2015: pdp hands over party structures to govs

...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 62266

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014**

Mr & Mrs

2015: PDP hands overparty structures to govs•Presidency, party empower them to choose successors•Governors free to go to Senate but must return Jonathan•Abacha, Murtala Muhammed's sons gun for Kano gov

Continues on Page 5

Tambuwal: Kudosto Police •P.47

COLUMNISTS:

DISPLACED PERSONS IN NIGERIA—President, American University of Nigeria (AUN) Yola, Prof. MargeeEnsign sympathizing with some Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs at Damare IDP camp in Fufore LGA of Adamawa, yesterday.Below left: A group of donors with victims of attacks in Riyom LGA of Plateau State after donating relief materials to them,yesterday. Below right: Imam Abubakar Hussaini (R) preaching during a special prayer for peace and an end to insurgency inNigeria at Yola praying ground also yesterday. Photos: NAN.

INSIDE

TOMORROW

By Soni Daniel &Henry Umoru

ABUJA—THE People’s Democratic

Party (PDP) governorshave won a major victoryover the party's leader-ship ahead of the 2015elections by securing thenod of the Presidency to

•P.40

Inequity in govt'srevenue drive

NBA, NLC, Falanablast FG, Policeover removal ofTambuwal'ssecurity aides 4

MUBI: BokoHaram still incontrol as3,000 relocate

9

Ward congresses magnify PDP's crises nationwide7

CMYK

2 — Vanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014 — 3

CMYK


NBA, NLC blast FG, police for removalof Tambuwal's security aides

JONATHAN CONDOLES WITH ALAMIEYESEIGHA: President Goodluck Jonathan (left)and former Bayelsa State governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha during the president’s condolencevisit to Alamieyeseigha over the death of his son, Oyamuyefa, in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, yesterday.

Call action shameful, unconstitutional; Falana petitions IGPNIGERIA BarAssociation, NBA and

Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC,weekend berated the FederalGovernment and the Police overThursday’s removal of securityaides of the Speaker of the Houseof Representatives, Alhaji AminuTambuwal, for defecting to AllProgressives Congress, APC,describing the removal asunconstitutional and shameful.

This came as human rightsactivist and Lagos lawyer, Mr.Femi Falana, petitioned theActing Inspector-General ofPolice, Suleiman Abba, accusinghim of bias in withdrawingsecurity aides to Tambuwal, andcited other instances of policebias in the country.

NBA and NLC demandedimmediate restoration ofTambuwal’s security aides and allthe rights and privileges accruingto the Office of the Speaker,insisting that it was not aboutTambuwal, but the office.

NLC demands restoration ofsecurity aides

NLC in a statement by its GeneralSecretary, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson,titled “Nothing should happen toTambuwal”, wondered why thesecurity aides of Governor SegunMimiko of Ondo State and AliModu-Sheriff, former governor ofBorno State respectively, were notremoved when they defected tothe Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,arguing that it was nothing shortof double standard.

According to the statement; “Weat the Nigeria Labour Congressare appalled by the withdrawal ofsecurity details of the Speaker ofthe House of Representatives,Alhaji Aminu Tambuwalostensibly because he haddefected to the All ProgressivesCongress, APC. The act isshameful, distasteful,unconstitutional and demonstratesour parochial sense of power andvery little knowledge of history. Nopart of the Nigerian constitutionsays the Speaker of the House ofRepresentatives should comefrom the majority party. Section50(1)(b) only says, “There shall bea Speaker and a Deputy Speakerof the House of Representatives,who shall be elected by themembers of that House fromamong themselves.

“In the Second Republic, theSpeaker of the House ofRepresentatives, Chief EdwinUme-Ezeoke was elected from theranks of NPP, not just anopposition party, but the thirdstrong, after UPN and NPN. Wehave other precedents across theworld. We find it appropriate tocite the examples of Mimiko andAli Modu-Sheriff, governor ofOndo State and former governorof Borno State, respectively.Their security details were notwithdrawn when they defectedto the PDP.

''In the light of the foregoing,we demand immediate restoration

By Victor Ahiuma-Young,Simon Ebegbulem, GabrielEnogholase & Johnbosco

Agbakwuru

of Tambuwal’s security detailand all the rights and privilegesthat accrue to the Office of theSpeaker. It is not aboutTambuwal, it is about the officewhich he holds. And in any case,only few, arguably, will contestthat he has not discharged andacquitted himself as speaker. Wewould like to be on record thatwe will not fold our hands whilelittle minds threaten our hard-earned democracy. Nothingshould happen to Tambuwal.”

NBA berates PoliceSimilarly, speaking in Benin

yesterday after a meeting of theMidwest Bar Forum, Presidentof NBA, Augustine Alegeh,SAN, argued that the policewere wrong by removingsecurity aides attached to thespeaker because the policelacked jurisdictional competenceto determine whether or notthere had been a breach of theconstitution in the defection ofthe speaker to the APC.

According to him, “Section 68of the constitution enumeratesthe procedure to be adopted bythe National Assembly when amember defects from one partyto another. Unless and until thatprocedure is followed andadopted, Aminu Tambuwalremains speaker of the Houseof Representatives. We havestated clearly that the police lacksjurisdictional competence todetermine whether or not therehas been a breach of theconstitution. That duty is afunction of the court. There is noprovision in our constitution thatsays if you are in PDP or APCand you defect to another partyyou automatically lose yourposition of leadership of theHouse.

“There is nothing in ourconstitution that says thespeaker of the House orpresident of the Senate mustcome from the ruling party, allthat must happen is that majorityof members of the House mustvote for him.

Falana accuses police ofpartiality

Falana, in a petition titled“Illegal policing of therepublic”, accused the IGP ofengaging in partisan politicsto the detriment of law andorder in the country, givingthree instances, among others.

According to the petition, first;“The Osun State governorshipelection, which took place onAugust 9, 2014 was almostmarred by the Police and othersecurity forces which arrestedand detained over 700 leadersof the APC. Indeed, someelectoral officers who wereassumed to be members of the

APC were also railroaded topolice custody. But for thepersonal intervention ofProfessor Attahiru Jega, theChairman of the IndependentNational Electoral Commission,INEC, the said electoral officerswould not have been released.Thus, the election would havebeen disrupted by the police andother security forces whose dutyit was to maintain law and orderduring the democratic exercise.However, the detained APCleaders who were released afterthe election have not beencharged to court for breachingthe provisions of the Electoral Actor any other law whatsoever.

“Second, Mr. Joseph Mbu, thecontroversial Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge ofZone 7 of the Nigeria PoliceForce announced a ban any rallydemanding for#bringbackourgirls within thefederal capital territory. The banwas designed to assuage thefeelings of some officials of theFederal Government who areembarrassed by being remindedof their constitutional duty ofrescuing the over 200 Chibokgirls who were abducted 6months ago by the nihilist BokoHaram sect. In a judgmentdelivered last week, the FederalCapital Territory High Courtdeclared the ban illegal, null andvoid on the ground that itconstituted an infringement ofthe fundamental rights of thepatriotic campaigners to freedomof assembly and expressionguaranteed by the Constitution.In spite of the judicial indictmentyou have not deemed it fit to callMr. Mbu to order for the recklessabuse of police powers.

“Third, you caused thesecurity details of AminuTambuwal, the Speaker of theHouse of Representatives to bewithdrawn last week on theground that he had decampedfrom the PDP to the APC. As ifthat was enough, you decidedto usurp the judicial powers ofthe federation which areexclusively vested in the courtsby section 6 of the Constitutionwhen you claimed that theSpeaker had lost his office andseat as a federal legislatorhaving contravened section 68(1) (g) of the Constitution. Byyour illegal pronouncementyou disregarded section 50 (2)(c) thereof which stipulates thatthe Speaker of the House ofRepresentatives can only beremoved by a resolutionpassed by votes on not lessthan two thirds majority of themembers of the House.”

Subjecting Tambuwal toselective persecution

Continuing, Mr. Falananoted that “no doubt, youractions and utterances in thecircumstance have exposed thePolice to unwarranted ridiculeas Nigerians are not unawareof the fact that when the OndoState legislators elected on theplatform of the Labour Party, LP,decamped to the PDP lastmonth your office did notdeclare their seats vacant. Inparticular, you did notwithdraw the security details ofJumoke Akindele, the Speakerwho led her colleagues todump the LP for the PDP. Inthe same vein, Ahmadu Fintiri,the Speaker of the AdamawaState House of Assembly and

his colleagues who decamped fromthe PDP to the APC and have sincereturned to PDP. You did not havecause to declare their seats vacant.Neither have you withdrawn thesecurity details of the Fintiri.

“Thus, by subjecting AminuTambuwal to selective persecutionon ground that he decamped fromthe ruling party you violated hisfundamental right to freedom fromdiscrimination. As you are no doubtaware, it is a breach of section 42(1) of the Constitution and Article2 of the African Charter on Humanand Peoples’ Rights to subject anycitizen of Nigeria of a politicalopinion to disabilities, deprivationand restrictions to which othercitizens who hold alternative viewsor opinions are not made subject.Since the security details of otherSpeakers who decamped from theAPC and LP to the PDP have notbeen withdrawn those of Tambuwalwere illegally withdrawn. Theyought to be restored without anyfurther delay.

“From the information at mydisposal your harassment of theSpeaker was instigated by thePresidency. But having regard tosection 215 (3) of the Constitutionwhich enjoins you to carry out the“lawful directions” of thePresident of the Republic withrespect to the maintenance andsecuring of public safety andpublic order the actions taken onthe Speaker are illegal andunconstitutional in every materialparticular.

''Therefore, you shouldwithdraw your pronouncementon the office and seat ofTambuwal and advise the rulingparty to seek redress in the FederalHigh Court on the constitutionalimplications of the defection.''

POCKET CARTOONVanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014—5

2015: PDP hands overparty structures to govs

Continues from page 1

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

control the politicalstructures in their states.

Under the new ar-rangement, which waswrapped up at the week-end, the outgoing gover-nors have been given thego-ahead to pick theirsuccessors and also gofor any other office oftheir choice providedthey ensure maximumsupport for PresidentGoodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid.

The new developmentwill enable no fewer thanseven PDP governorspick their successors andalso go to the Senatenext year.

A top PDP official toldVanguard, yesterday thatPresident Jonathan di-rected the NationalChairman of the party,Alhaji Adamu Muazu, tohand over the politicalstructures in the respec-tive states to the gover-nors.

The development,which has effectivelystrengthened the gover-nors against all othercontenders in their re-spective states, is how-ever, against the party’searlier position to allowa level playing field forall aspirants to contestthe election.

Muazu, it was learnt,had maintained that po-sition until Friday after-noon when the Presi-dency reportedly askedhim to allow the gover-nors to have their way soas to give the President100 per cent support dur-ing his election.

The national chairmanwas reported to have in-sisted that the partystructures should bemanaged by the nationalleadership of the party toensure that every aspir-

ant had a sense of equityand justice.

Muazu had agreedwith the governors to ei-ther choose their succes-sors or go to the Senaterather than take the twosimultaneously in ordernot to generate bad bloodamong the otherstakeholders in the re-spective states.

Powers of agovernor

However, the Presi-dency is said to havebeen warned by politicalstrategists to reverse theposition of the NationalWorking Committee(NWC) headed byMuazu to win the sup-port of the governors de-scribed as the key deter-minants of his victory.

The presidential direc-tive may have been re-sponsible for the freedomgiven to most of the gov-ernors to decide on thedelegate lists of their re-spective states to be usedin choosing candidatesfor the different electionsslated for next year.

President Jonathan hadtwo weeks ago alluded tothe enormous powers ofgovernors in decidingthe fate of the Presidentin presidential primaryelection.

He said: “The PDP con-stitution as currentlypractised gives a lot ofroom for the governors toinfluence the election ofthe President. So, if agovernor who claims tosupport you cannot giveyou at least 70 per centof the votes, then youshould know that thatgovernor does not meanwell for you.”

Rat race in statesIn spite of the new di-

rective from the Presi-dency, a host of the as-pirants are upbeat ontheir chances ahead ofthe November 29 gover-norship primaries, if thenumber of those whohave bought the PDPnomination forms is any-thing to go by.

The PDP national lead-ership last Thursday ex-tended the sale of formsfor governorship, senato-rial, House of Repre-sentatives and statehouses of assembly elec-tions.

Vanguard gathered atthe PDP National Secre-tariat that there wasshortage of forms for as-pirants, while the StateExecutive Committeeswere alleged to be hoard-ing the forms, only to re-turn them unused at theend of the exercise.

PDP National PublicitySecretary, Olisa Metuh,last Thursday announcedthat the National Work-ing, NWC, had extendedthe deadline for the saleof nomination forms forall categories of aspir-ants, which according tothe party, ought to haveclosed on October 30. Headded that sale of formswill now end this week.

24 PDP aspirantsbattle for gover-norship in Rivers

For the Rivers race, 24aspirants, as of last Fri-day had purchased theirexpression of interestand nomination forms tocontest on the platform ofthe PDP for the seat pres-ently occupied by Gover-nor Chibuike Amaechi ofthe All Progressives Con-gress (APC).

They are:Mr. Nyesom WikeDr. Silva OrusunjuBernard Barida MikkoEmmanuel GeorgewillBiobele OdesolaCapt. Nwankwo Sun-

day FridayAbu Atedogh HartGabriel PidomsonIbinabo Michael WestAlabo Samuel

HorsefallBaridam MondayNgerebara AdamuEngr. Reynolds

Dagago-JackDuno Lulu-BriggsPrince Tonye PrincewillAtamuno AtamunoDumbari DimkpaFafaa Dan-PrincewillNimisoere Welson-JackOseleya Dominic

OjukaMajor Lancelot

Anyanya (rtd)Senator Lee MaebaTamununosis Gogo

Jaja

Oden Ajumogobia.

It’s 22 for Delta

In Delta State, thosewho want Dr. EmmanuelUduaghan’s job andhave purchased the PDPforms include:

Victor OcheiSenator Ifeanyi OkowaOvie Omoh-AgegeTony Chucks ObuhProfessor Sylvester

MonyeSenator Emmanuel

AguariavwodoElder Godsday

OrubebeOlorogun Kenneth

GbagiMrs Esther UduehiAndrew WarriNdudi Godwin

ElumeluOpone Johnson OssaiDr. Akwara OghenovoPrince Sam ObiNdidi Rose Ofonwe

AbunamNgozi OlejemeDavid EdevbieGodswill Monday

ObielumC h a r l e s

ChukwuemekaChief Gabriel

Chukwuma Oyibode

Akwa Ibom: PDP gets25 governorship racers

In Akwa Ibom, there isa litany of 25 PDP hope-fuls angling to succeedGovernor GodswillAkpabio. In this leagueare:

Senator Helen EsueneO. EttehNsima EkereUmana Okon UmanaObong Bassey AlbertIme Bassey AlbertBenjamin OkokoUdom EmmanuelAsuquo Asuquo OkonDavid Stephen OkonEkpenyong Eyo

NtekimObong Bassey A.

AkpanProf. Richard Peters

KingPastor Ita Uno UdohEffiong Etim Abia.Amb. Assam Ekanem

AssamBishop Samuel AkpanDr. Samuel UdonsakOkon IkpongDr. Jerome IsanngedihiIme Effiong EkanemAnietie Jonny UUdom Gabriel

EmmanuelLady Roberta NyongLawrence Bassey EsinEffiong UsimDr. Peter EsuhMichael EtukEngr. Patrick Akpan

Imo: 22 forOkorocha’s jugu-lar

Those who want to sackGovernor RochasOkorocha of Imo State onthe platform of the PDPare 22, namely:

Senator IfeanyiAraraume

Chuka OdomChief Ikedi OhakimSenator Christiana

AnyanwuEmeka Ihedioha

Chief CharlesOnyeabbako

Evang. Chris BrownAmadi

Senator BrightNwanne

Ifeyinwa MaureenOkafor

Dr. Obioma AgomuwaAmb. Obinna AdimHumphrey AnumuduProf. Jude NjokuKen Njemanze (SAN)Bethel Nnameka

AmadiChief Mike Ahamba

(SAN)Ken OjiriChief Clara NjokuDr. Charles AmangeDr. Julius KpaduwaChief Jerry

ChukwuekeObioma Success

Akagburouke

Abacha, MurtalaMohammed’s chil-dren enliven racein Kano

For Kano State, thosewho want to succeed Gov-ernor Rabiu Kwankwasoon the banner of the PDPare sons of two formermilitary heads of state –Mohammed Sani Abacha(late General SaniAbacha’s son) and AbbaRisqua MurtalaMuhammed (son of lateGeneral MurtalaMuhammed) as well asAhmed Mansur.

Niger: 10 seekAliyu’s ‘anoint-ing’

There are 10 aspirantsjostling to succeed Gov-ernor Aliyu MuazuBabanginda of NigerState.

The aspirants are:Umar Mohammed

NaskoPeter Ndobake GanaAlhaji Sale SahabiAhmed Musa IbetoCol. Aminu Kontagora

(rtd)Muazu Sarkin Sudan

HamfiMustapha BelloSenator Nuhu AliyuAlhaji Garba Moham-

med DukkuAlhaji Mohammed

Yahaya.

The hot race inOyo

Those who purchasedthe PDP forms and wantto stop Senator AbiolaAjimobi of the APC fromgetting a second term inOyo State are:

Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala

Senator Teslim FolarinOluseyi Abiodun

MakindeDr. Owolabi BabalolaProf. Taoheed AdedojaEngr. Femi BabalolaProf. David AdejumoAlhaji Hakeem

GbolarumiDr. Azeez AdeduntanAyo Ademola Adeseun

In Benue, it’s 18-man contest

The 18 contenders jos-tling for the PDP ticket totake over from GovernorGabriel Suswam inBenue are:

Dr. Samuel OrtomSamuel OdeChief Steven LawaniProf. David KerChief Mike AondoakaaDr. Eugene AliegbaAdum Alex TeraEngr. Roseline Ada

ChengeDr. Matthias OyigeyaTerhemen TarzooComrade Simon

AnchaverGabriel Twuhrm NyitseEngr. Felix AtumeDr. James Twwuhe

MbachintinPrince Anov Akhayar

UwoukiTerhemba NongoDr. Terhemba Shija

Abia: 11 hopefulsfight for PDPticket

In Abia State, the 11hoping to win the PDPflag and thereafter con-test the governorshipelection to succeed Gov-ernor Theodore Orji are:

Senator EnyinnayaAbaribe

Senator NkechiNwaogu

Dr. UchechikwuSampson Ogah

F.N. NwosuChief Chukwuemeka

WoguDr. Okezie IkpeazuOrji Iheanacho OkezieEric Acho NwakanmaAmb. Okechukwu

EmuchayDr. Alex OttiMarc Wabara.

"Things turn out best for people who make thebest out of the way things turn out.”

HAVING and maintaining a positive attitude isvital for success in life and business. Zig Ziglar

gets it right when he says, “It is your attitude, notyour aptitude that determines your altitude.”

Sure you need skills, but you can learn skills, keep-ing a positive attitude will make it much more likelythat you will learn the skills necessary to succeed.

If you take two people with equal skill, the personwith the better attitude will win. Unfortunately it isnot always easy to stay positive and keep a goodattitude.

As challenging moments come throughout yourday, it is easy to let negative thoughts slips throughunconsciously but really practicing gratitude helpskeep a positive outlook, and this could be throughprayer, meditation, reading uplifting books or sim-ply being grateful for life’s moments.

Remember, that you can’t start the next chapter ofyour life if you keep re-reading your last one.


Cattle rustlers kill 42 in ZamfaraWifebatheshusbandwith acidin Enugu

CULTURAL FESTIVAL: Cultural dance groups at the 2014 Zaar (Sayawa) annual culturalfestival in Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State on Saturday. Photo: NAN.

EFCC docks branch manager over N10m scam

MEND’s alleged threat: Coroner Inquestmust continue — ARTHUR WORREY

GUSAU—NO fewer than 42 people were reported

to have been killed at GidanKaso town of Birnin MagajiLocal Government area ofZamfara State by a group ofsuspected cattle rustlers, whileproperties worth millions of nairawere also destroyed.

The tragedy, which was nothappening for the first timeoccured when the herdsmenlaunched an attack on the villageand commanded the villagers toeither surrender their animals tothem or be killed.

Some of them complied withthe directive, but those whorefused to obey were instantlyfired at, resulting in their death,while others, in an attempt toescape got serious injuries.

An eye witness told Vanguardthat the cause of the attack came,following the killing of one of theherdsmen whose colleaguesvowed vengeance.

“For the past 20 days now,these people have beenthreatening the residents of thistown that they will attack it, andsince then, the people have notbeen themselves, following thefear put in their minds by thethreat,” eye witness said.

It was also revealed that on theday of the attack, the hoodlumssuddenly entered the town afterdestroying the farm produce ofthe residents who now felt thatthe only option to them was tolaunch a counter attack on thehoodlums.

“Immediately the hoodlumsentered the town, they openedfive indiscriminately on whoeverthey came across, irrespective ofsex, as one woman was amongthose killed,” explained SahabiMai Taya, a resident of the town,who narrowly escaped death.

Sahabi said he lost one of hisrelatives in the attack and thatall his farm produce were

destroyed by the criminals, whoup to the time of filing in thisreport were at large.

Numbering about 80, thesuspects were also said to havewielded dangerous weapons,including AK47 rifles, axes,sharp knives and cutlassesamong others.

The town was desertedwhen our reporter visited, asthose who survived the attackhad moved out along with

their remaining animals.Chairman of the council,

Alhaji Aminu Sani Jaja, toldVanguard that only 15 peoplewere killed and three housesburnt, including that of thechairman of the vigilante groupin the area.

Jaja stated that those killedhad since been buried, whilethose injured were receivingtreatment at various healthinstitutions in the council.

He called on the entire people,particularly the affected town, toalways report any suspiciouscharacter to the nearest authorities,and also continue to pray for peacein not only the town, or localgovernment, but also the state andnation in general.

All efforts to talk to thespokesperson of the state policecommand, DSP Lawal Abdullahi,proved abortive as all his phonelines were switched off.

By Salisu Maradun

E N U G U — Ahousewife in

Enugu State hasallegedly bathed herhusband with a substancesuspected to be acidduring a serious quarrelover an unresolved issue.

The woman (nameswithheld) was reported tohave fled her home aftercommitting the dastardlyact.

State Police PublicRelations Officer, PPRO,Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, whoconfirmed the incidentyesterday, saidinvestigations hadcommenced in full scaleto establish thec i r c u m s t a n c e ssurrounding the act.

He added that effortshad also been intensifiedto ensure that the suspectis arrested and brought tobook.

“The suspect and victimare all living in the samecompound until theunfortunate incident whichc o u n f o u n d e dsympathizers.

“It was gathered that onthe said day, October 21st,in their premises atUmuezebi Nsukka around7pm, suspect had allegedlypoured a corrosive liquidsubstance believed to beacid on the 30-year-oldvictim, identified as OnahVictor, over an unresolvedissue between the victimand the suspect.''

By Austin Ogwuda

EXECUTIVE Secretary ofLagos State Security Trust

Fund, LSSTF, Fola Arthur-Worrey,yesterday called for continuationof the Coroner Inquestinvestigating the collapse of aguest house within theSynagogue Church of All Nations,SCOAN, on September 12, whichclaimed 116 lives.

His call came against thebackdrop of an e-mail purportedlysent by Movement for theEmancipation of the NigerDelta, MEND, whichthreatened an imminent attackat the venue, Ikeja High Court.

Speaking with Vanguard on the

ENUGU—THE South-East zonal office of

Economic and Financial CrimesCommission, EFCC, in Enuguhas arraigned the branchManager of Bestworth Assetsand Trust Limited Benin City,Mr. Justus Imona Russell, overN10 million scam.

He was arraigned last Fridaybefore Justice C.F. Ikponmwenof the State High Court 2, BeninCity, Edo State on a four-countcharge of obtaining by falsepretence and forgery.

His arrest was sequel to apetition by Professor AustinObasohan of Bupa MedicalCentre, Benin City, who allegedthat he made an investment withBestworth Assets and TrustLimited for the purchase ofshares through the company’sBenin branch Manager, Mr.Justus Imona Russell, to the tuneof N10 million.

EFCC prosecutors told thecourt that at the time of maturitywhen Obasohan demanded forpayment of his money, he wastold by Russell that it was beingrolled over for another threemonths due to a problem beingexperienced by the company.

“After three months when hefurther requested for his N10million, the company informed

him that there was no record ofhis transaction in their systemand that the manager may havecarried out the transaction inhis personal capacity or that hemay have terminated histransaction with the company.

“Investigations into theallegations revealed that JustusImona Russell’s appointmentwith Bestworth was terminatedin November, 2011, and while

the business transaction took placeon May 31, 2012.

“That Justus Imona Russell wasstill transacting business in thename of Bestworth Assets and TrustLimited, using all documentsbearing Bestworth Premium Fundwhich he gave to ProfessorObasohan to give the impressionthat the Money was investedwith Bestworth Assets Limited,”the prosecutors said.

alleged threat by the Niger Del-ta militant group to attack theCoroner Court, Arthur-Worreyurged the police and othersecurity agencies to takeappropriate steps in securinglives and property at the court.

He said: “We must not allowanybody to have impression thathe is above the law, whetherpresidents visit him or not. Thisis a local issue, it is about localplanning. The process at thecoroner inquest is bound by thelaw, even Jesus said give untoCaesar what is Caesar’s.

“The process should continue.We must not as a country begoverned by threats. We mustbe governed by the rule of law.''

B A U C H I —G E N E R AT O R

fumes have reportedly killedtwo brothers in Tafawa Balewalocal government area ofBauchi State.

The victims, SalmanuAdamu, 27 and SuleimanuAdamu, 29, who are sons of atraditional ruler known asAdamu Sarkin Dimsini, diedinside the well in the familycompound.

The brothers were instructedby their father to clean the wellwith the aid of a generatorpumping machine.

The deceased brothers took thegenerator inside the well to pumpout the dirty water when tragedystruck.

Their father, Adamu, it waslearned, became suspicious whenhis sons did not come out of thewell after some hours.

It was later discovered that thebrothers suffocated to death due toemission of carbon monoxide fromthe generator, which filled the well.

Confirming the incident, the StatePolice Public Relation Officer, DSPHaruna Mohammed, said Policedetectives attached to BununuDivision visited the scene of theincident and evacuated the victimsto the hospital for autopsy.

Generator fumes kill twobrothers in Bauchi

By Suzan Edeh

By Austin Ogwuda

By Bartholomew Madukwe


Ward congresses magnify PDPcrises across the country

VISIT: From left; 1st Deputy Patron, Kaduna Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Minesand Agriculture, KADCCIMA, Alhaji Anwalu Makarfi; Patron, KADCCIMA, Alhaji AbiduYazid; President, KADCCIMA, Dr. Abdul Bello and Vice President Namadi Sambo during acourtesy call on the Vice President by KADCCIMA, at the presidential villa in Abuja.

THERE were indicationsyesterday that the Peoples

Democratic Party, PDP could befactionalised in many states onaccount of last weekend’s wardcongresses.

The ward congresses were heldto elect three ward delegates tojoin statutory delegates who arethe primary constituency for thenomination of candidates forelective offices at the federal andstate levels.

At the end of last Saturday’sexercise, the party was sharplydivided in several states onaccount of alleged malpracticesand sharp practises whichallegedly characterised theexercise.

In several states, losers allegedthat there were no congresseswhile those who won claimed thatthe congresses were peaceful.

No congresses in Abia,senators allege

All three incumbent senators inAbia, Senators UcheChukwumerije, Nkechi Nwaoguand Enyininnya Abaribe in a jointstatement with some otherstakeholders, including formermanaging director of DiamondBank, Dr. Alex Otti claimed thatthere were no congresses in AbiaState, a claim that was sharplyrebuffed by Governor TheodoreOrji who claimed that thecongresses held throughout thestate peacefully.

Chime's loyalists cry foulIn Enugu State, loyalists of

Governor Sullivan Chime criedfoul, alleging that there were nocongresses on account of thepurported “hijack” of thematerials, a claim robustlyrebuffed by the acting chairmanof the party, Mr. David Aja, aloyalist of Senator IkeEkweremadu, the deputypresident of the Senate. Ajaaffirmed that the congresses heldthroughout the state under hiswatch as approved by the nationalsecretariat.

The Chime faction wasyesterday preparing a petition tobe sent to the national secretariatto disclaim the assertion of a freeand fair congress.

16 gov aspirants boycottcongresses in Rivers

In Rivers State, where 16 of thegubernatorial aspirants boycottedthe ward congresses on theallegation that the state executivehad skewed the process in favourof Nyesom Wike, former ministerof state (education), the aggrievedaspirants yesterday reiteratedtheir claim that there was nocongress throughout the state.

By Marie-Therese Nanlong,Daud Olatunji, Tom Moses,John Mkom & Francis Igata

Barr. Soalabo West, who spokefor the aspirants yesterday saidabout two thousand persons whobought the delegate forms fromthe Abuja office of the party couldnot submit them at the party’s statesecretariat in Port Harcourt as thestate leadership refused to acceptthem, saying they were notbought from the secretariat.

Their claim was rebuffed by thestate chapter chairman of theparty, Mr. Felix Obuah, who saidthe congresses were peacefullyconducted in all 319 wards.

Continuing, he said those whocalled for postponement of theexercise were agents of theopposition All ProgressivesCongress, APC.

'Kwara exercise, a fraud'In Kwara State, the majorgovernorship aspirants, includingAlhaji Jani Ibrahim and SundayBabalola were as at press time stillstudying the outcome of thecongress conducted by the SenatorIyiola Omisore-led panel, but agroup of stakeholders in the partyunder the aegis of KwaraDemocratic Assembly describedthe exercise as fraud.

The group in a statemententitled, ”Brazen Electoral FraudDuring Kwara PDP wardCongress” issued by its president,Comrade Kazeem Abiola” madeavailable to journalists in Ilorin onSunday.

Alhaji Jani Ibrahim in atelephone interview yesterdaysaid: ”We are still studying thesituation. All the complaints wehave made are being looked into,but presently we cannot give aconclusive reaction to theexercise.”

In Ebonyi State, though theexercise was generally peacefulin most sections of the state, it wasalleged that parallel congresses

were conducted in some areasincluding Amiri Ekoli ward inAfikpo South West Constituency,where a politician (namewithheld) in the presence of asenior police officer in the areaand State Security Service, SSStore the ward electoral panelmembers’ list for Afikpo South.

Parallel congresses in EbonyiVanguard learned that there

were parallel congresses in someof the wards by factions who arestill laying claim to the leadershipof the party in the state.

They claimed that the newleadership of the party in the statedid not meet the party’sguidelines for the selection of anew Chairman as the ActingChairman that took over fromChief Ugorji Ama-Oti did notresign and was still in goodcondition of health.

In Plateau State the congresseswere held in 15 of the 16 localgovernment areas while that ofPankshin Local Government Areawas cancelled on account ofalleged disagreement amongPDP chieftains in the area.

In Ondo, tooThe ward congress in Ondo

State was trailed by allegation ofparallel congresses, a claimdismissed by the newly-appointed Caretaker Chairman ofthe party, Dare Adeleke, whomonitored the congress with arepresentative of the NationalSecretariat Senator LekanMustapha.

Senator Mustapha said thecongress was peaceful.

Mustapha noted that “this is thefirst time I will witness a congressthat will be very peaceful withoutany rancour.”

Vanguard learnt that thecongress was crisis-free because

of the method adopted in theelection as agreed during ameeting with the PDP leaders andGovernor Olusegun Mimiko.

Two of the three slots were givento the new PDP members in eachward while a slot was reserved forthe Old PDP members to makethe list of 609 delegates electedacross the state yesterday.

Speaking with newsmen duringthe congress, Adelekecommended party members forconducting themselves peacefully.

However, the sacked statechairman of the party in the stateEbenezer Alabi said his executivealso conducted a parallel congressacross the state.

Alabi said the congress waswitnessed by both INEC andnational officers of the party buttheir names were not given.

Alabi said that “the only registerthat can be used for the Congressis the one in our custody andcompiled more than 30 days ago.

Confusion in AnambraThe situation in Anambra State

almost turned bloody last night ata popular hotel in Awka as thevarious factions in the state branchof the party tried to ensure thattheir delegates elected weekendwere accepted by the party.

Before the congress, there wasa letter from the headquarters ofthe Independent NationalElectoral Commission, INEC,saying it has recognized thefaction of the party led by Mr.Ejike Oguebego.

Following the letter, INEC staffmonitored the congressconducted the Oguebego factionin the 326 wards of the state.

However, an attempt by thechairman of another faction ofthe party, Prince KennethEmeakayi to question the INECdecision almost led to some

party thugs mobbing him.Before the congress, security

operatives had sealed the stateheadquarters of the PDP whereEmeakayi operated from.

At press time, a chieftain ofPDP and former deputy senatepresident, Alhaji IbrahimMantu was still meeting withsome stakeholders of the partyin the state at Finotel Hotel inAwka.

Though the final decision wasnot known yet, the Mantu-ledcommittee was said to beworking hard to accommodateall the interest groups in theparty as it observed that allowingone faction to produce all the 978ward delegates might not ensurepeaceful atmosphere.

Governorship candidate ofPDP in last year’s election in thestate, Comrade Tony Nwoyeexpressed satisfaction with theoutcome of the ward congress,describing it as free and fair.

He appealed to PDP membersto remain peaceful even in theface of any provocation.

Criticism trails Oyo congressIn Oyo State, it was learnt that

the results of last Saturday’s wardcongresses would not beannounced until all complaintsthat trailed the election wereaddressed.

Heated criticism greeted thecongress in the 33 localgovernment council areas of thestate. The complaints will be takencare of today by the party.

Ogun partially peacefulIn Ogun State, the congresses

reportedly held on a shaky noteas many of those who soughtelection as delegates could notsubmit their forms.

Vanguard learnt that though thecongresses were largely peaceful,but much of the activities were atthe party secretariat, where somedelegates who could not submittheir forms protested in themorning, a development that ledto the deployment of adetachment of mobile policemento the secretariat.

...Same in DeltaIn Delta State, the exercise was

largely peaceful and there wereno reports of serious violence ormalpractice.

Despite Akpabio's N1mlargesse to thugs, violencestill ruled the day

In Akwa Ibom State, theprospects for unity were, however,bleak on account of violence whichcharacterised the congresses inseveral parts of the state.Governor Godswill Akpabioreportedly tried to douse tensionat the state secretariat by givingout N1 million to thugs at thesecretariat, but that did not pacifythem, forcing the governor to callin policemen.

Compilation of results yetto commence in Taraba

In Taraba State, though thecongresses were held acrossthe state, Vanguard learnt thatthe compilation of the resultswas yet to commence.

Vanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014—9

FORMER Minister of Statefor Defence and

governorship aspirant on theplatform of the Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, in Lagos State, SenatorMusiliu Obanikoro, hasdenounced reports that the partyhad pruned the number ofaspirants to four, noting that alevel playing field should becreated for a successful primaries.

He also dismissed claims thathe was made a minister as acondition that he would notcontest the governorship positionin the state.

Obanikoro, who said this,yesterday, in Lagos, said he wouldreturn government to the peopleif elected governor.

His words: ''It is not true thatthe number of aspirants have beenreduced. I am not aware of that.Everyone is entitled to a levelplaying field. All of us in the raceare men of impeccable record. Wehave distinguished ourselves inour various fields. I am confidentof victory at the primaries becauseI am grassroots person, with graspof the key issues in the state.

''There was no conditionattached to my becoming a

Obanikoro calms rumblings in Lagos PDPBy Charles Kumolu

OSUN State Governor,Ogbeni Rauf

Aregbesola, has called on thepeople of Burkina Faso not toallow military rule after the exitof Blaise Compaore.

Aregbesola charged theBurkinabes to carry therevolution that oustedCompaore to its logicalconclusion by forming a nationalgovernment that will conduct

Aregbesola cautions Burkinabes on military ruleHotel, Lagos, said the BurkinaFaso situation was a signal toNigerians to gird their loins andprepare for the February 2015general elections.

He said the organisation ofelections will not come easy asthe ruling Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, will want to use forceit could muster to stay in power.

While decrying themilitarisation of election and

Federal Government’slawlessness and impunityagainst political opposition inNigeria, Aregbesola warnedpolitical office holders tocomport themselves to civil ruleso as not to give the militaryany excuse to take power as itis no longer fashionable formilitary coup in Africa.

election in the shortest timepossible.

This was even as the Speaker,House of Representatives, Hon.Aminu Tambuwal, called on allstakeholders in the Nigerianproject to get their acts togetherand ensure that a good leaderis elected for the country in2015.

Aregbesola who spoke at aVictory Colloquium at the Eko

NATCA issues21-dayultimatum toNAMA

By Lawani Mikairu

L-r: Dr Rotimi Oladele, President, NIPR/Chairman Govering Council; Engr Mansur Ahmed, formerGroup Executive Director, Stakeholder Management and Corporate Communication with Mrs OdutolaOluranti, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Information and Strategy, Lagos State and Mr. Joseph Okonma,President, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, NIPR, Lagos Branch at the first Lagos NIPR StakeholdersConference with the theme, Effective Stakeholders Engagement and Corporate Profitability, in Lagos.Photo: Akeem Salau

By Olasunkanmi Akoni

2015: APCchieftains prayfor Nigeria,Lagos

AHEAD of 2015general elections,

former head of state, Gen.Muhammadu Buhari(retd), who is also an AllProgressives Congress,APC, presidential aspirant,National Chairman of theparty, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, national leader,Bola Tinubu, GovernorBabatunde Fashola ofLagos State, Osun StateGovernor, Ogbeni RaufAregbesola, other APCgovernors and partyloyalists will Friday,November 7, gather atSolution Ground, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos to pray for thestate and Nigeria ingeneral.

The prayer crusade withthe theme: “Peace Assured”is being organized by theSoul Winners InternationalMinistries, led by CardinalJames OmolajaOdunmbaku, JP. The 2014edition will be the 10thedition of the prayercrusade. According tocoordinator of the crusade,Mr. Seyi Bamigbade, thethree-day programme willkick-off on Wednesday,November 5, 2014 withpraise and worship as wellas free health checks for allparticipants.

NIGERIAN Air TrafficC o n t r o l l e r s ’

Association, NATCA, hasissued a 21 day ultimatumto the management of theNigerian AirspaceManagement Agency,NAMA, to resolve alloutstanding labour issuesthe agency has with itsmembers or face industrialstrike. The association in acommuniqué jointly signedby President and GeneralSecretary of NATCA, VictorEyaru and Banji Olawoderespectively, issued at theend of its 43rd annualgeneral meeting andconference held in KanoState at the weekendfurther demanded that “all outstanding,unresolved and/orpending issues regardingAir Traffic Controllers’remuneration, professionalallowances and promotionand advancement inNAMA should be attendedto within 21 days witheffect from November 3,2014.”

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

FIVE days after Boko Haramterrorists seized Mubi, the

second largest town in Adamawa,the insurgents are still holding onto the town even as about 3,000residents who managed to escapehave joined other internallydisplaced persons at an NYSCcamp in Yola. Some of thesurvivors of the invasion have alsorecounted their ordeals.

Most of them who ran for safetywere students of the FederalPolytechnic, Mubi. Explaining herordeal to Vanguard in Yola,weekend, one of the students, GiftUgo, a Mass Communicationsundergraduate of the Polytechnicfrom Abia State who said she spentfour days in the bush where shehid from the prowling eyes of theinsurgents said it was a miraclethat she escaped alive.

She said: “I am based in Kadunabut schooling in FederalPolytechnic, Mubi, Adamawa. Iam studying MassCommunication. Actually, theincident happened onWednesday morning although wenever knew it would be thatserious as the jets were dropping

bombs. We had thought it wasthe usual incident that would justpass by but before we realized it,sounds of gunshots wereeverywhere. About 150 studentsran to Cameroon border and wereaccommodated by theCameroonian soldiers but wedecided to stay back in the hostelto see how safe it would be untilthey called us that an HND 1Accounting student had beenkilled. We were told that the crisisspread into the school premisesas the university had been burntdown while the next target wouldbe the Polytechnic.

“We had to run for our lives.We tried to get to where we couldget a vehicle because the roadshad been taken over by theinsurgents. We saw them with oureyes. They have blocked all theaccess roads leading to the town,so nobody could leave or enterthe town. The moment you comeinto the town, you are sure youare going to die and if you wereinside the city, you had to run foryour life because nowhere is safeinside Mubi right now. We havenot been eating anything. Wewere just taking water withthorns piecing through our legs.

Walking in the bush for four dayshas not been easy for us.”

Another student, QueenSamuel, an indigene of BenueState, studying Purchasing andSupply, also shared herexperience. She said, “we havebeen running, we have lostalmost everything. We trekked allthe way from Mubi to Hong andgot a cab that took us here. Thesituation in Mubi was very, veryterrible. Immediately we left, welearned that the insurgents hadburnt our hostel. There were gunshots and bomb blastseverywhere. We saw the BokoHaram people from the bushwhere we were hiding. Two ofthem were on a motor bike andsome were riding in Keke Napep(tricycle) armed with guns, so wehid. It was by the grace of Godthat they didn’t see us. We spentthree days in the bush. There wasno security there at all in thetown.

Debora Fandum and SamuelKasinda, both from Mubi whomVanguard met at DamareJunction, a suburb of Yola saidthat though they escaped, theywere still confused over whereto go or what next to do.

Meanwhile, the number ofInternally Displaced Persons,IDPs, who were mainly victimsof Boko Haram insurgency inYola, Adamawa State, has hit7662, Vanguard canauthoritatively report. The figure,however, excludes 2633 newpersons that were admitted intothe permanent orientation camp

of the National Youth ServiceCorps, NYSC, at Damare, Yola,which is being used as camp forthe IDPs.

Most of the IDPs came fromMubi, which was invaded by theinsurgents last Wednesday.Michika in Adamawa State, Yobeand Borno states, largely knownto be the hotbeds of the terrorists.Consequently, the suddenincrease in the number of peoplehas thrown up many challengesfor the camp officials. Forinstance, the camp is nowcontending with insufficientmattresses, mats and toilets, justas the security around the campis giving the camp officials someconcern.

Investigations revealed thatmost of IDPs have taken to opendefecation which officials said wasdetrimental to the health of thepeople. Details of the numberindicated that 3472 were males,while 4190 were females.Children below the ages of fiveconstituted 782 of the number.Similarly, pregnant women were76, while the number of childrenbetween the ages of 0-1 year wasput at 175. The camp cooked anaverage of 12 bags of rice andbeans on daily basis to feed theinmates.

Confirming the number of theIDPs to Vanguard, theCommandant of the Camp, Mr.Ibrahim Hamidu, who wasincidentally a Red Cross officialfrom Gere Local Government ofthe State, said the camp was fullyoccupied.

minister. Mr. President whoappointed me a minister did notsay that it was a condition for menot to contest in 2015. Havingrisen through the ranks in publicoffice, I am very confident that Ihave the wealth of experience toserve my people.

Mubi: Boko Haram still in control as 3,000 relocate


By Gbenga Olarinoye

NUC chidesvarsities forofferingunapprovedcoursesBy Gbenga Ariyibi

Fayose to embark on revenue drive,block loopholes

New Police reforms yielding fruits —Minister

ADO EKITI—THE partymay be over in Ekiti

State as the reality of a leantreasury may have dawned onthe two-week old governmentof Mr. Ayodele Fayose.

In view of the dwindlingallocation from the federationaccount to the states, EkitiState governor, Mr. AyoFayose, has pledged to jerkup internally generatedrevenue of the state byblocking all loop holes.

Speaking through his ChiefPress Secretary, Mr. IdowuAdelusi, in Ado Ekitiyesterday,Fayose said theeconomic recession that isnegatively affecting theeconomy of the state called forsober reflection.

He, therefore, appealed tothe people of the state to lookinward by supporting thegovernment of the day in itsbid to improve the finances ofthe state

“From what is happening inthe international oil marketand the subsequent drop infederal allocations, it isobvious that we have to lookmore inwards in generatingrevenue and we appeal tothose in charge to support usin blocking leakages andraising the bar,” he said.

The governor also called onother tiers of government tosupport the executive arm inensuring good governance

and development in the state.“Those in the House of

Assembly and our judicialofficers must know that we areall Ekiti people and we mustwork together to make ourstate great. Nobody shouldallow for distractions. Nomatter our politicalpersuasions, the interest ofEkiti comes first,” he added.

Fayose also expressed hisreadiness to accommodate allshades of opinions to jointlydevelop the state.

The governor said theadministration would doeverything possible to meetand even surpass theexpectations of the people.

He urged the people of thestate to perform their civic dutyof prompt payment of taxes,levies and rates, adding thatthe government would also bealive to its responsibilities.

“We know the expectationsare high and we are in a toughperiod as far as the economyis concerned. We are taking

note of all the advice given tous by people and groups. Forinstance, we appreciate theEkiti Council of Elders on theadvice that we embark onprojects having quick anddirect bearing on the welfareof the people.

“We will not shy away fromthe provision of physicalinfrastructure, just as we willcreate the atmosphere forpeople to earn decent livingand be able to take care of theiremotional needs," he said.

Ondo monarchs probe N74bn abandoned NDDC projects

OSOGBO—MINISTER ofPolice Affairs, Alhaji

Abdul Jelili Adesiyan, hassaid that the on-going reformin the Nigeria Police Forcehas begun to yield positiveresults in the way thepersonnel attend to andhandle issues related tocriminal activities.

The minister, who wasfielding questions from thenewsmen in his office inAbuja, weekend, said thePolice were better informednowadays compared to whatwas obtainable in the past. Headded that with the purchaseof new equipment andtraining and re-training ofpersonnel, the menace ofcrime and insurgency wouldsoon be totally checkmated.

He said: “As part of thereform in the Police, today, wehave Police University inWudil, Kano State, admittingpeople through UnifiedTertiary Matriculation

Examination, UTME, topursue different courses. Thisis to enable our police officersto have at least minimum offirst degree and this will bringout best among them and theywill be able to competefavourably with theircounterparts all over theworld.”

According to a statement bythe minister ’s Media Aide,

Wale Akinola, Adesiyan wasreported to have alsoexplained that many countrieshave signified interest topartner with Nigeria throughPublic Private Partnership,PPP, in the area of security,adding that he would beleading a delegate to the UKthis week to seek moreknowledge about securityeducation.

“I am very happy that manycountries are ready to partnerwith us and before the end ofthis week, I would be leadinga delegation to the UK forcross fertilization of ideas soas to have good knowledgeabout security. We are workingtowards achieving a situationwhereby if you see a Nigerianpoliceman, he will be like apoliceman in New York,” headded.

ABEOKUTA—THEN a t i o n a l

U n i v e r s i t i e sCommission, NUC, hasthreatened that itwould prevent studentswho take unapprovedcourses from beingaccommodated in theone-year National YouthService Corps, NYSC,scheme.

The commissionchided someuniversities, particularlythe private ones, foroffering unapprovedcourses.

The ExecutiveSecretary of theCommission, Prof. JuliusOkojie, said this at the6th convocation of BellsUniversity of Technology,Ota, Ogun State.

While he did notmention the names ofinstitutions guilty of this,he said they were onlycreating problems fortheir students who hadtaken the unapprovedcourses, because theywould not beaccommodated in theNYSC scheme.

Okojie, who wasrepresented at the eventby NUC’s Director ofQuality Assurance, Prof.Felix Majiana, said:“Every year, manygraduates preparing forthe one-year nationalservice are strandedbecause their institutionsoffered them coursesthat were not approvedby the NUC."

The Vice-Chancellor,Prof. Adebayo Adeyemi,while congratulating the326 graduands, said 18were in the first classcategory, 96 in thesecond class upper while127 and 85 graduatedwith second class lowerand third classrespectively.

He said the 326 wouldjoin the existing 759alumni, thus making atotal of 1,085.

Adeyemi said theinstitution had blazedthe trail by being the firstto produce the first set ofBiomedical andMechatronic engineerswithin the Nigerianuniversity system.

By Daud Olatunji

By Dayo Johnson

AKURE—DISTURBED bythe number of abandoned

projects awarded by the NigerDelta DevelopmentCommission, NDDC, in the oilproducing communities inOndo State, a six-membercommittee has been set up tolook into the matter.

The estimated cost of theabandoned projects is put atabout N74 billion while some ofthe projects had been awarded

about 10 years agoThe committee is expected to

advise the communities on whatstep to take.

This was disclosed during ameeting by the Ilaje TraditionalChieftaincy Council withrepresentatives of thecontractors in Akure, weekend.

The Olugbo of Ugbo-Ilaje,Oba Fredrick Akinruntan(CON) said the committee is toinvestigate why Ilajecommunities have turned to agraveyard of abandoned

projects running into billionsof Naira.

The Chairman of theChieftaincy Council who isalso the Amapetu, ObaLawrence Omowole, theAmapetu of Mahin and theSecretary, Oba ObafemiOgbaro, the Odoka of Obe-Ogbaro and sevenrepresentatives of thecompanies handling theprojects attended themeeting.

ERIN-ILE DAY: From left: Kwara State governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed, Elerin of Erin-Ile, Oba Abdulganiyu Ajibola Olusokun (MFR) and Chairman, Oyun Local Government Area,Engr. Jimoh Adebayo Alao, during the 17th Erin-ile Day Celebration at Erin-ile, Kwara State,weekend.


2,000 PDPmembersdefect to APCin Edo

Unite against Boko Haram —Horsefall

Maritime workers shut marinetransport in Bayelsa

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

By Jimitota Onoyume

Akpabio gives pass mark to A-Ibom PDP ward congresses

MARITIME WorkersUnion of Nigeria,

MWUN, weekend, shut allmarine transportation inBayelsa State over high rateof killings, kidnappings,attacks and rapes, amongother violent crimes bysuspected militants andpirates.

President-General ofMWUN, Mr. Tony NtedEmmanuel, who disclosed this,lamented that in the last twoyears, close to 40 innocentNigerians including unionmembers, had been killed bythe militants allegedly beingprotected by politicians.

He said all efforts by theunion to make the stategovernment move against themilitants had yielded nopositive result, insisting thatthe union could no longer foldits arms while members andother innocent Nigerians wereexposed to danger.

He said: “The union has,since Friday, begun anindefinite strike and shut allmarine transport in BeyalsaState until the government isready to ensure safety of ourmembers and other innocentNigerians who use marinetransport in the state. Thisstate of insecurity has been onsince two years ago. At thelast count, close to 40 innocentNigerians, including ourmembers, have been killed;

others have been kidnappedwhile many women have beenraped. The activities of thesehoodlums who are loyal andpatronised by politicians in thestate, have been on theincrease since two years.

"All efforts to get thegovernment to address therising insecurity on thewaterways in Bayelsa Statehave yielded no positive

result. Just last Friday, whenthe strike began, the stateCommissioner for Transportcalled our officials in the stateand intimated them that thegovernor was going to meetwith them. Unfortunately, as attoday (Sunday), nothing hasbeen heard from thegovernment. Whatever politicsthey are playing, it is not ourbusiness. We are not

politicians, we are workersdoing our legitimate businessand we expect the governmentto protect us. We arecompiling the names of ourmembers that have beenkilled, kidnapped or raped bythese hoodlums for the publicto know the level of insecuritywe have been exposed towhile doing legitimatebusiness in Bayelsa State.”

PORT HARCOURT—FORMER Director

General, Department of StateService, DSS, Chief AlbertHorsefall, has appealed toNigerians to unite againstBoko Haram insurgency,describing it as a threat to thenation’s unity.

Horsefall, who spoke to

Vanguard, weekend in PortHarcourt, said the dreadedIslamic sect had expressedclearly its intentions to seizeand control a portion of thenation, adding that the moveshould be resisted by allNigerians.

He said: “These people(Boko Haram) have expressedan aim to take over control of,Nigeria’s territory, thereby

undermining the country'sterritorial integrity. This issomething we must nevercompromise as a country.“

Horsefall, who describedBoko Haram as a threat topeace, cautioned against whathe described as prematurecomments from security chiefs.

“I am afraid that some of thethings our defence chief inparticular, says are rather

premature. He should nothave said them. On the issueof the Chibok girls, is it theChief of Defence Staff, or apolitician who should comeout to say Nigeria has agreedto a cease fire with BokoHaram? It is a political issue.A politician should havehandled it and not the Chiefof Defence Staff," he said.

By Simon Ebegbulem

BENIN CITY—NOfewer than 2,000

members of PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, inAkoko Edo LocalGovernment Area of EdoState, including an aide toformer Majority Leader ofthe House ofRepresentatives, Col TundeAkogun (rtd), Frank Awe,weekend, defected to AllProgressives Congress,APC.

The event attracted thepresence of the two APCsenatorial aspirants fromEdo North, the incumbentsenator, Domingo Obendeand the Secretary to EdoState Government,Professor Julius Ihonvbere.

Speaking at the rally inIgarra, headquarters ofAkoko-Edo LocalGovernment Area, SenatorObende, who declared thatthe defection of the Speakerof the House ofRepresentatives, AlhajiAminu Tambuwal, to theAPC, was the end of thePDP era in the country,lambasted the Police andthe Federal Governmentover the withdrawal of thesecurity details attached tothe speaker, asserting thatno form of intimidationwould stop APC fromwinning the forthcomingpresidential election.

He said with thedefection of the Tambuwaland the seeming inabilityof the PDP to garner two-third majority for a changein leadership, the APC hadtaken over control of thelower house.

Speaking on behalf of thedefectors, Awe said: “Wewere members of the PDP,most us believed that whatwas happening in the PDPwas not fair. When peoplenow see you as beingfoolish politically, you tellthem what you know."

GOVERNOR GodswillAkpabio of Akwa Ibom

State and chairman of the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, in thestate, Obong Paul Ekpo, havedescribed the ward congresses ofthe party, which took place allover the state, as peaceful, orderlyand a demonstration by thepeople to ensure democracysurvived in the country.

They spoke at different venues

of the ward congresses.Speaking to newsmen shortly

after participating in the congress,Governor Akpabio said: “Icommend our party members forthis demonstration of peace andorderliness. It is a confirmation ofthe party’s readiness to ensurethat internal democracy isentrenched in the party.”

In his reaction, party chairman,Paul Ekpo said: “The peaceful and

orderly conduct of party membersbefore, during and after thecongress is a demonstration thatthe party is one united entity.Contrary to what had been peddledin the media in the last few weeksthat the party was not one, thereport I have received from chapterchairmen across the state is really,encouraging and we are happyabout that, because our membersturned out enmasse to partake inthe exercise, devoid of rancour.”

BRIEFING: From left: Mr. Soalabo West, Chief Apollos Amadi and Prince Grant Arugu,during a press briefing by a coalition of PDP governorship aspirants in Rivers State to protestthe state PDP Ward congresses in Port Harcourt, yesterday. Photo: Nwankpa Chijioke.


By Festus Ahon

Monye joins Deltagovernorship race

By Gabriel Enogholase

NBA to re-consider defence of kidnappers—Alegeh

ASABA—ONE ofPeoples Democratic

Party's, PDP,governorship aspirantsin Delta State, Professor

Mike Akpan forburial Nov 4

B E N I N —NIGERIAN Bar

Association, NBA,weekend, said it wouldre-consider its stance onwhether to defendkidnappers or not if thecurrent trend ofkidnappings continuedin the country.

President of NBA,Chief Augustine Alegeh,SAN, who spoke inBenin at the end of Mid-West Bar Forum’smeeting, recalled thekidnapping of theimmediate pastPresident of the NBA,Mr. Okeh Wali, recentlyreleased by hisabductors, and thekidnap of Mr. DesmondDudu of the Sapele

branch, now spending 17days in captivity.

He said: “Even in theMid-West Bar Forum, wehave discussed it atlength. For us, thescourge of kidnapping ison the rise and if thistrend continues, the Barwill need to reconsiderits position, whether wewill defend kidnappers.”

He noted that securityagencies wereunderstaffed lamentingthat, “if we must dealwith kidnapping, weneed to properly policeour country to ensurethat anybody who iskidnapped, even ifransom is paid, even ifhe is released, that thekidnappers areeventually caught aremade to face the

punishment whether it isdeath sentence, lifesentence or ten years.The reason why peopleare still involved inkidnapping is becausethey have a belief that

they will never beapprehended. Ifanybody knows that if hekidnaps and he iseventually caught, then,it becomes a deterrent,once he commits an

offence and gets a deathpenalty. But when hebelieves there is anoption between thesentences he gets, thereis a prevalence of thatcrime.

“I want to say that thepunishment for a crimeis only deterrent; it is nota safety gap, it is not toensure that a crime is notcommitted."

MIKE Akpan,Editor-in-Chief,

Real News magazineand former Editor ofNewswatch magazine, isto be buried on Tuesday,November 4, in hishometown, Abak, AkwaIbom State.

A statement by MfonMike Akpan, first son ofthe deceased, said a vigilMass will hold at St.John Pro-cathedral Abakon November 3. He willbe interred at hiscompound at EdemAnwa next day,immediately after aRequiem mass at St.John Pro-cathedral,Abak.

Late Mike Akpan

Sylvester Monye,weekend, officiallydeclared for the race andpromised to improve onhealth and educationsectors of the state, ifelected.

Speaking during theceremony at theCenotaph in Asaba,Monye said he hadconsulted widely on hisambition: “I am widelyaccepted by Deltans togovern them and thetime for me to govern isnow,” he noted.

Claiming his ambitionwas in honour of severalcalls to run for thegovernorship, Monyeexpressed hope that hewould secure the PDPticket to contest theFebruary 2015governorship election.

Promising to build onthe legacies of GovernorEmmanuel Uduaghan’sadministration, Monyesaid he would bring hiswealth of experience tobear in the governanceof the state, if given theopportunity.

He added that hewould also encouragethe agricultural sector tocreate jobs for theunemployed youths andalso improve on theinternally generatedrevenue base of the stateas well as providepotable water for allDeltans.


BRIEFING: From left, Walter Drenth, Marketing Director, NigerianBreweries Plc., Chief Willie Obiano, Executive Governor of AnambraState; Kufre Ekanem, Corporate Adviser, and Emmanuel Agu, MarketingManager, Gulder, Legend and Life, also of Nigerian Breweries Plc., duringthe Gulder Ultimate Search 11 Reveal Party, at the Women DevelopmentCentre, Awka, Anambra State, weekend.

WARD CONGRESSES: Enugu PDPfactions bicker

ENUGU — THE crisisrocking the Enugu Peoples

Democratic Party, PDP, deepened,weekend, as factions battled eachother over claims and counter-claims that state ward congresseswere successfully held.

Former deputy chairman of theparty now laying claim to be theacting Chairman in line with thedirective of the national body ofthe party, Mr. David Aja, declaredthat the ward congress wassuccessfully held, while GovernorSullivan Chime faction led byIkeje Asogwa as the StateChairman, insisted that thecongress was postponed becausematerials and members of thecongress committee were hijackedand never got to the official StateSecretariat of the party.

Aja had told newsmen that “thecongresses were held atdesignated centres in the wardsand they were very peaceful,successful, and indeed witnessedmassive turnout of party faithful.We are happy with the mannerour members conductedthemselves and this has shownthat our great party is marchinginto the coming elections with

...3 senators,guber aspirantscondemn Abia's

By Austin Ogwuda

ALL THREE incumbent senators from AbiaState and some gubernatorial aspirants from

Abia State have disowned the result of the wardcongresses purportedly conducted last Saturday,saying that there were no congresses.

Senators Uche Chukwumerije, Nkechi Nwaoguand Enyinnninya Abaribe in a joint petition withother party stakeholders affirmed that there wereno congresses as they claimed that results werewritten down by agents of the administration.

Other stakeholders who assented to the petitionwere the erstwhile Managing Director of DiamondBank, Dr. Alex Otti, a former Deputy Governor,Chief Eric Nwakanma, Chief Uzoma Abonta,Solomon Ogunji, Rev. G Nwambu, Emeka Atumaand Nze Esiaga.

Their claim was sharply rebuffed by the SpecialAdviser to Governor Theodore Orji on ElectronicMedia, Ugochukwu Emezue, who insisted thatward congress successfully held everywhere inAbia.

In their petition, they said: Our party membersand delegate aspirants yesterday, November 1, 2014( supposed to be the day of the congresses thatnever took place) dispersed after 6p.m. whennobody came to conduct the congress elections.”

There was an allegation about the disappearanceof the party membership registers of all the 184wards in Abia contrary to the guidelines for conductof congresses.

Tony Ceaser Okeke team's failure to produce themandatory election materials: Collation materials,identity tags for those to supervise the electionsalso made matters worse as there were no partyregisters and even nobody deployed to the field.

It was alleged thagt crowds anxiously waited upto 5.30 and 6p.m., got tired and dispersed to theirhomes; which means that no congress heldanywhere in Abia.

By Emmanuel Aziken & Anayo Okoli

every determination to give PDPthe needed victory. As you areaware, the congresses of PDP inthe 260 electoral wards of EnuguState were held today wherethree-man delegates were electedby our members in the variouswards.”

But Asogwa who spokethrough the State publicitysecretary, Dr.Okey Eze in a

statement said “the PDP,Enugu State chapter wishes tostate that no ward congress ofthe party in Enugu State hasofficially commenced in thestate as at 4 30pm. The stateparty secretariat has beenopened and ready for thecongress since 7am today(Saturday), no member of theelectoral panel from the

national secretariat of the partyhas reported to our party office,the venue officially designatedby the national secretariat ofour party for thecommencement andcoordination of all thecongresses and partyprimaries.

“It is pertinent to note that thedeputy governor of the state,

Umehberates PDPfor promotingObi aboveAPGA

By Chimaobi Nwaiwu

NNEWI —N A T I O N A L

Chairman of AllProgressives GrandAlliance, APGA, ChiefVictor Umeh, has beratedthe Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, for saying it hadbeen losing governorshipelections in Anambra Stateto former Mr. Peter Obi whorecently defected to PDP,and not APGA as a party.

According to Chief Umeh“contrary to the claim byPDP that they have beenlosing Governorshipelection to Mr. Obi and notAPGA as a party, I wish totell them that APGA is amovement that is in spiritand not under the controlof any individual, but aparty that is driven by thecircumstances of the peoplebehind it.

"Our people are nothappy with the way thingsare happening in Nigeriaand they think APGA istheir voice, so, there is nomagic Mr. Obi can do as aperson by joining PDP, tochange the situation for hisnew party, we in APGA arehis strength when he waswith us."

Okorochaopens dialysiscentre, offersfreeprostrate,cancer tests

By Chidi Nkwopara

OWERRI — IMOState Governor,

Chief Rochas Okorocha,yesterday, declared freetests for prostate and breastcancer, as he commissionedOchiedike Dialysis andDiagnostic Centre, Owerri.

Okorocha also said hisadministration remainedcommitted to ensuring ahealthy Imo citizenry andcalled on citizens from 40years and above, toadvantage of the servicesprovided at the Centre, “intheir own interest”.

“The Centre, which is 100percent Imo StateGovernment-owned, is a15-year contract with IsraeliMedical Personnel tomanage theestablishment, whilemedical experts resident inIsrael will monitor activitiesin the centre as to assistwherever necessary.”

Rev. RalphNwoye, theNational, Zonal,State and LocalG o v e r n m e n tArea executivesof the party andall the 17 localg o v e r n m e n tc h a i r m e ni n c l u d i n gthousands ofother partyfaithful and ourt e e m i n gsupporters havebeen waitingtirelessly at thestate partysecretariat for thearrival ofe l e c t o r a lmaterials."


Group petitions DSS over N20bndebt

By Innocent Anaba

AN INTERNATIONAl civilrights organisation,

Advocates of Peoples’ Right andJustice, has petitioned theDepartment of State Services, DSS,over allegations of missing N20billion meant for the payment ofcontractors to the MillenniumDevelopment Goals Project.

The group noted that as a resultof the over N20 billion debts owedthe contractors by the MDGs, mostof them had lost their lives, whilemany were on the verge of losingthe property they used as

collateral to secure loans fromfinancial institutions.

The group in the petitionsigned by its NationalCoordinator, Mr. Victor Giwa,stated that it had becomenecessary to draw the attentionof security agencies to thefraudulent activities at MDGs,saying they were capable ofleading to a breakdown of thefragile peace in the country.

The petition read: “We havestrong evidence that fictitiouscompanies were used to pilferand loot billions of naira underthe Millennium DevelopmentGoals project.

“These companies are no lessthan conduit pipes throughwhich the fraudulent activities

Why wedeserve oursalaries— MedicalGuild

M E D I C A LDOCTORS in

the employ of Lagos Stategovernment, yesterday,asked for payment of theirtheir salaries, arguing thatother workers whoembarked on strike for amuch longer period werepaid theirs.

They wondered why thegovernment would chooseto be selective in itsdealings with workers in thestate.

The doctors also positedthat the strike was called bythe Nigeria MedicalAssociation, NMA, whichcomprised the MedicalGuild.

Chairman of the Guild,Dr. Biyi Kufor, lamented thatall the 36 states of thecountry had paid theirdoctors, except Lagos Stategovernment.

Kufor, who regretted thatLagos State was applyingwhat he described as‘selective justice’ said “alldoctors who participatedin the nationwide strikehave been paid exceptdoctors in Lagos.”

By Chioma Obinna

LG AUTONOMY:ALGON laudsstakeholders

THE ASSOCIATIONof Local Governments

of Nigeria, ALGON, hascommended PresidentGoodluck Jonathan and theseventh National Assemblyfor their concerted effortstowards the enthronementof a virile and functionallocal government system inNigeria, which climaxed inthe historic joint constitutionamendment committee voteto grant autonomy to localgovernments in the country.ALGON said in a statementby its national president,Ozo Okafor, that the "featmarks a new beginning inthe history of localgovernment administrationin Nigeria."

The statement said the7th National Assembly,under the leadership ofDavid Mark, Senator IkeEkweremmadu, Hon.Aminu waziri Tambuwaland Ihedioha respectively,truly represented thewishes of the masses ofNigeria by finally assentingto the proposal of grantingfull financial andadministrative autonomy tothe 774 local governmentcouncils across Nigeria.

MISAPPLICATION OF FUNDS: Reps sayWAEC has case to answer

Council proffers measures to reformNigeria’s transport sector

By Emman Ovuakporie &Levinus Nwabughiogu

ABUJA — THE House ofR e p r e s e n t a t i v e s

Committee on Public Accounts,weekend, accused the WestAfrican Examination Council,WAEC, over misapplication ofseveral billions of naira.

The council, which receivesannual budget worth several

billions of naira, failed to remit itsrevenue generated to FederalGovernment since inception asprovided by extant laws.

The committee also alleged thatthe council failed to provideupdate of its audited accounts tothe Auditor-General of theFederation and relevantcommittees of the NationalAssembly.

To this end, the House

Committee resolved to investigatethe financial status, assets andexpenditure of the council toensure accountability andtransparency in the managementof public funds.

Solomon Adeola, chairman,House Committee on PublicAccount, who presided over theinvestigative public hearing,expressed displeasure over thefailure of some of the 262

Ministries, Departments andAgencies, MDAs, to provide theiraudited accounts to the office ofthe Auditor-General of theFederation from inception.

Adeola said: “The attitudinalbehaviour you, WAEC, haveexhibited over the years does notportray the kind of institutionNigerians expect of WAEC. Is itthe monumental fraud, or lack ofrecords, or financial Improprietiesthat have taken place in theinstitution?

“I was not taken aback when Ifound your name on that list (ofAuditor-General). I was notsurprised. It is expected.

“Sir, if you know the amount offraud accruing to WAEC day in,day out; year in, year out and allthat WAEC can tell Nigerians isthat they only submitted theiraudited account up to 2010? Andas a result of our insistence thatmade them rush down with 2011and 2012 while 2013 is stillawaiting the signature of theCouncil.

“Aside from that, WAEC, allmoney accruing to you, you don’treport anything to the FederalGovernment, yet you still collectsubventions like others. Moneyaccruing to WAEC going toseveral billions of naira, and thatsame institution does not renderaccount as at when due, evenwhen state governments nowpick up your bills for all schools?I’m not surprised.

“You are an endangered speciesand we need to take care of youspecially. So, it’s a specialinvestigation to be conducted onWAEC.

“This committee is going to beinvestigating WAEC for 2011,2012 and 2013. We’re notinsinuating anything, but it’s onlyfair and proper that an institutionlike WAEC that is generatingmuch revenue annually mustaccount for how that revenue isspent.

“I know that a whole lot ofactivities including contracts arebeing awarded by WAEC. Wewant to know how much isgenerated by the sale of formsand how much subvention is paidto the headquarters in Accra aswell as other expenditures.”

By Ifeyinwa Obi

THE NATIONAL Councilon Transport, NCT, has

urged the Ministry of Transportto expedite action on the NationalTransport Policy, NTP andfacilitate the passage of the Portsand Harbour Bill.

The NCT gave the charge in acommuniqué, weekend, by theMinister of Transport/Chairmanof Council, Idris Umar, andCommissioner for Transport in

that NIMASA and NIWA’s Searchand Rescue, SAR, centres are fullyfunctional to enhance safety andsecurity in the nation’s water-ways.

“Council directed all relevantagencies, in collaboration withother stakeholders to embark onextensive and sustainednationwide safety awarenesscampaigns to stem the incessantoccurrences of boat mishaps in thenation’s waterways."

VISIT: Former Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Nsima Ekere (middle), flankedfrom left by prominent businessman and politician, Prince Victor Utuk, and former South-South Zonal Auditor of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Engr. Akan Okon, admiring culturaldisplays, during his consultation visit to PDP State Executive Committee,

went on, leaving the contractorsin colossal debt, frustration anduntoward hardship.

“It is further embarrassing thatthese contractors have laid offseveral of their staff who wereduly employed, while others havetheir places of business closeddown as a result of severeindebtedness.

“Further, the various contractorswho had collected variousfacilities from their banks inexecution of those projects arenow under serious and intensethreat of foreclosure of theirproperty to the banks and othercreditors, while others haveincurred untold debt and havebeen embarrassingly dragged tosome security agencies.

Kogi State, AbdulRahamanWuya, after its 14th meeting, atNike Lake Resort, Enugu State.

The communiqué read: “Thatcouncil urged Federal Ministryof Transport to develop aNational Minimum Standardsframework on safety and securityin the nation’s inland water-waysfor the safe transportation ofpersons, goods, equipment,navigation and navigational aidsand related matters.

“Council urged FederalMinistry of Transport to ensure

A LEGAL practitioner fromOraukwu in Idemili North

Council Area of Anambra State,Dr. Theodore Okonkwo hasformally picked the nominationform under the All ProgressivesGrand Alliance, APGA, to run forthe Idemili North and SouthFederal constituency seat duringthe 2015 general elections.

Presenting the form to him, theAPGA State Chairman, ChiefMike Kwentor said APGAremains the party to beat inAnambra State, noting that withthe quality and integrity ofcandidates it is fielding, APGAis sure to record massive victoriesin all the elections.

Okonkwo forHouse of Reps

CMYK


Pastor Babatope son’s wedding in Lagos

From left, Mr. & Mrs. Dayo Ojo, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, and Dr. Teju Bolujoko

From left, bride’s parents,Paul Osaji, and wife, Joy; couple: Babajide and Mariam; groom’sparents: Olubukola and Pastor Segun Babatope, and Chief Doyin Okupe, during the receptionof Pastor Babatope son’s wedding, in Lagos.

From left, Mr. Ayo Akinyemi, veteran journalist; ChiefEbenezer Babatope, Rev. Johnson Williams, Mr. GbengaAdefaye, Editor-in-Chief/GM,Vanguard Newspapers, and Mr.Femi Adesina, MD, Sun Newspapers and President, NigeriaGuild of Editors.

From left, Mr. Ogochukwu Osaji, brother of the bride; Mr.& Mrs. Paul Osaji, parents of the bride Photos: Diran Oshe

Kwara speaker urges FG to involve all infight against Boko Haram

Group wantsfresh voters'registrationin Plateau

Gov Wada probes under-payment of workers'salaries in 21 local councils

By Marie-ThereseNanlong.

JOS — ABOUT 527polling units in

Plateau State, includingthat of governor JonahJang have been identifiedas having incompletevoters’ register, hence acall has been made to theIndependent NationalElectoral Commission,INEC, to conduct freshregistration in the affectedareas.

In a statement by thePlateau Youth Vanguardand signed by its chairman,Comrade Joel Jonathan,the group appealed toINEC to extend the daysscheduled for the votersregistration in the state assix days fixed will not beenough for people in theaffected 527 polling unitsto register.

Jonathan lamented thatno single person wascaptured during the 2011voters' registration in thegovernor’s polling unit,Ladura II in Du, Jos SouthLocal Government Areaand urged the Commissionto take pro-active measureto ensure that people in theaffected areas are notdenied franchise.

By Boluwaji Ohahop

LOKOJA — GOVERNORIdris Wada of Kogi State,

weekend, said his governmentset up an audit panel toinvestigate the financialactivities of 21 council chairmenin the state, following constantcomplaints of under-paymentworkers’ salaries. .

The governor, who spoke inLokoja after a meeting with thecouncil chairmen, said the auditexercise would be done by morethan one firm and concluded

Don condemns politicians' flamboyanceBy Demola Akinyemi

ILORIN — A universityDon, Professor Noah Yusuf

of the Department of Sociology,Faculty of Social Sciences,

University of Ilorin, has con-demned the flamboyant life-styles of the Nigerian politi-cians, saying it is sendingwrong signals to the youths thatthey can also live a good lifewithout hard work.

Yusuf, who said Nigeriansmust begin to appreciate hardwork for the nation to achieveher full potentials and secureher future noted that, ”ifNigeria must develop, peoplemust work diligently.”

He said this in the 151Inaugural lecture titled, ”Work,Industry and Society; TheSynergy That Mirrors TheReality of Our EverydayExperience’ he delivered in theuniversity at the weekend.

He lamented that ‘’thecurrent work attitude amongNigerians, especially those inthe public service, is notconducive to nationaldevelopment, and thereforeneeds to be improved."

within three weeks.Wada, who insisted that his

administration would leave nostone unturned in sanitising thelocal government system in thestate, also frowned at therecklessness and lack of financialprobity of some of the councilbosses.

According to him: “I urged thecouncil chairmen to turn a newleaf and put the interest of theelectorate at the centre of yourpolicies.

"However, the stategovernment will henceforth

oversee the payment of salariesto the local government staff untilthe audit exercise is concluded.We are going to sanitise the localgovernment system in KogiState.

“A situation where most of thechairmen cannot pay full staffsalaries is not healthy fordevelopment. We cannot allowthis sorry situation to continue.Any local government chairmanfound wanting at the auditexercise would face the full wrathof the law.”

ILORIN— THE Speaker,Kwara State House of

Assembly, Abdulrazaq Atunwa,weekend, urged the FederalGovernment to summon thepolitical will and involve allstakeholders irrespective ofpolitical affiliations, to findsolution to the protracted BokoHaram insurgency in the country.

The speaker, who spoke inIlorin, also condemned theremoval of the security details ofthe speaker of the House ofRepresentatives, Hon. AminuTambuwal describing it as crude,illegal and undemocratic.

According to him: “It isobvious now that PresidentGoodluck Jonathan and theruling party alone could notsolve this problem. The problemof insecurity all over the worldshould involve all and sundry,sothey should summon thepolitical will to involve all andsundry in the solution to theproblem because there is noproblem without solution.

“As we are growing in ourdemocratic experience inNigeria, we should be consciousof its tenets and live by themsince we claim that we are

practising democracy. No courthas declared the seat of theSpeaker of the House ofRepresentatives vacant and themembers in the House have notimpeached him, so where did thepolice get their orders from?

"This is unconstitutional illegal,

improper and in fact, it is grossrascality on the part of InspectorGeneral of Police to have donethat. We should be careful not tolay bad precedent because ofstruggle for power ahead of 2015elections. “

CMYK

OPINION


*Mr. Gbinije, a social critic, wrote fromWarri, Delta State.

By Bobson Gbinije Towards demythologisation of African historyHistory is witness of the times, the torch

of truth, the life of memory, the teacher of lifeand the messenger of antiquity

CICERO (106-43BC) De oratore.

IN his magnum opus and literary tourde force entitled Heauton Timoroumentos

the philosopher and essayist PubliusTerentius Afer said: “Humo sum ; humaninihil ame alienum puto” ( I am a man; andnothing human is foreign to me). It is thisdrive to ensure that nothing human is foreignto man that gave birth to history. History isan authentic chronicle and a verifiabledocumentation of ancient and modernevents.

The matrix of history is buttressed andconsolidated by inputs from oral traditionof folklores, preserved by memories andrecounted to the existing generation todocument for posterity. The elements ofwritten, divinatory and numerologicalsubmissions, etc, also contribute as resourcearchives from which historians,historiographers and archaeologists canget factual information. Before the art ofwriting was introduced, man, from thePaleolithic through the Mesolithic to theNeolithic ages used primitive means todocument events.

Fundamental and remarkably eventfuloccurrences in history like the Nile ValleyCivilization, the Cretan Civilization, theSumerian Civilization, the rise of Babylon,Assyria, Chaldea, Phonecia, Persia, theRoman Empire, the early history of Greeceand Christianity were documented in history.

But the art of writing and documentationdid not arrive in Africa until the 16th century,when European historians, from a Europeanperspective, had already documented mostof Africa’s history.

Although the king of the ancient MaliEmpire, Mansa Kankan Musa (1307-1337A.D) set up the Sankore University inTimbuktu in 1310 A.D, it was a universityfor the propagation of Islamic studies(Arabic education), as against what wasprevalent, the Western education and the artof writing. This exposed Africa’s early historyto the whims and caprices of historydabblers, sentimentality, historicalprejudices, myths, tribal jingoism, misplacedpatriotism, falsehoods, judgmental fallacies,arrant controversies and apocryphalsubmissions, making African history andanthology of incongruities.

When our African historians came onstage, they depended largely on thehistorical plinth already created byEuropean or foreign historians. Wherethey had to get the factual basis of thehistory of their own people, it wassometimes coloured by their ownprejudices, fabrications and intellectualbankruptcy. African history is to someextent a splendid documentation offalsehood, laced with lies, inconsistent withreason, at variance with logic and grosslyout of tune with facts.

African history records that the Ashantipeople who were Akan- speaking peoplesubject to the then Denkyra State came

out of Lake Bosomtwi, a small crater lakein central Ashanti. And to furtherconsolidate the bases of their unity, Ashanticaused a “golden stool” in which the spiritof Ashanti ancestors was supposed to behidden to descend on the knees of Osei Tutu,the ruler of Kumasi. The assembledAshanti rulers acclaimed Osei Tutu astheir superior and invested him withpowers over all the Ashanti people.

One version of Africa history recordsthat the Yoruba’s migrated from the eastin about the 10th or 11th century, thattheir ancestors belonged to the Qureshtribe of Mecca in Saudi Arabia and thattheir first father was Lamrud or Namrudwho had an idol-priest called Ya-harba.The word Ya-harba is an Arabic word-meaning warrior or army general. WhenIslam was introduced in Mecca in the 7th

century Lamrud, Ya-harba and theirsupporters refused to embrace Islam. TheIslamic Jihadists took up arms againstLamrud and his pagan supporters. In theensuing battle Lamrud was defeated andthey fled the city, crossing the red sea toAfrica. They got to Egypt in 648A.D; theymoved to Tripoli, Algeria and Morocco.During this journey the idol-priest, Ya-harbar, consulted his oracle, and theywere told to follow the oracle’s direction.They followed the oracle’s direction untilthey arrived at Ile-Ife in 900A.D.

During the journey to IIe-Ife Lamrud andhis idol-priest, Ya-harba, died on the way.It was therefore Oduduwa who led the

Yoruba to IIe-Ife. This is why Oduduwa andnot Lamrud or Ya-harba is referred to todayas the father of the Yoruba. Even though Ya-harba could not reach IIe-ife his peopledecided to immortalise his name by callingtheir settlement Ya-harba, which was laterconverted to Yoruba. One other version saysthe Yoruba progenitor, Oduduwa fell fromheaven.

Some years ago, the Oba of Benin, OmoNoba Nedo, Uku Akpolokpolo, ObaErediauwa launched his book entitled IREMAIN SIR, YOUR OBEDIENT SERVANT.He opened the Pandora’s box of Yourba/Benin history, when he claimed that theYoruba migrated from Benin where princeEkaladerhan (Yoruba’s Oduduwa) escapedfrom execution, and that after a horrendousand marathon journey through the thickforest he arrived at IIe—Ife, where hebecame their king. When the Binisdiscovered that tradition made it obligatorilyimperative for him to come back home, theyrequested for him. But he turned down therequest and in turn sent his son Oranmiyanto commence the present dynasty in Benin.

This historical submission drew the ire ofthe Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade SijuwadeOlubuse II. He said that the Oba of Beninwhose dynasty began in the last decade ofthe 12th century was an Ife Prince lent to theBini people at their request after the reign ofthe Ogisos ended in Benin.

Continues tomorrow

THE Minister of Industry, Trade andInvestment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, runsmatters under his watch with mere words.After practising for years, he must believehis duty is done once he is able to make aspeech. He began this gambit as Ministerof Finance and has extended it to hiscurrent office.

His call for the diversification of theNigerian economy as the 6th convocationlecturer of Bells University of Technology,Ota, Ogun State, could confuse anyonewho does not know that Dr. Aganga hasbeen in government since 2010, asMinister of Finance , then Minister ofIndustry, Trade and Investment.

According to him, “We need to diversifyour economy. We need to go back to thegood old days when the proceeds fromcocoa were used to build the Cocoa Housein Ibadan. We must improve the standardof what we produce and export.

“If we must compete, we must acquirethe necessary skills, we must provide anenvironment where there is finance for theprivate sector. We cannot be competitiveif we do not link innovation withindustry.”

AAAAAganga – Wganga – Wganga – Wganga – Wganga – Words Noords Noords Noords Noords NoLonger EnoughLonger EnoughLonger EnoughLonger EnoughLonger Enough

We are wondering who would do thesethings which apparently bother theMinister. Is he expecting the graduatingstudents to diversify the Nigerian economy?Would it be the lot of ordinary Nigerians,who do not make policies? Was the Ministerindicting the government he is serving andearlier governments?

What is wrong with the current economicpolicies for him to recommend a return topractices that are over almost 60 years old?How as a Minister has he influencedeconomic policies to reflect the “cocoadays”? How do we return to the “cocoadays”? Who would return us to the “cocoa

days”?The present government has a

transformation agenda; Dr. Aganga prefersthe economic policies that built CocoaHouse. He should know that majorcomponents of the “cocoa days” economicpolicies, he advocates, were regionalismand the control the regions had over theirresources. Is he suggesting Nigeria shouldreturn to that path? Has he canvassed hisnew economic thrust at the FederalExecutive Council?

What roles does the former ManagingDirector with Goldman Sachs, Chairmanof the 2010 Board of the World Bank andInternational Monetary Fund, a scholarat University of Oxford and the Universityof Ibadan, a Fellow of Association ofCertified Chartered Accountant, ACCA, ofthe United Kingdom, play in directingNigeria’s economy?

When a serving Minister speaks the wayDr. Aganga did in Ota, he scares Nigeriansabout the prospects of the economy. TheNigerian economy has neededdiversification since 1960. Nigeriansthought those with hefty portfolios like Dr.Aganga have been doing just that.

CMYK

NOVEMBER 3, 2014

Continues on page 18

Operators in the Nigeriantechnology ecosystem havedecried the dearth of

opportunity for early stage investmentfor tech start-ups planning to breakinto e-commerce.

Tech start-ups are new technologycompanies that are in a phase ofdevelopment and research for marketsand many of them are designed tosearch for repeatable and scalablebusiness model. In Nigeria, many ofthe start-ups offer new ideas ofaddressing economic issues whichthey sell as services using technology.

Operators, who spoke to Financial

AGRIC MINISTRY, BOI SIGN MOU: From left: Legal Adviser, Bank of Industry (BoI), Barr. Emmanuel Onaji;Managing Director/CEO, BoI, Mr. Rasheed OlaOluwa; Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. AkinwumiAdesina and, Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mrs. Ibukun Odusote, during the signing of Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) on Rice production, between Agric and Rural Development Ministry and BoI at the Ministry’sheadquarters in Abuja.

Tech start-ups lament dearthof venture capital

Say scarce investible funds at early stages threatening economic growth

By JONAH NWOKPOKUVanguard, said lack of investment inideas that could transform intoreputable and profitable ventures inthe future is stifling the growth of theecosystem. They argue that it will bedifficult for the industry to grow sinceventure capitals, private equity firmsand other angel investors in thecountry at the moment are not willingto invest in new ideas but are readyto fund few start-ups, who have testedthe viability of their concepts, scaledup and are already established.

The Co-Founder of Co-CreationHub, CcHub and Director of its OpenLiving Labs, Mr. Femi Longe toldFinancial Vanguard that hisexperience has revealed that investorsare only willing to invest in already

established startups whose growth isexpected to be steady and rapid.

Co-Creation Hub, which waslaunched in 2011, is Nigeria’sforemost social innovation centrededicated to accelerating theapplication of social capital andtechnology for economic prosperity inNigeria. It recently launched a$500,000 seed investment fund tosupport early stage start-ups over thenext two years. Start-ups will receivesums ranging from $10,000 – $25,000to support business modelexperimentation and operations.

Longe noted that tech startups arenot meant to absorb high level ofinvestment from the beginning. Hesaid unless investments are made at

those early stages, it will continue tobe difficult for tech startups that willabsorb high level of investment toemerge in the future.

According to him, “Starting andrunning a business is a continuum.At different stages of the process,different amount of capital is needed.The amount of money you need toprove that an idea will work is not thesame as the amount of money youneed when you want to scale up.

“Most of the time, the so-calledcapital they say exists, is forbusinesses that are alreadyestablished and expected to growrapidly. So businesses that are lookingfor anywhere between a $100,000 and$1 million or more have capital waitingfor them. The problem is that before abusiness gets to a stage where it willbe able to absorb a $100,000 or more,you need early rounds of funding thatare smaller, usually amounts rangingfrom $5000 to $20, 000.

“But then the problem at that stageis that the there is less guarantee thatthe business will be successful,because they are just testing out theassumptions in the market. And somost so-called investors shy away fromthis early stage investment. Andbecause we do not have enough ofthese early stage investors, it is nowhard to get companies that can get towhere they can attract and absorblarge investment.”

He said the reality about fundavailability for tech start-ups is that“there is more funding for establishedstart-ups than there are establishedstart-ups and where the funding gapexist is the early stage investment toget start-ups to be established enoughto attract large capital investment.”

In order words, there are lots offunds chasing few established start-

CMYK


Cover Story

DaringA successful business man

has a mindset that is willingto take risks and tread onplaces people would notordinarily want to tread. Hewould not chicken out at theslightest threat, so if youintend to start and own yourbusiness, you must have a die-hard mentality, otherwise youwould quit before you evenget started. It is also veryimportant to consider therisks involved and your abilityto handle them properly,since every business involvesrisks. Most business peopleare very comfortable withmodest risk but quiteuncomfortable with big risks.Although they are unwillingto gamble on long shots, theyare more willing to takechances if their individualskills can affect the probabilityof success. Then will theyhave the courage to step outinto the unknown and pursuetheir personal dreams.

Goal getterA successful business man

has the mindset of not justsetting goals but alsoachieving the desired result.He does not settle for less butalways has his eyes on theprize. To him there are noimpossibilities and failure isjust part of the game. He doesnot believe in half measuresbut believes that he can go allthe way and this mentalityinspires a lot of confidence inclients and customers andwill keep them coming. Ahigh level of energy alsokeeps the businessmantrudging through road blocksbecause he has his eyes fixedon long term goals. It isimportant you are veryenergetic and vibrant as it willensure that your business isup and running. You need tohave a motivation from withinand from those around you.The man who inventedelectricity, tried ninety-ninetimes and failed; he got it rightthe 100th time! I dare say, thatis the spirit you must possess,no matter how many times youfail, you keep trying it out untilyou get it right….bottom lineyou must delete the wordIMPOSSIBLE from yourdictionary. Period!

It’s very important you movewith the right people and readbooks and materials that will

The Basic Guide toStarting Your BusinessPart 4 prepare your mind and

reposition your mindsettowards positivity, because“if you can think it then youcan be it”. Never forget “youare a product of yourthoughts.” This reminds meof a Nigerian drama seriesthat aired on the Nigeriannational television network(NTA) in the early 90s,BASSEY& COMPANY. Thelead act was fond of saying“if you want to be amillionaire, think like amillionaire”! As funny as itsounded then, it is still verytrue and applies to business.So permit me to say if youwant to be a successfulbusiness man, then think likeone!

If you are going to run abusiness of your own, youshould find something thatmakes you really happy. Thisshould be at the core of whyyou are even looking at goinginto business of your own,because if you try and makesomething work and youhave no passion for it, itprobably won’t work out. Ifyou have passion for theindustry that you are workingin, you will have a goodchance of making it work out.

What make a business greatare the people that run it andthe passion that they have forit. Keep this in mind when youare thinking of starting abusiness of your own.

From experience, many justjump into business becausethey are excited about an ideaand haven’t really thoughtabout the ‘whys andwherefores’. Taking amoment to reflect on yourmotivations and definingyour purpose will be timewell spent.

A lot of people go intobusiness for the sole reasonof making money; this is nota good idea. It’s not a goodidea because the mainingredient for success ismissing. The main ingredientfor success is passion, and it’svirtually impossible tomaintain high-levels ofenergy when you’re doingsomething you don’t love.There will always bechallenges in owning abusiness. Your love andpassion is what takes youthrough those challenges. Without that passion, youprobably won’t make it.

FORUM - From left: Mr. Biola Temowo, President, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria(CIIN); Adeola Agbato, representative of Director-General, Finanacial Institutions TrainingCentre (FITC); Mr.Sunny Adeda, Chairman, Alpha Choice Insurance Brokers & Chairman ofthe Forum and Faith Ughwode, Chief Executive, Almond Productions Ltd & Organiser of theInsurance Consumer Forum (ICF) at the 2014 Insurance Consumers' Forum held in Lagos.

Tech start-ups lamentdearth of venture capital


ups while many yet toestablish start-ups starve ofinvestment.

“The challenge is not fromthe start-ups,” he observed.“The challenge is from theinvestors. To put this incontext, we need to have afund stream that can supportbusinesses from thefoundation, say with as littleas $5000 as proof of conceptfund. For instance, I have anidea but not sure if the ideawill be a viable business, Ineed some money to put it totest.

“In other parts of the world,people could get money fromfamily and friends but inNigeria, so many people haveno family members to givethem a million dollar to test-run a business idea that mayend up not being successful.And so if you ask me, theinvestors need to begin tothink of how they can channeltheir investment into buildinga pipeline. How can theychannel their investment toideas that are experimentalthat may or may not besuccessful? If they becomesuccessful, business thatordinarily would not come tolife would have been helpedto come to life,” he added.

Also speaking, the ChiefExecutive Officer/President ofShoptomydoor, Nduka Udehargues that while it mayappear that there is morefunding available than thereis the capacity to absorb them,it is also important to note thatprivate equity firms typicallyraise funds from their LimitedPartners and the availability of

funds, as claimed, willdepend on the life of the fundand their typical area ofinterest.

Shoptomydoor is aNigerian online retailerdedicated to bridging the gapbetween Nigerian shoppersand global merchants such asAmazon, eBay, Zappos,AliExpress.

He noted that the rise in e-commerce and mobilepenetration has increased thenumber of private equityfirms with interest in Nigeriaand hence there are morefunds available now than afew years ago.

He said, though the fundmay be available, thechallenge is in meeting therequirements for accessing

the funds. He said the nitty-gritty involved comes withextreme high cost that moststart-ups cannot meet.According to him, “There arelots that go into accessingfunds, and the typicalNigerian environment makesthis even harder. A typicaltechnology start up beginswith very little capital eithersourced personally by theowners or borrowed fromfamily and friends. Whiletrying to meet daily businesscash flow, it is very difficultto meet the demands of atypical venture firm beforefunding is made available toa tech start-up.

Business planchallenges

Udeh explained: “For aventure firm to pay

attention to any tech start up,such a start up would have topresent a solid business planthat shows the growthpotential of such a businesswith facts and figures tosubstantiate the loan beingsought. Typical venture firmswill not invest in businessesfor which they will not walkout of in a few years time witha projected minimum of threetimes their contribution to thefirm. Hence a firm wanting toinvest $1 million in a start upwill be looking for payout inthe range of $3 million ormore.

“Most technology start upsare headed by Engineers andmost do not have theexpertise to produce plansthat will meet the


We need tohave a fundstream thatcan supportbusinessesfrom thefoundation,with as littleas $5,000as proof ofconcept fund

CMYK


Business & Economy

,

,

It was Dr. Martin LutherKing, who once said:

“Life’s most persistent andurgent question is, ‘What areyou doing for others?” Greatmen that walked on thisplanet earth have oftenchallenged themselves withthis question, and have ruledtheir conscience in theirservice to humanity.Politicians, public sectorworkers as well as privatesector operators whoseprinciples are governed bythis fundamental questionhave always come out withsolutions to humanproblems. A man or womanwho challenges himself/herself with this questiondaily will have a lot to occupyhim in the service of othersand to humanity. In theNigerian context, thequestion has always beenwhat am I doing for myself?It is this selfish question andthe high opinion held byNigerian public officeholders as well as the so-called private sector that hasheld down the progress ofthis country. Instead of usbeing the giants we claim,the Nigeria nation hasbecome a Lilliputiancountry. A nation wherenothing works.

It beats every bit ofimagination for officials of theNigerian National PetroleumCorporation to come out andtell the nation that 80 per centof the country’s pipeline havebeen vandalised or rupturedand so, distribution ofpetroleum products hasbecome a harrowingexperience. It has shut downseveral businesses along thenation's gateway, Apapaport, where on daily basis,

I and others, the wormeating up Nigeria

petrol tankers take overthe express roadleaving no room forother motorists.Given the misery andsuffering this hascaused Nigerians,public functionariesare not touched, andall they care is whatcomes to them.

In his presentation atthe Oil Trading andLogistics 2014, AfricanDownstream Expo inLagos, Mr. HarunaMomoh, ManagingDirector, Pipelines andProducts MarketingCompany Limited,PPMC, said that 80 percent of the country’s5,120 kilometerspipeline network forp e t r o l e u mdistribution has beenvandalised. He furtherdisclosed that thecountry’s refineriesare currentlyproducing about 5.10million litres ofPremium Motor Spirit,PMS, daily. This, hesaid, is in contrast withthe average localconsumption of 40million litres per day.

In addition, Momohdisclosed that therefineries are currentlyproducing threemillion litres daily ofAutomotive Gas Oil(AGO) in contrast withan averageconsumption of 12million litres per dayand Dual PurposeK e r o s e n e(DPK) production of2.1 million litres per

day, despite an averageconsumption of 11 millionlitres daily. He said thecountry is facing difficultiesin distributing productsthrough existing pipelinesdue to pipeline vandalismand rupture due to aging. Hefurther stated that thecountry is also faced withchallenges of insecurity ofpipelines to transport crudeto existing refineriesbecause of pipeline vandals.

He lamented the limitednumber of trucks for product

haulage and the bad roadnetwork, saying as a result,most marketers, in somecases, use the same truck toconvey products such asPremium Motor Spirit andDual Purpose Kerosene.

To address the challengesof products supply in thecountry, Momoh said thecountry requires threemillion metric tonnes perannum of product supply;10,000 to 25,000 metrictonnes capacity vessels andadditional jetties; over 1,000additional trucks with a 20metric tonnes carryingcapacity and 500 Liquefied

Petroleum Gas filling plants among others.

If officials at NNPC have theinterest of others at heart,they would have ensured thatthe pipelines are secured. It isnot an act of God that pipelinesare being vandalized. Thevandals are not ghosts, theyare humans. They steal crudeoil everyday without let orhindrance. They are known tooperators as well asgovernment functionaries.They have had a field daybecause of vested interest by

Nigerian officials. It is 'what isin it for me' that has broughtthe nation to its knees. IfNigerians challengethemselves on 'what am Idoing for others?', this issuewill be a thing of the past.There is supposedly a lot ofinvestment opportunities inthe downstream segment ofthe oil sector, in the areas ofconstruction/expansion ofcoastal storage facilities,provision of floating storage,dredging of the jetties toenhance draft andconstruction of more jetties,but who will put his money ina business that selfish interest

will kill the following season?If not for 'what is in it for

me?' mentality, why has thepetroleum industry bill notbeen passed into law? It isbecause there are those ingovernment who areprofiteering from the currentarrangement. Nigerians areaware that the mismatchesbetween pricing regimesencourage informal markets,cross border fuel smuggling,differing productspecification standards andadulteration of fuels. Butnothing has been done; it isyearly lamentation bygovernment that rend theairwaves.

Yet in the downstream ofthe oil sector, operatorscomplain of “multiplicity inreporting and compliancerequirements with variousgovernment agencies; highdependency on deplorableroad infrastructure andinadequate road networks foreffective productsdistribution as a result of poorpipeline integrity. Limitednumber of jetties - there arecurrently a high number ofvessels on the queue for fewberthing space preventtimely receipts of productand thereby increasingproduct cost as a result of costincurred on demurrages.”

If Nigeria must get out ofthis logjam, actors in the oilsector must look beyondselfish interest, and begin tobe innovative in the approachto business; customer focusedand be more sensitive to thelives of people andcommunities hosting oilinstallations.

That is the principle ofdoing something for others.

The vandals are notghosts, they are humans;they steal crude oileveryday without let orhindrance. They are knownto operators as well asgovernment functionaries

Tech start-ups lament dearth ofventure capital


requirements of most venturecapital firms. Such plans willrequire the companies toshow their present valuation,show data to support theirprojected sales forecast and beable to perform an economicmodel of their plan. The costof hiring a firm in Nigeria toproduce this, typically rangesfrom N3 million to as high asN8 million when consultingfirms are brought in to do thework. Hence this already putsmost start ups at adisadvantage as coming upwith these funds that does notguarantee eventual fundingis difficult.”

Advisory, legal feestoo expensive forstart-ups “Other advisory fees will

come in that financialadvisory companies willcharge to help a tech start upnavigate potential funding.These advisory fees come inthe form of helping tonegotiate the terms sheets,accompanying them onmeetings and introducingthem directly to the firms that

have funds to invest. All thesecome in the form of advisoryfees that these financial firmswill want paid up-front.Hence meeting these fees thatrange in the N2 million to N3million with a percentage ofthe fund at closing also provesa big challenge to a typicalstart up entity.

“Also legal fees are otherfees that can be substantial innegotiating these agreementsand can range from a fewhundreds of thousands to the

millions depending on the firmand experience of the lawyershandling these.

“While the advisory andlegal fees can be rolled intothe funding and paid by thefunders, the business plandevelopment fee cannot, andleads to most good ideas notgiven a serious thought fromday one if not produced andwritten by a fancy well knownfirm. Rolling the advisory andlegal fees into the fund alsohas the effect of reducing the

founder ’s equity in thecompany after the funding,”explained Udeh.

Udeh further said that for atypical tech start up to be ableto acquire funding they shouldbe willing to give up a lot ofequity in their company, whichin most cases makes them losecontrol of what they have builtand hence they becomeemployees of their owncompanies and indirectly of the



CMYK

Business & Economy

BY JIMOH BABATUNDE

Zamfara State becamethe first state in thecountry to benefit from

President GoodluckJonathan’s N50 billionAgricultural MechanizationFund for the roll out of theAgricultural EquipmentHiring Enterprises across thecountry.

The Minister of Agriculture,Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, lastweek in Gusau launched theN144 million EmergencyMechanisation InterventionSupport Services for ZamfaraFarmers.

Speaking at the launch inZamfara, Adesina said: “Theinitiative is a purely Public-Private-Partnership (PPP)strategy that will set upAgricultural EquipmentHiring Enterprises in strategiclocations to providemechanized farm services tofarming communities.

“These include leasing/hiring out of various types ofagricultural equipment forland preparation, harvest andpost-harvest operations,repair and maintenance of suchequipment. The centers willalso serve as an incubator forhuman capital developmentwithin farming communities.”

He disclosed that between

Zamfara farmers benefit fromN50b mechanization fund

2014 and 2016, theA g r i c u l t u r a lMechanization Fund willestablish a minimum of1,200 AgriculturalEquipment HiringEnterprises (AEHEs)across the nation.

The Centers,according to him, willprovide 6,000 units oftractors and theirimplements, 15,000power tillers and over20,000 planting,harvest and post-harvestequipment.

“The centers will be used tomechanize 4 million hectaresof farmland in the country andexpand food production by anadditional 20 million metrictons. The centers areprojected to create over200,000 direct and indirectjobs for youths.

Adesina further disclosedthat Zamfara State is havingthe first of the agriculturalequipment hiring enterprisescommissioned with three ofthe senatorial districtshaving a centre and thefourth centre located in

Gusau, the state capital.“The four centers will be

fully equipped with 20 unitsof tractors and power tillerseach and various harvest andpost-harvest equipment.

“The total cost of theequipment for four AEHEs inZamfara State is N144million. The equipment arebeing deployed to ZamfaraState through the statechapter of the Tractor Ownersand Operators Association(TOOAN) to renderemergency mechanizationintervention support servicesto farmers in the state.

The Minister disclosed thatthe ministry will supportfarmers all across Zamfara Stateto have access to subsidizedmechanized services from theseagricultural equipment hiringenterprises. “Given the recentcommunal clashes that led tothe destruction of farm produceand death of traction animals,the Federal Government,through the Ministry ofAgricul ture and RuralDevelopment, will pay for100 per cent of themechanization services forthe farmers between nowand the end of the dryseason." While noting thata total sum of N193 millionhas been approved tosupport f reemechanization services forfarmers in Zamfara Statethrough the GrowthEnhancement Scheme,Adesina said the tractors willbe used to cultivate anaverage of 8000 hectares,covering plowing, harrowingand ridging tillageoperations.

Sixteen states are tobenefit from theN13.6billion pact

entered into by the Bank ofIndustry, BOI and the FederalMinistry of Agriculture andRural Development as intervention funds for riceand cassava milling in thecountry. The duo signed aMemorandum ofUnderstanding, MoU, forN13.6 bn loan solelytargetted at the privatesector at a maximum of 10years with a 3-year cessationat 5 per cent interest flat rateper annum to 16 benefitingstates.

Ten out of the 16 states -Benue, Kebbi, Zamfara,Kaduna, Kano, Kogi, Bayelsa,Bauchi, Ogun and Anambra,are for rice mills while theremaining seven states - Ondo, Ogun, Abia, Delta,

16 states to benefit from BOI, Agric Ministry'sN13.6bn rice, cassava mills

By FAVOUR NNABUGWU& RAPHAEL IZOKPU

Cross River andNasarawa are forcassava mills.

The ManagingDirector of BOI, MrRasheed Olaoluwa atthe signing of theMOU in Abuja onThursday, explainedthat the objective ofthe FederalG o v e r n m e n t ’ sA g r i c u l t u r a lT r a n s f o r m a t i o nAgenda is not only toincrease cropproduction, but also tocreate value-addedfood processingindustries as a meansof reducing foodimports.

“And the whole ideaof the fund is toenable thisadministration toadvance the alreadysuccessful agrict r a n s f o r m a t i o n

agenda and to take it to anadvanced stage, by setting up10 medium sized rice millsand 6 high quality cassavamills across the country.

“Over the last three years,a lot of activities have beenundertaken to improve andencourage the localproduction of the items inNigeria as we are now in thecritical stage where there is aneed for effective processingof the agricultural produce,"he said. Speaking further, theBoI boss stated that the MoUwill address the modalities ofensuring that the 16 stateswhich the funds are meantfor, materialised in fewmonths time, adding that, “itis therefore hoped that by thetime the 10 rice and 6cassavas mills companies arefully operational, evidently,the amount of rice andcassava importation inNigeria would besignificantly reduced, if nottotally eliminated.”

Broadbandaccess, keyenabler ofsocio-economicgrowth—Minister

The Minister of

Communica t ionTechnology, Mrs OmobolaJohnson, has said thatbroadband access andinternet technologies werekey enablers of socio-economic growth andk n o w l e d g e - b a s e deconomies.

She made this assertion ina keynote address at theopening of the West AfricanInformation andC o m m u n i c a t i o n sTechnology Conference(WAFICT)held in Lagos.The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that theconference, organised by ITand Telecom Digest, had thetheme: Broadband forTransformation andDevelopment in West Africa.

Represented by her SeniorSpecial Adviser on Media,Mrs Efem Nkanga, Johnsonsaid the presence ofbroadband as a strategic toolin any nation enabled thecreation of a digital economycrucial for fosteringinclusive development.

SMILE ROUNDTABLE - From left Mr Kenneth Ezenwah, General Manager, Salesand Distribution; Mrs Alero Ladipo, Chief Marketing Officer and Mr Gbolahan Tho-mas, Head, Legal and Regulatory Affairs, all of Smile Communications at a mediaroundtable hosted by the company in Lagos.

The Board of NigerianBreweries Plc has

announced approval from theFederal High Court for it tohold a Court OrderedMeeting of shareholders ofthe company to consider itsproposed merger withConsolidated Breweries Plc.In a statement signed by NicoVervelde, Managing Director/CEO, Nigerian Breweries Plc,the company disclosed that“the Court Ordered Meetingis scheduled to hold onThursday December 4, 2014 atthe Zinnia Hall of Eko Hotel,Victoria Island, Lagos. Havingobtained the approval of thestatutory authorities, thedistribution of the Scheme ofMerger document toshareholders will commenceimmediately. The essentialproposal before ourshareholders is to combine theoperations of NigerianBreweries Plc andConsolidated Breweries Plcinto one legal entity effectedthrough a Scheme of Mergerwith Nigerian Breweriesbeing the surviving entity.”

Merger: NigerianBreweries PlcAnnouncesDetails of CourtOrdered Meeting


Business & Economy

BY NAOMI UZOR

The Managing Director/CEO, PeugeotAutomobile Nigeria,

PAN, Mr. Ibrahim Boyi, hassaid that given Nigeria’s levelof development, wholesaletrade liberalization policies,that damage local productionis counter-productive andundesirable.

Speaking at the 2014 annualsymposium of the automobileand allied products sectoralgroup of the Lagos Chamberof Commerce and Industry,LCCI, tagged “Resuscitatingthe Nigerian AutomotiveIndustry: Getting it Right”, Boyi said, whilst there is amarked decline in protectionof local industries andreduction in some cases,elimination of trade barriersthrough duty removal amongcooperating countries, suchpolicy options cannot beequally desirable acrossdeveloping economies and

AUTO INDUSTRY: Wholesaletrade liberalization policiescounter-productive, says PAN

given Nigeria’s level ofdevelopment, wholesale tradeliberalization policies, thatdamage local production iscounter-productive andundesirable.

He said the main objectivesof the Nigerian AutomotiveIndustry Development Plans(NAIDP) developed by theMinister of Industry, Tradeand Investment, Dr. OlusegunAganga, is to protect the localautomotive industry, enhancecompetitiveness, stimulatevehicles demand, encourageinvestments in the sector anddevelop local capacity.

“The plan rides on theweakness and gaps within thesector vis-a-vis the factors that

have contributed tothe immensesuccesses recorded atother developingdistricts. By far thestrongest attributes,the NAIDPsrecognize that thetransformation of thesector must take aterm perspective ofvarious initiativesand actions workings i m u l t a n e o u s l ytowards well definedoutcomes.

As formulated, theNAIDP is anintegrated plancovering the entirespectrum of vehicle

manufacturing value chainwith strategic focus on a non-disruptive transition fromvehicles assembly to fullyfledged manufacturingduring the plan period” hestated.

The president of LCCI,Alhaji Remi Bello, said, thenew Nigerian AutomotivePolicy target is to placeNigeria among industrlizednations, thus, thetransformation agenda mustbe consistent and driven byinternational best practices,adding that, various reportsindicate that since the recentincrease in the duty and levypaid on imported newvehicles from by the federalgovernment, Nigeria’sautomotive market hasstarted witnessing asystematic drop in thevolume of imported newvehicles.

“From research conductedby NBS and the NigerianAutomotive ManufacturersAssociation (NAMA), theNigerian automotive industryhas the potential to createmore than 700,000 jobs. As at2012, only 2,584 persons aredirectly employed by theassembly plants. With over200,000 new/used vehiclesintroduced into the economyon yearly basis, the Nigerianauto industry has thepotential to surpass theSouth African auto industryin contribution to GDP. Thisis feasible if the industry isrevitalized and made vibrantby addressing inherentconcerns” he said.

BY PROVIDENCE OBUH

The Nigerian ExportPromotion Council(NEPC) in

collaboration with the SubsidyRe-investment EmpowermentProgramme (SURE-P)Graduate Internship Scheme(GIS) is in strategicpartnership to implementskills acquisitionprogrammes that would givefillip to Federal Government’sTransformation Agenda ofreducing unemployment andcreation of wealth. The stagefor this act was set at the MOUsigning ceremony in Lagos,where the two organs agreedto build capacity, impart

NEPC partners SURE-P on job creationskills and create a pool oftrained graduates who wouldbecome independententrepreneurs.

In addressing the subject,particularly job creation,NEPC would integrate GISwith its Youth EmpowermentExport Skills AcquisitionProgramme (YEESAP)through the grooming ofinterns on export matters,before deploying them toExport ManufacturingCompanies to work for at leasta year - drawing reasonablestipends as salaries paid bySURE-P.

At a Forum, Mr. OlusegunAwolowo, Executive Director/CEO of NEPC, underlined

that “the objective of YEESAPis to strengthen effort bySURE-P GIS to realize one ofthe Federal Government’scardinal objective in theTransformation Agenda:wealth and job creation. Theprogramme would surelyrevitalize the non-oil exportsector of our national economythereby increasing itscontribution to GDP”. Theoverall objective of integratingthe GIS in the development ofnon-oil export is to ensurethat youths are adequatelyequipped to manage exportoriented businesses to sustainthemselves.

According to the Director/Coordinator of GIS Mr. Peter

Papka “this collaborativeinitiative to engage ourteaming youths is a cleareffort at encouragingGovernment to Governmentpartnership, and a goodexample of Public PrivatePartnership which is in sinkwith the key mandate ofSURE-P”. The Forum titled“Integration of GIS in Non-oil Export Development” wasattended by stakeholdersfrom relevant MDAs,parastatals, the OrganizedPrivate Sector and captainsof industries - especiallythose from the ExportManufacturing Companieswho would eventuallyemploy the interns.

FCMB, Danamotors partner toenhance customerservice

First City MonumentBank (FCMB) and

Dana Motors have agreed toenhance services forcustomers of the bank. MrAdam Nuru, the FCMBExecutive Director, Abujaand Northern region,disclosed this at the launchof the FCMB and DanaMotors Auto Loan Alliancemedia launch in Abuja. Hesaid that the Auto loanAlliance was part of efforts tomeet the aspirations of thebank’s customers.

He added that “today, ourguests and customers arepresented with uniqueconsumer offering and howthey can benefit from it. “TheAuto Loan is another way ofidentifying with customers’aspirations and deliveringon our brand promise to ourcustomers. Throughout theperiod of this offer, ourcustomers who will sign onthe scheme will not have toworry about releasing bulkcash to acquire a brand newvehicle.” According to him,customers will also be ableto meet their other needs atthe same time.

Nigeria can saveN1.38bn fromenergy efficiencypractices —UNDP

The United NationsD e v e l o p m e n t

P r o g r a m m e - G l o b a lEnvironment Facility EnergyEfficiency Programme(UNDP-GEF),has said thatNigeria could save $8.49million (about N1.38 billion)from energy efficiencypractices. UNDP-GEF’sNational Project Coordinator,Mr Etiosa Uyigue, said thisin Lagos while making apresentation at a seminar on“Energy Efficiency”. Theseminar was jointlyorganised by the Consulate-General of the Republic ofGermany and the Delegationof German Industry andCommerce in Nigeria.

Uyigue said that it wasimperative for Nigerians tourgently embrace the use ofenergy efficient lightingsand appliances at homes,offices, hotels and otherpublic places.

“Nigeria can save about8.49 million U.S. dollarsannually if Nigerians willreplace their present use oflighting products withenergy efficient ones.

ARIk @ 8: From left Mr Silla Ramachandra, Snr Vice President; Capt Ado Sanusi,Deputy Managing Director; Mr Chris Ndulue, MD and Captain Adetokunbo Adekun-bi, Chief Pilot, all of Arik Airline cutting the cake to celebrate Arik's 8th year of oper-ations at the Airline's head office, Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos. PhotoLamidi Bamidele.


Banking & Finance

CONFERENCE - From Left: David Grayson, Cranfield University, UK; Bisi Onasanya,GMD/CEO FirstBank; Dr. Enase Okonedo, Dean, Lagos Business School; and KayodeOmoregie, Faculty, Lagos Business School at the FirstBank International SustainabilityConference.

The StandardChartered MNIB u s i n e s s

Sentiment Indicator (BSI)has revealed that therecent depreciation of thenaira is having negativeimpact on businesses.

The Indicator isconstructed based on theresponses to questions onNigeria’s current and

Naira depreciation hurtingbusinesses — Stanchart surveyStories byBABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

future economic conditionsfrom 200 formal-sectorbusinesses active in differentsegments of Nigeria’seconomy.

Recall that the nairadepreciated by 185 kobo at theinterbank market in Octoberas the interbank exchangerate rose from N163.8 perdollar at the end of Septemberto N165.65 at the end ofOctober.

“With a mix of exporters andimporters polled in our

representative sample ofNigerian companies, theoverall assessment of nairaweakness was negative”, theBank said in its report of theBSI survey for October.

“The ‘effect of the nairaexchange-rate currentconditions’ indicator declined6.9 percent month-on-monthin October, with manyrespondents reporting thatforeign exchange movementshad a negative impact on theirbusinesses. The index itself

slipped to only 36.5, versus athree-month average of 40.5– with both the October andthe three-month average incontractionary territory.

“But NGN weakness may beproviding some unanticipatedupside for the Nigerianeconomy. Although formal-sector companies are thoughtto be dominated by importers,it is noteworthy that surveyrespondents reported a strongrise in export orders, with thesub-index rising to 70 inOctober, a new series high.This was up 17.4 percentmonth-on-month fromSeptember ’s print of 59.6,suggesting that foreignexchange weakness may havebeen an important driver ofthe gain.” The survey howeverindicated a rapid rise inbusiness confidence inOctober. It noted, “Rapid risein confidence in OctoberBusiness confidence appearsto be robust in Nigeria, withdemand and output bothincreasing at the fastest pacesince the Standard Chartered-MNI BSI series began inMarch. It is likely that theholiday season in Nigerialifted output, with the Id elKabir holiday falling close toindependence celebrations inearly October this year.Companies are experiencinga surge in orders ahead ofChristmas as well, helping tolift the headline indicator to anew series high of 66.6. Thisis up 4.2 points, or 6.8 percentmonth-on-month fromSeptember’s 62.4.”

The Bank said that theStanchart MNI BusinessSentiment Indicator isconstructed in partnershipwith MNI, a well-known dataprovider that has longproduced the Chicago PMIamong other indicators.“Each month, up to 200formal-sector businesses,active in different segments ofNigeria’s economy, respond toquestions on Nigeria’scurrent and future economicconditions. Although c.80% ofthe respondents polled areLagos-based, the businessesthat they represent are activeacross Nigeria. Theirresponses are collated togenerate a single number thatcaptures sentiment. Theheadline BSI (currentconditions index) for Nigeriais made up of a number ofcomponents, with differentweights assigned: new orders(a 35 percent weight),production (25 percent ),employment (15 percent),order backlogs (15 percent)and supplier delivery times(10percent).

Sterling Bank has opened ten newbranches in a bid to sharpen its retail

banking strategy to enhance servicesdelivery and attract low cost funds.

In addition, the Bank has embarked onthe remodelling of about 40 of its branchesnationwide to reflect its retail positioning.

Recall that Sterling Bank recorded N73billion gross earnings in its third quarterof 2014 operating year, up by 12.1 percentin Q3 2013. Profit before Tax alsoincreased by 41.3 percent from N6 billionin Q3 2013 to N8.5 billion Q3 2014. Thus,its Profit after Tax grew by 39.2 percentfrom N5.1 billion Q3 2013 to N7.1 billionQ3 2014.

The new branches are located in FestacTown, Owode Onirin, a retail market thatdeals with motor spare parts along IkoroduRoad, Itire, and Awoyaya all in Lagos.Others are the NNPC Depot in Mosimi inOgun State, Eziukwu in Abia, Birin-Kebbi in Kebbi, Rumuola and Onne in PortHarcourt and Bank Road in Ekiti.

The new branches are additions to thebank’s expanding branch network in thecountry just as more locations will beadded in the coming months to enable itachieve its 200 mark before the end of the

Sterling Bank sharpens retail strategywith 10 new branches

2014 financial year. The Bank’s totalbranch network currently stands at 175.

According to the Bank’s Group Head,Strategy and Communications, Mr. ShinaAtilola, the bank’s on-going branchexpansion is part of its strategy to expandits operations and branch network acrossthe country to enable the Bank deploy itsservices to all parts of the country andleverage on this to successfully increaseits share of the retail end of the market.

The new branch locations, according toMr. Atilola will serve both retail andwholesale banking customers with acomprehensive range of productsincluding the traditional banking productsand services with an emphasis ontechnology driven products/servicesdelivered through an on-line real-timetechnology platform already put in placeby the Bank.

The Bank’s Chief Strategist said that theBank planned to develop a robust servicedelivery network comprising the traditional“brick and mortar ” branches andalternative delivery channels like theATMs. He expressed his confidence thatthe Bank would achieve the 200 branchnetwork target it has set for 2014.

GTBank’s SMEMarketHub wins Frost& Sullivan Award

Guaranty Trust BankPlc has been

announced as the winner ofthe “2014 ProductLeadership Award” at the2014 Frost and SullivanExcellence In Best PracticesAwards Banquet that heldin Monaco, France.

Frost & Sullivan is agrowth consulting firm thatprovides market researchand analysis, growthstrategy consulting, andcorporate training servicesacross multiple industriesincluding banking,automobile, healthcare,internet and communicationtechnology, and more. Itsheadquarters is located inCalifornia with offices in 31countries across sixcontinents.

Explaining the rationalebehind GTBank winning theaward, Frost & Sullivanstated that the award is inrecognition of the Bank’sefforts to offer robust valueto SMEs in Nigeria.

Federation AccountRemittances:Okonjo-Iwealalauds CBN

The CoordinatingMinister for the

Economy (CME) andMinister of Finance, Dr.(Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has commendedthe Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) for being at theforefront of regularlyfulfilling its statutoryobligations to thegovernment by promptremittances of it's surplusrevenue to the FederationAccount. Dr. Okonjo-Iwealagave the commendation ata public presentation of the2015 -2017 Medium TermExpenditure Framework(MTEF) and FiscalStrategy Paper to membersof the Senate JointCommittee on Finance,National Planning andPoverty Alleviation at theNational AssemblyComplex last week.

Making her presentation,the Minister proposed that,as part of the framework,“25 per cent of grossrevenues of Ministries,Departments and Agencies(MDAs) should be remittedoff the top as part of thelong-term strategy ofenhancing InternallyGenerated Revenue (IGR)collection from MDAs andother organizations.

CMYK


Banking & Finance

The Central Bank ofNigeria (CBN) hasc o m m e n c e d

investigation of two banks forforeign exchange malpractices.The two Tier 2 banks are beinginvestigated for unbridled saleof foreign exchange to BDCsrelated to the banks.

One of the banks withheadquarters in Victoria Islandrecently appointed a new ChiefExecutive Officer, while theother with headquarters inLagos Island, recentlycelebrated its 30th anniversary.Investigation revealed that insome instances the banks soldforeign exchange in millions toeach BDC per time. The apexbank however got wind ofthese unbridled foreignexchange sales and sent itsexaminers to investigate thebanks as well as impose stiffpenalties on them.Investigations also revealedthat though the apex bank hasnot barred the banks fromselling foreign exchange toBDCs; they have howeverstopped doing so.

It would be recalled that lastweek the apex bank bannedbanks from selling itsintervention foreign exchangein the interbank market, or toBDCs. In a circular withreference number TED/FEM/FPRB/GEN/01/020, datedOctober 28, 2014, the CBN alsodirected that funds purchasedthrough its interventions at theinterbank market should beutilised within two workingdays of delivery, at a rate notmore than 10 kobo above thepurchase rate. The CBNcircular also directed thatunutilised funds within twodays of delivery should bereturned to the Bank at theoriginal purchase rates.

Naira loses 90kin interbank

Meanwhile the nairacontinued its

depreciation against the dollarin the interbank market lastweek losing 90 kobo. Data fromthe Financial Market DealersQuote (FMDQ) show that theinterbank foreign exchangerate rose to N165.65 per dollarat the close of business onFriday from N164.75 per dollar.This, it was gathered, was dueto persistent demand pressure,aggravated by absence ofintervention from the apexbank. Furthermore, the CBN

CBN investigates two banks for forex malpractices*Naira loses 90k in interbank*No alternative to further tightening-Experts

By BABAJIDEKOMOLAFE

reduced by 10 percent foreignexchange sales at the RDASsessions held last week. From$999.88 million, foreignexchange sold dropped to$898.85 million. The officialexchange rate remainedunchanged at N 155.76 perdollar.

The 90 kobo depreciation ofthe naira at the interbankmarket last monthcompounded the woes of thecurrency against the dollar forthe month. Analysis revealedthat though the naira wasstable at the official segment,it depreciated by 185 kobo inthe interbank in the month ofOctober, with the interbankrate rising from N163.8 toN165.65 per dollar. Thedepreciation could have beenworse but for the regular

intervention of theCBN with specialforeign exchangesales to stabilisethe naira in theinterbank market.F o r e i g nexchange sales atRDAS for themonth of Octoberdropped slightlyto $3 billion from$3.1 billion in theprevious month.

ExternalReservedeclines by$757m inOctober

The Externalreserve last weekcontinued itsdownward trendreflecting theimpact of theCBN’s foreign

exchange intervention sales tostabilise the naira. Last week,the reserve fell below the $38billion mark to $38.763 billion.This translated to decline of$238.99 billion in one week.Cumulatively, the externalreserve fell by $757 million inOctober, representing thebiggest decline since it startedrising in June. By extension,the external reserve hasdeclined by $5.17 billion or 11.8percent in 2013.

No alternative tofurther tightening- Experts

Meanwhile analystshave said that the

recent decline in crude oilprices with its concomitanteffect on foreign exchange

e a r n i n g s ,e x t e r n a lreserve andthe exchangerate of thenaira, hasmade itimperat ivefor the CBN tof u r t h e rtighten itsm o n e t a r ypolicy. Ind i f f e r e n c ee c o n o m i ccommentary,the analystswere of theview that theCBN has noalternative tof u r t h e rtightening ofm o n e ysupply.

“It is clearthat at igh ten ingcycle is

developing, with a strongpossibility of further directtightening,” said analysts atEcobank in a briefing titled,“Nigeria: Yields are headingup.”

“The recent sharp fall inBrent oil prices and uncertaintyover the normalization of USmonetary policy following theend of QE in several dayssupport a tightening bias.Without a large cushion offoreign exchange reserves theCBN is under pressure fromthe fall in oil prices so we expectthe CBN to tighten policy as ameans of underpinning thenaira. ?The MPR will remainabove 12 percent for the weeksahead, with the possibility ofindirect tightening in theNovember meeting of theMPC. However, if the nairaweakens in the interbankmarket to naira 170 or more,and oil prices drop below $80per barrel an emergency MPCmeeting could raise the MPR50-100bp and increase theCRR”, they said.

Analysts at FinancialDerivative Company (FDC)also stated, “We expect theCBN to continue to pursue acontractionary monetary policy,which will help in mitigatingthe risks to inflation and theexchange rate”.

In the company’s Economicand Business Update Bulletinissued last week, theyexplored the possible policyresponses to the economicimpact of the decline in crudeoil prices. They noted, “TheCBN‘s monetary policy will bea very useful tool in managingthe risks to the exchange rateand inflation. The currentrestrictive policy stance hasbeen effective so far inachieving the Central Bank‘s

objectives. Although there is astrong desire for anexpansionary interest ratepolicy to boost growth, it maynot be prudent to adopt such apolicy at this critical time.

“Fiscal policy, on the otherhand, would have limitedimpact in curbing economicrisks. However, thegovernment can intensifyefforts to prevent oil leakagesand pipeline vandalism. Thiswill help increase the country‘soil production and in turn,minimize the impact of fallingoil prices on revenues andexternal reserves. Thegovernment should alsointensify efforts atstrengthening the non-oilsector. Pending developmentsin the agriculture and powersectors should be carefullyanalysed to determine the wayfor- ward. Furthermore, thereshould be better collaborationof national and regionalgovernments in tackling theBoko Haram menace, sincecrimes are perpetrated throughinterstate and country borders.

“Nigeria‘s economicindicators have remainedpositive and relatively stable sofar in 2014. However, thethreats of increased risks fromexcess market liquidity,decreasing oil prices, changesin global monetary policies andsecurity unrest may affect thestability of some economicvariables. We expect the CBNto continue to pursue acontractionary monetary policy,which will help in mitigatingthe risks to inflation and theexchange rate. TheGovernment should alsointensify efforts at preventingleakages in oil production aswell as strengthening the non-oil sector in order to boostrevenues. The security crisiscan also be better managedthrough greater collaborationof national and regionalgovernments.”

AMCON redeemsN866bn bond

Meanwhile the AssetM a n a g e m e n t

Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON)redeemed its N866.73 billion Bondwhich matured on Friday. Asreported by Vanguard last week,the bonds were redeemed with acombination of cash and treasurybills. This, according to a moneymarket source, might not havesignificant or lasting impact onmarket liquidity, as the CBN isexpected to mop up the liquidityfallout with increase sales oftreasury bills this week.

Without alarge cushionof foreignexchangereserves, theCBN is underpressure fromthe fall in oilprices, so weexpect theCBN totighten policyas a means ofunderpinningthe naira


Corporate Finance

By PETER EGWUATU

The Securities andE x c h a n g e

Commission, SEC hastasked stockbrokers torestructure theentertainment industryto enable it accessfunds from the Nigeriancapital market and actas catalyst to thedevelopment of theindustry.

The Director General,SEC, Ms Arunma Oteh,who gave the advice atthe 18th annualChartered Institute ofS t o c k b r o k e r sconference held inLagos said theentertainment industryfollowing the rebasingof the country’s GrossDomestic Products, GDPcontributed about 4.2per cent. So, thestockbrokers and otheroperators in the capitalmarket have to find away to restructure theentertainment industryto make it attractive forinvestors to invest inthe sector. The industryhas huge potentials andneeded to be unlocked.

According to her “Theentertainment industryprojects Nigeria verypositively and providesjobs for the teemingyouth. So funding iskey to its growth anddevelopment.

On how the capitalmarket can support theentertainment industry,she said “It can be donethrough Asset basedlending andsecuritization. It is onlywhen the industry isstructured very wellthat it will be able toaccess the market, justlike what J.P Morgandid in America.”

Corroborating herview, the Minister ofTourism, Chief EdemDuke, said “There isneed for the capitalmarket to connect theentertainment industry.If the capital market canprovide funds to thesector, it would explodeand become a majorsource of revenue forNigeria. Duke, who wasrepresented by a topofficial in the ministry,Mr.Akin Adejuwonsaid “ I want toencourage the

SEC tasks stockbrokers onrestructuring of entertainment industry

stockbrokers to package theentertainment industry inorder to make it realize itspotential. The PresidentJonathan's administration iscommitted to boosting theindustry and that was why hecreated the $200 million“intervention” fund forcreative industries two yearsago.”

Mr. Ben Murray Brucecommended the CIS forchoosing the topic “CapitalMarket: The key catalyst tothe development of theentertainment industry inNigeria” . According to him“The entertainment industryon its own developed itself,even with bad policies ofgovernment in the past. Thefinance industry has in thepast not been supporting theentertainment industry. If thefinance industry supports theentertainment industry, thesector would grow faster andeven explode to contributemeaningfully to the growthof the economy. The financeindustry is conservative ininvestment and that hasaffected the entertainmentindustry negatively. Thereare abundant talents andingenuity in the industry andthese people need to beencouraged so that they canfurther create jobopportunities.

In his remark at theconference, the President of

CIS, Mr. Albert Okumagbasaid “The institute isundergoing rapidtransformation and would doall it can to encourage itsmembers to connect theentertainment industry to thecapital market.

According to him “We

would like to see theentertainment industry raisefunds from the capitalmarket. We would like tohave a larger capital marketwhere we would have privatesector driven exchanges.such as commodityexchanges."

Aba mega mallset forcommisioning

The Aba Mega Mall,a retail developmentembarked upon by

the Abia State Government,in conjunction with leadinginfrastructural company,Greenfield Assets Limitedhas reached completion andwould soon be commission.

Managing Director, AbaMega Mall Limited, UgoUmeseaka, disclosed thissaying, “We are almost atthe commissioning stage.”

When completed, themega mall which seats ontop 28 hectares of landwould have provisions forbanks, cinema, andautomated warehouse withbonded terminal, 10megawatt 24 hours powersupply, fire station, free e-commerce weblink for allbusinesses to enable onlinetransactions to be executedbetween the businesses andtheir customers.

According to Umeseaka,two distinctive featuresstand the Aba Mega Mallout from other malls inAfrica. With a 100,000square meters leasablespace, the mall is thebiggest in Africa. Also,Umeseaka explained thatthe concept of an e-commerce weblink for all thebusinesses, would enablebuyers to transact businesswith the owners fromanywhere around Nigeriaand beyond.

STORIES BYPETER EGWUATU

UACstrengthensrelationshipwith youthmarket

As part of its corporatesocial responsibility,

CSR initiative, UAC NigeriaLimited, owners of MR.Biggs brand has donatedsets of Nike football brandto Ilupeju All Stars footballclub.

Explaining the rationalebehind the initiative,Eustesia Ogunsusi, AgMarketing Manager, UACsaid the gesture is tosupport members of theclub’s career.

“This is in appreciation ofwhat they are doing forthemselves and for thecountry. We believe inwork and play.

CONFERENCE - From left, Barrister Mag Eric Breiteneder,Austrian Investors Association, Taiwo Oderinde and EdwinEnobakhare, both of Proactive Shareholders Association ofNigeria during the World Federation of Investors, WFIconference held in Australia.

Standard Chartered penetrates retailbanking, rewards customers

As part of its commitmentto penetrate the retail

banking space and rewardboth existing and prospectivecustomers, Chartered Bank hasorganised a Mega Rewardpromo.The Mega Reward promo,weekend saw Mr. Taiwo Ayokucarting away a Porsche Cayennecar as the star prize winner, whileMr. Olabode Makanjuola andMr. Babatunde Oriolowo wenthome with N1 million each.

Addressing newsmen duringthe presentations of the prizes inLagos, Managing Director/ChiefExecutive Officer of StandardChartered Bank said “It was acontinuation of the bank’s effortsto further penetrate the retailbanking space and deliver addedvalue to our growing customerand deposit base. The MegaRewards Promotion represents aunique offering in the bankingindustry where customers can winmega prizes simply bymaintaining a savings or current

account with Standard CharteredBank.”

Continuing she said “Todaymarks another demonstration ofour brand promise. “Here forGood”. We are here today to fulfilthat promise by rewarding ourloyal customers who havechosen Standard CharteredBank as their trusted partner.

“As a bank that connects itscustomers to globalopportunities around the world,Standard Chartered Bank hasbuilt a reputation of trust for over150 years. We value ourrelationship with our customersbecause we believe that thestrength of any relationshipcomes from listening,understanding and respondingadequately to the needs of ourcustomers. This is why wecommenced the 2014 MegaRewards Promotion inFebruary, to meet some of thefinancial goals of our customers.“We also believe that our

customers deserve betterbanking experiences. As a resultwe have strengthened ourdigital channels with our awardwinning Online bankingplatform and Breeze Mobilebanking and increased ourbranch footprints across thecountry. Our drive is to makebanking simpler, moretransparent; very convenientand more need based.”

Commenting on therequirement for entry, Head ofBrand and Marketing, StandardChartered, Mr Diran Olojo said“As part of efforts to encourageour customers to save theirmoney, we announce during thePress briefing, which took placeon February 13, that we are setto reward our customers withmega rewards and the followingMonday, February 17, weunveiled the Mega RewardsPromotion which ran till June 30,2014.”


Corporate Finance

MEETING - Left: Mr. Kayode Falowo, Vice President, Nigerian British Chamber ofCommerce; Arc. Emeka Awagu, immediate past president; Prince Adeyemi Adefulu,President and Mr.s Margaret Eshiett, Deputy Director, Standard Organisation of Nigeria,SON, representing the Director General, Dr Joseph Odumodu at the Breakfast meetinghosted by NBCC in Lagos. Photo Lamidi Bamidele.

Guinness Nigeria Plchas recorded N1.96billion in profit

before tax for its first quarterended September 30, 2014.

This represented six percentgrowth over N1.87 billionposted in the same period in2013.

Also, the gross profit for theperiod rose to N10.55 billionfrom N10.46 billion recordedin equivalent period in 2013,while total assets stood atN133.84 billion as againstN132.33 billion posted in2013. There was also a slightreduction in the cost of saleswith the figure falling toN10.49 billion from N11.95billion recorded in firstquarter in 2013.

The results also showed amarginal increase in adminexpenses to N2.53 billionfrom N2.39 billion, largelydue to the company’s recentinvestment in transforming itsroute to consumerinfrastructure.

Commenting on the results,Mr Babatunde Savage,Chairman, Guinness NigeriaPlc, said the board isoptimistic of sustaining thetrend for the remainder of thefinancial year. “We arepleased to report a year onyear increase of six percent inour profit before tax figure.

Guinness posts N1.96bn profitbefore tax in 3 monthsSTORIES ByNKIRUKA NNOROM

The board is confident thatthis heralds a return togrowth for the company as webegin to reap the dividendsfrom the investments that wehave made in areas like ourcapacity expansion and routeto consumer infrastructure.”

Mr. Seni Adetu, ManagingDirector/Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Guinness Nigeria Plcsaid “We are pleased toannounce this turnaround inour financial results. In theperiod under review, we haveremained focused on ourstrategic imperatives and thishas translated into theincrease in our profit beforetax.

“Our cost of sales declinedby 12 percent year-on-year,YOY, with gross profitremaining flat in the quarter.We are also reporting asignificantly higher taxnumber as a result of the taxincentives which wasreflected in the numbers forthe first quarter of theprevious year followingapproval from the NigerianInvestment promotionCommission, NIPC. This willnot recur going forward.Overall, we feel positive thatwith our core brands and greatinnovation backed by ourstrategic investments, we willcontinue to drive both top and

bottom line growth.”Guinness Nigeria was

established in 1962 andwas the first country tohave a Guinnessbrewery built outside ofthe British Isles.Nigeria now representsthe largest market forGuinness by Net SalesValue in the world.Products from thebrewer’s stables includeGuinness Foreign ExtraStout, Malta Guinness,Harp Lager beer,SNAPP, Orijin Bittersand ready-to-drinkamongst others.

Fidelity Bank Plc in partnershipwith global money transfer

giant, MoneyGram, has launchedoutbound money transfer services,thereby giving Nigerians theopportunity to transfer the Nairaabroad.

The newly launched MoneyGramoutbound money transfer service,Naija Sends, allows Nigerians tosend money abroad through anyFidelity Bank branch in Nigeria whilethe funds are received in dollar or thecurrency of the receiving country.

With this service, Nigerians cannow send money to countries like UK,USA or any of the 200 countries fromNigeria through Fidelity Bank.

Speaking at the launch in Lagos,the Managing Director/CEO, FidelityBank, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo, statedthat the sender does need to be acustomer of Fidelity Bank, saying thatthe service is open to everybody.

He stated that already, the bank hasdone 156 outbound money transfertransactions worth about N35 millionthrough six of its branches in one day.

Fidelity Bank partners MoneyGram,launches outbound transfers

Okonkwo noted that the bankwould bring its capacity in Straight-through-Processing money , overwhich it has won three consecutiveawards from Deutsche Bank, to bearon the new service.

He said, “As you may know, overthe years, Nigeria has been areceive-only country, but now underthe leadership of the new CentralBank of Nigeria, CBN’s governor,we are now a send country as well.We all have relatives abroad whofrom time to time send money home,and we also know that a lot of us hereneed to send money to peopleabroad.

“In the past, some feel people feelthat the only way to send moneyabroad is to go the bank and fill FormA. Alternatively; some simply go theBlack Market and buy dollar. Whatthe Central Bank has done is to makeit easier for you to send moneyoutside Nigeria and the person youare sending it to will receive dollars.

“For us at Fidelity, we are happyabout this development and we will

capitalize on our efficient processingrecords, for which we have won acouple of awards, to ensure that weprocess this very smoothly.”

Also speaking, Kemi Okusanya,Regional Manager, AnglophoneWest Africa, MoneyGram,commended the new managementof CBN led by Godwin Emefiele, foradopting the initiative, saying thatit has been the yearning of manyNigerians over the years.

She stated that with the launch ofoutbound transfer, the CBN can nowhave a accurate data for forecastingand planning, adding that thepartnership isn supportive of CBN’sfinancial inclusion programme.

She assured of the security of thesystem, saying that Moneygram hasenough technology to monitortransactions going through itssystem. “You can’t just go throughour network to send money withoutour knowing who the sender andreceiver are. So, we have processesin place to track fraudulentpractices,” she said.

Eastern PremierFeed commissionsN5bnultra-modern Mills

Eastern Premier FeedMills Company

Limited, a Subsidiary ofFlour Mills Nigeria Plc.(FMN), located in Calabar,Cross River State, is set tocommission its ultra-modernIntegrated Feed Mills today(Monday 3rd November,2014).

The inauguration will beperformed by HisExcellency, Sen. Liyel ImokeCON, the Governor of CrossRiver State and the specialguest of honour at theoccasion is the HonourableMinister of Industry, Tradeand Investment, Dr.Olusegun Aganga, CON.The Chief Host of the eventis Mr. John G.Coumantaros, the Chairmanof Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc.

The inaugurationceremony will be graced bythe presence of manydignitaries from in andoutside the state, valuedcustomers and otherstakeholders.

The Feed Mills which hasa total size investment ofover N5 Billion and a workforce of over 200 is thebiggest single ultra modern,automated animal feed millplant in sub-Saharan Africawith a total installedcapacity of 370,000 metrictons per annum (mtpa).

Wall St. ralliedbroadly as BOJramps upstimulus

The Dow industrials hita record high on Friday

as stocks rallied on WallStreet after the Bank of Japansignificantly ramped up itsstimulus program, just daysafter the Federal Reservewound down its own packageof U.S. economic incentives.

The S&P 500 came within0.25 percent of its record andthe December e-miniscontract ESZ4 hit an intradayrecord earlier.

Gains were broad, withclose to 90 S&P 500components hitting new 52-week highs and around 90more trading within 2percent of a record.

The BOJ’s board voted 5-4to accelerate purchases ofJapanese government bondswhile tripling its purchasesof exchange-traded fundsand real-estate investmenttrusts.

Commodity Index Micro-Finance


Oct 24,- Oct 30, 2014

S t a n d a r d Organisation of Nigeria,

S O N ,weekend, intensified itscall for quality andstandard of made-in-Nigeria goods,revealing that the rate ofsubstandard goodsreduced to 40 percent inthe last four years.

This was made knownby the Director General,SON, Dr. JosephOdumodu, during aworld press conferencein Lagos.

Odumodu said thatthe state of the agencywas nothing to writehome about as it's lack ofcapacity was huge; 85

SON deepens call for quality,standard of local goods…as substandard goods drop to 40%Stories byPROVIDENCEOBUH & JOYUNUANE

percent of local productswere substandard;promoters ofsubstandard productswere thriving in illicittrade, unwilling tovoluntarily stop theirharmful activities andpervasive ignorance ofabout the harmful effectof fake products onconsumer health and onthe national economy.

Meanwhile, theorganization succeededin: the launch of zerotolerance campaign torid the market of fakeand substandard goods;massive publicenlightenment throughmedia and stakeholdersengagement to drawattention to the hazardsof fake and substandardproducts; certification ofSON to ISO 9000;inauguration of National

Quality PolicyCommittee; new ultramodern, world classlaboratory facility underconstruction, amongothers.

“If we allowsubstandard product tothrive in our country, weare saying the localindustry should remainunder standardized. Somuch has been done tostabilize the standard ofmade-in-Nigeria goodsbut we are not where wesuppose to be as the restof the world.

“Nigeria is the giant ofAfrica yet it rates low instandardization inAfrica and nowhere inworld ranking. Allhands must be on deckto pull us out of thewood into the globalstandard tray’” he said.

First Lady DameP a t i e n c eJ o n a t h a n ,

National Centre forWomen Development(NCWD) and FriendsAfrica collaborated,penultimate week, witha view to addressingidentified challengesfacing women and girlchild in Nigeria.

Speaking at theWomen and Girlssummit in Abuja,Jonathan said that thesummit becomenecessary in order tourgently address theissues of Education,Health, Safety andSecurity and EconomicEmpowerment facingwomen and girls in thecountry.

According to her,“There is no meaningfuldevelopment withoutwomen, thereforeindividuals andcorporate organisationsin Nigeria mustcontinue to support andpartner with women torealise the goals andobjectives of thesummit”

Minister of WomenAffairs and SocialDevelopment, HajiyaZainab Maina, said,“With the support ofw e l l - m e a n i n gNigerians, women willbe able to care for

First Lady, NCWD, others tacklechallenges facing women, girls

themselves, contributeto the development oftheir families,communities and thenation”

“We cannot claim tobe developing if we donot recognise thesacrifices women andgirls have to make. Fromthe Aba Women Riot of1929 over doubletaxation by the thencolonial administration,the fortunes of womenand girls have continuedto improve as a result ofaccess to education.

Women and girlsrepresent the heartbeatof any nation. Ourwomen and girls holdthe key to the untappedpotentials of this greatcountry,” Maina said.

Director-General ,National Centre forWomen Development,Lady Onyeka Onwenu,said that the summit wasa “game changer” inpolicy planning andi m p l e m e n t i n gprogrammes for the Girl-Child and women in thecountry.

Accion Microfinance Bank (AMfB) has againbagged 2014 Lagos State Enterprise Award

(LEAD) as Best Micro-finance Bank of the year.The award maintained for four consecutive years

is in acknowledgment of the bank’s contributionsto sustainable development, commitment tofinancial inclusion and impact on the nation ingeneral as detailed in LEAD Centenary 100Brands, a research-focused publication executedin joint partnership with the National OrientationAgency (NOA), Federal Ministry of Informationwith support from the Lagos State Government,the CBN and UNIDO.

Also the bank emerged the LEAD CentenaryMfB of the Year for its effort on the socio-economicdevelopment in Nigeria.

MD/CEO AMfB, Ms Bunmi Lawson, said, “Weare pleased to win the LEAD Award for the 4thconsecutive year and will continue to deliverexcellence in the microfinance sector as weexpand across Nigeria providing sustainablefinancial services to people at the bottom ofpyramid.”

AMFB Bags Lead Award again


Homes & Housing Finance

Wealthy Nigeriansled other Africannationals have

spent morethanN158,979,274,500.00(about £600 million) onproperty in London in the pastthree years. A report releasedby Beauchamp Estates, whichsells some of London’s mostexpensive homes, alsorevealed that they spend almost£4million (about N1 billion)every week on London homes.

The up-market estateagency noted that Nigeriansare the biggest spenders,splashing out £250 million onLondon homes in the last threeyears, adding that the otherbuyers are from Ghana,Congo, Gabon, Cameroon andSenegal. According to thereport, the wealthy buyerstypically spend between £15million and £25 million oneach home. While Africanbuyers only account for 1.5percent of transactions in the‘ultra prime’ London market,they make up 5 percent ofsales by value - up from 2percent in 2012.

Nigerians listed in the reportinclude Aliko Dangote,business magnate and Africa’swealthiest man; FolorunshoAlakija, a billionaire oiltycoon, fashion designer andphilanthropist, who is said tohave recently bought fourapartments in One Hyde Park,the super-exclusivedevelopment inKnightsbridge. The reportadded that Alakija’s British-born nephew, Rotimi Alakija,who goes by the stage name of

Nigerians, others spend N158bnon London homes in 3 years

DJ Xclusive, has also investedproperty in London.

Gary Hersham, ManagingDirector of BeauchampEstates, revealed that he hashad three rich Nigeriansenquiring about homes in thepast week alone. “I’ve had anupturn in African buyers overthe last few months. Thesituation in West Africa atpresent is pushing rich Africanbuyers back into CentralLondon at a significantlyhigher level than is normallyexperienced. While war,disease and terrorism in WestAfrica grab media headlines,actually for super-richAfricans its domestic wealth,cultural ties to London,general safety and education

for their children that are thekey attractions for buying ahome in central London.” Hesaid these super-rich look tobuy property in the ‘platinumtriangle’ which is made up ofMayfair, Belgravia andKnightsbridge.

Hersham added:“Continental African buyersor luxury tenants in Londonare currently where theRussians and Ukrainians werefive years ago. At presentvirtually all the transactionsare for end use, not rentalinvestment, which indicatesthat the African buyer marketin London has significantroom for growth andmaturity. Nigerians have beenlong standing property

purchasers in the centralLondon market, going back tothe early 1980s. However, inthe 1980s and 1990s theytypically purchased houses inNorth London, in Hampstead,St John’s Wood and PrimroseHill. Now, enhanced wealthhas enabled them to moveinto the ultra prime market inMayfair, Belgravia andKnightsbridge, and have beenjoined by affluent purchasersfrom other West African andFrench equatorial states.Around 80 percent spendbetween £15 million to £25million on a residentialproperty, with 10 percentspending more than £30million, the remaining 10percent spending less than£10 million. If they are notbuying, they are rentingluxury homes for up to£15,000 per week and stayingfor between six weeks andthree months.”

The estate agency reportnoted that London’sreputation for having aresidential property market,which is secure and a stableinvestment, is one of the mainreasons wealthy Africans arebuying. Another reason ishistoric cultural andcommunity ties.

Nigeria is a Commonwealthcountry and there is acommunity of 70,000 inLondon. There are a similarnumber of Ghanaians there.The third reason is education,with King’s School Canterbury,Wycombe Abbey,Cheltenham Ladies College,Eton, Harrow and Bradfieldare among the favouriteprivate schools for wealthyfamilies from Africa.” This iscorroborated by the Nigerianembassy in London, Nigeriannationals spend more than£300 million per annum ontutoring, accommodation,fees and equipment at Britishschools and universities.

The rebranding of ObuduMountain Resort

(formerly known as ObuduCattle Ranch) in Cross RiverState led to an influx oftourists both from within andoutside Nigeria thus creatingrevenue for the stategovernment and privateinvestors. This developmentwas an eye opener for otherstates in the country to themany benefits of tourism toreal estate, which ultimatelyleads to the creation of newrevenue opportunities.

Nigeria is blessed with manynatural and human resources.As one of the most naturallypicturesque nations in theworld, tourist attractionsabound in Nigeria, rangingfrom natural attractions like

Driving real estate development withtourism in Nigeria

hills, waterfalls, springs,lakes, mountains, rocks,beaches, etc; to man-madeattractions like resorts, parks,game reserves, ranches, etc;and cultural attractions suchas festivals, carnivals, etc.

A study by Lamudi Nigeriahowever shows that only a fewout of over 70 tourist centreswhich spread throughoutdifferent states in thefederation (and each areahosting as much as 100,000visits a month) generatesubstantial revenue. Thesetourist attractions, mostlyresort centres, comprise ofrevenue generators likeluxury rooms, outdoorfacilities such as recreationalparks, swimming pools, golfcourse, tennis courts, horse

riding arenas, bird watchingfacilities, boat riding and otheractivities localized to that area.

The study obtained from anonline release by KatyCampbell, Lamudi’s GlobalCommunications Director,noted that places like TinapaBusiness Resort in Calabar, LaCampagne Tropicana Lagos,MicCom Golf Course Ada inOsun State, Oguta LakeHoliday Complex in ImoState, Le Meridien IbomGolf Resort in Akwa Ibom,among others, have joined theleague of revenue generatorsfor the real estate industry inNigeria. However the overallpercentage of explored realestate investment in tourismindustry in Nigeria is lessthan 2 percent.

•Residential estate in Lekki, Lagos

FG sets upcommittee onland policy

The FederalGovernment has set up

an inter-ministerialcommittee to develop anational land policy in a bidto ensure effective use ofland resources in thecountry.

Minister of Lands, Housingand Urban Development,Mrs Akon Eyakenyi,explained at theinauguration, in Abuja, thatproducing a nationallyacceptable land policy callsfor collective efforts of allstakeholders. She said thatthe document to beproduced by the committeewould be made available toall stakeholders andsubjected to a nationalvalidation workshopscheduled for the firstquarter of 2015.

Eyakenyi, who wasrepresented by theministry’s PermanentSecretary, Dr EzekielOyemoni, noted that land isthe most critical factor insocial, cultural, political andeconomic life of a nation andan indispensible element insustainable development. “The fact that land is a scarceresource and inelastic insupply, underscores theneed for prudent utilisationof its resources,” she stated.

US mortgagerates reboundcontinues

Mortgage rates in theUS moved higher for

a second consecutive week,with the benchmark 30-yearfixed mortgage rate rising to4.10 percent, according toBankrate.com’s weeklynational survey. The 30-year fixed mortgage has anaverage of 0.23 discount andorigination points.

The average 15-year fixedmortgage rate increased to3.27 percent, while thelarger jumbo 30-year fixedmortgage rate inched higherto 4.11 percent. Adjustablerate mortgages were mostlyhigher, with the 5-year ARMclimbing to 3.17 percent andthe 7-year ARM bouncingupward to 3.80 percent.

Mortgage rates continuedtheir slow rebound from the17-month lows establishedtwo weeks ago, rising for asecond consecutive week aseconomic and financialmarket tensions eased.

Stories by YINKAKOLAWOLE, with agencyreport


CMYK

Interview

What stage is the nationalsugar master plan?

Well, you will recall thatthe implementation of

the sugar master plan took offJanuary 2013, so we are justabout 22 months into theimplementation. Coming tothe master plan itself, insection 12 subsection 3, thefirst two, three years aremainly for acquiring land.Don’t forget we are talkingabout thousands of portions ofland that need to be acquired,then developing the land,acquiring the machineries.We will also have to come upwith designs, financingmodels that will be used.Those are what we arecurrently engaged in. Wehave said that we alreadyhave about 17 sites earmarkedand about seven investors.Dangote is the leadinginvestor having about sevento eight various sites for thecompany. So they areacquiring the land, doingsome feasibility study afterwhich they will come up witha design for both the field andfactory development and theywill go into talks with theirtechnical partners, mobilizingthe resources required to doboth field and factorydevelopment and they startbusiness. The only thing I cansay is that we are on track, twoyears into the project we areon track, we are doing exactlyaccording to the timeline inthe master plan.

What is the expected impactof this master plan on theNigerian economy?

We won’t know the impactnow until we have concludedthe implementation of the planitself. But of course, we canhave an idea of what theimpact will be from thedeliverables that the masterplan states itself. It states thatat the end, even before theend of the 10 year plan period,we should begin to see somenoticeable things on theimpact on our economy. Forinstance, it plans to generateabout 114,000 jobs. When youconsider that Nigeriacurrently has about 23.7percent unemployment rate of170 million people, that is alot of unemployed people and114,000 may not amount tomuch but if you add up all thejobs to be created from thevarious sectorial policies likethe sugar policy, theautomobile policy, the textileand all other policies in theNigerian industrial revolutionplan then you know we are setto have the manufacturingsector of the economy makingsubstantial changes. I fact, weare going to increase thecontribution of manufacturingto GDP from the current 4 or5 percent to 15 percent, thatis on jobs. If we are able toimplement the sugar masterplan as programmed, we will

‘Sugar sub-sector needsN51 bn seed money from FG’DR. Abdul-Latif Demola Busari

is the Executive Secretary,National Sugar DevelopmentCouncil, NSDC. In this interviewwith FAVOUR NNABUGWU,Busari talks about the need forNigeria to check importation ofsugar and support the sugar sub-sector with $310m toencourage localsugar productionin order to helpgrow thesugarindustry andhelp it notonly so attainself-sufficiency insugar but tosustain it.Excerpts:

be saving the country $750million in foreign exchange.Definitely that is going tohave an impact on theeconomy. If we are going tobe able to do that, in spite ofall the giant effort of thegovernment in providingpower for industries fordomestic use, we still havesome challenges in terms ofpower and the master plan isset to generate within 400-650MegaWatts of electricity. Soall those are definitely goingto have an impact on theNigerian economy in terms ofjobs, electricity generation, interms of saving in foreignexchange. If we are able toimplement it as planned, itshould have a lot of impact onthe economy.

What are the constraintsfacing the sugar master plan?

I want to look at theconstraints in three ways.Firstly, we have the generalconstraints that affecteverything and anything inNigeria regardless of whatyou are doing. Then we havethe constraint that affect the

agricultural industry as wellas the manufacturing sector ofthe economy because weoperate in both segments.Then you have sugar sectorspecific constrain. In terms ofthe general constrains, wehave the issue of security; wehave had some investors thathave indicated interest incoming but they are a bitconcerned about the currentsecurity situation in thecountry and want to wait tosee what happens. So I thinkon that there isn’t much wecan do as a council than tosupport our government toensure that we are able tobring the insurgency to anend as early as possible toallow investors to really comeinto the country.

Then, when you come to themanufacturing andagricultural sector, we dohave certain constraints thataffect operation. For us in theSugar industry, I want to lookat the issue on someincentives that the masterplan promises investors forwhich we are having somechallenges at delivering. I

will give two examples - themaster plan says there shouldbe a ban on importation ofpackage sugar, so far oneparticular brand, St Louis, is

still coming into the countryand defiles the effort of allwho are engaged in that fight.Unfortunately as it is now, itis beginning to create the jobprospect of the new sugarpackage companies that wehave when the master planstarted.

If you saw our report onwhat happened on June13, about 440 jobs werecreated in sugar packagingsegment of the sugar value-chain. Now if we are unableto stop St Louis from enteringthe country, those jobs are lostand that is part of the idea ofbanning package sugarimportation because webelieve to package sugar andcube sugar is something thatNigerians can do, so why dowe want to import. And wehave all the raw materials weneed to get the sugar we wantto package or cube from ourrefineries. So people can begainfully employed at thatsegment of the Sugar value-chain. We also have anotherincentive which says that allmachineries that are going tobe used in both the cube and

,

,

•Dr. Abdul-Latif Demola Busari

I will give twoexamples; themaster plansays thereshould be a banon importationof packagesugar, so far oneparticularbrand; St Louis,is still cominginto the countryand defiles theeffort of all whoare engaged inthat fight.


Interview

packaging development, werefer to them as sugarmachineries, can come in atzero percent duty.

We have challenges gettingthe Customs to implement this,they are regarding some of themachineries as outside thesugar industry and we aremaking them understand. Forinstance, they pick someheavy duty outmovingequipments as such thatshouldn’t be regarded as thatof sugar but you can’t develop5,000 to 10,000 hectares ofland without this out-movingequipments, we need all thesehuge outmoving equipmentsto be able to develop on sucha large scale. Well, we are stillengaging with the Ministry ofFinance as well as theCustoms because the dangerin that is that it underminesthe government. Thegovernment makes a promiseand they are unable to deliverand it is going to discourageother investors from comingbecause they will easily pointat the promises which haven’tbeen kept, so when thegovernment makes apronouncement, I think theleast we can do is to ensurethat the government is able tolive up to that pronouncement.

Is the FG not shooting itselfon the foot by still allowingSt Louis to come into thecountry after the ban on retailsugar?

The way out is simple. Wen e e d

political will to stop it.We are not saying Nigeriansshouldn't patronize St Louissugar, what we are saying is,come to Nigeria and set up StLouis sugar because they weretelling us that this particularsugar has been in Nigeria forover 51 years and Nigeriansare used to it. But to package,cube and process sugar issomething that Nigerians cando, bring your factory here, setit up and produce here,Nigerians will still love it butwe are losing jobs byimporting sugar that we caneasily produce here and thatis why the government in itswisdom allowed the banningof packaged sugar and it isnot only for sugar, it is donein vegetable oil, in noodles, injuices, so all those packagingare things that Nigeria has thecapacity at this point in timeto engage in and there is nopoint allowing importation justto cube and package sugar.

Aside the ugly side ofinsecurity, what are themouth-watering incentivesfor investors?

We do have a number ofthem, I already mentioned thefact that anybody that is goingto invest in the sugar sector

today, is on pioneer status thatmeans he is going to be on taxholiday for the first five yearsof operation. All themachineries that you bring ineither for the field

have some incentives in termsof protection of the sugarindustry. These ones Imentioned, are to attract theinvestors, so when you bringthe investors you need toprotect their investment, theissue of packaging sugar isone of them.

Then the high tarrif on sugarimport is another of suchincentive that is meant toprotect the local sugarinvestors. Then for theagricultural end of sugarproduction, we have a schemeof outgrowers, don’t forgetthat the master plan says that40 percent of all the sugarcaneused in the industry shouldcome from the rural populationaround the sugar industry andyou know that the people atthe level of the sugarproduction don’t have a lot ofmeans to do that so there is aprovision in the master planto collateralize the cost of theirproduction so that they canproduce sugar cane. We dothat through the Bank ofAgriculture and the Bank ofIndustry, and they will providethe funds for their operationsbut the master plan of the

Agriculture?It's not long we signed the

MoU with the Bank oAgriculture. We also signedone earlier with the Bank ofIndustry. Like I told you aboutthe stage we are now; peopleare at this stage of acquiringtheir land, talking to theirtechnical partners, at the stageof talking to their financiers,they are at the stage ofdesigning their projects, it iswhen they do all that, thatthey have a clear picture ofwhat it is going to cost themthen they think of how are wegoing to source these fundsand then apply. Though, wedo have some applicationscurrently, especially for theSMEs that are with the Bankof Agriculture and even oneor two with the Bank ofIndustry of industry. We haveoutgrowers farmers that alsowant to acquire mini sugarplants to produce sugar. Wehave in Oyo state, we have inZamfara, we have in Kebbi,Sokoto, Osun state and onesmall farm in Papalanto inOgun State. So we have twoor three of them particularlyin Oyo, Sokoto and Kebbi thattheir applications have beenforwarded to the Bank ofAgric. The mini plant inMarkashi and another one inIlawo all have theirapplications in the Bank ofIndustry. The bank has to carryout the process diligently eventhough it is going to be cheapand have very liberal terms butthe bank should still beconvinced itself that it is aviable project and that hey willbe able to pay back the loans.So that is the stage we are innow, they need small loans todevelop nurseries and cropgrowth.

How much did they take?They took N48 million early

this year and they areprocessing another N54million for them at the momentand they have sent in anapplication for N430 millionfor their machineries and theZamfara people have broughtin their application for aboutN28 million for crop loan. Themajor ones are coming in butlike I said, they are still in thestage of designing and comingup with their total financialcost before they start sourcingfor funds.

Have you realized the$3.1bn needed for theimplementation of the sugarmaster plan?

I need to first say the bulkof that fund is not supposedto be put down by thegovernment. It is just thetotal cost of implementing themaster plan, the bulk of itwill come from private

investors but having saidthat, the sugar industry alsoneed seed money from thegovernment just like the kindof thing that the governmentdid for the SMEs, N250billion. We need somethinglike that. Originally, weproposed 10 percent of thetotal cost of the master planimplementation which is $3.1billion. We said thatgovernment should give usat least N51 billion (about US$310 million) which we referto as seed money to assistsome of the investors becauseanywhere in the world, partof the way governmentdemostrates its commitmentbesides giving that enablingenvirnoment, besides reelingout good pol icy thateverybody can buy intowhich we already have, isalso by showing itscommitment by putting insome money which gives theinvestors some comfort toensure that the projectdoesn’t fail because his ownmoney is tied to the project.So we believe the sugarindustry also needs seedmoney for investors to showmore interest.

How much do you generatefrom sugar levy?

The total from sugar levyfor the one or two years

is N5 billion per annum,what is N5 billion to a capitalintensive industry like ours.N5 billion is not sufficient forone single plant to do its fielddevelopment, because theylook at what we have; withBank of Agriculture, we haveN2 billion, with Bank ofIndustry, we have N10billion. We have actually N5billion, the Bank of Industryhave N5 billion to create aN10 billion pool. In Bank ofAgriculture, we put down N1billion down, the bank putanother N1 billion to marchit making the total N12billion. N12billion is a thingthat a huge company can justwipe off. So we still thinkthat the sugar industry stillneeds substantial fundinjection in form of seedmoney that will give comfortto investors.

We have seen the policy isvery good and if thegovernment demonstratespolitical will which so farthey are doing, if you ask allthe people that have investedso far, they will tell you thateverything they need fromthe sugar council hasprovided except for the fewones that I mentioned and weare still engaging with othergovernment agencies todeliver on that.

development or factorydevelopment are going tocome in duty-free. Also, if aninvestor invests in publicinfrastructure - publicinfrastructures are those weexpect the government to takecare of - if because it is notavaliable and an investor putshis money on it, he is entitledto 30 percent tax rent creditbeside the fact that we also

sugar council or thegovernment shares the reapby putting down 50 percent ofthe collaterals and once theyproduce they sell, make backtheir money and pay theirloans. So these are some of thethings in the master plan toencourage the investors toinvest.

How have you dispensedthe N2bn from the Bank of

,

,

•Dr. Abdul-Latif Demola Busari

Then thehigh tarrifon sugarimport isanother ofsuchincentivethat ismeant toprotect thelocal sugarinvestors

‘Sugar sub-sector needs N51 bn seed money from FG’

CMYK

30 —Vanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014

The Nigerian StockExchange, NSE index

and market capitalisationcontinued to nose dive lastweek as both index and marketcapitalisation dropped by 3,93per cent and 3.64 per centrespectively.

The drop in the stock pricesof some of the highlycapitalised firms on theExchange across sub sectorscontributed significantly topush down the index andmarket capitalisation.

The index and marketcapitalisation are two majormarket indicators thatmeasures the performance ofthe Nigerian stock market.

Specifically, TransnationalCorporation of Nigeria,Transcorp Plc led , a highlycapitalised firm led the losers’chart dropping by 96 kobo toclose at N4.04 from N5.00 pershare it opened with during theweek. It was followed by UnitedBank for Africa, UBA Plc ,another highly capitalised firm, dropping by 91 kobo to closeN4.75. Cadbury Nigeria Plc,also a highly capitalisedcompany nosedived by N7.11to close at N42.78.

Other losers include: IkejaHotel Plc, Union Bank ofNigeria Plc, Skye BankNeimeth InternationalPharmaceuticals Plc, PZIndustries Plc, amongst others.

On the gainers side, EvansMedical Plc led the chart as it

MARKET REPORT

Highly capitalised firms drag NSE index,capitalisation down

By PETER EGWUIATU

increased by N1.95, followedby Royal Exchange AssurancePlc which gained four kobo toclose at N0.55. R.T Briscoegained N 0.06 to close at N0.90.Other gainers include: SterlingBank Plc, ContinentalReinsurance Plc, Beta GlassPlc, amongst others.

Meanwhile, a turnover of2.097 billion shares worthN20.231 billionin 21,802 dealswere tradedlast week byinvestors onthe floor of theexchange incontrast to atotal of 1.413billion sharesvalued atN 1 7 . 0 3 8billion thate x c h a n g e dhands last weekin 24,427deals.

The FinancialS e r v i c e sI n d u s t r y(measured byvolume) led theactivity chartwith 1.590billion sharesvalued atN11.360 billion

traded in 12,321 deals; thuscontributing 75.84 per centand 56.15 per cent to the totalequity turnover volume andvalue respectively. NaturalResources Industry followedwith a turnover of 200.178million shares worth 100.153million in 16 deals. The thirdplace was occupied byConglomerates Industry with

1 5 3 . 7 4 9m i l l i o nshares worthN 9 8 2 . 7 9 6million in1,525 deals.

Trading inthe top threee q u i t i e sn a m e l y -M a n s a r dInsurance Plc,Mult iversePlc andE c o b a n kTransnationalIncorporated(measured byv o l u m e )accounted for6 2 2 . 7 2 9million sharesworth N3.771billion in 581d e a l s ,contributing29.70 per cent

and 18.64 per cent to the totalequity turnover volume andvalue respectively.

Also traded during the weekwere a total of 100,812 units ofExchange Traded Products(ETPs) valued at N1.765 millionexecuted in 13 deals comparedwith a total of 702,099 unitsvalued at N12.971 milliontransacted last week in 19deals. (See summary in thetable below)

RETAIL BONDSThere were no transactions

recorded in bonds in the weekunder review. However, a totalof 4,600 units valued at N4.768were transacted last week in 1deal.

Meanwhile, all the indices onthe NSE depreciated duringthe week under review with theexception of the NSEInsurance Index that rose by0.93 per cent to close at 147.96while the NSE ASeM closedflat.

MARKET NEWSThere was Value Added Tax

(VAT) Exemption ofCommissions on StockExchange Transactionsannounced last week.

Further to the measuresannounced by the

Coordinating Minister of theEconomy and HonourableMinister of Finance (CME) Dr.Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, CFR onDecember 3, 2012, toresuscitate the NigerianCapital Market, theExchangewas pleased to learnthat the VAT exemption is noweffective on all commissionsapplicable to capital markettransactions. These arecommissions: (a) earned ontraded values of shares, and(b) payable to the Securitiesand Exchange Commission(SEC), the Nigerian StockExchange (NSE) and theCentral Securities ClearingSystem (CSCS). The exemptionis effective for a period of fiveyears according to the FederalGovernment gazette on theissue.

The exchange’s ChiefExecutive Officer, Mr. Oscar N.Onyema, OON, applaudedthe Federal Government forimplementing the eliminationof VAT on stock markettransaction fees. He stated thatthis is one of the measuresannounced by the HonourableCME in December 2012 and itis a demonstration that theCapital Market is a keycomponent of the FederalGovernment’s transformation

The drop inthe stock pricesof some of thehighlycapitalisedfirms on theExchangeacrosssubsectorscontributedsignificantly topush down theindex andmarketcapitalization


CONFERENCE - From left: Ouwatoyin Sanni, Group Chief Executive Officer, UBA Capital;Mr Bismarck Rewane, MD/CEO, Financial Derivatives Company Ltd; Chinelo Anohu-Amazu,Director-General, National Pension Commission and Mr Gbolahan Elias, Principal Partner, GElias and Co at the National Pension Conference on Pension Reform Act 2014 held Lagos.Photo Lamidi Bamidele

Mr. Mounir Boukali isthe Head of Public Re-

lations for TRANSSIONHoldings. In this interview, hespeaks about the Palmchatbrand and the Palmchat carpromo that is currently under-way in Nigeria. He speaks ex-tensively on why they embarkon the promo and how Palm-chat users can qualify to winthe prize. Excerpts

What is Palmchat?Palmchat is free social soft-

ware, integrating chatting anddating. It supports multiplechatting types like texts, voic-es, emoticons, and pictures. Theapp supports the full rangemobile platforms ranging fromwindows phone, Android, IOS,Blackberry and Symbian.

Unlike other messagingplatforms which requires youhave a contact’s details beforeyou can contact them, Palmchathas look around and search byinfo features. The “LookAround” feature showsPalmchat users around you andhow close they are to yourlocation. While the “search byinfo” feature allows you searchfor a user based on different val-ues of information.

Palmchat is an interactive andfun custom platform. Over80,000 new friends join everyday globally.

You are barely a year in Ni-geria but you are already of-fering a car gift, what do youintend to achieve with suchgesture?

There is nothing fishy. It’s justbusiness. It’s a business strat-egy, nothing really out of placeand that’s quite simple to un-derstand if you look at it muchmore critically. Yes, Palmchat isserious; a new car is nestlingin a car shop for that one luckyPalmchatter, that’s what thispromo is all about.

When you have a thrivingcommunity like Palmchat does,well you can’t help but think outclever ways of turning that com-munity into something of valueto you. The thing is, some bigplaying consumer brands arereally hungry to latch on anymicro-community, niche, youname it, with significant mar-ket size to advertise their prod-ucts or brands to.

Why Palmchat eyes Nigeria’sgrowing e-commercebusiness — Boukali

Can you explain more on thepromo and how it works?

Plamchat has been offering lotsof free gifts to its users but thistime it’s a car. And users don’thave to do much like you are ap-plying for a state scholarship. Itjust works like a referral. Exist-ing users and intending partici-pants are expected to downloadthe Palmchat app, and visit thepalmchat.hotreferralinc.com siteand register with your uniquePalmchat I.D. You will then ob-

tain a referral link to invitefriends to download the app,and with this link unique to yourID alone, you earn rewardpoints for every person referred.And you earn extra points, may-be even double points if it’s a girlreferred. The person with thehighest points at the end dateautomatically wins the car.

The processThe process is quite simple.

Users will sign up at the promoportal with their AFID. Those

who don’t have the AFID willhave to download the Palmchatapp first. The registration, Palm-chat will send referral link to theparticipant who then shares thelink with friends on facebookand other social media plat-forms. Friends can also registeron Palmchat through the sharedlink and when this happens, theparticipant earns a point. In thiscase, a female friend earns aparticipant twice the point andthe more the points, the higherthe chances of winning.

Nigeria receivesaward forempowering girlsand womenthrough ICT

The InternationalTelecommunication

Union (ITU) and UN Womenhave awarded Nigeria theGEM-TECH award thatrewards countries thatempower girls and womenthrough ICT policies andprogrammes.

The Federal Ministry ofCommunication Technologywas amongst 37 finalistsselected from 360 nominationsfrom 74 countries and went onto win the award in the 7thcategory of “ICT andBroadband strategies, policiesand frameworks that promotewomen’s digitalempowerment.”

Stories by JONAHNWOKPOKU

Shoptotmydoor boosts access to 80,000foreign online stores for Nigerians

“Second, the service allowscustomers to use their assignedwarehouse to consolidate itemsfrom one or multiple onlinestores abroad. By consolidation,the Shoptomydoor solution cutsout the needs for customers topay multiple delivery chargesfrom multiple stores and hencehas the potential to save indi-

viduals and business up to 80percent on their traditional ship-ping cost.

He further noted that, “Withshipping costs starting from aslow as $14 or about N2400, thecompany has effectively madethe shopping and shipping costfrom abroad similar to what isobtainable internationally.

A survey by the global logistics firm, DHL has

shown that Africa offers enor-mous growth potential for e-re-tailers given that online shop-ping is in its infancy in the re-gion.

This is, according to SumeshRahavendra, head of marketingfor DHL Express Sub SaharanAfrica who says the recently re-leased ‘Shop the World!’ reportreveals that emerging marketsoffer the highest growth poten-tial for the e-commerce industry.

”Although global e-retailerAmazon celebrated its 20th an-

Emerging markets offer higheste-Commerce growth — DHL survey

niversary in July, e-commercecompanies in Africa are only nowbeginning to mark and / or ac-celerate their presence in themarketplace. An example is Ni-geria online retailer, Jumia,which despite being foundedonly two years ago, is quicklygaining market share within thecountry which reiterates the re-gion’s potential.

A recent report by McKinsey& Company also revealed that,ecommerce could account for 10percent of retail sales in the Af-rican continent’s largest econo-mies by 2025.

Network marketingsystem for aloevera distributorsarrives Nigeria

Mounir Boukali

E- Commerce

NIGERIA’S network marketing industry re-

ceived a boost over the week-end with the deployment of aglobal marketing system forthe distributors of a leadingnetwork marketing companywhose products are aloe verabased.

The USA franchise, ParagonM L M(www.promarketingsystem.net/paragonmlm) system, is astandardized operating proce-dure, which provides NetworkMarketers three personalizedwebsites – Paragon Attraction,to sponsor prospects into theirteams; Paragon Beauty, to selltheir company’s aloe basedbeauty products; and ParagonWellness, to sell their compa-ny’s aloe based health prod-ucts. According to the promot-er of the system, Charles Od-ibo, Paragon MLM tackles thegreatest challenges NetworkMarketers face in sellingproducts or presenting theirbusiness opportunities. Theseinclude how to attract qualityprospects and present qualityinformation about their prod-ucts; how to follow-up withthem; and how to close thesales.

He explained that using ev-idence-based information, Par-agon MLM consistently re-veals in shocking details whatcauses our health to fail, whyour skins age faster, makes acompelling case on the needfor multivitamin supplementa-tion, and naturally leads to in-terest in the health and beau-ty products that the NetworkMarketers sell.

NIGERIANS can go toover 80,000 stores in the

Uk, US and China, use theirVisa or MasterCard or even Pay-Pal account to make paymentand have their purchases deliv-ered to their internationally as-signed address for free, says,online retailer,shoptomydoor.com. Accordingto the retailer, Shoptomydoor re-ceives these packages on behalfof its customers, combines andconsolidates them for free, andthen charges a discounted de-livery cost to have it deliveredto customer’s door in a few days.

According to Nduka Udeh, theCEO/President ofShoptomydoor.com, “There are2 main ways this system saveNigerians lots of money. First,we bring to them the lowest costof everyday items from US, UKand China allowing them toshop direct on these stores with-out paying a single processingfee. So unlike most other out-lets that will charge a 10 per-cent or more processing fee, ourplatform allows customers to payexactly the store charge.

LEGEND

15-week trading bar:This bar shows the volume of the company’s shares traded during the 5 most recent weeks. Each alternate colour bar represents a consecutive week. The bar is to be read from left to right. The first bar on the left (light blue) represents the traded volume five weeks ago. The next bar (grey) represents the volume 4 weeks ago. The 5th and last bar (light blue) signifies the volume of shares exchanged last week. The purpose of the Weekly Trading bar is to give readers an instant view of trading volumes as they compare on a week-by-week basis.

2Liquidity Rating: This indicates the level of demand for a company’s shares based on the number of deals rather than volume done over the past week. Stocks are graded accord-ing 5 categories. Blue spheres are used to represent liquidity.

Category 5: This is the highest liquidity rating shown by 5 blue spheres. Stocks that have traded more than 20 deals per day on at least 4 days in the past week are awarded this score Category 4: This is shown by 4 blue spheres. It indicates that the stock has

traded between 12 to 19 deals per day on at least 4 days in the past weekCategory 3: Shown with 3 spheres, this liquidity classification represents those stocks that have traded 8 to 11 deals per day on at least 4 days in the past weekCategory 2: Shown with 2 spheres it identifies those stocks that traded 4 to 7 deals per day on at least 4 days in the past weekCategory 1: This is shown by one blue sphere to represent stocks on which 3 deals and/or below were traded per day on at least 4 days in the week.

SECTOR PRICE CHANGES – OCTOBER 20–24, 2014MARKET REVIEW – OCTOBER 20–24, 2014

TRADING UPDATE

Agriculture 2 2 1Conglomerates 1 4 0

Construction/Real Estate 1 6 2Consumer Goods 12 15 4

Financial Services 16 31 10Healthcare 3 5 2

ICT 1 10 0Industrial Goods 5 14 2

Natural Resources 0 5 0Oil & Gas 7 4 0Services 6 8 4

MARKET DATA VM1VM | Monday, November 3, 2014 | Issue 017

Declined Unchanged Advanced

TOP DECLINERS WTD

TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIG -19.2

UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA -16.08

CADBURY NIGERIA -14.25

IKEJA HOTEL -13.46

UNION BANK OF NIGERIA -12.8

TOP GAINERS WTD

BETA GLASS COMPANY (NIG.) 5

AIICO INSURANCE 4.94

PARMA-DEKO 4.82

GOLDEN GUINEA BREWERIES 4.55

FIDSON HEALTHCARE 4.5

TOP DECLINERS WTD

SKYE BANK -12.73

NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS -12.61

P. Z. INDUSTRIES -11.67

CEMENT COMPANY OF NORTHERN NIGERIA -11.39

GUINNESS NIGERIA -11.26

TOP GAINERS WTD

EVANS MEDICAL 12.82

ROYAL EXCHANGE ASSURANCE 7.84

R. T. BRISCOE (NIG.) 7.14

STERLING BANK 5.83

CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE 5.43

DASHBOARD

TickerFriday 5-day 4-Week

5-Week trading1

52-Week price rangeYtD PE EPS Liquidity

Rating2Close Change, % Volume Open Week Hi Week Lo Change,

% Volume Open Change, % Volume Low Close ( ) High

7UP 164.35 -3.41% 28,272 179.55 197.94 164.35 -8.47% 42,263 162.86 0.91% 59,285 69.00 197.94 130.09% 37.00 4.46 ABCTRANS 0.65 0.00% 1,298 0.66 0.66 0.65 -1.52% 4,230 0.68 -4.41% 116,818 0.65 0.97 -16.86% 3.10 0.21

ACCESS 8.50 0.00% 200,560 8.60 8.75 8.47 -1.16% 645,278 9.01 -5.66% 3,678,892 7.22 10.65 -11.46% 5.41 1.57 AGLEVENT 1.52 0.00% 1,002 1.52 1.52 1.40 0.00% 3,680 1.40 8.57% 17,458 1.25 1.86 -6.75% 6.44 0.23

AIICO 0.87 2.35% 31,942 0.81 0.87 0.80 7.41% 92,773 0.80 8.75% 1,404,211 0.74 0.97 -5.43% 5.59 0.15 AIRSERVICE 1.91 0.00% 0 1.83 1.92 1.80 4.37% 712 2.11 -9.48% 15,024 1.80 3.97 -42.99% 3.66 0.50ASHAKACEM 31.16 -0.57% 2,366 32.32 33.75 30.51 -3.59% 36,346 32.00 -2.62% 127,486 13.87 34.60 42.41% 39.17 0.80 BETAGLAS 20.01 -4.71% 2 20.00 21.00 19.23 0.05% 6,281 20.00 0.05% 9,810 13.75 22.10 38.67% 6.21 3.38CADBURY 42.78 0.00% 1,319 49.89 50.00 42.78 -14.25% 4,751 53.69 -20.32% 34,639 42.78 110.00 -55.98% 27.25 1.57

CAP 42.00 0.24% 957 40.67 43.99 40.67 3.27% 12,837 38.00 10.53% 39,808 35.96 51.66 -12.46% 25.03 1.67 CCNN 12.83 -4.96% 5,457 14.30 14.80 12.83 -10.28% 25,392 15.73 -18.44% 78,506 8.00 15.98 7.01% 11.46 1.12

CONOIL 44.44 -4.98% 201 46.81 47.89 44.44 -5.06% 1,221 49.36 -9.97% 20,279 44.36 79.80 -27.53% 14.75 3.34 CONTINSURE 0.97 0.00% 5,869 0.92 0.99 0.92 5.43% 43,213 1.00 -3.00% 382,327 0.91 1.29 -19.17% 6.06 0.16COURTVILLE 0.53 0.00% 881 0.57 0.57 0.53 -7.02% 2,756 0.54 -1.85% 145,915 0.50 0.89 -18.46% 5.00 0.11CUSTODYINS 3.79 -0.26% 8,363 3.82 4.00 3.79 -0.79% 74,455 4.09 -7.33% 697,852 1.67 4.30 73.85% 15.79 0.24

CUTIX 1.52 -4.40% 760 1.75 1.75 1.52 -13.14% 16,096 1.90 -20.00% 52,225 1.52 2.27 -22.05% 8.37 0.19 DANGCEM 215.00 0.02% 12,973 215.00 218.00 210.00 0.00% 39,088 218.98 -1.82% 98,501 185.00 250.02 -0.54% 18.23 11.80

DANGFLOUR 6.23 0.00% 905 6.23 6.23 5.92 0.00% 1,335 6.23 0.00% 9,134 5.92 10.76 -39.10%DANGSUGAR 7.00 3.86% 12,900 7.70 7.90 6.74 -9.09% 127,549 8.16 -14.22% 338,947 6.74 12.49 -38.05% 8.64 0.81 DIAMONDBNK 6.00 -1.96% 75,395 6.30 6.44 5.83 -4.76% 260,703 6.25 -4.00% 1,769,001 5.31 8.20 -20.00% 3.63 1.65

ETERNA 3.43 -3.92% 7,629 3.79 3.80 3.43 -9.50% 19,070 3.74 -8.29% 57,057 2.50 5.73 -27.48% 5.74 0.61 ETI 18.93 0.16% 69,709 18.31 19.00 18.11 3.39% 1,545,071 18.70 1.23% 3,479,373 12.40 20.28 15.50% 5.18 3.67

FBNH 11.60 -0.85% 217,441 12.32 12.90 11.51 -5.84% 1,102,257 13.48 -13.95% 4,381,117 10.93 17.29 -28.83% 5.36 2.16 FCMB 3.89 -2.75% 28,522 4.09 4.23 3.80 -4.89% 586,246 4.51 -13.75% 1,653,246 3.01 4.64 1.30% 4.42 0.88

FIDELITYBK 1.95 0.00% 158,253 1.95 1.99 1.87 0.00% 866,559 2.05 -4.88% 2,974,605 1.85 2.86 -27.78% 2.87 0.68 FIDSON 3.48 5.45% 2,692 3.48 3.48 3.26 0.00% 13,798 3.35 3.88% 82,173 1.91 3.72 26.55% 14.50 0.24

FLOURMILL 58.33 5.25% 1,949 58.51 60.95 55.42 -0.31% 8,621 61.98 -5.89% 109,460 55.42 83.64 -28.71% 18.17 3.38 FO 207.36 -3.55% 1,826 218.80 219.50 206.17 -5.23% 14,068 224.00 -7.43% 37,545 71.03 259.94 123.28% 45.75 4.63

GLAXOSMITH 51.35 5.35% 99 55.00 55.00 48.74 -6.64% 408 61.01 -15.83% 91,121 48.74 74.97 -26.64% 18.01 3.00 GUARANTY 25.00 -4.14% 260,547 27.34 27.49 24.70 -8.56% 737,598 30.01 -16.69% 3,543,661 22.67 31.80 -9.91% 7.65 3.27 GUINNESS 161.50 -4.79% 7,033 180.00 184.00 161.50 -10.28% 22,292 188.98 -14.54% 88,952 161.50 262.00 -31.57% 20.50 7.88

HONYFLOUR 3.96 2.86% 10,303 3.93 3.96 3.85 0.76% 89,469 4.00 -1.00% 199,546 2.80 4.50 2.86% 11.65 0.34 INTBREW 30.51 -2.24% 1,065 30.66 32.00 30.03 -0.49% 9,183 31.05 -1.74% 101,594 21.85 32.20 7.73% 49.98 0.63 JBERGER 63.84 0.00% 1 60.65 63.84 60.65 5.26% 252 63.84 0.00% 3,266 59.18 76.45 1.22% 9.97 6.74

LINKASSURE 0.50 0.00% 410,699 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.00% 410,699 0.50 0.00% 410,724 0.50 0.50 0.00% 12.57 0.04MANSARD 3.00 0.00% 62,821 2.85 3.11 2.85 5.26% 2,680,530 2.89 3.81% 3,872,395 1.96 3.15 20.00% 19.62 0.15 MAYBAKER 1.72 -4.97% 8,506 1.71 1.96 1.70 0.58% 42,093 1.72 0.00% 167,031 1.33 2.64 -32.55% 19.11 0.09

MOBIL 164.20 -3.41% 179 170.02 173.30 161.50 -3.42% 9,037 173.30 -5.25% 17,954 111.01 182.00 41.55% 16.38 10.44 MRS 53.20 0.00% 4 53.20 53.20 53.20 0.00% 14 53.20 0.00% 263 36.12 70.00 2.86% 53.85 1.04

NAHCO 5.00 -2.53% 6,459 5.01 5.15 4.81 -0.20% 22,234 4.98 0.40% 142,282 4.56 6.46 -21.26% 15.67 0.32 NASCON 8.07 -6.38% 2,704 9.00 9.29 8.07 -10.33% 20,651 9.00 -10.33% 99,865 8.07 15.10 -45.66% 7.72 1.05

NB 162.00 -2.41% 13,398 170.00 170.18 161.42 -4.71% 79,166 176.95 -8.45% 371,652 140.00 189.00 -1.82% 30.93 5.24 NEIMETH 0.97 -3.00% 2,150 1.11 1.16 0.97 -12.61% 7,054 1.10 -11.82% 35,790 0.79 2.08 -11.82%

NEM 0.75 -1.32% 8,129 0.78 0.79 0.73 -3.85% 146,046 0.79 -5.06% 349,478 0.55 0.97 -7.41% NESTLE 950.05 -3.06% 1,756 990.01 999.00 937.30 -4.04% 18,179 1050.02 -9.52% 48,699 937.30 1250.01 -19.62% 34.00 28.82

NIGERINS 0.50 0.00% 500 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.00% 1,416 0.50 0.00% 3,878 0.50 0.54 0.00%NNFM 20.90 0 20.90 20.90 20.90 0.00% 0 22.90 -8.73% 506 18.00 25.57 -5.04%OANDO 21.66 -3.30% 25,231 23.56 24.39 21.66 -8.06% 149,280 26.37 -17.86% 784,382 10.61 36.89 -18.97% 19.43 1.11

OKOMUOIL 29.79 1.15% 647 31.35 31.52 29.45 -4.98% 6,921 33.01 -9.75% 26,775 29.45 45.85 -33.55% 13.69 2.29 PAINTCOM 1.55 0 1.55 1.55 1.55 0.00% 0 1.68 -7.74% 0 1.33 2.20 -20.51% 4.57 0.35PORTPAINT 5.23 1.95% 2,499 5.02 5.26 4.78 4.18% 8,937 5.23 0.00% 26,234 4.00 6.25 -0.38% 8.74 0.60

PRESCO 28.93 0.00% 4 32.05 32.05 28.93 -9.73% 8,327 38.50 -24.86% 30,320 28.93 49.00 -25.82% 3.63 8.38PRESTIGE 0.51 0.00% 7,236 0.50 0.51 0.50 2.00% 33,613 0.50 2.00% 133,359 0.50 0.81 -19.05%

PZ 23.84 -9.73% 5,009 26.99 28.30 23.84 -11.67% 23,211 32.15 -25.85% 109,093 23.84 41.06 -35.56% 17.79 1.34 REDSTAREX 4.00 0.00% 1,094 4.10 4.35 4.00 -2.44% 1,989 4.50 -11.11% 135,298 4.00 5.35 -5.88% 6.54 0.61ROYALEX 0.55 -1.79% 1,165 0.51 0.56 0.51 7.84% 16,268 0.59 -6.78% 156,355 0.50 0.69 1.85% 5.49 0.10

RTBRISCOE 0.86 0.00% 200 0.84 0.90 0.84 2.38% 9,693 0.85 1.18% 36,517 0.82 1.49 -39.01%SEPLAT 517.37 -5.00% 36 558.00 558.00 517.37 -7.28% 7,153 639.99 -19.16% 13,808 517.37 735.00 -14.46%

SKYEBANK 2.50 -1.57% 49,307 2.76 2.80 2.40 -9.42% 331,027 2.88 -13.19% 1,839,298 2.40 4.67 -44.57% 2.87 0.84 SOVRENINS 0.50 0 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.00% 210 0.50 0.00% 175,901 0.50 0.50 0.00% 3.36 0.15STANBIC 29.99 -0.03% 7,426 31.00 32.00 29.00 -3.26% 166,327 33.25 -9.80% 484,861 19.00 35.00 34.24% 15.40 1.92

STERLNBANK 2.36 1.29% 328,113 2.23 2.42 2.23 5.83% 639,786 2.26 4.42% 2,312,268 2.09 2.74 -5.60% 3.75 0.63 TOTAL 157.71 -1.43% 214 172.00 174.00 157.71 -8.31% 17,715 183.97 -14.27% 22,341 146.26 195.50 -9.00% 12.22 12.91

TRANSCORP 4.04 -7.97% 347,924 4.97 5.14 3.99 -18.71% 1,474,555 5.79 -30.22% 5,844,207 1.80 7.08 -6.91% 46.04 0.09 UAC-PROP 13.30 0.00% 398 13.83 13.83 13.30 -3.83% 6,053 15.81 -15.88% 41,141 13.30 21.31 -13.50% 6.36 2.20

UACN 51.05 -3.50% 1,667 53.22 54.02 51.05 -4.08% 58,263 58.00 -11.98% 196,111 42.58 67.85 -8.83% 24.74 2.14 UBA 4.75 -5.00% 185,947 5.70 5.95 4.75 -16.67% 865,101 6.66 -28.68% 2,795,368 4.75 9.60 -48.09% 2.79 1.70

UBCAP 1.89 0.00% 7,355 2.00 2.08 1.81 -5.50% 89,972 2.18 -13.30% 505,760 1.25 3.04 -16.74% 6.55 0.29 UBN 7.90 -3.66% 11,837 9.05 9.05 7.90 -12.71% 64,103 9.15 -13.66% 154,094 7.90 10.89 -17.79% 42.26 0.19

UNILEVER 34.30 -4.99% 1,034 38.41 42.00 34.30 -10.70% 7,438 47.00 -27.02% 118,841 34.30 64.00 -35.28% 26.34 1.37 UNITYBNK 0.50 0.00% 2,959 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.00% 153,481 0.50 0.00% 802,259 0.50 0.69 0.00% 4.65 0.11VITAFOAM 4.21 -1.17% 4,992 4.21 4.40 4.16 0.00% 50,564 4.11 2.43% 140,829 3.87 5.70 -12.47% 5.93 0.71

WAPCO 109.99 1.64% 10,693 115.92 121.93 105.03 -5.12% 46,795 127.00 -13.39% 127,480 95.01 136.73 -4.36% WAPIC 0.66 -1.49% 134,678 0.65 0.72 0.64 1.54% 287,964 0.74 -10.81% 915,765 0.61 1.48 -41.59% 9.43 0.07

WEMABANK 0.95 1.06% 24,300 0.94 0.95 0.92 1.06% 1,006,539 0.95 0.00% 1,357,405 0.85 1.40 -25.78% ZENITHBANK 21.30 1.43% 113,219 22.59 23.00 21.00 -5.71% 815,099 24.30 -12.35% 4,065,924 19.50 27.40 -14.80% 6.13 3.46


CMYK

MARKET SNAPSHOT

3-MONTH PRICE TREND OF BELLWETHER STOCKS

LEGEND

ACCESS 8.5010.657.22

YtD -1.10-11.46%

-1.50-15.00%

-0.10-1.16%3M 1W

PE 5.410.10

August September20/10

M T W T F

24/10

ASHAKACEM 31.1634.6013.87

YtD 9.2842.41%

0.080.26%

-1.16-3.59%3M 1W

PE 39.181.16


M T W T F

24/10

CADBURY 42.78110.0042.78

YtD -54.40-55.98%

-27.76-39.35%

-7.11-14.25%3M 1W

PE 27.257.11


M T W T F

24/10

CAP 42.0051.6635.96

YtD -5.98-12.46%

2.005.00%

1.333.27%3M 1W

PE 25.031.33


M T W T F

24/10

CCNN 12.8315.988.00

YtD 0.847.01%

-1.37-9.65%

-1.47-10.28%3M 1W

PE 11.461.47


M T W T F

24/10

CONTINSURE 0.971.290.91

YtD -0.23-19.17%

-0.13-11.82%

0.055.43%3M 1W

PE 6.060.05


M T W T F

24/10

FCMB 3.894.643.01

YtD 0.051.30%

-0.37-8.69%

-0.20-4.89%3M 1W

PE 4.420.20


M T W T F

24/10

GUARANTY 25.0031.8022.67

YtD -2.75-9.91%

-4.88-16.33%

-2.34-8.56%3M 1W

PE 7.652.34


M T W T F

24/10

MANSARD 3.003.151.96

YtD 0.5020.00%

0.4517.65%

0.155.26%3M 1W

PE 19.620.15


M T W T F

24/10

OANDO 21.6636.8910.61

YtD -5.07-18.97%

-6.33-22.62%

-1.90-8.06%3M 1W

PE 19.431.90


M T W T F

24/10

STANBIC 29.9935.0019.00

YtD 7.6534.24%

-1.32-4.22%

-1.01-3.26%3M 1W

PE 15.401.01


M T W T F

24/10

UBA 4.759.604.75

YtD -4.40-48.09%

-2.95-38.31%

-0.95-16.67%3M 1W

PE 2.790.95


M T W T F

24/10

DANGCEM 215.00250.02185.00

YtD -1.16-0.54%

-15.00-6.52%

0.00%0.003M 1W

PE 18.230.00


M T W T F

24/10

FIDELITYBK 1.952.861.85

YtD -0.75-27.78%

-0.05-2.50%

0.000.00%3M 1W

PE 2.870.00


M T W T F

24/10

GUINNESS 161.50262.00161.50

YtD -74.51-31.57%

-29.50-15.45%

-18.50-10.28%3M 1W

PE 20.5018.50


M T W T F

24/10

MOBIL 164.20182.00111.01

YtD 48.2041.55%

4.202.62%

-5.82-3.42%3M 1W

PE 16.385.82


M T W T F

24/10

OKOMUOIL 29.7945.8529.45

YtD -15.04-33.55%

-3.21-9.73%

-1.56-4.98%3M 1W

PE 13.691.56


M T W T F

24/10

TOTAL 157.71195.50146.26

YtD -15.59-9.00%

-13.84-8.07%

-14.29-8.31%3M 1W

PE 12.2214.29


M T W T F

24/10

UNILEVER 34.3064.0034.30

YtD -18.70-35.28%

-14.70-30.00%

-4.11-10.70%3M 1W

PE 26.344.11


M T W T F

24/10

DIAMONDBNK 6.008.205.31

YtD -1.50-20.00%

-0.37-5.81%

-0.30-4.76%3M 1W

PE 3.630.30


M T W T F

24/10

FLOURMILL 58.3383.6455.42

YtD -23.49-28.71%

-9.12-13.53%

-0.18-0.31%3M 1W

PE 18.170.18


M T W T F

24/10

HONYFLOUR 3.964.502.80

YtD 0.112.86%

-0.22-5.26%

0.030.76%3M 1W

PE 11.650.03


M T W T F

24/10

NASCON 8.0715.108.07

YtD -6.78-45.66%

-2.58-24.23%

-0.93-10.33%3M 1W

PE 7.720.93


M T W T F

24/10

PRESCO 28.9349.0028.93

YtD -10.07-25.82%

-9.08-23.89%

-3.12-9.73%3M 1W

PE 3.643.12


M T W T F

24/10

UACN 51.0567.8542.58

YtD -4.94-8.83%

-8.96-14.93%

-2.17-4.08%3M 1W

PE 24.742.17


M T W T F

24/10

WAPCO 109.99136.7395.01

YtD -5.01-4.36%

-10.43-8.66%

-5.93-5.12%3M 1W

PE --5.93


M T W T F

24/10

ETI 18.9320.2812.40

YtD 2.5415.50%

2.4314.73%

0.623.39%3M 1W

PE 5.180.62


M T W T F

24/10

FO 207.36259.9471.03

YtD 114.49123.28%

-10.67-4.89%

-11.44-5.23%3M 1W

PE 45.7511.44


M T W T F

24/10

INTBREW 30.5132.2021.85

YtD 2.197.73%

3.8614.48%

-0.15-0.49%3M 1W

PE 49.980.15


M T W T F

24/10

NB 162.00189.00140.00

YtD -3.01-1.82%

-18.10-10.05%

-8.00-4.71%3M 1W

PE 30.948.00


M T W T F

24/10

PZ 23.8441.0623.84

YtD -13.16-35.56%

-14.08-37.13%

-3.15-11.67%3M 1W

PE 17.793.15


M T W T F

24/10

UAC-PROP 13.3021.3113.30

YtD -2.08-13.50%

-4.15-23.78%

-0.53-3.83%3M 1W

PE 6.360.53


M T W T F

24/10

ZENITHBANK 21.3027.4019.50

YtD -3.70-14.80%

-3.78-15.07%

-1.29-5.71%3M 1W

PE 6.131.29


M T W T F

24/10

TICKER 25.2327.4019.23

1YtD 0.230.92%

2.9012.99%

0.010.04%3M 1W

PE 7.290.01

May June July21/07

M T W T F

25/07

FBNH 11.6017.2910.93

YtD -4.70-28.83%

-2.88-19.89%

-0.72-5.84%3M 1W

PE 5.360.72


M T W T F

24/10

GLAXOSMITH 51.3574.9748.74

YtD -18.65-26.64%

-15.37-23.04%

-3.65-6.64%3M 1W

PE 18.013.65


M T W T F

24/10

JBERGER 63.8476.4559.18

YtD 0.771.22%

-0.26-0.41%

3.195.26%3M 1W

PE 9.973.19


M T W T F

24/10

NESTLE 950.051250.01937.30

YtD -231.95-19.62%

-169.95-15.17%

-39.96-4.04%3M 1W

PE 34.0039.96


M T W T F

24/10

SEPLAT 517.37735.00517.37

YtD -87.43-14.46%

-142.74-21.62%

-40.63-7.28%3M 1W

PE --40.63


M T W T F

24/10

3 4 5

9

13

10 11

12

6

8

14

7

21

1. 52-week low price2. Year low price3. Current price4. Year high price5. 52-week high price6. Current price7. 5-day price change8. PE ratio9. 1-year price change10. 3-months price change11. 1-week price change12. Daily price movement over 3 months.13. 30-day moving average14. Daily price movement over last week

MARKET DATAVM2 VM | Monday, November 3, 2014 | Issue 017


CMYK

HE SETTING WAS the expansive and well-lit showroom

of the luxury car Porsche in Victoria Island, Lagos. The event was the premiere of Sogal, the newest entrant into the Nigerian secondary art market. The auction sales was organized by Lebanese art dealer, Rahman Akar who is also director of one of the earliest established galleries in Lagos, Signature. In attendance were the crème de la crème of the Lagos art cognoscenti—Kavita Chellaram of Arthouse Contemporary, collectors Sammy Olagbaju, Joe Obiago, and Nneka Okeke.

Gallery owners and dealers were also pre-sent. Among these were Lagos art dealer, Olas-ehinde Odimayo, Jo-seph Umoibom of Ter-ra Kulture, and Chike Nwabogu of Nimbus Gallery, who arguably pioneered the formal art auction trend in Nigeria when he organ-ized Before the Ham-mer Falls: An Auction of Paintings, Etchings and Carvings in 1999.

Indeed, many came to see Elephant in Space, a stunning bronze sculpture by Salvador Dali, the iconic Spanish surrealist, depict-ing a spindly-legged elephant bearing a cast Plexiglas ob-elisk upon its saddled back. The sculpture was expected to attract the highest sale having been advertised with an estimate of N12,900,000- 16,125,000 ($75,000 – 93,750).

However, after the dust had settled, it was not Sal-

vador Dali who achieved the top selling lot but Benin-born artist, Okwoju Leonard El- Dragg, with Untitled, 1992, oil on canvas, 137x97cm previously estimated be-tween N3,715,200-4,248,400 ($21,600-24,700) and sold at N4,250,000 ($25,380).

El-Dragg graduated from the University of Benin in Ni-geria in 1985. He is presently a senior lecturer at the same university in the Department of Painting. El-Dragg works

predominantly in oils. Vi-brant colours characterize his works while his themes re-volve around the female form, dance and the rich diversity of Nigerian culture as exempli-

Other crowd favourites were Bruce Onobrakpeya’s Untitled, 1994, black-and-white etching, 123x243cm, sold at N3,800,000 ($22,692) against its previous estimate of N3,255,000-3,749,600 ($18,750-21,800) and Nii

Amon Kotei’s Fish Monger, 1993, oil on canvas, 112x112cm with an earlier estimate of N3,715,200-4,033,400 ($21,600-23,450) and sold for N3,550,000 ($21,200).

Interestingly, Kotei born in Ghana in 1915 was the only non-Nigerian artist to break into the top 3 sales despite a strong showing by other art-ists from several other coun-tries like Iraq, Syria, Senegal, and Zimbabwe. As well as being an accomplished musi-

cian, Kotei is celebrat-ed as one of Africa’s most acclaimed art-ists. He also received recognition for design-ing the coat of arms of Ghana. He died on October 17, 2011.

The Fish Monger is typical of Kotei’s oeuvre and features a full-bodied woman in the foreground selling her wares. The pre-dominant blue light

suggests the evening is setting on a hard day’s work. The paint is applied thickly in vertical brush strokes lend-ing weight to her voluptuous form, as well as the dismem-bered bodies that frame the painting.

from sales on the evening was N38,680,600 ($230,991). Not a bad outing for a pre-miere auction, which no doubt will serve to add impe-tus to a growing domestic art market. ;

ART AS AN ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT

EDITOR: MIDENO BAYAGBON

GROUP BUSINESS EDITOR: OMOH GABRIEL

CONTENT DIRECTION: OBIORA TABANSI ONYEASO

DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION: PUBLICAN MEDIA

Vanguard Markets features unbiased, in-depth coverage of corporate and market developments across a wide range of business sectors.Every week, Vanguard Markets delivers essential business analysis and commentary on Nigerian companies, regional economies, and global markets. Vanguard Markets is published by Vanguard Media Limited in associa-tion with Customs Street Advisors Limited, a specialist communications consultancy.

Vanguard Media Limited, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa.

Website: www.vanguardngr.com

ISSN 0794-652X

Published by

In Association With

Okwoju Leonard El-Dragg tops Sogal’s premiere sales

Oliver Enwonwuis the director of leading Lagos gallery, Omenka and president of the Society of Nigerian [email protected]

T

Amon Kotei, Fish Monger, 1993, oil on canvas, 112x112cm estimated between N3,715,200-4,033,400 ($21,600-23,450) and sold for N3,550,000 ($21,200)

Okwoju Leonard El- Dragg, Untitled, 1992, oil on canvas, 137x97cm estimated between N3,715,200-4,248,400 ($21,600-24,700) and sold at N4,250,000 ($25,380)

ARENA VM3VM | Monday, November 3, 2014 | Issue 017

EWS LAST WEEK that CDC, the UK’s

institution, has earmarked up to $15 million for the Synergy Private Equity Fund has been applauded

by members of West Africa’s ultra-discreet PE universe. A partner at a Big Four 4 audit

buyout and venture capital

-mation of the silent, and ef-fective work that the fund’s

-ly doing over the years.’

SPEF was launched in Oc-tober 2013, and will mature 5 years after its close. The gen-

launched by Synergy Capital Managers. It is targeting an internal rate of return of 8 per cent and gross IRR of 30 per-cent across a low risk, actively managed portfolio of compa-nies. The modest projections

preference for conservatism in managing investor expecta-

tions by under-promising and over-delivering.

The fund prospectus spells out that it will invest in Nige-ria and Ghana, according to a 75:25 ratio. Although it does not rule out investing in listed companies, the natural bias will be towards enterprises in the oil and gas, power, con-sumer goods and services, agro-allied processing, tech-nology and telecommunica-

-cials.

Synergy Capital Man-agers has come a long way since it opened for business in

by Akintoye Akindele, CFA and Ayo Arogbo, CFA. Toye, a chemical engineering gradu-ate has over 15 years’ experi-

The seasoned strategist cut his

teeth at Guaranty Trust Bank, and later made his bones under Okey Enelamah at African Capital Alliance. He has originated, managed, and exited deals across all key sec-tors of the economy.

His partner, Ayo Arogbo has two decades of cognate

-dustry. He is widely respected for his cross-sectoral exper-tise, leadership development skills, and ethical approach to business. Both partners are alumni of the London Busi-ness School.

earned a well-deserved repu-tation for studiously ferreting out companies with attractive prospects, and solid manage-ment teams, then prepping them for the big time. To date, it has no dud on its record.

2014 has been a good, if dizzyingly busy year at Syn-ergy Capital. The CDC an-nouncement tops the punch bowl of cheering news at the

In September, it disclosed that SPEF had raised $56.25 million in its first funding round, a stone throw away from its $75 million target. After a year of intensive marketing, the fund had welcomed four develop-ment finance institutions (DFIs), and two funds of funds (FoFs), among other marquee investors to its reg-ister.

A month earlier, it suc-cessfully exited its invest-ment in Ridge Energy, a mid-stream oil and gas infra-structure company through a trade sale. The company was

founded by Felix Olalekan Adekeye, an Oando alum, in 2011. Synergy Capital took up a minority stake in the Tema- Ghana-based company in 2012. By the sale date, it had earned over 300 percent on the initial investment for its limited partners, and pro-duced an industry-beating internal rate of return of 84 per cent.

It is in roles like these, where it funds and grooms promising companies for fu-ture listings, acquisitions, and management buyouts, that Synergy Capital Manag-ers serves a vital economic function. Or as Lloyd Blank-fein, chief executive of Gold-man Sachs once said, this

-ing God’s work.’ No conceit meant. ;

PRIVATE EQUITY

Synergy Capital Managers on the rise

N

Akintoye Akindele,

founding partner,

Synergy Capital Managers


CMYK

CMYK


Aviation

Arik Air has revealed that it hascarried a total of over 15 million

passengers since it started operations in Oct.30, 2006.

Mr Chris Ndulue, Managing Director of theairline disclosed this to newsmen at theMurtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos at theairline’s 8th year anniversary.

Ndulue said that the airline would soonbegin flight operations to Abidjan, Lome,Libreville as it would also add twoBombardier Q400NG aircraft to its fleet.

He added that the two new Bombardieraircraft would arrive in the next couple of days.He noted that the airline has been able toface the challenges in the aviation industry,particularly in the area of high rate charges

By LAWANI MIKAIRU

Caverton Helicopters hasinvested more than

$1.2 million on training ofNigerians in the various cadrewithin the company. This is adeliberate effort by thecompany to assist the federalgovernment realize itsintention to increaseindigenous participation inthe industry through thedevelopment of humancapacity, as stipulated in theNigerian ContentDevelopment Act of 2010.

Since 2010 when thecompany put in place atraining programme, 146Nigerians have been trainedat a cost of more than$1.2million. Those trainedinclude “ three personnel forflight operations Ab-Initio,one for Private PilotLicense(PPL), two forCommercial Pilot License(CPL) and two for RotaryWing Conversion; 81 pilots fordifferent flight operationsType Rating training for allaircraft types -EC155,AW139, Bell 412, S76 andDHC-6. Fifty-seven Aviationengineers have also beentrained as follows: 16 Engineering Ab-Initio and 41Engineering Type Ratingtraining.”

These facts were revealedduring the graduationceremony of 15 Nigerian

CaCaCaCaCavvvvverererererttttton inon inon inon inon invvvvvesesesesests $1ts $1ts $1ts $1ts $1.2m in capacity.2m in capacity.2m in capacity.2m in capacity.2m in capacitybuildingbuildingbuildingbuildingbuilding

Engineers who have completeda type-rated course on AW139Helicopter. According to astatement from the company “The need to put in place adefined training program forpilots and engineers washeightened when Cavertonparticipated and won a five(+2) year tender to provide 6 xAW139 helicopters for Shelloperations in Nigeria. Aseventh AW139 was added tothe fleet in the fourth year. “

“To ensure full coverage ofthe operation and due to the

scarcity of trained indigenouspersonnel, Caverton embarkedon an aggressive program toselect, train and type-rateindigenous pilots andengineers on a year on yearbasis. It should be noted thatthe award of this contract byShell distinguished Cavertonas ‘the poster child’ for localcontent. Caverton is atestimony to Shell’scommitment to building in-country capacity and givingback as a responsible corporatecitizen.”

Mr. Bertrand Brill, TechnicalDirector Engineering andDeputy Managing DirectorCaverton Helicopters whilearticulating his long term planfor Caverton trainingprogramme said the aim is to“-to achieve or exceed industrytarget stipulated in the NCDAct of 65% locals and Shell’starget of 75% locals. To havea crop of engineers withexcellent work ethics and toimprove safety andprofessionalism within theindustry.”

By DANIEL ETEGHE

Bristow Uplift, acharitable outreach

programme founded byBristow Helicopters, isset to give succor to cancerpatients undergoingtreatments at the LagosUniversity Teaching Hospital(LUTH) and the GeneralHospital in Lagos.

Co-ordinator, Bristow Uplift,Mr. Mayowa Babatunde whodisclosed this to newsmen atMurtala Muhammed Airport,Lagos said that the company

was interested in assistingthe patients with overN5million to accesshealthcare and adequatetreatment in fighting cancerdisease.

Babatunde noted that inother countries, cancerailment was not a deathsentence as it is commonlyregarded in Nigeria, stressingthat it was so becausemajority of the sufferers could

Bristow partners Sebbecly to give succor to cancer patientsnot afford the cost of treatmentof the disease in the country.

According to him, BristowUplift was partnering withSebbecly Cancer Care andsupport organization to assistcancer patients, noting thatabout fourteen patients werealready receiving treatmentin LUTH while about fifty

patients would undergomastectomy initiative at theGeneral Hospital in Lagos.

“Breast cancer in Nigeria isstill killing more people thanexpected and we felt thatsince October is breastcancer awareness month, itwill be an opportunity for usto contribute our quota and

try to reduce the mortalityassociated with it. This forumis to formally announce thepartnership, the programmeis Bristow uplift and ourpartner for this year isSebbecly Cancer Care andsupport organization to helpassist patients with cancer inaccessing treatment.”

Dana Air set tocommenceregional flights

Dana Air is toc o m m e n c e

regional flights to WestAfrica countries.This iscoming just as the airlinereinforcing flightoperations across its routenetwork with theacquisition of additionalaircraft to boost domesticoperations.

According to MrSamuel Ogbogoro, Head, CorporateCommunication, Dana Air,prepares to openadditional domestic routesby December and alsomake sure the airline isprepared to openadditional domestic routesby December and alsomake an inroad into theWest-African region bythe second quarter of2015.

“Dana Air is pleasedwith the positive feedbackit continues to receivefrom its guests as well astheir demand for theairline to extend servicesto the regional routes tooffer excellent customerservice and also bring itsunique selling pointwhich is on-timeperformance. The airlineunderstands that theservices of a reliableairline is built aroundschedule integrity andsafety which remains thefulcrum of Dana’s entireoperations.”

NAHCO selectedas one of top 50brands in Nigeria

Handling CompanyPlc (nahco

aviance) has beenadjudged one of the top 50brands in Nigeria. Thecompany was namedamong the best followingthe research conducted bythe BRANDNIGERAJournal. Other companiesthat also made the Top 50brand list are: MTN, Glo,GTBank, Zenith Bank,7up and Dangote Cement.

According to thejournal, nahco aviancewas one of the top brandswhich satisfied theselected criteria such asmarket acceptability,corporate socialresponsibility, customerservice delivery, visionand innovation andpopularity evaluation inemerging one of the best.

Arik flies over 15m passengers in eight years

by various agencies in the industry.According to him, the airline has leverage

with the agencies to settle all controversies onthe issue of charges between it and theagencies.

“We are about to overcome all thecontroversies we have with the various aviationagencies in the area of paying charges. Everybusiness has it various challenges, but if youallowed the challenges to overwhelm you, thenyou will be a failure.

“We have never being overwhelmed by thechallenges in the industry. We will make surewe serve the public adequately,” he said.

The Managing Director noted that the airlinenow operates into 19 domestic and 12 regionaldestinations.

VISIT - Managing Director/CEO, Bank of Industry, Mr Rasheed Olaoluwa; Executive Direc-tor, Large Scale Enterprise, Alhaji Mohammed Alkali, General Manager, Large Scale EnterpriseMr Joseph Babatunde both of Bank of Industry (BOI) and Chairman\ Managing Director In-noson Industries Ltd, Mr Innocent Chukwuma during the visit of the management of BOI toInnoson Industries, Enugu.


CMYK

“The Debt Management Officehas advised commercial banksagainst offering short term loansto state and local governmentsacross the country.” EverestAmaefule, PUNCH, October 24,2014, p 32.

Although we cannot givethe specifics of what the

government should do, we can atleast give an indication of whatshould be done. They should letNigerians know that hard timesare coming. How will thegovernment carry us along?” MrSegun Oshinowo, D-G, NigeriaEmployers ConsultativeAssociation NECA.

For close to a year now,warnings have been given onthis page regarding theimpending economic reversalwhich will affect Nigeria –starting now. The reactionfrom my Fellow Nigerianshad ranged from absoluteindifference to a collectivesnooze. The man speaking inthe wilderness, apparently toweeds, had a better audiencethan this columnist writingin the VANGUARD. I mightas well be talking to treesmyself. But, suddenly,everybody, except PresidentJonathan, the FederalMinister of Finance and othercard-carrying members of thePDP have come to therealization that we areheaded for deep economictrouble –starting now.

The directive to banks, torefrain from lending on shortterm to states and localgovernments, amounts to adeath sentence on those twolevels of government. In fact,the Board of Directors ofcommercial banks need not

States, local governments in a fixhave waited for the DMObefore restraining theirmanagers from granting suchloans –especially to stateswhose governors are on theirway out. The incominggovernors might be forced todisclaim those loans. Most, ifnot all, the states of Nigeriahad been existing on over-drafts granted by banks formost of the year as crude oilrevenue fell consistentlybelow projections. As at thismonth, several states areowing their staff one or twomonths salaries – even asthey head to the end ofOctober when there willcertainly be another shortfallin the allocated revenue fromthe Federal Government.Without short term loansfrom commercial banks, civilservants across Nigeria canonly expect a bleak fourthquarter of the year.

As everybody knows, withthe exception of four states— Lagos, Rivers, Kano,Kaduna – all the other statesof Nigeria are federalallocation revenue dependent.They are all what I classifyas “Civil Service States. Nonecan, like Lagos under BolaTinubu, defy the Federalgovernment and operate fortwo months or more withoutfunds from Abuja. Well,Abuja funds are declining.APC Governors, irrespectiveof their motives, have joinedin raising the alarm thattrouble is brewing. Their PDPand APGA colleagues,

obviously for politicalreasons, have not joined thechorus. They deludethemselves. States like Ekiti,Gombe, Taraba, Adamawa,Kwara, Ebonyi, Kebbi, CrossRiver and Kogi will soonbecome so cash-strappednobody can keep their civilservants from joining therevolt against the conspiracyof silence being championedby Jonathan and Okonjo-Iweala.

Once again, let usrecapitulate the reasons wefind ourselves in thispredicament – none of whichwill go away in a short timeand some of which will get

Unfortunately,the USA, onceNigeria’s largestcustomer, nolonger importscrude oil, theworld’s largesteconomy hadbecome a bigexporter of crudeand refined oiland its producersare not in theglobal market forthe short-term

worse overtime.

First, globaldemand forcrude oil isfalling onaccount ofslow GDPgrowth in then a t i o n sw h i c hconstitute theengines ofg l o b a le c o n o m y .D e s p i t er e c e n timprovements,the USeconomy isstill not asrobust as itshould be.T h a to r d i n a r i l yshould have

resulted in lower demand forcrude. Unfortunately, theUSA, once Nigeria’s largestcustomer, no longer importscrude oil. The world’s largesteconomy had become a bigexporter of crude and refinedoil and its producers are notin the global market for theshort-term. They are here tostay and to expand anddominate the market. Todominate the market theywill have to gain marketshare; meaning dislodgeexisting suppliers of crude.Nigeria is a prime target forthat attack.

Second, it would have beenbad enough if we have only

the US as a newcompetitor. But,s e v e r a lcountries, whichwere oilimporters, as lateas five years ago,have now joinedthe league of oilproducers. Theynot only reducethe marketpotential forexport for good,they contributeto the glutwhich isresponsible forthe currentp l u m m e t i n gcrude prices.Some of themare just startingand they intendto increase thesupply to the

global market over time.The Middle East had been in

turmoil for several years andthat had curtailed supply.But, nations like Iran, Iraqand Libya, which had lostout, on account of politicalturmoil are eager to beef uptheir depleted foreignreserves – even if the have tosell at deep discounts. Thatagain will take some time.

Mr Godwin Emefelue,Governor of the Central Bankof Nigeria, CBN, in anaddress to the CharteredInstitute of Bankers, onOctober 18, 2014, admittedthat the drop in oil prices“presents some risks to thecountry ”. That isunderstandable under-statement from the personcharged with the nation’smonetary policy. Nobody, inhis right senses, expects theCBN Governor to raise analarm because that willcertainly trigger capitalflight. The man is doing hisjob. However, Mr Emefeluewill understand thatmembers of the Fourth Estateof the Realm, the Media, alsohave a job to do. We cannotwrap in diplomatic languagetruth which is stark andunrelenting until it hitsNigerians like a hurricanesuddenly. We have a duty towarn our people that dangerlooms and state as well aslocal governments, and theirworkers, will feel the impactfirst starting NOW.

Lack of start up capital threatensNigeria's economic growth


Business & Economy

not to work for anybody, andhence with these conditions,most opt to grow gradually andprefer not to even take thefunding.

Another factor, he said, isthat, “most tech start-upsdon’t even have access to theirfunding firms, and hence wesee a lot of firms andindividuals are also graduallysneaking up in Nigeria,promising to helpentrepreneurs raise fund, andcompelling them to sign off amajor part of their equity andhuge advisory andmanagement fee in return.With little or no regulation onthis type of activities andwithout standardisation of thefunding process, a lot ofentrepreneurs will back out offunding at the last minutewhen typical term sheets arepresented to them.”

Accessing fundsAccessing fundsAccessing fundsAccessing fundsAccessing funds

To address thesechallenges, he said:

“Easier access to connect techstart up and venture firmsshould be encouraged by thegovernment through eventsand conferences that try tointroduce reputable firms withpotential good start ups. In theUS and most countries thereare quarterly events in SiliconValley where start ups areinvited to pitch their ideas to apanel of tested and trustedventure firms. Such a set up inNigeria will definitely bring thetwo entities together andensure that start ups are notput either in a situation wherethey prefer not to take the fundsin the first place.

On his part, the ChiefOperations Officer ofSpacePointe, an online

marketplace catering to theneeds of the informal sectormarket in Nigeria, OsatoOsayande said the issue to dealwith is connecting the start-ups with investors. Investorsneed access to these start-upsand the start-ups on the other

hand need training on how topresent themselves in a waythat is compelling to theinvestors.

He said: “Research is key to astart-up owner. There are lotsof programs available to helpstart-ups through their process

as well as many online start-up communities where theycan learn from people who havebeen there before them. Thatbeing said, as an entrepreneurone should not just sit andawait spoon feeding."

If you do all you can do toget started including makingyour own financial investmentin your business, an investorwould be more likely to investin your start up.”

Mr. Chef, one of Nigeria’s foodseasoning products, has launched a

10-in-1 pack of seasoning cubes in responseto customer demands.

The introduction of the money-savinginitiative was part of Mr. Chef ’s two instantbig win incentives announced to distributorsand wholesalers at a launch event held in Abujaon Monday, 6 October, 2014.

The 10-in-1 pack of seasoning is the first ofits kind to be introduced by any seasoningproducer in Nigeria to answer customer

Mr Chef enters market with 10-in-1 seasoning cubesdemand for convenience, hygiene, quality andaffordability. Managing Director of BayswaterIndustries Limited Mr. Piyush Nair, said theconcept of 10-in-1 packs was developed frominsights gained from customer interactionsover time, especially in terms of hygiene,quantity and pricing.

According to him, Mr. Chef ’s 10-in-1 packof seasoning cubes combines hygiene, quality,quantity and convenience with right pricingto demonstrate that cooking could be bothinexpensive and a great delight.


CMYK


Advertising

Stories byPRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

ACTIVATION - From Left: Senior Brand Manager Legend & Life, Funso Ayeni (left),winner of Legend Taste, Tell and Win fridge, Joshua Egbeton, Marketing Manager Legend,Gulder and Life, Nigerian Breweries Plc Emmanuel Agu at the Legend Taste, Tell & Winactivation at Concourse Bar, CMD Shangisha, Magodo, Lagos.

For brands to getconnected toconsumers, they need

to toe a certain marketing lineto get to their destination,particularly in trying tonavigate entrant to a marketriddled with competingbrands.

Like every new thing it hasalways been a challenge forbrand builders introducing anew brand, particularly beingsaddled with theresponsibilities ofconceptualisation, name andrelevant strategies to introduceit to the market.

That was the situation eightmonths ago, when NigerianBreweries entered the marketwith Star lite, brand extensionof Star Larger. As a result ofthe persistent failure of manynew brands at the point ofentrance, not a few peoplediscarded it as a misadventure.

However, as a company thatis on top of the game, NBshowed from the beginningthat it knew the right card toplay. Having successfully

Mobile music machine as consumerengagement platform

established Star Larger as theno 1 beer brand in the market,the company massivelyfollowed the existing templateand introduced freshtechniques to create auraaround its new offering. Today,the brand has, within fewmonths, moved from the infant

stage into mature age. Amongother things that have workedfor the brand, the introductionof Africa’s first mobile musicmachine, used to support it stillstands as a major reason for itssuccess.

In the beginning…The launch of the new

product attracted varyingcomments from marketwatchers. While a sectionof the market hailed thedecision as a genuinestrategy to enter a newsegment for more growthand higher margins,another set of analystsdismissed it as amisadventure. Most ofthose who shared the lastview thought it would bedifficult for the twobrands to grow alongeach other.

But to the handlers ofthe brand, who disclosedthat the companyengaged in extensiveresearch before unveilingthe product, the decisionwas a genuine responseto the yearnings ofNigerian consumers.

Speaking at the launchevent, MarketingDirector, NB, WalterDrenth, said theintroduction of the newentrant had reaffirmedthe commitment of thecompany to innovation. “Star continues to set thetrend in innovation. Thisis just the beginning.There’s so much more instore for 2014 and we willbe announcing them inthe most unpredictableways,” he said.

The new beer brand, hesaid, is a line extensionof Star lager and brewedwith 100 percent naturalingredients; the finestmalted barley, highquality hops, and bestquality water; as such,has fewer caloriescompared with otherstandard lager beers.

Many organizations, especiallyproducers of Fast Moving

Consumer Goods, FMCGs over the yearshad deployed robust sales promotion tacticsaimed at capturing a large chunk of theirmarket. By so doing, they employed theidea of periodically giving out freebies toprospects and customers alike.

are some of the freebies that vividly comesto mind in this regard. The Notableinitiatives in this regard have seen luckyNigerians smile home with millions ofnaira, exotic cars, and other gifts items fromconcerned companies. Sectors that ran theshow in the 1990s include the soft drinksgiants, the beverage producers and thebreweries.

However, the entry of mobiletelecommunications companies into the fraychanged the game, as they periodicallystruggle to outwit one another byimpressing their subscribers, and potentialcustomers with freebies and otherinteresting offers. Buy-One-Get-One-Free,BOGOF, free SMSs and free calls, highlevel competition among thetelecommunication companies havetherefore re-enforced serious competitionon their part.

The word, ‘stingy’ is generally used todescribe one who is unwilling to share,give, or spend possessions or money.Therefore, describing a brand as stingycould have far reaching implications. MTN,the telecommunications brand with thelargest number of subscribers fall into thecategory of brands perceived by many, asnot doing enough in the area of dishing

Prospecting consumers heart before yuletideout freebies and other goodies to itssubscribers. Being the most maligned inthis regard, one is therefore not surprisedthat the telecommunications company seemto be in the fore-front of pioneering aseason of surprises in which it intends todelight its subscribers.

Proponents of profitability will howevernegate this believe by many as theyanalyse critically, the essence of thesepromos and what it contributes to the bottomline of the concerned organisations.Tapping from the basic objectives ofbusinesses which includes liquidity,profitability and Corporate SocialResponsibility (CSR) in that order, manyorganisations strive to achieve a perfectblend of the trio.

In the profitability versus promosquestion, many failed to realize theunderlying differences that influencedecision making in this regard. Though notthe first telecommunications outfit to launchits network in Nigeria, the much malignedMTN had its network spread across thecountry like wild fire, reaching the remotestparts of the country within few years oflaunching its network in the country. Thecompany is largely responsible for thepenetration of mobile telephony in Nigeria,and by extension, most parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Around the time MTN channelledmassive investments into networkexpansion, its peers in thetelecommunications industry were probablybusy dishing out freebies to their fewsubscribers, I suppose!.

Legend fetesconsumers

The ‘Legend Taste, Telland Win’ activation, a

follow up to the re-launchedLegend Extra Stout promoearlier in March 2014, hasreciprocated its consumersloyalty with rewards.

Consumers in Magodo andAmuwo Odofin areas of Lagoswere rewarded withrefrigerators and cartons of thedrink.

As a follow up to the re-launch of Legend Extra Stoutearlier in March this year, theactivation aims to reinforce inthe consumers the uniquegreat Legend taste, as well asto educate them on the keyattributes of Legend ExtraStout

Agu said: “You will recall thatearlier in the year, wepresented Legend Extra Stoutto our consumers in a newpremium packaging withstanoil foil and metalizedlabels, in line with the brand’stradition of continuousinnovation. These in-baractivations are aimed at bothreinforcing the fact that,despite the repackaging, theirLegend Extra Stout still retainsthat unique bitter taste.

Cussons babyoffers new variantsto mothers

Cussons Baby, a brandunder the stable of PZ

Cussons has introduced a newvariant to its list of baby careportfolio range . The newintroduction, according to thestatement issued by themanagement of the company inLagos, which comes in threevarieties that include powder,lotion and soap was borne outof the need to respond to theyearnings of consumers withthe goal of attending to keyconcern areas of protection andcare for children. Speaking atthe unveiling of the variant, TheMarketing Manager, MildredBagshaw said the new additionhas been specifically designedto cater for the African skin andits tropical climate through theuse of unique ingredient in itsformulations to ensure the rightbalance of actives and skin feel.She added that the variantswere developed to assuage keyconcern areas of protection andcare for mothers and caregivers. She said” The newvariant is specifically designedto cater to the African skin andits tropical climate through theuse of unique ingredients in itsformulations to ensure the rightbalance of actives and skinfeel.”

CMYK

Email:[email protected], [email protected] page:www.lesleba.com/blog2Website: www.lesleba.comTel:0805 220 1997

40— Vanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3 , 2014

Omoh Gabriel - Group Business EditorBabajide Komolafe - Deputy Business EditorClara Nwachukwu - Energy EditorPeter Egwuatu - Asst. Business EditorYinka Kolawole - Snr Bus. CorrespondentFavour Nnabugwu - Insurance CorrespondentGodwin Oritse - Maritime CorrespondentGodfrey Bivbere - Maritime CorrespondentMichael Eboh - Energy ReporterFranklin Alli - Industry/Agric. ReporterEbele Orakpo - Energy ReporterIfeyinwa Obi - Maritime ReporterRosemary Onuoha - Insurance Reporter

CONTRIBUTORSPrincewill Ekwujuru - Media/MarketingNkiruka Nnorom - Capital MarketJonah Nwokpoku - E-CommerceNaomi Uzor - IndustryProvidence Obuh - Micro FinanceLAYOUT - Graphics Department

Business & Economy

Inspite of the assurances ofOkonjo-Iweala, theFinance and Co-

ordinating Minister of theEconomy that Nigeria is notbroke, there are concerns thatfalling crude oil prices may infact belie the Minister ’sapparent confidence. Indeed,crude oil which accounts for over50% of Federal revenue hasdipped below $90/barrel afterremaining stable between $100-110/barrel for over two years.

Although, the current marketprice still exceeds the 2014budget benchmark of $77.5/barrel, observers have notedthat reduced internationaldemand and regular productionshortfalls below budgetbenchmark of 2.45m barrels/day,as well as alarming massive oiltheft and rampant pipelinevandalisation may makerevenue projectionsunattainable.

Certainly, published statisticson oil output and revenue willcontinue to be controversial asaudited authentic figures onproduction and related saleprices are not readily availablepublic information; indeed,some observers wonder whyrevenue projections should bea concern, when crude pricesexceeded budget projections byup to 30% for over two years;furthermore, Diezani Madueke,the Petroleum Minister had alsosuggested according to mediareports that productionexceeded budget benchmarkand OPEC quotas for some time.Nonetheless, we will have toaccept Okonjo Iweala’sassessment, that if the ExcessCrude revenue Account whichdropped to $4.0bn can beincreased to $5bn, Nigeria’seconomy would retain itscurrent stability (GuardianNewspaper, 28/10/2014, Pg. 3).This assertion, of courseassumes that the current stateof Nigeria’s economy issatisfactory; however, even ablinkered apologist ofgovernment performance willadmit that our economy cannotbe described as successful,

Inequity in government’s revenue drivewhen government gleefullyborrows back its own free fundswith double digit interest ratesand over 70% of our populationlive on less than $2 a day, withunemployment at almost 30%,and over 50% of our youthsaimlessly idle, while, inflationannually eats up over 8% of thepurchasing power of all incomeearners, particularly the wagesof the majority who earn lessthan the minimum wage ofN18,000/month introduced fouryears ago.

However, if according toMadam Minister, $1bn is all theadditional revenue needed tokeep the economy afloat, thenwe really should lose no sleepbecause of dwindling revenuefrom crude oil, since our ownwell endowed chattel, theCentral Bank of Nigeria still sitscomfortably on close to $40bn,which is inexplicablydesignated as CBN’s own dollarreserves. Surely, a two percentreduction in CBN reservesshould not jeopardise the

have rejected asunconstitutional, can still beaugmented. Obviously, anysuch augmentation willinevitably come from deferredor reduced expenditures fromsome other sectoral budgets.However, since thisadministration has apparentlyfound it inconvenient to reducethe clearly bloated expenditurebudget, the usually relativelypaltry votes for capital andinfrastructural enhancementmay regrettably suffer furtherdecline, with adverseconsequences for improvedsocial welfare for the masses.

Nevertheless, in an attemptto shore up its non oil revenue,the Federal government,according to a report in thePunch edition of 30/10/2014, Pg.38, indicated that it “had raisedthe revenue targets of theNigerian Customs Services andthe Federal Inland RevenueService.”

In its reaction to thisdevelopment, the Lagos

stability or thestrength of theApex Bank.

Nevertheless,O k o n j o -Iweala hass u g g e s t e dthat inspite ofc u r r e n tr e v e n u econtraction,public financecan still bea s t u t e l ymanaged toensure thatthe balance inthe Federalgovernment’sunilaterallydesignatedExcess CrudeA c c o u n t ,w h i c hincidentallyS t a t eGovernor s

Chamber ofCommerce andI n d u s t r yh o w e v e rwarned that“there is a riskthat bestp r a c t i c eprinciples willb ecompromisedb ygovernment’sr e v e n u eg e n e r a t i n gAgencies int h e i rdesperation tomeet settargets.” TheL C C IP r e s i d e n t ,Alhaji RemiBello, notedthat “therewere alreadyn e g a t i v e

manifestations in the mode ofImport Valuation by theCustoms Service.” Importers,according to Bello “have beenmade to pay import duty andother charges that are farbeyond what they ordinarilyshould have paid; manyinvestors have consequentlysuffered untold hardship as aresult of this practice.”

Similarly, officials of the FIRSseem to have also been given acarte blanche opportunity tointimidate and extort paymentsfrom companies in the name ofrevenue drive ordered by ‘Ogaat the top’. Regrettably, thosecompanies, which have beenvictims, unfortunately have nosincere, transparent, effective ortimely dispute resolution systemin place. Consequently, theLCCI Chairman called ongovernment’s revenuecollection Agencies “toconcentrate more on theefficiency of collection and theexpansion of tax coveragerather than inflicting hardshipon businesses that were alreadyin compliance.”

Ironically, in contrast to itsdirective on aggressive revenuedrive, the Federal government,according to Oscar Onyeama,CEO of the Nigerian StockExchange, has waived thepayment of Value Added Tax onall capital market transactions,since the last two years;Onyeama confirmed that VATexemption is now effective onall Commissions applicable tocapital market transactions.According to the NSE CEO,“the elimination of VAT on stockmarket transaction fees willultimately reduce the cost oftransactions for investors andwill encourage investments inthe Nigerian capital market.”

Onyeama further urgedgovernment to also implementthe stamp duty waiver whichwas earlier announced alongwith VAT exemption in 2012.Curiously, VAT exemption on

commissions and stamp dutywaivers are in addition to a debtforgiveness of about N22.6bn byAMCON to stock brokers whocontravened the provision of theInvestment and Securities Actby their flagrant involvement inmargin trading; a case ofwaivers for the rich and hardlabour for the poor, one mightsay.

In the light of the above, weshould be concerned that anyresponsible administration willsubject its wealth creating realsector to a harrowingexperience of harassment bygovernment’s revenuegenerating agencies, whileactively excluding commissionincome from a “casino market”such as the stock market fromany form of taxation. Thequestion is, what percentage ofNigerians directly profit fromcommissions on StockExchange transactionscompared with the majoritywhose livelihood would bedirectly positively impacted bythe activities of productive andsocial welfare supportivesubsectors which are under theaegis of the LCCI andManufacturers Association ofNigeria respectively? Why mustgovernment penalize thosewho lay the golden eggs whilefeatherbedding the interest ofplain rent seekers and criminalsin the economy?

Besides, we should similarlybe concerned that despitealleged dwindling crude oilrevenue, government obviouslyhas no answer that wouldredeem the wastefulexpenditure of over N1500bn(about $7.5bn) for subsidisingfuel annually. Worse still, thereis no hope that governmentappears capable of pluggingthe gaping holes of massivetheft of crude oil in order toshore up our dwindlingrevenue base.

Save the Naira, Save Nigeria.

CMYK

WIFE of former Governorof Kogi State and

United Nations (UN)Ambassador for the Promotionof Peace, Education andPoverty Reduction, Amb. AishaAudu-Emeje, has urgedwomen and youth to grab theopportunity, provided by theN220b Small and MediumEnterprise (SMEs) fund, toimprove their businesses.

The fund, launched by theFederal Government through

Women, youths tasked on N220bnSME fundBy CALEB AYANSINA the Central Bank of Nigeria

(CBN), was targeted atreducing poverty in the country.

She maintained that havingaccess to fund was not theproblem in some cases, butpackaging, calling on themto immediately formcooperatives to enable themaccess the fund, to enlargetheir businesses.

Audu-Emeje, who gave theadvice after she was conferredwith the CompanionshipAward by the Institute of GlobalFacilities Management, in

Abuja, disclosed that she hadmobilised over 10,000 womenfarmers in Kogi State for thepurpose of getting them intocooperatives, to access thefund.

“This fund has been hangingin the CBN since the late Yar’Adua’s administration and thepresident has been able to pushit out, we are now at a stagewhere advocacy is being done,so that those that are supposedto access this fund can preparethemselves and know how toaccess it.

Why mustgovernmentpenalize thosewho lay thegolden eggswhile featherbedding theinterest ofplain rentseekers andcriminals inthe economy?


CMYK

46— Vanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014

CMYK

By Eric Teniola

•Mr. Teniola, a formerdirector at the Presidency,wrote from Lagos.

*Mr. Chiazor is chairman, Nigeria Unionof Journalists, Delta State.

By Norbert Chiazor

The imperial presidency

OF all the sub-committees ofthe Constitution Drafting

Committee of 1975, none was moreimportant than the subcommittee ofthe executive and the legislature.

The sub-committee was saddledwith working out the modalities forthe operation of the presidentialsystem of government which was anovelty at that time considering thefact that we have never operated thepresidential system of governmentbefore.

The subcommittee was headed byAlhaji Abdu GaniyuFolorunshoRazak (87), theMutawali of Ilorin and the Tafida ofZaria, who was born in Onitsha inthe present day Anambra State andserved as the Nigerian Ambassadorto the Ivory Coast(Cote D'Ivoire)

the people. And truly we have noapology for that”. He was a memberof the sub-committee on theEconomy, Finance and Division ofPowers. He wrote most of the reportsof that sub-committee.

If you take a look at the 1979 andespecially the 1999 constitutions onecould see the imperial powers of thePresident of Nigeria. Having readand re-read the report of AbduRazak’s committee, I am still notsure that it is what the committeerecommended that is in practicetoday, with the imperial, dominantand regal powers of the Presidentcrowned by the constitution and acash sharing National Assembly thathas made itself impotent in an erawhere sycophancy, hero worshippingand boot licking is the only industryaround.

Reading the 1999 Constitution,one is puzzled and astounded by theextensive wide powers of theNigerian President. In short healmost owns the country. In a landwhere majority are very poor onecan’t have all these wide powerscertainly without inviting envy,jealousy, outright grudge if nothatred.

Our biggest dilemma is how tocope with the authoritarian andabsolute powers of the President asdecreed by the Constitution. It is thesepowers that have made the race forthe Presidency absolutely desperate.Just imagine the despondency of theincumbent to retain his Presidencyat all costs as if there is no more lifeoutside government having been inpower for over 15 years and thedesperation of his politicaladversaries to dislodge him by allmeans.

We shall see in the coming weeksthe ugly effects of the despair andhopelessness.

If we have reduced the power ofthe presidency and made that postless attractive, may be and just maybe the forlornness will be avoided. APresidential election is not supposedto be a do or die affair. In somecountries the Presidential election isa celebration period. That is the wayit is supposed to be.

Ambassador to South Afica,Professor G.A. Odenigwe of theUniversity of Nigeria Nsukka, AlhajiFemi Okunnu,former Minister ofWorks, Dr.Kole Abayomi, SeniorLecturer at Nigeria Law School inLagos, Dr. I.D. Ahmed, a councillorby then in the Kano LocalGovernment Authority, Mr. SamIkoku,who was then of the Universityof Lagos and former Secretary of thedefunct Action Group, who laterbecame the Secretary of the PeoplesRedemption Party of the late AminuKano.

The other two members wereAlhajiSule Gaya, a former Ministerin Northern Nigeria and Dr. U.O.Eleazu, a lecturer in Political Sciencein Institute of Management andTechnology, now Co-ordinator and

GOVERNOR Emmanuel Uduaghanof Delta State has certain ordinariness

about him.He carries himself with simple gait and

ordered steps.He lacks the arrogantsuperiority that goes with powerful menof politics in Nigeria .His arrival to anexpectant crowd scarcely evokes awe. Anencounter even with a casual bystandereasily reveals a man patterned tocommonplace modesty.

He does not look like a governor. InNigeria,governors are gods.They walklike giants.They rule like Romanemperors.They command fear.Theyendure no opposition.

They have no business with humility, onlyhaughty imperial manners.In power politicsin Nigeria ,it is a taboo to bow so low, assuch posture is seen as condescending,particularly if you wear gubernatorialvestment.

Some more daring ones dominate theirstates as conquered territories and smallworlds exclusive to their whims. Like thesuperhuman Zeus in Greek mythology,accustomed to playing chess with his mortalvassals, quite a number of the governorsbestride their areas of influence withprideful authority, leading the people at themercy of absolute power, with all the graveconsequences.

Uduaghan, politics and journalism This is where Governor Uduaghan's

comportment comes into play.As thegovernor of one of the most importantstates in Nigeria , often called the economicjewel of the nation for its strategic location

breeding.Generally by pedigree,Uduaghan has

good reason to show off like a peacock .Buthe lives quietly like a dove.Before hiseventful adventure into the political

as one of the most vilified governors inNigeria. In a complex state whereethnicity and hatred thrive with recklessabandon,Uduaghan had remained freespirited, continually embracing hisdangerous traducers and bitter foes. Asage once warned that you do notempower your enemies.He loves to be atpeace with his supposed enemies to thebewilderment of persecutors and evensycophants. A man of pleasanttemperament and calm countenance, notonce had Uduaghan taken sustained presscriticism to heart, no matter how acidic,mischievous or malicious.He hasmaintained a striking friendship withthe media, exemplified by stoic tolerance,tireless goodwill and humane fatherlydisposition. As a policy, he never evercoerced or cornered the leadership of thepress to burnish his image.No journalisthad been harassed,maimed or killed underhis watch.This is the experience of NUJ /Journalists in Delta State under theadministration of governor Uduaghan .Heunderstands the media and the psychologyof journalists . One can safely say beyondadulation that he is one of the bestjournalists Nigeria never had.

As he marks his valedictory birthdayas governor, somehow we will deeply missthe man who has doctored our sensibilitiesin diverse ways.

in the heart of oil- rich NigerDelta, Dr Uduaghan couldhave strutted his stuff likethe great Atlas who had thewhole world on hisshoulders.But he chose toremain unassuming .

In terms of governance ,hehas so far led Delta with thebest of his ability worthy ofcongratulation.GovernorUduaghan has built one ofthe finest airports in sub-Saharan Africa,changingforever the face ofAsaba,Nigeria' s first colonialcapital under the British RoyalNiger company.His socialwelfare policies, Delta microcredit programme, DMCP,free maternal /children healthcare scheme and scholarshipto gifted Deltans, will outlivehim as noble acts of acompassionate leaderenthused with public good.Uduaghan like every mortalhas his frailties ,but not a fewwill submit that he is a man ofmodest ego and good

space, he was a successful medicaldoctor .The medical profession isnot for average people.He isendowed with a sound mind.

If Uduaghan had recordedsalutary accomplishments in thesaddle ,he has also proved himselfNigeria's most media friendlygovernor.That he had in recenttimes emerged as VANGUARDMAN OF THE YEAR,SUNNEWSPAPER MAN OF THEY E A R , L E A D E R S H I PNEWSPAPER GOVERNOR OFTHE YEAR as well as Irish basedMETRO EIREAN NEWSPAPERDISTINGUISHED PERSONALITYunderscore his national andinternational appeal among themainstream media.As he bracesup to finish strong ,it is hoped thathe will pay more attention to thetransformation of the state mediaorgans like DBS and POINTERNewspapers .

Even with the widespreadmedia accolades and long list ofother honours, the press neverceases to criticize him in the mosttrenchant of scrutiny. He stands

He hasmaintained astrikingfriendship withthe media,exemplified bystoic tolerance,tirelessgoodwill andhumanefatherlydisposition

become a national figure, and themethod of his election is meant toprovide him with a means ofnationalising himself as well as testhis standing as a national figure”.

The subcommittee declaredfurther: “What has been uppermostin our minds is how to provide for aneffective leadership that expressesour aspirations for national unitywithout at the same time buildingup a Leviathan whose power may bedifficult to curb”.

Call it rotational principle, call itzoning or call it Federal Character,it was Abdu Razak’s committee thatfirst proposed this idea as far backas 1975.

The subcommittee insisted thatrotational principle must beembodied in the constitution. “Hereagain the question that bordered thesub –committee was how the kind ofnational figure which we envisagedcould emerge. We were very muchinfluenced by the debate on nationalobjectives and public accountabilityand the need to avoid concentrationof power in the hands of a few, or asectional group; the need to replaceethnic with national politics, etc. Inshort, it is the intention of thesubcommittee that anybody whowants to be a President must strive tobecome a national figure, and themethod of his election is meant toprovide him with a means of“nationalising” himself as well astest standing as a national figure.

The sub-committee went further togroup Nigeria into four zones. Thatwas in 1975 when we had 19 states.According to Razak’s committee of1975, zone 1 shall consist of Sokoto,Niger, Kwara,and Kaduna states;zone 2 will comprise Kano, Plateau,Benue, Borno, Bauchi and Gongolastates; zone 3- Lagos, Ogun,Oyo,Ondo and Bendel states, andlastly zone 4 which were Anambra,Imo, Rivers and Cross Rivers states.The recommendation of the sub-committee was that there shall berotation of the Presidency and eachof the four zones should have thePresidency once in a while.

In defending rotationalPresidency,AlhajiRazak’s sub-committee submitted that: “By andlarge, we have been very muchinfluenced by the experience ofpolitical leadership in this country-both civilian and military; the needto de-commercialise politics (or toundecorated politics as one memberput it); the need to balance the stakespolitics so that each section of thiscountry will come to feel a sense ofbelonging to a great nation; the needto develop an approach of consensusto politics and finally the need toaccentuate our national inclinationtowards a bargaining approach todecision-making rather thanregarding politics as a game of thewinner-takes-all”.

Incidentally most of the AbduRazak’s committee’s reports wereaccepted by the ConstitutionDrafting Committee later. OnNovember 1, 1977 the Chairman ofthe Constitution DraftingCommittee, Chief Rotimi Williams,presented a bill to the ConstituentAssembly for a new constitution. Hesaid: “ Safeguards Against Abuse ofPower, all of us in the ConstitutionDrafting Committee, withoutexception, were eager to ensure thatthe sovereignty of the people is notmerely manifested in the choice ofthe persons entrusted or to beentrusted with power. We were alsoconcerned to ensure that nofunctionary of the state shall be in aposition to instal himself as adictator over the rest of the country.Hence, provisions were made in theDraft Constitution to prevent theover-concentration of power in anyone hand or in the hands of a fewand to ensure that there are adequatechecks and balances to avoid theabuse of power”.

In my later discussion with amember of the Constitution DraftingCommittee, Chief RasheedGbadamosi, the Otun of Ikorodu, hesaid: ”Concentration of power in thehands of just one man coulddisintegrate the country. All that wedid between '75 and '76 was to ensurethat the government truly belongs to

Readingthe 1999Constitution,one isastoundedby theextensivepowers oftheNigerianPresident;he almostowns thecountry

Director, Nigeria PolicyDevelopment Centre(Think Tank).

The subcommitteerecommended, amongother things, that thefuture President ofNigeria “must performand be seen asperforming the followingfunctions: that of being asymbol of national unity,honour and prestige;being a national figure-a political figure in hisown right; and that ofbeing an able executive-someone who can giveleadership and a sense ofdirection to the country”.

The subcommitteedeclared: “We were verymuch influenced by thedebate on nationalobjectives and publicaccountability and theneed to avoidconcentration of powerin the hands of a few, or asectional group; the needto replace ethnic withnational politics, etc. Inshort, it is the intention ofthe sub-committee thatanybody who wants to bea President must strive to

between 1962-1964. He isthe first lawyer fromNorthern Nigeria.

Alhaji Razak was adelegate to the 1960C o n s t i t u t i o n a lConference in London, amember of the Leaders ofThought from NorthernNigeria for the 1967constitutional conference,Minister for Railwaysbetween 1965 and 1966and a man of distinctletters. He declined to bea High Court Judge whenhis name was gazetted forthe appointment. Longbefore Dr. AbubakarOlushola Saraki, the lateWaziri of Ilorin, AlhajiRazak was the “grandcommander” of politics inIlorin. Very urbane andhighly civilised. I met himfor the first time in 1975.

Other members of thesubcommittee were Dr.Kingsley OzumbaM b a d i w e , f o r m e rMinister in the FirstRepublic and my verygood friend, Alhaji ShehuMalami, formerChairman of Union Bankand later Nigerian


OPINIONBy John Ainofenokhai

*Mr. Ainofenokhai, a public affairs analyst,wrotefrom Benin, Edo Sate.

The unraveling of APC in EkitiTHE main opposition party in Nigeria, All Progressives

Congress, APC, may, in fact, be changing name very soonagain. Of course the party has had a history of name-changing– from Action Congress, AC, to Action Congress of Nigeria,ACN and to the present All Progressives Congress. Lest weforget, it started out originally as Alliance for Democracy beforeBola Ahmed Tinubu and his group broke away with the soul ofthe party to form Action Congress. All these changes were all insearch of true identity for the opposition party. And the identity,which the leadership of the APC is working very hard to sell toNigerians albeit without much success, is that the party is a“progressive” party built on solid “integrity”.

With the shocking revelations now coming out of Ekiti Stateabout the former APC governor, Kayode Fayemi(roundlyrejected by the people of his state at the polls in his bid forsecond term), APC may now be aptly referred to as the AllProfligate Congress. The only difference this time is that theparty still retains its APC acronym. According to the newlysworn-in governor, Ayodele Fayose, the APC government ofFayemi was at its profligate best during its four years reign inEkiti. Dr. Fayemi was alleged to have spent N50 million on thetwo beds, which he and his wife slept. “How can a responsiblegovernment use borrowed funds to provide this kind of luxuryfor the governor and his family alone in a state where a lot ofpeople cannot afford to feed more than once in a day?” Fayosehad queried through a statement released by his aide,Olayinka Oyebode.

The news of corruption, misapplication of funds and theinsensitivity of the APC government of Fayemi in Ekiti is

Tambuwaland all mem-bers of theSenate andHouse ofReps whocrossed fromone party tothe other inthe past oneyear mustvacate theirseats pend-ing courtverdicts

rather an unfortunate one. Fayemi came to power from a richcivil society background and was highly respected as one ofthe few governors who should know what governance means.And every time he spoke as the governor, he always stressed theneed for putting the people first in governance and rightly orwrongly, his party, the APC celebrated him as one of theirleading star performers. But as it is said, the breeze has blownand everybody can now see the undergarments of the priest.

It is cheap to dismiss Fayose as playing to the gallery just asthe former governor has done through his own aide. Theargument that Fayemi is not going away with theGovernment House does not in any way justify anyostentatious life style at the expense of the tax payers. As amatter of fact, there is nothing wrong if Fayemi, his wifeand children decide to spend a billion Naira on their beds orlive like Abu Dhabi princes as long as the money is comingfrom their private pockets. But to luxuriate at the expenseof the suffering masses whose salaries and pension the formergovernor struggled to pay as and when due, is not onlywicked but equally criminal.

What is coming out now from Ekiti is only possible becausea new government has taken over. And this is one of theadvantages that periodic election, an attribute of liberaldemocracy, confers on the people. The APC intellectualswho, in their bid to wish away the popular rejection ofFayemi by the Ekiti electorate, regarded the result of the electionas a “mystery” can now understand what happened. The elitistregime of Fayemi more than alienated the people, the sovereign

owners of power. With the public outcry that has greeted therevelations of the wasteful use of public resources to service theostentatious fantasies of the former governor and his family, itis all too clear that the people of the state were never consultedon the building and furnishing of the new government house.It is rather sad that a governor who publicly claims that hecannot condescend to the level of what is now the populardefinition of stomach infrastructure is spending multi-millionnaira on “bed infrastructure”.

What is said to have happened in Ekiti under the APCgovernment of Fayemi betrays the hypocrisy of the partyand its catechetical verbosity on fighting corruption. Thisis the same party that its leaders, including Bola Tinubu, LaiMohammed, Nasir el-Rufai, General Muhammadu Buhariand Atiku Abubakar daily accuse the PDP government ofGoodluck Jonathan of condoning corruption. If the scandal of“bed infrastructure” under the APC government of Fayemihad happened in any PDP state government or at the centre,Lai Mohammed would have been parroting it everywherehow the ruling party is plundering the country. Why has Lailost his voice? Surely, he must have something to say aboutthe APC plundering of Ekiti State!

Ekiti State is not by any means one of the richest states inthe country. And if this magnitude of corruption has alreadybeen discovered in the first week of Fayose’s ascension topower, it leaves to imagination what could be going on inthe richer states controlled by APC.

Tambuwal: Kudos to Police

Section 68: TENURE OF SEATS OFMEMBERS

(1) A Member of the Senate or of theHouse of Representatives shall vacate hisseat in the House of which he is a mem-ber if:

(g) being a person whose election to theHouse was sponsored by a political par-ty, he becomes a member of another polit-ical party before the expiration of the pe-riod for which that House was elected;

Provided that his membership of thelatter political party is not as a result ofa division in the political party of whichhe was previously a member or of a merg-er of two or more political parties or fac-tions by one of which he was previouslysponsored.-- Constitution of the FederalRepublic of Nigeria, 1999.

SPEAKER of the House ofRepresentatives, Aminu Waziri

Tambuwal, carries both the good and badfaces of Nigerian politics all in one man.The good side is that he is an excellentmanager of people. I agree with thosewho say he is arguably the most success-ful Speaker of the House in our history.Tambuwal’s tenure at theHouse of Representativeshas been exemplary. Once hemounts the exalted seat as apresiding officer in theGreen Chamber of the Na-tional Assembly, Tambuwalrises above petty politics. Hestrives assiduously to strikethe delicate balances to car-ry his colleagues along, inspite of the frequent risesand falls of the political tem-perature of the nation, espe-cially since the phenomenoncalled the All ProgressivesCongress, APC, started tak-ing shape roughly 18 monthsago.

Tambuwal’s predilectionstowards the APC have beenobvious, but he has neverfallen for the temptation oftrying to push through someof the rabid APC politicalagenda aimed at makinggovernance difficult for thePeoples Democratic Party,PDP, Federal Government. Itwas due to his competentmanagement of the affairs ofthe House of Reps that many

have suggested - and I agree - that Tam-buwal is more of a presidential than gov-ernorship material. Honestly, if Tambu-wal is presented by the APC as its pres-idential candidate, it will tickle the fan-cy of many, provided he does not pick aMuslim running mate.

At least, he is not one of those narrow-minded, born-to-rule, Arewa bigotsseeking to grab power back by all means,including killing their own people. Tam-buwal may, some day, become the pres-

ident of Nigeria.However, when it comes to

the politics that this dashingSokoto-born leader haspushed in the past 41months, I have very fewwords of praise for him. Hehas demonstrated crass op-portunism and bad party-manship. Of late, he hasjoined the long queue oflawmakers seeking to rapethe Constitution of the Fed-eral Republic of Nigeria fortheir personal political grat-ification.

Tambuwal was elected onthe platform of the PDP in2011. His party had, rightlyor wrongly, zoned the seatof Speaker to the South West.Tambuwal refused to abideby that decision. He becamea pawn in the hands of theleader of the defunct ActionCongress of Nigeria, ACN,Alhaji Bola Tinubu, one ofthe principal leaders of to-day’s APC. Tinubu blockedthe zoning of the plum po-sition to his home zone andsupported Tambuwal and

his Deputy, Emeka Ihedioha, to upsetPDP’s zoning applecart.

To be honest, Tambuwal’s emergencewent down well with his colleagues, in-cluding those from his party. The PDPand the Presidency realised it was nogood raising Cain, and allowed sleep-ing dogs to lie. That is the differencebetween President Goodluck Jonathanand President Olusegun Obasanjo. Hadit happened under Obasanjo’s watch,Tambuwal might not have lasted morethan a few weeks in office, even if itmeant demolishing his official residenceor wherever the Mace is hidden, to gethim removed.

But then, Tambuwal became a sore onthe nose of PDP. During the day, hewould perch majestically on the exalt-ed chair he grabbed by virtue of hismembership of the party, but at nighthe would sneak into conclaves of thoseseeking to destroy the party and flushit out of power.

Many people chose not to see whatwas wrong in what Tambuwal was do-ing because he was doing it to the PDP;and for the opposition. Once you areplaying for the opposition, morality cango to hell. Party discipline is non-se-quitur. I don’t believe in such doublestandards of judgement. Anything thatis wrong is wrong, whether it is beingperpetrated by the ruling party or theopposition. It is, in fact, more danger-ous if it is being perpetrated by the op-position because it means there is nohope. Society is trapped between thedevil and the deep blue sea. The oppo-sition must show a ray of hope, ratherthan merely demonstrating its capacityto outdo the ruling party in politicalmalfeasance.

By far the most grievous offence of Tam-

buwal was his recent decamping to theAPC while striving to keep his positionas a member of the House and its Speak-er, in barefaced contravention of Section68(g) of the Constitution of the FederalRepublic of Nigeria, 1999 quoted above.In order to ensure the success of this odi-ous scheme, Tambuwal adjourned ourHouse of Reps for FIVE long weeks toenable him see if he could grab the gov-ernorship or presidential ticket of theAPC. If he failed, he would come back.Even if PDP wanted him removed theywould not be able to summon the two-thirds majority.

Unfortunately, many Nigerians are notlooking at the number of legislative man-days Tambuwal has sacrificed on the al-tar of his selfish ambition. They are notlooking at the 2015 budget, which couldbe passed within this period. They arenot seeing that Tambuwal has crippledthe legislative arm of government andput his personal ambition above nation-al interest. All they are seeing is therightful step taken by the Nigeria Policeto get him to obey the Constitution asquoted above, having moved to anotherpolitical party.

For those who are faulting the policeaction, I have questions. Whose duty isit to implement the laws of the land? Isnot the Police and other law-enforcementagencies? When did the Police need toobtain a court verdict before doing theirjob? Is not for the persons involved to goto court and seek redress if they feel thePolice have done their job unconstitution-ally?

In the absence of any other person toget Tambuwal to obey the Constitution,who else, if not the Police, should en-force the law? In Edo State, four mem-bers of the House moved from APC toPDP. The Speaker of the House of As-sembly simply did the right thing bydeclaring their seats vacant, while theywent to court to seek redress. That is thecorrect and democratic order of thingsin a society under the rule of law.

Tambuwal and all members of the Sen-ate and House of Reps who crossed fromone party to the other in the past oneyear must vacate their seats pendingcourt verdicts. Failure to do so amountsto a rape of the constitution. The Policemust protect the constitution from thesepolitical rapists.

48—Vanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMVBER 3, 2014


SOME have flayed theadoption of President

Jonathan as the PDP’s solepresidential candidate for the2015 election as undemocratic.Do you agree?

The PDP is the greatest partyin the African continent. I don’tsee anything wrong in adoptinga candidate. It was onlymentioned that he’s beingadopted as a sole candidate. Butevery other person democraticallyhas the right to contest. It is notsacrosanct; just that at thatmoment in time, because of thegood job the President has beendoing, it was necessary to sayplease continue, we endorse youas the sole candidate. But thatdoes not say no other person canpick a form.

How do you see his chances

SENATOR Adolphus Wabara, a twoterm senator was elected presidentof the Senate in June 2003 but stepped down on April 5,2005 to clear his name over his alleged involvement inthe N55 million bribe for budget scandal.In this interview, the former Senate President assertsthat his indictment on public television by PresidentOlusegun Obasanjo was the consequence of his failureto support the alleged third term script of theadministration. He also frontally demands theresignation of Speaker Aminu Tambuwal as presidingofficer of the House of Representatives saying theminority cannot lead the majority just as he endorsesPresident Goodluck Jonathan for another term.Excerpts:

By Emmanuel Aziken,Political Editor

•Bribe for budget scam: Jail me or free me, he says•Money bags cannot buy Abia governorship

Nigerians this time around.They should build on what theyhave done so far and not losetheir sleep on the opposition. Infact, we have other parties nowjoining the PDP. These areparties that ordinarily wouldhave joined hands with APC, butthey are coming into PDP. Thatmeans there is something we aredoing right. It’s a phase and itwill take some time before wewill get there.

With the level of performancewe have seen, would you saythis government has reallyperformed these four years?

There is absolutely no doubtabout that. I am 66 years old andI think I have seen so manybirthdays and so many years; I’veseen so many governments inNigeria. When he presented abook, his scorecard on May 29,he gave facts and you can see

given thenumber off o r m i d a b l easpirants in theAPC?

The PDP will win.Jonathan will win.We are just prayingand begging that heaccepts the olivebranch of himcoming to pick upthe ticket. He willwin because I knowthe opposition. I’mnot a prophet, but Ican assure you thatas soon as acandidate emergesfrom the opposition,the opposition willcollapse from thatparticular moment.

Are you sayingthat the PDP shouldnot lose sleep overthe opposition?

The PDP shouldnot lose sleep; thePDP should continueto prepare theiragenda, theirmanifesto and whatthey want to do forNigeria and

the record of hisperformance. Justgo and read thatbook. Nobody putspen on paper if heor she is not sure ofwhat he is writing.

If you read thatbook, you will nowsee what Jonathanand hisgovernment havedone for thiscountry. You cannotsay he has doneeverything, but atleast you will seethe trend where weare going, wherehe started from andwhat we haveachieved now. Youalmost find a PhDin his governance.Scientists don’tmake too muchnoise.

Given thedevelopment in theHouse ofRepresentatives,what is yourresponse to thespate of defectionsby lawmakers?

Frankly, it is unfortunate. It isreally unfortunate that we didnot nip this in the bud earlyenough and we need thejudiciary to help the NationalAssembly out of this problem.

Vantageposition

But be that as it may, it wasbecause we the PDP did not nipthis issue in the bud. We were atvantage position at the start ofthis defections in the NationalAssembly.

So, we did not invoke the law.But it’s like when a dog bites ahuman being, it’s no story. Butwhen a human being bites a dog,it becomes a story. Of course,some people would say that itlooks as if people are now leavingthe PDP, that’s why we are nowopening the pages of the law tostop them. It pains me again due

to the fact that all thesemovements are done onpersonal interest basis and it’snot national interest or theinterest of the people you arerepresenting, which makes itvery absurd. But I know thatwith time, this cross carpetingwill be a thing of the past.

Do you think he should resignhis position?

With the speaker of the Houseof Representatives now defectingto the opposition, to me, I thinkhe should resign hisSpeakership because, clearly,according to our rules and ourlaws, it is the party with themajority membership of theHouse that runs chambers.

If he now sits down and findsthat his APC is in the minority,he should just resign. Since whathe wants is to be the governor ofSokoto State, then he goes thereto face that. Immediately, the

PDP will elect another Speaker.He should not overheat thepolity. He is a gentleman that isloved by many.

I also love him, no matter thathe has left my party. He is a goodfighter, but he should not messup his good name by clinging topower unnecessarily. Otherwise,if he gets impeached, he willprobably not even make thegovernorship anymore becauseit will tarnish his image. If heallows himself to be impeached,then he cannot even run for thegovernorship of Sokoto State. So,he should just resign and wishNigerians well.

What is the latest on the allegedbribe for budget scandal giventhat you stepped down as SenatePresident in 2005 to clear yourname on the issue. Not muchhas been heard about the caseagain?

•Wabara: Tambuwal is a good fighter, but should step down

Even if I wasgoing to beimprisoned byObasanjobecause Irefused histhird term bid,I would haveserved theterm and Iwould havebeen out bynow

Defection: WhyTambuwal should stepdown— Wabara


Continues from page 48You see, I’m a man from a very

humble home that one wouldexpect that things should taketheir natural courses.

That’s why I waited for thatjudgment discharging me fromthe Court of Appeal. Thatjudgment was challenged by theICPC up to the Supreme Court.One thing is very clear and nomember of judiciary will say thatI, Senator Adulphus Wabara,that I have come to lobby foranything I’ve not lobbiedanybody.

But I have exhausted mypatience as we speak. Even if Iwas going to be imprisoned byObasanjo because I refused histhird term bid, I would haveserved the term and I wouldhave been out by now. I’m justasking the judiciary to expediteaction as per the judgmentdelivered in the Supreme Courtthat this matter should be takenback to the lower court for a retrialand it should be doneexpeditiously.

It is two years now since thatSupreme Court judgment and Ihave not been arraigned in courtagain.

I want to now hold the bull bythe horns. I’m going to ask mylawyer for whatever it is worth tonow ask for mandamus to compelthe ICPC to prosecute the casein accordance with the judgmentof the Supreme Court.

•Wabara: Zoning should be respected in Abia

government of Nigeria and thejudiciary that they should takeup this matter as quickly aspossible. This is 10 years of mylife gone for nothing. I thank Godthat I’m living in good health butI don’t want to die. That stigmacannot be on my neck because Idid not commit any offence. Irepeat, I did not commit anyoffence.

You talked about naivety. Whydid you say you are naive?

The issue of naivety is that Ihave not behaved like aNigerian. If I were to havebehaved like that, this casewould have been over. I alsowould not have resigned myposition. I was once numberthree citizen of this country. So,I know what obtains ingovernance. But I have beennaïve and I didn’t go to anybody.In fact, they will even think thatI’m arrogant – some will evensay why has this man not evencome to see us or to come toappeal for assistance.

I didn’t go to anybody. Eventhe judgment that came in mydefence at the appeal Court, Inever knew. I was in Londonwhen that judgment was given.I never knew who gave thatjudgment.

I never went to anybody andthat is the way God will get meout of this problem. I’m goingthrough a phase, but ten yearsin one’s life time, for crying outloud is unfair on this

in, on this third term thing and Ididn’t know where he wascoming from, I said no, YourExcellency, this cannot work.

In 2003, he told me clearlythat the way I was working, in2007, I will continue as SenatePresident. I said excuse me sir,how can I continue as SenatePresident when by 2007 theequation will change; the zoningwill change and it will be anortherner who will become theSenate President as we havenow. That was the end of mydiscussion with him on that dayand that was what cost me myGCON in 2003. It is not even thecase of N55 million bribe forbudget scandal; that one cameup in 2005.

Longest time withObasanjo

What happened in 2003 that Iwas not given is just because ofmy position on third term.

But people will say that thethird term thing came up in fullglare when you had left office.Does it mean that the agendahad been there all along?

The third term thing, if you havenot heard, started from May 29th 2003 when Obasanjo was swornin for the second term. That waswhy when I became SenatePresident on the third of June2003, sometime in July, heinvited me to his office and thatwas the longest time I had stayedwith Obasanjo – for two wholehours.

My younger brother, the thenChairman of Hallmark Bank wasalso there. The Chief of Staff toObasanjo then, GeneralAbdullahi was interrupting themeeting every 15 – 20 minutesfor two hours and Obasanjo kepttelling him to wait. By the time

we came out there, there wereso many ministers and so manyforeign dignitaries waiting to seethe president. They werewondering what were these twobrothers doing with Obasanjoinside. It was then that he toldme that I was doing a very goodjob and if I knew that was whathe was angling for I would havetold him off. Anyway, I told himhow can I be Senate Presidentin 2007. He was trying to recruitme but I refused to be recruited.

Third termthing

The third term thing did notstart when Nigerians startedseeing the hands. We wereseeing the third term thing thenbecause of desperation, becausehis time was running out. He hada national conference too at thattime and I said I wasn’t going tofund that confab – I said you haveyour contingency which thenwas N 1 billion. I said you canfund your confab from thecontingency and that was whythat confab cost him N900million. We have all these details.But I didn’t know I was dealingwith a man who will neverforgive. He begged me to bepresent at the opening ceremonyof that conference and asked meto please ensure that I came therewith Masari. If you guys werewatching, I walked across toMasari and dragged himphysically for us to go there forthe opening ceremony. As soonas we finished the openingceremony, we left them.

But you and Obasanjo startedwell. At what point did the cordbreak?

I wasn’t very close to Obasanjowhen we started. My brotherwas closer to him and of course,

served the country and protectedhim as well.

There was the N50 millionthird term largesse then, didyou partake of it? We learntthat N50 million was broughtto your house?

Of course no. I didn’t collect anymoney. But that is another storyand it is true that they weredistributing N50 million. Butunfortunately, some of those whodid the distribution are the onesenjoying the government today.If people like us did not kill the thirdterm, those who are in powertoday wouldn’t be there.Distributionof N50million

Many of those who shared themoney are still in the Senatetoday, those who actuallyphysically distributed the N50million, whereas those of us whokilled the third term are not evenremembered.

I know that on Thursday the16th of May 2007, that was theday the third term died, by 1.30am, the sum of N250 million wasbrought to me in my house. TheEFCC can come after me and I willtell them the whole story. N250million was brought and I refusedthat money. If you juxtapose whatI’m saying now with my speechthat 16thmorning, I said anybodywho has collected any money onmy behalf should please returnthe money back to where it camefrom because I knew what I wastalking about because somebodycould say I collected that moneyand just kept that money. Irefused that money when it wasbrought to me. So, mine was noteven N50 million. In fact, it wasN250 million with a promise ifeverything worked out, theywould bring more to me.

I’m goingthrough aphase, but tenyears in one’slife time, forcrying outloud is unfairon thisgovernment

Obasanjo indicted mebecause of third term

Discharge fromthis matter

In the ten years thatthe case has lasted,(Dimeji) Bankole’s casecame and it’s gone.(Vincenr) Ogbulafor’scase came after mycase; even the Speakerof Lagos. So, why is myown hanging for 10years? I will not dieuntil I’m eitherimprisoned or I’mcleared anddischarged from thismatter.

So, I will be asking mylawyer to discharge thatcase for want ofprosecution. How canthe accused person bebegging governmentand the ICPC that thecase should be tried inaccordance with thejudgment of theSupreme Court? I hada judgment clearingme from the AppealCourt.

They went ahead toappeal in SupremeCourt. But for twoyears now, I’m stillhanging. Please, I amcalling on the

government. So,they should eitherprosecute orunchain me. That’swhat I mean bynaivety.

You meany o u rresignation in2005 was dueto naivety?

When I wasSenate President,it was not myfather’s sit. As soonas Obasanjowanted me outbecause I opposedhis third term bidand that evenbrings me back toanother issue; thatis why he refusedto even give memy national awardwhich I ought tohave gotten in2003.

Immediate lyafter being swornin I was supposedto have gotten thatGCON in 2003.Whatever hecontrived came upin 2005. Butbecause he hadapproached me in2003 a month ortwo after we came

I will give this tohim; without him, Iwouldn’t have beenSenate President.He really did all thatwas necessary toensure that Iemerged as SenatePresident. I will giveit to Obasanjo and Ithank him formaking me thisimportant in thepolity of Nigeria. Butthen, my youngerbrother, MarcWabara was closer tohim I wasn’t veryclose to him at thattime. He never oneday approached meon an issue. He wouldalways go throughmy brother to get tome. Even whenthere were issues onground, he wouldnever come straightto me but he will gothrough my brother.I can rememberseveral thorny issuesthat he would notcome straight.Maybe because Iwasn’t close to him.But I made sure I

50—Vanguard,50—Vanguard,50—Vanguard,50—Vanguard,50—Vanguard, MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3,NOVEMBER 3,NOVEMBER 3,NOVEMBER 3,NOVEMBER 3, 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014

Bed space is our biggest challenge — LASUTH Board

Breast cancer:Consistent screening,early detection savedmy life

NIGERIAN women haveagain been admonished to

go for regular breast cancerscreening as a means of ensuringthey are protected from themenace of the disorder which killsmore women than any other typeof cancer in the country.

Speaking in Lagos last week atthe flag off of the MTNFoundation, MTNF, BreastCancer Awareness Campaign, tokick off the free breast cancerscreening exercise, wife of theLagos State Governor, DameAbimbola Fashola, a breastcancer survivor, said consistentscreening and early detectionsaved her from the killer disease.'”Early detection and screening isthe reason I am alive today.

Initiative“This initiative is a welcome

idea as more people will becomebetter informed about this silentkiller disease and participate inthe free screening provided byMTN at the MTN Foundationmammography centres across thecountry,'' Fashola said.

By Sola Ogundipe

By Chioma Obinna

• L-R; Mrs. Rachael Oniga, Nollywood actress; Mrs. Abimbola Fashola, Wife of Lagos StateGovernor; Ms. Nonny Ugboma, Executive Secretary, MTN Foundation and Mrs. Gloria NobertYoung, Nollywood actress during the MTNF Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign Walk, in Lagos.

Yobe State; Usmanu Dan FodiyoUniversity Teaching Hospital,Sokoto State; University ofNigeria Teaching Hospital,Enugu State and SpecialistTeaching Hospital, Irrua, EdoState,'' he added.

The walk will be replicated inEdo, Enugu, Sokoto, Yola andKogi, to sensitise the public aboutbreast cancer with medicalpractitioners and specialists onground to enlighten people andencourage women to getscreened at designated points.

Early detection can help put acheck on several needless andpainful deaths of our women''Goodluck said.

THE newly constituted Management Board of the Lagos

State University Teaching Hospital,LASUTH has identified bed space as itsbiggest challenge.

Chief Medical Director of LASUTH,Prof. Adewale Oke however admittedthat the numerous challenges faced bythe hospital enabled it grow in manpowerand development of means andstructures.

Oke, who recalled that LASUTHstarted as a cottage hospital lamentedthe influx of patients from other part ofthe country to access care at LASUTHsaying, it has become a seriouschallenge as the hospital have limitedbed space.

Rejection of patients: "When a hospitalis full, it is full. It is very unethical andunprofessional for patients to be nursedon the floor. When a hospital is stretchedto capacity, there is nothing anyone cando about it. We have 600 beds and whenthey are full they are full. In the best ofcountries, when a hospital is full, peoplemake provision at other hospitals.

Blaming the situation on poor referralsystem in the country, he said: "The stategovernment has come up with ServicesCharter to ensure work is doneaccordingly. In each unit there is anadministrative manager and a committeeput in place to check if vacant beds arebeing filled up to ensure no patient is

Breast cancer kills one in every25 Nigerian women and anannual screening guaranteesprevention of untimely death.

The World Health Organisation,WHO, has declared breast cancerthe number one cancer scourge.One in eight women has a lifetimerisk.

The free nationwide screeninginitiative, is a corporate socialinvestment vehicle of MTNNigeria, to commemorate theannual global awareness on thescourge of breast cancer heldevery October.

The exercise was organised for1,500 beneficiaries across the sixgeopolitical regions of Nigeria, inpartnership with Deux Projects.

Medical Director, OpticalCancer Care Foundation, Dr.Femi Olaleye, said the incidenceof breast cancer is one in 25, butbecause Nigerian women are notscreened regularly, it's actually adeath sentence.

“Here in Nigeria, most of thediagnoses are made when it is toolate, thereby leading to severalneedless and painful deaths ofour beloved mothers, sisters,aunts, friends and colleagues.

sent back. It is no longer business asusual."

Training: Oke said the hospital has gotfour hospitals in India for hands-on-training for doctors. "Right now, we havesent two doctors to India. Eachdepartment in the hospital has beenasked to develop an MOU that will takecognisance of training. We have furtherto talked to them about administration,

care, infrastructural development, staffwelfare and training as well asprocurement and refurbishment ofmedical equipment.

Williams said the influx of patientswho have no business at the tertiaryinstitution, was another burden, andurged the public to utilise services ofthe primary healthcare centres andGeneral Hospitals within their

vicinities. He explained thatdecongesting LASUTH would help thestaff focus more on research for thedevelopment of the state healthcaredelivery and other serious cases thatrequires the hospital's services.

Reeling out milestones achieved bythe hospital, Williams explained that theoxygen manufacturing plant producespure oxygen with purity of 98 percent.used in LAUSTH, which has begunoperations in its Burns and TraumaCentre extension located at GbagadaGeneral Hospital.

"Right now, LASUTH has acquired anumber of investigation machinesincluding a 24-hour treatment foraccident and trauma cases at the surgicalemergency unit. We have performed sixkeyhole surgeries of the chest calledvideo - assisted thoracoscopic surgery,VATS.

“In a ground-breaking feat, LASUTHsuccessfully carried out a cochlearimplantation to correct hearingdeficiency in two patients. LASUTH alsocarried out a coronary artery bypass graftin 2013 amongst others."

The LASUTH laboratory is equippedwith new machineryand is certified bythe National Coordinating Centre forTuberculosis to own for the Gene Xpertmachine for detection and diagnosis ofTB and MDR-TB.

One or two in every 25 Nigerianwomen are at risk of breastcancer, but higher risks exist forwomen who are older than 45,older than 30 at birth of their firstchild, and women with familyhistory,'' he added.

Olaleye who gave ademonstration of Breast SelfExamination, BSE, to check forlumps, thickenings and nippledischarge. Medical practitionerswere also available to performclinical breast examination andoffer free advisory services.

AwarenessAs part of the awareness, MTN

executives, stakeholders and key

influencers participated in a road-show which kicked off fromFalomo roundabout andterminated at Freedom Park,Marina, Lagos.

MTNF Director, Mr. AkinwaleGoodluck, said the initiative,which underscores the essence ofthe Foundation to positivelyimpact the lives of Nigerians, willbe providing free breast cancerscreening at MTNMammography centersnationwide. “They are located atthe General Hospital, Marina,Lagos State; Federal MedicalCentre, Lokoja, Kogi State;Federal Medical Centre, Nguru,

— Dame Abimbola Fashola

record keeping and everyother thing that we requirethat will make our hospitalrun as a unit."

The CMD said LASUTH iscapable of handling any kindof emergency in view ofmodalities in place as a formof proactive response.Hesaid that new look 130-bedAyinke would be ready earlynext year, while theexpansion of the obstetricsand gynaecology wing of thehospital is near completionand will soon be fully staffedand equipped for bettercoverage.

Stewardship: Givingaccount of stewardship,Chairman of the Board, DrFrancis Williams, saidthrough assistance of theState Government, the healthinstitution had actuallyimproved in terms of patient•Prof. Adewale Oke, LASUTH CMD

VANGUARD, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014 — 51

BRIEFS

Burkinabes protest military coupGUNFIRE erupted

outside theheadquarters of statetelevision in Burkina Fasoyesterday as an oppositionpolitician tried to announceshe was in control of the WestAfrican country that wasplunged into chaos daysearlier after the presidentwas forced out.

About 1,000 people hadgathered at the Place deNation in Burkina Faso’scapital to ask for a civilian anddemocratic transition.

Opposition politicianSaran Sereme and hersupporters went to theheadquarters of statetelevision, where witnessessaid she planned to declareherself the interim president.

Sereme’s efforts wereblocked, however, whenarmy Gen. Kwame Lougueshowed up at the studios andentered without speaking tojournalists who were waitingthere for the announcement.

In the aftermath of thegunfire, the military made ashow of force by deploying

armoured vehicles along allof the avenues leading to thenational television and radiostation offices, witnessessaid.

The developmentsunderscored the uncertaintyabout who was actually at thehelm of Burkina Faso afterlongtime president BlaiseCompaore resigned Fridayafter 27 years in power andfled with his family to Ivory

Coast amid violent protestsseeking his ouster.

Two different militaryofficials had declaredthemselves in charge beforethe army confirmed Saturdaythat Lt. Col. Isaac YacoubaZida was the transitionalleader. The army did notgive details on the timelineof the transition.

Some activists on Sundaycalled for an inclusive

Zambians pay respects to late president SataZAMBIANS formed

long lines yesterdayto pay last respects to theirlate president, MichaelSata, who died in Londonlast week aged 77 whileundergoing treatment foran undisclosed illness.

Sata’s body, which wasrepatriated on Saturday, isto lie in state for a week inthe capital Lusaka until aNovember 11 funeral in agraveyard reserved forheads of state.

Sata’s widow Christine,along with other familymembers and officials,were among the first toview his body in theMulungushi InternationalConference Centre. The

Kenyatta orders bandits tohandover guns

KENYA’S president Uhuru Kenyatta yesterdayordered all guns and attackers be turned over

to authorities in a northern region after raidersambushed and killed 22 police.

President Uhuru Kenyatta traveled to the country’sNorth Rift region a day after the slaughter of the policeforce.

“We will take firm action against those who killedsecurity officers in this area. These criminals must payfor their heinous act,” Kenyatta told a gathering ofelders.

Regional powerbrokers said the attackers mistookthe police for an invading tribe. Tribal violence innorthern Kenya, often over cattle, is common.

Kenyatta ordered the tribe to turn over thoseresponsible for the attack immediately. The tribe askedthat they be given two weeks to do so.

Mid term Polls: GOP, Democrats fight in key states

AMERICAN voterswill decide which

party controls the U.S.Senate in Tuesday’selections, and at least 10competitive races are stillconsidered too close topredict a winner.

Thirty-six of the 100 Senateseats are at stake in themidterm elections, which areheld halfway through thefour-year presidential term.Republicans must pick upsix more seats fromDemocrats to reclaim amajority.

All 435 seats are up forelection in the House ofRepresentatives, whereRepublicans are expected toexpand their majority, and

governors will be chosen in36 states.

Here are the key Senatebattlegrounds:

ALASKAFirst-term Democratic

Senator Mark Begich istrying to hold off RepublicanDan Sullivan, a former stateattorney general. Begich has

touted his deep roots in thestate, where his father was acongressman, and paintedSullivan, born in Ohio, as anoutsider.

ARKANSASRepublican Tom Cotton, a

first-term congressman andIraq war veteran, hopes tooust Democratic SenatorMark Pryor by casting himas an ally of unpopularDemocratic President BarackObama.

COLORADOR e p u b l i c a n

Representative CoryGardner, campaigning as amoderate conservative, ischallenging DemocraticSenator Mark Udall in thetraditional swing state.

doors were then opened tothe public.

Vice President Guy Scotthas taken over as actingpresident until an electionis held within 90 days.Scott — born of Scottish

parents and Africa’s firstwhite leader since SouthAfrica’s apartheid era —cannot run becauseZambia’s constitution barscandidates of direct foreignlineage.

Sata, a former tradeunion leader nicknamed“King Cobra” for hisacerbic broadsides, haddenied persistent rumoursin the last few months ofhis reign that he wasgravely ill.

His detractors portrayedhim as an authoritarianpopulist, while hisadmirers — many ordinaryZambians among them —remember him as a

dynamic figure with thecountry’s best interests atheart.

“Our president was aselfless man who wantedthe best for this country, hesacrificed a lot for thiscountry,” one grievingcitizen, Mary Tembo, toldAFP after viewing Sata’scasket.

Jean Ndayisenga, aRwandan refugee livingin Zambia for 17 years, saidSata would beremembered for givingrefugees permanentresident permits. He saidno previous Zambianpresidents had ever givenrefugees such status.

ABOUT 600 Egyptians have been refused entryto Libya on arrival at Tripoli’s Matiga airport

due to invalid visas, an airport official said at theweekend.

The airport, like the rest of the Libyan capital, isunder the control of an armed group with Islamistlinks which seized Tripoli in August. The new rulershave set up their own government and parliament,forcing the internationally recognised Prime MinsterAbdullah al-Thinni to move to the east.

Libya has refused entry to Egyptian workers before,due to forged or expired visas, but some Libyan socialmedia websites linked the decision to Egypt’s supportfor Thinni’s government.

Operation Dawn, the armed group controlling Tripoli,has accused Egypt of having flown repeated air strikeson targets in Tripoli and Benghazi, the main easterncity.

Libya’s Tripoli airport deports 600Egyptians

A new United Nations report says the world facesa challenge of foreign fighters in terror groups

on an “unprecedented scale,” with about 15,000 inSyria and Iraq alone.

The report by a panel of experts monitoring al-Qaidaand the Taliban, obtained Friday by The AssociatedPress, has been submitted to the U.N. SecurityCouncil.

“Numbers since 2010 are now many times the sizeof the cumulative numbers of foreign terrorist fightersbetween 1990 and 2010 - and are growing,” the reportsays. The panel was set up to support the council’sal-Qaida sanctions committee.

The panel says fighters from more than 80 countriesworking with al-Qaida associates in Syria and Iraq“form the core of a new diaspora that may seed thethreat for years to come,” and that domestic terrorismcould rise as fighters return to their home countries.

UN warns on growing number offoreigners in terror groups

•President Obama

transition while othersquestioned the legitimacy ofZida’s rule altogether.

Stanislas BenewindeSankara, the leader of oneopposition party, called forthe dismissal of Zida’sgovernment.

“The army cannot lead us— they have disqualifiedthemselves,” said Sankara,who is of no relation to thelate slain Burkinabe leaderwith the same name. “Thisis the result of a popularinsurrection.”

The United States andthe African Union alsohave condemned thepower grab by the military.

“We call on the militaryto immediately transferpower to civilianauthorities,” said StateDepartment spokeswomanJen Psaki. “We urgecivilian leadership to beguided by the spirit of theconstitution of BurkinaFaso and to moveimmediately towards freeand fair Presidentialelections.”

GEORGIAMichelle Nunn, daughter

of popular former SenatorSam Nunn, is battling to pickup a seat for Democratsagainst Republican DavidPerdue, a former chiefexecutive of Dollar General,in the race to replace retiringRepublican Senator SaxbyChambliss. LibertarianAmanda Swafford could pickup enough votes to force therace into a Jan. 6 runoff if nocandidate gets more than 50percent of the vote.

IOWARepublican Joni Ernst is

seeking to become the firstwoman to represent Iowa inthe Senate by defeatingDemocratic Representative

•Gen. Kwame Lougue

•Late president, MichaelSata

Bruce Braley, a four-termcongressman, in one of thecountry’s hardest-foughtraces. They are vying toreplace retiring DemocratTom Harkin.

KANSASThree-term Republican

Senator Pat Roberts isstruggling to survive anunexpectedly strongchallenge from independentbusinessman Greg Orman.Democrat Chad Taylordropped out of the race toclear the way for Orman.Republicans have held thetwo Senate seats in Kansassince 1939.

KENTUCKYThe top Republican in the

Senate, Mitch McConnell,

is seeking re-election to asixth term againstKentucky’s Secretary ofState Alison LunderganGrimes. Democrat Grimesrefused to say during thecampaign whether shevoted for Obama in 2012.

LOUISIANAThree-term Democratic

Senator Mary Landrieu isfighting for her political lifeagainst RepublicanRepresentative BillCassidy. A third candidate,Tea Party-backedRepublican Rob Maness,also is in the race, and aDec. 6 runoff would beneeded if no candidategets more than 50 percent.

VanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardCLASSIFIED

ENUDI—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss ElizabethIfekam Enudi, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Elizabeth Ifekam Ali.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

A Y O D E L E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissAyodele FunmilolaBamidele Morenike,now wish to be knownand addressed asMrs. FasuanFunmilola BamideleMorenike. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

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This is to confirm thatthe name OkiemuteIjabor Thomas andOkeremute Ijabor,refer to one and thesame person. But nowwish to be known andaddressed asOkiemute IjaborThomas. All formerdocuments remainvalid. Ecobank Plc andgeneral public pleasetake note.

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52—Vanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014

AHEAD of theNovember 29, 2014

governorship primary, theimmediate past DeputyGovernor of Akwa IbomState and one of thegovernorship aspirants ofthe Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, Mr. NsimaEkere, has called on allaspirants to run issue-based campaigns.

Speaking during hisconsultation visit to the PDPState Executive Committeein Uyo, Ekere said that ofall the aspirants he was theonly one concentrating onissues and urged others toemulate him.

He listed his four-pointagenda for the state toinclude education andpeople’s development,economic prosperity, healthand social wellbeing andrural development.

The former deputygovernor also promised tomake Akwa Ibom theinnovation capital ofNigeria by establishing an

E n t r e p r e n e u r s h i pIncubation Centre.

Responding, the StatePDP Chairman, ObongEkpo, declared that withthe endorsement of zoningby the party's NationalWorking Committee, NWC,the real game had startedsince all distractions wereover.

He promised a levelplaying field for allaspirants.

A former PDP DeputyState Chairman of theparty, Engr. JohnsonEssien Ibok, described Mr.Ekere, a foundationmember of the party, as thebest material in the race interms of capacity for theoffice of Governor.

Ekere was accompaniedto the PDP Secretariat byhis father, Sir Gabriel Ekere,several politicalheavyweights, former stateofficers of the party, clerics,women, youths andcultural groups.

LAGOS—LEADINGcement manufacturer,

Dangote Cement Plc,weekend, announceddrastic reduction of theprices of its cement.

The new price regimeannounced by the GroupManaging Director/ChiefExecutive Officer, GMD/CEO, of Dangote Cement,Mr. Devakumar Edwin,pegged the Dangote 32.5cement grade at N1,000per 50 kg bag, while thehigher 42.5 grade wouldsell for N1,150 per bag.

A statement by thecompany at the end of amanagement meeting said,however, that the newprices were exclusive of theValue Added Tax, VAT,representing about 40 percent discount on theprevailing market price ofthe product currently soldfor N1,700 irrespective ofthe grade, across thecountry.

Edwin said the move wasin line with the company’scommitment to the nation’sdire need for thedevelopment ofinfrastructure and to boostthe federal and stategovernment’s ongoingeffort to reduce the near 20million housing deficit inAfrica’s largest economy.

He said, “we recognizethe need for an increasedrapid response to the hugeinfrastructure and housingdeficit in the country, andone of the ways ofaddressing the issue isbringing the price ofbuilding materials down tomuch more affordable

Dangote slashes cementprice to N1000 per bagBy Victor Ahiuma-Young levels especially cement

which is within our controlas part of our contributionto the transformationagenda of the GoodluckJonathan administrationand the attainment of keymilestones in theMillennium DevelopmentGoals, MDGs.

“Since thecommencement of theimplementation of thebackward integration policyfor cement in the countryover 12 years ago, the localproduction capacity of theproduct rose from less thanthree million metric tonnesper annum to about 38million metric tonnes perannum. During the morethan 12-year period of thebackward integrationpolicy, nearly $20 billionhas been directly andindirectly injected into theNigerian cement industrywith Dangote Cement Plcaccounting for 60 per centof that spend.”

The GMD/CEO addedthat Dangote Cement Plcwould continue to ensurealignment of its corporatesocial responsibility with itsstrategic business initiativesand will continue toevaluate its pricing regimein Nigeria’s best interest.

Meanwhile, the timing ofthe initiative has confoundedindustry watchers, who saythat from experience, thecement market is on theverge of entering theaccelerated demand phaseas the raining season istapering and the dry seasonwhich provides theopportunity for increasedconstruction and buildingactivities is setting in.

Ekere calls for issue-basedcampaigns


STOKE City’s Victor Moses is disap-

pointed he and his team-mates failed to get a winover in-form West HamUnited after letting atwo-goal lead slip as theHammers bouncedbacked to secure a valu-able point at the Brit-tania Stadium.

Moses, who played forthe entire duration of thegame had given the Pot-ters the lead on 33 min-utes, before Senegalesestriker Mame Biram Di-ouf doubled the lead af-ter 56 minutes.

But Enner Valenciahalved the deficit whenhe scored four minuteslater, before former Liv-erpool wideman StewartDowning leveled thescore with a 73rd minutestrike. And Moses hasexpressed his disap-pointment at their failureto see the game through,but was also pleased tohave score.

Moses disappointedwith Stoke draw ARRANGEMENTS

are in top gear forthe formal launch of Ex-Rangers InternationalPlayers Association,USA branch. The launchwill be climaxed with aconvention which willdwell on the plight offormer players of theclub. The event has beenplanned for November 7in the United States.

Ike Ofoje, a US basedex-Rangers player ischampioning the forma-tion of the body whosemain responsibility willbe the rehabilitation ofdistressed ex-players ofthe club.

Speaking on the con-vention, a former captainof the team, CoachChristian Chukwu saidit was an idea copiedfrom ex players associa-tions of other great clubsaround the world.

“Some of us have beeninvited to attend thelaunch in the US and Imust admit that it is agreat idea. Although Icannot make it there,

some of us are going tobe there to represent therest of us. We are a fam-ily,” Chukwu enthused.

“The association willfocus on the welfare ofsome of our membersand above all, it is meantto engender visibilityand recognition forformer members of thisgreat club. It is similarto such other bodies likeEx-Manchester Unitedplayers. When they en-ter the stadium, they areaccorded respect andgiven a special place tostay.

“This will, no doubt,impact positively on theyounger ones as theywill want to emulatetheir former heroes, sothat one day, they willalso earn the same re-spect and privilegesfrom their younger

Okala, Onyedikafor Rangers USconvention

ones.”Some of the ex-Rang-

ers expected to grace theevent in US include,Ifeanyi Onyedika (Ahid-jo) Francis Nwosu (Ger-man War) and EmmaOkala(Man Mountain).

Meanwhile, the deathhas been announced oftwo former players ofRangers International.They are Ernest Ufeleand Luke Okpara. WhileUfele has been markedfor burial on November21st, the latter has beenbilled to be buried onthe 27th,

“They were great pio-neers of the club,” Chuk-wu said, adding, “weneed the cooperation ofall in order to give thembefitting burials.”

BY JACOB AJOM

FORMER SuperEagles defender,

Sam Sodje, who was re-cently given reprievefrom accusations of matchfixing by a court in Eng-land has thanked millionsof Nigerians, especiallythe sporting press, whostood by him during hisordeal.

Sodje, who once playedin the English Premier

League, got the reprievewhen the National CrimeAgency (NCA) that hadbeen investigating himand 12 others for allega-tions of match fixing werereleased, following ajudge’s comment in rela-tion to the collapse of theTulisa Contostavlos drugstrial.

Undercover reporter,Mazher Mahmood, also

known as the ‘FakeSheikh’s five-page arti-cle in The Sun on Sun-day led to the prosecutionof Sodje and others,Mahmood’s article alsoled to the Contostavlosdrug trial. In July 2014,Mahmood was suspend-ed by his employer fol-lowing a judge’s state-ment that Mahmood mayhave perjured himself.

Contostavlos’s case,that of Sodje and 29 oth-ers were dropped be-cause of accusations ofperjury against their ac-cuser, Mahmood.

Sodje who spoke overthe weekend said hechose not to go into de-tails about the matter buthe thanked Nigeriansand the sporting press fortheir support.

Match fixing saga: Sodje thanks sporting press, Nigerians

SATECH FC of Mushin at the

weekend, won the Sea-son 2 of the GOtv Hoodto Hood Football Cham-pionship. Satech FC de-feated Kings FC 2-1 toemerge winners of thecompetition in the finalmatch played at the Leg-acy Pitch, National Stadi-um Surulere, Lagos.

The Champions werepresented with gold med-als, a trophy and a cashprize of N500,000, whilethe runners up receivedN250,000.00.

Earlier in the thirdplace match, IGI PremierFC of Apapa defeatedRainbow FC of Iyana Ipa-ja by 4 goals to 1 toemerge third and fourthposition in that order. Thethird place team also re-ceived a cash prize ofN150, 000.00 while thefourth placed team re-ceived a consolatory prizeof N100, 000.00.

Satech winsGOtv ‘Hood toHood’ footballtourney

THE efforts of themanagement of

Greensprings School tolift football at grassrootslevel have started yield-ing positive result as theschool team at the week-end emerged winner ofthe Lagos qualifiers ofthe maiden Etisalat U-15National Championship.

The school being theprivate school in the La-gos qualifiers competedagainst five publicschools in the state.

The giant stride madeby the school within andoutside the countryprompted the Lagos

Etisalat U-15 championship:Greensprings for zonal finals

Ali’s doctor plays down health fears

Ali . . . Muhammad Ali’s doctor does not see any immediate cause for concernover the former world champion’s health. Photograph: Dave Thompson/PA

M U H A M M A DAli’s doctor has

played down reports thatthe former world heavy-weight champion’shealth is deteriorating.

Ali has had Parkin-son’s disease since 1984and last month his broth-er revealed the condi-tion had advanced tosuch as stage that he isbarely able to speak orleave his Arizona home.

However, speaking tothe BBC, Dr. AbrahamLieberman insisted Ali’slife was not in any im-

minent danger.“I don’t know that he

is more or less at riskthan anyone else butanything can happen,”Lieberman said. “I don’tsee anything immedi-ately that leads me tothink that he is going todie in six months or ayear. People do not dieof Parkinson’s. They de-velop trouble swallow-ing, they develop pneu-monia, fall and bangtheir heads. His familytake extraordinary careof him.”

State Football Associa-tion (LSFA) to pick theschool as education dis-trict three flagbearer.

*VictorMoses

Okala


sheath his sword forthe good of the game buthe could not come toterms with the news thatStephen Keshi agreed tocome back after beingshown the exit door bythe Nigeria FootballFederation, NFF.

“It’s scandalous. It’s ashame that he evenagreed to come back”,Arisa , one of thebeautiful brides ofNigerian football in the80s said.

Arisa who played forNigeria’s big Clubs -ACB, IwuanyanwuNationale and BendelInsurance and tickledsouls with his mastery ofscoring goals in theGreen Eagles under thetutelage of coachesAdegboye Onigbindeand Paul Hamiltonadvised Keshi to quitwhen the ovation wasloudest.

“Keshi remains a heroin Nigerian football. Buthe should know when toremain a hero before hefalls to zero. With ourperformances at the

Ex-internationalContinues from BP

World Cup and thecatalogue of poor resultsthereafter especially inthe AFCON gualifiers, Ithink Keshi should haveread the handwriting onthe wall. Nigerians willlynch him if he fails”.

Arisa who embracedthe headlines as one thehighest goal scorers ofhis time predicted thatKeshi’s second comingcould spell disaster forNigerian football.

“In all honesty, I don’tsee Nigeria doing wellunder him. Hedesperately needs helpto impart something inthe players. Histechnical bench isempty. What value canAmokachi add to him.Nothing. I see that IkeUche one of the bestforwards of Nigeria heleft out for reasons onlyhe knows has beenrecalled. That is wherethe problem starts. IkeUche might not sparkleunder him. The Keshi Iknow hardly forgives.He will not want peopleto laugh last if Ike comesback to do well. He has

lost that commandingrole and the players arenot comfortable withhim, again”, Arisa saidon our hotline.

Arisa wants a foreignerwho is not biased andwith interest on youthsfrom our clubs to step into salvage our football.“Imagine invitingplayers from China? Ourlocal players are betterthan them. If we want tostop incessant frictionsover bonus and all, weneed a foreigner.Indigenous coaches aresentimental with theirselections”.

Arisa also advisedPresident Jonathan topay attention to themyriads of problems inthe country and allowthose elected to runfootball in the country torun the game.

“How will Keshi relatewith Pinnick since heknew that his help comesfrom the Presidency? ThePresident has sown a seedof discord in our footballwithout knowing it”.

Before he dropped,Arisa asked; “ whathappened to the manyoffers I read that were onthe table for Keshi?

PillarsContinues from BP

Champions Leaguealong with the eventualrunners-up of thechampionship.

Representation at thecontinental level iswhere the problem ofKano Pillars normallybegins. The club does sowell at the local level butis always found wantingin the continent. Thefarthest Pillars havegone in the continentwas in 2009 when theyreached the semi final ofthe CAF championsLeague.

In the 2011 and 2013editions the club wasknocked out in the firstround while in the 2014edition Pillars wereshown the way out in thepreliminary rounds ofthe competition.

Without takinganything away from theNigerian champions,their consistent failurein the continent is asource of worry toobservers who haveconcluded that theGlobacom League is notalways won by the best

team in the land.The third-placed club

features in the 2015 CAFConfederation Cup.Warri Wolves, NasarawaUnited and AbiaWarriors are in the racefor this ticket.

Pillars scored twice inthe first half throughGambo Mohammed andAzeez Shobowale,before Adamu Hassancompleted the routing ofthe league’s bottomteam.

In Port Harcourt,Dolphins, who called offa pay strike, took thelead in the 51st minutethrough a curling effortby Chidiebere Okolie,which took a wickeddeflection to beatgoalkeeper FemiThomas.

Mfon Udoh drewEnyimba level in the76th minute.

It was a record-breaking goal as he hasnow set a new all-timerecord of 21 goals in asingle season to beat theprevious record of 20goals set by Jude Anekethree seasons ago.

Manchester Derby: City beat Man-U

C H A M P I O N SManchester City

continued their recentderby dominance with a1-0 Premier League winover 10-man ManchesterUnited on Sunday.

Aided by Chris Small-ing’s sending off duringa goalless opening peri-od at the Etihad Stadium,Manuel Pellegrini’s mentook control after the in-terval as Sergio Aguerograbbed the decisive goal,his 10th in the league thisseason.

The Argentina striker’seffort condemned Unitedto a fourth successiveleague loss to their rivalsfor the first time since 1970and ensured Louis vanGaal was defeated in hismaiden all-Manchesterclash.

Anticipation was highas City attempted to enda three-game winless runin all competitions andtheir hopes were raisedtowards the end of abreathless first half, withSmalling given his march-ing orders after picking uptwo stupid yellow cards.

L R: Jonathan Rigby, Head of Marketing, Manchester United, ProbalBhattacharya, Head of Marketing, Chi Limited, Anirban Sarkar, BrandManager, Chi Limited and Anthony Banerjee, Relationship Manager, Chilimited during the signing of partnership between Chi Limited and ManchesterUnited in Manchester UK

4 former Obudu champions return for 2014 raceAS many as four

former winners ofthe Obudu internationalmountain race have con-firmed their participationin this weekend’s race

which holds at the ObuduRanch Resort in Obudu,Cross River state.

Top on the list of theformer champions whoare staging a return is

Ethiopia’s triplewinners,Abebe Dinkesawho will be gunning foran historic fourth title atthe race tagged MountainRcae for the Stars to cele-

brate the 10th year of host-ing Africa’s first evermountain race champion-ships.

He won the men’s titleand the accompanying

$50,000 top prize in 2008,2010 and 2012.

Also staging a returnto challenge for the topprize is the men’s de-f e n d i n gc h a m p i o n , K e n y a ’ sPhilemon Rono who ran1:00:43,the fastest timeby any man at the racesince the course changedfrom 11.25km to 13km towin last year. Rono willalso be hoping to be-come the first man to suc-cessfully defend themen’s title at the cham-pionship. Dinkesa holdsthe former course recordand the fastest winning

time at 41.45 secondswhich he ran in winninghis first title in 2008.

Another man staging areturn is Ethiopia’sHunegnaw Mesfin whowon the men’s title in2011 with 41:50,the sec-ond fastest winning timeof the old course.

A n o t h e rEthiopian,Genet Yalew isthe only former winnermaking a return for th topprize and honour of be-ing crowned Obudumountain race queen.

Yalew will be aiming fora hat-trick of titles afterwinning in 2011 and2013.She won her first ti-tle in a record settingfashion,shattering the48:57 course record setby hercompatriot,MeselechMelkamu a year earlier.

NFF wants First Lady tolead Falcons to Canada

BY JUDE OPARA,Abuja

THE NigeriaF o o t b a l l

Federation (NFF) hasappealed to First Lady,Dame Patience Jonathanto lead the AfricanWomen Champions, theSuper Falcons of Nigeriato the 2015 FIFA WomenWorld Cup to be hostedby Canada.

Board member of theNFF and Chairman ofthe Nigeria WomenFootball League, Chief(Mrs) DilichukwuOnyedinma toldjournalists in Abuja overthe weekend that theinvitation was a mark ofhonour for DameJonathan whom she

added has been a strongpillar for theemancipation of womenin the country. Inaddition, she noted thatthe team would need herpatience and good luckto succeed at the worldstage.

Onyedinma who alsoused the occasion to reelout the achievements offemale football since herelection in 2011 notedthat after the initialchallenges thatconfronted her board,they have been able toreposition the WomenLeague with theresultant effect of thediscovery of young andtalented girls fromacross the country.

CMYK


E U R O P E A Nchampions Real

Madrid were handed aboost ahead of theirChampions Leagueclash with Liverpool inmidweek as Gareth Balereturned to trainingyesterday.

The Welshman hasmissed Real’s last fivegames with a pelvicmuscle injury.

The La Liga leadershaven’t missed hispresence, though, asthey have won all fivematches, scoring 19goals in the process.

However, Real bossCarlo Ancelotti playeddown suggestions Balewill find it difficult toregain his place in theside.

“Everyone thinks thatBale is a problem, but Ithink he is a player thatwill help us to be evenbetter,” said the Italian.

Victory over astruggling Liverpoolside will guaranteeReal’s place in the last-16 and right-back DaniCarvajal is Ancelotti’sonly injury doubt afterlimping off during the 4-0 win over Granada onSaturday.

Bale back in training for Liverpool

vealed Marcos Rojo suf-fered a dislocated shoul-der against ManchesterCity.

The Argentina interna-tional was stretchered offearly in the second halfat the Etihad Stadium af-ter sliding in on MartinDemichelis, with themedical staff seeminglygiving the defender oxy-gen for the pain.

And though Van Gaal isunsure as to the timeframe for the formerSporting Lisbon man’s

recovery, he admitted heis likely to miss outagainst Crystal Palace onSaturday.

“The shoulder is out,you never know how longthat will take, I have towait until tomorrow Ithink but he shall notplay against Crystal Pal-ace,” he told Sky Sports.

“We have a lot of inju-ries in defence but youhave seen how MichaelCarrick and Paddy Mc-Nair came in. I don’tthink that is the problem.

Van Gaal confirms Rojo’s shoulder injury

MANCHESTERUnited manager

Louis van Gaal has re-

“We still have 11 play-ers to play and also verygood players, so I don’tcry for that but it is some-times difficult to select thebest team, but I think ican manage that and weare close, you can see itevery week, but you needmore points.

“I see the fans are ap-plauding after the game,so they see also that theboys are willing to giveeverything for the shirt ofthe club.”

ACCORDING to theSA Police Service,

as many as 13 peoplehave been questioned inconnection to SenzoMeyiwa’s tragic killinga week ago

The SA Press Associa-tion (Sapa) reported onSunday that Divisionalcommissioner of detec-tive services, Lt-GenVinesh Moonoo, hasconfirmed that the Policeare making solidprogress with regard tofinding the former Bafa-na Bafana and OrlandoPirates goalkeeper ’skillers.

Meyiwa was shot deadlast Sunday inVosloorus, while visitinggirlfriend Kelly Khuma-lo at her mother’s house.

Two men allegedly en-tered the home demand-ing cellphones, beforeshooting Meyiwa in theback and fleeing.

“We are not able togive minute detailsabout all developmentsin the investigation andwill give an update dur-ing a media briefing onMonday,” Moonoo toldSapa.

Meyiwa was buried atthe Heroes Acre ceme-tery in Chesterville,Durban on Saturday.

Meyiwa: SAPolicearrest 13

•Late Meyiwa

•Bale

DIEGO Simeonebelieves Antoine

Griezmann deserved histwo goals in AtleticoMadrid’s 4-2 win overCordoba for his finerecent displays sincereturning from injury.

The Franceinternational joined theclub from Real Sociedadin a £23.5 million dealover the summer but hasbeen criticised for makingan underwhelming startto his career at the VicenteCalderon.

However, he has slowlyadapted to his newsurroundings and afterscoring in the 5-0Champions League winover Malmo, the 23-year-

Simeone: Griezmanndeserves goals

old broke his La Liga duckfor Atleti and won theplaudits of his coach inthe process.

Simeone said: “He hasbeen working fine andwhen you put inquality work, you get thereward in football. Hehad a complete game inall aspects, not only forthe goals he sccored. Heplayed the match weexpected from him.”

The victory saw Atleticotake advantage ofBarcelona’s shock defeatto Celta Vigo and moveto within a point of newleaders Real Madrid atthe top of La Liga andSimeone believes his sideare beginning to gel aftera summer of upheaval.

THEO Walcotts a y s A l e x i s

Sanchez is so keen toplay football all the timethat his Arsenal team-mates have told him to“chill out” in order to tryand ensure he gets arest.

Alexis has made aspectacular start to hisGunners career, netting10 goals in his first 16matches and scoringtwice in each of his last

Walcott: Alexis needs to chill outtwo appearances againstSunderland and Burn-ley. And Walcott, whomade his own first-teamreturn from injuryagainst the Clarets as asubstitute on Saturday, isfull of praise for theChilean’s attitude andqualities on the pitch.

“In training he doesn’teven want to do recov-ery days,” Walcott toldtalkSPORT. ”That’s howmuch he loves football.

BLOCKING . . . Manchester United’s defender Marcos Rojo (L) battles with Manchester City’s strikerSergio Aguero (R) during their English Premier League derby at the The Etihad Stadium in Manches-ter, City won 1-0. Photo: AFP

YOU DID IT . . . Diego Simeone hugs his playerAntoine Griezmann after scoring.

CMYK

Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Phone: Newsroom: 018773962. Deputy Editor: 01-4548355. Advert Dept Hotline: 01-4544821; Abuja: 09-2341102, 09-2342704. E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. Advert:[email protected]

Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: MIDENO BAYAGBON. Phone: 01-7742861, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

How to Play Sudoku

Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line canhave two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (alsonine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within abold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1through 9. This means that no number can appear twicein any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, divisionor multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

YESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSTODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLE

VANGUARD, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014

QUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORD

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

P W D L GF GA GD PTSChelsea 10 8 2 0 26 10 16 26Southampton 10 7 1 2 21 5 16 22Man City 10 6 2 2 20 10 10 20Arsenal 10 4 5 1 18 11 7 17West Ham 10 5 2 3 19 14 5 17

EPL Top 5

Man City 1 Man Utd 0Arsenal 3 Burnley 0Chelsea 2 QPR 1Everton 0 Swansea 0Hull 0 Southampton 1Leicester 0 West Brom 1Stoke 2 West Ham 2Newcastle 1 Liverpool 0

RESULTS

ACROSS4 Glory (5)7 Recover (6)9 Family (3)10 Couch (3)12 Breezy (5)13 Aid (4)15 Send (5)17 Scorn (6)19 Deserve (4)20 Present (5)22 Irritate (3)24 Rising (7) 27 Meadow (3)28 Relaxed (5)31 Music work (4)33 Certify (6)35 Irrigate (5)36 Murder (4)38 Crawl (5)39 Delve (3)41 Lair (3)42 Crowded (6)43 Bordered (5)

DOWN1 Rank (6)2 Consent (6)3 Whelp (3)4 Fruit (4)5 Combine (5)6 Stubborn (8)8 Fairy (4)11 Devoted (9)14 Gull (4)16 Lake (4)18 Genuine (4)21 Hindered (8)23 Leg-joint (4)25 Chair (4)26 Job (4)29 Adhesive (6)30 Deceive (6)32 Vegetable (5)34 Excursion (4)36 Imitated (4)40 Breach (3)

ACROSS: 1, Grim 4, Sew 6, Step 9, Tax 10,Detailed 11, Epic 14, Ire 16, Added 19,Charming 21, Petal 23, Derision 24, Bench27, Rid 31, Mate 33, Schedule 34, See 35,Real 36, Dry 37, Yank.

DOWN: 2, Reel 3, Mean 4, Salaried 5, Wide6, Steed 7, Tap 8, Exile 12, Scrub 13, Cabin14, Imp 15, Enter 17, Drain 18, Daunt 20,Garishly 22, Lid 25, Erase 26, Creel 28, Used29, Edgy 30, Clan 32, Tea.

Abia Warriors 3 Sharks 0Akwa United 0 Heartland 1Bayelsa 4 Lobi 1Dolphins 1 Enyimba 1Rangers 0 Nasarawa 0Giwa 4 El-Kanemi 2Kano Pillars 4 Nembe 0Sunshine Stars 4 Kaduna 0Taraba 3 Crown FC 0Warri Wolves 1 Gombe 1

NPL Results

It’s a shame Keshiagreed to come back— Ex-international

Pillars win thirdstraight league titleKANO Pillars are

Nigeria leaguechampions for a thirdstraight season after

they beat Nembe City 4-0 and closest rivalsEnyimba failed to beatDolphins on Sunday.

Enyimba forcedDolphins to a 1-1 drawin Port Harcourt.

Pillars now have anunassailable 65 points,while Enyimba are four

points behind and evenif they beat Pillars in thefinal game of the seasonnext Sunday they willfall a point short of thechampions on 64 points.

Pillars will thusrepresent Nigeria innext year’s CAFContinues on Page 54

Ex-international,Chike Arisa called

from his base in Hollandto make enquiries onNigerian football. Hewas overjoyed that ChrisGiwa had agreed to

BY TONY UBANI

CHAMPIONS! Kano Pillars players display the league trophy

ManchesterDerby:

City beatMan-U— Pg. 54

Continues on Page 54

2015: pdp hands over party structures to govs

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governor ofborno state

withdrawingsecurity

nlc blast fg

riyom lga of plateau

diepreye alamieyeseigha

displaced persons

kudosto police