kano mosque, sin against god - pope

...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 62288

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014**

Kano mosque attack,sin against God — POPE

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Kano mosque attack, sinagainst God — POPE

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

LIFEWORDSBY PASTOR ITUAH

Do something that’s greater than you, somethingthat helps someone else be happy or suffer less. Ipromise, it will be an extremely rewardingexperience. One you’ll likely remember forever—M & Angel Hack

IT’S been proven that the thoughts we choosehave everything to do with our emotions. Any

stress signal is a way of alerting you to say the fivemagic words: ‘I want to feel good.’ This is yourintention to be tranquil and stress free—and it’s away of connecting to divine spirit.

Wayne Dyer surmises: Just watch babies, they’rein a constant state of love. How could they possiblybe so joyful? Because they’re in harmony with thesource. They have no resistance to being joyful—unlike adults. You didn’t come forth into this worldto suffer, to be anxious, fearful or depressed.Remember, your thoughts, not your world, cause youstress. And you can change your thoughts.

Mr & Mrs

•Blood donors flood hospitals in Kano•Christians, Muslims must join hands to defeatterrorists – Tinubu•JNI, CAN, South-East govs, condemn attacks

By Sam Eyoboka,Clifford Ndujihe,

Anayo Okoli,Abdulsalam

Muhammad & AbelDaniel

L A G O S —C A T H O L I C

Pontiff, Pope Francis hascondemned the deadlyattacks that occurred atthe Emir of Kano’sCentral mosque in Kano,which claimed about 200lives, describing it as an“extremely serious sinagainst God.”

Pope Francis made thecomments yesterday, thefinal day of his trip toTurkey.

Apart from those killed,about 135 people werewounded when twosuicide bombers blewthemselves up and

gunmen opened fireduring weekly prayers onFriday at the GrandMosque in Kano.

In a meeting withTurkish political andreligious officials, at thestart of his second trip tothe Middle East thisyear, the Pope furtherurged Muslim leaders tocondemn the “barbaricviolence” beingcommitted in Islam’sname against religiousminorities in Iraq andSyria.

The Pope’s comment iscoming two days afterthe attack in Kano, whichwas also condemned byPresident GoodluckJonathan, who hasordered full-scaleinvestigation into theattack, emphasising his

a d m i n i s t r a t i o n ’ scommitment to endingthe incessant attackswhich the Red Cross sayshad displaced more than400,000 persons.

Although no group hasclaimed responsibilityfor the attack, the BokoHaram sect is the primesuspect, as the grouphad carried out similarattacks in the past.

In like manner,National Leader of theAll ProgressivesCongress (APC), AsiwajuBola Ahmed Tinubu, whocondemned the attacksurged Christians andMuslims to join forces todefeat the terrorists.

Health workerssuspendindefinite strike

To reduce the numberof deaths arising fromthe attacks, theleadership of the JointHealth Workers Unionhas directed its membersto return to duty,urgently.

The Secretary of thehealth workers' union,Comrade Kabiru AdoMinjibir told journaliststhat its indefinite strike“is hereby suspendedfollowing the Fridayattack on Kano centralmosque where hundredsof worshippers were nowrushed to the hospital.”

Members of the unionat Aminu Kano teachinghospital and NationalOrthopaedic Hospital,Dala had joined theircounterpart across thecountry on indefinitestrike over age-longdemands from theFederal Government.

Meantime, thousandsof residents, yesterday,

trooped to hospitals todonate blood in responseto the clarion call toassist victims of theblasts.

Blood donorstroop to hospitalsin Kano

At Aminu KanoTeaching Hospital,voluntary donorspatiently waited todonate blood.

Chief Medical directorof Aminu Kano Teachinghospital, Prof. ZakariMuhammed, confirmedthat the hospitalrecorded large turn out ofvoluntary donors whowere eager to assist thevictims.

“The large turn out ofpeople here this morningis quite impressive andwe are very happy tohave them and on ourpart we have deployedour staff to ensure theexercise went smoothly,”Professor Zakari said.

We won’t bedeterred —JNI

Umbrella body ofIslamic groups inNigeria, Jama’atu NasrilIslam, JNI, has said thatit will not be deterred norcowed by the wayMuslims were beingkilled in Nigeria,particularly in the North.In a statement by itsSecretary General, Dr.Khalid Abubakar Aliyu,JNI said: "We are indeedshocked and painedbeyond words over thenews of the bomb blasts inKano Central Mosque,which claimed the lives ofover 100 innocentMuslims.

"But must blood bespilled to justify theextension of state ofemergency? Why is it thatanytime, the ineffectivestate of emergency isabout to elapse and or anextension is being sought,attacks are carried outwith sophistication? Arewe really aware of therepercussions of spillingthe blood of innocentsouls? What is the essenceof the government’s waron terror and its attendanthuge budget? Where arethe intelligence andsecurity agencies? Can weafford to continue relyingon them for our safety andsecurity? Why? We ask adinfinitum with nosatisfactory answers.Without mincing words,Nigeria is beingmisgoverned to the brink!

"JNI condemns in thestrongest term, theserepeated acts of terrorbeing unleashed onMuslims and calls onMuslims to remain calmand keep vigil overhappenings around them;take all defensivemeasures within thepurview of the laws toprotect themselves sincegovernment has clearlyfailed."

Christians,Muslims mustjoin hands todefeat terrorists– Tinubu

National Leader of theAll Progressives Congress(APC), Asiwaju BolaAhmed Tinubu, yesterday,condemned the Kanoterrorist attack, urgingChristians and Muslimsto join forces to check theterrorists.

Commiserating withthe people of Kano andtheir Emir, AlhajiMuhammadu SanusiTinubu, in a statementby his media office said:“During the last fewdays, Nigeria hassuffered intense attacksand grave loss of livesdue to the evil work ofterrorist group, BokoHaram.

Attacks againstnumerous locations inthe North-Eastdemonstrate howheinous and debasedBoko Haram and thosewho sponsor it havebecome. So depraved,they have becomeheartless and filled withenmity against all that isgood and proper. Thiswas not the act of humanbeings. These attackscould only have comefrom the hands of thosewho do not know God orserve God. This is the actof godless people.

"Those of us who lovepeace, who love unityand who love Nigeriancan never allow this vilegroup to achieve itsobjective – to turn us intoa bloodied and dividednation. Nigeria can andwill defeat this terroristmachine and thosebehind it. We have noother home. We have noother choice."

CAN condemnsKano blasts

Umbrella body ofChristians in the country,the Christian Associationof Nigeria, CAN alsocondemned Friday ’sattacks in Kano, sayingthat "the entire Christiancommunity in Nigeriareceived the news of thelatest in the series ofbomb explosions, thistime around at the

mosque near the emir’spalace in Kano, withshock and disbelief. Thisis most unfortunategiven the number ofpeople that lost theirlives in their bid to offerprayers to their Almightyin the usual Fridayworship at the mosque."

On behalf of the entireChristian communityunder the auspices of theChristian Association ofNigeria (CAN), itsPresident, Pastor AyoOritsejafor commiseratedwith the families of thevictims especially thosewho lost their lives in theattack.

CAN said a recentinterfaith meeting thathad representations fromthe hierarchy of both faithin attendanceemphasised the need fordialogue, mutualrelations, cooperationand unity in the renewedfight against insurgencyin the country.

Attacks ‘rebarbaric–S/East govs

On their part, the SouthEast Governors’ Forum(SEGF) whilecommiserating with thefamilies of the victims,described last Friday’sKano Mosque attacks as“senseless attack oninnocent worshippers.”

The Chairman of theForum and Governor ofAbia State, ChiefTheodore Orji whoconveyed the condolencesof the forum alsocommiserated with thepeople and government ofKano State over theunfortunate incident.

DINNER—From left: Finance Minister, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; CultureMinister, Chief Edem Duke; CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele andChairman Zenith Bank, Mr. Jim Ovia during the special presidential dinnerto honour Nigerian artistes at the Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, weekend.Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.

He that can have patience can have what he will –Benjamin Franklin. Everything comes with time andwisdom.

CMYK


4 suspected cultists arrested forallegedly raping girl during initiation

INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS: Children stand by their ration at theNational Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, internally displaced persons transit campat Girei, Yola in Adamawa State, Saturday. Photo: NAN.

BY DAYO JOHNSON

AKURE — THE Ondo StatePolice Command has

arrested four suspected cultistsfor gang-raping a girl in Ondotown, after which they stoleher handset.

According to the police, thevictim (identity withheld) wasraped as she was beinginitiated by the cultists.

The command said therapists were among 14 cultistsarrested alongside sixsuspected robbers, threeburglars, one fraudster andfour kidnappers terrorising thestate.

Parading the suspects, thestate Police Commissioner,Isaac Eke, said itemsrecovered include N11,000cash, a Toyota Camry markedFST 48 AC valued at N1.7million, Scania Lorry markedKWC 232XA, among others.

Eke said the Toyota Camrywhich was stolen at OdodeIdanre was recovered inSapele, Delta State, by policedetectives after one AfolabiAbiola took them there.

On the cult membersarrested, the police chief saidthey had been responsible formurder, rape and stealing inOwo, Ondo and Akure towns.

According to him, the cultistswere arrested by a team ofSpecial Anti-Cultist Squad,SACS.

Eke said one Alhassan Shittuwas duped to the tune of N1.5million by some fraudstersunder the pretext of awardinghim a cable contract.

He noted that one JimohOgbo of Bako Kwali in Abujawas later arrested and hadconfessed and mentioned othermembers now at large.

The commissioner said sevensuspected robbers used a lorryto block the Lagos/Oreexpressway to rob a lorryloaded with 800 cartons of fish.

The lorry was later recoveredby detectives in Onitsha,Anambra State, adding thattwo suspects had beenarrested in connection with therobbery.

Eke added that threeburglars were arrested afterthey stole foodstuff, handsets,laptops and other electronics.

On the two policemen shotby suspected robbers, thecommissioner said they died

in the course of duty.According to him, thedeceased were shot when they

were deployed to the areafollowing alleged robberyreport.

Two AdeyemiCollege ofEducationstudents diein auto crashafter party

Policeman shot dead during clash between rival cult groups in P-Harcourt

By Jimitota Onoyume

PORT HARCOURT— APoliceman was reportedly

shot dead during an exchangeof fire between two rival cultgroups at Amadiama area ofPort Harcourt, yesterday.

Community sources whospoke to the Vanguard, saidthe cult groups had beeninvolved in battle of supremacy

in the area for about twomonths.

The sources said the clashcaused panic in the area asresidents ran for their lives.

State Police PublicRelations Officer, DSPAhmad Muhammad, did notrespond to a text messagefrom our correspondent forcomment on the

development.Meanwhile, this incident

came barely 48 hours after asimilar incident happened inOmoku, headquarters ofOgba Egbema Ndoni LocalGovernment Area where about12 persons were shot dead ina reprisal attack by a cultgroup.

A mobile policeman was alsoallegedly shot dead in the

incident while some membersof the All ProgressivesCongress, APC, and thePeoples Democratic Party, PDP,were also consumed in theshoot-out.

Residents of Port Harcourtand Omoku area of the statehave appealed for moresecurity presence to helpmaintain law and order.

By Dayo Johnson

AKURE — TRAGEDYstruck at the weekend

in Adeyemi College ofEducation, ACE, Ondo,following the death of twostudents of the institution,who were said have beenknocked down by acommercial bus in the area.

Another student, said tobe in coma, is currentlyreceiving treatment atOndo Trauma Centre in thecommunity.

The incident occurred atabout 10:45 pm during theprogramme, “Asun Night”,organised by the Alumni ofthe institution, as part ofactivities marking the 50thanniversary of the ACE, atthe campus of theinstitution last Friday.

It was reliably gatheredthat the incident which wassaid to have nearly marredthe celebration, involvedone Akinkuotu Toyosi, a part3 student of EnglishDepartment andOmobolawa Bola, a part 4student of PhysicsDepartment.

They were said to bereturning from theprogramme on the fatefulday when the unfortunateincident occurred.

The two students weresaid to have died on thespot, following whichstudents of the institutiontook to the streets inprotest.

Consequently, securityagencies in the communitywere said to havemobilised their memberswho were positioned invarious locations in thearea to prevent abreakdown of law andorder.

When our correspondentvisited the institution atabout 10:30 am onSaturday, several studentswere seen blocking thehighway linking Lipakalajunction and Okacommunity.

In a chat with ourcorrespondent, President ofthe Student UnionGovernment, SUG, IsiakaKamarudeen, described thedeath of his members asunfortunate, saying theprotest was aimed atshowing their grievancesover the death of theirfellow students.

3 traders accuse Ladipo market leadershipof harassment

By Ifeanyi Okolie

LAGOS — CRISIS iscurrently brewing at

Aguiyi Ironsi InternationalTrade Centre, Ladipo,Lagos, following a recentattack on some traders whowere accused of beingagainst the currentleadership of the market.

The traders, identified asSegus Adimdu, Toni Ayaegiand Ikechukwu Amuh, toldVanguard that they wereattacked, robbed andthrown out of the market.

Vanguard gathered thatthe attack was prompted bytheir decision to accompanythe ousted president of themarket, Jonathan Okoli, tothe National Assembly toprotest against the currentsituation in the market.

One of the traders, Amuh,who spoke with Vanguard,also explained that they wereat the Senate asking for aninvestigation into the allegedillegal arrest and detention oftheir president by the policeand the take-over of themarket leadership by a femalepolice boss and an ex-chairman of Mushin LocalGovernment Area.

According to him, “upon ourreturn to the market, we wereattacked by some thugs whopushed us out of our shops.Our phones and money weretaken from us, while thepolicemen stationed at themarket prevented anyone fromcoming to our aid.

"When they were done, theypushed us out of the marketthrough the back gate andwarned us not to enter themarket again. All these

happened in the presence of thecurrent chairman of the market.I don’t know what he intendsto achieve by making us lose ourmeans of livelihood."

Meanwhile, the currentPublic Relations Officer of themarket, Emma Mbamara, in hisreaction, denied the attack andsaid the market was peacefuland traders were going abouttheir business without hitches.

He said: “Nothing of suchhappened. No trader wasattacked, but we have receiveda petition from the Lagos StateCommissioner of Police toreport at the CommandHeadquarters today over thatissue.

"As it is, we have extended ourhands of fellowship to traderswho are followers of the formerpresident to return to themarket and continue with theirbusinesses.”

JTF arrests five over dynamiteattack on Agip oil well in Bayelsa

Vanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014— 7

Two cops quizzed over expatriate construction workers' kidnap

‘I went into robbery to fund my album launch'

Police nab32-yr-oldartisan forattemptedrape of girl, 7

TRAFFIC SNARL: A long queue of commuters scrambling for Sango-Ota bound LAGBUSat Oshodi yesterday. Photo by Joe Akintola, Photo Editor.

LAGOS—THE police has arrested 32-

year-old tailor, identifiedas Akeem Ahmed, a.k.aAlfa, for allegedlyattempting to rape aseven-year-old girl(names withheld), of 2ndAvenue, Okemoro, alongBadagry expressway.

According to reports, thesuspect, a next doorneighbour to the victim’sparents, entered into theirone-room apartment, afterthe victim’s mother hadgone to church forrehearsals.

Vanguard gathered thatwhile the victim and herfour-year-old brother werefast asleep, Alfa pulled hershorts and tried to havecarnal knowledge of her.

Fortunately, she wokeup and found the suspectlying on top of her.

The suspect reportedlycovered the victim’smouth with his hands asshe struggled to shout oralert neighbours.

However, trouble startedafter the victim opened upto her mother the nextday about the uglyincident that occurredwhen she went to church.

The victim’s motherraised alarm and theissue was reported to thecommunity’s Baale whoordered the immediatearrest of the suspect afterinterrogation, while thevictim was taken toBadagry GeneralHospital for medical testand doctor’s report.

A Police source whospoke to Vanguard atMorrogbo Police Divisionon condition ofanonymity, said initiallythe suspect denied the actbut later admitted that heonly touched the girl.

Vanguard reliablygathered from sources closeto the victim’s family thatsince the incident occurred,the suspect’s family hadbeen pleading to settle thematter amicably.

The source said: “Rightnow, the entire process isbecoming frustrating, as thepolice investigating thecase are demanding that thevictim’s mother mustprovide logistics(transportation) to takethem to court on Mondayif she wants the case to becharged to court.''

Y E N A G O A — F I V Epersons have been

reportedly arrested by securityoperatives over allegedinvolvement in multiple attackson oil pipeline and Oil Wellbelonging to the Nigerian AgipOil Company at Okoroma inNembe Local Government Area ofBayelsa State.

The attack, it was learned, wasover a disputed securitysurveillance contract in the area.

Authorities of the Joint TaskForce, JTF, however, confirmedthat two persons were arrestedover the incident, while one otherdied from injuries sustained fromthe blast.

The arrested youths, armed withimprovised explosive devicesuspected to be dynamite, had afortnight ago, allegedly maskedthemselves and attacked the oilwell, known as Oil Well 7 and theObama Oil Field pipelineconnecting Brass Area of theNigerian Agip Oil company,NAOC.

But the suspects, identified asindigenes of Okoromacommunity, it was learned, havebeen released by the securityagents.

The alleged release and non-prosecution of the youths hassparked off protest from the eldersand youths of the community, whoaccused security agents ofpromoting alleged lawlessnessand possible oil crimes.

The protesting indigenes ofOkoroma clan, in a letter writtenby their counsel, Barr. NnamdiUgwu, argued that though thesecurity agencies, led byoperatives of the DSS and the JTFarrested those fingered in thebombing of Agip Oil well, thedecision to release the suspectsand failure to prosecute them hadsent a wrong signal to otheryouths in the area to threaten toheighten cases of oil well attacksand other violent crimes againstoil multinationals in the area.

The letter, which was sent to thestate governor, Seriake Dickson,alleged that the five suspectswere released from the custodyof the security agency insuspicious circumstances.

According to community, thesuspects boasted during arrestthat their incarceration wastemporary as they wereworking for a top politician fromthe area.

“The letter, dated November,6th 2014 and written by theNembe Council Chairman,

Eminah Beneth to the DeputyGovernor, accusing Agip ofdivide and rule, is a prima facileevidence that the above statedcrimes were planned andexecuted with the involvementof government officials.

“The manner in which thearrest and release of suspectswas done is a direct catalyst toencouraging and enticing otherpeople to resort to commissionof crimes to drive home theirdemands. It is dangerous andforeign to our clan,” he said.

LAGOS—LAGOS Statepolice command has arrested

two members of a three-man armedrobbery gang that specialised insnatching cars and terrorizingLagos residents.

The two suspects identified asJohn Sunday, 25, and OnyekachiOshomi, 24, were arrested in theirhide-out in Lagos.

Parading the suspects, theCommissioner of Police, CPKayode Aderanti, said the suspectswere arrested after he got a tip-offthat some robbers were planningto unleash terror in Lagos.

Y E N A G O A — T W Opolicemen are reportedly

being questioned by the specialsquad of police and operatives ofthe Department of State Services,DSS, over alleged role in lastweek’s abduction of three

expatriate construction workers atEmakalakala in Ogbia LocalGovernment Area of BayelsaState.

The policemen, it was learnedfrom security sources, were onduty last Wednesday when someunidentified gunmen invadedthe home of the expatriates

working with Elmerit, aconstruction firm, and whiskedthem away in a waiting boat.

The victims were identified asMuntaz Ahmad (Pakistani),Ghatar Abdul (Pakistani) and anaccountant with the company,Sriri Rao (Indian).

Another unidentified expatriate

was said to have escaped thegunmen as he was not at homewhen they struck.

The policemen, it waslearned, did not put up anyresistance during the invasionand abduction of the expatriates.

The kidnappers, about six innumber, were said to haveentered the community throughthe river and left through sameroute with their victims firinginto the air to scarce away thenatives.

A community source said:“What we were told was that thepolicemen were taken away forinterrogation. Emakalakalaleadership also assisted theinvestigators by prevailing onindigenes to give clear accountof the incident.

“We are also on the look outfor strange faces that may beidentified to assist in theinvestigation.”

The Secretary to theAmakalakala DevelopmentCommittee, DaminikparoSugurugho, said thecommunity was calm andleadership ready to assist inthe investigation.

“Immediately, I directed theSpecial Anti-robbery squad, ledby Superintendent of Police, (SP)Kyari Abba with two decoy teamswho stormed their hideout andarrested the suspects with arevolver pistol,” he said.

During interrogation, thesuspects confessed to the crimes,including snatching of severalcars within the metropolis.

The commissioner also saidefforts had been stepped up toarrest other members still at large.

Confessing to the crimes,Sunday, a reggae artist, said: “Iam a musician from Akwa IbomState. I got into armed robbery to

raise money to launch my album.“We were three in the gang, but

the police arrested two of us. Ineed money to launch my album,titled Tureke reggae. I washoping to make N100, 000 fromthe operation.”

The second suspect, OnyekachiOshomi, 24, said: “I am fromEnugu State; I was a commercialbus conductor before I joined thegang. Usually we operate alongAgege- total-Oshodi route. I justgot married but my wife is still inthe village. I was looking formoney to feed her whenever shecomes to Lagos that was why Iwent into armed robbery.''

By Samuel Oyadongha

By Samuel Oyadongha

By Esther Onyegbula

By EstherOnyegbula


TERROR WAR: I’m against Jonathan'smove to borrow $1bn — Buhari

WEDDING: From left: Hon. Adesina Muftau Adegbenro, bride's father; Alhaji Rabiu MusaKwankwaso, Kano State Governor and special guest of honour; Prince Bola Ajibola, formerAttorney-General and Minister of Justice and Chief Dapo Durosinmi-Etti, groom's father,during the Nikkah ceremony between Khadijah Ifedayo Adegbenro, daughter of Hon. AdesinaMuftau Adegbenro and Abdul-Gafaar Eniola Durosinmi-Etti, son of Chief Dapo Durosinmi-Etti, at Lekki Central Mosque, Lekki Phase I, Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Bunmi Azeez

By AbdulsalamMuhammad

KANO — FORMER Headof State and presidential

hopeful of All ProgressivesCongress, APC, GeneralMuhammadu Buhari (rtd),has kicked against moves byPresident Goodluck Jonathanto borrow $1 billion toprosecute insurgents in theNorth-East.

Buhari, who spoke in Kanoshortly after he commiseratedwith victims of last Fridaymultiple blast at KanoCentral Mosque, said therewas “no basis or cogentreason why Nigeria mustborrow money to fightinsurgency."

According to him, "for 30months as we fought civil warfrom here to the East,Nigeria never borrowed adime, and Nigeria won thewar that continued to keep usas a single entity."

Buhari stated that therevenue that accrued to thecountry when there wasstability in oil market wasenough to purchase militaryhardware to curtail thesecurity challenges.

He argued that the lack ofpolitical will on the part of thesitting government, highlevel corruption and lootingof national treasury werefactors working against thewar on terror.

Buhari lamented the

botched efforts by the NationalAssembly to conduct a publichearing on the matter,pointing out that fromindications the “importantnational issue has once morebeen swept under the carpet.”

He expressed regret thatdespite open complaint onseveral occasions, the militaryprosecuting the war

complained of lack ofsophisticated weapons butnothing significant has beendone to address thechallenge.

He said: “My worry andconcern is that from 1999 todate Nigeria has got hugeforeign earnings in dollarsand yet no one can say wherethis money is. Nigeria, before

now, was having its nationalcarrier with hundreds ofshipping cargos, but todaywe are practically zero andno one can tell whathappened, and nowsomebody wants to put thenation in another trouble byborrowing. The move istotally unacceptable to us."

Nigeria candefeat BokoHaram— Gowon,Okoh

By Caleb Ayansina

ABUJA — FORMERHead of State, General

Yakubu Gowon (rtd) andthe Primate of All Nigeria,Anglican Communion, theMost Revd Nicholas Okoh,Sunday, called onNigerians not to lose hopein the ability of the FederalGovernment to contain thecurrent insurgency in someparts of the country.

They maintained thatNigerian troops werecapable and experienced tohandle Boko Haramfighters, adding thatsecurity operatives onlyneed cooperation of thegeneral populace.

The duo, who spokeseparately at the 25thSilver Jubilee of theInauguration of theDiocese of Abuja, AnglicanCommunion, with thetheme; ‘Celebrating theFaithfulness of God’, inAbuja, noted that securitywas a responsibility ofeverybody.

Gowon said peopleshould not see the ongoingproblem as a religious war,as both Christians andMuslims were affected,assuring that the recentdirective given to militarywould yield a positiveresult.

He said: “It is not aboutthe Christians in the north,we are all affected. FederalGovernment has given adirective to securityagencies to bring sanity inthis area (north-east), andI assure you, they will. So,what they need is yourprayer and your support.”

On his part, Okoh saidthe struggle to put an endto insurgency could notonly be achieved by theFederal Government alone,as it requires the collectiveeffort that was devoid ofpolitics.

The Primate admonishedNigerians to be of goodcourage, adding: “Goddoes not go on holiday inour case.”

The cleric in his sermonat the thanksgiving servicecalled on Christian faithfulto shun tribalism andsentiment, which he saidhad become the order of theday in the church of God.

He noted that corruptionhad been a cog in the wheelof progress, affecting thecountry and the church.

Okoh expressed regretthat people openly justifiedtheir corrupt practices.

POWER: FG’s OLRN project fails to take off11 months after flag-off

By Chris Ochayi

ABUJA— ELEVENmonths after President

Goodluck Jonathan flaggedoff the nationwide solar-powered off-grid ruralelectrification programme,tagged ‘Operation Light UpRural Nigeria, OLRN, theproject was yet to take off.

The off-grid project wasthe initiative of the FederalMinistry of Power to provideelectricity to three ruralcommunities in each of thesenatorial district across thecountry.

The pilot scheme located inDurumi village, Mpape, ofBwari Area Council inAbuja, was commissioned byPresident GoodluckJonathan on January 13,2014, where he formallyflagged off the nationwidesolar-powered off-grid ruralelectrification programme.

The ministry partnered

with Schneider Electric ofFrance and PhillipsElectronics of TheNetherlands for the Durumiproject to deliver electricityto over 1,000 households.

However, the first of theproject that was expected tocover over 109 othercommunities across the 36states of the federation, couldnot take-off.

Jonathan while flagging offthe OLRN said over 1,600households would be fullyconnected to solar power inthis first phase of OLRN inthree communities in Abuja,assuring further that, “it ishowever not an alternative togrid connection in all ourcommunities which we hopewill be achieved in the nearfuture.”

Speaking at the ceremony,Minister of Power, ProfessorChinedu Nebo said theOperation Light-Up RuralNigeria was conceived as a

fast-track mechanism todeliver electricity tothousands of ruralcommunities in Nigeria thatare not yet connected to thenational grid.

He said the facility wouldbe extended to thosecommunities so far flung fromthe national grid that thechallenges of delivery ofelectricity to them will remaindaunting for quite a while.

Painting a bright picture ofwhat each coveredcommunity would look like,Professor Nebo said thecommunities would beprovided with a communityenergy hub equipped withenough power outlets forcharging of electronicdevices and refrigeration ofperishables, while everyhouse is furnished withseveral energy-saving bulbsof the light-emitting-diodespecies, as well as chargingpoints for electronic devicesand energy saving fans.

The surrounding of everyhousehold would be well lit,street and pathway lightswould cover the entirecommunity, such that thereis no dark corner in thecommunity. The communitycentre will also be well lit toenhance socio-cultural andeconomic activities.

The project which wasexpected to kick offimmediately, however,remained on the drawingboard 11 months after thePresident launched the pilotscheme.

Ministry officials who wereexpected to offerexplanation as to why theproject has failed wereevasive as they were notready to talk.

Efforts to also reach theProject Co-ordinator andSenior Special Assistant tothe Minister of Power, Dr.Albert Okorogu, however,proved abortive as he couldnot be reached at press time.

CMYK


Entrepreneurship'll crush poverty inNigeria —Utomi

By Princewill Ekwujuru &Prisca Sam-Duru

LAGOS — PROFESSOR PatUtomi has described

entrepreneurship as a majorfactor that can successfullycrush poverty in Nigeria andthe entire continent.

According to him, “at a timewhen there is so muchconfusion in Nigeria aboutwhat is the problem, thenation has the huge challengeof crushing poverty which canbe done through raising acrop of successfulentrepreneurs.

Utomi was the keynotespeaker at the publicpresentation of abook,”Entrepreneurial SpiritsThrough the SeventeenSuccess Principles ofNapoleon Hill”, written byChief Poly Emenike,Managing Director, NEROSPharmaceuticals Limited, atthe Nigeria Institute ofInternational Affairs (NIIA),Lagos.

According to him,“Nigeriain terms of entrepreneurship,is not very strong butNigerians have the spirit. Theproblem is that theirenvironment makes it difficultfor them to be entrepreneurs.Government is the biggestproblem, the regulators seeposition as power to oppressand get bribed rather thandeveloping the economy ofNigeria.”

Speaking on the ”Triumph tothe Human Spirit ThroughEnterprise”, Utomi regrettedthat “we are in a generationin which success is measured

by the level of wealth butsocieties are not built thatway. The author started ona humble note and grewthrough knowing that toknow is to do, societies arebuilt that way.”

He challenged Nigeriansto venture into theimpossible and seethemselves succeedingbeyond imagining, adding:

“Chief Emenike has madethings easy and possible forthis generation through thebook but unfortunately, theyare not reading. How do weget people to read?"

He, however, described thebook as a priceless materialcapable of transforming ageneration and challengedsuccessful entrepreneurs towrite books that will help

transform Nigeria, stressing:“You’re not a business successuntil you transfer yourknowledge into a book."

Chairman of the occasion,former Group ManagingDirector of Diamond Bank, Mr.Emeka Onwuka, said readingthe book will mark a turningpoint in the life of readers. Hestated that the book was a mustread for people aspiring to besuccessful.

AWARD: Pharm. Okey Akpa, Chairman, PMG-MAN/Managing Director, SKG Pharma;Mr. Wale Oyenuga, Managing Director, Evans Therapeutics Limited; Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa,Committee member, SURE-P and Dr. Khaliru Alhassan, Minister of Health during thepresentation of Pharma Excellence award to Evans Therapeutics Limited at PMGMAN 2014Forum in Abuja.

FG to begin clearance of police pensions arrears

By Kingsley Omonobi

ABUJA — THE FederalGovernment has

concluded plans to clear themess of corruption in thePolice pension system andpay all outstanding arrears ofgratuity, pension andentitlements including the 33per cent increment of formerofficers and men of the force.

Vanguard gathered that thefirst step to this arrangementwil l commence betweenDecember 8 and 18, 2014when the Pension TransitionArrangement Directorate(PTAD), headed by Ms.Nellie Mayshak, will conductwhat has been described asthe last biometric verificationof policemen who retired onor before June 30, 2007.

Family members and next ofkin of deceased policemen

whose final entitlementshave not been settled werealso invited to the venuesof f irst phase of theexercise which will takeplace in the six policezonal formations in thenorthern parts of thecountry.

The zones falling into thefirst phase are 1, 3, 4, 7,10 and 12 with verificationvenues at Kano, Kaduna,Gombe, Makurdi, Jos andBauchi.

The arrears will be paidwith December pension butthat inadequate logisticswill push the verificationfor ex-policemen based inthe south to early next yearwhen theirs will also bepaid immediately after.

Pension offices for thecivi l service, police,

customs, immigration andprisons department outsidethe contributory pensionscheme were merged inNovember 2013 to form PTADwith Ms. Nellie Mayshak asDirector General.

The Pension Reform Act2014 has also merged allother treasury fundedpension board of trusteesl ike that of NigerianTelevision Authority (NTA),Federal Radio Corporationof Nigeria (FRCN),Nigerian Postal Service(NIPOST), Nigeria RailwayCorporation (NRC) andformer National ElectricPower Authority (NEPA).

An official disclosed thatthe biometric verificationexercise will be a one offevent as a comprehensiveelectronic data base was

being compiled to remove aninstance whereby “old retiredofficers most of whom did notactually have a good lifeduring service” wil l berepeatedly subjected to theindignity of queuing upevery time.

“Nigerian policemen havesuffered for so long that theirchildren are the mostdisadvantaged among publicofficials in the country andwe must find a way to removethis trend”, Mayshak wasquoted as saying whendiscussing this newarrangement.

There are about 24,000police pensioners currentlyreceiving pensions across thecountry through theGovernment IntegratedFinancial ManagementSystem (GFMIS).

SuspectedFulaniherdsmenkill 5 inKogi

By BoluwajiObahopo

LOKOJA — FIVEpersons have been

reportedly killed byFulani herdsmen whoat tacked Abugicommunity in LokojaLocal Government ofKogi State, yesterday.

Sources said troublestarted fewer days agoaf ter some Fulaniherdsmen allegedlyrobbed and killed oneAbdullahi Zakari, whowas to de l iverunspecified amount ofmoney to someone inthe ne ighbour ingcommunity.

Vanguard gatheredthat some aggrievedyouths sa id to beunhappy wi th theki l l ing o f the i rk insman, a l legedlyattacked one of theFulani settlements inthe area.

Accord ing to thesource, the attack ledto the death of oneunidenti f ied Fulaniman.

It was gathered thatfo l lowing th isdevelopment , someFulani elders met withthe paramount ruler ofthe community, AlhajiKabir Isa II, with av iew to seekingamicable resolution ofthe matter.

But rather than waitfo r the e ldersresolution, the Fulaniherdsmen werea l leged to haveSunday eveningat tacked the Abugicommunity, killed fivepersons and burnthouses and o therva luables wor thmillions of naira.

The source said theKogi S ta te Po l iceCommand had draftedits officers to the areato maintain peace.

The command 'sPubl ic Re la t ionOf f icer, E lv i sAguegbo, sa id hecould not comment onthe issue as he wasstill with the policecommiss ioner andwould get back to thereporter.

CMYK

10— Vanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

PVCs: Fashola faults INEC over poordistribution

By Olasunkanmi Akoni

G O V E R N O RB A B A T U N D E

Fashola of Lagos State,y e s t e r d a y, d i s m i s s e dexplanations being offered bythe Independent NationalElectoral Commission, INEC,to defend its non-distributionof the Permanent Voters’Cards, PVCs, in some partsof the state saying thecommission’s request for re-registration, made no sense.

The governor and his wife,Abimbola, last Friday wentback home disappointed asINEC pasted notices in somewards, including thegovernor’s Ward G3 Unit E002in State Junior Grammar

School, Itolo Street, Surulere,directing the voters to embarkon fresh registration scheduledto start on December 3, 2014,saying the unit had no PVCs.

The governor's remarks cameon the heels of a statementcredited to the ResidentElectoral Commissioner of thestate, Dr. Adekunle Ogunmola,weekend, saying the non-distribution of PVCs at thegovernor’s and other pollingunits across the state was dueto the loss of data capturedduring the registration in 2010occasioned by the crash of thecommission’s computingsystem.

According to the governor:“Honestly, as I said yesterday,(Saturday), I have temporaryVoters Card. On one hand, yousay we should go and register

again, but I have alreadyregistered, so why should Iregister again? It does notmake any sense, becauseanyone can then say thegovernor registered twice.”

Asserting that his name hasbeen on INEC database sincehe was 20, when thecommission was known asFederal ElectoralCommission, FEDECO,Fashola declared: “I havebeen voting since then. Ivoted in 1999, 2003, in 2007and in 2011. Why should theysay I should go and re-register?”

Reacting to INEC’s claimthat its system crashedresulting in a shortfall in thenumber of registered voters,Fashola said there isinconsistency in the

commission’s utterances,saying it had become hard tobelieve the electoral body onanything.

He said: “I think they shouldstop hiding behind a finger andtell us truly what their reasonsare. They have failed withoutany logical explanation for it.The system can’t crash in part.If you store data in one place,it's either you lose it or recoverit. Where is the integrity of INECif it is telling us that it does nothave a data recovery system?”

When Vanguard visited somewards to monitor the ongoingsecond batch of PVCsdistribution in nine localgovernment areas of the state,INEC officials were absent. Buton the notice board mounted atthe centres, INEC apologizedfor inability to distribute thePVCs without stating thereasons. It only advised thosewho registered in the ward tocome for fresh registration fromDecember 3, 2014.

....INEC extendscollection tilltoday in Lagos

READING: Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos state (left) with the Councillorof Ward G3 Hon. Edun Taiwo Adebayo, at Unit E002 State Junior Grammar School,Itolo, Surulere, Lagos, reading a notice of outright cancellation of votersregistration by INEC, at his ward in Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Bunmi Azeez

Fayose’s aide carpets APC, deniesN12bn private jet rumour

EKITI STATE Governor,Mr. Ayodele Fayose has

counseled the immediate pastgovernor of the State, Dr.Kayode Fayemi and hisparty, the All ProgressivesCongress, APC, to face thereality of their permanentexit from government in EkitiState and stop peddlingfalsehood in the social media.

He said: “Lying in socialmedia will only make Ekitipeople hate Fayemi and hisAPC the more.”

Special Assistant to thegovernor on PublicCommunications and New

Media, Lere Olayinka, said in astatement, yesterday, that it wasan unintelligent way of lying foranyone to say that GovernorFayose bought a private jet worthN12 billion and had receivedN22 billion from the FederalGovernment.

Olayinka said: “Thegovernment has not receivedany special fund from the FederalGovernment since he assumedoffice.

“It is even an indictment onFayemi for anyone associatedwith him to claim that GovernorFayose was able to get N22billion special fund from Abuja

within one month. It is simplysaying that Fayemi was grosslyincompetent if he was governorfor four years and could not getadditional fund for Ekiti State,"he added.

“Fayose did not buy any privatejet and he has not received anyN22 billion from Abuja.

“The truth is, Governor Fayoseis working day and night torescue Ekiti State from thefinancial mess that Fayemi andhis government of financialdevourers left it. “Very soon, hisefforts will begin to yield resultsand the results will be seen bythe entire people of Ekiti.”

Withdrawfrom govrace, LagosPDP tellsObanikoro.I’m committedto free primary— Obanikoro

By Dapo Akinrefon

CRISIS SEEMS to bebrewing in the Lagos

State Chapter of the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, asthe leadership of the PDPfrom Lagos Island LocalGovernment, yesterday,advised former Minister ofState (Defence), SenatorMusiliu Obanikoro towithdraw from the LagosState governorship race.

But in a swift reaction, theObanikoro CampaignOrganisation said it iscommitted to a free and fairPDP primary.

Addressing a pressconference in Lagos, leaderof the party on LagosIsland, Engr. Kamal Giwasaid, “the outcome of thestate constituencies primaryhas shown that SenatorObanikoro is not popularwithin the Lagos PDP.”

Giwa said “thehandwriting on the wallclearly shows thatObanikoro is a forgottenpolitician as far as politicsin Lagos is concerned.”

He, however, said that “itis clear that Obanikoro’swings have been clippedand we want to advise himto withdraw from thegovernorship raceforthwith because we knowhe wants to act as a spoilerfor the opposition.”

Also, Mr. NurudeenLambe, who spoke onbehalf of the PDP youths,said: “The results of theconstituency elections ofour party has shown that hehas lost the governorshiprace in the PDP. This resultshows Obanikoro is nolonger popular on theIsland and in Lagos.”

Meanwhile,in a swiftreaction, the ObanikoroCampaign Organisationfaulted the remarks, sayingit is committed to a free andfair primary.

Obanikoro’s SpecialAdviser on Media andStrategy, Ohimai Amaizesaid, “we appreciate thefact that youths are gettingactively involved in thepolitical process. Weidentify with the youths asspringboard for Lagosdevelopment, however, weare committed to a free andfair PDP primary election.”

Obanikoro, however, said“if Jim Agbaje thinks he isunpopular, he should notuse the youths assmokescreen. He shouldcome out and test hispopularity.”

By Clifford Ndujihe

TO ENABLE Lagosians,who are yet to collect

their Permanent VotersCards, PVCs, to do so, theIndependent National Elec-toral Commission, INEC, hasextended the on-goingdistribution of the cards byone day.

The second batch of the ex-ercise began last Friday andwas scheduled to end yester-day.

The exercise went onsmoothly in most pollingunits, weekend, apart fromlittle bottlenecks createdmainly by impatience on thepart of would-be-voters whowere in a hurry to pick up thecards.

Speaking on the extension,Lagos INEC Public AffairsOfficer, Mr. Femi Akinbiyisaid: “The exercise will nowend on Monday, December1, 2014. This will allow moreLagosians to obtain theirPVCs. All who are yet tocollect their PVCs should takeadvantage of this extensionto collect their PVCs.’’

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014—11

By Gbenga Ariyibi

My grouse with APC lawmakers, by Fayose

Ogun PDP shops for neutral gov candidate

ADO EKITI—GOVERNOR Ayodele

Fayose of Ekiti State,yesterday, clarified that thefrosty relationship betweenhim and the All ProgressivesCongress, APC, lawmakers inthe state stemmed from theirdecision to bring down hisgovernment.

Fayose accused thelawmakers of paying lessattention to issues that wouldbring development to the stateand pursuing their ownnarrow and selfish interestsby demanding 10 per cent ofthe N2 billion SME loansbefore approving it.

This came as he announceda reduction in the school feesof Ekiti State University,EKSU, N50,000 to N30,000.

Governor Fayose, who spokeduring a maiden edition of aradio/television programme -Meet your Governor, in AdoEkiti, weekend, also told thepeople of the state that hisgovernment had not receivedany special or ecological fundfrom the federal governmentas being speculated in certainquarters.

He said: “Adewale Omirin,

as the speaker, did not attendmy inauguration. After theevent, we met and talked andwe agreed to work together.They asked that their monthlyrunning grant of N48 millionbe paid in full, even whenother agencies have theirsslashed by 60 per cent orstopped totally because of poor

finances, we still gave themtheir full grant.

“The N2 billion loan forSMEs that we wanted toaccess from the CBN, theynow said they should be given10 per cent of it which is N200million and I refused. Theyhave a mindset and directivefrom their leaders that they

must cripple my governmentand I know the people of thestate will not allow that.”

Fayose lamented the sorrystate of finances of the state,noting that the immediate pastadministration led by DrKayode Fayemi, has plungedthe debt profile of the state toN76 billion.

By Daud Olatunji

A B E O K U T A — A nindication has emerged

that the Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, has begun a searchfor a dark horse as the party'sgovernorship candidate inOgun State in the 2015election.

Vanguard reliably gatheredthat the party took thedecision following the internalwrangling rocking the partyin the state over the choice ofa governorship candidate.

The party's financier, BurujiKashamu and former Speakerof the House ofRepresentatives, DimejiBankole, were at daggersdrawn over delegates list forthe party’s primaries whichprompted the NationalWorking Committee tosuspend the primaries.

But, in a bid to resolve thepolitical logjam, the party wasreported to be looking in thedirection of an aspirantamong the 10 aspirants whois believed to be neutral asthe party's governorship candidate.

Vanguard reliably gatheredthat the party might field theformer governorship aspirantof the defunct ActionCongress of Nigeria, Remilekun Bakare, whorecently dumped the All

progressives Congress, APC,for the PDP.

A source within the party toldour correspondent thatBakare’s choice was raisedfollowing his neutrality andhis alleged influence in OgunCentral, the same zone withthe incumbent governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.

The choice of Bankole wasreportedly being opposed byKashamu who was said tohave adopted a particularaspirant ahead of the

BRIEFING: NUJ President, Malam Muhammed Garba (right), and the Chairman, NUJ,Kaduna State Council, Malam Idris Yusuf, during a news conference on the state of thenation in Kaduna, yesterday.

Insecurity: Nigeria in serious crisis —Aregbesola

Atiku rulesoutconsensuspresidentialcandidate forAPC

GOVERNOR RaufAregbesola of Osun

State, yesterday, alertedNigerians to the seriousdanger that lurks around inview of the spate of bombingsin parts of the country.

He said that last Friday’sbombing of the CentralMosque in Kano has provedthat the nation is in the throesof life-threatening crisis.

A statement by the Director,Bureau of Communication,quoted Aregbesola as statingthese at the weekly prayersession of Nasrullahi -il FathiSociety of Nigeria, NASFAT,Osogbo branch, where hejoined other adherents to prayfor Nigeria and Osun.

The governor, whocondemned the bombing instrong terms, said the gorypictures of the bombingdemonstrated clearly that thecountry has a serious crisis athand.

He averred that the mosqueattack showed that theinsurgency transcends narrowreligious confines whicpeople, government,organisation and publicanalysts usually ascribe to thedastardly killings.

He argued that when aMuslim chose another fellowMuslim as target at a Friday(Jumat) congregation to strikeat him, then this has gonebeyond a the targeting of a

primaries.Those who aspired to contest

the governorship seat on theplatform of the PDP include amember of House ofRepresentatives from YewaSouth/Ipokia, AbiodunAkinlade; former governorshipcandidate of the People’s Partyof Nigeria, Gboyega Isiaka; former minister of mine andsteel, Sharafa Ishola and aformer governorship aspirantof defunct ACN RemilekunBakare, among others.

Others were former memberof House of Representatives,Kayode Amusan, OgunState of TransformationAmbassador of Nigeria, Segun Adewale, formerChief of Staff to Daniel, YomiMajekodunmi, fomer Chsirman of Abeokuta South local government, Yanju Lipede, formerDeputy governor of the state, Rafiu Ogunleye and formercommissioner ofenvironment, AnthonyOjesina.

particular religion by another.He stated that no reasonable

Muslim can justify attacks ofChristians and Churches letalone Mosques and Muslimsas a means of propagating theIslamic faith.

“The Friday bombing ofEmir’s palace’s Mosque hasproved ultimately and beyondany doubt that this countryfaces daunting challengesposed by the Boko Haraminsurgents.

“Condemnable as the act is,yet it baffles one that a lot ofus still deceive ourselves byreading religious colourationto this whole violence."

AKURE—FORMERVice President and

a presidential aspirant ofAll ProgressivesCongress, APC, AlhajiAbubakar Atiku hasdeclared that issue ofconsensus Presidentialcandidate for the partywas no longer feasible inthe current politicalcalculations.

He spoke in Akure afterseveral meetings withdelegates and Partyleaders in the state aspart of his mobilisationdrive.

Atiku said “We havegone past the stage ofreaching any consensusor producing aconsensus candidate.”

He added that “ wehave gotten past the erawhere someone canimpose any candidate onthe party ..

The aspirant said he isvery optimistic that APCwould conduct free andfair primaries.

According to him, “noone can imposecandidate on the partyand on the consensusissue, there is no waythey can use consensusbecause we have grownbeyond that. We arepreparing for primaries.Who are the partyleaders? we are theleaders of the party andthere won’t beimposition”.

When asked if he candefeat Gen MuhammaduBuhari, Alhaji Atikusaid” let’s wait till whenI would prove mypopularity at theprimaries proper.

He assured that hewould emerge victoriousin the contestirrespective of theseeming popularity ofhis main opponent.

The former VicePresident whoapplauded the statedelegates for receivinghim, noted that he hadbeen counting thenumbers of delegatesthat would support hisambition in every stateshe visits.

At the Party secretariat,the state Chairman HonIsaac Kekemeke said theparty saw Atiku’s visit asthat of an elder visitingmembers of his family.

By Dayo Johnson


By Festus Ahon

Terrorists to be held accountable —JONATHAN

Rivers 2015: I've no part in zoning arrangement—WIKE

EPZ land controversy: ICM carpets Etoromi

Oarheclinches EdoSDP ticket forHouse ofReps

ASABA—PRESIDENTGoodluck Jonathan,

weekend, commissioned theFederal High Court complex,Asaba, Delta State, saying thatall perpetrators of terrorist actsin the country would be heldaccountable.

According to the President,the presence of Federal HighCourts in virtually every stateof the federation is a gooddevelopment as it would bringjustice closer to the people,adding: “This is in tandemwith this administration’sdetermined efforts to expandaccess to justice for the peopleand ensure that Nigerians areable to access the courts for thepurposes of resolving theirdisputes.”

The President, who spokethrough the state governor,Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan,commended the Chief Judgeand other judges of the court"for their hard work andimmeasurable support for thisadministration’s resolve tohold accountable all theperpetrators of terrorist actsacross the country.

“I have been duly informedthat the practice directionsissued by the court havecontributed significantly to thereduction of trial delays andengendered speedy trial of

terrorism and allied offences.It is my fervent hope that thisedifice will further provide thenecessary conduciveenvironment for the court toexcel in the discharge of itsadjudicatory function.”

Jonathan also commendedthe Federal High Court for itsimplementation of innovativereform measures aimed atexpanding access to justiceand bring same closer toNigerians.

He observed that the accessto High Court by Nigerianswould not have been possible“if deliberate steps were nottaken to ensure the presenceof the court in virtually everystate in the federation.”

In his speech, GovernorUduaghan thanked theFederal Government forcreating the Asaba Division ofthe Federal High Court in thestate.

In particular, he commended

the erection of the High CourtComplex, stressing that it “wasbuilt by the FederalGovernment and not the DeltaState Government. The onlycontribution of the Delta StateGovernment was the provisionof land for this edifice.”

Uduaghan assured PresidentJonathan of the stategovernment's commitment topartnering the FederalGovernment in itsdevelopmental efforts.

Commissions Federal High Court in Asaba

W A R R I — I T S E K I R IC o n s o l i d a t e d

Movement, ICM, has beratedthe Seipakumor of Gbaramatu,Warri South-West LocalGovernment Area, Delta State,Lt.-Col. Satchie Etoromi (rtd),over statements credited tohim that Itsekiri's claim ofIkpokpo community,Ugborodo, was due to allegedfraudulent court judgment.

ICM, an Itsekiri socio-cultural group, in its reaction,described Chief Etoromi’soutburst as a slap on theNigerian judiciary.

It said: “If there is anythingcalled fraudulently obtainedjudgment, Chief Etoromi is amajor beneficiary, as majorityof the contracts he hasexecuted as communityrepresentative, particularlythrough his biological affinitywith Itsekiri, are products ofhis alleged fraudulentlyobtained judgments.”

ICM, in a statement by itsChairman, Mr.Oritsegbegbemi Besidone,sought to know why Etoromi,who said that he is fromItsekiri, has “continually madehimself a tool of ethnicdisharmony by the GbaramatuIjaws.”

ICM said that Etoromi’sinsinuation in reference to apurported letter written by theItsekiri Leaders of Thought,dated December 29, 1984 to theeffect that they (Itsekiri)

allowed their land to beoccupied by the Ijaw as a pricethe Itsekiri had to pay in theinterest of peace and progressin the defunct Warri Division,was a clear indication of “a

strategic script by Etoromi’spay masters to forcefully takeItsekiri lands at the slightestopportunity in the name ofpeace in Warri.”

RIVERS State PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP,

governorship aspirant and formerMinister of State for Education,Mr Nyesom Wike, has said thathe had never participated in anymeeting where zoning of thegovernorship position wasagreed upon in the state, notingthat he was in the governorshiprace as a collective will of Riverspeople.

Wike, through his aide onmedia, Mr Simeon Nwakaudu,in Port Harcourt, during aninteractive session with newsmen,challenged anyone with therecords of such an agreement tomake them public.

He noted that claims by somepoliticians on the issue were theirpersonal opinions.

The said that the spread of hisassociates and supporters cutsacross the 23 local government

Delta 2015: Orubebe assures onwealth creation

areas of the state, adding that hewill win both the PDPgovernorship primaries and thegovernorship elections all overthe state.

He said that contrary to

insinuations in certain quarters,he will not spend his timeprobing the outgoingadministration if elected as RiversState was in dire need ofdevelopment.

By Chris Ochayi

Ogeah laudsconduct ofPDPAssemblyprimaries

THE peacefulconduct of state

Assembly primaries ofthe Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, in Delta State,has been described by thestate Commissioner forInformation, Mr ChikeOgeah, as a sign of goodthings to come to thestate.

Ogeah, in a statement,yesterday, said: “OnNovember 29, the PDPconducted primaries intothe Delta State House ofAssembly. A commonfeature in all the localgovernment areas is thepeace, transparency andcamaraderie thatcharacterized theexercise.

“We commend thematurity and disciplinedisplayed by all thecontestants and thediligence of officials ofthe PDP that conductedthe primaries. Thepeaceful conduct andoutcome show that PDPin Delta State is onedisciplined party."

MR Dickson Oarhe,has emerged

House of Representativescandidate for Owanfederal constituency,Edo State on the platformof Social DemocraticParty, SDP.

Oarhe, who emerged atthe party ’s primariesthrough consensus,thanked members of theparty for picking him.

“I thank your efforts,prayers and commitmenttowards my victory. Andto party delegates whotook time to travel downfrom both Owan Westand Owan East LocalGovernment Areas, I sayI am truly indebted toyou all. My vision tosalvage our people fromthe shackles of pains,inflicted on the majorityof our people throughthe weak andu n d e m o c r a t i cmaneuverings of the fewpolitical elites, has beenrekindled.

“I say, we shall jointlyovercome. The best ishere,” he said.

DONATION: From left: Registrar, Delta State University, Mr Ejiro Udjo; Deputy ViceChancellor, Admin, Prof. Chukwuemeka Aloamaka; out-going Vice Chancellor, Prof. EricArubayi; Executive Director, South South and South East, Ecobank, Mr. Kingsley Umadia;Area Manager, Delta South, Chinedu Okonkwo and Area Manager, Delta Central, EmmanuelDuku, at the hand over of multi-million naira female hostel complex to Delta State Universityby Ecobank in Abraka, Delta State, weekend.

ABUJA—A PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP,

governorship hopeful in DeltaState, Elder GodsdayOrubebe, has promised toprovide meaningful economicengagement andempowerment activities for theyouths and women in the stateif elected governor come 2015.

Speaking while on acampaign tour to Olabrakoprecommunity in Warri, WarriSouth-West Local GovernmentArea of the state, Orubebe said

that wealth creation througheconomic engagement andempowerment activities wouldbe one of his cardinalprogrammes if elected.

The former Minister of NigerDelta Affairs, who spokethrough his campaignorganisation in a statement inAbuja, said: “Most of the vicescommitted by youths today areas a result of idleness. Whena man is engaged inproductive venture, he canhardly think of involvinghimself in questionableactivities.”


By Emma Amaize,Victor Ahiuma-Young,

Festus Ahon, EgufeYafugborhi & Brisibe

Perez

Ibori’s daughter, others win PDP House ofAssembly primaries in Delta

Amaechi laidsolidfoundation inRivers— Peterside

Why APC’ll win in 2015, by Buhari

ASABA—MS ErhiatakeIbori, daughter of former

Governor James Ibori, MrGodwin Abigor, Speaker PeterOnwasanya, Mr. Pius Labo,Elegbete Moses Odibo andMr Reuben Azeze, wereamong the winners at People’sDemocratic Party, PDP,primaries for the 2015 stateHouse of Assembly electionsconducted, weekend.

Erhiatake won the EthiopeWest constituency battle, saidto have been boycotted byother aspirants, while Abigorpolled 23 votes to displace theincumbent Omawunmi Udohto grab the Warri SouthConstituency I ticket andIzeze, a former student unionleader, sailed homeunopposed in Ughelli Southconstituency.

The Speaker of the stateHouse of Assembly, Mr PeterOnwasanya, won the OshimiliSouth slot and incumbentmember, Mr Adolphous Ojoshrugged off his opponents toclinch the Ukwuani ticket.

Mr Onwusanya describedweekend's PDP primaries as apointer to the unity of purposeamong party members.

He insisted that the partyprovided a level playingground for aspirants to testtheir popularity and describedthe election as peaceful, freeand fair and commended partymembers for comportingthemselves peacefullythroughout the electionperiod.

Mr Friday Osanebi repeatedthe same feat in Ndokwa West,polling 49 against his fellowcontestants, Emeke Ozegbe,Ann Izi, Sam Chukwuji, ChikeUgwumadu, who scored three,two, one and zerorespectively.

Mr Kennedy Daubry, BurutuSouth constituency, emergedfor a second term in theprimary election held atTuomo town.

Daubry, who is theincumbent memberrepresenting Burutu South,won the primary electionwith19 votes against the othertwo aspirants, who got 10 votesand four votes respectively.

Mr. Pius Labo emerged theparty’s candidate in Bomadi,in the primaries held at St.Brendan’s College, Bomadi(former Government College).

Amongst those that contestedfor the party’s ticket were aformer chairman of the partyin the council, Labo, whoclinched the ticket from theserving member in the stateAssembly, representing the

constituency, Oboro Preyor aswell as two female aspirantsEniye Ayaoge and EniekebiEdein-otu.

Former Commissioner incharge of Special Duties(Infrastructures), Mrs. OrezeEsievo emerged the party’sflag-bearer in Isoko South andthe Deputy Chief Whip of theHouse Assembly, Mr JohnsonErijo, was returnedunopposed in Isoko South.

Incumbent Efe Ofobrukuwon in Uvwie just as TimOwhefere emerged in IsokoSouth and Dennis Omovie inWarri South Constituency II.Omovie, gunning for a fourthterm in the state House ofAssembly received 21 votes toclinch the Warri South II ticketagainst Erutega Okumagba,Vincent Okudolo and JacksonOmatsola, who got five votes

put together with AugustineChike supervising as PDPReturning Officer.

Former commissioner,Elegbete Moses Odibo and theDESOPADEC Commissioner,Mr Michael Diden, won inUdu and WarriNorth,respectively. Odibodislodged the incumbent,Ketson Okoro. In the resultsannounced by the PDPReturning Officer, Mrs. FloraAlatan, Odibo, polled 30 votesto edge out incumbent Okoro,who got 20 votes while IsrealMacauley got 12 votes.

In Aniocha North stateconstituency, Mr. UzomahIdabor won the ticket, whileLady Angela Nwaka pickedthe Aniocha South ticket. MrIsaac Ulebor won in Ika South,while Tony Elekeokwuritriumphed in Ika North East.

It was not clear who got theticket yet in Sapele as theMajority Leader of the House,Chief Monday Igbuya and hisfellow contestants foundthemselves at contrastingvenues during the primaries.

There were parallelprimaries in Sapele, but theMajority Leader of the Houseof Assembly Chief MondayIgbuya, told Vanguard onphone, yesterday, that hewon.

Returning Officer in Sapele,Mr. Tobechukwu Okonkwo,has disclaimed reports thatone Chief Felix Anirah wasdeclared the winner of theelections, insisting that out of62 accredited voters, 61delegates voted for theincumbent lawmaker, Mr.Monday Igbuya, while Anirahscored one vote, just as thethird aspirant, ChiefAyemonor Lucky, scored zero.

PERMANENT VOTER CARDS: APC governorship aspirant in Rivers State, Mr. DakukuPeterside (right) and member of the party's Board of Trustees, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja, displaytheir Permanent Voter Cards after collection in Opobo Town, Saturday.

By Simon Ebegbulem

A former Head of Stateand presidential aspirant

of the All ProgressivesCongress, APC, Major-GeneralMuhammadu Buhari, has saidthat the high quality of projectsembarked upon by GovernorAdams Oshiomhole in EdoState was a testimony to how theAPC government at the federallevel will turn the fortunes of thecountry around when voted intopower in 2015.

Speaking at thecommissioning of the Ayogwiri-Apana-Okpekpe Road in EtsakoEast Local Government Area ofthe state on Saturday, Buharisaid having commissionedsome other projects in BeninCity, he has no doubt that Edo

State was blessed with one ofthe most dynamic governors inthe country.

He said: “A road like thisOkpekpe Road will boost theeconomy and it is somethingthat only government canprovide as has been done bythe Edo State Government.When the roads are bad, farmerscannot take their produce to thecity for sale, even when they do,it will be expensive.

“Projects like this are atestimony of the high levelthinking of the APC and howthe APC government willtransform the country for goodwhen it wins the election at thefederal level in 2015.”

In his remark, GovernorOshiomhole said: “Even tosurvey this road was quite

problematic. But at the end, itwas done. The amount requiredto construct it was frightening.But I said to myself, there isnothing that is good that comescheap and we were convincedthat rural Nigeria should benefitfrom development.

“If government should toucheverybody, we must then spreaddevelopment to every part of thestate, hence no terrain shouldbe considered too expensive todevelop. So, we decided toconstruct this road. As you haveseen, we decided to do thecommissioning here and not inthe village, so that you can seethe amount of work done on thisroad.

“I feel fulfilled that God hasused us to make a difference inthe lives of ordinary citizens."

THE AllP r o g r e s s i v e s

Congress, APC,governorship candidatein Rivers State, MrDakuku Peterside, hassaid that GovernorRotimi Amaechi has laida formidable foundationof service delivery in thestate, so he has noreason not to performwell if he emergesgovernor in the 2015general elections.

Peterside, weekend,when he addressedsupporters at KonoWaterfront shortly afterhe collected hisPermanent Voter Card inOpobo Town Ward 3,said: “I want to expressappreciation to GovernorAmaechi who madeefforts to make RiversState great. He is avisionary leader whocame and transformedthe state. He has laid asolid foundation for me.

“I am surprised to meetyou people of Kono herebecause, I didn’t contactanybody to gather youhere to meet with me.But, I believe, you heardI was coming home andI will pass through thisroute to my town, Opobo,that was why youdecided to gather hereto receive me. Let meremind you all that Konoand Opobo have beentwo neighbouring towns,which share commoninterests. I am sure thatnearly every Opoboperson has a family inKono and I know that if Icome to Kono, everyKono person will receiveme into their homes. Ithink, this is a time thatevery Kono personshould begin to kneeldown and thank God forlocating us,” Petersidesaid.

He added that hisadministration, if votedinto power, will eliminatepoverty and build on theeconomic potentials ofthe state to achieve abetter life for all Riverspeople.

“When we assumepower in 2015, I willwipe out poverty. I willensure that the economicpotentials are realistic inbuilding a new RiversState, and that I believewe can do with the helpof God Almighty. All weneed to do is to give ourleaders support."


BOKO HARAM: Don't blame the soldiersfor poor performance —Buhari

By Austin Ogwuda

ENUGU — FORMERMilitary Head of State and

a presidential aspirant of AllProgressives Congress, APC,General Muhamadu Buhari,(retd), weekend, said it waswrong to blame Nigerian soldiersover the country's inability to rootout Boko Haram insurgent.According to him, since noattention had been paid to soldiers'complaints about lack ofequipment to tackle theinsurgents headlong, despitehuge money voted for defencesector.He spoke in Enugu whileaddressing state delegates of APCto the forthcoming presidentialprimaries of the party in Enugu. Exonerating the Nigerianmilitary, Buhari said, “Soldiershave been complaining that theyare ill equipped, in spite of thetrillions budgeted for defence inthe last three years. If you considerthe revenue Nigeria hasgenerated since 1999, you will beshocked at how inefficient andcorrupt PDP has been. Soldiershave been saying they are illequipped, yet trillions have beenvoted for defence in the last threeyears. If we don’t vote out PDP

we will all be the losers. Castyour votes for us so that we canall fight this inefficiency andcorruption.”He observed that 2015 wouldturn out to be another landmarkyear in the country’s history andadvised party members to gettheir Permanent Voters Cards,PVC’s as it was the only

ammunition to vote out PDP andalso ensure that their votescounted in the 2015 generalelections.He was accompanied by formerMinister of Federal CapitalTerritory, Malam Nasir El Rufaiand Chief Audu Ogbe.General Chris Eze (retd) whoresponded on behalf of other

delegates, described Buhari asthe President Nigeria needed,noting that with him as President,Nigeria would once again, be sureof having a Commander and inChief that knew his onion andrecalled how the Maitasine sectwas driven away from Nigeria intoChad during his (Buhari) reignas the Head of State.

AWARDS: Ebele Ogbue, Managing Director, UBA Europe (right); Charles Aigbe, DivisionalHead, Marketing and Corporate Relations, UB (left), and Fiona Bruce of the BritishBroadcasting Corporation, BBC, at the Annual Banker Awards in London where UBA wonBank of the Year in Africa.

Ex-Abia dep gov back on gov race

ABA — FORMER deputygovernor of Abia State, Chris

Akomas, has made a suddenreturn to the political scene amidstrousing welcome by hundreds ofhis supporters who thronged toSam Mbakwe Airport Owerri towelcome him. Akomas, who was governorshipaspirant on the platform ofProgressive Peoples Alliance,PPA, in the last general elections,served as deputy to incumbentgovernor, Theodore Orji, in hisfirst term in 2010, but contestedagainst his former boss.He lost the election and,thereafter, steered clear of thepolitical scene until his recentforay into politics again.

By Eric Ugbor

Tinubu, Amosun to grace IyalodeTinubu’s 127th remembrance

FORMER GOVERNOR ofLagos State, Asiwaju Bola

Ahmed Tinubu and Governorof Ogun State, SenatorIbikunle Amosun are amongthe eminent personalitiesexpected at the 127th historicremembrance ceremony of thelate Iyalode of Egbaland,Iyalode Efunroye Tinubu,holding on December 3, 2014at Kemta, Abeokuta, OgunState. In a press statement jointlysigned by Chief Alaba Lawson(MFR), the fourth Iyalode ofEgbaland and Mr. Lekan

Ademoye Tinubu, secretary ofTinubu family, all the Egbaand other women willassemble at Ake Palace at 8a.m. for procession to IyalodeTinubu’s tomb at Ijokodo by11am. Series of other activitiesincluding Muslim prayersession and a thanksgivingservice at the Cathedral of St.James African Church, Idi-Ape, Abeokuta on Sunday,December 7, 2014, have beenlisted as parts of the annualcelebration.

Health sectorto get $1mthroughinnovationchallenge

N I G E R I A ’ SHEALTH-CARE

sector is set to attract $1million investment toSave One Million Livesof women and childrenfrom preventable causessuch as malaria,malnutrition, lack ofaccess to life-savingcommodities, suboptimalsupply chain systemsamongst others.

This landmarkinvestment which isdriven by the PrivateSector Health Alliance ofNigeria, a public-privatecoalition aimed atmobilising Nigeria ‘sprivate sector to improvehealth outcomes, is viaa Health InnovationChallenge (HIC).

This initiative, which isthe first of its kind inAfrica, will enableNigeria accelerateprogress in achieving health related MDGs asthe 2015 target hots up.

The HIC, which willbe launched onDecember 5th, 2014 byleading private sectorbusiness leaders inNigeria includingHerbert Wigwe (CEO,Access Bank and chair ofthe innovationchallenge), AlikoDangote,. Jim Ovia, willidentify and supportpromising innovativemodels to improvehealthcare servicedelivery in Nigeria’scomatose healthcaresystem

Supported innovationsinclude newtechnologies, unlockingmarkets and processinnovations targeted ataddressing evidence-based healthcarechallenges that respondto various geopoliticaland socio-culturalpeculiarities in Nigeria. Sources said he may contest

under All ProgressivesCongress, APC.However, the mammoth crowdthat greeted Akomas on arrivalat Sam Mbakwe InternationalAirport, Imo State, almost fouryears after staying off bothnational and state issues, showedthat the former Abia number twostill has his supporters intact.Unconfirmed report has it that theformer deputy governor maylikely contest for the position ofgovernorship in 2015 in the stateunder the platform of the AllProgressives Congress, APC.Akomas, who made his firstpublic appearance at the Palaceof Enyi 1 of Aba, Eze IsaacIkonne, said: “It is time for us tocome together to make our statebetter. If there are people with

pockets of efforts to improve onAbia State, let us make thosepockets of efforts into a sea orocean that flows with force tomake Abia and Nigeria better. Letus come together to improve onthe welfare of our people, to growour economy better than what wehave today.”On his absence from publicscene, the former deputygovernor said: “Let me confirmthat politics is part of our living.We are all political animals andonce you are involved, youcontinue. I may not be makingnoise. I may not have madenoise, but I have been in politics.“There is time to be public andtime to be private. It is time tocome public so that our people’ssituation can improve.”

VANGUARD MEDIA LimitedCapital Market Reporter,

Peter Egwuatu, yesterday, wasamong individuals and corporateentities in the Nigerian CapitalMarket honoured at the 2014PEARL Awards. Egwuatu won the PEARLAwards 2014 Capital MarketReporter of the year. Presenting the Award, Mr. TayoOrekoya, President/ChiefExecutive, PEARL Awards Projectsaid “the Award is part of your

Vanguard reporter wins Pearl Awards CapitalMarket Reporter of the Year

recognition and outstandingperformance in the reportage andobjective analysis of activities inthe Nigerian Capital Market,thereby contributing immenselyto the development of theNigerian Capital Market andeconomy as a whole.” Meanwhile, the companies thatwon the Market ExcellenceAwards are: Arbico Plc (TurnoverGrowth); Roads Nigeria Plc(Earnings Yield); Arbico Plc(Return on Equity); Sterling

Bank Plc (Dividend Yield);Prescott Plc (Dividend Cover);MRS Oil Nigeria Plc (Net AssetRatio); Dangote Cement Plc(Profit Margin Ratio); Forte OilPlc (Share Price Appreciation) Thirteen other companies thatwon the Sectoral LeadershipAwards include UAC Nigeria Plc,Julius Berger Nigeria Plc,Nigerian Breweries Plc, NestleNigeria Plc, PZ Cussons NigeriaPlc, among others. Other Special Honorary

Awardees include: Mr.Devakumar V .G Edwin, CEO,Dangote Cement Plc as MostOutstanding CEO Award; ChiefJoseph Sanusi, former CentralBank of Nigeria, CBN Governoras the PEARL SpecialRecognition Award for CapitalMarket Development. PEARL (Performance Earningsand Returns Leadership) AwardsProject is a non profit, non-partisan and non-governmentalinitiative which had over the yearspositioned itself as one of the mostcredible, distinguished andrespected corporate events inNigeria. Pearl Awards was instituted in1995.


By Victor Ahiuma-Young

Senator Oluremi Tinubu and leaders of All Progressives Congress, in the Lagos Central Sena-torial District, during courtesy visit to thank her supporters for her first term and to indicateinterest in returning to the senate for 2nd term, at the Lagos Island Local Government, Lagos

AWKA—FACTIONS of thePeoples Democratic Party,

PDP, in Anambra State, weekend,released different lists ofperceived successful candidatesfor the State House of Assemblyfor next year’s elections afterholding meetings in obscureplaces in Awka.

While those expected to vote atthe primaries trooped to theearlier designated venues for theexercise in all the localgovernment areas of the state asearly as 8am, factional leadersstayed in hotels in Awka wherethey later released names.

At about 6pm on Saturdaywhen it became obvious thatthere was not going to be anyvoting, those who assembled atthe venues went home yet namesof winners still emerged.

However, a team from the

national secretariat of the partywas at Doris Hotels in a remotearea of Awka where it conductedits own primaries, while anothergroup led by Chief KennethEmeakayi held its primaries inanother hall in Awka.

Though, the exercise wasconducted by three differentgroups, the IndependentNational Electoral Commission,INEC, which recognized theEjike Oguebego group led by theself acclaimed god father, ChiefChris Uba, said it was satisfiedwith the exercise.

INEC spokesperson in thestate, Mr. Frank Egbo, said thecommission recognized andsupervised the Mr EjikeOguebego- led PDP during theState Assembly primaries.

According to Egbo, what INECmonitored was PDP primariesand not any faction, adding thatit was not interested in any groupexcept the party.

Anambra PDP factions issue new listsBy Vincent Ujumadu

KANO State governor anda presidential aspirant of

All Progressives Congress,APC, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso,yesterday, in Enugu describedthe adoption of PresidentGoodluck Jonathan as the solepresidential candidate ofPeoples Democratic Party, PDP,for the 2015 general election asa sign of weakness.

Fielding questions fromnewsmen after meeting withAPC delegates from Enugu,Ebonyi and Anambra States,Kwankwaso said, “I see that asa positive development for theparty (APC). Weak parties haveno candidates. Medium strongparties have, maybe onecandidate. A mega party likeAPC should have as manycandidates as possible.

“And not only number, you canalso look at the quality. Thatshows clearly that God willing,come 2015, APC will defeatPDP. If you look at it in 1999,we had real primary electionsin Jos, so also in 2003 when wehad sitting President. 2007, wehad primary election. We alsohad primary in 2011 when wealso had a sitting president.Now, PDP has gone from graceto grass. Today, they have onlyone candidate. They call it solecandidate. Jonathan is now thesole administrator of PDP. Thatis a sign of weakness of PDP.That also clearly shows thatPDP has gone down, and God’swilling, we will kick it out, justlike we are trying to kick outpolio in the North”.

AHEAD of 2015g o v e r n o r s h i p

election in Abia State,national youth wing of theAbia State Town UnionsAssociation, ASTUA,weekend, rejected attemptsby Governor Theodore Orjior any other individual toimpose candidate on thecitizens.

This came as ASTUAgave a one-weekultimatum to all aspirantsto appear before it to unveiltheir plans for the state ifelected.

Speaking during itsexecutive meeting, inLagos, tagged “GoodGovernance AdvocacyProject,” President/YouthLeader of ASTUA, IkennaJames, noted that what thestate needed at the momentwas one who couldtransform it, especially inthe areas of education,health, good roads andinfrastructures, and notanointed individual fromany of the political parties.

He said: “All the union isasking for is a level playingfield for all thegovernorship candidates.They should be givenequal rights, so that themasses will vote for theright person."

Abia townunions rejectimposition ofcandidates

By Ikenna Asomba

Insecurity: Delta NLC appeals to Uduaghan

2015:Kwankwasoflaysendorsementof Jonathan

By Austin Ogwuda, Enugu

DELTA State Council ofNigeria Labour Congress,

NLC, weekend, urged GovernorEmmanuel Uduaghan to tamethe rising insecurity in the state,especially kidnapping ofinnocent citizens

While applauding the recentrelease of the Delta StateUniversity, DELSU, lecturer, Dr.Nyerhouwo Tonukari, and hisyounger brother, Mr. TegaTonukari, from kidnappers’ den,the congress said that organisedlabour in Delta State was shockedat the resurgence of activities ofkidnappers in the state.

Chairman of the state NLC, Mr.Williams Akporeha, who spokein Asaba, said while the unionwelcomed the release of Dr.Nyerhouwo Tonukari and Mr.Tega Tonukari, from kidnappers’den "we condemn the upsurgein kidnapping activities in thestate. We use this opportunity toappeal to the State Governor, Dr.Emmanuel Uduaghan, to do allwithin his power to tame therising insecurity in the state."Hesaid he was appealing to thoseinvolved in the criminal activitiesthat instead of taking tocriminality such as kidnapping,

they should take the advantageof the numerous entrepreneurialinitiatives being provided by thestate government, particularly theN2 billion Central Bank of

Nigeria, CBN, development fundfor micro, small and mediumenterprises, launched recently inthe state to build capacity and beself employed.

IGBO WelfareAssociation, IWA, a

socio-cultural body for Igbopeople residing in BornoState, weekend, said morethan 200 members of theIgbo community lost theirlives and property worthmillions of naira since thebeginning of insurgency inthe state.

President general of theassociation in the state,Chief Maclaw Nwaogu,gave the figures during theinauguration of the newexecutives and awardceremony at BarweeInternational Hotel inMaiduguri, the statecapital.

Nwaogu appealed toGovernor Kashim Shettimato assist the Ndigbo whohad been rendered widowsand orphans as well asother non indigenes, manyof whom he said hadmigrated but still sufferingdestitution as a result of theloss of their breadwinnersto the Boko Haraminsurgency.

By Ndahi Marama,Maiduguri

‘Insurgencyclaims 200 Igboin Borno'


CMYK

OPINION


By John Ainofenokhai

OPINIONWhy should Nigerians vote Jonathan again?

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan’s recentdeclaration to, once again, vie for the Pres-

idency on the platform of the Peoples Demo-cratic Party, PDP, has deepened the discourseon his achievements thus far. The oppositionAll Progressives Congress, APC, is crying itselfhoarse that Jonathan has not achieved any-thing. The PDP, and several other groups sym-pathetic to the President, are presenting, yes,shouting an unending list of Jonathan’sachievements across all media platforms. What then should the ordinary Nigerian be-lieve?

To all intents and purposes, Jonathan andall the other Nigerians who aspire to ascendthe Presidency on May 29, 2015, are applyingfor a job. Every Nigerian who is of votingage; has a valid voter card, and no legal im-pediment against casting a vote on February14, 2015, is a potential employer of Jonathanand all the other presidential job seekers.

What do potential employers ask job seekersto do? Submit their curriculum vitae and ifdeemed suitable, they may be invited for anaptitude test and/or interview. At every jobinterview, job seekers can expect to answer oneobligatory question among others. That man-datory question is: What have you accom-plished thus far in your career that makes youbelieve you are the right candidate for this job?

Prior to his re-election bid declaration, manyJonathan sympathisers had complained thathis accomplishments were under-reported, es-pecially in the print media. Mindful of thisanomaly and the fact that the propagandamachinery of his detractors is presently in over-

drive to discredit him, Jonathan brought a longlist of accomplishments to his declaration, anevent that could be likened to a job interview.

The first significant accomplishmentsJonathan mentioned were the commencementof the Presidential Initiative for the North East,establishment of the Victim Support Fund andthe Safe School Initiative. He said: “The Pres-idential Initiative for the Northeast is focusedon improving infrastructure and economicgrowth in the region. The Safe School Initia-tive is centred on creating a safe environmentto encourage our children in the communitiesto acquire education. The Victim SupportFund, a partnership with the Private Sector,has raised about N60 billion, which will helpto empower and rehabilitate victims of ter-ror.”

Equally conscious of the fact that his em-ployers face electricity challenges, PresidentJonathan signposted the direction in which hehas led the country. According to him, in theelectricity sector, “Nigeria has undertaken amost transparent and corruption free biddingprocess, attracting global commendation. The on-going 450MW Azura Power Plant inEdo State is a testimony to the success of thistransformation.” Jonathan further added:“We have also resumed development of ourHydro-Power potential, with the constructionof the 700MW Zungeru Hydro-Power Plant,while construction work on the 3,050MWMambilla Hydro-Power Plant is about to takeoff.”

Concerning potable water and provision ofsanitation infrastructure, President Jonathan

said: “In the past three and a half years, thewater sector has witnessed unprecedented im-provement. Access to potable water is now67%, up from 58% in 2010, while sanitationcoverage is 41%, from 32% within the sameperiod.”

As important as electricity and potable wa-ter may be, these things cannot be more im-portant to Nigerians than food production. Therefore, President Jonathan knew wellenough to give a clear report of what he haddone in that aspect. He said: “We are re-forming the National Urban Water supplyprogrammes in 12 states, with 385 formaland informal irrigation projects, covering...(an extensive) land area cultivated mostly bysmall holder farmers. This has yielded overthree million metric tons of assorted grainsand vegetables, with a market value of aboutN45 billion.”

Thereafter, Jonathan continued reciting hislong list of 150 new Almajiri schools, rail-ways and roads reconstructed, airports refur-bished, and new bridges built around thecountry. But something that must havestruck many Nigerians as innovative and in-teresting was what he had to say about thecountry’s major inland waterway.

While presenting the report of his leader-ship, Jonathan said: “My administration hassuccessfully completed the dredging of thelower River Niger from Baro in Niger Stateto Warri in Delta State. The cheering newsis that over 6.7 million passengers and over1.6 million tons of cargo have been movedthrough this channel in less than three years.”

To illustrate his leadership in the rapid in-dustrialisation of the country, PresidentJonathan reported: “Our support for cementproduction is unprecedented. We have in-creased our installed capacity from 16.5 mil-lion metric tons per annum in 2011 to 39.5million metric tons per annum in 2014. Ni-geria is now exporting cement.”

On the issue of jobs, the President stated:“Our efforts to create an enabling environmentfor job creation in different sectors of the econ-omy, including the MSME sector, agriculture,housing and manufacturing have yielded re-sults. Between the third quarter of 2012, whenwe started tracking jobs created and the endof 2013, 1.9 million jobs were created. Todeepen our success in this area, I have createda Presidential Jobs Creation Board headed bythe Vice President with the mandate to createat least two million jobs a year.”

Despite all that, perhaps the most importantthing that President Jonathan said at his re-election bid declaration, which I consider averitable enabler, is his claim to having pro-vided an atmosphere for freedom of expres-sion. Read him: “Let me re-affirm that undera Jonathan Presidency, your views, no matterhow freely expressed, will not send you to pris-on or into exile.” This, for me, is fundamen-tal and represents the greatest democracy div-idend; and no other presidential aspirant hasdemonstrated that he can be as tolerant asJonathan. For this and all the other reasonsenumerated above, Jonathan will surely getthe vote of this writer on February 14, 2015.

*Mr Ainofenokhai, a public affairs com-mentator, wrote from Lagos

THOSE aghast at attacks on judges inEkiti State seem not to appreciate theimplications of impunity. Criminals – of allshades – act mostly in the comfort that thelaw would not inconvenience them. Wherethey are able to intimidate law enforcementagents, they become more brazen.Ekiti is the symptom, not the illness. The

journey of diminishing the police, and otheragencies of law enforcement, has arrivedat a new bus stop, the judiciary. Threatsto, and physical assaults on judges, in theircourts, before the public, could be seen asthe height of impunity, but it could getworse.The biggest danger with impunity is that

it bolsters the confidence of the criminalsinvolved, and creates another level oflawlessness, where judges are not onlyafraid of a few slaps, but know their livesare at risk. Judgments would be affected,or some cases may not be heard, to protectthe interests of criminals.If judges can be assaulted while sitting,

where would they be safe? If judges are notsafe, who is safe? If thugs and theirsponsors successfully cow the judiciary,they would over run the rest of us.

Ending EscalatingEnding EscalatingEnding EscalatingEnding EscalatingEnding EscalatingImpunityImpunityImpunityImpunityImpunity

Why do criminals prosper in a society withstructures to maintain law and order? Whycould the violation of courts, unimaginableyears back, happen? The police, the firstline of protection for the law, have beencompromised. They are rented out toprotect individual interests, rather than thesociety’s. It does not matter to the policeif those interests obstruct justice. Thesetting is reminiscent of incidents incountries where drug barons and othercriminals control the system. Violation ofthe judiciary by political barons is worse.

With power as their target, they acquireeverything.The executive deliberately minimises the

powers of the judiciary through lowallocation of resources and poor executionof policies that could enhance theconstitutionally awarded freedom of thejudiciary. These encumbrances mean thatthe criminals, who violated Ekiti courts,would not be punished. Would they?Complaints about the low number of

policemen at court premises, as a possiblereason for the ease with which criminalsassaulted judges in Ekiti, fail to addressthe motivation of the police. Are theyinterested in protecting justice? Did theyperceive the incident in Ekiti as an affrontto law and order? Did they not merely watchwhile the criminals operated?Ekiti is not an isolated case. The judiciary

is under much strain though the resistanceEkiti judges offered may not obtainelsewhere.Until we punish this new wave of

impunity, when we need justice we coulddiscover there are no judges to dispense itbecause criminals have scared them away.

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014—————1919191919

CMYK

By Dan Amor

•Mr Momodu, a commentator onnational issues, wrote from Benin City.

By Johnson Momodu

Why our democracy is under threat

LAW Mefor’s recentlypublished piece, “2015 AND

ECHOES OF ANARCHY” is quiterevealing. The piece captures theunguarded pronouncements ofleading members of the majoropposition political party in Nigeria,the All Progressives Congress, APC,as preparations for the 2015 generalelections gather momentum. In it,the Governor of Rivers State,Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi wasquoted as saying at the Walk Rallyof APC in Abuja recently that theparty would form a parallelgovernment should the outcome ofthe 2015 presidential election notfavour it. Amaechi went as far assaying that his party wouldspearhead civil disobedience in thecountry if they lose the election.

The piece also alluded to suchvolatile statements made by otherleading members of the APC,including its national chairman,Chief John Odigie-Oyegun whopostulated that: “If we do not seeany discernible change of attitudeon the part of the government, thenwe will move to the next stage onthe list of actions that our partyintends to take to stop the rot beingperpetuated by the PDP-led FederalGovernment.” GeneralMuhammadu Buhari, Amaechi’spreferred candidate for the 2015presidential election for his party,was also reported to have said in2012 that 2015 would be bloody.

Given these unsavory commentsby so-called ‘democrats’ and‘progressives’, it has indeed becometoo evident that the greatest obstacleto Nigeria’s political advancementwhich has culminated in its socio-economic underdevelopment, is the

THE story of David and Goliath remains a popular and fascinating tale. Ayoung shepherd slays a seasoned and —by some accounts— gigantic soldier. Thisstory plays into the narrative of the under-dog emerging triumphant despite over-whelming odds. And everybody loves avictorious underdog. Everybody likes tosee the big, bad bully get his comeup-pance. It is in this context that we need tointerrogate the uplifting, yet highly im-plausible accounts of hunters with daneguns overpowering Boko Haram insur-gents armed with rocket propelled gre-nades and armoured vehicles.

Additionally, the reported victory of hunt-ers over Boko Haram terrorists is not justabout portraying the Nigerian Army as ei-ther cowardly, incompetent, or both. Inthe run-up to the 2015 general elections,it should be clear that the reverberation ofsuch portrayal goes beyond the Army. Itaims at discrediting the Army’s Command-er-in-Chief, President Goodluck Jonathan.

To grasp the essence of the entire hunt-ers’ charade, look no further than the re-cent fulminations of Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, National Chairman of the AllProgressives Congress. According to Od-igie-Oyegun’s confused logic, “PresidentGoodluck Jonathan is so desperate to winre-election that it will now appear that thereis a secret understanding that our securityforces should turn a blind eye to the Boko

Hunters, Boko Haram and a maligned Army

Haram insurgency, so that the insurgentscan occupy as much territory as possibleand make elections impossible in theseareas, knowing full well these are APCstrongholds.

“Otherwise, how does one explain thatlocal hunters carrying dane guns and am-ulets are capable of dislodging the dread-ed Boko Haram while our once proudarmy, which has distinguished itself in andout of the country, has failed?”

Therein lies the illogicality of Odigie-Oyegun’s vituperations. How can hunt-

not a man who lacks the ability to discernwhat is plausible and what isn’t. So ingoing ahead to indulge this hunters’ vic-tory fantasy, it must be because he is inter-ested in perpetrating the narrative of a fail-ing Army. In so doing, Odigie-Oyeguncontinues the APC’s self-defeating tacticof maligning the Army, hoping ultimatelyto undermine the Army’s Commander-in-Chief. What a crying shame!

As the Canada-based Nigerianjournalist, Tunde Asaju, posted on hisFacebook page: “Some stories should notbe written. The story of hunters killing80 haramists breaks every law of plausi-bility. It doesn’t add up...”. Indeed, thehunters’ story beggars belief.

In all this hoopla about a purported vic-tory by hunters, it is easy to forget that theNigerian Army has foiled many BokoHaram attacks, a number of which simplygo either unremarked or under-reported. It is the same self-defeatist negativitypropagated by the APC and its vocal mediasupporters that is behind the continuingattempt to diminish the good work beingdone by the security forces, including theArmy, in stopping bomb attacks.

Lest we forget, at the inauguration of theVictims Support Fund Committee by Pres-ident Jonathan not so long ago, it was madeknown that Nigerian security personnelprevent about a thousand attacks for eachsuccessful one carried out by the BokoHaram. This statistics, which Jonathan

revealed in his speech at the event, wasthe first official indication of the enormousscale of the insurgency crisis facing Nige-ria today.

Speaking on the determination of theFederal Government to crush the terrorgroup, Jonathan said: “It is now just amatter of time. I call on all Nigerians tostand together in support of our securityagencies against terrorism. They areworking night and day under difficult cir-cumstances. It is unfortunate that when oursecurity personnel prevent 1,000 attacks,it is the one attack that succeeds that makesheadline news and tends to portray oursecurity agencies as not doing enough.”

If Nigerian security forces prevent 1,000attacks for each successful one carried outby Boko Haram, the question all fair-mind-ed Nigerians should ask is: How then canit be said that the security forces are losingthe war against Boko Haram? How canthe Nigerian Army, which continues to doits best under strenuous conditions, be somaligned by some of the same Nigeriansthat the soldiers are laying down their livesfor?

Whatever the truth may be, it is certainlynot encapsulated in the oversimplificationwhich the hunters’ purported victory overBoko Haram represents. But in thesetimes, when the excoriation of Jonathan

ers achieve what, inhis own words, “ouronce proud army,which has distin-guished itself inand out of thecountry, has failed”to achieve? It iss i m p l yunfathomable thata man of Odigie-Oyegun’s staturecould indulge incelebrating theincredible hunters’tale without takingcognisance of thefact that he issimply joining instanding logic onits head.

Then again,Odigie-Oyegun is

absence of sportsmanship on thepart of our politicians to accept defeatat the polls. It is this same dilemmathat brought about the fall of the FirstRepublic, the abrupt end of theSecond Republic and the annulmentof the June 12, 1993 presidentialelection won by the late Chief M. K.O. Abiola.

It will be recalled that in astatement dated July 20, 2014 andreleased the following day, entitled:“Pull Back Nigeria From The Brink”,Buhari said that Nigeria was headedfor anarchy as the consequence ofthe impeachment threat to the thengovernor of Adamawa State,Murtala Nyako. It was the lead storyof one of the national dailies. Theaction of the estranged Speaker ofthe House of Representatives,Aminu Waziri Tambuwal whoinvaded the Lower Chamber of theNational Assembly with memberssympathetic to him is another clearevidence of the plan of the leadingopposition political party to possiblyunleash mayhem on the country. Infact, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, anotherchieftain of the APC has neverhidden his preference for violenceas against a decent and civilizedpolitical culture. He was recentlysummoned by the Directorate ofState Security over his comment onthe possibility of violence engulfingNigeria if the 2015 election did notfavour his party and that suchviolence would be necessary if itwould be the only way to ensurethe removal of President GoodluckEbele Jonathan from office.

What this portends is that theleading opposition party in thecountry is not even preparing for theelections but is busy arming itssupporters to unleash violence in the

class was by far more practicable andviable than the conservative party ofthe First Republic. It was also by farthe most broadly based of the fivemajor parties of the Second Republic.

The avowedly socialistic UnityParty of Nigeria and the moreavowedly Marxian socialist People’sRedemption Party wereexceptionally well run parties as werethe Nigerian Peoples Party and itstwin, the Great Nigerian PeoplesParty. But in spite of their individualprogressive bent and populistswagger, none of these partiesthreatened to unleash violence onthe nation because it failed to controlthe central government. Of course,it was glaring that our politicians arebad losers who would not entertainany restraint in calling for the removalof a democratically electedgovernment if electoral fortunes failto favour them. But where has thattaken the country to? The SecondRepublic opposition politiciansbribed the military to overthrow theShehu Shagari government inDecember 1983. Did the militaryspare the states controlled by theopposition parties? Were theopposition governors not rewardedwith various prison terms as well astheir colleagues in the ruling partyby the Buhari/Idiagbon militaryjunta? Some of them died shortlyafter they were released from prison.Even when the opposition politiciansof the Babangida still-born transitioninstigated the military to annul theJune 12, 1993 election won by theSocial Democratic Party, were theynot forced into self-exile by theAbacha junta that succeeded theBabangida administration?

If the military had allowed theShagari government to wobble and

fumble until they were able to honetheir politics to a considerable art,Nigeria would have been in theleague of the world’s mediumpowers and industrialized nationslike the United Arab Republic,Malaysia or India. The political crisisin India, for instance, which resultedto the assassination of her PrimeMinister, Mrs. Indira Ghandi andthe eventual assassination of her sonand successor, Rajiv Ghandi, by aseparatist wing of the party did notspur the Indian military highcommand to come to the centre stageof that nation’s politics until thepoliticians were able to sort outthemselves. Today, India exportsover half a million scientists annuallyto the Silicon Valley of the UnitedStates who manufacture made-in-US goods. This is the result ofpolitical stability in a developingcountry. India gained politicalindependence from Britain in 1947.But that country could achieve somuch in the past 67 years because,unlike Pakistan,its closestneighbours, Indian military allowedpoliticians to make their mistakesuntil they consolidated thedemocratic advancement of theircountry.

So, those politicians who aredesperate to capture power for thesake of it; who are sponsoringinsurgency against their country inorder to make the polityungovernable for PresidentJonathan, must be stopped before itis too late. Some of them are evenbusy holding nocturnal meetingstrying to incite a section of the militaryto take over the government. Somehave vowed to go into exile in 2015rather than stay in Nigeria to seeJonathan continue as President ofNigeria.

ThePresident andthe securityforces,including theNigerianArmy, deservesupport, notcondemnation

Politicians whoare sponsoringinsurgencyagainst theircountry must bestopped before itis too late

country in 2015. It is probable thatthis menace has assumed aconceptual historical trend in thecountry. The 1964 Western regionalelection crisis that culminated in the1966 military coup was thehandiwork of opposition politicianswho had always demonstrated ahigh degree of intolerance and thelack of sportsmanship to acceptdefeat at the polls. The coupists werelater to confess that they wereinduced by aggrieved politicians totake over power from theircolleagues. In the political upheavalthat buried the First Republic, theNorthern traditionalists lost powerto modernist members of thedominant class- administrators,military officers, members of thelearned professions andbusinessmen- in their part of thecountry. This was what enhancedthe cohesion of the dominant classin Nigeria as a whole. Ever since,dominant class interest hasremained the name of the game.Even in the Second Republic, theNational Party of Nigeria, the mainpolitical vehicle of the conservative

•Mr Amor, a journalist and publicaffairs analyst, wrote from Abuja.


OPINION

Solomon Ogba: Celebrating an achieverBy Jesutega Onokpasa

ATHLETICS Federation of Nigeria,AFN, President, Evangelist Solomon

Omamoezi Ogba is one fellow I feel hasbeen unfairly under-celebrated in Nigeria.A consummate politician and sports ad-ministrator par excellence, Ogba, who hasbagged a variety of academic qualifica-tions, is currently pursuing a DoctorateDegree in Sports Management from theUnited States Sports Academy, Damphine,Alabama, United States of America. ButOgba’s pedigree can by no means be en-capsulated within his academic profile. Heis, without an iota of a doubt, a go-getterof uncommon achievement in public ser-vice.

Ogba was at a time, Sole Administratorof Sports in Delta before becomingCommissioner of Sports, two roles inwhich he recorded enviable successes,having led the state to a succession of tour-naments firmly confirming Delta as thepre-eminent sporting state in Nigeria. Inhis other roles, he has similarly deliveredsterling commitment to achieving resultsin a manner unambiguously establishinghis status as a performer rather than a merebenchwarmer. As for his achievements as

AFN President, they crucially signpost aparadigm shift in sports administrationin a sports-loving nation where scantattention is paid to real development ofsports. Indeed, his contribution to sportsdevelopment in Delta State and Nigeriaat large sufficiently sets him apart as thebest Minister of Sports we have never had.

Ogba’s approach to sports administra-tion obviously incorporates an astonish-ing zeal to produce results in defiance ofthe most profoundly contradicting odds,even to the extent of coughing out moneyfrom his own pocket in service to the fa-therland.

The depth of patriotic stewardship Ogbahas displayed throughout his sterlingcareer in sports administration can easilybe recommended as a template forrejuvenating sports as a unifier in ourunfortunately critically divided nation.

Having proved beyond all reasonabledoubt that he is indeed a sports adminis-trator of exceptional commitment, pro-found patriotism and uncommon re-sourcefulness, it is rather perplexing that

he has, so far, not been presented with thechallenge of being Minister for Sports.Indeed it is time for the appointment ofour Sports Minister to be entirelydepoliticised to the effect that a Ministerof Sports may come from any state regard-less of the preferred equality of states inthe federal cabinet. Sports is so crucial toour nation-building effort that even whena Minister or Minister of State has beenappointed from each state, the Ministerof Sports may come from any of thosestates entirely on the credentials of hiscompetence and exploits in sports admin-istration.

Always unassuming, never rushing to thefront to be noticed and obviously too busyand focused to find time for self-aggran-dizement, Ogba comes across as a manwho is simply too purpose-driven to botherabout hugging the limelight or blowinghis own trumpet. What I would any dayconsider a tragedy with respect to ourinterface as a nation with Ogba, is the factthat such a remarkably resourceful fellowwho put smiles on the faces of Nigerians

has clearly not been celebrated as muchas he deserves nor accorded the quantumof honour he has undoubtedly earned.Where are Ogba’s national awards for hisexploits as a sports administrator in acountry full of many who have receivedsuch awards with markedly controversialcredentials?

How often have we recorded gold med-als from international meets to the reliefand delight of Nigerians across all ourconvoluted divides as Ogba has done inthe face of excruciatingly daunting odds? In fact, it can be safely asserted thatOgba has most commendably effected arenaissance of leadership in Nigerianathletics, an approach to sportsadministration that incontestably placeshim in the Hall of Fame of Nigeriansports. In the process, Ogba exemplifiedgenuine leadership as service andpersonal sacrifice powered by a vision forthe common good.

•Mr Onokpasa, a lawyer, wrote fromWarri, Delta State.

OBJ, the prowling goat seller

FORMER PresidentOlusegun Obasanjo is

haunting his hand-pickedformer protégé, PresidentGoodluck Jonathan, like amalevolent ghost. You maywonder why OBJ, after fouryears as a military ruler andanother eight years as anelected president, is still buttinglike a stubborn, demon-possessed ram at the doors ofAso Villa, Abuja? What does hestill want? What did he forgetin the seat of power afteroccupying it for 12 years? Whycan’t he just go home and enjoyhis new-found affluence after hislatest eight years as presidentduring which he doubled asMinister of Petroleum Resourcefor six years?

If you put this question beforeObasanjo he will tell you it isbecause he “loves” Nigeria; heis a great “nationalist”, and hecannot keep quiet when thingsare going wrong. He willconveniently hide the fact thathe is the cause of many of ourproblems.

Politicalinterests

He will not acceptresponsibility. Instead, he willdivert attention and pointaccusing fingers at others,making accusations that he isalso guilty of a million timesover. In the process, Obasanjosucceeds in hoodwinking a fewgullible, uninformed Nigeriansand raises applause amongthose whose political interestsresonate with his objective ofbringing down a sittingpresident.

But those of us who know himprobably more than he knowshimself are not carried away. Weknow his motives and methodsall too well. Obasanjo’sestranged daughter, SenatorIyabo Obasanjo, in a letter inJanuary this year in which shedisowned her father, told usObasanjo believes in his heart

he “owns” Nigeria. PresidentJonathan, in his own angryrejoinder to a windy, scathingattack by Obasanjo, likened theOta poultry farmer to a goat sellerwho, after selling his goat andpocketing the money, still holdson to the goat’s tether rope. Inother words, Obasanjo, afterhandpicking and installingpeople in power, seeks to controlthem. When they refuse to be athis beck and call, he starts tofight dirty in the public squarebecause he has come to see theNigerian seat of power as hispersonal booty.

After all, he fought the civil warand collected the instrument ofsurrender from Biafra. We havesince heard the truth about howObasanjo fought that war. Oneof the civil war commanders,Brigadier Godwin Alabi-Isama,in his book: The Tragedy ofVictory, actually described OBJas a coward. In variousinterviews after the book waspublished, he disclosed thatObasanjo has bullet wounds onhis buttocks. This means he wasshot while running away fromenemy onslaught! But he makesloud noises about his civil war“heroism” and feels entitled toexclusive freebooting on ournational estate.

Obasanjo is confronting GEJbecause the president is agentleman. He could not try itwith the late President UmaruYar ’ Adua, who was muchtougher and savvier in the gameof power than Jonathan. As sickas Yar’Adua was, he was able tocurtail Obasanjo’s goat-seller

People whodestroyed Nigeria intheir 40 years of totalbrigandage areganging up as the“opposition” to returnus to where they leftus in 1999, andObasanjo hasbecome their fire-eating generalissimo

mentality and keep him tightlyleashed. Those were the dayswhen people like Nasir el Rufaiactually bolted to America andonly returned to become atroublemaker because Jonathanis a gentleman. This sameObasanjo troubled GeneralBabangida when the latter wasin power because Babangidarespected him. But when hetried it with General Abacha, weknow what happened.Obasanjo came out of jail in1998 looking like an exhumedcorpse.

Besides, Obasanjo is a masterin the game of hypocrisy. Helikes to call other people thieves,and he is the first to accuseanother person of being corrupt.The idea is to divert attentionfrom his own unquantifiabledeeds that fabulously enrichedhim, both as a military leaderand elected president. SoundSultan, one of Nigeria’s mostcreative avant-garde musicians,has a song he entitled: "One day

bushmeat go catch de hunter".In it he sang: “Ole de shoutole”.When you catch apickpocket red-handed, toavoid being lynched he beginsto shout: “ole!, ole!!”(Thief!Thief!!).Was it not underObasanjo that bags of moneymeant to induce lawmakers toimpeach a political enemy of thepresident were displayed in theHouse of Representatives? Yethe calls MPs “looters”.

When Abacha raised thepump prices of petroleum in1994 he established thePetroleum Trust Fund, PTF andused the proceeds to intervenein infrastructural reconstruction.Where did Obasanjo putproceeds of eight price hikesthat took fuel price from N22 toN65 per litre over eight years?At least, Jonathan ploughs backhis own increase from N65 toN97 into a fuel subsidy regimethat guarantees steady fuelsupply and funds for theimplementation of Subsidy Re-investment Programmes,SURE-P, nationwide. Fuelsubsidy was bedevilled bycorruption, but it is working. Weare enjoying it. But we can’t seeanything Obasanjo did with hisown extra N43 per litre. Billionswere sunk into the refineries butthey never worked. Billionswere wasted on IndependentPower Plants, but turbines wereimported and left for years atthe ports because they could notbe moved inland. Governmentcompanies were sold forpennies to fronts and cronies.But in four years, Jonathan haslaid down a clear agenda toovercome the challenges of thepower sector. It is very slow-going, but is moving forward,with zero reports of corruptionin the sector which is nowmainly in private hands.

Yes indeed, Jonathan has hisproblems as a leader. He is toolaid back about fightingcorruption. It doesn’t seem tobother him. President Jonathanis too much in the background

as my leader. I like my leadersthere up front, inspiring me withwords, deeds and examples. Ilike them tough and decisive,but always putting the interestof the nation first. I don’t likewalking up front and lookingback for my leader. Thirdly, Idon’t like the way Jonathan hashandled Boko Haram. If he haddone the needful things twoyears ago, we would not havethe second largest number ofdisplaced persons in the world,with parts of our territory underdevilish Salafist Islamists.

I also have reasons to believethat if the Jonathan regime wasgiven the support it needed, itwould have recorded moresuccesses than any other in ourhistory. The quest by regionalhawks to snatch power by allmeans, tied to the Boko Haramterror war and jackal-likeopposition, have taken a toll onall of us. No regime has beensabotaged by the same peopleit strives to save from theirenemies the way someNorthern leaders haveundermined the Jonathanregime. People who destroyedNigeria in their 40 years of totalbrigandage are ganging up asthe “opposition” to return us towhere they left us in 1999, andObasanjo has become their fire-eating generalissimo.

If Jonathan is a problem,Obasanjo created it by selectinghim to pair with a terminally illYar ’Adua, so that he (OBJ)would call the shots from Ota.Yar’ Adua and Jonathan werehis “Plan B” after he failed tograb third term. I agree withformer Speaker, House ofRepresentatives, Umar GhaliNa’Abba, that if Obasanjo looksinto the mirror he will see thetrouble with Nigeria.

The goat seller wants his goatback after pocketing his profit.Well, Nigeria is not Obasanjo’sgoat. The earlier he gets themessage the better for him –and us all.

CMYK

CMYK

DECEMBER 1, 2014

Continues on page 22THE unrelenting fall in the

price of crude oil is taking itstoll on the currencies of oil

producing countries, leading to either

LECTURE - From left: Mr Victor Famuyibo , President / Chairman of Council CIPM, Mrs OluseyiWilliams Head of Service, Lagos State and Guest Speaker , Mr Femi Mokikan, Chairman of 18thAnnual Public Lecture of CIPM Mr. Sunday Adeyemi , Registrar/ CEO CIPM. and Mrs Ifeoma AdeniyiNational TreasurerDuring the 18th Annual Public Lecture of Chartered Institute of PersonnelManagement of Nigeria (CIPM) in Lagos. Photo by Diran Oshe.

CRUDE PRICE FALL:

Naira devaluation to curb banks’ Eurobond desireRussian Ruble suffers 1.2% fall10% depreciation in Kazakhstani TengeMalaysia’s Ringgit hit five-year lows

By OMOH GABRIEL,BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE &PETER EGWUATU

outright devaluation or heavydepreciation of such nationalcurrencies. Companies in thesecountries that are exposed to foreignexchange denominated loans will behard pressed to pay back thosefacilities as they are now compelledto source more local currencies to pay

off such debt.For companies with foreign inputs

they will also be forced to source morelocal currencies at higher volume tocontinue operation. The Central Bankof Nigeria CBN, said it devalued thenaira to stem the continued depletionof the nation’s external reserve which

serve as backup for the local currencyto prevent Nigeria returning to thepre-1983 era of foreign exchangerationing.

Pre-SFEMsettlementIt will be recalled that in 1982 when

former president, Alhaji ShehuShagari introduced austerity measuresas a result of shortage of foreignexchange in the country, the CBNcould not provide cover for moneypaid by private sector operators intoits account to settle foreign suppliers.The loans eventually becamesovereign. About N2.6673 billion waspaid by importers into the commercialbanks that awaited foreign exchangecover from the Central Bank. A largeportion of the money had been paidinto the banks in 1983.

At the time, about N1.4285 billionwas paid to the Central Bank, whilethe balance of N1.2388 billion whichrepresents the advanced deposits paidby importers against letters of creditwas outstanding with banks.

The backlog was caused by foreignexchange scarcity, which hit thecountry as the nation’s reserve wasdepleted and could not pay for onemonth of imports. Accordingly, CBNcould not provide foreign exchangeto facilitate the transfer of the moneyto overseas creditors before theintroduction of the Second TierForeign Exchange Market (SFEM) in1986. The hike in exchange rates putthe importers who had already settledtheir bills in difficult position as theywere being asked by their bankers topay the new rates.

The importers, however, insisted thatit was not proper for the banks to askthem to pay the prevalent exchangerates. According to most importersthen, they paid in the N2.6673 billioninto banks when the exchange ratewas about N1.00 to $1.00. But with thedevaluation of the naira, the CentralBank issued a guideline in which thesettlement rate was fixed at the rateruling as at September 26, 1986 ofabout N1 to $1.5, and importers wereasked to pay the difference which,according to financial experts,amounted to N1.332 billion.

Nigerian banks' quest

Currencies nosedive inoil economies

Naira devaluationand the role ofnon-oil exportagencies Page 23

CMYK


Cover Story

Continues from page 17

The Basic Guide to StartingYour Business Part 5

AWARD: Prince Adeyemi Adefulu, MFR, President and Chairman of Council, Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce presenting 'Best CEO of the Year' Award to Mrs Bola Adesola,Managing Director / CEO, Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria during the Chamber's Presiden-tial Dinner & Award Night held in Lagos.

CRUDE PRICE FALL: Currenciesnosedive in oil economies

Continues on page 23

buying Turkish lira versusrouble as a proxy for oil. “Fora vast majority of emergingmarket countries, the sharpdecline in oil prices may helpreduce macrovulnerabilities,” SG wrote.“This means local rates aregoing to perform strongly inhigh-yielding markets whereinflation is set to decelerate.”

Indian and Turkish local 10-year yields plunged to 16-and 17-month lows onexpectations that cheaper oilwill lead to policy easing.Non-oil currencies were keptin check by a firmer dollar,though Indian stocks touchednew record highs, Chineseequity markets rose two percent while Istanbul hit six-month peaks.

The currency’s woes haveraised some fears about theimpact on the balance sheetsof companies and banks andhave been reflected in someof Nigeria’s top banks’Eurobonds. First BankHoldings 7-year Eurobondissued in June traded at 97.27after hitting a record low of96.85 on Monday. MeanwhileAccess Bank’s 7-yearEurobond issued the samemonth traded at a record lowof 97.89.

Effectson banks

Commenting on thepossible impacts on

banks, Bismarck Rewane,Managing Director/ChiefExecutive, FinancialDerivative Company said,“Banks capital adequacy rationow is much higher than inthe past. But there would bea gap, and that gap has to becovered. But they have

and local 10-year yieldssurging to levels last seen inDecember 2011.

“The market reaction is veryconventional. We seedivergence between thewinning countries over thedecline of oil prices and thelosing countries,” HSBCstrategist Murat Toprak said.The rouble has overshot - butif the oil price keeps goinglower like that, thismomentum may continue.”Three-month forwardsmeanwhile imply a 10 percent depreciation in oil-richKazakhstan’s Tenge.

In Nigeria, the Naira lost1.3 percent and dollar bondsfell, just like in Angola.Earlier, Malaysia’s Ringgithit five-year lows, forcing thecentral bank to step in.Societe Generale advised

for foreign bondsover

In the present circumstance,Nigerian banks’ that have inrecent time been rushing tothe international capitalmarket to raise funds willhave to think twice beforedoing so. The overseasborrowing fiesta looks to beover in the wake of dramaticcurrency devaluation lastweek, but while risks arerising, repaying existing debtcould be a problem for most.Nigerian companies haverushed in recent years to takeadvantage of rock-bottomglobal borrowing costs andinvestors’ hunger for yield,selling some $5 billion inhard currency bonds since2007, according to ThomsonReuters data. Of this, morethan $2 billion was raised thisyear by financial institutionsshoring up their balancesheets, Standard Charteredestimates.

Oil producers’currencies introuble

The oil price collapse hasprompted currencies

of oil economies from Nigeriato Malaysia to hit multi-yearor all-time lows. In Russia,where energy accounts fortwo-thirds of exports, therouble slumped 1.2 per centand headed for its biggestmonthly loss since 2009.Moscow's dollar-denominated stocks fell 2.6per cent, set for their fifthmonth in the red. Russianbonds were also sold off; withdollar debt spreads over U.S.Treasuries at three-year highs

The overseasborrowing bonanzalooks to be over in

the wake of dramaticcurrency devaluationlast week, but while

risks are rising,repaying existingdebt could be a

problem for most

WHO IS ANENTREPRENEUR?

There are many differingviews on what makes

someone an entrepreneur andwhat an entrepreneurialventure is. The term itself isbelieved to have originatedfrom French, coined by aFrench economist, Jean-Baptiste Say, in about 1800, whodefined an entrepreneur as“one who undertakes anenterprise , especially acontractor, acting asintermediary between capitaland labour”. But it was firstdefined in English by the Irisheconomist Richard Cantillon,as” a term applied to the type ofpersonality who is willing totake upon herself or himself anew venture or enterprise andaccepts full responsibility forthe outcome”. The definition ofentrepreneur is not limited, asvarious writers and worldrenowned entrepreneurs havegiven it various meanings. Forinstance, one of the greatmotivational speakers andwriters of our time RobertKiyosaki, in his book “RetireYoung, Retire Rich” defined anentrepreneur as “someone thatsees an opportunity, putstogether a team, and builds abusiness that profit from theopportunity”. As you can alreadysee, the word entrepreneur isinexhaustible. According to theMerriam-Webster online anentrepreneur is “one whoorganizes, manages, andassumes the risks of a businessor enterprise”. A more detailed

generally in competition withthemselves and believe thatsuccess or failure lies withintheir personal control orinfluence. So it is very importantfor you, when starting abusiness, to be sure that you canidentify opportunities, make themost of them and have thewherewithal to thrive even inthe midst of risks andunforeseen circumstances andthat is why carrying out a selfanalysis cannot be overemphasized.

Entrepreneurs are leaders,prime movers, authors,pacesetters, investors and riskbearers. They are usuallypioneers who strategize andformulate the rules for thegeneral interest of theenterprise for others to follow.An entrepreneur conceives anidea and brings it to life throughsystematic and well-articulatedplanning, driven by the passionand the need to achieveuncommon things. Anentrepreneur not only assumesresponsibility and the risk for abusiness operation with theexpectation of making a profit,the entrepreneur also generallydecides on the product,acquires the facilities, andbrings together the labour force,the capital and productionmaterials. Simply putentrepreneurs are people whochoose to see positivity wherenegativity abounds. Bear it inmind, however, that if abusiness succeeds, theentrepreneur reaps the rewardof profits; on the other hand, if

definition given byDaile Tucker, ane n t r e p r e n e u rherself, who in herown wordsdescribes anentrepreneur as “aperson who hasdecided to takecontrol of his futureand become selfemployed whetherby creating his ownunique business orworking as amember of a team”.

Something thatkeeps coming upabout entrepreneursis their ability to seeopportunities andmake the most of it,not minding therisks they willu n d e r t a k e .Entrepreneurs are

it fails, he or shetakes the loss.

S u c c e s s f u lentrepreneurs are notperfect people but arebrilliant, productive,and articulate; it takesboth the heart and thehead to successfullyrun anentrepreneurship.Also note that anentrepreneur is aninspirer, a motivator,a coach, a greatlistener, attentive,consistent andenthusiastic.

A lot of people gointo business for thesole reason of makingmoney; this is not agood idea. It’s not agood idea becausethe main ingredientfor success is missing.

Anentrepreneurconceives an

idea andbrings it tolife throughsystematicand well-

articulatedplanning,

driven by thepassion andthe need to

achieveuncommon

things


Cover StoryContinues from page 22


Crude oil pricese x t e n d e dtheir losses

and sunk to fresh four-yearlows late last week asexpectations of a cut in OPECoil production faded followingthe Saudi Arabian oilminister ’s comments a dayearlier. On the New YorkMercantile Exchange, light,sweet crude futures fordelivery in January traded at$72.22 a barrel, down $1.47.January Brent crude onLondon’s ICE Futuresexchange fell $1.92, or 2.5%,to $75.83 a barrel.

The continuing slide in crudeoil prices has led to thedevaluation of the naira.

Many Nigerians are into theblame game again talkingdown on the apex bank. TheCBN has been using thenation’s reserves to defend thenaira and it has gotten to thepoint where it can no longerdo so. Nigeria has devaluedthe naira each time there is acrash in oil prices.

It is sad that since 1986,Nigeria has embarked oneconomic adjustment that hasled nowhere. It has continuedto depend on crude oil exportfor much of its foreignexchange and revenue. Intime past, Nigeria boasted ofits resources from export ofcocoa, cotton, rubber andgroundnut. The expectation isthat by now, Nigeria would nolonger be exporting rawproduce but semi or finishedproducts. It is sad that Nigeriain this age and time, stillexports crude oil and importsrefined petroleum products inwhich a lot of foreignexchange is expended.

It exports raw cocoa andimports chocolate etc. Nigeriahas no business importingrefined petroleum products,chocolate, cotton, rubber andvegetable oil. Importation ofthese products hasencouraged capital flight fromNigeria.

The capital flight that hit theNigerian economy hascontinued unabated as

Naira devaluation and the roleof non-oil export agencies

individuals and corporate bodies are stillmoving funds massively out of the country aswell as changing from naira to dollar. In fourweeks, a total of $4.7 billion went out of thecountry. For instance, the amount of foreignexchange flowing out of the country rose to

$1.402 billion in a week. Itmoved astronomically to$1.071 billion. The foreignexchange outflow went furtherup to $2.019 billion. This givesa total of $4.701 billion in fourweeks for which data wereavailable. Indications are thatat this rate, the country willfinish up the reserves and willface acute shortage of foreignexchange for imports.

Unless and until Nigeriabegins to add value to itsprimary produce, the localcurrency will continue to beweak and face devaluationwhenever there is externalshock. From 1967 to 1970,Nigeria fought a civil warwithout going into debt. Afterthe civil war, developmentplans were embarked upon,Nigeria’s public finance wassound and healthy. But withthe oil boom in the late 70s,the government and people ofNigeria focused only on easymoney and threw the baby andthe bath water through thewindow by neglecting itstraditional sources of revenue.

Export-oriented institutionslike Nigerian Import ExportBank (NEXIM) and NigeriaExport Promotion Council(NEPC) that would havehelped the nation generatemore foreign exchange havebeen criminally neglected bypast administrations.

Mr. Robert Orya, ManagingDirector of NEXIM, had saidthat in 2012, NEXIM tradefinance was in the region ofN7.3 billion which sawNigeria earning $58.655million, with 4,386 new jobscreated. Also in 2013, the bankassisted in financing N9.435billion worth of exports fromNigeria which resulted againin the creation of an estimated5, 661 jobs and foreignexchange earnings of $75.746million. In the first five monthsof 2014, the bank spent N5.106

billion financing non-oilexport and has alreadyprovided $27.3 million inguarantee to exporters. It isestimated that about 24,139jobs have been created thisyear alone through the bank’sintervention in non-oilexports.

Confirming growth in non-oil exports, the Central Bankof Nigeria said in its 2013annual report that Nigeria’snon-oil exports that yearreached $2.97 billion by year-

end, up from $2.56 billionrecorded in 2012, a 16 per centincrease. In addition, non-oilexports to members of theEconomic Community of WestAfrican States (ECOWAS)reported a remarkableimprovement of 20 per cent,with a total value of $375.339million, as against $312.478million recorded in 2012. Thisis also a huge improvementfrom $276.527 million reportedin 2011.

Cocoa and cocoapreparations have continuedto dominate the top 10products exported fromNigeria to different parts ofthe world, according to thereport, during the interactivesession between the NEPCand ManufacturersAssociation of Nigeria ExportPromotion Group. In 2013, forinstance, a total of$758,640,303 worth of cocoaand cocoa preparations wasexported, translating to 36 percent of world export. This wasfollowed by sheep, goat skinand leather, sesame seeds,aluminum, rubber, tobaccoproducts, cotton yarn, andwoven fabrics. Othersincluded copper, cashew nutsand edible nuts, prawn,shrimps, fish and crustaceans.

Nigeria is currentlyexporting tobacco products,plastics and rubber footwear,noodles and biscuits,polythene bags, milkproducts, iron and steel,insecticides, beverages,tomato paste and fruit juice toAfrican countries like Ghana,

Niger, Togo, Benin Republic,Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali,among others.

Revenues from crude oilsales account for nearly 90 percent of monthly allocations tofederal, state and localgovernments by theFederation AccountsAllocation Committee (FAAC).

Mbam former chairman ofthe body described therevenues from solid mineralsas very positive in the presentadministration’s bid todiversify the economy. Thesignificance of thisdevelopment may be lost tomany Nigerians. For the firsttime in years, the solidminerals sector is contributingto the federation account. Tohave generated N1.7billionfrom solid minerals fordistribution among the threetiers of government is anopportunity the nation shouldgrab and encourage a furtherdevelopment of the non oilsector.

If this government decides tofocus on non-oil sector, it canin a matter of four years turnthe tide over the nation’scontinued dependence on oil.There is no magic in theexchange rate phenomenon. Ifan economy is productive andexport-oriented, the higherthe exchange rate, the cheaperits product to importers. Thisis why a country like Japanand now are not so muchbothered by the exchange rate.Nigerians must wake up andmake their economyproductive.

It is sad thatsince 1986,Nigeria has

embarked oneconomic

adjustment thathas led nowhere.It has continued

to depend oncrude oil exportfor much of its

foreign exchangeand revenue.


enough of buffers, capitalbuffers to cover the gap, sothere is no question aboutthat. Definitely it wouldaffect their profitability in theshort run, but it won’t affecttheir liquidity confidence.

In the same vein, Mr.Opeyemi Agbaje, SeniorConsultant/CEO, RTCAdvisory Services Limitedsaid, “Anybody that has adollar exposure obviously, hisdebt would have increased.But I am sure the banks havecovered that risk becauseeverybody knew thedevaluation is imminent.

Everybody knew that there isno way this exchange rate cansurvive beyond March. Soeverybody that has a dollarexposure especially a bank,knowing that devaluation wasinevitable, would havecovered that exposure. I wantto imagine, they would havetried their best to cover thatexposure by putting dollars intheir portfolio, especiallybecause CBN was still

providing them with cheapdollars.

“So they would have coveredthat exposure. But yes it is areal issue, whether they coverit or not, it is still a real issue.That cost has gone up by about10 percent; the cost ofservicing those debts has goneup by about 10 percent. But itgoes beyond the banks. Itaffects anybody that has dollarexposure, even if it is payment

of school fees. But for banks,it is significant, I am onlyspeculating, that I am sure,because they areprofessionals with their jobs,and it was clear that it wasinevitable, they would havetried to cover that risk. Yes inthe short term, next year, twoyears' time, yes you can expectthat the banks will havechallenges with theirprofitability”.

Ratings agency Fitch alsopointed to the nairadevaluation potentiallyspelling trouble for firms’ability to service the foreigncurrency debt they owedNigerian lenders, with aknock-on effect on banks’ assetquality.

“Inflationary pressures fromthe devaluation could alsoaffect consumer disposableincome and banks’ retailloans,” Fitch said in a notepublished last week.

Richard Segal, emergingmarkets analyst at Jefferies,noted that Nigerian banks'


CMYK

Cover Story



the Naira, maintained thatraising the Monetary PolicyRate, MPR and Cash ReserveRatio, CRR would affect profitmargins of manufacturers inthe country and thus mayattract inflation.

“The devaluation is almostinevitable given the situationwe have found ourselves asregards the falling oil pricesand given that the value ofthe naira has depreciatedsignificantly at the inter-bankmarket.

“But raising the MPR andprivate sector CRR wasunnecessary and can be saidto be an over kill. If you lookat the list of items that wererecently removed from theRDAS for importers, you willknow that importers now getdollars at a very high cost.

“So, what the central bankhas done will affect the costof production, profit marginsof organisations will drop andthe cost of goods and serviceswill increase,” he said.

To the Sub-Saharan AfricaEconomist at RenaissanceCapital, Yvonne Mhango, thecentral bank’s decision wouldlead to greater flexibility ofthe exchange rate.

According to her, theadjustment of the exchangerate band implies that thenew target (official) exchangerate band is N160-176/$1.

“This is typical of the centralbank – they adjust to wherethe market is trading. Fall inoil price has underminedreserves position, andweakened central bank’sability to defend the naira.Forex reserves currentlystand at seven months ofimport cover.

“Low oil prices are here tostay. MPC believes we are inan episode of low oil prices,

where fall in oil prices ispermanent,” she explained.

The Head, Africa MacroResearch, StandardChartered Bank, Razia Khanwho described the centralbank’s decision as a bigsurprise also noted that themoves showed that thecentral bank has absolutecommitment to dealing withcurrent challenges.

“They have not shied awayfrom the tightening needed tosustain current forexreserves. The officialdevaluation of the nairaallows the RDAS to movewithin the range thatstraddles the interbank forexrate.

“While the market reactionto the RDAS move in thenear-term will be important,we think that these measuresdeal as comprehensively aspossible with the challengesfacing Nigeria.

“While Nigeria cannot domuch to influence the oilprice, the combination ofmeasures today sends apowerful signal to allstakeholders on the CBN’sintent to do what it can topreserve macroeconomicstability,” she stated.

The Chief Executive Officer,Enterprise Stockbrokers, Mr.Rotimi Fakayejo, expressedthe view that the devaluationwould be positive for thecapital market.

This, he explained, wasbecause it would attractforeign funds into the marketas the equities were currentlycheap and the dollar wouldgive more naira.

He added that the movemight also ease the impact ofthe political uncertainty in thecountry.

According to him The wayit has been, there islikelihood that this (nairadevaluation) would overridethe political uncertainty,” hesaid stressing that manyforeign investors knew thatNigeria would overcome thecurrent situation.

“We have been in situationsthat are more difficult thanthis. Also, by the time theparty primaries have takenplace, there is going to bemore stability in the market.”

Fakayejo also said the gainsof the last two day of equitytrading could be linked to themove.

“When you look at the kindof volume it is easy to inferthat. It had been speculatedthat the naira was going to bedevalued and the immediateimpact of that is the attractionof funds into the market andthat has already startedhappening,” he said.

UNVEILING - From left Mr Joseph Shitanta, Chief Operating Officer, African Cable TV; MrsMowunmi Fatoju, Marketing Consultant, Bridge House College, Ikoyi; Mr Geofrey Orketh,MD/CEO, African Cabke TV; Mrs Foluke Abdul-Rasaq, Vice President, Bank Director Associationof Nigeria and Hon Don Etim, Commissioner of Works, Akwa Ibom State at the unveiling ofAfrican Cable Television in Lagos. Photo Lamidi Bamidele.

running the foreignexchange, CBN has to bevery bold and that is exactlywhat they did.

“For the economy, we are animport dependent nation andif oil prices keep going down.There may be economic slowdown so it is good to tightenour belt.

Another operator in thenation’s capital market whopleaded anonymity said, “ Itwas imperative going by whatis happening to the keyproduce, which is the oil thatinforms the devaluation. Soit was also appropriate andlong expected since the nairahas not been defendent onthe dollar.

The Chief Executive Officer,Financial DerivativesCompany Limited, Mr.Bismarck Rewane, said thedevaluation of the Naira wasthe right move because thecountry’s revenue was down,explaining that before thedevaluation, foreign investorshad been selling their sharesto take their money out, “butnow that the value has beenestablished that will stop.

According to him“Devaluation would help stopinvestors that were trying topull out of the country fromdoing so. The decisions takenby members of the committeewere “a very frank assessmentof the economy. MonetaryPolicy Committee, MPCdecisions established theindependence of the centralbank.

“They moved in the rightdirection and anytime youmove prices to equilibrium,the economy moves in thatdirection. The exchange ratewas priced in a distortedmanner and with the MPCdecision, it is gradually

getting to equilibrium and sothe amount of imbalance wouldbe reduced.”

On his part, the ManagingDirector/Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Cowry AssetManagement Limited, Mr.Johnson Chukwu argued thatthe devaluation of the nation’scurrency would lead to highcost of goods and services,saying that manufacturerswould pass the high cost offorex to consumers.Furthermore, Chukwu notedthat it would lead to an uptickin inflation rate.

However, the DirectorGeneral of the Lagos

Chamber of Commerce andIndustry (LCCI), Mr. MudaYusuf who welcomed thedecision to officially devalue

debt had performed far worsethan the sovereign as thenaira weakened but he added:

“Neither the ability to pay ofthe banks, nor the capacity ofthe government to supportthem, has declinedsignificantly.” One reason isthat many Nigerian bankslend in foreign currency,predominantly U.S. dollars, tomajor companies active in thedominant oil, gas and powersectors. This has boostedbanks’ assets and loansdenominated in currenciesother than the naira.

“A lot of the balance sheetsof these Nigerian banks arealready dollarised,” said KatoMukuru, head of equitiesresearch at brokerage Exotix.One thing is for sure:abundant Nigerian Eurobondissuance is unlikely tocontinue in the same volumeas before. The central bankthis week also imposedtighter restrictions on banks’foreign currency borrowing.“It is not the sameenvironment...the wholeissuance of the eurobond islikely to recede,” StandardChartered’s Gadio said.

Naira devaluation:No effect oncapital market,economy

Some stakeholders in thefinancial sector have

continued to react on therecent devaluation of theNaira, saying it would nothave fundamental effects onthe financial markets,especially the capital marketbut may create artificialinflation in the country.

They commended thedevaluation of the Naira(Nigeria’s legal tender) bythe Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) to a new officialexchange rate at N168 to theUnited States (US) dollar fromits previous rate of N155.

The move was stemmed fromthe recent free-fall of the Nairaresulting from global oil pricedecline and high dollardemand. Also, benchmarkinterest rate was increased to13 per cent from 12 per cent;indicating an appreciation of100 basis points.

Right stepCommenting on the

devaluation, Mr. MichaelOyebola, Managing Director/Chief Investment Officer FBNCapital Asset Managementcommended the action andsaid it was a step in the rightdirection.

According to him “We arehaving a naira which is over-valued. CBN has to dosomething because ofdevaluation and oil pricefalling and for CBN to stemthe ability for banks to keep

What thecentral bankhas done willaffect the costof production,profit margins

oforganisationswill drop and

the cost ofgoods and

services willincrease


Business & Economy

The Raw MaterialResearch and

Development Council,RMRDC, has emphasized theneed for the FederalGovernment to formulatepolicies that will enhancedevelopment of herbalindustry and facilitate thejudicial and sustainableutilization of Medicinal andAromatic Plants, MAPs.

The council also said thereis need for rapid enhancementof research, development andcommercialization of ‘suchnatural medicinal products inNigeria where similar naturalforest endowments abound’.

Delivering a paper at theclosing ceremony of 2014HerFest, tagged;“Commercial Cultivation ofNigeria’s MAPs as Rawmaterial for Natural ProductsDevelopment in Nigeria:Incentives & Challenges”,Director General/CEO,RMRDC, Dr. Hussaini DokoIbrahim, said that ifeffectively harnessed, theindustry can make asignificant contribution to thenational GDP.

“The protection given tomedicinal plants could beachieved through regulationand the introduction ofsustainable wild harvestingmethods, but the domesticcultivation is an option thatcould both reduce pressure onwild populations and solvesome of the problems inherent

PRESENTATION - Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa, member, Federal House of Representative from IkoroduConstituency (right) presenting a Toyota Haice bus key and document to Alhaja Tafikat Allison,Iyaloja General of Ikorodu and Chief Moshood Laketu, Babaloja of Ikorodu during the presentation ofthe bus donated to Ikorodu market women and Men in Ikorodu, Lagos.

RMRDC seeks government protectionfor herbal sectorBy NKIRUKA NNOROM

in the production of medicinalplant.

“This ranges from resourcemanagement, cultivation,shifting processing fromconsumer to source countries,species conservation to traderestriction or even tradebans,” he said.

To ensure long term survivalof the herbal sector, he saidthat there is need tocollaborate with thetraditional practitioners andintegrate their practices intomodern Research &Development, R&D.

“Despite the variouschallenges facing processing

and marketing of MAPs andtheir derivative raw materialsdevelopment, Nigeria can stillimprove and excel in thisvirgin area if the issues ofserious commitment, energyand resource mobilization aswell as government politicalwill are adequatelyaddressed. All Asian countriesincluding China, India andMalaysia started severaldecades ago fromsomewhere.

Looking at the global trendand specifically at countrieslike China, India, Malaysiaetc, it is evidently very clearthat Nigeria is obviously left

behind in naturalproducts R&D,” he said.

World-wide, he saidthat an estimated 9,000(nine thousand)medicinal plant speciesare threatened. “As aresult, conservationconcepts and measureswhich have to meet futuresupply and the provisionof species throughconservation need to beput in place.”

Speaking on the marketpotential, he said theglobal market value ofMAP’s is estimated atUS$ 75 000-150 000million annually, whilethe demand for medicinalplant based raw materialsis growing at the rate of15 to 25 percent annually.

He noted that accordingto an estimate of WHO,the demand for medicinalplants is likely to increasemore to than US $5 trillionin 2050. Speaking, theDirector General, NigeriaNatural MedicineDevelopment Agency,NNMDA, Mr. TamunorOkujagu, said that theherbal industry has thecapacity to generate hugeincome for the country,while calling on thegovernment to put moreresources into the sector.

He said that generallythe government has putin place several schemes,the small and mediumschemes, the microschemes to supportentrepreneurs, addingthat recently thegovernment mappedN220 billion into thiskind of scheme.

Dr. Obida Wafure of the EconomicsDepartment, University of Abuja,

says the recent devaluation of naira by theCentral Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will havepositive and negative ripple effects on theeconomy.

Speaking with the News Agency ofNigeria (NAN) in Gwagwalada, FCT,Wafure, said that the devaluation wouldencourage local industries and also bringabout closure of many that depend mainlyimported raw materials.

The CBN had on Tuesday in Abujaannounced the devaluation of naira byN13 as part of measures the bank saidwere aimed at strengthening the nation’seconomy.

“Once a currency is devalued, there arenegative and positive effects to theeconomy, especially at the value chain ofevery nation state, but the negative effectsupersedes the positive effects. Thenegative effect is that it will increase therate of importation and so many industrieswill be shut down as they will not afford to

Naira devaluation'll have mixed effects oneconomy, says varsity don

import some raw materials.“It will also lead to unemployment and

lower the production capacity and therebybring about inflation as the GrowthDomestic Production (GDP) growth ratewill fall.

“Our GDP growth rate is measured bythe activities in the economy, so by thetime inflation is going on, the economicactivity of the country will fall.‘’

Wafure defined devaluation as when acurrency is deliberately lowered to thevalue of the money of one country whenexchanged with another country ’scurrency and depreciation when lowerednaturally. On the appointment of theMinister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs.Dieziani Allison-Madueke, as the firstfemale OPEC President, the don describedthe development as a step in the rightdirection. He said that her appointmenthad lifted the image of Nigeria andwomen, particularly in Africa andinternationally and would furtherencourage women.

Multichoice to giveout cars in Supercruise promo

Prospective and existingsubscribers of

Multichoice Nigeria, pay-tvplatform, Digital SatelliteTelevision,DStv and GOtv willstand a chance of winning of20 Kia Rio cars, among otherprizes, with the launch of theMultiChoice Super CruisePromo.

General ManagerMarketing, MultiChoiceNigeria, Martin Mabutho,while addressing the media atthe launch of the promotion, inIkeja, Lagos, recently, saidMultiChoice was committed toconsistently rewarding its loyalcustomers always.

He stressed that apart fromthe 20 Kia Rio cars,MultiChoice would also giveaway 100 Plasma TV screens,or 30 DStv Exploras decodersto DStv and GOtv subscribers.

Mabutho explained that toenter for the promotion, all thatsubscribers need to do is to buya DStv decoder which comeswith a dish and pay threemonths subscription on eitherCompact, Family or AccessBouquets.

“It’s so simple, once you buythe decoder and pay threemonths subscription, youautomatically qualify for theweekly draw where you couldwin any of the amazing prizes,”he remarked.

Existing DStv subscribers canalso enter the competition byensuring they remain connectedfor three months.

Startimes launchesfree decoder give-away promo

As part of its commitmentto commemorate thefestive season and

ensure every Nigerian enjoysdigital TV experience, Pay-TVprovider, NTA-Star NetworkStarTimes, has commenced afree decoder give-awaypromos for everyone duringthe yuletide season.The offer, according to astatement by the company, iscoming ahead of the 2015digital switch over and isaimed at offering everyNigerian an opportunity toown set-boxes required forquality digital TV experience.The company noted that fromNovember 18, 2014 to January31, 2015, StarTimes will begiving away one freeStarTimes decoder toeveryone who subscribes forone month unique bouquet orfor two months classicsubscription.


Banking & Finance

AGM - From left: Mr. Ade Shonubi, MD/CEO- NIBSS; Alhaji Suleiman Barau, ChairmanNIBSS & Deputy Governor Operations – CBN; and Mr. Oladele Agboola, Company Secretary,NIBSS PLC at the 2014 AGM of the company held in Lagos.

Nigeria InterbankSettlement System

(NIBSS) said thatelectronic paymentthrough Point of Sale(PoS) terminals has risenby 191 percent to N241billion in 2014.

The company alsoreported 249 percentincrease in its profit beforetax, which rose to N2.82billion for the year endedDecember 31st 2013.

Chairman of NIBSS andDeputy Governor,Operations, Central Bankof Nigeria (CBN), AlhajiSuleiman Barau disclosedthis at the 2014 annualgeneral meeting of thecompany held in Lagos onFriday.

Addressing shareholdersof the company, Barausaid, “The financialperformance of ourCompany was greatlyimpacted by theimpressive businessactivities recorded duringthe year. Gross Incomegrew by 32.33 percent topeak at N5.13 billion, upfrom the N3.88billionrecorded in 2013. Weclosed the year with aProfit Before Taxation(PBT) of N2.82 billionrepresenting a growth of249.31% over prior yearfigure of N806.59million.

“NIBSS has witnessedtremendous growth inelectronic payment trendson its platforms asconsumers spendinghabits increasingly shifttowards the use ofalternative e-paymentchannels aside theAutomated TellerMachines (ATM). This isevidenced by the historicrecording of over10,000,000 e- paymenttransactions on itsplatforms during themonth of July 2014compared to the averagemonthly transactionvolume of 8,075,000 in2013. This represents 24%growth and is a clearindication of the potentialfor e-payments in Nigeriaand also the need forgreater attention andinvestments to enhanceNIBSS infrastructure.

“Both the NIBSSElectronic Fund Transfer(NEFT) and NIBSSInstant Payment (NIP)products have enjoyedsteady adoption over the

PoS transactions rises 191% to N241bn,says NIBSS

By BABAJIDEKOMOLAFE

years, enhanced by the CBNmandate for Government andCorporate entities to make allsalary and administrativepayments electronic.

“The volume of NEFTtransactions increased by29.51% from 29.20million(N13.61trillion) in 2013 to37.82million (N14.93trillion)in 2014 while customers’affinity towards instantpayment has seen NIP growvolume by 204.03% from9.22million (N7.6trillion) in2013 to 28.03million(N15.80trillion) in 2014.

“Cheque clearing as a keyproduct of NIBSS haveevolved over time from being

purely paper-based toelectronic via theimplementation of theCheque Truncation System(CTS) deployed by NIBSS tothe Banking Industry.Through CTS, clearing periodhas reduced from T+3 to T+2in Nigeria and consequently,Cheques processingincreased to 15.40million(N7.79trillion) in 2014compared to the 12.23million(N7.15trillion) recorded in2013 representing an increaseof 25.96%. “NIBSS serves asthe Payments TerminalService Aggregator (PTSA)for the financial industry aspart of the Cashless Nigeria

Initiative which requires allPoS terminal operating withinNigeria to connect directly toNIBSS through the NIBSSCentral TerminalManagement System(CTMS).

“The CBN CashlessInitiative which was firstpiloted in 6 states aside Lagoswas extended nationwide inJuly 2014. The incrediblegrowth in PoS transactionvolume by 191.24% to15.17million (N241.51billion)in 2014 from the 5.21million(N95.29billion) in 2013 furthertestifies to the successfulstory of PoS deployment inNigeria.”

Committee of e-banking Heads ofNigeria (CeBIH) has called for a

regulatory environment that promotesinnovation in the epayment industry.

CeBIH Chairman, Mr. Tunde Kuponiyimade this call during the annual retreat ofthe group held in Abuja, with the theme,“Payment System Vision 2020 – Creatingan enabling environment through policyregulations”.

He said, “For the industry to prosper andfor innovation to thrive, a soundcomplementary regulatory framework isvery much required. Such a frameworkshould provide a level playing field for allplayers to enable the customer to exercisehis choices as regards choosing a particularservice provider. Other importantcomponents for such a regulatoryframework would also encompass customerprotection issues, fraud prevention issues,security related issues and fair pricing.

Also speaking at the retreat, JohnChaplin, a global retail payment expertadvocated smart regulation for the paymentsystem in Nigeria. He said though banksdesire less regulation, regulation is criticalto sustainable competition which isnecessary for the growth of the paymentindustry. He said banks however have aright to better and smarter regulation.

“Frequent rule changes are a sign of bad

CeBIH calls for regulation that promotes innovation

regulation and deter investment, industrymust actively work with regulators toachieve a good outcome. Clear, consistent,even handed and risk-based regulation isthe goal”, he said. Speaking further, he saidthat, “Leaving the market to market forceswill lead to higher cost, which would driveout everybody. Hence the aim of regulationshould is drive down cost”.

Kuponiyi said that the retreat was designedto discourse the changes and challenges ofthe Payment Vison 2020 20 in Nigeria andhow this should lead to a paradigm shift inthe way banks are doing their business,retaining and increasing their customerbase. “The basic underlying current thatruns through this changing landscape is theever increasing reliance on technology tocater to the needs of customers and processvast number of transactions includingpayment transactions”, he said.Commenting on some of the policiesintroduced by the CBN to enhanceepayment in the country, Kuponiyi said,“The question is, are these positivestrategic interventions toward therealisation of the vision 2020 20 or are theyfragmented policies that will produce littleor no impact in the overall scheme of things?I believe that some of the policies havepointed the industry to the direction of thegoldmine.

Union Bankintroduces hybridaccount for SMEsUnion Bank of Nigeria

Plc. has introduced anew hybrid business account,specially tailored to cater tothe needs of small businesses.

The new UnionEnterpriseHybrid Account givesgrowing businesses theflexibility of a current accountwith the benefits of a savingsaccount.

It is suitable for businessessuch as co-operative societies,trade associations,professional bodies, socialclubs and Non-governmentalorganizations.

Speaking about the newproduct, Mr. FunwaAkinmade, Head of RetailLiabilities at Union Bank said,“Small businesses areintegral to the Nigerianeconomy and it is importantthat we develop the rightproducts and services tosupport them.

The launch of theUnionEnterprise HybridAccount is our way ofsupporting small businessesthrough competitive andspecialized offerings that aredesigned to help them grow.”

UBA launchesCashless Decemberto encourageepaymentUnited Bank for Africa

(UBA) Plc hasannounced incentives toencourage the bank’scustomers to use electronicchannels for their transactionsin December. Tagged UBACashless December, theinitiative is aimed atencouraging non-cashtransactions, in line with theCBN’s cashlite agenda.

From December 1 toDecember 31 2014, UBAcustomers who dotransactions on U-Mobile, U-Direct or pay with their Cardson the web and POS stand achance to win great prizes. Inaddition, Cardholders whouse the bank’s ATM value-added services such as billpayment, airtime top up andfunds transfer are eligible.

Prizes to be won includeiPhone 6, airtime for phones,movie tickets, and shoppingvouchers. These incentivesare for new and existing UBACustomers.

“Going cashless during thisfestive period is not onlyconvenient, but it alsoenhances your personal safetyand protects your hard earnedmoney” explained Dr. YinkaAdedeji, the Bank’s DivisionalHead of e-Banking.

Records 249% increases in profitability

CMYK


Banking & Finance

By BABAJIDEKOMOLAFE

N15 percent. Thesedecisions were aimed atarresting the persistentdepreciation of the naira,and restore calm andstability to the foreignexchange market. Theincrease in MPR was alsoaimed at encouragingforeign exchange inflowsfrom foreign portfolioinvestors.

Vanguard investigationhowever revealed thatthese measures might nothave the desired impactdue to expectation offurther depreciation of thenaira. Speaking oncondition of anonymity,Head Treasurer of a Tier 2Bank told Vanguard thatexpectation of furtherdepreciation is prevalent inthe market. Thisexpectation, he said isdriven by developments inthe international crude oilmarket and continueddecline in the externalreserves. “With decline incrude oil prices expected topersist, following theoutcome of the OPECmeeting last week, and thecontinued decline inexternal reserve, thegeneral belief is that theCBN might have to furtherdevalue the Naira”.

According to a top bureauxde change operator, there isexpectation that Nairawould fall to N200 perdollar in the parallel market.“Right now there is nodollar. Some people arebegging for dollars to buy,while those who have saidthey would only sell when

Naira depreciationpersists in interbank,parallel market

•External reserves down by $1.61bn asCBN sells $2.6bn•N415bn inflow deflates cost of funds

The Naira fell to an alltime low against the

dollar at the interbank andparallel exchange marketsdespite measuresannounced by the CentralBank of Nigeria (CBN).

At the interbank market,the Naira lost another 160kobo against the dollar asthe interbank rate rose toan all time high of N178.70per dollar. Consequently,the naira depreciated byN13.05 or 7.87 percentagainst the dollar inNovember.

Similarly at the parallelmarket, the Naira lost N17against the British PoundsSterling, as N190exchanged for one poundas at the end of Friday fromN173 the previous week.

Foreign exchange dealersattributed the continueddepreciation of the dollar toinadequate supply in themarket. The inadequatesupply it was gathered isbeing aggravated byexpectation of furtherdepreciation of the naira.

Last week the CBNannounced 8.4 percentdevaluation of the Naira bymoving the midpoint of theofficial exchange rate toN168 per dollar from N155.The apex bank alsotightened money supply byraising the Monetary PolicyRate (MPR) to 13 percentfrom 12 percent, and banks'cash reserve requirement(CRR) for private sectordeposit to 20 percent from

the rate hits N200 perdollar.

A market analyst whospoke on anonymity saidthat the CBN needs to bemore coordinated in itsforeign exchangemanagement approach sothat the decisions of theMPC can have the desiredimpact. He noted that withthe devaluation of theNaira, the official exchangerate and the interbank rateshould fall within the newexchange rate band of plusor minus N168. But nowthe interbank rate is far outof this band, and it wouldcontinue except the CBNamends some of the recent

policy measures. He saidthe recent exclusion of sixitems from official marketand transfer to theinterbank market should bereversed, while the CBNshould increase dollar salesat RDAS to meet demand."By so doing, the CBNwould be able to ascertainthe amount of demand, andalso reduce pressure on theinterbank rate and enhanceappreciation of the Naira inthe interbank market. Rightnow, the market keeps onabsorbing interventiondollars sold by the apexbank, without clearindication of what thedollars are beingdemanded for," he said.

*External reservedown by $1.61bn asCBN sells $2.6bn

Meanwhile thenation’s external

reserve fell by $1.61 billionlast month to $36.85 billionas at November 27th from,N38.46 billion.Consequently the externalreserve has fallen by $7.08billion this year, from 43.93billion. The decline inreserves reflects increasedforeign exchange sales bythe CBN in its bid todefend the Naira.

Last week, the CBNincreased dollars sale by 50percent at the bi-weeklyRetail Dutch AuctionSystem (RDAS). Results ofthe RDAS sessionsconducted during the weekshow that dollar sale roseto $765.85 million from$511 million the previousweek, indicating 49.9percent increase. Further

analysis show that the CBNsold $2.6 billion through theRDAS sessions inNovember, down by 13percent from $3 billion soldin October. Consequentlythe CBN has sold $31.7billion through the RDASsessions in 2014,representing 24.9 percenthigher than the $25.37billion sold in 2013. Thishowever excludes directdollar sales by the CBN tobanks to intervene in theinterbank market.

N415bn inflowdeflates costof funds

Cost of lending in theinterbank money

market fell by 800 basispoints following inflow ofN415 billion from maturedtreasury bills.

On Wednesday, the CBNdebited banks for theincrease in CRR to 20percent from 15 percentannounced on Tuesday.This led to the outflow ofabout N500 billion from theinterbank money market,prompting sharp increasein cost of lending. As aresult, average short terminterbank interest rates rosefrom 10.3 percent theprevious week to 20.65percent on Wednesday.However on Thursday, themarket experienced inflowof N415 billion as a result ofpayment for maturedtreasury bills. The inflowprompted sharp decline incost of funds betweenThursday and Friday, withaverage short term ratesclosing at 11.73 percent.

The CBN has sold$31.7 billion

through the RDASsessions in 2014,representing 24.9

percent higher thanthe $25.37 billion

sold in 2013


BY FAVOURNNABUGWU

Oil drops to 4 -year low asOPEC decisionhits oil stocks

Oil slid to a four-yearlow after OPEC kept

its oil production unchangedat the end of its meeting onThursday, dragging downshares of energy companies,Gulf-region stocks, and theNorwegian krone.Government bonds rose,with yields in Europe fallingto record lows.

West Texas Intermediatecrude tumbled 6.3 percent to$69.05 a barrel, and Brentfell below $72 a barrel forthe first time since 2010. TheStoxx Europe 600 Index roseas data showed record-lowGerman unemployment,while Canadian energyshares slid the most since2011. Qatar and Oman ledstocks lower in the Gulf, andNorway’s krone retreated toa five-year low. France’s 10-year yield declined belowone percent for the first timeon record. Brazil’s Ibovespafluctuated as formerTreasurer Joaquim Levywas appointed as financeminister.

OPEC maintained itscollective ceiling of 30million barrels a day, AliAl-Naimi, Saudi Arabia’s oilminister, said after thegroup’s meeting in Vienna.

European stocksrise as DAX jumpsfor 11th day

European stocksextended a two-month

high, as the DAX (DAX)Index rose for an 11th dayafter Germany’s jobless ratereached a record low.Energy stocks fell the mostin eight weeks after OPECdecided to keep its oil-outputtarget.

The Stoxx Europe 600Index climbed 0.4 percent to347.49 at the close of trading.The DAX rose 0.6 percent,for its longest rally sinceMay 2013, as a reportshowed the number of peopleout of work in Germany fellmore than analysts hadforecast. The unemploymentrate was 6.6 percent,matching the revised numberfor the previous month. Thatfollows the Ifo institute’sNov. 24 report showing thenation’s business confidenceimproved. A separaterelease today showedeconomic sentiment in theeuro area unexpectedlyincreased in November.

PRESENTATION - From right: Permanent Secretary, Teachers Establishment and Pensions Office (TEPO)in Lagos State, Otunba Nurudeen Ojora-Adejiyan; the Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye;Managing Director, Credit Direct Limited (CDL), Mr. Akinwande Ademosu; the Company’s Regional Head,Lagos & South-West, Mr. Abiodun Adigun and Head, Human Resources, Mr. Tunji Oladimeji, at the presentationof a bus to TEPO by CDL as part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility programmes in Lagos.

Protect our investment— Shareholders tell SEC

Shareholders in thenation’s capitalmarket have cried to

the Securies and ExchangeCommission, SEC, to showmore interest in theirinvestment by protecting theirfunds from going down thedrain.

It is on record that Nigerianshareholders have hadreasons in the past tocomplain about some of thechallenges that have short-changed them.

Such complaints rangedfrom their inability to claimtheir dividends, to lack ofinformation on how themarket grows, as well as whatsome described as excessiveuse of pool voting by somecompanies to rip off a certainclass of shareholders.

Others have complainedabout the harsh businessenvironment that have notallowed companies to makegood profit so that to pay outbetter dividends to itsshareholders; while otherscomplained of the inability ofgovernment, through itsregulating agencies to clean upthe environment.

When Vanguard spoke tosome shareholders, theycommended the commissionfor the training; theyhowever, expressed divergentviews on regulatory roles ofSEC while some argued thatthere was nothing to cheerabout.

For instance, BonifaceOkezie, President ofProgressive ShareholdersAssociation of Nigeria(PSAN), was one of thosewho expressed such thoughts.He said such companies thatdeclared their dividends fortheir shareholders should becommended because theycould have invented anyexcuse to refuse to paydividends, or even decide toplow the little profits theymade back into the business

“It is good that investors arecoming to be enlightened, youhave something to take homethat you have learnt, you willbe able to give out informationto improve the market.”

“We have learnt more aboutclassifying their investments,mutual funds and trust funds.

Well the major challengesfor me are that the regulatorsare not forthcoming inprotecting investors; theinvestors always bear thebrunt.”

“I think SEC should bemindful and do moreconcerning the protection ofshareholders, some of themhave been swindled and theyshould set out effective rulesto guide the market and therehave been transparency in themarket and I applauded them

in that aspect but they shouldbe forthcoming in arrestingthis situation so that investorsconfidence will be boosted toremain in the marketotherwise the confidence willcontinue to erode and peoplewon’t want to invest in themarket.”

For any company to declaredividend at all for itsshareholders in the countrytoday it calls for cheer andthat company should becommended because it is noteasy to do business in thiscountry and make profit. Thecompany could have decidedto plough the profit back intothe business and find anyexcuse not to pay dividend”he said.

He however said that postingdividends should not be enoughfor Nigerians to take theireyes off the important issuesof shareholding and doingbusiness in Nigeria. He, likeseveral others, was not happythat government and itsregulatory agencies have notmade the businessenvironment conducive forbusinesses in the country tothrive, make profits andsubsequently pay dividends.

He said that government andits regulatory agencies haverather lived off the companyrather than work to enhancethe company. He said it wasunfortunate that governmenthave failed to recognisegroups speaking out againstthe ills in the industry andfighting for its good, but choseto describe them as militantsin the stock exchange.

One of the issues that thenews brought was a recentcall by a section of retailinvestors in Nigerian quotedcompanies on the Security andExchange Commission (SEC)to protect them from whatthey called “reap off of theirfunds”.

Okezie has howeverrevealed that he and hiscolleagues had urged the SECto protect shareholders.

Perhaps in reaction toaccusations that regulatoryagencies had not been doingenough, and to ensuring soundcorporate governance in thenation’s capital market, urgedSEC to wade into issuesrelating to corporategovernance breaches in somecompanies.

Both the intervention and itsoutcomes affirmed Nigeria’spole position in marketregulation in Africa. Itconstituted a pathfinder onregulatory imperatives formulti market jurisdictionplayers in the robustlyevolving African businesslandscape.

Mr Oyarinde Taiwo,President of ProactiveShareholders Association ofNigeria, PROSAN

They have alreadydeepened our knowledgeabout the capital marketabout some of the productsthey are having, like thelecture we just had thismorning on investmentscheme, they show us thatthere are other vehicles likecollecting investment schemewhere they can also

encourage members to beinvolved, they can reallydeepen our market and alsoencourage participation in thecapital market.

“The major challenges ofshareholders, which l haveobserved is mainly ignorancewhich I believe SEC is tryingto fill in that gap. If you seesome of the conducts andsome of the ways the socalled shareholder leadersare doing things you start topredict what will happen totheir followers but I believeby the time they are able tohandle the leadership, Ibelieve we are going have abetter shareholders and bettercapital market in the longrun”

As for the benefit from theacademy, he remarked,“SEC is doing a verywonderful job let me give youan instance, I believe thatsome of the areas the worldbodies are looking into isinvestors education whichSEC has started two, threeyears ago which means theyare in line with what ishappening in the global front,so SEC is really doing theirbest which is a welcomedevelopment to the market.”

“As a backdrop to thepacesetting intervention, SECNigeria highlighted theconsumer protectionmotivation by quicklyassuring investing publics thatthe Commission would takeall necessary steps to ensurethat shareholders areprotected.”

Corporate Finance


Corporate Finance

MoU SIGNING - The Regional Head, South South, South East (SSSE),Ecobank Nigeria, Chinedu Ibe executing the CAPMI Agreement with theExecutive Director, SSSE, Kingsley Umadia; Area Manager, Port HarcourtNorth, Ochuko Amah; Regional Risk Manager, SSSE, Ignatius Agboneni duringthe signing of MoU between Ecobank and Port Harcourt Electricity DistributionCompany in Port Harcourt.

The Securities andE x c h a n g e

Commission, SEC hassaid that it wants a bondmarket that will be

SEC targets bond market to finance$3.9 trn infrastructure deficitStories byPETER EGWUATU

Ahead of the 2015fiscal year, the

Nigerian StockExchange (NSE) havecalled for moreinvestment in theNigerian Capitalmarket as a way offurther boosting thefortunes of the country’seconomy.

While canvassing forincreased investment inthe stock marketalongside other keystakeholders of theNigerian CapitalMarket at the 2014FCSL AssetManagement Limitedinvestors’ Forum heldin Lagos , the ChiefExecutive Officer of theNigerian StockExchange, Mr. OscarOnyema advisedinvestors to exploit theemerging opportunitiesin the Nigerian Stocksat the moment to investin the capital market.

“This is the best timeto invest in the Nigerian

NSE, other stakeholders seek moreinvestment in capital market

Capital market. Wehave restoredconfidence in thesystem throughintroduction ofcorporate governance,which allows companiesto do business in atransparent andsustainable manner.Investment in theCapital Market is longterm and it is one whichrequires attention andthe support of partiesconcerned, to grow”,Onyema advised.

He further dispelledthe negative notion ofcontinuous instability inthe market. Accordingto him, “Investorsshould know that thecapital market is acyclical market with upand down movements.The market is full ofrisks. I encourageinvestor to seekprofessional advice frominvestment specialistsand stockbrokers thatwill be able to manage

their investment in themarket. Also, investorscan personally manageand monitor theirinvestment portfolios ina manner that willreduce risk and improvereturns. Investors haveto adopt appropriatetechniques in makinginvestment decisions,because the capitalmarket is not forgamblers, it is not agame of chance but agame that requiresinformed decision”.

capable of financing the$3.9 trillioninfrastructure deficitsfacing the country in thenext 30 years.

The Director General ofthe Securities andExchange Commission,SEC, Ms Arunma Oteh,who stated this at the 4thCapital MarketCommittee retreat heldin Abuja said” The bondmarket has a lot of roomfor growth with debt-to-GDP ratio at only 11percent compared toover 200 percent inJapan, 110 percent inSingapore, 103 percentin the United Kingdom,103 percent in theUnited States (US) andover 60 percent in China.All round, liquidity needsto improve well beyondits current level.

So we want a bondmarket that will enableus meet theinfrastructure deficitestimated at USD3.9trillion over the next 30years. We want a marketthat does more forhousing finance,enabling Nigeria closedown the 17 millionhousing unit deficit whiles u p p o r t i n gentrepreneurship bydoing more for SMEsand startups. We want acapital market thatcombines all theelements needed tosupport Nigeria actualizeher aspirations of peaceand prosperity for allcitizens.”

Commenting on whereit wants the country to bein 2025, she said“Without any master planin place, we have beenable to grow our stockmarket by a cumulative

annual growth rate(CAGR) of 21.52 percentover the last 10 years. Ihave no doubt, that withfaithful implementationof these master plans ourmarket will eventuallyemerge as one of theworld’s deepest, mostliquid and largest capitalmarket that will not onlycontribute to thes o c i o e c o n o m i cdevelopment of our dearcountry but will alsoserve as a globalfinancial hub offeringopportunities into otherparts of Africa. Thereforewe want to see ourmarket in 2025 to bedeep, highly liquid,broad and diversifiedmarket that is a multipleof Nigeria’s GDP. It mustboast of one of the mostefficient and favorableoperating environments

that engenders bestpractice, innovation andcompetitiveness.”

Oteh, who spoke onthe achievement of theNigerian capital marketsince 2010 said “ Westarted by ensuring thatinvestor confidence isrestored, adopting aposture of zero toleranceto wrongdoing whilestrengthening ourenforcement machinerythrough partnershipswith the Office of theAttorney General of theFederation and theNigeria Police Force.We instituted legalproceedings againstover 260 individualsand entities for variousforms of marketinfractions seeking todisgorge all illegallygotten wealth andrestitute investors.

Shareholders havecontinued to

commend FidsonHealthcare Plc on it’srecently released thirdquarter performance for2014. Some of theshareholders of thecompany said, theperformance is relativelygood considering the inharsh operatingenvironment.

Fidson Healthcarerecently announced itsfinancial results for thethird quarter ended 30September, 2014.

The result shows thatturnover increased byabout 4 per cent year-on-year to N7.5 billion, anincrease of 54 per cent

Shareholders commend Fidsonthird quarter performance

quarter-on-quarter. Grossprofit margin also rose by6.0 per cent y-o-y to N4.1billion, largely as a resultof an improvement in theCost of sales, which iscurrently at 45.1 per centagainst 46.7 per cent asat half-year 2014.

Financial chargesincreased by 70 per centto N315 million as againstN185 million recordedlast year. However, Profitbefore Tax (PBT) andProfit after Tax (PAT)margins increased from7.5 per cent to 9.1 per centand 5.3 per cent to 6.2per cent respectively;compared with the sameperiod last year giving anannualized EPS of N0.41.


Homes & Housing Finance

Chief Executive Officerof the Asset

Management Company ofNigeria (AMCON), Mr.Mustapha Chike-Obi, hasfaulted the guidelineestablishing NigerianMortgage RefinancingCompany (NMRC), arguingthat the agency lackedadequate capital, and calledfor increase in the minimumcapital base of NMRC toabout N10 trillion.

Speaking at the LegalBusiness Summit 2014 inLagos, Chike-Obihighlighted various pitfallsthat could scuttle theobjective of the NMRC ofboosting homeownership inNigeria. He noted that inspite of the lofty ideasbehind setting up thecompany, the mirage ofchallenges on ground if notproperly tackled will renderit ineffective.

Some of the problems,according to him, includepoor take-off capital, issuesof enforcement of contract,absence of foreclosure lawsand the general issues ofequity contribution, periodof recovery of loans and theuncertainty about whatamount to recover in thecase of breach of repaymentplans.

NMRC was created toprovide primary andsecondary mortgage marketsby raising long-term fundsfrom the domestic capitalmarket as well as foreignmarkets to provide accessibleand affordable housing in thecountry. It has a N6 billiontier 1 capital, $300 millionWorld Bank loan, while theNigeria SovereignInvestment Authority(NSIA), through its NigeriaInfrastructure Fund (NIF),also approved a firm equitycommitment of N1.6 billionin the NMRC.

The AMCON boss said therecommended capital outlaycould be raised by theFederal Governmentthrough its guarantee of 80percent of mortgage loans inthe country, with banks andinsurance firms taking up 10percent each of such loans.“We want the banks to takethe first 10 percent loss,insurance company 10percent and the FederalGovernment 80 percent. Byso doing, banks will becomfortable that if the

Stories byYINKA KOLAWOLE

Housing finance: AMCON boss faultsNMRC’s capital outlay

mortgages go bad, they canclaim at least 80 per cent ofthat loan from thegovernment,” he said. Thisaccording to him, wouldencourage the lenders to

create mortgage loans.“What they have done is

that they have taken a goodidea, and watered it down.There should be governmentguarantees not government

loans. The NMRCshould only buy badmortgage loans fromthe banks and shouldnot be a direct lender inthe mortgagebusiness.”

He, however, said thegovernment should notguarantee 100 percentof the loans becausedoing so could make thelenders to lendirresponsibly.

“There should begovernment guaranteesnot government loans.The NMRC should onlybuy bad mortgage loansfrom the banks andshould not be a directlender in the mortgagebusiness,” he said.Chike-Obi noted that itstill takes about 10years for banks to sellproperties collected ascollateral, he said thisdiscourages banks fromlending to the mortgagesector.

“The issue of beingable to foreclose quicklyand efficiently is thebiggest problem forbanks,” he said, addingthat the NMRC shouldalso secure a foreclosurepower, similar that ofAMCON, which enablesit to foreclose anyproperty presented to itas collateral.

Lagos State government has setaside N49.03 billion,

representing about 10 percent of its 2015budget estimates to housing andcommunity amenities.

Governor Babatunde Fasholadisclosed this while presenting theState’s 2015 budget proposal of N489.69billion to the House of Assembly forconsideration, which is the same amountas that of 2014.

A breakdown of sectoral allocation ofthe budget shows that Education got thelargest share of N82.11 billion or 16.6percent as against N77.42 billion or 15.81 percent recorded in 2014. This wasfollowed by Housing and CommunityAmenities which got N49.03 billion or10 percent as against N50.54 billion or10.32 percent in 2014.

Recall that at the launching of the LagosState Home Ownership MortgageScheme (Lagos HOMS) on February 3,2014, noted that the state government wassaving N200 million monthly from itsinternally generated revenue (IGR) forconstruction of houses under the scheme.

“Part of the pride I have about thisproject is that we have not had to borrowmoney to fund any of these housing units.Our progress so far is the result of rigorous

Lagos devotes 10% of 2015 budget to housing

planning and financial discipline, savingsand commitment. These projects havebeen fully funded from the taxes that ourpeople have paid as monthly internallygenerated revenue (IGR).

About 3 years ago, when we took theview that the Lagos State Ministry ofHousing on its own cannot deliver all thehouses that Lagosians require without theactive support and participation of privatesector developers, this Scheme was bornin my mind. The next hurdle was how todeliver it. We started saving N200millionmonthly, whether the internallygenerated revenue increased ordecreased; and today, we are now savingN500million monthly, and it is possibleto increase this as more people pay theirtaxes.

“The role of the Ministry of Housingwill increasingly be that of a regulatoryone, facilitating private sector housingdevelopment and enforcing housingregulations, leading research into systemsbuilding and cost saving initiatives thatincrease the affordability of homes andthe speed of construction. Our ultimateplan is to be the guaranteed purchasersto developers who will acquire their ownland, build to our specification and to ouragreed prices.

FHA, FRSC partner onhousing schemeThe Federal Housing

Authority (FHA) hasentered into agreement withthe Federal Road SafetyCorps (FRSC) to provideaffordable housing for staffof the corps.

Under the deal, FHA willdrive the implementation ofits One-Man-One Housepolicy for the staff of theorganisation and meet thepeculiar needs of FRSC staff.This is the outcome of ameeting between the actingManaging Director of FHA,David Kpue and his FRSCcounterpart, Mr. BoboyeOyeyemi, in Abuja.

Kpue said he was at theFRSC headquarters with hisManagement team toexplore ways of partneringwith the Corps towardsproviding affordable housingfor its staff. He said FHA haddeveloped a Public-PublicPartnership housing deliverymodel to assist ministries,departments and agencies ofgovernment to execute theirstaff housing programmes.

Welcoming the FHA teamearlier, the Corps Marshal,Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi saidthe FRSCs vision was forevery member of staff tohave his own house beforeretirement in order to keepthem focused on theirprimary duties.

Nigerian housingsummit to hold inAbujaIn a quest to create

affordable housingfor all Nigerians, theNigerian Housing &Construction Summit andExpo 2015 is organizing aHousing StakeholdersConsultative Workshoptomorrow, December 2,2014, in Abuja.

The theme of the workshopis “Housing StakeholdersConsultative Workshop -Enabling Land, Finance andConcession for AffordableHousing Delivery”.

In furtherance of theobjective of creatingenabling environment forthe development of theHousing sector, the FederalMinistry of Lands, Housingand Urban Development incollaboration with theFederal Ministry of Financeand other key stakeholdersin the housing sector isorganizing a two-daySummit and Expo on“Nigeria Housing andConstruction: Steps toAffordable Housing for AllNigerians” early in Q1, 2015.

VISIT - From left: Philip Ikeazor, MD, Keystone Bank Limitedand the Nigerian High Commissioner to Uganda, AmbassadorCornelius Omolade Oluwateru, when Ikeazor paid a courtesyvisit to the Ambassador after a meeting on Nigerianinvestments in Uganda.


CMYK

CMYK

34 —Vanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

Tax Matters

From L-R: Coordinating Director, Modernisation Group of the Federal Inland Revenue Service(FIRS), Mr. Osy Chuke, 2.International Monetary Fund (IMF) Regional Advisor-RevenueAdministration for West AFRITAC2, Faith Mazani, 3.Ag.Executive Chairman of FIRS, AlhajiKabir Mashi and 4. Coordinating Director, Executive Chairman’s Direct Reports Group, FIRS,Hajia Queensley Seghosime during Mazani’s familiarisation visit to FIRS Revenue House,Abuja.

The Nigerian Tax Lawshave provisions for

the Taxation of contractExpenditure including thoseof Government, Ministry,Department and Agencies.The withholding tax (WHT)provision was introduced intothe tax system in 1997 withlimited coverage to rent,dividends and directors fees.Tax deduction at source hassince been expanded toinclude:

*All aspects of building,construction and relatedservices.

*All types of contract andagency arrangement, otherthan outright sale andpurchase of goods andproperty in the ordinarycourse of business.

*Consultancy, technical andprofessional services.

*Management services.*Commissions*Interest and Royalty.The introduction of WHT

regime came about in orderto address the problem of taxevasion although, there is theoverriding objective of fulldisclosure, transparency,predictability and fairness.

Despite the huge TaxRevenue from award ofcontract and related sourcedeductions, there is agrowing interest in the usageof direct labour system inproject procurement inNigeria especially in thepublic sector. Direct Laboursystem is one of the severaloptions of procurement usedfor project delivery process.This type of system isregarded as in-housebecause procuring entity, asdifferent from contractor ’sstaff carry out the projectdelivery process andactivities. One of the reasonsfor the preference for directlabour procurement is the Taxeffect. GovernmentMinistries, Department andAgency consume theservices of contractors andhence are to be charged VATby contractors who executecontract for them.

This paper is intended tohighlight how GovernmentExpenditures are taxed inNigeria and the extent towhich direct labourprocurement can be a Taxevasion scheme. This paperwill not in any way addressTax issues relating toCorporate and IndividualExpenditures.

THE PUBLICPROCUREMENT ACT 2007

Taxation of contract and direct labour procurement of ministries,departments and agencies (MDAs) of government in Nigeria (1)

By ANUYA, F. O. (Ph.D)

AND AWARD OFCONTRACT

By the provisions of thePublic Procurement Act 2007,the following should be notedabout award of contract andPublic Procurement:-

i. Procuring Entities shouldoutsource those services thatare either not part of theircore business activity or forwhich there is a fluctuatingrequirement in terms ofspecialist skills orEquipment, or where theopen market provides a moreefficient and commercialalternative.

ii. The approval andmaintenance of monetaryand prior review thresholdsis important for the faithfulimplementation of the PPA.The thresholds establishrelevant approvingauthorities andmethodologies. “MonetaryThresholds” is defined in theinterpretative section of theAct to mean the value limitin Naira set by the Bureauoutside of which anapproving authority may notaward a procurementcontract.

iii. Procurement to beexecuted:-

a. by open competitivebidding, except as otherwiseexempted;

b. In a manner which istransparent, timely, andequitable for ensuringaccountability andconformity with the PublicProcurement Act andregulations deriving therefrom;

c. With the aim of achieving

value for money and fitnessfor purpose;

d. In a manner whichpromotes competition,economy and efficiency; and

e. In accordance with thelaid down procedures andtimelines.

iv. Where the Bureau hasset prior review thresholds,no funds shall be disbursedfrom the Treasury/federationAccount/ or any bank accountof any procuring entity forany procurement fallingabove the set thresholdsunless the cheque, warrant orother form of request forpayment is accompanied bya “Certificate of ‘NoObjection’ to Award ofContract” duly issued by theBureau.

v. Subject to the monetaryand prior review thresholdsfor procurements, theParastatal Tenders’ Board ofa government agency,Parastatal, or corporation orin the case of a ministry orextra-ministerial entity, theMinisterial Tenders’ Boardshall be the ApprovingAuthority for the conduct ofpublic procurement.

vi. The followingprocedure shall be observedby ministries, extraministerial offices, and otherarms of government inimplementing theirprocurement plans, viz;

a. Advertise and solicit forbids in accordance withguidelines prescribed by theBureau from time to time;

b. Invite two (2) crediblepersons as observers in everyprocurement process, onefrom a private sectorprofessional organizationrelevant to the procurementand the other from non-government organizationworking in transparency,accountability and/or anti-corruption areas;

c. Receive, evaluate andmake a selection of the bidsin accordance withprescribed guidelines;

d. Obtain the approval ofthe tenders board for theaward of contract tosuccessful bidder.

e. Obtain “certificate of ‘Noobjection’ to award contract”from the Bureau wherecontract is outside thethreshold.

vii. All bidders in additionto requirements contained inany solicitation documentsshall:

a. Possess the necessary:*Professional and technical

qualifications to carry outparticular procurement

*Financial capability;*Equipment and other

relevant infrastructure;*Shall have adequate

personnel to perform theobligations of theprocurement contracts.

b. Possess the legalcapacity to enter into theprocurement contract

c. Not be in receivership,the subject of any form ofinsolvency or bankruptcyproceedings or the subject ofany form of winding uppetition or proceedings

d. Must have fulfilled all itsobligations to pay taxes,pensions and social securitycontributions.

viii. P r o c u r e m e n tApproval Threshold (2012)


People in Business

Mr AkeemShobanke ist h e

Managing Director/ChiefExecutive Officer of Ijesha,Lagos-based Uncle SuperHair Beauty Salon. In nthischat with FinancialVanguard, he speaks onwhat led him to become aplayer in a field mostlyregarded as a woman's field.

Excerpts:

After his primary andsecondarys c h o o l

education in Lagos, thenative of Ogun Sttatedecided to go and learn atrade as he could not makehis papers that would haveenabled him pursue a coursein a tertiary institution. "Iwent to learn furnituremaking for a period of fouryears. Along the line, I lostmy parents, so there wasnobody to assist mefinancially to set up mybusiness."

Going into hairdressing:Initially, Akeem had

wanted to go into fashiondesigning but a visit to afriend's hairdressing salonchanged his course.

"I went to a friend of minewho introduced me tohairdressing. He owns asalon and while in the salon,I observed all the activitiesgoing on and I picked upinterest and decided to gointo hairdressing.

"I was moved by the beautyI saw and one week later, Iwent back to him and askedif I could join him in thebusiness just to learn. He saidif I have an interest in the thebusiness, I should come in.He was joking but I was veryserious. When I got there andstarted watching him work, Ilearnt really fast," he said.

Breakthrough: "One day, after being there

for two months, he went onassignment (to do bridalhair) and left me and otherstaff in the salon.

"A customer came and therewas no one to attend to herso I volunteered to attend toher but the others said: 'Ah ah!You've been here for just twomonths and you want to do thejob? No way!' I pleaded withthem to give me a chancebecause I was convinced Icould do it as I have beenwatching them work,moreover, I spent four yearslearning to make furniture.

"After weaving the hair forme, I started sewing. When Ifinished sewing, it was time tocut and they said I should notdo the cutting or else I would

Hairdressing made me an employer

spoil the hair. I said there wasno harm in trying, that theyshould allow me to do it. At thatpoint, the lady told them toleave me alone to finish thejob. "I was shaking but Isummoned courage andbegan to do the cutting. Whenshe looked at herself in themirror, she could not believethat I started just two monthsearlier. When the boss cameback and saw what I did, hewas very impressed andbegan to give me more jobsto do.

Moving out:"After learning the trade, I

decided to go elsewhere tolook for a job. I applied andgot a job at Andy BeautySalon in Ojuelegba. Theywere impressed with my joband they started calling me

Super because I was eager tolearn all I could fromeveryone so they gave me thenickname, Super Whole.

After some time, a friend ofmine got married and his wifewas going on maternity leaveand needed someone to takecare of the salon until the wiferesumed. So they asked meto manage the shop for threemonths after I left AndySalon. "People got to know mein that area as the first malehairdresser in the Lawanson.When the woman came backfrom maternity leave, I had toleave.

Setting up my own salon: "I went to a salon and told

them I would want to be theirstylist so we drew up acontract. The woman gave methe shop to manage and at theend of every month, I’d payher a certain amount of money.I worked hard and startedsaving some money. After twoyears, I decided to have asalon of my own in the samearea because the woman saidshe wanted to close down andgo into another business.With the little money I savedand help from relations, today,I have three shops - one inLawanson managed by mywife, another in Odo Eranmanaged by my staff and thisone in Ijesha managed by me.I am happily married withfour children," he enthused.

Initial capital:Akeem said he started with

an amouint below N200,000

most of which went intorenting of shop. "The shopwas N3,000 a month fortwo years and an extraN50,000 for agreementand agent fees. I had tosell my phone and mysister-in-law lent me somemoney too. Forequipment, a friend ofmine, an Igbo man thatdeals in hairdressingequipment gave me theequipment and asked meto be payinginstalmentally. So everyweek, I made sure I paidin something into hisaccount until I finishedpaying."

Challenges:Speaking on the

challenges, Akeem whohas eight staff and over20 apprentices in hisemploy, noted that thecustomer is his numberone challenge. "When theycome in and you tell themthe price, they startbargaining, and for you tolet them see what you cando, you have no optionthan to bring down theprice so by the time theysee what you can do, theywould not mind adding alittle money. Also, most ofthe apprentices today arenot committed; excuseshere and there so whenyou expect five people towork today, you may seetwo or three and you haveto call to find out what waswrong.

They will never tell youthey will be absent on aparticular day so that youcan make arrangements tofill the gap. We make thecustomers beautiful sothey can confidently go towork or party or wherever.I don’t go to parties.

"On Saturdays andSundays, we come to workbefore seven in themorning for customers tocome and see us ready.Also, discipline is theprincipal thing in thisbusiness. You must bedisciplined in every senseof the word; be alwaysavailable for customers,don’t be a party goer. Thecustomer should alwaysfind you at your duty post."

Power supply:"I don’t believe in

PHCN, I always have mygenerator and fuel ready.We spend N30,000 a weekto power the threegenerators in the threeshops. Once a customercomes in, we put on thegenerator until sheleaves."

GTbank wins bestbank awardGuaranty Trust Bank plc

wins “Best Bank inNigeria for 2014” by TheBanker Magazine forpromoting industry-wideexcellence in Global BankingEthics and adherence to thehighest corporate governancestandards.

The prestigious awardceremony which held atIntercontinental Hotel, ParkLane, London had inattendance more than 350senior executives from wellover 120 countries.

The Banker is the world’sleading monthly journal ofrecords for the bankingIndustry, with over 90 yearsexpertise in publishingdevelopment in the bankingindustry both Africa and onthe global scale. For over1000 applications collected,The Banker selects onewinning bank for each of the120 countries shortlisted.

Commenting on the award,Mr. Segun Agbaje, MD/CEOof Guaranty Trust Bank plcsaid “we are happy to receivethis award” and attributed thebank’s achievements to thehardwork and commitment ofits employees and loyalty ofits customers.

Microsoft, BOI,Leadway, Banks bagSME Awards 2014This year ’s Nigerian

SME ExcellenceAward and GlobalEntrepreneurship Week(GEW) ended on a high notelast weekend with 15corporate organisations andindividuals clinching thecoveted Nigerian SMEExcellence Award.

Key amongst them areMicrosoft Nigeria whichbagged the award for itsOffice 360 product that aidsefficient businessmanagement and Bank ofIndustry for its leadership rolein real sector SME funding inNigeria.

Also Leadway AssuranceLimited bagged the award onthe strength of its L-BOSS, aspecialised businessprotection insurance packagefor SMEs while Interswitchbagged award for RetailPay,a payment system whichgives SME businessesopportunity to maintainstandard sales transactionrecords. Other Awardees atthe ceremony include FidelityBank, GT Bank, EcobankNigeria, FCMB, Skye Bank,FBN Microfinance Bank andEnterprise DevelopmentCentre (EDC).

We make thecustomers

beautiful so theycan confidently goto work or party

or wherever

*Akeem Shobanke...Discipline is the principal thing in thisbusiness


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“The principle is that thosewho are better off in society,and I hope they don’t mind,will be willing to share a bitmore in remitting a bit more tothe treasury than theynormally do on those things.”

Minister of Finance,November, 16, 2014.

Hiding behind afinger is a greatdeal more sensible

than what that statementportrays. Read it again, andwhat comes through is agovernment which is reluctant,indeed, almost begging, tointroduce more stringentprogressive tax — even whenevery economist in the worldknows that it is inevitable.Irrespective of whether, theymind or not, the rich have tofirst of all pay. Then they haveto pay more. In fact, what “theynormally pay”, to use theMinister’s words, is frequentlypeanuts compared to what theyshould pay. Tax evasion ismore common among the richthan among the poor.

I discovered that in 1981when one of the UPNgovernors came to Lagos for aparty meeting and he stopped

What Dr Okonjo-Iweala failed to tell usby in my late brother’s house.My late brother was, at thetime, the Commissioner forJustice and Attorney-Generalfor Lagos State, underGovernor Jakande. He waslamenting his inability to fundadequately the free educationpolicy of the state governmentand wandered how he couldget more funds. I asked him ifhe was willing to demonstratethe will to obtain more fundsfor his programmes. He saidyes. Then, I asked him to lookat taxes paid by the richcompared with what theyshould be paying – startingwith the richest five people inthe state. When he protestedthat “They are very powerful”,I told him he was not preparedto succeed as a governor. TheMinister of Finance willestablish her government’scredibility when they are ableto look Dangote, Otedola,Arthur Eze, Danjuma etc, inthe face and dictate, instead ofnegotiating how much morethey should pay and ensurethey pay it. Everybody else will

be easy to discipline thereafter. But, because the Minister is

insincere and hesitant aboutthe bold steps to take, the realburden of the austeritymeasures will fall on the middleclass and the lower class. Moreof the middle class will sink tolow class and more of the lowclass will join those now living

in poverty. It is inevitable andhere is why.

STAGFLATION ISUNAVOIDABLE.

Stagflation, which was aterm coined from two economicphenomena, stagnation andinflation, occurs when GDPgrowth is declining and at thesame time prices are goingthrough the roof. With theprice of crude going down andlikely to stay down for sometime, government spendingwill be slashed nationwide andpeople in those states whichare heavily dependent on stategovernments will have less tospend. Meanwhile, the fall ofcrude will force currencydevaluation and that will bringabout inflation as prices ofgoods and services go up.Contrary to the impression leftby the Minister of Finance,retrenchment is certain, atfederal, state and localgovernments and the privatesector.

The one saving grace,abundant food supplies, thisyear, will be counter-balanced

by the fact that food might becheaper next year but onlythose with money will benefitfrom the bonanza. Even thatwindfall will not extend tofoods with high import contentlike pasta and noodles,sardines and importedprocessed foods.

Also unmentioned is the factthat with dwindling foreignexchange earnings, and withour debt obligations remainingthe same, or rising, a greaterpercentage of our revenue willgo towards debt servicing –unless we plan on debt default;which will lower our creditrating. Lower credit rating inturn means we pay higherinterest rates for loans sourcedfrom abroad. Domestic debtobligations will also claim alarger share of the income –unless, again, we plan tobecome dead beats to localcreditors. Then, they will haveto stop providing credit cover.

The danger withthat approach toeconomic policy isthat the Nairamight soon go theway of Uganda’scurrency, underGeneral Idi Amin,when the UgandanCentral BankGovernor called it“tissue paper”

38 — Vanguard, MONDAY,DECEMBER 1 , 2014

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Micro-Finance

The President,N a t i o n a l

Association ofMicrofinance Banks,NAMB, Mr. ValentineWhensu, said that aboutN9.6 trillion financinggap exist in the MicroSmall and MediumEnterprises (MSMEs)sector.

Also, he said that outof the N220 billion

Stories byPROVIDENCE OBUH

N9.6trn financing gap exists in MSMEs sector — WhensuMicro, Small andMedium EnterprisesDevelopment Fund(MSMEDF) launched inSeptember 2013, onlyfive microfinance banksand nine states out of the20 that applied haveaccessed the fund.

Whensu said thisduring NECA’s Networkof EntrepreneurialWomen (NNEW)roundtable workshop onhow to access the N220billion MSMEDF.

According to him,

“Since the fund waslaunched in Septemberlast year, only five MfBshave accessed the fundand only nine states outof the 20 that appliedhave accessed the fund.

“There are 17, 284, 671SMEs in Nigeriaemploying 32, 375, 460.These MSMEscontribute a total of 79percent to GDP.

“N9.6 trillion financinggap in MSMEs sector inNigeria, commercialbank loan to MSMEs at

a percentage of totalcredit decreased from 48percent in 1992 to 0.2percent in 2010,meaning that MfBs willgive out this money.

“CBN started with a

good initiative of N220billion for MSMEs butyou can’t collect themoney easily becausethere are conditionsattached: 75 percentcollateral in liquid form,

which is Treasury bill.However, the CBNslashed the 75 percentcollateral to 50 percentonly last week but weare negotiating for zerocollateral.

of the challenges of doingbusiness in Nigeria.

He said this at theNational Summit onEntrepreneurship andInnovation, with thet h e m e :‘Entrepreneurship, Jobcreation and PovertyReduction,’ in Lagos.

Dangote who wasrepresented by GroupExecutive Director,S t a k e h o l d e r s ’Management &C o r p o r a t eC o m m u n i c a t i o n s ,Dangote Industries LtdMr. Mansur Ahmed, saidthat all entrepreneurs inthe country face similarchallenges, “therefore,focus should be on findingways of moving thebusiness forward andmaking it succeed, ratherthan dwelling onconstraints.”

He maintained thatyoung entrepreneursmust study andunderstand themselvesand identify their skill,even as he challengedthem to build thenecessary skills andcompetence required tosucceed. “Youngentrepreneurs shouldthink big, dream big andaim high,” he said.

On the theme, he said“the theme is quite apt,as the three terms areclearly interwoven.Entrepreneurs createjobs and when people aregainfully employed, theincidence of poverty isgreatly reduced.

“This forum is comingat a time when Nigeriahas been rated thelargest economy in Africawith a gross domesticproduct (GDP) of$510billion (well aboveSouth Africa’s $350bn);the 26th largest economyin the world; and theleading destination forinvestment in Africa.”

However, he describedthe situation as a curiousparadox that despitethese excellentachievements, the levelof unemployment in thecountry remains high.

Dangote tasks young entrepreneursto stay focusedThe Chairman,

Dangote Group,Alhaji Aliko Dangote,weekend, urged young

and upcomingentrepreneurs to alwaysstay focused on achievingtheir dreams regardless

CMYK


E- Commerce

Stories by JONAHNWOKPOKU

PRESENTATION - From left: Mrs Bukki Ogunnusi, Public Relations Manager, ToyotaNigeria Ltd; Mr Andrew Ajuyah, Head, Marketing; Mr Godwin Ogagaoghene, Asst. CorpsMarshal, Zonal Commanding Officer, Zone 2, Lagos, Federal Road Safety Corps and Mr.Nishant, Manager, Trainings & Workshop, Toyota during the presentation of The Car ofthe year 2014 Award to Toyota Nigeria Ltd at the Nigeria Auto Journalists Awards held inLagos. Photo Lamidi Bamidele.

Nigeria needs alegislation that will

protect e-commercebusinesses and consumers inorder to drive growth andboost opportunities in thesector, said Nduka Udeh, thePresident/CEO ofShoptomydoor.

He said the lack oflegislation for the industryespecially legislationsrelating to consumerprotection has significantlyaffected the pace of growthof e-commerce in the country.

Nduka who stated thisduring an exclusive interviewwith the Vanguard noted thatthe scepticism about onlinebusiness resulting fromNigeria’s reputation on e-fraud is affecting the sectorand that it is furthercompounded by the lack ofeffective legislation that willaddress consumer concerns.

He said: “Government doesnot have a policy on e-commerce. Look atConsumer ProtectionCouncil, CPC for example.The legislation establishingthe CPC, the last update onconsumer protection, was in1992. Till date, I don’t knowof any updated consumerprotection law that caters toe-commerce.”

This, he said, wasnecessary because, if aconsumer buys items online,and it is not delivered, heshould have a regulatorybody that he can go to seekredress.

According to him, “If there

‘Nigeria needs legislation on e-commerce’

is a law in place protectingthe consumer, there will bean explosion in patronage ine-commerce. But because wedon’t have that, a lot of peopleare scared. This is becausethe people are not sure thatif they place any order thatthey will receive it or knowwhat to do even if theyreceive it, but the item doesnot meet their standards.”

“These are some of theconcerns that discouragepeople from embracing e-commerce. It is to countersome of these challenges thatyou see some of thecompanies like Jumia andKonga coming up with pay

on delivery. Is it a goodmethod? It is not. This isbecause it leads to highoperating cost on the part ofthese businesses. It reducestheir profit and it has lots ofnegative effects on them as abusiness, preventing themfrom expanding. But inNigeria, it is there becausethe consumers do not trust theonline platform,” he added.

He therefore called on thegovernment to put uplegislation on e-commerce asthe stage is set for e-commerce boom in thecountry if the right policies tosupport it are put in place.

“Government needs to put

up legislation on e-commerce. We havereached that stage.Nigeria’s e-commercecontribution to the GDP isless than one percent,even though it is believedthat e-commerce isbooming. If governmentputs up policies thatencourages e-commerce,even if we stop at threepercent which is theaverage globally, thatamounts to about $10billion to the GDPbecause of e-commerce.So government has a bigrole to play,” he said.

Deeper internetpenetration toboost SMEsproductivity

Microsoft ’s ChiefTechnology Officer,

Olayinka Oni has identifiedgreater internetpenetration in Nigeria as acritical factor to increasingthe productivity of smalland medium enterprises,SMEs.

Speaking on a MaraMentor programme, Onisaid, “People will get a lotmore with broadbandtechnology, especiallythrough ecommerce whichis said to contribute about 7per cent to Nigeria’s GDP.”

In a recent report byEricsson Mobility, mobilebroadband is becomingprominent in Sub-SaharanAfrica as the region growsmore reliant on mobiledevices.

And as Nigeria continuesto lead other sub-Saharancountries; despite thechallenges with broadbandconnectivi ty, Mr. O n ibelieves SMEs wil l bemore productive withincreased internetpenetration.

He noted that“technology is here to stayand will continue to shapebusinesses” and thusadvised business owners toacquaint themselves withtechnologies that wouldgrow their businesses,while keeping an eye ononline consumer behaviourand the latest trends in ICT.

European Unionl a w m a k e r s

overwhelmingly backed amotion last week urging anti-trust regulators to break upGoogle, the latest setback forthe world’s most popularInternet search engine.

Google has been in theEU’s regulatory sights since2010, and is also grapplingwith privacy issues, requeststo scrub search results tocomply with a court ruling,copyright concerns and taxcontroversies.

The non-binding resolutionin the European Parliamentis the strongest public signalyet of Europe’s concern withthe growing power of U.S.tech giants. It was passedwith 384 votes for and 174against.

As part of activity to mark one yearanniversary in the Nigerian

property market, property portal,Lamudi.com has unveiled a whitepaper on real estate in the emergingmarkets.

The report is a result of research inthe real estate sector in Nigeriaincluding 28 other emerging marketswhere Lamudi also operates.

Managing Director of LamudiNigeria, Obi Ejimofor told journalistsduring the anniversary and theunveiling of the white paper in Lagosthat the report was inspired by the needto address the dearth of data challengein the sector and further assist playersin the sector make informed decision.

“The research should be useful to everyplayer in the real estate sector. It hasnothing to do with competition becausethe sector is large enough for all playersbut anything we can do to improvehousing affordability and access, is

EU lawmakers urge regulatorsto break up Google

German conservativelawmaker and co-sponsor ofthe bill Andreas Schwab saidit was a political signal to theEuropean Commission,which is tasked with ensuringa level playing field forbusiness across the 28-country bloc.

“Monopolies in whatevermarket have never beenuseful, neither for consumersnor for the companies,” hesaid.

Schwab said he hadnothing against Google andwas a regular user.

Google declined tocomment. EuropeanCompetition CommissionerMargrethe Vestager has saidshe will review the case andtalk to complainants beforedeciding on the next step.

Lamudi unveils white paper on realestate in emerging markets

acceptable. All of us need to do more.We are celebrating 30,000 propertieslisted on our platforms but many moreNigerians are moving to the cities everyminute. That is more than all theproperties we have all together rightnow,” he said.

According to him, “The white paperis based on lots of surveys that we havefrom our suppliers and customers andnot of the actual transactional activity.For now if I am investor and I amlooking at emerging markets and I amlooking for where to invest in terms ofthe real estate sector, at least you canlook at Nigeria, compare it with Ghana,Philippines or Mexico and see what theagents and the developers are sayingand see where the growth is and thenmake informed decisions based on thatmacroeconomic view of the market.”

The report has been made availableto the general public for download onthe Lamudi website.


CMYK

Aviation

MMIA cargowarehousewill remainclosed —

Customs

By LAWANI MIKAIRU &DANIEL ETEGHE

The Nigerian CustomsService said the

Federal Government hasagreed that the cargo shedof the Murtala MuhammedInternational Airport , Lagoswill remain shut untilterminal operators complywith new operationalprocedures that would notthreaten national securityand collection of revenue .

The cargo shed was shut lastweek following violation ofprocedures by clearing agentsat restricted sections of theterminal, which officials ofNigerian Customs Servicesaid constitute grave dangerto security of the airports andthe fiscal policies ofgovernment .

Addressing reporters , theCustoms Area Comptroller, incharge of the MurtalaMuhammed InternationalAirport Command, Mr TajuOlarenwaju said governmenthas directed officials toidentify and allow passage forperishable goods , medicalgoods and diplomatic goods, which have remained trapped due to the crisis .

Olarenwaju said throughthe command’s internal checkmeasures, goods that fall intothe specialised category : perishable; medical anddiplomatic would be isolatedfor facilitation, such that theimporters do not suffer fromthe infraction caused byclearing agents, who are notready to comply withoperational procedures .

According to him “ Thewarehouse remains shut,until the agents and terminalmanagers show capacity tooperate without threat tosecurity .” He warned that theNigeria Customs Servicehave the capacity to crush any violator, who as saboteursand terrorists are set tothreaten national security andthe collection of revenue forgovernment .

He said government inrespect for international traderegulations would not want toclose cargo warehouses at theairport, but it is constrainedto take the decision becauseclearing agents havedemonstrated that they arenot ready to comply with

NCAT enabling Act to be amended

The Act establishing theNigerian College of

Aviation Technology,NCAT, Zaria, is to beamended soon, just as thecollege is putting finaltouches to arrangement tocelebrate its 50thanniversary coming up nextmonth.

This was made known bythe college Rector, CaptainSamuel Akinyele Caulcrick in an interview withjournalists. He said thedocument is at present in theMinistry of Justice goingthrough necessary legal finetuning for amendment of theAct. According to Caulcrick“We are trying to change theEnabling Act. Don’t forget thatthe Act is one of the oldest inthe aviation industry today. Itis 50 years, it needs to beamended. We are in theprocess of achieving that”.

He also disclosed thatdocument to this effect hasgone to the Attorney-Generalof the Federation adding that“All we are waiting for is adirective from the FederalExecutive Council before it issent to the Nationalassembly.”

He regretted that “theexisting Act had strictly beentreating the college as an armof the Aviation Ministry, thusmaking it to have a lot oflimitations. This is part of theconstraints we have”.

Speaking on some of theefforts to move the collegeforward, the Rector noted thatNCAT had secured temporaryaccreditation from theNational Board of TechnicalEducation (NBTE) to startDiploma courses. He furthersaid that the entry

By LAWANI MIKAIRU requirements of some of thecourses offered were now firstdegree because they areprofessional courses.

“But we are not sure wherewe are, whether we are goingto make the entry for all ourcourses, first degree,particularly flying becausewe need to capture themearly. That is why in the pastwe take them after the SchoolCertificate

Examination but now wehave over a million ofNigerians who are willing togo into aviation and haveacquired their first degree atthe age of 20 or 22. That isstill okay for us because wehave a limit.”

“So, we may raise the entry

requirement to that of firstdegree because we tried thatin the past, it failed. It failedin the sense that the age atwhich those graduates camein, were beyond the age limityou have to capture them.

“But now that we have alot of Nigerians who haveacquired first degree at tenderage, we may have to make theentry requirement a firstdegree. This is because likeany other thing in life, youkeep raising the bar, “heexplained.

“When I came in , Idiscovered that the standardwas a bit down, though not dangerously, what we arenow doing is to bring it backto original and make it better,

so that our products will bethe first choice anywhere inthe world. That is our goal,we mean quality,” heemphasized.

Captain Caulcrick whoembraced the advent of otheraviation training schools in

the country, said suchdevelopment would make theindustry to expand. “Yes, we want them to come in so thatwe can all raise the bartogether through competition.”

He also disclosed that theprocess to have campusesoutside Zaria was in the pipeline adding, “We arealready in that process, it isin our budget this year, so that we can reach out to allcorners of Nigeria.”

Women in Aviation, anumbrella body for

female aviationprofessionals, have taskedthe Federal Government toupgrade navigationalfacilities at the nation’sairports as a sure way ofimproving airports’operations across thecountry.

Speaking during a seminarat the Murtala MuhammedInternational Airport, LagosCaptain Faith Odushola, apilot with Aero Airline,affirmed that despite the factthat most airports in Nigeria

Aviation experts task FG on upgrade of navigational aids

have attained the CategoryOne status, some of themstill do not have theInstrument Landing System(ILS) in them.

She noted that when thesenavigational facilities are inplace air transportation couldbe facilitated. According toher “Well I believe thatgovernment can improve onairport facilities so that theycan be available for airlinesto use for landing and all ofthat. I think that most of theairports in Nigeria now are inCategory One yet some ofthem don’t have InstrumentLanding System (ILS)” .

She added that a lot ofNigerians are yet to fly noting

that the reason was due to thehigh taxes leveled on theairlines by the FederalGovernment which is alsotransferred to the passengersas high fares and this hasoften scared a lot of airtravelers away from flying.

Commenting on multipleentry by foreign airlines intothe country, CaptainOdushola said the situationwas quite different in Europeas the practice in Nigeria wasonly killing the domesticairlines operations in thecountry. She said ”Localairlines should be able to havethe market to go into, inEurope, you cannot have aforeigner coming to fly from

London to Amsterdam forexample but here in Nigeriawe can see almost all theforeign airlines flying intoLagos, flying into Abuja thenyou have taken away theLagos – Abuja market fromthe local operators, this is nothow it should be”

Also speaking, SeniorSupervisor, Ticketing andReservation , Dana Airline,Mrs. Patience Umunnaehila also tasked the government toembark on the expansion ofthe tarmac and the boardingarea of the General AviationTerminal (GAT) noting thatthe place was always chokedup as it hardly accommodatepassengers.

By DANIEL ETEGHE

PROGRAMME - From left: Let’s Play Ambassador, Victor Ipkeba; Angela Ngerem; Dan Ngeremand Felix Awogu, General Manager, SuperSport West Africa during the SuperSport developmentalprogramme called “Let’s Play” held in Owerri, Imo State.


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A.M. Best, a ratingagency has said thatterrorism insurance

is still available globally in theopen market, and that rateshave been under pressure,reflecting the relatively lowlevel of loss activity post-Sept.11 and plentiful capacity inthe reinsurance market.

The agency noted thatUnderwriting expertise forterrorist events has improvedsignificantly in recent years,to an extent that terrorist riskcan be underwritten in theopen market. Furthermore,modelling has improved, withthe three major catastrophemodelling companies alloffering terrorism models, itsaid.

“However, A.M. Bestexpects the U.K. insurancesector to remain reliant on thebackstop guarantee providedby the U.K. government forterrorism cover, given themagnitude of losses thatcould result from such anevent,” said CatherineThomas, director, analytics.“In particular, lossesresulting from nuclear,biological, chemical andradiological (NBCR) attackscould be very high and areextremely difficult toestimate. Terrorism risks areparticularly technical andcomplex, and probabilisticmodelling has clearlimitations due to difficultiesassociated with identifyingtargets and estimating thefrequency of attacks.Deterministic analysis –whereby specific,hypothesised scenarios areanalysed – tends to befavoured.” “The governmentcurrently charges a levy of10% of Pool Re’s annualpremium income in return forthe unlimited backstop, andH.M. Treasury is now seekingto lift this fee,” added YvetteEssen, director, industryresearch - Europe &Emerging Markets. “It hasbeen reported that the levycould be raised to 50% witheffect on Jan. 1, 2015.”

All the most significantproviders of commercialproperty insurance in theUnited Kingdom participatein Pool Re, including manyoverseas companies andLloyd’s syndicates. A.M. Bestdoes not anticipate taking anyrating actions on U.K.insurers in response to anincrease in the levy, as this isunlikely to alter the claims-paying ability of the scheme.

Insurance

Industrial & GeneralInsurance Plc has

continued with part of thestrategic restructuringinitiated by the lateExecutive Vice ChairmanMr. Remi Olowude byappointing threeprofessionals as boardmembers.

They are Mr. YayaleAhmed; Prof. OladapoAfolabi, both former headsof service of the federation,and Mr. Ken Aigbinode, achartered accountant.

A statement by thePrincipal Manager,Corporate Communications,Mr. Steve Ilo, said that theirappointment wasunanimously ratified byshareholders of theinsurance company at its21st annual generalmeeting held in Lagos.

Ilo said that they will fillexisting vacancies on theboard some of which arosefollowing the death of somemembers, including twofounding Directors, Pa OlaVincent and Dr. AbdulateefAdegbite. The company’sFounder and ExecutiveVice Chairman, Mr. RemiOlowude, also passed awayon 26 September, 2014 aftera brief illness.

“This is part of a phasedrepositioning of thecompany as envisioned bythe late EVC. It is an

IGI continues strategic restructuringStories byROSEMARYONUOHA

ongoing reform aimed atengendering a more vibrantcompany that will pursuevigorously the latefounder ’s vision of a worldclass organisation.

“We are poised to set newstandards for competition inproduct innovation, servicedelivery and best practice,while delivering great valueto all stakeholders. IGI isequipped with all theessential material,intellectual and humanresources for driving thistransformation. We aretherefore approaching thefuture with confidence andgreat expectations.”

A native of Bauchi State,Ahmed has a Bachelor ’s

Degree in Political Scienceand a Master ’s Degree inPublic Administration bothfrom Ahmadu BelloUniversity, Zaria. He alsohas honorary DoctorateDegrees in Law and ofLetters awarded by theUniversity of Abuja andBayero University, Kanorespectively. He wasappointed Head of Serviceof the Federation in 2000and the Secretary to TheGovernment of TheFederation in 2008.

Afolabi, who has a PhD inApplied Chemistry, won afellowship at HowardUniversity, Washington asan International AtomicEnergy Agency Fellow in

Terrorisminsurance stillavailable—report

FORUM - From left: Head, Benefits Administration, Legacy Pension Managers Ltd, Mr.Musa Joda, General Manager, Legacy Pension Managers Ltd, Mr. Mai Moustapha, andRepresentative of the Managing Director, Legacy Pension Managers Ltd, Mr. ChristopherBajowa, at the just concluded Open Customer's Forum organised by Legacy PensionManagers Ltd on Retirees Savings Account ( RSA ) in Lagos.

1983. He played amajor role in organisingthe first EcologicalSummit in 1988, whichled to creation of theFederal Ministry ofEnvironment. He had aflourishing career inthe civil service andwas appointed Head ofService in 2010.

With experience infinancial sectorspanning over 25 years,Kenneth Aigbinodebegan his bankingcareer in Barclays Bankin 1975. He worked for10 years (1983 -1993) inNiger ian-Amer icanMerchant Bank,including a 6-monthcredit internship inBoston with the bank’saffil iate, Bank ofBoston, USA. Between1998 and 2003, he wasin Fidelity UnionMerchant Bank wherehe rose to become theActing ManagingDirector. He oversawthe bank’stransformation frommerchant banking tocommercial banking,before joining NewNigeria Bank in 2004 asan Executive Director.The Central Bank ofNigeria engaged himfor 6 months in 2005 aspart of an InterimManagement Board tooversee the affairs ofAssurance Banktowards an orderlyl iquidat ion. Since2005, Aigbinode hasbeen consulting intelecommunications.He currently overseesthe telecoms portfolio ofIGI Plc as GroupDirector.

Mr. Adamu Mele, theExecutive Director, Business

Development and Investment ofPremium Pension Limited has beenelevated to the fellowship of theChartered Institute of Stockbrokers.

Mele who has been a member of theinstitute since 1994 was before theelevation an Associate CharteredStockbrokers.

“I am highly appreciative of thisrecognition by the CharteredInstitute of Stockbrokers” said Mele.“The institute is one of the mostvibrant professional organisations inthe country.

It handles activities regarding thecapital market which in itself is aplatform for raising long term capitalfor the economy.”

Managing Director of PremiumPension Limited, Mr. Wilson Idevacongratulated Mele on this featwhich would rub off positively on thefortunes of the company and byextension, the pension industry.“Mele’s elevation complements our

core value of professionalism andfurther brightens the future of thecompany” said Ideva. “A tested andwell-grounded investment expertise isthe primary ingredient for the growthof pension funds.”

Mele’s expertise covers economicand investment research, financialadvisory services, asset management,capital market regulation andadministration. He is a law graduateof the University of Maiduguri withan MBA from the University of AdoEkiti. He has held several positionsin financial management andadministration in variousorganisations, including Head,Northern Region, of IBN SecuritiesLimited (a subsidiary of First InlandBank Limited) and CEO TiddoUniversal Securities Limited (MemberNigerian Stock Exchange. He is alsoan alumnus of New York Institute ofFinance, Wharton Business School,University of Pennsylvania andHarvard Business School, Boston,U.S.A.

Premium Pension director moves up


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Advertising

WORKSHOP - Mr. Asif Mohammed, (in Suit) Project Engineer, Daikin Middle East &Africa with Panaserv crew at Daikin split air conditioners technical training workshop,held in Lagos recently.

Beer is arguably theworld’s oldest alcoholic

beverage. Though technologyand innovation may havechanged how the exotic socialdrink is brewed and enjoyedtoday, the over 40,000 thrivingbeer brands across markets inthe world today shares sameunique characteristics: Theyare all made from the samefour basic natural ingredients- namely: hops, barley, yeastand water.Other stories,claims, assertions, stereotypes,assumptions and conceptionsabout the beverage genre maypass as falsehoods, half-truthsand blatant spurious claims;the fact that beer is a beveragedrink made purely from fournatural ingredients (hops,barley, yeast and water) issacrosanct and indisputable.Unfortunately today, this is onetruthful story about the firstknown beverage drink manever known that many areprobably unaware of.

The need to properly put thepositive story of this iconicbeverage variety in properperspective in the public spacewas what inspired one of theworld’s largest brewers,Heineken International,owners of Nigerian BreweriesPlcto embark on the onerousjourney to tell the positive storyof beer. Ultimately, thebrewing industry hopes tochallenge (with facts andempirical evidence) the age-long myths, misconceptionsand unfounded stereotypesheld against beer as a safe,nutritious and healthybeverage drink. The campaign

Stories byPRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

Beer: Espousing inspiring brand valuesof a beverage genre

is aimed at presenting the realand correct image of beer asan alcoholic beverage drink.

The campaign narrative issimple. It focuses on tracingthe rich and inspiring historyand evolution of beer as abeverage drink; present testedand empirical evidencegathered from researchfindings by healthresearchers, nutritionists, andscientists that presents beer assafe, healthy and richlyendowed beverage drink.

Scholars have not ceased

wondering how beer, a muchloved and consumed beveragedrink, never enjoy the raveclaim it deserves from theconsuming public, byextension the public in ingeneral.

Beginning with its ownemployees, Heineken initiatedthe We Love Beer programmeto share the truths about beerand to dispel the negativemyths. Launched inSeptember 2012, the globalprogramme aims to engage,inspire, educate and excite the

consuming public aboutbeer and to seize theunique opportunity toignite positive andinformed conversationsabout the product.

An initial awarenesscampaign, whichincluded key facts aboutbeer, was designed for allemployees. Core to WeLove Beer, however, is thea m b a s s a d o r s h i pprogramme, which isinitially being run in tenOperating Companies.

As part of its CorporateSocial Responsibility

initiative that is skewedtoward fostering productivityat the workplace, Simon Page,recently organizedProfessional Divas Day forover 80 professional ladies

Simon Page fetes female Professionalsfrom middle to seniormanagement levels, drawnfrom various industries likeM a n u f a c t u r i n g ,Telecommunication, Financeand Advertising agencies.

The Divas Day event whichtook place at the La MangoRestaurant and Bar in GRAIkeja, Lagos, treated femaleexecutives to free pamperingsession like Massage, BodyPolishing, Make-up/Facial,Pedicure, Board, pool gamesand Competitions /PhotoContest.

Commenting on theinitiative, Head ofOperations, Simon PageBusiness Schools, TomiAjiboye, stated that apart fromoffering Marketing,marketing communication,digital marketing andmarketing strategy courses,Simon Page constantlyrewards its students for theiroutstanding performance.“Last year, we noticed thatmore women won of theawards despite the hugestress in family andworkplace. This gave birth tothis initiative where we canpamper them with nicemusic, massage and good

food. The selection process

is a combination of thosewomen whod i s t i n g u i s h e dthemselves in theirprofessional work andother women in thesociety. We are lookingat doing this initiativemore often in Lagos andhope to do it in otherStates as Simeon PageBusiness Schoolexpands”.

On Air Personality withCool WAZOBIA andCool TV, TolulopeAdeleru Balogun,maintained that theDivas Day initiativehelps to put femaleProfessionals in their besthealth and mental state.“It is a great feeling tobring women togetherunder a stress-freeenvironment to gossip,drink and have a greattime. Companies shouldrecognise that when itcomes to the workingwomen, they need to helpthem to contribute moreso that they can contributemore to the company.

The chairman of TroykaGroup, Mr. Biodun

Shobanjo has been awarded theMost Influential Personality inAdvertising in Africa.

The advertising czar waspresented with the Award at the3rd ADM Award of Excellencein Development,Ghana 2014recently.

Mr. Ayo Ilesanmi, ChiefExecutive Officer at PlayhorseCommunications Limited,publishers of the AfricanDevelopment Magazine, theAwards’ organizers, said in astatement that Shobanjo wascounted worthy of the award ‘inappreciation of his contributionsto the advertising industry inAfrica.’ According to MrIlesanmi it has become

Shobanjo wins Most InfluentialPersonality in Advertising Award

necessary for African leaders torefocus on the continent so asnot to reinforce the strongholdof neocolonialists thatemphasise on minor divisivetendencies to milk Africa.

‘There is no better time forbusiness leaders of Africanorigin to position to harness theeconomic strengths of domesticeconomies of the nation statesof Africa. No one else is goingto develop Africa but Africans,’he said. He explained thatacknowledging giant strides ofillustrious sons and daughtersof Africa was ADM’s small wayof thanking those who havedemonstrated faith indeveloping Africa by investingtheir God-given resources in thehope that it gingers both present.

Microsoft Mobile toreward customers with 12cars in ‘Lumia Christmas’celebrationWith the yuletide around

the corner, MicrosoftMobile Devices said its goingto commence a ‘LumiaChristmas’ promotion withwhich it intends to give out 12cars. According to a release thepromotion aims to make theyuletide a special season forits customers, whilst thepromotion which runs fromNovember 24th to December31st 2014 will see 12 luckyLumia smartphone and tabletbuyers drive away with a brandnew Ford Figo car as well asgift items.

Joseph Umunakwe, GeneralManager, Microsoft MobileDevices and Services, WestAfrica stated, “We are veryproud of our Lumiasmartphones and tablets andhow it continues to connectmore people to our suite ofproductivity services, whilstproviding them a richsmartphone experience atamazing price points. This isour little way of rewarding ourconsumers, ensuring theyclose this year and begin theNew Year on a high note.”

He explained that “ Everycustomer stands a chance ofwinning one of the 12 brandnew Ford Figo cars on offer.All they need to do is buy anyLumia smartphone or tabletand SMS keyword LUMIAyour NAME and IMEInumber to 38680”.

TNS RMS bags marketingresearch agency awardTNS RMS a market

research agency hasbeen named MarketingResearch Agency of the Yearat the 2014 Marketing WorldAwards, MWAs.

The annual MWAs recogniseexcellence, innovation andinspiring initiatives across theAfrican marketing industry.The Marketing Researchaccolade is awarded on thebasis of an industry-wide vote,which highlights the stellarwork and reputation of TNSRMS among clients andoperators.

The prestigious event, whichwas held at the Oriental Hotel,Lagos, attracted leadingfigures across the integratedmarketing andcommunications sectors.

The ceremony provided aplatform for the marketingindustry in Africa todemonstrate and celebrate theadvances made in the keyareas of digital, experiential,media, stewardship, efficiency,innovation, corporate socialresponsibility and creativity.

Email:[email protected], [email protected] page:www.lesleba.com/blog2Website: www.lesleba.comTel:0805 220 1997

44— Vanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 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

CMYK

There has been a palpablefeeling of economic

uncertainty in the land, sincethe Central Bank officiallydevalued the Naira exchangerate from N155 to N168 lastweek; the public’s anxiety isprobably, the recognition of thepervasive impact of the Naira/Dollar exchange rate on thegeneral cost of goods andmotor-spirits (aka petrol) in aheavily import dependenteconomy such as ours.

In the rest of this article, wewill briefly discuss the mostfrequently asked questions inrelation to the recent Nairadevaluation.

What is the immediateimplication of Nairadevaluation?

Up until last week, theCentral Bank sold one dollarfor about N155; henceforth,however, the CBN wouldofficially sell one US dollar forN168, specifically for approvedimports while banks would,now independently source andsell their own dollars at amarket determined rate, whichis currently around N175=$1.In other words, further dollarscarcity in the market couldwell push interbank exchangerate nearer N200/$1 as Bureaude Change currently sell theirdollars for over N180=$1. Thenet impact of weaker Nairaexchange rates would be thesustenance of an inflationaryspiral. For example, the recent8% Naira devaluation mayultimately drive the alreadyoppressive level of inflationabove 10%, such that allincomes, including theN18,000 minimum wagewould lose over 50% of theirpurchasing value every 5 yearsand further deepen the level ofpoverty and constrainconsumer demand withadverse consequences forindustrial and inclusiveeconomic growth.

In addition to inflation, whatare the other challenges posedby the devaluation?

The collapse of a oncebourgeoning industrial

Emefiele and inherited “curse"of surplus Nairalandscape in Nigeria between1986-93 was the result of amassive devaluation of theNaira in conformity with theIMF inspired StructuralAdjustment Programme (SAP).The cost of industrial inputsquadrupled and made-in-Nigeria products quicklybecame uncompetitive againstcheaper imports; consequently,job opportunities becameincreasingly scarce andregrettably our industrialsubsector is yet to recover fromthe dastardly blows suffered asa result of Naira devaluation;indeed our landscape is litteredwith hundreds of formerlyactive factories which havesince been converted to placesof worship or social eventcentres. The product of theattendant industrialcontraction is the increasingsize of ourunemployedlabour force!

Similar ly,with steadyN a i r adevaluationover they e a r s ,d u r a b l e ,l i f e s t y l ee n h a n c i n gc o n s u m e rp r o d u c timports alsob e c a m eq u i c k l ypriced out ofthe reach ofthe averageworking classfamily, fore x a m p l e ,brand newtear-rubberautomobileswhich costless thanN5,000 onaverage when

N1 exchanged for more than$1, (Mercedez 200 flat backwas introduced to the Nigerianmarket for less than N7,000!Incidentally, today, a MercedezBenz car tyre cost well abovethe minimum wage ofN18,000).

Furthermore, Nairadevaluation precipitated theunwholesome brain drain ofvery solid and well roundedprofessionals from our ivorytowers and educationalinstitutions and the privatesector to greener pasturesabroad; regrettably, the trendcontinues to this day andNigerians now spend over abillion dollars annually toeducate our children andwards in foreign institutions;worse still, after qualificationwe encourage these youths tosupport the economies of theirhost countries with their

a c q u i r e dexpertise ratherthan returnhome tocontribute theirquota toi m p r o v e m e n tand growth ofour economy.

What will bethe impact ofdevaluation onfuel prices andsubsidy?

The EconomicM a n a g e m e n tTeam has, forover a decaderemained indenial ofexchange rate asthe real driver ofhigher fuelprices and thecollateral of thepayment ofobnoxious fuelsubsidy valuesexceeding N1tn

($6bn) every year. Indeed,subsidy became a componentof domestic fuel price as aresult of a precipitatedevaluation of the NAIRA incompliance with IMFconditionalities attendant tothe Structural AdjustmentProgramme.

For example, an exchangerate of N80=$1 willimmediately crash fuel pricesbelow N90 without subsidy;however, any exchange rateabove the erstwhile N155/$1will conversely instigate fuelprices accordingly. It is not yetclear if fuel imports will besettled at the CBN’s newofficial rate of N168 or theinterbank exchange rate ofN175/$1; what is clearhowever, is that instead ofabout 20% lower crude oilprices bringing down domesticfuel prices, the weaker Nairaexchange rate of betweenN168-N175 will compensatefor the fall in crude prices andstill keep domestic fuel pricesat the premium levels whichaccommodate increasingsubsidy values as the Nairaexchange rate depreciates.

Is Naira devaluation theproduct of tumbling oil prices?

That is what the authoritieswant us to believe, however, inreality, there is no evidencethat the Naira exchange rateresponded positively andbecame stronger when crudeprices exceeded $120/barrel awhile back. Indeed,historically the Naira exchangerate has fallen over time,despite much higher crudeprices and bountiful dollarreserves from oil export.

What then is the primedriver of Naira exchange rate?

Evidently, the Nairaexchange rate is primarily afunction of surplus Naira a.k.a.excess liquidity; even the CBN

Governor and the EconomicManagement Team and theMonetary Policy Committee donot deny that the eternallypresent surplus state of Nairain our economy also has adiluting effect on the strengthof the Naira against the dollar;indeed, a market whichconstantly has a hugeoverhang of Naira againsttightly rationed dollarsupplies, will inevitablyproduce a weaker Nairaexchange rate. Consequently,by rationing dollar supplies inits capacity as supplier of over80% market dollar values, theCBN inadvertently weakensthe Naira exchange rate, whenit liberally floods the moneymarket with Naira whenever itsubstitutes Naira allocationsfor dollar derived distributablerevenue.

Why have CBN’s measuresto contain excess liquidityfailed?

Actually, the CBN’s strategieshave been targeted at thesymptoms, rather than theactual cause of excess liquidity.The abiding symptoms ofexcess liquidity are untamedinflation, disturbingly andinappropriately high cost offunds to the real sector, weakexchange rate, high nationaldebt accumulation atoppressive costs and the ratherunusual accommodation ofoutlays of between $6-12bn forsubsidising fuel pricesannually. Nonetheless, theincontestable cause of excessliquidity is the CBN’ssubstitution of Nairaallocations for dollar revenue;this singular act isundoubtedly also responsiblefor driving higher inflationrates and higher oppressivecost of funds; additionally, sucheternally surplus Naira isconsequently responsible forincreasing national debt and aweaker Naira which in turninstigates higher fuel pricesand the attendant burden ofsubsidy.

Save the Naira, SaveNigerians

LAGOS state Ministry ofAgriculture and

Cooperatives said a total of3, 149 people in agriculturalvalue chain businesses infour local government areasof the state have benefittedfrom its empowermentprogrammes.

The State Commissionerfor Agriculture andCooperatives, PrinceGbolahun Lawal, whodisclosed this, said thebeneficiaries were givenequipment and input likebrand new outboard engines,generating sets, garri

Lagos empowers 3,149 artisans in agric business

By FRANKLIN ALLI processing machines,grinders, as well as fish feed,pig meals and body gears.

“At the last count, theempowerment programmehad touched more than 3,149lives; the programme was infulfillment of the promisemade by the governor of thestate during the last WorldFood Day celebration held inthe state. He pointed out thatto ensure that beneficiaries donot misuse the resources, theministry first held a trainingprogramme for them. Heexplained that the ministrydecided to zone the state intofour for easy access of thebeneficiaries and the four

locations are Mowo inBadagry, Odogunyan inIkorodu, Agege and Araga inEpe.”

According to him, 320people were equipped atMowo, from where the teammoved to Ikorodu where 747persons got empowered,down to another 260 in Epe,with over 2, 000 receivingempowerment at Agege.“The ministry stormed thelast venue with 63 herds ofcattle (making 100 in all) with1, 000, feed millers, smokingkilns Personal protectiveEquipment (PPE) for 252butchers; 40 outboardengines to mention a few.

The abidingsymptoms of

excess liquidity areuntamed inflation,disturbingly andinappropriately

high cost of fundsto the real sector,weak exchange

rate, high nationaldebt accumulationat oppressive costs

and the ratherunusual

accommodation ofoutlays of between

$6-12bn forsubsidising fuelprices annually


CMYK



YOU were once quotedas saying that you don’t

know who will succeed you butthat you know who will notsucceed you, who are those thatwill not succeed you?

I know those who will notsucceed me; those who have notpicked forms will not succeedme, so my prediction was right.Some were moving around evenbefore the whistle was blown buteventually they did not pickforms, so those ones will notsucceed me. Those who havepicked the form and havedeclared, one of them willsucceed me.

Anointedcandidates

If you want to talk aboutanointed candidates, I have 16anointed candidates, so we haveagreed that they are going to dosix months each over eight yearsbecause I don’t have oneanointed candidate.

On a more serious note, thewish of everyone, whether youare governor or an editor, is thatwhoever succeeds you shouldcontinue from where you are

stopping. I think it is the wish ofeverybody. Now, what we haveexperienced over the years isthat some government come andput aside the works of the

previous governments.For instance, we are talking

about Delta State Beyond Oiltoday; I’m not praying thatwhoever will come and take overfrom me will say Delta BeyondOil is nonsense because thereality is on ground now. We areeven talking about Nigeriabeyond oil. Everybody is nowtalking about the alternative tooil and we have been singingthis song for the past seven andhalf years and then somebodywill come tomorrow and say it isnot a good economic strategy, letus jettison it and say let us goback to depend on oil budgetwhich is no longer there.

That is what I meant when I wastalking about successor. I was justpraying that somebody who willtake over from me will continuefrom where I stop because when Itook over from the previousadministration, I continued andcompleted projects that hestarted.

Why do you think somegovernors are trying to arm-twistthe National Chairman of thePDP, Alhaji Adamu Mua’zu withcourt cases and don’t you thinkthe PDP governors are playingGod in terms of the emergence ofparty candidates?

As for arm-twisting the PDP

And if you expect me to win forthe party at the state, as agovernor I must be interested inwho is running for which seat – itmust be someone that the partycan market to win elections.

And it is not an individual thing,really. It is party thing. Whobecomes the party’s governorshipcandidate; it is the party at thestate level that will decide.

The governors cannot reallyimpose candidates. what reallyhappens is that when people arenot able to get their ways, theeasiest person they can blackmailis the governor - that the governorhas done this or that but whenthey also have challenges inrunning the party, the person theyrun to is also the governor. So Iguess that is what is happening;governors cannot play God.

I’m sure you know that in someother parties, they play more godthan the PDP. I’ve heard somegovernors of the other parties insome states just announcinggovernorship candidates withoutprimaries and heavens are notfalling – we haven’t seen anyprotests. If that were done in thePDP, I’m sure people will make alot of noise.

There is growing apprehensionthat the Ijaw/Itsekiri conflict

National Chairman and courtcases, what I can say is that I don’tknow of any governor who isbehind the court cases. And wefeel sad; because my colleaguesand I are talking. We feel sadbecause the party’s nationalchairman, who is a formergovernor and as such ourcolleague – senior colleague interms of governorship - thatpeople are subjecting him to thekind of thing that is happening,we feel sad that he is goingthrough this kind ofembarrassment.

In fact, two weeks ago, therewas an alarm that he has beentaken to court in Delta State butof course there was no record thathe was taken to court here. It is akind of propaganda to pitch thegovernors against the PDPnational chairman.

Responsibilityon governors

Then the issue of playing God;I don’t think the governors areplaying God. The party structureputs a lot of responsibility ongovernors in terms of organisingthe party at the state level, interms of funding the party and ofcourse in terms of ensuring thatthe party wins at the state level.

•Uduaghan

PDP governors arenot playing god– Dr. Uduaghan

FAMED for his taciturn but tactical approach to governanceand even now, politics, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan ofDelta State is like a long distance athlete determined not tocollapse at the end of the race. It is not surprising that themantra among close aides of the governor is on FinishingStrong.It is thus not surprising that with many of his colleagues fullydevoted to the politics of transition, the administration is stillon its feet ensuring that testimonials won in various sectors,notably in its micro-credit scheme are not concealed by thefogs and fumes of politicking.Mid morning last Saturday, Dr. Uduaghan took out time inthe new Government House building, one of the legacies ofhis administration, to respond to questions fielded by a teamof visiting journalists on the pace and pattern of hisadministration. Excerpts:

By Emmanuel Aziken,Political Editor

Some weremoving aroundeven before thewhistle wasblown buteventually theydid not pickforms, so thoseones will notsucceed me

•There'll be no fresh Ijaw - Itsekirifight

CMYK



thought to have been settled by youwould burst into another conflict.Are you not worried?

Concerning the Ijaw and Itsekiricrisis; now let me assure you –the problem of Itsekiri, Itsekiri andUrhobo has been on before someof us were born and we are stillhaving flashes. But one thing isthat we have been able to providea forum for discussion, to reducethe tendency for violence. Andthat is one of the strategies weare trying to use. Even in the EPZmatter the two ethnic groups andthe community leaders arediscussing, both in Delta and inAbuja.

So there is no room for fight. Ofcourse, because of the economicbenefits of the EPZ, a lot ofcommunity interests are involved.So what you are seeing iscommunity interests for theproject, it is just that there is littleunderstanding of the overallbenefits of the project and that iswhat we are trying to tell thecommunities that what you arequarrelling over is just crumbcompared to the bigger benefitsof the project. And I think we aregetting somewhere.

Complex natureof relationships

And I must use this opportunityto thank Mr. President, who hasbeen very understanding. Andalso, the minister of petroleum;they have been quiteunderstanding, and fortunately,they are from this zone so theyunderstand some of the complexnature of the relationship in thisarea.

I tell you, there will be no fight. Why are most second term

governors inching to go to theSenate?

Sometimes ago, the senatorsembarked on a protest over theirfutures; that some of them will notbe coming back to the NationalAssembly because the governorshave taken charge and thegovernors are also coming to theSenate. There were agreements.

I want you to tell us in specificterms if you were privy to thatagreement that the senatorswill be getting slots and I alsowant to know why virtually allthe PDP retiring governors aregoing into the Senate. Why thechoice of senate. I also learnedthat you are going into theSenate, how are you discussingthe issue with SenatorManager.

Then on the last note, is thefinancial status of the state.Most of the states are finding itdifficult to survive - payingsalaries they resort to loans. Idon’t’ know what the situationis in Delta State?

On the issue of governors andthe Senate, really each state hasits own peculiarity. It is not asthe whole thing is being lumped

together. There are somegovernors who are finishing butwho are not going to the Senate.I think there are about 18 or 19governors that are finishing thisyear and so far about nine haveindicated that they are going tothe Senate. The others have not.

Yes, I have indicated that I’mgoing into the senate but Ibelieve that there is something Ican offer – a lot I can offer. But

what I know has been happeningis that some senators have beenassessed only on theempowerment they give to thepeople once in a year. At the endof the year you gather people,gather tricycles, motor cyclesand be assessed on that, but Ithink being a member of anylegislature is beyond that.

Yes, that is empowerment butit is which anybody can give butthere is also the issue ofattracting federal governmentprojects to your area by peopleat the National Assembly and Idon’t know anybody who canhave more reach than a previousgovernor. Being a governor ofDelta State for eight years hasgiven you a lot of exposures foryou to know a lot people outsidethe state – at the federal level;even internationally.

As a governor, one of thethings I have tried to do is towork with my 3-point agenda onsecurity, infrastructural andhuman capital development.

Why did we have the Deltacrisis? It is the issue ofu n d e r d e v e l o p m e n t ,marginalisation and all that.

Really, I want to pursue,working with others, if I getthere, what I want to do is toensure that there is legislationon equity participation ofcommunities in various parts ofthe Niger Delta region. Thesecond thing I want to pursue isalso from my experience ofpursuing companies and

industries in actualising ourDelta Beyond Oil vision. I alsonoticed that we do not haveadequate laws that giveconfidence to investors.

Israel is not the safest place inthe world and South Africa isnot the safest place in the worldbut investors keep going there.So it is not so much aboutsecurity but some much aboutthe safety of their investments– legal protection of theirinvestments and that is onething that they have challengeswith in Nigeria.

Environmentalactivities

Then very importantly is theissue of environmentalprotection and environmentalactivities. Being a state that hassuffered a lot of environmentaldamages, I know that there areso many things that thegovernment can do if theappropriate laws are there toregulate our environment.

And I believe that there mustbe laws to achieve that. So thoseare my interests in the Senate.Being able to go there and putthese things on the table andconvince my colleagues. So Ialready have a 3-point agendafor going into the Senate.

Some Itsekiri elders in thestate recently placed anadvertorial complaining aboutsome issues in the state, how areyou addressing the issues they

raised?Yes, I saw the advert – I saw

the letter. Some of them are myleaders; some of them are my agemates and some are youngerthan me but they are leaders ofthought and I have a lot ofrespect for them. The issues theyraised, I have noted them. Theonly thing I disagree with themis that they started by sayingthey don’t have access to me –they have a lot of access to me.They are the group that I havevisited most as a governor ofthis state. And in actual fact,three months ago, theysummoned me to Warri andwithin 24 hours I met with someof them over a market we areconstructing in Warri that wouldhave caused ethnic crisis and weresolved it. So they have accessto me.

How has the Delta Beyond Oilinitiative being doing?

Delta Beyond oil simply meanslooking at other areas of oureconomy apart from dependingtotally on oil and so we arelooking at the area of agriculture,manufacturing and tourism, andI must say the that agriculturalprogress in this state is veryencouraging. We have thefederal government workingwith us.

Micro-creditscheme

We also have the state organsworking and we also haveindividual farmers that areworking. But more interestingthat Delta Beyond Oil are theimmediate gains; the lowhousing scheme, which we areactualising through micro creditscheme being supported by theCentral Bank.

We learned that the state hasbeen constructing federalgovernment roads, so how muchare you expecting from thefederal government asrepayment?

Yes, we have done some federalgovernment roads and the lastbill we sent to them was N40bn.I don’t know whether they willmake any refund or not. That iswhere we are on federalgovernment roads.

Do you see the PDP winning

the forthcoming electionsgiven the robust opposition bythe opposition APC?

The answer is yes. Yes, theAPC members are organisingduring the day, but PDP isorganising both day and night.So that is the advantage of thePDP over APC. PDP will win.That is just it. We are workingvery hard. Let me not tell youour strategy but we will win.We have done ourmathematics. We are trying toplot the areas where there arechallenges and we are dealingwith them. But we’ll win.

•Uduaghan

Why Jonathan'll win

Yes, the APCmembers areorganisingduring the day,but PDP isorganising bothday and night

CMYK


THE nation enters into thelast month of the year

with a number of crucialpolitical decisions set to betaken that could wellunderline the future directionof the country.

Central to the politicaldecisions to be taken in themonth is the decision on theline up of candidates of thetwo major political partieswho are expected to battle forsupremacy in the comingelections that will define thefuture direction of the countryin the immediate and perhapslong term. The election is duenext February but the candi-dates would have to emergethis month under the provi-sions of the electoral act.

Besides that, the ensuingface off between PresidentGoodluck Jonathan and hisadversaries in the NationalAssembly could come to ahead in December when thelegislators weigh the option ofserving the president animpeachment notice or not.

Politicalintrigues

The schedule of primaries toselect candidates for theelection due next Februarywas itself laced in deeppolitical intrigues. Afterinitially fixing its primaryschedules to commence inmid November with the keygubernatorial primariesinitially fixed for November15, All ProgressivesCongress, APC strategistsmoved it to fall behind that ofthe Peoples Democratic Party,PDP which had fixed its owngubernatorial primaries forNovember 29.

After a closed door meetingof the national caucussometime in early November,APC rescheduled its primariesfor December 4th. Thedecision was to allow theparty lure those who fail tomake it in the PDP to moveover to the APC to try theirluck and by that, dismemberthe PDP. Indeed, the APC hadearlier amended itsconstitution to removerestriction on new memberscontesting in the party ’sprimaries at any level.

The PDP was quick to reactto the plot of the APC as it alsoimmediately adjusted its ownprimary schedule and put its

December’s decisive decisionsDecember is a month laden with many crucial decisionsthat would define the course of the country

By Emmanuel Aziken,Political Editor

•Muazu•Oyegun

December 2: APC holdsprimaries for House ofAssembly aspirants. It is ex-pected that a number of aspir-ants who lost out in the PDPlast Saturday would seize theopportunity of trying their luckin the APC. However, thebandwagon effect of such de-fections would not have signif-icant effect on a national scale.

December 3: House of Rep-resentatives resumesplenary session with thesceptre of an impeachmentnotice against the presidentarising from the police invasionof the National Assembly stillan issue.

December 4: APC holdsgovernorship primaries acrossthe country. By the decision ofthe PDP to put its ownprimaries after that of the APC,the ruling party has almostsuccessfully tied the hands ofthose who could lose out in theparty. Some like UmanaUmana in Akwa Ibom on therelease of the revised scheduleimmediately jumped shipknowing the PDP had closedthe door against rebellion. Theonly opportunity open todissidents who lose out in thePDP is to work against the party

in the main election but suchdissidents would think twicegiven that they

December 6: PDP House ofRepresentatives primaries.

December 7: APC House ofRepresentatives primaries.Holding the APC House ofRepresentatives primaries aday after that of the PDP wasprimed to enable the manydissidents in the House toswitch camp if they fail to getthe PDP tickets.

Internaldisharmony

However, it is a double edgedsword for the APC as partystalwarts who had been eyeingthe party’s ticket could causeinternal disharmony if it isperceived that the partyhierarchy is unjustly dishingout tickets to defectors from thePDP.

December 7: PDP Senateprimaries.

December 8: APC Senateprimaries. The samepermutation on PDP dissidentsin the House jumping shipcould also apply in this case.

December 10: APCpresidential primaries/national

convention. How the four con-tenders and party leaders takethe decision on who emergesas presidential nominee of theopposition party would be amajor factor in the election. Ifthey come out united, the rul-ing PDP could be in for a strongfight in the days ahead.

December 11: PDP nomina-tion convention ends with theexpected adoption of PresidentJonathan as party candidate.

The two presidential candi-dates that emerge from the na-tional conventions of the twomajor political parties wouldalso be expected to nominatetheir running mates if not onthe convention ground, thenshortly after.

Other major decisions ofDecember

The president is yet to presentthe 2015 budget proposals tothe National Assembly. Eyeswould be watching out to seewhether the president wouldpresent the proposals himselfor delegate someone else as hedid last year followingapprehensions of a plot by somemembers of the NationalAssembly to hound him.

The ensuing faceoff betweenPresident GoodluckJonathan and hisadversaries in theNational Assemblycould come to ahead in Decemberwhen the legislatorsweigh the option ofserving thepresident animpeachment noticeor not

governorship and NationalAssembly primaries after thenewly publicised dates set bythe opposition party.

The rest of this month ishowever, laced with much ac-tivities for the political glad-iators.

CMYK


WHEN 37 - year -old StellaIbianujulu Ebelu, a person living

with HIV set out to correct themisconceptions people have about HIV/AIDS not many believed in her dreamsbut today it is real, she is a proud motherof five healthy, HIV free children.

Stella was able to achieve this featbecause she knew her status andaccessed treatment.

“I could have five HIV negativechildren because I know my HIV statusand accessed treatment. All mychildren were born naturally (throughthe birth canal) rather than CaesareanSection common with HIV positivewomen.

She was also able to do it because sheadhered to instructions. “In pregnancy,I was taking my drugs and kept to gooddiet and nutrition,” Stella hinted.

Stella, a graduate of HotelManagement and Catering wasdiagnosed in 1994 after being infectedthrough blood transfusion when she hada growth on the back of her neck. Herhonesty earned her a man of her dreamswho accepted her and they got marriedand produced these children.

Stella ranks among few Nigerian HIVinfected proud mothers today.

Josephine Ebuka is not that lucky.Diagnosed HIV positive when she waspregnant with her first child, Josephinesuffered all forms of discrimination inthe hands of her immediate familymembers, in-laws, friends and otherrelations. Her world came crashingdown when her husband abandoned herafter she broke news of her status tohim.

Furtherdiscrimination

Worse still, Josephine received theshock of her life when she moved backto her father’s house. ”I was given astern warning not to associate with othermembers of the family. It was toughfor me.” Frustrated, she relocated toanother town unfortunately, out of fearfor further discrimination Josephinedeclined to access care under the FederalGovernment PMTCT programme.

She didn’t obey the rules. “I was afraidwhat people would say if I stoppedbreast feeding at six months.” Thisoversight resulted to the infection of thechild. The four year-old- boy is alsoliving with HIV today.

Studies show that Mother-to-childtransmission, MTCT, is the main routeof paediatrics HIV infection. It accountsfor over 90 percent of all paediatricsinfection.

Chairman of the West African Collegeof Nursing, WACN, Nigeria Chapter,Prof. Mildred John, MTCT of HIV isalmost entirely preventable whereservices are available, accessible andaffordable but access to treatment bythese HIV-infected women remained oneof the most contentious issues in efforts

Stigma, discrimination big threatto HIV elimination in Nigeria

By Chioma Obinna

to prevent MTCT of HIV in resourcepoor countries like Nigeria.

John argued that without MTCTintervention, 15- 45 per cent of infantsborn to mothers living with HIV willbecome infected, while 5-10 per centwould occur during pregnancy, 20 percent during labour and delivery and 20per cent through breast feeding.

Only recently, the Lagos State Directorfor Diseases Control came out toannounce that a total of 57, 587 pregnant

women living in Lagos tested positiveto HIV. But despite the scaling up of theprogramme in the state, many of thesewomen have failed to access care due tostigma and discrimination.

In the view of the National Agencyfor the Control of AIDS, NACA, thePMTCT programme provides HIVInformation, counselling for pregnantwomen and their spouses, routine rapidHIV testing for all women during theperiod of pregnancy and labour,Antiretroviral (ARV) treatment orprophylaxis, need for skilled healthworker to ensure safe delivery andprevent MTCT, infant feedingcounselling on exclusive breastfeedingand breast milk substitute were the initialpractice among others.

Idoko says the overall goal of theNational PMTCT programme is tocontribute to improved maternal healthand child survival through acceleratedprovision of comprehensive PMTCTservices.

Unfortunately, apart from the culturalbelief of prolonged breast feeding/missed feeding, stigma anddiscrimination, PMTCT in Nigeria hasbeen bedevilled with so many challengesthat have affected its success. Theseinclude poor buy-in at the state andlocal government levels; weak healthsystems; human resource limitationsparticularly in rural areas; low utilisationof maternal and child health-careservices.

Many HIV pregnant mothers havefailed to follow the rules of breastfeedingand a high percentage of MTCT of HIVhas been attributed to breast feeding.

Other challenges such as high fertilityrate, low contraceptive prevalence rateand non-involvement of the privatesector, which is a big player in theprovision of health service in Nigeria,have also been implicated for the poorprogramme impact.

In a study entitled: “Nigerianprevention of mother to childtransmission of humanimmunodeficiency virus programme:The journey so far”, conducted byexperts from the National Hospital,Abuja, department of Obstetrics andGynaecology, University of Jos, anddepartment of Obstetrics andGynaecology, Nnamdi AzikiweUniversity, it was estimated that withouteffective interventions, between 67,500and 125,000 infants will be infectedannually in Nigeria.

ActionHowever, if indeed “No Nigerian child

should be born with HIV” following thelaunch of the National Elimination ofMother-to-Child Transmission of HIV(eMTCT) Plan 2015-2016 by PresidentGoodluck Jonathan in Abuja recently,overcoming the aforementionedchallenges will require much politicalwill and strategic commitment ofnational, state and local governmentresources to addressing these problems.

The persisting high burden of HIVinfected pregnant women and MTCT inthe country is an indication of the needto urgently scale-up the PMTCTprogramme and make the servicesaccessible to all women especially thosein the rural areas.

• L-R: As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to celeberate World AIDS day today, experts say HIV is not a death sentence.

The persisting highburden of HIVinfected pregnantwomen and MTCT inthe country is anindication of the needto urgently scale-upthe PMTCTprogramme and makethe services accessibleto all womenespecially those in therural areas


CMYK


Nigeria, EU partner on credible elections, security

FG, foreign firm sign $3.7m pact onsport facilities for pry schls

By Caleb Ayansina

Ashafa backs Reps' impeachmentmoves against Jonathan

PDP boasts over Diezani’s appointment

By Victoria Ojeme

ICPC trains335 officialson handlingof weapons

NEW MEMBERS EVENING: From left; Mr Yemi Akeju, 1st Vice President, Institute ofDirectors Nigeria, IOD; Mr Chike Nwanze, Guest Speaker receiving an award of Excellencefrom Chief Mrs Eniola Fadayomi, President/Chairman of Council, Institute of Directors,Nigeria and Mr Victor Banjo, Director General/CEO, Institute of Directors, Nigeria, duringthe IOD Evening for new members held in Lagos. Photo by Akeem Salau.

A B U J A — T H ED e f e n c e

Intelligence Agency, DIA,yesterday, presentedcertificates for weaponhandling and intelligencegathering to about 335officials of theIndependent CorruptPractices and OtherRelated OffencesCommission, ICPC.

The presentation wasdone by the Commandantof the 177 Guard Battalionat the ICPC Headquarters,Abuja, to staff that took partin the three monthstraining held betweenNovember, 2013, andFebruary, 2014.

Speaking at the event,chairman of thecommission, Ekpo Nta,said with the training,officers and men of of ICPCwere now better equippedto tackle crimes as lawenforcement agents.

Nta explained that whenhe assumed office aschairman of thecommission, the staffoperated without properfield expertise, saying italways required theservices of other securityagencies to handle cases.

However, the chairmanpledged that furthertraining would be drawnto further equip them,adding that thecommission had madearrangement for 250computer for the e-learning centre.

According to him, “Ihave started arrangement,so that physical exercisewill be part and parcel ofour activities here.”

A BUJA—NATIONALleadership of Peoples

Democratic Party, PDP, saidyesterday that the election of theMinister of Petroleum, MrsDiezani Alison-Madueke, asPresident of Organisation ofPetroleum Exporting Countries,OPEC, was an indication of trustreposed in Nigeria by theinternational community.

It also boasted that with this, thenation’s economy now ranked asone of world's fastest growing.

The party in a statement signedby National Publicity Secretary,Chief Olisa Metuh, whilecongratulating PresidentGoodluck Jonathan on the electionof a Nigerian to such a position,said the election of Alison-Madueke was also a confirmationof global confidence in President

Jonathan’s administration.It added that Mrs Alison-

Madueke’s election into such aposition, as the first femalepresident of OPEC was, indeed,a confirmation of the successes ofthe Transformation Agenda of thepresent administration

The party, however, promisedthat it would continue toconsolidate on the gains of thesuccesses so far achieved in allsectors of the economy throughmeticulous implementation of itspolicies and manifesto.

It said: “Alison-Madueke’sdetermined growth of theNigerian operational capacity andlocal content in exploration andproduction, particularly throughthe facilitation and approval oflarge-scale divestments by oilmajors to indigenouscompanies is unprecedented inAfrica’s oil history.''

SENATOR Gbenga Ashafahas expressed support for

the impeachment of PresidentGoodluck Jonathan by membersof the Federal House ofRepresentatives.

Ashafa, who represents LagosEast senatorial district, threw hisweight behind the move whilespeaking with newsmen at theclosing ceremony of a two-dayPre-Election Retreat organised forhis constituency staff at Jibowu,Lagos.

He said: “As a senator and Irepresent one of the vibrant andpatriotic people that know that

Nigeria will remain one. Am oneof those who believe it will bebetter. And if members of theHouse of Representatives believethat their action in that process willmake Nigeria better, so be it.”

Ashafa, who noted that theimpeachment move had nothingto do with party affiliation, said:“All Progressives Congress,APC, has the passion toemancipate the people fromshackles of poverty and that’swhat Ashafa also stands for, thatis what the good people ofNigeria wants to translate at thecentre to in order to spread thedividends of democracy acrossthe states.”

A B U J A — F E D E R A LGovernment, weekend,

signed a $3.7 million deal withoffshore sports equipmentmanufacturers to equip no fewerthan 1,000 primary schools acrossthe federation with sport facilities.

The deal signed between theNational Lottery Trust Fund andChina Sports InternationalCorporation Limited and CAANSports Organisation Limited,Turkey, will benefit nine primaryschools in each senatorial districtacross the six-geo-political zonesof the country.

Speaking at the signingceremony, in Abuja, the Ministerof Special Duties and Inter-Government Affairs, KabiruTuraki, said the project was toincrease the nation’s talent base,describing it as first of its kind inthe history of Nigeria.

The minister further said that theproject would correct negativeimpression in the society thatgovernment had failed to discover,nurture and promote talents attheir tender age for a better result.

In his remarks, ExecutiveSecretary of the NLTF, Engr. HabuGumel, said the pact signed withthe China firm was worth $2.8m,while the one with TurkeyCompany was $914, 967, adding

that money for the deal wasgenerated from lottery activities.

“The contracts involve thesupply of various branded sportsequipment covering nine typesof sports designed for primaryschools, namely; athletics,volleyball, football, handball,badminton, table tennis,basketball, judo and Taekwondo,”he said.

He noted that the intervention

programme was designed topromote grassroots sportsdevelopment, while expandingthe nation’s talent base, bysecuring the interest andinvolvement of children of primaryschool age in sporting activities.

Gumel maintained that they hadcarried out survey and identifiedthe beneficiaries.

“We intend to distribute sportsequipment to about 1,000 primary

schools nation-wide, with at leastnine primary schools benefitingin each senatorial districts acrossthe six geo-political zones, re-affirming our vision to promotesocial inclusion among allNigerians.

“We have put n place a robustand comprehensive monitoringand evaluation system to helpNLTF track the process of itsintervention programmes.

ABUJA—THE Federal Government is partnering

the European Union EuropeanUnion to conduct credibleelections in 2015, combat

insurgency and boost bilateraltrade relations.

This was contained in acommuniqué signed by theMinister of State 11 for ForeignAffairs, Dr. NurudeenMuhammed, and State Secretary

for Foreign Affairs andInternational Cooperative of theRepublic of Italy, Mario Giro, atthe end of 5th Nigeria-EUMinisterial Dialogue yesterday inAbuja.

“Today, we have held a wide-ranging discussion on bilateral ,regional and international issues.We have agreed on an EUElection Observation Mission ; wehave condemned the ongoingviolence perpetrated by BokoHaram ; and we have committedourselves to continue to worktogether on fighting the Ebolavirus in West Africa.

“We have agreed to deepen ourrelationship in a number of areas- trade and investment , migrationand mobility , higher education ,and research and innovation .”

“We are committed to seeing ourdevelopment cooperation focusingon addressing poverty , noticeablyin the north of the country wherethe needs are highest,” thecommunique said.

Both parties, appalled by theongoing violence by Boko Haramin the North East of Nigeria,leading to the quest forcontinuation of the state ofemergency in Borno, Yobe andAdamawa states, expressedconcern that the violence wasbecoming deep rooted and

leading to considerable internaldisplacements and refugeemovement across borders.

The European Unionrepresentative, Mario Giro,emphasized the importance of astrong and human rightscompliant leadership in the fightagainst Boko Haram and inmaintaining state control over theNorth East states.

By Caleb Ayansina

By Henry Umoru

By Olasunkanmi Akoni


CMYK


Oyinlola to FG: OverhaulNigeria's security system

Moro tasks Nigerians oninsurgency

ILORIN—FORMERNational Secretary of

the Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, and chieftain ofAll Progressives Congress,APC, Prince OlagunsoyeOyinlola, weekend inIlorin, Kwara State, advisedthe Federal Government tooverhaul the nation’ssecurity system to end theproblem of insurgency inthe country.

Oyinlola, who also was aformer governor of OsunState, said this becameimperative because it wasnow obvious thatgovernment's approach intackling terrorism was notworking.

Onyinola, who was inIlorin as Chairman,Screening Committee ofAPC aspirants in the NorthCentral, for the forthcoming

general elections,described the securitysituation in the country asappalling.

Lamenting last Friday’sbomb attacks on a mosquein Kano, which claimedover 150 lives, Oyinlola saidgovernment must adoptdifferent approach tofighting the insurgency.

According to him, “Theaction is callous, inhumanand most embarrassing tothe governance of thiscountry. If my experienceas a retired military man isanything to go by, mysuggestion would havebeen total appraisal of theway we are handling theinsurgency. I think what wehave applied so far, seemsnot to be working, and ifwhat we have applied isnot working, then we mustdo something differently toget a different result”.

By Demola Akinyemi

M A K U R D I —MINISTER of

Interior, Mr. Abba Moro,weekend said Nigeriansshould look beyond religionas reason for the lingeringinsurgency in the country.

Moro, who spoke atOkpoga, in Okpokwu LocalGovernment Area of BenueState, where he monitoredthe Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, House ofAssembly congresses, wasreacting to last Friday’sbombing of a KanoMosque, which claimedthe lives of over 150worshippers.

He lamented that thelatest attack came at a time

when Nigerians wereheaving a sigh of relief thatthe activities of theinsurgents and suicidebombers were abating.

Moro said, “Contrary toinsinuations in somequarters about the religiouscoloration of theinsurgency; this latest bombblast at the Central mosquegoes to show that thesuicide bombers are notnecessarily true adherenceof Islam. We all know thatthe mosque is a well knownplace for worshippers andbelievers of Islam; and so,it means that Nigerians willhave to look a little beyondreligion, a little beyond themundane to locate the realcauses of the insurgency.''

By Peter Duru

V I S A F O N ECommunications

Limited has won theCDMA Operator of the Yearaward at the just-concludedAfriICTA 2014 awardsceremony.

Chairman of AfriICTA,Mr. Mkpe Abang, whopresented the award said“Visafone was adjudged theCDMA Operator of the Yearbecause of its resilience inthe market in the face of stiffcompetition and a veryharsh economic climate.”

He noted that thecompany has remained adominant player in thedeployment of high speed

data and high quality voiceservices in the market placestressing that in theintervening years since roll-out, the company hadcontinued to growphenomenally.

Responding, the ChiefExecutive Officer ofVisafone, Mr. Srinivasa K.Vsaid “we are excited by thisaward which recognizes thecompany as the CDMAOperator of the Year. We areencouraged and willcontinue to provide highquality services focused atspecific segments to standout as the provider of highquality services in thetelecom sector.”

Visafone wins 2014 CDMAoperator award

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VANGUARD, MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 — 55

Ferguson police officer resigned onsafety concerns

THE white police officer who shot an un-

armed black teenager todeath this summer in aSt. Louis suburb decid-ed to resign from theforce because of threatsagainst fellow officersafter a grand jury decid-ed not to indict him, hislawyer said yesterday.

Darren Wilson’s resig-nation, announced onSaturday, came nearlyfour months after the of-ficer shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brownin Ferguson, Missouri,on Aug. 9.

Wilson, who said hewas acting in self-de-fense and that his con-science is clear, hadbeen on administrativeleave and in seclusion.The incident has galva-nized critics of the waypolice and the U.S. crim-inal justice system treatAfrican-Americans andother minority groups,

and led to months ofsometimes violent pro-tests in Ferguson andmajor cities around thecountry.

Wilson’s attorney NeilBruntrager said Fergu-son’s police chief hadtold Wilson on Saturdaythat he had informationsuggesting other mem-bers of the departmentwould be harmed if Wil-son stayed on the force.

“When Darren was

told that, he simply said,‘That’s enough,’ and itwas time to resign,”Bruntrager said. In a let-ter published by the St.Louis Post-Dispatch,Wilson said he hadwanted to wait until af-ter the grand jury’s de-cision before decidingwhether to quit.

Even so, his departurewas long anticipated be-cause of the potentialrisks to his own safety

and the deep rifts thathave surfaced betweenFerguson’s police andthe African-Americancommunity since theshooting.

Some critics now wantTom Jackson, Fergu-son’s police chief, to re-sign as well, to promotereconciliation in the St.Louis suburb, wheremost residents are blackand the police force aremostly white.

Egypt: Mubarak verdict fuelsprotests, mockery

Kabul police chief quits amid risingmilitant violence

THE Kabul police chief , yesterday resignedafter Taliban gunmen killed a SouthAfrican father running an education charity and

his two teenage children, in the capital, whileofficials said Afghan forces had ousted insurgentstrying to seize former U.S. and British base CampBastion in the south.

Taliban fighters breached the perimeter of CampBastion in the southern Afghan province ofHelmand three days ago, just one month after thebase was handed over to the Afghan army.

The latest Taliban attacks have dented confidencein the country’s security force and added to concernthe police and army will struggle to hold strategicterritory after most foreign troops pull out at theend of 2014.

The guest house attacked by the Taliban in Kabulon Saturday, the third attack on a foreign guesthouse in 10 days, was home to staff of the U.S.-based charity Partnership in Academics andDevelopment (PAD).

PAD said on its website that three people werekilled by insurgents who used guns and explosives.

Colombia rebels freecaptured general

COLOMBIA’s main rebel group has freed armyGeneral Ruben Dario Alzate, who was captured

two weeks ago. President Juan Manuel Santostweeted the general and his two companions hadbeen released by the FARC to the ICRC andrepresentatives of Cuba and Norway and they werein good condition.

According to the ICRC, the general and the otherofficials have been flown to an army base in the cityof Medellin and are in good health. They areexpected to be flown to the capital Bogota later inthe day.

Santos had suspended two-year-old talks with therebels after the general, a captain and an attorneywere seized in western Colombia on November 16.

The release of the general should revive peacetalks between the rebels and Colombia’s governmentthat are being held in Cuba.

Alzate was the first general to be taken by the rebelgroup in a half-century of fighting.

Southern Yemenis rallyin Aden for secession

THOUSANDS of Yemenis are protesting in the portcity of Aden, pushing for the southern part of the

country to break away from the North.Some southern Yemenis are angry at what they see as

the monopoly of the North over power, wealth andnatural resources.

South Yemen was once an independent state between1967 and 1990 before it merged with the North. Fouryears later, the South tried to split away again, but wasdefeated after a short-lived but bloody civil war.

The current Southern movement was launched in 2007and it includes both peaceful protesters and armedgroups.

Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Aden,said that the number of protesters at the IndependenceSquare on Sunday had grown and many were expectingthe southern leader, Hassan Baoum to make anappearance.

PROTESTS erupted at universities across Egyptyesterday , condemning a court decision to

drop criminal charges against Hosni Mubarak, thepresident whose ouster in the 2011 uprising raisedhopes of a new era of political openness.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered at CairoUniversity, waving pictures of Mubarak behind barsand demanding the “fall of the regime”, the rallyingcry of the Arab Spring uprisings that shookgovernments from Tunisia to the Gulf in 2011.

Pope prays in Istanbul mosquein new outreach

POPE Francis at theweekend stood for

two minutes of silentprayer facing east in oneof Turkey’s most impor-tant mosques, a powerfulvision of Christian-Mus-lim understanding at atime when neighboring

countries are experienc-ing violent Islamic as-sault on Christians andreligious minorities. Hishead bowed, eyes closedand hands clasped infront of him, Francisprayed alongside theGrand Mufti of Istanbul,

Rahmi Yaran, in the17th-century Sultan Ah-met mosque, shiftinggears to religious con-cerns on the second dayof his three-day visit toTurkey. The Vaticanspokesman, Rev. Feder-ico Lombardi called it amoment of “silent adora-tion.” Lombardi saidFrancis told the muftitwice that Christians andMuslims must “adore”God and not just praiseand glorify him.

It was a remarkably dif-ferent atmosphere fromFrancis’ first day in Tur-key, when the simple andfrugal pope was visiblyuncomfortable with thepomp and protocol re-quired of him for thestate visit part of his trip.With President RecepTayyip Erdogan’s mega-palace, honor guard andhorseback escort now be-hind him, Francis gotdown to the business ofbeing pope, showing re-spect to Muslim leaders,celebrating Mass for Is-tanbul’s tiny Catholiccommunity and meetingwith the spiritual leaderof the world’s 300 millionOrthodox Christians.

Francis bowed beforeEcumenical Patriarch Bar-tholomew I and askedhim “to bless me and thechurch of Rome” at theend of an ecumenicalservice Saturday even-ing. The Orthodox lead-er obliged, kissing Fran-cis’ bowed head. The twomajor branches of Chris-tianity represented byBartholomew and Francissplit in 1054 over differ-ences on the primacy ofthe papacy, giving partic-ular resonance to Francis’display of deference.

CMYK


CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, Vanguard, MONDAY, Vanguard, MONDAY, Vanguard, MONDAY, Vanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 1,DECEMBER 1,DECEMBER 1,DECEMBER 1,DECEMBER 1, 2014 — 2014 — 2014 — 2014 — 2014 — 5757575757


City

•Continues from 60

Keshi

that will elapse at theend of 2015.

Keshi’s last contractwith the NFF whichended after the 2014FIFA World Cuptournament was atN5million per month.

And one of the reasonswhy a deal failed to bebrokered since then wasthe haggling over theprice he wanted to bepaid.

While the previousNFF board were said to

Chisora

have been insistent onretaining the N5millionprice-tag that he waspaid, some reportsclaimed that Keshiwanted N10million,which stalled the deal.

But with the turn ofevents of late, and alsothe intervention ofgovernment which sawKeshi brought back afterhe was dismissed inOctober, a truce seems tohave been reached.

Keshi will now earnN7million per month,which will culminateinto N84million by thetime the contract expiresnext year.

GLO-CAF AWARDS: Enyeama, Ahmed Musa make top 5

going in at 0-0 at thebreak.

Ronald Koeman’s team- who had won their lastfive home top-flightgames while concedingjust one goal - were giv-en hope when EliaquimMangala was sent off fora second bookable of-fence when they were 1-0 down with 16 minutesleft.

But that mattered little,as City showed theirclass and added lategoals courtesy of Lamp-ard and Clichy to movesix points behind Pre-mier League leadersChelsea.

In-form striker SergioAguero was deniedwhat appeared to be aclear penalty early onwhen he was fouled inthe box by Jose Fonte,

only for referee MikeJones to caution him forsimulation - much to theArgentinian’s bemuse-ment.

Southampton almostcaught City on the coun-ter in the 21st minute butan unmarked GrazianoPelle failed to get a sig-nificant touch on Mor-gan Schneiderlin’scross, before Joe Hartsaved well from StevenDavis - making his re-turn from a hamstringinjury - on the rebound.

A sweeping City movethen ended with StevanJovetic, one of fourchanges from the mid-week win over BayernMunich, squeezing ashot past Fraser Forstershortly before the break,but Toby Alderweirelddid well to get back andclear off the line.


But what Fury did notexpect was to be booedto victory.

Chisora’s face wasswollen as a pumpkin bythe end of the 10thround and his eyesvirtually closed. So thecomplaints were notagainst the doctors andhis corner deciding tospare him from furtherpunishment.

What dismayed the15,700 capacity crowd –and the referee for thatmatter – was the mannerof what masqueraded asa final eliminator tochallenge his eminence

Wladimir Klitshcko forthe undisputedh e a v y w e i g h tchampionship of theworld.

After a snappy start toproceedings Fury optedto settle into a repetitivepattern rather thanfinish off Chisora with aburst of aggression.

Round after roundChisora came ploddingforward and the leaningtower of Manchesterpicked him off withalternating left and rightjabs, plus the occasionalclubbing combination.

Fury kept doingenough to win therounds but did notextend himself to applythe knock out which wasthere for the taking.


•Oshoala, Oparazonie,Uchechi nominated forWoman Player and YouthPlayer of the Year

THE Confederationof African Football

(CAF) on Sunday in Cai-ro announced the top 5nominees for the 2014African Player of theYear and the 2014 Afri-can Player of the Year(Based in Africa) in theGlo-Caf Awards.

The players wereshortlisted from Twenty-five players who wereearlier nominated forthe African Player of theYear, and 20 players whomade the list for thePlayer of the Year (Basedin Africa) category.

Super Eagles’ Cap-tain Vincent Enyeamawho plays for Lille inFrance made the listalongside his nationalteam mate, AhmedMusa of CSKA Mos-cow. The remainingthree players listed are Asamoah Gyan of Gha-na and Al-Ain in theUnited Arab Emirates(UAE), Gabonese, Pierre-Emerick Aubam-eyang currently play-ing for Borussia Dort-mund in Germany andthe reigning AfricanFootballer of the Yearand Manchester CityMidfielder, Yaya Tourefrom Cote d’Ivoire.

In the African Player ofthe Year (Based in Afri-ca) category, the fiveshortlisted players arethe duo of Akram Djah-

nit and El Hedi Bela-mieri of Algeria and ESSetif, Firmin MubelNdombe of Congoand As Vita, Fakhered-dine Ben Youssef of Tu-nisia and CS Sfaxienand late Senso Meyiwaof South Africa and Or-lando Pirates.

Also released is the listof nominees for othercategories of the Awardsand they include: An-nette Ngo Ndom ofCameroon, Asisat Os-hoala of Nigeria and Riv-ers Angels, Desire Opar-anozie of Nigeria andGuingamp, PortiaModise of Banyana Ba-nayana, South Africaand Zenatha Coleman ofNamibia for WomanPlayer of the Year whilethe Youth Player of theYear has Asisat Oshoalaand Uchechi Sundayfrom Nigeria, FabriceOndoa of Cameroon and Kader Bidimbou ofCongo Brazaville asnominees.

For Most promisingTalent Award, the short-listed players are: Clin-ton N’jie of Cameroonqnd Olympic Lyon,Mubele Ndombe of Con-go DR and AS VIta, Vin-cent Aboubakar of Cam-eroon and Fc Porto andYacini Brahimi of Alge-ria and also FC Portowhile Florent Mbenge,Kherireddine Madoui of

Algeria, Rigo Gervais ofCote D’Ivoire, StephenKeshi of Nigeria andVahid Halilhdzich ofBosnia and Algeria Na-tional Team were nomi-nated for Coach of theYear.

Other Nominees arethe trio of Nigeria, Alge-ria and Libya listed forNational team of theYear, Cameroon, CoteD’Ivoire, Nigeria andNigeria U-20 for Wom-en’s National team of theYear and Club of the Yearwith Al-Ahly of Egypt,As Vita of Congo, Es-Setif of Algeria andSewe Sports of CoteD’Ivoire as nominees.

The rest are CAF fairplay Award, African Leg-end Award (to be decid-ed between Team ofOryx that won the maid-en edition of AfricanChampions League.

WITH the NigeriaFootball Federa-

tion seemingly beinghandicapped to take anydecisive action on out-of-contract Super Eaglescoach Stephen Keshi,former Super Eaglesstriker Jonathan Akpo-borie has reacted to thedevelopment, saying theNFF may have been thereason for their ownproblems.

Akpoborie says hedoesn’t feel sorry for theNFF, believing the waythey came into officemay have contributed tothem being handi-

Akpoborie: Politics destroyingNigerian football

capped as it seems, add-ing they will have to dealwith the problems.

“I wouldn’t say I wantto be sorry for the guysat the NFF because ingetting into office, theyused the political powerthat they have to get into

the office, so it is some-thing they have to dealwith,” Akpoborie said.

The former Wolfsburgof Germany striker alsopoints out politics as oneof the reasons for theproblems that is current-ly plaguing Nigerianfootball, adding that pol-itics will have to be sep-arated from football justlike it’s done in Europe.

“Whenever we drawup a football plan, yousee politics coming todisrupt these plans andwe have to understandthat politics is destroy-ing Nigerian football.We have to separatefootball from politics, justlike it is done in Eu-rope,” Akpoborie stated.

•Pinnick

•Super Eagles safe hands, Vincent Enyeama (l) confronts former Cameroon captain Samuel Eto'o in a EuropeCup clash. Enyeama is among the top five in the Glo-CAF Awards shortlist.

CMYK


Victory overHull ourbest so far– Van GaalM A N C H E S T E R

United managerLouis Van Gaal believesthat his side’s 3-0 victoryover Hull City is theirbest win this season.

Goals from ChrisSmalling, WayneRooney and Robin VanPersie earned the RedDevils a convincing 3-0win over Steve Bruce’steam on Saturday.

“It was the best matchof our season. Whatpleased me most was theway we dominated thegame from the firstminute to the last minute.

“We created manychances, we didn’t giveaway many chances andwe kept a clean sheetagain.”

United are graduallyfinding their rhythm atthe moment, having nowwon three games on thebounce.

But injuries are not

helping their cause asAngel Di Maria’shamstring was the 41stinjury that has befallena Man Utd player thisseason.

Van Gaal denied thatDi Maria was not takenoff to rest him for themidweek game againstStoke, but rather that heis completely out of it:“he did not come off asa precaution - he is outof Tuesday ’s gameagainst Stoke. It’s tooclose.

“But we will have towait and see how bad itis. We will know moretomorrow.”

Brother claims Adebayor has been ‘brainwashed’ byIslamic spiritual healersE M M A N U E L

Adebayor’s olderbrother Kola claims the

striker has beenbrainwashed by Islamicspiritual healers intothinking their motherused black magic tosabotage his form on thepitch.

Kola, 42, a truck driverbased in Bremen,Germany, told The Sunon Sunday:‘[Emmanuel] has beenbrainwashed by theseMuslim alfas - spiritualmen - who prophesisewhen he scores goalsand why he is notplaying well.

‘They have convincedhim his sister andmother put juju curseson him. My mother isvery sad. Every day sheis crying. I just talked toher on the phone andshe was crying again.’

Adebayor was recentlymoved to denyaccusations from hissister Maggie that hehad kicked their mumAlice out of his house inAfrica because hethought she hadperformed Juju curseson him.

Maggie claimed onradio station Peace FMin neighbouring Ghana

that the Premier Leaguestriker was refusing togive his mother moneyand has not seen her inover a year.

She said their mumwas selling ‘polythenebags, padlocks and otherthings’ to provide forher family howeverEmmanuel says hismother left the house ofher own accord.

Adebayor, speaking toPeace FM, said: ‘I neversacked my mum from thehouse. She decided toleave the house.

‘How am I going to bein touch with my mum ifmy mum is the onetelling everyone that mywork will not go forward,so I will just be on myside and do my thing.

‘They should stoptalking, they should stopdoing Juju on me, theyshould leave me alone.

‘I bought a $1.2mhouse in East Legon forthe one talking andcalling herself my sister.Can you imagine thatsister went to rent thehouse without myknowledge?’

Kola tells The Sun thathe sends Alice 400 euros

a month. He says he is‘angry’ at his brotherand that Emmanuel’sfinancial snub has ‘leftour family in poverty’.

While it’s common forpeople who identify asChristian such asEmmanuel to visit aMuslim spiritual healer,Kola says the Spurs frontman is ‘seeing bad alfasand they aremanipulating him’.

‘If you are really a manof God then you have tocatch our mother andprove she is a witch,’ he

says.“Otherwise you are just

lying to Emmanuel andtaking his money.’

Tottenham has beencontacted for a response.

Emmanuel’s form forSpurs hasn’t been testedsince November 9, whenhe was a 65th-minutesubstitute for EtienneCapoue in their 2-1 lossto Stoke. After thatmatch Adebayorcriticised Spurs fans fornot providing asupportive atmosphereat White Hart Lane.

Wayne Rooney jumps over a Hull City defender during the match. Rooney scored in the match whichended 3-0 in favour of Manchester United

•Adebayor (left) with mother

CMYK

midfielder Zungu produc-ing a composed finish af-ter being teed up by full-back Patrick Phungwayo.

Chippa United manZulu put his side into adominant position whenhe found an empty netwith Ivory Coast’s goal-keeper caught well out ofposition.

Herve Renard’s IvoryCoast struggled to createchances throughout, witha free-kick over the cross-bar from Zie Diabate rep-resenting their best oppor-tunity to get back into thegame as South Africa com-fortably held on.

Bafana Bafana winMandela Challenge

DAVID Zulu scored inhis first game for

South Africa as they beatIvory Coast 2-0 to win the20th edition of the NelsonMandela Challenge.

With the fixture fallingoutside of FIFA’s interna-tional calendar, the friend-ly contest at MbombelaStadium in Nelspruit rep-resented a chance forsquad players from bothteams to impress ahead ofthe 2015 Africa Cup ofNations.

And striker Zulu took fulladvantage of the opportu-nity, doubling the hosts’lead seven minutes into thesecond half after BonganiZungu’s first-half opener.

Forward Vuyisile Wanahad the ball in the net forSouth Africa as early as thesecond minute, but his ef-fort was ruled out for off-side.

South Africa did openthe scoring in the 31stminute, though, attacking •Mashaba

YESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSTODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLE


QUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDACROSS:4 Assume (5)7 Flower (6)9 Colour (3)10 Fellow (3)12 Assessed (5)13 Encounter (4)15 Regional (5)17 Percolate (6)19 Inform (5)20 Pane (5)22 Mournful (3)24 Ebbed (7)27 Friend (3)28 Banquet (5)31 Knowing (4)33 Halted (6)35 Fat (5)37 Shift (4)38 Reappear (5)39 Weaken (3)41 Stitch (3)42 Demure (6)43 Enquired (5)

DOWN:1 Universe (6)2 Yield (6)3 Concealed (3)4 Atmosphere (4)5 Traded (5)6 Matchless (8)8 Idiot (4)11 Silent (9)14 Rank (4)16 Clothed (4)18 Pace (4)21 Bald (8)23 Adroit (4)25 Trouble (4)26 Consider (4)29 Worshipped (6)30 Pact (6)32 Dwelling (5)34 Join (4)36 Reared (4)40 Burst (3)

Keshi to earnN84m annually

•Continues on Page 58

will now be earningseven million Naira permonth.

The deal is expected tobe a 12-month contract

STEPHEN Keshiwill reportedly

sign a new deal with theNigeria FootballFederation(NFF) and

GLO-CAF AWARDS: Enyeama,Ahmed Musa make top 5 —Pg 58

SOUTHAMPTONwent into Sun-

day’s game flying highafter a stunning start tothe season, but weregiven a reality check ina comprehensive dis-play from Manuel Pel-

Southampton 0 Man City 3Tottenham 2 Everton 1

Italy - Serie AAC Milan 2 Udinese 0Cagliari 0 Fiorentina 4Cesena 0 Genoa 3Empoli 0 Atalanta 0Palermo 2 Parma 1

Team GP W D L GF GA GD PTSChelsea 13 10 3 0 30 11 19 33Man City 13 8 3 2 27 13 14 27S'mpton 13 8 2 3 24 9 15 26Man Utd 13 6 4 3 22 15 7 22West Ham 13 6 3 4 21 16 5 21

EPL Top Five

EPL Results

City overtake S’thamptonlegrini’s side.

Yaya Toure, FrankLampard and Gael Cli-chy got on thescoresheet for the visi-tors, who stepped uptheir performance after•Continues on Page 58

Fury eases tovictory over

Chisora

TYSON Fury hadpredicted that the

war which preceded hisheavyweight encounterwith Dereck Chisorawould be ‘the fight of thenight.’ He was right.

The minor epic inwhich Billy JoeSaunders put a stop –probably temporary – tothe rise of Chris EubankJnr was indeed the fightof the night at the ExCelin London’s Docklands.•Continues on Page 58

UNSTOPPABLE: Yaya Toure scores with a thumping effort for Manchester City in an English PremierLeague match yesterday. City beat Southampton 3-0 to go second behind Chelsea on the log.

•Fury locks lips with Paris and has barely a scratch onhis face after a one-sided showing in London in theearly hours of Sunday morning.

CMYK

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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.

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONSACROSS: 1, Stop 4, Art 6, Sped 9, Tar 10,Composed 11, Idea 14, Her 16, Cloth 19,Repaired 21, Tenet 23, Delicate 24, Dread27, Wan 31, Item 33, Original 34, Ire 35,Load 36, Tug 37, Crew

DOWN: 2 Tool 3, Pipe 4, Answered 5, Tidy 6,Still 7, Pad 8, Erect 12, Grand 13, Spite 14, Hit15, Renew 17, Ocean 18, Hated 20, Delaying22, Tin 25, Ratio 26, Aimed 28, Port 29, Disc30, Safe 32, Era


CMYK

VANGUARD, MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014

CMYK

kano mosque, sin against god - pope

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