Buhari to appoint ministers in 2 months

...towards a better life for the people VOL. 25: NO. 62437

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MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

Nigeria loses N50trn annually 9 from untapped natural resources

Buhari to appoint ministers in 2 months •Rot left by last administration too much to clear— Source •President to take drastic actions soon, to reduce number of ministries •Waits for Senate's resumption before forwarding names of ministers

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor

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A G O S — PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari's ministers may come in two months at the earliest as the new administration seeks to come to grip with what its officials claim as the rot it inherited.

Insiders in the new government claim that Continues on Page 5

Unpaid salaries: Civil servants ask EFCC to probe govs

8

Mr & Mrs

ACCIDENTS—Accidents, gridlock and stranded commuters on the Benin-Lagos Road weekend. Photos: Egufe Yafugborhi

COLUMNISTS: Mr. President: Beware of the day of subsidy removal •P.44 •P.19

Wages of labour, Buhari must break wages of sin the APC impasse •P.20

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Be patient with Buhari, Northern elders urge Nigerians 55

2—Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

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POCKET CARTOON

CONFERENCE: From left: Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, CEO E. L. Rothschild, Co-Founder of the Inclusive Capitalism Coalition & Member, Board of Tony Elumelu Foundation; former US President Bill Clinton; Tony Elumelu, Chairman, Heirs Holdings; Indra Nooyi, Chairman & CEO, PepsiCo; Tony West, EVP, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, PepsiCo before Mr. Elumelu's panel discussion at the Inclusive Capitalism Conference in London, Friday.

Buhari to appoint ministers in 2 months Continues from Page 1 this is due to the acute state of affairs of government finances and resources. It was also disclosed that President Buhari would in the next few days take very painful decisions akin to “pulling off the tooth” of a man without painkillers.

A source close to the president, who made these known to reporters at the weekend, spoke in reference to assertions of the president’s slow take-off as reflected in the failure to appoint key actors of government.

The source dismissed

suggestions that the activities of government had been crippled on account of the failure to appoint ministers as a blackmail by politicians keen to get into the pie.

Noting what it referred to as a clearly putrid inheritance, the source said Buhari was very determined not to build his government on a “very rotten foundation.”

“You cannot even begin to imagine the situation we have met on the ground,” the source who has unfettered access to the president and is one of those presently working with him behind the scenes said.

“Almost everything is in

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE View those who speak disparagingly of you simply as affording you the opportunity to practice patience —Alan Lokos PATIENCE is a virtue but whenever we are open to it, we are happier and in good health because we are constantly in a state of equanimity. If we practice this virtue beautifully, the rewards are priceless. One who is patient glows with an inner radiance, for no one feels and looks attractive when angry. A grumpy or tempestuous person will have few friends. The inner churning caused by impatience and anger is the breeding ground for stress and illness.

No matter the level of provocation be mindful of not striking back at small offences because such retaliation serves to reinforce our aggressive tendencies which then grow and become potent. We start by simply thinking how impatience affects one’s life. You look deeply and that is a good starting point.

a state of decay. There is absolutely no way the new government can hope to achieve anything long-lasting without first building a new foundation.”

Drastic actions Giving an indication of the likelihood of the president taking some very hard decisions to salvage the country, the source who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity said: “President Buhari’s plan of action will be likened to that of a doctor who first has to break a poorly set bone afresh, before resetting it to allow for smooth and proper growth.”

Responding to criticism that the president failed to make good use of the period after the election and even one month after his inauguration to put shape to his government, the source said it would be difficult to appoint personnel to offices that no one for now knows would exist or be scrapped.

President to cut down the number of ministries “The president plans to cut down the number of ministries and

parastatals. He wants to cut down the cost of running government. He wants to make sure that all the loopholes that enable corruption to thrive are blocked. All these are procedures that require time and careful planning. You cannot do it in a rush.”

The source noted that the president could not have initiated the reforms without recourse to the Ahmed Joda report which he received only on June 12, 2015.

“Remember that he has to make sure that all this

is done without any job losses or mass retrenchments,” he said.

“All this is not a day’s or one-month job.”

Rebuffing suggestions that the activities of government have been grounded by the failure to appoint ministers, the close associate of the president described it as an act of blackmail from politicians including those from the president’s All Progressives Congress, APC, who want to be fasttracked into government.

“All these reports and agitations are being fuelled by politicians who want to put pressure on the President,” he said. “They have tried doing it other ways and those haven’t worked.

Now, they are trying to use the media. They only want their cronies appointed to ministerial posts anyhow, and they are fuelling the agitation through newspapers.”

The source also noted the crisis in the National Assembly and the adjournment of the Senate till July 21 as another reason why ministers may not be appointed in the next

few weeks.

“Look at how they are fighting among themselves. The Senate has now adjourned till July 21. That means no one to scrutinise or approve any ministerial list until the end of July”, he siad.

Tasked on the statement by the president of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki that the Senate would reconvene to screen ministerial nominees whenever called upon, the source gave the inclination that the president would soon intervene in the crisis that has split the APC caucus in the two chambers of the National Assembly.

“The President wants to walk his talk on stable politics and being a leader for all, he has a plan for the National Assembly .”

Asked to react to the assertions, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Public Affairs, Mallam Garba Shehu said the account of the president not being in a hurry to appoint ministers until he was set was very correct.

APC directive on House principal officers unconstitutional — Dogara

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

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BUJA—SPEAKER of House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara has said that the All Progressives Congress, APC, letter to the House leadership containing names of those to occupy the principal officers position was against the constitution of Nigeria.

The Speaker stated this at the weekend when he received a delegation of past members led by Rep. Dauda Bundot and Rep. Jonathan Asake.

The House was thrown into pandemonium on Thursday which led to fisticuffs following the alleged Speaker ’s refusal to read the letter

from the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Oyegun which contained names to fill the positions.

Addressing his visitors, the Speaker said: “As leaders, we are bound by the constitution and when we got that directive from the party, we said that we must defend the constitution, we must enforce our rules.

“It would have harmful effects to the constitution of Nigeria for us to adopt the position of the party.

“Assuming we go ahead to announce the party’s position, which recognises members of the Northeast and Southwest as principal officers which the

Northcentral members have already made a very strong allegation against APC, what happens?

"Assuming a court now rules that, the directive of the party breaches the provisions of the constitution relating to federal character, do we now begin to see somebody vacating his official principal position so that we can accommodate the court’s ruling?”

The Speaker further said that in order to avoid such problems it would be best that the offices of the presiding officers were given to other zones that had not produced any principal officers.

6—Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

Police declare bizman wanted over death of ex-Customs officer's son

By Esther Onyegbula

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AGOS—THE police have offered to reward anyone who assist in the arrest of one Osaretin Enabulele, also known as Euro, over the death of the son of an exCustoms Officer, Enere Utonga.

Though the police did not specify the nature of the reward, the Force declared Enabulele wanted in a Special Police Gazette Bulletin Force Directive, C.I.D No 48 issued by the authorities of the Inspector General of Police CR: 3000/HCD/06/05/15. It stated that the suspect was wanted by the office of the Commissioner of Police Homicide Section Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department Annex, Alagbon, Ikoyi, Lagos, for the offence of conspiracy and murder of Utonga on July 19, 2014.

The statement read: “Method used in committing the offence is that the suspect with four others went to the deceased house at No. 10c, Ajanaku Street, off Salvation Road, Opebi, Ikeja, Lagos, and kidnapped the deceased and on the way to their destination, the deceased died inside the vehicle.’’

Vanguard learned, that Enabulele’s last known address

was number 4, Ehigie Street, off Aiaohan Street, Dumex Road, Benin City.

The bulletin describes Enabulele as a 34-year-old importer of Bini tribe, with long, broad nose, large mouth, brown eyes with thick lips and

good teeth.

Further description of the suspect showed that he is 5ft 3inches heavy built with round face, dark skin, hair, small forehead.

The bulletin further stated that the warrant of arrest for the

suspect had been obtained from a Magistrate's Court in Lagos and urged members of the public to look out for the suspect, apprehend him and hand him over to any nearest police station.

ALTERNATIVE SOURCE OF ENERGY: Women carrying firewood on their way home from farm at Ogidi, Anambra State. Photo: NAN.

.... Nab wanted robbery kingpin in Enugu E

By Francis Igata

NUGU—A notorious car snatching and armed robbery kingpin who had been on the wanted list of Enugu Police Command has been arrested.

The suspect, Chidera Ifediegwu, alias Plantain, also a member of Vikings Confraternity, was apprehended by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, on June 26 after a gun battle at his hideout.

Police source said the activities of the suspect and his gang, had been a torn in the flesh of Enugu residents, adding that recent attacks on policemen at New Haven was allegedly carried out by the group.

Enugu State command Police Public Relations Officer,PPRO, Mr.Ebere Amaraizu, said:

‘’The suspect had been on the wanted list of the command, following attacks on policemen at New Haven axis of the state and

other armed robbery and car snatching incidents.

“We were able to apprehend the suspect after a painstaking surveillance

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ORT HARCOURT—THE police in Rivers State have arrested 69 suspected cultists in Rumuekini forest.

Spokesman of the command, DSP Ahmad Muhammad who disclosed this to newsmen, said items recovered from the hoodlums included two AK 47 rifles, five AK 47 magazines, C M Y K

By Evelyn Usman

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BA—AUTHORITIES of the Nigerian Army weekend said it had commenced investigation into the arrest of Lance Corporal Itugbu Augustine Omorodion, of the 14 Brigade, Ohafia, Abia State by policemen over alleged robbery.

Lance Corporal Omorodion was arrested two weeks ago in Aba, after allegedly attacking a 21year-old man, identified simply as Ebuka, with a dagger and robbed him of N250,000 which he was going to deposit for his boss in one of the commercial banks along Faulks road.

Ebuka reportedly raised the alarm after being robbed, which attracted a team of mobile policemen on patrol, who s u b s e q u e n t l y apprehended the suspect and took him to Aba Police area command.

Police sources had informed that the stolen money was allegedly recovered from the soldier while the 14 Brigade was notified of the incident.

Reacting to the incident, the 14 Brigade condemned the action of the soldier, stating that it had initiated steps to punish the suspect.

Help find my missing father, 6--year-old boy cries out

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By Esther Onyegbula

AGOS—SIX-year-old Michael Daniel, has called on the government to help find his father, Abel Daniel, 41, who has reportedly gone missing.

Missing man; Abel Daniel.

According to reports, Abel was last seen while driving his Nissan Prado, SUV, with number plate EY118SMK. Vanguard learned that the boy's father is a member of Man’O War, with office on No. 17, Abule, behind Etiebette House in Bank Anthony Way, Ikeja. He was posted to work as a security man in a yet-tobe identified company situated at No. 7c, Adeomo Apija, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos.

According to his younger brother, Etim Daniel, “Abel Daniel is my elder brother. We

Police arrest 69 suspected cultists in Rivers

By Jimitota Onoyume

which eventually paid off.

The suspect was arrested after a shoot out with our men who inflicted injuries on his thigh.”

Army to punish soldier over alleged robbery

152 rounds of 7.63 live ammunition and some other household valuables they allegedly stole.

He said the suspects were arrested last week, adding that they would soon be charged to court.

The police spokesman said two of the suspects sustained serious injuries during a gun battle with the

police before the arrest.

He said the Police also engaged some armed robbers operating with army camouflage at Ogale Eleme, adding that two of them were also wounded in the ensuing gun battle.

“Items recovered from them include one pump action gun, one locally made pistol, 15 live cartridges, one red mask and assorted charms,” he said.

live together at No. 3, Owoyemi Street, Sango, Ogun State. We are three living together, myself, himself and his only son. He got

the son out of wedlock when he was in school. He has a fiancée based in Akwa Ibom State."

NDLEA arrests 84 suspects with 2,633kg of Indian hemp in Ogun

By Daud Olatunji

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BEOKUTA—OGUN State command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has arrested 84 suspects with cannabis sativa, otherwise known as Indian hemp, between January and June this year.

The sector commander of the agency in the state, Balla Fagae, disclosed this in Abeokuta after a roadshow organised by the agency in collaboration with other sister security agencies to mark this year's World Drug Day. Fagae explained that the command found 2,633 kilograms of Indian hemp and 35 kilograms of psychotropic substance with the suspects.

He further said that of the 84 suspects, the command had

been able to secure 18 convictions in all the cases charged to court, while 30 of such cases were still pending at the Federal High Court.

He said: “Between January and June, NDLEA, Ogun State command has been able to arrest 84 culprits from whom we have been able to make drugs seizure totalling 2,633 kilograms of Indian hemp majorly, 35 kilograms of psychotropic substance.’’

Speaking on the strategy adopted by the command to reduce the rate at which cannabis sativa was being planted in the state, Fagae said: “We have embarked on Operation Weed Out, where we moved into the forest reserves where these drugs arecultivated,destroyedsuchbeforethey are ripe for harvest because it will be difficult to be able to curtail such drugs if allowed to be transported into the city."

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015—7

Decomposing body of former FUTA's VC found in power generator house

By Dayo Johnson

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KURE—TWO domestic staff of the kidnapped 78year-old former Vice Chancellor of Federal University of Technology, Akure, FUTA, Ondo State, Professor Albert Ilemobade, have been arrested for allegedly murdering him and dumping his corpse inside his power generator house.

The late Professor of Veterinary Medicine was said to have been strangled last Monday by his security man, identified as Daniel, and driver, Yemi, and dumped in the power generator house before fleeing with one of his vehicles, a red RAV4 SUV. The suspects were arrested by detectives in Ogun State, while they were attempting to sell off the car.

A signal was said to have been sent to Ondo, based on the confession of the suspects that they stole the vehicle after they had murdered the professor and dumped his corpse in the power generator house.

Acting on the signal, police detectives were deployed to the house located at 40, Ikere Street, Ijapo, and his decomposing corpse was discovered.

Vanguard learned that the body was discovered in a store attached to the garage, where diesel is stored.

While police in Akure were busy working on the theory that the deceased was kidnapped, little did they know that he had been murdered and his corpse dumped a few meters away from the main house.

Missing A week ago, family of the deceased professor had raised alarm that he was missing alongside his security man after they were both kidnapped.

The family had said the kidnappers walked into the house and mysteriously took him away with the security man.

Vanguard learned that the house maid reportedly raised the alarm that some men came looking for the deceased and drove off with him, while the 73year-old wife was still sleeping in one of the rooms in the house.

The two suspects sold the family a dummy by dropping his wrist watch and a pair of slippers by the security gate, as if they fell from him while he was been taken away by his abductors.

The suspects, before fleeing with the stolen vehicle, locked the main gate of the house from outside with padlock, thus locking the wife and others in.

A member of the same church as the deceased, who was

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Police, hotel taken to court over staff’s death

zDriver, security man arrested in Ogun trying to sell of victim's car

zCorpse bathed with diesel; family, colleagues in shock

Late Professor Albert Ilemobade's house. INSET: The power generator house. informed of the disappearance of the professor, reportedly engaged a welder who broke the padlock to open the gate and reported to the police.

When Vanguard visited the residence of the deceased yesterday, sympathizers milled around the wife to console her.

One of their sons, a staff of FUTA; Vicar of the Chapel of Annunciation, Rev. Ven Ayodele Fagbemi; a Chieftain of PDP, Alonge Niyi, and others, were with her.

Staff of FUTA, including the present and past Vice Chancellors and Registrar, trooped to the residence of their former colleagues, expressing shock at the development.

Speaking with Vanguard, Ven. Rev Fagbemi, said the late professor was in church penultimate Sunday, during Father’s Day celebration.

He recalled that the deceased handed over to him a cheque, being his contribution to church development.

He described his murder by the two suspects as callous.

He said the church had been praying for his release, since he was allegedly kidnapped a week ago.

The clergyman said he was told of the news that the two suspects had been arrested and had confessed that they killed him and dumped his corpse in the store during yesterday’s service.

Other domestic staff were seen pouring disinfectants inside the store to stem the stench occasioned by the decomposing corpse of the professor.

Vanguard gathered that signs that he was strangulated were discovered on his neck by the

police.

‘Barbaric’ A family member told Vanguard that the two suspects, after killing the professor, poured diesel on his body, apparently to suppress the stench that would come from the decomposing corpse.

Speaking with newsmen, a former Vice Chancellor of FUTA, Professor Dayo Fasakin, said the murder of Professor Ilemobade was barbaric.

The deceased’s Personal Assistant, Ademola Bobola, described his former boss as a father figure, embodiment of wisdom, a disciplinarian and an exemplary leader.

The state Commissioner of Police, Isaac Eke, confirmed the arrest of the suspects, adding that they would be paraded today.

OOU Students: 3 families collect bodies for burial

By Daud Olatunji

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BEOKUTA—THREE of the 12 bereaved families of students of Olabisi Onabanjo University, OOU, and the driver, who lost their lives in an accident along Sagamu-Benin Expressway, have buried their loved ones.

Vanguard gathered that the family of the driver of the bus, Lukman Adekeye, who was crushed in the accident, was first to collect his body for burial according to Islamic rites.

It was further gathered that the families of two students, identified as Dare Olatunji and Aminat Adebayo, who had gone to the school to fill postUTME form, but died in the

zAs students declare today Black Monday accident on their way back home, have collected their bodies and buried them.

It would be recalled that a container fell off the bed of a truck and landed on a bus, which was conveying passengers from Lagos Garage, Ijebu-Ode, to Sango-Ota, leaving all the passengers, except one, dead.

Chairman, National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, Ogun State, Okikiola Ogunsola, described the incident as tragic.

He identified the victims as Odubanku Oluwadamilola, Political Science (200L), Ogunnoiki Mariam, History (100L), Aribiola Elizabeth, Bio-

Chemistry (100L), Pampam Latifat, Chemical Science (100L), Asade Ibukun, Law (200L).

Meanwhile, the Students Union Government, SUG, has declared today as Black Monday in the school.

The students' leaders in the state said they had agreed that lectures and other activities be suspended in all the campuses in the state.

A statement by the SUG said: “We will be having a candlelight procession for our deceased colleagues tonight; we are expecting students from other tertiary institutions across the state to attend.”

By Gabriel Enogholase

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ENIN—THE family of late staff of Protea Hotel, Benin, Mr. Chibuike Ede, who was alleged to have died in an accident while still in the custody of police in Benin, has instituted legal action against the Police, the Inspector General, Police Service Commision, Edo State Commissioner of Police and management of Protea Select Emotan Ltd for gross negligence.

In the writs of summons before a Federal High Court, Benin, by Mr. Raphael Ede and Mrs. Christiana Edeh through their counsel, Dele Igbinedion, the plaintiff said the action of the servants or agents of the defendants in abandoning late Chibuike Edeh, the plaintiff’s first son, instead of immediately conveying him to a medical facility for emergency and / or saving medical attention after he was allegedly knocked down by a vehicle on Saturday, March 14, was gross negligence and resulted in the death of the said Chibuike Edeh.

Police arrest robbery suspects in Oyo

By Ola Ajayi

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BADAN—OYO State Police Command, weekend, arrested two suspected highway robbers, who were said to have been terrorising travellers along Iseyin/Igbeti roads at Oke Ogun area of the state.

The suspects, who reportedly wore hoods during operations, were identified as Goma, 25, and Gambo, 23.

According to the state Public Relations Officer, DSP Adekunle Ajisebutu, the suspected bandits were rounded up by the Ambush Squad, set up by the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Muhammadu Katsina.

Since the creation of the outfit, it had arrested several suspects in the state.

Ajisebutu said N156,000 cash, foreign currencies, pistols and locally-made guns, many Automated Teller Machine, ATM, cards, identity cards and other items were recovered from them.

8—Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

Unpaid salaries: Civil servants ask EFCC to probe govs

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

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BUJA — THE Nigeria Civil Service Union, NCSU, has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to investigate former and serving governors who allegedly squandered the states resources for frivolities but abandoned payment of workers salaries.

The union alleged that some of the governors used the state money to finance campaigns during the elections, while the workforce was being owed salary for many months.

The union in a communique issued at the end of a one-day meeting in Abuja, jointly signed by its President, Comrade Kiri Mohammed and Acting General Secretary, Comrade Felix Ifoh, described as unfortunate a situation where some states and local governments cannot pay workers salaries, allowances and other mandatory deductions for many months due to corruption.

The communique stated that it had become necessary for the anti-graft agency to beam its searchlight into the activities of the affected governors to ascertain how they managed the state resources.

It alleged that some former and serving governors wasted the resources in paying for inflated contracts and other personal expenses, including chartered flights, sponsoring of political campaigns, bugus security votes and payment of severance allowances.

The communique read in part: “The meeting, therefore, sees no reason why state and local governments should fail in their mandatory responsibility. This situation is not only unfortunate but criminal.

"The meeting, therefore, call upon the EFCC to investigate the activities of such governors, either serving, voted out or finished their tenure and bring them to justice.”

The union lamented that many civil servants were facing difficulties as a result of non payment of salaries, adding that the development had resulted to a situation where they could no more feed, afford to pay school fees of their children or attend to the medical bills of their families.

It further noted with regret that some of them have resorted to trekking to their various offices because they cannot afford the transport fare.

The union, however,

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commended the Federal Government for averting a serious industrial disputes capable of creeping poor state of Nigerian economy, for a bold and courageous step taken to assist affected states.

It also lauded the

doggedness of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, for putting in place a task force on unpaid salaries in state and local governments.

The union noted that the inability of state governments to pay salaries was not as a result of paucity of funds, but

for “high level of corruption, misappropriation of resources and flagrant disregard for the fulfilment of contractual agreement.”

It urged workers in the states yet to commence strike to wake up to their responsibility so that their plights would be ameliorated by the government.

SEND-OFF: From left: The Archbishop of Kaduna Anglican Diocese and newly appointed Secretary-General, Anglican Communion World wide, Most Revd Josiah IdowuFearon; former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar and Mrs Comfort Amina Fearon at the send-off ceremony of Most Revd & Mrs Fearon in Kaduna, weekend. Photo: Olu Ajayi.

LUTH Resident doctors begin strike today zMgt vows to ensure smooth services zWarns against disruption of patients care

By Chioma Obinna

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AGOS — RESIDENT doctors at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, Idi-araba will today embark on an indefinite strike following failure of the hospital management to resolve the lingering crisis after they called off their three-day warning strike.

But in a swift reaction to the expected strike, the LUTH management warned that it will not tolerate any attempt to disrupt patients care even as it vowed to ensure that all clinics remained open for patients.

According to the doctors, the painful decision was taken to press home their demands over the non implementation of the skipping allowance which was part of the agreements reached with the Federal Government on December 16, 2013 and January 4, 2014.

Confirming the commencement of the industrial action in a telephone chat with Vanguard, President of the

association, Dr. Ramon Moronkola, described non implementation of the skipping allowance by the hospital as unilateral breach of agreements as directed by the Federal Government.

Moronkola, who announced that the strike will commence at 8:00a.m today, urged Nigerians to blame the Chief Medical Director of the hospital for the strike.

His words: “We did our best to avoid the strike. For more than two months now we have been on it. At a point, when we were pushed to the wall, we gave seven days ultimatum and there after 21 days ultimatum but the management of the institution failed to utilised the period.

It's a painful decision

“We embarked on a three-day warning strike yet nothing was done. It is really a painful decision but we have to do it.

Management has failed by not using the opportunity of the period of ultimatum. We are hoping that they will come back to the negotiating table to stop the strike from dragging for too long."

He urged Nigerians to demand

the reasons why doctors at LUTH are on strike, adding: “People should ask questions on what is causing the strike. The CMD should be taken to task. If it is his hospital he will not like the strike to go on without resolving the problems. It is unfortunate where we found ourselves today.”

LUTH warns against disruption of patients' care

Reacting to the expected strike in telephone chat, Chief Medical Director, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, Prof. Chris Bode, warned that the hospital would not tolerate attempt to disrupt patients care and vowed to ensure that all clinics remained open for patients.

Bode, who said the management had continued to appeal to the doctors not to go on strike, described the decision of the doctors to embarked on what he called “ill-advised strike” at this time as unnecessary.

He said: “I think for now we should be considerate and not to be insensitive to what is happening around us."

Church decries US Supreme Court’s endorsement of same-sex marriage

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AST Friday’s ruling of the United States (US) Supreme Court, legalising same-sex marriage has been described as “an attack on the church, Christianity and traditional values.”

A statement from the leadership of Motailatu Church Cherubim and Seraphim Worldwide, signed

by His Eminence, Senior Superintendent Gabriel Akinadewo (Omo Jesu II) and Senior Apostle Godfrey Dottie, described the action as unfortunate, “coming from a country which adopts ‘In God we Trust’ as its creed.

According to the statement, “if individuals are involved in homosexuality, we didn’t expect the highest level of judiciary, the Supreme Court, to officially and legally okay such a satanic belief. It was even a surprise to us, as a church, that the highest level of executive, President Barack Obama, has also endorsed this luciferic belief that a man can marry a man and a woman can marry a woman.

“There are countless verses in the Bible to knock off this belief but Genesis 1:27 tells us that God created man and woman. God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Adam or Eve and Eve. Genesis 1:31 tells us that everything God created was good.

“It is unfortunate that many Euro-Atlantic countries have moved away from their roots, God’s and Christian values by pursuing policies that challenge God’s wisdom in creating man and woman to replenish the earth.

“It is true that man has freedom but man’s freedom is not absolute before God. By having faith in God and also believing in satan, the world is gradually slipping away into destruction.

“Since The Netherlands legalised same-sex marriage on April 1, 2001, about 20 countries, including Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Britain, Brazil, New Zealand, Uruguay, France, Denmark and now the U.S., have joined the devilish train of man sleeping with man and woman sleeping with woman.

“It is a terrible thing for anybody to live without God or, directly or indirectly, fight God through satanic words and action. We, as a church, are telling the world to beware of evil influences capable of incurring God’s wrath. We are telling other parts of the world: ‘stop this satanic action now."

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015—9

Nigeria loses N50trn annually from untapped natural resources

By Omoh Gabriel, Austin Ogwuda, Abdulsalam Muhammad,Wole Mosadomi, Tina Akannam, Aliyu Dangida, Daud Olatunji, Boluwaji Obahopo &Tom Moses

By Gabriel Olawale

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AGOS— FEDERAL, states and local governments are losing about N50 trillion annually from untapped resources that abound in the nation's soil.

Nigeria is estimated to be losing about N8 trillion annually from untapped gold. The estimates are monies that should have accrued to the federation account from royalties, taxes, charges and other fees from companies and individuals operating in the solid mineral sector if the Federal Government had paid enough attention to the development of solid minerals in the country.

Going by this, Nigeria should not have had any financial crisis any time crude oil prices face southward. In fact, states in the country would have been well off financially and would not have been talking about bail out.

However, the Mining and Mineral Act of 2007 which puts the exploration and exploitation of mineral resources in the exclusive list has hindered state from developing mineral deposit in their jurisdiction. Nigerians put the blame at the feet of federal politicians that have paid lip service to fiscal federalism.

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, audit report of 2012 suggests that there are about 40 different kinds of solid minerals and precious metals buried in Nigeria soil waiting to be exploited. The commercial value of Nigeria’s solid minerals has been estimated to run into hundreds of trillions of dollars, with 70 per cent of these buried in the bowel of Northern Nigeria.

Nigeria loses N8trn annually

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President of Miners’ Empowerment Association of Nigeria, Mr. Sunny Ekosin, told Vanguard that Nigeria loses a whopping N8 trillion annually in unexploited gold alone. He also says that Ajaokuta remains the key to Nigeria’s industrialisation and that getting it back to work is a matter of patriotism for President Buhari and his team.

Ekosin, in an interview with Vanguard said: “If Nigerians were taking data seriously, assuming we build a database where we have authentic information, in 2012 the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Mines and Steel came before the nation and said from precious metals alone, specifically from gold exploitation alone, Nigeria is losing N8 trillion ($50 billion) annually.

According to NEITI/CBN report, “total revenue from the solid minerals sector amounted to N31.449 billion in 2012. The revenue stream from the solid minerals sector is composed of

Vanguard's Health correspondent wins NHEA award

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VISIT: From left: Counsellor, Foreign Policy and Diplomacy Service, Government of Canada, Megan Foster; Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Lasun Yusuf; Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara and High Commission/ Haut-commissarie, Canada, Perry Calderwood, during the courtesy visit to Speaker at National Assembly, Abuja, weekend.

Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan.

84.18 per cent of taxes received

by FIRS. Mining taxes received by MID and MCO represent 3.48 per cent and 2.24 per cent respectively.

“According to the data collected from extractive companies and government entities, after reconciliation work, revenues generated from the solid minerals sector amounted to N31.449 billion.

"Government revenues from the solid minerals sector increased from N26.925 billion in 2011 to N31.449 billion in 2012. Large sector mining was higher in 2012 due to an increase of granite and limestone production respectively to 12 million tons and 18 million tons compared to eight million tons and 15 million tons in 2011. This was a result of the increase of the consumption of granite and production of cement in Nigeria during 2012.

Solid minerals accounted for 0.02% export earnings

“The solid minerals sector accounted for an average of 0.02 per cent of total export earnings for the year 2012.

Zinc and lead ores account for more than 48 per cent of the solid minerals sector exports.

All companies operating under a mining or quarrying license and which make payments to MID in excess of N2 million ($12,500) were required to report their payments in accordance with EITI Requirements.

“Despite the fact that gold and barites were being mined across the nation, there is no record to show that these minerals are among the mined or exported minerals. Further finding shows that barites are mined in Benue and Nasarawa states, they are also purchased by multinational oil companies as drill fluids, despite high activities of miners there are no

record of royalty payments.

No evidence of royalties payment

“From the available records of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, there were no evidence of royalty payment on these exported minerals. The Nigeria Minerals and Mining Act 2007 requires that any exporter of solid minerals must request for permit to export minerals. But in defiance to the act, there was no available evidence of request for permit or approval to export minerals by the companies.

“The informal players are mostly artisan miners, medium scale operators and illegal miners who hardly keep any record. Some of the minerals mined in Nigeria are exported out of the country by formal and informal players.

There are no official records from Ministry of Mines and Steel Development on the actual volume of minerals exported out of Nigeria within the period under review. However, the few records available relates to transactions that were done by the formal players as they passed through the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria Customs Service and Nigeria Export Promotion Council.”

Geological survey of mineral deposits

According to the geological survey of mineral deposits in Nigeria, “the schist belt that covers the western half of Nigeria has proven reserves of gold. Although gold production in this region dates from 1913, colonial mining companies abandoned their activities following the onset of the Second World War. "The gold mines have since remained dormant, aside from an abortive attempt at extraction by the Nigerian Mining Corporation in the 1980s, which floundered due to a lack of funds. Artisan miners now account for most gold extraction, but primary deposits

that could support mechanised mining have been identified in the North West and South-West parts of Nigeria.

"These deposits are of a relatively high grade, and it is estimated that extraction costs could be as low as $50 per ounce, due to the shallow depth at which they are found. An estimated 10 million tonnes of lead and zinc veins straddle eight of Nigeria’s states, with the 700’000 tonnes in Abakiliki in Ebonyi State representing the most favourable prospect.

Non-metallic minerals category,

"In the non-metallic minerals category, riches also abound: the building industry is supplied by crushed rock, gravel and sand; glass-making grade sand has been established in many parts of the country; and Niger, Osun, Kogi, Ogun and Kaduna states collectively boast up to 100 million tonnes of talc, a mere fraction of which is used in several medium-sized talc processing plants."

Gemstone mining is one area that has seen something of a boom, though again the level of exploitation is running well below potential. Gemstones present include sapphire, ruby, aquamarine, emerald, tourmaline, topaz, garnet, amethyst, zircon, and fluorspar.

Bentonite and barite – both of which are constituents in the mud used when drilling oil wells – are also in abundance, with 7.5 million tonnes of barite in Taraba and Bauchi states and 700 million tonnes of bentonite across the country.

Reserves of bitumen represent another under utilised resource, with estimated reserves of 42 billion tonnes or twice the country’s existing reserves of crude oil. Paradoxically, most bitumen used in road construction in Nigeria is currently imported. zSee page 21 for details

AGOS — Vanguard newspapers' Health correspondent, Mrs. Chioma Obinna, has won the Nigeria Healthcare Excellence Award, NHEA. The award, which was described as the highest honour for unparalled excellence in the Nigeria healthcare sector, was in recognition of outstanding contributions of individuals and institutions towards improving access to quality healthcare in the country.

Organisers of the award said Obinna is being recognised for her contributions in educating and advocating good healthcare, awareness and survival of Nigerians.

Obinna was nominated alongside other health correspondents from Punch and Business day newspapers.

Presenting the award, former President, West African College of Physicians, Dr. Sonny Kuku, said: “The write-ups and reports presented by the winner have distinguished her among her colleagues. Her commitment to excellence has been noted and rewarded among the numerous nominees for the second edition of the NHEA. To some of us, it was not a surprise, as some of her stories have helped in enlightening and given directions in some of the critical issues in the healthcare sector.”

Speaking on the award, Chairman, panel of judges, Professor Soyibo Adedoyin, said NHEA award was part of the initiative by Global Health Projects and Resources and Anadach Group to reward dedicated healthcare professionals throughout the country who worked tirelessly to care for the citizens of Nigeria.

According to him, “ we recognise them all by honouring a special few who have demonstrated leadership, brilliance and bravery through their commitment, expertise and selflessness on behalf of the health community and the patients they serve."

10 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

RELIEF AT LAST? The Oshodi - Apapa Expressroad, last night, after Governor Akinwunmi Ambode ordered a Task force to clear tankers and trailers parked indiscriminately on the road, making life hell for other users. Photo by Akeem Salau.

THE HELL LAST TIME: A gruelling traffic snarl, caused by long queue of tankers and trucks on the express road. A never-ending chaos. Photo by Joe Akintola.

TRAFFIC GRIDLOCK: Ambode's taskforce clears Oshodi-Apapa expressway of trucks

By Olasunkanmi Akoni

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AGOS—AFTER several weeks of traffic gridlock, respite came yesterday, on the

NANS mourns 11 dead Onabanjo varsity students

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HE National Associ ation of Nigerian Students, NANS, yesterday commiserated with the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye community over the death of 11 students, who lost their lives when a container fell on a passenger bus conveying them.

A statement by Falola Ahmed, Ogun State NANS Chairman and Ayenuro Gbenga, Vice President (National Affairs), NANS said; “On behalf of the state and national secretariat, we sent this to support the Nigerian students in our grieving process with sincere sympathy. ‘’The loss of loved ones is always an unfathomable tragedy, which is compounded when such death occurs at an unripe age. May their souls find peace and comfort. ‘’We wish the Students Union Government of Olabisi Onabanjo University, AgoIwoye, the deceased' families, OOU management and entire students community of peace to bring comfort, courage to face the days ahead and loving memories to forever hold in their hearts.’’

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Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, as tankers and other articulated vehicles disappeared from the ever-busy road.

The disappearance of tankers is believed to be in response to the directive by Lagos State governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode to the drivers to vacate the road immediately when he led top officials of the state government and security agencies, last Thursday, on an on-the-spot assessment of major traffic points in the area.

Ambode also announced the immediate setting up of a special enforcement taskforce to

ensure 24 hours surveillance of traffic flow, while stressing that the Lagos Road Traffic Law should strictly be enforced to the latter.

It was gathered that the special enforcement taskforce stormed the area in the early hours of yesterday, about 4 am forcefully removing some of the tankers for flouting the governor’s directive and state traffic law.

Seeing the seriousness of the taskforce, the other tanker drivers quickly drove off to avoid their vehicles being impounded.

The armed taskforce, it was gathered, was supported by

men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, to carry out the enforcement.

When Governor Ambode visited he said; “We will pay more attention to enforcement. From this evening (last Thursday) you would see that there will be more attention on enforcement which we will fund adequately. We are going to give incentives to our law enforcement officers to ensure that the Lagos Traffic Law is obeyed.”

The indiscriminate parking on the highway by tankers which had defied all solutions in the past resulted in terrible

S-WEST: 23 die, 10 injured in three months — NEMA

By Bose Adelaja & Monsur Olowoopejo

N

O fewer than 23 persons were said to have died, while 10 others suffered varying degrees of injuries from disasters which occurred in the South-west zone in the past three months.

Also, about 200 fire incidents were jointly handled by fire fighters both at the states and federal level during this period.

The National Emergency Management Agency NEMA, South West zone, who disclosed this, yesterday, said out of the figure, seven children, including a six-month-old baby were lost to an inferno.

The Zonal Office, who was reviewing its activities from March to June, 2015, made the disclosure, saying two suicide attempts were also recorded during this period.

NEMA South-west Information Officer, Ibrahim

Farinloye, said out of the suicide attempts, one person who climbed a television mast was rescued alive while the other one had died before help could reach him.

He gave kudos to Lagos State Fire Service for effective use of the state-of-the art fire appliances acquired by the state government, to attend to about five fire calls daily.

The emergency management

lamented that in the period under review, a fire fighter was lost in active service while trying to rescue a victim in a local well; “He was in coma for a long time before giving up the ghost,” Farinloye said.

This incident according to NEMA, really dampened the morale, passion and spirits of the fire fighters being the first calamity among them.

traffic gridlock and break down of law and order in the area.

Meanwhile, against the usual situation, the stretch of Oshodi-Apapa Express road was yesterday, free of any traffic gridlock. The usual presence of tankers on both sides of the main carriage way and service lane was absent.

Some motorists and residents, who spoke to Vanguard, commended the governor for living up to his word and urged him to sustain the current tempo, particularly during the week when traffic is expected to be heavy along the axis.

Mr. Michael Okon, a resident in Kirikiri area, said, “Ï am really happy that this road can be free like this again, because several efforts in the past to achieve this had failed.

“Though, it is not yet Uhuru, Ï implore our amiable governor not to rest on his oars by ensuring that these tankers never return to the road in the interest of the general public.”

Also Mr. Omoniyi Oriade, a cab operator, who heaved a sigh of relief, said, “This is a temporary relief, the taskforce should be alert during the week because that is when the volume of traffic is high. These recalcitrant drivers may come back.

Therefore, government should sustain it with intense vigour.”

Let’s sacrifice for change, lawmaker charges colleagues

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AGOS—A member of Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr Bisi Yusuff, yesterday urged lawmakers in the country to make sacrifice in the interest of the masses.

Yusuff of the All Progressives Congress, APC-Alimosho 1, Lagos House of Assembly, spoke against the backdrop of the call for lawmakers to review their salaries and allowances.

The lawmaker, who spoke in Lagos, advised his colleagues

to ensure positive change in the living condition of Nigerians.

“Anything that will bring change should be embraced by all of us; there is no change without sacrifice, this is my personal opinion.

“While the government is doing its best, individuals too must also think of making the economy more vibrant,” Yusuff said.

Commenting on calls for the introduction of ‘part-time’ leg-

islature, the lawmaker said the country was not ripe enough for such exercise,adding “I adding don’t think we are ripe for part-time legislature because we are doing a lot of things.”

The lawmaker, however, expressed confidence that the present administration would transform the country, urging Nigerians not to be in hurry.

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015 — 11

UNPAID SALARIES PETITION: Justice Oloyede should resign — OSUN APC

By Gbenga Olarinoye

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SOGBO—THE All Progressives Congress, APC in Osun State has advised Justice Olamide Folahanmi Oloyede, who petitioned the state House of Assembly to commence impeachment of Governor Rauf Aregbesola to do the honorable thing by resigning her position as a judge of the high court of the state’s judiciary.

The party gave this advice in its reaction in Osogbo yesterday

by Mr Kunle Oyatomi, the APC spokesperson to a petition the judge forwarded to the state House of Assembly, demanding the impeachment of Governor Aregbesola and his deputy, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori, over the unpaid salaries of the state's workers and pensions.

According to APC, “It is a gross abuse of the privileges of her office for the judge to use the platform of the state’s judiciary to mount open and destructive challenge against the state’s Chief Executive, who is her boss in government.

“The ethics of her status in this government prohibits such frontal challenge’, the APC argued, but conceded that ‘If the judge is determined to bring down the Ar-

By Daud Olatunji

A

VISIT: Ogun State Deputy Governor, Mrs Yetunde Abosede Onanuga (2nd right) with the only survivor among the students of Olabisi Onabanjo University, who died in a ghastly motor accident along Sagamu-Benin expressway on Friday. egbesola government, as her petition so clearly indicates, it will be dishonorable of her to remain in government. She is therefore advised to resign immediately so that she will be free to pursue her delight outside the platform of government ‘, the APC said.

“Whereas the judge, as a free citizen, has rights to express herself on matters affecting the country and her environment, but as a judge of the state high court, she is ethically and morally restrained from making pronouncements that would be prejudicial to the

administration of justice’, the APC contended.

The party also described the “Judge’s petition as significantly flawed because it is a bogus rehearsal of all the baseless allegations made by PDP in recent times against Aregbesola administration”.

Fayose wants to kill Awo’s legacy in Ekiti – APC zAPC govt killed education in Ekiti — FAYOSE

By Dapo Akinrefon

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HE Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has faulted the move

by Governor Ayodele Fayose to commercialise basic education in the state, describing it as a disservice to the memory of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

But in a swift reaction, Gover-

nor Fayose accused the APC of killing education in the state just as he said his government has resolved to restore Ekiti's lost glory in the education sector.

In a statement by its state Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, APC decried what it described as an insensitive policy, saying that by the decision, Fayose had marked himself out as

Elections tribunal turns down APC witness in Ekiti

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DO-EKITI—THE Legis lative Election Petitions Tribunal for Ekiti State at the weekend, declined the All Progressives Congress, APC lawyer from leading one Mr Aderemi Akinlade in evidence, at the sitting of the tribunal in Ado-Ekiti.

The Chairman of the three-man panel, Justice A. Erahor, turned down the request at the resumed hearing of a petition challenging the election of Sen. Fatimah RajiRasaki (PDP- Ekiti Central) Akinlade was subpoenaed at the request of APC and its candidate, Mr Gbenga Olofin, in the Ekiti Central Senatorial District election.

Erahor, in a ruling held that the C M Y K

NDLEA arrests 84 suspects, seizes 2633 kg of Indian hemp in Ogun

witness was issued with ‘subpoena duces-tecum’ in which a witness summon is required to tender only documents and therefore, he cannot be put on oath in the witness box to give evidence.

At the pre-hearing stage of the petition, counsel to the petitioners, Mr Yemi George, had caused the tribunal to issue the summon on the witness.

At the resumed hearing on Saturday, George, however, told the tribunal that he wanted to put the witness on oath and lead him in evidence.

Mr Jude Ogodi, counsel to Sen. Raji-Rasaki opposed the position of the petitioner’s lawyer on the ground that “subpoena duces-tecum” could suffice for a witness to be led in evidence.

the last bastion of conservative partisans insensitive to universal quest to acquire basic education.

The party, however lamented that the Fayose-led administration had reduced all government engagements and governance as a concept “that must be denominated in naira and kobo instead of playing a role that gave citizens hope to survive in a competitive world where education is the vehicle for social and economic mobility. “ The party said: “This is another hardship foisted on parents who are already impoverished by the poverty-friendly administration of Fayose. Governor Fayose’s lame excuse during his recent media chat on the state media that pupils and students of free education are not always brilliant is ignorance taken too far. It reveals the lack of understanding and deep-seated contempt the governor has for education.”

In its reaction, the Ekiti State government faulted APC’s claim of Fayose’s plan to commercialise basic education in the state.

The state government accused the APC government of Dr Kayode Fayemi of “killing education” in the state just it said the Fayose-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government has re-

solved “to restore the lost glory of the State in the education sector.”

In a statement by Special Assistant to the governor on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, he refuted APC’s claim, noting that the government had no plan to commercialise basic education in the state.

Ondo govt orders completion of Airport road

By Dayo Johnson

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KURE—THE contrac tor handling the Oba-Ile-Airport road in Akure, Ondo State has been instructed to concentrate on ensuring the completion of a lane of the dual carriage road immediately. This is to reduce the stress motorists plying the road go through as a result of the ongoing construction.

Governor Olusegun Mimiko gave the order at the weekend.

He explained that since work has reached advanced stage on one of the lanes, the contractor should endeavour to concentrate and work it through so that motorists can use it on single lane basis pending when work will be concluded on the entire project.

B E O K U TA — T H E Ogun State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested 84 suspects with cannabis sativa, otherwise known as indian hemp between January and June this year.

The Sector commander of the Agency in the state, Balla Fagae disclosed this in Abeokuta after a roadshow organised by the agency in collaboration with other sister security agencies to mark this year World Drug Day. Fagae explained that the command found 2633 kilograms of Indian hemp and 35 kilograms of psychotropic substance with the suspects.

He further said, out of the 84 suspects, the command has been able to secure 18 convictions in all the cases charged to court, while 30 of such cases are still pending at the Federal High Court.

Death of OOU students shocking, says Daniel

By Daud Olatunji

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BEOKUTA—THE immediate past governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel has commiserated with the parents, families and management of the Olabisi Onabanjo University on the loss of some students of the insitution in a ghastly motor accident along Sagamu-Benin expressway on Friday.

Daniel, in a statement signed by his media aide, Ayo Giwa, expressed shock on the breaking of the news, describing the incident as devastating and one received with personal pain and deep sorrow.

“I feel saddened on the death of these brilliant stars, who were just coming into the world to express themselves. It is one sad event that is hard to comprehend.

“The hearts of my family and I are with the families of the victims of the accident but we can only take solace in the belief that it is only God Almighty who has total control over our souls as we pray Him to grant those who share in the grief the fortitude to bear the pains”, he said.

12—Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

Omehia: Wike can't overrule Supreme Court —Rivers APC

By Gbenga Oke

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IVERS State chapter of All Progressives Congress, APC, weekend condemned the action of Governor Nyesom Wike in restoring the rights and privileges of Sir Celestine Omehia as a former governor of the state.

The party also said it was embarrassed that an individual who was licensed to practice law within the Nigerian territory would in the most flagrant manner, disregard the ruling of the Supreme Court of the land for selfish political expediency.

Governor Nyesom Wike had, last week, said the decision to restore the entitlements and privileges of Omehia as a former governor stemmed from the fact that he worked as governor of the state between May 29, 2007 and October 25, 2007, wherein he took decisions on behalf of the state and initiated projects.

Condemning the action of the governor, the party, through state Publicity Secretary of the APC in Rivers State, Mr Chris Finebone, said the APC was persuaded to believe that the governor was only trying hard to create a precedent, considering the quicksand on which his governorship was standing.

It said: ‘’As a party, the APC recalls that the Supreme Court of Nigeria, in 2007, ruled that Sir Celestine Omehia was never a governor in the eyes of the law and consequently nullified his

governorship as having not happened. ‘’That landmark judgement also ordered that Mr. Rotimi Amaechi be sworn in immediately as the rightful governor of Rivers State.

The Supreme Court explicitly declared that Omehia held the office in error and illegally. ‘’Apart from Amaechi, the next immediate beneficiary of that development was Mr. Nyesom Wike who was shortly appointed Chief of Staff by Amaechi. ‘’Can Governor Wike, in all honesty recall drawing the

attention of his former boss to the need to override certain aspects of the Supreme Court ruling and defiantly restore Omehia’s rights, howbeit, as he has just done? ‘’Can Wike, today, own up to several of the anti-Omehia actions he took as Amaechi’s Chief of Staff until he was called to order? ‘’More embarrassing is that the recipient himself is a lawyer and he had previously sought to get the Supreme Court to reverse itself in related matters without

success. ‘’So we would like Rivers people and Nigerians to know that the action and utterances of Gov. Wike are nothing more than standing in front of the mirror for the world to see and confirm the real Nyesom Wike who is ready to abandon civility, reason and decency on the altar of political expediency. ‘’We reject the attempt by Governor Wike to undermine the integrity and sanctity of the Supreme Court of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.’’

THANKSGIVING: From left: Chief Tom Amioku,NDDC Commissioner, Delta State; Archbishop Goddowell Avwomakpa; High Chief Tunde Smooth; Gen. Ovadhe Oviemo(retd.); Admiral Mike Onah (retd.) and Chief Wellington Okirika, former Chairman of DESOPADEC, at the special thanksgiving service by the family of Mr. Kingsley Otuaro, Deputy Governor, Delta State, at Christ Embassy, Effurun.

Police arrest Delta LP leader for allegedly stealing INEC results sheets

By Festus Ahon

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SABA—THE police in Delta State have arrested a leader of Labour Party, LP, (name withheld) in Asaba for allegedly stealing result sheets and other administrative documents belonging to the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC. The man was reportedly arrested by the police in one of the hotels in the capital city in his bid to escape with the materials.

Vanguard gathered that the suspect who posed as an agent of the party, had applied for certified copies of results for tribunal purposes at Asaba office of INEC, but escaped with the results and other documents while his application was still being processed.

INEC officials who raised alarm immediately they noticed that the suspect vanished into thin air, alerted the police who arranged a search party for him.

According to a dependable

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source, the suspect was traced to his hideout in a hotel where he was apprehended with some of the documents.

Both INEC and Labour Party officials who were contacted declined comments, insisting that it was a police matter.

However, an INEC official who does not want his name in print confirmed the arrest,

saying the police were handling the matter.

A police source said the party leader was a familiar face at INEC office, adding that he had represented Labour Party in most of the meetings that involved the commission and political parties in the state.

The state Police Public

Relation Officer, Celestina Kalu, said a matter of result sheets forgery was being investigated and anybody could be arrested.

However, a senior police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the incident and said investigation was on to unmask all those involved.

Esuene loses bid to unseat A-Ibom gov

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By Tom Moses

KWA Ibom State governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, weekend scaled the first hurdle in the Elections Petitions Tribunal as Justice A. S. Umar struck out the petition filed by the candidate of Labour Party, Senator Helen Esuene, seeking the nullification of his election as governor of the state.

The presiding judge struck out Esuene's petition on the ground of incompetence.

Mr. Paul Usoro (SAN), counsel to the Akwa Ibom State governor, had challenged the competence of the Labour Party candidate’s petition on the grounds that

Exhibit A, the purported Certified True Copy of the Signature page of the petition attached to the petitioners’ counter affidavit to the motion, was not the Certified True Copy and, therefore, failed to satisfy the requirements of Sections 104 and 105 of the Evidence Act. Usoro also held that the petition in the record of the Tribunal, did not disclose the signatory thereof as none of the names of the counsel listed therein was ticked to indicate who signed the petition.

He also contended that any attempt by the Tribunal to carry out an investigation in order to

discover the signatories would be tantamount to converting the Tribunal into a forensic laboratory.

The Judges unanimously agreed with the counsel to Mr. Udom Emmanuel on all the grounds a n d , therefore, struck out the petition o n grounds o f incompetence.

Irate youths disrupt inspection of ballot papers in Delta

By Ochuko Akuopha

O

L E H — PA N D E MONIUM broke out at the premises of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, at Oleh, Isoko South Local Government Area, Delta State, weekend, as irate youths disrupted the inspection of ballot materials used for the April 11, 2015, state assembly election in Isoko South constituency II. The Election Petition Tribunal had last Monday, granted the prayers of the candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Ferguson Onwo, for the ballot materials to be inspected.

Onwo is challenging the election of the lawmaker representing the constituency, Mr. Johnson Erijo, of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the said polls.

Sources said the youths, suspected to be supporters of the opposing political parties, stormed the commission’s premises in the area in large numbers, halting the exercise in the ensuing brawl.

Efforts to reach Erijo for comments were abortive at the time of filing this report, but a PDP stalwart in the area who sought anonymity, told Vanguard that the commotion was masterminded by thugs of the APC.

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015—13

Bayelsa elders, chiefs protest alleged secret sale of oil, gas reserves

By Samuel Oyadongha

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ENAGOA—ELDERS and chiefs of Nembe Kingdom in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State have sent a protest letter to President Muhammadu Buhari over alleged secret sale of oil and gas reserves in the area by Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, without the involvement of the indigenes.

However, efforts to get SPDC’s comment on the issue at press time proved abortive as the telephone of its spokesman, Mr. Joseph Obari, was switched off.

According to the elders, Nembe kingdom is one of the biggest onshore oil producing communities in the Niger Delta with the oil mining lease (OML) 29 producing over 150,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Nembe communities, in a petition to President Buhari, entitled “A demand for our community’s participation and our right to equity shares in Shell’s sale of its assets”, claimed that the action of the company to exclude them was an insult and a provocative stance that could disrupt oil exploration activities in the area.

The petition, signed by the chairman of Nembe Oil and Gas Committee, Chief Nengi JamesEriworio and the Secretary, Chief Austin Martins-Gboro, read: “We just woke up one morning and started reading in the newspapers and the electronic media that our oil fields have been sold by Shell

Petroleum Development Company Limited, SPDC, and acquired by an unknown company, Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company Limited. ‘’The sale involves the acquisition of SPDC’s 30 % stake in our oil mining lease (OML) 29 and the Nembe Creek Trunk line, NCTL, under the latest Shell divestment policy of empowering indigenous oil companies as enunciated in the lurch to suffer for all the ‘sins’ committed by Shell in our environment. This smacks

of impunity as it is not done in line with global best practices.

“The problem of this clandestine sale without prior consent and or consultation of the custodians of the oil fields to Aiteo to boost indigenous companies in the upstream sub-sector of the oil and gas industry, has produced a lacuna that the sale had not taken care of. ‘’During the time of Shell’s operations in the Nembe environment over the years, our land had been totally devastated and degraded which was

occasioned by incessant oil spills that called for clean-ups and remediation of the environment.

“Shell was responsible for these anomalies as a result of its negligent behaviour. That is why it beats our imaginations that nothing was made known to us, as a community that had shouldered these hazards of oil exploration and exploitation.

“Apart from the devastated and degraded environment that had been unwittingly left behind to our detriment, there were also the issues of mutual agreements entered into between the company and the community."

DEDICATION SERVICE: Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State and wife Martha, receiving a portrait from General Overseer of The Apostolic Mount Olive Church, Apostle David Udo Udo, during a child dedication service in Onna Local Government Area of the state.

Osagie dismisses call for Oyegun’s resignation

By Simon Ebegbulem

B

E N I N— I M M E D I AT E past Minority Whip of the House of Representatives, Mr Samson Osagie, has described as mischievous and senseless the call in some quarters for the resignation of national chairman of All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, over the crisis bedevilling the National Assembly.

He argued that those calling for Oyegun’s resignation could be agents of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, noting that one of the problems in the PDP was the incessant change of leadership which led to the instability of the party.

He called on all those nursing the idea to embrace the conflict resolution mechanism of the party to resolve all issue, so the party could focus on assisting President Muhammadu Buhari to deliver on his promises to Nigerians.

“Chief Oyegun is a humble gentle man committed to the ideals of the change mantra of the APC therefore he must not

be rubbished by elements who are being pushed by their ambitions. As Nigerians we need an enduring democratic culture where all interest will coexist and be subject to

national interest.

“The national chairman has been a consistent progressive politician who will not do anything to dent his image. I urge those calling for his

removal to thread with caution so that we will not destroy the change Nigerians are anxiously expecting from this new APC government,” he stated.

Rivers Commissioner faults Agbakoba on Omehia's restoration

By Jimitota Onoyume

P

ORT HARCOURT— RIVERS State Commissioner for Housing, Mr Emma Okah, has lashed out at former president of Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Mr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, for describing the decision of Rivers State government to restore the privileges and entitlements of deposed Governor Celestine Omehia as useless and capable of overheating the polity.

Okah, who expressed shock that Agbakoba kept mute while the state judiciary complex was shut down for close to one year by striking workers due to the alleged insensitivity of the former administration, noted that the action of the state government to restore the privileges and rights

of former Governor Omehia was purely a political concession to further unite the state and promote peace.

He said it was a move by the state government to end unnecessary political acrimony and bitterness, adding that a state government had powers to confer advantages on anyone without reference to any court judgement.

He said: “This is purely a political concession, far away from the courts. There must be an end to acrimony and bitterness or politics of hate. ‘’As a people, we should encourage harmony, peace and consensus building so that we can put the agony of yesterday behind us and together, move the state to greater heights. In all jurisdictions, litigants can still seek peace outside the court room

or even after judgement and such agreements calm frayed nerves and heal wounds better and faster.”

Okah recalled that Nigeria extended similar gesture to Chief Ernest Shonekan who headed an Interim Government declared illegal by the court, stressing also that in Ekiti State, Governor Ayo Fayose gave similar recognition to Chief Segun Oni whom the court said was not a governor in the eyes of the law.

“Many thought that Chief Agbakoba would have risen to the occasion but the plight and agony of detainees, lawyers, judges, litigants and judicial stakeholders, arising from the closure of courts could, not move him to strongly condemn the evils that Amaechi inflicted on the judiciary," he added.

Edo Election Tribunal declares PDP candidate winner of Assembly poll

By Gabriel Enogholase

B

ENIN—EDO State Election Petitions Tribunal, weekend, in Benin City, declared Gallant Sylvanus Peter of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, winner of the April 11 election in Estako West II constituency of the state House of Assembly.

In its judgment, Justice E. Abuua held that Peter's closest rival in the election, Yakubu, was not duly nominated by his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC. The tribunal held that the notice of intention to hold party primaries sent to INEC was less than the mandatory 21 days, adding that the notice of intention to hold primaries was given on November 13, 2014, while the primaries were held on December 1, 2014.

The tribunal said all the votes cast for the APC candidate were wasted as a result of which the first runner up who had 4,001 votes, was the rightful person to be declared winner of the election.

Gallant left the court in tears of joy.

Reacting to the ruling, state chairman of the PDP, Chief Dan Orbih, said the judgment was a proof that the PDP was in charge of the state.

Chief Orbih said the wind of change showed that Governor Oshiomhole was now being represented by a PDP lawmaker, adding that the judgment had kept the hope of Edo people alive.

Also, a chieftain of the PDP from Edo North, Mr. Jarret Tenebe, while reacting to the judgment, described it as a victory for democracy and Governor Adams Oshiomhole who is an Uzairue man.

“We expect the APC to congratulate us, even if they will challenge the judgement at the appellate court. ‘’This is the change we are all yearning for and they should emulate former President Goodluck Jonathan by not going on appeal,” he said.

14—Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

APC CRISIS: Akande calls

on Buhari, APC govs to close ranks .Accuses old new-PDP tendencies of fuelling crisis

By Dapo Akinrefon

imminent collapse.

Akande, in a statement made available to Vanguard, painted a OLLOWING THE crisis gloomy future of the party if the rocking the National leaders of the party fail to urgently Assembly over election of its address the crisis rocking the APC. principal officers, former Interim He alleged that those fuelling Chairman of the All Progressives the rebellions against the APC Congress, APC, Chief Bisi positions, which led to the UNVEILING: From left, General Manager Sales / Distribution, Smile Communications Nigeria Akande, yesterday, called on emergence of Senator Bukola Limited, Mr. Ken Esenwah; former chairman, Senate Committee on Communications,Mr. Gilbert President Muhammadu Buhari Saraki, were old new-PDP Nnaji; Clerk, Senate House Committee on Communications, Mr. Kayode Kolawole; Chief Corporate and governors elected on the tendencies.

Services Officer, Mr. Tobe Okigbo, and Chief Marketing Officer, Mrs. Alero Ladipo, both of Smile platform of the APC to close ranks According to him, “what began and salvage the party from as political patronages to be Communications Nigeria Limited, during the unveiling of their Abuja office. shared into APC membership, spreads among ethnic zones, religious faiths and political rankings and experiences have now become so complicated that the sharing has to be done by struggle for anything in life. I never had any and among PDP leadership

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru RE YOU encouraging your children and wards to reason to struggle, nor lack any good thing in together with cohorts of fast? It is important to inculcate the habith of carrying former new-PDP affiliations my life.” out all acts of ibadaah in your children. They are what you While acknowledging God as his source, in the APC, by and among BUJA—THE Speaker, House of make them to be. Although there is no specific age when Representatives, Hon. Yakubu the speaker urged Nigerians to keep praying gangs of past anti-Buhari’s fasting in Ramadan becomes compulsory for children, presidency, and certain many scholars are of the view that the age when children Dogara, yesterday, said he had been for leaders, saying that without prayers, APC legislators and party nothing could be achieved. should start fasting is when they are between 10 and 12 a product of grace and never had to He stressed that “Nigeria needs God’s members who dance round years old. If they are encouraged at this age, they will get struggle for anything in his life so far. used to it.

Dogara, who said this when he blessings at all times. The nation needs the crisis arena to pick some Some scholars are of the view that it should even be attended a Thanksgiving Service at the steadfast leaders who will do the will of God, crumbs.”

Describing the crisis earlier drawing inference from the Prophet sayings that Winners Chapel, Durumi, Abuja, also not theirs. We need your prayers, we can’t do within the APC as a children should be scolded or even punished if they fail urged Nigerians to pray for President it alone.” conspiracy, he said, “now to perform salat at the age of eight. Ramadan no doubt, is Muhammadu Buhari and other He said the challenges confronting the an important part of the pillar of Islam. But fasting is harder, leaders in different levels, saying they present crop of leaders in the country were that the whole conspiracy so attention should be paid to when the child becomes need divine intervention to steer the not ordinary and that it required extra-ordinary has blown open, it is doubtful if the present able to physically handle it, because some who are able to turbulent ship of the country. prayers to over come. pray may not be able to fast.

Speaking during church service at Living institutions of party The speaker said that ever since he Let them also feel the pangs of hunger even if they will encountered God before his university Faith Church, Durumi, Abuja, yesterday, leadership can muster the not fast to dusk. Encourage them especially when they days, he never lacked any good thing. Dogara said: “I want to plead that because required capacity to arrest are at home for possible monitoring. However, care should the problems we have now in the country now the drift. be taken to ensure that it is not harmful to them. For children According to him, “ever since I met “It is my opinion that who have never fasted, many people usually start the God at a tender age, I have not had to are not conventional. And so conventional President Buhari, and the process early and gradually to ensure that they get used wisdom cannot solve them. APC governors should now to staying hungry and thirsty for extended periods of time We need divine wisdom. see APC as a wrecking and that it doesn’t harm them.

“Without prayers, there is platform that may not be Some scholars said: “If he is able to fast for three no way we can succeed. So strong enough again to consecutive days without interruption and without I urge that we offer prayers carry them to political becoming weak, then he should be made to fast Ramadan. and supplication for all the victory in 2019 and they Apart from taking to the dogmatic unspecified age leaders beginning from the should quickly begin a joint bracket for fasting among children, it is recommended OVE ON Nigeria, did the transaction take President to the least damage control effort to that if the child has not reached puberty, he or she is not reconstruct the party in its a civic and political place? What OPLs/OMLs person in authority.” obliged to fast, but if he or she is able to do it without action group that promotes were sold? Who held/ The speaker stressed the claim to bring about the hardship, then he or she should be encouraged to do so. democracy and good operated the block(s) before importance of prayers at the promised change before The companions of the Prophet (may Allah be pleased governance has faulted the sale? Who bought the present time in the nation’s the party’s shortcomings with them) used to make their children fast, and sometimes begin to aggravate the if they cried, they would give them toys to distract them. claim by the Secretary block(s)? Through what history so that we can challenges of governance bank(s) was payment General of NEITI, MS Scot embrace this wisdom that But they will make them break the fast if it is becoming in their hands,” Akande Clare that the Federal made?” comes from God and apply stated. harmful to them.

The group said it had those tools that we can under Again, If Allah has forbidden us to give youngsters their Government Explaining the merging a detailed fashion out by means of this wealth if there is the fear that they may abuse it, then it is President Jonathan sold an done of the ACN, ANPP and more appropriate that they be stopped from doing oil block for $1.85 billion investigation on the matter wisdom in bringing CPC, the former chairman and remitted only $100 in order to properly inform solution to the problems that said “some times in 2013 something if there is the fear of physical harm. are no longer conventional. ACN, ANPP and CPC ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said to one who million to the Federation the public.

“We have gone into In his sermon at the resolved to merge and set was intoxicated during Ramadan: “Woe to you! Even our Account The group in a statement detailed investigation to Church service, Pastor up a merger committee to children are fasting!” And he hit him. [Narrated by alBukhari in a mu’allaq report, on children and fasting. by its National Co- unravel the truth of the John Adelekun said those work out the modality for Lastly, remember the Prophet (s.a.w) said: “The reward ordinator, Mr. Clem Aguiyi, matter and have discovered who serve God don´t beg glueing together as one for all the actions of the son of Adam are multiplied (from said the governing party that it is all a ruse, a to be lifted and that they are political party under one aimed at anywhere between) ten times to seven hundred times). ). had since been re-echoing mischief doing themselves favour name, one constitution and demonizing and [Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim] one manifesto. these allegations without criminalizing the former when they serve God. Also, in a hadith Qudsee: Allah says A splinter of APGA sought making any effort to verify president so as to achieve Reading the scriptures (…except for fasting, then it is for Me and I will give or substantiate them. to be included in the from the book of Matthew a larger sinister agenda." reward for it; He left off his desires and his food for My merger. An application According to the group, Mr. Clem Aguiyi then 6:33, Malachi 3:l7, sake. For the fasting person there are two pleasures: his ”the fundamental challenged anybody with Ephisians 6:18, among made to INEC to this end pleasure at the time of breaking his fast and his pleasure questions begging for

by APC National Interim any contrary evidence to other verses, Pastor when he meets his Lord. And the smell emanating from answers which the advance them and provide Adelekun called on the Committee composed of the mouth of the one who is fasting is better in the Sight of ACN, ANPP, CPC, And Allah than the smell of musk). Let the children benefit Jonathan haters are answers to the questions worshippers to serve God factions of APGA and DPP unwilling to ask are: When raised. and tap into His blessings. from the rewards of Allah. Ramadan Kereem. was approved in July, 2013.

F

Encourage your children to fast

A

I never struggled for anything in life —DOGARA A

$1.85BN OIL BLOCK SALE:

Jonathan govt never sold oil blocks —Group

M

Vanguard, THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015—15

APC refutes alleged relocation of BokoHaram detainees to Anambra

By Vincent Ujumadu & Francis Igata

E

NUGU—THE All Progressives Congress, APC, South-East geopolitical zone, has described as blatant falsehood alleged plan by the Federal Government to transfer suspected Boko Haram detainees to Ekwulobia Prison in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Angry youths had last Saturday, paralysed commercial activities in markets in Anambra State in protest over the alleged plan.

But in a swift reaction, the spokesperson of APC in the South-East, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, said in a statement: “ We wish to categorically that the rumour making the rounds that Boko Haram detainees will be transferred to Anambra State or any other state for that matter is blatant falsehood.

“We have made contacts with the Presidency, Nigeria Prison Service, Ministry of Internal Affairs and they have assured us that there is no iota of truth in the mischievous rumour.

“In the clarification, Nigeria Prison Service stated unequivocally that most of the terror suspects are awaiting trial and so there is no way they can be moved to another state because they must be tried in the state where they committed the crime.

“They went further to state that

their primary and traditional duty is to move detainees from prison to trial courts and that moving high profile suspects from a distance more than 1000 kilometers from Maiduguri to Onitsha will be near to very difficult.”

Okechukwu appealed to compatriots to disregard the blackmail and sinister rumour, describing it as the antics of rear-

guard elements yet to recover from their failure in the March 28 presidential election,.

“We assure our people that the change President Muhammadu Buhari promised is real. The 2nd Niger Bridge, Federal Roads, Enugu Coal and other physical and social infrastructure in the South East will be revamped,” he said.

Reacting to the development, the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Anambra State, in a statement signed by Publicity Secretary, Okelo Madukaife, said: “We have gathered that the traders and other unsuspecting citizens were used to obstruct free flow of traffic on federal highways, including entry points into Anambra State."

VISIT: From left, Prof. Hillary Edeoga, Vice Chancellor, Michael Okpara University, MOUAU, of Agriculture, Umuahia; Abia State governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu; Prof. Anya O. Anya, Chairman Governing Council and Pro-chancellor, MOUAU and Hon. Ude Okochukwu, deputy governor, after a courtesy visit by the governing council of the university to the governor, in Umuahia.

Enugu govt partners NDLEA in combating illicit drug trafficking

By Francis Igata

E

NUGU—ENUGU State government has expressed readiness to partner the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA in battling all elements associated with illicit drug trafficking for sustainable national development and stability.

Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who spoke in Enugu on the occasion of the grand finale of 2015 International Day against drug and illicit trafficking, said drug abuse and illegal trafficking constituted a twin evil that the human society must fight with much vigour.

The governor noted that youths were at the centre of drug abuse in their quest to get rich quick, adding that such a desire in a competitive world had given rise to the menace.

Governor Ugwuanyi stressed that the interests of the youths should always be given due consideration by government at all levels, so the society

would experience peace and economic growth.

He added that the present administration would always consider the welfare of the youths as the leaders of tomorrow, so they would not turn out to be objects of concern to the state in particular and the society at large.

The governor, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Mr. Gabriel Ajah, described the theme of the occasion 'Let’s develop our lives, our communities, our identities without drugs,' as apt and timely, in view of the over-riding negative effects of drug abuse in the life of any nation and its citizenry.

He said it was a message to awaken in everyone the spirit of positive living, where negative vices should be shunned to ensure national development.

I'll invest in agric to create jobs for youths, Gov Ikpeazu says

By Anayo Okoli

U

MUAHIA—ABIA State governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, has said that his administration would invest and encourage the youths to go into agriculture, since the sector has the capacity to provide jobs for them.

Investing well in agriculture, Governor Ikpeazu argued, would not only provide jobs for the youths, but also provide enough food for the people as well as reduce crime as youths would be engaged meaningfully.

The governor, who spoke in Umuahia when the council and management of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, visited him weekend, promised to partner with the university in area of investing in agriculture.

According to Ikpeazu, the government will seek the assistance of the university in the area of provision of improved seedlings and adoption of new technology in storage and processing.

Led by chairman of the University’s Governing Council, Prof. Anya O. Anya, Ikpeazu reminded them that the state would not move forward economically without agriculture.

He commended the institution for its achievements so far, especially in solving the admission needs of Abia people, and reminded them that they still had a lot offer the state in terms of quality and improved seedlings which is the key to modern agriculture.

The governor promised to resolve the dispute between the university and its host community over 600 hectares land.

IPMAN tasks FG on new pipelines for PH-Aba route

By Ugochukwu Alaribe

A

BA—THE Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Aba depot, has tasked the Federal Government to lay fresh pipes on the 54 kilometre Port Harcourt -Aba pipeline route to ensure regular supply of petroleum products to the South East and parts of North Central of the country.

Chairman of IPMAN, Aba depot, Prince Bobby Eberechi Dick, who made the call in Aba, Abia State, said the rustic nature of the pipes, which

were prone to leakages whenever products were pumped from Port Harcourt, had affected regular supply of products to the depot.

“The major problem we have in Aba depot is that the pipeline is old. This is a pipeline that was buried far back 1976. So there are leakages here and there because the pipes are weak. ‘’We have been appealing to the federal government to lay another pipeline on the route to enable us have constant supply of fuel,” he said.

He decried the activities of hoodlums who had been vandalizing

pipelines, despite efforts of security agents to check the trend.

He said: “Since two weeks, PPMC has been making efforts to pump products to us without success, due to vandalisation of pipelines, despite the efforts of security agents.”

The IPMAN boss lamented that due to unavailability of products, marketers in Aba go to Calabar, Port Harcourt and Lagos to buy products, adding that when products were bought from these areas; the landing cost exceeded government approved price, making it difficult for marketers to sell below their cost price.

16—Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

ANTICORRUPTION

DEMOLITION: Anglican Church calls on

Ohanaeze youths commend Buhari

Anambra govt to bring culprits to book

By Anayo Okoli

U

MUAHIA— OHANEZE Youth Council, OYC, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his avowed determination to fight the war against corruption with the desired impetus.

The group in a statement signed by its national President, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, said: “It is a welcome development and we shall support him as corruption is the bane of Nigeria and it must be tackled with vigour.”

The group however, urged President Buhari to avoid witch-hunt in the course of the crusade against corruption, saying innocent persons should not be victimized.

The group said: “Unorthodox method should also not be used.

Those who have questions to answer should face the law.

By Chimaobi Nwaiwu

N

NEWI—CHURCH of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) Diocese on the Niger has called on Anambra State government to punish those who demolished its building at Oyeolu Oze on the night of August 11, 2014.

It also called on the government to intensify efforts to redress the wrong and prevent future occurrences of such incident and use it as a sincere way of dismantling religious politics in the state.

The church’s position was contained in the communiqué issued at the end of the 3rd Session of the 29th Synod of the Diocese on the Niger, Anglican Communion, held at St Paul’s Parish, Ogidi, in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State.

The Diocese in the Communiqué signed by Bishop on the Niger, Rt. Rev. Dr. Owen Nwokolo, Chancellor of the Diocese, Sir Nnamdi Ibegbu (SAN) and the Synod Secretary, Ven. John Nkwoemezie, also called on the Federal Government to keep to its promise of tackling the challenges of Boko Haram, kidnapping, non-release of the

Chibok girls and other vices, since it was the only way to ensure a holistic development of the nation.

While expressing sadness over the recent fuel tanker fire in Onitsha and Lagos, the church commiserated with the families of the victims and commended

the government of Anambra State, on steps taken to protect lives and properties in the state.

It backed the banning of trucks on the roads in the day time and urged the government to ensure the implementation of the ban, while also calling on the relevant agencies of the Federal

Government to put machinery in motion to avert future occurrences.

The church also expressed concern over the continued nonpayment of workers’ salaries by some states of the federation, but decried the problem of strike and its adverse effect on the nation’s

CCC LEADERSHIP TUSSLE: Olatosho’s declaration a rebellion —Oshoffas

By Olasunkanmi Akoni

T

HE CRISIS rocking the Celestial Church of Christ, CCC worldwide, took a new turn, weekend, as family of the founder, late Rev. Samuel Oshoffa, faulted the declaration of Rev. Olatosho Oshoffa as the new leader of the church.

According to the late founder’s family, the declaration is an act of rebellion.

Senior Evangelist Ebenezer Oshoffa, who spoke on behalf of the family at a press conference in Lagos, said the seat remained vacant until Rev. Emmanuel Oshoffa was installed as the leader of the church.

He said: “The family has always

avoided public interference in the affairs of the church, the Celestial Church of Christ founded by our dear father but it has become imperative and as a matter of urgency for us to speak out as a family because of the recent twist in the leadership tussle of the church which unfortunately is personal to us because our son and brother; Olatosho is involved.’’

He explained that though the genesis of the problem started after the recent court judgment in March, 2015, the crisis had been grossly mismanaged.

He explained further: “ Some unscrupulous, self-centered elders of the church who found an avenue for vendetta, installed Olotosho Oshoffa with a lot of

unwarranted and untrue fallacies. ‘’It should be known that we did the best we could as a family to stop recent happenings, we held meetings and our purpose was for peace and stability of the church. “ The final meeting was held at the Oba of Imeko’s palace and the decision was an indivisible church and Oshoffa family.

Olatosho was among other things asked to retrace his steps, saying rebellion is an act against not only man but God.” He said the family did not give its support to his leadership bid, adding that their loyalty remained with Rev. Emmanuel Mibiyina Oshoffa.

NLC cautions Buhari on subsidy removal, Naira devaluation

By Ediri Ejoh

N

IGERIAN LABOUR Congress, NLC, has warned the new administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, to be wary of policy dictatorship of some vested interests aimed at undermining his electoral promises of putting an end to mass poverty and transforming the country’s economy and society to prosperity.

The Deputy President of a faction of the union, Issa Aremu, who gave the warning, said the Buhari led administration must resist the new emergency discordant voices pushing for twin-evil policies of oil subsidy removal and further devaluation of the Naira.

“The two amount to policy dictatorship and policy ambush that have nothing to do with the ruling party’s electoral promises which the masses overwhelmingly voted for,” he said.

Aremu added that there should be no group for any attempt by individual or body to usurp the legitimate functions of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. “NLC particularly rejects the call of the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Mr. Bisi Onasanya for further devaluation of the Naira already in a free-fall of 18 per cent against the dollar in the past year.

"Market operators like Mr. Bisi Onasanya, should not usurp the legitimate functions of the CBN as the regulator through unhelpful policy dictatorship.

“We hereby support the recently announced bold measures of the Governor of CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, in managing the scarce foreign reserve through foreign-exchange restrictions on some frivolous imports.

"CBN should reject the least resistance of unhelpful option of further Naira devaluation,” he added.

He further stated that the existing

currency devaluation had further eroded wage income of millions of workers (many with unpaid monthly salaries).

“Devaluation has also increased the cost of domestic production, fuelled price inflation and undermined the competitiveness of locally surviving industry leading to loss of existing few jobs.

“Nigeria more than any nation currently suffers huge capital inadequacy, with nation’s foreign-currency reserves sharply fallen by some 27 per cent to $29 billion since the end of last September,” he said.

He argued that the CBN measures aimed at capital application and capital control, in line with its statutory objective, would definitely enhance domestic production in place of unhelpful luxury imports.

Aremu added that such a policy would also save the nation the current capital flight averaging some N1.3 trillion ($6.5 billion) a year, (almost half of national budget) on avoidable unnecessary jobkilling imports.

“Indeed, CBN should include African prints textile materials in its foreign exchange restrictions. Nigeria has comparative advantage in production of African prints. It is bad enough to illegally lift the ban on its import but it is worse that we s p e n d scarce foreign exchange on what we can and m u s t produce locally,” he added.

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015—17

18 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

W

HEN we read stories of the type of bank robberies that took place in Ikorodu, the most recent was last week, one gets the impression that the security agencies have conceded that part of Nigeria to armed robbers. They could rob and depart without any hindrances. It should not be so.

Three months earlier, armed robbers hit a bank in Lekki, Lagos, and like the Ikorodu incidents, they departed by boat.

The use of the sea by robbers is another angle to the tactics that they have resorted to in beating security agencies that are mostly lax and play parts that cast doubts on their commitment to the fight against crime.

It is not as if armed robbery does not take place in other parts of Nigeria, but Lekki and Ikorodu have the advantages of being more urbanised than those parts, and they have access to a huge pool of security agencies, who are well equipped and possibly motivated enough to stop the criminals.

Lagos State has billion of Naira in its security trust fund which it distributes in

Robberies We Permit facilitating the work of the security agencies in the State. Is Ikorodu not part of their constituency? What are the other challenges that the security agencies are facing that they could not stop these robberies that look like acts taken out of television series?

L a s t w e e k t h e ro b b e r s b u r n t t h e i r vehicles, an apparent ploy to ensure that they are not traced. We believe that a forensic examination of the vehicles could still produce materials that could be used in tracing the robbers. It is really worrisome that they had time to operate for almost two hours, called for a boat to facilitate their departure, without security agents stopping

them. The closeness of a police station to the robbed banks makes the situation more troubling.

At times like these, pertinent questions that should be asked include how our police operate. What do the marine police do?

What do the air police do? Why was it impossible in almost two hours to activate these police commands whose presence would have made the robbers’ escape difficult? Could the Navy not have been involved?

How many times more would these robberies occur before the police start working together? The investments in the police would be sheer waste if at times they should draw from specific resources to tackle situations they act helpless.

As robbers become more dramatic, the security agencies have to resort to measures that should warn criminals that they do not have more resources than the security agencies. What happened in Ikorodu should not happen anywhere again.

The police should live up to their responsibilities to Nigerians.

OPINION Religious extremism global genocide

By Bobson Gbinije “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed Creature, the feeling of a heartless world And the soul of soulless circumstances. It Is the opium of the people.”-Karl Marx

I

SLAMIC scholars in their various dissertations agree that “Islamic Fundamentalism” connotes the universal absolutisation of Islamic doctrines as propounded and entrenched in the Koran as a format for governance. A form of Muslim theocracy based on Mohammedanism, Sharia and traces of Uthman Dan Fodio’s Jihad.

Islamic fundamentalism as a 21st century phenomenon is traceable to Rohullah Ayatollah Khomeniof Iran – who fine-tuned the logistics, perfected the strategies and coordinated its motif, action and concept as a global, political, economic, cultural, religious and social power-seeking machinery – an avid desire to entrench world power into the hands of Muslims.

Its methodology of spread entails force, political parties (Democratic format), lobbying, bankrolling some terrorist organisations, channeling propaganda programmes through the social/electronic media and systematic indoctrination. Its proponents are members of regional, sub regional bodies and world organisations, namely – D.8, Organisation of Islamic

C M Y K

and

Conference (O.I.C), Organisation of African Unity (O.A.U), Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (O.P.E.C), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Asian and Arab Organisations, Economic Cartels and even the United Nations.

Befuddled by multitudinous sects, the concept of “Islamic Fundamentalism” has become so many things to so many Moslems depending also on the oscillatory swing of the religious pendulum and on what plinth you stand. The Quadiriya brotherhood, Tijaniya brotherhood, Shiite, Sunni, Al qaelda, Al shabbah, Boko Haram, State of Islam in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Mujahaddin

The uncontrolled desire to spread and make Islam the superior and only religion worthy of practice and the belief that Moslems should be at head of governments and should remain a religious cum political ideology is the root cause of Islamic fundamentalism

Moslems etc. are some of the known brotherhoods or sects.

Religious extremism has been condemned as “un-Islamic” by the more moderate Moslems. But the Koran admonishes that “unto whom battle is declared, permission is granted by Allah to fight back, because he is oppressed.” Most scholars adjudge that the wrong interpretation of this prudential injunction is the cause of extremism in most sects. They further warn that Islam does not harbor violence and controversy. The Koran says in Sura 5 Ayat 76 “Do not transgress the bounds of your religion unjustly. Do not yield to the desire of those who have already erred, who have led many astray and have themselves astrayed from the straight path.”

This is further supported by Sura 22 Ayat 1 “Some wrangle about Allah, though they have neither knowledge or guidance nor an illuminating book. He who bends his side in scorn to lead others astray from Allah’s path, for him is disgrace in this life and shall taste the torment of hell on the day of resurrection.”

The Holy Koran is replete with citations, Suras and Ayats warning against vaingloriousness, violence, hypocrisy and all the terrible vices and the undue quest for political empowerment which some so-called leaders of Islam are pursing through Islamisation, Sharia, wanton Jihadism, fatwa, horrendous monstrosity against nonmoslems and so-called infidels. The degree of Islamist insurgences and sanguinary bloodletting in Kenya at the Garissa University, shopping mall in Kenya, Borno, Yobe, Benue states etc. in Nigeria, the beheading of Ethiopian Christians in Libya,

the drowning in the Mediterranean sea of 15 Christians from Nigeria and Ghana, the 9/ 11 tragedy in America, the London bombings, the Serial unrest and religious imbroglio in the Middle East, North Africa and some nooks and crannies of our world shows that Islamic fundamentalism and the spread by force/militancy of Islam has become the most predatory global plague of the 21st century.

The dynamics of change entails the amalgam of techniques that ensures definite but controlled change, which, if superimposed into a system or institution with a different aggregate of speed in the change channel, it might lead to a conflagration and escalationally disproportionate change. By co-extensive reasoning “Islamic fundamentalism” cannot be truly fundamentalistic in countries or states that have strong pluralistic religious and political base except by force.

The uncontrolled desire to spread and make Islam the superior and only religion worthy of practice and the belief that Moslems should be at head of governments and should remain a religious cum political ideology is the root cause of Islamic fundamentalism.

Most religions of the world especially Christianity have suffered from the same fate. That desire to use religion as a political ideology to gain power.

The Catholics as their name implies tried through their religion to universalise their faith.

Continues tomorrow

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

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015—19

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EIL Armstrong, one of America’s greatest icons of the 20th Century and the first man to walk on the moon, was only two years old when he developed interest to become an aircraft pilot. His dad took him to the National Air Races in Cleveland, Ohio, and that was it. At six, he became convinced that he would devote his life to flying when he was taken on his first plane ride. He became a combat pilot for the US Navy.

Later, Armstrong was chosen as a NASA astronaut. At the age of 35, he led the US Apollo space mission that fulfilled President John Kennedy’s boast to the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the world that he would “put a man on the moon” to outshine the Soviet Union’s feat of landing Sputnik, the first unmanned spaceship, on the moon.

I brought up this anecdote to remind us grown-ups to be careful what we do in front of young children. They are extremely impressionable, and the dramatic events that make the most impacts on their febrile young minds go a long way in defining what they become tomorrow.

On Thursday, 25th June 2015, a group of Abuja school children were in the public gallery of the National Assembly to watch our “Distinguished” Senators and “Honourable” Members of the House of Representatives elect their principal officers in order to set up the National Assembly for effective governance to start. But instead of observing a distinguished and honourable conduct they were treated to the most shocking, shameful and embarrassing rounds of brawling and fisticuffs. Though the Senate eventually succeeded in announcing those whom the APC Senate caucuses chose as the principal officers, the House of Representatives had to adjourn for three weeks when their scrimmages could not allow them to produce any result.

A wise person, the elders say, learns from the mistakes or experiences of others. But Nigerian politicians are infamous for their inability to learn from their own mistakes, even when lives are lost. On 18th October 2007, the Honourable Members of the House of Representatives were, as usual, fighting for plum offices. That was when the deposed People’s Democratic Party was at the height of its power and glory. A recently departed President Olusegun Obasanjo had imposed a hairdresser, Hon. Patricia Olubunmi Etteh, as the first female Speaker of the House. Fights broke out when efforts to depose her were stiffly resisted by her supporters after it was found out that she authorised the spending of over N600 million for the

Buhari must break the APC impasse RENOVATION of her official residence and that of her deputy, Babangida Nguroje.

The fights between factions of the House had lasted several sessions, but it took the sudden death of Hon. Aminu Shuaibu Safana, a medical doctor from Katsina and a major supporter of Etteh (while vehemently participating in the free-for-all) for the fight to stop. Indeed, what happened during that episode made the June 25th fight a mere child’s play in terms of cost to lives and property. This was possible because the legislators were allowed to continue fighting without someone intervening.

Incidentally, the President of the country was Umaru Yar’ Adua. Like current President Muhammadu Buhari, he was from Katsina. Also, just like Buhari, Yar’ Adua had pledged not to interfere in the affairs of the National Assembly, but that did not stop him from attending the burial of Dr. Safana in Katsina a couple of hours after the Honorable was pronounced dead! Much as I want to believe that Katsina-born presidents are democrats and gentlemen, I don’t want to believe that

It is those noisy, boastful, winnertakes-all APC power grabbers that are causing trouble, and they are the ones being repeatedly worsted in the power struggle

they are given to dereliction of their responsibilities as the leaders of their parties and the nation.

But before we get to that, we must dwell briefly on what triggered the latest fight. After the June 9th 2015 mutiny against the wishes of the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership in the National Assembly, one would have thought t hat the subsequent recess would have been an opportunity for the new ruling party to put its house in order and avoid further public embarrassments. This was not the first time elected members of a political party were going against the directives of their party. In 2011, PDP members of the House of Representatives disregarded the zoning formula of their Party and colluded with members of the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) to elect Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal as the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Hon. Emeka Ihedioha as his Deputy.

PDP had wanted to put Hon. Mulikat Akande in that seat to complete the equitable sharing of the spoils of victory among the six geopolitical zones, with an eye for gender affirmative action. But when the wishes of the lawmakers overwhelmed those of the Party, PDP played a wise card. They knew that if they fought the will of the legislators, the business of governance would be brought to a halt. They accepted the outcome and it was thus possible to persuade the House to allow Akande to become the Majority Leader of the House. The result of allowing the legislators to choose their presiding officers and principal heads was that the 2011 to 2015 was one of the most peaceful and stable legislative sessions in our history.

The APC leadership chose, instead to fight. Members were sent to go and

enforce party “supremacy”. How can you achieve that when those supporting the candidates of the ruling party are in the minority due to an alliance between the “rebels” and the opposition PDP? Force will only further weaken the APC leaders and embolden more rebellion when the party is repeatedly defeated.

The party will continue to suffer this humiliation because it is only one of its factions that is trying to impose its will on the others, and failing.

The power struggle in the APC had developed into a political impasse.

Unless the President wades in to resolve it, there will be more vicious fights when the House resumes on July 21st, and someone may then lose his or her life.

Governance will continue to wait until the Legislature is fully constituted and functioning effectively.

Right now, the only person who can resolve the impasse is President Muhammadu Buhari. Apart from his powerful office as the supreme leader of the APC, he has not been tainted by being overly associated with any of the warring factions. His rather matured, noble and democratic posture of opting to work with anyone chosen by the legislators to lead them gave him credibility, not just in the party but the nation at large. He must take charge and end the impasse.

The formula for solving the problem is a very simple one. The Senate has already set a very good example by sharing the posts equitably among all the political parties, factions and geopolitical zones. We have Bukola Saraki: Senate President (APC/nPDP, North Central); Ike Ekweremadu Deputy Senate President (PDP, South East); Ali Ndume Majority Leader (APC/ANPP, North East); Bala Na’Allah (APC/CPC, North West) Sola Adeyeye, Majority Whip (APC/ACN, South West) and Francis Alimikhena (APC/ACN, South-South). Nobody can complain about being left out in the Senate, except those who want to grab everything for themselves. It is those noisy, boastful, winner-takesall APC power grabbers that are causing trouble, and they are the ones being repeatedly worsted in the power struggle.

Party supremacy will be more effectively deployed when governance starts and APC begins to unfold its plans for the nation. If APC has good plans even those outside the party will support them.

APC is too weak to do a winner-takesall. Buhari should prevail on his party to carry everybody along. This will stabilise his party and enable him to start governing.

OPINION Still, the drums beat for Diden

By Anthony Okotie & Dan Okeme

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HOUGH for many Nigerians the elections have come and gone, but vestiges of the political drum beat still resonates. Today, the electorate still view winners of the last general election with skepticism.

But in Warri North, Delta State, the people are still basking in the euphoria of making a wise choice with the election of Michael Diden (aka Ejele), a man with a ‘big heart’, poised to bring about good governance to his people and Delta State.

However, the emergence of Ejele as representative of Warri North constituency was not a child’s play. Those who are familiar with the political turf of Delta State would appreciate the immense politicking prevalent in the area. But the political sagacity of Ejele saw him through. As a tested hand, his political adventure by first committing one foot on the slippery political ground before committing the whole body attested that he is not neophyte in Delta political chess game.

Hence, as a grassroot mobiliser and commissioner, who represented his kinsmen on the C M Y K

board of Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, Ejele carries humility in his chest by putting service first to his people.

For someone like Ejele who had demonstrated his believe for fairness, equity and justice at different fora, he remains one of those who expressed optimism in the nation’s democracy as a sine quanon of both physical and human development.

However, one major event attesting to this disposition of his was the Ijaw and Itsekiri crisis which There is no pitted Itsekiri neighbours. gainsaying During the dark days, Ejele put his life on the line to that this broker peace between the fresh but big two feuding communities. platform will It cannot be wiped away from historical records that once again as chairman of Warri North offer another Local Government Area as well as Adviser to Governor window of Emmanuel Uduaghan on opportunity security affairs, Ejele for Ejele ensured that the youths

and people of his immediate community were empowered financially, politically, and socially.

Against the backdrop of these impeccable achievements and others too numerous to mention, it would not be out of place to urged indigenes of Warri North Constituency to drum support for the “man of service” whom God has chosen to oversee their affairs at the State House of Assembly.

There is no gainsaying that this fresh but big platform will once again offer another window of opportunity for Ejele to demonstrate his true love for his people through service.

As an ardent follower of this illustrious Itsekiri son, I have no doubt in my mind that Ejele as he is popularly known among his kinsmen and political folks will surprise people of his constituency with his service infested style of leadership. Needless counting on his numerous achievements but those who know him well, can easily attest that Ejele is a man of action. Hence, everyone must rally round him if there must be registered and meaningful development in our immediate community which at the moment yearns for rapid development and growth.

Okotie, a social critic; Okeme , a journalist wrote from Asaba, Delta State.

20—Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015 Send Opinions & Letters to: opinions1234@yahoo.com

Wages of labour, wages of sin

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OME years ago when I was in the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the leadership of the Nigeria Union Of Journalists (NUJ) invited me to a closed meeting. It wanted my professional advice and assistance on two matters. First, it was concerned about ethics in journalism and wanted to present a private bill to the National Assembly (NASS).

Second, was the non-payment of salaries by some media houses with some owing between twelve and twenty months.

On the salary issue, I suggested that we can, using the Labour Law on picketing, pick two electronic and two newspapers houses and shut them down until they agree to pay their workers. I offered to mobilise the Radio, Television and Theatre Workers Union and the National Union Of Printing, Publishing and Paper Product Workers to join the NUJ. I also offered to organise hundreds of workers in Abuja and Lagos to join in the industrial action which may last some days.

The look in the NUJ President’s eyes, and the body language, told me that the union was not

ready for a struggle to defend its members rights on such a basic issue as salary. A year or two later, one of the electronic houses went down with twenty six months unpaid salaries. The salary situation in the media houses I identified years ago, has not fundamentally changed.

Watching our political leaders today, and after the Thursday brawl in the House Of Representatives, I get the same feeling as I got with the NUJ leadership; leaders who may not meet the peoples’ expectations.

Three months ago, we concluded one of the most momentous elections in our history. It was keenly contested, but despite its flaws, all accepted the outcome; at least to save the country from bloodshed and political instability.

Exactly a month ago, President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in; the country was at his feet.

Given the high expectations of Nigerians, an on-going violent war, reign of kidnappers, a very sick economy, and a troubling social situation, most Nigerians expected Buhari to hit the ground running, but he hit the ground crashing. The debris of

the crash which include the physical fights by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Senators and House members are visible everywhere. Rather than draft accident Scene investigators to determine the cause of the crash and find ways to prevent further disaster, our political leaders carry on as if their mandate does not cover disasters.

A conquering party that could defeat a ruling party, is incapable of carrying out at the NASS, what its respected Chairman, Chief John OdigieOyegun in his June 8, 2015 statement correctly characterised as “ the first stage of the distribution of the spoil of office” Is it any surprise that in three months such a party cannot name people into basic offices like the Secretary to the Government, not to mention Ministerial nominees? The

Now Boko Haram, kidnappers and armed robbers have retaken the initiative while hunger struts through the land, and all we watch on national television is the sickening, third rate, Mexican-like soap from the NASS

Dogara: Building bridges as legislative action begins

By Turaki Hassan

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F there were any doubts about the capacity of the new Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, his actions in his first few days in office have shown that he is a man with a clear sense of direction and focus. While he would have been expected to be basking in the euphoria of victory and relishing the defeat of his opponents in the election that produced him as Speaker, the honourable speaker has chosen instead to reconcile all parties as part of his belief that "there is no victor and no vanquished in the House leadership election." In his recent meetings with state caucuses, the Speaker has consistently stated that he is not willing to pay back any group or lawmakers that did not support his bid for the exalted office of the Speaker.

Instead, he insists that all heads must come together to ensure that the 8th Assembly does not fail in its responsibility to the citizens of Nigeria. Not a man of many words but full of action, it is pertinent to note that in his selection process for chairmen of adhoc committees, Hon. Sani Zoro, a staunch supporter of Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, his major contender for the speakership, was selected to run one of the most important and key committees that is charged with the huge responsibility of projecting the Assemly's image: the Media and Public Affairs Committee. Zoro hails from Jigawa State where no legislator supported the bid of Dogara for the leadership of the Green Chamber. This exemplified his resolve to work for the progress of the entire House of Representatives and the nation as a whole

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without recourse to groups, party or zonal affiliations but as a collective unit to achieve the legislative agenda of the 8th Assembly which is ultimately aimed at improving the wellbeing of the common Nigerian. To achieve this and knowing that the more hands on deck, the easier the job, the Speaker had further appealed to Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, whom he noted had fought a good fight and who has served the House and the nation with distinction, to join him so together they will heal the wounds and divisions of the contest and work to deliver good legislation and good government to our people. I recall in his inaugural speech, he stated: "Elections are over. The onerous task of governance begins. I plead with all the supporters of both camps in this election to quickly bury the hatchet and forge a united front to tackle the myriads of problems facing the nation."

Getting down to legislative business barely two weeks after his election, he has shown the direction that the House will

Undoubtedbly, with his resolve to build bridges, mend fences and extend olive branch to all members alike there is no doubt that has taken the path of consolidating on the gains and achievements of the 7th House

country seems to be on autopilot.

The President’s Inaugural Speech contained no fundamental issues, so we expected a flow of ideas, principles and policies to follow, but what we have got in one month, is essentially a torrent of excuses and rationalisation.

That handover Notes came late, the financial situation is bad, Buhari is not a miracle worker, age is not on his side, a pending 100 Days assessment is putting too much pressure. How do these account for the absence of a public list of officers including Ministerial nominees?

The APC seems to be in a meltdown into its basic components and it is dragging the country down with it. What Nigerians expect are decisive moves to arrest this descent into chaos, but we are told the President is above party fray, and would rather watch from the sidelines. What father does that anywhere? Now Boko Haram, kidnappers and armed robbers have retaken the initiative while hunger struts through the land, and all we watch on national television is the sickening, third rate, Mexican-like soap from the NASS. Whatever principles are at stake in the NASS, have been subsumed in the mini wars which are essentially about the Saraki-Dogara Alliance consolidating power with the Lawan-Gbajabiamila Axis putting up a stiff fight to gain some ground. The interest of the country and its people, do not feature in this.

The other issue in which the NASS has taken centre stage is their salaries and allowances which the public considers too high. Rather than address this, the NASS, which has powers of

take in the next four years with the proposed 8th Assembly Legislative Agenda. This is in line with his position that as a parliament, they can only justify the confidence of Nigerians by keeping faith with their duties of law making, representation and oversight of the executive arm of government. But this is not without his recognition of the fact that in their responsibility for checking and balancing the executive, good governance can only be effected when all arms of government are working in harmony and partnership to bring about the changes voted for by Nigerians on March 28, 2015. Highlights of the legislative proposals include enhancing the independence and autonomy of the House of Representatives while maintaining a robust and cooperative relationship with the executive; Overhauling the Budgetary processes of the National Assembly; Improved Oversight coordination and processes; Strengthening the committees of the House of Representatives; Transparency and accountability on the issue of salaries, allowances and running cost of the legislature and Improving communications with the general public.

Others include conducting a Legislative Needs Assessment; Review of the Standing Orders of the House; Introducing a robust Code of Conduct for Members; Strengthening the Committees of the House of Representatives; Improving Physical Structures and Equipment used in the House; Priority Legislation, Other legislative measures and Conclusion of Outstanding Bills from the 7th House of Representatives.

Introducing the agenda, Dogara stated: “The 8th House of Representatives will concentrate on legislation that will bring the changes required and voted for by Nigerians. Legislative measures that will tackle the issue of endemic

appropriation and to prescribe remuneration, salaries and allowances, like the Ostrich is burying its head in the sand, blames the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation And Fiscal Commission.

Our Governors had the opportunity of meeting the President, but all we heard were their plea for financial bailout, reimbursement for expenditure on Federal Government infrastructure and the sharing of the remaining excess crude oil revenue.

Before the meeting, some of them had returned to the era of playing pranks by announcing a fifty percent cut in their salaries. If a Governor donates N5 million of his legitimate salary to the state coffers, but has a security vote of N5 billion for which he does not need to account, who is fooling who?

Who does not know the art of dividing a piece of meat with the teeth and a lot of it disappearing in the process?

If a governor has a convoy of two dozen vehicles, and his family share amongst themselves another two dozen choice official cars like exGovernor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State is reported to have done, what difference would fifty percent of his salary make? If a governor acquires a debt of N90 billion like ex-Governor Gabriel Suswan in Benue State, what difference would half his official salary have made?

The Wages we are paying for today, are not those of Labour, but of Sin; allowing the elite rape the country unchallenged for decades. But we can begin to atone by retaking our country; we need to assert the fact that sovereignty belongs to us the people, from whom all powers and authority must flow.

unemployment crises; insecurity of lives and property; poverty alleviation; health and education; Endemic Corruption; electricity and Energy crises; General infrastructure decay etc. We shall work closely and speedily to pass legislation that will tackle these matters.” His proposal to introduce sectoral debates on various aspects of the Nigerian economy is also a right step in the right direction. This proposal envisages that the House will designate specific legislative sitting days or weeks in its calendar specifically for discussion on various problems facing the nation. Such identified themes, sectors, areas or problems includeUnemployment, Health, Education and Social Services; Power/Energy Sector, Oil and Gas, Science and Technology; Commerce and Industry; Transportation; Telecommunications; Agriculture; Mining; Manufacturing; Diversification of the Economy, Finance, Corruption, Security Matters, Infrastructure etc.

These debates, according to the Honourable Speaker, will lead to crafting of new laws or amendment to existing ones or indeed make recommendations on how to better manage the economy. In the coming days, nay weeks, the hallowed Green chamber will subject the draft agenda to scrutiny by all members.

Undoubtedbly, with his resolve to build bridges, mend fences and extend olive branch to all members alike, there is no doubt that like his elder brother and predecessor Rt. Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal did, Dogara, has taken the path of consolidating on the gains and achievements of the 7th House. Like the Biblical John the Baptist who prepareth the way for the Lord, Tambuwal had prepared the way for Dogara to consolidate on.

•Mr. Hassan, is SA Media & Public Affairs to the Speaker.

JUNE 29, 2015

NEGLECT OF SOLID MINERALS:

Why Nigeria remains poor

By OMOH GABRIEL, Business Editor

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conomists, geologists and surveyors have long agreed that under the Nigerian soil are wealth and riches untold. But majority of Nigerians are wallowing in poverty. The Nigerian Extractive Industries and Transparency Initiative, NEITI report suggests that there are about 40 different kinds of solid minerals and precious metals buried in Nigerian soil waiting to be exploited. The commercial value of Nigeria’s solid minerals has been estimated to run into hundreds of trillions of dollars, with 70 per cent of these buried in the bowels of Northern Nigeria.

President of Miners’ Empowerment Association of Nigeria, Mr. Sunny Ekosin, reveals that Nigeria loses a whopping N8trillion annually in unexploited gold alone. He also says that Ajaokuta remains the key to Nigeria’s industrialisation and that getting it back to work is a matter of patriotism for President Buhari and his team.

Ekosin in an interview with Vanguard said: “If Nigerians were taking data seriously, we would have built a database, where we have authentic information. In 2012, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Mines and Steel, came before the nation and said, that from our precious metals alone, specifically from gold exploitation alone, Nigeria is losing N8 trillion ($50 billion) annually."

The failure of Nigeria, since independence in 1960, to put in place a structure that will make the benefits of the exploitation of solid minerals available to all Nigerians has been the bane of the nation. At the moment mining of minerals in Nigeria accounts for only 0.3 per cent of its GDP, due to the influence of oil resources. The domestic mining industry is underdeveloped, leading to Nigeria

having to import commodities it could produce domestically, such as salt or iron sheets and billets.

According to NEITI’s audit findings, solid mineral deposits are scattered all over Nigeria, with more deposits in certain areas than others. Over 40 million tonnes of talc deposits have been identified in Niger, Osun, Kogi, Ogun and Kaduna states. There are huge deposits of coal ranging from bituminous to lignite in the Anambra Basin of South-Eastern Nigeria. There are lead-zinc ores within the Asaba Area of Niger Delta, while tin,

niobium, and lead, are to be found around Oyo and Igbeti, with as much as over a billion tonnes of gypsum spread around Sokoto, Niger, Ondo and Ekiti states.

Nigeria’s potentially most beneficial solid minerals are spread around the nation but most of them are in the North. Limestone deposits occur in Cross River, Ogun, Benue, Gombe, Ebonyi, Sokoto, Edo and Kogi states; magnesite in Adamawa and Kebbi states; coal in Enugu, Imo, Kogi, Delta, Plateau, Anambra, Abia, Benue, Edo, Ondo, Bauchi, Adamawa and

Kwara states; wolframite in Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi and Niger states; silver is found only in Kano, with kyanite in Kaduna and Niger states; manganese only in the Northern states of Kebbi, Katsina and Zamfara with diatomite found only in Yobe State, while ilmenite-rutile is only in Bauchi, Plateau and Kaduna states; fluorite only in Taraba State with gold in Niger, Kebbi, Kaduna, Kogi, Kwara and Zamfara and a little in Osun.

Nasarawa State in the North has been appropriately tagged as Nigeria’s home of Solid Minerals. The state is one of the most naturally endowed states in Nigeria in terms of the availability of economically and commercially viable natural resources. These include clay, columbite, ilmenite, mica, barytes, pyrite, galena, limestone, sodium chloride, ephalerite, silica sand, granites, tantalite, mica, sphalerite, talc, gemstone (tourmaline, aquamarine and sapphire), halcopyrite, topaz, cassiterite, columbite, tantalite, emerald, heliodor, amethyst, quartz, coking coal, marble, and iron ore. Bauchi is another richly endowed state in the North with metal ores, non-metallic ores and gemstones. Other untapped mineral resources in Bauchi include kaolin,talc,tin,quartz,iron ore, gypsum, zircon, calcite, tantalite, chalcoprite, mica, copper ore, limestone, tourmaline, beryl, garnet, columbite, muscovite, aquamarine, topaz, marble, bismuth, wolfromite and others.

Yet with these potential money spinning resources, states in the country are starved of funds and are currently facing a cash crunch. Nigeria as a nation is passing through economic hardship as a result of fall in oil prices. The low activity in the solid mineral sector is not yielding the desired financial benefit as there are no records of payment of taxes and

Continues on page 22 C M Y K

22 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

Cover

Neglect of solid minerals: Why Nigeria remains poor Continued from page 21 royalty to the government.

Nigeria is losing lots of resources from untapped mineral deposit as well as from the little that is being mined mostly by illegal miners who smuggle the products out of the country.

According to NEITI audit report on solid mineral operation in Nigeria, there are six buying center, nine dredging companies, eleven exporters of solid minerals, fourteen medium scale mining companies, thirty-five commercial quarry, fifty-four construction quarry, eight quarry for manufacturing giving a total of one hundred and thirty-seven activities in the solid mineral sector of the Nigerian economy.

Report on the Physical and Process Flows in Nigeria Solid Minerals Industry 2011 prepared by Haruna Yahaya & CO (Chartered Accountants) indicated that there are no adequate records of operations in the sector.

The report said “A review of Central Bank of Nigeria and Nigeria Customs Service records on exported minerals showed that there were discrepancies in the value of exported minerals as well as the associated company.

From available records of Central Bank of Nigeria, 15 companies exported 9,068.70 metric tonnes of minerals valued at N577, 768,456 while Nigeria Customs Service records showed that 30 companies exported 7,107,099.80 metric tonnes of minerals valued at N11,496,070,691.

“Despite the fact that Gold and Barites were being mined across the nation, there is no record to show that these minerals are among the mined or exported minerals.

Further finding shows that barites are mined in Benue and Nasarawa states, they are also purchased by multinational oil companies as drill fluids, despite high activities of miners there are no record of royalty payments.

“From the available records of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, there were no evidence of royalty payment on these exported minerals. The Nigeria Minerals and Mining Act 2007 requires that any exporter of solid minerals must request for permit to export minerals. But in defiance to the Act, there was no available evidence of request for permit or approval C M Y K

Entrepreneurial Education Revolution: An Imperative for Sustainable Development in Nigeria: Part 2

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to export minerals by the companies,” the report stated.

The report further said “The informal players are mostly artisan miners, medium scale operators and illegal miners who hardly keep any record.

Some of the minerals mined in Nigeria are exported out of the country by both formal and informal players. There are no official records from ministry of Mines and Steel Development on the actual volume of minerals exported out of Nigeria within the period under review.

However, the few records available relates to transactions that were done by the formal players as they passed through the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria Customs Service and Nigeria Export Promotion Council”.

NEITI 2012 report conducted by Moore

Despite the fact that Gold and Barites were being mined across the nation, there is no record to show that these minerals are among the mined or exported minerals

Stephens of LLP 150 Aldersgate Street London signed by Tim Woodward on 31 December 2014 on Nigeria solid mineral said “Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Department failed to report revenues collected from mining cooperatives and from the Minerals buying Centre.

These revenues were selected by the NSWG in the EITI scope through unilateral disclosure of the Government Agency.

“This situation led to a significant amount of the discrepancies. Total revenue from the Solid Minerals Sector amounted to N31.449 billion in 2012. The revenue stream from the Solid Minerals Sector is composed of 84.18 per cent of taxes received by FIRS. Mining taxes received by MID and MCO represent 3.48 per cent and 2.24 per cent respectively.

“According to the data collected from extractive companies and Government Entities, after reconciliation work, revenues generated from the Solid Minerals Sector amounted to N31.449 billion.

These revenues include, in excess of the reconciled revenue amounting to N28.736 billion, unilateral disclosures of companies amounting to NGN 2,003 million and unilateral disclosures of Government Entities amounting to NGN 710 million: Government Revenues from Continues on page 23

igeria faces a number of attitudes, skills and culture, it challenges that can is vital that entrepreneurial only be met if it has innovative, education is addressed from well-educated, and an early age, besides, age is entrepreneurial citizens who, no barrier to entrepreneurship whatever their walk of life, have as Tony Hsieh of Zappos the spirit and inquisitiveness started selling worms from raw to think in new ways, and the mud when he was 9 years old, courage to meet and adapt to Steve Job, Richard Branson the challenges facing them. and Mark Zuckerberg of the Moreover, a dynamic economy, Facebook fame all started off as which is innovative and able young entrepreneurs. to create the jobs that are The time is ripe for us as a needed, will require a greater country to stop celebrating number of young people who mere certificates and are willing and able to become dormancy, while primacy and entrepreneurs, young people recognition should be given to who will launch and creativity, skills and successfully develop their own enterprising spirit. The present commercial or social ventures, times have shown over time or who will become innovators that the global arena is blind in the wider organisations in to your credentials but is a which they work. Because wealth creating slave to your education is the key to shaping skills and abilities. Anyway, it young people’s attitudes, skills is not your credentials that and culture, it is guarantees vital that success in the entrepreneurship g l o b a l / The time is ripe education is information age addressed from an for us as a but rather your early age. country to stop problem solving Entrepreneurship celebrating abilities, critical education is thinking ability essential not only mere that can discern to shape the certificates and ‘fact from fiction’, mindsets of young dormancy, and your ability to people but also to adapt (un-learn & give provide the skills re-learn), your and knowledge recognition to creative and that are central to creativity, innovative developing an skills and abilities and your entrepreneurial life-long love of enterprising culture. learning. If your It is important we spirit ‘piece of paper ’ embrace this failed to deliver ‘global age’ these then whilst paradigm in our education it may have successfully system as it has been done in prepared you for the China, India, Australia, industrialized 20th century Europe, U.S.A and of lately the economy but it has certainly Asian tigers (Malaysia, failed you in the globalized Singapore, Taiwan and the 21st. As Alvin Toffler puts it, Koreas).The most advanced ‘The illiterates of the 21st form of this new model is what century will not be those who is referred to as cannot read and write, but ‘TEACHERPRENEUR’, those who cannot learn Which Bill Gates was unlearn and re-learn’. It is the referring to in 2010 when he acceptance of this open secret said ‘five years from now on that should make policy makers the web, you will be able to find and the general populace to the best lectures in the world shift attention from the and it will be better than any conventional way of thinking single university’. that you must be a graduate This involves embedding before achieving success. Some entrepreneurial education into of the inventors such as Bill education and training right Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg from the primary school to dropped out of school to make secondary school and tertiary it in life because of their institution. The essence of this innovative, creative and is because education is key to enterprising spirit and not shaping young people’s

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015 — 23

Re-Governors: No bailout coming from anywhere T

here were several response from Nigerians on the above subject matter discussed in this column last week . Here are some.

Kabir Bello Dandago The rich also cry. Its time for Nigerians to see the change as promised. Blames and counter blames can not help matters.

As said, a change only starts with a change of heart. APC, Nigerians are watching closely Maduka Osoka All we are saying and expecting is change from our present situations, not stories.

Umoh Atanang This is a shame if the federal, states and local governments cannot be trusted with public funds. No wonder those who aspire to hold public offices always make it a do or die affair. How can they be stealing our monies and show off as if they are gods? All I am waiting to see is the socalled change that APC government intends to bring but if not, it will then be a moral burden on them as so many APC members and those decamping from PDP and other parties to APC in order to protect their ill gotten wealth.

Gold E. Boyd Some people are not being reasonable. The question is, was it GEJ administration that mismanaged their state funds, and make them to be bankrupt?

Initially, they claimed that GEJ administration didn’t share the excess crude account monies but the former Finance minister refuted them. The Governors are the major problem of Nigerians because it is the same governors crying wolf now that starved the LGAs of their funds. They fought against financial autonomy of LGAs. They should go back home and straighten up their records.

Netanyahu Buhari MUST ignore them and concentrate on making the federal government work. The way and manner they convert state funds to personal use insults all sensibilities. How can a governor be moving about in private jet, someone who may never have afforded a local flight before becoming a governor? They move in a convoy of over 30 SUV’s in addition to cars, buses, pick up trucks, dispatch riders etc. Not one saved a kobo for a period like this. Buhari should leave them alone. I wish our democratic system allows for midterm elections, all of them would have gone in one fell swoop. I am enjoying their cry of frustration to find money to

continue to live their wasteful lifestyles. The governor of Imo state built an ‘International conference centre’. You ask yourself which international conference is holding in Owerri?

Oromilla Watch out, the bailout thing is just a scheme by Buhari and his APC co-travelers to refund some of the campaign funds used for their presidential election. How do you imagine a state using up to N30 billion or N50 billion on a federal project when that same state has it’s own projects abandoned? This is the same reason Umaru Musa

How can a governor be moving about in private jet, someone who may never have afforded a local flight before becoming a governor?

Yar ’Ardua’s government banned this same governors never to execute federal project’s in their domain but should request or draw FG’s attention to it.

In actual fact, the FG should not bail out any state. Let them think out of the box to rescue themselves or face their people.

I tell you, they will either wake up or their government or will be swept away by riot. And then the FG should enact a law that will make early election possible if there is a major protest against a governor or local government chairman in their domain.

long-term economic development. In which case, reversion to regional autonomy may be preferable. If we had, as in per-indendence days, Eastern Region, Western Region and Northern Region, this will reduce the cost of governance and add to the viability of the regions.

Osanebi Osakuni Where are the people that supported these politicians to shout for change? They must be ashamed of themselves. They queued behind them to chase out someone else. Now the person has been chased out and the story have become different.

Yes, federal government owes some states. How do we believe the financial figures being submitted by the same governors? This is actually where the so called Buhari’s probe should start from. How much does FGN owe states like Osun and Benue? We are waiting for this ‘hange’

Prince T FG will fail if it does not help the states. However, Buhari can learn from Obama by applying stringent rules to the bail out funds. The fund will be specific to certain projects and paid periodically on completion of each stage of the projects.

Abiamone A situation where half of the states are insolvent calls for urgent review. Either the number of states is too many or state creation is detrimental to

Michael It is not their fault since every month they get their free Hallelujah Niger Delta money and spend all the money as they wished forgetting they must pay their workers.

Rio Itsene How can irresponsible and reckless spending by states be considered “financial crisis”?

One-sided crisis?

“Every state must publish its account as well as every local government. This is the kind of change the APC government and legislature should bring about in the country”.

Cover

Neglect of solid minerals: Why Nigeria remains poor Continued from page 22 the Solid Minerals Sector increased from NGN 26,925 million in 2011 to N31.449 billion in 2012. Large sector mining was higher in 2012 due to an increase of granite and limestone production respectively to 12 million tons and 18 million tons compared to 8 million tons and 15 million tons in 2011. This was a result of the increase of the consumption of granite and production of cement in Nigeria during 2012.

“The Solid Minerals Sector accounted for an average of 0.02 per cent of total export earnings for the year 2012.

Zinc and Lead ores account for more than 48 per cent of the Solid Minerals Sector exports. All companies operating under a mining or quarrying license and which

make payments to MID in excess of NGN 2 million ($ $12,500) were required to report their payments in accordance with EITI Requirements. As a result, cash flows reconciled for Solid Minerals Sector represent 89.43 per cent of royalties received by MID from the Solid Minerals Sector. MID also collected over 3.41 per cent of the entire Nigerian flows from the Solid Minerals Sector. The selection resulted in 65 extractive companies listed with the Nigerian authorities. For extractive companies operating in the Solid Minerals Sector and which have made royalty payments below the N2 million threshold, cash flows are included in this report through unilateral disclosure by Government Entities.

The report said “At the

beginning of the reconciliation, the total amount reported by the Government Entities of Nigeria from the Solid Minerals Sector amounted to N49.759 billion.

We note, however, that the total net difference between the amounts declared by reporting companies’ and those of the

Solid Minerals Sector accounted for an average of 0.02 per cent of total export earnings in 2012

Government Entities amounted to NGN 6,535,199,305 (13%), At the end of the reconciliation, a total amount of N27.560 billion was reported to have been received by the Government of Nigeria between 1st of January and 31st of December 2012. A net difference of N (2.004 billion) (7.3%) remained unreconciled. According to the data collected from Solid Minerals Companies, we have calculated the royalties that should be paid to the MID based on quantum reported during the reconciliation work.

The difference between amounts really paid and those calculated amounting to N (12,089,562) and represents (1.4%) of the total royalties as declared by MID”.

The inability of states to exploit the resources in their domain is partly traceable to

the 2007 Mineral Act which has vested the ownership of solid mineral on the federal government.

Organized mining began in 1903 when the Mineral Survey of the Northern Protectorates was created by the British colonial government. A year later, the Mineral Survey of the Southern Protectorates was founded. By the 1940s, Nigeria was a major producer of tin, columbite, and coal. The discovery of oil in 1956 hurt the mineral extraction industries, as government and industry both began to focus on this new resource. The Nigerian Civil War in the late 1960s led many expatriate mining experts to leave the country.

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he exploitation and exploration of solid minerals are governed by The Nigerian Minerals and

Continued on page 24 C M Y K

24 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

Cover Continued from page 23 Mining Act 2007 (“the Act”) which was passed into law on March 16, 2007 to repeal the Minerals and Mining Act, No. 34 of 1999. The Act vests control of all properties and minerals in Nigeria in the states and prohibits unauthorised exploration or exploitation of minerals.

According to the Act, all lands in which minerals have been found in commercial quantities shall from the commencement of the Act be acquired by the Federal Government in accordance with the Land Use Act. Property in mineral resources shall pass from the government to the person by whom the mineral resources are lawfully won upon their recovery in accordance with provisions of the Act. The Minister, amongst other things, is charged with the responsibility of ensuring the orderly and sustainable development of Nigeria’s mineral resources, creating an enabling environment for private investors, both foreign and domestic, by providing adequate infrastructure for mining activities and also identifying areas where government intervention is desirable in achieving policy goals in mineral resources development.

The Act also provides for the establishment of the Mining Cadastre Office, MCO, which shall be responsible for the administration of mineral titles and the maintenance of the cadastral registers, and empowers the Minister, by regulation, to determine areas eligible for the grant of an exploration or mining lease based on a competitive bidding process. The MCO shall collect a fee for processing of applications for mineral titles and an annual service fee established at a fixed rate per square cadastral unit for administrative and management services. In other words, the FG owns, controls, monitors the exploitation and exploration of natural solid mineral resources.

In economic development mineral resources are the foundation upon which an industrialised economy is built, and industrialisation is essential if Nigeria is to reduce over-dependence on the oil industry – an industry which, despite the revenue it generates, provides employment for just 6 per cent of the Nigerian labour force.

The schist belt that covers the western half of Nigeria has proven reserves of gold.

Although gold production in this region dates from 1913, colonial mining companies abandoned their activities following the onset of the C M Y K

CONFERENCE - From left: Syed Khurrum Zaeem, Head, Transaction Banking; Remi Oni, Executive Director, Corporate & Institutional Clients; David Adepoju; Head, Global Markets, all of Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria and Bassam Issa, Treasury Manager, Nigerdock Nigeria PLC-FZE at the 5th EuroFinance Conference on Treasury, Risk & Cash Management in West Africa held in Lagos, Nigeria.

Neglect of solid minerals: Why Nigeria remains poor Second World War. The gold mines have since remained dormant, aside from an abortive attempt at extraction by the Nigerian Mining Corporation in the 1980s, which floundered due to a lack of funds. Artisan miners now account for most gold extraction, but primary deposits that could support mechanised mining have been identified in the north west and south west parts of Nigeria. These deposits are of a relatively high grade, and it is estimated that extraction costs could be as low as $50 per ounce, due to the shallow depth at which they are found.

An estimated 10 million tonnes of lead and zinc veins straddle eight of Nigeria’s states, with the 700,000 tonnes in Abakiliki in Ebyoni State representing the most favourable prospect. In the non-metallic minerals category, riches also abound: the building industry is supplied by crushed rock, gravel and sand; glassmaking grade sand has been established in many parts of the country; and Niger, Osun, Kogi, Ogun and Kaduna states collectively boast up to 100 million tonnes of talc, a mere fraction of which is used in several medium-sized talc processing plants.

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emstone mining is one area that has seen something of a boom, though again the level of exploitation is running well below potential. Gemstones present include sapphire, ruby, aquamarine, emerald, tourmaline, topaz, garnet, amethyst, zircon, and

fluorspar. Bentonite and barite – both of which are constituents in the mud used when drilling oil wells – are also in abundance, with 7.5 million tonnes of barite in Taraba and Bauchi states and 700 million tonnes of bentonite across the country.

Reserves of bitumen represent another under utilised resource, with estimated reserves of 42 billion tonnes or twice the country’s existing reserves of crude oil.

Paradoxically, most bitumen used in road construction in Nigeria is currently imported.

Coal and tin were among the natural resources mined on a massive scale, with the former being used to generate electricity, power the railway network and meet the demands of regional and international markets. Lead and zinc were a significant source of export revenue, and Nigeria was the world’s largest exporter of columbite. Stagnation in the

If the government’s plan to revitalise the solid minerals sector is to succeed, it must first boost confidence in mining titles among potential private investors

solid minerals sector cannot simply be attributed to the meteoric rise of oil: poor management by state-owned enterprises – compounded by corruption and an incoherent exploitation of resources – has also played its part.

Precious metals are also present in quantities that make them commercially viable. But for all this mineral wealth, Nigeria’s mining industry remains in the shadow of the oil industry. Arc. Musa Mohammed Sada former Honourable Minister of Mines and Steel Development said in an interview while in office that the World Bank project institutional frameworks such as Nigeria’s Minerals and Mining Act of 2007 was put in place to bring mining industries in the country to be in line with global best practices. He said Nigeria’s Steel industry has to be resuscitated for Nigeria to realise its vision of becoming one of the first top 20 industrialised nations in the world by year 2020 The solid minerals sector in Nigeria has long been treated as the poor relation of the oil and gas sector. Compared to the level of investment and development in oil and gas extraction – which has grown exponentially since Nigeria joined the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Companies (OPEC) in 1971 – mining activity has suffered stagnation, and even decline.

While petrol dollars dominate the economy, the National Bureau of Statistics lists solid minerals as contributing less than 1 per cent of GDP, despite significant coal and iron ore

reserves, and known deposits of gold, uranium, tin and tantalum. But the vast potential of Nigeria’s mineral wealth has not always been so ignored. Before the oil boom of the 1970s, the economy was largely sustained by the exploitation of solid minerals.

International blue-chip mining companies have long since given the sector a wide berth due to its reputation for inefficiency.

President Mohammadu Buhari has acknowledged its potential as an alternative to the petroleum industry for foreign exchange earnings, and said he would revitalise its fortunes. The rationale for Nigeria’s renewed interest in exploiting its natural resources is simple.

The government recognises that over dependance on oil also leaves the economy vulnerable to international oil politics and fluctuations in oil prices.

A simplification of the procedures for attaining mining licenses is key to future development of the solid mineral sector. In the past, efforts to generate growth in the industry have been thwarted by bureaucracy and the absence of a focused federal policy. The emphasis is on providing transparent procedures that will help develop an industry led by the private sector. Tax concessions, deferred royalty payments and 100 per cent foreign ownership of mining enterprises are among the incentives it is hoped will encourage investment.

In September 2009 the national president of the Miners Association of Nigeria, Mr Sunday Ekosin, announced that illegal mining had declined by 30 per cent com-pared to previous years, thanks to a renewed commitment by the association and the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development to integrate illegal miners into the mainstream.

If the government’s plan to revitalise the solid minerals sector is to succeed, it must first boost confidence in mining titles among potential private investors.

In September 2009, Mines Minister Diezani AlisonMadueke told a conference at the London Stock Exchange that Nigeria will soon start addressing a backlog of new mining licenses and will complete a review of existing licenses aimed at weeding out speculators by the end of October 2009. The review aims to open up new areas for qualified mining companies, which will build on new legislation that makes the sector more accessible to investors. But so far this has not Continues on page 25

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015 — 25

Business & Economy

Innoson’s outstanding debt at GTBank reconfirmed zGTbank action injured our credibility

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TBank PLC is insisting that Innoson Group of companies owes the bank. Contrary to a law suit filed by the company claiming N30 billion in damages, findings traced the origin of the case and confirmed that GTBank granted various credit facilities totaling N2,400,000,000.00 (two billion, four hundred million Naira only) to Innoson, to finance the importation of motorcycles and spare parts.

The customer the bank said had the obligation of utilising the said funds for the agreed purpose and ensuring loan repayments as and when due as contained in the contract.

The facilities granted to Innoson, it was gathered, were secured by lien over shipping documents covering the imported goods financed by GTBank; Legal Mortgage over properties located in Calabar, Enugu and Nnewi and Personal Guarantee of Chairman/ Managing Director of Innoson, Chief Innocent Chukwuma.

According to confirmed sources from GTBank, Innoson and Chief Innocent Chukwuma however failed to meet repayment obligations due under the facilities. The bank alleged that it discovered that Innoson and Chief Innocent Chukwuma had cleared several consignments of goods financed by the bank without endorsed shipping documents, the originals of which are still in the bank’s custody. It said upon discovery some of the goods have been cleared, the bank filed a Petition before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (“EFCC”) on May 27, 2013, to investigate the matter.

Based on the petition, Chief Innocent Chukwuma was invited by operatives of the EFCC, following which he agreed to make monthly payments into Innoson’s account until the full liquidation the indebtedness to the bank. GTBank claimed that Innoson defaulted in making the agreed payments. The bank further alleged that in order to frustrate the recovery of the debt bid by the bank against him (Chief Chukwuma) and his company instituted suits at the Federal High Court, Abuja, as well as the Federal High Court, Awka in January 2014 against the Inspector General of Police, the Nigeria Police Force and Investigating Officer(s), seeking declaratory and injunctive reliefs, including orders restraining the Police from commencing

proceedings against Innoson and Chief Innocent Chukwuma. Furthermore, in a bid to stall the Bank’s recovery steps, Chief Innocent Chukwuma and his company Innoson, have continued to institute various suits before various courts, claiming huge sums against the Bank.

With no other alternative and to ensure the recovery of depositors' funds held by Innoson, the bank said it instituted a recovery action against Innoson at the Federal High Court, Lagos. This is in addition to a winding up action instituted against Innoson by the bank, which is still pending in court. Pursuant to the suit instituted by the bank at the Federal High Court, Lagos, it secured mareva orders against Innoson freezing its bank accounts in all banks in Nigeria

in September 2014.

The new N30 billion action filed by Innoson at the Federal High Court, Awka was instituted on the basis of purported damages which it suffered as a result of the

The recovery of the borrowed funds is to discourage deliberate loan default, uphold integrity and serve long term interest of depositors

mareva orders granted by the Federal High Court, Lagos in favour of the bank. According to some legal experts, this new suit is in continuation of Innoson’s attempts to distract the Bank from focusing on the criminal matter pending with the EFCC and the Police.

The legal experts also interpreted these Innoson’s moves as legal delay tactics antics, to avoid or delay paying its indebtedness and discharging its obligations to the Bank, which stands in excess of N2.4billion, while interest continues to accrue.

According to a source in the bank, the recovery of the borrowed funds is to discourage deliberate loan default, uphold integrity and serve the long term interest of depositors and the society at large.

ICC lauds CBN directive on foreign exchange

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he International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Nigeria, said on Friday that compliance with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) foreign exchange directive for importers would impact positively on the nation’s business climate.

ICC’s President, Mr Babatunde Savage said in Lagos that the directive would drive the growth of local industries and create employment opportunities. Savage said that compliance with the apex bank’s directive would also ensure competitiveness for Nigerian products. The CBN had on June 24, directed that importers of certain products will no longer access foreign exchange from CBN, Banks and Bureau de change for such importation. The CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, said that the measure would prevent further depletion of the country’s foreign reserve on importation of goods that could be locally produced.

Dangote donates work tools to block moulders

By NAOMI UZOR

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SEMINAR: From left: Paul Uduk, MD/ CEO Vision and Talent; Olubukola Amoo, Training Executive, Vision and Talent; Tosin Benson, Customer Service Officer, Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC; Felix Ofungwu, ED ISN Medicals and Chinasa Oriaku, Legal Officer Vibrant Ventures Limited during the service excellence seminar organised by Vision and Talents Nigeria ltd in Lagos.

Neglect of solid minerals: Why Nigeria remains poor Continued from page 24 been realized.

Though the potential rewards for both investors and Nigeria are high, so too is the cost of regenerating the solid minerals sector. If the substantial known reserves of industrial minerals are to be exploited, significant finance and expertise must first be ploughed into the sector. It is estimated that the industry would require an investment of $10 billion a year if Nigeria is to achieve its aim of becoming one of the top 20 world

economies by 2020. The government must also take measures to ensure that the exploitation of Nigeria’s mineral wealth benefits a greater proportion of the population than the oil sector has. Further challenges include an inadequate infrastructure and the environmental impact of large-scale mineral extraction.

However, offsetting these challenges are the immense rewards a successful revitalisation of the industry would bring: a huge boost to the national coffers; a means of halting the drift of labour from

poor rural areas to more affluent urban concentrations; and, most significantly, a viable alternative to the oil and gas revenue that has dominated the Nigerian economy for three decades. If foreign investors are willing to bear the start-up costs of largescale mining operations – and if the federal government can cement a favourable policy framework to make foreign investment both attractive and tenable – Nigeria’s solid minerals sector could finally shake off the status of oil’s ‘poor relation’ and provide a lucrative, sustainable drive that will set the economy on the road to industrialisation.

angote Cement has empowered block makers in Lagos and Ogun states with work tools as part of its efforts aimed at strengthening block makers across the country, to become more productive.

The items which ranged from wheel barrows, shovels, rainboots to hand gloves, were handed to the block moulders in Badagry and Ibeju in Lagos State and Agbara in Ogun State, The Regional Manager, Marketing Services of Dangote Cement, Johnson Olaniyi, said, at the weekend, while presenting the items to the block makers, that the gesture was one of the many incentives lined up by the foremost indigenous cement giant to help them boost their businesses.

According to him, the donated items are to enable the block makers attain the necessary standards which he said is necessary to ensure safety of buildings as well as curb the menace of sub-standard blocks which contribute to building collapse. He said contrary to what some quacks are saying, cement block contribute to the safety and strengthen of a building hence the need to take great care in terms of the components used in moulding them.

26 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

Banking & Finance

Naira: Between restriction and devaluation Sterling Bank to publish names of debtors

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terling Bank has concluded plans to publish the names of individuals and institutions with non-performing loans on national newspapers, including social media if they fail to repay loans obtained from the Bank.

This is in line with a directive from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) mandating banks to publish said names in at least three national daily newspapers.

With non-performing loans in the industry totaling N390 billion in May 2015, the Apex Bank has given a deadline of July 31, 2015 for delinquent debtors to change the status of their accounts from non-performing to performing, failing which their names (including directors in the case of companies) will be made public.

Sterling Bank admitted that some of its delinquent debtors had approached it after receiving formal notice for amicable settlement to avoid embarrassment.

Part of the statement from the Bank read thus: “Some delinquent debtors are making frantic efforts to repay their loans and avoid their names being published, while others are hopeful that the CBN will extend the deadline and are asking for more time to pay.

FirstBank sponsors LBS Africa Business Conference 2015

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irst Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria's most valuable bank brand has again demonstrated its support for sustainable growth of business enterprises by sponsoring the Africa Business Conference 2015 organised by MBA Students of the Lagos Business School (LBS), Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos.

The conference with the theme “Innovative Strategies for Sustainable Growth in an Evolving Market” promises to proffer solutions to issues peculiar to doing business in Africa and Nigeria in particular.

The LBS Africa Business Conference 2015, the third in the series of annual gathering of prominent business leaders, policy makers and owners of SMEs will provide a rare opportunity for participants to gain key insights from panelists who are actively involved in shaping various economies in Africa.

Slated for 10:00am on Friday, June 26, 2015, the conference will hold at the Lagos Business School, KM 22, Lekki -Epe Expressway, Ajah, Lagos.

By BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

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n spite of economic realities, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), for obvious reasons, is trying hard to avoid another devaluation of the naira.

Consequently, it imposed further restrictions on the foreign exchange market by excluding 41 products and services from purchase of dollars from the nation’s foreign exchange market.

“For the avoidance of doubt, please note that the importation of these items are not banned, thus importers desirous of importing these items shall do so using their own funds without recourse to the Nigerian foreign exchange markets”, the apex bank said in a circular issued on Tuesday.

Though the CBN said that the purpose of the restriction is to conserve the nation’s foreign reserves, which has fallen by $10.59 billion from $39.62 billion in September to $29.03 billion last week, and promote local production of the products, analysts at the Financial Derivative Company argue that the main reason might be because another devaluation will impose further hardship on Nigerians “The previous devaluation coupled with fuel scarcity has eroded disposable income.

Further devaluation of the currency will increase the burden on the Nigerian public, “they stated in the Bimonthly Economic Bulletin issued last week.

Devaluation after restrictions

The CBN has devalued the naira twice between November and February. On th Tuesday November 25 last year, the CBN announced an 8.4 percent devaluation of the Naira, moving the official exchange rate band from N155 to N168.

This was followed by an indirect devaluation on th February 17 , when the apex bank announced the abolition of the official foreign exchange market, directing all foreign exchange demand to the interbank foreign exchange market. But each of these devaluations has been preceded by a set of restrictions imposed on the foreign exchange market, in a bid to avoid devaluation.

For example, prior to the November 2014 devaluation, the CBN imposed a two day restriction on utilisation of its

intervention dollars. It also limited the margin on sale of such dollars to 10 kobo, and banned banks from selling them to bureau de change operators. This was followed by the exclusion of importation of generators and some items, including invisible transactions from purchase of dollars from the official foreign exchange market. The implication is that importation of these items would not be funded with foreign exchange purchased from the bi-weekly Retail Dutch Auction System (RDAS) sessions conducted by the CBN but from foreign exchange purchased from banks.

Furthermore, prior to the February devaluation, the CBN on December 17 reduced banks’ foreign exchange trading position to zero from one percent of shareholders’ funds. This was followed by a 48 hour limit imposed on utilisation of foreign exchange purchased in the interbank market by banks’ customers.

These restrictions were however ineffective in saving the naira from the February devaluation, rather they increased uncertainty and undermined confidence in the future value of the naira as well as encouraged sharp practices

People will claim to purchase foreign exchange for items not excluded, but will use it to import the excluded items

in the foreign exchange market.

Impact of new restrictions

The restriction announced Tuesday last week is expected to have similar effect.

According to a retired top management staff of CBN, the exclusion of the importation of the 42 items from the nation’s foreign exchange market will only heighten uncertainty and flight of foreign investors from Nigeria. “Mark my word, the naira will crash. The policy will increase sharp practices.

People will claim to purchase foreign exchange for items not excluded, but will use it to import the excluded items.

Remember our ports are very porous, with prevalence of sharp practices. The CBN cannot monitor what people import or use the dollars to purchase. As a result, sharp practices will abound,” the retired staff told Vanguard on condition of anonymity.

A senior bank foreign exchange dealer also said that while the restriction might reduce demand for dollars in the interbank market, it would certainly increase demand for dollars in the black market, hence the black market exchange rate is expected to rise, and the gap between it and the interbank rate widen further.

The policy, according to Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, Chief Executive Officer, Sabil BDC, has further created room for speculation and hoarding. He noted that already parallel market exchange rate has risen to N226 per dollar on Friday from N220 on Monday, thus increasing the gap between the parallel market and the interbank market to N28.59 from N21.35 within five days.

On their part, analysts at Afrinvest Plc said that the restrictions lack the ability to

stimulate domestic production of the products excluded, and will lead to further devaluation of the naira.

“We note that the capability of these restrictions to stimulate domestic production of the excluded items, as suggested by the CBN depends to a large extent on too many variables outside the CBN’s purview”, they stated in the Afrinvest Weekly Update issued on Friday.

“Structural weaknesses and infrastructural constraints which strains competitive local production and the rigorous discipline and tight border control needed to implement import substitute strategies are vulnerabilities yet to be addressed. In our view, these factors will continue to dissuade the long-term benefits of this restriction until conscious structural reforms by fiscal authorities and supportive monetary policies are directed towards addressing the weaknesses.

“Pressure at the interbank foreign exchange market is expected to ease while the transferred effect will become visible at the BDC and Street segments as importers redirect demand. Hence, we perceive this as yet another dodgy devaluation of the Naira as we expect the spread between FX rate at the interbank and BDC/Street market to widen markedly.

This may further pressure inflation rate and Banks’ trading income due to further reduction of interbank liquidity. In addition, revenue from custom duties may be limited even as higher spread between interbank and BDC/ Street market may further incentivize sharp practices.”

These predictions imply that the latest restrictions aimed at saving the naira may end up doing more harm to the economy than good. While the restrictions may help to conserve the nation’s foreign reserves, as posited by the CBN, it would definitely promote sharp practice in the foreign exchange market.

Further, in the short term, rather than stimulate local economy, it would lead to increase in the prices of the excluded items, and hence aggravate the deteriorating inflationary situation.

Consequently, the restrictions, for now, represent the most convenient policy choice from a regulatory perspective, but like previous restrictions, it might turn out to be another attempt to avoid the inevitable.

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015 — 27

International Business News

The economic slowdown is over, say consumers C

onsumer sentiment climbed to a fivemonth high in June, a sign that shoppers may be ready to ramp up spending, according to data released Friday.

A gauge of consumer sentiment rose to a final June reading of 96.1, rebounding from a drop in May, the University of Michigan reported. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected the final June figure to match a preliminary result of 94.6. The consumer-sentiment gauge averaged 86.9 over the year leading up to the recession.

“Consumers voiced in the first half of 2015 the largest and most sustained increase in economic optimism since 2004,” according to the report, which noted an improvement for households throughout the income distribution. “The economic slowdown has ended according to consumers.”

Economists follow readings on confidence to look for clues about consumer spending, the backbone of the economy.

Earlier this week the government reported that May ’s consumer spending posted the largest growth since August 2009. A strengthening labor market, along with a pick up for wages, is supporting spending.

“After a soft start to the year, we expect the economy to find

its footing in the coming months with stronger consumer spending seen to be a key driver of accelerating [economic] growth,” said Gregory Daco, head of U.S. macroeconomics at Oxford Economics.

Also, rising home prices have helped Americans gain equity in their properties, shoring up their personal finances. Families with properties that have increased in value have been able to refinance or sell their homes without taking a loss. A gauge of consumers’ views on current conditions rose to 108.9 in June from 100.8 in May, while a barometer of their

expectations increased to 87.8 from 84.2.

However, U.S. consumers also face headwinds. After

Consumers voiced in the first half of 2015 the largest and most sustained increase in economic optimism since 2004

plunging in 2014, gasoline prices have been on the rise since January.

Further, some jobless workers continue to face a particularly harsh labor market — almost three-in-10 unemployed people have been looking for a new spot for at least half a year. Also, workers without permanent jobs have seen their share of the total labor force grow in recent years, a trend that cuts families’ financial stability. And the rebounding housing market hasn’t helped everyone — there are still pools of deeply distressed borrowers who are struggling to pay their monthly bills.

With $21trn, China’s savers are set to change the world

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ew events will be as significant for the world in the next 15 years as China opening its capital borders, a shift that economists and regulators across the world are now starting to grapple with. With China’s leadership aiming to scale back the role of investment in the domestic economy, the nation’s surfeit of savings — deposits currently stand at $21 trillion — will increasingly need to be deployed overseas. That’s also becoming easier, as Premier Li Keqiang relaxes capitalflow regulations.

The consequences ultimately could rival the transformation wrought by the Communist nation’s fusion with the global trading system, capped by its 2001 World Trade Organisation entry.

That stage saw goods made cheaper across the world, boosting the purchasing power of low-income families at the cost of hollowed-out industries.

Some changes are easy to envision: watch out for Mao Zedong’s visage on banknotes as the yuan makes its way into more corners of the globe. China’s giant banks will increasingly dot New York, London and Tokyo skylines, joining U.S., European and Japanese names. Property prices from California to Sydney to Southeast Asia already

have seen the influence of Chinese buying.

Other shifts are tougher to gauge.

International investors including pension funds, which have had limited entry to China to date, will pour in, clouding how big a net money exporter China will be. Deutsche Bank AG is among those foreseeing mass net outflows, which could go to fund largescale infrastructure, or stoke asset prices by depressing long-term borrowing costs.

“This era will be marked by China shifting from a large net importer of capital to one of the world’s largest exporters of capital,” Charles Li, chief executive officer of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd., the city’s stock market, wrote in a blog this month.

Eventually, there will be “fund outflows of historic proportions, driven by China’s needs to deploy and diversify its national wealth to the global markets,” he wrote.

The continuing opening of China’s capital account will also promote the trading of commodities in yuan, and boost China’s ability to influence their prices, according to an analysis by Bloomberg Intelligence.

As was the case with China’s WTO entry, where many of the hurdles had

been cleared in the years leading up to 2001, policy makers in Beijing have been easing restrictions on the currency, the flow of money and interest rates for years. What’s making 2015 notable is the International Monetary Fund’s once-in-five-year review of its basket of reserve currencies. China wants in, and is accelerating reforms to get there.

Recent steps to promote its currency have included setting up five offshore yuan centers, a new link between the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges and letting the tightly controlled yuan trade against the dollar in a wider band. It has promised to remove a cap on interest paid to savers.

“The integration of China –- the world’s second-largest economy with the highest saving rate but still a low per capita income -– into the global capital markets is an unprecedented event,” China International Capital Corp. economists led by Beijing-based Liang Hong wrote in a note this month.

There are already signs of that potential. Chinese buyers topped Canadians to rank as the biggest foreign purchasers of U.S. homes by sales and dollar volume in the year through March, accounting for more than a quarter of all international spending.

Ex-Jumia bosses’ ACE drives innovations in Nigerian logistics industry

By JONAH NWOKPOKU

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unde Kehinde and Ercin Eksin, both former cofounders and co-Managing Directors of Nigeria’s premier online retailer, Jumia.com have launched online logistics company, African Courier Express, ACE to drive innovations in the Nigerian logistics industry.

In an exclusive interview with the Vanguard, the duo said ACE leverages technology to drive direct to consumer delivery, helping retailers, banks, insurance companies and other businesses deliver goods directly to consumers all over Nigeria.

The service also allows users to track packages real time as well as make provisions for payment collection at point of delivery.

They said the service was inspired by their experience building Nigeria’s first online store, Jumia.com.

“With Jumia, we saw end to end what the customer challenges are between building operations and customer service. We saw that where the big pain was, was logistics. And that was why we said we could solve the problem we saw while we were at Jumia and most likely solve the same problems other retailers and businesses are having. It goes beyond delivering just an ecommerce item. For us, what we want is for that business that wants to get products across the country to be able to do that using this platform. That was what the Jumia experience has helped us to do,” said Kehinde.

He added: “We saw a big opportunity in logistics, so we scaled Jumia to the level it was at the time we left and then decided to build a platform that can power a hundred more Jumias. And when you think in that scale, it is an opportunity you cannot pass up.

"This is because, what is very clear all over the world is that e-commerce in developed markets can be as high as 6 per cent of GDP. This is means that in our country, ecommerce can be a $10 billion plus market. But right now, it is constarined by lack of structured logistics platform."

28 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

Corporate Finance

StanChart leverages international reach to boost customers’ needs

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tandard Chartered Bank has said that it is leveraging its international reach to meeting the needs of its customers in Nigeria.

Speaking at the Standard Chartered Bank recently cosponsored 5th EuroFinance Conference On Treasury, Risk & Cash Management in West Africa in Lagos, Remi Oni, Executive Director, Corporate & Institutional Clients, Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria expressed optimism that with the quality of topics and conversations at the EuroFinance conference, companies in the region would be better equipped to the face the challenging operating environment.

According to the Executive Director “Beyond the conference, Standard Chartered Bank is leveraging its international reach and robust local presence to help its clients not only survive the current unpredictability of the markets, but thrive in the midst of it”.

Delivering a presentation titled “Creating a successful strategy for RMB”, Jing Liu, Director RMB Solutions, Standard Chartered Bank, London highlighted that Chinese investment is becoming more highly sought in West Africa, which have important implications for treasurers in the region.

According to Liu, the RMB’s role in global trade has been expanded by China increasing its import and export trade flows in offshore RMB. In addition, over the past year the CBN has moved some FX reserves into RMB from US dollars.

Treasurers, thus, need to understand the RMB, and how its increasing global profile affects their operations.

In the session titled “Liquidity management essentials in West Africa”, Ibude Guobadia (Corporate Sales Head Transaction Banking, Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria) and Abisola Adefarati (Head Tax & Treasury, British American Tobacco, Nigeria) highlighted the critical role of cash management as a cornerstone of treasury management.

They further shared best practices for corporate liquidity management, to help companies improve intra-day liquidity, in spite of restrictions placed on different currencies in different countries and the drop in oil prices.

AC o AGM:: Shareholder Shareholderss caution C CA ovver unnecessar ovals unnecessaryy appr appro

BY PETER EGWUATU

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hareholders, under the aegis of Proactive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, PROSAN have berated the manner in which the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC grants approvals to companies to host Annual General Meetings, AGMs without due process.

They further urged the regulatory bodies in the country to collaborate with one another for virile and sensitive capital market issues in order for the country to get global attractions. The shareholder group in a letter sent to the Registrar General of CAC and obtained by Vanguard expressed their displeasure over the manner in which the commission granted approval to Internationa Energy Insurance Plc without following due process.

In the letter signed by the National Coordinator, and General Secretary of PROSAN, Mr. Oderinde Taiwo and Mrs . Oluyemisi Fawunmi , it sated , I hereby write on behalf of the above named associations and the entire minority shareholders of International Energy Insurance Plc for your

insensitivity and for putting our investment at risk by granting approval to one of the shareholders of the company by name Pearlchris Properties Limited t hold Extra- ordinary General Meeting, EGM last month at Le Meridian Hotel, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.”

Prosan warned the CAC not to allow such unnecessary approval to person other than the company to host AGM. “We do not want you to repeat this type of mistake whenever any other shareholder (s) of any quoted company

approach you in the nearest future for the same purpose” it added.

The shareholders cautioned CAC on the need to get in touch with the direct regulatory body overseeing such a company.

“For example, CBN regulates banks and Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC regulates quoted companies.

So, for approvals of AGMs to companies being regulated by these bodies there is need for CAC to always collaborate with them to clarify issues” the group advised.

PROSAN further revealed that Pearlchris Properties with 10 per cent holding was owned by two former directors of International Energy Insurance who just bought the shares of the company few months from the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE for hostile takeover of the company without respect for other ninety per cent shareholders of the company.

According to the group “If you look critically at the agenda of the EGM, the first agenda is to convert the proposed EGM to an AGM which is by our understanding is a hostile takeover of our company if not for the timely intervention of National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) by dissolving the Board for proper investigation.”

AGM: From left: Managing Director/CEO Capital Bancorp Plc, Mr Aigboje Higo; Chairman, Mr Olutola Mobolurin and Company Secretary, Mr Olayinka Jafojo during the Annual General MEeeting, AGM of Capital Bancorp Plc in Lagos.

Infractions: SEC or der o appear bef ore APC A ugust 4 order derss BGL tto before August

BY PETER EGWUATUp

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ollowing the suspension placed on BGL subsidiaries as a result of alleged infractions in the Nigerian capital market, the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC has ordered the management to appear before its Administrative Proceedings Committee, APC to explain the allegations of infractions against them.

The commission has disclosed that the management has been invited to appear before its APC on 4th and 5th August for hearing on the alleged infractions.

The SEC has explained that it received over 40 letters of investor complaints against BGL

Group Plc, alleging indebtedness to the tune of about N5.8 billion.

Investigations were conducted and all-parties meetings were arranged by

The Group’s management had progressively eroded its shareholders’ funds through losses sustained over a 5-year period totaling about N48 billion

SEC during which repayment agreements were struck between BGL and some of the affected investors.

Unfortunately, B GL continued reneging on promises to restitute investors.

Backed by a court order from the Investments and Securities Tribunal (IST), SEC said, it set up a 7-man Interim Management Team (IMT) for BGL Group.

According to SEC “This was a necessar y, wellconsidered action with the sole objective of protecting investors while a more detailed forensic audit was conducted to determine the financial health of the companies within the BGL Group and the nature/extent of infractions committed by the BGL management.”

From the preliminary

report of the forensic auditors, it was revealed, among other facts, that indeed BGL Group was in a critical financial state in which: The Group’s management had progressively eroded its shareholders’ funds through losses sustained over a 5year period totaling about N48 billion as at December 31, 2014; Billions of naira in investors’ funds were put at extreme risk through questionable investments by the BGL management in some illiquid, unlisted companies’ securities; one of which has been declared bankrupt ; The Group has significant liquidity challenges making it unable to meet its responsibilities towards clients and investors as evidenced by over N11 billion in unpaid matured funds to investors.

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015 — 29

Economy

110 million Nigerians impoverished by corruption – Osinbajo Stories by Emeka Anaeto, Economy Editor

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he All Progressive Congress (APC) led federal government of Nigeria may have put the number of Nigerians living in adversity as a result of corruption at 110 million.

It was not clear how they came about this figure but this was given last week by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo while speaking at the third annual Christopher Kolade lecture on business integrity in Lagos.

He said that such large number of Nigerian citizens live in deplorable economic conditions because a few cabals have undermined the system and cornered the resources to the detriment of the greater population adding that when public institutions are weakened by corruption the society is in danger of collapse.

According to him the current administration of Muhammadu Buhari is building a fair and inclusive society with a network of social services and anticorruption policy based on ethical values.

Speaking on the theme of the lecture, ‘’Beyond Compliance: Imbibing a Culture of Business Integrity ’’ Osinbajo noted that the level of integrity or otherwise in the society may not necessarily be a result of the copious legal or regulatory provisions as much as it is a function of the culture of the people evolved over time.

He explained that the functionality of the legal and regulatory provisions would imply the resolution of the ethical dilema Nigerians have found themselves where one either saves his relationships with corrupt family members in public offices and destroy the larger

•Prof Osinbajo, Vice President society or sacrifice such relationships and save the nation.

He said the decision to accommodate corruption because the person involved

is a friend, family relation, ethnic relation or religious member shows lack of integrity and makes whoever that is accommodating such vices guilty of corruption.

Osinbajo stated that the commitment of Muhammadu Buhari administration is to create an environment for resolution of such ethical dilemma without fear of victimisation or loss.

However he added that while government should take the lead and ultimate responsibility in the fight against corruption the civil society as well as corporate organisations should also be involved in taking positive actions against corruption and promote integrity as a culture in the various spheres of influence.

He also wants businesses to begin a paradigm shift in there Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to focus on sustainability and strategic scalability.

Speakers at the lecture urged government to adopt a preventive strategy in addressing issues of integrity in governance. They also asked the current

Private sector, analysts pick hole in new CBN’s Forex rule I

t appears that the recent efforts of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stem Naira depreciation may not turn positive to the economy eventually.

Speaking at the third Christopher Kolade Annual Lecture last week in Lagos, chief executive of The Chair Centre Group, a leading furniture manufacturer in Nigeria, Mrs Ibukun Awosika, said the new policy which excluded some items relating to manufacturing inputs from accessing the CBN foreign exchange window would definitely sky-rocket cost of production, adding that

some local manufacturers may even shut down.

Awosika who is a director of many blue chip companies including First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Cadbury Nigeria Plc amongst others also lamented that the policy was coming at same time Nigerian Customs Services was throwing the furniture market open to massive imports by removal of the import ban.

At the weekend Afrinvest, a leading investment house also pointed out a number of draw backs in the new forex policy.

According to the analysts at Afrinvest ‘’the capability of this restrictions to stimulate domestic production of the

excluded items, as suggested by the CBN depends to a large extent on too many variables outside the CBN’s purview.

Structural weaknesses and infrastructural constraints which strains competitive local production and the rigorous discipline and tight border control needed to implement import substitute strategies are vulnerabilities yet to be addressed’’.

They added ‘’these factors will continue to dissuade the long-term benefits of this restriction until conscious structural reforms by fiscal authorities and supportive monetary policies are directed towards addressing the

administration to use incentives to drive whistle blowing and cultural reorientation.

Furthermore they reminded the vice president that the current government has the chance to succeed more than any other adding that if this chance to fight corruption is missed it is going to be difficult and long time to recover adding that this is why the APC government was elected in the first place.

In his remarks the central figure in the annual lecture, Dr Christopher Kolade, stated that in Nigeria the word ‘corruption’ is used far more frequently than ‘integrity’ and that is why it has become so dominant in our national mindset. He admonished that Nigerians have to reverse this in all public communications.

Reacting to insinuations that corruption is more attractive than integrity because corrupt people are seen as more successful Kolade said that Osinbajo is a proof that it is possible for a man of integrity to pass through public service and get to the top in Nigeria.

weaknesses’’.

Afrinvest analysts stated ‘’whilst we are somewhat startled that the CBN’s decision is coming ahead of President Buhari’s economic blueprint, it however underscores the responsibility and independence of the CBN - remaining proactive in taking critical monetary policy decisions that will guarantee external economic stability amongst other concerns’’.

They opined that this move may unintentionally limit fiscal revenue expansion sources of the Federal Government needed to fund budget deficit particularly from custom duties.

Pressure at the interbank foreign exchange market is expected to ease while the transferred effect will become visible at the parallel market segments as importers redirect demand.

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30 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

Homes & Housing

Average UK mortgage deposit hits record high

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he average house buyer in Britain is putting down a record deposit of more than £72,000, according to an index. It is the highest level since the Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB), a broker, began collating the figures in March 2009.

The previous peak was £71,474 in June last year. Last month, the figure rose to £72,302.

Rising house prices mean that not only do buyers need to find bigger deposits, but the increased equity also helps those already on the property ladder to put down larger amounts on their next home. The average deposit as a proportion of a loan rose from 28 percent to 30 percent.

Figures from Halifax showed house prices in the UK had risen by more than £100 a day in April, taking the average value across Britain to £196,412. MAB’s index – compiled using data from over 600 brokers and 900 estate agents – indicated that average mortgage sizes, as well as deposits, reached new levels in May with the typical homebuyer applying for a mortgage of £167,842 last month, 1 percent higher than April’s previous postrecession peak of £166,141.

LASG considers ‘rent and own’ housing scheme

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agos State government would consider adopting a ‘ rent and own’ housing scheme in resolving the housing deficit in the state.

Governor Akinwumi Ambode who disclosed this in his office, said it was not easy for a winner of a three-bedroom flat, under the state’s housing scheme, to make an initial payment of about N5 million, which is half the cost, before spreading the balance through monthly payments.

He noted that it was unnecessary for a bachelor or spinster to own a threebedroom flat, stressing that it was better for those in this category to get studio apartments and upgrade to more spacious accommodations when they get married and start having children.

He appreciated the solid foundation already laid by his predecessors in office in the state, calling for suggestions and constructive criticism by all residents, including the media, so as to build on what was on the ground.

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NMRC refinances 577 mortgages with N10bn bonds zTargets 400,000 mortgages in 5 years Stories by YINKA KOLAWOLE, with agency report

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n the bid to expand access to housing finance, Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) is set to refinance 577 mortgages with the sale of N10 billion bonds this week, even as it targets refinancing 400,000 mortgages with N440 billion in the next 5 years.

Managing Director/CEO, NMRC, Prof. Charles Inyangete, said the bonds sale is the first step in a quarterly program to raise N140 billion.

He said the 15-year bonds will be used to refinance existing mortgages that meet specified underwriting requirements and will be listed on the Financial Market Dealers Association trading platform. “We

started by looking at the legacy loans – existing mortgages in the economy and bring them into conformity with what we now call the Uniform Underwriting Standards. We have done that

Our bond issue will allow us raise funds with government guarantee which allows us to come in at a cheaper rate than otherwise

and it drives our first process of the mortgage refinance,” he stated. According to him, an investment of N3.5 trillion is needed to cut the nation’s 17 million housing deficit by building 780,000 housing units annually.

The mortgages to be refinanced were originated by nine banks which met the NMRC requirements for uniform underwriting standards and were included in the provisional Series 1 Mortgage portfolio as at May 28. The banks shortlisted for the mortgage refinancing are: Aso Savings and Loans; Stanbic IBTC; Imperial Homes Mortgage Bank; Access Bank; Abbey Mortgage Bank; F H A

*High-end private estate development

Firm reveals real estate hotspots in Lagos

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research carried out by Lamudi Nigeria, an online real estate marketplace, has revealed the most popular spots for house-hunters in Lagos.

According to the research, these neighbourhoods in Lagos dominate property searches in the country’s most populous city, attracting 89 percent of all searches. Data shows Lekki as the most popular area for house-hunters in Lagos, attracting 38.33 percent of all property searches in the city.

Breaking down the data, Lamudi reveals that house-hunters in Lekki are looking predominantly for properties to rent (70 percent), with only 29 percent looking to buy.

A mere one percent of searches were for land in the area.

The second most popular district, according to the report, is Ikeja with 12.32 percent of house-hunters in Lagos searching for property in this area.

At the other end of the scale, the research highlights 10 areas in the city that generate less than one percent of all Lagos property searches combined.

According to the survey, renting dominates property searches in all the top 10 neighbourhoods in Lagos. In Yaba - the

fourth most popular district for property seekers in Lagos - 93 percent of searches are for rental properties, with only four percent looking to buy.

In Shomolu, 94 percent of property searches are house-hunters who want to rent. Data shows the most popular of the top 10 neighbourhoods for purchasing property in Lagos is Ikoyi; 42 percent of searches in this area are carried out by house-hunters aiming to buy.

Obi Ejimofo, Managing Director of Lamudi Nigeria, said: “Lagos is at the forefront of Nigeria’s dynamic property market, as highlighted by such a high number of searches in this area. We believe it should be important for both sellers and investors to understand the breakdown of demand for properties by neighbourhood in order to better understand where people are looking to settle down within the city. We have seen that the Lagos rental market is much more active than the sales market. This trend is confirmed by our data for the first quarter of 2015, where searches for rentals dominate over 75 percent of all searches in the city.”

Mortgage Bank; Resort Savings and Loans; Suntrust Savings and Loans; and Trustbond Mortgage Bank.

Inyangete noted that while the NMRC has been able to provide a uniform underwriting standard for the country’s mortgage market, the absence of a foreclosure law is hampering quicker expansion. “We see a need for a legal structure that is clear and simple for the creation of mortgages,” he said.

The NMRC boss said the company plans to sell shares to the public before the end of the year to dilute its ownership. He said: “Our ideal scenario is to have every bank that is interested in providing mortgage financing to be part of it. Our bond issue will allow us to raise funds with the government guarantee which allows us to come in at a cheaper rate than otherwise. If the government is borrowing at double-digits, it means that [our] cheaper rate will be at about the same rate that the government is borrowing.”

According to him, Nigeria’s property market is currently valued at $41 billion, representing about 8 percent of gross domestic product, asserting that the company plans to more than triple this over the next few years as it helps extend maturities for Nigerian home buyers to as much as 20 years.

NMRC was set up to encourage and promote home ownership in Nigeria by providing financial facilities to the mortgage lenders, thereby increasing the availability and affordability of mortgage loans to Nigerians.

Twenty member mortgage lending banks are currently enlisted with NMRC. These include: Sterling Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc, Heritage Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank Plc, Homebase Mortgage Limited, FHA Homes Savings & Loans Limited, Aso Savings & Loans Plc, Trust Bond Mortgage Bank and, Imperial Homes Mortgage Bank.

Others are: Abbey Mortgage Bank Plc, Resort Savings & Loans Limited, Platinum Mortgage Bank Limited, Jubilee Life Savings & Loans Limited, Haggai Savings & Loans Limited, Refuge Home Savings & Loans Limited, New Prudential Building Society, Sun Trust Savings & Loans Limited, Nigeria Police Mortgage Bank Limited and, Mayfresh Savings & Loans Limited.

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015 — 31

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Recovery of delinquent credit facilities and the economic calamity ahead

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The Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) has recently directed all banks in Nigeria to periodically publish, in at least three national dailies, names of their delinquent debtors, whose accounts remain non-performing.”

DIAMOND BANK PLC, Punch, June 22, 2015, p 39.

Permit me to mention that VANGUARD is one of four newspapers which can truly be called “national papers”. The rest, including three published in Lagos, are mere pretenders. So, the banks know where to go when they are ready to publish the names of the national dead beats. Readers should rest assured that a lot of names and reputations of business “moguls” will be tarnished for ever. However, before going into the finer details of this CBN directive, let me digress by pointing to another CBN directive whose terminal date is drawing close.

The Biometric Verification Number, BVN, exercise will end this month. From July 1, 2015, anybody without a BVN will not be permitted to operate his/her account in any bank. Unlike the customer number issued to

customers by every bank, the BVN is applicable nationwide.

Apart from helping to identify customers more easily, the BVN will serve another function which many people, especially fraudulent individuals, are not aware of; it will help to uncover those operating several accounts under various identities. The finger prints collected will be put through computer matching process and very soon thousands on Nigerians and foreigners residing here, who had escaped the law will find themselves exposed. Millions of accounts will be affected eventually. Some of your neighbours might soon be visiting the nearest EFCC office to explain how the same person can be John Doe and Sam Bird.

Interesting times await us.

However, the one that will create the greatest disaster, at least temporarily, is the directive about delinquent accounts.

Thousands of companies operated by Nigeria’s big business people are heading for crash on account of this. For instance, on the same day, in the same paper, on page 68, there was a Police Bulletin regarding one Stella Dike

Ozoemene, who defrauded Guaranty Trust Bank Plc of N150 million using Ohzed Oil and Gas Company as the conduit. Yet on the same page, a Lagos State High Court attached the accounts of an oil marketing and distribution company, Nitrend Limited over N150 million debt. This time Access Bank was the victim.

These two cases might be the first in a series of desperate actions by banks which had treated their non-performing debtors with kid gloves — especially when the debtors are well-connected.

Perhaps, it is just a coincidence that these cases are coming out in the open at this time. But, it is doubtful. Apart from the amounts involved being the same, the guarantor to the Nitrend Limited loan was also a female former Managing Director of defunct City Express Bank, which went down with millions of depositors’ funds. If indeed, Access Bank and Guaranty Trust have diligently applied the basic principle of Know Your Customer, it is difficult to imagine how the damages could have occurred.

Now they are now chasing

money which should not have left the bank in the first instance.

Heads will, and must roll, in the banks for these.

However, the two cases merely reveal a tip of the nose of the submerged monster waiting to send shock waves through the Nigerian economy.

Last year, the CBN Governor revealed that less than one thousand Nigerian firms account for over seventy per cent of all bank loans; the remaining one million-plus companies make do with the little that is left. Left unsaid by the CBN Governor, either deliberately or inadvertently, is the fact that virtually all these companies operate multiple accounts with many banks and the main function of their directors of finance is to juggle funds from one bank to the next; to allow some accounts to become delinquent until pressed by the banks and to delay payments as long as possible. A look at the list of toxic loans, acquired by Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, will reveal that it might as well be published as a WHO IS WHO AMONG NIGERIAN BILLIONAIRES. The “professional” dead-beats

are all the people we routinely applaud. The list of delinquent accounts and the names of their directors will include almost all the “usual suspects” – who are uniformly incorrigible debtors.

The CBN directive will however result in very painful readjustments – at least in the short term. Most of these companies have operated on the principle of not allowing the left hand to know what is happening on the right hand. Each bank had guarded jealously its transactions with the biggest customers. That is precisely what the dubious business people want. Until a loan goes terribly bad, and it is large enough, most banks will not disclose to other banks their experience with the customer.

That way, the same customer can dupe several banks at the same time.

With the new CBN directive, “professional” delinquent customers will be revealed for all to know; they will not be able to access foreign exchange and the banks will take steps to recover their loans. Several thousand companies might be liquidated in a short time exacerbating the nation’s unemployment problem. But, it is task that must be done sooner or later. It might as well be now.

Micro-Finance Foundation seeks enabling environment for entrepreneurs Stories by PROVIDENCE OBUH

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h e To n y E l u m e l u Fo u n d a t i o n ( T E F ) has called on government at all levels and politicians to create enabling environment for entrepreneurs in the country to thrive.

Founder, TEF, Mr. Tony Eleumelu, said this at a media brief heralding the two days Boot Camp session designed to equip the successful 1,000 entrepreneurs with skills needed to build a successful business from July 10 to 12, in Ota, Ogun State.

Elumelu said, “In Africa, over 90 percent entrepreneurs dies within the first year. It is very difficult for entrepreneurs to succeed but the only option is that our government should do something by creating the environment that would enable entrepreneurs to survive in our country.”

Recall that the entrepreneurship programme launched in December 2014 is a $100 million initiative to discover and support 10,000 African entrepreneurs over the

next decade with a target of creating one million new jobs and $10 billion in additional annual GDP contribution Africawide by end of the programme.

The programme received over 20,000 individual applications from 52 African countries with ideas ranging from fish farm to fashion, web apps to wellness centres, education and energy, among others and in March about 1000 entrepreneurs whose ideas can transform Africa were selected.

Meanwhile, the 1000

entrepreneurs are expected to converge for a two-day maiden boot camp session of the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP) where participation will earn them $5000 seed capital funding as well as continued monitoring and support as they refine and execute their business plans.

Upon completion of business plans, select businesses would receive a further $5,000 low interest loan and access the programme’s Angel Investors network.

“I am confident that these entrepreneurs are Africa’s hope for the future. In empowering these emerging entrepreneurs, we are providing the capital, the networks, the training and

'Shoe manufacturing, revenue spinner'

A

shoe manufacturer, Chief Executive Officer, Kene Rapu Nigeria, Ms. Kene Rapu, has said that shoe manufacturing would be a huge source of revenue to the

Airtel primary sale hit N22bn in December, rewards trade partners

A

irtel Nigeria, penultimate week, disclosed that in December alone, its primary sales hit N22 billion, rewarding top performing trade partners with Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) among other luxury prizes.

Speaking at the Airtel Channel Partners Awards 2015, tagged: “Hunger to Win Customers for Life,” Managing Director/ C E O, A i r t e l N i g e r i a , M r. S e g u n Ogunsanya, commended the channel partners for commitment, loyalty, focus and hard work. He attributed company’s growth in the last financial year to support from the par tners, stating: “With your

support for them to drive economic and social transformation throughout Africa, providing solutions to its problems as well as securing their future and that of generations to come, Elumelu said.”

support, we have over 130 Express Shops today. You, our esteemed channel partners, have also contributed immensely to the development of our business. In December 2014 alone, we achieved the highest ever primary sales of N22 billion and a growing contribution of over 65% in GADs performance coming from our partners.

“We thank all our Channel Partners for demonstrating exceptional zeal towards the achievement of the business objectives of our company. As partners in progress, they have contributed immensely to our success and fulfilment of promises made by the Airtel Nigeria to its teeming customers.

federal government and the economy if well utilized.

Also she urged the government and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) to create a better awareness and value addition to locally manufactured leather to increase revenue for the government and create jobs.

Rapu, made the appeal while speaking with news men on the sidelines of the official opening of her showroom and factory in Lagos.

AShe said that shoe manufacturing could be a huge revenue-spinner for the government and it was creating not less than 20,000 jobs in its value chain for Lagos residents alone, and it was capable of creating more, if better value was placed on locally-manufactured leather.

36 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

People in Business

Lagos becomes Lufthansa sales hub for Sub-Sahara Africa

L

ufthansa German Airlines has designated Lagos as the centre and regional headquarters of its Sub-Saharan sales, station and administration organization leading marketing and sales for the airline across the continent, including East African and Southern Africa countries.

Managing Director SubSahara Africa, Claus Becker, made this known recently in Lagos. He said Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa, also with the highest GDP and geographically located within 6 hours from all other Lufthansa Sub-Sahara markets hence it was the natural choice for a regional head office in Africa.

“Nigeria has always played a key role in Lufthansa’s intercontinental network and now we are creating a new organization that will benefit from the country’s economical size and business prospects as a leading regional business hub” said Claus Becker, Managing Director Sub-Sahara Africa, who will head the new organization. The decision of choosing Lagos as the headquarter of Lufthansa sales organization will not only secure jobs here but also bring more employment opportunities for Nigeria.

The country which boasts three Lufthansa destinations (Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt) has been served by the German carrier since 1962 and is a pillar in the burgeoning economic relationship between Germany, Nigeria as well as businesses in both countries. Becker was joined by Tamur Goudarzi Pour, Lufthansa Vice President Sales & Services for the Middle East, Africa & Southeast Europe to discuss the aviation group’s upcoming plans for the African continent including the new and revamped cabins of services to be offered on all flights from Nigeria as well as other key African gateways.

“Sub-Sahara Africa is one of the Lufthansa Group strongest markets, with around 150 weekly flights byLufthansa, Swiss/Edelweiss and Brussels Airlines serving 30 destinations in 26 countries and we plan to continue expanding services across the contact,” noted Goudarzi Pour.

Already scheduled for the end of October, Lufthansa will commence service to Nairobi, Kenya with initial four-times weekly and Brussels Airlines will offer customers in Accra direct service to Brussels.

*Soybean seeds

*Mr. Ifeanyi Ukegbu that you can produce oil from soybean, maize and sunflower and they are very healthy for human consumption, I settled for soybean.

*Soybean cake

Boko Haram insurgency affecting our business — IFEANYI UKEGBU

By EBELE ORAKPO

M

r.

Ifeanyi Ukegbu is the Chairman/ Chief Executive Officer of Colectic Resources Nigeria Limited, a company that is into agricultural material production, specializing in animal feeds raw materials.

After obtaining a Higher National Diploma in Urban and Regional Planning from the Federal Polytechnic, Owerri, Ukegbu went on to read Project Management at the University of Calabar, Cross River State. He spoke to Financial Vanguard on why he went into his line of business and the challenges involved.

Excerpts: Why I started Colectic: In the last few years, I discovered that the economy was becoming agriculturally–driven. If you look at the focus of the last administration, you will see where the policy was going

and when I saw the emphasis being placed on agriculture, I started researching into which area I could go into. I have passion for vegetable oil; in fact, that was what gave me the push to go into this business. When I found out

They provided us the opportunity to incubate our businesses and mature so that by the time we are leaving here, we would have already developed the tentacles to spread out

Experimenting: You know, education gives you a wide horizon to dive into anything you want so that was why when I found I had this passion, I started studying all I could about soybean, from the planting of the seeds, to harvesting, the drying and the usage. I started experimenting, first, with the soybean and I saw that the oil was very good. We tried maize and the oil from maize is very good too but when we analysed the three and compared the soybean, maize and sunflower oils, we discovered that the maize oil has a better oil production but because of the interest we have in the soybean cake, we settled for the soybean seed because of the need of farmers.

What we do: We use soybean seed to produce soybean cake and oil. The soybean cake is used purely by those involved in poultry and piggery and also those that are into feed production use it as a source of raw material for the production of feeds. They blend it with other ingredients to form what they want. For instance, the mixture for growers is different from the mixture for layers. So they use the cake in their production. They also use the oil as a mixture. If the oil is refined, it is good for human consumption as vegetable oil but in the state it is here, we still call it raw material because it still needs to undergo refining process.

What we only have here is the filtration process. We filter out the impurities from the oil but in the proper refining, they separate the odor and the moisture because in the state it is here, it still has moisture but one good thing is that the oil is cholesterol-free. You can use it as it is now but the only thing is that it foams

because of the moisture content.

We imported the machine, finished installation in October and commenced production in December last year.

Challenges: Our major challenge is the Boko Haram insurgency. As you know, we get our raw materials mainly from the northern part of the country so the Boko Haram issue has affected the rate of soybean seed production and consequently, the price at which we buy the seeds and the prices of our products.

But all in all, by the grace of God, it is a good business and we are doing well.

Incubation Centre: I want to appreciate the Federal Government for encouraging small businesses and for the opportunity given to us here to start. If they had not given us this place, definitely, the cost of production would have been higher because you have to look at the cost of renting a place. But here at the Technology Incubation Centre, under the National Board for Technology Incubation in the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, we are provided free accommodation otherwise, cost of production would have been higher. They have provided us the opportunity to incubate our businesses and mature so that by the time we are leaving here, we would have already developed the tentacles to spread out; this place is like a formative stage for any serious-minded person that wants to go into industrial production or entrepreneurship so the government actually did a good thing by encouraging us. Apart from giving us this place, they also organise seminars for us to enhance our businesses free of charge, bringing in quality people to talk to us on how to grow our businesses.

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015 — 37

Tax Matters

Value Added Tax (VAT) in Nigeria (ii) All goods and services are ‘VATable’, except those that are exempted under schedule 1 of the Act. These are: Goods Exempted All medical and pharmaceutical products Basic food items Books and educational materials Baby products Fertilizer, locally produced agricultural and veterinary medicine, farming machinery, and farming transportation equipment All exports Plant and machinery imported for use in the Export Processing Zone Plant, machinery and equipment purchased for utilisation of gas in downstream petroleum operations.

Tractors, ploughs,and agricultural equipment and implements purchased for agricultural purposes Services Exempted Medical services Services rendered by community banks, People’s Bank and mortgage institutions Plays and performances conducted by educational institutions as part of learning.

All export services.

Note also: Exports are zero rated.

VAT is leviable at the time of supply of goods and services.

companies A non-resident company that carries on business in Nigeria shall register for the tax with the Board using the address of the person with whom it has a subsisting contract as its address for purposes of correspondence relating to the tax.

Records and Accounts A registered person under shall keep such records and books of all transactions, operations imports and other activities relating to taxable goods and services as are sufficient to determine the correct amount of tax

VAT paid on inputs are creditable against output tax.

Tax returns are to be submitted on monthly basis.

Administration of VAT The tax shall be administered and managed by the Federal Board of Inland Revenue (in this Act, referred to as “the Board”)

Registration A taxable person shall within six (6) months of commencement of this Act or within six (6) months of commencement of business, whichever is earlier register with the Board for the purpose of this Act Registration by government ministries, etc as agents of the Board Every government ministry statutory body and other agency of government shall register as agent of the Board for purpose of collection of tax under this Act. Every contractor transacting business with a government ministry, statutory body and other agency of federal state or local government shall produce evidence of registration with the Board as a condition for obtaining a contract.

Registration by non-resident

The input tax to be allowed as deductions from the output tax shall be limited to the tax on goods purchased or imported directly for resale and good which form the stock-in trade used for direct production of any new product on which the output tax is charged

due under the Act. Offences by law Furnishing false documents Evasion of tax Failure to make attribution Failure to notify change of address

Failure to issue tax invoice Resisting authorised officers Issuing tax invoice by unauthorized person Failure to register Failure to keep proper books and accounts Failure to collect tax Failure to submit returns Aiding and abetting commission of offence Offences by body corporate.

Explanation of Some Terms in VAT Taxable Goods and Services The Act says the tax shall be charged and payable on the supply of all goods and services (in this Act referred to as “taxable goods and services”) other than those goods and services listed in the First schedule to this Act. Allowable Input Tax The input tax to be allowed as deductions from the output tax shall be limited to the tax on goods purchased or imported directly for resale and good which form the stockin trade used for direct production of any new product on which the output tax is charged.

This means input tax on: Any overhead, service and general administration cannot be charged as input tax but expended through the profit and loss account On capital item and asset too should be capitalized along with the cost of the item and asset.

Distribution of Revenue 15% Federal Government.

50% States Government & FCT, Abuja.

35% Local Governments.

Input Tax Tax charged on purchases made

Output Tax Tax charged on sales made

Taxable Person Means a person who independently carries out in any place any economic activity as a producer, wholesale trader, supplier of goods, supplier of services or person exploiting tangible or intangible property for the purpose of obtaining income therefrom by way of trade or business and includes a person and an agency of government acting in that capacity.

Zero rated goods If you sell zero-rated goods or services, they count as taxable supplies, but you don’t add any VAT to your selling price because the VAT rate is 0 per cent. Thus while no VAT is charged on providing goods and services taxable at zero-rate of VAT, you are still able to deduct VAT on costs and expenses you incur in making zero-rated supplies.

Examples are (1) all non-oil exports (2) goods and services purchased by diplomats (3) goods and services purchased for use in humanitarian donor funded projects

Exempted Goods/Services If you sell goods or services that are exempt, you don’t charge any VAT and they are not taxable supplies. This means that you won’t normally be able to reclaim any of the VAT on your expenses. Generally, you don’t register for VAT or reclaim the VAT on your purchases if you sell only exempt goods or services. In this case you may not be able to reclaim the VAT on all your purchases

38 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

Interview

BY EMMA UJAH, Abuja Bureau Chief, MIKE EBOH & GABRIEL EWEPU

H

ow would you rate the capacity of the Solid minerals sector in the nation’s economy?

To talk about the capacity of the solid minerals sector in the country, how important it is and what it can contribute to the economy, let’s take our minds back to the past. There was a time in the economic history of this country when the solid minerals sector was contributing as much as 12 per cent to the GDP (Gross Domestic Product). From the late 1950s before the discovery of oil, the solid minerals and agriculture were the main stay of the economy. From that period up till 1973 , to be conservative, because 1972 was the turning-point between the benefits we derived from the mining and the curse that oil brought us.

Up until 1972, we were having about 12 per cent contribution from solid minerals to the GDP. But the Indigenisation Degree of Gen. (Yakubu) Gowon in 1972 to transfer the solid minerals industries from foreigners to indigenous operators seemed to be our undoing, unfortunately. Like we often say that management is the problem of the African race, it all played out in the solid minerals sector at that time.

From that particular time till date, mining has been in decline. And today, we are talking generously, based on the data by the Nigerian Bureau Statistics, of 0.3 per cent to the GDP. Imagine the fall from 12 per cent to the GDP to as low as 0.3 per cent.

The questions everyone is asking are: Does it mean that skills in the sector have been deteriorating? Does it mean that in this age of science and technology, when people are acquiring better ways of exploration and mining, are we on the decline? Or is something really wrong with us? There is advancement in the industry as technology advances, worldwide. But the major problems towards harnessing the sector and having the sector and the comatose situation in the sector is the fact that certain people are profiting from the crisis.

What you are saying is that some people are benefiting from the lack of development of the nation’s solid minerals sector?

Absolutely. The situation is such that the more the sector is declining , the more the purses of some of these set of cabals within the sector are enlarged.

If by 1972, the sector was

Nigeria loses over N8trn annually in untapped gold — EKOSIN Nigerians are sitting on top of billions of dollars in untapped solid minerals and yet lamenting dwindling economic fortunes owing to over dependence on oil. In this interview, the President of Miners’ Empowerment Association of Nigeria, Mr. Sunny Ekosin, reveals that Nigeria loses N8 trillion annually in unexploited gold alone. He also says that Ajaokuta remains the key to Nigeria’s industrialisation and that getting it back to work is a matter of patriotism for President Buhari and his team.

Excerpts:

contributing 12 per cent to the GDP, what could have been missing, averagely, on an annual basis, by abandoning the industry?

Assuming Nigerians take data seriously, assuming we build a database where we have authentic information, in 2012 the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Mines and Steel, came before the nation and said, that from our precious metals alone, specifically from our gold exploitation alone, Nigeria was losing $ 50 billion on annual bases.

Do you mean $50 million or $50 billion?

I said $50 billion. If you convert that amount to the Naira, as the exchange rate of that time, it would be about N8 trillion which is about the budget of the federal government for two years.

What you are saying is that, if we had pursued the development of the sector, gold alone could have given the nation as much as $50 billion annually?

Yes. That is exactly what I

am saying. Only gold. We are not yet talking about our potentials in bitumen; we are not yet talking about our potentials in our traditional export.

Niobite (Columbite) and Cassiterite (Tin ore) .Mind you the only two major minerals prior to 1972 that gave us a very high percentage of contribution to

My argument is that the sector has the potentials of diversifying our economy

the GDP were only exploitation of calciterite and niobium.

Those were the only two dominant minerals as at that time.

W

e cannot talk about what we are losing without knowing what we have left untapped. What solid minerals do we even have in Nigeria in terms of deposits in commercial quantities?

Based on the data at the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals, we have 34 exploitable and exportable minerals across the country.

Back to the issue of abandonment, we don’t need to ask why the sector was abandoned because we all know it is because of the shift of attention to oil. Where are other countries with similar endowments on the scale?

There must be interest in solid minerals because without solid minerals, there will never be industrialization. Without minerals, there will be no meaningful economic development. This must be underscored. So it is imperative for nations with solid minerals to develop them.

It would interest you that some nations that don’t even have natural endowment like United States of America you see them having strategic mineral deposits that even surpasses those nations that are endowed in terms of their solid minerals.

It is so critical because

without solid minerals development in any nation there is no industrilisation and there is no meaningful economic development of such nation. That is why it is so important that the solid minerals aspect in particular in Nigeria should be developed if we are to realize our vision 20:2020.

What is the cause of a declining productivity in the solid minerals sector?

I will handle the problem in two ways. Unfortunately, they are not well educated on the potentials of solid minerals in the country. One is that the government agency saddled constitutionally with the powers to serve the sector, do not have adequate knowledge on what potentials we have in the mining industry. Two, we also have a situation that the government being so satisfied and benchmarking their annual budget only on the revenue that comes from oil and gas, do not think of diversification of this economy.

And the political will is not even there to look at alternatives.

Number three is the deliberate efforts of some few privileged people within the sector to emasculate this sector and shield it from some from initiatives coming from the outside.

Those who are saddled with the responsibility of manning

Continues on page 41

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015 — 39

Interview

Nigeria loses over N8trn annually in untapped gold — EKOSIN

Continues from page 40 this sector like the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development and some few persons have taken the sector captive and have shielded it from outside initiatives.

A

s an organisation what have you done on your own to deal with these challenges?

In 2006, when I assumed the leadership of the Mining Association in this country time till date, about 10 years ago, I consistently articulated the problem within the mining sector, looked at the in and out; and putting my years of experience and operation in the industry for 25 years, I have consistently maintained that two million jobs from 2006 to date could have been realised within the tenure of any regime of four years.

And with revenue that will compete with revenue from oil and gas can be realised from solid minerals development in the country. I have done a lot on this by my letters, memos, articles and position papers to both the National Assembly and the Ministry, and all are documented.

My argument is that the sector has the potentials of diversifying our economy and I have consistently maintained this for the past 10 years.

The sector over the years has been plagued with issue of funding which has led to the abysmal performance of the sector, what do you think as a mining professional should be done to address this challenge?

I have come to a conclusion that funding is not a problem to this sector after my long assessment of the sector with my 25 years experience.

Any public money you put into the sector right now will be as a vapour in the hands of these cabals.

Their antecedents are up there because all the intervening of funding that have gone into the sector like Ajaokuta, Aluminum Smelting Company at Ikot Abasi, The defunct Nigeria Mining Corporation, and all other companies the government have delved into, what have

they given to us and is nearly zero.

The solid M i n e r a l s Development Fund is what I advocated when I took over the mantle of leadership in 2006. The clause 34 is where you have that Solid M i n e r a l s Development Fund in the Mining and Minerals Act What the agency under the Act set out to achieve is to give developmental funding to the sector, to enable off-takers in the sector to reduce geological funding that will generate data for the sector, and nothing more than that.

Is the objective of the Solid Mineral Development Fund achieved?

Never!

Could it be because there is not enough data?

Nothing. We got some data from them and according to them they have done airborne geophysical survey; done 100 percent, we have mapping of 1-250, 000 on the scale of geophysical mapping of the country. The question is where is the development?

What further data do you require in the industry?

We can have better geological data that will reduce the mapping to a smaller ratio, maybe 1-100, 000. This one can be done by the investors themselves. The one required generally is already there according to the information by the Nigeria Geological Survey Agency under the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development.

Trying to reduce the mapping to a smaller ratio of say, maybe 1 to 100,000 or 1 to 10,000, like it is done in most places. These ones can be done by the investors themselves. The basic one that is required generally is already there, according to the information given to us by the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA), which is an agency under the Ministry Of Mines And Steel. If you say the problem of data is our problem,

to the leadership of NAFDAC, it was to many of us, not existing, even though by law and structure, it was existing.

But it came into limelight and to the knowledge of everybody when a person with capacity assumed the leadership of that institution. This is similar to other institutions.

•Mr. Sunny Ekosin before 1972, what was the position of the data; when the sector was contributing 12 per cent to GDP? The truth is that data is not the issue. The issue is not funding also.

The government officials in the Solid Minerals industry, three years down the line, what have they done for us? If you analyse the Ministry’s annual budget, 90 per cent is going for payments of their own pockets, servicing the people that they put in there, when the people that they put in there were supposed to generate funds.

They lack the capacity, because their antecedent is zero.

I

s it not because they are civil servants and by nature of their jobs they are supposed to create the enabling environment rather than generating funds ?

Unfortunately, like I told you, I initiated, essentially part and parcel of that clause, clause 34 (of the Mining Act). There was no way we would have,

I have come to a conclusion that funding is not a problem to this sector after my long assessment of the sector with my 25 years experience

knowing the bureaucracy of the civil service, left that thing (Mining Development Fund) in the hands of the civil servants. We requested specifically that the chairmanship of that place should be somebody with capacity, independent of the civil service. It is supposed to be an entity that can be sued and have the right to sue. It is supposed to be an autonomous agency. So, it was not supposed to operate within the civil service bureaucracy, never.

That was not the concept. But unfortunately, you see that because of the kind of stooges that have been planted to manage the agencies were of the minister and of course, everybody is subjected to the ministry and looking up to the ministry for money and other things.

The day the agency was inaugurated, I came before the media to say that this is going to be blackmail against operators in the mining sector, because it is going to be a failure. What we are seeing today has brought to question the essence of setting up the agency in the first place; it has become a blackmail.

Anything we now ask of the government, they will say that everything they have done for us has resulted in a failure.

These are deliberate booby traps set up by these cabals to continue in their hegemonies.

If the Fund is given a leadership of an operator, will we see any difference?

Absolutely. Any institution, no matter how good the policy establishing it, without men and women with integrity running it, the result will be a failure. For example, prior to (late) Dora Akunyili coming

What are the expectations of the operators from this Fund?

The agency is to create fund, because mining is a long gestation operation. Before you can begin to get the dividends from mining, you must put much into exploration. One can be involved in exploration for one year and at the end of it, might not get anything that is of economic value.

Again, one can also find out that at the end of exploration, certain elements in the ore body may be harmful and may not be suitable for the market, so you discard it and move on.

Those kinds of fund, which I call developmental fund is to aid the organization, so that at the end of such things, one do not have heart attack, knowing that all one’s livelihood have been pumped into the activity without yielding anything positive. It is supposed to be for that kind of cushioning effect.

How do you help government to mobilize professionals to make the sector viable?

We are using this opportunity to appeal to the conscience of the nation, the fourth realm, to sensitise the government. Like I told you, one of the major problems is that government lack good and credible information regarding the mining sector. The government should be sensitized that the country has an alternative in solid minerals that can diversify the country’s economy from oil and gas.

Once the government can have that, the government should not just listen to its agencies alone. For example, in the ministries, one should not expect anything different from the back tapping and ego massaging, because they want to speak well of themselves.

They told us in 2013 when there was the media chat by the then Minister of Mines and Steel, that 1.25 million jobs were created from the mining sector, those kind of thing, you take them up on it. Ask them to show the indices.

Meanwhile, the economic manager of the country, the Minister of Finance, told us that the whole nation recorded about one million jobs on an annual basis; what a contradiction? If a ministry alone is saying it created 1.25 million jobs, then who is fooling who?

40 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

Advertising & Promotions

Digital age and Gulder storytelling analogy Valmont water hits market

Stories by PRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

P

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well executed TV commercial has the power to make consumer (s) experience all kinds of emotion – laughter, sadness or fear, all in a matter of seconds.

One of the most interesting type of commercial is the tourist commercials of various countries.

The recent commercials of India and Malaysia get viewers struck in such a warm, emotive way and in such a short period of time.

Today, a number of mediums have joined television as lucrative ways to market businesses. From social media platforms like facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Modern-day companies have come to get a firm grasp of all these available methods of promoting their brand (s).

TV is and always will be the source of huge spending on advertising, but how has it changed over the years and what is expected in years to come? Before now, TV commercial was virtually conventional in nature, not taking into cognizance the storytelling analogy recently deployed by Gulder beer which depicted a real life scenario.

However, viewers are still willing to engage with TV content and one in ten Nigeria consumers search for a product after seeing an advert on TV. The new TV commercial of Gulder beer from the stable of Nigeria Breweries Plc

•Screen shot from the latest Gulder TV commercial employed all the story telling ingredients to deliver its brand promise of making its consumers; men.

The ad could be said to be a revolutionary move by the brand to takes its rightful place in the array of beer brands in the market, particularly as it relates to bringing out the man in the consumer.

In the new commercial however, Gulder beer presents three different scenarios that explains the boldness exhibited in achieving the unimaginable.

The first story is a young man caught between sitting back and receiving no positive attraction for his stellar performance in the office. He eventually grows up to become a ‘MAN’ by walking up to his boss to eventually get his

reward. The second, a gentleman was mistaken for an attendant by a lady, while in the third story, a man who is in love with a General’s daughter is afraid of going before his supposedly father- in- law to express his feelings for the daughter, but took a bold step in confronting the General

Today, the brand stands on the table of men to reclaim its rightful place; thereby making itself a beer for ‘men’

MediaReach OMD, Google partner on brand marketing

T

he West and Central Africa’s independent media specialist, mediaReach OMD has aligned forces with Google Global Services Nigeria Limited to take brand marketing in Nigeria to another level.

The alignment will see both companies exchanging ideas on survival strategies for different brands now that the players are faced with stiff competition not only in Nigeria but across the world.

The agency, mediaReach OMD, and Google traded ideas at an event christened “Google Day”, organised at the mediaReach office in Lagos.

Addressing members of staff of both companies, Juliet Chiazor, the Country Manager of Google, said it is imperative for any organisation that will survive to develop a strategic marketing campaign that can stand out in the competitive market.

She noted that customers are faced with a minimum of 2,000 marketing messages streamed on different communication platforms every day. Chiazor therefore said for any player to excel, its communication must be appropriate and target the right audience.

Meanwhile, she said innovation is at the heart of everything Google does as the C M Y K

company is aware of dynamism of different market the world over.

As a result, Chiazor said Google has different solutions that corporations anywhere in the world could use to achieve their goals in the target markets. Some of those solutions, according to her, are: Google Voice Search; Google Maps; Google Now; and Google Photo Sphere.

She declared that television viewership is slowly declining as audiences are shifting online. Specifically, she stated that there is an increase of 60 percent of online video streaming that customers are faced with.

“Brand building elements still entail awareness and emotional engagement just as the case with traditional marketing platforms”, she said. Based on this, she advised that video should be seen as an integral part of brand building and should be used more in brand communication.

Corroborating her view, Tolu Ogunkoya, the Chief Executive Officer of mediaReach OMD noted that there are still many players who are undecided about the relevance of digital brand marketing despite its importance in today’s marketing communication. His words: “It is high time we decided to take active steps in the interest of our corporations”.

father of the girl, a confidence that can only be exhibited by the ‘Brand made for Men.’ However, these are unusual stories even for a beer commercial but the signature that runs through the thread is that Guilder signs off these stories at the very end of the commercial rather than interrupting the stories with the brand’s value propositions.

On the contrary, the stories subtly sell these propositions of strength, bravery, intelligence and daring which are the hallmarks of a real man. The commercial is the story of the man (and we are faced with such challenges everyday) rather than essentially the story of Gulder.

On the other hand, the transformation of Gulder from its old bottle over 40 years ago gives it the edge over others, making it manly in presentation.

Recalled that the Anambra state Governor Obiano who hosted the Ultimate search team said: ‘’the brand’s new look made it outstanding among other bottles.’’

Today, the brand stands on the table of men to reclaim its rightful place; thereby making itself a beer for ‘men’ a proposition that has repositioned the brand in the market. Vanguard spoke to Digital Advertising Age, a group that helps to analyse brand and watch the impact of TV advertising.

According to Maxwell Udoji, Director of Analytics, Digital Advertising: “Seven years ago there were no iPhones and tablets, meaning TV audiences focused solely on the big screen. While the actual amount of television that people watch has not changed much – in 2006 Nigerian viewers watched an average of 3.6 hours of TV a day, while in 2013 they watched 3.9 hours – today the degree of viewer distraction has changed.

oised to make a debut in the Nigerian market, Giant Beverages Limited, a Lagos based beverage outfit has unveiled Valmont, a water brand. The introduction of the product is coming on the heels of the company’s resolve to ensure that Nigerian brands join the league of internationally renowned brands.

The company, according to its General Manager, Mr. Ayo Afolabi, is travelling this route because of its firm belief that a brand is a mark of quality which is one of the key characteristics of the company.

To this end, the new product, Valmont is produced to attain a super-premium brand status in taste, look and feel. “Our water is produced to the best of international standards. It goes through our ultrapurification processes without being exposed to air until it enters our unique bottles, thus preserving its freshness and purity. It is called ‘Valmont’ for its strong, rich, luxurious and sophisticated background.”

He added that Valmont is natural and produced to accompany fine food and luxurious lifestyle.

Cussons Baby fulfils brand promise, takes winner to Dubai

C

ussons Baby has fulfilled its brand promise by taking the winner of the Cussons Baby competition and family to Dubai, the United Arab Emirate on a 7days all expense paid trip.

The Brand Manager Cussons Baby, Oluwaseun Ayeni who declared that the brand has fulfilled its promise and is ready to offer more to Nigerians said that the brand has taken Miss.

Morireoluwa Davids and her family on the account of winning the second edition of Cussons Baby Moment 2014 competition.

On the competition and its essence, Ayeni pointed out that it is about rewarding the customers and giving parents the opportunity to showcase their beautiful babies.

She said “It is all about giving families an opportunity to showcase their beautiful bundles of joy for a chance to go on an all-expense paid trip.

It is also about providing a platform to communicate one on one with our consumers and the opportunity to meet new consumers”.

On the preparation for Season 3, Ayeni said.

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015 — 41

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42 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

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Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015 — 43

Aviation Airport Security: Arik Air faults restrictions on police movement

By LAWANI MIKAIRU

T

he restrictions on police personnel movement at the airport, especially the airside area, may be one of the reasons Nigerian police is unable to effectively curb the cases of stowaways and other crimes at the airports across the country. This is the view of Arik Air Managing Director, Mr. Chris Ndulue.

Ndulue made his view known while receiving the new Commissioner of

Police, Airport Command, CP Taiwo Lakanu at Arik Air Corporate Head office in Lagos. He said airports in Europe and America allow the police to access all parts of the airport including the airside. And this has helped in minimizing and preventing crime in any part of their airports.

He added that the irony of the security situation at Nigerian airports is that touts at these airports are allowed to access the restricted areas including the airside once they have

their On Duty Card , ODC, on. Ndulue also solicited the assistance and cooperation of the new commissioner to make the airport a safe environment for aviation business.

Arik Air has suffered series of security breaches of his planes at airside at some of the nation’s airports. The celebrated one being the case of a young boy of Fifteen years that entered the wheel hole of one of its planes at Benin city airport and stowaway to Lagos.

From left: Deputy Managing Director Arik Air,Captain Ado Sanusi; Mr. Paul Cooper Insurance expert, Mr Hugo Hill Broker Africa/ Middle East Global Specialist Aerospace and Managing Director Arik Air-Mr. Chris Ndulue, during the visit of Arik re-insurers and Brokers to the airline office in Lagos.

FAAN sets up task force to enhance revenue generation

By LAWANI MIKAIRU & DANIEL ETEGHE

M

anaging Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ,FAAN, Engr.

Saleh Dunoma weekend revealed that the agency has established a special task force to enhance revenue generation at the various airports across the country.

Confirming the move, Mr Yakubu Dati , General Manager, Corporate Affairs, FAAN, said “In a bold move to improve the revenue base of airports for greater productivity, the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Engr. Saleh Dunoma has established a special task force on revenue enhancement.

The task force will be headed by the Managing Director himself”.

Dati added that Engr.

Saleh Dunoma made the revealation in Lagos at a meeting with Regional and Airports Managers where he urged them to recover revenue at the point of collection as and when due, and applying sanctions where necessary.

Dunoma also urged the managers to step up efforts in recovering debts and “initiating nonaeronautical revenue streams in order to meet up with revenue targets based on the authority’s 2015 approved budget”.

He also reiterated the authority’s commitment to delivering services at international quality standards in line with its mission statement as well as in compliance with the global aviation standard.

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44 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015 Email:lesleba@lesleba.com, lesleba@gmail.com Blog page:www.lesleba.com/blog2 Website: www.lesleba.com Tel:0805 220 1997

A

ccording to recent media reports, almost N5tn was disbursed as subsidy payment on fuel consumption between 2006-2012? Thus, the annual average provision of about N1tn is probably equivalent to about one fifth of total annual federal budget in the same period. In effect, subsidy payments clearly exceeded the consolidated annual allocations for health, education, transport and agriculture every year.

Worse still, the alleged benefits of subsidy are not direct or tangible as progressive drivers of social welfare. Nevertheless, the more relevant question, however, is probably what would be the result on the economy and poverty alleviation if fuel subsidy was summarily abolished and pump price of fuel rises to about N140/litre, when crude oil price is about N62/ barrel and Naira exchange rate is N200/$.

Experience has taught Nigerians to expect the prices of most goods and services to head northwards as fuel price rises to induce higher transport cost which trigger an upward spiral on the general price level.

Nonetheless, some Nigerians may insist that if the higher price of N140/litre would eliminate the perennial problem of fuel scarcity and the attendant social stress and economic dislocation and minimise corrupt leakages, then, so be it, “let subsidy be removed”, they would chorus!

After all, they would also argue that if Nigerians readily paid over N200/litre during the most recent fuel scarcity, then N140/ litre should be no big deal!

Instructively however, Nigerians may change from this same melody if a N50/litre rise in petrol price pushes the rate of inflation, beyond 10% within six months or so from the date of subsidy removal. Inevitably, the prices of foodstuffs and all earners of static income would probably be hardest hit. The

In any event, the current 10% gap between official and parallel market exchange rate of the Naira will certainly widen with CBN’s exclusion of importers of rice and some forty other commodities from official foreign exchange window. Ultimately, the increasing margin between official and black market rates will encourage malfeasance, as witnessed over the years in the foreign exchange market; in order, to “save” the Naira, the CBN would respond by raising the official exchange rate closer to the rates in the parallel market, this reaction would inadvertently induce higher fuel prices, and ultimately threaten the capacity of the CBN to achieve its prime mandate for price stability.

The outcome of such failure would be reflected as double digit inflation rates, higher cost of funds to the real sector and an even weaker Naira exchange rate; the combination of these indices will contract consumer demand, stifle investment and promote a higher level of unemployment as poverty deepens nationwide.

Instructively, the solution to rising fuel price will actually be found in a more sensible process of managing money supply to induce a stronger Naira exchange rate. For example, if the Naira exchanged for N100=$1, the “subsidy free” price of fuel will fall below N70/ litre, so that a minimum sales tax of N17/litre can be imposed on each of the 40million litres of petrol consumed daily in this country, if market price remains at the current price of N87/litre.

Meanwhile, such a stronger Naira exchange rate would gradually evolve if dollar denominated revenue is not substituted with fresh creations of Naira values as monthly allocations to the tiers of government.

Save the Naira, Save Nigerians!!

Mr. President: Beware of the day of subsidy removal N18,000 minimum wage earner, for example, would struggle to keep alive, and pensioners would also groan under the yoke of inflation; consumer demand would contract and industrial capacity utilisation would also further recede, while new investments may be put on hold; clearly, such outcomes will not improve the level of employment in the country and will certainly deepen poverty nationwide.

Despite such a desperate social scenario, subsidy abolitionists would counter that at least fuel supply and price will be stable and Nigerians do not have to spend the whole day searching for petrol. Besides, it is assumed that once price control is eliminated, more investors would establish new refineries and the resultant competition will bring down prices; notwithstanding, the reality, of course, is that the expectation for lower prices may regrettably never materialise if the experience of diesel price deregulation is anything to go by; diesel currently sell well above petrol despite its deregulation, and there is nothing to suggest that the price of petrol would fall if subsidy was also abolished from PMS (petrol) pricing.

Besides, it is also uncertain how long the deregulated market price of N140/litre, would hold, particularly if the Naira exchange rate suffers further depreciation.

This correlation between fuel price and Naira exchange rate

is clearly demonstrated in the recent past, when a ‘lowly’ crude price of about $60/barrel (down from over N100/barrel) instigated actual market petrol price of about N140/barrel; the unexpected price rise was clearly the result of the fall in value of the Naira from less than N160/$ to almost N200/$. Indeed, even if crude price further slides below $60/barrel, petrol price will still rise well above the subsidy free price of N140/litre. For example, if in response to market pressure, the Naira further depreciates to say N300=$1, the deregulated pump price of fuel may still spiral well above N200/litre!

The inevitable public resistance to a higher fuel price will temporally stall supply from marketers, scarcity will persist and long queues will surface once more, while fuel will sell on the black market for over N400/litre, and the usual pain from the resulting social and economic

Despite such a desperate social scenario, subsidy abolitionists would counter that at least fuel supply and price will be stable and Nigerians do not have to spend the whole day searching for petrol

dislocation would prevail once again. Ultimately, as in the past, the public will succumb and accept what is clearly the more ‘benign’ price of N200/litre, with the expectation that adequate supply will become available to once again reduce their sufferings.

Incidentally, the higher fuel price also comes with the collateral of spiraling inflation, which will threaten the purchasing value of the Naira; ironically, if the systemic burden of surplus Naira in the economy also subsists, further Naira devaluation would become inevitable. In such event, the Naira could subsequently exchange for between N250N300=$1. Thus, even if crude price remains low, domestic pump price will still rise if the Naira exchange rate further depreciates. Sadly, this cycle of inflation, devaluation, higher fuel price and more devaluation would become endless with disastrous social and economic consequences; clearly, efforts to alleviate poverty or jumpstart agricultural or industrial growth would fail in such a disenabling environment. This phenomenon has been replicated in several African countries, notably, Ghana and Zimbabwe.

Don’t let anyone tell you it cannot happen in Nigeria; indeed no one would have believed that the Naira which once exchanged for 50 kobo=$1 will today exchange on the black market for over N220/$1, yet the pressure on the Naira remains unabated.

Business & Economy

Deposit rules hurting profits, says FirstBank boss G roup Managing Director/ CEO of FirstBank of Nigeria Limited, Bisi Onasanya has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria to ease regulations as they are hurting profits and causing some foreign investors to shun Nigeria’s economy.

"A rule forcing banks to place 31 per cent of deposits with the regulator needs to changed.

The requirement should be lowered or the central bank should pay interest on the funds," he said.

“The existing cash reserve regime is not helpful,” Onasanya said in an interview during a Bloomberg conference

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at the Nigerian Stock Exchange in Lagos.

“First Bank has close to N650 billion ($3.3 billion) sterilised at the central bank at zero per cent interest. These are funds we pay interest on. So you can imagine the impact this has on our revenue-generating capabilities and our ability to fund loan obligations.”

The Central Bank of Nigeria has increased reserve requirements as part of measures to bolster the naira, which fell 18 per cent against the dollar in the past year as crude prices slumped.

Ratcheting up the ratio reduces

the amount of naira in circulation, helping to bolster its value.”If the central bank must keep that level, which I feel is very high, it should be complemented with some cushioning effects,” Onasanya said. “The central bank should consider remunerating, even at the average cost of funds, for banks to be able to meet their funding costs.”

International investors are shying away from Nigerian stocks partly because of the regulations, Onasanya said.

“You can see portfolio investors now taking a wait-and-see attitude,” he said.

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Group Business Editor Deputy Business Editor Energy Editor Asst. Business Editor Snr Bus. Correspondent Insurance Correspondent Maritime Correspondent Maritime Correspondent Energy Reporter Industry/Agric. Reporter Maritime Reporter Insurance Reporter Capital Market Reporter

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Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015—45

Brain drain: Commit more funds to medical education, FG told

By Chioma Obinna & Jennifer Aladetan

T

O stem the tide of brain drain and enable Nigeria meet up with the World Health Organisation’s recommended doctor to patient ratio and stem the tide of brain- drain as well as prevent half-baked specialists, the Federal government has been called upon to empower training institutions with equipment and personnel.

Making the call last week in Lagos at a 2-day training workshop for over 450 trainers, examiners and assessors/supervisors of trainees on the residency training programme in the country, the Registrar, National Posgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, NPMCN, Prof. Wole Atoyebi urged government to contribute more in terms of funding.

Speaking to Good Health Weekly, at the workshop entitled: “Current Examination Methods with a sub theme: “Dissertation and Curriculum Development and Evaluation”, Atoyebi said over 60,000 doctors have been trained in the country, but the doctors practising in the country at the moment is about half this number.

“We have Nigerian medical association in America with about 10,000 trained from here. To me, it’s a perverse subsidy that poor nations are subsidising treatment in the rich nations. And for us to keep our own home there is need for government to create enabling environment. Our people are hot cakes wherever they are.

“We are working hard to make sure we increase the capacity, we don’t want half-baked specialists.

There is a minimum requirement.

When we visit institutions in different countries, we award them depending on the equipment and personnel they have,” he said.

Reacting to the ban on residency training in some tertiary institutions, Atoyebi who de-

It’s a perverse subsidy that poor nations are subsidising treatment in the rich nations. And for us to keep our own home there is need for government to create enabling environment C M Y K

From left: Member, LOC, Dr. Emmanuel Jeje; Deputy Registrar, Academics, Dr. Salami Sule[ Chairman, LOC, Dr. Joshua Owa and Registrar, NPMCN, Prof. Oluwole Atoyebi during a two-day Training of Trainers Workshop for Examiners/Assessors and Supervisors in Lagos organised by National Posgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, NPMCN. scribed it as a sad development, explained as doctors graduated, new ingredients should be made to get the final product, and that stopping them half way, will af-

fect the training and make it slower.

On the training organised by the College’s Docimology and Evaluation Committee, Atoyebi

stated that it had become imperative that the College must not only ensure doctors undergoing postgraduate medical education are properly trained by appropriately

empowered trainers, but that the assessment methods are robust, valid and reliable.

“We expect a change in the health sector. Change in being more purposeful, change in implementing action programme.

We expect a change in putting words into action.”

College President, Prof.

Arogundade said the College is saddled with producing competent medical and dental specialists who would provide world class services in teaching, research and healthcare through proper planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of appropriate postgraduate programmes of training. ”Regular review of the training curricula of all faculties of the College is aimed at raising the standards of training content and methods of delivery in conjunction with more scientific and rigorous examination methods in line with International best practices.”

He charged participants to come up with a global model of assessment of residency trainees applicable across all faculties similar to the six interrelated domains of competence developed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, ACGME, which includes medical knowledge, patient care, professionalism, communication and interpersonal skills, practice – based practice.

Nordica’s most liked baby emerges, tours Accra

By Sola Ogundipe

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ASTER Barry Joel Adefisuka, who emerged winner of the Nordica Fertility Centre Babies’ Picture Competition, was recently hosted, along with his parents to a spectacular tour of Accra, Ghana.

The competition, held in line with the leading assisted conception centre’s philosophy of completing families, was also to mark its 12th year anniversary and to present a unique opportunity to clients to bond with their families.

The competition that was hosted on Facebook was open to all families who submitted pictures of their babies aged under two years.

At the end of the widely promoted and keen competition that ran for four weeks from April 1 through April 29, 2015, over 100 entries were received from across the country, Barry Joel Adefisuka emerged the winning baby with more than 2,500 likes.

As winner of the overall prize, the Adefusikas, went on a 3-day all-expenses paid trip to Accra, Ghana.

On their first day in Accra, the Adefusika family visited the Akuapim rane, the botanical gardens and markets, a cocoa farm including a bead workshop fac-

tory, They proceeded to the National Museum of Ghana showcasing the rich culture of the coastal city. To experience the African open market lifestyle the Ghanaian way, the family visited the sprawling Makola Market Accra in search of traditional fabrics and accessories.

The family visited the Accra Mall and also experienced the

African leadership heritage when they went to see the W.E.B. Du Bois Centre, known as the father of pan-Africanism movement by his tremendous contribution to the struggle of African independence.

Other places visited included the Kwame Nkrumah Museum, the Independence Square and Aburi Craft and Gardens.

At the Teteh Quarshie Cocoa, a

cool retreat from the city, led them to visit the Aburi Botanical Gardens, Ghana's most beautiful garden that offers Accra's rich collections of tropical flora which attracts birds and butterflies.

Before departing Accra, the Adefusika’s who described the experience as unforgettable, went around the city socialising with the locals and other tourists.

• Winner of the Nordica Baby Picture Competition, Master Barry Joel Adefusike (middle) and his mother (left) receiving his winning ticket from Clinic Manager, Nordica Lagos, Mrs. Tola Ajayi, shortly before the trip to Ghana.

46—VANGUARD, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

•Buhari

BUHARI'S FIRST 30 DAYS: Slow, steady, serious TO the consternation of political associates, the sign of activity, as reflected by appointments and dismissals, have not been seen in the new administration. But that does not mean that the administration has been short of constructive engagements.

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, Political Editor & DAPO AKINREFON

I

T has undoubtedly been an anti-climax for those Nigerians who had been roused by the idea that the first month of the new Muhammadu Buhari administration would be a reenactment of the action-packed first 30 days of his first advent as a military dictator.

In his first outing as a military dictator, Gen. Buhari’s days were filled with scintillating sights and sounds of activity.

Appointments were made over the radio. Arrests of corrupt politicians were severally made and broadcast to the enjoyment of the citizenry.

But 30 years on, Buhari’s approach is remarkably very different. So different that several associates are C M Y K

complaining that even preceding civilian presidents like Olusegun Obasanjo, Shehu Yar‘adua and even Goodluck Jonathan had faster velocity at the starting point.

But no one is, however, giving up on Buhari in his

seemingly second messianic outing.

President Buhari, however, gave much reason for expectation on his inauguration on May 29, 2015. The wellattended inauguration by the international community also

showed the international goodwill that was at the disposition of the new administration.

International leaders that were seemingly at odds with the country and its immediate past leaders either came or sent

CHRONOLOGY OF BUHARI’S ONE MONTH IN OFFICE May 29—Buhari sworn-in as President of Nigeria May 31— Adesina, Garba appointed as spokesmen May 31—Kazaure named State Chief of Protocol June 4 —Buhari arrives Chad, meets with Chadian president June 5—Meets oil marketers to resolve fuel scarcity June 8 —Attends G7 summit in Germany June 9 —Movement of military command centre to Maiduguri

June 12 —Buhari receives Joda report June 12—Mohammed Dikwa appointed new Accountant General of the Federation Jun 12 —Buhari off to South Africa for African Union Summit June 15—-Buhari orders release of N4b to fight the Boko Haram menace June 22—U.S-based journalist, Laolu Akande named Osinbajo’s spokesman June 22—Buhari orders Defence Chief to dismantle military checkpoints nationwide June 26—-President dissolves 10-member NNPC board

high-level delegations for the Buhari inauguration.

Among the surprising guests were President Paul Biya of Cameroon, a longstanding foe of many Nigerians, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and United States Secretary of State, John Kerry who stood in for his country ’s vicepresident, Mr. Joe Bieden whose son was at that time at an advanced stage of a terminal illness that subsequently took his life within two weeks.

Buhari who had made security a key point in his campaign and reiterated such in his inauguration address was quick to start off from that point after his inauguration with visits to the nearby countries of Niger and Chad

Continues on page 47

VANGUARD, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015—47

BUHARI'S FIRST 30 DAYS: Slow, steady, serious Continues from page 46 purportedly to seek subregional alliances towards combating the spectre of insecurity presented by the Boko Haram militant group.

On Wednesday June 3, the president left the country for Niger Republic making his first visit out of the country within a week of his inauguration.

After a sleepover in Niamey, he left for Chad, another strong regional player in the domestic equation being framed by the new administration to solve the Boko Haram crisis.

At the end of the discussion in both countries, he was able to win high-level endorsement for the take off a multinational task force devoted to fighting the Boko Haram menace.

A communiqué issued at the end of the visit to the Chadian capital, Ndjamena, on June 4 read in part: Their Excellencies IDRISS DEBY ITNO and MUHAMMADU BUHARI strongly condemned the inhumane terrorist acts perpetrated on civilians in Nigeria and in its neighboring countries by Boko Haram insurgents. They underlined the consequences of insecurity which include displacement of people and disruption of their trading activities, livelihood, and destruction of lives and properties in Nigeria and the entire Lake Chad region.

Both Heads of State expressed their willingness and commitment to collaborate at all levels to make more effective the common fight against the Boko Haram sect and restore peace and security which are vital for development in the region.

His Excellency President MUHAMMADU BUHARI expressed his gratitude to His Brother and Friend, His Excellency President IDRISS DEBY ITNO for the vital role his country played to weaken this sect. Thereafter, he condoled the families of Chadian soldiers who passed away in the battlefield, and paid special tribute to the gallant soldiers.

President IDRISS DEBY ITNO commended the commitment of President MUHAMMADU BUHARI to eradicating the Boko Haram terrorist group. He also reaffirmed the commitment and availability of Chad to collaborate with Nigeria on both bilateral and multilateral levels. In this regard, His Excellency President IDRISS DEBY INTO agreed with the need to move quickly to make the Multinational Joint Task Force operational in order to restore peace and security in C M Y K

•Obasanjo

misleading the President to violate due process by spending beyond and outside his statutory limits.

“The situation is taking its toll on the economy sector, which has

administration with Mr. Femi Adeshina being appointed as Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu as Senior Special Assistant Media and Publicity and Mallam Lawal Abdullahi Kazaure as the State Chief of Protocol (SCOP).

Kazaure, remarkably, was a carry-over from the preceding Jonathan administration, having served the former president as Special Assistant on Presidential Matters.

The appointment of the trio had whetted the appetite of many Nigerians of the imminence of a flood of appointments. That expectation was further heightened with the dispatch of a letter to the then outgoing Senate of a request for the appointment of 15 special advisers.

The letter which was received on June 2, 2015, was approved promptly the following day, giving indications that the new administration was all set to hit the ground running.

However, almost a month after that appointment, the portfolios have not been filled.

Indeed, only one political appointment, that of Mr. Laolu Akande as spokesman to the vice-president has been made since then.

The anxiety of many Nigerians over the seemingly slow start for the administration was frontally tackled by Alhaji Ahmed Joda, the chairman of the Buhari Transition Committee which interfaced with the officials of the Jonathan administration.

Following the presentation of the report to Buhari at the Defence House on June 12, Joda in an interview with newsmen debunked insinuations that the president was slow, noting among others the uniqueness of the transition from Jonathan to Buhari which was a first from one political party to another.

“One of the terms of references for our committee is to receive the handover note of President Jonathan and this we did not receive until about weeks after our inauguration.

We received the handover note on the 25th of May and that report was about 18,000 pages and it took time to even sort them out and to make sense from them. Read them, analyse them and come up with recommendations.

“Political appointments are entirely at the prerogative of the President. He will go through our report and understand our recommendation. I think he deserves a little bit more time.”

Continues on page 48

Continues on page 48

•Yar'Adua By Sunday, Buhari was again airborne, this time to Germany for the G7 Summit of the World’s leading economies. His invitation and photo opportunities with some of the world’s leaders also helped to project a new image of the country. It was the first time in a long while that Nigeria was invited to the summit.

Remarkably, he went on the invitation of the G7 leaders who asked him to come along with his shopping

The anxiety of many Nigerians over the seemingly slow start for the administration was frontally tackled by Alhaji Ahmed Joda, the chairman of the Buhari Transition Committee which interfaced with the officials of the Jonathan administration •Jonathan the north-east of Nigeria and everywhere Boko Haram operates. In this vein, the two Leaders called on the

International Community to provide LCBC and neighboring countries with all necessary support.

list!

Earlier, on May 31, the president had announced the first appointments into his

All motion, no movement — PDP

R

EVIEWING the actions and inactions of the administration in the first 30 days, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP called for prayers for an administration it claims has shown no movement or motion.

The party spoke through its spokesman, Chief Olisa Metuh.

“We urge Nigerians to join hands in prayers and offer useful suggestions to President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC because with what we have seen in the last 30 days, the present administration is finding it very difficult to get its bearings right while showing no inclination towards implementing its numerous campaign promises for which they were voted into office at the center.

“We are deeply worried that the President who promised to unveil his cabinet two weeks after his inauguration, has not been able to decide on key appointments such as ministers, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), a Chief of Staff and advisers in key sectors of the economy.

“This is more so as the delay has brought government business in ministries, departments and agencies to a dangerous standstill with coordination of important policies vested on ministers and the SGF now in tatters while the system drifts. This situation also creates loopholes through which overzealous persons around that President can connive with unscrupulous elements in the bureaucracy to syphon public resources in addition to possibly

•Metuh

48—VANGUARD, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

BUHARI'S FIRST 30 DAYS: Slow, steady, serious Continues from page 47 Subsequently, administration officials have disclosed that the content of the report would determine the manner of government that Buhari would run. The report would specifically guide the administration in its formulation of policies on mergers of government ministries and agencies and perhaps the appointment of key aides.

Besides security, one nagging problem the administration inherited was the issue of petroleum supply.

The administration was welcomed to power with an acute petroleum supply crisis that saw the price of petrol rise to as much as N300 per litre in certain parts of the country.

A day after returning from Chad, the president with bureaucrats of the Ministry of Petroleum in attendance, met with oil marketers on how to resolve the crisis.

According to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting

by Taiye Haruna, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the marketers agreed to begin to deliver fuel products to all parts of the country immediately.

Meanwhile, on June 11 the result of his first shuttle diplomacy came to near fruition at a summit of regional leaders from Niger, Chad, Benin, Cameroon and Nigeria at the Abuja airport where authority was given for the formation of the Multi-National Joint Task

Force to fight Boko Haram.

The MNJTF to be based in the Chadian capital of Ndjamena, would, however, as a concession to Nigeria always have a Nigerian as a commanding officer.

Aliyu Ismail, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Defence at a press conference on the sidelines of the summit told reporters that the task force would be operational by the end of next month.

“The heads of state and government of Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin Republic took the following decisions: approve the concepts of operations, strategic and operational and related documents of the multinational joint task force for the fight against Boko Haram terrorist groups; approve the immediate deployment of the multinational joint task force headquarters at N’Djamena, Chad, by implementing its human, logistics and financial requirements; approve the development of the national contingent with the multinational joint task force under the operational command of the multinational joint task force commander assisted by his joint headquarters by 30 July, 2015.”

On June 13, within a week of his return from Germany, the president proceeded to Johannesburg, South Africa for the 25th African Union summit.

The summit which had the theme of Security was also an auspicious opportunity for the country’s new leader to further canvass his push against Boko

Haram.

It was while there that he announced that he had already given approval for the release of $21m out of the pledge of $100m which Nigeria made to the Multinational Joint Task Force.

Buhari made the disclosure while chairing the peace and security session of the AU summit that was attended by the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, Chairperson of African Union (AU) Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, AU Commissioner for Peace and Security and Ambassador Smail Chergui among others.

Following his return from South Africa, on Tuesday, June 16, the president made a private visit to his home in Daura, Katsina State apparently to tidy up his personal affairs. While in Daura, he was pictured bidding a last bye to many of his matured cattle on his farm and also handing over the affairs of the farm to his son, Yusuf.

On returning to Abuja penultimate weekend, the president who had all along been operating from the Defence House, moved to join his wife, Aisha in the Presidential Villa.

While many of the president’s actions in solving the security problems have been largely welcomed, two controversial policies have received mixed reviews.

In his inauguration speech, the president had directed the military to relocate its command

All motion, no movement — PDP Continues from page 47 in the 30 days witnessed unprecedented decline with a terrifying crippling of foreign and domestic investments including activities in the money and capital market sectors. Under President Buhari, the stock market has lost over N238 billion while the AllShare Index fell by 849.87 basis points as at June 19.

“In security, apart from the directive to relocate the counter terrorism command center to Borno state and seeking assistance from foreigners, no other concrete step has been taken in the fight against insurgency which the President in his April 22, 2015 CNN interview promised to end within his two months in office.

“Instead, the anti-terrorism effort has completely lost steam

in the last 30 days, with insurgents, who had already been pushed to the verge of surrender in the Sambisa forest by the Goodluck Jonathan administration, now surging back and spreading into the country.

“In this regard, we urge the President to confront insurgency and issues of national security with all the vigour they deserve while calling for restrain from actions capable of destroying the fabrics of security intelligence.

We also urge for adequate respect for all organs of internal security such as the Directorate of State Security (DSS), which is answerable to the Nigerian state and as such should not be publicly ridiculed by an aide of the President.

“In the same vein, we are disturbed by the ominous signals

emanating from the atrocious attempt by the APC to undermine and appropriate the federal legislature resulting in the disruption of lawful proceedings and forced closure of the National Assembly, the symbol of our collective national identity as a democratic state. In this direction, we urge the Presidency and the APC to imbibe democratic tenets and respect the independence of that arm of government.

“Finally, while we remind the President and the APC that their campaign promises are bonds which must be fulfilled, we urge him to use the next ten days to set up his government by naming his ministers, the SGF and advisers in critical sectors as Nigerians did not vote for a sole administrator but for a democratic government”.

•Buhari at the G7 Summit in Germany

•Buhari bidding his cows fareware in Daura, Katsina State

•Buhari during his meeting at the G7 Summit in Germany and control centre to Maiduguri, nearer to the theatre of operations of the antiBoko Haram war. The move was welcomed by many people but also flayed as hasty and expensive in some other quarters.

The military in compliance with the directive, moved its command centre to Maiduguri on June 9, 2015.

The establishment of the Command centre for ‘Operation Zaman Lafiya’ was contained in a press statement signed by the Acting Director Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman.

Another controversial policy issued by the new administration in its first month was the dismantling of military checkpoints across the country.

The president had on June 22, ordered the Chief of Defence Staff and the Inspector- General of police to dismantle all military check points nationwide purportedly to free military manpower and resources for the conflict against Boko Haram.

The move, however, raised panic among some governors especially in the Southeast and South-South who have come to rely on the military more than

the police in the protection of their citizens against insurgents, bandits and kidnappers.

On June 26, in a longexpected move, the president announced the dissolution of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. The dissolution, according to a letter signed by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr Danladi Kifasi, was with immediate effect.

However, on the political front, many stakeholders in the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC are increasingly disgruntled over the president’s seeming failure to take a grip of the affairs of the party.

Critics within the party fume that under his watch the National Assembly elected all four presiding officers that were not candidates of the party, even if three of them are members of the APC. Even more irritating for them is the return of Senator Ike Ekweremadu as the Deputy President of the Senate on the ticket of the PDP. The APC has moved from crisis to crisis since the advent of the new administration and a cleavage has clearly emerged in the top ranks of the party.

C M Y K

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015—49

50 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

26 states withhold implementation of Pension Scheme zAbout N60bn contributions unaccounted for

By Emeka Anaeto, Economy Editor, Tina Akannam & Wole Mosadomi

O

NLY 10 out of the 36 states of the federation are implementing the contributory pension scheme (CPS) designed to guarantee availability and prompt delivery of pension entitlement of workers upon retirement.

Also over N60 billion cases of non-remittances of contributions by some state governments have been reported and the where the funds went into are still unknown as some of the affected states are still investigating the alleged non-remittances.

Findings shows that the complying states as at June 2015; are Lagos, Osun, Ogun, Ekiti, Kaduna, Zamfara, Niger, Delta,

Rivers and Jigawa states.

Vanguard investigations however show that 14 other states have enacted the enabling law which is the first stage in the process of implementation but they are yet to take further steps to actualise the dreams of their workers.

These states are Bayelsa, Edo, Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Sokoto, Oyo, Imo, Taraba, Ondo, Anambra, Enugu, Adamawa and Gombe states.

Further breakdawn of the CPS implementation statistics at the states shows that the states behind in the implementation are still putting together the pension bill. They are Abia, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Ebonyi, Katsina, Kwara, Plateau, Yobe and Akwa Ibom states 10 years after the scheme took off.

The implication of the above statistics is that

workers in the 26 states that are yet to commence implementation would have difficult time after retirement as many who have retired before now under the old pension scheme died without collecting their pensions.

Many reports even show deaths of several retired ex-civil servants while on queue in open fields to collect just a portion of their pension which may have been outstanding for several years, a development that had prompted the creation of the new pension scheme that guarantees prompt payment.

Prior to the enactment of the Pension Reform Act 2004, pension schemes in Nigeria had been bedevilled by many problems. The Public Service operated an unfunded Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS)

BRIEFING: From left — GM, Finance and Investment, Odu'a Investment Company Ltd, Mrs Yinka Tunji-Ojo Olawale; GMD/CEO, Mr Adewale Raji and Company Secretary/ Head of Legal; Mrs Abiola Ajayi during a press conference in commemoration of the first year anniversary of the GMD/CEO at Cocoa House, Ibadan. Photo by Dare Fasube. and the payment of retirement benefits were budgeted annually. The annual budgetary allocation for pension was often one of the most vulnerable items in budget implementation in the light of resource constraints.

In many cases, even where budgetary provisions were made, inadequate and untimely release of funds resulted in delays and accumulation of arrears of payment of pension rights.

It was obvious therefore that the DBS could not be sustained.

The Pension Reform Act 2004 as amended in 2014 established the National Pension Commission (PenCom) as the body to regulate, supervise and ensure the effective administration of pension matters in Nigeria.

The amended act required the employee to contribute 8.0 per cent of his/her monthly salary to the scheme while the employee contributes 10

per cent as against 7.5 per cent from both sides before the amendment.

The states that have started implementation before the amendment are required to up the contributions.

Through several workshops and moral suasions PenCom had engaged all the state governments in effort to get them key into the scheme as quickly as possible to save their retiring workers from the agony of postretirement penury.

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015—51

YOUR LUCK TODAY

LEISURE

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139

LIBRA; Full-Moon across Aries/Libra axis may bring you personality clashes base on envy from the other party. Slow down and give peace a chance at least for now.

SCORPIO; Full-Moon in Aries points to possible misunderstanding (probably) within your working arena. This is the wrong time to fan the embers of discord.

SAGIT TARIUS; Although the full-Moon is generating tension, your wish is to have your good time. It’s wrong to under-rate the havoc jealousy can wreck.

CAPRICORN; Full-Moon across Aries/Libra axis will bring pressure from many fronts, the more noticeable ones are career/business and domestic related types

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

By Richard Eromosele

R

IGHT from ages man has continued to look for ways of clothing his nakedness. Nakedness does not just mean not wearing clothes alone. It includes covering our evil deeds,

God is watching wicked acts, ways and sins etc.

As it was the days of the biblical Adam and Eve, so it is today.

When we commit heinous crime, we run for cover under the stone,

TERROR MUDA

under the water and under the dark, hoping and praying that we will not be caught.

We live a lie. We forget that air bear witness to our cruel act;

in “Never say goodbye”

the sun by our shadow takes our photograph, and our conscience convicts us daily.

Beware, God is watching. Your sins will find you out.

Think about it!

By Lanre Kehinde

AQUARIUS; Full-Moon in Aries warns you to watch what you sign and verbally agreed to do. If you fail to respect the law, it’ll back-fire very soon.

PISCES; Today ’s full-Moon in Aries does not encourage carelessness with money as such can actually lead to avoidable but serious troubles. Avoid jealous approach ARIES; Full-Moon in your Star sign will encourage you to under-rate many to their resentment the way you too’ll be negatively affected. Don’t ignore your spouse TAURUS; Full-Moon in Aries warns you to do away with whatever can not be placed above board.

Take your health seriously today more than before GEMINI; Today’s full-Moon in Aries can tempt you to expose your love life unnecessarily. Separate your private/personal affairs and open friendship CANCER; Full-Moon will certainly affect your mood and make you aggressive but, encouragement of tension along your career line and/or within your business circle can not help your cause now.

Protection of your image is important however.

KAPTAIN AFRIKA

in

“Pretty Lunatic’

By Andy Akman

LEO; Full-Moon may bring you what you’re likely to see as an insult but in reality it is not one. You only need to be on the right side of the law so that you’ll have the last laugh to the detriment of your opponents. Discourage of jealousy within you.

VIRGO; Full-Moon across Aries/Libra axis may generate tension around you but, the best way for you not to be the loser is to make sure your finances are well protected. Then green eyed monster called jealousy may make things a little bit difficult.

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING Send yyour our dat th ttoo the As tr ological datee and place of bir birth Astr trological Counselling, PP.M.B .M.B 1100 00 7, Apapa, Lagos 007,

Basic characteristics of Pisces

VIRGINIA

dadadekola@yahoo.com

P

ISCES is 12th of the twelve Zodiac signs ruled by mysterious Neptune. It quality is mutable while it element is water. Mutable aspect of Pisces indicates that people born under it are changeable, by this I mean they change their minds often times.

Being a water sign, naives of this Star have very strong intuition and can flow into anybody heart and/or mind.

Neptune as the ruler of Pisces brings compassion and ARTISTIC talent into Pisces born people’s creativity quotient. Neptune rules psychic related thing and many of things that cannot be placed above board; Neptune makes most natives of this star sign secretive, hard to understand and dreaming.

Two opposing fishes as joint symbol of Pisces oftentimes responsible for occasional confusion suffer by all natives of Pisces one time or the other.

It is truly important for them to learn how to control both their emotion and mind.

Because it is easy for Pisces people to become pessimistic unnecessarily The reasons are while one of the fishes may head for optimism and day dreaming, the other ’s inclination may be of fear, despondency and timidity. Thus, confusion can creep in and that will be to the detriment of their confidence.

Cultivation of practical nature and adoption of realistic method in all you do will be of great importance. It is equally important for Pisces born people like you to take psychic related things more seriously because they can make use of psychic and/or spiritual related things.

HOME & ABROAD

By Lawrence Akapa

52—Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

Police in Edo arrest 30 suspected cultists, kidnappers

By Simon Ebegbulem

B

ENIN—EDO State police command has arrested 30 suspected cultists and 20 kidnappers engaged in cult activities and the kidnap of prominent persons in the state.

The Commissioner of Police, Samuel Adegbuyi, who disclosed this while briefing journalists on the current security situation in the state, said the kidnap suspects were intercepted by the highway patrol teams of the command at various locations in the state.

He noted that while the suspects had confessed to the crimes with 107 arms and ammunition recovered from them,15 of their victims had been rescued.

Adegbuyi disclosed that the command arraigned 227 cultists in May, 2015, saying an additional 30 suspected cultists were undergoing interrogation and would be charged to court subsequently.

“Apart from the 227 high profile cultists arraigned in court between May 2 and 9 this year, we have 20

suspects who have confessed to have kidnapped various prominent individuals in the state and even outside the state.

“Fifteen victims of kidnapping have been rescued. Nine AK47 rifles were recovered in the process. One Beretta pistol and about 60 locally made weapons as well as some paraphernalia of military outfits were also recovered,’’ he added.

He explained that as part of proactive measures by the Inspector-General of Police, several highway patrol vehicles had been deployed in locations within the state, including BeninLagos Road, Benin-Agbor Road, Benin-Akure Road, Auchi-Okpella Road, Ibilo, Ehor and Benin Bypass.

The CP, who described some of the suspects as “travelling criminals” not resident in Edo but who used the state as an escape route, commended the efforts of local vigilante groups, who used their knowledge of the terrain to aid the command in tracking down criminals, even at odd hours.

Rivers govt to demolish kidnappers' houses

By Jimitota Onoyume

P

ORT HARCOURT— RIVERS State Government is to come down hard on kidnappers and cultists in the state as their landed property will no longer be spared when they are jailed.

Governor Nyesom Wike disclosed this yesterday in Port Harcourt, saying that the government would get the state House of Assembly to amend the Rivers State Secret Cult and Similar Activities (Prohibition) Law enacted in 2004.

Wike, who spoke at a church ser vice in Por t Harcourt, said that at the end of the amendment, the state government would be empowered by law to demolish houses belonging to kidnappers, noting that this will deter others from going into such crime.

The gover nor, who spoke extensively on efforts by his government to rehabilitate roads in the state capital, said his emergence as governor

was an act of God. “It is by God’s grace that I became governor. So, this is not the time to say you supported me or you didn’t support me. ‘’It is not a time for complaints, but it is incumbent on government to solve problems. So, we must sit down and ensure that the problems of the people are solved in order to move the state forward,” he said.

He assured that every people-oriented project started by his predecessor would be completed by his government so long as they served the common good of the people “Let me tell you formally that I have ordered the contractor to make sure that everything is done to complete that project. Yes, some people would ask why are you doing this?

Why not start your own projects? ‘’The problem we have in this country is that, let it be me that started it.

But, I don’t want to be the one that started it, I prefer to be the one that finished it,” Governor Wike added.

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015 — 53

Ogogoro deaths saga: Ban on ‘killer’ gin ineffective in Ondo

By Dayo Johnson, Akure

Continues from Friday This is the concluding part of Vanguard Features, VF, special report on the Ogogoro deaths saga that began in Ondo State and found a tragic perch in Rivers State.

R

EPORTS from Akure, the Ondo State capital, show that the ban placed on the production,sales and consumption of the local gin popularly known as ‘Ogogoro’ in the state is not effective.

It is still business as usual for the sellers and consumers of the product across the state.

The alcoholic drink is even distilled openly in the riverine area of the state w h e r e drums of it a r e transported to other parts of the state on daily basis.

The state government placed the ban on the consumption of the product after over 20 persons reportedly died in Irele area of the state after consuming p o i s o n ous ethanol as Ogogoro.

The state government said that the toxicology reports about the death of some people in Ode Irele in Irele Local Government Area of the state confirmed that it was caused by the c o n s u m p t i o n o f ethanol Ogogoro.

Health Commissioner, Dr Dayo Adeyanju, said the state government has intervened by outlawing its production, sales and consumption.

Result of clinical analysis “O u r c l i n i c a l a n a l y s i s reveals the fact that there were no known viruses, while toxicology reports have confirmed our prime suspicion of ethanol poisoning,” Dr Adeyanju said. According to him, heavy concentration of ethanol of about 16.3 percent was found in the system of the affected victims.

The C o m m i s s i o n e r, however, said his ministry and other stakeholders and associations are working C M Y K

hand in hand to stop the production, sales and consumption of the locally distilled gin in the state, saying that a particular b a t c h o f e t h a n o l -based Ogogoro w a s c i r c u l a t e d across the area.

VF checks revealed that the state government has failed to give effect to the ban order since it was pronounced.

Residents of the riverine areas whose business is the production of the product do not see any sense in the ban because they argued that the death in Irele has no correlation with the consumption of the product. They further argued that the ban on the sale and consumption of the product cannot stand and that government lacked the political will to effect it because “it’s like cutting off our economic power ”.

Some leaders in the Akotogbo, Agadagba, Mahin, Ore and Okitipupa, all in the Southern area of

•Ogogoro for sale...Still in hot demand despite recent deaths and ban the state where the sales and consumption of the product thrive, argued that government ban on the sale and consumption of the product is ”a waste of time because it cannot be effected as there is no legislation to back up the

order”.

According to them, those who consume the product are so used to it that they cannot do without it on daily basis. VF findings showed that government too has not shown any seriousness to give teeth

to the order.

Even in Akure, hawkers of local gin patrol the major streets, while the sale of the products goes on unhindered at motor parks across the state.

Concluded

Why IDPs camps are being collapsed — NEMA boss I

NDICATION that more internally displaced persons, IDPs, may have returned to their communities and homes emerged with recent information that a number of the camps which had been their homes since being rescued by the military from terrorists in the North East of Nigeria had either been closed or and collapsed.

A statement credited to the Director General of the National Emergency M a n a g e m e n t A g e n c y, NEMA, Alhaji Mohammad Sani-Sidi, informed that the reduction in the number of the IDPs camps was an ongoing exercise which was made possible by the successes being recorded by the Nigerian military in its war against the Boko Haram terrorists. Alhaji Sani-Sidi made this disclosure while receiving the Executive Secretary of

the newly established Centre for Crisis Communication, CCC, Air Commodore Yusuf Anas (rtd) in his office.

According to him: “Following the successes being recorded by the

There are currently 22 camps in operation, while about 1.4 million IDPs have been recorded by the government; 90 percent are victims of insurgency, majority of them are from Borno State

gallant Nigerian military who are prosecuting the counter-insurgency operation, some IDP camps have been closed or collapsed. In Adamawa State, for instance, the camps have been collapsed from eleven to six. It is expected that more camps in other affected areas will be collapsed or closed as soon as it is practicable.

“There are currently 22 camps in operation, while about 1.4 million IDPs have been recorded by the government.

Of this number of IDPs, 90 percent are victims of insurgency while majority of them are from Borno State.”

Describing the establishment of the Centre for Crisis Communication as timely, the NEMA boss said information and communication are critical in disaster management. He stated that NEMA will not only collaborate with the

centre but be a part and parcel of it, noting that he is encouraged by the calibre of people that will drive the process.

Earlier in his remark, Air Commodore Anas said the core objectives of the Centre is to provide needed support and intervention in crisis information management.

He added that “the Centre will also provide coordinated platform for early warning alerts, timely response to crisis situation and sensitisation efforts.

The centre will engage in capacity building, research and management of crisis communication.”

He further disclosed that the Centre would soon commence researches on major natural and maninduced disasters in Nigeria with a view to proffering a comprehensive strategy for ameliorating the challenges.

54—Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

A-Ibom commends DSS boss

G

OVERNOR Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State has attributed the relative peace experienced in the state in the last couple of years to the extraordinary talent, professionalism and competence exhibited by the outgoing Director of the Department of State Services, DSS, Mr. T. C. Minti, and his deputy, Mr. Fubara Duke.

The governor stated this during a send forth dinner organised for the outgoing security chiefs.

At the occasion, the governor said it was difficult to bid them farewell as they had worked selflessly in the discharge of their duties, thereby proving their mettle as security chiefs of the highest order.

Earlier in their speeches, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Gabriel Achong, State Chairman, Association of Local Government of Nigeria, ALGON, Isantim Okon and Senator Effiong Bob, commended the security chiefs for their services to the state and wished them successes in their career.

Duke and Minti in their remarks, observed that it was rare to find security chiefs being send forth in such a spectacular way.

They attributed their feat to team work made possible by all the security forces in the state.

FUNERAL: Mrs Deborah Olagunju, widow of Chairman, Dekit Construction Company (middle), and her children at the funeral service of her husband, Mr. Christopher Olagunju, in Ibadan.

Saraki, Dogara won’t apologise to Buhari, APC—PDP LAWMAKER

By Soni Daniel, Regional Editor, North

A

BUJA—THE face-off between the Presidency and leadership of the National Assembly may take a longer time to resolve if President Muhammadu Buhari and his party insist on the Assembly leaders tendering an apology for defying the directive of All Progressives Congress, APC, in the choice of leaders.

This is because the two men are not in a hurry to apologise for defying both the President and party in putting themselves up for election into the two key NASS posts.

A ranking Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,

Address broadband bottlenecks, Etisalat urges FG

By Emeka Aginam

C

HIEF Executive of Etisalat Nigeria, Matthew Willsher, has urged the Ministry of Communications Technology and Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, to put in place policy and regulatory interventions to address challenges affecting broadband development.

Willsher, who spoke at the just-concluded 2015 Commonwealth Broadband forum in Abuja, identified the current situation where most of the telecommunication sector revenues and profits go to one operator while others struggle to survive, as a major factor largely responsible for the broadband investment deficit and resultant low broadband penetration in Nigeria.

He said the presence of

several struggling operators is indicative of serious underlying issues with value distribution across the industry.

He also identified inadequate spectrum to support broadband deployment as a key challenge in the provision of broadband services in Nigeria.

Willsher said: “Mobile broadband is clearly Nigeria’s best route towards achieving its broadband coverage objectives given the high cost associated with fixed broadband.

“The most valuable coverage spectrum is underutilised with the suboptimal use of the 800MHz spectrum and the delays being experienced in the freeing up of the 700MHz spectrum.”

lawmaker, who was privy to the plot by his party to work with a faction of APC to elect both men against the directive of APC, confirmed that the two men did not see any reason to tender any apology to anyone.

The lawmaker, who is from one of the southern states, and was one of the seven NASS members that spearheaded the election of both officers, said the two men did not see any reason to apologise to either Buhari or APC. The man, who spoke in confidence with Vanguard because of the severity of the issue involved, said Buhari and his party were going to the extreme to ask Saraki and Dogara to apologise over their action.

The lawmaker, who is a staunch member of the National Unity Forum, pointed out that none of the two men committed any infraction to warrant the call for apology and asked Buhari and his party to accept the emergence of Saraki and Dogara in good faith for the country to move on.

The South-South lawmaker said: “To the best of my knowledge, neither Saraki nor Dogara will apologise to anybody because they have not committed any crime to warrant such remorse.

“The sooner APC realises that these posts have slipped of their hands, the better for the party and Nigeria.

“The truth of the matter is that there is nothing Buhari or APC can do to change the tide.

If Buhari does not recognise Saraki and Dogara, Nigeria cannot move forward. Even if APC suspends both men today, it will not change anything as that would not

invalidate their offices.

“The members of PDP are solidly behind the two leaders of NASS and any attempt by the Presidency or APC to move against them in any way would be stoutly resisted by us in PDP. “The only option that Buhari and APC have is to allow the two men to operate as our leaders or face our wrath.”

‘We had a working understanding’

On the claim by Saraki that he did not know who would be voted for on the day of inauguration of NASS, the lawmaker described the claim as a ‘mere political statement’ meant to save his face, saying that he had a working understanding with PDP lawmakers to deliver him and Ekweremadu as his deputy.

The lawmaker said: “What Saraki said is just a political statement to get out of trouble with APC because he was in the know of what was being planned to get him elected.

“In fact, we negotiated to get him the block votes of PDP and secure the deputy slot for our man, Ike Ekweremadu.”

It will be recalled that the emergence of Saraki and Dogara has caused some disquiet in the Presidency and APC, making it difficult for APC to celebrate its majority status in the NASS. Since their emergence, the two men are yet to be welcomed with open arms by the Presidency and there were reports that they might be made to tender an apology for working against party interest.

FOREX: LCCI tasks CBN on exclusion of 41 products

By Naomi Uzor

T

HE Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to suspend its policy directing the exclusion of 41 products from accessing dollar in the foreign exchange market.

It called on the apex bank to situate policy decisions within a larger economic context than the narrow prism of monetary variables.

The President of LCCI, Alhaji Remi Bello, said the foreign exchange market had no doubt been under pressure in the last couple of months, a situation which poses significant challenges to CBN with regard to the stability of exchange rate and the protection of foreign reserves, which is in line with its mandate.

He said: “However, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, is concerned about the unintended consequences of CBN approach to the management of foreign exchange market, especially the recent directive on the exclusion of 41 products from access to the foreign exchange market.”

According to him, the directive would potentially result in major disruptions, dislocations and panic among many investors in the economy.

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015 — 55

By Emmanuel Aziken, Henry Umoru, Dapo Akinrefon, Johnbosco Agbakwuru, Levinus Nwabughiogu & Gbenga Oke

He is slow and unsteady —Ajulo, LP scribe

In his remarks, the National Secretary of Labour Party, Dr Kayode Ajulo said the Buhari administration in the last 30 days has been slow and unsteady.

Ajulo said: “He (Buhari) is slow and he is unsteady.

Unsteady in the sense that he is yet to have the rein of power.”

L

AGOS—FOLLOWING concerns expressed across the country on the seeming slow pace of the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, northern elders have urged Nigerians to be patient with the president.

This is just as a former head of state from the north, it was learnt at the weekend, met with the president to inform him of the general concern among political stakeholders that the delay in forming government was grounding government and business activities in the country.

Meanwhile, the presidency and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, were yesterday locked in a war of words over calls by the opposition party for prayers to deliver President Muhammadu Buhari from his difficulties in forming his government.

The fireworks on Buhari’s first 30 days in office came as concerns grew about the increasing drift of sensitive and high ranking positions in a section of the country.

In the latest development on alleged skewed appointments, there were concerns among South-East and South-South political stakeholders that the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, may have been zeroed down to the North East thereby putting the region away from the top six positions in the country which with the exception of the vicepresident are all domiciled in the North.

There were also concerns in Abuja at the weekend that the South could also lose out in the ongoing reorganisation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. While presidency associates asserted that the President was up to the task in his work and on full throttle, there were concerns among some top political stakeholders over the president’s failure to name key operatives of government.

Besides the PDP, others who expressed concern on the president’s seeming slow start yesterday were Dr. Fredrick Fasehun of the Odua Peoples Congress, OPC, Alhaji Yerima Shettima of the Arewa Consultative Youth Forum and Dr. Kayode Ajulo, Secretary General of the Labour Party, LP. President Buhari was, however, backed by two members of the Board of Trustees, BoT of the PDP, Chief Ebenezer Babatope and Chief Don Etiebet and also by a chieftain of the APC, Chief George Moghalu. Alhaji Ghali Umar Na‘abba, a former speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Tanko Yakassi, who served as Special Adviser to President Shehu C M Y K

We’re running out of patience —Shetimma, President, Arewa Youths Forum

MEMBERS' EVENING: From left: Joyce Akpata,Director General, Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce, Ray Atelly, Vice President,NBCC, Ubongabasi Nseobot, Sales/PR Manager, Southern Sun, Ikoyi, Lagos, and Prince Adedapo Adelegan, Deputy President, NBCC, at the second NBCC Members Evening sponsored by Southern Sun in Lagos. Photo: Akeem Salau.

Be patient with Buhari, northern elders urge Nigerians zNigerians are dissappointed —FASEHUN zIt is too early to assess Buhari —BABATOPE Shagari, were among those who backed the President last night.

In making its call for prayers for the President and the APC, the PDP noted what it claimed as the administration's difficulty in finding its bearing 30 days into office.

Noting that governance has only been all motion and no movement, the PDP in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh said: “We urge Nigerians to join hands in prayers and offer useful suggestions to President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC because with what we have seen in the last 30 days, the present administration is finding it very difficult to get its bearings right while showing no inclination towards implementing its numerous campaign promises for which they were voted into office.

“We are deeply worried that the President who promised to unveil his cabinet two weeks after his inauguration, has not been able to decide on key appointments such as ministers, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, a Chief of Staff and advisers in key sectors of the economy,'' he said.

The assertions were immediately dismissed by the

presidency which while responding through Mr. Femi Adeshina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity said that Nigerians were already hand in hand with the president and did not need to be roused up.

He said: “He wants Nigerians to join hands in prayers for the government, so that things would begin to move. What he does not know is that Nigerians had long formed such coalition.

They are hands in hands, and that was what gave victory to President Buhari in the March 28, 2015, poll.

“They had teamed up to uproot an administration that had brought the country to her knees and was about to tip her off the precipice. And Nigerians have resolved that never would they allow any government to divide them along regional, religious and ethnic fault lines again.

“The Buhari administration is naturally contemplative because there was absolutely no rhyme or reason to the way PDP ran the country, particularly in the immediate past dispensation. That is why the Augean Stable is being cleaned now, and it requires scrupulous and painstaking planning. Across all sectors, our national life was

devalued, and it takes meticulousness and surefootedness to repair all the breaches. This, the Buhari administration will deliver.

Alhaji Tanko Yakasai who served as political adviser to President Shehu Shagari on his part said while he agreed that the President should have made the appointments that do not require Senate confirmation, however, said that 30 days in office were not enough to assess the president.

Ghali Na'abba Erstwhile speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Ghali Umar Na‘abba on his part pleaded for time saying: “The president should be given time. I don’t believe he has not made the appointments without reasons. I am sure he is going to come out in full force soon. I am sure the president is not averse to the feelings of Nigeria.”

It’s too early to assess Buhari — Babatope

In his comments, a PDP chieftain, Chief Ebenezer Babatope said it was too early to assess the Buhari administration as he promised to come out with his assessment of the president after 100 days.

On his part, National President of the Arewa Youths Consultative Forum, Alhaji Yerima Shetimma said Nigerians were running out of patience owing to the slow pace of the administration.

Nigerians are disappointed —Fasehun

Also, founder of the Odua People’s Congress, OPC, Dr. Frederick Fasehun expressed disappointment in the President’s performance in the first 30 days. He said: “Nigerians are disappointed in the Buhari administration so far because we expected him to hit the ground running and jumping but we have more of motion and less movement.”

President has shown leadership — Moghalu

An APC chieftain, Chief George Moghalu said President Buhari has shown leadership.

He said: “The President has shown leadership in the areas of insecurity and the economy putting in mind the situation the President met on ground when he came on board.”

Former Minister of Petroleum, Chief Don Etiebet said the President is doing great so far and it is evident that there is road to the promised land.

The Presidential candidate of the United Progressive Party, UPP, Chief Chekwas Okorie in the last election said that Buhari was already showing positive results in its first 30 days.

He cited improved electricity supply as part of the results in the last 30 days.

Buhari is cautious —Onyeagocha

Also commenting on the President’s 30 days in office, a former member of the House of Representatives and senatorial candidate in the last general election for Imo East, Mr. Uche Onyeagocha said that the President was showing caution in his actions.

56— VANGUARD, MONDAY, JUNE 29 , 2015

French attack suspect admits killing his boss

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Iran backtracking from an interim nuclear agreement —World powers I

RAN is backtracking from an interim nuclear agreement with world powers three months ago, Western officials suggested yesterday .

This is even as the U.S. and Iranian officials said talks on a final accord would likely run past tomorrow’s deadline.

Securing an historic agreement would end a more than 12-year nuclear standoff between Iran and the West and open the door to suspending sanctions that have crippled Tehran’s economy.

It could also help ease the diplomatic isolation for an Iran that has become increasingly assertive across the region.

Highlighting how much work remains in the nuclear negotiations, British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond said on arrival in Vienna that major challenges remained, including on the parameters already agreed in April in Lausanne, Switzerland.

“There are a number of different areas where we still have major differences of interpretation in

•US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and US Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman (L-3rd L) meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (2nd R) at a hotel in Vienna, Austria June yesterday.

detailing what was agreed in Lausanne,” Hammond told reporters.

“There is going to have to be some give or take if we are to get this done in the next few days,” he said. “No deal is better than a bad deal.”

Other Western officials echoed Hammond’s remarks, saying some of the backtracking involved the mechanics of monitoring Iranian compliance

with proposed limits on nuclear activities.

“It feels like we haven’t advanced on the technical issues and even gone back on some,” a Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

Another Western official traced the apparent backtracking to a speech by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last week, in which he ruled out freezing sensi-

tive nuclear work in the country for a long time.

“His speech last week seems aimed at constraining (Iranian negotiators’) flexibility in the last stretch of the talks, as he has done at a number of key intervals over the last two years,” a Western diplomat told Reuters, citing an internal government intelligence assessment of Khamenei’s speech.

American Al Qaeda to ISIS: No Paradise for you

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HE atrocities com mitted by the terror group ISIS are so horrific that a high-profile al Qaeda member, an American citizen, purportedly addressed the group directly in a new al Qaeda publication and lectured them that if they keep it up, Allah will not grant them paradise in the afterlife.

“My dear brothers: While no one can deny the considerable strength and prowess of the Islamic State group [ISIS] in military terms, at the same time, the crimes it has committed against Muslims cannot simply

be overlooked or forgotten with time, because in Islam there is no statute of limitations,” the late Adam Gadahn said, according to an al Qaeda magazine published recently online. “And if these wrongs are not brought to an end and rectified here in this world, then a severe punishment has been promised both for those who committed them as well as those who encouraged, condoned or justified them, even if from behind a computer or mobile phone thousands of miles away.”

“Oppression of any kind

•American Al Qaeda to ISIS: No Paradise for You is wrong, and [there] will be darkness for its perpetrator on the Day of Judgment. The Ummah’s [Muslim community’s] Jihad is not a video game; it is real life, with real con-

sequences, in this world and the next,” he said.

Obama: ‘I Take Full Responsibility’ For US Operation That Killed Innocent Hostages Held

By Al Qaeda.

US warship visits Georgia amid Ukraine crisis

A

US warship yester day arrived in Georgia’s Black Sea port of Batumi on a training mission,

the US embassy said, sending a message of support to the NATO aspirant amid the conflict in Ukraine.

•The US 6th Fleet’s guided missile destroyer USS Laboon “will conduct routine combined training with the Georgian Coast Guard,” the US embassy in Tbilisi said

C M Y K

The US 6th Fleet’s guided missile destroyer USS Laboon “will conduct routine combined training with the Georgian Coast Guard,” the US embassy in Tbilisi said.

The port call “reaffirms the United States’ commitment to strengthening ties with NATO allies and partners like Georgia, while working toward mutual goals of promoting security and stability in the Black Sea region,” the embassy said in a statement.

Moscow’s seizure of Crimea from Kiev’s rule and its support for Ukrainian rebels have alarmed Georgia,

which fought and lost a brief war with Russia in 2008.

The Ukraine crisis has triggered the worst confrontation between Russia and the West since the Cold War, and the US said last week it would deploy heavy weapons in central and eastern Europe in a move that angered Moscow.

Georgia’s bid to join NATO and the European Union infuriated its former imperial master Russia, which bitterly opposes the alliance’s expansion into former Soviet republics.

HE suspected Is lamist militant held over an attack against a French chemical plant has admitted killing his manager, a source close to the investigation said yesterday.

Yassin Salhi, 35, told detectives he had killed Herve Cornara in a parking area before arriving at the plant in Saint Quentin-Fallavier, 30 km (20 miles) south of Lyon, where he attempted to cause an explosion on Friday, the source said.

Police found the 54-yearold victim’s decapitated body and head, framed by Islamic inscriptions, at the plant owned by U.S. group Air Products. There were no other casualties.

Examination of one of Salhi’s mobile phones has revealed that he took a “selfie” with the severed head before his arrest and sent the image via a messaging application to a Canadian phone number.

“We are assisting the French authorities with their investigation,” a Canadian government spokesman said on Sunday. He declined to comment on unsubstantiated reports that the message’s recipient was now believed to be in Syria.

According to French media reports, Salhi told police he had argued with Cornara as well as his own

wife before the killing.

One of their work colleagues, quoted on the website of television station i-Tele, also said the two men had clashed days earlier after Salhi dropped a pallet of fragile equipment.

The suspect, whose wife and sister were released on Sunday after two days of questioning, is known to have associated with hard-line Islamists over more than a decade and had previously been flagged by French security services as a potential risk.

Flanked by heavily armed police in masks and flak jackets, Salhi was taken on Sunday to the apartment he shared with his wife and three children in the quiet Lyon suburb of Saint-Priest for further searches to be conducted in his presence.

Earlier in the day, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the government was increasing resources in law enforcement and domestic intelligence to combat Islamic extremism.

“We cannot lose this war, because it is essentially a war of civilization,” Valls said in an interview broadcast on Europe 1 radio and i-Tele. “It is our society, our civilization and our values that we must defend.”

Militant attack: Kuwait identifies young Saudi Arabian suicide bomber

K

UWAIT, yesterday identified the suicide bomber behind its worst militant attack as a young Saudi Arabian man, and said it had detained the driver of the vehicle that took him to a Shi’ite Muslim mosque where he killed 27 people.

The disclosure of the bomber’s Saudi nationality is likely to focus the attention of authorities investigating Friday’s suicide bombing on ties between Islamists in the small Gulf state and those in its larger, more conservative neighbor.

The interior ministry named the bomber as Fahd Suliman AbdulMuhsen al-Qabaa and said he flew into Kuwait’s airport at dawn on Friday, only hours before he detonated an explosives-laden vest at Kuwait City’s Imam al-Sadeq mosque.

It was not immediately known where Qabaa had arrived from, but the timing of his arrival suggests he had a network already in place in Kuwait. The ministry said it was searching for more partners and aides in this “despicable crime”, adding Qabaa had been born in 1992, putting him in his early 20s.

Islamic State’s Saudi Arabian arm claimed responsibility for the attack on the mosque, where 2,000 worshippers were

praying at the time. It was one of three attacks on three continents that day apparently linked to hardline Islamists.

The attack was the most significant act of Sunni militant violence in Kuwait since 2005, when an al-Qaeda linked group calling itself the Peninsula Lions clashed with security forces in the streets of Kuwait City. Nine Islamists and four security force members were killed in the gun battles.

The bombing has sharply heightened regional security concerns because Islamic State appears to be making good on its threat to step up attacks in the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

The group, seeking to expand from strongholds in Iraq and Syria, says its priority target is the Arabian peninsula and in particular Saudi Arabia, home of Islam’s holiest places, from where it plans to expel Shi’ite Muslims.

Islamic State subscribes to a puritanical school of Sunni Islam that considers Shi’ites as heretics.

The ministry said the driver of the Japanesemade car, who left the mosque immediately after Friday ’s bombing, was an illegal resident named Abdul-Rahman Sabah Aidan.

VANGUARD, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015 — 57

Armed police patrol Tunisia's beach

H

EU leaders agree to relocate 40,000 migrants E

U leaders during its late-night talks in Brussels at the weekend have agreed to relocate tens of thousands of migrants who have arrived in Italy and Greece.

Summit chairman Donald Tusk said 40,000 would be relocated to other EU states over the next two years.

However, there will be no mandatory quotas for each country.

The Greek debt crisis was also on the summit’s agenda. Greece and its international creditors remain deadlocked after talks on Thursday.

Earlier, Mr Tusk called on EU member states to share the burden of the boat loads of illegal migrants who have crossed the Mediterranean.

New figures from the UN refugee agency UNHCR show that 63,000 migrants have

•The relationship between Alexis Tsipras, Italian PM Matteo Renzi and Germany’s Angela Merkel appeared jovial at the EU summit despite the deadlock arrived in Greece by sea this year and 62,000 in Italy.

“Leaders agreed that 40,000 persons in need will be relocated from Greece and Italy to other states over the next two years,” Mr

Tusk told reporters.

“Interior ministers will finalise the scheme by the end of July.”

Leaders also agreed to resettle another 20,000 refugees who are currently outside

the EU. French President Francois Hollande said he expected most of them to be Syrians and Iraqis, AP reported.

Details of where the refugees will go has yet to be decided.

AU will not observe elections in Burundi — Envoy

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HE African Union (AU) will not observe Burundi’s legislative elections scheduled for today , Nkosazana DlaminiZuma, the chairperson of the commission of the AU, has said.

In a communique released on Sunday, Dlamini-Zuma said the “AU reiterates the imperative need for dialogue and consensus for a lasting solution to the crisis in Burundi”. “[The AU] will not observe the elections scheduled for 29 June 2015,” Dlamini-Zuma said.

Echoing the AU’s remarks, the UN said on

Sunday that Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon was concerned about “the Government of Burundi’s insistence on going ahead with elections on 29 June despite the prevailing political and security environment.”

Al Jazeera’s Haru Mutasa, reporting from the capital Bujumbura, said some supporters of President Pierre Nkurunziza are wondering why Sudan’s President Omar AlBashir was seemingly protected in South africa at the AU summit in Johannesburg just over a week back, while their president seems to have been abandoned by the

•Nkurunziza’s bid for a third term has plunged the country into a political crisis AU. Burundi has been in turmoil since April, when Nkurunziza said he would seek a third term, triggering weeks of protests, and an abortive

military coup last month.

Dlamini-Zuma said the AU was disappointed that proposals put forward to postpone elections were not accepted.

T least 30 people have been killed at the weekend after gunmen attacked an African Union military base in southern

Somalia, witnesses have said. A suicide car bomber drove into the main gates of the base in Leego, along the main road connecting the

•Al-Shabab has said it carried out the attack C M Y K

capital, Mogadishu and the city of Baidoa.

The militant Islamist group al-Shabab says its fighters have taken control of the base but this is not confirmed.

Al-Shabab is battling Somalia’s government for control of the country.

The base is manned by Burundian soldiers from the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), which has more than 20,000 troops in the country.

Amisom confirmed on its Twitter account that an attack was ongoing, but has not given any details

on casualties.

Leego residents have seen militants burning vehicles, carrying off weapons and removing the bodies of their fighters killed in the attack, reports the BBC’s Mohamed Moalimu from Mogadishu.

The governor of Lower Shabelle province told the BBC that militants had conducted at least three separate attacks in his region but that most had been repelled.

Al-Shabab has vowed to intensify attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Interior Minister Najem Gharsalli told reporters late on Saturday night.

Since its 2011 uprising to oust Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia has made a peaceful transition to democracy with a new constitution and free elections. It is seen as a model for the region.

But its young democracy has also been tested by the rise of hardline Islamist movements, some of which have turned to violence. The army has been fighting a campaign against pockets of Islamist militants near the Algerian border.

State news agency TAP said gunmen raided houses for food in El Kef, a northeastern city about 160 km (100 miles) from the coast and 40 km from the Algerian border, before heading to the mountains that separate the two countries. TAP gave no further details.

Islamic State has claimed the Sousse attack. But officials say the gunman, named as Saif Rezgui, was not any watchlist of known potential militants. One source said he appeared to have been radicalised over the last six months by recruiters.

Child labour traps DR Congo kids in cycle of poverty

F

Al-Shabab ‘kills 30’ at AU military base in S Somalia

A

UNDREDS of armed police yesterday patrolled the streets of Tunisia’s beach resorts and the government said it will deploy hundreds more inside hotels after the Islamist militant attack in Sousse that killed 39 foreigners, mostly Britons.

Thousands of tourists have left Tunisia since Friday ’s attack, which has shocked the North African country that relies heavily on tourism for jobs and foreign currency revenues.

Britain’s Foreign Office warned late on Saturday that Islamist militants may launch further attacks in Tunisia after a gunman opened fire on the Imperial Marhaba resort in the deadliest such attack in Tunisia’s modern history.

At least 15 Britons were among the dead and wounded along with German, Irish and Belgian nationals in Sousse. The health ministry says at least 40 people were wounded without giving any details of their nationalities.

“We are going to deploy 1,000 armed police to protect hotels and tourists,” Tunisian

OR many children in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the lack of development and chronic poverty afflicting the country create a barrier to education. Frequent outbreaks of conflict cause displacement, further depriving children of access to schooling.

Backbreaking chores are an integral part of daily life for thousands of children, helping their families with farming and fetching water, as well as

working in more formal employment.

While some work can be positive in a child’s development, as defined by the International Labor Organization, absolute poverty stemming from decades of cyclical conflict can mean that the need for children to “help out” their parents can lock them into a cycle of hardship.

Empowering parents and children alike can help end this cycle of poverty.

Zimbabwe journalist jailed for publishing newspaper

A

Zimbabwean jour nalist has been sentenced to a year in jail for publishing a newspaper without government registration, the main journalists’ union said at the weekend.

Foster Dongozi, secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists, said Patrick Chitongo was convicted by a magistrate’s court on Thursday and received a one-year prison term.

“It’s a sad day for press freedom when people are jailed for disseminating information,” Dongozi told AFP. “However we advise that, much as we disagree with the law which

compels journalists to register, those intending to practise or publish should comply to avoid ending up in dicey situations.”

Regional media freedom advocacy group Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA) said Chitongo had been jointly charged with three interns after publishing three issues of a newspaper entitled The Southern Mirror.

They were charged with breaching the country ’s media law, which forbids “carrying on or operating a mass media service without a valid registration certificate.”

58— VANGUARD, MONDAY, JUNE 29 , 2015

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015—59

Ajax, Cosmos, others storm Nigeria for Peace tourney

By Jude Opara, Abuja

T

HREE top South African teams; Ajax Cape Town, Jomo Cosmos and Golden Arrow FC are among the seven teams that have indicated their readiness to play in the first edition of the International Invitational Tournament tagged Africa for Peace holding next month in Oba, Anambra state.

In a statement issued in Abuja over the weekend, chairman of the Local Organizing Committee, Alhaji Mustapha Mohammed also stated that Nigerian champions, Kano Pillars as well as FC Ifeanyi Ubah, Sunshine Stars and a yet to be disclosed national team will take part in the tournament billed to hold from 21-26 July.

The statement further revealed that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) had through a letter signed by its General Secretary Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, has given a provisional approval for the tourney.

Mohammed added that already arrangements are in top gear to ensure a hitchfree tournament, which he stated will help to shape the Nigerian teams for the second round of the Nigeria Premier League while the South Africans will use it as part of their preseason engagements.

According to him, the choice of Anambra as the venue was to showcase

to the rest of the world that the state has the facilities to host big events as well as help develop the followership of the game in the state.

He revealed that the organizing committee was in touch with notable Nigerians and corporate bodies to key into the programme towards making it a huge success.

“We have big clubs like FC Ifeanyi Ubah, Kano Pillars and Sunshine Stars and one of the national teams in a competition with teams from South Africa, you cannot expect anything less than a week of football fiesta in Anambra. He hinted that the matches may be live on television.

T

•Phil Neville has worked previously as a coach under David Moyes at Manchester United.

Gifted dedicates WBF title belt to parents

By Solomon Nwoke

T

HE rising World Boxing Federation Middleweight boxing prodigy, Gifted Cole Chiori has never ceased to be excited about his recent success in the squared ropes.

He is no doubt, one of the finest boxers to emerge from the continent of Africa.

Recently he was rated 13th in the World boxing Middleweight by World Boxing Foundation (WBF).

The undefeated Nigerian boxer, Gifted Cole stopped the Mexican champion Yair Agular with a knock out in round 3 of a

Neville joins Valencia

shceduled 10-round Middleweight World Boxing Federation, WBF Title fight in Atlanta last week. His victory over the Mexican has increased his victories to 12, with 10 knockouts.

His excitement knows no bound as he made good to win the title as a gift to his parents in their 40th marriage anniversary which comes up on the 12th July, 2015 at Assemblies of God Church in Festac Town in Lagos.

He is the only African to have won a World Boxing Federation, WBF title.

And speaking through his father, Reverend Omeaku Cole Chiori who is also a retired

boxer he said, he is so particular and emotional about the plight of orphans, widows and the mentally disordered people in the society.

“This victory is so important to me because

I had already promised to present the WBF belt to my daddy as his birthday and 40th marriage anniversary gift and I am so glad the bout went my way."

HE former Manchester United and England full-back Phil Neville has joined the coaching staff of Valencia, the Spanish club have announced.

Neville, who has been working as a pundit for the BBC, worked as a coach during David Moyes’s ill-fated spell in charge at Old Trafford. He has a connection with Valencia in that the Spanish club’s owner, Peter Lim, also bought a 50% in Salford City from Neville, his brother Gary, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt.

The Valencia manager Nuno praised Neville’s experience and knowledge and said that he would fit into the team’s philosophy while the club’s announcement identified the former defender as an England legend who would be a luxury reinforcement to the Valencia bench.

“Phil Neville has great experience at the top level of competition, but above all he has knowledge and values that fit perfectly with our team and our club,” said Nuno.

Eagles Continued from BP qualifying match in the 2017 qualification series are not addressed on time, Nigeria may again be a spectator at the showpiece event fixed to hold in Gabon early 2017.

“Let Nigeria leave side issues and player character attacks aside and face pure football issues. Otherwise we might not be at the next Nations cup again as participants but mere spectators!” Oliseh wrote on his personal blog sundayoliseh.tv.

The former Juventus and Ajax of Amsterdam midfielder faulted how the Nigeria Football Federation has been all over the place in their C M Y K

quest to nail Eagles captain Vincent Enyeama for his s u p p o s e d “uncomplimentary remarks” about the choice of Kaduna for the AFCON qualifying match against Chad.

“The current much ado about nothing on Vincent Enyeama’s comments disagreeing with the decision to play an African Nations cup qualifier in Kaduna is taking a direction now which, we may once again regret as a Nation,” Oliseh stated.

“Let’s remind ourselves that this particular game vs Chad was won by Nigeria 2-0 and keeps Nigeria on track to Nations Cup

2017.

“Nigeria is returning back from a painful setback situation of missing out on the Nations cup 2015 and barely has the qualifiers started for the next one and an opinion of its Captain is the latest thing to pounce upon to discredit another loyal servant in Vincent Enyeama with what hidden agenda this time?

Aside Enyeama, the NFF has also been on the trail of the Coach of the Eagles, Stephen Keshi, who is being investigated for alleged-

ly applying for the Ivory Coast job while under contract with Nigeria.

Nigeria will face Tanzania in the next qualification series.

L-R: Mr Francis Orbih, Chairman, Lagos State Badminton Association; Whenu Oluseyi, Perm Sec, Ministry of Youth, Sports and Social Development, Lgos State and Fatai Williams, VP, NOC during the 2nd Lagos International Badminton Classics media briefing in Lagos. Photo LAMIDI BAMIDELE Continued from BP that they could be the first Wimbledon men’s finalists from the same country since Pete Sampras beat his American compatriot Andre Agassi in 1999.

Federer, owner of 17 majors, seven of them on this grass, is the more favoured of the two Swiss to reach the final, but Wawrinka, who has never got past the quarter-finals, comes

Federer buoyed by winning his second grand slam title, the dramatic victory over Novak Djokovic in the French Open this month.

Federer will probably have to beat Andy Murray or Rafael Nadal to get there, while Wawrinka’s path will likely be blocked by Djokovic. On Saturday, each of them sounded in good shape for the challenge of the next

fortnight. “This year, I feel my game is better,” the second-seed Federer said. “I’ve gotten used to the racket.

“This is not the first time I’m at Wimbledon with Stefan Edberg. The work I’ve put in with Severin [Lüthi, his assistant coach and Davis Cup captain], I could really aim for Wimbledon this year, whereas last year, it was all about getting back.

60 —

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Paraguay match-winner Gonzalez hit by tragedy

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A R A G UAY ’ S penalty hero Derlis Gonzalez saw his celebrations curtailed by tragedy following the death of his uncle from a heart attack on Saturday night.

•Gonzalez

The 21-year-old forward scored from the spot to level his side’s Copa America quarter-final clash with Brazil in Concepcion at 1-1, and then netted the winner in the shoot-out to seal a place in the last four for Ramon Diaz’s men.

But after the game, Gonzalez learned that his uncle had suffered a heart attack while watching the match in his homeland, and passed away with doctors unable to revive him.

“Why today uncle? Why? You left me after a heart attack because I gave you so much joy and so much happiness. I can’t believe it,” Gonzalez wrote on Twitter on Saturday in a post that also featured a photo of his uncle.

Dunga: Brazil squad hit by virus

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RAZIL coach Dunga blamed a virus for his team’s quarter-final exit at the Copa America after watching Paraguay triumph on penalties.

The 51-year-old coach claimed 15 members of his squad were not in prime physical condition, with their preparation for the last-eight clash in Concepcion disrupted by illness.

Brazil took the lead through Robinho on Saturday but were pegged back by a Derlis Gonzalez penalty, with the same player scoring the decisive spot-kick for Paraguay in the shootout.

•Dunga

History repeats as Dunga's men bow out

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A R A G U A Y returned to haunt Brazil once more at the Copa America, knocking out Dunga’s side on penalties 4-3 in their quarterfinal in Concepcion on Saturday.

After failing to score from the spot in their 2-0 shootout loss to the Paraguayans at the same stage four years ago, Brazil once again fluffed their lines when it mattered - with Everton Ribeiro and Douglas Costa crucially missing.

Robinho put Brazil ahead after 15 minutes, but Derlis Gonzalez’s penalty midway through the second half ensured normal time fin-

ished 1-1.

Justo Villar stood in Paraguay’s goal as he did four years ago in Argentina, and Ribeiro and Douglas Costa both missed the target with the custodian not required to keep them out.

Roque Santa Cruz could have sealed it with Paraguay ’s fourth kick, but he missed - however, Gonzalez buried his second penalty of the day to send them through to a semi-final against Argentina.

The fixture marked Brazil’s first knockout match of any kind since their 7-1 drubbing at the hands of Germany at the World Cup.

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015—61

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62—Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

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Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015 — 63

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RIDAY, June 25 was the final of the GT Bank sponsored Masters Cup Season 4 at the good old Onikan Stadium, Lagos.

On the invitation of Bashorun Adeyinka Augustine DC and Ifeanyi Njoku President and Secretary General respectively of the Saint Finbarrs College Old Boys Association, I set out with some pride to cheer my school to victory against old foes St Gregory’s College.

I drove to Onikan with a lot of emotions flooding back, of the old Onikan, top class secondary football competition, glory and legendary names who made football thick at academicals level in those days.

On arrival at Onikan , I was pleased with what I saw, of the attempt by GT.Bank to bring back us the era where football had its roots in schools.

Powered by Media Vision as consultants I appreciated the large turn out of students who had taken time out to relax and cheer their schools to success…..just like old times.

The sight of old boys from all the institutions was very lifting, especially the very vocal St Gregory’s Old boys whose pre match swagger and confidence I knew we were going to deflate, after all we were Saint Finbarr ’s, the Conquerors, unarguably the greatest football playing school in Nigeria one that has written several pages in the football book of our country, thanks to the immortal Irish Reverend called Dennis Joseph Slattery Winners of the Principals Cup for three consecutive years from 1971-1973 in addition to other triumphs. I remember those years very well because I was admitted in 1971 and when I left in 1975, 40 years ago this years, mine was success stories unlimited. Let me pause and mention those players that Finbarrs has given, donated to this blessed country and you will be marveled. In no particular order, Stephen Keshi, Nduka Ugbade, Samson Siasia……get the emphasis?

Godwin Odiye, Henry Nwosu, Emilio John, Tarila Okorowanta, Marcellus and Cajetan Obinatu, Fatai Amao, Tony Eyo, Senaya Bernard, Obe Adedeji, ( Oberege) Peter Egbiri, Patrick de Adinkwe, Raymond King, Oyibio, Amayo, Gerald Ibe, Paul Okoku………I could go on and on.

The Principals cup in Lagos was about Saint Finbarrs College, yes and Igbobi College, CMS Grammar School, Zumratul Islamiya, Ahmadiya College, Kings College, Methodist Boys High School, Baptist Academy….

Isaac Ibhafidon I know to be an authority in the

Saint Finbarr’s College, Principals Cup and the glory days football history of this country. His knowledge retentive capacity and precision as regarding dates and personae is uncanny and I thought he was the one I should call to relive those days the Principals Cup was not just a schools affair in Lagos. Isaac

On arrival at Onikan , I was pleased with what I saw, of the attempt by GT.Bank to bring back us the era where football had its roots in schools came alive.

Yes he said, I can afford to subjectively sing the praise of Saint Finbarr’s, but for him, the success story of the Principals Cup in the past is one that should make us bury our heads in shame.

He also remembers how every Principal cup fixture was like a cup final and thirty minutes late to kick off could not guarantee you a seat at Onikan.

Isaac takes over. “…..You are talking of Finbarr’s, are you aware that Adokiye Amesiemeka was discovered while he was in CMS Grammar School?

Yes he was. Now let us go to Baptist Academy where Maxwell Yebufra and Newcombe Egbedi ( Texen) were their star players. Emmanuel Okaro, Frankling Howard, Okumagba, were all stars of that school.

“Cross over to Igbobi College and you had the legendary Tunde Martins. There was a popular saying then that If you beat Martins, you beat Igbobi.

All Africa Games: Nigerian athletes target gold

By Ben Efe

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IGERIAN athletes are already calculating the number of gold they can win at the All Africa Games billed for September in Congo, Brazzaville.

One of such is Patience Okon- George. She reckons that with the exit of Amantle Montsho, the African 400m champion who is serving dope suspension, the race for the All African Games title will be a straight fight between her and fellow Nigerian, Regina George who has the fastest African time in the event this season with 51. 30 seconds.

Okon-George has been training and competing in Europe and she is hopeful that before the national trials C M Y K

in late July, she would have made an improvement on the 52.

12 seconds she ran at the CAA Meet in Dakar, back in May. “Certainly every athlete’s dream is to win something at a major meet. At the All African Games, I am aiming for the gold. All things been equal it will be a race between me and Regina George,” said the Cross River born athlete.

Also Urukpe Eriyokan is nursing a similar desire in the men’s 400m. He said after winning the AFN golden league last Saturday, that his aim was to run 45 seconds as it was a guarantee for a medal at the Games. “ With the help of my coach I am going to maintain my form. I’m going for a 45 at the next Golden League. With

this I am sure of making the difference at the N a t i o n a l Championships and the All Africa Games,”said Eriyokan.

•Patience Okon George (l) and Regina George

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ENTRE Court: 13:00: (1) Novak Djokovic (Ser) v Philipp Kohlschreiber (Ger), (4) Maria Sharapova (Rus) v Johanna Konta (GB), (4) Stan Wawrinka (Swi) v Joao Sousa (Por) No1 Court: 13:00: (1) Serena Williams (US) v Margarita Gasparyan (Rus), (31) Simone Bolelli (It) v (5) Kei Nishikori (Jpn), (11) Grigor Dimitrov (Bul) v Federico Delbonis (Arg) No2 Court: 11:30: (26) Nick Kyrgios (Aus) v Diego Schwartzman (Arg), Jarkko Nieminen (Fin) v Lleyton Hewitt (Aus), Alison Riske (US) v (6) Lucie Safarova (Cz),Heather Watson (GB) v (32) Caroline Garcia (Fr) No3 Court: 11:30: (9) Marin Cilic (Cro) v Hiroki Moriya (Jpn), YiFan Xu (Chn) v (7) Ana Ivanovic (Ser), Daniel Gimeno-Traver (Sp) v (7) Milos Raonic (Can),

He was invited to the national team even when he was in school.

“I also remember that despite Martins solidity at the defence, they made a lot of final appearances but never won and were nicknamed “ soroye” saw but never conquered.

“Earlier you mentioned some schools that made Principals Cup thick, but it will not be complete without the likes of Gaskiya College, United Christian, Eko Boys High School and so on.

“From Ahmadiya College, fine footballers were on exhibition..Muyiwa Oshode, Edward Akika, Empire Kanu and Tunde Disu “Haruna Ilerika was the most famous ambassador of Zumratul, but we also had Emmanuel Igbeka, Aziz Ajalla, Edema Bensonand Tajudeen Ajagun who was the twin striking partner of Haruna.

“Sam Owo in Gregs, Ricky Manuwa in Kings College and Sunday Oliseh from Methodist Boys High School are just some of the players that held sway then” Isaac added.

He also informed that some of the best coaches in the land then pitched their tents with the schools as the legendary Eto Amaechina took time off his ACB team to coach Finbarrs, Laloko was also on the Finbarr’s and Gregs bench, Tony Obi tinkered Baptist Academy while Mike Malagu coached Ugbade in Finbarr’s.

How come we had so much quality then and not now? I wondered.

Back to Onikan. I come awake as the two finalist teams ( Finbarr ’s and Gregs file out with old boys ringing out school songs at the top of their voices.

The match kicks off……not the standard of old…….can I spot any potential U-17 player here?

I struggle to find one as Gregs put pressure on my Alma mata…….suddenly against the run of play, we are one goal up…” With our grand old team to play for us…tralalalallallaa if you read the history….its enough to make your heart to cheeeeeer for we do not care whether we win or lose or draw....…..” I stop singing as Gregs equalize…..go on to add two more and carry away the cup….” ......It can only happen in 2015, not in those good old days.

I leave satisfied, grateful to Guarantee Trust, and to all those in the vanguard of returning sports to schools. therein lies the foundation of our growth.

No short cut to victory.

See you next week.

Order of play at the Wimbledon Championships for Monday Madison Brengle (US) v (16) Venus Williams (US) Court 12: 11:30: Anett Kontaveit (Est) v (23) Victoria Azarenka (Blr), Go Soeda (Jpn) v (17) John Isner (US), Danka Kovinic (Mne) v (22) Samantha Stosur (Aus), Lucas Pouille (Fr) v (14) Kevin Anderson (SA) Court 18: 11:30: Liam Broady (GB) v Marinko Matosevic (Aus), (30) Belinda Bencic (Swi) v Tsvetana Pironkova (Bul), Luke Saville (Aus) v (21) Richard Gasquet (Fr), Shelby Rogers (US) v (14) Andrea Petkovic (Ger) Court 5: 11:30: Timea Babos (Hun) v Petra Cetkovska (Cz), Alexandra Dulgheru (Rou) v Kristina Mladenovic (Fr), Juan Monaco (Arg) v Florian Mayer (Ger), Hsieh Suwei (Twi) v Kaia Kanepi (Est)

Court 6: 11:30: Andreas Haider-Maurer (Aut) v Ricardas Berankis (Lit), Vitalia Diatchenko (Rus) v Anna-Lena Friedsam (Ger), Victor Estrella Burgos (Dom) v Benjamin Becker (Ger), Daria Gavrilova (Aus) v (29) Irina-Camelia Begu (Rou) Court 7: 11:30: Janko Tipsarevic (Ser) v Marcel Granollers (Sp), Darija Jurak (Cro) / Ana Konjuh (Cro) v Jelena Jankovic (Ser) / Mirjana LucicBaroni (Cro), Edina Gallovits-Hall (US) v Urszula Radwanska (Pol), (28) Pablo Cuevas (Uru) v Denis Kudla (USA).

Court 8: 11:30:Dudi Sela (Isr) v (32) Dominic Thiem (Aut), (9) Carla Suarez Navarro (Spa) v Jelena Ostapenko (Lat), Dusan Lajovic (Ser) v Tommy Haas (Ger).

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015

Federer wants 8th Wimbledon title T may not be I something Roger Federer or Stan PSG plot Wawrinka have thought much about, but there is the middling possibility at these championships Continues on Page 59

Eagles may not qualify for AFCON 2017— Oliseh

190m Euro Neymar swoop

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A

ARIS Saint-Germain are eyeing a huge move to sign Neymar from Barcelona in the summer of 2016. The French champions are not scared of paying the buyout clause of €190m for the Brazilian, who they want to replace Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Continues on Page 59

•Neymar

FORMER Super Eagles Captain, Sunday Oliseh, has said Nigeria may, for the umpteenth time, miss out on qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Eagles were unable to qualify for the 2015 AFCON held in Equatorial Guinea and according to Oliseh, if the disturbing events that has trailed the first

Paraguay match-winner hit by tragedy —P.62

SUCKER PUNCH...It wasn’t all one way traffic as Vargas, who was stepping up in weight, collects Bradley with a strong left hand. See story on Page 59

All Africa Games: Nigerian athletes target gold —P.63

NPFL Results Akwa 1 - 1 Warri Bayelsa 2 - 0 Kwara Enugu 1 - 0 Sunshine Enyimba 2 - 0 Nasarawa Gabros 0 - 1 Wikki Giwa 3 - 1 El Kanemi Kano 2 - 2 Dolphins Lobi 2 - 0 A/Warriors Sharks 1 - 1 Heartland Taraba 1 - 1 Shooting

QUICK CROSSWORD

TODAY'S

PUZZLE

FRI DAY'S FRIDAY'S

ANSWERS

Across: 1 Boredom (6) 5 Undergo (6) 8 Sham (8) 9 Pain (4) 10 Border (3) 12 Skilful (5) 15 Stray (3) 17 Donkey (3) 18 Vase (3) 19 Noise (3) 20 Recognised (5) 21 Pull (3) 22 Wrath (3) 23 Stretch (3) 24 Ocean (3) 26 Fear (5) 29 Decay (3) 33 Idol (4) 34 Plea (8) 35 Robust (6) 36 Account (6)

Down: 2 Weird (5) 3 Jot (4) 4 Booby-trapped (5) 5 Precipitous (5) 6 Insipid (4) 7 Anaesthetic (5) 10 Hell (5) 11 Madness (5) 12 Enquired (5) 13 Elicit (5) 14 Adjusted (5) 15 Go in (5) 16 Correct (5) 25 Happening (5) 27 Shrill (5) 28 Performer (5) 30 Exterior (5) 31 Acid (4) 32 Jump (4)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS Across: 1, Damp 4, Pod 6, Made 8, Corner 9, Insist 10, Top 12, Catch 14, Brook 15, Hello 18, Severe 20, Wreath 24, Tenor 26, Crate 28, Erase 30, Pep 32, Bitter 33, Latent 34, Oral 35, Win 36, Crew.

Down: 2, Aroma 3, Panache 4, Part 5, Drip 6, Miser 7, Distort 11, Oil 12, Cos 13, Her 16, Let 17, Own 19, Earlier 21, Roe 22, Erratic 23, Hue 25, Ewe 27, Total 29, Since 30, Prow 31, Plan.

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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