...towards a better life for the people
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VOL. 25: NO. 62492
ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com
N150
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
How PDP governors used Anenih against me — TUKUR
•Pgs.44-45
Scores of Boko Haram terrorists surrender
By Kingsley Omonobi & Levinus Nwabughiogu
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B U J A — FOLLOWING sustained offensive by ground troops and preemptive air strikes by the Nigerian Air Force, scores of Boko Haram terrorists have continued to surrender to the Nigerian troops even as more have indicated willingness to lay down their arms. VANGUARD gathered that many of the Continues on Page 5
•Panic in terrorists' camp over bombardment by military •Buhari jets out to Paris, to meet Hollande, others
7 killed in Jos school building collapse 8 Mr & Mrs OSINBAJO IN RIVERS—From right: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike and Rivers State Deputy Governor, Dr Ipalibo Harry Banigo at the Port Harcourt International Airport, yesterday, during the Vice President's one day visit to the state.
COLUMNISTS:
Hundred years of Penkelemes •P.41
That bark by JP Morgan •P.40
Brand Buhari's encounter with Diogenes (2) •P.42
Foreign suppliers shut credit lines to Nigerian businesses 17
2 —Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
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Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 — 3
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4 —Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
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Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 , 2015 —5
POCKET CARTOON
CHILD FARMERS—Children going to the farm at Giri in Abuja,
Saturday. Photo: NAN.
Scores of Boko Haram terrorists surrender Continues from Page 1 terrorists were moving out of their Sambisa haven which has received continuous pounding from the air as
a result of airforce reconnaissance flight that exposed their hideouts. A statement by the Acting Director of Public
IT'S UP TO YOU BY AYO ADIO
I
USED to think that HIV, cancer and diabetes were man’s greatest enemies until I saw how many became prisoners of complacency, procrastination and inertia. No one is entitled to what they never crave for. Beyond our inadequacies lies the true genius. If we decided to move past what seemed to limit us, that which held us back will become leverage for our elevation. It's up to you.
TAKE HEART
BY ELLA RANDLE
Control of consciousness determines the quality of life —Mihaly- C
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PERSON’S state of awareness is consciousness, and like a mirror, it allows all images to reflect on it. The mirror gives you what it sees, untainted, not modified or altered images. Likewise, behind every single thought there is the pure consciousness and awareness. It cannot be tainted intrinsically with negative emotions such as hatred or envy. If you want to attract beautiful energy, change your consciousness and you’ll change your life. Go from hate to love. Envy and greed to contentment. Anger to forgiveness, undue attachment to material things to detachment and balance. Passions of lust to right discrimination and haughtiness to humility.
SAYINGS OF OUR PEOPLE
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UCCESS is not the key to happiness, instead happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.
Relations, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman noted that the action of the terrorists, meant to escape collateral damage, was due to the new offensive strategies put in place for ‘Operation Lafiya Dole’ by the military high command. According to the statement, “the new strategies being employed by the military have started yielding positive results with scores of terrorists surrendering to troops and many more willing to surrender. “The strategies employed included sustained offensive operations, pre-emptive air strikes by the Nigerian Airforce and routes blocked by ground troops, all geared towards constricting and snuffing out the Boko Haram terrorists. “Many of the terrorists that willingly surrendered, painted images of mass panic and hysteria among their erstwhile colleagues who are feeling the noose tightening on their necks with the relentless efforts of troops and renewed vigour in operations inspired by the personal leadership of the Chief of
Army Staff. “Terrorists also seem to have an inkling of what happens to surrendered suspects as regards screening and deradicalization of innocent ones among them." Continuing, he said: “The Nigerian Army in conjunction with the Nigerian Air force and other security agencies will continue to devise and implement effective strategies to bring Boko Haram terrorism to a speedy end. “It will also continue to receive surrendering suspects and assures innocent ones among them that surrender is the only option open to them. The Nigerian Army wishes to also appreciate the great support and information it receives from well-meaning citizens. More of these are required to help towards quicker obliteration of the Boko Haram scourge in our nation.”
Buhari jets out to Paris Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari is due to leave Abuja for Paris, the French capital today on a three-day official visit to France. The visit was at the instance of French President, Mr. Francois Hollande. President Buhari will be accompanied on the visit by the National Security Adviser, MajorGen. Babagana Monguno (retd.); Permanent Secretaries in the Ministries of Defence, Finance, Agriculture, Foreign Affairs, Industry, Trade and Investment as well as the Chief Executives of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council. Upon his arrival in Paris, President Buhari will hold talks with President Hollande and other senior French Government officials on bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and France in the areas of defence, security, trade and investments. The meeting with President Hollande would hold at the Elysee Palace this evening. Afterwards, President Buhari and his team will also confer with the French Minister of Defence, Mr. Jean-Yves
Le Drian; the French Minister of Finance and Public Accounts, Mr. Michel Sapin; the French Minister of Economy and Industry, Mr. Emmanuel Macron and the French Minister of Foreign Affairs and I n t e r n a t i o n a l Development, Mr. Laurent Fabius. The President will also visit the headquarters of MEDEF, France’s largest federation of investors and employers, where he will participate in a France/Nigeria Investment Forum with leading Nigerian and French entrepreneurs. President Buhari will
also confer with the Chief Executive Officers of leading French multinational companies such as Total and Lafarge on their current and future investments in Nigeria. A statement from the p r e s i d e n t i a l spokesperson, Mr. Femi Adesina further stated that President Buhari’s other engagements in Paris included a meeting with African Ambassadors to France and an interactive session with members of the Nigerian community. It is expected that the president will round off his visit on Wednesday and return to Abuja.
Punish violators of local content law, Media/CSO tell FG By Soni Daniel
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BUJA— CIVIL society groups and the media have called on the Federal Government to impose stiffer punishment on multinational oil firms that violate the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act. The call was contained in a communiqué issued after a meeting between civil society and their media partners in Abuja. Among other things, the communiqué deplored the continued violation of Nigerian laws by Agip and General Electric in a maintenance contract dispute with Arco Group, an indigenous oil and gas firm. A communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, called the relevant committees of the National Assembly to summon the management of Agip and other multinational oil companies in the country
to explain the level of their compliance with the Local Content Act. The communiqué said: “The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board being the regulatory body in the Act should as a matter of urgency, commence the discharge of its obligations by monitoring the operations of International Oil Companies, with a view to tracking and enforcing compliance with the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act 2010. “We call on the relevant committees in both chambers of the National Assembly to immediately summon the management of the Italian firm, AGIP and other International Oil Companies to appear before them and explain their role in the total disregard and violation of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act, 2010."
6—Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
ELECTROCUTION:
Body of late UNILAG student moved to Enugu
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By Ebere Aham
AGOS—A social-wake was yesterday held at the Okota, Lagos residence, of Chief Basil Anekwe, father of the 300 level Accountancy student of the University of Lagos, Oluchi Anekwe, who was electrocuted last Tuesday while on her way to her on-campus apartment. This is just as the body of the deceased had been taken to her home town in Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area of Enugu, with preparation for burial in the pipeline. Her devastated father who spoke with Vanguard, described the incident as a shock he might never come from. Explaining how news of his late daughter ’s electrocution reached him through members of Parents Association, UNILAG, Anekwe began with lamentation: “ My tallest is gone.” He paused and cautioned the sympathisers not to cry, that the whole scenario was like a dream he hoped to come out of. Continuing, he recalled how his driver took him to his office that fateful day and informed him he would be leaving for Togo. He said: “But some hours later, my driver came back to the office and I thought that I had seen a ghost because I though he would have reached Togo already. I touched him to be sure he was the one. He then told me that Oluchi was sick and that they needed me at the hospital. ‘’I asked him what kind of sickness it was that needed my presence? I even asked if I should send money for treatment instead, but he insisted on driving me to the hospital in Lagos; he never spoke a word as he drove me to Lagos. ‘’He took me to my house and I askedhimifthatwaswhere Oluchi was. On seeing members of my family,includingmybrother-in-law in the house, I asked them where Oluchi was and they broke the bombshell that she had been electrocuted."
The late Oluchi
Taxi plunges into river, recovered with 3 corpses after five days C
By Emma Una
ALABAR—IT WAS a horrifying spectacle on Saturday evening at Adim, Biase Local Government Area of Cross River State as a taxi which plunged into a river along Calabar-Ikom highway last Tuesday afternoon, was pulled out with three bloated corpses. The taxi, according to eyewitnesses, was travelling from Obubra in the central district of the state to Calabar with four commuters along with the driver but at Adim, the taxi came close to a head-on collision with a speeding truck from Calabar which left its lane. It was learned that to avoid a collision with the truck, the driver swerved the car off the road and plunged into the river.
The 21-year-old survivor
A source who gave his name as Ekong, told Vanguard that one of the commuters, a 21-year-old girl who was travelling with the boyfriend but miraculously came
out of the water was too dazed and temporarily deaf because of the impact of the crash and could not relate to the divers which side of the river the taxi plunged. “The girl was too dazed and had become deaf and so could
not explain which side of the river the taxi plunged into as it was difficult to make sense of what she was saying apart from saying my boyfriend is inside. So divers searched for the taxi on the wrong side of the river for days,” Ekong
said. He said the divers searched for the taxi several miles on the right side of the river where they thought the taxi might have plunged into until Saturday when they decided to search the left side of the river.
Bakassi Boys kill one, injure 9 over settlement fee in Aba By Ugochukwu Alaribe
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BA—UNIDENTIFIED members of Bakassi Boys have allegedly killed a middleaged man and injured about nine others at a hard drug spot in Aba, Abia State, over non-payment of ‘settlement fee.’ Vanguard gathered that the incident, which took place at Ngwa Road end of Aba River bank, popularly known as ‘Orji Uzor Kalu Bridge’ where hard drug peddlers and users relocated after men of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, ejected them from their former base on the notorious York
Street a few years ago, caused tension in the area as traders hurriedly shut their shops. Narrating the incident to Vanguard, an eyewitness who gave his name simply as Chikwe, said they were relaxing inside an open shed at noon when six Bakassi Boys arrived the area in a Hilux van. He said: “Immediately the Bakassi Boys alighted from their van, they made straight to the open shed where most of them were sleeping and demanded for their daily ‘settlement fee’ of N1,000 which the hard drug dealers operating in the area pay
them.’’ He added that when the Bakassi Boys were told there was no money, they got infuriated and one of them used the side of his machete to beat up one of the young men inside the shed. Chikwe said as the Bakassi Boys beat up the young man for daring to tell them there was no money, another, whose name he gave simply as Sunny Pounds from Imo State, asked them to stop beating the young man because he was sick. The Bakassi Boys were said to have pounced on Sunny Pounds for challenging their authority and shot him dead.
EFCC arrests Millionnaire Gobir over alleged multi-billion naira fraud L
By Soni Daniel
AGOS—THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, weekend, burst a major corporate fraud when it took into custody one Alhaji Mohammed Gobir for allegedly defrauding foremost outdoor advertising company, Afromedia, huge sums of money in various currencies. The act fetched Gobir a huge fortune in both local and foreign currencies worth billions of Naira. The suspect illegally collected $3,500,000, N514,457,151.87, $2,102,740 and 51,000 Pounds Sterling at various times. Gobir, a 55-year-old father of two, was picked by the operatives of EFCC in the early hours of Saturday in his Ikoyi residence and taken to the Lagos office of the anti-graft agency for interrogation. The suspect allegedly defrauded the advertising company through a phony investment deal. He was allegedly introduced to Afromedia sometime in 2008 by their Private Placement Consultants, Synergy Capital Advisory Limited, as a high networth investor who was willing to inject N1 billion into the company through the acquisition of shares. Based on his touted pedigree as potential investor, Gobir wormed his way into the hearts of the management and in no time, became chairman of the
Business Development Committee of the board of directors of the company, a position which he would later use to defraud the company. H a v i n g earned the trust of the company owners, Gobir s t a r t e d demanding The suspect, Alhaji Mohammed Gobir large sum of money which he expenses to Royal Exchange Bureau, in the termed as international United Kingdom in order to b u s i n e s s consultants, facilitate and secure investments
from a United Kingdom-based bank. The company gave Gobir the sum of $1,000,000 in cash and also paid for his travel expenses on a first class return ticket to UK where he would meet with the purported investors, which investigation later revealed never existed nor were the meetings ever held. On one good day after the suspect had collected huge sums of money and made several trips to the UK to meet with the purported investors, the Group Managing Director of Afromedia accompanied him to the UK for another round of meeting ostensibly to close the deal.
Yenagoa residents lynch one, apprehended 3 robbery suspects By Samuel Oyadongha & Emem Idio
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ENAGOA—ANGRY residents of Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, weekend confronted a four-man armed robbery gang along the upscale Oxbow Lake area for allegedly shooting a commercial tricycle operator and dispossessing his passengers of N3 million. The incident, it was learned, occurred at about noon on Saturday when the four-man gang attacked a tricycle and robbed a couple, Mr. and Mrs Eric
Oyinodokoye, at gunpoint along the sparsely populated Oxbow Lake business area. The hoodlums, operating in a Volkswagen car with number plate AL 305 AGU, reportedly blocked the tricycle that was carrying the couple. Armed with a locally made pistol, they were said to have shot the tricycle operator on the head, collected the sum of N3,000,000 from the occupants and zoomed off. But luck ran out on the hoodlums as their victims raised alarm which attracted a mob that
gave them a hot chase and eventually caught three of them, while one escaped. The mob reportedly pounced on the suspected robbers and beat them to pulp before the police arrived. One of the suspects, identified as Jeff, later died and his corpse was deposited in an undisclosed hospital for autopsy. The fourth suspect was trailed and arrestedatSwaliinpossessionofalocally made pistol and N144,500, part of the stolen money. Contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Asinim Butswat, confirmed the incident.
Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015—7
Corruption, main cause of poverty in Nigeria —BUHARI Says that anti-graft war is to save nation’s soul By Jimitota Onoyume, Levinus Nwabughiogu
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BUJA—PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has identified corruption as the main reason for the prevalence of poverty in the midst of plenty in Nigeria saying that two-thirds of Nigerians are extremely poor. President Buhari spoke in Port Harcourt, Sunday, at the Second Plenary of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Nigeria. It will be recalled that the president had earlier in February attended the First Plenary as a presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC. In his good-will message delivered on his behalf by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the President declared that corruption had eaten deep into the fabrics of the nation. He, however, vowed to uproot the menace saying that was the only way Nigeria could be saved. He said: “Corruption in our country is so endemic that it constitutes a parallel system. It is the primary reason for poor policy choices, waste and of course, barefaced theft of public resources. “Our fight against corruption is not just a moral battle for virtue and righteousness in our land, it is a fight for the soul and substance of our nation. “It is the main reason why a potentially prosperous country struggles to feed itself and provide jobs for millions.” The President also hinged infant mortality deaths on the avarice of some leaders. He said: “The hundreds of thousands of deaths in the infant and maternal mortality statistics, the hundreds of thousands of annual deaths from preventable diseases are traceable to the greed and corruption of a few. This is why we must see it as an existential threat. If we don’t kill it, it will kill us.” On the security of the nation, the President said: “We are on course to militarily rout Boko Haram, and make them incapable of taking and holding territory.“ He added that suicide bombings in some parts of the North East are the desperate acts of the terrorists to create a sense that they are still in play. “With vigilance and good local intelligence we will make those cowardly acts practically impossible,” he assured. The president also emphasised the need to create the enabling environment where there would be equal opportunity for everyone to develop their potentials, stressing the importance of a social welfare scheme to cater for the vulnerable and less privileged. “We must change the paradigm of thinking about our economy and the ultimate good of the majority. While we create an
enabling environment for free enterprise, we must reason, plan and budget with the understanding that almost twothirds of our people are extremely poor, and must be helped first to survive and then to fully participate in the economy of the nation. “We must create a safety net for the very poor and vulnerable while ensuring that social spending is also a direct investment in the economy. We must invest substantially in relevant education, teacher training, and vocational and entrepreneurial training,” he said. Expressing “warm felicitations on behalf of the government and people of our great nation Nigeria”, to the conference, President Buhari noted that he
has “always been impressed with the social consciousness exhibited by the Catholic Bishops' Conference.” He told the conference that it has also played a notable role in the stability of the country. “Your bold critical interventions at various crucial moments in our national journey have helped to caution, admonish and ultimately stabilise the polity. This is as it should be. This nation belongs to us all. Leaders in every sector owe it a duty to this generation to contribute in building a good society. “For us elected into government, we have since set the daunting tasks before us, with vigour and commitment in the full assurance that by the grace of God, our country will become safe, secure, prosperous
and virtuous,” the president said. In his speech, the President of the Conference, Most Revd Igantius Kaigama, the Archbishop of Jos, commended the Buhari administration’s commitment to the fight against corruption and in the formation of a Presidential Advisory Committee on AntiCorruption. According to him, “the president is dead right that if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill us.” He also prayed that God will give the citizens of Nigeria a new heart. Earlier, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State lauded the Catholic Church for its apolitical posture in the state, calling on other churches to emulate it.
INSPECTION: From left: Governor of Borno State and Chairman of Northern Governors Forum, Alhaji Kashim Shettima and Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Engr. Saleh Dunoma, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja during the Managing Director's inspection visit of the airport.
PDP commences reorganisation moves To hold reform conference in Abuja By Charles Kumolu
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HE Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has concluded plans to hold a party reform conference in order to deliberate and consider the best workable reforms needed to reposition the party. This is coming at a time when the Ekweremadu 15man post-election assessment committee set up to review and evaluate the party’s performance in the last general election is going round the country in line with its terms of reference. As a prelude to the conference, which is titled:
Power to the People, a 40-man committee has been set up to ensure that the cardinal objectives of the proposed gathering are realised. A statement by the chairman of the Conference Organising Committee, Prof. Jerry Gana, indicated that the committee is made up of notable leaders of the party, who had occupied elected and appointive public offices. It also said the committee for the proposed conference will be inaugurated tomorrow in Abuja. Prominent among the issues to be discussed are, the need to remobilise nationwide support for the party and the revival of the
practice of genuine internal democracy, among others. The statement reads: ‘’We are pleased to inform PDP supporters nationwide of the decision to convene a party reform conference to re-ignite the noble ideals and good image of the party, to restore the party’s core values, ensure zero tolerance for corruption and the promotion of transparency in governance, generate fresh ideas on people oriented programmes for ensuring good governance, balance development and human security with social justice, equity and fairness.”
Why 5 govs walked out on Jonathan at convention —TUKUR By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor & Henry Umoru
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RSTWHILE national chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr. Bamanga Tukur, has for the first time, given the reason why five of the party ’s governors walked out on him and President Goodluck Jonathan at the special national convention of the party in August, 2013. Tukur, in an interveiw, rebuffed claims that he stopped Governor Murtala Nyako from the convention ground. Rather, he claimed that Nyako chose to stay away after he was told that he could not come into the convention with his factional chairman of the party. According to him the five other governors decided to walk out in solidarity with Nyako because most of the governors themselves did not believe in the principle of internal democracy which he championed as national chairman. He accused the governors of seeking to push erstwhile national chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees, BoT, Chief Tony Anenih, to undermine him as national chairman of the party. Tukur, in the interview, also affirmed that the defeat of Dr. Jonathan in the March 28 presidential election was a result of sabotage worked out by some persons around the former president. Tukur, who was compelled to resign as national chairman of the party in January 2014, also defended his stewardship of the party and dismissed assertions that the powerful politicians he brought in as aides helped to fracture his relationship with other members of the National Working Committee, NWC. In a stout defence of his role as national chairman, Tukur took full responsibility for the action of his aides and said that he was not at any time undermined by the aides he appointed. Tukur, whose son is married to a daughter of former Governor Murtala Nyako, said that he did not allow the family relationship he has with Nyako to, in any way, becloud his sense of political propriety.
8—Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 , 2015
7 killed in Jos school building collapse By Marie-Therese Nanlong
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OS—A storey building housing an Islamic school in Bukuru, Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State last night collapsed on pupils, killing about seven of them. The incident occurred at Abu Naib Islamic School along Gero road in Bukuru at the time the children were receiving Islamic lectures in the evening. The Zonal Coordinator, North Central of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Mohammed Abdulsalam, who confirmed the casualty said rescue team of the agency arrived the scene, recovered seven bodies, while five people were rescued but with severe injuries. He added that the injured persons have been taken to Plateau Specialist Hospital in Jos for medical attention.He also said rescue efforts were ongoing and casualty may increase as several other people were still buried in the rubble. A resident Imran Labaran, however, said four persons were dead, and five were injured adding that the figure was likely to increase though the Coordinator, Plateau State Emergency Management Agency, Mr. Al-Hassan Barde who confirmed the incident said,
“ we are concerned about evacuation and safety, no casualty figure yet. “ Alhaji Danlami Muhammad who lives in the community said about 40 children some of whom were less than 10 years old were inside the building when it collapsed. He, however, said the casualty figure cannot be
ascertained “because we are still trying to rescue them.” Muhammad added, “The number could have been more than this but for the rainfall that prevented some of the children from attending.” He said the School was a secondary school but used on weekends by the children to learn
Islamic studies., Relevant organizations were on ground to assist in rescuing trapped pupils, and the incident may not have been unconnected with the downpour which took place with heavy breeze for about two hours.
FREEDOM VISIT: All Progressive Congress, APC, governorship candidate in Rivers State, Dr. Dakuku Peterside (left), and Vanguard columnist, Donu Kogbara released by kidnappers, weekend 13 days after she was kidnapped at her PH residence.
UN Security Council: How Nigeria can get permanent seat—Kodjo, former Prime Minister of Togo By Dapo Akinrefon
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ORMER Prime Minister of Togo, Mr Edem Kodjo, said, yesterday, that Nigeria has the opportunity of spearheading Africa’s opportunity of securing a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council. Kodjo who spoke at the second memorial lecture of the late Dr Olusegun Agagu held at the Civic Centre in Lagos stressed the need for Nigeria to rise up to the task of uniting the African continent, in order to achieve the goal of securing the seat. Kodjo, who was represented by former Minister of Communications in Togo, Mr Cornelius Aida, said Nigeria remains a powerful machine for the building of a stronger and more united Africa declaring that “no wonder it is no exaggeration to think that the world order in the future cannot be conceived of without Nigeria.” Delivering the keynote address entitled: “Resource, Policy and Economics”, he lauded the conduct of the 2015 general elections saying Nigeria has taught other African countries a lesson in democracy. His words: “this is the first time that I am setting foot again on this African land of Nigeria after the outstanding lesson in democracy that you have just taught Africa
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and the world at large. The whole world actually held its breath. That was a lesson that restored our pride, our assurance and our hope in our mother Africa. She knows how to surprise people. She always turns up and, at the right time, you see her sitting up, then standing, proud and full of hope when everybody believes that she is unhappy and about to collapse. Yes, that also is one of the faces of Africa”. He, however, noted that in spite of the country’s natural resources, majority of Nigerians are still grappling with poverty. On the need for Nigeria to ensure unity and lead other African countries to secure a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, Kodjo said “Africa has yet to play a major geopolitical role because she has not yet succeeded in realizing her unity.” According to him, “If Nigeria, today torn and affected by conflicting influences, has so little a presence on the global political scene, she has the means, she has every means to get organized and appear as a full regional power to be taken into account. We have said it earlier on; she was remarkable in terms of efficacy in the process of the liberation of colonies on the continent and in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.”
We need strong leaders, strong institutions—Gambari In his speech, former United Nations Under-Secretary General, Professor Ibrahim Gambari said “Nigeria should be proud that in March 2015, we had credible elections but elections are over while elections are means to a better society. On my part, I know that there is no democracy in the world that successfully reproduces itself, which does not see to the developmental aspirations of its citizens. Take a look at Libya, everything was given to the citizens under Ghadaffi like free houses, free education, but yet the people wanted something different. Material wealth alone cannot guarantee the stability of a country. There is need for rule of law and rule by law. There is a nexus between development, democracy and peace”. Gambari, who called on government at all levels to tackle poverty, unemployment, security and the deplorable state of infrastructure said such factors lead to instability in a country. He said “What kind of obligation can we demand of our citizens if you cannot provide them with the basic things? Not only must we provide infrastructure that allows our citizens to realize their best, we must also involve social safety by taking adequate care of the down trodden. If properly
harnessed, the human and natural resources of this country, under a visionary and dedicated leadership are such that Nigeria can become a much more prosperous country. Some leaders always try to subvert the institution may be because of their insecurity, so we need both strong leaders and strong institutions. We must ensure that the political class provides the kind of leadership the country deserves and needs. Nigeria has not yet emerged but we are the on the way”, he said. Agagu was an amiable man— Obasanjo In his remarks, former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who was represented by Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola described the late Agagu as an amiable man. Oyinlola, who chaired the occasion said “In view of the relationship that existed between Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and the Agagu family, he (Obasanjo) would have made it a point of duty to be here today (yesterday) to chair the occasion but unfortunately, being a man of international standing, it was just some few hours ago that he got a call to answer to the duty of Africa in Ethiopia and Guinea Bissau, hence his absence from this occasion, which he holds dear to himself."
MDCN: Medical College faults Buhari on dissolution By Chioma Obinna
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AGOS—NATIONAL Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, NPMCN, weekend faulted President Muhammadu Buhari over the dissolution of Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, MDCN, saying, the dissolution will not only promote quackery in the health sector but will also allow cases of malpractices to continue unabated. At a press conference in Lagos to herald the College’s 33rd convocation, the President of NPMCN, Prof. Rasheed Arogundade argued that MDCN should be exempted like the Universities Governing Councils have been exempted because of the disastrous consequences that such premature dissolutions had caused in the past. According to Arogundade, since MDCN is a regulatory body set up by statute to carry out specific functions, dissolving it is the same as completely stopping all the functions. He said: “The Council’s functions are strictly professional and regulatory in nature, including medical education, accreditation of professional institutions, maintenance of standards, and enforcement of discipline and also monitoring of health institutions that are training doctors all over the country among others.
Why DSS sacked 65 personnel —SOURCE
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BUJA—DETAILS have emerged why about 65 personnel of the Department of State Services who were evicted from the service training school in Lagos were asked to leave the service. A senior officer of the service who spoke with Vanguard in Abuja Sunday evening said the trainees were sent out because “their recruitment did not follow laid down procedures of choosing personnel into the service.” It will be recalled that DSS 65 cadet officers of the service who were undergoing training at the State Services Academy, SSA, in Lagos, including a sibling of the sacked former spokes person of the service, Marilyn Ogar were asked to leave earlier this month, few weeks to their passing out.
Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 — 9
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10 — Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
NCAA to register aviation fuel marketers By Lawani Mikairu & Daniel Eteghe
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AGOS—THE Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, yesterday said the authority will henceforth register aviation fuel marketers. This is coming just as the Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Capt. Muhtar Usman signed the modalities and prerequisites for the registration. According to Usman, it is expected that all existing aviation fuel suppliers will be required to register and regularise their operations with the NCAA while new entrants will file fresh application with the same requirements. “This action is not unconnected with the recent controversies and allegations concerning the Jet A1 supply and usage by the airline operators” he stressed. The NCAA boss has however charged the relevant departments and officials of the authority to meet the marketers and all the stakeholders to sensitise them on the guidelines and requirements for registration prior to the exercise. He said that during the meeting, inputs and observation on the guidelines will be welcomed and discussed by all the parties concerned. “To register as an aviation fuel supplier, an application should be written and addressed to the Director General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). The application shall be signed by the lead promoter or Chief Operating/ Executive Officer of the company and the airports/ terminals where it intends to operate,” he said.
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BAIL-OUT: Aregbesola approved N20bn payment to contractor – PDP It's untrue — APC By Gbenga Olarinoye
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SOGBO—OSUN State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has alleged that Governor Rauf Aregbesola last week approved payment of N20 billion from the N35 billion bailout funds he got, to a road contractor when the state workforce is being owed nine months salary. The party, in a statement issued in Osogbo yesterday and signed by its Director Media and Strategy, Prince
Diran Odeyemi, accused Governor Aregbesola of misplaced priority paying the company handling the Osogbo Ring Road project when civil servants are wallowing in abject poverty due to unpaid salaries. But the All Progressives Congress APC, denied the opposition's allegation, saying because of the level of PDP's frivolous and unsubstantiated allegations against the ruling party, it had resolved never to respond to its future
allegations. According to the APC spokesperson, Mr Kunle Oyatomi; “The banks the PDP mentioned are there for the public to vet towards establishing facts or fallacies of the PDP. Also relevant institutions and officials abound in Osogbo where information flow freely. We have had enough of this irresponsibility.” The PDP alleged that: “We have it on good authority that the payment was effected last week Thursday and we have noticed that the contractor
INAUGURATION: From left: Managing Director/CEO, Osun State Investment Company Ltd, Mr Bola Oyebamiji; Director General, National Automotive Council, Engr. Aminu Jalal; Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State; former Special Adviser to Osun State Governor on Federal Matters, Idiat Babalola; former Commissioner for Environment, Mr Muyiwa Ige; and Divisional Head, Large Enterprises, Bank of Industry, Mr. Joseph Babatunde, during the inauguration of Bola Ige Mechatronics Institute in Esa Oke, Osun State.
returned to site within 24 hours as requested by the governor.” The party said the N35 billion bailout was lodged in two banks (names withheld), adding that while the funds in one of the banks remained fixed as earlier alleged by the PDP, the part lodged in the other bank has been recalled to pay the company. “Much as we believe the road project is ideal, we wonder why an inflated road contract awarded at N1 billion per kilometre has suddenly become the priority of Governor Aregbesola at this particular period of nine months unpaid salary if not because of some underhand deals to siphon funds and short-change the people of Osun State. “This perhaps is the reason why the governor said he would only pay half of March salaries at a meeting he held with workers last week,“ the PDP said. The party therefore called on “President Muhammadu Buhari to wade into the looming crisis in the state if governor Aregbesola continues to deny Osun workers their right to salary having received the bail out fund from CBN three weeks ago even without meeting the condition set for him to submit the resolution of the State Executive Council because he does not have an exco 10 months into his second term.”
LAGOS TRAFFIC LAW: Confusion trails trailer restriction
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AGOS—THE Lagos State Government at the weekend clarified the Section of the Road Traffic Law 2012, which restricts trailers and long vehicles from plying the metropolis between the hours of 6am and 9pm. The section of the law says: ‘’Save as may be prescribed by the Commissioner by regulation, no trailer other than
petrol tankers and long vehicles used in conveying passengers, shall enter into or travel within the metropolis of Lagos between the hours of 6.00am - 9.00pm. ‘’Any driver found contravening the provisions of this Section shall have his vehicle impounded by a duly authorised officer of the Authority and shall upon conviction be liable to a fine of
N50,000 or a term of six months imprisonment or both.’’ But in a statement, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transportation, Mr. Oluseyi Whenu, said; ‘’While Section 2 of the Traffic Law restricts movement of trailers and long vehicles, only petrol tankers and long vehicles used in conveying passengers are allowed to travel within the
metropolis between the stipulated time. ‘’Vehicle with more than one real axle or six tyres are hereby restricted between the hours of 6am and 9pm with the exemption of the following in accordance with Section 2 and 38 of the Road Traffic Law 2012. “These exemptions are tour bus/passenger buses, fire service trucks, rescue and recovery trucks, patrol trucks, perishable farm products trucks, refuse collection trucks, cement mixer trucks, tractors and refrigerated trucks”, he said. Petrol tankers exempted by the law was not listed in the Permanent Secretary’s statement. Whenu said the clarification became necessary following the controversy generated by the enforcement of the Law, after a fatal accident involving a container laden trailer claimed three lives in the state a fortnight ago.
Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 — 11
Ooni’s stool not for sale, Giesi family warns By Gbenga Olarinoye
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S O G B O — A N octogenarian Prince of Ile-Ife from the Giesi ruling house, Pa Peter Adetola Ogunleye has warned stakeholders in the town and other interested parties in the selection of the Ooni of Ife against bribery, saying Ooni’s stool is not for sale. Pa Ogunleye, who contested for the stool in 1980 after the demise of Oba Adesoji Aderemi but lost to Oba Okunade Sijuwade declared that the Giesi ruling house would ensure that a member of the ruling house emerges as the next Ooni of Ife. Also, Ogunleye raised the alarm over alleged plan by some individuals who are not rightful children of the Giesi’s dynasty to contest for the stool from the ruling house. Osun State Government on Friday formally asked the Giesi Ruling House to present candidate for the stool that was recently vacated by Oba Okunade
Sijuwade Olubuse II, who joined his ancestors on July 28, 2015 at Saint Mary Hospital, United Kingdom after a brief illness It was gathered at the weekend that the state government at a crucial meeting held on Friday night at Oke-Fia Government House, Osogbo, attended by king-makers from Ile-Ife, resolved to formally write the Giesi Ruling House to present candidate in accordance with the 1979 and 1980 Ife Chieftaincy Declaration which allow for rotational ascendancy of the throne of Ooni of Ife among the four ruling houses. But Pa Ogunleye said the family has commenced serious scrutiny to determine the rightful princes entitled to contest for the vacant stool. According to him, the rotational system introduced in 1957 by Late Oba Aderemi among the four ruling houses in the town and endorsed by the defunct western region government allows the Giesi ruling house to produce the next traditional
ruler for the ancient town. Also, Prince Ogunleye disclosed that the 1976
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HE All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has reacted to a position canvassed by Governor Ayodele Fayose disparaging President Muhammadu Buhari as a dictator violating the nation’s law of immunity by allegedly sending Department of State Services, DSS, operatives to comb the Akwa Ibom Government House where they allegedly discovered a large cache of weapons and cash. It said the operatives had not violated the nation’s law by moving against illegal arms dump large enough to topple a democratically
elected government. APC's Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, said in a statement that the DSS operatives acted in the nation’s interest to check what would have been a threat to national stability and a reversal of fortunes for the nation’s economy. Reminding Fayose that the law allows secret service operatives to strike at any part of Nigeria under security threat to maintain peace, Olatunbosun said: “Let us educate Fayose that a Government House is not the same as foreign embassies or missions that enjoy physical immunity from security activities by local armed forces. “While a governor enjoys
By Abdulwahab Abdulah
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AGOS—MR Kola Abiola, son of the late business mogul and politician, Bashorun MKO Abiola said at the weekend that Nigeria will be doing a great honour to the memory of his late father by awarding him with the posthumous honour of the Commander of the Federal Republic, CFR. The honour is next to the
KURE—SENATOR Robert Ajayi Boroffice carpeted Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State over statements credited to him during the sixth Gani Fawehinmi Annual Memorial Lecture held in Akure recently. In his reaction, Boroffice said while the honour bestowed on the lasting legacies of Late Chief Ganiyu Fawehimi is most deserving and befitting, it is however of concern that the programme was fraudulently used to promote and advance the same anti-people policies C M Y K
the late sage lived, fought and died for. He referred to Mimiko as ‘’An emerging accidental critic who is desperate for political relevance and has persistently fired shots at President Muhammadu Buhari even at the slightest chance since there is virtually no ongoing activity or project in Ondo State.’’ He added; ‘’I therefore advise him to sit back for deep self-reflection on his new found role because it is absurd, hypocritical and likewise nonsensical for a renowned exemplar of
highest Grand Commander of the Federal Republic, GCFR, reserved for those who have been number one citizens at one time or the other. According to junior Abiola, part of what can make his father happy in death is to accord him the necessary respect he deserved for his aspirations and love for the development of Nigeria while he was alive. Abiola died on July 7, 1998 at the wake of his struggling to
claim the mandate given to him by Nigerians in the 1993 presidential election. Kola, who was a guest of honour at the reunion/reception for the newly-appointed members of the defunct Concord newspapers into higher private and public offices said part of the reasons for the establishment of the newspaper by his late father was to promote goodwill, unity and the development of the nation.
Obasanjo made Abeokuta state capital — AWUJALE By Daud Olatunji
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B E O K U TA — T H E Awujale and paramount ruler of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona has commended the f o r m e r President, C h i e f Olusegun Obasanjo for immunity from physical using his and body security search, position as the same cannot be said of the Government House because no law in the nation’s constitution says the Government House should be a breeding ground for insurrection and insurgency where state enemies can assemble arms to topple a legitimate government and we suspect Fayose as an accomplice in the arms stockpiling saga in the Akwa Ibom Government House, otherwise there is no reason for him to be edgy and agitated in his response,” he explained. He berated the governor for trying to whip public sentiment against DSS operatives that performed their legitimate duty.
Boroffice slams Mimiko over FG’s economic policies
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recognizes the rotational system among the four ruling houses in the ancient town.
My father deserves CFR award – KOLA ABIOLA
No immunity for govt houses, APC reminds Fayose By Rotimi Olaleye
chieftaincy declaration and the report of the Justice Adenekan Ademola panel of inquiry
bad governance to advise the federal government on sound economic policies. What is Mimiko’s idea of sound economic policies? ‘’For the records, I wish to state that Mimiko is a prime beneficiary of the sound economic policies of the President Buhariled government. The bailout package for workers and pensioners who have been exposed to unimaginable hardship by the Mimiko-led administration is a product of the sound economic policies of the Federal Government.''
Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, which was second in command in the military hierarchy, to make Abeokuta, his home-town, the capital of Ogun State. Awujale said Abeokuta was never recommended among cities considered for Ogun State capital in 1976 when the state was being created by the military administration of late General Murtala Muhammed.
The monarch stated this at the weekend in his remarks during the turbaning ceremony of Princess Khadijat Adebisi Edionsere as the first Iya Suna of Ogun State by the Muslims Council. Awujale, who is the president of the Ogun State Muslims Council, however absolved Obasanjo, of any wrongdoing, saying the general only proved ‘to be a true son of Abeokuta.'
12—Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
BAYELSA GOV POLL: No fear in PDP over mass defection —REP By Samuel Oyadongha
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ENAGOA—A member of the House of Representatives, Douye Diri, weekend, dismissed claims that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Bayelsa State, was jittery over the gale of defections from the party. Douye, who represents Yenagoa/ Kolokuma/ Opokuma federal constituency, at an interactive session with newsmen in Yenagoa, insisted that the PDP will record a landslide victory in the December 5, governorship election. He said: “The PDP in Bayelsa State is not jittery over the gale of defection from the party and the party will record a landslide victory in the December 5 governorship poll. “People defecting today were former commissioners and political appointees in the state. They were collecting our allowances and spending the money in Abuja. Because it is no longer business as usual, they are disgruntled. “Why didn’t we have a flyover in the six years administration of Timipre Sylva? Why didn’t we have roads expanded in Bayelsa? But they were collecting more money from federal allocation and because it is no more sharing of Bayelsa wealth and because it is
difficult for them to change, they are jumping to another party. “Almost all of them that left are now governorship aspirants. All they are saying is for the benefit of those who do not know them. But for us who know them well, we know they are greedy. Now that the people of the state are benefiting from robust fiscal, economic and infrastructural
development policies, they are angry.” Speaking further, he said though ethnic bias and coloration cannot be wished away from political struggles, the declaration that the party was predominantly an Ijaw party in Bayelsa State was due to the benefits the PDP had accorded the Ijaw people with the
emergence of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as President and the political history from the union of the PDP and the defunct National Solidarity Movement, NSM, led by the late former governor of old Rivers State, Senator Melford Okilo. “I disagree that the PDP is a region party. We have governors in the North and the South-West region," he said.
PUBLIC PRESENTATION: From left: Book reviewer, Prof. Pat Utomi; Chairman of the occassion, Mr Akintola Williams; Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr Idiat Adebule and Nigeria’s former Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Arthur Mbanefo, at the public presentation of a book, In quest for perpetuity, in honour of late Sir Luis Odumegwu Ojukwu, at the Muson Centre, Lagos.
Egbema youths rally support for Dickson's 2nd term bid
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UNDREDS of youths under the aegis of Egbema Youth Front, EYF, have, thronged Ogbotobo community, Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, to canvass support for the re-election bid of Governor Seriake Dickson in the December 5, 2015 election. The youths, who arrived Ogbotobo community in more than 12 speedboats, led by their chairman, Mr Daniel Sapele, said that Governor Dickson’s performance and antecedents in the last three and a half years as governor of the state has won their hearts, therefore, they were reciprocating by supporting his re-election bid. Sapele said: “The on-going construction of the Bayelsa West senatorial road project, Bayelsa East senatorial road project, first fly-over bridge in Yenagoa, prompt payment of salaries as well as human capital development programmes spread evenly across the state necessitated our support. We have, therefore, endorsed him for another term.” He assured Governor Dickson of 99 percent of votes and pledged the group's resolve to embark on house to house campaign in the local governments and various
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communities that make up Bayelsa West senatorial district. He thanked Mr. Fred Agbedi, the member representing Bayelsa West
federal constituency and Mr. Michael Ogbere, representing Ekeremor 111 in the House of Assembly for their unflinching support for Governor Dickson.
He urged members of the community to remain steadfast with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, government in the state.
Ex-CP, Aduba blasts Army chief for releasing Boko Haram suspects
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By Emma Amaize
SABA—FORMER Commissioner of Police, Delta State, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, weekend, described the recent release of 128 suspected Boko Haram members by the Chief of Army Staff as the “height of illegality.” Aduba, who spoke to Vanguard, said: “This is a fundamental breach of the
constitution. Under Internal Security Operations, police remain the foremost internal security agency. The suspects ought to have been handed over to the police. “After screening, the case file ought to be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecution to determine their culpability before release. Usurping police function is sending a wrong
signal. “Amputation of the Nigeria Police will not help. If the Federal Government feels the police is weak, then it should strengthen the force by overhauling, weeding and equipping them. “The military is doing well but should be confined to their role under Internal Security Operations and rule of law."
PERE OF OGBE-IJOH: Delta community petitions IG, others Quarters of Ogbe-Ijoh Warri
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HE People of Perebiri quarters of Ogbe-Ijoh, Warri kingdom, Delta State, yesterday, petitioned the Inspector General of Police, IG, over alleged plans to disobey an order of court restraining the coronation of anyone as Pere of Ogbe-Ijoh, Warri Kingdom, before the November 19 date for further hearing in the suit in the matter before a Delta State High Court in sitting in Warri.
Perebiri people, who also petitioned the Deputy Governor of Delta State and other security agencies through their counsel, Edore Lawson Umuze, said that a faction was allegedly planning a tentative date for the installation and also planning to arrest the petitioners before that day for the coronation to take place. The petition read: “We act as solicitors to members of Perebiri
Kingdom represented by Chief Alfred Yola, Sele Banni and Samson Ogisi Robert, the claimants in suit No: W/156/ 2015. “We therefore, bring to the notice of the deputy governor, the IG and other security agencies that the kingship matter is already in the state high court and an injunction was granted, ordering parties to maintain status quo."
Tebite urges support for Delta State Govt
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By Festus Ahon
SABA—FORMER Delta State House of Assembly member, Olorogun Taleb Tebite, has called on the people of the state to give maximum support to the state government. Tebite, who addressed newsmen, added that the nomination of Mr Peter Mrakpor as a commissioner from his local government area was a good choice. Commending the state government for its choice of political appointees, he noted that the decision by the state government was in the best interest of the state. Saying that he appreciates all the political appointments in Delta Central, especially in Ughelli South Local Government Area, he described Mrakpor as a worthy son of the council. He added that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, leadership in the council was supportive of all the appointments in the area.
Lokpobiri remains card carrying member of Bayelsa PDP —SUNUMA By Onozure Dania
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HAIRMAN of Ward 8, Oporomo 3 of Ekereemor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Mr Paris Sunuma, has said that Senator Heineken Lokpobiri remains a card carrying member of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in the state. He said: “I also read of his defection in the newspapers. But I have the list of members of my party and the distinguished Senator Lokpobiri is on that list. He has not returned his membership card.” Asked if he had contacted Lokpobiri to confirm if he was still in the party, he replied, “You go and ask him. I have told you that he is a member of the PDP in my ward. If you are in doubt ask him.” When confronted with the fact that Sunuma said he was still in the party, Lokpobiri did not deny the claim. It will be recalled that last month, it was reported that Lokpobiri, alongside late former state PDP chairman, Col Sam Inokoba, (retd), the former Managing-Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Timi Alaibe and over 1,100 party leaders allegedly left the PDP for the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015—13
Disquiet in Bayelsa APC as delegates go into hiding By Emem Idio
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ENAGOA—AHEAD the September 19, Bayelsa State governorship primaries of All Progressives Congress, APC, some delegates have reportedly gone into hiding following alleged threats by some chieftains of the party, who are fronting for a particular aspirant. While some of the delegates had alleged that the threats were coming from ranking state party officials, others claimed that other aspirants have made cash promises and other incentives to be given before and after the governorship primaries. It was also gathered that loyalists of one of the aspirants who is also an influential founding chieftain of the party, were allegedly threatening delegates not to allow a newcomer like the former Managing Director of the Niger Delta D e v e l o p m e n t Commission, NDDC, Timi Alaibe to reach out to them for votes. Meanwhile, a group known as Bayelsa Victory
Frontier, BVF, in a statement by its spokesman, Ayibanoh Gibson, regretted the
DONU: Kidnapping must be tackled head-on her captors. —DAKUKU from He said: “Security is
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By Gbenga Oke
IVERS State governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has called on security agencies to be more decisive in their approach to all forms of threat to the nation’s peaceful co-existence. Peterside, when he visited Donu Kogbara, the kidnapped Vanguard columnist who was, weekend, released by her abductors, called for a more decisive approach to addressing the scourge of kidnapping, insisting that security was essential to the growth of the nation and must be taken serious by all. Peterside, who was at the Port Harcourt home of the columnist to rejoice with her and her family, thanked God for her safe return and delivering the columnist
My members weren't lodged in collapsed hotel —PROPHET
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ARRI—FIVE days after the collapse of Makaval Hotel in Effurun, Delta State, the Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministry has said that its members were not lodged in the hotel when it collapsed. It will be recalled that the hotel collapsed Wednesday, and scores of lodgers were trapped in the debris, including a pregnant woman and others said to be members of Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministry. Reacting to the involvement of his members, the founder and General Overseer of Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministry, Prophet Jeremiah Fufeyin, said his members did not lodge in the hotel when the incident occurred, describing the statement credited to him as wicked and malicious. According to him, the
alleged threats against the APC delegates, describing same as worrisome.
church has its guest house that can accommodate visitors to the church.
critical to development, therefore, kidnapping and all forms of threat to society ’s peaceful existence must be tackled head-on. For me, the starting point is the economy. We must rebuild our economy so as to pave way for e m p l o y m e n t opportunities for every idle hand, not just in the Niger Delta but in every part of the country. “As a people and government, the security and wellbeing of our people should be the barometer for measuring our success. It is only when we have sufficiently addressed the issue of safety that we can confidently say that we are truly on course. For that reason, those in authority, particularly security agencies, must redouble their efforts towards tackling crime and prosecuting its perpetrators. The prevailing climate of fear in some parts of our country must cease.” He called on all tiers of government to do everything within their power to guarantee the safety of lives and property as we all march into a new Nigeria.
Delta NLC warns oil firms against casualisation By Victor AhiumaYoung
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ELTA State Council of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, weekend urged the state governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, to call multinational oil companies in the state to order over alleged increasing abuse of workers’ rights especially through casualization of workers. Factional Chairman of the NLC in the state, Mr. Williams Akporeha, who spoke in Asaba while commending the governor for efforts to clear months of unpaid salaries of workers, also appealed that this gesture should be extended to local government workers owed
salaries for several months and implored the governor not to forget the payment of backlog of pension arrears to retirees, saying: “As I speak with you, unpaid pension in the state is piling up while retirees are groaning beneath. So, I want to use this opportunity to appeal Governor Okowa to also consider the plight of pensioners in the state”. He said there was no doubt that since assumption of office the governor had demonstrated his readiness to transform the state and build capacity through his Strategic Wealth Creation Projects and Provision of Jobs for all Deltans, SMART agenda.
14 —Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
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Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015—15
From left, Mr. Yemi St. James, Mr. Gbenga Adefaye, GM/Editor-inChief, Vanguard, and Mr. Niran Sule. MEMORIAL LECTURE: From left, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, former governor of Ekiti State; Chief Bisi Akande, former governor of Osun State; Mrs. Olufunke Agagu, wife of late Olusegun Agagu; Mrs. Bola Obasanjo, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, former governor of Osun State, and Chairman of the Ceremony, and Vice Marshal Akin Aduwo, former Chief of Naval Staff, during the 2nd Memorial Lecture in honour of the late Dr. Olusegun Agagu, at the Civic Centre, Lagos. Photo: Diran Oshe
MASSOB 16TH ANNIVERSARY: Police shoot one, arrest 47 in Anambra By Chimaobi Nwaiwu NEWI—THERE was pandemonium
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yesterday in churches in Anambra state where members of the Movement for the Actualizatin of the
Sovereigh State of Biafra, MASSOB who were marking their 16th anniversary clashed with the police . No fewer than 25 members of the MASSOB were arrested by the police and other security operatives at various churches in the state while one was shot. At about 11am yesterday, Vanguard sighted unusual movements of about 38 Police, Army and Navy vehicles with one Personnel Armored Carrier parading in a long cue along OnitshaOwerri Express way. All were heavily armed .
At St Charles Lwanga Catholic Church Okpoko,18 MASSOB members were said to have been arrested and one shot, while those that were not arrested continued with the thanks-giving church service. At Iba Pope Catholic Church, Awada, 11 members of MASSOB were equally reported to have been arrested by the police who were said to have laid ambush on the members of MASSOB who had gone to worship in their uniforms at the church. Speaking on the arrest, the Anambra North Coordinator, Emmanuel Omenka said, “ those arrested were my members and they were more than 18. We are a non violent body and have come to thank God for our existence for 16 years when the police, army and other security operatives stormed the church and arrested some of us. “This anniversary is taking place all over the world and by the special grace of God, no amount of intimidation, arrest and detention will deter us from struggling to actualize a sovereign state of Biafra”, he said further. Also at St Michael Catholic Church Nnewi, the Re-
gional Administrator for Nnewi South, Tony Nwodo said, “they came here to this church and shot one of us and arrested three members.The Police are hunting us for nothing and even in a place of worship, they still attack us as we mark 16 years of our existence”.
16 — Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 President Muhammadu Buhari’s war against corruption received a massive boost last week Thursday, when the nation’s organised Labour, consisting of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) paralysed Abuja, the nation’s seat of power and the 36 states of the fedration, in a trenchant march to support the war on corruption. The popularity of the anti-graft war manifested in the joining of efforts by the warring factions of the nation’s umbrella workers’ unions, as some leaders of the Comrade Joe Ajaero faction were seen at the forefront of the march led by the NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, to the premises of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the National Assembly and the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) where they
Labour’s march against corruption were received by the SGF, David Babachir Lawal. This follows on the heels of the National Assembly, the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the media and a cross-section of Nigerians, whose wholesale support for the effort to tame the monster of corruption from the public and private affairs of Nigeria have given the president the added legitimacy to embrace the effort without further delay. We, however, join those who
call for caution over the call for the “death penalty” for treasury looters until the preparedness of Nigerians for such a drastic approach is fully ascertained. Though Nigerians still subscribe to capital punishment for heinous crimes, especially when it concerns premeditated homicide, terrorism and heartless behaviour, the pattern has always been for Nigerians to call for mitigation of death sentences on other crimes considered less severe.
We believe that the fight against corruption does not require knee-jerk measures and empty rhetoric or pandering to effete populism. It requires a rigorous think-through to evolve measures that can nip corruption in the bud to prevent the commission of crime.When committed,there should be quick detection, prosecution, recovery of loot and administration of due justice to the offenders without fear, favour or ill-will. The templates or models for civilised and lawful handling of anti-graft efforts are already in existence and it does not require the re-invention of the wheel. What we need is a system that works; a strategy that quickly identifies culprits, recovers stolen property and puts offenders behind bars within the shortest possible time. The precedence created will immediately impose restraint on prospective offenders.
OPINION Why Southeast must join this sycophancy By Emeka Odikpo
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IGERIA as the saying goes is a mere geographical expression. The task to turn that expression into a Nation has been seemingly lost and appears totally unrealisable. The last general elections proved this completely. Political parties were proven to be nothing better than paper tigers. When the shove came to shove, States that have supported a particular political party for 16 years dumped the party on the quick sand of tribal loyalty by as much as 97%. That to me was the end of party politics in Nigeria and the triumph of tribal loyalty. Post the elections; it appears as if most of us in the South do not realise that Nigeria has receded to 1960s politics when it was clear and direct which party will be the largest party after every election. We are still prattling about PDP and APC, when the pigeon has left the bag and the only elephant in the room is now tribe. Those of us in the South eastern part of Nigeria came out of the elections somewhat flummoxed, but it now appears that our options are cut out for us. There are two options: play opposition politics or the second option of joining the winning party. The much more dignifying option, which appears to be the prevailing adopted option, is that of playing opposition politics. But my main query is: To what purpose? Are we playing opposition politics, like the presumed Action Group part of the South West did for donkey years only for the sole purpose of securing the proverbial spare
tyre position? Are we playing opposition politics in order to make a Sani Yerima or Kwakwanso President after many years of opposition politics and then we will immediately start moaning about their being parochial? We must learn from the bitter lessons that our brothers in South west are currently experiencing. The solution is really quite simple. It is never late to worship a god. It will also not be the first time that a whole tribe did a volte face in Nigerian politics and joined the winning side. The South west did that with Obasanjo post 1999 elections and reaped “dividends” from their somersault. The South east must “out-sycophant” other parts of Nigeria immediately. If they are shouting fe-buhari or march4buhari, we must start shouting “Okechukwu our Son”. Our voice must be louder than that of all other tribes in Nigeria. We can start with erecting the statues of our President in every major city in the South east and inviting him to commission the statues amid fanfare and jubilation by our children. We must silence our children who are wailing on the social media and turn them into Soldiers for the President. We shall proclaim every available achievement in Nigeria as achievements of
This war of attrition must be fought until the South surrenders any claims of equality with the Northern Hegemonist
the President. Once the DISCOS bring light, every child in the Southeast must be taught to shout “Sai Buhari!” in jubilation. After all it is his body language that brought electricity to Nigeria in the first place. Sycophancy as they say is not a matter for small children. It is a matter that requires strong and bold men that know how to grovel. We actually have good experience in this regard. Daniel Kanu of the “Youths Earnestly Ask for Abacha” fame must be brought back to Nigeria from wherever he has travelled to. He must immediately re-energize his group and ensure that a ten million man march is made to Abuja immediately proclaiming the South east total deification of our beloved President. Post haste, we must anoint a tribal Czar. Preferably one who is versed in the act of godfatherism. The inimitable Chris Uba appears to be the overwhelming choice for this groveling task that requires strong men. A man that single handedly elected all the representatives of a state in Nigeria and then the Governor, not to add winning 97 percent of the votes cast for a sitting president is no push over. He shall be the go-between for any person from the South east that wants to relate to the President. Any person that tries an alternative route must be lynched by the South east press immediately. With Chris Uba in tow, our task of collective sycophancy is well and truly on the way. For this brave task to be accomplished, we really don’t need to dump PDP and APGA for APC. That will be too new fashioned and
obvious. We can consult our history book, especially the page that deals with Bola Ige’s five fingers of a leprous hand. We should take immediate steps to make sure that both PDP and APGA jointly appoint General Buhari as their respective “party leader.” After all, you don’t need to win any election to be a party leader in Nigeria. This of course will be a prelude to his obvious choice as the joint Presidential candidate of all the parties in 2019. Cynics may be asking what the South east stands to gain from this convoluted melt down, after all the President has made it clear that he will favour the people that gave him 97% of the votes, and that certainly does not include the South east. The short answer is that a new war has been on since the last general elections between the South east and the South west. The new motif is that both sides don’t really care how much the North ill-treats them, so long as they ill-treat the other side worse. For most irredentist in the South west, even if the new Northern Hegemonists deprive the South west of their entitlements, they will not complain insofar as the South east gets treated worse. All the key appointments to the North are based on merit, so long as the South East is deprived of a single appointment. It really matters little that the South West gained absolutely nothing in real terms. This war of attrition must be fought until the South surrenders any claims of equality with the Northern Hegemonist. We shall not retreat in this task of brave groveling. We shall not surrender.
*Mr. Odikpo, a legal practitioneer, wrpte from Lagos.
SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
ROUNDTABLE - From left: Chairman/Chief Executive, Phillips Consulting Ltd, Foluso Phillips; Chairman, Zenith Bank Plc, Jim Ovia; Chairman, Heirs Holdings and Board Member of The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), Tony Elumelu; and Vice President, CCA, Ambassador Robert Perry at a round table with members of the CCA in Nigeria at Heirs Place, Lagos.
Foreign suppliers shut credit lines to Nigerian businesses CBN accuses operators of round-tripping Hotels saddled with large amounts of idle foreign cash Quality of loan assets in banking system at risk Export proceeds idle Tyre prices up by 25% BY OMOH GABRIEL, BUSINESS EDITOR
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he organised private sector weekend said that members are finding it difficult to pay foreign creditors for goods imported before the CBN restriction on 41 items access to foreign exchange market in Nigeria. They also said that many hotels in the country are saddled with large amounts of cash, foreign currency which they could not lodge C M Y K
into their domiciliary accounts or do business with. According to a survey report of members of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other operators in the private sector sighted by Vanguard, there is growing inability of Nigeria businesses to pay foreign creditors on account of items imported prior to the CBN policy. It also said that some manufacturers are unable to manufacture due to lack of foreign exchange to import raw
materials. According to the survey, there is now delay in the processing of Form ‘M’ to import and meet demands. This has led to loss of market share and slower consumer demand and lower profits. But an official of the CBN who would for now want to maintain silence on this issue accused leaders of the organised private sector of speculative demand for foreign exchange and the unpatriotic act of round-tripping. He said that some of
these private sector leaders have been doing round-tripping of foreign exchange, thus putting undue pressure on the naira. He challenged the members to come out with the list of items that are input to their productions that are not available locally for the authorities to see. But the operators said that Palm oil for instance, is needed for production of some consumer goods and since local supply cannot meet industrial usage, the inability to import it has caused some difficulties for manufacturers in such sectors. Prices of such products have to increase at least marginally. They claimed that there is a supply gap of about 600,000 metric tonnes of palm oil annually in Nigeria. According to them, “Form M opened for items on the list prior to the CBN policy are not processed for payment leading to credit defaults with foreign suppliers. They equally said that vegetables and processed vegetable products used by Quick Service Restaurants are included in the list and this has affected negatively the availability of forex to import these materials. Sourcing locally will mean lower standards than international levels. Operators in their response to the survey said “Sourcing of foreign exchange at exorbitant rates from alternative sources is eroding already thin margins and that job losses are inevitable as the bottom line is being adversely affected. A respondent to the survey report said “Export proceeds have become idle while in need of forex to import through other banks. Companies in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods sector are unable to settle outstanding obligations to foreign suppliers which has slowed down their ability to get fresh supplies for production. It further said that export business is hugely affected as they are unable to sponsor and pay marketing activities outside the country and that they are also experiencing payment delays. The survey also discovered that there are now “delays in sourcing forex to import spare parts to meet breakdown of production machinery. Spares that were picked off the shelves before will now need to undergo series of processing before
Continues on page 18
18 — Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
Cover
Vocation and Technical Education – A Key to improving Nigeria’s development (4)
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CONFERENCE: From left: Mr Olaoye Jaiyeola, Past President, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria,CIBN; Mr Seye Awojobi, Registrar, CIBN and Mr Ifie Sekibo, MD/CEO Heritage Bank Limited during the 9th Annual Banking and Finance conference of the CIBN in Abuja recently.
Foreign suppliers shut credit lines to Nigerian businesses Continued from Page 19 forex is made available to import them. It said that for suppliers that need to be paid in advance to arrange for supplies, it has become impossible to do so under the current regime. According to the survey report, there is now “Default in repayment agreements with foreign suppliers and banks. The Bills for Collection opened in respect of the 41 items prior to the CBN policy have suffered non-performance.’ It said that "Tyre is a composite product of more than 200 raw materials. It is therefore technically wrong to classify tyre as rubber instead of being termed an automotive part. Tyre business operators cannot source for forex to remain in operation. As a result, the prices of tyre have increased by 25 per cent since July 2015. This, they said, has led to increased spate of smuggling into the country with implications for loss of revenue from import duty and risk of increased road accident from fake vehicle tyres". Private sector operators in their complaint said that “some raw and packaging materials that are required in manufacturing process are on the exclusive list. These materials are not available locally and have to be imported. There are issues with the ambiguous classification of the items on the list. For instance, glassware and glass bottles, especially different small sizes needed for packaging of medicines; the glass bottles have been classified as glassware and as such, cannot access foreign C M Y K
exchange to import them. Local bottlers do not produce the small sizes as local requirements are not large enough to attract them into producing small glass sizes". In the Pharmaceutical sector, they said: “There is now “Scarcity of Pharmaceutical package materials such as glass and plastic bottles. Industry operators have almost run out of key packaging input
Tyre business operators cannot source forex to remain in business with implications of shut down and job losses in near term". They further complained: “It takes up to two months to get foreign exchange for even products that are not in the prohibited list. This is waste of time and leads to loss of opportunities. There is about 10 to 15 per cent increase in the cost of transfers and there are also security issues with such transfers”. According to the survey report, “Companies operating in Free Trade Zones operate under statutes that exclude them from CBN Foreign Exchange regulations. The CBN has disregarded these provisions as companies operating in Free Trade Zones are meant to comply with foreign exchange restrictions. Operators at free trade zones
are now regulated/legislated out of business; this they claim is a breach of the law/ status that established the free trade zone as a country within a country.” They also argued that restriction of key input/raw materials such as wood particle boards and panels; wood fibre boards and panels; plywood boards and panels; woven fabrics has constrained those operating in the sector saying “there are no local producers of these basic raw materials that could have served as alternative to the import. Capacity utilisation now stand at 50 per cent from 70 per cent in December 2014 as a result of non-availability of these basic raw materials. Many of the products on the list of the 41 products are intermediate goods which are critical inputs for many manufacturing firms as well as other critical sectors of the economy. They stated: “The list is prone to multiple definitions and discretionary interpretations by agencies and institutions responsible for implementation. The HS codes of the items are not indicated in the CBN circular. D i s c r e t i o n a r y interpretations create room for corruption. It said that there is a “Breach of right of the entrepreneur to utilise export proceed on legitimate goods/services which falls within the 41 banned items. Many SMEs are now forced to wire their transactions from neighbouring countries. This, they say, poses Sovereign risk and poor perception of the country which could lead to closure of credit lines as a result of credibility crisis by foreign partners.
he focus is on the roles of technology and vocational education in enhancing entrepreneurial skills that will equip students for entrepreneurship education in Information and Communication Technology (ICT.) driven technological environment. The world has become globalized and the future prosperity depends on comparative advantage. This comparative advantage hinges on people and their technical or technological sophistication. Towards this, some crucial entrepreneurial and technical skills needed by the students in colleges of education (technical), polytechnics and universities to meet the trends in a global economy is analyzed. Technology education is to be considered as the key agent of technology development, either as a way of developing human capacity, increasing the shield work force for modernization, industrialization, environmental development or as a matter of personnel freedom, developing capability and empowerment. Technology education is increasingly recognized to be central to both the origins of technological development and challenges and to the prospects for successfully dealing with them (Alam, 2009). Decision makers at all levels, need timely, reliable access to knowledge generated by technology and technical education to introduce rational policies that reflect a better global understanding of complex technical, economic, social, cultural and article issues concerning the society, and our environment. Technical decision making and priority setting is an integral part of overall development planning and formation of technology development strategies. Above all, technology education is a human right and, as such, should receive priority in the allocation of national resources. It has become very necessary not to only keep technology education bound to the role of manufacturing skilled manpower but also to economic development and global economy. In Nigeria, technology education was previously not seen as fundamental for national development, or for the economic development, but for the school dropouts, and other social and political development within the nation and for individuals. Hallak (1990) argues that technology education is also linked to human resources development and that this has an impact on more than just economic growth, but also an impact on the wider development of individuals and societies. According to him, it contributes to: (a). Individual creativity, improved participation in the economic, social and cultural roles in society. (b). Improved understanding of an individual and heir respect for others, thus promoting social cohesion and material understanding (c) Improvement in health and nutrition. (d). Improved chances of economic development. (e). Improved technological development. (f). Socio-cultural change. (g). Democracy and equality (h). Ecological development/quality of life (increasing people’s awareness of their environments). From our analysis so far, it is clear that modernization and economic development, depends on investment and appreciation of modern trends in technology education. According to Woodhall (1997) investment in technological education and training produces benefits for the individual and for society as whole. The roles of technical and vocational education in enhancing entrepreneurial skills using information and communication technology is very important in training for self-employment, self-reliance and skills acquisition now that government cannot employ every graduate. This could be achieved through the development of entrepreneurial skills in technology and vocational education through information and communication technology. Technology and vocational education programme of our tertiary institutions should be directed to focus on enhancing the training for entrepreneurship in ICT so as to be functional in today’s world of work and the global economy. In this period of mass unemployment and global economic fortunes, only the best can survive by being self-employed. The tertiary institutions where technology and vocational education programme is offered should encourage and enhance entrepreneurial skills of students through constant review of the curriculum to reflect the technological changes and emerging technology in today ’s ICT driven technical environment. Technical educators should involve technological, technical, and business organization, government, NGOs and even successful industrialists in their service delivery to the students.
Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 — 19
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here has been pressure in recent times from within and outside the country for Nigeria to devalue the Naira for the third time this year. The call is in every sense of the word self-seeking for investors who want to take advantage of Nigeria. The most recent is that coming from JP Morgan which from the look of it, is outright blackmail. There has been a series of syndicated attacks from FT, The Economist, Reuters, Bloomberg and other agents of the western free market on Nigeria just to sink the nation’s currency so that their businessmen can move in like hawks to pick up Nigeria’s assets for a pittance. To the discerning mind, this is an orchestrated conspiracy against Nigeria. Those calling for the devaluation have given the situation in the oil market that has constrained Nigeria's foreign exchange earnings and the rising demand which resulted in measures put in place by Nigeria to curtail excess demand for foreign These economists are also exchange as excuse for the call of the Naira. Devaluation, as for devaluation of the currency. JP Morgan and other armchair aware of the fact that China, faced by the same economists are aware, will devaluation does not benefit economic crisis recently make Nigerian goods and a country which product price devalued its currency, the services cheaper to foreign change does not affect the Yuan, but found that buyers and make theirs more quantity supplied. The bulk of devaluation was not a solution expensive for Nigeria to buy. Nigeria’s foreign exchange to its economic woes. It has In simple language, Nigerians earnings comes from crude oil now resorted to using its will have to work harder to sales. Nigeria does not reserves to defend its currency. earn more Naira to buy the determine the price of the JP Morgan’s insistence that same amount of goods and crude it sells nor the volume Nigeria must devalue the services they used to buy it sells. The price is Naira or freely float it endlessly before the devaluation determined by the forces of and increase the suffering of whereas foreigners will need demand and supply in the the masses, can best be fewer dollars to pay for what international oil market. The volume is predetermined by described as blackmailing the they were buying before. OPEC. Devaluing the Naira nation into committing will not help Nigeria earn economic suicide. JP Morgan Investors more foreign exchange. and its co-foreign investors Devaluation will rather have already divested over like increase the cost of production $5billion out of $8billion they JPMorgan here and increase in prices of invested in Nigeria. goods and services. This is Their pulling out from the make their because most of the bond market will only deplete consumables and factory the nation’s external reserves profits from inputs are imported items. A by about $2.75 billion out of currency general rise in prices of goods the current $32 billion in the and services will further reserves now. Before 2012, manipulation impoverish fixed income the economy was performing earners and the citizenry. well with better commodity for which they Because of rising cost of prices and as such delisting of were fined living, the disposable income Nigeria from the JP Morgan of the average worker will fall index should not give several and agitation for increase in Nigerians sleepless nights. billions of wages will be triggered off. JP Morgan and its elitist Foreign investors calling for economists are well aware of dollars in the devaluation know too well that the economic fact that there Nigeria's assets will become are conditions that are US in May cheaper for them to pick. They necessary for an economic this year. It is want to invest little and reap action that may not be bountifully. Besides, JP sufficient for monetary or no surprise Morgan and its co-travelers fiscal policy authorities to that they are are portfolio managers who take decisions. The fact that bring in hot money into the there is rising demand for championing economy when the going is foreign exchange and a short good and at any sign of supply are necessary the call for the trouble, they pull out, leaving conditions but they are not devaluation of the nation high and dry. Yes, sufficient for Nigeria to take Nigeria needs investors but the risk of further devaluation the Naira
Of devaluation, JP Morgan and Nigerian economy not the JP Morgan type. Nigeria needs foreign direct investment more than it needs portfolio investors. Direct investment will create wealth and employment in Nigeria. Nigeria has a right to take economic decision that best suits its people. There are two sides of a coin, just as there is supply side in the allocation of resources by the invisible hands of the free market, there is equally the demand side. If Nigeria cannot control the supply of foreign exchange, it can control the demand. Nigeria should as matter of fact not import goods and services it can produce locally. Nigeria has no business importing rice, tomatoes, cotton, beans, palm oil and petrol etc. These are things Nigerians can produce locally. Why should Nigeria spend its hard earned foreign exchange importing wheat when there is millet and sorghum grown in Nigeria? Why should Nigeria import beef when there is enough cattle in the country? Why should Nigeria be importing stockfish? Nigeria has over the years been exporting jobs to these countries while millions of Nigerian youth remain unemployed for years. Now that the country has said no to some of these items, companies abroad which rely on Nigeria solely to sell their products are already in panic that they will go into liquidation if the policy is not changed. For countries like Japan,
Korea, China and America, devaluation is of much benefit to their exporters as their products become cheaper and more affordable abroad. Citizens of these countries are more concerned with an overvalued currency. In Nigeria, the reverse is the case, because of the country’s low non-oil export and overdependence on foreign exchange earnings from oil, devaluation is an economic pain because the goods and services produced by Nigerians are less sensitive to changes in price, (exchange rate). In economics, the increase in supply of foreign exchange to any economy is mainly dependent on the response of foreign demand to exports from that economy. When foreign demand is elastic, this decline in export prices will stimulate an expansion in the quantity exported that will be sufficient to enlarge total receipts of foreign exchange despite the lower prices in terms of foreign exchange. However, because the response of foreign demand for Nigerian goods is not sensity to change in crude oil export, total receipts of foreign exchange become smaller. Generally speaking, the demand for manufactured products has higher response to devaluation than the demand for agricultural and other primary products produced in Nigeria, which is often inelastic. So Nigerians must know that investors like JPMorgan make their profits from currency manipulation for which they were fined several billions of dollars in the US in May this year. It is no surprise that they are championing the call for the devaluation of the Naira.
Business & Economy Common wealth In orum: Organisers want Nigerian youths to show interest Commonw Invvestment FForum:
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nterprising Nigerian youths have been called upon to exploit the opportunities offered by the anti-corruption stance of the new Muhammadu Buhari administration to harness their potentials. In an interview ahead of the forthcoming Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council, CWEIC forum holding in Malta, Joseph Ambakederimo, CEO of Puffa Nigeria Limited said Nigerian C M Y K
youths now have the opportunity to compete with their contemporaries abroad with the new ease of doing business in the country. Specifically, he called upon those on the top of their businesses to take opportunity of the Commonwealth investment forum which is holding on the sidelines of the forthcoming meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government, CHOGM in
Malta in November. “Our youths especially now
Nigerian youths now have the opportunity to compete with their contemporaries abroad with the new ease of doing business in the country
have a chance to play on the global stage with the advent of the new regime with its mantra of transparency in the affairs of government. “Youths who had in the past been hindered should brace up and come and play on the global stage and for me, the Commonwealth Investment forum is one stage where our youths can reach out to their contemporaries and extend their reach,” Mr.
Ambakederimo, who is the CWEIC partner for Nigeria for the conference, said. The forum convenes Heads of Government, senior ministers, government delegates and the private sector in one place to discuss business opportunities and policy making. The forum is expected to be attended by the heads of government, 1,200 business leaders and ministers from across the Commonwealth.
20 — Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 — 21
Business & Economy BY FAVOUR NNABUGWU
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he Bank of Industry (BoI) has partnered Grow Africa Equity Partners Limited to raise a $60 million Venture Capital Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Under the arrangement, the bank has made an investment commitment of $6 million to aid provision of equity capital for fast growing businesses as part of its innovative financing scheme and efforts to expand intervention in the industrial sector from loan disbursements. Indeed, the Venture Capital Fund aims to provide equity capital, along with strategic and operational support to early stage and fast growing businesses involved in technology, agriculture, consumer goods and services sectors. BoI’s Managing Director, Mr Rasheed Olaoluwa in a statement on Thursday, said: “Nigerian businesses cannot be built on debt alone. It has long been part of the bank’s vision to find ways to provide sorely needed equity capital and business advice to promising Nigerian businesses. “Our partnership with Grow Africa is one of the avenues for realising this vision and we remain committed to the pursuit of our core mandate of providing long-term financial support to small, medium and large companies/projects in Nigeria’s key sectors.” Olaoluwa added that the investment commitment was informed by the track record of Grow Africa’s partners, the
Nigeria investment drive forum holds in Dublin
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MEETING: From left, Deputy President, Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce, Akin Olawore; Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc., and Guest Speaker, Nnamdi Okonkwo and British Deputy High Commissioner, Ray Kyles at the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce September Breakfast meeting in Lagos.
BoI, Grow Africa enter $60m venture capital fund deal for SMEs developmental impact of their existing portfolio and their strong pipeline for potential new investments. The Chairman of Grow Africa Equity Partners, Adedotun Sulaiman, noted that with the right type of support, Nigerian businesses could become global leaders.
Sulaiman, who also chairs the Boards of Interswitch, SecureID, IDEA, New Horizons and others, said: “Over the past 10 years, I have provided capital and advice that have helped several businesses grow from ideas into multi-billion naira industrial leaders.
“Through this partnership, I hope to see many more entrepreneurs realise their dreams of creating leading companies and delivering massive value to Nigeria.” The Managing Director of the company, Afam Edozie, added.
Devaluation good for Brazil's economy — ENVOY By EBELE ORAKPO
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ith rising inflation, unemployment, tightening of operational credit, and diminishing domestic consumption, the Brazilian government had to devalue its currency, the Real, in order to facilitate trade and market access. Her Excellency, Maria Auxiliadora Figueiredoá, the Brazilian Consul-General in Lagos stated this at the quarterly breakfast meeting of the Nigerian-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NBCCI). The meeting which held at the Lagos Oriental Hotel, and sponsored by Petrobras, had as theme: Expanding Nigeria’s non-oil sectors of the economy - benefiting from Brazil’s experience.
According to Figueiredoá, Brazil currently faces a number of challenges on the economic front including slowing economic growth and resistance of inflation to measures aimed at reducing it. “Brazil’s GDP suffered a decrease of 1.9% in second quarter of 2015 plus 0.7% in the first quarter signifying a recession of 2.6% in the year so far. It also means that recession is now official after two consecutive quarters of negative growth. Brazil boomed for several years on the back of the middle class between 2003 and 2010. Today, many Brazilians are in debt and household spending reportedly fell 2.1% as compared to the previous quarter. “Inflation is now nearly about 9% per year which is twice the government’s target, but how can you curb inflation in a depreciating currency?
Only in the last month, we’ve had a10% devaluation.” She said that the balance of trade presented a deficit in 2014 for the first time in over a decade, but it has been reverted in the first quarter of 2015, noting that the challenges were a result of the cyclical downturns commonly observed in all market-oriented economies and not from structural deficiencies of the Brazilian economy. It was not all bad news, however, as the ConsulGeneral said that the bad news is good news from the point of view of Nigerian importers’ interest. “The very good news is that the Brazilian government recognises the fact that dealing with these challenges is essential for the resumption of sustainable economic growth so addressing the country’s trade policy is among the initiatives aimed at overcoming the challenges.
“There was no government policy regarding exportation of manufactured products during the boom years (2003 – 2010). There was no need. However, with current challenges, there is not much to do except strive for exportation. In this sense, devaluation helps. “Brazil recognises the strategic importance of an active foreign trade policy and has therefore built the National Exports Plan (NEP) with the private sector in the first quarter of 2015. The NEP is based on five pillars – Market access, Trade facilitation, Trade promotion, Exports financing and Taxation. Trade facilitation has gained the status of state policy in Brazil,” she stated. “There is need to re-establish the fiscal equilibrium. During the boom years, the growth in government expenses exceeded the pace of growth in fiscal income.
he Fifth (5th) Invest Nigeria, Dublin, Ireland will be held at the prestigious Ashling Hotel, Dublin between 29th- 31st of October 2015. The forum is organised by Base Network in conjunction by the Nigerian Embassy in Ireland. The Forum focuses on bringing together foreign investors interested in developing, building or pursuing business prospecting opportunities in Nigeria. It also provides an avenue for foreign investors to meet and network with business persons and government representatives from Nigeria open to collaboration and sourcing areas of mutual benefit to businesses across the divide. It is a forum to share best practices, introduction to potential clients and partners, provide updates on latest investment opportunities and the key growth sectors. The Nigeria economy becomes a global spectacle as the leading economy in Africa.
Shoprite opens outlet in Festac By Vivian Enemuo
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arely ten years after opening is first outlet in Nigeria, retail giant shoprite ,has added yet another outlet in Festac town Lagos bringing to ten the numbers of shoprite outlet in Nigeria. Shoprite first entered Nigeria in December 2005,’then they opened a store in the palms shopping centre in Victoria island, Lagos. Shoprite has since opened stores in Surulere, Apapa, Ikeja and Festac in Lagos; and other stores in Enugu, Ilorin, Ibadan, Warri, Kano and Abuja. Retail giant shoprite has continued its community network in local communities in conjunction with Save Our Needy International NGO as it donates learning materials to the Progressive Nursery and Primary School in Festac Town, Lagos. The retailer which opened its new outlet in Festival mall Festac town of Lagos donated a set of chairs, tables, whiteboards and stationeries to the principal of the school. C M Y K
22 — Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
Banking & Finance
Sterling Bank empowers 4,000 graduates with skills
BY JONAH NWOKPOKU
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s part of its Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, Sterling Bank in conjunction with online job portal, Jobberman and skills development centre, Field of Skills and Dream, has empowered over 4, 000 graduates with employable and entrepreneurship skills during this year’s ‘Get Ready For Work’ initiative organised by the bank in Lagos. At the event, the participating youths took part in break out sessions focusing on entrepreneurship, skills development, career growth etc. There was also a psychoanalysis session where the participants had their personalities analysed by an expert to determine what career path would be most suitable for them. It also featured speeches from successful career people on how to tread successfully on whatever career path one may choose. Speaking to newsmen during the training, Sterling Bank’s Head of Startegy and Communications, Shina Atilola said the initiative was part of the bank’s efforts at addressing the paucity of skills in Nigeria’s labour market. He said: “We discovered that when you analyse the Nigerian labour market there is disconnect between the demand and the supply. Most of the jobs that are available, most people are not qualified for it. But this is because our institutions are not prepared to take them into the employment system. We also initiated this programme because we realised that some people are qualified but they are not employable. This is because, there is no institutional structure to train them and prepare them for a work environment. “These are the reasons Sterling Bank started this ‘Get ready for work’ initiative. We have brought successful entrepreneurs to come mentor these young people. Beyond that, some people that are just willing to work in career employment, we have also brought in people that have made impact and are successful in their careers to come and teach them how they succeeded in it. We also have brought in human resources agencies to teach them how to best market themselves.”
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NIBSS partners telcos to enhance BVN enrolment STORIES BY BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE
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igeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) has announced a partnership with GSM telecommunication providers to enhance enrolment and notification of Biometric Verification Numbers (BVN). Announcing the partnership at a press conference in Lagos, Managing Director/Chief Executive, NIBSS, Mr. Ade Shonubi said that the partnership is about working with the telecommunications firms, to ensure that bank customers get the BVN. He said that for now only Etisalat and Airtel have indicated interest in the partnership, adding that NIBSS is however hopeful that MTN and Globacom will soon be part of it. Shonubi said that the partnership is about the convenience of those who have gone out to go and have their biometric captured. It is also a delivery of part of the promises made by NIBSS to improve process of enrolment for the BVN. He explained that the partnership allows bank customers that have enrolled for the BVN to use their telephone number to request for their BVN from NIBSS by dialling the code *565*0# on any of the GSM telecommunications network. He said that only telephone numbers submitted by the bank customers to their banks while registering for the BVN can be used to access this service. He said that once the customer sends dial the code, he would receive an SMS containing his BVN. He said in the case of customers who are yet to receive their BVN, they would receive a SMS which indicate that there BVN is not yet available, and a telephone number to make complaints or enquiries. He disclosed that the service has already gone live on Etisalat network while it would go live on Airtel by Wednesday this week. He said among other things the service will address the issue of customers forgetting or misplacing their BVN. He said it would also convince customers of the reality of the initiative and hence spread the news to others. He said in addition, the service would discourage those who have enrolled from re-enrolling because they are yet to receive their BVN.
Commenting on the partnership, Chief Marketing Officer Etisalat, Mr. Francesco Anjelone, said, “We believe that innovation in the direction of banking services is the way telecoms industry has to go. Integration of telecommunications with banks is a pillar for development. Etisalat is more than happy to have other
telcos come join the partnership because as soon as we have the critical mass and everybody is on top of it there would be a creation of value for both industries. We will have growth opportunities whereby we have customers spending more on our services, and with banks, inside of a more secured environment.
Also speaking on the partnership, Mrs. Afolake Ogunbanjo, Senior Manager, Value Added Services, Airtel Nigeria said, “Airtel is very excited to partner with NIBSS on this special project and we promise that the service will go live on Airtel network by Wednesday.”
CONFERENCE – From left: General Sabastian Onwuama (rtd) Bsc. FCA (pp), MD/CEO eTranzact, Mr. Valentine Obi and MD/CEO, Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya at a panel session at the just concluded 45th Annual Accountants conference in Abuja.
Naira depreciation: ACCA slashes fees for Nigerian students I
n recognition of the impact of the naira depreciation of the affordability of its fees for Nigerian students, Global accounting body, Association of Certified and Chartered Accountants (ACCA) has announced 60 percent reduction in registration fees for Nigerian students. The reductions also include 50 percent reduction in first year subscription, and 50 percent reduction in exemption fees. ACCA Director, Market Transformation, Mr. Kevin Kernan, disclosed this while addressing a press conference at the sidelines of the launch of ACCA Strategic Pricing Initiative for Nigeria. Kernan said that the reduction in fees was in response to comments from stakeholders in the wake of the impact of the naira depreciation on the affordability of ACCA fees for Nigerian students. He said, “ACCA has historically operated a single pricing strategy for all its
customers around the globe. But in Nigeria, after a lot of research and consultation with stakeholders, from today, we are making some new prices for Nigerian students exclusively. We recognise that affordability have been an issue for many Nigerian students, particularly with the exchange rate variations in recent times. So we are reducing the initial registration fee by 60 percent. We are reducing the first year subscription fee for new students by 50 percent. Also many students claim exemptions from our exams, so we are reducing exemption fees for them by 50 percent. These represents significant reduction in prices students, parents or their employers have to pay in order to start their journey towards ACCA qualification. “In order to avail themselves of these new prices, the student must be resident in Nigeria. So we consider this good news for all our stakeholders in the Nigerian
community. The new pricing applies to students applying for the foundation and main ACCA examination qualifications but it does not apply to members or affiliates. The focus is on the student population.” “This is a very new venture for ACCA and we have been considering other markets, but Nigeria is one of the first markets where we have done this. We are currently studying Ghana, Zimbabwe. What we are offering in Nigeria is very targeted and focused on the Nigerian students, with a lot of consultations with the stakeholders.” Also speaking on the rationale for the reduction, Head of ACCA Nigeria, Mrs Toyin Ademola said, “The new pricing initiative is about making ACCA more affordable for Nigerians. It goes with ACCA values which are affordability accessibility opportunities, innovation, and diversity.
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Corporate Finance
SEC clears Cowry Asset's N3bn Zamfara bond underwriting By PETER EGWUATU
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ecurities and E x c h a n g e Commission, SEC has cleared Cowry Asset Management Limited N3 billion Zamfara State bond underwriting. Cowry Asset Managemen paid N3 billion in fulfillment of its underwriting commitment under the N7 billion Zamfara State Government Bond. The N3 billion paid by Cowry Asset represents 42.86 per cent of the total value of the bond issue, the highest by any of the three underwriters to the bond issue. The N7 billion Zamfara State Government 7-Year Fixed Rate Development Bond was the first tranche under the N30 billion Zamfara State bond issuance programme. The commission at the weekend confirmed that Cowry Asset has “satisfactorily fulfilled its underwriting commitment in accordance with the provisions of the Investment and Securities Act 2007 as well as the Rules and Regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission”, referencing the full payment of the N3 billion underwriting commitment. Cowry Asset, a full-service investment banking firm licensed by SEC as an issuing house, financial adviser, underwriter and venture capital manager, has been a major player in the Nigerian capital market for nearly a
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LAUNCH - From left: Matthieu Seguin, Country Commercial Director, Nigerian Bottling Company; Emmanuel N. Nnorom CEO, Transcorp Plc; Prahlad Gangadharan Director of Stills, NBC during the launch of Five Alive Pulpy Orange, a new juice line made with concentrate from Transcorp agribusiness subsidiary Teragro Commodities Ltd.
decade. It also has subsidiaries in consulting, securities trading and real estate. The net proceeds of the bond issue would enable the Zamfara State Government to deleverage and reposition its finances towards delivering further dividends of democracy to its citizens. Commenting on the completion of the underwriting, Managing Director, Cowry Asset Management Limited, Mr. Johnson Chukwu, said the N3 billion underwriting underlined the financial capacity of Cowry Asset at a time that several financial
institutions are struggling to meet regulatory capital. He noted that the participation of Cowry Asset as a major underwriter in the Zamfara State bond was another illustration of the commitment of the firm as an indigenous partner in the quest for development by Nigerian Capital market. “Cowry Asset has been involved as financial advisers, issuing house and underwriter in several fund raising exercise in the capital market for both public and private companies and governments through public
offers, rights issue, private placements, corporate and government bonds. The company provides advisory services and funding to support the growth of Nigerian companies and development of the economy” Chukwu said. He added that Cowry Asset has demonstrated competence in marketing capital issues with her extensive distribution network and team of experts who provide solutions to both issuers and the investing public.
NPF MfB plans fresh capital injection BY NKIRUKA NNOROM & BISOLA OLOGUNDE
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PF Microfinance Bank Plc has revealed plans to raise fresh capital from the capital market to boost its working capital. The chairman of the bank, Mr. Azubuko Joel Udah, who made the disclosure while sounding the closing gong ceremony on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, said the fund would be raised via public offering and rights issue to the existing shareholders. Though he did not specify the amount to be raised, he noted that the additional capital would be used in financing branch network C M Y K
IWG names steering committee members
expansion, improve its information technology and would also used to beef up the bank’s working capital. According to him, the Board and management are currently making wide consultation with all stakeholders to determine the appropriate time for the proposed offerings. “The Board aims at raising stronger capital base, attracting new investors, raising the national profile and enhancing the leadership position of NPF Microfinance Bank in the microfinance subsector and will no doubt grow the bank as a reputable financial institution” Udah said. He stressed that the bank
intends to increase its branch network to 29 in the next one year in order to cover the 36 states of the federation as well as sustain its performance. “As of now, we have 17 branches all over the country, and you know that the NPF Microfinance Bank Plc is a national microfinance bank. It is not confined to Lagos or Abuja alone; it is supposed to go round. So many states have not been covered, and people are clamouring, both police officers and members of the public, who have seen how the bank has been performing, and they want to be part of it, to become depositors and investors.”
He assured that the bank would sustain the yearly dividend it has been paying to its shareholders, adding that ‘the time will come when they will start getting bonus on shares; depending on the way the bank is operating.’ Also speaking, the Managing Director, Mr. Akin Lawal, expressed confidence at the timeliness of the offer, saying that any time the bank chooses to come to the market would be a right time. He disclosed that NPF Microfinance Bank was one of the beneficiaries of the N220 billion MSME developmental fund of the Central Bank, noting that the bank has been disbursing the fund to qualified entrepreneurs.
he Nigerian-based panAfrican nongovernmental organization, “I Will Give” (IWG) has named a ten-man steering committee to govern its activities and ensure the actualization of its goal of mobilizing resources for social development. “I Will Give” is a platform for social giving; engaging corporate social responsibility (CSR), organized philanthropy and private giving. It focuses on high social impact programmers aimed at improving socioeconomic outcomes in six specific areas, which include education, health, youth development and women empowerment. Members of the steering committee include Dr. Lola Dare, the President of Chestrad International, Mrs Chioma Madubuko, Dr. Bala Magaji, Mr. Tunji Mayaki and Mr. Mobolaji Shenjobi Others are former Minister for Cooperation and Integration, Dr Abimbola Ogunkelu, Mrs Rosamond Vera- Cruz, Mrs Anne Guthuku-Shongwe, Mrs Remi Olajoyegbe and Dr. Olatokunboh Sangowawa.
Diamond Bank partners NEPC to drive export By JONAH NWOKPOKU
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iamond Bank Plc has entered into partnership with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council to drive efficiency in export services through improved export related financial process and service delivery. The Bank in partnership with NEPC, in a two-day training programme focusing on managing effective export desk in banks, stated that effective and efficient export service delivery is one of the surest ways the financial services sub-sector could help stimulate economic activity in the country, mitigate the financial challenges affecting export business in Nigeria and halt the sliding value of the naira. The training programme was aimed at up-scaling the skills of the bank’s staff on the export desk and promoting efficient export service delivery in the bank.
24 — Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
Interview By Adekunle Adekoya, General Editor
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R. Ernest Azudialu Obiejesi is the chair man of Smile Communications in Nigeria and a major shareholder in the Smile Holdings Limited; comprising, Smile South Africa, Smile Dubai, Smile Tanzania, Smile Uganda and Smile DR Congo. In Nigeria, Smile, a broadband operator, is operating on the 800 GHZ spectrum with 4G LTE licence. Last week, Smile announced that it had raised US$ 365 million to fund expansion of its 4G LTE network in the country. In the conversation below, Obiejesi sheds more light on the expansion bid, the fundraise, shareholding structure and more. Excerpts: Why a USD $365million fund-raise, in these days of currency instability? The aim of this financing is mainly to finance to our growth; to accelerate our expansion drives, so that we will be able to build a robust network smiling around Africa. Due to the speed of the 4G LTE network it becomes very practicable that we should be able to have other networks spread across Nigeria very fast, such that we get the spectrum operating efficiently in Nigeria before other competitors catch up with us. Secondly, we promised Nigerians a network that will enable the growth and expansion of businesses. That is already happening both in Nigeria and the rest of Africa. So, we are consolidating. Tell us about Smile’s equity holders. Smile’s shareholders now comprise Al Nahla Group, a Saudi Arabia-based company, which is the majority shareholder; Renven Investment Holdings, a pan-African investment vehicle, in which Nigerian investors, including the Obijackson Group, are the majority; Verene, representing Smile senior management and social entrepreneurs from South Africa; Telecom Investments, a Saudi Arabia-based investment company; Capitalworks, an active alternative management company, specializing in investment in the African mid-market”; the PIC; and Smile employees. So, we came together to compose the company called Smile. Nigeria is the largest telecoms market in Africa and that entails why Smile’s business in the country accounts for about 80% of the total operations. That is what makes Smile Nigeria very big and our participation in the country. Smile in other African countries are getting it and will grow big too. The fund we secured is one of the biggest funds ever raised in the telecoms industry in Africa, especially with regards to a business that is somewhat a startC M Y K
Why Smile Communications is going into voice, by Obiejesi As Smile Communications closes US$365 million financing deal Adds there's need to out-pace the competition up. Therefore, the management staff are happy with the feat we could achieve. Is Smile adding voice to its business operations? I have already mentioned we intend to expand the existing 4G LTE (mobile) broadband network in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa. With the funds, we intend to complete our expansions to other countries. The more critical is Nigeria which is huge and for you to nurture such business to maturity you must spread out; cover all parts of the country. The essence is for subscribers do witness continuity in the network coverage as they move from one part of the country to another. Secondly, we are preparing for Smile’s clear voice network )CVN(. We believe that before the end of this year we would roll out out our CVN. Therefore, apart from data, we can use Smile’s spectrum voicewise. Some of these are the reasons we had to go into the fund raising. Why voice, and why now? The answer is very clear. Our network runs on a superior spectrum. The idea is to give Nigerians clear voice network service. We know what the experience is today with other networks at the moment. The whole idea is to encourage good quality network service. That is why the funds are very key, because once you commence and cover the areas; the voice network is going to be very clear. There are testimonies that Smile’s 4G LTE in Nigeria is better than that used in London. It is the same technology, but the one here offers better quality. Such testimonies point to the saying that Nigeria is at the forefront of global development; we want to be there with every other country. We can’t be behind again. We are working with Ericsson in this area
to make it happen. We will start deploying by October and hope to commence fully before the end of the year. On Clear Voice Network, who will be Smile’s primary segment? It is important we understand that Smile is not going there to starting “fighting” the likes of MTN, GLO, Etisalat or Airtel, rather our strategy will set us apart… But you’re targeting a share of the voice market where they are established? Yes, we do have market share, but we do wholesale as well. We expect that some of the big players can leverage some of the underutilized spaces we have. What we are trying to do is, within the broadband, we are trying to take some of our free network and use it for voice over. If Smile is there for data and you can make calls from any part of the world, then, it gives you a whole package. We have already created a niche for ourselves and work towards adding a voice service. Without that we might not be able to utilize all the space we have on the band. Therefore, it is not a question of going to wrestle power, cut out from the subscribers of MTN, Glo
Our network runs on a superior spectrum. The idea is to give Nigerians clear voice network service. We know what the experience is today with other networks at the moment
and others. In these days of currency instability and uncertainty, especially the pressure on the Naira, will you be considering an IPO in the future? This funds raised answers that question. This is a young company and we don’t want to go public pre-maturely. Listing on Stock Exchange goes beyond having the certificate; you must have something to sell. At the moment we can’t take a product that is not known to the people to NSE which will be a hard sell. With this kind of funds raised we believe that we have all the financial strength to expand the network and unleash clear voice network. So, we don’t think we will need the help of an IPO or listing on the floor of the Nigeria Stock Exchange )NSE( in the nearest future, because, before we complete the deployment of the funds, I am sure that the returns on investment will create enough funds to enable us embark on any other future investments. I also want to mention that one of the reasons for having a business case here is to support the growth of the economy and improve on the lives of Nigerians through job creation. The telecoms business has been proven, across the globe, as catalyst to improving the GDP of any economy. We believe that with the kind of speed this broadband has and the facilities, the tendencies are there to create jobs for a lot of Nigerians. It is going to impact on every sector, particularly, the entertainment industry as local content is key in the internet business. Nigeria being one of the fastest growing economies in Africa, we believe that this type of network will help Nigerians grow faster while consolidating the gains already made in the economy. I think it is a very welcome development and requires a lot of support.
However, we as the shareholders and as the Chairman in Nigeria, we are not resting on our oars until Nigerians smile as they should in the internet connectivity and voice networkwise. Smile within the next two years would have become a success story. At the moment an IPO is not going to be successful; not a good business strategy and we look at it as something that will come secondary. It is not a matter of dining with the devil with a long spoon, rather be sure you are not on the menu. You may take the pain of going through the processes of NSE; even the compliance requirements of an IPO and at the end of the day you might not secure the funds. Even though is it more expensive the way we are doing it now, due to the interest on the money, but is a sure way to create a marketable brand before considering going public. Since this is a multi-jurisdictional package, what percentage of the funds will Smile invest in Nigeria? If you look at the analysis with regards to Smile as a panAfrican company, the majority of the business is in Nigeria. This is market where about 80% of Smile business comes from. So, it is also expected that about 80% of that money will be invested in Nigeria. This is the economy the company hopes to invest and recoup its resources too. This is where we have the population, growth tendencies, the businesses, and shows you that Nigeria is very large and sustainable for businesses too. Therefore, both in infrastructure deployment and the funds usage, it is expected that Nigeria will have a fair share. Other market will be sharing the remaining percentage. This simple analysis was part of the reasons the pan-African banks doled out the funds. They know Nigeria has the capacity to give back what is invested.
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Homes & Housing
NMRC disburses N1bn to mortgage banks Raises capital to N8.5bn
SunGold unveils 2 Abuja housing projects
Stories by YINKA KOLAWOLE, with agency report
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igerian Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) has disbursed N1 billion to Imperial Homes Mortgage Bank Limited (formerly GTHomes Limited), emerging as the first mortgage bank to be refinanced by the company. A statement by the bank noted that the move was in line with NMRC’s drive to facilitate the provision of affordable homes at good mortgage rates to Nigerians. The bank’s Managing Director, Ben Akaneme, the bank’s described the refinancing as a milestone, adding that it was an outstanding achievement in the march towards the realisation of affordable and single-digit interest rates for mortgages in Nigeria. He said the facility will help the bank achieve its mission of enabling easily accessible and affordable mortgages to Nigerians in order to ensure housing for all. “The landmark refinancing brings the vision of homes for all Nigerians within reach,” Akaneme said. In the mean time, Shareholders of the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) have approved an increase of its share capital from N1 million to N18 billion. They gave the approval at the company’s 1st Annual General Meeting recently held in Lagos. The shareholders approved the resolution to increase of the Share Capital of the company from N1 million, comprising of one million Ordinary shares of N1:00 each to N8.5 billion, comprising of 8.5 billion Ordinary shares of N1:00 each, after amending Clause 6 of the Memorandum of Association of the company to reflect the new authorised Share Capital. Mr. Herbert Wigwe, interim Chairman of NMRC, presented the audited financial statements for the year ended December 2014 and the Reports of the Directors and Auditors of the company for shareholders’ approval. He noted that within the period in review, the first tranche of equity raise of N7.05 billion was completed. NMRC is currently negotiating the terms of a subscription of its shares with the IFC and Shelter Afrique. NMRC is currently completing the outstanding condition precedents to the subscription, which are nearly fulfilled, with finalisation occurring soon.
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An architectural design of SunGold Estate, Abuja Future Outlook “As we reflect on the progress made thus far, we must note that there is a lot of work that lies ahead. We have dedicated our formative years to building a solid foundation for NMRC’s future and we strongly believe that NMRC is on the right track. However, our journey is a long one and will require persistence and pro-activeness in achieving the purpose for which we were established. We know that with our values and continued support from all stakeholders, NMRC will achieve its goals and surpass the expectations of all stakeholders. As NMRC enters the new financial year with confidence, we will focus on building capacity and the completion of any outstanding operational activities including, an aggressive drive towards the adoption of the
The landmark refinancing brings the vision of homes for all Nigerians within reach
Model Mortgage & Foreclosure Law by our Pilot States, the procurement of an ICT Infrastructure for the Mortgage Industry, the completion of our second tranche Equity Capital raise, and most importantly the completion of our first round of mortgage refinancing,” Wigwe stated.
Debt Issuance The chairman also remarked that NMRC has commenced the filing process with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the Shelf Registration of its Debt Issuance Programme, which has an initial Programme size of N140 billion, to provide liquidity for its refinancing operations. “In order to engender confidence in the credit standing of NMRC as a bond issuing entity, NMRC has obtained credit enhancement from the Federal Government of Nigeria for the Debt Issuance Programme by way of a sovereign guarantee. This confidence is critical in ensuring NMRC’s ability to raise bond financing at just above the level of sovereign debt cost,” he stated.
Lagos plans CofO issuance within 90 days
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he Lagos State government is to henceforth issue Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) on properties to new applicants within 90 days of payment. Executive Secretary in the State’s Lands Bureau, Mr Olukayode Ogunnubi, said in a statement that government’s plan is to ensure that the process of applying and getting the document is not only less cumbersome but treated within the stipulated time. He made the statement following the signing and approval for immediate release of 2,500 C of O’s by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to property owners across the state. “Once we have any new applicant for C of O, the Governor’s mandate is to ensure that he signs it within the 90 days tenure. So, once you make your payment, we start the processing. Let me also report that we are going on the Electronic C of O fully (E-C of O). All the ones he signed are also E-C of O. The idea is to eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks and this is what the Governor intends to achieve in line with his commitment to make life simple and easy
for the people. This is a standard milestone as the last time such was witnessed was during the era of the first civilian Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande,” he said. Ogunnubi said the release of the C of O’s was to enable owners to leverage on the C of O as collateral to obtain loans from financial institutions for business activities. “A clear distinction must be made that this present government wants Lagosians to maximise the economic benefits derivable from ownership of properties as evidenced by obtaining their legal titles. That’s what we are trying to achieve and that’s the reason why the Governor decided to clear all the back log, everything. Now we do not have pending C of O on our table. This will also contribute to the growth of the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and ultimately the development of the economy of the state. In a nutshell, the idea is to eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks and this is what the Governor intends to achieve in line with his commitment to make life simple and easy for the people”, he stated.
unGold Estate Ltd has launched two housing projects, Lenox Apartments and Splendour Apartments, in Abuja located at Gaduwa and Durumi districts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), respectively. In a statement made available to Vanguard, James Ali, General Manager of the firm, said subscriptions for the two estates are open for the general public. Ali said Lenox Apartments is a block of 14 flats selling at an off plan price with discount consideration for outright purchase. Facilities include: Intercom connection; Fitted kitchens; Electric fencing; CCTV; Centralised water supply system; Ample parking space; Street lights and; Recreational facilities. On the other hand, Splendour Apartments is a block of 16 units also selling at an off plan price with similar facilities, in addition to a swimming pool. With the launch of these projects, SunGold aims to provide very affordable housing with very convenient and flexible payment plans to the general masses. Both projects which are already under construction have a target time frame of 11 months for completion. What makes SunGold so unique and different from other real estate companies, is the fact that we are quick to complete and do not compromise standards on any of our projects. Our buildings and designs are so elegant, classy and contemporary. We are a testimony to the fact that you do not have to be a millionaire to own a luxury apartment in Abuja. Sungold is presently involved in numerous projects across Nigeria. These include: Heroes Plaza - Wuse 2, Abuja; GoldPalms Estate – Owerri, Imo State; SunGold Estate – Galadinmawa, Abuja; Manis Court Estate – Asokoro, Abuja; Sim Christy Plaza – Gudu, Abuja; Zizi Apartments – Garki, Abuja; and Springfield Estate – Mabushi, Abuja.
32 — Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
Insurance
Philippine insurers favour mandatory earthquake insurance
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nsurers in the Philippines have once again reiterated the need for a mandatory earthquake insurance in the countr y, especially for residential buildings and small to medium-sized businesses. The Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association (PIRA) has already submitted its proposal on compulsory earthquake insurance to finance secretary Cesar Purisima. The group, which is the umbrella organisation of nonlife insurers, is hopeful that Philippine President Benigno Aquino III will approve the proposal and come up with an executive order. PIRA has noted that out of the 14 million people living in the country’s metropolis, less than one percent are insured against earthquakes, despite a series of reports about the “Big One”: a major earthquake that could potentially devastate parts of Metro Manila, the capital. PIRA chairman Michael Rellosa said in a statement that insurance is a very effective tool in recovering from such disasters.
NPC, AMSCO hold business conference
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lans are in top gear by the National Planning Commission, NPC of Nigeria and African Management Services Company, AMSCO will hold a business conference with the theme: “Accelerating Enterprise Competitiveness and a growth in Nigeria –Building Capacity for Sustainable Development in Lagos. The keynote speaker will be Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele. According to the organizers, the objective of the conference is to promote partnership for business development and employment creation in Nigeria. To promote balanced investment in financial and human capital for enterprise development necessary for economic development. To examine sources of financing for development to capacitate enterprises. C M Y K
STI to lead positive changes in insurance market —FALOUGHI Stories by ROSEMARY ONUOHA
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hairman of Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, STI, Mr. Ephraim Faloughi said that the company will continue to assess its service platform to ensure that they conform to the best in terms of global standards and are flexible enough to lead positive changes in the market. Faloughi who stated this at the company’s 20th annual general meeting in Lagos last week said that the company recognise the rapid changing nature of their customers’ expectations and are aware of the imperative of embracing innovation and sound initiatives towards meeting their needs through bespoke services. On the performance of the company, Faloughi said that, the company headline performance was somehow affected by the combination of the harsh operating terrain experienced in the course of the year and response to several regulatory interventions. He said that gross premium for the year ended at N7.2 billion, a performance that represents 16 per cent decline over a sum of N8.6 billion recorded in the previous year. Profit before tax also declined by 62 per cent from N857.8 million recorded in the year 2013 to N326 million for the year ended 2014. In the same vein, profit after tax decreased by 68 per cent to close the year at N294 million from N929 million reported in 2013. Faloughi said, “We believe that the future of the company is really bright particularly with the implementation of our new business model and deployment of competitive strategies to control better market share and improve our profit level. We will not rest on our oars towards realisation of our industry leadership ambition while keeping the company very profitable.” On the future outlook, Faloughi said, “Moving forward, we understand the unprecedented dynamism of the business world. Accordingly, our strategic direction will be crafted to proactively envisage the likely opportunities that are inherent in the industry and work against possible threats
that may adversely affect our operations. “We have for long understood the role of our people in powering the growth objective of the company and would continue to put them at the heart of our operations. We will also continue to equip and develop our staff to ensure that as individuals and collectively as a company, we are truly grounded in bringing
to fruition the wealth creation objective which the company exist to provide for our shareholders. “Similarly, capitalisation issue must be addressed headlong on a continuous basis. Beyond the just concluded rights issue, the board and management are continuously assessing several initiatives to competitively position the company in the industry
capital wise. This we aim to achieve through a combination of organic and in-organic growth strategies and we will carry you along as we consider several options before us. “The wave of entrance of international brands into the Nigerian insurance industry is going to be the game changer in the way we serve the market and administration of claims to customers,” Faloughi said.
AGM - From left: Company Secretary (representing Foundation Chambers), Mr Adedoyin Adeloye; Director, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc, Dr. Layi Fatona, and another Director, Mrs. Ngozi Nkem at the 20th Annual General meeting of Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc held in Lagos
States should implement contributory pension scheme – IDEVA
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remium Pension Limited has advocated for urgent implementation of Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in all states of the federation which are yet to adopt the scheme. The states that are yet to sign the pension bill into law are inhibiting the domestication of the CPS in the states at the expense of workers, the company stated. Speaking in Lagos at the Annual General Meeting of the National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO), Managing Director, Premium Pensions, Wilson Ideva, stated that the CPS is arguably the most conspicuous and indelible legacy of the Federal Government in the past decade. Ideva, who was represented by Mr. Paddy Ezeala stated that Premium Pensions, a pioneer Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) has since 2007 paid about N87 billion to 33,000 pensioners under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) . The Company, he said, currently maintains well over 600,000 Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) and has paid out over N87 billion to over 33,000 retirees or their nextof-kin as entitlements since 2007. According to him, with pension assets
under its management in excess of 370 billion naira and pension enrollees under the company’s management spread in over 1000 organisations across the country, Premium Pension has already been firmly established as a key player in the new Contributory Pension Scheme. ideva said, “Professionalism in pension service rendition at Premium Pension is complemented by the company ’s adoption of the robust Canadian Pension Administration Software (CPAS). We are partnering with this organisation to ensure continued cutting-edge service delivery. All the relevant staff operating this software have been adequately trained in Canada by CPAS’. Ideva stated that the company has consistently posted Return on Investment of pension asset well above industry average and above inflation, adding that the company recently introduced a mobile application known as ‘Premium Pension Mobile’, with a view to facilitating its operations and enhancing customer service and interaction. This, he explained was in response to the evident need for devices that would further close the gap between the company’s operations and its customers on the one hand and the customers and their Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) on the other.
Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 — 33 “You can get in more trouble with good ideas than bad ones; it is so much easier to push a good idea to excess.” Ben Graham. (VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p 97).
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resident Buhari turned down the idea of bailout at first. I must confess to being one of those who thought a bail-out was inevitable – given the empty purses most states were holding. However, it was my position that the states arrived at the same position through different routes. Some took sensible risks which backfired when the price of crude oil tumbled and the monthly revenue allocation from Abuja declined dangerously. At the moment, the monthly allocation for August has not been conducted and the funds have not been released. Othr states ended up on the list of “Beggar States” for reasons difficult to understand. Akwa Ibom is one example. It must be regarded as one of the ten wonders of the last eight years that a state which collected nearly N3 trillion, equal to the allocations for the six poorest states, could still end up with the “beggar ’s bowl” in hand asking for bailout. And, for the Federal Government to grant the request – no questions asked. “Saints” and “sinners” are given the same treatment. To say the least, this is setting a bad precedent. The question we must ask ourselves is this: what principle are we trying to establish here? To start with, since not all the states are
Mortgaging the States to FG future in name of bail-out (2) requesting for and are being granted the bail-out, what we are doing now amounts to rewarding those whose judgment turned out to be bad as well as the fraudulent while penalizing those who
amount to inappropriate use of bonds. Generally, bonds are issued to finance projects which will generate revenue with which to repay the obligations. These bonds are not tied to income-generating
This generation of President, Governors, legislators and citizens are consuming what belongs to our children with nothing to assist them
conducted their financial affairs well. This is one precedent that might come to haunt us in the future. Furthermore, by converting consumption debts (in financial circles no bank would lend anyone money to pay salaries) to bonds, the arrangement in place might
projects. That partially explains why the tenure, thirty years, is so long. That again has unintended consequences for all of us. Some of the governors now in office will remain for eight years; some four and a few (Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, Anambra) will serve for less
than four years. Yet, all the states receiving the bail-outs would have shackled their next three, four, five or six successors to repayment of debts without any project bringing the revenue to help repay. This generation of President, Governors, legislators and citizens are consuming what belongs to our children with nothing to assist them. But, of all the aspects of the bail-out scheme, the one that all Nigerians should find most troublesome is the fact that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, will pay the salaries of states’ staff directly to their accounts. Granted, beggars cannot always choose, but it would appear that the principle of separation of powers between states and the Federal Government is being violated. In their eagerness to obtain relief the “Beggar States” are allowing a bad precedent to be established under which the Federal Government can in the future assume
responsibilities for paying salaries to states’ staff directly. Even, under centralized military regimes, this arrangement would have appeared strange for an entity pretending to be a Federal Republic. In a democracy, this is becoming too much of a price to pay just to get the governors off the hook. The road to hell is always paved with good intentions. With this step, we might have embarked on that road. And, there is a good reason why we should retrace out steps. Most of the states operate with over-bloated public service. A visit to the Secretariat of any state and any Ministry in the state will reveal several hundred “ workers” sitting idle, gossiping and marking time. As the price of crude continues its steady decline, the measure just taken might offer only temporary succor – unless the governors are forced to make the tough decisions about their staff strength. Allowing them to continue with so many redundant staff, the problem will resurface again any time soon. Then, what would we have gained by creating so many bad precedents?
Micro-Finance
UP MfB disbur ses N5 48m in half yyear ear disburses N548m STORIES BY PROVIDENCE OBUH AND BUSAYO SAMUEL
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muchinemere Procredit Micro-finance Bank has disbursed about N548.180 million facility in its half year financial statement. A total of 2,210 active poor persons received the facility between January and June this year, according to report made available to Vanguard. Further breakdown shows that a total of 1,182 female received a total of N247,048,200 while a total of 1,030 male received about N257,131,800 of the total facility within the period just as 447 persons received a total of N140,090,000 of the development. Acting Head of Credit, Mr. Ikechukwu Ngene, said that fund disbursement was slightly below the bank’s target for the period owing to the usual low economic activities associated with the beginning part of the year
and the uncertainties and general economic down turn that characterized the countr y ’s last general elections. “It is expected that the second half of the year would be robust, as economic activities after the elections are gradually improving and
the bank having planned to roll out more attractive products for its esteemed and teeming customers.” “An additional fund of N32.2m of the MSME Development Fund meant for disbursement to a supplementary list of beneficiaries will not only
enhance the bank’s performance financially in the second half of the year but will also increase its customer base. The bank has set a N600m target for disbursement as loans for the second half of the year,” he said. Speaking on development
fund, Special Adviser on SME, Mr. Anayo Agu said “The fund was specifically intended to remove poverty in the land and it is for micro, small and medium businesses development and growth in Enugu State as any largesse from government. I am urging the fund beneficiaries to use the money to develop and improve their businesses and well being and repay as at and when due,” she said.
Appoint competent ministers, CICAN urges Buhari
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he Commerce and I n d u s t r y Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CICAN) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint competent persons as Ministers to enable him fulfill his campaign promises to the electorate. A statement jointly signed by the CICAN National President and Secretary, Mr. Toba Agboola and Mr.
Charles Onwuatogwu , stated that the advice become necessary due to some names being touted in mainstream and social media as possible candidates for ministerial portfolios in the administration. The association advised the President to appoint technocrats with proven track records of effective performance and not necessarily politicians. “Nigeria has abundant pool
of human resource in all fields of endeavors and as such there is no need to continue to appoint persons with antecedents that will offend the sensibility of Nigerians into strategic positions any longer. “If Mr. President proceeds to appoint certain individuals who spearheaded anti-people policies while serving the previous governments into his cabinet, his pledge to change the pattern of governance
including the culture of impunity in the country will be dead on arrival,” CICAN said. CICAN stressed further saying “if for any reason Mr. President wishes to appoint persons that have served previous governments into his cabinet; they must be individuals with impeccable character, proven integrity, and track record of selfless service to the country.”
34— Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
E-Commerce
Jovago unveils local language service
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nline hotel booker, Jovago.com has unveiled a local languages translation service to drive more access among users of the service in Nigeria. The service features Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa translations offering users a chance to learn these Nigerian languages interactively and increases the ease with which hotel rooms are booked via the mobile app and website. The company which marked its second year celebration activities with the launch of its Android mobile application, ‘Hotels Booking’, in over 40 countries around the world, provides customers who visit the website the convenience of booking hotels in their native dialects. Speaking on the innovation, Managing Director, Jovago Nigeria, Marek Zmyslowski, said, “Our core mission at Jovago right now is to simplify the way customers use the internet to engage in online transactions which is why we are excited to introduce the local language translations."
Konga’s mercury software to boost logistics
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onga.com has announced the launch of Mercury, a software-as-aservice logistics management system that will enable logistics companies and their customers to track the exact location and status of their orders online. Chief Executive Officer of Konga, Sim Shagaya said Mercury was created by Konga’s Technology and KExpress teams. According to him, “There are many small and large logistics companies today serving sellers on the Konga marketplace. Beyond this, there are hundreds of logistics companies that are licensed by NIPOST to do parcel delivery across Nigeria. As we engaged with them, we found that one consistent complaint these companies have, is an absence of a robust track and trace system. We decided to extend the proprietary technology we had built for KExpress and make it broadly available to all logistics companies that need it.”
STORIES BY JONAH NWOKPOKU T here is need for ec o m m e r c e operators in Nigeria to begin to think of global expansion in order to promote African made products, bridge the gap between the African market and its people in the Diaspora to directly impact the growth of the local economy. This is according to Managing Director of Nigeria’s pioneer online marketplace, Gidimall.com, Osamede Evbakhavbokun. Osamede, who stated this during an exclusive interview with Vanguard, said his Gidimall will be spearheading the move by commencing promotion of African made products to the European and American markets beginning from November this year. According to Osamede, “This (move) is instructive because there is a need to project Africa in a right way. Over the next three months, we will be focusing on promoting made-in-Africa products overseas. Ecommerce in Nigeria is still growing. There has been a serious traction and growth in the sector. But we have yet to start seeing the kind of numbers that exist in the US and other developed markets. I think there is a need for e-commerce in Nigeria to begin to think global and not just Nigeria.”
CONFERENCE - From left: General Manager, British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF), Miss Abimbola Okoya; Partner, Financial Accounting Advisory Services, Ernst and Young, Samuel Agbevem; Executive Director, BATNF, Mrs Oluwaseyi Ashade; Executive Director, CSR-in-Action, Bekeme Masade, at the Press Conference on the Collective Social Investment Report: Nigeria 2014, in Lagos.
Why Nigerian e-commerce operators should seek global expansion – OSAMEDE He said breaking into international markets leveraging e-commerce has become imperative because African made products actually resonates well with a lot of Africans in the diaspora. He said: “There are two major needs in this
market. For example, you have that guy in America who wants to send money home to his mother and he has to send it through John so that John goes to the market and buys the things he needs to buy for the mother. And then the rest is
Nigeria tops Africa's online search for saloon cars
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survey conducted by online vehicle marketplace, Carmudi.com has revealed that more Nigerians are increasingly searching for saloon cars to buy. The survey showed that Nigeria has the highest percentage (55 percent) of those searching for saloon cars to buy online within Africa. The survey which also featured opinion sampling of car owners showed that seven out of every ten Nigerians prefer to drive saloon cars. This is even as a study by the Lagos State government showed that new saloon car registration is on yearly increase as 218,528 or 84.22 per cent of the total vehicles registered in the year 2011 were saloon cars representing an increase of 30,013 or 15.92 per cent compared with 2010 figure which was 188,515. In a statement, Carmudi said it believes this trend portends a vibrant market for saloon cars and that local auto makers should pay more attention to this trend to drive auto sales
in the country. It recalled that Nigeria’s first automaker, Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing had followed this trend and made history late in November 2014 when it built 500 vehicles, including the Umu sedan at its local plant. According to Carmudi, saloon cars has remained a
popular brand across most emerging markets as its data revealed that car buyers in Asia browsed most for saloon cars, particularly in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Indonesia where 59, 57, 51, 50, and 38 per cents respectively are searching for saloon cars to buy.
AutoGenius revamps website
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s part of its efforts to enhance the quality of customers’ shopping experience and availability of information, Nigeria’s online auto insurer, AutoGenius has redesigned its website. The site’s refreshed and simplified look, combined with enhanced content, improved search functionality, and optimization for mobile devices allows consumers to better access auto insurance online. Key features of the site include automatic renewal reminders, improved integration with insurance partners, real-time client advisory provisions on claims and inspection, insurance verification, promotion code integration as well as an automated claims process. CEO of Venia Technologies, parent company of AutoGenius, Kola Oyeneyin, said: “The new website was created with the user experience firmly in mind. This is a result of talking with customers and gaining valuable feedback. We are excited to be able to provide the ultimate user-friendly experience with improved navigation and functionality which enables customers access auto insurance products easily.”
history of what is left of it. About 90 per cent of the time, people don’t get the actual value for the money they send home. And so when you promote made-in-Africa products and our African brands, these people in the diaspora, can actually shop for their relatives and family members at home directly using brands like Gidimall.com and it gets delivered directly to them. “There are some of them who want to use made-inAfrica products and they want to buy things from Africa. They can then buy these items on Gidimall and have it shipped to them directly to their homes. This now bridges the gap between Africans in the diaspora and their local markets, so that they can feel at home away from home. There is also this Afro-centric effect where Africans in the diaspora are directly growing their local economies by patronising made-in-African goods coming from their home countries. It also means they are investing in their own people while growing their local economy.” Gidimall.com, launched in 2012, is an online marketplace which provides a platform for buyers and sellers to interact in a trade process. On the Gidimall platform, there is a buyer interface where people visit to have their shopping done and there is a seller interface where sellers can actually register, put up their products, manage their inventories, logistics and promotions.
Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 — 35
Economy
Fitch Investment Rating delists, downgrades 3 States Stories by Emeka Anaeto, Economy Editor
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here are indications that global investment institutions are not happy with Nigeria’s economic environment as Fitch Ratings drop two states, Kaduna and River States while
downgrading Lagos state barely three days after JP Morgan announced its dropping of Nigeria from its global investment index. Along with Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, Fitch is one of the top three credit rating agencies in the world based in New York and London. The
company’s ratings are used as a guide to investors as to which investments are most likely going to yield a good return. It is based on factors such as how small an economic shift would be necessary to affect the standing of an economic system or a government bond. Fitch withdrew Rivers State’s
Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of ‘BB-’, with Negative and Stable Outlooks respectively, and its National Long-term rating of ‘AA-(nga)’, with Stable Outlook. In a statement last weekend Fitch said it decided to discontinue the rating of Rivers
BUHARI’S 100 DAYS: Policy analyst cautions against populism
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oncerns over the general direction and policy outlook of President Mohammadu Buhari’s regime as indicated in the first 100 days in office appear to be mounting. Economy and public policy analyst Mr. Olu Akanmu, who expressed this concern in his review of the regime’s economic policy pronouncements so far, said it is important that President Buhari should not squander his political goodwill early in his administration. According to him the president will need that goodwill to manage and navigate through complex and difficult economic conditions ahead adding ‘’this is one of the governance lessons from the failure of former President Jonathan’’. Akanmu said ‘’the President by the lack of clear fiscal action on the economy, his attempt to revamp the national airline, revamp the NNPC refineries rather than privatizing them seem to be economically oriented to big and populist government in a period of constrained fiscal resources’’. On policy options in the oil sector he said, ‘’inevitable painful decisions are ahead on petroleum subsidy because they are not sustainable at least at present levels. We consume petroleum products far less as a nation than what we import. An estimated 17 million liters of our petrol imports is smuggled across the border daily to neighbouring countries because of the more than 50% crossborder price differential between Nigeria and her neighbours. Yet, the Nigerian government pays for these huge subsidies. We are essentially subsidizing fuel consumption in neighbouring countries at huge cost to the national treasury’’. The other collateral effect of this oil sector scenario, according to him, is that the Naira is perpetually under pressure as a very significant portion of foreign exchange available is used to support importation of petroleum products. He stated, ‘’Naira will positively appreciate to the dollar with positive collateral economic effects if we import less petroleum products or if we could keep our petroleum products at the level of our actual national consumption’’. On Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade Akanmu said ‘’we
President Muhammadu Buhari support and commend the new transparency and anticorruption stance of government. Resources previously unavailable such as the LNG dividends are now being discovered to be made available to the people. These liberated resources are however meager compared to what is required to fix the infrastructure challenge and the rotten decay in social sectors like education, health and create jobs. The President will need to ask the nation to sacrifice at a point and negotiate the reordering of government fiscal commitments given meagre resources. It is in this context that the President would need all the political goodwill when he would have to take inevitable difficult economic decisions’’. Akanmu also said that the outcry against the President’s perceived or real sectionally lopsided appointments, which could potentially squander his political goodwill should alarm or give the President serious concern. President Buhari, according to him, needs to ensure that he does not by commission or omission confirm the fear-mongering by opposition during the Presidential elections that he would be a provincial President adding that this is another lesson to learn from the failure of former
President Jonathan, whom he said failed to remember consistently his national mandate and largely governed as a provincial President with “it is our turn” mentality screaming boldly out of his actions and inactions. Still on the issue of presidential appointments, Akanmu referred to USA Presidential examples where, according to him, President Obama surrounded himself with the very best of political and economic brains in the United States taking a leaf
Naira will positively appreciate to the dollar with positive collateral economic effects if we import less petroleum products or if we could keep our petroleum products at the level of our actual national consumption
from Abraham Lincoln by appointing even his rivals like Hilary Clinton adding that his executive team had strong public, private or academic sector pedigree. Akanmu is of the opinion that President Buhari is justifiably concerned with widespread integrity and character issues in our national leadership cadre and therefore he is putting integrity and character as key qualifying criteria for his political appointments. But Akanmu advised that the President should recognize that he needs women and men with a combination of character and competence and not just character alone in his government. He said ‘’despite the public relations script of the Presidency especially on his latest appointments, the merit or technical competence in those appointments are largely debatable. Character and competence are not mutually exclusive in leadership or public service. They should not be a substitute for each other. President Buhari must find people who combine both and appoint them into his government. Public servants or leaders with competence and no character will steal us dry while those with character and low competence will largely run a confused government with technically competent but corrupt elites and civil servants running rings around them. Good intentions does not guarantee good governance. A public servant must know and understand policy issues and know what to do to perform’’. Akanmu is of the view that the President must also show political savviness to hold together the coalition that brought him to power. According to him he will need that coalition to govern in a democracy of plural interests where he does not hold absolute powers. This, he said, ‘’will call for being politically pragmatic without compromising his core values of integrity. Political pragmatism combined with good values is equivalent to political wisdom, that which is necessary to build contingent pro-active coalitions and consensus and also knowing when to exert uncompromising executive authority in order to move the nation forward’’.
State due to lack of information. According to the statement ‘’All ratings have subsequently been withdrawn. As a result Fitch will no longer provide ratings or analytical coverage on the issuer’’. In a similar development Fitch has withdrawn Kaduna State’s long term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of ‘B+’ and its national long-term rating of ‘A+(nga)’ all with Stable Outlooks. Accordingly, Fitch will no longer provide ratings or analytical coverage for Kaduna State as the agency said it will no longer have sufficient information to maintain the ratings. The two states will not be able to raise money outside Nigeria and even local portfolio investors would not likely invest in their bonds should they move to raise money from the domestic capital market. Also yesterday Fitch Ratings affirmed Lagos State’s Longterm foreign currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) at ‘BB-’ with Negative Outlook and Short-term foreign IDR at ‘B’. The Long-term local currency IDR and the National Long-term rating was affirmed at ‘BB-’ and ‘AA+(nga)’, respectively, with Stable Outlooks. The ratings were upgraded a year ago when it affirmed Lagos State’s National Long-term rating at ‘AA+(nga)’ from ‘AA (nga)’. The agency has simultaneously affirmed Lagos State’s Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) at ‘BB-‘ with Stable Outlooks and its Shortterm foreign currency IDR at ‘B’. The agency said the ratings took into account the state’s weak socio-economic indicators by international standards. It said ‘’The Negative Outlook on the Long-term foreign currency IDR reflects that of Nigeria (BB-/Negative). Fitch expects Lagos’ revenue to remain highly diversified compared with the national average, making the state’s budget more resilient to oil price fluctuations’’. The negative Fitch reports may not be unconnected with the delisting of Nigeria’s bond by JP Morgan last Tuesday which further depressed the relative rating of Nigeria’s economy by the international investment community. The delisting has already taken a heavy toll on the Nigerian stock market with the total loss of over N300 billion so far in Nigerian Stock Exchange. Last April Fitch Ratings, said it was downgrading the outlook of Lagos State’s long-term foreign currency issuer default rating to negative from stable, following the recent downgrade of Nigeria’s outlook, adding that Lagos State, as the issuer, was rated at the same level as the sovereign for the long-term foreign currency IDR.
36 — Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
People in Business
Without education, one is limited in many ways — ARINZE is N25,000 but if we have lots of children, we can manage. The children who pay high school fees are not even performing better than ours. We had this McMillan competition for English and maths aptitude test and our school came third out of over 70 schools that participated and we won a trophy. It is not that the quality of their teaching is better than ours. We have qualitative teachers. What we do here is that we enrich our scheme of work a little bit more. For example, in Primary six, you see us taking some topics from JS1. The children have been doing well both in their internal and external exams. The least qualification of our teachers is National Certificate in Education. We have Arts and Craft, French, Islamic, Computer science teachers and others.
BY EBELE ORAKPO
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rs Comfort Arinze is the Proprietress of Model Learning Centre, Nursery & Primary School in Jinkwoyi, Abuja. In this chat with Financial Vanguard, Mrs Arinze speaks on her school, the challenges and Nigeria's education sector and says that without education, there will be no development. Excerpts: Beginning: After obtaining her Grade 12 certificate in Canada, Mrs Arinze went on to obtain a diploma in Accounting/ Business Education also in Canada. Upon her return to Nigeria, she continued her education, obtaining a Professional Certificate in Education from the Institute of Education, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria after which she did her NCE and then a Bachelor of Education degree in Linguistics from the same university before she ventured into the education sector. Motivation: "My husband wanted me to do a job that will enable me stay at home and look after the children. So I decided to establish a school. The school, Model Learning Centre, started from Zaria when we returned to Nigeria from Canada in September 1982 with just two children in our garage. Rapid growth: The school started growing rapidly with the help of my husband, the late Professor Edwin Arinze. We had about six classrooms at a point and we had to look for more space so we went to Samaru village, Zaria and rented a place at Hayin-Dogo and another place also in Samaru. We had two branches at a time. Crisis: After a while, my children had to go back to Canada and I had nine schools including a boarding school in Ikara, Makarfi, Hunkuyi etc all in Kaduna State. Then there was this big crisis in year 2000. So many people were killed and many schools in Zaria were razed to the ground. At that point, I had to relocate to Abuja. C M Y K
*Mrs Comfort Arinze....although our fees are low, some parents still find it very difficult to pay Relocating to Abuja: When I came to Abuja, I did not have as many schools as I had in Zaria. I started with one school because I had abandoned so many of my
Schools and in Jinkwoyi alone, we had 104 schools then but now, we have much more; up to 150-160 schools. Some have been closed down for one reason or the other.
When I came to Abuja, I did not have as many schools as I had in Zaria. I started with one school because I had abandoned so many of my things in Zaria to escape with my life things in Zaria to escape with my life. Since then, I have been in Abuja trying to nurture the one I started. The competition is stiff. I started nurturing it from scratch. Right now, we have three blocks including a storey building. We give God all the glory. Some of our children are graduates today. There are doctors, lawyers and other professionals among them. The school has been doing well in spite of all the competition in Abuja. Every corner you look, you find schools. I was the president of the Association of Private
Full accreditation: In March last year, Model Learning Centre got its approval and full accreditation to run the school to any level and I give God all the glory. It is not by my power or might. The school has two buses and things are moving on well. Number of children: We have over 250 children, with fluctuations here and th there. We had our 14 graduation on July 15. The school is still growing, we are
still building. We have Prenursery (Kindergarten/ Crèche) class, Nursery 1, Nursery 2. I scrapped Nursery 3 because virtually what we do in Nursery 3 is what we do in Primary one. So from Nursery 2, they go to Primary one up to six. Some of the classes have up to two arms. We have about 28 staff members – teaching and nonteaching staff. Challenges: In this area, we have so many challenges especially in the area of payment of school fees. Our fee is very low compared to those in the heart of Abuja. Our fee is as low as N17,000 to N25,000 in this area. During the Ebola scare, elections and because of the insurgency, there was so much insecurity and because of that, I lost about N500,000 (bad debt) because so many families left town and refused to part with the little money they had to pay school fees. That affected all the schools in the suburbs. This term, we also faced the same thing. The parents have tried but many of them find it very difficult to pay school fees because we have a lot of low income earners here. The high income earners prefer to go to schools in town where they pay N80,000 or more per term and some even pay in dollars. But here, the highest
Education sector: Education is absolutely necessary for national development. It is very essential. If for instance we have two friends, Mr A and Mr B and Mr A is educated while B is not, and both are given N200,000; A will make something out of it because he will know how to use the money to grow his business while Mr B may not be able to do so well. He may have the wisdom but may not know how to apply it properly. Education is very important and without education, you cannot forge ahead in life; you cannot go to some places and you are limited in so many ways. Education opens doors for you. It is the key to success. You cannot be too old to go to school, no matter your age, you can go to school and develop yourself. The private sector is doing very well but the public sector is not. In some public schools, children still sit on floors; some don’t have desks to write on and yet, you see some of the teachers doing their private businesses in school. They do not pay proper attention to the children because their pay is not good so they try to do other things to make ends meet. You have to have money to give your child a good education otherwise, he will end up in public school with incessant strikes.
Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 — 37
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38 — Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
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Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 — 39
Advertising & Promotions STORIES BY PRINCEWILL EKWUJURU
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t took less than two months for Nigeria Breweries, NB Plc to break the record set by India in June 27, 2015, of the world’s largest billboard poster. The epoch-making poster measuring 5,367 square metres unveiled at the Michael Okpara Square in Enugu state broke the record for the existing largest poster measuring 4,793.65 square metres. The size of the poster which was attested to by Mr. Nath Agu, a chartered quantity surveyor, Barrister Onyekwuluje Ogochukwu, a lawyer, legally affirmed the measurement. The Gulder poster served to kick-start the 2015 edition of the Gulder National Consumer Promotion. The Executive Governor of Enugu State, His Excellency, Rt. Hon Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, was represented by the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Bar r. Sam Ogbu-Nwobodo who commended the Gulder brand for the feat. He said: “Indeed, this is a very momentous feat and I applaud Nigerian Breweries Plc, makers of Gulder for choosing Enugu as the take off point for this milestone event. Enugu has also been one of the most lucrative tourist destinations for businesses. By implication, Enugu will also be in the Guinness book of world records for hosting this event. In Enugu, there is a continuous drive from government to provide adequate security for forward-thinking companies like Nigerian Breweries.” In his welcome address, the Managing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc., Mr. Nicolaas Vervelde, recounted Gulder’s
APCON, AAG endorse BAK awards, holds October
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BRIEFING - From Left: Nkechi Okolo, Service Manager, Lenovo Tech, West Africa; Graham Braum, General Manager and Bolade Oyekanmi, Marketing Manager, at the media briefing held in Lagos by Lenovo on the company’s new range of products available in Nigeria.
Setting world record with promo poster momentous stride in the beer market and the company’s choice of Enugu as the rallying point. He stated that “since the commissioning of our second brewery in Aba in 1957, the South East has been a solid base for our operations and a veritable home to our brands. It is in continuation of this robust relationship with the South East that we are here in Enugu courtesy of Gulder the ultimate lager beer ’. Describing the largest poster as “The Gulder Ultimate Poster ”, Mr. Vervelde said the feat recently achieved by Gulder is “an attestation to the Ultimate beer and the Ultimate Man who stands up
to be counted with his beer.” Speaking further, he described Gulder’s feat as a glowing testament to Nigerian Breweries commitment to winning with Nigeria. He added: “This commitment covers all aspects of our investments, our footprint, our people and our socio-economic impact. As Nigeria’s leading brewing company, this feat showcases Nigeria Breweries Plc’s continuous commitment to expanding the frontiers of consumer promotion in the history of Gulder with over four million prizes to be won.” Speaking on the connection between the Gulder brand and Enugu, Mr. Hubert Eze,
the Sales Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc. said: “The truth is that the Gulder brand has a lot in common with Enugu and Nigerian Breweries Plc.is at home in Enugu. So, when we want to break history, we break it at home and ensure that every corner of the earth salutes this feat.” Barr. Sam Ogbu-Nwobodo, the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr. Nicolaas Vervelde, the CEO of Nigerian Breweries Plc., his wife, Mrs. Clementina Vervelde and Mr. Kufre Ekanem, Corporate Affairs Adviser, also of Nigerian Breweries Plc., all signed the poster, followed by numerous consumers present.
CSR: MTN Foundation commits N11.5bn in 10 years By PETER EGWUATU
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he MTN Foundation, a CSR arm of MTN Nigeria, for the past 10 years has impacted on the lives of Nigerians as it has committed over N11.5billion in various projects. The Foundation has been able to achieve this working through a model. In this review, Vanguard, takes a look at the Foundation’s model that has sustained them so far As at January 2015, the MTN Foundation (MTNF) has spent N11.5 billion on various areas to assist on Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR in the area of education, scholarship, women empowerment, music growth among others. Speaking on this C M Y K
development, Chairman, MTN Nigeria, Dr. Pascal Dozie, said, “We decided to back the process up with sufficient resources both in terms of finances and capacity to execute. Thus, we decided that MTN donates one per cent of its profit after tax to the Foundations activities to carry out CSI activities in Nigeria”, Dozie said. Having made that decision, what came next was the selection of capable people to make up the nucleus of the Foundation.” The telecommunications company has been doing well with the Foundation it set up 10 years ago barely five years after it started business in Nigeria then regarded with uncertainty by investors. Not only did MTN Nigeria help to inspire confidence for would-be investors, it has made the wellbeing of individuals in
whose communities it operates all over the country paramount. This it has done through the MTN Foundation (MTNF). “Our mission was to be the best. We wanted to be a very serious company that could provide quality service in telecommunications to the country”, said, Chairman MTN Nigeria, Dr. Pascal Dozie. Dr. Dozie,said the vision was to participate in all aspects of lives of Nigerians. “We want to at least help in the areas of education, health and economic empowerment. Every moment about the Foundation is a proud one. I wish we could do more, but we are doing our best.” Since inception, according to Dozie, the goals of the company about the Foundation were clear cut; “Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) would not only be MTNs business strategy, it will also become the
company’s way of life.” For Dozie, every organization has a responsibility and it can either accept that or not. “We wanted to be a good corporate citizen and that has been the hallmark of all our operations. Good corporate citizenship means that we identify ourselves with the aspirations of Nigerians.” The company carried out a study in 2003 on its Corporate Social Investment Initiative; the result of which made it clear that health, education and economic empowerment would be the focus of the Foundation. Interestingly, as at 2015, the MTN Foundation has over 344 project sites and 36 project categories spread across 36 states of the Federation in Abuja.
he Advertising Practitioner Council of Nigeria (APCON) and Advertising Association of Ghana (AAG) endorsed reward system organised by Billboard World Magazine, a frontline out-of-home magazine tagged “Brand As King” has concluded plans to host its 5th edition of the award in Lagos on October 25 2015. The organisers of the award has called for entry in the following categories: most performing brand awards, excellence awards in media reporting, most performing industry associate awards, outstanding brand ambassador awards (Entertainment), excellence awards in environmental policy, best upcoming brands, industry merit awards and special recognition awards. According to the Editor-inChief/Chief Executive Officer, Maureen of the magazine, Maureen Umanah the plans are currently ongoing to successfully host and honour advertising professionals, outstanding achievers, corporate brands, product brands and brand ambassadors from Nigeria and beyond that have performed excellently in their various endeavours and fields at this Brand as King Awards.
TBWA Concept unveils ‘Write Mothers initiative’
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BWA Concept, a creative advertising agency in Nigeria, has unveiled five creative mothers who emerged the overall best in its latest ‘disruptive’ initiative, Write Mothers. The event, which took place at the agence’s Ikeja office, Lagos had Amazon of the advertising industry in Nigeria, Mrs. Bola Thomas, founding Partner of LTC/JWT advertising and first female president of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria, AAAN, a highly rated and creative writer led the discussion at the unveiling of the Initiative. Explaining the rational for the initiative, TBWA’s managing director, Mr. Kelechi Nwosu, said it was to ‘smoke out’ uncelebrated mothers, in particular, and women in general who are talented and creative, but who haven’t been given the opportunity.
40 — Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 Email:lesleba@lesleba.com, lesleba@gmail.com Blog page:www.lesleba.com/blog2 Website: www.lesleba.com Tel:0805 220 1997
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he threat, earlier this year, by the United States-based international banking mogul, J.P Morgan to phase out Nigeria from its Government Bond Index, for emerging markets (GBI-EM) was made good last Tuesday, 8th of September. In response to JPM’s “negative alert”, foreign portfolio investors, particularly, would expectedly become reluctant to lend money to the Nigerian government; however, subsisting federal government bond holders, may consequently, also hastily offload their stocks and, inevitably, hurriedly demand foreign exchange to facilitate repatriation of their funds, before the Naira rate suffers further depreciation. Indeed, since Nigerian government bonds are primarily denominated in Naira, holders of such debt instruments may have, lately, lost up to 20% of their stock value as a result of currency devaluation. Thus, CBN is clearly concerned that a fresh surge in forex demand, triggered by sudden exit of foreign holders of government bonds, would further deplete CBN’s diminishing dollar reserves and ultimately fuel currency speculation which will in turn induce an even weaker Naira exchange rate, which will deepen those distortions which have continued to plague our economy. The relevant question therefore, is why Federal Government Bonds have lately fallen out of favour externally, after the favorable ratings enjoyed since they became listed by JPM in 2012. Well, according to a full page CBN advertorial last week, US banking giant had, indeed, earlier in January 2015, expressed concerns on the management of “Nigeria’s foreign exchange market”; the
That bark by JP Morgan three major concerns were identified as, “lack of liquidity for transactions, lack of transparency in the determination of the exchange rate, and lastly, lack of a fully functional two-way FX market”. Conversely, in the widely published advertorial, under reference, the CBN denied that it failed to provide enough dollars to match market demand; the apex bank insisted, instead, that it had infact “introduced (responsible) measures to improve the forex market and make it more investor friendly”. Furthermore, the CBN also claimed that despite almost 60% drop in oil prices, in one year, and the predictable adverse impact on market liquidity, “the CBN ensured that all genuine and effective demands for forex, especially those from foreign investors, were met”. Incidentally, despite reduced oil revenue, invisible earnings, such as technical service fees, school fees, dividends, remittances of airlines, insurance, and portfolio investors’ capital outflows may constitute over 40% of total forex spending, while fuel importation may account for another 40%; curiously, however, payments for finished goods and raw materials imported as feedstock for industrial production probably account for less than 20% of total forex usage. Ironically, despite the relatively meager allocation for imports of goods and industrial raw materials, this subsector, unexpectedly, recently became the primary target for reducing forex outflow, while much larger demands for fuel and other invinsible earnings were still favored in CBN’s forex allocations. Expectedly, both
Expectation of portfolio investors for higher interest rates on government bills and bonds is probably more rational the Manufacturers’ Association and the Chambers of Commerce, are already up in arms against the CBN’s allegedly discriminatory policy, as they insist that the ban to official forex access to some of their members would lead to business failures and worsen the already high unemployment rate. These real sector operators have consequently argued that such disenabling outcome, cannot be the reasonable objective of government’s efforts to revamp the economy. Nevertheless, in view of CBN’s insistence of preferential forex allocation to foreign holders of federal government bonds, the US Bank should quickily provide unambiguous evidence to debunk CBN’s claim of adequate market liquidity; clearly, if it fails to provide such evidence, Nigerians may be tempted to see JPM’s negative ratings as a calculated ploy to precipitate Naira devaluation, so that those bench marked foreign portfolio investors, who had earlier this year, exited the market with billions of dollars,
exchange rate, and the Central Bank claims to “have mandated that all FX transactions were posted online...so that all stakeholders can easily verify all market transactions”. Furthermore, the CBN claims to have also closed its erstwhile official FX window to ensure a level playing field in the pricing of foreign exchange. Finally, the CBN similarly claims to have also sanitised the multiple abuses, in the market, with the introduction of an order-based two-way FX market which fulfills genuine customer ability to pay for eligible imports and transactions. This process, according to CBN, has, “ resulted in exchange rate stability in the interbank market and has also largely eliminated market speculation. Although some analysts have concluded that the Nigerian economy will be adversely affected by the withdrawal of foreign portfolio investors, the CBN, conversely believes that the “market for FGN Bonds remains strong and active because its inherent strength is primarily due to the diversity of the Domestic investor base and presumably not the presence of foreign portfolio investors!! Evidently, the humongous Naira liquidity surfeit which CBN acknowledges in the system should be adequate to mop up future issues of federal government bonds and forestall the usual pressure precipitated by the hot money flows of foreign portfolio investors. Besides, CBN’s claim to relatively bountiful ‘idle’ reserves, while our government humbly solicits precarious and fickle funds from foreign portfolio investors, is clearly one of the fundamental contradictions of our economy. SAVE THE NAIRA SAVE NIGERIANS
could return and once more buy up federal government bonds and equity at much cheaper prices than before. However, the expectation of portfolio investors for higher interest rates on government bills and bonds is probably more rational, as a hedge against a sliding exchange rate; for example, 15% interest rate on government securities may not be sufficient to restore the value of such investments, if the Naira also depreciates by, say 20%, in the short to medium term. Conversely, if government pays over 15% for its sovereign risk free domestic borrowings, low cost of funds below 10% will elude the real sector and challenge the prospect of inclusive economic growth and creation of increasing job opportunities. Worse still, if the weaker Naira exchange rate currently demanded by J.P Morgan is embraced, industrial production cost will spiral, and drive inflation beyond 10%; prices of locally produced goods will generally become uncompetitive, fuel prices will rise, while consumer demand will also contract to reduce capital investment and deepen poverty nationwide. Clearly, any promise that a weaker Naira exchange rate would promote industrial and economic growth, must be suspected, as the contribution of manufacturing has historically, steadily declined from over 10% in 1983 to less than 5% of GDP as the Naira exchange rate continuously lost value overtime from stronger than N1=$1 to the present N200=$1. The CBN has also refuted JPN’s other allegation of lack of transparency in the determination of the Naira
Business & Economy Fidelity Bank CEO highlights non-oil investment opportunities By Babajide komolafe
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anaging Director/Chief Executive, Fidelity Bank PLC, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo has identified the recentforeignexchange restrictions placed on importation of 41 items as one of the many non-oil investment opportunities in the economy. He stated this during a presentation titled, 'Beyond Oil & Gas: Emerging Business Opportunities in Nigeria' at the Nigeria-British Chamber of Commerce Breakfast Meeting held in Lagos. Okonwko noted that despite
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pressure points in the economy, Nigeria’s economic fundamental remains strong, adding that, “The convergence of social, political and economic factors are generating great expectations, opportunities and uncertainty in the Nigerian macroeconomic environment”. He said the decline in crude oil prices, resulting to fallen revenue, as well as, the other problems in the oil and gas sector, has prompted a quest for alternative investment opportunities beyond the oil and gas sector. “But Nigeria’s strong growth reserves are opening new prospects”, he said. These growth prospects, he noted include,
“The 60 per cent of Nigeria’s arable land yet to be cultivated as well as the country’s population of over 170 million people, which is youthful and provide a huge potential demand and pool of skills. It also provides huge internal market for consumption and expenditure growth.” He added that in addition to these, the series of reforms implemented by government in recent times, in a bid to transform the economy has created investment opportunities in key sectors of the economy, namely agriculture, health, education, Information Communication Technology and Manufacturing.
Omoh Gabriel Babajide Komolafe Clara Nwachukwu Peter Egwuatu Yinka Kolawole Favour Nnabugwu Godwin Oritse Godfrey Bivbere Michael Eboh Franklin Alli Ifeyinwa Obi Rosemary Onuoha Nkiruka Nnorom CONTRIBUTORS Princewill Ekwujuru Jonah Nwokpoku Naomi Uzor Providence Obuh LAYOUT
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Group Business Editor Deputy Business Editor Energy Editor Asst. Business Editor Snr Bus. Correspondent Insurance Correspondent Maritime Correspondent Maritime Correspondent Energy Reporter Industry/Agric. Reporter Maritime Reporter Insurance Reporter Capital Market Reporter
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Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015—41
I
N the first part of this article, we met Brand Buhari: a Nigerian leader reputed as “Mr Integrity”. Even his most ardent traducers are reluctant to accuse him of being corrupt for fear that such an accusation might fall flat or out of line with what the public has come to believe. He is also known as one who will spare no effort in fighting corruption any time he is in authority. I have yet to come across a Nigerian who says he does not believe Buhari can fight corruption. For that matter, I have yet to come across a Nigerian who says he does not want Buhari to succeed in the war on corruption even if in a corner of his mind he wishes him to fail for selfish or political reasons. This man who could not mend the roof of his country home, was ejected from his rented apartment in Abuja, and could not afford to pay for his presidential nomination fee without borrowing, must be a POOR man, judging by the standards of his fellow former heads of state. Buhari set out after his inauguration to fortify his image as “Mr Integrity” or if you like “Mr. Clean” by delaying the appointment of his cabinet of ministers for four whole months. His reason: he is taking his time to look for upright or above-board Nigerians. These ascetic brand characterisations of our new president immediately bring to mind an eccentric ancient Greek philosopher, Diogenes. He was one of the founders of the school of philosophy called Cynicism. He believed the purpose of life was to reject values that drove ambitious people to vain pursuits (power and wealth), often to the peril of themselves and humanity at large. Diogenes practised what he taught. He went to Athens and lived in a barrel in a marketplace. Diogenes was fond of going about in daylight with a lighted lantern. When asked why, he said he was looking for “an honest man”! One day, he was relaxing in his barrel when Alexander the Great, King of Greece, one of the greatest military generals of all time and Emperor of one of ancient world’s largest empires, came to greet him, surrounded by a coterie of mean-looking military guards. You would expect Diogenes to jump for joy and blow “ranka dede” into the condescending, outstretched palm of the mighty general. But he did not move a single muscle. When Alexander the Great asked him: “Pray sire, is there anything I can do for you? Ask, and it shall be yours”. An unimpressed Diogenes answered: “Yes. Can you get out of my sunlight?”!
Brand Buhari’s encounter with Diogenes (II) I told you earlier that I waited with bated excitement for the public unveiling of the declared assets of President Buhari because I wanted to compare the aforementioned depictions of him as “poor” and a “saint” with other, periodic indicators that, after all, Buhari might just be a more circumspect product of the Nigerian system. When it comes to the issue of corruption, many Nigerians (and perhaps Africans) will tell you that they do not mind if a leader steals a little provided he works for the people. It is cynically called “workshop” (work-chop) in Warri patois. Martin Meredith, a historian of postindependence Africa once wrote of corruption in the former Zaire under Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga. He said Mobutu often advised top government officials: “yibana mayele”. “If you must steal, then steal just a little or you will risk being arrested”. In this light, corruption is measurable by volumes, though the appropriate metric of measurement to know when it becomes unpardonable is never disclosed.
Buhari’s asset declaration is not transparent and falls short of expectations. It is below Yar’ Adua’s par (the first president to do so). It is dodgy, incomplete, and almost as good as not declaring anything
The other side of the coin for Brand Buhari leaves us confused. Shortly after he was declared elected by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), a story, supported by pictures, surfaced on the internet that Buhari is the alleged owner of a multibillion naira mansion situated at No. 9 Udo Udoma Street, Asokoro Abuja and valued at 2.1 billion. I am not aware that Buhari’s camp has debunked this allegation. Now, he tells us that he owns “a house” in Abuja without indicating the address or its current value. This would have helped us to know if a man reported to have been ejected from a rented Abuja apartment only three years ago actually owns such a property. If so, you will agree with me that the two pictures do not fit. Again, keen-eyed media snoopers spotted the beautiful wristwatch that Hajiya Aisha Buhari wore in an obvious flaunting manner to her husband’s inauguration. Reports which went viral over the internet had it that it was an 18-karat “white-gold diamond” Cartier Baignoire Folle worth $50,000 or 35,000 Pounds Sterling or about 15 million Naira (in today’s exchange rate). Again, I am not aware that Buhari’s camp has denied this. Instead, members of the public are left to debate among themselves whether the Abuja house and the wristwatch are worth up to that amount. I had thought the president would seize the opportunity of his assets declaration to put all these allegations to rest, but sadly, he left us more confused than ever. During the presidential campaigns, Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) promised (though spokesmen have been denying that he ever did so) to “publicly declare
my assets and liabilities (and) encourage all my appointees to publicly declare their assets and liabilities as a precondition for appointment”. th On exactly their 98 day in office, Buhari and his Vice President unveiled their assets. He told us he had five houses in Kaduna, Daura, Kano and Abuja (no addresses, no valuation attached); two undeveloped plots of land in Kano, one other in Port Harcourt, farms, an orchard, ranch, livestock including 270 cows (during the campaigns we were told the number was 150), 25 sheep, five horses, “a variety of birds”, a “number of” economic trees, and an undisclosed number of cars. Nothing was said of his liabilities. Moreover, nothing was mentioned of the liabilities and assets of his wife and adult close family members because such people are often used as fronts to divert stolen public funds and property. In fact, the public declaration of assets of President Muhammadu Buahri fell far short of the meticulous declaration by his fellow Katsina-born late President Umaru Yar’ Adua, who attached the valuation of all his possessions and those of his wife, Turai, as well as their liabilities, including leftover proceeds of campaign contributions. It is, however, obvious that Buhari is not a poor man. He is, in fact, a dollar millionaire, though nothing close to other former presidents. Telling us you have “a house” in a township without indicating the value is equivalent to saying very little. A politician can have a modest private office or home before he goes into power. In his asset declaration form before taking power it is “a private office” or “a house”. After service, it is still a “private office”, or “house”, but the fact that it was demolished and remodeled into a multimillion naira “private office” is cleverly hidden in the vague after-power assets declaration. The gullible public has been played yet they clap. Buhari’s asset declaration is not transparent and falls short of expectations. It is below Yar’ Adua’s par (the first president to do so). It is dodgy, incomplete, and almost as good as not declaring anything. Given the failed attempts by the president’s and APC’s propagandists to disown the pledge to make those declarations public coupled with the late, rather reluctant manner in which they were unveiled, I wonder what Diogenes will say if Buhari pays him a visit today. #BRINGBACK DONU KOGBARA TODAY, SAFE AND ALIVE!
OPINION Igbo
vs
Northerners:Hate
By Bobson Gbinije “They shall beat their swords into ploghshares, And their spears into prunning -hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against Nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore" - The Holy Bible Polemicist and dialectical logicians tend to agree that sanctimonious rantings, verbal acrobatics, sentimental effusions constitute negative building blocks in the march to nationhood and peace. Hence, the essayist and orator Cicero (106-43 B.C.) posited that “The rabble estimate few things according to their real value, most things according to their prejudices”. This is substantiated by the English playwright William Shakespeare that “A peace is of the nature of a conquest; for then both parties nobly are subdued and neither party loser”. Nigeria has been befuddled and bedraggled from independence till today by a track record of monumental ineptitude, leadership crisis, psychotic malfeasance, corrupt administration and political visionlessness. In his bid to right these solecisms in his second coming, President Muhammadu Buhari has chosen to be circumspect in making his appointments. His extension of his anti-graft war to 1999 and few appointments made has generated criticisms and fears from some areas, especially amongst the Igbos. The former Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuemeka Ezeife said that “the Igbos have not been treated fairly in terms of political positions and appointments in the President Buhari’s administration”. This innocuous statement in a democratic ambience drew the ire of second Republic lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed. C M Y K
and
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He said “I don’t believe Buhari or Nigeria owes any Igbo anything. I don’t care what Ezeife says if they (Igbo) had seceded, there would have been no Nigeria today. As people who acted outside the interest of Nigeria as a country, to expect compensation is a very odd logic. If the Igbos don’t like it, they can attempt secession again. If they do, they must be prepared to live with the consequences- nobody owes them anything and nobody is out to compensate them for anything”. Also reacting to Junaid Mohammed’s comment and President Buhari’s appointments, Ukor, who is also the President of Igbo Youth Movement (IYM) said, “This statement confirms to the International Community that the new administration could march along very divisive path with the support to some persons in the North. That is some people have sworn that equity and justice will not reign in Nigeria. In other words, actions that lead to disenchantment among Nigerians to the extent of making secession an attractive option to certain sections is actually deliberate and encouraged by the North. I am sure the international community has taken note of that. The man does not deserve to be replied. He The political is consistently working very hard to destroy schisms that Nigeria by denigrating, led to the abusing and overtly Nigeria/ provoking Nigerians in order to prepare the ground Biafra Civil for another civil war. war is been Whether it is a deliberate reenacted policy of the North we don’t
know, whether he will succeed or not in his quite spirited effort to make sure Nigeria does not survive, nobody knows”. A brief study of Nigeria political history vis-a-vis the hate and no-love-lost relationship between the Igbos and the North before independence, after independence, during and after the Nigeria Biafra Civil war (19671970) will show that it has graduated from cloak in the dagger furtive clandestinity to open know-holds-barred flaunting of hatred, malice, vendetta and vengeful zeitgeist in the political, socio-economic and religious landscape in Nigeria. The political schisms, fiery verbalisations, pillaging and massacre that led to the Nigeria/Biafra Civil war is been reenacted. The same pattern and template of recriminations, hyper-propaganda and anarchical entropy set the stage for violent reprisals, the January 15, 1966 coup and subsequently the civil war. It will be recalled that the countdown to the civil war witnessed this type of parochial verbal exchanges between the Igbo and the North this took centre stage in Nigeria. Subsequently, certain writers in Northern Nigeria began to disseminate tendentious and distorted interpretations of the military takeover (notably through the medium of the now New Nigeria Newspaper), which influenced passions amongst Northerners, thereby inciting to launch that massacre of Eastern Nigerians which did, infact, occurred subsequently at the end of May, 1966 . Continues tomorrow on pg 18 •Mr. Gbinije, a social critc, wrote from Warri, Delta State.
42—Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 Send Opinions & Letters to: opinions1234@yahoo.com
Hundred years of Penkelemes
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OBEL Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, titled his 19461965 memoirs, Ibadan: The Penkelemes Years. He explained that “The inventor and embodiment of this deliberate, populist corruption of ‘peculiar mess’ was, appropriately, a certain Ibadan shon of de shoil (son of the soil) by the name of Adelabu.” Joseph .A. Sanusi who later changed his name to Alhaji Adegoke Oduola Akande Adelabu, was an embodiment of anticolonial, Nigerian politics. Born one hundred years ago, this month, Adelabu with a razorsharp mind and mouth, was charismatic, populist, theatrical, engaging with the gift of oratory and an uncommon command of English, fiercely anti-colonialist, passionately patriotic and Pan Africanist. With his unmatched charisma and many songs composed in his praise and memory, he has passed into folklore in Western Nigeria. Although he was known as ‘The Lion of the West’ he was Pan-Nigeria in his thoughts and politics and unlike most of his contemporaries, saw himself first as a Nigerian. When in the 1940s and ‘50s, many politicians gravitated towards parties steeped in their ethnic
groups, he chose to swim against the currents. He explained in his little known 1952 book AFRICA IN EBULLITION that “ Nigeria is dearer to my heart. She is my mother, the author of my beginning…If my child dies and I live long enough I may bear another. If my mother dies, I shall go through life a wandering orphan.” He was convinced that ethnicbased politics will destroy the country, hence the need to act. “ If I sit idly by, whilst the ship of state is sunk by the enemy, I and all other passengers will go down to the bottom of the sea with her.” Turning to the political party in his region, he said: “The North and the East are anxiously waiting for the Action Group Mission when it has rechristened itself appropriately, out-grown its selfimposed Provincialism and shed its petticoat of shabby parochialism.” He watched in sorrow as many of his comrades from Western Nigeria were carpet-crossing to deny the NCNC a majority in the Western House of Assembly and chance to produce the first Premier of the region who might have been Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. He vowed to remain in the party even if he stood alone. He said of their action: “I
believe it is the first time in the long history of legislatures that members openly desert their parties for no differences of opinion or principle, but an insult on the maturity of our race.” Adelabu, a produce merchant, transporter, farmer, journalist and consummate mobiliser, had attended Soyinka’s alumni, the Government College, Ibadan where his brilliance, earned him double promotion from Class Two to Four. His contemporary in the school, Professor Saburi. O. Biobaku described him as “perhaps, the brightest boy” the school ever produced. Although he attended the Higher College, Yaba, his brilliance caused him his graduation. It had first won him the UAC scholarship. He had then
Born one hundred years ago, this month, Adelabu with a razor-sharp mind and mouth, was charismatic, populist, theatrical, engaging with the gift of oratory and an uncommon command of English, fiercely anti-colonialist, passionately patriotic and Pan Africanist
APC's two-faced Party supremacy By Nick Efe “
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ARTY is supreme! Party is supreme!! Party is supreme!!!” chanted the Loyalists (as the group of pro-All Progressives Congress, APC, leadership in the House of Representatives branded themselves) in a deafening frenzy on the day they turned the House chambers into a boxing ring last June to disrupt possible announcement of the Principal Officers of the APC (Majority Party) by the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara. The Speaker must read the letter from APC National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, listing Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila and others as principal officers of the House or there would be no peace. The House and Senate chambers were shut down for several weeksno thanks to supremacists, namely the Loyalists, Senate Unity Forum, and their puppeteers. Meanwhile, the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki had apparently beaten them, once more, by largely following the party’s directive on zoning of each of the four Majority Principal Offices, but allowing each caucus to elect their preferred candidate for the zoned offices in line with Senate’s tradition. Each Principal Officer is usually the caucus leader of his or her zone in the Senate/House. So, it is only natural and democratic that they chose someone they believe could deliver and represent their interest on the Senate leadership. Unfortunately, the APC leadership thought otherwise. Although 11 out of the 13 North East APC Senators at the meeting on the eve of June 25 voted Senator Ali Ndume as Senate Leader, the APC Leadership insisted that it must be Ahmed Lawan or nothing. In the midst of the controversy, however,
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Senators Sani Yerima and Danjuma Goje, both ranking Senators and former governors, raised points of reason, which obviously fell on deaf ears. Senator Yerima said: “There can never be imposition of candidates on the Chamber by the party leadership. It is unconstitutional and against the Rules of the Senate. The Senate Majority Leader; Deputy Majority Leader; Senate Chief Whip; Deputy Chief Whip were elected by their zonal caucuses in the Seventh Senate and the case of the Eighth Senate cannot be different. The best thing the party can do, given the circumstances, is to give us directives (that is zoning of offices)”. He further called to moral question the booby trap in imposing Saraki’s political rival as Senate Leader, a sensitive position. “Allowing the party to impose a leadership on the Senate President is to make him to fail because he cannot be forced to work with his rivals”, he reasoned. Truth is, two cannot work together unless they agree. Senator Goje, on his part, also warned seriously against any attempt to impose principal officers on the Senate because it would further polarise the party. He advised: “By trying to impose another set of leaders on the National Assembly is to cause further crisis in the party. It will complicate matters and generate further crisis in the National Assembly.” But that appeared exactly the intent of the APC leadership as both chambers were eventually shut down for several weeks to the admiration of some selfish party leadership and their supports in the National Assembly.
This party supremacy thing has become a different-stroke-fordifferent-folks
during an holiday assignment, written a Memorandum on how the company can reorganise its produce buying system. The company management was so pleased, that it offered him immediate employment as African Produce Manager to put his proposal into practice. The offer was too attractive, and he abandoned his studies as he said, to “moisten the soil of knowledge with the water of experience.” Adelabu stirred the masses (the Mekunu) with his pro-poor rhetoric and a populism which saw them pour to his home and take rides with him in his cars. The only other politician like him, was his ideological friend and fellow NCNC stalwart, Mallam Aminu Kano who moved the Talakawa in Kano. Richard .L. Sklar in his “Nigerian Political Parties: Power in an Emergent African Nation” wrote “No Nigerian leader was closer to his people or more familiar with their thinking than Adelabu. When they rejoiced he danced with them, when they sorrowed he wept, and when they mocked their enemies his was the rudest tongue. His way to power was to dance in the streets to the strains of Mabolaje songs that celebrated his name”. British biographer of postindependence Prime Minister, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa narrated how Adelabu, the then Minister of Natural Resources and Social Services took on the Colonial Governor-General, James Robertson. “Adelabu in Council would feign that he was just following Robertson’s own line, to which the Governor-General had to retort that he did not have ‘a line’ – No, sir, but you’ll develop one!” Adelabu who described himself as a freelance thinker, economic adventurer, radical socialist and fanatical nationalist, argued that
What was Senator Ahmad Lawan’s reaction to all of these? His words: “I am not aware of any election. The party has spoken, it is now left for the Senate President to make the announcement.” In other words, he must be named the Senate Leader and leader of the North East Caucus also, whether he is acceptable to his colleagues or not. After all, the omnipotent and supreme party has spoken. How arrogant and disdainful. Nevertheless, the inability of Saraki to name Lawan and his company as principal officers has spelt endless war against him and the entire Senate leadership. The loud Vote of Confidence on Saraki, his DeputySenator Ekweremadu, and the entire Senate leadership angered the supremacists rather than make them see that they were swimming against the tide of feelings in the Senate. As far as they are concerned, Senators did not come to the Senate as independent candidates and must therefore do the party’s biddings, whether sensible or not. They have no minds of their own. Their constituents do not also have a say. Their acolytes, Senate Unity Forum, are in court on the futile mission of overthrowing the Senate leadership. And although their ex-parte application seeking to stop the Senate leadership from constituting Senate Committees was thrown out by the court, they are still pursuing a phantom forgery of Senate Standing Rules 2015. Laughably, the Forum’s members not only surrendered themselves for inauguration by the leadership elected on the strength of that Rules book, they have also been participating in Senate’s proceedings/ business guided by the same Rules book. Anyway, that is a matter for another day. The matter for today is that the same APC leadership has been helplessly unable to also extend the same supremacy theory to the appointments made so far by President Muhammadu Buhari. Also, Buhari who supported the supremacists to enthrone Gbajabiamila and company has not also
the world would be a happier and better place “if we would only dare to be ourselves completely instead of trying to be faded copies of other unknown and misunderstood mythical heroes.” For him, independent Nigeria should adhere to four fundamental principles; unabridged sovereignty, financial autonomy, political democracy and federal supremacy. In an independent Nigeria, he said the children of the Jukun farmer, Fulani herdsman, Ibadan cocoa plantation labourer, the Enugu rail porter and those of the Emirs, Obas and Obis should have the same education and career opportunities. In June, 1955, he was removed by the colonialists as Chairman of the Ibadan District Council, but rode back to power the next month with greater majority. On October 11, 1957, he issued a joint statement with Aminu Kano to condemn the big three parties; NCNC, AG and the NPC for constituting “reactionary forces of regionalism.” An angry Azikiwe decided to discipline him and other dissenters, Adelabu openly challenged him at the NCNC Convention, was replaced as First Vice President, and went on to form a distinct opposition within the party with stalwarts like Kingsley Mbadiwe and Kola Balogun. On March, 25, 1958, it was a shocked nation that heard Adelabu had died in a motor accident. Parts of the West, particularly, Ibadan went up in flames with his supporters who claimed their hero was murdered, going after his perceived enemies. At least twenty persons were killed, over six hundred arrested with sixty four of them sentenced to death. Adelabu had “faded copies” in politicians like Eruobodo and Lamidi Adedibu, but there can only be one Penkelemes in history.
deemed it fit to enforce it on himself. That was exactly the point of hypocrisy of a section of APC leadership raised by Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Timi Frank, at the height of the hullaballoo over party supremacy at the National Assembly. Timi remarked rather sarcastically on the African Independent Television’s Focus Nigeria: “Since party supremacy is now the issue of the day, I expect the national leadership to write the list of ministers and their portfolios and other appointees and give to the President to announce. The State party chairmen must write the names of the Commissioners and SAs and give to the State Governors to announce. That way, we will know that party supremacy has come to stay. Not just to enforce it on Senate and House of Reps. Otherwise they should allow the Senate to be. They should also allow the House to be”. However, from all indications- nothing like that happened with Buhari’s appointments. Worse for the supremacists, they cannot even openly express their seething angers. But from the molten lead of wrath seeping from the APC’s National Secretariat; from the muffled shrieks of the so-called party Alphas and Omegas; and from their innuendos, anonymous interviews, and red eyes, Aso Rock is a no-go-area for their supremacy hallucinations. They hear the announcements on radio or TV like the rest of us who don’t even belong to the APC or to any party for that matter. Even the mouthpiece of the APC overlords, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who insisted last June that “The President is not the Leader of the APC; he is a product of the APC” is dazed like a child that stumbled on a hydra-headed spirit. This party supremacy thing has become a different-stroke-for-different-folks, thus exposing the mantra as just a coinage by a few greedy APC party leaders to capture power at the National Assembly
*Mr. Efe, a commentator on public affairs, wrote from Sapele, Delta State.
Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 — 43
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44—VANGUARD, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
•Tukur...governors like to have implicit control of their states
How PDP governors used Anenih against me — Tukur
Matter of personality
••Jonathan was betrayed ERSTWHILE National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur became governor of the defunct Gongola State in October, 1983 and following the General Muhammadu Buhariled military coup of December 31, 1983, Tukur returned to business, capping his endeavours as the president of the African Business Roundtable. Tukur was also a presidential aspirant on the platform of the National Republican Convention, NRC By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor & Henry Umoru
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AS it not belittling for you, who had been a governor in the 80s to have become chairman of the PDP at your age? I was one of the founders of the PDP and I was very happy to show what PDP should be; to put in place the principle of inclusiveness, the principle of making sure there is equity and justice in election and democracy. So when I say election and you say selection, when I say internal democracy and you say imposition, we will not agree. PDP doesn’t belong to anybody, it belongs to Nigeria. PDP is not
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only a Nigerian party, it is a West African party and African party, so it has to be inclusive. With strong political party I can assure you, you will be assured of a strong government. If you get a strong government, then I can assure you will have a strong economy. If you have a strong economy, I can assure you, you will have peace and security.
Open platform But no one believed in your plans. You even planned to do the e-registration but you didn’t get support and not even from the president. But you can see that finally they
the party which is the NEC, I will give it to you so that you can read and understand what I said. But why did he (president) not heed you? Well, you know it is a human organisation. If you come strongly, you want to bring in discipline, you want to bring in fairness and so on; some people don’t believe in that; they want to do the same things they have been doing. So if you continue doing the same thing you will end up with the results you have always had. You have been saying some people, some people. Who are these people that really hijacked this process that didn’t want it to work? Governors. The governors felt they like to have implicit control of their states and they can only do this when they control the party and if they control the party’s fortunes that you can be able to do whatever they like. So, I told them no need for the party to have any patronage from governors or the president, and that the party should be able to generate its income because we are just like a company, we can do that. But we (party) don’t want reform. Once you can go to somebody and ask him to support you, you are more likely to bend down also when they want to ride you. So it is not my philosophy. What they said was that I am too strong, I want to have my say and my way, I said no, they are ideas, I am not bossy only that I have a better idea as far as I am concerned, so let us see the ideas.
in the early 90s and served in the Sani Abacha government as minister of industry until 1995. Ahead of his 80th birthday anniversary, Tukur sat down for an enlightening interview in which, he, for the first time opened up on issues that trailed his chairmanship of the PDP, his relationship with Governor Murtala Nyako, his in-law and his relationship with Chief Tony Anenih among others. Excerpts:
agreed; it is better late than never. I know why they didn’t want e-registration because e-
Ask Chief Anenih. I have always told him that both of us are responsible to make sure this party works and the government continues
registration means an open platform for everybody, so that people can come. When people know that this is the party they belong to, they paid their money because they want to be there and therefore they have to be listened to when the time comes. So I think that was the reason people who want control, who do not believe that the whole of the party is to be owned by certain people or certain level of whatever. So me I don’t believe that. But you were the national chairman of the party, did you take these ideas to the president? Of course I took it to the president. I will give you what I told the highest ruling body of
So it is not a matter of personality, it is a matter of ideas. It is not a matter of individuals; it is a matter of institution. Are we building a party as an institution which each and every one of us will really come and go; like we say, soldier come, soldier go and barrack remains. Sir, did the governors come out openly to tell you no on this issue or did they use subtle means to come? No, not all of them. Some saw that what I wanted to do was the best way to build a party. But there were some few ones who were so strong beginning with my governor (Murtala Nyako of Adamawa). He was the most vocal, he even wanted a situation of appointing chairman of the party from his ward. I said look, our constitution made it very clear, governor and the chairman of the party of a state, should not come from the same senatorial district.So I said I am the chairman and you and the present chairman of yours, coming from the same ward, is not acceptable to me and that was the beginning. Continues on page 45
Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015—45
How Jonathan was betrayed Continued from page 44 He came and told the president that ‘I know that this man is my elder brother, I know his character, he wants to take our structures.’ He (Nyako) went and told Amaechi at that time and said I know Bamanga Tukur, he is my elder brother, we come from the same place, he is going to take all our structures and at the moment we are responsible for making sure we appoint our chairman of the state. We are responsible for making sure that nobody comes to the Senate except we the governors want him or in the House of Representatives or the House of Assembly. Nobody can be ambassador from our state without us saying so. Nobody can be a minister. You want to collect all these powers and reside them in the political party headed by somebody whom I know? It will be a disaster for all of us. We are just going to lose control of the states. Amaechi came to the National Working Committee and he said to me, you know Mr Chairman, these members NWC all of them were brought here by us the governors. You are the only one here who was not brought by us, you were supported by the president. But all these people we are the ones who decided for them to come.
Party constitution I said well, I am the Chairman, they should know as far as I am concerned we have a party constitution, we have got our own manifesto; anybody who wants to be PDP member must abide by that, if they don’t, I suspend them. It was alleged that you now went to the extreme and suspended Governor Wamako because he didn’t pick your phone call. Was it true? No, how can I do that? I am a disciplined person. He was asked to come and report to the party, but he didn’t come. Not to me, to come to the party. If you are called by the party, whoever called you...NWC, has the right to do so, even has the right to discipline you. It was alleged that the aides you brought along with you did not see the same vision and that your political adviser, Senator Gada a rival of the governor from Sokoto State instigated the suspension of Wamako and that Wamako never felt happy you appointed Gada? It was not only Gada. You said you don’t want Senator Idah, you don’t want Fari, who then do you want? Because all these people as far as I am concerned, they didn’t dictate anything to me. I was implementing a policy that
contribute to his defeat? Maybe people don’t understand Jonathan. He wanted to be fair. I always say to them, I said look, party is not a tea party, where you have to please everybody, it is not possible. You have to understand the responsibility you are taking and not to allow yourself to agree with everyone you want to please. He is a simple person, really and sincerely. He wants to make sure he does not offend some.
Selfish interest
•Tukur...disciplined person all of us agreed with. You mean the NWC? I mean the party. After all when I told them in the NEC they said they agree, they gave me a standing ovation and as far as I am concerned, that was an approval and it was implemented. Your ideas of e-registration, taking the party back to the grass roots were good but again your aides were taking the prominence over the NWC leading to the petition against you and your aides. Fari and Olagunsoye Oyinlola had a clash and as a follow up to it, when the lower court removed Oyinlola, you immediately asked the Deputy National Secretary, Onwe O. Onwe to step in as the acting secretary, but when an appeal court reinstated him, you refused. Sir, what is your take? None of my aides influenced my decision honestly speaking. The bulk stopped with me. I don’t take responsibility without authority. The mandate is my
The job of BoT is different from the job of a party chairman. But if you decide to dive into it, then you expect clash of interest
authority and therefore I cannot blame anybody. The moment they don’t do what I believe I show them the way. As I am in leadership here, you have to follow. I don’t compromise that at all with any of my subordinates. I consult, you advice me, but if you advice and if I agree, I go, the credit is mine. Mind you, if you advice me and I do the wrong thing, the blame is mine. So why should I only blame you and take the credit, no. I rely on you, you advice me I take it, if I don’t agree with it, I go. On Oyinlola, I was not responsible, It came late because you see after Olagunsoye left they came out.
Proper process They cannot say somebody who left the party even went to another party, again you want to have him back without the proper process of coming back no. Olagunsoye left the PDP before the verdict came. He was the one who left with them. Sir, the new PDP was not a party, it was like an association But they left. If you are rebellious I deal with you. Your principle of no imposition was disregarded when the party printed only one form for the president and governors were imposed without real primaries. Now the party is going back to your views with the Raymond Dokpesi committee on e-registration and the plans for democratic primaries in Kogi State. Do you feel vindicated? Dokpesi is my son but Dokpesi must do the right thing. To me he is a senior brother to Awwal. My wife if I travelled will say,
‘did you see Dokpesi? She will say this your son again, find him and bring him back.’ I am telling you. So Dokpesi knows me, what I can do.
Political support So since he is there, he knows my character and that is what he has to follow. I believe Dokpesi will do a good job for them because I learn through age now. When I left Port Authority (to become governor of Gongola State) I made him chief of staff. They said oh, he is from Bendel. So he was your chief of staff? Oh yes. I ran the government with him because I believed in him. I brought commissioner of health from Benue State. I said I didn’t come here to appoint people based on political support they gave me. I am here to appoint people who can now help me run my manifesto, my promise. If I give you health, give me health. If I give you local government, it is the one I want. So this is what I want. So it is too late for me to change. What do you think made your party lose the presidential election? You cannot sow sorghum and want to reap rice. So since you know what you have done, you have pushed yourself to a corner whereby you will be humiliated, simple. How did PDP push itself to a corner? They did by accepting selection and imposition of candidates, that is it because if you do that, you know very well people will rise against it. Did President Jonathan
I don’t believe that if you are in government you cannot offend people because people may come with their own selfish interest and if you want to allow them to do it, then they will mess you up. To me, Jonathan was really sabotaged in a way or betrayed. By who? By people around him. As national chairman, did you have the opportunity to tell him of the points of weakness for him to address such weaknesses? Yes, I can tell you. I told Jonathan straight forward. I said run your government let me run the party by principle because I knew that the party that would mess him up or build him up. Well, he did very well in terms of helping to narrow our deficit in education, deficit in infrastructure, deficit in this and that, he tried. This is what a government should do, not talking about party. Party should be left for the party managers and I was the manager. So did he give you a free hand? More than a free hand. Were you privy to an agreement either written unwritten that Jonathan was not supposed to go for second term? No. Because a former National chairman of the party said recently that 2011 led to the defeat. That is not true. Me, I haven’t seen and I was a proponent of Jonathan continuity. I believed in continuity. It could have been if they agreed also to do the needful in terms of working together with the people. But if you are separated, there was a disconnect between him and the people who were supposed to elect him. Sir, it was alleged that while you were going round as national chairman selling the party, the former chairman of BoT, Chief Tony Anenih was also doing same and some said that there was clash between the two of you. Well, if somebody wants to clash, you cannot stop them from clashing. The job of BoT is different from the job of a party chairman. To be concluded
46 — Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
KOGI 2015: D – Day for Wada,
Echocho, BAM By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor & Kingsley Fanwo
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ODAY should have been Governor Idris Wada’s crowning point for a second term. It should have been the point at which he would have been invested with the hope of beginning a second term. However, two factors have arisen to cloud the electoral space for the governor that today he is now pitched in battle for the governorship ticket of his Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Wada’s worries are essentially
woven around the emergence of the Muhammadu Buhari phenonmenon which led to the defeat of his party in the presidential and National Assembly elections in the state last March. That defeat has reenergised the opposition within the PDP and the mainstream opposition in the All Progressives Congress, APC. Even more, allegations of poor performance here and there and now and then have also not done the governor much good and has led to a sharp division within the party
that has again bolstered the internal opposition. Willy-nilly, Wada is in pole position to make a good showing in today’s primary, especially with the advantage of incumbency weighing much in his favour. Another advantage for the governor is the issue of power shift as the non-Igala stakeholders see his re-election as the best way for them to take over in 2019 as they fear that the emergence of another Igala governor outside Wada would drag their prospects to 2023 at the earliest.
*Wada
*Jibrin
*Moses
Capt. Idris Ichala Wada Gov. Idris Wada is the main contender in the race. Apart from the incumbency factor, the governor is said to be in firm control of the party ’s machinery. He is also enjoying the support of the PDP Governor ’s Forum. He has done a number of projects in the state that have endeared him to the leadership of the party. He hails from Odu in Dekina Local Government Area.
Moses who is in his early forties is the face of the youths in the contest. A former lecturer who turned to business, BAM has been able to draw enthusiasm to his bid with charisma. Amoto hails from
Okene Local Government Area in Kogi Central and is the only non Igala contender. Working to his advantage is his youth and the clamour for power shift away from Kogi East.
Mr. Banjo Amoto Moses Popularly referred to as BAM,
PDP youth root for Wada/ Awoniyi ticket ...Call for transparent primary
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The Contenders
Alhaji Isah Jibrin Echocho as he is fondly called, is immensely popular in Kogi State. He was said to have facilitated appointments for a number of Kogi indigenes when he was Executive Director with Afribank. He won a free and fair primary in 2011 before that primary was truncated by the tenure elongation imbroglio. Following the elongation of the former governor’s tenure, it emerged that Echocho had become an in-law to Governor Idris’ perennial political foe, Abubakar Audu. That and other issues led the former governor to drop his support for Echocho and hence the emergence of Idris Wada in 2012. He is from Dekina Local Government Area in Kogi East. He is however facing some charges by the EFCC for his role in some credit management in the then Afribank.
KOGI DECIDES
The electoral umpires of today
By Boluwaji Obahopo
HE Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, National Youth Vanguard, Kogi west senatorial district has appealed to delegates of the party to vote for the governor, Capt. Idris Wada to enable him seek a second term in office; so as to consolidate on his past achievements. The group in a statement yesterday made available to Vanguard in Lokoja and signed by the Co-ordinator and Assistant Secretar y, Olayemi Jerry and Johnson David Awe respectively urged the party to work towards a peaceful resolution of the crisis in order not to disrupt the party unity. “We in the PDP Youth Vanguard have been following recent events in our great party as it relates to the election of the flag bearer for the November, 21st 2015 election. As loyal party members, we are forced to speak, particularly to avoid a situation where the party will
become an easy prey for the opposition”. The group while declaring their support for Wada/ Awoniyi joint ticket, however, urged the National Secretariat of the party to ensure a level praying ground for all aspirants, assuring that they will still will work for the victory of any candidate that emerged from the primary.
Divisive tendencies “We call on the leadership and members of the party to shun any divisive tendencies which will only lead the party to self destruction and defeat. We also enjoyed all the aspirants to be peaceful. “All the candidates are members of our party, we therefore call on all of them to embrace peace and allow for a peaceful primary come Monday 14th September, 2015” they maintained.
Kogi is safe in Wada’s hands By Boluwaji Obahopo
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*Secretary of the panel – Senator John Eno
*Chairman of the panel – Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi
PDP Youth Vanguard calls for unity By Boluwaji Obahopo
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OKOJA - The PDP National Youth Vanguard, Kogi West Senatorial District has appealed to delegates of the party to shun rancour at today’s primary urging party members to embrace the party candidate that emerges in the collective interest of the party. The group in a statement made available to Vanguard in Lokoja and signed by the Co-ordinator and Assistant Secretary, Olayemi Jerry and Johnson David Awe respectively urged the party to work towards a peaceful resolution of the crisis in order not to disrupt the party unity. “We in the PDP Youth Vanguard
have been following recent events in our great party as it relates to the election of the flag bearer for the November, 21st 2015 election. As loyal party members, we are forced to speak, particularly to avoid a situation where the party will become an easy prey for the opposition”. The group while declaring their support for Wada/Awoniyi joint ticket, however urged the National Secretariat of the party to ensure a level praying ground for all aspirants, assuring that they will still will work for the victory of any candidate that emerged from the primary.
ENIOR Special Adviser to the Governor on Igalamela/Odolu Local Government Ali Atabor has said it would amount to political suicide for the PDP to produce a neophyte as its candidate. Atabor, a former chairman of Kogi NUJ Chapel said, “Capt. Idris Wada is our preferred candidate because he has been tested and trusted. The
It would amount to political suicide for the PDP to produce a neophyte as its candidate
development under the leadership of Wada is uncommon, and he has been able to complete all his predecessor’s projects. “Now we are having a road network that we never had before.
Teaching hospital The Otokiti - Ganaja bypass, the roads connecting the eastern and central senatorial axis to the state capital is there. Today we are talking about a teaching hospital for our university we are talking about a rural health care service that is unprecedented. “Of course, Wada is not arrogant with power, he’s not a dictator, and Kogi State is safe in his hand. We don’t want to entertain those who are just coming in to learn, but we want to consolidate on our achievement.”
Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 — 47
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48 — VANGUARD, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
Russia assures of military support for Syria USSIA will continue its equipment, to train Syrian
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Migrant crisis: Germany to start temporary border controls G
ERMANY is to introduce temporary controls on its border with Austria to cope with the influx of migrants, the interior minister has said. Thomas de Maiziere said refugees could “not choose” their host countries and called on other EU states to do more. Trains between Germany and Austria have been suspended for 12 hours. Germany ’s vice-
chancellor has said the country is “at the limit of its capabilities” as more than 13,000 migrants arrived in Munich on Saturday. Germany expects 800,000 migrants to arrive this year. “Germany is temporarily introducing border controls again along [the EU’s] internal borders. The focus will be on the border to Austria at first,” Mr de Maiziere told a news
conference. “The aim of these measures is to limit the current inflows to Germany and to return to orderly procedures when people enter the country.” Mr de Maiziere gave no details. The move goes against the principle of the Schengen zone, which allows free movement between many European countries, however the agreement does allow for temporary suspensions.
Germany’s rail service Deutsche Bahn said train services with Austria would be stopped until 03:00GMT on Monday.
military support of Syria, including sending personnel to the embattled country, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies. “There were military supplies, they are ongoing and they will continue. They are inevitably accompanied by Russian specialists, who help to adjust the
personnel how to use these weaponry,” Lavrov said yesterday. Moscow has come under increased international pressure in recent days over what Washington and Gulf states said is a Russian military build-up in Syria, where the Kremlin has been supporting President Bashar al-Assad in a four and-a-half-year war.
Clashes as Israeli soldiers storm Al-Aqsa compound witnesses said. manager of Al-Aqsa
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LASHES have erupted after a number of Israeli soldiers entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, police and
The Israeli security personnel used tear gas and stun grenades, as they entered the compound to arrest what they called Palestinian “stone throwers”. Omar Kiswani, the
Mosque, said 80 “Jewish settlers” protected by the Israeli police, attacked the mosque when confronted by Palestinian volunteer guards.
VANGUARD, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 — 49
ZIMBABWE: Court charges S/Africans over attempt to export wildlife
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Zimbabwean court has charged three South African men with illegally capturing 29 sable antelopes and attempting to export them without a permit, the local parks authority said on Sunday. The three men had on Saturday appeared in a magistrates court in Beitbridge, Zimbabwe’s southern border town near South Africa, Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokeswoman Caroline Washaya-Moyo said . The men, who were not asked to enter a plea, remain in police custody. They were
charged with illegal capture and translocation of wildlife, and attempting to export the sables illegally, said Washaya-Moyo. Zimbabwe last month charged two men with breaching hunting rules and allowing an American dentist to illegally kill the southern African country’s most famous lion, Cecil, outside Hwange wildlife park, which sparked a global outcry from animal lovers. Charges of crossing an international boundary using an undesignated exit point were also levelled against the men.
SCOAN COLLAPSED BUILDING:
Memorial service held in South Africa to mark one year anniversary BY EVELYN USMAN
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HE Synagogue Church of All Nations,SCOAN weekend, held a memorial service in South Africa , to honour over 80 South Africans who perished in the collapsed building inside the church’s premises. A five storey building which served as guest house for foreign worshippers who throng the church caved in last year while the victims were having their lunch on the ground floor. The National Emergency Management Agency NEMA had disclosed that over 80 persons lost their lives in the tragedy ,while several others sustained varying degrees of injuries. South Africa, had the largest number of casualties, while other victims were from Zimbabwe and other Africa countries. Vanguard gathered that a delegation of Pastors led by
Wise Man Racine Bousso, left Nigeria for South Africa last Saturday , for the memorial service , while the founder of SCOAN, Pastor Temitope Joshua , officiated a similar service in Nigeria. A statement by the Church said: “ The man of God has sent a delegation from Nigeria to take part in activities leading to the memorial. Prophet T.B. Joshua has maintained that the deceased, mostly South Africans, were on an appointment with God when they met their death and therefore believes that they did not die in vain.. As the memorial for the martyrs of faith holds in South Africa, the entire SCOAN family all over the world join forces to pray for the repose of the souls of their departed” Meanwhile, a Lagos coroner had called for the prosecution of the contractors, who handled the construction of the collapsed structure.
Nine killed in twin bomb attacks in Cameroun
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T least nine people were killed in two bomb attacks on Sunday in the northern Cameroon town of Kolofata, according to local officials, in what appeared to be the latest attack by the Boko Haram Islamist militant group from nearby Nigeria. Regional prefect Babila Akaou said the two attacks took place close to the Latin neighborhood of the town before 9 a.m. (0800 GMT). “Nine people were killed and 24 people wounded,” he
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told Reuters by telephone. Army spokesman Colonel Didier Badjeck, who confirmed the death toll, said an investigation was underway amid diverging reports about whether the attacks were carried out by two teenage boys or two young women. Kolofata lies close to the border with northeast Nigeria and has repeatedly been the target of attacks by Boko Haram.
50 —Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
Vanguard CLASSIFIED Confirmation of Name SULE—This is to confirm that the names Mohammed Sule and Mohammed Sule Kakanda refer to one and same person but now wishes to be known and addressed as Mohammed Sule Kakanda. All former documents remain valid. Diamond Bank Plc and general public please take note.
OGUNDIMU—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adebimpe Ogundimu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Adebimpe Sulaimon. All former documents remain valid. Last Veb, Ministry of Education and general public, please take note.
EBOSUYI—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Precious Orobosa Ebosuyi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Eru Orobosa Precious. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.
O L AY I W O L A — I , formerly known and addressed as Miss Matilda Simisola Olayiwola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Matilda Simisola Awe. All former documents remain valid. General public, please note.
A K I N TAY O — I , formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Akintayo Abimbola Omodele, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Hunwi Abimbola Omodele. All former documents remain valid. General public, please note.
ADIMONYEMMA— I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adimonyemma Chinwe Obioma, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Uzonicha Chinwe Obioma. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public please take note.
FASHAE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adeshola Elizabeth Fashae, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adeshola Elizabeth Ogunsanya. All former documents remain valid. General public, please note.
EGBUJOR—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Eunice Ngozi Egbujor, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Eunice Ngozi Ekechukwu. All former documents remain valid. General public, please note.
ENIVWENAE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss E n i v w e n a e Oghenevese Vivian, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ebinum Oghenevese Vivian. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.
ESHIET—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Helen Idongesit Eshiet, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Helen Idongesit Samuel Ezeokoye. All former documents remain valid. First Bank PLC and general public please take note.
AJEALO—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ajealo Chidinma Vivian, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. U n a c h u k w u Chidinma Vivian. All former documents remain valid. Madonna University Elele Campus Rivers State, NYSC and general public please take note.
IGWE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Agnes Chikamnayo Igwe, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Agnes Chikamnayo Obiora. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.
Reconciliation of Names This is to confirm that Oviri Victory Erhuvwuoghene Isaiah and Oviri Victory Isaiah is one and same person. That he enrolled for the the May/June 2014 WAEC and May /June 2015 WAEC using the two names in alternate manner but now wish to be known and addressed as Oviri Victory Erhuvwuoghene Isaiah. All former documents bearing either of the names remain valid. General public please take note.
ONOMUAKPOKPO— I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Onomuakpokpo Emuobo Sophia, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Afiotor Francis Emuobo Sophia. All former documents remain valid. Delta State University, Abraka, NYSC and general public please take note.
OBIECHINA—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Obiechina Ngozi Mercy, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Okoro Ngozi Mercy. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.
OKOBIA—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Okobia Onyeka Christabel, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ukperegbu Bright Onyeka Christabel. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.
OJIEH—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ojieh Chinonye, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Osabor Chinonye. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public please take note.
EDET OKON—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Bassey Edet Okon, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Bassey Lawrence Akintaro. All former documents remain valid. Union Bank Plc and general public please take note.
AGBECHE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Agbeche Ese Success, wish to be called, known and addressed as Mrs. Ukueku Ese Success. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.
SHADRICK—I, formerly known and addressed as Shadrick Busayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Sedara Busayo. All former documents remain valid. Management/ Authority concerned and general public please take note.
KAZEEM—I, formally known and addressed as Miss Kazeem Shakirat Oluwatoyin, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Jubril Shakirat Oluwatoyin. All f o r m e r documents remain valid. General public please take note.
Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 —51
52—Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
Oshiomhole mourns with Vanguard correspondent on mum’s death
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OVERNOR A D A M S Oshiomhole of Edo State has commiserated with Mr. Simon Ebegbulem, the correspondent of Vanguard Newspapers and chairman of the Correspondents Chapel in the state, on the death of his mother, Madam Susan Ebegbulem. In a condolence message by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Peter Okhiria, Comrade Oshiomhole said: “I received with great shock the news of the passing on to glory of your beloved mother, Madam Susan Ebegbulem. I offer the heartfelt condolences of the Government and good people of Edo State as well as my personal commiseration over the sad loss. “Our thoughts and prayers are with you, my dear brother, at this very difficult moment. From accounts of your mother’s life, we learnt that she was an industrious and virtuous woman, with impeccable character and a keen sense of fairness, equity and justice to all."
Itsekiri staff congratulate DESOPADEC board
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A R R I — ASSOCIATION of Itsekiri Staff in Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, weekend, congratulated Itsekiri sons in the newly constituted DESOPADEC board. In a statement by Weyinmi Agbateyiniro and Stanley Emiko, Chairman and Secretary respectively, the group described the appointments of Hon. Godwin Ebosa (Chairman), Mr. Oritsetimeyin Wood (Executive Director) and Chief Thomas Ereyitomi (Commissioner representing Itsekiri Ethnic Nationality), as a blessing to the entire Itsekiri nation. The group said: “The appointments are like putting square pegs in square holes and round pegs in round holes, considering the antecedents of the men, who possess the experiences, needed for the job.” The association also lauded the governor of Delta State, Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa for the appointments
Again, fresh crisis looms in Assemblies of God Church By Francis Igata
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NUGU—NERVES were frayed at the Assemblies of God Church, Mount Street, Agbani-Road in Enugu State, yesterday, as a factional church group gained entry into the church, which has been under lock for the past two months. It was gathered that for the past two months, the two groups have been holding parallel church services simultaneously at the church compound. It took the timely intervention of Rev. Amaechi Agbo, the Senior Pastor in charge of one of the factions to stop angry church members from disrupting the Sunday Service inside the church. Some members, however, vowed that they would not fold their hands next Sunday and watch the other group hold services inside the church again, pending when the court would deliver judgment on the matter. It could be re-called that members of the church had two months ago, engaged one another in a free-for-all following the alleged transfer of a new pastor to the church. To avert a further clash, the worshipers were said to have been told by the police to be conducting their services outside the compound and consequently, the church compound was divided into two, where the rival groups
erected canopies for the church services pending when the issues would be resolved. However, a violent clash loomed in the church as the group opposed to the leadership of Rev. Paul Emeka had vowed not to allow strangers take over their place of worship. Speaking to journalists, Rev. Agbo, said trouble started on July 19,”when one man in my church, who claims to be a lawyer, but is championing illegality and unlawfulness imported Nathan Udeze to come and overthrow me, so we
resisted them that day. “The matter went to police and from there to court; the police advised us to lock the church and we did; we started worshipping outside; they went to court for us to open the church for them; they have not allowed the court to decide the case. They came on last Monday and broke the entrance to our school; then today again, they came and broke the church entrance, contrary to the agreement we reached with the police that we will wait for the court to decide.” Expressing anger with the way
the police handled the matter, Agbo went on: “I called the DPO to inform him that these people have broken into the church, he told me that we should see him by 2 p.m., that we should maintain peace. I don’t know what he means by that. These people broke into the school and today into the church and the police are watching them.” On the claim that he had been transferred out of the church, he said: “I am still in charge of this place; I came here on April 12, 2013 and till date, I remain the senior pastor in charge of this church branch.”
VISIT: Enugu State governor, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, in a hanshake with the representative of the Managing Director, Star Deepwater Petroleum Ltd., Mr. Stan Otonye, as the Manager, Petrobras, Meg Irozuru, Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Gabriel Ajah (left) and the representative of the Managing Director, Statoil Nigeria Ltd, Mr. Okey Umeokafor (right), look on, during a courtesy visit to the governor, by the Star Deepwater Petroleum Ltd, and Agbami Co Ventures, at the Government House, Enugu, weekend.
BATTLE FOR ENUGU-EAST: Tension as residents await
Tribunal judgment By Francis Igata
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NUGU—A palpable trepidation is rife in the firmament of Enugu State as the three-man National Assembly Tribunal sitting in Enugu, last
Friday, closed hearing on the petition brought before it by former governor Chimaroke Nnamani,candidate of the Peoples Democratic Change,PDC, for Enugu-East senatorial district. The tribunal, headed by Justice M.O. Adewara gave parties to the
suit, first respondent,Senator Gil Nnaji, the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, and Independent National Electoral Commission,INEC,September 28,for adoption of addresses to enable them deliver judgment before October 13. Nnamani is challenging the
Abuja High Court cautions FG over Aba ring fenced territory By Innocent Anaba
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FEDERAL High Court sitting in Abuja, has cautioned the Federal Government and the National Council on Privatization against the planned hand-over of the contentious Aba ring fenced territory in Abia State to Aba Power Limited, APL. Specifically, the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, had compelled the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, EEDC, to handover the contentious Aba ring-fenced territory in Abia State
to Aba Power Limited, APL. However, not satisfied with the development, Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, EEDC and Interstate Electrics Limited went to the court, seeking a stop to the impending hand-over of Aba ring fence to Aba Power Limited. The plaintiffs are asking the court to award them the sum of N500million jointly and severally against the 5th and 6th defendants as general and special damages for propagating a libelous, and malicious campaign of calumny against the plaintiffs. Trial judge, Justice Gabriel Kolawole after listening to the counsel to the plaintiffs, Prince
Adetokunbo Kayode, SAN, ordered the defendants to appear before him on September 22, to show cause why the order of injunction being sought should not be granted. Justice Kolawole cautioned the defendants against going ahead with the planned handover of the Aba ring fenced territory, pointing out that any attempt by the defendants to interfere with the res (subject matter) of the matter which is the planned transfer of the Aba ring-fenced territory would be treated as an act of disobedient to the orders of the court and the contemnors sanctioned appropriately.
declaration by INEC of Senator Nnaji as winner in the March 28 polls. The declaration elicited protests in Enugu metropolis. However, Counsel to the petitioner,Mr. O. Jolaawo, alleged before the tribunal that the candidate of the PDP, Sen. Nnaji, rigged the election. Jolaawo made the allegation during the cross examination of the PDP witness, Mr. Okechukwu Edeh, who was the party ’s collation agent in Enugu-South Local Government Area. He said that 25,093 voters were accredited for the election but that 32,056 voted, adding that election results in some wards were mutilated without official endorsement. “In some wards in Awkunanaw West, the number of issued ballot papers was less than the used ballot papers. “In Ward 9, some 234 voters were accredited but 400 ballot papers were issued. In the end, both used and unused ballot papers were only 200 and the remaining could not be accounted for,” he said.
Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 — 53
Tension as Muslim, Christian youths clash over roadblock in Plateau By Marie-Therese Nanlong
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PRESENTATION: From left; President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN, Otunba Olufemi Deru; winner of Heritage Bank Car, Mr. Emmanuel Isibor; Group Head, Commercial Banking, Heritage Bank Ltd; Mr. Lekan Busari; and Chairman, Accountants Conference, ICAN, Mrs. Comfort Eyitayo, during the presentation of car donated by Heritage Bank to the winner at the conference.
OS—THERE was tension at Angwan Yashi area of Tundun Wada in Jos North local government area of Plateau State yesterday doe to a face-off between some Muslim and Christian youths. Unconfirmed number of persons sustained injuries when security agents allegedly opened fire to disperse the mob protesting the blockage
KOGI: ‘Gov aspirant behind postponement of PDP primaries'
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OKOJA—THE National Chairman of Network for Change and Good Governance (NCGG), Comrade Ismaila Yusuf Atumeyi, has alleged that a governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP (name withheld) orchestrated the postponement of the party's primaries in Kogi State to favour his ambition.
Speaking to newsmen in Lokoja at the weekend, Atumeyi, who berated the PDP National Working Committee, NWC over the postponement of the primaries, asserted that the action was a sign of obvious weakness of the political strength of the aspirant and his inability to win elections in a free and fair contest. According to him, “While
his (the aspirant) few supporters, had arrived Lokoja for September 10 primaries and waiting to accept their fate, he went wild as usual shouting that the governor was planning to disrupt the scheduled primaries." “When the PDP organised ward and state congresses, this aspirant stayed back in Abuja. PDP
organised delegate election, he stayed back in Abuja. His reason is simple, he hopes to get his way through unfair means. January 2011 PDP primaries that purportedly produced him as flagbearer was actually won by Alhaji Isa Kutepa but this type of politics gave it to this undeser ved winner,” Atumeyi alleged.
of road during a church service in the nearby ECWA church. There was an attempt to bomb the said church sometime in July this year and the youths of the church deployed extra measures to safeguard the lives of worshippers during its service, a decision that youths from the nearby Muslim community objected to. A resident of the area, Musa Izang, told Vanguard that urgent steps should be taken by relevant agencies to arrest the situation before it escalated into a bloodbath as problem had been lingering between the two groups for sometime now. He said: “There should be no problem in the blockage of the road because Muslims also block the same road on Fridays for Jumat prayer. The road is always free when neither Muslim nor Christian is having worship session.”
An eye-witness, Bulus Yohanna, said “It happened around ECWA church, where a bomb was defused about two months ago. The church mounted a stop and search road block on the access road to the Muslim community and that caused the protest.” But, Ibrahim Salis, another resident, said the Muslim community had no problem with the road block, adding that “The only problem is that it is the only access road to our community. ‘’We understand the need to block the road during service but that does that mean we have no right to move in and out of our community?” When contacted for comment, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP Emmanuel Abuh, said “There was a little problem at Tudun Wada, I do not have the details but I will get back to you once I know the actual problem.''
54 — Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
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RIDAY, September 11, Lubumbashi, 9am: T P Mazembe arrive the stadium named after them to train for the must win CAF Champions League encounter against Moroccans Moghreb Tetouane. A young man passes me and he looks very familiar. Could not place him. I get curious. Who is that? I ask. Samatta. Yes Samatta, the young Tanzanian who ran rings around our defenders during the Nations Cup qualifier in Dar ES Salaam. Samatta Nbwana Ali. I bid my time. After training I walk up to him. “Young man, you are the one who gave us sleepless nights in Dar Es Salaam?” “Are you a Nigerian?” He asked with a hearty laugh. “Yes I answered” “Sorry, very sorry I know you people wanted that match badly, so sorry” Another round of laughter. But how come they played so well? In Nigeria we never thought they could give us so much problem. “ Yes. We knew that you were going to take us for granted. We knew that you think we will be easy, so we were very determined to play the games of our lives. “ Nigeria is a big football playing nation with stars worldwide. We were expecting a lot of fight and we were ready. The government was also there for us, training tour, equipment, everything and we were told to reciprocate the good will and the support” Where they disappointed that the Nigeria they saw was not the Nigeria they expected? “ For us Nigeria was Nigeria. When we discovered that the stars we expected were not there, we were not fooled. For us Nigeria was Nigeria and we believed that whosoever was called up to represent Nigeria was going to be a tough nut to crack.” Ten minutes into the match, Samatta and his colleagues found out that the Nigeria before them was beatable and they went for the jugular. “ Ten minutes into the match, in fact from the first minute, we had the feeling that we could win the match and we went for it. The crowd was behind us, the boys were fired up and we kept up the pressure” Were they aware that we had a new coach, a new team and that we were not likely to present the type
10 Minutes with Samatta Nbwana Ali of opposition they expected? “ I said earlier that for us, Nigeria was Nigeria and all we knew was that they were going to be a formidable opposition. Another weapon we had is that the coach told us they were going to come and intimidate us, that they were likely to be confident,
I said earlier that for us, Nigeria was Nigeria and all we knew was that they were going to be a formidable opposition. over confident that they will beat us, so we were to go at them from the blast of the whistle and it worked for us. We did not allow them to settle down. We took the battle to them and it worked” Carl Ikeme? “ Who?” The goal keeper. “ Ah he was their saviour. He stood between us and goals. He was very experienced. As the match progressed we became scared of him. Any time we approached the goalmouth, we started thinking how we could beat him and that affected our game even when the coach addressed that at half time” The 23 year old No 9 for TP Mazembe believes if Tanzania plays as well as they did against Nigeria,
Okagbare, Ahoure’s absence take shine off Games A
FRICA’S women 100m top stars, Blessing Okagbare and Murielle Ahoure are not in the competition at the All Africa Games athletics events, which started yesterday at the Kintele Stadium. The field was thoroughly weakened by their absence and has been left open for up and coming Ivorian youngster Marie Jose Talou. She expressed regrets that the race in Brazzaville Congo has its glamour stripped off by the absence of the duo, who did not make a good showing at the IAAF World Championships last month in Beijing. Talou and Ahoure reached the semi-final of the World Champions, while Okagbare was in the final but did not click. She also did not run the 200m. “I am not happy that Okagbare and Ahoure are not here. I really C M Y K
wanted to race against them. Ahoure is not coming because she is injured,” said Talou who ran 11.16 seconds in the heats going into the semifinals that were concluded last night. Okagbare arrived Brazzaville on Saturday. She may be running only the relays, as one of the coaches in camp claimed she was not in top shape to go through the rigors of qualifying for the final. “Yes, she is around, but I don’t think she will be running in the rounds. Her condition doesn’t warrant her going
Ben Efe reporting live through the series of races. She may be good only for a one off race,” said the coach. With her absence, Nigeria may have surrendered the gold in the women 100m. It was only Cecilia France that ran the heats and it remained to be seen how she will fare in the final. Ogho Oghene Egwero,
Seye Ogunlewe, Nicholas Ikhoaperamhe are the Nigerian male contenders for the title. They have a worthy competition in Cote’d Ivoire’s Ben Youssef Metie. Egwero ran the fastest time 10.06 in the semi finals. It was his season's best ahead of the final today. The finals are set for today.
Siasia’s side unseeded for Rio Olympics qualifiers
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IGERIA’S Dream Team VI have not been seeded for the Africa U23 Cup of Nations, which will serve as qualifiers for next year’s Rio Olympics as hosts Senegal and Egypt are the seeded teams for today’s draw.
Hosts Senegal will top Group A, while Egypt will headline Group B. This means that the other six finalists – Nigeria, Algeria, Mali, Zambia, Tunisia and South Africa – could be drawn in either group. The top two teams from each group will
qualify for the semi-finals. The top three teams will automatically qualify for the Rio Olympics while the fourth best team will playoff for a ticket to the global competition. The Africa U23 Cup of Nations will be staged in November.
they may spring a few surprises. In Congo DR, Lubumbashi, he is known as “ Samatta goal” Signed from Simba club of Tanzania in 2011, this year has not been too prolific as he was yet to score for club in the Champions league group stage. Last Saturday, he was to change all that when in the 57th minute, he was the target of a floating pass, he ran to it, controlled warded off the stiff challenge of a defender before unleashing a pile driver for Mazembe’s third goal in the 5-0 drubbing of Tettouane. Early this year Samatta was in Moscow for trials with CSKA and was set to become the first Tanzanian ever to play in the European Champions League. Playing for TP he says has helped him a lot given the professional way the club is run and the presence of a lot of stars from all over the continent. “ I am still young I know I have a lot of future ahead of me” Is he looking forward to the return leg in Nigeria. Does he give Nigeria any chance to progress in the Qualifiers? “ Any country that underrates Nigeria does so at her peril. Nigeria remains a potential force any day. I know people have given the group to either Nigeria or Egypt. Let’s see how it is going to be. However, after that impressive showing against Nigeria, don’t take us for granted “ Laughter.
Anekeme on my mind
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SALUTE the youth who represented Nigeria at the Commonwealth Youth Games, especially the athletic team that emerged winners of the track and field event. Before I wonder why we did not enter for other sports as much as possible, permit me to single out Aniekeme Alphonsus for commendation. A product of the MPN sponsored schools athletics competition in Akwa Ibom State, there is a future for this young girl if only the AFN will put more effort in investing in the youth. Aniekeme is returning from Samoa with three gold medals, a silver and a bronze. Incredible. The world beckons. See you next week.
Mayweather outclasses Berto to finish his career undefeated after 49 fights
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HEY didn’t have to wor ry about the quality of the supporting act. The Sultan of Swoon was a soloist. Floyd Mayweather came out for his last night – maybe? – having to deny that he has been in breach of drugs testing protocol. He was sharing the stage with an opponent who most in attendance had deemed unworthy of the occasion. The reception when he stepped into the ring was a mite muted. But by the time the bell tolled for what he still maintains will be the last time in his career he could feel the love as well as the Money. The undisputed master of the noble art of self defence had promised to put on a grand finale and at the end he did deliver. After frustrating and repeatedly stunning Andre Berto for half an hour he toyed with him by accelerating his superior skills, taunted him with his tongue as well as his tal-
ent, twirled around him with his arm raised in triumph before the fight was over. And he threw in an Ali shuffle. Who’s The Greatest? He has called himself The Best Ever and many in the reduced crowd of 13,395 responded to Floyd the Showman by rising to their feet and chanting... T.B.E. History may modify that verdict but he who is certainly the best boxer of his generation had the last laugh on all who have criticised his negative prudent style and his antics outside the ring. The encore to the socalled Fight of the Century, against Manny Pacquiao was even more circus ringmaster than master class. Berto was the self-styled ‘Beast’ let out of the cage and Mayweather controlled him from start to finish, putting him through hoops at the end.
Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 — 55
Enyimba stay top as Sunshine fall at home
Iheanacho ‘ll score more goals — Pellegrini C
OACH Manuel Pellegrini says there is much more to come from FIFA U-17 World Cup winner Kelechi Iheanacho. The youngster ’s first Premier League goal couldn’t have been better timed and the Blues’ boss believes the Nigerian will only get
LMC sanctions Rangers, 3SC, Sunshine Stars
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OLLOWING various acts that breached the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) Framework and Rules on Match Day 28, the League Management Company (LMC) has issued summary jurisdiction notices to Rangers, Shooting Stars and Sunshine Stars and two players of Sunshine Stars. The LMC also wrote to the Nigeria Football Federation Referees Committee recommending the immediate suspension of Referee Joseph Odey Ogabor who officiated the match between Shooting Stars and Sunshine Stars for a performance considered to fall short of standards of the league and neglecting to submit his match report within the stipulated time frame of 24 hours after the match. Summary Jurisdiction is a notice of containing sanctions the LMC has levied on offenders for alleged breaches of the rules which such persons or clubs have the option to accept or elect to appear before a panel to be constituted by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
better in years to come – though he added he has plenty of hard work ahead of him. “Kelechi scored the goal and he had another chance. Kelechi is a very young player - he’s just 18 years old. He worked with the rest of the team all week,” said Pellegrini. ”In front of him are Kun and Bony who are very good players, but he is an important striker who still has a lot to improve.”
Iheanacho (r) and Nasri
Ighalo: I want to keep scoring S
UPER Eagles Odion Ighalo praised the outstanding team performance which resulted in Watford posting a 1-0 win over Swansea City, their first in the Premier League this season. “It was a great performance, but it’s not only this game, you see from the first game against Everton to this game we’ve been working hard as a team,” Ighalo told the Watford Weekend PostMatch Review on Hornets PlayerHD. “The team has been doing well, even in the last two games we played at home, so it’s a big relief and it’s a big team effort. “I’m happy about the performance of the team, even when we were one man down we still worked hard to get the three points, so it’s a “It’s always a pleasure scoring and getting three points in front of the home fans, so it’s a great feeling, and I’m really happy about the way they are singing my name,” said Ighalo.
•Ighalo
Gerrard: Mourinho perfect for Liverpool Steven Gerrard believes Jose Mourinho would have been a “perfect match” for Liverpool. The current Chelsea boss was linked with the Anfield job prior to Rafa Benitez’s appointment in 2004 and Gerrard says he would have loved to have played for the Portuguese coach. In his new autobiography, which is being seC M Y K
rialised in the Daily Mail, Gerrard said: “For me, the ideal situation would obviously
have been for Mourinho to have managed Liverpool. He was linked with
a move to Anfield a couple of times but it never materialised”.
Enrique hails Barca comeback Luis Enrique says he “enjoyed every minute” of Barcelona’s 2-1 victory over Atletico Madrid in La Liga on Saturday. “Both teams wanted
the win, no doubt We played at a very high level from the start and were very consistent. That a team like Atletico made so few chances showed we were very
focused. “We dominated the defensive and attacking aspects of the game and even turned it around when things seemed to be going against us."
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N a day that Sunshine Stars were beaten 3-2 by Nasarawa in Akure, two goals from substitutes Andrew Abalogu and Ifeanyi Anaemeka earned Enyimba a 2-0 win over hard fighting Dolphins to keep them on top of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL). Enyimba set the pace on the league table with 55 points from 29 games. Former ABS FC forward Andrew Abalogu, who replaced Mfon Udoh, broke the deadlock in the 64th minute when he headed in from six yards. Veteran goalkeeper Rotimi Sunday pulled off several saves in the first half to keep Enyimba at
bay. In Enugu, Rangers fought back from a goal down to defeat traditional rivals Shooting Stars 2-1. Tope Orelope put the visiting 3SC ahead after 23 minutes, but Rangers drew level 10 minutes later through Emmanuel Eze. Osas Okoro gave the home team the lead via a free kick just before half time. In the second half, Rangers goalkeeper Akor Itodo saved a penalty after dangerous play by Morris Chebem inside his own box. Shooting Stars were led by goalkeeper Abiodun Akande, who stopped Bobby Clement from scoring against his former club as early as the 11th minute.
AAG: We can break Nigeria’s soccer jinx, says U-23 captain BY BEN EFE, Brazzaville Congo
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IGERIA’S Under23 captain, Azubuike Okechukwu said they were amazed to find out that Nigeria has never won the All Africa Games soccer gold since 1970 when Nigeria hosted. Okechukwu was speaking after their nerve wrenching last group B match against Senegal. He said that the team will strive to end the long wait for the soccer gold of the AAG, which has eluded the nation regarded as power house in African football for 40 years.
“We were a bit amazed when the coach told us about not winning since 1970. But here we are keen to make history for our country and we are working hard to achieve that,” Okechukwu said. He admitted that the two games they played against Ghana and Senegal in their group were rather tasking. “This is because everyone wants to beat us. “We discovered the other teams come hard on us. But we are glad that we topped our group and by God’s grace we will be in the final.”
All Africa Games Continues from B/P Games are expected to be held every four years. However, for one reason or the other, the four yearly cycle has not been maintained. According to Olabanji Oladapo, the Executive Secretary of Africa Table Tennis Federation explained that the decision for the name change was arrived at, during the Executive Council meeting of AU held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in January 2012. “The AU executive council meeting endorsed the recommendation of the 4th Ordinary Session of the African Union Conference of Ministers of Sports (CAMS) held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
from Oct. 17 to Oct. 21 2011. “On the establishment of a new Architecture for Africa Games led to the dissolution of the Supreme Council for Sports in Africa (SCSA). “The decision, inter alia fractured the function, assets and liabilities of the SCSA to the AU Commission including the ownership of the African Games. “The decision vested the ownership of the African Games to the AU, while entrusting the management and organisation of the Games to Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) and the Association of African Sports Confederations (AASC),’’ Oladapo said.
Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
Mayweather outclasses Berto to finish his career undefeated after 49 fights •Page 54
Okagbare, Ahoure’s absence take shine off Games •Page 54 RESULTS Sharks Taraba Enyimba W/Wolves Sunshine K/Pillars Rangers Akwa Lobi Stars B/Utd
NPL
1 1 2 3 2 3 2 1 1 4
I/Ubah 0 Giwa 0 Dolphins 0 Kwara 0 Nasarawa 3 A/ Warriors 0 S/Stars 1 Heartland 0 Wikki 1 El-Kanemi 1
EPL S/land 0 Tottenham 1 Leicester 3 Aston Villa 2 Verona Empoli Palermo Sassuolo Lazio
SERIE A 2 Torino 2 2 Napoli 2 2 Carpi 2 2 Atalanta 2 2 Udinese 0
LA LIGA Granada 1 Villarreal 3 Bilbao 3 Getafe 1
Floyd Mayweather lands a punch on Andre Berto during the fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Team Nigeria win 13 gold, 21 silver, 17 bronze medals A
S at the time of going to Press lastnight, the Team Nigeria won 13 gold, 21 silver and 17 bronze medals at the ongoing 11th African Games in Congo Brazzaville.
The boxing team won four gold, and two silver medals. Team Nigeria had earlier won eight gold, 17 silver and 10 bronze medals from some other events, while Nigeria won gold medal
in cycling team event in the 25km race and silver in the road race, 62.5km. Team Nigeria also won silver in women’s singles and one bronze in team.
All Africa Games now renamed “African Games”
A Ben Efe reporting live
•Okagbare
FTER 11 editions, as the All Africa Games, the Games has now been renamed the “African Games”, an official said. The Games returned to
its birthplace, Brazzaville, in 2015, where it was first held 50 years ago in 1965 as the All Africa Games. The
Continues on Page 55
QUICK CROSSWORD
TODAY'S
PUZZLE
FRI DAY'S FRIDAY'S
ANSWERS
ACROSS 3 Showy (5) 9 Thoroughfare (6) 10 Consuming (6) 11 Perfume (5) 12 Thought (4) 15 Sapient (4) 17 Permission (7) 20 Expire (3) 21 Shy (5) 23 So be it (4) 25 Entrance (4) 26 Symbol (5) 28 Fix (3) 30 Protection (7) 33 Revise (4) 35 Caribou (4) 36 Nativity (5) 38 Frank (6) 39 Alighted (6) 40 Drugged (5)
DOWN 1 Fundamental (5) 2 Number (5) 3 Coach (3) 4 Modern (6) 5 Remit (4) 6 Headgear (3) 7 Inflexible (5) 8 Tally (5) 13 Gave (7) 14 Advantage (5) 16 Quiet (7) 18 Weary (5) 19 Large (3) 22 Old-fashioned (5) 24 And not (3) 27 Irritate (6) 28 Calm (5) 29 Titan (5) 31 Poor (5) 32 Wear (5) 34 Swimming-point (4) 36 Offer (3) 37 Owned (3)
YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 1, Detest 5, Rescue 9, Power 10, Forget 11, Ashore 12, Dance 14, Clad 17, Let 18, Cute 20, Tidal 22, Arson 23, Recline 24, Gaped 26, Tepid 29, Iced 30, Act 32, Diced 33, Cited 35, Totter 36, Native 37, Depot 38, Darted 39, Reined.
DOWN: 1, Defect 2, Thread 3, Sped 4, Total 5, React 6, Erse 7, Crocus 8, Eleven 13, Neglect 15, Lilac 16, Dared 18, Creed 19, Tonic 21, Led 22, Ant 24, Gifted 25, Pester 27, Pinion 28, Depend 30, Aired 31, Tenor 33, Cede 34, Date.
How to Play Sudoku
P
lace a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line can have two of the same number). Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (also nine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within a bold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1 through 9. This means that no number can appear twice in any block, column or row. No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, division or multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination. Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Phone: Newsroom: 018773962. Deputy Editor: 01-4548355. Advert Dept Hotline: 014544821. Abuja Advert Hotline: 09-2921024. E-mail: editor@vanguardngr.com, news@vanguardngr.com, letters@vanguardngr.com. Advert:advertproduction@yahoo.com Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: MIDENO BAYAGBON. Phone: 01-7742861, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.
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