PDP, Presidency trade words

...towards a better life for the people VOL. 25: NO. 62607

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N150

MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

Controversy over death Inflation compounds of LUTH consultant: Govt demands Nigeria's economic woes Lagos release of autopsy ....FG threatens DISCOs with sanctions over report 8&9 substandard equipment

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EFCC INTERROGATION OF AKPABIO:

PDP, Presidency trade words •Buhari’s fight against corruption selective – PDP •PDP needs help, has run out of ideas – Presidency

By Henry Umoru & Levinus Nwabughiogu

See 2T H E Bg Ue J A5 — a p A Presidency and

the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday engaged in war of words over President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade following the grilling of former Akwa Ibom State Governor and Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. The opposition party while describing the anti-graft war as selective and a sham, said President Buhari is a dictator and urged him, if he is sincere, to go after

Continues on Page 5

Female suicide bomber dies in botched attack on Army base 9

Mr & Mrs BOKO HARAM—A suspected Boko Haram member arrested by the military after second bomb explosion at Ummudari Molai area of Maiduguri, Borno State, yesterday. Inset: One of the victims of the explosion at Ummudari Molai area of Maiduguri, at the state Specialist Hospital, yesterday. Photos: NAN.

COLUMNISTS: 4

The ears of the Senate President •P.19 C M Y K

Matters arising from Falae’s kidnap •P.20

2—Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

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Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015—3

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4—Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

Death at LUTH: Lagos demands release of autopsy result •Let’s wait for coroner report – deceased’s husband •NMA condemns media reports

By Sola Ogundipe, Chioma Obinna, Monsuru Olowoopejo, Esther Onyegbula & Gabriel Olawale

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HE controversy surrounding the death of the late Consultant Paediatrician, Dr. Hestianna Thomas at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, may soon be put to rest as autopsy has been carried out on the body of the deceased.

Already, the Lagos State Government has asked the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, to release the autopsy report, even as the Lagos State Department of Domestic Violence restated its resolve to pursue the case to its logical conclusion.

While some said she was a victim of domestic violence, others said she commited suicide.

Vanguard gathered that the autopsy had been concluded but the committee constituted by the NMA to unravel the cause of the death was yet to release its findings.

Disclosing the situation to Vanguard in an interview, Coordinator of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team, DSVRT, Mrs. Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, said: “We appreciate NMA’s effort to unravel the cause of the death, but we want the report to be released urgently. We want the committee to forward the report to the Directorate of Public Prosecution, DPP, Lagos State Ministry of Justice. And if the report states that she died due to domestic violence, the state government will not hesitate to act.”

Protection of her rights Further, Vivour-Adeniyi stated: “Although the deceased was a staff of Federal Government, but since she resided in Lagos, the state government will ensure that her rights are protected.”

Details regarding the autopsy were scanty at press time, but sources close to the family and the NMA, Lagos State Branch, confirmed the result was still being awaited and may be released this week.

It would be recalled that conflicting reports making the rounds allege on one hand that the doctor died of injuries sustained as a result of domestic violence, while other reports said her death was one of suicide.

In a related development, a colleague of the deceased who is a surgeon in LUTH said the deceased had a history of depression. The source, who pleaded anonymity, noted: “The victim came in a pool of blood with a nylon bag over her head, face smashed in, chest and arms C M Y K

fractured. Husband told us she had a history of depression and suicidal attempts. I heard that she jumped off the second floor.

I spoke with her unit members, it seems it’s confirmed that it’s a suicide, the family reached out in support to the husband and confirmed the previous history of depression and won’t be taking anything up.''

Also speaking, the husband of the deceased, Dr. Femi Thomas, when contacted, declined to grant an interview. He, however, said that the death is a coroner case. “Let us wait for the coroner report,” he urged.

In his reaction, Chief Medical Director, LUTH, Prof. Chris Bode, told our reporters to expect the institution’s response in due course. “Please await a press statement about the case from LUTH,” he noted.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Branch of NMA has condemned media reports linking the death of the deceased to the husband.

The NMA through its Public Relations Officer, Dr Ibrahim Ogunbi, wondered why some journalists should carry stories of such sensitive matters without proper investigations.

Proper investigations Ogunbi in a telephone interview lamented: “The rumours are too much but we do not believe them. We are investigating the cause of the death to ascertain if the allegation by some people that the husband killed the wife was true or not. We are neutral until the autopsy report is made.” He noted that the reason they could not believe the allegation levelled against the husband was their findings during the association's visit to the home of the deceased.

Ogunbi said “When we visited the home of the decease on Friday, we saw her mother who also lives in the house. And during our interaction with her, she said that the report making the rounds that her in-law killed the daughter worries her; it has further inflicted pains on her, and that those making such allegations are adding to her pains.

“NMA is investigating the rumours surrounding her death.

We cannot understand why journalists could go to press without proper investigations.

Some of us visited the home of the disease yesterday (Friday).

We discovered that the mother of the deceased was around and she is not happy with the reports.

We in the NMA are not happy with what is reported in the social media and the national

•The late Consultant Paediatrician, Dr. Hestianna Thomas dailies. People should be careful with what they are reporting.”

He further disclosed that the deceased's husband with his two children are in good health, adding, ''We are still expecting the result of the autopsy and we have told our members not to give information to the media until the result of the autopsy is out.” Asked which hospital is conducting the autopsy, he said, “Sorry I cannot disclose that to you now. Wait until the autopsy is out.”

Chairman of NMA, Lagos, Dr. Tope Ojo, also in an interview said: “This is a sensitive issue.

We are aware of the information being circulated as the cause of her death. But I can say that they are just rumours. We are working with all stakeholders including the Nigerian Police on this issue to investigate the cause of her death.”

Hardworking consultant In a statement, the Chairman, Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria, LUTH branch, Dr. Emeka Ogbolu, said the incident was a sad event. He described the deceased as a very hardworking consultant, who seemed indefatigable. Ogbolu who said he refrained from posting anything noted that it would have been premature to do so.

He said,“I was appalled at how some people jumped to conclusions that it was homicide without investigating or asking questions. I also had to refrain because it is really painful being that I saw her on Tuesday and therefore it came as a shock. I just came from their home where

I went to pay a condolence visit and what I saw was a pained and angry mother. Her mother, after I introduced myself, pleaded that we do not abandon her son-in-law who is a son to her. While weeping she asked why someone will be so insensitive and wicked to her as a mother and conclude that her son-in-law killed her daughter.

“She cursed those that started it because she said they have only added to her pain which is already unbearable. She said she is a principal officer in a university and has some background in psychology and she knows the tell tale signs of domestic violence. She visits often and would not have hesitated to forcefully drag her

daughter out of the marriage had that been the case.

“She would have known from her interaction with their children. She said those who started this have stung her where it hurts because she does not joke with her children.

She said she broke down when she saw the newspaper that carried the story. I saw a mother pained. I think it was genuine.

I promised her I would pass on her message as much as I can and that is all I have done.”

The late consultant was a member, Class of 96, UDOSA Benin Chapter and member of the British Association of Paediatric surgeons. She graduated with a bachelor of medicine and surgery (MBBS) from the College of Medicine, University of Benin, Nigeria in 2003. Thereafter, she obtained a post graduate training including specialist training in paediatric surgery at the UBTH and LUTH, and a tertiary hospital in Accra, Ghana.

She obtained the Fellowship of the West Africa College of Surgeons (paediatrics) by examination in 2013. Her professional interest included further training in hypospadiology and minimal access surgery. Her other clinical and research interests included nutrition of surgical patients, trauma and general paediatric surgery.

Vanguard Annual Banks Review 2015 out next month

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HE Vanguard Annual Banking Industry Report 2015 featuring profile and challenges of the Nigerian banking industry from last year through current year will be out next month.

The publication, which will be the 14th edition, would present the relative strength of each of the banks while giving insight into what to expect at year-end 2015 and in the medium term into 2016.

Preliminary reports on the banking sector profile and activities of all the deposit money banks in 2014/ 2015 focusing on the aggregate money supply, credit to the economy, assets and liabilities, interest rate structure and financial ratios are all pointing

to a tough operating environment, especially in 2015.

But many contributors to the Report indicate that most banks are weathering the storm. The Vanguard Report will be a key source of data and analysis for the industry. The report, first published in 1998, has been Nigeria’s major banking and finance resource, providing comprehensive financial intelligence about the health and wealth of the banking sector.

The Vanguard Report provides comprehensive financial data, news feeds and executive profile of bankers in Nigeria. The publication over the years (1998 – 2011) has been a reference material on the Nigerian banking industry's performance and strength representing over 95% of the industry’s total assets.

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015 — 5

POCKET CARTOON

FORUM—From left: Dr. Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank; Lerato Mbele, BBC Broadcaster and Moderator of the forum; Tony O. Elumelu, Chairman, Heirs Holdings; and Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) discussing at the ‘Shared Prosperity Forum’ held at the University of Ghana, Legon on Friday, to mark the International Day of the Eradication of Poverty.

PDP, Presidency trade words Continues from Page 1 former All Progressives Congress, APC governors, who had petitions against them for alleged corruption.

In a quick counter, the presidency declared that the PDP is a party that needs pity because it has run out of ideas.

Go after former APC Govs, PDP tells Buhari

Taking a swipe at the APC-led government’s alleged persecution of Akpabio, the national leadership of the PDP said that the move is politically designed to weaken the PDP ahead of 2019 presidential election.

According to PDP, rather than allow the

EFCC to go after former APC former governors who have been petitioned, they were being compensated with ministerial positions.

Addressing Journalists yesterday, PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh said President Buhari is still a dictator and his anticorruption crusade is a sham, hypocritical and double standard.

Metuh said: “The PDP therefore states categorically that the o r c h e s t r a t e d investigation of Senator Akpabio is politically motivated and targeted at weakening the PDP for 2019 elections, by virtue of his being the face of opposition in the National Assembly. It is also part of the fight by

IT'S UP TO YOU

BY AYO ADIO

C

HAOS brings the best out of you when you rise up to it rather than choose to be swallowed by it. The next time you are faced with a challange, see it as an opportunity to grow your capacity. It's up to you.

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

Forgiveness is the attributes of the strong —Mahatma Ghandi

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HEN people act unkindly, they eclipse light and love from their life. Always try to forgive, when you direct love towards someone you previously resent, you achieve a lot but mainly these three things. First, it frees you from the pain and anguish of anger, secondly, it breaks undesirable patterns, since you always attract what you think about and thirdly, it heals the other person but the first recipient of the healing is youself.

SAYINGS OF OUR PEOPLE

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HE legs can not run faster than the buttocks

the Presidency to weaken the legislature as an arm of government and prevent it from effectively carrying out its constitutional role of checks and balances in a democracy.”

The EFCC had on Friday and Saturday invited Akpabio to answer questions bordering on alleged corruption to the tune of N108 billion.

Metuh continued: “Whereas the PDP has over time restated its support for a credible, holistic fight against corruption, unfolding events have confirmed our position that this administration is only using the anti-corruption posture as a tool to witch-hunt PDP members and perceived political opponents of APC government.

“We are aware that having realized that Nigerians have seen through their propaganda, deceit and lies, as well as their ineptitude in handling governance, the APC government is now mortally afraid of the ongoing rebuilding in the PDP to take over power in 2019, and is as such, applying every negative means to decimate our great party, including the relentless victimization of our key members.

“It is clearly manifest that the same dictatorial tendencies manifested during the military regime of 1984 is being presently applied in the polity in the attempt to discredit PDP members and weaken our great

party ahead of 2019.

“The APC and its government have been busy denigrating the PDP and trying to appropriate our achievements, while at the same time blackmailing, hounding and harassing our elected members with the aim to cow and force them to leave the PDP and join their party.

“We have verifiable reports from our key members that agents of the APC have been approaching them to join the APC with threats to use the EFCC to victimize them should they refuse. The APC and its agents have been boasting that they have the powers to deal with or spare any person, depending on the party such person belongs to.

“This clearly explains why the so-called fight against corruption has been selective and focused against PDP members, despite counsel by stakeholders that it should be holistic and in accordance with the due process of the law.

“The best example of the curious nature of the war against corruption is the fact that former PDP governors and ministers are being hounded and arrested over apparently orchestrated petitions, while their APC counterparts, who have more damaging petitions are being nominated for ministerial positions.

Even other APC former governors who have ongoing corruption cases in court are being rewarded with APC

tickets for the f o r t h c o m i n g governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa.

“On the issue of Senator Godswill Akpabio, we invite Nigerians to note that in the three rich states of Akwa-Ibom, Rivers and Lagos states, there were petitions against their former governors.

Whereas the former APC governors of Lagos and Rivers were rewarded with ministerial nominations, their Akwa Ibom PDP counterpart and the current Senate Minority Leader is being hounded by the EFCC. “This is in spite of the common knowledge that Akwa-Ibom under Senator Akpabio is arguably the least indebted state in Nigeria, and where the governor appropriately applied available resources to effectively transform the state. We challenge the APC to show Nigerians any of their governors that matched the feats achieved in Akwa-Ibom under Senator Akpabio, whose only building in Uyo is uncompleted and being built with verifiable bank loans.

“As we speak, no APC member, despite the public petitions of corruption and squandering of state funds, has been invited or questioned by the EFCC. We challenge the EFCC, as an anticorruption agency, to show Nigerians any member of the APC it has so far questioned, not to talk of being arrested since the emergence of this administration, despite petitions against them.

“Recall that even the case of former Adamawa state Governor, Murtala Nyako, started before the advent of the current administration but is now reportedly being worked on ostensibly to extricate

APC members involved.

“This government has established itself as a hypocritical regime that accommodates corruption, profligacy and sleazes in government quarters while hoodwinking the people and witchhunting PDP members.

“The hypocrisy of this administration came to the fore with the show of insensitivity to the mood of the nation as copiously demonstrated in Saturday’s ostentatious thanksgiving party (with hundreds of millions of naira spent) by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SFG, Engr.

Babachir David Lawal, at a time the people of the North East geo-political zone, where he hails from, are being ravaged by insurgency.

“Finally, we request Mr. President to end this dictatorial proclivity of selective anti-corruption war that has characterized the APC government.”

PDP needs help, has run out of ideas – Presidency

Reacting to the allegations, the Presidency said that the defeated PDP is a party to be pitied because the opposition party has run out of ideas.

Speaking to Vanguard, Special Adviser to the president on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina said that PDP is a broken record that should be discarded.

“The opposition seems to have run out of ideas so soon. Daily, we hear the same jaded, hackneyed allegations from them. I think they really are to be pitied.

They need help. A broken record that repeats itself ceaselessly is of no use than to be thrown away,” he said.

6—Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

15-monthold baby, 3 others crushed in Lagos

By Kelechi Iruoma & Amarachi Chukwudi

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AGOS—Four persons, including a year and three-month-old baby, were weekend crushed to death in separate accidents in Lagos metropolis.

Two of the victims were knocked down at Cele busstop, along the Oshodi/Apapa expressway, while crossing the road.

One of the corpses said to be that of a load carrier, popularly known as Ismaili, was laid on the median when Vanguard arrived the scene, Saturday. Ismaili ,whose age was put at about 23, had successfully crossed the road with a customer’s goods to the other side, ( inward Okota), after which he was paid N70.

But on his way back to the market to attend to another customer, he was knocked down by a vehicle which sped off, leaving him in the pool of his blood.

Report said the incident happened barely one hour after a woman who had gone shopping in the market was hit by a vehicle.

Eye witnesses blamed both accidents on the deceased's refusal to use the pedestrian bridge at the bus-stop.

A similar incident involving a year and three-month-old baby also occurred same day at PPL bus stop, along LagosBadagry expressway.

Report said the baby and her four-year-old brother were on the verge of crossing the ever busy expressway without an adult guide, when an SUV hit them. But the impact on the baby was said to be more, as the tyres reportedly smashed her skull, while her brother was slightly hit in the leg.

Narrating how the accident happened, eyewitnesses who spoke to Vanguard on condition of anonymity, claimed that the children who strayed from their mother’s shop, suddenly ran onto the expressway, without watching.

However, when their mother arrived, some aggrieved onlookers attempted to beat her up, blaming the death of the baby on her carelessness. But a team of policemen who arrived the scene stopped the move. The corpse was thereafter taken away by the policemen.

Police kill 3 Senegalese cattle rustlers in Kano Parade 74 others, recover 818 cattle, 87 sheep

By Abdulsalam Muhammad

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ANO— IT was end of the road for three Senegalese cow thieves, identified by police as Umar Dogo Ndaiye, Datti Umar Rodi and Mammadu Dogo, after a gun duel with security forces at Falgore forest yesterday.

The Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Musa Katsina, while parading 74 rustlers, along with 818 cows and 87 sheep, said: “Umaru Dogo Ndaiye, a Senegalese national, was gunned down when he engaged our men in a gun battle at Falgore forest

by Gazobi village. He later gave up the ghost while receiving treatment in the hospital.”

The commissioner also said the other two deceased lost their lives in the cause of the gun battle with police.

He said that the police recovered a large cache of arms.

He said some of the suspects were nabbed, clad in police and army camouflage which they used to intimidate and rob Fulani herdsmen “A revolver pistol and 224 cattle were recovered from the notorious kingpin, while four other members of his gang were arrested,’’ he said.

Katsina stated that during the month-long special operation at Falgore forest and environs, the police also recovered 42 AK 47 rifles and 28 live cartridges.

The police commissioner, who paraded the suspects and recovered livestock before the

state governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, and Emir of Kano, His Highness, Muhammad Sanusi II at Kwanar Dawaki in Dawaki Kudu Local Government Area of the state, said a police officer who was injured during the operation had recovered.

Alarmed by the emerging development, Governor Ganduje in his speech, described the activities of rustlers as worrisome.

“This is happening as we are yet to recover from the menace of

insurgency, but now another frightening dimension of crime has resurfaced, which is alarming,” the governor said.

Ganduje, who assured security agencies of the state government’s supports in efforts to fish out those involved in cattle rustling, urged security agencies to ensure that all the suspects faced the wrath of the law.

He noted that already, a committee had been set up to ensure the recovered livestock

TUNNEL: The underground tunnel dug into the bank premises by the hoodlums.

Detectives foil bank robbery in Ondo Discover 15-meter long tunnel dug into bank premises

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By Dayo Johnson

KURE—CRACK detectives weekend foiled attempt by some armed robbers to blow up and rob one of the old generation banks in Ondo State by digging an underground tunnel into the premises.

The gang, it was gathered, had dug over 15 meters into the bank premises from the fence which is behind the bank at Alagbaka area where it is located in Akure metropolice.

Vanguard learned that the tunnel was able to contain three persons at a time, while the place from where the hoodlums operated, is isolated from other buildings.

It was gathered that the tunnel would have been dug into the banking hall if it had not been discovered by the detectives.

Police source said the gang that planned the robbery would have operated at the weekend when

were returned to their rightful owners, adding that those involved in cattle rustling should realize that their days were numbered.

The Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II recommended that Islamic law be applied in the prosecution of the suspects, so they could face such punishments as amputation of hands and legs, killing, pelting of their bodies with sticks, life imprisonment or exile.

the bank staff would not be at work.

Sources said the bankers would have resumed to discover that the banks vault had been blown off and all the money carted away.

Speaking in Akure, the Commissioner of Police, Mike Ogbodu, said: “It was the banks’ surveillance squad that discovered the long tunnel dug by the suspected armed robbers behind the Ado/Owo Road branch of the bank.’’

“The length of the tunnel dug from the perimeter fence of the bank into the bank premises was about 10 to 15 meters.

“The tunnel was apparently prepared to serve as a passage to the bank premises to carry out their nefarious act without being noticed.’’

According to the Police chief who conducted newsmen round the scene, items recovered include shovel, diggers and other

tools, biscuits, pure water sachets and soft drinks.

“This is a new trend being employed by men of the underworld these days.

Consequently, bank management are advised to be conscious of the happenings in their environment and also endeavour to always remove any barrier that could serve as cover for criminals,’’ the police commissioner said.

Similarly, a serial hacker, Daniel Obasi, who specializes in hacking Facebook accounts of important personalities in the country was also paraded by the state police command.

According to him, Obasi was arrested after hacking into the Facebook accounts of both the Ondo and Lagos states’ deputy governors, Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo and Dr. Oluranti Idiat Adebule respectively.

Ogbodu said the suspects had been using the platform to dupe

unsuspecting friends of his victims, saying several thousands of Naira were paid into his bank accounts.

He said the suspect “usually use the clone accounts to chat with friends, siblings and political associates of the deputy governors telling them there is a contract to be given out by their state governments and asked them to pay some specific amount into his account to help facilitate the contracts.

During interrogation, the suspects said: “I am Daniel from Imo State but live in Port harcourt.

I opened a separate account of deputy governors and I used it to chat with people on the net.

“I did not hack into their accounts, I only opened new account on behalf of them. I use it to communicate with people. I have never hacked into their accounts.”

The suspect, who blamed his action on frustration, explained that he was a businessman before his business collapsed many years ago.

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015—7

RRS arrests 40 miscreants in Lagos

By Esther Onyegbula

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AGOS—LAGOS State Rapid Response Squad, RRS, special squad attached to the Lagos State Government weekend arrested at least 40 social miscreants at different black spots in the state.

The suspects were arrested around Oshodi, Jibowu, Victoria Island, Mile 2, Ajegunle, Ijora and Law school under bridge.

Some of the suspects arrested were identified as: Mohammed Ibrahim, 42; Pius Ofulue, 32; Wale Adegoke, 18; Musbau Akande, 18; Achibong Okon, 29; Charles Itua, 47; Edward Samuel, 35 and Damilola Faloye, 20.

The arrest according to Commander of the RRS, Assistant Commissioner of Police, ACP Olatunji Disu, is an onslaught against criminals in all parts of the metropolis by the state government in order to create a secured environment for prospective investors and to secure lives and properties of the residents, especially in the ember month.

He said: ‘’Arrest will be a continuous one as the state

Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode is determined to rid the state of criminals and create an enabling environment for peaceful coexistence among residents

and business owners.”

“We are ready to challenge and confront the latest upsurge in crime in the state. Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has given us marching order for the

black spots to be combed, ’No going back.'"

He stated further that the spate of armed robbery and criminal activities in the state would soon be a thing of the past, with surveillance of some major black spots across the state and arrest of criminals in hundreds.

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SOCIAL MENACE: Some of the suspects arrested by the Lagos State Rapid Response Squad, RRS.

Tanker driver dies, 6 injured in Ogun auto crash S

ANGO-OTA—THE Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, in Ota, Ogun, said one person died, while six others sustained various degrees of injuries in an accident involving a petrol tanker and four vehicles at Owode Junction on Saturday.

The Unit Commander of FRSC, Mr Leye Adegboyega, told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Ota that the accident occurred around 5.30am due to the carelessness of the tanker driver.

According to him, a loaded petrol tanker coming from Lagos and heading to Abeokuta lost control and rammed into four vehicles which caught fire immediately.

He said that the fire from the tanker spread to the neighbouring houses and property worth millions of naira were lost in the inferno.

Adegboyega said that the driver of the tanker, whose name was given as Wale Olaitan, lost his life while six others, four males and two females, sustained various degrees of injuries. ‘’The corpse of the victim had been deposited at the mortuary at Ifo General hospital, Ogun, while other victims were referred to Federal Medical Centre, IdiAba, Abeokuta, for intensive

Man petitions Police over son's death

treatment, ‘’he said.

He appealed to the Federal, Lagos and Ogun

state governments to overhaul the Owode Road to prevent a recurrence of such

incident in order to protect lives and property.

Fuji maestro, Wasiu Ayinde shuns Police invitation

ALLEGED SHOOTING:

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By Daud Olatunji

B E O K U T A — I N D I CAT I O N S emerged yesterday that popular fuji musician, Wasiu Ayinde, has failed to honour an invitation by Ogun State police command for interrogations over the alleged shooting of an undergraduate by one of his band boys at Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, penultimate Sunday Vanguard checks revealed that the musician travelled to London shortly after he was summoned by the Police over the incident.

A female student of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Kofoworola Azeez, was hit in the right buttock by a stray bullet allegedly fired by one of the members of the fuji musician’s band, at a musical show at a hotel at Ago Iwoye.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, had said that the

victim sat inside an unregistered Honda car parked beside NASFAT building, opposite Limelite Hotel, in the town, where he performed.

The police command had summoned him to appear for interrogation.

According to Adejobi, the police wanted to get more facts by interrogating the musician, so as to get to the root of the matter.

He said the command was told that the musician had left for overseas.

Adejobi, however, said that any time Wasiu Ayinde returned from the trip, he would still be required to honour the invitation, to help the police in the investigation into the case, with a view to unravelling who really fired the bullet that hit Kofoworola.

The PPRO did not, however, disclose the name of the musician’s lawyer, saying the musician had sent his lawyer

to the Police Command.

He said: “Wasiu Ayinde did not come to the command’s headquarters last Thursday as expected for interrogation.

He sent his lawyer to the Area Commander in Ijebu Ode, saying he had travelled to London.

“However, any time he returns, we are still expecting him to honour the invitation for him to come and write a statement on what he knew about the shooting.”

Adejobi said the victim was responding to treatment.

By Marie-Therese Nanlong

OS—PA Joseph Atabo, the father of Ojochona Atabo, a 29-year-old man allegedly killed by armed men at Gada Biu area of Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State, has appealed to the State Commissioner of Police, Nasiru Oki, to help track down his son’s killers.

Pa Atabo urged the Police to ensure the suspects and their accomplices were arrested and charged to court, so his family could get justice.

He said: “On August 1, 2015, I was with his son in the house, about to take dinner when all of a sudden my son received a call on his cell phone.

“My son told me that they are calling him somewhere and immediately he left the house, that was the last communication with him, only for me to be called the following day that Prince was shot and killed by a group of armed men around Gada Biu. “One Chukwudi Aneke was arrested by the Police in connection with the killing of my son and he confessed to the crime and named five other accomplices.

“These are criminal gangs that were allegedly terrorizing Utan in Jos North Local Government Area of the state. Since the arrest of Chukwudi Aneke, the people of Utan who hitherto slept with their two eyes open in the night now heave a sigh of relief.

“I am pleading with the Plateau State commissioner of police and other officers in charge of the case to ensure a thorough investigation with a view to bring the killers of my son to face the full wrath of law.”

However, the State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP Abuh Emmanuel, said some people were arrested in connection with the killing and would soon be charged to court to face justice.

Kidnapped Bayelsa monarch The octogenarian was freed kidnapped on September 4, in

By Emem Idio

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ENAGOA—THE abducted 85-year-old paramount ruler of Gbarantoru community in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Chief Benjamin Weke, has regained freedom from captivity 42 days after his kidnap.

his country home by unknown gunmen.

A family source who confirmed the release of the monarch yesterday, said the paramount ruler who was abandoned at the Swali waterside in the state capital, had since been reunited with his family.

8—Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

APC tasks new commissioners, aides on service

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HE Lagos chapter of All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday, urged commissioners-designate and special advisers, who will be sworn-in today, to see their appointments as a call to service.

The party in a statement by its spokesman, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, reminded them that the APC-led administration could not afford to let down millions of Lagosians that invested their votes to ensure victory for the party on March 28 and April 11.

It, therefore, urged the officials to put in their best and take the Centre of Excellence to loftier pedestal.

The statement said: “We see their appointments as a call to service. So, we are challenging them to put in their best to ensure that Lagos is taken far in its insatiable quest for excellence.

“We believe they are competent and well qualified for their appointments so we expect the best from the commissioners-designate and advisers.”

Reminding them that successive governments have built on the standard set by the Alliance for Democracy, AD, in 1999, the party said the new commissioners and special advisers must not lower the bar of governance.

It read in part: “Our party is aware that Lagos has set an enviable pace in governance.

“We believe the commissioners will key into the template that has advanced quality governance in Lagos these past 16 years. We charge them to be steadfast and work hard.”

Inflation compounds Nigeria’s economic woes

By Emeka Anaeto, Economy Editor

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IGERIA’S economy may be heading to stagflation going by headline inflation, gross domestic products, GDP, and unemployment reports of National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, as well as feelers from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and economy analysts last weekend.

Stagflation is an inflationary period accompanied by rising unemployment and declining economic growth rate. All these factors inherent in an economy of stagflation are already within the Nigerian economy as indicated by the various reports.

NBS report, last week, indicated a sustained inflationary pressure rising to 9.4 percent in the month of September, with economy analysts pointing to a double digit by next quarter.

Also, NBS report shows a steady decline in GDP as in the first quarter of 2015, Nigeria’s GDP growth rate declined by 1.98 percentage point to 3.96 percent in real terms, year-on-year, and lower by 2.25 percentage points from the corresponding quarter of 2014.

The GDP rate declined

further to 2.35 percent in the second quarter.

Job losses

In its Unemployment/ Underemployment Watch report for second quarter, NBS said the number in full employment decreased by 1,317,700, explaining that “a drop in number of full employment, despite a rise in the labour force (number of people available for work) can be attributed more to job losses or previously fully employed persons choosing or being forced to work part time or in underemployment.”

Analysing the NBS inflation report, weekend, economists at Afrinvest Group, a Lagosbased financial institution, said: “The slowing GDP growth coupled with the rising inflation is a situation which best describes the economy as being in a period of stagflation.

“At 9.4 percent, headline inflation rate has moved further away from the 6.0 - 9.0 percent target band of CBN, while also inching closer to the double digit mark.”

Forex effect

According to the group, the rising price level stems from the recent weakening macroeconomic fundamentals

around foreign exchange prices, which have had debilitating impact on the cost of production and prices of goods and services.

“Whilst CBN is still committed to stabilizing aggregate price level in the economy through its monetary policy tools, our analysis of the macroeconomic ambience suggests that the apex bank may not be employing a major tool to curtail mounting pressure on prices in the near term.

“In addition, the slowing GDP growth coupled with the rising inflation (a situation which best describes the economy as being in a period of stagflation) places the monetary authority in a situation of dilemma in using a major policy tool such as Monetary Policy Rate, MPR, in addressing price and output concerns.

“Hence, the need to stick to an objective — we think the CBN would prefer the former.”

CBN's assurance

Despite the growing concerns over the impact of declining revenue resulting from low oil prices for over a year, CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has said

Emefiele's prediction

NSE'S CLOSING: From left— Company Secretary, C & I Leasing Plc, Mr. Mbanugo Udenze; Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema; Managing Director, Mr. Emeka Ndu; Chief Finance Officer, Mr. Alex Mbakogu, both of C&I Leasing Plc, and Managing Director, C&I Motors, Mrs Maureen Ogbonna, at the Closing Gong ceremony of NSE.

POPE TO NIGERIAN CHURCHES: Lead campaign against poverty, environmental degradation

By Peter Duru

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AKURDI—THE Catholic Pontiff, Pope Francis I, has urged Nigerian churches to lead in the campaign against poverty and environmental degradation in order to ensure economic growth and sustainable development.

The Pontiff noted that

the economy was not heading towards recession, adding that the current dip in the nation’s revenue was a global development, which is not peculiar to Nigeria.

According to the National Bureau of Economic Statistics, NBES, economic recession is a situation of significant decline in activity across the economy, lasting longer than a few months.

It is visible in industrial production, employment, real income and wholesale-retail trade.

The technical indicator of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth as measured by a country’s GDP, although the NBES does not necessarily need to see this occur to call a recession.

Emefiele, who spoke at the end of the IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Lima, Peru, last week, said rather than interpreting some of the recent monetary and foreign exchange policies by CBN as a sign of an economy sliding into recession, the challenge before Nigerians was to accept the policies as a way of reversing declining revenue.

He said: “Nigeria is not sliding into recession. We have had two quarters of slow growth; even the global economy has revised its growth outlook from 3.8 percent in April to three percent at this meeting.”

environmental degradation and poverty were closely related and inseparable, hence the need for an aggressive campaign against the menace.

He spoke, yesterday, at the Benue State edition of the World Day of Prayer for Care and Creation, organized by the Bishop, Catholic Diocese

of Gboko, Most Rev. William Avenya, and held at St. John’s Catholic Church, Gboko.

The Pontiff, who was represented by Most Rev. Avenya, decried the recent flooding in parts of the country and the suffering inflicted on victims of the disaster. He urged relevant authorities in the country to take steps to

avert its re-occurrence.

Earlier, Benue State Commissioner for Water Resources and Environment, Nick Wende, said tackling flood-related issues was the collective responsibility of all and sundry as the contribution of all was pertinent in checking environmental hazards.

The same Emefiele speaking two weeks earlier at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee, MPC, meeting in Abuja, lamented that with “two consecutive quarters of slow growth, the economy could slip into recession in 2016 if proactive steps are not taken to revive growth in key sectors of the economy.

“The overall economic environment remains fragile. The economy further slowed in the second quarter of the year, making it the second consecutive quarterly less-than-expected performance.”

In the face of the prevailing circumstances, the MPC advocated that a “synergy between monetary and fiscal policies remains the most potent option to sustainable growth.”

However, a top executive at the apex bank’s research division told Vanguard yesterday that going by their prognosis, the economic horizon was tending towards recession if the trend in GDP did not reverse by next quarter.

The source added that all economic indicators in the apex bank’s research showed that the economy was already in stagflation.

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015—9

Dangote, Oshiomhole, others for New Telegraph summit

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CIPM CONFAB: From left— Head of Service of the Federation, Danladi Kifasi; President/Chairman of Council, Anthony Arabome, and National Treasurer, Mrs Ifeoma Adeniyi, both of Chartered Institute of Personnel Management, CIPM, at the institute's Annual National Conference in Abuja, yesterday.

FG threatens DISCOs with sanction over substandard equipment Directs UNILAG feeder line re-routed underground

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AGOS—FEDERAL Government, yesterday, said it would sanction any distribution company, DISCO, that engaged in installation of substandard electricity equipment in its operations.

Mr. Peter Ewesor, Chairman, Federal Government Investigative Panel on the death of Miss Oluchi Anekwe, a 300level student of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, said this in Lagos.

Anekwe was, on September 8, kiled by a high voltage cable that snapped off a pole on campus.

Ewesor, who spoke with newsmen, is also the Chief Electrical Inspector of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency, NEMSA. He said: “Appropriate enforcement orders and possible sanctions will be meted out for non-compliance with the recommendations of all previous and future monitoring reports sent to them by NEMSA field electrical inspectors.”

Unethical practises

Ewesor accused the utility companies of using substandard materials, unprofessional practices, negligence and poor response to inherent problems in their networks.

He said NEMSA would ensure that all distribution companies uphold the international best practices in the installation of electricity equipment nationwide.

Ewesor said DISCOs had been indicted over the alarming rate of electrical accidents, which he said had become

recurring incidents in the industry.

According to him, electrocutions occur in some areas as a result of the poor state of distribution companies’ network and negligence on the part of the companies.

Ewesor said: “The spate of electrical accidents and electrocutions leading to unwarranted loss of lives and properties as well as down time of the supply to consumers nationwide is unacceptable

and condemnable.”

List problems

He also identified other inherent problems, which regularly lead to electrical accidents and electrocutions.

He said one of them was allowing networks to pass over and between buildings, structures and market places without clearances.

Others are lack of regular monitoring and evaluation of networks for routine and

preventive maintenance purposes by the DISCOs and the use of substandard or adulterated materials.

Ewesor said that the Onike 11KV feeder line that passed through UNILAG was in a state of disrepair.

He said: “In view of increasing human traffic at the University of Lagos, NEMSA has directed that the overhead Onike 11KV feeder line be re-routed underground.”

Female suicide bomber dies in botched attack on Army base

By Oboh Agbonkhese, with agency report

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AIDUGURI— NIGERIAN soldiers, yesterday, shot dead a suspected suicide bomber outside a Military base in Maiduguri, Borno State, a civilian vigilante and a military source told newsmen. The shooting detonated explosives concealed in her handbag.

The target was thought to be the Maimalari Army Barracks, the main military base in Maiduguri, which had been hit repeatedly in recent months by Boko Haram terrorists.

Babakura Kolo, from the civilian volunteer force assisting troops against the rebels, said: “Soldiers at Maimalari Army Barracks this morning (yesterday) foiled a suicide attack by a female

bomber.

“The woman approached the barracks around 7a.m. and headed towards the gates.

“Guards at the gates asked her to stop for security checks, but she ignored them and continued walking towards the gates, a handbag slung over her shoulder.

“One of the soldiers opened fire on the woman and the handbag exploded, blowing the woman to pieces.”

There were no other casualties in the explosion, which one military officer in the city described as an “attempted suicide attack by Boko Haram terrorists.”

Boko Haram has intensified its use of multiple suicide bombers to inflict maximum casualties, with secondary explosions detonated as people rush to help victims of the initial blast.

No fewer than 34 people were killed in a wave of attacks last Thursday night and Friday morning on the outskirts of Maiduguri, while last month 117 died in explosions in the Ajilari Cross area of the Borno State capital.

Of the six suicide attacks this month, four have been in Maiduguri, killing about 48 and injuring 99.

The military source, who requested anonymity, said the use of human bombs was a sign of the group’s desperation and frustration.

“They are looking for every opportunity to hit back, which is why they have resorted to soft-target attacks on mosques and markets and such attacks on a military base is intended to show the terrorists are still strong,” the officer added.

HREE governors, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje, Kano, and Chief Dave Umahi, Ebonyi, as well as President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, are among dignitaries to participate in the maiden edition of New Telegraph Economic Summit, holding in Lagos on October 27.

The summit, with the theme Beyond Monthly Allocation: State of the Nigerian States, will examine the financial crisis facing many states of the federation in view of the oil price drop that had cut revenue to the Federation Account by about 65 percent and how states could survive by expanding their internal revenue base.

Dangote will be the guest speaker at the event, where the three governors will also share their experience in weathering the economic storm that has buffeted many states and impaired their ability to meet their obligations to workers and contractors.

Nigeria Society of Int'l Law holds confab

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NTERNATIONAL law and security experts, political scientists and diplomats, among others, will gather in Lagos on Wednesday and Thursday for the 39th annual conference of the Nigeria Society of International Law, NSIL. The conference, which has as theme I n t e r n a t i o n a l Lawextremism, will take place at the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The programme, according to NSIL, will be declared opened by Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode.

The keynote address will be delivered by a former Nigerian Ambassador to Australia, Ayo Olukanni.

10 — Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

FESTAC ROBBERY: We didn’t say Navy, Airforce failed – POLICE

Fashola disowns twitter account

By Olasunkanmi Akoni

By Evelyn Usman

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I N I S T E R DESIGNATE and immediate past Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has disclaimed a twitter account set up in his name along with his picture even as he urged members of the public to be wary of the antics of scammers.

According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Hakeem Bello at the weekend, Fashola’s twitter account remains @tundefashola and not @Gov_Rajifashola Fashola said. “It is unfortunate that despite repeated warnings and disclaimers, certain unscrupulous elements still engage in the act of defrauding unsuspecting members of the public through different social media platforms falsely linked to me”.

Fashola also recently, drew attention to his hacked twitter account and dissociated himself from a facebook scam, whereby some unscrupulous persons use his photographs and ascribe fictitious statements to him on fake Facebook accounts aimed at defrauding innocent people.

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HE Police high command weekend described as false report credited to it that their call on the Navy and Air Force personnel for assistance during last Tuesday’s bank robbery in Festac Town was ignored.

This is just as it was disclosed that men of OP MESSA , a Military outfit were drafted to the scene of robbery that fateful day.

Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 2,

Onikan, comprising Lagos and Ogun states commands, Bala Hassan, said he never apportioned blame to any security agency, when he visited the scene of robbery in the company of the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Fatai Owoseni, last Thursday.

Describing the report as one without an iota of truth in a statement signed by the zonal Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Adebowale Lawal, a Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP,

he said; “It is a fact that the AIG visited the scene accompanied by some senior police officers, but he was the only person that granted interview and he did not at any point in time apportion blame to any security agency(ies).

As a matter of fact, the AIG appreciates the existing synergy between the Police and other security agencies. This explains why upon assumption of office, he paid courtesy visits to heads of the Army, Airforce and Navy to seek their cooperation and sustenance

MINISTERIAL SCREENING: Adopted guidelines breeds corruption — LAWYER

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RECEPTION: From left: Mr. Shuaib Afolabi Salisu, former deputy Chief of Staff, Ogun State; Dr. Muiz Banire (SAN), the National Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and celebrant; Alhaji Wale Sonaike, deputy National Amir, The Companion, and Alhaji Abdul-Hakeem, Kosoko, fomer Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Religious Matters, during the prayer and reception in honour of Dr. Banire over his elevation to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, organized by Friends of Muiz Banire and some Muslim organizations at GRA, Ikeja, Lagos. Photo by Bunmi Azeez.

LASG vs TOUTS: Transport unions want more parks, bus-stops

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AGOS—TRANSPORT unions in Lagos have renewed their appeal to the state government to provide more motor parks and bus stops in the state to reduce friction between their members and the relevant authorities.

The Road Transport Employers’ Association of Nigeria, RTEAN and the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, made the call in Lagos yesterday following the continued arrests of their members.

They made the plea for more

parks and bus stops in separate interviews.

Alhaji Musa Muhammed, the state chairman of RTEAN, said that provision of more parks and bus stops in the state would help to ease the flow of traffic. “ While we advise our members

Why gridlock persists on Apapa-Oshodi expressway – LASG

By Olasunkanmi Akoni

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of the existing concerted collaborative efforts in fighting crime in his command.”

On his part, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Fatai Owoseni also described the report as one aimed at causing tension where there was none. He dared anyone to mention the policeman that apportioned the blame to the Navy and Airforce.

He revealed that information at his disposal showed that operatives of OP MESSA were on ground to assist the police on the day of the robbery incident, wandering why anyone would attribute such report on the Police.

On the day of the robbery incident, he said that the AIG Zone 2 and himself were in Abuja for a conference, hence the need to visit the scene on arrival.

AGOS State Government yesterday, blamed the persistent gridlock on the ApapaOshodi and Lagos-Abeokuta expressway partly on the failure on the road as well as the poor design.

The state government stressed that the roads were not designed for the pressure they are presently subjected to.

Also, the state government said litigations and slow pace of work by contractors appointed by the Federal Government were some of the reasons for the delay in execution of pedestrian bridge projects across the state.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Ajibade Bade-Adebowale and the General Manager of the Lagos State Public Works Corporation, LSPWC, Mr.

Ayo Shodeinde disclosed these while addressing newsmen.

Shodeinde said, “We have two roads that are of major challenges to us. They are Apapa-Oshodi Expressway and Lagos-Abeokuta Express way. ‘’During the era of President Olusegun Obasanjo, the reconstruction was done by Messer Julius Berger, but the road later failed. The state government, knowing this, has continuously embarked on palliative works on the road. We have discovered that the road had failed even from inception.

“This was also the reason for the persistent gridlock experienced by motorists on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway. This road is substandard compared to the pressure it is subjected to. The volume of vehicles plying the

road daily is massive,” he added.

On the persistent traffic in other axis, LSPWC boss disclosed that some residents often cut the road at night, saying: “this act causes traffic gridlock in the state. And that was why we have asked the Nigerian Police to arrest anyone found cutting road at night.’’

to obey traffic laws, we also want the government to help us.

“There is a need for provision of more bus stops to help the transport operators,” “The bus stops are still few and cannot meet the demand of this time,” he said.

Muhammed also urged the union members to be law-abiding to prevent harassment and arrest by the transport authorities.

He advised them to avoid driving on dedicated lanes of the Bus Rapid Transit, BRT, buses.

Alhaji Tajudeeen Agbede, the Chairman of NURTW in Lagos, also spoke in the same vein.

He told NAN that inadequate bus stops and motor parks for commercial vehicles caused gridlock.

HE recent directive by the Senate that at least two senators from a state should endorse the nomination of ministerial nominees from their states has been described as unconstitutional.

Constitutional lawyer and public analyst, Mr. Tony Dania in an interview, said that the recent directive by the Senate will simply promote unwholesome acts, as some senators may capitalise on same to extort the ministerial nominees.

Said Dania: ‘’The senators are creating room for people like us to believe they want to be ‘settled’ and that is why they are coming up with all sorts of rules, directives and guidelines. ''I am not saying there should be no standard practices, but the constitution has its own provisions, which should be the guidelines, probably they have forgotten the constitution provides that they complete the screening within 21 days failing which the president can by-pass them and go ahead to appoint his ministers.

The constitution states only a simple majority and not endorsement by two senators from the state of the nominees.''

APC tasks Lagos new commissioners, SAs

By Olasunkanmi Akoni

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AGOS—AS Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode swears in his 37 Executive Council members today, All Progressives Congress, APC in Lagos State, has urged the new commissioners and Special advisers to continue to add great value to governance

as been the standard in the state for the past 16 years.

APC, which gave the charge through the state Publicity Secretary, Mr. Joe Igbokwe yesterday, ahead of today’s oath taking, said consequent upon the inauguration, residents expected the cabinet members to hit the ground running in order to take the state to the next level.

According to Igbokwe, “We see their appointment as a deserved call to service, so we challenge them to put in their bests to ensure Lagos is taken far in its insatiable quest for excellence. We believe they are competent and well qualified for their appointments so we expect the best from the commissioners-designate and Special Advisers-designate.''

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015 — 11

Osun, France sign N8bn solar plant agreement

DINNER: From right; Secretary to Ondo State Government, Dr Rotimi Adelola, Deputy Governor, Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo, Governor Olusegun Mimiko, Team Leader of the National Defence College (NDC) Course 24 participants, Commodore Williams Kayoda, and Chief of Staff to the Governor, Dr Kola Ademujimi, at a dinner in honour of the NDC Course 24 participants at the end of their Geo-Strategic Study Tour of Ondo State, at the weekend.

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BUJA—OSUN State Government and France have signed an agreement to build a 35 million Euros (N8 billion) 13 megawatts solar plant in the state.

Stephane Gompertz, France’s Ambassador for Climate Change, told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Abuja yesterday that the project was the first of such magnitude to be signed in Nigeria.

Gompertz said the agreement was signed at the weekend by Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State and a French company, Vergnet, adding that France was supporting Nigeria in the area of renewable energy.

“As far as new and renewable energy are concerned, the French Agency for Development helps finance through credits, projects in new and renewable energy.

“On Friday morning, I was with the French Ambassador in Abuja.

We were received by the Governor of Osun State. We signed an agreement with a French company called Vergnet.

“Vergnet will build a solar plant of 13 megawatts, which is quite big for a solar plant. And as far as I am concerned, this is the first project of such magnitude to be signed in Nigeria,'' he said.

UNPAID WAGES: NMA gives Osun govt 7-day ultimatum

By Gbenga Olarinoye

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SOGBO—THE Nigerian Medical Association NMA, Osun state branch has issued a 7-day ultimatum to the state government to pay its members working with it all outstanding salaries, deductions and other allowances.

How FG should fight insecurity — EXPERTS

By Daud Olatunji

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BEOKUTA—SECURITY experts have tasked President Muhammadu Buhari on the usage of drones and effective mapping system to fight insecurity, especially at the border areas.

Surveyors under the auspices of the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS) and seasoned security experts, including Ade Abolurin, retired commandantgeneral, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps gave the advise.

The league of experts attended a symposium on security challenges organised by the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors, (NIS), Ogun State branch in

honour of its former chairman, Adefemi Sanyaolu in Abeokuta on Thursday.

He noted that insecurity and insurgency could only be fought effectively with updated mapping system and the use of drones as surveillance.

Speaking on the topic: “Challenges in Defending Nigerian Territory Without Updated Maps”, Ade Abolurin, disclosed that increasing challenges arose from the porosity of Nigerian borders .

He called for urgent and improved collaboration between armed forces and office of surveyor-general on updated mapping system against insurgency.

Besides, the body said it fully supported the on-going industrial action by Association of Resident Doctors, ARD, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital, LAUTECHTH, Osogbo and Osun State Association of Medical and Dental Officers, OSAMDO. In a statement by the state Chairman and Secretary of the NMA, Dr. Suraj Ogunyemi and Dr. Adeola Ajibare at the weekend, the association said it resolved to issue the ultimatum after critical review of the situation pertaining to the health sector in the state.

“The NMA held a stakeholder’s meeting to critically discuss the decision of ARD, LTH and OSAMDO to embark on this avoidable strike and resolved to stand by these unions following the refusal of the state government to pay the outstanding salary arrears, deductions and other allowances.

“The NMA Osun is not a party to the purported Memorandum of Understanding MOU between the Nigerian Labour Congress NLC and the Osun State Government because such MOU is not in the interest of resident doctors and medical and dental

officers working in the state.

While calling for the immediate payment of all outstanding salary arrears, the association asked the state government for the implementation of the Federal Government circular of Adjusted CONMESS.

Ondo APC crisis over, says BoT member

By Dayo Johnson

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KURE—A member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Board of Trustee (BoT), Chief Jamiu Ekungba assured over the weekend that the internal crisis within the Ondo State chapter of the party has been resolved.

Ekungba noted that the crisis which hitherto has been threatening its chance of winning the 2016 governorship election has become “a thing of the past”.

He stated this in Owo, Owo local government area of the state while giving account of his reconciliatory tour to all the wards in the 18 local government areas of the state to some principal officers of the APC. According to him; “The fence mending mission was not just a recipe for winning election, it was a rare moment of truth.”

Jega, Kukah, others bag ABUAD’s honorary degrees A total of 739 graduands across

By Rotimi Ojomoyela

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DO EKITI—FORMER Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Attahiru Jega and a foremost human rights activist and Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Rev Mathew Kukah are among prominent Nigerians that would be conferred with honorary degrees at the 3rd convocation ceremony of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti on Saturday.

The former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences, Justice Emmanuel Ayoola and the Alaafin of Oyo Kingdom, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi would also bag honorary titles of the prestigious university.

six faculties, 65 of them coming with first class, 39 with second class , 258 with second class lower and 74 with third class degrees will be graduating from the University.

Speaking at a conference to herald the convocation ceremony at the weekend, the University’s VC, Prof. Michael Ajisafe, revealed that the university complied with the Keffi declaration of the Association of Vice Chancellors, where it was advised that such honours should only be bestowed on credible Nigerians before arriving at the choices.

According to Professor Ajisafe, the beauty of Honorary degrees is that they are awarded to persons who are deserving of such honour, having excelled in character, useful application, intellect and academic excellence.

Prof Ajisafe revealed that many of the students, who could not cope with the stringent rules and regulations against smoking and other antisocial vices had to be shown the way out of the institution.

12—Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

Rivers APC, PDP bicker over Amaechi's ministerial screening R

By Gbenga Oke

IVERS State All Progressives Congress, APC, and its Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, counterpart, yesterday traded words ahead of the ministerial screening of former governor of the state, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi.

Amaechi is among the last set of ministerial nominees yet to be screened by the Senate and his screening has been a subject of division among the senators.

While PDP, in a statement, claimed Amaechi dignified corruption and would not be an asset to President Muhammadu Buhari, APC said PDP and the present Rivers State government were overwhelmed by the profile and achievements of Amaechi, hence the resorted to blackmail and falsehood through the Internet by his detractors.

PDP, in a statement by Special Adviser on Media to the Chairman of the party, Mr Jerry Needam, said: “The APC’s recourse to tendentious gossip in an attempt to protect the embattled former governor amounts to glorifying corruption and with the woeful defeat of APC in the state, which it ran to total bankruptcy and near collapse notwithstanding the huge internally generated revenue and accruements from the federal allocations, it is commonsense to fathom why they insist in remaining in office to cover up their loots.

“Amaechi would not in any way be an asset to President Muhammadu Buhari. He lacks the integrity and morality to speak

for Rivers people because his record of betrayal is evident. We describe as baseless, the defense of former Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s ministerial nomination by the APC that he will be an asset to the President.”

Responding, the APC, through its Publicity Secretary, Mr Chris Finebone, said the PDP had now resorted to fake Internet news to blackmail the Senate against Amaechi’s screening.

According to him, “It has come to the notice of the Rivers State APC that Governor Nyesom Wike and the PDP in their failed bid to ensure that the Senate does not screen Amaechi, have now resorted to publishing

counterfeit news items through their sponsored Internet news outlets. One of the PDP's internet outlets is Nigeriana.org with a fake story captioned “APC Ministerial Crisis: ‘Screen And Confirm Me or Refund My Money’ - Angry Amaechi To APC Leaders.” Another of such fake story is by the notorious PDP Scannewsnigeria.com with a caption, “Ministerial Screening of Buhari’s Sponsor: EFCC arrests Minority Leader as FG intimidates PDP Senators.

In both online publications, agents of Governor Wike and the PDP tried to justify the huge funds the Rivers State governor is giving to them by concocting wild stories in form of news

which are put out to mislead unsuspecting and gullible online readers.”

“It is important to emphasize that Amaechi did not speak with any journalist as stated in the Nigeriana.com story under reference. He also did not at anytime hold any discussion with associates, friends or any person/persons over the matter of his Senate screening at any time and certainly did not and still does not have reasons to discuss such issues with anyone along the lines expressed by the online publication. Former Governor Amaechi is at peace with himself and God."

IBA CONFERENCE: From left: National Publicity Secretary, Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Mr Gbolahan Gbadamosi; Mr Hannibal Uwaifo, NBA, President Chief Augustine Alegeh (SAN) and Mr Olu Akpata, at the 2015 Vienna International Bar Assocation, IBA, Conference.

Crisis looms in Edo Assembly over alleged plans to impeach Speaker

By Simon Ebegbulem

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ENIN—CRISIS is looming in Edo State House of Assembly, following alleged plans to impeach the Speaker, Mr Victor Edoror, by aggrieved lawmakers over perceived unaccounted funds and greed.

There are fears of a rowdy session today as no fewer than 18 lawmakers are said to be threatening to impeach the speaker.

It is alleged that out of the 41 Special Advisers allotted to the lawmakers, rather than share the positions to the 24 members of the House, the speaker is accused of confiscating the entire positions.

Out of the 24 lawmakers, the APC has 21 while the PDP has three.

Vanguard learned that N18 million budgeted for induction of members and N36 million accrued to the House from Local Government Councils, meant for maintenance of the quarters of the lawmakers were yet to be made available to other lawmakers.

C M Y K

According to sources, the alleged plans to impeach the Speaker by no fewer than 18 aggrieved lawmakers were perfected Saturday night.

They threatened to make today's sitting impossible unless the Speaker accounts for the money or he face impeachment.

It was further alleged that both the Deputy Speaker of the

House, Mr Bright Osayande and the Majority Leader, Foly Ogedengbe, were not being carried along in the affairs of the Assembly by the Speaker, a situation that was said to have worsened his problem.

One of the aggrieved lawmakers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “Many things have been going

wrong in this House but we have decided to remain calm to allow Governor Adams Oshiomhole concentrate on his work. Initially, some of us were even blaming the governor that may be he was the one taking members for granted but we have discovered that the governor has been doing his best in terms of welfare for lawmakers but our problem is the Speaker."

DESOPADEC assures on completion of skills acquisition centre in 6 months

By Emma Amaize

A

SABA—MANAGING Director, MD, of Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, Chief William Makinde, weekend, expressed disappointment over the dilapidated condition of the Skills Acquisition Centre, Afieseri, Ughelli, assuring that the commission would complete it within the next six months.

Makinde, who inspected the

centre, the ongoing construction of Ubogo Road and Ughievwen Kingdom palace in Ughelli, also said the commission would complete its abandoned viable projects to the oil-bearing communities of the state.

Earlier, the Ovie of Ughelli Kingdom, Oharisi III, appealed to the DESOPADEC MD to complete the ongoing construction of the Ovie's palace, lamenting that the commission ignored series of letters written to it previously on the matter.

Meanwhile, the people of Oghara-Eki in Ethiope West Local Government Area, have commended Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for appointing their son, Makinde, as MD of DESOPADEC. Chief Gabriel Ofotokun, who led a delegation on a courtesy visit to Makinde at his Warri office, said the elders, chiefs and women of Oghara-Eki were grateful to Governor Okowa for appointing Makinde, as MD of DESOPADEC.

Ijaw youths decry FG's alleged failure to commiserate with Alam's family

I

JAW youths, on the aegis of Egbema Youth Front, EYF, have expressed dismay over alleged failure of the Presidency to commiserate with the family of former Bayelsa State governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha on the demise of the former governor.

Daniel Sapele, leader of EYF who spoke after an enlarged meeting of the group at Ogbotobo community, Ekeremor Local Government Area of the Bayelsa, said in spite of the insinuation about Alamieyeseigha, members would rejuvenate his spirit during the December 5th governorship election by returning governor Seriake Dickson to power.

He said: "The death of important political figure, irrespective of political, ethnic or religious leanings, needs to be commiserated by the federal government."

Fire guts former Edo deputy govs office complex

By Simon Ebegbulem

B

ENIN—A strange fire, weekend, gutted the office complex of the former deputy governor of Edo state, Reverend Peter Obadan.

The complex which housed an event centre located along Commercial Avenue in the Government Reservation Area, GRA, Benin City, was razed before help could come from men of the Fire Service.

The incident occurred last Friday.

Vanguard learned that some of the gift items meant for the burial of the mother of the incumbent state deputy governor, Dr Pius Odubu, were destroyed in the inferno.

When contacted, Rev. Obadan expressed shock, saying, “I cannot understand because Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC, officials came to check and they said it was not an electrical fault. Several things were destroyed including the hall at the event centre.

“We thank God no life was lost."

VANGUARD, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015—13

Transfer of DSS Director, CP, plots by APC to rig Dec 5 poll —PDP Allegations are laughable, says APC Y

By Emem Idio

ENAGOA—PEOPLES Democratic Party, PDP, in Bayelsa State has attrbuted the transfer of the state Director of the Department of State Services, DSS, Bassaleg AlHassan and the state Commissioner of Police, Paul Okafor from Bayelsa to plots by the All Progressives Congress, APC-led federal government to rig the December 5 governorship election.

While the Police Commissioner, Paul Okafor, was reportedly transferred last month, the Director of DSS in the state was transferred recently.

Chairman of the state chapter of the PDP, Chief Serena Dokubo-Spiff, said the removal of the Police commissioner after a similar transfer of the state Director of DSS, Baba Alhassan, a month to the election, raised questions about the motives for such actions.

But in a swift reaction to the allegations, the state Publicity

Secretary of the APC, Mr. Fortune Paniebi, while dismissing the allegation as laughable, said the PDP ordinarily should have nothing to fear ahead of the December 5 governorship election if they were ready, stressing that the transfers of the heads of security agencies in the state were purely the prerogative of the agencies.

Paniebi said: “There is no relationship between the transfers of these men with the increasing rate in criminal activities because crime has always been on the increase even before their transfers. So far as I know, there was no petition by the APC against these people. Their postings are purely the prerogative of the agencies. The PDP is merely crying foul and making excuses and this implies that they are not ready for the polls.”

However, Dokubo-Spiff who condemned the transfer of the

two security chiefs, in a statement in Yenagoa, described them as well

A

B U J A — A K WA Ibom chapter of All Progressives Congress, APC, has accused the State Election Petitions Tribunal chairman, Justice Goddy Anunihu, of conspiracy with Senator Godswill Akpabio, to rob it of victory.

The party described the tribunal’s judgment that confirmed Akpabio's election as the representative of Akwa Ibom North-East in the Senate as “ wholesale miscarriage of justice”, vowing to appeal the judgment at the Court of Appeal.

It further submitted that Justice Anunihu’s ruling that gave victory to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had once again plunged the judiciary into a state of disrepute and ridicule.

APC spoke through its state chairman, Dr. Attai Amadu, who alongside party officials, briefed newsmen in Abuja over the weekend.

Faulting the ruling, Amadu said it was inconsistent on the part of the tribunal to have dismissed the petition of the APC candidate for Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial

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district, Chief Inibehe Okori, on the grounds that Akpabio’s candidacy in Akwa Ibom North-East senatorial district rather than Akwa Ibom North West where the APC candidate contested, was a “mistake” Amadi said: “The APC in

Akwa Ibom State observes with horror the wholesale miscarriage of justice in the outcome of the various petitions filed by the party and its candidates at the Akwa Ibom State National and State Assembly Election Petition Tribunals."

OIL THEFT: FOC accuses security personnel of compromise

By Egufe Yafugborhi

W

ARRI—FL AG O f f i c e r Commanding Central Naval Command, FOC, CNC, of the Nigerian Navy, NN, Rear Admiral Apochi Suleiman, has accused soldiers guarding oil installations in the creeks of compromising their duties to encourage oil theft and operation of illegal refineries in the area.

Suleiman made the accusation when he confronted soldiers on guard at Jones Creek oil fields, Warri South-West Local Government area, Delta State, where he led men of the NN Ship, NNS Delta to raid and destroy five local refineries and 11 large wooden boats bearing stolen crude oil.

decision to transfer them was “unwise and curious” at this period in the state.

CONDOLENCE VISIT: Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State (right), during a condolence visit by members of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, led by the Speaker, Kombowei Benson (3rd left), over the death of former Bayelsa State Governor, Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha, at the Government House, Yenagoa. Photo: Ayebatonye Goodluck.

A-IBOM TRIBUNAL: APC vows to appeal judgment

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

experienced officers who understood the terrain of the state so well, claiming that the

Disturbed at the proximity between the houseboat accommodating the soldiers guarding the oil facilities and the spots where the crude oil was stolen and processed at the illegal refineries, he told the guards, “You are compromising. You cannot be here and these criminalities are happening.”

However, a Staff Sergeant who led the soldiers on guard responded that: “Our duty is to look after the oil personnel and the work they do here.”

But Suleiman countered him, saying “your duty is all encompassing. These crude stealing boats don’t move in the air. They pass through your post and the illegal cooking points are so close. You can’t be blind to these things.”

14 — Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

Borno begins reconstruction of destroyed towns, villages Sets date for return of IDPs

M

AIDUGURI—THE Borno State Government said on yesterday that it will soon commence relocation of Internally Displace Persons (IDPs) to their communities

by January 2016.

Gov. Kashim Shettima, said this while briefing journalists shortly after inspecting the first phase of reconstruction work in Kaga Local Government Area of the state.

“Our target is that by January, a chunk of our IDPs should return home; we will make very

strenuous effort toward reconstructing towns and villages.

“We hope and believe that all our people should have returned home by May 29, 2016 when we will mark our fifth year anniversary in office.

“This is our target, it might be ambitious but by the grace of God, we shall be there,” Shettima said.

He said his administration decided to start the first phase of the reconstruction with Kaga local government area in order to attract Federal

Government’s commitment as well as that of other support organisations.

The governor said Kaga was also chosen because of its easy accessibility to the reconstruction workers.

He assured that Bama, Gwoza and Askira Uba would be accommodated in the next phase of reconstruction as construction equipment were being assembled in sites located in the three local government areas.

“As you can see, we are using POPs instead of Brazilian ceilings in all the buildings.

“We have inspected the classrooms, offices, hostels,

dining halls and other areas in the primary and secondary schools.

“We have also inspected the hospital buildings, their wards, offices, staff quarters, and housing estates.

“We are completely rebuilding the attacked communities with a remodeling mindset to turn them to cities with modern facilities that will stand the test of time,” Shettima said.

He commended the Buhari Administration for its commitment to end insurgency in the area, saying that the commitment was a morale booster to the state government.

BOKO HARAM: FG hosts 2-day stakeholders’ forum

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

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BUJA—FEDERAL government through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is convening a two day Engagement Forum with local and international stakeholders in Maiduguru, Borno State to bring relief, restoration and rehabilitation to Internally Displaced Persons in the North-East.

The interactive forum tagged “North-East Humanitarian MultiStakeholder Engagement: Coordination, Communication and Cooperation would hold on Tuesday at the MultiPurpose Hall in the Borno State Government House.

A statement from the

office of the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande stated that the forum is expected to establish a framework for coordination by bringing key stakeholders together to produce a blueprint for best practices and ensure an articulated response to emergencies and humanitarian challenges in the three most affected states of the North East; Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe States.

According to the statement, “This interactive forum with relevant international and local NGOs, development partners, aid & donor agencies will create an enabling platform to discuss the most efficient

Onwenu advocates new education policy for girl-child

By Grace Udofia

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BUJA—THE Director-General, National Centre for Women Development (NCWD), Lady Onyeka Onwenu (MFR) has called on the Federal Government to develop a new education policy for the girl child.

Onwenu made the call in Abuja at the just concluded commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child and the annual Women and Girl summit held at the National Centre for Women Development.

She also advocated the establishment of the centres for women development across the 36

states of the federation and Federal Capital Territory and the 774 Local Government Areas in the country.

She noted that efforts must be made by policy makers and other stakeholders to protect the interest and provide for the girl child in formulating education policies and other programmes.

She said, “In everything we do, we must begin to factor-in the girl child and be specific about it, in terms of education policy. We normally fit in the girl child in cracks, but we can do better if there is an education policy that is well articulated and demonstrated.

approaches to adopt towards complementing efforts of the Federal and State Governments with specialized services in the affected areas and thereby ensure a sustained and coherent system for social services delivery in the region.

“It will put in focus, the desirability for complementary, resultsdriven, goals-targeted collaboration of efforts among the Federal and State Governments, Non G o v e r n m e n t a l Organizations’ and other stakeholders within the framework of the Federal Government’s plan in both the short and long term.

“The forum will also strengthen stakeholders’ coordination and management efforts, in order to ensure that NGOs are provided with adequate capacity for optimal service delivery as well as services provided by these NGOs having the widest impact in target areas.

“Stakeholders are expected to deliberate on a workable draft that harmonizes the joint efforts concerned with the Internally Displaced and Nigerian refugees in general.

“This engagement forum with the active involvement of NEMA and other developmental partners is expected to achieve improvement in the coordination of relevant stakeholders, harmonized channels for supporting humanitarian assistance, mapping and endorsing sound protocol for sharing information between stakeholders and the public.''

VISIT: The Executive Secretary/CEO of the Nigerian Shippers' Council, Mr. Hassan Bello addressing the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (retd) and members of his management team when the latter paid a courtesy visit to the headquarters of the Nigerian Shippers' Council in Lagos.

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015 — 15

UNTH performs surgeries with candles, torch-lights, —ARD President Paediatrics

dept loses accreditation

By Francis Igata

E

NUGU—FOREMOST teaching hospital in the south-east geopolitical zone, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital,UNTH,ItukuOzalla,Enugu State,weekend, was described as a facility where simple ailments transmute to complex diseases.

This was made known by the Association of Resident Doctors,ARDs which also regretted the complete collapse of the hospital's management which resulted in carrying out surgeries with torches and candles because of dysfunctional generaing sets dotting the hospital.

Addressing a press conference, weekend, at the ARD Common Room at UNTH, President, Association of Resident Doctors, Dr. Ifedinso Ugwuoke explained that the association having exhausted all reasonable avenues to salvage the rot in the tertiary hospital, decided to shut down medical services. It also accused the Chief Medical Director, Dr. Christopher Amah of refusing to implement a written and signed agreement with Ref No: UNTH/CMD/ R98C/Vol.204 dated September 15,2015 to pay resident doctors their skipping allowance as approved by the Head of Service to the Federation, which other teaching hospitals in the southeast geopolitical zones are paying in full.

“We have decided to embark on an indefinite strike over the entire failure in the system. The aim for which this tertiary hospital was established which is service, research and training have failed totally. UNTH being on strike is better. The hospital has been turned to a money collecting centre where patients are made to pay for oxygen when they did not use

same.

“In times of emergency, common investigations like HB, CT scan,blood banks tests cannot be done in the hospital. Patients are made to travel 20km to private hospitals in the metropolis to do these tests which compound, a simple ailment to a complex one.

In most cases,the patients die as

Docs

embark on strike

a result.

“We carry out surgeries with torch and candle lights following power failure and dysfunctional generators. It is only the poorest of the poor that now come to UNTH as a last resort. Patients are made to pay above Federal Government approved rates for receiving no services from the

A

BAKALIKI—A faction of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB weekend called on the Federal government to immediately release the Radio Biafra Director, Nnamdi Kanu who was arrested by the Department of State Service, DSS, in Lagos.

In a statement issued in Abakaliki, the National Director of Information, MASSOB, Comrade Uchenna Madu threatened that any refusal by the Federal Government to ensure the release of Kanu would lead to a worldwide demonstration which would endanger the already battered

water in the entire UNTH. That is why the Paediatrics Department has now lost its accreditation.

Patients and visitors draw water from a well that is over 20 years old.

"Water from that well is horrible to human health. That is why we say that a UNTH that is on strike is better than a UNTH that is not on strike."

Fmr NUJ president makes Ikpeazu’s commissioners’ list

By Anayo Okoli

U

BRIEFING: Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, FMARD, Sonny Echono, flanked from the left by the FAO Representative in Nigeria, Dr. Lousie Setshwalo, and from the right by Director, Planning and Policy Co-ordination, FMARD, Mrs. Rabi Idi – Adamu, during the ministerial press briefing to commemorate the celebration of the 2015 World Food Day, in Abuja.

We've cleared salary arrears, says Abia govt ...frowns at LG wage bill

By Anayo Okoli

U

MUAHIA—ABIA State Governrment said that all outstanding salaries and pensions in the state have been transmitted to banks for onward disbursement to their beneficiaries even as Governor Okezie Ikpeazu reminded the

workers that “to whom much is given, much is expected” and urged them to reduce the time they spend on frivolities and focus on their work.

A statement issued by Mr. Sam Hart, Senior Special Adviser to the Governor, Public Communications, quoted the Chairman of the State Bailout

MASSOB faction condemns arrest of Radio Biafra Director, demands his release

By Peter Okutu

hospital. The public have since known that they cannot access quality medicare in UNTH which used to serve the entire southeast geopolitical zone.

“The sanitary condition of the hospital where doctors perform consultation and diagnosis has made it a recipe for contagious diseases. There is no running

image of Nigeria before the international community.

The statement read in part: “MASSOB has condemned the arrest and detention of Radio Biafra Director, Nnamdi Kanu.

We also accept the fact that his arrest is an outcome of nonviolent struggle as no agitation is complete without arrests, detentions & prosecution.

“These shape the minds of the activists and draw sympathy from the internal and external observers. It also shows that Nnamdi Kanu and Radio Biafra have become a factor of reckoning in Nigeria.

“The arrest and detention of Nnamdi Kanu by DSS will assist

immensely in reviving the consciousness & sympathy for Biafra actualization which was temporarily halted by Ralph Uwazuruike’s deviation and lust for wealth.

“This singular arrest will cause more diplomatic harm on Nigeria’s image. Before N n a m d i Kanu’s arrest, he has succeeded in rooting the Biafra struggle in about 78 countries including Biafraland.

Funds Management Committee, Mr. Obinna Oriaku as saying that the Committee worked in line with Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s directive to ensure that all salaries and pension arrears in Abia State were offset by October 30, 2015.

Vanguard learnt that about N8 billion was so far disbursed for the payment of the arrears.

Meanwhile, the government had frowned at the current monthly allocation to the 17 local governemnt areas in the state, which it put at a whopping N1.5 billion with wage bill of workers alone put at N900 million, and urged the National Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, to cooperate with government in its ongoing workers verification exercise.

MUAHIA—THE former President of Nigeria Union of Journalists, Mr. Boni Iwuoha is among the 19 commissioner nominees Governor Okezie Ikpeazu submitted to the State House of Assembly for confirmation.

Also on the list are two former members of the House of Representatives, Mr. Eziuche Ubani and Chief Uzo Azubuike.

The Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr. Martins Azubuike read out the names which were submitted to him by the Governor on Wednesday.

The former deputy Chief of Staff to former governor Theodore Orji, Chief Charles Ogbonna also made the list and as well as former commissioner for women affairs in the State, Mrs. Chinedu Brown.

Former council chairman, Hagler Okorie, former council chairperson, Mrs. Nnenna Obewu and Mr. Chinwe Nwanganga, a commissioner in the immediate past administration, among others, equally made the list.

16 — Vanguard,MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

Buhari’s wife moves to save lives of mothers

By Francis Igata

E

NUGU—THE wife of the President, Hajia Aisha Muhammed Buhari, has urged the Nigerian women, especially pregnant and nursing mothers to always present themselves for proper medical attention in order to avert unnecessary health hazards.

Mrs Buhari in a speech through the wife of Enugu State governor, Mrs Monica Ugwuanyi, during her advocacy and community sensitization visit at Oji River General Hospital, expressed unhappiness at the rate women are dying during pregnancy and child birth in Nigeria and noted that precautionary measures must be taken to salvage the situation.

She maintained that every pregnant woman should attend antenatal clinic to know her health status and that of the unborn child and to ensure safe delivery.

POLIO:

Anambra CP lauds Rotary

By Vincent Ujumadu

A

WKA—THE Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hosea Karma has showered praises on the Rotary International for making efforts that ensured that Nigeria became polio free after several years of battling it.

Speaking after receiving community/professional service excellence award from the Rotary Club of Awka weekend, Karma said Nigerians should be grateful to members of the Rotary International for making it a point of duty to remove the name of Nigeria from countries that had suffered the scourge.

Karma said: “Generally, I don’t believe in awards, but this one by the Rotary International was a kind of warrant of arrest for me because of somebody I admire so much who is a Rotarian. The man is exemplary and I always want to associate with him.

“Rotary Club knows no religion, no tribe and that is what also attracts me to it. If we all follow the tenets of Rotary International, our country and the world will be a better place."

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Protest trails tribunal decisions in Abia

By Anayo Okoli

U

MUAHIA—IN reaction to last week’s tribunal judgments in Abia State which all went to PDP, hundreds of protesters under the aegis of “coalition of pressure groups” staged peaceful protests in Umuahia, weekend, to reject the outcome of the various petitions

filed against the PDP candidates in the National Assembly elections of March 2015.

The bulk of the petitions were filed by candidates of All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA. The placard-carrying protesters, who chanted solidarity songs, trooped to the Abia State secretariat of APGA on Ikot Ekpene road in Umuahia to

register their displeasure.

To ensure that the process was not hijacked by miscreants, antiriot policemen were on the side of the road watching what was going on.

Some of the placards bore the inscriptions, 'APGA leaders, can you recover our mandate?' 'We need justice at the election tribunal,' 'Tribunal judgments are unfair,” among others.

DINNER: From left, Director, ARM Pension Managers Limited, Daniel Akujobi; Country Manager, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, CIMA, Ijeoma Anadozie; Managing Director, CIMA, Andrew Harding; Chief Operating Officer and Partner, KPMG Nigeria, Yomi Sanni, at the institute’s 2015 members’ dinner, in Lagos, last Friday.

Led by one Chukwuemeka Mba, the groups warned that there was a limit to human endurance to “injustice and subversion of truth,” saying that with what has happened at the National Assembly tribunal, they are afraid that APGA has surrendered their mandate to election mandate robbers.

According to Chukwuemeka Mba, the groups decided to embark on the protest as “the change we need here in Abia” was not being realized because of the verdicts coming out of the tribunal.

“The verdict of the NASS Election Petition Tribunal that gave legal stamp to incontrovertible fictitious results has justified our fears,” Mba said.

He further pointed out that they have been gripped with “apprehension” because of fears that the remaining petitions might not favour the opposition.

Addressing the protesters, the state chairman of APGA, Rev. Augustine Ehiemere commended the protesters for conducting themselves in a peaceful manner and assured that the party leadership would not rest on its oars until the “lost mandates” were recovered.

“I want to let you know that we are keeping in touch with both the judicial and political leaders at the highest level to ensure that those who are part of the criminal connivance to sell justice to the highest bidder are made to bear the consequences,” Ehiemere said.

Imo NMA spoils for war with govt

By Chidi Nkwopara & Chinonso Alozie

O

WERRI—SERIOUS labour crisis is now brewing in Imo State medical sector as the leadership of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, has made a six-point demand on Imo State Government, including full and immediate payment of eight months salary arrears of doctors and health workers in the state.

Addressing a news conference in Owerri at the weekend, the NMA Chairman, Dr. Hyacinth Emele, also identified payment of the corrected CONMESS and skipping, to doctors working in the state as part of the problem.

“NMA demands the expansion of facilities, including manpower and equipment at Imo State University Teaching Hospital, IMSUTH, general hospitals and Primary Health Centres, especially IMSUTH, in order to train more medical doctors and maintain accreditation”, the NMA leadership said.

The doctors equally demanded immediate lifting of the ban on promotion of doctors and other health workers, as well as immediate reversal of the process of handing over of public health institutions to private individuals.

Equally irked by what the doctors termed “lip service the present administration pays to the health sector”, the doctors also called for “genuine commitment by the government to make sure

that the health institutions function optimally, for the good of all”.

While alerting the public of that the accreditation granted IMSUTH Medical School may soon be lost, if government refuses to expand the training facilities, the NMA leadership however lamented that the state government “chose to embark on

the building of 27 poorly sited new General Hospitals, without proper planning”.

The doctors accused Governor Rochas Okorocha of going on with the construction of the new hospitals without identifying the needs of the people and running against the advice of NMA to do a pilot study with one hospital in

each of the three senatorial zones of the state.

While recalling with grief that the concessioning of the Specialist Hospital, Owerri, was counter productive, the NMA also condemned the planned handing over of all public health institutions to private individuals.

FESTAC ROBBERY: Lagos PDP chair queries

Ambode

F

ACTIONAL CHAIRMAN of the Lagos State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, Hon. Kamal Olorunoje, recently took a swipe on the Lagos State government and the All Progressives Congress over their inability to curtail its security challenges, especially with the threat of armed robbery and other criminal activities in recent times.

In a statement, weekend, by the chairman, against the backdrop of the Festac banks attack, queried the use of the billions of naira generated from the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, LSSTF, and opined that the monies may be embezzled at the expense of the security of lives and properties of the good people of Lagos.

On Monday, for over two hours, some dare-devil armed robbers held residents of FESTAC Town, hostage as they robbed two banks at 4th Avenue.

The robbers had accessed FESTAC Town through 4th Avenue and stormed Access and Diamond Banks on that axis and successfully robbed them without

any hitches.

Despite the gun duel with the police which residents said lasted for two hours, the robbers undauntingly carried out their operations and escaped again through the waterways.

The statement read in part: “We, (as a party) are appalled by the insensibility of this administration on security, education and providing gainful employment to Lagosians.

“The state government has been hoarding funds donated to the LSSTF. The lives of all Lagosians should be regarded sacred and efforts put in place to provide security should not be abused.

“The police force is underfunded and if they are motivated, their performance will be optimal. At this juncture, I am calling on the governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and other members of the security trust committee to render an account of how monies realised from the fund are being used.

“I am also calling on the Economic and Financial Crimes

Commission, EFCC, to beam its searchlight on the activities of LSSTF. “We have said it severally that the Lagos State Security Trust Fund is a conduit pipe organised by the All Progressives Congress to siphon money.”

Olorunoje quoted Ambode’s admission recently after over a billion naira was raised for security.

Ambode had said: “I can admit we lack the right technology. We don’t have a holistic approach to coordinate everything that we are doing and then we don’t have the security management that Lagos actually needs, so we are under policed and we are not getting the right technology to be able to say that Lagos is secure. We must now integrate men, equipment and technology to keep Lagos safer,” he said.

Ambode also admitted that a total of N4billion has been donated by individuals and organisations while the state government has contributed about N8 billion to the fund.

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015—17

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18 — Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015 AT the recent Financial Times Africa Summit in London Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Mr Godwin Emefiele, defended his foreign exchange policy, which has tended towards administrative controls since the begining of this year. He had contended that the policy had so far ensured relative stability in the foreign exchange market and the value of the Naira against major world currencies.

But foreign investors and the international media disagree, claiming that the perceived stability is a myth and indicating that trouble lies on the horizon.

CBN’s effort at administrative foreign exchange management obviously signposts much deeper problems in the economy, the major one being the weakening of the external reserve and foreign exchange supply gaps. The consequence is that businesses are going through untold hardship, and the economy could plunge deeper towards recession.

The CBN is sticking to its adminis-

Between controls and free forex market trative management strategy where it determines both exchange rates and supply. By this, the Bank believes it would curtail unwholesome demands for foreign exchange while protecting the Naira and the nation’s foreign reserves from free fall. But foreign investors are of the view that market forces should determine both the demand and supply, and ultimately the value of the Naira so as to avoid arbitraging and economic distortions.

The CBN obviously has the best interest of Nigerians in its policy.

The concern for Nigeria’s interest as

against external interest is natural but we need to diagnose those external interests to see if they are really antiNigeria. Of concern is the impact of devaluation of the Naira on the economy and the livelihood of the average citizen.

A free market foreign exchange policy may put pressure on the external reserves and exchange rate.

A devalued Naira would mean increased inflation and cost of living.

However, classical monetary economists would also argue that a devalued local currency would

discourage imports while giving impetus to exports. But this would be to the advantage of an economy that has a manufacturing base and Nigeria is obviously not such yet.

The current administrative strategy appears to be giving a temporary and even false sense of security whereas in reality it is not sustainable over a reasonable period of time, especially against Nigeria’s troubling oil revenue profile.

As a matter of fact the protective policy has forced CBN to be the only supplier of foreign exchange in the market and this is already putting the foreign reserve on steady decline thereby defeating the very objective of the policy.

We advise CBN to explore economic trajectories that are more open to alternative courses of action. We urge it to periodically reappraise the protectionist policy, stimulate interbank foreign exchange trade and support real sector development.

OPINION Nigeria's disunity and the albatross of national integration

By Bobson Gbinije "I look forward to the day, not in the distant future, when Ijaw would be President of our Republic and a Berom his running mate or vice versa.

Hence, in our politics of today or tomorrow, there would be neither north nor south, neither Igbo, Yoruba nor Hausa”. - Chief Obafemi Awolowo (House Debates: 1963) HE potentials of any nation, are perpetually destroyed when they are cracked through natural, socio-economic, political, tribal, religious and cultural etc imbroglios. Hence, most nations must tread with cardinal circumspection and caution, because they are fulcrummed on a diaphanous and delicate balance. Nigeria is a quintessential example.

The Berlin conference of 1884/1885 led to the arbitrary delimitation of the continent of Africa into puppet states. The principles of the negation further led to the formation of the Nigerian Nation as a result of the agglomeration of different heterogeneous ethnic group of peoples and an appendage of the British colonial master’s Sphere of Influence.

The Amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates in 1914 consolidated the march to Nigeria’s Nationhood, through Constitution building, culminating in Independence in 1960 and Nigeria became a Republic in 1963. But, the sage Chief

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C M Y K

Obafemi Awolowo then still called Nigeria a mere geographical expression because of the short fall of the foundational equipoise and ingredients of a full blown nation. After the Nigeria/Biafra Civil War, Chief Emeka Odumegu Ojukwu observed in his book Because I Am Involved that, “the Realists have gained by virtue of being aware that there is/was no such nation as Nigeria, but a Nigeria is yet to be created as a Synthesis of divergent and often conflicting interests”.

The albatross and bone of disunity in Nigeria has often been multi-dimensionally attributed to our Colonial Masters and their self-serving administrative Organogramme and selfish policies during their rule. Some historians have argued that it is mainly due to collective amnesia, religious bigotry, political parochialism, social injustice, tribal prejudices, neo-colonialism, psychotic corruption, primitive ethnocentricity, leadership failure, political Party’s distrust/ mistrust, lack of National orientation and

Since Independence in 1960, the political engineering process in our march to nationhood and unity has being sunken in a roller coaster of unbridled political massacres

patriotism etc.

During the struggle for Nigeria’s independence, the murky political landscape was further compounded by the uncompromisingly disunited stand and primordial antics of our politicians. It will be recalled, that the motion calling for Nigeria’s independence by 1956 was tabled by the Action Group (AG) in the House of Representatives in 1953 by Mr. but later Chief Anthony Enahoro . It was this motion that stimulated the crisis which led to the constitutional conference of 1953 in London, at which Regional Self-Government was promised for any Region that might desire it st at any time after 31 March, 1957.

This Singular political action was the coup de grace that precipitated and compounded the disunity of Nigeria through regionalism, tribalism and rascality in Nigeria’s political firmament. The Northern People’s Congress (NPC) opposed the choice of independence in 1956 as sponsored by the Action Group (AG).

The West and the East under the AG and the National Council of Nigeria and Cameroons (NCNC) administrations respectively opted for regionalism or Regional Self-Government in 1957. The North did not do so until 1959.

It is unquestionably obvious that it was the tabling by the AG in 1953 of the motion for Self-Government that accelerated the process of Nigeria’s attainment of independence in 1960. But, it brought with it all the negative forces of disunity, nepotism and consummate malversation.

In his own submission after the Civil War, Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu observed in his book Because I Am Involved that “To Attribute Nigeria’s predicament to the fact that the various groupings did not come into Nigeria as Sovereign entities is not only erroneous but also a falsification of history. I believe we were sovereign in our groupings and it is that sovereignty that each group should be prepared to negotiate in order to obtain a superior Nigerian Sovereignty”.

Since Independence in 1960, the political engineering process in our march to nationhood and unity has being sunken in a roller coaster of unbridled political massacres, social schisms, religious insurgencies, terrorism, tribal wars, community decimations, civil war (Nigeria/Biafra 1967-1970), shameful carnages, military interregnums, military putsch, students unrest, labour union’s strikes, constitutional amendments, introduction and re-introduction of Democracy, revamping and refurbishment of the electoral process, the NYSC programme, constitutional provision for recognition of rights, freedom, federal character, political parties recognition of Geo-political zones and Rotative Presidency, unity Schools, citizenship Right in every community etc to no avail.

Continues tomorrow on pg 18 On Thursday & Friday credit for the article ' General election is percursor to corruption' was given to Edwin Mbadiwe instead of Eddie Mbadiwe. The error is regretted.

*Mr. Gbinije, a social critic, wrote from Warri, Delta State.

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015—19 Send Opinions & Letters to: opinions1234@yahoo.com

The ears of the Senate President

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LHAJI Lai Mohammed, the Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is ordinarily, a quiet, shylooking man. That is how those of us who have known him over the decades see him. But as spokesperson of the opposition, he became so fiery and effective that under the Obasanjo administration, some feared for his safety. So I wrote a piece “Watching over Lai Mohammed” Those were years before APC was born. With the change party, he fully blossomed into a mass media warrior taking especially on the then ruling party. Like or dislike him, he could not be ignored and he came to set a standard in inter party warfare.

So when he was nominated a Minister, lots of drama and fireworks were expected at his confirmation hearing where the opposition party had a solid forty nine seats in a 109-seat Senate.

If there were two major nominees expected to be drilled in what has become a political war of

attrition, he was expected to be one of them. A battle of wits was expected. Even for Senators who might have been nominated, the Senate had announced that the era of ‘Take a bow’ was over; every nominee was to pass through the crucible. But when Lai Mohammed galloped into the Senate, escorted by party heavy weights, a shocked nation watched as he was asked to take a bow. Since he had never been a Senator, why the special treatment? With this, his confirmation seemed a forgone conclusion. But there was some controversy when a voice vote was called by Senate President, Bukola Saraki. What might not have been considered, was that the voices of the opposition PDP Senators can be very loud when it came to the issue of a man who doubtlessly played a major role in the transformation of their ordained ruling party into the opposition.

The ears of the Senate President, more so given the crucial role he plays in the Senate, must be very sharp. His

ears as the third highest political officer holder, are doubtlessly full. He has to listen to all sorts; the truth, half-truth and falsehood. Given this reality, he must have learnt to filter what he hears, or thinks he hears. It will also be natural for him as he takes in all sorts of information, disinformation and misinformation, to shut out what he does not want to hear.

Conversely, he can also take in what he wants to hear. But all these might be at the level of the subjective.

Objectively, humans hear a lot.

But sometimes, we think we hear something, perhaps a knock on the door, and it turns out to be false. One can be all ears, yet fail to hear. It is like seeing, but not observing. In our native wisdom in parts of the country, we assume the ears have just one primary function. An elder wanting to tell the younger one some truth will ask in an unconsciously rehearsed

Saraki’s ears are perfect; what he ears as Senate President, is what the Senate ears; so wisely, nobody challenged his ruling that Lai Mohammed is confirmed a Minister of the Federal Republic

Woes of SAs to the President

By Eric Teniola

M

y friendship with Dr. Chuba Wilberforce Okadigbo (19412003),the Oyi of Oyi began in 1977 when I covered the proceedings of the constituent assembly. The friendship cemented fully when I covered the Presidential campaign between 1978 and 1979. So when President Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari(90) appointed Dr. Okadigbo as a Special Adviser in December 1979, I made several attempts, as a friend, to visit him in his office in the then Dodan Barracks in Lagos which was then the seat of the Presidency.

All my attempts to see him in his office became futile. And I wondered why. It was my friend Toye Akiyode(Agosko) who was covering the then State House that told me that Dr. Okadigbo and five of his colleagues who are special Advisers to the President, were managing only one room with one Secretary.

He said because Dr. Okadigbo who was a smoker did not want to disturb his colleagues, was often seen at the corridors.

In short he had no office and no schedule as a special adviser, and that was why he was uncomfortable in granting my request to see him in the office.

I understood his feelings with pity then.

Dr. Okadigbo gave a schedule to himself by attacking the political enemies of his bossincluding Chief Obafemi Awolowo,Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Mallam Aminu Kano in the newspapers-an albatross which he later regretted in life when he became a political leader in his own right.

In 2003 another friend, Professor Tony Segun Adegbulugbe was appointed by President Olusegun Obasanjo as special adviser on Energy. To his credit Prof.

Adegbulugbe’s academic credentials has not been broken till today at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife as an outstanding scholar.

Following the appointment, his numerous friends took to the papers to congratulate

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him after being sworn-in. For about nine months, he had no office. He was shuttling between the office of the then Director of special duties in the SGF’s office, Dr. Goke Adegoroye and my office in the eleventh floor, Federal Secretariat office of the SGF. His companion then was his PA, Prince Segun Ilori, who was always carrying his briefcase.

The Management of the NNPC refused him an office in the NNPC and even an official car. Prof. Adegbulugbe’s only consolation was the State House identity card to attend to the weekly executives council meetings. Not until the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Ufot Ekaette personally intervened on his matter that Prof.Adegbulugbe could get an office and official car. And that took almost a year.

Prof.Adegbulugbe’s ordeal as a special adviser was not different from his colleagues who were appointed special advisers to the President.

Both Dr. Okadigbo and Prof. Adegbulugbe and all other special advisers suffered same fate. They were all treated as persona non grata both by the President who appointed them and the Ministers who they are to work

It does not look good for a Minister to have fifty six schedules and for a special adviser within the same government not to have any schedule at all

drama; “How many ears do you have?” “Two” “what do you use them for?” “For hearing” But this is wrong; ears are not just for hearing, they also naturally help human beings to maintain their balance so they don’t fall especially when they bend down to pick up something.

So the ears, doubtlessly, help the Senate President to also maintain political balance. When it came to Lai Mohammed, Saraki needed a good balance. First, although they belong to the same school of political change, they are of different tendencies. Given the low intensity combat that attended the enthronement of Saraki as Senate President, many would have watched out for his body language.

Secondly, they are both Kwarans with Ilorin as capital. Ilorin, from the days of the Afonja-Alimi intrigues and betrayal, has been famous for deft political moves where an individual’s loyalty to himself, rather than the collective, is not uncommon.

Thirdly, both men contested the 2003, Kwara State governorship elections in which Mohammed, flying the defunct Alliance for Democracy ticket was defeated.

With such deficit, how will it be seen if Lai Mohammed were not to scale the screening hurdle in a Senate presided by Saraki?

Would the Senate President have been able to convince anyone that he was not part of a plan to deny his kinsman a ministerial slot? This is more so when Saraki was said to have had his loyalist in mind to pick the Kwara State ministerial slot. If Mohammed was asked to take a bow, why would the same Senate deny him confirmation?

with. To make matters worse, Ministers and Permanent Secretaries were of no help to them.

On June 3 this year, the Senate, headed by David Mark, approved fifteen Presidential advisers for President Muhammadu Buhari.

I wonder what will be the fate of these SAs. It is high time we addressed the plight of the special advisers to the President who have no schedule and responsibilities and who are either here nor there within the government. Their appointments should not be to fulfill constitutional requirements or to satisfy political considerations. And you find out that most of these special advisers are very brilliant if given schedules of duties.

Some of them who climb to be Ministers have been found to be equally outstanding.

For example, the Minister of Woman Affairs and Development has the least schedule among Ministers. Apart from managing her Ministry, her other schedule is the National Centre for Woman Development, Abuja.

And the Minister with the highest schedule in the Government is the Minister of Education who has fifty-six schedules.

They include Federal Ministry of Education, Joint Admission and Matriculation Boards, The Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, The Federal Polytechnic, Bida, The Federal Polytechnic, Ede, The Federal Polytechnic, Idah, The Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, The Federal Polytechnic Kaura Namoda, The Federal Polytechnic, Mubi, The Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa, The Federal Polytechnic,Offa, The Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Yaba College of Technology, National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA),National Board for Technical Education, National Board for Educational Measurement, National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education, National Commission for Colleges of Education, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, Federal College of Education, Abeokuta, Federal College of Education(Tech), Akoka, Federal College of Education(Tech), Asaba, Federal College of Education(Tech),Bichi, Federal College of Education,(Eha-Amufu),

So when the Distinguished Senators roared “Ayes’ and ‘Nays’ there could only have been one conclusion, the ‘Ayes have it’ The controversy must have stemmed from the possibility that some misinterpreted the vibration from the roar; in other words, they used their middle ear, while Saraki used his inner ear. Saraki’s ears are perfect; what he ears as Senate President, is what the Senate ears; so wisely, nobody challenged his ruling that Lai Mohammed is confirmed a Minister of the Federal Republic.

With this master stroke, Saraki has broken down some of the walls erected against him for defying party orders not to contest as Senate President. By his decision, he scored a good goal for his party, and might have reduced the tension between his group and those opposed. Also, he has publicly, extended a hand of friendship to his party members who consider him disloyal.

The ears of the Distinguished can also be attuned to that of their President. Screening is not about the eloquence of nominees.

Otherwise, it will be easy for the camel to pass through the eye of a needle. So while Nigerians would have been applauding the performance of a Raji Fashola, Ibe Kachikwu or Kemi Adeosun, the ears of Senators would have been more for the message, rather than manner of delivery.

I am sure Senators were conscious that it was not only the nominees that were in public view; they themselves were.

Good we now have Ministers; our ears are itching for the news that governance has fully taken off.

Federal College of Education,(Tech), Gombe, Federal College of Education,(Tech), Gusau, Federal College of Education, Kano, Federal College of Education, Katsina, Federal College of Education, Kantagora, Federal College of Education,Obudu, Federal College of Education, Okene, Federal College of Education,(Special), Oyo, Federal College of Education, Pankshin, Federal College of Education,(Tech), Potiskum, Federal College of Education,(Tech),Umunze, Federal College of Education,Yola, Federal College of Education, Zaria, National Business and Technical Examinations Board, National Commission for Normadic Education, National Primary Education Commission, National Teachers Institute, National Universities Commission, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi,Bayero University,Kano, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Federal University of Technology of Owerri, University of Abuja, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, University of Agriculture, Makurdi, University of Benin, Benin City, University of Calabar, University of Jos, University of Uyo, Nigerian Education Bank, Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council(NERDC),The Nigerian French Language Village and the West African Examinations Council.

It does not look good for a Minister to have fifty six schedules and for a special adviser within the same government not to have any schedule at all.

The tradition has always been for a special adviser to be sworn in by the President and then directed to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation who will in turn arrange for accommodation and probably an office. That ends it. Thereafter, the special adviser is on his/her own. That should change with this regime. A special adviser must be given specific responsibility so as to be useful to government. The frustration of special advisers must end with this government. *Mr. Teniola, a former director at the presidency, wrote from Lagos.

20—Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

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HERE are many reasons to fear criminals. There are many reasons for which, when they are caught (especially by a mob) the urge to deprive them of their most prized possession – their lives – can be so overwhelming.

The fragile foundations of the nation’s unity and stability were visibly shaken when one of our most respected living elder statesmen, Chief Olu Falae, was kidnapped by “Fulani herdsmen”.

The spark of controversy this ignited set the nation on edge, as Falae’s Yoruba ethnic group was engaged in a face-off and media exchanges with the Fulani ethnic group. The Yoruba, through Afenifere’s spokesman, Chief Yinka Odumakin, accused “Fulani herdsmen” of invading farmlands in many parts of their homeland, killing, raping women, harassing villagers and involving themselves in abominable activities.

The Fulani, through the National Secretary of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Baba Ngelzarma, debunked the allegation, saying that there was no proof that the crime was committed by people from his ethnic stock. However, other Fulani spokesmen did admit that there are some criminal elements among them just as there are in every group. They maintained that even if it was found out that the culprits were of the Fulani stock; their crimes could not be used to demonise every Fulani herdsman, adding that a genuine Fulani cattle breeder will not abandon his flock for anything in the world.

Eventually, it turned out that the two sides were partly right. The culprits that the Directorate of State Services (DSS) paraded, Abdullahi Usman and Babaworo Kato, were Fulani, but not the usual Fulani herdsmen who go about with their flock without causing anyone pains. They were young desperados looking for quick money to celebrate Sallah and pay marriage bills. They were looking for “a big man” to snatch, and Chief Falae, being a humble farmer who regularly goes to his farm in “a Toyota Hilux jeep”, became handy. It had all the hallmarks of the usual plot by common criminals who could have been from any ethnic group. There was nothing political about it. But given the fact that the menace of “Fulani herdsmen” has been sweeping every corner of the country unchecked, especially the North Central zone, the kidnap of Falae became a dramatic flashpoint to get Nigerians glaring at one another with raised ethnic hackles.

Falae is not just another “big man”.

He was the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and later, Minister of Finance during the military government of General Ibrahim

Matters arising from Falae’s kidnap Babangida over 25 years ago. In 1999, he was adopted as the presidential candidate of the All People’s Party (APP). Falae is the first and only Nigerian that became the presidential candidate of a political party of which he was not even a member. He never contested in the presidential primaries of the APP in the Kaduna convention in February 1999. A man called Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu (now a ministerdesignate of the President Muhammadu Buhari regime) had been sponsored by one of the leaders of the APP, Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi, to stand for him as a proxy presidential candidate.

Meanwhile, Falae had contested for the ticket of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) at its Ibadan convention during

Our constitutional right to move freely and settle in any part of the country is not a licence to go and do whatever we like, we must be law-abiding and respect the legitimate sensibilities of fellow citizens. You can own property, pay your taxes, vote and be voted for and live responsibly in any part of the country. But you have no right to threaten lives and property of your hosts or put them to fear

which he defeated Chief Bola Ige. AD leaders chose Falae over Ige because they saw him as a more electable and nationally-appealing choice than Ige who had always been more of the orthodox Awoist/Yoruba political activist.

After Onu emerged for APP and Falae picked the ticket of the AD, Shinkafi made Onu to step down, and personally ceded the presidential ticket to Falae while he (Shinkafi) ran as his vice president. The North was hell-bent on ceding the presidential ticket to the South West as compensation for their annulment of Chief Abiola’s June 12th, 1993 presidential election and his eventual murder in detention. That was why Obasanjo was also given the presidential ticket of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), a party that was formed while he (Obasanjo) was still in General Sani Abacha’s jail in 1998.

It was the first time since 1999 that the North tried a merger with the West to secure the presidency for the South West, but it failed. Sixteen years later, another alliance between the North and West for the North’s Buhari was consummated and it became a historic success.

Eventually, Obasanjo defeated Falae at the polls, having enjoyed massive electoral support of voters from the South East, South-South and the North.

Falae’s true statesmanship showed in the fact that he never considered those who voted against him in 1999 as his political enemies. In the 2015 National Conference called by former President Goodluck Jonathan, Falae came out boldly and advocated for the creation of an additional state for the South East to give the Igbos their proper share of the number of states and balance the federation. He did not choose to remember that Igbos had voted for PDP (Obasanjo) against him in 1999.

Falae is, thus, one of the few remaining genuine statesmen in the country,

OPINION Osagie Ehanire: Ministerial nominee with a difference

By Chukwudi Enekwechi

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N this dispensation of “Change” , it is consoling that a personage like Dr. Osagie E. Ehanire is among the nominees for ministerial positions. As an accomplished medical doctor/surgeon he has distinguished himself in the medical profession and politics.

As a globally acknowledged surgeon he studied at Ludwig Maximillians University, Munich, Germany.

He also holds a post graduate Diploma from the Teaching Hospitals of the University of Dusseldorf and Essen Germany. Dr. Ehanire specialised in Anaesthesiology, General Surgery and Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery.

As senior Registrar, Clinical Instructor, University of Benin Teaching Hospital he introduced so many policies that led to the excellent services being provided by the teaching hospital.

As the Edo State coordinator of General Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organization where he put a strident defence of Buhari, from coast to coast, Dr. Osagie C M Y K

Ehanire campaigned vigorously for the election of Buhari by investing his resources and mobilising groups and championing the cause of “Change”.

With a background of a technocrat, medical practitioner, politician and management guru, Dr. Osagie Ehanire fits into the team expected to bring about Ehanire the envisaged “Change” represented which the present administration is Congress for championing.

Progressive In the area of humanitarian services and philanthropy, Change in the Dr. Ehanire has used his merger personal resources to elevate many disadvantaged people conference that to better and improved life. culminated into In his home state of Edo, he has used his resources to the formation of offer scholarships to indigent All Progressive students.

Congress, APC

comparable to General Yakubu Gowon, President Shehu Shagari, Alhaji Balarabe Musa and others; and quite unlike troublesome elders such as Olusegun Obasanjo and ethnic warlords, Chief Edwin Clark, Prof. Ango Abdullahi and Alhaji Ibrahim Commassie who would not allow the nation that did so much for them in their youth to have a moment’s rest.

The swift and decisive response of the Yoruba groups to the kidnap of Falae was mainly responsible for the expeditious hunt-down and apprehension of the young, misguided suspects. If they had not generated that frenzy, the law enforcement agencies would have looked the other way. The leaders of the North Central Nigeria, where similar criminals have been slitting the throats of babies, sacking communities and forcefully occupying their land, rustling cattle, raping and unleashing unimaginable scale of mayhem should take note. In Nigeria you must do more than sending wailing women to go and protest bare-breasted when powerful forces target your villages for extermination. You must do what Yoruba did after the kidnap of Falae: show some muscle, but do it lawfully.

Our constitutional right to move freely and settle in any part of the country is not a licence to go and do whatever we like. We must be law-abiding and respect the legitimate sensibilities of fellow citizens. You can own property, pay your taxes, vote and be voted for and live responsibly in any part of the country.

But you have no right to threaten lives and property of your hosts or put them to fear. Fulani leaders, cattle owners and breeders must call their people in the bushes to order and join in efforts to separate the criminals from the lawabiding nomadic shepherds.

The temptation to sound defiant after provoking other people will not be in the interest of anyone. We don’t want a situation where communities are pushed to take up arms to chase out fellow Nigerians because of invasive criminals roaming freely in the jungles, killing, stealing, kidnapping, sacking villages and occupying them in medieval fashion. We must avoid acts that will not promote our unity, cohesiveness and mutual cohabitation.

We must respect the feelings and sensibilities of one another, whether we are hosts or settlers.

Every Nigerian group has some of their people as settlers elsewhere in Nigeria and other parts of the world.

Let’s go by the golden rule: do not do unto others what you will not like them to do unto you. Let’s see criminals for what they are: beasts of no nation, and treat them accordingly.

Out of his conviction for Buhari’s stance on corruption, he joined the fray and has continuously propagated the cause across the length and breadth of Edo state and beyond. It is gratifying that the President has made right choices with the nomination of eminent Nigerians like Dr. Ehanire as ministers.

This team will be in the forefront to restore the glory of the land by providing adequate healthcare, reconstructing our dilapidated infrastructures such as roads, railways, power and the aviation sector. They will also have a herculean task to rebuild our dilapidated school buildings, revive Ajaokuta Steel plant which has being lying fallow since 1984. To sum it up, the new team must gird their loins to ensure that the agenda of Mr. President reflects positively in the lives of all Nigerians.

Dr. Ehanire represented Congress for Progressive Change in the merger conference that culminated into the formation of All Progressive Congress, APC. A native of Edo state, he was also a divisional consultant surgeon with the Shell Petroleum Development Company Ltd. He is also a trustee of the TY Danjuma Foundation and chairman of the board’s programmes, grants and policy committee.

•Mr. Enekwechi, a political analyst, wrote from Abuja.

OCTOBER 19, 2015

MEETING - From Left: Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, Engr. Ebele Okeke, Malam Shehu Malami, Chief Philip Asiodu, Amb (Dr.) Hassan Adamu (Chairman), John Nwabueze (Director-General), Dr. Edugie Abebe at a meeting of the Governing Council of Philip Asiodu Economic Initiative (PAEI) held in Abuja.

ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN:

Insurers worry as income from premiums nosedives

By ROSEMARY ONUOHA

I

nsurers are apprehensive that the industry will suffer significant drop in premium income this year owing to the slowdown in economic activities occasioned by the slide in crude oil prices and Naira depreciation.

The growth of economic activities in the country, as measured by the growth rate of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) slowed down to 2.35 per cent in the second quarter from 3.96 per cent in the first quarter.

Financial Vanguard investigations reveal that as slowdown in economic activities persists, insurers are paying more to settle claims, coupled with C M Y K

decline in insurance businesses; hence there is anxiety about premium income declining this year.

“Like every other part of the economy, once the currency is not stable, it does not help in determining values in the insurance sector,” said Mr. Fatai Lawal, Managing Director of Sterling Assurance Limited.

Continuing, he said, “Insurance operates on values of assets and most of these assets are imported. So when losses happen, you begin to look at the replacement cost. To repair a damaged vehicle cost more now than it was when the exchange rate was less.

“Unfortunately premiums are not automatically adjusted. Most times they are adjusted at the renewal of the

policy when the insured are encouraged to revalue their asset. And when they revalue their asset it increases the value of their asset, so when the rates are applied you can then get more premium as an insurer.

But sadly, since it is not renewal period yet, insurers are paying more to settle claims.”

“At the level of the common man, the devalued Naira will reduce the disposable income of Nigerians, further precluding them to care less about undertaking insurance”, noted Mr. Ayodapo Shoderu, President of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, NCRIB. Shoderu said, “It is most distressing that the price of the nation’s crude has

dropped by about 40 per cent from the initial projected cost of $140 per barrel to about $62 per barrel. The implication of this is that there is a great pressure on the naira as many foreign investors will feel unsafe in our equity market making many of them to divest and take out their monies.

He added, “The entire situation is adversely affecting the insurance industry, given the fact that insurance thrives when the economy is robust, adding, “At the corporate level, there is the likelihood of a bulls run on the already fragile equities of quoted insurance companies, affecting their solvency.”

Continues on page 22

22 — Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

Cover

The Basic Guide to Starting Your Business (3) What is not business? ften time people engage in all sort of shady deals and call it business. This should not be, because any act/trade that is not genuine and is to the detriment of others cannot be called a business, especially if it doesn’t fall within the confines of the law or is aimed at getting profit wrongly.

Some of these wrong businesses include, money laundering (government officials), abuse of office, stealing, defrauding, internet scam otherwise known as yahoo-yahoo, 419 and a host of others. If you are involved in any of the above, then you cannot say that you are in a business as the above named are prohibited by the laws of the land and they do not create opportunities. Rather they ruin or cripple the country, portraying it in a very bad light to the rest of the world. It is only a lazy man that looks for an easy way out all the time, not wanting to go through the right process and procedures.

O

VISIT - From left: Deputy Comptroller-General (Traffic and Trade), Nigerian Customs, Mr Adewuyi A Akinade; Director- General Standard Organisation of Nigeria,(SON) Dr Joseph Odumodu; Director-General Nigeria Custom Servise, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Alli rtd and Deputy Comptroller General, Enforcement, Mr Musa Tahir during the courtesy visit of The Director-General of Customs to SON, in Lagos on Thursday.

Insurers worry as income from premiums nosedives Continued from page 21 On his part, the Group Managing Director of Custodian & Allied Insurance Plc, Mr. Wole Oshin, lamented that slowdown in economic activities is having adverse pressure on the insurance sector.

Oshin said, “A situation where the consumption index is dropping on regular basis is having adverse pressure on us. If the naira is devalued by 25 per cent that simply means that your balance sheet will shrink by 25 per cent. What you use to boast of ten years ago is not what you will have again. When ranking is done internationally, you just go to one corner and keep quiet.”

Marine insurance, worst hit Vanguard investigations also revealed that the impact of the slowdown in economic activities is expected to be more severe on marine insurance business than other segment of the industry due to the foreign exchange restrictions imposed on importation of 41 items by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Marine insurance is import based, and the foreign exchange restrictions have weighed down on imports.

Operators expressed concern that the fall in gross premium income for marine insurance between 2012 and 2013 would likely persist this year.

Analysis of five year gross premium income for Marine & Aviation insurance obtained from the Nigerian Insurers Association, NIA, showed a C M Y K

total of N16.7 billion in 2009.

The figure went up to N20.1 billion in 2010. In 2011, the figure climbed higher at N23.4 billion only to decline in 2012 to N20.9 billion. It came further down in 2013 at N18.7 billion being the last available data from NIA. Although, figures for 2014 and 2015 are still being collated, experts are of the opinion that there is every possibility that this category of business could record more decline in gross premium income in comparison to others.

“Due to the fluctuations in the exchange rate, business has been very challenging particularly for import based businesses like marine insurance because people are being more careful with what and the frequency at which they import, “ observed Mr. Bode Akinboye, Group Managing Director of Standard Alliance Insurance Plc. “The effect of the fluctuation in the exchange rate on the

insurance sector, particularly for marine insurance and for companies that are import dependent is that they had to cut down on their importation because of the exchange rate surge and that in itself has negatively affected the premium being generated from there”, he said.

The way forward On ways of salvaging the situation, Akinboye said that the only way to turn the situation around for the insurance sector as well as for the economy is for government to create local alternatives to imported goods and fast-track resuscitation and creation of local industries.

Akinboye said, “If our local capacity is addressed and enhanced and there are alternative raw materials from our local industries and there is regular power

Continues on page 23

The effect of the fluctuation in the exchange rate on the insurance sector, particularly for marine insurance and for companies that are import dependent is that they had to cut down on their importation because of the exchange rate surge and that in itself has negatively affected the premium being generated from there

The mentality of a business man: We have discussed what a business is in the previous chapter and what business is not; we have also looked at the importance of self analysis in starting a business as well as the disadvantages and advantages. Now it’s time to talk about the mentality a business man should possess. We cannot underestimate the power of the mind and I make bold to say that that is where every idea and dream is born.

The good book also emphasizes this by saying “as a man thinketh in his heart, so he is”.

When starting a business, you would need to ask yourself if you possess what it takes to run it efficiently and get the desired results. Every successful business man has a mentality and should possess a strong sense of character.

That is why it is important to carry out a self analysis before commencing a business.

The business man does not see failure as a reason to quit; to him failure is a stepping stone that launches him to his next level. He is not afraid but is a risk taker, possessing the utmost desire to succeed; he is not just out to make money, but rather to bridge the gap between demand and supply.

He is a sharp thinker and very witty, seizing every available opportunity to meet the demands of consumers.

The following make up the mindset of successful business men.

Optimism Optimism continues to be a primary factor in whether or not an individual will stay focused on goals rather than be thwarted by the negative events that would impede progress.

It is the absolute ideal that leads to achievement as nothing can be done without hope. Therefore, it is the very essence of success.

If you want to have a successful business, it is important that you start out as an optimist, refusing to see impossibilities and obstacles. An optimist is not discouraged, but rather looks for other ways to make things better. A good business man will always diligently search for answers that will work.

He possesses the “yes I can” aura and mentality which will endear him to clients and friends alike.

Before you start a business it is very important that you have a very optimistic mentality, one that is not easily swayed by various obstacles you will encounter in the course of carrying out your business. This is because nobody wants to do business with a pessimist.

Creativity A creative ability is a very vital tool in the hands of a person who intends to start a business, although sometimes even as a business owner there is a risk with being creative; it is not possible to do something the same way and expect a different outcome. You have to be very dynamic in your choice and approach to the business you intend to start. Brainstorm a list of possibilities no matter how wild it seems. Look for the unusual but plausible.

Enhanced creativity when looking at possible business solutions increases the flow of ideas within the framework of a set of desired goals.

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015 — 23

W

orking in Nigeria is quite interesting and as well, very challenging.

Public sector workers have to use their meagre salaries to fend for themselves, their immediate and extended families. In a country where the minimum wage is N18, 000 per month and the rate of inflation runs sky high, the average Nigerian public sector worker finds it challenging and begins to cut corners to meet up with his daily expenses.

There is no efficient and subsidised transport system, no functional housing scheme to guarantee the workers’ welfare.

So, naturally, in a bid to meet up with their counterparts in the private sector, they cut corners, compromise their offices and take bribes to bend almost every other thing is Nigerians are naturally the rules. It is only in Nigeria free. Such individuals having adverse to loans and that you have to save about attained a certain level of advances. Nigerians have N5million to buy a car and pay standard of living they never developed an attitude towards cash. It is only in Nigeria also dreamt of do everything in credit as if it is a taboo. Credit that you have to save and build their power to ensure they helps society and economy to your house, paying cash to the secure their future. Hence, grow. It puts money in the contractors. In other places, corruption is at its highest level hands of individuals who ordinarily will not have had consumer credit and mortgage in the civil service. the means of making certain Also, consumer credit in financing are developed to assist the individuals to own properties and pay over a long period of time. In many of the countries we borrowed democracy from, their citizens hardly build houses by themselves. There are mortgage institutions and housing companies that build houses and give them out to workers on mortgage financing basis.

Workers who own such houses are conscious of the fact that they have to pay their mortgage on monthly basis or be thrown out. Such workers are committed to their jobs because losing such jobs means they cannot afford a home. So, they become dedicated. But what do you have here? Millions of Nigerians are without homes and no hope of ever owning developed society has helped purchases. It stimulates one. When such individuals workers to be focused and own demand for goods and come in contact with avenues whatever they want without services and encourages to make money, they go all stealing from the treasury. In manufacturers to produce out. That is why some those societies, you only need more and thus ensure job members of the National to show proof that you are creation.

Assembly are all out to make gainfully employed. The banks Nigeria is a nation with money in whatever way, will finance needed massive unemployment; a without considering the plight household equipment, car and developed consumer credit of the ordinary man on the any other thing that will make scheme can trigger massive street who they claim to life comfortable for the worker. demand for goods and represent.

But the reverse is the case services that will encourage This is why some civil here. You have to save to buy production and job creation. servants steal the nation blind. a car, build a house, and do The mortgage system is yet Worse still, political everything for yourself. This another channel through appointees are given free cars, has become part of the which Nigeria can stimulate housing and feeding and Nigerian culture such that the economy and create jobs.

Consumer credit and mortgage financing can help fight corruption The demand for housing and mortgage in Nigeria is vast.

Nigeria at the moment has a housing deficit of 17 million units and it is adding to that at the rate of two million houses per year. That is on the demand side. The housing supply side in any economy is

a very strong driver of economic growth, if properly handled. There are so many linkages within the economy as regards housing employment. Once an economy starts driving the housing and construction sector, it will employ carpenters, welders, masons, interior decorators, etc.

It is a whole lot of linkages.

In any economy, this is a perfect instrument for job creation. This is exactly why the USA monitors housing gaps every month. One of the

key indicators is how many houses have been built, how many old houses have been purchased. An index measures the movement of housing crisis within the economy.

This is a regime of change, Nigeria’s new policy makers should realise that this is an instrument of job creation and economic growth. Last year , in Washington, the former Minister of Finance and Coordinator of the Economy, Dr. Mrs Okonjo-Iweala, told reporters that Nigeria has decided to add more access and liquidity on mortgagee financing through the creation of a mortgage refinancing institution that will be mainly private sector held. She said that government will only be a motivator and will have a small share in it.

The partners, she disclosed, are the banks, which is why the CBN has a key role in it.

The CBN is a partner. Nigeria, she said, will be looking for other investors. The document has been prepared to attract domestic and foreign investors into the housing sector. The World Bank is a strong partner as it is providing $300 million of liquidity facility at concessional rate of zero per cent, commitment charge of 0.7 per cent, 10 years of grace and 40 years repayment period to help us do this. Six states – Lagos, FCT, Bauchi, Niger, and Anambra – were said to have volunteered to pioneer the mortgage project.

How far the last regime went is not so clear now. This government should see this as an instrument that could help the nation in its war against corruption and adopt it. What ever is the bottleneck in the drive toward a credible credit system and migrating financing should be handled with dispatch and give every Nigerian a sense of belonging.

Cover Story Insurers worry as income from premiums nosedives Continued from page 22 supply that can trigger more local industries to run more efficiently, then even if we are losing from marine insurance now, we should be able to get businesses locally. So we expect to see a compensating effect when certain policies are in place. Government should be able to create other policies that will compliment or act as

substitutes for current areas of challenges.

Shoderu on his part said that the present challenge should make national policy makers to be more ingenious in managing the precarious economic state, while the onus is also on practitioners to be more prudent and more resourceful in running their businesses.

According to Shoderu, the

time has come for Nigeria to break fast the façade of mono economy and develop other latent mineral resources that the nation presently has in abundance.

He said, “We must also continually put in place strategies to promote the nation’s industrial sector so as to transform our nation from consumption-based to production-based .

An expert who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that there is need for the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, being adviser to government on insurance in the country to have regular positive engagement with government.

He said, “We expect that government will walk the talk by being the number one

insurance customer in Nigeria and enforce particularly the compulsory insurances and at the end of the day we expect to see a massive increase and growth of premium income and that will peculate into other sectors through renewed investment activities and helping to address unemployment and economic growth generally.”

C M Y K

24— Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

C M Y K

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015 — 25

Banking & Finance

LAUNCH - From left: Chief Executive Officer, CHELLARAMS Plc, Aditya Chellaram; Group Head, Food and Beverages, Keystone Bank, Ladi Garba and Chief Operating Officer, Afro Beverages Distillers Limited, Reuben Onwubiko at the Afro Beverages and Chellarams product launch in Lagos.

Yields from Treasury bills down 42% in 9 months Excess liquidity drops by N214bn

BY BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

A

verage yield on treasury bills fell sharply by 42 per cent in nine months from January to September, driven by influence of rising inflation in the pricing of fixed income investments.

Afrinvest disclosed this in its weekly update of development in the nation’s financial market. The Company stated, “Analysis of yields in the T-bills and bond market shows that between January and October 2015, average yields have declined from 14.3 per cent and 15.3 per cent to 8.3 per cent and 14.2 per cent respectively.

Factoring the rise in inflation within the period, average real return on investment has declined significantly between January and October 2015 from 6.1 per cent to 1.7 per cent.”

Last week, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced that inflation rose to 9.4 per cent in September from 9.3 per cent in August.

This represents the eight consecutive monthly increases in inflation, from 8.0 per cent in December 2014.

This, according to Afrinvest is already influencing the pricing of treasury bills and bonds in the fixed income market, resulting to sharp decline in average yields on

treasury bills and bonds in the first nine months of the year.

Commenting on the September inflation figure, the company stated, “We opine that investors in domestic yield markets will begin to price the rising inflation within the context of real return (interest rate discounted for inflation) which is gradually diminishing on a successive month basis given that inflation trended northward from 8.2 per cent in January to 9.4 per cent in September 2015.

“Although various macroeconomic and market circumstances have shaped the pricing of yields in the

fixed income market so far in the year, it is our view that investors will begin to price rising inflation into yields for optimal returns.

“Our projection for inflation for the rest of the year is still gloomy; hence, we expect investors to continue to price market securities at much more higher yields to compensate for the rising inflation.”

Meanwhile, the amount of excess liquidity in the interbank money market dropped by N214 billion last week. From N1.2 trillion at the close of business the previous week, excess liquidity dropped N756 billion on Wednesday before rising to close at N986 billion courtesy of funds from payment of maturing treasury bills by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN. Consequently, cost of funds remained relatively stable when compared with the closing levels of the previous week. According to Afrinvest, “The financial system during the week remained awash with liquidity following the inflow of N1.1trillion that came in on Friday (09/10/ 2015) which brought the opening balance on Monday to N1.2 trillion.

“Consequently, the Open Buy Back (OBB) and Overnight Rate (O/N) opened the week at 0.8 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively. The liquidity condition stayed upbeat but gradually moderated to N756.4 billion on Wednesday as the OBB and O/N firmed at 0.8 per cent and 1.1 percent in that order.

However, with the inflow of N283.7 billion in OMO repayment on Thursday, liquidity level improved to N1.0 trillion while the OBB and O/N remained stable at Wednesday level. At the close of trade on Friday, average liquidity level closed at N986 billion while the average OBB and O/N rates settled at 0.8 percent and 1.1 per cent accordingly.”

Ineffective shareholders’ groups undermine corporate governance —CBN

BY DOTUN IBIWOYE

C

entral Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has expressed concern over prevalence of ineffective shareholders association in the country saying this undermines corporate governance practices in the country.

Speaking at the 2015 annual conference on corporate governance and 10th anniversary of Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria (SCGN), CBN’s Deputy Governor, Financial

System Surveillance, Dr. Joseph Nnanna noted that the problem of passive minority and ineffective shareholders association has been one of the challenges affecting the success of corporate governance in Nigeria.

He therefore called on shareholders to add value to the society through institution of good corporate governance in companies and financial institutions by serving as a check on incompetent boards and managements.

Nnanna, who spoke on the topic: “The impact of

Corporate Governance: The Nigerian case”, said the economic trend made it mandatory for CBN to come up with policies to institute best practices in financial institutions to meet up with the economic reality.

According to him, the issue of weak corporate governance started with the collapse of major financial institutions in the country and globally.

He noted that the introduction of corporate governance was to bring out best practices in the financial sector “by acting locally, but thinking globally”.

“Corporate governance is the system by which business corporations are directed and controlled. It is about holding the balance between economic and social goals and between individual and communal goals. The aim is to align as nearly as possible to the interests of individuals, corporations and society,” he said.

“It is also part of the CBN Governor ’s responsibilities to ensure that adequate corporate governance structures exist within the individual banks to make it impossible for their chief executive officers (CEOs) to run up massive debts, which imperil depositors’ funds.”

Ecobank Nigeria secures $125m foreign loans

E

cobank Nigeria has succeeded in securing $125 million foreign loans from two major development finance institutions.

While the bank secured $75 million dollar from a Dutch financial institution, FMO Entrepreneurial Development Bank, it secured $50 million from Africa Development Bank (AfDB).

According to a statement issued by the bank, “Ecobank Nigeria has secured from a Dutch financial institution, FMO Entrepreneurial Development Bank the sum of US$75million Syndicated Subordinated Term Facility (Tier 2 Capital) through the engagement of Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikklelingslanden N.V. (FMO Entrepreneurial Development Bank) based in Holland and from the African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim Bank) a $50million trade financing line facility from Africa’s foremost trade institution.

Under the arrangement, the FMO Entrepreneurial Development Bank facility is for a tenor of seven years while that of Afrexim Bank is a short term.

FCMB, Peugeot launch auto acquisition scheme

F

irst City Monument Bank Limited (FCMB) Limited and Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN) have launched an auto finance and acquisition scheme, designed to help Nigerians acquire any of the latest brands of Peugeot cars.

Under the scheme, which was unveiled on Thursday in Abuja, qualified customers of FCMB would be able to own a brand new Peugeot for as low as N80,367.68 under a monthly repayment plan up to five years. The new generation Peugeot brands on offer in the scheme, with varied monthly instalment payments, are the 301 ranges (Access, Active, Allure PRS, LXP); the 308 models (Allure Executive and Allure PRS); the 3008 (Active and Active LXP); 4008 and 508 (Active and Access).

Speaking at the launch of the alliance, the Regional Director, Abuja and North of FCMB, Mr. Lukman Mustapha, said that the partnership is a value-added consumer loan offering aimed at expanding the scope of vehicle ownership in the country.

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26 — Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

Corporate Report MIKE UZOR – Financial Analyst

I

n stock exchanges, shares are normally classified by the various economic and industrial sectors in which the companies operate. The classification reflects the general prospects facing operators in particular economic sectors, whether they be good or bad. It does not however reflect some important qualities that bear on returns expectations and risk exposure.

Picking stocks from across industry groupings is to an extent a form of investment portfolio diversification but it may not bring out the real diversification effects on the portfolio depending on which particular stocks you buy. The purpose of portfolio diversification is to reduce risk and improve the chance of obtaining the targeted rate of return. An investor that buys penny stocks from 6 to 10 different economic or market segments isn’t likely to achieve that purpose.

The equities classification that really matters in portfolio performance is the one that differentiates stocks by some qualities that bear on risk and return. It is important to understand the characteristics of stocks in terms of their direct bearing on risk and returns prospects in constructing a share portfolio.

Investing in shares involves some elements of risk and also some stocks carry a higher degree of investment risk than others. Yet, there is no labelling of ‘high risk’, ‘low risk’, ‘sure winner ’ or ‘likely loser’ stocks. However stocks show different characteristics that actually bring them to fit into this type of grouping.

Understanding the risk level of a stock is the first rule in winning in the equities market.

While shares are generally riskier than money market investments they still differ widely among themselves in the degree of risk. Viewed from this perspective, there are five main categories of shares within which most listed stocks can be classified.

Blue chips Blue chips are the shares of the big, established, market leading companies that have reached their maturity stages in operations. They and/or their products are often household names. In terms of sales revenue and profit volumes, they rank tops on the table with track records of stable dividend payment.

Blue chips are usually highly capitalised and often highly priced in the stock market but they are giants that C M Y K

Selecting stocks on the basis of risk, returns are no longer growing rapidly.

That of course does not rule out a big leap in earnings once in a while. Their shares form the backborne of the large investment portfolios of institutional investors that

The ability to post profit in both good and bad times is what makes a company ’s stock a blue chip. Companies with fluctuating earnings or inconsistency in dividend payment, no matter how large

SOME TOP GROWTH COMPANIES BY PROFIT IN 2014 Company

Net Profit Nb % Growth

Mutual Benefits Assurance Union Bank of Nigeria John Holt Fidson Healthcare NEM Insurance Ecobank Transnational Unity Bank Seven Up Bottling Company Presco Airline Services & Logistics Eterna Oil Mobil Oil Nig Fidelity Bank Fortis Microfinance Bank

4.10 26.82 0.59 0.63 1.52 65.68 10.69 6.43 2.60 0.17 1.29 6.39 13.80 0.67

trade equities in high volumes.

The companies usually attract a lot of attention and are the major focus of market operators and analysts. With regular information about their operations, their share prices tend to be generally more stable than those of smaller companies. Being highly priced, their share prices tend to move less rapidly or violently either up or down than those of other stocks. Price movement therefore produces less percentage changes than they do in smaller stocks.

Blue chip stocks offer the advantages of high quality and low risk, ranking next to fixed income securities in terms of stability of return.

Blue chips are needed in investment portfolios for their stabilising effects on investment values. They are therefore a sensible inclusion in any share portfolio where risk is balanced with return.

The benefits of blue chips can only be fully tapped by those who have reasonable amount of investment capital needed to buy a fairly large volume of the stocks.

You can expect to find equities that merit the blue chips status among the top 20 highest capitalised stocks though not all of them can rightly be taged blue chips as of now. The most important qualities that identify a blue chip are stability in earnings performance and consistent payment of dividends.

645.5 598.4 555.6 320.0 280.0 178.7 147.3 124.8 94.0 88.9 84.3 83.6 78.8 76.3

they may be, do not qualify as blue chips.

The major factor that enables a blue chip company maintain stable earnings track record is large market share. With time and events however companies do lose their market shares, meaning that companies can and do lose their blue chip qualities. At present, only a few of the renowned blue chips of the 1970s and 80s still retain that status. Others that have lost their market shares are no longer able to maintain the stable earnings growth they used to.

Growth stocks Irrespective of the economic or industrial sector to which companies belong, some companies will be growing ahead of the industry average. Growth stocks are equities of companies that are growing above the industry average numbers. They involve a different kind of risk exposure compared to blue chips.

Typically, growth companies may be in an expanding industry, an under served market or for any reason advancing market share. It could be that the company is offering a unique product or has established a

technological edge that has given it access to an untapped market.

Whatever the reason may be, a growth company has a special advantage in the market it serves. This special advantage places its management in a position to achieve above average growth rates in revenue, profit and earnings per share for several years.

Spotting a growth company in its infancy and taking a position early enough is a sure route to building wealth through the stock market.

Some growth companies of yester years have become the blue chips of the present time.

A number of high growth companies lost their growth momentum during the global financial crisis. In the sustaining economic slowdown, hardly any companies seem to rightly fit into the growth stock classification right now. The insurance sector produced the highest number of growth stocks in the pre financial crisis period but were swept away by the crisis.

One important feature of growth stocks is that they normally trade at a stock market premium because investors will be willing to pay not only the present value of the stock but also the anticipated rapid growth in profit and the dividend in the future. The dividend yield is therefore likely to be low and the price-earning ratio tends to be high.

A growth stock also has its other side in that it can slip while on the high speed and can thus crash. Should the growth momentum be lost, the high potential for profit growth will be lost as well and a once star performer may dim suddenly.

The importance of growth stocks is that they give a portfolio value a lift and therefore constitute the real power of stock market investments to beat inflation.

They are an essential addition to a share portfolio but they carry a higher level of risk than blue chips against the promise of higher return. The investor needs to be at alert with growth stocks to rise with it while it is shinning and quit if it begins to dim.

An extract from How to Buy & Sell Shares in Nigeria –A Practical Guide

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015 — 27

Corporate Report

28 — Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

Interview

IMF/WORLD BANK TO NIGERIA, OTHERS:

Adopt country-specific measures to address ailing economy

BRIEFING - Head of Nigerian Delegation and Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, (2nd left), Deputy Governor, Mrs Sarah Alade (first left), Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Anastasia Daniel-Nwaobia, and a director in the Ministry of Finance, Alhaji Haruna Mohammed, during a press briefing with Nigerian journalists who attended the 2015 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund in Lima, Peru.

BY OMOH GABRIEL, just back from Lima

N

igerian delegation to this year’s IMF/World Bank meetings held several meetings with World Bank/ IMF Officials, colleagues from across the globe and institutional investors that picked interest in Nigeria.

The delegation led by CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Mrs A. M. DanielNwaobia had back to back meetings. At the end, they explained what transpired inside the various plenary sessions Excerpts Introductory remarks These meetings are biannual statutory meetings of the Finance ministers and Central Bank Governors, from over one hundred and eighty countries of the world.

We held meetings with some international banks C M Y K

who are thinking of developing some relationship with the Central Bank as well as Ministry of Finance and the Federal Government. We also held meetings with some rating agencies to provide insight into the Nigeria economy and what we are doing to support and grow the Nigerian economy.

revised downward to 3.5 per cent and for 2016 growth for Africa has been projected at 4.2 per cent. What this tells us is that the slow down as a result of drop in commodity

prices or the end of the quantitative easing to the extent that the United States is already contemplating raising rates through assets as

Global economy projected growth Basically what you can say are some of the main issues facing the global economy is that the world finance leaders as well as the Governors of central Banks came to the conclusion to the point where the global growth was further revised downward, when the Spring Meetings were held in April, 2015, global growth was projected at 3.8 percent.

The Growth was revised downward to 3.1 per cent. For Africa economies in April when we held the Spring Meetings, global growth was projected at over 5 per cent but at this meeting, global growth for 2015 has been

We all need to know that it is not only Nigeria that is going through this financial difficulty.

In our engagement with other ministers of finance, we noted that everybody is struggling, and are coming up with solutions and strategies to weather the storm for now, and it was agreed that one major way to do it is by way of mobilising domestic resources

well as the geo-political situation has affected many economies to the point that they are slowing down and in some cases some of the economies have also gone into recession.

Countries specific advice The meeting also concentrated on what can be down to revise the trend and what kind of specific solutions can be provided for the different economies to turn their situations around. Basically, we find that for those economies that are really affected by the drop in commodity prices, and in this case Nigeria, basic solutions suggestions that came up were first that there is the need for Nigeria to diversify its economy in this case from oil or from commodity prices. This we are already doing and we seize this opportunity to thank Mr. President for the support he has given for most of the intervention that he has made in diversifying the economy away from oil. That has given credence to what we are doing to catalyse the Nigerian economy by making available intervention funds to support agriculture, micro small and

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015 — 29

Interview medium enterprises, and other various interventions, that we are putting in place to support the Nigerian economy.

Another solution that came up was that five countries that are also affected by commodity prices and other external shock factors should adopt country specific measure that could help address their problems. That further gives credence to the specific option that we have taken, not to continue to adopt an indeterminate depreciation of the Naira. So we will continue to monitor the situation as I have always said and to ensure that we refocus our minds and refocus everything that we do, to the extent to see what we can do to continue to preserve our reserves and achieve some level of stability in the exchange rate.

Permanent Secretary Ministry of Finance We also had other meetings like the governor said, with NIGAL and IFC; they are already involved in some of our programmes in Nigeria. We told them about some of the reforms we are under taking especially in the area of building infrastructure, because one of the key gap we have noticed is the issue of infrastructure deficit, government is already thinking of setting up an infrastructure fund and is looking for how to raise the fund, So we have discussed with IFC and NIGAL that when we are able to identify some of these infrastructure projects, we get in touch with them so that they will participate in the projects. We all need to know that it is not only Nigeria that is going through this financial difficulty, our engagement with other ministers of finance, we noted that everybody is struggling, and are coming up with solutions and strategies, to weather the storm for now, and it was agreed that one major way to do it is by way of mobilising domestic resources.

And this brings us to the issue of our taxes which is a major issue in our country. We all know the reforms that are already going on in the tax system. We want to widen our tax base and the government engaged Mackenzie, to work with FIRS to see how Nigeria can shore up its taxes, and in our engagement with the World Bank officials also we sought assistance so that they will work with us so that we can improve on what is already on ground. We are also looking at other areas of revenue generation; our main concern is how do we shore up our revenue? We are going to engage further with the World Bank, how to give capacity support to the Customs, because Customs is one of the key revenue generating agency of government so that we will be able to build their capacity and see how they can add to the revenue base.

World Bank/IMF had warned on

this and advised countries to reform, Nigeria has been carrying out reforms. What would you say is the problem?

Yes, they have warned on the need for countries to reform, in Nigeria we have been adopting reforms, this started about two years or more ago, basically the prime issue from the fiscal side, have been the fact that we tried to see how to expand our tax base, so as to improve on revenue, and if you all recall like the Permanent Secretary mentioned, last year the Federal Ministry of Finance engaged Mackenzie; last year it raised about N75 billion as revenue incremental, in 2015, they have been given a target to raise it to a minimum of N150 billion as a way of improving our revenue so as

to see how we can shore up our revenue and rely less on oil revenue.

Investors pulling out from frontier markets Well it is true and I must tell you that in the third quarter of this year alone, I read in a report that said that almost about $48 billion was the capital outflow that left the frontier markets. So, what that means is investors are pulling out their funds and beginning to look at places like the US where they feel that there are opportunities and there is fear that the drop in commodity prices will affect the economies that depend solely on commodity that is why we are saying it is time for us to think as nationalistic as Nigerians that we have to carry our

Nigeria is not sliding into recession. We have added two quarters of slow growth and like I told you even the World Bank has revised the global growth outlook from about 3.8 per cent to 3.1 per cent at this meeting

cross by ourselves. We have to solve our problems by ourselves, nobody from outside is going to solve our problems for us. We will continue to appeal to all Nigerians to embrace, support some of the measures and policy we are putting in place, because all of them are meant to see how Nigeria can diversify the economy from excessive reliance on oil.

Energy infrastructure We have seen some improvement in the power generation. It is also true that the willing capacity in the transmission grid is limited and I am also aware, we have been in discussion with government. Efforts are being made to encourage investment in the transmission grid so as to improve the capacity of transmission grid to be able to absorb the energy that is generated, so that more power can get to Nigerians.

On Nigeria sliding into recession Nigeria is not sliding into recession, we have had two quarters of slow growth and like I told you even the World Bank has revised the global growth outlook from about 3.8 per cent to 3.1 per cent at this meeting. Africa has been revised from above 5 per cent to 3.75 per cent at this meeting; it is even projected at 4.5 per cent in

MEETING - Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele and President African Development Bank Group, Dr Akinwumi Adesina during the 2015 Annual Meetings of the World bank Group and International Monetary Fund in Lima, Peru.

2016. Everybody is affected, what we are saying is that because we have seen two successive quarters of slow growth, that we all need to embrace the policies that we are putting in place both by the monetary authorities and fiscal authorities so that we can see a reversal, so we can see increased growth not slowing growth. So, no one has talked about the fact that Nigeria is going to go into recession.

We are only saying we need to work hard to begin to reverse the trend so that we can move toward positive growth rather than slowing growth.

Subsidy removal Subsidy has been in the front burner, we are still debating it whether subsidy should be removed or not, just like the governor said every country is dealing with the issue specific to it, you have to take into consideration various issues before you remove subsidy, it is a political issue, you know we have a new government that is studying the issue. I think with time we will know the position of government on that. A lot of reforms are in the pipe line, you have seen the issue of the Treasury Single Account TAS which is being fully implemented now and we believe that with time we will see improvement in our revenue; leakages that have been in place will be eliminated. Another major issue I know that was discussed at this meeting like I said is the issue of investing in infrastructure which government is already looking into, discussing it, government is thinking of setting up an infrastructure fun to develop infrastructure that will add value to the economy that will create jobs. We have already seen what is happening in the power sector like the governor said and we know what power can do if we are able to get the power sector right the effect it will have on our economy so we are looking at the issue of power, looking at agric and its value chain, we are looking at the mining sector, we discussed these with some of the institutions we have engagement with here and when we get home we are going to further reengage with them to see how they can help us especially in the area of capacity building for us to be able to come up with fiscal policies that will help us in the development of our economy.

30—Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

Corporate Finance

Fidelity Bank lists N30bn on FMDQ

By PETER EGWUATU

F

idelity Bank Plc, weekend, listed its N30 billion bond on the FMDQ OTC Plc as part of its support to boost liquidity in the market.

Fidelity Bank in May, 2015 raised N30 billion 16.48 per cent fixed rate subordinated unsecured bond due 2022.

Speaking at the listing of the bond on the FMDQ platform in Lagos, Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo said: “The bond was issued in order to finance and support the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) as well as retail segments of the market.

The fund would also count as tier II capital in line with the guidelines of Basel II. We have discovered that some of our SMEs have expanded and needed bigger fund, so instead of using short term fund to finance them, we decided to raise this long term fund so that we can finance them on longer tenure. In that way mismatch of fund would be eliminated.”

Continuing, he said “ we have confidence in FMDQ platform and has decided to partner with it because of the quality of management and with the listing of the Federal Government bond on this platform , it further serve as a boost to investors who now have opportunity to enter and exist, thereby enhancing liquidity and market efficiency .

It will be recalled that the offer was firmly and fully underwritten; showing a measure of confidence the investing public has in the bank.

Commenting on the bank’s capital, Okonkwo said “Our capital adequacy ratio is 23 per cent, which means we are much capitalised because the regulatory requirement is 15 per cent. But we are also looking forward. We are a very strong SME bank. So, we have raised this bond to channel it to our SME banking and to improve our retail infrastructure.

“The kind of growth we witnessed in the SME sector last year tells us that if we properly provide the right infrastructure to that segment, it should be the new frontier to help us face the difficult environment that we are operating in.”

In its response at the listing, Managing Director, FMDQ, Mr. Bola Onadele Koko said “ we commend Fidelity Bank for taking bold step in listing its bond on our platform.

Shareholders urge SEC to disregard Standard Alliance AGM

BY NKIRUKA NNOROM

S

hareholders of Standard Alliance Plc have urged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to disregard any proposal the company may present from its Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the year ended December 31, 2014.

The shareholders under the aegis of Esteem Shareholders Association led by Amb Olufemi Timothy said the meeting was rowdy for about three hours and finally ended inconclusively due to disagreement between the company and its shareholders.

Particularly, they said that majority of the attendees were opposed to the account presented at the meeting as well as the special business/ resolution.

In the Special Business set out on page four of the 2014 Annual Report and Account, the Board and management of the company sought shareholders approval for the sale of the Treasury Shares amounting to 2.21 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at 25 kobo by way of special placement to identified strategic investors, Gemrock Management Company Limited.

However, the shareholders said the matter the Board is seeking their approval for is belated as it is already consolidated in the account.

According to them, the share has already been sold, while SEC’s approval is being awaited.

Giving credence to their claims, they pointed out pages 15, acquisition of own shares, which states (‘by the virtue of the existence of treasury shares per these financial statements arising from the issue of shares that did not result in net cash flow to the company during its public offer of 2008, the company has secured an investors, Gemrock management Company ltd who acquired the treasury shares of 2,212 billion ordinary shares valued at N8.74 billion per value of N1.11 billion and premium of N7.63 billion as at December 31, 2014. The transaction is however subject to obtaining all regulatory approval which is on-going. ); page 73, which showed that the company’s share premium account was reduced by N8 billion and page 90 (Notes 26 and 27), which contained full details

on the Treasury Shares.

Specifically, part of page 90, note 27 reads: ‘Treasur y Shares: During the year, the company offered the treasury shares to potential investors and subsequently Gemrock Management company ltd bought the shares at the sum of N553 million. The difference between the cash proceeds and value of treasury shares was transferred to the share premium account.’

“All these show that the treasury shares has been sold at N4 per share and consolidated in the accounts, but discounted again in note 26. Why is the Board now seeking shareholders’ approval to sell what has been sold, consolidated, waiting for regulatory approvals at the meeting,” they queried.

Besides, they observed that the Annual Report and Account was not posted to the members before the meeting

as required by the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).

“Shareholders began the meeting by complaining of just receiving the Annual Reports and Accounts at the venue of the meeting; the reports were not posted as required by CAMA. The shareholders demanded for 20 minutes to read the reports provided at the AGM and the chairman granted the request,” they said.

CONFERENCE - From left: Creative Director, I-Xtreme, Ice Nweke; Jazz Artist, Helen Isibor; Founder of SPAN, Mrs. Sarah Boulos and Yemi Amusan, during the press conference announcing SPANfest 2015 in Lagos.

Investors’ wealth down N136bn, Transcorp Hotel, Access Bank lead losers ...analysts expect reversal

BY NKIRUKA NNOROM

I

nvestors on the Nigerian Stock Exchange lost as much as N136 billion of their investment as bears dominated activity for most part of the week.

At the end of transactions, the twin market indicators – the market capitalisation and All Share Index (ASI) slipped by 1.3 per cent apiece.

Specifically, the market capitalisation of all listed entities dipped by N136 billion to N10.253 trillion from N10.389 trillion, while the ASI dropped by 396.95 basis points to 29,834.21 points from 30,231.16 points.

This was basically impacted by losses sustained by Transcorp Hotels Plc, Access Bank Plc, Learn Africa Plc, Unity Bank Plc and Honeywell Flour Mills Plc. Transcorp Hotels, which released its third quarter financial statement for September 30, 2015 with very poor outing, depreciated by

9.58 per cent or N0.68, closing at N6.42 from N7.10.

The company ’s result released last week showed 8.7 per cent dip in revenue to N10.46 billion as against N11.44 billion recorded a year earlier. Its profit after tax at N2.35 billion was 14.9 per cent decrease compare to N2.76 billion recorded in Q3, 2014.

Access Bank followed on the decliners chart, dropping by 9.23 per cent or N0.48 to close at N4.72 from N5.20; Learn Africa fell by 8.70 per cent or N0.08 to close at N0.84 from N0.92; Unity Bank lost N0.12 or 7.41 per cent decrease to close at N1.50 from N1.62, while Honeywell Flour Mill deprecated by 7.27 per cent or N0.20 to close at N2.55 from N2.75 per share.

However, following a positive close at the end of trading session on Friday, where the market capitalisation and the All Share index went up marginally by 0.5 per cent, analysts at Afrinvest have

projected a positive reversal in activity in the wee.

They attributed the positive run on Friday to release of quarter 2015 financial statements by quoted companies, insisting that the trend would continue into the new week.

“We believe the recent performance on the bourse is closely linked to the release of Q3:2015 results, hence, we expect market to remain marginally positive in subsequent session,” Afrinvest said in its weekly market update.

Further analysis showed that activity was poor across the market as all the indices closed in the red, with exception of ASeM Board that stagnated at 1,205.90 points, due to apathy towards stocks quoted on that segment of the market.

The newly introduced Premium Board made up of Dangote Cement, FBN Holdings Plc and Zenith Bank went down to 1,578.92 points from 1,617.73 points at the beginning of the week.

C M Y K

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015 — 31

Homes & Housing

•Mixed housing development

FMBN set to partner LGs on housing initiatives

By YINKA KOLAWOLE, with agency report

T

HE Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, FMBN, is set to engage with the 774 local government areas in the country on how best the bank’s housing initiatives can be extended to them.

Managing Director, FMBN, Mr Gimba Yaú Kumo, who disclosed this in an interview with a news portal, listed various ways of addressing the housing deficit in the country. “We started a programme with Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) but you will also realise that most of the employees don’t have capacity

to go through the mortgage processes. Their income will not be able to service the mortgages. What we are trying to do now is to build houses depending on the needs, location, culture and environmental issues. We will resume discussions with ALGON to see how we can come up with houses that can go round the 774 LGA,” he said.

Yaú Kumo noted that in order to adequately address the

nation’s housing needs; there must be provision of mortgages and construction financing to facilitate construction of the houses.

He said this could be addressed through the provision of FMBN Home Renovation Loan (FHRL) scheme to enable existing house owners to upgrade their houses, and through the introduction of Diaspora Mortgage Programme for Nigerians living abroad who needed to have their own houses in the country. He further explained that the deficit could be addressed through the engagement of the various cooperatives across the country, to enable Nigerians who were not in the formal sector of the economy to also own their houses.

“Those who don’t have houses, we can see what we can do in trying to build affordable houses on sustainable paces. We have lined up a lot of activities; these activities need a lot of fund, hard work, they need dedication, they need support of all Nigerians particularly the media houses so that the public can be sensitised to be able to come under our platform,” he stated.

The FMBN boss noted that Nigeria requires between 17 and 20 million units to meet its housing needs. “We are all aware that the housing gap is very big, 17 to 20 million units needed to address the housing needs of Nigerians.

Apart from that, we also believe that even some Nigerians that have houses deserve more than that to have shelter over their heads.

We are at the moment trying to focus on an intervention to

address the issue of NHF contributors that have been displaced by the insurgency in the three states of the north east – Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states. We would, first of all, try to give them the FMBN Home Renovation Loan (FHRL) for those that have houses to quickly see how they can renovate and get back to their houses that have been destroyed. That’s for those contributing to the National Housing Fund (NHF) scheme.”

Brazil to partner Nigeria on housing

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visiting Brazilian trade delegation has declared readiness to invest in Nigeria’s housing sector, among other sectors of the nation’s economy.

The delegation, composed of businessmen from different sectors of the Brazilian economy, said its investments in Nigeria will focus on housing, rice production, waste recycling among others. Head of the delegation, Mr Evaldo Silva, disclosed this during a courtesy visit to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bulus Lolo.

Silva said that the Brazilian housing project called “My House My Life” which provides housing to the poor and low income earners would be replicated in Nigeria to tackle the country’s housing deficit.

E-Commerce Stories by NWOKPOKU

P

JONAH

rintivo.com, a digital

printing start-up has secured seed financing from EchoVC Partners, an early-stage technology venture capital firm.

Printivo who did not disclose the exact sum involved in the deal at press time only hinted that it was a six-figure investment that will be used to significantly broaden the company’s product range, increase headcount, accelerate customer acquisition and scale the business.

The start-up said it will leverage the investment and its deep knowledge of the printing market, to boost innovations in the Nigerian printing industry and build a full service digital platform, in conjunction with a visual creative & design community, to service the small business sector.

Speaking on the investment,

Start-up funding: Printivo.com secures investment to drive digital printing Printivo Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Olu’yomi Ojo, said: “Securing institutional seed financing means we can accelerate the growth of our online print services and community platform and achieve the ambitious targets we have set for ourselves, as we transform an industry that has, until now, lacked digital infrastructure, investment and innovation. We can now transition print from bricks and mortar ‘mom-and-pop’ stores that struggle to scale and meet quality requirements, to online ordering and direct delivery, while enabling job creation and distribution. We are in the process of removing the friction for companies that want access to great design, transparent pricing, high quality products and fast turnaround on orders.

Simple, yes, but something

local printers have historically been unable to provide.”

Also speaking, Investment Director at EchoVC PanAfrica Fund, Wale Ayeni said: “The lightning speed at which Printivo has changed Nigerian SMEs’ print purchasing habits and built a customer base that runs into the thousands is impressive, and was a key

driver in our decision to invest. EchoVC sees print in Africa as one of the continent’s ‘iceberg microeconomies’, a below-radar but very large and viable industry with enormous scope for growth. The team’s home-grown expertise and innate understanding of the market, their commitment to great design and innovation in print, their ability to grow

long lasting customer relationships and their focus on customer service equates to them being best placed to lead the digital printing revolution on the continent.

The founders’ focus on building a community of codependent participants in the print economy has also kick-started significant job creation possibilities.”

Efritin.Com verifies 30,000 sellers in two months

O

nline

classifieds

platform, Efritin.com has said it has successfully verified thirty thousand sellers within two months of its official launch. This was contained in a statement by its brand Marketing Manager, Uche Ajene.

The statement said, the company has prioritized the

need for safety in the Nigerian online marketplace,and established their unique verification process to guarantee that sellers on the platform are properly identified in order to decrease the risk of fraudulent transactions on the platform.

According to the Marketing

Manger, the fact that thirty thousand Nigerians are now verified sellers on Efritin.com shows that Nigerians have always hada need for safer online market places.

Ajene said “We are pleased with the number of verifications completed in the 2 months since we launched."

32 — Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015 “It ain’t the things you don’t know that cause the problem.

It’s the things you think you know that ain’t so. Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882. (VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ, p 117).

N

ot all changes are for the better; and some supposed changes represent a step backwards. Treasury Single Account, TSA, represents one change which might not be for the better. And, in part one of this series last week it has already been made clear that it is not entirely new. The same old idea of centralizing Federal Government accounts in the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, in a bid to reduce corruption had been tried twice, without success, in the 1980s. Incidentally, if you ask any of its supporters what it is designed to achieve, the answer will be, “to curb corruption”. But will it? If historical experience in Nigeria is to be our guide, the correct answer will have to be “ very doubtful”. Let me quickly explain the reasons.

While conducting the research which resulted in the book PDP: CORRUPTION INCORPORATED, what was most striking to me was how much corruption was accounted for by transactions and activities which are not reflected in the balances in the bank accounts of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs. In other words the grand theft had already been committed by the time deposits are made into the bank accounts of MDAs. To be quite candid, all TSA is asking for the MDAs to do is to deposit the

“leftovers” – after the major part of the meal had been consumed. Anyone expecting

Toss out TSA, please (2) to put a stop to the major sources of corruption in the Federal Government by introducing TSA has not got a good grasp of the sources of corruption. Nobody steals money which had already been deposited in the account. The looting occurs BEFORE the deposits into the bank. Let me provide some examples.

In 1999, shortly after President Obasanjo was sworn into office, he announced that ten billion naira, N10bn, had been approved for a Poverty Alleviation Programme, PAP, by an agency which would be headed by Chief Tony Anenih, the PDP Party Leader (see pages 33-34 of the book). The National Assembly had not been inaugurated to consider and approve the expenditure.

Yet, the money was released by the CBN. Till today nobody knows how the N10 billion vanished and what was achieved by it. How on earth would withdrawing Federal Government funds from banks prevent this sort of executive lawlessness?

In Chapter 8 of the book,

there is a detailed report of how NITEL went from a parastatal earning one billion naira, N1bn, per annum, to one losing fifty billion naira, N50bn, when it was handed over to a shady company called Pentascope. Till today, nobody had been held accountable for the deal.

Again, how would withdrawing NITEL’s deposits from banks have prevented one of the biggest scams in our history – which was nevertheless swept under the rug?

Under President Jonathan, and according to his former Minister of Petroleum Resources, 400,000 barrels of crude were being stolen everyday from Nigeria. Don’t ask me how they could be so sure of the exact volume stolen. As, I once wrote, the entire fraud about stolen crude reminds me of the Russian story about the man who could always predict when sheep will be stolen in a village – until it was discovered that he was the thief. At US$100 per barrel in 2013, that amounted to forty million dollars, US$40m, per

day, and twelve billion dollars, US$12bn, per annum. Not a single kobo of that money entered into the bank account of any MDA. In fact, all the other MDAs put together could not have had so much money in their accounts all year – even if every kobo of revenue generated was deposited.

Perhaps no parastatal demonstrates the futility of trying to curb corruption through TSA like the Nigeria Ports Authority, NPA. In addition to having offices in many parts of the globe transacting businesses on our behalf, NPA presents over a hundred different ways by which the Federal Republic of Nigeria is short-changed by the Board, Executive and nonExecutive Directors, Managers, Security stall, Tally Clerks etc – all of who go home everyday and every shift with money that should be in the national coffers.

Billions of dollars are stolen every year through various scams. Again, not a kobo of these stolen funds enter the bank accounts of NPA.

There is no need to list seriatim all the ways through which public servants line their pockets with funds which should be deposited in the banks. It is merely sufficient to remove the illusion that TSA will curb corruption. Its impact, as a matter of fact will be minimal. Instead, what TSA will do is to almost bring MDAs to a halt – unless am amendment is made to the order. It was this lesson which forced other governments in the past to abandon it.

Already, enforcement of the instructions is running into hitches. By deadline, some MDAs had not complied.

Government itself has had to exempt the NNPC from strict compliance. Even, the NPA, despite its endemic corruption, would have to be excused. With bank accounts in several countries, it is not easy to close all of them and deposit the funds in the CBN. Finally, it is doubtful if anybody had asked the question: how will the MDAs operate the day after they have surrendered all their funds? Are they now supposed to go to the CBN for purchase of petrol and stationery etc?

TSA will create more problems than it will solve.

Toss it out.

Micro-Finance

People living with disability benefit from MSMEDF STORIES BY PROVIDENCE OBUH

T

he people living with d i s a b i l i t y are also enjoying the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Micro Small and Medium Development Fund (MSMEDF) from Accion Microfinance Bank (AMfB).

The funding scheme is a product of the bank known as People Living with Disability (PLWD) MD/CEO Accion Microfinance Bank, Ms. Bunmi Lawson, said that the people with disability have been financially excluded, stating, “Many people living with disability are financially excluded. We are pleased to be able to give them the opportunity to improve their means of livelihood to give them a brighter future.”

The first PLWD Loans were received by Mrs. Josephine Omolola of the Albino Community, Mrs. Margaret Nmezi who is visually impaired and four other

persons who are also visually impaired.

Omolola who spoke on behalf of the loan recipients, commended the bank for considering people living

with disabilities and promised to ensure the loans were repaid when due.

The event was attended by CBN officials including Mr Jonathan Tobin, Assistant Director MSMED Fund who

expressed his satisfaction that the bank was utilizing the MSMED Funds for a great cause while commending the bank for its commitment to financial inclusion.

Also in attendance was Mrs. Temitope Akin-Fadeyi, Head, Financial Inclusion

Secretariat of the CBN. However, the bank aims to utilize the MSMEDF for sustainable development towards financial inclusion.

The MSMED Fund forms part of the CBN's framework for developmental functions which aims to promote financial inclusion in Nigeria through the provision of funding to micro-entrepreneurs.

BOI tackles graduate unemployment through GEF scheme

E

ach year, about 1.8 million young Nigerians enter the already saturated labour market, yet over 50 per cent are unemployed in order to address this challenge, the Bank of Industry (BOI) recently set aside N2 billion Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund (GEF) for immediate graduates who want to secure loan facility to set up their own businesses.

The scheme is being implemented by the bank in partnership with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) including nine of BoI partner Entrepreneurship Development Centres/ Training Consultants who signed an MoU with the bank.

The MD/CEO, BoI, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa said that the strategy is to identify the innate talents of young graduates as soon as they leave school, so as to build their capacities for selfreliance; and also empower them to establish their own businesses, thereby creating jobs not just for themselves, but also for other youths that they may employ To this end, the fund provides a platform for the NYSC members to be trained and granted access to finance for actualizing their viable business ideas, GEF provides a platform for NYSC members to be trained Olaoluwa explained, saying that the main objectives of the fund are: to encourage

graduates of tertiary institutions that are serving under the one-year NYSC programme, to venture into business and become employers of labour rather than job-seekers; to develop the entrepreneurship skills and capacity of the NYSC member; to deepen financial inclusion by de-risking the NYSC members and making them eligible for small business loans to be provided

by BOI, among others.

He added that the capacity building programme will be implemented in partnership with the NYSC Directorate and would be facilitated by the NYSC Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) Department and the nine

other BOI partner Entrepreneurship Development Centres/ Training Consultants across the six geopolitical zones and Lagos and would be available to serving NYSC members that have successfully passed through the requirements.

Also Speaking, Director General, NYSC, Brigadier General Johnson Olawumi, added that unemployment is a key issue in the country just as he said that over 4000 corps members have been trained in entrepreneurship in the last couple of years.

He further said that aside capacity building and funding, that the government should provide policies that would help the young entrepreneurs.

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015 — 33

34 — Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

Economy STORIES BY EMEKA ANAETO, Economy Editor

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redit allocation by banks have shown that the bulk of their loans in the past two years went to oil and gas sector to the detriment of other sectors.

The sector attracted over 26 per cent of the total bank loans to the economy despite its relative low contribution of about 11.2 per cent to the economy’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, suggesting a crowding out of other productive sectors of the economy.

For instance, the agriculture sector which contributed more than 20 per cent to the nation’s GDP last year received only 4.4 per cent of total credit allocation in 2014.

This indicates a disturbing misalignment in credit structure of Nigeria’s banking industry when compared to other countries in the MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey) economic bloc as well as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, Singapore) economic bloc where banks’ lending structures tilt, though with differentials, in favour of sectors with greater contributions to GDP which mirrors dynamics of the stages of growth and development, economic structure, financial sector framework and banking regulations in the respective countries.

The Nigeria’s structure has, however, come to hurt the banking industry as the plunge in global oil prices put their non-performing loan ratio, NPL, at border line.

Afrinvest Group banking survey released recently revealed that tier-2 banks are more exposed to the oil and gas sector, with the banks

CEREMONY - From Left; Mr. Mbanugo Udenze, Company Secretary, C & I Leasing Plc; Mr. Oscar N. Onyema, Chief Executive Officer, The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE); Mr. Emeka Ndu, Managing Director, C&I Leasing Plc; Mr. Alex Mbakogu, Chief Finance Officer, C&I Leasing Plc and Mrs Maureen Ogbonna, Managing Director, C&I Motors at the Closing Gong Ceremony at The NSE today.

Banks’ credit to oil & gas crowds out other sectors allocating 27.4 per cent of their gross loans to the sector relative to tier-1 banks’ 26.5 per cent.

Afrinvest said ‘’the preference is based on high revenue/profitability upside, stronger cash flow and developed supportive infrastructures that have lowered risk perception”.

It added, ‘’however, the current challenges of lower crude oil prices has significantly weakened the assets quality of banks, with Oil and Gas related NPLs contributing the highest average of 12.7 per cent to NPL ratio across banks.

“Our prognosis is that lending structure in the next decade should reflect the changing economic structure

in Nigeria, thus we expect banks to take advantage of the faster growth and expanding opportunities in the non-oil sectors of the economy”, the report said.

“We believe banks will need to moderate credit to the M i n i n g / N a t u r a l Resources sector while directing to the utilities, manufacturing and services (including household, real estate, education, h e a l t h , transport and communication) sectors in line

Finance minister prospect: Fiscal, monetary policy convergence imminent

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fiscal and monetary policy convergence may be in the underway if the speculation that Mrs Kemi Adeosun would be deployed as finance minister in the President Mohammadu Buhari’s cabinet due to take off formerly by next week.

Tipped by some analysts to be the next Nigerian finance minister,Adeosun had aligned with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, in the battle to save the Naira from battering by the international financial powers and media.

At the ministerial screening last week by the nation’s Senate, Adeosun said a currency devaluation on its own won’t solve the nation’s economic problems and she supports CBN’s foreignexchange restrictions.

According to her, “what the central bank governor has done brought in some breathing space because if we allowed the market (market forces) to continue, all our

reserves would have been depleted” President Muhammadu Buhari nominated Adeosun, a former investment banker and London-trained accountant, as a cabinet minister two weeks ago but was yet to disclose what portfolio she may lead.

Analysts including Bismarck Rewane of the Financial Derivatives Company, a Lagos based economic and financial advisory firm, and Manji Cheto, vice president of risk adviser, Teneo Intelligence in London, said she may be finance minister, given her position as finance commissioner of Ogun State for the past four years.

Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor, has continued to resist pressures from foreign investors, multilateral financial institutions and international financial media to devalue the Naira or allow free market trade in the foreign exchange against the backdrop of a plunge in oil revenue.

He had, instead introduced foreignexchange consumption controls to stabilize the currency.

The Naira has traded at average N197/ USD1.0 dollar since the restrictions were imposed in February this year, but many end users could not access the required resources while parallel market rates have hovered around N125/ USD1.0.

with the overall macroeconomic outlook of the country and in furtherance of the recent drive to boost nonoil revenue by the new administration. “ We believe banking in the next decade should focus on

re-allocating risk assets by tapping into lending opportunities in the non-oil oil sector. However, we do not expect banks to reduce funding of the oil and gas sector, rather, we expect banks to deepen funding structure to grow their presence in nonoil sectors”.

Within the tier-1 group of banks Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, at 33 per cent, had the highest proportion of loans to the oil and gas sector in 2014 while First Bank of Nigeria followed with 32 per cent.

Other banks in the tier-1 group that were exposed to the sector include Access Bank, Zenith Bank and United Bank for Africa, UBA. Within the tier-2 group Sterling Bank was leading with 35.4 per cent exposure to oil and gas followed by Skye Bank, Union Bank and FCMB. Afrinvest suggests that Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, should review its prudential guidelines to come up with a maximum threshold regarding banks’ exposure to single sector as a proportion of banks’ shareholders’ funds.

This, according to them, would be in addition to the existing threshold which measures banks’ lending to a single sector as a proportion of the total loan.

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015 — 35

Advertising & Promotions

How companies empower people through promos STORIES BY PRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

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HE Division for Social Policy and Development, DSPD of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, UNDESA is committed to the promotion of people’s empowerment and social development globally.

This commitment is administered by DSPD as part of its mission to promote more equitable growth in companies, particularly individuals, seeks to identify innovative approaches for poverty reduction, social integration, full employment and decent work for all.

This may have informed the reason companies globally have keyed into this commitment to empower people (Consumers).

Here in Nigeria, several companies, from banks to phone manufacturing companies, broadband providers, to online stores and manufacturers of beverages; tea, drinks have

joined in the fray of empowering people.

This brings to mind the recent empowerment programme of Intercontinental Distillery Limited, IDL, where it distributed over N313 million to its distributors to grow their businesses.

Like IDL Managing Director, Chief Patrick Anegbe said: “the essence of celebrating excellence and rewarding hardwork is to encourage the distributors to invest more in their businesses and also rekindle the drive to grow their businesses.

Diamond Bank Plc’s DiamondXtra promo where customers earn salaries for life alongside other cash prize ranging from N250,000 to N2 million.

Speaking on the reward scheme, Ms. Aishah Ahmad , Head, Retail Financial Services of the bank said: “ we value our relationship with our customers because we believe that the strength of any relationship comes from listening, understanding

and responding adequately to the needs of our customers.

This is why we commenced the scheme to meet some of the financial goals of our customers.”

In December 2014, Broadband service provider, Smile Communications Nigeria Limited announced a 25-day promo which was perceived by industry observers as a worthwhile yuletide offer.

Smile empowered its subscribers by offering a Wifi Router with 20GB and 12 months validity for just N23,000.

The company ’s Chief Marketing Officer; Mrs. Alero Ladipo, said the offer would give individuals the opportunity to stay connected during the festive season with family and friends by receiving value for the right price. “Also customers stand to benefit from the out of bundle rate that would apply to their respective bundle for the 12-month period of the promo, which will remain the same as the in-bundle rate, giving customers consistent

EVENT - From left: Managing Director, Arla Foods, Mr. Steen Hadsjberg, wife of Secretary to Ogun State Government, Mrs. Folashade Adeoluwa, representing the wife of Ogun State Governor, Mrs Olufunso Amosun, 3rd place winner, 2015 Indomie independence Award, IIDA, Najah Nuhu Al-Masih and Group Managing Director, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, Mr. Deepak Singhal at the 2015 IIDA event held in Lagos.

value all year round. A good way to start the New Year,” Ladipo said.

Also speaking recently in Enugu, Marketing Manager, Gulder, 33,More, Life and stout categor y, NB, Emmanuel Agu, stated that the concept of the Guilder National Consumer Promotion, NCP has to change to be all encompassing, because the earlier Gulder ultimate search was streamlined for a particular section of the public, a situation he described as not too palatable for the brand, because the brand wanted other consumers to participate and feel connected to the brand.

However, in Enugu, the promo took a difference, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International stadium takeoff of the NCP promotion, the crowd was typical of the political campaign periods, but it was not, it was the search for the ultimate winner of a Hyundia Elantra car worth N5.2 million and other consolation prizes.

The promo which is pan Nigeria is spread across eight states of Enugu, Ibadan, Lagos, Port-harcourt, Owerri, Calabar and Onitsha.

The reward system for the promo was in two phase, one from the race which culminated into the search for the ultimate prize and the other a raffle draw.

For the chase to win the car, Chinedu Odimgbe, an engineering student who recently finished from the Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT, who was waiting his service letter carted home the ultimate prize, upon discovering the box containing the car key.

According to him, “I have been watching Gulder ultimate search since 2005, I have been following it on the facebook and other social media platforms. I watched Michael Nwachukwu win in 2005, this, eventually moved emotion for the promo.”

Knorr splashes N6.5million on cooking competition winners

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HREE winners of the Knorr Taste Quest Season 3, Davies Obiekea, Dapo Lambo and Olatunji Onisarotu, have emerged proud winners of a cash prize of N6.5million at the justconcluded cooking competition organized by Knorr, makers of Knorr.

While Davies Obiekea, who earlier described himself as “the Underdog” emerged the competition’s best, winning the grand prize of Five Million Naira, lots of

kitchen equipment, one year free gas supply from Total Gaz and loads of Knorr Seasoning Cubes, Dapo Lambo emerged the second place winner and was rewarded with a cash prize of One million Naira and six months free gas supply from Total Gaz. Olatunji Onisarotu went home with a cash prize of Five Hundred Thousand naira and three months free gas supply from Total Gaz as the third place winner.

The trio were declared winners at an all male grandfinale, presided over by the guest judge, Chef Orighoye Dore-Job of Nylah’s Catering.

Expressing the panel’s delight at the level of innovation displayed by the five contestants, noted that the Competition had provided the young that participated to display their culinary skills to the public, while at the same time enhancing their fortunes at the end of the day.

Describing the competition as a revelation, a chef, Dayo Akinlabi, believed the masculine gender had been able to prove to the whole world that the kitchen ‘is no longer the exclusive preserve of the women.

‘The take-away here is that men could even be better cooks, it all depends on the passion being put into it, that is why competitions like this should be encouraged,’ he stated, while appraising the competition.

Daroc unveils Denim range

BY DAVID OKPE

D

aroc Distribution Nigeria Limited, a brand distribution and sales company, a member of Rocco Global FZC with the headquarters in the UK has introduced the Denim range of fragrance (Body Spray, Aftershave and Shower Gel) specially made for men into the Nigerian deodorant market.

The Denim range of range was unveiled to the media at a media launch in Lagos.

Speaking at the media launch, the General Manager, Daroc Distribution Nigeria Limited, Mr. Bashir Jaber, disclosed that the Denim range of fragrance was specifically manufactured as a unique male brand for those who desire a distinct and long lasting fragrance.

“We are very pleased to formally introduce the Denim range of personal care products to the Nigerian consumers.

DENIM is a globally acclaimed brand offering the best quality that meets and surpasses consumers’ expectations,” he said.

Jaber disclosed that the Denim Deodorant Body Spray is available in Nigeria in 7 different variants – Denim Original, Denim Black, Denim Illusion, Denim Raw Passion, Denim River, Denim Musk and Denim Desire.

Maltina Teacher of the year emerges

A

37 year-old teacher from Anambra State, Mrs. Rose Nkemdilim Obi has emerged national winner of the maiden edition of the Maltina Teacher-ofthe-Year.

Obi, who is equally a daughter of a teacher, teaches Mathematics and Chemistry at the Federal Government Girls College, FGC Onitsha. The year 2000 graduate of Nnamdi Azikwe University, Awka, Anambra State beat nine other finalists to the coveted prize.

The ten finalists who slugged it out at the final lap, were winners from Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Benue, Borno, Delta, Ebonyi, Imo, Lagos, Ogun and Oyo States.

The first runner-up was Mrs. Binta Mohammed Lawan of Federal Government College Maiduguri, Borno State, in the war ravaged North East, while her counterpart from Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Daniel Sunday Udiong emerged as the second runner-up.

The award instituted by Maltina, the non-alcoholic malt brand from the stable of Nigerian Breweries Plc, is courtesy of Nigerian Breweries-Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund.

It is aimed at restoring the pride of teachers and the dignity of the teaching profession.

The national winner got one million instantly and N1 million will be paid into her account annually for five years.

36 — Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

Tel:0805 220 1997

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he pace of governance under President Mohamed Buhari has been decried in some quarters as being slow in providing clear signals of a realistic, regenerative economic blueprint; some other Nigerians, however, conversely endorse Buhari’s more complimentary self branding of being slow and steady. Nevertheless, in the absence of any formal declaration of an economic strategy, it may still be possible to deduce government’s mindset on some critical challenges, through snippets from statements made by Senior government officials.

In this regard, the defense of fuel subsidy retention by Emmanuel Kachikwu, the GMD-NNPC, at a recent senate screening, may be very enlightening; in his remarks, the ministerial nominee confirmed that, Buhari is deeply worried that “if we take away this subsidy without adequate plans on palliatives, — what is going to be the impact on the populace?” For this reason, Kachikwu reported that “ we are having a continuing dialogue on this, I think (however) that we are both determined that at some time, given the effect on the national economy of subsidy today, something would have to happen on subsidy”.

Sadly, average subsidy payments, inexplicably often exceeded N1Trillion or 20% of annual budgets in the last five years. This ‘obscene’ reality in a major oil producing nation, is probably the stuff from which tragic comedies are inspired; sadly, we are the “happy and gullible” caste of this ugly drama!

Ironically, despite the scarcity of job opportunities at home, we think nothing of exporting jobs to countries which refine our crude; it is apparently, also no big deal if Nigerians are schemed out of the lucrative shipment of

SUBSIDY: Nigerians like sheep to slaughter our crude exports or fuel imports; neither does it matter if our daily fuel requirement is 40m litres as per data projections or, actually, just 25m litres as suggested by Kachikwu.

Furthermore, it seems of no significance either, whether or not 40% of all foreign exchange remittances from Nigeria are for settlement of fuel imports bills; little wonder therefore, that such heavy foreign exchange outflows constantly deplete CBN’s reserves and ultimately threaten Naira exchange rate as dollars become relatively scarce.

Indeed, despite the several negative attributes of subsiding fuel imports, “Buhari is deeply worried” according to Kachikwu, “on what will be the impact on the populace” if subsidy is abolished.

The President is obviously clearly conscious of the depth of poverty in Nigeria and, he is, therefore, rightly wary of increasing the burden of deprivation on our people.

Buhari, similarly, recognizes the relationship between the general price level and increasing fuel prices in our economy. We cannot forget the January 2012 nationwide mass uprising triggered by Jonathan’s ‘misguided’ plan, to abolish subsidy with the promise to channel the related ‘savings’ to tangible social infrastructure.

Nonetheless, some experts still suggest that real growth in economic and social welfare and the hope for reduced budget deficits will remain impossible if fuel subsidy is sustained; these analysts insist that the trauma of a sharp price rise due to

subsidy removal will after all, be short-lived as prices will gradually stabilise overtime, as Nigerians make inevitable adjustments to the evolving economic austerity.

The question, however, is whether or not the price spiral would actually stabilise in the short to medium term to create a sustainable downward adjusted equilibrium in lifestyle and individual consumption habits?

Regrettably, there are no guarantees that this would be the case; evidently, if the albatross of eternally systemic Naira surplus subsists in the economy, as it has since 1999, inflation may well exceed 15% by 2017!

Instructively, such spiraling inflation would inadvertently weaken the Naira exchange rate, particularly, if government’s revenue base remains constrained by low crude oil prices. Conversely, further depreciation of the Naira exchange rate will again invariably spark higher fuel prices; for example, if dollar appreciates under demand pressure to say

The Naira exchange rate would invariably harden once government decides to stop subsidising the dollar exchange rate with the steadily depreciating Naira

Africa loses $50bn annually to trade next year to about 5,000 mis-pricing, says Mbeki megawatts.

BY FRANKLIN ALLI

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frica loses $50 billion (about N10 trillion) annually to trade mispricing.

This was disclosed by Dr. Thabo Mbeki, former President of the Republic rd of South Africa, at the 43 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN. Mbeki, who spoke on “The Future of the Manufacturing Sector ” as guest speaker, said the continent loses at least $50 billion every year through trade misprising which would make an important and positive contribution to the

continent’s development efforts including industrialization.

The Vice President; Yemi Osinbajo, in his speech also stated that the current CBN Forex Policy was implemented to protect the manufacturing sector and increase local production; however it was still under review to ensure that its application does not hurt the market but ensure that items that should be eligible for foreign exchange are not left out.

On power supply to industry, he reiterated governments’ efforts to boost power supply by middle of

Business & Economy

“We are discussing extensively on power supply on a daily basis because we believe that the manufacturing sector is critical for economic growth and job and wealth creation.

“We are creating an enabling environment for things to fall in shape. We believe the manufacturing sector is key to attaining our set objectives as government to create job opportunities for our youths. There is no way we can achieve economic growth without diversifying our economy through agriculture value chain, mining, oil and gas.

infrastructure and job creation. There is currently nothing to suggest that the Buhari model of palliatives will have a successful coloration, while there is similarly no indication, either, that the Naira exchange rate will remain stable: such uncertainties on these critical issues portend serious economic dislocation, which cannot, surely, be the expectation of the quality of change Nigerians desire.

It is noteworthy that Kachikwu made no reference, whatsoever, to any plan for the construction of more public refineries to reduce the huge forex outflow from fuel imports; this omission may be read as body language to imply that government may not be looking in the direction of new government refineries as solution to unbridled fuel imports, high fuel prices and related subsidy payments or depleting forex reserves.

Instructively, despite government’s apparent dilemma, the fuel supply and subsidy debacle will be salutarily resolved, if the Naira exchange rate gradually becomes stronger; for example, if Naira exchanges for N100=$1, fuel price will rapidly collapse without subsidy to below the current N87/litre and may accommodate a petrol sale tax/ litre to bolster government revenue.

The Naira exchange rate would invariably harden once government decides to stop subsidising the dollar exchange rate with the steadily depreciating Naira values caused by CBN’s induced systemic Naira surplus which has poisoned our economy over the years.

The Naira will be stronger when CBN stops substituting Naira allocations for distributable dollar denominated revenue.

N300=$1, imported fuel price will simultaneously rise by about 50% without any subsidy! The question, however, is how Nigerians will react to the impact of another significant spike in fuel price, with the inevitable knock on impact on the already oppressive general price level.

In essence, it is clear that unless inflation and Naira exchange rate can be kept in check, fuel price will remain volatile with serious social and economic consequences which will make subsidy abolition very unpopular.

Consequently, Kachikwu’s observation is “that the President is a lot more disposed to attacking subsidy, once he is able to deal with the palliative issues rather than simply yanking it out”.

To this end, the government would first, according to Kachikwu, seek to direct more funds towards improving facilities in such areas as the National Health Scheme, railway network and power infrastructure. Clearly, these are medium to long term gestation projects for which completion could dovetail close into the election campaign year of 2018-19.

Thus, despite the attendant distortions inherent, subsidy may unfortunately remain with us for at least 2-3 years hence, or even possibly longer, if inflation and exchange rate depreciation also remain irrepressible.

In reality, the promise of palliative measures is not new in our endless battle to mitigate the impact of rising fuel prices; regrettably, both the Obasanjo model and Jonathan’s version of Sure-P failed miserably to create the desired impact on social

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

SAVE THE NAIRA!! SAVE NIGERIANS!!

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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, OCTOBER 19, 2015—37

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38 — Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

NIGERIA ECONOMIC SUMMIT 2015

NESG: Stakeholders task FG on implementation of policy recommendations

By Peter Egwuatu

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HE three-day 21st Nigerian Economic Summit Group, NESG, conference has come and gone, with the stakeholders both in private and public sector hoping to see the country realise its potentials within the shortest possible time. However, stakeholders in the private sector have expressed concern over implementation of the far reaching recommendations put before the Federal Government for consideration.

Though, they noted that the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari had the pedigree to transform the economy if the ministers, legislature and judiciary are able to work assiduously and adopt the spirit of transparency and accountability in their respective functions.

Meanwhile, some of the prominent stakeholders in attendance at this year’s summit include representative of public sector, such as Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President of Nigeria, Mr. Bassey Akpanyung, Executive Secretary of National Planning Commission, Dr. Joe Abba, Director General, Bureau of Public Service Reform, Dr. Ndidi Edozien, Chief Strategy Officer, Strategy and Execution and Consultant to Office of the Head of Service on a Federal C i v i l Service Competency Development, Shamsudden Usman, former Minister /Deputy Chairman, National Planning Commission, NPC, Mr. Ben Akabueze, former Commissioner, Budget and Planning, Lagos State and majority of State Governors among others.

former Prime Minister of Georgia, Mr. Nika Gilauri, The stakeholders stated that if the tough choices are made and the government takes advantage of its competitiveness, sustain them, then we should see a Nigeria that is safe, secure,stable environmentally table and globally competitive. Some of the things the stakeholders discoursed at the forum included the fact that government should allow equitable access to opportunities to all the citizens, improve security, justice, inclusive growth, education, diversification, governance, infrastructure, health, youth empowerment and gender equality fairness.

The tough choices: Participants at the summit agreed that infrastructure was critical.

Infrastructure: According to them “There should be privatization/concession of the railways (focus on freight), major highways, major airports, refineries/pipelines/depots; adoption of alternative financing options in the areas of infrastructure investment both directly and through PPPs; privatization of the power transmission network and increase power generation to achieve 20,000 MW Legislations:“ Identify all obsolete laws that are impediments of GCI and ease of doing business and expedite speedy legislation; Simplify

Private sector For the private sector, we had Dr. Ayo Teriba, Mr. Kunle Elebute, Senior partner, KPMG, Nigeria, Dr. Temitope Oshikoya, former Chief Economist, African Development Bank, Mrs. Sola David Borha, CEO, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Dr. Biodun Adedipe, Private Sector CoChair, Joint Planning Committee, just to mention a few. Some of the foreign stakeholders were also in attendance. They include C M Y K

There should be privatization/ concession of the railways (focus on freight), major highways, major airports, refineries/ pipelines/depots

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo being conducted round the exhibition of products by coordinator corporate communications, Promasidor Nigeria Limited, Mr. Isiaka Lawal (R) during the Presidential Policy Dialogue at the 21st Nigerian Economic Summit, Abuja regulation to eliminate bottlenecks and outdated laws.

T a c k l i n g Corruption: “Strengthen legal framework for repatriation of stolen funds; ‘Walk the talk’ – No sacred cows; Institutionalise disincentives for graft; Strengthen existing framework for information sharing, intelligence gathering and response to Security Threats of people, infrastructure, early warning systems.

Other tough choices to be made according to them include: Restructuring of the overall governance of the oil sector by splitting the operator and regulator reporting lines; Break up the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into manageable issue-specific laws that amend existing laws or regulations that the Legislative arm of government are not opposed to.

For example, amending tax laws to incentivise gas, clarifying gas terms for the Production Sharing Contracts; Passing the PIB as restructured and Immediately address the lengthy contracting cycle to reduce the lead time (currently 24-36 months) by delegating more decisions to the privatesector operators and implementing a streamlined contract review and approval process that seamlessly integrates contracting requirements by various agencies.

Specific sectors On specific sectors, the stakeholders stated as follows: Education tough choices: “Increase budgetary allocation to education to 20%; train, enhance, recognize and reward our teachers; Implement the laws on national skills standardization, certification and apprenticeship programmes; raise the quality

and standards of universities to redress the outflow of students to foreign countries ; Increase investment in vocational education; educational institutions should provide strong entrepreneurial orientation at all levels and curriculum development must take into cognizance the needs of the employers of labour.

Education & Skills Tough Choices:“Achieve universal basic health coverage for Nigeria through innovative funding in insurance and micro-insurance solutions; Provide tax incentives and government funded research grants to local manufacturers of pharmaceutical products ;Convert 1,000 hospital beds in 5 teaching hospitals into world class private wings with funding, expertise and management by world class healthcare companies.

Tough Choices On Job Creation “Stable and Competitive Economy; Eliminate bottlenecks that hinder Private Sector investment; Efficient and Creative Support for SMEs; Pick industry sectors in which to create competitive advantage; Tough Choices On Micro, Small & Medium Businesses: “ Eliminate inefficiencies in registration processes (Automation, DIY techniques, information portals); Eliminate bottlenecks and excessive costs attached to over-regulation and multiple agencies; Review cumbersome licensing procedures and multiple costs which acts as a disincentive to MSMEs. Tough Choices On SDGs: “Create a framework for national implementation of the SDGs; Network of private actors to drive implementation of corporate social investments and sustainability standards.

The stakeholders also noted that in terms of the competiveness of the country, it should look at where it is now and what needs to be changed.

According to them the country now is faced with the following: Pervasive Corruption; Weak levels of accountability; Poor Infrastructure; Weak Institutions; Ineffective institutions; Inadequate Legislation, Regulations & Policies; Obsolete legislation and Multiplicity Sub-optimal Human Capital: They further listed other factors facing Nigeria to include: Heightened insecurity; security threats and rising poverty amidst economic growth.

Commenting on non inclusive growth, the stakeholders suggested that government should pull more people into productive sectors of the economy as the country is currently faced with high unemployment, high inflation rate, high interest rates and lack of opportunities

Southern Governors deliberation As part of measures to cushion the effects of the dwindling economic fortune of the states in the southern region, the Governors unanimously agreed that there was need for a regional integration and economic cooperation amongst member states. The governors, who took their turns to speak at a parallel design workshops at the just concluded summit said the time has come for states at the regional level to come together and team up and harness their aggregate potentials in the individual states.

First to take stage was Governors Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, who described the present structure of the country, saying that Nigeria is so Continues on Page 39

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015 — 39

NIGERIA ECONOMIC SUMMIT 2015 NESG: Stakeholders task FG on implementation of policy recommendations Continues from Page 38 fragmented into smaller units that the component states could hardly record significant impact as individual states.

“We inherited a legacy from the late sage, Obafemi Awolowo, competiveness for our region. Those who are talking about states, I laugh at them, the states in Nigeria are so atomized, there is hardly anything really they can do as a state, yes you can make effort, but regions are better placed to advance the economic interest of their people, working together.

“In Lagos State, because of its location there is a huge concentration of people that can serve as a market for agricultural produce from the hinterland, so we have worked hard in developing the potentials of our people for modern agriculture.”Aregbesola who expressed strong feelings for regional convergence also called for immediate removal of the ‘His Excellency ’ toga from the Governors, saying that such title should be an exclusive reserve of the President.

In his view, the Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun,stated that the importance of regional integration and cooperation among regional states cannot be overemphasized and called for support. “Imagine a situation where over 50 per cent of the middle and lower cadre of the work force in Lagos State live in Ogun State. They put pressure on us in Ogun State but then they pay their taxes to Lagos State government.

Proximity to Lagos “In the area of IGR, of course we are leveraging on our proximity to Lagos and I hope that they are listening now so that they will continue to pay us all our dues.”

In the same vein, the Anambra State Governor, Mr. Willie Obiano underscored the need for cooperation among states for accelerated economic development. He said his government is working with the Enugu State government to see how investors can develop coal because according to him, Enugu State has coal in abundance and that they were looking at a scenario where the two states can share the power generated from the coal power project.

According to O b i a n o , “Anambra State Anambra government is p r e s e n t l y State working with Delta State government Government on is presently the issue of waste working management.”

Also lending with Delta his voice, to the call for regional State integration, Oyo Government State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, on the issue said his of waste government is management taking advantage C M Y K

of the strategic geographic location of the state to create a logistics centre in the state. “We are trying to create a logistics centre in Oyo State, we are trying to create a network of industrial developments logistics. We have just concluded an arrangement to have storage facilities, manufacturing outfits near an industrial park and the industrial park is next to the inland container depot that is a dry port.

“We have also just signed an agreement with some Chinese who are now ready to help us develop a small rail system that will be coupled up with the federal government line.What we are saying is that we are looking at our size to take advantage and use it to integrate with other neighboring states,”said Governor Ajimobi.

“What my government is doing about regional integration is to look at best practices. In the area of IGR, our IGR is very low, about N1.2 billion monthly and we have looked at what Lagos State did and within a span of 10 years Lagos State was able to move its IGR by more than 500 per cent. What we did was to take the staff of the Lagos State internal revenue service and install them in Oyo state.” he said.

Declare state of emergency on cattle rustling – Northern Governors

Worried by the increasing spate of cattle rustling across the country, Governors from the Northern part of the country at the submit, said the activities of cattle rustlers in the country, particularly in the region was much and called on Federal Government to take urgent steps to curb it. Governor Nasir El-rufai of Kaduna State, who took the first shot at the meeting, noted that security challenge remained one of the key difficulties faced by the region.

Solution to the menace According to him, collective effort is needed to aid federal government in finding a lasting solution to the menace.

He lamented activities of the rustlers, saying that recent invasion of farm house of former Vice President where they carted away all his livestock, in addition to causing severe damage to farmlands of poor peasants, was unacceptable.

El-Rufai who spoke on behalf of governors of the North West region said “the attempts to get help from the Federal Government failed, following complaints of shortage of funds by the Federal Government to handle the situation.

“Through the synergy by governors of the region, the North West Governors have been able to fund a task force who have been able to degrade the activities of the bandit rustlers and recovered well over 12,000 stolen cattle.” As part of efforts to curb the vices, the Governors said they recently formed a regional security synergy to check the excesses of the cattle rustlers and other bandits parading around the region.

On education sector, the Governors lamented the poor state of education in the region. Quoting a recent audit report published on teachers that stated that over 60 percent of teachers were not qualified to teach. To address the issue, they noted that 3,000 graduate teachers of English and Mathematics had been recruited to fill the gap.

40—Vanguard,MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

Enugu govt to kick-start aggressive road works

Ministerial appointments not compensation for Igbo ---Aka-Ikenga

By Prince Okafor

By Francis Igata

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NUGU—ENUGU State Executive Council has approved the award of contracts for the construction of the eight roads earlier advertised and bided for in keeping with the administration’s drive to tackle challenges posed by bad roads in the state.

The government has also set machinery in motion for the rehabilitation of the ailing Star Printing and Publishing Company, publishers of Daily Star newspaper.

The roads are Abakpa Nike and Nike Lake Roads; Opi-Nsukka dual carriage way; Amankwo-AmekeAmah brewery junction; Ninth Mile by-pass; Ohom Oba junction;Imilike AniEzimo; Agu- ImilikeOgbodu; Aba- Obollo EtitiAmalla-Obollo –AforUdenu ring Roads.

Others are Enugu Road, Nsukka junctionUmuezebi -post office roundabout; Odenigbo roundabout, Ogurugu Road–IkengaHotels Junction, among others.

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HE RECENT ministerial appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari are not compensation for the Igbo.

This was disclosed by the President of Aka-Ikenga, Mr. Goddy Uwazurike at the Igbo Leadership lecture and award presentation, weekend, in Lagos.

“The first problem we have is that there are many people claiming to speak for Ndigbo.

Many of them are husband and

wife associations. Some are sons and fathers associations but we the Igbo know ourselves. We know our leaders. We are all under Ohanaeze Ndigbo and the President General is Chief Gary Enwo-Igariwey.

"So any Igbo man who wants to do something outside the Ohanaeze Ndigbo is actually a joker. For we the Igbo, Ohanaeze Ndigbo remains the apex body and we still has one president, whose tenure will expire by January 2017,” Uwazurike said.

When asked of his opinion on President Muhammadu Buhari’s list for ministerial appointments, he said, “The President should take it line by line and not jumppass any line to avoid every form of aggravation by the sidelined zone.”

His words: “President Buhari is moving on. He is a moving train. He has not perhaps reached his destination. But it would have been better for Nigeria if he was taking the appointments one after the other.

Anambra police

to partner FVPMAN to reduce crime

By Chimaobi Nwaiwu

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NEWI—THE Anambra State Police Command has promised to partner with the Film and Video Producers and Marketers Association of Nigeria, FVPMAN, in their effort to eradicate crime and unemployment, through involvement of the youth in profitable ventures, thereby, keeping them away from crime and at the same time giving them employment.

The State Commissioner of Police Mr. Hosea Hassan Karma disclosed this weekend when the members of FVPMAN, led by their Executive Chairman, Mr. Kenneth Izuogu paid him a courtesy call at the State Police Headquarters, Amawobia Awka, Anambra State.

Members of the association who were in the team that visited the state Police Commissioner with Mr. Izuogu were George Edmond, of Stonegold Productions Limited, and General Secretary of FVPMAN, Emeka Igwemba, of 1st Prince Creations Limited .

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CONFERENCE: The Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd, SPDC, Mr. Osagie Okunbor, (centre) with a Special Recognition Award presented to him by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management, Nigeria, CIPM, at their 47th annual conference, in Abuja, on October 15. He is flanked on the left by the treasurer, CIPM, Mrs. Ifeoma Adeniji, and the President, Mr. Tony Arabome.

We have six zones in the country.

If he started from one zone, say North West, he should go to South West and pick a candidate. After that, he goes to North East, South East, North Central and South South. That way the tension, the paranoia aggravated by the seemingly lopsided appointments, would not have been there.”

He added: “It’s so obvious. If indeed he has 50 appointments and all the 50 have gone to five zones and the 6th zone got nothing, the 6th zone has every right to complain. The fact speaks for itself. You don’t even need to justify, glamourize or excuse it. It is a fact that the Igbo are excluded.

"I think only Mr. President will decide who he wants to work with, but in doing so, he must follow the constitution. That’s what we are saying. You don’t have to like my face. He has the right to also make himself a minister. The only person under the constitution, who must be appointed directly is the attorney general.

"Mr. President has the right to make himself Minister of Petroleum like Obasanjo did. Why go for the number one money maker? He should have gone for agriculture to show example that this should be our major money earner. And believe me, things will be okay the day we realize that oil is a wasting asset unlike agriculture."

CAPS congratulates Ngige, Lai Mohammed, other ministers

T

HE CONFERENCE of APC Publicity Secretaries, CAPS, has congratulated Senator Chris Ngige and Lai Mohammed on their appointments as Ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The group expressed conviction that such momentous honor could only have come from a popularity arising from character, confidence and commitment to the goals of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and subsequently the APC in the last six years.

“We have all been inspired by the input of the new minister and out-going National Publicity Secretary of our great party, his commitment, passion and dedication to Nigeria's progress.

“We have no doubt that this brilliant lawyer of Kwara State extraction with a rich background of service in public corporations will prove to be equally committed, passionate and contribute immensely to the success of the incoming first-class federal cabinet.

“We also send our warm congratulations to all the other seventeen ministers so far confirmed by the Senate.

“Specifically, we congratulate Sen. Chris Ngige, Sen Udoma Udo Udoma, Sen. Aisha Alhassan

and Sen. Hadi Sirika for their resounding recognition by the Senate and as competent ambassadors within the Executive arm. We also hail ex-Gov Raji Fashola, ex-Gov. Kayode Fayemi,

Chief Audu Ogbeh ,Mrs Kemi Adeosun ,Dr Ibe Kachukwu. Dr Osagie Ebahire, Barr Solomon Dalong, Mrs Aminat Mohammed, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu,Engr Suleiman Adamu,

Jubril Huseini Ibrahim, Mr Abubakar Malami and Gen Mohammed Bello Dambazzau for their confirmation as ministers.”

Okorocha advises religious leaders to avoid politics

By Fintan Ibegwam

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HE IMO State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha has advised the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), religious leaders and other religious bodies in the country to try as much as they can to avoid dabbling into politics, adding that the linking of CAN to the alleged bribery money shared during the 2015 general election was not good for the association and the Christians in the country.

Governor Okorocha who spoke when the delegation of the Nigeria Pilgrims Commission led by the Executive Secretary, Mr. John Kennedy Opara visited him at

the Government House Owerri, said the leadership of CAN and other religious bodies and their leaders should be apolitical especially during elections to enable them carry out their religious and spiritual responsibilities well and without suspicion from any quarters.

He also advised that the leadership of CAN should discourage its members from negative political involvements, actions and utterances that could heat up the polity .

“A situation where a religious leader or body favours one political party or candidate and campaigns against the other party or candidate is unacceptable. Such action does

not encourage peace and unity among the adherents of the religious bodies and leaders.”

The governor urged the religious leaders and bodies in the country to concentrate more on their divine callings or ministries and always pray for the good of the nation and her people, offering pieces of advice when necessary.

He also promised to sponsor more youths to pilgrimage when the economic situation of the state and the nation improves.

Leader of the delegation, Mr Opara commended the governor for his peopleoriented programme in the state including the free education programme.

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015—41

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42—Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

Labour petitions DSS DG over alleged intimidation

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

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unprofessionalism as exemplified by their intimidation, harassment and high handedness against the union officials who were agitating for a level playing ground for industrial and labour relations to thrive in the company vis-à-vis all Nigerian extant labour laws and International Labour Organisation, ILO, Conventions. We wonder why the Directorate would turn itself to a court on labour issues and compel the union

officials under duress to sign an undertaking or face detention in the presence of the PHEDC management, when they had followed all known labour procedures before embarking on the picketing. Worse still, what transpired between the leadership of the Directorate and PHEDC when they had a private meeting while our officials were still held hostage could be better imagined than said. That was why the management,

emboldened by their relationship with the state DSS, sacked more workers after the suspended action.

"It was expected that the Directorate should have facilitated a meeting outside their office, preferably in a conducive environment with all the statutory bodies being represented and the issues raised as our grievances dialogued upon. But it appears the ‘PHEDC’s influence’ overwhelmed the Directorate hence the

RGANISED Labour has petitioned the DirectorGeneral, DG, of the Directorate of State Service, DSS, over alleged intimidation and harassment of labour leaders

by Rivers State DSS. Condemning perceived unprofessional conduct of men and officials of DSS in Rivers State, labour claimed it was “ yet to recover from the traumatic experience of the intimidation, harassment and high handedness by Rivers State DSS." On the platform of National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, labour urged the DG to investigate the activities of his men in Rivers State, noting that the union had lost confidence in Rivers’ DSS operatives .

In the petition, NUEE General Secretary, Joe Ajaero, claimed that operatives of Rivers State DSS exhibited unprofessional conduct when members of NUEE picketed the installations of Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, PHEDC. DINNER: Former Senate President, Senator David Mark (left) and the According to Ajaero, “We are yet to recover Chairman, Board of Directors, Kresta Laurel Technologies Limited and former from the traumatic governor of Ogun Sstate, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, during a dinner to mark experience inherent from the company's 25th anniversary, in Lagos, yesterday. the Directorate’s

A-Ibom to boost UUTH with intervention grant

A

KWA Ibom State Government plans to award special intervention grant to the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital to enable the institution update facilities and provide conducive operational environment for patients.

Governor Udom Emmanuel announced this during the October edition of Government House Prayer meeting at the Latter Day House Chapel, Governor ’s Lodge, Uyo. The governor was reacting to the situation at the tertiary health institution during an unscheduled visit to the hospital.

He frowned at the poor sanitary condition and d i l a p i d a t e d infrastructure at the accident and emergency ward stating that the situation in which he saw the patients was a far cry from the recovery process in which a health institution was known for.

The unit, according to

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the governor, had dirty walls, broken tiles on the floor and in the lounge, and the lawns overgrown with weeds while the toilet facilities lacked water.

“I went to the only teaching hospital in the state. You can imagine

the deplorable sight lacking both in ambience and structure, yet managed by professors and consultants. Even the environment is enough to hinder the recovery of the sick. I was really upset. I have decided to give the

institution a grant to upgrade the facilities especially the labour ward where babies are born. People given the facilities to manage should put in their best in line with their professional calling,” he said.

Tribunal dismisses petition against Bayelsa Speaker

By Samuel Oyadongha

Y

ENAGOA—THE National and State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Yenagoa has dismissed the petition brought against the Speaker of Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Mr. Kombowei Benson of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for Southern Ijaw Constituency IV by Mr. Ebifaghe Orunimighe, of the All Progressives Congress, APC. The petitioner, Mr.

Orunimighe, is seeking the nullification of the result of the election on grounds of noncompliance with the Electoral Act. Delivering judgement on the petition, Justice Onaneze Madu said the petitioner failed to present evidence to substantiate his claims of irregularities, violence and mass thumb-printing during the State Assembly election of April,11, 2015.

Justice Madu said the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, acted within the

electoral law to cancel the results of election at Koluama ward 17 based on the report given by the Supervisory Presiding Officer in the area.

After dismissing the petition, the tribunal upheld the election that returned Mr. Benson as the winner and member representing Southern Ijaw Constituency IV. Reacting to the verdict, the Mr. Benson said his victory was for all and enjoined his opponents to join him move the constituency forward.

display of unprofessional conduct.

"For the records, please note that our men were coerced to suspend the action under threat and insecure circumstances.

Therefore, we are formally notifying you that our action will soon resume and we will not give in to any amount of harassment, threat, intimidations or blackmail unless PHEDC management comes to terms with the reality of allowing the workers to be unionised."

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015—43

RMD, Patience Ozokwor, others advocate sexual, reproductive rights

By Chioma Obinna

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OLLOWING increased denials of justice for reproductive rights issues, 18 Nollywood stars are championing advocacy on critical Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), including youth access to sexual reproductive health information and services in the country.

The celebrities include frontline screenwriter and producer, Emem Isong-Misodi, Patience Ozokwor (Mama G), Richard Mofe Damijo, Uche Jombo-Rodriguez and Deji Bakare, Mr. Nigeria 2011/2013 among others.

The stars are expected to engage the national audience through their films on the need to invest in health and the development of women, youth and children.

The lead facilitator of the initiative, Grace Kaimila Kanjo, said the selected Nollywood actors have potentials that can be utilised in social activism in sexual and reproductive health and rights in Nigeria and in the whole of Africa because many of them live in people's homes through their movies.

Kanjo who spoke in Lagos during a capacity building workshop organised by

NOLLYWOOD STARS: Patience Ozokwor (left) and Richard Mofe-Damijo, teaming up with others to promote sexual reproductive rights Champions for Change, an Oakland-based organisation in collaboration with Ford Foundation, said Nollywood stars have tremendous potentials and power to be harnessed to safeguard the rights of the oppressed.

The Programme Manager, Champions for Change, Rufaro Kangai said: "We are going to be working on a film centered on some of the issues and challenges of reproductive health in Nigeria. It is our hope

that this film will get an international OSCAR nomination. So we are going to

Do you have a sore throat or painful toothache?

Add very diluted eucalyptus oil to water and gargle with it

do our best and not only the award, this film will catch the attention of our leaders not only in Nigeria but Africa.

“It will touch the heart of religious leaders, and traditional leaders so that they can be more sensitive about the need for rights of women and girls that will lead to a better Nigeria for the marginalized population."

Country representative, Champions for Change in Nigeria, Theresa Kaka Effa, said the platform would be designed to provide accurate information

about the issues regarding sexual reproductive health and rights. "We also want to use this frontline platform to engage our society because people look at them and watch them. They could use their platform to address health and social issues," she said.

She also said the celebrities are expected to bring a change in the way reproductive issues are handled in Nigeria.

Programme Officer, Ford Foundation, Dr Paul Nwulu, said the goal of the programme is to see Nollywood stars integrated so they can become champions for change.

“As you all know, Nollywood is definitely one of the shining stars of Nigeria today to create an industry that is globally known. Some personalities from that industry are as big celebrities as stars in the US. "So part of what we are looking at is how we can tap into their fame, their celebrity status to make them champions and advocates for a lot of different social work that we do in the region.

“So this ground was basically made to train quite a few of celebrities so that they would be able to internalize some of these issues, become voices and then talk about them because when they talk about these issues people listen, " he said.

Coordinator of the stars, Isong- Misodi, said in trying to entertain Nigerians, the aim is to reach out through some of the issues affecting society through entertainment.

Vinci Hair Clinic provides permanent solution for hair loss

By Sola Ogundipe

F

OR so many years, Abiodun Awobadejo battled hair loss. It was a nagging problem. His hairline was receding at an alarming rate, and everything he did to stop it failed.

A few weeks ago, Abiodun, a businessman took part in a competition for balding men to regain their hair growth.

Luckily, he emerged one of the three winners and recieved a free hair treatment as prize.

Elvis Nonye Ikwuagwu and Awumidu Nkemjika were the other winners.

The event, organised by Vinci Hair Clinic Nigeria, an outfit that provides solutions in hair restoration, offered free full Micro Scalp Pigmentation, MSP, treatment to the three men. MSP also known as “scalp tatoo,” is a non-surgical way of creating the look of a shaved head of hair.

The MSP technique places pigments under the scalp that look extremely natural and doesn't require any maintenance. It also works effectively for women with long hair. Vinci Hair Clinic, a leading MSP specialist,

offering groundbreaking baldness camouflage options for men and women, is the first clinic to offer MSP in the country.

It announced the competition on radio and social media platforms informing interested balding men to sendhead shots of their hair loss to qualify for the entry.

In a chat with Health & Living, Abiodun said October 7, 2015, would remain memorable in his life because it was the day Vinci Hair Clinic helped him reclaim his receding hairline.

"I wish the MSP treatment had been in Nigeria before; I have been teased on numerous occasions and looked much older than my current age. Thank you Vinci Hair Clinic for giving me this opportunity," he said.

In the official media presentation of the Hair Clinic, the CEO, Mr. Ayo Otubanjo, described MSP as a ground breaking treatment that can also be used to add visual density to thinning hair for men and women, as well as alopecia sufferers.

“We decided to engage in this competition to give Nigerians a feel of what the MSP treatment looks like and inform balding men of a solution accessible here in Nigeria," he disclosed.

He said the clinic provides surgical and non-surgical medical hair loss solutions for men and women to help prevent further hair loss, fill in thinning areas, such as the Mama Eko syndrome, and to

cover up receding hairlines and balding crowns.

“A wide range of treatments is available at the Lagos Clinic for the treatment or concealment of hair loss for both men and women. For those who want to do more than simply stop the hair loss, and would much rather get their hair back, a hair transplant is the only option that can do this for them,” he said. Otubanjo said a Vinci Hair transplant is

permanent and perfectly natural. “You style and take care of the hair exactly as you would your own existing hair because that is actually what it is - your own hair,” he stated.

With 29 clinics covering six continents, in 2014, Vinci Hair Clinic opened an outlet on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi Lagos, Nigeria making it the first Hair Restoration Clinic outside South Africa to offer hair transplants and the only clinic in Africa to offer MSP.

HAIR RESTORATION: Mr Abiodun Awobadejo before MSP (left) and after the procedure (right).

44—VANGUARD, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

The PDP government had desirable virtues, which turned out to be a moral verbalisation that did not touch the conscience and minds

Buhari's ministerial nominees not the best — SARAH JIBRIL

•Sarah Jubril: So much impunity going on in Buhari's administration

Mrs. Sarah Jubril, Nigeria’s first female presidential candidate, was Special Adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan on Ethics and Values. In this interview, she blamed some of government functionaries and Jonathan’s appointees for the woes the immediate past administration suffered. She also frowns at the infighting and alleged impunity in the current administration and says that implementation of ethics and values in the polity is the surest way to rescue the country from the clutches of corruption.

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ER assessment of President Buhari’s fight against corruption It is a worthy fight, a good fight on behalf of all of us. However, it is a continuous fight because even the previous administration talked about zero tolerance for corruption, that was what late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was talking about. The fight this time is coined as fighting corruption for change.

The previous administration mentioned about fighting corruption by transformation agenda.

The realisation of the result is the issue. It is not only the government that has been trying to fight corruption, there are other social institutions that have embarked on such initiatives.

There are people in the public and private sectors, and the international community who expect Nigeria to raise the standard of fighting corruption.

Fighting corruption So, Nigeria as a leading country in Africa is expected not to relent in fighting corruption. But it should be a fight on PPP level. Public and private partnership, not only the government.

The government and stakeholders should partner with the private sector, the family and the institutions. They should also not sit back and leave the whole fight against corruption to the government because they are the people that pay taxes and make the population, they are the voters.

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They were the people that gave votes to the people that contested and became political leaders. That is why I keep talking about the stakeholders as the first fighters against corruption.

This issue of corruption is a whole thing that starts from the oath taking of public officials, if you read the content of the oath of office and the oath of allegiance which are supposed to be in line with the fulfilment of the implementation of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

If I refer you to Section 2, subsection 15.5. It says that states shall abolish all forms of corruption and abuse of power. In subsection 23, it is talking about the national ethics.

The 1999 Constitution of Nigeria as amended, chapter 2:23 says, the national ethics shall be discipline, integrity of labour, social justice, religious tolerance, self-reliance and patriotism.

Subsection 24 talks about the duties of citizens.

The fight against corruption started when the public officers took oath of office either as appointees or elected officials taking oath as senators or governors or president.

Do you think the ministerial nominees are the best after waiting for four months?

They don’t appear to be the best but whatever happens we must have the patience and spirit of tolerance because we will not ask people to go and riot. These people: their records are there but if Nigerians want to remain complacent and sweep things under carpet, it’s left for them, the hypocrisy about corruption continues.

It is alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party,

PDP governments, in the past 16 years, operated in a corrupt environment. What is your take?

I think the PDP government starting from the board of trustees, the party executives, did not open their minds to understand what their slogan and manifesto stood for. The PDP government had desirable virtues, which turned out to be a moral verbalisation that did not touch their conscience and minds.

The PDP government had, I will say, the best of party slogan anywhere in the world, but unfortunately the plague was philosophical understanding of the manifesto.

The ignorance about the high sense of responsibility of claiming to be a progressive party, and only thinking of the slogan and not acting practically.

When you have a constitution and you don’t abide by the constitution and whatever your slogan is, they are the first steps of preventing corruption. By the time we take the oath of office and oath of allegiance, and after we have read it we say, ‘so help me God.’

Raising of godly politicians The PDP government and even their predecessors had the problem of not realising that politicians in public office or civil service are supposed to ensure that the name of that God they called, they are supposed to raise godly governors. But they forget the contents of what they pronounced at the oath taking. They do not remember to obey God. How? If there were so much stealing, inappropriate behaviour and not practicalizing what the manifesto said, then it means people deviated from what they took oath to do, what they were supposed to be doing as a party.

It appears to be demonic plague that they will Continues on page 45

Those who want to do the right thing and get back to track were blackmailed, maligned and were shut up from the presidency that was supposed to steer the country in the direction

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015—45

PDP’s arrogance caused Jonathan’s ouster — Jibril

•Jubril: PDP lacks discipline

Continues from page 44 not understand what they are supposed to be doing. There was no strength of correcting, to put back on track what was going on. And those who want to do the right thing and get back to track were blackmailed, maligned and were shut up from the presidency that was supposed to steer the country in the direction.

Unfortunately, I just saw a book that says that people deceived President Goodluck Jonathan.

What they are saying, believe me, those things are true. People did not have the fear of the Almighty God. There was a government by the so-called people who are supposed to fear God, progressive people that left out the fear of the Almighty God to which they took oath.

They saw Mr. President coming with the money from the South-South, there were supposed to be enough money, it was God’s grace that brought Mr. Goodluck from an obscure background to the presidency. The oil money was there but the PDP missed how to use the grace of the Almighty God upon this country.

And if we choose to disobey God, to disobey the words of our mouth, of course, we will go astray.

So PDP lacked discipline.

But you were part of the administration, what were your efforts to point out and correct those anomalies in the system?

Was I not given the assignment by Mr. President to handle ethics and values?

Assignment on ethics and values I will give you my schedule of duties and you will see it. Didn’t the elders in the party from the board of trustees, from the financiers, to governors, senators, Reps, councillors, council chairmen, party executives, didn’t they know about the constitution? When Mr. President gave me the assignment on ethics and values, it means they did not find out what ethics meant if they didn’t know.

They had the responsibility of finding out what Mr. President meant. It was unfortunate and I feel so sorry for Mr. President but believe me all I was praying for was, ‘Lord help this man to finish and walk out of Villa with his two legs, alive.’ Did you ever see the PDP government use the words ‘ethics and values?’ Did you ever hear the speech of Mr. President that contain anything about ethics and values? Mr. President

appointing Sarah Jibril as the one in-charge of ethics and values was unacceptable and against the intentions of the governors and the managers of the party.

I am saying this now because government officials should not be the chief polluters.

Something has gone wrong with Nigeria, I am not exonerating myself, maybe, I didn’t try enough but I was audacious enough to the point that I was maligned and blackmailed.

Mr. President had to open his mouth and said look, ‘if you people don’t have anything to say about Mrs. Jibril, leave that woman alone, that was what I met her doing before I joined politics, I heard of Sarah Jibril, ethics and values.’

Dr Jonathan knew that I was lecturing in NNPC on ethics and corporate governance. He was following up. The book I wrote on ethics for development and launched at my 60th birthday in 2005, he was the first that bought 100 copies for Bayelsa government and I am telling you that when they were to raise funds for PDP, I didn’t have the cash.

I took my book, 100 copies and said, this was what I had. The party executives ridiculed me and said they didn’t want my books, they wanted cash. Even you pressmen were surprised and said what PDP would have done was to use the books and do auction and they would have raised money.

When I am talking of philosophical ignorance, power arrogance, poor definition of politics and democracy, misinterpretation of leadership, misinterpretations of the transformation agenda in which Mr. President was talking about the innate change, philosophical change of Nigerians, I am doing that so we could move on as a leading country in Africa.

What do you mean by power arrogance in PDP? When we were saying that we will rule Nigeria for 60 years, did we know what it meant? It meant we would have lifted up a standard not deceiving Nigerians into poverty without apologies.

It meant we were supposed to lift up high standards of integrity, accountability, high standards of ethics and goodwill. These were lacking and anybody who tried to do that in the PDP was maligned.

With all these anomalies in the polity, do you think that Jonathan’s administration recorded any success?

Yes, physical. All the programmes, the power,

the roads, physical efforts were made, billions of money were spent by President Goodluck to do all the social infrastructures, but it is the conscience and philosophical infrastructures that were lacking.

And it should demonstrate to you that when people remove the application of their good minds, the application of their conscience, you may see the physical beauty but you will see chaos in people’s behaviour and it was because of this that when we started fighting insecurity, there was lack of trust, there was corruption, there was stealing and all sorts of mismanagement and those of us who dared to arrest some of these perpetuators of corruption were maligned.

You said Jonathan’s administration recorded success, can we know some of the achievements?

The rail roads were resuscitated, the airports, I am talking of physical infrastructures. A lot of roads were refurbished, new roads were opened.

The starting of hydroelectric power not only in Zungeru but also in the high hills in Adamawa.

You have a lot of schools established, more universities for students.

There were infrastructures in any sector you can talk about. There were partnerships that were made. In the agricultural sector, a lot of efforts were initiated in the technical sector, the ICT boomed.

He brought money and people were more concerned about doing part of the job but not changing their own attitude in pilfering and stealing part of the money.

You have on few occasions contested to be the president of Nigeria, do you still have the zeal to contest in 2019?

Everybody is a political animal. I didn’t come into politics because I think politics is my all in all and my ticket to Heaven.

So, as a mother, it is my duty to continue to nurture the conscience of the human specie. That is part of the primary assignment even President Buhari accepted that, women are the conscience of the nation and even the conscience of the world.

One of the things I am telling you is that PDP did not help women, a lot of women were in government but they were not positioned to improve the conscience of Nigeria. That is the pain and I will not give up on that

Conscience of the world And one of the things I am telling you is that PDP did not help women, a lot of women were in government but they were not positioned to improve the conscience of Nigeria. That is the pain and I will not give up on that. And that is why I drew my programmes on ethics and values and the compliance.

One of the things I have been saying and I must say it again is, how can a government that has so mush money to spend on physical things give Special Adviser to Mr. President N300,000 every quarter and when I was complaining, I was seen as a big mouth because I felt I was older than everybody and because I felt I was a soldier’s wife? That was a blackmail.

We are coming from a political constituency and I am telling you from 2014 up till the time we finished, the SA did not receive one kobo.

How are we supposed to help the president to achieve what we were supposed to advise him on? It was not possible, the villa blocked the chances of Mr. President.

So with this your programme on ethics and values, are you contesting election in 2019?

Why do you want to hear about 2019? I am busy for now, I am taking one day at a time.

Whatever I am going to do in 2019 is it not ludicrous, can you imagine this audacity somebody is just taking office and they are already fighting for 2019. What is the 2019 they are fighting for?

Have they proved that they are ready to come up with godly governance, good governance, have they proved that there is democracy, can you see all these immunities, in corruption, manipulations? How far do you think Nigeria is going to go with this nonsense that is going on?

All the programmes, the power, the roads, physical efforts were made, billions of money were spent by President Goodluck to do all the social infrastructure, but it is the conscience and philosophical infrastructure that were lacking C M Y K

46 — Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOMBER 19 , 2015

Shettima threatens ‘runaway' LG staff •Says they should return to base or risk sack

BOKO HARAM:

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By Ndahi Marama

AIDUGURI— GOVERNOR Kashim Shettima of Borno State has directed all runaway staff on the payroll of the state government, especially medical workers, to return to their posts.

The governor warned that failure to heed his order would not only lead to withholding of their salaries but also termination of appointments.

It would be recalled that in the heat of Boko Haram activities, almost 22 of the 27 local government areas were sacked by insurgents, leading to destruction of lives and property and displacement of 1.5 million people who had taken refuge at Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, camps in the North East.

But with the relative peace being witnessed now, reconstruction of houses, schools, hospitals, police stations, courts, local government secretariats, worship places, among others, destroyed by Boko Haram insurgents in parts of the state, has advanced, with the first phase of work currently ongoing in different parts of Kaga Local Government Area in the northern part of Borno State as Shettima visited16 project sites.

Shettima, who was impressed with the level of work at the general hospital, Beneshiekh, directed the Ministry of Health and other agencies to ensure that

all their staff who had vacated their duty posts in the last one year, but still enjoyed their monthly salaries and allowances, should immediately relocate to their bases or face appropriate sanctions.

“I want to inform all staff of Beneshiekh, which cut across all departments to immediately relocate to their duty posts in the next two weeks or I will not only stop their salaries, but also terminate their appointments,” he warned.

Shettima also undertook assessment visits to review the progress of work in major villages of Auno and Jakana as well as Beneshiek, headquarters of the local government area, all along the Maiduguri- Damaturu highway.

The governor proceeded to assess a primary healthcare centre rebuilt with staff quarters, modernized primary school as well as the residence of the district head of Auno who is expected to play renewed role in mobilizing

citizens towards community policing.

He also assessed newly constructed boreholes and a central mosque already completed, before moving to Jakana which is 15 kilometres away from Auno.

At Jakana, Governor Shettima assessed reconstruction of a police station and its staff quarters, a primary school,inadditiontogivinginstruction for the immediate drilling of an additionalboreholeforthecommunity.

LECTURE: From left: Senior Vice President, Babcock University, BU, Prof. Iheanyichukwu Okoro, Speaker, 6th inaugural lecture, Prof. Dora Oluwafunmilola Akinboye, and Dean, School of Public and Allied Health, Babcock University, Prof. Nnodimele Atulomah, during the 6th inaugural lecture of the university at Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State.

Task force arrests terrorists, recovers stolen cows, others in Plateau

By Marie-Therese Nanlong

J

OS—THE Special Task Force on Plateau State, Operation Safe Haven, has arrested some members of a terrorist cell and other criminals in various parts of the state, with the high profile suspects being relocated out of Jos for investigations.

Other suspects will be handed over to appropriate security agencies for prosecution as soon as investigation was concluded on their cases.

In a statement issued yesterday in Jos by spokesman of the operation, Capt. Ikedichi Iweha, members of the public were requested to maintain high vigilance, especially in places of large gathering.

The Task Force also stated that following report of the rustling of cattle belonging to one Alh Sale Bala of Lugare village in Barkin Ladi Local Government area last week, its personnel pursued and caught up with the rustlers from who they recovered looted 52 cattle and 22 rams, which they handed over to the owner.

Similarly, 14 cows belonging to one Mr. Nanbol Nimyel of Pinau

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village in Wase Local Government Area were also recovered from rustlers who carted away the cows at gun point.

It stated: “The rustlers were overcome by superior fire power in the process of recovery and the cows handed over to the chairman of Miyetti Allah cattle breeders

association, Wase branch for onward return to Mr Nanbol.

“Troops restrained cattle belonging to one Alh. Abdulkarim Adamu which were reported to have encroached illegally and grazed on the farm of one Mr. Thomas Chollom all of Rakun Village of Barkin Ladi Local Government Area.

“A meeting was mediated between both parties by personnel of OPSH and the sum of N50,000 only was assessed to have been the damage caused by the cattle and the sum paid to Mr. Chollom by Alh Abdulkarim before the cattle were released to their owner.”

....As military intensifies assault on terrorists in Kogi

O

By Kingsley Fanwo

KENE—FEAR weekend gripped residents of Okene in Kogi State as military forces launched an assault on terrorists believed to be hiding in some isolated areas in the town to perpetrate their dastardly acts.

A suburb of Okene, Inike, is said to have been notorious for harbouring suspected terrorists who usually hide in mosques to beat the prying eyes of security operatives in the area.

Since Monday, military forces have been engaging the suspected terror linchpins in a

battle of firepower as the extremists attempted to repel onslaughts on their bases.

The military, acting on a tipoff, stormed the area to arrest and disarm the fundamentalists, only to be confronted by an unexpected degree of resistance. A soldier was allegedly lost to the ensuing battle.

Undaunted by the loss of one of a soldier and several injuries, the military intensified their attack and surveillance on the extremists.

Okene has continued to be in the news in recent past for terror and it would be recalled that some terrorists had attacked some

worship centers in the town about three years ago, leading to the death of scores.

The recent onslaught on the terrorists’ den is yielding fruits as many of the extremists have been arrested with explosives and ammunitions.

Many firearms have been recovered from the terrorists who are said to be finding the area inconducive.

An eyewitness in Okene who craved anonymity, told Vanguard that the military had finally taken the fight to the terrorists.

Wada assures on dividends of democracy

By Kingsley Fanwo

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OKOJA—THE campaign train of the People’s Democratic Party hit Igalamela/Odolu and Ofu Local GovernmentaAreas last weekend, with the governor and the candidate of the party in the November 21 governorship poll assuring the people of continued delivery of dividends of democracy.

Speaking on behalf of the people of Igalamela/Odolu local government area, the member representing the constituency in the state House of Assembly, Elder Friday Sanni Makama, assured the governor that PDP would win over eighty per cent of the votes in the area.

“I will continue to say it that APC cannot penetrate Igalamela/Odolu. All our political leaders here are PDP and our people have asked me to tell the excellency that on November 21, they shall show their appreciation for all the governor has been doing in the constituency,” he said.

Workers want Bauchi Investment Corporation boss sacked

B

By Suzan Edeh

AUCHI—WORKERS of Bauchi State Investment Corporation, BIC Limited are spoiling for war with management of the company over alleged misappropriation of funds.

They also demanded the removal of the Managing Director of the company Alhaji Abubakar Sule Katagum, over what they described as “flouting of established rules in handling the affairs of the company.”

But in a swift reaction, Katagun said the allegations against him were acts of mischief, saying workers never intimated him over theirgrievances and accused them of frustrating his efforts because of their evil motives.

"All I know is that their allegations are baseless, and they have never foewarded anything to me concerning the allegation they raised against me."

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015—47

You can't re-write history, Gov Wada replies Bello, former Speaker

By Oluwaji Obahopo

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OKOJA—GOVERNOR Idris Wada of Kogi State has taken a swipe at the former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Abdullahi Bello, over his comment that he (Wada) forcibly thwarted the system to be sworn in as governor on January 27, 2012.

It will be recalled that Wada and Bello were both sworn in on January 27 as governor, following the Supreme Court judgement, which stopped the tenure elongation of the former governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, before the situation was settled in Wada’s favour a day later.

Bello had, last week, said Wada forcibly thwarted the system and failed to deliver dividends of democracy to the central axis of the state.

However, Wada, in his reaction, described the statement by the former Speaker as an attempt to wake a sleeping dog in very rude manner.

According to him, the former Speaker is making false effort to re-write history.

The governor, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Richard Elesho, said it was Bello who thwarted the system in the evening of the said date to be sworn in as acting governor, knowing that he (Wada) had already been administered the oath of office in the morning.

Elesho also said that the judicial system had put an end to the case, as Wada’s emergence had been challenged up to the Supreme Court, which ruled that he was validly elected on merit.

He said: “Elections had been concluded, Wada was only waiting to be sworn in; the Supreme Court judgement only ruled that the former governor cannot continue in office because the

constitution does not give room for tenure extension.

That judgement only hastened the process of Wada’s swearing in ceremony.”

On the issue of not giving dividends of democracy to Central axis, Elesho said it was a wrong notion from the former Speaker, stressing that it was unfair for anybody to say Governor Wada did nothing for central people.

Jubilation as Emir Sanusi rides she-camel

K

“The governor just flagged off the Okaito-Obangede by-pass; the Lokoja-Otokiti by-pass is also in the central axis; the renovation of schools in many Local Government of the area is also there to be verified.”

He enjoined the former Speaker and APC to play politics of development and not turn the situation of the swearing in debacle to a ‘politico-ethnic’ situation.

ANO—RESIDENTS of Kano went wild with jubilation last Saturday as their Emir, Malam Muhammadu Sanusi II, rode on a shecamel as against the usual horse, during a durbar, organized to mark the Eid-el-Kabir in arrears.

Women in purdah and youths all rushed out to watch the royal father atop a camel.

Some of the women and youth, who spoke to newsmen, described the royal father’s mounting of a camel “as a pleasant surprise to his people” They lauded the emir’s sense of “innovation,” saying that he had been adding “colour ” to the throne since he became the Emir of Kano.

One of the women interviewed, Amina Kofar-kudu, said the new emir had been creative in the administration of the palace.

She added that since his installation, a lot of changes had occurred, ranging from people’s welfare, to the display of the palace cultures.

Malam Lawan Abdullahi, a palace resident, said the Emir ’s grandfather once rode on camel to a durbar in Kaduna.

CONDOLENCE: Senator representing Lagos East senatorial district, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, signing the condolence register during a visit to the residence of late Lekki FTZ boss, Alhaji Tajudeen Disu, in Victoria Island, Lagos, weekend.

‘Bello thwarted the system’

The governor said: “The statement of the former Speaker is an attempt to wake a sleeping dog in a very rude manner.

Unfortunately, it is too early for anybody to rewrite the history (of the swearing in) since everybody involved are still alive.

“Foremost, Bello’s statement that Wada thwarted the system to be sworn in after him was blatant falsehood. Wada was the person that performed the oath taking before Bello. So if there is anyone that ‘thwarted’ the system; it was Bello.

“Secondly, Bello was there when Wada was been administered the oath of office and he did not raise any objection, he even congratulated Wada.

“So it was wrong for him, at a time like this, to say Wada’s emergence was done to stop a central person from being a governor.

Wada was overwhelmingly voted for by all Kogites, including people of the Central senatorial axis.

“All Bello is trying to do is to arouse political sympathy for APC. His action is an attempt to put wool on our faces in broad day light.”

C M Y K

12,700 dump APC for PDP in Kogi

By Kingsley Fanwo

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OKOJA—THE campaign train of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, hit Igalamela/Odolu and Ofu Local Government areas, weekend, with the governor and the candidate of the party in the November 21 governorship poll, Idris Wada, assuring the people of continued delivery of democracy dividends.

At Ofu Local Government Area, the home base of the candidate of the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, Prince Abubakar Audu, 12,700 APC members officially defected to PDP from All Progressives Congress, APC. One of the defectors, Simeon Adejoh, told Vanguard that their decision was hinged on the transformation agenda of Governor Wada.

Speaking on behalf of the people of the local

government, the member representing the constituency in the state House of Assembly, Elder Friday Makama, assured the governor that PDP would win over 80 percent of the votes in the area.

He said: “I will continue to say it that APC cannot penetrate Igalamela/Odolu.

All our political leaders here are PDP and our people have asked me to tell his Excellency that on November 21, they shall show their appreciation for all the governor has been doing in the constituency.”

Speaking at the rally, the governor assured the people that he will do more for them if elected on November 21.

He enumerated the projects he had executed in the two local government areas to include roads, healthcare facilities among others.

Former governor of the state, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, said the leaders of Kogi East

had made it clear that Wada deserved another term, enjoining the people of the area to turn out en masse and vote for the PDP candidate.

PPA promises revolution in education

Meanwhile, the governorship candidate of Progressive Peoples Alliance, PPA, Enesi Ozigi, has assured the people of Kogi West of his commitment to infrastructure development in the state.

Ozigi gave the assurance while addressing a zonal rally in Kabba on Saturday, saying the time for real transformation was now.

He said: “It is not going to come in 2019. It will come now when men and women of goodwill decide to salvage our dear state from underdevelopment.

“I thank all the women, youths and artisans who

have taken possession of this campaign.

“Our message to all Kogites is that we represent the hope of a better and brighter Kogi State.

Education is key to development and that is why we are making it the driver of our development goal.

“Teachers will be paid well under my administration and we will improve school infrastructures to create a conducive environment for learning.

“Health and social security will also be a major concern for our government. With the poverty level in the state today, there is no way our rural women and children can have access to quality healthcare without government intervention.

“I stand before you today to pledge that the satanic joint account between the state and Local Government areas will be abolished by our government.

A vote for PPA on November 21 is a vote for credible leadership and development.”

48—Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

Vanguard

Mass sack, demotion looms in Customs

CLASSIFIED OKAFOR—We, formerly known and addressed as Okafor Mesomachukwu Ugonna, Okafor Kenechukwu Chukwudinma, Okafor Kodichimma Chukwunonyelum, Okafor Chisom Ijeoma, Okafor Uchenna Chinyere, now wish to be known and addressed as Okey-Okafor Mesomachukwu Ugonna, Okey-Okafor Kenechukwu Chukwudinma, Okey-Okafor Kodichimma Chinonyelum, Okey-Okafor Chisom Ijeoma, OkeyOkafor Uchenna Chinyere. All documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OGENE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ogene Beatrice Ovonemo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Beatrice Sanudje Ovonemo. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

UKUEJE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ukueje Efe Oforime, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Kolagbodi J.O. Efe. All documents remain valid. General public please take note.

N WA B U E Z E — I , formerly known and addressed as Miss Nwabueze Faith Onyinyechi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Okolie Faith Onyinyechi.

All documents remain valid. General public please take note.

N E B O N TA — I , formerly known and addressed as Miss Nebonta Evelyn Chidinma, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ikechukwu-Edeh Chidinma Evelyn. All former documents remain valid. Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike and general public please take note.

UWEGBA— I, formerly known and addressed as Uwegba Vero, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Irikevwie Vero. All former documents remain valid. First Bank of Nigeria Plc and the general public please take note.

OSAS—I, formerly

please take note.

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All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

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ESAMAGU—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Anna Onome Esamagu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Anna Onome Ofesi.

All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OGECHI—I, formerly

UMUKORO—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Umukoro Onome, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adegor Onome. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ADAH—I, formerly

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UDUH—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Uduh Nkechi Sandra, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ukewu Nkechi Sandra. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

Confirmation of Name My name is Nwachukwu Francis Okwudili, but some of my documents bear Nwachukwu F. Okwudili. This is to confirm that Nwachukwu Francis Okwudili and Nwachukwu F. Okwudili refer to one and same person. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

Reconciliation of Name This is to confirm that the names Obi Ogochukwu Gloria and Nwangwu Ogochukwu Gloria refer to one and same person. I now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ogochukwu Gloria Nwachukwu.

All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

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YOU CAN BOOK YOUR ADVERT AT: TRINITY MALL, 79/81 OBAFEMI AWOLOWO WAY, IKEJA. CALL: 08028289689, 08035449960

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All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

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MURPHÝ'S PLAZA 27, SANUSI FAFUNWA STREET, VICTORIA ISLAND. CALL: 08038092373, 08033163424

known and addressed as Itobore Osas, now wish to be known and addressed as Otobore Alex Osaro. All former documents remain valid. General public

known and addressed as Miss Adah Mercy, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Kaineh Mercy. All former documents remain valid. General

C M Y K

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known and addressed as Ogu Tony Ogechi, now wish to be known and addressed as Ogu Ogechi Maduabuchi.

All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

IDOKO—I, formerly known and addressed as Nathan Idoko, now wish to be known and addressed as Nathan Oche Lawrence. All former

documents

remain valid. General public please take note.

By Godwin Oritse

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HERE were indications, weekend, that the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, will experience mass sack and demotion of officers and men of the service as its comptroller general, Col. Hameed Ali (retd) has vowed to demote all officers promoted unevenly in the service.

Ali has also promised to carry out an in house cleansing exercise that may lead to the sack of officers and men of the service found to be corrupt.

Speaking to newsmen at the Customs Training School in Ikeja, Lagos, the Customs boss said he had been informed about irregular promotion, posting and recruitment in the service over the years.

His words, “In every conversation and meeting with my men, I have told them that I realized that there are so many anomalies as regard to their posting, promotion and recruitment.

“We will set up a committee to review the whole thing. Where people have not been promoted out of no fault of theirs we will address it and where people have been promoted based on godfatherism we will review it.”

The CG also warned officers who had refused to

go on training because they were sitting on lucrative desks stressing that such an era in the service has gone. He noted, “Where people have refused to go to courses because they think they are sitting on a desk where they make some ‘egunje’ we know what to do. There are so many internal things that I don’t need to come out and start reeling them because we have taken note of all this and I and my senior management have resolved to look at this and we will ensure that there is equity and justice in the service.”

Meanwhile, the CGC had vowed to embark on house cleansing in order to rid the service of corrupt officers and men.

According to him, no organization in Nigeria is corruption free but the few bad eggs in the service had tainted the rest as corrupt.

“Most customs men and officers are not corrupt but what happened is that because our activities relate to the member of the public, and if there is one bad egg the news goes around so far and the impression today in Nigeria is that we are all corrupt because of the activities of some few bad eggs and I have said that we must do some house cleansing and get rid of those bad eggs in other to strengthen the customs.

DSS commissions 385 officers, to tackle insecurity

By Nkiruka Nnorom

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EPARTMENT of State Services (DSS) weekend, in Lagos, commissioned 385 cadet officers in a bid to combat the rising security challenges in the country.

The 385 officers were the lucky ones that successfully went through 10 months of rigorous professional, academic and physical training and were certified fit to serve the nation in their capacity as members of DSS, out of the 459 cadet officers that started the training late last year.

The officers were commissioned amidst promises by the DSS to collaborate more with other sister security agencies in its fight against insecurity and to ensure that recruitment into the Service was merit-based in keeping with its extant guidelines.

Speaking at the passing out parade at the State Service Academy (SSA), Lagos State, the Director General, SS, Mr. Lawal Daura, said gone were the days when misfits or noneligible candidates found

their way into the Service.

“The aim is to ensure that only the right calibers of people are recruited into the Service,” he said, adding “recruitment will be strictly in accordance with future needs of the Service and other compelling exigencies that may come up from time to time.”

He said the commissioning was an attempt by the Service to rejuvenate itself through injection of new blood and new vigour, saying that any institution that fails to change with the times or periodically re-evaluate itself would ultimately become irrelevant or extinct.

He said: “I believe the Service requires new blood and new vigour to tackle the challenges of insecurity, the fight against corruption and the war to resuscitate the economy. These are the key areas the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has promised to tackle and the Department of State Service has seamlessly keyed into them.”

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015 — 49

YOUR LUCK TODAY

LEISURE

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139 SCORPIO: Some of you will wake up from slumber and realise mistakes about your finances early enough and make amendment but those who are reckless will commit more blunder. Beware of joint venture.

SAGITTARIUS: Although erratic people from unexpected quarters may oppose you openly, your being self assertive will earn you both victory and financial success. Then tomorrow will prove more successful.

CAPRICORN: Yes! It’s your day again. The more ambitious you are the better for you. Then you will need to ignore those with queer characteristics within your working arena..

AQUARIUS: Mixed trends are indicated. If you take good advice from your cool headed friends, you will benefit more than you imagine, but if you take to unpredictable attitude, you will today start fire that will burn with great intensity tomorrow.

PISCES: If you take the veterans within your base for granted, they will fail you painfully. Yet here is a lucky day for you when your being secretive and self reliant will earn you success. Be more ambitious.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

By Richard Eromosele

A

MBITION is what you want to achieve.It could be long term,it could be medium,it could also be for the

No Future Ambition? – 1 short term.It is a good thing for every human to be ambitious.A man(woman) without ambition is like a car

TERROR MUDA

w i t h o u t driver.Such a car cannot move forward.It is ambition that propels the man to strive,to stress

in “Scavenger Elite”

and to challenge himself to attain s e e m i n g l y unattainable goal.A man without ambition is a man without future.What is your ambition?

By Lanre Kehinde

ARIES: Some of the people around you may get on your nerve via careless remarks, you must not allow them to disorganise your plans. The closer you are to the influential people the better for you.

TAURUS: “Money is the root of all evils” says an adage.

And if care is not taken, money may set you and some other people fiercely against each other to the detriment of your cause. Be cautious.

GEMINI: Opposition between the Moon and Venus may induce personality clashes you don’t need at lest for now. What can help you now is love and your being persuasive. Think of the future.

CANCER: Positive events that started yesterday will continue today. Rely more on your ability to be as bold as necessary so that you can get things done your own way at work.

LEO: Romantic interlude that started late yesterday may become excitingly louder and melodious to the satisfaction of your soul.

KAPTAIN AFRIKA

in “HEY’

By Andy Akman

VIRGO: If you allow domestic pressure to affect your working pattern, your senior colleagues may not understand and make things a bit more difficult. IF you’re stable, you will have more to gain financially.

LIBRA: After snappy aggressive approach exhibited by you yesterday ,you are back at your being pleasant self to the admiration of others. This is the wrong time to take law and it’s agents for granted. Young-at-heart are favoured so also commercial activities.

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING Send yyour our dat th ttoo the As tr ological datee and place of bir birth Astr trological Counselling, PP.M.B .M.B 1100 00 7, Apapa, Lagos 007, BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF LIBRA TIME SCOPE= OCT 20 – OCT 25 RULER = LOVE/PARTNERSHIP AND RELATED VENUS QUALITY =CARDINAL .

ELEMENT = AIR. SYMBOL =THE SCALE OF JUSTICE. GROUP = MASCULINE. ZODIACAL POSITION = THE 7TH.

MONEY

VIRGINIA

dadadekola@yahoo.com

Libra is the related to public spiritedness partnership, marriage, rival, close associates, open opponents, justice harmony and/or care for peace and concord.

Through Venus, Librans are artistic inclined and as Venus rules money, money and comfort are truly important to all Librans and you are not an exception. Libra is a cardinal star sign which induces it’s natives to desire action and importance.

Things ruled by Libra as stated above must be taken seriously by you.

You see, if a Libran makes mistakes while trying to make a partnership choice either of business or emotional type, it will profoundly affect many other areas of his/her life. Equally, business rival and/or open opponents must not be treated with levity.

Element of Libra is air. Natives of air signs are naturally intelligent and must think twice of their ideas before trying to discard them. Because their ideas are truly brilliant and most of them can lead to success both for themselves and others.

Libra is the social butterfly of the Zodiac and the issues of justice, fair-play and equity are very important to the natives of Venus ruled Libra. Some people who need to know better erroneously believe that Librans’ love of peace makes them a weak set of people but Librans can revolt, if and when injustice is done to them.

Some other times however, the desire for peace in your inner-self at times get the better of you to the point that you seek others’ approval before you do anything. And this your weak point can be taken advantage of by some dubious people who will not hesitate to do so.

But as peace loving as Librans are if a Libran discovers real or imaginary injustice against self he/she will feel cheated especially, if the matter at hand concerns relationship, few of them will then react violently but many will sulk.

Yet, influence of Libra makes you a socially developed person and if you care, you can commercialise your sparkling personality. Social activities management courses and/or workshop on such w ill help bring out your ability along this line.

HOME & ABROAD

By Lawrence Akapa

50 — VANGUARD, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

Pope canonizes first couple in modern times •To make first African trip in November

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OPE Francis canonized the Catholic Church’s first couple in modern times on Sunday, declaring the parents of the beloved St. Therese of Lisieux saints in their own right.

Francis told followers gathered in St. Peter’s Square that the couple, Louis and Zelie Martin, “practiced Christian service in the family, creating day by day an environment of faith and love which nurtured the vocations of their daughters.”

Francis is particularly devoted to the 19th century French Carmelite nun, fondly known as “The Little Flower,” who died at the age of 24 in 1897 and was later honored with the title doctor of the church.

Francis has had a copy of Therese’s “Story of a Soul” on his bookshelf since his days as a novice.

As archbishop of Buenos Aires, he had her image on his desk. And he has

French couple,Louis and Zelie Martin, who were canonized yesterday by Pope Francis for practicing Christian service in the family and creating day by day environment for faith. said that whenever he has a problem, he directs his prayers to Santa Teresita, as she is known in Spanish, and often a white rose appears to him as a sign that she has heard his prayers.

Her parents were canonized at the start of final week of his big bishops’ meeting on families. His aim is to provide Catholic fami-

lies with saintly role models who took particular care to educate their children in the faith: The Martins bore nine children, only five of whom survived. All five became nuns, including the youngest, Therese, at age 15.

“It’s the first time a couple have been canonized as a couple, and this is a beautiful sign for Christian families,”

said the Rev. Romano Gambalunga, the postulator who followed the saintmaking case through.

Meanwhile, the Pontiff would meet slum dwellers and refugees and call for dialogue between Christians and Muslims when he visits Kenya, Uganda and Central African Republic next month.

U.S: I would have prevented 911 —Donald Trump •As Jeb Bush says Trump can’t be trusted with nuclear code

D

ONALD Trump says he’s not blaming George W. Bush for 9/11, but he claims that if he’d been president, the attacks never would have happened.

In an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” the real estate mogul said that since he’s “extremely, extremely tough on immigration” the attackers wouldn’t have been in position to commandeer U.S. flights.

“So there’s a good chance that those people would not have been in our country,” Trump said.

He took another shot at Jeb Bush for claiming that his elder brother, the 43rd president, kept the nation safe.

“I’m not blaming George Bush,” Trump said. “But I don’t want Jeb Bush to say, ‘My brother kept us safe,’ because September 11 was one of the worst days in the history of this country.”

It wasn’t just on the Sunday shows that Trump attacked Bush over his brother’s tenure.

On Twitter, as the “Fox News Sunday” interview aired, Trump tweeted: “Jeb, why did your brother attack

and destabalize the Middle East by attacking Iraq when there were no weapons of mass destruction? Bad info?”

Meanwhile, Republican

•Trump

rival, Mr. Jeb Bush has said the Republican frontrunner and former “Celebrity Apprentice” star is approaching foreign policy like he’s still on a reality

show.

Bush was asked if he has confidence in Trump’s ability to handle that kind of responsibility.

“I have grave doubts, to be honest with you,” Bush said.

He pointed to Trump’s ideas on handling the crisis in Syria by allowing Islamic State militants in the region to remove President Bashar Assad from power and having Russia fight the terror group as proof the leading candidate for the Republican nomination is not ready for prime time.

•Bush

Two arrested over rape of Indian infant

T

WO 17-year-old boys have been arrested in connection with the rape of a twoand-a-half year old girl in west Delhi, Indian police said.

The pair were detained after police questioned residents of the neighbourhood where the girl was raped.

Separately three men have been arrested over the gang rape of a five-

year-old in the east of the Indian capital.

The incidents sparked fresh outrage over India’s perceived inability to combat sexual violence.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has accused the federal Government, which controls policing, of not doing enough to protect children.

The two-and-a-half year

old was abducted on Friday and later found dumped in a park, bleeding profusely.

Both of the accused are known to the girl’s family, police said.

She and the five-yearold, who police said was lured to a neighbour ’s house before being raped, are undergoing medical treatment but are believed to be out of danger.

ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN VIOLENCE: Kerry to meet Netanyahu and Abbas

U

S Secretary of State John Kerry is to meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders this week amid a surge in violence.

Seven Israelis have died in knife and gun attacks by lone Palestinians that began earlier this month.

More than 40 Palestinians, including several attackers, have been killed.

A gun and knife attack at a bus station in the southern city of Beersheva on Sunday killed one and injured six people, Israeli officials said. One attacker was killed, one injured.

Mr Kerry ’s announcement came as the Israeli military removed Jewish worshippers it said

had illegally entered a religious site in the occupied West Bank.

Thirty Israelis arrived at Joseph’s Tomb in the city of Nablus and were assaulted by Palestinians before being handed over to Israeli forces by Palestinian police, reports say.

“Later this week I will meet with [Israeli] Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu because he will be in Germany... and then I will go to the region, I will meet with [Palestinian] President [Mahmoud] Abbas, I will meet King Abdullah [of Jordan] and others,” Mr Kerry said at the UN cultural body Unesco’s headquarters in Paris.

Slovenia to limit migrant numbers

S

LOVENIA will only allow 2,500 migrants to cross its borders daily - half the number neighbour Croatia has asked for.

Interior Ministry Secretary of State Bostjan Sefic said Slovenia could not accept Croatia’s request to take 5,000, because Austria’s daily limit is 1,500.

Most migrants - many from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq - are crossing Croatia and Slovenia to reach western Europe.

The limitation on numbers has led to a

build-up of migrants and refugees on Croatia’s border with Serbia.

Around 40 buses of people were backed up in Serbia on Sunday, and tempers flared between frustrated migrants and overstretched police officers.

“We are waiting here four hours on the bus,” Muhammad Samin from Afghanistan told the Associated Press. “The weather is too cold. We wear lots of shirts. The children are also in the cold. No food.”

Iraqi trade minister faces arrest over corruption charges

I

RAQ has issued arrest warrants for the trade minister and his brother on corruption charges, a judicial spokesman said.

The statement did not say what accusations Milas Mohammed Abdul Kareem and his brother Nehru faced.

But Iraq media reported that they related to contracts awarded to firms linked to

Nehru, based in Jordan.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced measures cracking down on corruption in August.

The move, which overhauls a system in which senior positions are appointed on sectarian lines, followed protests over power cuts amid sweltering heat.

Typhoon leaves 2 dead, 16,000 displaced in Philippines

S

LOW- m ov ing Typhoon Koppu weakened after blowing ashore with fierce winds in thenortheasternPhilippines on Sunday, leaving at least twopeopledead,displacing 16,000 villagers and knockingoutpowerinentire provinces, officials said.

Army troops and police were deployed to rescue residents trapped in flooded villages in the hard-hit provinces of Aurora, where the typhoon made landfall

early Sunday, and Nueva Ecija, a nearby rice-growing province where floodwaters swamped rice farmlands at harvesttime.

AfterslammingintoAurora’s Casigurantownaftermidnight Saturday, the typhoon weakened and slowed down, hemmed in by the Sierra Madremountainrangeanda high pressure area in the country’s north and another typhoonfaroutinthePacificin theeast,governmentforecaster Gladys Saludes said.

VANGUARD, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015 — 51

ELECTION: Egypt records low turnout J

UST over two percent of eligible voters have cast ballots so far to decide on the make-up of Egypt’s first parliament since the overthrow of former president Mohammed Morsi in 2013.

The Electoral Council said turnout had reached 2.27 percent by Sunday afternoon, with polls set to close at 9pm local time.

The first stage of voting is taking place across 14 of Egypt’s 27 governorates with 27 million people eligible to vote.

The remaining provinces, including Cairo, are set to vote on Monday, with a final runoff expected in December.

Footage broadcast on pro-government TV station CBC showed small crowds of voters gathering outside polling stations in the southern city of Sohag and the northern city of Alexandria.

Turnout was also low among Egyptians voting abroad on Saturday.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Omar Ashour from the University of Exeter said there was “ ver y large apathy ”

A

•Women leave a polling station after casting their ballots in Alexandria PHOTO: Reuters among voters who felt they had “limited to no choice”.

“Abroad in 2012 you had long queues next to

OUTH Sudan’s rebel leader Riek Machar on Sunday accused the country ’s president of ignoring and undermining a peace deal aimed at ending nearly two years of civil war.

Speaking to reporters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, Machar said violations of an internationally-brokered August 26 ceasefire had become commonplace.

“Salva Kiir is acting as if there are no agreements,” he said.

“We see more violations every day rather than moving forward toward the implementation of the agreement.”

Earlier this month Kiir ordered the number of regional states be nearly tripled from the current 10 to 28, rendering an agreed power-sharing formula redundant.

embassies, but here in London yesterday you had nothing,” Ashour said.

“Because of the lack of freedoms after 2013, the

idea that parliament will be a vehicle for political reform... is being ridiculed by many activists and opposition politicians.”

S the sun dips behind the giant brown hills that separate South Africa and Mozambique, a slim young man is busy doing final mechanical checks on a Toyota Land Cruiser at a house that clings to the side of the mountain.

Wearing a white polo shirt, track suit and dark sunglasses, Eduardo is a well-known human trafficker in the town of Ressano Garcia, a sleepy border crossing 97km away from the capital, Maputo.

A newly married father of one, Eduardo said he joined this illicit trade not to make money, but to answer God’s call. He sees himself as doing a job that heads of states

...Writer Gamal al-Ghitani dies aged 70 A

CCLAIMED Egyptian novelist and journalist Gamal alGhitani has died in Cairo, aged 70.

He had been in a coma in hospital for two months after being admitted with respiratory problems.

Trained as a carpet

S/Sudan rebel leader says president oblivious to peace deal

S

Mozambique: Refugees shun Europe for southern Africa

International backers of the deal, including Britain, Norway and the United States, said the move “directly contradicts” the g o v e r n m e n t ’ s commitment to the peace deal, while the European Union called on Juba to “refrain from proceeding” on the reform.

“The creation of 28 states means that he’s oblivious to the peace agreement that was signed,” Machar said.

“We’ll dialogue with them even though we don’t think it’s practical.

We’ll give it another go.

We want to salvage the peace agreement,” he added. South Sudan descended into bloodshed in December 2013 when Kiir accused Machar, whom he had sacked as his deputy six months previously, of planning a coup.

designer, Ghitani took up journalism in his 20s and went on to write historical fiction.

Much of his work has been widely translated, including the 1974 novel Zayni Barakat, considered a seminal portrayal of authoritarian rule.

Set in the Mamluke era, the novel was seen as a veiled critique of the

regime of President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

As a journalist Ghitani also reported from the frontlines during the ArabIsraeli conflict of 1973.

He won awards in Egypt for his writing, as well as being awarded France’s Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1987.

Prime Minister Sharif Ismail said that Ghitani had “contributed

significantly in enriching literature with his unique style, intelligence and broad vision”.

Ghitani was one of several intellectuals who supported the army ’s ousting of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in 2013, despite the harsh crackdown against the army’s opponents that followed.

•Gamal al-Ghitani

Zimbabwe fails to curb escalating unemployment crisis

T

HE Zimbabwean government is struggling to deal with a worsening unemployment crisis as companies collapse or are forced to make redundancies.

Officials in the country

have tried to stop the trend by passing laws preventing organisations from laying off workers and forcing them to give workers severance pay, but economists warn the number of jobless will continue going up as the

economy worsens.

The current rate of unemploymentinthecountry stands at 80 percent and worsening environmental conditions, such as an anticipated drought, will hit the country’s finances harder.

and the international community should be doing - moving people in danger to safer, more prosperous surroundings.

“I feel not good when I hear what happened to them in their countries,” Eduardo told Al Jazeera, requesting his full identity not to be disclosed for fear of arrest.

“I help them because I know they are suffering in their countries. They then move to other countries because here in Mozambique, even we don’t have jobs.”

B/Haram: US donates vehicles to aid Cameroon

T

HE head of U.S. o r c e s in Africa has donated armored vehicles to Cameroon to aid the country’s fight against Boko Haram, a military official said Saturday.

The vehicles were formally handed over during Gen. David Rodriguez’s visit to the country on Friday, said Col. Jean Jacques Fouda, Cameroon’s official in charge of military hardware. Fouda said the vehicles could “fight against mines” and are some of the best the country has ever received.

Though Fouda would not specify how many vehicles were donated, a Cameroon state media report said there were six in total and that they had previously been used in Afghanistan.

Rodriguez met with Cameroon President Paul Biya and Defense Minister Joseph Beti Assomo during his stay, the report said.

The White House announced this week that 90 U.S. troops are headed to Cameroon, which has been regularly targeted by the Nigeria-based extremists and is contributing to a regional force to fight them.

The Americans, the vanguard of a group that could ultimately number 300, will conduct airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in the region. f

52— Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

Anyansi commends Eaglets, cautions against complacency

CHAN Eagles off to Burkina Faso Thursday

C

N

HAIRMAN of the NFF Technical and Development Committee, Chief Felix Anyansi-Agwu has praised the Golden Eaglets for a brilliant start to the defence of their FIFA U-17 World Cup with a 2-0 defeat of USA in Santiago on Saturday.

Second half goals by Chukwudi Agor and Victor Osimhen gave the reigning world champions three points from their first game and immense confidence ahead of a potentially –explosive clash with host nation Chile on Tuesday night.

“I am quite delighted with the win by the Golden Eaglets. It is always great to start a major competition with a win. That win has given the team a lot of confidence for the remaining matches of the tournament.

“However, I am advising the boys to guard against complacency. It is only the beginning and it is only the diligent, able and courageous that will last to the end. I want them to take it one match at a time, and take each match very

Newcastle Continues from BP found the net, while Moussa Sissoko played his part with four assists, as Newcastle secured a league victory at the ninth attempt ahead of next weekend’s trip to northeast derby rivals Sunderland, who replaced them at the foot of the table.

Norwich were 3-2 down at half-time, having scored through Dieumerci Mbokani — making his full league debut — and Nathan Redmond, who also hit the post in the second half.

But despite a strong start to the second period they ended up well beaten, leaving Alex Neil’s side just three points above the relegation zone in 16th place.

The hosts went ahead in the 14th minute when Sissoko picked up a loose ball on the edge of the box and threaded a pass through to Wijnaldum, a close-season signing from PSV Eindhoven, who steered a low shot into the bottomleft corner.

Robbie Brady sounded the Norwich revolt, cracking a shot against the post from 30 yards, and the visitors equalised in the 20th minute

CELEBRATION... Golden Eaglets celebrate after beating USA 2-0 in their FIFA U-17 World Cup title defence opening match in Chile. Photo: FIFA.com serious.”

The Eaglets dominated throughout but finished an anxious first half goalless, before they underscored their

superiority in the second period. I have confidence in the team to go all the way. They should not only think of winning matches in the group

phase, but have it at the back of their minds that President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered them to win the Cup for a fifth time.”

We lost against a good Nigerian team

U

NITED States U17 coach Richie Willams has voiced his disappointment following their 2-0 defeat to Nigeria at the Fifa U17 World Cup. Goals from

when Martin Olsson’s delicious left-wing cross was stabbed home by Mbokani.

Wijnaldum restored Newcastle’s lead six minutes later with a downward header from Sissoko’s clipped cross and Perez made it 3-1 when he found the bottom-left corner at the second attempt following a block by Olsson.

But Newcastle’s defensive frailties were exposed again just 48 seconds later when Olsson’s deep cross from the left was adroitly side-footed home on the volley by Redmond.

McClaren sent Vurnon Anita on for Cheick Tiote at half-time and he had reason to thank Wijnaldum for a third time when the Holland international cleared a header from Newcastle old boy Sebastien Bassong off the line.

But it was Newcastle who struck next with a goal of exceptional quality.

Sissoko led a break from Newcastle’s righthand corner flag that culminated in him flighting a pass to Mitrovic, who chested the ball down, let it bounce, and lashed it past John Ruddy with his left foot.

–USA coach Chukwudi Agor and Victor Osimhen were all the Golden Eaglets needed to breeze aside the stubborn North American side at the Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Santiago De Chile.

“We are obviously disappointed because of the outcome,” says Willams after the game.

“We played a good first half, we were balanced, solid and we even created some chance that we were not able to convert. Nigeria scored two quick goals, but thanks to unfortunate errors on our side. We were hop-

Amuneke Continues from BP courtesy of two second half goals against the Americans at the FIFA U-17 World Cup Chile 2015.

“The victory today against the USA was important for us and I want to congratulate the boys for making Nigerians happy,” Amuneke said.

He continued: “They (players) were tentative in the first 20 minutes and this was expected because it was the first time they were playing at a big stage such as the World Cup but it was important we won the first game since it would boost our confidence going into the next game against host Chile; so we are happy but will continue to work harder.

“Today’s victory against the USA is for Nigerians especially for many who

ing to be more effective, but we lost against a good Nigerian team.”

On the other hand, coach Emmanuel Amuneke feels aside the victory, he would be hoping that his boys keep their heads high as the competition progresses.

“Considering it was the first match, I think it was a good game,” said Amuneke.

“At the beginning it was pretty even, everything very tactical, neither of us wanted to make a mistake. At half time I told my players to believe in themselves, and it worked, because we were more precise. stayed up late to watch the match,” stated the former African Footballer of the Year who refrained from praising the goal scorers against USA.”It is the job of all the players to do their respective jobs in the interest of the team. We want to play and win as a team and collectively, we want to work in order to achieve our overall objective at this tournament.”

Meanwhile, midfielder Chukwudi Agor has described his goal and indeed the opening goal in Group A at Chile 2015 against the USA, as very important for his budding career. It was Agor’s second goal for the national U-17 side after he grabbed the winner in the 2-1 win over Brazil at the Suwon U-17 Tournament in September.

“I’m happy that I scored today,” said Agor. “I’m dedicating the goal to my sister, Oluchi.”

IGERIA’s homebased team will depart for Burkina Faso on Thursday for a return leg 2016 CHAN qualifier.

Nigeria defeated Les Etalons 2-0 on Saturday in Port Harcourt and the overall winners of this fixture will qualify for next year ’s CHAN in Rwanda.

A squad of 18 players from the 23 in the training camp will be named for the trip to Ouagadougou.

It has been gathered coach Sunday Oliseh will stick with the team who were involved in the first leg in Port Harcourt.

Goalkeepers Ikechukwu Ezenwa and Femi Thomas, defenders Austin Oboroakpo, Chima

Akas, Orji Kalu, Jamiu Alimi as well as midfielders Bature Yaro, Ifeanyi Matthew, Usman Mohammed and Paul Onobi will make the trip.

Strikers Gbolahan Salami, Chisom Chikatara, Ezekiel Bassey and Osas Okoro have also been penciled down for the trip.

Oliseh’s axe

Chad in Kaduna in June.

Nigeria and Swaziland will battle for a place in the third round of the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.

The two legs are slated for between November 9 and 17 with the overall winners to a third round to be played on a mini-league basis.

Continues from BP than two years without a goal for the three-time African champions.

His last goal was in Ethiopia in October 2013 in a final 2014 World Cup play-off.

A top source close to the team revealed: “Oliseh is disappointed Emenike has not justified the confidence he has in him.

“He has been given his chance by the coach, who is now seriously considering Odion Ighalo to lead his attack against Swaziland next month.”

Watford striker Ighalo responded to his snub by the Eagles coach for his first set of call-ups by scoring in a 3-0 win over Cameroon in Brussels.

It was his second goal for the Eagles after he fired his first against

Eagles Continues from BP the delayed return leg.

Nigeria’s Super Eagles drew bye in the first round and will fly into Lobamba in the first week of November for the first leg, buoyed by a 3-0 victory over rivals Cameroon in a friendly in Belgium a week ago.

The Super Eagles have played at the 1994, 1998, 2002, 2010 and 2014 World Cup finals, reaching the Round of 16 in 1994, 1998 and 2014.

Eagles are not special Continues from BP “We made the match too easy for Nigeria.

They beat us because we helped them (do so) and not necessarily because they were spectacular.

“A clear case was the first goal we conceded.

They had just two forwards and we had three defenders in the situation yet they succeeded (in scoring).

“We suffered a lapse in concentration which gave Nigeria the penalty (for the second goal).

“Tactically, we had a sound plan but we lost based on the two mistakes we made,” Drissa said at the postmatch press conference.

The trainer then warned the Nigerians not to be lulled into a false sense of security as his side will be looking to overturn the first leg result inside the first 30 minutes of the return fixture.

“This is just the first leg. In the second leg, we will correct the mistakes we made and will fully exploit home advantage to do our people proud.

“I am sure we will overturn the 2-0 first leg (deficit) after 30 minutes at our place because it is not a fantastic result for Nigeria,” he said.

The second leg of the fixture will be played on the weekend of October 23-25.

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015–53

Henry: Arsenal can beat City to title

Falcao likely to quit Chelsea

T

•Sanchez

Wenger unsure over future A

RSENE We n g e r has admitted he does not know if he will commit his future to Arsenal beyond his current contract.

The club’s manager over the last 19 years has just 18 months remaining on his deal, which he signed in the aftermath of the 2014 FA Cup victory.

Speaking after his side’s 3-0 win over Watford he told Sky Sports: “I honestly don’t know [when I’ll quit].

“I’ve said many times that I just want to do well. When will I stop? We’ll see.”

HIERRY Henry is convinced that Arsenal have what it takes to win the Premier League title this season.

Arsenal legend Henry feels that Arsene Wenger ’s men have already underlined their status as genuine title contenders this season.Speaking on Sky Sports after Arsenal’s win at Watford, Henry said: “They are in the mix for me.It was a massive response knowing everybody had won. Everybody was waiting to see if they were going to back up the win against United. Can they do it and maintain it for more than 15, maybe 20 games? That’s what we want to see.

They have to play like that all the time and win games like that sometimes where for an hour they struggle and then come out on top.

“Everybody can dream.

If you love Arsenal I think they can win the title this season.”

•Falcao ADAMEl Falcao could be ready to quit Chelsea in January.

Falcao, 29, is frustrated by a lack of chances at Stamford Bridge after joining Chelsea on a season-long loan from Monaco.

Colombian superstar Falcao - who spent last season at Manchester United - was fit but did not even make the bench for Chelsea’s win over Aston Villa.

He is concerned about his international place as he struggles to get games and there have been enquiries to his advisers about his

R

availability.

The Spanish media even linked Barcelona with a move for Falcao who has found himself behind Diego Costa and Loic Remy at Chelsea this season. It would be a complicated move to complete as Chelsea and Monaco would both have to agree to terminate the loan deal and for any club to then take over his huge wages. But that could give Chelsea scope to go and get another striker in January if they get an offer for Falcao who has managed just one goal in the Premier League this season.

•We n g e r

NNPC/Chevron Masters Tennis rolls on with high expectations

By John Egbokhan

1

7 YEAR-old Godgift Timibra looked up in exasperation as he walked forward to collect his prize. Tired, worn-out, drained and practically gasping to catch some air, the last seven days were a whirlwind one for the budding tennis hopeful from Rivers State.

But luckily for him, his 618 kilometers trip from Port Harcoourt to Lagos to participate in the 2015 NNPC/Chevron Junior Tennis Master Tournament was worth the wait in gold as he had some minutes earlier, defeated John Dickson from Kaduna State in three thrilling sets of 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 to claim the Masters crown on the Lord Rumens Centre Court at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club.

It was a tough, gruelling match, interrupted by rain, stretched into night, lasting a little over three and the half hours. But after all the push and shove, Timibra finally had something to be cheerful about, winning the 16th NNPC/Chevron Junior Tennis Tournament, unarguably the most competitive, glamorous, C M Y K

•Mrs Kolapo Jolayemi of NAPIMS, presents the winner ’s trophy to Godsgift Timibra while Janice Ewing (r), Jeff Ewing and Tunji Idowu (l) all of Chevron look on. longest-running and foremost tennis event for players below 18 years old.

For someone, who had just landed the most important title in the junior calendar in the country, Timibra was expected to be jumping for joy with glee to celebrate his championshp feat at the age of 17, which ironically will be his last in the NNPC/Chevronsponsored tournament managed by Prime Sports, owned by the former captain of the Nigerian

cricket team and past President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Mr Chris Enahoro, who started the Chevron Tennis Acadey in 1998 before the Chevron Masters made its debut in 2000.

But while looking happy, something was troubling the young teen, who had just listened to an official of the Lagos State government talk on their intention to partner in the organisation of subsequent editions of the highly acclaimed tournament.

At a time when governments were being tasked to tone down their direct exposure with sports tournaments and rather, concentrate on building facilities and providing the enabling environment for sports to thrive, Timibra could be forgiven for his mood as governments, at all levels, have proven not to be the best managers or organisers of sports in the country.

When asked what was troubling him after just winning the crown,

Timibra said “although I am very happy to win the title, it feels sad to know that this is my last tournament."

But a past official of the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour, Chief Ben Ezeibe urged the governmet to steer clear of the private-sector inititiative of NNPC and Chevron.

“I don’t underdtand the intention of the Lagos government but I think they can do something on their own if they are serious about tennis develiopment. “”But in going forward, I want Enahoro to step up the tournament a notch by making it one of the ITF Junior tournament in the continent. He can achieve this by partnering the Nigeria Tennis Federation and he will be the tournament director. He has done so much for our youths but there must be progression for these players and the sponsors, who will be delighted when the tournament becomes an ITF certified junior ranking tourrnamet in Africa”, added Ezeibe.

Meanwhile, the Chairman and Managing Director of Chevron Nigeria Limited,

Clay Neff has lauded its strong partnership with Prime Sports International as a a strong catalyst for tennis development in the country.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the NNPC/ Chevron Tennis Masters o October 11, Neff said “We are motivated to make these Social Investments because of our belief in giving our youths a future to live for and a cause to dream. The future of Nigeria belongs to the youths and as one of the corporate bodies responsible for the key resources of our country, we are convinced that investments in the youths are not only priceless, but noble and inspiring.

“We are happy and proud to have been part of the good things accomplished till date in this championship, which has grown to become the brightest hope for the future of tennis in our country.

Beyond just competing against each other, the Junior Masters allows the youths of our nation to forge bonds of friendships that would enable them to share ideas, and work together in building the nation of their dreams”, added Neff.

54— Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

Eagles in Europe: Musa, Moses, Ambrose, Ideye shine S

UPER Eagles will face Swaziland in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier next month. We take a look at the performances of Nigeria players abroad who may get the chance to feature in the twolegged qualifier.

Leon Balogun: The right back was an unused substitute for Mainz as they lost 2-0 at home to Borussia Dortmund.

Akeem Latifu: The right back was on from start to finish as his Norwegian top-flight team Aalesund won 4-1 at Stabaek. He has played every game for the team. Compatriot Leke James scored the fourth goal for Aalesund.

Elderson Echiejile: The left back was on from start to finish for Monaco in their 1-1 home draw with Lyon.

He would even play at central defender when his Brazilian teammate Wallace was sent off in the second half.

Moses Simon: He was not listed for Belgian champions Gent in a 11 draw at MouscronPeruwelz.

Anthony Ujah: He played the full game as Werder Bremen lost 1-0 at home to Bayern Munich.

Vincent Enyeama: Former Eagles captain was on for 90 minutes in Lille 1-1 draw at Guingamp.

Efe Ambrose: The utility defender was solid in defence for Celtic in their 1-0 win at Motherwell.

Izunna Uzochukwu: He was an unused

•Victor Moses (r) battles Martin Kelly of Crystal Palace substitute in Amkar Perm 1-1 draw at home with Dinamo Moscow.

Ahmed Musa: Eagles captain was on for the entire duration as CSKA Moscow beat Ural 3-2.

Victor Moses: He played for 74 minutes to help West Ham United beat Crystal Palace 3-1.

He assisted Carl Jekinson for the first goal in the 22nd minute with a superb through ball.

Mikel Obi: He was an unused substitute in Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa. His future at Stamford Bridge continues to be a talking point.

Kelechi Iheanacho: He played for 12 minutes when Manchester City thrashed Bournemouth 5-1. He replaced hattrick hero Raheem Sterling. He had his cleverly lobbed goal

ruled for offside even though TV replays later showed the goal ought to have stood.

Odion Ighalo: He played for 90 minutes as Watford lost 3-0 at home to Arsenal.

Sylvester Igbonu: He was in action for FC Ufa for 60 minutes in their 31 loss at Rubin Kazan.

Ugo Ukah: Nigeria defender was on for the entire duration of the game as his team Kalloni Lekanopedio lost 2-0 to Panionis.

Brown Ideye: He was on target for Olympiacos in their 4-0 thrashing of AEK Athens. He played the full game.

Winfred Ndidi: He was on from start to finish as Genk drew 1-1 at Waasland-Beveren.

Joel Obi: He was not listed for Torino as expected due to injury.

They drew 1-1 at home to AC Milan.

•Ideye

•Musa

•Mikel Obi (l) and Mourinho on the bench.

•Odion Ighalo (r) contests for the ball with Santi Cazorla of Arsenal C M Y K

•Efe Ambrose.

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015—55

C M Y K

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

Amuneke hails Eaglets Six-star Newcastle drub Norwich EORGINIO WijG naldum plundered four goals as New-

castle United thrashed Norwich City 6-2 at St James’ Park on Sunday to belatedly claim their first win of the Premier League season.

Wijnaldum was a member of the Holland team that failed to qualify for Euro 2016 earlier in the week, but he shrugged off the disappointment with a brilliant quadruple that eased some of the pressure on Newcastle manager Steve McClaren.

Ayoze Perez and Aleksandar Mitrovic also Continues on Page 52

Today’s U-17 World Cup Fixtures October 19 N/Zealand v France 9pm S/Africa v Costa Rica 9pm Syria v Paraguay 12am Korea DP.R v Russia 12am October 20 USA v Croatia 9pm England v Brazil 9pm Chile v G/Eaglets 12am Korea R. v Guinea 12am Argentina v Australia 11pm

G

OLDEN Eaglets Head coach, Emmanuel Amuneke has described Saturday’s 2-0 win over the United States of America as a morale booster for the players in the quest to successfully defend the FIFA U-17 World Cup. Chukwudi Agor and Victor Osimhen gave Nigeria a winning start Continues on Page 52

Eagles to cross Swazi hurdle

T

HE Super Eagles will have to negotiate past Swaziland to reach the group phase of the 2018 FIFA World Cup African qualifying race.

The Isihlangu defeated Djibouti 2-1 in Lobamba on Saturday to conclude an 8-1 aggregate triumph over the East Africans and earn the right to face five-time World Cup finalists Nigeria twice during the month of November.’

Swaziland won the first leg in Djibouti 6-0 and were never threatened at the Somhlolo Stadium in Continues on Page 52

*Amuneke

BLOODY — Lemieux, the IBF champion, is left bloodied by a ferocious Golovkin left in the eighth round, shortly before the fight was stopped

Oliseh’s axe dangles on Emenike Eagles are not HERE are very special, says Drissa T strong indications that Sunday Oliseh will

*Emenike

axe Emmanuel Emenike from next month’s World Cup qualifier against Swaziland after the striker failed to deliver in four matches under the new Eagles coach.

Oliseh is a big admirer of Emenike after he top scored at the 2013 AFCON in South Africa, but he has now gone more

H

EAD coach of Burkina Faso’s national team, Traore Drissa insists “there is nothing special” about the Nigeria side that beat his charges 2-0 in a 2016 Africa Nation’s Championship (Chan) qualifier in Port Harcourt on Saturday.

Goals either side of the break by Bature Yaro and Gbolahan Salami gave the Super Eagles a two-goal victory at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt ahead of the return fixture in Burkina Faso.

Drissa however insists the Nigerians won as a result of mistakes made by his players rather than the brilliance of their hosts.

Continues on Page 52

Continues on Page 52

QUICK CR OSS WORD CROSS OSSWORD

TODAY'S PUZZLE

FRIDAY'S ANSWERS

ACROSS 2 Feel (5) 7 Snake (5) 8 restrict (5) 10 Go in (5) 12 Vehicle (3) 13 Quilt (5) 15 Lived (7) 17 Peruser (6) 19 Rotter (3) 20 Deciphered (7) 23 Coupled (4) 25 Face (4) 26 Dedicated (7) 30 Conifer (3) 31 Ebb (6) 34 Dishearten (7) 37 Wagon (5) 38 Vegetable (3) 39 Keen (5) 40 Madness (5) 41 List (5) 42 Spree (5)

DOWN 1 Rascal (5) 2 Avarice (5) 3 Raved (6) 4 Nobleman (4) 5 Parted (7) 6 Collier (5) 9 Frenzied (3) 11 Regain (7) 13 Hang (5) 14 Insipid (5) 16 Unhappy (3) 18 Contrition (7) 21 Eater (5) 22 Passage (5) 24 Chorus (7) 27 Strive (3) 28 Erase (6) 29 Reimburse (5) 32 Colour (5) 33 Amusing (5) 35 Enclosure (3) 36 Secure (4)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 2, Fetch 7, Glee 8, Unsaid 9, Erase 11, Car 13, Rid 15, Omen 16, Big 18, Tallied 20, Pier 22, Dump 23, Rotated 25, Cost 27, Lad 28, Mere 30, Tie 31, Dad 33, Reset 36, Severe 37, Unit 38, Train.

DOWN: 1, Gleam 2, Fee 3, Tea 4, Hue 5, Ask 6, Tibia 10, Soil 11, Compact 12, Reverse 13, Reduced 14, Dripped 16, Banal 17, Glued 18, Wed 21, Rot 24, Tame 26, Oiled 29, Rabid 32, Wet 33, Bet 34, Sea 35, Tun.

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.

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C M Y K