SUNDAY 22ND MARCH 2020

COVID-19/THE RESPONSE...

CBN Directs Oil Companies to End FX Sale to NNPC Plans special naira, dollar intervention for health companies Total economic stimulus now N3.5trn Obinna Chima and Nume Ekeghe The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday directed all oil companies in the country, both international and domestic, to

immediately stop the sale of foreign exchange (FX) to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). It said henceforth, oil companies should sell their FX to the CBN.

CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, gave the directive while briefing journalists at the end of an extraordinary Bankers’ Committee meeting in Lagos. Emefiele explained that the directive, which was

aimed at shoring up FX supply in the country, was in line with the new policy on price modulation that the federal government announced last week.

The CBN governor stated,

“All related oil companies are to sell FX to CBN and no longer NNPC. Whether you are in the oil service industry or oil production, upstream, midstream or downstream, all oil related companies must

sell their FX to the CBN and no longer to the NNPC, for the purpose of funding the importation of petroleum products, given the new policy Continued on page 5

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Nigeria Moves to Lockdown as 11 New Cases are Confirmed in Lagos, Abuja NRC shuts down rail operations Death toll rises to 12,978, infected cases jump to 304,035 globally Lagos reduces social gathering to 20 people Police to enforce restriction order Chiemelie Ezeobi, Chinedu Eze, Rebecca Ejifoma in Lagos and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja After recording 11 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the total to 22, but with two fully recovered and discharged, the federal government, on Saturday, announced sterner measures to control the spread

of the pandemic. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) issued a directive restricting all international flights to all Nigerian airports from tomorrow. But exempted from the ban are “emergency aircraft, state aircraft and any other aircraft that might be so approved by the appropriate authority,” according to a clarification by the Nigerian

Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) dated March 21, 2020.

NAMA said, “However, any Intentional flight operation that might be so approved shall be required to submit manifest to the Port Health authority prior to arrival in Nigeria.

“Domestic flights shall continue normal operations

at all airports.”

In a letter addressed to both domestic and foreign airlines, NCAA said in addition to earlier restriction of flights to Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu airports, it would from tomorrow ban all international flights to Lagos and Abuja airports.

That was as the Emirates Airline said it would be

suspending all flights into Lagos and Abuja from its base in Dubai, starting tomorrow, March 23, due to the effect of the Coronavirus. The pandemic has infected 304,035 globally and claimed 12,978 lives, with Italy bearing the highest death number in the world. Italy’s daily coronavirus death toll rose by 793 Saturday, bringing the total to 4,825.

In further stringent measures to suppress the spread of the virus, the federal government through the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) shut down train services across the country, starting, also, tomorrow.

Lagos State, where the first case of Covid-19 was Continued on page 5

COVID-19/THE TOLL...

Italy recorded 33 deaths per hour yesterday Ravages 7 members of a family killing 4 in New Jersey Official: 80% of people in Madrid will likely get virus

Concerns Mount over Nigeria Returnees

By Our Correspondents Health authorities in Nigeria are expressing concerns over Nigerians in diaspora who are now returning to the country.

Their concern is based on the fact that the returnees pose the highest risk to Nigeria right now.

One of the officials told

THISDAY that "these Nigerians are returning from abroad where they have this disease and bring it into the country and once they enter the country they lie to the airport authorities and medical practitioners about their travel history.

"Out of the 22 cases the country has recorded so far,

19 of them are returning Nigerians."

Meanwhile, across the globe, scientists and medical experts are racing against time on how to end the scourge of Covid-19 earlier than the current projection of up to 18 months.

United States President, Mike Pence and his wife

Karen Pence have both tested negative for the Coronavirus, his office announced Saturday night.

The test became necessary when one of his staff tested positive to virus.

Pence is leading the administration's coronavirus task force and has been a regular presence at President

Donald Trump's side in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, the death toll from coronavirus around the world continue to mount, rising to 12,978 with Italy recording 4,825 cases and a single-day death toll of 793, an average of 33 deaths per hour.

In New Jersey in the United States of America, the horror

of the virus was laid bare as it ravaged seven members of a single family, killing four.

The matriarch of the large New Jersey family, Grace Fusco, died Wednesday night without ever knowing that her two oldest children had died before her. Mrs. Fusco, Continued on page 8

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PAGE FIVE NIGERIA MOVES TO LOCKDOWN AS 11 NEW CASES ARE CONFIRMED IN LAGOS, ABUJA discovered, announced some new measures as a way of curbing the spread of the virus, chief among which was a reduction in the number of persons at social gatherings.

From 50 announced in an earlier directive, the state government reduced the number to 20, and commenced immediate enforcement of the order.

NAMA Shut Airspace to Inbound and Outbound Flights Midnight Today NCAA, in the letter with ref no NCAA/DG, AIR/11/16/106, dated March 21, 2020 and issued from Lagos, stated, “Further to our earlier letter on restriction of international flights into Nigeria, we wish to inform you that effective Monday 23rd March at 2300Z to 23rd April at 2300Z, Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos (DNMM) and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja (DNAA) will be closed to all international flights. “This is in addition to the closure of Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano (DNKN), Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu (DNEN), and Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa (DNPC) effective Saturday 21 March at 2300Z. “Henceforth, all airports in Nigeria are closed to all incoming international flights with the exception of emergency and essential flights. “Domestic flights will continue normal operations at all airports. All airlines are required to submit passenger manifest to Port Health Authorities prior to the arrival of flights into Nigeria.�

NCAA’s Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, Captain Musa Nuhu, signed the letter.

The closure of Nigeria’s five international airports to foreign flights effectively marks a lockdown of the country, as airlines and airports record huge revenue losses that could rise to a trillion dollars, if COVID-19 remains unabated in the days ahead.

NRC, in its own letter dated March 21, 2020 and signed

by Deputy Director, Public Relations, Yakubu Mahmood, for Board and Management,

said the decision to suspend train services was “in view of the report of the already known Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak. Further information on passengers’ trains services will be made available in due cause to our esteemed passengers.�

Apart from suspending operations to the Nigerian airports, Emirates Airline said it would also cancel three already booked flights to the country.

It apologised to passengers for the inconveniences caused by the cancellation.

The airline said, “Due to the COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on the aviation industry, Emirates will be suspending operations into Lagos and Abuja. “EK785/786; EK781/782 and EK783/784, the above listed flights are cancelled from March 23, 2020. We regret any inconveniences that this may cause. As the situation is being reviewed, we will keep you posted. Passengers may visit our website for the latest travel update information.�

10 New Cases of Covid-19 ConďŹ rmed Confirming the 10 new cases of Covid-19, the Federal Ministry of Health said three of the new cases were discovered in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, while the remaining seven were from Lagos State.

These brought the total number of confirmed cases in Nigeria to 22.

A statement issued Saturday by the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said all 10 new cases were Nigerians. Ehanire said nine of them had travel history to Canada, France, Netherlands, Spain and United Kingdom and had returned to Nigeria in the past one week; while the 10th case was a close contact of a previously confirmed case.

The minister said the three cases in Abuja were being treated at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH), Gwagwalada, while the seven in Lagos were treated at the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH), Yaba.

"All 10 new cases have mild to moderate symptoms and are currently receiving treatment.

As of the 21st of March 2020, 22 cases have been confirmed, two cases have been discharged

and there has been no death from COVID-19 in Nigeria. The Federal Government of Nigeria remains committed to working with states to provide optimal care for all confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country," he said.

Ehanire explained that contact tracing was on-going to identify all persons, who had been in contact with the new cases.

He said Port Health Services of the Federal Ministry of Health had heightened screening at all air, land and sea points of entry into Nigeria and adapted the protocols to reflect the travel guidance issued by the Presidential Task Force on the Control of Coronavirus (COVID-19).

According to the minister, the National Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), led by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), supported by partners, has continued to coordinate response activities and strengthen preparedness capacity across states nationwide.

He stated, “An intensive national risk communications campaign is on-going to inform Nigerians about COVID-19.

The Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), working closely with states and the Presidential Task Force on the Control of Coronavirus (COVID-19), continues to review response activities and institute measures to protect the health of Nigerians.

"It is important that Nigerians strictly adhere to social distancing and other necessary precautions in place. These measures include taking the following precautions below to protect yourself and your family: “Wash hands regularly with soap and water or use an alcohol-based sanitiser if no water and soap is available.

Social distancing is crucial to reducing the spread of COVID-19 through use of no-touch greetings, maintaining at least two metres distance between yourself and anyone, who is coughing or sneezing. “Other safeguards include staying home if you feel unwell with symptoms like fever, cough and difficulty in breathing.

Immediately call NCDC’s 24/7 toll-free number 0800 9700 0010.

Do not self-medicate, avoiding or postponing events with large

Consequently, the Lagos State Police Command is set to commence enforcement of the ban on social gatherings, clubs, parties, ceremonies and religious congregations of more than 20 persons. According to the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bala Elkana, defaulters will face the wrath of the law.

The police in Lagos said, “Lagos State Police Command wishes to inform the general public that the command in compliance with the guidelines and directives issued by both the federal government and Lagos State government on prevention of the spread of COVID-19, which the World Health Organisation has declared as a pandemic, has embarked on massive enforcement of the ban

order. “To that effect, the command has deployed adequate resources across the state to ensure that the orders are fully obeyed. The order imposed bans on social gatherings, such as, wedding ceremonies, naming ceremonies, burial ceremonies, parties, clubs and religion gatherings of people more than 50 (now 20 in Lagos). “Commercial vehicles carrying passengers above capacity (overloading) are also part of this order. Members of the public are encouraged to avoid overcrowding themselves at bus stops, market places, business places and scene of incidents. “The Commissioner of Police Lagos State, CP Hakeem Odumosu, called on the good people of Lagos State to obey the safety regulations put in place for the benefit of everyone.

We must be alive and healthy before socio-economic activities will be effective. “The command has rolled out its medical team to market places for awareness creation and police detention facilities to safeguard the safety of suspects.

The Commissioner of Police has ordered the immediate release of suspects arrested for minor offences as part of preventive measures. Together, we can prevent the spread of COVID-19.�

Already, following Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s directive on ban of public gathering above 20 people, a combined team of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) and Lagos State Safety Commission have set out to enforce the ban. The team has sealed Prime Mall Mega Plaza located in Lekki and three other event centres for flouting the state government’s directive on public gathering.

Worried by growing cases of the deadly coronavirus in the state, Sanwo-Olu had on Friday banned public gatherings of over 20 people in the state as part of measures to prevent the pandemic.

Speaking during an enforcement operation, General Manager, LASEPA, Dr Dolapo Fasawe, and the DirectorGeneral Lagos State Safety Commission, Lanre Mojola, said the safety of Lagosians was paramount to the state government.

Fasawe said it was gratifying that most event centres complied with the directive. She said among the areas visited were a film house at Lekki, Shoprite, Balmoral, Federal Palace Hotel, and the Dome.

The LASEPA head added that the enforcement team also sealed Regency, Maltinos Event & Suites and Imperial at Jobi Felle, Ikeja, as well as Prime Mall Mega Plaza at Lekki, where a surprise party was to be held.

She said, “The banning of public/social gathering by Mr Governor became imperative to save our dear state and prevent our people from contacting the virus. COVID- 19 has become a global pandemic, therefore, serious measures, such as this, must be taken to reduce the spread and further stem the outbreak of the pandemic. “It is advisable we adopt social distancing by keeping at least six-foot distance between ourselves and others to prevent transmitting the virus seamlessly. “For now, let us avoid crowds and large gatherings, such as weddings, concerts, sporting events, conferences and so forth.

We are not unmindful of the implications of the restrictions, but it is crucial we collectively limit and control the spread. “Lagos State is not in isolation, it’s a global pandemic, therefore, this strong efforts to suppress and push it back for the safety of all.�

Fasawe said the inspection and monitoring exercise was not to impose hardship on them but to access the compliance level, educate the public on the need to obey, and ensure total compliance. “We appeal for understanding and support of all and sundry at this time. We should continuously keep our environment clean, watch our hands and avoid unnecessary contact with people,� she added.

On his part, the directorgeneral of the safety commission, Lanre Mojola, expressed satisfaction with the monitoring exercise and enjoined the public to support the government in the fight against the menace. Mojola said the war on the deadly virus could only be won if everyone obeyed a simple directive to avoid actions or activities that could put everyone at risk.

the CBN’s 43 items policy and encouraged it to strengthen it and other measures targeted at export promotion and/ or import substitution to position Nigeria as a key global producer and build a self-sufficient economy.�

According to the CBN Governor, the committee discussed the financial system’s implication and operationalisation of the policy measures earlier announced by the CBN. He listed them to include additional moratorium of one year on CBN intervention; interest rate reduction on intervention facilities from nine per cent to five per cent; creation of N50 billion targeted credit facility for affected households and SMEs; and granting regulatory forbearance to banks to restructure terms of facilities in affected sectors.

Others include strengthening the apex bank’s loan-to-deposit ratio policy; activation of the N1.5 trillion InfraCo project for building critical infrastructure; additional N100 billion in healthcare loans to pharmaceutical companies,

healthcare practitioners intending to expand/build capacity; and the N1 trillion in loans to boost local manufacturing and production across critical sectors.

He said the combination of the measures, which amounts to over N3.5 trillion in stimulus, was to ameliorate the pains arising from the COVID-19 health and economic crisis.

Emefiele added, “Given that this crisis is first and foremost a public health crisis, we are paying particular attention to our health industry. “As aforementioned, global supply chains have been disrupted, including dominant drug supply channels from China and India. In fact, many countries have or are planning to ban export of drugs and medical supplies from their countries. “Clearly, we have no choice but to produce these items locally. As a result, the Committee has identified a few key local pharmaceutical companies who shall be granted naira and FX funding facilities to support procurement of raw materials and equipment

required to exponentially increase local drug production in Nigeria. “These loans would be granted at single-digit interest rate and for long tenors, include granting the necessary moratorium. “These include, but are not limited to, Emzor, Fidson, GSK, May & Baker, Unique Pharma, Swiss Pharma, Neimeth, Sagar, Orange Drugs, Dana Pharma, etc.�

He disclosed that in the course of the meeting, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, called in requesting that the Committee should pay special attention to the health sector, saying the fiscal authorities are willing to grant necessary incentives and waivers to encourage operators in the healthcare sector.

Emefiele also disclosed that this week, the central bank would convene a meeting with pharmaceutical companies to discuss ways to support them to immediately begin to expand their plants and machineries with a view to becoming self-sufficient.

gatherings of people, including schools, workplaces, places of worship, crowded supermarkets and pharmacies, social and sporting events. “Persons with a persistent cough or sneezing should stay at home until they recover. Make sure you and people around you observe hand and respiratory hygiene by covering your nose with tissue when sneezing or coughing. “Immediately dispose of tissue in a covered bin and wash your hands with soap and water. Use an alcohol-based sanitiser if no water and soap is available, coughing or sneezing into the sleeve of your bent elbow if no tissue is available and avoid all non-essential travel to all countries.�

Lagos State Govt Issues Guidelines The Lagos State government issued similar guidelines.

Announcing this through the Ministry of Information and Strategy, the government said, “The Lagos State Government has banned all religious or social gathering of over 20 people within the state. It is important we all adhere to this directive.�

The ministry added, “If you feel sick or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, shortness of breath, cough or sneezing, call these emergency numbers 08000CORONA, 08023169485 08033565529 or 08052817243.�

Police Vows to Enforce Restriction Order

CBN DIRECTS OIL COMPANIES TO END FX SALE TO NNPC on price modulation.�

The federal government had last week deregulated petrol pricing, directing the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to modulate pricing in accordance with prevailing market dynamics and oil market developments. Subsequently, NNPC announced that its outlets would sell petrol at N125 from today, N18 reduction from the N143 it was previously sold.

Emefiele said the committee discussed the health and economic crisis caused by the novel Corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic, which resulted in escalating worldwide infections, deaths, disruption in global supply chains, travel restrictions, and turmoil in the international financial markets. He said it was resolved that the central bank and banks would collaborate at this critical time with one coherent strategy to provide confidence to customers, counter parties, the public and, most importantly, put Nigeria first.

According to him, the industry has learnt lessons from previous crises, including the

2008 global financial crisis and oil price slump of 2016. The experiences, he said, would be applied in dealing with the current crisis. “The industry resolved that profit will not be the primary motive at this time. Rather, preserving confidence, financial stability and support for the economy will be the overriding objectives,� he said.

The CBN governor stressed that engagements would be held with correspondent banks, trade creditors, and trading partners regarding existing Letters of Credit (LCs) and trade commitments.

He explained, “We would be holding engagements with our correspondent banks and trading partners. In 2016, when we had same incident, we had same engagements with our trading partners and correspondent banks, who provide credit lines to customers through Nigerian banks. “During those engagements at that time, we told everyone that those obligations would be met. We are saying at this time, there is no need to panic.

“We would be dimensioning the size of all those commitments and obligations.

Just like we succeeded in 2016, once more I am saying they would be paid. “The industry is committed to resolving these commitments in a comprehensive and orderly way. There will be transparent and open communication with all counterparties.�

Emefiele pointed out that in view of the significant disruption of the global supply chain, the Bankers’ Committee advised Nigerians and companies to prioritise their import needs and focus more on sourcing raw materials and inputs locally. “Indeed, there is no choice, but to focus on sourcing your raw materials locally because with various lockdowns that are happening in different parts of the world, all countries are locking their borders, making it impossible for raw materials and inputs to leave their borders,� he stated. “Therefore, we do not have any choice, but to look inwards.�

He added, “The Bankers’ Committee noted the success of

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NEWS CONCERNS MOUNT OVER NIGERIA RETURNEES 73, died after contracting the coronavirus — hours after her son died from the virus and five days after her daughter’s death, a relative said.

On Thursday, another child who had contracted the virus, Vincent Fusco, died, the relative, Roseann Paradiso Fodera, said.

Three other children remain hospitalised, two of them in critical condition, revealed Ms. Paradiso Fodera, the family’s lawyer who is Mrs. Fusco’s cousin and is serving as a spok.

Spain's death toll has also increased to more than 1,300, while in Iran, the number of deaths hit another grim milestone of 1,500 as the country marks the beginning of the Persian New Year.

However, Spain official warned that a scary 80 per cent of people in Madrid will likely get coronavirus.

But whilst many are optimistic that the world would soon see the back of the virus, governments all over the world are not resting on their oars but taking initiatives to suppress a further spread of the virus.

In Nigeria, there are already positive Covid-19 cases of 23 persons, including 10 new cases announced yesterday. But in the early hours of Sunday morning, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde announced that one person had tested positive at Bodija in Ibadan raising the number of positive tests to the Coronavirus in the country to 23.

That is not only disturbing but calls for reflection. Situation report across the 36 states reveals a disturbing sense of unpreparedness.

First, there are no testing centres in many of the states to quickly carry out testing and speedily get result. As a matter of fact, four out of the six geopolitical zones in the country have no centres. According to report by a national newspaper, there are no testing facilities in the South-east, North-west, Northeast and North-central zones of the country, heightening fears among millions of people in the 19 states in the regions of what would likely happen when the urgent need to be tested arises.

In all, there are five laboratories in the country that have the requisite facilities to test for the virus and they are located in the South-west and South-south.

This complemented two federal laboratories in Lagos and one in Osun State.

Another laboratory is in Edo State (South-south), while the only one in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) takes care of the whole northern region and to some extent, the South East.

The laboratories identified for the test include the NCDC National Reference Laboratory, Abuja; the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital in Edo State; the Virology Laboratory in the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH); the Nigeria Institute for Medical Research (NIMR); and the Lagos African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Disease in Osun State.

With this dire situation, a major outbreak is easily going to overwhelm the very fragile healthcare system with grave consequences for lives. Yet, amid these massive inadequate facilities, the various states are scrambling to shore up whatever they can in preparation for the very grim possibility of an outbreak.

Lagos: Rising to the Occasion and Showing Leadership If Lagos State was prepared for a pandemic outbreak, it was because the state, as it is today, was the index state for

the Ebola challenge some years ago. Today, the hospital boasts a 100-bed isolation facility, the only one in the country. And with the current statistics, 22 cases have been recorded in the country, with Lagos leading the pack.

But the state had upgraded its isolation facilities at the IDH in the case of an escalation in the number of cases, revealing that two additional containment centres had been created with 100-bed spaces and necessary medical equipment to manage cases.

Also, there are two mobile isolation wards of 15-bed capacity each stationed in the hospital. Today as the number of cases continues to rise, the state government has closed all school for one month, while forbidding social gathering of more than 20 people in the state.

Enugu: Working on the Situation Reports The Enugu State Government has demonstrated its commitment to contain the rampaging COVID 19 pandemic by approving the sum of N320 million in readiness for any outbreak in the state.

Though the state has not recorded any cases except a Septuagenarian, who was quarantined but later tested negative after her samples were subjected to necessary tests.

A breakdown of the sum according to the state medical team led by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Ifeanyi Agujiobi showed that N150 million would be used to tackle the issue of Coronavirus and ensure that the state is fully prepared, while the sum N80 million was for the procurement of important and essential drugs that might be needed to treat and manage Coronavirus, Lassa fever and other communicable diseases.

Consequently, the government approved the immediate upgrade and relocation of the state Isolation Centre to ESUT Teaching Hospital, Parklane, Enugu, since the existing structure at Colliery hospital, Enugu is said to lack the necessary facilities as recommended by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

There’s also an approval of N100 million to be kept in the Emergency Operation Centre account, in case of any emergency, whilst the toll free lines are 117 and 112 including 08182555550 as a dedicated line for emergency response.

Edo: Embracing the Community Approach The Edo State Government has taken serious steps to suppress the outbreak of COVID-19 with Governor Godwin Obaseki, holding extended meetings with critical stakeholders, including the traditional rulers, religious leaders and grassroots politicians at the weekend, with a view to harmonising strategies aimed at safeguarding the public.

The governor said Edo State was adopting the strategy of consulting these leaders because of their strong connection with the grassroots and people across all spectra of the society as well as their effectiveness in passing information and eliciting effective action to stem falsehood and panic among the people.

Apart from extensive consultation with traditional, religious and political leaders for intensified sensitization, the state has reactivated her contact tracing mechanism earlier used to contain other infectious diseases such as Lassa Fever, and a strong emphasis on rigorous screening at ports of entry into the state.

Also, there is rigorous temperature testing system established across the state in collaboration with medical and paramedical organisations. This is in recognition of the fact that the state is a major transportation hub with constant inflow of people. Temperature tests are conducted on passengers at the Benin Airport and motor parks across the state. The strategy is such that those whose final destination is Edo State and others commuting through the state are subjected to temperature tests.

FCT: Taking Every Precaution Necessary Federal Government has begun to construct a permanent Isolation and quarantine centre for the immediate management of Coronavirus near the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital in Gwagwalada.

But in the interim, the federal ministry of health has designated the Intensive Care Unit at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital solely for Coronavirus patients, who may be referred there.

Attached to the ICU at the Gwagwalada are special purpose ambulances meant to respond to any emergency situation, laboratory for Testing of Coronavirus cases/hotline. Abuja is believed to be one of the places with most equipped laboratories for the testing of Coronavirus and other infectious diseases.

At the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, Port Health Services and NCDC officials have a modern infectious disease screening facility to handle incoming and out-boarding travellers.

The airport health services unit also has standby ambulance for easy evacuation of patients that test positive to Covid-19 virus.

Ondo: Following the Lead All schools in Ondo State have been closed with effect from Friday, March 20, 2020 on the order of the state government in a statewide broadcast by Governor Oluwatotimi Akeredolu to control the spread of Coronavirus.

The government has also reactivated the Infectious Disease Hospital, established in the wake of the Ebola Virus to serve as isolation centre in case of any outbreak of COVID-19 in the state.

The facility located on Igbatoro Road in the outskirt of the Akure, the state capital, is equipped with equipment meant to treat patients. Though the government did not ban public gathering either in religious centres or social gatherings, government has been advising residents against events that involve large crowd The government has however postponed indefinitely, the Convocation ceremony of the Ondo State University of Science and Technology, now Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology Okitipupa scheduled for yesterday.

Katsina: When Timing Is of the Essence In Katsina, the government has inaugurated an Isolation Centre at the General Hospital, Katsina, and provided ambulances to tackle any outbreak of Coronavirus in the state. The state has so far recorded only one suspected case of the virus and the patient has since tested negative.

Governor Aminu Bello Masari has therefore ordered the immediate closure of both public and private schools in the state for 30 days with effect

from March 23, 2020.

Commissioner for Health, Nuhu Yakubu Danji, who confirmed this to THISDAY, added that government had also reactivated its Emergency Response Committee and purchased medical equipment, including personal protective equipment.

He said members of the committees would proactively monitor, supervise and coordinate government’s response to the disease in rural and urban cities across the state.

In addition, he said government had commenced the training of health workers including disease surveillance and notification officers and clinicians on how to handle suspected cases of COVID-19

The Ebonyi State Governor, Chief David Umahi, had ordered closure of all private and public nursery, primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in the state as part of measures to curtail the spread of the pandemic in the state.

In a statement by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr. Kenneth Ugbala, the governor also closed down night clubs and restricted night activities in the state.

Umahi also directed the Ministry of Health and State Committee on Anti Coronavirus to deploy all health officers in all markets, rice mills, banks and other public event management centres to carry out test on people.

Niger: Boasting Sokoto: RedeďŹ ning Assertive Leadership the Red Alert Syndrome Though there has not been any reported case of Coronavirus in any part of the state, the Niger state government has taken some measures to ensure the disease did not break into the state or at the very least, spread.

Among the steps is the closure of all public, private and tertiary institutions across the state effective from Monday.

The government has held series of meetings with owners of the schools especially, the private ones to ensure they key into the initiative. As a result, all the institutions had rescheduled their timetables to make sure students complete the writing of their second term examinations yesterday.

The government has also announced a ban on all public gatherings with more than 50 people in addition to stopping all seminars workshops and other programmes that could assemble this number of people.

According to the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Matane, the state has set aside the sum N28.7m to fight the virus with the bulk of the amount going to the setting up and equipping isolation wards and sensitising the general public.

Sokoto State government has provided three isolation centres and dispelled rumours over suspected case of COVID 19 in the state. Commissioner for Health, Dr Ali Inname, told the THISDAY yesterday that the Ministry of Health was constantly monitoring the situation across the state.

Inname said the centers were located at Amanawa Infectious disease hospital, Usmanu Danfodio Teaching Hospital and a special centre at the Specialists Hospital in the state capital.

The commissioner however urged residents to go about their normal activities and observe the precautionary measures of cough etiquette, hand hygiene, social distancing, avoiding large crowd and seeking healthcare early.

Other measures were providing of professional advise for necessary gathering, mandatory self isolation for all returnees from COVID 19 endemic countries, engagement with ministry of education, Airport Authority, and other security operatives in the state.

Inname added that ambulance services would also be provided 24 hours for the isolation centres.

Anambra: Not Taking Oyo: Not Ready to Chances Learn the Hard Way There is though no established case of Covid-19 in Anambra State so far, the state government is however not oblivious of the dangers associated with the disease. Thus, in its effort to ensure that the state remains free from the pandemic, the state has set up task force to ensure that all hospitality homes in the state keep to all preventive measures while dealing with their guests.

Chidi Kalu, chairman of the committee said they would also be teaching the basic hygiene procedures for convid-19, how to use the infra-red thermometer screening machine, the alcohol based sanitizer, as well as ensuring that every guest is screened and documented in order to track and checkmate the eventual track of convid-19.

In response to the activities of the pandemic across the world, the government has announced a ban on social gatherings and schools in the state. A press statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof Solo Chukwulobelu, stated that the ban is to take effect from Monday, 23rd March.

THISDAY gathered that beyond the ban on public gathering and schools, crowded markets like Eke Awka market and the Onitsha main market might also be affected.

Ebonyi State: Salt of the Nation Not Lagging Behind

The Oyo State Government has declared an emergency over the Coronavirus pandemic by ordering the immediate closure of schools and the inauguration of emergency operation centres, among other measures.

Governor Seyi Makinde made the disclosure after the inaugural meeting of the state’s COVID-19 Task Force, held at the Government House, Agodi, Ibadan.

He said the schools would remain closed till after Easter while the government would use the period of the forced break to evaluate the situation and put protective system in place in the schools.

Other measures to be put in place include activation of Emergency Operation Centres and a Diagnostic Centre while the Maternal and Paediatrics Centre, Olodo, Ibadan, has been re-designated as the State Infectious Disease Hospital.

Two ambulances to be on standby to attend to cases of Coronavirus, Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers (DSNOs), located in all the 33 Local Government Areas and 35 Local Council Development Areas, to continue their surveillance activities.

Plateau: Appealing to Common Sense Though there is no confirmed case of coronavirus in Plateau

State, the state has established three isolation centres in readiness for any eventuality. They are Bingham University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, and Plateau Specialist Hospital, Jos. The isolation centres, according to the Commissioner of Information, Mr. Dan Manjang, are properly prepared to provide adequate comfort for suspects.

The state has also ordered all public and private schools shut ranging from Nursery, Primary, Secondary, to Tertiary institutions.

It has also placed restrictions on attendance of marriage and burial ceremonies in the state, warning that only family members are expected at such ceremonies that must not witness a crowd of over 50 persons.

The state also warned that all tricycles, taxis and buses must have hand sanitizers for their passengers, while cultural and traditional ceremonies are totally suspended.

According to the Secretary to the State Government, Prof Danladi Atu and State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Nimkong Lar Ndam, worship places must not gather a congregation of over 50 worshippers, adding that water, soap, and hand sanitizers must be provided for the worshippers.

Abia: Getting Everyone Back to Work Following the first index case of CVID-19 in Nigeria, the Abia State government had set up an inter-ministerial committee to manage her preparation and response to the pandemic.

The committee headed by the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joe Osuji also has as members, his counterparts from information, homeland security, and science and technology.

Consequently, two isolation centrers have been set up at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) and Amachara Specialist Hospital, all in Umuahia, the capital city.

According to the Commissioner for Information, Chief John Okiyi Kalu, "The facilities are purpose-equipped for isolation of patients with such infectious diseases, including those who may be present with Coronavirus.

A third isolation centre is being prepared at the Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH), Aba while a fourth centre would be set up at Abia North senatorial district.

Kogi: Guided by the Reports Following the confirmation of Coronavirus and increase in the number of people tested positive in the country, the Kogi State government has put the state on red alert and put in place certain measures to suppress the spread of the deadly disease in the state.

Commissioner for Health, Dr. Saka Haruna Audu made this known at a stakeholders meeting held at the Ministry of Health, Lokoja, adding that the ministry would collaborate with his counterparts in the Information, Education and Transport to map out strategies on how to handle the pandemic.

The State, Audu said, has organised sensitization exercises and awareness campaigns across the state, adding that the ministry would engage in house to house campaign, create awareness in schools, higher institutions of learning, popular market places and motor parks.

He noted that government would increase the capacity of Health Workers by training them Continued on page 10

SUNDAY MARCH 22, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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ÍşÍşËœ ͺ͸ͺ͸ Ëž T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R

NEWS CONCERNS MOUNT OVER NIGERIA RETURNEES on how to identify the disease and care for infected patients with appropriate precautionary measures and application of Standard barrier nursing tactics.

He, however, advised the general public not to panic, as governments at all levels have intensified efforts to prevent the spread of the virus, disclosing that Kogi has set up temporary Isolation wards at the Confluence Advanced Medical Diagnostic & Imaging Centre (CAMDIC), Lokoja.

Osun: A Step at a Time Presently, there is no case of Covid-19 in Osun State. Perhaps, it is the reason the state doesnot have any isolation centres. But the state is making up by responding to the national emergency through sensitisation of the people on the development.

For example, the government has shut down schools and other public institutions as well as gathering of too many people of more 50. The ban will affect all Schools, Churches, Mosques, Night Clubs and Sports arenas among others, in the state.

Government, which advised the citizenry not to panic, especially, because no case has been recorded in the state so far, noted that it arrived at the decision it took after wide consultations with health professionals and stakeholders in the health sector over COVID-19.

This position was however contained in a statement by Ismail Omipidan, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, where he stated that the mere fact that a few cases had been reported in neighbouring states makes it imperative to act.

Ekiti: Leaving No Stone Unturned Following the death of a 27-yearold male American, who was visiting Nigeria from Richmond, Virginia, USA, in the company of his caregiver, a Nigerian female, also of Ekiti origin, while conveying them around their holiday destinations, the government of the state believed it was the avenue through which Coronavirus came into the state.

Although Governor Kayode Fayemi had since briefed the US embassy in the country including staying in touch with the family of the deceased, it was clear to the governor Covid-19 might have begun to spread.

To that extent, Fayemi, recently barred social, political, religious and family gatherings of more than 20 persons as part of efforts to check the spread of the virus.

In addition, he announced that all public and private schools as well as institutions in Ekiti State would be closed down from Monday, March 23, even as he directed that, “all non-essential workers in private and public sectors are encouraged to work from home from Monday, March 23�.

In a statewide broadcast in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, Fayemi said, “Now that we are aware of its presence in our midst, we must leave no stone unturned to make Ekiti State coronavirus (COVID-19) free. We must combat and curtail its spread by ensuring our people are actively involved in government’s efforts to fight this global pandemic. While the world frantically searches for a cure, our best and only defence, is prevention.�

Kwara: Taking It Slow and Steady The Kwara State government has announced the closure of

all public and private schools in the state from tomorrow, March 23. This was contained in a statement issued in Ilorin by the Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Rafiu Ajakaye.

The statement also noted that Kwara has no confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19 as at this moment, but that "The government is nonetheless putting in place all measures to keep the people safe at all times.

"The synergy with the port authorities has been strengthened to ensure thorough screening of people coming into and going out of Kwara State while the state’s isolation centre has been fully equipped to take care of any eventuality.

"Members of the public may contact these telephone numbers to report anything related to the pandemic: 08064369063, 090293978826. The state is on red alert as the world confronts this pandemic".

Bauchi: Simply Battle Ready The Bauchi State Government has established and equipped four Isolation centres across the state, preparatory for any incidences of Coronavirus in the state.

Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed has also constituted an Action Initiative Against the outbreak of coronavirus and the spread of the Lassa fever in the state.

The team is headed by the deputy governor, Senator Baba Tela, and assisted by relevant health agencies and international health partners, like the UNICEF and WHO The chairman of the State Primary Health Care Development Agency (SPHCDA), Dr Rilwanu Mohammed, stated that though the state was yet to detect any case of coronavirus, the establishment of the centres was geared towards curtailing the communicable disease.

The government has however engaged very effective sensitisation and enlightenment campaign on the virus in all the motor parks, markets, worship centres and among others, in adding to closing down all schools.

Imo: Making Sense of a DifďŹ cult Situation As part of efforts to curtail the spread of the Coronavirus, the Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma has ordered the immediate closure of all primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in the state. He also announced plan to establish a Specialist Hospital for this disease.

Governor Uzodimma who made a broadcast to the people of Imo State on measures to prevent and control the virus (COVID-19), Friday, stated that he was taking elaborate steps to ensure that the health and wellbeing of Imolites remain priority of his administration.

He has therefore inaugurated a Protection and Control Committee headed by Prof.

Maurice Iwu to commence a round the clock surveillance of all strata of the state for effective prevention and control of the disease. There are also arrangements to test all passengers arriving at the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri for symptoms of the virus.

Also, A State-of-the-art modern Ambulance has been provided for the Committee to facilitate its operations. An isolation centre has been set up within the state sapital to quarantine any person who tests positive to the virus. A test centre has equally been set

up in Owerri to examine those with symptoms of the virus.

Akwa Ibom: Working on Facts

Ogun: In Safe Hands Already

Akwa Ibom State Government yesterday dismissed rumours that Coronavirus had reached the state.

But long before the first case of the coronavirus was confirmed in Nigeria, Governor Udom Emmanuel had instructed the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Dominic Ukpong to be on top of the issue and equally directed an Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Task Force to be immediately set up in the state.

Sao far, the state has been creating awareness through the media to sensitize residents with relevant information on COVID-19 in English, pidgin and local dialects.

Also, surveillance, prevention and infection control measures have been instituted in hospitals across the state. Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) has been distributed to all health facilities to facilitate infection prevention and control.

The Emergency Operation and Treatment Centre (EOC), in Ikot Ekpene is to serve as an isolation/treatment centre to receive, and care for any confirmed case of COVID-19.

In Ogun State, government is upgrading the Isolation Center in OOUTH; there’s ongoing reconstruction of a General Hospital into an Isolation Center; state is intensifying SensitisationStrategyIsWorking campaign on personal and respiratory hygiene at the State, LG and ward levels.

There’s a Mobile Application named COVID-19 App to all Primary Health Centers in Ewekoro Local Government area to aid information sharing among health workers and prompt notification of the state in the event of any suspected case.

Apart from collaborating with the Nigeria Immigration Service that is working with health workers in border areas, the Case Management Team of Ogun State Ministry of Health was in Lagos for three days training to study the index case management

Delta: Heightened Readiness and Alert So far, no case of COVID-19 has been reported in Delta State, however, the state government, through its Commissioner for Health, Dr. Mordi Ononye has announced the establishment of six state of the art special isolation centres and hostels in Warri, Oghara, Koko, Sapele seaports and Asaba Airport, immediately the first case of the virus in Nigeria was announced.

The state readiness is supported by the insurance sector.

That has since been increased to 12 with the main centre within the FMC Asaba, in anticipation of COVID-19. The isolation centres are all standard medical facilities initially created to handle Lassa Fever cases in Delta, but the centre at the FMC Asaba has been upgraded in response to COVID-19 outbreak.

The government has done remarkably well in case of an outbreak Several events, including the 2020 entrepreneurship and agricultural training scheme launch/exhibition scheduled for last Thursday have been cancelled while all primary, postprimary and tertiary institutions are to be shut indefinitely from Wednesday March 26, 2020 on the orders of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.

Handbills, posters, jingles and newspaper advertisement are being used to sensitize the general public on the extreme personal and environmental hygiene practice.

Kano: Prepared for the Worst In Kano State, there is no reported case of corona virus despite the rumour of three cases that have all tested negative.

The government said the state remained free from the virus and assured the people that it was intensifying surveillance and emergency preparedness as well as a response committee to detect any suspected case for prompt action.

Commissioner for Health, Dr. Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa, said government had also equipped the state isolation center at Yargaya hospital in case of any emergency.

The government has also directed the closure of public and private schools, including tertiary institutions across the state as part of precautionary measures against the threat posed by the virus.

Adamawa: Embarked on House-to-House Campaign The Adamawa State government has put in place an isolation centre for screening of patients as part of measure to suppress coronavirus in the state.

Commissioner for Health, Professor, Abdullahi Isah said there was no case of corona virus in the state and that the case of two school pupils that created tension tested negative.

But the Commissioner for Information and strategy, Dr. Umar Garba, said the government has embarked on house-to-house campaign, using its public health system to create awareness on the virus.

He said some medical personnel have embarked on training to enable them handled any eventuality in the state, even as he appealed to the people to take personal hygiene seriously.

Borno: Proactive and on Standby There are though no cases of coronavirus in Borno State, the state government has put in place measures to stem the spread of the disease.

Already, the isolation centre dedicated to the victims of Lassa Fever, has been designated for coronavirus. The centre presently accommodates 100 beds but has been extended to accommodate 120.

Commissioner for Health, Dr. Salihu Kwaya-Bura disclosed that all medical facilities were on red alert and could be deployed in times of emergency. He noted that all entries into the state were strictly being monitored to check against the spread into the state.

Further measures have been put in place to ensure that the disease did not get into the internally displaced persons camps, even as schools are expected to be closed this week.

Governor Babagana Zulum has however inaugurated a high-powered response team for prevention and control of the disease. The team led by the deputy governor has the commissioner of health as its secretary.

Rivers: Sifting the Facts from Fear There is currently no reported or

confirmed case of CONVID-19 in Rivers State. But the state has been on red alert. The State Government had earlier set up a five-man inter-ministerial committee on aggressive public enlightenment.

And so far, the committee has met with community development committees (CDCs), religious groups, the media, principals/head teachers of schools, traders associations, national union of road transport workers (NURTW), military/paramilitary agencies, the police, international oil companies and Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON).

Thus, on Friday, the state ordered the closure of all the public and private schools as well as universities in the state, while restricting activities of religious organisations. The government also vowed to punish defaulters of the emergency measures.

Governor Nyesom Wike said the state was in a state of alert, because it is the headquarters of the hydrocarbon industry and also a major commercial hub in the country.

He claimed that the state had trained 158 surveillance and adhoc personnel and had set up one treatment centre, holding centres in the two Teaching Hospitals and all General Hospitals in the State and that all were fully functional.

Taraba: Addressing the Basics In the past three days, Taraba State has taken several measures to prevent the spread of Convid-19, top of which is the closure of both public and private schools in the state from primary to tertiary institutions beginning from tomorrow, March 23, including banning of gatherings of more than twenty people.

Governor Darius Ishaku, who announced the measures in a statewide broadcast on Saturday, also ordered recreational centres such as bars, restaurants, viewing centres and other related venues not to operate beyond 7pm.

Ishaku equally advised the people of the state to maintain social distances and avoid intimate etiquettes especially, handshakes, hugging and kissing, saying such intimate acts have been identified by medical experts as the easiest ways of contracting the virus.

Other measures announced by the state government includes designation of the Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo and the Specialist Hospital as isolation Centres, though THISDAY gathered that the hospitals are yet to be adequately equipped to render such services, while a toll free line is also yet to be provided.

THISDAY have gathered that the FMC Jalingo, being a centre for the treatment of Lassa fever has some protective gadgets in its stores for the use of medical personnel pending, when the government would make further supplies.

Cross-River: Beyond the Academic Jargons In Cross River State, official information has it that there has been no recorded case of Covid-19 in the state that shares hundreds of kilometres of land and maritime boundaries with the Central African country, Cameroon.

Commissioner for Health, Dr. Betta Edu, said despite the non-recording of any confirmed case of Covid-19, the state had moved early enough to establish and equip Isolation centres at the

University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), and the General Hospitals in Ogoja in the northern part of the state.

She said the Isolation Centres were equipped with hospital beds, screens, air conditioners, examination beds, plastic tables and chairs, bedside lockers, non contact infrared thermometers, digital blood pressure equipment, stethoscope, digital thermometers, safety boots, washing machines, PPEs, mackintosh, etc.

Aside from the Isolation Centres in Calabar and Ogoja, the state government said its long borders with Cameroon, from the south to the north of the state has been provided with monitoring centres, where people moving across the borders of both countries are screened.

As an additional measure at containing the spread in the country, Edu announced on Friday that all public gatherings of over 100 people have been banned until further notice.

Despite the efforts and measures put in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19, there are complaints that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is still holding campaign rallies preparatory to the local government elections in the state scheduled for March 28, 2020, a development widely condemned as capable of causing infection and spread of the virus.

Gombe: Leveraging the Team Spirit Disturbed over the scourge of the corona virus, the Gombe State Government has mobilised its Rapid Response Team and placed the emergency operations centre on red alert.

Speaking on the state of preparedness for Covid-19 by the state government, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the governor, Ismaila Uba Misilli said, "We have commenced intensive community enlightenment, sensitisation and mobilisation towards prevention in the state and massive IEC materials are being distributed statewide".

According to him, "We have procured PPEs and required consumables for management of cases and health workers are being trained. The state government has a 20-bed isolation facility and approval has been given for procurement of ventilators and other equipment needed", adding that, "We’ll continue to monitor situation at state, regional and national levels".

Yobe: Disabusing the Mob Mentality There was a scare of coronavirus in Yobe State about two weeks ago, when someone was suspected to have the virus.

He was isolated and tested, the result however came out negative and he was freed to reunite with the society.

But as preparation for any attack of the disease, the state has already established an isolation centre at the General Sani Abatcha Specialist Hospital, Damaturu. It has Data Centre at Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) located in New Bra Bra Housing Estate, Damaturu, while the Oxygen Centre is situated in the State University Teaching Hospital also in Damaturu.

There is no official statement on the closure of schools but Yobe State University is already closed in compliance with the directives from the National Universities Commission (NUC).

Mosques and Churches are also not closed as at the moment but there is rumour on the streets that schools might be ordered closed tomorrow.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MARCH 22, 2020

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SUNDAY COMMENT

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

NIGERIA AND THE POLITICS OF CITIZENSHIP The bill on citizenship should aim at strengthening the provisions of the constitution

F

or decades, thousands of Nigerian women had travelled to the United States to have babies. These children become American nationals with rights to reside in any state within the country before leaving the maternity ward. Many of our nationals also reside and work in countries where they and their children acquire nationality after spending some years. But in a curious twist of irony, a bill for a constitutional amendment meant to resolve the issue of citizenship in Nigeria comes with a residency requirement of 10 years. Titled “A bill for an Act to alter the provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 to define who is an indigene of the state”, The National it fails to address the Assembly should contentious problem in a realistic manner. rise above Although we are themselves and aware of how ircome up with a law responsible some of that not only take the governors have into account our been in recent times, rich diversity but especially when dealing with married also create in the Nigerian a sense of female professionals belonging wherever in their states, this conflicts with the they may choose as bill constitutional rights of their home every Nigerian to live and work anywhere in the federation without fear of discrimination. The recent non-confirmation of Justice Akon Ikpeme as the substantive Chief Judge by the Cross River State House of Assembly, a state where she has had her career on the bench, bears eloquent testimony to this.

The National Assembly therefore has no business making a new law except to strengthen the relevant sections of the constitution along sensible lines. Citizenship of the federal republic ought to be concurrent with indigeneship of every state of the country. It is trite to say that it is the duty of government at all levels to create the enabling environment that would give the citizenry a true sense of belonging and faith in the assertion that this country belongs to all

Letters to the Editor

F

ollowing the continued rise in number of confirmed cases of the Corona Virus, also known as Covid-19, in some parts of the country, the FCT Administration recently ordered the closure of all public and private schools as well as the suspension of large public gatherings.

This directive came amidst calls by notable persons in the country for the closure of all points of entry into the country, mostly the airports and other land borders.

It was also on the heels of similar closures of schools by states like Enugu, Benue, Niger and Nasarawa, among others.

This move by the FCT Administration is seen as a plus and rightly so because Convid-19 is quite a strange but very deadly virus which for now has proven very difficult to contain, as

of its peoples irrespective of ethnic origin or religion.

In July 2014, the Council of State announced a halt to the registration of non-indigenes and forcible relocation of Nigerians from their places of abode to their states of origin, against their wish. A statement after the meeting said the decision was arrived at to preserve the unity and stability of the country. Therefore, on the basis of enlightened self-interest, we call on members of the National Assembly to rise above themselves and come up with a law that not only take into account our rich diversity but also create in the Nigerian a sense of belonging wherever they may choose as their home.

W

S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R EDITOR SHAKA MOMODU DEPUTY EDITORS OLAWALE OLALEYE, TOBI SONIYI MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR JOSEPH USHIGIALE

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

e understand the problem of the lawmakers.

Although we know who a Nigerian citizen is, it is something else when that same citizen finds himself or herself in a different location other than his/her “place of birth” or “state of origin”. While the application of the sentiment may be more pronounced in some states than others, the fact remains that almost every Nigerian is today a “settler” outside his or her state of origin. In many states, even children are denied things as basic as admission to academic institutions based on “state of origin,” notwithstanding the fact that their parents may not have defaulted in payment of their taxes and in meeting other obligations. While this was not the situation in the past, the recent triumph of ethnic (and sometimes clannish) politics and religious bigotry is denying Nigerians the benefits of reaping from their contributions outside their “state of origin”.

While we endorse the idea to give Nigerians a sense of belonging wherever they may be domiciled within the the country, it is necessary to help confront the monster of indigene/ settler dichotomy while promoting national integration and common citizenship. This proposition by the National Assembly is not a solution to the problem at hand. In an era where Nigerians, Jamaicans and people of other nationalities are getting elected mayors and parliamentarians in United Kingdom and other countries, no Nigerian should face discrimination anywhere in the only nation he/ she knows as home.

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 (950- 1000 words). They should be sent to opinion@thisdaylive.com along with the email address and phone numbers of the writer.

COVID-19 And Safety in The FCT confirmed by the World Health Organisation. So any measure taken to break its chain of transmission is quite a welcome development.

There are reports indicating that the spread of Covid-19 may not have reached a pandemic level, had the authorities in China where it purportedly emanated, taken adequate steps to isolate infected persons as advised by medical experts in the country.

But the Chinese government chose to downplay the outbreak of the disease and the whole world is now suffering the consequences of this mistake.

Other countries also that may have dismissed the virus as a Chinese problem, such as the US, Italy, France, to mention but a few, are now the wiser of for it, having been hit hard by the spread of this virus.

Back here in the FCT, the decision to close schools and suspend large public gatherings is indeed a good one. Yes, it could be said to be a preemptive one, considering that there have been no confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the FCT at the time of writing this report. But the decision still shows enormous responsibility by the FCT Administration. The FCTA has chosen to brave the odds, for the safety of lives and properties which is the number one responsibility of government as outlined in the constitution.

As responsible citizens however, there is need for FCT residents, as a good show of patriotism to the national cause, to adhere strictly to the regulations that have been issued by government, especially the aspects of shunning large gatherings, be it academic gathering, religious

gathering, family gathering or other social gatherings like night clubs, market places, among others.

Other safety measures against the spread of Covid-19, as explained by the World Health Organisation also include the regular washing of hands and disinfecting with alcohol-based hand sanitizers, practicing good respiratory hygiene by covering your mouth and nose with a bent elbow or tissue when you sneeze and cough and proper and immediate disposal.

Again, residents who may also experience such symptoms as fever, cough or difficulty in breathing, have been advised to seek early medical care in order to begin early treatment or for possible isolation, in the event that it is confirmed to be Convid-19 or any other disease for that matter.

Residents are also advised to stop the spread of fake news, especially the reports that Covid-19 could be cured by Chloroquine. Also to be avoided is the

urge to engage in self-medication like the use of Chloroquine because this drugs is said to be quite toxic to the eyes and ear drums. Residents must equally discontinue the panic buying of food items, as the authorities have confirmed that it has not gotten to that stage.

In the same vein, religious organizations must rise to the occasion by compelling their members to adhere strictly to the guidelines outlined by government and other health organizations. Any idea to try to play God or assume that Africans and indeed Nigerians are immune to the spread of the virus should be discouraged at this time.

Lastly, the claim that Covid-19 is weakened by high temperature or heat, for now, is still in the realm of conjecture as there is not empirical evidence to prove this to be the case.

–––Danladi Akilu, Durumi II, Gudu District, Abuja.

12

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˞ ͰͰ˜ Ͱ͎Ͱ͎

NEWS

Acting News Editor ĂŒĂ™ĂŁĂ?Ă‘Ă‹ Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă‹Ă˜Ă—Ă“ E-mail: Ă‘ĂŒĂ™ĂŁĂ?Ă‘Ă‹Ë›Ă‹Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă‹Ă˜Ă—Ă“ĚśĂžĂ’Ă“Ă?ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁĂ–Ă“Ă Ă?Ë›Ă?Ă™Ă—ËœÍ¸Î€Í¸Î€ÍšÎ Î€ÍžÍ˝Î Í¸ Ě™Ă?Ă—Ă? Ă™Ă˜Ă–ĂŁĚš

States Generate N1.23tn IGR, Record 11% Growth ‡ Lagos maintains lead with over 32% share ‡ 5LYHUV 2JXQ 'HOWD .DGXQD DPRQJ WRS ÀYH In terms of revenue growth, as shown in the report, Adamawa remarkable recorded 46.61 percent improvement in internal revenue generation; Bauchi 37.82 percent; Borno 23.45 percent; Taraba 5.53 percent and Yobe 1.83 percent despite extremist violence or armed insurgencies by Boko Haram and

its sister group, Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) that almost put the agrarian economy of the North-east geopolitical zone to a halt.

However, Gombe, one of the Northeast states affected by the Boko Haram insurgency, reported about 23.01 percent

)%% (*% (%%

With the exception of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the total internally generated revenue (IGR) by the 36 states of the federation moderately increased from N1.103 trillion in 2018 to N1.228 trillion in 2019, according to a Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) report analysed by THISDAY. With the increase of N124.878 billion, as the report revealed, the total IGR of the states recorded an 11.33 percent improvement above what they raked into their treasuries in the previous financial year. However, the earnings of some states, especially in the Northeast slumped marginally and moderately within the period under review.

Compared with the composite contributions of other states nationwide to the total IGR, FAAC’s report indicated that Lagos State generated N396.128 trillion. By implication, the state’s share alone accounted for about 32.25 percent of the total IGR in 2019, a classification the country’s most populous state has been maintaining since independence.

But when analysed alongside its share of N382.181 billion in the 2018, the state apparently recorded at least 3.52 percent growth in its earnings in the 2019 financial year. Despite generating N396.128 billion in 2019, the state still incurred about 48.9 percent shortfall compared with its projection to earn N775.231 billion in the same financial year.

Comparatively, as THISDAY’S analysis of FAAC’s report shows, the share of Lagos is over 8.22 percent more than the composite shares of 24 states in the Northcentral, North-east, North-west and South-east, all of which all together raked in N366.027 billion

as internally generated revenue in 2019.

Coming behind Lagos State at a difference of about 64 percent, FAAC’s report revealed that Rivers, the country’s third largest oil producing sate, generated N142.701 billion in 2019, recording a revenue growth of about 20.96 percent above its N112.780 billion earnings in the 2018 financial year.

Contrasting the cases of Lagos and Rivers that respectively recorded 3.52 percent and 20.96 percent revenue growth in 2019, Ogun State reported N70.49 billion, indicating a slump of over 20.39 percent above the state’s earnings of about N88.55 billion in the 2018 financial year.

Similar to Ogun’s revenue performance, according to the report, Kano’s IGR share plummeted from N44.11 billion in 2018 to N34.02 billion, representing a 22.87 percent difference. With this significant drop in its IGR, Kano struggled to secure a place in the rank of the top ten states, reporting a very margin lead ahead of Ondo State, the fifth largest oil producing state with a daily production of about 60,000 barrels per day.

As indicated in FAAC’s report, other states that emerged in the first ten ranking respectively comprise Delta with the IGR share of about N66.01 billion; Kaduna N37.53 billion; Akwa Ibom N35.49 billion; Kano N34.02 billion; Ondo N32.72 billion; Kwara N32 billion and Edo N29.67 billion.

However, as FAAC’s report revealed, the states that ranked least among the states include Bayelsa with N11.16 billion; Ekiti N11.07 billion; Nasarawa N10.46 billion; Adamawa N9.09 billion; Katsina N8.81 billion; Borno N8.05 billion; Kebbi N7.91 billion; Ebonyi N7.52 billion; Taraba N6.3 billion, Gombe N5.65 billion and Yobe N4.46 billion.

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contraction below its internal revenue performance in the 2018 fiscal year. But the Northeast, as a geo-political zone, recorded a composite revenue growth of above 16.93 percent above its 2018 share of actual IGR totalled N40114 billion.

Ekiti, a purely agrarian state, witnessed an unprecedented increase in its IGR from N6.47 billion in 2018 to N11.07 billion in 2019.

The increase represented about 71.09 percent in Ekiti’s revenue growth. Likewise, Kebbi, another agrarian state in the Northwest, recorded 62.09 percent growth in its internal revenue generation from N4.88 billion in 2018 to N7.91 billion in 2019.

Among other factors, according to some analysts, Ekiti’s rice revolution and the production of LAKE Rice, a national rice project jointly spearheaded by Lagos and Kebbi States, largely contributed significant progression the two states (Ekiti and Kebbi) recorded in their revenue performance in the 2019 fiscal year.

Similar to the cases of Ekiti and Kebbi States, Benue equally recorded 77.51 percent revenue progression over its IGR share in 2018; Kogi 48.02 percent; Niger 43.99 percent; Kwara 38.85 percent; Nasarawa 38.18 percent and 33.93 percent. All together, FAAC’s report

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revealed, the North-central states generated N111.22 billion.

However, FCT is not included in the composite share of Northcentral states.

Of the six geo-political zones nationwide, Southwest ranked topmost with the IGR share of N555.961 billion, which accounted for 45.26 percent. With its share of N311.203 billion, South-south came a distance behind the Southwest, thereby contributing about 25.34 percent of the total IGR. Also, the report indicated that the seven states that constitute the Northwest geo-political raked in N121.537 billion (9.89 percent); Northcentral N111.22 billion (9.05 percent); Southeast earned N81.463 billion (6.63 percent) and Northeast generated N46.907 billion (3.82 percent).

In terms of revenue progression in 2019, Northcentral recorded significant growth of 68.88 percent, though the IGR share of FCT was not included in the report.

With the IGR share of N255.044 billion in 2018, South-south, mainly comprising oil-producing states, reported revenue growth of about 22.02 percent in 2019.

While Southeast achieved 5.37 percent progression, Southwest recorded a revenue growth of about 4.3 percent.

But both Northwest and Northwest experience internal revenue regression. Perhaps, due to banditry, kidnapping and political violence, Northwest’s IGR share crashed marginally by 1.03 percent in 2019 in relation to the internal revenue of N122.798 billion it recorded in 2018. Northeast’s IGR share, similarly, slumped by 4.97 percent, which also might be as a result of armed insurgencies, extremist violence and acts of terror

by Boko Haram and ISWA.

Ogun Community Faults Document Exhibited in Land Dispute ‡ Insists on taking land back from Methodist Mission

Tobi Soniyi in Lagos, Efure, a community in Offin Sagamu, Ogun State has told an Ogun State High Court sitting in Sagamu that a survey plan exhibited in a suit it filed against Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Association Limited is fake.

Also, the community has asked the court to set aside a 90-year-old lease of 54 acres of land between the community and Methodist mission on the ground that the mission misled it into signing the lease agreement.

In the suit filed by its counsel, Mr. Babatunde Oshilaja, the community equally asked the court to nullify the Deed of Lease dated March 15, 1931 on 53.94 acres of land kept at Ogun state land registry, Abeokuta.

Oshilaja filled the suit on behalf of Samuel Banjo, Emmanuel Adelesi, Kolawole Odugbesi for themselves as members and representatives of Efure, a community in Offin Sagamu

Other defendants in the suit are; the Registrar of Titles, Ogun State; the Incorporated Trustees of the Methodist Church; Nigeria Sagamu Local Government; Vigilante Security Organisation; Oladega Ajelana, Wasiu Asanko and Abosede Dauda (members of Kajola Saw Millers); Wasiu Jebe, Alhaja Ganiyat Adebayo, Tunbosun Okubote, Yaya Okesola, Bolanle Adeboga and the Gospel Sabbatarian the True Church of God. In a twist, three of the defendants namely, Oladega Ajelana, Wasiu Asanko and Mrs. Abosede Dauda (members of Kajola Saw Millers) filed a survey plan, which they claimed was attached to the Deed of Lease dated March 15, 1931.

To support the case of the defendants, the Baba Ij General of the Rev. Mellor Methodist Cathedral, Agbowa Sagamu, Chief Oye Awofala had supported his deposition with the survey in question.

Suffice to point out that the plaintiffs had exhibited a survey

that was attached to and registered with the lease in 1931.

But in a swift reaction, counsel to the plaintiffs, Oshilaja said the new survey was never part of the original lease and was not attached to the lease when the parties purportedly signed the lease agreement in March 15,1931.

According to him, the original survey is with the Ogun State Land Registry, which has been exhibited by the plaintiffs.

He also pointed out that the new survey was made in 1975 and wondered how a survey made in 1975 could support a lease agreement made in 1931. “The two documents speak for themselves�, he added.

Awofala had also averred that the land in question belonged to the Akarigbo of Remo who gave it to the defendants via the lease agreement of 15th day of March 1931. He also disputed the plaintiffs’ claim that they were successors in title.

In paragraph 16, he admitted

that the original agreement was signed by Akarigbo Oba Williams Adedoyin and his chiefs on one part and ‘the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Trust Association Limited’ on the other part. However, there is no evidence that the company was incorporated either in Nigeria or England.

In their statement of claim, the plaintiffs are asking the court to declare Wesley Methodist Missionary Trust Association Limited as a none juristic personality that did not exist in law because it was not registered under the relevant laws in place as at the time it purportedly signed the lease agreement with them.

They also asked the court to determine whether Methodist Missionary Trust Association Limited has legal status as an incorporated limited company in Nigeria.

The claimants in their 36-page Motion on Notice stated that only legal persons were capable of possessing legal rights and duties and

since Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Trust Association Limited was not a legal person registered under the Nigerian law as at March 15, 1931 or thereafter it could not acquire an interest in the leasehold land.

The community added that that Methodist Missionary Trust Association Limited has no legal status as it was not an incorporated limited company, hence there was no execution of the Deed of Lease on the disputed land.

The claimants stated that as at March 15, 1931 the Wesley Missionary Trust Association Limited was not known to law and was therefore not legally capable of exercising the powers and functions of an incorporated company including the power to hold the leasehold land.

They maintained that Wesley Missionary Trust Association Limited failed to comply with general conditions laid down in the Companies’ Ordinance of 1912, or the Companies Act of 1948 and failed to obtain registration and incorporation as

a limited liability company.

Besides, the claimants noted that by the provision of Section 54(1) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) every foreign company which before or after the commencement of CAMA was incorporated outside Nigeria and having the intention of carrying on business in Nigeria shall take all steps necessary to obtain incorporation as a separate entity in Nigeria.

They averred that Wesley Missionary Trust Association Limited not being a registered limited liability company as expressed in it name as at March 15, 1931 lacked requisite legal capacity required to enter into leasehold contract.

The claimants added that the domicile origin of Wesley Missionary Trust Association is United Kingdom where it was liable to tax laws but illegally carrying out business in Nigeria without obtaining registration/ incorporation under Nigerian Company statutory legislation.

SUNDAY MARCH 22, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MARCH 22, 2020

OPINION Nigeria’s Democratic Project Abdulwarees Solanke writes that a government should be all-inclusive

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or Nigeria as a democratic project, the ideal government that can build the nation is not one in which the winner takes all. It should be an inclusive government in its constitution or composition. It should be a representation of the interests and needs of all the constituent stakeholders in the nation.

Necessarily, this would include the opposition, giving it consideration or factoring its input in decision making, policy design and implementation. It should also learn from the best practice of past governments’ and sustain the prospects of their public interest-based programmes and projects.

This will be found in a government that is driven by a patriotic desire to stimulate national development and engender transformation in the country. It is a government that transcends the zero sum game characteristic of our political history.

Happily, from the pronouncements and actions of President Muhammadu Buhari so far, this is the prospect that is emerging in the nation, requiring the understanding and support of all.

It is this context that we should explore further, the development challenges that have endured in the country, threatening our national security and cohesion, to the extent that resources that should ordinarily be deployed to developing capacity of the citizens and providing supporting infrastructure for development are now being channelled or stretched on security and combatting corruption.

If this is a demand of public agenda setting that is in the domain of the mass media, we may then ask: what is the role of the media in all these, especially public service broadcasters in de-politicizing development and democratizing transformation? How have they played it in the past? Are they playing it now? Are they empowered to play it?

On another scale, if economics is the science of efficient allocation and utilization of scarce resources to achieve optimum value/ returns for the benefit of the society, it becomes imperative for

leaders and managers of the public sector in the developing world to undertake critical evaluation of the options and choices available to bail them of the quagmire of development crisis in which they are enmeshed.

How have the public and social media assisted in setting or mainstreaming issues to be on public agenda?

Remarkably, these issues however are not merely economic challenge, but entirely development-oriented as the crises we are confronted with are structural and political, calling for innovative and pragmatic approaches, options and measures that are sustainable and truly transformational to unlock us from the tragedies.

Unfortunately, when the subject of reform is raised, most citizens are not clear as to what it entails. Indeed, many interest groups, for parochial reasons, obfuscate the very essence of reform in how they aggregate to challenge or support reform programmes . This obviously explains the failure of reform or development projects and measures we have attempted to pursue in the past but unable to deliver dividends of development which the reforms are intended for.

For us in Nigeria, we are not impeded by any lack of appreciation of our development crisis. Rather, we are constrained mainly by the

A sagacious government is one which depoliticises the distribution of dividends of democracy in ownership of the country as one constituency.

Altruistically, it pursues nondiscriminatory policies which safeguard the interests of all

politics of approaches and choices we take to push through our reform projects.

For this reason, we often disagree or vacillate while trying to generate ideas in the planning stage or we waste time and resources in the implementation stage to compound our challenges. In both cases, we corrupt or compromise reforms.

This seeming lack of collective sincerity and courage therefore portrays the nation in negative perspective as evidenced by our standing in many global ratings and development indices.

The direction most countries pursuing reform now is to interrogate the size and role of government in public service delivery, the involvement of other sector providers including the international government and multilateral agencies.

At the same time, they try to evaluate the political, ideological and cultural parameters that clarify group interests, in the creditable delivery of such development and reform projects.

How well do we take cognizance of these imperatives? First, let me enumerate some reform projects and programmes the nation has embarked upon since the mid-70s and leave you to evaluate our success in them: Land Use, Local government Service, the various agricultural development programmes, WAI, MAMSER, Better Life, Code of Conduct and Anti-corruption initiatives, Vision 2010, Vison 2020, SERVICOM, the Seven Point Agenda, Transformation Agenda, and the heart of Africa Project.

We can also cite Operations Feed the Nation, and the green Revolution Projects of the late 70s and the early 80s without forgetting the post-civil war initiative of the Triple R: Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Reintegration.

––Abdulwarees, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Diplomacy and Management, is Acting Deputy Director, Strategic Planning & Corporate Development at Voice of Nigeria (See concluding part on www. thisdaylive.com)

With Coronavirus, The World is Now A Cave The COVID-19 pandemic holds lessons for the world, writes Simbo Olorunfemi

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hat began as “several cases of unusual pneumonia” in Wuhan, China towards the end of last year, has within a few months become a growing global pandemic. As declared by the World Health Organization (WHO), it has emerged that what the world is dealing with is a new coronavirus responsible for an illness now officially known as COVID-19 which has spread to over 100 countries and territories, with 150,000 infections and almost 10,000 deaths.

Sad and frightening as this is, it is a reminder, even if a grim one, of what the world was predicted to become - a global village.

With the world less than 36 hours apart by air travel, nothing better demonstrates the inherent danger that comes with the world as we now have it than the threats that come with the rapid transport of viruses and their vectors from one part of the world to another through air travel. The world has never been this inter-connected.

While the aeroplane gave us wings to fly from one end to the other, international television, with live broadcast of news and events from every and anywhere further reducing the world, bringing us together even while also pulling us apart, in its own way. But it is the internet that has radically shrunk the world to the point that by virtue of convergence, we now carry the world around in our palms, bags and pocket. An event in one part of the world resonates with another, that the world suddenly becomes one in pain, grief, joy, anxiety or panic, as has presently gripped the world in response to the Coronavirus pandemic.

It should be apparent now for those who had been in doubt that we are all one, after all. By now, those who think otherwise should have realised that we are all holed up in one cave, even if different parts of it. We are all in one cave and we all have to tread with caution for the sake of our survival. Terrorism, migration and disease sit on one of the multi-dimensional boards around which the mighty and the not-so-mighty, of necessity, must engage and cooperate. The world has moved from the bifurcation of forced bi-polarity on account of East-West rivalry and the pseudo unipolarity of a single dominant super-power. The world has changed, in terms of configuration and the nature of power had become evident with the unfortunate incident of 9-11. It signalled there and then that the era in which raw military strength or economic power was all that mattered was coming to an end. It was no longer simply about power transition but also power diffusion, with non-state actors wielding as much influence and even power as state actors. The world has become a multi-dimensional board with overlapping interconnections. One might be the master on one board with military hardware or economic might but vulnerable to a minuscule power or even a non-state actor on another board. It is a different world now. It is no longer just about bullying others to submission. Power is no longer just about the

size of the military or hard power. The global information age has heralded a new world order, where the traditional elements of power can no longer be the major determinant in international relations, but one which throws up the place of multilateralism in navigating many of the challenges that confront the world.

While the world, in large part, seemed to have been coming to a gradual understanding of this new world order, with the most powerful nation in the world moving more in the direction of co-operation and collaboration under the last administration, a new Sheriff came to town who seems to lack an understanding of the demands of the time we live in and the appropriate tools for the age. Whereas the smart thing to do, even for self-interest is to push for collaboration, he rather chose to go the direction of isolationism and misguided exceptionalism, weakening already formed international alliances, talking down the place of long-established international institutions and protocols.

While the United Nations system was yearning for some bolstering from the principal party behind its formation, the new Sheriff was rather trumpeting it, right at the UN General Assembly that "the future does not belong to globalists; it belongs to patriots,” urging world leaders to put nationalism ahead of multilateralism. It should be no surprise that many of the international institutions set up as specialised agencies under the United Nations have not been able to optimally play the roles they were designed for. One of such agencies is the World Health Organisation (WHO) which was set up in 1948 with the mandate for the public health of the people of the world. In its own way, it has taken that charge seriously but it has also been criticised for its handling of a number of health emergencies including the COVID-19 outbreak.

But what cannot be said is that WHO did not warn that the World was at risk of a pandemic as we are presently witnessing.

In the “Annual report on Global Preparedness for Health Emergencies” released by its Global Preparedness Monitoring Board in September, 2019, WHO warned that “the world is at acute risk for devastating regional or global disease epidemics or pandemics that not only cause loss of life but upend economies and create social chaos.” The report lays it out in chilling details – “The chances of a global pandemic are growing. While scientific and technological developments provide new tools that advance public health (including safely assessing medical countermeasures), they also allow for disease-causing microorganisms to be engineered or recreated in laboratories. A deliberate release would complicate outbreak response; in addition to the need to decide how to counter the pathogen, security measures would come into play limiting information-sharing and fomenting social divisions. Taken together, naturally occurring, accidental, or deliberate events caused by high-impact respiratory pathogens pose “global catastrophic biological risks.”

Not only did it identify this high risk, it categorically underlines the fact of the lack of preparation for such a looming risk.

“The world is not prepared for a fast-moving, virulent respiratory pathogen pandemic. The 1918 global influenza pandemic sickened one third of the world population and killed as many as 50 million people - 2.8% of the total population. If a similar contagion occurred today with a population four times larger and travel times anywhere in the world less than 36 hours, 50-80 million people could perish. In addition to tragic levels of mortality, such a pandemic could cause panic, destabilize national security and seriously impact the global economy and trade.” Apparently, not much attention was paid to this report and the result is evident today. It is an irony that the advanced countries, with stronger healthcare systems are grappling with the basics, struggling with the process of screening, tracing, testing, quarantine and isolated treatment regime which Nigeria would appear to have carefully designed and engineered to prevent the spreading of viruses of this nature. It must be one proof that no-one knows it all, reason for which the world must collaborate more and not assume there are some parts of the cave that cannot bring value to the table.

Estimates from the World Bank in the GPMB report have it that “a global influenza pandemic akin to the scale and virulence of the one in 1918 would cost the modern economy US$ 3 trillion, or up to 4.8% of gross domestic product (GDP); the cost would be 2.2% of GDP for even a moderately virulent influenza pandemic (9). Models predict the annual cost of a global influenza pandemic would mean that South Asia’s GDP would drop by 2% (US$ 53 billion), and sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP by 1.7% (US$ 28 billion), the latter equivalent to erasing a full year’s economic growth.”

One can only hope that the coronavirus does not trigger such a devastating effect on the global economy, but we must take on-board that, the world is no longer a village, it is now a Cave and we are all in it. Joseph Nye cautions us that "in a world where borders are becoming more porous than ever to everything from drugs to infectious diseases to terrorism, nations must mobilize international coalitions and build institutions to address shared threats and challenges. In this sense, power becomes a positive-sum game. It is not enough to think in terms of power over others. We must also think in terms of power to accomplish goals that involves power with others.

On many transnational issues, empowering others can help us to accomplish our own goals. In this world, networks and connectedness become an important source of relevant power."

–––Olorunfemi works for Hoofbeatdotcom, a Nigerian Communications Consultancy and publisher of Africa Enterprise (See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MARCH 22, 2020

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LETTERS Journalism And Good Governance

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e must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law’ – Edward R. Murrow.

The legendary John Peter Zenger’s case of 1735 in America set the precedent for press freedom as a watchdog against oppressive government.

In that celebrated case, a colonial jury broke with loathsome and repugnant English legal tradition, which outlawed as ‘seditious libel’ all published criticism of the government - including true and accurate criticism – that might cause public interest.

The jury decided that Zenger, a printer could not be guilty of sedition because his newspaper’s criticism of the British government was, in, fact, true. Perhaps, this underscores challenge of public communication in Nigeria.

Today, officials particularly media jobbers in government houses seek to prevent sensitive information from being revealed to the public, there are no constitutional restraints to public information on national security grounds. However, Information management and public diplomacy has become a big joke particularly with the overbearing influence of government talking head often called ‘senior special assistant on media and publicity’.

They have become all

NUJ President, Isiguzo knowing and leaving consumers of government information in bad taste.

Regrettably, the flattering reputations anchored on courtesies, consecrations and exaltations of political leaders in office as ordained and overtly legitimate present a grave danger for incompetence and a rape on the collective understanding of public policy and good governance.

Government communication managers have mastered the art of lies, self-advertisement, and self-promotion and perfected the destruction of the work of others and those who engage government policies and actions usefully. Many of them have joined in the adulation and propagation of the ‘written untruth’. They all used their tongues and pens to establish and perpetuate myth and broadcast in its simple

messages, which caught on: The president, ministers and governors are good, rest are bad, government policies a success, opposition a failure!

While public communication and diplomacy are not without bias, the primacy of objectivity and social responsibility of the press should not be compromised at the altar of parochialism and propaganda.

Media jobbers make their principals flawless without concerns for good governance and nation-building.

Constructive journalism is an emerging domain, which involves communication based on reporting solutionfocused news, instead of the unscrupulous and reactive stance of media practitioners in the corridor of power.

For the avoidance of doubt, constructive journalism is somewhat a new concept. Nonethe-

less, it is deep-seated in social responsibility theory of the press. This started from Europe and took shape with the Commission on the Freedom of Press that occurred in the US in 1949. The theory is one of the foundational stone for the practice of journalism and it requires the press to abide by a code of conduct and to develop an uncommon standard within journalism. This way, the facts provided by the press are analysed and interpreted so that the people get true information and an understandable public policy, which helps to maintain social harmony by revealing social evils like corruption and discouraging negative tendency of the executives and public servants from manipulating citizens.

Nevertheless, one of the major impediments to strategic public communication is the appointment of inefficient and incompetent media jobbers. Most of the appointees with no sufficient grounding in public policy expertise most time act in emptiness without deep understanding of behaviour change communication. Indeed media and society fit in together in the dynamics of dialectical relationship. They focus on existential defence of their principals’ actions, and in doing so, they misrepresent the public by inducing parochialism, prejudice and lies through their choice of reckless statements to cover up the ills of government.

The talking heads of government media in

2020 As Year of Humility

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n December 28, 2019, Nigerian Prophet TB Joshua declared that 2020 would be the “year of humility”, adding that “God will humble us with our challenges such as affliction.” (https:// www.youtube.com/ watch?v=k6aJLBVG96c).

The events engulfing 2020 thus far have indeed attested to the reality of that declaration. Today, Nigeria joined other African nations such as Ghana, Kenya and South Africa in banning travel from several of the world ‘superpowers’ – including USA, UK, Germany, China and France – over the Coronavirus outbreak.

To wax lyrical, humility means when an antelope is telling a lion not to come to his domain - and the lion obeys the directive of the antelope. Who would have imagined a situation where African nations would ban all visitors from such countries wielding ‘superpower status’? A brief foray into history reveals multiple occasions where nations such as USA would impose travel bans on certain African nations – but today the case is vice versa. The roles have been reversed!

None can deny this is indeed a humbling situation.

And what is the cause of such drastic actions?

The affliction of Coro-

navirus! The disease has spread worldwide, led to crippling economic repercussions and resulted in entire countries virtually grinding to a halt in a ‘lockdown’.

However, as the world grapples to deal with the panic and fear erupting in the wake of the virus, the country where it initially broke out has almost returned to normal! Chinese health officials have announced that in Wuhan, the original epicentre of the Coronavirus outbreak, only one new case of the disease was confirmed!

It is pertinent to point out that on February 29, 2020, Prophet TB Joshua boldly declared that a shower of rain would

fall in Wuhan, China “to wipe away all fears of the unknown” – after which rain fell for that entire week, despite it not being known as the rainy season. Since then, cases of the disease have dramatically fallen to the point where Chinese health experts predicted the entire region would be free from coronavirus by the end of March 2020.

On the contrary, see what is happening in the nations where the Coronavirus did not even start. Such events remind me of the Biblical principle revealed in Mark 6:4 - a prophet has no honour in his own continent, his own town. Sadly, such is the case today!

––Tawia Acheampong, Accra, Ghana.

contemporary Nigeria have become ogre and the social responsibility role of media, which essentially include impartiality and its self –censorship mechanism, in my view, is an enabler and a key driver in agenda setting for public diplomacy. In this, and given that media gatekeepers do not have monopoly of what constitutes information.

The public and consumers of government information, particularly through new media have undergone some transformation in recent years. These uncommon developments cannot be underestimated from 24 - hour news stations to online media platforms, the Nigerian discerning public and indeed the world have many sources of information than ever before.

Against this backdrop, spokespersons should embrace constructive journalism, which aims to give stories more contexts and make public communication a dialogue and government – to – citizens’ journalism become more active, participatory and engaging. What is important in my view, spoke persons as custodian of government information should be willing to submit government constraints and performances to alternative viewpoints,

R

robust criticism and balance reportage for the greater good. It should be noted journalism and public communication is an essential tool in a democratic political process.

Taking public information forward, practitioners of both government departments and state house journalists should come to the understanding of the role of bad journalistic storytelling and lies, which is affront to sustainable democracy and development. With the public good in mind, the bearer of public information must remain committed to journalism’s core values in searching for and reporting the truth and not but the truth, whilst leaving citizens feeling positive about government actions and inactions because positive communication will cause citizens to feel energized, open, optimistic and ready to engage in public affairs.

Crucially, the ability and willingness of media men on the other side of the divide to re- examine critically its system of engaging and reporting government policies and programme is indeed one of the challenges of this administration and its leadership.

––Samuel Orovwuje, founder Humanitarian Care for Displaced Persons, Lagos.

The 2020 NBA Conference

ecently, the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) approved Port Harcourt, Rivers State, as the venue for the 2020 NBA Annual General Conference (NBA-AGC). The body also proposed conference fees for participants based on their years of call. My attention is particularly drawn to the proposed amount to be paid by new wigs. Young wigs (lawyers) are to pay N20,000 for early birds, N45,000 as regular fee and N90,000 for late registration.

For the bourgeoisie or lucky few in this harsh economy, this amount of money is nothing. But for the majority of new wigs, who wear shoes and know where they pinch, it would quickly dawn on us that this could be a brazen systemic seclusion by the NBA from the conference.

There is an old cliché that says, if you are not at the table dining, then you are on the menu. Of a profession that offers

young wigs peanuts and servile positions, one could quickly feel that even though NBA is supposed to be for all lawyers, but truly, it may not be so in the real sense. Aside the registration fee, the cost of transportation to and from the venue, feeding and accommodation for the whole period of the conference may prevent new lawyers from attending.

Therefore, we call on the NBA National Executive Committee to reduce the said amount for the sake of the new wigs.

For the good image of NBA, we urge that the amount be reduced. At least, for the fact that this year's conference would be a landmark and historic, being the 60th AGC. Any trade or profession that does not strongly put into consideration the well-being of its young members has embarked on a summary retrogressive journey.

This is a pathway that NBA should not follow.

––Victor Opatola, Abuja.

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SUNDAY MARCH 22, 2020 •T H I S D AY

SUNDAY MARCH 22, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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MA ͺͺ˜ ͺ͸ͺ͸ ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

INTERNATIONAL International Community and COVID-19: God’s Hands or Limitations of Reactive Approaches?

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n a constantly changing world of globalisation, particularly with climate change, the worst scenarios can no longer be ruled out. With excessive heat, excessive flooding and rising sea level, increasing international migration, coupled with declining interest in regional integration, lifestyle has to be adjusted in order to cope with the challenges coming with the new changes. It means therefore that the coping with the constant changes will be reactive in the main, on the one hand, but temporarily preventive, on the other. The anti-coronavirus measures undertaken by many countries of the world clearly lend credence to this observation.

Without doubt, coronavirus is a new virus. It is a new development and a new threat to global peace and security.

It is as deadly as the Ebola virus. Natural disasters, like the Tsunami saga, cannot be compared to it, in terms of its deadly implications. The seriousness of coronavirus, as a problem, is currently the major challenge for most countries of the world, and particularly, for the World Health Organisation (WHO), which is currently most preoccupied with it. Many countries are also reacting to the problem.

First, one major problem with reactive measures, as good as they may be, is that a lot of damage is often done before lasting measures are put in place. In other words, when there is an outbreak of a virus, for instance, Government is always caught unawares. Being caught unawares means running helter-skelter before getting to see more clearly on what to decide to be the best way forward.

In Africa, for instance, Senegal is leading in the number of coronavirus victims in West Africa with more than 30 casualties, ditto for Egypt in the North Africa with over 70 victims. South Africa has the highest number of victims in Southern Africa, with 62 people. In fact, thirty-nine countries in Africa have infected victims and the number of total victims is nearing 500.

The point being made with this increasing number of victims is to note that the affected countries have been caught unawares, they are currently unable to promptly contain the pandemic, and they do not have the means of their own to solve the problem. Without doubt, they have taken some measures, but the measures have not nipped the spread of the virus in the bud.

Second, and more often than not, the immediate reactive measures taken might be good to start with, but hardly good enough for lasting purposes. One relevant illustration is that of the WHO, which believed at a point in time that yellow fever had belonged to the dust bin of history, but only to wake up later and discover its recurrence. When it was believed that yellow fever had been permanently eradicated, there was, for a reasonable length of time, no insistence on the provision of international yellow vaccination cards for international travellers or for issuance of visas. Today, the story is different.

Emphasis is increasingly being placed again on yellow fever vaccination before a traveller can be granted entry into many countries of the world.

In the context of the coronavirus, it reportedly originated from the Wuhan province of China. To argue to the contrary may be difficult to prove. However, we submit here that there is nothing to suggest that the origin of coronavirus is China on the basis of one critical submission by scientists that, unlike in the case of Ebola virus, an individual might have been infected for some time before its symptomatic manifestations are shown.

In the case of Ebola virus, it is the contrary. If we admit of this scientific observation, the possibility of an already coronavirusinfected person coming from outside of the Wuhan province, which is believed to be the first host of the virus, cannot be ruled out. The carrier of the virus might have come from within China or from outside China. It is the mere fact of China playing host to the highest number of confirmed cases of coronavirus and death that it is easily and generally believed that the virus must have originated from China. The manner many countries of the world are going about trying to contain it raises the biblical dimensions to the pandemic and intellectual limitations to the prescribed measures.

The Bible and Anti-COVID-19 Measures

COVID-19 can be explained from many perspectives. The virus can be very deadly but powerful countries are always much interested in viruses like the COVID-19 for purposes of biological and chemical weapons. From the perspectives of international law, both biological and chemical weapons are prohibited. However, countries that do have the means have always secretly developed whatever is considered necessary to ensure national security. This observation can be seen from

VIE INTERNATIONALE with

Bola A. Akinterinwa Telephone : 0807-688-2846

e-mail: bolyttag@yahoo.com

State Minister of Health, Sen. Olorunimbe Mamora the angle of the killing of an Iranian statesman in Iraq as a pre-emptive measure allegedly to ensure the safety of Americans. Such killing is unlawful but it is defended on the altar of legitimate self-defence.

Biblically, in the book of Isaiah, in chapter 26, verse 20, we are told about God’s message to his people that they should hide themselves in order to keep themselves safe because of God’s anger. As provided in the King James version, verse 20 says: ‘come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be over past.’ In other words, there is a situation of indignation about which God is not happy and which the people of God are required to hide themselves for a little moment.

Perhaps more relevantly, verse 21 of chapter 26 of the same book of Isaiah says ‘for behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.’

In other words, is the emergence of COVID-19 an act of God? Is COVID-19 meant to punish ‘the inhabitants of the earth? Is it a fulfilment of God’s words that the earth ‘shall disclose her blood’?

If the COVID-19 is a manifestation of the word of God, all the various measures undertaken by Member States of the international community cannot but constitute a non-solution. The interesting point at this juncture is also that many countries have also resorted into prayers, begging God to have mercy. And true enough, Donald Trump’s America is one of the first nations to set aside a special day of prayers to God. In the words of Donald Trump in his tweets, ‘it is my great honor to declare Sunday, March 15th (2020) as a National Day of Prayer. We are a country that, throughout our history, has looked to God for protection and strength in times like these.

No matter where you may be, I encourage you to turn towards prayer in an act of faith. Together, we will easily prevail.’ Donald Trump’s encouragement is quite good and worthy of emulation. However, will God answer any prayer by someone who is not ready to repent, or who repents only to re-engage in the same sinful acts?

Particularly in Nigeria, there are prayer warriors who pray day and night against societal evils, and yet, the impact on Nigeria is yet to be felt and the reason cannot be far-fetched:

Without scintilla of doubt,all the various measures taken so far by many governments to contain the COVID-19 can be good, but never good enough without the people first seeking repentance.The United States has prayed.TheAfrican Catholic Bishops are on record to have also specially composed a prayer to be recited by all Catholics against the COVID-19.More interestingly,the Bishops advised that people should ‘pray for those infected and affected by this disease and for a quick end to the scourge of the coronavirus.’This advice is good as another uncommon measure in addressing the problems of the virus.The mere fact that Prophet Isaiah already gave an inkling of what is currently happening, policy makers should therefore not simply limit their efforts at containment to reactive and preventive measures but should also seek a permanent solution by seeking the face of God

unending engagement in preventable iniquities which irritate God who has made it clear that the smallest in sin cannot stand in His sight. What we also do know is that God readily forgives if there is intention or evidence of repentance and intention not to continue to engage in further sinful acts. The story of Nigerian prayer warriors and Christians, in general, cannot be said to have been good enough to warrant God’s favour.

The point being made here is not only, stricto sensu, the issue of genesis or originating place of the virus, but also the meaninglessness of whatever measures are being taken by various countries to combat the virus, if we admit of the fact that COVID-19 is a manifestation of the provisions of verses 20 and 21 of Isaiah, chapter 26.

For instance, the general preventive trend is to ask people to stay at home. Unlike in the United States where several public and private institutions have been closed, and yet, people are required to work from home thanks to the internet, in Nigeria, offices, schools, etc are closed down but the opportunity for worker to work from home is not there. Is closing offices and schools down really the solution?

In terms of plain truth, for as long as a carrier of the virus can come from an unknown destination, when the virus might have not been detected, necessarily makes a nonsense of any placement of restriction or ban on outgoing and incoming flights from and to some countries. Many countries, including Nigeria, adopted the policy of banning flights from some perceived COVID-19 infected countries.

However, the ban, though, has its merit from the perspective that it can assist in more effectively controlling the spread of the virus, especially when containment capacity has not been achieved, what is required is having enough and sustainable capacity to contain the virus at the domestic level and not simply preventing additional inflow of carriers of the virus into the country. The already infected people, though few in number, are more dangerous than those arriving in the country. Most of the people quarantined are those who have voluntarily surrendered themselves.

Another truth of the matter is that coronavirus has been carried to different nooks and crannies of the regions of the world.

There are currently not less than 160 countries with confirmed cases of the virus. More than 7000 infected victims have died.

Besides, the rate at which the virus is also being spread is not only alarming, but has also compelled the WHO not only to rename the virus, from coronavirus to COVID-19, but also to re-designate it, from ‘epidemic’ to ‘pandemic.’ The implications of these decisions cannot be far-fetched.

One resultant effect is the need to adopt a more effective measure to contain the pandemic and measures have been variously adopted internationally. However, the measures, varying from one country to the other, have been majorly reactive and not generally programmatic. They are panicky and not designed to be preventive. In other words, the aspect of possible re-occurrence in the foreseeable future, after a temporary solution might have been found, and also the possibility of a new and more deadly virus also emerging as a result of the trending climate change, appears to have been ignored, which is most unfortunate. This is why it has become necessary to go beyond the limitations of the reactive and containment methods of COVID-19. At this juncture, an overview of the global efforts at containment of the virus is necessary in light of the aforementioned biblical injunction.

Anti-COVID-19 Strategies and Limitations

Global anti-COVID-19 strategies are more reactive than preventive. First, the general public is advised to be cautious and more hygienic: covering the mouth with disposable tissues when sneezing or coughing, avoiding contacts with people having symptoms of coughing, sneezing or having fever, avoiding hugging and handshaking, regular washing of hand with soap, avoiding social groups, staying indoor if one has the symptoms of the virus, and promptly seeking medical attention. All these measures of public enlightenment are given in the belief that COVID-19 is very contagious. And without doubt, it really is.

In this regard, the WHO has encouraged all its Member States to enlighten their citizens, as well as take other necessary steps to deal with the pandemic. The European Union made it clear on March 10, 2020 that it would come up with a ‘Corona Response Investment Initiative (CRII) that would be aimed at enhancing health care system, SMEs, labour markets and other vulnerable parts of the EU Member States’ economies.

The President of the European Parliament, Mr. David Sassoli, has asked EU Member States to ‘stop limiting supplies of medical equipment within the EU and stop taking unilateral action to prevent free movement.’ In other words, whether or not an individual is a carrier of COVID-19, the principle of free movement is not expected to be tampered with.

In the words of Mr. Sassoli, ‘the challenges presented by the rapid spread of COVID-19 show that cooperation and solidarity are needed now, more than ever. No effort will be spared to protect people’s health and help those in need. We need to ensure adequate production and supply of medical equipment, so (that) it is available wherever it is needed in the EU. (See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍşËœ 2020

BUSINESS Saving the Naira from COVID-19, Oil Price Slump Editor: Kunle Aderinokun

08033204315, 08111813084 Email:kunle.aderinoku@thisdaylive.com

The Central Bank of Nigeria has succumbed to rising pressure from the spreading COVID-19 pandemic and the crash in crude oil price that have roiled financial markets, writes Obinna Chima

T

he uncertainty in the global economy has continued to increase due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The disease as well as the oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, have damaged appetite for assets prices across the world, with investors adopting a wait-and-see approach.

In fact, the outbreak and spread of the disease has resulted to volatility in markets around the world as there is little clarity on what trajectory the virus will take and how effective government measures will be.

For crude oil, the slump in price was triggered by a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia as well as very low demand for the commodity due to the virus. As of last Wednesday, the benchmark Brent crude price fell to an 18-year low of $22.85 per barrel after Saudi Arabia threatened to ramp up production to an all-time high of 12 million barrels per day in the coming months. It, however, traded around $29 per barrel on Friday.

In Nigeria, oil revenue remains the backbone of the economy and provides majority of the country’s revenue and forex inow.

In fact, oil accounts for about 90 per cent of Nigeria’s export revenue and accounts for about 60 per cent of total federal government’s revenue. This explains why oil price movement is often the bellwether for the country’s economic health, and why there is a swift pass-through on exchange rate and ination.

The foreign reserves have since depreciated to $35.9 billion as at last Thursday.

These unfortunate developments have forced the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to adjust the naira/dollar exchange rate, effective Monday.

Going forward, the naira/dollar exchange rate on the Investors and Exporters’ (I&E) window is now pegged at $380 to a dollar and would be allowed to freely move around the targeted band, THISDAY gathered from a reliable CBN source.

The naira closed at N372 to a dollar on the I & E window on Friday. Activity level on forex window strengthened last week as total turnover surged 126.3 per cent to $3 billion from $1.3 billion recorded the previous week.

In addition, the source told THISDAY that from Monday, the exchange rate for the dollar on the Bureau De Change (BDC) window would also be adjusted to N380 to a dollar, as against N360 to a dollar it was last week.

The N380 to a dollar would also apply to the small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) as well as customers requesting the greenback for invisibles such as tuition fees, personal travel allowance and business travel allowance.

Furthermore, THISDAY learnt that the ofďŹ cial exchange rate would from this week, be adjusted to N360 to a dollar, as against its current rate of N307 to a dollar. “You may choose to call it technical devaluation if you like, but all I am saying is that there’s an adjustment in I & E window of the market to reect developments foisted on the market by the COVID-19 crisis. “So, what we have done is to allow the naira mirror developments in the market-determined I &E window,â€?the source explained.

A circular from the CBN conďŹ rmed the development. The circular addressed to all banks and BDCs titled,’Weekly Exchange Rate Disbursement of Proceeds of International Money Transfer Service Operators (IMTSOs)’, dated March 20, 2020, stated that from Monday, the applicable exchange rate for dollar sales from IMTSOs to banks would be N376 to a dollar.

Also, the circular that was signed by the Director, Trade and Exchange Department, CBN, Dr. O.S. Nnaji, further stated that the exchange rate for banks to the CBN would

Naira and dollar notes

be N377 to a Dollar; CBN to BDCs would be N378 to a Dollar; BDCs to end-users would not be more than N380 to a Dollar. “Volume of sale for each market is $20,000 per BDC. Kindly note that the GBP rate should be derived from the dollar cross rate on the date of sale,�it added.

The CBN had last year, said if crude price drops below $45 per barrel and at the same time the external reserves fell below $30 billion, the bank might be compelled to devalue the naira.

Trading data from Bloomberg terminal on Thursday, had shown that at the auction of the CBN open market operations (OMO) instruments, demand had dropped signiďŹ cantly, which was a reection that Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have since adopted a waitand-see approach to the raging COVID-19 pandemic.

The parallel market, rate closed on Friday N375 to a dollar. At the FMDQ Securities Exchange (SE) FX Futures Contract Market, the total value of open contracts settled at $13.6 billion, 5.3 per cent higher than the prior week.

The MAR 2021 instrument (contract price: N371.00) had the most buying interest in the week with an additional subscription of $92.7 million which took total value to $645.6 million.

Meanwhile, the MAR 2020 instrument (contract price: N367.22) was the least subscribed with an additional subscription of $15.5 million putting the total value to $1.3 billion.

To analysts at Afrinvest West Africa Limited, going forward,“We do not see a substantial turn around in the direction of oil prices until both parties signal an early return to the negotiation table.�

The Director General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr. Musa Yusuf, told THISDAY that current macroeconomics realities as well as developments in

PHOTO: Shutterstock

the global economy has made exchange rate adjustment inevitable.

Yusuf, however, also said he was not clear about what the position of the central bank on the issue of devaluation or exchange rate adjustment was. “But the reality is that it is difďŹ cult, if not impossible, to subdue the market. “My view is that current macroeconomic fundamentals cannot support the current exchange rate regime. This underscores the inevitability of an exchange rate adjustment. “We actually do not have a choice in the circumstances. To do otherwise is to create new complications and precipitate a crisis for the economy.You cannot give what you don’t have.The facts are glaring and overwhelming,â€? he added To the Global Chief Economist at Renaissance Capital, Charles Robertson,“Proof the virus is being brought under control is needed before investors can begin to focus on the economic fall-out from the lockdowns. “A slowdown in Italy’s cases might help – but US markets are unlikely to stabilise when active cases are rising by nearly 40 per cent a day. We think we need to see at least half that ďŹ gure. “There is increased bearishness among many we speak to. We think it is time for the IMF and World Bank, G-7 and China, to offer signiďŹ cant support to emerging and frontier markets.â€?

Also, analysts at Moody’s Investor Services noted that the global spread of the coronavirus would slow economic growth signiďŹ cantly and inict disproportionate damage on some highly-exposed economies. “The rapid spread of the coronavirus in the last two weeks, widespread business closures and unprecedented restrictions on social interactions will result in a permanent hit to

global economic activity this year. “A sharp contraction of the global economy, at least in the second quarter, appears imminent. “Given sharply lower global growth expectations and acute market volatility, we have taken some rating actions already in the most affected sectors and expect to take more in the coming weeks. “These actions reect the breadth and severity of the shock, and the broad deterioration in credit quality that it has triggered,â€?it added.

The unfortunate development in the global market has seen central banks and policy makers around the world continue to introduce stimulus package tackle the impact of the disease on economies.

In Nigeria, the CBN last week announced its decision to increase its intervention to boost local manufacturing and import substitution with the injection of an additional N1.1 trillion across all critical sectors of the economy.

The move, which was in line with the banking sector regulator’s efforts to cushion the impact of COVID-19 on the Nigerian economy, came two days after it had unveiled a six-point palliative to ameliorate the continued impact of the global pandemic on the country.

The CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin EmeďŹ ele, also announced a fresh N100 billion loan to support the health authorities to ensure laboratories, researchers and innovators work with global scientists to patent and or produce vaccines and test kits in Nigeria, to prepare for any major crises ahead.

EmeďŹ ele had also said an implementation committee to drive the private sector contribution of N1.5 trillion infrastructure funding that will link farming communities to markets as agreed at the recently concluded ‘Going for Growth,’economic roundtable held in Abuja, last week, would be set up this week.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍşËœ 2020

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Fuel dispensing nozzle

Of Regulation, Deregulation and Petroleum Products Pricing With low oil prices in the international market, the Nigerian government has been quick to throw a token of fuel price reduction at Nigerians. But there is nothing salutary about the decision of the government to intervene yet again and determine the price of petroleum products. Nosa James-Igbinadolor reports

F

or a government making pretensions to running a free market economy, the terse announcement from the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva sounded incongruous and antithetical to the spirit of a market-determined economy.

The minister, on 18 March 2020, had verbosely announced, “The drop in crude oil prices has lowered the expected open price of imported petrol below the official pump price of N145 per litre. “Therefore, Mr President has approved that Nigerians should benefit from the reduction in the price of PMS, which is a direct effect of the crash in global crude oil prices. “In view of this situation, based on the price modulation template approved in 2015, the federal government is directing the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to reduce the ex-coastal and ex-depot prices of PMS to reflect current

market realities. “Also, the PPPRA shall subsequently issue a monthly guide to NNPC and marketers on the appropriate pricing regime. The agency is further directed to modulate pricing in accordance with prevailing market dynamics and respond appropriately to any further oil market development. “It is believed that this measure will have a salutary effect on the economy, provide relief to Nigerians and will provide a framework for sustainable supply of PMS to our country.�

Sylva explained that the drop in crude oil prices had lowered the expected open market price of imported petrol below the official pump price of N145 per litre.

He added, “Therefore, Mr. President has approved that Nigerians should benefit from the reduction in the price of PMS which is a direct effect of the crash in global crude oil prices. In view of this situation, based on the price modulation template approved in 2015, the federal government is direct-

ing the NNPC to reduce the ex-coastal and ex-depot prices of PMS to reflect current market realities. Also, the PPPRA shall subsequently issue a monthly guide to NNPC and marketers on the appropriate pricing regime.

The agency is further directed to modulate pricing in accordance with prevailing market dynamics and respond appropriately to any further oil market development.�

There is absolutely nothing salutary about the decision of the government to intervene yet again and determine the price of petroleum products. At a banal level, it depicts a caring government attuned to the socio-economic challenges of its citizens, but on a more perceptive plane, it really shows a conflicted government indecisive in taking fundamental macroeconomic decisions and keen on allowing a failed economic policy to keep holding the nation to ransom.

Official figures from the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPRA) show that money spent by the federal government

in subsidizing petrol is anticipated to gulp a whopping N750.81 billion in 2020. The responsibility of paying for petrol subsidy has been borne for two years on behalf of the federal government by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

This in itself is a major problem as the NNPC has a huge credibility deficit. The 2019 IMF report said of Nigeria’s oil behemoth, “NNPC is self-reporting and its figures cannot be verified or challenged by other government bodies, complicating the validation of information. There are concerns about the accuracy of revenue statements and room for enhancing the level of disclosure, including on what NNPC ultimately considers as net revenue.

As highlighted by NEITI, there is significant scope to improve the regularity of NNPC disclosures.�

Petrol subsidy means the government pays petrol marketers for the difference between the regulated price of imported petrol and the Expected Open Market Price (EOMP), estimated

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍšÍ˝Ëœ 2020

BUSINESS/ECONOMY Of Regulation, Deregulation and Petroleum Products Pricing by the PPPRA as an import subsidy. This programme is handled through the Petroleum Subsidy Fund (PSF).

As noted recently by BudgIT, with no strategic framework for the removal of the country’s petrol subsidy programme and a population expected to balloon to 398 million people by 2050, Nigeria risks carrying the financial burden of a subsidy programme that could drown out the development of its other sectors over the next 15 years.

The organisation goes on to note that “fuel subsidy� deprives the nation of funds needed for critical socio-economic development.

For example, the 10 trillion N consumed by the subsidy regime is sufficient to provide 27,000 megawatts (MW) of solar-powered electricity for stable power supply.

As the World Bank posited in its 2015 Nigeria Economy Report No. 3, fuel subsidy has the capacity of incapacitating the country’s ability to save for the rainy day.

The report had warned: “The $35 billion cost of the fuel subsidy during 2010–2014 was a primary reason why Nigeria was unable to accumulate a fiscal reserve in the excess crude account that could have protected the country from the recent oil price shock. Fuel subsidy obligations are expected to reach 18 percent of all government oil revenues in 2015, and, if the current regulated prices are maintained, this is projected to increase to more than 30 percent by 2018.�

The report further went on to note that “in recent years, numerous audits and reports have identified widespread corruption and fraud in the administration of the fuel subsidy, and official petrol imports have substantially exceeded actual consumption.

Attempts by the government to crack down on fraud and delay payment of the subsidy have commonly met with severe fuel shortages in the country that also impose high economic and welfare costs on Nigerians�.

For decades, successive Nigerian governments have battled with the demon of petrol price subsidy, yet failed woefully to exorcise the country of the deadly evil. Even though the country is a major oil producer, it imports 91 percent of its daily petrol needs, leaving local prices exposed to shocks from exchange rate fluctuations. Under the Buhari administration, the local currency has consistently and persistently lost its value from N174 to a dollar in the middle of 2015 to N400 in the black market today.

Fiscal policy has remained expansionary and continues to be shaped by developments in the oil sector, rendering the fiscal situation fragile.

Nigeria has long subsidized fuel for its citizens. The cost of the subsidy is high, and economists and the international financial institutions have argued for many years that it significantly distorts the economy. Since the establishment of civilian government in 1999, consecutive presidents have sought to reduce or eliminate the subsidy. But such efforts have been scaled back or abandoned because of deep popular opposition. On occasion, proposals for curtailing the subsidy has led to strikes and serious riots in urban areas, such as Lagos.

Fuel subsidy is very popular because it is the only means by which most Nigerians benefit from the country’s petroleum.

It is this placebo effect in which

Buhari

Sylva

Nigerians see fuel subsidy as their own form of resource transfer from a government that otherwise provides them little or nothing from the current political economy.

With an estimated 37.2 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, Nigeria is one of the world’s largest oil producers. However, the country’s mineral riches have not resulted in a significant improvement in the quality of life for the majority of Nigeria’s citizens, 52 percent of whom live below the national poverty line. In 2019, Nigeria earned about $50 billion from oil and gas sales, thus, the country does not lack the re-

sources to reach its development goals, rather its resources have been utilized inefficiently.

It is this inefficiency characterized by the behemoth called corruption that has kept petrol subsidy standing strong, unable to be dislodged by forces of reforms and rationality.

Kiran Pandey of the Centre for Science and Environment in India in 2019 said, “Nigeria has spent on average N833 billion (about $2.3 billion) a year to subsidize petroleum imports in the past 12 years. The real amount has skyrocketed nearly 5,000 percent and is projected to be at N1.15 trillion.�

Yet, it is not low-income Nigerians who benefit. Expenditure data as reported by the World Bank showed that the distribution of these subsidies is disproportionately concentrated in the hands of the rich. Richer, households spend a larger amount on fuel products, and, consequently, benefit more than poorer households from any universal subsidy on these products. On average the richest 20 percent receive over six times more in subsidy benefits than the poorest 20 percent.

Fuel subsidy largely favours people in higher-income groups as they own cars, run generators more, use more fuel, live in bigger houses and consume more energy. In contrast, the poor often residing in the rural parts of Nigeria, tend to use more charcoal, kerosene, firewood, use less transportation, live in their own small homes, source food from their immediate local and farms. Varied reports by the National Bureau of Statistics on household expenditure supports this view.

Nigeria’s fuel subsidy continues to crowd out other development spending. As reported by Bloomberg, Nigeria spends four times more money subsiding fuel than building new schools, health centre and equipping new science labs. Nigeria’s total allocation for education is about $1.974 billion and it is not much higher for health care. Infant mortality in Nigeria remains unacceptably high at 90.4 per 1,000 live births.

In 2016, it was estimated that only 15 percent of the country’s roads were paved. The $8 billion from the fuel subsidy could help to address some of these issues.

This is a no-brainer and certainly neither justifiable nor sustainable.

No doubt, the fall in oil prices occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic and the Russia-Saudi ‘oil war’ provides the government with a veritable platform to destroy the subsidy demon once and for all. The problem, however, is that the government and its agents will likely not take advantage of it to do right to the Nigerian economy and people.

The reason is simple; over the years, monies paid as subsidies have become sources of immense wealth to a few who lurk within the corridors of power.

Successive Nigerian governments have neither displayed the commitment nor the urgency to effectively end the scourge of fuel subsidy.

The Nigeria Economic Society (NES) Policy brief aptly noted, “Economically-efficient and environmentally-responsive fuel pricing policy has been confronted by two key challenges. In many of the oil-exporting countries, few policy issues pitch good economics against good politics as fuel subsidy. “First, the entitlement syndrome linked to citizens’ expectation of a share of the oil cake in an economy richly endowed with oil resources and secondly, the political difficulty associated with reconciling the heterogeneity of interests of key stakeholders in the sub-sector.

The difficulty facing the elimination of the subsidy trap derives from a coalition of interests that are against efficiency-oriented reform of the sub-sector. They include the powerful petroleum industry labour unions and those who benefit from fuel subsidy payments.�

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍşËœ 2020

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Marina Lagos

Assuaging Covid-19-induced Economic Pain James Emejo assesses the recent responses by both fiscal and monetary authorities to the current threat posed by the outbreak and spread of the Covid-19 pandemic to the global and domestic economy

N

o doubt, the recent outbreak of coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has brought world economies to their knees with bleak future prospects and Nigeria

is no exception.

As a result, the World Bank alongside other ratings agencies have had to consider a downward review of global growth potentials for 2020.

Since the outbreak last December in China, and subsequent spread to several parts of the world including Italy, United States, Germany, Britain, France among other European countries and Africa in particular, world economic fortunes have nosedived, sending both the domestic and global stock market crashing as well as global crude oil price, which went as low as $25 per barrel at a point.

The virus had also come with huge human cost, killing over 9,000 people globally while hundreds of thousands have been infected, a dire situation, which had led to major lockdowns in several parts of the world.

To contain the spread of the virus, several countries have further restricted international travels and curtailed movements while key sectors of the economy including aviation, manufacturing, tourism, ďŹ nancial services among others have shut down.

As a result, the Nigerian economy is currently in a dire situation given that it relies 80 per cent on oil revenues to survive. And with an economy, which is largely undiversiďŹ ed,

it is only a matter of time before the full consequence of the outbreak is unleashed.

Given that the country also relies heavily on China and other European nations- all of which are currently battling the coronavirusfor its imports, there are further concerns that it is only a matter of time before cost- push inationary pressures begin to manifest.

The situation is further compounded by the fact that Nigeria is also battling the Covid-19 outbreak, having been imported into the country by travelers. About 12 cases have so far been conďŹ rmed, leading to speculations that the country will soon be under lockdown to manage the crisis as some states had already shut down public and private school schools.

If anything, the Covid-19 outbreak has brought major strain on government revenues, especially Nigeria, which relies mainly on oil to ďŹ nance its annual budget.

And as countries continue to reel out emergency intervention programmes to address the current situation, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last week unveiled a number of policy initiatives aimed at reducing the adverse impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, a development which was commended by analysts.

The apex bank further announced its decision to increase its intervention to boost local manufacturing and import substitution with the injection of an additional N1 trillion across all critical sectors of the economy.

The CBN’s intervention include an extension of the moratorium on the apex bank’s intervention programmes, interest rate reduc-

tion, creation of a N50 billion targeted credit facility and credit support for the healthcare industry. Others are strengthening the CBN’s Loan to Deposit Ratio (LDR) policy and regulatory forbearance.

The CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin EmeďŹ ele, had announced a moratorium of one year on all principal repayments, effective March 1, 2020, as well as interest rate reduction on all applicable CBN intervention facilities from nine per cent to ďŹ ve per cent per annum for one year effective March 1, 2020.

He said the total CBN intervention facilities through the Commercial Agricultural Credit Loan Scheme, the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) and the Agric, Small and Medium Enterprise Scheme (AGSMEIS) among others are currently worth about N3 trillion and the new rate cut will apply to all facilities.

EmeďŹ ele further announced the creation of a N50 billion targeted credit facility through the NIRSAL MicroďŹ nance Bank for households and small- and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) that have been particularly hard hit by Covid-19, including but not limited to hoteliers, airline service providers, health care merchants, among others.

He also unveiled some sort of credit support for the healthcare industry to meet the potential increase in demand for healthcare services and products in the country adding that the apex bank had extended its intervention facilities to provide loans to pharmaceutical companies intending to expand/open their drug manufacturing

plants in the country.

The CBN boss, who particularly announced a fresh N100 billion loan to support the health authorities to ensure laboratories, researchers and innovators work with global scientists to patent and or produce vaccines and test kits in Nigeria, to prepare for any major crises ahead, had said the healthcare programme will also accommodate hospital and healthcare practitioners who intend to expand/build the health facilities to ďŹ rstclass centres.

He said this was in addition to growing the size of existing intervention to the agricultural and manufacturing sectors in the country while there would be a regulatory forbearance for deposit money banks (DMBs) going forward.

Among other things, EmeďŹ ele, speciďŹ cally said the CBN will immediately grant all DMBs leave to consider temporary and time-limited restructuring of the tenor and loan terms for businesses and households most affected by the outbreak of COVID-19 particularly oil and gas, agriculture, and manufacturing.

The CBN palliatives was also followed by the federal government’s decision to reduce the ofďŹ cial pump price of petrol from N145 to N125, in a move aimed at dousing the impact of the coronavirus outbreak which appeared to have crippled global economy with catastrophic impact on domestic economies.

EmeďŹ ele said the CBN’s response had become inevitable given that the COVID-19 pandemic was having signiďŹ cant adverse consequences for both the global and the

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍşËœ 2020

BUSINESS/ECONOMY Assuaging Covid-19-induced Economic Pain Nigerian economies.

He said the development had led to“unprecedented disruptions in global supply chains, a sharp reduction in crude oil prices, turmoil in global stock and ďŹ nancial markets, widespread cancellations in sporting, entertainment and business events, the lockdown of large swaths of movements of persons in many countries, and intercontinental travel restrictions across critical air routes in the world. “These outcomes have had serious adverse implications for key sectors, including but not limited to oil and gas, airlines, manufacturing, trade and consumer markets.â€?

Expatiating further on the initiatives, EmeďŹ ele said revenue shortages occasioned by the impact of COVID-19 could make loan repayment difďŹ cult for individuals and organisations, who had subscribed to some of its intervention schemes, including the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) and the CBN Agric, Small and Medium Enterprise Scheme (AGSMEIS) among others.

He said:“What we are trying to say is that the burden of taking a loan and the strain of getting revenue to repay the loan has been ameliorated for you to the extent that you pay much less for your loan repayment for a longer period.�

Asked if the CBN will also consider a cut in Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) otherwise known as interest rate to further ameliorate the impact of the pandemic, the CBN governor said it could not unilaterally tinker with the policy rate, adding that a decision will likely be arrived at during the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting slated for next week.

He said:“The CBN would not decree on interest rates but what happens is that as a result of activities in the market, the size of liquidity in the market- interest rate will either go up or come down also depending on the decisions of the monetary policy committee. “And you all know that as a result of the loan to deposit ratio policy, we have seen that banks over a seven-month period from May 2019 to December 2019 had granted almost N2 trillion in additional credit running across all the sectors of the economy, including households individual and the rest of them.�

He added:“In the course of this, interest rates have also come down and we all know that. We know of some corporates today that have gone out to raise corporate bonds and they have raised those bonds at single-digit rates today, which are far lower than the rates at which they would have raised this money in the market even a year ago. “So, what am I saying? That interest rate is already low anyway but that by our activities and also the fact that we would continue to emphasise and play direct focus on the issue of the loan to deposit ratio, which sort of pushes the banks to lend, and that process of market competition for loans will naturally result in lower interest rate like we have seen today. So we are not afraid of that, we know what to do and that will naturally happen.�

Continuing, he said:“But the area where we felt that we needed to speak on directly is that because of the drop in revenues to companies that may be or that will be directly adversely impacted upon by this COVID-19 and economic crisis; because their revenues will drop, that we are saying that if your loan was initially meant to be a three-year loan, where for instance, you were paying on a monthly basis, say you took N10 million and you were paying N100,000 as repayment, we are saying that we are going to grant the banks the dispensation where they can restructure your loan from three-year to six-year, such that in addition to lie interest rate, what you will be making in installments of your loans would have been dropped from say N100,000 monthly to say N50,000 monthly to match the reduction in revenues arising from the impact of coronavirus. So it will naturally get to everybody.�

On MPR reduction, he said:“There are so many things the monetary policy committee takes into consideration in its determination as to whether or not to alter MPR. I think we should just wait. Indeed, MPC will be holding next week and I am also sure that with the array of data that will be confronting MPC by next week, they will direct as to whether or not to alter, reduce, raise interest rate.�

Buhari

Meanwhile, several analysts who spoke to THISDAY have commended the apex bank’s proactive response aimed towards economic sustainability amidst the current uncertainty.

SpeciďŹ cally, they argued that but for EmeďŹ ele’s efforts at diversifying the economy through agriculture as well as the revolution in local rice production, the current economic conundrum would have been more severe on the country as there would be further pressure on the fragile reserves for food import.

However, President, National Association of Nigeria Traders (NANTS), Mr. Ken Ukaoha, though lauded by the government’s commitment to protect small businesses from the harsh impact of the virus spread, he nevertheless, called for transparency and effective implementation of the palliatives.

He said:“While appreciating the foresight of the present administration on cushioning the impacts of the Coronavirus on the economy, particularly on the MSMEs, NANTS will collaborate with the CBN to undertake critical information dissemination among traders and SME operators, and conduct trainings particularly on the palliatives and their accessibility process and criteria. “SpeciďŹ cally, we are impressed with the non-collateral loan aspect of the disbursement meant for traders and other Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) members.

NANTS further calls on the CBN to provide effective monitoring of the planned loans and incentives so that the facility windows do not go the way of previous well-intended ďŹ nancial instruments.â€?

According to the NANTS president:“Such a window must strictly target the entrepreneurs operating within the poverty bracket, and with poverty reduction and sustainable development at the core of their objectives.

We equally call on all commercial banks to awake to their pro-development calling and see these initiatives as palliatives that should be implemented with the spirit of corporate social responsibility, with the view to building and strengthening the economy. “The banks that would be used as disbursement tracks should ensure that all bulwarks that hinder access by genuine applicants are clearly avoided and removed. More so, the process, the access and the approval of applications must be made more transparent and devoid of consideration of political, religious or social afďŹ liation. This is the only way genuine trust can be built by recipients. “Furthermore, we strongly advise that the ďŹ nancial window should target raising domestic production by increasing the band for actors in the local agricultural commodities sector, so as to reduce unnecessary import

EmeďŹ ele

bills, and especially as a means of dealing with and addressing the‘coronavirus economy’.�

He said:“Women entrepreneurs should also be given serious attention and provided unhindered access to the funds. Finally, while commending the government for this remarkable initiative, NANTS also calls on traders and entrepreneurs nationwide to make use of the opportunity and also ensure accurate and timely repayment of accessed loans. We call on youths among our traders constituency to make use of this opportunity created by the government to build and enhance their businesses with the potentials for creating more employment opportunities in the country.�

Also, an associate Professor of Agricultural Economics at University of Port Harcourt, Anthony Onoja, described the policy measures as apt though inadequate at the moment.

He said:“The measures are timely but not sufďŹ cient. Salaries of some workers are being owed, many pensioners in some states who are vulnerable to the disease are also being owed salaries while hospital capacities are very weak all over the country. Food prices are still very expensive. If there is going to be a lockdown do we have food reserves to cope? These are some areas that need interventions right now.â€?

Similarly, Managing Director/Chief Executive, Credent Investment Managers Limited, Mr. Ibrahim Shelleng, also commended the CBN intervention adding that implementation must be closely supervised to achieve results.

He said: “The truth is that at least the federal government has reacted positively to help boost conďŹ dence in people and SMEs. However, given the drastic drop in oil prices it may be difďŹ cult to implement some of these measures. The drop in interest rates and moratorium for CBN intervention funds is welcome given the global halt in production.

This will provide some relief to SMEs who will be hard hit by the Coronavirus. “There will likely be cost push inationary pressures as a result of inability to Import goods and materials. The N100 billion loan given to the health sector is much needed and will help boost local production of drugs and equipment to tackle the pandemic. “But the major issue is going to be on implementation of these directives. For example, commercial banks who may possibly suffer some NPLs due to the global shutdown, may not be so keen to drop rates on their lending activities given the increased systemic risks.â€?

However, economist and former Director General, Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Dr. Chijioke Ekechukwu, said the interventions, though commendable,

needed to be explained in more details.

According to him: “The palliative of the federal government was clearer than those of CBN. The federal government reduced the pump price of petroleum products. They earmarked certain sums of money to prepare and ďŹ ght the virus scourge. But when CBN, through moral suasion, asked banks to reduce their interest rates to 5 per cent for loans related or affected by coronavirus pandemic. “I wasn’t clear on which credit facilities were to be affected by their pronouncements. Manufacturers that will clearly beneďŹ t from this type of facility were also not clearly known. However, they pleaded with banks to increase the tenor of facilities to give debtors opportunities to pay smaller amounts regularly, may be monthly or quarterly, depending on the conditions, over a longer period of time.â€?

He said:â€?This gesture presupposes that these debtors will pay back amounts higher than they would have ordinarily paid if their repayment periods were left unchanged. I do not think that is the solution for now. “We haven’t reached the stage of this kind of palliative because the common and average Nigerian will not beneďŹ t from this. CBN should concentrate on ďŹ nding solutions to the threatened and affected revenue base of the country arising from oil price shock and proffering alternative avenues, without impoverishing us with more debt burden.â€?

Nonetheless, the Managing Director, Agusto & Co, Mrs. Yinka Adelekan, in an interview with THISDAY, also commended the apex bank for being proactive, saying the measures would drastically reduce the cost of loans to the power sector, which in turn would enhance banking stability.

She said: “I think the CBN is being very proactive because the impact of the COVID-19 cannot be underestimated. OfďŹ cially when you look at the loans the banks have granted to the power sector players, giving them a moratorium period is very good in bringing down the cost of debt. “The fact that they have also dropped the interest rate from nine per cent to ďŹ ve per cent to some sectors would also mean that the cost of funds would reduce, which is quite important at this time. Also, the N50 billion to the SMEs is commendable.â€?

According to her, the intervention for pharmaceutical companies was also essential so as to prevent the spread of the virus.

She said:“The fact that they are going to support the pharmaceutical sector, which controls 0.5 per cent of our GDP, which is very low, however, the ďŹ rst time they are focusing on this at this time is pivotal.

All, the CBN is doing now is deďŹ nitely the right thing to do at this time.â€?

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍşËœ 2020

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Covid-19: Tougher Days Ahead for States as FAAC Allocations Decline With oil benchmark slashed to $30 and 2020 budget trimmed by N1.5trillion, it is obvious that the monthly revenue from the Federal Account Allocation Committee, which most states of the federation depend on for survival will not flow as usual this year. And since only a few of them are aggressive enough to generate revenue internally, the onus lies on them to prepare for the economic downturn that is very close by, writes Bamidele Famoofo

Ahmed

Review

G

overnment at all levels- that is- federal, state and local, shared about N7.04trillion from the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) in 2019.

As usual, the federal government got the lion’s share of the total revenue, which amounted to N2.93trillion. The 36 states and FCT received N2.47trillion while the local government councils shared N1.64trillion.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed that the highest net allocation to the FG were disbursed in the months of July and September with N275.03billion and N266.49billion respectively while the lower amounts of N219.51billion and N223.28billion were received in May and March, respectively.

The total net FAAC allocation to state governments stood at N2.47trillion.

Delta and Akwa Ibom States received the highest allocation of N219.28billion and N171.98billion respectively in 2019 while Osun and Cross River States received the least allocation of N24.22billion and N36.31billion respectively.

Breakdown of the total net FAAC

allocation to local governments councils showed that out of the N1.64trillion shared in 2019, Lagos and Kano States received the highest allocation of N104.97billion and N92.16billion respectively in 2019 while Bayelsa and Gombe States received N18.99billion and N23.80billion, respectively.

A New Order But that trend may not likely continue in 2020 based on the impact of the declining oil price triggered by the trending Coronavirus pandemic. Just last week, the nation’s economic think-tank constituted by the Presidential Advisory Council warned about dire economic consequences for Nigeria, if the raging coronavirus infection was not contained as quickly as possible. The council, which is chaired by Prof. Doyin Salami, met with the President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja. It said one of the immediate consequences, as shown in the crash of crude oil prices, was slower economic growth, adding that confidence in the economy would also be eroded. The council, which urged the president to consider immediate cuts in the budget, observed that ultimately, Nigeria risked receding into another recession if concrete measures were not evolved to stabilise its economy. The council added that global oil glut, rise in unemployment,

depletion of foreign reserves and trade imbalance were other consequences.

Special Assistant to the President on Media, Femi Adesina, after the closed-door meeting, said these were among the observations the council made at the session.

The statement said, “Noting that many countries around the world may go into economic recession, the PEAC advocated hard work for Nigeria to keep its head above the waters.�

In swift response to the realities of the falling oil price, the federal government has announced plans to cut down N1.5trillion from the N10.59trillion 2020 budget signed into law by the President in December 2019.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, stated this while addressing journalists after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday.

Ahmed said the cut from capital expenditure stood at 20 per cent while recurrent expenditure would incur 25 per cent. It will be recalled that the minister had on March 5 gave the hint on the possibility of seeking downward review of the 2020 budget through the National Assembly because of the current drop in the price of crude oil due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The National Assembly had passed the budget at $57 per barrel oil benchmark price, but the global crude oil prices are now currently oscillating between $25 and $30. On Friday, the federal government said N285billion had so far been released out of N2.45trillion budgeted for capital expenditure in the 2020 budget targeted at financing prioritised and critical infrastructure agencies. The government added that about $220million had been also released as of penultimate Tuesday as counterpart funding for railway projects.

As part of measures to contain a looming economic crisis and its negative impact on the people, the state oil firm, NNPC, has since announced a reduction in petrol price from N145 per litre to N125. “Mr. President also approved that we should cut down on the size of the federally funded upstream projects of the petroleum sector. The reason being we want to be able to get more revenue, by less reduction from NNPC. The reduction of the crude oil price from the $57 per barrel that we budgeted to $30 means that we are going to get so much less revenue, almost 45 per cent less than we planned and because of that we have to amend a lot of projections in the budget as well as in EMTEF to reflect our current realities,� the minister said. “The president also agreed that we should do a scenario to reflect what the actual position will be with a $30 crude oil price, that is we were to anticipate what will be the worst case scenario and we’ve worked on that scenario and this scenario necessitates that quite a number of expenditures needed to be cut down, even as we review how we can enhance revenues that are not directly affected by the crude oil price decline.�

Other Measures Ahmed explained that the government was also looking at enhancing production to make sure that at the minimum, the 2.18 million barrels that is in the budget as production volume is realised. She added that the NNPC has directives to that effect. “We also need to adjust Customs rev-

enue, which has been budgeted for at N1.5 trillion, but we are adjusting it downwards because we anticipate that trade volumes will reduce and once trade volumes reduce, Customs revenue will be significantly impacted as a result. “We also have approvals to reduce the projected revenue from privatisation proceeds by as much as 50 per cent because, again, with the slowdown in economic activities, we are anticipating that the sale of independent power plants might not be fully realised as planned for in the budget.�

On expenditure, she said the president has approved that we should cut down the capital expenditure budgeted by 20 per cent across ministries, departments and agencies and also a 25 per cent cut of all government owned enterprises. “By this measure, we expect that the operating surpluses that will accrue to the federation will increase because when their operational expenditure reduces, the operating surpluses that they remit to the treasury will also increase significantly,� she said.

Other Policy Matters According to the minister, the government has resolved to stop recruitment, except for essential services such as security and health services. It has also resolved to restore and comply by the Civil Service Retirement Regulations. “We’ve been asked also to review the modalities for the implementation of the social investment programme and finally to review the non-essential tax waivers that we are implementing right now to cut down on our tax expenditure so that we can realise more revenue,� the minister added. “These measures mean that we are going to re-engage with the National Assembly and we’ll be doing that shortly, may be from today or tomorrow, to revise the EMTEF as well as to revise the 2020 budget.�

Whither the States So far, no state government has declared any strategy to contain the impact of the expected shortfall of revenue to them, even as internally generated revenue, which will accrue to them in 2020 is also expected to drop, owing to declining economic activities.

Another major source of revenue for the States is IGR, which is low compared to what they share from the central purse.

Analysts have therefore warned that the states may be heading for a disaster if they do nothing urgently to come up with initiatives that would boost their revenues independent of FAAC. The recent figures released by the NBS for IGR showed that the 36 states and FCT generated N986.29billion in nine months ended September 30, 2019 compared to N692.49billion recorded in half year ended June 30, 2019. In the third quarter of 2019, IGR stood at N293.80billion compared to N392.38billion recorded in Q2 2019. “This indicates a negative growth of 25.12 per cent quarter on quarter. Seven states recorded growth in IGR while thirty states and the FCT recorded decline in IGR at the end of Q3 2019. Lagos state has the highest internally generated revenue with N297.09billion recorded, closely followed

by Rivers with N107.03billion while Yobe State recorded the least internally generated revenue,� NBS stated.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍşËœ 2020

BUSINESS/MONEY

FMDQ OTC Market’s Turnover Spikes Amid Covid-19 Crisis Bamidele Famoofo

I

nvestors in the fixed income and currency (FIC) markets defied threats by the ravaging Coronavirus as they pumped in more money into available medium to short-term yield market instruments in February 2020.

Turnover, according to market data released by the management of FMDQ OTC, increased by 1.21 per cent, rising to N23.47trillion month on month (MoM) compared with N23.19trillion recorded in January 2020. Year on Year (YoY), the market achieved a turnover growth of 22.37 per cent, increasing

by N4.29trillion from the turnover of N19.18trillion recorded in February 2019. “Turnover in the Fixed Income and Currency (FIC) markets for the month ended February 29, 2020 was N23.47trillion, representing a MoM1 increase of 1.21per cent from the turnover recorded in January 2020 (N23.19trillion) and a YoY2 increase of 22.37per cent (N4.29trn) from the turnover recorded in February 2019 (N19.18trillion),� a report from FMDQ OTC stated.

A review of activities in the markets in the month of February showed that foreign exchange (FX) and OMO bills remained the most actively traded products, jointly accounting for 72.48 percent of the total FIC market turnover recorded in February 2020. Total FX market turnover in February 2020 was $27.12billion (about N9.90trn), representing a MoM increase of 11.37 percent ($2.77bn) from the turnover recorded in January 2020 ($24.35bn).

Analysis of FX market turnover by trade type indicated that turnover increased MoM across all categories, excluding the inter-member trade type which recorded a MoM decrease of 9.14 percent ($0.30).

Further analysis of FX market turnover by product type indicated that the MoM increase recorded was majorly driven by the MoM increase of 21.90 percent ($2.73billion) in FX Spot turnover, which accounted for 98.66 percent of the MoM increase in total FX market turnover.

In the OTC FX Futures Market, the near month OTC FX Futures contract (NGUS FEB 26 2020) with a total open contract value of $2.03bn matured and was settled.

In February 2020, 47 new monthly long-term OTC FX Futures contracts were introduced, increasing the number and tenor of monthly OTC FX Futures contracts to sixty (60). “These new long-term OTC FX Futures contracts, i.e. fourteen (14) – sixty (60) months contracts, were introduced for hedging specific eligible underlying transactions (See MB – 37), and offered at futures prices ranging $/N367.38 - $/N380.00.

Consequently, the total value of open OTC FX Futures contracts as at February 29, 2020 stood at c.$10.87billion representing a $1.10billion increase on the value of open contracts as at January 31, 2020 (c.$9.77billion), while the total value of contracts settled since inception to date stands at c.$38.43billion,�

FMDQ explained.

The CBN Official Spot US$/N exchange rate appreciated against the US Dollar by $/N0.05 to close at $/ N306.95 in February 2020 (January 31, 2020 - $/N307.00), while, FX ($/N) rate in the parallel market remained constant against the US Dollar to close at $/N360.00. However, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E)

EmeďŹ ele

FX Window by $/N1.28 to close at $/ N365.25 in February 2020 ($/N363.97 as at January 31, 2020) Fixed Income Market (T.bills, OMO bills and FGN Bonds).

As at February 29, 2020, total T.bills outstanding remained flat at N2.65trillion while FGN Bonds outstanding decreased MoM by 4.57 percent (N0.45trillion) to N9.39trillion. Similarly, a lull was experienced in the Open Market Operation (OMO bills) segment of the market as turnover dropped by about N1.0trillion. Outstanding OMO bills as at February 29, 2020 decreased to N11.00trillion from N12.20trillion as at January 31, 2020.

FMDQ explained that: “Liquidity in the T.bills market segment declined further in February 2020 as trading intensity for T.bills fell to 0.13 from 0.17 in January 2020 as investors continue to hold their T.bills investment to maturity.�

Conversely, the trading intensity for OMO bills increased from 0.53 in January 2020 to 0.61 in February 2020 as OMO bills turnover recorded a MoM increase of 6.43 per cent (N0.43trillion) to N7.12trillion in addition to the MoM decreases in outstanding OMO bills as at February 29, 2020. Similarly, trading intensity for FGN Bonds declined in February 2020 with trading intensity for FGN Bonds decreasing from 0.31 in January 2020 to 0.28 in February 2020, as FGN Bonds turnover decreased MoM by 0.31 per cent (N0.03trillion). Year to Date(YTD) trading intensity for bills (combined for T.bills and OMO bills)

and FGN Bonds stood at 0.98 and 0.58 respectively in February 2020, compared to 1.00 and 0.21 recorded in the corresponding period in 2019. “In February 2020, OMO bills within the 6 months and 12 months maturity bucket were the most traded across all tenors on the sovereign yield curve, accounting for 48.51 percent of the total Fixed Income market turnover.

FGN Bonds within the 20 year – 30 year maturity bracket were the most traded among the medium to long-term securities (i.e. 5Y – 30Y), accounting for 12.60per cent of the total Fixed Income market turnover,� FMDQ stated.

Weighted average yields on short-term maturities increased by 78 basis points (bps), while weighted average yields on the medium-term and long-term fixed income maturities decreased by 59bps and 8bps respectively in February 2020. Additionally, inflation-adjusted yield was negative across all tenors of the yield curve in February 2020.

The average discount rates for T.bills at the primary market declined further in February 2020 as the discount rates on the 91-day and 182-day T.bills fell to 3.00 per cent and 4.00 percent (3.32per cent in January 2020) and (4.45per cent in January 2020) respectively, whilst the average discount rate for the 364day tenor increased by 94bps to 6.54 percent. Similarly, the marginal rates for FGN Bonds declined in February 2020 from January 2020 for the 5-year, 10-year and 30-year bonds to 8.75 per cent, 10.70 per cent and 12.15 per cent respectively Money Market (Repurchase

Agreements/Buy-Backs and Unsecured Placements/Takings).

Total turnover in the money market decreased MoM by 19.14 percent (N0.82trillion) to N3.47trillion in February 2020. This was driven by the MoM decrease in Repurchase Agreements/ Buy-Backs segment by 22.07 per cent (N0.91trillion) to N3.22trillion in February 2020 from N4.14trillion recorded in January 2020. However, a YoY increase of 4.37 per cent (N0.13trn) was recorded from the turnover in February 2019 (N3.09trn). Conversely, turnover in Unsecured Placements/Takings increased to N0.24trillion in February 2020, representing an increase of 61.15 percent (N0.09trillion) MoM and 138.12 percent (N0.14trillion) YoY respectively.

Average O/N8 and OBB9 rates further increased by 132bps and 134bps respectively to close at an average of 8.24 per cent and 7.42 per cent in February 2020 from 6.92 per cent and 6.08 percent in January 2020, indicating a further decrease in liquidity in the inter-bank market Meanwhile, market surveillance report showed that total number of executed trades reported on the Bloomberg E-Bond Trading System in February 2020 was 11,649, representing a MoM increase of 2.31 per cent (263) against the number of executed trades recorded in January 2020 (11,386), driven mainly by the MoM increase of 4.24 per cent (357) in OMO bills trades.

However, FGN Bonds’ trades recorded a MoM decrease of 3.16 per cent (94) in the number of executed trades in February 2020 (2,878).

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍşËœ 2020

BUSINESS INTERVIEW GLORY OGUEGBU Mismanagement of Investment Funds Hampers Africa’s Energy Growth The Open Africa Power is an education venture initiated by Enel Foundation in 2018 in partnership with The University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business, South Africa, Strathmore University, Kenya, and Italian universities such as Politecnico di Torino, Politecnico di Milano, Bocconi University, Florence School of Regulation and Venice International University. The ambition of the programme is to empower and retain African talent in a crucial sector like energy, of paramount importance to unlock Africa’s sustainable future. The OAP Programme lasts six months with two residential training modules (one opening week in Africa and two closing weeks in Italy) and an online learning module in-between. Founder and CEO of Renewable Energy Technology Training Institute (RETTI), Ms. Glory Oguegbu, was competitvely selected as one of 61 beneficiaries out of 752 applicants for her work advancing the energy sector through training and mentoring young people to be competent employees for the renewable energy sector and provide market solutions as entrepreneurs. In this interview with Kunle Aderinokun, Oguegbu speaks on energy challenges in Nigeria and Africa and her experience at the programme

W

hat would you say is the cause of the current energy poverty or poor access to electricity in Africa?

took a course – Off-Grid Solar Power Systems Design and learned about basic solar system sizing to enable me create solution for electricity problems. I decided to use my new knowledge to educate thousands of young Nigerians including engineers and other interested individuals to be competent workforce to be employed by the industry and establish as renewable energy entrepreneurs, who will create sustainable solutions that will meet the energy demands of their communities.

That was how the Renewable Energy Technology Training Institute (RETTI) started. The mission is to promote the knowledge of renewable energy and energy efficiency best practices through tailor-made courses that address the energy value chain thereby creating efficient energy technicians, engineers, developers and employees who will create solutions to solve the energy problems in their communities.

At this time, we offer courses on solar PV design and sizing, solar installation, energy efficiency and management in buildings, renewable energy entrepreneurship etc. We will be having a training on 2nd March in Lagos. We can be found on www.retti.com.ng or via a simple Google search of our name.

I think it’s a combination of many factors. It’s important to note that rapid population growth has led to an over independence on inadequate infrastructure which leads to poor electricity supply and constant outages, low willingness to pay for electricity by the consumers increases poor supply because utilities are not able to provide more electricity due to none-payment. Electricity theft is also a huge issue and leads to higher tariffs and estimated bills as utilities try to recover their money. Consumers refuse to pay the estimated bills as they are not getting the service, which they are billed for and the cycle continues. Low or mismanagement of investment funds have also hampered Africa’s energy growth as investors are not willing to put down their funds over uncertainties around recovery. This has created a virtual cycle of energy poverty in Africa. This goes without mentioning the 93 million people that don’t have access to the grid in Nigeria.

This discussion is important because of the following statistics; Africa will be the largest continent in the world by 2040 at 2 Billion people. By 2040 1.2 Billion people in Africa will need energy not just for electricity but for cooling - (food, vaccines).

What have you learned during the Open Africa Power programme?

You were selected for the OAP 2020, why do you think this training is important at this time.Tell me about the problem this programme solves?

This programme is very timely as Africa strives to surmount its energy problems. Thankfully, Africa has plenty renewable energy potential (in Onshore Wind, Solar PV, Geothermal Energy and Hydro) and large economic potential. But limited use and deployment has taken place. Only 50 GW of electricity deployed (mainly hydro at 36GW). For solar PV, out of 40 per cent capacity in Africa, only 1 per cent is utilised. On-grid wind and solar will play a role in the long term. Overall, renewable technology generation will account for the largest share of additional technology required for the boost in the sector for Africa.

I believe Africa’s energy sector (for electricity, electrification, Cooling, Cooking and Heating) will develop when it’s young people are engaged and involved in the decision making process and strategy. This is a specific problem that the Enel Foundation Open Africa Power tries to address – investing in an exceptional group of young people by empowering them with knowledge on energy regulation and policy so that they can advance the growth of the energy sector in their countries.

You’re a very young woman, what attracted you to this cause which is especially male dominated?

I would say that my journey to renewable energy technology began in 2015 when I came across a campaign by WWF that included an image titled “Stop Climate Change, Before it Changes You� where a man is shown with a monster-like fish head as a sign of reverse evolution that might occur if climate change and ice melting continue at such alarming rate. I was frightened and wondered if climate change would make people look old and disfigured like in the image. The image was etched in my mind and drove me to research into the subject matter.

When I read on the impact of climate change on humans and the environment, I was consumed by an urgent fear and then had the urge to do everything possible to reduce the negative impact of climate change.

Around that period, my retired parents moved to their newly completed building in a community in another part

Oguegbu

of town different from where I was born. In this community, they weren’t connected to the electricity grid. My heart broke each time my parents spent money to buy fuel for the generator for only three to five hours a day which is usually in the night.

This troubled me and I delved deeper into my research where I learned about renewable energies and how it can help combat both climate change and provide stable electricity for 93 million Nigerians, who have no access to electricity including my parents.

Truly Inspiring. How did you decide that Renewable Energy Education was the sector you wanted to focus on?

During my research into the problem of climate change and lack of electricity, I discovered something interesting. I came across a solar Installation project for a health centre in the community my parents moved into. It wasn’t functioning.

The locals told me it stopped working after six months. Further research revealed other solar installations which failed after a short while. This made the people doubt that solar works.

I discovered that this was caused by three reasons; a lack of capacity and efficiency problem on the part of the local installers; lack of knowledge of use on the part of the beneficiaries, incompetent or fake products on the part of suppliers and installers. I decided that if solar is the future of electricity, it is paramount to train local content to become efficient in the sector and in the three afore-mentioned areas so that they can provide sustainable electricity solutions and maintain them.

What did you do to try to solve this challenge on your own?

Despite not having an engineering background, I paid for and

I learned a lot and still learning via the ongoing online module offered by the Florence School of Regulation. My knowledge was deeply broadened around the subject matter of electricity as a whole. Transmission, distribution, tariffs, supply etc. I learned the basics and the root cause of the electricity problem in Nigeria, best practices from other African nations. The key for me is that Nigeria need to realise that the answer for the electricity problem lies in the sun. The regulations should be more open and friendly to investors seeking to invest into renewable energy power projects and support them with friendly tariffs.

Is there a particular moment or memory that stands out for you during the training programme?

Two things stood out for me - A lecture by Enel Green power representative, where I learnt about the speedy progress that digitalisation and innovation are making for the energy sector using artificial intelligence, tools such as drone technology for distribution lines monitoring, augmented reality for checking of underground wires and detecting a problem without visiting the location and many more etc. Indeed, digital technology is here to make the process of decentralized electricity easier.

Another moment for me was during the last day of the programme on a visit to Philippe community where we learnt about incredible work on start-ups by the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business.

The highlight of this day for me was the entrepreneurship lecture which teaches glaring truths and solutions about entrepreneurship. As an entrepreneur, people think that because you’re solving a problem, you must be having it easy and doing well. But this lecture recognised the true entrepreneur and offered best practices like never before for how to deal with failure and tips for business growth like never before.

What advice do you have for young ones wanting to make a mark in the energy sector?

First find a problem, create a solution. With your idea, make sure to start fast and start first. Look at the value chain and figure out where you can make the best impact. Choose that and create a business. Be focused and pursue your goals with all your might, while you still have the time. There’s no faster or easier way.

The only thing I know that works is diligence and consistency.

There will be frustrating times and many crying nights. But your ‘Why’ is the key that will keep you.

SUNDAY MARCH 22, 2020 • T H I S D AY

27

28

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍşËœ 2020

3.%#6 #0$) Petrol Price Reduc on to 125/LitreÍ™ Lauda le yet ues ona le Petrol Price Reduc on to 125/LitreÍ™ Lauda le yet ues ona le Reeling from the current disrup ons caused by the COVID 19 pandemic, scal and monetary policymakers are announcing measures to support the economy.

The FG through the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) reduced the price of petrol for the rst me since 2015 to 125.0 litre from 1 5.0 litre, e ec ve arch 19, 2020.

The sustained decline in oil price to an 18 year low of 22.85 bbl prompted the review of PPPRA͛s pricing template, with Ex Coastal price reviewed to 99. litre from 117.6 litre while the Ex Depot price was adjusted to 113.3 litre from 133.3 litre. The implica on is that the FG is currently not subsiding petrol consump on and the exchange rate assumpon now re ects the market price of 360 1.00.

In our view, the decision to pass down lower petrol importa on costs to consumers is mely as it would support consumer spending during a crisis. The decision also re ects the bene t of adop ng cost re ec ve prices. However, we are not op mis c that it would translate to massive gains for the most vulnerable groups who are less dependent on petrol consump on and given that transport and general consumer prices are s cky

downward. Given the poten al nega ve impact of COVID 19 on government revenues, we believe retaining the price at 1 5 litre would help the FG collect more resources that can be redistributed to target the most vulnerable groups. Also, we are reluctant to think that the price adjustment represents a shi to a deregulated downstream sector. Although the PPPRA hinted that petrol price would be adjusted monthly going forward, this is similar to 2016 when the price modula on template was introduced but the price was retained at a peg of 1 5 litre for almost four years. In our view, the true test to the new pricing regime would emerge when oil prices are rising and the currency is weakening as well as how soon downstream players can resume importa on. As lower oil prices and capital ou lows persist, F devalua on is gradually becoming inevitable in the short term. eanwhile, given the prospect of declining F ows and the risks to the economy, we are not op mis c that petroleum marketers would have easy access to F and credit lines to resume importa on.

Transi oning to a Uni or Exchange Rate Regi e The new pricing template of the PPPRA assumes an implied exchange rate closer to the market rate of 368 1.00 at the I&E F window rather than 306.95 1.00 at the o cial window. In our view, this suggests the convergence of the various ex-

change rate windows, which is even more necessary to remove distor ons due to the current F pressures. However, we note that this is yet to be communicated o cially by the CBN. As the current transac ons at the o cial exchange rate are mostly government related and daily sales to the interbank are low at 100,000 according to the I F as at 2019, we believe there are more gains from the transi on. This would help boost government oil receipts and lessen the pressure on F reserves even if marginally.

Fe ruary 2 2 CPI Re ort: In a on Rises to a 22 Month High o 12.2% The Consumer Price Index report for February 2020 showed that headline in a on increased to a 22 month high of 12.2% o , from 12.1% in the previous month. The marginal rise in in a on suggests that the recent VAT increase is yet to be fully captured. Similarly, core in a on rose to 9. % from 9.3% and food in a on was higher at 1 .9% from 1 .85%. The broad based rise in in a on was despite a general modera on on o basis for the rst me since August 2019. o headline in a on moderated by 8bps to 0.8%. Core in a on was down by 9bps to 0.7% while food in a on eased 12bps to 0.9% o . Imported food in a on, on the other hand, remained unchanged o but rose by 16.1% o .

We suspect that the o modera on in

consumer prices in February re ects the thinning out e ect of fes ve season purchases and land border closure. However, we believe this would be short lived once consumer prices fully re ect the recent VAT increase. In addi on, as a fallout from the e ects of the COVID 19 pandemic, we expect exchange rate pressures and supply chain disrup ons with trade partners to impact domes c consumer prices in the coming months.

Glo al E ui es Market: S ll on a Tails in des ite S ulus Measures With social distancing measures grinding economic ac vi es to a halt and widespread carnage in nancial markets, the S Fed on Sunday rolled out dras c measures to support the economy. These included a cut in policy rate to a range of 0.0 0.25%, the lowest level since 2015, and an addi onal 700.0bn in asset purchases. However, risks are s ll lted to the downside as the incidence of Covid 19 spread to 169 countries from 118, infec ons rose to 209,000 with 8,778 deaths recorded. To support the economy, scal and monetary policy s mulus are being implemented globally. Some include the 1.0tn emergency s mulus to pay each ci en 1,000 in the S, the 330.0bn business loan package in the , 600.0bn s mulus in Germany, CAD 20.0bn economic relief package in Canada, â‚Ź26.0bn in Italy and the 1.1tn interven on fund to support the

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29

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍşËœ 2020

and CORNERSTONE (+9.5%). Similarly, the close at 307.00 S 1.00 while at the paraleconomy by the CBN in Nigeria.

Banking and Oil & Gas indices advanced 0.3% lel market, rate opened at 380.00 S 1.00

and 0.2% respec vely, following price appre- and appreciated 5.00 to close at 375.00 Performance across the developed markets cia on in UBN (+20.0%), WEMA (+11.1%) S 1.00. At the Investors͛ Θ Exporters͛ (I&E) was bearish. In the S markets, the S&P and ETERNA (+18.3%). Conversely, the Indus- Window, the NAFE rate lost 3.53 to close 500 and NASDA fell 9.9% and 8.8% w w trial and Consumer Goods indices fell .9% at 372.00 S 1.00. Ac vity level in I&E respec vely despite a 1.0 trillion emerand 3.2% on the back of price deprecia on in Window strengthened this week as total gency s mulus. ikewise, Hong ong͛s WAPCO ( 5.2%) and DANGCEM ( 15.2%) as turnover surged 126.3% to S 3.0bn from Hang Seng and Japan͛s Nikkei 225 indices well as NESTLE ( 7.1%) and FLOURMILL ( S 1.3bn recorded in the previous week. declined 5.1% and 5.0% w w respec vely 9.8%).

while the ͛s FTSE All Share index dipped

At the F D Securi es Exchange (SE) F .0% w w. Germany͛s ETRA DA and Investor sen ment as measured by market Futures Contract arket, the total value of France͛s CAC 0 indices depreciated 2.5% breadth (advance decline ra o) improved to open contracts se led at S 13.6bn, 5.3% and 1.5% w w respec vely despite Germa1. x from the 0.02x recorded last week as 3 higher than the prior week. The AR 2021 ny͛s 600.0bn s mulus. stocks advanced rela ve to 25 stocks that instrument (contract price 371.00) had

declined. The top outperforming stock for the most buying interest in the week with In the BRICS market, there was a bearish the week were CADBURY (+26.3%), an addi onal subscrip on of S 92.7m performance as all indices under our coverNPFMCRFB (+23.5%) and UCAP (+20.5%) which took total value to S 6 5.6m. eanage trended southward. Bra il͛s Ibovespa while WAPIC ( 22.2%), UBA ( 18.7%) and while, the AR 2020 instrument (contract index led laggards, down 13.5% w w while MAYBAKER ( 16.7%) led decliners. In the price 367.22) was the least subscribed India BSE Sens index lost 12.3% w w. South coming week, we expect the bearish trend to with an addi onal subscrip on of S 15.5m Africa͛s FTSE JSE All Share index fell 9.0% persist in the absence of any major market pu ng the total value to S 1.3bn. Next w w despite the central bank cu ng rate catalyst to s mulate investors͛ appe te to- week, we expect the CBN to support the by 100bps and injec ng li uidity into local wards the e ui es market.

Naira through F interven on. markets. Similarly, Russia͛s RTS and China͛s

Shanghai Composite depreciated 7.2% and Foreign Exchange Market: Oil Price Plunges Money Market: Rates Trend Higher in the T .9% w w respec vely. to 18 year low as Price War Con nues Bills Market

Increased oil supply by Russia and Saudi Ara- OBB and OVN rates opened the week higher In Africa, the bearish performance con nbia on the produc on front and the econom- at 17. % and 18.1% respec vely from last ued as all markets under our coverage recic impact of COVID 19 on global demand week͛s close of 9.2% and 10.1% as system orded losses. Egypt͛s EG 30 emerged the con nue to weigh on oil price. On Wednes- li uidity fell to 135.1bn. On Thursday, OBB top laggard, down 17.8% w w while auriday, Brent crude price fell to an 18 year low and OVN rates slumped to 5.2% and 5.9% us͛ SE DE trailed, falling 16.7% w w. of S 22.85 bbl., a er Saudi Arabia threat- respec vely as system li uidity rose to ikewise, orocco͛s Casablanca ASI and ened to ramp up produc on to an all me 683. bn following O O maturi es of enya͛s NSE 20 indices fell 9.8% and .7% high of 12.0mb d in the coming months.

3 .5bn. By the close of the week, OBB w w respec vely. Finally, Nigeria͛s All Going forward, we do not see a substan al and OVN rates declined further to .8% and Share Index and Ghana͛s GSE Composite turn around in the direc on of oil prices un l 5.3% respec vely as system li uidity se led declined 2. % and 0.2% respec vely. both par es signal an early return to the at 6.2bn.

nego a on table. The foreign reserves bal- In Asia and the iddle East, performance ance depreciated 0.5% w w to S 35.9bn The CBN auc oned T bills instrument worth was largely bearish as of 5 indices closed (3 18 2020) with ero prospect for a rein the red w w. Turkey s BIST 100 index led 7.6bn on Wednesday, same as the day͛s bound. laggards, down 9.9%, followed by AE͛s maturity. Demand was high across board

AD General Index and Saudi Arabia s Tadwith bid to cover ra o of .5x, 3.3x and 2.5x The CBN spot rate depreciated 5kobo w w to for the 91 day, 182 day and 36 day instruawul ASI which declined 6.0% and 1. % w w respec vely. Similarly, Thailand͛s SET Index closed the week 0.1% lower. On the

ip side, atar s DS 20 index emerge the

lone gainer, advancing .2% w w a er the

government announced R75.0bn nancial

package for the private sector and another $ # " '# $ !* &* " &* ' ' !

R10bn fund infusion into the SE in view

# &# ! #* #* & %* ! # # of the challenges posed by Covid 19.

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% & Do es c E ui es Market: The Bears " # & * &* $ "* $ "

Do inate AgainÍ™ ASI down 2.4% w/w % $ * &* * & % ' !

This week, the local bourse sustained its # ! &# ! " & &* & * ! &* ! & ' ' nega ve performance as investors reacted $

adversely to elevated risks associated with % !'

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the spread of COVID 19 and declining oil & ! %

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prices. Accordingly, the All Share Index ' # ' " * " * " * ! ' $ " (ASI) fell 2. % w w to se le at 22,198. 3. # "# * % "* ! "* " " Thus, investors lost 279.1bn as market

capitalisa on declined to 11.6tn while TD return declined to 17.3%. Ac vity

level waned as average volume and value

traded depreciated 29.3% and 25.5% to

792.6m units and 8.7bn respec vely. The

most ac vely traded stocks by volume

% * !" "* !& * # #

! were ZENITH (572.6m units), GUARANTY

# $ # & %* # "* ! *

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(5 6.9m units) and FBNH (350.6m units) !

%' # $ %* & %* % !* " ' # " while GUARANTY ( 10.5bn), ZENITH ' % #! # * ! %* & %*

# # ( 7. bn) and DANGCEM ( 2.5bn) led by " value. # $ % " !* ! &* !' "*

$ !$ "# " "# ' '* & &* ! !* ' " & Sector performance was bullish as of 6 %

' ! " ' &* !* * # #

indices under our coverage gained w w. &# ! $ ' &* ' &* & &*

The AFR ICT (+5. %) and Insurance (+2.8%) &

indices led the gainers, due to improved '

"# ' &* ! * & %* % #

demand in MTNN (+10.5%), NEM (+10. %)

$ # ' ! ' $* & #* !# "* ! & '

ments. Notably, stop rates were lower compared to previous auc on at 2.3%, 3. % and .6% respec vely (vs 2.5%, 3.8% and 5.3%) for the 91 day, 182 day and 36 day instruments. Also, the CBN conducted O O aucon worth 150.0bn on Thursday. Although investors subscribed for the 180 day (O er 10.0bn vs Subscrip on 2.0bn) and 362 day (O er 130.0bn vs Subscrip on 16.0bn) instruments, there were no sales as investors bidded for higher rates due to risk o approach towards Naira assets.

In the secondary T bills market, there was a bearish ou ng as average rate advanced 30bps w w to .5%. Investors sold o the 182 day instrument resul ng in rates advancing 80bps while the 91 and 36 day instruments closed at. Next week, we expect maturi es worth 75.9bn from the O O market and as such, we expect the CBN to mop up excess li uidity.

Bond Market: Bearish Sen ent Persist a id CO ID 19 Panic This week, the bonds market maintained a bearish run as yields increased due to concerns surrounding the virus. The week started on a nega ve note as average yield climbed 3 bps on onday. On Tuesday and Wednesday however, yields fell by 9bps and 21bps in that order. On Thursday, the bearish trend resurfaced as average yield rose 7bps. eanwhile, on Friday, there was a bullish performance as yields fell 2bps. Despite a bullish performance on 3 of 5 trading sessions, average yield climbed 10bps w w to close at 11.8%. Across all tenors, investors were bullish on the medium end with yields modera ng 13bps in that space.

On the ipside, both short and long tenured bonds saw jumps in yield by 18bps and 52bps respec vely.

In the SSA Eurobonds segment, there was sustained bearish sen ment as average yield jumped 227bps. The NIGERIAN 2021 instrument saw the most sell o , as yields rose by 69bps. The Ghana 2023 also trailed as yield rose 390bps. On the other hand, sell o was mildest in the EN AN 20 8 and GHANA 2030 assets, as yields on both instruments increased by 86bps and 92bps respec vely.

In the African Corporate Eurobonds market, sell pressure dominated all instruments under our coverage as average yield rose 2.6% w w. The NEEG ENERG 2022 and ES O HO DING 2025 instruments led the laggards, as yields trended north by 15. % and 1 .5% w w respec vely. Conversely, BA 2022 led the gainers with a drop in yield by 2 5bps. In the coming week, we expect investor sen ment in the bonds market to be shaped by developments surrounding COVID 19.

30

˜ ˞ MARCH 22, 2020

MARKET NEWS

Agusto & Co Assigns A-(f) Rating to Cordros Money Market Fund Goddy Egene

adequate investment and risk management processes. “In the review period (February 2019 – January 2020), the fund had good credit quality of underlying investments (minimum ‘Bbb’ rating) and maintained low exposure to interest rate risk by

Nigeria’s credit rating agency, Agusto & Co. Limited,has just assigned an “A- (f)� rating to Cordros Money Market Fund(CMMF). The rating assigned to the CMMF reflects the fund’s A Mutual fund (Unit Trust) is an investment vehicle managed by a SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) registered Fund Manager.

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

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

adhering to the 90-day WAM limit.

However, CMMF’s exposure to credit risk was moderate with a significant portion of the fund’s net assets skewed towards the minimum acceptable rating of ‘Bbb’. Nonetheless, we note that the fund manager has an effective

floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

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

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

GUIDE TO DATA: Date: All fund prices are quoted in Naira as at 19Mar-2020, unless otherwise stated.

internal credit appraisal model that supports the assessment of potential counterparties. We therefore consider the fund’s exposure to credit risk moderate,�Agusto said.

According to the rating agency, CMMF’s net assets grew by 57 per cent over the review period with

moderate concentration risk on its asset holding base. “In addition, the fund’s operations are supported by the Symplus software and the bespoke CORDFLOW software of the fund manager, which is sufficient for CMMF’s level of activities. We

therefore affirm the ‘A-(f)’ rating assigned to CMMF. The rating expires on 28 February 2021.

Funds rated ‘A-(f)’ are deemed to have low to moderate exposure to downside risk (impairment of net asset value) in the medium term,�

Agusto added.

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

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

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

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 818 885 6757 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund 114.40 118.02 -21.93% Afrinvest Plutus Fund 100.00 100.00 6.50% Nigeria International Debt Fund 299.30 299.30 -4.24% ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund 0.87 0.88 3.36% ACAP Income Funds 0.76 0.76 34.30% AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 7.07% AIICO Balanced Fund 2.42 2.47 -1.63% info@anchoriaam.com ANCHORIA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web:www.anchoriaam.com, Tel: 08166830267; 08036814510; 08028419180 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Anchoria Money Market N/A N/A N/A Anchoria Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Anchoria Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund 12.78 13.16 -16.58% ARM Discovery Fund 310.12 319.47 -10.22% ARM Ethical Fund 25.27 26.03 -13.12% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 6.49% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund 87.57 88.19 -8.85% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 6.06% CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com ; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund 1.98 1.98 14.57% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 0.07 0.05 6.92% Paramount Equity Fund 9.99 10.08 -20.55% Women's Investment Fund 106.05 107.06 -3.92% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 6.28% Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 94.83 95.22 Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 101.84 102.32 CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A EDC FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfundng@ecobank.com Web: www.ecobank.com Tel: 012265281 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class A 100.00 100.00 5.70% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 4.98% EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund 1,192.43 1,195.63 2.66% FBNQUEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Fixed Income Fund 1,300.28 1,301.81 0.71% FBN Balanced Fund 129.99 130.91 -11.46% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 6.03% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional 107.95 108.75 -9.47% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail 108.56 109.36 -9.40% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A FCMB ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED fcmbamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Web: www.fcmbassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Legacy Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 7.98% Legacy Debt Fund 3.71 3.71 1.54% Legacy Equity Fund 0.95 0.96 -16.53% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.09 1.09 0.95% FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Growth Fund 2,848.15 2,877.89 -4.53% Coral Income Fund 3,136.70 3,136.70 14.43% FSDH Treasury Bills Fund 100.00 100.00 6.28% GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 5.26% Nigeria Entertainment Fund 114.67 115.38 6.90%

GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gdl.com.ng Web: www.gdl.com.ng ; Tel: +234 9055691122 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn GDL Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A INVESTMENT ONE FUNDS MANAGEMENT LTD enquiries@investment-one.com Web: www.investment-one.com; Tel: +234 812 992 1045,+234 1 448 8888 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Abacus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 4.32% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.05 2.08 -6.65% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 10.48% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 138.64 139.02 -3.38% LOTUS CAPITAL LTD ďŹ ncon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund 1.13 1.15 -3.12% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,126.40 1,126.40 2.53% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 7.28 7.35 -25.74% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 4.64% PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.33 1.35 8.99% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 12.31 12.34 8.86% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 5.60% PACAM Equity Fund 0.91 0.91 PACAM EuroBond Fund 83.28 85.25 SCM CAPITAL LIMITED info@scmcapitalng.com Web: www.scmcapitalng.com; Tel: +234 1-280 2226,+234 1- 280 2227 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SCM Capital Frontier Fund 107.51 109.41 1.54% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.02 1.02 2.45% STANBIC IBTC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD assetmanagement@stanbicibtc.com Web: www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 280 1266; 0700 MUTUALFUNDS Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund 2,521.35 2,532.80 -4.36% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 210.33 210.33 1.46% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.88 0.89 -12.36% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 273.87 273.95 1.77% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 154.92 156.64 -11.08% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 5.43% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 7,674.15 7,756.30 -12.30% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.16 1.16 1.27% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 118.18 118.18 0.00% UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 803 306 2887 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund 1.07 1.09 -10.75% United Capital Bond Fund 1.77 1.77 2.21% United Capital Equity Fund 0.59 0.61 -16.28% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 7.22% United Capital Eurobond Fund 113.52 113.52 1.49% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.04 1.04 -4.85% QUANTUM ZENITH ASSET MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENTS LTD service@quantumzenithasset.com.ng Web: www.quantumzenith.com.ng; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Equity Fund 9.14 9.23 -11.14% Zenith Ethical Fund 10.90 11.00 -6.22% Zenith Income Fund 23.22 23.22 4.45% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 3.35%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

3.20 120.66 52.41

-66.85% 1.31% 0.69%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

7.34 75.92 57.36

7.44 77.51 58.42

-15.57% -17.92% -22.20%

Fund Name FSDH UPDC Real Estate Investment Fund SFS Skye Shelter Fund Union Homes REIT

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS Fund Name Lotus Halal Equity Exchange Traded Fund SIAML Pension ETF 40 Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 Fund

VETIVA FUND MANAGERS LTD Web: www.vetiva.com; Tel: +234 1 453 0697 Fund Name Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva GrifďŹ n 30 Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

108.69

17.60%

INFRASTRUCTURE FUND Fund Name Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund

The value of investments and the income from them may fall as well as rise. Past performance is a guide and not an indication of future returns. Fund prices published in this edition are also available on each fund manager’s website and FMAN’s website at www.fman.com.ng. Fund prices are supplied by the operator of the relevant fund and are published for information purposes only.

A

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

22.3.2020

IN THE BEGINNING, MODUPE OGUNLESI CREATED ADAM & EVE ASSISTANT EDITOR OLUFUNKE OLAODE/funkola2000@gmail.com

32

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˞ ͰͰ˜ Ͱ͎Ͱ͎

GLITTER COVER

Modern Matriach of Nigerian Entrepreneurs Her golden dreadlocks, her sporty trainers and her elegant carriage belies her age. Behind her wellglazed glasses, her glimmering eyeballs rolls gracefully. In her understated appearance, Modupe Ogunlesi is the queen of the park when it comes to luxury homeware. She’s been the modern matriarch of Nigeria’s entrepreneurship over the last two decades. Ogunlesi is the definition of luxury, comfort, and elegance, writes Bayo Akinloye

T

he 2018 Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI) ranked Nigeria 101 out of 137 countries; the 12th in Africa.

The index notes that 58% of Nigerian entrepreneurs are female who are into entrepreneurship because of “passion/ hobby�. For Modupe Ogunlesi, passion is a driving force. And it must be for many an entrepreneur.

The Chief Executive Officer of Adam & Eve, Ogunlesi thinks entrepreneurship is driven by the heart as well as the head. “Working in Nigeria is difficult terrain.

If it’s work, then you’ll get tired. If it’s your hobby and passion, you can work 24 hours a day and you’re still going,� says Ogunlesi, lounging beside a luxurious bed in her shop. “You need to find something that excites your passion and keep at it, then you’re on the path of success. When people tell me

everyone’s a fashion designer and therefore they want to go into fashion designing, I look at them because they’re bound to fail.�

She, however, sounds a note of caution: “When you think of entrepreneurship as the easy alternative, you’ve failed. It’s a more difficult alternative. But if you pick a field that you’re passionate about, you’ll be able to fly because you’ll keep on thinking about it. You have to breathe it. You have to live it.

You have to eat it. You have to give it your all.�

When is the best time to become an entrepreneur as an adult? If you’re already raising children, the Adam & Eve matriarch says, “I think entrepreneurship is better when your children are slightly older; a bit independent of you. It just makes life less arduous because when you feel guilty about the time you’re not spending with your children and you’re thinking about your business, then I don’t think it’s healthy.�

While many female Nigerians are becoming entrepreneurial, Ogunlesi thinks the stakes are still higher for women and nobody is giving them a fair chance of succeeding in their endeavours. “It’s not just Nigeria,� she admits. “It’s all over the world. Women aren’t treated the same way as men. A high percentage of women are entrepreneurs most hang in there and must give it their all. They have to be passionate about it because nobody really encourages women to succeed. If a man attempts and fails, there are many people immediately urging him to get up and start again. When a woman fails, one, the husband goes ‘oh, well, it’s expected you know....’ Nobody’s giving you another opportunity to start again. “And, women, in particular, can’t afford to fail because we have more control over the children. We’re their bigger advisers because the interaction between men and

their children are often lesser compared to women’s interaction with children; although that trend is changing now. Imagine if you attempted to go for a master’s programme and you failed, how do you tell your children?�

With a glint in her eyes, Ogunlesi emphatically adds that female entrepreneurs can’t afford to fail. “More and more women are finding their space because of lack of security; even the law doesn’t really help the woman. The laws are really there but the culture and traditions stop the woman in Nigeria and in most parts of Africa from making demands for things that are hers. So, it means that you must have a fallback. From time immemorial, women have always striven to have a measure of financial independence.�

Then, Ogunlesi talks about having the right attitude towards an enterprise.

For her, it is the mindset that pushes an

33

MARCH 22, 2020 ˾ T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R

GLITTER COVER

Keeping The Adam & Eve Dreams Alive entrepreneur on the path of success or leads an entrepreneur in the opposite direction.

“Carol Dweck said there’re only two kinds of mindset: either the growth-oriented mindset or the fixed mindset,” the Adam & Eve boss explains. “The growth-oriented mindset believes that you must work at things even when they don’t seem to be working well, expecting growth and change. On the other hand, a fixed mindset concludes that if something isn’t working then it’s not right.”

The point: with a fixed mindset, an entrepreneur will find limited success.

As an entrepreneur of over two decades, she urges others: “In being an entrepreneur, you must keep on re-thinking, rejigging, and re-working until you get it right. It’s never static. You must keep on growing otherwise new folks coming behind you will overtake you.

“You must be thinking always in terms of how to grow, and how to make things better. You must challenge your own frontiers and keep on challenging those frontiers; that you have failed today doesn’t mean you should stop; you must not stop. You must be your own competitor all the time otherwise there’ll no long-term success.”

At Adam & Eve, quality, she says, is never under compromise. While she admits that buying habits have changed a bit, the standards of service and products keep moving up.

“We must appreciate the individual craftsmanship, for instance, that goes into the Italians put into making cotton bedsheet feel silky,” Ogunlesi points out. “Work atmosphere must be conducive for workers.

When it’s humid, we put in de-humidifiers.

When it’s dry, we put in humidifiers. At Adam & Eve, we rarely get workers calling in sick. They’re constantly being trained.”

With 95 million Nigerians living below the poverty line, the relevance of Adam & Eve becomes even clearer, Ogunlesi asserts.

“Adam & Eve is luxury homeware.

But what’s luxury? Nigerians think of luxury as ‘expensive’. You can’t make a fool of everybody all of the time,” she begins. “People, who chase luxury are you saying they’re all fools? What does luxury mean? In different parts of the world, the interpretation of luxury differs. The Italians think of it as beauty and elegance.

Google’s definition of luxury is ‘comfort or elegance’.”

Ogunlesi thinks luxury should be a perfect blend of comfort and elegance. It shouldn’t be either of the two essential qualities.

“Why ‘or’ as if you can’t get both?” she quips.

She adds “Nowadays, humans want comfort and elegance. The British want a high level of functionality and that’s what they call luxury. The Italians expect beauty, craftsmanship and the Germans want functionality and durability. In Nigeria, in Adam & Eve, in particular, when luxury is mentioned it’s comfort, beauty and an above-level of functionality.

“When people say ‘it’s expensive’ I believe you must be new to Adam & Eve. Our clients aren’t fools. They know exactly what they’re getting from us. For instance, you pick a Bugatti kettle. Yes, it’s expensive; it’s luxurious. But it’s beautiful.

True, an electric kettle is an electric kettle.

These days you have Chinese tea that says ‘better brewed at 85 degrees celsius. Are you gonna stick a thermometer into your kettle? No. You’re going to guess. But if you have a Bugatti kettle it’ll tell you what the temperature is. That’s what you’re paying for -that efforts that had been put into it.”

A Roberto Cavalli bedsheet can be a royal treat for a body that desires a memorable night rest. But here’s the point.

“You pick a Roberto Cavalli bedsheet.

‘Wow! It’s expensive’. But what’s expensive? Lie on it and then go back and lie on your own bedsheet and see and feel the difference. When you can make cotton feel like silk against your body; truly, the thing with comfort is this: a happy person can’t spread unhappiness.

There must be a deep cord of discontent in you or something making you unhappy that makes you want the next person

Ogunlesi

unhappy,” the matriarch says.

Ogunlesi highlights her point saying, “If you slept and you woke up in the morning with a stiff neck, can you spread happiness? But when you create comfort around yourself it becomes easy to spread happiness. What do we need in this country? There’s too much aggro.

We need to spread that little happiness around your orbit. You can only do that when your lifestyle is offering you comfort and beauty because you must feed the eyes first before the body finds solace.

“See, there’re two types of people: the ones who wake up in the morning and say: ‘Good morning, O Lord!’ and the ones who wake up in the morning and say: ‘Good Lord, it’s morning!’ Do you see the difference? ‘Good Lord, it’s morning!’

Obviously, you’ve not had a good night.

It’s your personal comfort that makes the difference. There are different things that make you feel in a good place: your space.

You don’t need to have everything at the same time. But just pick some things that make you feel good about yourself. You can have a good pillow that’ll support your head properly. You come to your table and everything matches. It makes you feel good. You look around you and you can see beauty.”

Ogunlesi in her late sixties makes beauty, comfort, and elegance look simple. In many ways, she’s an embodiment of the trinity.

“Luxury isn’t just for the people who have money. I know that Nigeria is tough.

Even for some, food is a big deal. But we must pick a piece of beauty and add to our lives,” she says. “Look for something beautiful and functional. Good morning, Lord! Good Lord, it’s morning!”

Being at Adam & Eve offers a sublime

feeling that soothes the aching body and mind. Ogunlesi says Adam & Eve outlets are deliberately designed that way.

Online shopping has become popular and Ogunlesi believes it can be a source of mental depression.

She explains, “Man’s created in such a way that you must have physical contact to make you feel complete. After all, why did you think God created Eve? He knew that one man alone isn’t enough for happiness.

When you go out to do physical shopping, you find contentment and happiness.

That’s what we always work harder on at Adam & Eve; we want to give everyone who comes in here that sublime refreshment and atmosphere to feel refreshed.

“People call to ask ‘do you have this?

Can you send photographs?’ But I’ll tell them ‘please, come in just for once.’ And people come in, they might not buy much but having walked round the shop they feel better. They’re like ‘I’m glad I came.’ People come more often because of the atmosphere.

Your experience of Adam & Eve is more to calm you down. The atmosphere helps you to dream, to aspire.”

With the continued rise in the number of entrepreneurs in Africa’s most populous nation, Ogunlesi urges introspection.

“You must within yourself know what you want. If you keep on expecting that the millions will roll in, you must be compromising a lot along the way and it depends on who you are as a human being: I want enough for my needs. I want enough for some of my wants -you can’t have all your wants. And enough for the instinctive charity that every human being must be able to do.

“If that’s your want, then

entrepreneurship will give you that and a bit over. If on the other hand what you want is a private jet and the height of luxury; you want to satisfy all your wants and satisfy all your desires, that’s a matter of greed. You can have your way but you would have had to compromise a lot along the way.”

In entrepreneurship, it’s not by following the crowd that determines success, adds Ogunlesi. She should know better. She’s been there, done that.

“It’s being maverick that breaks the boundaries. You have to work outside the box. I’m passionate about the homefront. I like to entertain in my own home because there I’m in control. Even when I ask a caterer to do the cooking I won’t use their dishes. I’ll use mine; that’s what puts my personal stamp on that entertainment,” says the matriarch.

She, however, suggests that good accounting knowledge can also help.

“My accounting background helps in my entrepreneurial journey. Homeware has always been something I’m particular about. I like my personal comfort. There’re over 10,000 items in this shop and not a piece did I pick online. When I’m talking of the Italian bedsheet, I’m feeling it and I’m touching.

“Each of the carpets here I sank my feet in them to know how comfortable they are. I look at the plates and I look at my style of eating. I know the efforts I put in. We keep on working in the best way to serve our clients. We keep on listening to them because the 22 years haven’t been a waste. It’s only passion that could have driven this business this far,” she reveals.

‘Good morning, O Lord’ boss wants Nigerians to be saying.

34

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˞ ͰͰ˜ Ͱ͎Ͱ͎

Vanessa Obioha writes that as the new dating reality game show inches closer to the finale, the Love Pad is thrown into a frenzy with spats between couples and other love guests

W

hat started with 11 couples vying for a shot at love is now down to eight couples. MiCherry (Michael and Cherry), Jeriton (Jerry and Meriton) and Jelo (Jenny Koko and Louis) have been checked out from the ongoing dating reality show Ultimate Love on DStv and GOtv. Having spent more than a month together in the Love Pad, the contestants known as Love Guests are becoming accustomed to their partners strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes and with the guidance of the counselor, Adesuwa Onyenokwe (Aunty), they are working towards building a lasting relationship that will ultimately stand the test of time.

Moreso, with the weekly masterclasses from professionals on relationships, the love guests are enlightened on various ways to keep their relationship loving and lasting. In the past two weeks, the Love Pad has hosted Praise Fowowe, a couple and family systems engineering expert; and Olawunmi Esan, a sex therapist. Fowowe talked about relationship compatibility and planning for the future, while Esan covered the issue of sex and everything it entails in relationships and marriages, particularly on compromise and non-deprivation of sexual needs.

But love, as beautiful and magical as it sounds, is more than just a four-letter word. It requires mental, emotional and physical work. The love guests are becoming more aware of the challenges that come with keeping a relationship. From disagreements to making key decisions that will have an overall impact on their lives.

For instance, JayKech (Jay and Nkechi) dilemma with religion and sex. Nkechi is a Catholic and will like her family to attend church with her.

But Jay has a different philosophy.

As long as he is good and kind, he is okay with life and doesn’t mind if Nkechi takes the children to church while he relaxes at home. An attempt to resolve this issue is yet to be successful. Nkechi also detests Jay’s

Iykeresa

JayKech

insistence on finding out her past sexual encounters. Nevertheless, the couple are taking things one day at a time.

There is also ObiEbi (Obichukwu and Ebiteinye). The duo are good humoured but they are also very sensitive. Ebi doesn’t like it when her partner complains about her weight or when he disregards her opinion.

Obi on the other hand is trying his best to make her feel comfortable with him as much as possible. Their disagreement escalated to the point that they individually requested for a check-out. After several interventions from Aunty, Ebi decided to show her love to Obi via a romantic date last week.

Iyke and Theresa together known as Iykeresa seemed to be the dream couple. Their compatibility is so visible such that their parents are already in talks on how to make the relationship between their children more than just a reality game. Nonetheless, the pair are not spared from the usual couple spat. A recurring issue between them is the change of surname. Though they are yet to reach an agreement, the couple are confident that they can have a solid relationship.

The couple that have been hit most but still show admirable maturity is Roksie (Rosie and Kachi).

Despite their rocky start, this couple has shown extraordinary maturity that fans are already tagging them the Ultimate Couple of the show.

Recently, during a one-on-one session with Aunty, Rosie revealed that she had two children. Kachi was aware of her having a child but two? Rosie disclosed that the child was taken away from her when it was four months old. While many assumed that the shocking news which happened 13 years ago will capsize their ship, the couple had become closer instead. Kachi has remained immensely supportive of Rosie and has vowed to take care of her and her son. There have been mild arguments about the issue of relocation to Abuja and how to organise their potential family, but that has not stopped the couple from now being cosy. The initially reluctant Rosie now calls her boo “baby�.

The ‘X-Party’ almost ruined

35

MARCH 22, 2020 ˾ T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R

ENTERTAINMENT

Chivia Bolar

the groove in the Bolar (Bolanle and Arnold) camp. Arnold’s ex paid a surprise visit and nearly shook the tables after giving Arnold an ultimatum to choose between her and Bolanle. Her appearance at the party troubled Bolanle who needed the assurance that her love was reciprocated. The brief discord occurred at a time when the couple were getting closer after weeks of seemingly unending argument. They have, however, reconciled and are buzzing as the fire of love has been rekindled. Unlike other couples, Bolar seems not to have an issue of relocation as Bolanle has agreed to relocate to Lagos.

For Chivia (Chiddy Bankz and Sylvia), their ship is still sailing smoothly. The couple, who both came in after the show’s start, have grown to like each other. They have put behind the accusations of plastic display of affection and have been unrestrained in showing how thrilled they are in each other’s company, with the highlight being the big kiss at the dining table. Apart from disagreements about relocation and early bath, the couple hasn’t had a major quarrel, with Sylvia already stating her desire to bear her boo’s surname.

No couple has attracted as much controversy as PreshDavid (Presh Talker and David Wilson).

The pair became the early target of their fellow love guests after David Wilson ditched Rosie for Presh Talker. The couple then began to have their own challenges, particularly dealing with pressure, abandoning meals and determining who is right or wrong in an argument. They have however bounced back and bent on ironing things out, with David Wilson stating marriage to his partner is only a matter of ‘when’.

The adventure of Double Chris (Chris Adanna and Chris Ville) in the Love Pad has been a fascinating story.

The couple were paired after Chris’ previous partner, Uche, surprisingly checked out from the show. At first, the pair showed no chemistry but with the calming and reassuring words of Aunty, they gradually found their common ground. Nowadays,

Roksie

PreshDavid

the couple seem almost inseparable.

Sometimes, the drama in the house goes beyond partners. With the Sunday live nominations putting pressure on the contestants, the friction among couples keeps intensifying. Recently, Arnold and Jay who were close buddies have been having troubles.

Arnold felt Jay betrayed his trust when he nominated him and his partner for possible check-out. Returning the favour, he nominated JayKech for possible eviction today. However, the duo have been skating on thin ice, using every opportunity to split hairs.

From accusations of side talks to perceived hostility, Jay penned a letter to Aunty, revealing his discomfort in the house. Aunty intervened and hopefully, the two former friends can sink their differences.

Although, the mission is to find love, what better way to bond with a partner than taking part in tasks and games. Each week, love

Double Chris

guests engage in different tasks that showcase the best of Nigerian culture. From reenactment of the Oba of Benin’s coronation, the Nupe traditional day to cooking of a northern Nigeria delicacy and developing their vocational skills through pottery (making of a mini-clay pot) and raffia basket.

The couples also play the weekly challenge where winners can claim the Love Nest. They are giving interesting activities such as making up their partner or dressing a mannequin like their partner. PreshDavid are the current winners.

Also, the couples game was recently introduced and Roksie emerged first winner of the game.

With the show inching closer to an end, fans of the show will find out which of the love guests can provide Naija’s most enchanting love story yet and emerge as the ultimate couple, claiming the grand prize totaling N5 million, a lavish traditional wedding and a dream home, only by staying tuned to DStv channel 198 and GOtv channel 29.

ObiEbi

36

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˞ ͰͰ˜ Ͱ͎Ͱ͎

GLITZ TRAVEL

Massive aircraft manned inside the expansive NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas (inset), the reporter basking in the euphoria of new discovery

Reliving a Day at NASA Space Center in Houston Rich in diversity, buoyant in its economy and expansive in its landscape, Houston, described as the coolest city in America has what it takes to make you feel at home.

Funke Olaode visited the city recently and found out the city’s outdoor pleasure including the famous NASA Johnson Space Center.

T

he sun shone brightly on its inhabitants just like the cool breeze blew relentlessly on its first-time visitors. Having visited a few states in God’s own country in the past, I was looking forward to extreme weather. But Houston is different. During my brief stay in the oil-rich state, the environment was neither cold nor warm. It was normal weather that reminds me of my home country, Nigeria and Lagos State where I reside.

My journey to Houston, described as the coolest city in America began when I got an impromptu invitation from the initiator of Akwaaba Travels and Tourism and publisher of Travellers Magazine, Nkechi Uko to accompany Ethiopian Airlines on its inaugural flight to Houston. The journey was historical because it marked the first direct flight from Africa to Houston, the home to over 250,000 Africans with Nigeria having the highest population. Literarily, you can call the city an extension of Lagos.

It was an unforgettable experience for me and my colleagues; Adewale Sanyaolu of The Sun Newspapers, Yunus Yusuf of News Agency of Nigeria and Osas of Nigeria Television Authority (NTA). Ethiopian Airlines’ management treated us to a first-class treatment. A bullet-proof car was available to take us everywhere. Hilton Americas, a five-star hotel located in Downtown with a maximum of $1,800 per night where we lodged was befitting for a VIP. That Houston is one of the richest states in America is an understatement. It is headquarters to most of the oil companies and it prides itself as the most diverse place with more than 142 languages spoken there.

In Houston, one can observe that

governance, leadership, and tourism go hand in hand. Settling down in my hotel room, as I turned on the gigantic screen, the image of Mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner emerged.

The mayor talked glowing about the city in a two-minute pre-recorded video, which to me surpasses any advertorial: “My name is name Sylvester Turner and I am the Mayor of Houston.

It is my pleasure to welcome you to one of the most dynamic, vibrant cities in the world. “In this city, if you can dream it you can achieve it here. We have even been called the coolest city in the country. More than 142 languages spoken here. We hold the title as the most diverse city in the nation. You can sample the different cultures of the world right here in one location we have an entrepreneurial spirit in us that drives our diversify economy. Houston is the oil capital. In downtown, you will find many parks.

We have the best restaurants with award-winning chefs.�

In a few seconds, the mayor succeeded in selling the city to the first time visitor and that arose my curiosity to explore.

Though a very short stay, we had the opportunity to view the iconic places from the confinement of the car such as Museums, Parks, various refineries that are scattered everywhere, the landscape, the restaurant where we dined, the jawdropping road networks.

Again, if you are a first time visitor, the hope of getting a tube train or surface train and even public transport may be dashed as public transport is scarce (I didn’t sight any throughout my stay).

Everybody cruises around in big and flashy cars.

Truly the city is an abode for ‘big boys’.

One of the most side attractions in Houston is NASA Johnson Space Center located in NASA Parkway. The Centre manned by Space Flight Education Foundation is a sight to behold. Less than 24 hours before we departed the coolest

city, the crew led by the General Manager, Ethiopian Airlines in Nigeria Firiehiwot Mekonnen led us to the center. On the ground to welcome us into its abode was the Public Relations Specialist of the center, Zahra Ahmed. Ahmed was so versed explaining how the various section works that within an hour, I was transformed into a scientist with knowledge on space exploration.

Founded in 1992, the Space Center Houston has remained the cornerstone of its mission to inspire all generations through the wonders of space exploration.

Over the last 28 years, the center has broken all-time attendance record and has welcomed more than 20 million people and hosts nearly 1.1 million visitors annually at its 250,000-square-foot educational complex.

The Center earned a 2016 Top Workplace Award by The Houston Chronicle and generates annually a $118.7 million economic impact, 1,710 jobs and $53.7 million in personal income in greater Houston, according to a 2018 economic study by Quanticon, LLC researchers Stephen Cotton, PhD, and Jason Murasko.

With emphasis on STEM education to inspire students to engage in science, the Center uses exploration to inspire wonder and interest in science and math.

Space Center Houston offers an array of educational programming for teachers and students, providing extraordinary learning opportunities. It inspires young people to choose careers in STEM while education programmes are based on evidence of effective learning and methodology.

Of many of its side attractions inside the gigantic building, the center features three theatres, live shows, more than 400 space

artifacts and numerous permanent and travelling exhibits telling the exciting future and remarkable past of America’s human spaceflight programme.

According to Zahra Ahmed, there is always something new about the center. The Center has the world’s largest collection of moon rocks and lunar samples for public view. It is a home of mission control and astronaut training.

Space Center Houston’s permanent exhibits include Independence Plaza presented by Boeing, it is an unprecedented, international landmark standing eight-storey tall and displayed in the ferry configuration. Here, visitors can explore exhibits inside both the shuttle replica and the historic NASA 905 shuttle carrier aircraft.

Multiple exhibits grant a rare glimpse into the historic shuttle era and describe its impact on future exploration. The giant complex is the biggest project for Space Center Houston since opening.

On its significant strides in offering exceptional, authentic science and space exploration learning opportunities for everyone, President and CEO of the Center, William T. Harris, said, “We are dedicated to advancing innovation and creative thinking to engage visitors in how science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are relevant to our everyday lives as well as exploring space.�

With its slogan, ‘We inspire all generations through the wonders of exploration’, Space Center Houston recognized as the number one destination in Houston for international visitors has continued to draw people from around the world to explore the science and space exploration learning center and participate in its learning educational programme.

So when next you visit Houston the coolest city, apart from experiencing the vibes the city has to offer, your journey will never complete until you visit the popular Space Center.

MARCH 22, 2020˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

61

High Life Governor Ganduje’s Daughter, Fatima, Defends Her Father

Fatima

...Amazing lifestyles of Nigeria’s rich and famous

The Duality of Folajimi Lai-Mohammed’s Marriage

O

ne of the most shattering, out of the blue incidents of 2020 in Nigeria’s polity and society is the dethronement of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi from his position as the Emir of Kano. That action has been shown to start off rolling stones in different directions. Recent events however, give more intimate insights into the whole drama, with a certain person of interest – who is close to the action – speaking up. That person is none other than Fatima Ganduje-Ajimobi, the daughter of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje.

While numerous powerful individuals are being deliberately silent on whether or not they support the decision to dethrone Sanusi, Fatima Ganduje-Ajimobi glided out of conventional obscurity to state that her father’s decision to push out the former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was judicious and the move of a master chess player in the game of politics. In other words, naysayers are not Ganduje’s mates.

Fatima Ganduje-Ajimobi made these remarks on social media, highlighting Governor Ganduje’s educational qualification (a doctorate in public administration) as the underpinning factor for his excellent grasp of the politicking game. She further drew attention to the fact that there were no insurrections or revolt from the people of Kano following her father’s move – not even when the new Emir was installed.

This, says she, is evidence of democracy – a system that allows for personal sentiment or objectivity.

Those who have a thing for these things have pointed out that Fatima’s comments are in response to certain remarks that have been made against her father, especially an alleged comment made by former Kano state Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso who somehow implied that the people of Kano have no love for Governor Ganduje.

Regardless, Fatima’s comments have sparked off numerous bonfires, with many Nigerians pointing the sharper end of the sword towards Fatima.

Needless to say, most of these have not been kind. However, Fatima does not seem to care. The integrity of her family, it seems, is much more important to her than the alleged scandals of marriage or on-screen embezzling that various social media handlers are pointing out.

In any case, Fatima GandujeAjimobi is her father’s daughter, and will continue to support his decisions with her last breath, as any loyal daughter would.

with KAYODE ALFRED 08116759807, E-mail: kayflex2@yahoo.com

Lai-Mohammed

How is the love life and love story of Hon. Folajimi Lai-Mohammed like

Quantum Mechanics? One of the most interesting thought experiments ever thought up is called ‘Schrödinger’s Cat’, after the Austrian novel physicist and Nobel laureate, Erwin Schrödinger, who devised it in an effort to interpret/explain Quantum Mechanics. He said to place a cat in a sealed box, alongside a radioactive atom (which could kill the cat). Until the box is opened, there is no telling whether the cat is alive or dead; therefore, it is – in a sense – both dead and alive. Neat.

Folajimi Lai-Mohammed is the son of the well-known and love-hate man of television, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

Hon. Folajimi Lai-Mohammed is also a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly (repping Ikeja 1 Constituency).

A fine and well-spoken man, Hon. Mohammed has taken arms against the tides that surround Nigerian lawmaking with a strong will, determination and bravery and a smidge – a pinch of a pinch – of his father’s influence.

The wife of Mohammed, Mrs. Idowu Lai-Mohammed, is also a well-to-do and well-placed newsmaker and spotlighter.

She is reportedly the daughter of the late Chief Solomon Ayoku, the owner of Golden Gate Restaurant, and a very popular socialite. While already a beloved of the

Wike to Uzodinma: Keep Quiet, Fraudsters Don’t Talk in Public

Wike

Uzodinma

Who best to divulge your deepest secrets than a former ally? When Imo State governor, Hope Uzodinma, blamed the People’s Democratic Party for the travails of the All Progressives Congress

chairman, Adams Oshiomole, it seemed like a far-fetched claim until you realise that Uzodinma was a member of the PDP not too long ago. Perhaps, he is only revealing secrets that he had been privy to in the past.

Lai-Mohammed household, it wasn’t that long ago that she braved the flashing lens of media for her appointment by former Governor Akinwumi Ambode to the Executive Secretary of Lagos Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) seat.

It has been on the media waves recently that the marriage ties between Folajimi and Idowu have been threading out, leading both parties too exhausted to continue.

In other news, Folajimi and Idowu are allegedly broken up and have broken out of their wedlock.

Although nothing is inherently new or strange about this news (the world is itself already a broken place), there has been an equal news frenzy that the marriage is still very intact, very alive, and will continue to be so. So, curiouser and curiouser.

What is interesting about their matrimony is that there really have not been sightings of one party abusing the other, or one leaving the other’s house to be re-joined to father and mother. It has been a few quiet years from that household.

And then these rumours.

So, the answer to the question of ‘How is the love life and love story of Hon. Folajimi Lai-Mohammed like Quantum Mechanics?’ is simply “It is active and inactive at the same time!”.

However by this logic, the retort by PDP stalwart and Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, advising Uzodinma to hold his peace lest he reveals the skeletons in his closet, deserves more than fleeting attention.

Wike minced no words when he accused Uzodinma of being a double-agent while in the PDP. “It is unfortunate that Senator Hope Uzodinma will have the temerity to make that false allegation,” WIke said.

“Hope Uzodinma was an APC agent while he was in PDP. That was why APC used him as an agent to support Ali Modu Sheriff, but they failed.”

But Wike wasn’t done. He lamented how unfortunate it is that people of “questionable character” are in government.

“If Senator Uzodinma dares to make such false comments again about the PDP, we will tell the world about him.”

What more do we need to know, apart from the fact that Uzodinma didn’t become senator nor governor through the ballot but rather by judicial pronouncements using contestable technicalities? Pray Governor Wike, please spill the beans and help rid our polity of “questionable” characters.

Arinola Adeniyi: A Trailblazer in Spa and Wellness Industry With the ladies of society, at the global and local fronts, gradually taking the pillars of administrative and managerial service onto their shoulders, it is now an established fact that these are the days for womenfolk.

Beyond the general assembly doing what they do best and confounding the rest of the world with their results, there are some who have taken to carving out new niches. These are the pioneers of the corporate world, the Cleopatras of the new world. With the work of women like Arinola Adeniyi, Nigeria is not left out.

Arinola Adeniyi is the boss and founder of Venivici Health Club and Urban Spa, a wellness outfit for men and women of industry against the tide of a rigorous work life. She came into the limelight when she discarded her thriving 18-year-old banking career to follow after her true passion, the cultivation of healthy occupational habits and rest – something for which she has gained and been awarded mastery.

Not everybody has the guts to abandon the banking industry for anything. That industry is understood to be one of the most exciting in most any national economy. That Arinola Adeniyi left without a backward glance speaks to her distinctiveness as a remarkable individual.

Adeniyi

Nearly twenty years after that decision, Arinola Adeniyi has peaked at every conceivable height in that exclusive industry of corporate wellness. There are countless testimonials to the high quality services

provided by Arinola’s outfit. In fact, with Venivici delivering an all-inclusive package in occupational and corporate health, Adeniyi has cleared the field. In her operations is a new-found understanding of the workplace, and the necessity for corporate wellness as a high-priority infrastructure.

Very recently, Arinola Adeniyi floated on the wings of the wind when she attended the annual Women Economic Forum meeting in Egypt as one of many prestigious guest speakers. She did not at all disappoint. She thrilled her audience with a grace born to the few while expounding on the topic ‘Pitch Perfect – Following your Passion & Nailing a Perfect Pitch’. Those at the meeting were privileged to listen to her recant the adventures that led to her setting after her passion amidst appealing options, and seeing it through.

There aren’t that many folks willing to be a working, dynamic model of determination and integrity to self. Arinola Adeniyi is one of a dwindling few. In many ways, she has lit the torch for younger entrepreneurs, especially women, to follow.

If she isn’t a trailblazer, who is?

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˞ ͰͰ˜ Ͱ͎Ͱ͎

62

HIGHLIFE

Otunba Timehin Adelegbe Empowers over 1000 People

Usman

The Swiss educational reformer, Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, said “He who bears the interests of humanity in his breast, that man is blessed.� He meant

also that it takes a blessed kind of man to look beyond personal interest and touch the world. Those are the things we are remembered by. And because this is true in a thousand and one worlds, Otunba Timehin Adelegbe is a man blessed, and one who shall not soon be forgotten.

It has not been a full year since Otunba Timehin Adelegbe, the former Commissioner for Commerce & Industry in Ondo State, was installed into the National Assembly as a representative for the Ose/Owo Federal Constituency of Ondo State. And yet, in that pinch of time, he is already featuring in the thanksgiving prayers of many a disadvantaged man – and not the ‘Thunder fire am’ or ‘God punish am’ prayers that are a ridealong for some of the Nigerian political community. Like the Biblical Job, Adelegbe is turning out to be eyes for the blind, and legs for those who are lame.

His first public act of philanthropy came sometime in September 2019.

Around this period, Otunba Adelegbe launched the first instalment of his Empowerment Scheme: the financial sponsorship of about 350 men and women

– all of them from his Ose/Owo Federal Constituency.

Being a man of progress, the second instalment has been reported to have benefitted about 850 artisans and smallscale entrepreneurs, all of whom are expected to put their hands to the plough and reform themselves and the rest of Ose/Owo Federal Constituency in due time.

Altogether, Otunba Adelegbe has launched two Empowerment Schemes – in the eyes of the public, that is (there is no telling the countless sponsorship that goes on behind closed doors). Both of these have been targeted at folks who will be driven to make treasures of Otunba Adelegbe’s gifts, and give back to their constituency and Ondo State eventually.

Consequently, Otunba Timehin Adelegbe is a glaring example, a paradigm of true polity, one who has raised the bar several feet above the floor and improved the chances of ordinary folk doing the same. It is a time of firsts for the good people of Ose/Owo Federal Constituency, in good work and representation.

Nnamdi Okonwkwo: A Soul of Kindness March 15 would go down as one of the darkest Sundays in 2020, especially for the good people of Abule Ado (in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State). It was reported that there was an explosion of mass and magnitude, one that resulted in hell fires that ravaged life and home and property. So destructive and demoralising was this incident that a few hours after, countless folks were walking about aimlessly, wondering aloud how they were supposed to put their lives together and build again. Those are the people who are most blessed with the existence of souls like Fidelity Bank boss, Nnamdi Okonkwo.

Less than 24 hours after the incident, Nnamdi Okonkwo and several other executive management staff of Fidelity Bank, rode into the fray with heavy hearts, rolled sleeves, encouraging pats on weary shoulders, words of prayers, and promises to ease the financial burden and aid in the rebuilding process. Speaking with words seasoned with salt, Okonkwo explained to the distressed folks that he and his staff “thought to come this morning to commiserate with you and see first-hand the damages caused by the effects of the explosions�.

Those who received Nnamdi Okonkwo’s party, leaders of the Balogun Business

Association (BBA), Auto Spare Parts and Machinery Dealers Association (ASPAMDA) and Association of Progressive Traders (APT), were overwhelmed with gratitude.

They remarked that Fidelity Bank has always been dutiful to the plights and scrapes of the marketplace, and that it was the first among its sister banks to arrive on the scene and lend a hand.

The various presidents of the trading associations had quite a lot to chip in. President BBA, Chief Anthony Obih noted that although Fidelity was not the only operational bank in the market, it deserved true commendations for offering aid barely 24 hours after the explosion. Adding to that, President ASPAMDA, Chief Daniel Oforkansi noted the act of kindness rendered by Okonkwo and his team, and promised to reciprocate in due time.

The APT Market Association President, Chief Eric Ilechukwu, entreated the other members of banking and industry to follow in the steps of Fidelity, emphasizing that its actions were representative of the banking spirit.

Nnamdi Okonkwo took his time to visit the affected areas of the market, doubtlessly running the numbers and evaluating the damages while still sympathising with the victims. “The contents of his pockets�, said Annie Oakley, “were often emptied into the

Okonwkwo

hands of small, ragged little boys, nor could he understand how so much wealth should go brushing by, unmindful of the poor�.

That is Nnamdi Okonkwo, a compassionate soul of girth and grace.

Business Mogul, Cletus Ibeto Endorses David Umahi for 2023 Presidency

Umahi

It is said that the part of leadership is both an enviable and objectionable role, and that only the best people thrive under its weight.

Thus, some folks are born to it, and others are thrust into it; but all are made by it. One might question whether or not renowned industrialist Cletus Ibeto aspires to ‘remake’ Governor David Umahi in the image of presidency; there is no questioning the fact

that Ibeto has shoved Umahi into it.

The meeting place was Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, and the agenda was the presentation of an honorary award to Chief (Dr.) Cletus Madubugwu Ibeto at the 7th to 11th combined convocation of the University.

While acknowledging the award, the business mogul drew attention to and emphasized the encouraging efforts of Governor David Nweze Umahi, Ebonyi State governor.

According to Dr. Ibeto, Governor David Umahi is a fitting individual for the numero uno position, being an honourable fellow, a man of his word, and someone who has transformed the salt-mining state into a centre of development, a flourishing belt of commerce, and a wonder of wonders among its sister-states.

Furthermore, Dr. Ibeto called attention to Umahi’s compassion for his people, a sentiment that propelled him to pay their salaries on time; his engineering background and genius, which influenced his accomplishment of over 300km of durable – but low-maintenance – roads which were constructed using cement; his zeal

for contemporary growth measures, which is reflected in the fact that there are more Ebonyi students in tertiary institutions today than were there before; and more and more.

If not David Umahi, who shall be Nigerian president in 2023? Who shall we send, and, who will go for us? David Umahi, says Dr. Cletus Ibeto!

Refusing to close up shop with that call to duty, Dr. Ibeto further informed his excited audience that his business group, Ibeto Group, will soon follow in the steps of Governor David Umahi by providing about 5,000 jobs for the youth of Ebonyi State. He explained that the agency for this employment is the Ibeto Portland cement in NIGERCEM factory, which is currently situated at Ishielu local government area of Ebonyi state.

On a totally unrelated matter, Governor David Umahi is currently serving under the umbrella of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Segun Oni’s Latest Moves

Oni

H

aving been exempted from many recent shakes and tremors in the Nigerian political valley, Ekiti State has ďŹ nally won back its place, and is at the moment delivering one of the juiciest spectacles in the state . This parade of scandal and controversy is none other than the possible defection of former Governor Segun Oni from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In more ways than one, former governor Olusegun Oni is a newsmaker. At 65, the man apparently has more dynamite in him and is ready to catch ame than many in the Nigerian political community who are his age mates. If age and association alone were the demands of mastery, then Segun Oni is a veteran by many standards. Rather than sit back to enjoy the dividends he accrued while he was governor, Segun Oni is one of those tenacious folks who have plans for their plans, layers and layers of short-term and long-term schemes – until desired purposes are satisďŹ ed.

The most recent evidence of Segun Oni’s unrelenting and seemingly non-retiring plots is an alleged plan to oat from his current party, APC, to PDP. According to reports on this front, Segun Oni has been under severe pressure to shake the party loose.

This is allegedly on account of the conduct of operations within the state arm of the party. SpeciďŹ cally, it has been alleged that the party has been maltreating Segun Oni – and when they are not, they mistreat his supporters. A sensible line of approaching the matter therefore is to take a hike, and camp with the enemy.

It should be recalled that Segun Oni was sometime in 2019 on the rader of the media as certain leaders of APC had had it in mind to suspend him. This was reportedly because he had lost the governorship party ticket and wasn’t doing much to alleviate issues. If the rumours of his defection are true, the joke is on them.

To lend credence to the rumour of Oni’s defection, insiders are beating their chests and promising that the former governor will surely be out of the APC camp in a few weeks’ time and ready to take up some undisclosed role in PDP. With ordinary folks, one gets suspension and gives out a present or two to demonstrate repentance; with Segun Oni, one gets grapes of polished wrath.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˞ ͰͰ˜ Ͱ͎Ͱ͎

63

HIGHLIFE

Babajide Sanwo-Olu: The Sleepless Achiever For countless Nigerians, the city and State of Lagos is the crest of metropolitan beauty, integrating the best finest webs of trade and commerce with a basket offering of cultures diverse and distinguished.

Since the city grew to this height and status, it has gained the respect and adulation of its sister cities and become the standard in many respects: transportation networks, educational institutions, industry and corporate growth and development. It takes a man to maintain and build on this status quo; if Governor Sanwo-Olu is not that man, men have passed into oblivion.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu was sworn in as the Executive Governor of Lagos State in the May of 2019. It is almost a year now since that day in May, but Sanwo-Olu has rocked everywhere and rocked them good.

It became evident to onlookers and the good people of Lagos State that Governor Sanwo-Olu was not going to be your average State figurehead when he discontinued the operations of motorcycles and tricycles (KEKENAPEP). To say that that action caused a row is to make a molehill of mountains; countless individuals lamented the suspension of these transport elements

Sanwo-Olu

for quite a while, until most of them saw reason and realised that SanwoOlu’s intention was to cripple the gait of insecurity from its apparent roots and guarantee a safe environment for work

and rest and play.

Since the ‘Keke’ revolution, Governor Sanwo-Olu has nurtured grassroots operations with the reconstruction and maintenance of road networks, the simplification of small-scale business advancement, and a thousand and one other schemes to help promote business and commerce and livelihood at the most basic level.

The ups-and-ups of high society have also not been left out, with the new Lagos being a far more tolerable, accommodating and enjoyable locale than it was in recent years.

Even emergencies have been dealt with under the management of SanwoOlu with professional skill and artifice.

The recent Abule Ado explosion attests to the commendable diligence of Governor Sanwo-Olu. It was he who immediately launched a N2 billion relief fund for the explosion victims; it was he who flew on fast wings to show pictures of the tragedy to President Mohammadu Buhari.

This is Governor Babajide SanwoOlu, the Atlas of Lagos, who bears the aspirations of his people on a brawny heart, and their weaknesses and insecurities on an understanding brow.

KaďŹ lat Oshobemekun Marks Two Decades of Oshos Celebration with Boom These days, there is very little need to point out the fact that folks are doing amazing things in the Nigerian society today.

With respect to such fields of endeavour as banking, fashion, corporate wellness, catering, and so on and so forth, there have been progressive strides large enough to dwarf past years of inactivity and laxation.

Madam Kafilat Oshobemekun, especially, has carved out a nice seat for herself and her catering outfit, and continues to beautify the face of business in Nigeria.

With the volume of following it has garnered over the years, it doesn’t need to be said that the brains behind one of the best catering establishments in Nigeria, Oshos Celebration, is the very delectable Kafilat Oshobemekun, mistress extraordinaire of lard and ladle; possibly the most stunning high society Nigerian woman, whose talent for the gastronomic arts is very nearly much of a muchness as her grasp of business management and administration. In other news, she’s a Witch of the Kitchen Place.

Before emerging into limelight, Kafilat Oshobemekun was a typical model daughter, the kind that was an assistant

mother in nearly every way. However, she stood out in one noteworthy respect: girl could throw down a storm in any baking session – even though she was studying Marketing at Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta (now Ogun State Polytechnic).

It soon became obvious that her mother’s kitchen was too little a corner to materialize bud-scintillating pastries and the like. Thus was born Oshos Celebration.

Kafilat Oshobemekun founded Oshos Celebration in 1998, but the set-up was officially publicised and launched in 2000.

Since that time, Oshos has been responsible for countless sparks and yummy rhapsodies – whether in a high-clientele event or the usual shindig.

With Oshos Celebration clocking two decades, Madam Oshos has partnered with Bloom (and Knorr) to discuss catering matters and improve on the industry. The best of it all is that the event is rigged so that all expenses are paid for, for fifty very lucky people. This is really her way of giving back to a society that appreciates her services.

At the moment, Oshos Celebration caters to the demands of diverse folks,

Oshobemekun

agendas and institutions all over the country, and there are testaments to the excellence that the outfit has drawn from its founder, Madam Kafilat Oshobemekun.

Obasa: Legislative Tyranny and Hypocrisy in Lagos

Obasa

It is always relaxing to the mind and senses to imagine the old days of gladiators and lawmakers. Back then, being stabbed in the back was usually a literal incident (cue in Julius Caesar and his Brutus) and brothers-in-arms almost never had to look at one another’s ugly

mugs anymore (since one party would most definitely have crossed to the land of anguished spirits). These days, it’s just one form of forced retirement after another, sometimes even a dethronement. The game is exciting, nonetheless.

It is understandable, however, if someone like Hon. Mudashiru Obasa does not think so.

The curtains lift, and the stage is set in the Lagos State House of Assembly. Act one: the indeterminate removal of two principal officers. These officers were none other than the Chief Whip, Hon. Rotimi Abiru (representing Shomolu Constituency II), and the Deputy Majority Leader, Hon. Olumuyiwa Jimoh (representing Apapa Constituency II). The grounds for their removal were understood to be misconduct unbecoming of lawmakers, and a measure to secure the strength and sanctity of the legislature.

Act Two: The suspension of two other House members. No sooner had the removal of Hon. Abiru and Hon. Jimoh been effected

than two other members of the House (Hon. Moshood Oshun and Hon. Raheem Kazeem) were suspended indefinitely for gross misconduct, insubordination and actions targeted at rocking the House. That action did not go down with factions in the House at all.

Final Act (Three): House members call for the immediate removal of Speaker Mudashiru Obasa.

Following the compounded suspensions, a letter signed by twenty-six of the forty lawmakers was submitted and read at the plenary. The hood and the hide is simply that Hon. Obasa should retire from the Speaker seat.

While a vote of confidence has subsequently been passed for Obasa to continue, he certainly won’t rest easy. Reason is, unknown to many, the reason the suspended and expelled lawmakers were shown the door was because they allegedly leaked a sensitive story to the public: that the lawmakers buy two brand new cars each every year. Yes, you read that right.

For Demola Seriki....Easy Does it

Seriki

Sometimes, it takes just the right peg in the right hole to halt a leaking faucet; otherwise, it’s only the best engine that can get things running.

Not even two full months since he was appointed onto the newly reconstituted board of Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) as board chairman, Ademola Seriki is already making waves and pulling in accolades as a result of his good work.

Ademola Razaq Seriki is nowhere new to the political, administrative and managerial corridors of Nigeria.

From all records, the man is an accomplished politician, teacher, businessman, accountant and public administrator. Since starting his career as a clerical officer in the Lagos City Council, City Hall, Lagos in 1978 (a good forty-two years ago), Ademola Seriki has come very, very far – and very fast. There are milestones that bear his name, in fact.

Demola Seriki was the minister of state for Interior for a year, starting from 2009. Before then, he was the minister of state for Defence – the role he is most notable for – from 2008 to 2009. A year prior to this, Demola Seriki had handed the ministries of Mines and Steel Development, as well as Agriculture and Water Resources. All these established him as a fierce politician and public administrator.

Most of his polity years, Demola Seriki was an avid member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

However, amidst circumstances beyond care and control, Demola Seriki glided into the camp of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and has remained there ever since.

The recent CAC appointment is a demonstration of his underground private practice at administration and management (a clear defiance of those folks who have thought him out of the game as a result of long absence). However, if his results are anything to go by, his claws are still sharp from strategic use.

His most celebrated milestone at the CAC so far is the introduction of ease into the CAC registration process. Before now, that process was Sisyphus on a stroller up his hill.

Demola has smoothened that process and saved countless enterprising Nigerians the stress. All in the space of fewer-than-eight weeks.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˞ ͰͰ˜ Ͱ͎Ͱ͎

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Adebayo Adeoye bayoolunla@gmail.com; 08054680651

Abby Ikomi’s Winning Strategy The beauty and fashion business called Stallion Mass Summation Enterprise is a Nigerian company founded with the sole purpose of empowering, encouraging the local communities through the platform of fashion.

She uses proceeds from Stallion products to fund her charity ventures.

Nigeria’s fashion industry has been booming for some time with creative displays by some of the world’s most gifted designers.

One of such creative fashion retailers leading the country’s march to prominence in the scheme of global fashion industry is the House of Irawo Lagos.

Launched in 2017 by Abby Ikomi, a gifted designer with a long history of excellence in the fashion industry, House of Irawo has quickly lived up to its name by outshining competitors in the industry.

The Osun State-born stylish woman behind the brand has built for herself one of the most sought-after fashion brands in Africa due to the unique creativity behind their designs.

Known for high quality, the brand’s main focus is on trendy traditional and western attires for all ages, tribes and men and women of style.

It was gathered that the House of Irawo coincided with the arrival of Abby’s first child, Dola.

Today, the flourishing fashion label is jointly owned by Dola, Ama and Anire, all of whom are the adorable children of Abby.

Aside from the rising profile of House of Irawo, Ikomi has achieved quite a lot in her professional career. She is a woman of many parts - a trained accountant and an interior decorator.

Ikomi, who is currently a student at Parsons School of Design, is the CEO and owner of IHomes and Fabrics, which she established about a decade ago. A graduate of Law from the University of London, Ikomi has put in over 12 years of active service in interior decor before venturing into fashion.

She is happily married to Oti Ikomi, a former Managing Director of Keystone bank who now plays big in the power sector.

Ikomi

Forty Toasts for Advertising Guru, Biodun Shobanjo In 1972, Biodun Shobanjo dumped a well-paying job as a producer with the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, now Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, FRCN, for a relatively unknown profession: advertising.

At the time, his decision to quit broadcasting shocked many, who thought he was heading for selfdestruction of some sort.

In retrospect, one can safely say that he had taken a right decision, as he has successfully redefined the sector in so many ways.

His career path in marketing communication began when he joined an American-owned advertising company, Grant Advertising, as an account executive trainee.

As proof of his brilliance, by the age of 30, he had risen to the position of Deputy Managing Director of the company, which was regarded as one of the best in the

Shobanjo

country.

But driven by a quest to be a pathfinder, he left the position for more challenges to co-found Insight

Communications alongside Awosika and Chukwuma Ibe over 40 years ago.

He later incorporated Troyka Holdings Limited, the largest and most innovative integrated marketing communications group in sub-Saharan Africa, with businesses in marketing communications, resource management, and asset protection.

Little wonder he was named the Nigerian Advertising Man of the Century at the 25th anniversary celebration of ThisDay newspaper and awards ceremony in Lagos, recently.

He was the chief executive o fficer of the company for 25 years before he stood down at the end of December 2004.

Apart from advertising, another thing the former president of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria APCON, is passionate about is giving back to humanity.

Sir Olu Okeowo in Expansion Drive

Okeowo

Sir Olu Okeowo, Chairman of Gibraltar Property, has been around for some time doing what he knows how to do best.

The shrewd businessman is unarguably one of the best property merchants in the country.

He is known for a number of imposing properties scattered around the globe.

In fact, anyone who likes to venture into the real estate business would be doing himself some good if he or she contacts him for some lessons in the rudiments of the business.

While he continues to dazzle his competitors and delight his admirers, he also takes time to spoil himself with the good things of life.

Very determined, the dark-

skinned businessman has been globetrotting lately to network with high-profile personalities, while making efforts to expand his business empire.

It was gathered that the Ogun State-born businessman, in an effort to expand his business beyond Lagos State, last week played host to the Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule and his wife, Hajia Farida, in his three-floor white-coated Victorian style house named Palacio De Okeowo in ParkView, Ikoyi Lagos.

It was gathered that the meeting bordered on how Okeowo could expand his business by investing in the state, among others interesting issues.

City Businessman, Otunba Rotimi Ajanaku, Got Back His Groove At a time, city businessman and multi-millionaire Otunba Rotimi Ajanaku aptly fitted the description of King of Groove, if there was anything like that.

Apart from his connection and popularity in the social circle, so to say, were that he drove posh cars, wore expensive designer watches and was a VIP card-carrying member of many A-list night clubs on the Lagos Island.

In fact, Society Watch gathered that club owners could afford to shut any other person out of their clubs as long as the man was around. He frequents night clubs with large wads of notes, viz. naira, dollars and pounds sterling, He was among those big boys that make Lagos society tick and he has been able to establish himself as a socialite of note whose presence cannot but be noticed at any social function he attended. He was also a darling of many musicians especially K1 de Ultimate and many others would sang his praise immediately he made his appearance into social functions while he also appreciate the gestures by throwing out wads of naira or dollars, depending on his mood. His involvement in the business world cannot be underestimated as his hospitality, real estate and oil and gas businesses are doing well.

But suddenly, Ajanaku’s face became a rarity at his regular hangouts and social events. This phase, no doubt, gave a lot of his friends a serious concern. During this period of hiatus, many claimed that Ajanaku otherwise known as Don Dino was broke, while some maintained that he was only trying to kick some old habits. But one thing was obvious: many night clubs counted their losses with his newfound ‘lifestyle’.

Interestingly, few months after, the socialite found his groove. Just as many were wondering what had really become of the top player in real estate, he sprung surprise and he made a sudden reappearance.

Almost immediately, he, again, won the admiration of night club owners with his usual heavy spending. And many are quick to confirm that he has again got back his groove.

A source revealed last week that the House of Representatives aspirant in Ibadan Southwest/ North West Federal Constituency took his groove to Dubai with some of his friends on a weekend grove. According to the source, they all flew business class and lodged in Jumeirah Beach Hotel all paid by Ajanaku. If you think that is all, you are mistaken, they stormed one of the

Ajanaku

most expensive night clubs in the city where they popped the most expensive champagnes. In fact, it was nearly never seen before as they got a special recognition by the owner of the night club.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˞ ͰͰ˜ Ͱ͎Ͱ͎

SOCIETY WATCH

Barrister Krystal Ijeoma Chibu’s Other Passion Krystal Ijeoma Chibu, a lawyer, is said to be obsessed with philanthropy.

While growing up, the Nkerre, River State-born solicitor had a clear idea of her passion: Law. Luckily, her prayers were granted after she was called to the Bar both in Nigeria and the United States of America, USA. Interestingly, she has used her professional calling in pursuit of humanity rather than for selfish gains.

Today, she has become a rallying point for the voiceless Chibu

Sonnia Agu’s Love for the Less Privileged

and disadvantaged in the society.

She has also continued to use her resources to help others through the difficult life adventure.

Her foundation provides vocational, survival and thriving skills that would make the beneficiaries independent and self-sufficient.

It was also gathered that the stylish woman of substance, who relocated back home about five years ago, also established a beauty and fashion business known as Stallion.

Business Tycoon, Paul Orajiaka’s New Dream Paul Orajiaka, CEO, Audron Group, is man blessed with great business acumen.

This is evidenced by the fact that Orajiaka, who bagged a degree in Business Administration from the Harvard University, has grown his business, which he started on a shoestring budget, to a conglomerate today.

Oriajiaka, who also holds a doctorate in Business Administration from the Henley Business School of the University of Reading, majoring in Entrepreneurship, has not only made a name for himself in business, he is also recognized as a philanthropist of replete.

No wonder, not a few who matter in the states have reportedly pulled their weight behind him in his quest to become the next governor of Anambra State in the 2021 gubernatorial race.

He was said to have declared his interest in the number one job of the state recently at the Bindell Hall St, Martins Church, Odoata Ihiala, following a motion initiated by Hon. Simeon Ohajianya and seconded by Hon. Theo Nnorom.

In attendance were top politicians led by Kenneth Emeakayi, women

leaders and youth Leaders of Ihiala.

Other distinguished personalities present at the meeting included former member of the House of representatives for Ihiala Federal Constituency, Hon. Vitalis Okafor; Former members of the Anambra State House of Assembly; Former Anambra State Commissioner; Hon. Mrs. Bridget Obi; Former Chairmen of Ihiala Local Government Council, Chief S.I. Nwaeme; Hon. B.I. Abajuo; Chief Chinedu Ukachukwu; Former Deputy Chairman of Ihiala Local Government Council, Barr G.O. Eleanya; Former Chairman of ANPP in Anambra State, Ichie Mike Ejezie, among others.

In his speech, Chief Emeakayi , said “the political class in Ihiala without a doubt have carefully appraised the pedigree, philanthropic contributions to the state and background of the Harvard trained business man who has done well to excel in all his chosen field with remarkable success to booth and collectively come to a clear conclusion that he is more than suitable for the exalted job�.

Emeakayi added that the show of support became necessary for the progress and development of Ihiala community and Anambra.

Agu

Orajiaka

A source also revealed that apart from Orajiaka’s humanitarian gesture his reputable background is worthy. His father, popularly known across Anambra as M.O Orajis, Enwegbaraku 1 of Azia, a philanthropist and a very good man impacted the lives of Ihiala community with his numerous good deeds.

TPT Boss, Tokunbo Modupe, Celebrates At a time when most of his mates were traversing the length and breadth of the country for seemingly non-existent jobs, Tokunbo Modupe, Chairman of TPT, was only interested in selling ideas. In the eyes of many, he was simply a loafer! Many had condemned him with their actions and inactions. But he was unperturbed because he had a clear vision of what he wanted to do in life.

With great zest and determination, fortune smiled on him after a few years, as he was able to turn his beautiful ideas into money.

Today, he controls many mouth -watering and juicy accounts, both local and international.

In all his dealings, he comes across as a perfectionist. Also, in

the eyes of many, he is a restless soul, who is always in quest of knowledge to make him stand out in his chosen profession.

The marketing communications expert is also a sticker for excellence.

His company has introduced a lot of innovations into PR practice in Nigeria over the years. Very creative, he often ‘shocks’ his clients with his professionalism and attention to details.

It was a day to rejoice with the brilliant Public Relations guru when he celebrated his birthday last week Tuesday, it was a celebrated in low-key though, family, friends and business associates showed how much love they have for him. Most of them insisted on sharing his joy on that day, so they showered him with honoured and encomiums.

Modupe

Sonnia Agu, a ďŹ rst-class graduate of Media and Communication from the Eastern Mediterranean University, Cyprus, is the founder of God First Foundation, also known as God1st Foundation.

Very cerebral, she founded non-proďŹ t organization to serve humanity.

Interestingly, she has been busy engaging in civil engagement and community development through her foundation.

To her credit, G1st has collaborated with a couple of international organizations like Growth Foundation, London, SOS Foundation Gambia, Lawrence Hope Foundation, South Africa and Food for Life in Hungary.

Agu has also once proved her worth at the national level, where she dazzled with her brilliance in the ofďŹ ce of the then Special Adviser to the President on Ethics and Morals, Mrs. Sarah Jubril.

She co-founded the initiative Youths on Ethics and Social Responsibility (Yes). She was also a member of Nigeria’s Centenary celebration tagged “A Nation United� during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

No doubt, Sonnia is one woman to watch out for, as she has continued to be an asset to Nigeria and the world in general.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˞ ͰͰ˜ Ͱ͎Ͱ͎

LOUD WHISPERS

with JOSEPH EDGAR (09095325791)

Coronavirus – Let’s Be More Serious

This thing is beginning to look one kind o. First, one index case and now I hear it is 12 and from all projections the situation is looking dire. I had first looked at it from a practical point arguing that there are more things that are killing us here in Nigeria that should worry us than this thing, but from the situation in other climes, fear is beginning to catch me o. Just as I was about to write this column something told me to hold till later in the evening since information and news is coming out on a daily basis. My people, I thank God I waited because I was going to tear Buhari into pieces on this matteryes o, I was going to really lay into him on the lackadaisical approach to this pandemic but God saved him because he just announced a travel ban to all high-incident countries and other measures aimed at containing this thing. Even with that, I still do

not believe that this is enough, we need much more robust policies. I still think that we are still joking with this pandemic especially the effect it would and is already having on the economy. Inflation has already surpassed the 12% mark and looking like inching higher, exchange rate try to show face last week but the CBN was able to contain it but for how long with the daily crash in oil prices.

This is more than tighten your belt situation, this is WAR and our leaders had better start thinking of how they will fight this thing from all fronts.

Our best hope is containment and prevention. Shut down the country, the Owambe’s should come to an end, the churches and fake miracle machines should stop and the whole 200m of us should be in total quarantine for at least 30 days hoping that this would blow

over, because we do not want to even begin to imagine the dire consequence of being tardy about this thing. Me, my only regret is that I did not marry Affiong the mermaid. Yes o, when I was in university, I met the dazzling beauty with glass eyes. One night she woke me up and told me that she was a mermaid but I should not worry that she would take me to her world where everything is peaceful and sweet but the only issue was that I would have to grow fins and make love from my mouth. I thanked her for her offer, completed my task for the night- it was very sweet and the next morning I told her I was coming and promptly disappeared. Now you see my life Corona no dey that world, I would have just been swimming around with my harem of mermaids and only be hearing from far of this una wahala.

Kai, fear is really catching me o.

MAURICE IWU – WHATHAPPENED? How far with your cure? Shebi you have been shouting that you have a cure for this disease? Why the silence now, if it was a joke then that was a very expensive one. Me I was so happy and was even thinking of asking that you should be given full clemency and awarded the highest honour in the land. Now you are not saying anything again abi this your cure cannot even cure pimples? Please if you’re very sure of your cure just go to Yaba and collect one of the new people and try na. If you do not know the road to the place, come I will point the place to you. The government at this point should give you and indeed all who have credible claims the kind of support they need to support this fight. I really pray and hope that this your claim is real because millions of lives could literally depend on it.

your head and clear anything inside there. My full prayers are with you bro and we will all beat this with the Nigerian spirit. Take care.

That place they take Michael Jackson to when he had seizure. The doctors were a marvel and the consultants were too much sef. The most important thing is that the room na N18,000 per day as against that N100,000 for that yeye place.

My mother was cleared to go home after five days hale and hearty. So these are the people that government is owing money and yet they will be paying some funny allowance to politicians and other funny people. Please let’s pay them whatever is their due and more, they are in the forefront of the wahala this coronavirus is bringing. Me I cannot go to Babalawo .

TONYE COLE – MY HEARTAND PRAYERS FOR YOU No wonder the man has not been reading my chats. It has been reported that my brother has come out on Twitter that he is now on self-isolation having been on the same flight as the third patient of this coronavirus. This is the right thing to do as against the ones who have given wrong information and disappeared to the point where they had to be declared wanted. My brother has declared and not only that, put himself out of circulation, an honourable man. I know you will be OK and that is why I am not too worried. The thing has a 2% mortality rate. Advice: please eat a lot of afang with periwinkle. Do not allow them remove it from the shells. You have to suck it out so that the thing can enter

NIGERIAN DOCTORS – PLEASETHIS IS NOTTHETIME Let’s not be using style to be hiding under non-payment of allowance to be dodging this virus abeg. I am hearing that doctors want to go on strike because of one thing or the other when we may be facing Armageddon. This no be ASUU o, this na doctors o. Which kind country is this na? We are already facing acute shortage in the sector of both human and material resources and these ones are now saying that they want to go on strike. My mum has just come out of a three-week stay in the hospital. She had a seizure and we rushed her to one of the big prominent hospitals in Lagos. I will not mention their name here but if you call me privately I will tell you. My mama almost die for the place despite the fact that we were paying N100,000 a day for room and others. We no count treatment o. By the third day we had exhausted about N700,000 and I saw my mother literally slipping away. These ones worse pass money lender. They were just after the money. They will now be charging me N50,000 per hour for consultant that they will bring from public hospital. That is how my sister said we should rush her to General Hospital. I say no. They say if we stay here, we will be paying for my mother’s death. By the time we moved her we had spent about N1.2m and my mama was the worse for it. We got to the private wing of the General Hospital in Ikeja come and see equipment. Be like say we were in ER in Los Angeles.

OLU AKPATA –THE PURPLE KING No mind me o, I really do not know why I am calling him Purple King. You know I can be like this at times. By the way, people have started calling me crazy, well that is their business. I am sure na this kind of things like calling this my brother Purple King that will be making them think that I am really crazy.

Anyways, I have liked this bobo for a while especially when Albert Okumagba will be forcing us as employees to be attending Kings College Old Boys meeting to see if we can get clients. I will be seeing Olu running around and being terribly busy. I started liking him that time and then I started seeing him in the papers talking about one big thing after the other. So when I was running around for my play Emotan, my other sister Angela Jide Jones said, go try Olu. Olu na big Benin man, he go support Emotan. So she placed a call and gave me a meeting.

I met him up at his Victoria Island office and he was so gracious. My respect for him that day went a notch higher. Since that day, the bobo never took my call but

Iwu

Cole

Akpata

Ehanire

that no be problem because I am hearing some big things about to erupt. One bird whisper something to me last night and beg me to keep am secret until the time come. This person know say me I be coup plotter, I can die with secret, I swear. Look when Obaseki tell me say Oshiomhole get bald head, I didn’t tell a soul so na those credentials I carry come this Olu matter. What I hear I will not say till the time come and when it comes, I will be the first on this page to jump up in support even though I no be lawyer as I no get the cut-off mark, I get plenty as friends and I go threaten and blackmail them to get what we want. Na Nigeria we dey.

EMIR SANUSI FOR PRESIDENT? You see, a friend of a friend is your friend. My brother Kola Kareem I think is a very powerful friend of the former Emir so anytime I want to fire, I will just remember Kola and hold back. But this matter of the Presidency which seems to be all over the place is another ball game.

I believe I owe the former Emir who I want to count as a friend by extension the duty to tell him the truth. Mbok, FORGET it. If it has ever crossed your mind either in dream or prodded by a drunken sailor just wave it aside. Not that you are not eminently qualified just that I believe very strongly that Nigeria would gain a little bit more from you by independently doing things that would touch directly the people. You see you are very good with postulations especially using data and facts but I suspect that the very sensitive balancing act that is the Presidency is not your own. For that side, no be dethronement na impeachment and I tell you it will not be funny after

Sanusi

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MARCH 22, 2020˾ T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

LOUD WHISPERS

Oshiomhole

Ibori

the drama of the dethronement to come and be facing impeachment again. It will be like na only you ‘waka come’.

My brother to unseat an Emir of your calibre no be beans o. Na very powerful forces and if you think these forces will be drinking kunu while you walk your way to the Presidency then you really must go cover your head with oversized turbans again. My advice is for you to calm down. Don’t be in a hurry to jump into any fray, be it political or otherwise.

Just maintain a low profile, your place in history is already secured and people like us will love you forever. Take your time, pretend to be non-aligned and watch the game play out in 2023. Much later you can begin to plot your return to anything you want to be. For now just relax and enjoy the fresh breeze that will be blowing your head and in between your legs. Life is sweet, stay long to enjoy and savour it.

Nobody can solve Nigeria’s problems, even God sef just dey look. When you are less busy you can reach out and let’s play a game of ludo . I also want to bring wellmade Afang and Fufu to you, I suspect you have not tasted it before. Allah will continue to guide and protect you my lord.

CHIEF JAMES IBORI – A CHANCE ENCOUNTER So I have a new friend that I would not mention. That was how one day, she called and I said I was hungry and she said if I was in Ikoyi I could branch to eat. I was in Magodo but told her I was near so she said, I should branch for a quick lunch. That was how I got to the house in record time and as I walked in.

I saw him seated at the head of the table.

Hungry disappear o. Chief James Ibori is who I saw. Just like that o. I walked up to him, trembling to introduce myself. I said ‘good afternoon sir, I am the Duke of Shomolu, I got the title when you were not around so it’s possible you may not know me’. He nodded and smiled. He is still a very handsome man with a quiet dignity around him. Once I sensed that he was relaxed with me and was ready to talk, I started firing the questions. The answers came with equal volley. He was very open and greeting turned to almost thirty-minute banter. We talk o.

ADAMS OSHIOMHOLE – A STERN NOTE OF ADVICE My brother, I need you to stop whatever you are doing and come out of the other room to read this piece. I need your full concentration so you will get the import of my talk. Politics is not gra gra. It is not ‘I show you, you show me’. It is a clean game of compromises backed by policy-driven vision. This one you have been doing all these years is just jankariwo and that is why you were almost humiliated out of office. Have you asked yourself how you have dropped so rapidly in rating from the common man’s hero as Labour leader to the point where you need protection even in your homestead? It is because you are not playing politics the way it should be played. As an elder statesman, you should be above the fray, you should not really have a position but be the arbiter that allows consensus building and compromises so that cohesion and total mobilization would be reached in your party and by extension the country. The time for us to have policy driven politics and principled leadership enthroned in our polity has come and it is not too much to ask for from you as a leader. All that thing between you and Obaseki is what I don’t really understand, there is no need for all that drama in an environment of consensus. Credible negotiations and compromise would solve that problem instead of all these jumping over the fence and crying wolf all over the place.

Please my brother, I still remember the Oshiomhole that led us in marches against fuel hike in Lagos. We matched with you, we followed you and we took all that tear gas. What has happened to that Oshiomhole? I miss him. This Oshiomhole, I do not recognise. Na wa.

Sanwo-Olu

He educated me and really opened my eyes especially when he talked about the ‘collegiate system in Delta State’. Nothing was too much for me to ask as he showed he was willing even up to his travails and what he went through. He graciously answered all my queries and na me come tire. After it all, I thanked him and went back into my car and drove off with major hunger threatening to tear my belle. But why this man, no offer me food for him house, to date I no get answer for the question. There is God. BABAJIDE SANWO -OLU – YOU’RE DOING WELL I must commend this gentleman once more on this page. Me I like to speak truth. This bobo is really trying. From the initial handling of the index coronavirus case, to the handling of the Eko bridge matter and finally the last major catastrophe in the Festac area of Lagos where an explosion caused so much damage to properties and took lives.

OSCAR ONYEAMA – CAN I RING THAT BELL? You see, my life-long desire as a failed stockbroker is to ring the closing bell of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. I have asked my brother Olumide who is their image maker who told me ‘let me see what can be done’. I did not stop there, I also asked my other brother Jude who said I should write officially which I have done all to no avail. I even approached my professional institute- the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers for assistance through the first Vice President who said he will push but no dice. Well I leave everything to God. Anyways this is not the reason for this article though.

Onyeama

I want to congratulate the team at the exchange from its board to management and staff plus stockbrokers and all stakeholders for the successful demutualization of the exchange. It is a step in the right direction and move that has been in the offing for a long time. Right from when we were trading as early as 1996 the issue had been on the table and I really thank God that in my lifetime we have seen it come to fruition. Congratulations to the market. Now transparency and good governance will be further deepened. Well deserved. Back to my little matter, Mr. Oscar

Onyeagwu

Governing Lagos is not a piece of cake especially where you have to contend with overbearing overlords and then still deliver on the promises of transparent governance. I never gave him a chance o. I just felt that this one will just come and drown and beg to resign after three months. But he seems to have buckled down and with his deputy beginning to get the hang of it. In fact if you ask me I will say he is the most active governor and I am not just saying this for anything but it is the way I feel. Last Sunday, I was at the Gbagada Oshodi Expressway on my way to my afang woman at Mende when I saw his motorcade, this was at about 10.00 am and I am sure he was rushing to the scene of the blast. Shame catch me, see me looking for Afang this morning when my mates dey rush to go and render assistance. Anyways, we are still watching you bro. you are gradually turning us critics into fans. Welldone.

EBENEZER ONYEAGWU – A PERFECT GENTLEMAN They said be there by 12.30pm. I enter the place 12.15. The ladies at the front desk of Zenith Bank Plc remain some of the most beautiful in Corporate Nigeria.

They should be a tourist attraction. Well I did the sanitizer routine, the temperature gauge and entered the building. They were expecting the duke. I was ushered to the MD’s waiting room where they kept a big bowl of sweet and chocolates.

My weakness, I asked my colleague, Prince who joined me to watch if the CCTV would capture me as I wanted to take 10 sweets. I took about 8 before Prince informed me that it looks like the cameras have caught me. I said no problem that I have an account, if the thing bad like that they should deduct from my account abeg. I was ushered into the expansive board room and he walked in. looking quite handsome and well put together, we elbowed as against handshake and he sat down.

I had feared initially that we would meet a haughty and condescending gentleman and rightly so, did you hear about the profit before tax just announced, around N232billion, a 7.9% increase year on year and with a N2.50k final dividend?

Zenith Bank shareholders will surely be thanking their stars. So if the man want to pose and be doing like Emperor Bokassa, he get right. But no o, he was so gracious as he sat and listened to my tales. He smiled and showed me that he genuinely liked me. After the meeting, I begged for a photograph which he quickly agreed taking me to one spot that had Zenith logo all over the place. After it all, I thanked him and went to see my other friend Tope Fasoranti who is an executive director to say hello. That I enjoyed myself at Zenith was an understatement. Great bank, great people and the sweetest front desk officers. I for try marry one but with the dividend I am hearing, make I just respect myself go Shomolu Micro Finance Bank.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍşËœ 2020

GAVEL

Editor: Olawale Olaleye SMS:08116759819 email:wale.olaleye@thisdaylive.com

A Timely Legislative Intervention on Covid-19 With the reported rise in the number of persons infected with the Coronavirus in the country, the National Assembly, last week, took specific steps to addressing the menace, report Deji Elumoye and Udora Orizu

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he Coronavirus epidemic is fast becoming one of the gravest economic, political and social challenges in recent times. The outbreak of the virus now declared as a pandemic and first discoveredinDecember,2019in Wuhan, China, has spread so fast in Nigeria, that members of the Senate and House of Representatives are beginning to understand the humongous task before them, hence the mobilisation to fight it.

With Nigeria currently recording 12 cases of affectedpersonsandcounting,thefederallawmakers are now poised to tackle the deadly virus.

At plenary last week, the Senate called on President Muhammadu Buhari to address Nigerians on government’s readiness to tackle the virus now known as Covid-19.

The red chamber, in adopting a motion moved by former Governor of Gombe State, Senator Danjuma Goje urged government to stop visa on arrival policy for foreigners while also canvassing for the shutdown of all international airports except Abuja and Lagos.

AccordingtotheSenate,thefederalgovernment should take more stringent actions like travel ban, tighter border control and restrictions on large gatherings, and banning of some citizens of other countries from entering Nigeria.

It also urged all related government agencies to keep Nigerians abreast of all cases of the virus worldwide, while banning flight operations from all international airports except Lagos andAbuja.

The Senators further called on the federal government to set up Coronavirus testing centres in all the states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

At yet another plenary, the Senate resolved to suspend all public hearings with effect from Tuesday, March 24.

President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmed Lawan, announced this at the end of a two-hour Executive session of the upper legislative chamber. “The Senate gallery will also be cleared effective from next Tuesday, which foreclosed visits by students to observe Senate proceedings�.

Lawan explained that the Senate took the farreaching decisions with a view to curbing the spread of Coronavirus in the NationalAssembly.�

The Green Chamber had, however, in February, long before Nigeria recorded its first case of Coronavirus, particularly rejected a move to evacuate Nigerians from China.

Chairman of the House Committee on Media and PublicAffairs, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, had then moved a motion for Nigerians stranded in China over the health crisis to be brought back to their home country.

The House members shot down the motion, despite spirited efforts made by the Speaker, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, to make the lawmakers see reason.

At a particular plenary earlier this month, the House resolved to suspend plenary for two weeks over the spread of Coronavirus.

The House said the suspension was to enable the management install facilities to screen and detect the virus as well as afford members the opportunity to travel with a view to sensitise their constituents on the outbreak of the disease.

This resolution was sequel to the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance, titled ‘The need for emergency response and tackling of deadly coronavirus (COVlD-19) in Nigeria’, moved by Hon Idem Unyime, and granting the prayer by Hon. Ndudi Elumelu.

While supporting the motion, Elumelu proposed an amendment to the prayers of the motion, calling on the National Assembly to suspend plenary for two weeks.

Presenting his motion, Unyime noted that the federal government needed to move swiftly and intensify collaborations with health agencies to nib the virus in the bud at this early stage of the outbreak.

He lamented that with the current situation of health facilities in Nigeria, the virus if not properly checked or curtailed could easily be transmitted within the larger population and might lead to a wider catastrophe. “The House is aware that the Coronaviruses are

Lawan and Gbajabiamila in a chat a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. “The haemorrhagic disease was first diagnosed in the Chinese City of Wuhan, with a population of 11 million residents, and has spread to over 58 countries still counting since that time. The coronavirus has killed nearly 3,000 people and infected over 80.000 globally. “The outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020 and was immediately reported to the World Health Organization Country Office in China. The main reason for the declaration of concern is that the virus will spread to countries with a weaker health system.� “The Federal Ministry of Health’s Emergency notification to the public that the Coronavirus influenza outbreak this time is very serious and fatal and is highly contagious. The socio-economic implications of the outbreak of COVlD19 in Nigeria can be very disastrous.�

Contributing to the motion, Hon. NasirAhmed said it was worrisome that Nigeria as the most populated country in Africa has only 3 isolation centres. He made reference to the case of Iran Vice President, who contacted the disease and two of its cabinet members that died recently after contacting the disease, saying more need to be done to tackle it.

Also, Hon. DagomieAbiante said Nigeria was not ready for what is coming, adding that there’s need for all hands to be on deck. “We are now faced with our worst fears.

When the motion to bring back our brothers from Wuhan, China was brought up, why did we bring it down? Finally, our fears have caught up with us. There’s urgent need for all hands to be on deck. We don’t have enough information about this virus. We need to sit up, we do not have a single thermometer and we are not ready for what is coming to us.

Adopting the motion, the House directed the leadership of the National Assembly to set up Ad-hoc Committee to interface with the executive,

health agencies with a view to overcoming and eliminating the dreaded disease.

The House also urged the federal government to release more emergency funds and create enabling environment and support to the Federal Ministry of Health and other Health Agencies and institutions in a bid to completely overcome and eliminate the virus.

The lawmakers also called for the immediate activation of all centres established and designated for the treatment and management of Ebola cases in the country for the management of suspected cases and victims of COVID-19.

However, the House said it was not considering suspending plenary amid the coronavirus outbreak. Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Benjamin Kalu said this while addressing journalists in Abuja last Thursday. Kalu said the lawmakers would go on with sessions to enable them deliberate on “burning issues�.

According to him, “The House has been watching to see how things unfold, there are burning issues the house needs to address. If we close down and go, some of those things will not be addressed. There are burning issues in the country that the house needs to sit and resolve; that is why we cannot leave now.�

Also, last week, the House asked the federal government to postpone the National Sports Festival as well as insisted that government must follow the path of other countries to close borders, halt flights, ban large public gatherings and shut schools and other public places.

It took the decision after adopting a motion of urgent national importance moved by Hon. Onofiok Luke at plenary. The House also urged the Federal Ministry of Health to continue to work with federal and state medical establishments to update and upgrade facilities and prepare for eventualities.

It further urged the Federal Government, and Ministry of Youth and Sports to immediately postpone the National Sports Festival scheduled for Edo State and other activities with a large gathering in the interest of the nation’s health and wellbeing till further notice.

Onofiok while presenting the motion said it might be insensitive to host such event at a

time countries and nations were shutting down markets and airports, and discouraging large gatherings as a measure of fighting the ravaging coronavirus.

The lawmaker, while commending the efforts of Edo State government in organising the sports festival, said the festival would bring together thousands of young healthy Nigerians from all the states, which will mingle and go back to their states to further mingle with friends, family colleagues and community with the attendant implications.

He therefore expressed concerns on the increasing cases of the virus in countries all over the world, saying that flights from high-risk countries should be halted till further notice.

Headdedthatwithouteffectivesocialdistancing and drastic steps to avoid contacts, this epidemic could be easily transmitted.

TheHousealsocalledonthefederalgovernment to ban open congregation of worshippers for the time being following the recording of five new cases of coronavirus in the country.

The Green Chamber also resolved to shut out visitors from coming into the House indefinitely, while calling on the National Assembly management to immediately make provision for the testing of any entrant into the legislative House.

The decision of the House was sequel to the adoptionofamotionofurgentnationalimportance moved by Hon. Zakare Chawai on the need to ban foreign airlines coming into the country.

Chawaihadsaidintheeventthatforeignairlines were banned especially, from coronavirus ravaged countries, there was need for the federal government to put in place, all necessary protocols and palliative measures.

He said sporting activities had been banned in some countries, because of the ravaging virus, stressing that Nigeria needed to look inward and take similar decision.

Elumelu further added that open religious gathering should be banned for now as it was done in countries like the Vatican City, Iran and Saudi Arabia to curtail the spread of the virus.

But Hon. Rotimi Afe said it was not about banning the foreign airlines alone, adding that people are still coming in through the country’s land border.

ARTS & REVIEW A

PUBLICATION

THE SEVENTY YEARS OF ODIA OFEIMUN PAGE 71

22.03.2020

DECOLONISATION IN “[RE:] ENTANGLEDTRADITIONS” [Re] Entangled Traditions Exhibition Hall, Nnamdi Azikiwe Library University of Nigeria Nsukka

EDITOR OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE/ okechukwu.uwaezuoke@thisdaylive.com

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MARCH 22, 2020

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ARTS & REVIEW\\EXHIBITION

DECOLONISATION IN “[RE:] ENTANGLED TRADITIONS” There is much to learn from participants’ interactions and reactions at the “[Re:]Entanglements” project and art exhibition held at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Most outstanding of these lessons is its inspiration of a sustainable decolonisation in modern-day practices. Chinyere Odinukwe reports

A

s part of a three-year research collaboration exploring the post-colonial afterlives of colonial archives, the NnamdiAzikiwe Library, University of Nigeria, Nsukka recently hosted a remarkable exhibition bringing together contemporary artworks, music, culture and linguistic analysis produced by artists and academics at the institution.

The exhibition, '(Re:) Entangled Traditions: Nsukka Experiments with anAnthropologicalArchive', was part of the ongoing “MuseumAffordances / [Re:]Entanglements” project being led by Professor Paul Basu of the School of Oriental andAfrican Studies (SOAS), University of London. It marked the culmination of a collaboration with the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, coordinated by Dr. George Agbo, Lecturer in the Department of Fine andAppliedArts and also a postdoctoral researcher on the “[Re:]Entanglements” project.

The “[Re:]Entanglements” project is re-engaging with photographs, sound recordings, artefact collections and written notes and publications associated with a series of anthropological surveys undertaken in regions of Nigeria and Sierra Leone between 1909 and 1915. The surveys were made by the first Government Anthropologist to be appointed by the British Colonial Office – a man named Northcote W. Thomas (1868-1936). For over a century these archives and collections have been tucked away in different institutions in the UK, including the University of Cambridge Museum ofArchaeology andAnthropology, the British Library, the RoyalAnthropological Institute, and the UK NationalArchives.

Through the work of the “[Re:]Entanglements” project, copies of the materials are being brought back to Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

As well as depositing copies of the photographs and sound recordings with the communities Northcote Thomas visited more than a hundred years ago, the “[Re:]Entanglements” project has been exploring other ways of re-engaging with the archives through creative partnerships. The Nsukka exhibition is the third to take place in Nigeria, others have taken place at the National Museum in Lagos and Edo GlobalArts Centre in Benin City.

In each collaboration, participating artists and researchers were introduced to the archives through workshops led by Professor Basu and over a number of months developed new creative responses through their various artistic practices. The majority of artists and researchers at Nsukka focused on archival materials relating to Northcote Thomas’s tours in Igbo-speaking areas of Nigeria in 1910-11 and 1912-13.

At a reception prior to the opening of the exhibition, Professor Patrick Okpoko, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka congratulated the “[Re:]Entanglements” project team and its partners in the Department of Fine andAppliedArts and Department of Music on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor. He remarked that the exhibition shared an experimental approach that was in keeping with the underlying vision of the University of Nigeria and the striving for excellence that finds expression in the endeavors of the various disciplines undertaken in the institution.

He further stated that the Department of Fine andAppliedArts, for instance, has been at the forefront of the artistic revolution that began as part of the nationalist struggle in Nigeria in the middle of the twentieth century.

The wider objective of the “[Re:]Entanglements” project is to consider the paradoxical potential of colonial archives and collections to contribute to the decolonization of knowledge. While the photographs, sound recordings, artefacts and reports of Northcote Thomas were originally intended to support the colonial government, a century later they represent an important source of information and inspiration concerning life in WestAfrica at the beginning of the twentieth century when many pre-colonial cultural practices were still vibrant.At the same time, these materials represent a “difficult history”.As Professor Okpoko noted in his address, the mere mention of colonialism still evokes feelings of apprehension and slavery in some people’s minds. This material needed to be handled with care so as not to reproduce colonial structures of thought and value.

Professor Okpoko further reflected on the continuities and changes apparent when examining the archives left from Northcote Thomas’s anthropological surveys. While some traditional practices such as oja (flute) playing and certain masquerades were easily recognizable, other traditions and locations had changed radically in the intervening 100 years.

The “[Re:]Entanglements” project comes at a time when the return of Nigerian artworks and artefacts in foreign museums is again being debated. Some progress is being made, especially with regard to the proposed new Palace Museum in Benin City.At the same time, many Nigerians have mixed feelings about such returns, possibly due to an awareness that many of the art institutions, galleries, and museums meant to preserve Nigeria’s historical artefacts appear mismanaged and underequipped for the task.And while the debate continues regarding the return of artworks preserved in foreign museums, others are being intentionally destroyed by their own communities at home, regardless of their cultural or historical import.

Such is the wider context that frames the broader “[Re:]Entanglements” project and the “[Re:]Entangled Traditions” exhibition at

The Omu Anioma, HRM Obi Martha Dunkwu narrating the history of the Omu Throne to Prof. Paul Basu and Dr. George Agbo during the exhibition

Guests at the [Re] Entangled Traditions Exhibition, Nnamdi Azikiwe Library, University of Nigeria Nsukka Nsukka. In particular, the exhibition featured the work of many artists associated with the “NsukkaArt School”, including Chijioke Onuorah, Krydz Ikwuemesi, Chinyere Odinukwe, RitaDoris Edumchieke Ubah, Chukwuemeka Nwigwe, Chika Kanu, Jennifer Ogochukwu Okpoko, Chukwunonso Uzoagba, Ugonna Umeike, and Ngozi Omeje. Each artist experimented with the Northcote Thomas archive in diverse media ranging from paintings in various media, installations, photography, digital art, batik, tapestry, fashion, and mixed media. The artistic expressions were thematically explored in relation to the archives as a creative resource to address societal issues such as identity, religion, culture, politics, intolerance, progression and regression. Other participants in the project included musicologists Ikenna Onwuegbuna and Samson Eze, while Gloria Okeke and Miracle Uzoagba participated as linguists.

Many of the artists made visual reference to the archival images in their work. In her two-panel painting entitledAkwa NkosaAchalugonwanyi, for example, Chinyere Odinukwe addresses the evolving socio-cultural identity of Igbo attire using the woman wrapper and Uli traditional symbols which have transcended beyond its conventional appearance from the precolonial era to the present day.

The painting of a woman from Nibo inAnambra State in 1911 was executed in acrylic and salvaged aluminum foil with a backdrop of Uli traditional motifs.

Chuu Krydz Ikwuemesi further explores uli traditional symbols in a style that appears to be defragmentation of Uli symbols. His work, entitled Playing with Time and Memory, is rendered with acrylic paint on four panels of dominant earth colours in brown, red and yellow on canvas. Some of the Uli body and wall designs photographed by Northcote Thomas also finds a thematic rendition in the tapestry and applique work of Jennifer Okpoko and RitaDoris Ubah.

Chijioke Onuorah in his large-scale batik work entitled Ezeana Obidigbo engages with the ancient ichi facial scarification practice among the Igbo. The thick linear strokes of wax application on the foreground and background of the fabric situate the scarification process of igbu ichi. Though a proud practice in the past, a keen observation of the large drapery mounted in the exhibition hall is a reminder of how facial scarification is perceived as abuse in modern Nigeria.

Furthermore, the art exhibition ushered in art patriots and enthusiasts with Ikenna Onwuegbuna’s and Samson Eze’s modernized renditions of Northcote Thomas’s historical sound recordings of traditional music, which provided a soundtrack to the exhibition.

The recordings derived from some Igbo communities between 1910 and 1913 have been recomposed by Onwuegbuna and Eze from an ethnomusicological perspective. The sound of oja, ekwe, and udu amongst other traditional Igbo instruments filled the exhibition space as students of the Music Department also performed different cultural dances at the exhibition opening.

On panels at the center of the exhibition hall, the linguistic interpretations of Gloria Okeke and Miracle Uzoagba were on display. Using Northcote Thomas’s historical recordings ofAwka dialects, they examine how the spoken Igbo language has changed over a hundred years.

The “[Re:]Entangled Traditions” exhibition also attracted the presence of traditional rulers such as the Igwe of Nkwere Nsukka Ancient Kingdom, HRM, Patrick Okolo Chukwunweze and the OmuAnioma of Delta, HRM, Obi Martha Dunkwu, who declared the exhibition open.

––Odinukwe writes from Nsukka (See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

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L-R: Mr. Femi Falana, Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola (3rd right), the celebrant, Mr. Ofeimun 4th right) been assisted in cutting his 70th birthday celebration...recently

THE SEVENTY YEARS

OF ODIA OFEIMUN

Yinka Olatunbosun

"I

have always wished to be an old man,” the renowned poet and polemicist, Odia Ofeimun said in his remarks at the international conference held in honour of his much celebrated 70th Birthday. The half-filled Julius Berger Hall, University of Lagos, Akoka echoed with laughter. Certainly, with the proliferation of anti-ageing creams and cosmetic surgeries in this modern world, it is an unusual thing to hear anyone say. But, Ofeimun was speaking from a place of privileged history of himself which he cared to share with his audience.

“They told my mother when I was young that I won’t amount to anything. She was so frightened; she spent almost all her youth trying to get a second son. All of them were miscarriages. So, it became my responsibility to try to be something bigger than one son could have been. I had to look her in the face after one very bad miscarriage and said, ‘Mama, I will not die; even if the leaves on the trees can be climbed by witches and wizard , they won’t touch the hair of my head.

Don’t beg any pastor or Babalawo because I will survive.

“For me, being 70 is trying to celebrate all those Nigerians who have gone through the rough edges to survive. Irrespective of the naysayers, Nigeria will become a great country.

I want to thank everybody for being here.”

It was on this positive note that his 70th Birthday celebrations kicked-off in Lagos. The conference, convened

by Dr. Wumi Raji had in attendance, the human rights lawyer, Femi Falana SAN and was chaired by Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the Minister of Interior.

A leading Nigerian poet, Ofeimun is a man of many parts. He is a journalist, dance-drama producer, critic, columnist and public intellectual. He wormed his way into journalism from a small, sleepy community of Iruekpen where he was born. As a child, he started writing poetry which commanded attention. Having impressed the editor of MidWest Echo, a Beninbased newspaper, he was offered a job as a reporter in 1968. Ofeimun became a sub-editor at the paper before he left for Lagos the following year.

Lagos life was quite tough at first for Ofeimun as he had to do several jobs other than the real one that was his first love. He worked as a petrol attendant in Yaba, factory labourer at the West African Thread Company, Apapa. Between December 1969 and January 1970, he sat for O'levels and A'levels in General Certificate of Education (GCE) . Later, he worked as a third class clerk at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Alagbon. He had a stint with the NYSC as an Assistant Divisional Officer prior to his postgraduate studies at the University of Ibadan.

Since 1970s, he has been a player in the intellectual and political space buoyed by his job as a private secretary to the late Nigerian nationalist and politician, Chief Obafemi Awolowo between 1978 and 1981. He was a member of the editorial board of The Guardian from 1983 to 1988, Chairman of the Editorial Board of The News, Tempo and AM NEWS from 1993 to 1999.

His works include volumes of poetry, collections of critical essays,

Rauf Aregbesola, Odia Ofeimun and Biodun Jeyifo

anthologies of cultural and political interventions and a compilation of his journalistic writings.

One of his poetic masterpieces reflecting his ordeal with the military government in Nigeria include “I Am a Writer" written exactly 10 years after the British High Commission denied him visa to enjoy a facility provided by the British Council to see the London Book Fair. And then, “only for General Abacha's goons to seize my passport, my visa application to be rejected again, this time, with a sticker on my passport, which says ‘he claims to be a writer,” he added.

With the theme, “Taking Nigeria Seriously,” the intelligentsia made interventions with a variety of paper during the panellists’ sessions. The sessions were preceded by the keynote address delivered by the leading critic, Prof. Biodun Jeyifo , a Professor Emeritus and Research Professor,

Comparative Literature, Harvard University who remarked that Ofeimun is not just prominent but has deliberately prepared himself for the role.

“He is sensitive to the polarity of the oppressed and the oppressor,” Jeyifo said.

In his intervention titled “Odia Ofeimun and the Dialectics of Nigeria's Long Revolution", G.G. Darah voiced his opinion on the optimism of Ofeimun for one Nigeria.

“It is a wrong-headed aspiration for anyone to take Nigeria seriously.

We have lost more human beings in Nigeria 50 years after the civil war than we did during the war,” he said.

For Onookome Okome who described Ofeimun as a public intellectual, Ofeimun may not be “a scholar or an academic, but he is committed to practical application of his knowledge.”

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MARCH 22, 2020

CICERO

Editor:Olawale Olaleye Email:wale.olaleye@thisdaylive.com, SMS: 08116759819

IN THE ARENA

COVID-19: The Race to Tame a Deadly Monster To contain the ravaging COVID-19, all hands must be on deck, writes Samuel Ajayi

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he pandemic called Coronavirus first reached Nigerian via an unnamed Italian, who came to the country on February 27.

Many had thought that the pandemic would not really have a foothold in Nigeria.

But all that changed on Wednesday last week, when the Minister of Health, Prof.

Osagie Ehanire, announced that the nation had recorded five new cases of the virus.

Out of the five, four were in Lagos while the remaining one was in Ekiti. The Ekiti case was the driver that carried one of those, who tested positive to the virus. According to the minister, three of the new cases arrived from the United States of America while two came from the United Kingdom.

“We are still collating information on the travellers,” the minister said during the briefing. “Two out of the three from the US are Nigerians: a mother and six week-old baby, which makes it the youngest COVID-19 patient we have. The third is an American national, who crossed the land border to become the first COVID-19 case not arriving by air.”

On Thursday again, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Ayobami, also announced that out of 19 new suspected cases, four were confirmed positive and this brought the number of confirmed cases in the country to 12.

He added that the new cases had been isolated in the Infectious Disease Hospital, in Yaba, Lagos. He said the first of the four cases was a female, who had contact with the lady, who came to the country from the UK and who had earlier tested positive.

The second case, the commissioner explained, was a female who returned to President Muhammadu Buhari and the SGF, Boss Mustapha the country from France on March 14 on a Turkish airline TK1830 while the third case was that of a man in even have more cases than government is disclosing and also there might be cases out there that government and other his 50s, who did not travel anywhere but tested positive to the relevant authorities were not aware of. Beyond this is the fact disease. And the last case was that of a Nigerian, who arrived that many Nigerians are superstitious and might be adopting the country on March 13 from Frankfurt on Lufthansa airline such in dealing with the virus. flight LH568.

The greater danger, however, is that Nigeria is a very informal The disclosure by the minister has now alerted Nigerians to country. Many are of the opinion that even if schools, banks and the fact that the virus is closer home that many would have other public places were shut down, what of other public places thought. That is where the problem lies. The nation’s health system, from all indications, might not be equipped to deal with like markets and supermarkets.

These are places where Nigerians usually have body contacts an outbreak of the virus, and this is dangerous. and mingle with each other. That is why many are of the In response to the new cases and the efforts to stem a further opinion that may be a complete lockdown of the metropolis spread of the highly contagious virus, the Lagos State governmight not be a bad idea after all. ment banned any gathering of more than 50 people and also To underscore the fact that Nigerians might not have come advised that churches and mosques should not operate this into the full grasp of the danger posed by the COVID-19, the weekend so as to enhance the option of social distancing, which Oyo State branch of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party is what many countries have adopted to stem the spread of the (PDP), on Wednesday held a rally in front of Mapo Hall, Ibadan, disease.

In the same vein, the state government announced the closure Oyo State capital.

The rally attracted thousands of party members. In fact, it was of all private and public schools from Monday 23 March this year, even as THISDAY learnt that there were plans to ban social alleged that one of the musicians that performed at the rally just returned to the country from the United Kingdom, a few days gatherings like parties and other ceremonies that require many ago and went straight to perform at the rally. Many are of the people to be in attendance.

While government has taken these steps, which are considered opinion that he should have gone into isolation since he was in the UK, where the virus was prevalent. pro-active, the fear amongst Nigerians is that the nation might

Even countries like Italy, which have strong health systems are finding it hard to cope, which is the point that raises the question about how prepare the nation’s health system should there be an outbreak.

Dr. Jay Osi-Samuels, a Harvard-trained public health development expert, who works with an international NGO based in Abuja, said with what is at hand, the nation could still cope but if the cases escalate to hundreds, the nation might be in trouble.

His words: “Even US with all their strength does not have the capacity. It is a novel virus and we have asymptomatic and symptomatic cases. What you have to do is to test people and there is what we called the Centre for Disease Controls (CDC), protocol for testing.

“You do not just test people. But since there are no resources to test people, in countries like South Korea and China, they are testing everyone. But the US is facing bureaucracy and bottleneck and so on. For our own country, the body is National Centre for Diseases Control. NCDC is equipped to deal with it.

“With the Ebola experience, they are equipped to deal with things like this. They have six regional testing labs in all the geopolitical zones. Those labs can test. But you also have to realise that a lot of people believe it’s a viral organism.

“So the testing is not your normal testing. You have to have specialised equipment and personnel to do the testing.

P O L I T I CA L N OT E S

Makinde’s Apology Is Acceptable!

A Makinde

mid the troubling spread of Covid-19, which is seeing world leaders take measures to curb the menace, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde held a rally that was witnessed and attended by thousands of people, to welcome some defectors.

This had immediately sparked reactions from far and near, many of who thought the decision to hold such a rally was insensitive, poorly conceived and grossly irresponsible. And like a 21st century leader, the governor has since come out to apologise in the best way possible.

“I have received your complaints about the rally

that was held yesterday and I feel obliged to state in clear terms that we acted based on the information we had at that time. In retrospect, it should not have happened and I take responsibility for that lapse in judgment”.

As ‘arrogant’ as that sounds to some people especially, without the use of the word “sorry”, it’s still an apology and it is acceptable. He didn’t have to genuflect to show he was genuinely sorry.

The clincher in that tweet, however, is that he took responsibility and that’s leadership. There are some, today, who would even claim they were not aware if they were in his shoes. This is why Makinde should be “cut some slacks” and let everyone move on.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ MARCH 22, 2020

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BRIEFINGNOTES Oshiomhole’s Humbling Survival Although Adams Oshiomhole might have survived his planned removal from office as the national chairman of APC, there’s no debating the fact that he also suffered humiliating bruises. Chuks Okocha writes

T

he only and better way to describe the survival of Adams Oshiomhole as the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) after attempts to sack him is to conclude he currently savours a pyrrhic victory.

It’s a Pyrrhic victory in the sense that it inflicted so much devastating pains on the victor that it is tantamount to a defeat.

Anyone, who enjoys a pyrrhic victory, has also embraced such compromises that negate any true sense of achievement that could damage a long-term progress. Importantly, this is not yet a respite for him, because the battle ahead is still real.

For instance, the survival is by every definition a humiliation of the arrogant trade unionist turnedpolitician. Oshiomhole was indeed humiliated.

He was forced to swallow his vomits by lifting the suspension placed on the deputy national chairman, Lawan Shuiabu and Inuwa Abdulkadir, the vice chairman of the party, Northeast.

The victory came with a huge price. But even at that, some will say that it is not yet uhuru for the Edo State born-politician. The greatest battle is still ahead. It would be eventually called victory for him, if he survives the challenges ahead in Edo and Ondo States, during the governorship primaries.

The forces against him have not sheathed their swords yet. Oshiomhole too has not helped himself in the quagmire he finds himself. What will he do to the ambition of Pastor Ize Iyamu, who defected to APC? What is the future of the ongoing reconciliations? It appears the future of the APC is endangered and can only be cultured in the interest of the incumbent governor, Godwin Obaseki, when given a second term ticket.

How possible would that be? Will Ize Iyamu and his supporters give up without a fight? This battle for APC governorship ticket will determine whether the national chairman has actually survived or not.

Though the governors of the party were not in unison to remove Oshiomhole, certainly they will not support him to stop Obasieki from contesting for a second term. This is, because the broom they support now could be used to sweep some out during their own days of trial with a political godfather.

The governors are still there. They operate like a cult. Will they allow one of their own to be humiliated out of office in Edo State? What would be the terms of reconciliations?

One of the conditions given to Oshiomhole is to reconcile with Obaseki. But what is not clear is how that would be done. Some of his associates, like Ize Iyamu have crossed the line of no return. It was gathered that the embattled national chairman might be inclined to reconciliation but what would happen to his hardline supporters? What becomes of their political future? This will be a very hard nut for Oshiomhole to crack and it will form part of his deciding points, going forward.

The big question in the mouths of his supporters is, will Oshiomhole sacrifice them for his political interest or would he go down with them? What will happen to them if he chose the former?

Here comes the real situation on the ground in Edo State. Efforts to resolve the crisis in the APC must ensure a total reconciliation of the two factions in the state. The faction loyal to Oshiomhole has already opened a new secretariat.

The secretariat, which is less than two kilometres from the old secretariat of the party was opened with fanfare and attended by party leaders and members, including two governorship aspirants

Oshiomhole...Is it Uhuru yet? and a former deputy governor of the state, Hon Pius Odubu and Saturday Uwalekhue.

But the faction loyal to Obaseki and led by Mr. Anselm Ojezua, has dismissed the event, saying it remains the legally recognised leadership of the party and its secretariat is the only recognised one in Edo. The other question, therefore, is who is the state chairman of APC in Edo State? Is it still Anselm Ojezua? Is the embattled National Chairman still suspended in his ward? When will his ward in Iyamho lift the suspension on him.

Although there is nothing that cannot happen in politics, the party has a reconciliation initiative in place under Chief Bisi Akande as chairman. Can he ensure effective reconciliation of the factions in the state? The party is really in bad shape in Edo State.

To make matters worse, last Wednesday, barely 48 hours after Oshiomhole survived, Shuaibu had again set himself on a collision course with him after asserting that Obaseki should be given an automatic return ticket of the party.

Hitting the nail on the head, Shuaibu said there was no need escalating tension in Edo State with the bid to deny Obaseki the ticket. That’s exactly one of

the major causes of the crisis in the state.

“It is not a time bomb. We all heard President Buhari during the last NEC meeting announced that any governor, who has performed deserves a second term.

“There is no time bomb, because why should you prefer any other person than the sitting governor? It is like that all over the world even in America that started this democracy. Donald Trump has no opposition and nobody is contesting against him.

“It does not make sense to bring another person to contest against the governor. Governor Obaseki is the strongest candidate of the APC we have in Edo State.”

But this is the time bomb. Will Oshiomhole sacrifice Iyamu and members of his Edo Progressives Movement? What will happen to them now that the race to the Osadebe House is gradually gathering momentum? Will Oshiomhole and his comrades go back to the nights of long knife?

As Williams Shakespeare says in his epic novel, Julius Caesar, beware the ides of March. It is here now and has not gone. For Oshiomhole, the ides of March has come, but has not left station, which means danger is not yet averted.

NOTES FOR FILE

It’s Goodbye to Fuel Subsidy!

NNPC MD, Kyari

Last week, the federal government announced its decision to reduce the N10.59 trillion 2020 budget by N1.5 trillion. And one of the direct consequences of this move was the deregulation of petrol pricing.

As a result, the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) immediately modulated the pricing for petrol in accordance with the prevailing market dynamics and further oil market development by directing its outlets to sell petrol at N125, an N18 reduction from the N143 it sold up till yesterday.

Although the decisions were reportedly taken in

reaction to the drastic fall in the price of crude oil in the international market, caused by the outbreak of COVID-19 and trade war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, it addressed a major policy decision in Nigeria.

To that extent, it is goodbye to fuel subsidy, which had remained a drainpipe on the nation’s economy. The need to shutdown subsidy had been on the front burner for many years with government somewhat unable to do the right thing. But forced by circumstances beyond its control, it is hoped that Nigeria would not return to this path again. Never!

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ MARCH 22, 2020

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CICERO/REPORT

APC: Did Buhari Snooker the Governors?

It might be trite to say President Muhammadu Buhari did not show leadership by waiting till the eleventh hour before intervening in the crisis plaguing the APC, writes Chuks Okocha

T

he manner of interventions in issues of national importance by President Muhammadu Buhari always smacks of insensitivity to say the least. His eleventh hour intervention in the recent crisis in the All Progressives Congress (APC) is not the best, when all state’s resources and institutions had been stressed to their limits. The President’s intervention, unfortunately, is causing disrepute to the reputation and integrity of the judiciary and other law enforcement agencies in the country.

This is not the best and it is not to say that the President was not aware of the situations at the budding stages. Even when the national chairman of the ruling APC, Adams Oshiomhole was once asked to tell the body language of the president, when he informed him of the plots to remove him and the court order that suspended him, he said he could not for a fact read the mind of the president on the issue.

Though it is difficult to read the mind’s construction in the face of any individual, at times, it is better to predict one and say this is the way things may go. To allow crisis fester and almost getting out of hands before intervening does not show leadership.

It was at the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the APC that the leadership crisis came to the forefront. In fact, it was noted that combatants against Oshiomhole were ready to move against him, but the sudden exit of the President from the meeting and subsequent adjournment of the NEC meeting saved an impeachment move against the embattled National Chairman of APC. It cannot be said, therefore, that with the avalanche of security reports available to him, President Buhari was not aware of the crisis within the APC, the political party that brought him to power. Many had argued that if the President had intervened at that material time, the crisis would not have dragged to the extent that the integrity of the Court of Appeal was messed up as a result.

The full plot to remove Oshiomhole took root, when he was suspended at his ward in Edo State.

The chairman of the Edo State branch of the APC, Anselm Ojezua, had in 2019, stated that the suspension of Oshiomhole was based on President Buhari’s admonition that any member, who was not relevant in his ward, local government area and state could not hold office at the national level.

He said the Edo APC had concluded that Oshiomhole lacked the capacity, temperament and moral authority to lead the APC as national chairman. Ojezua insisted that any action taken by Oshiomhole in the capacity of national chairman, including documents signed and meetings presided over by him might be futile as his membership was already compromised.

This was where the President or even his media handlers would have intervened, warning against dragging the name of the president to minor political issues that were purely local. The silence by the President on this was an added impetus for the crisis to get out of time.

Then, the crisis moved to the judiciary, because as it is known in Nigeria, any political matter without a legal dimension is yet to start.

Justice Danlami Senchi of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, on March 4, granted an order of interim injunction stopping Oshiomhole from parading himself as the national chairman of the APC. The judge, while granting the injunction held that political parties must be bound by their constitution, and having been suspended by his ward, Oshiomhole was restrained from functioning as the national chairman of the party pending the hearing

Buhari with Oshiomhole...did the president save him? and determination of the substantive suit. The judge consequently fixed hearing of the matter for April 7 and 8.

As expected and instead of going to appeal, the embattled Oshiomhole, moved to a Federal High Court in Kano, where he got an interim order halting his suspension as the chairman of the ruling party.

Oshiomhole declared that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, which restrained him from further parading himself as the national chairman of the APC on Wednesday had no jurisdiction to entertain the suit.

This was part of debasing the judiciary by politicians, who ought to know better. But the outcry

by Nigerians that a court of concurrent powers couldn’t counter his suspension order, Oshiomhole

Shockingly, in the eleventh hour, President Buhari approved the postponement of the NEC, when he met with APC governors, including those of Borno, Lagos, Ogun, Edo, Kebbi, Jigawa, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau, Ondo, Kano, Osun, Katsina Imo and Gombe States in his office. At the end of the meeting, the chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum and Governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu, told reporters that the NEC meeting would hold when the governors were able to resolve the existing disagreement

proceeded to a higher court, the Court of Appeal.

In all these ensuring dramas, the President and his handlers kept quiet.

Coming back to his senses, Oshiomhole approached the appeal court to challenge his suspension as the chairman of the party by the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory. In his appeal, he asked the Court of Appeal to set aside the suspension order of Justice Senchi and restore his position as APC national chairman.

The appeal, which was earlier slated for hearing was, however, stood down till evening, following an announcement by a three-man panel of justices of the court headed by Justice Steven Adah that another panel would handle the matter.

But what happened in between when the appellant court announced adjournment and the time it forced to come out?

Shockingly, in the eleventh hour, President Buhari approved the postponement of the NEC, when he met with APC governors, including those of Borno, Lagos, Ogun, Edo, Kebbi, Jigawa, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau, Ondo, Kano, Osun, Katsina Imo and Gombe States in his office.

At the end of the meeting, the chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum and Governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu, told reporters that the NEC meeting would hold when the governors were able to resolve the existing disagreement.

“We told the president that the governors had resolved to work together to resolve all the issues in the party. Also, we seek Mr. President’s support to postpone the NEC meeting that is scheduled for tomorrow (today) until such a time that the governors are ready to report back,” Bagudu said, adding that the president was “so happy that we all agreed to that.” The big question remains, why wait for a minor crisis to degenerate to a complete mess before intervening?

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MARCH 22, 2020

CICERO/ONTHEWATCH

For Sanusi, the Future is for the Taking A lot of people were excited to hear former Emir of Kano State, Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, say he had moved on and not going back to the traditional stool, because truly, the future is for the taking for a progressively brilliant mind like him. Shola Oyeyipo writes

T

here have been series of debates since the dethronement of the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who was in the saddle as the Emir of Kano State from June 9, 2014 till March 9, 2020.

After protracted and unresolved disunity, the Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje approved his removal as the Emir of the ancient city of Kano.

While the governor and his cohorts will jubilate in their privacy that, “The enemy has been beheaded”, overall, Kano State and its people have only been deprived of an exceptional leader – one with a worldview capable of moving the state to the best imagined place. But, on the other hand, a rewarding future awaits the deposed Emir, especially, with the sweeping calls for higher duties.

This is simply, because many observers are of the opinion that a man, who climbed to the pinnacle of his banking career as the CBN Governor and ascended the coveted Emirship, was only victimised on the altar of politics by a rather myopic government that was more vindictive than progressive. Sanusi was sacrificed for speaking the truth to power.

Although Governor Ganduje won a judicial victory to retain the governorship seat in the state, swept his messy dollar bribe video under the carpet and eventually asserted his power by removing the traditional ruler, he has won no victory in the court of public opinion in the larger Nigeria.

Thanks to the maturity and gentlemanliness with which the former Emir handled the incident, a lot of his supporters and admirers saw clearly that Ganduje’s action did not take anything away from the soft spoken-yet articulate and brutally honest Nigerian.

His reaction was consoling to his supporters and admirers. “With almost six years on this throne, and, in charge of our heritage, today, the almighty Allah, who gave me the leadership has destined to take it Sanusi...the future has never looked this promising back. “As I always say, leadership has predetermined tenure. The days Allah destined are numbered. When the days versial 2019 election in Kano State. come to an end one must leave. We have accepted whatever So, to get back at him and minimise his influence, the Kano Allah decides. We have agreed. We appreciate (God). We are State Governor thought it wise to sign a bill creating four happy and we know it is what is best for us. Everything has a new emirates in the state to law, and expectedly, Sanusi was beginning and an end.” unsatisfied with that, hence the gulf between him and the As usual, Nigerian leaders are most effective and prompt in governor widened. carrying out sinister assignments than meeting peoples’ needs, Earlier in 2018, Sanusi also suspended five village heads after which they come up with well-crafted explanations for under the emirate for offences bordering on insubordination. their well-orchestrated agenda, though those familiar with the Those affected were Muhammad Abdullahi (‘Yan Dadi village) Kano State government and the palace under Sanusi cannot Jamilu Abubakar (Hugugumai), Abdu Yahaya (Gadaba), feign ignorance of what got the two parties to where they are.

Dahiru Muhammad (Galadimawa) and Isyaku Mustapha When the state government was giving reasons for Sanusi’s (Ridawa), all in Kunchi Council. dethronement in a statement signed by the Secretary to the So, it is more like the state government paying Sanusi in his State Government, Usman Alhaji, who said the decision was own coins, but only that this time around, the government unanimous among members of the Kano State Executive meddled in the affairs of the traditional council for political Council led by Ganduje, allegation of disrespect was the main reasons. issue raised against the dethroned Emir.

Another sin of the former traditional ruler was his very “The Emir of Kano is in total disrespect to lawful instruccritical public statements, which the government considered as tions from the office of the state governor and other lawful direct attack on it. authorities, including his persistent refusal to attend official However, his main undoing was that he failed to realise that meetings and programmes organised by the government in spite of the fact that the APC was drastically failing Nigeriwithout any lawful justification, which amounts to total ans at almost all levels, they abhor criticisms. So, the notion that insubordination.”

Sanusi was being critical of government did not go down well Further alleging that Sanusi’s actions were breaches to Part with the ruling party, both at the state and federal levels.

3 Section 13 (a-e) of the Kano State Emirate Law 2019 and, he So, like the proverbial dog, Sanusi only needed a bad name added that, “The removal was reached in order to safeguard to be taken to the slaughter slab, not necessarily because he the sanctity, culture, tradition, religion, and prestige of the Kano was bad. He was only a kind of guy, who couldn’t condone Emirate built over a thousand years.” the continued atrophy of his people through poverty, illiteracy, Five days before his eventual dethronement, precisely on drug addiction, insecurity and all other vices.

Wednesday, March 4, the Kano State House of Assembly led He was passionate about many issues and never shied

by Speaker Abdul’aziz Garba Gafasa, obviously acting governaway from making his position known to them. Some of such ment’s script, had announced its decision to probe Sanusi over relate to Islam, family, poverty and education. These are areas alleged violation of culture and tradition of the state. government should make meaningful impacts.

While the lawmakers attributed their decision to probe Sanusi wanted Nigeria to ban underage marriage and at Sanusi to two petitions submitted against his, record also had various for a, implored Nigerians, especially, Muslims to give it that members of the State Assembly were engaged in a birth to the number of children they could care for. He took a brawl over plan to dethrone the Emir. stand against all forms of practices perpetrating poverty in the Fact is that the no-love-lost relationship between Ganduje north. He particularly wants something more than the Almajiri and Sanusi could be narrowed down to the latter’s disapsystem and his position was that fathers should be arrested for proval of the governor’s leadership style, which he feels is not sending out their children to beg instead of sending them to doing enough to meet the urgent needs of the people of the school. state. The Emir is appalled by the devastating level of poverty The banker-turned traditional ruler maintained that the and illiteracy among his people and was not able to influence Almajri problem of the North Nigeria was not a religious the leadership to take meaningful actions that could impact concern, but a social issue requiring urgent attention. directly on the lives of the citizenry in the near future.

Sermonising to his people in one of his numerous exhortaThis, perhaps, shaped his attitude towards the government tions, Sanusi said: “We have been talking about Almajri for and like any other leader, who wants the best for his people, over 30 years. Why are people having family that they cannot he could do with a change of government during the contro-

maintain? Why are people marrying wives that they cannot maintain? The condition is that you are able to provide for your family.

“Instead of having many children, why not have the ones you can cater for? These are the fundamental questions we should ask ourselves. Most of these children roaming about the streets will be adult in the next 20 years and they will be the ones recruited as political thugs by the politicians in the next twenty years, if we don’t take good care of them now.

“This is my own advice that we must look at. These are not religious issues; they are social issues that need to be addressed”.

Identifying Almajiri as a social issue, Sanusi would definitely want more from any government. His anger is that with what he considers as ‘perpetual colonisation of northerners’ by imposing western education as national standard, those with Arabic knowledge are not getting their due recognition hence the need to catch up with the trend.

This explains why he was critical of the state government on misplaced priority. He saw the urgency in expanding the scope of education above other things. He wanted the children to be able to compete equally with their counterparts from every other parts of Nigeria.

Now a new and preferred Emir has emerged in person of Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, but the question is, would he be comfortable with the backwardness of his people, the street urchins who come handy as political thugs and terrorists? Is he going to be quiet about underage marriage, poverty and all that just to please the governor?

Time will tell. Nigerians are waiting to see what kind of Emir the Emperor-governor really wants. Fortunately for Sanusi, given the courage he showed and the humility with which he accepted the governor’s bully, more Nigerians are standing with the dethroned emir on this.

Many prominent Nigerians, including former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo; playwright and Nigerian Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka; former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal and a long list of other well-meaning Nigerians have empathised with him and assured him that a greater future is ahead of him.

While Sanusi is being celebrated across religions, ethnic and regional lines, some bloggers already stated touting him for political office as a vice presidential candidate. Where he considers such position, anyone can be sure that the former CBN governor will enjoy tremendous goodwill among Nigerians, who feel he was victimised by Ganduje for always being on the side of truth.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MARCH 22, 2020

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Segun Oni: Prepping the 2022/2023 Game in Ekiti The recent defection of Mr. Segun Oni from the ruling APC to the opposition PDP comes with a lot of suspicion, writes Victor Ogunje

I

t is no longer news that a former governor of Ekiti State, Segun Oni, has returned to his former party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after six years of hobnobbing with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Oni, who joined the APC in a controversial fashion in 2014, held a strategic position as Deputy National Chairman of the ruling party. This underscored the level of respect the party and its machinery had for him as well as the relevance he commanded during his stay in the party.

A lot of theories had been propounded as spurring Oni, who was respected for his principled stand on political issue, to take this action.

To some, it was a chess game towards the 2022 governorship poll. The pulse within the PDP vividly attested to the high stakes to take over the state in 2022, when Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who had always been a nemesis to them wont be on the ballot. With this game, they perceived Oni as the joker and a man, who could turn the table in PDP’s favour.

But some members of APC, who could reason from a broader spectrum, perceived the 2022 game plan as a mere smokescreen. They opined that the game surrounding Oni’s defection was beyond the facade of governorship poll, but has strong tie with the 2023 presidential race that is currently unsettling the APC. There is no gainsaying the fact that the intrigues ahead of the presidential race have polarised the Southwest into two factions. As of now, a wide cleavage is within the ranks of the APC, with some rooting for Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who has always had his eyes on the seat and those queuing behind Governor Fayemi.

The resonating effect was what was witnessed in the hot and keen battle to oust the APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, an onslaught he narrowly survived.

An ardent follower of the political situation of the Southwest would subscribe to the fact that the five governors on the platform of APC are sharply divided into Pro-Tinubu and Fayemi factions.

This syndrome had created the impression that the battle line has been drawn and all machineries are being deployed into the rumble for the two gladiators to outwit each other. Under this circumstance, Oni’s new move is being insinuated to be a deft and calculated permutation to cause confusion in Fayemi’s camp, with base in Ekiti and merely struggling to make inroad to other states.

Those who belong to this school claimed the game plan before now was to allow Oni to remain in APC and divide the party ahead of the next poll, but he was caged

by Fayemi’s seemingly formidable political machinery in Ekiti and the alleged plot could not hit the expected target.

In actual fact, pushing the battle to an opposition terrain, where they could galvanise support and muster enough stature to do a colossal damage to Fayemi’s political structure, was an option B, according to a source.

Having adopted this option, time shall tell whether actions being taken by Oni and his loyalists will either confirm or dispel this widespread insinuation.

The general perception among the PDP members has been that former Governor Ayodele Fayose is close to Tinubu on the project 2023. Of recent, a member of the party loyal to Senator Biodun Olujimi, branded Fayose as a double-edged politician, who fraternises with APC in Lagos and claims leadership of PDP in Ekiti.

This sudden coalition of unlike-minds, Oni and Fayose, who had rejected each other like lepers in the past, lends credence to that assumption that the 2023 presidential race might be part of the focus of this rumble.

Another factor that corroborated the fact that all is not well between Tinubu and Fayemi, lucidly manifested in the fight that ensued sequel to the appointment of ex-governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, as the Deputy National Chairman(South) of the party.

One can’t contest the fact that Ajimobi and Fayemi were close political associates and the appointment ought to be widely received by everyone. But the acrimony it generated from Ekiti APC signaled that the two feuding leaders are using every instrument to fight for political survival.

The Ekiti State chapter of the party had filed a suit contesting Ajimobi’s appointment on account that it violated the principle of micro zoning in the party. The Ekiti APC dares not resist Ajimobi, if Fayemi had been favourably disposed to the appointment. It was akin to the biblical case of the “hands of Esau and the voice of Jacob”.

But the Publicity Secretary of the Pro-Oni’s political platform, Atunse Ekiti Movement, Dr. Bayo Arowolaju, said Oni remains one of the most principled politicians ever existed in Ekiti and that he can’t be used by anybody to fight political battle or shady deals. He

Oni...waiting on the time said pointedly that the defection has no link with 2023 presidential poll.

He thought it was rather insulting and demeaning that a former governor would be so underrated to the extent that he won’t know when to leave a party that had done a lot of damage to his supporters except he was dictated to.

Arowolaju clarified that Oni’s defection to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was not motivated by desperate quest to be governor in 2022 or being used by anyone for 2023, saying he decided to return to his former party owing to alleged discrimination and machination against his supporters by Governor Fayemi and his loyalists.

Arowolaju clarified that the decision was part of the collective resolution taken by Oni’s loyalists in view of alleged maltreatment being inflicted on them in APC. He said they found the PDP more captivating at this time having learnt its lesson from the defeat of 2015 general election, describing the opposition as better organised and more democratic than it was in the past.

“At the Meeting held at Ifaki Ekiti and attended by 250 Oni’s core loyalists, where they resolved that the supporters were being treated like lepers in Ekiti APC. “It was our observations at the meeting that Ekiti APC doesn’t believe in democracy from ward, local government and state levels, while the appointments to government positions at the state and federal levels are limited to family members, friends and associates of the governor.

“Dr. Kayode Fayemi and his group in Ekiti introduced a novelty of nepotism and clannishness in selecting people into elective positions that is not known to democracy anywhere in the world. In the last election, no nomination form was made available or refund made to any Oni’s supporters.

“Many of our members were threatened with expulsion and suspension why some handpicked ward executives were instigated to suspend him indefinitely.

We sent a petition to the NWC about this irresponsible action, but nothing was done.

“For all these, Atunse Ekiti sees no future for their members in APC, because of deep rooted impunity and display of hatred for Segun Oni. This Group thereby

advised their leader, Segun Oni, whom they have been following for his integrity, honesty and incorruptibility and records of performance anywhere he serves to lead them out of APC to PDP,” he clarified.

Defending their return to PDP, Arowolaju said, “The party has made mistakes and apologised but things are getting worse in APC. We have contributed to APC but get nothing in return, so our defection is justifiable and not self-serving,” he said.

The way the APC accepted Oni’s defection underscored that the party suspected a foulplay in his defection, but this they claimed wouldn’t affect Fayemi in a way.

Publicity Secretary of APC, Hon. Ade Ajayi, said though the party doesn’t suspect that Oni was pursuing 2023 agenda, he insisted that the APC political machinery was well positioned to curtail whatever onslaught Oni was pursuing against Fayemi.

“We don’t believe in insinuation, our belief is that Oni was being haunted by his political antecedents. In 2007, Oni came third in the PDP governorship primary, but he was catapulted to number one and became the candidate.

“He was rigged into government and Governor Fayemi challenged him and he won eventually. Shortly after he joined us, he was appointed the Deputy National Chairman of our great party. He contested for governorship primary in 2018 and lost and he immediately went to court to challenge Fayemi’s eligibility and lost the battle again.

“So, he has never hidden his desperation to be governor. But let him know that whatever he was pursuing, whether governorship or any other agenda, he will fail.

He is no match for Fayemi in Ekiti and we have nothing to fear.

“But as per presidential race, we don’t believe that he is being used by anybody, but let us keep our fingers crossed and see how event unfolds,” he said.

In the next few months, Ekiti will become a theatre of war and the political intrigues will be tensed and pulsating. As event unfolds, every agenda being pursued will be unveiled and interested Nigerians will know whether Oni took an altruistic position with his defection or was out to play a hatchet’s game.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MARCH 22, 2020

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Edo APC Still Far from Peace Despite the appeal by President Muhammadu Buhari to members of the All Progressives Congress to embrace peace, Edo State APC is still sprawling in bitter rivalry, writes Adibe Emenyonu

A

lthough there is temporal lull following the resolution of the crisis within the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) with the return of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as the National Chairman of the party, the same cannot be said of the Edo State chapter of the party as both factions continue to beat the drums of war.

The fact that the last may not have been heard of crisis in the state emerged with the opening of a new secretariat by the Oshiomhole-led faction of the party. The secretariat, which is less than two kilometers from the old one, was opened with fanfare, prayers and thanksgiving service.

In attendance were several leaders and members of the APC in the state, led by two governorship aspirants and former deputy governor of the state, Pius Odubu and Saturday Uwalekhue, while other three governorship aspirants were said to be in Abuja in solidarity with Oshiomhole during the Court of Appeal ruling and could not come back immediately.

This as the leadership of the faction loyal to Governor Godwin Obaseki, led by Anselm Ojezua yesterday insisted that it was the only legally recognised leadership of the party and the secretariat it occupies is the only recognised APC state secretariat in Edo. Spokesman of the Oshiomhole faction, Chris Azebanmwan, told journalists that Col. David Imuse (rtd) was the acting chairman of the party as according to him, Ojezua has been legitimately removed.

This, he said was confirmed when it was Imuse that attended the last NEC meeting of the party as Edo State chairman and was also there when state chairmen visited President Muhammadu Buhari.

“After we removed Anselm Ojezua in November last year, armed thugs took over the secretariat in their thinking that we Oshiomhole and his Edo foot soldiers want to eject Ojezua from the office, but we know that no Edo citizen’s blood is worth the political light transcending darkness, rule of law, for upholding ambition of anybody, because we were aware that all of constitutionalism and the respect for party supremacy those things they were doing was in furtherance of Mr. and internal mechanism of conflict resolution.

Governor’s second term ambition.

“As we celebrate these victories, it is also a moment “So, we decided that at the end of the day, the buildof sober reflection for us in Edo State APC, as we ing does not make the secretariat. If the National Secreremember the unwholesome roles played by Obaseki tariat of our party wants to get in touch with our party in the failed attempt to remove our National Chairin Edo State, they will get in touch with us wherever we man, Comrade Oshiomhole, his benefactor, because of are located. It was fortunate that the Campaign office of inordinate ambition to get second term by all means.

Mr. President for his second term was available, so we “It has been one case of evil, witch-hunting and decided to adopt that place as our operational base” executive rascality to another. To Obaseki, his second Nevertheless, the Publicity Secretary of the faction term is not negotiable. It is more important than the loyal to Obaseki, Pastor Joseph Osagiede, has a contrary lives of people of Edo State. Anyone who dares to stand view. He said it is not allowed in law for a party to have on his path must be crushed. Edo governor, who ought two secretariats. to be a political leader that should unite all members “I am not aware of any other state secretariat. That is of APC, suddenly became an instrument of division, not allowed by law; our party does not allow for two intimidation, humiliation and political vendetta”. secretariats, so, that is illegal.”

Odubu further accused Obaseki of sponsoring spuriAnother indication that all is still not well with the ous actions in courts, geared towards the removal of party in the state, is the war of words between GoverOshiomhole, as the National Chairman of APC, adding, nor Obaseki, and five of the governorship aspirants in “We thank God, all his attempts ended in futility. To the party over the survival of Oshiomhole as national Obaseki, no Edo man qualifies to hold any high posichairman. tion in Nigeria, as far as he remains governor and he is The five Edo APC governorship aspirants: Dr. Pius seeking a second term.”

Odubu, Saturday Uwalekhue, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, He, however, appreciated the party’s faithful at the Chris Ogienmwonyi and Maj.-Gen. Charles Airhiavbere state and national level for their steadfastness and (rtd.), at a news conference in Benin City, declared that resilience in the midst of the injustice, oppression Obaseki’s attempts to remove his benefactor and imand provocation, assuring that the Egyptians they mediate predecessor Oshiomhole has ended in futility. were seeing today, they would see them no more from Speaking on behalf of others, Dr. Odubu said the November 12 this year. proposed illegal National Executive Committee (NEC) His also appreciated President Buhari, whose decimeeting of the party, if allowed to hold would have sion as the leader of APC, Odubu declared, helped to caused implosion in APC. restore peace in the party; the national leader of APC, In his address, the former deputy governor under Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the progressive governors and Oshiomhole and one of the governorship aspirants other critical stakeholders of the party, who stood asked the few greedy elements within the party, who in defence of party supremacy and Oshiomhole, in wanted to sacrifice all others have collectively built and appreciation of his sacrifices to APC. achieved as a party, because of their 2023 ambition, to He, therefore, asked the “agent provocateurs” to have a rethink, insisting that Oshiomhole’s leadership immediately retrace their steps and embrace the of APC had brought endless gains and possibilities to supremacy of the party, while urging all the aggrieved the party and would be adequately supported. members of the party to sheathe their swords and He said: “March 16, 2020 will indeed linger in our utilise the internal dispute resolution mechanism, as memories as a day of victory for justice, due process, for stipulated in APC’s constitution, stressing that the

onerous task of delivering the next level dividends of democracy, as promised by APC and President Buhari, should be the primary focus of members of the party.

Reacting through his Special Adviser on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, Obaseki described Edo APC as factionalised, because Odubu, a former deputy governor of the state, and other governorship aspirants on the party’s platform were sabotaging the peace efforts of President Buhari and APC governors, among others.

He said such characters neither meant well for APC nor Oshiomhole.

“Less than 24 hours after the peace initiative by President Buhari and APC governors in Abuja, Odubu has launched a barrage of attacks on my person, a situation that jeopardises moves to restore peace to a party that has become severely troubled.

“Odubu has been a known frontline speaker for Comrade Oshiomhole during the crisis that preceded the current peace initiative. He (Odubu) is also a frontrunner in the factionalisation of the APC in Edo State, under the supervision of Comrade Oshiomhole.

“They (Edo APC governorship aspirants) will rather continue to stir crisis and disrupt the peace in the state and the party. We call on the Presidency to take note of this trend, aimed at rubbishing all the efforts by President Buhari and the APC governors to bring peace to the party at all levels.

“We challenge Comrade Oshiomhole to come out to publicly denounce the irresponsible comments (of Edo APC governorship aspirants), if he does not subscribe to them. Failure of which proves that he (Oshiomhole) is actively in support of the renewed attacks on Edo governor.”

The Edo governor also stated that the attacks on him by the governorship aspirants were consistent with their character, stressing that there was no denying that they would continue, which was why it was pertinent to draw the attention of the Presidency to the antics, aimed at sabotaging the peace efforts of President Buhari, APC governors and other leaders of the party.

Question is, when will it end or how long will it last?

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PERSPECTIVE

J USTICE G ONE A WRY ?

The Confounding Case of Petro Union Limited Ebenezer Johnson

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s with recent cases before the Supreme Court, all eyes are once again on the nation’s Apex Court to execute substantial and impartial justice in a case between the Central Bank of Nigeria (“CBNâ€?), Union Bank of Nigeria (“Union Bankâ€?) and a company known as Petro Union Oil and Gas Limited (“Petro Unionâ€?) involving an alleged ÂŁ2.550bn fraud.

Already, salient facts are before the Supreme Court regarding how the oil company and its directors allegedly plotted and conspired to defraud the Central Bank of Nigeria and Union Bank Plc. of the stated sum.

Although in some quarters, the confidence reposed in the judiciary is said to be waning following what is seen as baffling decisions by the court in recent times, this case may serve as a litmus test of the capacity of the apex Court to entrench its reputation as the standard for justice and equity in the land. Indeed, parallels have already been drawn between the case in question, and the brazen attempt by the P&ID directors to defraud the Federal Republic of Nigeria of the sum of $9bn in a case which sparked outrage from many quarters even beyond Nigeria. Many have also questioned the Supreme Court’s controversial ruling in the recent case involving the Imo State gubernatorial elections.

Nevertheless, it is imperative to note that the salutary role of the judiciary in the anti-corruption agenda of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is evident in various sectors where the war against corruption has been intensified.

Many corruption cases have been won and dispensed within the courts, as scores of perpetrators are already languishing in jail following their convictions.

The nation’s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is also living up to expectations in this regard just as the courts are delivering justice without fear or favour.

Between January and October 2019 alone, the EFCC secured 890 convictions and recovered billions of naira in looted funds. In one of its briefings, the Federal Government of Nigeria commended the EFCC’s anti -corruption crusade. Recall that in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, the EFCC was able to secure 103, 189, 190 and 202 convictions respectively.

This precedent reinforces hope in the judiciary, and bolsters the assurance that in the case of Petro Union vs the CBN and Union Bank, justice will be substantially served. This is so especially as the EFCC is currently prosecuting the oil company in a Federal High Court in Lagos, where the company, three of its directors and an alleged Financial Consultant, who was the linchpin of the fraud, Abayomi Kukoyi of Gladstone Kukoyi & Associates were arraigned for alleged criminal procurement of the fraud against the Federal Republif of Nigeria through the CBN and Union Bank. A fourth director of the company, Gladys Okpalla, is said to be on the run and suspected to be harboured by one of the lawyers allegedly masterminding the fraud.

While it is expedient for the Supreme Court to execute substantial justice in the case before it, the facts and the genesis of how the ÂŁ2,159, 221, 313.54 billion fraud was allegedly perpetrated must be stated here.

CJN, Muhammad

Petro Union’s troubles began in 1994 when the company allegedly fraudulently procured a cheque from a branch of Barclays Bank in the UK with a value of £2.556 billion and presented it at one of Union Bank’s branches in Lagos, under the pretext that it was meant to construct three petrochemical refinery complexes in Nigeria and establish a bank. While the required due diligence investigations were being carried out, one Mr. Okpala, the Managing Director of PU, inundated the Bank and the CBN with visits and demands for the release of the cheque.

Eventually, both the CBN and Union Bank advised Petro Union that Barclays Bank in the UK had been contacted and it confirmed that it never accepted the bill of exchange for clearing.

The response similarly affirmed that the account on which the cheque was drawn was closed on 21st September 1989 whereas the cheque was issued on 29th December 1994 - five years after the account was closed!

Despite the foregoing startling discovery and decisive response, Petro Union and Isaac Okpala persisted with their demands and this culminated in a petition by the company to the Lagos office of the EFCC, for alleged offences of stealing and criminal conversion against the CBN and Union Bank.

Following the petition, the EFCC investigated the allegation by interrogating the CBN through a letter dated 12th January 2005. In a letter dated 27th January 2005, The CBN responded to the query by the EFCC wherein it denied the allegations of Petro Union.

The EFCC also made other efforts to investigate the allegations including corresponding with Barclays Bank in the UK. Having concluded its investigation, the EFCC issued a letter dated 10th May 2005 addressed to the Managing Director of Union Bank exonerating the Bank from any wrong doing.

However, in its desperation to use the allegedly forged cheque to perpetrate the fraud on CBN and Union Bank, Petro Union in February 2012 instituted an action at a Federal High Court, Abuja in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/M/104/2012: PETRO UNION OIL & GAS CO. LTD .V. CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIAAND ORS., seeking sundry reliefs against (1) CBN, (2) Union Bank, (3) Hon. Minister of Finance and (4) The Attorney-General of the Federation following the allegation that Union Bank of Nigeria received the sum of ÂŁ2,556,000,000.00 on behalf of Petro Union and transferred the sum of ÂŁ2,159,221,318.54 to the CBN while retaining the sum of ÂŁ396,778,681.46. In support of this startling claim, Petro Union alleged that the money is kept in an account in the name of a company called Glodmatic Limited at the CBN and tendered a purported CBN Statement of Account of Goldmatic.

The Federal High Court, Abuja Judge before whom the claim was filed accepted the purported CBN Statement of Account as conclusive evidence that CBN had retained the money alleged to belong to Petro Union, ignoring the elementary fact that globally a central bank cannot open an account for a private entity. The CBN is statutorily empowered to act as bankers to government and bankers to banks. This is perhaps the first time since the discipline of economics and finance began that a central bank was adjudged by a court as a banker to a private entity- perhaps a novel Nigerian contribution to the study of economics!

Although Petro Union and its directors allegedly knew these facts to be false from the onset, yet they pursued the so-called fraud up to the Court of Appeal where they obtained judgement to establish that the ÂŁ2,159, 221, 313.54 billion was lodged in the coffers of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

It is said that he who must come to equity must come with clean hands. And this is apt in the case before the Supreme Court, as the company which had, through apparently dubious means, secured judgements both at the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, is facing prosecution for the same criminal offence it claimed it did not perpetrate.

Petro Union Oil and Gas Limited and its directors are to defend charges of fraudulently procuring a Barclays Bank cheque dated 29th December, 1994 in the sum of ÂŁ2, 556,000,000.00 allegedly made payable to Gladstone Kukoyi and Associates with full knowledge that the cheque was false. The offence is punishable under Section 1 (2)(a) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.

A careful perusal of the facts of this case clearly shows that Petro Union obtained the two judgments at the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal based on facts which are not only false but have criminal implications.

Both the CBN and Union Bank have therefore appealed to higher courts to set the case aside, urging the courts to execute justice especially when the truth of the alleged fraud has been uncovered following the arrest, detention and ongoing criminal prosecution of Petro Union and its officers at the Federal High Court, Lagos. ––Johnson, an analyst, writes from Port Harcourt

TRIBUTE

Uzoh: Salute to a Praiseworthy Philanthropist at 57 Demola Ojo

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ir (Dr) Obinna Uzoh, KSG, ESQ, is many things rolled in one. He is a lawyer, teacher, entrepreneur, industrialist, farmer, financial consultant, philanthropist, administrator and a politician.

Born March 17 1963, and happily married with children to Chief Mrs Herietta ObinnaUzoh, he has so many qualities that make him a character worth emulating. He is unassuming, considerate, compassionate and selfless. He doesn’t take relationships and friendship for granted, and has made service a passion and engages in philanthropy, with no strings attached.

Schools, communities, churches and individuals have benefitted from his benevolence.

Uzoh has awarded scholarships to students in primary, secondary, colleges of education, polytechnics and universities; awarded special scholarship to indigenes of Anambra State in Medicine, Law, Accountancy and Engineering, and has built and donated a three-storey building for the Law Faculty of Madonna University Okija, Anambra State.

He has also built, donated and renovated schools across the country, constructed and equipped several computer and science laboratories in secondary and tertiary institutions in Anambra State, distributed textbooks and instructional materials to schools across Nigeria and established small-scale enterprises for the less privileged people across Nigeria.

Beyond education, Uzoh has provided boreholes, engaged in rural electrification as well as donated transformers to towns and villages in Anambra State. He built the All Saints Catholic Church, Ihiala, for his community, completed the St. Silas Anglican Cathedral, Ihiala, built and donated a three-storey youths hostel at the Holy Family Youth Village, Amansea, Awka to the Catholic Archdiocese of Onitsha for use by students of

Uzoh the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka and built and donated an ICT and skill acquisition centre at the All Hallows Seminary, Onitsha.

Uzoh has also established a special fund for assistance to pregnant women, widows, disabled people and people with heart, kidney, lung, sight and spinal cord problems as well as donated drugs for free medical outreaches to St Charles Borromeo Hospital, Onitsha, for some select towns and villages in Anambra, among others.

If you think that Uzoh does this for pecuniary gains, you are mistaken. Someone once said that if Uzoh has done this much in the area of philanthropy, why not venture into politics? At that

time, Uzoh was not interested in politics. He was thinking about business and service only.

However, apparently realizing that governance is an act of service and to some extent, philanthropy, Uzoh has eventually decided to join politics and contribute his quota to the sociopolitical development of his state, Anambra and Nigeria, in general. What could have caused this change of mind? He said as a politician, he will have more access to get the dividends of democracy to get through to more people.

In 2003, Uzoh joined the National Democratic Party (NDP) on whose ticket he contested the Anambra governorship election, along with Dr. Chris Ngige of the People’s Democratic Party(PDP) and Peter Obi of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). One interesting thing is that during electioneering for the election, Uzoh showed that politics should be without bitterness.

A story was told how he and Peter Obi met on campaign grounds, but instead of clash and bitterness, they felicitated and even shared food. The election, which was marred by irregularities, produced Ngige as governor, but the results were eventually nullified by the courts, to ensure Obi’s emergence as governor, a position he held for two terms.

Between 2003 and now, Uzoh’s passion to serve the people has not waned. He has been in touch with his people. He knows their aspirations, needs and plight. He has helped them in his little way. The defamation of his integrity, good character and treachery associated with the murky waters of politics has motivated him to stay on course knowing that he is not a quitter particularly on issues that will benefit the majority of people in the society.

And as he marks his 57th birthday, his compassion, humility, patience, philanthropy, selfless service and finesse have remained his virtue. We wish him many more years of selfless service to God and humanity.

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When Transport, Tourism Connect for Sustainable Growth Sustainable transport is fundamental to progress in realizing the promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and help accelerate the growth of tourism in any country. Yet despite this critical role, sustainable transport has not been given adequate recognition, hampering the growth of tourism and other sectors. It is in this context that the Institute for Tourism Professionals of Nigeria (ITPN), plans to host the 3rd Annual National Tourism Transport Summit and Expo 2020 in April, reports Omolola Itayemi

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ransport is not an end to a means in itself but rather a means allowing people to access what they need: jobs, markets and goods, social intervention, education and a full range of other services contributing to healthy and fulfilled lives.

Little wonder, the Tourism Transport Summit is created to deliberate on the complex relationship between transport provision and tourism in boosting the national economy. The Summit offers a unique opportunity to meet with regulators, decision-makers, influencers, technocrats, specifiers, investors and highly engaged delegates from tourism, aviation, maritime, railways, airport operations, road transportation, national and international travel, and transportation organizations, including operators in the tourism and hospitality value chain.

As arranged this year, the Presidency will be leading on the policy direction of the federal government, while the mass transportation will be led by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, with the support of the Minister of State for Transportation, Gbemisola Saraki, and the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, will be the chief tourism host leading the tourism and cultural sector while the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, is expected to lead the aviation sector.

The theme of the 2020 edition is ‘Tourism and Transportation Connectivity and Mobility for Sustainable Growth and Development’ is scheduled to hold from 27 to 28 April 2020 at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

It will be recalled that ministries and agencies of both sectors in the country have successfully hosted two editions of the summit in 2018 and 2019 based on the premise that Tourism and Transportation Connectivity are critical issues relating to bridging the policies of both sectors while reaffirming the need for developing programmes of interministerial cooperation between bodies responsible for tourism and transport so as to improve and strengthen the basic conditions for the sustainable development of both industries.

Other sessions of the summit will include keynote presentations from captains of industries, international organizations and agencies under the ministries of Transportation, Information and Culture.

The Exhibition, B2B and G2B sessions will expose attendees to a plethora of public-private partnership investment opportunities in the transportation and tourism public sectors and an opportunity for companies to showcase their products and services.

It will also provide a rare

Chief Abiodun Odusanwo with Hadi Sirika, Minister of Aviation

Chief Abiodun OdusanwoMinister of Aviation

Chief Abiodun Odusanwo with guests at the last summit

opportunity for high-level government officials to discuss and get insight from both domestic and international investors fostering joint ventures, domestic and foreign direct investments.

Participants at the two-day events will be drawn from major key players and stakeholders in the transportation and tourism sectors from the international community in critical areas.

Experts and professionals are drawn from the academia as well as key players and stakeholders in the industries will deliver healthy thought-provoking papers on carefully selected sub-themes of the Summit which includes: Tourism in a Hyper Connection World: Making Technology Work for the Tourism and Transportations. Others are operators of the tourism and hospitality industry.

The expo programme will begin with

the Mr. and Miss Tourism Transportation Pageant on March 28, 2020. The Host City Walk comes up on April 25, 2020, the starting point from the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Garki Area 1, Abuja. The summit and expo proper begins on 27 to 28 April 2020 at the Abuja International Conference Centre (AICC). This will be followed with the Awards and Dinner/ Gala Night in the evening of the Summit and Expo; 28 April 2020 at the Abuja International Conference Centre (AICC).

The program will be rounded up with a Host City Tour on Wednesday, 29 April 2020.

Chief Abiodun Odusanwo, national president of ITPN and Lead Organizer of the summit reiterated that the Summit and Expo has since its inception brought about an added value to the synergy

and connectivity that existed between tourism and transportation and how both can collectively contribute to the growth and development of the national economy, adding that ITPN has membership across the country and has partnered with government particularly the N-Power skill acquisition exercise in imparting skills and job creation in the country.

Odusanwo further spoke on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism and transportation and the dubious and false misrepresentations in the media for cancellation of the summit. “The call for the cancellation or postponement would be made when the time comes; should there be a need to do so and only on the directive of the Federal government of Nigeria, and credible national/international organizations. I am deeply saddened about this development as I hold dual citizenship of being an African and European; coupled with the fact that, as an internationally travelled technocrat with families in Europe and the United States, the current Coronavirus pandemic is an unpleasant situation with global ramifications and implications that calls for the collective resolve of all,� Odusanwo said.

He lauded the Nigerian government’s response, proactiveness, preparedness and the manner in which the cases identified which he said has earned the country plaudits.

SUNDAY MARCH 22, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˞ ͰͰ˜ Ͱ͎Ͱ͎

with DEMOLA OJO demola.ojo@thisdaylive.com

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his time last week, Nigeria had just two known carriers of the coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 respiratory disease. One was the index case, an Italian who was in good health and on the verge of release from hospital, while the other was a Nigerian whose results came back negative. As you read this, the confirmed cases are 21. Every other day brought with it news of initially slow then exponential increase; from two to three, then eight, 12 and now, 22.

Most of the cases were initially concentrated in Lagos, but one was discovered in Ekiti after spending two weeks in Oyo State. Yesterday,

there were three cases confirmed in Abuja.

Throughout the week, there were calls on social media for government to ban travel from the worst-hit countries, then to shut the borders, ban all flights outright, enforce quarantine, outlaw social gatherings above a particular number and for the President to address the nation. These have been done in instalments, apart from the last bit.

While there are those who think government is doing well despite its deliberate pace since this is uncharted territory, there’s the counter-argument that examples abound globally to learn lessons from and move quickly. One of

MARCH 22, 2020˾ T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

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SOCIALMEDIABITS the lessons is that the cases are going to rise exponentially if tough measures are not taken.

The buzzword now is “lockdown” but this is a case of damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Social media, especially twitter is the best place to follow the debate and make contributions.

At this rate, social media might be the only form of socialising we’ll have left.

The week had started with a not-so-good bang. An explosion in Lagos was an unwelcome distraction from the pandemic. It was an accident that involved a pipeline in Abule-addo, around FESTAC in Lagos. Buildings collapsed, houses razed and casualties recorded. The state government’s call for donations to raise two billion naira as a relief fund (it contributed N200 million) was met with varying reactions, with those opposed wondering why it couldn’t foot the bill on its

own.

It was tough finding good news and uplifting stories on social media. Thankfully, the creative industry gave something to cheer as images and reports from the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards, an award show held in Lagos to celebrate the best of Nollywood.

It was a glamorous event, and the costumes paid homage to a burgeoning fashion industry. It was all going so well until reports later in the week revealed that someone exposed to the coronavirus mingled with the stars. Now, anyone who attended the event has to selfquarantine.

In the midst of all this, the official price of petrol was reduced by N20 from N145 to N125, to reflect the plunge in crude oil prices, while the naira was technically devalued with a new harmonised rate of N380 to the dollar. Both decisions reflect a sobering global economic outlook precipitated by the coronavirus.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MARCH 22, 2020

IMAGES

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HISDAYManaging Director, Eniola Bello and his siblings last weekend had the final funeral rites for their mother, the late Mrs. Julianah Ibimawu Lawrence with a commemoration service at the 1st ECWA Church Ayetoro Gbede, Kogi State. Friends, colleagues and family members were on hand to support the children of the deceased.

Photographs: Godwin Omoigui and Julius Atoi L-R: Mr. Eniola Bello, Mrs. Nkechi Bello-Odofin and her husband, Commodore Ayo (retd)

L-R: Mr. Femi Obanawu, Mr. Raphael Ogunbiyi and his wife, Bosede

L-R: Mrs. Bunmi Odofin and her husband, Olaofe with Mr. Sam Victor Olorunsogo and his wife, Olabisi

L-R: Maj.-Gen. Olu Irefin, Maj.-Gen. David Jemibewon (retd.) and Mr. Paul Ibidun

L-R: His Highnesses, Olu Ayetoro Gbede, Oba David Ehindero, Olujumu of Ijumu, Oba Segun Ayeni, Alapomu of Apomu, Oba Kayode Afolabi and Obaro of Kabba, Oba Solomon Owoniyi

L-R: Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, Mr. Gbenga Adefaye, Mr. Kayode Komolafe and Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu

Mr. Ola Oyelola and Mr. Dan Kunle

L-R: Mr. Victor Danboyi, Mr. Gbenga Oni-Olusola and Mr. Gbayode Somuyiwa

L-R: Mr. Eric Ojeh and Mr. Israel Iwegbu

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MARCH 22, 2020

IMAGES

L-R: Mrs. Funmi Fabunmi and Mr. Tony Chiejina

L-R: Pastor Sam Ayedogbon and Mr. Segun Bello

L-R: Mr. Ade Bello and Navy Captain Mike Motoni (retd)

L-R: Mr. Richard Olanishua, Prof. Joash Amupitan and Mr. Richard Akanmode

L-R: Mr. Paul Ajetumobi and his wife, Funmi

Mr. and Mrs. Sunday Obatimehin

L-R: Mrs. Ife Aliyu and Hon. Duro Meseko

L-R: Mrs. Nneka Fregene, Mrs. Winifred Nene Umechuruba and Mrs. Chinemerem Esobe Chukwu

L-R:Mrs. Grace Nzelibe, Mrs.Helen Uzo and Ms. Gloria Adamu

Mr. Taofeeq Isa and Mr. Boyede Bello

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ev. Dr. Ukoha Ukiwo, Rev. Nwadike Okoronkwo, Rev. Joseph Eton (Family Pastor ) and Rev. Dr. Uche Dan Okafor Officiating Ministers during One year Remembrance Service of Late Barr.

Mrs.Temitope Ekpenyong Ita wife of former DG of DSS held in Abuja.

Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan Gen. Airhiavbere and Chief Sunny Mbila

L-R: Rev. Dr. Ukoha Ukiwo, Rev. Nwadike Okoronkwo, Rev. Joseph Eton (Family Pastor ) and Rev. Dr. Uche Dan Okafor Officiating Ministers

L-R: Mr. John Usman , Former SGF, Senator Ayim Pius Ayim and Mrs. Parradanna

L-R: Justice Gabriel Kolawole of Court of Appeal Lagos and Former Minister of Justice and Anthony General , Kanu Agabi

Former DG of DSS Mr. Ekpenyong Ita and Children

L-R: High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, Former DG of DSS Mr. Ekpenyong Ita and Children

L-R: Mr. Bassey Eteng, Dr. Anne Okorafo mni and Mrs. Olufunke Amos

L-R: Mr. Chief Solomon Akuma SAN and Hon Ken Nwabueze

L-R: Chief Sonny Mbila, Amb. Obi Okarfor and Brig. Gen. Agbo Robinson

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ͰͰ˜ Ͱ͎Ͱ͎ ˞ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

SPECIALREPORT

The explosion in its blaze

A BULE -A DO E XPLOSION

Putting Leadership on the Spot Chiemelie Ezeobi, who monitored the explosion that rocked Abule-Ado, one of the many suburbs that dot Lagos, last Sunday, reports that the disaster, which claimed no fewer than 22 lives, destroyed over 100 houses, cars and displaced about 500 persons, exposes the underbelly of crisis management and crowd control especially, the lack of synergy between the emergency responders in the state

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n Sunday, March 15, 2020, nothing gave the residents of Abule-Ado in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State, an inkling that their world as they knew it was about to crumble like a pack of badly stacked cards.

Some were on their way to church; some were already in church and others at home, when the loud and wall cracking explosion occurred at about 9am.

The explosion brought down houses, destroyed cars and even killed about 22 people, including a family of four, a newly married couple and a pregnant woman. The explosion, which was heard as far as Agege, Yaba, Ejigbo and even Okota, was first thought to be a bomb blast, gas explosion and then pipeline explosion.

Emergency Responders and their Operations

Emergency responders were drawn from the Lagos State Fire Service, Federal Fire Service, Nigerian Navy Fire Service, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), the police, Red Cross, Lagos State Ambulance Services (LASAMBUS), Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and others.

As at 1.41pm, seven bodies had been recovered from the explosion and by 2.33pm, four more bodies were recovered, bringing the fatality rate to 11. When it was 4.05pm, as the emergency workers toiled to rescue those trapped in the rubble of over 100 destroyed houses, the death toll increased to 15, including that of a family of four – father, mother and two sons.

By nightfall, two more bodies were recovered, bringing the total to 17. The next day, there more bodies were also recovered and by Thursday and Friday, two additional bodies, bringing the total figure to 22.

Cause of Explosion

One thing that stood out in this incident was the conflicting reports on what might have caused the explosion. Initially, when the explosion happened, the first responder, the Lagos State Fire

Service had tweeted that it was an implosion, which expectedly raised more questions on what caused the implosion. Reacting to the incident, the Lagos State Fire Service said: “We are assuring the general public that the implosion is not connected with pipelines but buildings on fire in Ado Soba, Abule Ado, Amuwo Odofin and the situation is under control.�

But minutes later, the beauty of social media came to play. Victims flooded their social media platforms with pictures and live reports from the scene of the explosion, which countered the claims of the fire service. More worrisome was the fact that their initial tweet went viral and even had some state government officials adopt it as their position.

Perhaps, this false information was part of the factors that delayed rescue operation. Attempts

by THISDAY to reach other emergency responders to get the actual situation on ground proved abortive as they were all touting the response by the fire service. It took the better part of an hour before other responders got seemed like the true picture of what happened.

It was sometime in the afternoon that the emergency services began to issue their releases on the probable cause(s) but the one that thrived more was that it was a gas leak. They said the explosion was caused by gas leakage that formed gas clouds in the sky and upon contact with naked fire, exploded. According to them, before they could get to the scene, the explosion had already ruptured the NNPC pipeline that runs through the suburb.

They added that it was the contact of fire with the petroleum products in the ruptured pipeline that exacerbated the explosion and spread to residential buildings, schools and churches in the area. Speaking to THISDAY, the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Oladele Daji, who was on ground during the rescue operation, also said the explosion was caused by gas leakage. “It was caused by gas leakage. When we came here, we saw so many gas cylinders scattered all over. The explosion now ruptured the gas pipeline that runs through there and it led to the fire. Gas and petroleum do not flow. Those that are selling gas here have refused to know that what they are doing is deadly,� he said.

Continued on Pages 88-89

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Also clarifying issues, acting Coordinator, Lagos Territorial Office, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, said the explosion was not an act of pipeline vandalism as was earlier touted.

NNPC Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari, who came in for an on-the-spot assessment, also confirmed that the explosion was caused by gas cylinder leakages that ignited the wild-spread fire. He, however, said the fire could have been aggravated by surrounding buildings and other factors, including gas vendors that built on NNPC pipeline’s right of way (ROW).

He said, “I arrived Lagos to make on-the-spot assessment of the explosion that also ignited NNPC product pipeline fire. Explosions caused by spark that ignited fire from extensively charged atmosphere that emanated from gas cylinder leakages. NNPC pipeline also impacted and ignited. Fire being contained by combined efforts of NNPC, LASG NN and FFS. “NNPC pipeline right of way (ROW) encroachment by gas handling vendors and construction of houses enabled the explosion and aggravated the impact. Working with LASG and security agencies to clear the ROW.�

The very next day, the tune changed. After a meeting of all stakeholders, which was held at the Government House, Alausa, chaired by the Deputy Governor, Dr. Hamzat Obafemi, security and emergency agencies, had revealed that contrary to earlier speculation, the explosion was caused by pressure exerted on the Ùà Ă?ĂœĂ˜Ă™Ăœ Ă‹Ă˜ĂĄĂ™Ě‹ Ă–Ă&#x; Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă’Ă“Ă? ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă— Ă™Ă˜ Ă?Ă“ĂžĂ?

NNPC pipeline by a heavy-duty tipper.

According to them, the tipper, which was fully laden with granite, was parked on the pipeline overnight, thus forcing the content in the pipeline to blow up.

Farinloye, while shedding more light on this, said the pressure exerted on the pipeline could be likened to compressing a coke bottle. “When the pressure became too much, the pipeline forced itself out to escape and that was why the sky was filled with grey smoke that led to explosion before the fire.�

But contrary to government’s insistence that it wasn’t a bomb blast, the residents and landlords of the area begged to differ. Calling on the federal and state government to set up a high-powered fact-finding committee to unravel the immediate and remote causes of the explosion, which they described as a national disaster, the Landlords/Residents Association of Soba, led by Chief Gani Adams, said the incident was not a pipeline explosion as the government would want everyone to believe.

The chairman, who was represented by Mr. Chime Umadim, faulted NNPC’s stance that it was a pipeline explosion. According to them, the explosion was nothing short of a bomb blast. “Contrary to the submission of the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mr. Mele Kyari, that the blast was caused by some gas depots close to the pipeline right of way, an information that is totally false, with deliberate calculation to suppress the fact, we are convinced that it was a bomb detonated on the pipeline, which caused the unprecedented blast and damage to lives and properties. “Suffice to say that at no time has pipeline explosion caused the type of heavy blast that resonated far beyond the immediate communities such as Festac Town and Satelite town to farther communities as Ijanikin, Badagry, Orile Iganmu, Surulere, Ă’Ă? Ă—Ă“Ă–Ă“ĂžĂ‹ĂœĂŁ Ă“Ă˜ ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;Ă? ÙÚĂ?ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ijegun, Ejigbo and Oshodi to mention a few, leaving behind in its ERA/FoEN’s Deputy Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwawake, shattered windows and roof of houses.â€? femi contended that: “There is something suspiciously different Corroborating this, the Environmental Rights Action/Friends about this explosion. The scale of destruction is nothing like any of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), in a separate statement given of the pipeline explosions we have monitored and documented to THISDAY, alleged that the scale of destruction witnessed at for several decades.

Abule-Ado, after last Sunday’s explosion, could only be likened “The Sunday incident’s scale of destruction could only be to military grade explosions or aerial bombardment. likened to military grade explosions or aerial bombardment.

Stressing that the incident couldn’t be treated casually as We can’t treat this casually as an accident caused by a truck. an accident caused by a truck, they also charged the federal With the current security challenges facing this country, it is government to carry out forensic investigation of the immediate extremely premature to draw conclusions without conducting and remote causes of the explosion, which killed scores and led forensic investigation of this particular blast. to a devastation of epic proportions. “Not even the accidental detonation of bombs at the Ikeja According to the Head, Media and Campaigns, Philip Jakpor, cantonment caused this scale of destruction and ruins. Governthe team formed this opinion after they visited the scene to ment must conduct comprehensive investigation to establish if document impacts. this was a crime or an accident.

While demanding a forensic investigation to ascertain the “And there are questions begging for answers: Who drove true cause of the incident, Jakpor also called on the Lagos State the truck? What is the truck doing on a pipeline on Sunday Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu to immediately set up a morning? Was the gas plant opened on a Sunday? Was the Special Task Force on pipelines security with the purpose of content of the truck weaponised? preventing ceaseless pipeline accidents in the state. “And for the NNPC that has admitted some level of culpabil“The Sunday morning blast occurred near the popular ASity by confirming that the primary explosion came from its gas PAMDA market and Mechanic village in Abule Ado, Amuwo truck, it should immediately initiate the process of providing Odofin Local Government Area. Vibrations from the blast shook remediation for the affected families and businesses while its many parts of the state, and were felt as far as Iba, Okokomaiko, officials found to have through negligence orchestrated this Agege, Alimosho and Surulere, among others. massive destruction, should be made to face the law.� “The Lagos government had earlier stated the incident was While commiserating with the families of those who lost not in any way linked to pipeline vandalism but could not their lives, properties and businesses, the group urged the provide details on the cause of the incident, but the Nigerian Nagovernor to immediately set up a task force on pipeline security. tional Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) insisted it was caused by “It is unfortunate that the federal agencies saddled with the a truck that hit some cylinders stacked in a gas processing plant protection and security of pipelines have failed woefully. The located near the corporations’ system 2B Pipeline right of way. “The federal government should not to be too casual to conclude governor as the chief security officer of the state needs to act in a that that the incident was an accident�, noting that, “the accounts way that will put an end to these perennial deaths and destruction since Lagos sits on a web of oil and gas pipelines,� ERA/ of the NNPC on the real cause of the blast is unconvincing and FoEN quipped. raises some questions.�

Ă™Ă˜ĂžĂœĂ™Ă Ă?ĂœĂ?ĂŁ Ùà Ă?Ăœ Ă‹Ă?Ă&#x;ËÖÞã Ă“Ă‘Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?

At the end of the operation, LASEMA, which ordinarily should be the lead agency in emergency response in the state, pegged the official death rate at 22. That was after a lone body was brought out on Friday evening, nearly five days after the explosion.

In a statement made available to THISDAY over the weekend, the GM, Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, said the additional body was brought out as emergency responders were carrying out recovery and salvage operations on the incident site. “The teams continue to carry out recovery and salvage operations at the incident site. An additional body was retrieved today bringing the total number of fatalities to 22,� he said, adding that, “468 people were displaced from their homes and 100 of them are now in the relief camp. One is still missing.�

But the Soba Landlords/Resident Association has since countered the claims by emergency responders. According to the representative of the chairman, they lost the BoT chairman, wife, children and over 30 others.

Reacting to the controversy surrounding the exact casualty rate, a senior personnel of one of the emergency agencies told THISDAY that, because there was no synergy, many bandied different figures until the stakeholders meeting was held with the deputy governor, where the figures were reconciled.

Admitting that there were loopholes in the collation process, he said the general figure of 20 was adopted until two additional bodies were recovered on Thursday and Friday, totaling the number to 22. He said the figure might increase, as excavation of the debris was not yet over.

×ÚÒËĂ?Ă“Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă?ĂšĂ™Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă“Ă—Ă?

One of the challenges that impeded the rescue operation was the response time. Before emergency responders could reach

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the scene, locals had already begun rescue operations. At the end of the first day of the operation, responders with the help of locals had rescued 60 survivors and they were taken to Nigerian Navy Reference Hospital (NNRH) in Navy Town.

At Bethlehem Girls College, which was the first to be hit, before responders reached the scene, the locals had scaled the fence to bring the girls out, although some had sustained injuries by then. No student however died in the explosion, but their headmistress, Reverend Sister Henrietta Alokha and another member of staff, died while rescuing the girls.

Poor Synergy Between Responders

One glaring downside in the rescue operation was the lack of synergy between emergency responders and security agencies.

Each wanted to outshine the other. Ordinarily, LASEMA, headed by Oke-Osanyintolu, should be the lead incident agency, but it was not so. Different agencies were granting their own interviews, which caused disparity in figures being churned out by the press.

Red Cross did their own press briefing, same with NEMA, fire service and navy. From the updates the agencies furnished reporters with on their respective social media platforms, the lack of synergy was palpable as they had conflicting figures and statistics.

It took a stakeholders meeting with the deputy governor for all agencies to harmonise their figures and present a unified account of the incident.

Speaking on strict condition of anonymity, one of the top officials in one of the agencies told THISDAY that the blame should be laid squarely on bad leadership. “If the head is faulty, the entire body stands no chance. The supposed lead agency did not take charge, so everyone took advantage of the loophole to shine. “In saner climes, he should have set up an incidence room, where all agencies will poll their observations and statistics, compare and contrast before feeding the public with it. But what we had was a leader that was busy granting interviews without getting his hands dirty in rescue operations. “Look at the rescue of the young girl Favour by the Red Cross, we saw it on television and online like Nigerians did. Unity was sorely lacking in this operation.�

In another instance, a female FRSC corp member, who was trying to exert some measure of control on the crowd, had seized the phone of one of the spectators. It was a soldier, who grappled the phone from her and returned it to the owner, not without reprimanding her in public.

Ù×Ă? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? ĂŽĂ?ĂŒĂœĂ“Ă? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? ĂŒĂ–Ă‹Ă?Ăž

Challenges of the Fire Service

Although the fire services from private organisations and that of the Nigerian Navy had combined forces with the state and federal fire service, it was a Herculean task putting out the flames. Countless times, the fire would be doused only for a live flame to sprout from somewhere else. It was in the wee hours of the next day that the fire went out completely.

One of the complaints by the residents was that the fire trucks ran out of water countless times, and this, they said might be responsible for why the fire took time before it was put out completely.

Poor Crowd Control

In saner climes, when disasters of such magnitude happen, they quickly activate their crowd management strategies, which are not limited to first knowing and understanding the audience and type of environment or terrain the emergency responders would be going to.

With this, they plan in advance whether to attach themselves to the Red Cross, the police or any other security agencies, because depending on the environment, the people might be hostile. Wikipedia’s definition of crowd control states that, “it is the act of controlling in order to prevent the outbreak of disorder.�

But for the umpteenth time, disasters of this magnitude have again highlighted the nation’s poor crowd control management, which is a crucial factor in any emergency. With each disaster, the underbelly of poor control management keeps rearing its head. And with each disaster, a clarion call keeps coming about ensuring crash courses and enlightenment campaigns for security personnel in handling large crowds. At the last count, many had carelessly lost their lives through poor crowd control in Nigeria.

It was no different at Abule-Ado. The crowd was triple the size of the emergency teams on ground. From every nook and cranny, they trooped to the site, thus hampering rescue operation. For each person rescued, another died, because of the lack of air. All in the guise of trying to help, they posed more danger to the victims.

Attempts by officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to create a semblance of sanity were rebuffed. Despite being told the presence of a large crowd meant more harm than good for the survivors, that still didn’t send a message to the crowd to thin out.

Rather, they kept swelling in their ranks. Some were there as spectators, while others were scavengers and hoodlums, who laid hands on whatever loot they could touch. Some focused on people’s houses that were destroyed and made away with what wasn’t destroyed by the fire, while others pickpocketed rescue workers and others in the crowd.

Therefore, such incidences question the role of emergency management agencies in handling such situations, because in cases of disaster, crowd management must take into account all the elements of planning, organising, directing and evaluating.

Ùà Ă?ĂœĂ˜Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž ÙʊĂ?Ă“Ă‹Ă–Ă? Ă™Ă˜ Ă‘ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă™Ăœ Ă‹Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž

Ă™ĂĄËœ ÞÒĂ? Ă—Ă?ĂœĂ‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?ĂŁ Ă™ĂœĂ•Ă?ĂœĂ?

As is obtainable in all disasters, well-prepared emergency workers are mostly the solution. However, issues of timeliness and accessibility have been major impediments especially, for emergency workers.

Farinloye said one of the major challenges they faced was lack of access to the scenes of disaster, as well as the refusal of Lagosians to allow emergency workers access for prompt response. “This is getting complicated and the problem of crowd milling around disaster scenes also makes interventions difficult and uncontrollable. Also, public and private motorists compound the situation by ignoring the emergency vehicle sirens and obstructing the movement of emergency responders across the state. “Another challenge we face is the hostility towards the emergency workers. The attack keeps increasing, thereby inciting panic amongst emergency personnel as regards their safety. Such acts have become worrisome to emergency workers especially, as they are injured in some of these attacks. “It is pertinent to state that emergency workers are human beings, who have families and will be mindful of their safety as they are struggling to save others’ lives. Therefore, threatening their safety will highly jeopardise their eagerness to respond to disaster in future if there is no attitudinal change by Nigerians.�

Ùå ͡ Ă˜Ă“ĂžĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ Ă?Ă–Ăš Ă“Ă˜ ĂœĂ™ĂĄĂŽ Ă™Ă˜ĂžĂœĂ™Ă– The K9 unit, which represents the canine section of security agencies, readily comes to mind, when it comes to crowd control. The function of K9 section is to prevent and detect crime through the use of dogs. They are also used for crowd control, perimeter surveillance and condoning.

In fact, the K9 dogs are said to perform the functions of about ten armed officers. The dogs are specially trained for security.

Given the surge of distressed residents, sprinkled with a mix of the curious and the scavengers, the deployment of these dogs and their handlers, would have given emergency responders easy access to the disaster scenes as the dogs would have

thinned out the crowd.

Ă“Ă˜ĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÙÖĂ&#x;ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ëœ Ă™Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă™ĂœĂĄĂ‹ĂœĂŽË&#x;

In cases of disaster, crowd management must take into account all the elements of planning, organising, directing and evaluating. Thus, experts posit that for such to work, considerable emphasis should be placed on continuous sensitisation campaigns.

Experts also reckon that, this is where geomatics come in such as maps to ascertain the location and surrounding area, as well as obstacles that could influence crowd behaviour. According to Google, dimensions of roads, tunnels, bridges, stairs, and the likes are invaluable, even as aerial and satellite photographs could give additional information like, for example, Google street-view pictures.

However, to be of any use, this information has to be up to date – really up to date. Directing a crowd into a road not yet shown on maps is, literally, a recipe for disaster. Crowd control then rapidly morphs into disaster management. Constant updating of information should be a first priority for organisers.

In better run societies, the contact details of all relevant authorities will be on the switchboard to inform them of their movement and get additional information on the situation if need be.

With this, they are able to carry out risk assessment on-thego. These assessments are an integral part of planning the crowd management strategy, as this would also help them identify potential dangers and plan how to keep people away from them.

Communication is another very important part of the operation. Next to internal connections between police and security officers at the site, emergency workers should not be left in the loop.

Overall, the lessons in this recent disaster are inherent and it is the fact that the emergency workers need to be proactive and not reactive. They must learn to work together instead of competing with each other, because a unified force would gain double the results and minimise the error margin.

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MARCH 15, 2020 ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

THEALTERNATIVE

with RenoOmokri

HowCoronavirus Exposed Buhari as Audio President

D

aily, both US President, Donald Trump, and UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, personally address their people to say what they are doing in real-time to end the #CoronaVirus. In Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari met with the Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressive Congress on March 17, 2020, with one topic on the agenda - Oshiomhole.

The crisis within the APC was more important to Buhari than the crisis facing the nation and the world.

On Thursday, March 19, 2020, the situation in Nigeria escalated dramatically. There were five new cases the previous day and 4 cases on that day. Now as at yesterday the number had risen to 22 cases of positive carriers. There was one death in Ekiti state. Nigeria has little or no national apparatus to test for the #CoronaVirus, meaning that we have a multitude of people walking around with the virus, unaware that they have it. And yet, Buhari has still not addressed the nation.

Do note that on February 26, 2015, President Buhari said, and I quote “I will lead from the front.” Is he leading from the front? Of course not!

Instead, he is hiding in Aso Rock. Meanwhile, President Trump continues to spend one hour EVERYDAY briefing the American people on what his government is doing to stop the virus and taking questions. All the leaders of G-7 nations are doing something similar. Does Nigeria have a government?

Buhari refused to fix Nigeria’s healthcare sector because he thought he could always selfishly fly to London for his healthcare.

That is why he did not want to restrict flights to and from the UK. That decision was forced on him by Atiku Abubakar’s pressure.

Now that Buhari cannot fly to the UK, what will he do when he needs treatment? His wife, Aisha Buhari, even publicly admitted that there is no paracetamol in the State House Clinic. Nigerians can now see what Buhari’s selfishness has caused? It has come back to haunt him! Now, he is stuck with the people he refused to help! What if he has an emergency?

Go on Buhari’s Twitter profile. In the past one week, he has tweeted about the Argungu Fishing Festival and a science expo.

This man, who is meant to be the leader of 200 million people has tweeted absolutely NOTHING on #CoronaVirus as at Thursday, March 19, 2020. No reassurance. No direction. NOTHING! Trump, Boris Johnson, Macron, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Cyril Ramaphosa, and Atiku Abubakar, have tweeted almost daily about the Corona Virus. But we have only a loud SILENCE from General Buhari!

And this lack of urgency or a sense of responsibility is why many Nigerians are not taking adequate precautions in the wake of the crisis.

The other day, a school sent scores of unprotected children to Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport on an excursion. This is coming at a time many countries, including the USA, UK, France, Germany and Canada, are closing schools.

How can a school allow school children to go on an excursion visit to the airport at such a time when the #coronavirus is now

Buhari a global pandemic? The short answer is because they have no leadership, and where they have no leader, a people perish.

And how could FAAN have allowed this to happen? Heads must roll. This action has put lives at risk. But when the head is stinkingly rotten, what can the body do?

Those children and their teachers, and the head honchos at FAAN, along with the rest of Nigeria are rudderless. General Buhari is sleeping on duty!

But come to think about it, how can you trust a Nigerian government that publicly said “Coronavirus is caused by corruption” to handle the COVID 19 outbreak? I am not joking. This government actually said so! Please Google it yourself.

I believe that the reason Buhari delayed in restricting flights from COVID 19 high risk nations is because HE Atiku first suggested it. Buhari is so petty that he did not want Atiku to get the credit. This was about ego. Buhari must drop his ego and do the right thing to save lives!

How could you close your border for rice and open it for coronavirus and have the audacity to call yourself a leader? If COVID19 had killed your citizens while you were dilly-dallying, who would have eaten the rice you are protecting? Are rice and fuel more important than the human beings who will buy them?

The truth is that the COVID 19 incidence has further exposed Buhari as a naked emperor. An audio President. Alidder, not a leader. Aman who is celebrating Argungu festival and plotting to save Oshiomhole, while coronavirus is penetrating his country.

In everything, this man shows that he craved power for 12

years, and when he eventually got it, he does not know what to do with it. Scores of people die from explosions in Lagos, he looks at photos. Coronavirus ravages, he hides in Aso Rock.

Sadly, Buhari has self-isolated from governing Nigeria. He has socially distanced himself from Nigerian citizens. He has washed his hands of our challenges. Instead of running away from the #CoronaVirus, Nigeria’s President has ran away from Nigerians when they need him. In my humble opinion, it is better to have no leader than to have a leader like General Buhari.

You can imagine Buhari slamming his own handpicked Senate leadership for asking him to address the nation, like other leaders are doing! Don’t they know that he is just a window dressing?

How dare the Nigerian Senate compare him to US President Trump? Were they sleeping when Trump called him “lifeless”!

And the annoying thing is that Lai Mohammed had the guts to say ‘President Buhari will address the nation when the time is right’.

12 corona virus cases confirmed in Lagos. 1 death in Ekiti.

Suspected cases in multiple states, and the time is not right? When is the right time? Is it until election time? It is an embarrassment to continue to call this man a leader. President Trump was right. The man is ‘lifeless’, compassionless and directionless. What sin did Nigeria commit to deserve this plague as a pretend leader?

Now we know why Buhari has no direction. He is surrounded by advisers who themselves lack direction. Two days ago (March 19, 2020), Garba Shehu pleaded with Nigerians to obey instructions from the National Centre for Disease Control on the coronavirus, one of which is social distancing. Today, (March 21, 2020), Garba Shehu is himself flouting those instructions he begged us to obey, by holding a conference and inviting the public to attend! Do you now see why Nigeria is retrogressing under this regime?

Visionless and directionless sycophants surround this quotasystem General. When the blind leads the blind, they both fall into a ditch and take the country down with them!

No wonder the United Nations just released Human Happiness Survey rates Nigeria as one of the most miserable places on Earth. We are not even included in the 100 happiest nations. To put things into perspective, Nigeria was the happiest nation on Earth bar none in 2011, under then President Jonathan in the survey by Gallup Polls. In the survey released today, we are not even in the top 100. Think about that. Think about that deeply.

Reno’sNuggets:

Dear men, Your fiancé or girlfriend abandoned you because you can’t maintain her and you are sad? What kind of foolishness is that?

You lost a problem, and you are crying? Have your village people twisted your head that you can’t see what God has done for you?

Coronavirus left you and has gone to infect another man! Your problem has changed address. It has relocated, and you are crying that it ported from you? Find one corner and praise God. It is a miracle, not a dilemma! #FreeLeahSharibu #RenosNuggets.

FEATURE

Social Distancing: DOs and DON’Ts Toyosi Olatunji

I

t’s no longer news that a pandemic has been declared globally due to COVID-19, with many countries declaring national emergencies and if you are paying attention, you will know that it is critical to be proactive about handling this situation.

So far in Nigeria, we have 12 “confirmed” cases and possibly several more undetected cases, given the volume and frequency of Nigerians’ travelling across the world. I don’t know if we should attribute the current low numbers to luck or what have you, but what I do know is that we all have a collective responsibility to curb the spread of this virus before it is uncontrollable. I mean, I know we don’t even have accurate population figures, much less a way of tracking or monitoring the number of people in each community and not to incite fear but let’s face it, the spread of the virus here would be of exponential proportions. That said, it probably helps that over 60% of our population fall in the youth (30 years and under) category and are therefore more likely than not, to survive if infected. So there is hope, but we each must still play our part.

In certain demographics more than others, the hygiene factor leaves a lot to be desired, yet, it is not enough to rely on improved standards of hygiene in schools, markets, mass transit, salons, churches, mosques, streets, etc... You see, viruses are contact-borne not airborne and being as near as six feet to an infected carrier who merely sneezes, could mean that you breathe in the droplets, it’s gross, I know...but it’s the truth.

And here is where social distancing comes in...Social distancing has been touted as one of the more effective ways of preventing the spread of contagious diseases and I hear you ask - ‘“what exactly is social distancing?”And, better still, “how practical is this in our society?”

Simply put, social distancing means to limit direct physical contact by maintaining significant distance (minimum 1 metre / 3 feet) in social settings and/or cancel events, which involve crowds and in which this manner of distancing will not be possible. To this end, companies who employ more than 30 people will need to think about

standards of cleanliness and provide them with activating the hand sanitisers, wipes etc to aid them to adhere to work from home this. In addition to this, for those who can afford to (WFH) option do so, please give your staff a little bit extra to buy or limiting the emergency supplies in preparation for what might number of be ahead. people who Social distancing is not self isolation or barricade, physically show nor does it require panic buying, stockpiling and up at offices. hoarding of supplies. It is not an indication that Social one is infected, it actually is a preventative measure distancing that ensures that personal spaces are established means that we and respected. Of course, it makes sense to prepare should abstain for a period of quarantine or lockdown, but we from getting too need to act within reason and not let the fear of the close to others, hugging, shaking hands, giving pecks Source: Signer Laboratoryunknown take over.

We are all now in uncharted waters and although and all other contact-greetings. It there is no playbook to follow, we really must prepare to make the necmeans cancelling all non-essential travel and any other plans which essary sacrifices to preserve our lives and the health of those around involve being in gatherings where you can not control who you are us. Let us self-isolate and get tested if we experience symptoms, rather exposed to. It means that churches, mosques and other such regular than self-medicate as many people are wont to do. gatherings will need to consider virtual options for their flock and for Finally, social distancing is about creating physical distance, not those who choose to hold their services, it means not holding hands emotional. Care for others must be heightened at this time - let us all for communal prayers, or sharing mats or chalices. It means weddings reach out to our family, friends, colleagues, neighbours, with calls and and birthday parties will need to be postponed or scaled down quite messages to ask after each other as frequently as possible. The truth heavily. is many people are dealing with life’s problems and their attendant Social distancing means isolating yourself if you are feeling ill, anxieties, to now add social distancing.Asimple phone call to ask especially if you are sneezing or coughing.And if you are a fitness ‘How are You?’ can save a person’s life. Many people are rightfully enthusiast, it means to be extra careful about disinfecting gym equipfrightened about the economic impact of this global pandemic on their ment before use and perhaps avoid classes for the time being. Visits to jobs, businesses and overall financial stability. This will have an impact salons (hair and nails), barber-shops, spas and the like should also be on mental health in ways that one can not even begin to imagine, so, let cut down or avoided. Eating and drinking out should be in moderaus each be our brothers’ and sisters’ keeper. tion. Employers and business owners have as much a responsibility Stay safe in these contagious times! as consumers in ensuring that these are adhered to. For those who ––Toyosi Olatunji is a Strategy and Financial Services employ domestic staff, especially nannies, maids, cooks, stewards Professional and also a budding Life & Business Coach based and drivers, you have a responsibility and duty of care to them and in Lagos. your household to ensure that they are well-versed with the required

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ MARCH 15, 2020

with ChidiAmuta e-mail:chidi.amuta@gmail.com

ENGAGEMENTS

Dangote and the Tyranny of Economists

H

ere is a confession. I have an abiding distaste for conventional economists and all the other money mongers who choose to earn a living pontificating on the fate of the money in everybody’s pocket. The reason is simple. Nearly every self- respecting economist that I know is something of a philosopher of unequal variables. The theology of unknown and unequal variables is a zone of cloudy mystique and enlightened doublespeak only open to the initiated cultists of formal economics. Graphs, holograms and statistical projections are readily deployed in copious PowerPoint presentations to illustrate their projections and pronouncements on our economic present and future. In all of this, there is a certain obsession with the unequal things of life. And when you are about to hold them to the veracity of their pronouncements, they spring the inevitable escapist clincher: ‘all things being equal’. But you know that things are never and will never be equal in the real world. So, economists, like Delphic oracles, can never be caught on the wrong side of their own prophesies!

In place of economists and pundits, I have developed an arcane fish monger’s approach to making my economic judgments about places and countries that I visit in my itinerant career. If I go to a place and notice that money changers and bankers are close to the throne and fare better than those who manufacture goods and deliver the best services, I conclude that something is wrong there.

Also, wherever I go and see that the majority are poor but optimistic and bustling with hope and energy, striving for a better tomorrow while having access to the basic things of life, I know it is a good place waiting to happen.

Better still, when I visit a place and notice that more people are buying or building new houses, registering new cars, trooping to the shopping centres and taking occasional vacations, I begin to trust those wily creatures, the politicians. They must have bought their way into people’s hearts and pockets through sensible policies and sound governance.

On the contrary, when I notice that professional economists and bankers are in cahoots with politicians, my antenna goes up. Worse still, when this unholy triumvirate begin addressing conferences, delivering lectures and making elaborate PowerPoint presentations with graphs, holograms, dense figures about some economic paradise in the horizon, you know they are hiding something. Just step outside the conference venues and see for yourself. You are likely to see angry unemployed youth, a disappearing middle class, desperate housewives, retirees unpaid for months and a sea of sad poverty stricken humanity. In such a place, just buy or borrow the day’s tabloid and the headlines are unmistakable: rising suicide rates, kidnappings, armed robbery, banditry, domestic violence etc. I have learnt not to stay in such places for too long except of course it is my own country!

Barely a fortnight ago, the Central Bank of Nigeria gathered a select group of Nigeria’s all too familiar pantheon of establishment economists, bankers, government technocrats, sundry political handy men and a handful of real entrepreneurs to reflect on the growth potentials of the Nigerian economy. The gathering,

Without manufacturing, there can be no middle class and therefore no genuine self- driven national development.

With Dangote’s focus on providing a broad range of essential products that meet the daily needs of ordinary people, the day is not too far off when the daily experience of the average Nigerian will be ruled by homegrown products

Dangote code- named ‘Growth 2.0 Forum’ was ordinarily a routine assessment conference which every active economy needs periodically.

I reckon that this forum may have been necessitated by the recently much hyped modest rise in Nigeria’s GDP growth rate from 2.29% in 2018 to 2.52% in 2019. All considered, the figure is somehow more positive than earlier parlous predictions by the IMF and other interested merchants of gloom.

The Central Bank of Nigeria initiative would ordinarily be a good idea in the circumstances. A modest positive statistical movement in the nation’s GDP prospects was obviously a cause for the politicians to feel some elation which understandably sent the government in Abuja into a chest -beating frenzy. Being naturally averse to and even skeptical about the use of statistics for political lies on economic matters, I do not understand the basis of the frenzy.

When economists come up with the usual technical jargon for measuring economic health, I treat them like the weatherman. Do not give me all that ‘light precipitation’, ‘scattered thunderstorms over large areas’ or likelihood of haze. Tell me if its is going to rain so that I leave home with an umbrella or raincoat! In response to economists’ jargon, I tend to revert more to real life experiences or real people.

In today’s Nigeria, people are getting poorer. Life expectancy is dropping. Honest hard working people cannot afford to build or rent new houses or buy new cars. Retail figures are dismal even in the open local markets. Health care is almost non -existent.

An unprecedented migration of millions into poverty has fueled crime and destitution to a degree never before dreamed of. A dysfunctional educational system is spewing thousands of semi educated youth into a non-existent labour market. Being an illiterate in these complex economic categories and terminologies, I do not understand GDP growth independent of the living conditions of real people.

Yet, the timing of the Central Bank conference was fortuitous and tragically misjudged. It put a question mark on both common sense and the political altruism of the organizers. It was in the midst of of an unfolding global economic uncertainty necessitated by the ravages of the Corona virus pandemic. The scourge was inching towards the treasuries of even the most formidable economies and was keeping the best of leaders awake on the plight of their nations and their peoples. The world was bracing for economic decline or even depression while the Nigerian establishment economists were busy celebrating a phantom growth potential without much basic strategic commonsense.

A day after the forum, an elaborate presentation pageant trooped to Aso Rock to hand in the findings of the ‘growth forum’ to the ever imperious President Buhari. The day before, oil prices had slumped to an abysmal $30 and was still falling. Global stock markets were on a southward tailspin and leaders of the developed world and their own economic pontiffs were busy crunching a different set of numbers in preparation for the worst.

Given the setting, it appeared that Nigeria’s political leadership and the Central Bank’s PowerPoint economists and bankers were acting oblivious of events in the real world. We are still largely in that state of self -delusion.

This is the background to Mr. Dangote’s latest intervention in our economic discourse. Mr. Dangote, a man of few words, was present at the Central Bank forum and made the presentation of an active entrepreneur and economic nationalist. His point of

departure was an implicit rebuttal and even indictment of the projections of the conventional court economists. His point of departure was that the issue of diversification of the Nigerian economy had become urgent. He recalled that the subject had dominated economic discourse since he came to Lagos as a simple trader in 1979, a 41 years time frame. It is significant that the same tribe of economists had made the same presentations to successive political leaderships for the better part of over four decades with little impact. We have remained an oil and gas rent dependent economy ever since.

For that long, our economists have preached the gospel of diversification without variation. In spite of these presentations, we have become even more dependent and mono cultural in terms of national revenue.

For Mr. Dangote, therefore, the point of departure is the dividing line between economic pontification and the actual business of investing in industries that truly diversify the national economy. For him, economists may have succeeded in theorizing on and enumerating the positives of a diversified national economy. But his self -defined approach has been to invest in that diversification directly through a diversified portfolio of manufacturing ventures that provide the needs of the people while offering needed employment to thousands.

The practical entrepreneur in Dangote then proceeded to give the Central Bank forum and indeed the Nigerian public an instructive lecture on practical economic nationalism based on prevailing statistics. According to Dangote, we imported goods worth $47 billion in 2019 alone. A 60% reduction in this figure through local manufacturing and agriculture would significantly reduce unemployment and boost foreign exchange viability.

Abysmal infrastructure contributes to the problems of the manufacturing sector. For instance, businesses spend anywhere between $5-10 billion annually in alternative power generation. The roads are bad and so the movement of raw materials and finished goods is cumbersome just as truck maintenance drives down the profitability of his group by up to 20%. He also challenged the Central Bank to help the economy by providing cheap long term financing for businesses.

Instructively and quite significantly, Dangote is not impressed by the excessive premium which the Nigerian Customs Service and the Federal Inland Revenue Service place on customs duty collected on imports. In his view, high import duty revenue indicates that we are content with remaining an import dependent nation. On the contrary, the aim should be to raise the volume of excise duty on manufacturing by increasing the volume of manufacturing over and above importation.

The economists at the forum may have done what they are known for; explaining our economic world and its woes.

But Mr. Dangote clearly demonstrated that he has been engaged in the business of helping to substantially change our economic landscape in real terms, one product at a time.

In this regard, he pointed to specific achievements: national self sufficiency in cement, a push towards imminent self sufficiency in petroleum products, fertilizer, rice, and sugar by the Dangote group. He is now involved in infrastructure through road construction using cement as the dominant material for more durable roads.

The perceptible impact of Mr. Dangote’s robust entrepreneurship and economic nationalism on Nigeria’s economic landscape is a challenge to his contemporaries. The Dangote proposition is one which raises a number of issues about the place of the private sector in shaping Nigeria’s future as a free market economy.

Without manufacturing, there can be no middle class and therefore no genuine self- driven national development.

With Dangote’s focus on providing a broad range of essential products that meet the daily needs of ordinary people, the day is not too far off when the daily experience of the average Nigerian will be ruled by homegrown products.

The image of the middle class Nigerian of the future will look somewhat like this: A dashing young man or woman that works in a Dangote subsidiary, lives in an apartment built with Dangote cement, arrives for the meeting in an Innoson car, powered by Dangote gasoline which drove through a cement road built by Dangote Construction.

In the process of giving practical effect to economic diversification and national self sufficiency, Mr. Dangote is raising many fundamental questions even as he labours to provide answers to many others. Can the economic nationalism of one businessman become the driving force for the common good of an entire nation? Can the profit motive of the individual entrepreneur drive the goal of combating inequality by making available, at affordable prices, the goods that divide citizens into classes? Does the individual private entrepreneur have a social responsibility beyond the profitability of his enterprises? Questions and yet more questions.

Somehow, I think that Mr. Dangote, by pursuing his vision and business interests, may have raised the stakes in defining the future role of capitalism in the Nigerian society. He has done this in a manner that defies and benumbs conventional economists and their long tyranny over the rest of us.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R Ëž RCH 22, 2020

Tariff Review: Transiting From ‘Political Electricity’ to Useable Light Ă? ÞÒĂ? ĂšĂ?Ă?Ă&#x;Ă–Ă“Ă‹Ăœ ĂœĂ?Ă‘Ă“Ă—Ă? Ă™Ă? Ă‹ Ă˜Ă™Ă˜Ě‹Ă?Ă™Ă?ĂžĚ‹ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă–Ă?Ă?ÞÓà Ă? Ă?Ă–Ă?Ă?ĂžĂœĂ“Ă?ÓÞã ĂžĂ‹ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă? Ă?ĂžĂœĂ&#x;Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ? Ă“Ă? Ă?ÞÓĂ?Ă–Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒĂ? Ă?ĂœĂ“ĂžĂ“Ă?Ă‹Ă– ÚÙåĂ?Ăœ Ă?Ă?Ă?ĂžĂ™ĂœËœ ÚÖĂ&#x;Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă‘Ă&#x;Ă–Ă‹ĂžĂ™ĂœĂŁ Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ă“Ă?ĂžĂ?Ă˜Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă’Ă?Ă‹Ă ĂŁ ĂŽĂ?ĂŒĂžĂ? ĂŒĂŁ Ă“Ă˜Ă“Ă?ĂžĂœĂ“Ă?Ă?Ëœ Ă?ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂžĂ—Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă? Ě™ Ă?Ěš Ă™Ă? ÑÙà Ă?ĂœĂ˜Ă—Ă?Ă˜ĂžËœ Ă’Ă™ĂŒĂŒĂ–Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂŽĂ?Ă–Ă“Ă Ă?ĂœĂ‹ĂŒĂ–Ă?Ă?Ëœ ÞÒĂ? Ă Ă“Ă‹ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă“ĂžĂŁ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂ Ă“Ă Ă‹Ă– Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ? Ă?ÞËÕĂ?ÒÙÖÎĂ?ĂœĂ? Ă–Ă“Ă•Ă? Ă? Ă?Ă–Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ–ĂŁ Ă’Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ă? Ă™Ă˜ Ă&#x;ĂœĂ‘Ă?Ă˜Ăž ĂžĂ‹ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă Ă“Ă?ĂĄ ÞÙ Ă‹Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă˜ åÓÞÒ ÞÒĂ? Ă—Ă‹ĂœĂ•Ă?Ăž ĂœĂ?ËÖÓÞã Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă“ĂŒĂ–Ă? Ă?Ă?ĂœĂ Ă“Ă?Ă? ĂŽĂ?Ă–Ă“Ă Ă?ĂœĂŁ Ă‹Ă? ĂĄĂ?Ă–Ă– Ă‹Ă? ÑÙà Ă?ĂœĂ˜Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă—Ă?Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒĂ? ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ—Ă? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă?Ă?ĂžĂ™ĂœËŞĂ? ĂšĂœĂ“Ă Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă¤Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ëœ ĂĄĂœĂ“ĂžĂ?Ă? Louis Achi

C

learly, human civilizations are power-driven. Over time, the discovery and domestication of electricity, the most popular energy source on the planet for powering domestic and business processes have proven its indispensability to societal progress and overall national development. It’s then little wonder that back home in Nigeria, the sheer passion and debate which new policy positions by the government on the electricity sector customarily provoke considerable debate.

Significantly, access to energy remains low in Nigeria. With approximately 90 million citizens lacking access to grid electricity, Nigeria has the largest access-deficit in sub-Saharan Africa and second to India, globally. The switch from a publicly-owned to essentially privately-owned power sector has not yielded the expected outcomes, translating to extreme sectoral stress.

Perhaps not surprisingly, high losses, low collections and lack of cost-effective recovery tariff regimes have spawned an annual financial deficit to the sector of approximately $1 billion.

According to its recent report, ‘Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) Reform: Processes, Challenges and the Way Forward’, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) reiterated that a cost-reflective tariff structure must be developed and implemented to solve the perennial electricity problem in the country and make the sector financially viable.

BPE said the electricity market was haemorrhaging badly needed money due to a lack of a cost-reflective tariff regime. The BPE presented this report to the National Economic Council (NEC) Ad-hoc Committee on the Power Sector.

More, the agency revealed that heavy debts

by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of government were also hampering the growth of the power sector. It further pointed out in the report that the federal government’s inability to follow through its commitments had affected the Performance Agreements (PAs), and frowned on the refusal of parties to adhere to commitments made before the handover.

In the report, BPE said its analysis had revealed that the power sector would require funding to the tune of $7.6 billion over a fiveyear period, stressing that there is a correlation between energy consumption and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita.

It listed other major challenges facing the sector to include withdrawal of the transitional subsidy support and dumping of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-backed Nigeria Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility (NEMSF) on the balance sheet of the Distribution Companies (Discos).

The BPE also named the major shift in Nigeria’s macroeconomic indicators (exchange rate, inflation) and lack of a stable regulatory environment as factors hurting the electricity sector. It expressed dismay at the grave shortfall in power generation in the country, which averaged about 3,500 megawatts in the past 10 years, and the liquidity crisis in the sector. The agency lamented that Discos collected only about 30 percent of market requirements.

On what it felt was the way forward, the bureau recommended the creation of a robust institutional framework that would be ad-hoc in nature, made up of critical actors, and chaired by the Vice President, as the first step towards resolution of the power crisis.

The BPE report apparently mirrors the mood of the sector as the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has announced the

Minister of Mine and Power, Mamman implementation of a cost-reflective tariff in the electricity sector from April 1, 2020.

The BPE report even went further to accurately observe that “there is also lack of proper coordination of the public sector agencies involved in the power sector and the refusal of parties to adhere strictly to commitments made before handover�, noting that there was an urgent need for implementation of the power sector recovery plan.

It added that the challenges to the power sector are as old as Nigeria and to solve them, it insisted that the political leadership must be committed, have sincerity of purpose and the will to take hard decisions. Clearly, the unseemly generation of ‘political electricity’ must yield to the production of useful light.

The report stated, “Nigeria’s goal is to provide universal access to power for Nigerians by 2030. To achieve that, we must have a roadmap and a policy that will attract private sector investment, human capital and an institutional framework to reach set goals.�

NERC’s Intervention, MYTO Regime In a policy tweak, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has stated that the electricity tariffs being paid by consumers will increase in April this year.

NERC disclosed this in its December 2019 Minor Review of Multi-Year Tariff Order 2015 and Minimum Remittance Order for the Year 2020. According to the commission, the order was issued to reflect the impact of changes in the minor review variables in the determination of cost-reflective tariffs and relevant tariff and market shortfalls for 2019 and 2020.

It said the order also determined the minimum remittances payable by the distribution companies (Discos) in meeting their market obligations based on the allowed tariffs.

Discos immediately signaled their intention to enforce the new electricity tariffs from April 1, 2020, explaining that the new tariffs ordered

by NERC would cater for revenue shortfalls in the sector. In a tariff review clarification notice from the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), the Discos explained the tariffs shall remain as they had been since 2015, but would change from April 2020. “The tariffs shall remain the same as they

presently are (i.e. 2015 levels) until April 1, 2020, when there will be a slight increment to cater for tariff shortfalls, which shall be gradually passed on to the consumer until this is fully completed by the end of 2021. In view of the foregoing, we state emphatically that there shall be no change or increase in the existing electricity tariff until April 1, 2020, when the new adjusted tariffs shall begin to gradually reflect the dynamism of our macro-economy,� the Discos said.

The Discos explained that the NERC was empowered by the Electric Power Sector Reform Act to carry out minor reviews of the Multi-Year Tariff Order 2015 twice a year. “NERC has just reviewed the MYTO 2015 and has published an order on tariffs and minimum remittance for January to June 2020. The tariffs anticipate changes in the currency exchange rates between the United States and Nigeria, changes in the rate of inflation and gas prices,� ANED stated.

Thus, tariffs will join the VAT rate and other tax rates as commodities that have seen sizeable increases over the last month.

It could be recalled that the World Bank in its Programme-for-results information document for the Power Sector Recovery Based Loan to the Federal Government had noted that the inconsistent application of the tariff policy (the Multi-Year Tariff Order or MYTO) resulted in the deterioration of the financial situation of sector companies, especially Discos. In particular, lack of tariff adjustment to account for depreciation of the Naira in 2016 severely impacted the power sector, as approximately 65 percent of the sector costs are denominated in hard currency.

Declining revenues further constrained access to commercial financing by Discos, whose balance sheets were already weak.

Challenges, Access to Financing In the agreement sealed between the federal government and DISCOs, the government had agreed to provide a cost-effective tariff, pay N100 billion subsidy and make the DISCOs debt-free to enable them to deliver adequate and sustainable power to consumers. The DISCOs had also agreed to deliver several million pre-paid meters to consumers, improve customer service delivery, extend the distribution network, and reduce power interruptions while delivering stable power to consumers.

But this was not to be.

From THISDAY checks, barely five years after, the government has not yet put in place the cost-reflective tariff. NERC’s pronouncement last December would appear to have provided some traction on the tariff hike front.

In effect, words, the cost of providing electricity to consumers remains higher than the tariff they pay. More, it has not also paid the subsidy agreed upon in the agreement.

As a result, DISCOs stated that the development had affected their ability to provide adequate meters as well as meet other expectations. Poor liquidity situation has constrained the DISCOs from investing substantial resources to expand their capacities in order to supply adequate and stable power to consumers at an affordable cost. It showed that the financial situation of DISCOs is worsened by the unwillingness of banks to provide loans to them.

Without access to financing, Discos have not progressed much with investments in metering and rehabilitation of distribution networks. This has resulted in poor service delivery. Further, declining revenues have also constrained the federal government’s ability to enforce key contracts (including Discos’ Vesting Contracts) with resulting non-payment across the supply chain, including to gas suppliers of the thermal

power plants.

Payment of arrears to the gas suppliers and the occasional sabotage of petroleum infrastructure has led to an erratic gas supply, further impacting service delivery. Poor service delivery, in turn, has made tariff adjustments difficult. These scenarios cannot be overstressed.

While instituting an effective cost-reflective tariff is very critical to the improvement of the electricity sector, the emerging consensus is that it must go hand-in-hand with a commensurate improvement in the quality of electricity supply. Metering coverage must be hugely increased and power supply duration per day must be scaled up. A contrary scenario will disincentivize customers and hobble prompt payment of bills.

TCN’s Pitch On its part, the government-owned Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has stated that Nigerians should be prepared to pay cost-reflective electricity tariffs in order to enjoy the benefits of the liberalization of the power sector. The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, TCN, Usman Mohammed, who said this last Thursday, in Lagos, noted that the government had continued to pump money into the power sector despite privatizing it more than six years ago.

Mohammed spoke during the groundbreaking for the replacement of old wires on the Ikeja West-Alimosho-Ogba-Alausa-Ota transmission lines, noting that when completed, the project would allow Ikeja Electric to take the full capacity of all the transformers along the substations to be supplied by the lines.

He said: “We are working to transform the TCN to be one of the best transmission companies in the world. But I want to tell the Nigerian public that we cannot move forward if we don’t pay for electricity. “I want to tell Nigerians that there is no relationship between poverty and payment for electricity.�

According to him, Nigeria has the cheapest electricity tariff in West Africa, revealing that the government had sunk N1.5tn into the power sector in terms of payment assurance guarantee for power generation.

Mohammed added, “We have to stop this government intervention and we can only stop it when contracts become effective. Contracts can only be effective when you have costreflective tariffs.�

Solving the Liquidity Crunch In its latest report, ‘Solving the Liquidity Crunch in Nigeria’s Power Sector’,� PwC stated: “About 40 percent of the population have no access to electricity and supply is usually epileptic for those that have access.

However, the country’s current operational capacity stands at less than 4,000MW, less than 8,400MW projection for 2018 in Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO). “The installed capacity of 7,000 MW is also less than the pre-privatization target of 11.

879MW by 2012 and post-privatization target of 14, 218MW and 40,000MW by 2013 and 2020 respectively. The country’s bulk of electricity generation comes from thermal sources (gasfired power plants). As a result, inadequate gas supply often affects power generation.

Gas-fired power plants account for more than 77 percent of total electricity generated while hydro sources accounted for 23 percent.

Insufficient gas supply and variability – rainfall and water level at hydro-plants among other challenges constitute to impact power generation in Nigeria.�

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NEWS XTRA New Report Exposes Nigerians Owning Property in Dubai

‡ Bagudu, Ekweremadu, others linked to 800 Dubai properties worth N164bn Gboyega Akinsanmi The Chairman, Progressives Governors Forum, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu, a lawmaker representing Enugu West Senatorial District, Senator Ike Ekweremadu and former Managing Director of the acquired Oceanic Bank, Mrs. Cecilia Ibru are among 334 prominent Nigerians who owned properties in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, a new report has revealed.

The report, published by an American-based non-governmental organisation, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, identified 800 properties in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The report, which is titled; “Dubai Properties: An Oasis for Nigeria’s Corrupt Political Elites�, is based largely on private data compiled by UAE-based real estate and property professionals.

It put the value of the properties at N164 billion. The report stated that the prominent public figures otherwise described as politicallyexposed persons (PEP), who were found to own these properties, cut across Nigeria’s major ethnic, religious and political divides.

The report further stated that

about 20 former and serving governors, seven former and serving senators, current and former heads of ministries, departments and agencies of government, commissioners and those described as ‘money changers,’ that is, bureau de change operators, own a significant number of the properties.

Some of the other identified individuals linked to the properties include the former PDP chairman, Ahmadu Ali; former Kwara State governor, Mohammed Lawal; former petroleum minister, Dan Etete; another former deputy senate president, Ibrahim Mantu; former Managing Director of the acquired Oceanic Bank, Mrs. Cecilia Ibru.

Others are the former inspector general of police, Tafa Balogun; former chairman of military pension board, Bala Mshelia; former group managing director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Ladan Shehu, and a former head of the petroleum product marketing company, Samuel Okeke, among others.

The report, according to its author, is based largely on private data compiled by UAE-based real estate and property professionals.

Feminist Forum Urges Govts Not to Suppress Human Rights Tobi Soniyi Following the outbreak of COVID-19, the Nigerian Feminist Forum (NFF) has called on the federal and state governments to continue to uphold fundamental human rights as they put measures in place to contain coronavirus.

NFF, in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Mrs Blessing Duru, commended the federal government for taking proactive measures, including closureofschoolsandreligiousgatherings above 50 persons, to contain the virus.

However, the group called on governments to ensure a gendertransformative response.

The statement said: “We know epidemics affect girls, women, boys and men differently and that they magnify existing inequalities, including on age, class, disability, gender and income lines. “Given this, and in line with ActionAid Nigeria’s Women Voice and Leadership Nigeria (WVL) to ensure that women are protected especially in times like

this, we demand that response to COVID19 should be in line with human rights.�

According to the group, even though the pandemic poses threats to people in Nigeria, there is a risk of rapid erosion of human rights, including those of women and girls, in the name of curtailing the virus.

The NFF therefore called on the government to ensure all measures were in line with Chapter 4 of the Nigerian Constitution, which made provisions for fundamental human rights.

It called on governments to make provision for effective and dignified healthcare for the people and to pay attention to the needs of people with certain conditions and the elderly who are most likely to die from the virus.

It noted that people in Nigeria, particularly those who experienced poverty, those living in rural areas and those with disabilities, already struggle to access proper healthcare.

Participate in Interhouse Sports, Ekpenyong Tells Students The Permanent Secretary, Cross River State Ministry of Education, Mrs Aniedi Bassey-Ekpenyong, has tasked parents and teachers to encourage students to participate in inter-house sports to develop their talents.

Bassey-Ekpenyong stated this during the 82nd Founder’s Day/ Inter-house sports competition of the West African Peoples Institute in Calabar.

She charged pupils of the institute to maintain the high standard the school has been known for in the past 82 years.

Speaking on the essence of the

sporting competition, she said, “We believe in the holistic development of a child and that includes extracurricular activities such as what we are seeing, sporting activities, debate and all manner of things.

This is the time for inter-house sports. “All schools are encouraged to hold inter-house sports so that the children will not just pass through the school without having anything to hold on to. It is at this stage that you discover talent. You may not know what the child can do but it is at inter-house sports that a child begins to display his talent.

The UAE-based real estate professionals had in 2016, made the data available to the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (now known as C4ADS) as confidential sources.

The centre, however warned that the data did not constitute property deed, which it said was a form of official documentation strictly controlled in the UAE as confidential information.

The report warned, “Further,

the data, last updated in 2016, show the affiliation of individuals and entities with Dubai property at that moment in time, and, as such, this paper makes no claim that these affiliations have continued past that year.

The mention of any individual, company, organisation, or entity in this paper does not imply the violation of any law or international agreement.�

The report also identified

possible use of fronts by prominent Nigerians including former Delta State Governor, James Ibori.

According to the report, about four political associates of the former governor were found to have ties to properties in Dubai. “One is linked to four Dubai properties, purchased for a total of $3.8 million, according to Sandcastles data.

Another is affiliated with

a two-bedroom flat on the 21st floor of the DAMAC Residenze, which, according to the developer, “comes with all the trappings of an indulgent lifestyle,� as well as “uninterrupted panoramic views of the ocean.�

The report further noted that the official reportedly purchased the apartment for over $1.5 million and also bought a flat in another development for $500,000.66.

ON RESCUE MISSION. L -R: Archbishop of Abuja, Ignatius Kaigama; President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, Augustine Akubueze and former Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi shortly after Obi delivered convocation lecture of Veritas University, Abuja... recently

Babalola, AlaaďŹ n Fault FG’s Decision to Shut Schools Funmi Ogundare The Founder, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Chief Afe Babalola (SAN) and the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi yesterday faulted the decision of the federal government to shut schools in the country.

They both spoke at the inauguration of the institution’s 16 newly installed dialysis machines in the multi-system teaching hospital, a state-of-the art blood bank and transfusion services yesterday.

They both described the decision as illegal.

Babalola, former Chancellor and Chairman of Council, University of Lagos, lamented that the decision to shut schools including private tertiary institutions for one month would have adverse effect on the predictable academic calendar of private universities.

Consistent with his plan to provide world-class health care, Babalola also inaugurated ultramodern helipad, certified by the Ministry of Aviation, to ease transportation of patients and clients to the multi-system hospital and the university alongside a new building for the military to ensure security.

At the inauguration of the health facilities were the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi and the acting Vice Chancellor, Prof. Smaranda Olarinde, among others.

Speaking at the inauguration, the founder lamented that the decision of the federal government to close schools would reduce private universities to the level of public universities where four-year programmes would not be completed in eight years.

Babalola said the letter from Minister of Education directed NUC “to close down all universities and

schools for one month with effect from Monday, March 23. “The Vice Chancellor immediately called an emergency state senate meeting and also that of the Student Representative Council (SRC). As a law abiding institution, it was decided that the university should close down as directed.�

He expressed the SRC sadness about the decision, noting that more than 50 per cent of the students believed that such move was counter-productive.

He said: “Some of them including some medical students who are in the midst of examination which will run for about a week.

Some others are on postings. The institution’s residential campus is safer and healthier than any residential house in any part of the country. “The Senate is of the view that education is a delicate issue.

Universities are not parastatals of the federal government like railway or Bank of Industry (BOI). Even the visitor to public universities have no right to dissolve council, remove registrar or dabble into academic work in the university. “The Federal Ministry of Education, indeed the federal government, knows that it has no right to close university. That was why it wrote to the National Universities Commission (NUC) to close down universities. “The NUC too knows that the power to close down universities under section 22 of Education (National Minimum Standard Act) provides that it must afford the proprietor of the institution to make representation for consideration within 60 days before it can close down a university.�

Enugu Laments FG’s Failure to Settle N23bn Debt Enugu State Governor, Mr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has lamented the failure of the federal government to settle a sum of N23.7 billion debt it owes the state being on outstanding certified expenditure on the rehabilitation of federal roads in the state.

The governor expressed concern on Friday when the Chairman, Senate Committee on Work, Senator Adamu Aliero paid a courtesy visit to the Government House, Enugu alongside others members.

The lawmakers, who visited the governor alongside Aliero, include Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Senator Kabiru Gaya and Senator Chukwuka Utazi, among others.

While addressing members of

the committee, Ugwuanyi said the state government, following its interventions on federal roads in the state, was invited by the National Ad hoc Committee on Promissory Note Programme and Bond Issuance, on June 4, 2018, to settle the inherited local debts and contractual obligations.

The governor disclosed that it was established at the meeting that Enugu was owed the sum of N35,873,332,998.00 for interventions on federal roads from 2007 to 2018 and was certified for reimbursement.

He added that the national ad hoc committee had explained that only the sum of N13,563,954,759.44 was as yet

approved for reimbursement to the state by the Federal Ministry of Finance, disclosing further that “out of the above sum, the state has received the sum of N12,204,991,518.46�.

Ugwuanyi told the senate committee that the state “is being owed the sum of N23,668,341,479.54, in outstanding reimbursable expenditure in respect of rehabilitation/ reconstruction of federal roads in Enugu State, between 2007-2018.�

While maintaining that the interventions by the state government complied substantially with the conditions for rehabilitation of federal roads including awarding these projects in accordance with the federal

government specifications through the Federal Ministry of Works, the governor reemphasised the value the sum would add to the lives of the people of the state “in this austere time, if reimbursed.�

In response, the chairman of the committee pledge to assist the Enugu State Government to ensure reimbursement of N23.7 billion being owed the state on outstanding certified expenditure on the rehabilitation of federal roads in the state.

Specifically, Aliero said the money ought to have been paid, since the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing had had certified the projects after due process was followed.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˞ ͰͰ˜ Ͱ͎Ͱ͎˜

NEWS XTRA CBN’s FOREX Policy Stalls Tomato Processing Plant in Katsina

‡ Firm yet to take off three year after land allocation ‡Prospect of generating over 65,000 jobs dim Francis Sardauna in Katsina Three years after Katsina State government granted 5,000 hectares of land to Erisco Foods Limited to establish a 750,000 metric tonnes per annum Tomato Paste Processing Plant, the company is yet to commence production, investigation

by THISDAY has revealed.

Investigation showed that the project suffered a major setback due to the failure of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to release its counterpart funding of $460,000.00.

The decision not to release Forex was not unconnected with the apex bank’s foreign exchange policy blacklisting some items from accessing Forex.

Also, THISDAY findings showed that the prospect that the plant would generate at least 15,000 factory workers directly and offer rare opportunities to over 50,000 farmers in the core north is gradually fading into oblivion.

At separate session with THISDAY recently, different stakeholders lamented the state of the tomato processing plant, which Erisco

Foods Limited initiated in 2017 and to which the Katsina State Government allocated 5,000 hectares of land for its takeoff.

One of the state functionaries, who privately spoke with THISDAY, lamented that despite 5,000 hectares the state government allocated for the plant, tomato paste production had not taken off three years after Katsina State and Erisco Foods Limited agreed to establish the tomato paste plant.

Originally, the official explained that the project, which was situated in Sabuwa Local Government Area (LGA) based on contractual agreement, was designed to take off in the first quarter of 2018 and be completed in 2020.

However, according to the official, the tomato paste processing plant has been abandoned just after the foundation stone of the project was laid in 2017.

Besides, THISDAY findings revealed that the proposed plant, which was expected to harness raw tomatoes cultivated by farmers in the northern part of the country, has the capacity to employ 15,000 factory workers and 50,000 farmers

24 Bandits Killed in Katsina, Zamfara Soldiers attached to Operation Hadarin Daji reportedly killed 24 bandits during separate encounters in the Jibia Local Government Area of Katsina State and Maru LGA of Zamfara State.

The Acting Director, Defence Media Operations of the Defence Headquarters, Brig Gen Benard Onyeuko, while confirming the operation said, “The troops of Operation Hadarin Daji acting on credible intelligence invalidated two bandits in Bindim and Koli towns of Maru. “In the same vein, troops while on patrol at Gando rescued seven males and two females kidnapped by bandits.

The victims have been handed over to their families. Also, about 42 cows and 38 sheep were recovered. Troops are currently dominating the area with patrols which have helped to build confidence of locals. “Similarly, troops responded to a distress call on the movement of bandits with rustled animals within Gurbin Magarya, Kwari and Garin Gado villages of Jibia

Local Government Area of Katsina State. “In the course of operation, 24 bandits were killed in action; four AK-47 rifles, two locally-made pistols and three dane guns were recovered.� Zamfara State Commissioner for Security and Home Affairs, Alhaji Abubakar Dauran, also confirmed the attacks on the bandits.

He added: “coordinated military operations are currently taking place in various parts of Zamfara and neighbouring states where the bandits are finding it difficult to survive.�

The Katsina Police Command said it recovered seven corpses of suspected bandits from Shabba forest in the Jibia Local Government Area of the state.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. Gambo Isah, a supretendent of police, who also confirmed the development said the security team was still combing the forest for other suspected bandits.

He said, “You will recall that

Keystone Gets New Acting MD The Board of Directors of Keystone Bank Limited has announced the appointment of Mr. Olaniran Olayinka as the bank’s Acting Managing Director/CEO, subject to approval by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

In a statement by the Company Secretary & General Counsel of the Bank, Dr. Michael Agamah, Olayinka will lead the bank to drive its strategic business and corporate goals leveraging on the robust banking experience garnered over several years across various sectors of the economy.

Commenting on the development, the Chairman of Keystone Bank, Alhaji Umaru H. Modibbo disclosed that Olayinka’s appointment as Acting MD/CEO is based on the Bank’s corporate philosophy and culture of optimising her human

capital through sustained leadership development. He stated further that the Bank will continue to proactively nurture and harness its existing talents to assume leadership roles in the financial institution.

Olayinka, who is currently an Executive Director, holds a First-Class Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree in Economics from the prestigious University of Lagos.

Olayinka

across the zone.

The findings also noted that the plant was designed to enable Nigeria earn foreign exchange by exporting the products from the factory to other African states.

Speaking with THISDAY on the project, the President and Chief Executive Officer, Erisco Foods Limited, Mr. Eric

Umeofia allegedly ascribed delay in the company’s takeoff to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

THISDAY gathered that the inability of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to release enough intervention fund/ FOREX to the company to import agricultural tractors, improved tomato seedlings, fertilizers, chemicals

and machineries might be among other reasons delaying the take off of the project in the state.

At another fora, Umeofia claimed that the apex bank refused to give approval to its own deposit of $460,000.00 generated from “our foreign operations�.

He explained that the CBN also refused “to give us FOREX to import machineries, machine

spare parts and raw materials to be used for processing of Nigeria fresh/dry tomatoes into tomato paste in our Lagos factory. “In addition to their refusal to give us enough intervention fund/ FOREX after several promises to import agricultural tractors, improved tomato seedlings, fertilizers, chemicals, machineries for our Katsina project.�

PROMOTING WOMEN COURSE. . .

L-R: Network Director, Women Who Code, Uche Mukolo ; Head, Innovation Lab, Thehatch, Chinelo Madueke; Front end Programmer, Inlaks,Damilola Olukoju; Senior Software Developer, Inlaks , Maria Simeon; Senior Software Engineer, Andela Group, Anu Onifade and Software Engineer, Andela Group, Omolabake Lemboye, at the Code Jam workshop in Lagos ... recently

Makinde Confims One Positive Coronavirus Case in Ibadan ‡ IPC seeks measures to protect journalists nationwide Tobi Soniyi The Oyo State governor, Mr Ssyi Makinde early hours today announced that the COVID-19 confirmation test for the suspected case at Bodija has come back POSITIVE. Using his tweeter handle @ seyimakknde, the governor said the result was released at 17:35 PM of March 21, 2020.

According to him, Oyo State Public Health Officials are collaborating with the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan’s team on the case.

He said: “A follow up on the Ekiti COVID-19 case revealed that the deceased was picked

up directly from Lagos Airport to a private apartment in Ona Ara Local Government Area. “The Health Authorities have contacted the family concerned and the community has been alerted for intensified contact tracing and self-isolation of identified close contacts. “The information given that he stayed in some hotels in Ibadan has been found to be false. “ Another returnee from Texas, USA, has also been identified at Oluyole Local Government Area. She has been kept in self-isolation with close monitoring by the State Epidemiological Team.

“All recent returnees are again urged to identify themselves to Ministry Officials and self-isolate for 14 days.�

He said the state has released funds for: a. activation of emergency Operation Centre at the Ministry of Health. b. establishment of Diagnostic Centre for screening of Coronavirus and other related infectious diseases to be stationed at the UCH, Ibadan. c. equipping of the newly designated Oyo State Infectious Disease Centre at Olodo that has the capacity for over 100 cases.�

He also gave the state’ Ministry of Health Helplines as 08038210122/ 08023229267/

08073431342.

Meanwhile, the International Press Centre (IPC) has called on media proprietors (both private and government) to provide journalists covering the Covid-19 health crisis in Nigeria with necessary protective gadgets and medications where required.

The Executive Director of IPC, Mr. Lanre Arogundade made the call in a statement the centre’s Communication Officer, Olutoyin Ayoade issued yesterday.

The state said journalists “are among professionals who are always on duty during crisis situations as we currently have and their safety should therefore be accorded very high priority.

ASUU Threatens Indefinite Strike, if FG Insists on IPPIS Seriki Adinoyi in Jos and Ibrahim Oyawale In Lokoja The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) yesterday said it would embark on indefinite strike if the federal government insisted on the implementation of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

Also, the union accused the federal government of plotting to scuttle academic activities in public universities.

It urged all well-meaning Nigerians to stand up and stop the grand design to scuttle the pursuit of their children.

In separate news conferences yesterday, ASUU Coordinator, Bauchi Zone, Prof. Lawan

Abubakar and his counterpart in Nsukka Zone, Dr. Igbana Ajir faulted the federal government’s insistence on implementing the IPPIS. At the conference held at the ASUU secretariat, University of Jos, yesterday, Abubakar blamed the federal government for reneging on the implementation of the Memorandum of Agreement it reached with the union in February 2019.

He noted that the conference became necessary “to present the issues in contention to the public as contained in the agreement, which include provision of sustainable funding for revitalisation of public universities, payment of the arrears of earned academic

allowances up to 2018 in four instalments, mainstreaming of further payments into the annual budgets beginning from 2019 and payment of arrears of shortfall in salaries among others.�

He said ASUU was grossly disappointed at the lack of commitment displayed by the federal government towards the implementation of the MoA aimed at persuading the union to suspend the then 2018/2019 industrial action.

Abubakar explained that it was expected of the government “to reciprocate the gesture with a faithful implementation of the agreement instead of blackmailing ASUU, causing division in the union, forcing implementation

of the IPPIS on the union. “The universities should be allowed to operate an individually independent system, controlled by their various councils and supervised by the National Universities Commission (NUC), in line with international standards and global best practices and not a centralised and dependent structure of the civil service.�

Abubakar expressed disappointment in the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, who described the warning strike as illegal, and also the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, who had been misinterpreting facts on the enrolment into IPPIS

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍşËœ 2020

95

SUNDAYSPORTS

Edited by: Demola Ojo email:Demola.ojo@thisdaylive.com

‘Premier League Could Resume Before Virus Restrictions Are Lifted’

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outhampton’s chief executive has suggested Premier League matches could be on television every day while people are still confinedtotheirhomesbecauseof the coronavirus outbreak. Martin Semmenssaysthereturnofthetop flight - currently suspended until at least April 30 - would be “a sign that the country is coming back to normal� but it should not happen before it is safe. “We have to do what is right and safe for the general public,� he told BBC Radio Solent. “When everybody is safe and we’re not using up NHS and police resources, the government would like us to get back to playing because we are entertainment and a sign that the country is coming back to normal. “If people are home for another month and Premier League football is on the TV every day that can only be a good thing. Not because we are more essential than the NHS but because we can give people entertainment and show that we’re fighting back.�

Semmens said teams are hopeful of completing the league by the end of June but did not yet know when play would resume. Some players will be out of contract on June 30, but Semmens believes players could be convinced to stay for longer should play continue beyond that point. “We hope to get the league done by the end of June,� Semmens added. “As soon as you go past that date, there are legal challenges. “If we ended up playing until July 15 and you had to extend a player’s contract by two weeks, convincing a player to play two more weeks of football and get paid nicely to do it - I don’t believe that will be a substantial challenge. “The challenge is making sure we don’t have a knock-on effect to other seasons and make football compromised for years to come.�

Odion Ighalo was in rich scoring form before the Premier League was suspended

Former Real Madrid President, Sanz, Dies after Contracting Coronavirus Former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz died yesterday after being hospitalised with coronavirus. Sanz, 76, was president at the Bernabeu from 1995-2000, a period in which Real won the Champions League twice. “My father has just died,�wrote Sanz’s son Lorenzo Sanz Duran on Twitter.“He did not deserve this end in this manner. One of the best, most courageous and hard working people I have seen in my life. His family and Real Madrid were his passion.�

Sanz signed players such as Roberto Carlos, Clarence Seedorf and Davor Suker during his time in charge of the 33-time Spanish champions.

He lost the 2000 presidential election to Florentino Perez, which sparked Real’s big-spending ‘Galatico’ era.

Sanz’s son Fernando, 46, played for Real Madrid from 1996-1999 before spending the ďŹ nal seven years of his career at Malaga.

Real Madrid won the Champions League twice when Lorenzo Sanz was president

Fernandes Beats Ighalo To Man United Player of The Month Bruno Fernandes has scooped Manchester United’s Player of the Month award for the month of March.

The attacking midfielder beat off competition from Odion Ighalo, Fred and Harry Maguire to scoop the accolade.

This is the fourth individual prize Fernandes has won since completing a transfer from Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon in January.

Ighalo scored three goals in four appearances for the Red Devils in February.

The forward linked up with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men on a six-month loan deal from Chinese Super League side, Shanghai Shenhua in January.

Dybala, Maldini Test Positive

Dybala

Juventus and Argentina forward Paulo Dybala and former Italy captain Paolo Maldini have tested positive for coronavirus.

In a message on his Instagram account, Dybala said he and his girlfriend both have the virus but were in good health. “Both Oriana and I have tested positive,� Dybala, 26, said. “Luckily we are in perfect conditions.�

AC Milan technical director Maldini and his son Daniel both tested positive and a club statement said they “are well�.

The club added that Daniel Maldini, 18, had been training with the AC

Milan ďŹ rst team and that he and his father, 51, had spent two weeks in self-isolation at home and would remain in quarantine“until clinically recoveredâ€?.

Dybala is the third Juve player to be conďŹ rmed to have the virus, following centre-back Daniele Rugani and France World Cup winner Blaise Matuidi. Dybala’s girlfriend Oriana Sabatini - an Argentine singer, actress and model - is the niece of former tennis player Gabriela Sabatini, the 1990 US Open champion.

All domestic sporting activity in Italy has been suspended until at least 3 April.

USTrack and Field Calls for Olympics Delay USA Track and Field, athletics’US governing body, has called for this summer’s Olympics in Tokyo to be delayed because of the ongoing coronavirus situation.The federation has asked the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee to advocate to the International Olympic Committee for the postponement of the Games. It follows a request from USA Swimming for it to be delayed by 12 months. The Olympics are scheduled to take place from July 24 to August 9.

USA Track and Field chief executive Max Siegel wrote in a letter to the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee:“We certainly understand the ramiďŹ cations of this request, and the realities of trying to coordinate the logistics of a postponed Olympic Games around the schedules of other athletes, sport federations, key stakeholders etc. “But the alternative of moving forward in light of the current global situation would not be in the best interest of our athletes (as difďŹ cult as that decision might be).â€?

There are a growing number of calls for the Games not to take place this summer.UKAthletics chairman Nic Coward recently suggested that the Olympics should be postponed, while Brazil, Norway and Slovenia’s Olympic committees have also urged the IOC to take action and put it back to next year.

Four-time Olympic champion and BBC Sport pundit Michael Johnson fears athletes could“risk their lives�trying to train for the Games and called for clarity on the IOC’s decision-making process. “IOC should communicate the window for deciding on the‘20 Olympics,�tweeted the former US sprinter.“Athletes must keep training but for many there’s nowhere to train. “They may risk their lives and others trying to continue training.Answer isn’t just cancel ASAP. But communicate the process to the athletes.�

On Friday, International Olympic Committee (IOC) presidentThomas Bach told the NewYork Times“different scenariosâ€?forTokyo 2020 are now being considered for the ďŹ rst time.

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ASUU to Federal Government “The universities should be allowed to operate an individually independent system, controlled by their various councils and supervised by the National Universities Commission (NUC), in line with international standards and global best practices and not a centralised and dependent structure of the civil service.”

– The Coordinator, Academic Staff Union of Universities, Bauchi Zone, Prof. Lawan Abubakar spoke at a news conference in Jos, Plateau State.

SIMONKOLAWOLE SIMONKOLAWOLELIVE!

simon.kolawole@thisdaylive.com, sms: 0805 500 1961

Covid-19 and the Fake News Virus

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ave you heard the news? If you chew heaps of garlic, gulp litres of chloroquine, drink water every 15 minutes, stay in saunas for one hour, take hot bath every two hours, stop eating ice creams, swallow vitamin C tablets every minute, slurp bowls of lemon water at every opportunity, and smoke marijuana more than Fela, Bob Marley and Peter Tosh combined, do you know you can still be infected with Covid-19? If you don’t know this fact, you must have been believing everything you have been reading on social media, particularly WhatsApp, since the coronavirus entered Nigeria. Not only do you believe the myths, you probably share and re-share them.

There is no doubt that the social media has lowered our IQ. We have become so gullible we do not ask simple questions anymore. We even choose to misapply the basic human instinct of scepticism, preferring to believe lies and half-truths. Some clown will just sit somewhere, compose a message, attribute it to one professor from one fictitious university and share it on WhatsApp or Facebook. We ignore the simple task of googling the name to verify if such a character actually exists. Instead, we begin to distribute the fake news to a thousand contacts in various WhatsApp groups. Those ones too will re-share to a thousand more contacts. It goes viral.

Interestingly, that is exactly how a virus spreads. It usually starts from the index cases who then pass it on to their immediate contacts, and their immediate contacts pass it on to other contacts. Before you know it, hundreds are infected; they, in turn, infect others. In a short while, you will be counting thousands, tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of cases.

The coronavirus that started from Wuhan, China, in December 2019 has moved from infecting only 60 people and killing only two patients to infecting 300,000 and killing 13,000 worldwide in just three months! We still do not know when it will peak and begin to subside. At this stage, we can only hope for quick solutions.

I first read of the virus on January 18, 2020 on the BBC website. The headline was: “New virus in China 'will have infected hundreds’.”

The opening paragraphs: “The number of people already infected by the mystery virus emerging in China is far greater than official figures suggest, scientists have told the BBC. There have been more than 60 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, but UK experts estimate a figure nearer 1,700. Two people are known to have died from the respiratory illness, which appeared in Wuhan city in December.”

Instantly, an alarm went off in my head. Why? Anything that affects China will definitely affect the rest of the world, Nigeria inclusive.

Why has Covid-19 been able to spread globally so speedily and widely, sparing no race, continent, religion or class? From all the materials I have read and digested so far, I have indentified three key factors. One, Covid-19 is contagious even when the carrier of the virus is not showing the symptoms such as fever, sore throat, dry coughs and difficulty in breathing.

That means one can be infected today and pass it on to another person same day — just like HIV. Inevitably, one person can directly infect hundreds of people in a single day and they, too, can directly infect hundreds same day, and so on and so forth. I believe this is the biggest factor in the wild-fire speed of the pandemic.

Two, the incubation period of Covid-19 is typically 14 days, although there have been

Dr Osagie Ehanire, Minister of Health

cases of 28 days. Compare this to the other two coronaviruses, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which both have an incubation period of averagely five days. A person infected with MERS or SARS has only five days to transmit it before showing symptoms and getting isolated, compared to a carrier of Covid-19 who may have a whole two weeks. SARS started in China in 2002 while MERS started in Jordan in 2012. Covid-19 is believed to be a mutation of SARS. Mutations could be deadlier since they are strange to the immune system.

Three, Covid-19 survives outside the body system, according to scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a part of the US National Institutes of Health. They conducted an experiment and concluded that when someone coughs or sneezes, the virus remains viable in aerosols for at least three hours; on plastic and stainless steel, the virus can survive for three days; on cardboard, 24 hours; and on copper, four hours. So even if one doesn’t have direct contact with the infected person, one can contract the virus from plastics, stainless steels and currency notes. This should explain why it has caught the world unawares and is spreading rapidly.

The world might have been spared this plague if the Chinese authorities had been more straightforward from the beginning. Dr Li Wenliang, the 34-year-old Chinese doctor who alerted his colleagues that some patients were showing signs of a new SARS-like illness in early December, was arrested by the police and reprimanded for “spreading rumours”, “seriously disrupting social order” and “breaching the law”. He himself was later diagnosed with Covid-19 at the end of January. He died in February, causing national grief. The Chinese authorities also reportedly told the World Health Organization (WHO) in January that the virus was not transmissible person-to-person.

If only the Chinese authorities had been more forthcoming, we would not be going through this trauma. But the trauma is now being exacerbated on social media by mischief makers trying to create panic with fake news and false posts. These can only mislead people and worsen matters. For instance, while it is true that Vitamin C boosts the immune system, it is not a treatment for the coronavirus. Taking too much Vitamin C can lead to diarrhoea. Also, you must have seen a meme that says there are no cases of Covid-19 in Jamaica, suggesting

that it is because they smoke marijuana. As at yesterday, there had been 19 cases and one death in Jamaica.

You must have received the WhatsApp broadcast from “Dr Khin Maung J” (of no fixed address) who said you should eat plenty ginger, hot chillies and pepper to combat the virus.

“Dr Khin Maung J” says the virus will die in temperatures of between 26 and 27 degrees.

He said you should send the message to 200 contacts as your service to humanity. It is true that SARS began to recede during summer time and eventually fizzled out in 2004, but Covid-19 is a new coronavirus and we still do not know how it will behave in the coming months. In any case, we now have cases in tropical regions in increasing numbers, so “Dr Khin Maung J” cannot be right.

Professor Sally Bloomfield of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (you can goggle his name), told the BBC that it will take 60 degrees Celsius to kill the coronavirus (by contrast, Maiduguri — the hottest part of Nigeria — is currently experiencing 40 degrees).

If you expose yourself to such heat in saunas or hot baths, you may just die along with the virus. Fake news can kill — just like Covid-19.

All it needs is for it to go viral. Did you also hear the one about garlic? Of course, doctors say it is good for your health. It kills microorganisms.

But no study has yet proved that it prevents or cures Covid-19. In fact, if you eat too much of it, you may end up in the hospital.

You must have heard about the chloroquine catastrophe in Lagos. Yes, hydroxychloroquine has been tested on some patients in China and it has proved effective as a treatment (note that Covid-19 has no cure yet; what the doctors do is to treat the symptoms, such as cough, cold, fever and pneumonia, as they manifest in the patient). Chloroquine interferes with the ability of the virus to replicate in body cells.

This is good news. However, only a doctor can prescribe it for whoever has the virus.

Unfortunately, my people started drinking Chloroquine without having Covid-19 and without doctor prescription. Many of them are now hospitalised with critical conditions.

Despite the fake news and mass panic around us, I will leave us with some words of comfort today. One, most of those who contract the virus will not die. Mortality rate is still around 7 percent. Many will have only mild to moderate symptoms and recover. Two, there have been only five reported deaths in Sub Sahara Africa, so maybe it is indicative of the likely mortality rate on the continent. I said “maybe”. Three, the lockdown has worked in Wuhan, where the virus has reportedly slowed down. That means lockdowns work. Four, those who have the virus in Nigeria are recovering well. There is yet no critical case or death. Let us live with the positive news and take courage from there.

In conclusion, I would like to appeal to us all that we need to fight the coronavirus as well as the fear, panic and fake news that come with it. It is very important that we do not distract those doing tasking jobs day and night to manage the situation. Spreading fake news and unverified information can only worsen panic and fear. It is also very important for every one of us to know that we all have roles to play in fighting off the pandemic. We must all take precautionary measures, such as proper hygiene and physical distancing, in order to help check the spread. We do not have a fraction of the facilities necessary to manage a massive outbreak in Nigeria. Our salvation lies in prevention.

And Four Other Things…

PRESIDENTIAL SILENCE It is one thing for President Muhammadu Buhari to decide not to address Nigerians over the coronavirus pandemic, but it is another thing entirely for anybody to defend him. The most ridiculous argument is that it is not his word that will cure the virus.

What a shame. This is one of those rare moments in history when leaders stand up to be counted. President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana has been making broadcasts to his people in this most challenging moment.

The least expectation of the leader of any nation — much less of the world’s biggest black country — is to talk to his citizens to inspire hope and confidence. It’s called leadership. Astonishing.

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY With the difficulty in identifying and monitoring those who were on the same flights with the coronavirus cases, it is important for everyone to behave responsibly in the interest of public health and safety. Some travellers are giving fake phone numbers and fake addresses so that they cannot be traced. What is their motive? I know the government can obtain the necessary information from the airlines that flew them, even if it means invoking emergency powers to do so. We are talking about potential danger to 200 million Nigerians! This is not a joke. If the coronavirus explodes in our face, we are toast. Government must act decisively in contact tracing. Imperative.

THE CLOWNS As soon as it was announced that an Italian had tested positive for the coronavirus three weeks ago, the clownish “Jubril AlSudani” movement launched their usual mischief, saying it was a lie, even alleging that it was a ploy to embezzle N900 million.

They wanted government to release the picture and disclose the name of the Italian.

They went further to develop a social media message claiming former President Olusegun Obasanjo said he would like to embrace the Covid-19 patient because he too wanted to have the virus! These are things to be ignored, ordinarily, but when my barber told me the story “authoritatively”, I realised the clowns had a gullible audience.

Wicked.

THE PROBLEM SOLVERS On this note, let us ignore the clowns and spare a thought for the medical personnel that are working round the clock in Nigeria and all over the world to save lives. The medical professionals are risking their lives daily to attend to patients. Many of them are stretched physically and emotionally because we have never before seen anything on this scale. I am confident that, together, we will defeat this existential threat to the human race. Meanwhile, if you suspect you are infected, please call the advertised emergency numbers: 08023169485, 08033565529 and 08052817243 (Lagos state) or 0800970000-10 (NCDC).

COVID-19 is NOT a death sentence. #Fact.

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