff - Vice Admiral AZ Gambo and all the officers, ratings and civilian staff of the Navy for these remarkable achievements."

Charge Charging all personnel to ensure that professionalism is maintained and good use of these platforms, he noted that "we are in a critical period where our country is faced with a serious decline in our revenue and the security challenges we are facing.

"The present realities therefore call for prudent resource management, innovativeness, accountability and careful maintenance. I wish to reiterate that despite these challenges, our administration is very determined to ensure that the Navy is well supported to achieve its statutory responsibilities".

Raising the Bar Expressing delight that the Naval Dockyard Limited SDB Project, which started in 2007, has yielded substantial reward with the completion of the third Seaward Defence Boat, the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo said "in line to my vision to leverage all factors of national location, technology, training, teamwork and synergy to re-energise the NN as a

Invariably, the induction of these platforms into the NN fleet will lead to further decline in criminal activities in our maritime domain.

I will like to assure you all that these assets will be adequately maintained to sustain our maritime security operations

well motivated and ready naval force in the discharge of her Constitutional mandate”, the service intends to raise the bar by embarking on the construction of two SDBs. "Evidently, with the experience garnered so far, the Naval Dockyard Limited is adequately poised to take on this challenge in pursuit of the FGN’s Local Content Development effort."

Deployment In terms of deployment, the CNS said the Hydrographic Ship NNS LANA, which was received from her maiden voyage from France to Nigeria on May 17, 2021, will be involved in the hydrographic survey of the territorial waters towards ensuring safety of navigation within the waterways.

"SDBIII, Inshore Patrol Crafts (IPC) and Fast Patrol Boats (FPB) namely: NNS ABA, NNS KANO, NNS IKENNE, NNS SOKOTO and NNS OSUN will be deployed for surveillance and patrol duties within our waters.

These efforts are geared towards enhancing the performance of our constitutional role regarding hydrographic survey and policing of our waters.

"Invariably, the induction of these platforms into the NN fleet will lead to further decline in criminal activities in our maritime domain.

I will like to assure you all that these assets will be adequately maintained to sustain our maritime security operations.

"The Nigerian Navy will continue to imbibe the realities of our national imperatives and apply the most optimal policies and strategies in addressing the security challenges in our maritime domain including the Gulf of Guinea. To this end, our platforms will be deployed in line with the NN’s Trinityof-Actions Concept of Maritime Security to deny criminal elements freedom of action.

"The NN remains committed to a robust collaborative engagement with other maritime stakeholders in enhancing the performance of the nation’s ports and that shipping activities along our Sea Lanes of communications including maritime activities along the Inland waterways are not hindered in anyway. May I therefore use this occasion to once again solicit for the sustenance of the cooperation among maritime and security stakeholders operating in our maritime domain."

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WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 15, 2021 • T H I S D AY

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2021

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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

1 4 , 2 0 2 1

S & P INDEX

EXCHANGE RATE

OBB

14.00%

CALL

4%

INDEX LEVEL

565.29%

1/4 TO DATE

6.06%

N412.08/ 1 US DOLLAR*

OVERNIGHT

14.50%

1-MONTH

6%

1-DAY

–0.11%

YEAR TO DATE

– 15.66%

*AS AT LAST FRIDAY

3-MONTH

10%

MONTH-TO-DATE

0.41%

With Competition to Meet CBN LDR Stiffer, 13 Banks’ Loans to Customers Rise Above N23.36trn Sector loans up N2.6trn or 13% FinTechs, PSPs acerbates competition

Kayode Tokede A total of 13 Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) operating in Nigeria and some African countries have increased their loans & advances to customers by 13 per cent in nine months of 2021 as competition to meet the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) 65 per cent Loan-Deposit-Ratio (LDR) intensified.

Although the 65 per cent LDR only mandatory in the Nigeria’s banking sector, banks were not relenting in granting loans to customers despite glance of post-covid-19 challenges in

African countries where they operate.

Data gathered from Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on banks audited/ unaudited results showed that total loans & advances held in 13 banks rose to N23.36trillion in the nine months ended September 30, 2021 about N2.6 trillion or 13 per cent higher than N20.76 trillion reported at the end of 2020 financial year.

With the advent of the pandemic and severe competition from Fintechs, Nigerian banks have also deployed mobile App strategies and other traditional forms in driving loans

to customers.

Disrupters such as Carbon, Fairmoney, Branch, among others have made significant advancements into the retail banking space as they offer incentives to youth to abandon the more traditional access to loans.

Analysis of the banks’ audited/ unaudited results showed that Access Bank Plc with presence in over 10 countries in the continent, and over 40 million customers base is currently the highest Tier-1 banks in loans & advances, while Guaranty Trust Holdings Plc (GTCO) ranked

the lowest.

Further findings revealed that Access Bank, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) and Zenith Bank Plc maintained an average N3 trillion loans & advances to customers.

In the Tier-2 category, Fidelity bank maintains the number one spot in loans & advances to customers in the period under review.

Commenting analysts said FinTechs are challenging the scope of lending to customers, stressing that current financial services space does not poses a threat to Nigerian banks loans &

advances to customers.

According to a stockbroker and analyst, Mr. Rotimi Fakayejo, “The Fintech companies operation is currently been felt in loans to retail customers. Easy accessibility by Fintech companies has given them leverage and they have a market niche over the banks.

“They targeted mostly the youths and as you likely know, accessing loans from banks demand documentations which the youths do not have that patient. However, the youths form the larger market share with easy access

to N50,000 loan unlike banks that target a single customer with loan of about N2billion.

“The Fintech space was not viable for banks because in the past, how many customers were banks granting N10,000 loan? However, the story has changed but I don’t really see much competition between the bank and Fintech companies disbursing loans to customers.”

Fakayejo added that: “While most newer banks focus on attracting Continued on page 26

Adedeji: NSMP Attracted over N200bn Investments through Backward Integration in Seven Years James Emejo in Abuja The Executive Secretary, National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Mr. Zacch Adedeji, has said the implementation of the Nigerian Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) had attracted investments valued at over N200 billion through the Backward Integration Programme (BIP. He said more investors have expressed their willingness to commit their resources to

development the sugar sector.

He said the 10-year sugar roadmap, now in its seventh year of implementation had been anchored on four major planks; to attain self-sufficiency in sugar production, stem the rising tide of sugar importation, create jobs for Nigerians and contribute to the production of ethanol and electricity generation.

Adedeji, at the annual media interactive session in Abuja, said a new investor, KIA Group Africa

had recently completed the process of acquiring the defunct Nigeria Sugar Company (NISUCO) in Bacita, Kwara State adding that the company had since commenced work.

He said the KIA Group now joins existing industry players like the Dangote Group, BUA Group and the Flour Mills to drive the BIP component of the NSMP. The NSDC boss further disclosed that the KIA Group, had aready sets its eyes on producing at least 300,000 metric tonnes of sugarcane,

refining an estimated 204,000 metric tonnes of the sweet commodity, and generating N46 billion revenue by 2027.

This, he added, is in additional to a workforce of about 20,000 employees, which would be engaged to drive the company towards optimum production and ensure economic growth of the country.

He also said the Flour Mills Nigeria Limited recently signed a multi-millionaire agreement with the Niger State government to build

a factory in Toto, Nasarawa State, pointing out that the new project is in addition to the company’s N50 billion Golden Sugar estate in Sunti Niger, which was commissioned in 2018

by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Adedeji reiterated the federal government’s commitment through the council to building a globally competitive sugar industry that would boost local economy, provide jobs for Nigeria’s teeming youth population and position Nigeria as a net exporter of the commodity.

He said, “We at the council aren’t resting on our oars in our resolve to revitalise the nation’s sugar sector as we have continued to come up with sound measures and strategies that would accelerate our drive to attain sugar self-sufficiency.”

He also said to address peculiar challenges often faced by sugar operators as it relates to the acquisition of equipment and machineries for their operations, Continued on page 26

M A R K E T D ATA A S AT T U E S D AY, D E C E M B E R 1 4 , 2 0 2 1 FGN BONDS DESCRIPTION 7.144 FGNSB 15-JAN-2022 13.125 FGNSB 16-JAN-2022 16.39 27-JAN2022 5.910 FGNSB 12-FEB-2022 13.050 FGNSB 13-FEB-2022

Price

Yield

BILLS Change (%)

MATURITY

OTC FX F U T U R E S

Discount Yield Change (%)

100.29

3.72

0.01

NTB 13-Jan-22

3.69

3.70 0.00

100.83

3.71

0.01

NTB 27-Jan-22

3.85

3.86 0.00

101.49

3.64

0.06

NTB 10-Feb-22

4.00

4.03 0.00

100.38

3.53

0.13

NTB 24-Feb-22

2.45

101.56

3.52

0.14

NTB 10-Mar-22

2.98

CONTRACT TENOR (MONTH) 1

Contract

Current Rate ($/₦)

NGUS DEC 29 2021 421.18

2

NGUS JAN 26 2022 422.61

3

NGUS FEB 23 2022 424.04

2.46 0.00

4

NGUS MAR 30 2022 425.46

3.00 0.00

5

NGUS APR 27 2022 426.89

C Ps MATURITY

Discount Yield

Change (%)

MTNN CP IV 17DEC-21 FDHC CP I 17DEC-21 PARP CP II 30DEC-21 CMBL CP XVI 7-JAN-22 CTIL CP I 10JAN-22

7.31

7.32

-0.12

7.31

7.32

-0.12

5.61

5.62

-0.06

7.68

7.72

-0.03

5.87

5.90

-0.01

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

BURGER KING DEBUTS IN NIGERIA…

L - R: Head of IT, Allied Food and Confectionary Services Limited,Busayo Sholarin; Marketing Coordinator, Burger King Nigeria, Ibukun Joyce Aiyemo; Area Franchisee Lead, Africa Division,Almudena Miguel-Romero; General Manager, Burger King Corporation-EMEA, Robert Lu; Managing Director, Allied Food and Confectionary Services Limited,Antoine Zammarieh and Operations Manager Burger King Nigeria, Elie Youseff during the introduction of Burger King to Nigerian held in Lagos...recently

Micro Pension Scheme: PFAs Register 72,846 Contributors in Three Years, Plan Introduction of Incentives Ebere Nwoji

Three years into the launch of the micro pension plan (MPP), pension fund operators said they have registered just 72,846 contributors revealing that they have resorted to introduction of value addition incentives to encourage more participation into the Micro Pension Plan .

The micro Pension plan was officially launched by the president Muhammadu Buhari’s administration on March 29,2019.

Since its launch, contrary to the desires and aspirations of the pension sector regulator, the National Pension Commission (PenCom), the micro pension plan has witnessed slow growth.

This is in contrast to the speedy growth witnessed by the Contributory pension scheme (CPS) which had within 17 years of its regime registered over 10 million contributors and built up N13 trillion assets.

Speaking at the Annual media Parley organised by the umbrella body of pension fund administrators, the Pension Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), the Head, Micro Pension Department, PenCom, Mr Dowda Ahmed, said current number of contributors into the micro pension scheme which was approximately 73000 contributors fall short of the commission’s expectation.

According to him, the commission, had expected more than what it has recorded, adding that the commission had engaged some stakeholders to ensure that the MPP had an enabling environment to thrive He described the Micro Pension Plan as a long-term voluntary financial plan for the provision of pension coverage to the selfemployed and persons working under organisations with less than

three employees who are mainly in the informal sector.

According to him, the commission had expected more than what it has recorded.

“Yes we are not making so much as expeceted, a lot of work has been going on to that effect. Our targeted media campaign is coming up, our major challenge is lack of awareness about the products itself and there is

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

a committee had been set up by the Commission to commence massive campaign next year?

Okwuosa, said the association was working on how to introduce incentives into the micro pension plan as value addition to contributors.

She said the operators had reached out to some financial service providers, especially insurers to work out measures for adoption

of products such as health insurance, term life assurance, loss of job policy amongst others as incentives for their micro pension contributors to improve on the lives and fortune of micro pension subscribers.

According to her, PenOp and the National Pension Commission (PenCom) desire a better lifestyle for micro pension contributors and are working to see that aside

the benefits of retirement and contingency savings, contributors maximise other robust incentives.

On recapitalisation exercise, the Head Surveillance, PenCom, Mr Ehimeme Ohioma disclosed that about 10 PFAs have met the recapitalisation requirment of increasing their minimum capital base to N5 billion in April, 2021 as required by the Commission.

APM Terminals Investment in Apapa Hits N180 billion Nigeria’s largest container terminal, APM Terminals Apapa has said that it invested $438 million (about N180 billion) in the upgrade of its facility, acquisition of modern cargo handling equipment and support of seamless service since it won concession of the terminal in 2006. The investment is the highest by any port terminal operator in Nigeria.

The Terminal Manager of APM Terminals Apapa, Steen Knudsen, said the terminal is on an exciting journey of major transformation to deliver greater, sustainable

benefits to the Nigerian economy and society.

Aside the investment in equipment and facility upgrade, he said APM Terminals Apapa is also investing substantially into continuous development of its workforce.

“Since inception, we have invested around $438 million purely into the handling equipment we have in the terminal. We have acquired mobile harbour cranes, rubber tyred gantry cranes, reach stackers, forklifts, terminal trucks,

empty handlers and invested into yard improvements.

“An equally important investment is the investment into our workforce, ensuring that we continuously develop our staff. This covers trainings, career progression and, of course, expanding the business and creating new jobs.

“At the moment we are also focusing on investing into our facilities: renovating our buildings, upgrading in-gate and out-gate facilities, terminal fencing and lighting. We have equipped the

parking area access with a facial recognition system and expanded our terminal fleet with new shuttle buses and pickup trucks.

“Some of our other investments are aimed at simplifying and enhancing trade. For a long time, shipping has been a very manual and paper-heavy process.

We are using global best practices to introduce digitalized products, in order to ensure that importers and exporters enjoy a seamless service from the terminal,”Knudsen said.

APM Terminals Apapa also

recently launched a massive digitization of its operations and services through the deployment of 4G LTE wireless network, and commissioned its Operation Command Centre to enhance quality service delivery.

“We remain committed to deepening our investment in Apapa to enable us handle increasing volumes at the port. Our investments will create capacity to handle growth in the economy to support the Federal Government’s efforts on trade growth and improve service delivery across the logistic chain,” he said.

Court Strikes out N400m Suit by Ex-Veritas Registrars’ Staff against Firm A Lagos State High Court has struck out the suit filed by a former staff of Veritas Registrars Limited, Pastor Anthony Afuye-Cyrus, against the firm.

In striking out the matter, the court said it lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit.

Justice L. A. Okunnu held that the suit filed by Afuye-Cyrus is best ventilated at the National Industrial Court, saddled with labour and employment matters.

The aggrieved staff had approached the court for an order seeking the pay-

ment of the total sum of N400 million as damages over his sack from the company.

In the suit marked: LD/569CM/2021, the defendant claimed the sum of N200,000,000 as severance benefits and end of service entitlements accruing to his position as the Head, InfoTech, Veritas Registrars Limited.

He is also sought the sum of N150,000,000 as compensation for reporting alleged fraud in the company and for supposed harassment and intimidation by his erstwhile colleagues

and employer.

Pastor Afuye-Cyrus also claimed the sum of N50,000,000 as general damages.

Veritas Registrars Limited, in response to the suit, filed a notice of preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the High Court of Lagos State to entertain the suit on the grounds that the subject matter of the suit was under the exclusive purview of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria.

Counsel to the defendant, Moruf Sowunmi, in arguing the objection, submitted that the appropriate court

vested with the requisite jurisdiction to hear and determine the suit is the National Industrial Court of Nigeria as the subject matter of the suit is related to labour and employment and urged the court to strike out the suit for lack of jurisdiction.

Sowunmi also argued that the claimant’s response to Veritas Registrars Limited’s objection was incompetent as the said processes were filed outside the time prescribed by the rules of the High Court of Lagos State.

The counsel further argued that the

counter affidavit filed by the claimant in opposition to the objection, was filled with arguments and conclusions.

Justice Okunnu, in his ruling, affirmed the submissions of the defendant’s counsel and held that the court did not have the requisite jurisdiction to hear and determine the suit, as the subject matter fell within the exclusive purview of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria.

The court accordingly struck out the suit in its entirety, for lack of jurisdiction.

ADEDEJI: NSMP ATTRACTED OVER N200BN INVESTMENTS THROUGH BACKWARD INTEGRATION IN SEVEN YEARS the council in its wisdom recently convened a roundtable forum comprising of critical stakeholders to deliberate and share perspectives

Group Business Editor Eromosele Abiodun

need for operators and commission to do more to create awareness.

Stakeholders have been engaged to make sure we have enabling environmental for success, next year, there will be a lot of activities to ensure we drive the Micro Pension plan,” Ahmed assured.

Also speaking, the Managing Director/CEO, Access Pension Fund Custodian, Idu Okwuosa, said that

and come up with lasting solutions to the problems.

According to, the forum later deliberated and adopted some

modest and cost-effective measures that would end the perennial face-offs between operators and government officials across the

nation’s ports, adding that the council had further engaged important stakeholders on how best to address the issues of

perennial disagreements and clashes between host communities and sugar operators in sugar developing areas over land acquisition.

WITH COMPETITION TO MEET CBN LDR STIFFER, 13 BANKS’ LOANS TO CUSTOMERS RISE ABOVE N23.36TRN younger account openers or newer businesses, traditional banks create a value chain of products built into their ecosystem that allows them mobilize a sizeable deposit.”

A breakdown of banks’ activity revealed that Access bank grew its loans & advances by 16.4 per cent year to date from N3.22 trillion in closed in 2020 FY to N3.75trillion as at September 30, 2021, to cement its leadership in loans & advances among its peers.

Despite reporting 0.92 per cent decline, ETI reported N3.67trillion in loans & advances to customers as at September 30, 2021 from N3.7trillion reported in 2020.

Zenith Bank with improved lending to corporate, others recorded about nine per cent increase in loans & advances to customers to N3.02trillion as at September 30, 2021

from N2.78trillion reported in 2020.

With the growth in loans & advances, Zenith bank’s LDR dropped by four per cent to close September 30, 2021 at 52.7 per cent from 54.7 per cent recorded in 2020 FY. The banking subsidiary of Zenith Bank also reported 7 per cent decline in LDR to 60.2 per cent as at September 30, 2021 from 64.5 per cent recorded in 2020.

Meanwhile, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc grew its loans & advances to customers by 12.4 per cent to N2.87trillion as at September 30, 2021 from N2.55trillion reported in 2020.

The Group Managing Director/ CEO, UBA, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, had in a statement expressed that the management is maintaining a prudent approach to risk management and the efficacy of its digital-first

customer-centric business strategy, helped in keeping loan growth steady at double-digit, while still being able to moderate cost.

He added that “Through the help of our digital-first strategy, we were able to increase the number of our agent network in the period by over 140 per cent, increasing our controlling stake in the market.”

The Group CFO, Ugo Nwaghodoh had said: “As we will continue to pursue a cautious loan growth strategy in 2021, we have strategically maintained strong capital adequacy and liquidity ratios at 23.7 per cent and 53 per cent respectively, a pointer to how well the bank’s buffers remain positioned to withstand impending shocks and ensuring enough headroom for growth and the Bank will sustain this growth momentum, to ensure we consistently deliver sustainable

value to our valued stakeholders.”

In addition, GTCO reported 4.5 per cent increase in loans & advances to N1.74trillion as at September 30, 2021 from N1.66trillion reported in 2020.

From the Tier-2 bank category, Fidelity bank grew its loans & advances by 22 per cent to N1.61trillion from N1.33trillion in full year ended December 31, 2020.

The MD/CEO of Fidelity Bank, Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe in a statement said: “Intervention fund facilities and the impact of foreign exchange rate contributed circa 22.9per cent and 6.5per cent of the growth in our Loan Book respectively.”

Analysts have said apart from Fintech companies, Payment Service Banks (PSPs) like MTN and Airtel have also provide a different form of competition to banks lending to customers.

Analyst at PAC Holdings, Mr. Wole Adeyeye said the impact of Fintech companies granting loans to customers might impact on banks in mid-term long.

According to him: “Banks are also not relenting in loan disbursements to customers. Fintech companies have been able to grow technology to support transactions and some banks might probably collaborate with telecommunication companies to have more reach.

“The banks have the license to perform deposit and granting loans which is their core banking. However, I foresee collaboration as we process and mind you, it might impact on banks loan in mid-long term; with the threat posed by the competition, Nigerian banks still have significant headroom in terms of loans to customers and the ability to maintain their growth.”

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2021

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ECONOMY

Financing Rubber to Catalyse Growth James Emejo writes that maximising the potentials of the rubber sector could strengthen current efforts to diversify the base of the economy, boost employment opportunities and enhance foreign exchange inflows

T

he vast potential of rubber for economic sustainability especially in the areas of job creation and foreign exchange accruals to the country cannot be over-empasised.

Before the discovery oil, the sector played a major role in stimulating non-oil exports as well as providing raw materials for agro-based industries.

The use of rubber is almost invaluable, and evidenced in virtually every aspect of human endeavour, especially in the automobile sub-sector, providing the critical ingredients for the production automobile tyres, dashboard, engine parts, seals and paddings and a variety of other parts.

In fact, it is argued that Nigeria’s efforts to reposition its automobile sector would be limited except attention is equally given towards the revival of the rubber sector due to the enormous raw material input the latter provides for the former.

Rubber also provides critical raw material input in aviation, maritime, fashion and health sectors, particularly in the production of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) including gloves, shoe covers, overalls, gowns among others. The commodity is reportedly used in over 40,000 commercial products.

Natural rubber was domesticated in 1876 and gained global awareness in 1913. Currently, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia are the leading producers of natural rubber in the world.

While global demand growth for the commodity is estimated at about 3.4 per cent annually, the global rubber market was worth over $40 billion in 2020 and further projected to increase to over $68.5 billion by 2026.

Natural rubber is a vital agricultural commodity in Nigeria.

According to records, the Federal Department of Agriculture first planted its rubber plot in 1906. Between 1909 and 1917 about 2,160 ha of rubber trees were planted in the country.

From 1960s to the early 1970s rubber used to be the fourth most valuable Nigerian agricultural export commodity after cocoa, groundnuts and palm kernels.

But it has suffered a significant decline from its pre-eminent position in the seventies due to the emergence of the petroleum industry as a major contributor of the national economy.

SECTOR NEGLECT

Like several others sectors, the rubber segment has also suffered neglect and diminished capacity following the discovery of oil in the country in the 1970s. A once vibrant sector appeared to be in a shadow of its own currently struggling to meet local demand talk of exporting to other countries of the world and thereby losing revenue opportunities.

The United States of America in March 2021 alone, imported rubber from Thailand worth $140 million. 85% of that rubber came from the smallholder farmers farmed with within 1 to 2 hectares of land. This is to draw the attention of Government at the sub-national level to support rubber plantations and processing of the plant. The FMITI has recognized rubber as a critical raw material input majorly used in the auto industry, aviation industry, marine/ship

industry, fashion industry, health sector such as in the production of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) i.e. gloves, shoe covers, overalls, gowns and more.

Rubber as is known today is used in over 40,000 commercial products.

STAKEHOLDERS LAMENT

Earlier in 2014, stakeholders had raised the alarm that the capacity of the country’s rubber industry had declined to about 65,000 metric tonnes per annum (tpa) from about 130,000 tpa. The decrease was largely blamed on the inability to replenish old plantations and establish new ones. In addition, global rubber prices which were above $4,000 per tonne had also fallen to about $1,970 per tonne at the time. Analysts had also blamed the dwindling fortunes of the commodity on lower yield in plantations, dwindling supply of rubber from rubber trees and the declining prices of cars internationally.

In 2019, rubber farmers alleged the federal government’s neglect of the cash crop as rubber was not listed a beneficiary of government’s intervention through the Bankers’ Committee to provide loan facilities to boost the production of five crops particularly cocoa, palm oil, sesame seeds, cashew and shea butter- all of which had qualified for a single digit interest loan of nine per cent with a moratorium of 10 years for the five crops listed with the exclusion of rubber.

This was despite the fact that rubber produced Edo, Delta, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Imo, Rivers, Ondo and Abia, provided employment opportunities to over 5,000 workers across these states.

It is further believed that the country losses about $160 billion in annual revenues from rubber due to the neglect of the sub-sector

FG VOWS SECTOR RESUSCITATION

Given the potential of the rubber industry and the number of job opportunities and economic prosperity being lost, stakeholders have recently intensified efforts to draw attention of the federal government to the industry.

Funding remains a challenge in the industry and stakeholders believed the commodity should also benefit from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Anchor Borrower Programme (ABP).

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr, Niyi Adebayo, at a recent conference on industrialisation of the rubber sub-sector in Nigeria, said Africa produces about 408,000 tonnes annually, out of which Nigeria accounted for over 90,000 tonnes, but now only about 66,500 tonnes annually, representing about a 26.1 per cent decrease in natural rubber production from Nigeria.

The minister blamed the dwindling fortune on lack or poor commitment in the sector.

According to the him, the rubber sub-sector provides three key supports

to the national economy –providing raw materials that are needed for agriculturally based firm as well as income as the country is a net exporter of rubber, and also provides numerous employment opportunities.

He said, “However, the sub-sector is faced with numerous challenges such as poor investments in rubber farming, high production cost, inadequate database for policy formulation and programme planning, low levels of mechanization for yield improvement, aging rubber trees among others.”

Adebayo, however, said to address this, the federal government through the ministry was repositioning its economic policy to diversifying the economy especially towards agriculture, solid minerals and manufacturing, noting that the rubber industry is related to the automotive industry in terms of production of tyres and other rubber products needed in vehicle manufacturing and assembling.

In this regard, he said the ministry is currently reviewing the National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP) in conjunction with the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) and is articulating more policies and programmes that would transform Nigeria into a modern industrialised nation and making the rubber sub-sector as a major contributor to the nation’s GDP through the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP).

He explained that the NIRP is a plan designed to accelerate the build-up of industrial capacity in the country, and to significantly raise manufacturing contribution to GDP, based on sectors where Nigeria has comparative advantages particularly in agro-allied, metals and solid minerals, oil & gas, construction, light manufacturing and services.

He said, “It is also designed to attract investment into the development of several sectors with comparative advantage such as the rubber sub-sector to enable forward and backward linkages between the primary sectors (agriculture) and the manufacturing sector.”

OPERATORS PROFFER SOLUTION

The President, National Rubber Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NARPPMAN), Prince Peter Igbinosun, at the threeday conference said urged the federal government to take up the responsibility to measure out modalities to assist in rubber production technology to further enhance the promotion and sustainability of rubber sub-sector.

The operators further tasked the government to create avenues for giving out agricultural subsidies to rubber farmers adding that Private Public Partnerships (PPPs) should be evolved to develop the sub-sector as well as

provide other assistance including processing machines, free construction of smokehouses in clusters for effective storage facilities, basic infrastructural facilities, agrochemicals and fertilizers to boost rubber production.

Igbinosun, further called for regular training and workshops for rubber farmers, and provision of soft loans at single-digit interest rate for rubber farmers, calling on the CBN to incorporate the development of rubber by creating a special development package for long gestation crops such as rubber.

The farmers also called on the Bank of Agriculture, Bank of Industry and NEXIM Bank to be fully involved in the development of the rubber sub-sector by making funds available for rubber development at friendly interest rate for small and industrial rubber farmers.

The NARPPMAN president said, “For generations that were not born in an era where the economy of Nigeria began and ended with Petroleum, a mention of cash crops like cocoa, oil palm, cashew, and rubber among others bring back the memories of opportunity lost.

“Nigeria was built and developed with money from these sectors. The records are that until 1967, the Benin native Authority was Nigeria’s second richest tier of government; deriving its wealth from the natural resources of available rubber extracts, processing and export. Unfortunately 95 per cent of available rubber plantations, apart from being over 40 years old, are being abandoned with trees fell and used as firewood or furniture.

“Consequently, Nigeria has been losing attendant huge employment and income to new comer countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and India that are together currently generating over 400 million employment and the annual income of $160 billion.”

Continuing, he said,”Nigeria is in a period in her economic life where her major focus on crude oil is failing to sustain the economy.

The unstable price of the product as well as its attendant crises has left the country with no other option than to focus on developing the Agricultural sector, which at a time in our history was the main stay of the economy.

“The fact that such a critical sub-sector as the rubber value chain underscores how we have for too long abandoned this critical sector of the economy in the name of crude oil. Rubber as an internationally traded Agricultural commodity that is in high demand all over the world, played a major role as a foreign exchange earner and contributor to the growth of our National economy.

“If given the proper attention, rubber alone can transform the economy of Nigeria and employ millions of people as it is proven to have some of the largest value-chains.

With over 50 by-products, in over 400,000 applications, rubber is rated among the most profitable agro-industrial ventures. It is in fact considered the world’s fourth most important natural resource after air, water and petroleum. That is why our slogan is no rubber, no nation.”

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

FINANCE

How Fidelity Bank is Fostering Financial Inclusion Ugo Aliogo writes on how Fidelity Bank Plc is driving Central Bank of Nigeria bid to ensure that all eligible Nigerians have access to basic financial services and a businessman call on Nigerians to participate in the bank’s GAIM 5 after winning N10 million in the last promo campaign

L-R: Principal, Monitoring & Enforcement, Lagos State Lottery Board (LSLB), Mr. Yomi Ghansah; Head, Savings and Sales, Fidelity Bank Plc, Mr Ukpai Ibe; Fidelity GAIM N10 million winners, Sunday Okechuckwu and Justine Nwaozor; Executive Director, Lagos & South-West, Fidelity Bank Plc, Dr. Ken Opara; and Representative, National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC), Mrs. Victoria Imede, at the Fidelity Get Alert In Millions (GAIM) prize presentation ceremony held in Lagos… recently

N

igeria’s financial regulatory body, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has sought to ensure that all eligible Nigerians have access to basic financial services like savings account insurance, citing the alarming statistics of the country’s unbanked population, which currently makes up 3 percent of the world’s unbanked population.

Stating the importance of this drive for financial inclusion is stating the obvious, as Nigeria currently ranks poorly among other economies in the world.

To better the statistics of its people living below the poverty line, there need to be drastic measures set in place to change lives positively.

In seeking to reach a 95 per cent financial inclusion target in Nigeria by 2024 as set by CBN, financial institutions aim to promote better financial sustainability habits, especially savings, among the people.

One financial institution that is showing outstanding commitment to helping Nigerians cultivate a sustainable and healthy savings habit is Fidelity Bank Plc. The bank, charged by its vision to foster individual and economic development, is on a mission to ultimately help its customers live a financially sustainable lifestyle through life-changing initiatives.

One such initiative that has yielded outstanding results and benefits for everyday Nigerians is the Get Alert in Millions (GAIM) Campaign, which was launched in 2016. Launched primarily to reward loyal customers, the savings promo has continued to play a pivotal role in encouraging customers and members of the public to imbibe a healthy savings culture.

Although the GAIM campaign is serving multiple purposes, a major feature is its life-changing impact on customers’ lives.

Millions of Nigerians are making smart, life-changing financial decisions by participating in Fidelity Bank’s Get Alert in Millions promo. Just off the back of the GAIM Season 4 promo that saw several participants become millionaires and at least two participants winning a sum of N10 million each, the GAIM campaign, which is a part of the bank’s financial inclusion strategy, has kicked off again for a new season. GAIM Season 4 promo was an exciting one and many Nigerians smiled home after been rewarded by the bank.

Such is the story of Justine Nwaozor, one of the winners in the recently concluded Get Alert in Millions (GAIM) Season 4 campaign, who couldn’t believe his luck when the draw rolled in his favor at the season’s grand finale. Nwaozor, a businessman, walked home with the grand prize of N10 million out of millions of qualified customers in the draw.

Yet to get over the euphoria of his win, Nwaozor says, “I did not expect to win that much in the promo.

Since I won, I have been encouraging my friends to also participate in subsequent GAIM promos.”

Nwaozor admits that the sum has greatly impacted his baking materials business and puts him in a position to sustain and expand the business into the long term.

The businessman was not the only winner in the savings promo’s fourth season, as he joined 70 other participants to share total cash winnings of N120 million and 108 consolation prizes, including television sets, fridges, and generators.

Now in its fifth season, the GAIM Campaign offers even better financial opportunities for customers of Fidelity Bank. The latest edition, which is designed to run till July 2022, promises participants a total of

L-R: Principal, Monitoring & Enforcement, Lagos State Lottery Board (LSLB), Mr. Yomi Ghansah; winner of a Television set, Kasali and Modupe Olagunju;, winner of Refrigerator, Christian Chukwudi Ambrose; N1 million winner, Rachel Ogonna Okolie; N3 million winner, Ugochi Chidozie; Fidelity GAIM N10 million winners, Sunday Okechuckwu and Justine Nwaozor; Executive Director, Lagos & SouthWest, Fidelity Bank Plc, Dr. Ken Opara; Representative, National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC), Mrs. Victoria Imede; winner of a generator set, Favour Chisimdirim and N1 million winner, Anthony Okoro at the Fidelity Get Alert In Millions Promo (GAIM) prize presentation held in Lagos recently.

L-R: Head, Savings and Sales, Fidelity Bank, Ukpai Ibe; Divisional Head, Product Development, Fidelity Bank, Osita Ede; Promo Chairperson and Executive Director, Lagos & South-West, Fidelity Bank, Dr. Ken Opara; Deputy Director, National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC), Lagos Division, Nkiru Onuzulu and GAIM Ambassador, Chinedu Ani Emmanuel at the launch of Fidelity Bank’s Get Alert in Million Season 5 promo held in Lagos… recently N125 million in cash prizes, all of which will savings culture this initiative will drive. Over be distributed to lucky customers of the bank the years, we have seen that many customers through monthly and grand draws as well as and hitherto non-customers have increased their weekly consolations giveaways. savings by simply keying into the GAIM promo The GAIM 5 is open to existing and new and we believe that this season will not be an customers of Fidelity Bank who deposit a exception,” he said. minimum of N2,000 in any of their Fidelity GAIM Season 5 employs a ‘ticket entry apBank savings accounts as well as debit card proach’ where every N2,000 in a customer’s to qualify in the promo. The more N2,000 you account would be considered one ticket entry save, the more chances of winning in the promo. to win in the promo. Each ticket entry gives Fidelity Bank’s Executive Director, Lagos customers the opportunity to win N10,000 in & South-West, Dr. Ken Opara speaking at the the weekly consolation giveaway to 50 lucky launch of GAIM 5 a recently expressed his winners; a minimum of two ticket entries will delight at how the new savings promo will qualify customers to win N1m in the monthly change many more lives. draws to 10 lucky winners, while a minimum of “We are elated at yet another opportunity 10 ticket entries will qualify customers to either to enrich and empower Nigerians with up win N2 million, N5 million or N10 million in to N125 million Naira cash prizes especially the grand draw. at a time like this. We are also thrilled at the The bank’s Divisional Head, Product

Development, Osita Ede also urged Nigerians to take advantage of the promo. According to Ede, “In this season of the promo where every N2,000 in a customer’s account would be considered a ticket entry to win in the promo, so the more N2,000 deposits, the more ticket entries and chances to win in the promo.”

Since its launch, the GAIM savings promo has been instrumental in changing the financial fortunes of over 200 Nigerians who have become millionaires simply by maintaining a healthy saving habit. Over 500 other customers of Fidelity Bank have been rewarded with numerous prizes.

It is worth noting that the fifth season of the Get Alert in Millions Campaign, which is currently underway, is the 10th in the series of savings promos organized by Fidelity Bank Plc in the last 15 years.

Aside from the savings promotional campaign, the bank has also doled out over N4.1bn to 10,280 customers in the savings loyalty scheme that offers N500,000 “extra income and N150,000 “School Fees Support” each to both Fidelity Personal Saving Scheme and Fidelity Sweet Account holders respectively.

Going by the life-changing opportunities in the Get Alert in Millions Campaign Season 5, it is apparent more people are set to enjoy a turnaround in their financial fortune when the curtains are drawn on the savings promo in the next seven months. The fast-rising bank’s leadership have expressed delight in achieving the aim of the savings promo, seeing many Nigerians improve on their savings habit.

But it is even more heartening to see the lives that have been transformed for the better.

Overall, due to Fidelity Bank’s strategic life-changing initiatives, the vision to build investible funds for individuals and companies and improve Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in accordance with CBN’s target remains a possibility.

Initiatives like the Get Alert in Millions Campaign are important and necessary to provide Nigerians with opportunities to improve their financial standing.

And Fidelity Bank is clearly leading the way.

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2021

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BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

Kyari Inaugurates Emadeb’s 120-ton LPG Plant, Pledges Constant Gas Supply Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mallam Mele Kyari, has inaugurated the 120-ton Emadeb Energy’s Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) plant in Abuja, pledging to ensure constant supply of gas to the facility.

Kyari stressed that the plant located in Gaduwa District

aligned with the aspiration of the federal government to ensure that clean and cheaper fuel is made available in the country.

The NNPC boss noted that the company decided to key into the “decade of gas” declared by the federal government, which aims to explore the enormous gas resources in the country so that there will be extensive domestic gas use and export.

According to the NNPC GMD, the move will not only bring prosperity to the country, ensure security of energy, but bring cleaner fuels nearer to consumers.

“You can always count on us at the NNPC to support the initiative in terms of supply and also sharing every necessary data and information at our disposal to help grow this business for the benefit of the Nigerian people,” he stated.

While conveying the delight of President Muhammadu Buhari at the completion of the project, Kyari stated that it will eventually reduce the cost of energy for the Nigerian people since LPG is cheaper than any other type of fuel, stressing that it was one of the many steps to make sure gas is made available to Nigerians.

In addition, the GMD pointed out that the auto gas conversion centre available in

the facility will provide an easy alternative to petrol and praised the firm for deploying 100 per cent local content in establishing the centre.

On the skyrocketing prices of cooking gas, Kyari blamed the shortage of supply as well as the impact of the international market for the development, stating that it’s a reflection of what’s happening in the global market.

“But what we are doing

Collapsed Ikoyi Building: IIFG Urged to Make Health Insurance Compulsory Ebere Nwoji The Chairman, Insurance Industry Consultative Council (IICC), Mr Muftau Oyegunle has called on federal government to make health Insurance compulsory in Nigeria.

He made the call against the backdrop of the collapsed Ikoyi building, which killed no less that 45 people but lacked insurance cover to bring succor to the deceased dependents.

The IICC is a body that unites all the arms of insurance industry in Nigeria.It is an organ through which the insurance Operators speak with

one voice on crucial issues that affect the industry.

It comprises of Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers(NCRIB), Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria( CIIN), Institute of Loss Adjusters of Nigeria(ILAN).

Oyegunle, who is its current president spoke at the Annual Media Retreat organised by the IICC council for Insurance and Pension journalists at Asese, Ogun state, said the federal government could achieve this by subsidising the premium paid by Nigerians on the policy.

He noted that this has been

done successfully in other countries therefore is achievable in Nigeria.

“It may interest you to know that common malaria kills more people in Nigeria than Covid.“The recent Collapse of 21 storey 360 degrees apartment at Gerald Road, Ikoyi on November 1, 2021 where 45 deaths so far have been recorded with many wounded without any insurance cover exposed the level of decadence in our society. It simply revealed the level of culture of settlement in our country. “he said.

Oyegunle, explained that the insurance industry would not

be able to avoid the incident or do anything after the incident since they were not involved from the beginning.

He added that the industry was waiting for the response of the Lagos State Government whom he said would share in the blame of the collapsed building which obviously lacked insurance cover.

Also Speaking, the Managing Director /CEO, Afriglobal Insurance Brokers Limited, Casmir Azubuike, while presenting his paper titled, ‘Changing the face of Insurance Practice,’ at the retreat, urged federal government to look into and regulate the

high cost of building materials.

He explained that due to the high cost of building materials, developers try to use substandard materials or cut corners to get things done to save cost thereby resulting in the collapse of buildings.

is to increase supply. Once supply increases, prices will come down,” he assured.

In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer, Emadeb Energy, Debo Olujimi, stressed that the company decided to establish the plant as a model for clean energy in Abuja.

“We all know the importance of cooking, we decided to do the 120 tons LPG storage and we looked at the entire neighbourhood of about 56 communities and a minimum of 1000 in each of those estates.

“This is a good project in terms of return on investment and clean energy because everyone knows the importance of LPG and we want a solution to a clean environment in terms of retailing LPG. “We are looking for an opportunity to domesticate gas.

We are going to expand to 240 tons within the next one year and a half. This is our model and we intend doing this in six locations across the country.

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 15, 2021

EDUCATION EkoExcel’s Pursuit for Quality Education in Lagos Schools Two years into the introduction and commencement of the EkoExcel initiative by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration, its stakeholders who have been saddled with the responsibility of coordinating it to ensure its success in Lagos, explained to Funmi Ogundare why it is imperative to deliver accessible, quality education

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hen the idea of the Eko Excel initiative was mooted in 2019, it was to support teachers in achieving better learning outcomes in the classroom. The initiative is an education reform of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration in developing more highly skilled teachers in public schools and enhancing Lagos’ basic education curriculum.

The programme is encapsulated in the third pillar of the THEMES agenda to provide education and technology. So far, over 18,000 headteachers and teachers have been moved from analogue to digital teaching, using tablets and updated curriculum. Over 14,000 primary school teachers from 1,017 public primary schools have been captured under the scheme.

The permanent board member in charge of the special project of the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LSUBEB), Bayo Adefuye, told THISDAY that the outcome of the teacher training over the past two years had improved drastically as it has made the classroom more interesting, engaging and fun.

“Their outcome over the past two years has improved drastically. It shows that learning is now uniform all over the state because the same thing is taught all over the state every day,” Adefuye stated. “The same thing they are learning in Epe is what they are learning in Badagry or Shomolu.”

He described the initiative as a transformational intervention to raise the standard of education in Lagos State, adding that it seeks to increase teachers’ capacity and improve pupils’ learning outcomes leveraging technology.

“Teachers are given tablets to use, while the headteachers are given smartphones. With these tablets, you can take attendance. You have your lesson plans on it and enter your exam and assessment scores. Lessons are timed on it.

Through it, we give advice to the teachers on how to go about their lesson plans,” the official stressed. “Information on exams, attendance, scores, even information on details about their parents are taken on the phone.”

The smartphone also helps to geo-locate each school. Adefuye opined that geo-location is important because there is a dashboard that, if given access to, all the information on any primary school within the state comes up and is available at the push of a button.

Asked how the initiative has improved the enrolment figures in schools in Lagos, the permanent board member said there had been greater interest in public primary schools because of the EkoExcel programmes.

According to him, many parents are withdrawing their children from private schools and putting them in public schools.

“The figure has improved drastically because there is greater confidence in the public primary school system, and it will get much better,” he disclosed. “The interesting thing about all these is that the children are being conditioned to think better to study better and see knowledge and education as something to be acquired rather than something to be forced on you. So education is now more interesting and more fun for them.”

Public school teachers displaying their certificates and tablets after the EkoExcel training The board has backend officers who visit our schools at least two or three times a week to watch the teachers. Where they see teachers lagging, they mentor them and give them tips on the job.

Adefuye added, “If you set a solid foundation for him (a student), you will find out that the individual would press for his own development. The good thing about EkoExcel is the think tank behind it.”

He further revealed that the state has technical partners (New Globe).

“The fact that students learn better in a fun environment is a scientific way of looking at learning. Creating learning around those principles and departing from the old ways of doing things is an added advantage,” said Adefuye. “So EkoExcel keys into these different modes of learning so that everyone is carried along. By the time you go through the lessons, it promotes interaction, and you are also keying in their interest. If you look at what is going on around the world, you will find out that there are people teaching online, and they are not degree holders, but you learn a lot from them. That shows that education cannot be rigid. You have to be flexible to get the best out of these pupils.”

In the course of training the teachers, they encountered some challenges, including fear of adapting to technology, using the tablet and getting used to its features.

To get over the challenges, he said the board took time to “calm them down and tell them that it shouldn’t scare them.” He pointed out that there are some “who are just afraid” of technology.

“Unless you interface with them and calm them down, they will resist it. Some of the other issues we had were that they complained about using the tablet because it’s new, and getting used to the features; it was expected,” admitted Adefuye.

The board engaged internal and external evaluation to evaluate the project’s outcomes.

“Even by external evaluation, The Education Partnetship (TEP) centre has given it a good rating. Through both modes of evaluation, we had seen that literacy and numeracy has increased greatly, the children are doing much better,” noted Adefuye. “We have gotten laurels in Nigeria. For instance, we had a contest in Abuja whereby our pupils had been leading because of the innovation.”

Further illustrating the point, he stated that the good thing about the initiative is that primary education becomes strengthened for a 21st century economy.

On her assessment of the initiative, the Commissioner of Education, Mrs. Folashade Adefisayo, said most of the project’s objectives had been met.

“Within the two years, we had the Covid and schools shut down. We have just done our assessment, and most of our children are reading right from basic one, and literacy has been improved significantly, and we are seeing a lot of that,” Adefisayo explained.

She noted that teaching has become more engaging for the learners “because the teachers do not use one methodology for them.”

The commissioner added, “There are varied strategies for teaching the learners in the classroom. So the teachers too are enjoying it. It’s about teamwork and collaboration.”

Adefisayo, however, noted that “our only worry was during the lockdown, but even with that, we were still able to impact the pupils significantly,” stressing that every teacher must learn how to teach using varying instructional strategies.

The Chairman of SUBEB, Wahab AlawiyeKing, corroborated Adefisayo, stating that the initiative has improved teaching and learning in public schools.

According to Alawiye-King, the teachers are more enthusiastic about their jobs and lead

their classes more efficiently, pointing out that classrooms are more interactive and engaging, as the programme is pupil-centred.

Prior to EkoExcel, he noted that teachers had the burden of preparing handwritten lesson notes, which sometimes does not allow uniformity and strict adherence to the curriculum. However, with the introduction of the initiative, teachers can work within the curriculum as their teacher tablets are preloaded with lessons and content that can be effectively monitored for standardisation across all of Lagos’ 1,017 public primary schools.

The chairman disclosed that the standardisation of the curriculum has been able to redress the inequality in access to adequate primary education in the state, adding that it also reflects international best practices.

On how manpower development can affect the new work order, Alawiye-King stated that the sole aim is to guarantee that Lagos’ human capital is used to the fullest capability.

“It is important for us to address personnel issues in order for pupils to receive attention and individualised instruction. In consonance with our mantra, we hope to leave no child behind as we continue to evolve to meet the reality of the dynamic world we live in,” he added.

Speaking on the future of EkoExcel, the SUBEB chairman said, “It is important we get it right at the basic education level, which is the foundation upon which other continuous education is built. In a short while, we will be introducing EKOEXCEL lite for Junior Secondary Schools (JSS). This is to aid the smooth transition of EKOEXCEL primary pupils into secondary schools.”

He added that the Lagos government under Sanwo-Olu is committed to transforming the education sector as encapsulated in the T.H.E.M.E.S agenda.

“We will not rest on our laurels as we continue to deliver accessible, qualitative and standardised education to all and sundry in Lagos State,” he pledged.

Ex-UNILAGVC Identifies Environment as Obstacle to Quality Research Uchechukwu Nnaike A former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof Rahamon Bello, has identified the environment as a major obstacle to quality research across the board.

He said this during the recent presentation of a $1,000 grant to the winner of this year’s Rahamon Bello Best Thesis Award, Dr. Felix Ajiola, a lecturer at the Department of History

and Strategic Studies, UNILAG. Bello instituted the award last year at UNILAG’s Institute of African and Diaspora Studies for the best PhD thesis in Africa. Ajiola’s PhD thesis is titled: ‘Cocoa Production and Rural Development in Idanre, South Western Nigeria (1900 to 1996)’, PhD (2021), University of Ibadan.

The former VC stated, “All these will prevent researchers from being consistent and meet their deadlines as

appropriate. When they get grants and don’t use them properly, the donors will not renew the grants.”

The first runner-up was Dr. Joseph Kunnuji, with the thesis ‘A Chronicle of Cultural Transformation; Ethnography of Badagry Ogu Musical Practices’, PhD (2021), Ethnomusicology, University of Cape Town, South Africa.

The second runner-up was Dr. Louis Kusi Frimpong with the thesis ‘Fear of Crime in the Sekondi-Takoradi Me-

tropolis; Exploring the Role of the Built Environment and Community Social Organisation’, PhD (2019), Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana, Legon. The winner said the award had restored his confidence, regaining his balance as an academic.

He said he would use his intellectual capital for the development of Africa and the world.

The institute’s Deputy Director, Dr. Feyi Ademola-Adeoye, said Ajiola

defeated 23 others from universities in Nigeria and other African countries to win the coveted prize.

She explained that the award was instituted to encourage and appreciate the hard work of intellectuals whose doctoral theses address African and diaspora issues.

“It also aims at promoting intellectual and multi-disciplinary research works in African studies,” stated AdemolaAdeoye.

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 15, 2021

EDUCATION

Rewarding Teachers on Earth Not in Heaven It was a day filled with appreciation and recognition of impacts made in society in their role as life builders, as the Lagos State Government Education District IV, consisting of schools in Apapa, Mainland and Surulere, recently at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Indoors Sports Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium, held its ‘End-of-year party and Last Year in Office Ceremony for Retirees’ who have sacrificed not less than 30 years of their lives in impacting the society positively. Sunday Ehigiator reports

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he popular refrain ‘teachers reward is in heaven’, seems to be waning in Lagos, as teachers now enjoy their rewards on earth.

The rewards cut across teachers still in service and retirees, as they all enjoy regular payment of salaries, allowances, car gifts, etc., as facilitated by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Speaking on behalf of the Lagos State Tutor General and Permanent Secretary of Education District IV, Sunday Agboade, the Director of Administration and Human Resources, Philip Ayodeji Dosunmu, noted that the annual event was equally held to students and teachers who have been working assiduously to keep the flag flying.

“So it’s a time to remember, appreciate and give back to those who have contributed their quota to the success of the district.

It’s an appreciation day for those serving and those who have left.

“I wish to use this opportunity to appreciate all our senior citizens, especially all those who retired this year, for their unquantifiable contributions and meritorious service to the state government. It is my earnest prayer that you will not retire to ill-health or penury,” said Dosunmu.

On some of the benefits teachers enjoy in Lagos, he added, “It is in the olden days that teachers’ rewards are said to be in heaven. With the present administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, that is not true. Recently, he gave brand new cars to serving teachers. Their promotion is equally regular now. They have been enjoying regular promotions. Now, teachers are being appreciated as and when due.”

In his admonition, a patron of the district who wears many caps as Pro-Chancellor/ Chairman Governing Council, Summit University Offa, and Chairman, Ibeji Foundation, Alhaji Rafiu Ebiti, noted that teachers’ reward is not only in heaven but also on earth.

Ebiti equally said more still needed to be done in the education sector and called on all stakeholders to support the government in improving the education and welfare of Lagos teachers.

“From what I have seen here today, I have seen that more needs to be done, not necessarily by the government but by all of us coming together to enhance the quality of education, the welfare of the teachers and principals, and to bring the students to a level that they can compete

L-R: The Olu of Agege Kingdom, Oba Kamila Oyedeji Isiba: Tutor General/Permanent Secretary Education District IV, Sabo-Yaba, Mr. Jokotola Sunday Agboade, Mrs. Okeowo Cecilia Adesola, Principal Government College Lagos; and Mr. Hassan D. A, Principal, Lagos City College, at the ceremony

anywhere in the world,” he pointed out.

Ebiti further explained that the retirees were going through a phase.

“Your experience of over 30 or 35 years is still valuable. People will still come to ask for your contribution.

Please don’t hesitate, as we all belong to a common society and state,” he said.

Also speaking, the Director, Cocurricular, Science and Technology, Education District 4, Mrs. Olubajo Ayodeji, noted that the retirees had put all their efforts into shaping and remodelling the lives of great leaders and deserved to be celebrated.

Also speaking, the President of All Nigerians Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), Lagos State Branch, Mrs. Folasade Morounkeji, lauded the government effort towards education in Lagos while also calling for the employment of more teachers in core subject areas.

“The state has done well in prompt payment of salaries. Hence I want to employ those retiring to spend wisely ahead of the time the government would give them their entitlement, live well and stay healthy,” said Morounkeji. “In most of our schools, the governor is trying his best. There is the aggressive renovation of schools and even the provision of desks and benches.”

However, he pointed out that more teachers are needed in core subject areas, including English Language and Mathematics.

Similarly, Chairman, ANCOPSS, Lagos Mainland Zone, Dr. Olusola Adenekan, commended the governor for improving education in Lagos.

On the need for more teachers in core subject areas, she said, “It’s true we have the issue of inadequate teachers. However, the commissioner of education and the permanent secretary are not resting on this issue.”

She disclosed that about 2000 teachers were recruited.

Speaking at the ceremony, a retiree, Mr. Tunde Olajide, who spent 32 years teaching in Lagos schools, stated, “Many people we entered this job at the same time died along the way. Some even lost their job.

In fact, a very good friend of mine whom we could have retired together this year died two years ago. So, I’m very grateful to God almighty for his infinite mercy.”

Another retiree, Mrs. Anuoluwa Osifesan, equally expressed gratitude to God for completing her time in service, despite all odds.

“I don’t know how to cope without teaching, so truly, I may be starting up a school after now. I’m so used to teaching that it’s strange being home for the few months I have retired without visiting the classroom,” said Mrs. Odunbaku Aborisade, also a retiree. “I guess it’s a new life I have to get used to. However, I’m definitely going to continue giving back to society in any capacity I can.”

Starfield School Proprietress Makes Case for Sports Uchechukwu Nnaike

Considering the health, social and economic benefits of sports, the Proprietress of Starfield School, Lagos, Mrs. Juliana Eigbe, has appealed to parents to show more interest in sporting activities to encourage their children to increase their participation.

She said this during the 10th inter-house athletics competition of the school recently.

While highlighting the importance of the event to the students’ social development, she said the school would continue to give the students the best in all areas of their development, including skills acquisition.

She said this year ’s event was unique because it was the first time the primary and secondary units of the school jointly participated in the competition.

“It is also the first edition since the outbreak of COVID-19, which prevented us from bringing students

Winners of Starfield Primary School Inter-house sports competition, flanked from left by Mrs. Morenike Babs-Ogunleye, Mrs. Lilian Ajemi and Mrs. Juliana Eigbe

together like this to compete against one another in athletics.”

She urged the competitors to display the spirit of sportsmanship, as there will be winners

and losers. She also called for a high-level display of fairness, impartiality and transparency among the officials.

The sports teacher, Miss Matilda Feyijimi, underscored the importance of sporting activities in schools.

She said the cognitive, effective and psychomotor domains must go together towards developing a total child.

She added that during the COVID-19 lockdown period, she encouraged students to do minor classroom exercises to make their joints flexible.

The chairman of the occasion, Mr. John Okoye, advised the school t o p u t m o re e ff o r t i n t o s p o r t s to enable the students to also stand out in sports in addition to academics.

A parent, Mrs. Olufunke Adebayo, said sports make students healthy and cheerful. She said she will always support her children to participate in sports, but they must acquire education.

36

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ DECEMBER 15, 2021

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Report: Only 6% of Nigerians Use MFBs as Primary Place of Banking Ugo Aliogo Despite Nigeria’s best efforts at ensuring more Nigerian adults are financially included, the goal of achieving that still remains far-fetched as more reports have revealed that only 6 percent of Nigerians use Microfinance Banks (MFBs) as their primary place of banking.

With the Nigerian adult population standing at 106 million and mobile phone users of 81 percent, it was expected that the country’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy target of 80 percent by 2020 would have been met, however, it is standing at 64 per cent.

Moreover, it is worrisome that MFBs have continued to be left behind as regards customer base compared with commercial banks, which have 80-90 per cent.

According to EFInA Access to

Financial Services in Nigeria 2020 Survey, less than 30 per cent of adult Nigerians have or use products or services from non-bank formal financial institutions and a third of Nigerians use informal financial services to manage some of their financial needs.

The EFInA report further said the number of adults using informal services increased by 5.3 million between 2018 and 2020 and this has led to financial analysts calling for digitalization and deployment of sustainable products especially in the rural areas, which remain heavily untapped.

Speaking during the virtual annual financial inclusion seminar organized by Accion Microfinance Bank in Lagos recently, the Founder, LAPO Microfinance Bank, Dr. Godwin Ehigiamusoe, noted that MFBs started out as a result of failure in rural finance and also failure to address

financial exclusion properly in rural communities.

Delivering a keynote address themed; “The Future of Microfinance banking; Any Existential Threat,” Ehigiamusoe, said even though eligibility criteria was the challenge as at when MFBs started, visibility, sustainability and commercialization has changed the face of MFBs. “MFBs are currently termed as “walking dead” and that is because there is continuous mainstreaming into the National financial system, migration of capital, influx of several ad-hocs in the MFB space and changes in the composition of profiles”, He explained.

Corroborating him, the Managing Director, EDFIN MFB, Bunmi Lawson, the 6 percent figure is quite a cause for concern and blamed it on the challenged infrastructure in the economy.

L-R: Co-founder and Chairman, Aluko & Oyebode (Barristers & Solicitors), Mr. Gbenga Oyebode; MD/CEO, SecureID Nigeria, Mrs. Kofoworola Akinkugbe; Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa; Chairman, Juli Pharmacy, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi; Vice Chancellor, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Prof. Adesegun Fatusi; Chairman, Access Bank Plc, Dr. (Mrs) Ajoritsedere Awosika and former Chief Executive of National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (Federal Ministry of Health); Prof Olumide Ogundahunsi, Prof and Director of Research, Innovation and Development, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo; Dr. Woleola Ekundayo, Registrar, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo; and Rev. (Professor) ‘Fola Tayo, Pro-chancellor, Caleb University and Former Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos at the fundraising kicks off for the Olu Akinkugbe Faculty of Pharmacy in Akure, Ondo State recently

Olu Akinkugbe Pharmacy Trust Begins N2.5b Investment Drive for Ondo State University The Olu Akinkugbe Pharmacy Education Trust (OAPET) has kicked off its fundraising and investment drive for the proposed N2.5 billion Olu Akinkugbe Faculty of Pharmacy, with a launch event at The Metropolitan Club, Ikoyi, in Lagos, yesterday.

The eight-man trusteeship council, which comprises eminent Nigerians and leading minds in pharmacy practice, has been established to govern fundraising and management of the Faculty of Pharmacy, establishing the corporate governance well associated with the Faculty’s patron, Chief Olu Akinkugbe, as well as ensuring its sustainability.

The OAPET is chaired by former Minister of Health and Social Services and Chairman, Juli Pharmacy and the MTN Foundation, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, and includes Chairman of Access Bank Plc

and former Chief Executive of National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (Federal Ministry of Health), Dr. (Mrs) Oritsedere Awosika, MD/ CEO SecureID Nigeria, Mrs. Kofoworola Akinkugbe, and Co-founder and Chairman, Aluko & Oyebode (Barristers & Solicitors).

Others are Chairman, Teach for Nigeria, Mr. Gbenga Oyebode, Pro-chancellor, Caleb University, Retired Professor of Pharmacy and former Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos, Rev. (Professor) ‘Fola Tayo,; Vice Chancellor, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Professor Adesegun Fatusi; Registrar, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Dr. Woleola Ekundayo; and Professor and Director of Research, Innovation and Development, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Professor

Olumide Ogundahunsi.

Chief Oludolapo Ibukun Akinkugbe, who has already provided part funding for the project, expressed his gratitude, reiterating his passion for pharmacy and the provision of best-in-class healthcare, “When I was approached by the University of Medical Sciences, to be associated with this project, I knew I had no alternative, largely for two reasons: my family has been involved in providing health services in Ondo for a little more than a hundred years - my father qualified as a druggist in Ondo in 1919 and my late younger brother was associated with the University of Medical Sciences in Ondo as its first Pro-chancellor; second, everybody knows how much pharmacy has come to the fore as a result of the pandemic. Today’s pharmacists must have enhanced skills to combat this menace.

Cititrust Supports Living Fountain Orphanage, Holds Retreat Staff of Cititrust Holdings Plc and its Nigerian subsidiaries have donated food items to the Living Fountain Orphanage, Lagos, as a mark of gratitude to God for a successful year and to support the orphanage in the running of its activities, especially during the festive season.

The company has also held its annual retreat and awards ceremony to reward employees for outstanding performance, dedication and excellence across its subsidiaries and divisions.

According to the Group

Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Isioma Iwuagwu, the employee-driven Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative was designed to provide much-needed succour for the most vulnerable children in the community, who have been the hardest hit by the pandemic-induced economic challenges.

She said the company hoped the gesture would go a long way in making the holiday season more enjoyable for the children.

“As a company, we give strong priority to people’s

welfare, especially children. We are determined to assist ordinary Nigerians during the current difficulties and this is one of the ways we are achieving this,” Iwuagwu further stated.

Also speaking on the recently held awards ceremony, she said, “Human resources are our most important asset. That is why we are passionate about building formidable leaders, a friendly ecosystem that helps promote employee welfare, productivity, and all-around work/life balance across the twelve (12) African countries where we operate.

Flutterwave Announces Second Edition of Trade Fair Flutterwave, Africa’s leading payments technology company has announced the second edition of its trade fair, after recording a successful first edition in October 2021.

The trade fair aims to support small businesses and help them increase sales by providing a free ecommerce store, point of sales (POS) capabilities and access to willing shoppers.

Businesses on Flutterwave Store— a simple ecommerce platform that enables small businesses to sell online seamlessly without having to build or design

a website, will be displaying their products physically on booths provided by Flutterwave at the trade fair.

Chidera Ihuoma Founder of Audraft—a small business that deals in Crafts - beads, hats, fascinators said: “Thank you Flutterwave and Pages

by Dammy for giving Audraft the opportunity to showcase our products. The trade fair is a great opportunity for Audraft and young entrepreneurs to meet other business people and learn, while also providing an opportunity for our businesses

to listen to our customers’ needs, improve on our service offerings and expand our reach. Audraft made good sales and got preorders.”

Speaking on the event, an attendee and shopper,Oyindamola Adedipe, said: “The Flutterwave trade fair was particularly interesting and fun for me. My shopping experience was very seamless and intriguing as there was so much to choose from and the checkout process was great using Flutterwave. You would see things you didn’t even know you needed.”

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

JANUARY 2021 Money Supply (M3)

38,779,455.43

-- CBN Bills Held by Money Holding Sectors

1,039,129.55

Money Supply (M2)

37,740,325.88

-- Quasi Money

21,779,302.69

-- Narrow Money (M1)

15,961,023.19

---- Currency Outside Banks

2,364,871.13

---- Demand Deposits

13,596,152.06

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

7,414,275.50

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

31,365,179.93

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

42,916,586.63

---- Credit to Government (Net)

12,304,773.44

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

0.00

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

0.00

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

30,611,813.19

--Other Assets Net

3,892,112.74

Reserve Money (Base Money

13,264,585.14

--Currency in Circulation

2,831,167.19

--Banks Reserves --Special Intervention Reserves

10,433,417.96 317,234.17

˾ ÙßÜÍÏ ̋

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month

March 2018

Inter-Bank Call Rate

15.16

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

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

11.84

Savings Deposit Rate

4.07

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.82

3 Months Deposit Rate

9.72

6 Months Deposit Rate

10.93

12 Months Deposit Rate

10.21

Prime Lending rate

17.35

Maximum Lending Rate

31.55

˾ ÙØÏÞËÜã ÙÖÓÍã ËÞÏ ̋ ͯͱϱ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7

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

37

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ ͯͳ˜ ͰͮͰͯ

Stock Market Down 0.22%on Profit-taking in GTCO, 17 Others Kayode Tokede Investors’ profit-taking in Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), Stanbic IBTC Holdings, UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust, Zenith Bank, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), and 13 other stocks on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) depreciated the stock market by 0.22 per cent.

In summary, the NGX AllShare Index (ASI) dropped by 93.60 basis points, representing a decrease of 0.22 per cent, to close at 42,317.52 basis points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation value declined by N49 billion to close at N22.081 trillion.

Consequently, the Monthto-Date loss increased to -2.2per cent, while the Year-to-Date gain moderated to +5.1per cent.

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R

DEALS

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment remained negative, as 18 stocks lost relative to 13 gainers. Custodian Investment recorded the highest price gain of 9.86 per cent, to close at N7.80, per share.

Royal Exchange followed with a gain 8.62 per cent to close at 63 kobo, while Meyer Plc appreciated by 8.33 per cent to close at 39 kobo, per share.

S E C U R I T I E S

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

Unity Bank went up by 6.82 per cent to close at 47 kobo, while UACN appreciated by 6.52 per cent, to close at N9.80, per share.

On the other hand, UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust led the losers’ chart by 6.67 per cent to close at N4.20, per share. Japaul Gold and Ventures followed with a decline of 5.13 per cent to close at 37 kobo, while Caverton Offshore Support

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

Group lost 4.62 per cent to close at N1.65, per share.

GTCO shed 3.85 per cent to close at N25.00, while ETI depreciated by 2.69 per cent to close at N9.05, per share.

However, the total volume traded increased by 17.6 per cent to 270.093 million units, valued at N2.299 billion, and exchanged in 3,753 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Access Bank topped the activity chart with 55.041

O F

million shares valued at N497.742 million. Universal Insurance followed with 53.158 million shares worth N10.632 million, while Unity Bank traded 25.225 million shares valued at N11.877 million.

FBN Holdings (FBNH) traded 21.102 million shares valued at N252.451 million, while International Breweries transacted 20.149 million shares worth N98.712 million.

1 4 / 1 2 / 2 0 2 1 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

38

WEDNESDAY, ͹ͽ˜ ͺ͸ͺ͹ ˾ T H I S D AY

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

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THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 INDEX

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Fundamental Performance Metrics for THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 Index

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Current Price

Ticker

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THISDAY AFRINVEST 40

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1 Airtel Africa PLC 2 BUA Cement Plc

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3 Guaranty Trust Holding Co PLC 4 Zenith Bank PLC

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ŵĂŶĐĞ ĂƐ ƚŚĞ E'y ůůͲ^ŚĂƌĞ /ŶĚĞdž ĨĞůů ϮϮďƉƐ ƚŽ ϰϮ͕ϰϭϭ͘ϭϮ

ƐƚĞƌĞĚ ƉŽƐŝƟǀĞ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ůŽĐĂů ďŽƵƌƐĞ ĂƐ ƚŚĞ ůůͲ ƉŽŝŶƚƐ͘ dŚĞƌĞĨŽƌĞ͕ zd ƌĞƚƵƌŶ ƉĂƌĞĚ ƚŽ ϱ͘ϭй ĨƌŽŵ ^ŚĂƌĞ ŝŶĚĞdž ƌŽƐĞ ďLJ ϱ͘ϯй ǁŚŝůĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐĂƉŝƚĂůŝƐĂƟŽŶ ƐŚĞĚ േϰϴ͘ϴďŶ ƚŽ േϮϮ͘ϭƚŶ͘ ϭϭďƉƐ ƚŽ ϯϵ͕ϱϱϬ͘ϯϲ ƉŽŝŶƚƐ͘ ŽŶƐĞƋƵĞŶƚůLJ͕ zd ůŽƐƐ ŝŵͲ dƌĂĚŝŶŐ ĂĐƟǀŝƚLJ ǁĂƐ ŵŝdžĞĚ ĂƐ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ƌŽƐĞ ϭϳ͘ϲй ƚŽ ϮϳϬ͘ϭŵ ƉƌŽǀĞĚ ƚŽ Ͳϭ͘ϴй ǁŚŝůĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐĂƉŝƚĂůŝƐĂƟŽŶ ƌŽƐĞ ďLJ ƵŶŝƚƐ ǁŚŝůĞ ǀĂůƵĞ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ ϯϬ͘ϭй ƚŽ േϮ͘ϯďŶ͘ ^^ ;ϱϱ͘Ϭŵ േϮϯ͘ϰďŶ ƚŽ േϮϬ͘ϲƚŶ͘ dƌĂĚŝŶŐ ĂĐƟǀŝƚLJ ǁĂƐ ŵŝdžĞĚ ĂƐ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ͕ hE/s/E^hZ ;ϱϯ͘Ϯŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ͕ ĂŶĚ hE/dz E< ;Ϯϱ͘Ϯŵ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ Ϯϭ͘ϲй ǁŚŝůĞ ƚŽ ϭϭϬ͘ϴŵ ƵŶŝƚƐ ǁŚŝůĞ ǀĂůƵĞ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ ůĞĚ ďLJ ďLJ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ^^ ;േϰϵϳ͘ϳŵͿ͕ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƌŽƐĞ ďLJ ϴϴ͘ϱй ƚŽ േϯ͘ϭďŶ͘ dŚĞ ŵŽƐƚ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ 'd K ;േϯϴϳ͘ϰŵͿ͕ ĂŶĚ & E, ;േϮϱϮ͘ϱŵͿ ůĞĚ ďLJ ǀĂůƵĞ͘ ďLJ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ǁĞƌĞ dZ E^ KZW ;ϭϭ͘ϵŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ͕ & E, ;ϭϭ͘ϭŵ

ƵŶŝƚƐͿ͕ ĂŶĚ K E K ;ϳ͘ϯŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ ǁŚŝůĞ E ^d> ;േϮ͘ϮďŶͿ͕ DŝdžĞĚ ^ĞĐƚŽƌ WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ E' D ;േϭϰϱ͘ϬŵͿ͕ ĂŶĚ 'd K ;േϭϯϰ͘ϴŵͿ ůĞĚ ďLJ ǀĂůƵĞ͘ WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ǁĂƐ ƵŶĞǀĞŶ ĂĐƌŽƐƐ ŽƵƌ ĐŽǀĞƌĂŐĞ ƐĞĐƚŽƌƐ ĂƐ ϯ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ůŽƐƚ͕ Ϯ ŐĂŝŶĞĚ ǁŚŝůĞ ƚŚĞ &ZͲ/ d ĐůŽƐĞĚ ŇĂƚ͘ dŚĞ /ŶƐƵƌĂŶĐĞ ĂŶĚ ŽŶƐƵŵĞƌ 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ƌŽƐĞ Ϭ͘ϰй ĂŶĚ ĞĂƌŝƐŚ ^ĞĐƚŽƌ WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ Ϭ͘ϭй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ŐĂŝŶƐ ŝŶ h^dK / E ;нϵ͘ϵйͿ͕ KZͲ ĐƌŽƐƐ ƐĞĐƚŽƌƐ ƵŶĚĞƌ ŽƵƌ ĐŽǀĞƌĂŐĞ͕ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ǁĂƐ E Z^d ;нϲ͘ϰйͿ͕ ,KEz&>KhZ ;нϭ͘ϭйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ D z < Z ďĞĂƌŝƐŚ ĂƐ ϰ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ůŽƐƚ͕ ϭ ŝŶĚĞdž ŐĂŝŶĞĚ ǁŚŝůĞ ƚŚĞ &ZͲ/ d ;нϭ͘ϬйͿ͘ KŶ ƚŚĞ ŽƚŚĞƌ ŚĂŶĚ͕ ƚŚĞ ĂŶŬŝŶŐ ŝŶĚĞdž ĚŝƉƉĞĚ Ϭ͘ϵй͕ ŝŶĚĞdž ƌĞŵĂŝŶĞĚ ŇĂƚ͘ dŽƉƉŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ůĂŐŐĂƌĚƐ ĂƌĞ ƚŚĞ ŽŶƐƵŵͲ ǁĞŝŐŚĞĚ ŽŶ ďLJ ůŽƐƐĞƐ ŝŶ 'd K ;Ͳϯ͘ϵйͿ ĂŶĚ E/d, ;Ͳϭ͘ϮйͿ͘ Ğƌ 'ŽŽĚƐ ĂŶĚ /ŶƐƵƌĂŶĐĞ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ͕ ĚŽǁŶ ϰ͘ϲй ĂŶĚ ^ŝŵŝůĂƌůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ /ŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂů 'ŽŽĚƐ ĂŶĚ Kŝů Θ 'ĂƐ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ĚĞͲ ϭ͘Ϯй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ďĂĐŬ ŽĨ ƉƌŽĮƚͲƚĂŬŝŶŐ ŝŶ E ^d> ;Ͳ ĐůŝŶĞĚ Ϭ͘ϭй ĂƉŝĞĐĞ ĨŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ ƐĞůů ƉƌĞƐƐƵƌĞ ŽŶ t W K ;ͲϬ͘ϴйͿ͕ ϵ͘ϭйͿ͕ hE/> s Z ;Ͳϯ͘ϱйͿ͕ >/E< ^^hZ ;Ͳϲ͘ϰйͿ͕ hd/y ;Ͳϭ͘ϱйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ K E K ;ͲϬ͘ϰйͿ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͘ ĂŶĚ D E^ Z ;ͲϮ͘ϮйͿ͘ ^ŝŵŝůĂƌůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ Kŝů Θ 'ĂƐ ĂŶĚ ĂŶŬͲ

ŝŶŐ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ĨĞůů ďLJ Ϭ͘Ϯй ĂŶĚ ϮďƉƐ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ƐĞůůͲ /ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ^ĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ tĞĂŬĞŶƐ ŽīƐ ŝŶ K E K ;ͲϬ͘ϴйͿ͕ E/d, ;ͲϬ͘ϮйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ 'd K ;ͲϬ͘ϮйͿ͘ /ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ͕ ĂƐ ŵĞĂƐƵƌĞĚ ďLJ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďƌĞĂĚƚŚ ŽŶǀĞƌƐĞůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ /ŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂů 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚĞdž ǁĂƐ ƚŚĞ ůŽŶĞ ŐĂŝŶͲ ;ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞͬĚĞĐůŝŶĞ ƌĂƟŽͿ͕ ǁĞĂŬĞŶĞĚ ƚŽ Ϭ͘ϳdž ĨƌŽŵ ϭ͘ϰdž ĂƐ Ğƌ͕ ƵƉ ϭ͘ϴй ĚƌŝǀĞŶ ďLJ ƉƌŝĐĞ ĂƉƉƌĞĐŝĂͲ ϭϴ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ ǁŚŝůĞ ϭϯ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĂĚͲ ƟŽŶ ŝŶ E' D ;нϯ͘ϯйͿ͘ ǀĂŶĐĞĚ͘ h^dK / E ;нϵ͘ϵйͿ͕ ZKz > y ;нϴ͘ϲйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ D zͲ Z ;нϴ͘ϯйͿ ůĞĚ ŐĂŝŶĞƌƐ ǁŚŝůĞ hW Z /d ;Ͳϲ͘ϳйͿ͕ : W h>Ͳ

/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ^ĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ^ƚƌĞŶŐƚŚĞŶƐ 'K> ;Ͳϱ͘ϭйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ s ZdKE ;Ͳϰ͘ϲйͿ ůĞĚ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞƌƐ͘ /Ŷ ƚŚĞ ŶĞdžƚ ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ ƐĞƐƐŝŽŶ͕ ǁĞ ĂŶƟĐŝƉĂƚĞ ƚŚĂƚ ďĂƌŐĂŝŶ ďƵLJŝŶŐ ǁŽƵůĚ /ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ͕ ĂƐ ŵĞĂƐƵƌĞĚ ďLJ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďƌĞĂĚƚŚ ƉƌŽƉ ƵƉ ƉƌŝĐĞƐ͘ ƌĂƟŽͿ͕ ƐƚƌĞŶŐƚŚĞŶĞĚ͕ ƐĞƩůŝŶŐ Ăƚ ϭ͘ϲdž ;ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞͬĚĞĐůŝŶĞ

ĨƌŽŵ ϭ͘ϯdž ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ůĂƐƚ ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ ƐĞƐƐŝŽŶ ĂƐ Ϯϰ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ

5 Dangote Cement PLC 6 MTN Nigeria Communications PLC 7 Nestle Nigeria PLC

ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ƚŽ ŽŵŵƵŶŝĐĂƟŽŶƐ ƌĞŵĂŝŶ ŵŝdžĞĚ͕ ĂƐ ĞĂƌŶŝŶŐƐ ƐĞĂƐŽŶ ŐƌĂĚƵĂůůLJ ƚŚĞ EŝŐĞƌŝĂŶ ŽŵŵŝƐƐŝŽŶ ;E Ϳ ƚŽ ĞŶĂďůĞ ǁŝŶĚƐ ƵƉ͘ &ŝŌŚ 'ĞŶĞƌĂƟŽŶ ;ϱ'Ϳ ƌŽůůŽƵƚ͘

0.0%

33.7%

74.50

0.0%

10.4%

-3.7%

25.00

-3.8%

6.9%

-22.7%

Price Change Index to Date

ROE

ROA

P/E

5.0x

P/BV

Divindend Earnings Yield Yield

-57.8%

-38.0%

15.0%

3.5%

12.1%

12.1%

14.7%

5.2%

0.8x

5.3%

-3.7%

19.1%

11.2%

35.8x

6.7x

-22.7%

24.8%

3.9%

3.8x

0.9x

11.5%

26.4% 29.8%

2.8%

24.75

-1.2%

6.4%

-0.2%

-0.2%

20.9%

2.8%

3.4x

0.7x

12.0%

255.00

0.0%

6.0%

4.1%

4.1%

40.4%

16.7%

12.7x

4.9x

6.3%

7.9%

186.80

0.0%

5.1%

9.9%

9.9%

179.2%

14.1%

13.5x

20.4x

5.6%

7.4%

0.0%

3.5%

-7.3%

-7.3%

106.8%

15.6%

27.1x

31.8x

4.3%

3.7%

24.80

-0.8%

3.7%

17.8%

17.8%

11.6%

8.4%

9.3x

1.0x

4.0%

10.8%

9.00

-1.1%

2.9%

6.5%

6.5%

17.0%

1.4%

2.5x

0.4x

9.4%

39.6%

7.90

-1.3%

2.4%

-8.7%

-8.7%

2.0x

0.4x

7.0%

50.3%

12.00

0.8%

3.9%

67.8%

67.8%

0.6x

3.8%

14.1%

14 International Brew eries PLC 15 Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC 16 SEPLAT Energy PLC 17 11 PLC 18 Okomu Oil Palm PLC

8.4%

0.8%

7.1x

47.50

1.1%

1.7%

-15.2%

-15.2%

5.3%

1.9%

43.8x

2.3x

2.3%

2.3%

36.00

-1.4%

1.8%

-4.7%

-4.7%

15.4%

2.0%

8.3x

1.3x

11.3%

12.1%

-10.3%

-3.9% 4.4x

0.7x

5.8%

22.9%

4.90

-1.0%

1.2%

-17.6%

-17.6%

28.30

-0.7%

1.1%

8.8%

8.8%

650.10

0.0%

1.6%

61.6%

61.6%

3.4%

1.9%

15.0x

0.5x

6.3%

6.7%

0.9x

-11.6%

0.0%

19 Fidelity Bank PLC 20 Ecobank Transnational Inc 21 Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC 22 FCMB Group Plc 23 Sterling Bank PLC 24 NASCON Allied Industries PLC 25 Transnational Corp of Nigeria 26 Presco PLC 27 Unilever Nigeria PLC 28 PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC 29 United Capital PLC 30 Guinness Nigeria PLC 31 Custodian and Allied Insurance 32 AIICO Insurance PLC 33 TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeri 34 Julius Berger Nigeria PLC 35 Wema Bank PLC 36 Union Bank of Nigeria PLC 37 Oando PLC

142.00

0.0%

1.2%

56.0%

56.0%

38.8%

25.2%

9.7x

3.4x

5.2%

10.3%

2.53

0.0%

0.7%

0.4%

0.4%

12.0%

1.1%

2.2x

0.3x

8.7%

44.7%

9.05

-2.7%

1.0%

50.8%

50.8%

14.8%

0.9%

2.5x

0.3x

15.95

0.0%

0.5%

-9.4%

-9.4%

2.90

0.0%

0.5%

-12.9%

-12.9%

1.50

-1.3%

0.3%

-26.5%

-26.5%

10.1%

0.9%

13.05

0.0%

0.3%

-10.0%

-10.0%

21.3%

0.97

0.0%

0.4%

7.8%

7.8%

87.80

0.0%

0.3%

23.7%

23.7%

13.20

0.0%

0.2%

-5.0%

-5.0%

5.90

-1.7%

0.2%

11.3%

11.3%

8.8%

3.3x

0.3x

3.3%

6.9%

12.3x

2.5x

3.1%

8.1%

11.1%

2.3%

5.1x

0.5x

1.0%

19.4%

2.1x

1.2%

-1.3%

-0.8%

5.2%

1.2x

-1.1% 4.2%

0.5%

0.4%

111.3%

111.3%

2.2x

7.0%

0.0%

0.4%

105.3%

105.3%

8.1%

3.8%

13.9x

1.1x

1.2%

7.2%

7.80

9.9%

0.2%

33.3%

33.3%

24.7%

7.5%

3.8x

0.9x

7.1%

26.0%

7.2%

1.1%

388.9x

0.7x 1.9%

20.3%

0.70

0.0%

0.3%

44.5%

45.8%

216.80

0.0%

0.3%

66.8%

66.8%

24.80

0.0%

0.2%

40.7%

40.7%

20.7%

2.5%

4.3x

0.8x

1.7%

23.1%

0.80

0.0%

0.1%

15.9%

15.9%

13.7%

0.8%

3.8x

0.5x

5.0%

26.5%

0.0%

0.0%

7.1%

0.8%

5.6x

0.6x

5.1%

-0.4%

0.1%

27.0%

14.5%

2.6%

2.0x

0.3x

4.7x

0.6x

27.0%

0.3%

4.9x

62.50

0.0%

0.1%

0.0%

0.0%

-41.3%

-9.2%

52.95

0.0%

0.1%

-4.4%

-4.4%

14.8%

10.1%

5.38

0.0%

0.0%

49.4%

49.4%

P ric e

2.3x

-20.3% 2.0%

T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V o l u m e

P ric e C hg %

T ic k er

Vo lum e

P ric e C hg %

7.80

9.9%

A C C ESS

55.0

-1.1%

0.63

8.6%

UN IVIN SUR E

53.2

0.0%

M EYER

0.39

8.3%

UN IT YB N K

25.2

6.8%

UN IT YB N K

0.47

6.8%

FB NH

21.1

0.8%

UA C N

9.80

6.5%

IN T B R EW

20.1

-1.0%

C OR N ER ST

0.50

6.4%

GT C O

15.0

-3.8%

N GXGR OUP

17.85

2.9%

N GXGR OUP

9.9

2.9%

J A IZ B A N K

0.64

1.6%

WEM A B A N K

6.8

0.0%

H ON YF LOUR

3.74

1.1%

F ID ELIT YB K

6.1

0.0%

47.50

1.1%

FCM B

5.9

0.0%

T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V a l u e

T o p 10 L o s e r s P ric e

P ric e C hg %

T ic k er

Value

UP D C R EIT

4.20

-6.7%

A C C ESS

497.7

-1.1%

J A P A ULGOLD

0.37

-5.1%

GT C O

387.4

-3.8%

C A VER T ON

1.65

-4.6%

FB NH

252.5

0.8%

25.00

-3.8%

M TNN

227.9

0.0%

9.05

-2.7%

N GXGR OUP

174.7

2.9%

-2.5%

NB

137.5

1.1%

98.7

-1.0%

1.15

P ric e C hg %

R EGA LIN S

0.39

-2.5%

IN T B R EW

PZ

5.90

-1.7%

Z EN IT H B A N K

80.1

-1.2%

2.61

-1.5%

D A N GC EM

78.3

0.0%

36.00

-1.4%

SEP LA T

42.0

0.0%

ST A N B IC

Brokerage

Asset Management

Investment Research

Adedoyin Allen | aallen@afrinvest.com Robert Omotunde | romotunde@afrinvest.com Abiodun Keripe | AKeripe@afrinvest.com Taiwo Ogundipe | togundipe@afrinvest.com

21.4%

0.9x

R OYA LEX

ET I

17.9% 49.4%

C UST OD IA N

T ic k er

30.7%

9.95

T o p 10 G a i n e r s T ic k er

40.1%

1.6x

39.00

4.70

38 Notore Chemical Industries Ltd 39 Beta Glass PLC 40 Transcorp Hotels Plc

GT C O

17.2%

1.9%

1,395.00

12 Nigerian Brew eries PLC 13 Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC

C UT IX

Afrinvest West Africa Limited

-0.13%

955.00

10 United Bank for Africa PLC 11 FBN Holdings Plc

UP D C

619.98

8 Lafarge Africa PLC 9 Access Bank PLC

NB

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Price Previous Current Change Price YTD Weighting Change

Christopher Omoh | comoh@afrinvest.com

Damilare Asimiyu| dasimiyu@afrinvest.com

39

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 15, 2021• T H I S DAY

MARKET NEWS A Mutual fund (Unit Trust) is an investment vehicle managed by a SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) registered Fund Manager.

Investors with similar objectives buy units of the Fund so that the Fund Manager can buy securities that willl generate their desired return.

An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is a type of fund which owns the assets (shares of stock, bonds, oil futures, gold bars, foreign currency, etc.) and divides ownership of those assets into shares. Investors can buy these 'shares' on the

floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

A REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust): is an investment vehicle that allows both small and large investors to part-own real estate ventures (eg.

Offices, Houses, Hospitals) in proportion to their investments. The assets are divided into shares that are traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

GUIDE TO DATA: Date: All fund prices are quoted in Naira as at 13Dec-2021, unless otherwise stated.

Offer price: The price at which units of a trust or ETF are bought by investors.

Bid Price: The price at which Investors redeem (sell) units of a trust or ETF. Yield/Total Return: Denotes the total return an investor would have earned on his investment. Money Market Funds report Yield while others report Year- to-date Total Return.

NAV: Is value per share of the real estate assets held by a REIT on a specific date.

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS

MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS

AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 818 885 6757 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Afrinvest Plutus Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria International Debt Fund N/A N/A N/A Afrinvest Dollar Fund N/A N/A N/A AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 10.13% AIICO Balanced Fund 3.32 3.38 -3.75% info@anchoriaam.com ANCHORIA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web:www.anchoriaam.com, Tel: 08166830267; 08036814510; 08028419180 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Anchoria Money Market 100.00 100.00 8.70% info@anchoriaam.com Anchoria Equity Fund 137.20 138.88 3.15% Anchoria Fixed Income Fund 1.15 1.15 -13.52% ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund 20.17 20.78 11.23% ARM Discovery Balanced Fund 451.33 464.93 12.73% ARM Ethical Fund 39.21 40.40 16.33% ARM Eurobond Fund ($) 1.08 1.08 -1.72% ARM Fixed Income Fund 0.99 1.00 -5.38% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 9.66% AVA GLOBAL ASSET MANAGERS LIMITED info@avacapitalgroup.com Web: www.avacapitalgroup.com Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AVA GAM Fixed Income Dollar Fund 107.82 107.82 6.01% AVA GAM Fixed Income Naira Fund 1,061.99 1,061.99 6.20% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA Mansard Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com ; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund 2.04 2.04 -3.19% Capital Express Balanced Fund(Formerly: Union Trustees Mixed Fund) 2.19 2.23 1.05% mutualfunds@cardinalstone.com CARDINALSTONE ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web: www.cardinalstoneassetmanagement.com ; Tel: +234 (1) 710 0433 4 Fund Name CardinalStone Fixed Income Alpha Fund CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund Paramount Equity Fund Women's Investment Fund CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Cordros Money Market Fund Cordros Milestone Fund Cordros Dollar Fund ($) CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Coronation Money Market Fund Coronation Balanced Fund Coronation Fixed Income Fund EDC FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web: www.ecobank.com Tel: 012265281 Fund Name EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class A EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund EMERGING AFRICA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web:www.emergingafricagroup.com/emerging-africa-assetmanagement-limited/, Tel: 08039492594 Fund Name Emerging Africa Money Market Fund Emerging Africa Bond Fund

Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn 1.04 1.04 5.39% investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Bid Price 100.00 17.15 140.34

Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn 100.00 9.78% 17.46 7.22% 141.95 5.45% assetmgtteam@cordros.com

Bid Price 100.00 131.72 110.27

Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn 100.00 8.83% 132.56 11.93% 110.27 5.70% investment@coronationam.com

Bid Price 1.00 1.25 1.42

Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn 1.00 8.04% 1.27 4.23% 1.42 -10.47% mutualfundng@ecobank.com

Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn 100.00 100.00 7.61% 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 8.60% 1,172.23 1,196.73 2.04% assetmanagement@emergingafricafroup.com

Bid Price 1.00 1.04

Emerging Africa Balanced Diversity Fund 1.12 Emerging Africa Eurobond Fund 104.41 FBNQUEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price FBN Bond Fund 1,384.41 FBN Balanced Fund 172.54 FBN Halal Fund 115.15 FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 FBN Dollar Fund (Retail) FBN Smart Beta Equity Fund FCMB ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web: www.fcmbassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Legacy Money Market Fund Legacy Debt Fund Legacy Equity Fund Legacy USD Bond Fund

122.09 147.55 Bid Price 1.00 4.00 1.72 1.20

Offer Price 1.00 1.04

Yield / T-Rtn 7.93% 3.73%

1.12 11.05% 104.41 4.36% invest@fbnquest.com Offer Price 1,384.41 173.67 115.15 100.00

Yield / T-Rtn 11.34% 3.50% 9.31% 9.20%

122.09 3.98% 149.55 11.79% fcmbamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Offer Price 1.00 4.00 1.76 1.20

Yield / T-Rtn 7.43% 3.35% 13.01% 5.97%

FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Coral Income Fund N/A N/A N/A Coral Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A INVESTMENT ONE FUNDS MANAGEMENT LTD enquiries@investment-one.com Web: www.investment-one.com; Tel: +234 812 992 1045,+234 1 448 8888 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Abacus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 8.06% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.83 2.89 -1.08% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 4.50% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 155.75 156.03 0.16% Vantage Equity Income Fund (VEIF) - June Year End 1.26 1.30 -0.09% Vantage Dollar Fund (VDF) - June Year End 1.07 1.07 4.06% LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund N/A N/A N/A Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 11.60 11.68 10.91% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 10.18% NORRENBERGER INVESTMENT AND CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED enquiries@norrenberger.com Web: www.norrenberger.com, Tel: +234 (0) 908 781 2026 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Norrenberger Islamic Fund (NIF) 101.47 101.48 7.58% Norrenberger Money Market Fund (NMMF) 100.00 100.00 8.98% PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM EuroBond Fund N/A N/A N/A SCM CAPITAL LIMITED info@scmcapitalng.com Web: www.scmcapitalng.com; Tel: +234 1-280 2226,+234 1- 280 2227 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SCM Capital Frontier Fund 129.35 131.88 5.50% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.08 1.08 10.06% STANBIC IBTC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD assetmanagement@stanbicibtc.com Web: www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 280 1266; 0700 MUTUALFUNDS Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund 3,372.32 3,404.63 4.95% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 235.24 235.24 4.62% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 1.25 1.27 6.78% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 312.19 312.19 5.95% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 234.12 237.73 7.30% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 7.66% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 10,888.81 11,046.13 3.77% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.29 1.29 5.12% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 116.72 116.72 5.08% Stanbic IBTC Enhanced Short-Term Fixed Income Fund 105.98 105.98 UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 01-6317876 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund 1.34 1.36 5.20% United Capital Bond Fund 1.95 1.95 6.46% United Capital Equity Fund 0.92 0.94 15.04% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 9.23% United Capital Eurobond Fund 122.02 122.02 6.57% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.07 1.09 4.65% United capital Sukuk Fund 1.07 1.07 7.14% QUANTUM ZENITH ASSET MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENTS LTD service@quantumzenithasset.com.ng Web: www.quantumzenith.com.ng; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Balanced Strategy Fund 13.02 13.17 9.87% Zenith ESG Impact Fund 14.47 14.62 18.54% Zenith Income Fund 24.81 24.81 3.37% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 6.88%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

124.98 54.46

10.62% 7.74%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

13.31 128.01 101.75 17.59 21.46

13.41 131.19 103.99 17.69 21.56

3.46% 6.46% 2.56% -4.43% 16.74%

Fund Name SFS REIT Union Homes REIT

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS Fund Name Lotus Halal Equity Exchange Traded Fund SIAML Pension ETF 40 Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 Fund MERGROWTH ETF MERVALUE ETF

VETIVA FUND MANAGERS LTD Web: www.vetiva.com; Tel: +234 1 453 0697 Fund Name Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Griffin 30 Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Money Market Fund Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

3.96 5.42 17.54 1.00 20.77 157.74

4.06 5.52 17.74 1.00 20.97 159.74

5.54% -4.59% 8.34% 7.72% 1.21% -15.03%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

107.28

13.11%

INFRASTRUCTURE FUND Fund Name Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund

The value of investments and the income from them may fall as well as rise. Past performance is a guide and not an indication of future returns. Fund prices published in this edition are also available on each fund manager’s website and FMAN’s website at www.fman.com.ng. Fund prices are supplied by the operator of the relevant fund and are published for information purposes only.

40

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 15, 2021 • T H I S D AY

41

WEDNESDAY, ͹ͽ˜ ͺ͸ͺ͹ ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

GOVERNOR ISHAKU VISITS THE VILLA...

Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba state ( L ) with President Muhammadu Buhari, during the governor's visit to the Presidential Villa , Abuja....yesterday

PHOTO: GODWIN OMOIGUI

Tinubu, Akande, Osinbajo, Others Have Sold Out On Yoruba Race, Alleges Adebanjo Says Oduduwa tearing betrayers apart Insists no one built house for him Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja Leader of Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Chief Ayo Adebanjo has slammed former governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his former Osun State counterpart, Chief Bisi Akande and Vice President Yemi

Osinbajo, for allegedly selling out on their people over the quest for true federalism.

He said Tinubu along with other kinsmen in the APC had abandoned the principle that brought them into political relevance to go into selfish alliance with the President Muhammadu Buhari government in

a desperate bid to become president.

"I signed his papers to be governor and the condition on which he was governor was question of sovereign national conference for the structuring of the country back to federalism. That was the mandate on which he was elected in 1999.

Call all of them: Tinubu, Osoba

they are all sellout of Yoruba race; they have sold out to Buhari all, because they want to be president but that is not my business," he said.

Adebanjo, who spoke on the ARISE News programme, Morning Show, yesterday, also dismissed the assertion by Akande in his new book, “My Participations”,

FG: Report on Court Ruling Voiding Marriages Conducted by Own Registry Misrepresented Alex Enumah in Abuja The federal government, yesterday, said media reports that a Federal High Court in Lagos had voided all marriages conducted by the Ikoyi Marriage Registry or federal registries were misrepresented.

Permanent Secretary and Principal Registrar of Marriages, Ministry of Interior, Mr. Shuaib Belgore, in a statement noted that the report was "misleading and a deliberate distortion of the decision of the Court, which held that only the local government councils can conduct valid marriages in Nigeria.

"It is noteworthy that, the same Federal High Court situated in Ikoyi, Lagos in Suit No. FHC/L/870/2002 between Prince Haastrup and Eti Osa Local Government held that the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Interior is constitutionally empowered to conduct marriages in Nigeria and held that the local governments were delegated by the federal government to conduct marriages, by virtue of Legal Notices issued pursuant to the Marriage Act," he said.

The Permanent Secretary noted that the learned trial judge in that case had held that nothing in the role of local governments, as defined in the Constitution, suggested that local governments could conduct or contract marriages as alleged in their pleadings.

"The court affirmed that powers of the local governments to contract statutory marriages is derived from the Legal Notices issued by the President. The court also confirmed that the role of local governments, as enshrined in the Constitution is

limited to registration of all forms of marriages (including Islamic and customary marriages)," the statement stated.

However, he said rather than appeal this decision, the same claimants instituted another action in 2016 Suit no. FHC/L/CS/1760/16 Egor Local Government, Eti- Osa Local Government and 2 others V Hon, Minister of Interior and 2 Others.

Belgore, therefore, claimed that the Court had struck out the case after it held that the suit was an abuse of court process, as the court could not be invited to make another pronouncement on the same point, which would lead to conflicting decisions coming from the same court.

He pointed out that the same issue was adjudicated in the case of Olumide Babalola vs Ikeja Local Government and the Registered Trustees of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) in Suit No. LD/1343/GCM/2016 delivered on 15th May, 2017.

"The Court held that while registration of marriages are regulated by local governments, being under the concurrent list, formation of marriage is under the Exclusive Legislative List, within the jurisdiction of the federal government, regulated by the Ministry of Interior.

"It is further worthy of note that the issue of formation, annulment and other matrimonial causes are by virtue of item 61 of the 1st Schedule of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria exclusively reserved for the federal government," the statement added.

Belgore urged the public to note

that the judgments were all still subsisting, competent and have not been appealed against till date.

He also added that the current decision of the Federal High Court delivered by Justice D. E. Osiagor of Court 6, could not set aside a previous decision of the same Court, which was of coordinate jurisdiction, as that would amount to the court sitting on appeal over its own judgment.

He stated the government has applied for a certified true copy of the judgement with a view

of appealing it in respect of the conflicting and confusing decision.

The statement appealed to the general public, the international community, and couples who had hitherto had their marriages solemnised at Federal Marriage Registries by duly licensed places of worship and to all intending couples to be calm and continue transacting their normal businesses at all Federal Marriage Registries subsisting throughout the federation in line with statutory and constitutional provisions.

that the building of his house in Lekki, Lagos State, was bankrolled

by Tinubu.

Adebanjo explained that Tinubu and Akande were being propelled by presidential ambition to continue to support the President Buhariled administration despite his shortcomings He also accused Tinubu, Akande and other Alliance for Democracy (AD) governors elected in 1999 of reneging on the promise they made to the Yoruba people to insist on the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference and restoration of true federalism.

The elder statesman said: "Telling lies is what I don't do and I don't know how a man, who claims that we all came from the root of Obafemi Awolowo can be taking pride in his participation in the government of one Buhari, who they knew to be a disaster, when all those who supported him initially are now condemning and regretting that they supported him.

"No sensible man at this stage would say I am proud of Buhari, it shows the type of person he is.

He is too junior to me to be commenting on political matters. The only thing I would like to comment on is giving the details of how I built my house and he gives the details of how he built his own house. That's all.”

While further reacting to the claim by Akande that Tinubu sponsored the building of house in Lekki, Lagos, Adebanjo said he was to respond by providing details of how he built his home.

"I want to react to specific statements, because different newspapers talked about different things and I am just gathering them to respond at once but of all the comments, the only one I intend to respond to fully is on Tinubu buying my house, and I will give you details of how I built my house. On all others, he is too junior for me to be commenting on political matters.

"He is a political neophyte. He is already known to be a pathological liar and his colleague Akinfenwa, in his book, said that is who he is and those of us, who didn't know him also know. He is just an apron string of Tinubu," he said.

Senate Amends Standing Rules, Okays Simple Majority for Electing Presiding Officers Retains secret ballot for choosing officials Deji Elumoye and Juliet Akoje inAbuja The Senate has amended its Standing Rules 2015 and approved a simple majority for the election of presiding officers.

The red chamber also retained the secret ballot system of voting for the election of the President of the Senate and the Deputy.

It amended the Committee on Rules and Business proposal under Order 2 to allow a simple majority for the election of the President of the Senate and the Deputy.

It also amended Order 96 to provide for Senators to be members of not more than seven Committees at a time, while committee membership would

consist of not less than seven members and not more than 20 members at most.

The chamber amid amendments to Order 96, also moved the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), now the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to be under the jurisdiction of the Petroleum Upstream Committee.

Also moved was the Joint Admission Matriculations Board (JAMB) to fall within the jurisdiction of its Committee on Tertiary and TETFUND. The amendment of the rules was sequel to the consideration of a motion pursuant to Order 111 of the Senate Standing Rule, 2015 moved by Chairman of the Senate

Committee on Rules and Business, Senator Suleiman Sadiq Umar and seconded by the Vice Chairman who is the Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi.

The Rules and Business Committee had proposed two-third majority in its report.

Contributing to the motion, Senator James Manager, supported a two-third majority for the election of officers.

On his part, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, however, kicked against the adoption of a simple majority while Senator Rochas Okorocha proposed an amendment for a two-third majority spread across all geo-political zones of the country.

His proposed amendment, however, could not fly due to the

refusal of Senators to second same.

In his contribution, Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, however cautioned that an amendment in the direction of a two-third majority could be exploited to stall the inauguration and election of presiding officers.

Most Senators who were swayed by the Senate President’s observation, accordingly voted in support of a simple majority for the election of presiding officers.

Chairman of the Rules and Business Committee, Senator Umar, had in his presentation, recalled that the Senate Standing Orders were last amended in 2015, “to accommodate issues that will make such Orders dynamic to facilitate effective legislative process.”

42

WEDNESDAY, ͹ͽ˜ ͺ͸ͺ͹ ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES CLINIC...

L-R: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma and Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs. Miriam Katagum, at the inauguration of the National Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises’ Clinic in Owerri...yesterday

Insecurity: Buhari Meets with Nasarawa, Taraba Govs over Attacks from Southern Cameroun Masari canvasses collaboration among north-west states Group gives FG 3 months ultimatum to end lawlessness

Deji Elumoye in Abuja and Onuminya Innocent in Sokoto President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, met with Governors of Nasarawa and Taraba States over the security challenges facing the two states, especially a recent attack by a separatist group from Southern Cameroun.

In the same vein, the Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari of Katsina State, has canvassedcollaboration among the seven states in the North West zone to tackle the rising security challenges facing the area.

To this end, a Coalition of Northern Groups, has called on both the federal government and the northern states governors to end insecurity in the region.

President Buhari met separately with the governors at the State House, Abuja and was informed of recent attack on Taraba border

by Ambazonia separatists from Southern Cameroun with an assurance that the federal government would step up action in addressing the issue of insecurity in the two states.

Speaking to newsmen after his closed-door meeting with President Buhari, Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State, said he was at the Villa to appreciate the President for the support being received by his state on security issues especially, in the area of joint patrol operation by police and armed forces personnel.

“I came to express appreciation to Mr. President about all the supports we have continued to receive in

the area of security. You must have heard, there were several joint operations of the special forces: the military, the police, together with vigilante, the Air Force and the Navy in the two local government areas bordering Abuja and as a result, the various operations have been very successful.

“Recently, some of our schools were being targeted, we privately approached and actions were taken and then we thank almighty God that we've been able to dislodge those ones.”

On the Boko Haram insurgents that had gathered in parts of the state, he said they have now been dispersed. “Those are the ones I have mentioned that mostly they had been dislodged,because of the joint operations, even from the support we get from my colleague in Kogi State. So, constantly, we share information with Kogi State as well as Benue and a lot of efforts have been put into that and so far, so good".

His Taraba State counterpart, Governor Dickson Ishaku said he briefed President Buhari on the recent attack on parts of the state by armed soldiers from Cameroon.

He said he requested for assistance from the federal government to tackle security and other developmental issues in the state.

“I came to see Mr. President, on security issues. If you remember, some weeks back, there was an attack in Taraba State, specifically, at Manga, which has boundary with Cameroon, it was invaded

by Ambazonia separatists from Southern Cameroon. They kill 11 people, including the chief of the small town.

“And I have not been able to see Mr. President, because of his busy schedule and his travels.So, I’m fortunate today to have an appointment with him, to brief on details, about what transpired and need to give us some assistance in that axis. It was a very usual discussion and I am happy.”

However, on the rising banditry in the North West zone Masari, who is canvassing collaboration among the seven states in the zone spoke with newsmen yesterday after leading a delegation of elders from Katsina state to a closed door meeting with Buhari, at the State House, Abuja.

He declared: “I think what is most important for us to succeed in fighting these bandits is for all of

us the states, especially, the North Western States to take the pains and work together to make sure that we block all the loopholes.

“But if one State has a policy and another has a different one, certainly they (bandits) will always be moving from one state to another. Luckily enough, we are already working closely with states that border us, like Nasarawa and Niger, to bring the problem to a manageable and tolerable level,” he said.

Commenting on the recent killing of one of his Commissioners, the Katsina governor said the incident had nothing to do with banditry, adding that it was purely an assassination caseand assured the family of the deceased and citizens of the state that security agents were working hard to unravel the cause of the murder.

His words: “The incident we had

Former vice president and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2019 general election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has said the northern part of the country was bleeding with insecurity occasions by bad Leadership, but that a new direction of leadership was required to secure lives and properties in that part of the country Atiku likened the insecurities in the country to what he described as the complacent attitude of the

leaders in the north and therefore challenged them to tackle the endless blood shed in the region.

The former vice president, who took to his verified Meta (Facebook) account to lament the insecurities in the country, especially, the north said, "The #NorthIsBleeding because we've been complacent. We need to wake up from our slumber and collectively acknowledge that we face an existential threat.

"We must never be shy of speaking about our challenges and then engaging to solve the problems," he said, adding that,

coordinator of Human Rights Monitored Network, Ibrahim Adamu Tudun Doki, also fixed January 17th to 19th for subsequent follow up meetings.

The group, which identified many causes for the insecurity also alleged "The high-handedness and discrimination in the operations of self-appointed community police outfits as the Yan Sa Kai (volunteers) and Yan Banga (vigilante) who have constituted themselves into the complainant prosecutors, judges and executors at the same time.

"An unholy alliance of village heads, who are for all intents and purposes redundant, local police officials and lower court judges to arrest, detain and extort native pastoralists of their livestock and other assets, irrespective of whether they are part of crime committed or not."

FG Partners Rivers to Strengthen the Administration of Criminal Justice System Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt The Federal Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee (ACJMC), has said it was partnering the Rivers State government in strengthening administration of criminal justice system in Nigeria.

Executive Secretary of ACJMC, Federal Ministry of Justice, Abuja,

Mr. Sulayman Dawodu,made the assertion yesterday, at a quarterly meeting and workshop organised by the Rivers State Administration of Criminal Justice Counsel, held in Port Harcourt.

Dawodu disclosed that they were at the workshop, to synergies with the state for speedy implementation of the administration of criminal justice law of Rivers

Atiku: We Need New Leadership Direction to Secure North Chuks Okocha in Abuja

last week had nothing to do with banditry attack it was purely an assassination by unknown killers, which the Police and other security agencies are working round the clock to unravel what happened.

“Because my Commissioner was killed by an unknown assassin and not a single pin was stolen in his house so, you could see that this was a pure crime that has to be fully investigated for us to know the root causes and why."

However, the Coalition of Northern Groups, in a communique that followed its one day meeting in Sokoto yesterday vowed that if nothing was done to end the menace, it wouldmobilise its members across the 19 northern states for massive protests and shut down the economy of the region.

The communique, signed by its Sokoto state coordinator, Isah Jabbi Usman, and the state

"To #SecureNorth, we need a leadership direction that will mobilise all hands on deck."

He spoke against the blood shedding and killings going on the Abuja Kaduna road, where a staff of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) was killed after the kidnappers hadcollected a ransome money of N7 million.

On the recent killings in Sokoto State, Atiku said, "I commiserate with the affected families and the people and government of Sokoto State, over the senseless and needless arson attack on

unsuspecting victims travelling along the Gidan Bawa-Sokoto axis of the State.

"I am saddened by the loss of lives of innocent persons in such a cruel and gruesome manner by suspected bandits. Also worrisome is that these killings have become frequent in recent times.

"We cannot, as a people, continue to live our lives in apprehension for fear of losing our loved ones whenever they embark on a trip. It shouldn’t be!

May Allah forgive the deceased's shortcomings and grant their souls eternal rest," Atiku stated.

State, being one of the states in the country that had gazetted and implementing the law as passed.

He commended Governor Nyesom Wike, for ensuring the implementation of the criminal justice law, while urging other states that were yet to support the administration of Criminal Justice system to do so.

"We are here in Rivers to synergies with our Rivers counterpart and to share experience, knowledge, help them get up to speed in the implementation of the administration of criminal justice law of Rivers State.

"If you benchmark everyone that has been implementing the law, you have to commend the Rivers State for what they have done. About four states have not passed their law out of 36 states.

Some that have passed have not gazetted it; some have gazetted but have not started implementation of any of the provisions in terms of what it should be doing.

"So, when we see states that have taken a huge step, we had to commend it which is why I said Rivers State has set up committee, which they call council. I think out

of 36 states, only 17 states have done that. Also, they have set up a secretariat and only about 12 states have set up Secretariat and some of them are just on temporary.

"Going forward, we are creating partnerships which is what we did when we did annual conference in Abuja. Now is one to one, creating that synergy, appreciating that criminal justice is just one body.

The governors that are not supporting administration of criminal justice system should begin to do that,” he said.

Earlier, the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Amadi, noted the Federal Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee’s goal to strengthen effective implementation of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law in Nigeria.

He recalled that the "administration of criminal justice Act came into force in 2015 with aim to promote efficient management of criminal justice institutions, speedy dispensation of justice, protection of the society from crime and protection of the rights and interests of a suspect, defendant and victim".

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WEDNESDAY, ͹ͽ˜ ͺ͸ͺ͹ ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

OPEYEMI THROWS HIS HAT IN THE RING...

L-R: Director General, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele (MOB) Campaign Organisation, Mr. Akin Olayisade; Ekiti State governorship aspirant, Senator Michael Opeyemi Bamidele; Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe, and Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Smart Adeyemi, when the aspirant obtained his nomination and expression of interest PHOTO: ENOCK REUEBN forms at the APC secretariat in Abuja... yesterday

Jimoh Ibrahim’s Suit to Recover Assets Struck Out, Not Dismissed Re-files appeal against alleged N69.4bn debt

Alexander Enumah in Abuja and Wale Igbintade in Lagos

Contrary to earlier reports that the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, last Friday dismissed two appeals filed by Chairman, Global Fleet Group, Jimoh Ibrahim, challenging the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria’s seizure of his assets and freezing of his bank accounts over his alleged N69.4 billion debt, court document has revealed that the suit was actually struck out, not dismissed.

The leading judgement read by Justice Obande Ogbuinya said, “Appeal struck out for being incompetent.”

The two other justices – Abubakar Umar and A.I Banjoko – agreed with the judgement and the consequential orders it delivered.

The appellants were given 14 days to obtain Leave to Appeal, thus, an approval to re-file the appeal.

Jimoh Ibrahim and his Global Fleet Group consequently filed a fresh notice of appeal yesterday.

In the fresh Notice of Appeal filed on their behalf by Chief Niyi Akintola, SAN dated December 13, 2021 but filed December 14, 2021, the appellants complained about the entire decisions of the lower court.

The appeal is predicated on 11 grounds upon which the appellants are asking the Court of Appeal to set aside the decision of Justice Aikawa for erring in law when it made an order directing AMCON to take over the appellants’ assets and seizure of their bank accounts.

In ground one of the appeal, they argued that “the learned trial Judge erred in law when he placed reliance on Section 49 of AMCON Act 2018 to come to the wrongful conclusion that AMCON will be helpless if the Exparte Orders of 4° November, 2020 were not made.”

The case of the plaintiffs are that

Saraki Advocates a More Transparent Electoral System Chuks Okocha in Abuja A former Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the electoral amendment act, saying it would help ensure that Nigeria’s elections were freer, fairer, and more transparent.

In a video released on his social media handles, Saraki, whose 8th Senate passed amendments to the electoral act four times between 2015 and 2019, emphasised that President Buhari had promised to leave behind stronger democratic institutions, therefore, by signing the electoral act, he could “leave behind a stronger democracy than his predecessors.

“Nigeria, as a leader on the African continent, must always ensure that the voice of all Nigerians — especially our young people — will be truly heard in government. This can only happen, when our electoral laws are seen to have integrity.

“We all want to build a nation with strong democratic values that instill confidence in investors. This all begins with having a sound electoral act.

“The amended electoral act on the President’s desk has about 25 amendments. Out of this, it is only 4 subsections on direct primaries that are contentious.

“Anyways, not all laws are perfect. Nigeria’s democracy stands to gain so much more from the other amendments, than what it will lose from the 4 contentious subsections.

“As Mr. President has said at several fora, he hopes to leave behind a stronger democracy than his predecessors. This is why, like millions of Nigerians and our friends in the international community, I strongly believe that this law will give our nation a framework that ensures that we have a fairer and more transparent electoral system,” the former Senate President said.

The former senate president said as a leader on the African continent, Nigeria must have a transparent electoral system that guarantees the active participation of all young people in the democratic space.

He said: "I believe that our quest to build a stronger country starts with having a credible electoral act."

Section 49 of the said Act is not applicable in the instant case as there was no debt yet ascertained as found byJustice J Oguntoyinbo in her Ruling of October 2, 2019 in Suit FHC/L/CS/776/2016.

They further argued that the learned trial Court was wrong to place reliance on Section 49 of AMCON Act when the Ruling of Oguntoyinbo indicated that there were no debts.

“Section 49 of AMCON Act will only be applicable if the debts has arisen and ascertained.

“Section 49 of AMCON Act contradicts Section 36 of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 ( As Amended) which provides that all parties must be heard before a matter is decided, thus rendering the said Section unconstitutional, null and void.

On grounds two, they submitted that the learned trial Court erred in law when it refused the prayers of the appellants to set aside the Exparte Orders of November 4, 2020 by holding that the Exparte application dated March 20, 2020 upon which the said Orders are predicated is permissible in law and is preservative.

On grounds three appellants submitted that the learned trial Judge erred in law in refusing the prayers of the Appellants in

their Motion on Notice dated 19" November, 2020 seeking among others, the setting aside of the Exparte Order of 4 November, 2020 having been made without jurisdiction.

In grounds four appellants claimed that learned trial Court erred in law when it held that it was wrongful for the trial court to have heard the Exparte Motion of March 20, 2020 which led to the Order Exparte freezing the accounts of the Appellants and taking possession of their properties on November 4, 2020 after the same court had ordered stay of proceedings.

“The Exparte Orders of November 4, 2020 has occasioned a miscarriage of justice by overreaching the Appellants and depriving the Appellants of their rights to own movable and immovable properties as provided

by Section 44 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999, as Amended).”

Also appellant claimed trial court erred in law when it re-opened Suit No. FHC/L/CS/776/2016 by granting the Orders Exparte of November 4, 2020 when the condition precedent for the continuation of the said suit is stated to be until final determination of Suit No. 1D/1074/2010 between Nicon Investment Limited Vs Union Bank

Plc and Union Bank Plc Vs Nicon Investment Limited, Claim and Counter claim respectively, pending at the Lagos State High Court, and thereby occasioned miscarriage of justice.

They further claimed that the lower court violently violated the Appellants’ rights to fair hearing and struck out prayers 2, 3, 5 and 6 of the Appellants’ Motion on Notice dated November 19, 2020 without cogent reasons and thereby occasioning miscarriage of justice.

They are therefore praying the appellate court for, “An order setting aside the ruling of the lower court, delivered by Honourable Justice Aikawa of the Federal High Court, Lagos on the 16" day of February, 2021 in Suit No. FHC/L/ CS/776/2016.

“An order invoking the provisions of Section 15 of the Court of Appeal Act, and to hear and determine the Appellants’ Motion on Notice dated November 19, 2020 as if same has been filed before this Honourable Court.

“An order Setting aside the Exparte Orders made by the Honourable Justice Aikawa of the Federal High Court on November 4, 2020 in Suit No. FHC/L/ CS/776/2016, the subject-matter of this Appeal.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the fresh appeal.

AMCON had on November 4, 2020 through Pinheiro obtained an ex-parte order against NICON Investment Limited, Global Fleet Oil and Gas Limited and Jimoh Ibrahim, freezing their accounts in various banks, as well as attaching various properties of the companies, over the alleged debt.

The Properties include the building of NICON Investment Limited at Plot 242, Muhammadu Buhari Way, Central Business District, Abuja; NICON Hotels Limited building at Plot 557, Port Harcourt Crescent, off Gimbiya Street, Abuja and the building of NICON Lekki Limited at No. 5, Customs Street, Lagos.

Other properties are the building of Abuja International Hotels Limited located at No. 3, Hospital Road, Lagos; another property at Plot 242, Muhammadu Buhari Way, Abuja; the former Allied Bank Building on Mile 2, Oshodi Expressway, Apapa Road, Lagos; Energy House located on No. 94, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos; NICON Building at No. 40, Madeira Street, Maitama, Abuja; a Residential Apartment at Road 2, House A14, Victoria Garden City, Lagos; NICON Hotels Building at Plot 3, Road 3, Victoria Garden City, Lagos, as well as the NICON Luxury Hotel’s Building, Garki I, FCT, Abuja.

Buhari Seeks Senate Confirmation of Taraba Nominee as Minister

Forwards six INEC national commissioner-nominees for approval

Deji Elumoye and Juliet Akoje in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari has forwarded the name of Taraba State’s nominee, Muazu Sambo, to Senate for confirmation as a minister.

The President also sought the approval of the red chamber for the screening and confirmation of six national commissioners and one Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The ministerial nominee if confirmed by the upper legisla-

tive chamber will replace Mallam Mamman Sale, who was dropped as Minister last September by President Buhari.

The President, said his action was in accordance with Session 147(2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria as amended.

President Buhari's letter seeking the confirmation of the nominee was read by the President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan, at the commencement of plenary yesterday.

The letter read in part: "In accordance with session 147(2) of the Constitution of the Fed-

eral Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, I write in honour to forward for confirmation by the Senate the nomination of Muazu Jaji Sambo from Taraba State as Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

"It is my hope that this ambition receive the usual expeditious consideration of the Senate.Please, accept, Distinguished Senate President, the assurances of my highest regard."

The Senate President also at yesterday’s plenary read another request letter from the President seeking the Senate confirmation of six national commissioners

nominees and one commissioner for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The six nominees were drawn from the six geopolitical zones of the nation and were Muhammed Haruna, Niger State, North Central; May Agbamuche, Delta State, South South; Utiagwu Kenneth Nnamdi, Abia State, South East; Major General A.B Alkali (rtd), Adamawa State, North East; Professor, Rhoda H. Gumus, Bayelsa State, South South; Sam Olumikun, Ondo State, South West and Olaniyi Olaleye Ijaleye Ondo State, South west, Resident Electoral Commissioner.

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 15 2021 T H I S DAY

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NEWS

NSA Names Three Islamic Groups Fueling Terrorist Organisations The National Security Adviser (NSA), Major-General Babagana Monguno(rtd), yesterday named some Islamic groups supporting terrorist organisations in the Sahel region.

Monguno, who spoke at the 14th Workshop of the League of Ulamas, Preachers and Imams of Sahel countries in Abuja, said terrorism and the rapid escalation of violent activities by militant Islamist groups in the Sahel since 2016 have been primarily driven by the Islamic State in Greater Sahara (ISGS), which mainly operates in Mali and extends to the Niger Republic and Burkina Faso.

“It is bolstered by activities of groups such as Jama’at Nasr al-Islam Wal Muslimin (JNIM), the Islamic and Muslim Support Group (GSIM), and ISGS, which have continued to pose an imminent threat to the stability of the region.

In Nigeria, Boko-Haram and Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) dominate terrorist activities, especially in the North-Eastern part of the country,” he added.

According to the NSA, the situation in the Sahel has never been grimmer as extremist violence continues to spread with the number of Internally

Displaced Persons (IDPS) rising and increasing rate of food insecurity.

He said there is a need to reassess and reset foreign and regional government strategies

towards the Sahel and set aside faulty assumptions.

Monguno asked the international community and its Sahelian partners to prioritise governance, cautiously pursue

an expanded peace process through dialogue, and push for the adoption of more nonkinetic measures through aͿected communities.

He, however, stated that the

possibility of ISWAP creating an established caliphate to rival Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) countries has been checkmated by a series of concerted and reinvigorated eͿorts of the

countries of the region.

According to the NSA, the adoption of both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches by LCBC countries to stem the conÁict has yielded tremendous success.

OIL AND GAS INSTITUTE INDUCTION… L-R: Deputy Chairman, Institute of Oil and Gas Research and Hydrocarbon Studies (IOGRHS), Prof. Charity Emaviwe , and Director General of IOGRHS Amb. Moses Essien during the IOGRHS commonwealth induction held in Abuja …recently GODWIN OMOIGUI

7UDͿFNHUV -DLOHG IRU House Probes Alleged 257 Duplicated Projects 'UXJ 2;HQFHV Worth N20bn Uncovered by ICPC Michael Olugbode in Abuja

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has successfully convicted no fewer than 475 persons between September and November 2021 at the Federal High Courts across the country.

A statement issued yesterday by the spokesman of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, said the Àgure represents a portion of the over 1,000 tra΀ckers that were jailed between January and November for drug oͿences.

He said in September, a total of 73 persons were convicted with Jigawa State recording the highest Àgure of 15 convicts followed by Adamawa State, 14, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), 11.

Jigawa State also topped the chart of the 150 convictions recorded by the agency in October with 14 convicts, followed by Niger, 13; Katsina,12; Taraba, 11, and Lagos,11.

Adamawa and Abia States had the highest conviction Àgure in November with 23 each out of a total of 252 convictions recorded by the anti-narcotic agency in the past month, while FCT had 21, Plateau had 14.

According to Babafemi, interesting highlights of some of the cases include that of 32-year-old Kalu Orji, who was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour on October 13 by Justice E.N.Anyadike of the Federal High Court, Umuahia, Abia State.

Father of Four Rapes Daughter in Kwara

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

The Kwara State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has arrested a father of four children for allegedly raping his 18-yearold daughter in Ilorin, the state capital.

The suspect, 47, was said to be working as a security guard in one of the private residences in Ilorin.

The state spokesman of the NSCDC, Mr. Babawale Zaid Afolabi, who conÀrmed the incident to journalists in Ilorin yesterday during a chat, said: “The incident occurred on December 6 at the suspect’s working place located at No 24, Awolowo Street, Tanke, Ilorin, where he also lives.”

According to him, On December 7, 2021, we were

tipped oͿ by one Alhaja Mariam Bello, who claimed that the daughter of the man was raped by her biological father.

“The victim used to live with Alhaja Bello (who adopted her) at her Isale Gaa Akanbi residence but moved out to stay with her dad after a little misunderstanding between them.”

Afolabi disclosed further that the victim had little misunderstanding with Alhaja Bello, who adopted her in 2017, when her mother separated with suspect, and since then was staying with the woman.

He explained that the victim joined her father at his gate-house where he was working as a security guard and it was during the night of her Àrst stay with her father that the incident occurred.

Udora Orizu in Abuja

The House of Representatives has set up an adhoc committee to investigate allegations by the Chairman of Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) that the review of the 2021 Budget led to the discovery of 257 duplicated projects with a combined worth of N20.138 billion.

The decision of the lawmakers was sequel to the adoption of the prayers of a motion titled, “Call to Investigate the High Level of Corruption on Nominal Rolls of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs),” at the plenary, December 2.

The sponsor, Hon. Dachung Bagos, (PDP, Plateau) had while moving the motion, noted the report of high level corruption

being perpetrated in MDAs in the country.

He said the House is aware that President Muhammadu Buhari, on 30 November, 2021 ordered the ICPC to take actions against Heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and other personnel involved in project racketeering, budget and payroll padding as well as ghost worker’s retention.

He said the House is also aware that the Chairman of the ICPC also stated that the review of the 2021 budget led to the discovery of 257 duplicated projects with a combined worth of N20.138 billion.

He expressed concerns that the corrupt practices are carried out in all facet of the activities of the MDAs, with the highest list been the issue of payroll padding and ghost workers’ retention.

Ikpeazu Presents N147.8bn Budget for 2022 Fiscal Year

Emmanuel UgwuNwogo in Umuahia

Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, yesterday presented a proposed 2022 budget of N147,787, 781,300 before the state House of Assembly.

He said the 2022 budget, which is 10.81 percent above the budget for the outgoing year, was based on 2022-2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal

Strategy of the federal government, as adopted by his administration.

Giving the breakdown of the budget estimate, Ikpeazu said the recurrent expenditure would consume N66,830,193,200 representing 45 percent of the total outlay while N80,957,588,100 or 55 percent of the budget is for capital expenditure.

There was significant increase in the capital expenditure, as it was enhanced by 16 percent over the

previous year while the recurrent expenditure was increased by 6.29 percent above the 2021 allocation.

Ikpeazu told the state Assembly that the budget proposal christened ‘Economic Recovery through Industrialisation and Inclusive Growth’, was prepared under uncertain macroeconomic and social environment.

According to him, “We are all aware of the changes that have occurred in the global socio-

economic environment since 2019,” he said, adding, that in the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has distorted economic and social life at all levels.

The governor hinted that the 2022 budget outlay could well be a shot in the dark because “even as we prepare for 2022, the dangers do not appear to be completely over; the socioeconomic and business environment is yet to be fully clear.”

Bricklayer Jailed Five Years for Stealing in Ekiti Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti An Ekiti State Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Ado Ekiti has sentenced a bricklayer operating in the state, M. Agunbiade Soji, to five years imprisonment.

The 24-year old was tried for two-count charge of felony and stealing.

Delivering his judgment

yesterday, the Chief Magistrate Mojisola Salau, said: “On count one, the defendant is sentenced to two years imprisonment with N20, 000 as option of fine.

“On count two, he is sentenced to three years imprisonment with N30,000 as option of fine. The terms are to run concurrently.”

The magistrate gave the verdict having listened to the submissions

of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Prosecutor, Mr. Oluwanifesimi Iyaniwura, and that of the defendant who prayed the court to tamper justice with mercy.

Soji was charged on October 17, 2021, in Ilawe Ekiti for breaking into the dwelling houses of Alonge Olarewaju and Olowokere Peter through

the ceiling and carted away their belongings, including foodstuͿ and a sum of N61, 000.

The oͿences run contrary to and punishable under section 411 and 412 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap C39, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

In his testimony before the court, one of the victims said, he saw the defendant on his ceiling,

Court Upturns Demotion of Associate Professor of FUO, Awards N5m Damages Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa

The National Industrial Court (NIC) sitting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State has upturned the decision by the authorities of the Federal University, Otuoke, to demote an associate Professor in

Modern Sciences, Dr. Timothy Falade-Obalade Adedapo to a Senior Lecturer of the Institution, declaring that the action of the institution is illegal, null and void.

The Court also awarded the sum of N5 million in damages to Dr. Timothy Adedapo over the decision of the university

at wrongly questioning his qualiÀcation and ridiculing him in public and in the Nigerian tabloid.

The Presiding Judge, Justice Bashar Alkali, in his ruling on the suit numbered NIC/ YEN/2019 and Àled by Dr. Timothy Falade-Obalade

Adedapo (claimant) against Federal University, Otuoke and the former Vice Chancellor, Prof.

Seth Accra Jaja (defendants), declared that the demotion of Dr. Timothy Falade-Obalade Adedapo from the position of Associate Professor to Senior lecturer of the Institution.

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WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 15, 2021 T H I S DAY

NEWSEXTRA

Senator Onor Declares Interest in Cross River Governorship

Goddy Egene

Professor Sandy Ojang Onor, who is a serving senator, yesterday o΀cially declared for the number one seat of Cross River under People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

According to Onor, against the agitation of power shift to the South by majority Cross Riverians across the three senatorial districts, his declaration came after ‘thorough consultations’ with the leadership of his party in the State, and the support of his long time friend, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.

The sitting Senator, representing Central Senatorial District of the State in the 9th Assembly, in his declaration, also recommended the ‘Osusu logic’ for the determination of governorship ticket in the State.

His Osusu logic assumes that the governorship ticket cannot return to South but rather starts from the North again after the expiration of Governor Ayade’s tenure.

He said:”We cannot compartmentalise our leadership, especially at this time where we need the best to lead us.The best can be found in any senatorial zone today. In fact if we were to go by Osusu logic, it is the

North that should give us governor, because in Osusu, if South collects, Central collects, North collect, the next one will start with North”.

He explained that it is only a focus-less and desperate political party that can be desperate for

Residents of Dangbala community in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo State have raised the alarm over the return of activities of illegal gold miners.

The residents under the aegis of Concern Residents of Dangbala raised the alarm in a statement issued by the President and Secretary of the community, Godwin Amusa and Agbaje Saiki respectively, and made available to journalists in Benin-city yesterday.

The residents noted that it has become imperatives to go public on the issue in order to avoid the Zamfara State situation.

They said not only have the

race, but the party cannot ignore the path of equity, which is the right thing to do. While his Osusu logic recommends a Northern candidate, unfortunately for him, the people of Northern senatorial district stand for core democratic tenets of justice and equity. No

sensible Northerner will step forward for a contest that should naturally be among southerners.

Prior to the expiration of Liyel Imoke’s tenure, Southern Cross River gave us unalloyed support, and we will stand by them to give us a Governor come 2023.”

L-R: Commissioner of Lands, Osun State, Mr. Agunbiade Nathaniel; Deputy Governor, Osun State, Mr. Benedict Olugboyega Alabi, and Managing Director, Sujimoto Construction Limited, Mr. Sijibomi Ogundele, at the burial of Pa Samson Ogundele in Onrimo Ijesha, Osun State… recently

He said, “I never thought I could drive a brand new car this year. I am a welder. There is no way I would have been able to aͿord the car but God has used Glo to fulÀl one of my life ambitions. Thank you Glo”.

On his part, Oseni said: “I did not believe it. I was called by Glo customer care that I won a car in the Glo promo and it was not until the car was presented to me a few minutes ago that I believed it was real.

Glo has blessed me, a clearing agent of imported used cars, with a brand new car, which happens to be my Àrst car. It is indeed a big surprise. To God be the glory”.

Apart from the car winners, about 50 lucky subscribers received the home appliances including fridges, power generators and television sets in Benin while Lagos had 64 winners of the items.

Tension in Edo Community over Return of Illegal Miners

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin-city

has rightly said, the best can be found in every senatorial district.

So, if Central produced their best in the person of Sen. Liyel and North produced.

“I am not here to condemn Sen. Sandy; it is his constitutional right to run for the governorship

PA OGUNDELE BURIED…

Excitement as Two Win Cars in Globacom’s Joy Unlimited Promo More Winners yesterday emerged in the Globacom’s Joy Unlimited Extravaganza promo in Benin,Edo State and Lagos.

For 45-yearold Osaze Osemwegie, telecommunications giant, Globacom, is a messiah who made possible what ordinarily looked unachievable. He was one of the two subscribers who received a brand new Kia Rio car each in its ongoing customer appreciation promo, Joy Unlimited Extravaganza.

While Osaze’s car prize was presented to him at an impressive ceremony in Benin, Afeez Oseni, a 38-year-old clearing agent from Kwara State received his own Kia Rio in Ikeja, Lagos, the same day.

A self-employed man, Osemwegie was full of gratitude to Globacom, while Blessing, his wife, showered prayers and encomiums on the company.

such a desperate man, who is in a desperate situation politically...

PDP is not a desperate political party. At this point I can’t tell whom the party candidate will be, but I can assure you that the governorship ticket of the party is going to South. Like Sandy

increased competition created tension in the community, but that their activities have become an issue of security threat in the area.

The residents said they now sleep and wake up with the fear of not knowing what to expect in the community.

The community stressed that aside The security threat in the area and by extension the state, both Edo State and the federal government are losing a lot of revenue through the illegal activities.

According to the group, “The once peaceful community has been turned into something that we fear may snowball into a problem in the community and state as a whole.

EFCC Docks Femi Fani-Kayode for Alleged Forgery

Wale Igbintade

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, yesterday slammed fresh charges against a former Minister of Aviation, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, for allegedly forging medical certificate to mislead the court.

He was charged before Justice Abike-Fadipe of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos on 12-count charge, which

bordered on procurement of medical report from one Dr. Ogieva Oziegbe, with inventory number 00345 dated 11 October, 2021.

However, the matter could not go on due to the application challenging the jurisdiction of the court and ruling on the matter was subsequently adjourned to December 17, 2021.

Fani-Kayode was accused of procuring document under

false pretence, contrary to the provision of Section 369 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.

SpeciÀcally, the EFCC claimed that the former minister procured one Dr. Ogiewu Ozeigbe, to procure the fake medical report.

The medical report was purportedly issued at the Kubwa General Hospital in Abuja.

EFCC prosecutor, Mr. Rotimi

Oyedepo, at the proceeding urged the court to take the plea of the defendant over the allegation.

Oyedepo urged the court to dismiss the application on the grounds that it was an attempt to frustrate trial.

He reiterated that the stakeholders in the Ad-ministration of Criminal Justice have addressed various antics about frivolous applications meant to delay justice.

Gunmen Kidnap Governor Bello’s Chief of Staff’s Mother in Kogi Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja

TSuspected gunmen numbering about six on Monday abducted the mother of the Chief of StaͿ to the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, Mr. Abdulkarim Jamiu Asuku, at her residence in Adavi Local Government Areas of the state It was gathered that the hoodlums stormed the

residence of Mrs. Seriya Raji on Monday evening, and abducted her.

Eye witness and a resident of Inese/Ovakere new layout in Nagazi community, Adavi LGA, where Mrs. Raji resides, stated that the gunmen storm her resident at about 7:40p.m. shortly after she observed her evening (Ishai) prayer in her mosque within the house.

It was learnt that the

abductors, according to the source, were six in number, dressed in black suites with masks holding Ghana-MustGo bag suspected to have contained some guns and other dangerous weapons.

The source hinted that hoodlums entered her house through the mosque and whisk her away to yet-to-be identiÀed destination using the car they brought to her house.

As at the time of Àling this report, the abductors were yet to call the family members of their victim to demand ransom.

Meanwhile, when journalists contacted the state Police Public Relation O΀cers, William Aya, to conÀrm the incident, he didn’t answer his phone calls, and it was learnt that he was out of Lokoja, the state capital.

New Abuja Infrastructure Devt Project to Gulp N117bn

Udora Orizu in Abuja

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), in collaboration with GCL (SPV) and Metro Capital Advisory Group yesterday Áagged oͿ the Gwagwa District Infrastructure Development Project estimated to cost N117 billion.

The new district is being funded by the private sector

as investment in primary infrastructure while attracting further funds to deliver the unique developments of the district.

Speaking at the Áag-oͿ ceremony, Managing Director of Gwagwa Construction Ltd, promoters of the project, Faruk Sale, said Gwagwa District, tagged Abuja Midtown, covers an area of 841 hectares within

the green heart of Nigeria’s capital city.

According to him, “Bringing a new dimension to urban life in the capital, Abuja Midtown will oͿer diverse homes and jobs for more than 100,000 people. “ He explained that the project was launched as a public private partnership with the FCTA whereby GCL, the special

purpose vehicle established

by Metro Capital Advisory Group, is to deliver the primary engineering infrastructure of Abuja Midtown including road network with bridges and culverts, storm water drainage system, foul sewer drainage network, water supply system, electricity network and street lighting, and telecommunication ducts.

Police Arrest 18-year-old Girl for Attempted Murder Udora Orizu in Abuja

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), in collaboration with GCL (SPV) and Metro Capital Advisory Group yesterday Áagged oͿ the Gwagwa District Infrastructure Development Project estimated to cost N117 billion.

The new district is being funded by the private sector

as investment in primary infrastructure while attracting further funds to deliver the unique developments of the district.

Speaking at the Áag-oͿ ceremony, Managing Director of Gwagwa Construction Ltd, promoters of the project, Faruk Sale, said Gwagwa District, tagged Abuja Midtown, covers an area of 841 hectares within

the green heart of Nigeria’s capital city.

According to him, “Bringing a new dimension to urban life in the capital, Abuja Midtown will oͿer diverse homes and jobs for more than 100,000 people. “ He explained that the project was launched as a public private partnership with the FCTA whereby GCL, the special

purpose vehicle established

by Metro Capital Advisory Group, is to deliver the primary engineering infrastructure of Abuja Midtown including road network with bridges and culverts, storm water drainage system, foul sewer drainage network, water supply system, electricity network and street lighting, and telecommunication ducts.

WEDNESDAY, ͹ͽ˜ ͺ͸ͺ͹ ˾ T H I S D AY

46

WEDNESDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor: Duro Ikhazuagbe Email: duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

NFF Awaits Napoli Doctor’s Final Words on Osimhen’s AFCON Appearance

Femi Solaja with agency report With barely 24 days to the start of the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) officials are fervently waiting for the final word from Napoli doctors on whether injured forward, Victor Osimhen, will be fit enough to join the Super Eagles.

The Super Eagles forward injured his cheekbone and eye socket during a Sunday Italian topflight fixture with AC Milan and was promptly operated 24 hours later.

Yesterday, Tutto Napoli.netquoting Italian tabloid, La Gazzetta, said that theNigerian forward has resumed training alongside Senegalese International, Kalidou Koulibaly thus raising the hope of their availability in this Sunday’s Serie A match against leaders’ AC Milan at the San Siro stadium.

Fans are eager for the return of the injured duo to turn the fortune of the Naples side around since they surrendered the leadership last month but the report in the Italian medium however indicated that the Senegalese who is closer to fitness may start from the bench this Sunday if the club doctors deem him match fit and can go all out.

However, in the case of Osimhen, reports in the media indicate that since he resumed with light training nine days ago, the Nigerian is determined to get into full scale fitness and play in subsequent matches.

“Even if both show sign of recovery, Koulibaly could travel with the team on Sunday and start from the bench but with muscle experience teaches that it is better to go cautious and in the case of Osimhen, although he always train with greater intensity, he will still need to get the doctors’ okay to wear the carbon and Kevlar mask,” Gazzetta dello Sportindicated yesterday.

The report however said the duo could return early next year and thus gave something to cheer in the Nigerian camp that will want the reliable striker to be part of the tournament.

“The players’ return could be delayed till January especially the attacker (Osimhen) who is increasing the workload on the pitch but who still does not have okay from the doctors to wear the carborn and keylar mask that will allow him to try to play matches and make contracts.

“Both could return in early 2022 in time for the African Cup of Nations but not for the Azzurri who risk seeing him again only at the end of February,” the Italian tabloid noted.

With former captain and coach of the team, Austin Eguavoen, back to the team, it is likely that his provisional team list will be out in the next couple of days but no one is sure if it is wise to risk the inclusion of Osimhen on the list with availability still in doubt.

Super Eagles are aiming to better their third-place finish at the last edition in Egypt in 2019.

Victor Osimhen... Nigeria waiting for final 'verdict' from Napoli doctors

Salah Left out of FIFA Fifpro World 11 Nominees

Mohamed Salah ...left out of FIFA Fifpro World 11

Ten current Premier League players are among the 23 nominees for the 2021 men's FIFA Fifpro World 11.

But they do not include Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah, who many were surprised to finish only seventh in the voting for this year's Ballon d'Or. Seven current Women's Super League players are among the 23 nominees for the women's team.

The list also includes Alex Morgan, who had a brief stint with Tottenham last season before rejoining Orlando Pride.

Paris St-Germain forward Lionel Messi, who last month extended his record for Ballon d'Or winsto seven, is on the men's list along with Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku who returned to the Premier League in the summer.

Chelsea midfielders Jorginho and N'Golo Kante, who were

both in the top five of the Ballon d'Or vote, are also included with Blues goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.

The other Premier League players nominated are Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ruben Dias, Kevin de Bruyne

and Bruno Fernandes.

Women's Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas of Barcelona is nominated along with Manchester City and England's Lucy Bronze, who was named the best women's player at the 2020 Best Fifa Football Awards.

World Athletics Confirms May 28 for 8th Okpekpe Road Race World Athletics, the international governing body for athletics has confirmed Saturday May 28, 2022 for the eighth edition of the silver label Okpekpe international 10km road race.

The race, the first road running event to be granted a label by World Athletics in West Africa was twice postponed in 2020 and 2021 following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 but Mike Itemuagbor, Chief Executive Officer of Pamodzi Sports Marketing, organisers of the race has admitted that the historic event will make a big return in 2022.

“We have done all the documentations reguired and we are delighted that World Athletics has confirmed the date we set for the race,” said Itemuagbor whose race is also the first to be recognised by the Association of International Marathon and Distance Races (AIMS).

Itemuagbor is grateful to those who have been making enquiries about when the race will return.

“We are happy to tell them that the annual festival of road running the Okpekpe race has come to become is back,” he added and thanked the Edo State Government, particularly His Excellency, Governor Godwin Obaseki and his sportsman deputy, Comrade Philip Shaibu, for the support and the enabling environment they have provided for the race to attain the enviable heights it has reached and the many historic feats it has achieved.”

Apart from being the first road race in West Africa with a label rating and AIMS recognition, Okpekpe race has also opened the way for others in the sub-region, particularly in Nigeria to aspire for international recognition.

Itemuagbor assured stakeholders that the race will continue to be a reference point for road running in Nigeria and revealed all COVID-19 protocols will be observed when the race holds in Okpekpe town near Auchi in Etsako East Local Government in Edo State next year.

“We are already advanced in our preparations for the race and we shall organise a silver label race with all the trappings of a gold label event,” he concluded.

MFM FC Relocate to Mobolaji Johnson Arena Lagos-based Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries Football Club, yesterday temporary changed their home ground from Soccer Temple, Agege Stadium to the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, formerly known as Onikan Stadium on Lagos Island.

In an official statement issued by the Nigerian Professional

Football League (NPFL) club-side, MFM FC is forced to temporarily relocate to Onikan “due to the Stadium upgrade currently going on at the Agege Stadium, the modest Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) side, will have its home games this season at the newly built Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan.”

As Olukoya Boys prepare for the 2021/22 Nigerian top league season which will kickoff on December, 17, “we are pleased to confirm the appointment of Shola Balogun, as the substantive Technical Adviser for two seasons, while Gabriel Olalekan remains the Chief Coach of the Team.”

47

WEDNESDAY, ͹ͽ˜ ͺ͸ͺ͹ ˾ T H I S D AY

SPORTS

Aubameyang Stripped of Arsenal Captaincy Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been stripped of the Arsenal captaincy following a breach of discipline, the club confirmed yesterday.

The 32-year-old forward was left out for Saturday's 3-0 win

over Southampton and will also not feature for West Ham's visit to the Emirates tonight.

"Following his latest disciplinary breach last week, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will no longer be our club captain, and will not

be considered for selection for Wednesday's match against West Ham United," Arsenal said in a statement.

"We expect all our players, particularly our captain, to work to the rules and standards we

have all set and agreed."

According to The Athletic, Aubameyang returned later than agreed from a personal trip to France last week, which subsequently forced him to miss training due to the need to pass

coronavirus protocols.

Aubameyang was also left out by manager Mikel Arteta for a victory over north London rivals Tottenham in March over a disciplinary issue when he arrived late for a pre-match meeting.

"It's not an easy situation or a situation we want, to have our club captain in that situation," Arteta said on Saturday.

Alexandre Lacazette led the Arsenal team out for the 3-0 win over the Saints at the weekend and is a member of the “leadership group” at the Emirates, but Arteta has refused to name a new permanent captain.

Aubemayang was named Arsenal captain in 2019 after Granit Xhaka was also stripped

of the role for his tirade towards supporters after being substituted in a Premier League match against Crystal Palace.

The Gabon international led Arsenal to their only trophy under Arteta, scoring twice in the semifinal and final of the FA Cup in 2020.

However, Aubameyang's form has dipped since signing a three-year deal that made him one of the highest earners in the Premier League worth a reported £18 million ($24 million) a year.

He scored just 10 Premier League goals as Arsenal finished eighth last season and has four in 14 league appearances this campaign.

NBA Names Gbemisola Abudu Head of New Nigeria Office

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang...stripped of Arsenal captaincy

PHOTO: STANDARD.CO.UK

Madrid to Delay Mbappe Approach Till after UCL Clash Real Madrid are tipped to delay their plans to approach Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe after the two sides were drawn against one another in the Champions League last 16.

Having initially been pitted against Benfica in the first draw, Real were handed a mouthwatering tie with PSG in the redraw - a decision which left Los Blancos fuming.

On top of reunions with Keylor Navas, Achraf Hakimi, Sergio

Ramos and Angel Di Maria, the match will also see Mbappe turn out against the side he could join just a few months later.

Mbappe is on course to leave PSG as a free agent in the summer and Real had planned to open formal negotiations in January when he enters the final six months of his contract and is eligible to sign a pre-contract agreement to secure his next move.

But AS note that Los Blancos

are feeling more than a little uncomfortable about that now.

With two meetings with PSG set for 15 February and 9 March, Real do not want to be accused of unsettling Mbappe and the Ligue 1 leaders by moving for him immediately, and there are also fears that he would be slated

by PSG fans if he was found to have spoken to Real before the tie.

As a result, Real will push back their plans to speak with Mbappe and will only do so after that second leg on 9 March, with the expectation that they will still be able to sign him anyway.

L’Equipe takes a similar

approach and rule out an imminent agreement, but this report also states that a possible extension with PSG is also off the table until after the game.

PSG remain in talks with Mbappe and are believed to be preparing one last offer of a new deal, but there has been no progress and all the signs suggest he will ultimately walk away from the Parc des Princes when his current deal expires on 30 June.

Both clubs are keen to protect Mbappe publicly and do not want fans to turn on him for 'trying to leave', so everything is expected to be put on hold until March.

NBA Africa on Tuesday named Gbemisola Abudu as Vice President and Country Head of Nigeria, where the league will open its third office on the continent in early 2022.

Abudu, an accomplished entrepreneur, business leader, luxury marketing expert and social activist with 17 years of experience developing businesses, brands and human capital in Nigeria, the Middle East and the U.S., will lead NBA Africa’s new office in Lagos and report to NBA Africa CEO Victor Williams.

In this newly-created role, Abudu will be responsible for leading the league’s basketball and business development initiatives in Nigeria, including grassroots programming for youth, elite player development, relationships with current and prospective marketing, media and merchandise partners, and social responsibility efforts that improve the lives of youth and families in Nigeria.

Gbemi is the woman to head NBA’s Operations outside of North America, “We are excited about expanding NBA Africa’s operations in Nigeria with the launch of our office in Lagos and thrilled to have Gbemisola join us to lead our efforts in the country,” said Williams.

“As an established business leader, entrepreneur, global marketing expert and social activist, Gbemisola’s expertise will be invaluable in helping us continue to grow basketball and the NBA in a country that already has a strong affinity for

Gbemisola Abudu...new NBA Africa Country Manager for Nigeria the game.”

“Joining NBA Africa as the Vice President & Country Head of Nigeria and opening the league’s office here is the opportunity of a lifetime and the culmination of all my experiences to date,” said Abudu. “As a lifelong basketball fan and Nigeria native, I look forward to working with the NBA Africa team to help build a more comprehensive basketball ecosystem in the country and to using the transformative power of sport to impact lives in Nigeria and beyond.”

Abudu previously served as Founder and Managing Partner at BMGA Enterprise Limited (BMGA), an educational technology finishing school in Lagos that provides social and marketing intelligence to increase the productivity of people and organizations.

NBBF’s Reconciliatory Committee Submits Report

Kylian Mbappe....talks delayed till after PSG, Real Madrid clashes in PHOTO : WikiMedia Commons the UEFA Champions League.

The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) Reconciliatory Committee set up by the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has submitted its report.

Inaugurated on the 4th of November, 2021, the committee was mandated to make recommendations that will resolve the disputes in Nigerian basketball and chart the way forward for the growth of the sport in Nigeria.

Chairman of the committee, Mr Seyilayo Ojo, while submitting the report to

the Sports Minister, Sunday Dare on Tuesday inside the Minister's Conference Room at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, said his team was guided by altruism, patriotism, integrity and national interest all through their deliberations.

He also said all the committee members conducted themselves with maturity and a deep understanding of the issues militating against the growth of basketball in the country.

Ojo revealed that the committee had to make wide

consultations with the different interest groups and factions in the bid to get to the root of the crises, some of which have lingered for years.

He thanked the Ministry for giving him and the committee members the opportunity to be of service to Nigeria and also providing all the support needed to get the job done.

In his response, the Sports Minister, Sunday Dare, while appreciating the Reconciliatory Committee for the work done, promised that the report will be studied and its recommendations

carried out.

Dare urged the members of the committee to continue their peace-making, dispute resolving assignments and to see themselves as ambassadors of peace for sports in Nigeria.

The Nigeria Basketball Federation(NBBF) Reconciliatory Committee had Mr Seyilayo Ojo as the chairman, Alhaji Abba Yola (vice chairman) and Dr Toyin Aluko(secretary).

Other members include; Babs Ogunade, Mukhtar Khaleel, Ikeddy Isiguzo and Niyi Alebiosu.

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

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& RE A SO

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MISSILE MASSOB to Northern Groups

“ow do you think that your enemies will trust you? Even if you kill your wife or children to show your loyalty to them, just as our so-called Igbo/Abuja politicians are killing our brothers to please the Northern caliphate, yet they never gain their trust” ---MASSOB Leader, Uchenna Madu, in a crossfire, lambasting the Coalition of Northern Groups, for their uncomplimentary remarks against Igbo.

KAYODEKOMOLAFE THE HORIZON

kayode.komolafe@thisdaylive.com

0805 500 1974

20 Years of the Power Question A

part from the promises made during the 2015 election, President Muhammadu Buhari possibly imagined at the take-off of his administration that the question of electricity supply to power the economy would be quickly resolved.

An indication of that hope was implicit in the loaded portfolio assigned former Lagos State governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola. Fashola was made Minister of Power, Works and Housing. The President actually acted on the report of the transition committee headed by the highly revered technocrat, Alhaji Ahmed Joda, that prepared the ground for the government.

When eyebrows were raised about the Fashola’s mouthful portfolio in some sceptical quarters, the official response seemed to be that not much government work was expected, for instance, in the power sector, which was largely privatised.

In other words, the work load of the minister was assumed not be as heavy as it appeared to critical observers because of the reforms already taking place in the power sector. So there was a level of trust by the government in the private sector to deliver on generation and distribution of power.

These assumptions have now turned out to be false.

Meanwhile the expectations of regular power supply were rising legitimately among members of the public.

The initial optimism of the Buhari administration in fixing the electricity problem was not unprecedented.

In the early days of the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo there was even a greater upbeat mood. Before he was made the attorney-general, Chief Bola Ige was the minister of power. Brimming with optimism, Ige actually came up with a six-month agenda with time-lines to turn things around in the sector. Obasanjo was to remark later that in the first six months of his brief tenure in the power ministry Ige could hardly “distinguish his left from his right” in the operational labyrinth of the power sector.

Obasanjo readily admitted that the complexity of the problem of the sector. In 2001, the Obasanjo administration crafted the National Electric Power Policy (NEPP). In the process of implementing or attempting to implement the policy, the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA) was enacted in 2005 to give legal backing to the major changes required to make things work in the sector.

The administration of President Goodluck Jonathan moved the reform further in 2013 with the privatisation of the generation and distribution of power up to 60%.

As successor companies, 11 Distribution Companies (DISCOs) and six Generation Companies (GENCOs) emerged in the sector. The exercise was , of course, based on the Road Map for Power Sector Reform launched by Jonathan in 2010.

Since then, however, instead of steady power supply for industrial and domestic consumption the public has been treated to a surfeit of lectures on the technicalities of the engineering, operation and business modules of power generation and distribution.

Different stories are being told periodically about why steady power is not available in Nigeria. Experts of various hues continue to offer rationalisations laden with technical jargons on why 20 years after a policy was enunciated to change things for the better in the power sector, people remain in darkness because there is no yet light.

In fact, laymen who pay attention to these technical excuses have more or less become “experts” in matters of power supply.

It was Dr. Chidi Amuta who once made an observation that not many people, perhaps, pay adequate attention. The inimitable public intellectual said that something must be wrong with a system in

Buhari which the public is often lectured on technicalities of infrastructure instead the actual provision of services or goods. According to Amuta, members of the public want motorable roads and solid bridges; the official response instead is to delve into the civil engineering of road construction in order to explain why roads cannot be constructed. When you need water, you should simply turn on the tap instead of becoming a student of waterworks engineering and operations. But in Nigeria members of the public receive a greater volume of lectures than gallon waters from the organisations saddled with the responsibility of water supply.

A similar thing has been on display in the power sector for the better part of the last 20 years. Yet when members of the elite “escape” to developed countries on holidays and visits they enjoy infrastructural facilities- train services, steady power supply, good roads etc- without anybody giving them technical lessons on why those facilities might not work for the benefit of consumers.

Huge challenges have been identified by the stakeholders in the sector. The case of the private investors in the sector has been clearly made. Despite the billions of naira that government has poured into the sector as a stakeholder, the private sector players still cry out that funding is a major issue.

This problem is exacerbated by the poor system of revenue collection. Other well-known issues of the sector include insufficient power supply from the national grid, theft of electricity by some consumers and the lack of facilities for operations. For the DISCOs, the most prominent of the problem that consumers complain about is the metering gap.

While he was minister of power, Fashola was critical of the corporate governance process of some of the private players in the sector. He once accused them of sabotaging the economy by distorting government’s policy for the sector. Practices of which the public sector is often accused have also been found to be rife among the private sector players. These include lack of due process, inefficiency and poor accounting process.

Although some of the DISCOs, in particular, have made counter allegations of undue interference against

the government, a lot of things remain inexcusable on the part of the private sector players. Elementarily, a company that is involved in power distribution should have the capacity to provide meters for consumers. This is to smoothen the process of revenue collection. It is unpardonable that eight years after privatisation, some DISCOs still estimate bills for consumers to pay. This is no business. It is pure exploitation. A company that cannot provide meters has no business holding the licence for power distribution. The matter is as simple as that if it is stripped of all technicalities. The absurdity of estimated bills becomes conspicuous if you juxtapose what some DISCOs do with what obtains in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry, another sector in the energy industry. Imagine a fuel station without a fuel dispenser! How would it look like for the cost of fuel pumped into a consumer’s car to be estimated because of the lack of fuel dispenser.

Worse still, how would it sound if a retailer gives hiking of fuel price as a condition for providing fuel dispensers at filling stations in the first place?

It is scandalous that the businessmen in the power sector have mystified metering of power supply.

And they get away with blue murder because of the abysmal failure of regulation. They operate as if there are no rules in place. Consumers are just helpless in the circumstance.

The DISCOs could make their case for increase in tariff without making it a condition for the basic provision of meters.

The frustration of the consumers with scarcity of metres is usually untold. The other day a Nigerian in the diaspora, who is developing a property in his town in Oyo state, asked a friend living in Lagos to use his “connection” to secure a meter for the new house. The Lagos friend explained that power distribution is business and you shouldn’t require any “connection” with a company to have a meter. According to him, the relationship between a DISCO and the consumer is that of a customer and a distributor, unlike in the days of the defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA). In any case, the DISCO serving Ikeja consumers where the Lagos friend lives is different from the one operating in Oyo state. The man in the diaspora merely laughed off the explanation claiming that although he was away he knew “what goes on the ground” in matters of power supply in Nigeria.

As a first step, the DISCOs should make meters available to all consumers. It is obvious that that would bolster the process of revenue collection a great deal.

Some countries have taken developmental leap in all sectors of their economy and society within 20 years. The stories of China, UAE and Singapore changed within 20 years. Here in Nigeria we are talking of the reform in only the power sector without appreciable progress in 20 years. Yet from the World bank expert to the woman frying akara by the road side, it is generally known that Nigeria’s economic development is hinged on the power question. It doesn’t require expertise to know that you cannot sustainably power the largest economy in Africa on diesel with all the environmental consequences.

Provisions are still made in budgets of government departments for generating sets and diesels 20 years after a power policy was put in place as a turning point. Tomes of technical papers have been presented on the question. Days have been spent holding conferences on the problem.

In the debate on the political economy that went on for many years, the case for the privatisation of the power sector among others was made on clear grounds: the private sector would muster a

greater capacity to run things better by bringing in the needed capital, technology, skilled manpower and the culture of business based on efficiency.

There is no evidence yet of such a capacity in the power sector.

So, as long as the problem of poor power supply persists, the debate must continue so as to find a solution.

This should bring into the fore the economic thoughts driving policy. These ideas must be identifiable. Some economists posit that in some areas of the economy such as railways, electricity, health insurance and pensions, privatisation may not be a silver bullet.

Perhaps, this is the reality Nigeria is facing with the problem in the power sector.

If 20 years ago the Obasanjo administration saw the power question as a low-hanging fruit, it should be clear to the Buhari administration now with 18 months more in power that it is a more difficult task. It is, of course, an ideological sacrilege in the policy arena to call for the reversal of the process.

Indeed labour once called for the withdrawal of the licences of the DISCOs. Government officials and their experts would just chuckle at that suggestion anyway.

Policymakers should have a rethink on the apparent policy cul-de-sac so that Buhari can provide the ultimate answer to the power question categorically posed by Obasanjo 20 years ago.

PolicyNotes Pantami and NIMC

A

t the keenly contested 3.5 GHz Spectrum Auction on Monday, Communication Minister Isa Pantami said in passing that 30 million more people registered for national identity this year without any money released to the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

The money approved for the commission is yet to be released in December, according to the minister.

To be sure, the minister spoke on a positive note of compliments to NIMC for recording some achievements despite the odds of poor funding.

However, it is important to stress the negative import of the official observation.

It should be a matter of regret that a commission performing such a crucial task is not well funded.

The importance of the National Identification Number (NIN) in the socio-economic and even political realms are obvious to the policymakers and the public alike.

The NIN is of great importance for security, banking, financial transactions and implementation of social programmes among other uses.

It is, therefore, curious that such a scheme is not accorded the due budgetary priority.

The government is urging the people to congregate at registration centres, in a season of public health emergency, for NIN when NIMC is not adequately equipped to perform the job.

Perhaps if the agency is well funded the process of registration would be efficient and members of the public would find the exercise less stressful.

So rather than celebrate NIMC as an agency working without funds, the government should rather pay attention to the policy disarticulation involved in withholding the agency’s funds.

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