WEDNESDAY 29TH DECEMBER 2021

Bayelsa Spill: Abrupt Wellhead Leak Impossible Without Interference, Experts Insist Emmanuel Addeh Experts involved in the liquidation of the Santa Barbara

Wellhead in Nembe, Bayelsa State, have argued that only deliberate interference with the equipment could have caused

a disruption to its normal functions.

The spillage at the wellhead, which has now been stopped,

the engineers stated, could only have emanated from tampering with the device.

Specifically, they concluded

that it was impossible for a wing valve installed on a wellhead to become detached so abruptly, saying such can only happen

if the facility has been altered by unauthorised persons.

Continued on page 10

Report: Over $10bn Stolen as Crypto Scams Rise 80% in 2021... Page 5 Wednesday 29 December, 2021 Vol 26. No 9760. Price: N250

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Obasanjo to Clark: Oil Belongs to Nigeria, Not Niger Delta All those who purchase crude oil from Nigeria enter into contractual relationship with Nigeria not with the Niger Delta. The territory of Nigeria is indivisible inclusive of the resources found therein. No territory in Nigeria including the minerals found therein belongs to the area of location and this remains so until the federation is dissolved Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday, told elder statesman and leader of Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Chief Edwin Clark, that oil, like the mineral resources in other parts of the country, belonged to all Nigerians.

Obasanjo was responding to Clark, who recently asserted that the former president showed neither solidarity nor respect for the people of the Niger Delta in the face of the terrible environmental, social, and economic devastations they endured to Continued on page 10

N'Assembly Transmits 2022 Appropriation Bill to Buhari

Budget to be assented Friday

Deji Elumoye in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari has received the 2022 Appropriation Bill passed by the two chambers of the National Assembly last week. And all things being equal, Buhari is expected to sign the 2022 budget into law on Friday.

The House of Representatives

had passed the bill on December 21, while the senate passed it December 22, raising the total estimates from the proposed N16.391trillion to N17.126 trillion.

The oil benchmark was raised from the proposed $57 per barrel to $62.

The breakdown of the budget Continued on page 10

EXTERNAL INTERFERENCE CAUSED IT...

The Representative of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission NURPC, and member of the Joint Investigation Visit, Mr. Adetoyinbo Adeyemi, briefing the press on the team’s findings on Santa Barbara Wellhead in Nembe... recently

Auditor General of the Federation Uncovers N48.4bn Extra-budgetary Spending by Agric Ministry... Page 6

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

NEWS

FAYEMI HOSTS PARTY LEADERS TO A GET TOGETHER...

L-R: Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi; Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi; his wife, Erelu Bisi Fayemi; and former Secretary to the State Government, Hon Biodun Oyebanji; at the annual end-of- year get-together of Ekiti State All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders , hosted by the Governor at his Isan-Ekiti country home…on Sunday.

Report: Over $10bn Stolen as Crypto Scams Rise 80% in 2021 Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja The increasing investment in crypto currencies and crypto markets has led to a significant rise in crypto scams and thefts, with a loss of over $10 billion globally in 2021, a new report has revealed.

The “Crypto Hacks & Scams Report 2021” was released yesterday by Crystal Blockchain, a firm involved in investigative analytics for block chain and crypto currencies. It showed over 80 per cent rise in crypto scams and thefts in 2021.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had banned banks and other key players in the financial sector from crypto currency transactions.

The latest report said the crypto currency markets had seen a volatile 2021, starting with a strong rally that took some prices to all-time highs over the spring before they crashed in May and attempted a recovery over the summer.

Bitcoin jumped to a new high in November but took a bearish turn in December, defying predictions that it would continue to make gains.

Despite the CBN ban, Nigeria was rated the second country most interested in bitcoin after El Salvador, notwithstanding the difficulty in accessing the trillion-dollar crypto in the country.

South Africa and Kenya were identified as two other top markets for crypto currency on the continent.

The new report revealed that there were 115 security attacks, 40 attacks on DeFi protocols, and 26 fraudulent schemes as of December 17, 2021, which resulted in the theft of approximately $10 billion worth of crypto assets in the year.

According to the Crystal database, over a third, or 39 per cent of all stolen funds (in Bitcoin or BTC) were distributed via fraudulent exchanges, which are defined as having been involved in exit scams, some illegal behaviour, or that have had funds seized by the government.

Exit scams involve a crypto currency profiting from early investors by “pulling out” all their funds from the market.

Amid the growing uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, crypto currencies, like Bitcoin and

Ethereum, gained significant fame among investors.

Investment in the crypto market has been growing across the globe, with the crypto currency market size expected to grow from $1.6 billion in 2021 to $2.2 billion by 2026, at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.1 per cent, based on a report released in April 2021 by Markets and Markets Research, a market research firm.

According to the report, many countries, even banks have started buying cryptos. It added that banks in the United States of America were creating their own block chain-based systems, including digital currencies, to enable B2B crypto-currency payments between their customers.

While on one hand, it noted that there had been a huge loss of wealth through crypto assets, the latest research report

by International Monetary Fund (IMF) found that crypto posed a threat to global financial stability.

The market value of the ecosystem increased dramatically in 2021 and expanded beyond Bitcoin.

According to the IMF report, the financial stability challenge posed by crypto broadly include operational, cyber, and governance risks, integrity, and Anti-Money Laundering and Countering of Financial Terrorism (AML/CFT) risks, data availability/reliability issues, and challenges from crossborder activities.

The report noted that with increase in crypto scams and frauds, the financial system would be more vulnerable.

A recent report by Chainalysis, a crypto currency exchange platform, also said crypto crimes rose by 81 per cent in 2021, with a loss of over $7.7 billion worth of crypto currency worldwide.

One of the major factors that led to the rise in crypto scam was the emergence of what the report described as “rug pulls”.

Rug pull is a new type of scam where “developers of a crypto currency project, typically a new token, abandon it unexpectedly, taking users’ funds with them.”

Despite a significant fall seen in crypto scams between 2019 and 2020, rug pull spiked the number in 2021, the report pointed out, stressing that in all the scams, users

lost over $2 billion worth of crypto currency, which represents nearly 90 per cent of all value stolen in rug pulls.

The Chainalysis report noted that the number of financial scams active at any point in the year rose by more than 60 per cent, from 2,052 in 2020 to 3,300 in 2021.

Being active means their addresses are receiving funds.

The Chief Economist, Care Ratings, a credit rating agency, Madan Sabnavis, said, “Several gullible people are investing in this fictitious currency and will

be losing money as all trading is a zero-sum game.

"Crypto is fuzzy as there is no underlying that backs the price.

For gold there is a metal, for equity there is share but for crypto, there is no such thing.”

There has been a steady increase in the amount being stolen through the crypto assets, it noted.

But the total number of reported incidents of thefts against crypto entities did not change much and stood at 31 in 2021.

Decentralised finance (DeFi) hacks have become the most

popular way to steal crypto during 2020-2021 and the total amount of stolen virtual assets in crypto being stolen through DeFi hack doubled in this period, said the Chinanalysis report.

The emergence of rug pulls, a relatively new scam type facilitated the growing DeFi hacks.

Apart from DeFi breaches, crypto frauds and security breaches are common.

So far, $2.86 billion had been stolen through security breaches, while $6.8 billion had been stolen through scams and frauds.

So, crypto scams or frauds account for more than 65 per cent of the total amount stolen.

The anonymity of crypto assets and limited global standards lead to significant data gaps for regulators.

Sabnavis added, “The problem is that all such transactions are opaque and one cannot be sure if the money is being diverted to drugs or other illicit activity.

Today a lot of financial savings are getting diverted to the crypto markets which is not good for the country.”

Shell Challenges Judgement Ordering Halt to Gas Flaring in N’Delta Community Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has filed an appeal challenging a judgement of the Federal High Court, Benin City, ordering a halt to the continued flaring of gas in Iwhrekan, Delta State.

Justice J. Nwokorie of the Federal High Court, Benin, had in a case instituted by Mr. Jonah Gbemre on behalf of Iwhrekan community ordered SPDC to stop the development forthwith.

The community hosts the Otorogu gas plant, in Ughelli South, Delta State, where Shell has been flaring gas for decades.

In the suit, aside the SPDC, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) were joined as defendants Nwokorie had further declared that the actions of the first and second respondents (SPDC and NNPC) in continuing to flare gas in the course of their oil exploration and production activities in the applicant's community was a violation of their fundamental rights to life.

In addition, the judge noted that it was a violation of the complainants’ right to a healthy environment and dignity of human person guaranteed by Section 31 and 34(1) of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

But the community in the suit marked FHC/B/CS/53/05 sought the court to declare that the constitutionally guaranteed fundamental right to life and dignity of human person provided by the relevant sections of the constitution had been breached.

Specifically, the community stated that sections 33(1) and 34(1) of the 1999 Constitution, as reinforced by Acts 4, 16 and 24 of the African Charter on Human Procedure Rules, inevitably included the right to clean, poison-free, pollution-free and healthy environment.

It urged the court to make a declaration that the actions of the first and second respondents in continuing to flare gas in the course of their oil exploration and production activities in the applicant's community was a violation of their fundamental rights to life. The community added that the flaring of gas further impinges on the dignity of the human person guaranteed by sections 33(01) and 34(1) of the constitution of Nigeria and reinforced by Acts 4, 16 and 24 of the African Charter on Human Procedure Rules (Ratification and Enforcement) Act Cap, A9 Vol. I Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

Iwhrekan community urged the court to make: “A declaration that the failure of the 1st and 2nd respondents to carry out

environmental impact assessment in the applicant's community concerning the effects of their gas flaring activities is a violation of section 2(2) of the Environment Impact Assessment Act, Cap. E12 Vol. 6 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and contributed to the violation of the applicant's said fundamental rights to life and dignity of person.

“And an order of perpetual injunction restraining the 1st and 2nd respondents by themselves or by their agents, servants, contractors of workers or otherwise howsoever from further daring of gas in the applicants said community.”

Dissatisfied with the judgement, SPDC filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal sitting in Benin with a suit No. CA/B/419/2017, asking the appellate court to determine if the lower court judge had the jurisdiction to entertain the suit.

Shell is also appealing on the ground that the evidence relied upon for the judgement by the trial judge were not scientifically proven by Gbemre and Iwhrekan community before judgement was given in their favour.

The appeal suit, which was slated for hearing January 20, 2022, at the Court of Appeal, Benin, has SPDC Ltd., and Nigerian NNPC as applicants, as well as Gbemre (for Iwhrekan community) and attorney general of the federation as respondents.

Speaking on the matter, lawyer to Iwhrekan community, Chima Williams of Chima Williams & Associates Law Firm, said they were ready to defend the position of the law and ensure that justice was served to the people of the community.

He said, “On the 20th of January, the case of Shell against Jonah Gbemre (for Iwhrekan community) and others will be coming up at the Court of Appeal in Benin City for hearing.

“We are here to intimate Iwhrekan community of the continuation of the case so that those who want to be in court to hear and know what is going on will have the opportunity to do so.”

He added that in 2005, Williams recalled that the court had ordered that the continued flaring of gas in Iwhrekan community by Shell violated the citizens’ rights to life and dignity of the human person, and ordered Shell to stop gas flare immediately.

Williams stated, “In that judgement, the court said the continued flaring of gas contributes to Nigeria’s contributions to in-house emission that leads to climate change.

“Shell is arguing that we should have proved our case scientifically.

Ours is to defend the judgement which has been declared in our favour at the appeal level.”

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NEWS

TOGETHER WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL...

The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki (standing), while addressing leaders and members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oredo Local Government Area (LGA), in Benin City ... yesterday

Upstream Commission Set to Wind Up 2020 Marginal Field Bid Round Programme Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) said yesterday that it was set to conclude the 2020 marginal field bid round programme which held in May. To this end, the commission noted that it had put in place all necessary machinery to progress the bid round exercise to conclusion in line with the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 (PIA).

The commission's Chief Executive, Mr. Gbenga Komolafe, in a notice to participants in the programme yesterday, indicated that an in-house work team had

already been constituted to deal with all outstanding issues.

He said the issues included distilling and addressing the concerns of awardees with a view to closing out issues affecting multiple awardees per asset and formation of Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) by awardees in line with the respective letters of award.

Consequently, the commission enjoined awardees with the indicated issues to avail themselves of the resolution mechanism provided, in the overriding national interest.

Komolafe also stated that the commission was collaborating

COVID-19: South Africa Study Suggests Omicron Could Displace Delta Research by South African scientists have suggested that the Omicron COVID-19 variant could displace the Delta variant because infection with the new variant boosts immunity to the older one.

According to Reuters, the study only covered a small group of people and had not been peer-reviewed, but it found that people who were infected with Omicron, especially those who were vaccinated, developed enhanced immunity to the Delta variant.

The analysis enrolled 33 vaccinated and unvaccinated people who were infected with the Omicron variant in South Africa.

While the authors found that neutralisation of Omicron increased 14-fold over 14 days after the enrolment, they also found that there was a 4.4-fold increase in neutralisation of the Delta variant.

"The increase in Delta variant neutralisation in individuals infected with Omicron may result in decreased ability of Delta to re-infect those individuals," the scientists who conducted the study said.

The results of the study are, "consistent with Omicron displac-

ing the Delta variant, since it can elicit immunity which neutralises Delta making re-infection with Delta less likely," they said.

According to the scientists, implications of this displacement would depend on whether or not Omicron is less pathogenic compared to Delta.

"If so, then the incidence of COVID-19 severe disease would be reduced and the infection may shift to become less disruptive to individuals and society," the report Alex Sigal, a professor at the Africa Health Research Institute in South Africa, said on Twitter on Monday that if Omicron was less pathogenic as it looked to be from the South African experience, "this will help push Delta out."

According to an earlier South African study, there was reduced risk of hospitalisation and severe disease in people infected with Omicron compared with the Delta variant, though the authors say some of that is likely due to high population immunity.

The Omicron variant, first detected in southern Africa and Hong Kong in November, has since spread worldwide and threatened to overwhelm hospitals in some countries.

with lease holders to agree on transition mechanisms in line with the PIA and the aspirations of government for the marginal field bid round exercise.

He restated that the 45 days period for payment of signature bonus by successful awardees as stipulated in the marginal field guidelines had lapsed.

Komolafe also assured those who had fully paid their signature bonuses that as a regulator and business enabler, the commission would ensure that all applicable guidelines to enable them progress to the next stage of the exercise, were fully implemented.

The defunct Department of

Petroleum Resources (DPR) which metamorphosed into the NURPC had concluded the 2020 marginal oilfield bid round, the first successful exercise since 2003 when 24 assets were put on offer.

The process which culminated in the presentation of letters to the bid winners in Abuja by the industry regulator, started in June last year, with 57 marginal fields spanning land, swamp and offshore put up for lease by the federal government.

However, during the event in May, the DPR stated that 161 successful companies were eventually shortlisted to advance to the final stage and were selected

from 591 entities that applied for pre-qualification.

Marginal fields are smaller oil blocks typically developed by indigenous companies and have remained unproduced for a period of over 10 years.

Some of the companies which emerged winners at the time included: Matrix Energy, AA Rano, Andova Plc, Duport Midstream, Genesis Technical, Twin Summit, Bono Energy, Deep Offshore Integrated, Oodua Oil, MRS and Petrogas.

A few others that succeeded in crossing the hurdle and had fully satisfied all conditions were: North Oils and Gas, Pierport, Metropole,

Pioneer Global, Shepherd Hill, Akata, NIPCO, Aida, YY Connect, Accord Oil, Pathway Oil, Tempo Oil, Virgin Forest among others.

It was a big win for local oil and gas companies in the country, which had a good outing during the ceremony as 100 per cent of the beneficiaries of the exercise were indigenous entities.

Nigeria last conducted marginal field bid rounds in 2003, with 16 of the fields now contributing just two per cent to the national oil and gas reserves, a figure the DPR said would be substantially boosted by the latest exercise, worth roughly $500 million in signature bonuses.

Auditor General of the Federation Uncovers N48.4bn Extra-budgetary Spending by Agric Ministry Udora Orizu in Abuja The House of Representatives is to investigate the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development over extra-budgetary spending worth N48.426 billion.

The details were contained in the audit query issued by the office of the Auditor General of the Federation (oAuGF) submitted to the House Committee on Public Accounts for further legislative action.

The lawmakers on resumption from the Christmas and New Year recess are also expected to investigate the Ministry over the non-payment of eligible contractor despite the release of N98,961,267,652.50 in the 2018 Appropriation Act. The oAuGF observed that the Ministry incurred extra-budgetary contractual liability totaling N48,425,543,895.72.

The report stated, "The budgetary release of 98,044,134,611 representing 99.07 per cent of 2018 capital allocation of N98,961,267,652.50, and the Ministry did not take necessary actions to pay eligible contractors which led to an outstanding contract liability of N48,425,543,895.72.

The above anomalies could be attributed to weaknesses in the internal control system at the

Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development."

In its response to the audit query, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development informed the oAuGF that the action was regretted, adding that the matter was under investigation by relevant Anti-graft Agencies.

While acknowledging the Ministry's response vide letter Ref. No FMARD/DFA/P/3460/1/215 of 3/11/2020, the oAuGF in its recommendations, directed the Permanent Secretary to explain reasons for the extra budgetary spending of N48, 425,543,895.72 and refund to Treasury, the sum of N48, 425,543,895.72.

It specifically directed the Permanent Secretary to forward evidence of refund to the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly, and otherwise, apply sanctions relating to irregular payment specified in paragraph 3106 of the Financial Regulations.

The oAuGF also queried the Ministry over alleged 'Violation of e-payment policy to the tune of N700, 179,314.37.

According to the audit query, the risks taken by the Ministry included loss of government fund and diversion of public funds.

In its response to the oAuGF audit query, the Ministry's manage-

ment submitted that direct payment could not be made to beneficiaries because they were yet to be enrolled on the GIFMIS Platform.

In its recommendations, the oAuGF directed the Permanent

Secretary to also furnish it with reasons why persons other than the rightful beneficiaries on payment Vouchers were paid and recover and refund to the Treasury, the sum of N700,179,314.37.

MTN Partners Nigerian Creatives on Arts, Culture MTN Nigeria, through its corporate social investment vehicle, the MTN Foundation, has disclosed its partnerships with Nigerian creatives in arts and culture.

According to a statement yesterday, MTN Foundation would be supporting three Theater Productions during the Yuletide season, between December 23, 2021 and January 3, 2022.

It listed the productions to include Ufok Ibaan, a dramatic recount of the 1929 women’s riot; Osamede the Play, the story of an orphan girl who went from obscurity to the palace, and Death and the King’s Horseman, a story of the events that ensued when the chief horseman was required to commit suicide following the death of the king.

The statement pointed out that the theater productions were part of MTN Foundation’s commitment

to supporting youth development in Nigeria.

Speaking about the intervention, Executive Secretary, MTN Foundation, Odunayo Sanya said, “For us at MTN Foundation, our commitment to supporting theater productions is about contributing to the country’s socio-economic development, as they are an avenue for creating jobs and providing training for young creatives.”

It disclosed that MTN Foundation had invested over N365 million in several Theater Productions across Nigeria.

“Some productions the Foundation has supported in the past include; Oluronbi the Musical, Saro the Musical, Wakaa the Musical, Fela and the Kalakuta Queens, IBIOM- When Doves Fly, Tony Wants to Marry, OMG the Musical, and Flower the Musical,” it added.

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ART X LAGOS...

L-R: Access Bank Art Prize Winner 2021, Chigozie Obi; Founder, Art X Lagos, Tokini Peterside and GMD/CEO, Access Bank Group, Herbert Wigwe, at the 6th edition of Art X Lagos supported by PHOTO: DAN UKANA. Access Bank… recently

Chidoka Tackles Amaechi over Attack on Jonathan Insists former president handed over $550bn economy Chuks Okocha in Abuja A former Minister of Aviation, Mr. Osita Chidoka yesterday faulted claims by Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi that former President Goodluck Jonathan left behind funds that could only last for three weeks on the assumption of office by President Mohammadu Buhari on May 29 2015.

Contrary to Amaechi’s claims, Chidoka argued that the Jonathan’s administration handed over a $550 billion economy, which was the largest in Africa then and 26th globally as well as a diversified economy.

In a statement he signed, titled: “Gov. Amaechi's Statement on 2015 Foreign Reserve: Setting the Records Straight," the former Federal Road Safety Commission boss said claims by the Minister of Transportation were not supported by facts, describing it as “very unfortunate.”

Chidoka explained that on May 29, 2015, President Jonathan left behind an economy with a stable currency, where the naira was N199/$1, adding that the country also had a single-digit inflation rate.

He explained that today, after 2,406 days of the current administration headline inflation

rate hovers above 15 per cent.

Chidioka added: "I read with surprise and disappointment comments made by the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, during an appearance on Channels Television wherein he said: ‘As former chairman of the governors' forum, I was told by the security in a meeting chaired by the former President, including the former minister of finance, that at every point in time, the government must leave money behind in case Nigeria goes to war that would last for six months. By the time we came, they didn't leave money behind that could last us for three weeks.

And I was speaking at that time as the chairman of the governors' forum."

According to Chidoka, Amaechi’s comment was rather unfortunate and not supported by facts readily available in the public domain.

Accordingly, Chidioka said, "As a member of the Federal Executive Council that handed over to the current administration, I am disturbed that this urban myth of ‘empty treasury’ is still the subject of conversation by a senior government member.

"Also, I am confused about what the Honourable Minister means when he says, "By the

time we came in," as he was not appointed Minister until six months after the May 29 handover. Since he was not a Minister on the handover date, it may be pertinent to present him with the facts again."

Chidioka further explained: "On May 29, 2015, President Buhari inherited a foreign reserve of $28.6 billion, according to official data still present on the website of the Central Bank of Nigeria, as well as $5.6 billion Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas Limited dividends.

“Also, a 2015 budget of over N4 trillion was handed over to the incoming administration by the outgoing Jonathan government. Furthermore, the Jonathan administration left a total of $2.2 billion in the Excess Crude Account on May 29, 2015.

(As verified by the Ministry of Finance both by the immediate past minister and the incumbent)."

The former Minister of Aviation said to further create context, "I would like the Minister of Transport to note the country's economic indices after 1849 days of President Jonathan's Presidency from May 06 2010, the date he took over from President Umaru Yar'Adua to the Handover date of May 29, 2015.

"On May 29, 2015, President

FCT Threatens Revocation of 435 Abandoned Land Titles

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) administration has threatened to revoke the titles of the owners of 435 abandoned, uncompleted structures as well as 600 undeveloped plots of land within the city.

The FCT Director of Land Administration, Malam Adamu Jibrin Hussaini, made the threat in a statement issued yesterday, by the Head of Information and Customer Services, Abuja Geographic Information System and Lands Department, Malam Abubakar Umar Dembo.

He said the authority was considering the move because the structures had become a

source of security breach in the city.

He urged the owners of the affected buildings within the city to swiftly work towards their completion.

Similarly, he disclosed that the Department had concluded plans to revoke titles given to owners of about 600 undeveloped plots because they constituted an eyesore in Abuja.

Hussaini noted that the department had conveyed 495 Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) to bonafide owners from January to December 2021, out of many uncollected C of O in the vaults.

He implored other allottees to come over and pick their

certificates in order to allow issuance of new ones.

On the issuance of Rights of Occupancy within the year under review, Hussainini explained that the Land Administration Department released a total number of 1,319 titles to beneficiaries.

He also urged those that had applied for land in the FCT to endevour to come forward and check the status of their applications.

He noted the Department also witnessed a tremendous increase in the number of fresh applications for land during the year under review, saying 8,010 persons applied for land between January to December 2021.

Muhammadu Buhari inherited an economy that, by the testimony of the World Investment Report, prepared by the Geneva-based United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), was the number one destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa.

“In the five years of President Jonathan, Direct Foreign Investment stood at about $35.25 billion. You can compare this to the $11.55 billion FDI received from 2016 to 2020.

"The Jonathan’s administration handed over a $550 billion economy (largest in Africa and 26th globally) and a diversified economy.

"Under President Jonathan, the unemployment rate stood at 7.5 per cent (better than European Union) today. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, six and half years after Amaechi's government came in, unemployment is 33 per cent.

"Before the government came

in, Nigeria's poverty rate was 32 per cent as of May 2015. We need not compare it against 71 per cent today after 78 months of President Buhari's administration.

"Our External debt as of May 2015 stood at $7.3 billion, the Gini coefficient (degree of inequality) was not different from China's as of 2015. In 343 weeks and four days of the current administration, our external debt has ballooned to $37.9 billion as of September 2021. It is important to point out that over 48 per cent are bilateral and commercial loans.

"With the facts above, I am sure that the Minister of Transport will rethink his fixation on the past and focus on the clear and present danger of an economy on the path to Argentina – sovereign debt default."Chidoka said.

According to the former Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Road Safety Commission, "In the face of declining revenues, available public data revealed that external debt servicing gulped

$1.82 billion between January and September 2021; this is 43.9 per cent higher than the $1.27 billion spent in the corresponding period of 2020.

"In the same period of January to September 2021, Domestic debt servicing rose to N1.74 trillion from N1.53 trillion recorded in the same period of 2020."

He said these should worry Amaechi, coupled with unlocking the asphyxiating gridlock that the Apapa port had created in the economy.

He further said, "2406 days after, a clear 557 days (1 year five months) more than President Jonathan governed Nigeria; this administration's economic policies and heightened insecurity have left the country comatose.

"Minister Amaechi and the APC government should stop this perennial blame game and focus on redeeming its tattered image by signing the electoral bill passed by a legislature it controls," Chidoka advised.

Edo Govt Parleys Workers, Seeks Sustained CollaborationtoRealiseMEGAAgenda The Edo State government has called for the support of all stakeholders to sustain ongoing reforms across all sectors of the state.

It reassured that the government was committed to realising the Making Edo Great Again (MEGA) Agenda and achieving economic prosperity for Edo people.

Edo State Head of Service, Anthony Okungbowa, while speaking at a meeting with different workers’ unions in the state, noted that ongoing reforms by Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration would improve the livelihoods of the people, ensure sustainable growth and development and achieve a progressive and prosperous state.

The unions included the state's chapters of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), National Union of Teachers (NUT) and Joint Negotiating Council (JNC), among others.

Reassuring the government’s

commitment to improving the state’s civil and public service for effective and efficient service delivery, Okungbowa was quoted in a statement to have urged the unions to support the government’s drive at repositioning the service.

The HOS stated that the meeting was aimed at strengthening the unity that exists between the government and the organised labour, adding, “The industrial harmony that we have in the state today is because of the cooperation that exists between the government, organised labour and various unions. This has helped in deepening the gains recorded by the government across all sectors of the state.”

He further noted that the government placed emphasis on critical sectors of the state, including infrastructure, education, manpower development, and physical planning, among others.

Noting that the government had recruited over 300 person-

nel in the first phase of the ongoing recruitment exercise into the state's civil and public service, Okungbowa said, “The recruitment was done strictly on merit as the most competent and qualified hands were brought into the service.”

“The government has concluded plans to further employ more hands in the coming year.

The government has no plan to retrench workers but has put measures in place for the training and retraining of every Edo worker to enhance effective service delivery,” he added.

“We are moving forward; the world is moving forward and the civil and public service in Edo State cannot afford to lag behind,” he said.

On their part, the TUC Chairman, Marshal Ohrue; JNC Chairman, Oisamaye Godwin and the Secretary, Edo NLC, Barry Imade, were said to have hailed Obaseki for prioritising the reform of the state’s civil and public service.

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 29, 2021 • T H I S D AY

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Budget Minister Pledges More Infrastructure Projects in Edo Says FG constructed 500 rural roads

The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Mr. Clem Agba, yesterday promised more infrastructure development in Edo North Senatorial District.

He said the proposed projects in the zone were captured in the 2022 appropriation bill passed by the National Assembly and soon to be signed by President

Muhammadu Buhari.

The minister made the declaration at the just concluded 2021 Au-Ukhua Carnival/ Shopping Trade Fair in Iviukhua Community, Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State where the rich, diverse cultural heritage of the Iviukhua people and Afenmai land were on display.

Agba noted that the federal government carried out the construction of over 500 rural road projects to make the transportation of agricultural products easy for the people.

He affirmed that more road projects and the development of the power sector were expected to stimulate economic activities

in rural communities as well as support SMEs, who are key stakeholders to the growth of the Nigerian economy.

He thanked the Onoghie and President General, Dr. Kennedy Izuagbe, the entire people of Iviukhua Community, for the traditional hunter's title of Ogbekpe-Odumah and the

award of outstanding grassroot development personality given to him, promising to do more for the development of the rural communities which would complement the growth of the Nigerian economy.

In response, Izuagbe appreciated the minister for honouring the invitation of the community as

that it is only the interest of the north I continuously hold dear to my heart is that type of buka gossip that, knowing you as I do since 1975, I am not surprised that you echoed.

“I have always stood for equity and justice in our federation and, for me, tribe has to be suppressed for the state to emerge. And until the state emerges, Nigeria will not make the desired progress, as tribesmen will always sacrifice state for tribe. This has always been my position and it will remain my position until I breathe my last.”

He described some portions of the open letter written by Clark as concoctions and outright distortions and lies, which might be due to loss of memory on the Ijaw leader's part or misrepresentation.

Obasanjo stated that on resumption of office as president of Nigeria in 1999, the first

meeting he held out of Abuja was on the Niger Delta. He maintained that without being prompted, he decided the 13 per cent derivation that the new constitution granted to oil-producing areas.

He added that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) bill was his initiative for contributions to be made by state governments, oil companies and the federal government, although the states, according to him, lobbied the National Assembly to exclude them.

Obasanjo described the language used to describe him in Clark’s letter as offensive and uncouth, saying he totally rejects them.

“I am not inconsistent, hypocritical, ‘unstatesman’ nor am I anybody's lackey. You use your own yardstick to judge others,” he said, stressing that bad language does not show prudence, wisdom and maturity.

OBASANJO TO CLARK: OIL BELONGS TO NIGERIA, NOT NIGER DELTA

produce the oil on which the Nigerian economy pivots.

Clark had in a protest letter alleged that for openly rebuking those advocating resource control for the Niger Delta at a public forum in Abuja, Obasanjo showed open hatred for the region.

But Obasanjo, while replying the nonagenarian, argued that until he could be legally and constitutionally persuaded otherwise, he maintained his position on the resource control question. He argued that there could not be two sovereign entities within a country, claiming the existence of dual sovereignties was what he understood from Clark’s position on resource ownership.

The former president said all those, who purchased crude oil from Nigeria entered into contractual relationship with the country, and not the Niger Delta, affirming that the territory of Nigeria remains indivisible, inclusive of the resources found therein.

"All those who purchase crude oil from Nigeria enter into contractual relationship with Nigeria not with the Niger Delta.

The territory of Nigeria is indivisible inclusive of the resources found therein. No territory in Nigeria including the minerals found therein belongs to the area of location and this remains so until the federation is dissolved" “This is the position of the Nigerian constitution and international law,” he declared.

Obasanjo explained, “If there is a threat of violence to any part of Nigeria today, including the Niger Delta, it is the Nigerian military, backed by any other machinery, that can be procured or established at the federal level that will respond to any

such threat.

“In principle and practice, the position I have taken on the location of mineral resources in any part of Nigeria is the legal and constitutional position.”

The ex-president noted that his position had always been that equity and justice demanded that those domiciled in the locations, where the resources were found, were entitled to more of the material benefits accruing from the crude oil or other minerals.

He added that he, along with Clark, stood on the same logic with respect to the “criminal” mining of gold deposits in Zamfara State or any other state in Nigeria.

Taking on the elder statesman based on the 1963 Constitution, Obasanjo noted that nowhere in that constitution was it said or implied that minerals located in any part of Nigeria belonged to that location.

“For emphasis and to further buttress the point, the provision is even in the exclusive list – exclusively reserved for the federal government,” he pointed out.

While empathising with Clark’s “frustrations” with the state of the nation, Obasanjo advised that everyone must be guarded and measured in the expression of such frustrations “lest we throw away the baby with the dirty birth water.”

To support his position, the former military general explained that if any mineral was found under the ground at his Ota farm, the federal government would ask the state government to revoke his certificate of occupancy for overriding public interest.

He pointed out that although he could lay claim for development already carried out on the farmland, the federal

N'ASSEMBLY TRANSMITS 2022 APPROPRIATION BILL TO BUHARI

include N869 billion for statutory allocation, N3.8 trillion for debt servicing, N6.9 trillion and N5.4 trillion for recurrent and capital expenditure, respectively.

The 2022 Appropriation Bill was transmitted to the president last Friday by Clerk of the National Assembly, Ojo Amos, and it was acknowledged by the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President on Saturday. The transmission letter, referenced NASS/CNA/37/Vol.1/35, addressed to President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and titled, “Appropriation Bill, 2022,” read, “In consonance with the Provisions of the Acts Authentication Act Cap. A2, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, I wish, with due respect, to forward to Your Excellency, the authenticated copies of Appropriation Bill, 2022, for your consideration and assent.

"After Your Excellency’s as-

sent, one copy of the signed bill should be retained in your office while the other two are to be returned for our further action, please.

“With my highest regards.”

Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, confirmed to THISDAY yesterday that the National Assembly had transmitted the proposed budget to the president. Shehu said the budget would be assented to

by Buhari on Friday.

He responded to an enquiry via WhatsApp message, "Yes, it's true the president will sign the 2022 budget by Friday."

THISDAY further gathered that the event was billed for the Council Chamber at the State House, Abuja by 10am.

Those expected to join the president at the signing ceremony include Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan; and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila.

government would issue a licence to any company that had been allocated the right to mine the mineral.

“It would not matter what I grow on my farm and what development I have carried out. Compensation I could get based on assessed development that I had carried out on the farmland,” he stressed.

He opined that the constitution that affected the Niger Delta also affected Zamfara State, where gold was found, insisting that if anybody at the federal level has neglected the constitution, it is quite another matter.

Obasanjo stated in the response to Clark, “The gold in Ilesha, Osun State, and the lead in Ebonyi State, all come under the same law and constitution. There is no part of Nigeria, whose interest is not dear to my heart.

“And stating in your letter

the special guest of honor of 2021 Au-Ukhua Carnival/Shopping Trade Fair, commending his efforts towards the development of rural communities in Nigeria saying he rightly deserved the awards and recognition he received.

Other highlights of the carnival celebration was the flagging off the maiden Ukhua 7km Road Race by the minister which saw Mr. Paul Okosun emerge as the champion in the time of 25.25 seconds and Mr. Michael Amodu emerged as the first runner-up in the time of 26.25 seconds while Mr. Iyedo Torik emerged as the second runner-up in the time of 26.57 seconds.

Other activities included the carnival procession, beauty pageant led by the Carnival Standing Committee Chairman, Mr. Chris Aigwanyiokha, and traditional troupes display.

Dignitaries that graced the occasion included the Senator representing Edo North Senatorial District, Francis Alimikhena, the Iyase of Uwanno Kingdom, Human Rights Activist and Constitutional Lawyer, Barrister Mike Ozekhome (SAN), the Akpakpavigivigi of Edo State, Group Managing Director of Daar Communication, Mr. Tony Akiotu, Brig-Gen. Thomos Unokhua, Dr. Usman Idodo, Chief Abu Agbonoga, Barrister Monday Udomoh, Barrister Sylva Ogwemoh, Dr. Sunny Akhamiokhor, other notable personalities, and Ukhua community Leaders.

BAYELSA SPILL: ABRUPT WELLHEAD LEAK IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT INTERFERENCE, EXPERTS INSIST The wing valve is a piece of flow-control equipment used in oil and gas operations and is part of a Christmas tree used to shut in flow from an oil well.

The professionals corroborated pronouncements by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), two critical federal agencies, which earlier linked the leak to sabotage.

During a Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) to the Santa Barbara River, Nembe, both organisations, based on their on-site assessment of the wellhead, had agreed that unknown persons would have been tampered with the wing valve, leading to the leak that caused the blowout.

The representative of the NURPC, Mr. Adetoyinbo Adeyemi, stated that the physical examination of the failed wellhead, from an engineering point of view, indicated that the pressure from the equipment was not of a sufficient level to cause a blowout. He explained that the wind valve was designed to withstand extremely high pressure and could not have failed if it had not been tampered. He said the fact that the facility was not even producing meant the internal well pressure would have been quite low at the time.

Adeyemi stated, “We are here to establish the cause of the incident that happened at the Santa Barbara well 1. From the findings, you can see that there’s no spill anymore. Where the spill came out from is from the wing valve.

“The wing valve has been replaced now. That means that the wing valve, the way it was, is not designed to fail like that because there are bolts

surrounding it, well designed to keep the pressure in place.

“So, if it had not been taken off, there is no way it could have moved from there. When it was reported initially, there was no valve in that place, and none was found. So, to us, it is an act of sabotage.”

He said the valve was designed to take care of any pressure from the well, insisting that the fact that the well had not been producing for a long time meant there was no pressure to take off the valve.

“They are called the barriers to ensure that such an environment where it has been installed is not affected,” the NURPC representative said. He added, So, if you are trying to compare an apple with an orange, it’s going to be a wrong thing.

“Another thing is that if you can go back and read, you will find out the valve is not designed to fail except somebody goes there to mess it up.”

NOSDRA’s Ismail BabaAhmed traced the leak to the same cause, stressing that from his expertise in fluid mechanics, his own physical examination at the site, and his interactions with the wellhead experts who plugged the leak, only vandalism could have led to the blowout.

Baba-Ahmed explained that he had ascertained that the threading on the wellhead casing where the valve was removed was not worn out, a situation that suggested that the detachment of the valve was not caused by pressure.

He stated, “The engineer that killed the well, I asked specifically that after killing the well, before fixing the valve, what were the circumstances of the thread? This is because if those valves were pulled out under

pressure, the threads would be worn out and he answered emphatically that the threads were intact.

“The most likely cause that could remove those valves was external influences. If those valves were removed under internal pressure, the thread would wear out because it will pull out.”

Another NOSDRA representative, Olubunmi Akindele, also corroborated his colleague’s position.

Akindele stated, “If this thing wasn’t worn out and it was a sudden thing, then it’s a surge. In addition, if it had not been building for some time, it cannot come off suddenly. That corroborates what my colleague has said.”

Chief Executive Officer of Kenyon International, the company that undertook the sealing of the leak, Victor Ekpenyong, in his comments, insisted that wing valves were designed to be sturdier than the pressure they are meant to withstand.

Ekpenyong said, “In seismic studies, before a well is designed or drilled, there are a lot of parameters that are put into consideration. One of them is the reservoir pressure. So, when the reservoir pressure is determined, the pressure that is going into the design for the well must be able to withstand the reservoir pressure.

“There’s no way you have a reservoir pressure of 5,000 PSI and you design an equipment of 2000 PSI. In fact, you design a higher PSI. There’s no way you drill a well and the pressure will remove the Xmas tree designed based on the seismic report.

“So, it’s not correct to say that the pressure from the reservoir pulled out the Xmas tree. This

well was not drilled by Aiteo, it was drilled by Shell. Shell is an international company with high reputation worldwide. Aiteo inherited the well from Shell.

“Everything that has to do with this well was well designed and taken care of. There’s no chance that the pressure can pull out the valve. In industry best practices, a well needs first line and second line maintenance.

Aiteo has a procedure, which I have seen.”

Ekpenyong further explained that the stud the community alleged was tampered with in the process of fixing the leak was the anti-theft device.

Global Group Director/ Coordinator, Asset Protection/ Security Services and Community Matters, Aiteo, Andrew Oru, also reiterated that beyond emotions and sentiments, the facility had spilled about 16,000 barrels, as against a loss of two million barrels that had been promoted by certain individuals.

Oru said, “Total barrels recovered is 16, 000. Nobody in Aiteo said two million barrels had been recovered from this place and this place is not even capable of producing two million barrels in 20 years. That’s not the position, not the science. Let’s forget emotions and sentiments.”

Another Aiteo engineer, Glory Odita, disclosed that the well had been in existence for about 20 years, saying that wing valves do not detach on their own.

According to him, the reservoir pressure determines the pressure valve, which he estimated to be about 6,500 PSI, adding that that kind of pressure was not possible with a well that was not in production and had been shut-in as well.

The leak, which was reported on November 5, was plugged on December 8.

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MILESTONE SERVICE AWARD...

L-R: Vice Chairman, Famad, Mrs. Aronke Susan Omame; Chairman, Famad, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo; Special guest, Mrs. Funke Kayode; Mrs. Adenike Shodipo; Andrew Dibia; 50 years awardee and his wife Maria, during the Footwear, Accessories manufacturing and distribution, chrismas party and milestone service award, held at the company premises at Ojota, Lagos… recently

Presidency: Electoral Bill Failed to Enhance, Build on Nation’s Democratic Processes Says provisions benefit richer parties like APC CSOs knock Malami, Say he has no business being AGF Deji Elumoye and Udora Orizu in Abuja Worried by the backlash from President Muhammadu Buhari’s refusal to assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, the Presidency, yesterday, said Buhari withheld assent to the bill because it failed to enhance and build on the nation’s democratic processes.

More instructively, the presidency also said another reason the president refused to sign it was because some of the provisions in the bill would benefit richer political parties like the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the disadvantage of poorer and smaller parties.

But the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have frowned at the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, over claims that it would cost INEC and 18 political parties about N500 billion

to organise direct primaries.

The Presidency, in a release titled, "In Amending The Electoral Act, The Nation First, Always First For Mr President" and issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, stressed that the president wanted an electoral bill that would protect the interest of all Nigerians and not interest of APC as a party.

It further added that the president would do his best possible to protect the nation's democracy, including withholding assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.

"The President’s decision to withhold assent from the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2021 has come under scrutiny from media and political circles.

This is quite correct, because it is a decision that will impact all Nigerians. The president’s office has decided, therefore, to issue an official statement to make its

position clear.

"Nigeria’s strength as a nation and its status as one of the wealthiest economies in Africa with one of its highest standards of living owes above all to its proud democratic processes, which are enshrined in the Electoral Act of 2010.

"It is this act which the new bill seeks to amend. These amendments have been presented as a means to enhance and build upon our democratic processes. After careful review, the president’s office has found that the opposite is true.

"Rather, the proposed amendments entail significant legal, financial, economic and security consequences for all Nigerians, principal among which would be a severe spike in the cost of holding primary elections by parties – integral to democracies the world over.

"And who would shoulder these costs? The Nigerian

taxpayer of course. And who would benefit? Only the richest of political parties. At a time when the nation is seeking to extricate itself from the economic mire of the worst global health crisis in living memory, whatever other merits the new bill may have, now is not the time for such frivolous spending of public money.

"Inevitably, the usual voices are making themselves heard, with cynical claims of election rigging and so on. This is nothing new. We heard their self-serving cries of fraud in 2015, when we saw the first peaceful transfer of power in independent Nigeria’s history. Then again in 2019, when President Buhari was re-elected with a lead of over three million.

We will hear them again in 2023.

"Until then, the President will do whatever he can to protect this county’s democracy, and that includes withholding assent from this Bill. It is worth noting that, as

Masari Set for Council Polls After Six Years of Legal Battle Francis Sardauna in Katsina The Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, yesterday, said his administration has concluded arrangements to conduct Local government elections in the first quarter of 2022.

Masari, who unveiled this while speaking with journalists at the Government House, Katsina, noted that 70 per cent of the needed apparatus have been acquired by the state government for the exercise.

Barely a month after he was first sworn in six years ago, Masari sacked the 34 local government council chairmen and their 361 councillors over what he termed financial misappropriation by the dissolved officials.

The sacked local government council officials, all from the former ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), ran to court to challenge what they described as illegal removal from office by the governor.

The legal journey that started

in Katsina and went through Kaduna terminated in Abuja, when the Supreme Court in May this year, in a unanimous judgment, declared the sack of the council officials as “illegal, unconstitutional, null and void.”

The Apex Court ordered the state government to pay the sacked officials their entitlements for the remainder of their tenure.

But Masari, during the media chat, said the state government has paid the entitlements of the dissolved officials and a committee has been inaugurated under

the chairmanship of Muntari Lawal, in collaboration with other relevant bodies for the conduct of the election.

"70 per cent of what is required for the election is on the ground, and we are hoping to conduct the election first quarter of next year. The delay in the conduct of the election was due to the court case instituted by the PDP, and we as a government didn't want to go ahead with the polls due to the then pending case," he explained.

one of Nigeria’s largest political parties, the ruling APC is one of those that stand to benefit from a bill that favours wealthier parties.

“But it is not the job of this government to protect the APC. It is the job of this government to protect Nigeria, her people and her democracy. To those that would rather that limited public funds be spent on politicking during this time of global crisis, we say: cease these cynical games.

Tell the Nigerian people openly what you want. Put your – or rather their – money where your mouth is," the statement stated.

However, the CSOs, in a statement yesterday by Ariyo-Dare Atoye Executive Director, Adopt A Goal Initiative; Executive Director Speak Out Africa Initiative, Kenneth Eze and The Convener, Raising New Voices Initiative, Jude Feranmi, while calling Malami a liar, said it would cost INEC and political parties less than N10 billion to organise direct primaries.

According to them, it was sad and shameful that the country had been brought this low to warrant an individual to use the exalted office of the AGF to propagate outright falsehood and undermine national interest.

The CSOs appealed to media organisations and platforms interviewing Malami to ask him to present a position paper or a financial document to substantiate his contrived claims that it would cost political parties and INEC hundreds of billions of naira to organise direct primaries.

"We consider it a public service to respond to the disingenuous claims and mischievous reasons for the executive veto of the amended electoral bill made by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.

“As concerned CSOs, we are

throwing up a challenge to the AGF that it would cost both INEC and the 18 political parties less than 20 billion to organise direct primaries if it becomes the law.

We demand an open debate with the AGF, either directly or through his representatives on this subject matter.

"The statement credited to Malami in the phone-in programme on Radio Kano may have exposed him as the author and propagandist behind the phantom 500 billion costs of organising direct primaries.

“We ask, is the AGF pandering to the interest of a few governors on the direct primaries so that they can allow his ‘consultants’ to have their way on the controversial $418m Paris Club refund?

We would instead advise Malami to have a change of heart and ensure that the country is not defrauded through over-inflated fees.

"On the issue of security concern cited by the President, which was likely based on the AGF’s advisory, we want to alert Nigerians to the danger and contrivance of using the country’s inability to conduct direct primaries in 8809 (direct primaries) to justify why elections cannot hold in 176,846 polling units in 2023.

“Bear in mind that the security situation in the country is likely to worsen ahead of the general election. Mr. Malami, who has repeatedly shown a high degree of myopism pursuing narrow interests in the discharge of his responsibility, can no longer be trusted to speak for the generality of Nigerians.

“Let it be on record that the AGF is doing the President a serious disservice, pretending that Gen. Buhari does not care about legacy and would not be judge by posterity and history."

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UNVEILING OF EZIMO CARNIVAL LOGO...

L-R: President, Ezimo Unity Forum, Hon. Onyekachi Ugwu; Chairman, Udenu Local Government Area, Solomon Onah; Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State and Co-Chairman, Ezimo Carnival Central Planning Committee, Chinedu Onu, during the unveiling of 2021 Ezimo Carnival logo, held at Ezimo, Udenu Local Government Area of the state... yesterday

My Arrest Was a Plan to Eliminate Me, Says Nwosu Claims IG’s intervention, professionalism saved him Amby Uneze in Owerri A former governorship candidate of the Action Alliance (AA), Chief Uche Nwosu, has alleged that his arrest on Sunday at St Peters Anglican Church, Eziama Obaire in Nkwere Local Government Area of Imo State, during the outing service of his late mother, Jemaimah Nwosu, was intended to kill him.

In his first official reaction to the arrest, Nwosu, yesterday, said it took the divine intervention of God and the professionalism of the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, to save his life.

The former governorship candidate, who is the son-in-law to former Governor Rochas Okorocha, however, accused the state government of being behind his arrest and subsequent abduction to Abuja.

Nwosu claimed that the IG was unaware of his being taken to Abuja by the security operatives, adding that no invitation was also extended to him prior to the arrest.

He, therefore, thanked the Inspector General of Police for showing professionalism, devoid of sentiments, saying, “I commend him for that.”

Continuing, he said, "I want to thank God, because I don't think

their intention was to arrest me but to eliminate me, because if their intention was to arrest me, I know the normal police procedure, not to bring me to the police command and put up a report that I've been arrested and then take me to Abuja, it is not the duty of police attached to the governor to arrest but that of the commissioner of police in the state.

"Mine was a calculated attempt to eliminate me, but I thank God He spared my life. I want to thank the media, I don't think it was their intention to fly me to Abuja with the private jet that came to Enugu, because it came one hour after we arrived, their intention was never to take me to Abuja, because there was never an invitation, they said they send me invitation three times and I refused to come.

"I'm a law-abiding citizen. All my life, as a Chief of staff to the Government House, I have never been involved in criminality. I have never sponsored any criminal, so, when they said I was selling guns to militants, I was surprised as a former commissioner for lands, deputy chief of staff to be dragged on the floor and treated like a common criminal.

"When we got to Abuja, they took me straight to the Tactical

Squad Office, where the IGP intervened. I was interviewed. From what I observed, the IGP was not properly briefed. All these drama was the government house; all the security people I saw were those attached to the governor of Imo State. They came with a military truck that was part of the governor's convoy; they came with a Ford jeep that was also part of his convoy.

"My pictures they took was sent to social media. Who authorised them to send the pictures? The IGP, a professional policeman that handled this matter, did not authorise them to send my pictures to social media, so, I'm pleading to the IGP to find out who sent out my picture to the social media, to find out who paid for the private jet that came to pick me at the Enugu airport and to find out the men, who did not respect God and have to desecrate the alter of God and shot. It's a sacrilege in the house of God. I appeal to the IGP not to let this incident stop here; he should investigate further.

"When I got to the police tactical office, I was told the same man whose video was viral said I was giving them money to buy arm, and I asked them if that was why you people should humiliate me?

You should have invited me to

know if it's true or not.

“I've not even touched trigger, let alone supply arms. I've been a law abiding citizen, these things were all cooked up in government house to malign my image and humiliate me. I've not come out of the trauma why I should be humiliated in such manner inside the church in front of all the visitors I invited?”

When contacted, Commissioner for Information and strategy, Declan Emelumba, denied government’s involvement in the arrest as alleged

by Nwosu.

He said: "There is no truth whatsoever in that allegation as it is a figment of his imagination.

It is natural for a drowning man, to clutch on any available straw to save himself. But spurious and baseless allegations are not the kind of straw that can save a drowning man.

"It is quite curious that in all of Imo State, it was only Uche Nwosu that the police targeted to arrest in such a manner for no just reason?

Only time will tell. It should be emphasised that the government of Senator Hope Uzodinma does not believe in tyranny or lawless behaviour as was in the case when Uche Nwosu was the defacto deputy governor of the state.

Anambra PDP to Sanction Members Who Sabotaged Party in Last Election Says returning defectors to take backseats David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State, has said it would review its performance in the November governorship election and sanction its members found to have sabotaged their progress.

The party said it would no longer tolerate its members leaving the party to join other political parties during election and returning afterwards, stressing that returning members would henceforth be given backseats upon return.

The party took the decision during an emergency expanded meeting of the leadership, held in Awka, yesterday.

Chairman of the party in the state, Mr Ndubuisi Nwobu, member of board of trustees of

the party, Senator Ben Obi and candidate of the party in the last election, Mr Valentine Ozigbo were among those that attended the meeting.

Nwobu, in his welcome address, said, "This is an emergency expanded meeting of our party leaders. We are about 138 members comprising strong stakeholders here.

We went for the governorship election with high hopes. Our candidate (Ozigbo), did his very best to ensure that the flag handed to him took us to government house.

"At the end of the day, many factors, seen and unseen militated against his hope. Thanks to Ekwunife for working so hard, despite not being favoured for the ticket of the party. She worked hard, and if everyone did same, we would have won.

"However, some members chickened out of our party, because they were thrown carrots at. What was thrown at them is very infinitesimal to what was thrown at some of us.

"All those who left us, don't be surprised will start sneaking back soon. If they come in, we will give them the backseat, where they deserve. It will be a lesson for tomorrow, because if we don't do it, people will continue in wrong acts.

"We need people in the party because politics is about number, but not for people to move in and out. We will mete out the same punishment for all, both contenders and members, who left to go and make money from other parties.

There must be repercussions for such acts. We hope that PDP in a very short while will be able to

bounce back to power in this state."

Senator Obi, in his remarks, said, "Every PDP member knows that the party wins elections. Any party that doesn't have discipline cannot win election. We must learn to sanction erring members.

"Today, we still have cases in court by PDP members. I will champion that those people be sanctioned. We cannot continue like this. We have bigwigs in the party, and we must strive for a united PDP." The party, therefore, resolved to set up a committee to review its participation in the governorship election, while also introducing to the party, a new member of the Board of Trustees of the party, Mrs. Chinelo Mofus, and Mr. Obi Okechukwu, the National Auditor of the party.

"This government believes in rule of law and due process and would not attempt to usurp the Constitutional responsibility of the security agencies. However, we believe that in the fullness

of time, Imo people and indeed Nigerians will be apprised by the relevant agencies, who the bandits in the state are and the real reason for the arrest of Uche Nwosu,” he said.

Utomi: There’ll Be Great Alignment of Patriots to Save Nigeria in 2022 Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja Nigerian professor of political economy and management expert, Pat Utomi has projected the coming together of patriotic elements to address the challenges facing the country and salvage her democracy in the coming year.

Utomi, the the founder of Centre for Value in Leadership (CVL) and former presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, said some of the challenges facing the country could be traceable to official profligacy, poor youth empowerment and lack of creativity in governance.

Speaking as guest on the Morning Show of the ARISE News Channel, Utomi said apart from introducing an initiative to bring elected officials to account, there would be special teams that would act as shadow government to understudy what the government was doing and to proffer alternative policy measures.

"So, we are expecting that the year 2022 will be a year of massive recalls of political actors in our country. We will build capacity to show that this is the credible work of the people. Many politicians, who defy the will of the people coming out due to this technology enabled real numbers about what the people feel.

“Another thing that needs to be done is to put together credible teams of Nigerians on almost every aspect of governmental life, so these teams, whether you call them shadow government will on a continuing basis point to what government is doing, the results show the alternative that can work, not just rhetoric's but practical ones," he said.

On the solution to the country's political and economic problems, Utomi said something must have to be done to stop official profligacy.

According to him, a situation whereby leaders and government officials fail to appreciate the desper-

ate economic and social crisis the country was currently facing and busy spending huge resources for their personal comfort did not augur well for development.

"The problem is in the Nigerian people, who apparently have given up hope on our democracy, thus leaving the politicians to do what they like. Because of this, they are killing their country.

“The only solution to this problem is for the people I call the complicit middle to realise that with these fellows, our country is close to its end and to wake up and say, let all these people that had refused to vote in the past – professors, managers – and all those that usually hide in their comfort zones, and if the road find somewhere and buy SUV to realise that Nigeria can turn dramatically.

"This has happened in the course of human history and I am confident that it would happen in Nigeria. My desperate plea to fellow compatriots in Nigeria is that we must completely turn the system over for sake of our children and grandchildren, because if we don't, I doubt that there will be Nigeria in 2027," he said.

Utomi, who is also a fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants of Nigeria, said a critical factor in addressing the governance problems of Nigeria is the issue of the right electoral system. the problem is not this big man or that big man. The problem is systemic, fundamentally antiprogress, because of the attitude of the political class and very importantly, because we don't have political parties in the country.

So, we are going to take a look at the problems of the country and a clear understanding of the way forward. It is a systematic problem and doing it is not, because this fellow is evil while the other is nice.

Unless we completely overhaul the system, Nigeria is going to running in circles,” he said.

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COMMENT

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

WHERE THE POPULAR WILL MATTERS Jonathan Akpan writes that Governor Udom Emmanuel is committed to serving his people in peace

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t is the duty of any chief executive, especially in a political atmosphere, to change the course of history. That accounts for the six plus years of Udom Emmanuel as the top servant in Akwa Ibom state.

He found no other time to tell the story. In a period of peace, he broadcast a message to let the people remember what good thing had happened to them since he became governor. “Anyone, and I repeat anyone, who, for selfish political purposes, wants to reverse this peace must and will be rejected.” Making sure that his people got his drift, he emphasised: “Anyone who aims to grab power through the instrument of violence must be stopped and rejected.”

An Emmanuel downstairs is invoking the Emmanuel upstairs and saying, God with us.

Such a statement was at once a projection of achievement as it was a warning. His predecessor, Godswill Akpabio, was noted for his boasts about infrastructural achievement. But he was silent about what he did not do: he did not govern in peace.

Now he is in the centre where the federal government is praised for the achievement of infrastructural imprints in roads and rail, and his ministers Babatunde Fashola and Rotimi Amaechi, have been leading lights in the regard.

Yet we can see that the reign of bandits and religious extremists are making mincemeat of those work. You can make a big house of luxury and fill it with termites and worms.

That is the essence of what Governor Emmanuel was saying. It is easy to take peace for granted. It is easy to go to church in fancy clothes and shoes and in the hue of family bliss and return to a lunch in peace.

It is easy to go the farm, to the office, and not look over your shoulders.

It is easy to do a political campaign and other forms of such retailing and not bemoan one’s ambition because gunmen are not stalking, and body bags and blood stains are not consequences of any such outings.

But the opposite became routine once upon a time.

But in the past half a decade, the state has had these good times, close to halcyon times, though not perfect. Fear has not made anyone tremble. When there is peace, there is more assured development.

What the predecessor did with violence looming, the present man is doing more in tranquillity. For infrastructure, we can see he has been constructing roads of impactful nature across the state, and pivotal about that is the fact that he has been able to link not only with major arteries but he can connect smoothly its neighbours like Abia and Cross River States. Earlier in 2021, Emmanuel and Okezie Ikpeazu met to cut the tape and launch the express.

So the idea of his broadcast was about the spirit of Christmas, and he was trying to impress upon his fellow citizens that the spirit of Christmas is emblematised in the words of the angel who proclaimed that the birth of the Lord and saviour Jesus Christ was to bring a blessedness of peace and goodwill towards all. That was the spirit with which he had wanted to govern from day one, and that spirit has succeeded up till to day. There is no peace in roads no matter how smooth that lead to slaughter and Golgotha. But the peace that passeth

THE OIL MAJORS HAD BEEN URGED TO MOVE OVER TO THE STATE WITH THEIR STAFF AND BUREAUCRACY. THEY MAKE THEIR WEALTH THERE BUT SPEND IT ELSEWHERE IN LAGOS AND ABUJA. THEIR COMPLAINT WAS THAT THEY DID NOT HAVE THE STRUCTURE. THE GOVERNOR HAS GIVEN THEM ONE

all understanding is the sort of peace that brings goodwill.

It was in that spirit that he has overcome the enemies of that state.

Because no one in the state loves the violence of death and blood, they have transmuted violence into another platform: the social media.

Those who are familiar with the happenings in the state know that it is now the cowardly turn of those who wish the state no good.

For instance, a recent online medium peddled the story that the state had not paid pensions whereas the state is up to date in that regard.

They cannot even distinguish pension and gratuities. They were inspired in their malice by a report that Governor Zulum of Borno State had announced his payment of pensions. But they forgot that before Zulum, there was Emmanuel, and the old and retired people of Akwa Ibom enjoyed their pensions before the old and retired people of Borno. But one of the media outlets that peddled this falsehood actually was rigged into an award in the state even though the trustees of that award did not recognise online media as part of the candidates for the accolades.

That is the state of journalistic perversion in the state that must be checked. Even if the liars say the old people did not get their pensions, their bank alerts did not lie and the resulting plate of foofoo and afang on their dinner tables cannot be fiction. Lies can only travel so far.

We can also say that better is the killer online than the murderer on the streets. The lies online, however, can be asinine; they can cause deaths on the streets. But they can be overthrown with facts and counter-logic. Evidence of that is now being seen in the cyberspace.

But online lies cannot change the facts that roads have been multiplied. They ride on them in peace and see them. They see peace on those roads and not slaughter and mayhem.

If you look in the air in the state, there is a skyscraper, one of the tallest in the country. It is billed to be the smartest in the sub-region.

It is the one launched by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. It was a promise kept by the state governor. The oil majors had been urged to move over to the state with their staff and bureaucracy. They make their wealth there but spend it elsewhere in Lagos and Abuja. Their complaint was that they did not have the structure. The governor has given them one. The consequence of that is immense. The state will attract a tribe of high-earners who will have to spend into the state economy. The taxes will accrue to that economy, and the spinoffs in entrepreneurs and development dollars are hard to miscalculate.

Again, a low-density estate is underway on the way to the city that has attracted the oil majors for their key employees.

Going farther into the air, we all know of the Ibom Air. From being a fringe flyer, it has grown into one of Nigeria’s major airlines. With deals recently, the fleet of CRJ 900 Bombardier jets has glittered skies.

Ten brand-new ones have been signed and they are bringing the fleet to 17.

What this means is that we are seeing the move of the spirit of Christmas. It is of peace and princely development.

It is also the spirit of the other Emmanuel. Or shall we say, it is in the order of the Emmanuel.

NIGERIA: REFORMING THE SECURITY ARCHITECTURE The present security architecture is not best suited to secure the country, argues Abdullahi Hussaini MaiBasira

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tate Security is significant and best understood in the context of the evolution of a country’s history, politics and ideologies. Every nation reforms or restructures its security formations, institutions and strategies in response to established attacks or as a consequence of informed analysis of an anticipated threat to national security or both.

Two examples. One, in response to the September 11th 2001 attacks, the United States established a Cabinet-level position known as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The singular decision to incorporate 22 federal security agencies into a single cabinet department became the most significant government reorganization of US National Security since the cold war era and the most substantial reorganization of federal agencies since the US National Security Act of 1947. Still in the US, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 created the office of Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to replace the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) from acting in pole position in the US intelligence community. The DNI was created against the backdrop of intelligence failures that called into question how well the intelligence services are situated to protect US interests against foreign attacks. The DNI now coordinates intelligence gathered from 16 federal intelligence offices. Two, as a fall – out of 7th July bombings in the United Kingdom, several reforms were instituted in the security architecture, part of it was the creation of the UK National Crime Agency (NCA) as the leading national law enforcement agency to tackle any type of crime in any part of the UK. The UK – NCA consumed preceding agencies such as the Serious Organized Crime Agency, Police Central e – Crime Unit and the National Policing Improvement Agency.

Also in the UK, the National Security and Investment Act 2021, which would come into effect on 4th January, 2022 introduces new powers for the UK

government to investigate, and if necessary intervene in investments and other acquisitions of entities and assets in, or linked to the UK where they could harm UK’s national security. The act has been adjudged as the biggest shake up of the UK’s national security investment powers for 20 years.

Back home, in the aftermath of the military change of government in August 1985, the new military regime ordered a comprehensive review of the nation’s intelligence and security architecture. Decree 27 of 1976 which created the National Security Organization (NSO) was repealed and replaced with Decree 19 of 1986 which dissolved the NSO and created three major successor intelligence outfits; State Security Services (also known as the Department of State Services), National Intelligence Agency and the Defence Intelligence Agency. The dismantling of the NSO has been described by security analysts in Nigeria as the singular most important reform and overhaul of the nation’s security architecture in the last 40 years. Over the years, there has been; no doubt, some administrative upgrades and small scale reforms in the various formations that make up the nation’s security agencies, but these steps are piecemeals and handouts in the face of the herculean security challenges terribly piled up over the years which are now troubling the corporate sustenance of the Nigerian State.

In the years since that glorious reform, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC); first introduced as a Lagos Civil Defence Committee in 1967 has been fully transformed into a National Security agency with commands throughout the nation and a law giving it statutory backing as a law enforcement agency. The Nigerian Armed Forces, principally the Army, on its part, has had to respond to Niger Delta Militancy and the Boko Haram Insurgency by incorporating the 6th Amphibious Division in Port Harcourt, 7th Infantry Division in Maiduguri and the 8th Task Force Division in

Sokoto. The Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the body primarily responsible for internal security operations, investigation and homeland law enforcement has over the years created 17 new zonal offices and eight administrative organs. Its major operational units; the Special Anti - Robbery Squad (SARS) and the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) came under very heavy public scrutiny and civil protests in 2020 thereby dragging further down the credibility of the force and ultimately affecting the force’s tactical and operational effectiveness. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit; all off – shoots of the NPF were established to add potency to economic and financial elements of national security.

The total number of armed security personnel in relation to security threats, size and population of Nigeria is equally another subject worthy of scrutiny. According to global firepower 2018, Nigeria is ranked the fourth most powerful country in Africa, with an estimated defence budget of about $2.3 billion, and 181,000 total military personnel and another 57,000 reserve personnel. As of 2016, the total number of police staff strength was 371,800 with plans to add 280,000 new recruits to reach a set target of 650,000. Giving that all the other security formations such the DSS and other paramilitary agencies are no-where in size to the Army and police, it is safe to conclude that their staff strength would be weaker. Nigeria is therefore under-policed and of course, under-armed.

Population growth also has security implications.

The population of Nigeria in 1967 when the NSO was first formed was around 53.5 million, in 1986 when the NSO was dissolved, it was 85 million. In 1993, when the Coordinator of National Security was first appointed to newly created role of National Security Adviser, the population was 100 million.

The United Nation’s worldometer, which tracks real-time population data estimates the population

of Nigeria to be around 213,649,175 million people as of 23rd of December, 2021. Since the security reforms of 1986, the population has increased by 120 million people placing Nigeria with 2.64% of total world population and 7th among countries. It is clear that the dimension, nature and intensity of crime, criminality, terrorism, acts of subversion and undermining the authority of state increases as the population of the country increases. The response mechanisms and capacity of the State to legally use coercive measures and enforce its legitimate responsibility to guarantee security should also have increased.

Nigeria operates a federal system of government with States and local governments as quasi – independent federating units. However, the security structure is unitary with all agencies of state responsible for community, local, state, and national security controlled by the federal government.

Strategically, it is incomprehensible that a unitary policing and security architecture would function effectively and proactively in a Federation the size, model and complexity of Nigeria. In other words, Nigeria cannot operate as a federation and still retain a unitary security arrangement. The nation’s present security architecture is not best suited to secure the whole country; its remote villages and small towns, its borders, its citizens and still provide sufficient capacity to advance the nation’s national security interests and objectives.

It is clear that Nigeria is facing a very precarious security situation and formidable threats to national security of varying degrees in its six geo – political regions. The North – west is enmeshed in a clear case of home – grown banditry, kidnapping, and terrorism.

MaiBasira is an alumnus of the Nigeria Defence Academy, Kaduna and a member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, London, UK

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EDITORIAL NIGERIA AND THE HIV/AIDS BURDEN There is urgent need for renewed commitment in fighting the scourge

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he misery index in the country seems to be increasing on all fronts. At a time many countries have learnt to tame the HIV/AIDS challenge, it is saddening that Nigeria is still in the throes of “Africa’s death sentence”.

The World’s AIDS Day was marked three weeks ago with the revelation that Nigeria is the second most ravaged country in the world after South Africa. More than three million Nigerians are believed to be living with the dreaded disease. To compound the problem, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has also estimated that at least 270,000 children below the age of 14 years were living with HIV in Nigeria in 2016. The figure represented half the number of the total (540,000) infected children in West and Central Africa over the same period.

While calling for improvement of early diagnosis and access to HIV treatment and care for children, Marie-Pierre Poirier, the UNICEF Director, West and Central AfTHE HEALTH AUTHORITIES rica, revealed more MUST SCALE UP THEIR chilling statistics: Nigeria recorded ENLIGHTENMENT 37,000 new HIV CAMPAIGNS, infections among PARTICULARLY IN THE children out of the RURAL AREAS, ON THE MANY RISK BEHAVIOURS total of 60,000 new infections in West THAT COULD LEAD TO and Central Africa INFECTIONS, INCLUDING over the same period.

UNPROTECTED SEX This represents 62 per cent of the new infections while four in five children living with HIV in West and Central Africa still do not receive lifesaving antiretroviral therapy. “It is tragic that so many children and adolescents today are not receiving the treatment they need just because they have not been tested,” Poirier said.

With a growing youth population, Nigeria is vulnerable to a continuous prevalence of the disease except those whose duties entail curbing the spread

Letters to the Editor

of HIV virus redouble their efforts. A major problem in the attempt to tackle the challenge is the limited capacity to perform the tests needed for early infant diagnosis. “Without knowing a child’s HIV status, his or her family is less likely to seek the treatment that could prevent the tragedy of a child’s death from AIDS-related illnesses,” argues UNICEF which adds that the situation is worse among adolescents because “the annual number of new HIV infections among those aged 15 to 19 years in the region now exceeds that of children aged 0 to 14 years. These new infections occur mostly through unprotected sexual contact and among adolescent girls.”

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T H I S DAY

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s recently observed by the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, HIV/AIDS epidemic is still a serious public health issue in the country with enormous negative impact on the economy. Yet one of the key issues fingered by health authorities for the present scary state of affair is inadequate funding even though there are other challenges. For instance, less than 50 per cent of people needing anti-retroviral treatment have access while barely half the numbers of people living with HIV know their status.

The worry is that the situation seems to be getting worse by the day while critical agencies of government continue to understate the national prevalence rate of the dreaded disease as well as the total number of people living with HIV and AIDS in Nigeria because it wants the country to look good to the AIDS world.

Against the background that Nigeria was doing well in battling the scourge a few years ago, there is an urgent need for government, at all levels, to show renewed commitment in fighting the disease. For that to happen, the health authorities must scale up their enlightenment campaigns, particularly in the rural areas, on the many risk behaviours that could lead to infections, including unprotected sex, said to account for about 80 percent of new infections in the country.

Nigeria has what it takes to stop new transmission and improve the lives of those living with the virus.

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.

NIGERIA’S COSTLY CONFLAGRATIONS

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very now and then, flames as from hell riotously and ruinously snake their way through a Nigerian market, leaving in their wake ashes, soot and loss. Each time the flames which have become too frequent for comfort cease, traders are left to rue their incalculable losses while the environment cups yet another gust of pollution to its guts.

What causes these frighteningly frequent fire outbreaks, what ill-wind drives them to select markets across the country, what arsonous folly informs their forceful forays into the fortunes of Nigerian traders especially during this post-2015 economic famine in Nigeria?

There have been whispers like a witch`s casting a spell; there have been copious but credulous chats about how the fires are not at all inadvertent; of how they are painstakingly planned and premeditated, falling from high places like on Sodom and Gomorrah from biblical times.

Nigeria has a Federal Fire Service which is just but another lumbering luminary of Nigeria`s burdensome bureaucracy. Statistics indicate that between 2020 and 2021, a total of 4,541 calls were made to the agency nationwide and 378 rescue emergencies were recorded.

To witness the fire-fighting vehicles of the agency in full flight is a thing of wonder. The frenzy and lightning speed in the throes of an emergency is simply cinematic.

Its aesthetics are sure to inspire children to aspire to join the service just the way the rigorous discipline and smart uniforms of Nigeria`s security agencies appeal to many kids who join only to find out in the forbidding forests of Northeast Nigeria when confronted by killers bearing superior artillery, that all along they were sirens luring them to death.

There have been allegations and counter allegations that the fires are mostly

the fiery fruits of arson directed at sections of the country who hold more interest than most in Nigerian markets.

But to say as much would draw accusations of stoking the embers of Nigeria`s supposedly smoldering ethnicism like a magnet from the choir of those specialty is to cry wolf when there is none.

But the statistics from the Federal Fire Service remain fiery: 31 market fires in 18 months with Lagos, Anambra States topping the list, and a staggering loss of N41.54 billion to go with it.

Even in a country of suspect statistics where data is subservient to dereliction and manipulation, these figures freeze the blood. In many ways, Nigeria is a country on fire and only Nigeria`s many denialists would describe this as alarmist. While Boko Haram razes communities in the Northeast, the IPOB and the federal government spar over the provenance of the fires eating up the offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission and police stations in the Southeast.

While they are at their ugliest, Nigerians feel fire in their bones kindled by insecurity and fanned into unaccountably destructive flames by poverty. What can be done about the wild fires spreading through Nigeria, especially through its countryside? What can be done about the flames incinerating vulnerable communities at the hands of Boko Haram, bandits and gruelling poverty?

What can be done about those who deliberately set these fires by their uncontrollable avarice and proceed to find perverse pleasure in holding the feet of Nigerians over the fires?

Those are without doubt the most dangerous saboteurs of the Nigerian project. Unless the flints are ripped off their fingers, Nigeria will continue to reap a bountiful harvest of costly conflagrations.

Kene Obiezu, keneobiezu@gmail.com

MENACE OF POS OPERATORS

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am writing this petition on behalf of residents of Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State.

We have noticed that POS operators opposite the Union Bank Ogwashi-Ukwu, Delta State, deliberately withdraw all monies in the ATM machines at the bank thereby forcing people to have no choice but to patronise them. This practice is happening in connivance with staffers of the bank who own some of these POS. There are about 10 POS stands opposite the bank and they always have money while the bank’s ATM doesn’t. This calls for serious concerns from the regulatory agency. The same also with First Bank.

You can hardly find money in their ATM Machines but the POS operators near them always have money. Please those concerned should intervene on our behalf.

Feyisetan Onyeajunwa, onyeajufeyi@ gmail.com

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MIDWEEKPOLITICS

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

Giving Legislative Impetus to Nigeria’s War against Corruption Udora Orizu writes that Chairman of the Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, Senator Suleiman Abdu Kwari, representing Kaduna North in the National Assembly has performed by far better than many are willing to give him credit for

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enator Suleiman Abdu Kwari is clearly one of the unsung heroes of the 9th Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As Chairman of the Senate’s Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, the Senator who represents Kaduna North in the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly, has most efficiently been coordinating the Legislative Anti-Corruption Strategy of the National Assembly and by extension enhancing the performances of the nation’s anti-corruption agencies.

On Senator Abdu Kwari’s able watch, huge anti-corruption legislative milestones have been recorded by the Senate in the last two and half years. These include: The bills on Witness Protection and Management, Money Laundering, Forfeited Asset Management Authority as well as the Whistle Blower or Public Interest Disclosure, which are all receiving expedited legislative attention.

Spurred on by the unobtrusively legislative activism of Senator Kwari, the country has since established the Nigerian Chapter of the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC) and through this body, the nation has commenced the review of the National Anti Corruption Strategy (NACS).

Senator Suleiman Abdu Kwari is currently leading the processes of unbundling the Code of Conduct Bureau from the Code of Conduct Tribunal and others, in the on-going process of the alteration of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) Also, under Senator Abdu Kwari’s Committee’s oversight, the nation’s anti-corruption agencies are being boosted and bolstered as the Senate and the National Assembly at large, is redefining the required framework to make the war against corruption in Nigeria much more robust and sustainable. Senator Kwari is in fact leading efforts to make the anti-corruption agencies as independent and assertive as possible, even while being accountable. To this end, the Senator has either sponsored or coordinated a number of bills seeking to amend the enabling legislations for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC) as well as the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to grant these bodies requisite independence and funding in the discharge their mandates.

Through Senator Suleiman Abdu Kwari, the Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee (ACJMC) sponsored the Money Laundering (Prohibition and Prevention) Bill (MLB) in the all-important bid to take the fight against corruption, money laundering and terrorism financing to the next level with robust provisions expected to cure series of identifiable drafting defects in the extant legal regime in Nigeria. Led by Senator Kwari, the ACJMC and other criminal justice stakeholders reviewed the draft MLB in harmony with relevant laws and resolved that the extant Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act (MLA), 2012 (as amended) should be repealed and re-enacted considering that the bill had gone through series of amendments in an attempt to meet international obligations.

By the estimation of critical stakeholder, the extant MLA hardly meets international standards, given that there is still high level of corruption and financial crimes in Nigeria due to identifiable lacuna in the Act. Nigeria is now addressing the deficiencies in the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating of Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) legal regime. It is the view of Senator Abdu Kwari that relevant stakeholders must keep striving to cure these deficiencies. In meeting Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendation and ensuring a hitch free admission into the membership of the FATF, the MLB will provide for an effective and comprehensive legal and institutional framework for the prevention, prohibition, detection, prosecution and punishment of money laundering and other related offences in Nigeria.

Essentially the MLB seeks to repeal the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended) and to make adequate provisions to prohibit

Kwari the laundering of proceed of criminal activities, expand the scope of money laundering offences, provide protection for employees of various institutions, bodies and professions who may discover money laundering, enhance customer due diligence, provide appropriate penalties and expand the scope of supervisory bodies while recognising the role of certain selfregulatory organisations to address the challenges faced in the implementation of a comprehensive anti-money laundering and terrorism financing regime in Nigeria.

The bill is proposing to repeal the extant law since the law could not meet FATF recommendation and further amendments will only worsen the problem. Upon the proposed repeal bill providing for an effective and comprehensive legal and operational framework for the prevention, prohibition, detection, prosecution and punishment of money laundering and terrorism-financing on one hand, it will further resolve the institutional issue of Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML) under the Federal Ministry of Trade and currently being managed by EFCC. It is pertinent to state that SCUML is not a creation of statute and unknown to Nigeria’s laws; a situation which has continued to hamper its functionality.

While the MLB on one hand seeks to introduce certain supervisory and enforcement measures including imposition of administrative penalties by supervisory authorities on financial institutions, designated non-financial business and profession, for breach of any requirement imposed by law, it will on the other hand, establish Bureau for

Money Laundering Control which is to be domiciled in the NFIU instead of it being managed by EFCC. In this vein, the MLB would compliment the functions of the NFIU (as established by the NFIU Act) as the centre for financial intelligence in Nigeria.

Relatedly, the Proceed of Crimes (Recovery & Management) Agency Bill (POCA Bill), that Senator Abdu Kwari is championing, is generally regarded as the most important amongst the legal frameworks proposed to combat corruption and foster good governance in Nigeria.

The POCA Bill had gone through series of attempts as it struggles to come to light - the first of which was in 2007 when the Executive arm of the Federal Government of Nigeria failed to present the draft bill to the National Assembly.

There was further attempt in 2011 to present same bill with certain significant modifications but it did not succeed in getting the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC). In 2018, the National Assembly took the bold step to pass the bill but it could not receive the blessing of the FEC. Invariably, it did not get the requisite Presidential Assent.

The bill which had gone through different backlash from different Institutions of Government is now before the 9th Assembly, in fact at its concluding stage of legislative process after getting FEC approval.

The legislation was initially proposed to be separated into two bills, namely; Proceeds of Crime (Civil Forfeiture and Management) Bill, 2019 and Criminal Confiscation and Forfeiture of Proceeds of Crime Bill, 2019. However, upon the

Spurred on by the unobtrusively legislative activism of Senator Kwari, the country has since established the Nigerian Chapter of the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC) and through this body, the nation has commenced the review of the National Anti Corruption Strategy (NACS). Senator Suleiman Abdu Kwari is currently leading the processes of unbundling the Code of Conduct Bureau from the Code of Conduct Tribunal and others, in the on-going process of the alteration of the 1999 Constitution (as amended)

review by ACJMC in conjunction with Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs), FEC and other stakeholders, the initial proposed bills for nonconviction based and criminal confiscation were fused together to form a single bill in the way and manner the FEC has now approved it.

Before this proposition, proceeds of crime investigation and prosecution were scattered all over, and mostly in the hands of different and multiple Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA).

Now, this bill seeks to establish a one-stop-shop arrangement by which all assets recovered arising from crimes are indeed vested in the Federal Government to engender transparency and accountability within the LEAs on one hand while building and enduring a sustainable foundation to combat corruption, money laundering and illicit movement of assets on the other hand.

The bill provides for legal and institutional frameworks to advance the combat of corruption in Nigeria to the next stage. It proposes to set robust standard procedure for LEAs such as Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices (and other related offences) Commission (ICPC), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), etc. and the Police including Courts having criminal jurisdiction especially with respect to corruption matters while the latter postulates that the bill will establish an agency for its implementation.

In other words, the bill provides legal and institutional framework for the recovery and management of proceeds of crimes or benefits derived from unlawful activities, harmonizes and consolidates existing legislative provisions on the recovery of proceeds of crimes in Nigeria whereas establishing the Proceeds of Crimes (Recovery and Management) Agency (the Agency) for its implementation. Essentially, the bill empowers both the Agency and LEAs to administer the provisions of the bill while the Agency ensures conformity with the recovery and management functions.

The bill further makes provisions for the restraint, seizure, confiscation and forfeiture of properties derived from unlawful activities and any instrumentalities used or intended to be used in the commission of unlawful activities.

Thus, the bill is reviewed to create a synergy and sustainable cohesion between the Agency, LEAs and relevant bodies in the bid to prevent friction, especially in the aspect of seizure, forfeiture and confiscation of proceeds of unlawful activities. On the other hand, the Agency will ensure conformity with the recovery and management functions as empowered by the bill.

Senator Kwari is offering quality representation to Constituents.

Having served in several facets of public administration in Kaduna State – Local Government Chairman, Deputy Chief of Staff to the State Governor, Member, House of Representatives, Commissioner for Finance and now Senator representing Kaduna North, Senator Seleiman Abdu Kwari has firm grasps of the issues in Kaduna State and the vision/mission of His Excellency, Mallam Nasir El Rufa’I, the Governor of Kaduna State. To this end, Senator Kwari has been offering the good people of Kaduna State quality representation in the National Assembly.

His impact in his constituency and Kaduna State at large include in Education; Healthcare; Accessing potable water; Rural/Urban Road Network; Social Investment Schemes; Empowering Persons with Disability and wider economic development of his constituents and the State, at large Senator Suleiman Abdu Kwari is not at all fazed by the challenges at the National Assembly.

Indeed, he is all too poised and trained for these challenges. He is a Fellow, Chartered Institute of Administration and until his election into the Senate, the Commissioner of Finance, Kaduna State. He also served as a Federal Commissioner (Finance and Administration), Securities & Exchange Commission and Member of the House of Representatives (4th Assembly).

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

21

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 29, 2021

POLITICS

TheYear Nigerians Will Not Miss

GOVERNANCE IN PHOTOS

Apart from being a year Nigerians would not forget in a hurry, 2021 would go down in history as a year Nigerians were subjected to harrowing economic and political experiences, writes Segun James of violence despite such expectation.

December In December, it was the launch of the autobiography of Chief Bisi Akande that rocked the polity. Every one indicted by the former Governor of Osun state who was the only Nigerian that was ever the chairman of four political parties at various times have come out roaring against his version of events.

Buhari

T

wenty twenty-one is a year never to be seen again after midnight of December 31. It has been a tough one.

With COVID-19, banditry, terrorism, deaths, protest, kidnappings, looting, financial losses and inability to move freely across the country, it may seem there’s much to be thankful for. After all, what’s greater than being alive?

For much of the year, the country was plunged into economic quagmire with President Muhammadu Buhari traveling the world in search of whatever he’s yet to find. He has since earned the unenviable moniker of the most travelled president that Nigeria has ever had and yet, there’s nothing to show for it.

A few events have defined the outgoing year, and whether positive or negative, the year will be assessed by the colours of those events. There are legions of them, here’s a review of some events that shaped 2021 with their time lines.

January President Muhammadu Buhari shakes up the top military command. Leo Irabor is named Chief of Defence, Ibrahim Attahiru became commander the Army, A. Z. Gambo became commander of the Navy, and I. O. Amao became commander of the Air Force.

February One student is killed and 41 people (students, teachers, family members) are kidnapped by bandits in Kagara, Niger State. Seven were killed when a military plane crashes in Abuja.

Gunmen kill 36 people and burn down houses in attacks in Kaduna and Katsina States.

Zamfara saw the kidnapping of at least 317 schoolgirls, while another 42 hostages kidnapped from a school in Kagara, Niger State, on 17 February are freed. The level of killings, abductions and state of the nation called the security situation in the country to question.

June June started on a sad news as the demise of charismatic preacher, Prophet Temitope Joshua jolt the nation. The death of Joshua started a successionist battle between his wife and some elders of the church.

November November came with a damning report on the Endsars protest of 2020. It created a crisis for the Lagos state government which promptly reject the report as it indicted both the state government and the security agencies. The fact that it called attacks by the military on unarmed protesters at the Lekki toll gate a genocide provoked serious reaction.

The report was preceded by the collapse of the 21 storey high-rise building on Gerrard Road in Ikoyi, a situation which triggered fears about the state of high-rise buildings in the country.

The month also saw the election in Anambra state which recorded the lowest turnout of voters for any election in the nation’s history.

Professor Chukwuma Soludo was elected by a paltry 4.5 percent of all registered voters in the state. However, the election was devoid

Politics in 2021 The year saw the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) coming back from the bricks. It is the year that was the rebirth of the party from the troll of death. With two state governors defecting from the party to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), it looked like the party was breaking up, but the national convention in October and the election of new leadership triggered the rebirth.

COVID 19 COVID 19 slammed into the nation’s healthcare system like a hurricane in 2020, but it was in 2021 that its most destructive consequence was most felt. But surprisingly, Lagos, of all the states of the federation has continued to weather the storm, albeit modestly. The pandemic exposed a lot of the weaknesses in the nation’s healthcare system. Several prominent Nigerians died from the disease.

The economic recession induced by the pandemic cost many Nigerians their livelihood. Even state governments had to resort to the federal government for bailouts. The situation was that bad.

As government struggles to satisfy increasing demands with diminishing resources amidst the pandemic, key public services such as transportation, healthcare and education took a plunge in the year.

L-R: Most Rev. (.Dr.) John Ebebe Ayah.Catholic Bishop of Uyo Diocese, Deputy Gov.ernor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Moses Ekpo, : Governor Udom Emmanuel and wife, Martha with Most Rev. Camillus Raymond Umoh, Catholic Bishop of Ikot Ekpene Diocese at the Thanksgiving Mass marking the Deputy Goernor’ss 80th birthday

Passengers boarding the free train ride provided by Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State for the celebration of 2021 Xmass, at the Iddo Terminal of the Railway Corporations, Lagos

Justice Nigerians started 2021 with crisis and scandals, but in the judiciary which had faced much onslaught in recent years, the most scandalous was the invasion of the residence of Justice Mary Odili, a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

It was never known who ordered the invasion as every authority denied responsibility, but the action may have dashed the credibility of the government and shook the confidence of Nigerians that the judiciary which is considered the last hope of the common man has gone through many tribulations in the hand of the Buhari’s government. Since the invasion, Nigerians now believe that justice is on trial in the country.

Insurgency Whenever the story of 2021 is told, the story of Biafran agitation leader, Nnamdi Kanu would be prominent. Kanu was spirited out Kenya by security operatives for crimes allegedly committed against the Federal Republic of Nigeria. A situation which triggered crisis in the south-eastern states. Several prominent individuals were murdered in the year by alleged members of the Independent Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) under the control and command of Kanu. Sit-at-home orders were issued by the dreaded group as anyone who defied it pay heavily for it. A situation which called to question, who controls the southeast, IPOB or the governors?

Also, Yoruba Nation’s Agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, a k a, Sunday Igboho who ran to exile remained in prison custody in the Republic of Benin as his movement’s activities went into the background.

The insurgence in the northeast continued to defy solution as the dreaded Boko Haram terrorist group wrecked havoc in the region and many parts of the north. Plateau and Benue States remained as killing fields even as Niger State which until recently had been mainly peaceful become the kidnapping capital of the country.

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

Minister, Niger Delta Affairs Ministry, Senator Godswill Akpabio, on Sunday, hosted leaders and members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State. He also played host to members and leaders of the Akwa Ibom Democratic Forum(ADF), at his country home, Ukanna Ikot Ntuen, Essien Udim Local Government Area

L-R: Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi; Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi; his wife, Erelu Bisi Fayemi and former Secretary to the State Government, Hon Biodun Oyebanji; at the annual endof- year get-together of Ekiti State All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders , hosted by the Governor at his Isan-Ekiti country home…on Sunday

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 29, 2021

22

FEATURES

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

Alleviating Poverty through Arts, Culture Having recognised arts and culture as a viable tool for poverty alleviation, the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation recently held a four-day training on different skill acquisitions at the ancient city of Benin in Edo State, Chiemelie Ezeobi and Uzoma Mba report

CBAAC DG with some of the participants

F

or four days, the ancient city of Benin in Edo State was agog as the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC) held a four-day training on different skill acquisitions at Oredo Federal Constituency.

The goal was for young Nigerians to have skills in order to decrease the rate of unemployment and essentially, poverty.

According to the Director-General, CBAAC, Hon. Oluwabunmi Amao, the skill acquisition workshop was targeted at enhancing self-employment and productivity amongst women and unemployed youths in the society.

Also speaking, Hon. Omoregie OgbeideIhama, member representing Oredo Federal Constituency, who partnered CBAAC as a 2021 zonal intervention programme, said until the youths are empowered through a capacity building programme of this nature, all effort to attain economic growth and development would amount to a wild goose chase.

Bead Making On the first day, the target was bead making.

Held at Canvey Event Centre, Benin City, the programme had over 350 persons in attendance.

At the workshop on Skills Acquisition and Empowerment for Unemployed Youths and Women in Bead Making in Oredo Federal Constituency, the Director-General of CBAAC, Hon. Oluwabunmi Ayobami Amao (FITP) stated that "the African culture is abundant in resources and the significant element of any vibrant society is embedded in its ability to reinvent different aspects of these cultural resources to conform to contemporary standards.

"By so doing, the history and heritage of such cultures are not just being conserved but also recreated as new forms of expressions. In other words, the trainings on beads making are all means through which we recreate and celebrate our historical pasts, preserve our cultural heritage and still deploy them as tools for poverty eradication and societal renewals".

Also speaking, Hon. Ogbeide-Ihama said "the training and skills acquisition happens to be one of the greatest tools that can give financial

"Celebrating the Rich Diversity of Black and African Traditional Music, Dance and Drama through the Science of Costumes and Makeup, Drama Presentations and Choreography" was held.

Over the years, both African Music and Dance have witnessed tremendous transformation. One of the prominent features of the transformation was the classical manner of infusing traditional elements in contemporary music.

At the event, there was the display of African musical instruments, overlaid with contemporary rhythms and lyrics, as well as lots of dancing and miming.

The make-up session also saw participants going home with make-up kits courtesy the DG.

Hon Oluwabunmi Amao independence. Whatever aspect of training being exposed to, today should not be taken for granted but it's expected to help beneficiaries to become self reliant in the society."

The participants were exposed to the several practical teachings and certificates were also awarded to participants with the starter pack kit containing the major basic equipments such as monofilaments, pliers, cutters, different shapes and sizes of beads, etc. that would be needed to start a professional business in bead making.

Training on Traditional Artistry The next day, the training was on D

Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, member representing Oredo Federal Constituency "Deploying Arts and Culture as Tools for Poverty Eradication through Training on Art of Basket/Hair Weaving, Coral Bead Making and Tie and Dye. Fronted as a tool for economic self-reliance, the participants were trained by seasoned experts as they were taken through the step by step procedures involved in the art of hair weaving, coral bead making, tie & dye and basketry.

At the end, the participants promised to make good use of the opportunity they got from the training, just as they received certificates of participation.

Celebrating the Rich Diversity of Traditional Music, Dance, Drama On Wednesday, a cultural showcase titled

The skill acquisition workshop was targeted at enhancing self-employment and productivity amongst women and unemployed youths in the society

Promoting Visual Arts, Painting, Sculpture and Pottery On the final day, the theme was "Deploying Arts and Culture as Tools for Poverty Eradication among Black and African Peoples Through the Promotion of Visual Arts Painting, Sculpture and Pottery".

The theme was quite apt given that Benin, in Edo State has arguably been described as the cradle of African Arts.

Speaking, CBAAC DG said "the culture, religion and practice of a particular group are captured in the sculptures and artworks which meets with their cultural demands and dictates.

"Even when art works do not reflect or document the culture of the people, the art works themselves stand as evergreen memory of the culture which presides over the archeological evidence to determine the existence of such culture.

"For instance, Benin arts are easily recognisable at anywhere in the world, whether there's a write up to explain where the artwork comes from or not and they are evidences of the ways and lifestyle of the Benin people."

The training had more than 300 participants in attendance and they were exposed to the art of painting, sculpture, and pottery.

At the end of the four-day training, all participants commended the DG and her team for the full- packed training at the Oredo Federal Constituency.

23

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 29, 2021

FEATURES

All About the Wins at Forever Living Products Business Owners’ Raffle Draw Inside Golden Tulip, Lekki, a life-changing experience orchestrated by the members of Forever Living Products Business Owners known as FBO came to the loyal customers at the maiden edition of ‘Raffle Draw of Appreciation’ where the Star Winner, Mrs. Azunwena went home with N2million, writes Funke Olaode

R

uled by the slogan of ‘Business and Humanity,’ members of Forever Living Products Business Owners (FBO) on Monday December 20, 2021 surprised their loyal customers with multi-millionaire prizes, a show of gratitude for their unflinching support and patronage.

To this end, four customers, randomly selected, were rewarded with a brand new Smart TV, iPhone 13 worth N545,000, a bicycle and N2 million.

Forever Living, a health awareness company based in the United States was founded 41 years ago and presently operating in 160 countries. It was introduced to Nigeria in 2000 and has the record of being the first networking company to be launched in Nigeria.

FBO as it is fondly called is a group of successful professionals who came together to make their customers happy by pulling their resources together through raffle draw promo.

According to them, when they set out a few years ago to embark on a business they had two things in mind: making profit and giving back to the society who are mainly their customers.

Among the FBO members in attendance at the event include Mr. Kema Emina, Mrs. Ebere Ndep, Mrs.Yemi Olusanya, Dr. Clement ldigo, Mrs. Susan ltemuagbor, Oritseweyinmi Awani, Dr. Uzo Otaraku., Mrs. Yewande Olabisi and Mrs. Chika Oguike.

Dignitaries at the event include Managing Director of THISDAY Newspapers and guest of honour, Mr. Eniola Bello; Country Manager, Forever Living Products, Nigeria, Mr. Daniel Ikechukwu, and members of the press.

The highlight of the event was the winning moment where four lucky winners smiled home.

The lucky ticket number 0000446 belonging to Mrs. Azunwena Regina was picked by the Managing Director of THISDAY Newspapers, Mr. Eniola Bello.

Azunwena went home with N2million.

She couldn't believe her ears when she was reached on phone as an elated Azunwena in an emotional voice was shouting 'Jesus! Jesus!

Jesus!' Expressing her happiness in receiving an unexpected Christmas gift she said, “I feel great, I feel loved.

"I never expected this because when the promo started, Madam Rose, one of Forever Living Products distributors, asked me to buy the products I didn’t have money for. Unknown to me I didn’t know God had something special for me. I am grateful for this kind gesture from FBO.” Another winner, American based Deborah Ojo with ticket number 0000204 also won Smart TV, Timothy Amabeoku with ticket number 0000412 also won an iPhone 13 worth N545,000. “I am overwhelmed, overjoyed and flabbergasted'' was his response while Novel Woko with ticket number 0001196 went home with a bicycle.

Throwing more light on what prompted her group’s decision to say thank you to their customers, in an exclusive interview with THISDAY, one of the initiators of the raffle draw promo and an independent distributor with Forever Living Products, Mrs. Susan Itemuagbor said it was an opportunity to say thank you. “So it's all about giving. Like our slogan, 'The Power of Forever is the Power of Love'. If you use something and it's working for you and you are doing well, the best thing to do is to tell people around you to use it.”

Itemuagbor, a successful entrepreneur long before her foray in healthy living ventures, said she became an independent distributor in 2012.

According to her, FLP is a solution to health issues. “Forever is about giving. It's about being a solution to somebody's health issue.

Forever has health and wellness products that you use and look good. So when you come in and use it you will have better health, and the next thing you want to think about are people around you that you want them too to enjoy the same product you are enjoying."

Itemuagbor and her members are also excited about putting smiles on people’s faces.

Members: Forever Living Products: L:R: Mr. Kema Emina, one of the members, Mrs. Ebere Ndep, Mrs. Yemi Olusanya, Dr. Clement ldigo, Mrs. Susan ltemuagbor, Oritseweyinmi Awani,Dr. Uzo Otaraku.......Mrs. Yewande Olabisi and Mrs. Chika Oguikeduring presentation of N2 Million cheque to the Star Winner, Mrs. Azunwena Reginat at a Raffle Draw organised by FBO Members for their customers at Golden Tulip Hotel, Lekki, Lagos...on Monday PHOTO: JOHN FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPHY

Start Winner, Mrs. Azunwena Reginat receiving her cheque of N2 million from Mrs. Stella Kailo “I have done forever for nine years and I have a team too. The concentration isn't about how much you make, but improving the health and wellbeing of every human.

Those customers that buy something from us, we just came together as a group. We came together this Christmas season for the first time to give back to our customers.

The group, about 40 of us, partnered to start the raffle draw. What we did is to create a ticket, and once your customer buys anything from you worth N50,000, he or she stands a chance to win N2million.

A bundle consists of 20 tickets in it. Each

ticket is sold at N50,000. Hence, we give you N50,000 worth of products, and a raffle ticket to stand a chance of winning N2million and other products. The thing about the initiative is that everybody is actually a winner. This is because once you buy your raffle ticket, we give you products that are worth the money. Today, we have four winners who went home with prizes.”

How does Itemuagbor feel about this initiative? “It feels amazing because it has never been done before. When we started it we didn't really think we could do it.

Forever is about giving. It's about being a solution to somebody's health issue. Forever has health and wellness products that you use and look good. So when you come in and use it you will have better health, and the next thing you want to think about are people around you that you want them too to enjoy the same product you are enjoying

There were people also telling us we can't do it. But there are so many amazing people out there who don't mind giving out. This is huge and it's just appreciating our customers. For you to be a successful Forever Living business owner, you have to have the heart of giving and love. It takes love and the grace of God in me to share something that works for me to another person. That's how I see forever. “ She concluded by saying FBO is where ordinary people do extraordinary things. It doesn't matter who you are, as long as you know what you are doing, love to give, touch lives and also love to give back. After this promo, another one promo is starting in January 2022, it is going to be bigger and better.”

Corroborating Mrs. Susan Itemuagbor, One of the FBO Members, Dr. Clement Idigo said he is happy to be part of this life changing experience. “I am proud to identify with FBO and its vision of networking and giving back. We are FBO, ordinary people doing extraordinary things. We transform our lives and we are extending it to others.”

Another FBO member, Dr. Uzo Otaraku who came all the way from Port Harcourt, said they are a group of independent distributors who take destinies into their own hands. “We are so excited when we are talking about our business because it has changed our lives and lives of others. There are different ways to become successful entrepreneurs. But we have chosen the right path especially during this time where Covid-19 is ravaging the world, people have a lot of health challenges, employment insecurity and so on. And we are happy to give back.”

In her brief lecture on how to take care of one’s health, particularly toxins which often cause a lot of health hazards, Otaraku broke it down to environmental issues, food intake and so on. She concluded by advising people to make the right choice. Enumerating a few rules that will help to navigate life challenges whether in business or life generally, the renowned physician said it is basically by being passionate about what you do, and consistently being honest and truthful because it is good for the business.

Emotional intelligence, she said, is also good because it helps in one’s ability to step forward and live above those challenges.

In his words, Country Manager, Forever Living Products, Nigeria, Daniel Ikechukwu gave kudos to the members of FBO for initiating such a wonderful initiative. According to him, it was the group’s initiative of giving back to their loyal customers over the years. “This is like a day of gratitude that despite what happened with Covid-19 pandemic we are still waxing stronger and our customers are still with us. It has been a wonderful experience with our Nigerian distributors. This is wishing them more successful business exploits in years ahead,” he concluded.

24

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 29, 2021 •T H I S D AY

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2021

25

BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET

A S

A T

REPO

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

08056356325

D E C E M B E R

S & P INDEX

2 1 , 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%

AMCON Gulps N654bn from 12 Banks as Sector Resolution Funds in 4 Years

Kayode Tokede With the growing assets due to business expansions, among other factors, Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) between 2020 and 2017 has collected N6654billion from 12 banks operating in the country.

The 12 banks are Access bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, Zenith bank Plc, FBN Holdings and Guaranty Trust Holdings Plc. Others are Fidelity Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc Union Bank of Nigeria FCMB Group Plc, Sterling Bank Plc Wema Bank Plc and Unity Bank Plc.

The corporation charges 0.5per cent of Banks’ total assets on and off balance sheet items and it is a statutory levy by imposed by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on all banks operating in Nigeria.

The CBN, pursuant to Section 9(c) of the AMCON (Amended) Act 2015, informed the banks of the shortfall in contributions to the Banking Sector Resolution Cost Sinking Fund for 2016 and 2017.

The rising bad loans and the need to save the banking industry from imminent collapse prompted the federal government to set up AMCON in 2010 with a 10-year mandate.

The AMCON Act 2019 (Amended) grants the corporation more powers to recover bad debts from obligors.

THISDAY investigations revealed that AMCON in 2020 collected N203.72billion from the 12 banks, an increase of 20 per cent from N170.24billion in 2019.

In addition, AMCON levy between 2018 and 2017 was N147.42billion and N132.5billion respectively.

The apex banks in its Financial Stability Report in 2018 had disclosed 15 banks injected N228.28 billion in the AMCON levy.

According to the report, “The carrying value of AMCON’s liabilities increased from N4.53 trillion at

end-June 2018 to N5.43 trillion at end-December 2018, arising from the Corporation’s investment of N898.45 billion in Polaris Bank Limited.

“AMCON’s liabilities of N5.43 trillion was projected to be covered by the Banking Sector Resolution Cost Trust Fund (BSRCTF) and the corporation’s internal credit recoveries and asset sales. Contributions to the BSRCTF by the CBN and 15 participating banks for year 2018 was valued N228.28 billion.”

Extracts from banks audited result and accounts on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) revealed that FBN Holdings, followed by Access Bank and Zenith bank are

the top Tier-1 banks with highest AMCON levy in the banking sector.

In the last four years, AMCON has collected N152.3billion as sector’s resolution funds from FBN Holdings and it has contributed 24.4 per cent to FBN Holdings N623.8billion total operating expenses in the last four years.

Zenith bank and Access bank reported N113.7billion and N95.5billion banking resolution funds in the last four years, while GTCO reported N64.62billion AMCON levy between 2020 and 2017.

Another Teir-1 bank, United Bank for Africa reported N57.5billion AMCON’s levy in the years under

review.

Stakeholders have criticised the establishment of AMCON, stressing that the corporation is ripping shareholders of their Return on Investment (ROI) when chunk of profit is paid as levy.

The Chairman, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Boniface Okezie said the corporation has over stayed its function in the banking sector.

He called on the banking sector to suspend funding AMCON as it is affecting on shareholders profit.

He said, “AMCON is lobbying Continued on page 26

NCX Advocates Policy Incentives to Boost Trading on Commodity Exchange James Emejo in Abuja The Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX) has called on the federal government to enact policies that would incentivize agricultural commodity sellers on the one hand, to migrate from the open market to the floor of the exchange to transact their businesses.

The exchange, on the other hand, also called for a framework that would force all high-level transactions in

commodities to be traded on the organised market.

The General Manager, Operations, NCX, Mr. Benson Lawal, said though President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration must be commended for significantly increasing funding intervention to the agricultural sector as well as funding the exchange, this may not translate to the viability of the NCX unless effective policies were introduced.

Only about seven commodities

are currently traded on the floor of the exchange, partly due to low patronage.

The federal government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently embarked on a process to recapitalise the exchange with N50 billion, to check price arbitrage and enable it achieve its primary mandate.

Lawal argued that the movement or success of the exchange was not dependent on the amount of money committed to it but on what

stakeholders especially farmerstand to benefit from operating in the formal market rather than the open market which they are already used to.

Speaking when the Agriculture Commodity Forum (ACF), led by its Chairman, Mr. Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim, paid a courtesy call on the exchange, Lawal said, for the government to achieve results even as it seeks to recapitalize the exchange, it must get more participation on the floor especially those willing to sell and

others who are ready to buy as well.

For instance, he said if the regulation to compel all high volume transactions to be migrated to the exchange is in place, the country would earn billion of foreign exchange from commodities with export potentials adding that the government would also be able to get reliable data with which to work with relating to volume and standards of various commodities.

He explained that for commodity

traders who have since been used to the open market to embrace the formal market, they definitely needed to be incentivized as they would want to first know what they stand to achieve by trading on the floor.

He, however said unlike on the floor, the risk of default remained high openmarket, while people buy commodities at their face-value, unable to immediately determine the level 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 2 1 , 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 (%)

100.21

4.03

0.32

NTB 13-Jan-22

3.69

3.70 0.00

100.63

4.02

0.32

NTB 27-Jan-22

3.85

3.87 0.00

101.23

3.90

0.27

NTB 10-Feb-22

4.00

4.02 0.00

100.31

3.74

0.19

NTB 24-Feb-22

2.45

101.35

3.73

0.19

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 (%)

PARP CP II 30DEC-21 CMBL CP XVI 7-JAN-22 CTIL CP I 10JAN-22 MREP CP XXXX 10-JAN-22 MREP CP XXXV 14-JAN-22

5.99

6.00

0.39

8.03

8.06

0.36

6.21

6.23

0.34

12.84

12.93 0.34

7.94

7.98

0.33

26

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

Experts: How FG Can Harness Private Financing for $1trn NDP Projects

Dr. Jerry Igwilo, making his presentation during the panel session, flanked by two other panelists Kayode Tokede The National Development Plan (NDP) 2021-2025, which is expected to succeed the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) document is projected to have an investment of N348trillion, equivalent to $850 billion.

To ensure the NDP implementation does not suffer typical setbacks associated with government plans, finance experts at the just concluded Nigeria Public-Private Partnership Network (NPPPN) Forum 2021 in Lagos, said that for government to unlock the barriers to private sector funding, it must put in place appropriate legal and institutional framework, build capacity, inject skills set across sectors and strengthen regulatory institutions.

The experts concluded that the basics must be right and all necessary due diligence done before the country will be able to leverage Public-Private Partnership (PPP) as an alternative way of infrastructure and social amenities procurement to meet the 2021 – 2025 NDP. National Development Plan The new plan structured on economic growth and development, infrastructure, public administration, human capital, social and regional development has an investment size of N348.7trillion to be contributed by the federal and state governments as well as the private sector. The plan envisages that the public sector will contribute N49.7 trillion (14.5% of total N348.7 trillion), while the private sector is expected to contribute the bulk of the sum

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

amounting to N298.3 trillion (85.5% of the total). Among funding strategies that the government has identified are broadening the tax base, domestic and concession financing sources, and setting up financial investments vehicles and public-private partnerships.

It is against this background that the Lagos State government hosted a three-day conference with the theme: “The Role of PPP in the 2021-2025 National Development Plan” where niche players in infrastructure project finance, public finance management, PPP, and investment banking brainstormed to unlock barriers to attracting private sector funding for the NDP projects.

Unlocking Private Sector Funding Chief Finance Officer, Heyden Petroleum Limited, Dr. Jerry Igwilo, who is project finance and PPP expert, highlighted the critical barriers that government and all stakeholders have to deal with for government to harness private sector financing for the 2021-2025 NDP. He noted that the country lacks adequate capacity to deliver on the size of projects envisioned in the NDP through PPP projects financing, and therefore urged the government to build capacity across key stakeholders so that bankable projects can be initiated.

He stated that the NDP proposes an investment of approximately $850

billion in infrastructure, this in his words is the equivalent of 800 mega projects of $1 billion each.

“Do we, as a country, have the local technical capacity to deliver on such huge projects in five years? It will be counterintuitive for these projects to be delivered by foreign companies. Therefore, we must continue to build PPP and technical capacity to deliver these projects by Nigerians, otherwise we will change our naira to dollars and ship it abroad to foreign companies,” Igwilo warned.

He pointed out that the reason most PPP projects in the country are not working is that they are not bankable. “We need to de-risk most of

the factors that discourage investors from investing in PPP projects,” Igwilo advised.

Addressing the risks to focus on and some of the limiting factors, the investment banker identified “Keyman Risk” as one of the key risks.

He said: “The sponsors of the projects must be bankable themselves because, at the end of the day, they assume the face of the projects. The investors and the funds that need to be raised for the projects are driven by their worldview. Over time, most of the projects are longterm in nature (20 to 30 years). The question must be asked if we are dealing with individuals who can

commit to that long-term view?”

According to him, another important risk that has to be addressed from inception is “Currency Risk”.

He explained that: “This must be derisked from inception. There is no point you want to build a rural road and you fly to London to raise the funds in the dollar. What for?

You are only compounding your problem.

“What it means is that the project won’t be bankable unless there is a way you can generate foreign currency-denominated revenue from that project. In the absence of that, localizing the source of funding your project is very important.”

Seven Companies Delist,Three Lists on NGX in 2021 Kayode Tokede A total of seven companies delisted and three were listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) in 2021 amid expectation that the stock market might close the year positive.

The stock market before the two-day public to mark the Christmas celebration in its Year-till-Date performance stood at 4.95 per cent.

However, out of the seven delisted companies, the management of the Exchange forcefully delisted four, while three voluntary delisted Capital market analysts, to management decision to delist and failure to comply with the post-listing

requirement.

As gathered by THISDAY, the likes of Evans Medical Plc, Nigeria-German Chemicals Plc, Roads Nigeria Plc, and Unic Diversified Holdings Plc were forcefully delisted from the market for not complying with post-listing requirement of promptly filing of results.

Studio Press Nigeria Plc, Union Diagnostic and Clinical Services Plc, and 11 Plc voluntary delisted from the Exchange in 2021.

The Vice President, Highcap Securities, Mr. David Adnori said: “The stock exchange requires companies trading their stocks on its platform to regularly file their financial statements to enable

shareholders and the investing public to have information that would enable them to make investment decisions.

“When companies fail to submit their books for scrutiny, the exchange uses its big hammer, which usually comes in a form of sanction and when it becomes consistent, the firms are shown the way out.”

The National Co-ordinator, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Dr. Anthony Omojola said shareholders are concerned that more companies delisted from the bourse than new listings.

According to him: “I predicted that more companies are going to delist from the NGX this year because the

regulators are not flexible in policies as regards sanctions, among others. The business environment is not friendly to allow these companies to expand and make profit.”

Analyst at PAC Holdings, Mr. Wole Adeyeye said the poor earnings due to weak corporate governance and economy factors impacted on these companies late filing of results at the stipulated time.

“Most of these companies were reporting losses and delisting them was the best thing. We have seen situations where the company cannot meet NGX listing requirements and moved to NASD Exchange.

“On the NASD Exchange, I think

companies are meant to publish only the annual report but on the NGX, companies are meant to be updating quarterly results which to some it might be a very tasking demand.

“Some companies do delist due to regulatory decisions, management decisions to change the vision and maybe had an aspiration to go private.”

In the year under, Ronchess Global Resources Plc, Briclinks Africa plc, and Nigerian Exchange Group Plc were all listed by introduction, Adeyeye noted that: “We should be having more than three listings in a year on the NGX. The three listings is a welcome development but we can do better to attract more listings.”

NCX ADVOCATES POLICY INCENTIVES TO BOOST TRADING ON COMMODITY EXCHANGE of impurities.

On the other hand, he noted that the exchange was liable for any default adding that, “How you are going to get your money for commodity sold is responsibility of the exchange”.

He added that the NCX had a resemblance of a perfect market and

links traders to external markets.

Lawal added that, “government needs incentives that will compel buyers and sellers to meet on the exchange.”

He said, “Now for you to change the status quo, we grew up to meet open market where people buy and sell commodities, and we now said

leave that market and come over to a direct market - you have to incentivise them. They will say what is it that I can get there that I can’t get here?”

While welcoming a partnership between the exchange and the commodity association, Lawal the present challenge of NCX was more

of demand than supply because by the structure of production in the country, about 95 per cent of national output of different commodities comes from smallholder farmers who have low per capita output.

He said the only way the association can trade directly on the floor was for them to form themselves

into cooperatives adding that they have the mechanism to better their living standards through appropriate pricing of their commodities.

He said, “It is not as if farmers are lazy but they produce and sell in the buyers’ market: they sell in the market where prices are determined by the buyer.”

AMCON GULPS N654BN FROM 12 BANKS AS SECTOR RESOLUTION FUNDS IN 4 YEARS the federal government to extend its operations. If Central Bank of Nigeria wanted to sustain AMCON, fine but not banks funding the corporation.

AMCON has overstayed its functions in the banking sector “AMCON is reporting losses despite collecting levy from banks and having challenges in selling recovered assets from debtors.

“The banking institution must to continue to fund AMCON because it is not the bankers’ committee that form their board but the government.

If the federal government wanted to keep the board of AMCON, they must think of funding it not collecting from banks.”

The National Coordinator

Emeritus, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Sunny Nwosu recently said: “The continuous contribution of a non-refundable levy to AMCON by all banks in Nigeria, in spite of the difficult business operating environment any without ownership interest, rights or obligations on the contributor amounts to institutional scam.”

He maintained that the shareholders association had previously opposed the sinking fund, still opposed the failed policy project and urged the federal government to liquidate AMCON and enhance shareholders returns and the economy.

Analyst, Mr. Rotimi Fakeyejo

noted that AMCON activities have allowed survival of the banks but it has contributed to tax payers funds.

He added that: “Shareholders were not put into consideration but for banks’ depositors, the levy has safe guided the sector. Speaking from a different perspective, the Vice president, Highcap securities Limited, Mr. David Adnori noted that the corporation job in the banking sector is work in progress.

“I do not think AMCON has concluded its assignment since a lot of ground needed to be cover. The N600billion AMCON’s levy on these 12 banks is sinking funds and the corporation was created to mop-up toxic assets from the banks.

“It is a great development that AMCON has collected over N600 billion from 12 banks but I do not see them closing by 2023 since most of the assets collected have started performing.

The Managing director and chief executive of AMCON, Ahmed Kuru, had said if the banks debt owed to the CBN are not fully repaid before the sunset date of 2023, banks will continue to pay into the fund which will then be with the CBN. He had expressed that banks’ contribution to the sinking fund in recent years have been low and had not been able to pay out of its debt or enough to pay the interest.

According to the funding arrangement of the corporation, commercial banks are supposed to provide 70 per cent while AMCON operations was supposed to provide 30 per cent.

Kuru noted that the contribution of the banks was done on the basis of a growth rate of 20 per cent, however, the growth rate of commercial banks’ total assets have in recent years fallen below 10 per cent year on year.

Kuru who is optimistic that AMCON operations would be wound over by 2023 or 2024 noted that the contributions of banks into the sinking fund will continue until the debt is fully repaid.

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2021

27

BUSINESSWORLD

INSURANCE

2021: Insurance Sector Restart after COVID-19 Devastation Ebere Nwoji writes that as business managers close their books for the year 2021, insurance operators describe it as a year of rebuilding damages caused by COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in 2020.

T

he year 2021 was one of the few years in the history of insurance business in Nigeria that operators welcomed with enthusiasm, much hopes and expectations because it was expected to mark the end of the COVID19 pandemic and its attendant lockdowns and business disruptions.

As a result, insurers were eager to bid the troublesome year 2020 farewell to usher in a new year that would redefine their business experience and hopes.

The insurers, rising from the undesirable sleep in businesses occasioned by the COVID 19 for greater part of 2020 business year, enthusiastically beamed into the year 2021 as a year of total recovery and rebuilding with hope that 2020 marked the end of the pandemic while 2021 marked the beginning of a new era in business.

However the mutation of COVID19 into Delta and omicron variants appeared to have compounded the pandemic problem leading Nigerians into the fourth wave of the virus as declared by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

Indeed, news of the new phase of the pandemic greeted the world in the first quarter of the year 2021 followed by the news of another lock down which never came to be in Nigeria and few African countries.

The level of hopes reposed in the year by the insurers could be seen from their discussions at various fora during the year and their choice of themes for the forums.

All revolved around building a new insurance industry and how to evolve technologies that would enable the industry thrive in the face of the new business era.

For instance, the industry hosted the 47th African Insurance Organisation’s conference with the theme, “Rebuilding African Economy, the Insurance Perspective.”

The Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria anchored the theme of its professional’s forum for 2021 on “The Nigerian Insurance Industry in the Digital Era”. The Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers anchored the theme of its annual conference and exhibition on, “Innovation, Strategy and opportunity.”

These show the level of confidence the operators reposed in the year as a year of new business dreams and model.

However, as the operators wind up activities for the year, there is the question on whether they actually realised their hopes, aspirations and expectations for the year?

Looking at the events that stood as herald for the year, these hopes and aspirations seemed to have doused from the first quarter especially when the news of the resurgence of new wave of the pandemic hit the world and countries like UK went into second phase of lock down.

The operators at that point began to view their recovery dreams with reservation because of fears that if the resurgence became real, the year 2021 might not be different from the year 2020.

However, industry analysts said what was certain was that should the pandemic resurge, the operators have from the 2020 COVID-19 lessons, built strategies that would enable them weather the storms in the mist of any difficulty.

They noted that most insurance operators have built IT system in a way that would enable them produce optimum result even while on remote working condition.

The operators themselves said they have retooled to serve their clients even when meeting them one on one seemed impossible.

Looking at the events that marked the year right from the first month, from global perspective, In its outlook on global insurance market in general in 2021, Deloitte Nigeria has this to say concerning the global insurance market including Nigerian market in 2021, “Our 2021 insurance outlook, 200 industry leaders weighed in on their companies’ COVID-19 recovery efforts. How can the emerging lessons serve as a catalyst for business transformation?”

INSURERS IN 2021

What a difference a year makes or even a few months. The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic fallout radically shifted consumer and employee needs, habits, and expectations, while compelling virtualisation of insurers’ operations practically overnight. But while most of those in the industry adapted quickly, insurers are still likely facing lingering obstacles to growth and profitability in the year ahead.”

Also during the year under review, global outlook survey by Deloitte’s Center for Financial Services found that many insurers knew they still have their work cut out for them, even after spending most of 2020 adapting to the outbreak’s impact.

The study said 48 per cent of 200 responding insurance executives agreed the pandemic, “showed how unprepared their business were to weather this economic storm,” while only 25 per cent strongly agreed their carrier had, “a clear vision and action plan to maintain operational and financial resilience” during the crisis.

According to the Deloitte study, given the pandemic’s impact on employment, business activity, and trade, global nonlife premiums were expected to be flat for full-year 2020, including a one percent decline in advanced markets. However, despite these challenges, the study said the industry might yet rebound to three percent growth in 2021, led by a potential seven percent boost in emerging businesses.

Here in Nigeria, earlier in the year, the regulator, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) had already prepared operators’ minds on what to see in 2021 and beyond and how to navigate it.

The commissioner for insurance, Sunday Olorundare Thomas, in one of his addresses to the insurers on the way to go in post COVID business era stated, “The present challenges brought about by the pandemic in the economy in general and our industry in particular are enormous. Critical measures are therefore required of us that sit on top of the pyramid. It must be emphasised that the insurance sector require more urgent recovery post COVID – 19 to support the recovery and restoration of other businesses.

“The times in which we require more prudent management of resources in order to meet all stakeholders’ expectations including ensuring quality return on investments. Our focus must shift to service delivery, which will make our companies to seek more reasons to settle client’s claims and less reasons for repudiation of claims.”

On claims payment, he said, “The era of huge backlog of claims should no longer be associated with our companies and while the Commission is profiling companies with huge unsettled claims for necessary regulatory action, companies that are responsive to the plight of their clients in prompt settlement of claims are encouraged to sustain the good business conduct.”

He continued by saying that operators in the industry must strengthen their human and financial capital for effective participation in big ticket risks, observing that the gains of domestication policy of the government as enshrined in the Nigeria Content Development Act 2010 was gradually loosing its meaning for the insurance sector.

He said, “More businesses especially in the oil and gas and the aviation sectors are now being re insured abroad. Of more concern is the declining participation of life companies in the annuity business which is the emerging business for our industry.”

NAICOM PORTAL

NAICOM as the regulator championed this course by launching during the year its long awaited NAICOM portal in September to ensure effective and efficient interface with its stakeholders.

The commission during the year directed all operators to integrate their operations with the portal, warning that any company that was lagging behind in the technology phase was already phasing itself out.

One of the greatest achievements made by the industry in 2021 was that the year was the first year anniversary of the #EndSARS protest and it was in the same year that the industry received claims filings from the victims of the incidents.

The Chairman Nigeria Insurers Association (NIA), Mr Ganiyu Musa, giving account of how the industry handled the matter, said that insurance companies settled 718 claims on vandalisation; 93 cases on looting; 113 on theft; and 136 on loss of cash, three death claims were paid while claims were paid on other property losses, 99 claims were settled on malicious damage; eight claims on business interruption; 455 claims on burglary attack and 912 claims on fire and burnt site.

These claims, according to the Director General NIA, Yetunde Ilori cost the industry over N9 billion.

The claims payment on the protest and provision of N11 billion life insurance cover to the front line health workers during the COVID-19 year earned the industry very high recognition

by President Muhammadu Buhari .

The president demonstrated his high regard for the industry through his verbal comments and actions especially through his attendance at the 47th African Insurance Organisation’s conference and closing of the conference by the Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbanjo. While personally declaring the conference open, the president praised the insurers for their contributions to the economy especially during the COVID-19 era and pledged his administration’s continued support for the insurance sector.

The insurers themselves confessed that it was the first time a sitting president in Nigeria attended insurance forum.

The insurers said they learnt a big lesson from the #EndSARS protest and at the same time used their claims experience from it to lure the public to believe in insurance.

These, they said, had led to higher patronage and higher premium growth for the industry during the year under review.

#ENDSARS PROTEST LESSONS

One of the insurers, Mr. Casmir Azubuike, Managing Director, Afriglobal Insurance Brokers, told THISDAY that the lesson that insurers learnt from Endsars protest is this, “we have been hearing about catastrophes and everybody believed that catastrophe can only come when you have wars, natural disasters like flood but little did anybody know that it could come from that angle and it came and was very overwhelming to the industry.”

Continuing in his analysis of the insurers’ experience in the #EndSARS protest, Azubuike said, “But if you look at that #EndSARS protest critically, it could have been possible for insurance industry to opt out of that risks or those losses but for image reasons, the industry decided to take them up because when you read the policy documents, they will talk about riot, strike, civil commotion, war or war like situation, politically motivated risks.

“If you bring these together and link them to the #EndSARS protests, you find links which could have been possible for insurance companies to say look, we are not liable or at best let us pay these claims on ex-Garcia basis. But because the industry is struggling to shore up our image, we paid.”

This, being the case, during the year under review, the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanyo Olu, said the behaviour of insurance operators towards claims from the protest was very encouraging and had shown that insurance protection was real.

The Governor, who stated this while addressing insurers at the Africa Insurance Organisation’s Conference in Lagos where he was represented by the state Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Rabin Olowo, said because of this, the state had perfected plans to bring all its workforce under various group insurance coverage including Group Personal Accident Insurance Cover, Group Life Insurance.

“This is why we have continued to partner with various insurance bodies and associations in the enlightenment of our people on the benefits of insurance in mitigating loses that might result from unforseen occurrences, “he said.

This aside, during the year, some notable Nigerians like former President Olusegun Obasanjo, accepted to be brand ambassador of the insurance industry.

Still on the positive side, successful hosting of the African Insurance Organisation which saw a Nigerian, in the person of Mr. Tope Smart, the Managing Director, NEM insurance plc., emerging the president of the regional insurance body is expected to showcase Nigeria to the outside world and attract investors into the industry.

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

28

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

INTERVIEW

Abioye: BUA Foods Has Potential to Give High Return on Investment Recently, BUA Group unveiled BUA Foods, a new entity under which the Group consolidated its five food businesses. After the launch, the CEO of BUA Foods, Ayodele Abioye, granted an exclusive interview to a select group of editors on the consolidation, planned listing on NGX, and future outlook, among other issues. Excerpts: people, because you know we value our staff, we make sure we safeguard their health. As you know, the BUA Group has done so much in terms of COVID-19 support and palliatives.

As we speak, all our staff are 100% vaccinated, including their families, which is primarily the effort of the BUA Group, because we care as a business and we realise that without our people we cannot make the kind of impact we are making today.

Thank you for this opportunity. Can you introduce yourself sir? y name is Engineer Ayodele Abioye. I am the CEO of BUA Foods, an agribusiness and food processing conglomerate and member of the BUA Group.

M

Can you briefly give us an overview of the foods industry and where BUA Foods currently stands?

We play in the foods sector and we are one of the big players. We have footprints in five key businesses, talking about sugar, flour, pasta, rice, and edible oil. We have investments in these businesses in various parts of the country. BUA Group has been in existence for over three decades now, with business interests in various sectors, one of which is agribusiness and food processing. We have business interests in mining, oil and gas and other areas. Today, we are talking about bringing all the five food business divisions together under one umbrella to be called BUA Foods PLC. This is because of the opportunities we have seen ahead of us having built the brand to the extent to which we see it now.

We want participation by more investors, local and across the continent, and the world Chairman of BUA rolled out some of the accomplishments and plans across the country. In spite of BUA Foods’ efforts and those of others, food inflation continues to be a huge challenge. How will this consolidation and listing help to address this challenge?

As you heard the chairman mentioned, our brand value is such to reckon with. We are a business with a mission to make impact in whatever we do. And in making this impact, we hope to affect our stakeholders positively, including our shareholders and our consumers.

One of the things we are best known for is the fact that we offer our food products at highly competitive prices. In fact, we beat many other offers in the market in terms of quality and reasonable pricing of our food products.

On the value of the business, as the chairman has mentioned, we see a business with the high potential to give a high return on investment.

This year as a business we are trending N200 billion in revenue and almost a N100 billion in EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation). Who else can beat these numbers? And next year, we are looking at about N500 billion in projected revenue and almost about N150 billion in EBITDA. So, if you look at the ROI, BUA Foods is bringing value to interested investors.

Of course the challenges are there, in terms of food insecurity and others. Notwithstanding these challenges, however, life still goes on and food remains a basic necessity. Our role as an agribusiness and food processing business is to make food available; it is to use our expertise, both internally and externally, to engage with all stakeholders to make it available. As a nation, we want to feed ourselves and BUA Group has been part of the solution and we want to continue to play a pivotal role in the nation’s food security drive.

How do you source your raw materials for your food businesses, is it through importation or backward integration?

The supply chain for our raw materials is two folds; we import some of the raw materials we need. For instance, we import raw sugar and refine it. This has been the process for Nigeria. Recently, the sugar backward integration programme was instituted and BUA Foods is one of the companies leading in the backward integration programme. We own a 20,000-hectare plantation in Lafiaji, Kwara State. We have other plantation sites we hope to acquire as part of our future plans, almost about 50,000 hectares. These acquisitions are to ensure we generate our own raw materials locally.

As the chairman mentioned earlier, we have the water, the land, the people, we have the

Abioye natural resources, and the environment is good geographically for us to be able to grow our needs, not only in terms of sugar but also in terms of grains. As you know, government is also trying all it could to promote the backward integration agenda, and BUA Foods is fully aligned with the agenda.

We believe strongly that as we key into the backward integration programme of government, we are also able to reduce pressure on demand for forex and importation of raw materials. We are also helping to create jobs that way. The plantation in Lafiaji is helping to create 10,000 direct jobs, boosting household incomes, and thereby helping to reduce the unemployment load on the economy as well as lessen the insecurity situation.

All of these put together is helping to position us to be able to address some of the concerns earlier raised about food inflation in the country. Again, if you look at rice, it’s the same process. We have the anchor borrowers’ programme that is trying to encourage more rice farms in the country. Now, rice is no longer imported, we rely fully on what we can produce locally, which is encouraging more rice farmers to participate in the value chain.

We believe strongly that if we extend this to all our products, we would be in a position to exploit extensively the natural resources that God has blessed us with.

You talked about the rice value chain; you talk about the out-grower farming, what about the milling?

Milling is not a low entry barrier business.

You have to have the capacity to invest in milling. We are one of the businesses that have invested heavily in rice milling. We have over 200,000 tonnes yearly capacity to mill rice. What that means for the rice out-growers is that they have a ready market for the rice they grow.

How is BUA navigating the negative impact of insecurity in the country in terms of its farm assets as well as the COVID-19 issue? The question of insecurity is particularly relevant

considering that many farmers have been chased out of their farms by bandits.

The insecurity situation is affecting every business in the country, not just the foods industry. If you look at it from the farm experience, of course we know that food is impacted in a way. We are not insulated from the problem. However, luckily for us, our plantations are located in a safe zone. We pray it remains so.

Notwithstanding, we continue to monitor situations and adjusts as required. We believe though that some of the efforts put in place by the government to address the insecurity issue will not allow it to keep escalating. And we believe that over time we can take the best opportunities that surround us.

More importantly is that if our unemployment rates can be attacked in different ways, creating jobs for people and they have a means of livelihood, I believe we would be taking them off crime. And BUA would have been contributing to the effort to reduce crime, which would then enable people to contribute positively to society. Keeping the youth engaged through employment is our own way to help stop the insecurity in the country.

Regarding COVID-19, it has impacted every business, both from the upstream and downstream ends. From the upstream, that is the raw material supply chain end, commodities supply was disrupted due to the pandemic. But at BUA, we have managed to maintain supply continuity from our key suppliers and we haven’t had any major outage or disruption, except when we had local challenges around port clearing and quotation in terms of our raw materials. The reason for this is that our inventory management system is top-notch, which enables us to maintain enough stock to keep us running till the next ship berths.

On the downstream side, there’s not so much disruptions because government recognised that food is essential and during the lockdown restrictions, food was one of the areas exempted. So, we were allowed to operate our factories and move our products through the value chain. In terms of our

After your listing, you plan to have your public offer next year. Why should investors key into BUA Foods’ PO; what is the attraction?

You have a business that is very valuable. We are moving from a N300 billion revenue business to a N500 billion plus revenue business next year, once our investments in the sector begins to yield fruits. Our EBITDA is moving from N100 billion to about N150 billion. Looking at these figures, we can realistically expect more than 10% returns on investment. How many businesses can give you that kind of returns today? That is the value we are bringing to the table.

If you take a step backwards and ask yourself how are these going to be achieved? We can look at it from different angles. One is that through our backward integration programme we are able to commission our plants, use our plantation to generate some quantity of sugar that we need. We are talking about 200,000 metric tonnes that would be refined in our plantation in Kwara State, which would save us some forex on importations. The saved forex can be deployed to buy additional raw materials for other products, for instance.

The second leverage is the export opportunity we have. We are the only food business with a refinery in an export zone, meaning that we can readily take advantage of the ECOWAS free trade zone as well as the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. What this means is that we also have the potential to generate foreign exchange, which can then be reinvested into the business for expansion in terms of more raw materials and capital expenditure as we require.

How prepared is BUA Foods for competition and ensuring sustainability of the revenue figures you just gave?

The agribusiness and food processing industry is a fledgling one. There is so much room for growth for everybody that I dare say that there is no industry competition today. Our population is on the rise, and the question is, is there enough food to feed the population?

Right now, we are in a situation where the demand is higher than the supply. Whatever I produce today will be taken up by the market, so why do I need to worry about competition.

The only competition we have in the industry today are the foreign goods, which we want to ward off. Today, some people still smuggle in sugar and even rice. And this is simply because demand is greater than supply.

If players are able to meet or even exceed demand, prices will fall, simple law of demand and supply. And this will enable everybody optimise their value chains.

For us any excess can then be exported, which is where we have an edge over others as we are already positioned for the export market. If we do have excess supply, this we can push to other West African markets.

What’s the outlook for the business, in terms of listing and public offering, considering that next year election fever will dominate the economy?

In business, you always have to contend with risks: liquidity, environmental, regulatory, management, staffing, political, just name it.

We can’t close shop because of risks. What is important is to have strategies in place to mitigate whatever risks the business encounters.

We are a very resilient business, and we would always find a way to tackle the challenges that come our way.

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2021

BUSINESSWORLD

ECONOMY

Positioning Sugar Industry to Boost Economy James Emejo writes that the federal government must enhance its support for the sugar sector in order to harness its huge potential as major source of foreign exchange as well as key employment generator in the country

I

n September 2012, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the Nigerian Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) including a regime of fiscal and investment incentives to provide a conducive environment for its implementation.

This was to reduce the country’s overreliance on importation to meet local consumption needs and reduce pressure on foreign exchange. Apart from this, the country has the capacity, if well harnessed, to meet the sugar needs of other neighbouring countries, thereby earning foreign exchange from export of the commodity.

Also, amidst the current unemployment challenges confronting the government, liberating the sugar sector will open up immense employment opportunities for Nigerians The NSMP, designed by the Nigerian Sugar Development Council (NSDC), which has the mandate to accelerate the development and growth of the local sugar industry to achieve national self-sufficiency - presented a road map to help the country’s sugar sector transform into a world class multi-product sugarcane industry as well as rank Nigeria as one of the top 20 economies in the world by the year 2020 in line with the federal government’s Transformation Agenda.

RATIONALE BEHIND SUGAR POLICY

Essentially, the sugar master plan seeks to among other things boost local production of the commodity to meet consumption demand locally and export to earn foreign exchange.

According to statistics from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), sugar importation costs the country a whopping $1 billion annually, a situation which exerts undue pressure on the country’s fragile external reserves with all the attendant economic implications.

Although the Nigerian sugar industry was first established in the 1960s, it was only able to meet about two per cent of the country’s requirement despite its comparative and competitive advantages for sugar production, leading to annual losses in foreign exchange, as well as loss of millions of employment opportunities for skilled and semi-skilled labour and food insecurity from sugar import dependence.

The plan essentially sought to reverse the lackluster performance of the sector and urgently provide complementary investments in sugarcane plantations and entire sugarcane value chain in order to gain maximum benefits from the industry. It was particularly expected to halt the continued importation of raw sugar. Specifically, the NSMP aims to boost local production of sugar to attain self-sufficiency and reduce the tide of unbridled importation, create job opportunities and contribute to the production of ethanol and generation of electricity among others.

The plan estimated the country’s demand for sugar would breach the 1.7 million metric tonnes (MMT) mark by 2020 and stated that to be able to satisfy the huge consumption demand from domestic production, about 28 sugar factories of varying capacities needed to be established as well as bring about 250,000 hectares of land into sugarcane cultivation over the next 10 years while the bulk of the investment capital requirement is expected from private investors.

BACKWARD INTEGRATION PROGRAMME

The sugar master plan also came with a BIP policy which is an import substitution strategy adopted by import-dependent countries to rapidly domesticate production of commodities for which they at least possess comparative advantage and/or whose continued importation is considered inimical to the economic well-being of the country. This was part of an array of policy instruments comprising mainly of fiscal incentives and tariff put in place by the government to incorporate global best practice in the industry as well as refocus a better funded Sugar Levy to provide the funds required for the execution of the much needed Research and Development (R&D) studies and essential infrastructures, all of which are designed to not only attract new investors but also protect both existing and new investments in the sector. The companies granted approval for importation of sugar under the policy incentives are expected to immediately commence investing in backward integration projects and refineries are expected to begin sourcing their raw sugar requirement for their local production within three of plant commissioning.

NSMP IMPLEMENTATION REPORT

It is obvious that the master plan has recorded huge successes and challenges since the implementation commenced seven years ago. The increased number of major investors in the space as well as the resources so far committed to the sector by the private sector players showed that with faithful implementation, the country’s aspiration towards becoming a sugar sufficient country can be actualized.

Only recently, the Executive Secretary, National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Mr. Zacch Adedeji, while giving an update of the NSMP said the implementation of the plan had attracted investments worth over N200 billion, especially through the commitment to the objectives of the BIP, adding that more investors have also expressed their willingness to commit their resources to development the sugar sector.

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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, also hinted on the emergence of a new entrant into the industry - KIA Group Africa, which had recently completed the process of acquiring the defunct Nigeria Sugar Company (NISUCO) in Bacita, Kwara State. The KIA Group now joins existing major industry players including 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 already 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, 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, who insisted that the NSMP remained on course despite current limitations, 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.”

“Without doubts, the sector has, even amidst natural and man-made challenges recorded some milestones, especially as it relates to attracting genuine and profitable investments to the once moribund sugar industry.

“We are not going to rest on our oars as an agency of government. We are quite determined and hopeful in our mission to turnaround the fortunes of the sector for the overall benefit of our dear country and citizens.

The sugar sector holds enormous opportunities for Nigeria, Nigerians and even our foreign partners. The sector has and always enjoys the support of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“He has in more ways than one charged stakeholders in the sector to come forward with solution and result-driven measures that would fast-track our activities in the sector in our determination to make Nigeria a notable producer of the commodity within the continent.”

CHALLENGES

According to Adedeji, despite the progress so far recorded in the sugar master plan initiative, operators are largely faced by their inability to access the required foreign exchange to import their machinery to set up their plants, pointing out that some sugar investors who opened a letter of credit for the purpose of brining in their machinery were yet to get foreign exchange 90 days after they had initiated the process.

He also said the existing challenges in acquiring land for cultivation of sugar estate was affecting the development of the industry, pointing out that less than 100,000 hectares of land are presently under acquisition compared to 250 hectares required to fulfill the NSMP. According to him, even if the whole 100 hectares were to be fully cultivated, the country would still not achieve 1.7 million metric tons target.

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

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 29, 2021

EDUCATION 2021: Nigeria’s Education Sector in the Throes of Change, COVID-19 As 2021 draws to a close in two days, Uchechukwu Nnaike and Funmi Ogundare highlight the major events that shaped the education sector in the outgoing year

President Muhammadu Bihari

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he outgoing year could best be described as a recovery one for the country’s education sector. This followed the closure of schools for the better part of 2020 to prevent an outbreak of COVID-19. The nine-month strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) also paralysed academic activities in public universities.

The strike was said to be the longest in 10 years.

When the universities eventually resumed on January 18, 2021, after the suspension of the strike in December 2020, they had to grapple with a backlog of admission, and studies were rushed to pave the way for new students. Accusing the federal government of reneging on its agreement, the academic union kept threatening to resume its strike, causing uneasiness for the students battling to cover lost grounds.

If the union had carried out its recent strike threat, the university system would end the year on strike.

Despite the repeated calls on the government to increase its budgetary allocation to education, the sector got 5.6 per cent of the 2021 budget, the lowest percentage allocation since 2011.

While the recovery process continued in the primary and secondary school levels with various initiatives by the government and the private sector to assist the students, sadly, students in some parts of the north were left behind. They could not return to school due to increasing insecurity in schools. Most schools were shut as the kidnap of students and teachers persisted.

The lockdown and insecurity also led to an increase in out-of-school children in the country. UNICEF said the number has risen from 10.5 million to 13.2 million.

The concerns and campaign against bullying in secondary schools were heightened in the outgoing year, with the untimely death of 12-year-old Sylvester Oromoni of Dowen College, Lagos. Senior students allegedly assaulted him for refusing to join a cult.

On a cheery note, President Muhammadu Buhari announced a new salary scale for teachers and increased the retirement age from 60 to 65 years, with effect from January 2022.

Also, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) announced an unprecedented success rate in its May/June 2021 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE). It said 1,274,784 candidates, representing 81.7 per cent of the 1,560,261 candidates that sat the examination, a secured credit pass in five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

The reverse was the case for the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB),

Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu as the examination body stated that candidates’ performance in this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) was poorer than what it recorded in the past three years.

The Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, blamed the development on the truncation of the academic calendar by the rampaging coronavirus pandemic, as well as peculiar environmental factors in Nigeria such as insecurity, among others.

In a commendable move, JAMB remitted N3.51 billion to the national treasury as part of its 2021 operating surplus. The remittance was in line with the registrar’s commitment to prudent management of public resources.

In addition to redeeming the country’s image, the board detected 706,189 illegal admissions by universities, colleges of education, polytechnics and other tertiary institutions. The board said that about 114 universities were responsible for 67,795 illegal admissions; 137 polytechnics were responsible for 489,918; 80 colleges of education were responsible for 142,818; 37 other institutions were involved in 5,678 cases.

The outgoing year also witnessed the passing of the law scrapping the HND/BSc dichotomy by the National Assembly.

The lawmakers said abolishing the existing dichotomy between HND holders and graduates of universities would meet the huge manpower needs of Nigerians, ensure social justice and enhance corporate governance, and encourage patriotic contributions among HND employees in public and private sectors.

This year, the National Universities Commission (NUC) released the ranking of universities in the country. It placed the University of Ibadan ahead of others, with five other private universities on the top 10 list. The ranking, carried out using 12 indicators, involved 113

universities.

In his assessment of the education sector in 2021, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic, Research, Innovations and Partnerships, Osun State University, Professor Anthony Kola-Olusanya, said the country’s education sector managed to pick up from the several months of COVID-19 induced lockdown of 2020.

He said resumption was sluggish, with much caution about handling the next pandemic.

According to him, while many reputable private primary and secondary schools were able to migrate learning online in 2020, the government-owned schools struggled all through the lockdown. He ascribed the scenario to a reflection of funding available to the sector.

The don said the 2021 budget allocation to education fell below the UNESCO’s Education 2030 Framework for Action proposal.

“Although the allocation to the education sector in the 2021 budget showed an allocation of N771.5 billion (including the UBEC allocation) out of a total budget size of N13.58 trillion, the sector got a 5.68 per cent allocation.

“The Framework for Action proposed two benchmarks as ‘crucial reference points’: allocate at least 4 to 6 per cent of GDP to education and/or allocate at least 15 per cent to 20 per cent of public expenditure to education. Comparatively, the allocation of 5.68 per cent is far below this benchmark.”

He also bemoaned the shortage of teachers at 280,000, especially at the public primary schools, especially in Zamfara State, with pupils’ ratio to a teacher placed at 300:1.

“It is the same situation in most schools in remote areas in Nigeria, where teachers’ shortage has led to the pupils’ lack of interest in education.

This notwithstanding is the crises of incompetency arising from nepotic recruiting.”

Getting out of the mess requires first and foremost that federal and state governments in the country start seeing the education sector as a primary vehicle of sustainable development.

No nation develops better or faster than the attention given to its education sector

Funding increased abysmally at the tertiary levels, as Kola-Olusanya noted that the story through the year suggested that it is still far from the expected if the country intends to thrive in the knowledge-driven 21st century.

He noted that what appears to be an increase in funding in the tertiary institutions is a drop in the ocean when placed beside the sector’s needs to be rated as meeting world standards.

“For instance, the combined capital allocation of all 21 colleges of education in the 2021 budget stands at N9.97 billion.

This shows an increase of N4.25 billion compared to the 2020 allocation of N5.73 billion. Compared with the 2020 allocation of N77.37 billion, there is an increase of N23.56 billion, representing a 30.5 per cent increase.

“It is also on record that budgets of federal government-owned universities increased in 2021, from N291.92 billion in 2020 to N335.48 billion in 2021. This shows an increase of N43.56 billion. The capital allocation also increased from N11.79 billion in 2020 to N28.95 billion, more than twice the allocation.”

With the budget for tertiary education, the deputy vice-chancellor opined that a better assessment of the primary education sector could be better done by measuring the performance of public schools.

“The National Examinations Council (NECO) released the results of the 2021 June/July Senior School Certificate Examination with 71.64 per cent of the 1,226,631 that sat for the examination, scoring five credits above, including in English and Mathematics.

“For WAEC, 1,274,784 candidates, representing 81.7 per cent of the total 1,560,261 candidates that sat the examination, were said to have secured credit pass in five subjects, including English and Mathematics. On the strength of this, I will assess performance based on the following criteria, WAEC, and NECO results, funding, among others.

“At the same time, a student of Kings College in Lagos State, Akinyemi Oluwafemi, emerged as the best student in the 2021 West African Senior School Certificate Examination in Nigeria. Does this translate to improving the standard of value on investment?

Literarily, one may be tempted to want to conclude as thus.”

In his assessment, a professor of African History, Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Ibadan, Isaac Olawale Albert, said 2021 was not good for the education sector. He said schools across the country were shut for months due to COVID 19 pandemic, and some found it challenging Continued on page 31

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 29, 2021

EDUCATION

MTN mPulse Spelling Bee 2021: Winner’s Tale of Victory Akinyele Ademoyegun, the 12-year-old winner of the 2021 edition of the MTN mPulse Spelling Bee Competition, recounts his journey towards becoming the champion of a competition that kicked off with 13,000 participants. Yinka Olatunbosun reports

Akinyele Ademoyegun and Omotayo George, the Senior Manager, Youth and Teens Segments, MTN Nigeria Communications Plc

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he day of the grand finale for the MTN mPulse Spelling Bee Competition was an important one for Akinyele Ademoyegun, a Senior Secondary One (SS1) student of Kaydel Comprehensive College, Ikorodu. Since the competition kicked off on September 1, he had been engrossed in spelling practice alongside schoolwork.

Understandably, he was afraid on that day. His mother, teachers, friends and neighbours were all watching the show while he was on the hot seat, spelling all the altitudinous words that the moderator reeled out: Claustrophobic, Antiquarian, Herbaceous, Incunabulum and Ignoble.

Finally, he won. His family, friends and neighbours jubilated.

The competition, which was organised

by MTN, and supported by Nestlé Golden Morn, targeted nine- to 15-year-olds in primary and secondary schools nationwide.

Out of the 13,000 participants that started the competition, 1,000 were selected from the first round and invited for the second round on the mPulse website. The first 20 students with the highest scores from the second round then qualified for the third stage, while the grand finale was done online via live video conferencing.

Ademoyegun’s residence in Ikorodu has a large compound that could fit a playgroup, but the young champ hardly plays outside his mother’s apartment.

“I love reading books a lot, especially those that are beyond my years and my class.

I usually spend my leisure time reading books. When I was in junior school, I read books on Biology, Chemistry Physics,’’ he revealed.

He started reading dictionaries, memorising words and spellings in preparing for the

Mother of the Spelling Bee Winner, Idowu Ogunsanmi, and the winner

competition. But he wouldn’t have known anything about the competition without the help of his relatives.

“My aunt sent the link to my mummy who then told me about it and I just participated. I had taken part in spelling bee competitions in church and my school before this one. And I had won,’’ he recounted. When asked if he had any technique of memorising, he responded, “Words usually stick in my head after I had seen it several times.

He believed he had to do more than reading. He chose to fast and pray in the grand finale, and his mother did the same in his support.

“I started by reading my dictionary, and I prayed to God for him to take control because, without God, one cannot achieve anything. God is my number one foundation teacher. My mother played a huge role in this too.

And my teacher encouraged me to take on a lot of complex words. My tutors also encouraged me. When they heard about the competition, they hoped that I would win,’’ he said.

The news of his victory at the spelling bee competition was announced officially in his school, followed by applause.

“They were very happy for me. At

least, I think that most of them were.

My teachers were also happy for me too.

When it was announced at the school, they were surprised, and I think some of them were happy,’’ he recounted.

As the first prize winner, he received N2 million scholarship fund, laptop, smartphone, mPulse goody bags and Nestle products. The previous mobile phone that he had was also a gift received from a competition. His mother, who is a petty trader, revealed that her son always had a winning streak as a child.

In addition, he was said to have older friends, a fact that he would later validate.

“I don’t have an age bracket for the kinds of friends I keep. Most of my friends are always smart and serious.

Sometimes, they are playful too. Some are older than I am. They are very mature; they don’t talk too much and they also love reading.’’

When his mother decided to move from their neighbourhood in Oshodi to Ikorodu, it was to ensure that he grew up in an environment that makes it easier to study. Thus, they left behind noisy streets, blaring sound speakers and potential bad company.

“Moving was a little hard but I managed to cope with it. Most of my routine

I don’t have an age bracket for the kinds of friends I keep. Most of my friends are always smart and serious. Sometimes, they are playful too. Some are older than I am. They are very mature; they don’t talk too much and they also love reading

changed. I had a new school, made new friends and saw new faces,’’ he recalled.

In his new neighbourhood, he found a place to learn computer programming. In his opinion, such skill is necessary to navigate our contemporary world.

“I learn it every day. You can use programming for a lot of things. You can use it to update your apps or create websites. Or even hack into a site. ICT knowledge is knowledge one must have because it can be very helpful in the near future. For now, I am not familiar with social media apps,’’ he revealed.

Under the strict watch of his mother, he is not allowed to have access to the internet without supervision. Although his school is at a trekking distance from his home, his mother insisted that he should join the school bus so that he wouldn’t be tempted to wander off after school hours. He has always had an after school teacher. After primary one, he got a double promotion.

He was in the first position throughout his primary school and eventually finished with a distinction.

Now, in SS 1, he is not certain about his future choice of study. “For now, I am still praying on it and at the right time, I will decide,” he said.

Since he got the new laptop from MTN, he downloaded and saved some study materials.

For him, the sky is the starting point.

MTN, the spelling bee sponsor, set up the mPulse service to equip students between the ages of nine and 15 with the resources they need to maximize their potential and be all they want to be. Spelling bee competitions are great extracurricular activities that help promote literacy, broaden vocabulary, sharpen comprehension and recollection skills, and provide participants with a positive goal.

2021: Nigeria’s Education Sector in the Throes of Change, COVID-19 using technology for learning.

“When reopened, the schools migrated to virtual mode of teaching and learning.

Unfortunately, Nigeria does not have the technology, power supply, stable internet facilities for making the best of this method of acquiring knowledge. Hence, something must have missed out in the quality of knowledge provided for students in this era of COVID -19.”

He also expressed concern about the usual ASUU strike, saying that the length of the strike suggests readily that the education sector is of little priority to the political elite in the country.

“Nigerians blame this on the belief that those leading the country do not have their children in Nigerian schools but abroad. It is noticeable, for example, that the conflict between ASUU and the federal government over the funding of university education in the country still persists, with the likelihood that many more strikes could still be called by the university teachers,” he said.

Albert said universities need revitalisation funds and are asking to be taken out of the IPPIS salary structure. He said the government’s response to these demands is at best feeble.

“Getting out of the mess requires first and

foremost that federal and states governments in the country start seeing the education sector as a primary vehicle of sustainable development,” he said, adding that no nation develops better or faster than the attention given to its education sector.

He stressed the need to reform the education sector, saying that at this time, when there is mass youth unemployment, it is imperative for academic institutions to start providing development-relevant knowledge.

“The NUC and other relevant bodies in the country must challenge the institutions to rework their programmes in a manner

that could make those graduating from our schools to be providers of labour and not those looking endlessly for nonexisting jobs on our streets. It is also not compulsory for all Nigerians to be given university or polytechnic education, as now witnessed.

“Those graduating from our secondary schools could be channelled into technical schools for acquiring knowledge that could make them better employable and relevant to the immediate needs of the society.”

The don also stressed the need for an immediate reformation of the Nigerian secondary education system.

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 29, 2021

CITYSTRINGS

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

Reward for Giving Back to Society The founder of Kelvin Jombo Foundation, Chief Kelvin Jumbo Onumah was bestowed with the chieftaincy title of Igurube 1 of Abiriba. David-Chyddy Eleke reports that the title is reward for his passion to serve society

Chief Kelvin Jumbo Onumah during his coronation of the chieftaincy title bestowed on him by his community for his numerous acts of giving

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or the ancient kingdom of Abiriba, last weekend was the official commencement of the yuletide for the people. It was the 21th coronation anniversary of the king of the kingdom, the very influential Enochioken of Abiriba Kingdom, Eze Kalu Kalu Ogbu IV, and Abiriba sons and daughters from far and near spared nothing at all to ensure a very colourful anniversary for their king.

From the very entrance into the community, one could sense that the day was not just an ordinary day in the ancient kingdom as celebration was very visible in the air. Dancing groups could be seen along the road as they marched to stadium to witness the celebration. Masquerades of all sizes, shapes and colour were also seen being led along the streets.

Perhaps, one of the most visible signs that it was a great day in Abiriba was the movement of dignitaries in exotic cars and long convoys, with blaring sirens, moving in all directions. It was indeed a great day for Abiriba people as dignitaries from the state and beyond poured into the kingdom to celebrate.

Of course, the celebration was not only that of the Enochioken of Abiriba, as the monarch also used the opportunity to honour several illustrious sons of the kingdom who have excelled in their various endeavours. Some non indigenes were also honoured, and most of the dignitaries who flooded the kingdom were also allies, colleagues and business associates of some of those who were being honoured, and they were in the kingdom to felicitate with their friends.

Among those who were honoured with chieftaincy titles are: Abia State commissioner for tourism, Kalu Okiyi, Senator minority leaders, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, chairman of Sublime industries, Sublime homes and apartment and the founder of Kelvin Jombo Foundation, Chief Kelvin Jumbo Onumah among numerous others.

While Senator Abaribe was bestowed with one of the highest title in the land, Eturu Mang of Abiriba Kingdom, Onumah was bestowed with the title of Igurube 1 of Abiriba Kingdom.

Bestowing him with the title, the monarch of Abiriba, Eze Kalu Kalu Ogbu IV expressed satisfaction at the many philanthropic gestures of Onumah, both in the community and outside.

The monarch said the title was in honour of such gestures which has seen Onumah, though a relatively young business man at less than 40 helping to establish many young people in the community as well as building infrastructure.

Indeed, for Onumah, rendering a helping hand comes natural to him, and he has done so many times over to prove that it was not a gesture he forces on himself.

Popularly known as Abiriba First Son, Onumah,

Chief Kelvin Jumbo Onumah using his Kelvin Jombo Foundation has been championing the empowerment of the youth, women and children, and even provision of infrastructure, both in Abiriba and other places in Abia, especially in Aba where most of his businesses are domiciled.

Chief Kelvin Jombo is Founder and the CEO of Sublime Luxury Homes Ltd, Sublime

Hotel & Apartment Sublime Industries Ltd, as well as Kelvin Jombo Foundation. No doubt a successful businessman who has carved a niche for himself in real estate, clothing & textiles importation, Forex Trading, and hospitality businesses, and the act of giving back or devoting one’s time to support those around him is extremely beneficial.

Onumah's many philanthropic gestures include creation of hundreds of direct and indirect jobs, poverty alleviation and other developmental projects such as scholarship schemes, medicare, road construction, market developments and others

Essentially, giving back for him is a great way to get to know his community and its citizens, which eventually makes you a grassroot person.

Onumah's many philanthropic gestures include creation of hundreds of direct and indirect jobs, poverty alleviation and other developmental projects such as scholarship schemes, medicare, road construction, market developments and others.

Kelvin Jombo Foundation had just months back flagged off the reconstruction of a market (Affia Nkwo) in Abiriba. The flag-off ceremony was witnessed by the Enachioken in council led by the Enachioken of Abiriba HRM Eze Kalu kalu Ogbu IV. During the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, the foundation was also reputed to have donated lots of materials and cash as palliatives to poor and indigent people to help cushion the effect of the harsh economic condition caused by pandemic on the people.

Some of the items donated by the young entrepreneur include: 600 Bags of five kilograms of fertilizers, 1,000 bundles of cassava stems, 1,000 bags of five kilograms beans, 3,000 bags of five kilograms of rice, 2,500 tubers of yam, 100 cartons of organic maize seedlings, 100 cartons of organic okro seedlings, 100 cartons of tomato seedlings, 1000 pieces of sanitizers, 1000 cartons of face masks and 300 cartons of noodles. The disabled people in Abiriba were also visited with some cash gifts, while Abiriba Student Union also received a token of support.

The title of Igurube 1 which translated in English means leader of multitude can be said to be a testament of his contribution to the lives of many people. Indeed, the coronation ceremony in Abiriba marked the begining of the yuletide, with lots of visitors who were on ground to celebrate with their friends, but the number of people who besieged the palatial mansion of Onumah in the ancient kingdom, which cut across the high and mighty, and people of lowly status, who have also benefited from him.

With poor village folks assembled in the compound, and also a big tent for the hosting of his many rich friends, and with much to eat and drink, it was clear the opportunity of the bestowment of the title was another opportunity for Igurube 1 of Abiriba Kingdom to again feté all, and of course he did not fail in the task as the party to celebrate him continued late into the night with several 'A' list musicians and comedians dishing out entertainment. Igurube indeed probed that one does not have to be as old as Methuselah to be able to make impact in the society, and the news of Igurube's exploit will remain on the lips of Abiriba people for a very long while.

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 29, 2021

CRIME&SECURITY

Ceremonial Sunset: Navy Reiterates Commitment to Protect Maritime Environment

CRIME SITUATION REPORTS

CRIMINALITY: TACTICS AND PREVENTION (2) Gbolahan Samuel Moronfolu

The Main Classifications of Criminal Offenses There are three primary classifications of criminal offenses—felonies, misdemeanors, and infractions.

Each classification is distinguished by the seriousness of an offense and the amount of punishment for which someone convicted of the crime can receive.

Criminal offenses are further classified as property crimes or personal crimes.

Elected officials on the federal, state, and local levels pass laws that establish which behaviors constitute a crime and what the punishment will be for someone who is found guilty of those crimes.

The Navy band at the Ceremonial Sunset

Senior officers at the hoisting of the flag Chiemelie Ezeobi

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o ensure a thriving environment in the maritime domain, the Nigerian Navy recently reiterated its commitment to secure the nation's territorial integrity.

The Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), Western Naval Command, 3FBS "ENJSBM +BTPO (CBTTB NBEF this pledge during the 2021 Nigerian Navy Ceremonial Sunset for Lagos area, which held at the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) #&&$30'5 QBSBEF HSPVOE JO Apapa.

(CBTTB XIP XBT SFQSFTFOUFE CZ the Command Chief Staff Officer, 3FBS "ENJSBM )BCJMB ;BLBSJB said the protection is to ensure a conducive environment for the maritime sector to flourish.

Stressing that the objective was part of the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Awwal (BNCPhT TUSBUFHJD EJSFDUJWF IF said the navy would continue to leverage all factors of national recreation, technology, training, teamwork and synergy to improve services rendered.

He said: "This will re-energise the Nigerian Navy and enhance her as a well motivated naval force in the discharge of her constitutional mandate.

"This has been the CNS mantra and we, in the Lagos area will assure that the maritime environment is secured for economic activities to thrive."

6SHJOH UIF NJMJUBSZ QFSTPOOFM UP reflect on the expectations of the maritime stakeholders, he charged them to brace-up to whatever sacrifice they maybe called upon to make in ensuring safety of the maritime environment.

On the Ceremonial Sunset, he said it was an age old naval tradition often done as part of the formalities to bring the activities of the year to a close.

"Although largely a regimental display, it is often tempered with a bene of social context where we invite dignitaries to a cocktail."

Also speaking, the special HVFTU PG IPOPVS 3FBS "ENJSBM .POEBZ 6OVSIJFSF who stood in for the CNS said despite the challenges currently being experienced, the activities within the year particularly regarding the platforms that were injected into service, numerous personnel capacity-building efforts and conceptual consolidation as seen with the publication of a /JHFSJBO /BWZ %PDUSJOF BOE the hosting of Seapower for Africa Symposium in about two weeks ago have boosted NN response immensely. )F TBJE +VTU MBTU XFFL TJY ships including the Nigerian /BWZ CVJMU 4FBXBSE %FGFODF #PBU //4 0+* XF KVTU injected into the fleet with the addition of these efforts to Nigerian Navy's fighting capability , I am hopeful that current challenges will pass and we are, now better prepared for future threats.

Celebration of milestone successes is an acclaimed strategy for sustainable change management."

On the Ceremonial Sunset he said the naval tradition of hoisting colors at sunrise and lowering them at sunset dates back to the end of the 16th century "but it was in 1844 that the timing for hoisting was fixed at 8 am. Before this, flags were used mainly for signaling purposes and were taken up and down at dawn and dusk respectively. " This was simply because it was impracticable to decipher intended messages once it was dark.

"Subsequently, fanfare was added to the hoisting and lowering of colors and the practice still continues to date in Nigerian Navy units ashore and afloat. The Nigerian Navy transformation from a small naval force at inception 1965 has come with some innovations one of which is today’s event.

"Though we may not have arrived at our desired place, we have certainly made progress in our efforts to statutorily defending Nigeria’s maritime territorial integrity and protecting our strategic national assets from maritime threats".

Though we may not have arrived at our desired place, we have certainly made progress in our efforts to statutorily defend Nigeria’s maritime territorial integrity and protect our strategic national assets from maritime threats

What is a Felony?

Felony Is any offence declared by the existing law to be a felony or is punishable without proof of previous conviction with death or with imprisonment for three years or more e.g Murder, Stealing, Manslaughter, Burglary, House breaking etc.

Felonies are the most serious classification of crimes, punishable by incarceration of more than a year in prison and, in some cases, capital punishment or life imprisonment.

Both property crimes and personal crimes can be felonies.

Murder, rape, and kidnapping are felony. Armed robbery and grand theft can also be felonies.

Not only can the person who committed the crime be charged with a felony, but so can anyone who aided or abetted the felon before or during the crime and anyone who became accessories to the crime after it was committed, such as those who help the felon avoid capture.

Most countries have different classifications of felonies, with increasing penalties for the most serious crimes.

Each class of felony crimes has guidelines for minimum and maximum sentencing.

Examples of Felonies r "HHSBWBUFE BTTBVMU r "OJNBM DSVFMUZ r "STPO r %SVH EJTUSJCVUJPO r &MEFS BCVTF r 'FMPOZ BTTBVMU r (SBOE UIFGU r ,JEOBQQJOH r .BOTMBVHIUFS r .BOVGBDUVSJOH PG ESVHT r .VSEFS r 3BQF r 5BY FWBTJPO r 5SFBTPO Most countries also classify felonies by capital felony, followed by first through fourth degree, depending on the severity.

Sentencing for Felonies Although each country varies when determining the degree of a felony, most country’s capital felony define it as a crime, such as murder, that qualifies for the death penalty or life without parole.

Common first-degree felonies include arson, rape, murder, treason, and kidnapping.

Second-degree felonies can include arson, manslaughter,

drug manufacturing or distribution, child pornography, and child molestation.

Third- and fourth-degree felonies can include pornography, involuntary manslaughter, burglary, larceny, driving under the influence, and assault and battery.

Capital crimes are felonies that are punishable by death.

The difference between other classes of felonies and capital felonies is the fact that those accused of capital crimes can pay the ultimate penalty, the loss of their life.

Each country determines the prison sentence handed down for felony crimes based on guidelines that assess the degree of the crime.

Class A is usually used to classify the most serious felonies, such as first-degree murder, rape, involuntary servitude of a minor, kidnapping in the first degree, or other crimes that are considered heinous.

Some Class A felonies carry the toughest penalties, such as the death penalty. Each state has its own set of classifications of criminal laws.

A Class B felony is a classification of crimes that are severe, yet not the most serious of crimes. Because a Class B felony is a felony, it carries tough penalties, such as a lengthy prison sentence and extreme fines.

What is a Misdemeanor?

Misdemeanors are crimes that do not rise to the severity of a felony. They are lesser crimes for which the maximum sentence is 12 months or less in jail.

But in Nigeria Law, it is punishable by imprisonment for not less than six months, but less than three years e.g “ Affray, Wilful damage etc.

The specifics requirements of misdemeanors vary by country.

The distinction between misdemeanors and felonies lies in the seriousness of the crime.

Aggravated assault (beating someone with a basketball bat, for example) is a felony, while battery (slapping someone in the face) is a misdemeanor.

But some crimes that are usually treated as misdemeanors in court can rise to the level of a felony under certain circumstances.

For example, in some countries, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana is a misdemeanor, but possession of more than an ounce is considered possession with intent to distribute and treated as a felony.

Likewise, an arrest for driving under the influence is usually a misdemeanor, but the charge can become a felony if anyone is hurt or killed or if it is not UIF ESJWFShT GJSTU %6* %SJWJOH 6OEFS *OGMVFODF PGGFOTF -Moronfolu is a seasoned security consultant with many years of security and policing experience. FELLOW, Fourth Estate Professional Society (FFPS), he has also partaken in peace keeping operations within and outside the country and has flair for general security education.

34

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 29, 2021 •T H I S D AY

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

FOREIGN DESK

COMPILED BY BAYO AKINLOYE

Taliban Release Head of Private TV Network

The Taliban on Tuesday released a prominent Afghan TV station owner who was detained for two days, according to the independent media monitoring group Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC).

The Taliban did not say why Mohammad Arif Noori, the founder and owner of Noorin TV, was detained.

AFJC, in a statement, said it “condemns the arbitrary detention of Mr. Noori”, calling it an “infringement of press freedom.”

According to his son Roman Noori, Noori was taken from his home in Kabul on Sunday afternoon.

The younger Noori accused Taliban forces of “raiding” and searching his family’s house without a warrant before taking his father to an unknown location.

The motive for the elder Noori’s arrest remains uncertain. But Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told the Afghanistan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA) that the arrest was not related to Noori’s media activities, AIJA said in a statement sent to VOA. Russia Sent Trainers, Not Mercenaries, Claims Mali Junta Mali’s military government has denied hiring Russian mercenaries from the controversial Wagner Group, which the European Union has sanctioned for rights abuses. Last week, France and 15 other Western nations condemned what they said was Russia’s deployment of Wagner fighters to Mali. Mali’s transitional government says it is only engaged with official Russian military trainers. Analysts weigh in on Russia’s military involvement in Mali as French troops are drawing down.

This month, Mali’s transitional government denied what it called “baseless allegations” that it hired the controversial Russian security firm the Wagner Group to help fight Islamist insurgents. Western governments and UN experts have accused Wagner of rights abuses, including killing civilians, in the Central African Republic and Libya. The response came Friday after Western nations made the accusations, which Mali’s military government dismissed, demanding that they provide independent evidence.

A day earlier, France and 15 other Western nations had condemned what they called the deployment of Wagner mercenaries to Mali.

Gambia’s Supreme Court Dismisses Election Result Challenge Gambia’s Supreme Court dismissed a legal challenge to President Adama Barrow’s recent election victory on Tuesday, ruling that the petition had not followed proper procedure, court documents showed.

Barrow won the December 4 poll with 53 per cent of the vote. Runner-up Ousainou Darboe, who got about 28 per cent, and two other candidates refused to accept the results, citing alleged problems at polling stations without providing evidence.

Darboe’s United Democratic Party (UDP) petitioned the Supreme Court to nullify the results the following week despite election observers having said the poll was conducted fairly.

The court dismissed the petition because

Twitter: “We observe indisputable progress...

Sanctions lifting is being actively discussed in informal settings” in a working group at the talks.

The seventh round of talks ended 11 days ago after adding some new Iranian demands to a working text.

Darboe’s party had failed to serve Barrow within five days of filing it, which violated the Gambia’s fair trial procedures, judicial sources said.

“The UDP failed to comply with the requirement of Rule 11 of the Election Petition Rule, which required that you file a motion of petition and security,” Chief Justice Hassan B. Jallow wrote in the judgment.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Darboe said that he did not consider the court’s decision a personal loss since the petition was dismissed on a procedural technicality rather than on the merit of its claims.

Somali Opposition Asks President to Leave Office Somalia’s opposition presidential candidates have called on President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, popularly known as Farmajo, to leave office after attempting to force the prime minister from power.

The council of the presidential candidates in Somalia issued the call one day after Farmajo suspended Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble, accusing him of corruption and failure to conduct elections. The prime minister has denied the allegations, accusing the president of orchestrating a coup.

The opposition candidates called for an investigation into what they termed treason and for the national consultative council, consisting of federal and other leaders from five states, to immediately address grievances about already delayed parliamentary elections.

There has been no comment from Farmajo on the latest developments, which have escalated a dispute between the two politicians over the delayed vote and who will lead the country. Critics say the president is looking to stay in power by any means necessary. Farmajo took office in February 2017. His term formally ended in February.

The international community, including the US Embassy in Mogadishu, has since urged Somali leaders to avoid violent actions and initiate dialogue to resolve their differences to expedite the vote.

Parliamentary elections were supposed to conclude before the end of the year but are nowhere near complete, with just more than 50 members of parliament out of 275 selected so far by tribal delegates.

Nicaragua Seizes Taiwan Embassy to Give China The Nicaraguan government has seized Taiwan’s former embassy and diplomatic offices, saying they belong to China.

President Daniel Ortega’s government broke off relations with Taiwan this month, saying it would recognise only the mainland government.

Before departing, Taiwanese diplomats attempted to donate the properties to the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Managua.

But Ortega’s government said late Sunday that any such donation would be invalid and that the building in an upscale Managua neighbourhood belongs to China.

In a statement, the attorney general’s office said that the attempted donation was a “manoeuvre and subterfuge to take what doesn’t belong to them.”

Taiwan’s Foreign Relations Ministry condemned the “gravely illegal actions of the Ortega regime,” saying the Nicaraguan government had violated standard procedures by giving Taiwanese diplomats just two weeks to get out of the country.

Iran, Russia Upbeat about Nuclear Talks in Vienna Iran and Russia sounded upbeat about talks on salvaging the 2015 Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday, with Tehran saying an accord was possible if other parties showed “good faith” and a Russian negotiator reporting “indisputable progress.”

Iran and the United States resumed the indirect talks in Vienna on Monday, with Tehran focused on one side of the original bargain — lifting sanctions against it — despite what critics see as scant progress on reining in its atomic activities.

“The Vienna talks are headed in a good direction... We believe that if other parties continue the round of talks which just started with good faith, reaching a good agreement for all parties is possible,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told reporters in Tehran.

“If they show seriousness, in addition to the good faith, arriving at a deal soon and in the near future is conceivable,” Amirabdollahian said in a video of his remarks on state media.

Russian envoy Mikhail Ulyanov said on

Save the Children Workers Killed in Myanmar Violence Two relief workers for Save the Children were among those killed in eastern Myanmar in an attack on Christmas Eve, the group said Tuesday.

The group blamed the country’s military for the incident that left at least 35 people dead in Kayah state.

“Violence against innocent civilians including aid workers is intolerable, and this senseless attack is a breach of International Humanitarian Law,” the group’s chief executive, Inger Ashing, said in a statement.

“This is not an isolated event. The people of Myanmar continue to be targeted with increasing violence, and these events demand an immediate response,” Ashing said.

Myanmar’s military said its forces had come under attack when it tried to stop seven cars it said were driving in a “suspicious way.”

Military spokesman Zaw Min Tun told the French news agency that troops killed several people in the ensuing clash.

An anti-government militia operating in the area, the Karenni National Defense Force, said those killed were not militia members but civilians fleeing conflict. In response to the attack, Save the Children called for the UN Security Council to implement an arms embargo on the country’s government.

Cameroon Releases MSF Workers Detained for Helping Rebel Leader Cameroon’s military has released health workers detained for several days who were working for the aid group Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF. The military says the workers were helping a wounded rebel leader, who also was detained, and they are still being investigated. MSF has condemned the detentions, the latest incident between the group and Cameroon’s military.

Cameroon’s military alleged that MSF deliberately engaged in a clandestine operation to exfiltrate armed rebels this week.

In a statement, the military says Mbu Princely Tabe and Bessong Eugene, two self-proclaimed separatist generals contacted MSF Sunday to help fighters wounded in a battle with Cameroon government troops in Tinto, a southwestern farming village.

The statement by military spokesperson Army Captain Cyrille Serge Atonfack Guemo says after a tipoff, an ambulance belonging to MSF was intercepted by the military in Nguti with Mbu Princely receiving treatment inside the ambulance.

Nguti is a commercial town in Cameroon’s English-speaking Southwest region.

The military said one of the rebel generals, Bessong Eugene, died and was buried in the bush before MSF arrived to save the lives of wounded fighters.

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 29, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

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NEWS

A’ Ibom Council Chair Imposes Curfew over Cult Killings, Looting Okon Bassey in Uyo Worried by the killings and looting of property due to cult activities, the Chairman of Ikono Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Nyakno Uwemedimo Okoibu, has imposed a dust-to-dawn curfew in the LGA. The council boss said the curfew commenced December 28th till further notice from the hour of 6am - 6pm daily.

This was contained in a statement issued yesterday by the Press Secretary to the Local Government chairman, Nsisong Ntuk.

Okoibu explained that the restriction order became necessary to halt cult-related activities which have resulted in killings and looting of property in the area.

“The chairman of Ikono LGA, has imposed a total restrictions of movement of persons, motorcycles, keke, cars, etc. within the perimeters of Ikono Local Government Area, from the hours of 6pm to 6am daily, effective from tomorrow, December 28, 2021 until further notice.

“The ban, though painful, is a child of necessity and is therefore in the overall best interest of every well meaning

indigene of Ikono and other citizens residing in the Council Area.

“As a responsible government, we cannot fold

our arms and watch events go the other way round.

We must be proactive,” the statement said.

The chairman charged the

security operatives to increase the tempo of surveillance and monitoring, in order to forestall the killings by cultists operating within the

local government area and its environments.

The council chairman charged the people to cooperate with security agencies by

reporting suspicious movement of person and volunteer information that could lead to arrest of the criminal elements in the council area.

MR.MACHO NYSC EMERGES…

L-R: Event and Activation Manager, Seven-Up Bottling Company, Chiamaka Ezuruike; Newly crowned Mr. Macho NYSC for Lagos Camp, Ronald Abel-Obi; and NYSC Coordinator, Eddy Megwa, at the Supa Komando sponsored NYSC Variety Night in Lagos… recently

Boat Mishap Kills Seven PDP Flays APC for Attacking Its Zamfara State Congress the congress in Samaru in Gusau, other feeble-minded deserters. was firmly resisted by our Party Chuks Okocha in Abuja in Niger Community unleashed violence on its members, According to the PDP, “For and the people of the state.

Laleye Dipo in Minna

Three members of the same family are among the seven people that died in a boat mishap at Zhigiri village in the Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State last Sunday evening.

Among those that died were two wives of one Mallam Muazu Babangida and one of his children. The identities of the others are yet unknown.

It was learnt that the accident occurred when the deceased were traveling to Dnaweto village for a naming ceremony in a boat.

As at the time of going to press, six of the bodies had been recovered from the river while the remains of the 7th victim has not been found. The deceased have been buried according Muslim tires.

THISDAY learnt that the accident occurred because the travelers were not familiar with traveling on the river because the area used to be a dry land until the construction of the Zungeru hydro Electric Dam which had created an artificial river in the area.

A statement by the Coalition of Shiroro Associations signed by its Spokesman Walis Saba made available to newsmen in Minna yesterday confirmed the incident.

“This is one of the social upheaval occasioned by the construction of the dam” Saba said in the statement before asking HYPPADEC to “as matter of urgency respond to this devastating incident by providing safety measures including life jackets to the villagers”

Amaechi’s Attack on Jonathan is Diversionary from APC’s Failure, Says PDP Chieftain Sylvester Idowu in Warri Former Delta State Governorship aspirant under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Sunny Onuesoke has taken a swipe at the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi for attacking former President Goodlukc Jonathan.

According to Onuesoke, Amaechi’s recent outburst was to divert attention from the failure of President Muhammadu Buhari’s All Progressives Congress (APC) led government.

He said the minister’s vituperation against former President Goodluck Jonathan during his appearance on a private television station was to divert attention from the failure of his ministry, principal

and party.

Mr. Amaechi had on Channels Television’s programme, ‘Hard Copy’, said the money left behind for Nigeria by former President Goodluck Jonathan at the point of his departure on May 29, 2015 was not enough to run the affairs of the country for three weeks.

He also claimed that bandits and all other groups that kill was a result of poverty which did not start under the present administration.

But reacting to Amaechi’s allegation , Onuesoke said the Transport Minister’s allegation against Jonathan has no iota of truth but an attempt to divert attention of Nigerians from the failure of the APC led administration.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday condemned the violent attack on its Zamfara state Congress in Samaru area of Gusau by the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday, December 27, 2021. PDP described the attack as a direct assault on democracy and another vicious attempt by the sinking APC to subvert the will of the people as embodied in the PDP and its activities.

In a statement by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, said that Nigerians were horrified as APC thugs invaded the venue of

vandalised materials and vehicles after which they descended on the PDP secretariat, tore the PDP as well as Nigerian flags, all in their bid to orchestrate tension in the state and disrupt our congress.

The party said that nevertheless, the success of the PDP congress in Zamfara state despite the attacks showed that the PDP is in firm control of the state even with Governor Bello Matawalle’s defection to the APC and that it will never relent in it’s determination to reclaim the electoral mandate taken to the APC by Governor Matawalle and

those who took benefit of PDP structure to attain power in Zamfara state, only to turn around to inflict violence on the same structure; they have only demonstrated the absence of moral and character in the guise of politics. History will judge their level of inconsistency, betrayal and low-grade moral.

“APC has been in panic mode over the sustained formidability and penetrating popularity of the PDP in Zamfara state and sought every means including violence, threats and coercion to stop our congress; a scheme that

“APC’s pitiable failure to stop the PDP Zamfara congress is a bitter foretaste of the inevitable crushing defeat that awaits Governor Matawalle and his fizzling APC at all levels in the 2023 elections.

“Our Party salutes the courage and resolve of the Deputy Governor of Zamfara state, Mahdi Aliyu Mohammed Gusau, other leaders, critical stakeholders and all members of the PDP in the state for resisting the machinations of the APC and ensuring the successful conduct of our state congress,”the PDP stated.

Itunnu: Father Rejects Autopsy Report, Seeks FG’s Support Michael Olugbode in Abuja Emmanuel Babalola, father of late Itunnu Babalola, a.k.a Bekky Paul, who was wrongfully jailed and died in Cote d’Ivoire prison, has rejected the autopsy report carried out on the body of his 24-year-old deceased daughter.

Babalola made his opinion known when he paid a thankyou visit on the Chairman/ CEO of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa in her Lagos

office.

A statement by the spokesman of NIDCOM, Abdur-Rahman Balogun said the deceased’s father described the autopsy report, which was written in French that it did not reflect the true situation of the cause of death of Itunnu.

Babalola, who wept uncontrollably, said he got somebody who interpreted some aspects of it to him, and expressed dissatisfaction with the result of the post mortem test.

He said: “My daughter was framed up and was wrongfully jailed. It is painful that they lied against her after breaking into her apartment and stole her property.

But it is even disheartening that she died mysteriously in prison after the intervention of your Commission when she was about to be freed.

“I don’t believe that she died of natural cause. I spoke with her on Wednesday in good health condition, how come she died two days later vomiting blood

and claiming it was “ sepsis complicated by acute respiratory distress”. This is unacceptable.

“That is why am here to thank you for all you have done for me on her and through you appealing for justice for my late daughter.

Babalola reiterated his call on the federal government to ensure that his daughter’s name was cleared of the allegation and make sure that those who framed her up as well as those responsible for her death were brought to justice.

Obaseki Charges Edo PDP on Unity, Inclusion Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has charged the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state to remain united and create an atmosphere of inclusiveness and togetherness, ensuring that the party effectively plays its role in the development and growth of the state and country.

Obaseki gave the charge during a get-together for

PDP members in Oredo Local Government Area (LGA), held in Benin City yesterday.

Describing the LGA as the thermometer and core of Edo politics, Obaseki said: “PDP has a strong political base in Oredo; we should show the state and country our political relevance as we direct the path.”

The governor continued: “We should build the party and others will follow. I will not do anything behind your back, as we will sit together to negotiate and make decisions

that will benefit us all.

“I am a digital governor; I work with data. Even without delineation by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), no ward in Oredo has less than 25 polling units.”

Obaseki added: “For the purpose of appointment, Oredo is now 25 wards, not 12 anymore. It will affect everything else, including the number of Senior Special Assistants (SSAs) and Special Assistants (SAs). Leaders should meet today and finalise

the list of political appointees and submit it to me. I will announce the names on the list by 7 pm and the inauguration will be done tomorrow in Government House by 12 noon.”

Charging on politics of inclusion, the governor noted that the target for the party’s e-registration exercise is one million members, adding, “Any party that doesn’t include people to share in its ideology is already a failure as everyone is important to the party.”

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WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 29, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSXTRA

Air Force Chief Charges Troops to Sustain Attacks against Terrorists, Bandits Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, yesterday charged troops of Operation Gama Aiki (OPGA) and personnel of 013 Quick Response Force (013 QRF), Minna, Niger State, to sustain the tempo of operations and continue to fight gallantly until insurgents, armed bandits and all other criminal elements, were completely eliminated and peace restored to the state and all other troubled parts of the country.

The charge came as 22 senior officers promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General were decorated in Maiduguri.

Theatre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai, Maj Gen Christopher Musa, Force Commander, Multi National Joint Task Force (MNJTF), Maj Gen Abdul-Khalifah Ibrahim, and Deputy Governor of Borno State, Mr Umar Usman Kadafur, decorated the 22 newly promoted senior officers, who were serving in the North East.

Amao, however, gave the charge while celebrating Christmas with the troops of the air component of OPGA in Minna.

Represented by the Deputy Director of Operations,

Headquarters NAF, Air Commodore Sunday Aneke, the CAS noted that the lunch also provided an opportunity for the Nigeria Air Force to remember the sacrifices of fallen heroes,

Former Secretary to the Ekiti State Government (SSG) and an All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in the state, Mr. Biodun Oyebanji, has said agitations for the zoning of the governorship ticket to Ekiti South senatorial district can’t deprive him of his fundamental rights to vie for the position.

Oyebanji, who is from Ekiti Central, said though the south agitators were right to advocate for the governorship seat as citizens of the state, he should also be given a leeway to the same privilege as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.

The immediate-past SSG spoke in Ado Ekiti yesterday while responding to the deafening agitations by politicians from Ekiti South extraction that the time has come for them to produce the next governor.

Oyebanji said while the south is free to agitate for the governorship, other interested aspirants from other zones can vie for the seat, with the party ensuring a level playing field for the right candidate to emerge at the primary.

He appealed to the party members to undertake thorough assessment of all the aspirants

development goals required the emplacement of robust security architecture capable of rapid employment of airpower in the full spectrum of warfare.

The NAF, he stated, operating

in concert with sister services and other security agencies, has continued to courageously confront various security threats while recording tangible results in the various theatres of operations.

“I must, therefore, state that I am proud of the efforts of all our officers, airmen and airwomen participating in internal security operations in different parts of the country,” he said.

FREE COVID-19 VACCINATION…

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Arise Women Foundation, Dr. Siju Iluyomade (left), with a Medical Officer, Mr. Peter Ade, during the flag - off of free COVID-19 Vaccination for Lagosians to mark her birthday celebration in Lagos…recently

Ekiti 2022: Zoning Can’t Rob Me of My Right, Says Ex-SSG Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

who paid the supreme price in the service to the country.

According to him, the security threats facing the country and the challenges they presented to the attainment of national

and ensure that they pick the best aspirant regardless of his zone.

Oyebanji said his campaign would be issue-based bearing in mind the promises made by all aspirants that they will be civil and democratic in their approaches.

“I respect the views and opinions of these aspirants as respectable sons of Ekiti State.

They are making a legitimate right, and as much as they have the rights to agitate, I should also be allowed to exercise my fundamental rights. Nothing stops me from expressing my own aspiration as a free born and citizen of this state.

“Let me say this that the agitations will never divide us.

We are united in spirit and soul.

If God gives me victory, I will bring everybody together; it is in unity that we can stand and progress,” he stated.

Speaking about qualities that stand him out among others, Oyebanji said: “What we need in our governor are good character, competence, compassion and commitment.

“To the glory of God, I see myself as an embodiment of these qualities. My words are my bond, I am a loyal party man and I have always been loyal to all my bosses.”

Next Cash and Carry Supermarket will Come Back Stronger, Says FCT Minister Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello, has promised the needed support for the NEXT Cash and Carry shopping mall in order to ensure its restoration from the fire incident that engulfed it on Boxing Day. The minister made the remarks yesterday while

conducting an on-the-spot assessment of the mall.

He said the fire incident at the place was something that jolted the city given that it was an important investment, which provided jobs for many.

Bello described NEXT as one of the companies that provided tremendous support to the FCTA during the lockdown in form of palliative items, which were distributed to

vulnerable members of the community.

He expressed delight that no life was lost, and substantial part of the premises where bulk items were stored in the warehouses was also saved.

According to him, “This particular incident brought out what is good about us as residents, as everybody united and supported them.

“Unfortunately, today, they

are also vulnerable people, so it is our duty in the city to rally round and protect this important investment that has generated many jobs in the city.”

He, however, commended the managers and staff of NEXT Cash ‘N Carry for having and activating the internal firefighting mechanism in place, which greatly helped in curtailing the inferno.

Akeredolu Okays N515m for 2022 WASSCE Fidelis David in Akure The Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), has approved the sum of N515 million for the payment of the 2022 West Africa Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) registration fees for SS3 students in all public secondary schools in the state.

This was contained in a

statement made available to journalists yesterday by the state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr. Olufemi Agagu.

Agagu said the state Ministry of Education, Science and Technology received Akeredolu’s approval, noting that the fund will cover the registration fees for all eligible candidates and WAEC charges for all public secondary

schools across the state.

He described the gesture as historic, and thanked the governor for his magnanimity.

Agagu said the gesture was borne out of the governor’s desire to uplift the standard of education in the state, as well as his resolve to assist indigent students in achieving their educational pursuit.

The commissioner noted

that the gesture would go a long way in ameliorating the burden of parents, and urged all stakeholders to support the governor in his efforts to uplift the standard of education in the state.

The government had earlier this year approved and paid in full the 2021 WASSCE registration fees for all SS3 students in public secondary schools in the state.

Nasarawa First Lady Donates Food Items, Cash to Orphanages Igbawase Ukumba in Lafia The First Lady of Nasarawa State, Hajiya Silifat Abdullahhi Sule, yesterday donated food items and undisclosed amount of money to orphanage homes as part of activities marking her husband’s (Governor Abdullahhi Sule) 62nd birthday anniversary.

The items donated at the

state government Orphanage Home at Lafia GRA; the Gidan Bege located at Lafia Millionaires Quarters, and the Habo Orphanage Home in Bukan Sidi area of Lafia, included bags of rice, cartons of noodles, packets of spaghetti, cartons of biscuits, gallons of palm and groundnut oil, as well as undisclosed amount

of money, among others.

While donating the materials at Gidan Bege, the first lady explained that she decided to identify with the needy at this time in celebration of her husband’s 62nd birthday anniversary.

According to Silifat, “December 26 is a day that is characterised by love, respect

and unity, thereby depicting the concern for other friends, family, neighbours as well as vulnerable members of the society.

“While the day has a historical basis as the Boxing Day, which is a day after Christmas, it is also a special day for people like Governor Abdullahi Sule who’s birthday falls on such a day.”

control all their gadgets on a phone or computer and from anywhere they are in the world.

Speaking on the App yesterday in Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer of VIN Global Technologies Limited, Onyeka Onwuka, stated that the new app would help people save electricity consumption.

Onwuka said: “With OVO Smart, you can control your home and your appliances from anywhere. You can be in your bedroom and turn off your electrical appliances from anywhere in the world.

“The features of OVO Smart is that you have your App that enables you turn on it turn off, for instance, your water

heater. It helps you save energy.

“Also, in your kitchen, we have our smoke detectors that help you turn on and off your gas.

“Once the smoke detector detects a smoke, it sends a signal to your phone; you can then open the App and shutdown your gas from anywhere you are.

Fire Razes Shops, Houses in Ebonyi Firm Develops App to Save Power Consumption in Nigeria Fire has razed some houses, lock-up shops and property worth millions of Naira around the Mile 50 layout, off Mile 50 road in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital.

The incident occurred late Monday at Aliugbala Eze Street.

The Assistant Superintendent of Police in the state, Mr Yakubu Zekeri, who confirmed

the incident , said no life was lost.

He also stated that none of the occupants of the buildings sustained injuries.

According to Mr Zekeri, the timely intervention of men of the state fire department helped to prevent the inferno from spreading to other buildings nearby.

Sunday Okobi An engineering technology outfit, Vin Global Technologies, has developed a comfortable solution for human power consumption through its automation systemic app. mart, will integrate household appliances digitally and enable users to easily

WEDNESDAY, ͺ΁˜ ͺ͸ͺ͹ ˾ T H I S D AY

38

WEDNESDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor: Duro Ikhazuagbe Email: duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

Osimhen’s Ambition to Play against Juventus Puts Napoli, NFF at LoggerHead FemiSolajawithagencyreport The ambition of Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen, to play in the crucial Serie A for Napoli against former champions Juventus early next year has pitted the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) against the Italian side as the final build up to AFCON begins today in Abuja.

Most of the invited players are getting ready for the start of the training tonight in Abuja with only Premier League players allowed to join the rest in the first week of January in accordance with agreement reached between the European clubs and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for the premier soccer show peace which starts in Cameroon from January 9th.

ThisDay check last night indicated that Osimhen arrived Abuja late last week for yuletide and then report to camp today but the player has other agenda, he wants to help his club role back to the summit of the table and wants to be part of the action against the Biaconeri side on January 6th and then join the rest of the team in Garoura same night via chartered flight.

According to top Italian blog,

AFCON 2021 Tuttusports.com, the quest of the Nigerian star is generating tension between the club and NFF but the club hopes to reach an agreement with the Glasshouse tomorrow evening in their bid to delay the striker much longer than the stipulated period of time.

“Napoli are on the defensive in the negotiation with Nigeria football house owing to the fact that the initial arrangement was to allow the Italian doctor confirm the fitness level of the Nigerian forward before he can be released to join the African football party in Cameroon.

“The club is also aware that Osimhen is obsessed at playing for his country and will not want to hurt his feelings and are delighted that he also wants to lift Napoli back to the top of the league in Italy,” it staed.

The blog also quoted Sky Sports that the player is getting closer to fitness and he will undergo a control scan tomorrow (December 31st) from Professor Gianpaolo Tartaro who operated him the first time.

“The Nigerian has a dream to play on January 6th against

Juventus before leaving for the African Cup of Nations. Going by the initial agreement, Osimhen is scheduled for January 3rd but Napoli hopes to find an agreement with the Nigerian federation to temporarily detain the player in Italy, in order to make him play against Biaconeri and then let him leave for the cup,” Tuttusports. com stated last night.

Reports in Abuja hinted that the player ‘sneaked’ into the country on Friday to hold talks with the NFF officials and more importantly, the interim coach of the team, Austin Eguavoen on the possibility for a delay in his joining the team late in Cameroon.

In another development, one of Super Eagles opponents in Group D, Sudan, landed in Yaounde,

Cameroon yesterday and will head to the Northern city of Garuora this morning.

The Sudanese resumed closed camping exercises immediately after they returned from the Arab World cup where they lost all their group matches.

Their performance in the Arab World cup led to the sacking of former coach Hubert Velud and

the appointment of a new manager to take charge of the team.

Various warm-up matches have been lined up for the team in order to put them in shape for the biennial competition.

Sudan will face Guinea Bissau in their opening group match before facing Super Eagles of Nigeria and then Pharaoh of Egypt.

Lewis Boxing Promotion Signs Three New Boxers In its effort at ensuring the growth of boxing in Nigeria and Africa, Lewis Boxing Promotion on Monday at the Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island, signed three new boxers to its fold, just days after signing two boxers.

The three new boxers that will be fighting on the stable of Lewis Boxing Promotion are Shogbesan Sikiru, Adeleke Sodiq and Adijat Gbadamosi.

In a chat with THISDAY, the CEO of Lewis Boxing Promotion, Henry Lewis said his vision to ensure youths are taken off the streets is his major reason for coming into boxing.

Henry, who is based in the United States, said Lewis Boxing Promotion currently boasts six boxers in Europe and nine in Nigeria.

"We make sure all the boxers in our fold are in shape. We provide them with head gear, shin guards and every other thing they will need to ensure

they are in shape. They train twice in a day-morning and evening," Lewis said.

Continuing, he said: "We have promoted two previous fights in Nigeria before now.

The first one was at Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Ibadan, which attracted about 8,000 fans and the second was at NPA Ground in Surulere, with a large turnout. We are looking forward to another one in April, next year."

Lewis indeed changed the leadership of the Nigeria Boxing Board of Control, NBBofC, for their support so far. " President of the NBBofC, Dr. Rafiu Ladipo and the secretary of the board, Remi Aboderin have been very helpful and supportive in our attempt at ensuring boxing has a sound footing in the country.

The American based promoter however charged corporate organisations to support boxing through sponsorship.

Victor Osimhen during the ill-fated match against Inter Milan

Wright Highlights How Much Watford Will Miss Dennis when He Leaves for AFCON' Arsenal icon Ian Wright has highlighted the importance of Emmanuel Dennis to the Watford side after the red-hot striker scored again in a 4-1 loss to West Ham United in a Premier League clash at Vicarage Road on Tuesday evening.

Four minutes into the contest, the number 25 fired a rising shot into the top corner to break the deadlock after evading the challenge of Craig Dawson.

An aspirant for the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) presidency, Igoche Mark has lauded the captain of the Nigeria's female basketball team, Adaora Elonu for her Girl Child pet project and her efforts towards uplifting women's basketball in Enugu State.

The forward, who was born in the US, who is a native of Okpatu in Udi Local Government Area,hosted a basketball camp on December 27, 2021 at the Indoor Sports Hall, Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium Enugu.

Reacting to the development, Igoche Mark praised Elonu for her kind gesture towards the development of basketball.

"I sincerely appreciate Adora Elonu for her gesture towards developing the game(basketball).

She taught girls the basics of basketball and encouraged them to develop interest in the sports as a means of earning resources and attention.Her gesture is line with our core mandate in the New Face of Basketball."Mark stated.

Elonu who plays basketball in the United States is in Enugu for the festive season and other engagements.

the coming weeks.

Dennis has been named on the Nigeria roster for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations and has just one more game to play for Watford before reporting for international duty in Abuja.

Speaking on Premier League Productions' Premier League Wrap, Wright said : "At the start Tim Sherwood mentioned that Dennis is the one if anything could happen it's probably

going to come from him.

"That's beautifully taken, composure, he's not rushing that.

"He's going to be sorely missed when he goes to the AFCON because that's exactly what Watford need" Dennis has emerged as one of the bargain signings of the summer transfer window, with Watford paying four million euros to Club Brugge to sign the striker.

Ogunmodede Resumes Duty with Portuguese side, CD Feirense

Mark Hails Adaora Elonu's Girl Child Project Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

With his strike against the Hammers, the Nigeria international has been directly involved in ten goals in his last eight Premier League games for the Hornets (six goals, four assists), having a hand in 66.7 percent of the goals Watford have scored in these games.

Statistically, those numbers clearly show Dennis' importance to Watford, who could be without their talisman for at least three matches in

Coach Ogunmode

Former Head Coach of Remo Stars Football Club (RSFC), Daniel Ogunmodede has finally teamed up with Portuguese side, CD Feirense and has resumed duties immediately as the Assistant to the Head Coach, Rui Ferreira.

Ogunmodede joined the Sky Blue Stars as an Assistant Coach and was in charge as Head Coach of the Youth Team in 2015 where they were runnersup in the Metro League played in Lagos.

He was an assistant to Nduka Ugbade when the team had the first ever promotion into the Nigeria Professional Football League, NPFL in 2016.

When the club established a

youth system in 2016, Daniel Ogunmodede was assigned to head the academy and helped to produced young talented players who, some have traveled to Europe and some promoted into the senior side of the club under his watch.

In 2017, he became the pioneer Director of the Youth Football Development and have helped develop some players who are outside the shores of the country.

Coach Ogunmodede also qualified the Youth Team of the club for the Federations Cup after coming second in the Ogun State FA Cup and the team went ahead to defeat Bendel Insurance at the

Akure Township Stadium to qualify for the round 16 of the competition.

In 2020, Daniel Ogunmodede was appointed the Head Coach of the senior team and the pioneer Director of the Youth Football Development.

He also secured the team’s return to the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).

The President, Management, Staff, Technical Crew and players have sent their congratulatory messages to Coach Ogunmodede who they described as a dedicated and committed person and wished him the very best in his new post at CD Feirense.

39

WEDNESDAY, ͺ΁˜ ͺ͸ͺ͹ ˾ T H I S D AY

SPORTS

Nigeria’s Possible World Cup Play-off Opponent, DR Congo, Open Camp in Egypt While major attention in Africa is centered on preparations for the Africa Cup of Nations which begins in Cameroon

in 10 days’ time, DR Congo, the only AFCON absentee team among the 10 contestants for the World Cup qualification

is focusing on the global tournament.

Being outside the top five seeded teams, Congo DR is a

possible opponent for Nigeria when the draw for the World Cup draw is made on January 26.

DR Congo National team

Already, the coach, Hector Cuper has drafted 27 players who began camping in Egypt on Monday 27 December.

The move is linked with crunch 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers – Africa Zone expected in March 2022.

The squad, exclusively constituted by Africa-based players, is led by TP Mazembe’s star skipper Tresor Mputu Mabi.

The 36-year-old Mputu, capped 51 times with the senior men’s national team, is one of eight midfielders retained by Héctor for the mission.

The camp is scheduled to run through December 27 to January 8, 2022.

During this time, the Leopards are expected to play two friendly games against local teams. Another session – billed for the second week of January – will involve overseas players.

Absent for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, the DR Congo is no doubt making the most out of the FIFA window, as well as optimising chances of a breakthrough to Qatar 2022.

The Central Africans are among the ten nations left to battle for the continent’s five World Cup tickets.

DR Congo last featured at the

global stage in 1974 in Germany.

They have never been closer to a second berth like this time.

Full squad:

Lomboto Herve (DC Motema Pembe), Siadi Ngusia Baggio (TP Mazembe), Pululu Kingu (FC Renaissance), MUKOKO Amale Dieumerci (Difaa El Jadida), Djuma Shabani Wadol (Young Africa), Simete Taboria Ordy (AS Maniema Union), Zola Kiaku Arsene (TP Mazembe), Boka Issaka Chadrack (FC Saint Eloi Lupopo), Nsita Ernest (TP Mazembe), Kayembe Christian (DC Motema Pembe), Mundeko Zatu Kevin (TP Mazembe), Bangala Litombo Yannick (Young Africa), Masasi Obenza Amede (AS V.CLUB), Kimvuidi Kiekie Karim (DC Motema Pembe), Mika Miche (TP Mazembe), Ngoma Luamba Fabrice (Raja Casablanca), Mukoko Tonombe (Young Africa), Lilepo Makabi Glody (AS Vita Club), Mpia Nzengeli Maxi (AS Maniema Union), Ikangalombo Jonathan (DC Motema Pembe), Ngimbi Vumbi Mercey (TP Mazembe), Kabungu Kadima John’s (FC Saint Eloi Lupopo), Kitwa Kalowa Rodrigue (AS Maniema Union), Muzungu Lokombe Chadrack (RS Berkane), Bossu Nzali Adam (TP Mazembe), Bileko Mbaki Kelvin (TP Mazembe), Mputu Mabi Tresor (TP Mazembe)

Barca Sign Spanish Forward Osaka Arrives in Melbourne of Aussie Open Torres from Manchester City ahead in Mona Lisa Hoodie Spanish forward Ferran Torres has left Manchester City and completed a permanent move to LaLiga side Barcelona, the two clubs said yesterday.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed but British and Spanish media reported that Barcelona would pay around €55 million for the player, with

Diego Maradona's Brother, Hugo, Dies at 52 Napoli paid tribute yesterday to Hugo Maradona, younger brother of the Italian club's former great Diego, following his death from a heart attack at the age of 52.

The Argentine, who was also a professional footballer and joined Diego at Napoli in 1987 at age 18, died at his home near Naples, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

Diego Maradona, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, died at the age of 60 in November 2020 due to a cardiac arrest.

"The thoughts of club president Aurelio De Laurentiis, vice president Edoardo De Laurentiis, officials, coaching staff, the players and the whole SSC Napoli family are with the Maradona family after the sad passing of Hugo," Napoli said in a statement.

Hugo Maradona was briefly at Napoli and went on to represent clubs including Ascoli and Rayo Vallecano during a nomadic playing career across Europe, South America and Japan.

Hugo Maradona at a tribute match in honour of brother Diego in Naples.

a further €10 million in add-ons.

Barca said Torres has signed a contract until June 2027 and the Spain international will have a release clause of one billion euros.

"Hello Culers, I am very happy to announce that today I will join the club. See you soon," Torres said in a video.

Torres joined City from Spain's Valencia in August last year on a five-year deal and made 43 appearances for the English topflight side in all competitions, scoring 16 goals.

Barcelona were forced to allow their all-time leading scorer Lionel Messi to leave the club this year due to "financial and structural obstacles" and have

debts of more than €1.35 billion.

Barcelona's attacking options were weakened further with the retirement of Argentine forward Sergio Aguero at the age of 33 this month due to a heart condition.

Torres has not played since he sustained a fractured foot in Spain's Uefa Nations League final defeat by France in October.

The 21-year-old has scored 12 goals in 22 internationals.

Barcelona are seventh in LaLiga after a poor start to the campaign which resulted in the sacking of coach Ronald Koeman, with former club captain Xavi Hernandez taking over the reins.

Barcelona return to action after the winter break on 2 January.

Naomi Osaka finally touched down in Melbourne yesterday, with the tennis star seen crossing the tarmac in the same attire she wore on her long haul flight.

The 24-year-old donned a red hoodie bearing Leonardo da Vinci's iconic art work, the Mona Lisa.

Naomi covered her face with a black face mask as she and her entourage left the plane.

Her hair was styled into tight blonde curls that cascaded across the four-time Grand Slam winner's shoulders.

At one point she stopped at a table and made sure to sanitise her hands.

Not sighted among her flying

Holders Al Ahly Get Sundowns Reunion in CAF Champions League Holders Al Ahly will play South African side Mamelodi Sundowns and Sudan's Al Hilal and Al Merrikh in Group A of the African Champions League following the draw yesterday.

Egyptian side Ahly, led by former Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane, have won the title for the last two years and knocked the South African champions out in the quarterfinals in 2020-21.

They beat another South African side, Kaizer Chiefs, 3-0 in the final last season to earn Mosimane his third title after he also won the competition with Sundowns in 2016.

African Confederation Cup holders Raja Casablanca head Group B and take on Horoya of Guinea, ES Setif from Algeria and South African debutants AmaZulu.

The latter are coached by former Blackburn Rovers striker Benni McCarthy, who won the Uefa Champions League as a player with Porto.

There will be a Tunisian derby

in Group C where Esperance and Etoile du Sahel clash with Algerian side CR Belouizdad and first time participants Jwaneng Galaxy of Botswana.

There is another heavyweight tussle in Group D as Moroccan club Wydad Casablanca, who lifted the continental title in 2017, meet top Egyptian club Zamalek, as well as Angola's Petro Atletico and Sagrada Esperanca.

The draw was also made for the Confederation Cup yesterday.

Matches in both competitions are set to start on the weekend of 11-12 February, one week after the completion of the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

Ahly may have to reschedule their opening fixture as they compete in the Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates from 3-12 February.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE DRAW Group A: Al Ahly (Egypt), Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa), Al Hilal (Sudan), Al Merrikh (Sudan)

Group B: Raja Casablanca (Morocco), Horoya (Guinea), ES Setif (Algeria), AmaZulu (South Africa) Group C: Esperance (Tunisia), Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia), CR Belouizdad (Algeria), Jwaneng Galaxy (Botswana) Group D: Wydad Casablanca (Morocco), Zamalek (Egypt), Petro Atletico (Angola), Sagrada Esperanca (Angola) CONFEDERATION CUP GROUP STAGE DRAW Group A: Pyramids (Egypt), CS Sfaxien (Tunisia), Zanaco (Zambia), Al Ahli Tripoli (Libya) Group B: JS Kabylie (Algeria) or Royal Leopards (Eswatini), Orlando Pirates (South Africa), JS Saoura (Algeria), Al Ittihad (Libya) Group C: TP Mazembe (DR Congo), CotonSport (Cameroon), Al Masry (Egypt), AS Otoho (Congo) Group D: RS Berkane (Morocco), Simba SC (Tanzania), ASEC Mimosas (Ivory Coast), USGN (Niger)

companions was Naomi's beau, Cordae.

Naomi has been dating her rapper boyfriend for roughly two years, having had their first date at a pro basketball game where the Los Angeles Clippers played.

Osaka's appearance in Melbourne signals her intention to return to professional tennis after casting doubt over her future in September.

The defending Australian Open women's champion was dumped out of the US Open in the third round, losing to 18-year-old Canadian Leylah Fernandez.

'Normally I feel like I like challenges,' she said during the post-match press conference. 'But recently I feel very anxious when things don't go my way. I'm not really sure why it happens.

'You could kind of see that.

I was kind of like a little kid. I feel like for me recently, when I win I don't feel happy. I feel more like a relief. And then when I lose, I feel very sad.'

'I don't think that's normal.

She continued, 'I'm at this point where I'm trying to figure out what I want to do, and I honestly don't know when I'm going to play my next tennis match. I think I'm going to take a break from playing for a while.'

Becoming tearful, she departed the room. Osaka also felt the need to apologise for her racket throwing, having failed to close out the second set in losing 5-7, 7-6, 6-4.

'I'm really sorry about that.

I'm not really sure why. I was telling myself to be calm, but I feel like maybe there was a boiling point.'

Since Osaka began the claycourt season in Europe, her match record is a thin 7-5 and involved a withdrawal from the French Open and missing Wimbledon altogether.

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

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UT H

& RE A SO

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Price: N250

MISSILE Ayo Opadokun to Nigeria ‘’Nigeria is yet to practise democracy, although in a civilian regime, military men still ruling. They have ruled the country for 44 years out of the 61 years of independence.

They spent 28 years before handing over in 1999, while Obasanjo and Buhari as civilian president would have spent another 16 years by 2023 and that is why the people are traumatized, the system cannot deliver any productive thing’’--Elder Statesman, Ayo Opadokun, lamenting the military’s stranglehold on political power.

KAYODEKOMOLAFE THE HORIZON

kayode.komolafe@thisdaylive.com

0805 500 1974

Problems and Prospects

I

t should be more than a ritual at the end of the year to reflect on the problems defining the past and also think deeply about how to turn prospects into reality in the future. This is not only a job for futurologists and other experts adept at making forecasts and interpreting trends and loads of statistics.

At least, for those who have elected to be incurable optimists about the future of Nigeria, it is actually a matter of national duty. Their focus is always on the rays of hope, however grim the situation may appear.

To win over the compatriots, who are understandably pessimistic based what they see on the national horizon, the approach ought to be making the message of hope concrete while not denying the multi-sectoral problems. The issues should be debated with facts rather than merely spewing hate and prejudice as some are wont to do in the public sphere.

Yes, if there is any ringing message of this year that would be heard in the new year, it is the fact of the multi-dimensional problems with which the nation is bedevilled. But it is also almost imperceptible that the idea of prospects in the immediate future also resonates among the various forces contending in the society- the political elite (in and out of power); the private sector, social entrepreneurs, the civil society and indeed the people. It is the resonating prospects that makes the government to say, for instance, that there is still hope to stem insecurity before 2023 while the opposition tells the people not to despair because help is one way. Both parties are raising hope that the problem could be solved soon.

It’s quite is healthy for the socio-economic and political health of Nigeria to keep this tendency alive. This underlying hopeful streak is manifest in the words and actions of actors on the national stage and beyond.

Take a sample.

Despite the obvious climate of insecurity enwrapping the country, the political stage promises to be vibrant in 2022. Political meetings and rallies would be held. Politicians would move round the country with all the attendant risks. The tinge of irony in this situation is often missed by observers.

There are political office holders (executive and legislative) who could hardly visit their local government areas due to the violent activities of terrorists, kidnappers and other criminal elements.

Foreign experts (who have turned gloomy predictions about Nigeria into a virile industry) and their local epigones keep on working hard on their binary analysis of north versus south and Christians versus Muslims. Yet, politicians are busy strategising on how to take over power.

Unfortunately, there is hardly a systematic focus on the increasing horizontal contradictions between the rich and the poor. The story of Nigeria is not only about the vertical marginalisation of some ethnic or geo-political groups. The central socioeconomic problem is the widening inequality and the increasing immiseration of the vast majority of the people. This majority is located in all geo- political zones. All ethnic groups are well represented in this majority and those in the group profess different faiths. To help in finding solution, attention must be given to this area of the problem. Besides, a lot of assumptions are made which are patently false.

Some repeated statements in the public sphere are largely myths. So the definition of the problem is not sometimes deep enough. This deficit in the heated political discussions in the land is often down played.

That is why it is important to think deeply

Buhari about the future.

A few other issues could be used to further illustrate this point.

The year is ending without the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2021 becoming law. There is, however, substantial hope that when members of the National Assembly resume legislative business early next year, the contentious issue of making the conduct of direct primaries compulsory for political parties would be resolved. Some would probably argue that the controversy is avoidable since the subsisting law already gives parties the option of direct primaries. Whatever happens, the more fundamental question of the legitimacy (as different from the legality) of the whole is seemingly ignored by the different sides in the debate. The fundamental issue is the worsening trend of low voter turnout. Millions are reportedly registered for election by the electoral commission. Hundreds of billions of naira are spent on elections. Services of tens of thousands policemen, soldiers and other security men are employed. Yet a few thousands votes are counted to declare the winner of the election. Elections are deemed to be the democratic expressions of the people’s will. In recent elections, about one in five of those registered to express this will only bother to be at the polling booths on the election day. This negative trend has been variously explained. The failure of governments to fulfil promises made the previous elections has been isolated as a factor responsible for low turnout on the election day. Parties have abandoned their roles of political mobilisation. It takes an organic party to mobilise around ideas and programmes. Ironically, the threat posed by this trend of voter apathy to the integrity of the electoral process is hardly appreciated even by pundits. Unfortunately, unlike items such as electronic voting or conduct of party primaries, you cannot easily legislate on low voter turnout.

It’s a civic duty to vote, but it can hardly be an electoral offence to stay away from the polling centre on the day of election. After all, implicit in the freedom to vote and be voted for is also the freedom not to vote or seek to be voted for during elections. So it is not a legal issue, but a dep-seated

political problems. Those who are interested in the credibility of the electoral process should also think about this problematic trend. There is a limit to the rationalisation of an electoral process in which two million eligible voters register in an area and only two hundred thousand persons actually vote during the election.

Another issue is the vertical restructuring of the Nigerian federation. It is no good news that another year is ending without the restructuring taking place despite decades of advocacy for that purpose. Yet the problems which restructuring is expected to solve persist. Already, some agitators have gone beyond restructuring to demand outright secession. National unity is, therefore, being put to severe test. To achieve the purpose of restructuring ultimately constitutional changes would be required to devolve more powers to the federating units.

But the problem is deeper than the present ineffectual politics of restructuring. Advocates of restructuring insist that there is nothing good in the 1999 Constitution which was drawn up during the brief military regime of General Abdulsalami Abubakar.

The movement for restructuring demands a new people’s constitution.

Perhaps, a greater progress could have been made on the road to a restructured Nigeria if most defective aspects of the constitution had been amended 22 years after Abubakar left power.

There are certainly anti-federalist provisions in the constitution that should be amended. There are also pro-people sections that should not only be retained, but they should also be strengthened.

For instance, the only problem with the Chapter II of the 1999 Constitution is the non-justiciability of its provisions. This is the section that deals with the items of health, education, social housing, mass transit, environment, social security and other elements of socio-economic justice for the people. This is the express anti-poverty section of the constitution. Yet it doesn’t feature in the heated debate on restructuring. If the “fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy” spelt out in Chapter II had been made justiciable in the last 22 years for policy implementation, the definition of governance could have been different and the Nigerian dream might have been significantly realised. With socio-economic justice, the prospects of a more united country could have been brighter. Every political party ought to have been informed by this chapter of the constitution in drawing up its programme.

As a matter of fact, Nigeria began making socioeconomic rights part of its constitution way back in 1979. That was decades before the United Nations proclaimed the Social Development Goals (SDGs). If Nigeria had been implementing that aspect of its constitution, this country could have been a model of SDGs. The attitude of the otherwise well intentioned restructuring movement to Chapter II of the constitution, for instance, is worrisome.

Two mutually reinforcing theses for history to prove could be proposed in this respect. The first proposition is that the restructuring the federation can take place with the social structure of poverty and inequality maintained in the new structured.

The second thesis is that the vertical restructuring of Nigeria in geo-political terms with devolution of powers and resource control would not automatically tackle mass poverty and inequality without confronting the horizontally the social structure.

So is a rethink of the strategy and tactic of restructuring possible next year? This question is pertinent because of the fact that some credible,

consistent and strong voices for restructuring are putting forward the remaking of the Nigerian federation as a condition for the 2023 election.

Other issues are also worthy examination.

There are certainly prospects that some knotty questions of the polity, economy and society could be resolved before 2023 if enough thoughts are put into fashioning the solution.

PolicyNotes Brain Drain: Is the Govt Really Helpless?

A

British agency reported recently that about 805 Nigerian doctors got licence in the last six months to practise in the United Kingdom. With this addition to the discomforting register of brain drain, there are at least 9,189 Nigerian -trained doctors practicing in the United Kingdom.

To start with, the emigration of doctors and other members of the medical workforce is a bitter consequence of the cumulative neglect of the social sector – health and education. Like doctors, Nigerian academics have also massively emigrated to America, Europe, Middle East and other places.

Meanwhile, Nigerian hospitals especially in the countryside lack the adequate number of doctors to attend to the poor patients.

The workforce in the social sector is poorly paid like it happens in some other sectors of the economy.

The professionals lack the equipment and suitable atmosphere to practise and be fulfilled. Hence strikes have become endemic to an otherwise sensitive sector.

The social sector ought to be immune to disruptions by putting things right for the workforce to perform its duty.

But this not case.

The fact is that 9,186 Nigerians doctors in Britain were trained at the expense of the Nigerian education system despite its structural problems. The tuition-free education policy in Nigeria is primarily meant to encourage the production of adequate manpower in the various sectors.

In relative terms, it would, of course, cost the emigrated doctors a fortune to be trained in Britain.

After training them, Nigeria is now “exporting” the manpower sorely needed at home.

If government had made working conditions in health and education institutions attractive enough to keep most professionals at home, it could have been on a moral high ground to stem the tide of emigration with a policy based on justice.

So the government is not really helpless. What it should do is to prioritise the social sector and human development by funding healthcare and education adequately. The welfare of those who work to sustain the sectors would, of course, be central to this policy step in the right direction. At the larger level, the material and social conditions in the country should be such that a doctor’s first option would be to practise in Nigeria.

Given good working conditions, professionals benefiting from public education should then be placed bonds for a fixed period to render services to the country in return for the cost of their education.

Unfortunately, that would be a difficult policy to implement now.

But emigration of doctors is a serious issue of development that Nigeria will have to come to terms with sooner or later.

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