Why Nyako fled Nigeria — Aide

...towards a better life for the people

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VOL. 25: NO. 62191

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

N150

MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

NATIONAL CONFAB:

North moves to 'kill' report >7

FOOTPRINTS OF A STATESMAN: The life and times of Chief Daniel Okumagba A book serial...on pages 52&53

Why Nyako fled Nigeria — Aide •His disappearance justifies charges against him — Presidency •He ran away to save his life — Confidant •Jonathan not party to Nyako, Al-Makura's ordeal— PDP

BY SONI DANIEL, NORTHERN REGION EDITOR, CLIFFORD NDUJIHE & HENRY UMORU

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BUJA—THERE was a clear indication last night that former Adamawa State Governor, Admiral Murtala Nyako, who was sacked last week, had fled the country.

A competent source confirmed to Vanguard exclusively that the governor was not in Nigeria, having left the shores shortly after he was impeached by the state House of Assembly over alleged gross misconduct.

Continues on Page 4

COLUMNISTS:

Boko Haram as excuse for $1bn loan P.48

Abia guber zoning controversies •P.58

Mr & Mrs $3BN REFINERY INVESTMENT— From left, National Organizing Secretary of IPMAN, Dr Leo Nkameme; National PRO of IPMAN, Alhaji Yakubu Suleiman; IPMAN President, Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo, chatting with Mr. Leopoldo Arosemena and Mr. Serhio Giannotti of Agge Refinery and Petrochemical Company Ltd on their arrival for investment and building of a refinery in NIgeria. Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan.

Assailants miss target, kill his wife, mother in Ibadan >6

Vanguard’s pull-out for the South East geo-political zone debuts on Wednesday.

It is a must read.

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2 —Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

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Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 3

4—Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 20144

POCKET CARTOON

PLANE CRASH—A piece of the wreckage of the Malaysia Airline's flight MH17 is pictured in a

field near the village of Grabove, in the region of Donetsk, yesterday. Photo: AFP.

Why Nyako fled Nigeria — Aide Continues from page 1 Although the source close to Nyako claimed that the man had travelled out of Nigeria to take a deserved rest after many years on the saddle, it was learnt that the retired naval chief fled the country in a bid to avoid being harassed by security agents, who have been looking for him.

The former governor, who has already filed an appeal against his removal from office, is also said to have fled the country because of security concerns about his life.

“It is true that Nyako had since left Nigeria to go and have a deserved

rest but the main reason he left was because he was afraid for his life,” a close confidant of the former governor told Vanguard last night.

According to him, Nyako had to take the option of leaving the country when it became obvious to him that his enemies could even take his life while pretending to be working to remove him from office.

The source said: “Beyond the issue of trying to impeach the governor, he was really worried about people who could harm him because of their fear that he had so much information.

“So, I can tell you that as we speak, Nyako is not in Nigeria,” the source

LIFEWORDS

BY PASTOR ITUAH

You never regret kindness. Og Mandino says, ‘treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend all the care, kindness and understanding you can, with no thought of reward, and your life will never be the same.’

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

I find I am much prouder of the victory I obtain over myself, when, in the very ardor of dispute, I make myself submit to my adversary’s force of reason, than I am pleased with the victory I obtain over him through his weakness — Michel de Montaigne

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POINTED fable is told about a young lion and a cougar. Both thirsty, the animals arrived at their usual water hole at the same time.

They immediately began to argue about who should satisfy his thirst first. The argument became heated, and each decided he would rather die than give up the privilege of being first to quench his thirst.

As they stubbornly confronted each other, their emotions turned to rage. Their cruel attacks on each other were suddenly interrupted. They both looked up. Circling overhead was a flock of vultures waiting for the loser to fall. Quietly, the two beasts turned and walked away. The thought of being devoured was all they needed to end their quarrel.

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said.

Vanguard learnt at the weekend that the Federal Government was considering declaring Nyako wanted after its operatives had made fruitless search for the former governor both in Yola and Abuja.

It was gathered that security agents, who had been combing Yola and Abuja for the former governor, were frustrated over their inability to trace him.

According to a competent source in Yola, security aides of the former Chief of Naval Staff ferried him out of Yola to an undisclosed location same day he was sacked from office.

The plot to arrest Nyako was hatched a few hours after Adamawa lawmakers voted for his removal from office, having mobilised the required two third majority of the members to sack him.

Vanguard investigation revealed that the federal authorities were considering the option of declaring Nyako wanted as a last resort to compel him to come and face the charges that have been prepared against him by both the office of the AGF and the EFCC.

Presidency slams Nyako

In its immediate reaction, the presidency said with former governor Nyako running out of the country, following his impeachment by members of the House of Assembly last Tuesday, it was a clear indication that accusations levelled against him were correct.

Speaking with Vanguard, the Senior Special Assistant on Public Af-

fairs to the President, Dr. Doyin Okupe, who noted that those who had alleged that President Goodluck Jonathan was responsible for the former governor’s predicament will now hide their heads in shame.

He said:” There must be a reason for his running away and this means that those who accused him of mismanagement of funds are correct, the fact speaks for itself and it is now clear that those accusing the president of having a hand in his impeachment are lying.”

On his part, National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Alhaji Lai Mohammed could not confirm the whereabouts of the sacked governor.

Asked his take on reports that Nyako was on the run and may be declared wanted by the Federal Government for graft and treason charges, he said: “I don’t know where he is. I don’t know whether he is on the run or not.”

PDP mulls Muslim governor

Meanwhile, ahead of the release of time table by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to conduct a bye- election following the sack of Nyako by the State House of Assembly, strong indications emerged, yesterday, that the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as well as the state stakeholders may have settled for a Muslim governor.

A source disclosed, yesterday, that the decision to have a Muslim governor was in reaction to insinuations by some peo-

ple, who said that the state was no longer going for a Muslim governor after the exit of Nyako.

According to the source, after the emergence of the governorship candidate for the election, Nyako’s deputy, Bala James Ngilari, a Christian will return to his office as deputy as compensation for his loyalty to the party against the backdrop that when his boss dumped the PDP for the All Progressives Congress, APC, he refused to follow him.

The source said: “From all indications, we have viewed the situation and we are convinced that for the state to have peace, we must as a matter of urgency and expediency work out an arrangement for a Muslim governor if only to put the critics to shame that we have removed a Muslim governor.

“As it stands, the party is looking at the possibility of having a Muslim governor to succeed Nyako just as the deputy, Ngilari is being considered to return to his position for his loyalty to the party. We are trying to avoid any use of sentiment against our party.”

At the moment, aspirants to watch are a former governorship aspirant, Dr. Umar Ardo from the South; the Deputy Governor to Nyako, James Bala Ngilari from the North Senatorial District; Senator Abubakar Halilu Girie from the Central Senatorial District and Auwal Tukur, the son of the former PDP National Chairman Alhaji Bamanga Tukur also from the Central Senatorial District.

Others include Dr Ahmed Modibbo (central); former Deputy Governor to erstwhile governor Boni Haruna for eight years and past Chief of Staff to Nyako, Senator Bello Tukur (central); Ahmadu Umar Fintiri (former speaker and Acting Governor(North); Brig. General Buba Marwa (North); Jerry Kundusi (central) and Engr. Markus Gundiri (central).

Jonathan not party to Nyako, Al-Makura's ordeal

Meanwhile, the national leadership of the PDP has denied reports that President Jonathan and the party bigwigs were behind the removal of governor Nyako as well as the present ordeal of Governor Tanko AlMakura of Nasarawa State.

A statement, yesterday,

by PDP National Auditor, Alhaji Adewole Adeyanju said: “I challenge the main opposition, All Progressives Congress, APC, and its leaders to come out with their facts that President Goodluck Jonathan was involved in the impeachment saga so as to convince Nigerians and the International Community that they were sure of what they are saying or shut up and stop feeding the members of the public with tissue of lies.

“The questions we should be asking ourselves are: Did the lawmakers follow the Constitution of the land?

Did they follow due process? Were they served with impeachment notices for them to defend themselves? This is mere blasphemy and it will not work. Nyako was served with impeachment notice to appear before a seven-man panel to defend himself against all the allegations levelled against him and he refused to obey, and what did he do? He went ahead to declare two days holiday for reasons best known to him, while his deputy resigned when he knew that the game was up.

“In the case of Governor Al-Makura, the House wanted to serve him impeachment notice on several occasions but he refused service before the lawmakers went ahead and published it in the newspapers.

They should leave the President and our party out of their predicament; we knew nothing about it, it is democracy in action.”

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 5

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6—Vanguard , MONDAY MONDAY,, JULY 21, 2014

NSCDC member in Police net for stabbing teacher to death

BY KINGSLEY OMONOBI

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BUJA — THE Police Headquarters, yesterday, in Abuja disclosed that an officer of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, in Osun State, one Lasisi Iyanda, has been arrested for the murder of a school teacher and will soon be charged to court.

A statement in this regard signed by the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Frank Mba, read: “A member of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, AssistantInspector Lasisi Kabir Iyanda, has been arrested and detained in Police custody over the brutal murder, on June 27, 2014, of a 32-year-old Kamaldeen Muritala, an Islamic Religious Knowledge teacher attached to Titilope Islamic Comprehensive High School, Ejigbo, Osun State.

“Preliminary enquiry by Police detectives from the Osun State Police Command, Osogbo revealed that the victim, Kamaldeen Muritala died at Baptist Hospital, Ejigbo from complications arising from fatal stab wounds inflicted on his neck with a jack-knife by the NSCDC officer during an argument close to the entrance of an examination hall where National Examination Council, NECO, examination was taking place.

“Following the demise of the deceased Islamic teacher, students of the school attempted to raze down office structures belonging to the NSCDC as well as those of other government establishments in the area, but the timely intervention of the Police prevented further breakdown of law and order.

“Meanwhile, the Police High Command has commended the officers and men of Osun State Police Command for their timely intervention which helped to rescue the 30year-old suspect concerned as well as other property and whittle down what otherwise might have turned into a major catastrophe."

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Gunmen miss target, kill his wife, mother

BY OLA AJAYI

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BADAN — UNKNOWN gunmen, who reportedly missed their target yesterday descended on the man's wife and mother, killing them in the process.

The gun-totting persons who struck at Olorunsogo area of Ibadan were said to have

besieged the Olorunsogo residence of one Idowu Bolarinwa around 3:30a.m. and shot his relatives dead.

The unlucky women were identifiedd as Kafila Bolarinwa and her mother-in-law.

It was gathered that their target was in the mosque offering prayers as part of Ramadan

activities when the hoodlums struck.

Vanguard further gathered that the hoodlums were enraged when they learnt that their target, who is a land speculator, was not available and shot the wife who they thought was hiding her husband.

Sources added that the man’s mother sensing the unusual

movement and cry from her daughter-in-law, came out to find out what was happening only for the assailants to kill her too.

Contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Olabisi Okuwobi-Clet Ilobanafor confirmed the incident.

Woman nabbed with dead 5-year-old child in Lagos •He is my son, he is the last of my 3 children —Suspect

BY ESTHER ONYEGBULA

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AGOS — POLICEMEN in Lagos, yesterday, foiled attempt by a mob to lynch a middle-aged woman who was in possession of a dead child at Mile-Two, along Oshodi/Apapa expressway.

Though the woman, who gave her name as Florence, claimed that the dead child was hers, the mob said she could have kidnapped and killed the child for money ritual.

When Vanguard arrived the the scene yesterday, the dead child was seen lying by the side of the expressway, with Florence by his side. Two Ghana must go bags were found by her side.

Inside the bags were beverages, detergents and assorted clothes.

Though news making the round earlier had it that the child’s eyes were plucked, but Vanguard discovered that the eyeballs were only popped.

Information gathered revealed that the woman had been sighted in the area with the child strapped at her back for three days.

An onlooker said: “One man in a commercial bus alerted us yesterday that the child strapped at the back was motionless. This attracted some curious

Florence, the suspect. passengers of commercial buses that were trapped in this unending gridlock. One of the passengers went close to the woman and shook the baby.

Before you knew it, people had gathered around the woman, wanting to set her ablaze. But for the timely arrival of policemen attached to the Rapid

Response Squad she would have been dead by now.”

When Vanguard approached the woman , she said: “I am from Umo in Kwale area of Delta State.

I was born in Lagos and I have three children. Nothing is wrong with me. This child (pointing to the dead child) is my son. He is the last of my three children. I

have a boy and a girl who are in the village. His name is Chidi and he is five years old.

"He has been very sick. In fact, he had fever and needed blood transfusion but I couldn’t afford the money for it. He died three days ago. Before he died, we wanted to travel back to the village. My husband stays in Port Harcourt.”

When asked to give his husband’s telephone number she said: “The paper where I wrote his number has been destroyed by rain. I don’t have any relative in Lagos. I was living under a staircase in one of the shops located in Alaba market. A security man allowed my son and I to sleep there at night. I didn’t steal any baby neither did I kill any child.

“I was carrying Chidi on my back after he died, only for people to gather around me this morning and started beating me. What have I done to deserve this kind of beating? If not for these policemen, they would have beaten me to death.”

Asked what her mission in Lagos was, she said she came to take care of him here. Some people were of the opinion that she was insane but the Police said that would be ascertained in the course of investigation.

Police arrest three over killing of barber

BY EVELYN USMAN

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AGOS — THE Police in Lagos have arrested three persons in connection with the killing of a barber, last Tuesday, in Abule-Ado area of the state.

The deceased, identified as Olajuwawon Olawepo, was reportedly hit by a stray bullet during an invasion of a motor park around the area by hoodlums.

The hoodlums allegedly led by one Lateef Sadiku Olarinde, who claimed to be owner of a portion of the land used as a motor park, reportedly stormed there to chase commercial motorcyclists away.

The motorcyclists were said to have put up resistance, an action that led to a free-for-all during which the hoodlums alleged to

have been armed, opened fire.

One of the motorcyclists, who simply gave his name as Gbenga, told Vanguard: “That was not the first time agbero(motor park touts) led by Olarinde would besiege the park. They usually come in their numbers to extort money from us. Each Okada rider and stall owner pay N200 everyday to these agbero. Any time they come, they would harass people and even unleash mayhem on anyone who refuses to pay.

“On that fateful day, they were 30 in number that came to the park and when we tried to resist them, they opened fire, shooting indiscriminately. Oluwajuwon was trying to lock up his shop to escape when a stray bullet hit him on the chest. We have written several petitions about

activities of these hoodlums but nothing has been done.”

Release our late brother’s corpse—Bereaved family

Meanwhile, the deceased’s family has appealed to the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Abubakar Mohammed to order a full scale investigation into the killing with a view to bringing the perpetrators to book.

Spokesperson for the family, Samson Olawepo, however expressed displeasure over the attitude of some policemen on the issue.

According to him, “I was at home last Tuesday when my pastor sent someone to call me.

When I got there, he said someone just informed him that some hoodlums were fighting at Fin Niger Road in Abule-Ado and

in the process my brother was shot dead. I and my pastor rushed to the scene, only to behold my brother in the pool of his blood.

“As I was screaming, some policemen from Agboju Police Division, who were also at the scene prevented me from going close until a senior officer gave them instruction to allow me see the corpse.

“I called my younger brothers, Samuel and Emmanuel on the phone to inform them about what happened. On their arrival, we started making arrangement on what next to do , only for one of the policemen to inform us that the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Agboju division ordered them to detain us. We were taken to the station and kept behind the counter."

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 7

FG extends submission of EoIs for Warri Port

BY EMM UJAH, Abuja Bureau Chief

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BUJA — THE Feder al Government has extended the closing date for the submission of Expressions of Interest, EOIs, by prospective investors in the concession of Terminal 'B' Warri Old Port from Tuesday, July 22, 2014 to Thursday, August 7, 2014.

It was learnt that the decision was to enable more investors participate in the process.

The Federal Government had requested that the prospective concessionaires must be experienced local or international operators who will be required to manage and operate the terminal for a minimum period of 25 years with the option of renewal.

The prospective concessionaire will also be required to invest in the construction of the stacking area, administrative block, warehouse and clinic, rehabilitation of existing facilities and undertake further developments in the terminal.

The prospective concessionaires must also present verifiable evidence of successful investment and technical competence in maritime operations, with proven ability to operate a port terminal.

CONFAB: North moves to ‘kill’ report

BY HENRY UMORU

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BUJA — STRONG indications emerged, yesterday, that northern delegates are moving to kill the yet-to-be adopted final report of the Justice Idris Kutigi-led National Conference.

The new move is part of a wider campaign against the resolutions of the conference and its leadership which some northern delegates had described as a failure.

It was gathered that the northern delegates met weekend in one of the hotels in Abuja to come up with strategies on how to ensure that the report does not see the light of the day.

The northern delegates, who attended the meeting, were said to be aggressively pursuing the agenda and enlisting the support

of members of the North-West, North-East and North-Central caucuses of the National Assembly in making sure the report, when brought to the National Assembly for ratification, was ‘killed’.

According to a source, the meeting was convened by a former Senator who represented the Federal Capital Territory, served in the Senator Femi Okurounmu-led Confab modalities committee and is now a confab delegate on the platform of Senators’ Forum, Senator Kairat Gwadabe.

The meeting was said to have lasted well into the early hours of Saturday. The convener, the source said, is wooing other five delegates on the platform of Senators’ Forum.

Members of the Senators Forum at the confab are Senators Nnamdi Eriobuna (South-East); Iyabo

Anisunlowo (South-West); John Braimbaifa (Bayelsa, SouthSouth); Abdullahi Bala Adamu, Mohammed Ibrahim and Khairat Gwadabe from the North.

A source told Vanguard that the convener is also beaming the searchlight on other northern senators at the conference such as Ibrahim Ida, Saidu Dansadau, Jubril Aminu, Saidu Komo and Ibrahim Mantu among others to help woo serving senators after the adoption of the report.

The plot

According to the source, part of the group’s plan is to use the opportunity of the annual recess of the National Assembly to lobby senators and members of the House of Representatives

From left: Group CEO, Prima Garnet Africa, Mr Lolu Akinwunmi; CEO Wazobia FM, Ali Monsali; Human Resources Executive, MTN, Amina Oyagbola; wife of the author, Adenike Oyeyemi and author of "Kill or Get Killed," Mr Kolawole Oyeyemi at the unveiling of the book, "Kill or Get Killed: The Marketing Killer Instinct" in Lagos. Photo: Diran Oshe.

STRIKE: Return to work, pharmacists, nurses, others urge doctors no means to fly abroad for mediravaged the health sector albeit

BY SOLA OGUNDIPE, CHIOMA OBINNA, VICTORIA OJEME, NWABUEZE OKONKWO & CHRIS ONUOHA

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AGOS— AS the nationwide doctors’ strike continues to take its toll on healthcare services in public hospitals, the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, PSN, has commended the Joint Health Sector Unions, JOHESU, and the Assembly of Health Professional Associations for dragging the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, and its affiliates to court over the crisis in the health sector.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, NANNM, and the Nigerian Society of Physiotherapists have urged the striking doctors to return to work, just as doctors under the aegis of National Association General Medicine and Dental Practitioners, NAGMDP, Anambra State chapter, have commended efforts by Governor

Willie Obiano to tackle the problems in the health sector in the state.

In a statement, weekend, President of the PSN, Mr Olumide Akintayo, said the NMA had perennially constituted itself into the law by declaring frequent unlawful strikes through which it illegitimately negotiates favourable conditions of service for its members while at the same time dictating what other health workers can earn.

Akintayo said: “For years on end we at PSN have always insisted that the NMA, National Association of Resident Doctors and Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria and other appendages are not trade unions and so cannot legally be said to have a locus standi in trade disputes.

“It is our strong affirmation that the JOHESU vs NMA matter at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, NICN, has all the propensities to fundamentally resolve once and for all, so many contentious issues which have

retrogressively once and for all.”

It's selfish, unethical, illegal —Nurses

In a related development, the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives has described the current strike action by the NMA as “selfish, unethical and illegal.”

NANNM, in a statement signed by its General Secretary, YusufBadmus, advised the Federal Government to “stop all government employed doctors from establishing private clinics for the benefit of the citizens of this nation while still in government employment.”

The group advocated that all government health workers should ”have a unified salary scale to check and prevent unhealthy rivalry and end to the incessant strike action, that leaves the innocent patient to suffer.”

Also, the Nigerian Society of Physiotherapists urged the NMA to end the on-going strike and save lives of millions who have

cal treatment.

President of the Society, Mr. Taiwo Oyewumi, stated that the NMA should rescind its decision and listen to voice of reason as it concerns life.

Anambra doctors laud Obiano

Meanwhile, doctors in Anambra State, under the aegis of NAGMDP, have given Governor Willie Obiano a pat on the back for efforts to tackle the problems in the health sector in the state, as contained in his blueprint.

State Chairman, NAGMDP, Dr. Joe Uyamadu, who disclosed this to newsmen in Onitsha, said Obiano’s blueprint was similar to their sixpoint demand that led to strike during former Governor Peter Obi’s regime, adding that with the way he is pursuing the blueprint vigorously, they would no longer contemplate going on strike in the state.

from the north to ensure that the report was scuttled as well as use the Lesser Hajj in Mecca to talk to some senators.

Efforts to reach Senator Khairat Gwadabe on her mobile phone did not yield results. Several calls to her mobile could not connect and text messages sent to her mobile were not replied.

The crisis rocking the National Conference over recommendations on revenue allocation, derivation and allocation of five per cent of federal revenue to insurgency ravaged North-East geo-political zone and other parts of the north was deepened last Monday following a very sharp division between northern and southern delegates.

The plenary session finally came to a close without any agreement on the controversial issues.

Following the logjam, the conference pushed the issues to President Goodluck Jonathan, suggesting that he should set up a technical committee that would advise the Federal Government on revenue sharing formula, the percentage of derivation to oil producing states, mineral resources development fund as well as the special fund for reconstruction and rehabilitation of areas affected by problems of insurgency and internal conflict.

The leadership of the conference allowed time for mediation by leaders of the six geopolitical zones, leading to an agreement with derivation fund raised from 13 to 18 per cent; five per cent of revenue should go for the stabilisation, rehabilitation and reconstruction of areas affected by terrorism and insurgency, in the first instance in the North-East, North-Central, North-West and any other parts of the country; five per cent for the exploration and development of all mineral resources, etc.

The recommendation, however, did not go down well with the North-Central and North-West delegates who insisted that specific mention be made that the five per cent insurgency intervention fund was for the three northern geopolitical zones while South-East and South-West delegates asked that it be expanded to take care of every state of the country where terrorism and internal conflict had occurred.

The conference had to adjourn to reconvene on August 4 for final consideration of all resolutions reached and preparation of report.

The most contested report was that of the Committee on Devolution of Powers co-chaired by Obong Victor Attah, one-time governor of Akwa Ibom State and Alhaji Ibrahim Coomasie, leader of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and former Inspector General of Police.

However, the conference, in considering report of its 20 committees, had a smooth sail on 19 reports.

8 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

No vacancy in Aso Rock — INTERIOR MINISTER

BY PETER DURU

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AKURDI—THE Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro has declared ahead of the forthcoming general elections that there would be no vacancy in Aso Rock come 2015.

Moro urged all those aspiring for the position of president to jettison the idea and allow President Goodluck Jonathan to compete all the good works he started for the country.

The Minister, who spoke at a reception organised for him at the weekend by his kinsmen at Ede West Ward, in Okpokwu local government area of Benue state, urged the people to also rally support for the reelection Senator David Mark in the forthcoming election.

He said, “I dare say that if we must move away from the politics of ‘chop I chop’ to politics of principles and and the development of our communities, we must rally support for President Goodluck Jonathan.

“In the present circumstance, which we have found ourselves the only person who can complete the good job that he started, the only person who has introduced ideology to drive us to the next level of development is President Goodluck Jonathan and we must support him to succeed.

“In the resent circumstance, I make bold to say that a combination of President Goodluck Jonathan at the helm of affairs and the Senate President, David Mark at the Senate, will present an important catalyst for development in this country.

“They should therefore be supported to continue to do good things for this country because another entrant will amount to a distraction, and we cannot afford it now.

“Therefore come 2015, there will be no vacancy for a new president in Nigeria nor a new senator from the Benue south district. Anyone with such an ambition should please jettison it, in our collective interest.” the minister said.

Massive corruption, lack of accountability behind FG’s request for US$1b loan to fight Boko Haram — APC

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AGOS—THE All Progres sives Congress, APC, has asked the National Assembly to properly scrutinise the request by President Goodluck Jonathan for a 1-billion-dollar loan to fight the insurgent group, Boko Haram, saying the administration has no business borrowing money if it had accounted for US$20 billion in oil funds or plugged the official stealing of 300,000 barrels of oil per day.

In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publici-

ty Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said even if the missing oil fund is only between 10 and 12 billion dollars as admitted by the FG, the amount represents more than 10 times the fund the FG is now seeking to borrow, under conditions yet unknown.

It described as disingenuous and sheer blackmail the argument that the money is for national security or that it would facilitate the release of the over 200 schoolgirls, who were

abducted about 100 days ago. ‘’That argument is hollow. In the first instance, trillions of naira have been allocated yearly - in the past few years - for security and defence, yet the fight against the insurgents rages on with deadly consequences.

Secondly, the only reason the school girls have remained in captivity is the sheer cluelessness and incompetence on the part of the Jonathan administration, which waited for all of 19 days before even admit-

INVESTITURE: From left; Rotarian Isichei Osamgbi; Mr Gbenga Adefaye, Editor-In-Chief/GM Publication, Vanguard Newspapers and Guest Speaker of the occasion, and Rotarian Charles Okonkwo, President, Rotary Club of Ikoyi during the investiture ceremony of Rot . Okonkwo as the 30th President of Rotary Club of Ikoyi at the Golden Gate Restaurant in Lagos yesterday. Photo by Biodun Ogunleye.

Fuel crisis looms as tanker drivers threaten to withdraw services from Lagos

BY GODWIN ORITSE

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AGOS—THE Petroleum Tanker Driver, PTD branch of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, has threaten to withdraw its services from the Lagos area, if the on-going construction of the port end of Apapa-Oshodi expressway was not completed in two weeks.

Speaking to Vanguard, at the end of a stakeholders meeting in Lagos to find solutions to Apapa gridlock, National Chairman of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers, Comrade Salimonu Akanni Oladiti, said members of his group had agreed to move their trucks out of the ever-busy Apapa-Oshodi expressway to pave way for the contractor to complete work on the bad spots of the road.

Oladiti explained that PTD members agreed with other stakeholders to see how committed the government was towards rehabilitating the road.

He said: “We voluntarilly agreed

to join other stakeholders to move our vehicles off the road so the contractor can move to site and complete repairs on the bad spots of the road.

“We do not want Nigerians to see us as enemies of progress because we refused to remove our trucks from the road. “Äs I speak with you my members have started moving their trucks out of the road and we will see how government will start fiving the road between now and the next two weeks because that is the deadline given to the contractor. “Ï am sure you heard what the contractor said about not being mobilised to go to site and I am also sure that you heard what the Senior Special Adviser to the President, Prof Sylvester Monye said about the money for the contractor being in the pipeline.

“The problem is that, if after two weeks we do not see any development, we will withdraw our services from Lagos zone.”

Speaking in a similar vein, spokesman of PTD, Atanda Adebayo, also told Vanguard that moving their vehicles out of the road was not the issue.

He wondered what would happen after the vehicles had been removed from the road, adding that government had been paying lip service to the repair of this end of the road.

Although the contractor, whose name could not be ascertained, complained of not being mobilised by government, Senior Special Assistant to the President, Prof Sylvester Monye, however, assured the contractor that plans were already in the pipeline to mobilise him.

A visit to road yesterday showed that the vehicles had been moved out of the road, although the gridlock persisted due to the bad state of the road and the on-going construction.

At the time of filing this report, work has not commenced on the port end of the expressway.

ting that the girls were kidnapped in the first instance. ‘’Therefore, putting more money in the hands of an incompetent and massively corrupt administration can only encourage more incompetence and corruption. That is why we are asking the National Assembly to put national interest above all other considerations by taking a dispassionate, non-partisan look at the President’s request. ‘’What we are saying in essence is that the National Assembly must summon security and military chiefs to explain how the huge funds allocated to security sector in the past has been spent, before more funds can be pumped into the sector. They must be asked what happened to the military equipment said to have been procured in recent years. ‘’They must also inquire from the administration why it should be borrowing 1 billion dollars when it has yet to account for the missing 20-billion-dollar oil money, plug the daily stealing of 300,000 bpd and unravel the massive frauds that have hallmarked the tenure of this administration (pension fraud, oil subsidy scam, Malabu fraud etc). If after all the scrutiny, the National Assembly still feels it must approve the loan, so be it, but it (National Assembly) must know that its own integrity and credibility are on the line,’’ APC said.

The party also reminded Nigerians that the Nigerian civil war, which lasted three years, was prosecuted by the government without resorting to any external borrowing, due to competent and transparent management of the nation’s economy. ‘’On the contrary, trillions of Naira have been pumped into the Boko Haram war in the past five years, and Nigerians still do not have any indication of how soon the insurgency will end or what happened to the huge allocated funds. Instead, what the tax payers are being asked to do is to shell out more funds to finance the incompetence and corruption of a reckless administration, whose officials fly around the world in jets that burn billions of Naira but cannot allow them to be probed by the National Assembly,’’ it said.

APC wondered why the Jonathan administration that roundly pilloried Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State, when he alerted Nigerians to the need to adequately equip and motivate our men and women in uniform, has now turned around to admit that the military needs modern hardware to fight the insurgency.

The party said it aligns with those who have cautioned against the National Assembly giving a blank cheque to the administration, due to its ''inability to account for the past budgetary allocations for the security and defence, as well as its sheer cluelessness and incompetence.''

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21 2014 —9

We won’t give up on Apapa gridlock, Fashola vows ...As NARTO blames NPA, NNPC, officials

BY OLASUNKANMI AKONI

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AGOS—AS motorists, other road users, residents among others continue to suffer the intractable gridlock on ever busy Apapa/Oshodi Expressway, Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, yesterday, vowed that his administration would continue to pursue efforts aimed at solving the chaotic traffic situation.

Fashola, who spoke during his third inspection of the nightmarish expressway in two weeks, insisted that while the state was committed to solving the Apapa traffic, the Federal Government must take responsibility for its facilities within Apapa; the ports and major roads which at the moment were grossly mismanaged resulting to untold hardship and pain for residents, businesses and motorists in Lagos.

According to the governor, “This is clearly a multi-agency problem. Probably, many agencies of the Federal Government are not talking to one another or not coordinating. As a result, people in Lagos, particularly in Apapa, are at the receiving end. It has been very uncomfortable experiences in their various offices and homes. As you can see, it has become difficult to remove refuse.

I do not know why a country can treat its commercial capital like this. I do not know what kind of leadership continues to allow this kind of eyesore in Apapa and its environs.

“But clearly, we have heard from those who know the business that if NNPC, for example, pumps to Ibadan and oil depots, this place will decongest. So, why are they not doing it? That is one issue. If the federal ministry of works comes to take over and repair its roads like Creek Road, Apapa-Oshodi and TinCan Island, clearly people living and working in this area will feel some relief. The reality is that once there is congestion in one part, it falls back and locks everybody in. The problem is not what is in Apapa. It is also about what is on TinCan Island as well. ''You will see even the bridge coming into Apapa now is threatened. It is just incomprehensible to me. I have never seen a country that behaves like this in its commercial capital. But I am here because we will not give up. This is our job. This is why we are in government here. A citizen sent a text last week that the Apapa problems cannot be remedied. I sent text back to him that it was a problem created by men, and it will also take men and women to solve it. We will not give up, but we will continue. We are work-

Failure rate inspired ‘Kill or Get Killed' — OYEYEMI

BY PRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

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FASHOLA VISITS APAPA/WHARF: Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State (left) listening to Mr. Kayode Opeifa, Commissioner for Transportation (centre) while Mr. Aloga Ogbogo, General Manager (Admin) of Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO, listen, during Governor Fashola's visit to Apapa and Wharf Road to check compliance of truck and tanker drivers and owners, on the three-week deadline, at Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Lagos Apapa Quays gate, at Wharf, Apapa, Lagos, yesterday. Photo by Bunmi Azeez. ing on inner roads. About seven or eight roads are under construction. It is now a problem even for our contractor to get equipment in, to supply materials and construct inner-city roads that we are committed. It is a problem, simply because of the failure of the Federal Government. So, we will not surrender. We will not abdicate our responsibilities. We will continue to work with the stakeholders. We hope the Federal Government will listen or understand that the concession and the management of the ports requires much more than signing an agreement.

“Concessioning of the ports is more than signing papers. It requires people to make investment. We have heard some of the problems. For example, the cargo-handling equipment is absolutely in short supply. What they have are only two cargo handling equipment to about 40 trucks. We have heard that it will be easier to do spot checking and clearance for all the trucks so that they go in batches of 20. Certainly, somebody in NPA or in the ports prefers to do it one at a time at the gate. ''There are, perhaps, some financial benefits in doing that. But why will anybody not make things efficient except there is a personal benefit? These are all federal representatives, who manage the ports; who manage distribution of fuel from the ports and who manage the Tin Can Island. Clearly, this is a government that is losing touch and that is not showing

empathy for the pains the people of Lagos are going through under its watch. We will continue to bring to their attention the pains they are inflicting on our people here.''

Meeting with LASTMA

Fashola, who later met and addressed men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA and Kick Against Indiscipline, KAI, at the Secretariat Auditorium, Alausa Ikeja, urged them to stop extorting residents, “your primary job is to ensure smooth free flow of traffic and not extortion.”

He admonished them not to allow the fifth columnist to infiltrate their ranks by spoiling their good work.

NNPC, PPMC, failure on agreement

Meanwhile, Nigeria Association of Roads Transport Owners, NARTO, has accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC and the Petroleum Pipeline and Marketing Company, PPMC, of not complying with stakeholders’ agreement to regulate petroleum products’ distribution to private jetties outside Apapa especially Mosimi, Ejigbo, Ibadan and Ilorin, from where tankers would lift fuel.

NARTO’s General Manager Administration, Mr. Aloga Ogbogbo, who met with the representatives of federal and Lagos State government dur-

ing last Thursday, accused port operators, particularly a major terminal operator of promoting congestion at Apapa port.

Ogbogbo alleged that the operator's inadequate cargo handling equipment, resulting in hundreds of trucks heading to the port having to queue up on the roads due to long delays in its operations.

He said NNPC was yet to comply with the position reached at the meeting, as a way of ameliorating the pain caused by congestion and its negative impact on the economy.

Stakeholders, including Petroleum Tanker Drivers, PTD, a branch of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, NNPC, PPMC, NARTO, port operators and business managers in Apapa had agreed on a number of resolut ions during last Thursday’s meeting.

These include the repair of failed sections of the Trinity-Tin Can-Apapa road, removal of hundreds of fuel tankers along the road, immediate mobilisation of contractors to site to fix failed portions of the road.

In the meeting chaired by Sylvester Monye, chairman of the Presidential Taskforce on Monitoring, Performance and Evaluation, stakeholders had agreed that NNPC, in the interim, should stop pumping of fuel to tank farms located along TrinityTin Can-Creek road axis pending the repair of the road.

AGOS—GENERAL Manager, Consumer Marketing of MTN Nigeria, Mr. Kola Oyeyemi, has said the fluctuating rate of performance of candidates in the West African Examination Council, WAEC, the General Certificate of Education, GCE results inspired him to write the book ‘Kill or Get Killed,’ launched weekend.

Speaking at the launch of the 26-chapter book in Lagos, Mr. Oyeyemi said, “If our failure rate is as high as 84 percent in exam and we are not bothered by it, it means that we have robbed ourselves of 84 percent of the pool of leadership that we should have. This means, we are not going to have employable graduates because even if the vacancies exist and you don’t have the people, what do you do, but to allow foreigners to take over.

The same way if we do not have people who are developed to be entrepreneurs by virtue of good education, exposure and training, then it is going to be difficult for us to shut out foreign investors.''

Similarly, Chairman, MediaReachOMD, George Thorpe, described the book as the first serious attempt by an African marketing practitioner to pen down real life case studies, and nerve- wracking battles that characterised the rise and fall of brands in the Nigerian market, and to an extent, the African theatre of war for the consumer’s mind and wallet.

He added that it would serve as a good reference point for students and practitioners of marketing, who wanted to learn more about the strategy and market approach that made top market brands outstanding.

According to the book reviewer, Commercial Director of Promasidor Nigeria Ltd, Mr. Kachi Onubogbu, who gave a brief analysis of the book, said “the first chapter deals with logic and magic, which explains the intrigues in the market, while chapter 2 of the book talks about Nigeria’s contemporary market space and how to enter and manage the space, just as the 10th chapter challenges the marketing maxim.”

C M Y K

10 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

Choice of guber candidate tears Oyo PDP apart

...As some chieftains insist on Ibadan man

BY OLAAJAYI

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BADAN—PEOPLES Democratic Party, PDP, in Oyo State has been engulfed by fresh crisis over the choice of its governorship candidate in next year’s gubernatorial election as some chieftains of the party from Ibadan extraction, yesterday said the candidate must come from their area.

A meeting attended by aspirants of Ibadan extraction, yesterday took the decision that would likely frustrate the on-going reconciliation.

At the end of the meeting, they issued a five-paragraph communiqué, which was signed by Elder Wole Oyelese, former Minister of Power and Steel; Alhaji Hazeem Gbolarumi, former Deputy Governor of the state; Professor Taoheed Adedoja, former Chairman, State Universal Basic Education Board; Professor Soji Adejumo; Senator Teslim Folarin, former Senate Leader; Engr Seyi Makinde and Dr. Azeez Adeduntan.

The communiqué read, “that we unanimously agreed to work together as a team to ensure victory for our party in 2015 elections and deliver Oyo State for President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election. That given the political reality on ground, the PDP candidate who by the grace of Almighty God will be the next governor of Oyo State must come from Ibadan land.

That the body takes cognizance of the importance and political interest of other zones and resolves to work assiduously with them to achieve victory for our great party at all levels. ”That we appreciate the patience of our teeming and loyal supporters and indeed the good people of Oyo State for enduring all the inhuman treatments inflicted on them by the current APC administration and we assure them of a responsible and responsive government as from May 29 2015.''

APC has misbehaved in South West — PDP

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

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BEOKUTA—PEOPLES Democratic Party, PDP, weekend claimed the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the South West would be rejected by the people in 2015 because of its alleged misbehaviour.

National Auditor of the party, Mr. Adewole Adeyanju spoke in Abeokuta during a prayer/Iftar session for Nigeria involving various tribes, including Hausa and Yoruba, dedicated to promoting peace in the country.

Speaking after the prayers, Adeyanju, who accused the APC of neglecting the people, lamented that hunger was in the the South West due to the style of governance adopted by the APC. While faulting the construction of bridges and roads

by APC governments in the South West, he said employment and food should be given priority before infrastructure, noting “When we are running government, it is not good to take our people for granted. ''Development should start with

the people. If people are hungry, I don’t know the type of government that we are running. If people are not wellfed, they cannot walk on the roads. If people are not wellfed, they cannot ply the bridges.

“Please, all the governments we want to run, let us first make the welfare of the people a priority. If there are jobs, we will be able to pay schools fees of children and do good things of life. But, unfortunately, in the South West, the

governments here have taken us for granted too much and I can assure you they are going to pay for it. In fact, they have already started paying with the result of Ekiti State because people have said they are hungry. By God’s grace, the government that will prioritise welfare of the people will be installed in next elections.”

Speaking on the prayer, Adeyanju said”we have held this prayers because we believe in prayer. We need peace in Nigeria. For us to have peace, we must continue to have prayers. What will bring us peace in Nigeria is to accept ourselves. The Yoruba should accept the Hausa; the Hausas should accept the Igbos; the Igbos should accept the Ibibios.

“Yesterday, Nigeria was ruled by a Yoruba man. Today it is being ruled by a Bayelsa man and I think this is their time. We should give them their time so that Nigeria can have peace. Jonathan is from Bayelsa, they allowed us to use eight years; I think we should allow Jonathan also to rule.''

No fewer than 2.5m people travel by rail — NRC OFFICIAL VISIT: Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State acknowledging cheers from members of National Technicians Association (NATA), National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), and truck drivers during an Iftar (breaking of fast) at the Government House, Oke-Igbein, Abeokuta.

Ekiti LGDAs: PDP warns lawmakers on referendum

BY GBENGAARIYIBI

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DO EKITI—PEOPLES Democratic Party, PDP, in Ekiti State, yesterday called on the state House of Assembly, ESHA, not to consider the outcome of the referendum conducted Saturday on the creation of new 18 Local Government Development Areas, LGDAs by the Ekiti State Independent National Electoral Commission, EKSIEC. EKSIEC Saturday conducted a referendum in all the 137 wards where the new LGDAs are to be created.

The party, in a statement by the Publicity Secretary, Pastor Kola Oluwawole, in Ado-Ekiti, said the warning became necessary since PDP had gone to court through a suit instituted by its chairman,Mr Makanjuola Ogundipe challenging the legality of the planned creation of the new LGDAs by the Governor Kayode Fayemi-led administration.

The party contended that “The proof of service on the Assembly is there and the Assembly leadership knows the right thing to do. Stay action on any matter in court until

such is determined by the court.

The legislators must know that as lawmakers, and must not act and behave as lawbreakers.

“We are aware of the pressure being mounted on them by the leaders of the All Progressives Congress, but they must act as men and women of honour and integrity and to also note that posterity will judge everybody.

What the APC lost, that is the

support of the people to win election, which was shown on June 21 when it was roundly defeated in the governorship poll, it craves to have through the back door that is not possible. ”They conducted an illegal referendum because they know quite well that Ekiti SIEC is not properly constituted and there is a case challenging that.''

No plan to impeach Ajimobi — OYO LAWMAKER

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B A DA N — A S S E M B LY MAN, Murphy AdigunAhmed of Oyo State House of Assembly weekend said the House had never contemplated impeaching Governor Abiola Ajimobi.

Adigun-Hamed said the clarification was necessary to correct an impression making the rounds that the House was planning to move a motion to impeach the governor.

The assemblyman, who spoke

to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said the Assembly was rather focusing on its constitutional mandate of making laws to develop the state.

“We should be talking about moving the state forward; some people are just focusing on dragging us backward.

“APC has 18 out of 32 members, so how possible is it for them to impeach our governor. We know where this is coming from,” he said.

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AGOS—NIGERIAN Rail way Corporation, NRC, weekend in Lagos that no fewer than 2.5 million people travelled by rail in the first half of this year.

Mr. David Ndakotsu, Assistant Director, Public Relations of the NRC, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that some 560,000 people out of the 2.5 million were conveyed from Lagos to other parts of the country.

He said that one of the major challenges facing the NRC was the persistent flooding that usually slowed the movement of goods and passengers on interstate trips.

“Another challenge is passengers’ refusal to abide by the rules, hanging on doors of moving trains as a way of avoiding purchase of train tickets,” he said.

Ndakotsu, however, commended the efforts of the Federal Government in ensuring that there were improvements in the services being rendered by the company to the public.

He said that a bill had been passed by the National Assembly to amend the Railway Act of 1995, which only allowed government participation.

Ndakotsu said the amendment of the law would facilitate private sector participation in rendering rail services to the populace.

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014—11

MBGN PAGEANT: From left: Mr. Ben Murray-Bruce, Chairman, Silverbird Group; Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State and his deputy, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah (rtd), during the 27th edition of the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria, MBGN, pageant at the Dr. Gabriel Okara Cultural Centre, Yenagoa.

2015: S-South journalists flay NBC’s directive on political programmes

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

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ENIN—THE recent decision by the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, NBC, that it must approve every live political programme before it was transmitted, has been described as a great danger to the forthcoming 2015 general elections.

This was part of the resolutions reached at a workshop organised for SouthSouth journalists ahead of the 2015 general elections by the United Nations Development Commission, UNDC, Democratic Governance for Development, European Union, UKAid, Canadian Foreign Affairs Trade Development in collaboration with the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, in Calabar, Cross River State.

The communique also condemned moves to make Nigerians pay for media content, noting that the move was dangerous “for the political development and the improvement of the nation’s electoral process."

He called on the NBC to hold wider consultations with stakeholders to reach an agreeable point on the issues.

It stated further that “the workshop identified a culture of impunity, a winner takes it all approach, widespread poverty and high population of jobless youths."

Outgoing Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria pageant 2013 queen, Anna Ebiere Banner (left), with the winner of the 27th edition of the pageant, Miss Iheoma Nnadi, representing Akwa Ibom State, shortly after she was crowned at the Dr. Gabriel Okara Cultural centre in Yenagoa.

Derivation: Get 80% or don’t return home, N4GG tells S-South delegates

BY FESTUS AHON

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GHELLI—AS reactions continue to trail the national conference position on derivation, the Network For Good Governance, N4GG, yesterday, said that South-South delegates should not return home unless they achieve the aspiration of their people on derivation formula.

The Country Director of N4GG, Mr. Sunny Onuesoke, in a statement after a meeting of the group in Calabar, Cross River State, said: “It is either 80 percent or

nothing,” adding that the 18 percent recommended was unacceptable to the people of the South-South.

Frowning at the recommendation of five percent for the North under the guise of rehabilitating areas affected by the Boko Haram insurgency, Onuesoke, said: “You cannot continue to deprive the people of South South of their God- given resource in the name of one nation.

“As a people, the South Southerners have suffered enough degradation and deprivation. We have sacri-

ficed enough for the nation and it is time for us to have at least 80 percent of our resource.

“We don’t expect less from our delegates at the confab.

As a matter of fact, they should not return home at the end of the conference should they fail to achieve the minimum, which we have pegged at 80 percent.”

He, however, expressed confidence that the South South delegates would do the needful and make the people of the region proud at the end of the conference.

Maritime workers, commuters cry out over rising cases of piracy

BY SAMUEL OYADONGHA

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ENAGOA—COMMUTERS and members of the Maritime Workers Union in Bayelsa State have expressed concern over the rising cases of violent attacks and killings by suspected pirates on the waterways of Nembe and Brass areas of the state.

The boat drivers, under the aegis of Maritime Workers Union, it was learnt, have concluded plans to meet and review the situation and possibly down tools over what they described as the “poor” security situation in the area.

According to sources, residents of the coastal communities of Brass and Nembe are troubled by the upsurge in sea piracy on the waterways, a development that is already affecting the turn out of commuters, many of whom have limited their travelling home for fear

of being attacked by the hoodlums.

It was learnt that due to the logistics and shortage of personnel of the marine component of the state security outfit, Doo Akpo, the sea pirates have been terrorizing innocent boat passengers.

On Friday, two persons, including an aide to the former state Commissioner for Information, Awoinigha Iyabi, lost their lives on the Ogbia-Nembe waterways when the boat in which they were travelling was attacked by suspected pirates.

A rights activist, Mr. Morris Alagoa, described the situation on the waterways as sad.

He said the insecurity on the waterways was more pronounced in the Brass, Nembe and Southern Ijaw Local Government Areas of

the state.

Morris said: “While we appreciate the efforts by the state and local governments, it is important for the authorities to redouble their efforts and beef up security in those areas. Funds should be mobilised to take care of equipment and men to curb the menace of sea piracy.

“Communities habouring these criminals should be identified and well policed.

Joint Task Force, JTF and Marine Police check points should be beefed up. Those arrested should be prosecuted.

“The action of these criminals is creating a sense of insecurity as tourism can never thrive in such environment. Again, a greater part of Bayelsa is riverine and foreign investments can never be encouraged in the midst of killings and insecurity.”

Osakwe commends Orubebe’s campaign

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ENATOR Patrick Osakwe has commended former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, for the seriousness attached to the prosecution of his governorship ambition as attested to by the quality and pedigree of people in his campaign organisation. He made the commendation when Orubebe paid a consultative visit to his residence in Ndokwa East Local Government Area of Delta State.

Senator Osakwe described Orubebe as a decent and very focused politician who identifies his goals and pursues them cleverly.

He promised that he will view dispassionately Orubebe’s request for his support, noting that what was most important was to get a candidate that is capable to lead Delta State to the next level and not to support anyone on account of where he comes from.

Speaking earlier, Elder Orubebe said that he came to consult with Senator Osakwe because he remains a leading light in the politics of Delta State and a leader with a political clout to determine the course of political action in the state. He recalled that as a senator, Osakwe's contributions in the National Assembly were essential to nation building. He, therefore, requested the senator to support his ambition.

12—Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

They can't impeach Amaechi —RIVERS APC

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME

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ORT HARCOURT—ALL Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State has dismissed fears in some quarters that Governor Rotimi Amaechi may be impeached.

Speaking against the backdrop of allegation by the National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, that Governor Amaechi was among five governors of the party penciled down for impeachment, media aide to the state Chairman of the party, Chief Eze Eze, said the people of the state should not panic as the governor had majority of the lawmakers on his side.

He said: “The APC, Rivers State chapter, wishes to reassure party faithful, the good people of Rivers State and all progressives across the country, that the job of Governor Amaechi, remains safe.

“We are confident that God will not allow the evil machinations of the Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to materialise. In the specific case of Rivers State, we are sure that God who has protected Amaechi all these years will surely see him through to

the end of his tenure. Having said this, one thing going for Amaechi is that having spent eight good years as Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly and four years as the

Leader of the Speakers’ Forum in Nigeria, he is in a better position to understand legislative power games.

“We should also appreciate the fact that apart from

politics, most of the members of the House are Amaechi’s colleagues and political associates, who are too principled to sell out at this crucial time.”

BRIEFING: From left: Ms Jemi Ekunkunbor, Deputy Editor, Vanguard Allure; Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communication and Nkiruka Oguadiama, MD/NEO, Mantra, during the 2014 Native and Vogue Port Harcourt International Fashion Week press conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday. Photo: Nwankpa Chijioke.

80 top models for PH Native and Vogue

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME

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ORT HARC O U R T — EIGHTY international top models are to storm Port Harcourt, Rivers State, for this year ’s Native and Vogue which begins on September 19 to 21.

The state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, weekend in Port Harcourt, said some of the international models will be coming from South Africa and other parts of the world.

She said: “We are expecting about 80 models and designers. Our Frank Oshodi will be here. Models will come from South Africa." She then urged models in the state to send their names for the event scheduled to hold from September 19 to 21.

Semenitari added that Allure, an all gloss mag-

azine of Vanguard Newspapers, was partnering the state govern-

ment in the event as the project was part of efforts by the state govern-

ment to create opportunities for youths in the state.

Nigeria must learn from South Africa's nationhood—UTUAMA

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ELTA State deputy governor, Prof.

Amos Utuama, SAN, has said that Nigeria has some lessons to learn from the Republic of South Africa. Utuama spoke, weekend, in Asaba at a dinner organised by the South African Consulate to mark the country’s 20 years of freedom.

According to the deputy governor, Nigeria should learn how South Africa evolved a strong nationhood out of a diverse, divisive and apartheid oriented people to a united, patriotic rainbow nation. He also mentioned the imperative of learning how South Afri-

ca has been able to become self-sufficient in power generation.

He said: “We are gathered here to celebrate 20 years of freedom in South Africa. I think it is very important to tell ourselves that Nigeria has, at least, two great lessons to learn from South Africa. First and foremost, is in the area of nationhood. The South Africa of today evolved from a highly diverse, divisive and apartheid society. Yet, what we now have, just 20 years down the road, is a united, patriotic and forward looking rainbow nation. The basis for the possibility of building a strong nation-

hood by South Africa is to be located in forgiveness.

The lack of forgiveness amongst the different people of Nigeria is our bane. My earnest hope is that we would use this national conference that has just taken place to start the process of forgiveness and erecting the pillars of nationhood.

“The second is in power generation. We all heard what Ambassador Mokgethi Sam Monaisa said. We can do same here. Good a thing the Federal Government through the Independent Power Project has started the process."

NYCN slams Ijaw, Arewa youths over war threats

BY SAMUEL OYADONGHA

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ENAGOA—NAI O N A L Youth Council of Nigeria, NYCN, yesterday, condemned the threats of war and call for dissolution of the country by the Ijaw Youths Council, IYC and the Arewa Youths Forum, over the contentious issues of derivation formula and the 2015 re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The President of NYCN, Mr. Yakubu Shendam, who was in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, for the emergency National Executive Committee meeting of the body, described those involved in the calls for war and dissolution of the country as enemies of the country.

Shendam, who is a delegate to the national conference, said though President Jonathan’s reelection in 2015 was not negotiable, the security agencies should arrest the leaders of the Arewa Youths Forum and the IYC for fanning ember of division in the country.

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Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 13

4 feared dead as cult groups clash in Imo

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

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W E R R I — INHABITANTS of Obiakpu Egbema in Ohaji/ Egbema local government area of Imo State have completely deserted the community, following the deadly clash between two rival cult groups, Degbam and Dewell.

Vanguard gathered that apart from the four people reportedly killed, including Chief Emmanuel Opara, property worth millions of Naira were destroyed during the clash.

Our reporter, who made a spirited attempt to reach Obiakpu, was advised at Nmahu, Egbema, by some concerned escapees from the deserted community to abort the trip.

“We are indigenes of Obiakpu.

We are only taking refuge in Nmahu. Please don’t attempt going to Obiakpu. The community is very hot and dangerous for you to visit now,” they almost chorused in unison.

According to one of the escapees, who simply identified herself as Nkechi, “Obiakpu is now a ghost town.

“The clash has left sorrow, tears and blood on its trail. The cultists are very deadly and they unleash

mindless mayhem on innocent people,” Nkechi recounted.

She recalled that signs of the current clash reared its ugly head June 7, 2014, when dare devil cultists who were dressed in army uniform, invaded Nwari village in broad daylight.

“Again, about 6am, June 13, 2014, a faction of the cult group invaded Obiakpu with sophisticated weapons, shooting,

killing and maiming innocent people,” Nkechi said.

Another refugee from Obiakpu, who spoke on strict anonymity for security reasons, recalled with grief that “despite the fact that most of the protagonists and perpetrators of the cult war were known persons, nobody has been arrested to answer for their crimes.”

He said the rival cult groups were on the sponsorship and payroll of some supposed prominent personalities in the community, who arm them with varying classes of weapons of war.

Efforts made to reach the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mr. Andrew Enwerem, on his mobile line failed as it could not be reached before press time.

BIRTHDAY: Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State (left) and Chief Victor Umeh, National Chiarman, All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, on his birthday in a brief ceremony at the Governor's Lodge, Amawbia, Anambra State.

2015: Abia denies setting up c'ttee to select next gov

BY ANAYO OKOLI

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MUAHIA—ABIA State government weekend denied setting up a panel to select the next governor of the state as the incumbent, Theodore Orji, dismissed insinuations he had anointed a candidate to succeed him in 2015.

A national daily (not Vanguard) had last week reported that Governor Theodore Orji had set up a 17-man panel, allegedly headed by his kinsman and sacked party national chairman, to select his successor.

But the government denied the existence of such a panel in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Orji, Charles Ajunwa.

Police dismiss rumour of bomb State Command of the explosion in Enugu Nigeria Police Force wishes

BY TONY EDIKE NUGU—ENUGU State Police Command has dismissed as untrue the rumour being peddled regarding a bomb explosion in the state, urging residents to ignore it.

Some online platform had on Saturday reported an

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LASAA unveils Outdoorable Magazine

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AGOS STATE Signage & Advertisement Agency, LASAA, has unveiled Outdoorable Magazine, its trade publication, designed to give information on the agency’s initiatives and happenings in the outdoor advertising sector.

Managing Director of the agency, George Noah, noted: “The goal of Outdoorable is to provide a platform for accessing information about LASAA and also on the latest trends in the outdoor advertising industry, new initiatives and campaigns breaking forth, ideas and institutional development, as well as promote a ‘one corporate culture’ in the industry.”

explosion at Eke Ozi in Ogrute, Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of the state, throwing residents into panic and anxiety.

However, in a press statement issued in Enugu, yesterday, the police said the rumour was unfounded as there was no such incident anywhere in the state.

The statement signed by the police spokesman in the state, Ebere Amaraizu, DSP, read: “The Enugu

to inform members of the public, particularly good people of the state, that its attention has been drawn to the rumour that there was explosion inside Eke Market, Ogurute, Enugu Ezike of Igboeze North Local Government Area of the state on 18/7/14.

“To this end, the command further wishes to make it categorically clear that there was no explosion either in Igboeze North or any other part of the state as being insinuated/rumored."

NASS 'll remove Prison from exclusive list —Ekweremadu

BY TONY EDIKE NUGU—DEPUTY Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, has said that the National Assembly was working hard to remove Prison Service from exclusive legislative list to concurrent list in the ongoing review of the 1999 constitution.

Speaking while i n a u g u r a t i n g rehabilitated Medium Security Prison Oji River borehole by a Christian organisation, Carmelite Prisoners Interest Organisation, CAPIO, at the weekend, Sen.

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Ekweremadu lamented the dilapidation of most Nigerian prisons, saying only the poor and the weak mostly go to prison in Nigeria.

He said: “A point has been made here about the Prison Reform Bill, I’ll like to assure you that we are working assiduously to ensure that it is passed. But beyond that, in the constitutional amendment which I chair, I found it expedient to remove prison from the exclusive list to the concurrent list because that’s where it should be."

14— Vanguard , MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

2015: PDP has no pact with opposition parties —Mark

BY JOHNBOSCO

AGBAKWURU BUJA—SENATE President, Senator David Mark, has denied the allegation that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, entered into agreement to cede some senatorial and House of Representatives’ seats to opposition parties, especially in Anambra State, in the forthcoming 2015 general elections.

Senator Mark in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, stated: “There is no such deal with any opposition party anywhere. Nobody should deceive you into believing that PDP has an agreement with any opposition party. PDP has a manifesto and only elected PDP candidates can implement it.”

The Senate President, who alongside the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, addressed PDP stakeholders in Anambra State at Nteje, Oyi local government area, debunked insinuations that PDP had entered into a pact to trade National Assembly seats in

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the state with the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, in an alleged accord to get the party’s support for 2015.

It was widely rumoured that the National Assembly seats, including Anambra North

senatorial seat, currently occupied by Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Senator Margery ChubaOkadigbo, had been negotiated out to APGA for 2015.

But Senator Mark, a member

of the PDP National Executive Committee, NEC, and Board of Trustees, BOT, said: “Nobody has negotiated out any position to any opposition party. I am not aware of it and I am not a party to it. PDP is steady and stable.

We have no need for that.”

APO KILLINGS: NHRC asks court to vacate order stopping execution of judgment

BY IKECHUKWU NNOCHIRI

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BUJA—THE National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, and the Chairman of its Governing Council, Dr. Chidi Odinkalu, have approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, asking it to vacate the order that stopped the execution of the commission’s verdict on the cold blood massacre of eight squatters at an uncompleted building situated at the Apo legislative quarters.

The commission had at the end of a public hearing it held over the incident which occurred on September 20, 2013, indicted the Nigerian Army and the

Department of State Service, DSS, for the murder of the squatters, even as it dismissed the allegation that the victims were members of the Boko Haram sect.

Security agencies had in the wake of the midnight bloodbath that left eight persons dead and eleven others wounded, claimed that it was occupants of the uncompleted building that engaged those that were sent to uncover ammunition that were allegedly buried inside the compound, in a shootout.

It was further alleged that the ammunition were stored by members of the insurgent group with a view to using it to attack the federal capital territory and

its suburbs.

However, after due investigation of a joint petition that was brought to it by a group, the Global Rights Human Rights Law Office and the National Association of Commercial Tricycle and Motorcycle Owners and Riders Association, NATOMORAS, which maintained that most of the deceased were its members, the NHRC, found the security agencies guilty.

Consequently, it awarded damages against the DSS and the Nigerian Army, saying they should pay N10 million to each of the deceased family and N5million to the eleven injured youths.

Infrastructure Bank to build N49bn Tower in Abuja

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AGOS—THE Chairman of the Infrastructure Bank Plc, Alhaji Lamis Dikko, said weekend that the bank has concluded arrangement to build a 27storey multi-purpose ‘Infrastructure Tower ’ estimated to cost $300 million (N49.5 billion) in Abuja.

Dikko told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, on the sideline of the bank’s 2013 Annual General Meeting, AGM, in Lagos, that the bank would invest $10 million (N1.65 billion) on the project.

Dikko said the ‘one-stop building’, to be situated in the bank’s headquarters, in the central business district of Abuja, would accommodate hotels, offices, shopping mulls, residential flats and parking bay.

He said that the project to be financed through the bank’s special purpose vehicle would be completed in two years.

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 15

CHIEF AJIBOLA OGUNSHOLA'S 70TH BIRTHDAY IN LAGOS, YESTERDAY. PIX: LAMIDI BAMIDELE .

From left: Professor Yemi Olatunji-Bello, representing Dame Abimbola Fashola, Dr. Lekan Are, chairman of the occasion, Chief Ajibola Ogunshola, celebrant, his wife, Iyabo, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, Governor of Lagos State and Senator Remi Tinubu, during cake cutting to mark the 70th birthday of Chief Ajibola Ogunshola, Baaroyin of Ibadan and former Chairman, Punch Newspapers, at Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, yesterday.

Mr. Sam Amuka, Publisher, Vanguard Newspapers (right) and Chief (Mrs) Oprah Benson, Yeye Oge of Lagos.

From left: Mrs. Iyabo Ogunshola, wife of the celebrant, Chief (Mrs) Nike Akande, former Minister of Industries, Chief Ajibola Ogunshola, celebrant and Chief Bayo Akande.

From left: HRM Oba Aremu Gbadebo, Alake of Egbaland, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, former Governor of Ogun State and his wife, Derinola.

From left: Chief Bode Akindele, Otunba Subomi Balogun, founder, FCMB and his wife.

From left: Senator Tony Adefuye, his wife, Otunba Babs Abosede and his wife, Olori Ayomipo.

Chief Olusegun Osunkeye (left) and Mrs. Omotunde Phillips, Chief Judge of Lagos State.

Chief John Edozien and his wife, Victoria.

Dr. Reuben Abati, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, and the celebrant, Chief Ajibola Ogunshola.

Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi and wife, Tinuade.

Lady Maiden Ibru, Publisher, The Guardian Newspapers (left) and Mrs. Sade Bembatoum-Young.

Chief Bayo Adenubi, former President, CIBN, and his wife, Bose Adenubi, at the event.

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16 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 AN erroneous belief that relevance of oil approximates to the life span of Nigeria’s oil reserves partially fuels the laxity with which the authorities treat diversification of the economy.

Concerns over dependence of the economy on oil raged more than three decades ago. Now, Nigeria’s dependence on oil is total, yet the matter is discussed as one of several issues beleaguering Nigeria.

The vehemence with which delegates to the National Conference opposed an increase in derivation revenue for oil producing areas, should create concerns about their understanding of Nigeria’s future. Nigeria is mostly about oil and its depleting consequences on our national resources, some of which are in more abundance and could have more multiplier effects on the economy than oil.

Oil devastates with a rapidity few enterprises impose on their surroundings. The billions of Dollars it pulls into national coffers makes all ignore the perpetual penury oil exploration orders for its environment. Agitations for equitable use of oil resources fail too in securing renewal of the ruined environment.

More frightening, with all the positions on

BY IFEANYI OKOLOCHA

HE politics of Delta State has always T been relatively complex and intriguing compared to that of other states

in Nigeria. Even though the next elections would hold in 2015 many politicians in Delta started getting positioned for the plum office of governor as far back as 2011 when the incumbent Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan was sworn in for his second term.

A disturbing reality is that it is mostly the same set of political aspirants who have been in circulation for almost a decade or more now that also filed out again to contest for the office of governor. This did not appeal to Deltans. Deltans want somebody who is new to the fray of Delta politics; they want a man or woman with fresh ideas about how to develop the state. The people of Delta State also want somebody who is detribalised. They look forward to a bridge builder who is cosmopolitan and acceptable to the diverse ethnic groups that make up the state. In fact they want somebody whose emergence will inspire genuine confidence in them.

The hope of the majority of Deltans for something new and refreshing materialised recently when the very likeable David Edevbie joined the governorship race.

Many people remember Edevbie as the highly detribalised and efficient Commissioner for Finance from 1999 to 2005 in the government of Chief James Ibori. Many of us who were in Asaba in C M Y K

Deriv ation W ould Derivation Would Ser Servve All laying more solid foundations for the economy, away from the volatility of oil, not much has been done in the more than 40 years oil assumed podium position in our economy. Delegates’ opposition of derivation is a call to further laziness, particularly in re-directing the economy.

Oil could become irrelevant quicker than most predict. Its damages to the environment, its unpredictable prices, increasing pace of searches for alternatives to oil, are enough reasons to create an economy away from oil.

Our delegates ignored these.

Plans for the Nigerian economy are primed

on oil. They would have been as simple as reinvesting oil revenue in other sectors of the economy. They have remained unimplemented.

Oil still accounts for 95 per cent of exports and 75 per cent of consolidated budgetary revenues. Its mismanagement throws the economy into a spin. When the prices dip, or more thieves help themselves to the oil, as seems to be the case now, the economy wheels almost to a halt.

More pressure would have been on our economy with America’s decision to patronise alternative energy resources. Without security challenges in the Middle East, the price of oil could have dipped beyond sustainable point for the economy. Our delegates did not see danger signals around oil. They were more interested in fighting for larger shares of a wasting and unsustainable resource.

Derivation is possibly a final chance to return each part of Nigeria to competitiveness, in the understanding that its survival would depend on its efforts.

Without thorough planning of the economy, an indiscernible future awaits Nigerians. Who would rescue Nigerians from the blight of oil?

OPINION Delta 2015 and the Edevbie factor those days were inspired by the character and personality of Edevbie. He was courteous, humble, down to earth and highly focused.

His high integrity quotient was always the subject of discussion in many circles at the time. Many people ascribed his high achievement to the fact that he was a technocrat.

The emergence of Edevbie on the political scene to majority of Deltans is a welcome relief. They see him as the man who is fit and capable of converting the gains of the past 15 years into a transformational strategy that will endow Delta State with the character of the First World from the Third World. Right now Edevbie is the best for the job of the governor of Delta State not in terms of strong arm tactics, but in terms of intellect, exposure to local, national and international service, management and leadership skills. Edevbie is also very detribalized, a factor which is much needed in the politics of Delta State today.

Edevbie has a sound pedigree. He studied Economics at the University of Lagos. After completing his National Youth Service Corps programme he proceeded to the prestigious Cardiff Business School at the University of Wales in the United Kingdom where he obtained the Master of Business Administration degree in 1988. His desire to build his capacity made him to attend many

academic and professional courses which fortified his intellectual, leadership, management and strategy acumen. He worked in different highly competitive investment banking positions before joining the prestigious Commonwealth Development Corporation, CDC, in the United Kingdom in 1995. It was here that Edevbie cut his teeth as a development economist. His strong credentials, excellent capacity and evidence of service delivery made him the natural choice as CDC investment officer for the whole of South East Asia and the Pacific regions. Edevbie became more or less a ‘’development missionary’’ taking development first to the Philippines and later to every continent of the world. The impact of his work was contributory to the strides recorded by many developing countries in the countdown to the millennium year 2000.

His sterling credentials was what qualified him for the job of the Delta State Commissioner for Finance and Economic Planning in 1999. He was probably Nigeria’s most dynamic Finance Commissioner of that era. He led the campaign that compelled the Federal Government to begin the payment of the 13% derivation fund in the year 2000.

He was the first Finance Commissioner in Nigeria to publish government’s audited accounts. He also introduced the prompt and monthly cash budget for payment of contractors in Delta State. The monumental

achievement in infrastructural development in the Ibori era was as a result of this innovation.

As Finance Commissioner Edevbie initiated a visionary empowerment strategy which is now adopted by almost every state in Nigeria. He not only designed and implemented a privatisation policy, but also started the Delta State Small Business Loan Guarantee Scheme. Edevbie internationalised the affairs of Delta State when he floated the Delta State Revenue Bond and won an ‘’A’’ International Credit Rating, the first of its kind in Nigeria.

Edevbie reluctantly accepted to be reappointed to the same portfolio after the 2003 elections.

He continued his great job until he voluntarily resigned in 2005 to develop more leadership and management skills. But there was no hiding place for Edevbie who had by then become a well known management expert. It was not long before the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential candidate Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua appointed him into his campaign organization and he subsequently appointed Director of Finance and Strategy.

Edevbie was later appointed as Principal Secretary to President Yar’ Adua to replace the out-gone Chief of Staff. *Mr. Okolocha, a political analyst, wrote from Lagos.

JULY 21, 2014

164.95

3.25 22.00

3,086.00

16.98

-0.57

107.53 -0.36 102.92 0.06 CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING DOLLAR STERLING EURO FRANC YEN CFA WAUA RENMINBI RIYAL KRONA SDR

154.73 264.6347 209.2878 172.2476 1.5244 0.3002 237.7613 24.9383 41.2569 28.0623 238.5008

155.23 265.4899 209.9641 172.8042 1.5294 0.3102 238.5296 25.0193 41.3903 28.153 239.2715

155.73 266.345 210.6404 173.3608 1.5343 0.3202 239.2979 25.1003 41.5236 28.2437 240.0422

CBN Exchange rate as at 18/07/14

* A Cargo Vessel

Uncertainty over N24.3bn Cabotage Fund •Ship owners, banks lament non-disbursement •Money spent on PR for politicians — Investigation •We're following due process — Ministry, NIMASA

BY GODFREY BIVBERE

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cloud of uncertainty is hanging over the status of theN24,292,481,476 Cabotage Fund (aboutUS$150 million), 11 years after it was established to boost local content in the shipping industry.

Known as the Cabotage Vessel C M Y K

Financing Fund, CVFF, the fund was created by the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act, 2003, to promote the development of indigenous ship acquisition capacity by providing assistance to Nigerian operators in domestic and coastal shipping.

Section 42 Part V111 of Section 44

of the Cabotage Act empowers the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to collect, deposit and administer the fund under guidelines proposed by the Minister of Transport and approved by the National Assembly.

The Act also limits beneficiaries of the fund to Nigerian citizens and

shipping companies wholly owned by Nigerians. The CVFF is funded through two per cent surcharge of the contract sum performed by any vessel engaged in coastal trading; and monies generated under the act including tariffs, fines and fees for licences and waivers.

Vanguard investigations, however, revealed that 11 years after the fund was established, nobody has benefitted from it. Indication to this was given by the chief executive officer of a bank who complained that none of his bank's customers has been able to access the fund despite fulfilling all conditions for accessing it. He added that the situation was not peculiar to his bank. This was corroborated by the chairman of the Nigerian Ship Owners Association, NISA, Isaac Jolapamo.

In an interview with Vanguard, he said that he was not aware of any of his members benefitting from the CVFF. On the complaints of banks over non-disbursement of the fund, Jolapamo said that the banks are part of the problem because they are the ones trading with the money in their custody.

The reason there has been no disbursement, according to a source

Continues on page 19

18 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

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Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 19

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hen the Nigerian government eventually agreed for Nigerians to hold a national dialogue on the way forward, many saw it as an avenue to put right what is wrong among the federating units. But Nigerians, who were enthused by the decision, became disillusioned by some of the men and women that were nominated to pilot and hold the discussions on behalf of the rest of us. The membership of the national conference is a list of men of yesteryears who individually and collectively held down the nation. Several of them have been cogs in the wheel of progress of the Nigerian nation; men and women whose source of wealth has mainly been from economic rent.

Majority of those at the conference under normal circumstances, would not have made it. They have lived as parasites, sucking their host — Nigeria — dry. Knowing this, knowing full well that the curthey have vowed never to let rent 36 states cannot stand on states control their resources. their own without federal allocaThey, like their sponsors, see tion, is to undermine the future Nigeria as their farm yard. economic progress of the nation Because oil was found in Ni- and encourage the lazy idea of geria, ownership of mineral continued dependence on oil. resources was conferred on the This over-dependence on oil is Federal Government so that the bane of the nation's progress. those who have access to po- No one is ready to work hard litical power can expropriate knowing that oil is flowing. This it for their benefit. It is not for has led to the continued strug- another heated debate that pothe benefit of Nigerians, but gle for control of oil resources in larised members. The north for selfish interest of the few the country. stood against resource control who have political access. This This struggle to control the oil and asked that the 18 per cent group has continued to per- wealth of the nation has been an given to oil-producing states petuate themselves. issue between the north and the be slashed and that 5 per cent The same men have refused south. The Nigeria Governors' be allocated to develop the to allow the restructuring of Forum (NGF) sometime in 2011 north-east. These men claimthe federation to allow states raised a committee of six, head- ing to represent the north do control their destiny. Instead, ed by Governor Babatude Fasho- so only when it is in their inthe self-styled wise ones have la of Lagos State, to review the terest. Who are these men talkfailed to display any act of revenue formula and submit its ing about the north all this political or economic wisdom. recommendation. The Lagos while? Who do they speak for?

Instead of allowing what will helmsman said that the commit- Is it the north that has been so free the nation from their tee recommended a new formu- very deprived that these selfclutches, they are looking for la: Federal Government (35 per seeking individuals are talkhow to further drag the nation cent), the 36 state governments ing about? down. How can any Nigerian, (42 per cent) and the 774 local Men from the north have in this day and age be calling governments (23 per cent). The ruled Nigeria for a very long for the creation of 18 addition- current revenue formula gives while, why did they not enal states? They are planning the Federal Government 52 per courage mass literacy in the to ensure that the state struc- cent, states 26.72 per cent and lo- north? How many of these ture in the country is further cal governments 20.60 per cent. wealthy northern elements weakened so that no state in The formula was not accepted by have set up schools for the less the federation will ever be in the Federal Government because privileged among them? What a position to say no to whoev- it does not want to lose control. about the various state governer is at the centre. Refusing to At the national conference, the ments; if they have had the inallow states to manage their issue of 18 per cent derivation terest of this north they so want resources and asking for the has torn members apart. It has to defend, why have they not creation of additional states; raised its ugly head and caused invested in human capital all

Self seeking Nigerians holding down nation’s progress

,

Nigeria does not need additional states but a constitutional arrangement that allows states control their resources and pay tax to maintain the federal bodies

,

these years? Was the money they have gotten so far from revenue allocation been appropriately applied for the benefit of the average almajiri? It is when it pleases these rent seekers that they talk about the north. Can these men look at the global best practice in a federating state?

Nigeria has no defined fiscal structure in states and has not pursued taxation as a major revenue source as a result of earnings from oil.

Each level of government has in the last 50 years or so, depended solely on revenue from sale of crude which is monetized every month and shared in a formula that is somewhat skewed in favour of the Federal Government.

States and local governments in the federation have abandoned their responsibility of generating and developing their internal resources and only depending on the federal allo-

cation for payment of salaries and borrowing for infrastructure development. This aberration arose from the incursion of the military into the polity that allocated resources based on its concept of its command structure.

In an established federation, the principles of public finance, particularly of taxation, have received attention from the earliest days of economic analysis.

The mercantilists, the physiocrats as well as the classical economists, advanced propositions concerning tax principles.

David Ricardo and John Stuart Mills recognised the division of the subject-matter of public finance into three aspects - revenue, expenditure, and public debt.

Yes in Nigeria, there is revenue, expenditure and debt in public finance. The question is; what are the sources of revenue in public finance in Nigeria?

Up till now, about 90 per cent of public finance is from oil.

What about other natural resources that are said to abound in the country?

In every state of the federation, there are large deposits of mineral resources that when developed, can earn the country more money than oil, yet nothing is being done.

Nigeria does not need additional states but a constitutional arrangement that allows states control their resources and pay tax to maintain the federal bodies.

Cover Story Continues from page 17 in NIMASA, is that the fund has been spent for different purposes. Speaking to Vanguard on condition of anonymity, he said: “They have shared the money, walahi. My oga in the Finance Department said the National Assembly, Presidency and some ministers got part of the money. This was done not long after the Director- General told you people (Maritime correspondents) that politicians want him to share the money. There is little or nothing there again,” the source noted, promising to make available documents on how some of the funds were shared.

Indeed, the NIMASA D-G, Patrick Akpobolokemi, had raised an alarm few weeks after assuming office that politicians were scrambling for the funds and had vowed then that no politician, no matter

Uncertainty over N24.3bn Cabotage Fund how highly placed, will benefit from the fund. Akpobolokemi noted then that the agency was biding its time to ensure that the over $110 million (as at that time) lifeline meant to empower shipping practitioners does not get into wrong hands.

According to him, “ no Nigerian politician, under whatever guise and no matter how highly placed, would be allowed to access the Cabotage Vessel Financing Funds.

“Politicians see the fund as a bonus and I have resisted all manner of pressure to disburse the funds so far.

“Everybody is scrambling for the money but we are carefully scrutinising all applications. I shall personally inspect the facilities and other logistics of all intending beneficiaries to ensure that those who eventually get the loans use them for the purpose they are meant,” Akpobolokemi

declared.

An official of the Ministry of Transport, however said that it was not true that the fund has been spent for different purposes. He said that the fund is intact and that they are only trying to put modalities in place for the disbursement.

Speaking in the same vein, Deputy Director, Public Relations, NIMASA, Isichei Osamgbi, said, “NIMASA is following due process to arrive at the disbursement.

We have done our bit, other bits will follow gradually. We want to follow due process so that whenever any issue arises, we can be rest assured that we have done the right thing.”

Another source in NIMASA told Vanguard that “the banks have done their part, NIMASA has done its part, and the Ministry of Transport

is doing its part, and would forward its recommendations to the Federal Executive Council, FEC for approval.

This is because the amount involved is not small money, “it is far more than the Director- General’s level or the NIMASA board level or the minister ’s level, it must be done by the FEC and the minister is very much on top of it.”

On the interest that has accrued to the fund, the source said: “It keeps growing but you can never see the money. Even as we are discussing, it is growing and NIMASA is collecting it.” On the allegation that the money has been spent, the source said, “The law does not allow us to spend it. The law says you should place it with banks or invest it but you can’t spend it. So how can you spend what you do not have access to? It is not our money.”

Recall that NISA has severally stressed the need for government to seek its input in the planned disbursement of the CVFF. NISA noted then that the involvement of the group in the planned disbursement is necessary because it would help to ensure that the fund gets to practitioners and is used for the purpose for which it was meant. Jolapamo had said then that unless this is done, the fund would end up in the hands of wrong persons and thus defeat government’s planned improvement of the shipping sector of the nation’s maritime industry.

According to Jolapamo, “NISA is fighting now that whoever is going to get that fund should have its input because we know who the operators are, even if they are

Continues on page 26 C M Y K

20 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

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Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 21

Banking & Finance

Why Finance Commissioners kicked against fuel subsidy — PHILLIP NTO

By BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

Recently, the Committee of Commissioners of Finance of the 36 states joined the rising number of people calling for the removal of fuel subsidy. In this interview, Dr. Philip Nto, Abia State Commissioner of Finance explained the rationale behind committee’s recommendation. He also speaks on efforts of the Abia State government to boost its internally generated revenue, and enhance budget implementation. Excerpts

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•Dr. Philip Nto, Abia State Commissioner of Finance about the fuel subsidy is the relationship among the states.

If you look at states like Lagos and some others, where we have the oil merchants are the ones that are empowered more.

This means we are using the money that is supposed to accrue to Abia state’s federation account to fund Lagos, Rivers, Abuja and others. You see, all these rich merchants, they pay their taxes in Lagos, they buy things in Lagos and they don’t do any transaction in Abia state, yet we are using part of the money that is supposed to come

,

ou are a member of the Committee of Commissioners of Finance.

The committee recently recommended the removal of fuel subsidy. What prompted your recommendation on such contentious issue?

You are right. But the Federal government is not sleeping over the issue. Pragmatic approach towards reversing such fears is on-going. But beyond that, let me tell you something.

Even before I was appointed the commissioner for finance, I was among those that always kick against anything called subsidy. Subsidy is not a healthy situation in any economic system. When you talk about subsidy, it means government paying for your expenditure.

Now, we don’t have good roads, we don’t have electricity, we have unemployment that is rising by the day. So why waste all these monies just to fund a small aspect of our expenditure? Even when government says it wants to fund the fuelling of our vehicles and our generators, they are widening the gap between the rich and the poor. If you go to the house of a very wealthy man, you will see fleet of vehicles.

Calculate how much a rich man that has five cars will be spending on fuel and calculate how much subsidy he gets when fuelling the five cars. That will give you an idea of how much you are empowering the rich man with.

Then you now see a poor man whom we said we want to protect having only one tricycle and it means that you are only subsidising the man that has tricycle with about 10 litres of fuel while subsidising the rich man that has five cars with about 500 litres of fuel. That shows that we are only empowering the rich more than the poor and by doing that widening the poverty gap. So, the rich will continue to get richer while the poor will continue to get poorer. Another issue you need to consider

designated filling stations.

That is the only time you can say you are embarking on real principle of fuel subsidy. Apart from that, you are only widening the gap between the rich and the poor. So that was why we decided that the fuel subsidy should be removed. I was among those that kicked against fuel subsidy because it is not healthy for our system and it is not healthy for Abia state.

So when do we expect the implementation of the recommendation by your

If actually, we want to go into real subsidy whereby we want the poor to be empowered, we go back to what we used to have during the military era where the poor will buy from particular filling stations and the rich from designated filling stations.

to Abia to fund Lagos state. That is why some people will be saying that some governors are performing, while others are not performing, even when you are using monies that are supposed to accrue to some states to fund infrastructural development in some others.

That was why we said no; allow us to take our money so that we can formulate policies that will help to empower our people economically. Assuming you use N500 million to fund fuel subsidy, it means that is the amount that Abia state is losing to, maybe, somebody that is doing business in Lagos. If actually, we want to go into real subsidy whereby we want the poor to be empowered, we go back to what we used to have during the military era where the poor will buy from particular filling stations and the rich from

,

committee?

We have sent our recommendation to the President and we are waiting for his response. I believe very soon he will respond. But we are still mounting pressure and we are calling on all Nigerians to look at the negative implications of fuel subsidy. Subsidy is only meant to empower the rich and not the poor.

What is the level of the implementation of Abia state’s 2014 budget?

This year ’s budget was prepared under the medium-term expenditure project so that there will not be abandoned projects.

So I may not state categorically the extent of budgetary performance in the state, all I know is that the budget is performing. You know the budget is divided into two – the income

and expenditure. Even the expenditure is divided into two – recurrent expenditure and capital. Nobody is complaining that the government owes and by implication the recurrent expenditure is performing. Then if you look at the other aspect of it, the government is running, which is another aspect of recurrent expenditure. All our MDAs are running at full course.

The only aspect I may not speak categorically is the extent we have performed is the capital expenditure, which was why I explained the principle of the medium-term expenditure. For example, if you look at a project like the new government house, it is not a project you can finish within one year. Some of the projects will terminate this year, some will go beyond this year and all these will provide solid foundation for the take-off of the state. The state government is doing a lot to reposition the state and also to attract investors. The first thing you must consider when you want to attract investors in a state is security. Today, Abia is the most secured state in the country. Moving the industrial timber market to a more expansive area, moving the Umuahia market to a larger area are all geared towards making the state attractive to investors. We have been signing a lot of MoUs because the government has created the enabling environment for investors to come in.

What is the level of the implementation of the state’s budget?

This year ’s budget was prepared under the medium-term expenditure project so that there will not be abandoned projects.

So I may not state categorically the extent of budgetary performance in the state, all I know is that the budget is performing. You know the budget is divided into two – the income and expenditure. Even the expenditure is divided into two – recurrent expenditure and capital. Nobody is complaining that the government owes and by implication the recurrent expenditure is performing. Then if you look at the other aspect of it, the government is running, which is another aspect of recurrent expenditure. All our MDAs are running at full course.

The only aspect I may not speak categorically is the extent we have performed is the capital expenditure, which was why I explained the principle of the medium-term expenditure. For example, if you look at a project like the new government house, it is not a project you can finish within one year. Some of the projects will terminate this year, some will go beyond this year and all these will provide solid foundation for the take-off of the state.

Keystone Bank receives PCI-DSS certification

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EYSTONE Bank has received a Certificate of Compliance on the successful completion of the Phillips Consulting assessment on Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards.

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCIDSS) is an extensive set of guidelines developed by five of the top global payment card brands and adopted worldwide by card services providers Card Issuers, Banks, Transaction Switching Companies and Merchants - to better protect customers’ payment card information from compromise and fraud through increased controls around the storage, transmission and processing of card data.

Speaking during the presentation ceremony, the Executive Director, Operations & Technology, Mrs. Yvonne Isichei, who stood in for the Managing Director/CEO, Keystone Bank, Mr. Philip Ikeazor, stated that “Keystone Bank had engaged the services of PCI-DSS Qualified Security Assessors, Phillips Consulting Ltd, to guide it through the implementation of the standard and conduct the final certification assessment.”

ICANNaccredits Upperlink as registrar

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he country ’s internet density received a boost as the global internet body, Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers [ICANN] announced the accreditation of Upperlink as the first Nigerian and eighth accredited registrar in Africa. With the new status, Upperlink would serve Nigerian and international markets.

Upperlink’s core areas are in internet and mobile applications, software development and deployment, database management, systems integration and cloud solutions.

As the leading Nigeria Internet Registration Association [NIRA]’s registrar, Upperlink is in the forefront of registrars spearheading the migration of Nigerian companies from .com to the .ng domain name, which is Nigeria’s Country Code Top Level Domain, which is the second level extension.

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22 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

Banking & Finance

3line, FCMB partner to offer agencybanking services

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line Card Management and FCMBhaveformedapartnership to provide agency banking services, which would cater to the needs of the people. The agency banking strategy would break down the traditional barriers hindering financial inclusion of millions of Nigerians and bring low-cost, secure and convenient financial services to urban, semi-urban and rural areas in Nigeria in line with the CBN policy.

Through this partnership, FCMB would leverage on 3line’s robust electronic payment infrastructure to deliveritsagencybankingandfinancial inclusion services in a cost effective manner. The solution is implemented in line with the CBN’s agency-banking framework. The backend system supports all requirements of the CBN such as online real time transaction processing and settlement across the transaction chain, risk management measures and various customized transaction and activity reports.

The Director, Business Development at3line,FemiOmogbenigun,explained that the flexibility of the solution has enabled FCMB to meet its objectives of extending financial services to underserved Nigerians while leveraging on a cost effective and efficient electronic paymentandprocessinginfrastructure.

Fashola commends Ecobank as a brand

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agos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola has described Ecobank as a bank that has done well in its contribution and support to the development of the state.

In his remark at the unveiling of Premier Banking by Ecobank in Lagos at the weekend, Governor Fashola, said the banks and other businesses have contributedimmenselytowardsmaking the state a Center of Excellence and West Africa’s commercial capital. In his words: “Ecobank and other banks continue to find our land and our state aplacewheretheycancallhome,aplace whereentrepreneurshipcantakeplace, aplacewherecommercialandmercantile exchange can take place, a place where those exchanges can bring jobs, dignity of labor and put food on people’s table.”

He commended the bank for introducing the new product, stating that “this milestone represents a major statement in innovation indicates the

AMCON to receive N6.25bn dividend from Mainstreet Bank

By BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

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SSET Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) will receive N6.25 billion dividend from the profit made by Mainstreet Bank in its 2013 operating year.

This follows the approval of dividend of N1 per N1 share of the bank at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank held last week.

Recall that Mainstreet Bank is one of the three bridge banks sold to AMCON by Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation in 2011. The others are Keystone Bank and Enterprise Bank. The three banks were created to acquire the assets of Afribank, Bank PHB and spring bank following the revocation of their licenses, for failing to meet the recapitalization deadline of the CBN. Consequently, AMCON injected N679 billion into the three banks to

enable them meet the minimum capital base of N25 billion and the minimum capital adequacy ratio of 15 per cent.

Mainstreet Bank received N285 billion, Keystone Bank received N283 billion, while Enterprise Bank received N111 billion.

Speaking at the AGM of Mainstreet Bank, Chairman of the bank, Alhaji Gambo Ahmed, said that the bank made a profit before tax of N13.2 billion in its group financial performance for the year ended December 31, 2013.

“This result is the outcome of strategies we have put in place in the last two years to build confidence, optimize costs, improve operational efficiency and customer service delivery”, Gambo said.

Result for the year show that Gross earnings grew to N49.6 billion in 2013.

The growth was largely driven by increased interest income as the Bank significantly grew its loan portfolio by 63 percent from N34.9 billion in 2012

to N57billion in 2013.

Despite the significant growth in risk assets, the non-performing loan ratio (NPL Ratio) remained low at 3.66 percent; well below the 5 percent regulatory limit. The bank’s operational efficiency strategy yielded a 26.6 percent growth in net interest margin.

“We have achieved this result in spite of the socio-economic challenges and increased competition in the Nigerian banking industry. The result clearly reaffirms that the bank is on the right track of becoming a top tier bank,” said Gambo.

“We are particularly encouraged by yearon-year growth in our customers’ deposit which shows their increasing confidence in the Mainstreet Brand.”

On the several initiatives the bank put in place to bring efficiency in the bank’s operations the bank’s Group Managing/ Chief Executive Officer Faith TuedorMatthews noted, “Within the period under review, we successfully migrated to the latest version of Finacle core banking application, which has significantly improved our ability to deliver service to our customers and introduce innovative products and services.

MEETING - From left, National Treasurer, Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria, Mr. Gbadamosi Muritala, Acting President, Mr. Aminu Gwadabe, Chairman. South West Zone, Mr.Taiwo Ebenezer, and Executive Secretary, Mr. Cletus Oduma, during the Association's meeting on CBN's new policy held in Lagos yesterday.

INTEREST INCOME: Union Bank chases tourism operators with N1bn deal

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NION Bank Plc has moved to attract patronage of tourism operators in a bid to shore up its interest income, which fell by N2 billion in 2013.

Though the bank’s earnings grew by seven per cent to N103 billion, in 2013, its interest income however fell to N79 billion from N81 billion in 2012.

Similarly, its net interest income fell

by N4 billion in 2013.

As part of efforts to reverse this trend, the Bank last week entered into partnership with, Wakanow.com to provide a global limit of N1 billion for Wakanow affiliate agents.

Wakanow.com is an online travel

company that helps people to research, plan and purchase a trip locally and globally.

The Wakanow deal, according to Kingsley Ulinfun, Head of Commercial Banking and Regional Executive, is about growth.

The deal he said, “Gives the bank an opportunity to work with growing businesses and expose the banks revamped services. This partnership is about growth; growth for the affiliates, growth for Wakanow and growth for Union Bank” The partnership is structured to provide funding to qualified agents and affiliates of Wakanow to improve

business turnover and grow their margins. In addition, making funding more accessible to this market segment will lead to expansion of the travel industry as a whole.

To qualify for this partnership scheme, the existing Wakanow sub agents and affiliates must be a registered Nigerian company in existence for a minimum of two years with a monthly sales figure of N2million and a clean credit bureau record.

Union Bank is committed to the development of industries across the country, through partnerships which facilitate economic empowerment across different segments of society.

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 23

Corporate Finance

Morgan Stanley profit more than doubles, beating estimates

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all Street bank, Morgan Stanley ’s (MS.N) quarterly earnings more than doubled, beating market estimates, as stronger performances by its investment banking and wealth management businesses more than made up for a fall in revenue from bond trade.

Net income attributable to common shareholders rose to $1.86 billion, or 94 cents per share, in the second quarter from $803 million, or 41 cents per share, a year earlier.

The bank’s net income figures include accounting adjustments to reflect the changing value of Morgan Stanley’s own debt.

According to adjusted figures calculated by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, the company earned 60 cents per share, beating the average analyst estimate of 55 cents.

Morgan Stanley’s shares were up two percent at $33.15 before the opening bell on Thursday.

Up to Wednesday’s close, the stock had risen 3.6 percent since the start of the year.

Bukar returns as CSCS MD, promises improved performance

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he Managing Director of Central Securities and Clearing System, CSCS, Mr. Kyari Abba Bukar, has assured of his commitment to deliver improved performance for all stakeholders of the company in the current financial year as he resumes duty after a brief medical leave.

Bukar had taken medical leave of absence early June following complications thought to be related to injury sustained in an automobile accident some years past, but resumed duty on Wednesday, July 11. Joseph Mekiliuwa, who served as acting MD/CEO during Bukar’s leave of absence, has also returned to his primary functions as Head of Operations of the company.

Kyari said, “It’s great to be back, and I look forward to serving our company once more. Firstly, I wish to extend my gratitude to my Chairman, Oscar Onyema and the Board of CSCS and secondly to Joseph, who has done a fine job in my absence.”

Speaking, the chairman, Onyema, said “Everyone at CSCS is pleased that Kyari has returned in good health,

Free float deficiency: Wema Bank risks losing listed company status ByNKIRUKANNOROM

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ema Bank Plc is faced with the risk of being delisted from the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, Daily Official List ,over its failure to increase the percentage of its public float to the regulatory required standard.

Public float is the amount of shares the promoter(s) of any company seeking listing on the Exchange is required to sell to members of the public to qualify for listing.

This refers to the number of shares held by ordinary shareholders other than those held by parent, subsidiary or associate companies, directors or their family members, or any individual or institution holding more than a five percent stake.

The free float requirement for companies on the Main Board of the NSE is 20 percent, while that of companies in the Alternative Securities Market, ASeM, is 15 percent. Before the revision of the NSE’ listing rule, the public float was 25 percent for both main board and ASeM market respectively.

Companies deficient in free float requirement are, therefore, expected to free up more of their ordinary shares to the investing public to allow an orderly market and pricing on their shares.

However, information available to Financial Vanguard showed that Wema Bank’s free float presently stands at 19.64 percent, falling short of the regulatory requirement by 0.37 basis points. The bank has been given up to July 30, 2014 (less than two weeks) to regularise its status.

According to information on the NSE’s website, companies listed on the Exchange are expected to maintain a minimum free float for the set standards under which they are listed in order to ensure that there is an orderly and liquid market in their securities. It noted that Wema Bank as well as other companies identified to be deficient in the percentage of their public float had applied for waivers from the Quotations Committee of Management and specifically provided compliance plans with tentative timelines to support their requests.

The Quotations Committee of Management considered and approved an extended timeframe for the companies to regain compliance with the listing requirement.

The Exchange has it that the companies are required to provide quarterly disclosure reports detailing their level of implementation of the compliance plans,but available data showed no such information against any of the companies, including Wema Bank.

It will be recalled that Wema

UNVEILING: From left, Mr. Lekan Ishola, MD, PR Redline; Mrs. Aishat Folusho, Sole Distributor, Myer Juice drinks; Miss Veara Ye, Field Marketing Manager, Lagos, Myer Industries and Mrs. Sariat Bakare, Ikoyi/ Obalende Distributor, during the launch and unveiling of Meyer Juice drinks to Lagos Market in Lagos. Photo Lamidi Bamidele Bank had at the last annual general meeting secured shareholders approval to raise fresh capital in order to support its growth plan.

The Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Segun Oloketuyi, who addressed shareholders at the meeting said that raising fresh capital will help the bank to increase its lending capacity, and

to also pursue its growth plan.

He explained that most of the bank’s businesses require lending and it needed more money to be able to do that. “Also, any asset we acquire or any branch we open takes away from our capital, so we need additional capital to be able to

do this. “To lend, we need capacity and this entails having enough capital adequacy ratio. The CBN also recommends that we have a buffer; that means having capital adequacy ratio above the 10 percent industry requirement,” he said.

The company released its financial statement for six months

Dangote Cement, NB emerge most capitalised stocks on NSE ByNKIRUKANNOROM

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angote Cement Plc and Nigerian Breweries, NB, Plc have emerged the most capitalised and active stocks on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, for the month ended June 30, 2014.

Data obtained by Financial Vanguard showed that Dangote Cement topped the10 most capitalised stocks for the period with N4.09 trillion market capitalisation, representing 21.42 percent of the total market capitalisation, which stood at N19.092 trillion at the time and 89.8 percent of the industrial goods sector. With this, Dangote Cement also emerged the most capitalised stock in the Industrial Goods sector. NB followed with N1.301 trillion market capitalisation, representing 6.8 percent of the total market capitalisation and 36.16 percent of the Consumer Goods sector’s capitalisation, which stood at N3.598 trillion over the period.

“Dangote Cement’s emergence as the most capitalised stock in the month of June is very much in line with its performance since the stock was listed. Dangote Cement has remained the most capitalised stock since it was listed on the Exchange”, said Mr. Johnson Chukwu, Managing Director/CEO, Cowry Asset Management Limited.

“The contest for market leadership is currently for the second and third most capitalised stocks since the first position has

been monopolised by Dangote Cement,” he added. He stated that the performance of NB Plc as the second most capitalised stock at the end of June can be attributed to investors taking position in the stock on expectation of positive performance and possible payment of half year benefits by the company. Guinness Nig. Plc trailed behind with N911.555 billion market capitalisation.

GTBank took the fourth position with N852.033 billion capitalisation, making it the most capitalised in the banking sector, followed by Nestle Nigeria Plc with N792.656 billion capitalisation. Commenting on GTB, which beat other banks as the most active stock in the banking sector, Chukwu said, “GTBank is one of the most sought after equities by foreign portfolio investors in Nigeria. It is therefore not surprising that the bank’s stock beat other banks in terms of market activities.”

Zenith Bank, which was the most active stock in the banking sector in 2013, placed sixth with N786.482 billion; FBN Holdings Plc occupied the seventh position, recording N509.061 billion market capitalisation, while the newly listed oil and gas firm, Seplat Petroleum Development Company, placed eighth with N387.317 billion capitalisation.

Lafarge Cement Wapco and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated occupied the ninth and tenth position, posting N333.178 billion and N2969.441 billion capitalisation respectively.

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24 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

Corporate Finance

Berger Paints will enhance dividend payment — Olowokande

By PETER EGWUATU

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erger Paints Nigeria Plc has disclosed that its restructuring programme and the technical collaboration with foreign partners have started yielding fruits as shareholders were assured that dividend payment would be enhanced in the future.

The Chairman of Berger Paint Plc, Mr. Clement Olowokande, who disclosed this to shareholders at the th company ’s 54 Annual General Meeting, AGM held in Lagos, also announced his retirement from the company’s Board of Directors after 45 years of service, while a new Chairman, Dr. Oladimeji Alo, a nonexecutive director was appointed to replace him.

The chairman along three other directors, having attained the age of 70 after the last AGM, retired from the board of the company after the 54th yearly general meeting held in Lagos .The other directors are Dr. Raymond Obieri, former President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Engineer Olawale Akinpelu, former DirectorGeneral of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and Mr. Balram Datwani.

Shareholders at the AGM commended the outgoing chairman and management for their efforts and commitment in ensuring that the company returns to profitability, while appreciating the dividend of 75 kobo per share that the Board declared for the financial year ended December 31, 2013.

Addressing shareholders at the meeting, the out-going Olowokande said “ Berger Paints Nigeria Plc would soon become the first paint manufacturing company to automate its production facility in West Africa.”

According to him “The directors expect that upward trend experienced in the first half of the year to continue for the rest of the year. Hopefully, we can therefore assure all our shareholders of continued good dividend.”

He said the automated plant, which would be complemented by a network of colour world centres to be located in major Nigerian cities, would not only revolutionize production and distribution processes, it would have major positive on costs, product quality, turn – around time and profitability.

In a bid to prepare the company for the future, which the automation represents, the board of directors of the C M Y K

Fidson shareholders laud board over operational activities

By EDIRI EJOH

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LAUNCH: From left: The Managing Director, Capital Bancorp Plc, Mr. Aigboje Higo; General Manager/Head, Legal and Regulation Division, The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Ms. Tinu Awe and Chairman, Capital Bancorp Plc, Mr. Olutola Moboluri at official launch of Bancorp e-Trade at the Nigerian Stock Exchange . company has also embarked on a major upgrade and reengineering of the company’s organisation and human resource management infrastructure.

The chairman said, “Efforts are on-going to boost the

company ’s managerial capacity and make the company more nimble and adaptable to take advantage of emerging opportunities in the economy. Of particular importance to us is the implementation of the local

content policy in the oil and gas sector and the prospect it holds for us, given the strategic alliances and partnership we have formed with some of the largest manufacturers of paints in the world.”

Stock market: Capital Bancorp e-Trade platform enhances transparency —- Higo

By PETER EGWUATU

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apital Bancorp Plc has stated that its newly launched e- Trade platform has helped to enhance transparency in its dealings with clients.

In his presentation during the launching of Capital Bancorp e-Trade platform at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE in Lagos last week, Managing Director, Capital Bancorp Plc, Mr. Aigboje Higo said, the product has enhanced transparency with its clients.

According to him “ The Capital Bancorp eTrade platform which was introduced in 2013 has remarkable features that provide benefits to clients and well protected and secured against fraud.

In the presentation of the e-Trade platform, Managing Director, Capital Bancorp Plc, Mr. Aigboje Higo, said “ The Bancorp e-Trade platform is an inventive retail stock broking on line service offering , carefully crafted to provide access to stockbroking services for the busy executive and upwardly mobile young adults.”

To this extent, he explained that it is a platform to encourage financial inclusion for the investing public through a user friendly and simple online interface.

According to him “ It is about the ease of stockbroking transactions from the comfort of homes, offices as you are only a click away via your handheld, portable tablet or the good old

computer system. With a little sum of N1,000, an individual can open an account under this platform. It is very affordable as investor can start with as low as N1,000.00.”

On why the company decided to embark on e-Trade platform, Higo said “We introduced this platform to leverage on today’s Information Technology (IT). It is also to make trading in shares /bonds more inclusive that is, capturing more of retail segment of the market. We want also to make trading in shares/bonds closer to everyone.

Stockbroking office cannot be opened everywhere. We believe that with this technology the company should be able to reach any investor wherever he or she is.”

Continuing, he said the platform should be able to stimulate savings habit among youths, such as graduates, and youth corps members.

The platform will help reduce the implicit (traveling and opportunity) cost of trading in shares because, investors want transactions done as quickly as possible. Time is money they say.”

To be able to participate for the e-Trade platform, the Capital Bancorp boss said that investors need to have either a computer, phone, or I pad, with internet facilities. Other things needed are a functioning e-mail address, an active Bank account (current or savings), a fair understanding opf the workings of the stock market and a stock broking account with Capital Bancorp Plc.

hareholders of FIDSON Healthcare Plc have unanimously commended the Board of management for the impressive performance as attested by customers for effective product delivery as well as bid for a better dividend from its currents drop from 12kobo in 2012 to 10kobo in 2013.

The directors proposed to pay dividend of 10k ( or N150,000,000) out of the profit for the year ended December in 2013 as against 12k ( or 180,000,000) in the preceding year 2012.

Shareholders at the company’s Annual General Meeting, AGM held last week in Lagos, however, frowned at the turnover in 2013 which is N9.2million as against N7.1million in 2012 which according to them could be caused by its excess expenditures.

Addressing the issues, Director, Sales and Marketing, Mr. Olugbenga Olayeye said that its returns was less than expected , saying its new product pipeline (intravenous (IV) infusion and injectables lines), are scheduled to be operational by 2015.

According to him “We are in the process of seeking cheaper fund or possibly to divest.” He noted that the high receivables realized was as a result of its debt and credit structure,pointing out that it losses over N700million with a returned task of N900million, and with all of this default we are able to make this return which shows we are on top of our game”.

Olayeye, added that pharmaceutical businesses targets government hospitals who prescribed to patients with illness who follow up are poor due to its serves. “We are receivable dependent and most of the channel is sent to government hospitals and the pharmaceutical business is debt and credit kind.

“In addition to that we are constantly in the business of creating market leaders.”

The company ’s audited results for the financial year ended December 31, 2013, shows that it grew its turnover by 29 per cent with the annual turnover which rose from N7.2bn in 2012 to N9.2billion in the review period.

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 25

Homes & Housing Finance Stories by YINKA KOLAWOLE

Resort Savings begins Pearl Gardens Phase 2

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esort Savings and loans (RSL) Plc has commenced phase two of its Pearl Gardens Estate, Sangotedo, Lekki in Lagos, following the successful delivery of the first phase. The first phase was built, completed and handed over within two years of commencement.

Managing Director, RSL, Abimbola Olayinka, disclosed this while highlighting the bank’s plans for the second half of the year 2014 as regards housing development. He noted that the bank had financed the development of over 4,000 housing units in recent times.

Olayinka said the bank is financing development of over 2,753 housing units in the Lagos and Ogun State environs alone.

This he noted includes the current development of Resort Estate in Ofada, with over 450 housing units comprising of 2 and 3 bedroom terrace bungalows. He said that work is presently at top gear on the second phase of Dreamville Estate on Owode- Ibese road, Ikorodu, adding that over 120 housing units had been fully sold out in the first phase. He said the bank is also involved in the development of Teju Royal Garden Estate Okokomaiko, Dabis Royal Estate off Allen Avenue Ikeja, South-drift in Lekki, Sim Property Mowe, Gracious Gardens, Richland Gardens, Sapati Lekki.

He urged Nigerians to avail themselves of the opportunities in mortgage banks to ensure they become proud owners of houses.

BoE moves to avoid mortgage recklessness

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he Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has said that the bank will continue to take steps to ensure mortgage lending does not become ‘reckless’.

Giving evidence to the Treasury Select Committee, Carney said in some cases, high ratio mortgages could be appropriate. He also said that measures introduced in June, such as a 15 percent cap on lending, would keep the market under control.

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he National Housing Fund (NHF) scheme was established by Act 3 of 1992 to enable Nigerians in all sectors of the economy, particularly those within the low and medium income levels who cannot afford commercial housing loans to own houses.

Eligibility To be eligible for the NHF loan, a contributor must be above 21 years old, and must have contributed to the Fund for a period of not less than six months. He/she must apply through a registered and duly accredited mortgage loan originator, e.g. a Primary Mortgage Bank (PMB), who packages and forwards the application to FMBN. For individual borrowers there must be satisfactory evidence of regular flow of income to guarantee loan repayment.

How to apply Except for institutional borrowers who can apply for the loan directly from Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), individuals can only apply through a duly licensed and accredited Primary Mortgage Bank (PMB) of their choice and not directly to the FMBN. Loan applications are also to be obtained from the same PMB.

Formal sector

Open a savings account with a registered PMB, with at least six months consecutive contributions prior to application. Have satisfactory evidence of regular flow of income to guarantee the loan. Other requirements to process NHF loan include: Completed prescribed mortgage loan application form; Photocopies of title documents; Current valuation report on the proposed house to buy or bills of quantities (BoQ) for the house to build and; Three years tax clearance certificate.

Others are: Evidence of NHF participation; Copy of pay slips for the previous three months and; Equity contribution or personal stake of 30 percent, 20 percent or 10 percent depending on the loan amount applied for loans of 15 million, N10 million and N5 million, respectively. Also required are: Letter of consent to mortgage to chosen PMB; Offer Letter/Acceptance and Allocation letter (in case of government projects). In case of registered self employed applicant, a copy of Articles and Memorandum of Association and a copy of Certificate of Incorporation as evidence of employment status must be submitted.

Informal sector

Workers in the informal sector can also benefit from the NHF scheme via the

WORKSHOP: From left, Ms. Pamela Hedstrom, Senior Consultant, IFC; Mr. Sonnie Ayere, CEO, Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) and Dr. Femi Johnson, President, Mortgage Banking Association of Nigeria (MBAN) and Director, NMRC at the Uniform Underwriting Workshop organised by NMRC in Lagos

‘How formal, informal sector workers can benefit from NHF’ informal sector cooperative housing loan scheme (Coop Loan Scheme). The Coop Loan Scheme was designed to accommodate non-salaried informal sector Nigerians to join the NHF scheme through co-operative societies and avail themselves the opportunity to own houses.

The loan facility under the scheme could be accessed in one of two ways, namely: Cooperative Housing Development Loan (CHDL) or Co-operative National Housing Fund Loan (CNL).

The CHDL enables a cooperative society that has acquired a plot of land to develop houses for allocation to its members. The parcel of

land will have title in the name of the society which will act as the facilitator on behalf of its members in the loan transaction and which would facilitate construction of the housing unit. Document required for CHDL include: Certificate registration of the Co-operative society; Bye laws of the cooperative society; Detailed Profile of the Co-operative Society and; Resolution of the Board of Trustees of the Society signed by the chairman and the Secretary, authorising it to borrow.

On the other hand, The CNL window offers an individual co-operative member mortgage loan to buy

a housing unit developed through the Cooperative Housing Development Loan or to renovate an existing one. Documents required to be submitted by a cooperative society, on behalf of its cooperators (under CNL) are: Evidence of membership of Co-operative society; Evidence of NHF registration and up-to-date NHF contribution. Others are: Completed CNL application form; Two passport photograph; Prove of ownership of the object land /property; A guarantee from the cooperative society to which he/she belongs and; Certificate of registration of the Co-operative society.

Bridging housing gap requires increased institutional investment — REPORT ncreased participation of institutional encourage foreign investments in key industries, Imust investors in housing development like housing,” it stated. be encouraged for Nigeria to be able to The report however noted that the negative effectively bridge its housing deficit estimated at about 17 million units.

This was contained in a report by the Financial Derivatives Council in its latest economic publication. The council, while noting the participation of some foreign investors in the real estate sector, said government needs to develop policies that attract more foreign investments into the sector. “Closing the housing deficit gap is beyond the sustainable fiscal powers of the federal government but a strong need for increased participation of institutional investors. “Currently, foreign investors such as Actis LLP are focused on commercial real estate, due to the fact that it provides more “bang for their buck” supporting the World Bank commentary that profitability and policy will be the deciding factors in attracting investment into Nigeria. The missing link will be the need for the Nigerian government to develop and implement effective policies to

transparency index rating of the country could be a stumbling block in the bid to attract foreign investment. “The battle for investment is likely to be very uphill because in terms of real estate market transparency, Nigeria is ranked 96th out of 97 countries according to the 2012 Jones Lang LaSalle Global Real Estate Transparency Index. “The survey calculates the transparency of the real estate market by weighing 83 different factors, which provide investors and corporate occupiers with information critical to transacting, owning, and operating in global markets. The factors considered in the rankings can be broadly classified into investment performance, market fundamentals, listed vehicles, transaction process, and regulatory. Nigeria is considered to be the worst in terms of regulatory and transaction process,” the report stated.

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26 —Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

Cover Story

Entrepreneurial Education Revolution:

An Imperative for Sustainable Development in Nigeria: Part 1

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DINNER: From left, CEO, Fuel Communications Ltd., Mr. Tunji Abioye; Group Managing Director, Skye Bank, Mr. Timothy Oguntayo; his wife, Mrs. Bola Oguntayo; Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo; his wife, Olori Adetutu Gbadebo; CEO/Managing Partner, Adebisi Oderinde and Co, Mr. Adebisi Oderinde, during a dinner organized by Fuel Communications and Adebisi Oderinde and co {Chartered Accountants} in honour of Oguntayo in Lagos.

Uncertainty over N24.3bn Cabotage Fund not NISA members. We know you cannot do something like this in Nigeria without having some percentage to give out for political patronage but not to the extent that it would be cornered by just anybody.” He however said the major problem is not the disbursement of the fund but refusal of chatterers to engage their vessels and the need for government to put in place adequate laws to make operators who borrow from the banks for ship financing pay back as is obtainable in other parts of the world.

In his words: “Our major problem is not about the money that NIMASA will give out, the fact remains that all you need is your vessels, the second is you, the ship owner and the bank who finances you. If one is missing then there is a problem.

“We are missing one and that is the charterer. If we are patronised, if they drop the foreign ships and say Nigerians take over, then the table will turn. What I said earlier was that if the banks have a legal framework that says when they lend money out to people (ship owners) and they do not bring the money back, there is jail term waiting for them. Such is the kind of law put in place in countries like Greece, Italy etc. where you want to develop shipping but of course, shipping is a vast area and that is where you have the best of crooks,” he concluded.

The non-disbursement of the CVFF contradicts the comments of NIMASA top management staff at the Offshore Technology Conference, OTC, held two years ago, where he said that the CVFF fund would be C M Y K

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Continues from page 19

The source also said that the four banks are to guarantee the CVFF as well as put up a 35 per cent contribution to the loan system.

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disbursed in a matter of weeks.

The official had said then that the Federal Government had given the management of NIMASA the green light to commence the disbursement.

He said that NIMASA’s management had instructed the five banks selected to manage the fund to process all the applications sent to them by intending beneficiaries and that some banks have already started contacting those applicants who are qualified for the loan then.

About that time, President of Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA), Mrs. Jean Chiazor Anishere, confirmed that one of her members has gotten a letter from one of the financial institutions informing her that she has been selected as one of the beneficiaries of the fund. That was two years ago and the fund is yet to be disbursed.

The agency over four years

ago, selected four commercial banks from the 21 that indicated interest in administering the fund. The four banks are Fidelity, Skye, Diamond and ETB. The four banks have since been given letters of authority to that effect after they were selected through a rigorous process including their experience and expertise of maritime business.

A source in NIMASA had told Vanguard then that the “selection process was very rigorous which included visits and evaluation of the depth of the maritime desk of each of the applicants.”

The source also disclosed that other criteria considered in the award of the disbursement right to the four banks were, their risk analysis model, governing system and post-Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) audit report.

According to the source, "we looked at their risk analysis model, governing system and post CBN’s audit report as part of the criteria for the selection of the banks as Public Lending Institutions (PLI).” The source also said that the four banks are to guarantee the CVFF as well as put up a 35 per cent contribution to the loan system. The source also assured that the actual disbursement would commence in a matter of weeks.

The question now is, over five years of collection of the CVFF fund and after two years of elaborate preparations for the disbursement, why has it not been used for the purpose for which it was made? How much exactly has been collected so far? Where is the fund domiciled? How much interest has accrued on the funds? These are questions that are begging for answers which NIMASA must provide urgently.

lbert Einstein once defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, while the French classical author, Francois de la Rochefoucauld said ‘ the only thing constant in life is change’.

This paper stresses the importance of entrepreneurship education towards enhancing sustainable development in Nigeria. The problems facing the country ranging from incessant strike action in our academic institutions, high rate of poverty, youth and graduate unemployment; overdependence on foreign goods and technology; Low economic growth and development; among others. This paper therefore argues that entrepreneurship education will equip the students with the skills with which to be self-reliant. The objectives and strategies for re-designing entrepreneurship education are also discussed. The paper also recommended that educational programmes at all levels of education should be made relevant to provide the youth the needed entrepreneurial skills. It is also recommended that the government should give adequate attention to entrepreneurial development in the country through the provision of good economic environment.

So it is on this premise I would like us to see the Nigerian educational system in light of current realities in the 21st century.

A careful look of the current state of affairs in Nigeria reveals that we are in a 21st century economy with a 19th century education system. A system whereby much emphasis is still placed on the conventional classroom environment with much reverence for certificate for graduates who in most cases are trained to be job seekers as evidenced in present high unemployment rate in the land. However, we must accept the fact that times have changed and we must adjust by transiting from the old styled era of Adam Smith inspired concept of the ‘industrialized specialist’ which has outlived its usefulness to a more dynamic, resourceful and I.C.T based model where skills and creativity takes precedence.

Without deviating from the topic of my article which is Entrepreneurial Education Revolution in Nigeria, I would like to briefly define some of the concept in the topic.

WHO IS AN ENREPRENEUR? n entrepreneur is a person who is driven to establish a business to take advantage of the financial opportunities and personal fulfilment offered, by pursuing their own dreams and shaping their own destiny in local, national and global economies. I personally define an entrepreneur as anyone who can convert what he loves doing to a moneymaking venture.

Entrepreneurship on the other hand is said to be the process of planning, operating and assuming the risk of a business. It has also been seen as a process of creating a unique value. For the purpose of this speech, I would be limiting education to the activity of teaching about a particular subject.

Revolution on the other hand has been defined by The Macmillan English dictionary as a sudden or major change, especially in ideas or methods. A revolution signifies a drastic turn around, a new way of thinking and acting.

So at this juncture, what then is Entrepreneurial Education?

Entrepreneurial Education is a lifelong learning process, starting as early as elementary school and progressing through all levels of education, including adult education. Entrepreneurial Education focuses on developing understanding and capacity for pursuit, of entrepreneurial behaviours, skills and attributes in widely different contexts. It can be portrayed as open to all and not exclusively the domain of the high-flying growth-seeking business person. The propensity to behave entrepreneurially is not exclusive to certain individuals. Different individuals will have a different mix of capabilities for demonstrating and acquiring entrepreneurial behaviours, skills and attributes. These behaviours can be practiced, developed and learned; hence it is important to expose all students to entrepreneurial education. Therefore, from the above definitions, we can safely deduce that entrepreneurial education revolution is a change in educational system which embraces an all encompassing strategy in introducing and instilling entrepreneurial attitudes into students. Just as we had the G.S.M revolution in Nigeria, an entrepreneurial education revolution is aimed at making entrepreneurial studies readily available anywhere with relative ease.

Our educational institutions keep churning out graduates’ year in- year out and close observers have questioned the kind of training and education these young people are receiving in this 21st century. Recent statistics from the Nigerian bureau of statistics shows that the unemployment rate in Nigeria is 23.9%.

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Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 27

DAEWOO AS FRONT RUNNER FOR SOUTH KOREAN VEHICLES Those old enough to remember would recollect how in the late 1980s and 1990s DAEWOO Racers came to the rescue of Nigerians by providing affordable new cars after the Structural Adjustment Programme, SAP, made owning a new car impossible for all but the wealthy. Hitherto, the Nigerian car market had been carved up between Peugeot, Volkswagen, Datsun, Toyota, and

Is Kia going the way of Daewoo Motors?

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“DANA GROUP OF COMPANIES PLC…IN RECEIVERSHIP…” Kunle Ogunba, Esq, SAN. PUNCH, June 27, 2014, p 40.

Most Nigerians reading newspapers might have missed the publication. Even owners of KIA vehicles, like me, might have failed to understand the full implications of that announcement which include the possibility that the KIA brand of vehicles might be following DAEWOO out of the Nigerian market with the developments at DANA GROUP OF COMPANIES PLC. Incidentally, the group of companies, under receivership, includes all the companies, especially the DANA MOTORS whose workshop would probably have been locked up by now – leaving all those whose vehicles were inside in various degrees of difficulties. My car was almost one of them until my lawyer advised me to claim my car before filing a suit against DANA MOTORS – which had become a disgrace to its owners.

In fact, by March of this year, it was clear to me that no company can continue to treat its customers the way that workshop did without going under.

KIA and HYUNDAI, were among the first beneficiaries of the economic expansion which started in 1998 and remains till today

Mercedes Benz. All of which were then out of reach for middle class income earners. DAEWOO RACERS arrived just in the nick of time – offering vehicles which had ninety per cent the car value of Toyotas at sixty-five to 70 per cent the price. Nigerians jumped at them; while forgetting that cars represented a long term investment and that after sales service were the paramount considerations for such investments.

It didn’t take long for the poor after sales service provision of the marketers of DAEWOO to reveal itself. One DAEWOO RACER after another eventually crawled to a stop. And, with each one DAEWOO moved closer into the graveyard of car brands which had once plied Nigerian roads – DATSUN, LANCIA BETA, SANTANA, VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE, PEUGEOT 504, 505, 607; just to name a few.

As Nigeria came out of the long recession brought about by the drop in the price of crude oil from $28 per barrel to $9.95, under

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Babangida, and crude oil prices climbed on an escalator, which has brought it to over $112 per barrel today, the South Korean car makers, KIA and HYUNDAI, were among the first beneficiaries of the economic expansion which started in 1998 and remains till today. Borrowing partly from the business model of DAEWOO, they offered vehicles which had 90 per cent the value, at 70 per cent the price of TOYOTA. They also learnt from DAEWOO experience, or so we thought, they established workshops with their major distributors, Indianowned DANA GROUP OF COMPANIES. Nigerians, who have had several decades of experience with Indian business men were worried that the South Korean car makers might have committed a strategic blunder by teaming up with DANA. Admittedly, DANA made an initial success out of KIA. In fact, the brand succeeded far better than anyone could have imagined. KIA’s unexpected success, or, the typical Indian

company’s penchant for shortterm might have undermined the venture. It is obvious that more cars have been sold to the Nigerian market than the workshops can reasonably handle.

DANA MOTORS started well.

Three sales offices and workshops were opened in Lagos – Victoria Island, Oshodi and AmuwoOdofin. A vehicle sent in, on appointment, for minor repairs, would generally be returned to its owner on the same day and the charges were surprisingly reasonable. My own personal experience, covering more than ten trips to the Oshodi workshop, was invariably pleasant. It was this pleasant reception which prompted me to buy a KIA OPTIMA for myself and to contribute towards purchasing CERATO for one of my daughters.

Today, it all appears like a foolish mistake.

WAS BUYING KIA A MISTAKE? My initial instinct was to buy another car — particularly with the bad reputation Indian businessmen had acquired in Nigeria. But, while still grappling with the decision regarding the brand to buy, I traveled to Ghana to train the sales staff of one of my clients. The company’s National Sales Manager was driving a one year old KIA OPTIMA; he had previously driven a Peugeot. His unalloyed praise for the KIA car overcame

my fear of dealing with an Indian company. As my Ghanaian friend said: “This car will give so little trouble; it won’t matter who the marketers are.” He was mostly right. The three KIA OPTIMAs I have owned have given me very little trouble and all was well until recently.

First, I discovered that the Oshodi workshop was closed.

Then, the Victoria Island workshop was also closed. Even when the three workshops were opened, it was becoming increasingly clear that same day repair of vehicles was no longer achievable. There were just too many KIA vehicles and not enough facilities for repairs.

AMUWO-ODOFIN WORKSHOP: THE CUSTOMER BE DAMNED The closure of the two workshops, which resulted in sending every customer to Amuwo-Odofin, gradually, began to take its toll on the quality of the service delivery and customer relations. Cars were not only held for weeks; the repair work was often badly done. That was bad enough.

Rightly, or wrongly, some of the customers came away with the impression that they were charged for services not rendered or that their vehicles were deliberately damaged to create more work for the workshop. One vehicle went in with one complaint and was returned with another problem – even when the original problem had not been solved. The vehicle went in the second time for the “new” problem and the workshop again discovered a problem which did not exist before the vehicle went in.

•Visit: www.delesobowale.com or Visit:www.facebook.com/ biolasobowale

Business & Economy

BY AMINU DIKO

•Aminu Diko

I

nfrastructure deficit is a global challenge and nations respond to such challenge differently. The Federal Government of Nigeria established the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) in order to regulate how Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) deliver infrastructure service through Public Private Partnertship (PPP). In discharging our mandate, and in order to

Infrastructure deficit a global challenge succeed, we must work closely with a number of Institutions, and MDAs. One of the mandates of the Commission is to collaborate with States governmnent to establish a cohesive national PPP framework. This cannot be achieved without the support of the Governors of the States.

Among the Governors that have shown significant interest in this collaborative effort are their Excellencies, Governors Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State and Capt. Idris Wada of Kogi State.

PPP procurement will always have significant impact on the nation’s economy and it is for this reason that every Federal MDA is required to seek guidance from both the ICRC and the Federal Ministry of Finance. To assure the MDAs of support, the Hon Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has established a very strong PPP Department in the Federal Ministry of Finance that would

assist MDAs in developing PPP projects and negotiating financial terms of the transactions.

ICRC is a Regulatory Commission and not an implementing one. We therefore do not own the infrastructure projects we regulate. Our role is to regulate and guide MDAs, who own the projects, in structuring PPP transactions identified by them.

Once financial close is achieved and contracts are executed between the public and private entities, we are required, by law, to take custody of such agreements and ensure compliance with the terms of such agreements. A 12 point PPP process Guide has now been issued by the Commission to assist MDAs in appreciating the process better. This guide is available at the ICRC website.

Similarly, in compliance with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (Establishment) Act 2005, the Commission is required to publish annually a list of

projects MDAs have identified as eligible for consideration as PPP. The 2013 and 2014 lists have been published on the ICRC website.

We have to celebrate the fact that under His Excellency, President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda, Nigeria had indeed impressively responded to its power challenges by privatising, in 2013, the entire power sector of the country through a process that was internationally acclaimed to be the biggest of such exercises in the world. Interestingly, two of such transactions regarding the Kainji and Shiroro Hydro dams were structured as concessions.

In that regard, these transactions would be subject to the regulatory oversight of both the ICRC and Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). In due course, ICRC will meet with NERC to sort out the practicalities and harmonise roles.

Initiating a national PPP

framework and developing PPP projects requires high technical knowledge and capacity. It can also be expensive. The World Bank has provided Nigeria with a facility to support the development of both the framework and the capacity of MDAs to identify and develop PPP procurement projects. The African Development Bank has also consistently identified with us in our quest to develop a credible PPP framwork. Today, we also celebrate such committments. Today’s event specifically aims to deepen our knowledge of PPP through the benevolence of PriceWaterHouseCoopers (PWC), who has made it possible for us to benefit from experiences from other jurisdictions. We definitely cannot thank them enough for the rich faculty they have assembled. *DIKO is the Director General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission

28 —Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

People in Business

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hivita Active, from the stable of Chi Limited, now wears new look following a strategic makeover to reposition and convey tangible and intangible attributes of the brand to the consumer.

According to the Managing Director of Chi Limited, Mr. Deepanjan Roy, the new pack is entirely new design that is aimed at effectively communicating the core value of Chivita Active as an “active healthy lifestyle” brand to consumers.

He added that the new pack parades a bold new logo that is modern while exuding the core essence of active health.

“With rounded contemporary edges and the forward pointing red triangle, the logo emphasizes on advancement, achievement and success,” he said.

Amstel bags awards

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mstel Malta, from the shelf of Nigerian Breweries Plc has been recognised as an international brand with its recent quality awards from both the International Taste and Quality Institute, iTQi in Brussels, Belgium and the Monde Selection Quality Award in Bordeaux, France.

The malt brand received 2golden stars, out of 3 at the iTQi Superior Taste awards ceremony; making it the first ever African brand to receive such an award amongst other internationally recognised brands.

Startimes expresses commitment to digital switch over

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tarTimes has reinstated its commitment to ensuring digital switch over process that will enable Nigerians have access to affordable digital television as it announces access to more free channels.

The digital switch over experience would be available to its subscribers in Jos, the first city to switch off analogue television.

According to Irete Anetor, Public Relations Manager at NTA-Star TV Network, the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, NBC, has obliged NTA – Star TV Network (StarTimes) to carry out the obligations of states and local television stations in Nigeria, especially in Jos – the pilot city for digital migration.

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By VERA SAMUEL ANYAGAFU and NJOKU JERRY

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he venue was the Landmark Hotel Convention Center, Chaoyang, in Beijing, China and the event was a grand awardgiving ceremony in honor of one of Nigeria’s best China-based entrepreneurs and philanthropists, Mr. Uzoma Festus Mbisiogu, for his remarkable achievements in both home and abroad business merchandise, in addition to his unalloyed commitment in Diaspora Nigerian community development.

Mbisiogu, emerged winner out of the five nominees and was bestowed with the Prestigious Asia-Pacific Award by Appreciate Africa Network in collaboration with African Achievers International, a group of Non-Governmental Institutions registered in both the UK and China.

In this chat, Mbisiogu, who is also the CEO of Blue Diamond Logistics, China, and Advocate of Good Governance Initiative, speaks on the award and Diaspora Mr. Uzoma African investors’ progression Festus Mbisiogu in China, in addition to energy situation in the country. capacities to shun every form of Excerpts; that is most outstanding in What is the award for?

The prestigious Asia-Pacific Award is an award that is reserved for outstanding entrepreneurs’, who have displayed unquantifiable efforts towards business progression in both their home countries and counties of abode abroad.

I emerged winner out of the 5 Nominees, in the category of Entrepreneurs’, and individuals who have established remarkable impact among Diaspora Africans in China, especially in the area of trade, investments and Diasporas community services.

You have always been Concerned about the wellbeing of Diaspora Nigerians, especially in the area of trade and investment. What are your recommendations?

I have often advised Diaspora Africans to start thinking of repatriating their businesses and wealth home, for fact that investments bought home, expectedly, would produce multiple effects to both the youth and the society as a whole.

Interestingly also, investment brought down home would reduce the number of unemployment youths and also reduce the rate of poverty in the society.

And for us to witness this growth, we must seek for peace and unity.

There must be stability. It is not the responsibility of the entire African rulers and men in authority, but the responsibility of each and every African citizen as well.

We must all fight within our

corruption by concentrating more on nation building, and I am optimistic that Africa would one day rule the world.

It may not be in our time but it will certainly take place.

Freight Forwarding, under the Shipping name ‘Maranatha’ Logistics, in addition to ‘Super Diamond Products’, a company that manufactures household items.

Could you translate one of your many ideas of business progressions?

I am a living example of one of a few success stories of Diaspora Africans who have explored China’s vast business empire and excelled virtually in all areas.

From a humble beginning in the city of Guangzhou as a trade agent, I had this keen interest to excel in business.

Through committed efforts and perseverance, I became one of Africa’s prominent business owners and employers of labor in both Africa and China.

I am passionate towards every efforts directed to achieving industrious spirited young Nigerians.

Industrialists’, who are willing and ready to make remarkable business achievements in all levels of business interests and locations.

Prior to coming to China as a humble small scale trader, I had always believed I was going to succeed.

My determination encouraged me further and through painstaking and honest endeavors, I was able to establish companies like, Shanghai Engineering Construction & Industrial works, Blue Diamond Logistics, China, Uzotex Holdings and many others.

Also, my perseverance rewarded me with a company

You are passionate about growth of Small and Medium Scale industries in Nigeria.

How involved are you in this?

As a frequent representative of China -Africa Small Scale Industrialists in Nigeria, with

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Chivita Active repackages

Poor power generation hinders industrialisation in Nigeria — Mbisiogu

Services and Large Scale manufacturing of construction and building materials.

I have often advised that diversifying into industrialization would enable reduction of the pressure of importation, which is responsible for the failure of many home country industries.

In the year 2011, I floated a consortium, known as Shanghai Engineering Construction & Industrial Works and decided to move the entire manufacturing base back home in Nigeria.

Through that action, I was able to pull a lot of Diaspora Nigerian investors’ interests back home and we have successfully contributed meaningfully to the country’s economy.

I urge all Diaspora Nigerians to endeavor in efforts toward maintaining true excellence, for which we are known. Africans have talents.

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undiluted interest to growing Small & Medium Enterprise activities among African immigrants in both China and other countries, I never relented in efforts towards achieving a more conducive business environment and policies for all Small and Medium Scale operators.

With the advantages posed by China, as ‘World Factory’, I have always charged business minded Nigerians in the Diaspora, to diversify into Construction

You have always been concerned abut the energy situation in Nigeria. Would you say there is improvement?

Poor energy supply is dampening the progression of industrialization in the country and the sooner it is considered an urgent discussion the better for industries and the county’s economy.

Energy supply is too essential in any country’s development and experiencing consistent power failure has resulted in crippled industries in the country.

When I established Uzotex Foundation, an organization aimed at granting scholarship to emerging young scholars, entrepreneurs, in addition to providing pipe borne water to my entire community, I was challenged with having to provide transformers to service those areas.

It is so sad. The Federal government should intensify efforts on improving power generation in the country.

What next, after the award?

Well, the Regional Director of Appreciate Africa Network, which is also the China arm of African Achievers International Company UK, Dr. Samantha Sibanda has promised to make good use of the occasion to honor many Africans in Asia who have made remarkable contributions in Africa’s sociocultural interest in China, be it in the area of providing community Services, culture & Arts, entertainment, business, Media, and so on.

The event, which was well attended by all African Heads of Missions, professional groups and China-Africa enthusiasts, served a very commendable platform to promoting bi-trade relations between Nigeria and other countries.

The award was one of the ways to encourage and motivate Africans in recognition of their contributions to growing both home and countries of abode economies.

And my expectation is that through the award, many Diaspora Nigerians would ensure progressive business engagements for the good of future Nigerian entrepreneurs.

Therefore, I urge all Diaspora Nigerians to endeavor in efforts toward maintaining true excellence, for which we are known. Africans have talents.

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 29

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C M Y K Company Oil and Gas and Products Petroleum Prod ucts Capital Oil Plc 1st fTier Securities AGRICULTURE Crop Production FTN Cocoa Processors Plc Okomu Oil Palm Plc Presco Plc Livestock/Animal Specialities Livestock Feeds Plc CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. Levents Nigeria Plc Chellarams Plc John Holt Plc SCOA Nigeria Plc Transnational Corporation UACN Plc CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Building Construction/Structure ARBICO Plc Constain (WA) Plc CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Non-Building/Heavy Construction Julius Berger Nig Plc Roads Nigeria Plc Real Estate Development UACN Property Development Real Estate Investment Trusts Skye Shelter Funds Union Homes Real Estate Investment CONSUMER GOODS Automobile/Auto Parts DN Tyres & Rubber Plc

Opening Price (N) 0.50

Daily Stock Market Report Closing Price (N) 0.50

Opening Price N

Quantity Traded 2,500

Year High 0.50

Year Low 0.50

E.P.S.

P.E. Ratio

0.50 33.01 38.00

200 172,173 454,601

0.50 24.58 8.30

0.50 14.53 6.40

0.10 7.33 2.75

50.00 2.77 4.37

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0.11

15.00

1.33 3.95 1.20 4.91 5.78 62.50

1.39 3.95 1.20 4.91 5.91 62.12

203,719 876 43,029 512 24,435,282 175,282

2.54 7.60 8.82 8.28 1.82 42.50

1.45 6.43 5.89 5.52 0.50 28.70

0.16 0.31 0.00 0.35 0.24 6.89

5.18 20.74 0.00 15.77 3.64 4.14

65.00 8.46

5.30 1.26

375 620,974

4 2,720,390.38

63.00 8.46

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62.26 8.28

32.96 3.01

4.11 4.73

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11.59

1.69

7.33

95.00 47.59

95.00 47.59

4 70

100.00 -

97.00 -

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0.50

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3.72 2.31 3.01 69.99 1.72 1.24 7.36 1.50

3.72 2.35 3.16 68.99 1.75 1.24 7.36 1.50

162 106,200 473,500 10,098 280,800 61,875 17,256 24,779

5.31 1.45 3.20 23.11 5.61 1.96 12.91 200

5.31 0.70 0.83 2.58 3.61 0.95 0.95 4.28

ICT Computer Based Systems Courteville Investment Plc

0.57

0.56

178,000

0.52

0.50

0.10

10.00

Computers and Peripherals Omatek Ventures Plc

0.50

0.50

2,000

0.50

0.50

0.00

12.50

15.20 1.88

15.20 1.97

1,850 25,449

9.31 3.59

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0.00 0.01

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0.50

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50,000

0.50

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0.50

0.00

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33.00 9.00 40.10 11.26 240.00 0.50 1.20 119.00 5.40 1.40 10.00

33.03 9.00 40.10 11.80 240.05 0.50 1.26 119.01 4.92 1.47 11.00

1,351,416 69,390 62,437 1,507,181 79,500 5,000 8,400 902,073 76,770 310,000 123,564

30.00 12.57 43.98 15.49 132.51 0.75 3.51 48.05 5.28 3.36 13.40

12.00 8.10 15.16 4.16 95.00 0.50 1.02 36.58 5.11 0.51 10.93

2.14 1.09 2.28 1.47 7.56 0.00 0.00 4.10 0.44 0.23 0.00

7.86 4.97 8.88 2.31 13.17 0.00 0.00 42.86 14.19 2.89 0.00

1.69 2.70

62,400 2,717,101

6.91 3.60

7.46

500

8.69

5.76

5.76

10,000

9.20

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10.50

10.50

10

12.39

10.70

Pharmaceuticals Ekocorp Plc Evans Medical Plc Fidson Healthcare Plc Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Nig May & Baker Nigeria Plc Neimeth International Pharm Nigeria-German Chemicals Plc Pharma-Deko Plc

ICT Telecommunications Starcomms Plc INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials Ashaka Cement Plc Berger Paints Plc CAP Plc Cement Co. of Northern Nig. Plc Dangote Cement Plc First Aluminium Nigeria Plc DN Meyer Plc Lafarge WAPCO Plc Portland Paints & Products Nig Plc Paints & Coatings Manufacturers Premier Paints Plc

0.50

0.50

0.00

0.00

10.17 197.10 29.50 176.22 0.77

10.17 198.02 29.50 175.61 0.77

82,257 31,047 158,433 1248,179 500

4.63 255.00 7.10 100.00 1.01

2.23 186.00 5.23 72.50 0.93

0.00 9.95 0.41 5.08 0.00

0.00 19.98 16.29 22.22 0.00

Beverages-Non-Alcoholic 7-UP Bottling Company Plc

100.00

100.03

204,954

51.49

,39.00

2.69

13.92

Food Products Dangote Flour Mills Plc Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc Flour Mills Nigeria Plc Honeywell Flour Mill Plc National Salt Co. Nig Plc UTC Nigeria Plc

Tools and Machinery Nigerian Ropes Plc

8.01 9.08 77.87 4.49 10.59 0.50

8.01 9.30 77.87 4.30 10.72 0.54

162,446 1,631,837 114,646 1,607,654 8,578,767 22,000

19.90 16.20 95.00 6.60 6.70 0.88

4.31 4.02 57.00 2.31 3.80 0.50

0.00 0.91 4.09 0.39 1.01 1.13

16.91 14.38 16.89 16.92 5.75 8.83

NATURAL RESOURCES Chemicals BOC Gases Plc

Food Products-- Diversified Cadbury Nigeria Plc Nestle Nigeria Plc

74.25 1,124.90

74.25 1,125.00

71,074 117,783

37.27 840.10

8.33 400.00

32.27 4.38 1.44

100, 1,737,036 100

36.19 5.54 2.88

33.96 2.91 2.88

13.89 0.61 0.00

2.44 7.07 0.00

Personal/Household Products PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc Unilever Nigeria Plc

37.99 53.00

38.50 52.77

6,710,663 358,819

41.02 47.39

21.02 27.60

0.82 1.44

4.39 32.91

FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking Access Bank Plc Diamond Bank Nigeria Plc Ecobank Transnational Incorporated Fidelity Bank Plc First City Monument Bank Plc Guaranty Trust Bank Plc Skye Bank Plc Sterling Bank Plc UBA Plc Union Bank Nig. Plc Unity Bank Plc Wema Bank Plc Zenith Bank Plc

9.95 6.30 17.23 1.98 4.75 30.00 3.28 2.32 8.00 9.54 0.50 1.01 25.20

9.80 6.32 16.85 1.94 4.75 30.00 3.40 2.38 8.06 9.23 0.50 1.11 25.22

15,98,945 10,966,680 864,801 139,197,289 865,336 16,504,479 8,055,037 2,980,092 4,675,213 226,035 3,432,438 4,922,927 4,208,341

12.39 7.51 14.04 3.47 5.70 26.09 6.50 3.05 7.69 10.60 1.22 1.75 21.49

4.70 1.92 9.90 1.13 2.90 13.02 2.65 0.80 1.64 2.34 0.50 0.52 11.96

1.42 0.90 2.81 0.43 0.00 2.10 0.71 0.54 0.67 0.00 0.00 1.34 2.09

8.73 8.34 5.00 7.93 0.00 12.39 9.15 5.43 11.19 0.00 0.00 0.43 10.24

0.50 0.80 1.14 0.50 0.50 2.00 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 2.56 0.54 0.82 0.50 0.50 0.53 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.91

0.50 0.80 1.15 0.50 0.50 2.06 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 2.67 0.54 0.80 0.50 0.52 0.53 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.90

0.50 1.11 1.03 0.54 0.50 2.44 0.50 0.68 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.60 0.50 2.59 0.54 0.81 0.61 0.50 1.01 0.50 0.56 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 1.08

0.50 0.50 0.58 0.50 0.50 1.08 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 1.06 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50

0.00 0.50 0.14 0.02 0.50 0.28 0.01 0.00 0.03 0.01 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.03 0.16 0.00 0.37 0.02 0.03 0.06 0.04 0.09 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.07

5.96 1.10

5.96 1.10

2,000 28,940

6.00 1.18

0.00 0.92

0.04 0.92

150.00 10.56

1.30 0.50 0.50 0.50

1.35 0.50 0.50 0.50

80 500 5,000 500

1.57 0.50 0.50 0.50

1.37 0.50 0.50 0.50

0.19 0.02 0.00 0.00

47.6 7 25.00 0.00 0.00

Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Sector African Alliance Insurance AIICO Insurance Plc Continental Reinsurance Plc Cornerstone Insurance Company Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Custodian and Allied Insurance Plc Equity Assurance Plc Goldlink Insurance Plc Great (Nig) Insurance Plc Guinea Insurance Plc International Energy Insurance Plc Investment and Allied Assurance LASACO Assurance Plc Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc Linkage Assurance Plc Mansard Insurance Plc Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc NEM Insurance Co. (Nig) Ltd Niger Insurance Co. Plc OASIS Insurance Plc. Prestige Assurance Co. Plc Regency Alliance Insurance Sovereign Trust Insurance Staco Insurance Plc Standard Alliance Insurance UNIC Insurance Plc Unity Kapital Plc Universal Insurance Plc Wapic Insurance Plc Microfinance Banks Fortis Micro-Finance Bank Plc NPF Micro-Finance Bank Plc Mortgage Carrier, Broker and Sector Abbey Building SOC Aso Savings and Loans Plc Resort Savings & Loans Plc Union Homes Savings Plc Other Financial Institutions Africa Prudential Plc Crusader (Nigeria) Plc Deap Capital Management & Trust Plc FBN Holdings Plc Nigeria Energy Sector Fund Royal Exchange Assurance

3.41 0.50 0.91 16.00 552.20 0.53

3.45 0.50 0.91 15.90 552.20 0.53

10 2,001,154 766,100 129,035 3,000 9,054,578 40,733 93,000 1,000,000 500 20,000 1,670,890 17,000 37,500 24,992 741,910 2,359,730 5,608,168 962,930 3,488,000 30,000 900 1,000 1,000 31,518 45,000 100 55,000 15,721,409

9,428,510 22,000 20 11,216,090 9,930 153,029

0.75 0.50 2.02 20.00 250 0.78

0.00 0.50 2.02 8.57 552.20 0.50

0.19 0.00 0.00 2.03 12.68 0.13

0.00 22.20 6.79 27.30 10.00 7.43 50.00 0.00 16.67 50.00 0.00 25.00 0.00 0.00 16.67 16.19 0.00 2.19 26.00 16.67 15.50 12.50 5.65 0.00 0.00 0.00 25.00 0.00 15.43

9.16 0.00 0.00 9.85 43.55 6.00

P.E Ratio

10.56 0.87 0.21

34,000

32.27 4.30 1.44

E.P.S

103.50 10.64 0.03

0.50

Household Durables Nigerian Enamelware Plc Vitafoam Nig. Plc Vono Products Plc

Year Low

103.50 15.69 1.41

0.50

27.61 32.84

Year High

15,358 136,422 6,991,878

Beverages-Brewers/Distillers Champion Breweries Plc Guinness Nigeria Plc International Breweries Plc Nigerian Brew Plc Premier Breweries Plc

1.35 25.43

Quantity Traded

98.33 27.26 2.27

IT Services NCR (Nig) Plc Tripple Gee and Company Plc Processing Systems Chams Plc

20

Closing Price N

103.50 27.26 2.24

HEALTHCARE Medical Supplies Morison Industries Plc Healthcare Providers Union Diagnostics & Clinicals Services

0.09

0.50 33.01 37.50

5.30 1.23

Sim Capital Alliance Plc Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc UBA Capital Plc

as at Friday, July 18, 2014

Packaging/Containers Avon Crowncaps & Container Nigerian Bags Manufacturing Company

Metals Aluminium Extrusion Ind Plc

1.69 2.74 7.46

5.94 1.47 8.26

0.19 0.44 2.62 0.20 0.09 0.00 0.00

0.5 0.25 0.00

0.78 0.13

0.00 88.50 0.00 3.07 9.05 14.13 0.00 0.00

39.60 9.16 0.00

7.37 85.77

Non-Metalic Mineral Mining Multiverse Plc

0.50

0.50

200

0.50

0.50

0.01

0.00

Paper/Forest Products Thomas Wyatt Nig. Plc

0.79

0.79

1,000

1.38

1.38

0.00

0.00

Electronic and Electrical Products Cutix Plc Nigerian Wire & Cable Plc

1.82 0.50

1.80 0.50

300,000 10,000

2.50 2.58

1.62 2.58

0.11 0.00

13.15 0.00

1.44

1.44

2,000

1.51

1.33

Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Se Abbey Building Society Plc INDUSTRIAL GOODS Packaging/Containers Abplast Products Plc Beta Glass Co. Plc

0.03

28.80

3.98 16.30

3.98 16.30

6,888 6,974

3.98 15.58

3.98 12.71

0.00 3.90

0.00 3.26

Nampak Nigeria Plc Poly Products (Nig) Plc Studio Press (Nig) Plc W.A. Glass Ind. Plc

4.30 1.05 2.92 0.63

4.30 1.05 2.78 0.66

29,198 200 84,311 2,749,340

4.30 1.86 2.92 0.63

3.60 1.05 2.92 0.63

1.22 0.30 0.07 0.00

3.52 6.18 41.71 0.00

OIL AND GAS Energy Equipment and Services Japaul Oil & Maritime Service

0.58

0.57

3,830,307

0.97

0.87

0.19

6.06

Intergrated Oil and Gas Services Oando Plc

25.65

25.00

13,320,307

78.97

27.99

1.73

4.17

20.50 0.50 65.60 238.00 154.50 62.43 180.20

20.50 0.50 62.32 238.00 162.22 62.43s 180.00

82,191 10,000 197,729 134,911 164,573 32,938 65,851

37.10 0.70 5.59

0.50 0.50 3.89

4.93 0.00 0.61

7.40 0.00 6.99

163.50 2,100 240.00

141.00 63.86 195.50

6.11 2.98 14.63

11.11 19.23 17.07

0.51

0.00

Petroleum and Petroleum Products African Petroleum Plc Beco Petroleum Plc Conoil Forte Oil Nig Plc Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc MRS Oil Nigeria Plc Total Nigeria Plc Hospitality Tantalisers Plc

0.50

0.50

100

500

SERVICES Afromedia Plc Automobile/Auto Part Retailers RT Briscoe Plc

0.50

0.50

30

0.72

1.05

84,823

3.65

1.30

0.21

2.65 0.25

0.60 11.12

Courier/Freight/Delivery Red Star Express Plc Trans-National Employment Solutions C & I LEASING PLC Hotels/Lodging Capital Hotel Ikeja Hotel Plc

1.05 4.67 0.50 4.50 0.75

4.89 2.06

996,166 1.97

3.67 4,000

0.50

141,000

1.64

4.50 0.75

100 125,300

400 2.07

Media/Entertainment Daar Communications Plc

0.50

0.50

4,500

0.50

Printing & Publishing.

Academy Press Plc Learn Africa Plc Studio Press Nig. Plc University Press

1.71 1.65 2.40 4.40

1.71 1.65 2.40 4.32

500 35,615 540 440,963

3.68

0.89

Road Transportation Associated Bus Company Plc

0.00 6.82

0.01

0.90 3.00 1.33

0.04

12.75 8.19 4.91 11.25

0.34 0.92

34.09 2.12

0.48

0.00

0.00

3.17 0.30 0.00 3.60

0.25

12.19

0.54

27.69

0.00

0.00

0.88

897,260

0.80

Speciality Interlinked Technologies Plc

4.90

4.90

6

5.15

4.90

0.50

0.00

0.00

Transport-Related Services Airline Services and Logistics Plc Nigerian Aviation Handling Company

2.23 4.87

2.23 5.00

68,300 947,981

2.78 11.75

1.57 6.50

0.60 12.53

4.22 8.75

34 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

Capital Market

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 35

C M Y K

36 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

C M Y K

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 37

38 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

E-Commerce

‘Poor delivery, tracking systems greatest threats to e-retail startups’

D

eputy Managing Director of Nigeria’s online marketplace, Kaymu.com.ng, Evangeline Wiles has identified poor delivery and tracking systems as the greatest challenges facing startup ecommerce retailers.

She stated this while speaking on how small and medium enterprises can leverage on e-commerce.

Wiles noted that in recent times, electronic commerce has become a significant tool in unlocking job creation and innovation for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria.

E-commerce and mobile commerce, she explained, have dramatically changed the way small businesses reach customers, making it faster and easier for consumers to make purchases on the go while avoiding the hassles of going to the store.

“The online marketplace provides a springboard for SMEs, transcending local and regional boundaries to attain a global reach.

Many SMEs are taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by ecommerce to tap into a bigger clientele, new market and increase their revenue. We’re now living in a time when competition is driving brands to innovate, giving their customers better products, customizable options, efficient delivery and more purchasing channels to choose from,” she said.

She however noted that large retailers have set the bar high for SMEs who are just looking to break into the e-commerce market, adding that, “For small retailers, one of the most pressing challenges faced is poor delivery and tracking system.”

She said the proliferation of SMEs into e-commerce presents new challenges for this sector that do not yet have the capacity to overcome them without help.

She noted that, “For an online marketplace such as Kaymu that provides a platform for buyers and sellers to conduct business transactions, we have seen cases whereby the seller has a good product offering, great image quality and the most competitive price but does not have the capacity to deliver”.

She said that, “To address the challenges, e-commerce platforms have to provide technical assistance to sellers on their platforms by providing SMEs market intelligence, spotting opportunities and developing specific delivery solutions for SMEs to effectively work in the online marketplace.”

She therefore called on delivery companies and systems to operate a functional delivery process that facilitates prompt and efficient delivery and tracking system as this is pertinent to SME growth in the country.

Survey shows voice, social media driving low end mobile commerce Stories by JONAH NWOKPOKU

N

igeria has about 120 million mobile phone users. That is about 69 per cent mobile penetration. Out of these, 27 percent, about 27 million use smartphones, the rest, about 77 percent, still use dumbphones or feature phones.

This is according to recent survey by Ericson.

At the moment, major internet penetration has been achieved through mobile and that largely accounts for the 8.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product that comes from the telecommunications sector. However, with the dearth of data in Nigeria, it has always been difficult establishing what is driving the growth.

It also makes it difficult to make empirically based prediction on economic progression.

Recently a technology innovation ecosystem, Co-creation Hub, conducted a local survey to determine what people at low end of the market do with their phones. The survey highlights the crucial role that mobile plays in the e-commerce inclusion especially at the low of the market. It also buttresses the point that mobile remains a vibrant alternative with

•Infographics of the Grand Convergence theory by Tomi Ahonen huge potential when it comes to all Convergence’ theory, Ahonen .postulated inclusive market penetration. that different media and media tools are Proponents of mobile like the Finish converging on mobile resulting to what mobile expert; Tomi Ahonen has he termed the battle for the pocket. The propounded a theory on mobile which implication is that such media as partly explained the trend observed computers, camera, internet, print, social during the survey. Called the ‘Grand media, advertising, broadcast, music, gaming etc are converging on mobile making it all the more irresistible. The survey revealed that besides voice services, social media activities on Facebook and Whatsapp dominate usage of mobile phones. The survey studied 53 traders at the Sabo Yaba market in Lagos.

They consisted of 29 females and 24 segment of the auto market. Also since males. Among what the survey studied we make our money through listing fees, included the kind of mobile phones mostly it is just imperative that we work closely used by the respondents, network with them.”He pledged that Carmudi will providers subscribed to, airtime top up continue to focuses on quality control and range, action mostly performed, data plan fraud protection. subscribed to and mobile applications On his part, the Acting President of mostly used. According to the results of United Berger Motors Dealers Association, the survey, 52 respondents representing Barrister Mmaduabuchukwu Akudu said 98.5 percent use their phones mostly for Carmudi’s services have impacted voice calls, 36 percent use Facebook while significantly on their sales margin because 30 percent use Whatsapp. This is followed of the internet’s ability to reach target by Blackberry messenger, BBM, 2go, market which they would ordinarily not Twitter and Instagram with 22, 14, and 8 have been able to reach. “Because of our percents respectively. The survey also poor level of computer literacy, it was showed that young people between the difficult for us to embrace Carmudi’s age of 26 and 35 constitute the majority of services in the beginning. But by the time mobile phone users as 44 percent of those we began to see that Carmudi services surveyed fall within that age bracket while impact on our sales, it became a paradigm 38 percent fall in between 18 and 25.

It also showed that Nokia and Tecno shift as our total turnover completely dominated segment of the market with doubled in less than a month. I believe 38 percentthat each while MTN and Airtel that Carmudi has come to help us improve led in network subscription with 48 and on our business. They have brought a 42 percent respectively. positive change into the auto sales Also covered in the survey is data usage business,” he said. which stood at 54 percent.

Carmudi unveils mobile app to boost online car market N

igeria’s online car classified, Carmudi.com.ng has introduced a mobile application for android devices.

The mobile application which was unveiled during the company’s car dealers forum in Lagos, will allow users browse through over thirty thousand cars listed on Carmudi’s website.The company said with over 30,000 vehicles listed online in Nigeria and 200,000 globally, the app will give users the opportunity and a rewarding experience of buying cars while on the move. It noted that the app is also available to Android users in 20 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. The app is also available in nine different languages.

Features The app features the same usability and filter functions as the official website.

Customers can filter searches either by brand, model, year or price. Users can also share listings on various social platforms to gain opinions from friends and family if they are unsure. Speaking on the app, Co-Founder and Head of Business Development, Carmudi Africa, Karl-Johan Sturesson, said, “We want to bring the massive choice of cars to the fingertips of our users all over Africa. This is a huge milestone for Carmudi Africa and is a natural step in our ongoing strategy of being in the frontline when it comes to business development.

“The app will allow millions of users across Africa to find their dream car in just a single tap. We already have over one million users visiting our website globally every month. Carmudi is changing the way consumers search and shop for cars.

With mobile phones accounting for more than a third of the internet usage in the emerging world, Carmudi’s app will further strengthen its dominance there.”

Also speaking at the forum, Managing Director of Carmudi Nigeria, Christian Keller, disclosed that the app has achieved over 5,000 downloads within one week of its launch.

On the forum, he said, “The gathering is important to us since we need a synergy with the car dealers to boost access to this

E-Payment: Stakeholders strategise to enhance Govt revenue

S

takeholders in the e-payment services sector have begun a strategic move to boost government revenue through electronic payment. The move was further enhanced during this year's edition of the annual e-payment conference organised by the e-Payment Providers Association of Nigeria, held in Abuja recently. The event had in attendance e-payment providers like E-transact, Interswitch, Citiserve, Unified payments, Nibbs, NimC, etc. The event saw a gathering of different stakeholders inclduing the federal and state governments and other government agencies coming together to design a roadmap for the e-payments sector in Nigeria. This years’ event had the theme: ‘Increasing government revenue generation using e—payment services” and issues discussed ranged from ways

to drive the adoption of mobile money, enabling e-payments for the National Housing fund, to the payments side to the national identity card scheme and the role of government in payments among other issues. Giving a keynote address at the event, Mr. Valentine Obi, CEO of eTranzact International PLC represented

by Mr. Sullivan Akala, Executive Director, Business development of eTranzact said, “This summit has provided an avenue for key stakeholders to come together and set agenda that would truly move e-payment in Nigeria to the next level. Every year at this summit, eTranzact has had several things to celebrate and even more this year as we have been working hard on different projects that will truly help to achieve the different e- payment goals we have as a nation.”

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 39

Business & Economy

BY PETER EGWUATU

A

S competition becomes tense in the banking industry globally, Ecobank Nigeria has taken the bull by the horns to come out with services aimed at attracting high net worth customers and thus boost earnings.

This initiative is coming after the Ecobank Group’s 2014 Annual General Meeting, AGM held recently in Lome Togo, where shareholders were assured of protection of their investment through value creation.

However, Ecobank has overcome its governance lapses, with the appointment of Emmanuel Ikazoboh, an accountant with 35 years of experience as the Group’s new Chairman, Addressing shareholders at the AGM, the outgoing Interim Chairman, André Siaka, commented: “The board is committed to establishing the highest standards of corporate governance. We will learn from the recent past, address all of the issues and lay firm foundations for Ecobank’s continued success in the future.”

Reviewing Ecobank’s 2013 financial results, Group Chief Executive, Albert Essien, said: “The fundamentals of our business are strong and I am excited by the huge potential of our unique platform. However, I will not shy away from key areas that need to be addressed, including improving our profitability by driving efficiency across our entire network. Our performance in the first quarter of 2014 has been significantly ahead of the equivalent period last year, which gives the board confidence regarding Ecobank’s prospects for the year as a whole.”

Why banks are reinventing:

Meanwhile, the Bank last week launched a premier banking initiative that would attract more customers and thus boost profitability and enhance shareholders value.

Globally, service delivery is assuming a bigger impact on the well-being of organizations as a result of the changing demands of the business landscape. New dimensions are being introduced across different sectors of the world economy as businesses, small and big, local and transnational, have now embraced differentiation as a competitive strategy to optimize their Return-On-

With presence in about 33 African Countries and ambitious projection for continued growth of the bank by reaching deep into key markets with ingenious innovation, Ecobank appears set on reasserting its huge influence on the High Networth Individuals market segment.

In his reaction, Ecobank Group Executive, Domestic Bank, Patrick Akinwutan who stood in for the Group Chief Executive Officer, Albert Essien said Premier Banking by Ecobank is one of several activities lined up by the bank to affirm its commitment to Africa, and to strengthen its effectiveness in all its areas of operation. In his words: “We are leveraging our best talents and experiences across the bank to achieve feats like this”.

Ecobank reinvents customer service delivery to boost profitability

Investments (ROI) while also delivering top notch services to key customers and trade partners who crave for such valued deliverables.

Nigerian Banks too are dancing to the differentiation tune because of the changing taste, desire and improved economic statistics paraded by consumers in the country.

According to the Nigerian government, owing to the recently rebased Nigerian economy, the revised Gross Domestic Product, GDP for 2013 is now N80.2 trillion (or US$509.9 billion). This is an increase of about 89 per cent based on the old GDP estimates for 2013 which was N42.4 trillion (or US$269.5 billion). With this in mind, any financial services provider who knows its onion and is primed for performance optimization would want to plug into the emerging economic power in the subSaharan Africa from whatever angle the opening comes.

Here in Nigeria, Ecobank recently unveiled its dedicated premium banking product tagged Premier Banking Service which is targeted at high net worth customers of the bank. The Ecobank Premier Banking personalizes banking services that suits individual lifestyles of customers in a collaborative way that provides additional value beyond everyday banking.

The launch that ushered the new Ecobank Premier Banking came with a loud statement; style, fun, networking and business together at the epoch event.

The bank, no doubt, has its hand on the huge Nigerian massive business pie with the presence of frontline investors, industrialists, politicians, diplomats, Senior Media Executives, Bankers

and premium celebrities.

Personalities like Executive Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Dimeji Bankole, Former Minister of Health, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, Chairman of Vigeo Holdings, Mr. Victor Gbolade Osibodu and Executive Director, Business Day, Mr. Philip Isakpa were among the array of colourful personalities that graced the launch.

The new Premier Banking initiative which the Bank’s management said marks the

preferential rates as well as special Platinum cards with full insurance protection. If a customer loses the card, it is replaced free within 24 hours.

On reasons for the premier banking initiative: peaking at the unveiling of this new service in Victoria Island, Lagos, Ecobank Nigeria Managing Director, Jibril Aku said the new Premier Banking initiative gives customers the privilege to have a variety of exclusive lifestyle benefits, including preferential airline and hotel rates and unparalleled

S

,

REVIEW

Nigerian banks too are dancing to the differentiation tune because of the changing taste, desire and improved economic statistics paraded by consumers in the country.

,

beginning of a redefinition of banking in Nigeria is characterized with the appointment of dedicated Relationship Managers as primary points of contact providing a twenty four hour, seven days a week (24/7) financial advisory service to Premier Banking customers and their family. Whether at an Ecobank branch or at the customer ’s home, personal Relationship Managers will be there to help customers make the right banking decisions.

Also, Premier Banking customers are offered a range of multi- currency savings and lending products with

rewards from luxury brand retailers across the world. He said they will also have the added assurance of purchase protection, safe custody and private services.

In his words, Aku said “Ecobank Premier Banking is a tailored service uniquely for the customer; just the way he wants it. At Ecobank we believe when something is exclusively designed for you, it feels like the perfect fit. The desire to provide our Premier Banking customers with the perfect fit for their busy lifestyle led to the birth of this service”.

A

lso speaking, Ecobank Head, Personal Banking, Mrs. Olukorede Demola-Adeniyi said the birth of Premier Banking by Ecobank redefines banking service delivery in the country.

According to Olukorede, whose role is more of Chief Relationship Manager, Premier Banking by Ecobank is a testimony to the bank's avowed committment to its vision to continually provide its retail and wholesale customers with convenient, accessible and reliable banking and financial services.

To the Chairman of Ecobank, The Olor ’ogun (Dr.) Sonny Kuku, the Bank’s offering is as unique as the people driving it. He assured that the newly launched Premier Banking product is to serve premium customers of the bank in a more personal way.

Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola’s perspective was very emphatic on the milestone achieved by Ecobank. “I am delighted that Ecobank has done well for itself here. I am happy that Ecobank and other banks have continued to find our land and State a place where you can call home. I congratulate the board, management and staff of the bank for the change and milestones that represents a strategic direction in which the bank is heading”.

Given the enviable pedigree of Ecobank and its sustained push for greater heights in the areas of innovation and customer service, the new Premier Banking product could be rightly described as a demonstration of a vision to expand the horizon of customer satisfaction beyond the ordinary level. In this regard, the bank’s well-earned reputation as a front liner has again been demonstrated.

40 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

Appointment vicahiyoung@yahoo.com 08033348923

Ettah, UAC GMD, now NECA’s President

N

IGERIA Employers Consultative Association, NECA, has elected the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, GMD/ CEO, of UAC of Nigeria PLC, UACN, Mr. Larry Ephraim Ettah, as President.

While Dr. M.J. Yinusa, the Managing Director, DN Tyre & Rubber Plc, was elected - 1st VicePresident, Mr. Joseph Hudson, the Managing Director, Lafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria Plc, emerged 2nd Vice-President.

Alhaja Titi Bakare , the Managing Director, VonoFoam is Honourable Treasurer.

The UAC GMD/CEO emerged President of NECA in an election held during the 57th Annual General Meeting, AGM, of the association held in Lagos.

Mr. Ettah started his career in UAC as Management Trainee in 1988, and was promoted to the Board of UACN in 2004. The new NECA President was appointed Group Managing Director/ CEO of UAC on 1st January 2007. He holds B.Sc. degree in Industrial Chemistry (1985); MBA (1988)

both from University of Benin and he also a graduate of the renowned Executive Programme of Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, USA.Prior to his elevation to the current position, Larry held several senior management positions in the Company.

He is the Chairman of the following public quoted companies; UAC Property Development Company Plc (UPDC); Chemical & Allied Products Plc, CAP; Portland Paints & Products Nigeria Plc; •Larry and Livestock Feeds Plc and Ephraim Vice-President (Multinationals) of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN). He is also a Council Member, Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI).

Swipha bags GMP certification

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From Left: Country Director, International Republican Institute, IRI, Mrs. Robina Namusisi; Political Strategist, Mr. Craig Smith, Mrs. Bunmi Oke, former President of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria, AAAN and newly elected President Mr. Kelechi Nwosu at an Interactive Session with Smith on the theme ‘’Preparing to Run”, in Abuja

wiss Pharmaceutical Nigeria Limited has received GMP certification form the World Health Organisation, WHO. The certification makes the company the first to be GMP certified in West Africa by WHO.The Minister of Health, Dr. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said the certification had placed Nigeria on the global radar of countries that can provide finished pharmaceutical products.

According to him, the company’s journey to the WHO pre-qualification started in 2006 when the board of directors of the company approved that the company pursued the WHO prequalification after being the first pharmaceutical company in Nigeria to attain NIS ISO6001:2008 certification.

SURE-P rehabilitates eight skills acquisition centres

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UBSIDY Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, SURE-P has completed the rehabilitation of eight Skills Acquisition Centres across the Federation, in an effort to create more employment opportunities for teeming unemployed Nigerian youths.The rehabilitation was done through the Technical Vocational Education and Training, TVET, Project of SURE-P.Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, announced this when he commissioned the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Skills Acquisition Centre, Bauchi, and Industrial Training Fund Centre of Excellence, Jos, respectively.

According to the Minister, “the mandate of the TVET component of SURE-P, is to reduce unemployment and poverty in Nigeria through skills acquisition as well as investing in technical/ vocational training infrastructure to meet the changing

technological needs in the production of goods and services, this will enable our Country to compete favourably in

International Trade, thereby creating more employment opportunities for our teeming youths”.

ELAN elects new Board , Onwuchekwa now chairman

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QUIPMENT Leasing Association of Nigeria, ELAN, has elected a new Board of Directors, with Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, MD/ CEO Aquila Leasing Limited, Mr. Chuka Onwuchekwa, as chairman.The election was held th during ALAN’s 19 Annual General Meeting, AGM, in Lagos.Onwuchekwa was a member of the immediate Board and he is bringing to bear, his wealth of experience in the leasing industry to reposition the association as a top class Business Membership Organisation, BMO, that would support the promotion of the leasing business in Nigeria.

In his acceptance remarks, Onwuchekwa said “It is important for the Association to continue to pursue activities that would lead to the attainment of the Association’s primary objective of promoting leasing business in Nigeria. Essentially, considerable efforts shall be made to be more responsive to the needs of members through activities that would enhance their practice as lessors to sustain their interest in the Association.

Akpata becomes NBCC Director General

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HE Executive Committee of the NigerianBritish Chamber of Commerce, NBCC, has appointed Mrs. Joyce Akpata, new Director General of NBCC.A statement by the Chamber, said Akpata is a law graduate from the University of Abuja, an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries and Administrators as well as the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK. According to the statement, Akpata brings to the Chamber experiences she has garnered in her previous employments.

Prior to her joining the Chamber, the statement said she was Head, Legal and Administration at Lovac Speculari Limited and Company Secretary and Legal Adviser at Odade Investments Limited, a role she effectively combined with that of Head, Consultancy Unit of Odade Consulting Services Limited.”Apata is a dynamic and resourceful individual whose sphere of experience includes legal and company secretarial practice, corporate administration, training, Joyce Akpata development and delivery, she is slated to resume duty on Tuesday, 1st July, 2014,” the statement maintained.

Kelechi Nwosu emerges AAAN president

*COMMISSIONING - Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, flanked by Madakin Bauchi, Alhaji Baba Gidado (m) and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Clement Illoh, during the commissioning of the Ministry's Skills Aquisition Centre in Bauchi

CEO of TBWA/ Concepts Nigeria, Mr. Kelechi Nwosu, has been elected President of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria, st AAAN.He emerged President at the 41 Annual General Meeting, AGM/Election of the association in Abuja.The new president contested against Lanre Adisa, the CEO of Noah’s Ark. Speaking on his plans, Kelechi said one of his priorities would be empowering members.

Kelechi who had served the association in various capacities also promised to make professionalism his focal point as he would energise the committees particularly the training and development committee, saying “We need our training to be more often and more qualitative and get revenue from there. We are looking towards starting the training academy in the next 12 months. We need to plan for the academy and not just jump into it given the experience we have had in the past.”

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 41

Tax Matters

Shifting Tax Monies - The Transfer Pricing Phenomenon W

HEN a subsidiary of Coca-Cola in Ghana transfers (that is, sells) goods, services or know-how to a Coca-Cola subsidiary in Nigeria, the price charged for these goods or services is called ‘transfer price’ and the transaction is referred to as a transaction between ‘connected persons’. The transfer price may be purely arbitrary (i.e. unrelated to costs incurred, operations carried out or to added value) or it could be different from the price which unconnected persons would charge for similar transactions in an open market. Where the latter is the case, both the taxman and the treasury are content. In the former circumstances, the taxman is drawn into investigating the operations involved.

Transfer pricing has become a buzz word, steeped in controversy and not very well understood. However, transfer pricing per se is not illegal or a crime. This is because, tax planning is allowed by law. It is transfer manipulation or mispricing that puts the taxpayer on the wrong side of the law, where the venture effectively lowers or completely erases the tax burden of the taxpayer.

The attention transfer mispricing is getting is justified on account of the volume of international trade within the control of multinationals. With transfer mispricing, transfer price is set at a level which reduces or even cancels out the total tax which has to be paid by the multinational. Research available on a UK website, www.taxresearch.org.uk estimates that about 60 percent of international trade happens within, rather than between multinationals; that is, across national boundaries but within the same corporate group.

Suggestions have been made that this figure may be closer to 70 percent. In addition to the foregoing, the attention cannot be dissociated from the current orientation towards payment of ‘fair tax’.

Transfer mispricing is of importance to governments because it provides multinationals a means of depriving the government of the needed revenue. Estimates vary as to how much tax revenue is lost by governments due to transfer mispricing.

Global Financial Integrity in Washington estimates the amount to be several hundred billion dollars annually.

Christian Aid (March 2009)

N300). This loss can be carried forward by B and used as setoff against future tax liability.

Thus, A pays a company ’s income tax of N60 on their profits while the B has the capacity of reducing its future tax bill by N60. The effect of this is that the group gets a tax rebate of N60. The overall result is that the profit after tax becomes N300 (i.e.

N240 + N60 rebate).

estimated that about $1.1 trillion in bilateral trade mispricing came into the EU and the US alone from non-EU countries from 2005 to 2007.

Transfer mispricing is embarked upon by multinationals because of the variance in tax rates and policies amongst nations.

Though the object is the same: a reduction of the tax burden by the adoption of transfer prices not determined by market forces, i.e. transfer mispricing comes in different forms. It can be achieved by paying some tax, paying no tax or even getting tax rebates.

Paying Some Tax Case 1 ‘A’ which is a subsidiary company in Uganda buys goods at N100 each, repackages and exports them to ‘B’, a parent company in Nigeria at a selling price of N200 each. The profit is N100.

Company B then resells for N300 and makes a profit of N100. The group’s assessable profit is thus N200 (N100 in Uganda and another N100 in Nigeria).

Ordinarily, these transactions are harmless. However, considering the tax rates of the respective states, the conclusion could be different.

Assuming that companies income tax for company A is 20% (amounting to N20) and companies income tax in company B is 60% (amounting to N60), this effectively makes the group’s net profit N120 (i.e.

N200 – N80). The subsidiary company in Uganda contributed N80 to this profit, while the parent company in Nigeria contributed N40. The profit after tax generated by the parent company is smaller because they paid a company’s income tax of 60% as against the 20% paid by the subsidiary company.

Case 2 Assuming the transfer price is now N280 while B’s selling price still remains N300. The effect of this is a shifting of profit before tax from B’s home country (i.e. Nigeria, which has a company’s income tax of 60%) to A’s host country (i.e.

Uganda which has a company’s income tax of 20%).

This implies that A and B would pay N36 and N12 respectively as tax in their countries of incorporation; bringing the total tax paid by the group to N48 (i.e. N36 + N12). With the profit before tax still N200; the profit after tax becomes N152 (i.e. N200 N48). To this end, A contributes

N144 while B contributes N8.

By increasing the transfer price from N200 to N280, the overall profit after tax has increased by a staggering 27% i.e. from N120 to N152.

Paying No Tax Case 3 Assuming again that the transfer price is N300 and that after repackaging, B resells at N300. This means that A sells to B at N300 making a profit of N200, while B makes no profit.

The companies’ income tax due from A at 20% is now N40 while B will be charged nil tax since it did not make profit from the sale. Thus, the group’s profit after tax becomes N160 (i.e.

N200 – N40). To this, A

Case 5 We can take this one step further by making the transfer price N500.

Company A now makes a profit of N400 and B makes a loss of N200.

Company A pays companies income tax of N80 on its profit while B earns the capacity of reducing its future tax bill by N120 and in effect getting a rebate of N120. In the circumstances, the group gets a tax rebate of N120 in Nigeria, pays N80 companies income tax in Uganda and is left with a gain of N40 (N120 - N80) on this transaction. Adding this to the profit increases the profit after tax from N400 to N440.

Conventional Approaches to Confronting Transfer Mispricing The conventional international approach to dealing with transfer mispricing is through the ‘arm’s length’ principle. This implies that a transfer price should be the same as if the

,

By EMBUKA ANNA

Transfer mispricing does not result in more efficient or costeffective production, transport, distribution or retail processes in the real world

contributes N160 and B contributes nothing. This implies that all the profits have been shifted to the subsidiary company in Uganda. Hence, B does not pay tax in Nigeria.

With this arrangement, B has effectively shifted its profit to a lower tax jurisdiction by declaring a loss.

Getting Tax Repayments Case 4 This case shows what happens if the transfer price is increased to N400. Company A makes a profit of N300 and B makes a loss of N100 if it resells at N300 (i.e. N400 –

,

two companies involved were unrelated parties negotiating in a free market and not part of the same corporate structure.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the United Nations Tax Committee have both endorsed the arm’s length principle, and it is widely used as the basis for bilateral treaties between governments.

In August 2012, Nigeria enlisted itself amongst the countries that are eager to curtail the incidences of transfer pricing when it published and gazetted the Income Tax (Transfer Pricing)

Regulations No. 1, 2012. The regulation is aimed at addressing the problems associated with profit shifting by multinationals as well as incidences of tax evasion that are entrenched in ‘over ’ or ‘under’ pricing of controlled transactions between associated enterprises. The regulation takes effect from the basis period beginning after the 2nd day of August, 2012.

Transfer Mispricing Shifts the Tax Obligation and Leads to Deprivation The government of every country or state spends money on behalf of its citizens for the provision of social goods and services, amongst other things.

And one of the sources of such money (revenue) is taxation.

Government collects some of this revenue from citizens and companies by means of an equitable tax on income. A tax is equitable when it treats all taxpayers equally and at the same time takes into cognizance their difference.

The latter ensures that those who earn more pay more than those who earn less.

Where a multinational has increased its profits by the employment of tax avoidance strategies like transfer mispricing, it shifts taxable income. Since government’s expenses have not changed, it must make up this shortfall in revenue from other tax bases or taxpayers. Therefore, transfer mispricing has the potential of increasing the burden on other taxpayers while the multinational’s profits increases. Where the government chooses not to increase the burden on other taxpayers to complement the revenue shortfall, the consequence is a revenue – expenditure gap. This eventually would lead to depriving the citizens of social goods and services or a reduction in the quantity and quality of goods and services.

Conclusion From the foregoing, it is safe to conclude that transfer mispricing by multinationals increases their profits at the expense of other taxpayers as the venture effectively imposes a tax on other taxpayers. This is a far cry from earning reasonable profits in an open market where the market forces hold sway.

Transfer mispricing does not result in more efficient or costeffective production, transport, distribution or retail processes in the real world. The end result of transfer pricing is that revenue ordinarily due to governments are converted into higher profits for multinational companies when they are shifted artificially away from the jurisdiction entitled to it to another (often times a jurisdiction with low or zero tax rates).

42 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

Advertising, Media & Marketing

New proposition pushes First Bank’s growth strategy Stories by PRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

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ndoubtedly, innovation is playing an increasingly important role in the Nigerian financial services sector. One key area is the creation of ICT products and marketing proposition strategies tailored towards the Nigerian and African markets, which are crucial to the sector’s growth.

This presently resonates with the First bank brand, after introducing a refreshed corporate identity, The bank is launching a new brand proposition: You First. Today, the bank has raised the bar by evolving a new proposition line.

‘You First’ encapsulates the idea that the bank puts its customers at the centre of its business, while endeavouring to provide customers with the best service always. The new proposition signals the bank’s intention to achieve the ‘gold standard’ status in customer service at every conceivable touch point, where the ‘you’ in You First refers to ‘the Nigerian.’

Speaking, Ajunwa Eze, a customer, said: “with the new proposition the bank appears more committed to a lifelong partnership with its customers, by providing them with tools and resources they need to achieve success and build the life they want.”

The proposition expresses the bank’s consideration for its customers First, while placing

them at the heart of their business, like Mr. Jude Ude, a marketing professional of Marketing Concept Nigeria puts it, “if a company says it considers its customers first in whatever its does, the company is not kidding, and cannot make empty promises because it reputation is at stake – that means everything it does is done with the customer ’s needs, goals and dreams in mind.

The bank has continued to propose that it is committed to customers success: “we ensure that we understand your vision and your challenges, so we can provide solutions that are not just innovative, but relevant and effective. We are driven by

your satisfaction; we strive to surpass expectations, delivering the ‘gold standard’ experience to you at all touch points.”

For many couples, home ownership seems a distant dream, which is why the bank understands the power embedded in partnership, thus offering joint mortgage product that allows couples to combine resources to buy property, offers LPO Financing, which allows small businesses to execute jobs, thereby enabling them to grow their business.

The bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR efforts in Health and Education supports the development and progress of vulnerable Nigerians, creating opportunities for them to succeed.

he House of Representative has stated that it cannot ban smoking in its totality, but can institute laws that will control smoking in public places.

Chairman, House Committee on Health, Honourable Godwin Elumelu, who gave this indication while presiding over final public hearing on the National Tobacco Control Bill, NTCB, however assured tobacco firms in the country that government was not frightening them out of business, but only intends to ensure that rights of nonsmokers are protected.

“We must let you know that we not chasing you (tobacco operators) away. The bill is meant to control and regulate tobacco and its impact on the people. So don’t feel that way,” he said.

Similarly, Chairman, House

Broken promises Keep your promises. Whenever you promise to call, do call. When you promise to come or deliver, always do so.

You are building your credibility and a reputation for reliability. The reward for both you and your business is tremendous. Those sales people who make glib promises they don’t intend to keep will definitely reap the outcome of a poor credibility rating.

Keeping callers on hold for too long It is better to call back than to keep a caller on hold for too long. That way you save the customer both time and money.

But how long is too long? I think a minute is already too long. This is why telecom customer care lines are great irritants to customers. From experience, to get through to customer care representative on those lines, you need to wait for at least 20 minutes. Although the customer doesn’t pay cash for such calls, they do pay a lot in terms of time and stress. By the time they get to speak to a customer care person, they are usually a little more irritable.

Asking callers to use another line This sucks, especially when you know the other line does not work. We often hear,”This is a direct line.” So what?

Secretaries enjoy saying this, as if the telephone line were a symbol of their authority or position in the organisation.

If you can’t reach the person the caller wants, say so politely.

Take down the caller’s details or message and promise to pass it on.

Vilifying your competitors You should respect your competitors. Don’t run them down.

LAUNCH: Lampe Omoyele, Director, Africa Marketing, Glaxo SmithKline (left) and Uloma Umeano,CEO, Customer CentriCity Limited at the launch of Customer Service Training Videos by Customer CentriCity Limited in Lagos.

Tobacco Bill: We can’t ban smoking — REPS

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Things customers hate

Committee on Justice, Hon. Walid Hammad said: “We cannot ban smoking, but we must control it. The bill is not out to ban smoking and the tobacco companies.”

Hammed explained that his committee was drafted into the Health committee and had to participate in the hearing because of the legal implication of the Bill, and also to ensure that the views of every stakeholders such as civil society, groups, tobacco farmers and companies could be heard.

He said this will also help in enhancing and formulating a robust national framework for tobacco control such that everyone’s rights will be protected, noting that Nigeria is lacking behind in the global framework for tobacco control.

The minister of health, Chukwu Onyebuchi, represented by the Permanent

Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Mr. Linus Awute, said the bill is of great importance considering the country’s quest to save non-smokers.

He cautioned stakeholders against losing sight of government’s intention with the Bill considering the aggressive way both pro and anti-tobacco smoking advocates were going about it.

“We should note that the bill is not about ban on tobacco but health concern. We should not lose sight of that. However, we should subject the bill to existing global framework on tobacco, which Nigeria is a signatory to,” he said.

Meanwhile, the sponsor of a private bill on tobacco control, Hon. Yacoob Alebiosu, maintained that in spite of the contributions of the tobacco industry to the economy, there is need to also control the distribution and ensure that the supply chain players are licensed.

Present only facts and let the customer make up their mind.

Running your competitors down actually draws attention to them and makes you look desperate to make a sale. It is not a sin to acknowledge something good in the competition without diminishing the worth of your own product.

Avoiding customers No doubt, a lot of sales people indulge in hide-and-seek games with customers, especially those customers perceived as “difficult” or “troublesome.” People easily resort to customer avoidance when they have failed to deliver on their promises (see “Broken promises” above). Unfortunately, avoiding the customer not only irritates them but also complicates the service situation further. I think it’s simply escapist to avoid customers. It’s always better to face your challenges and get them resolved in a professional manner.

Better still, don’t put yourself in situations that will make you run from customers.

Refusing to pick calls This is another way of avoiding customers, isn’t it? If you are not able to pick the customer’s call (for whatever reasons), the customer has a right to expect you to return their calls as soon as possible. If you don’t return their calls, then they are justified to believe you’re avoiding them.

Letters with typographic errors or wrongly used words Always read through your letters and email. If the customer spots mistakes in your letter or email, he may think: if this guy is so sloppy with his letter, how am I sure he can perform? Why should I rely on him? In this age of eeverything, many of us are becoming a little careless. We are also relying a lot more on spellcheckers. Unfortunately, most spellcheckers will ignore your use of “site” instead of “cite”!

What are those things you don’t like as a customer? To share them on this page, send an email to: allwellnwankwo@gmail.com.

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 43

Aviation

COMMENCEMENT - From left: Head, Business Development and Marketing, Sanya Onayoade; Managing Director/CEO, Kayode Oluwasegun-Ojo; Executive Director, Operations, Norbert Bielderman, all of NAHCO Plc and Customs Area Controller, MMIA, Lagos, Comptroller Tajudeen Olanrewaju, at the commencement of the 24-hour cargo process at NAHCO's warehouse in Lagos.

contributions to the college. The presentation was made at Bristow Head office, Lagos.

Mr Collins also said . Bristow has w o r k i n g relationship with NCAT and a memoranda of understanding.

This working relationship has b e e n strengthened with Bristow sending an average of twenty graduate engineers

Bristow spends N800m on training zGives helicopter to NCAT

By LAWANI MIKAIRU

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ristow Helicopters has spent more than Eight Hundred Million Naira on manpower training in the last years. This has mostly been in the training of graduate engineers as maintenance engineers and instructors in Nigerian College of Civil Aviation, NCAT, Zaria.

This disclosure was made by the Head of Human Resources, Bristow Helicopters, Mr Olufemi Collins, while presenting Helicopter to Nigeria College of Civil Aviation, Zaria as part of their regular

annually to the college for training. The company has also sent six instructors of NCAT for refresher courses abroad and intends to send four more instructors this year.

Receiving the helicopter gift on behalf of the college, the Rector of NCAT, Captain Samuel Caulcrick expressed appreciation to Bristow for their continuous assistance and support to the college. Caulcrick revealed that the college has received gift in the past from Bristow. According to him “ Bristow has given us equipment in the past. This helicopter gift is just the latest. They are our partners”.

Micro-Finance

Group seeks enabling environment for business women STORIES BY PROVIDENCE OBUH

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olicy makers need to establish an enabling environment that will facilitate access to financial services for women entrepreneurs through the development of a supportive legal and regulatory framework.

This recommendation was made by the Association of Nigerian Women Business Network ANWBN at a business roundtable organised by Centre for International Enterprise, CIPE, in Lagos.

This further recommended that the Central Bank of Nigeria review its monetary policies to result in lowering of interest rates and also create enabling business environment, direct financial institutions on financial inclusion for women with regard to credit services, in line with the National financial

inclusion strategy.

“It is a fact that improving financial support for women would increase the number of new businesses, which in turn would boost economic activity, enable the expansion of old businesses, leading to increased productivity and growth. Financial empowerment enhances the bargaining power of women at the family level and this allows larger latitude for investment in child nutrition, health and education, thereby regenerating the work force,” ANWBN said.

Other recommendations are that the Bank of Industry should review its administrative procedures governing loans processing with a view to simplifying the process and eradicating bureaucracy and also review its scope to include cottage industries as the bulk of entrepreneurs engaged in micro businesses are to be found in the cottage sector, among other recommendations.

NEXIM Sealink Project:

Huge potential for reinvestment in WA

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ains from Nigerian Export-Import (NEXIM) Bank Sealink project will serve as a huge potential for reinvestment into the West African Sub-region, said the Managing Director, NEXIM Bank, Mr. Roberts Orya.

He said this during Sealink Investors Forum organised by NEXIM Bank in Lagos, stating that the volume of goods within the sub region are enormous as it cost about $2,500 or $3,000 to carry a 20 foot container from China to Lagos but to transport that container from Nigeria to Ghana or Senegal costs like N4, 000. This is a huge potential and leakages we are having within the sub region.

“These are the funds we are supposed to reinvest into the sub-region and create job for our people thereby alleviate poverty because we have huge amount of goods.

Return on investment on this particular initiative is the shortest. In the next two years, we would have broken even and begin to pay dividend, the two years we are projecting is just being conservative, and we can break even before two years.”

The Sealink Project is a regional/transnational maritime shipping company conceived by NEXIM Bank, Federation of the West and Central Africa Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FEWACCI) and TRANSIMEX, an integrated logistic services provider based in Cameroun to link seaports on the West and Central

UPMFB empowers 3,590 poor in Q1

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ot less than 3,590 poor persons were empowered by Umuchinemere Pro-credit Micro Finance Bank (UPMFB) in Enugu State in the first half of the year, June 30, 2014.

Meanwhile, about N532, 252, 750 worth of credit were disbursed to the beneficiaries in the period under review by the bank, owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Enugu.

In a statement, Head of Credit, UPMFB, Mr. Odinaka Okeke, said that the loans were aimed at improving the quality of life of the beneficiaries, through the Church’s economic evangelisation programme.

The statement signed by Public/Media Relations, Sir Abuchi Anueyiagu, indicated that a total of N468, 783, 250 was disbursed as loans to a total of 3,054 beneficiaries to lift them out of poverty.

The bank gave out a total of N63, 469,500 as overdraft to a total of 536 low income workers in the period under review to meet their financial needs and improve their quality of life.

African coast in order to facilitate trade and ensure smooth transportation of cargo and passengers within and between the two regions.

Orya pointed out that unlike the developed regions of the world, Africa has continued to under perform its growth and development potentials partly due to its low trade volumes.

CSR: Airtel unveils touching lives initiative

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s part of its CSR, Airtel Nigeria has unveiled Airtel Touching Lives, initiative to enrich Nigerians and provide succour to the underprivileged members of the society.

The initiative is one of the philanthropic gestures of the company designed to connect and alleviate the suffering of helpless people across the country. The programme allows Nigerians to nominate disadvantaged persons who are in need of care or special interventions.

Speaking at the media lunch of the initiative in Lagos, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya, said that the initiative marks a significant milestone in the company’s history of CSR interventions in the country.

The programme seeks to identify underprivileged persons with specific challenges, pains and struggles with the ultimate objective of providing the needed help to empower and enrich the lives of these individuals is targeted at providing timely aid to Nigerians irrespective of their gender, background or geographical locations.

Describing the initiative as timely, deliberate and responsive CSR aimed at empowering Nigerians and tackling the various challenges confronting millions of people, Ogunsanya said, “Airtel Touching Lives is going to be one of the pillars of touching lives because it is borne out of genuine desire to build equitable society.

44 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 45

C M Y K

46 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

Business & Ecocnomy

Airtel targets 18% customer base growth by year end

By KAYODE AMOLEGBE with Agency reports Bharti Airtel Nigeria (BHARTI) is targeting an 18 percent increase in its customer base over the final nine months in 2014 after regulator pressure hampered growth early in the year.

According to the head of the unit in Nigeria, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya, said in an interview that India’s largest mobile-phone operator plans to increase subscribers in Africa’s biggest economy to 30 million by the end of the year.

“I’m very very optimistic that there are no encumbrances against growth so I’m sure we’re going to reach the 30million mark,” he said. He added that, “Despite the environment and the issues we face, I think we’re still giving relatively good service to our customers.”

New Delhi-based Airtel had 25.5 million subscribers at the end of March, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC. NCC added that Nigeria is the company ’s biggest market outside India.

According to the NCC, Airtel unseated Nigeria’s Globacom Ltd., as the second largest operator in the country during the three months through March, behind Johannesburgbased MTN Group Ltd. All three companies were fined by the regulator for not meeting quality service standards in January and banned from

selling new SIM cards during March.

Nigeria which is Africa’s most populous nation with about 170 million people, is a target for mobile-phone companies despite epileptic power supply and frequent bomb attacks posing challenges to doing business. The total number of connected lines increased to 177 million as of the end of April, compared with 170

VISIT: From Left: Mr. T.S. Dayanand, Managing Director, GSK Consumer Nigeria Plc, Mr. Oscar Onyema, Director General, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr. Edmund Onuzo, Chairman, GSK Consumer Nigeria Plc, and Mr. Lekan Asuni, Managing Director, GSK Pharmaceuticals Ltd.. During a courtesy visit by Director General, Nigerian Stock Exchange, to GSK Consumer Nigeria Plc at the Head Office Ilupeju, Lagos, PHOTO; KEHNDE GBADAMOSI

Nigeria’s unsold crude mounts as September supply emerges

By KAYODE AMOLEGBE with Agency reports

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ARGE quantities of Nigerian crude oil cargoes for export are still unsold on Friday, even as September supply came to market, increasing pressure on the already weakened differentials.

It was learnt that about 20-25 of Nigerian cargoes are still available for sale out of a total figure of 65 for August which 40-45 have already been sold.

According to traders, it was the biggest supply excess they had seen for years and that sellers may be forced to keep differentials at multi-year lows to attract buyers.

“With the August cargo overhang going into the new September trading cycle, it’s hard to see any upside in grade differentials, especially for Nigerian,” a trader said.

The trader added that freight costs for suezmax-sized vessels were also acting as a deterrent to European buyers, who would look to buy cargoes from nearer destinations such as the C M Y K

million at the start of the year, according to NCC data.

Despites the challenges faced in Nigeria, Ogunsanya said the company is making N48.3 billion ($300 mln) plans to expand the company’s network and services in the country. He said, “We’re very bullish about Nigeria.” “We plan to spend about $300 million expanding Airtel’s network and services in the country this year.” “We have invested so much in marketing research to see what the customers want and we are delivering on those expectations.”

North Sea or Mediterranean.

“Freight has gone crazy, so people who are buying for later dates will wait in hope that prices will fall,” another trader said.

A provisional shipping list showed that Nigeria’s Qua Iboe crude stream will load 380,000 barrels per day (bpd) in September including two cargoes deferred from August,

down from an initially planned 398,000 bpd in August.

According to a trader, “The remaining cargoes for August loading had sold by Friday”.

Traders however said they would assess levels for September cargoes in the region of N193.2 ($1.20) over dated Brent, though offers had yet to emerge.

FINANCIAL INCLUSION:

CBN lauds Sterling Bank, Osun S

TERLING Bank Plc and the Osun State Government have been commended by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for its pioneering role in Agent Banking and Financial Inclusion in the country,. This commendation comes as the apex bank advised other financial institutions to ensure that more Nigerians currently ‘unbanked’ are financially serviced.

Speaking at the Workshop organized for Banks and other Financial Institutions on Financial Inclusion and Agent Banking, the CBN Assistant Director, Payment Policy & Oversight Banking Payment System; Mr. Olushola Agboola lauded the efforts of the Bank

and called for more to be done to ensure wider reach.

As a fallout of the Agent Banking Scheme which the Bank launched in Lagos last year with the former CBN Governor and current Emir of Sokoto, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi in attendance, Sterling Bank has empowered over 100 indigenes of Osun State and a larger number of others.

Sterling Bank’s Head of Financial Inclusion, Mr. Richard Osungboye who also spoke at the just concluded Workshop in Oshogbo, said with the collaborative efforts between the CBN and the Osun State government , the percentage of rural people yet to be captured in the financial

system will reduce drastically.

He particularly commended the Osun State government’s plan to adopt the “Cooperative Model” for the establishment of MFBs as approved by the CBN. Further plans of the Government include collaborating with the Microfinance Institutions [MFIs] & Deposit Money Banks to increase the number of Point-of sales [PoS] and Automated Teller Machines [ATMs] in all 30 LGAs, encourage civil servants and other individuals or companies that do business with it to use available financial institutions and establishment of Entrepreneurship Development Centers across the state.

Winner emerge in risk manager’s award Adebola Surakat has emerged Risk Manager of the Year in the inaugural 2013 Nigerian Risk Awards, winning an all-expense paid trip to attend one of the international risk management conferences, hosted by the Risk Management Society (RIMS) in the United State of America.

Mrs. Surakat, who became the winner of the maiden edition, Nigerian Risk Awards 2013, recently returned from the RIMS conference in Denver, United State of America.

Sharing her experience, she said, “The event was very educative, inspiring and resourceful and the networking capabilities during the event cannot be overemphasized.

There were many highlights for me during the event and I cannot begin to list them all. I had a great opportunity to learn important lessons from professionals across different walks of life, which I believe will have a positive influence on my work.”

The Nigerian Risk Awards is a yearly event aimed at recognising individuals and organisations that are

Enterprise Bank calls advises cardholders on anti-fraud Enterprise Bank Limited has called on its MasterCard holders to protect their cards against the trending internet fraudsters by subscribing to MasterCard Secure Code.

A statement from Corporate Communications Department of the financial institution said that Secure Code provides a second level authentication of Cardholder when performing on-line transactions. This solution is supported by MasterCard to offer cardholders additional comfort and security of their card details when it is used on-line.

Emphasising on the need for all Enterprise Bank customers to secure their MasterCard by carrying out this simple exercise, the statement explained that when making an internet purchase, the cardholder ’s identity is authenticated at the point of payment before the merchant submits an authorisation request.

The bank said customers can carry out this exercise from the comfort of their homes or offices by visiting Enterprise Bank website to register all the

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 47

Business & Ecocnomy

Diamond Bank makes 37 millionaires from promo D

IAMOND Bank Plc has made 37 more Nigerians millionaires in its on-going DiamondXtra Mid-Year promo.

The millionaires emerged through a raffle draw that was designed to appreciate the loyalty of DiamondXtra account holders. The lucky winners include one prize winner with a grand prize of Salary4Life (N100,000 every month for 20 years); Kenechukwu Godfrey won N2 million while 35 others won N1 million each.

Speaking, Mr. Uzoma Dozie, Deputy Managing Director, Diamond Bank Plc, said, “Diamond Bank has been surprising people for about six years with the DiamondXtra draws that comes up regularly.

The draw is one of the product’s propositions, and as such, we have kept to our promise to our customers by holding the draw regularly. Many mouthwatering prizes are won through the reward scheme,” he said.

Olumide Akindele, Head, Consumer Propositions, said the draw, which is in its sixth season, has rewarded over 4,000 customers with over N3

billion naira. The various categories of amount that has been won ranges from N250,000 naira to Salary4Life.

He continued: “This proposition is to encourage customers to save. With N5,000 in your DiamondXtra account, you are qualified to be a part of the draws. More than 60

people have so far been rewarded with Salary4life.”

While highlighting the integrity of the draw, Mr. Bright Anaekwe of KMPG revealed that the process of picking the winners is just and fair. He stated that for a customer to be eligible for one slot in the draw, he must have

a minimum of N5,000 balance in his DiamondXtra account while other multiples of N5,000 increases the chances of winning. The e-draw is also audited from the backend to ensure that the numbers are not preselected.

Two past winners of Salary4Life in 2012 and 2013,

Onyeagwara Francis and Uwadiale Samuel, were present at the event. Other former winners that graced the occasion included Nwokocha Bright — N1 million, Rosaline Osagie — N1million and Oladipupo Lanre N500,000.

The draws come up weekly and monthly while special editions hold during the midyear and independence celebration period.

New machine parts plaza opens at Trade Fair complex

By YINKA KOLAWOLE

A

n ultra-modern machine parts plaza is set to open at Trade Fair Complex along Lagos-Badagry Expressway, with shop allocations to begin by the end of this month.

Chairman, United Allied Spare Parts Dealers Association (UASPADA), Chief Bartholomew Achukwu, who stated this at a general meeting of the association, held in Lagos, assured members of speedy completion of the project. He said business activities are expected to commence at the new machine

parts market in August.

“Allocation of shops will begin July ending preparatory to our moving in and commencing business at this place in August.

We are 90 percent ready and in a couple of days from now, we will clean up all access roads and lay the interlocking stones,” he declared.

The multibillion naira plaza is a shopping arcade housing 3,000 lock–up shops, and 29 individual plazas. It is a wholesale market offering a wide range of machine parts, engines and accessories including motor bikes, three wheelers, tractors, generators of all sizes, marine boat engines and

components, as well as industrial and domestic machineries Secretary General of the association, Simon Uzoetue, claimed that the market is first of its kind in the entire Ecowas region. He said it was conceived by some pioneer members drawn from Idumota and Ebute-Meta who came together in 2004 to form the association with the primary aim of relocating to ASPAMDA’s auto parts plaza.

“We relocated to ASPAMDA in 2005 and in 2008, after the concession of Trade Fair complex to Aulic Nigeria Limited, we moved and acquired an area at the complex for a 2,200 shops

development under a 25 years lease agreement. The area was later increased for additional 800 shops development. Our membership has grown above 3,000 but only qualified subscribers will be allotted with the shops in July. The project was strictly funded through the selfless contributions of our members and some investors, so we did not borrow from any bank or individual whatsoever. Each subscriber is expected to make full payments of N610,000 for a shop, representing N460,000 cost of the shop and N150,000 allocation fee meant for the concessionaires,” Uzoetue stated.

C M Y K

48 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

Boko Haram as excuse for $1bn loan HERE can be no denial of the threat of the Boko Haram insurgency to security, the economy of the northeastern states, particularly, has become seriously dislocated while thousands of people in several communities have been viciously traumatized by the indiscriminate killings of kith and kin and the continuous decimation of their homes and livelihood. Indeed, in response to the recognition of the serious threat to peace, the sum of over N960bn (about 20% of 2014 federal budget) was appropriated for security, primarily for addressing the Boko Haram insurgency.

Regrettably, despite the huge budgetary allocation, the violent onslaught has continued unabated; consequently, until a thorough and reliable audit of funds application is available, I guess we will never know whether the equivalent of over 40% of the 2014 capital vote was judiciously expended.

However, it may be presumptuous to expect that a supplementary sum of just $1bn (N160bn), now requested

by President Jonathan, would obliterate the Boko Haram threat when N960bn already appropriated failed to slow them down.

Nevertheless, the main thrust of today ’s article is not an inquest on the application of the initial N960bn, nor is it a debate on the need for a supplementary sum of $1bn.

Hereafter, we will take a closer look at whether or not a dollar denominated external loan is the most appropriate source of funding President Jonathan’s additional request for $1bn. No doubt government’s agents will argue that external loans are cheaper since the bench mark

rate for such Nigerian government loans is about 7%, while loans sourced locally from Nigerian banks may cost well above 14%. Nevertheless, we may be also permitted to ask why external loans are cheaper than domestic loans since it would seem obviously easier for us to appropriately control the cost of funds within our own sovereign territory in the interest of our economy.

In reality external loans that are not derived from multilateral sources, such as the World Bank, may ultimately become injurious to our economy because of the cost and volatility of such capital flows and the adverse severe repercussions on our economy and the exchange rate of the

more expensive when that item is very much surplus in the market! Regrettably, our Economic Management Team has remained in denial of this contradiction, while both the Executive and the National Assembly don’t seem to care anyway.

The truth of course is that any enduring solution to the problem of systematic surplus Naira will invariably constrict the source of funds that facilitates corruption and supports an unbridled rentseeking economy. The leeches in the system, whether they are commercial banks, civil servants, politicians and legislators, government consultants and contractors, all benefit in one way or the other

,

T

No rational person borrows when they have custody of surplus idle funds; yet surprisingly, the same self seeking strategy that characterizes the domestic market for government loans is apparently also replicated in the structure of government’s external loans

,

Naira; conversely, domestic loans may be strategically less hazardous for public finance despite their relative cost.

Instructively however, the cause of the higher cost of domestic loans is to be found in the excruciating and unyielding burden of surplus cash in our monetary system; in this event the aberration of the prevalence of high cost of funds simultaneously with excess funds in the market should be of concern to us all!

Surely, no commodity, including money, becomes

from the perennial presence of excess Naira liquidity in the system.

T

hus, inspite of the obvious destructive burden of surplus Naira, those entrusted with the mandate for economic growth and our social welfare will not lift a finger to reduce or terminate the prolific source of excess liquidity; consequently, the negligence and avarice of responsible public servants may have actually driven us to pursue external loans, inspite of the

dangers they could pose to our economy and our nation’s sovereignty. Indeed, even if multilateral loans appear more competitive, the attendant conditionalities are very often antagonistic to enhanced social welfare.

H

owever, inspite of acquiescence of our Economic Management Team, the adverse consequences that are collaterals of constantly surplus Naira include: zero % interest for government deposits with banks while government simultaneously borrows from the same banks at double digit interest rates; excess liquidity is undeniably also responsible for the Central bank’s oppressive monetary policy rates which in turn induce over 20% cost of funds to the real sector; furthermore, the ‘curse’ of eternally surplus cash in the economy is also responsible for a high inflation as well as a weaker Naira exchange rate. Ultimately, a weaker Naira exchange rate is primarily responsible for the high cost fuel and the attendant outlay of over $12bn annually to subsidize fuel prices.

Instructively, however, no rational person borrows when they have custody of surplus idle funds; yet surprisingly, the same self seeking strategy that characterizes the domestic market for government loans is apparently also replicated in the structure of government’s external loans; thus, inspite of the relatively huge idle dollar reserves in our Central Bank’s custody, our Economic Management Team still prefers to seek dollar loans which attract over 7% interest rate when such risk free sovereign debts should attract less than 3% for a resource rich and

vibrant economy like Nigeria.

Consequently, nothing stops a potential investor from borrowing at 2 or 3% from those international banks in which CBN’s relatively buoyant idle reserves are domiciled and then to later turn around and lend the same funds to the Nigerian government when the Debt Management Office ironically offers to pay over 14% for our risk free government loans.

A startling example of such faux pas was evident when President Jonathan visited China last year to seek $1.5bn loan for the upgrade of four airport terminals and the enhancement of our railway infrastructure; ironically, Lamido Sanusi, former governor of the Central bank, who was also on the same expedition with Mr. President, informed the media that he was in China to seek investment opportunities for the CBN’s cache of dollar reserves.

Official information today suggests that apart from the Excess Crude Account, CBN is currently sitting on almost $40bn reserves. It would certainly be appropriate if Nigerians demanded an explanation as to why Mr. President cannot simply obtain $1bn interest free loan from CBN’s idle reserves rather than the adoption of the primitive economic strategy of potentially borrowing back your own money. Besides, in view of the huge security votes and the attendant collateral of increasing debt to counter the surge of Boko Haram, some Nigerians may wonder how inspite of the obviously more extensive, capital intensive and extended nature of the Nigerian civil war, the authorities did not borrow a single Kobo to fund its operations.

SAVE THE NAIRA, SAVE NIGERIANS

Business & Economy NEPC collaborates with Elumelu Foundation responsibilities, Ms. Ideozu will on non-oil exports work directly with Mr. Awolowo,

T

HE Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and The Tony Elumelu Foundation have entered into a one-year partnership in efforts to help improve Nigeria’s share of the global, non-oil export market.

Under the new agreement, the Foundation has provided NEPC with a technical advisor, Maureen Ideozu, through its Elumelu Fellowship Programme. In addition, two associates from the Elumelu Professionals Programme-Lawi Laktabai and Jean-Yves Mutanda are also working with key NEPC officers to increase Nigeria’s export of agricultural C M Y K

products.

On this partnership, Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, CEO of the National Export Promotion Council stated, “NEPC is benefiting from the public good initiative of the Tony Elumelu Foundation. The consistent input from the embedded Elumelu Fellow and visiting “Masters” interns are of tremendous value to the strategic repositioning of the Council. I am very pleased with this partnership as we jointly work towards the socio economic development of our country and diversification of our economy.”

Among her numerous

to increase Nigerian private sector participation in global trade and liaise with the Nigerian Export Processing Zones Authority, the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, the Nigerian Export-Import Bank, the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council, other government agencies, as well as private sector organizations to implement the NEPC’s strategic plan.

“The Elumelu Fellowship offers me an opportunity to contribute to increased competitiveness in Nigeria by unlocking opportunities for Nigerian companies in a manner that equips them to compete globally,” stated Ideozu.

Omoh Gabriel Babajide Komolafe Clara Nwachukwu Peter Egwuatu Yinka Kolawole Favour Nnabugwu Godwin Oritse Godfrey Bivbere Michael Eboh Franklin Alli Ebele Orakpo Ifeyinwa Obi Rosemary Onuoha

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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 Energy Reporter Maritime Reporter Insurance Reporter

CONTRIBUTORS Princewill Ekwujuru Nkiruka Nnorom Jonah Nwokpoku Naomi Uzor Providence Obuh LAYOUT

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Media/Marketing Capital Market E-Commerce Industry Micro Finance Graphics Department

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 49

50 —Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 51

52—Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

FOOTPRINTS OF A STATESMAN: The Life And Times Of CHIEF DANIEL OKUMAGBA A biography by Bernard Oboatarhieyeren Okumagba

A Daniel is born

Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike — Theodore Roosevelt, US President

About the Book

C

HIEF Daniel Okumagba, my father, was born on January 1, 1922, the 12th child of Chief Okumagba Eboh, a paramount chief of Okere-Urhobo in War ri, present-day Delta State of Nigeria, and the 6th child of his mother, Mrs Ekeye Okumagba of the Urumaro Quarters of Effurun, in the neighbouring Uvwie Kingdom. The Okumagba Eboh family typified the families of early Twentieth Century Urhobo, nay Africa - large, yet close-knit - and so the family welcomed 13 more children into the household. My grandfather ’s lineage dates back many centuries, to OtorOkpare, in present-day Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State, from where the three progenitors of Okere-Urhobo migrated to found the virgin land, which is currently called Okere-Urhobo Kingdom in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State. The three brothers - children of Okpeki - were Idama, Sowhoruvwe and Ohwotemu.

My grandfather, Chief Okumagba Eboh, was from the Idama lineage.

Chief Okumagba Eboh was born in 1853 in Otor-Orere, in Okere-Urhobo, to Chief Eboh Olodi of Okere-Urhobo and Mrs Aye-Oluwe Eboh of Otien family of Edjeba, Agbarha, both in Warri. His grandmother was Ijaw from Kiagbodo, Burutu Local Government Area, also in Delta State. Chief Okumagba Eboh rose to become Head of the Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu Families and Leader of Okere-Urhobo. He had eight wives, some of them younger C M Y K

than his older children; it was not fashionable to have a monogamous family in those times. The reasons for this family size are well documented in African history as necessitated by the essential nature of the family enterprise, the main activities being farming and commerce.

Writing in Professor Peter Ekeh’s Studies in Urhobo Culture, Very Revd (Professor) Samuel Erivwo, retired Provost of the Anglican Diocese of Warri and a noted cultural historian, observes: “A multiplicity of wives constituted the wealth of a

Chief Daniel Okumagba, who lived from 1922 to 2000, was widely acknowledged as a man of truth, courage and discipline. From 1960, when he won election to represent Warri East Constituency at the Western Region House of Assembly in Ibadan, Chief Daniel Okumagba played major roles in Nigeria’s national development.

He was a member of the National Council for Nigerian Citizens (NCNC), a foundation member and foundation national executive committee member of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the Second Republic, governorship candidate of the party in Bendel State (now Edo and Delta states) in the 1979 general elections and pioneer chairman of Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited.

Chief Daniel Okumagba was a teacher, legislator, politician, businessman and frontline Niger Delta leader.

In all, he was a man of peace, who believed in peaceful coexistence among various ethnic groups, a statesman and nationalist.

In this biography of Chief Daniel Okumagba, Bernard Okumagba (former Delta State Commissioner for Finance) tells of a father whose life has not been fully chronicled and of values and circumstances that shaped the public identity of his father.

Bernard’s story of one of the key players of the First and Second Republics in Nigeria is a compelling narrative. Footprints of a Statesman: The life and times of Chief Daniel Okumagba, is a son’s appreciation of his father, and the lessons therefrom. political power and tremendous influence as a Warrant Chief in the colonial administration of the time.

The position my grandfather held, attracted favours, allegiances and pledges of loyalty. As Chief of OkereUrhobo, my grandfather was a prominent leader in the Warri area, relating as it were with the neighbouring

As a young child, the cares of everyday life were simple. Those who remember my father from his early years speak of a youth who was meticulous, neat and studious man in the olden days; they helped him in his farm, in oil palm trade, etc., and consequently increased his wealth.

Many wives were also of prestige value: their husband was deemed a resourceful man who was able to command the respect and obedience of many and so would be given a place of considerable importance in society.”

The reasons and, perhaps, the excuses are limitless; still, there may yet be some more explanation for the large size of the polygamous family into which my father was born.

My grandfather was a merchant who also wielded

Urhobos of Agbarha Warri, the Ijaws and the Itsekiris. With relationships like these, and on the basis of the friendships that defined the times, oral tradition has it that he kept an open mind and an accommodating spirit, having friendships that straddled the coastal communities. The various communities lived as good neighbours. Some of the most enterprising farmers of the time owned plantations that farmed cash crops, especially oil palm and rubber, the major exports of the area then. My grandfather had one of the big plantations in the Warri area. The Eboh plantations, measuring sev-

eral hectares of what is today the Warri conurbation, were well regarded as some of the biggest in the Delta area.

The Eboh plantation stretched to cover much of what is today ’s Okumagba Layout in the Warri metropolis. The plantation size defined Chief Okumagba Eboh as one of the biggest plantation owners at that time. The Okere-Urhobo people then were largely into trading and farming, but the impact of the British entry into the Warri area was already being felt. The river port at Warri, where trade and commerce flourished, was being developed, as the British, following in the footsteps of the Portuguese traders before, moved to establish a trading and administrative outpost. As Leader of the Okere-Urhobo people, my grandfather was in contact with the European merchants and the British political leaders.

It was into this tapestry of a rich traditional culture, a deep communal tradition and a shifting administrative template that my father, Chief Daniel Okumagba, was born, and it was this eclectic mix that shaped the life of my father, a man who later became a major figure in the politics of the Niger Delta and more than a footnote in the politics of Nigeria. My father ’s siblings were two elder brothers, nine elder sisters and 13 younger brothers and sisters, sired

over several years in the eventful life of my grandfather, Chief Okumagba Eboh, who died in 1963. So spread out in ages were the children of my grandfather, that his first grandchild and my cousin, the late Mr Forcados Wilkie, was older than my father, who was born when his father, my grandfather, was already in his 60s.

My grandfather was one of the early converts to Christianity. At about the time he was growing in influence as one of the leaders of the Warri area, the Catholic Church had made an inroad into the coastal communities of the Niger Delta. The premier Catholic Church in Warri was already active. It was no surprise therefore that his children, including my father, were baptized as Christians into the Catholic faith and the older ones schooled at the Roman Catholic Mission (RCM) School in Warri. As early purveyors of Western education, the Church also played a key role in the formative years of my father.

As a young child, the cares of everyday life were simple.

Those who remember my father from his early years speak of a youth who was meticulous, neat and studious. In those days, the Church was the nucleus of the knowledge society and my father was particularly fond of this company. It was a different world in those days, my father used to reminisce, as he contemplated the technological changes that he saw as he grew older. The much that came close to entertainment was the radio; the television had not yet reached these shores and the internet, if it was ever anticipated, could have been science fiction taken too far. My father regaled me with the adventures of his youth. While a child, he would, as he told me, find time to be in church to watch the priests, partake in church catechism classes and listen to the organist at his practice sessions. Perhaps, it was here he developed his interest in the piano and classical music.

Often, as he grew older, he lamented the degeneration of communal life and wondered if children still found time and

Continues on page 53

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 53

FOOTPRINTS OF A STATESMAN: The Life And Times Of CHIEF DANIEL OKUMAGBA A biography by Bernard Oboatarhieyeren Okumagba

Teacher and Gamesmaster Okumagba’s attitude was a lesson in sportsmanship. Honesty and integrity were his hallmarks in sports and everything else he did. I am sure it was the same when he became a national figure in Nigerian politics — David Okpako, retired Professor of Pharmacology, University of Ibadan (UCE Class of 1954) Continues from page 52 space for the kind of adventure that were common in his childhood days: trapping birds and hunting small game.

His leisurely escapades seemed not to have interfered with his sense of duty at home, where he was treasured as a natural leader, a quick and bold mind. As a youngster he enjoyed the trust and confidence of the community elders, including taking early roles in leadership.

My grandfather may have seen a future beyond tilling the land. His relationship with the British and his witness to the growth of the colonial empire told him that the men who would rule the new world would be those who studied to get a foothold in the colonial administration; he was determined that his children would play key roles in the affairs of the new world. So, early enough, my father was dispatched to school, as were the other children. My grandfather may perhaps have been content with his son pursuing enterprise, the way he did, to build a formidable presence as a man of means. And that mindset may have conspired with other forces to determine why my father ’s formal education terminated after obtaining his Teacher ’s Certificate from St. Thomas College, Ibusa, though he passed his matriculation examinations.

The community elders also played a critical role in determining the trajectory of my father ’s career path and his lifework.

The world in 1950 when he began to take an active role in community administration was a whole lot different from the earlier years; the colonial administration had profoundly affected the community and political administration, throwing up new power equations that never existed and foisting, in the process, for its own convenience, new suzerainties. The elders met and chose my father to lead the Kindred Families.

In 1950, my father became Secretary to the Kindred Families of Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu of Okere-Urhobo, taking over from Pa Gbamijolo Eburu, who was until then the acting Secretary. At this time, my father was already established as a teacher. He taught in schools in Adagbrassa and Warri and was part of the pioneer staff of Urhobo College Effurun when it was founded in 1949.

Urhobo College was just taking off as a secondary school established by the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU). The school became the furnace that forged some of the remarkable friendships my father sustained throughout his life. About the time my father began teaching at Urhobo College as a pioneer staff, some of the people who later became some of his closest friends and acquaintances also joined the staff of the school. Some of them were Dr Mudiaga Odje, Chief Demas Akpore, Chief Daniel Obiomah and later Professor Tekena Tamuno. Dr Odje, who later became a lawyer and

My father was an imposing figure, his students recall, not for size but for his diligence. He was the ultimate taskmaster – brooking no failures and constantly raising the bar Senior Advocate of Nigeria, was one of the close friends of my father and they enjoyed such a loyal relationship, especially in later years when Dr Odje returned from England as a lawyer and set up practice in Warri.

M

Y father was a teacher between 1947 and 1976.

Teachers were highly regarded in the community, especially in colonial times when there were few who could communicate in the English Language and teachers were in short supply.

Many of those who later became leaders of the anti-colonial movement started out as teachers - Nnamdi Azikiwe and Kwame Nkrumah among them. After early education, it was the dream of most young men to teach and my father followed this dream. After obtaining his Standard Six Certificate from the RCM Primary School, Warri, my father proceeded to St Thomas College Ibusa, where he graduated with a Teacher ’s Certificate.

St. Thomas College Ibusa was the crucible on which the teaching skills of many of the notable teachers of the colonial era were established. A colonial school founded by the Roman Catholic Mission, St. Thomas College was reckoned as one of the best schools of the time, producing in the process a distinguished alumni. His first port of call as a teacher was the Roman Catholic Mission Schools in Warri and Adagbrassa (in Okpe Local Government Area of present-day Delta State), where he taught at the Primary School level.

The founding of Urhobo College Effurun (UCE), first as a community college, was a source of pride to the

Urhobo nation. Like most schools that were the products of community effort Kalabari National College and Ibadan Grammar School, for instance - Urhobo College was seen as a turning point in the educational advancement of the Urhobo nation and a major milestone for the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU). My father joined the staff of Urhobo College at its foundation in 1949. The school was conveniently sited; it was in the Warri neighbourhood and actually took off around the Igbudu area of Warri, before its present location in contiguous Effurun in Uvwie Local Government Area was developed. While my father may have made an impression in the schools where he taught before now, it was at Urhobo College that he established his reputation as a dedicated and diligent motivational leader.

My father joined the staff of Urhobo College as a pioneer teacher. The foundation principal of the school was Chief M. G. Ejaife, popularly called Sheriff by his students.

Ejaife’s was indeed an inspiring story. He had trained on a UPU scholarship and his graduation and return from England was celebrated. And, he stepped in quite nicely into midwifing the new school. My father was one of the key staff.

It was the force of his personality that created the mystique that his old students still revel in. He taught at Urhobo College from 1949 to 1976 when he retired.

He had a special relationship with Urhobo College. My father may not have designed it, but by the virtues he displayed. Several years after he left the school he is still remembered by many of his stu-

dents. My father was an imposing figure, his students recall, not for size but for his diligence. He was the ultimate taskmaster – brooking no failures and constantly raising the bar. To many students who passed through the school while he was a tutor, the name Daniel Okumagba is unforgettable. His presence, his students recall, was felt on the Assembly Grounds where he handled discipline and was almost always the last to sign off the morning assembly after the principal’s remarks. But his fame from the classroom was also legendary. Professor Union Edebiri, a past president of Urhobo College Old Students Association, observed in an interview published in The Guardian newspaper of July 31, 2000 that my father was a committed teacher who ‘left no one in doubt that he wanted the best for his students.’

As a teacher, he paid great attention to detail and he was not biased in the way he related to his students.

To be continued.

About the Author

B

ERNARD Oboatarhieyeren Okumagba was born in Warri, Delta State on April 7, 1967 to Chief Daniel Okumagba and Mrs. Dorcas Okumagba of Okere-Urhobo Kingdom, Warri South Local Government Area, Delta State. He attended Government College, Ughelli from 1977 to 1982 and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka from 1983 and 1987 where he bagged a B.sc degree in Accountancy (2nd Class Honours, Upper Division). Subsequently, he undertook the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) professional examinations and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1991. Bernard started his working career at the international financial services firm Arthur Andersen & Co (now KPMG), in 1988. He later worked in several banks from 1991 to 2007.

Bernard held various positions at these banks, including Senior Manager, Corporate Banking Division; Head of Internal Control/Audit Division, Bank Chief Inspector and Principal Manager, Consumer and Commercial Banking Division, amongst others. He left United Bank for Africa Plc in August 2007 following his appointment as Delta State Commissioner for Economic Planning.

He served as Delta State Commissioner for Economic Planning from August 2007 to November 2010 and was subsequently appointed Commissioner for Finance and served from November 2010 to May 2011. Bernard was reappointed Delta State Commissioner for Finance in July 2011 and held this position until July 2013. He is presently Chairman of Regents Consults Limited and Noly Insurance Brokers Limited. He is also currently a Director of Abbey Mortgage Bank Plc. Bernard holds the traditional chieftaincy title of Eruvwu R’Ovie of Agbarha Kingdom, Warri, Delta State.

54 —Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

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Aregbesola pledges to reconstruct all schools in Osun Produce our kidnapped members, SDP urges APC

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

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OVERNOR Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State has assured the people of the state that by the end of his second term in office, no school will be left with any dilapidated classroom.

Aregbesola said with the spate at which his government has been building new schools, the era of unfit learning environment would be history completely.

He spoke at the weekend when he commissioned three elementary schools in Ikirun, Iragbiji and Ila-Orangun.

Students in school uniform, guardians and parents trooped out to witness the commissioning of the new schools equipped with state-of -the -art facilities.

The schools are Holy Trinity Middle School, Ikirun; NUD Middle School, Iragbiji and St Julius Middle School, IlaOrangun, all in the Osun Central Senatorial District.

Built in this same structural pattern, the middle schools, with a capacity to accommodate 1,000 pupils, have 25 classrooms, one large exam hall. 16 toilets, one audio visual room, ICT room, recreation facilities among others.

Addressing the gathering, Governor Aregbesola said with

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

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•Omisore campaigning at Apomu, Isokan LGA commissioning of the schools, government has raised the stake by putting education on a high pedestal. The governor disclosed that government is targeting provision of conducive classrooms for over 100, 000 pupils before the

end of the year. He noted also that by the time all the new school buildings are completed no pupil or student in Osun will learn in a dilapidated classroom again.

Earlier in her remarks, the Deputy Governor, who doubles as

the Commissioner for Education, Otunba (Mrs.) Grace Titilayo Laoye-Tomori reaffirmed government’s commitment to standardising the education sector.

Nigerians’ll resist militarization of polls — Femi Pedro

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

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ORMER deputy governor of Lagos State and a chieftain of the APC in Lagos, Otunba Femi Pedro, has warned against militarisation of Osun State ahead of the gubernatorial elections in the state, noting that Nigerians would resist any attempt to use the military to intimidate the citizenry.

He also urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to shun partisanship, saying that the incumbent governor, Ogbeni Aregbesola, would win by a landslide in a free and fair contest.

Pedro in statement, said the PDP posed no threat to the APC in the zone, adding that the people of the region were better off under the APC government.

“I know Governor Aregbesola very well. He is on ground. The PDP themselves know that Ogbeni is fully on ground because he is one of the few politicians that started grassroots campaigning from his first day in office.

Through his performance, rapport with the people and his ability to successfully domesticate governance in the state of Osun, this matter is really a foregone conclusion.

He is going to win the August 9 poll by landslide. ”The facts speak, and people need to be sincere about this; Aregbesola has touched every

household in Osun through his laudable and peopleoriented programs.

Unfortunately, PDP’s last minute onslaught

won’t succeed because the people of Osun and the SouthWest in general know who really has their interests at heart.

APC spy in PDP will not defect – Group

BY DAPO AKINREFON

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HE Osun State chapter of the P D P Reconciliatory Movement, PRM, says that the PDP state secretary Major Raphael Towobola (rtd) who was expelled last week by the party would not defect to the APC or any other party as he was a major pillar in the building of the party in the state.

Towobola and a handful of PDP

chieftains were expelled from the PDP allegedly for being spies of the APC in the opposition party. Some of the expelled chieftains have since taken camp in the APC. PRM in a statement issued by its coordinator, Mr Ojopagogo Adeyinka said it was constrained to set the records straight that “our Patron, the State Secretary, Major R A Towobola rtd has not decamped to the APC.”

The movement said “Major RAT Towobola rtd, the Osun State Secretary of the PDP, has not decamped to the APC, and will not leave the PDP. The PDP particularly in IleIfe, is a house, the building of which he contributed tremendously to, when those who are trying to hound him out of the party now, were comfortably enjoying in the AD.”

Senator Ogunwale declares support for Aregbesola

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

G

OVERNOR Rauf Aregbesola re-election bid weekend received a boost as a chieftain of the PDP Senator Felix Ogunwale declared his total support for the APC candidate.

Speaking with newsmen during his official declaration for APC with hundreds of his supporters in Iragbiji weekend, Ogunwale said he was backing

Aregbesola because of his achievements in the area of infrastructure development.

“It is a fact that PDP in Osun State has lost focus, that is why I am calling on my supporters and those that believe in me to come out en masse during the coming election and vote for Aregbesola. Don’t entrust your future in the hands of politicians who deceive with mundane and cheap immediate gains”.

“Is it the road networks within the state you want to talk about

or the model schools his administration is building all over the state, electrification of villages and welfare packages for the workers in the state, honestly the governor has tried his best for the state”. “I am commited to the task of reelecting Aregbesola; I am so confident that Osun people will vote overwhelmingly for him because of his numerous achievements which can be felt in every nook and cranny of the state”, he added

SUN State chapter of Social Democratic Party SDP has called on the Inspector-General of Police (IG), Mohammed Abubakar to investigate the circumstances leading to the alleged kidnap of three of its members at the weekend by those it claimed to be chieftains of the APC. The state party chairman, Mr. Ademola Isola in a statement in Osogbo expressed concern over the incident, calling on all security agencies to be on the watch as the August 9 Osun governorship election approaches.

He alleged that SDP members including the party chairman in Ede-North Local Government, Alhaji Adewimbi Kadiri, Mrs Titilayo Alaanu and Mrs Musili Usman were abducted during their house-to-house campaign at Alusekere ward of Ede on Saturday, July 18.

According to him, the SPD members who were overpowered by over 50 APC members in the ward were forcefully taken away in the official vehicle belonging to a member of the state House of Assembly.

NCP candidate craves foreign observers

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

T

HE candidate of the National Conscience Party, NCP, Comrade Olanrewaju Afolayanka has called on international community to play an active observer role in the forthcoming election to observe the election process on the August 9, 2014 gubernatorial election in the state.

Afolayanka urged the international community to have kin interest and pay adequate attention to the election, saying that some forces and ‘power that be’ in Nigeria have been making move to disregard the will of the people and impose their candidate on the electorate.

According to Afolayanka, the observation of the international community became imperative to checkmate alleged undue influence of the presidency and what he described as illicit act of some political parties that are already seducing the electorate before the election date.

He spoke weekend while meeting representatives of some Non Governmental Organisation and pressure groups in Osogbo, to solicit their supports for his governorship ambition.

56—Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

Our governors are running to hide in the Senate — Ali •Says you cannot use Boko Haram against Jonathan’s second term SENATOR (Col.) Dr. Ahmadu Ali is a man of all seasons and arguably one of the most exposed public office holders in Nigeria’s post war years. Civilian and military, Ali has been at the top echelon of governance in Nigeria and in all cases he was a man of action who often left a signature name behind the high offices he occupied.

As federal commissioner for education in the Olusegun Obasanjo military government in the late seventies, he generated upheaval in the campuses with the introduction of tuition fees in the universities leading to the nationwide campus crusade, Ali Must Go. Thirty years later when he became national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the phrase, Guerrilla Politics was tagged on him on account of his no nonsense approach to the implementation of party programmes and politics.

Trained as a medical doctor, the young Ahmadu found his love with the army and rose through the Education Corps and was the first director of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, before he joined the Obasanjo military government as a federal commissioner. He was also a member of the third republic Senate and is presently a member of the National Conference that is now rounding up and the chairman of the governing board of the National Universities Commission, NUC. Col. Ali brought his experience to bear in this interview, giving unique perspectives to the crisis in the education sector, the Islamist Boko Haram insurgency among others. Excerpts:

BY HENRY UMORU, ASSISTANT POLITICAL EDITOR

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EING a delegate to the National Conference, do you think it was a waste of time given the way it ended abruptly?

Any effort by any government to make sure that Nigerians talk to one another, is an effort worth spending money on.

At the end of the day, what can we do with the report?

As you are aware the group itself was put together by Mr. President. Mr. President is our constituency and that is where we report to. It is left to the President, who all Nigerians have given the mandate to administer this country for a period, it is left to him to seek out what is urgently required and take appropriate action. What is administratively possible he administers it to the executive arm of government, what requires a law to be made, a bill will be sent to the National Assembly. What needs a constitutional amendment, the National Assembly will approve of it and they will put the thing into motion. That is how these things are done.

The House of Representatives caucus of your party, PDP has endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan for 2015.

Is that a pointer to the direction of PDP? I am not aware of any meeting in the villa because I was not invited and even if they do so, they are doing it in the right direction as far as I am concerned. It’s only that they are jumping the queue and that is all. And again, they are not the only people that have jumped the queue, many other Nigerians have gone to the President and pledged to support him in 2015.

Does that mean that PDP is presenting the president for the 2015 presidential election?

Yes, because you see the system we are operating allows an incumbent, a sitting president the choice of first refusal. When he says I am no more running, then the

order to it.

Is the PDP still in line with the dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers especially as it relates to discipline of members.

Yes, it is in line with the founding fathers’ dream, we are still digging and trimming the rough edges, that we have done so very well. That the press is always bartering the PDP, it’s normal because the power is in our hands. The only thing you can do is to tell us that there is an alternative somewhere and it makes us to sit up. I think the party is doing very well and the dreams of the founding fathers are still being realised.

When you talk about party discipline that is a problem of all parties in this country.

That the PDP has managed its own much better than the rest and that is why we remain solid and “we dey kamkpe”. We have never changed our name. PDP yesterday, PDP today, PDP tomorrow, PDP forever.

How do you mean forever?

I do not envisage during any accident, our losing hold of power quickly like that, no, but if somehow our performance depreciates in the future, I will not be surprised because Nigerians will not be lying there, left by the road, they will have to make a choice.

How do you see a situation where an incumbent governor will be waiting for a senator from his zone to round off, then comes to the Senate after eight years as governor?

Those are some of the tendencies we are trying to find a solution to, it is not very good because to me, the Senate is becoming a haven for governors looking for where to hide their head, to escape EFCC and that is actually what they are doing. They are not contributing anything better than the ordinary people who came there.

Enormous experience

•Senator Ahmadu Ali party has to shuttle for another candidate that is how it is done. But in spite of that if he says he is running, that does not prevent any adventurer from making an effort himself. But already the party would have got its official candidate because he is a sitting president.

It means as it is now, no room for others.

It is like an option B really, when you look at it because you must give room for people who are equally qualified to test the waters and baring any accident, the candidate that is supported by the party,

sails through; but if anything happens, there is always an alternative.

Your party is not ruling out consensus when you come for convention?

We are still going to vote, that is why people who want to come in, we see through if they got what it takes to join the race, but the party before the convention would have made up its mind about the sitting President; that is how it is done. It is not a place where all the members will come and say we want to be president. Everybody will like to be president of course, but there must be some

Where they can be useful if they are so sure of themselves is in the presidency but they are not thinking that way, they want to run to the Senate and cause disequilibrium in the system because when they do that, they do not allow a senator with enormous experience to horn his appetite for a higher office; So that is something that needs to be subtly discouraged.

It is not bad, but it shows quite clearly when they are governors, they try to show that they are superior to the senators, but when they leave as governors, they want to become senators, but we don’t see a senator going back to become a governor because once you become a senator of the Federal Republic; I mean it is not a state alone.

What is your reaction to the confab resolution on rotation of power between the North and South and among the three senatorial zones of each state?

That is alright, that is in line with PDP, we started it, and everybody is copying it now without making noise. I have always said this that if there was any mistake that the founding fathers of the nation made, was that when they were asking for independence, they didn’t have any plan to educate the north; they didn’t make any Continues on page 57

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014—57

Our governors are running to hide in the Senate — Ali Continued from page 56 special provision.

They were too much in a hurry to seize power and that was why the north resisted because Western education came through the sea. If Arabic education that they have in the north was the one that took over in Nigeria, they would have been well ahead of the South, but the thing went the other way round. You see on the floor of the confab the northern lady members were first class materials, brilliant chaps. We couldn’t dream of this when I entered the university.

I entered the university in 1957, the population of Ibadan University College was 676 persons and there were only 18 northerners, you see the disparity. Now that has continued for some time.

The advent of Ahmadu Bello shot up the northern graduating group a little bit. But while Ahmadu Bello was coming on board, Obafemi Awolowo was coming, Nsukka was coming. So nobody was being held down.

When I was a minster, about 6 or 7 universities came on board, only the University of Calabar, I think was the only one in the South. The rest were all in the north because that was where there was a draught of educated people. So this is now giving rise to new groups with qualifications

The pains and preparations in reviving The Punch – By Ogunsola •Ali we can’t have it in the university system. Whatever is the blueprint must be completed before another one can come in. They said they are not being paid for

,

The Senate is becoming a haven for governors looking for where to hide their head, to escape EFCC and that is actually what they are doing. They are not contributing anything better than the ordinary people who came there

that you can reckon with, if not they were not there.

What do you think should be done to get it right?

It is a misfortune that lecturers these days are not being honest with themselves and they are not honest with the nation because their strikes as far as I am concerned are frivolous.

They said there is no money for infrastructure, there is plenty of money, TET fund has trillions of naira, they cannot access it.

There are conditions for accessing the fund but they don’t want to follow the process of accessing the fund; they are looking for where they will award a new contract.

Toilets in hostels are going to pieces, they are not interested.

Roofs are being blown off they are not interested, they want to give new contracts and you know what that means, the implications and when that Vice Chancellor is gone, the new one comes, he wants to change the blueprint and you know that the NUC will not agree.

Abandoned projects are abounding in the whole country,

,

overtime. I didn’t want to speak because I came when the strike was at its height and they were already discussing with the president.

If not they have no business coming to meet the President, even the minister of education.

Their employer is the council of the university that is where their trade unionism should stop.

Council hired you, they fire you, ok.

But as that happens, there was not much we can do more than to just passively look. If not they said they are not being paid for overtime, we now said bring the list of lecturers of every university in every department, they will not submit the list.

You know why, because of the expansion of the university system, many of them are lecturing in two, three universities, so, there is no single university where they will put in the maximum number of hours, not to talk of even asking for overtime; they are just lecturing around the place and earning money and that is what concerns them.

So if they produce the names, their names will be appearing in those places and if their names don’t appear there, that course will not be accredited.

So they don’t want their names to appear in different places, this is the whole problem. I think we just have to get people who are more attuned to progress in the university system becoming lecturers and not people who cannot find jobs becoming lecturers, it must be a calling.

The universities too are not helping matters themselves because those who do first class are the ones they always want to come to lecture and they may not be interested. Somebody who has a second class upper or lower may like to teach, but by this ivory towerism, it must be first class honours; we all know how they get this first class honours, that again is another problem.

You were the national chairman of PDP during the third term saga, your party was said to have supported it, what role did you and your party play?

The party never supported any third term, the party never made any statement on that issue and there was nothing called third term. It was a coinage of the press. What happened then was the constitution amendments of which there were 102. Only one suggested about the tenure of the presidency and because of the wrong label the press gave it, all the 102 amendments were thrown out, which was most unfortunate.

I hope it won’t happen to this present National Conference?

I don’t know, it is the way you people handle it. The press is always putting us into trouble, this is the whole problem. You hyped things wrongly and that becomes the whole thing that Obasanjo wants third term, but it was just that they were doing it during his time.

Whether he wants third term, no third term, who cares? But we knew that people were going round recruiting members of the parliament because they are the relevant people to support what they call tenure elongation.

In any case it wasn’t that Obasanjo tried to elongate tenure, it is a question of look we want this thing to be like this now. Should the incumbent benefit from this new law or not, that was another question that should have been asked. It is not just killing the thing. On moral ground, he has no right to benefit from the law that he is creating.

What is your take on the security challenge in some parts of the country?

We had an over bloated army after the civil war, it is the same civil population that went round saying that we must proceed to bring down the number of people in uniform and that we have done to a manageable level, the level we have now is alright for our purpose.

Encroaching on territory Unfortunately we are faced with an insurgency where the troops on the ground are totally inadequate to cope, that is the problem. Because we didn’t have the troops for any adventure, it is just to maintain our territorial integrity.

Nobody is encroaching on our territory and we are not encroaching on anybody ’s territory; we had no problem. The problem now came with this thing. So we were caught unaware. If we were a troublesome nation, if we had subdued all our neighbours, our army would have been 20 times this strength. The vote for the army would have been enormous. All the equipment we are buying now, we didn’t think of buying them because we had no need for them, but the situation now is quite clear; today, we are dealing with Boko Haram, an internally generated group.

Tomorrow it may be a real foreign invasion. So the nation

should learn a lesson from this or the people should be ready to spend more money on defence and security.

If you don’t spend more money, then you are not truly secured because we have found out now, we have to swallow our pride, reduce all this consumerism in society and devote more money arming ourselves, ready for any eventuality and by the grace of God, we will see the back of it.

So, it is just that we were caught unaware. Then again, this is not conventional warfare, Guerrilla warfare is very difficult to fight.

People are talking about Chibok girls, why haven’t they brought them back if they know where they are. How do we bring them back? If we decide to invade them in that forest, they will use the children as shield and we want the children alive.

Guerrilla warfare Air force you have been seeing them, why didn’t you bomb them, if you bomb them, the bomb will not differentiate between the Boko Haram and the children we want to protect, it is a very difficult thing. It is like a lizard on top of a pot of water, you want to save the pot and the water, but you don’t want the lizard to fall into it, so how do you do it? So we must find another way of getting the lizard from the edge of the pot so that you can preserve your water. That is the head ache we have.

Some people are saying that the security issue is a minus for Jonathan’s re-election bid in 2015.

I don’t know, people who do not know how these things work may think that way and I won’t blame them because they don’t know anything better. Some of us have a better idea and we don’t think it is as easy as they are thinking.

You know things happen in cycles. Some persons who may not be Mr. Goodluck they will become president and they will not have any insurgency on the table until he leaves the place.

Somebody will just come, in spite of his name being Goodluck will have all these bad omen from insurgency, it is something that you cannot predict; you cannot use it against a ruler really.

Although we Africans we tend to associate such things with rulers. In my place, they will tell you that when a certain family is ruling, there is always famine.

They don’t bring the famine, but they say there is famine, hunger will kill people during those periods, it is just the African way of looking at things which has nothing to do with the ruler and that is the way I want Nigerians to look at Jonathan and the present insurgency.

58—Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

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Abia guber zoning controversies divisions, pull-him-down syndrome and politics of mutual exclusion which their political elite have always played. The Ngwa person has always been his own greatest political enemy.

Sadly, these tendencies are already in play in Ukwa-Ngwaland. It comes in two forms. The first is that the political interests in the Abia South Senatorial Zone have been claiming that the governorship was zoned to them. In other words, they would have it that the people of the three local government areas in Abia Central, who are also of the Ukwa-Ngwa stock, are no longer eligible to vie for governor since Governor Orji is from Umuahia (Bende) clan of Abia Central.

Two major political actors, Dr .Alex Otti (who is speculated to be interested in running for governor on the PDP platform and Senator Nkechi Nwogu (who has already publicly declared her ambition for the same post) will be “disqualified” from the race if the people pushing this agenda have their way.

Isiala Ngwa is said to be the cradle and ancestral homeland of all Ngwa people. It does not make sense to exclude them from the privilege reserved for all Ukwa and Ngwa people simply because of the political convenience of lumping them with Umuahia people in the same senatorial zone. It will reduce them to a perpetually marginalised artificial minority in Ngwa politics. Since the zoning formula is to give the entire Ukwa and Ngwa people the opportunity to present the next governor of Abia State, the ploy to exclude the Ngwa people in Abia Central will create a new crisis point in the state if allowed to stand.

I will explain shortly.

The second leg of this emerging politics of exclusion is that Dr. Alex Otti, who hails from Umuoru, Umuehim in Nvosi, Isiala

Ngwa Local Government Area, is being portrayed by some political groups in Ngwa as ineligible to vie on Ukwa-Ngwa platform because his ancestors were originally from Arochukwu! Alex’s father, Pastor Lazarus Otti, a cleric of the Seventh Day Adventist and school teacher, was born in Umuoru, Umuehim Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa.

He spent all his life in Ngwa, where he worked and raised his family. He never visited Aro even one day. When he died he was buried in Umuehim. So was his wife. Alex was also born, grew up and schooled in Ngwa and Aba. He did not leave his homeland until he went to the University of Port Harcourt.

When he became a prominent banker, Aro people lobbied him to come and build

interest groups have continued to dub him as an “Aro man” with a view to excluding him from the governorship race.

These shadowy groups seeking to exclude certain Ukwa Ngwa sons and daughters for their selfish interest must bear two things in mind.

Number one is that they will not be the people to choose for Abia who will be their governor. Rather, it is the entire Abia people, through stakeholders in the various political parties that will choose from among Ukwa-Ngwa people, the person to succeed Governor Orji. They will choose THE MOST QUALIFIED Ukwa-Ngwa candidate WITH PROVEN TRACK RECORDS, who will unite the state and build upon the solid foundation that Governor Orji, is laying.

Secondly, apart from the Ukwa-Ngwa section of the Abia community, we still have the Old Bende section, as well as the nonindigenes constituency. These two sections will not allow any Ukwa or Ngwa “hawk” to become their governor. Those engaging in politics of exclusion are presenting themselves as “hawks”. The Old Bende and non-indigenes are wary of electing an Ngwa extremist who might turn Aba into another Port Harcourt, where Ikwerre people, who now say they are not Igbos, have turned Igbos into strangers in Port Harcourt; a city built with the wealth and

,

S the nation inches closer to the 2015 general elections, the issue of zoning of the gubernatorial seats in the states has thrown up complex political intrigues.

The case of Abia State is very interesting indeed. Like every other state, it is divided into three senatorial districts: Abia North, Abia Central and Abia South. But before the senatorial zones were carved out, what is today known as Abia State was composed of two provincial blocs: Bende and Aba. Bende is the home of the panUmuahia communities: Bende, Ozuitem, Ugwueke, the Akoli clans, Isuikwuato, Umunnato (Igbere, Alayi and Item), Abiriba, Nkporo, Ohafia, Abam, Ututu, Ihechiowa and Arochukwu. The Aba group consists of the seven local government areas populated by the Ngwa people and two others belonging to Ukwa people. The Aba group as a political bloc is also known as “Ukwa-Ngwa”.

Since Abia State was created in 1991, the Bende section has produced the two governors that have served the state since 1999: Chief Orji Kalu and the incumbent, Chief TA Orji (Ochendo Global). By the unwritten but well-acknowledged “Abia Charter of Equity”, well-meaning Abians who are committed to justice and unity of the state are unanimously agreed that it is now the turn of the former Aba Province (the Ukwa-Ngwa people) to produce the next governor of Abia State. In fact, the leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Abia State, Governor Orji, went to Aba on February 3, 2014 and officially declared that the next governor of Abia State will come from the old Aba Province, home of the Ukwa-Ngwas. He said Abia will stay true to its zoning formula. “That being the case”, he pledged: “I reiterate that the next governor shall come from the Ukwa-Ngwa … this is the time for the freedom of UkwaNgwa people because they are the only group yet to govern the state”.

The Governor added a very useful piece of advice: “Just go and organise yourselves for this cause. I would not like to have problems among you. Organise yourselves”.

The Governor gave this wise counsel in view of the fact that the Ukwa-Ngwa people of Abia State, with their nine out of 17 local government areas, have failed to “grab” the governorship (as the North and Umuahia area of Central were able to do) due mainly to infighting, pettiness,

Apart from the Ukwa-Ngwa section of the Abia community, we still have the Old Bende section, as well as the non-indigenes constituency; these two sections will not allow any Ukwa or Ngwa ‘hawk' to become their governor; those engaging in politics of exclusion are presenting themselves as ‘hawks'

a house in Arochukwu, the original land of his ancestors, which he did. Today, he has also built a bigger house on his father’s land in Umuoru, Umuehim, Ehi Na Uguru where he hosted guests who attended the grand reception staged for him by the 145strong Oha Ngwa Council of Traditional Rulers in Isieketa, Isiala Ngwa recently.

In spite of Alex’s affirmation by his 78 year-old traditional ruler, HRM Eze Edward Emenelu Eluwa and other royal fathers as a “freeborn” of Ngwa, and reaffirmations on radio by the Ukwa-Ngwa Victory Youth Movement that Alex has the blessing of Ngwa people to pursue his ambition as a true Ngwa son, some political

,

sweat of Igbo people.

The fear of Aba under an Ngwa irredentist governor is real, based on recent unpalatable experiences. It pays all Ngwa politicians to set everyone at ease both within and outside their homeland in order for them to produce the next governor of Abia State. If, due to their political indiscretion the Isiukwuato candidates outmanoeuvre them, they will only have themselves to blame!

JOIN THE DEBATE. TELL US WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS ARTICLE. GO TO VANGUARD ONLINE, DISQUS AND MY FACEBOOK PAGE AND LET IT ALL OUT. OR SEND TEXT TO: 08055068954.

OPINION Oshiomhole and Edo's political drama

BY FRANCIS EHIGIATOR

T

HE Comrade-Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole of the All Progressives Congress, APC, is having a public meeting with karma and not enjoying the interaction at all. Karma, as the Word Web Dictionary defines it, is “the effects of a person’s actions that determine their fate in this life and the next incarnation.” As matters stand, the effects of the actions of Oshiomhole have come back to determine his fate and the ex-union leader is sweating profusely even though we’re in the middle of the cold rainy season.

Oshiomhole’s encounter with karma began rather quietly some months ago. It was triggered off when the Senator representing Edo South in the National Assembly, Edobor Ehigie Uzamere, defected from the APC back to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Uzamere had left the PDP in 2007 to join the Action Congress of Nigeria, one of the middling parties that coalesced into the APC. His return to the Edo State PDP fold was a precursor to what would prove to be an unprecedented exodus of popular politicians and their followers from the Edo APC to the PDP. Among the former supporters who have left the ComradeGovernor sweating in self-induced panic is Pastor Osagie IzeIyamu, a savvy grassroots politician and former Secretary to the State Government under the administration of Governor Lucky Igbinedion. Other defectors include Chief Tony Omoaghe, one-time Edo State PDP Chairman; Chief Amos Osunbor, former senatorial leader in Edo South, and Alhaji C M Y K

Usman Shagadi who served as Edo State APC Deputy Chairman and leader of the party in Oshiomhole’s own Senatorial District.

Additionally, Bright Omokhodion, a former Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly; West Idahosa, a three-time member of the House of Representatives and, at the last count, four serving members of the Edo State House of Assembly, have also left the fold of the Comrade- Governor’s APC. It is also said that the Chairman of Ocean Marine Tankers Limited, Captain Hosa Okunbo, who is alleged to have bankrolled Oshiomhole’s campaign to become governor, has since been reportedly “stabbed in the back” and as such is no longer a political acolyte of the Comrade-Governor.

Indeed, it is this tendency to turn against his benefactors and “stab them in the back”, as it were, that is at the heart of the crisis presently confronting Oshiomhole. Defector after defector has revealed how Oshiomhole’s brand of politics is full of shams, outright dishonesty, egotistical tendencies, unwillingness to listen to anybody’s advice.

It would have been easy to dismiss all these accusations as the sour grapes of political acolytes who have fallen out of favour, but Oshiomhole famously and very publicly told a helpless widow in the street to “go and die.” Even though his image-makers quickly acted out a crisis-management script that saw the widow being invited to tea with the Governor and being offered employment afterwards, the true nature of the Comrade- Governor had already been revealed for all to see.

Moreover, historical events during Oshiomhole’s era as a labour leader speak to the fact that he has quite a track record

of “managing” his true nature from being revealed to his supporters. It is said that he is a master of concealing his insincerity by pretending to have principles that he does not really have. Therefore, the Oshiomhole, who in his true element told the widow to “go and die” is the real man, while the Oshiomhole who turned around to offer the widow tea and a job is the “managed” image of the man.

It is true that the Comrade-Governor apologised to the widow and made amends, but the point here is that what came after the original deed were mere afterthoughts dreamed up by image-makers. The Bible, the most authoritative book to all Christians, including Oshiomhole, warns us in Mathew 12:34 that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” To further reinforce the point, Luke 6:45 states: “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (English Standard Version) The aim here is not to demonise the Comrade-Governor but to demonstrate that the defections in Edo State represent a case of the effects of a person’s actions coming back to determine their fate in life. In essence, while Oshiomhole is at liberty to cry wolf as much as he likes, the truth of his self-inflicted dilemma is that he is just having a public meeting with karma as the seeds of deceit that he sowed have borne fruit, the taste of which he obviously doesn’t like.

*Mr. Ehigiator, a political analyst, wrote from Benin City, Edo State.

—59 Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014—

A

GOVERNMENT official once told me : " You people (doctors) should do as we say; after all we pay your salaries".

And a colleague once said to me: "They (government) should just give us what we want."

Both are wrong; and herein lies the locus of persistent conflict.

Government's action impinges on ALL doctors, including those whose salary they don't pay.

And my colleague would be better served in getting what "has been agreed" rather than what he "wants". Subtle differences but key to understanding the nature of negotiation.

It reminds me of advice a Professor gave me many years ago regarding negotiating employment contracts in new jobs: "Meet YOUR needs by making the other party happy that you've met THEIR needs". Everyone wins.

Tricky, but it works.

Why do doctors strike?

Contrary to what some might think, doctors do have a right to strike. According to the ILO, every worker does.

The impact of such a strike on the community, economy and the profession itself is severe, especially in developing countries like Nigeria. All stakeholders and involved groups must take an ethical approach and share a moral obligation to put society first.

There are three main reasons why doctors strike: *Medical practice, and the doctor-patient relationship continues to change. Patient care decision-making, in both public

and private practice, is now shared between employer requirements, patient demands, insurance companies, other third party payers, and government regulations. The doctor is no more the sole determinant of patient care and there is some frustration from this disempowerment. Doctors have become like any other employee who must sometimes negotiate wages and compensation to meet personal economic needs. *Doctors may have a genuine dissatisfaction with inadequate facilities, drugs, and lack of support from employers and elected government officials. Nonphysicians often quote the Hippocratic Oath: "The health of my patient will be my first consideration" as a reason that doctors should NOT go on strike.

In fact, when doctors feel they are unable to provide safe and effective care for their patients, the Oath may be the exact reason they should strike; the "first, do no harm" principle. *The failure of government and employers to honour collective bargaining agreements, CBAs, for improved wages and conditions of service is a major crucial reason in Nigeria. A signed MOU is an agreement; a pact. Failure, refusal or delay in implementation breeds distrust and a perception of a lack of commitment. This not only presents immediate conflict but prejudices future negotiations.

The NMA had listed 24 "demands" of government. I had planned to address each of these issues in this article but will defer that for now.

However, having written three reviews (Vanguard Newspapers

The problem for doctors is that their SCC is lumped together with the rest of the civil service like any other ‘public service employee'

,

April/May 2014) on the National Health Bill 2014, I must reiterate that this Bill MUST NOT be signed by President Goodluck Jonathan in its present form. The NMA should actually take a lead role in its public review!

Nine of the 24 "demands" appear to be directly related to what I call SCC, that is Salaries, Compensation and Conditions of service. These are @3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 17 and 21.

The problem for doctors is that their SCC is lumped together with the rest of the civil service as they are considered by government to be like any other "public service employee".

There is an inherent mistake in this philosophy. A doctor is not something you do, it is something you are!

This is why it is so much more difficult for doctors to simply discontinue practising medicine, and it makes them susceptible to exploitation in negotiations.

How to end doctors strikes (FOREVER) in Nigeria *The establishment of a clearly defined, mutually agreed condition of service for doctors, is the single most dramatic step in halting doctors strikes in

Dilemma of government policy options

BY AIYEVBEKPEN OSAKUE

L

ET the People Lead’ is a populist idea that is rooted in democratic ideals. It projects the heart and soul of democratic philosophy to the effect that democracy is ‘ about the people. Leaders have sought to all carry the people along by adopting the slogan during political campaigns. Indeed, it was one of the star slogans of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole on his ravine path to gubernatorial power in Edo State.

In terms of practicability, most leaders have discovered that it is an idealism that could be best put to work in an educated and politically enlightened environment.

Politically enlightened citizens do not only actively participate in policy formulation, they are more flexible and more amenable to change.

Leadership is about change. But the poor democratic environment prevalent in these climes in which the mass of the people are ignorant and uneducated complicates governance. That explains why some segments of the citizenry are often at odds with public policies designed to bring change and enhance their well being.

However, any government that is focused and determined to break new grounds must be ready to wrestle with the dilemma of policy options that may not build goodwill or friendship in the short run.

Government cannot function without payment of tax by citizens. Yet, tax policy and collection has continued to be a subject of conflict and friction. In modern times, the principles of taxation are well espoused and governments pursue tax drive with C M Y K

vigour in order to derive adequate revenue it requires to deliver on its mandate. That explains why most governments across the globe have stringent tax policies backed by tough laws. In the developed world, the rate of voluntary compliance is impressively high. Here in Nigeria and Edo State in particular, most taxable adults avoid tax payment. Those who comply voluntarily, grudgingly underpay.

The civil servants and those covered by the payee system remain the main source of government revenue. But this represents an insignificant percentage of persons within the tax net which include every adult, male or female, trader or artisan, who earns certain minimum level of income. Most times, governments are constrained to devise ways of enforcing compliance. Nigerians must evolve a good tax payment culture. It is the highest duty a citizen owes to his or her government. More importantly, it is a test of loyalty and responsibility to the State.

In addition to the obligation of tax payment, every citizen is expected to obey the law in order to avoid anarchy and to exhibit positive social conduct with a view to making the society less stressful for one another. Thus, when a government is motivated by the vision of building an upwardly mobile society to embark on infrastructures and facilities development, it is expected that such public infrastructures and facilities will be put to proper use and protected by all responsible citizens.

Of what use is the installing of sophisticated traffic control electronic devices on the roads, if the motoring public will not obey them? Of what use is the

,

BY FEMI OGUNYEMI

,

10 ways to end doctors' strikes (FOREVER) in Nigeria

Nigeria.

The UK NHS is the biggest government run health service in the world.

There is a distinct code of service for doctors, entirely separate from the civil service.

Let's look at the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook.

There are seven parts.

Part 2 deals with PAY: pay structure, maintaining round the clock services, overtime payments, pay in high cost areas, recruitment and retention premia, career and pay progression.

Part 3 deals with Terms and Conditions of Service: hours of the working week, part time employees and fixed time contracts, contractual continuity of care, annual leave and general public holidays, sickness absence, maternity leave and pay, redundancy pay, travel cost reimbursement, subsistence allowances, mutually agreed (their words) resignation schemes, whistleblowing and injury allowance.

One can see from the above why there was no doctors strike in the UK for 37 years! After a strike in 1975, that of June 2012 was a mere 24 hour revolt to highlight pension disagreements. *Legitimate Collective Bargaining Agreements, CBAs, must be respected and implemented in a timely manner. The courts, and mutually agreed arbitration panels, must be involved. *The importance of ethics must be integrated into the profession, the government and employers.

ALL parties have a moral obligation to society. * The profession must resist the impulse to make economic demands beyond the capacity of the employer (government) or which could hinder the provision of other services like education or public utilities. Doctors have a duty of care to patients, while government has a duty of care to the public. Fortunately, or

Nigerians must evolve a good tax payment culture; it is the highest duty a citizen owes to his or her government; it is a test of loyalty and responsibility to the state

,

construction of walkways if they will become trading sheds?

Government has a duty to engender a culture of discipline on the proper use of public infrastructures. Going by the tendency of the largely uneducated road users to return anarchy to the roads each time the enforcement agencies relax their tough measures, it has become clear that the only language that produces result is that of ruthless enforcement. In similar vein, effective action is also required to purge the public sector of high level redundancy and indolence in order to create a smart and result-oriented public service. Why should the opposition be at odds with that?

A Turkish playwright, by the name Mehmet Murat Ildan, once said: "If a country has a bad leader, this is a great horror for the country, but there is a much greater horror; the existence of ignorant and unethical masses to support the leader".

There is no doubt that the dilemma of policy options includes the inability of those whose interests are served by the policies to see the bigger picture due largely to limited education. These challenges are without doubt complicated by the excesses of implementation agencies.

Whether they are government tax drivers or other enforcement agents, government

unfortunately, they are one and the same. Some demands may also require legislation by the National Assembly; this will take time. * Government should resist the urge to arbitrarily call certain groups of workers as "essential services" so as to deny them a right to strike. In fact, if such workers are considered "essential" then they deserve a separate mechanism of pay and service conditions. * Both parties must put forward trained and skilled negotiators. * Government must avoid threats of unjustifiable disciplinary action. * The media, TV, newspapers, radio, and social media is crucial to ALL parties in communicating with the general public. To garner public support and understanding, disagreements and agreements must be transparent. * The NMA should embark on a major membership drive to include ALL registered Nigerian doctors. These members should be regularly surveyed, balloted and informed on all matters being discussed on their behalf. * Finally the MDCN, the doctors' regulatory body, has a duty in restoration of respect to the profession. There is a feeling that professional standing may have been diminished by repeated strikes in the past. The MDCN can encourage and accredit more CPD activities in the fields of management and administration.

They can design and monitor a code of standards of good medical practice in Nigeria.

Dr. Femi Ogunyemi MBBS(Ib) FRCA FWACS is a columnist with Vanguard Newspaper.

He's a Diplomat of the American Academy of Pain Management.

He can be reached atdoctor@lagospainclinic.com

must ensure that there is constant interface with the public until the people have a fair deal. That is why citizens are expected to articulate ideas, fight for space and partner with government using their numbers to force common grounds in order to accentuate the development process. It is counterproductive to indulge in actions which sharply contradict or simply shoot down the higher interest of the society such as the need to enforce public discipline.

It is not only unethical but demonic for any political party to engineer resistance to desirable public policies such as development of basic tax payment habit and enforcement of public discipline as has been the case in Edo State. Politicians create conflicts and myths of rivalry in order to manipulate the people.

Any government that comes to power with vision everywhere irrespective of the party requires tax revenue to deliver on its promises. It is therefore, ironical that the opposition party and some misguided elements have continued to resist change and prefer a world without wall.

As they say, you cannot make omelet without breaking eggs! The opposition should constructively engage the government rather than resort to destructive criticisms. One is however elated that the validity of the rumors they spread are being questioned and discountenanced by many brave citizens. The government must however continue to engage the people in the market place of ideas with a view to achieving greater understanding of the need to make sacrifices, greater willingness for compliance to rules and improved appreciation of government revolutionary accomplishments. *Mr. Osakue, a political strategist, wrote from Benin City, Edo State.

C M Y K

60 —Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 61

Glasgow Shame: Nigerian athletes in tatters

BY BEN EFE

N

IGERIAN athletes to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland are the poorest dressed among the delegations that will contest for sporting honours when the events begin on Wednesday.

Reports from Glasgow revealed Nigeria athletes have not been supplied with kits and as a result they are dressed in different colours unlike their counterparts from other countries who are rightly fitted with track suits bearing their national colours.

Apart from those doing the track and field, all others have no kits.

According to a senior Nigerian athlete at the Games, “it is an eyesore seeing Nigerian athletes in tatters,” he said, adding “some are even

wearing bathroom slippers.

“The athletics team was lucky to have their own personal kits from previous outings.

Nobody has been supplied with kits and no one knows whether there will be any.”

He disclosed that since they arrived the games village in Glasgow, there hasn’t been any meeting with Nigerian officials.

They have not been told on what to expect with regards to allowances or even conduct and other logistics that will inform their movements. The Nigerian team lacks organisation.

“Most of the athletes are feeling dispirited here. We have not seen any of our officials and we are not happy with the situation. I don’t know why it has to be Nigeria all the time and it is quite a shame,” he said.

Nigerians want classic games, Glo charges Premier League Clubs

G

LOBACOM, the title sponsor of Nigerian Premier League has expressed confidence in the capacity and ingenuity of clubs in the Nigerian elite football league to raise their game and satisfy the yearning of football lovers across the country for highly entertaining games as the league’s second round commenced on Sunday.

The GPL has been on a break after the first stanza ended before the start of Brazil 2014 World Cup in June. Several clubs have used the period to energize their teams and sustain their quest for the league title.

“We were impressed with the stiff competition that characterised the first round of the Glo Premier League. It is a good spell for Nigerian football,” Globacom said in a statement in Lagos on Sunday.

“It has not been a walkin-the-park for the reigning champions, Kano Pillars.

For the most part of the first stanza, Sharks of Port Harcourt led the table while Kano Pillars only took over the lead at the end of the first round. From the way the battle has been fought so far, it is likely that the test of nerves will go down to the wire,” the statement added.

Chukwu Continues from BP He said, “in addition to that, a coach, like any other worker looks out for better condition of service. So if Keshi is going for the highest bidder and better condition, I will advice him to go but if the new offer is not better than what he is getting here, then I will advice that he stays.”

The former captain of

the national team said Keshi has done well with the national team, observing that the Eagles did well at the World Cup. “They were able to maintain our record of reaching the second round. The team had very young players who still have a very bright future ahead of them.”

Uduaghan to commission Warri Swimming Pool

D

ONE COUNTRY MANY COLOURS: Nigerian athletes in a recent international event.

Ministry commends Adamu •Insists on probing Maigari

T

HE Ministry of Sports and the National Sports Commission have commended former CAF and FIFA Executive Committee member, Dr Amos Adamu for what it termed his exemplary leadership quality, particularly, his role in resolving the NFF-FIFA crisis.

A top official of the ministry told Sports Vanguard that the Adamuled delegation to Brazil was a huge success.

“It was he who on return

from the trip, advised that the court case against NFF be withdrawn to set the tone for a truce between the warring parties although he had made that representation even before leaving for Brazil.”

Although the official said the ministry was happy with the turn of events, he said that the Nigeria Football Federation will accounting for every kobo the Federal Government gave to them for the World Cup. “They will account for all the monies received by their board. That is the only way

NFF Continues from BP Aminu Maigari-led board has commenced fence-mending measures aimed at achieving a permanent truce at the Glass House.

Sports Vanguard gathered that the Executive Committee of the NFF would soon lift the ban on Chief Rumson Baribote and all the other football stake holders who were banned by the administration.

Speaking after a meeting of the board members in Abuja, the board spokes person, Emeka Iyama told journalists that they have agreed, “as a way of carrying everybody along,” to look into the cases of all those who have been banned with a view to lifting the ban.

But he maintained that

they must go through the right process.

It could be recall that the Aminu Maigari board had banned some football personalities observers believed were perceived as nursing ambitions to challenge Maigari in the forthcoming elections of the board.

Those that suffered the ban were one time secretary general of the Nigeria Football Federation and a onetime board member, Tiawo Ogunjobi, former board member, Leye Adepoju, former Nigeria Premier League chairman, Rumson Victor Baribote.

Iyama added that the August election into the executive board of the Nigeria Football Federation will be open to every qualified candidate to participate.

ELTA State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan will tomorrow in Warri commission a magnificent Olympic Size swimming pool in Warri.

The pool at the Warri Stadium is the venue of the ongoing Chief Of Naval Staff Swimming Competition. With the Swimming Pool in Oghara soon to be completed, Delta would boast of two Olympicsize Swimming Pools. It is the only state that can boast of more than six stadia. The Uduaghan administration also plans to construct tartan tracks in two or three secondary schools before it leaves office next year.

McIlroy wins first Open title •Adamu they can exonerate themselves,” he said.

The government gave an initial N850m to the federation and later added more than N300m. This was aside the $1.5m that World Football Governing body, FIFA gave to the federation before the World Cup in Brazil.

It was not clear if the government would also ask questions on the money from FIFA to avoid it’s action been read as interference.

But the federation, we gathered, must account for the more than N1bm it handed over to the federation for the World Cup. Eagles players went on one day strike before the match against France in Brazil after they found out how much the Federal Government gave to the federation. They knew that the $8m balance of Fifa grant for the World had not been paid to the federation but insisted on getting paid with the money Federal Government made available to the federation.

In a declaration after their first meeting following the board’s reinstatement last week, the NFF said it was open to probe.

R

ORY McIlroy has joined the pantheon of golfing greats by winning his first Open title – and his third in total – at the age of 25 following a thrilling final round at Hoylake.

In the history of the game only Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods – the two greatest players of them all - had won three majors by that tender age, but that is the exalted company McIlroy is now keeping.

German players Continues from BP ny have managed something even more embarrassing.

When triumphant Germany returned home with the World Cup trophy, wild celebrations ensued in Berlin, complete with a dramatic unveiling of Philipp Lahm holding the prize aloft.

But somewhere amidst all the jumping, frolicking and merriment-making, the Cup sustained a bit of damage. In fact, a small piece of it is now missing, as the German Football Federation president Wolfgang Niersbach revealed.

62 —Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

C M Y K

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 — 63

Aneke moves to Kazakhstan F

Mourinho admits “deep respect” for Van Gaal C

HELSEA manager Jose Mourinho admits he has “deep respect” for Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal, as the Dutchman prepares for his first season in charge of the Red Devils.

Van Gaal took over United in May following the sacking of David Moyes the month before.

The Dutchman only took over this week though due to the fact he was managing the Netherlands at the World Cup. Van Gaal led the Oranje to third place at the tournament and the national sides performances has led to high levels of optimism from the Manchester United faithful.

Mourinho, who worked with van Gaal for three years at Barcelona, recently praised van Gaal

for his efforts in his first press conference last week and he now admits he has plenty of respect for the Dutchman.

Mourinho told reporters: “I’m not worried about him being here. I look forward to playing against United. Nothing worries me. I watched him at his press conference and he was pure Van Gaal – honest and open, the way he always is.

Jose Mourinho (l) embraces Louis van Gaal

ORMER Kaduna United striker, Jude Aneke has signed the dotted lines for Kazakhstani Premier League side, Spartak Semey.

Aneke, who set a Glo Premier League record of 20 goals for a season while with Kaduna United in the 2011/12 season, has been without a club since leaving Egyptian side, Al Masry.

He was widely hailed for breaking the record previously held by Ahmed Musa, who scored 18 goals the previous season for Kano Pillars, but his time at Warri Wolves, who he joined shortly after, did not yield the expected

dividends.

The 24-year-old striker had limited playing time at the Egyptian club and had some injury worries, but will look to bounce back into the reckoning after his move to Spartak Semey.

The former Anambra United and Ebonyi Angels player will join up with compatriot, Michael Odibe, who also plays in the Kazakhstani Premier League with FK Atyrau.

Algeria appoint Gourcuff as coach

A

•Christian Gourcuff

LGERIA have ap pointed Christian Gourcuff as their new head coach following the resignation of Vahid Halilhodzic.

Halilhodzic took the north Africans to the Last 16 of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where they took eventual world champi-

ons Germany to extra time before eventually losing 21 after 120 minutes.

Despite calls for him to stay, the 61-year-old has decided to join Turkish side Trabzonspor upon the expiration of his contract, and Gourcuff has been swiftly appointed in his place.

”The Federal Bureau (have) decided to appoint Mr Christian Gourcuff as national coach from 1 August 2014,” read a statement on the FAF’s website. ”A goal for the coming African Cup of Nations in 2015 and 2017 and the 2018 World Cup will be implemented.

•Jude Aneke

C M Y K

VANGUARD, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014

Glasgow Shame: Nigerian athletes in tatters — Pg.61

Chukwu to Keshi:

Go for better pay

BY JACOB AJOM

F

•Maigari

•Baribote

•Ogunjobi

NFF ready to lift ban on Baribote, Ogunjobi, others Germany players damage I World Cup trophy

N line with the agreement reached before Mrs Baribote agreed to withdraw the case against the Nigeria Football Federation at a Jos High Court, the Continues on Page 61

I

T was Sergio Ramos who dropped the Coppa del Rey while celebrating Real Madrid’s

victory in the Spanish cup. A bus then drove over the trophy. Germa Continues on Page 61

ORMER Nigeria’s coach and a member of the technical committee of the Nigeria Football Federation, Christian Chukwu has said that he was in support of the decision

by Coach Stephen Keshi to take up new challenges after leading the Super Eagles to the second round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Speaking in a chat with Sports Vanguard, Chukwu said, “the job of coaching is all about movement and it goes with the highest bidder.”

•Keshi

Continues on Page 61

QUICK CROSSWORD

TODAY'S

PUZZLE

YESTER DAY'S YESTERDAY'S

ANSWERS

DOWN ACROSS 1 Constraint (6) 1 Shy (6) 2 Hammer (6) 5 Uttered (6) 3 Telephoned (4) 9 Fish (5) 4 Admission (5) 10 Soften (6) 5 Smooth (5) 11 Escaped (6) 6 Skin (4) 12 Salute (5) 7 Abduct (6) 14 Pace (4) 8 Nakedness (6) 17 Animal (3) 13 Oriental (7) 18 Throw (4) 15 Weary (5) 20 Located (5) 16 Flower-part (5) 22 Whelp (5) 18 Remedied (5) 23 Gossip (7) 19 Rent (5) 24 Pass on (5) 21 Age (3) 26 Repair (5) 22 Through (3) 29 Hero (4) 24 Puzzled (6) 30 Crooked (3) 25 Linger (6) 32 Facts (4) 33 Booby-trapped (5) 27 Shortage (6) 28 Objective (6) 35 Hold (6) 30 Drank (5) 36 Sick (6) 31 Long (5) 37 Memorise (5) 33 Distance (4) 38 Deserved (6) 34 Eat (4) 39 Freshest (6)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 4, Pluck 7, Reeked 9, Due 10, Tot 12, Marry 13, Trip 15, Organ 17, Normal 19, Tell 20, Scene 22, Dad 24, Derided 27, Lit 28, Fresh 31, Pass 33, Fitted 35, Motor 37, Wind 38, Wafer 39, Nor 41, Lap 42, Delete 43, Still.

DOWN: 1, Gratis 2, Define 3, Wet 4, Puma 5, Leant 6, Careless 8, Doom 11, Tradition 14, Pond 16, Glad 18, Reel 21, Cataract 23, Deft 25, Rift 26, Drew 29, Edited 30, Hidden 32, Smell 34, Trod 36, Oral 40, Rep.

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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