MONDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER 2019

Oil Prices Surge by 20% on Drone Strike on Saudi Arabia Brent rises to six-month high of $71 Alike Ejiofor with agency report Crude oil prices have surged more than 19 per cent after a drone strike on a Saudi

Arabian oil facility wiped out about five per cent of global supplies.

Brent prices, according to Bloomberg, jumped as much as $11.73 to $71.95 a barrel in

early trading in Singapore.

State energy producer Saudi Aramco lost about 5.7 million barrels per day of output on Saturday after 10 unmanned aerial vehicles

struck the world's biggest crude-processing facility in Abqaiq and the kingdom's second-biggest oil field in Khurais.

For oil markets, it's the

single worst sudden disruption ever, surpassing the loss of Kuwaiti and Iraqi petroleum supply in August 1990, when Saddam Hussein invaded his neighbour. It also exceeds the

loss of Iranian oil output in 1979 during the Islamic Revolution, according to data from the U.S. Department of Continued on page 8

Report: Nigeria Loses $600m Annually to Illegal Fishing ... Page 8 Monday 16 September, 2019 Vol 24. No 8925. Price: N250

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We’ll Spare Nobody in $9.6bn P&ID Failed Deal, Says Malami Confirms security agencies quizzed prominent personalities Denies probe of NJC, lawmakers by NFIU Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), at the weekend served noticed that all government officials and others connected with the process through which Process and Industrial Developments Limited (P & ID) got the Gas Supply and

Processing Agreement (GSPA) with the federal government and later secured an arbitral award of $9.6 billion following Nigeria’s alleged default, would not escape the ongoing probe into the incident.

Malami told journalists in Abuja that although security agencies had interrogated Continued on page 10

Revealed: How Military’s Super Camp Strategy Aids Boko Haram to Hold Positions

The Super Camp strategy adopted by the military in the war against insurgency in the North-east may have given the terrorists opportunity to occupy more territories from where they launch assaults on the troops, THISDAY investigation has revealed.

Under the Super Camp

strategy, the military, in what appeared like a tactical retreat, pulled out its battalions from all the camps occupied by troops and relocated them to heavily fortified cities where their brigade headquarters are located.

In the wake of criticism from Borno State Governor, Continued on page 8

PDP Govs Back Atiku’s Bid to Appeal to S’Court... Page 10 >T` Z3)`

CONGRATULATIONS...

L-R: President Muhammadu Buhari (left), congratulates Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, on his victory at the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, on board Nigeria Air Force 1… yesterday

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Report: Nigeria Loses $600m Annually to Illegal Fishing Spends $800m on fish importation Eromosele Abiodun Nigeria is losing $600 million annually to illegal and unreported fishing by foreign vessels as a result of lack of equipment such as Automatic Identification System (AIS) and Vessel Monitoring System (VMS), and adequate manpower to police the country’s vast coastline, THISDAY’s investigation has revealed.

THISDAY gathered that the country also spends $800 million annually on fish importation, being the fourth largest importer of fish in the world, after China, Japan and the United States.

Nigeria imports frozen fish varieties, including mackerel (locally called Titus or alaran), herrings (locally called shawa), horse mackerel (locally called kote), blue whiting (locally called panla), Argentina silus (locally called ojuyobo) and the popular croaker fish.

Investigation further revealed

that the country’s top suppliers are the United States and Chile, but fish is also sourced from Europe, Asia as well as a few African countries, including Mauritania, Algeria and Mauritius.

According to documents obtained by THISDAY from the Federal Department of Fisheries in Lagos, Nigeria’s annual fish demand is estimated at 3.32 million metric tonnes while domestic production is only about 1.12 million metric tonnes.

This leaves a deficit of 2.2 million metric tonnes, which is largely supplied through importation.

The document titled, “Fisheries Crime Activities in West Africa Coastal Region,� showed that Nigeria spends about $800 million (N324 billion) to import fish to bridge the supply gap.

According to the document, Nigeria in 2018 imported fish worth $71 million, $56 million, $43 million and $174 million

from Iceland, Russia, Norway and Netherlands respectively.

The document also showed that West Africa remains a global hotspot for illegal fishing with estimated losses of $2.9 billion.

The document further revealed that over 450 Chinese vessels fish illegally in Nigeria and the coast of West Africa, adding that, “a survey carried out by the West Africa Task Force showed that over 37 per cent of all fish caught in West Africa are caught illegally with China, Taiwan, Russia, South Korea, Spain, France and Thailand being the main countries responsible. “This is aside vessels from other countries and artisanal fishing in Nigeria inland water ways in areas such as Badore, Epe and coastal areas in Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Cross Rivers states.�

Nigeria has a coastline of 853 kilometres, which borders the Atlantic Ocean in the Gulf of Guinea.

The limits of Nigeria’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) are 12 nautical miles (nm) and 200 nm respectively.

The total area of the continental shelf in the EEZ is approximately 37,900 km2.

THISDAY gathered that Nigeria needs equipment like the AIS and VMS, both of which use satellite tracking to transmit vessel locations. “AIS was designed as a collision avoidance tool and is required for vessels over a certain size by international law and some smaller vessels by national regulation. VMS is a bespoke fisheries management system regulated at the national and regional level. VMS data have traditionally been proprietary but governments are increasingly sharing these data publicly for greater fisheries transparency, � the document stated.

Meanwhile, an official of the Federal Department of Fisheries who spoke to

THISDAY on condition of anonymity blamed the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Navy for usurping the role of the department, which he said is constitutionally responsible to the protection of Nigeria’s fish resources.

He called on the federal government to create a ministry of fisheries and marine resources to effectively harness Nigeria’s abundant ocean resource. “Government agencies are supposed to collaborate but that is not the case. However, any vessel we give letter of consent or assurance to bring a vessel into Nigeria has to go to NIMASA for registration.

That is what Sea Fisheries Act says. We also collaborate on the issue of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) number, which is a unique number issued to a vessels for life until it is scraped. It is through that number that we detect vessels that are being

used for illegal fishing,� he said.

He added that fisheries over the world have been suffering from illegal exploitation, which undermines the sustainability of marine living resources and threatens food security as well as the economic, social and political stability of coastal states. “These crimes have been identified by the Interpol and its partners as transnational in nature and involving organised criminal networks,� he stated.

Also, when THISDAY visited Badore area in Lagos, which is the main research site of the Nigeria Institute of Oceanography, locals narrated how several vessels trawl illegally at night unchecked.

According to a resident, Mr. Babatunde Akinyemi, “we are not allowed to go near the water to fish but at night we see people fishing and no one arrest them. This is also happening around other communities in this locality.�

needed.

barrel, or 10 cents a litre."

BP spokesman Gordon Gillan said the attacks could mean higher prices at the fuel pump.

"Our prices are reflective of the barrel price, on international markets and other influencing factors, so it's possible there could be an impact on local prices later this week. But we wouldn't want to speculate."

Asked whether any change to global oil prices would necessarily mean an immediate increase in petrol prices here, he said: "We review our BP Connect prices every day so our prices are as competitive as possible.

"It could change tomorrow, it could be the next day."

Meanwhile, jet fuel prices will go up if there is any increase in the cost of crude oil and this could lead to fares rises.

Fuel makes up at least 25 per cent of airlines' operating costs and jet fuel is now at $US77 a barrel, nearing the top of the range for carriers to hold prices. Airlines will cut capacity if fuel prices rise steeply and this too can lead to fare increases.

This year Air New Zealand expects to spend $1.3 billion on fuel, based on an average jet fuel price of $75 a barrel.

A Government spokesman said there would be no comment on the drone strikes in Saudi Arabia until tomorrow.

OIL PRICES SURGE BY 20% ON DRONE STRIKE ON SAUDI ARABIA Energy.

New Zealand petrol prices could reach a nightmare $3 a litre following the attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities, economist Cameron Bagrie said yesterday.

However, the true impact the explosions would have on the oil industry remains to be seen.

As of this morning, the "horror scenario" at this stage would see fuel prices reach $3 at the pump, economist Cameron Bagrie told, a news medium, MediaWorks.

He said: "If you look at the imported component of the petrol prices, it's about 75 cents.

"Let's keep the maths simple, let's say that oil prices

basically double, that imported component will go from 75c to $1.50."

The global economy could ill afford higher oil prices at a time of economic slowdown, Ole Hansen, head of commodities strategy at Saxo Bank A/S in Copenhagen, also said.

Saudi Arabia can restart a significant volume of the halted oil production within days, but needs weeks to restore full output capacity, people familiar with the matter said.

The kingdom - or its customers - may use stockpiles to keep oil supplies flowing in the short term. Aramco could consider declaring itself unable to fulfil contracts on some international shipments -- known as force

majeure -- if the resumption of full capacity at Abqaiq takes weeks.

That would rattle oil markets and cast a shadow on Aramco's preparations for what could be the world's biggest initial public offering. It's also set to escalate a showdown pitting Saudi Arabia and the US against Iran, which backs proxy groups from Yemen to Syria and Lebanon.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed credit for the attack, but U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Iran directly.

The Trump administration said it's ready to deploy the nation's emergency oil reserves and help stabilise markets if

Local Impact Energy chief executive Mike Bennetts said today that if the impact of the attacks was only felt short term then the outlook was promising.

"Oil in storage is quite high at the moment, so if this was to go on for a week or so it could be easily managed," he told Mike Hosking Breakfast on Newstalk ZB. "If it's say a short term disruption, it's probably worth up to $5 a barrel, or about 5 cents a litre at the pump.

"If it's a more long term disruption, we could be looking at something around $10 a

REVEALED: HOW MILITARY’S SUPER CAMP STRATEGY AIDS BOKO HARAM TO HOLD POSITIONS Prof. Babagana Zulum and some communities in the state, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, had said the Super Camp was the way to victory, adding that the Nigerian Army was expanding on the idea to defeat the insurgents.

He had disclosed that 20 super camps had been established so far and described the concept as "the concentration of formidable fighting forces in strongholds that have the capacity for swift mobility. “This requires the forces to be proactive, dogged, and capable of making bold offensives at all times to defeat the adversary by denying freedom of action.

"To support the super camp concept, we have inducted more manpower and equipment in this theatre."

But THISDAY gathered that as the soldiers concentrated inside these heavily-guarded Super Camps, all the military posts previously occupied by the troops were taken over by the terrorists, thus making it difficult for soldiers to venture outside the super camps

without falling victims to landmines and ambush by the terrorists.

Zulum had at a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari complained that the super camp strategy was “unwise and not working� and lamented that the withdrawal of troops from many towns to be concentrated on a particular area was the reason for the increasing attacks on Borno communities by insurgents.

The governor’s disapproval was followed by a letter by some communities to Buhari urging a review of the security situation, adding that they have lost confidence in the military following incessant attacks by the insurgents without appropriate response from the troops.

Two soldiers who returned from the war in the North-east at the weekend told THISDAY that Boko Haram fighters are now moving freely in all the areas the troops had withdrawn from, thereby complicating the war. “Concentration of troops in one location has brought

setback to the war. Boko Haram fighters are moving freely in all the areas our troops withdrew from. They lay mines freely and ambush soldiers. Each time troops go for ‘clearance exercise,’ the casualties are very heavy because of landmines and ambush by Boko Haram.

Before they came up with this idea of Super Camp, soldiers were everywhere keeping watch over the dangerous routes,� one of the soldiers said.

He added that the movement of soldiers has become endangered because of the landmines and ambush by Boko Haram who have taken over all the military posts previously occupied by the soldiers.

According to him, in one of the most recent attacks, the terrorists ambushed troops going from Damaturu to Biu and snatched four gun trucks and N15 million from the soldiers after killing one soldier and wounding another. “The soldiers were going to Biu from Damaturu. The N15 million cash was for their feeding and ration allowance,� he said.

Another soldier cited the case of the 155 Battalion, which he said had withdrawn from Banki Junction in Bama Local Government Area of Borno State. “All the troops at Banki Junction and along the road withdrew to the Brigade Headquarters at Bama where they formed the Super Camp.

Banki Junction is where they built Abu Ali Shooting Range in honour of Lt. Col. Abu Ali who died in the war. There is a filling station and a mosque at the junction. Soldiers of 155 Battalion were worshipping at the mosque and using the filling station as park because it was not destroyed. But as I am talking to you, Boko Haram is using the shooting range and worshipping at the mosque and moving freely in that axis because of the withdrawal of the troops. Soldiers serving at the Brigade Headquarters at Bama must pass through this junction before they go to Maiduguri. They must pass through this junction before they go to Gwoza, which has link to Adamawa State.

They must pass through this junction before they go to the main Banki town, which is the boundary with Cameroon. With Boko Haram moving freely and laying mines in these places, it is now difficult for soldiers to leave their base in Bama,� he stated.

According to him, as part of the war strategy, soldiers who were stationed at Pulka have been moved to their Brigade Headquarters in Gwoza.

He said it is now dangerous for soldiers or civilians within Maiduguri to go beyond Konduga Local Government Area. “If you go beyond Konduga, you are in an enemy territory because soldiers have withdrawn from those places,� he added.

But when contacted, the Theater Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Olusegun Adeniyi, invited THISDAY to Maiduguri for on-the-spot assessment.

He volunteered to take THISDAY round the affected areas to get the actual first-hand knowledge of the war situation.

TOP GAINERS NPFMFB OKOMUOIL ETI UPDC CADBURY TOP LOSERS CHAMPBREW WAPIC UNIONDAC

NGN NGN 0.11 1.22 4.25 48.40 0.70 8.00 0.13 1.50 0.85 10.75 NGN 0.08 1.30 0.02 0.37 0.01 0.24 OANDO 0.11 3.80 AXAMANSARD 0.04 1.71 HPE Nestle Nig Plc â‚Ś1,200.00 Volume: 165.337 million shares Value: N2.621 billion Deals: 3,270 As at Friday 13/9/19 See details on Page 35

% 9.9 9.6 9.5 9.4 8.5 % 5.8 5.1 4.0 2.8 2.2

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PDP Govs Back Atiku’s Bid to Appeal to S’Court Lawyers get copy of petition tribunal’s judgment Chuks Okocha and Alex Enumah in Abuja Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors have decided to team up with the party’s presidential candidate in the last general election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to get the Supreme Court to upturn the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT), which rejected his petition to be declared winner of the election.

The tribunal last Wednesday had upheld the declaration of President Muhammadu Buhari and his All Progressives Congress (APC) as winners of the election.

Though Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, had earlier congratulated Buhari, stating that it was better to do so openly than to go to the State House and congratulate the president at night, the PDP Governors Forum, of which Wike is a member, yesterday encouraged Atiku and the PDP to appeal the judgment at the Supreme Court.

Yesterday, Atiku’s lawyers confirmed receipt of a copy of the judgment delivered by the tribunal, preparatory to their filing the appeal at the Supreme Court.

The PDP governors said in a statement that posterity would not be kind to them

should they abandon the party and Atiku to fight the legal battle alone.

They said they arrived at their decision after studying the judgment and discovered several loopholes and anomalies in the verdict.

The statement added that PEPT has further put the judiciary on the spot and painted it in darker colours In the statement from its secretariat in Abuja yesterday, the Chairman of the forum and Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson, stated that the judgment stood justice on its head.

He added that if not challenged at the apex court, the judgment might constitute a clog in the wheel of developing democracy, aside sending wrong signals to the youths and laying a faulty moral foundation for generations of Nigerians yet unborn.

The statement said: "We would be doing a greater disservice and moral injustice to our party, our democracy and Nigerians in general if we turn blind eyes, swallow such bile and applaud that rape of justice.

"The judgment to say the least has further painted our judiciary with darker colours, only this time around with a never-beforeseen blemished coat of tar.

"However, we are hopeful

Representatives," he added.

Meanwhile, Atiku’s lawyers have confirmed receipt of a copy of the judgment delivered by the tribunal ahead of their filing the appeal before the Supreme Court.

In a short text message sent to THISDAY, Chief Chris Uche (SAN) and Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), who are in the legal team of the petitioners, confirmed that they had received a copy of the judgment, adding that any moment from now they would approach the Supreme Court to set aside the judgment of the tribunal.

Atiku and PDP had dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the tribunal for declaring Buhari as winner of the February 23 presidential election.

Sued along the electoral umpire are Buhari and APC. In the petition filed on March 18, the petitioners, amongst other things, alleged that INEC in connivance with agencies of the ruling government manipulated the outcome of the poll in favour of Buhari.

They also alleged that Buhari at the time of

contesting the poll was not qualified having not possessed the requisite academic qualification and as such all votes credited to him in the election be regarded as wasted votes.

Atiku and PDP in the petition therefore urged the tribunal to nullify the declaration of Buhari as winner of the presidential election on grounds of alleged irregularities, rigging, substantial non-compliance with the electoral provisions, amongst others.

However, the five-man presidential election tribunal in its judgment last Wednesday, dismissed the petition for being incompetent and lacking in merit.

The tribunal, led by Justice Mohammed Garba, in dismissing the petition held that Atiku and PDP were unable to substantiate their allegations that the election was rigged in favour of Buhari and the APC. The tribunal further held that the petitioners did not produce relevant witnesses to convince them that Buhari did not possess necessary educational qualification to run for the presidency.

However, shortly after the verdict, the petitioners said they would appeal the judgment.

Island and that means the company does not have an office of its own and has no record of executing any project of any kind close to what it was awarded in Nigeria.’’ The minister raised many posers: In whose interest was the critical contract awarded and what was it to achieve? Why was the centre of arbitration taken to London, and not Nigeria, a sovereign nation? Why was the contract not passed unto the Federal Ministry of Justice for vetting? Why was the Federal Executive Council’s approval not sought in the execution of the agreement? Was there any direct capital inflow arising from the contract?

And was NNPC, NPDC and IOC’s who were to have supplied the gas component of the agreement not made parties to it?

Asked why the Buhari administration started negotiation with P & ID, if it knew that the contract was fraudulent, the minister said when the government inherited the case in 2015, it discovered that the time to challenge the case was running out and felt one of the options available was negotiation.

He added that when the government later discovered the fraudulent process

leading to the award of the contract, it pulled out.

On NFIU’s purported letter to bank, directing them to supply account details of officials of NJC and National Assembly, Malami questioned the letter, saying the agency doesn’t need to write banks for the information because it has all the information the letter was demanding for.

The letter purportedly signed by NFIU Associate Director of Analysis and Compliance, Fehintola Salisu, dated September 10, 2019, read: “Request for information on: All accounts of the National Assembly, National Judicial Council (NJC), all the members of the National Assembly, principal officers (management) of the National Assembly Service Commission, (and) of principal officers of the judiciary. “Kindly provide the NFIU with a schedule (account names and account numbers) of the National Assembly, members of the National Assembly and principal officers of the National Assembly Service Commission, as well as all accounts of National Judicial Service Commission and their principal officers including judges and other relevant politically exposed persons.�

Atiku's Lawyers Get Judgment Copy, Set for Supreme Court

Atiku that the Supreme Court will rewrite that history by ensuring that such stains and tar are removed from our judicial archives.

"The apex court should know that its integrity is at stake and in order to avoid it been shredded to particles, must employ all known technicalities to save our nation and the future of Nigerians yet unborn from a development that may further make us a perpetual laughing stock among the comity of nations. Nigerians are very hopeful that these wrongs will be righted.

"Without any iota of trepidation, it is most paramount for us to once more restate and reconfirm our undiluted loyalty, deserving support and maximum commitment to our great party and the Atiku-Obi presidential

ticket. This is our stand, now and in the future.

Posterity would judge us harshly if we did otherwise".

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Walid Jubrin, yesterday said he had arrived in Dubai along with some BoT members, including Senator Adolphus Wabara to hold talks with Atiku.

He said the meeting between Atiku and the BoT members would centre on reconciliation and other issues within the party.

"After our meeting with Atiku, the BoT as a body will meet on Thursday this week to consider other issues affecting the party, including the report of the committee that investigated the crisis in the party over the minority leadership in the House of

WE’LL SPARE NOBODY IN $9.6BN P&ID FAILED DEAL, SAYS MALAMI many prominent personalities in connection with the $9.6 billion awarded against Nigeria by a United Kingdom court, many more would soon be invited for questioning in order to get to the root of the matter.

The minister refused to mention those who have been interrogated because he does not want to ‘’dwell on personality’’, but stated that the investigation on the matter would be intensive and thorough.

In the wake of the judgment debt, President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Inspector General of Police to get to the root of how P&ID, a company registered in British Virgin Island and promoted by and Irish, Mr. Michael Quinn, now deceased, got the GSPA in 2010 and the circumstances that led to Nigeria not fulfilling its contractual obligations under the agreement, which subsequently led to the award of $6.5 billion against Nigeria by an arbitration panel in London. With interest payments, the sum now tops $9 billion, some 20 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign reserves.

So far, the EFCC has interacted with a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Alpha Belgore, who was said to have served as a legal consultant to a foreign legal team hired by P&ID as well as two Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), Tunde Fagbohunlu and Supo Shashore, in order to gain further insight into the failed gas project.

While Fagbohunlu was said to have rendered a legal opinion on the matter and also recommended Belgore to the foreign legal team, Shashore, on his part, was the first lawyer that handled the case on behalf of the federal government at the arbitration tribunal in 2014 under the Jonathan administration till when the Buhari administration took over.

Malami also denied reports that the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) was investigating accounts of the National Assembly, National Judicial Council (NJC), all the members of the National Assembly, principal officers (management) of the National Assembly Service Commission and principal officers of the judiciary.

Giving an update on the failed gas project, the minister said the investigation of the matter

would be intensive, saying everybody, no matter his/ her status, involved in the process of drafting the agreement and awarding the fraudulent contract– living within or outside the country– would be investigated by security agencies.

Malami insisted that the so-called contract was “a well-organised scam consciously, deliberately and intentionally orchestrated’’ by some dubious and wellplaced Nigerian government officials at the time, with some shrewd foreign collaborators to defraud Nigeria and inflict heavy economic and financial loss on Nigeria and its people. “There is a comprehensive report by Bloomberg Businessweek on the whole scam and those who want to know more about the so-called contract can read up on: Is One of the World’s Biggest Lawsuits Built on a Sham? ‘’I want to state clearly that the Nigerian government will not sell out the interest of the country and the Nigerian people in order to satisfy some elements who are consciously out to extort the Nigerian people for their selfish aggrandisement,’’ he added.

The minister added

that while the federal government is willing and ready to negotiate and meet the terms of agreements reached with all genuine investors, which have done business or are still doing business with Nigeria on mutually beneficial terms, it will not allow fraudulent local and foreign collaborators to rip off Nigeria for no just cause in order to be seen as being nice or investor-friendly.

He said: “Those who are clapping for P&ID and blaming Abubakar Malami and the Buhari administration for the huge $9.6 billion slammed on the country as a result of the so-called Gas Supply and Processing contract awarded the firm on January 11, 2010, five years before President Buhari came to power and I became minister, should be kind enough to ask those who awarded the so-called contract what it was all about and why there was no attempt by either those who awarded the contract and the contractor to implement even an aspect of it. ‘’Nigerians should also ask the PDP government that awarded the contract why it was given to a company, whose address is C/O of a lawyer’s office: Trident Chambers, P.O Box 146, Tortola, British Virgin

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COMMENT

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

HOW TO CURB XENOPHOBIC ATTACKS Adewale Kupoluyi writes that South Africa should tell the truth and stop sitting on the fence

T

he recurring decimal of xenophobic attacks in South Africa would have been nipped in the bud if the truth had been allowed to prevail. Since the end of apartheid rule in 1994, South Africa had experienced escalating xenophobia because of the failure by the governments to be decisive in nipping the crisis in the bud by sitting on the fence. Many deaths and uprising could have been averted had the appropriate authorities acted promptly and honestly.

Over the years, the assault and hostilities had continued as black South Africans continue to kill fellow black Africans. In 2017, South African security agents were openly blamed for looking the other way as a Nigerian was molested while the police were implicated in extrajudicial killings. Two years earlier, the Zulu king, Goodwill Swelithini had derogatorily described foreigners in a hate speech as ‘lice’ that ‘should be plucked out and left in the sun’ and ‘requesting those who came from outside to please go back to their countries.’ The Chief Executive Officer of newly-established Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri said that in 2016 alone, 118 Nigerians were killed extra-judicially in South Africa. Some of the celebrated murder cases include that of a former Deputy Director-General of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, Elizabeth Ndubuisi-Chukwu, who was mysteriously found dead in her hotel room. Before Ndubusi-Chukwu’s attack was the killing of Dennis Obiaju, a 17-year-old high school student, who was fatally shot. Life of black foreigners had become so cheap that they are being slaughtered like animals in South Africa. Many casualties are not recorded officially.

Even though, the South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa and other African leaders of having condemned the mayhem, what cannot be wished away is the fact that the unending attacks can be said to represent a monumental failure to stop the maltreatment of Africans by Africans.

Ramaphosa and other South African leaders never agreed that their citizens were doing the wrong thing by killing and looting shops and business interests of other nationals. They are sitting on the fence and not telling the bitter truth by condemning the violence and the perpetrators.

The Nigerian government has equally been accused of being slow or failing to provide enough protection for its citizens whenever they are unjustly treated abroad, using all available diplomatic weapons. To counter the criticism, the Nigerian government, this time around, took swift action by boycotting the last World Economic Forum on Africa, sending a special envoy to the South African leader and summoning the country’s High Commissioner to Nigeria. There have also been intensified calls by individuals and corporate interests that South African businesses should be nationalised in the country. Despite the big-brother role Nigeria had played in the past, as a frontline country, to end racial segregation and bring down the white-minority apartheid regime in South Africa, it is curious and unacceptable that Nigerians are now targets of attacks from its benefactor.

No amount of diplomatic rigmarole can abate the carnage until and unless parties agree to stop sitting on the fence and tell each other the truth that xenophobia is evil. The South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Bobby Monroe had denied reports of any xenophobic attacks in his country. The envoy simply described the attacks as “sporadic acts of violence,� adding that businesses belonging to other South Africans

RAMAPHOSA AND OTHER SOUTH AFRICAN LEADERS NEVER AGREED THAT THEIR CITIZENS WERE DOING THE WRONG THING BY KILLING AND LOOTING SHOPS AND BUSINESS INTERESTS OF OTHER NATIONALS

were also affected in the violence. In the usual manner, the import of Monroe’s statement is that there is nothing special or spectacular about the tragedy against Nigerians. This is being economical with the truth and would end nowhere other than worsening the problem.

Telling the truth is what would bring about justice. Denials, passingthe-buck, and trading blame would not yield anything positive. Doing the needful, Catholic Bishops of South Africa have boldly disclosed that the claim by South African authorities, suggesting that the attacks on Nigerians and other foreigners were not xenophobic, was mischievous, incorrect and misleading. Archbishop Buti Tigagale of the Southern African Catholic Bishop’s Conference Office for Migrants and Refugees had boldly admitted that what happened was xenophobic. Acting as the voice of the voiceless, Tigagale said the bishops were dismayed and condemned the violence. “Once again, we receive reports of the authorities doing very little to protect the victims. We received the report of police standing by idly in Pretoria while shops were looted and people attacked. Not a single arrest was made on that day. The authorities resort to the old explanation that this is not xenophobia, but the work of criminal elements.

Let us be absolutely clear; this is not an attempt by concerned South Africans to rid our cities of drug dealers. And this is not the work of a few criminal elements. It is xenophobia, plain and simple. If it was about drugs, why are South African drug dealers not being targeted as well? Are we really to believe that there are none? And why are drug addicts, who rob people in our city centres to get money to buy drugs, not being targeted? If it is the work of a few criminal elements, why are South African owned businesses not being looted as well?� the bishops asked.

The move by the federal government in the evacuation of stranded Nigerians and the rare show of patriotism and generosity by Mr. Allen Onyeama, who fully sponsored the airlifting of stranded Nigerians, is commendable. The South African government must address the unending hostility fueling the deprivation of its citizens such as insecurity, education, hunger, unemployment, and housing. The reality is that the restive youths expect succour from the state, following the end of apartheid, but were neglected. Rather than looking inwards, they became envious of fellow black African foreigners that were doing well in business and more prosperous through hard work, thereby appealing to female suitors. African governments should be up-and-doing by improving their economic fortunes that is fuelling illegal migration of their citizens from home in the quest for greener pastures. For the huge loss, the government of South Africa should be made to pay compensations for the losses and killings while culprits should not be shielded, but apprehended and punished.

The government needs to go a step further by enforcing a state of emergency and red alerts whenever foreigners are being attacked.

They should stop sitting on the fence, tell the truth and face the issues squarely. Our continent would continue to lag as long as governments continue to sit on the fence; a situation deplored in Lenrie Peters’ poem titled, The Fence, “Where the body ages relentlessly and only the feeble mind can wander back there I lie in open-souled amasement�.

Kupoluyi wrote from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta

10 COMMANDMENTS ON FOREIGN LOANS Nigeria, warns Ned Nwoko, should be circumspect about foreign loans, writes Zik Zulu Okafor

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he subject matter was actually economy and finance. But Ned Munir Nwoko is neither an economist nor a finance expert. And he did not pretend to be one. “I am simply and squarely a lawyer,� he said. This candid confession set the stage for the intellective billionaire’s treatise on foreign loans.

The setting was the University of Ibadan Alumni Association 2019 National Public Service Lecture which held on Friday, August 30, 2019. Taking foreign loans is not exactly a crime according to this cultivated Prince “and there are provable examples. It is fair to note that foreign loans can contribute positively to the economic growth of a country,� he said. But this beneficial side of the loan he cautioned depends on some variables. It is not a birthday gift that you jump at with praises. The man who hails from the place fondly called the plateau of Delta State, Idumuje-Ugboko in Aniocha North Local Government Area, stressed that the conditionality in addition to the way a foreign loan is sourced, negotiated and managed are all so critical in harnessing this facility into a blessing or a burden for the economy of the borrowing country.

For instance, Nwoko who played a central role in the London/Paris Club loans refund recognized foreign loan as “necessary pills for achieving top notch infrastructure provision ‌ in augmenting internally generated revenues ‌ and provision of critical infrastructure such as modern road and rail networks, referral hospitals, housing, international airports‌.â€? However foreign loans can also turn out an economic mischance if certain steps are not taken. These requisite 10 steps posited by the billionaire business magnate are what we have dubbed his 10 Commandments.

The first he says is to ensure “that the loans are

properly negotiated and secured on favourable terms and conditions�. He enjoined the borrowing nation in his second point to ensure that all necessary agreements are “signed, properly documented, catalogued and preserved for future references.�

Dr Nwoko’s third commandment warned that terms and conditions must not be amorphous or hazy but must be properly understood. “If the terms and conditions are shrouded in secrecy or are nebulous and unnecessarily complex for the beneficiary to comprehend, then the risk or walking into a booby trap becomes higher�. He stressed the importance of transparency and the need for only officials or consultants with requisite technical and professional know how when embarking on foreign loan negotiations.

The soft spoken and reticent lawyer cautioned against the danger of taking foreign loans just because of the maxim that even big countries like USA, Britain and France or Germany are big debtors. He also warned against the inexact notion that accelerated growth can only be achieved through resort to foreign loans. “That may be plausible to some extent when some conditions are complied with,� he said. He however emphasized that “foreign loans should be contracted only when they become absolutely necessary�.

It is indeed safer for a country like Nigeria to fall back to her accumulated external foreign reserves and other savings rather than accumulating avoidable foreign debts. As the University of Keele, Staffordshire, and King’s College, London, trained lawyer put it, “if this procedure is followed, it will enable the country to record increase in real economic growth and reduce capital flights through servicing or payment of foreign loans�.

The Senior Consultant with Ned Nwoko Solicitors,

a London -based law firm warned against channelling foreign loans into white elephant projects, election financing or recurrent expenditure that often make repayment difficult. This is his seventh commandment.

Utmost care, he averred, “should be taken by the borrower country and her regulatory agencies to ensure that foreign loans are channelled into productive or profit generating ventures to ease their repayment�.

This, for him, will help actualize that whole essence of the foreign loan which is to trigger economic growth and development of the debtor country and boost the welfare and standard of living of her citizens.

Policing the way foreign loans are sourced, negotiated and incurred is key. Dr Nwoko holds that the regulatory agency of the borrower country, like the Debt Management Office, in Nigeria’s case, apart from ensuring that foreign loans are taken only when genuinely needed, must in addition, “ensure they are ploughed into essential or relevant capital areas. The office should follow up by strictly monitoring the processes of utilizing the loans�. Dr Nwoko appreciates the importance of diligent, ultra-careful management of foreign loans. In 2009, following Nigeria’s exit from foreign debts, his firm, Linas International Nigeria Limited was engaged by the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria to help disentangle their knotty case with the federal government following the latter’s deductions from their statutory allocations to pay foreign loans. Led by Dr Nwoko, Linas obtained various Judgements that led to the full refund of the funds to the LGAs. To avoid these complications and litigations like the case of the LGAs, Nwoko accentuated the importance of good strategy for managing external debts of a country in addition to careful choice of institutions where these loans are obtained in order to make repayment less

complicated and difficult. For instance, he advises that, “external loans for private and public sector projects that can generate enough returns to repay the principal and pay interest should be sourced from the International Capital Market while loans for social infrastructure should be sourced from concessional windows.�

In his tenth commandment, Dr Nwoko enunciates more on strategic borrowing. Using his country as an example, he warned the government to avoid going for bailouts from multinational organisations like the World Bank or IMF “which insist on harsh conditionality and policy reforms that give scanty consideration to local economic conditions, cultures and environments in the countries they are requiring reforms�.

He cited the case of Nigerian government which introduced austerity measure and budget tightening recipes imposed on it by the Bretton wood institutions in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Because these measures were imposed with little or no regard to local dynamics and peculiarities, they proved too harsh for ordinary Nigerians to bear and ended up inflicting mortal damage on the country’s economy.

But Nwoko also has some positive news about the multinational organisations. In his words, â€œâ€Ś. I must add that some multinational agencies such as the World Bank or IMF saddled with managing global financial stability amongst others also perform important roles like helping to ensure debt sustainability of countries by carrying out regular Debt Sustainability Analysis, using its own template. This is in addition to the Fund’s policy of regularly designing national or corporate debt strategies to enhance cost/risk evaluation of the debt portfolioâ€?.

Okafor, a Nigeria Media Merit Award winning Journalist, wrote from Lagos

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EDITORIAL HEEDING THE WORLD BANK WARNING It is in the nation’s interest to listen to the international financial institution

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he World Bank recently painted a gory picture of Nigeria’s economy with a warning for the authorities to do something quickly about the situation. Lamenting how the once leading exporting country has now degenerated to one of the largest food importers, spending $965 million to import wheat, $39.7 million on rice, $655 million on fish and $100.2 million on foreign sugar, a senior official of the bank says: “Nigeria is tragically living on borrowed time.” It is a warning that should be heeded.

The picture painted by the World Bank is only a reminder of how Nigeria has continued to regress from its glorious past in virtually all spheres. From the 1950s till the mid-70s, Nigeria earned huge sums of money from agriculture with each of the then three regions exporting at least a dominant farm produce. At that period, the Western region was a clear leader in OVER-DEPENDENCE ON the export of cocoa, OIL REVENUE IS RISKY, the Eastern Region dominated the UNSUSTAINABLE AND export of palm oil UNWISE while the Northern region was an indisputable staunch exporter of groundnut. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s palm oil production accounted for 43 per cent of the world production. Nowadays, agriculture accounts for less than seven per cent of global output, with most of the production coming from dispersed smallholders. Even with all the arable land, Nigeria is now a nation that cannot feed its people.

As a consequence of this neglect of agriculture, the economy is over-dependent on the oil sector, which provides less than 25 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), despite accounting for 95 per cent of foreign exchange earnings, and about 65 per cent of government revenues. With oil wealth, the farms are no longer attractive to the ablebodied youths of the country, who stream daily to

Letters to the Editor

political capitals of the nation – federal, states, local councils – for some cheap money that is not there anymore.

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

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

ad enough, the much touted diversification of the economy from reliance on oil to agriculture by successive governments has turned out to be no more than mere propaganda as there is little or nothing to show for it. Oil money has tended to retard other productive activities in the country such that the need for economic diversification is only remembered when revenue available for distribution to the three tiers of government is dwindling. Unfortunately, even in these moments, there is no real commitment to the much-talked-about agriculture which nonetheless still contributes the bulk of the GDP in the country today.

The drastic fall in the global price of crude oil since 2015 has forced the country to depend largely on borrowing to meet its financial obligations. For instance, the federal government announced last week that it will spend N2.45 trillion of its proposed N10.07 trillion 2020 budget to service debts while it is yet warming up to borrow N1.6 trillion in addition to the outstanding N24trillion debt.

Given the situation on ground, Nigeria is not only living on borrowed time as the World Bank has warned but also sitting on a keg of gun powder.

The economic crisis has continued to bite harder while unemployment rate has been on the rise because proceeds of oil are too meagre to meet the needs of about 200 million people amid growing challenges. Notwithstanding, we believe that there are still very many opportunities for the country to diversify the economy. As the World Bank has warned, over-dependence on oil revenue is risky, unsustainable and even unwise. That of course is why the national economy remains so fragile. We therefore urge the federal government to demonstrate some more seriousness in diversifying the economy.

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

GOV OYETOLA AND THE ESSENCE OF TIME

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ome November 27, 2019, Gboyega Oyetola will mark his first anniversary as Governor of the State of Osun.

Perhaps, for the sake of argument therefore, let us remind ourselves that the governor has only two years left for real governance. The remaining one year will, as it were, be devoted to ‘upandan’ politics towards determining the next phase in the life of the 28-year-old state.

Well, there are those who would argue that history has within one year left compelling tinctures on Oyetola as a brilliant administrator who could use his vast experience to rehabilitate Osun’s socio-economic pass. However, it must not be lost on Nigerians that, Isiaka Adeleke’s death, his younger brother, Ademola’s certificate scandals, and the inexplicable bungling of crucial judicial process by Justice Peter Obiora, were eloquent testimonies to the inevitability of a destiny fated by the gods.

Again, although I have no scientific evidence to show, I have a feeling that the opposition, which many people may think is passive, or has gone to sleep, is only working underground, looking for the governor’s failings. That the street gave its verdict on September 22, 2018, when, for the first time in Osun’s rich history, a popular government was almost deposed through the combined efforts of desperate political gladiators and the foot soldiers of negativism is an expression of our predicament as a people. Therefore, let the ruling party know that the honeymoon is just but for a short period of time. In other words, it’s time to walk the needed walk!

The political texture of Osun on Rauf Aregbesola’s assumption

of office was quite different from the prejudices which have now become the residual expression of our helplessness. Given our circumstance therefore, that Oyetola’s hands are already full needs no further debating. Yes, his jobs are enormous; as such, require adequate efforts and competent hands. The good news is that Osun is not bereft of competent hands. Nevertheless, what is needed is not just competence but men with vision and character.

At this crucial stage, what the governor needs is a team - a Think Tank; not a crowd of ‘come and chop’, smash and grab, draw and drain, more-heat-than-light praise-singers; men of doubtful democratic integrity who possess the dual quality of playing ball with contaminated practicality and rocking the boat with consummate gusto.

Understandably so, democracy finds full expression when every citizen and community is well and responsibly governed. By the way, how many of our people out there are really conscious of what the government is doing; consciousness, as defined by Karl Marx, especially, in this ‘everything-has-a-price’ society? The more reason Oyetola needs to come to terms with the essence of time, divorce himself from himself in order to see himself through himself, and pursue his vision for Osun with the consciousness of the fleeting time and the type of legacy for which he wants to be defined.

The matrix of politics demands that Oyetola gauges the barometer of the people’s feelings and political expectations and, thereafter, come up with concrete but specific development plans that would definitely mature by the third year of his tenure. While striving to ensure that his policies have arrowheads for effective

coordination, he must also strengthen the people’s perception of his effective leadership qualities and earn their trust and confidence in his requisite ability to deliver the campaign promises. This will boost his political capital, broaden his acceptability and enhance his second term electability profile. What is manifestly clear in every part of the state is that every section of its communities needs government’s physical presence, that is, something that will positively affect its socio-economic and political existence. Equally important are legacies that are central to the state. Let us be clear about this: there is a phenomenal dichotomy between the needs of the state on the one hand, and the peculiar needs of the communities on the other. Government shouldn’t, and must not mix the two! For instance, an indigene of Ijebu-Jesa within Osun must have something to speak to him on the birth of a new political dispensation and the concomitant hope of new development reality and socio-economic possibilities. After all, ‘Oyetola don become governor!’ Even so, the central needs of the state must be seen to be general, not only in words but also in deeds! This is one area where the governor needs competent hands.

Given their potential and attractions as metaphors for political expression, performance and popularity are like Siamese twins whose friendship Oyetola must court in the remaining years of this tenure. While Muhammadu Buhari learnt his lessons rather too late, I doubt if Bisi Akande will underestimate the dangers inherent in embracing one without securing the consent of the other, were he to be given an opportunity to relive the May 29, 1999 to May 28, 2003 part of his political life.

Abiodun Komolafe, Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State

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T H I S D AY Ëž MONDAY Ëž SEPTEMBER 16, 2019

Group Politics Editor NSEOBONG OKON-EKONG

POLITICS

Email: nseobong.okonekong@thisdaylive.com 08114495324 SMS ONLY

M O N D AY D I S C O U R S E

Abubakar Heads for the Last Door

Alex Enumah writes that it is not yet uhuru for President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress as Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party vow to approach the Supreme Court in their bid to upturn the verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal which upheld Buhari’s victory in the February 23 presidential election

Buhari

Abubakar

Oshiomhole

Secondus

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(iv) whether the presidential election conducted by the INEC on February 23 was invalid by reason of corrupt practice (v) whether the presidential election conducted by INEC on February 23 was invalid by reason of non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2010 as amended and the Electoral guidelines 2019 and manuals for the conduct of the election.

However, the tribunal in its judgment dismissed the petition in its entirety on grounds that the petitioners were unable to prove any of the allegations made in their petition.

In the first two issues which borders on Buhari’s qualification and alleged lying on oath, the tribunal held that Buhari was not just qualified but eminently qualified to contest the election as was proved by both documentary and oral evidence presented by the respondents. “Second respondent has more than secondary school certificate having attended various courses. He is not only qualified, he is eminently qualified,� the tribunal said.

The tribunal further held that the petitioners failed to prove that Buhari presented false information of fundamental falsehood to INEC to aid his qualification.

On the issues of rigging, over voting and other electoral malpractices, the tribunal in dismissing it, said documents were dumped on court by the petitioners without calling on witnesses to speak on the documents thereby denying them of any probative value.

The panel further held that the number of witnesses called by the petitioners to establish the allegations of over voting and other electoral malpractices were insufficient taking into consideration the large number of polling units in the country where the election held.

Justice Garba held that the tribunal hard to discard the documentary evidence regarding alleged violent conduct by security agents in favour of Buhari because the petitioners failed to join the security agents as necessary party in the petition.

However some lawyers after a careful study of the tribunal’s verdict were of the view that the verdict of the tribunal fell short of expectations especially in view of the evidence adduced by the petitioners to establish the allegations.

Abubakar and PDP had while contending Buhari’s victory called 62 witnesses who adopted their written statement as their evidence on alleged electoral malpractices such as over voting, rigging, substantial non compliance with the electoral laws and guidelines, harassment and intimidation of agents and supporters of the petitioners in certain areas during the presidential poll.

They also tendered thousands of documents to prove their case, as well as, their claims that Buhari did not possess requisite academic qualifications to contest the election.

Among those who spoke is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Jibrin Okutepa, who was of the view that the tribunal faired better in view of the flaws in the electoral laws but that it summersaulted in the evaluation of documents tendered by the petitioners, especially with the refusal to give probate value to some certified true copies of the tendered documents.

Okutepa said he did not agree with the position of the justices on the point that public documents duly certified must per force be tendered by the makers before it can command evidential value. “Why should the maker of public documents be called before it can command evidential

value in our courts and in electoral justice?�

He asked wondering how staff of INEC are expected to appear in court to give evidence against their employer. “On this issue of calling the makers of public documents to tender them, it is my submission that certified copies of public documents can be tendered and acted upon in line with the decision of the court in Salami vs Ajadi (2007) LPELR - 8622 (CA), where it was decided that public documents can be tendered by the person to whom they were issued to,� he said.

The tribunal in its findings faulted some of the certified documents tendered by Atiku to question the qualification of President Buhari to stand for the February 23 presidential election.

Buhari had in his form CF 001 made on oath and used to secure clearance from INEC claimed that he possessed three certificates namely, Primary School Certificate, West African School (WASC) Officers Cadet Certificate but unlike others did not attach copies of any of the certificates to support his claim.

And to the contrary, Buhari claimed that the certificates were deposited with the Nigerian Army Board at the point of his enlistment into the Nigerian Army in 1962.

Abubakar in his petition challenged the claim of Buhari on the existence of the certificates and supported his challenge with a Certified True Copy (CTC) of a press statement by a former spokesman of the Nigerian Army, Major General Olajide Olaniyi, in which the Nigerian public was alerted that their was no single certificate in the personal file of Buhari contrary to his claim.

But the tribunal in the judgment declined to give probative value to the weighty documents of the army board on the grounds that the maker was not invited by Atiku to for-

tronic transfer of result, alleged rigging, non accreditation, over voting, invalid votes, deliberate depletion of petitioners votes, wrongful collation of results, as well as, other corrupt practices r5IF USJCVOBM JO JUT KVEHNFOU dismissed the petition in its entirety on grounds that the petitioners were unable to prove any of the allegations made in their petition r"CVCBLBS BOE 1%1 DBMMFE witnesses who adopted their written statement as their evidence on alleged electoral malpractices such as over voting, rigging, substantial non compliance with the electoral laws and guidelines, harassment and

intimidation of agents and supporters of the petitioners in certain areas during the presidential elections r5IF USJCVOBM JO JUT GJOEJOHT faulted some of the certified documents tendered by Atiku to question the qualification of President Buhari to stand for the February 23 presidential election r5IF USJCVOBM BMTP EFDMJOFE UP HJWF evidential value to several certified true documents, mainly election results sheets tendered by the petitioners to establish their allegations of alteration in the results sheets, depletion of votes cast for them and the deployment of electronic system to collate results

resident Muhammadu Buhari on September 11 scored a landmark victory at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) against his challenger Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the February 23 presidential election, but mixed reactions have continued to trail the findings of the Justice Mohammed Garba led five-man tribunal with legal experts and analysts holding divergent views in respect of the verdict.

It is the opinion of some that the tribunal faired better in its findings and final decision while others hold the view that the judgment was without justice to several pertinent issues raised by the PDP presidential candidate in his petition filed on March 18, 2019.

Abubkar and his party, PDP had predicated their petition on five grounds revolving around; Electronic transfer of result, alleged rigging, non accreditation, over voting, invalid votes, deliberate depletion of petitioners votes, wrongful collation of results in favour of President Muhammadu Buhari and APC, as well as other corrupt practices.

The petitioners brought five issues for determination, upon which the panel said it used to arrive at its decision.

The issues are (i) whether the Buhari was at the time of the election not qualified to contest the election (ii) whether the President submitted to the INEC affidavit containing false information of a fundamental nature in aid of his qualification for the election (iii) whether from the pleadings and evidence led it was established that the Buhari was duly elected by majority of lawful votes cast at the election

QUICK FACTS: r5IF 1SFTJEFOUJBM &MFDUJPO 1FUJtion Tribunal on September 11 ruled in favour of President Muhammadu Buhari against his challenger, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the February 23 presidential election r5IF GJWF NBO QBOFM XBT MFE CZ Justice Mohammed Garba r5IF 1%1 QSFTJEFOUJBM DBOEJEBUF raised several issues in his petition filed on March 18, 2019 r"CVCLBS BOE IJT QBSUZ 1%1 predicated their petition on five grounds revolving around; Elec-

r"CVCBLBS BOE 1%1 IBWF JOEJcated that they would appeal the decision which dismissed their petition challenging the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari r5IF USJCVOBM IFME UIBU UIF QFUJtioners ought to use polling booth by polling booth to give correct and authentic final election results, adding that it was not enough for Abubakar and PDP to have tendered election results from the bar only but it is incumbent on them to call witnesses to establish their allegations, adding that the 62 witnesses called by the petitioners did not disprove forms EC8A, EC8B, EC8C and EC8D

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MONDAY DISCOURSE

Olanipekun

mally tender the documents at the tribunal and be crossed examined by lawyers to the respondents.

The tribunal also declined to give evidential value to several certified true documents, mainly election results sheets tendered by the petitioners to establish their allegations of alteration in the results sheets, depletion of votes cast for them and the deployment of electronic system to collate results.

According to the tribunal chairman, Justice Mohammed Garba, the petitioners ought to discharge the burden of proof by calling INEC workers to give evidence in respect of the documents rather than tendering them from the bar.

However, Okutepa disagreed with the tribunal on this point used in dismissing Atiku’s petition.

His stand is that it is unthinkable for any of INEC worker to appear in court and give evidence against his or her employer, adding that since the documents were certified true copies and emanated from INEC that conducted the election, the tribunal ought to have given meaning to the certified result sheets and do substantial justice to the case of the petitioners.

“It is my submission that a public document duly certified and all necessary processes followed for its certification can be tendered by the person to whom it was issued and or can be tendered from the Bar and any witness can be shown the documents to relate it to the aspect of the case for which the document was procured for. The decision that such documents must be tendered by the maker before it can command evidential value is contrary to the Evidence Act and the interest of justice.

“Election petition requires that justice be done without undue technicalities. There is no doubt that electoral atrocities being perpetuated by political hooligans has held our democracy in the jugular and this should not be further encouraged by decisions that can derail our democracy.

“In most cases INEC staff who participated in the conduct of elections are usually not seen. In some other cases most of them will not want to appear to give evidence against their employers.

“Why then do we demand that makers of INEC documents be called before weight can be attached to the documents?” he queried.

The senior lawyer, however, concluded by urging the courts to take a second look at the issue of who can tender public documents before probative value can be attached to them.

“It is therefore my contention that there is a need for our courts to reconsider their stand on the issues of who can tender certified true copies of public documents and the weight to be attached to it.

“If court cannot look at documents tendered and interpret them and making meaning out of it, then what is the duty of the court?” he asked.

However, on his part, another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), described the verdict as a well reasoned judgment, stressing that decisions of courts are not based on sentiment or public opinion.

While stating that in an election matter the burden of proof is 100 percent on the petitioners, he agreed with the tribunal that the petitioners failed to bring specific evidence and call primary witnesses.

“As a matter of fact, the Supreme Court has maintained the position in several decision that if a petition is based on the fact that the results so declared by INEC is an infraction

Muhammad

or it is not in compliance with the Electoral Act, the petitioner must not bring generalised evidence, the evidence must be specific.

“You must bring witnesses that I would call primary witnesses, that is witnesses who participated in the process from the bottom of the pyramid that is from the polling unit level to the ward, local government and state level. They must be the witnesses that can give direct evidence. Not witnesses who will come up and say, we analyse the results, the results was given to me by my agent and all this and all that.

“No, they must be witnesses who will be able to tell the court that from A to Z of the election, this is what and what that happened.

Such witnesses must also be subjected to cross examination by the respondents to be able to test the veracity of their story and not just the story being parroted by the witnesses,” he argued.

He also emphasized the need for the country to grow in her electoral processes, so as to be able to conduct free, credible and transparent elections that those who lost would be convinced and congratulate the winners.

Kehinde expressed disappointment over INEC’s performance in the last election, lamenting the huge cost of litigation both on government and litigants.

“I have always said that the responsibility of conducting a credible election rests on INEC, which is the statutory body set up to conduct election. With the avalanche of petition in the 2019 election, I will say without any fear or favour that INEC could have done better.

“People go to court when they feel they have been cheated, when they feel they have been shortchanged. The number of petition this year is too large and it is a big drain on the resources of this nation both on the government that would have to pay the judges and the litigants who have to contend and defend the results.

“So I will beg INEC again and all Nigerians that we must at every point in time do what is right and put the interest of the nation first in everything we do, not our personal interest, not our pecuniary gains. The interest and survival of this nation must be paramount in our hearts because if there is no Nigeria, none of us can call ourselves Nigerians,” he said.

One the issue of qualification, he advocated an amendment to the constitution that would raise the minimum qualification for the position of President from primary school certificate to a first degree.

Kehinde said, “If we feel that the holder of a secondary school certificate is academically inferior to lead a nation like this, let’s amend the constitution, we can amend the constitution and say that you must have a first degree, at least, before you aspire to be the president of the nation, because, honestly I am of the view that putting secondary school certificate at the threshold is a bit too low.

“To lead a nation of this magnitude, secondary school certificate is not enough.”

However, the senior lawyer while stating that the court has spoken, acknowledged the constitutional right of the petitioners to appeal the judgment if they so desired.

Abubakar and PDP shortly after the judgment of the tribunal indicated that they would appeal the decision which dismissed their petition challenging the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The five man tribunal in an unanimous judgment dismissed the petition for lacking in merit and accordingly upheld the election of Buhari.

Yakubu

Abubakar and PDP in their joint petition filed on March 18, 2019, specifically asked the tribunal to disqualify Buhari, winner of the February 23 presidential election, on the grounds that he (Buhari) did not possess the requisite academic qualification to contest for the office of President.

In their final address, Abubakar and PDP, argued that the respondents instead of defending the claim by the petitioners that Buhari failed to provide proof of any of the three certificates he claimed to possess, dwelled on the issue of whether the President can speak the English language or not.

According to Abubakar’s lawyer Uzuokwu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the mere fact that artisans on the streets of Nigeria can speak English language does not make them qualified to contest the office of President of Nigeria.

The senior lawyer stressed that since they have led evidence to show that Buhari lied on oath in his form CF001 submitted to INEC for clearance to contest the February 23 presidential election, the tribunal should uphold the petition and grant the reliefs contained therein.

The petitioners drew the attention of the court to a portion of his INEC form where he claimed to have three different certificates; comprising Primary School leaving certificate, WAEC certificate and Officers Cadet certificate.

The petitioners said it was shocking and surprising that, “No Provisional certificate, no certified true copy of the certificates, no photocopy of certificates and in fact no electronic version of any of the certificates was presented by Buhari throughout the hearing of the petition to dispute the claim of the petitioners.

“More worrisome is the fact that Buhari’s own witness Major General Paul Tafa Rtd, who joined the Nigerian Army with him in 1962 told the tribunal that they were never asked to submit their certificates to the Nigerian Army Board as claimed by Buhari in his form CF001.

“At any rate the Secretary of the Nigerian Army Board, Olatunde Olaleye had in a statement clarified that Buhari had no single certificate in his personal file with the Nigerian Army.”

The former Vice President informed the tribunal that the claim of Buhari that he can read and write in English language as enough qualification for him was of no moment because ordinary artisans on the streets of Nigeria can also do so, adding that a grave allegation bordering on certificate was not addressed

by Buhari as required by law.

The PDP presidential candidate also faulted the claim of INEC that it has no central server, adding that server is a storage facility which include computer, database of registered voters, number of permanent voter card and election results amongst others are stored for references.

He said the claim by INEC that it has no device like server to store information, “is laughable, tragic and a story for the dogs”.

Atiku’s lawyer in the final address debunked the claim of INEC that collation and transmission of results electronically was prohibited by law in Nigeria.

He asserted that by Electoral Amendment Act of March 26, 2015, the use of electronics became law and was officially gazetted for the country, adding that section 9 of the Act which made provision for electronic collation of results replaced section 52 which hitherto prohibited the use of electronics and which INEC erroneously held that electronic results transmission is prohibited.

He therefore urged the tribunal to uphold the petition and nullified the participation of Buhari in the election on the grounds that he was not qualified to have stood for the election, in addition to malpractices that prompted his declaration as winner of the election.

However, INEC represented by Yunus Usman (SAN), urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition with substantial cost because the electoral body conducted the election in total compliance with the Nigerian constitution and Electoral Act 2010 and urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition.

Usman insisted that INEC did not transmit election results electronically because doing so is prohibited by law and that the commission did not call any witness because there was no need to do so.

In his defence, President Muhammadu Buhari through his counsel Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), argued that Atiku’s petition was liable to be dismissed because it is lacking in evidence, merit and substance and that the petition is I’ll advised and signified nothing.

Olanipekun cited section 131 of the Constitution which stipulated a minimum of secondary school attendance to qualify for election in Nigeria, adding that Buhari cannot go beyond that and that he does not need to tender or attached certificate before he can get qualification for any election.

He averred that there was nothing in law to persuade the tribunal to nullify the February 23 presidential election as pleaded by Atiku and urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition with substantial cost.

The APC represented by Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), in his own submission said the petition lacked quality evidence that could warrant the nullification of the election as pleaded by the petitioners and urged the tribunal to throw out the petition as long as its hand can do with huge cost.

Fagbemi told the tribunal that the petitioners called 62 witnesses only in a failed attempt to prove their allegations concerning 119,793 pulling units, 8, 809 wards and 774 local government areas and local area councils being challenged by the petitioners.

He added that the witnesses were from 11 states only including the FCT. Fagbemi further argued that the allegations of non accreditation, invalid votes, deliberate depletion of petitioners vote, anomalies, over voting, wrongful collation of results in favour of Buhari and APC as well as corrupt practices have been effectively denied by the two respondents as being unfounded and non existent.

Fagbemi contended that the failure to call witnesses across the states of the federation by the petitioners to establish their allegations as envisaged by law is fatal to the petition and made it liable for dismissal by the tribunal.

However, in the lead judgment delivered by chairman of the tribunal on September 11, Justice Garba, held that the petitioners did not discharge the burden of proof and as such dismissed the petition.

Before delving into the merit of the petition, the tribunal had delivered ruling on 8 motions filed by parties in the suit.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had filed three motions praying the tribunal to strike out the petition or in the alternative expunge certain paragraphs of the petition for being incompetent and lacking in merit.

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

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FEATURES

Group Features Editor: Chiemelie Ezeobi Email chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com, 08152252325

Unraveling Marie Stopes, UK Abortion Clinic in Nigeria For three months, Sunday Ehigiator, who went undercover to unravel the allegation of multiple and underage abortions levelled against Marie Stopes Clinic, a United Kingdom NGO based in Lagos, by Project for Human Development, a pro-life NGO also in Lagos, writes that it is a well-oiled operation shrouded in secrecy

I

t started with a scoop in the early hours of May 21, 2019. THISDAY was tipped off that there was a concluded investigation on the Marie Stopes Clinic, a United Kingdom NGO based in Lagos by Project for Human Development (PHD), a pro-life NGO, also based in Lagos, and subsidiary of the Foundation for African Cultural Heritage (FACH). The tip off was that police detectives attached to Zone 2, Onikan, Lagos, would invade the clinic by mid-day. The raid was successful. Armed with that information, THISDAY swung into action with series of investigations.

The Raid Speaking with THISDAY on condition of anonymity, a staff of the NGO said, “The Marie Stopes abortion Clinic, strategically located at No 105, Itire Road, off Lawanson, a very densely populated area of Lagos was abruptly shut down yesterday May 21, 2019. “Acting on a petition lodged with them by our NGO based in Lagos, a combined team of police detectives from the Nigeria police, Zone 2, Onikan swooped on the clinic. In order to provide evidence to the police that abortion is being carried out at the Marie Stopes Clinic, the pro-life NGO had previously sent its staff that pretended that she was pregnant to the Clinic. On getting there, she met Dr. Bernard and Miss Jadesola. “She inquired from them whether they perform abortion because she was pregnant and needed abortion. They told her that they do abortion for N30,000. On returning to our office, we instructed her to enter into WhatsApp conversation with Marie Stopes through their Whatsapp number. “In the conversation between her and Marie Stopes the latter clearly admitted that it performs abortion at the clinic. Armed with this evidence, we petitioned the police headquarters. Our petition was approved. Consequently, on May 21, 2019 we accompanied the police to the clinic together with our staff that pretended she was pregnant. “When we got close to the clinic, the police woman in plain clothes, pretended as if she was the mother of our ‘pregnant’ staff. She took our staff by the hand and entered the abortion clinic while we all hid inside the two cars we came with. On entering the abortion clinic, she told Dr. Bernard that the girl was her pregnant daughter and that she wanted the clinic to abort the baby. Dr. Bernard agreed and demanded for the N30,000. “At this juncture, the police woman blew the whistle and we all jumped out of the cars and entered the clinic. As soon we entered the clinic, the police immediately handcuffed Dr Bernard. All the nurses were in panic. The police spent two hours in the clinic opening all lockers and drawers. We entered a room called ‘Procedure Room’, where abortions are done. “We met a girl of about 15 years old there.

When the police asked her what she had come to do, she said she came to receive her injection, meaning abortifacient injection. The police arrested her as she wept. Later the police released her. The police saw many abortion files, manual aspirators, cartons of abortion pills donated to Marie Stopes by UNFPA, abortion injections and abortion bills. “While the search was going on, Dr Bernard in police handcuff kept saying that Marie Stopes does family planning not abortion.

The nurses also said that what they do is family planning. But the abortion files showed the names of girls including minors who had come to do abortion at the clinic. At the end of the search, the police took all the evidence to their station and granted Dr. Bernard bail.�

Interrogation After the arrest came interrogation. On this the source said, “The next day, we were invited to the police station. When we got there we met three country representatives of Marie Stopes in Nigeria. We all appeared before the police boss. We presented the case of our NGO against Marie Stopes. When we finished, Marie Stopes spoke up. They said that what they do in Nigeria is family planning and post-abortion care not abortion, that they are pro-lifers as well because they are saving women from dying, that many women die because they receive abortion from quacks. “The police boss caught in and said to them,

Marie Stopes clinic ‘So you do abortion then’. In response, they said, ‘no, we do family planning’. Then the police investigator queried, ‘How can minors be doing family planning’. Then he showed the police boss the abortion files containing names of minors who had done abortion

by Marie Stopes. He told his boss that the painful aspect is that the consent forms inside the files were never filled, meaning that the abortions were done on the minors without parental consent. “At the end of the hearing, the police boss announced that the police should be given time to conclude investigation against Marie Stopes in Nigeria. When Marie Stopes demanded for the abortion files, the police refused to hand over the files to them. The police told them that they were evidence against them.�

Prompted by this, THISDAY put a call through to the Lagos state police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, to confirm the story.

However, DSP Elkana said he wasn’t aware of the operation as at when we mentioned it to him, but promised to get back after he might have contacted the station in charge (Nigeria police, Zone 2, Onikan-Lagos).

He did called back afterwards to say the police station claimed not to be aware of such operation. This aroused this reporter’s suspicions to continue to dig further.

We were able to obtain contact of one of the officers that joined in the raiding of the hospital (name undisclosed). He disclosed to us that police actually raided the clinic; having received a petition from an NGO. According to him, “on our arrival, we took possession of documented evidences of abortion being carried out on minors in the clinic, and some other instruments and injectables believed to be used in carrying out the act. “It is a long list of details of all the girls they have had course to evacuate or perform abortion for. It has all their information. “But we need more than that to be able to win the case in court. We need testimonies from victims; at least two or one of the underage girls. We have started reaching out to few of them we believe stays closer but they are all scared as it is obvious that most of them did it without the consent of their parents of guardian.� “The clinic is claiming that they don’t

perform abortion in Nigeria that they only give contraceptives and perform post abortion services. It is just an ambiguity to cover up their tracks. “We all know that, there is no clear difference between abortion and post abortion treatment. But only a medical expert can really speak on that. But from the record we have of the purpose some of the victims visited, they clearly stated that they were there for abortion.�

Mirabel Centre’s Stance Moreover, on May 22, 2019, THISDAY obtained a statement from Mirabel centre’s Instagram page (@mirabelcentreng), which condemned the action of the police on the clinic, confirming the raid by the police to be true.

According to the post, “On Tuesday, May 21, 2019, police officers raided a Marie Stopes Clinic in Lagos. Harassed the health workers and patients and took away confidential client information. “Marie Stopes offers free and affordable family planning services to women and men, pregnancy tests, pre and post-natal care, treatment and services for sexually transmitted infections (STI), HIV testing and ultrasound and laboratory services. They have trained staff who offers counseling and treatment especially to those who cannot afford the costs at private hospitals. “To raid a centre that provides such services is sending a message to women and girls as well as men and boys that they are not safe in health centers and that they don't deserve access to quality health services without fear or judgment, why the attack?�

Efforts to Reach the Clinic We likewise contacted Dr. Bernard a day after the raid to hear the hospital’s side of the story, but he never picked his calls nor returned the call afterwards, hence we decided to go undercover to unravel facts about the case.

Undercover Investigation After the initial undercover attempt to infiltrate the clinic a week after the incident proved abortive, as staff weren’t willing to give out any information on the abortion processes, and the clinic security monitoring every moves, we decided to give it a space of time; in this

case three months, before returning.

This was done to enable them lower their guards in time, and reduce any suspicion.

Months went by, and we returned. This time, their guards were indeed lowered. Unlike our initial visit, the security guards remained in their security house by the outside gate, without bothering to escort us in.

This reporter, in the company of a female colleague, Chiamaka Ozulumba, disguised as lovers, with a false intention to get rid of a two- months-old pregnancy visited the clinic on August 26, 2019 at about 3pm. They likewise changed their names to Raphael Mathias and Lilian Ezeobi respectively.

With our recorders discretely active, we went into the building. Upon entering, to the wall at our right, was a fee for all of the services they render from which the number nine tagged, “Abortion Advance Care�, was pegged at N30,000.

Other items on the list includes, Long Active Reversible Contraceptives (LARC)-IUCD and Implants, Levonorgestrel (ESG-IUS), IUD Removal, Implant Removal, Injectables, Oral Pills, Male and Female Condom, Permanent Method, Visual Inspection With Acetic Acid (VIA), Cryotherapy, at N3,600, N7,200, N2,400, N2,400, N360, N250, N120, N3,600 and N14,000 respectively.

We were attended to by Miss. Jadesola at the reception. We requested to see the doctor. She informed us that consultation fee was N2,400 and we must register at N1,200 before we can see the doctor. In total, we paid N3,600 to the clinic’s FCMB account via POS, for consultation and general registration before we were allowed access to the doctor l.

Before making payment, we took turns to question Miss. Jadesola on the safety of the abortion procedures, under the guise of being nervous about the process, and she took her time to make us believe we were in safe hands.

According to her, “She is in safe and in perfect hands. This is an NGO, it is international. We have not had any complications before. Since it is still within two months it is very safe.

Because once it is 13 weeks, we won’t do it.

That is when it is no longer safe. As long is it is below 13 weeks, it is very safe. The procedure is N30,000. It won’t take time. Once you pay the money, in less than five minutes, she is through. We would even have to place her on contraceptives after the process. It is

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FEATURES one of our conditions. “We have different types. The one we would place under your skin. And we do long term contraceptive-five years and above.

The only side effect is that, it could alterate your menstrual circle. We also have IUD, that one is for 10 years. But anytime, you take any of those out, you can get pregnant at any point in time.�

On the procedures the clinic uses in aborting unwanted pregnancies, she said, “She needs to condition her mind that nothing would happen to her. We use two methods-the surgical and injectables. If it is the surgical, we just evacuate the fetus from her womb.

She won’t feel any pain. We would take it out from her uterus. Of course, we would inject her so she doesn’t feel pain. And she would come out like nothing happened afterwards. “If she is using drugs, she would experience something similar to a serious menstrual pain for at most seven days. It is 98 per cent success.

There is no side effect whatsoever for either of the processes. The people that came here for this process last two months for instance, they have come again for another abortion this month. They would do so again, the next month they are here again. That is why we insisted that they must do family planning, because we saw that they are now turning it to pure water. So we now say okay, if you must do it, we must place you on contraceptives.

Asked how long she has been with the clinic to know that the processes were safe, she said, “This is an NGO, it is International.

The process is safe. If it weren’t people, would have raised alarm. They are no quacks here.

This place is International and it is registered.

First and foremost, nobody has ever died here.

This place isn’t a quack centre, you can look it up. Our head office is in London. “Again, once it’s more than 13 weeks, that is the when there is danger. And the people that are going to do it for you are trained.

So you need to first of all condition your mind that you will not die. Nobody has ever died here, and you will not die here please.

Please I am begging you. So it is not an issue at all. And you are not going to have issues with child bearing in future. There are some people that would come here now for it, in the next two months they are here again.

When we saw that this one would turn to something else, that was why we imposed them on contraceptives. “So you must take a form of contraceptive so that you wouldn’t come back here again. It was because of the instances I gave, because people have now turned it to normal thing.

See, there are two more things. You can decide to take drugs. If you take drugs, that one is a normal process. But if you do the surgical, we would give you an injection that would kill the pain, then after that, you would come out like nothing ever happened. “Nobody that sees you going will ever know that anything happened to you. I am assuring you, and you have my words. But I need you to first and foremost take out the fact that you will die. You will not die, you cannot die, me I don’t want somebody to die on my neck o. So you will not die. “I have been here since Marie Stopes moved here last year. I used to work with another hospital before I moved here. Once you are done, please you should be coming for checkup.

You are not paying for it. If you come back for checkup, they would scan you to ascertain that you are okay, so your checkup is very important. A quack cannot own this place. We are not running this place based on what we get from it, we are running it with donations.

So it is an NGO.�

Consultation with Dr. Fatoye We finally got to meet the doctor on duty, Dr. Fatoye and the first question posed towards us was if this was our first time of vising the clinic. We answered in the affirmative. Thereafter, we noticed a change in his countenance. His conversation with us became more abrupt as he was probably conscious of the fact that we might be an unwanted guest. He began to code the word ‘abortion’ with ‘procedure’ (an ambiguous medical terminology).

We managed to convince him that we were referred by a friend who had performed abortion in the clinic before, before we began to talk. “Let me face her she is the client,� the doctor said after we exchanged pleasantries.

He continued, “you look tensed, you are worried. I don't want you to jump into conclusions, let us talk. What exactly is the issue? When was the last time you saw your period? I need the particular date of your last menstrual cycle. Because if it's beyond the two months timeline, the procedure gets very risky and we decline carrying out the procedure.�

In response, we explained to that its less than two months, and she was supposed to see her period first week of every month, which she didn’t see the first month, prompting us to do a urine test.

He continued, “So, at what point did you do a test and found out you were pregnant? Have you done a scan? Have you been pregnant before, do have you kids? We responded that we did the self urine test few days prior to

retrieved from there. And those things alone cannot work assuming we are charging them to court. We need someone who can testify that I was there on so so date, and this was what they did to me. So that we can win the case. We cannot just charge the case, if not, we will not win. “The problem we are having is this. The language on the document, if you are not a professional, you can’t explain it in correct terms. And that is where they trick you. The documents we have, what I saw there is evacuation and contraceptives which the doctor said anybody can have evacuation or contraceptives but the treatment that follows after, is what determines what type of contraceptive or evacuation. So that is the issue. “As a lay man, we know it as abortion but they will tell you that when they went into the uterus of the person, that they discovered that she needed evacuation not abortion, and that it is the lay man that doesn’t know what he is saying. They would say they are not the one that mentioned the word, but the patient who came. But because as a professional, I know that what I am treating isn’t abortion, but evacuation or contraceptive, the only concrete way is through invitation of victims. We are trying to invite two underage girls from the list we recovered from the clinic. They are the ones closest to us here. “One of them has relocated outside Lagos while the other is still in Lagos. But it is like they are scared. So we are looking out at how to persuade them. The others on the list are very far away, and it would cost a lot to bring them over. But we would do our best.�

While the police carry on with their investigation, the onus however lies on the court to determine whether the activities of Marie Stopes are illegal or not, especially when it comes to minors.

The slip indicating payment for new card at Maria Stopes coming to the clinic, and the result was positive.

And responded ‘no’ to the questions on if she has been pregnant before or done any scan.

He continued, “You have never been pregnant, it's all right. For us in Maria Stopes, what we don't want or what we are working against is this kind of situation. Our mission is that, we want it to be that any time a woman is pregnant in this world, let it be that the conception was planned and the only way that is possible is through the promotion on the use of contraception. “Like I usually tell people if for instance, I met Lilian or someone from Maria Stopes met Lilian a couple of months before or a year ago, they would probably have talked to her, like ‘madam why don't you come and try this contraceptive' or try this one, and this child wouldn't have happened’. “So of course this happens and we might have to help sometimes but what we are concerned about when this happens, is how it happens. So we use this as an opportunity to introduce contraceptives and counsel her.

But first things first, we need to do a scan, we need to do an examination to decide on exactly the status and how we go ahead. But on getting to that point the cost is N30,000.�

We asked what he meant by ‘getting to that point’, and he said, “Get to that point actually (like we should already understand in code) and you decide that okay, if we are going ahead, the cost is N30,000.�

At this point we decided to call it a day, having realised he was being very careful of his language, hence we replied that we won't be able to go on with it right now, as she was too tensed at the moment, hence we would return the next day.

As we were leaving the clinic premises, we couldn’t help but notice the disgusting looks on the faces of neighbors trading or living around the neighbourhood where the clinic was located, after seeing us coming out of the premises.

It was such look of condemnation, as though we had just killed a life. We were prompted to ask the motorcyclist that picked us from the frontage of the hospital why they were looking at us with such disgust? He replied that the look was because they thought we had truly gone in to abort our supposed pregnancy.

Position of the Law In Nigeria, abortion is illegal and carries a stiff jail sentence, up to 14 years, unless done to save the life of the pregnant woman. Abortion legislation in Nigeria and court decisions on the subject were examined for this report.

Abortion in Nigeria is governed by two laws that differ depending on geographical location. Northern Nigeria is governed by the Penal Code and Southern Nigeria is governed by the Criminal Code. The only legal way to have an abortion in Nigeria is if having the child is going to put the mother's life in danger.

The abortion laws of the Criminal Code enforced by southern states, are expressed within sections 228, 229, and 230 with varied punishments stipulated. While section 228 states that “Any person providing a miscarriage to a woman is guilty of a felony and up to 14 years of imprisonment�, section 229 states

that “Any woman obtaining a miscarriage is guilty of a felony and up to imprisonment for seven years�, and section 230 states that “Anyone supplying anything intended for a woman's miscarriage is also guilty of a felony and up to three years of imprisonment.�

The Penal Code on the other hand operates in northern states, with abortion laws contained in sections 232, 233, and 234. The sections of the penal code parallel the criminal code, besides the exception for abortion with the purpose of saving the life of the mother.

The Penal Code’s punishments include imprisonment, fine, or both. The offenses of these codes are punishable regardless of whether the miscarriage was successful.

Meanwhile, no provisions have been made to the Criminal Code making exceptions for the preservation of the mother's life.

Nigeria’s abortion laws makes it one of the most restrictive countries regarding abortion.

Abortion Statistics Since abortion is illegal in Nigeria, many women resort to unsafe abortion methods, leading to abortion-related complications and increasing mortality and morbidity rates in the country. According to research done by the Guttmacher Institute, an estimated 456,000 unsafe abortions are done in Nigeria every year.

Also, in a joint study carried out by the Society of Gynecologists and Obstetricians of Nigeria and Nigeria's Ministry of Health, estimates of women who engage in unsafe abortion were put at about 20,000 each year.

Research has revealed that only 40 per cent of abortions are performed by physicians with improved health facilities while the remaining percentage are performed by non-physicians.

Abortion accounts for 40 per cent of maternal deaths in Nigeria, making it the second leading cause of maternal mortality in the country.

Marie Stopes Operations in Nigeria According to a statement on the clinic’s website, “Marie Stopes Nigeria opened its first clinic in 2009, becoming one of the few providers of long-acting and permanent contraception in the country.�

However, a scroll down the page, the clinic issued a statistics that it prevented 1,401,151 unintended pregnancies in 2018, and prevented 710,313 unsafe abortions in same year; which might loosely mean that they must have conducted, or intervened in those numbers of ‘illegal’ abortion cases, that could have turned out unsafe.

IPO’s Testimony When the clinic’s activities were initially clamped down by the police, THISDAY had engaged the Investigating Police Officer (IPO), Inspector Felix, in a phone conversation where he confirmed that he was part of the police team that went on the operation on the said date. He also confirmed that incriminating exhibits were recovered during the raid. He however, expressed his frustration in charging the case to court.

According to him, “the current position is to bring in witnesses that can confirm that they carried out abortion there. As at now, what we have is just the materials and the files we

Marie Stopes Reaction When THISDAY contacted Dr Bernard for his reaction he said: “All I can say is that, it is false, but I think you should speak to the head office in Abuja. I can't give you any details. So just confirm from them, and do your own research. There is a website, you can get the details. “I'm not saying I'm not authorised to talk but I'll advise you to speak to people that are superior. Speak with Abuja. You can't be talking to me and want to report that.

You understand? This is an international organisation, it wouldn't make sense. So it is better you speak with someone superior.�

THISDAY called the Abuja office and was engaged by one Uche who debunked the report. On their stand on abortion she said: "It is wrong. Abortion is legally restricted in Nigeria, and here at Marie Stopes, we work strictly in line with that restriction. We only offer post abortion care, which is the care given to someone who has had a miscarriage, and that miscarriage was not properly treated; maybe the tissues are still there, that is the only care that we offer here."

THISDAY went a step further to contact the clinic via Whatsapp. Using my supposed girlfriend’s pseudo name, Lilian Ezeobi, I claimed that when I carried out the act in their clinic, there was complications and needed to speak with the doctor. At no point did they deny ever carrying out abortion. Our conversation went thus: Reporter: Good morning. Please I need Dr. Fatoye's Number.

Marie Stopes: Welcome to the Marie Stopes Nigeria (@MarieStopesNG) Contact Centre.

We are here for you. Are you interested in talking about sex, painful periods, pregnancy, Infections, pregnancy prevention, or family planning? Please be rest assured that our conversation is strictly confidential, please feel free to talk to me. Why do you need Doctor Fatoye's number?

Reporter: Alright thanks. But may I know who I'm speaking with first. Is it Jadesola (the receptionist at the Lawanson clinic that attended to us)?

Marie Stopes: This number belongs to Marie Stopes Nigeria contact center.

Reporter: I'm aware from seeing this. (referring to the auto response message). I'll really love to speak with Dr. Fatoye because he gave me this number, and I had thought he would be the one I'm chatting with.

Marie Stopes: We do not give out our doctors numbers, If I may ask which hospital and location does Doctor Fatoye work?

Reporter: Surulere, Lagos. Lawanson.

Marie Stopes: Please go ahead and tell me what the problem is, I will be able to help you.

Reporter: Okay, hope this is very confidential.

Marie Stopes: I want to assure you that this conversation is strictly confidential, please feel free to talk to me.

Reporter: Hmm. Aiit. I was there last week for an abortion. Reason why I left Lagos after the procedure. Cause I don't want anyone around me to know what's going on. But I'm still bleeding. Kind of scared. He told me it should take 4 days, but it has gone beyond it.

Marie Stopes: May I know your name please.

Reporter: Lillian Ezeobi.

Marie Stopes: Okay. I will forward his number to you right away.

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

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Quick Takes Access Bank Introduces ‘W’ Hotline

STRENGTHENING PARTNERSHIP

L-R: Vice President/Global Head, CWT Global Partners Network, Francisco Nunez; Managing Director, BTM, Lola Adefope; Senior Vice President / Global Head, CWT Energy, Resources & Marine, Raphael Pasdeloup, and Chairman, BTM, Olufemi Adefope, during a press conference on the partnership between both organisations, held in Lagos... recentl y ETOP UKUTT

PFAs Pay N25.25bn to Retirees Ebere Nwoji The National Pension Commission(PenCom) has disclosed that the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) paid the sum of N25.25 billion in lump sum to retirees in the second quarter of this year.

The commission, also revealed that the pension industry recorded 1.78 per cent growth in the second quarter of 2019, as it climbed from 8.63 million contributors at the end of the preceding quarter, to 8.79 million.

PenCom disclosed this in its second quarter 2019 report, stating that the sum of N20.57 billion was paid to 8,174 retirees as lump sum to retirees under the programmed withdrawals, while 2,941 retirees received N4.68 billion as lump sum payment under annuity.

PenCom in the report maintained that the total number of retirees currently receiving their

PENSION pensions under the Programmed Withdrawal (PW) contracts increased by 3.81 per cent from 214,538 as at the end of the first quarter of 2019, to 222,712 as at the end of the second quarter of 2019.

It added that a sectorial breakdown showed that 65.75 per cent of those that received pension under the PW were from the public sector, while retirees from the private sector accounted for the remaining 34.25 per cent.

It noted that during the quarter under review, the sum of N20.57 billion was paid to 8,174 retirees as lump sum and N355.09 million as monthly programmed withdrawals, stressing that from inception to June 2019, the sum of N580.05 billion has been paid as lump sum and the monthly PW amounted to N9.50 billion.

The pension industry regulator said that it approved a total of 2,941 applications for retirement under life annuity during the period under review, bringing the total number of retirees receiving their retirement benefits through the annuity plan to 68,857 from inception.

It further stated that 2,941 retirees received N4.68 billion as lump sum payment and paid premium of N17.53 billion to insurance companies and monthly annuity of N184.50 million, adding that this resulted in total lump sum payment of N91.28 billion, premium of N371.21 billion and monthly annuity payment of N3.70 billion as at the end of the second quarter of 2019.

The commission, noted that growth in the industry was driven by the Retirement Savings Account (RSA) Scheme, which had an increase of 153,572 contributors representing 1.79 per cent. It, however, noted that member-

ship of the Closed Pension Fund Administration(CPFA) Scheme declined by 58 members (23,258) while the Approved Existing Scheme (AES) membership remained unchanged at 40,951.

PenCom, in the report also noted that retirees from the public and private sectors had since the inception of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) paid premium of N371.21 billion to life insurance companies managing annuity accounts.

According to PenCom, a total of 2,941 applications for retirement under life annuity was approved during the second quarter of 2019, bringing the total number of retirees receiving their retirement benefits through the annuity plan to 68,857 from inception.

PenCom, noted that the 2,941 retirees received N4.68 billion as lump sum payment and paid Continued on page 24

Experts Back Move to RaiseVAT Nume Ekeghe Some analysts have endorsed the move by the federal government to review upward the Value Added Tax (VAT) from five per cent to 7.5 per cent.

According to them, the policy would help cushion the fiscal deficit in Nigeria.

They, however, advised the federal government to ensure that the fund is properly utilised when the policy is implemented.

Speaking to THISDAY, the President, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), Dame Olajumoke Simplice said VAT

TAXATION increment should have happened years ago, adding that that 25 years on the same rate was not economically right.

She said: “This ought to have happened 10 years ago. This started in 1993 and the effect took off in 1994 which is 25 years ago. Five per cent is also the lowest in our sub-region and also one of the lowest in Africa and around the world. “If we want to operate in the global economy, we need to also up our ante. Let us look

at what we can do to belong to that community and being that this tax is easily collected it is important to review.�

Furthermore, she added: “I believe that it is right and wise for government to increase the rate. Now it is our duty to hold government accountable.�

In his contribution, the Head Research Agusto&Co, Mr. Jimi Ogbobine said: “The federal government’s increase in the VAT rate to 7.5 per cent could raise VAT collections to close to over N1.75 trillion in 2020. However, due to the sharing formula which leaves the federal government

with only 15 per cent, this would mean about N260 billion. “The 36 state governments and the local governments will get to share about N1.5 trillion amongst them. “The N250 billion in revenue estimates that could accrue to the federal government will be quite insignificant in closing the current fiscal deficit. The guidance from the Federal Executive Cabinet indicates that the VAT increase is aimed at helping the sub-nationals cushion the effect of the minimum wage increase.

Continued on page 24

Access Bank Plc has said its ‘W’ initiative remains a pioneer women market program in Africa.

The initiative focuses on creating bespoke ďŹ nancial and lifestyle solutions to suit the dynamic needs of women across its focus segments.

The bank explained that to further demonstrate its commitment to women, it has introduced the ‘W’ hotline on +234 1 227 3005.

Itstatedthatthecommunicationchannelisadedicatedcustomerservice helpline created to give women quick and direct access to information on all ‘W’ oerings including theWPower Loan, Maternal Health Service Support,BusinessSupportService,CapacityBuildingworkshops,Networking events and lots more.

Following its merger with the defunct Diamond Bank, the bank now caters to 31 million customers with a large portion of its customer base being female.

Speaking on the initiative, the Executive Director, Retail Banking at Access Bank Plc, Victor Etuokwu, said: “At Access Bank, we consistently focus on improving customer experience and forestalling any form of dissatisfaction for our customers. Hence, the adoption of the W hotline to ensure women get information that can help them access ďŹ nancial and non-ďŹ nancial services seamlessly.â€?

Etuokwu added: “The W Hotline is the ďŹ rst of its kind in the industry, dedicated to provide support for women across our focus segments.The hotline is managed by trained and qualiďŹ ed gender specialists who are solely tasked to attend to W enquiries. “Access Bank has an uninching commitment to empower women and contribute immensely to the growth of the women market in Nigeria and beyond for accelerated social and economic growth.â€?

TCAN Lauds Amaechi, Saraki

Transport Correspondents Association of Nigeria (TCAN) has tasked the federal government on the need to construct more rail lines across the country for economic prosperity.

Meanwhile, the association has lauded President Muhammadu Buhari administration for reappointing Rotimi Amaechi and Gbemisola Saraki as the Ministers of Transportation.

Appreciating the president on the choice of the two ministers, TCAN Chairman, Mrs. Augusta Uchedinunuor, expressed conďŹ dence that many pending projects would be completed as well as other ones springing up for development of Nigeria.

Uchedinunuor, who expressed the association’s desire to contribute its quota where necessary for nation-building at a meeting held in Lagos recently, stressed further that the assemblage of ‘a star-studded team’ in the duo of Amaechi and Saraki reects the uninching commitment of the present administration to take the country’s transport sector to the next level. According to her, “We believe Saraki will also bring her experiences and competence to bear in supporting Amaechi who has, from the outset when he joined the Buhari government in 2015, showed a great zeal and passion for the transport sector.

Star Partners Manchester City

To further deepen their commitment to sports, promoters of Star, a premium beer brand from the stable of Nigerian Breweries, have hosted select patrons to an exclusive event as part of Manchester City’s 2019 Global Tour in Lagos.The event came as part of Star’s partnership with Manchester City as the club’s “OďŹƒcial beer partnerâ€? in Nigeria.

The agreement was one of Star’s partnerships with seven leading Europeanfootballclubsasthebrandcontinuestoexpressitscommitment to support its consumers’ growing passion for football.

Speaking on the event and the partnership, the Marketing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Emmanuel Oriakhi said: “Even though we are Nigeria’s foremost beer brand, we continue to refresh the Star brand to keep it new.“That is what Manchester City is also bringing to football.They bring a freshness and new level of excitement to the established football order and have carved a reputation for themselves in a few short years. “We are happy partners of the club as we both want the same things; to excitefootballfansandgivethemmemorable,unforgettablemoments.Itis whatStarhasalwaysdoneandthiseventisyetanotherwaytodemonstrate our commitment to creating exciting moments for our consumers�.

“The power sector has not lived up to expectations after the privatisation. Also, we need private sector-friendly policies to stimulate economic activities�

Director, Coronation Merchant Bank Limited

Mr. Abiodun Sanusi

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BUSINESSWORLD PFAS PAY N25.25BN TO RETIREES premium of N17.53 billion to insurance companies and monthly annuity of N184.50 million, adding that this resulted in total lump sum payment of N91.28 billion, premium of N371.21 billion and monthly annuity payments of N3.70 billion as at the end of second quarter, 2019.

For retirees on under the PW, the report showed that the total number of retirees currently receiving their pensions under the contracts increased by 3.81 per cent from 214,538 as at the end of the first quarter of 2019 to 222,712 as at the end of the second quarter of 2019.

According to the commission, sectorial breakdown showed that 65.75 per cent of those that received pension under the PW were from the public sector, while retirees from the private sector accounted for the remaining 34.25 per cent.

EXPERTS BACK MOVE TO RAISE VAT

“This implies that this proposed tax increase will be channelled towards consumption.�

He further added: “We believe that a far-reaching reform that could help the fiscal position of the sub-nationals would be to align the current multiple exchange rates. By maintaining multiple exchange rates, the federation account loses over N50 per dollar from the sale of crude oil.

Also commenting, the Senior Lecturer at Lagos Business School and Economist, Dr. Bongo Adi, also alluded that the upward review should have happened years ago as he praised the federal government.

Adi said: “It is a good one and it has been expected. If you look at the statistics, you would find that Nigeria has been underperforming when it comes to tax collection. “At five per cent, we have the lowest VAT in Africa and one of the lowest in the world, so people felt that the economy had been under-taxed. So, increasing the VAT would help governments’ revenue of fiscal stability. “The reason VAT is increased is because of the fiscal challenges and problems of funding the budget which has been running at a deficit for a couple of years now.

NEWS

Okoye Pledges to Support Corporates in Foreign Capital Raising Dike Onwuamaeze The Chief Strategy Officer of Global Capital Strategy (GCS), Nicky Okoye, has promised to assist Nigerian business men and corporates to overcome challenges hindering them from accessing capital from international investors to grow their businesses.

One of the sources of cheaper global financing Nigerian corporates could access was the bilateral funding from European, Asian and American governments, who through their foreign policies set aside to support Africa in certain areas, he said.

He made the promise recently, when he spoke to a gathering of Nigerian entrepreneurs at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, when he hosted the “Global Capital Retreat and Road Show.� “So, it is in our own interest that we try to take advantage of these monies because they are available and they are not as stringent as monies coming from the private sector. “The bilateral support, which is coming from the government is available for Nigerian and African businesses, therefore it makes sense for us to position our firms, projects and ventures to capture these monies. And that is what we are trying to achieve,� Okoye said.

He said his focus was to give companies and entrepreneurs the opportunity to understand what it takes to attract finance from international sources. “We call it the global capital strategy section. It is how to

position your organisation or government agencies to attract the attention of international investors. “Today we brought together men in the business community to share our ideas on how these funds could be attracted into their projects and the process of doing this. “There are ways of attracting these funding which we shared with them,� Okoye said.

He also said the GCS had services that would support the federal government, state governments, small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs), as well

as big and large corporates. “We urge businesses to contact us whether they are big or small. We have products for them, even the SMEs. We support SMEs and people who are already in business to acquire machinery and expand as well as large companies that want to enter new markets across Africa,� he said.

Okoye, said his passion to help African businesses arose from the discovery that a lot of them had challenges in terms of how to raise capital. “But in order to raise capital

you need to have a strategy, so I come up with the concept of Global Capital Strategy to show them how they will use strategy to attract global capital to their businesses. “Global capital means funds that are available from international sources. “We know what the international investors are looking for and we know the terms businesses have to meet. We put all these together, build the project and go out and get the money. And that is my passion and what I intend to

do,� he said.

Okoye, suggested that African businesses should follow after the China strategy by partnering Chinese industries so as to shift manufacturing from China to Africa.

He said: “China is expected to transfer 85 million jobs in the next two to three years as it becomes a capital intensive manufacturing economy. “So there is opportunity for Africa if we can partner with China to transfer these jobs to the continent so that our people can get employed.�

CAPACITY BUILDING

L–R:DivisionalHead,ListingBusiness,NigerianStockExchange(NSE),Mr.OlumideBolumole;ExecutiveDirector,CorporateStrategySystemSpecs, Mr. Aderemi Atanda; Chief Executive Officer, NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema; Lecturer, Department of Mathematics, University of Lagos, Dr. Mary Akinyemi, and Divisional Head, Trading Business, NSE, Jude Chiemeka, during a workshop organised by the NSE in Lagos‌recently

Dana AirTakes Delivery of First Boeing 737 Aircraft Chinedu Eze Nigerian carrier, Dana Air has given its strategic route expansion plan a push with the arrival in Lagos of one of its newly acquired Boeing 737 aircraft.

The Managing Director / Chief Executive officer of Dana Air Mr Jacky Hathiramani, in a statement said the aircraft arrived Lagos at about 1am on Friday, and expressed the desire of the firm promise to acquire more aircraft before

the end of 2019.

Jacky said the arrival of the first Boeing 737 aircraft was part of its promise to customers earlier in the year that the airline would increase its capacity and meet the ever-increasing demands of its guests.

He said Dana Air was committed to its strategic route expansion and fleet renewal plan as well as its desire to continue to provide unmatched, on-time performance, world-class in-flight

services and seamless air travel to its teeming guests. “Earlier in the year, we noticed that there were fewer aircraft in the country and less capacity to meet the demand at the time, so we decided to assure our guests that we will acquire some Boeing 737 aircraft to ensure that they travel at ease without having to worry if they will get flights to certain destinations even at peak periods. “The arrival of the first of our recently acquired 737

aircraft is a firm confirmation of our resilience, operational efficiency, deep passion, and our commitment to continue flying safe. “It also underscores our mission which is to earn the loyalty and respect of our customers by consistently demonstrating our commitment to service, and providing affordable regional air transport services that focus on innovation, quality and service excellence.�

He added: “With our fleet

size likely to hit nine aircraft soon, we are ready to give more Nigerian pilots and engineers the opportunity to be gainfully employed. We would also deploy this B737 to strengthen our existing route network while new routes will be announced soon.’’ Having flown over 4.5 million passengers in the last 11 years of its operations, Dana Air one of Nigeria’s leading airlines with daily flights from Lagos to Abuja, Port Harcourt,

FG Prepares Successor Plan as ERGP Elapses Group Business Editor

Obinna Chima

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

Senior Correspondent

Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents

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

Nume Ekeghe (Money Market) Nosa Alekhuogie (ICT)

James Emejo in Abuja The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba, has reiterated the determination of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration towards taking 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within the next 10 years.

Speaking over the weekend during a meeting with a team from the European Union led by Minister Counsellor and Head of Co-operation of EU Delegation to Nigeria & ECOWAS, Mr. Kurt Cornelis, he said the federal government seeks to actualise a strategic and incremental liberation of Nigerians caught

in the poverty trap.

He said this remained a key thrust of the present of Buhari’s priorities in his second term.

The minister, however, noted that the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) would come to an end by December 2020, the same time the Vision 2020 would elapse.

Owing to this, he said necessary machinery had been set in motion to start the next successor plan.

According to him: “We are looking forward to starting the next successor plan, which we think should be from 2021 to 2050. So, whatever support that is that we can get from the EU, may be technological support,

how we can deploy technology in driving the process, would be very much welcome. For me, it is not just the issue of money, but the issue of expertise.�

Nevertheless, Agba said: “The priorities remain the same. When the president campaigned for his first term in office, there were three major areas of focus. One was to grow the economy; the other was to enhance security; and, the third was the fight against corruption. “These still remain the broad focus of government. So within these, there are other priority areas of focus. One of the major thrusts of all of these

is how we would be able to take about 100 million people out of poverty in the next ten years. “Therefore, it means that in whatever we do, it should be something of scale that should be able to create employment, not employment for hundreds but we are talking of employment for millions of people. “That, certainly will be able to generate activities in the economy and help to grow our Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

So those are the areas of focus for us in the next four years.�

In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Sufuyan Ojeifo,

he added that the present administration remained committed to the achievement of solid infrastructure development and economic growth, pointing out that a clear demonstration of that commitment was the launch of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, which was functional in the exit of Nigeria from recession in 2017.

Cornelis, however, pointed out that implementing a new budgetary cycle that would cover 2021 to 2027 currently remained a big challenge to the EU, particularly how to ensure that development partnership proposals would be in tandem with Nigeria’s policies and strategies.

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Equities Market Rebounds, Rises 2.3% on Bargain Hunting Goddy Egene The Nigerian equities market rebounded last week, rising on the back of barging hunting in bellwether stocks to close higher. The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI),which depreciated by 1.38 per cent the previous week, rose 2.3 per cent last week to close at 27,779, while market capitalisation added N316.2 billion to be at N13.523 trillion. In the same vein, all other indices finished higher with the exception of NSE Insurance and NSE Industrial Goods Indices which depreciated by 2.1 per cent and 0.4 per cent while the NSE ASeM index closed flat.

In terms of sectoral performance, the NSE Oil & Gas Index led the pack 7.2 per cent, trailed by NSE Banking Index with 5.1 per cent.

The NSE Consumer Index gained 0.6 per cent.

The market had opened on Monday with a decline of 0.2 per cent, which was repeated on Tuesday.

However, the market recovered on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Commenting on the performance, analysts at Cordros Capital Research said: their view continued to favour cautious trading owing to the fact the gains recorded last week were not broad-based. “Nonetheless, we note that valuations remain attractive while price deterioration has resulted in expected dividend yields on some stocks rising significantly to levels on par with yields on Treasury bills.

Hence, we advise that long-term investors consider appropriately timed investments,� they said.

A look at some other markets across Africa showed that just Nigeria, Egyptian market was bullish.

Egypt’s EGX 30 Index sustained it inched higher by 1.2 per cent, while Kenya’s NSE 20 indices advanced 0.9 per cent.

However, Mauritius’ SEMDEX Index led the decliners, declining one per cent. The Ghana’s GSE Composite Index shed 0.2 per cent, just as Morocco’s Casablanca MASI Index declined 0.3 per cent.

The bullish trend extended to the BRICS market with South Africa’s Analysts at Afrinvest Research, FTSE/JSE index leading the gainers.

It appreciated by 2.8 per cent, while said the developed markets were Russia’s RTS and Brazil’s Ibovespa helped by the calming trade tensions indices trailed with 1.6 per cent and between the US and China.

The Asian country exempted some 1.5 per cent growth respectively.

In the same vein, China’s Shanghai Composite index rose 1.1 per cent as trade tensions partially subsided .

The India’s BSE Sens Index equally appreciated 1.1 per cent.

In the Asian and Middle East market, Qatar’s DSM 220 Index fell 2.0 per cent, just as Turkey’s BIST 100 Index also sustained its bearish performance, shedding 3.9 per cent.

On the positive side, Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul ASI led the gainers with 2.8 per cent while Thailand’s SET and UAE’s ADX General indices were up 0.5 per cent and 0.4 per cent in that order.

The bullish run in the developed markets continued last week with the leading indicators closing positively. In the United States, S&P 500 and NASDAQ indices gained 1.2 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively on softening trade tensions. The France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s XETRA DAX indices were up 1.0 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively.

The United Kingdom’s FTSE All Share rose 1.1 despite increasing uncertainty around Brexit. Similarly, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 2.5 per cent just as Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 3.7 per cent.

between both countries is positive but not unusual, the lack of flexibility and speed during negotiations has been the drawback to a trade deal.

In Europe, the European Central Bank cut rate by 10bps to -0.5 per cent and resumes quantitative easing program from November, 2019 through monthly asset purchases of â‚Ź20.0 billion until when unnecessary.

In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson suspended parliament for a month, raising the risk of a “nodeal Brexit� as Brexit deadline is on October 30, 2019,� Afrinvest said.

Market turnover Meanwhile, a total of 1.147 billion shares worth N14.082 billion were traded in 17,980 deals last week in contrast to a total of 1.101 billion shares valued at N17.082 billion that exchanged hands last week in 15,431 deals.

However, the Financial Services industry remained led the activity chart with 840.704 million shares valued at N10.765 billion traded in 11,331 deals, thus contributing 73.3 per cent and 76.45 to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Conglomerates industry followed with 111.231 million shares worth N243.124 million in 963 deals. The third place was ICT Industry with a turnover of 95.087 million shares worth N605.135 million in 404 deals. Trading in the top three equities namely, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc and FBN Holdings Plc, accounted for 484.003 million shares worth N8.306 billion in 4,265 deals, contributing 42.2 per cent and 58.9 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

In the Exchange Traded Products a total of 6,540 units valued at N23,650.70 were traded last week in five deals compared with a total of 3,692 units valued at N1.974 million transacted the previous week in 10 deals.

In the Bond segment recorded 274 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N280,932.14 last week in seven deals compared with a total of 47,690 units valued at N51.008 million transacted two weeks ago in 15 deals.

US goods from the 25 per cent extra tariffs enacted in 2018, providing a reprieve of one year from September 17, 2019. The US reciprocated the gesture by suspending the proposed

additional 5.0 per cent tariff on Chinese goods worth $250 billion by two weeks from October 1, 2019 to allow for negotiations. “The de-escalation of tensions

Top price gainers and losers A look at the price movement chart showed that 39 equities appreciated in price, higher than 27 equities in the previous week, just as 19 equities depreciated in price, lower than 34 equities in the previous week.

UACN Property Development Company Plc led the price gainers with 51.6 per cent trailed by FBN Holdings Plc with 24.1 per cent.

Seplat chalked up 15.6 per cent, while Forte Oil Plc garnered 14.1 per cent.

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated appreciated by 11.8 per cent, while Cornerstone Insurance Plc rose 11.1 per cent. Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc gained 9.7 per cent, just as AIICO Insurance Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc and Okomu Oil Palm Plc went up by 9.6 per cent respectively.

Conversely, Thomas Wyatt Nigeria Plc led the price losers with 9.5 per cent, followed by Continental Reinsurance Plc with 7.9 per cent.

Oando Plc shed 7.3 per cent, while Livestock Feeds Plc and Cutix Plc went down by 7.1 per cent and 6.6 per cent in that order.

University Press Plc declined by 6.2 per cent, while Champion Breweries Plc ND Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc lost 5.8 per cent and 5.4 per cent respectively. Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc and Linkage Assurance Plc shed 4.7 per cent and 3.8 per cent in that order.

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ProposedVAT Hike: Robbing Peter to Pay Paul?

As the federal government contemplates raising the Value Added Tax, it must weigh the effect of tax burden on the citizens, writes Obinna Chima The federal government’s last week announcement of its plan to raise the Value Added Tax (VAT) by 50 per cent, from five per cent to 7.5 per cent has continued to generate divergent views across the country.

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and other private sector operators argued that raising VAT would have negative impact on the real sector and the economy.

Considering that the federal government recently approved a new minimum wage, which has yet to be fully implemented, those who opposed the policy wondered if the plan to increase VAT was not a strategy to “rob Peter to pay Paul,� as the increase in minimum wage would be eroded by price increases of key household items, offsetting the expected improvement in purchasing power.

As a result of this, they argued that the policy, if implemented would worsen the poverty situation in the country On the other hand, proponents of the proposal argued that that with the country’s swelling debt service and government’s low revenue profile, a VAT hike should be implemented.

VAT is an indirect tax levied on the value added by producers, suppliers, and service providers at each point in a supply chain. Its cost is usually passed on to the consumer.

According to a report by ActionAid International, the cost of VAT is passed down the supply chain, by being included in sales prices, until it reaches the consumer who cannot pass on this cost.

For this reason, VAT is usually considered to be borne by the consumer. VAT is different from a traditional sales tax because the latter is paid at the point where the customer buys the product, whereas VAT is paid by all the firms along the supply chain.

The average VAT collection in the past six years in Nigeria is about N900 billion. The revenue is shared 15 per cent to the federal government, 50 per cent to states and 35 per cent local governments net of four per cent cost of collection to the Federal Inland Revenue Service.

The federal government had in January this year unveiled a Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative (SRGI) for sustainable revenue generation in various sectors of the economy, part of which was to increase the VAT. The government had said the implementation of the initiative would significantly boost the federal government revenue outlook in the months and years ahead.

It had stated that Nigeria’s low revenue generation capabilities had been an enduring challenge to past and present governments.

FG’s Position After initially announcing that it planned to raise VAT to 7.2 per cent, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, the following day said what the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved was an increase from five per cent to 7.5 per cent, not the amount she announced previously.

The policy is however subject to an amendment of the VAT Act of 1994 by the National Assembly. Spokesman to the Minister, Yunus Abdullahi, in a statement said the proposed increase was based on the recommendation of the presidential technical advisory committee.

He said on the committee was made up of economists from public and private sectors with the Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismarck Rewane, that served as its chairman.

Abdullahi, said the committee, in its report, had recommended the increase in the VAT rate from five per cent to 7.5 per cent, adding that the prevailing VAT rate in Nigeria was still about half the African average. “The proposed increase is subject to legislative intervention by the National Assembly who will have to amend the Revenue Act to reflect the proposed increase,� he added.

Zainab

Buhari

Abdullahi, said the VAT exempts food, medicines and other basic necessities, thereby reducing the economic burden on the poor. “The existing VAT Act exempts the basic necessities such as food, medicines and education, which therefore minimises the impact on the poor and vulnerable segments of the Nigerian society from the burden thereof,� he said. “The VAT increase, if correctly implemented, could bring in huge revenues, which would actually reduce the fiscal deficit burden.�

Zainab, had pointed out that peer comparison on Nigeria’s ability to convert Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to revenue for capital and social investment key drivers of sustainable economic growth showed that the country has a lot to do to catch up. “Nigeria must mobilise significant resources to invest in human capital development and critical infrastructure. “Indeed, some reforms will be tough, but it must be done if we will look at the facts and be frank to ourselves. Given the low revenue to GDP ratio (currently at about seven per cent), we must pursue optimal revenue generation,� she had explained.

“The increase in VAT rate is unsurprising as governments have been keen but civil protests have led to reluctance despite Nigeria’s low VAT rate relative to peer economies. Nigeria’s VAT rate at five per cent is the lowest among African peers such as Kenya (16%), South Africa (15%), Egypt (14%) and Ghana (12.5%).�

Similarly, VAT receipts to GDP is only 0.9 per cent of GDP compared with three per cent in ECOWAS and Commonwealth countries according to PwC. “We note that Nigeria’s effective VAT rate is believed to be significantly higher than the current five per cent due to the difficulty in claiming refunds, the high cost of compliance and non-allowable expenses for input VAT purposes. “While we align with the age-long call to boost non-oil revenue, we believe the federal government has chosen an easy but less impactful route with the proposed increment in VAT. The increase should be part of a comprehensive fiscal reform package that would seek to boost collection efficiency, rein in recurrent spending, remove subsidies and widen the tax net,� Afrinvest analysts added.

To the Tax Leader, PwC, Taiwo Oyedele, PwC, if VAT rate is increased by 50 per cent, all things being equal, the country would generate on average an additional N450 billion annually.

And less four per cent cost of collection to FIRS, all the 36 states would get N18 billion per month translating to an average of N500 million per state.

According to him, since Lagos, Federal Capital Territory, Rivers, Kano and Kaduna generate 87 per cent of VAT revenue, they also share a big chunk of VAT revenue, meaning that the financially disadvantaged states would get much less than N500 million monthly. “Unfortunately, all things are never equal especially when it comes to tax. An increase in VAT rate will inevitably impact on consumption and VAT compliance. The combined effect will reduce the expected revenue. “Beyond the revenue impact, there will be other unintended consequences including higher inflation, interest rate hike, more unemployment and people will generally become poorer.

Furthermore, he had noted that without a VAT registration threshold and zero rating of basic consumption, it would increase the burden on the poor and SMEs contrary to the 2017 National Tax Policy.

Therefore, Oyedele advised that rather than raising VAT, Nigeria would make twice as much from VAT at current rate by reforming the law, expanding the net and ensuring a robust administration rather than by increasing rate. “This should include a review of VAT waivers, better policing of the border to improve import VAT collection, framework for VAT on imported services and digital economy. “Contemplating an increase in VAT rate now is bad timing and inconsistent with current economic reality. In any case the likely increase

Divergent Views To analysts at CSL Stockbrokers Limited, while there is the need for government to bridge its revenue gap, they stated that the proposed increase in VAT may further worsen the living conditions of consumers whose real income have been stifled over recent years.

Looking at the performance of consumer goods companies over the past 18 months, they pointed out that one striking feature was the consistent decline in reported revenue, suggesting that consumer demand remains weak. “In our view, the plan by the federal government to finance the increment in the wage burden through tax increment would force companies to raise prices significantly, ultimately placing the incidence of the tax increment on the consumers. “In effect, we see this as a fiscal policy designed to “rob Peter to pay Paul�. We also expect that the increase in minimum wage to be eroded by price increases of key household items, offsetting the expected improvement in purchasing power. “The proposed tax policies will also pose a downside for foreign investments in the Nigerian industrial climate as well as growth of SMEs. We believe companies who are unable to raise prices might lay-off workers in a bid to manage costs, further impacting on the level of unemployment,� the Lagos-based firm maintained.

But analysts at Afrinvest Securities Limited, stated that the planned increase was primarily to support the finances of states as the new minimum wage of N30,000/month becomes effective.

in revenue will not be sufficient to pay the new minimum wage,� he had said.

Also, analysts at FSDH Merchant Bank Limited, stated that the federal government could earn more revenue from VAT by developing strategies to increase household consumption and increase compliance.

According to the FSDH, consumption data and revenue from VAT in the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) showed that the ratio of VAT revenue to household consumption averaged 1.07 per cent between 2014 and 2018, with the highest of 1.15 per cent recorded in 2014.

This, it stated was significantly lower than the actual VAT rate of five per cent. “For me, it is necessary that any attempt at VAT increment must take into consideration the difficult times in the country’s economy. “It is apparent on the need for the FIRS to redouble its efforts to ensure that more people are widely captured into the VAT net in order to boost the nation’s revenues,� the firm stated.

Also, a former Lagos State Governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, had warned the federal government against increasing the VAT, saying doing so would reduce purchasing power and further slowdown the economy.

According to Tinubu, the timing would also be wrong, advising the government that instead of increasing VAT, it should rather broaden the scope of tax collection with a view to making more people pay and thus put paid to any planned increase in VAT rate. “Let’s widen the tax net. Those who are not paying now, even if it is inclusive of Bola Tinubu, let the net get bigger and take more taxes and that is what we must do in the country instead of additional layer in taxes,� he had advised.

But Prof. Akpan Ekpo, who is the Executive Chairman, Foundation for Economic Research and Training, said there was need to bring in more people into the tax net.

According to Ekpo, a lot of wealthy Nigerians don’t pay tax. “You have to bring them into the tax net, then you have to tax luxury goods heavily.

For example, if you go to Abuja and Lagos airports, the number of private jets that you see, they should pay tax. “Thirdly, people will not like to hear this, our VAT rate is the lowest in the world. If you tinker with VAT to even 6.5 per cent, that will generate a lot of revenue. Right now, the government needs liquidity to do a lot of things. “But there is a limit to taxation, you have to have service delivery, I pay tax because I get service. If people are not happy about the service delivery they will not pay tax, except those who are working and they don’t have a choice,� he added.

Also, Proshare, an online financial information service hub, stated in a recent report that if the country is to reduce unemployment and stimulate economic growth, the federal government has to take bold steps which includes raising the VAT. While the report stressed that in times of slow growth, economists would typically not prescribe raising taxes, it noted that since Nigeria currently has the lowest VAT in West Africa at five per cent, the government could be bold to increase the tax by at least 200 basis points, pushing the rate up by two per cent.

It advised that if implemented, the government should therefore concentrate the additional revenue in infrastructural development that helps to drop the cost of doing business and citizen transactions to create headroom for consumption which would spur business growth.

Way Forward Clearly, Nigeria is facing a major challenge in terms of revenue mobilisation and debt service and must take urgent steps to enhance its revenue. Indeed, there is need for a comprehensive tax reform in the country.

However, there is need to expand the tax need, enforcement of appropriate sanctions on any agent who defaults in VAT collections and remittances as well as deploy technology to boost tax revenue.

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Pensioners Seek Dialogue with NPA Eromosele Abiodun Members of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Pensioners’ Welfare Association have appealed to the management of the agency to disregard alleged fifth columnists stoking crisis between it and the pensioners.

They urged the NPA to embrace dialogue to resolve issues around pensioners’ benefits.

The President of the association, Mr Charles Binitie, while

briefing newsmen in Lagos, said all the pensioners want is dialogue, to save the image of the NPA from being dragged in the public domain.

He said the pensioners’ association was not a trade union contrary to what the NPA management was made to believe. According to him, “The NPA we know is a great family, a place we all will wish to belong. The enemy quietly crept in and now has entered into the fabrics of its pensioners to make sure that

they can never agree for peace to reign to enable us enjoy all that we are entitled to receive from the NPA. “It is unfortunate that the present leadership of the NPA inherited a problematic pensioners’ association with undefined and unexplained crisis. “This crisis started over 10 years ago and has continued because some members of the NPA management have been fuelling the crisis by playing the game of divide and rule.

“All efforts by the Deputy Chief Registrar (Litigations) of the Federal High Court, Lagos, to bring the crisis to an end never succeeded. All efforts by the Chairman Board of Trustees and elders’ forum fell on deaf ears.�

He added, “The section 173 (1) of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), ‘the right of a person in the public service of the federation to receive pensions or gratuity shall be regulated by law.’ is

being misquoted by the NPA.�

While denying that the group was factionalised, he said, “It is instructive to note that the Lagos state high court, Ikeja, delivered judgment on 26th of September, 2014, sacking all those parading themselves as the elected executive of the association and ordered the chairman, board of trustees to call for annual general meeting (AGM) to be attended by NPA pensioners to elect new executives. “The elections

were conducted on June 2017 and authentic leaders emerged. It is to be noted that the judgment and the resultant elections, have, so far, not been challenged in any court, yet NPA has refused to recognise the elections.�

They appealed to the management to consider their age and service to the authority and apply the 33 per cent upward wage review granted it by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission to the pensioners.

SABEX De-risks Agriculture, Makes Farmers Eligible for Loan SABEX, an end-to-end blockchain commodities trading and financing platform, was formally unveiled to policy makers, agriculture value chain players, investors, international financiers and development agencies in Abuja, recently.

Powered by Sterling bank, Binkabi and AFEX Commodities Exchange, the digital commodities trading platform, provides real time credit finance for farmers, secure storage and a ready market for both farmers and buyers to transact thereby reducing

post-harvest wastage of farm produce across the country.

It is the future of agriculture.

Unveiling SABEX, the Chief Executive Officer, Sterling Bank, Abubakar Suleiman, said the bank’s partnership with AFEX and Binkabi created a viable and efficient agricultural blockchain commodities marketplace which would tackle challenges that include post-harvest loss, inadequate finance and poor market linkage, among others challenges facing farmers.

SABEX, would further de-risk the agriculture sector

making farmers more qualified for commercial lending.

According to Abubakar, SABEX is an enabler that guarantees the average farmer improved access to finance for agricultural activities, movement of harvested crops to a storage facility without much loss, and the ability to sell and earn immediate value.

The platform would decentralise commodities trading, and reduce inter-mediation in trade, while distributing profit more widely across the value chain, he added.

The CEO, Binkabi, Quan Le,

noted that the vision was to ensure that the commodities trading network become fairer and more profitable through collaborative efforts which leverage blockchain technology. “We understand that if financial markets can fail ordinary people in the developed world then the agricultural markets are failing ordinary farmers in the developing world. “The only difference is that these farmers don’t have a voice - it is a silent crisis. “This has motivated us to work with like-minds to

NPF MFB Boosts Education with New Product The Nigeria Police, Microfinance Bank has introduced a children education financing facility which aims at supporting parents to pay school fees seamlessly.

Known as Kid’s Education Account (KEA), a statement explained that the bank came up with the idea after realising that despite efforts by governments to enable significant enrolment in schools, millions of Nigerian children are still denied their right to education, essentially due to poverty level restrictions.

According to the bank, restricted access to education was one of the surest ways of transmitting poverty from generation to generation.

It noted that education was a vital human right, enshrined

in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In designing the product, the bank believed that every child should have the right to quality education so that they would have more chances in life, including employment opportunities, better health and also to participate in the political process.

Early childhood education and care as conceptualised and incorporated in the features of the product makes it a unique financing option currently being offers in the banking industry, the bank said in a statement.

The statement further pointed out that KEA encourages institutions and parents to open account

with the bank to have unbridled access to finance education of their children and wards. “Though, there are similar existing facilities offered by financial institutions in the country,� the bank stressed that it’s product has, “exceptional attractive features that would be exciting to parents and guardians.�

One of the sterling features was access to up to 50 per cent school fees which was offered as loan to interested parents.

The KEA also offers high interest rates on savings meant for the purpose of the account.

The bank said it had taken the burden of the generous interest offering to encourage parents operate their accounts, adding that it realised that

More Winners Emerge in Dangote Cement Promo Chris Uba It was a harvest of prizes recently, at the Isolo area of Lagos State as 31 consumers were presented with refrigerators, television sets, tricycle and a saloon car in the on-going Dangote Cement Bag of Goodies promotion.

Mr. Tittus Adesola Jegede, a cement consumer, emerged as the star prize winner with a saloon car, while Ajose Monday and Abel Sunday, won motorcycle and tricycle respectively in the promo.

The star prize winner, Jegede , who spoke to THISDAY, said the transparent nature of the promo was commendable because,

“what you see on the card is what you win and that the promo by all measures has been successful.�

The Group Managing Director of Dangote Industries Limited, Mr.Olakunle Alake, said the promo was borne out of the company’s desire to economically empower all its customers along the value chain and that the current promo was targeted at empowering its consumers. “Because it is meant to empower them that is why we carefully choose the prizes. We have cars, tricycles, motorcycles, refrigerators and television sets, all these have economic value,� he said.

He explained that the com-

pany has also put in place other empowerment schemes for its distributors, retailers and other customers.

About 22 cars have been won so far remaining 23 with many tricycles, motorcycles, television sets and refrigerators to go before the promo ends at the end of September.

The Dangote Cement Bag of Goodies promotion has a duration of approximately three months from July 3– till September 30, 2019.

All items won are redeemed instantly through designated 200 redemption centres nationwide, including all Dangote Cement Regional offices and Depots except the start prize of G3 GAC saloon car.

education reduces poverty, boosts economic growth and increases income.

develop a marketplace of end-buyers and end-sellers of commodities to help reduce inter-mediation in trade, distributing profit more widely in the value chain.�

He added that, “Binkabi offers an end-to-end solution for the entire trading process from sourcing to settlement and creating new opportuni-

ties. “We are transforming agrocommodity supply chain in emerging markets for the benefit of farmers, SMEs and other actors. “Binkabi streamlines commodity trading process and allows banks to lend against warehouse receipts and contracts.�

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Onyema: We Must All Embrace Nationalism The Chairman/CEO of Air Peace, Chief Allen Onyema, in this interview, said the decision to deploy his aircraft to evacuate Nigerians in South Africa was driven by nationalism. He spoke to journalists when the first batch of returnees. Chinedu Eze who was there brings the excerpts: What prompted Air Peace to undertake the voluntary evacuation of Nigerians free of charge?

First, I need to make a clarification. We left Nigeria and they told us we have 640 people that would be airlifted. We said okay, we have the capacity to do two flights immediately. I was ready to deploy two of our Boeing 777s, and they said no, that we should do one at a time.

We got there at 4:00 am South Africa time on that day, and there was nobody on sight and we were supposed to depart South Africa at 8:00 am. So Air Peace arrived on time for the airlift. Our 18-man crew left for Johannesburg, and was on ground in Johannesburg waiting.

The flight was supposed to depart by 8:00 am, that flight never departed until many hours later.

So I need to clarify this. That it wasn’t Air Peace that caused the delay. The truth is that the South African government tried to frustrate us. In the spirit of diplomacy, our government officials are not supposed to say this, but as a private citizen I have to say it. South Africa authorities frustrated us. At a time, they checked in only 20 passengers and they told us that their system broke down.

They didn’t want them to go, because you know evacuation is not a good thing for any country.

The boys had resolved to go home. They started singing national anthem, the Air Peace crew were resolved that they were going back home with Nigerians. We were there until we brought 187.

So, others were not allowed to fly. So we took those who were allowed to board the flight. As soon as our Consul General tells us that they are ready with the next batch, we would deploy our aircraft. They have not come back to us; to tell us they are ready. I was to do another flight today (last Thursday) if they were ready, but they are not. I was surprised when they informed us that the number of Nigerians willing to leave South Africa has increased to 1000, from 640 before. The Nigerian High Commission in South Africa is working very hard to put them together so that we will go and bring them back. The earlier they put them together the better for us.

I don’t want to send in a wide-bodied aircraft of 364-passenger capacity and come back with only 200 passengers; because it costs a lot of money. I would have preferred lifting about 320 in the first batch. So, the earlier they complete the documentation of our brothers and sisters and get them ready for the flight, the better for us.

Now about motivation to do it; it gives me joy to do God’s work. It has been in our pedigree to do things like these. A lot of people who know us know that such a thing is very easy for me to do, I didn’t have to think twice about it. I was at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority(NCAA) office and we were having a meeting and I was seeing television tapes of the stigmatisation in South Africa and I used to take ex-militants to South Africa to train and transform them. So many of the people in South Africa are trapped, a lot of the people had wanted to come back some four years ago but nobody to bring them back, no flight ticket, nothing. If you go to Bloemfontein, a highbrow out of Johannesburg, do you know that as a visiting Nigerian person they will be hanging around you? The moment you finish eating somebody will come attend to you, it as bad as that. So what I did immediately not thinking twice, was to say the best thing to do instead of losing more lives was to take them out. Some of the people that came on the flight had no parents; their fathers didn’t come with them. Some of the returnees told us that some people were taken on their way to the airport; that the South Africans were still robbing and killing them. And they even told us to send an aircraft directly to Cape Town, because the journey from Cape Town to Johannesburg would be very dangerous for them. The danger is still there, and when you see clips of what South African are still saying after the evacuation, I mean, if your Foreign Minister comes out to say that the whole country is full of drug pushers then you can understand the tacit support on the official side. So, the motivation there was to save our people, to do something that others will look at

Allen-Onyema and say okay this is going to bond the country.

So I decided to call our Foreign Affairs Minister and told him that I wanted to evacuate Nigerians and that I wanted to do it free of charge. He talked about the financial cost and I said Air Peace would bear it. I am not going to go to my grave with my bank account or wallet, but I will go to my grave peacefully with the legacies I leave behind. So it is not something difficult for one to do for one’s country. It is not about Allen Onyema, the Air Peace Crew both flight and cabin crew refused to be paid allowance.

They left Nigeria the previous day about 11:30 pm and got to Johannesburg about 4am. And they stood up for 24 hours for their country and they refuse to take their allowances.

They said this is our own contribution for this national assignment and they called it a rescue mission because they were being frustrated from taken Nigerians out. So they saw it as a national assignment, it was like war for them and they need to be honoured.

Are you taking this all alone and do you intend to also invite some of your colleagues in the airline business to see whether they can assist in getting this done?

You see this kind of action takes a lot to do; it is not just money. It must be in your pedigree for you to be able to do it because the financial implication is huge. When a Boeing 777 takes off empty without passengers for a six hours flight, you are committing about N37 million.

So it is not something you cajole anybody to join, I just want to do this willingly. Air Peace is ready, as long as there are Nigerians ready to leave that enclave, so is Air Peace ready to deploy our equipment and get them out. We want to send a signal to the larger Nigerian society that we should move away from obsession with money and people who make money. Let’s think about nationalism and when I am talking about nationalism I am talking about broad nationalism, not ethnic nationalism, I am Igbo, I am Yoruba, Fulani, or Hausa. We want to do something to encourage broad nationalism, when Nigerians will first and foremost say I am Nigerian before start talking about other things. What we have done with this evacuation is to tell the world, you don’t know what is happening now, all over the world, Nigeria is being respected because of this evacuation.

Because this is what Americans are known for.

If you threaten their citizen, they send in official planes to go and move them out. So we have been able to tell the world that nobody breaks Nigerians. We may have our differences within, but nobody can bend the resolve of Nigerians to be together.

But this is a huge sacriďŹ ce that you have made?

It is just my love for humanity that is all. If you know my antecedent, I have always done things like this. Remember when I held the Nigeria forever project that took me to the 36

states of Nigeria, where I was preaching one nation, where I was preaching broad nationalism in 2004. I did it singularly, I funded it myself alone, taking me and my over 2,000 followers round the 36 states of Nigeria in 2004 and doing the first Nigeria forever project which was supposed to encourage broad nationalism as against ethnic nationalism in Nigeria.

You remember what I did in the Niger Delta, how I started transforming the militants on my own before the oil companies and government realised what I was doing and keyed in. So it is always in my antecedent to do things like these. It is something I love doing for my nation.

Because I believe I cannot go to my grave with my wallet, my bank account, but I can go to my grave happily and peacefully with smiles and some legacies that will endure the test of time. So I did it in support of humanity, for the oneness of this nation and I did it in support of the federal government.

Were you frustrated with the immigration issues in South Africa?

Of course we were frustrated because this is a big bird (the aircraft); we deployed our Boeing 777 that could take 320 passengers, they profiled 320 for us to take today. We arrived South Africa 4am and didn’t depart until almost 5pm. That was about over 12 hours delay just for nothing. They told us that the South Africans were threatening Continued on page 29

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ONYEMA: WE MUST ALL EMBRACE NATIONALISM

Allen-Onyema the evacuation.

At a time when they had profiled only 20 people they didn’t want to continue profiling and you couldn’t have send this kind of big bird (aircraft) to go and take 20 people. We had some issues with them, they took some Nigerians who would have travelled, they scared a lot of Nigerians who would have been on this flight because they are saying they want to know how they even got into their country in the first place.

The High Commission of Nigeria was surprised.

At the end of the day we brought in about 187 people, so they are about 140 short of the number we would have taken. However, we are awaiting the directive of the Nigerian High Commission over there. The moment they come back to us, that maybe tomorrow we have another number to come and pick, we will dispatch them. Even this night another set of pilots can go into this airplane, return to South Africa this night to bring in another batch of Nigerians. The Nigerians are happy; I saw some people that their parents couldn’t return, but they sent their children ahead of them in order to gather their things. I saw so many of them in tears but tears of joy that at least they are alive to see today. So this is an opportunity for every Nigerian to understand that we can always make a difference. This is an opportunity and we have demonstrated to the world that no outsider can break our bond in this country. We may have our differences, but of course even people of the same parents may have differences, not to talk of people of different ethnic groups. We have about 378 ethnic nationalities that make up Nigeria. We may have differences, but the good thing is that in our 50 years of living as Nigerians we don’t want to go our separate ways. We want to be together and we demonstrated to the world that we want to be Nigerians and remain as Nigerians.

Away from the evacuation, you recently talked about aero-politics as a hindrance to the growth of Nigerian airlines. Can you explain further?

I have always said that our government should play aero-politics on our behalf because we discovered that Nigerian airlines are deliberately being frustrated by international aero-politics.

It is not the fault of our government and I am sure the president is very keen in promoting indigenous investment in this country; that I can assure you. This government removed duties from commercial aircraft import and commercial aircraft spares. So that is a very huge support for airlines in Nigeria. However, when it comes to international aero-politics, there is a lot waiting to be done. If you don’t play the politics right, you get your fingers burnt. Nigerian airlines have been on the receiving end over the years and of course all these other countries would bring one policy or the other to protect their own.

This is important for government to give serious consideration because the indigenous airlines are the ones providing the jobs. In Air Peace, you have over 3,000 staff, in Nigeria one person working takes care of about 10 other people. So Air Peace is taking care of over 300, 000 Nigerians every day. These people could have been unleashed onto the streets and they will do some things that are not okay. So, there must be a conscious effort to protect indigenous

airlines in this country. Government has done a great deal by removing all sorts of taxation like import duties and all that. Without that, Air Peace would have not have been able to own the size of fleet we own today. So I am very grateful to the federal government for that. It is not the fault of the federal government, Nigerians are very good people and the government is good. Nigeria and Ghana, we want to play by the rules but these other foreign countries don’t.

Domestic airlines are angry over the multiple entry points in Nigeria. But the argument is that it is what passengers want?

The multiple designation and multiple frequencies being given to foreign airlines should be stopped. Nigerian airlines can never grow if Turkish Airlines and other airlines fly from Istanbul, to Abuja. From Abuja to Port Harcourt and Port Harcourt to Abuja, Abuja back to Istanbul. This is not done anywhere.

Protecting us is not just bringing up policies to hound an airline but also stopping some of the decision of giving these multiple frequencies.

It will go a long way to protect Nigerian airlines.

If Turkish airlines is interested in Port Harcourt passengers, let Turkish airlines either fly straight to Port Harcourt, from Istanbul and fly back to Istanbul. They can look for a Nigerian airline to partner. The Nigerian airline will be acting as a feeder, by so doing you are increasing the financial status of these Nigerian carriers and that will promote jobs. All the 34 foreign airlines flying in this country, all their staff put together is not even up to 100 people. Air Peace alone is putting out about 3,000, with about 1,000 ancillary staff in the last four years. Likewise, at Aero, Sanusi is doing a great job with Aero, reviving the place, trying to give Nigeria her first real MRO (aircraft maintenance facility). That is what we are saying. The government should help us stop the proliferation of destinations and frequencies to these foreign airlines.

So, the argument that multi-designation is what the people want is flawed. You cannot impoverish the country doing that kind of thing. See every government has good intension; it is dependent on you and me to offer the right advice. There is no government that will wake up and want to diminish its economy, no. No government does that; no government will deliberately want to do that. It is the quality of advice the government gets that is the problem, and that advice will come from the media, will come from stakeholders. So we need at all times to protect the government too by giving them good advice. Let us help indigenous airlines to succeed; the government is on a good track by giving us all the waivers they gave us. The next thing is the ravaging of this country by foreign airlines. If that is not stopped it will continue to deplete our reserves through the money they repatriate out of this country and trying to pretend that they love us more than they love themselves. If we get it right, with the right policies in aviation, there are so many rich people in this country that can even turn aviation round but a lot are not ready to come into aviation because they are scared of certain policies. Policies of multi- designation of frequencies to foreign carriers will not encourage Nigerian investors to invest in the sector and keep the jobs and the money here.

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NCC Highlights Benefits of 5G Investments

Minister Reiterates Support for Mining Sector

Emma Okonji

Kasim Sumaina in Abuja

With 3.7 billion global unconnected population out of which 1.2 billion reside in Africa, the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, has told the global community that African continent holds the ace and that 5G is the next frontier of investment.

He assured the global community that Nigeria had already taken advantage of its population of over 200 million people to invest in 5G. Danbatta, spoke as a panellist on the topic, “5G Centre Play,� at the just concluded Intentional Telecommunications Union (ITU Telecom World 2019 in Budapest, Hungary.

With the representatives of global ICT giants, including Nokia, Orange, and AT&T among other panellists, Danbatta said 5G would provide a veritable and convincing investment for investors. He, however, said government alone cannot do it hence he beckoned on the private sector to take advantage of the opportunities provided by 5G and invest in Africa, which guarantees adequate returns on investment. “We need to look at 5G usage scenarios, and there are three of them: The enhanced mobile broadband applications, the ultra-reliable low latency applications and the Machine to Machine applications. “In our own part of the world, we are looking closely at these key areas of usage scenarios.

The one that African countries will subscribe to quickly is the enhanced mobile broadband applications. The reason is for this is that, African countries are trying to roll out broadband

infrastructure for broadband applications. So this will spur us on to ensure that we put in place the necessary infrastructure,�

Danbatta explained.

According to him, “African nations are trying to reserve the spectrum for the rollout of broadband services. Specifically, in Nigeria we are talking about three frequencies, 26, 38 and 42 GHz. “These frequencies exist and we are not licensing it for other applications. We are waiting in anticipation for the standardization process to be completed at the World Radio Communication (WRC) in Egypt and then we can see how we can go forward with the licensing processes in the three frequencies.�

Addressing the audience further, the NCC boss said the other important step that African countries are taking is to address new forms of anxiety that is occasioned by this emerging technology 5G. “There’s also the regulatory anxiety, and to do that successfully, just like we had done in the past with every service we deployed, we start with a proof of concept trial. And preparations are underway for this important trial to take place. The whole idea behind the trial is to be able to see what these challenges are,�

Danbatta said.

He further told the audience that African countries were currently exchanging information and experiences on what they are seeing, adding that “the promise of the 5G rollout in the area of enhanced broadband mobile services in our individual countries as well as addressing the anxiety of the citizens by giving them the information that will make them receptive to this technology that is already here.�

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Olamilekan Adegbite, has expressed his willingness to collaborate with stakeholders in the sector towards so as to position the sector to actualise the diversification agenda of the present administration.

The minister stated this in Abuja, when he recently received a delegation from Mining Association of Nigeria (MAN), as well as members of PWC and Infrastructure Partnership African Development (iPAD), who paid him a courtesy.

He noted that collaboration of all stakeholders was needed in harnessing the sector’s po-

tential to generate revenue and contribute to nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Adegbite, observed that the ministry would take concrete steps to address issues affecting the industry in order to broaden the range of opportunities available for the citizenry and create national wealth to fulfil the poverty alleviation plan of the federal government.

Similarly, the Minister of State of the ministry, Dr. Uchechukwu Ogah, appreciated the stakeholders for identifying with the ministry and urged them to embrace the industry as a key sector that would drive Nigeria to the next level.

In his address, the former President of MAN, Alhaji

Shehu Sani, revealed that the essence of the visit was to congratulate the ministers on their appointment to pilot the affairs of the ministry.

In his contribution, the new MAN’s President, Alhaji Kabir Mohammadu Kankari, acknowledged the efforts of former Ministers, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and Engr. Bawa Bwari, towards revitalising the sector.

This, he said included the provision of vehicles for state and federal mining officers, decentralising the activities of mining cadastral officers, and actively supporting the Nigerian mining week, among others things.

He, however, highlighted some challenges bedevilling the sector such as risk

mechanism, mining communities’ challenges, illegal mining operations, unlawful interference by State and Local government, lack of geological information to attract more foreign and local investors, among others factors and solicited for adequate solution to the problems.

The representatives of PWC and iPAD, Messers Cyril Azoba and Kudakwasha Tsingano, respectively, briefed the ministers on the upcoming 2019 Mining Week.

They disclosed that programmes and activities were being put in place to make it a colourful event and also used the opportunity to extend their invitation to all stakeholders in the industry.

PRODUCTLAUNCH

L-R: Personnel Director, Michelin Nigeria Plc, George Ihenacho; Commercial Director, Mr. Sunday Hart; Marketing Director, Mrs. Chioma Alonge, and company’s Finance Director, Mr. Michael Okoko, at the launch of Michelin Pilot Sport SUVTyre, in Lagos‌recently SUNDAY ADIGUN

Firm Commences Empowerment Programme NDPHC Begins Power RecommissioningTest Oluchi Chibuzor An indigenous firm has announced it readiness to bankroll start-ups with the sum of N1 million.

Speaking at the launch of the initiative, tagged, “Feed Tonight Foundation’s Entrepreneurship programme (FTF Entrepreneurship Programme),’ recently in Lagos, the Managing Director/ CEO, Culture Communications Limited, Mr. Yomi Benson, said the idea was to give start-ups seed capital required to succeed.

He, said the move was part of their commitment to SMEs in the country. “It is important to state that you might already have a business that requires funding or have an idea that requires funding, whatever it is you qualify to participate in this N1 million programme. “It will be added value if you already have a business running.�

He urged interested business owners to register via a dedicated website. “Come October 2019 the winner would be announced, and seed fund would be transferred

into the winners account,� he added.

He noted that the contest was open to anybody within Nigeria, irrespective of educational background or ethnicity, adding that participation and opportunity to win would be easy.

According to him; “Culture Communications is doing this because we believe beyond profit, we need purpose, beyond business you need purpose and beyond success you need a purpose that is what elevates your body, mind and soul.�

However, he pointed out that top10 ideas would be shortlisted for final pitching session after a screening process. Thereafter, a winner would emerge. Also, panellists for the final pitching session would be made up of Nigerians across various sectors of the economy who have distinguished themselves in management of business He said the FTF Entrepreneurship Program would be an annual four-week events that would see one individual emerge as the winner of the prize money.

in Ondo South James Sowole in Akure Hope that electricity would soon be restored to residents of the over 2000 communities in Ondo South Senatorial District has risen as the federal government has started the recommissioning test of the massive electricity projects in the area after years of disconnection from the national grid.

The Executive Director of Engineering and Technical Services, at the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), Mr Ife Oyedele, disclosed this at a media parley in Akure, explaining the level of work so far.

Some communities in the Southern Senatorial District of the Sunshine State, had been cut off the national grid for over 12 years and which had been affecting cost of doing business in the area adversely.

However, Oyedele at the news briefing assured that they would have power supply soon because the

re-electrification projects have been completed in many of the affected communities.

The communities are situated in four local government areas of the district namely: Okitipupa, Irele, Ese-Odo and Ilaje.

The Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), had in 2014 disconnected the entire communities claiming that consumers were owing N2 billion debt.

Oyedele, however, noted that some communities had been plunged into darkness for over 12 years before the general 2014 incident, assuring that the Vice President, Prof.

Yemi Osinbajo would soon commission the projects.

Listing some of the completed projects, Oyesele said electricity would soon be restored to Ajagba, Igbokoda, Okitipupa and Igodan-Lisa, while rehabilitation had been completed with Ondo to Ore, and Ore to Irele among other towns. “Right now what we are

doing is recommissioning test. Our work is to restore power supply. In few weeks to come, the people in the area will have electricity and will be reconnected to the National grid.�

Speaking on the face-off between the people of the area, who had accused BEDC of estimated and arbitrary billing, he said, “I am not aware that any debts being owed by any people, but in any case what I know is that every consumer applies to be connected for power supply. “It is an individual thing not community thing. But I know that in Ondo South Senatorial District, the place is not classified as eligible customers. This is an individual thing to those who applied from former NEPA. But I know that if you have outstanding you have to pay.�

On the prepaid metering policy, the Executive Director added that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Com-

mission (NERC) had designed an easy metering plan for the electricity providers and consumers. “It is the responsibility and duty of DISCO to provide metres to all their customers all across the country. Anybody wishes to have this metres should approach disco.�

Oyedele, said the current intervention on electricity in the area was solely a federal government project.

He said: “This projects were conceived by the Vice President, designed by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company and awarded to contractors that have passed the test and it has nothing to do with any individual. “It is purely the federal government sponsored projects and held by the Niger Delta Power Holding Limited. It has nothing to do with politics, it is about development, in provision of infrastructure; it has nothing to do with any state or local government.�

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 16, 2019 • T H I S D AY

31

32

IMAGES

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍŻÍ´Ëœ Ͱ͎ͯ͡

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

L-R: Zamfara State Governor, Mohammed Bello; Jigawa State Governor, Badaru Abubakar; Chairman, Northern Governors Forum and Plateau State Governor , Simon Lalong; Niger State Governor, Sani Bello; and Sokoto State Governor, AminuTambuwal, at the Commissioning of the Northern Nigeria Developement Company [NNDC) Shopping Mall in Kaduna...recently idris egaji

L-R: City Lawyer/Partner, JURISLAW, Mr.. Emeka Okafo; Justice Onochie Anyachebelu; his sister, Mrs Ngozi Obikili at the swearing-in of Anyachebelu as Anambra State Chief Judge in Awka.... recently

L-R: National Coordinator, Odua People’s congress, Odunayo Ogunmoye; National Leader, Abdulsalam Ambali; National President Worldwide, OPC, Aare Prince Osibote; Woman Leader, Sherifatu Lawal; and General Secretary, Lateef Lawal, at the inauguration of the OPC national executive worldwide at Century Hotel Okota, Isolo, Lagos... recently

L-R: Master Adedamola Oni, Mrs Olufunke Oni, Dr Olufemi Oni, Mrs Oluwatoyin Olumoroti and Mr Sola Oni after Graduation Ceremony of Dr Olufemi Oni at Pirogov National Medical University, Vinnitsa, Ukraine...recently

APC National Chairman Comrade Adams Oshiomhole with some APC Women Leader during an audience with APC National, Zonal and State Women Leaders held at the Council Chambers, State House in Abuja...recently State House

L-R; Non-Executive Director, FBNQuest Trustees, Patrick Mgbenwelu; MD, FBNQuest Trustees, Adekunle Awojobi; Group Chairman, FBN Holdings Plc., Dr. Oba Otudeko; Senior Partner, TLcom Capital LLP, Dr. Omobola Johnson; MD/CEO, FBNQuest Merchant Bank, Kayode Akinkugbe and DMD, FBNQuest Merchant Bank, Taiwo Okeowo, at the 40th Anniversary event of FBNQuest Trustees in Lagos... recently.

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍŻÍ´Ëœ Ͱ͎ͯ͡

33

L-R: Chairman, Board of Trustees and Representative of Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo; Pastor Idowu Iluyomade; National Overseer, Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Josiah Obayemi; Awardee, Honorary Doctor of Science (D.SC.) and Chairman, AMNI Exploration Development Company, Chief( Dr)Tunde Afolabi; Awardee, Honourary Degree of Doctor of Business Administration (D.BA), Managing Director/CEO, Unity Bank Plc, MrsTomi Somefun; Pro-chancellor, PastorTokunbo Adesanya; and Registrar, Mr Emman Akindele, during the 11th convocation of Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State...recently

L-R: Head, Enterprise Risk Management, Ms. Olubukola Koyenikan; Head, Brand and Corporate Communications, Anchor Insurance Company Limited, Mr. Nelson Egboboh; Executive Director, Technical, Mr. Adebisi Ikuomola; Managing Director/Chief Executive OďŹƒcer, Mr. Augustine Ebose; and General Manager, Business Development, Mr. Olajide Fasanmi, during the media launch of Travel and Agriculture Insurance policies by Anchor Insurance Company Limited in Lagos‌recently SUNDAY ADIGUN

L-R: Founder, Words on Marbe, Nkiru Uzoh; Director of Islamic Aairs/Chief Imam of the Nigerian Navy, Commander Gidado TaoďŹ q and Head of Department, Theatre Arts and Music, Lagos State University (LASU), Prof. Olushola Fosudo, during the Public lecture entitled: Responding to the Challenge of Youth, Family and Society: The Millennia’s Response, at the University of Lagos‌recently

L-R: Marketing Manager, Spectranet 4G LTE, Samson Akejelu; Chief Executive OďŹƒcer, Ajay Awasthi; Head, Customer Service, Kapil Mehta; Customer Service Manager, Busola Akindele, and National Head of Sales, Joe Mazeli; during the oďŹƒcial opening of Spectranet Experience Centre in Lagos‌recently AKINYELE ABAYOMI

L -R: Vice President, Sales, Africa YahClick,Michael Brown; Channels Manager, iSat, Yomi Oluremekun; and Country Manager, YahClick Nigeria, Khalil Faouaz, at the YahClick and iSAT partnership agreement announcement in Lagos... recently ETOP UKUTT

L – R; Divisional Head, Listing Business, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Olumide Bolumole; Executive Director, Corporate Strategy SystemSpecs Mr. Aderemi Atanda; Chief Executive OďŹƒcer, NSE, Mr. Oscar N. Onyema; Lecturer, Department of Mathematics, University of Lagos, Dr. Mary Akinyemi, and Divisional Head, Trading Business, NSE, Jude Chiemeka, during the Nigerian Stock Exchange Market Data Workshop 2019 theme: Partnerships, Products and the Customer at Harbour Point, Victoria Island, Lagos..recently

34

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍŻÍ´Ëœ 2019

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Traders Lament Poor Businesses in Onitsha Markets David-Chyddy Eleke Ă“Ă˜ ĂĄĂ•Ă‹ Traders in Onitsha, Anambra State have blamed poor turnover in business in the city on the activities of touts who regularly scam unsuspecting members of the public who patronise the market.

The chairman of Building Materials International Market, situated along Enugu/ Onitsha Express Road, Mr Jude Nwankwo, revealed this in a chat with THISDAY in the market. He said the leadership of the market resolved to embark on a sanitisation exercise to flush out touts in the market.

He said, “We are set to rid the market of fake and unregistered traders who had in the past

allegedly duped or misinformed customers who come to the market to transact businesses.�

He said the touts who consist of young men, all of who do not have shops in the market usually approach customers to help them (customers) procure some wares, only to sell to them at very high cost after collecting the products from other people’s shops, or out rightly making away with their money.

Nwankwo, revealed that the touts have ended up giving the market a bad name, and that this has affected sales in the market. “The present leadership has decided to end the menace of market touting in order to give the market a brightening image which it rightly deserves

with the cooperation of other members of the executive. “Most often, customers complain of substandard products bought from the markets, and would vow never to pay another visit to the market to patronise them after numerous bitter experiences,� he added.

Nwankwo, disclosed that fake revenue agents who flood the market premises would also be thrown out to enable genuine investors seek ways of partnering with traders for development and business boom.

Touting has remained a major problem in most markets in Onitsha, with some even posing as revenue agents to disposes customers of their monies in the market.

Popular Farms Invests $70m to Enhance Rice, Sesame Production Ibrahim Shuaibu Ă“Ă˜ Ă‹Ă˜Ă™ The management of Popular Farms and Mills Limited, a subsidiary of Stallion group has invested over $70 million to boost production of varieties of agricultural produces especially on paddy rice and sesame in Nigeria, as to enhance economic fortune of the country.

The Managing Director, Popular Farms and Mills based in Kano, Mr. Amit Kumar Rai, disclosed this at the weekend, during the 7th annual supply chain meeting of stakeholders and workers.

He declared that the group was targeting 1.50 million tons of paddy per annual in Nigeria through the setting up of additional milling facilities.

Ral, said the focus of the group was to make Nigeria self-sufficient in rice production. “In the course of its interaction and integration services,

the company entered into an MOU, with over 1,151 cooperative groups, having 41,486 member-farmers as well as 65,715 hectares of rice farm area, with an installed milling capacity of 430 metric tonnes per annum and projected a capacity of 44,000 tons,� he said.

According to him, the company has also fulfilled its commitment to spend a dedicated budget, toward achieving expansion of rice and sesame value-chain backward integration initiative, in association with various partners. “Our plan is to spearhead and lead the Nigerian rice revolution to self-sufficiency in rice production. We intend to achieve this through training to over 24, 264 rice out growers across the producing states and cooperatives, as well as empowering women and youths in the rice value chain.’ ‘’To sustain our vision

statement of ensuring genetic integrity of rice, we have introduced fairly priced certified ‘popular seeds’ for our valuable stakeholders. “We have collaborated National Agricultural Seeds Council for the purpose of producing and satisfying the locally released and grown genetic seeds. ‘’The company is leveraging on the policy impetus provided by the federal government through its Green alternative agricultural agenda. This enabled us to have upgraded our local rice milling capacity to 430,000 metric tons per annum,� he added. The Managing Director added that the company, which has been operating for about 50 years in the country was one of the largest automated rice milling unit in the country, with an annual installed milling capacity of 150,000 metric tons, with direct contact of 35,000 farmers.

Leadway Pensure Rewards Entrepreneurs Ugo Aliogo Leadway Pensure, has rewarded 10 lucky Nigerian entrepreneurs with amazing prizes in its #PensureHustle campaign.

According to a statement from the company, the campaign, which was open to business owners living in Nigeria, and entries were received from participants who were required to follow the company’s social media pages and upload a 60 second video stating their business goals and what business support items they require to achieve the said goals.

It explained that many business owners from various vocations such as fishery, fashion

designing, trading, poultry, baking, make-up artistry, design, art, photography and nutrition participated in the contest across the brand’s social media channels - twitter, instagram and facebook.

It revealed that 10 top participants with amazing entries were selected and rewarded with gift items ranging from a single door display fridge, industrial over locking weaving machine, power generating set, deep freezer, rhinestone stoning machine, electric oven and so much more. “Projecting its commitment to the future financial security of the Nigerian citizens, micro-pension, retirement savings accounts were opened for the 10 winners in

order to help them plan towards retirement.

In her remarks, the Managing Director of Leadway Pensure PFA, Ronke Adedeji, said: “As a leading PFA, we are dedicated to supporting and promoting socio-economic progress, while maintaining our record of excellent pension management services. “That is why we persistently look for opportunities to help our customers advance in their chosen careers and get more out of life.�

Last year, Leadway Pensure sponsored 20 individuals for various short courses and certifications through their #letmeshowyoutheleadway campaign.

Heritage,NEXIM CEOs,Others for FICAN Conference The Managing Directors of Heritage Bank Limited and Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) Limited have all confirmed their attendance at the forthcoming Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN) annual conference holding in Lagos.

The event, slated for Saturday September 21, at Golden Tulip Hotel, Festac Town, Lagos, would have the Managing Director, NEXIM, Abubakar Bello deliver the keynote speech while Managing Director/CEO Heritage Bank

Limited, Ifie Sekibo would be the guest speaker. They would be speaking on the theme: “Unlocking Opportunities in Nigeria’s Non-Oil Sector�.

A panel discussion would feature the Director Corporate Communications at the Central Bank of Nigeria, Isaac Okoroafor; Head of Tax and Corporate Advisory Services, PwC Nigeria, Taiwo Oyedele; Senior Lecturer at Lagos Business School, Adi Bongo as well as officials from other banks. In a statement, FICAN said unlock-

ing the non-oil sector requires collaborative efforts between the government and private sector, adding that opportunities in the sector have to be harnessed for effective economic growth. “The non-oil sector is critical to Nigeria’s sustainable economic growth as it is the largest source of employment to the country’s huge young population. Before the discovery of crude oil in Nigeria in 1956, the non-oil sector, especially the agricultural sector, was the mainstay of the economy.

L-R: National Marketing Manager, Seven-Up Bottling Company Limited, Segun Ogunleye; Aquafina Elite Model Look, East andWest Africa (Aquafina EML) male category winner, Jeff Jordy Cubahiro (from Rwanda); Creative Director, Elite Model Look, Nigeria, Elizabeth Elohor, and female category winner, Tashana Afia Zarad(from Ghana), at the Aquafina EML Final, held in Lagos‌recenntly

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

NOVEMBER 2018 Money Supply (M3)

31,794,803.44

-- CBN Bills Held by Money Holding Sectors

6,333,064.28

Money Supply (M2)

25,461,739.17

-- Quasi Money

14,773,076.98

-- Narrow Money (M1)

10,688,662.18

---- Currency Outside Banks

1,711,763.59

---- Demand Deposits

8,976,898.59

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

18,990,400.78

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

12,804,402.66

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

26,062,986.22

---- Credit to Government (Net)

2,980,229.66

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

7,093,619.43

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

-4,144,571.43

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

23,082,756.56

--Other Assets Net

13,258,583.57

Reserve Money (Base Money

6,811,192.37

--Currency in Circulation

2,100,129.91

--Banks Reserves

4,366,259.05

Ëž Ă™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă? Ě‹

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month Inter-Bank Call Rate

March 2018 15.16

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

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

11.84

Savings Deposit Rate

4.07

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.82

3 Months Deposit Rate

9.72

6 Months Deposit Rate

10.93

12 Months Deposit Rate

10.21

Prime Lending rate

17.35

Maximum Lending Rate

31.55

Ëž Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂ‹ĂœĂŁ ÙÖÓĂ?ĂŁ Ă‹ĂžĂ? Ě‹ ͯ͹Ϲ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE Ëœ ÍŻÍ° Ͱ͎ͯ͡

The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $60.51 a barrel on Thursday, compared with $62.08 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

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

SOURCE: OPEC headquarters, Vienna

35

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍŻÍ´Ëœ Ͱ͎ͯ͡

MARKET NEWS

NPF Microfinance Bank to Raise N3.4 Billion via Rights Issue Goddy Egene NPF Microfinance Bank Plc is to inject fresh capital of N3.43 billion into its operations. In a notification to stock market operators, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) said the NPF Microfinance Bank had submitted an application for a rights issue of 2,286,657,766 shares of 50 kobo each at N1.50 per share. The rights issue would be made to existing shareholders in the ratio of one new share

for every one already held. The microfinance bank recently paid a dividend of N114 million or five kobo per share for the year ended December 31, 2018.

The financial institution ended 2018 with a decline of 69 per cent in profit after tax.

The Managing Director/CEO of NPF Microfinance Bank, Mr. Akinwunmi Lawal, explained to the shareholders at the 25th annual general meeting (AGM) recently that PAT fell to N195.7 million in 2018, from N631.89

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

million in 2017.

According to him, the decline in bottomline was caused by a fraud and impact International Financial Reporting Standard ( IFRS) 9, which took effect in the accounting year under review.

However, Lawal disclosed that part of the money involved in the fraud had been recovered, assuring that the balance was being pursued through all legal means. “We are thus confident of recovering the money which has been fully provided for in

S E C U R I T I E S

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

the financial statements. Let me also add that it is normal to have an initial significant impact on an organisation’s financials with the implementation of IFRS 9. Subsequently we are sure that the effect in the following year will not be as impactful as this. The IFRS 9 Expected Loss Model replaces the IAS 39 incurred loss model which terminated last year December 31, 2017 by regulations. “We have immediately commenced the training of our staff on the

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

methodology of the IFRS 9 model with a view to fortifying ourselves on the rudiment of the new regime to be better able to carry out valuation of our financial assets,� he said.

The Chairman, NPF Microfinance Bank, Azubuko Udah, said that the year 2018 marked the end of the three years strategy which commenced in 2016,noting that plans for the next three years, from 2019 to 2021 had been put in place to position the bank to

O F

new height in the provision of microfinance services.

According to him, to propel this strategy, the bank was considering it vital to recapitalize by raising more funds from existing shareholders and inviting new investors to have a stake.

He added that the bank would also leverage on technology through alternative banking channels to increase market share significantly by growing organically, the number of her customers.

1 2 / 0 9 / 2 0 1 9 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

36

˾ MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2019

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH, 2019 ŽŵĞƐƟĐ ƋƵŝƟĞƐ DĂƌŬĞƚ: ĞĂƌŝƐŚ ZƵŶ ZĞǀĞƌƐĞĚ͙

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 INDEX

E^ ^/ hƉ Ϯ͘ϯй t-o-t Following buying interest in h -WZKW (+51.5%), & E, (+24.1%) and ^ W> d (+15.ϳйͿ͕ ƚŚĞ ĚŽŵĞƐƟĐ ďŽƵƌƐĞ trended upward as the ASI rose 2.3% W-o-W to 27,779.00

Fundamental Performance Metrics for THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 Index

Ticker

Current Price

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40

points while YTD loss eased to -11.6%. Similarly, investors ŐĂŝŶĞĚ Eϯϭϲ͘ϮďŶ ĂƐ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐĂƉŝƚĂůŝƐĂƟŽŶ ƐƚƌĞŶŐƚŚĞŶĞĚ ƚŽ

Eϭϯ͘ϱƚŶ͘ ,ŽǁĞǀĞƌ͕ ĂĐƟǀŝƚLJ ůĞǀĞů ǁĂƐ ŵŝdžĞĚ ĂƐ ĂǀĞƌĂŐĞ volume gained 4.2% to 229.4m units while value pared

ǁĞĞŬ͘ &Žƌ ƚŚĞ ĮƌƐƚ ƚǁŽ ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ ĚĂLJƐ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ͕ ƚŚĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ Ϭ͘Ϯй ůŽƐƐ ĂƉŝĞĐĞ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ƉƌŝĐĞ ĚĞƉƌĞĐŝĂƟŽŶ in E ^d> , ^d E / , EE and E' D. Meanwhile,

-19.0%

18.9%

18.6%

5.7%

4.8x

0.7x

7.2%

-20.0%

-20.1%

34.8%

5.2%

4.1x

1.4x

10.0%

24.2%

2 Zenith Bank PLC

19.05

1.9%

12.7%

-17.4%

-17.4%

24.8%

3.4%

3.1x

0.7x

14.8%

31.9%

3 Dangote Cement PLC

/Zd > &Z/ and d/ moved the market higher on Friday.

17.6%

155.40

0.3%

9.2%

-18.1%

-16.5%

51.6%

23.4%

6.7x

3.2x

10.3%

15.0%

1,200.00

0.0%

8.2%

-19.2%

-18.6%

105.8%

29.7%

19.9x

20.7x

4.9%

5.0%

51.05

0.6%

4.5%

-40.3%

-34.8%

8.5%

3.8%

28.2x

2.5x

4.8%

3.5%

5.40

4.9%

4.5%

-32.1%

-32.5%

9.4%

1.0%

3.9x

0.4x

4.8%

25.4%

16.90

0.3%

4.9%

-12.9%

-12.9%

5.8%

5.4%

6.7x

0.7x

2.4%

14.9%

6.30

3.3%

4.4%

-18.2%

-19.2%

15.5%

1.7%

2.7x

0.4x

13.5%

37.4%

3.3x

0.4x

3.9%

30.3%

6.9%

6 FBN Holdings Plc

9 International Brew eries PLC

12.00

0.0%

1.7%

-60.7%

-61.9%

-23.2%

-2.3%

460.00

2.2%

3.2%

-28.1%

-28.1%

13.7%

8.7%

11 Access Bank PLC

7.25

2.8%

4.5%

6.6%

11.5%

22.8%

2.2%

1.8x

0.4x

12 Ecobank Transnational Inc

8.00

9.6%

2.0%

-42.9%

-44.1%

15.9%

1.1%

2.3x

0.4x

13 Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC

35.00

-2.1%

2.4%

-27.0%

-27.0%

28.0%

4.4%

5.5x

1.4x

5.7%

14 Unilever Nigeria PLC

29.30

0.0%

2.4%

-20.8%

-20.8%

12.2%

7.5%

17.8x

2.2x

5.2%

15 Lafarge Africa PLC

14.70

-1.0%

2.5%

18.1%

22.5%

2.1%

0.7%

16 Guinness Nigeria PLC

37.00

0.0%

0.8%

-48.6%

-48.6%

6.2%

3.5%

14.8x

0.9x

4.1%

6.8%

17 Okomu Oil Palm PLC

48.40

9.6%

1.0%

-36.5%

-36.5%

18.2%

13.5%

9.1x

1.6x

6.2%

11.0%

3.6x

-7.6%

54.2% 44.1%

1.0x

18.1% 5.6% -0.2%

18 Total Nigeria PLC

100.00

0.0%

0.8%

-50.7%

-50.7%

9.2%

1.8%

13.3x

1.3x

17.0%

7.5%

19 11 PLC

158.00

0.0%

1.3%

-14.8%

-14.8%

24.8%

10.9%

7.1x

1.6x

5.5%

14.1%

13.50

2.3%

0.9%

-41.6%

-39.2%

3.1%

1.1%

11.9x

0.4x

8.9%

3.80

-2.8%

1.1%

-24.0%

-20.8%

14.3%

2.5%

1.7x

0.2x

22 Fidelity Bank PLC

1.70

1.8%

1.1%

-16.3%

-16.3%

12.4%

1.4%

2.0x

0.2x

6.5%

23 Transnational Corp of Nigeria

1.05

2.9%

1.0%

-20.5%

-18.6%

14.2%

3.2%

4.5x

0.6x

2.9%

22.3%

24 Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC

9.60

3.2%

0.7%

-37.0%

-35.1%

20.7%

11.4%

5.6x

1.2x

11.5%

17.8%

26 FCMB Group Plc

1.70

1.2%

0.7%

-10.1%

-5.6%

9.2%

1.2%

2.0x

27 UAC of Nigeria PLC

6.60

6.5%

0.4%

-32.3%

-30.9%

-6.9%

-3.3%

21 Oando PLC

market on Wednesday and Thursday while gains in

Divindend Earnings Yield Yield

19.1%

20 Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC

gains in E ^d> , ^ W> d and 'h Z Edz buoyed the

P/BV

0.2%

10 SEPLAT Petroleum Development C

'ĂŝŶƐ ǁĞƌĞ ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ ŽŶ ϯ ŽĨ ϱ ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ ĚĂLJƐ ĚƵƌŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ

P/E

1.03%

7 Cement Co Northern Nigeria PLC

E/d, (N1.2bn) and ^^ (N794.4m) led by value.

ROA

27.55

8 United Bank for Africa PLC

units) and & E, (92.9m units) while 'h Z Edz (N5.8bn),

ROE

1,189.08

5 Nigerian Brew eries PLC

volume were 'h Z Edz (219.0m units), ^^ (115.0m

Price Change Index to Date

1 Guaranty Trust Bank PLC

4 Nestle Nigeria PLC

ϭϳ͘ϲй ƚŽ EϮ͘ϴďŶ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͘ dŚĞ ƚŽƉ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ďLJ

Price Previous Current Change Price Weightin YTD Change g

8.4% 58.0% 50.3%

25 Diamond Bank PLC

ĐƌŽƐƐ ƐĞĐƚŽƌƐ͕ ϱ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ƵŶĚĞƌ ŽƵƌ ĐŽǀĞƌĂŐĞ ŐĂŝŶĞĚ t-ot͘ WƌŝĐĞ ĂƉƉƌĞĐŝĂƟŽŶ ŝŶ ^ W> d (+15.7%), &KZd (+14.1%), & E, (+24.1%) and d/ (+11.9%) moved the Oil & Gas and ĂŶŬŝŶŐ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ƵƉ ϳ͘Ϯй ĂŶĚ ϱ͘ϭй t-o-t ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͘ Also, the AFR-/ d ĂŶĚ ŽŶƐƵŵĞƌ 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ŐĂŝŶĞĚ ϯ͘ϳй and 0.6% W-o-t ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ĨŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ ďƵLJŝŶŐ ŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ŝŶ DdEE (+0.7%) and E'^h' Z (+9.7%). The Industrial 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚĞdž ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ Ϭ͘ϱй ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ŐĂŝŶƐ ŝŶ t W K

0.2x

8.2%

49.6%

0.3x

9.7%

-28.0%

2.35

0.0%

0.8%

23.7%

23.7%

8.1%

0.8%

7.7x

0.6x

29 Presco PLC

44.80

0.0%

0.3%

-30.0%

-30.0%

7.3%

4.6%

13.4x

1.7x

4.7%

7.5%

30 NASCON Allied Industries PLC

12.70

0.0%

0.3%

-29.4%

-29.4%

35.9%

12.1%

9.2x

3.1x

7.9%

10.9%

31 Forte Oil PLC

28 Sterling Bank PLC

16.55

7.8%

0.2%

-39.8%

-40.9%

48.9%

7.4%

2.6x

1.3x

32 Union Bank of Nigeria PLC

7.00

0.0%

0.5%

25.0%

25.0%

7.0%

1.1%

11.3x

0.9x

33 Julius Berger Nigeria PLC

18.55

0.0%

0.3%

-7.7%

-16.1%

21.8%

2.5%

3.4x

0.7x

117.5%

38.3%

34 PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC

13.0%

38.9% 8.9% 10.5%

29.5%

5.90

0.0%

0.1%

-51.2%

-52.0%

24.75

0.0%

0.2%

-29.0%

-29.0%

36 Wema Bank PLC

0.59

0.0%

0.2%

-6.3%

-6.3%

7.8%

0.7%

5.7x

0.4x

5.1%

17.6%

37 Beta Glass PLC

59.75

0.0%

0.2%

-12.5%

-12.5%

16.8%

11.3%

6.0x

0.9x

2.4%

16.7%

38 Dangote Flour Mills Plc

35 Chemical and Allied Products P

23.2x

0.5x

2.5%

4.3%

8.7x

10.5x

11.7%

11.4%

22.05

0.2%

0.6%

221.9%

234.1%

-30.8%

-9.1%

39 Transcorp Hotels Plc

5.40

0.0%

0.1%

-11.5%

-11.5%

5.1%

2.6%

14.3x

0.7x

40 AXA Mansard Insurance PLC

1.71

-2.3%

0.1%

-6.6%

-6.6%

9.4%

2.6%

8.7x

0.8x

;нϭ͘ϰйͿ͘ ŽŶǀĞƌƐĞůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ /ŶƐƵƌĂŶĐĞ ŝŶĚĞdž ǁĂƐ ĚŽǁŶ ϭ͘ϱй t

3.9x

-9.6% 3.0%

7.0% 11.6%

T o p 10 G a i n e r s

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

-o-t ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ďĂĐŬ ŽĨ ƐĞůů-ŽīƐ ŝŶ KEd/E^hZ (-8.0%) and T ic k er

D E &/d (-4.8%).

/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ƐƚƌĞŶŐƚŚĞŶĞĚ ĂƐ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďƌĞĂĚƚŚ ;ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞͬĚĞĐůŝŶĞ ƌĂƟŽͿ ŝŶĐŚĞĚ ŚŝŐŚĞƌ ƚŽ Ϯ͘Ϭdž ĂƐ ϯϴ ƟĐŬĞƌƐ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ ĂŐĂŝŶƐƚ ϭϵ ƚŚĂƚ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ͘ h -WZKW (+51.5%), & E, (+24.1%) and ^ W> d ;нϭϱ͘ϳйͿ ůĞĚ ƚŚĞ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞƌƐ while d,KD ^tz (-9.5%), KEd/E^hZ (-8.0%) and

Vo lum e

P ric e C hg %

GUA R A N T Y

42.5

0.2%

NP FM CRFB K

Z EN IT H B A N K

22.5

1.9%

OKOM UOIL

M B EN EF IT

13.4

0.0%

ET I

UB A

12.4

3.3%

UA C -P R OP

8.8

4.9%

C A D B UR Y

A C C ESS

6.5

2.8%

LIVEST OC K

T R A N SC OR P

6.4

2.9%

A IR T ELA F R I

FB NH

ĨƵŶĚĂŵĞŶƚĂůůLJ ƐŽƵŶĚ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ƚŚƌŽƵŐŚ ďĂƌŐĂŝŶ ŚƵŶƟŶŐ͘

Afrinvest West Africa Limited

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

1.22

9.9%

48.40

9.6%

8.00

9.6%

1.50

9.5%

10.75

8.6%

0.39

8.3%

350.00

8.2%

F ID ELIT YB K

4.8

1.8%

FO

16.55

7.8%

LA SA C O

4.0

7.1%

LA SA C O

0.30

7.1%

LIVEST OC K

3.3

8.3%

UA C N

6.60

6.5%

K E K (-ϳ͘ϯйͿ ůĞĚ ůŽƐĞƌƐ͘ tĞ ĞdžƉĞĐƚ ďĞĂƌŝƐŚ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ƚŽ ƌĞƐƵŵĞ ŶĞdžƚ ǁĞĞŬ͕ ĂůƚŚŽƵŐŚ ƚŚĞƌĞ ŝƐ ƌŽŽŵ ĨŽƌ ŐĂŝŶƐ ŝŶ

T ic k er

T o p 10 L o s e r s

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

Value

P ric e C hg %

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

GUA R A N T Y

1168.1

0.2%

T ic k er C H A M P ION

1.30

-5.8%

Z EN IT H B A N K

427.8

1.9%

WA P IC

0.37

-5.1%

M TNN

269.7

0.4%

UN ION D A C

0.24

-4.0%

D A N GC EM

167.2

0.3%

OA N D O

3.80

-2.8%

UB A

77.4

3.3%

M A N SA R D

1.71

-2.3%

SEP LA T

52.3

2.2%

ST A N B IC

FB NH

47.8

4.9%

A C C ESS

47.3

2.8%

N EST LE

46.9

0.0%

ST A N B IC

39.5

-2.1%

35.00

-2.1%

H ON YF LOUR

0.95

-2.1%

WA P C O

14.70

-1.0%

Asset Management

Investment Research

Ayodeji Ebo | aebo@afrinvest.com

Ola Belgore | obelgore@afrinvest.com

Robert Omotunde | romotunde@afrinvest.com

Adedoyin Allen | aallen@afrinvest.com

Oluwarotimi Ashimi | oashimi@afrinvest.com

Adedayo Bakare | abakare@afrinvest.com

Brokerage

37

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

MARKET NEWS

FBNQuest Trustees Restates Commitment to Quality Service Delivery Goddy Egene The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of FBNQuest Trustees, an FBN Holdings company, Mr. Adekunle Awojobi, has restated the company’s commitment to excellently serving its clients across diverse sectors to ensure that their legacies are

preserved.

Awojobi stated this while speaking on the 40th anniversary of the company in Lagos.

He said: “From when we began our journey in 1979, FBNQuest Trustees has delivered impeccable solutions for the safekeeping of our clients’ assets, the transfer of generational wealth, and the

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

preservation of their legacies. We are extremely proud to be a part of the 125 year old legacy of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, and the rich heritage of FBN Holdings as we celebrate a 40 year track record of distinction, dependability and professionalism in the trustee business. We want to thank everyone who

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 12Sep-2019, unless otherwise stated.

has contributed to the growth of the company over the years, as we continue to provide excellent services to our clients. We also take this opportunity to recommit to excellently serving our clients across diverse sectors to ensure that their legacies are preserved.”

According to him, FBNQuest Trustees is the first trust

company to publish an educative compendium on estate planning to actively engage, and educate stakeholders, on the importance of Estate Planning in Nigeria, through its Legacy Series and is a pioneer for Islamic finance in Nigeria, which led to its co-management of the first government issued Sukuk

instrument launched by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 2017.

The company, he added, also partnered and organised a stakeholder engagement on Voluntary Asset and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) and its implications for estate planning.

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 140.13 141.90 -10.97% Afrinvest Plutus Fund 100.00 100.00 12.35% Nigeria International Debt Fund 269.54 269.54 -1.35% 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 3.87% ACAP Income Funds 0.77 0.77 34.70% 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 12.23% AIICO Balanced Fund 2.36 2.39 6.17% 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 13.75 14.17 -17.10% ARM Discovery Fund 321.52 331.21 -9.85% ARM Ethical Fund 27.67 28.51 -2.01% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.34% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA Mansard Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com ; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund 1.86 1.86 11.02% 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 100.00 100.00 13.60% Paramount Equity Fund 11.95 12.06 1.22% Women's Investment Fund 106.99 107.69 3.33% 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 11.65% Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 94.42 95.10 Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 95.69 96.43 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 N/A N/A N/A EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B N/A N/A N/A EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 0.00 0.00 -93.79% FBN BALANCED FUND 139.47 140.40 -2.32% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.68% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional 119.85 120.12 8.41% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail 120.09 120.36 8.89% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 120.26 122.02 -19.83% FIRST CITY ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD fcamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Web: www.fcamltd.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Legacy Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 10.65% Legacy Debt Fund 3.53 3.53 8.68% Legacy Equity Fund 1.04 1.06 -14.50% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.07 1.07 3.62% 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 2,936.72 2,964.62 -1.61% Coral Income Fund 2,994.78 2,994.78 9.29% FSDH Treasury Bills Fund 100.00 100.00 12.41% 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 11.15% Nigeria Entertainment Fund 109.24 110.20 1.75% GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gdl.com.ng Web: www.gdl.com.ng ; Tel: +234 9055691122 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn GDL Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 12.50%

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 12.51% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.15 2.18 -0.20% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 15.82% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 133.41 133.41 6.71% LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund 1.15 1.17 4.92% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,115.94 1,115.94 9.39% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 9.54 9.62 -10.62% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 11.42% 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 1.27 1.30 3.81% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.95 12.05 7.15% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 12.33% 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 122.12 122.17 0.94% 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 1.03 1.03 9.88% 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 2,342.48 2,353.61 1.17% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 203.89 203.89 7.23% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.83 0.84 -12.11% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 265.26 265.36 9.36% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 141.43 142.94 -13.33% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.07% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 7,472.09 7,552.27 -12.03% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.14 1.14 5.39% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 100.44 100.44 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 1.14 1.15 -2.54% United Capital Bond Fund 1.66 1.66 10.47% United Capital Equity Fund 0.65 0.66 -9.83% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.72% United Capital Eurobond Fund 109.29 109.23 8.15% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.04 1.05 5.15% QUANTUM ZENITH ASSET MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENTS LTD service@quantumzenithasset.com.ng Web: www.quantumzenith.com.ng; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Equity Fund 9.77 9.93 -7.99% Zenith Ethical Fund 10.89 11.06 -9.47% Zenith Income Fund 22.22 22.22 9.93% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.88%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

5.40 116.88 53.10

-44.85% 5.22% 2.63%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

8.63 85.14 68.57

8.73 86.99 69.88

-18.14% -27.40% -22.64%

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

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

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

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

3.31 5.16 11.63 10.84 147.04

3.35 5.24 11.73 11.04 149.04

-17.06% -32.13% -20.31% -12.22% 11.42%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

108.34

17.40%

INFRASTRUCTURE FUND Fund Name Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund

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

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CITYSTRINGS

ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ăš Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă? ĂŽĂ“ĂžĂ™ĂœË? Ă’Ă“Ă?Ă—Ă?Ă–Ă“Ă? äĂ?Ă™ĂŒĂ“ Ă—Ă‹Ă“Ă– Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă?Ă—Ă?Ă–Ă“Ă?Ë›Ă?äĂ?Ă™ĂŒĂ“ĚśĂžĂ’Ă“Ă?ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁĂ–Ă“Ă Ă?Ë›Ă?Ă™Ă—Ëœ ͙͖͓͓͖͓͔͓͖͑͒

Kirikiri Town on the Edge of Precipice Following the ongoing gas depot project by Techno Oil Ltd at Kirikiri Town, members of the stakeholders' association have decried the construction on the grounds that it is capable of sinking the entire coastal community, which is already on the edge of a precipice with the presence of numerous tank farms and bonded container depots, Chris Asika reports

F

or some years now, Kirikiri Town, a coastal community in Oriade Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Lagos State has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Is it the activities of petroleum tank farms that load petroleum products both day and night, or articulated trucks ferrying containers from various bonded terminals all struggling to find their way in and out of the town?

Private cars and commercial motorcyclists, popularly called ‘Okada’ have no choice but to sandwich between the trucks, on what is left of the road in a town bedeviled with bumps, potholes, bad drainages and stagnant water.

According to the association, the situation cannot be helped because of the struggle for control of the community by a group of persons who, over the years for seeming selfish reasons, parade themselves as heads of the community especially one with questionable character (namewithheld), who parades himself as the owner of Kirikiri. The community revealed that he partnered some self-acclaimed elders to sideline the Baale of Kirikiri to deceive the public and government functionaries on the activities of these oil tank farm owners and manufacturing concerns for personal aggrandisement.

Their activities have kept relevant government agencies in the dark of all the dangers the community is prone to, thereby making the town to sit on a keg of gun power should there be any incident of fire, since the only entrance and exit are bedeviled with total gridlock. They further lamented that anyone that challenges him is punished with malicious blackmail and endless court cases that leads them to prison. They noted that it is on record that the Baale and his chiefs were once victims, to mention a few members of the community that have suffered the same fate.

Meanwhile, fire incidents from petroleum tanker drivers have been recorded in 2010, 2012 and 2016, which kept the community in turmoil with casualties because of the inaccessibility of the roads. Among the three fire incidents, the 2016 incident recorded more casualties, as five cars and two trucks were gutted by the inferno; three lives were lost with numerous shops and shanties from NIMASA Roundabout to the front of KirikiriPrisons fence.

Property owners and residents in the busy area have continued to lament, calling on the state and federal governments to save them from the trauma.

In addition to the highlighted issues, THISDAYalso learnt that Tecno Oil Ltd, one of the majortank farm owners sometime in 2017, announced the addition of a gas depot to the community and in the usual manner, this group of self-acclaimed elders had on behalf of the community gone as far as following Techno Oil to relevant government authorities on behalf of the community to give necessary approval for the project, which in 2018was already 50 per cent completed.

It was said that during an inspection by representatives of theDepartment of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and Federal Ministry of Environment (FMOE), they were taken through the waterways and in their report they mentioned not sighting any residential building around the water ways and therefore certified Techno Oil to begin the gas project.

Therefore in a bid to sensitise the public on the activities of this group of self-acclaimed elders, the Kirikiri Town Stakeholders’ Association (KTSHA), which comprises individuals who own both residential and commercial buildings, kicked against it by writing a petition against the gas project through their lawyer, Chief EbohOtokhina, the Principal Partner, E.A Otokhina and Co law firm to relevant authorities citing the dangers the community is already facing with the presence of the oil tank farms and bonded container terminal, adding that gas is even worse because it is air borne. Meanwhile Techno Oil had already obtained operations licence and approval from DPR and FMOE. Otokhina in his capacity as legal counsel to KTSHA described the act of Techno Oil as an abuse to the rule of law citing the process of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act before necessary approval should be given

by FMOE. “For you to get approval from FMOE, the organisations embarking on a building project must first publish a public notice advertisement of the said project on national dailies with FMOE guidelines, which takes

Gas depot 80 per cent completed

Gas depot 50 per cent completed 90 days to generate public opinion as regards the environmental impact assessment of the activity of the project in the host community before necessary approvals should be given.

If things were done properly, both petroleum and gas depots cannot co-exist and part of the major worry is that the on-going gas depot project exists below an electric high tension wire mast. I have nothing personal; my concern is that it is a catastrophic disaster waiting to happen.�

On his part, the former Commissioner forEnvironment, Mr. Babatunde Durosimi-Etti responded by calling for a meeting with the two factions of the community, which held in November 2018 to see a possible resolution.

The meeting was well attended by government functionaries, including members of the Lagos State Ministry of Environment (LMOE); Lagos State Fire Service (LSFS); Ministry of Physical Planning (MOPP); members of the KTSHA;representatives of Techno Oil and members of the self-acclaimed Kirikiri Elders Forum (all adorned with royal regalia and jewelleries meant for deceit).

In his opening remarks, the commissioner said: “We have listened to the petition from the members of the community but I implore you not to get excited because we will not listen to one side. We are going to work with the various institutions of government

located in that vicinity, which includes the Nigerian Navy, the Nigerian Prisons, Nigerian Ports Authorities (NPA),NIMASA and so on. “We will go on a site visit to the naval base and check the distance of the gas plant to the naval base and look at the implication.

We need to follow the law and if the law says don’t put it there, we will do so. We will be as transparent as possible. We have told Techno to stop work because we have to talk to the representatives of the community because we are supposed to be seen as independent. We will call for a meeting before Christmas.�

On his part, the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr. AbiodunBamboye said in adherence to the environmental and social impact assessment, all efforts will be made to ensure that the standard set by government will be strictly adhered to. “We will ensure that we do the greatest good to the greatest number, but my appeal in circumspect is for aggrieved members of the community not to carry placards or do any form of demonstration or any form of publication in the media, be it electronic, social media or print. We assure you that we will resolve this issue in the interest of the community.�

A follow up meeting was held on December

17, 2018 with members of the two factions of the community, members of the LASEMA and representatives of Techno Oil, chaired by the permanent secretary. He asked the representativesto nominate three persons each so as to have a closed meeting with them.

In his address, he stated that since DPR and EkoElectric have given approval and even the Ministry of Physical Planning has received payments making inferences drawn from documents presented by Techno Oil and recommendations made by LASEMA, the stop work order issued earlier by the commissioner was lifted though stating that the existence of the petroleum depots in the area is still on slippery grounds because all depots did not pass due diligence test.

He advised Techno Oil to liaise with the two factions of the community for resolution within a week after that meeting. But till date, no meeting held; no news from Alausa and to make matters worse, the gas project is near completion, over 80 per cent.

In a chat with THISDAY, the KTSHA called on the federal government and the public to help stop the gas project, stating the dangers involved. “We the KTSHA stand against this gas project by Techno Oil, we have never supported it and will never support it because of the dangers involved, because gas is air borne. Bringing the gas depot was made possible because of the selfish interest of some people who went to form elders’ forum with the man that said he is the owner of Kirikiri. He is benefiting directly from the proceeds. “After all said and done, no meeting was rescheduled by the ministry of environment as promised for December last year and we are almost in the last quarter of 2019. Techno Oil is one of the oil companies in Kirikiri that does not adhere to safety. They were responsible for the fire incidents that occurred in 2010 and 2012 as a result of their disregard for environmental safety in their operations.

Adding a gas depot will be a total disaster.�

The group added: “It is on record that all the other depots in the past have employed traffic officers except Techno Oil. The Lagos State Ministry of Environment has refused to call back for the meeting scheduled for December last year. We have every reason to believe the authorities have been compromised. We are also aware that those deceitful elders have sworn an affidavit stating that the community is in support of the project. “Please we implore the public to disregard such as we have a counter affidavit filed with this report stating that we are not in support. Finally, our Baale is not interested in this matter, besides he is incapacitated, even during our last discussion with the secretary in attendance, we were told he said he is not in support.�

Reacting to the allegations, in a meeting with KTSHA and Kirikiri Depot Owners Association (KTDOA) at DPR Ikoyi and LASEMA Alausa last year, Obi reiterated the company’s commitment to curb the effect of the gas depot to residents and stakeholders.

This she said through the company’s Group Managing Director Mr. Anthony Onyema and the company’s secretary/corporate attorney, Mr. Kenneth Abazie. “As a company, we are aware of the need for adherence to the international standard for Health Safety and Environment (HSE) compliance and as such we are ready to buy houses around the vicinity of the on-going gas project so as to meet the two meters gap as required by FMOE and also create new access roads to ameliorate the bad situation.

There is a caveat emptor to that effect.�

Again, just this week, in their reaction to one of the major dailies (not THISDAY) the company said: “The management of Techno Oil Limited has said that its gas plant situated in Kirikiri, in the Oriade Local Council Development Area of Lagos State fully complied with requisite safety procedures in the oil and gas industry.�

Refuting the claim, the General Manager, Commercials/Company Secretary, Techno Oil, Ken Abazie, said the company obtained the relevant regulatory approvals for the gas plant, adding that it strictly adheres to the statutory regulations of the industry with regard to the project.

Abazie also said the company doesn’t have any issue with the community, its residents or the regulatory bodies issuing approvals for the project, stating the company’s willingness to provide the documents to back up its claims.

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CRIME&SECURITY

Combating Emerging Security Threats in the Maritime Domain Aside the traditional crimes that have bedeviled the maritime domain for decades, Chiemelie Ezeobi writes that emerging security threats like attacks on shipping, sabotage of hydrocarbon infrastructure and maritime resource theft, as well as other transnational organised crimes, are some of the challenges being tackled by the Nigerian Navy in its quest to secure the nation’s and the Gulf of Guinea waters

W

orld over, security threats keep evolving from traditional to conventional warfare. In the maritime domain, same rings true. In the past, the maritime domain was threatened by piracy, sea robbery, illicit trafficking, illegal unreported and unregulated fishing (IUUF) and marine pollution. Now, emerging security threats within the Nigerian maritime domain stem largely from non-military causes such as socioeconomic agitations and unemployed youths within the coastal communities, which are manifested through attacks on shipping, sabotage of hydrocarbon infrastructure and maritime resource theft.

This and more were of the things the Nigerian Navy(NN) tackled recently at the West African Shipping Summit held during the London International Shipping Week. According to the Chief of the Naval Staff, Nigerian Navy, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, said as the lead agency responsible for security in the vast maritime environment, the navy has initiated various programmes and operations geared towards creating a safe and secure maritime space for commerce to thrive.

Dissecting the topic of ‘Security of the Nigerian Maritime Domain-Issues and Options’, Ibas who was represented by the Chief of Policy and Plans Naval Headquarters, Rear Admiral Begroy Ibe-Enwo, noted that the global maritime commons have remained a veritable medium for driving growth, development and prosperity amongst both littoral and land-linked nations in the 21st century, just as he added that African seaborne trade has equally benefited from this growth albeit with attendant maritime security challenges, particularly within the Gulf of Guinea.

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

According to Ibas, they have also initiated the process of claiming a 350nm extended continental shelf, within the GoG because this maritime space has tremendous economic potentials due to its rich hydrocarbon deposits, fishery resources, and several port facilities which if well harnessed are capable of improving the livelihood of the nation’s population.

However, he noted that despite the aforementioned prospects, the frequent abuse by diverse interests across the vast maritime domain has continued to buoy concerns.

More disturbing he noted is the fact that many of the illicit acts at sea are directed at the economic life line of the nation, with negative impact on development and the well being of our citizens.

Considering the wide expanse of the nation’s maritime domain with over 3,000 creeks and the frequent mutation and transnational nature of maritime crimes, the NN he said has had to initiate various independent operations and collaborative efforts with relevant stakeholders to curb the menace.

Still on the inherent challenges he said in the last two decades, piracy and sea robbery within the GoG have become a major point of discussion with the region ranked as one of the most troubled waterways, adding that it is estimated that the annual cost of piracy to the GoG region is over 2billion dollars.

Another major issue affecting the security of the maritime domain he said is the poor socio-economic conditions of the people of the Niger Delta region. “The region like most other parts of Africa is plagued with some level of poverty, inadequate social infrastructure especially as it relates to health, education and transport, as well as youth unemployment, among others. “This makes the youth vulnerable to crimes, as they are readily available to be used as tools, by powerful maritime crime syndicates to perpetrate all forms of criminalities including oil and gas pipeline vandalism, piracy/ sea robbery on merchant shipping as well as operation of illegal crude oil refineries.

The economic conditions of the people of the Niger Delta region therefore portends a

Chief of the Naval Sta, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas critical issue in the discourse of the security of Nigeria’s maritime domain and, needs to be addressed expeditiously�, he noted.

NN’s Efforts Notwithstanding the aforementioned challenges, the CNS said the navy has been at the forefront of tackling them to emplace a viable domain for maritime business to thrive.

While highlighting the navy’s independent operational engagements established to check criminality at sea he listed Operation TSARE TEKU an anti-piracy operation and Operation RIVER SWEEP which is an anti-Crude Oil Theft(COT) and anti-Illegal refining operation.

Ibas said since the activation of the antipiracy operation three years ago, there has been a successive decline in reported cases of piracy/sea robbery attacks within Nigeria’s maritime domain. The operation, he added has also contributed to significant improvement in shipping into Nigeria’s maritime environment as attested to by the Nigerian Shippers Council.

The anti-COT and illegal refining operations on the other hand incorporates the Choke Point Management and Control Regime, involving the deployment of armed personnel in houseboats designated at strategic chokepoints within the creeks to prevent any stolen crude from being taken away in ships or barges to mother vessels at sea.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) he said, has attested to the successes of Operation RIVER SWEEP, confirming huge savings for the nation due to massive reductions in pipeline product losses between 2015 and 2018.

Apart from these two specifically designed operations, which are accentuated by the Choke Point Regime, he said the navy continues to conduct policing patrols across the nation’s EEZ and territorial waters employing the advantage of its maritime situational awareness infrastructure to coordinate and direct the pattern of patrols.

He said; “The service is thus able to conduct round the clock surveillance of our maritime space using Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) facilities in addition to surface vessels and helicopters toensure effective electronic tracking of vessels within our maritime environment whether fitted with Automatic Identification System (AIS) or not. The systems also serve as force multipliers, as NN patrols are more mission oriented with attendant reduction in operational logistics cost. “Following the historic tracking and arrest of the hijackers of a tanker MT MAXIMUS by the NN at the fringes of Sao Tome and Principe

in 2016, the service has continued to achieve several successes using the MDA systems.

For instance, in 2019 alone the MDA Systems were used to vector NN platforms to arrest over 25 vessels for suspicion of committing various infractions within Nigerian waters.

0“To further enhance NN surveillance and MDA network, the service recently signed an MoU on white shipping with the Indian Navy and has recently been endorsed to join the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) in addition to the Italian based Trans-Regional Maritime Network, which she joined in 2015.

These strategic partnerships have the potential to further enhance the NN’s capacity to engage with other major maritime nations particularly in areas of information sharing and relevant advisories to check criminality across the Mediterranean sea as well as the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, with positive impact on NN maritime policing duties.�

Partnerships Aptly acknowledging that no tree makes a forest, the CNS noted that to enhance maritime operations, the navy constantly engages with various stakeholders like the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Customs, Immigration and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) These engagements, he said foster a shared vision on the accomplishment of maritime security to bolster common efforts to emplace a more conducive environment for shipping and other maritime activities. One positive outcome of such consultation is the launch of the Harmonised Standard Operating Procedures (HSOP) on Arrest, Detention and Prosecution of Vessels and Persons (HSOP AD&P) in Nigeria’s Maritime Environment in January 2017. “Further to the launch of the HSOP, the navy constantly engages directly with each agency on modalities for implementation, thus creating the desired synergy, resulting in arrest of over 130 vessels within the past two years. The HSOP was further boosted as a legal instrument for the prosecution of maritime crimes in Nigeria by Mr President’s recent assent to the Suppression of Piracy and other Maritime Offences Bill of 2019. “Pertinently, the Act would serve as strategic deterrent to the commission of various criminalities within the nation’s maritime environment and curtail the excesses of syndicates that continue to profit from sponsoring acts of piracy within the GoG. The Act also demonstrates the government’s resolve

to enforce maritime law within the region towards changing global negative perception of the GoG as a haven for insecurity. However, considering the transnational and migratory nature of these maritime crimes there is the need for even greater international collaboration to boost maritime law enforcement,� he added.

Asides the aforementioned agencies and services, Ibas also gave credit to the centrality of collaboration with other maritime nations and international maritime agencies in order to achieve successful maritime security operations. “The NN has equally shown commitment to strengthening international collaboration towards improving maritime security in the GoG. In line with the intention to collectively address maritime security challenges in the global commons, the NN has supported regional efforts towards collective maritime security. “Following the 2013 YaoundĂŠ Declaration which adopted an inter-regional Code of Conduct for inter-navy cooperation between Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) States, the NN in concert with other regional navies has instituted measures to check migratory crimes. “Accordingly, the navies of ECOWAS Zone E made up of Nigeria, Benin, Togo and the Gendarmerie of Niger Republic recently endorsed an MoU for combined patrol of their common maritime domain. There has also been increased collaboration between the NN and navies from other partner nations to boost synergy in addressing illegalities within the GoG.â€?

Fleet Expansion All these achievements wouldn’t have been possible without the right platforms. To this Ibas said� despite a harsh fiscal environment at home, the Nigerian Government has remained committed to enhancing the response capability of the NN through the acquisition of more patrol vessels and aircraft. Noteworthy is the on-going fleet expansion programme which has led to addition of several OPVs, Seaward Defence Boats, induction of over 250 Inshore Patrol Boats including the strengthening of the NN air bases. “The fleet recapitalisation effort has enabled the NN to extend reach in support of regional effort to secure the common seas while enabling the service better attend to her domestic policing roles. The modest attainment by these acquisitions clearly suggests that more ships with prolonged endurance such as OPVs are needed for sustained presence at sea and the protection of critical assets in the deep offshore areas. “Going forward, the NN intends to leverage such audience as today’s, to strengthen discussions with international partners regarding a sustainable collaboration to collectively meet these needs.

Though the NN has in recent years renewed her fleet with new acquisitions, the fact still remains that the ships are not enough to maintain continuous presence as required to dominate the maritime space of interest. “This inadequacy has resulted in information gaps making it difficult to acquire a holistic picture of the environment needed to share with relevant users. As part of effort to overcome this challenge, the NN has resorted to local ship building efforts to increase the size of her fleet. Some of the indigenous built vessels are shown on the screen. “Other countries within the sub region could key into the NN’s ship building effort to expand their fleet in order to move at a common and consistent pace within the subregion. Plans are also at advanced stages to introduce Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAVs)/ Drones thereby further enhancing operational capability.�

While reiterating the navy’s commitment to emplace a secure maritime environment for the prosperity of Nigeria and indeed the GoG and global commons in general, Ibas however advised seafarers and ship owners to adopt pragmatic measures to improve their individual safety and security at sea through evasive manoeuvres, increase of speed, use of citadels as well as use of Safe Anchorage Areas (SAA) and convoy.

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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 16, 2019 • T H I S D AY

THE FACTS ON “LOAD REJECTION” "Power generation falls to 2,970MW on Discos’ demand" - Punch Newspaper of Monday 26 August, 2019 PUNCH NEWSPAPER CLAIMS “...The amount of electricity generated by the nation’s 27 power stations fell below 3,000 megawatts on Sunday (25th august 2019) as low load demand by distribution companies continued to limit generation." “...Total power generation in the country dropped to 2,970MW as of 6am on Sunday from 3,182.2MW on Saturday, data obtained by our correspondent from the Nigeria Electricity System Operator showed."

DISCOS FACTS & FIGURES On the 25th August 2019, DisCos requested or nominated a total of 4,388.34 MW of energy from TCN. * However, TCN's National Control Center (NCC) data showed that TCN's total sent-out or delivered energy on this day was 3,258.71 MW, resulting in a negative variance or delivery of -1,129.63 MW.

“...A report from the system operator showed that a total of 2,159.7MW generation capacity was idle on Thursday as a result of low load demand by Discos while 112.5MW was unutilised because of line constraints."

The cummulative of the DisCos' energy demand for Thursday, 22 August, 2019 was 4,449.23 MW, while TCN delivered 1,159.72 MW less energy than the DisCos requested.

"….Despite the availability of about 8,000MW of generation and about 7,000MW of transmission capacity, lack of Disco infrastructure to absorb and deliver grid power to end users has largely restricted generation to an average of about 4,000 MW.” - Vice President Yemi Osinbajo

Siemens May 07, 2019 Electrification Roadmap for Nigeria Report (1)"Previous analyses had indicated that the capacity of this “last mile”, given as the non-coincidental peak load of 11 kV distribution feeders in historic system operation, is about twice as high as the peak supply delivered by TCN to the respective distribution utilities; (2) "Noncoincidental feeder peak load in Nigeria assumed to be ~11 GW [11,000 MW]"; and (3) "Today, power distribution by the Disco’s to end-customers is limited by power infeed from TCN."

ABUJA DISCO

BENIN DISCO

ENUGU DISCO

EKO DISCO

IBADAN DISCO

IKEJA DISCO

JOS DISCO

KADUNA DISCO

KANO DISCO

PORT HARCOURT DISCO

Energy Requested from TCN by DisCo (MW) Energy Delivered to DisCo by TCN (MW) Difference (MW) Energy Requested from TCN by DisCo (MW) Energy Delivered to DisCos by TCN (MW) Difference (MW)

22/08/2019 516.60 401.17 -115.43 701.50 604.00 -97.50

23/08/2019 524.34 407.25 -117.09 696.80 454.20 -242.60

*24/08/2019 521.03 385.77 -135.26 682.90 457.60 -225.30

25/08/2019 521.03 407.83 -113.20 633.40 381.00 -252.40

Energy Requested from TCN by DisCo (MW) Energy Delivered to DisCo by TCN (MW)

404.31 244.69

435.36 230.54

407.76 227.09

407.76 218.87

Difference (MW) Energy Requested from TCN by DisCo (MW) Energy Delivered to DisCos by TCN (MW) Difference (MW) Energy Requested from TCN by DisCo (MW) Energy Delivered to DisCo by TCN (MW) Difference (MW) Energy Requested from TCN by DisCo (MW) Energy Delivered to DisCos by TCN (MW) Difference (MW)

-159.62 494.15 412.08 -82.07 470.11 378.60 -91.51 606.30 507.00 -99.30

-204.82 501.55 405.23 -96.32 471.11 376.08 -95.03 617.00 529.90 -87.10

-180.67 498.38 377.90 -120.48 468.41 368.59 -99.82 617.00 507.80 -109.20

-188.89 498.38 334.82 -163.56 469.64 341.87 -127.77 617.00 485.30 -131.70

Energy Requested from TCN by DisCo (MW) Energy Delivered to DisCo by TCN (MW) Difference (MW) Energy Requested from TCN by DisCo (MW) Energy Delivered to DisCos by TCN (MW) Difference (MW) Energy Requested from TCN by DisCo (MW) Energy Delivered to DisCo by TCN (MW) Difference (MW) Energy Requested from TCN by DisCo (MW) Energy Delivered to DisCos by TCN (MW) Difference (MW)

247.08 131.39 -115.69 359.38 166.52 -192.86 359.38 153.64 -205.74

250.77 142.80 -107.97 364.76 165.97 -198.79 364.76 133.06 -231.70

249.19 134.63 -114.56 362.46 187.43 -175.03 362.46 135.11 -227.35

249.19 122.11 -127.08 342.78 176.69 -166.09 362.46 108.91 -253.55

290.42 175.01 -115.41 22/08/2019 4,449.23 3,174.10 -1,275.13

303.7 213.32 -90.38 23/08/2019 4,530.15 3,058.35 -1,471.80

299.85 213.39 -86.46 24/08/2019 4,469.44 2,995.30 -1,474.14

286.7 200.68 -86.02 25/08/2019 4,388.34 2,778.08 -1,610.26

CummulatIive of DisCos'requested Energy Cummulative of Energy delivered by TCN Cummulative Difference

Items of Note: 1. Maximum energy ever transmitted or wheeled by TCN is 4,557 MW (even with a peak generation of 5,375 MW, February 7th, 2019), with its tested wheeling capacity of 5,500 MW. 2. TCN's claimed transmission capacity increase based on a simulation of 8,000 MW remains exactly that, a computer simulation with no real-life application.

3. 2,000MW of the available generation of 7,652.6MW remains constrained, largely because of lack of gas, given that 25 out of our 28 power generation plants are fueled by gas, as well as transmission and hydro constraints.

Signed: Barr. Sunday Oduntan Executive Director, Research & Advocacy

4. Electricity distribution capacity has been determined as 11,000MW (Siemens May 07, 2019 Electrification Road Map for Nigeria Report).

5. At a minimum, there has to be (1). A technical alignment of the capacities of gas, generation, transmission and distribution; and (2) A commercial alignment of the NESI value chain, if electricity customers are to receive the level of supply that they are rightly entitled to. Propaganda or dissemination of inaccurate or fake information is not productive in accomplishing this minimum. www.anedng.com

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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 16, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

INTERNATIONAL

Ramaphosa Sends Envoys to African Countries over Xenophobic Attacks President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa has dispatched three special envoys to seven African countries to deliver messages of pan-African unity and solidarity following

xenophobic attacks in South Africa, the Presidency said on Sunday.

The special envoys will deliver a message from Ramaphosa regarding the incidents of

36 People Missing in Sinking Boat in DRC, Says Police At least 36 people are missing after the sinking of a boat on Sunday at Maluku commune, a district on the banks of the Congo River in Kinshasa’s suburbs, according to announces of the Congolese national police on the spot.

According to police authorities, only 76 survivors have so far been counted out of a hundred of passengers embarked on the edge of the boat, which came from the province of Mai-Ndombe, a province located southwest of the city of Kinshasa. The boat filled with goods and passengers capsized at Mambutuka locality in Maluku commune.

For the moment, research is

underway to try to find other survivors in the accident area.

Nobodies have yet been retrieved by the local river services in the area where the authorities say they have deployed the Congolese army’s naval forces, to intensify research on the extent of the accident, which is not away from the main port of the village of Maluku located about 50 kilometres from the city of Kinshasa.

Shipwrecks are frequent between the city of Kinshasa and the province of Mai-Ndombe, where dozens of boats leave with passengers to go to refuel agricultural goods and others.

violence that recently erupted in some parts of South Africa, which have manifested in attacks on foreign nationals and destruction of property, presidential spokesperson, Khusela Diko, said.

The envoys will reassure fellow African countries that South Africa is committed to the ideals of pan-African unity

and solidarity, Diko said.

They will also reaffirm South Africa’s commitment to the rule of law. The envoys will visit Nigeria, Niger, Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, according to Diko.

They will brief governments in the identified African countries about the steps that the South

African government is taking to bring a stop to the attacks and to hold the perpetrators to account.

South Africa has been hit by a new spate of violence for the past few weeks.

At least 12 people, including 10 South Africans and two foreigners, have been killed.

South Africa is host to some

274,000 refugees and asylumseekers from African countries, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Xenophobia-related attacks are common in South Africa, where foreigners are blamed for taking up employment that should have been taken by locals.

Lib Dems Pledge to Cancel Brexit If They Win General Election The Liberal Democrats have pledged to cancel Brexit if they come to power at the next general election.

Members voted for the new policy at their party conference in Bournemouth by an overwhelming majority.

Previously, the party has backed another referendum or “People’s Vote”, saying they would campaign to Remain.

After the vote, their leader Jo Swinson, said: “We will do all we can to fight for our place in Europe, and to stop Brexit altogether.”

The commitment only comes into force if the party wins the election as a majority government.

Ms Swinson also confirmed that before an election is called,

the Lib Dems would continue to work with other opposition parties to campaign for a further referendum, and to prevent a “dangerous” no-deal Brexit.

In his first speech at conference as a Lib Dem MP, Chuka Umunna - who left Labour over its Brexit stance - said it would give the party a “clear, unequivocal position”.

He said: “This [policy] will stop this national embarrassment and enable us to focus on the things that really matter.”

But former Lib Dem MP Simon Hughes had called on members to reject the policy, saying it would “take the focus away” from getting another referendum.

He said that as the first referendum was a decision

made by the people, “it can only be the people who can reverse [it]”.

The government says it is trying to get a deal with the EU so it can leave on 31 October - the current deadline agreed with the EU. Home Secretary Priti Patel said the “entire machinery of government” was focused on securing that deal.

The PM is due to meet European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in Luxembourg this week, as negotiations aimed at securing a deal continue.

MPs passed a new law earlier this month that forces Boris Johnson to ask the EU for an extension to the deadline if a deal isn’t agreed by 19 October - two

days after a key EU summit.

But the prime minister has said he would rather be “dead in a ditch” than ask for a delay, and the UK will leave the EU at the end of next month “whatever happens”.

The Lib Dems’ motion said that if the party became the government at the next general election, it would revoke Article 50 - the law that ensures the UK leaves the EU. Earlier, Ms Swinson told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show: “If people put [the Lib Dems] into government... the stop Brexit party, then stopping Brexit is exactly what people will get.

“Everybody can see we are stuck, that Brexit is in a mess.

There needs to be a way out of that.”

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NEWS

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

NNPC Agrees to $2.5bn Financing with Chinese Lender for Pipeline Project Peter Uzoho with agency reports The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari, has disclosed that the corporation has agreed to

a $2.5 billion financing with a Chinese lender for pipeline project in Nigeria.

Kyari also said that the attacks on Saudi Arabia’s crude processing plant and fields can be a “big challenge” for the oil market if the outage was

Nigeria’s UN Representative, Muhammad-Bande Takes Charge as UNGA President Tuesday Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja Exactly 30 years after Nigeria produced the President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the country’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Professor Tijjani MuhammadBande, will on Tuesday, assume office as the 74th President of UNGA. Muhammad-Bande will formally take charge of UNGA at a two-day ceremony scheduled to take place today and tomorrow, September 16 and 17, at the UN headquarters in New York ahead of the high-level UNGA week when world leaders will take turns to address the general assembly.

Muhammad-Bande’s emergence as UNGA president early this week will mark the second time that Nigeria has the golden opportunity to ascend such a global position after General Joseph Garba (rtd.), a military diplomat, emerged 62nd UNGA President in 1989.

A statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, at the weekend said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, will lead a Nigerian government team to the historic event.

Other members of the team, according to the statement, include the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Ahmed Rufa’i Abubakar and Shehu.

According to the statement,

Muhammad-Bande was elected the President of the 74th Session of UNGA by acclamation on June 4, this year, with the mandate to serve in the office for one-year as statutorily require. He will take over from Ecuadorean Foreign Affairs Minister, Ms María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, who was elected the 73rd President of UNGA on June 5, 2018.

Shehu said the Nigeria’s representative to the UN has a strong mandate from his home government, the Federal Government of Nigeria, which nominated him, adding that the nomination received the backing of the Group of African States and adopted unanimously by the member-states.

The statement added: “The Muhammad-Bande presidency, coming 30 years after this country’s first, presents entire Nigeria and Africa a unique opportunity to ensure the implementation of the existing mandates for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with particular focus on peace and security, poverty eradication, zero hunger, quality education, climate action and inclusion.

“The General Assembly under Muhammad-Bande will also play a role in bridging the gaps and promoting collective action to address all international issues that deserve attention, in close coordination and collaboration with the Secretary-General, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council.”

13 Killed on Lafia - Akwanga Road Auto Crash Igbawase Ukumba in Lafia At least 13 persons were reportedly killed and 11 others sustained various degrees of injuries in a fatal accident involving a trailer truck and a Benue Links-branded 18 seater bus yesterday evening on the Lafia - Akwanga road in Nasarawa State.

The latest accident occurred barely a week after a trailer loaded with bags of cement crushed a Sharon bus and a motorcycle on the same road killing 11 persons on the spot.

An eyewitness reported that the accident occurred at about 4.20 p.m. at Agwan Chiyawa village in Nasarawa Eggon Local Government Area of the state.

According to the eyewitness, the trailer truck, which was

coming from the Lafia end of the road loaded with iron rods, had a brake failure and rammed into the 18-seater Benue Links bus, coming from the Abuja end of the road, thereby pushing the bus into a ditch, killing majority of the occupants.

However 11 persons, including a little child were reported to have survived the accident, while the driver and other occupants of the trailer truck were reportedly killed in the auto crash on the spot.

Travellers on the road were reported to have evacuated victims of the accident before the arrival the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) personnel, even as the dead and the injured were taken to the General Hospital in Nasarawa Eggon later by men of the FRSC.

protracted.

The NNPC boss who stated this in an interview with Bloomberg TV, said it was a pipeline contractor project which would deliver 3, 600 megawatts (MW) of power and supply two billion standard cubic feet (SCF/d) of gas.

He added that the corporation had secured 15 per cent owner financing from the Chinse firm, which is close to $430 million already, and that the NNPC was expecting closure of 85 per cent, which amounts to about $2.5 billion.

Kyari said: “As you mentioned, it is a pipeline contractor project that will deliver 3,600 megawatts of power at the first instance and also particularly supply two billion SCF/d of gas which is

quite significant in the contest of our current situation. And of course financing is everything.

What we did is to get a Chinese company. It has been a long conversation and it is very close to financial closure.

“In the first instance, we have secured 15 per cent owner financing, close to $430 million is on ground in our account and we are expecting closure of 85 per cent which is about $2.5 billion. So, once that is closed we expect that the pipeline will be delivered on schedule.

“The financing will be closed in maximum of six months period.

We are adding 3, 600 megawatts of power from three captive power plants to be located in Abuja Kaduna and Kano. What that means is that you are going

to add additional capacity which will spur up industrialisation in these locations with these power plants”.

Explaining the delays in delivering the deep offshore oil projects, he said it was “probably because of the issue of the fiscal environment that is not certain and then a number of issues with our partners. That kind of stalled the processes of taking FID in these projects. What we did differently was to have some commercial closure in some of the disputes and we are very close to one of them.

“And once we are able to take FID on particularly the Bonga South West which will be very soon and then others will follow.

And of course, that will open up new frontiers of opportunities

in the deep offshore”.

On Nigeria’s readiness to comply with OPEC’s move to reform the oil market, Kyari said: “As you are aware, Nigeria is a strong pillar in OPEC, and of course we did have issues with our production system which kind of saw us going down, production coming up without very clear determination.

“What is different today is that we can see some projector on our production. We are more stable now, and the environment is much more secure. And that means we can plan around our production. And that is why Nigeria came out to say we are going to comply with the reforming conformity. I don’t see any challenge doing that”.

PERFORMING RELIGIOUS OBLIGATION…

L-R: Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun; Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Pauline Tallen; Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Ameachi; and Plateau State Governor, Mr. Simon Lalong, at the 2nd Plenary Session of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, at the SS Peter and Paul Catholic Cathedral, Abeokuta….yesterday

Again, Bandits Release 30 kidnapped Victims in Katsina Francis Sardauna inKatsina In furtherance of the peace deal between the Katsina State government and armed bandits, the repentant hoodlums have again released 30 kidnapped victims, mostly women and children in their custody.

The repentant bandits had earlier freed 21 captives from their camps, bringing the numbers of those who regained their freedom as part of the ongoing dialogue between the miscreants and government to 51.

The 30 freed captives, which includes 15 children mostly toddlers,15 women and nursing mothers, were said to have been

held hostage in Damsadau forest of Zamfara State by the bandits for more than five months before they regained freedom on Saturday night.

Governor Aminu Bello Masari who received the victims in his office at Government House, said negotiations were ongoing to make sure that the remaining captives were also released from their abductors.

He said: “We are also in touch with other bandits in neighbouring states of Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi and Kaduna with a view to securing the release of more captives, particularly those from Katsina State.

“The state government

would continue to persuade the suspected bandits to release more of the kidnapped people under their care, until there are none in their possession,” the governor added.

The governor, however, directed that the released captives should be taken to the General Hospital, Katsina to ascertain their health conditions before they would be reunited with their families.

One of the freed captives, Mrs. Zinatu Sani from Kankara Local Government Area, while narrating her ordeal to journalists, said she was abducted by the hoodlums alongside her two children in her matrimonial home.

She added: “The bandits

attacked our house in Kankara and took me and my two children to a forest in Zamfara State. They first demanded for N20 million from my husband as ransom but he couldn’t afford it.

“They later reduced the money to N6 million and still my husband and his relatives couldn’t afford it. We do sleep in an open place, no matter the rains or heat during day times.

The bandits used to give us raw rice to cook with only water and salt,” she explained.

She commended Governor Masari for securing their release and urged him to intensify efforts as numerous captives “are still in Damsadau forest in Zamfara”.

Former Women Affairs Minister Returns to PDP Former Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Aisha Alhassan, who suffered defeat in the 2019 governorship election in Taraba State, has completed arrangements to return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

‘Mama Taraba,’ as she’s fondly known, joined the UDP on the eve of the polls after she failed

to secure the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket, a party she contested under in 2015 and was able to secure 275,966 votes to come second in the governorship polls.

Alhassan told journalists yesterday after a UDP stakeholders’ meeting in Jalingo that majority of her supporters

in the 168 wards of Taraba had encouraged her to shift base to the PDP. She said the stakeholders’ meeting, which lasted till midnight on Saturday, drew participation from all those who contested for various political offices under the platform of the UDP, executive members of the party from the

ward to state levels and other respected elders.

Alhassan added that more than 80 per cent of respondents in an opinion poll conducted by a committee headed by Alhaji Abdulmumini Vaki, a former PDP chairman in the state, which covered the 16 LGAs, suggested that she should move to PDP.

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Three Killed, Scores Injured as Cultists Invade Gov Emmanuel’s Village Okon Bassey inUyo A bloody cult clash has reportedly claimed three lives in Awa village in Onna Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

Apart from Awa, which is the village of Governor Udom Emmanuel, the other villages affected by the cult war include Afaha Ubium, Ikot Obong Ishiet, Edem Idim and Ikot Asse, as well as other neighbouring villages in the area.

It was learnt that the cultists laid siege on the affected villages killing three persons and leaving scores with various degrees of injuries.

The cult war, which reportedly started two weeks ago allegedly involved the Ku Klan Klux, better known as KKK or Axe confraternity and Vikings known in local parlance as Ekpat, and Ekut.

THISDAY gathered that these cultists were fighting a battle of supremacy over the control of the disbursement of the cash given to youths by one of the state government-owned industries operating in the community.

An eyewitness, Mr. Sunday Enang, said the money was released to the youth leader who was a member of Vikings

(Ekpat) and he shared it only to his members without giving to members of the KKK (Ekut), the rival cult group in the area.

He said the rival cult members regrouped and armed themselves with dangerous weapons to kill the youth leader who had escaped to the neighbouring village in Etinan LGA when he observed strange movement around his home.

Eniang said the younger brother of the youth leader was killed and the body butchered to pieces when they could not find him at home.

He said that at Ikot Obong Ishiet, where another cultist escaped, the mother, father and son of the ‘ run-away ‘ cultist were seriously injured.

“Some of the persons killed were brothers or relatives of the cultists who escaped on sighting the rival groups while their brothers who were not aware of the danger were lynched.”

Enang disclosed that the cultists operated freely in Awa , the home town of Governor Emmanuel and made a counter parade to shame the police who only showed up in their surveillance van and retired to the stations as the battle between the rival cult groups became bloody.

He said the cultists mounted

Power Generation by NIPP Gencos Drops to 493MW Chineme Okafor in Abuja The continued instability of Nigeria’s national electricity grid has reportedly forced eight power generation companies (Gencos) of the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs) to cut down their average expected daily power production levels from a whopping 4694 megawatts (MW) to a mere 493MW, an operations status report obtained yesterday

by THISDAY has disclosed.

Exclusively obtained by THISDAY, the report coincided with a disclosure by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) that within the first quarter of 2019 (Q1), the number of available power generation units of Gencos operating in Nigeria dropped from 71 that it was in the last quarter of 2018 (Q4) to 62.

NERC also explained in its Q1 2019 report of activities in the power sector that the national grid has continued to experience declines in its stability, adding that in the first quarter of the year, it recorded significant setback which included up to five incidences of total collapse of the grid.

The NIPP production level reports between August and early September which THISDAY reviewed stated that the eight affected plants were forced to generate an average of 493MW daily as against their available generation capacities because the national grid would reportedly be unable to take them.

It indicated that the plants were frequently asked to cut their power production levels by the National Control Centre (NCC) to enable it stabilised the grid. This, the report noted, were losses to the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (NDPHC) in terms of payment for gas supply to the plants notwithstanding their evacuation statuses.

The affected plants were the 634.5MW capacity Calabar plant; 507.6MW Benin plant; 253.8 Gbarain plant; 506.1MW Geregu plant; 450MW Ogorode plant; and 754MW Olorunsogo plant.

Others included: the 1,076MW Alaoji plant and 512.8MW Omotosho plant. All of the eight plants are operated by the NDPHC, which is jointly owned by the three tiers of government – federal, state and local.

For example, the report showed that on September 2, the eight plants were allowed to generate only 465.2MW, after they previously generated 520.2MW. On that day, it disclosed that in Alaoji for instance, two units were out on the instructions of the NCC, just as another two were equally out at the Omotosho plant for same reasons.

Again, on August 30, the plants were allowed to generate only 535.1MW from their total capacities with two units at the Calabar plant also out on NCC instructions to scale down.

Further on August 29, they generated only 566MW, and on August 28, it was 515.9MW with another two units amongst others down at the Calabar plant due to grid constraints.

Between August 27 and 21, it was 489.4MW; 487.8MW; 410.4MW; 529.7MW; 529.9MW; 444.6MW; and 426.4MW allowed to them respectively.

On August 8, the eight NIPP Gencos were allowed to generate 407.5MW; and on August 7, it was 526.7MW allowed and 495.4MW on August 6, when four generating units in Calabar plant for instance were unavailable due to grid constraint.

road blocks to barricade entrance leading to Governor Emmanuel’s residence and seized motorcycles from okada riders passing through the road to the neighbouring villages Another eyewitness who pleaded anonymity, said that the brother of another cultist in Ikot Asse was cut to pieces when they could not get the elder brother who is a member of the rival group.

He accused the police of compromise in the cult clashes,

alleging that the police only blew siren around the villages signalling the cultists to escape, adding that the development made it impossible for the police to arrest anybody.

“Nobody has been arrested since this crisis started in Onna.

When they wanted to kill in Governor Udom’s village, security was beefed up . But the cultists have vowed to kill in the governor’s village” He said the soldiers and the police guarding the resident of

Governor Emmanuel could not help to restore normalcy in the village.

At Awa, the home town of Governor Emmanuel, operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARs), Department of State Services (DSS) and soldiers were seen parading the community yesterday.

The Police Public Relations Officer in Akwa Ibom State, Odiko Mcdon, said nobody has been arrested but confirmed that three persons were killed while others

sustained injuries.

“Yes there is cult clash in Onna though nobody is arrested for now but three persons have been confirmed dead.”

“Investigation is ongoing.

Whenever the culprits are arrested we would bring them to book.

You know this government has zero tolerance for cultism and we would not condone their activities,” he added.

Ganduje Receives Report on RUGA Settlements, Says Project on Course.

MOMENT OF TRUCE …

L-R: Deputy Governor of Edo State, Hon. Philip Shaibu; Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki; and Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, during the social dance in honour of the late Mrs. Princess Victoria Idahosa, the stepmother of Hon. Charles Idahosa, in Benin City, Edo State…weekend

Catholic Bishops Urge FG to Strengthen Nigeria’s Security The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has urged the federal government to further strengthen the peace and security of the country.

CBCN President, Most. Rev. Augustine Akubeze, said this yesterday during the opening ceremony of the second plenary of CBCN at the Sacred Heart College Hall in Abeokuta.

Earlier in the day, the bishops were joined by Catholic lay faithful, priests and leaders of other Christian denominations at the opening mass for the plenary meeting held at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Cathedral, Itesi Abeokuta.

The conference, which converged the presence of all Catholic bishops in Nigeria, addressed the state of the nation among other pertinent issues affecting the Catholic Church and the country at large.

Akubeze said that it remained the duty of the government to protect the constitutional rights of its citizens and also ensure peace and effective security.

He said that adequate security of lives and property would bring about peace and would eventually lead to sustainable development.

Akubuze also the Catholic Archbishop of Benin Archdiocese condemned the recent killings of some Catholic priests in some parts of the country.

“Only recently we heard of the burning of Rev. Fr. David Tanko of Jalingo Diocese to death and only recently we heard of the killing of a priest in Enugu Diocese.

“We Catholic priests and faithful must preach daily the message of peace and justice. It is part of the message of Christ. It is part of the mission of the church.

“As missionaries, we must be harbingers of justice and peace

in our land.

“We are just interested in living our lives peacefully without any fear of being kidnapped for ransom or being driven from our home land.

“Every government that fails to protect the constitutional rights of her citizens has failed. The leaders of a country should ensure peace and security of his people,” he said.

Also, the Chairperson of the conference, Prof. Catherine Eromosele, decried the continued keeping hostage of Leah Sharibu.

Eromosele said that she had spent no less than 1,980 days in the custody of Boko Haram, and urged the Bishops to keep her matter and others abducted alive.

Eromosele appealed to the Catholic clerics to urge the Federal Government to do all that is possible to ensure their release without further delay.

In his remarks, Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State lauded the Catholic Church for contributing to the development of the state and the country at large.

He called on the church to continue to pray for the peace and unity of the country.

He added that the present administration under President Muhammadu Buhari would not disappoint Nigerians by fulfilling his electioneering.

Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State; his Plateau State counterpart, Hon. Simon Lalong and the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi attended the events.

Also, Prof. Pat Utomi, Mr Jimi Agbaje, and the Alake of Egba Land, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo were among the dignitaries at both the mass and the opening ceremony.

Phillips: Xenophobic Attacks a Fallout of Poor Diplomacy Dike Onwuamaeze The Chairman of Nigeria-South Africa Chamber of Commerce (NSACC), Mr. Folunso Phillips, has attributed the recent xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa and the subsequent reprisals in Nigeria to the failure of both countries to work seriously on the diplomatic relationships.

Phillips, who is also the Founder and Executive Chairman of Phillips Consulting Limited,

said the failure accounted for the inability of the two countries to renew their agreement, which disallowed the nationalisation of each other’s assets and commitment to pay compensation on assets damaged during uprisings in any of the countries by the government of the host country.

He disclosed to THISDAY that this agreement expired in 2010, and had not been renewed.

The agreement, which was signed by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar

and Jacob Zuma, when they were vice presidents of Nigeria and South Africa respectively, would have provided the right instrument in deterring or compensating victims of recent attacks on Nigerian and South Africans’ assets in the respective countries. “I think that a lot more could have been done by both Nigeria and South Africa governments, which should accept the responsibility of abandoning diplomacy. I saw a document signed by Atiku

and Zuma when they were vice presidents of Nigeria and South Africa respectively, in which they declared commitment to encourage and protect investments in the countries.

The document stated that if as a result of any uprising or action of that nature, the countries will compensate each other for the losses incurred. But this commitment expired in 2010, and from 2010 till date, nothing has happened to get it renewed,” Phillips said.

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FG to Extend Border Closure Beyond 28 Days Chinedu Eze The National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd), has said that the federal government has decided to extend the partial closure of the country’s borders beyond the 28 days earlier slated.

According to Channels Television, Monguno disclosed that the partial closure of the borders between Nigeria and

Benin Republic has yielded results, including the arrest of about 100 illegal migrants, adding that illegal arms and hundreds of bags of imported rice have been impounded.

He said that the major reason the federal government decided to partially close the borders has to do with insecurity, adding that it is the responsibility of the government to protect its citizenry and secure its

Akinyemi Asks FG to Drag South Africa Before ICJ over Xenophobic Attacks Adedayo Akinwale inAbuja Following the persistent xenophobic attacks on Nigerian citizens in South Africa, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, yesterday advised the federal government to drag the South African government before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

In a statement titled, ‘South African on Xenophobic Attacks on Nigeria,’ Akinyemi said the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other immigrants were acts sponsored by the South African state in violation of Article 2, Paragraph 2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, among others.

For instance, the professor of political science pointed out that the statement credited to the South African Minister of International Relations, Dr. Grace Pandor, that Nigerians were drug dealers, among other officials, were inciting.

Akinyemi cited, “the statement credited to the South African Minister of International Relations, Dr. Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor, that Nigerians were drug dealers; and the statement credited to Deputy Police Minister, Bongani Mkongi, that they fought for their land and that that land would not be surrendered to immigrants.

“The statement credited to the South African Defence Minister,

Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, that South Africa is an angry nation and that the country could not prevent the xenophobic attacks; and various statements credited to South African diplomats blaming the immigrants,” was also cited by Akinyemi.

Akinyemi also noted “the anti-immigrant acts by the South African Immigration service officials which for all practical purposes amount to holding Nigerian immigrants hostage by refusing to allow them to be evacuated; I have come to the conclusion that the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other immigrants are acts sponsored or condoned by the South African state in violation of: Article 2, paragraph 2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

“Article 2, paragraph 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; United Nations Convention on the elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination; and the International Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers.

“I, therefore, call on Nigeria to sue South Africa before the International Court of Justice for failure in its duty of care and protection of Nigerian citizens’ resident there. I furthermore call on Nigeria to file complaints against specific South African officials at the International Criminal Court for aiding and abetting the xenophobic attacks.”

Lagos to Create One-stop Shop for Film Makers Segun James Lagos State Government has said it would establish a onestop shop for film makers in the state as part of effort to boost the film and entertainment industry.

Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Shuli Adebolu, who gave this indication at the graduation ceremony of the Pioneer MultiChoice Talent Factory Scholars drawn from across West Africa, held at the Lagos Business School in Ajah area of Lagos, said film-makers would enjoy support from conceptualisation of ideas to the final production.

Adebolu explained that the state is blessed with beautiful locations for film production and efforts are being put in place to ensure the state has a one-stop centre that would ensure quality and timely production of films that meet domestic and international standard, which would grow the industry and also attract

foreign investors.

The commissioner equally reiterated the commitment of the present administration to tourism and entertainment sector by ensuring that the state becomes a preferred destination for tourists and entertainment hub of the continent.

According to her, “Lagos is the second largest in the amount of films produced on the continent globally. The state is therefore set to open her doors by creating enabling environment, regulations and solid foundations that would make the sector a flourishing one that could successfully rival the likes of Hollywood and Bollywood entertainment industries.”

While commending MultiChoice for its Talent Factory initiative, she restated the readiness of Lagos State Government to collaborate with private sector and key stakeholders for the development of the industry to create jobs and source of revenue earning for the state.

international borders.

Earlier the Comptroller General of Customs, Hammed Ali had said that Nigeria borders would remain closed until the neighbouring countries respect Nigeria’s policy on food ban and other contraband importation.

Ali while addressing Customs personnel and community leaders at the border town, Maigatari, which connects Nigeria and Niger Republic, lamented that criminals were coming in through Nigeria’s porous borders to perpetrate crimes freely.

“Most of the criminals are not committed by the citizens of Nigeria. They come in at will and go out at will because our borders are so porous. They come and create havoc and they disappear.

“This is why the President directed that we should go on and embark on this drill to ensure that we put into place a proper procedure for in and outflow of people.

“We must also get our neighbours to agree with us on the protocols of transit routes,”

Ali said.

According to him, Nigeria has enough food and is willing to go to all extent to ensure its borders are no longer porous.

Speaking in the same vein, the Comptroller General of Immigration Service, Muhammad Babandede, said the federal government’s directive was important to ensure that people do not enter into Nigeria or leave Nigeria through illegal means.

“A border is a place where there are Immigration and Customs. If you want to enter

into Nigeria, there is a border.

The rule is that you pass through the border. If you are going pass through the border, carry your documents with you,” he said.

The Comptroller of Customs also explained in an interview with journalists that the border closure has yielded positive results and would remain closed till neigbouring countries cooperate with the Nigerian government.

Nigeria has shut its borders with neighbouring countries including, Benin Republic and Niger for about a month.

HEALTH ON THEIR MINDS…

L-R: Executive Director, Child Health Advocacy Initiative (Chai), Mrs Elizabeth Lola Alonge; Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, Prof.

Akin Abayomi; Board Member, Chai, Erelu Abiola Dosumu; and Lagos State Coordinator, Pachfah@Scale, Dr.Onipede Wusu, during the Advocacy visit of the Team to the Lagos State Ministry of Health to demand for increased Budgetary Allocation to the Health Sector… recently

Aero Resumes Flight Operations to Benin City Chinedu Eze in Lagos and Adibe Emenyonu in Benin Nigeria’s foremost airline, Aero Contractors would resume flight operations to Benin City, the Edo State capital today (September 16, 2019).

Aero, the first in Nigeria and West African aviation industry to operate a maintenance facility, which conducts CChecks on single isle aircraft, including Boeing 737 Calssics, said operating flights into the ancient city Benin is another boost for the airline, known for safe, efficient and satisfactory services.

The airline, in a statement by its Managing Director, Capt.

Ado Sanusi, said the indigenous carrier would operate into Benin City four times a week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

Sanusi added that the airline’s Boeing 737-500 aircraft would be used for the service by the nation’s oldest carrier known for its efficiency, goodwill and safety record.

He said Aero decided to resume flights to Benin in order to satisfy the yearnings of the people to have a reliable carrier.

The managing director explained that for weekdays, the flight would depart Lagos

to Benin City at 16.55 p. m. and out of Benin City to Lagos at 18.15 p. m., while on Sundays, it would depart Lagos to Benin City at 12.40 p. m. and out of Benin City to Lagos at 14.00 p. m.

Sanusi also noted that the airline intends to increase its flight frequencies to daily in the not too distant future.

“We are pleased to announce that Aero will expand its route network to Benin City on Monday, September 16, 2019, the home of the Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’Edo, Ewuare II to further increase the airline’s route. We are also resuming

this operation to give people from the state opportunity to make Aero their preferred choice of the airlines operating into the city.

“Resuming operations on the Benin route will reinforce the strength and quality of our brand. We will continue to offer the most reliable, safe and secure operations, which the airline is renowned for,” Sanusi said.

The airline, which is repositioning its scheduled and fixed wing operations, is poised to offer the best flight service to travellers to the ancient kingdom.

Private Sector Now Highest Contributor to NSITF Fund, Says NECA Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja Nigeria Employers Consultative Assembly (NECA) has said private sector operators are presently leading contributors to the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).

NECA Director General, Mr. Timothy Olawale, who revealed this in an interview in Abuja shortly after a workshop on the 5th edition of the Safe Workplace Intervention Project (SWIP), said more private sector organisations have now enrolled into the social insurance scheme than its public sector counterpart.

He added that the essence of the SWIP programme was to sensitise employers of labour in the country and to inculcate a culture of safe workplace in their minds.

He noted that the programme was also meant to help improve

of safety standards and to encourage others employers who may not have safety standards to do so.

Speaking on employers’ participation in the NSITF and their level of compliance, the NECA boss said: “Over the years, we have discovered that the private sector has become major contributor to the fund even beyond the public sector.

So the compliance within the private sector has been growing every year and we discovered from statistics that the rate of compliance has been appreciating every year.”

He explained that although there are sanctions for noncompliance, NECA is working with the NSITF to encourage voluntary compliance by every organisation. Earlier, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, said there

has been an improvement in occupational safety and health.

Under the Employees Compensation Act (ECA - 2010) managed by the NSITF, the fund provides for comprehensive payment of compensation to employees who suffer from occupational diseases or sustain injuries arising from accidents at work place or in the course of employment.

Its provisions apply to both employees in public and private sectors of the economy.

Speaking during the interactive session with stakeholders, the NSITF Managing Director, Mr. Adebayo Somefun, said a lot have been achieved in the past few years in the area of improvement in workplace safety and enrolment of more organisations into the scheme.

He, however, noted that some

agencies and organisations especially in the public sector are yet to conform to the social insurance scheme, thereby limiting its coverage.

While giving update on its operations, NSITF said it had paid over N1 billion to 10,000 injured workers and dependents of dead workers since the inception of the Employees Compensation Scheme (ECS) in July 2011.

NSITF Head, Claim and Compensations Department, Chris Esedebe, who disclosed this in Abuja at the interactive forum, added that there were also 495 disability beneficiaries on the Fund’s payroll as at August 2019.

Esedebe added that NSITF has processed over 13,000 disability benefits amounting to more than N300 million since the inception of the scheme.

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FUOYE Crisis: Police Warn against Planned Protest as NANS Threatens Relocation to Ekiti Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti The Ekiti State Police Command has warned students to desist from unlawful assembly which can exacerbate the security situation in the state, particularly

any planned protest on the killings of two students of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE). In a statement issued in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, yesterday by its Public Relations Officer, DSP Caleb

South-west Traditionalists Back IG on Community Policing

Ikechukwu, the state police authorities said it has discovered through intelligence gathering that a group under the auspices of ‘Ex-graduates’, who are not currently students of any higher Institutions, are presently moving into the state with the aim of fomenting trouble over the crisis.

According to the statement, “However, the state police command is using this medium to warn anyone or group of person(s) against any unlawful assembly with intent to cause

breach of peace.

The state police command has the constitutional mandate to maintain law and order, and also stop or advise any gathering which it thinks might lead to the breaking of law and order. “Furthermore, the police command shall deal decisively with anyone or group that takes law into its hands. Such person would be arrested and prosecuted accordingly no matter how highly placed he or she is.�

Meanwhile, the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to order thorough investigation into the killings.

A statement by the NYCN Director of Education and Training, Oluwadamilare Bewaji, said: “It is understandable to say that the office of the First Lady has nothing to do with the epileptic supply of electricity to students’ environment, but it would have been wise and safer if she had taken time

to address and appease the agitating students. “Therefore, NYCN demanded that the state Governor, Kayode Fayemi, must issue a statement condemning the actions of the Nigeria policemen, and to also compensate the two families that lost their sons as well as pay the medical bills of the those receiving treatment. “The arrested students should also be released with immediate effect, while the said policemen must be arrested and prosecuted without further delay.�

Ekiti to host ďŹ rst world traditional festival Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti Traditionalists in the Southwest region have supported the position canvassed by the Inspector General of Police (IG), Mohammed Adamu, that the country security challenges can only be solved through community-based state police.

Addressing journalists in Ado Ekiti yesterday, the Obarisa Agbaye of Ijo Olorisa Parapo ati Asa Adulawo Organisation, Oba Jamiu Adewale Eletu, blamed the festering insecurity situation in the South-west region on internal collusion.

Eletu, who is the Alawoyaya of Awoyaya, Ibeju Lekki in Lagos, alleged that some indigenes were conniving with the marauding herdsmen to perpetrate kidnappings and killings, in a bid to make money, saying that that is the reason the security challenges were difficult to curtail.

According to him, “Kidnapping is a serious

issue. It is necessary for Yoruba people to beware, else what we don’t want will happen to us. Those blaming the Fulani herdsmen should also try and look inwards. No one can come from Kano or Jos and just master our terrain. There are fifth columnists among us.

Some farms are being used as hideouts while the owners are collecting commissions from these criminals. “Our people too are at fault.

How can you see strange faces in your areas and you can’t report it to the monarch or the police, and you are still blaming the government for insecurity? “Also, how do you get a tight security or want the police to be effective when you bring someone from Kano to be heading Ekiti State Police Command? It is certain that there would be compromise.

Let there be a federal and state police, but the state police must be community-based.�

MEETING WITH DEVT PARTNERS‌

L-R: Charge d’Aaires of the US Embassy in Nigeria, Kathleen FitzGibbon; Mission Director for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Mr. Stephen M Haykin, and Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, during a meeting at the US Embassy in Abuja...weekend

Ouagadougou: Ikpeazu Moves RISE AND DEVELOPMENTAL TRAJECTORY OF THE IGBO PEOPLE Some questions have arisen elite in a subsequent piece in from which a central modern struggle, determination and over the possibility of the future, but it is important City would be carved to spin divine providence, today apart to Create Homeland Security recently these propositions: to consider the introduction speedy development of such from having their homeland 1. Are territorial specialisations now as we try to establish the final destination town of the (Israel), they have became a Ministry in Abia possible in these? thread between Aladimma and Igbo elite. The docile elites, global empire in the diaspora.

Emmanuel Ugwu in Umuahia In the aftermath of the Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) security summit, the Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, has disclosed his intention to establish a full-fledged ministry of homeland security for more effective protection of the state.

A statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor.

Mr. Onyebuchi Ememanka, said the governor made his intention known while speaking on the sidelines of the security summit.

The Ikpeazu was among the Nigerian delegation that accompanied President Muhammadu Buhari to the ECOWAS security summit on terrorism held at Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso.

Giving reasons for the planned Abia State Ministry of Homeland Security, the governor stated that “the need has arisen for the state government to tie up all loose ends in terms of securing our people.�

According to Ikpeazu, the planned ministry would have as its main focus the mainstreaming of activities of Fulani herdsmen and other violent crimes with a view to safeguarding the people and the environment.

He further explained that the whole idea was to ensure that no part of Abia territory would remain ‘unpoliced’, adding that field personnel of the ministry will be trained under a collaborative arrangement with the Nigeria police.

Ikpeazu said the new ministry would emerge after the approval of his list of commissioner nominees by the state legislature, adding that the name of the pioneer commissioner for the ministry of homeland security was included in the list.

Meanwhile, the governor has advocated for more international synergy in the war against terrorism, saying global leaders should find a common ground for collaborative action to tackle the menace.

Speaking with journalists at the end of the ECOWAS security summit, he stated the growing threats of terrorism can only be squarely tackled when leaders at all levels in the world come together to fashion out a common strategy.

Describing terrorism as a scourge and potent threat to global peace, Ikpeazu called for a shift from core geographic approach to a ‘geostrategic approach’ in the war against terror.

2. Which area should engage in what or undertake the one?

3. What is the role and where is the blame of the “docile elite� class?

For the first, there is a room for territorial specialisation.

Nnewi started as primarily an automobile spare parts town. It has continued in that stead as its strongest selling point, now to the effect that manufacture and assembly have kicked off other ranges and classes of businesses.

The determinants of subregional roles can be consciously designed or allowed to emerge on the strength of economies of scale. If the Ozubulu/Enugu Agidi in Anambra State are past masters in building material trade, dating back to a century, who then can take it and run faster than the masters; if Akpugo/Obe is a strong arm in the entertainment industry; if Orlu/Ideato is the birth place of pharmaceutical manufacture and enterprise; if Aba is the bastion of west coast intercontinental trade; if Nsukka is the haulage base of local foodstuff, etc, the water finds its level as it sweeps the plain and ditches.

Now, the engaging question is the so called ‘docile elite.’ It is my intension to deal with matters of the so called docile

Akuluo uno. In ever accepting that there is a concept called docile elite, we are not returning to Lenin’s theory of lumpen bourgeoisie and the proletariat counterpart. Frederik Maas considers the docile elites as the leaders of the society living lazily in either long established wealth or on well appointed offices and professions. Their contributions to industrialisation or founding of economic clusters can be enormous. They are the significant few whose life styles define the taste, choices and aspirations of the other members of the society. Where they live or eventually settle is a matter of influence for growth of new towns and cities.

Ani-Igbo is one part of Nigeria where, safe Nnewi, no single modern (major or Minor) town has been created by the Igbo, themselves and for themselves. When the talk of a proposed Etiti-Igbo State was high and frequent, a revelation was made of the potentialities of the areas which would have been carved out as the first ever such distinct modern town. It was the proposed melding of land areas of Awgu/Aninri/Oji River(Enugu),Ohaozara(Ebonyi), Orumba North and South/Ihiala (Anambra), Orlu/Ideato (Imo) and Isuochi/Isuikwuato(Abia),

rather than erecting mind blowing palaces which elicit derision in the locales in Lagos, Abuja and elsewhere, would commence in development of their ultimate Aku luo uno. So, whereas there has been the akuluo uno of the ultimate village destination, there has not been a pan-Igbo agglomerating Aku luo uno City.

It is even possible that many have not considered that while these elite erect the intimating edifices expending hundreds of millions of Naira, artisans from or living in their native home towns – uno would never have earned any living from the hands of their kinsmen, let alone honing their skills.

Like the mysterious Phoenix Ndigbo have risen from the ashes of the civil war, deprivation, marginalisation, lack, regional infrastructural neglect, exclusion from central governance, to the mainstay as far as the Nigerian economy is concerned.

The Jews migrate, disperse, settle and work like us. Yesso, not vice versa since mankind’s dispersal started in the African motherland. The Jews of Arabia share similar ethnology with the Ndi Igbo Africana. The Jews, until of recent had nowhere to call their home. Through

They are a highly industrialized nation, a trade and commercial superpower and wizards in technological advancement.

Like the Jews our homeland can rise here in Aladimma, South East Nigeria within her jurisdictional control and authority that is One Nigeria with neither a Flag nor National Anthem but with inherent, foundational and native inalienable sovereignty. Infact with little or no study of political science, I believe sovereignty resides permanently with the people and those in authority exercise it on their behalf.

We are here domiciled in Nigeria neither homeless nor stateless while retaining our sovereignty. Thus, we are more than many centuries ahead of the state of Israel after the inception of the Jews odyssey.

We at least have a place to call our homeland. We can rebuild our own homeland inside the nation called Nigeria.

We can develop our Aladimma using our talent and intellect working together with our brethren in the diaspora.

Nike nike ka anyi ji alu olu!

Onye obuna Nike Nike! t $IJNBSPLF /OBNBOJ XSJUFT GSPN 0KJBHV "HCBOJ OFBS &OVHV /JHFSJB

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How Nigeria was Schemed out of €15m EU-funded Fisheries Project Chris Uba There are insinuations that Nigeria may have been schemed out of €15 million (N6 billion) European Union (EU)-funded project designed for the development and improvement of fisheries activities in the West African sub-region by the francophone countries.

The project is informed by the belief that contribution of fisheries to the economic development of West Africa is sub-optimal and the current governance of fisheries threatens food security, means of subsistence and marine biodiversity, hence EU is providing support to the fight against illegal fishing in West Africa.

Also, the project, funded under the European Development Fund (EDF), was aimed to improve regional fisheries

governance in West Africa and this would include developing a regional fishing policy, putting in place regional coordination against Illegal Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and improving fish stock management at regional level.

As THISDAY was reliably informed, the €15 million project is one of the many significant commitments to ocean conservation made by the EU at the 2017 Ocean Conference hosted by the EU in Malta.

Tagged: the EU-funded West Africa Fisheries Governance Improvement Project (PESCAO), it “aims at enhancing regional fisheries management by firstly, addressing regional fisheries policy at the Economic Community of West African Countries (ECOWAS) level; secondly by building the capacities of competent national

and regional Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) authorities to deter Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing; and thirdly demonstrating the added value of coordinated approaches for shared fisheries management.”

PESCAO, which is currently being implemented by the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC), was launched in Accra July 30, 2018, without the participation of Nigeria.

This has been generating some concerns in the country among the stakeholders of the fisheries industry sub-sector who said Nigeria has not been fully involved in the implementation of the project.

FCWC is an intergovernmental body established in 2007 with its secretariat based in Tema, Ghana and with Ghana as its host country.

FCWC facilitates cooperation in fisheries management between the member

countries including: Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria, countries which have several shared fish stocks and identified a need for cooperation and shared management of these resources.

Nigerian fisheries stakeholders, who pleaded anonymity, said almost the entire exercise is dominated by officials from the francophone countries without any active role for Nigeria, meaning that Nigeria is not part of the

project.

When contacted, the FCWC Communications Officer, Mr. Kofi Taylor-Hayford, who is based in Ghana, said “the FCWC is indeed implementing a component of the Improved Regional Governance in Western Africa (PESCAO) project in our sub-region (FCWC-PESCAO). We are only implementing one out of the three components since it is a larger regional project.”

Ex-AGF Adoke’s Book, Burden of Service, Goes on Sale Today The memoirs of Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke’s book, former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minster of Justice, will go on sale across Nigeria on Monday, September 16, RovingHeights Ltd, the marketers, said in a press statement issued yesterday.

The book, Burden of Service: Reminiscences of Nigeria’s former Attorney-General, contains startling revelations on the OPL 245/Malabu saga and a detailed eyewitness account of the moments leading to former President Goodluck Jonathan’s concession phone call to President Muhammadu Buhari while the results of the 2015 presidential election were being announced.

He detailed the various suggestions made by former Vice-President Namadi Sambo, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Chief Godswill Akpabio, Mr Ita Ekpeyong and Hon. Waripamo Dudafa when the behind-the-scene debate ensued over whether or not Jonathan should concede to Buhari.

The storm over Buhari’s certificate and the attempts to get him disqualified, arrested and prosecuted over the deadly post-election riots of 2011 as well

as the execution of three Nigerians convicted for drug trafficking in 1984 when he was military head of state were also discussed in the book by the former minister.

Adoke discussed in detail how state of emergency and impeachments were being used as tools of removing opposition governors by hawks in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but for the insistence of Jonathan that the rule of law must be followed in many of the instances.

Other informative and interesting aspects of the book, which can be ordered online at www.rhbooks.com.ng, www.

Jumia.com and www.Konga.com, are the details of the Halliburton scandal, the disputed handover of Bakassi to Cameroon, the recovery of Abacha loot, the Pfizer case in Kano, the controversial pardon granted to the late DSP Alamieyeseigha, the divisive retirement of Justice Ayodele Salami, the Azura Power Project crisis and the Gulf War Windfall.

The book, published by Clink Street (London and New York), is available at leading bookstores in Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Kaduna and other parts of the country, RovingHeights said.

Taraba Holds Security Meeting on Tiv, Jukun Crisis Chinedu Eze The Taraba State Government has held a security meeting with stakeholders to bring the unabated clashes between the Tiv and Jukun tribes in the state to an end.

Channels Television reported that the meeting, which was held behind closed-door, was a follow-up to the one held in Abuja.

The meeting also made some recommendations.

Briefing journalists shortly after the meeting, the state’s Deputy Governor Haruna Manu disclosed that a committee would be set up on Monday (today), September 16, where 15 persons each from Tiv and Jukun

would present their positions.

Manu added that a joint patrol team involving all security agencies in the state would be set up with dedicated lines for distress calls to curb kidnapping and banditry.

Beyond that, he also noted that another recommendation was that both Benue and Taraba states would liaise with the National Boundary Commission (NBC) for adequate demarcation of their boundaries in order to minimise the conflict between the two tribes.

Manu said the state government was determined to find lasting solutions to t he crisis, which has been protracted and has claimed many lives.

KNOWLEDGE SHARING …

Daughter of a former President of Ghana, Ms Samia Nkrumah (left), and son of Noble Laureate, Dr. Olaokun Soyinka, during interview session hosted by Soyinka at the 2019 Kaduna Book and Arts Festival (KABAFEST), in Kaduna…weekend

Tribunal Verdict: I’ve Gone Through Most Turbulent Period, Says Ogun Gov Tinubu congratulates Abiodun, asks him to unite Ogun people Idowu Sowunmi Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, yesterday admitted that several court cases challenging his election and eligibility for the public office had been turbulent, saying he has gone through probably one of the most tumultuous periods than any other governor in Nigeria.

This is coming as the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, yesterday congratulated The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, yesterday congratulated the Ogun State governor, over the judgment of the state’s governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which affirmed his victory in the March 9 governorship poll.

Abiodun, who spoke against the backdrop of the tribunal judgment affirming his victory on Saturday, expressed gratitude to God for making him victorious despite daunting opposition.

Speaking in an interview with journalists at the sidelines of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria held in Abeokuta, Abiodun thanked God and the people of the state for his victory at the tribunal.

He also appreciated the judiciary, his team of lawyers and party members who stood

by him while the court cases lasted.

According to him, “this (tribunal ruling) is further affirmation that indeed, with God, nothing shall be impossible.

This victory is for Ogun State people who have entrusted me with this mandate. It has been contested in so many courts.

“I have gone through probably one of the most turbulent periods any governor could have gone through. I went through several pre-election cases, about eight or nine and also this tribunal. But God has continued to remain God. “This mandate is a divine mandate and I believe that is obvious to all. This is a decision of the people of Ogun State and that was further ratified by the people yesterday (Saturday).

Unfortunately, I was away in Burkina Faso yesterday but, I was being informed about what was going on back home and I was told it was a detailed judgment.

“I am thankful to the judiciary; the Ogun people and my team of lawyers who are very learned and I am thankful to my party that has stood by me during this period. They are very disciplined, very resilient, supportive and I could not have opted to be in another party apart from APC. “It is not because I am the best in the state, or I am special. God

has just given me the assignment to lead Ogun State at this point in time. I have pledged I will do so with all God has given me.”

Meanwhile, Tinubu, yesterday congratulated Abiodun, over the judgment of the state’s governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which affirmed his victory in the March 9 governorship poll.

Tinubu said the tribunal ruling has further demonstrated that Abiodun’s election was indeed a true reflection of the wishes of the people, and challenged the governor to re-dedicate himself towards re-uniting the people of Ogun State.

He said Abiodun truly deserved the victory that came “despite the intimidation, harassment and violence unleashed on your numerous supporters and other shenanigans perpetrated by known opposition elements within and outside our party, APC.” Tinubu, in a congratulatory letter to Abiodun dated September 15, 2019 and personally signed by him, said: “Saturday’s judgment of the Ogun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal affirming your electoral victory has further demonstrated that your election was indeed a true reflection of the wishes of your people.”

According to him, “we

were all living witnesses to the fact that despite the intimidation, harassment and violence unleashed on your numerous supporters and other shenanigans perpetrated by known opposition elements within and outside our party, APC, you emerged victorious because the people of Ogun stood by you.

“Undaunted by all of that, you ran a clean, peaceful, issues-based campaign. You were, by far, the most popular and most qualified of the governorship candidates, hence your election. You truly deserved your victory.

“This is now time to extend your hand of fellowship to the APM candidate and others who contested against you and indeed other stakeholders in the state. You must re-dedicate yourself to re-uniting the people and be the governor for all. “Ogun State deserves development, Ogun State deserves industrialisation.

Having made success in your private multi-sectoral entrepreneurial life, you are best placed to replicate this in Ogun. This you must do within the shortest possible time.

“Once again, I congratulate you and wish you God’s guidance in the daunting, but not insurmountable tasks, ahead of you.”

54

Ëœ ͚͞˜ ͺ͸͚Π˞ T H I S D AY

MONDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

Spain Recapture FIBA World Cup in China Spain completed their undefeated run at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China with a 95-75 victory against Argentina in the Final to capture the Naismith

Trophy at the Wukesong Sport Arena in Beijing.

Ricky Rubio paced the winners with 20 points while Marc Gasol added 14 points, 7 rebounds and

CAF Champions League: Al-Hilal Hold Enyimba Goalless in Aba Femi Solaja Two-time African Champions, Enyimba FC of Aba began their quest for continental glory last night with a frustrating goalless outing against visiting Al-Hilal of Sudan in the second round qualifying game of the CAF Champions League.

The pulsating encounter at the Enyimba Stadium in Aba was not without some drama after the referee red carded Hilal’s Nazar Hamid in the 21st minute following elbowing of Enyimba’s Daniel Darkwah.

However, despite the advantage of having a player over the visitors, Enyimba still found it difficult to breakdown the defence of the Sudanese team.

The gaffer of the Aba People’s Elephant, Usman Abdallah, in a post match interview said the match is still open for his lads to reach the next stage of the competition.

Although Abdallah lamented the missed opportunities by his players, he however promised that the job of qualifying for the next round was still within the reach Enyimba. “This match is just the first half to the final part and it is

most unfortunate that we did not convert the chances that came our way but next week I hope my lads will turn up with a big surprise. “Although many of you (sports journalists) would think that the one man advantage should have turned out to be goals for my team but football five years ago is not same thing today. “You have to understand the dynamics of the game because the opposing team will change tactics,� he noted.

The coach also believes his wards still have all to play for in the return leg will come up in Sudan in 10 days time. “We still have all to play for in the return match. It is not yet over for Enyimba,� boasts the coach.

The winner of the return leg will qualify into the money spinning group stage of the competition.

Earlier on Saturday in the second tier continental competition, the CAF Confederation Cup, it was a bad day in office for Nigeria’s representative Enugu Rangers as they began their campaign on a losing note.

7 assists to lead the Spaniards to their second World Cup title, repeating as champions after a 13-year break.

Their first title also came on Asian soil in Japan.

It was also the second World Cup triumph for Gasol and Rudy Fernandez, who both were part of the titlewinning team at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2006.

Their second Asian triumph makes Spain one of a few countries to have won multiple World Cups, alongside Brazil, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,

Soviet Union, United States and Yugoslavia.

For Argentina, their second-place finish in China is their best performance since 2002, when they also ended up runners-up. They won the inaugural edition of the competition in 1950.

On hand to witness the Final and present the awards were FIBA President Horacio Muratore, FIBA Vice-President and FIBA President-elect Hamane Niang, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, FIBA Secretary General

Andreas Zagklis, Minister of the General Administration of Sport of China Gou Zhongwen, Mayor of Beijing Chen Jining, members of the FIBA Central Board and Executive Committee, representatives of the eight host cities, and a plethora of stars, including FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Global Ambassadors Yao Ming and Kobe Bryant.

There was double joy for Ricky Rubio, who crowned an incredible tournament with another fine all-around display in the Final to claim

the TISSOT Most Valuable Player award.

The 28-year-old point guard headlined the All-Star Five, which also included his teammate Marc Gasol, Argentina big man Luis Scola, France swingman Evan Fournier and Serbia shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic.

In an exciting Third-Place Game, France came from behind in the second half to defeat Australia 67-59 for their second consecutive top three finish at the World Cup, having also finished third in 2014.

FINAL STANDINGS 1. Spain

9. Lithuania

17. Nigeria

25. Montenegro

2. Argentina

10. Italy

18. Germany

26. Korea

3. France

11. Greece

19. New Zealand

27. Angola

4. Australia

12. Russia

20. Tunisia

28. Jordan

5. Serbia

13. Brazil

21. Canada

29. Cote d’Ivoire

6. Czech Republic

14. Venezuela

22. Turkey

30. Senegal

7. USA

15. Puerto Rico

23. Iran

31. Japan

8. Poland

16. Dominican Republic

24. China

32. Philippines

ITF Sets Registration Deadline Lagos Open Tennis Tourney World tennis governing body, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has given players across the world Thursday, 19th September, 2019 as registration deadline for the first leg of this year’s Lagos Open Tennis Championship.

The Lagos Open, which enters its 19th edition, holds from October 7 through October 20.

It has been an annual tennis championship staged to celebrate the sitting Executive Governor of Lagos State and also a destination for emerging young tennis players across the world to fight for ATP points. The tournament is played within the course of two weeks (Futures 4 &5) at the Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan in Lagos.

The ITF directed that players should register for the first leg of the tournament latest by 14:00GMT this week’s Thursday, while withdrawal deadline is Tuesday, 24 September, 2019 by 14:00GMT. The first leg serves off with a day qualifying matches on Monday, 7 October, while the Main Draw in both the singles and doubles of men and women events start the following day.

The final of the leg holding on Sunday, 13 October, 2019.

This leg has as its prize money $50,000 to be shared $25,000 each in both the men and women’s categories.

For the second leg, the ITF also directed that players should register latest by Thursday, 26 September with the withdrawal deadline fixed for Tuesday, 1 October, 2019. The qualifying matches for the second leg hold on Monday 14 October with the main draws starting the following day.

The finals of the second leg, which traditionally is the grand finale with its usual closing ceremony, holds on Sunday, 20 October, 2019.

The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu and other important dignitaries are expected to watch the finals of the singles events.

This leg also has as its prize money $50,000 to be shared $25,000 each in both the men and women’s categories.

At last year’s tournament, British youngster, Jack Draper, caused a major upset in the finals of the second leg watched by the former Governor of Lagos, Akinwunmi Ambode and other important personalities, as well as hundreds of school children who were mobilised to watch live tennis action from the older players.

Spanish players celebrating their FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 title in China early hours of yesterday. They won their second World Cup title with a 95-75 victory against Argentina in the Final

Sports Minister Vows to Revive Decaying National Stadium in Lagos Femi Solaja The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Sunday Dare, has vowed to turn the National Stadium in Lagos back to an active usage within the next few years.

The new ‘Games Master’ of the federation who was on a working visit to the facility on Saturday night, lamented the decaying state of the edifice.

He however promised to put in motion a process that will lead to refurbishment of the stadium.

The Minister said in an interview with THISDAY that

he had embarked on visit to all the Federal Government owned sport facilities across the country with the aim ascertaining their current state and refurbishment made where necessary. “The President Muhammadu Buhari administration is conscious of the state of our facilities and it behoves of me to physically see them so that we can take it up from there. “I have visited the MKO Abiola National Stadium in Abuja. I have also been to the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna and I would be inspecting others stadia as

well very soon. “So, this would be one of the several inspection that we are going to do on these facilities. We are going to do a report and audit what is on ground before the actual renovation will begin,� the Minister explained.

Asked if other sports would get similar attention as football, Dare assured sports lovers in the country that similar priority would be extended to other sports.

He insisted that several countries leverage on those other sports (apart from footnall) to win glory at international competitions.

“We all know that football is the king of sports, but I promise not to be Minister of Football. So, we are going to pay attention to these other sports. “And to attest to this statement, I was at the Indoor Sports Hall, Swimming Pool, the Media Centre and the Gymnasium which is the only section in better state before proceeding to the main-bowl of the National Stadium here in the Sports City,� concludes the Minister.

Dare was accompanied on tour by the Lagos Stadium Manager and other top officials on the ministry.

55

Ëœ ͚͞˜ ͺ͸͚Π˞ T H I S D AY

MONDAYSPORTS

Premier League: Watford Come from Behind to Hold Arsenal A Watford side brimming with attacking intent fought back from two goals down at half-time to draw at home to Arsenal in Quique Sanchez Flores’ first match since being reappointed Hornets manager.

The hosts fired in 31 shots - a club-record for a Premier League game - as Arsenal’s shaky defence finally cracked after the break.

Watford levelled the scores when Roberto Pereyra rolled in a late penalty to secure only their second point of the season.

Tom Cleverley had earlier reduced the deficit when Gunners defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos gave away possession inside his own area, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put the visitors in front when he collected Sead Kolasinac’s pass on the turn before firing past Ben Foster.

Arsenal doubled their lead as Aubemeyang finished a sweeping team move but the hosts improved after the break as the Gunners unravelled in front of the vociferous home support.

The Hornets had their chances to complete a stunning comeback with a decisive third, but the otherwise impressive Gerard Deulofeu dragged his effort narrowly wide.

The result sees Arsenal move into seventh, while the Hornets remain rooted to the bottom.

The Arsenal striker Aubemeyang is one of the most clinical forwards in the English top flight, having scored with seven of his last nine shots on target, and the Gunners are quite capable of blowing teams away going forward thanks to the potency of Aubameyang and the technical ability of Mesut Ozil and Dani Ceballos.

They demonstrated their attacking flair as they went through 20 passes for their second goal - but glaring issues remain at the back.

This was evident as early as the 10th minute as the red and white shirts backed off and space opened up for Cleverley, whose fierce effort was well saved by Bernd Leno.

Five minutes later, and Etienne Capoue was given the same time and space but could only shoot over the bar.

The Gunners want to play out from the back, and even though Matteo Guendouzi lost possession deep inside his own half on two occasions they persisted with their approach.

It was Sokratis who eventually made the mistake that always looked likely to happen, before Deulofeu diverted the ball into Cleverley’s path for Watford’s first goal.

David Luiz was brought in from London rivals Chelsea to shore up the defence over

NBA Star, Kobe Bryant, Admits the World Has Caught up with America The rest of the basketball world has caught up with the United States, according to one of the game’s superstars, Kobe Bryant.

Speaking in Beijing on the eve of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) World Cup final between Spain and Argentina, the 41-year-old former Los Angeles Lakers legend, who won Olympic gold with the United States at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, expressed no surprise at the failure of the US team to defend its title. “It’s not a matter of the rest of the world catching up to the USA,� said Bryant, a Global Ambassador for the flagship FIBA event. “It’s a matter of the rest of the world having been caught up for quite some time. “It’s come to the point where we, as the USA, are going to win some, we’re going to lose some. “And that’s just how it goes.�

The US team, seeking a third successive world title, were beaten by France in the quarterfinals, and a subsequent loss to Serbia meant their highest possible placing would be seventh – their worst ever.

The US men at least finished with a win today, securing that seventh place with an 87-74 victory over Poland. Serbia also rounded off their competition positively, earning fifth place by beating the Czech Republic 90-81.

Bryant, who was also a

five-time National Basketball Association champion, continued: “There’s some great basketball being played: France, Serbia, Argentina. “We’re going to have our challenges with the next team, whether it’s ‘Redeem Team Two’ or whatever you want to call the team. “No matter what team it is, it’s not going to be easy.�

Bryant recalled the battle the Americans had in the 2008 Olympic Final against Spain – a 118-107 victory. “I remember on the Redeem Team we needed a hell of a fourth quarter to beat Spain. “That was a hell of a team we had. “We still needed a really late push to beat Spain in that gold-medal match.�

Roberto Pereyra (right) salvaged a point for Watford from the penalty spot in the 81st minute

the summer, but the Brazilian has endured a difficult few weeks at the start of his

Arsenal career, and has now conceded two penalties in three matches.

Luiz brought down Pereyra with a lunge in the final 10 minutes and the substitute

stepped up himself to take the penalty and salvage a point for the hosts.

Tammy Abraham Reflects on His Flying Chelsea Start Super Eagles’ new attraction, Tammy Abraham, has declared that he hopes ‘this can be my season’ after racing to the top of the Premier League scoring charts following his superb hat-trick in Chelsea’s 5-2 win over Wolves on Saturday.

After being handed the number nine shirt at the start of the season, Abraham, whom is strongly been considered for Super Eagles role, has firmly cemented his place as the Blues’ number one striker after seven goals in his opening five league matches.

He opened his account at Molineux with a smart a turn and shot in the box, before adding another before half-time with a well-guided header. It would have been three successive braces for the 21-year-old, but unwilling to finish without the match-ball he burst past Conor Coady to wrap up his performance in style.

Speaking on Chelsea’s

official website, Abraham said his aspirations for the season, crossing his fingers that this could be his breakthrough season: “I’ve been working hard and hopefully this can be my season. It’s up to me to keep showing the gaffer (Frank Lampard) in every game and training session that I’m hungry

and I want success.“He told me at half-time to stay on and get the hat-trick so I believed and stayed focused. I’ve just got to be ready to take every chance that comes my way with both hands. I’m working hard and I’m just delighted to see that pay off with my goals (on Saturday) as well as the three points.�

Tammy Abraham celebrating his hat trick against Wolves. He’s now joint leading top scorer with Man City’s Sergio Aguero

After a nervy opening to the game, the deadlock was broken in the black country via a stunning strike from Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori, who scored a stunning long-range goal with his first shot in Premier League in football.

Abraham joked afterwards when the ball fell to the 21-year-old, he was desperate for his teammate not to pull the trigger, before being taken aback by the quality of the strike. “I was thinking ‘don’t shoot, Fikayo’ but everyone is delighted for him. In training, he’s been trying it every day and smashing windows but (against Wolves) it paid off – it was a great strike,� he added. “We (he, Tomori and Mount) were the last people off the pitch because we were discussing how we’ve all scored in the same game for Chelsea.

We’ve dreamt of that since we were little boys and we made it happen.�

Mainz 05 Football School Charms P’Harcourt Football enthusiasts were treated to amazing display of good football artistry at the FSV Mainz 05 Football Camp that held at the Shell Club in Rumukurushe, Port Harcourt recently.

The camp powered by Vandyke Football Club and hosted by the PENGASSAN Shell branch ran from August 26 through September 6 in the Garden City.

Mainz 05 coaches, Robin

Hassenclever and Philipp Weber led the drills ably supported by Vandyke FC coaches Blessing Harrison and Sunny Gershon Ejekwu. The Chairman, Rivers State Football Association, Chris Green, who graced one of the sessions described the Mainz 05 camp as one of its kind in recent times in the land. “The camp is a great opportunity for youth players to develop under a very professional structure and

we are very happy to work with Mainz 05 and Vandyke FC as they roll out this exciting project in the state. “This is a huge platform for player’s development in Nigeria,� said the former Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) technical committee chairman.

The FSV Mainz 05 Football School Head, Christof Babatz said Nigeria is amazingly endowed with great football talents.

“It is a well known fact that Nigeria is a country of many talented players and we are proud to be here to help young players in their development of technical and tactical football skills,� said Babatz.

Vandyke FC Director, Emeka Enyadike who is one of the most trusted voices in African football and a legend of the game is the driving force behind the Mainz 05 Football School partnership and expansion into Africa.

Transfer: Real Madrid Plan Big for Mbappe Swoop

Kobe Bryant...admits the rest of the world catching up with the USA in the game

Real Madrid’s transfer budget for the coming year has been revealed after club delegates met to approve the club’s financial accounts - with a plan in place to try and lure Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain.

News of the war chest at Zinedine Zidane’s disposal comes only a few weeks since the end of the summer transfer window, a period which saw Los Blancos splash out just shy

of a whopping ÂŁ280m.

Nevertheless, despite the significant outlay, there still appears to be plenty of money in the bank after AS disclosed the details of the aforementioned financial accounts. While the cash parted with was significant, the club did also recoup money to the tune of ÂŁ117m by selling fringe stars such as Mateo Kovacic and Marcos Llorente.

All in all though, the Spanish

publication report that â‚Ź 156m (ÂŁ139m) is available to the club in liquid assets, while a further â‚Ź 285m (ÂŁ254m) is available in credit. The credit in question is a loan which Madrid have been offered that bears highly favourable interest rates and conditions, should they be willing to splash out on any large-scale investment. This credit is separate from the loan arrangement the club have in

place to redevelop their Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

With a wealth of funding made available to Zidane to invest, it opens the door for Los Blancos to make a big-money ‘Galactico’ addition next year. AS claim the player in question is almost certainly Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain, who they state would be easily affordable with only the player’s willingness the necessary hurdle to overcome.

TR

Monday September 16, 2019

UT H

& RE A SO

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Price: N250

MISSILE

TI to Governors

“Security votes have been a major source through which politically-exposed corrupt persons siphon public funds. It is so because the fund is not audited.

The fund is not over-sighted. The fund cannot show serious impact in terms of contribution to the security” – Transparency International rejecting the claim of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) that the abolition of security votes will breed chaos and disorder.

CHIMAROKENNAMANI GUEST COLUMNIST

Aladimma: Developmental Trajectory of Igbo People

T

he concept of Aladimma in the Igbo world view is not a claim of having it all and good at all times, and certainly not built on sitting in recrimination over the disaster of a consequential war waged on them and the other Eastern Nigerians in an avoidable chain of actions escalated by the egos of otherwise professional soldiers who departed their careers and delved into statecraft for which they were ill-prepared.

The concept of Aladimma is a prognosis of the would-be, anchoring on the best that had been of the past, relegating the flash points of conflict in present interactions in a multi dimensional state system as Nigeria, without bowing to the hues and cries for chiselling a people into one pattern of behaviour.

In then considering the factors which give vent to social agglomeration or blending of multiple values into a functional loose society of nation State, Frank Wallasey in his work, “Emerging New States after the great war, declares, “the state is not built on amorphous claims, but founded on the relationship between nation and state, between culture and society, and between values and covenants.”

Put differently, the modern State must take into consideration the pre-existing or organic values, character and interests from which the careful blending of the society of the state would commence and proceed without relenting.

If then we are challenged as we are today, in sorting out the Igbo character, which, when fully understood, provides a spur of the individual and group in irrevocable pursuit of inclusion within the Nigeria State, it is not asking for too much to demand a reinvention of the glorious past added with values of the present, and which is capable of gainful influences in the Nigeria context.

Unknown to many an Igbo and other Nigerians, what has, at present, thrust itself forward, threatening to be considered as the all-time character and aspiration of Ndigbo in Nigeria has tended to be disruptive tendencies and a desire to attainment of a separate State in the name or the like of Biafra.

I strongly think differently. Remember, Biafra had arisen on the reality of failure of the State in protecting the people of old Eastern Nigeria origin from repeated and then enduring deadly mob attacks by their fellow countrymen. Such had then suggested that the abdication of the primary duty of the State in protecting her citizens was a confirmation of a State policy to be perpetrated as exclusion of some. It was simply unacceptable.

And, yes, the hurt was deep. The disruption of the social order was total, and the oddities were even surpassed in the proportion of injury by post-war state policies, such as the abandoned property, twenty Pounds limitation mockery, and indigenisation programmes. Since these have yet to be removed, they have remained as strongest suggestions of a design to relegate and stunt the people already traumatised by war.

The question now is whether, in the face of typecasting the people as affronting the State in the drive to a separate State of Biafra, have the people themselves reflected on the best options in either holding out and excelling even against all odds or adopting a Pro-State principle, which would give vent to achieving both at the same time, leaving no one in injury or further agitation?

Now, get me right. The drive for a separate state is no more rewarding in actualisation than first getting the acts together, especially in bounding and streamlining of the myriad rewarding character traits from days of the past to the present.

How do I mean? The question may not have been asked of the lines or matters between physical Biafra, which is of territory and restricted in

“Like the Jews our homeland can rise here in Aladimma, South East Nigeria within her jurisdictional control and authority that is One Nigeria with neither a Flag nor National Anthem...” geographical outreach against fiscal Biafra, which is individual and group economic culture, boundless in pattern, endless extent and outreach and capable of repetition, recreation and remodelling. It is also global in influence. Now, what does one offer, either for or against the other?

The physical Biafra offers a near monolithic State which shall have the arduous task of commencing the journey of nation building if after recovery from the pangs of birth of a State, with its attendant physical and psychological destructions, pillaging and traumatisation. Such pangs usually run on the same lines of a revolution, which has operated on the principle of consuming its best and brightest, also in oftentimes, relegation of the prior target principles in setting out. As certainly disruptive and usually violent, the price of vacuous liberty sometimes may tend to outweigh the gains of the new project if not dwarfed by the private desires of the prime actors. What tends to unsettle in such is that often times, the seeming group objectives often tend to differ from the personal political and social aspiration of some select individual leadership figures, who though, are smart and strong to impose their characters and wills on the people; always charismatic, even if not cerebral. The first hint of this is the adulation in songs, chants and popular calls which explore the emotions of the common herd. Yet, some situations compel this option in sifting and building a safe and continuity nests necessary for the perpetuation of a people. Yes, people who are threatened with extinction by political actions of others.

The fiscal Biafra is not a negation of a possible physical type, rather, it is a consolidation of the foundation on which a reliable and realistic State can be constructed whether it is within or outside a particular State. It is also more tasking in achieving as it is more demanding of the intellect and managerial skills of the people. It simply means the economic foundation which enables the individual man of the region to aspire, apply the well stated competitive strength, perseverance and varieties. A good example of this was in the immediate post-war commencement of Nnewi as the nucleus of a commercial and industrial hub, which in a space of 45 years achieved the feat of the fastest developing single close-nit industrial/commercial town in Nigeria.

Nnewi did not commence as a protest venture.

It was a protective strategy against excitement, fears of domination and hostility against Igbo entrepreneurs in other parts of Nigeria. It was therefore a necessity. Self preservation is the first law of nature, they say.

Of course, we had before Nnewi the Onitsha and Aba commercial hubs, which though were laid to waste in the Nigeria – Biafra war, have continued to serve as vast and rewarding business

incubation centres for all time. The question now is this: if Onitsha and Aba have been sitting and giving vent to the Igbo character in enterprise and industry, and the emergent Nnewi has added to the commercial and industrial clout of the region, providing platforms for thirsts, commencement, self actualisation, wealth and sense of well being, why have Ndigbo not attempted to create another, even as they have remained the single largest group motivators of the economies of other parts of Nigeria?

Elsewhere, somebody had argued that the government had the single responsibility to so venture into creating such an ambitious town.

I dare say, this is wrong. Nnewi, in the first instance, was a creation of the Nnewi Town Union. Looking then back at what befell the Igbo during the crises of 1966, but worse, what happened to their investments afterwards, it was only wise to create a platform and home landing point for at least a fraction of their fortunes. The indigenes who first embraced this venture were sufficiently creative to envision a centre capable of standing both as a supportive base for other enterprises outside ani-Igbo and the nucleus of businesses without such fears of inviting the envy of less competitive elements of Nigeria.

In effect, even where it may be difficult to create a multiplicity of ‘Nnewi’ all over the region, the reality of the Nigeria situation and necessity of economic foundational setting of the Igbo region demands at least one extra‘Nnewi’ in every State where Igbo industry and enterprise is strongly evident. This, in no way, is an advocacy in favour of total Igbo withdrawal from Nigeria. Often, protagonists of physical Biafra have prefixed their strong propositions on the birth of the State of Israel. Yes, it is welcome. But it is often done in total negation of the true accounts of deciding factors in the emergence of the Jewish nation.

Sojourning all over the world, including parts of Africa, as a stateless people, they first built this enterprise and intellectual leadership caste of their elements, right to the point of myth, all over the world. When therefore the project got underway, it was irresistible as it was powerful, riding also on the fillip of rage of unparalleled persecution. What then we leave out is this fact that without the intellectual muscle, entrepreneurial leadership and organisation, there would not have been the telling of the story of the Jew, let alone garnering the powerful backing that made the emergence of the State possible. In other words, no quantum of anger, feeling of deprivation, persecution and mass murder, without the enabling power of appearing in the right courts of world power, would have given a birth to a new State. In our case recently, the injury was terrible, yet ignoring us as the world did, was too loud and costly.

The thinking in this direction is the seed of the concept of Aladimma, the departure from the thirst of physical Biafra for the necessity of the urge for fiscal Biafra. If you cast your mind to the Barcelona region of Spain, Scotland of the United Kingdom, etc, it would be simpler in conception. Also, if you understand the basic economic principle of forming a foundational platform unto which a disturbed plane can land, first to reassess and recommence the journey of reinvention, you would appreciate the necessity of a base.

There is something not in doubt about the Igbo whether of the South East geopolitical zone or the others in the Middle Belt (Benue and Kogi), South-South and even outside Nigeria (Diaspora). That is industry, entrepreneurship, creation of wealth, innovation, pioneering strength, perseverance and hunger for material success (often wrongly termed greed). These attributes are usually natural especially when the native

values compel a process of participation in the community activities fuelling these traits.

Yet, these attributes, had as given, but which have proven to force a state of incompleteness among the people, now command that a terminus for perpetuation must be instituted. That is Aladimma - the Fiscal Biafra.

Right ‘before our very eyes’ the State of Lagos, Nigeria, has proven the viability of a region of Nigeria despite all odds. Indeed despite the revenue from the Federal Account. This was a State that went to a constitutional battle with the federal government over the legal status of the local governments in the states. In the three or more years while the battle lasted, Lagos was denied the due federal allocation for operations of the local government administration. This action forced out the creative revenue strength of the State and soon, its internally generated revenue soared and it became a question of evolving more creative strategies to deploy the new wealth.

For once, please stop and ask the question.

If the Igbo, in their investment wisdom and entrepreneurial skills contributed at least 35 per cent of what has become the vast foundational wealth of another State in another region, why has nobody considered the possibilities in creating an economic funnelling process/culture for the emboweling of the excess or additional fortune of the Igbo at places in Igbo land? We say that the concept of akuluo uno is inexorable among the Igbo. Yes, it is. That is why the best architectural edifice of the Igbo man is erected in his village. He even builds a tarred road to his palace. He arranges and installs electricity, security and more, for his palace and the adjoining neighbourhood. But does this not fall within the derided docility of wealth? It does, as long as it is not in further creation of wealth more than it is of ostentatious display of affluence.

This is where Aladimma is a gainful extension and deepening of aku luo uno. In simple general terms, these mean the same thing. But in the present context, one is a platform for funnelling of wealth solely for the purpose of extension/ perpetuation/recreation/rejuvenation, while the other is the village endorsement, spelling affluence and proclaiming opulence. One is economic, the other is social. One is industrial initiative, the other is social prestige.

The later, as a family gesture needs to and must continue, but its continuity can only be guaranteed by the former. Now, in looking back at Aladimma or if you like, our modern industrial/commercial/business clusters, we can even check and confirm that we are not proposing in futility.

The past, the present (future). That is the connect.

Our memories have not faded of the Mbala Opi Bazaar, Akpugoeze Bazaars, Iji-Nike Fair, Otuocha Trade Concerts, Nyawezi Bazaars, Ujele Trade Feasts, Oru Trade Fairs, Ogbede Seasonal Fairs, etc. These were long before the births of successor commercial centres, which though were centres of arduous slave sales points still played their paths in the agglomeration of the Igbo nation.

Already, or at moment, we have some sleepy and vibrant pro-commercial/industrial centres created almost unconsciously by their statuses as junction towns. What these towns need is the consciousness of the people to act to evolve as strong medium power economic beltways.

Ninth Mile, Ozala, Okigwe, Awomama, Amaraku, Otuocha, Oji River, Anara (Anghara), Uga, etc.

Where the conceptualisation of the project is deep and well thought out as starting completely a kind of Nnewi, these commercial junction towns would be some healthy feeder settlements for realisation of more modern industrial hubs.

Continued on page 52

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