Scores of Boko Haram terrorists surrender

...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 62492

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015**

Mr & Mrs

Scores of Boko Haramterrorists surrender

COLUMNISTS:

•P.41

Hundred yearsof Penkelemes

That bark byJP Morgan

•P.40 •P.42

Brand Buhari'sencounter withDiogenes (2)

•Panic in terrorists' camp over bombardment by military•Buhari jets out to Paris, to meet Hollande, others

OSINBAJO IN RIVERS—From right: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike andRivers State Deputy Governor, Dr Ipalibo Harry Banigo at the Port Harcourt International Airport, yesterday, during the VicePresident's one day visit to the state.

Continues on Page 5

By KingsleyOmonobi & Levinus

Nwabughiogu

A B U J A —FOLLOWING

sustained offensive byground troops and pre-emptive air strikes by theNigerian Air Force,scores of Boko Haramterrorists have continuedto surrender to theNigerian troops even asmore have indicatedwillingness to lay downtheir arms.

VANGUARD gatheredthat many of the

How PDP governors usedAnenih against me — TUKUR

7 killedin Josschoolbuildingcollapse

8

17

Foreign suppliersshut credit lines toNigerian businesses

•Pgs.44-45

2 —Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

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POCKET CARTOONVanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 , 2015 —5

Scores of Boko Haramterrorists surrender

IT'S UP TO YOUBY AYO ADIO

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

Control of consciousness determines the qualityof life —Mihaly- C

A PERSON’S state of awareness isconsciousness, and like a mirror, it allows all

images to reflect on it. The mirror gives you what itsees, untainted, not modified or altered images.Likewise, behind every single thought there is thepure consciousness and awareness. It cannot betainted intrinsically with negative emotions such ashatred or envy. If you want to attract beautifulenergy, change your consciousness and you’llchange your life. Go from hate to love. Envy andgreed to contentment. Anger to forgiveness, undueattachment to material things to detachment andbalance. Passions of lust to right discrimination andhaughtiness to humility.

I USED to think that HIV, cancer and diabeteswere man’s greatest enemies until I saw how

many became prisoners of complacency,procrastination and inertia. No one is entitled to whatthey never crave for. Beyond our inadequacies liesthe true genius. If we decided to move past whatseemed to limit us, that which held us back willbecome leverage for our elevation. It's up to you.

SAYINGS OF OUR PEOPLE

Continues from Page 1

CHILD FARMERS—Children going to the farm at Giri in Abuja,Saturday. Photo: NAN.

SUCCESS is not the key to happiness, insteadhappiness is the key to success. If you love

what you are doing, you will be successful.

terrorists were movingout of their Sambisahaven which hasreceived continuouspounding from the air as

a result of airforcereconnaissance flightthat exposed theirhideouts.

A statement by theActing Director of Public

Relations, Colonel SaniKukasheka Usman notedthat the action of theterrorists, meant toescape collateraldamage, was due to thenew offensive strategiesput in place for‘Operation Lafiya Dole’by the military highcommand.

According to thestatement, “the newstrategies beingemployed by the militaryhave started yieldingpositive results withscores of terroristssurrendering to troopsand many more willing tosurrender.

“The strategiesemployed includedsustained offensiveoperations, pre-emptiveair strikes by theNigerian Airforce androutes blocked by groundtroops, all gearedtowards constricting andsnuffing out the BokoHaram terrorists.

“Many of the terroriststhat willinglysurrendered, paintedimages of mass panicand hysteria among theirerstwhile colleagues whoare feeling the noosetightening on their neckswith the relentless effortsof troops and renewedvigour in operationsinspired by the personalleadership of the Chief of

Army Staff.“Terrorists also seem to

have an inkling of whathappens to surrenderedsuspects as regardsscreening and de-radicalization ofinnocent ones amongthem."

Continuing, he said:“The Nigerian Army inconjunction with theNigerian Air force andother security agencieswill continue to deviseand implement effectivestrategies to bring BokoHaram terrorism to aspeedy end.

“It will also continue toreceive surrenderingsuspects and assuresinnocent ones amongthem that surrender isthe only option open tothem. The Nigerian Armywishes to also appreciatethe great support andinformation it receivesfrom well-meaningcitizens. More of theseare required to helptowards quickerobliteration of the BokoHaram scourge in ournation.”

Buhari jets out toParis

Meanwhile, PresidentMuhammadu Buhari isdue to leave Abuja forParis, the French capitaltoday on a three-dayofficial visit to France.

The visit was at theinstance of FrenchPresident, Mr. FrancoisHollande.

President Buhari willbe accompanied on thevisit by the NationalSecurity Adviser, Major-Gen. BabaganaMonguno (retd.);Permanent Secretaries inthe Ministries ofDefence, Finance,Agriculture, ForeignAffairs, Industry, Tradeand Investment as wellas the Chief Executivesof the NigerianInvestment PromotionCommission and theNigerian ExportPromotion Council.

Upon his arrival inParis, President Buhariwill hold talks withPresident Hollande andother senior FrenchGovernment officials onbilateral cooperationbetween Nigeria andFrance in the areas ofdefence, security, tradeand investments.

The meeting withPresident Hollandewould hold at the ElyseePalace this evening.

Afterwards, PresidentBuhari and his team willalso confer with theFrench Minister ofDefence, Mr. Jean-Yves

Le Drian; the FrenchMinister of Finance andPublic Accounts, Mr.Michel Sapin; theFrench Minister ofEconomy and Industry,Mr. Emmanuel Macronand the French Ministerof Foreign Affairs andI n t e r n a t i o n a lDevelopment, Mr.Laurent Fabius.

The President will alsovisit the headquarters ofMEDEF, France’s largestfederation of investorsand employers, where hewill participate in aF r a n c e / N i g e r i aInvestment Forum withleading Nigerian andFrench entrepreneurs.

President Buhari will

also confer with theChief Executive Officersof leading Frenchmultinational companiessuch as Total andLafarge on their currentand future investmentsin Nigeria.

A statement from thep r e s i d e n t i a lspokesperson, Mr. FemiAdesina further statedthat President Buhari’sother engagements inParis included a meetingwith AfricanAmbassadors to Franceand an interactivesession with members ofthe Nigerian community.

It is expected that thepresident will round offhis visit on Wednesdayand return to Abuja.

Punish violators oflocal content law,Media/CSO tell FG

By Soni Daniel

ABUJA— CIVILsociety groups

and the media havecalled on the FederalGovernment to imposestiffer punishment onmultinational oil firmsthat violate the NigerianOil and Gas IndustryContent DevelopmentAct.

The call was containedin a communiqué issuedafter a meeting betweencivil society and theirmedia partners in Abuja.

Among other things,the communiquédeplored the continuedviolation of Nigerianlaws by Agip andGeneral Electric in amaintenance contractdispute with ArcoGroup, an indigenous oiland gas firm.

A communiqué issuedat the end of themeeting, called therelevant committees ofthe National Assembly tosummon themanagement of Agip andother multinational oilcompanies in the country

to explain the level oftheir compliance with theLocal Content Act.

The communiqué said:“The Nigerian ContentDevelopment andMonitoring Board beingthe regulatory body inthe Act should as amatter of urgency,commence the dischargeof its obligations bymonitoring theoperations ofInternational OilCompanies, with a viewto tracking andenforcing compliancewith the Nigerian Oiland Gas IndustryContent DevelopmentAct 2010.

“We call on the relevantcommittees in bothchambers of the NationalAssembly to immediatelysummon themanagement of theItalian firm, AGIP andother International OilCompanies to appearbefore them and explaintheir role in the totaldisregard and violationof the Nigeria Oil andGas Industry ContentDevelopment Act, 2010."

6—Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

Yenagoa residents lynch one,apprehended 3 robbery suspects

Taxi plunges into river, recovered with3 corpses after five days

By Samuel Oyadongha &Emem Idio

The suspect, Alhaji Mohammed Gobir

By Emma Una

EFCC arrests Millionnaire Gobir over alleged

multi-billion naira fraud

ELECTROCUTION:

Body of lateUNILAGstudentmoved toEnugu

Y E N A G O A — A N G R Yresidents of Yenagoa,

Bayelsa State capital,weekend confronted a four-manarmed robbery gang along theupscale Oxbow Lake area forallegedly shooting a commercialtricycle operator anddispossessing his passengers ofN3 million.

The incident, it was learned,occurred at about noon onSaturday when the four-mangang attacked a tricycle androbbed a couple, Mr. and Mrs Eric

CALABAR—IT WAS ahorrifying spectacle on

Saturday evening at Adim, BiaseLocal Government Area of CrossRiver State as a taxi whichplunged into a river alongCalabar-Ikom highway lastTuesday afternoon, was pulledout with three bloated corpses.

The taxi, according toeyewitnesses, was travelling fromObubra in the central district ofthe state to Calabar with fourcommuters along with the driverbut at Adim, the taxi came closeto a head-on collision with aspeeding truck from Calabarwhich left its lane.

It was learned that to avoid acollision with the truck, the driverswerved the car off the road andplunged into the river.

The 21-year-oldsurvivor

A source who gave his name asEkong, told Vanguard that oneof the commuters, a 21-year-oldgirl who was travelling with theboyfriend but miraculously came

out of the water was too dazedand temporarily deaf because ofthe impact of the crash and couldnot relate to the divers which sideof the river the taxi plunged.

“The girl was too dazed andhad become deaf and so could

not explain which side of the riverthe taxi plunged into as it wasdifficult to make sense of what shewas saying apart from saying myboyfriend is inside. So diverssearched for the taxi on the wrongside of the river for days,” Ekong

said.He said the divers searched for

the taxi several miles on the rightside of the river where theythought the taxi might haveplunged into until Saturdaywhen they decided to search theleft side of the river.LAGOS—A social-wake

was yesterday held at theOkota, Lagos residence, ofChief Basil Anekwe, father ofthe 300 level Accountancystudent of the University ofLagos, Oluchi Anekwe, whowas electrocuted lastTuesday while on her way toher on-campus apartment.

This is just as the body ofthe deceased had beentaken to her home town inIgbo-Etiti Local GovernmentArea of Enugu, withpreparation for burial in thepipeline.

Her devastated father whospoke with Vanguard,described the incident as ashock he might never comefrom.

Explaining how news ofhis late daughter ’selectrocution reached himthrough members of ParentsAssociation, UNILAG,Anekwe began withlamentation: “ My tallest isgone.”

He paused and cautionedthe sympathisers not to cry,that the whole scenario waslike a dream he hoped tocome out of.

Continuing, he recalled how his driver took him to hisoffice that fateful day andinformed him he would beleaving for Togo.

He said: “But some hourslater, my driver came back tothe office and I thought thatI had seen a ghost because Ithough he would havereached Togo already. Itouched him to be sure hewas the one. He then toldme that Oluchi was sick andthat they needed me at thehospital.

‘’I asked him what kind ofsickness it was that neededmy presence? I even askedif I should send money fortreatment instead, but heinsisted on driving me to the hospital in Lagos; he neverspoke a word as he drove me toLagos.

‘’He took me to my house and Iasked him if that was where Oluchiwas. On seeing members of myfamily, including my brother-in-lawin the house, I asked them whereOluchi was and they broke thebombshell that she had beenelectrocuted."

LAGOS—THE Economic andFinancial Crimes

Commission, EFCC, weekend,burst a major corporate fraudwhen it took into custody oneAlhaji Mohammed Gobir forallegedly defrauding foremostoutdoor advertising company,Afromedia, huge sums of moneyin various currencies.

The act fetched Gobir a hugefortune in both local and foreigncurrencies worth billions of Naira.

The suspect illegally collected$3,500,000, N514,457,151.87,$2,102,740 and 51,000 PoundsSterling at various times.

Gobir, a 55-year-old father oftwo, was picked by the operativesof EFCC in the early hours ofSaturday in his Ikoyi residenceand taken to the Lagos office ofthe anti-graft agency forinterrogation.

The suspect allegedlydefrauded the advertisingcompany through a phonyinvestment deal.

He was allegedly introduced toAfromedia sometime in 2008 bytheir Private PlacementConsultants, Synergy CapitalAdvisory Limited, as a high net-worth investor who was willingto inject N1 billion into thecompany through the acquisitionof shares.

Based on his touted pedigreeas potential investor, Gobirwormed his way into the heartsof the management and in notime, became chairman of the

ABA—UNIDENTIFIEDmembers of Bakassi Boys

have allegedly killed a middle-aged man and injured about nineothers at a hard drug spot in Aba,Abia State, over non-payment of‘settlement fee.’

Vanguard gathered that theincident, which took place atNgwa Road end of Aba Riverbank, popularly known as ‘OrjiUzor Kalu Bridge’ where harddrug peddlers and users relocatedafter men of the National DrugLaw Enforcement Agency,NDLEA, ejected them from theirformer base on the notorious York

By Ebere Aham

The late Oluchi

Bakassi Boys kill one, injure 9 oversettlement fee in Aba

By Soni Daniel

By Ugochukwu Alaribe Street a few years ago, causedtension in the area as tradershurriedly shut their shops.

Narrating the incident toVanguard, an eyewitness whogave his name simply as Chikwe,said they were relaxing inside anopen shed at noon when sixBakassi Boys arrived the area ina Hilux van.

He said: “Immediately theBakassi Boys alighted from theirvan, they made straight to theopen shed where most of themwere sleeping and demanded fortheir daily ‘settlement fee’ ofN1,000 which the hard drugdealers operating in the area pay

them.’’He added that when the

Bakassi Boys were told there wasno money, they got infuriated andone of them used the side of hismachete to beat up one of theyoung men inside the shed.

Chikwe said as the BakassiBoys beat up the young man fordaring to tell them there was nomoney, another, whose name hegave simply as Sunny Poundsfrom Imo State, asked them tostop beating the young manbecause he was sick.

The Bakassi Boys were said tohave pounced on Sunny Poundsfor challenging their authorityand shot him dead.

B u s i n e s sDevelopmentCommittee ofthe board ofdirectors of thecompany, aposition whichhe would lateruse to defraudthe company.

H a v i n gearned the trustof the companyowners, Gobirs t a r t e dd e m a n d i n glarge sum ofmoney which hetermed asb u s i n e s s

expenses tointernationalconsultants,

Royal Exchange Bureau, in theUnited Kingdom in order tofacilitate and secure investments

from a United Kingdom-basedbank.

The company gave Gobir thesum of $1,000,000 in cash andalso paid for his travel expenseson a first class return ticket to UKwhere he would meet with thepurported investors, whichinvestigation later revealed neverexisted nor were the meetingsever held.

On one good day after thesuspect had collected huge sumsof money and made several tripsto the UK to meet with thepurported investors, the GroupManaging Director of Afromediaaccompanied him to the UK foranother round of meetingostensibly to close the deal.

Oyinodokoye, at gunpoint alongthe sparsely populated OxbowLake business area.

The hoodlums, operating in aVolkswagen car with numberplate AL 305 AGU, reportedlyblocked the tricycle that wascarrying the couple.

Armed with a locally madepistol, they were said to haveshot the tricycle operator on thehead, collected the sum ofN3,000,000 from the occupantsand zoomed off.

But luck ran out on thehoodlums as their victims raisedalarm which attracted a mob that

gave them a hot chase andeventually caught three of them,while one escaped.

The mob reportedly pounced onthe suspected robbers and beatthem to pulp before the policearrived.

One of the suspects, identified as Jeff,later died and his corpse was depositedin an undisclosed hospital for autopsy.

The fourth suspect was trailed andarrested at Swali in possession of a locallymade pistol and N144,500, part of thestolen money.

Contacted, the state Police PublicRelations Officer, Mr. Asinim Butswat,confirmed the incident.

Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015—7

Corruption, main cause of poverty in Nigeria—BUHARI

By Jimitota Onoyume,Levinus Nwabughiogu

PDP commences reorganisation moves

By Charles Kumolu

Why 5 govswalked out onJonathan atconvention—TUKUR

By EmmanuelAziken, Political

Editor & Henry UmoruA BUJA—PRESIDENT

Muhammadu Buhari hasidentified corruption as the mainreason for the prevalence ofpoverty in the midst of plenty inNigeria saying that two-thirds ofNigerians are extremely poor.

President Buhari spoke in PortHarcourt, Sunday, at the SecondPlenary of the Conference ofCatholic Bishops of Nigeria.

It will be recalled that thepresident had earlier in Februaryattended the First Plenary as apresidential candidate of the AllProgressives Congress, APC.

In his good-will messagedelivered on his behalf by the VicePresident, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, thePresident declared that corruptionhad eaten deep into the fabrics ofthe nation.

He, however, vowed to uprootthe menace saying that was theonly way Nigeria could be saved.

He said: “Corruption in ourcountry is so endemic that itconstitutes a parallel system. It isthe primary reason for poor policychoices, waste and of course, bare-faced theft of public resources.

“Our fight against corruption isnot just a moral battle for virtueand righteousness in our land, itis a fight for the soul andsubstance of our nation.

“It is the main reason why apotentially prosperous countrystruggles to feed itself andprovide jobs for millions.”

The President also hinged infantmortality deaths on the avarice ofsome leaders.

He said: “The hundreds ofthousands of deaths in the infantand maternal mortality statistics,the hundreds of thousands ofannual deaths from preventablediseases are traceable to the greedand corruption of a few. This iswhy we must see it as anexistential threat. If we don’t killit, it will kill us.”

On the security of the nation, thePresident said: “We are on courseto militarily rout Boko Haram, andmake them incapable of takingand holding territory.“ He addedthat suicide bombings in someparts of the North East are thedesperate acts of the terrorists tocreate a sense that they are still inplay.

“With vigilance and good localintelligence we will make thosecowardly acts practicallyimpossible,” he assured.

The president also emphasisedthe need to create the enablingenvironment where there wouldbe equal opportunity for everyoneto develop their potentials,stressing the importance of asocial welfare scheme to cater forthe vulnerable and less privileged.

“We must change the paradigmof thinking about our economyand the ultimate good of themajority. While we create an

enabling environment for freeenterprise, we must reason,plan and budget with theunderstanding that almost two-thirds of our people areextremely poor, and must behelped first to survive and thento fully participate in theeconomy of the nation.

“We must create a safety netfor the very poor and vulnerablewhile ensuring that socialspending is also a directinvestment in the economy. Wemust invest substantially inrelevant education, teachertraining, and vocational andentrepreneurial training,” hesaid.

Expressing “warm felicitationson behalf of the governmentand people of our great nationNigeria”, to the conference,President Buhari noted that he

has “always been impressedwith the social consciousnessexhibited by the CatholicBishops' Conference.”

He told the conference that ithas also played a notable rolein the stability of the country.

“Your bold critical interventionsat various crucial moments in ournational journey have helped tocaution, admonish andultimately stabilise the polity.This is as it should be. Thisnation belongs to us all. Leadersin every sector owe it a duty tothis generation to contribute inbuilding a good society.

“For us elected intogovernment, we have since setthe daunting tasks before us,with vigour and commitment inthe full assurance that by thegrace of God, our country willbecome safe, secure, prosperous

and virtuous,” the presidentsaid.

In his speech, the Presidentof the Conference, Most RevdIgantius Kaigama, theArchbishop of Jos, commendedthe Buhari administration’scommitment to the fight againstcorruption and in the formationof a Presidential AdvisoryCommittee on Anti-Corruption.

According to him, “thepresident is dead right that ifwe don’t kill corruption,corruption will kill us.” He alsoprayed that God will give thecitizens of Nigeria a new heart.

Earlier, Governor NyesomWike of Rivers State lauded theCatholic Church for itsapolitical posture in the state,calling on other churches toemulate it.

Says that anti-graft war is to save nation’s soul

THE Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, has

concluded plans to hold aparty reform conference inorder to deliberate andconsider the best workablereforms needed to repositionthe party.

This is coming at a timewhen the Ekweremadu 15-man post-electionassessment committee set upto review and evaluate theparty’s performance in thelast general election is goinground the country in linewith its terms of reference.

As a prelude to theconference, which is titled:

Power to the People, a 40-mancommittee has been set up toensure that the cardinalobjectives of the proposedgathering are realised.

A statement by thechairman of the ConferenceOrganising Committee, Prof.Jerry Gana, indicated that thecommittee is made up ofnotable leaders of the party,who had occupied electedand appointive public offices.

It also said the committeefor the proposed conferencewill be inaugurated tomorrowin Abuja.

Prominent among theissues to be discussed are,the need to remobilisenationwide support for theparty and the revival of the

practice of genuine internaldemocracy, among others.

The statement reads: ‘’Weare pleased to inform PDPsupporters nationwide ofthe decision to convene aparty reform conference tore-ignite the noble idealsand good image of the party,to restore the party’s corevalues, ensure zerotolerance for corruption andthe promotion oftransparency ingovernance, generate freshideas on people orientedprogrammes for ensuringgood governance, balancedevelopment and humansecurity with social justice,equity and fairness.”

To hold reform conference in Abuja

ERSTWHILE nationalchairman of Peoples

Democratic Party, PDP, Dr.Bamanga Tukur, has for thefirst time, given the reasonwhy five of the party ’sgovernors walked out onhim and PresidentGoodluck Jonathan at thespecial national conventionof the party in August,2013.

Tukur, in an interveiw,rebuffed claims that hestopped Governor MurtalaNyako from the conventionground. Rather, he claimedthat Nyako chose to stayaway after he was told thathe could not come into theconvention with hisfactional chairman of theparty. According to him thefive other governorsdecided to walk out insolidarity with Nyakobecause most of thegovernors themselves didnot believe in the principleof internal democracywhich he championed asnational chairman. Heaccused the governors ofseeking to push erstwhilenational chairman of theparty’s Board of Trustees,BoT, Chief Tony Anenih, toundermine him as nationalchairman of the party.

Tukur, in the interview,also affirmed that the defeatof Dr. Jonathan in theMarch 28 presidentialelection was a result ofsabotage worked out bysome persons around theformer president.

Tukur, who was compelledto resign as nationalchairman of the party inJanuary 2014, alsodefended his stewardshipof the party and dismissedassertions that the powerfulpoliticians he brought in asaides helped to fracture hisrelationship with othermembers of the NationalWorking Committee, NWC.In a stout defence of his roleas national chairman,Tukur took fullresponsibility for the actionof his aides and said thathe was not at any timeundermined by the aides heappointed.

Tukur, whose son ismarried to a daughter offormer Governor MurtalaNyako, said that he did notallow the familyrelationship he has withNyako to, in any way,becloud his sense ofpolitical propriety.

INSPECTION: From left: Governor of Borno State and Chairman of Northern GovernorsForum, Alhaji Kashim Shettima and Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authorityof Nigeria, Engr. Saleh Dunoma, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abujaduring the Managing Director's inspection visit of the airport.

8—Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 , 2015

Why DSSsacked 65personnel—SOURCE

LAGOS—NATIONALPostgraduate Medical

College of Nigeria, NPMCN,weekend faulted PresidentMuhammadu Buhari over thedissolution of Medical andDental Council of Nigeria,MDCN, saying, the dissolu-tion will not only promotequackery in the health sectorbut will also allow cases ofmalpractices to continue una-bated.

At a press conference in La-gos to herald the College’s33rd convocation, the Presi-dent of NPMCN, Prof.Rasheed Arogundade arguedthat MDCN should be ex-empted like the UniversitiesGoverning Councils havebeen exempted because of thedisastrous consequences thatsuch premature dissolutionshad caused in the past.

According to Arogundade,since MDCN is a regulatorybody set up by statute to carryout specific functions, dissolv-ing it is the same as completelystopping all the functions.

He said: “The Council’sfunctions are strictly profes-sional and regulatory in na-ture, including medical edu-cation, accreditation of profes-sional institutions, mainte-nance of standards, and en-forcement of discipline andalso monitoring of health in-stitutions that are training doc-tors all over the country amongothers.

FREEDOM VISIT: All Progressive Congress, APC, governorship candidate in Rivers State,Dr. Dakuku Peterside (left), and Vanguard columnist, Donu Kogbara released by kidnappers,weekend 13 days after she was kidnapped at her PH residence.

MDCN: MedicalCollege faultsBuharion dissolution

By Chioma ObinnaJOS—A storey buildinghousing an Islamic school in

Bukuru, Jos South LocalGovernment Area of Plateau Statelast night collapsed on pupils,killing about seven of them.

The incident occurred at AbuNaib Islamic School along Geroroad in Bukuru at the time thechildren were receiving Islamiclectures in the evening.

The Zonal Coordinator, NorthCentral of the NationalEmergency ManagementAgency, NEMA, MohammedAbdulsalam, who confirmed thecasualty said rescue team of theagency arrived the scene,recovered seven bodies, whilefive people were rescued but withsevere injuries.

He added that the injuredpersons have been taken toPlateau Specialist Hospital in Josfor medical attention.He also saidrescue efforts were ongoing andcasualty may increase as severalother people were still buried inthe rubble.

A resident Imran Labaran,however, said four persons weredead, and five were injuredadding that the figure was likelyto increase though theCoordinator, Plateau StateEmergency ManagementAgency, Mr. Al-Hassan Bardewho confirmed the incident said,

7 killed in Jos school building collapseBy Marie-Therese Nanlong “we are concerned about

evacuation and safety, nocasualty figure yet. “

Alhaji Danlami Muhammadwho lives in the community saidabout 40 children some of whomwere less than 10 years old wereinside the building when itcollapsed. He, however, said thecasualty figure cannot be

ascertained “because we are stilltrying to rescue them.”

Muhammad added, “Thenumber could have been morethan this but for the rainfall thatprevented some of the childrenfrom attending.”

He said the School was asecondary school but used onweekends by the children to learn

Islamic studies.,Relevant organizations were

on ground to assist in rescuingtrapped pupils, and theincident may not have beenunconnected with thedownpour which took placewith heavy breeze for about twohours.

FORMER Prime Ministerof Togo, Mr Edem Kodjo,

said, yesterday, that Nigeria hasthe opportunity of spearheadingAfrica’s opportunity of securinga permanent seat in the UnitedNations Security Council.

Kodjo who spoke at the secondmemorial lecture of the late DrOlusegun Agagu held at theCivic Centre in Lagos stressedthe need for Nigeria to rise up tothe task of uniting the Africancontinent, in order to achieve thegoal of securing the seat.

Kodjo, who was represented byformer Minister ofCommunications in Togo, MrCornelius Aida, said Nigeriaremains a powerful machine forthe building of a stronger andmore united Africa declaring that“no wonder it is no exaggerationto think that the world order inthe future cannot be conceived ofwithout Nigeria.”

Delivering the keynote addressentitled: “Resource, Policy andEconomics”, he lauded theconduct of the 2015 generalelections saying Nigeria hastaught other African countries alesson in democracy.

His words: “this is the first timethat I am setting foot again on thisAfrican land of Nigeria after theoutstanding lesson in democracythat you have just taught Africa

UN Security Council: How Nigeria can get permanent seat—Kodjo,former Prime Minister of Togo

By Dapo Akinrefon and the world at large. Thewhole world actually held itsbreath. That was a lesson thatrestored our pride, our assuranceand our hope in our motherAfrica. She knows how tosurprise people. She alwaysturns up and, at the right time,you see her sitting up, thenstanding, proud and full of hopewhen everybody believes thatshe is unhappy and about tocollapse. Yes, that also is one ofthe faces of Africa”.

He, however, noted that in spiteof the country’s natural resources,majority of Nigerians are stillgrappling with poverty. On theneed for Nigeria to ensure unityand lead other African countriesto secure a permanent seat in theUN Security Council, Kodjo said“Africa has yet to play a majorgeopolitical role because she hasnot yet succeeded in realizing herunity.”

According to him, “If Nigeria,today torn and affected byconflicting influences, has so littlea presence on the global politicalscene, she has the means, she hasevery means to get organized andappear as a full regional power tobe taken into account. We havesaid it earlier on; she wasremarkable in terms of efficacy inthe process of the liberation ofcolonies on the continent and inthe struggle against apartheid inSouth Africa.”

We need strong leaders, stronginstitutions—Gambari

In his speech, former UnitedNations Under-Secretary General,Professor Ibrahim Gambari said“Nigeria should be proud that inMarch 2015, we had credibleelections but elections are overwhile elections are means to abetter society. On my part, I knowthat there is no democracy in theworld that successfully reproducesitself, which does not see to thedevelopmental aspirations of itscitizens. Take a look at Libya,everything was given to thecitizens under Ghadaffi like freehouses, free education, but yet thepeople wanted somethingdifferent. Material wealth alonecannot guarantee the stability of acountry. There is need for rule oflaw and rule by law. There is anexus between development,democracy and peace”.

Gambari, who called ongovernment at all levels to tacklepoverty, unemployment, securityand the deplorable state ofinfrastructure said such factorslead to instability in a country.

He said “What kind of obligationcan we demand of our citizens ifyou cannot provide them with thebasic things? Not only must weprovide infrastructure that allowsour citizens to realize their best,we must also involve social safetyby taking adequate care of thedown trodden. If properly

harnessed, the human andnatural resources of this country,under a visionary and dedicatedleadership are such that Nigeriacan become a much moreprosperous country. Some leadersalways try to subvert theinstitution may be because of theirinsecurity, so we need bothstrong leaders and stronginstitutions. We must ensure thatthe political class provides thekind of leadership the countrydeserves and needs. Nigeria hasnot yet emerged but we are theon the way”, he said.

Agagu was an amiable man—Obasanjo

In his remarks, formerPresident, Chief OlusegunObasanjo, who was representedby Prince Olagunsoye Oyinloladescribed the late Agagu as anamiable man.

Oyinlola, who chaired theoccasion said “In view of therelationship that existed betweenChief Olusegun Obasanjo andthe Agagu family, he (Obasanjo)would have made it a point of dutyto be here today (yesterday) tochair the occasion butunfortunately, being a man ofinternational standing, it was justsome few hours ago that he got acall to answer to the duty of Africain Ethiopia and Guinea Bissau,hence his absence from thisoccasion, which he holds dear tohimself."

ABUJA—DETAILS haveemerged why about 65

personnel of the Departmentof State Services who wereevicted from the servicetraining school in Lagos wereasked to leave the service.

A senior officer of the serv-ice who spoke with Van-guard in Abuja Sundayevening said the traineeswere sent out because “theirrecruitment did not followlaid down procedures ofchoosing personnel into theservice.”

It will be recalled that DSS65 cadet officers of the serv-ice who were undergoingtraining at the State ServicesAcademy, SSA, in Lagos, in-cluding a sibling of thesacked former spokes personof the service, Marilyn Ogarwere asked to leave earlierthis month, few weeks totheir passing out.

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 — 9

CMYK

10 — Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

BAIL-OUT: Aregbesola approved N20bnpayment to contractor – PDP

By Gbenga Olarinoye

INAUGURATION: From left: Managing Director/CEO, Osun State Investment CompanyLtd, Mr Bola Oyebamiji; Director General, National Automotive Council, Engr. AminuJalal; Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State; former Special Adviser to Osun StateGovernor on Federal Matters, Idiat Babalola; former Commissioner for Environment, MrMuyiwa Ige; and Divisional Head, Large Enterprises, Bank of Industry, Mr. Joseph Babatunde,during the inauguration of Bola Ige Mechatronics Institute in Esa Oke, Osun State.

NCAA toregisteraviation fuelmarketers

OSOGBO—OSUN Statechapter of the Peoples

Democratic Party, PDP, hasalleged that Governor RaufAregbesola last week approvedpayment of N20 billion fromthe N35 billion bailout fundshe got, to a road contractorwhen the state workforce isbeing owed nine monthssalary.

The party, in a statementissued in Osogbo yesterdayand signed by its DirectorMedia and Strategy, Prince

Diran Odeyemi, accusedGovernor Aregbesola ofmisplaced priority paying thecompany handling theOsogbo Ring Road projectwhen civil servants arewallowing in abject povertydue to unpaid salaries.

But the All ProgressivesCongress APC, denied theopposition's allegation,saying because of the levelof PDP's frivolous andunsubstantiated allegationsagainst the ruling party, ithad resolved never torespond to its future

allegations.According to the APC

spokesperson, Mr KunleOyatomi; “The banks the PDPmentioned are there for thepublic to vet towardsestablishing facts or fallacies ofthe PDP. Also relevantinstitutions and officials aboundin Osogbo where informationflow freely. We have had enoughof this irresponsibility.”

The PDP alleged that: “Wehave it on good authority thatthe payment was effected lastweek Thursday and we havenoticed that the contractor

returned to site within 24 hoursas requested by the governor.”

The party said the N35 billionbailout was lodged in twobanks (names withheld),adding that while the funds inone of the banks remainedfixed as earlier alleged by thePDP, the part lodged in theother bank has been recalledto pay the company.

“Much as we believe the roadproject is ideal, we wonderwhy an inflated road contractawarded at N1 billion perkilometre has suddenlybecome the priority ofGovernor Aregbesola at thisparticular period of ninemonths unpaid salary if notbecause of some underhanddeals to siphon funds andshort-change the people ofOsun State.

“This perhaps is the reasonwhy the governor said hewould only pay half of Marchsalaries at a meeting he heldwith workers last week,“ thePDP said.

The party therefore called on“President MuhammaduBuhari to wade into thelooming crisis in the state ifgovernor Aregbesola continuesto deny Osun workers theirright to salary having receivedthe bail out fund from CBN threeweeks ago even without meetingthe condition set for him to submitthe resolution of the StateExecutive Council because hedoes not have an exco 10months into his second term.”

It's untrue — APC

LAGOS—THE Lagos State Government at the

weekend clarified the Section ofthe Road Traffic Law 2012, whichrestricts trailers and longvehicles from plying themetropolis between the hours of6am and 9pm.

The section of the law says:‘’Save as may be prescribed bythe Commissioner byregulation, no trailer other than

petrol tankers and long vehiclesused in conveying passengers,shall enter into or travel withinthe metropolis of Lagos betweenthe hours of 6.00am - 9.00pm.

‘’Any driver foundcontravening the provisions ofthis Section shall have hisvehicle impounded by a dulyauthorised officer of theAuthority and shall uponconviction be liable to a fine of

N50,000 or a term of six monthsimprisonment or both.’’

But in a statement, thePermanent Secretary in theMinistry of Transportation, Mr.Oluseyi Whenu, said; ‘’WhileSection 2 of the Traffic Lawrestricts movement of trailers andlong vehicles, only petrol tankersand long vehicles used inconveying passengers areallowed to travel within the

metropolis between thestipulated time.

‘’Vehicle with more than onereal axle or six tyres are herebyrestricted between the hours of6am and 9pm with theexemption of the following inaccordance with Section 2 and38 of the Road Traffic Law 2012.

“These exemptions are tourbus/passenger buses, fire servicetrucks, rescue and recovery trucks,

LAGOS TRAFFIC LAW: Confusion trails trailer restriction

L A G O S — T H ENigerian Civil

Aviation Authority, NCAA,yesterday said theauthority will henceforthregister aviation fuelmarketers.

This is coming just asthe Director General of theNigerian Civil AviationAuthority, NCAA, Capt.Muhtar Usman signedthe modalities andprerequisites for theregistration.

According to Usman, itis expected that allexisting aviation fuelsuppliers will be requiredto register and regularisetheir operations with theNCAA while new entrantswill file fresh applicationwith the samerequirements.

“This action is notunconnected with therecent controversies andallegations concerningthe Jet A1 supply andusage by the airlineoperators” he stressed.

The NCAA boss hashowever charged therelevant departments andofficials of the authority tomeet the marketers and allthe stakeholders to sensitisethem on the guidelinesand requirements forregistration prior to theexercise. He said thatduring the meeting, inputsand observation on theguidelines will bewelcomed and discussedby all the parties concerned.

“To register as an aviationfuel supplier, anapplication should bewritten and addressed tothe Director General,Nigerian Civil AviationAuthority (NCAA).

The application shall besigned by the lead promoteror Chief Operating/Executive Officer of thecompany and the airports/terminals where it intendsto operate,” he said.

By Lawani Mikairu& Daniel Eteghe

patrol trucks, perishablefarm products trucks, refusecollection trucks, cementmixer trucks, tractors andrefrigerated trucks”, hesaid.

Petrol tankers exemptedby the law was not listedin the PermanentSecretary’s statement.

Whenu said theclarification becamenecessary following thecontroversy generated bythe enforcement of theLaw, after a fatal accidentinvolving a containerladen trailer claimedthree lives in the state afortnight ago.

CMYK


O S O G B O — A Noctogenarian Prince of

Ile-Ife from the Giesi rulinghouse, Pa Peter AdetolaOgunleye has warnedstakeholders in the town andother interested parties in theselection of the Ooni of Ife againstbribery, saying Ooni’s stool is notfor sale.

Pa Ogunleye, who contested forthe stool in 1980 after the demiseof Oba Adesoji Aderemi but lostto Oba Okunade Sijuwadedeclared that the Giesi rulinghouse would ensure that amember of the ruling houseemerges as the next Ooni of Ife.

Also, Ogunleye raised the alarmover alleged plan by someindividuals who are not rightfulchildren of the Giesi’s dynasty tocontest for the stool from the rulinghouse.

Osun State Government onFriday formally asked the GiesiRuling House to presentcandidate for the stool that wasrecently vacated by Oba Okunade

Sijuwade Olubuse II, who joinedhis ancestors on July 28, 2015 atSaint Mary Hospital, UnitedKingdom after a brief illness

It was gathered at the weekendthat the state government at acrucial meeting held on Fridaynight at Oke-Fia GovernmentHouse, Osogbo, attended byking-makers from Ile-Ife,resolved to formally write theGiesi Ruling House to presentcandidate in accordance with the1979 and 1980 Ife ChieftaincyDeclaration which allow forrotational ascendancy of thethrone of Ooni of Ife among thefour ruling houses.

But Pa Ogunleye said the familyhas commenced serious scrutinyto determine the rightful princesentitled to contest for the vacantstool.

According to him, the rotationalsystem introduced in 1957 by LateOba Aderemi among the fourruling houses in the town andendorsed by the defunctwestern region governmentallows the Giesi ruling houseto produce the next traditional

Ooni’s stool not for sale, Giesi family warnsBy Gbenga Olarinoye

THE All ProgressivesCongress (APC) in

Ekiti State has reacted to aposition canvassed byGovernor Ayodele Fayosedisparaging PresidentMuhammadu Buhari as adictator violating thenation’s law of immunity byallegedly sendingDepartment of StateServices, DSS, operatives tocomb the Akwa IbomGovernment House wherethey allegedly discovered alarge cache of weapons andcash.

It said the operatives hadnot violated the nation’s lawby moving against illegalarms dump large enough totopple a democratically

elected government.APC's Publicity Secretary,

Taiwo Olatunbosun, said ina statement that the DSSoperatives acted in thenation’s interest to checkwhat would have been athreat to national stabilityand a reversal of fortunes forthe nation’s economy.

Reminding Fayose thatthe law allows secret serviceoperatives to strike at anypart of Nigeria undersecurity threat to maintainpeace, Olatunbosun said:

“Let us educate Fayosethat a Government House isnot the same as foreignembassies or missions thatenjoy physical immunityfrom security activities bylocal armed forces.

“While a governor enjoys

immunity from physicaland body security search,the same cannot be said ofthe Government Housebecause no law in thenation’s constitution saysthe Government Houseshould be a breedingground for insurrection andinsurgency where stateenemies can assemble armsto topple a legitimategovernment and wesuspect Fayose as anaccomplice in the armsstockpiling saga in theAkwa Ibom GovernmentHouse, otherwise there isno reason for him to be edgyand agitated in hisresponse,” he explained.

He berated the governorfor trying to whip publicsentiment against DSSoperatives that performedtheir legitimate duty.

By Rotimi Olaleye

No immunity for govt houses, APCreminds Fayose

A B E O K U TA — T H EAwujale and paramount

ruler of Ijebuland, Oba SikiruAdetona has commended the

AKURE—SENATOR Robert Ajayi

Boroffice carpetedGovernor OlusegunMimiko of Ondo State overstatements credited to himduring the sixth GaniFawehinmi AnnualMemorial Lecture held inAkure recently.

In his reaction, Borofficesaid while the honourbestowed on the lastinglegacies of Late ChiefGaniyu Fawehimi is mostdeserving and befitting, itis however of concern thatthe programme wasfraudulently used topromote and advance thesame anti-people policies

the late sage lived, foughtand died for.

He referred to Mimikoas ‘’An emergingaccidental critic who isdesperate for politicalrelevance and haspersistently fired shots atPresident MuhammaduBuhari even at theslightest chance sincethere is virtually no on-going activity or project inOndo State.’’

He added; ‘’I thereforeadvise him to sit back fordeep self-reflection on hisnew found role because itis absurd, hypocritical andlikewise nonsensical for arenowned exemplar of

bad governance to advisethe federal governmenton sound economicpolicies. What isMimiko’s idea of soundeconomic policies?

‘’For the records, I wishto state that Mimiko is aprime beneficiary of thesound economic policiesof the President Buhari-led government. Thebailout package forworkers and pensionerswho have been exposedto unimaginable hardshipby the Mimiko-ledadministration is aproduct of the soundeconomic policies of theFederal Government.''

Boroffice slams Mimiko over FG’s economic policies

By Daud Olatunji

Obasanjo made Abeokuta state capital — AWUJALE

My father deserves CFR award – KOLA ABIOLA

By Abdulwahab Abdulah

ruler for the ancient town.Also, Prince Ogunleye

disclosed that the 1976

chieftaincy declaration and thereport of the Justice AdenekanAdemola panel of inquiry

recognizes the rotationalsystem among the four rulinghouses in the ancient town.

LAGOS—MR Kola Abiola, son of the late business

mogul and politician, BashorunMKO Abiola said at theweekend that Nigeria will bedoing a great honour to thememory of his late father byawarding him with theposthumous honour of theCommander of the FederalRepublic, CFR.

The honour is next to the

highest Grand Commander ofthe Federal Republic, GCFR,reserved for those who havebeen number one citizens atone time or the other.

According to junior Abiola, partof what can make his fatherhappy in death is to accord himthe necessary respect he deservedfor his aspirations and love for thedevelopment of Nigeria while hewas alive.

Abiola died on July 7, 1998 atthe wake of his struggling to

claim the mandate given to himby Nigerians in the 1993presidential election.

Kola, who was a guest ofhonour at the reunion/receptionfor the newly-appointedmembers of the defunctConcord newspapers intohigher private and public officessaid part of the reasons for theestablishment of the newspaperby his late father was to promotegoodwill, unity and thedevelopment of the nation.

f o r m e rPresident,C h i e fO l u s e g u nObasanjo forusing hisposition as

Chief of Staff, SupremeHeadquarters, which wassecond in command in themilitary hierarchy, to makeAbeokuta, his home-town, thecapital of Ogun State.

Awujale said Abeokuta wasnever recommended amongcities considered for Ogun Statecapital in 1976 when the statewas being created by themilitary administration of lateGeneral Murtala Muhammed.

The monarch stated this at theweekend in his remarks duringthe turbaning ceremony ofPrincess Khadijat AdebisiEdionsere as the first Iya Suna ofOgun State by the MuslimsCouncil.

Awujale, who is the presidentof the Ogun State MuslimsCouncil, however absolvedObasanjo, of any wrongdoing,saying the general only proved‘to be a true son of Abeokuta.'

CMYK


Egbema youths rally support for Dickson's 2nd term bid

PERE OF OGBE-IJOH: Delta communitypetitions IG, others

Tebite urgessupport forDelta StateGovt

Ex-CP, Aduba blasts Army chief forreleasing Boko Haram suspects

By Emma Amaize

BAYELSA GOV POLL: No fear in PDP over massdefection —REP

By Samuel Oyadongha

YENAGOA—A member ofthe House of Representatives,

Douye Diri, weekend, dismissedclaims that the Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, in Bayelsa State, wasjittery over the gale of defectionsfrom the party.

Douye, who representsYenagoa/ Kolokuma/ Opokumafederal constituency, at aninteractive session with newsmenin Yenagoa, insisted that the PDPwill record a landslide victory inthe December 5, governorshipelection.

He said: “The PDP in BayelsaState is not jittery over the gale ofdefection from the party and theparty will record a landslidevictory in the December 5governorship poll.

“People defecting today wereformer commissioners andpolitical appointees in the state.They were collecting ourallowances and spending themoney in Abuja. Because it is nolonger business as usual, they aredisgruntled.

“Why didn’t we have a flyoverin the six years administration ofTimipre Sylva? Why didn’t wehave roads expanded in Bayelsa?But they were collecting moremoney from federal allocation andbecause it is no more sharing ofBayelsa wealth and because it is

difficult for them to change, theyare jumping to another party.

“Almost all of them that left arenow governorship aspirants. Allthey are saying is for the benefitof those who do not know them.But for us who know them well,we know they are greedy. Nowthat the people of the state arebenefiting from robust fiscal,economic and infrastructural

development policies, they areangry.”

Speaking further, he saidthough ethnic bias andcoloration cannot be wishedaway from political struggles,the declaration that the party waspredominantly an Ijaw party inBayelsa State was due to thebenefits the PDP had accordedthe Ijaw people with the

emergence of Dr. GoodluckJonathan as President and thepolitical history from the unionof the PDP and the defunctNational Solidarity Movement,NSM, led by the late formergovernor of old Rivers State,Senator Melford Okilo.

“I disagree that the PDP is aregion party. We havegovernors in the North and theSouth-West region," he said.

HUNDREDS of youthsunder the aegis of

Egbema Youth Front, EYF,have, thronged Ogbotobocommunity, Ekeremor LocalGovernment Area of BayelsaState, to canvass support forthe re-election bid of GovernorSeriake Dickson in theDecember 5, 2015 election.

The youths, who arrivedOgbotobo community in morethan 12 speedboats, led bytheir chairman, Mr DanielSapele, said that GovernorDickson’s performance andantecedents in the last threeand a half years as governorof the state has won theirhearts, therefore, they werereciprocating by supportinghis re-election bid.

Sapele said: “The on-goingconstruction of the BayelsaWest senatorial road project,Bayelsa East senatorial roadproject, first fly-over bridge inYenagoa, prompt payment ofsalaries as well as humancapital developmentprogrammes spread evenlyacross the state necessitatedour support. We have,therefore, endorsed him foranother term.”

He assured GovernorDickson of 99 percent of votesand pledged the group'sresolve to embark on house tohouse campaign in the localgovernments and various

communities that make upBayelsa West senatorialdistrict.

He thanked Mr. FredAgbedi, the memberrepresenting Bayelsa West

federal constituency and Mr.Michael Ogbere,representing Ekeremor 111in the House of Assembly fortheir unflinching support forGovernor Dickson.

He urged members of thecommunity to remainsteadfast with the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP,government in the state.

A S A B A — F O R M E RCommissioner of Police,

Delta State, Mr. IkechukwuAduba, weekend, described therecent release of 128 suspectedBoko Haram members by theChief of Army Staff as the“height of illegality.”

Aduba, who spoke toVanguard, said: “This is afundamental breach of the

constitution. Under InternalSecurity Operations, policeremain the foremost internalsecurity agency. The suspectsought to have been handed overto the police.

“After screening, the case fileought to be forwarded to theDirector of Public Prosecution todetermine their culpabilitybefore release. Usurping policefunction is sending a wrong

signal.“Amputation of the Nigeria

Police will not help. If theFederal Government feels thepolice is weak, then it shouldstrengthen the force byoverhauling, weeding andequipping them.

“The military is doing wellbut should be confined to theirrole under Internal SecurityOperations and rule of law."

THE People of Perebiriquarters of Ogbe-Ijoh,

Warri kingdom, Delta State,yesterday, petitioned theInspector General of Police, IG,over alleged plans to disobeyan order of court restraining thecoronation of anyone as Pere ofOgbe-Ijoh, Warri Kingdom,before the November 19 datefor further hearing in the suit inthe matter before a Delta StateHigh Court in sitting in Warri.

Perebiri people, who alsopetitioned the Deputy Governorof Delta State and other securityagencies through their counsel,Edore Lawson Umuze, said thata faction was allegedly planninga tentative date for theinstallation and also planning toarrest the petitioners before thatday for the coronation to takeplace.

The petition read: “We act assolicitors to members of Perebiri

Quarters of Ogbe-Ijoh WarriKingdom represented by ChiefAlfred Yola, Sele Banni andSamson Ogisi Robert, theclaimants in suit No: W/156/2015.

“We therefore, bring to thenotice of the deputy governor,the IG and other securityagencies that the kingshipmatter is already in the statehigh court and an injunctionwas granted, ordering partiesto maintain status quo."

Lokpobiriremains cardcarryingmember ofBayelsa PDP—SUNUMA

By Festus Ahon

A S A B A — F O R M E RDelta State House of

Assembly member, OlorogunTaleb Tebite, has called on thepeople of the state to givemaximum support to the stategovernment.

Tebite, who addressednewsmen, added that thenomination of Mr PeterMrakpor as a commissionerfrom his local government areawas a good choice.

Commending the stategovernment for its choice ofpolitical appointees, he notedthat the decision by the stategovernment was in the bestinterest of the state.

Saying that he appreciatesall the political appointmentsin Delta Central, especially inUghelli South LocalGovernment Area, hedescribed Mrakpor as aworthy son of the council.

He added that the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP,leadership in the council wassupportive of all theappointments in the area.

By Onozure Dania

CHAIRMAN of Ward 8,Oporomo 3 of

Ekereemor Local GovernmentArea of Bayelsa State, MrParis Sunuma, has said thatSenator Heineken Lokpobiriremains a card carryingmember of Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP in the state.

He said: “I also read of hisdefection in the newspapers.But I have the list of membersof my party and thedistinguished SenatorLokpobiri is on that list. Hehas not returned hismembership card.”

Asked if he had contactedLokpobiri to confirm if he wasstill in the party, he replied,“You go and ask him. I havetold you that he is a memberof the PDP in my ward. If youare in doubt ask him.”

When confronted with thefact that Sunuma said he wasstill in the party, Lokpobiri didnot deny the claim.

It will be recalled that lastmonth, it was reported thatLokpobiri, alongside lateformer state PDP chairman,Col Sam Inokoba, (retd), theformer Managing-Director ofthe Niger Delta DevelopmentCommission, Timi Alaibe andover 1,100 party leadersallegedly left the PDP for theAll Progressives Congress,APC.

PUBLIC PRESENTATION: From left: Book reviewer, Prof. Pat Utomi; Chairman of theoccassion, Mr Akintola Williams; Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr Idiat Adebule andNigeria’s former Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Arthur Mbanefo, atthe public presentation of a book, In quest for perpetuity, in honour of late Sir LuisOdumegwu Ojukwu, at the Muson Centre, Lagos.

CMYK


Disquiet in Bayelsa APC asdelegates go into hiding

By Emem Idio

YENAGOA—AHEADthe September 19,

Bayelsa Stategovernorship primariesof All ProgressivesCongress, APC, somedelegates havereportedly gone intohiding followingalleged threats by somechieftains of the party,who are fronting for aparticular aspirant.

While some of thedelegates had allegedthat the threats werecoming from rankingstate party officials,others claimed thatother aspirants havemade cash promises andother incentives to begiven before and afterthe governorshipprimaries.

It was also gatheredthat loyalists of one ofthe aspirants who is alsoan influential foundingchieftain of the party,were allegedlythreatening delegatesnot to allow a new-comer like the formerManaging Director ofthe Niger DeltaD e v e l o p m e n tCommission, NDDC,Timi Alaibe to reach outto them for votes.

Meanwhile, a groupknown as Bayelsa Victory

DONU: Kidnapping mustbe tackled head-on—DAKUKU

Frontier, BVF, in astatement by itsspokesman, AyibanohGibson, regretted the

alleged threats againstthe APC delegates,describing same asworrisome.

My members weren't lodgedin collapsed hotel—PROPHET

Delta NLC warns oil firmsagainst casualisation

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

By Gbenga Oke

RIVERS Stateg o v e r n o r s h i p

candidate of AllProgressives Congress,APC, Dr. DakukuPeterside, has called onsecurity agencies to bemore decisive in theirapproach to all forms ofthreat to the nation’speaceful co-existence.

Peterside, when hevisited Donu Kogbara,the kidnapped Vanguardcolumnist who was,weekend, released byher abductors, called fora more decisiveapproach to addressingthe scourge ofkidnapping, insistingthat security wasessential to the growth ofthe nation and must betaken serious by all.

Peterside, who was atthe Port Harcourt homeof the columnist torejoice with her and herfamily, thanked God forher safe return anddelivering the columnist

from her captors.He said: “Security is

critical to development,therefore, kidnappingand all forms of threat tosociety ’s peacefulexistence must betackled head-on. For me,the starting point is theeconomy. We mustrebuild our economy soas to pave way fore m p l o y m e n topportunities for everyidle hand, not just in theNiger Delta but in everypart of the country.

“As a people andgovernment, the securityand wellbeing of ourpeople should be thebarometer for measuringour success. It is onlywhen we havesufficiently addressedthe issue of safety thatwe can confidently saythat we are truly oncourse. For that reason,those in authority,particularly securityagencies, must redoubletheir efforts towardstackling crime andprosecuting itsperpetrators. Theprevailing climate of fearin some parts of ourcountry must cease.”

He called on all tiersof government to doeverything within theirpower to guarantee thesafety of lives andproperty as we all marchinto a new Nigeria.

WARRI—FIVE daysafter the collapse

of Makaval Hotel inEffurun, Delta State, theChrist MercylandDeliverance Ministryhas said that its memberswere not lodged in thehotel when it collapsed.

It will be recalled thatthe hotel collapsedWednesday, and scoresof lodgers were trappedin the debris, includinga pregnant woman andothers said to bemembers of ChristMercyland DeliveranceMinistry.

Reacting to theinvolvement of hismembers, the founderand General Overseer ofChrist MercylandDeliverance Ministry,Prophet JeremiahFufeyin, said hismembers did not lodgein the hotel when theincident occurred,describing the statementcredited to him as wickedand malicious.

According to him, the

church has its guesthouse that canaccommodate visitors tothe church.

DELTA State Councilof Nigeria Labour

Congress, NLC, weekendurged the state governor,Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, to callmultinational oil companiesin the state to order overalleged increasing abuse ofworkers’ rights especiallythrough casualization ofworkers.

Factional Chairman of theNLC in the state, Mr.Williams Akporeha, whospoke in Asaba whilecommending the governorfor efforts to clear monthsof unpaid salaries ofworkers, also appealed thatthis gesture should beextended to localgovernment workers owed

salaries for several monthsand implored the governornot to forget the paymentof backlog of pensionarrears to retirees, saying:“As I speak with you,unpaid pension in the stateis piling up while retireesare groaning beneath. So,I want to use thisopportunity to appealGovernor Okowa to alsoconsider the plight ofpensioners in the state”.

He said there was nodoubt that sinceassumption of office thegovernor haddemonstrated hisreadiness to transform thestate and build capacitythrough his StrategicWealth Creation Projectsand Provision of Jobs for allDeltans, SMART agenda.


CMYK


MASSOB 16TH ANNIVERSARY: Policeshoot one, arrest 47 in Anambra

By Chimaobi Nwaiwu

MEMORIAL LECTURE: From left, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, former governor ofEkiti State; Chief Bisi Akande, former governor of Osun State; Mrs. OlufunkeAgagu, wife of late Olusegun Agagu; Mrs. Bola Obasanjo, Prince OlagunsoyeOyinlola, former governor of Osun State, and Chairman of the Ceremony, andVice Marshal Akin Aduwo, former Chief of Naval Staff, during the 2nd MemorialLecture in honour of the late Dr. Olusegun Agagu, at the Civic Centre, Lagos.Photo: Diran Oshe

From left, Mr. Yemi St. James, Mr. Gbenga Adefaye, GM/Editor-in-Chief, Vanguard, and Mr. Niran Sule.

NNEWI—THEREwas pandemonium

Sovereigh State of Biafra,MASSOB who were mark-ing their 16th anniversaryclashed with the police . Nofewer than 25 members of theMASSOB were arrested bythe police and other securityoperatives at various churchesin the state while one was shot.

At about 11am yesterday,Vanguard sighted unusualmovements of about 38Police, Army and Navyvehicles with one PersonnelArmored Carrier parading ina long cue along Onitsha-Owerri Express way. All wereheavily armed .

At St Charles LwangaCatholic ChurchOkpoko,18 MASSOBmembers were said to havebeen arrested and one shot,while those that were notarrested continued with thethanks-giving church serv-ice. At Iba Pope CatholicChurch, Awada, 11 mem-bers of MASSOB wereequally reported to havebeen arrested by the policewho were said to have laidambush on the members ofMASSOB who had gone toworship in their uniformsat the church.

Speaking on the arrest, theAnambra North Coordinator,Emmanuel Omenka said, “those arrested were mymembers and they were morethan 18. We are a non violentbody and have come to thankGod for our existence for 16years when the police, armyand other security operativesstormed the church andarrested some of us. “Thisanniversary is taking place allover the world and by thespecial grace of God, noamount of intimidation,arrest and detention will deterus from struggling toactualize a sovereign state ofBiafra”, he said further.

Also at St Michael Catho-lic Church Nnewi, the Re-gional Administrator forNnewi South, Tony Nwodosaid, “they came here to thischurch and shot one of usand arrested threemembers.The Police arehunting us for nothing andeven in a place of worship,they still attack us as wemark 16 years of ourexistence”.

yesterday in churches inAnambra state where mem-bers of the Movement forthe Actualizatin of the

OPINION


OPINIONWhy Southeast must join this sycophancy

By Emeka Odikpo

*Mr. Odikpo, a legal practitioneer,wrpte from Lagos.

NIGERIA as the saying goes is a meregeographical expression. The task to

turn that expression into a Nation has beenseemingly lost and appears totallyunrealisable. The last general electionsproved this completely. Political parties wereproven to be nothing better than papertigers. When the shove came to shove, Statesthat have supported a particular politicalparty for 16 years dumped the party on thequick sand of tribal loyalty by as much as97%. That to me was the end of party politicsin Nigeria and the triumph of tribal loyalty.

Post the elections; it appears as if most ofus in the South do not realise that Nigeriahas receded to 1960s politics when it wasclear and direct which party will be thelargest party after every election. We arestill prattling about PDP and APC, when thepigeon has left the bag and the only elephantin the room is now tribe. Those of us in theSouth eastern part of Nigeria came out ofthe elections somewhat flummoxed, but itnow appears that our options are cut out forus. There are two options: play oppositionpolitics or the second option of joining thewinning party. The much more dignifyingoption, which appears to be the prevailingadopted option, is that of playing oppositionpolitics. But my main query is: To whatpurpose? Are we playing opposition politics,like the presumed Action Group part of theSouth West did for donkey years only for thesole purpose of securing the proverbial spare

tyre position? Are we playing oppositionpolitics in order to make a Sani Yerima orKwakwanso President after many years ofopposition politics and then we willimmediately start moaning about theirbeing parochial? We must learn from thebitter lessons that our brothers in South westare currently experiencing.

The solution is really quite simple. It isnever late to worship a god. It will also not bethe first time that a whole tribe did a volteface in Nigerian politics and joined thewinning side. The South west did that withObasanjo post 1999 elections and reaped“dividends” from their somersault. TheSouth east must “out-sycophant” other partsof Nigeria immediately. If they are shoutingfe-buhari or march4buhari, we must startshouting “Okechukwu our Son”. Our voicemust be louder than that of all other tribesin Nigeria. We can start with erecting thestatues of our President in every major cityin the South east and inviting him tocommission the statues amid fanfare andjubilation by our children. We must silenceour children who are wailing on the socialmedia and turn them into Soldiers for thePresident. We shall proclaim every availableachievement in Nigeria as achievements of

the President. Once the DISCOS bring light,every child in the Southeast must be taughtto shout “Sai Buhari!” in jubilation. After allit is his body language that broughtelectricity to Nigeria in the first place.

Sycophancy as they say is not a matter forsmall children. It is a matter that requiresstrong and bold men that know how to grovel.We actually have good experience in thisregard. Daniel Kanu of the “Youths EarnestlyAsk for Abacha” fame must be brought backto Nigeria from wherever he has travelledto. He must immediately re-energize hisgroup and ensure that a ten million manmarch is made to Abuja immediatelyproclaiming the South east total deificationof our beloved President. Post haste, we mustanoint a tribal Czar. Preferably one who isversed in the act of godfatherism. Theinimitable Chris Uba appears to be theoverwhelming choice for this groveling taskthat requires strong men. A man that singlehandedly elected all the representatives of astate in Nigeria and then the Governor, notto add winning 97 percent of the votes castfor a sitting president is no push over. Heshall be the go-between for any person fromthe South east that wants to relate to thePresident. Any person that tries analternative route must be lynched by theSouth east press immediately. With ChrisUba in tow, our task of collective sycophancyis well and truly on the way.

For this brave task to be accomplished, wereally don’t need to dump PDP and APGA forAPC. That will be too new fashioned and

obvious. We can consult our history book,especially the page that deals with Bola Ige’sfive fingers of a leprous hand. We shouldtake immediate steps to make sure that bothPDP and APGA jointly appoint GeneralBuhari as their respective “party leader.”After all, you don’t need to win any electionto be a party leader in Nigeria. This of coursewill be a prelude to his obvious choice as thejoint Presidential candidate of all the partiesin 2019.

Cynics may be asking what the South eaststands to gain from this convoluted meltdown, after all the President has made it clearthat he will favour the people that gave him97% of the votes, and that certainly does notinclude the South east. The short answer isthat a new war has been on since the lastgeneral elections between the South east andthe South west. The new motif is that bothsides don’t really care how much the Northill-treats them, so long as they ill-treat theother side worse. For most irredentist in theSouth west, even if the new NorthernHegemonists deprive the South west of theirentitlements, they will not complain insofaras the South east gets treated worse. All thekey appointments to the North are based onmerit, so long as the South East is deprived ofa single appointment. It really matters littlethat the South West gained absolutelynothing in real terms. This war of attritionmust be fought until the South surrendersany claims of equality with the NorthernHegemonist. We shall not retreat in this taskof brave groveling. We shall not surrender.

This war of attrition mustbe fought until the Southsurrenders any claims ofequality with the NorthernHegemonist

Labour’s march againstcorruption

President MuhammaduBuhari’s war against corruptionreceived a massive boost lastweek Thursday, when thenation’s organised Labour,consisting of the NigerianLabour Congress (NLC) and theTrade Union Congress (TUC)paralysed Abuja, the nation’s seatof power and the 36 states of thefedration, in a trenchant march tosupport the war on corruption.

The popularity of the anti-graftwar manifested in the joining ofefforts by the warring factions ofthe nation’s umbrella workers’unions, as some leaders of theComrade Joe Ajaero faction wereseen at the forefront of the marchled by the NLC President,Comrade Ayuba Wabba, to thepremises of the Economic andFinancial Crimes Commission(EFCC), the National Assemblyand the Office of the Secretary tothe Government of theFederation (OSGF) where they

were received by the SGF, DavidBabachir Lawal.

This follows on the heels of theNational Assembly, theopposition People’s DemocraticParty (PDP), the media and across-section of Nigerians,whose wholesale support for theeffort to tame the monster ofcorruption from the public andprivate affairs of Nigeria havegiven the president the addedlegitimacy to embrace the effortwithout further delay.

We, however, join those who

call for caution over the call forthe “death penalty” for treasurylooters until the preparedness ofNigerians for such a drasticapproach is fully ascertained.Though Nigerians still subscribeto capital punishment forheinous crimes, especially whenit concerns premeditatedhomicide, terrorism and heartlessbehaviour, the pattern has alwaysbeen for Nigerians to call formitigation of death sentences onother crimes considered lesssevere.

We believe that the fight againstcorruption does not requireknee-jerk measures and emptyrhetoric or pandering to effetepopulism. It requires a rigorousthink-through to evolvemeasures that can nip corruptionin the bud to prevent thecommission of crime.Whencommitted,there should be quickdetection, prosecution, recoveryof loot and administration of duejustice to the offenders withoutfear, favour or ill-will.

The templates or models forcivilised and lawful handling ofanti-graft efforts are already inexistence and it does not requirethe re-invention of the wheel.What we need is a system thatworks; a strategy that quicklyidentifies culprits, recoversstolen property and putsoffenders behind bars within theshortest possible time. Theprecedence created willimmediately impose restraint onprospective offenders.

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

ROUNDTABLE - From left: Chairman/Chief Executive, Phillips Consulting Ltd, Foluso Phillips; Chairman, ZenithBank Plc, Jim Ovia; Chairman, Heirs Holdings and Board Member of The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), TonyElumelu; and Vice President, CCA, Ambassador Robert Perry at a round table with members of the CCA in Nigeria atHeirs Place, Lagos.

The organised private sectorweekend said that membersare finding it difficult to pay

foreign creditors for goods importedbefore the CBN restriction on 41 itemsaccess to foreign exchange market inNigeria. They also said that manyhotels in the country are saddled withlarge amounts of cash, foreigncurrency which they could not lodge

into their domiciliary accounts or dobusiness with.

According to a survey report ofmembers of Lagos Chamber ofCommerce and Industry and otheroperators in the private sectorsighted by Vanguard, there is growinginability of Nigeria businesses to payforeign creditors on account of itemsimported prior to the CBN policy. Italso said that some manufacturers areunable to manufacture due to lack offoreign exchange to import raw

materials.According to the survey, there is

now delay in the processing of Form‘M’ to import and meet demands. Thishas led to loss of market share andslower consumer demand and lowerprofits. But an official of the CBN whowould for now want to maintainsilence on this issue accused leadersof the organised private sector ofspeculative demand for foreignexchange and the unpatriotic act ofround-tripping. He said that some of

these private sector leaders have beendoing round-tripping of foreignexchange, thus putting unduepressure on the naira. He challengedthe members to come out with the listof items that are input to theirproductions that are not availablelocally for the authorities to see.

But the operators said that Palm oilfor instance, is needed for productionof some consumer goods and sincelocal supply cannot meet industrialusage, the inability to import it hascaused some difficulties formanufacturers in such sectors. Pricesof such products have to increase atleast marginally. They claimed thatthere is a supply gap of about 600,000metric tonnes of palm oil annually inNigeria.

According to them, “Form Mopened for items on the list prior tothe CBN policy are not processed forpayment leading to credit defaultswith foreign suppliers. They equallysaid that vegetables and processedvegetable products used by QuickService Restaurants are included inthe list and this has affected negativelythe availability of forex to importthese materials. Sourcing locally willmean lower standards thaninternational levels. Operators intheir response to the survey said“Sourcing of foreign exchange atexorbitant rates from alternativesources is eroding already thinmargins and that job losses areinevitable as the bottom line is beingadversely affected.

A respondent to the survey reportsaid “Export proceeds have becomeidle while in need of forex to importthrough other banks. Companies inthe Fast Moving Consumer Goodssector are unable to settle outstandingobligations to foreign suppliers whichhas slowed down their ability to getfresh supplies for production. Itfurther said that export business ishugely affected as they are unable tosponsor and pay marketing activitiesoutside the country and that they arealso experiencing payment delays.

The survey also discovered thatthere are now “delays in sourcingforex to import spare parts to meetbreakdown of production machinery.Spares that were picked off theshelves before will now need toundergo series of processing before

Continues on page 18

BY OMOH GABRIEL, BUSINESSEDITOR

Foreign suppliers shut creditlines to Nigerian businessesCBN accuses operators of round-trippingHotels saddled with large amounts of idle foreign cashQuality of loan assets in banking system at riskExport proceeds idleTyre prices up by 25%

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Continued from Page 19

The focus is on the roles of technology and vocationaleducation in enhancing entrepreneurial skills thatwill equip students for entrepreneurship education

in Information and Communication Technology (ICT.) driventechnological environment. The world has become globalizedand the future prosperity depends on comparative advantage.This comparative advantage hinges on people and theirtechnical or technological sophistication. Towards this, somecrucial entrepreneurial and technical skills needed by thestudents in colleges of education (technical), polytechnicsand universities to meet the trends in a global economy isanalyzed.

Technology education is to be considered as the key agentof technology development, either as a way of developinghuman capacity, increasing the shield work force formodernization, industrialization, environmental developmentor as a matter of personnel freedom, developing capabilityand empowerment. Technology education is increasinglyrecognized to be central to both the origins of technologicaldevelopment and challenges and to the prospects forsuccessfully dealing with them (Alam, 2009). Decision makersat all levels, need timely, reliable access to knowledgegenerated by technology and technical education to introducerational policies that reflect a better global understanding ofcomplex technical, economic, social, cultural and article issuesconcerning the society, and our environment. Technicaldecision making and priority setting is an integral part ofoverall development planning and formation of technologydevelopment strategies. Above all, technology education is ahuman right and, as such, should receive priority in theallocation of national resources. It has become very necessarynot to only keep technology education bound to the role ofmanufacturing skilled manpower but also to economicdevelopment and global economy. In Nigeria, technologyeducation was previously not seen as fundamental for nationaldevelopment, or for the economic development, but for theschool dropouts, and other social and political developmentwithin the nation and for individuals. Hallak (1990) arguesthat technology education is also linked to human resourcesdevelopment and that this has an impact on more than justeconomic growth, but also an impact on the wider developmentof individuals and societies. According to him, it contributesto:

(a). Individual creativity, improved participation in theeconomic, social and cultural roles in society.

(b). Improved understanding of an individual and heirrespect for others, thus promoting social cohesion and materialunderstanding

(c) Improvement in health and nutrition.(d). Improved chances of economic development.(e). Improved technological development.(f). Socio-cultural change.(g). Democracy and equality(h). Ecological development/quality of life (increasing

people’s awareness of their environments).From our analysis so far, it is clear that modernization and

economic development, depends on investment andappreciation of modern trends in technology education.According to Woodhall (1997) investment in technologicaleducation and training produces benefits for the individualand for society as whole.

The roles of technical and vocational education inenhancing entrepreneurial skills using information andcommunication technology is very important in training forself-employment, self-reliance and skills acquisition now thatgovernment cannot employ every graduate. This could beachieved through the development of entrepreneurial skillsin technology and vocational education through informationand communication technology.

Technology and vocational education programme of ourtertiary institutions should be directed to focus on enhancingthe training for entrepreneurship in ICT so as to be functionalin today’s world of work and the global economy. In this periodof mass unemployment and global economic fortunes, onlythe best can survive by being self-employed. The tertiaryinstitutions where technology and vocational educationprogramme is offered should encourage and enhanceentrepreneurial skills of students through constant review ofthe curriculum to reflect the technological changes andemerging technology in today ’s ICT driven technicalenvironment. Technical educators should involvetechnological, technical, and business organization,government, NGOs and even successful industrialists in theirservice delivery to the students.

Vocation and Technical Education– A Key to improving Nigeria’sdevelopment (4)

forex is made available toimport them. It said that forsuppliers that need to bepaid in advance to arrangefor supplies, it has becomeimpossible to do so underthe current regime.

According to the surveyreport, there is now “Defaultin repayment agreementswith foreign suppliers andbanks. The Bills forCollection opened in respectof the 41 items prior to theCBN policy have sufferednon-performance.’

It said that "Tyre is acomposite product of morethan 200 raw materials. It istherefore technically wrongto classify tyre as rubberinstead of being termed anautomotive part. Tyrebusiness operators cannotsource for forex to remain inoperation. As a result, theprices of tyre have increasedby 25 per cent since July2015. This, they said, has ledto increased spate ofsmuggling into the countrywith implications for loss ofrevenue from import dutyand risk of increased roadaccident from fake vehicletyres".

Private sector operators intheir complaint said that“some raw and packagingmaterials that are requiredin manufacturing processare on the exclusive list.These materials are notavailable locally and have tobe imported. There areissues with the ambiguousclassification of the items onthe list. For instance,glassware and glass bottles,especially different smallsizes needed for packaging ofmedicines; the glass bottleshave been classified asglassware and as such,cannot access foreign

exchange to import them.Local bottlers do notproduce the small sizes aslocal requirements are notlarge enough to attract theminto producing small glasssizes".

In the Pharmaceuticalsector, they said: “There isnow “Scarcity ofPharmaceutical packagematerials such as glass andplastic bottles. Industryoperators have almost runout of key packaging input

Foreign suppliers shut credit lines toNigerian businesses

CONFERENCE: From left: Mr Olaoye Jaiyeola, Past President, Chartered Institute of Bankersof Nigeria,CIBN; Mr Seye Awojobi, Registrar, CIBN and Mr Ifie Sekibo, MD/CEO Heritage BankLimited during the 9th Annual Banking and Finance conference of the CIBN in Abuja recently.

with implications of shutdown and job losses in nearterm".

They further complained:“It takes up to two monthsto get foreign exchange foreven products that are notin the prohibited list. This iswaste of time and leads toloss of opportunities. Thereis about 10 to 15 per centincrease in the cost oftransfers and there are alsosecurity issues with suchtransfers”.

According to the surveyreport, “Companiesoperating in Free TradeZones operate understatutes that exclude themfrom CBN Foreign Exchangeregulations. The CBN hasdisregarded these provisionsas companies operating inFree Trade Zones are meantto comply with foreignexchange restrictions.Operators at free trade zones

are now regulated/legislatedout of business; this theyclaim is a breach of the law/status that established thefree trade zone as a countrywithin a country.”

They also argued thatrestriction of key input/rawmaterials such as woodparticle boards and panels;wood fibre boards and panels;plywood boards and panels;woven fabrics hasconstrained those operatingin the sector saying “there areno local producers of thesebasic raw materials that couldhave served as alternative tothe import. Capacityutilisation now stand at 50per cent from 70 per cent inDecember 2014 as a result ofnon-availability of thesebasic raw materials. Many ofthe products on the list of the41 products are intermediategoods which are criticalinputs for manymanufacturing firms as wellas other critical sectors of theeconomy.

They stated: “The list isprone to multiple definitionsand discretionaryinterpretations by agenciesand institutions responsiblefor implementation. The HScodes of the items are notindicated in the CBN circular.D i s c r e t i o n a r yinterpretations create roomfor corruption.

It said that there is a“Breach of right of theentrepreneur to utiliseexport proceed on legitimategoods/services which fallswithin the 41 banned items.Many SMEs are now forced towire their transactions fromneighbouring countries.This, they say, posesSovereign risk and poorperception of the countrywhich could lead to closureof credit lines as a result ofcredibility crisis by foreignpartners.

Tyrebusinessoperatorscannotsource forexto remainin business


Business & Economy

There has been pressure in recent times from within and outside thecountry for Nigeria to devalue the Naira for the third time this year.The call is in every sense of the word self-seeking for investors who

want to take advantage of Nigeria. The most recent is that coming from JPMorgan which from the look of it, is outright blackmail.

There has been a series of syndicated attacks from FT, The Economist, Reuters,Bloomberg and other agents of the western free market on Nigeria just to sinkthe nation’s currency so that their businessmen can move in like hawks to pickup Nigeria’s assets for a pittance. To the discerning mind, this is an orchestrated

Of devaluation, JP Morgan andNigerian economy

conspiracy against Nigeria.Those calling for the

devaluation have given thesituation in the oil market thathas constrained Nigeria'sforeign exchange earningsand the rising demand whichresulted in measures put inplace by Nigeria to curtailexcess demand for foreignexchange as excuse for the callfor devaluation of the currency.China, faced by the sameeconomic crisis recentlydevalued its currency, theYuan, but found thatdevaluation was not a solutionto its economic woes. It hasnow resorted to using itsreserves to defend its currency.JP Morgan’s insistence thatNigeria must devalue theNaira or freely float it endlesslyand increase the suffering ofthe masses, can best bedescribed as blackmailing thenation into committingeconomic suicide. JP Morganand its co-foreign investorshave already divested over$5billion out of $8billion theyinvested in Nigeria.

Their pulling out from thebond market will only depletethe nation’s external reservesby about $2.75 billion out ofthe current $32 billion in thereserves now. Before 2012,the economy was performingwell with better commodityprices and as such delisting ofNigeria from the JP Morganindex should not giveNigerians sleepless nights.

JP Morgan and its elitisteconomists are well aware ofthe economic fact that thereare conditions that arenecessary for an economicaction that may not besufficient for monetary orfiscal policy authorities totake decisions. The fact thatthere is rising demand forforeign exchange and a shortsupply are necessaryconditions but they are notsufficient for Nigeria to takethe risk of further devaluation

of the Naira. Devaluation, asJP Morgan and other armchaireconomists are aware, willmake Nigerian goods andservices cheaper to foreignbuyers and make theirs moreexpensive for Nigeria to buy.In simple language, Nigerianswill have to work harder toearn more Naira to buy thesame amount of goods andservices they used to buybefore the devaluationwhereas foreigners will needfewer dollars to pay for whatthey were buying before.

These economists are alsoaware of the fact thatdevaluation does not benefita country which product pricechange does not affect thequantity supplied. The bulk ofNigeria’s foreign exchangeearnings comes from crude oilsales. Nigeria does notdetermine the price of thecrude it sells nor the volumeit sells. The price isdetermined by the forces ofdemand and supply in theinternational oil market. Thevolume is predetermined byOPEC. Devaluing the Nairawill not help Nigeria earnmore foreign exchange.

Devaluation will ratherincrease the cost of productionhere and increase in prices ofgoods and services. This isbecause most of theconsumables and factoryinputs are imported items. Ageneral rise in prices of goodsand services will furtherimpoverish fixed incomeearners and the citizenry.Because of rising cost ofliving, the disposable incomeof the average worker will falland agitation for increase inwages will be triggered off.

Foreign investors calling fordevaluation know too well thatNigeria's assets will becomecheaper for them to pick. Theywant to invest little and reapbountifully. Besides, JPMorgan and its co-travelersare portfolio managers whobring in hot money into theeconomy when the going isgood and at any sign oftrouble, they pull out, leavingthe nation high and dry. Yes,Nigeria needs investors but

not the JP Morgan type.Nigeria needs foreign directinvestment more than itneeds portfolio investors.Direct investment will createwealth and employment inNigeria.

Nigeria has a right to takeeconomic decision that bestsuits its people. There are twosides of a coin, just as there issupply side in the allocationof resources by the invisiblehands of the free market, thereis equally the demand side. IfNigeria cannot control thesupply of foreign exchange, itcan control the demand.Nigeria should as matter offact not import goods andservices it can produce locally.Nigeria has no businessimporting rice, tomatoes,cotton, beans, palm oil andpetrol etc. These are thingsNigerians can produce locally.Why should Nigeria spend itshard earned foreign exchangeimporting wheat when there ismillet and sorghum grown inNigeria? Why should Nigeriaimport beef when there isenough cattle in the country?Why should Nigeria beimporting stockfish?

Nigeria has over the yearsbeen exporting jobs to thesecountries while millions ofNigerian youth remainunemployed for years. Nowthat the country has said no tosome of these items,companies abroad which relyon Nigeria solely to sell theirproducts are already in panicthat they will go intoliquidation if the policy is notchanged.

For countries like Japan,

Korea, China and America,devaluation is of much benefitto their exporters as theirproducts become cheaper andmore affordable abroad.Citizens of these countries aremore concerned with an over-valued currency.

In Nigeria, the reverse is thecase, because of the country’slow non-oil export and over-dependence on foreignexchange earnings from oil,devaluation is an economicpain because the goods andservices produced byNigerians are less sensitive tochanges in price, (exchangerate).

In economics, the increasein supply of foreign exchangeto any economy is mainlydependent on the response offoreign demand to exportsfrom that economy. Whenforeign demand is elastic, thisdecline in export prices willstimulate an expansion in thequantity exported that will besufficient to enlarge totalreceipts of foreign exchangedespite the lower prices interms of foreign exchange.However, because theresponse of foreign demandfor Nigerian goods is notsensity to change in crude oilexport, total receipts offoreign exchange becomesmaller.

Generally speaking, thedemand for manufacturedproducts has higher responseto devaluation than thedemand for agricultural andother primary productsproduced in Nigeria, which isoften inelastic.

So Nigerians must knowthat investors like JPMorganmake their profits fromcurrency manipulation forwhich they were fined severalbillions of dollars in the USin May this year. It is nosurprise that they arechampioning the call for thedevaluation of the Naira.

InvestorslikeJPMorganmake theirprofits fromcurrencymanipulationfor which theywere finedseveralbillions ofdollars in theUS in Maythis year. It isno surprisethat they arechampioningthe call for thedevaluation ofthe Naira

CommonCommonCommonCommonCommonwwwwwealth Inealth Inealth Inealth Inealth Invvvvvestment Festment Festment Festment Festment Forum: orum: orum: orum: orum: Organisers want Nigerian youths to show interest

Enterprising Nigerianyouths have been called

upon to exploit theopportunities offered by theanti-corruption stance of thenew Muhammadu Buhariadministration to harness theirpotentials.In an interview ahead of theforthcoming CommonwealthEnterprise and InvestmentCouncil, CWEIC forumholding in Malta, JosephAmbakederimo, CEO of PuffaNigeria Limited said Nigerian

youths now have theopportunity to compete withtheir contemporaries abroadwith the new ease of doingbusiness in the country.Specifically, he called uponthose on the top of theirbusinesses to take opportunityof the Commonwealthinvestment forum which isholding on the sidelines ofthe forthcoming meeting of theCommonwealth Heads ofGovernment, CHOGM in

Malta in November.“Our youths especially now

have a chance to play on theglobal stage with the adventof the new regime with itsmantra of transparency in theaffairs of government.“Youths who had in the pastbeen hindered should braceup and come and play on theglobal stage and for me, theCommonwealth Investmentforum is one stage where ouryouths can reach out to theircontemporaries and extendtheir reach,” Mr.

Ambakederimo, who is theCWEIC partner for Nigeriafor the conference, said.The forum convenes Heads ofGovernment, seniorministers, governmentdelegates and the privatesector in one place to discussbusiness opportunities andpolicy making.The forum is expected to beattended by the heads ofgovernment, 1,200 businessleaders and ministers fromacross the Commonwealth.

Nigerian youthsnow have theopportunity tocompete with theircontemporariesabroad with thenew ease of doingbusiness in thecountry

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BoI, Grow Africa enter $60mventure capital fund deal for SMEs

BY FAVOUR NNABUGWU

The Bank of Industry(BoI) has partneredGrow Africa Equity

Partners Limited to raise a $60million Venture Capital Fundfor Small and MediumEnterprises (SMEs).

Under the arrangement, thebank has made an investmentcommitment of $6 million toaid provision of equity capitalfor fast growing businesses aspart of its innovativefinancing scheme and effortsto expand intervention in theindustrial sector from loandisbursements.

Indeed, the VentureCapital Fund aims to provideequity capital, along withstrategic and operationalsupport to early stage andfast growing businessesinvolved in technology,agriculture, consumer goodsand services sectors. BoI’sManaging Director, MrRasheed Olaoluwa in astatement on Thursday, said:“Nigerian businesses cannotbe built on debt alone. It haslong been part of the bank’svision to find ways to providesorely needed equity capitaland business advice topromising Nigerianbusinesses.

“Our partnership with GrowAfrica is one of the avenuesfor realising this vision andwe remain committed to thepursuit of our core mandateof providing long-termfinancial support to small,medium and largecompanies/projects inNigeria’s key sectors.”

Olaoluwa added that theinvestment commitment wasinformed by the track recordof Grow Africa’s partners, the

developmental impact of theirexisting portfolio and theirstrong pipeline for potentialnew investments.

The Chairman of GrowAfrica Equity Partners,Adedotun Sulaiman, notedthat with the right type ofsupport, Nigerian businessescould become global leaders.

Sulaiman, who also chairs theBoards of Interswitch,SecureID, IDEA, NewHorizons and others, said:“Over the past 10 years, Ihave provided capital andadvice that have helpedseveral businesses grow fromideas into multi-billion nairaindustrial leaders.

“Through this partnership,I hope to see many moreentrepreneurs realise theirdreams of creating leadingcompanies and deliveringmassive value to Nigeria.”The Managing Director ofthe company, Afam Edozie,added.

The Fifth (5th) InvestNigeria, Dublin, Ireland

will be held at the prestigiousAshling Hotel, Dublinbetween 29th- 31st ofOctober 2015. The forum isorganised by Base Networkin conjunction by theNigerian Embassy inIreland. The Forum focuseson bringing together foreigninvestors interested indeveloping, building orpursuing businessprospecting opportunities inNigeria. It also provides anavenue for foreign investorsto meet and network withbusiness persons andgovernment representativesfrom Nigeria open tocollaboration and sourcingareas of mutual benefit tobusinesses across the divide.It is a forum to share bestpractices, introduction topotential clients andpartners, provide updateson latest investmentopportunities and the keygrowth sectors. The Nigeriaeconomy becomes a globalspectacle as the leadingeconomy in Africa.

Nigeriainvestmentdrive forumholds inDublin

Shoprite opensoutlet in Festac

By Vivian Enemuo

Barely ten years afteropening is first outlet in

Nigeria, retail giant shoprite,has added yet another outletin Festac town Lagosbringing to ten the numbersof shoprite outlet in Nigeria.Shoprite first entered Nigeriain December 2005,’then theyopened a store in the palmsshopping centre in Victoriaisland, Lagos. Shoprite hassince opened stores inSurulere, Apapa, Ikeja andFestac in Lagos; and otherstores in Enugu, Ilorin,Ibadan, Warri, Kano andAbuja.Retail giant shoprite hascontinued its communitynetwork in local communitiesin conjunction with Save OurNeedy International NGO asit donates learning materialsto the Progressive Nurseryand Primary School in FestacTown, Lagos. The retailerwhich opened its new outletin Festival mall Festac townof Lagos donated a set ofchairs, tables, whiteboardsand stationeries to theprincipal of the school.

MEETING: From left, Deputy President, Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce, AkinOlawore; Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc., and Guest Speaker,Nnamdi Okonkwo and British Deputy High Commissioner, Ray Kyles at the Nigerian-BritishChamber of Commerce September Breakfast meeting in Lagos.

With rising inflation,u n e m p l o y m e n t ,tightening of

operational credit, anddiminishing domesticconsumption, the Braziliangovernment had to devalueits currency, the Real, inorder to facilitate trade andmarket access. HerExcellency, MariaAuxiliadora Figueiredoá, theBrazilian Consul-General inLagos stated this at thequarterly breakfast meetingof the Nigerian-BrazilianChamber of Commerce andIndustry (NBCCI).The meeting which held atthe Lagos Oriental Hotel, andsponsored by Petrobras, hadas theme: ExpandingNigeria’s non-oil sectors ofthe economy - benefitingfrom Brazil’s experience.

According to Figueiredoá,Brazil currently faces anumber of challenges on theeconomic front includingslowing economic growthand resistance of inflation tomeasures aimed at reducingit. “Brazil’s GDP suffered adecrease of 1.9% in secondquarter of 2015 plus 0.7% inthe first quarter signifying arecession of 2.6% in the yearso far. It also means thatrecession is now official aftertwo consecutive quarters ofnegative growth. Brazilboomed for several years onthe back of the middle classbetween 2003 and 2010.Today, many Brazilians arein debt and householdspending reportedly fell 2.1%as compared to the previousquarter.“Inflation is now nearly about9% per year which is twice thegovernment’s target, buthow can you curb inflation ina depreciating currency?

Only in the last month, we’vehad a10% devaluation.”She said that the balance oftrade presented a deficit in2014 for the first time in overa decade, but it has beenreverted in the first quarterof 2015, noting that thechallenges were a result of thecyclical downturnscommonly observed in allmarket-oriented economiesand not from structuraldeficiencies of the Brazilianeconomy.It was not all bad news,however, as the Consul-General said that the badnews is good news from thepoint of view of Nigerianimporters’ interest.“The very good news is thatthe Brazilian governmentrecognises the fact thatdealing with these challengesis essential for theresumption of sustainableeconomic growth soaddressing the country’strade policy is among theinitiatives aimed atovercoming the challenges.

“There was no governmentpolicy regardingexportation of manufacturedproducts during the boomyears (2003 – 2010). Therewas no need. However, withcurrent challenges, there isnot much to do except strivefor exportation. In thissense, devaluation helps.“Brazil recognises thestrategic importance of anactive foreign trade policyand has therefore built theNational Exports Plan (NEP)with the private sector in thefirst quarter of 2015. TheNEP is based on five pillars –Market access, Tradefacilitation, Tradepromotion, Exportsfinancing and Taxation.Trade facilitation has gainedthe status of state policy inBrazil,” she stated. “There is need to re-establishthe fiscal equilibrium. Duringthe boom years, the growthin government expensesexceeded the pace of growthin fiscal income.

Devaluation good for Brazil's economy — ENVOY

By EBELE ORAKPO


CMYK

Banking & Finance

NIBSS partners telcos to enhanceBVN enrolment

STORIES BYBABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

Nigeria InterbankS e t t l e m e n tSystem (NIBSS)

has announced a partnershipwith GSMt e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o nproviders to enhanceenrolment and notification ofBiometric VerificationNumbers (BVN).

Announcing thepartnership at a pressconference in Lagos,Managing Director/ChiefExecutive, NIBSS, Mr. AdeShonubi said that thepartnership is about workingwith the telecommunicationsfirms, to ensure that bankcustomers get the BVN. Hesaid that for now onlyEtisalat and Airtel have indicated interest in thepartnership, adding thatNIBSS is however hopefulthat MTN and Globacom willsoon be part of it.

Shonubi said that thepartnership is about theconvenience of those whohave gone out to go and havetheir biometric captured. It isalso a delivery of part of thepromises made by NIBSS toimprove process ofenrolment for the BVN.

He explained that thepartnership allows bankcustomers that have enrolledfor the BVN to use theirtelephone number to requestfor their BVN from NIBSSby diall ing the code*565*0# on any of the GSMt e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n snetwork. He said that onlytelephone numberssubmitted by the bankcustomers to their bankswhile registering for theBVN can be used to accessthis service.

He said that once thecustomer sends dial the code,he would receive an SMScontaining his BVN. He saidin the case of customers whoare yet to receive their BVN,they would receive a SMSwhich indicate that thereBVN is not yet available, anda telephone number to makecomplaints or enquiries.

He disclosed that theservice has already gone liveon Etisalat network while itwould go live on Airtel byWednesday this week.

He said among otherthings the service willaddress the issue ofcustomers forgetting ormisplacing their BVN. Hesaid it would also convincecustomers of the reality ofthe initiative and hencespread the news to others.He said in addition, theservice would discouragethose who have enrolledfrom re-enrolling becausethey are yet to receive theirBVN.

Commenting on thepartnership, Chief MarketingOfficer Etisalat, Mr.Francesco Anjelone, said, “Webelieve that innovation in thedirection of banking servicesis the way telecoms industryhas to go. Integration oftelecommunications withbanks is a pillar fordevelopment. Etisalat is morethan happy to have other

telcos come join thepartnership because as soonas we have the critical massand everybody is on top of itthere would be a creation ofvalue for both industries. Wewill have growthopportunities whereby wehave customers spendingmore on our services, andwith banks, inside of a moresecured environment.

Also speaking on thepartnership, Mrs. AfolakeOgunbanjo, SeniorManager, Value AddedServices, Airtel Nigeria said,“Airtel is very excited topartner with NIBSS on thisspecial project and wepromise that the service willgo live on Airtel network byWednesday.”

Naira depreciation: ACCA slashesfees for Nigerian students

In recognition of theimpact of the naira

depreciation of theaffordability of its fees forNigerian students, Globalaccounting body, Associationof Certified and CharteredAccountants (ACCA) hasannounced 60 percentreduction in registration feesfor Nigerian students.

The reductions also include50 percent reduction in firstyear subscription, and 50percent reduction inexemption fees.

ACCA Director, MarketTransformation, Mr. KevinKernan, disclosed this whileaddressing a pressconference at the sidelines ofthe launch of ACCA StrategicPricing Initiative for Nigeria.

Kernan said that thereduction in fees was inresponse to comments fromstakeholders in the wake ofthe impact of the nairadepreciation on theaffordability of ACCA fees forNigerian students.

He said, “ACCA hashistorically operated a singlepricing strategy for all its

customers around the globe.But in Nigeria, after a lot ofresearch and consultationwith stakeholders, fromtoday, we are making somenew prices for Nigerianstudents exclusively. Werecognise that affordabilityhave been an issue for manyNigerian students,particularly with theexchange rate variations inrecent times.

So we are reducing theinitial registration fee by 60percent. We are reducing thefirst year subscription fee fornew students by 50 percent.Also many students claimexemptions from our exams,so we are reducing exemptionfees for them by 50 percent.These represents significantreduction in prices students,parents or their employershave to pay in order to starttheir journey towards ACCAqualification.

“In order to avail themselvesof these new prices, thestudent must be resident inNigeria. So we consider thisgood news for all ourstakeholders in the Nigerian

community.The new pricing applies to

students applying for thefoundation and main ACCAexamination qualifications butit does not apply to membersor affiliates. The focus is onthe student population.”

“This is a very new venturefor ACCA and we have beenconsidering other markets,but Nigeria is one of the firstmarkets where we have donethis. We are currentlystudying Ghana, Zimbabwe.What we are offering inNigeria is very targeted andfocused on the Nigerianstudents, with a lot ofconsultations with thestakeholders.”

Also speaking on therationale for the reduction,Head of ACCA Nigeria, MrsToyin Ademola said, “The newpricing initiative is aboutmaking ACCA moreaffordable for Nigerians. Itgoes with ACCA values whichare affordability accessibilityopportunities, innovation,and diversity.

BY JONAH NWOKPOKU

As part of its CorporateSocial Responsibility

initiatives, Sterling Bank inconjunction with online jobportal, Jobberman and skillsdevelopment centre, Field ofSkills and Dream, hasempowered over 4, 000graduates with employableand entrepreneurship skillsduring this year’s ‘Get ReadyFor Work’ initiativeorganised by the bank inLagos.At the event, theparticipating youths tookpart in break out sessionsfocusing onentrepreneurship, skillsdevelopment, career growthetc.There was also apsychoanalysis sessionwhere the participants hadtheir personalities analysedby an expert to determinewhat career path would bemost suitable for them. It alsofeatured speeches fromsuccessful career people onhow to tread successfully onwhatever career path onemay choose.Speaking to newsmen duringthe training, Sterling Bank’sHead of Startegy andCommunications, ShinaAtilola said the initiative waspart of the bank’s efforts ataddressing the paucity ofskills in Nigeria’s labourmarket.He said: “We discovered thatwhen you analyse theNigerian labour market thereis disconnect between thedemand and the supply. Mostof the jobs that are available,most people are not qualifiedfor it. But this is because ourinstitutions are not preparedto take them into theemployment system. We alsoinitiated this programmebecause we realised thatsome people are qualified butthey are not employable. Thisis because, there is noinstitutional structure totrain them and prepare themfor a work environment.“These are the reasonsSterling Bank started this ‘Getready for work’ initiative. Wehave brought successfulentrepreneurs to comementor these young people.Beyond that, some peoplethat are just willing to workin career employment, wehave also brought in peoplethat have made impact andare successful in theircareers to come and teachthem how they succeeded init. We also have brought inhuman resources agencies toteach them how to bestmarket themselves.”

Sterling Bankempowers4,000graduates withskills

CONFERENCE – From left: General Sabastian Onwuama (rtd) Bsc. FCA (pp), MD/CEOeTranzact, Mr. Valentine Obi and MD/CEO, Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya at a panelsession at the just concluded 45th Annual Accountants conference in Abuja.


CMYK

Corporate Finance

By PETER EGWUATU

NPF MfB plans fresh capital injection

BY NKIRUKA NNOROM& BISOLA OLOGUNDE

NPF Microfinance BankPlc has revealed plans

to raise fresh capital from thecapital market to boost itsworking capital.

The chairman of the bank,Mr. Azubuko Joel Udah, whomade the disclosure whilesounding the closing gongceremony on the NigerianStock Exchange, NSE, said thefund would be raised viapublic offering and rightsissue to the existingshareholders.

Though he did not specifythe amount to be raised, henoted that the additionalcapital would be used infinancing branch network

expansion, improve itsinformation technology andwould also used to beef up thebank’s working capital.

According to him, theBoard and management arecurrently making wideconsultation with allstakeholders to determinethe appropriate time for theproposed offerings.

“The Board aims at raisingstronger capital base,attracting new investors,raising the national profileand enhancing the leadershipposition of NPF MicrofinanceBank in the microfinance sub-sector and will no doubt growthe bank as a reputablefinancial institution” Udahsaid.

He stressed that the bank

intends to increase its branchnetwork to 29 in the next oneyear in order to cover the 36states of the federation aswell as sustain itsperformance.

“As of now, we have 17branches all over thecountry, and you know thatthe NPF Microfinance BankPlc is a national microfinancebank. It is not confined toLagos or Abuja alone; it issupposed to go round. Somany states have not beencovered, and people areclamouring, both policeofficers and members of thepublic, who have seen howthe bank has beenperforming, and they want tobe part of it, to becomedepositors and investors.”

He assured that the bankwould sustain the yearlydividend it has been payingto its shareholders, addingthat ‘the time will come whenthey will start getting bonuson shares; depending on theway the bank is operating.’

Also speaking, theManaging Director, Mr. AkinLawal, expressed confidenceat the timeliness of the offer,saying that any time the bankchooses to come to themarket would be a right time.

He disclosed that NPFMicrofinance Bank was one ofthe beneficiaries of the N220billion MSME developmentalfund of the Central Bank,noting that the bank has beendisbursing the fund toqualified entrepreneurs.

SEC clears Cowry Asset's N3bnZamfara bond underwriting

Securities andE x c h a n g eCommission, SEC

has cleared Cowry AssetManagement Limited N3billion Zamfara State bondunderwriting.

Cowry Asset Managemenpaid N3 billion in fulfillmentof its underwritingcommitment under the N7billion Zamfara StateGovernment Bond.

The N3 billion paid byCowry Asset represents42.86 per cent of the totalvalue of the bond issue, thehighest by any of the threeunderwriters to the bondissue.

The N7 billion ZamfaraState Government 7-YearFixed Rate DevelopmentBond was the first trancheunder the N30 billionZamfara State bond issuanceprogramme.

The commission at theweekend confirmed thatCowry Asset has“satisfactorily fulfilled itsunderwriting commitment inaccordance with theprovisions of the Investmentand Securities Act 2007 aswell as the Rules andRegulations of the Securitiesand Exchange Commission”,referencing the full paymentof the N3 billion underwritingcommitment.

Cowry Asset, a full-serviceinvestment banking firmlicensed by SEC as an issuinghouse, financial adviser,underwriter and venturecapital manager, has been amajor player in the Nigeriancapital market for nearly a

decade. It also has subsidiariesin consulting, securitiestrading and real estate.

The net proceeds of the bondissue would enable theZamfara State Government todeleverage and reposition itsfinances towards deliveringfurther dividends of democracyto its citizens.

Commenting on thecompletion of the underwriting,Managing Director, CowryAsset Management Limited,Mr. Johnson Chukwu, said theN3 billion underwritingunderlined the financialcapacity of Cowry Asset at atime that several financial

institutions are struggling tomeet regulatory capital.

He noted that theparticipation of Cowry Assetas a major underwriter in theZamfara State bond wasanother illustration of thecommitment of the firm as anindigenous partner in thequest for development byNigerian Capital market.

“Cowry Asset has beeninvolved as financialadvisers, issuing house andunderwriter in several fundraising exercise in the capitalmarket for both public andprivate companies andgovernments through public

offers, rights issue, privateplacements, corporate andgovernment bonds. Thecompany provides advisoryservices and funding tosupport the growth of Nigeriancompanies and developmentof the economy” Chukwusaid.

He added that Cowry Assethas demonstratedcompetence in marketingcapital issues with herextensive distributionnetwork and team of expertswho provide solutions toboth issuers and theinvesting public.

IWG namessteeringcommitteemembers

The Nigerian-based pan-African non-

governmental organization,“I Will Give” (IWG) hasnamed a ten-man steeringcommittee to govern itsactivities and ensure theactualization of its goal ofmobilizing resources for socialdevelopment.

“I Will Give” is a platformfor social giving; engagingcorporate social responsibility(CSR), organizedphilanthropy and privategiving. It focuses on highsocial impact programmersaimed at improving socio-economic outcomes in sixspecific areas, which includeeducation, health, youthdevelopment and womenempowerment.

Members of the steeringcommittee include Dr. LolaDare, the President ofChestrad International, MrsChioma Madubuko, Dr. BalaMagaji, Mr. Tunji Mayakiand Mr. Mobolaji Shenjobi

Others are former Ministerfor Cooperation andIntegration, Dr AbimbolaOgunkelu, Mrs RosamondVera-Cruz, Mrs AnneGuthuku-Shongwe, MrsRemi Olajoyegbe and Dr.Olatokunboh Sangowawa.

LAUNCH - From left: Matthieu Seguin, Country Commercial Director, Nigerian BottlingCompany; Emmanuel N. Nnorom CEO, Transcorp Plc; Prahlad Gangadharan Director ofStills, NBC during the launch of Five Alive Pulpy Orange, a new juice line made withconcentrate from Transcorp agribusiness subsidiary Teragro Commodities Ltd.

Diamond Bankpartners NEPCto drive export

Diamond Bank Plc hasentered into

partnership with theNigerian Export PromotionCouncil to drive efficiency inexport services throughimproved export relatedfinancial process and servicedelivery.

The Bank in partnershipwith NEPC, in a two-daytraining programmefocusing on managingeffective export desk inbanks, stated that effectiveand efficient export servicedelivery is one of the surestways the financial servicessub-sector could helpstimulate economic activityin the country, mitigate thefinancial challenges affectingexport business in Nigeriaand halt the sliding value ofthe naira.

The training programmewas aimed at up-scaling theskills of the bank’s staff onthe export desk andpromoting efficient exportservice delivery in the bank.

By JONAH NWOKPOKU


CMYK

Interview

DR. Ernest AzudialuObiejesi is the chairman of Smile Com-

munications in Nigeria and amajor shareholder in theSmile Holdings Limited; com-prising, Smile South Africa,Smile Dubai, Smile Tanzania,Smile Uganda and Smile DRCongo. In Nigeria, Smile, abroadband operator, is oper-ating on the 800 GHZ spec-trum with 4G LTE licence. Lastweek, Smile announced thatit had raised US$ 365 millionto fund expansion of its 4GLTE network in the country. Inthe conversation below,Obiejesi sheds more light onthe expansion bid, the fund-raise, shareholding structureand more. Excerpts:

Why a USD $365millionfund-raise, in these days ofcurrency instability?

The aim of this financing ismainly to finance to ourgrowth; to accelerate our ex-pansion drives, so that we willbe able to build a robust net-work smiling around Africa.Due to the speed of the 4GLTE network it becomes verypracticable that we should beable to have other networksspread across Nigeria veryfast, such that we get thespectrum operating efficient-ly in Nigeria before other com-petitors catch up with us. Sec-ondly, we promised Nigeriansa network that will enable thegrowth and expansion of busi-nesses. That is already hap-pening both in Nigeria andthe rest of Africa. So, we areconsolidating.

Tell us about Smile’s equityholders.

Smile’s shareholders nowcomprise Al Nahla Group, aSaudi Arabia-based company,which is the majority share-holder; Renven InvestmentHoldings, a pan-African in-vestment vehicle, in whichNigerian investors, includingthe Obijackson Group, are themajority; Verene, represent-ing Smile senior managementand social entrepreneurs fromSouth Africa; Telecom Invest-ments, a Saudi Arabia-basedinvestment company; Capital-works, an active alternativemanagement company, spe-cializing in investment in theAfrican mid-market”; the PIC;and Smile employees.

So, we came together to com-pose the company calledSmile. Nigeria is the largesttelecoms market in Africa andthat entails why Smile’s busi-ness in the country accountsfor about 80% of the total op-erations. That is what makesSmile Nigeria very big andour participation in the coun-try. Smile in other Africancountries are getting it andwill grow big too. The fund wesecured is one of the biggestfunds ever raised in the tele-coms industry in Africa, espe-cially with regards to a busi-ness that is somewhat a start-

Why SmileCommunicationsis going intovoice, by ObiejesiAs Smile Communications closesUS$365 million financing dealAdds there's need to out-pace thecompetition

up. Therefore, the manage-ment staff are happy with thefeat we could achieve.

Is Smile adding voice to itsbusiness operations?

I have already mentionedwe intend to expand the ex-isting 4G LTE (mobile) broad-band network in Nigeria andSub-Saharan Africa. With thefunds, we intend to completeour expansions to other coun-tries. The more critical is Ni-geria which is huge and foryou to nurture such businessto maturity you must spreadout; cover all parts of thecountry. The essence is forsubscribers do witness conti-nuity in the network coverageas they move from one part ofthe country to another. Sec-ondly, we are preparing forSmile’s clear voice network)CVN(. We believe that beforethe end of this year we wouldroll out out our CVN. There-fore, apart from data, we canuse Smile’s spectrum voice-wise. Some of these are thereasons we had to go into thefund raising.

Why voice, and why now?The answer is very clear. Our

network runs on a superiorspectrum. The idea is to giveNigerians clear voice networkservice. We know what theexperience is today with oth-er networks at the moment.The whole idea is to encour-age good quality networkservice. That is why the fundsare very key, because once youcommence and cover the are-as; the voice network is go-ing to be very clear. There aretestimonies that Smile’s 4GLTE in Nigeria is better thanthat used in London. It is thesame technology, but the onehere offers better quality.Such testimonies point to thesaying that Nigeria is at theforefront of global develop-ment; we want to be there withevery other country. We can’tbe behind again. We are work-ing with Ericsson in this area

to make it happen. We willstart deploying by Octoberand hope to commence fullybefore the end of the year.

On Clear Voice Network,who will be Smile’s primarysegment?

It is important we under-stand that Smile is not goingthere to starting “fighting” thelikes of MTN, GLO, Etisalator Airtel, rather our strategywill set us apart…

But you’re targeting a shareof the voice market wherethey are established?

Yes, we do have marketshare, but we do wholesale aswell. We expect that some ofthe big players can leveragesome of the underutilizedspaces we have. What we aretrying to do is, within thebroadband, we are trying totake some of our free networkand use it for voice over. IfSmile is there for data and youcan make calls from any partof the world, then, it gives youa whole package. We havealready created a niche forourselves and work towardsadding a voice service. With-out that we might not be ableto utilize all the space wehave on the band. Therefore,it is not a question of going towrestle power, cut out fromthe subscribers of MTN, Glo

and others.In these days of currency

instability and uncertainty,especially the pressure on theNaira, will you be consider-ing an IPO in the future?

This funds raised answersthat question. This is a youngcompany and we don’t wantto go public pre-maturely.Listing on Stock Exchangegoes beyond having the cer-tificate; you must have some-thing to sell. At the momentwe can’t take a product thatis not known to the people toNSE which will be a hard sell.With this kind of funds raisedwe believe that we have allthe financial strength to ex-pand the network and unleashclear voice network. So, wedon’t think we will need thehelp of an IPO or listing onthe floor of the Nigeria StockExchange )NSE( in the near-est future, because, before wecomplete the deployment of thefunds, I am sure that the re-turns on investment will createenough funds to enable usembark on any other future in-vestments. I also want to men-tion that one of the reasons forhaving a business case here isto support the growth of theeconomy and improve on thelives of Nigerians through jobcreation. The telecoms businesshas been proven, across theglobe, as catalyst to improvingthe GDP of any economy. Webelieve that with the kind ofspeed this broadband has andthe facilities, the tendencies arethere to create jobs for a lot ofNigerians. It is going to impacton every sector, particularly, theentertainment industry as localcontent is key in the internetbusiness. Nigeria being one ofthe fastest growing economiesin Africa, we believe that thistype of network will help Ni-gerians grow faster while con-solidating the gains alreadymade in the economy. I think itis a very welcome developmentand requires a lot of support.

However, we as the sharehold-ers and as the Chairman in Ni-geria, we are not resting on ouroars until Nigerians smile asthey should in the internet con-nectivity and voice network-wise. Smile within the next twoyears would have become asuccess story. At the moment anIPO is not going to be success-ful; not a good business strate-gy and we look at it as some-thing that will come secondary.It is not a matter of dining withthe devil with a long spoon,rather be sure you are not onthe menu. You may take thepain of going through the proc-esses of NSE; even the com-pliance requirements of an IPOand at the end of the day youmight not secure the funds.Even though is it more expen-sive the way we are doing itnow, due to the interest on themoney, but is a sure way to cre-ate a marketable brand beforeconsidering going public.

Since this is a multi-jurisdic-tional package, what percent-age of the funds will Smile in-vest in Nigeria?

If you look at the analysiswith regards to Smile as a pan-African company, the majorityof the business is in Nigeria.This is market where about 80%of Smile business comes from.So, it is also expected that about80% of that money will be in-vested in Nigeria. This is theeconomy the company hopes toinvest and recoup its resourc-es too. This is where we havethe population, growth tenden-cies, the businesses, and showsyou that Nigeria is very largeand sustainable for businessestoo. Therefore, both in infra-structure deployment and thefunds usage, it is expected thatNigeria will have a fair share.Other market will be sharingthe remaining percentage. Thissimple analysis was part of thereasons the pan-African banksdoled out the funds. They knowNigeria has the capacity togive back what is invested.

By Adekunle Adekoya,General Editor

Our networkruns on asuperior spec-trum. The ideais to give Ni-gerians clearvoice networkservice. Weknow what theexperience istoday withother net-works at themoment

CMYK


30— Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015


Homes & Housing

SunGold Estate Ltd haslaunched two housing

projects, LenoxApartments and SplendourApartments, in Abujalocated at Gaduwa andDurumi districts of theFederal Capital Territory(FCT), respectively.

In a statement madeavailable to Vanguard,James Ali, General Managerof the firm, saidsubscriptions for the twoestates are open for thegeneral public.

Ali said LenoxApartments is a block of 14flats selling at an off planprice with discountconsideration for outrightpurchase. Facilitiesinclude: Intercomconnection; Fitted kitchens;Electric fencing; CCTV;Centralised water supplysystem; Ample parkingspace; Street lights and;Recreational facilities. Onthe other hand, SplendourApartments is a block of 16units also selling at an offplan price with similarfacilities, in addition to aswimming pool.

With the launch of theseprojects, SunGold aims toprovide very affordablehousing with veryconvenient and flexiblepayment plans to thegeneral masses. Bothprojects which are alreadyunder construction have atarget time frame of 11months for completion.What makes SunGold sounique and different fromother real estate companies,is the fact that we are quickto complete and do notcompromise standards onany of our projects. Ourbuildings and designs are soelegant, classy andcontemporary. We are atestimony to the fact thatyou do not have to be amillionaire to own a luxuryapartment in Abuja.

Sungold is presentlyinvolved in numerousprojects across Nigeria.These include: Heroes Plaza- Wuse 2, Abuja; GoldPalmsEstate – Owerri, Imo State;SunGold Estate –Galadinmawa, Abuja; ManisCourt Estate – Asokoro,Abuja; Sim Christy Plaza –Gudu, Abuja; ZiziApartments – Garki, Abuja;and Springfield Estate –Mabushi, Abuja.

SunGoldunveils 2Abuja housingprojects

NMRC disburses N1bn to mortgage banksRaises capital to N8.5bn

Stories by YINKAKOLAWOLE,with agency report

The landmarkrefinancingbrings thevision of homesfor allNigerianswithin reach

Nigerian MortgageRefinance Company(NMRC) has

disbursed N1 billion toImperial Homes MortgageBank Limited (formerlyGTHomes Limited),emerging as the firstmortgage bank to berefinanced by the company.

A statement by the banknoted that the move was inline with NMRC’s drive tofacilitate the provision ofaffordable homes at goodmortgage rates to Nigerians.The bank’s ManagingDirector, Ben Akaneme, thebank’s described therefinancing as a milestone,adding that it was anoutstanding achievement inthe march towards therealisation of affordable andsingle-digit interest rates formortgages in Nigeria. Hesaid the facility will help thebank achieve its mission ofenabling easily accessibleand affordable mortgages toNigerians in order to ensurehousing for all. “Thelandmark refinancing bringsthe vision of homes for allNigerians within reach,”Akaneme said.

In the mean time,Shareholders of the NigeriaMortgage RefinanceCompany (NMRC) haveapproved an increase of itsshare capital from N1 millionto N18 billion. They gave theapproval at the company’s 1stAnnual General Meetingrecently held in Lagos.

The shareholders approvedthe resolution to increase ofthe Share Capital of thecompany from N1 million,comprising of one millionOrdinary shares of N1:00each to N8.5 billion,comprising of 8.5 billionOrdinary shares of N1:00each, after amending Clause6 of the Memorandum ofAssociation of the company toreflect the new authorisedShare Capital.

Mr. Herbert Wigwe,interim Chairman of NMRC,presented the auditedfinancial statements for theyear ended December 2014and the Reports of theDirectors and Auditors of thecompany for shareholders’approval. He noted thatwithin the period in review,the first tranche of equityraise of N7.05 billion wascompleted. NMRC iscurrently negotiating theterms of a subscription of itsshares with the IFC andShelter Afrique. NMRC iscurrently completing theoutstanding conditionprecedents to thesubscription, which are nearlyfulfilled, with finalisationoccurring soon.

Future Outlook“As we reflect on the

progress made thus far, wemust note that there is a lot ofwork that lies ahead. We havededicated our formative yearsto building a solid foundationfor NMRC’s future and westrongly believe that NMRCis on the right track. However,our journey is a long one andwill require persistence andpro-activeness in achievingthe purpose for which we wereestablished. We know thatwith our values and continuedsupport from all stakeholders,NMRC will achieve its goalsand surpass the expectationsof all stakeholders. As NMRCenters the new financial yearwith confidence, we will focuson building capacity and thecompletion of any outstandingoperational activitiesincluding, an aggressive drivetowards the adoption of the

Model Mortgage &Foreclosure Law by our PilotStates, the procurement of anICT Infrastructure for theMortgage Industry, thecompletion of our secondtranche Equity Capital raise,and most importantly thecompletion of our first roundof mortgage refinancing,”Wigwe stated.

Debt IssuanceThe chairman also

remarked that NMRC hascommenced the filingprocess with the Securitiesand Exchange Commission(SEC) for the ShelfRegistration of its DebtIssuance Programme, whichhas an initial Programme sizeof N140 billion, to provideliquidity for its refinancingoperations. “In order toengender confidence in thecredit standing of NMRC as abond issuing entity, NMRChas obtained creditenhancement from theFederal Government ofNigeria for the Debt IssuanceProgramme by way of asovereign guarantee. Thisconfidence is critical inensuring NMRC’s ability toraise bond financing at justabove the level of sovereigndebt cost,” he stated.

Lagos plans CofO issuance within 90 days

The Lagos State government is tohenceforth issue Certificate of

Occupancy (C of O) on properties to newapplicants within 90 days of payment.

Executive Secretary in the State’s LandsBureau, Mr Olukayode Ogunnubi, said ina statement that government’s plan is toensure that the process of applying andgetting the document is not only lesscumbersome but treated within thestipulated time. He made the statementfollowing the signing and approval forimmediate release of 2,500 C of O’s byGovernor Akinwunmi Ambode to propertyowners across the state.

“Once we have any new applicant for C ofO, the Governor’s mandate is to ensure thathe signs it within the 90 days tenure. So,once you make your payment, we start theprocessing. Let me also report that we aregoing on the Electronic C of O fully (E-C ofO). All the ones he signed are also E-C of O.The idea is to eliminate bureaucraticbottlenecks and this is what the Governorintends to achieve in line with hiscommitment to make life simple and easy

for the people. This is a standard milestoneas the last time such was witnessed wasduring the era of the first civilian Governorof Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande,” hesaid.

Ogunnubi said the release of the C of O’swas to enable owners to leverage on the C ofO as collateral to obtain loans from financialinstitutions for business activities.

“A clear distinction must be made that thispresent government wants Lagosians tomaximise the economic benefits derivablefrom ownership of properties as evidencedby obtaining their legal titles. That’s whatwe are trying to achieve and that’s the reasonwhy the Governor decided to clear all theback log, everything.

Now we do not have pending C of O on ourtable. This will also contribute to the growthof the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP)and ultimately the development of theeconomy of the state. In a nutshell, the ideais to eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks andthis is what the Governor intends to achievein line with his commitment to make lifesimple and easy for the people”, he stated.

An architectural design of SunGold Estate, Abuja

Insurance


AGM - From left: Company Secretary (representing Foundation Chambers), Mr AdedoyinAdeloye; Director, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc, Dr. Layi Fatona, and anotherDirector, Mrs. Ngozi Nkem at the 20th Annual General meeting of Consolidated HallmarkInsurance Plc held in Lagos

Stories by ROSEMARYONUOHA

Chairman of SovereignTrust Insurance Plc,STI, Mr. Ephraim

Faloughi said that thecompany will continue toassess its service platform toensure that they conform tothe best in terms of globalstandards and are flexibleenough to lead positivechanges in the market.

Faloughi who stated this atthe company’s 20th annualgeneral meeting in Lagos lastweek said that the companyrecognise the rapid changingnature of their customers’expectations and are aware ofthe imperative of embracinginnovation and soundinitiatives towards meetingtheir needs through bespokeservices.

On the performance of thecompany, Faloughi said that,the company headlineperformance was somehowaffected by the combination ofthe harsh operating terrainexperienced in the course ofthe year and response toseveral regulatoryinterventions.

He said that gross premiumfor the year ended at N7.2billion, a performance thatrepresents 16 per cent declineover a sum of N8.6 billionrecorded in the previous year.Profit before tax also declinedby 62 per cent from N857.8million recorded in the year2013 to N326 million for theyear ended 2014. In the samevein, profit after taxdecreased by 68 per cent toclose the year at N294 millionfrom N929 million reported in2013.

Faloughi said, “We believethat the future of the companyis really bright particularlywith the implementation of ournew business model anddeployment of competitivestrategies to control bettermarket share and improve ourprofit level. We will not reston our oars towardsrealisation of our industryleadership ambition whilekeeping the company veryprofitable.”

On the future outlook,Faloughi said, “Movingforward, we understand theunprecedented dynamism ofthe business world.Accordingly, our strategicdirection will be crafted toproactively envisage thelikely opportunities that areinherent in the industry andwork against possible threats

STI to lead positive changes ininsurance market —FALOUGHI

that may adversely affect ouroperations.

“We have for longunderstood the role of ourpeople in powering thegrowth objective of thecompany and would continueto put them at the heart of ouroperations. We will alsocontinue to equip anddevelop our staff to ensurethat as individuals andcollectively as a company, weare truly grounded in bringing

to fruition the wealth creationobjective which the companyexist to provide for ourshareholders.

“Similarly, capitalisationissue must be addressedheadlong on a continuousbasis. Beyond the justconcluded rights issue, theboard and management arecontinuously assessingseveral initiatives tocompetitively position thecompany in the industry

capital wise. This we aim toachieve through acombination of organic andin-organic growth strategiesand we will carry you alongas we consider severaloptions before us.

“The wave of entrance ofinternational brands into theNigerian insurance industryis going to be the gamechanger in the way we servethe market and administrationof claims to customers,”Faloughi said.

Premium Pension Limited hasadvocated for urgent implementationof Contributory Pension Scheme

(CPS) in all states of the federation whichare yet to adopt the scheme.

The states that are yet to sign the pensionbill into law are inhibiting the domesticationof the CPS in the states at the expense ofworkers, the company stated.

Speaking in Lagos at the Annual GeneralMeeting of the National Association ofInsurance and Pension Correspondents(NAIPCO), Managing Director, PremiumPensions, Wilson Ideva, stated that the CPSis arguably the most conspicuous andindelible legacy of the Federal Governmentin the past decade.

Ideva, who was represented by Mr. PaddyEzeala stated that Premium Pensions, apioneer Pension Fund Administrator (PFA)has since 2007 paid about N87 billion to33,000 pensioners under the ContributoryPension Scheme (CPS) .

The Company, he said, currently maintainswell over 600,000 Retirement SavingsAccounts (RSAs) and has paid out over N87billion to over 33,000 retirees or their next-of-kin as entitlements since 2007.

According to him, with pension assets

States should implement contributorypension scheme – IDEVA

under its management in excess of 370 billionnaira and pension enrollees under thecompany’s management spread in over 1000organisations across the country, PremiumPension has already been firmly established asa key player in the new Contributory PensionScheme.

ideva said, “Professionalism in pension servicerendition at Premium Pension is complementedby the company ’s adoption of the robustCanadian Pension Administration Software(CPAS). We are partnering with thisorganisation to ensure continued cutting-edgeservice delivery. All the relevant staff operatingthis software have been adequately trained inCanada by CPAS’.

Ideva stated that the company has consistentlyposted Return on Investment of pension assetwell above industry average and above inflation,adding that the company recently introduced amobile application known as ‘Premium PensionMobile’, with a view to facilitating its operationsand enhancing customer service and interaction.

This, he explained was in response to theevident need for devices that would further closethe gap between the company’s operations andits customers on the one hand and the customersand their Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA)on the other.

Insurers in thePhilippines have onceagain reiterated the

need for a mandatoryearthquake insurance in thecountry, especially forresidential buildings andsmall to medium-sizedbusinesses.

The Philippine Insurers andReinsurers Association(PIRA) has already submittedits proposal on compulsoryearthquake insurance tofinance secretary CesarPurisima.

The group, which is theumbrella organisation of non-life insurers, is hopeful thatPhilippine President BenignoAquino III will approve theproposal and come up with anexecutive order.

PIRA has noted that out ofthe 14 million people livingin the country’s metropolis,less than one percent areinsured against earthquakes,despite a series of reportsabout the “Big One”: a majorearthquake that couldpotentially devastate parts ofMetro Manila, the capital.

PIRA chairman MichaelRellosa said in a statementthat insurance is a veryeffective tool in recoveringfrom such disasters.

Philippineinsurers favourmandatoryearthquakeinsurance

Plans are in top gear by theNational Planning

Commission, NPC of Nigeriaand African ManagementServices Company, AMSCOwill hold a businessconference with the theme:“Accelerating EnterpriseCompetitiveness and agrowth in Nigeria –BuildingCapacity for SustainableDevelopment in Lagos. The keynote speaker will beGovernor of Central Bank ofNigeria, CBN, Mr. GodwinEmefiele.According to the organizers,the objective of theconference is to promotepartnership for businessdevelopment andemployment creation inNigeria.To promote balancedinvestment in financial andhuman capital for enterprisedevelopment necessary foreconomic development. Toexamine sources offinancing for development tocapacitate enterprises.

NPC, AMSCOhold businessconference

CMYK


“You can get in more trouble with good ideas than bad ones;it is so much easier to push a good idea to excess.” Ben Graham.(VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p 97).

Mortgaging the States to FGfuture in name of bail-out (2)

President Buhari turneddown the idea of bail-out at first. I must

confess to being one of thosewho thought a bail-out wasinevitable – given the emptypurses most states wereholding. However, it was myposition that the states arrivedat the same position throughdifferent routes. Some tooksensible risks which backfiredwhen the price of crude oiltumbled and the monthlyrevenue allocation from Abujadeclined dangerously. At themoment, the monthlyallocation for August has notbeen conducted and the fundshave not been released. Othrstates ended up on the list of“Beggar States” for reasonsdifficult to understand. AkwaIbom is one example. It mustbe regarded as one of the tenwonders of the last eightyears that a state whichcollected nearly N3 trillion,equal to the allocations for thesix poorest states, could stillend up with the “beggar ’sbowl” in hand asking for bail-out. And, for the FederalGovernment to grant therequest – no questions asked.“Saints” and “sinners” aregiven the same treatment. Tosay the least, this is setting abad precedent.

The question we must askourselves is this: whatprinciple are we trying toestablish here? To start with,since not all the states are

requesting for and are beinggranted the bail-out, what weare doing now amounts torewarding those whosejudgment turned out to be badas well as the fraudulentwhile penalizing those who

conducted their financialaffairs well. This is oneprecedent that might come tohaunt us in the future.

Furthermore, by convertingconsumption debts (infinancial circles no bankwould lend anyone money topay salaries) to bonds, thearrangement in place might

amount to inappropriate useof bonds. Generally, bondsare issued to finance projectswhich will generate revenuewith which to repay theobligations. These bonds arenot tied to income-generating

projects. That partiallyexplains why the tenure,thirty years, is so long. Thatagain has unintendedconsequences for all of us.

Some of the governors nowin office will remain for eightyears; some four and a few(Ondo, Ekiti, Osun,Anambra) will serve for less

than four years. Yet, all thestates receiving the bail-outswould have shackled theirnext three, four, five or sixsuccessors to repayment ofdebts without any projectbringing the revenue to helprepay. This generation ofPresident, Governors,legislators and citizens areconsuming what belongs toour children with nothing toassist them.

But, of all the aspects of thebail-out scheme, the one thatall Nigerians should find mosttroublesome is the fact that theCentral Bank of Nigeria,CBN, will pay the salaries ofstates’ staff directly to theiraccounts. Granted, beggarscannot always choose, but itwould appear that theprinciple of separation ofpowers between states andthe Federal Government isbeing violated. In theireagerness to obtain relief the“Beggar States” are allowinga bad precedent to beestablished under which theFederal Government can inthe future assume

responsibilities for payingsalaries to states’ staff directly.

Even, under centralizedmilitary regimes, thisarrangement would haveappeared strange for an entitypretending to be a FederalRepublic. In a democracy,this is becoming too much ofa price to pay just to get thegovernors off the hook.

The road to hell is alwayspaved with good intentions.With this step, we might haveembarked on that road. And,there is a good reason whywe should retrace out steps.

Most of the states operatewith over-bloated publicservice. A visit to theSecretariat of any state andany Ministry in the state willreveal several hundred“ workers” sitting idle,gossiping and marking time.As the price of crudecontinues its steady decline,the measure just taken mightoffer only temporary succor –unless the governors areforced to make the toughdecisions about their staffstrength. Allowing them tocontinue with so manyredundant staff, the problemwill resurface again any timesoon. Then, what would wehave gained by creating somany bad precedents?

This generation ofPresident, Governors,legislators and citizens areconsuming what belongsto our children withnothing to assist them

Micro-Finance

The Commerce andI n d u s t r yC o r r e s p o n d e n t s

Association of Nigeria(CICAN) has called onPresident MuhammaduBuhari to appoint competentpersons as Ministers toenable him fulfill hiscampaign promises to theelectorate.

A statement jointly signedby the CICAN NationalPresident and Secretary, Mr.Toba Agboola and Mr.

STORIES BYPROVIDENCE OBUHAND BUSAYO SAMUEL

Umuchinemere Pro-credit Micro-finance

Bank has disbursed aboutN548.180 million facility in itshalf year financial statement.

A total of 2,210 active poorpersons received the facilitybetween January and Junethis year, according to reportmade available to Vanguard.

Further breakdown showsthat a total of 1,182 femalereceived a total ofN247,048,200 while a total of1,030 male received aboutN257,131,800 of the totalfacility within the period justas 447 persons received atotal of N140,090,000 of thedevelopment.

Acting Head of Credit, Mr.Ikechukwu Ngene, said thatfund disbursement wasslightly below the bank’starget for the period owing tothe usual low economicactivities associated with thebeginning part of the year

UP MfB disburUP MfB disburUP MfB disburUP MfB disburUP MfB disburses N5ses N5ses N5ses N5ses N548m in half y48m in half y48m in half y48m in half y48m in half yearearearearearand the uncertainties andgeneral economic down turnthat characterized thecountry ’s last generalelections.

“It is expected that thesecond half of the year wouldbe robust, as economicactivities after the electionsare gradually improving and

the bank having planned toroll out more attractiveproducts for its esteemed andteeming customers.”

“An additional fund ofN32.2m of the MSMEDevelopment Fund meant fordisbursement to asupplementary list ofbeneficiaries will not only

enhance the bank’sperformance financially in thesecond half of the year but willalso increase its customerbase. The bank has set aN600m target fordisbursement as loans for thesecond half of the year,” hesaid.

Speaking on development

fund, Special Adviser onSME, Mr. Anayo Agu said“The fund was specificallyintended to remove poverty inthe land and it is for micro,small and medium businessesdevelopment and growth inEnugu State as any largessefrom government. I am urgingthe fund beneficiaries to usethe money to develop andimprove their businesses andwell being and repay as atand when due,” she said.

Appoint competent ministers, CICAN urges Buhari

Charles Onwuatogwu , statedthat the advice becomenecessary due to some namesbeing touted in mainstreamand social media as possiblecandidates for ministerialportfolios in theadministration.

The association advised thePresident to appointtechnocrats with proven trackrecords of effectiveperformance and notnecessarily politicians.

“Nigeria has abundant pool

of human resource in allfields of endeavors and assuch there is no need tocontinue to appoint personswith antecedents that willoffend the sensibility ofNigerians into strategicpositions any longer.

“If Mr. President proceedsto appoint certain individualswho spearheaded anti-peoplepolicies while serving theprevious governments into hiscabinet, his pledge to changethe pattern of governance

including the culture ofimpunity in the country willbe dead on arrival,” CICANsaid.

CICAN stressed furthersaying “if for any reason Mr.President wishes to appointpersons that have servedprevious governments into hiscabinet; they must beindividuals with impeccablecharacter, proven integrity,and track record of selflessservice to the country.”

34— Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

E-Commerce

As part of its efforts to enhance the quality of customers’shopping experience and availability of information,

Nigeria’s online auto insurer, AutoGenius has redesignedits website.

The site’s refreshed and simplified look, combined withenhanced content, improved search functionality, andoptimization for mobile devices allows consumers to betteraccess auto insurance online.

Key features of the site include automatic renewal reminders,improved integration with insurance partners, real-time clientadvisory provisions on claims and inspection, insuranceverification, promotion code integration as well as an automatedclaims process.

CEO of Venia Technologies, parent company of AutoGenius,Kola Oyeneyin, said: “The new website was created with theuser experience firmly in mind. This is a result of talking withcustomers and gaining valuable feedback. We are excited tobe able to provide the ultimate user-friendly experience withimproved navigation and functionality which enables customersaccess auto insurance products easily.”

Jovago unveilslocal languageservice

Online hotel booker,Jovago.com has

unveiled a local languagestranslation service to drivemore access among users ofthe service in Nigeria.

The service features Igbo,Yoruba and Hausatranslations offering users achance to learn theseNigerian languagesinteractively and increasesthe ease with which hotelrooms are booked via themobile app and website.

The company whichmarked its second yearcelebration activities withthe launch of its Androidmobile application, ‘HotelsBooking’, in over 40countries around the world,provides customers who visitthe website the convenienceof booking hotels in theirnative dialects.

Speaking on theinnovation, ManagingDirector, Jovago Nigeria,Marek Zmyslowski, said,“Our core mission at Jovagoright now is to simplify theway customers use theinternet to engage in onlinetransactions which is why weare excited to introduce thelocal language translations."

Konga’s mercurysoftware to boostlogistics

Konga.com hasannounced the launch

of Mercury, a software-as-a-service logistics managementsystem that will enablelogistics companies andtheir customers to track theexact location and status oftheir orders online.

Chief Executive Officer ofKonga, Sim Shagaya saidMercury was created byKonga’s Technology and K-Express teams.

According to him, “Thereare many small and largelogistics companies todayserving sellers on the Kongamarketplace. Beyond this,there are hundreds oflogistics companies that arelicensed by NIPOST to doparcel delivery acrossNigeria. As we engaged withthem, we found that oneconsistent complaint thesecompanies have, is anabsence of a robust track andtrace system. We decided toextend the proprietarytechnology we had built forKExpress and make it broadlyavailable to all logisticscompanies that need it.”

STORIES BYJONAH NWOKPOKU

There is need for e-c o m m e r c e

operators in Nigeria to beginto think of global expansionin order to promote Africanmade products, bridge thegap between the Africanmarket and its people in theDiaspora to directly impactthe growth of the localeconomy.

This is according toManaging Director ofNigeria’s pioneer onlinemarketplace, Gidimall.com,Osamede Evbakhavbokun.

Osamede, who stated thisduring an exclusiveinterview with Vanguard,said his Gidimall will bespearheading the move bycommencing promotion ofAfrican made products to theEuropean and Americanmarkets beginning fromNovember this year.

According to Osamede,“This (move) is instructivebecause there is a need toproject Africa in a right way.Over the next three months,we will be focusing onpromoting made-in-Africaproducts overseas.Ecommerce in Nigeria is stillgrowing. There has been aserious traction and growthin the sector. But we have yetto start seeing the kind ofnumbers that exist in the USand other developedmarkets. I think there is aneed for e-commerce inNigeria to begin to thinkglobal and not just Nigeria.”

Why Nigerian e-commerce operatorsshould seek global expansion – OSAMEDE

He said breaking intointernational marketsleveraging e-commerce hasbecome imperative becauseAfrican made productsactually resonates well witha lot of Africans in thediaspora. He said: “There aretwo major needs in this

market. For example, youhave that guy in Americawho wants to send moneyhome to his mother and hehas to send it through Johnso that John goes to themarket and buys the thingshe needs to buy for themother. And then the rest is

history of what is left of it.About 90 per cent of the time,people don’t get the actualvalue for the money theysend home. And so when youpromote made-in-Africaproducts and our Africanbrands, these people in thediaspora, can actually shopfor their relatives and familymembers at home directlyusing brands likeGidimall.com and it getsdelivered directly to them.

“There are some of themwho want to use made-in-Africa products and theywant to buy things fromAfrica. They can then buythese items on Gidimall andhave it shipped to themdirectly to their homes. Thisnow bridges the gap betweenAfricans in the diaspora andtheir local markets, so thatthey can feel at home awayfrom home. There is also thisAfro-centric effect whereAfricans in the diaspora aredirectly growing their localeconomies by patronisingmade-in-African goodscoming from their homecountries. It also means theyare investing in their ownpeople while growing theirlocal economy.”

Gidimall.com, launched in2012, is an onlinemarketplace which providesa platform for buyers andsellers to interact in a tradeprocess.

On the Gidimall platform,there is a buyer interfacewhere people visit to havetheir shopping done andthere is a seller interfacewhere sellers can actuallyregister, put up theirproducts, manage theirinventories, logistics andpromotions.

A survey conducted byonline vehicle

marketplace, Carmudi.comhas revealed that moreNigerians are increasinglysearching for saloon cars tobuy.

The survey showed thatNigeria has the highestpercentage (55 percent) ofthose searching for saloon carsto buy online within Africa.

The survey which alsofeatured opinion sampling ofcar owners showed that sevenout of every ten Nigeriansprefer to drive saloon cars.

This is even as a study bythe Lagos State governmentshowed that new saloon carregistration is on yearlyincrease as 218,528 or 84.22per cent of the total vehiclesregistered in the year 2011were saloon cars representingan increase of 30,013 or 15.92per cent compared with 2010figure which was 188,515.

In a statement, Carmudi saidit believes this trend portendsa vibrant market for salooncars and that local auto makersshould pay more attention tothis trend to drive auto sales

Nigeria tops Africa's online searchfor saloon cars

in the country.It recalled that Nigeria’s

first automaker, InnosonVehicle Manufacturing hadfollowed this trend and madehistory late in November 2014when it built 500 vehicles,including the Umu sedan atits local plant.

According to Carmudi,saloon cars has remained a

popular brand across mostemerging markets as its datarevealed that car buyers inAsia browsed most for salooncars, particularly in Myanmar,Sri Lanka, Bangladesh,Pakistan, and Indonesiawhere 59, 57, 51, 50, and 38per cents respectively aresearching for saloon cars tobuy.

AutoGenius revamps website

CONFERENCE - From left: General Manager, British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation(BATNF), Miss Abimbola Okoya; Partner, Financial Accounting Advisory Services, Ernstand Young, Samuel Agbevem; Executive Director, BATNF, Mrs Oluwaseyi Ashade; ExecutiveDirector, CSR-in-Action, Bekeme Masade, at the Press Conference on the Collective SocialInvestment Report: Nigeria 2014, in Lagos.


Economy

Stories by Emeka Anaeto,Economy Editor

There are indications thatglobal investment

institutions are not happy withNigeria’s economic environmentas Fitch Ratings drop two states,Kaduna and River States while

downgrading Lagos state barelythree days after JP Morganannounced its dropping ofNigeria from its globalinvestment index.

Along with Moody’s andStandard & Poor’s, Fitch is oneof the top three credit ratingagencies in the world based inNew York and London. The

company’s ratings are used as aguide to investors as to whichinvestments are most likelygoing to yield a good return. Itis based on factors such as howsmall an economic shift would benecessary to affect the standingof an economic system or agovernment bond.

Fitch withdrew Rivers State’s

Long-term foreign and localcurrency Issuer Default Ratings(IDRs) of ‘BB-’, with Negativeand Stable Outlooks respectively,and its National Long-termrating of ‘AA-(nga)’, with StableOutlook.

In a statement last weekendFitch said it decided todiscontinue the rating of Rivers

State due to lack of information.According to the statement ‘’All

ratings have subsequently beenwithdrawn. As a result Fitch willno longer provide ratings oranalytical coverage on theissuer’’.

In a similar development Fitchhas withdrawn Kaduna State’slong term foreign and localcurrency Issuer Default Ratings(IDRs) of ‘B+’ and its nationallong-term rating of ‘A+(nga)’ allwith Stable Outlooks.

Accordingly, Fitch will nolonger provide ratings oranalytical coverage for KadunaState as the agency said it willno longer have sufficientinformation to maintain theratings.

The two states will not be ableto raise money outside Nigeriaand even local portfolio investorswould not likely invest in theirbonds should they move to raisemoney from the domestic capitalmarket.

Also yesterday Fitch Ratingsaffirmed Lagos State’s Long-term foreign currency IssuerDefault Ratings (IDRs) at ‘BB-’with Negative Outlook andShort-term foreign IDR at ‘B’.The Long-term local currencyIDR and the National Long-termrating was affirmed at ‘BB-’ and‘AA+(nga)’, respectively, withStable Outlooks.

The ratings were upgraded ayear ago when it affirmed LagosState’s National Long-termrating at ‘AA+(nga)’ from ‘AA(nga)’. The agency hassimultaneously affirmed LagosState’s Long-term foreign andlocal currency Issuer DefaultRatings (IDRs) at ‘BB-‘ withStable Outlooks and its Short-term foreign currency IDR at ‘B’.

The agency said the ratingstook into account the state’s weaksocio-economic indicators byinternational standards.

It said ‘’The Negative Outlookon the Long-term foreigncurrency IDR reflects that ofNigeria (BB-/Negative). Fitchexpects Lagos’ revenue toremain highly diversifiedcompared with the nationalaverage, making the state’sbudget more resilient to oil pricefluctuations’’.

The negative Fitch reports maynot be unconnected with thedelisting of Nigeria’s bond by JPMorgan last Tuesday whichfurther depressed the relativerating of Nigeria’s economy bythe international investmentcommunity.

The delisting has already takena heavy toll on the Nigerian stockmarket with the total loss of overN300 billion so far in NigerianStock Exchange.

Last April Fitch Ratings, saidit was downgrading the outlookof Lagos State’s long-termforeign currency issuer defaultrating to negative from stable,following the recent downgradeof Nigeria’s outlook, adding thatLagos State, as the issuer, wasrated at the same level as thesovereign for the long-termforeign currency IDR.

Fitch Investment Rating delists,downgrades 3 States

Concerns over the generaldirection and policy outlook

of President MohammaduBuhari’s regime as indicated inthe first 100 days in office appearto be mounting.

Economy and public policyanalyst Mr. Olu Akanmu, whoexpressed this concern in hisreview of the regime’s economicpolicy pronouncements so far,said it is important that PresidentBuhari should not squander hispolitical goodwill early in hisadministration.

According to him the presidentwill need that goodwill tomanage and navigate throughcomplex and difficult economicconditions ahead adding ‘’this isone of the governance lessonsfrom the failure of formerPresident Jonathan’’.

Akanmu said ‘’the Presidentby the lack of clear fiscal actionon the economy, his attempt torevamp the national airline,revamp the NNPC refineriesrather than privatizing themseem to be economically orientedto big and populist governmentin a period of constrained fiscalresources’’. On policy options inthe oil sector he said, ‘’inevitablepainful decisions are ahead onpetroleum subsidy because theyare not sustainable at least atpresent levels. We consumepetroleum products far less as anation than what we import. Anestimated 17 million liters of ourpetrol imports is smuggledacross the border daily toneighbouring countries becauseof the more than 50% cross-border price differential betweenNigeria and her neighbours.Yet, the Nigerian governmentpays for these huge subsidies.We are essentially subsidizingfuel consumption inneighbouring countries at hugecost to the national treasury’’.

The other collateral effect of thisoil sector scenario, according tohim, is that the Naira isperpetually under pressure as avery significant portion of foreignexchange available is used tosupport importation ofpetroleum products.

He stated, ‘’Naira willpositively appreciate to the dollarwith positive collateral economiceffects if we import lesspetroleum products or if we couldkeep our petroleum products atthe level of our actual nationalconsumption’’.

On Buhari’s anti-corruptioncrusade Akanmu said ‘’we

support and commend the newtransparency and anti-corruption stance of government.Resources previouslyunavailable such as the LNGdividends are now beingdiscovered to be made availableto the people. These liberatedresources are however meagercompared to what is required tofix the infrastructure challengeand the rotten decay in socialsectors like education, healthand create jobs. The Presidentwill need to ask the nation tosacrifice at a point and negotiatethe reordering of governmentfiscal commitments given meagreresources. It is in this context thatthe President would need all thepolitical goodwill when he wouldhave to take inevitable difficulteconomic decisions’’.

Akanmu also said that theoutcry against the President’sperceived or real sectionallylopsided appointments, whichcould potentially squander hispolitical goodwill should alarmor give the President seriousconcern.

President Buhari, according tohim, needs to ensure that he doesnot by commission or omissionconfirm the fear-mongering byopposition during thePresidential elections that hewould be a provincial Presidentadding that this is another lessonto learn from the failure of former

President Jonathan, whom hesaid failed to rememberconsistently his nationalmandate and largely governedas a provincial President with “itis our turn” mentality screamingboldly out of his actions andinactions.

Still on the issue of presidentialappointments, Akanmu referredto USA Presidential exampleswhere, according to him,President Obama surroundedhimself with the very best ofpolitical and economic brains inthe United States taking a leaf

from Abraham Lincoln byappointing even his rivals likeHilary Clinton adding that hisexecutive team had strong public,private or academic sectorpedigree.

Akanmu is of the opinion thatPresident Buhari is justifiablyconcerned with widespreadintegrity and character issues inour national leadership cadreand therefore he is puttingintegrity and character as keyqualifying criteria for his politicalappointments.

But Akanmu advised that thePresident should recognize thathe needs women and men witha combination of character andcompetence and not justcharacter alone in hisgovernment.

He said ‘’despite the publicrelations script of the Presidencyespecially on his latestappointments, the merit ortechnical competence in thoseappointments are largelydebatable. Character andcompetence are not mutuallyexclusive in leadership or publicservice. They should not be asubstitute for each other.President Buhari must findpeople who combine both andappoint them into hisgovernment. Public servants orleaders with competence and nocharacter will steal us dry whilethose with character and lowcompetence will largely run aconfused government withtechnically competent but corruptelites and civil servants runningrings around them. Goodintentions does not guaranteegood governance. A publicservant must know andunderstand policy issues andknow what to do to perform’’.

Akanmu is of the view that thePresident must also showpolitical savviness to holdtogether the coalition thatbrought him to power. Accordingto him he will need that coalitionto govern in a democracy ofplural interests where he doesnot hold absolute powers.

This, he said, ‘’will call forbeing politically pragmaticwithout compromising his corevalues of integrity. Politicalpragmatism combined with goodvalues is equivalent to politicalwisdom, that which is necessaryto build contingent pro-activecoalitions and consensus andalso knowing when to exertuncompromising executiveauthority in order to move thenation forward’’.

BUHARI’S 100 DAYS: BUHARI’S 100 DAYS: BUHARI’S 100 DAYS: BUHARI’S 100 DAYS: BUHARI’S 100 DAYS: Policy analyst cautions against populism

President Muhammadu Buhari

Naira willpositivelyappreciate to thedollar withpositive collateraleconomic effects ifwe import lesspetroleumproducts or if wecould keep ourpetroleumproducts at thelevel of our actualnationalconsumption


CMYK

People in Business

Mrs Comfort Arinzeis theProprietress of

Model Learning Centre,Nursery & Primary School inJinkwoyi, Abuja. In this chatwith Financial Vanguard,Mrs Arinze speaks on herschool, the challenges andNigeria's education sectorand says that withouteducation, there will be nodevelopment.

Excerpts:

Beginning:After obtaining her Grade

12 certificate in Canada, MrsArinze went on to obtain adiploma in Accounting/Business Education also inCanada. Upon her return toNigeria, she continued hereducation, obtaining aProfessional Certificate inEducation from the Instituteof Education, Ahmadu BelloUniversity, Zaria after whichshe did her NCE and then aBachelor of Education degreein Linguistics from the sameuniversity before sheventured into the educationsector.

Motivation:"My husband wanted me to

do a job that will enable mestay at home and look afterthe children. So I decided toestablish a school. Theschool, Model LearningCentre, started from Zariawhen we returned to Nigeriafrom Canada in September1982 with just two childrenin our garage.

Rapid growth:The school started growing

rapidly with the help of myhusband, the late ProfessorEdwin Arinze. We had aboutsix classrooms at a point andwe had to look for morespace so we went to Samaruvillage, Zaria and rented aplace at Hayin-Dogo andanother place also in Samaru.We had two branches at atime.

Crisis:After a while, my children

had to go back to Canada andI had nine schools includinga boarding school in Ikara,Makarfi, Hunkuyi etc all inKaduna State. Then therewas this big crisis in year2000. So many people werekilled and many schools inZaria were razed to theground. At that point, I hadto relocate to Abuja.

BY EBELE ORAKPO

Without education, one is limitedin many ways — ARINZE

Relocating to Abuja:When I came to Abuja, I did

not have as many schools asI had in Zaria. I started withone school because I hadabandoned so many of my

things in Zaria to escape withmy life. Since then, I havebeen in Abuja trying tonurture the one I started. Thecompetition is stiff. I startednurturing it from scratch.Right now, we have threeblocks including a storeybuilding. We give God all theglory. Some of our childrenare graduates today. There aredoctors, lawyers and otherprofessionals among them.The school has been doingwell in spite of all thecompetition in Abuja. Everycorner you look, you findschools. I was the presidentof the Association of Private

Schools and in Jinkwoyialone, we had 104 schoolsthen but now, we have muchmore; up to 150-160 schools.Some have been closed downfor one reason or the other.

Full accreditation:In March last year, Model

Learning Centre got itsapproval and fullaccreditation to run the schoolto any level and I give Godall the glory. It is not by mypower or might.

The school has two busesand things are moving onwell.

Number of children:We have over 250 children,

with fluctuations here andthere. We had our 14th

graduation on July 15. Theschool is still growing, we are

still building. We have Pre-nursery (Kindergarten/Crèche) class, Nursery 1,Nursery 2. I scrappedNursery 3 because virtuallywhat we do in Nursery 3 iswhat we do in Primary one.So from Nursery 2, they go toPrimary one up to six. Someof the classes have up to twoarms. We have about 28 staffmembers – teaching and non-teaching staff.

Challenges:In this area, we have so

many challenges especiallyin the area of payment ofschool fees. Our fee is verylow compared to those in theheart of Abuja. Our fee is aslow as N17,000 to N25,000in this area. During the Ebolascare, elections and becauseof the insurgency, there wasso much insecurity andbecause of that, I lost aboutN500,000 (bad debt)because so many families lefttown and refused to part withthe little money they had topay school fees.

That affected all the schoolsin the suburbs. This term, wealso faced the same thing. Theparents have tried but manyof them find it very difficultto pay school fees becausewe have a lot of low incomeearners here. The highincome earners prefer to goto schools in town where theypay N80,000 or more perterm and some even pay indollars. But here, the highest

When I came to Abuja,I did not have as manyschools as I had inZaria. I started withone school because Ihad abandoned somany of my things inZaria to escape withmy life

*Mrs Comfort Arinze....although our fees are low, some parents still find it very difficult topay

is N25,000 but if we have lotsof children, we can manage.The children who pay highschool fees are not evenperforming better than ours.We had this McMillancompetition for English andmaths aptitude test and ourschool came third out of over70 schools that participatedand we won a trophy. It is notthat the quality of theirteaching is better than ours.We have qualitativeteachers. What we do hereis that we enrich our schemeof work a little bit more. Forexample, in Primary six, yousee us taking some topicsfrom JS1. The children havebeen doing well both in theirinternal and externalexams.

The least qualification ofour teachers is NationalCertificate in Education. Wehave Arts and Craft, French,Islamic, Computer scienceteachers and others.

Education sector:Education is absolutely

necessary for nationaldevelopment. It is veryessential. If for instance wehave two friends, Mr A andMr B and Mr A is educatedwhile B is not, and both aregiven N200,000; A willmake something out of itbecause he will know how touse the money to grow hisbusiness while Mr B may notbe able to do so well. He mayhave the wisdom but maynot know how to apply itproperly.

Education is veryimportant and withouteducation, you cannot forgeahead in life; you cannot goto some places and you arelimited in so many ways.Education opens doors foryou. It is the key to success.You cannot be too old to goto school, no matter yourage, you can go to schooland develop yourself.

The private sector is doingvery well but the publicsector is not.

In some public schools,children still sit on floors;some don’t have desks towrite on and yet, you seesome of the teachers doingtheir private businesses inschool. They do not payproper attention to thechildren because their payis not good so they try to doother things to make endsmeet.

You have to have moneyto give your child a goodeducation otherwise, he willend up in public school withincessant strikes.


CMYK


CMYK

Advertising & Promotions

Setting world record withpromo poster

STORIES BYPRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

It took less than twomonths for NigeriaBreweries, NB Plc to

break the record set by Indiain June 27, 2015, of theworld’s largest billboardposter.

The epoch-making postermeasuring 5,367 squaremetres unveiled at theMichael Okpara Square inEnugu state broke the recordfor the existing largest postermeasuring 4,793.65 squaremetres.

The size of the poster whichwas attested to by Mr. NathAgu, a chartered quantitysurveyor, BarristerOnyekwuluje Ogochukwu, alawyer, legally affirmed themeasurement.

The Gulder poster served tokick-start the 2015 edition ofthe Gulder NationalConsumer Promotion.

The Executive Governor ofEnugu State, His Excellency,Rt. Hon Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi,was represented by theCommissioner for Commerceand Industry, Barr. SamOgbu-Nwobodo whocommended the Gulder brandfor the feat.

He said: “Indeed, this isa very momentous feat and Iapplaud Nigerian BreweriesPlc, makers of Gulder forchoosing Enugu as the takeoff point for this milestoneevent. Enugu has also beenone of the most lucrativetourist destinations forbusinesses. By implication,Enugu will also be in theGuinness book of worldrecords for hosting this event.In Enugu, there is acontinuous drive fromgovernment to provideadequate security forforward-thinking companieslike Nigerian Breweries.”

In his welcome address, theManaging Director, NigerianBreweries Plc., Mr. NicolaasVervelde, recounted Gulder’s

momentous stride in the beermarket and the company’schoice of Enugu as therallying point. He stated that“since the commissioning ofour second brewery in Aba in1957, the South East has beena solid base for ouroperations and a veritablehome to our brands. It is incontinuation of this robustrelationship with the SouthEast that we are here inEnugu courtesy of Gulder theultimate lager beer’.

Describing the largestposter as “The GulderUltimate Poster ”, Mr.Vervelde said the featrecently achieved by Gulderis “an attestation to theUltimate beer and theUltimate Man who stands up

to be counted with his beer.”Speaking further, hedescribed Gulder’s feat as aglowing testament toNigerian Breweriescommitment to winning withNigeria. He added: “Thiscommitment covers allaspects of our investments,our footprint, our people andour socio-economic impact. AsNigeria’s leading brewingcompany, this feat showcasesNigeria Breweries Plc’scontinuous commitment toexpanding the frontiers ofconsumer promotion in thehistory of Gulder with overfour million prizes to bewon.”

Speaking on the connectionbetween the Gulder brandand Enugu, Mr. Hubert Eze,

the Sales Director, NigerianBreweries Plc. said: “Thetruth is that the Gulder brandhas a lot in common withEnugu and NigerianBreweries Plc.is at home inEnugu. So, when we want tobreak history, we break it athome and ensure that everycorner of the earth salutes thisfeat.”

Barr. Sam Ogbu-Nwobodo,the Commissioner for Cultureand Tourism, Mr. NicolaasVervelde, the CEO ofNigerian Breweries Plc., hiswife, Mrs. ClementinaVervelde and Mr. KufreEkanem, Corporate AffairsAdviser, also of NigerianBreweries Plc., all signed theposter, followed by numerousconsumers present.

By PETER EGWUATU

APCON, AAGendorse BAKawards, holdsOctober

The AdvertisingPractitioner Council of

Nigeria (APCON) andAdvertising Association ofGhana (AAG) endorsedreward system organised byBillboard World Magazine, afrontline out-of-homemagazine tagged “Brand AsKing” has concluded plans tohost its 5th edition of theaward in Lagos on October25 2015.

The organisers of the awardhas called for entry in thefollowing categories: mostperforming brand awards,excellence awards in mediareporting, most performingindustry associate awards,outstanding brandambassador awards(Entertainment), excellenceawards in environmentalpolicy, best upcomingbrands, industry meritawards and specialrecognition awards.

According to the Editor-in-Chief/Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Maureen of themagazine, Maureen Umanahthe plans are currentlyongoing to successfully hostand honour advertisingprofessionals, outstandingachievers, corporate brands,product brands and brandambassadors from Nigeriaand beyond that haveperformed excellently in theirvarious endeavours andfields at this Brand as KingAwards.

BRIEFING - From Left: Nkechi Okolo, Service Manager, Lenovo Tech, West Africa; GrahamBraum, General Manager and Bolade Oyekanmi, Marketing Manager, at the media briefingheld in Lagos by Lenovo on the company’s new range of products available in Nigeria.

CSR: MTN Foundation commits N11.5bn in 10 years

The MTN Foundation, aCSR arm of MTN

Nigeria, for the past 10 yearshas impacted on the lives ofNigerians as it hascommitted over N11.5billionin various projects. TheFoundation has been able toachieve this workingthrough a model. In thisreview, Vanguard, takes alook at the Foundation’smodel that has sustainedthem so far

As at January 2015, theMTN Foundation (MTNF)has spent N11.5 billion onvarious areas to assist onCorporate SocialResponsibility, CSR in thearea of education,scholarship, womenempowerment, music growthamong others.

Speaking on this

development, Chairman,MTN Nigeria, Dr. Pascal Dozie,said, “We decided to backthe process up with sufficientresources both in terms offinances and capacity to execute.Thus, we decided that MTNdonates one per cent of its profitafter tax to the Foundationsactivities to carry out CSIactivities in Nigeria”, Dozie said.

Having made that decision,what came next was theselection of capable people tomake up the nucleus of theFoundation.”

The telecommunicationscompany has been doing wellwith the Foundation it set up 10years ago barely five years afterit started business in Nigeriathen regarded with uncertaintyby investors. Not only did MTNNigeria help to inspireconfidence for would-beinvestors, it has made thewellbeing of individuals in

whose communities it operatesall over the country paramount.This it has done through theMTN Foundation (MTNF).

“Our mission was to be thebest. We wanted to be a veryserious company that couldprovide quality service intelecommunications to thecountry”, said, Chairman MTNNigeria, Dr. Pascal Dozie.

Dr. Dozie,said the vision wasto participate in all aspects oflives of Nigerians. “We want toat least help in the areas ofeducation, health and economicempowerment. Every momentabout the Foundation is a proudone. I wish we could do more,but we are doing our best.”

Since inception, according toDozie, the goals of the companyabout the Foundation were clearcut; “Corporate SocialResponsibility (CSR) would notonly be MTNs businessstrategy, it will also become the

company’s way of life.”For Dozie, every

organization has aresponsibility and it caneither accept that or not. “Wewanted to be a goodcorporate citizen and thathas been the hallmark of allour operations. Goodcorporate citizenship meansthat we identify ourselveswith the aspirations ofNigerians.”

The company carried out astudy in 2003 on itsCorporate Social InvestmentInitiative; the result of whichmade it clear that health,education and economicempowerment would be thefocus of the Foundation. Interestingly, as at 2015, theMTN Foundation has over344 project sites and 36project categories spreadacross 36 states of theFederation in Abuja.

TBWA Conceptunveils ‘WriteMothersinitiative’

TBWA Concept, a creativeadvertising agency in

Nigeria, has unveiled fivecreative mothers whoemerged the overall best inits latest ‘disruptive’ initiative,Write Mothers.

The event, which took placeat the agence’s Ikeja office,Lagos had Amazon of theadvertising industry inNigeria, Mrs. Bola Thomas,founding Partner of LTC/JWTadvertising and first femalepresident of the Associationof Advertising Agencies ofNigeria, AAAN, a highly ratedand creative writer led thediscussion at the unveiling ofthe Initiative. Explaining therational for the initiative,TBWA’s managing director,Mr. Kelechi Nwosu, said itwas to ‘smoke out’uncelebrated mothers, inparticular, and women ingeneral who are talented andcreative, but who haven’tbeen given the opportunity.


Omoh Gabriel - Group Business Editor

Babajide Komolafe - Deputy Business Editor

Clara Nwachukwu - Energy Editor

Peter Egwuatu - Asst. Business Editor

Yinka Kolawole - Snr Bus. Correspondent

Favour Nnabugwu - Insurance Correspondent

Godwin Oritse - Maritime Correspondent

Godfrey Bivbere - Maritime Correspondent

Michael Eboh - Energy Reporter

Franklin Alli - Industry/Agric. Reporter

Ifeyinwa Obi - Maritime Reporter

Rosemary Onuoha - Insurance Reporter

Nkiruka Nnorom - Capital Market Reporter

CONTRIBUTORS

Princewill Ekwujuru - Media/Marketing

Jonah Nwokpoku - E-Commerce

Naomi Uzor - Industry

Providence Obuh - Micro Finance

LAYOUT - Graphics Department

Business & Economy

Email:[email protected], [email protected] page:www.lesleba.com/blog2Website: www.lesleba.comTel:0805 220 1997

Fidelity Bank CEO highlights non-oil investmentopportunities

By Babajide komolafe

Managing Director/ChiefExecutive, Fidelity

Bank PLC, Mr. NnamdiOkonkwo has identified therecent foreign exchange restrictionsplaced on importation of 41 itemsas one of the many non-oilinvestment opportunities in theeconomy.He stated this during apresentation titled, 'Beyond Oil &Gas: Emerging BusinessOpportunities in Nigeria' at theNigeria-British Chamber ofCommerce Breakfast Meetingheld in Lagos.Okonwko noted that despite

pressure points in the economy,Nigeria’s economic fundamentalremains strong, adding that, “Theconvergence of social, political andeconomic factors are generatinggreat expectations, opportunitiesand uncertainty in the Nigerianmacroeconomic environment”.He said the decline in crude oilprices, resulting to fallen revenue,as well as, the other problems inthe oil and gas sector, hasprompted a quest for alternativeinvestment opportunities beyondthe oil and gas sector.“But Nigeria’s strong growthreserves are opening newprospects”, he said. These growthprospects, he noted include,

“The 60 per cent of Nigeria’sarable land yet to be cultivated aswell as the country’s populationof over 170 million people, whichis youthful and provide a hugepotential demand and pool ofskills. It also provides hugeinternal market for consumptionand expenditure growth.”He added that in addition to these,the series of reforms implementedby government in recent times, ina bid to transform the economy hascreated investment opportunitiesin key sectors of the economy,namely agriculture, health,education, InformationCommunication Technology andManufacturing.

The threat, earlier thisyear, by the UnitedS t a t e s - b a s e d

international banking mogul,J.P Morgan to phase outNigeria from its GovernmentBond Index, for emergingmarkets (GBI-EM) was madegood last Tuesday, 8th ofSeptember. In response toJPM’s “negative alert”, foreignportfolio investors, particularly,would expectedly becomereluctant to lend money to theNigerian government;however, subsisting federalgovernment bond holders, mayconsequently, also hastilyoffload their stocks and,inevitably, hurriedly demandforeign exchange to facilitaterepatriation of their funds,before the Naira rate suffersfurther depreciation. Indeed,since Nigerian governmentbonds are primarilydenominated in Naira, holdersof such debt instruments mayhave, lately, lost up to 20% oftheir stock value as a result ofcurrency devaluation.

Thus, CBN is clearlyconcerned that a fresh surge inforex demand, triggered bysudden exit of foreign holdersof government bonds, wouldfurther deplete CBN’sdiminishing dollar reservesand ultimately fuel currencyspeculation which will in turninduce an even weaker Nairaexchange rate, which willdeepen those distortions whichhave continued to plague oureconomy.

The relevant questiontherefore, is why FederalGovernment Bonds have latelyfallen out of favour externally,after the favorable ratingsenjoyed since they becamelisted by JPM in 2012.

Well, according to a full pageCBN advertorial last week, USbanking giant had, indeed,earlier in January 2015,expressed concerns on themanagement of “Nigeria’sforeign exchange market”; the

That bark by JP Morganthree major concerns wereidentified as, “lack of liquidityfor transactions, lack oftransparency in thedetermination of the exchangerate, and lastly, lack of a fullyfunctional two-way FX market”.

Conversely, in the widelypublished advertorial, underreference, the CBN denied thatit failed to provide enoughdollars to match marketdemand; the apex bankinsisted, instead, that it hadinfact “introduced (responsible)measures to improve the forexmarket and make it moreinvestor friendly”.

Furthermore, the CBN alsoclaimed that despite almost60% drop in oil prices, in oneyear, and the predictableadverse impact on marketliquidity, “the CBN ensuredthat all genuine and effectivedemands for forex, especiallythose from foreign investors,were met”. Incidentally,despite reduced oil revenue,invisible earnings, such astechnical service fees, schoolfees, dividends, remittances ofairlines, insurance, andportfolio investors’ capitaloutflows may constitute over40% of total forex spending,while fuel importation mayaccount for another 40%;curiously, however, paymentsfor finished goods and rawmaterials imported as feedstockfor industrial productionprobably account for less than20% of total forex usage.

Ironically, despite therelatively meager allocation forimports of goods and industrialraw materials, this subsector,unexpectedly, recently becamethe primary target for reducingforex outflow, while muchlarger demands for fuel andother invinsible earnings werestill favored in CBN’s forexallocations. Expectedly, both

the Manufacturers’ Associationand the Chambers ofCommerce, are already up inarms against the CBN’sallegedly discriminatory policy,as they insist that the ban toofficial forex access to some oftheir members would lead tobusiness failures and worsenthe already highunemployment rate. These realsector operators haveconsequently argued that suchdisenabling outcome, cannotbe the reasonable objective ofgovernment’s efforts to revampthe economy.

Nevertheless, in view ofCBN’s insistence ofpreferential forex allocation toforeign holders of federalgovernment bonds, the USBank should quickily provideunambiguous evidence todebunk CBN’s claim ofadequate market liquidity;clearly, if it fails to provide suchevidence, Nigerians may betempted to see JPM’s negativeratings as a calculated ploy toprecipitate Naira devaluation,so that those bench markedforeign portfolio investors, whohad earlier this year, exited themarket with billions of dollars,

could return and once morebuy up federal governmentbonds and equity at muchcheaper prices than before.

However, the expectation ofportfolio investors for higherinterest rates on governmentbills and bonds is probablymore rational, as a hedgeagainst a sliding exchangerate; for example, 15% interestrate on government securitiesmay not be sufficient to restorethe value of such investments,if the Naira also depreciates by,say 20%, in the short to mediumterm.

Conversely, if governmentpays over 15% for its sovereignrisk free domestic borrowings,low cost of funds below 10% willelude the real sector andchallenge the prospect ofinclusive economic growth andcreation of increasing jobopportunities. Worse still, if theweaker Naira exchange ratecurrently demanded by J.PMorgan is embraced, industrialproduction cost will spiral, anddrive inflation beyond 10%;prices of locally producedgoods will generally becomeuncompetitive, fuel prices willrise, while consumer demandwill also contract to reducecapital investment and deepenpoverty nationwide.

Clearly, any promise that aweaker Naira exchange ratewould promote industrial andeconomic growth, must besuspected, as the contributionof manufacturing hashistorically, steadily declinedfrom over 10% in 1983 to lessthan 5% of GDP as the Nairaexchange rate continuously lostvalue overtime from strongerthan N1=$1 to the presentN200=$1.

The CBN has also refutedJPN’s other allegation of lackof transparency in thedetermination of the Naira

exchange rate, and the CentralBank claims to “have mandatedthat all FX transactions wereposted online...so that allstakeholders can easily verifyall market transactions”.Furthermore, the CBN claimsto have also closed its erstwhileofficial FX window to ensure alevel playing field in thepricing of foreign exchange.

Finally, the CBN similarlyclaims to have also sanitisedthe multiple abuses, in themarket, with the introduction ofan order-based two-way FXmarket which fulfills genuinecustomer ability to pay foreligible imports andtransactions. This process,according to CBN, has,“resulted in exchange ratestability in the interbank marketand has also largely eliminatedmarket speculation.

Although some analysts haveconcluded that the Nigerianeconomy will be adverselyaffected by the withdrawal offoreign portfolio investors, theCBN, conversely believes thatthe “market for FGN Bondsremains strong and activebecause its inherent strength isprimarily due to the diversityof the Domestic investor baseand presumably not thepresence of foreign portfolioinvestors!!

Evidently, the humongousNaira liquidity surfeit whichCBN acknowledges in thesystem should be adequate tomop up future issues of federalgovernment bonds and forestallthe usual pressure precipitatedby the hot money flows offoreign portfolio investors.

Besides, CBN’s claim torelatively bountiful ‘idle’reserves, while our governmenthumbly solicits precarious andfickle funds from foreignportfolio investors, is clearlyone of the fundamentalcontradictions of our economy.

SAVE THE NAIRA SAVENIGERIANS

Expectationof portfolioinvestors forhigherinterest ratesongovernmentbills andbonds isprobably morerational

CMYK


OPINION

CMYK

Brand Buhari’s encounter withDiogenes (II)

Igbo vs Northerners:Hate and national cohesionBy Bobson Gbinije

“They shall beat their swords into ploghshares,And their spears into prunning -hooks;Nation shall not lift up sword against Nation,Neither shall they learn war anymore" - The Holy Bible

Polemicist and dialectical logicians tend to agree thatsanctimonious rantings, verbal acrobatics, sentimentaleffusions constitute negative building blocks in themarch to nationhood and peace. Hence, the essayist andorator Cicero (106-43 B.C.) posited that “The rabbleestimate few things according to their real value, mostthings according to their prejudices”. This issubstantiated by the English playwright WilliamShakespeare that “A peace is of the nature of a conquest;for then both parties nobly are subdued and neither partyloser”.

Nigeria has been befuddled and bedraggled fromindependence till today by a track record of monumentalineptitude, leadership crisis, psychotic malfeasance,corrupt administration and political visionlessness. Inhis bid to right these solecisms in his second coming,President Muhammadu Buhari has chosen to becircumspect in making his appointments. His extensionof his anti-graft war to 1999 and few appointments madehas generated criticisms and fears from some areas,especially amongst the Igbos.

The former Governor of Anambra State, ChukwuemekaEzeife said that “the Igbos have not been treated fairly interms of political positions and appointments in thePresident Buhari’s administration”. This innocuousstatement in a democratic ambience drew the ire ofsecond Republic lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed.

He said “I don’t believe Buhari or Nigeria owes anyIgbo anything. I don’t care what Ezeife says if they (Igbo)had seceded, there would have been no Nigeria today.As people who acted outside the interest of Nigeria as acountry, to expect compensation is a very odd logic. Ifthe Igbos don’t like it, they can attempt secession again.If they do, they must be prepared to live with theconsequences- nobody owes them anything and nobodyis out to compensate them for anything”.

Also reacting to Junaid Mohammed’s comment andPresident Buhari’s appointments, Ukor, who is also thePresident of Igbo Youth Movement (IYM) said, “Thisstatement confirms to the International Communitythat the new administration could march along verydivisive path with the support to some persons in theNorth. That is some people have sworn that equity andjustice will not reign in Nigeria. In other words, actionsthat lead to disenchantment among Nigerians to theextent of making secession an attractive option to certainsections is actually deliberate and encouraged by theNorth. I am sure the international community has taken

know, whether he will succeed or not in his quite spiritedeffort to make sure Nigeria does not survive, nobodyknows”.

A brief study of Nigeria political history vis-a-vis thehate and no-love-lost relationship between the Igbos andthe North before independence, after independence,during and after the Nigeria Biafra Civil war (1967-1970) will show that it has graduated from cloak in thedagger furtive clandestinity to open know-holds-barredflaunting of hatred, malice, vendetta and vengefulzeitgeist in the political, socio-economic and religiouslandscape in Nigeria.

The political schisms, fiery verbalisations, pillagingand massacre that led to the Nigeria/Biafra Civil war isbeen reenacted. The same pattern and template ofrecriminations, hyper-propaganda and anarchicalentropy set the stage for violent reprisals, the January15, 1966 coup and subsequently the civil war. It will berecalled that the countdown to the civil war witnessedthis type of parochial verbal exchanges between the Igboand the North this took centre stage in Nigeria.Subsequently, certain writers in Northern Nigeriabegan to disseminate tendentious and distortedinterpretations of the military takeover (notablythrough the medium of the now New NigeriaNewspaper), which influenced passions amongstNortherners, thereby inciting to launch that massacreof Eastern Nigerians which did, infact, occurredsubsequently at the end of May, 1966 .

•Mr. Gbinije, a social critc, wrote from Warri, DeltaState.

note of that. The man doesnot deserve to be replied. Heis consistently workingvery hard to destroyNigeria by denigrating,abusing and overtlyprovoking Nigerians inorder to prepare the groundfor another civil war.Whether it is a deliberatepolicy of the North we don’t

Continues tomorrow on pg 18

IN the first part of this article, we metBrand Buhari: a Nigerian leader

reputed as “Mr Integrity”. Even his mostardent traducers are reluctant to accusehim of being corrupt for fear that such anaccusation might fall flat or out of linewith what the public has come to believe.

He is also known as one who will spareno effort in fighting corruption any timehe is in authority. I have yet to come acrossa Nigerian who says he does not believeBuhari can fight corruption. For thatmatter, I have yet to come across aNigerian who says he does not wantBuhari to succeed in the war on corruptioneven if in a corner of his mind he wisheshim to fail for selfish or political reasons.This man who could not mend the roof ofhis country home, was ejected from hisrented apartment in Abuja, and could notafford to pay for his presidentialnomination fee without borrowing, mustbe a POOR man, judging by the standardsof his fellow former heads of state.

Buhari set out after his inauguration tofortify his image as “Mr Integrity” or ifyou like “Mr. Clean” by delaying theappointment of his cabinet of ministersfor four whole months. His reason: he istaking his time to look for upright orabove-board Nigerians. These asceticbrand characterisations of our newpresident immediately bring to mind aneccentric ancient Greek philosopher,Diogenes. He was one of the founders ofthe school of philosophy called Cynicism.He believed the purpose of life was to rejectvalues that drove ambitious people to vainpursuits (power and wealth), often to theperil of themselves and humanity atlarge.

Diogenes practised what he taught. Hewent to Athens and lived in a barrel in amarketplace. Diogenes was fond of goingabout in daylight with a lighted lantern.When asked why, he said he was lookingfor “an honest man”! One day, he wasrelaxing in his barrel when Alexander theGreat, King of Greece, one of the greatestmilitary generals of all time and Emperorof one of ancient world’s largest empires,came to greet him, surrounded by acoterie of mean-looking military guards.You would expect Diogenes to jump for joyand blow “ranka dede” into thecondescending, outstretched palm of themighty general. But he did not move asingle muscle. When Alexander the Greatasked him:

“Pray sire, is there anything I can do foryou? Ask, and it shall be yours”. Anunimpressed Diogenes answered:

“Yes. Can you get out of my sunlight?”!

I told you earlier that I waited with batedexcitement for the public unveiling of thedeclared assets of President Buharibecause I wanted to compare theaforementioned depictions of him as“poor” and a “saint” with other, periodicindicators that, after all, Buhari mightjust be a more circumspect product of theNigerian system.

When it comes to the issue of corruption,many Nigerians (and perhaps Africans)will tell you that they do not mind if aleader steals a little provided he works forthe people. It is cynically called“workshop” (work-chop) in Warri patois.Martin Meredith, a historian of post-independence Africa once wrote ofcorruption in the former Zaire underMobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa ZaBanga. He said Mobutu often advised topgovernment officials: “yibana mayele”.“If you must steal, then steal just a littleor you will risk being arrested”. In thislight, corruption is measurable byvolumes, though the appropriate metricof measurement to know when it becomesunpardonable is never disclosed.

The other side of the coin for BrandBuhari leaves us confused. Shortly afterhe was declared elected by theIndependent National ElectoralCommission (INEC), a story, supported bypictures, surfaced on the internet thatBuhari is the alleged owner of a multi-billion naira mansion situated at No. 9Udo Udoma Street, Asokoro Abuja andvalued at 2.1 billion. I am not aware thatBuhari’s camp has debunked thisallegation. Now, he tells us that he owns“a house” in Abuja without indicating theaddress or its current value. This wouldhave helped us to know if a man reportedto have been ejected from a rented Abujaapartment only three years ago actuallyowns such a property. If so, you willagree with me that the two pictures donot fit.

Again, keen-eyed media snoopersspotted the beautiful wristwatch thatHajiya Aisha Buhari wore in an obviousflaunting manner to her husband’sinauguration. Reports which went viralover the internet had it that it was an18-karat “white-gold diamond” CartierBaignoire Folle worth $50,000 or35,000 Pounds Sterling or about 15million Naira (in today’s exchange rate).Again, I am not aware that Buhari’scamp has denied this. Instead, membersof the public are left to debate amongthemselves whether the Abuja houseand the wristwatch are worth up to thatamount.

I had thought the president would seizethe opportunity of his assets declarationto put all these allegations to rest, butsadly, he left us more confused thanever. During the presidentialcampaigns, Buhari and the AllProgressives Congress (APC) promised(though spokesmen have been denyingthat he ever did so) to “publicly declare

my assets and liabilities (and) encourageall my appointees to publicly declare theirassets and liabilities as a precondition forappointment”.

On exactly their 98th day in office,Buhari and his Vice President unveiledtheir assets. He told us he had five housesin Kaduna, Daura, Kano and Abuja (noaddresses, no valuation attached); twoundeveloped plots of land in Kano, oneother in Port Harcourt, farms, an orchard,ranch, livestock including 270 cows(during the campaigns we were told thenumber was 150), 25 sheep, five horses,“a variety of birds”, a “number of”economic trees, and an undisclosednumber of cars.

Nothing was said of his liabilities.Moreover, nothing was mentioned of theliabilities and assets of his wife and adultclose family members because such peopleare often used as fronts to divert stolenpublic funds and property. In fact, thepublic declaration of assets of PresidentMuhammadu Buahri fell far short of themeticulous declaration by his fellowKatsina-born late President Umaru Yar’Adua, who attached the valuation of allhis possessions and those of his wife, Turai,as well as their liabilities, includingleftover proceeds of campaigncontributions. It is, however, obvious thatBuhari is not a poor man. He is, in fact, adollar millionaire, though nothing closeto other former presidents.

Telling us you have “a house” in atownship without indicating the value isequivalent to saying very little. Apolitician can have a modest private officeor home before he goes into power. In hisasset declaration form before takingpower it is “a private office” or “a house”.After service, it is still a “private office”,or “house”, but the fact that it wasdemolished and remodeled into amultimillion naira “private office” iscleverly hidden in the vague after-powerassets declaration. The gullible public hasbeen played yet they clap.

Buhari’s asset declaration is nottransparent and falls short of expectations.It is below Yar’ Adua’s par (the firstpresident to do so). It is dodgy, incomplete,and almost as good as not declaringanything. Given the failed attempts bythe president’s and APC’s propagandiststo disown the pledge to make thosedeclarations public coupled with the late,rather reluctant manner in which theywere unveiled, I wonder what Diogeneswill say if Buhari pays him a visit today.

Buhari’s assetdeclaration is nottransparent and fallsshort of expectations.It is below Yar’ Adua’spar (the first presidentto do so). It is dodgy,incomplete, andalmost as good as notdeclaring anything

The politicalschisms thatled to theNigeria/Biafra Civilwar is beenreenacted

#BRINGBACK DONU KOGBARATODAY, SAFE AND ALIVE!


CMYK

Send Opinions & Letters to:[email protected]

By Nick Efe

*Mr. Efe, a commentator on publicaffairs, wrote from Sapele, Delta State.

Hundred years ofPenkelemes

NOBEL Laureate, ProfessorWole Soyinka, titled his 1946-

1965 memoirs, Ibadan: ThePenkelemes Years. He explainedthat “The inventor andembodiment of this deliberate,populist corruption of ‘peculiarmess’ was, appropriately, a certainIbadan shon of de shoil (son of thesoil) by the name of Adelabu.”

Joseph .A. Sanusi who laterchanged his name to AlhajiAdegoke Oduola Akande Adelabu,was an embodiment of anti-colonial, Nigerian politics. Bornone hundred years ago, thismonth, Adelabu with a razor-sharp mind and mouth, wascharismatic, populist, theatrical,engaging with the gift of oratoryand an uncommon command ofEnglish, fiercely anti-colonialist,passionately patriotic and PanAfricanist.

With his unmatched charismaand many songs composed in hispraise and memory, he has passedinto folklore in Western Nigeria.Although he was known as ‘TheLion of the West’ he was Pan-Nigeriain his thoughts and politics andunlike most of his contemporaries,saw himself first as a Nigerian.When in the 1940s and ‘50s, manypoliticians gravitated towardsparties steeped in their ethnic

groups, he chose to swim againstthe currents. He explained in hislittle known 1952 book AFRICAIN EBULLITION that “ Nigeria isdearer to my heart. She is mymother, the author of mybeginning…If my child dies and Ilive long enough I may bearanother. If my mother dies, I shallgo through life a wanderingorphan.”

He was convinced that ethnic-based politics will destroy thecountry, hence the need to act. “ IfI sit idly by, whilst the ship of stateis sunk by the enemy, I and allother passengers will go down tothe bottom of the sea with her.”Turning to the political party inhis region, he said: “The North andthe East are anxiously waiting forthe Action Group Mission when ithas rechristened itselfappropriately, out-grown its self-imposed Provincialism and shed itspetticoat of shabby parochialism.”

He watched in sorrow as manyof his comrades from WesternNigeria were carpet-crossing todeny the NCNC a majority in theWestern House of Assembly andchance to produce the first Premierof the region who might have beenDr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. He vowed toremain in the party even if he stoodalone. He said of their action: “I

believe it is the first time in the longhistory of legislatures thatmembers openly desert theirparties for no differences of opinionor principle, but an insult on thematurity of our race.”

Adelabu, a produce merchant,transporter, farmer, journalistand consummate mobiliser, hadattended Soyinka’s alumni, theGovernment College, Ibadanwhere his brilliance, earned himdouble promotion from Class Twoto Four. His contemporary in theschool, Professor Saburi. O.Biobaku described him as“perhaps, the brightest boy” theschool ever produced. Althoughhe attended the Higher College,Yaba, his brilliance caused him hisgraduation. It had first won himthe UAC scholarship. He had then

during an holiday assignment,written a Memorandum on howthe company can reorganise itsproduce buying system. Thecompany management was sopleased, that it offered himimmediate employment asAfrican Produce Manager to puthis proposal into practice. The offerwas too attractive, and heabandoned his studies as he said,to “moisten the soil of knowledgewith the water of experience.”

Adelabu stirred the masses (theMekunu) with his pro-poor rhetoricand a populism which saw thempour to his home and take rideswith him in his cars. The onlyother politician like him, was hisideological friend and fellow NCNCstalwart, Mallam Aminu Kanowho moved the Talakawa in Kano.Richard .L. Sklar in his “NigerianPolitical Parties: Power in anEmergent African Nation” wrote“No Nigerian leader was closer tohis people or more familiar withtheir thinking than Adelabu.When they rejoiced he danced withthem, when they sorrowed hewept, and when they mocked theirenemies his was the rudest tongue.His way to power was to dance inthe streets to the strains ofMabolaje songs that celebrated hisname”. British biographer of post-independence Prime Minister,Alhaji Tafawa Balewa narratedhow Adelabu, the then Minister ofNatural Resources and SocialServices took on the ColonialGovernor-General, JamesRobertson. “Adelabu in Councilwould feign that he was justfollowing Robertson’s own line, towhich the Governor-General hadto retort that he did not have ‘aline’ – No, sir, but you’ll developone!”

Adelabu who described himselfas a freelance thinker, economicadventurer, radical socialist andfanatical nationalist, argued that

the world would be a happier andbetter place “if we would only dareto be ourselves completely insteadof trying to be faded copies of otherunknown and misunderstoodmythical heroes.”

For him, independent Nigeriashould adhere to four fundamentalprinciples; unabridgedsovereignty, financial autonomy,political democracy and federalsupremacy. In an independentNigeria, he said the children of theJukun farmer, Fulani herdsman,Ibadan cocoa plantation labourer,the Enugu rail porter and those ofthe Emirs, Obas and Obis shouldhave the same education andcareer opportunities. In June,1955, he was removed by thecolonialists as Chairman of theIbadan District Council, but rodeback to power the next month withgreater majority.

On October 11, 1957, he issued ajoint statement with Aminu Kanoto condemn the big three parties;NCNC, AG and the NPC forconstituting “reactionary forces ofregionalism.” An angry Azikiwedecided to discipline him and otherdissenters, Adelabu openlychallenged him at the NCNCConvention, was replaced as FirstVice President, and went on to forma distinct opposition within theparty with stalwarts like KingsleyMbadiwe and Kola Balogun.

On March, 25, 1958, it was ashocked nation that heardAdelabu had died in a motoraccident. Parts of the West,particularly, Ibadan went up inflames with his supporters whoclaimed their hero was murdered,going after his perceived enemies.At least twenty persons werekilled, over six hundred arrestedwith sixty four of them sentencedto death. Adelabu had “fadedcopies” in politicians like Eruobodoand Lamidi Adedibu, but there canonly be one Penkelemes in history.

APC's two-faced Party supremacy

PARTY is supreme! Party is supreme!!Party is supreme!!!” chanted the

Loyalists (as the group of pro-All ProgressivesCongress, APC, leadership in the House ofRepresentatives branded themselves) in adeafening frenzy on the day they turnedthe House chambers into a boxing ring lastJune to disrupt possible announcement ofthe Principal Officers of the APC (MajorityParty) by the Speaker, Hon. YakubuDogara.

The Speaker must read the letter from APCNational Chairman, Chief John Oyegun,listing Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila and othersas principal officers of the House or therewould be no peace. The House and Senatechambers were shut down for several weeks-no thanks to supremacists, namely theLoyalists, Senate Unity Forum, and theirpuppeteers.

Meanwhile, the Senate President, SenatorBukola Saraki had apparently beaten them,once more, by largely following the party’sdirective on zoning of each of the fourMajority Principal Offices, but allowing eachcaucus to elect their preferred candidate forthe zoned offices in line with Senate’stradition.

Each Principal Officer is usually the caucusleader of his or her zone in the Senate/House.So, it is only natural and democratic thatthey chose someone they believe coulddeliver and represent their interest on theSenate leadership.

Unfortunately, the APC leadershipthought otherwise. Although 11 out of the13 North East APC Senators at the meetingon the eve of June 25 voted Senator AliNdume as Senate Leader, the APCLeadership insisted that it must be AhmedLawan or nothing.

In the midst of the controversy, however,

Senators Sani Yerima and Danjuma Goje,both ranking Senators and formergovernors, raised points of reason, whichobviously fell on deaf ears. Senator Yerimasaid: “There can never be imposition ofcandidates on the Chamber by the partyleadership. It is unconstitutional and againstthe Rules of the Senate. The Senate MajorityLeader; Deputy Majority Leader; SenateChief Whip; Deputy Chief Whip were electedby their zonal caucuses in the SeventhSenate and the case of the Eighth Senatecannot be different. The best thing the partycan do, given the circumstances, is to giveus directives (that is zoning of offices)”.

He further called to moral question thebooby trap in imposing Saraki’s politicalrival as Senate Leader, a sensitive position.“Allowing the party to impose a leadershipon the Senate President is to make him tofail because he cannot be forced to work withhis rivals”, he reasoned. Truth is, two cannotwork together unless they agree.

Senator Goje, on his part, also warnedseriously against any attempt to imposeprincipal officers on the Senate because itwould further polarise the party. Headvised: “By trying to impose another set ofleaders on the National Assembly is to causefurther crisis in the party. It will complicatematters and generate further crisis in theNational Assembly.”

But that appeared exactly the intent ofthe APC leadership as both chambers wereeventually shut down for several weeks tothe admiration of some selfish partyleadership and their supports in theNational Assembly.

What was Senator Ahmad Lawan’sreaction to all of these? His words: “I am notaware of any election. The party has spoken,it is now left for the Senate President to makethe announcement.” In other words, hemust be named the Senate Leader and leaderof the North East Caucus also, whether he isacceptable to his colleagues or not. After all,the omnipotent and supreme party hasspoken. How arrogant and disdainful.

Nevertheless, the inability of Saraki toname Lawan and his company as principalofficers has spelt endless war against himand the entire Senate leadership. The loudVote of Confidence on Saraki, his Deputy-Senator Ekweremadu, and the entire Senateleadership angered the supremacists ratherthan make them see that they wereswimming against the tide of feelings in theSenate.

As far as they are concerned, Senators didnot come to the Senate as independentcandidates and must therefore do the party’sbiddings, whether sensible or not. They haveno minds of their own. Their constituents donot also have a say.

Their acolytes, Senate Unity Forum, arein court on the futile mission of overthrowingthe Senate leadership. And although theirex-parte application seeking to stop theSenate leadership from constituting SenateCommittees was thrown out by the court,they are still pursuing a phantom forgery ofSenate Standing Rules 2015. Laughably, theForum’s members not only surrenderedthemselves for inauguration by theleadership elected on the strength of thatRules book, they have also beenparticipating in Senate’s proceedings/business guided by the same Rules book.Anyway, that is a matter for another day.

The matter for today is that the same APCleadership has been helplessly unable to alsoextend the same supremacy theory to theappointments made so far by PresidentMuhammadu Buhari. Also, Buhari whosupported the supremacists to enthroneGbajabiamila and company has not also

deemed it fit to enforce it on himself.That was exactly the point of hypocrisy of

a section of APC leadership raised by DeputyNational Publicity Secretary of the party,Timi Frank, at the height of the hullaballooover party supremacy at the NationalAssembly. Timi remarked rathersarcastically on the African IndependentTelevision’s Focus Nigeria: “Since partysupremacy is now the issue of the day, Iexpect the national leadership to write thelist of ministers and their portfolios and otherappointees and give to the President toannounce. The State party chairmen mustwrite the names of the Commissioners andSAs and give to the State Governors toannounce. That way, we will know thatparty supremacy has come to stay. Not justto enforce it on Senate and House of Reps.Otherwise they should allow the Senate tobe. They should also allow the House to be”.

However, from all indications- nothing likethat happened with Buhari’s appointments.Worse for the supremacists, they cannoteven openly express their seething angers.But from the molten lead of wrath seepingfrom the APC’s National Secretariat; fromthe muffled shrieks of the so-called partyAlphas and Omegas; and from theirinnuendos, anonymous interviews, and redeyes, Aso Rock is a no-go-area for theirsupremacy hallucinations. They hear theannouncements on radio or TV like the restof us who don’t even belong to the APC or toany party for that matter.

Even the mouthpiece of the APC overlords,Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who insisted lastJune that “The President is not the Leader ofthe APC; he is a product of the APC” is dazedlike a child that stumbled on a hydra-headedspirit. This party supremacy thing hasbecome a different-stroke-for-different-folks,thus exposing the mantra as just a coinageby a few greedy APC party leaders to capturepower at the National Assembly

Born onehundred yearsago, this month,Adelabu with arazor-sharp mindand mouth, wascharismatic,populist,theatrical,engaging withthe gift of oratoryand anuncommoncommand ofEnglish, fiercelyanti-colonialist,passionatelypatriotic and PanAfricanist

“

This party supremacything has become adifferent-stroke-for-different-folks


CMYK

44—VANGUARD, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

WAS it not belittling for you,who had been a governor

in the 80s to have become chairman of the PDP at yourage?

I was one of the founders of thePDP and I was very happy toshow what PDP should be; to putin place the principle ofinclusiveness, the principle ofmaking sure there is equity andjustice in election and democracy.

So when I say election and yousay selection, when I say internaldemocracy and you sayimposition, we will not agree.PDP doesn’t belong to anybody,it belongs to Nigeria. PDP is not

only a Nigerian party, it is a WestAfrican party and African party,so it has to be inclusive.

With strong political party I canassure you, you will be assuredof a strong government. If youget a strong government, then Ican assure you will have a strongeconomy. If you have a strongeconomy, I can assure you, youwill have peace and security.

Openplatform

But no one believed in yourplans. You even planned to dothe e-registration but you didn’tget support and not even fromthe president.

But you can see that finally they

agreed; it is better late thannever. I know why they didn’twant e-registration because e-

registration means an openplatform for everybody, so thatpeople can come.

When people know that this isthe party they belong to, theypaid their money because theywant to be there and thereforethey have to be listened to whenthe time comes. So I think thatwas the reason people who wantcontrol, who do not believe thatthe whole of the party is to beowned by certain people orcertain level of whatever. So meI don’t believe that.

But you were the nationalchairman of the party, did youtake these ideas to the president?

Of course I took it to thepresident. I will give you what Itold the highest ruling body of

the party which is the NEC, Iwill give it to you so that youcan read and understand whatI said.

But why did he (president) notheed you?

Well, you know it is a humanorganisation. If you comestrongly, you want to bring indiscipline, you want to bring infairness and so on; some peopledon’t believe in that; they wantto do the same things they havebeen doing. So if you continuedoing the same thing you willend up with the results you havealways had.

You have been saying somepeople, some people. Who arethese people that really hijackedthis process that didn’t want itto work?

Governors. The governors feltthey like to have implicit controlof their states and they can onlydo this when they control theparty and if they control theparty’s fortunes that you can beable to do whatever they like. So,I told them no need for the partyto have any patronage fromgovernors or the president, andthat the party should be able togenerate its income because weare just like a company, we cando that.

But we (party) don’t wantreform. Once you can go tosomebody and ask him to supportyou, you are more likely to benddown also when they want toride you. So it is not myphilosophy.

What they said was that I amtoo strong, I want to have my sayand my way, I said no, they are ideas, I am not bossy onlythat I have a better idea as far asI am concerned, so let us see theideas.

Matter ofpersonality

So it is not a matter ofpersonality, it is a matter of ideas.It is not a matter of individuals; itis a matter of institution. Are webuilding a party as an institutionwhich each and every one of uswill really come and go; like wesay, soldier come, soldier go andbarrack remains.

Sir, did the governors comeout openly to tell you no on thisissue or did they use subtlemeans to come?

No, not all of them. Some sawthat what I wanted to do wasthe best way to build a party. Butthere were some few ones whowere so strong beginning withmy governor (Murtala Nyako ofAdamawa). He was the mostvocal, he even wanted a situationof appointing chairman of theparty from his ward.

I said look, our constitutionmade it very clear, governor andthe chairman of the party of astate, should not come from thesame senatorial district.So I saidI am the chairman and you andthe present chairman of yours,coming from the same ward, isnot acceptable to me and that wasthe beginning.

Continues on page 45

How PDP governors usedAnenih against me — Tukur••Jonathan was betrayed

ERSTWHILE National Chairman of the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur becamegovernor of the defunct Gongola State in October,1983 and following the General Muhammadu Buhari-led military coup of December 31, 1983, Tukurreturned to business, capping his endeavours as thepresident of the African Business Roundtable.

Tukur was also a presidential aspirant on theplatform of the National Republican Convention, NRC

By Emmanuel Aziken,Political Editor & Henry

Umoru

•Tukur...governors like to have implicit control of their states

Ask Chief Anenih. I havealways told himthat both of usare responsible tomake sure thisparty works andthe governmentcontinues

in the early 90s and served in the Sani Abachagovernment as minister of industry until 1995. Ahead ofhis 80th birthday anniversary, Tukur sat down for anenlightening interview in which, he, for the first timeopened up on issues that trailed his chairmanship of thePDP, his relationship with Governor Murtala Nyako,his in-law and his relationship with Chief Tony Anenihamong others. Excerpts:

CMYK


Continued from page 44He came and told the

president that ‘I know that thisman is my elder brother, I knowhis character, he wants to takeour structures.’

He (Nyako) went and toldAmaechi at that time andsaid I know Bamanga Tukur, heis my elder brother, we comefrom the same place, he is goingto take all our structures and atthe moment we are responsiblefor making sure we appoint ourchairman of the state. We areresponsible for making sure thatnobody comes to the Senateexcept we the governors wanthim or in the House ofRepresentatives or the Houseof Assembly.

Nobody can be ambassadorfrom our state without us sayingso. Nobody can be a minister.You want to collect all thesepowers and reside them in thepolitical party headed bysomebody whom I know? It willbe a disaster for all of us. Weare just going to lose control ofthe states.

Amaechi came to theNational Working Committeeand he said to me, you knowMr Chairman, these membersNWC all of them were broughthere by us the governors. Youare the only one here who wasnot brought by us, you weresupported by the president. Butall these people we are the oneswho decided for them to come.

Partyconstitution

I said well, I am theChairman, they should know asfar as I am concerned we havea party constitution, we havegot our own manifesto; anybodywho wants to be PDP membermust abide by that, if they don’t,I suspend them.

It was alleged that you nowwent to the extreme andsuspended Governor Wamakobecause he didn’t pick yourphone call. Was it true?

No, how can I do that? I am adisciplined person. He wasasked to come and report to theparty, but he didn’t come. Not tome, to come to the party. If youare called by the party, whoevercalled you...NWC, has the rightto do so, even has the right todiscipline you.

It was alleged that the aidesyou brought along with you didnot see the same vision and thatyour political adviser, SenatorGada a rival of the governorfrom Sokoto State instigated thesuspension of Wamako and thatWamako never felt happy youappointed Gada?

It was not only Gada. You saidyou don’t want Senator Idah, youdon’t want Fari, who then do youwant? Because all these peopleas far as I am concerned, theydidn’t dictate anything to me. Iwas implementing a policy that

all of us agreed with.You mean the NWC?I mean the party. After all

when I told them in the NECthey said they agree, they gaveme a standing ovation and asfar as I am concerned, that wasan approval and it wasimplemented.

Your ideas of e-registration,taking the party back to the grassroots were good but again youraides were taking theprominence over the NWCleading to the petition againstyou and your aides. Fari andOlagunsoye Oyinlola had a clashand as a follow up to it, whenthe lower court removed Oyinlola,you immediately asked theDeputy National Secretary,Onwe O. Onwe to step in as theacting secretary, but when anappeal court reinstated him,you refused. Sir, what is yourtake?

None of my aides influencedmy decision honestly speaking.The bulk stopped with me. I don’ttake responsibility withoutauthority. The mandate is my

authority and therefore I cannotblame anybody. The momentthey don’t do what I believe Ishow them the way.

As I am in leadership here, youhave to follow. I don’tcompromise that at all with anyof my subordinates. I consult, youadvice me, but if you advice andif I agree, I go, the credit is mine.Mind you, if you advice me andI do the wrong thing, the blameis mine. So why should I onlyblame you and take the credit,no. I rely on you, you advice meI take it, if I don’t agree with it, Igo. On Oyinlola, I was notresponsible, It came late becauseyou see after Olagunsoye leftthey came out.

Properprocess

They cannot say somebodywho left the party even went toanother party, again you want tohave him back without the properprocess of coming back no.Olagunsoye left the PDP beforethe verdict came. He was the onewho left with them.

Sir, the new PDP was not aparty, it was like an association

But they left. If you arerebellious I deal with you.

Your principle of noimposition was disregardedwhen the party printed only oneform for the president andgovernors were imposedwithout real primaries. Now theparty is going back to your viewswith the Raymond Dokpesicommittee on e-registration andthe plans for democraticprimaries in Kogi State. Do youfeel vindicated?

Dokpesi is my son but Dokpesimust do the right thing. To mehe is a senior brother to Awwal.My wife if I travelled will say,

‘did you see Dokpesi? She willsay this your son again, findhim and bring him back.’ I amtelling you. So Dokpesi knowsme, what I can do.

Politicalsupport

So since he is there, he knowsmy character and that is what hehas to follow. I believe Dokpesiwill do a good job for thembecause I learn through age now.When I left Port Authority (tobecome governor of GongolaState) I made him chief of staff.They said oh, he is from Bendel.

So he was your chief of staff?Oh yes. I ran the government

with him because I believed inhim. I brought commissioner ofhealth from Benue State. I saidI didn’t come here to appointpeople based on political supportthey gave me. I am here toappoint people who can nowhelp me run my manifesto, mypromise.

If I give you health, give mehealth. If I give you localgovernment, it is the one I want.So this is what I want. So it is toolate for me to change.

What do you think made yourparty lose the presidentialelection?

You cannot sow sorghum andwant to reap rice. So since youknow what you have done, youhave pushed yourself to a cornerwhereby you will be humiliated,simple.

How did PDP push itself to acorner?

They did by accepting selection and imposition ofcandidates, that is it because ifyou do that, you know verywell people will rise against it.

Did President Jonathan

contribute to his defeat?Maybe people don’t

understand Jonathan. Hewanted to be fair. I always say tothem, I said look, party is not atea party, where you have toplease everybody, it is notpossible.

You have to understand theresponsibility you are taking andnot to allow yourself to agree witheveryone you want to please. Heis a simple person, really andsincerely. He wants to make surehe does not offend some.

Selfishinterest

I don’t believe that if you are ingovernment you cannot offendpeople because people maycome with their own selfishinterest and if you want to allowthem to do it, then they willmess you up. To me, Jonathanwas really sabotaged in a wayor betrayed.

By who?By people around him.As national chairman, did you

have the opportunity to tell himof the points of weakness forhim to address suchweaknesses?

Yes, I can tell you. I toldJonathan straight forward. I saidrun your government let me runthe party by principle because Iknew that the party that wouldmess him up or build him up.

Well, he did very well in termsof helping to narrow our deficitin education, deficit ininfrastructure, deficit in this andthat, he tried. This is what agovernment should do, nottalking about party. Party shouldbe left for the party managersand I was the manager.

So did he give you a freehand?

More than a free hand.Were you privy to an

agreement either writtenunwritten that Jonathan was notsupposed to go for second term?

No.Because a former National

chairman of the party saidrecently that 2011 led to thedefeat.

That is not true. Me, I haven’tseen and I was a proponent ofJonathan continuity. I believed incontinuity. It could have been ifthey agreed also to do theneedful in terms of workingtogether with the people. But ifyou are separated, there was adisconnect between him and thepeople who were supposed toelect him.

Sir, it was alleged that whileyou were going round asnational chairman selling theparty, the former chairman ofBoT, Chief Tony Anenih wasalso doing same and some saidthat there was clash between thetwo of you.

Well, if somebody wants toclash, you cannot stop them fromclashing. The job of BoT isdifferent from the job of a partychairman.

How Jonathan was betrayed

•Tukur...disciplined person

The job of BoT isdifferent from thejob of a partychairman. But ifyou decide to diveinto it, then youexpect clash ofinterest

To be concluded

KOGI DECIDES

KOGI 2015: D – Day for Wada,Echocho, BAM

By Emmanuel Aziken,Political Editor & Kingsley

Fanwo

TODAY should have beenGovernor Idris Wada’s

crowning point for a secondterm. It should have been thepoint at which he would havebeen invested with the hope ofbeginning a second term.

However, two factors havearisen to cloud the electoralspace for the governor thattoday he is now pitched in battlefor the governorship ticket ofhis Peoples Democratic Party,PDP.

Wada’s worries are essentially

woven around the emergenceof the Muhammadu Buhariphenonmenon which led to thedefeat of his party in thepresidential and NationalAssembly elections in the statelast March. That defeat hasreenergised the oppositionwithin the PDP and themainstream opposition in theAll Progressives Congress,APC.

Even more, allegations ofpoor performance here andthere and now and then havealso not done the governormuch good and has led to asharp division within the party

that has again bolstered theinternal opposition.

Willy-nilly, Wada is in poleposition to make a goodshowing in today’s primary,especially with the advantageof incumbency weighing muchin his favour. Anotheradvantage for the governor isthe issue of power shift as thenon-Igala stakeholders see hisre-election as the best way forthem to take over in 2019 asthey fear that the emergence ofanother Igala governor outsideWada would drag theirprospects to 2023 at theearliest.

The Contenders

Capt. Idris Ichala WadaGov. Idris Wada is the main

contender in the race. Apartfrom the incumbency factor, thegovernor is said to be in firmcontrol of the party ’smachinery. He is also enjoyingthe support of the PDPGovernor’s Forum. He hasdone a number of projects inthe state that have endearedhim to the leadership of theparty. He hails from Odu inDekina Local GovernmentArea.

Alhaji Isah JibrinEchocho as he is fondly

called, is immensely popularin Kogi State. He was said tohave facilitated appointmentsfor a number of Kogi indigeneswhen he was ExecutiveDirector with Afribank. He wona free and fair primary in 2011before that primary wastruncated by the tenureelongation imbroglio.

Following the elongation ofthe former governor’s tenure,it emerged that Echocho hadbecome an in-law to GovernorIdris’ perennial political foe,Abubakar Audu. That and otherissues led the former governorto drop his support for Echochoand hence the emergence ofIdris Wada in 2012. He is fromDekina Local GovernmentArea in Kogi East.

He is however facing somecharges by the EFCC for hisrole in some creditmanagement in the thenAfribank.

Mr. Banjo Amoto MosesPopularly referred to as BAM,

Moses who is in his earlyforties is the face of the youthsin the contest. A former lecturerwho turned to business, BAMhas been able to drawenthusiasm to his bid withcharisma. Amoto hails from

Okene Local Government Areain Kogi Central and is the onlynon Igala contender.

Working to his advantage ishis youth and the clamour forpower shift away from KogiEast.

THE Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, National Youth

Vanguard, Kogi westsenatorial district hasappealed to delegates of theparty to vote for the governor,Capt. Idris Wada to enablehim seek a second term inoffice; so as to consolidate onhis past achievements.

The group in a statementyesterday made available toVanguard in Lokoja andsigned by the Co-ordinatorand Assistant Secretary,Olayemi Jerry and JohnsonDavid Awe respectively urgedthe party to work towards apeaceful resolution of thecrisis in order not to disruptthe party unity.

“We in the PDP YouthVanguard have been followingrecent events in our greatparty as it relates to theelection of the flag bearer forthe November, 21st 2015election. As loyal partymembers, we are forced tospeak, particularly to avoid asituation where the party will

PDP youth root for Wada/Awoniyi ticket

...Call for transparent primary

By Boluwaji Obahopo become an easy prey for theopposition”.

The group while declaringtheir support for Wada/Awoniyi joint ticket, however,urged the National Secretariatof the party to ensure a levelpraying ground for allaspirants, assuring that theywill still will work for thevictory of any candidate thatemerged from the primary.

Divisivetendencies

“We call on the leadershipand members of the party toshun any divisive tendencieswhich will only lead the partyto self destruction and defeat.We also enjoyed all theaspirants to be peaceful.

“All the candidates aremembers of our party, wetherefore call on all of themto embrace peace and allowfor a peaceful primary comeMonday 14th September,2015” they maintained.The electoral umpires of today

*Secretary of the panel –Senator John Eno

*Chairman of the panel –Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi

SENIOR Special Adviser tothe Governor on

Igalamela/Odolu LocalGovernment Ali Atabor hassaid it would amount topolitical suicide for the PDPto produce a neophyte as itscandidate.

Atabor, a former chairman ofKogi NUJ Chapel said, “Capt.Idris Wada is our preferredcandidate because he hasbeen tested and trusted. The

Kogi is safe in Wada’s hands

By Boluwaji Obahopodevelopment under theleadership of Wada isuncommon, and he has beenable to complete all hispredecessor’s projects.

“Now we are having a roadnetwork that we never hadbefore.

Teachinghospital

The Otokiti - Ganaja by-pass, the roads connecting theeastern and central senatorialaxis to the state capital isthere.

Today we are talking abouta teaching hospital for ouruniversity we are talkingabout a rural health careservice that isunprecedented.

“Of course, Wada is notarrogant with power, he’s nota dictator, and Kogi State issafe in his hand.

We don’t want to entertainthose who are just coming into learn, but we want toconsolidate on ourachievement.”

It wouldamount topoliticalsuicide for thePDP to producea neophyte asits candidate

LOKOJA - The PDP NationalYouth Vanguard, Kogi West

Senatorial District has appealedto delegates of the party to shunrancour at today’s primary urgingparty members to embrace theparty candidate that emerges inthe collective interest of the party.

The group in a statement madeavailable to Vanguard in Lokojaand signed by the Co-ordinatorand Assistant Secretary, OlayemiJerry and Johnson David Awerespectively urged the party towork towards a peacefulresolution of the crisis in ordernot to disrupt the party unity.

“We in the PDP Youth Vanguard

PDP Youth Vanguard calls for unityBy Boluwaji Obahopo

have been following recentevents in our great party as itrelates to the election of the flagbearer for the November, 21st2015 election.

As loyal party members, we areforced to speak, particularly toavoid a situation where the partywill become an easy prey for theopposition”.

The group while declaring theirsupport for Wada/Awoniyi jointticket, however urged theNational Secretariat of the partyto ensure a level praying groundfor all aspirants, assuring thatthey will still will work for thevictory of any candidate thatemerged from the primary.

*Wada *Jibrin *Moses



CMYK

48 — VANGUARD, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

Migrant crisis: Germany to starttemporary border controlsGERMANY is to

introduce temporarycontrols on its border withAustria to cope with theinflux of migrants, theinterior minister has said.

Thomas de Maizieresaid refugees could “notchoose” their hostcountries and called onother EU states to do more.

Trains betweenGermany and Austriahave been suspended for12 hours.

Germany’s vice-

chancellor has said thecountry is “at the limit ofits capabilities” as morethan 13,000 migrantsarrived in Munich onSaturday.

Germany expects800,000 migrants to arrivethis year.

“Germany is temporarilyintroducing border controlsagain along [the EU’s]internal borders. The focuswill be on the border toAustria at first,” Mr deMaiziere told a news

conference.“The aim of these

measures is to limit thecurrent inflows toGermany and to return toorderly procedures whenpeople enter the country.”

Mr de Maiziere gave nodetails. The move goesagainst the principle of theSchengen zone, whichallows free movementbetween many Europeancountries, however theagreement does allow fortemporary suspensions.

Germany’s rail serviceDeutsche Bahn said trainservices with Austriawould be stopped until03:00GMT on Monday.

Russia assures of military supportfor Syria RUSSIA will continue its

military support of Syria,including sendingpersonnel to the embattledcountry, Foreign MinisterSergei Lavrov was quoted assaying by Russian newsagencies.

“There were militarysupplies, they are ongoingand they will continue. Theyare inevitably accompaniedby Russian specialists, whohelp to adjust the

equipment, to train Syrianpersonnel how to use theseweaponry,” Lavrov saidyesterday.

Moscow has come underincreased internationalpressure in recent days overwhat Washington and Gulfstates said is a Russianmilitary build-up in Syria,where the Kremlin hasbeen supporting PresidentBashar al-Assad in a fourand-a-half-year war.

Clashes as Israeli soldiers storm Al-Aqsacompound

CLASHES haveerupted after a

number of Israeli soldiersentered the Al-AqsaMosque compound inJerusalem, police and

witnesses said.The Israeli security

personnel used tear gas andstun grenades, as theyentered the compound toarrest what they calledPalestinian “stone throwers”.

Omar Kiswani, the

manager of Al-AqsaMosque, said 80 “Jewishsettlers” protected by theIsraeli police, attacked themosque when confrontedby Palestinian volunteerguards.

VANGUARD, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 — 49

ZIMBABWE: Court chargesS/Africans over attempt toexport wildlife

A Zimbabwean court hascharged three South Af-

rican men with illegally cap-turing 29 sable antelopesand attempting to exportthem without a permit, thelocal parks authority said onSunday.

The three men had on Sat-urday appeared in a magis-trates court in Beitbridge,Zimbabwe’s southern bordertown near South Africa, Zim-babwe Parks and WildlifeManagement Authorityspokeswoman CarolineWashaya-Moyo said .

The men, who were notasked to enter a plea, remainin police custody. They were

charged with illegal cap-ture and translocation ofwildlife, and attempting toexport the sables illegally,said Washaya-Moyo.

Zimbabwe last monthcharged two men withbreaching hunting rulesand allowing an Americandentist to illegally kill thesouthern African country’smost famous lion, Cecil,outside Hwange wildlifepark, which sparked a glo-bal outcry from animal lov-ers. Charges of crossing aninternational boundary us-ing an undesignated exitpoint were also levelledagainst the men.

SCOAN COLLAPSED BUILDING:Memorial service held inSouth Africa to mark oneyear anniversary

BY EVELYN USMAN

THE SynagogueChurch of All

Nations,SCOAN weekend,held a memorial service inSouth Africa , to honour over80 South Africans who per-ished in the collapsed build-ing inside the church’s pre-mises.

A five storey buildingwhich served as guest housefor foreign worshippers whothrong the church cavedin last year while the vic-tims were having their lunchon the ground floor.

The National EmergencyManagement AgencyNEMA had disclosed thatover 80 persons lost theirlives in the tragedy ,whileseveral others sustained varying degrees of injuries.

South Africa, had thelargest number of casualties,while other victims werefrom Zimbabwe and otherAfrica countries.

Vanguard gathered that adelegation of Pastors led by

Wise Man Racine Bousso,left Nigeria for South Afri-ca last Saturday , for thememorial service , while thefounder of SCOAN, PastorTemitope Joshua , officiat-ed a similar service in Ni-geria. A statement by theChurch said: “ The man ofGod has sent a delegationfrom Nigeria to take part inactivities leading to the me-morial. Prophet T.B. Joshuahas maintained that the de-ceased, mostly South Afri-cans, were on an appoint-ment with God when theymet their death and there-fore believes that they didnot die in vain.. As the me-morial for the martyrs offaith holds in South Africa,the entire SCOAN familyall over the world join forc-es to pray for the repose ofthe souls of their departed”

Meanwhile, a Lagos cor-oner had called for the pros-ecution of the contractors,who handled the construc-tion of the collapsed struc-ture.

Nine killed in twin bombattacks in Cameroun

AT least nine peoplewere killed in two bomb

attacks on Sunday in thenorthern Cameroon town ofKolofata, according to localofficials, in what appeared tobe the latest attack by theBoko Haram Islamist militantgroup from nearby Nigeria.

Regional prefect BabilaAkaou said the two attackstook place close to the Latinneighborhood of the townbefore 9 a.m. (0800 GMT).

“Nine people were killedand 24 people wounded,” he

told Reuters by telephone.Army spokesman Colo-

nel Didier Badjeck, whoconfirmed the death toll,said an investigation wasunderway amid divergingreports about whether theattacks were carried out bytwo teenage boys or twoyoung women.

Kolofata lies close to theborder with northeast Ni-geria and has repeatedlybeen the target of attacks byBoko Haram.

CMYK

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O G U N D I M U — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissAdebimpe Ogundimu,now wish to be knownand addressed as MrsAdebimpe Sulaimon.All former documentsremain valid. Last Veb,Ministry of Educationand general public,please take note.

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Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard, MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, SEPTEMBER 14, SEPTEMBER 14, SEPTEMBER 14, SEPTEMBER 14, 20152015201520152015—51—51—51—51—51


Again, fresh crisis looms in Assemblies ofGod Church

By Francis Igata

BATTLE FOR ENUGU-EAST: Tension as residents awaitTribunal judgment

By Francis Igata

ENUGU—A palpabletrepidation is rife in the

firmament of Enugu State as thethree-man National AssemblyTribunal sitting in Enugu, last

Friday, closed hearing on thepetition brought before it by formergovernor ChimarokeNnamani,candidate of thePeoples DemocraticChange,PDC, for Enugu-Eastsenatorial district.

The tribunal, headed by JusticeM.O. Adewara gave parties to the

suit, first respondent,Senator GilNnaji, the Peoples DemocraticParty,PDP, and IndependentNational ElectoralCommission,INEC,September28,for adoption of addresses toenable them deliver judgmentbefore October 13.

Nnamani is challenging the

declaration by INEC of SenatorNnaji as winner in the March 28 polls.

The declaration elicited protestsin Enugu metropolis.

However, Counsel to thepetitioner,Mr. O. Jolaawo, allegedbefore the tribunal that thecandidate of the PDP, Sen. Nnaji,rigged the election.

Jolaawo made the allegationduring the cross examination ofthe PDP witness, Mr. OkechukwuEdeh, who was the party’scollation agent in Enugu-SouthLocal Government Area.

He said that 25,093 voters wereaccredited for the election but that32,056 voted, adding that electionresults in some wards weremutilated without officialendorsement.

“In some wards in AwkunanawWest, the number of issued ballotpapers was less than the usedballot papers.

“In Ward 9, some 234 voterswere accredited but 400 ballotpapers were issued. In the end,both used and unused ballotpapers were only 200 and theremaining could not be accountedfor,” he said.

VISIT: Enugu State governor, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, in a hanshake with therepresentative of the Managing Director, Star Deepwater Petroleum Ltd., Mr. Stan Otonye,as the Manager, Petrobras, Meg Irozuru, Secretary to the State Government, Mr. GabrielAjah (left) and the representative of the Managing Director, Statoil Nigeria Ltd, Mr. OkeyUmeokafor (right), look on, during a courtesy visit to the governor, by the Star DeepwaterPetroleum Ltd, and Agbami Co Ventures, at the Government House, Enugu, weekend.

ENUGU—NERVES werefrayed at the Assemblies

of God Church, Mount Street,Agbani-Road in Enugu State,yesterday, as a factional churchgroup gained entry into thechurch, which has been underlock for the past two months.

It was gathered that for thepast two months, the two groupshave been holding parallelchurch services simultaneouslyat the church compound.

It took the timely interventionof Rev. Amaechi Agbo, theSenior Pastor in charge of oneof the factions to stop angrychurch members fromdisrupting the Sunday Serviceinside the church.

Some members, however,vowed that they would not foldtheir hands next Sunday andwatch the other group holdservices inside the churchagain, pending when the courtwould deliver judgment on thematter.

It could be re-called thatmembers of the church had twomonths ago, engaged oneanother in a free-for-allfollowing the alleged transfer ofa new pastor to the church.

To avert a further clash, theworshipers were said to havebeen told by the police to beconducting their servicesoutside the compound andconsequently, the churchcompound was divided intotwo, where the rival groups

erected canopies for the churchservices pending when theissues would be resolved.

However, a violent clashloomed in the church as thegroup opposed to theleadership of Rev. Paul Emekahad vowed not to allowstrangers take over their placeof worship.

Speaking to journalists, Rev.Agbo, said trouble started onJuly 19,”when one man in mychurch, who claims to be alawyer, but is championingillegality and unlawfulnessimported Nathan Udeze tocome and overthrow me, so we

resisted them that day.“The matter went to police

and from there to court; thepolice advised us to lock thechurch and we did; we startedworshipping outside; they wentto court for us to open thechurch for them; they have notallowed the court to decide thecase. They came on lastMonday and broke theentrance to our school; thentoday again, they came andbroke the church entrance,contrary to the agreement wereached with the police that wewill wait for the court to decide.”

Expressing anger with the way

the police handled the matter,Agbo went on: “I called the DPOto inform him that these peoplehave broken into the church, hetold me that we should see himby 2 p.m., that we shouldmaintain peace. I don’t know whathe means by that. These peoplebroke into the school and todayinto the church and the police arewatching them.”

On the claim that he had beentransferred out of the church, hesaid: “I am still in charge of thisplace; I came here on April 12,2013 and till date, I remain thesenior pastor in charge of thischurch branch.”

Abuja High Court cautions FG over Aba ringfenced territory

By Innocent Anaba

A FEDERAL High Courtsitting in Abuja, has

cautioned the FederalGovernment and the NationalCouncil on Privatization againstthe planned hand-over of thecontentious Aba ring fencedterritory in Abia State to AbaPower Limited, APL.

Specifically, the Bureau ofPublic Enterprises, BPE, hadcompelled the Enugu ElectricityDistribution Company, EEDC, tohandover the contentious Abaring-fenced territory in Abia State

to Aba Power Limited, APL.However, not satisfied with the

development, Enugu ElectricityDistribution Company, EEDC andInterstate Electrics Limited wentto the court, seeking a stop to theimpending hand-over of Aba ringfence to Aba Power Limited.

The plaintiffs are asking the courtto award them the sum ofN500million jointly and severallyagainst the 5th and 6th defendantsas general and special damagesfor propagating a libelous, andmalicious campaign of calumnyagainst the plaintiffs.

Trial judge, Justice GabrielKolawole after listening to thecounsel to the plaintiffs, Prince

Adetokunbo Kayode, SAN,ordered the defendants to appearbefore him on September 22, toshow cause why the order ofinjunction being sought shouldnot be granted.

Justice Kolawole cautioned thedefendants against going aheadwith the planned handover of theAba ring fenced territory, pointingout that any attempt by thedefendants to interfere with theres (subject matter) of the matterwhich is the planned transfer ofthe Aba ring-fenced territorywould be treated as an act ofdisobedient to the orders of thecourt and the contemnorssanctioned appropriately.

Oshiomholemourns withVanguardcorrespondenton mum’sdeath

G O V E R N O RA D A M S

Oshiomhole of Edo Statehas commiserated with Mr.Simon Ebegbulem, thecorrespondent ofVanguard Newspapersand chairman of theCorrespondents Chapel inthe state, on the death ofhis mother, Madam SusanEbegbulem.

In a condolence messageby his Chief PressSecretary, Mr Peter Okhiria,Comrade Oshiomhole said: “I received with greatshock the news of thepassing on to glory of yourbeloved mother, MadamSusan Ebegbulem. I offerthe heartfelt condolences ofthe Government and goodpeople of Edo State as wellas my personal commise-ration over the sad loss.

“Our thoughts andprayers are with you, mydear brother, at this verydifficult moment. Fromaccounts of your mother’slife, we learnt that she wasan industrious and virtuouswoman, with impeccablecharacter and a keen senseof fairness, equity andjustice to all."

Itsekiri staffcongratulateDESOPADECboard

W A R R I — ASSOCIATION ofItsekiri Staff in Delta StateOil Producing AreasDevelopment Commission,DESOPADEC, weekend,congratulated Itsekiri sonsin the newly constitutedDESOPADEC board.

In a statement byWeyinmi Agbateyiniro andStanley Emiko, Chairmanand Secretary respectively,the group described theappointments of Hon.Godwin Ebosa(Chairman), Mr.Oritsetimeyin Wood(Executive Director) andChief Thomas Ereyitomi( C o m m i s s i o n e rrepresenting Itsekiri EthnicNationality), as a blessingto the entire Itsekiri nation.

The group said: “Theappointments are likeputting square pegs insquare holes and roundpegs in round holes,considering theantecedents of the men,who possess the experie-nces, needed for the job.”

The association alsolauded the governor ofDelta State, Sen. IfeanyiOkowa for theappointments


PRESENTATION: From left; President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria,ICAN, Otunba Olufemi Deru; winner of Heritage Bank Car, Mr. Emmanuel Isibor;Group Head, Commercial Banking, Heritage Bank Ltd; Mr. Lekan Busari; andChairman, Accountants Conference, ICAN, Mrs. Comfort Eyitayo, during thepresentation of car donated by Heritage Bank to the winner at the conference.

JOS—THERE wastension at Angwan

Yashi area of TundunWada in Jos North localgovernment area ofPlateau State yesterdaydoe to a face-off betweensome Muslim andChristian youths.

Unconfirmed number ofpersons sustainedinjuries when securityagents allegedly openedfire to disperse the mobprotesting the blockage

of road during a churchservice in the nearbyECWA church.

There was an attemptto bomb the said churchsometime in July thisyear and the youths ofthe church deployedextra measures tosafeguard the lives ofworshippers during itsservice, a decision thatyouths from the nearbyMuslim communityobjected to.

A resident of the area,Musa Izang, toldVanguard that urgentsteps should be taken byrelevant agencies to arrestthe situation before itescalated into a bloodbathas problem had beenlingering between the twogroups for sometime now.

He said: “There shouldbe no problem in theblockage of the roadbecause Muslims alsoblock the same road onFridays for Jumat prayer.The road is always freewhen neither Muslim norChristian is havingworship session.”

An eye-witness, BulusYohanna, said “Ithappened around ECWAchurch, where a bombwas defused about twomonths ago. The churchmounted a stop andsearch road block on theaccess road to theMuslim community andthat caused the protest.”

But, Ibrahim Salis,another resident, saidthe Muslim communityhad no problem with theroad block, adding that“The only problem is thatit is the only access roadto our community.

‘’We understand theneed to block the roadduring service but thatdoes that mean we haveno right to move in andout of our community?”

When contacted forcomment, the PolicePublic Relations Officer,PPRO, DSP EmmanuelAbuh, said “There was alittle problem at TudunWada, I do not have thedetails but I will get backto you once I know theactual problem.''

L O K O J A — T H E National Chairman ofNetwork for Change andGood Governance(NCGG), Comrade IsmailaYusuf Atumeyi, has allegedthat a governorship aspirantof the Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP (name withheld)orchestrated thepostponement of the party'sprimaries in Kogi State tofavour his ambition.

Speaking to newsmen inLokoja at the weekend,Atumeyi, who berated thePDP National WorkingCommittee, NWC over thepostponement of theprimaries, asserted that theaction was a sign of obviousweakness of the politicalstrength of the aspirant andhis inability to win electionsin a free and fair contest.

According to him, “While

his (the aspirant) fewsupporters, had arrivedLokoja for September 10primaries and waiting toaccept their fate, he wentwild as usual shouting thatthe governor was planningto disrupt the scheduledprimaries."

“When the PDPorganised ward and statecongresses, this aspirantstayed back in Abuja. PDP

organised delegateelection, he stayed back inAbuja. His reason is simple,he hopes to get his waythrough unfair means.January 2011 PDPprimaries that purportedlyproduced him as flagbearerwas actually won by AlhajiIsa Kutepa but this type ofpolitics gave it to thisundeserved winner,”Atumeyi alleged.

Tension as Muslim, Christian youthsclash over roadblock in Plateau

By Marie-ThereseNanlong

KOGI: ‘Gov aspirant behind postponement of PDP primaries'


10 Minutes withSamatta Nbwana Ali

FRIDAY, September 11, Lubumbashi, 9am: T PMazembe arrive the stadium named after them

to train for the must win CAF Champions Leagueencounter against Moroccans Moghreb Tetouane.

A young man passes me and he looks very familiar.Could not place him. I get curious. Who is that? Iask. Samatta. Yes Samatta, the young Tanzanian whoran rings around our defenders during the NationsCup qualifier in Dar ES Salaam. Samatta NbwanaAli.

I bid my time. After training I walk up to him. “Young man, you

are the one who gave us sleepless nights in Dar EsSalaam?”

“Are you a Nigerian?” He asked with a heartylaugh. “Yes I answered”

“Sorry, very sorry I know you people wanted thatmatch badly, so sorry” Another round of laughter.

But how come they played so well? In Nigeria wenever thought they could give us so much problem.

“ Yes. We knew that you were going to take us forgranted. We knew that you think we will be easy, sowe were very determined to play the games of ourlives.

“ Nigeria is a big football playing nation with starsworldwide. We were expecting a lot of fight and wewere ready. The government was also there for us,training tour, equipment, everything and we weretold to reciprocate the good will and the support”

Where they disappointed that the Nigeria they sawwas not the Nigeria they expected?

“ For us Nigeria was Nigeria. When we discoveredthat the stars we expected were not there, we werenot fooled. For us Nigeria was Nigeria and webelieved that whosoever was called up to representNigeria was going to be a tough nut to crack.”

Ten minutes into the match, Samatta and hiscolleagues found out that the Nigeria before themwas beatable and they went for the jugular.

“ Ten minutes into the match, in fact from the firstminute, we had the feeling that we could win thematch and we went for it. The crowd was behindus, the boys were fired up and we kept up thepressure”

Were they aware that we had a new coach, a newteam and that we were not likely to present the type

of opposition they expected? “ I said earlier that for us, Nigeria was Nigeria

and all we knew was that they were going to be aformidable opposition. Another weapon we had isthat the coach told us they were going to come andintimidate us, that they were likely to be confident,

over confident that they will beat us, so we were togo at them from the blast of the whistle and it workedfor us. We did not allow them to settle down. Wetook the battle to them and it worked”

Carl Ikeme?“ Who?”The goal keeper.“ Ah he was their saviour. He stood between us

and goals. He was very experienced. As the matchprogressed we became scared of him. Any time weapproached the goalmouth, we started thinking howwe could beat him and that affected our game evenwhen the coach addressed that at half time”

The 23 year old No 9 for TP Mazembe believes ifTanzania plays as well as they did against Nigeria,

they may spring a few surprises.In Congo DR, Lubumbashi, he is known as “

Samatta goal” Signed from Simba club of Tanzania in 2011, this

year has not been too prolific as he was yet to scorefor club in the Champions league group stage.

Last Saturday, he was to change all that when inthe 57th minute, he was the target of a floatingpass, he ran to it, controlled warded off the stiffchallenge of a defender before unleashing a piledriver for Mazembe’s third goal in the 5-0 drubbingof Tettouane.

Early this year Samatta was in Moscow for trialswith CSKA and was set to become the first Tanzanianever to play in the European Champions League.

Playing for TP he says has helped him a lot giventhe professional way the club is run and the presenceof a lot of stars from all over the continent.

“ I am still young I know I have a lot of futureahead of me”

Is he looking forward to the return leg in Nigeria.Does he give Nigeria any chance to progress in theQualifiers?

“ Any country that underrates Nigeria does so ather peril. Nigeria remains a potential force any day.I know people have given the group to either Nigeriaor Egypt. Let’s see how it is going to be. However,after that impressive showing against Nigeria, don’ttake us for granted “ Laughter.

Anekeme on my mind

I SALUTE the youth who represented Nigeria atthe Commonwealth Youth Games, especially the

athletic team that emerged winners of the track andfield event. Before I wonder why we did not enterfor other sports as much as possible, permit me tosingle out Aniekeme Alphonsus for commendation.

A product of the MPN sponsored schools athleticscompetition in Akwa Ibom State, there is a futurefor this young girl if only the AFN will put moreeffort in investing in the youth. Aniekeme isreturning from Samoa with three gold medals, asilver and a bronze. Incredible.

The world beckons.See you next week.

I said earlier that for us,Nigeria was Nigeria and allwe knew was that they weregoing to be a formidableopposition.

Okagbare, Ahoure’s absence takeshine off GamesAFRICA’S women

100m top stars,Blessing Okagbare andMurielle Ahoure are notin the competition at theAll Africa Games athleticsevents, which startedyesterday at the KinteleStadium.

The field wasthoroughly weakened bytheir absence and hasbeen left open for up andcoming Ivorian youngsterMarie Jose Talou. Sheexpressed regrets thatthe race in BrazzavilleCongo has its glamourstripped off by theabsence of the duo, whodid not make a goodshowing at the IAAFWorld Championshipslast month in Beijing.Talou and Ahourereached the semi-final ofthe World Champions,while Okagbare was inthe final but did not click.She also did not run the200m.

“I am not happy thatOkagbare and Ahoureare not here. I really

wanted to race againstthem. Ahoure is notcoming because she isinjured,” said Talou whoran 11.16 seconds in theheats going into the semi-finals that wereconcluded last night.

Okagbare arrivedBrazzaville on Saturday.She may be running onlythe relays, as one of thecoaches in camp claimedshe was not in top shapeto go through the rigorsof qualifying for the final.

“Yes, she is around, butI don’t think she will berunning in the rounds.Her condition doesn’twarrant her going

through the series ofraces. She may be goodonly for a one off race,”said the coach.

With her absence,Nigeria may havesurrendered the gold inthe women 100m. It wasonly Cecilia France thatran the heats and itremained to be seen howshe will fare in the final.

Ogho Oghene Egwero,

Seye Ogunlewe,Nicholas Ikhoaperamheare the Nigerian malecontenders for the title.They have a worthycompetition in Cote’dIvoire’s Ben YoussefMetie. Egwero ran thefastest time 10.06 in thesemi finals. It was hisseason's best ahead of thefinal today. The finals areset for today.

Ben Efe reporting live

Mayweather outclassesBerto to finish his careerundefeated after 49 fights

THEY didn’t have to worry about the quality of

the supporting act. The Sul-tan of Swoon was a soloist.

Floyd Mayweather cameout for his last night – may-be? – having to deny thathe has been in breach ofdrugs testing protocol.

He was sharing the stagewith an opponent whomost in attendance haddeemed unworthy of theoccasion.

The reception when hestepped into the ring wasa mite muted.

But by the time the belltolled for what he still main-tains will be the last timein his career he could feelthe love as well as theMoney.

The undisputed master ofthe noble art of self defencehad promised to put on agrand finale and at the endhe did deliver.

After frustrating and re-peatedly stunning AndreBerto for half an hour hetoyed with him by acceler-ating his superior skills,taunted him with histongue as well as his tal-

ent, twirled around himwith his arm raised in tri-umph before the fight wasover.

And he threw in an Alishuffle. Who’s The Great-est?

He has called himselfThe Best Ever and manyin the reduced crowd of13,395 responded to Floydthe Showman by rising totheir feet and chanting...T.B.E.

History may modify thatverdict but he who is cer-tainly the best boxer of hisgeneration had the lastlaugh on all who have crit-icised his negative prudentstyle and his antics outsidethe ring.

The encore to the so-called Fight of the Centu-ry, against Manny Pacqui-ao was even more circusringmaster than masterclass.

Berto was the self-styled‘Beast’ let out of the cageand Mayweather control-led him from start to finish,putting him through hoopsat the end.

Siasia’s side unseeded for Rio Olympics qualifiers

NIGERIA’S DreamTeam VI have not

been seeded for the AfricaU23 Cup of Nations,which will serve asqualifiers for next year’sRio Olympics as hostsSenegal and Egypt arethe seeded teams fortoday’s draw.

Hosts Senegal will topGroup A, while Egypt willheadline Group B.

This means that the othersix finalists – Nigeria,Algeria, Mali, Zambia,Tunisia and South Africa –could be drawn in eithergroup. The top two teamsfrom each group will

qualify for the semi-finals.The top three teams will

automatically qualify for theRio Olympics while thefourth best team will playofffor a ticket to the globalcompetition.

The Africa U23 Cup ofNations will be staged inNovember.

CMYK


Iheanacho ‘ll score more goals— PellegriniCOACH Manuel

Pellegrini saysthere is much more tocome from FIFA U-17World Cup winnerKelechi Iheanacho.

The youngster ’s firstPremier League goalcouldn’t have been bettertimed and the Blues’boss believes theNigerian will only get

Ighalo: I want to keep scoringSUPER Eagles Odion

Ighalo praised theoutstanding teamperformance whichresulted in Watfordposting a 1-0 win overSwansea City, their firstin the Premier Leaguethis season.

“It was a greatperformance, but it’s notonly this game, you seefrom the first gameagainst Everton to thisgame we’ve beenworking hard as ateam,” Ighalo told theWatford Weekend Post-Match Review on Hornets PlayerHD.

“The team has beendoing well, even in thelast two games weplayed at home, so it’s abig relief and it’s a bigteam effort.

“I’m happy about theperformance of the team,even when we were oneman down we stillworked hard to get thethree points, so it’s a

“It’s always a pleasurescoring and gettingthree points in front ofthe home fans, so it’s agreat feeling, and I’mreally happy about theway they are singing myname,” said Ighalo.

Gerrard: Mourinho perfect for LiverpoolSteven Gerrard be-

lieves Jose Mourinhowould have been a “per-fect match” for Liverpool.

The current Chelseaboss was linked with theAnfield job prior to RafaBenitez’s appointmentin 2004 and Gerrardsays he would haveloved to have played forthe Portuguese coach.

In his new autobiogra-phy, which is being se-

rialised in the DailyMail, Gerrard said:

“For me, the ideal sit-uation would obviously

have been for Mourinhoto have managed Liver-pool. He was linked with

a move to Anfield a cou-ple of times but it nevermaterialised”.

Enrique hails Barca comebackLuis Enrique says he

“enjoyed every minute”of Barcelona’s 2-1victory over AtleticoMadrid in La Liga onSaturday.

“Both teams wanted

the win, no doubt Weplayed at a very highlevel from the start andwere very consistent.That a team like Atleticomade so few chancesshowed we were very

focused.“We dominated the

defensive and attackingaspects of the game andeven turned it aroundwhen things seemed tobe going against us."

Iheanacho (r) and Nasri

All Africa GamesContinues from B/P

Games are expected tobe held every four years.

However, for onereason or the other, thefour yearly cycle has notbeen maintained.

According to OlabanjiOladapo, the ExecutiveSecretary of Africa TableTennis Federationexplained that thedecision for the namechange was arrived at,during the ExecutiveCouncil meeting of AUheld in Addis

Ababa, Ethiopia inJanuary 2012.

“The AU executivecouncil meetingendorsed therecommendation of the4th Ordinary Session ofthe African UnionConference of Ministersof Sports (CAMS) held inAddis Ababa, Ethiopia

from Oct. 17 to Oct. 212011.

“On the establishmentof a new Architecture forAfrica Games led to thedissolution of theSupreme Council forSports in Africa (SCSA).

“The decision, inter aliafractured the function,assets and liabilities ofthe SCSA to the AUCommission includingthe ownership of theAfrican Games.

“The decision vestedthe ownership of theAfrican Games to the AU,while entrusting themanagement andorganisation of theGames to Association ofNational OlympicCommittees of Africa(ANOCA) and the

Association of AfricanSports Confederations(AASC),’’ Oladapo said.

Enyimba stay top asSunshine fall at home

ON a day thatSunshine Stars

were beaten 3-2 byNasarawa in Akure, twogoals from substitutesAndrew Abalogu andIfeanyi Anaemekaearned Enyimba a 2-0win over hard fightingDolphins to keep themon top of the NigeriaProfessional FootballLeague (NPFL).

Enyimba set the paceon the league table with55 points from 29games.

Former ABS FCforward AndrewAbalogu, who replacedMfon Udoh, broke thedeadlock in the 64thminute when he headedin from six yards.

Veteran goalkeeperRotimi Sunday pulled offseveral saves in the firsthalf to keep Enyimba at

bay.In Enugu, Rangers

fought back from a goaldown to defeattraditional rivalsShooting Stars 2-1.

Tope Orelope put thevisiting 3SC ahead after23 minutes, but Rangersdrew level 10 minuteslater through EmmanuelEze.

Osas Okoro gave thehome team the lead viaa free kick just beforehalf time.

In the second half,Rangers goalkeeperAkor Itodo saved apenalty after dangerousplay by Morris Chebeminside his own box.

Shooting Stars wereled by goalkeeperAbiodun Akande, whostopped Bobby Clementfrom scoring against hisformer club as early asthe 11th minute.

AAG: We can break Nigeria’ssoccer jinx, says U-23 captainBY BEN EFE,Brazzaville Congo

NIGERIA’S Under-23 captain,

Azubuike Okechukwusaid they were amazedto find out that Nigeriahas never won the AllAfrica Games soccergold since 1970 whenNigeria hosted.

Okechukwu wasspeaking after theirnerve wrenching lastgroup B match againstSenegal. He said thatthe team will strive toend the long wait for thesoccer gold of the AAG,which has eluded thenation regarded aspower house in Africanfootball for 40 years.

“We were a bit amazedwhen the coach told usabout not winning since1970. But here we arekeen to make history forour country and we areworking hard to achievethat,” Okechukwu said.

He admitted that thetwo games they playedagainst Ghana andSenegal in their groupwere rather tasking.

“This is becauseeveryone wants to beatus.

“We discovered theother teams come hardon us. But we are gladthat we topped ourgroup and by God’sgrace we will be in thefinal.”

•Ighalo

better in years to come –though he added he hasplenty of hard workahead of him.

“Kelechi scored thegoal and he had anotherchance. Kelechi is a veryyoung player - he’s just18 years old. He workedwith the rest of the teamall week,” said Pel-legrini.

”In front of him areKun and Bony who arevery good players, buthe is an important strik-er who still has a lot toimprove.”

LMCsanctionsRangers,3SC,SunshineStars

FOLLOWING variousacts that breached the

Nigeria ProfessionalFootball League (NPFL)Framework and Rules onMatch Day 28, the LeagueManagement Company(LMC) has issuedsummary jurisdictionnotices to Rangers,Shooting Stars andSunshine Stars and twoplayers of Sunshine Stars.The LMC also wrote to theNigeria FootballFederation RefereesCommittee recommendingthe immediate suspensionof Referee Joseph OdeyOgabor who officiated thematch between ShootingStars and Sunshine Starsfor a performanceconsidered to fall short ofstandards of the leagueand neglecting to submithis match report within thestipulated time frame of 24hours after the match.

Summary Jurisdiction isa notice of containingsanctions the LMC haslevied on offenders foralleged breaches of therules which such personsor clubs have the option toaccept or elect to appearbefore a panel to beconstituted by the NigeriaFootball Federation (NFF).

CMYK

Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Phone: Newsroom: 018773962. Deputy Editor: 01-4548355. Advert Dept Hotline: 01-4544821. Abuja Advert Hotline: 09-2921024. E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. Advert:[email protected]

Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: MIDENO BAYAGBON. Phone: 01-7742861, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

How to Play Sudoku

Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line canhave two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (alsonine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within abold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1through 9. This means that no number can appear twicein any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, divisionor multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

FRIFRIFRIFRIFRIDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSTODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLE

Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

CMYK

QUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORD

Okagbare, Ahoure’s absencetake shine off Games

Mayweather outclasses Berto to finish hiscareer undefeated after 49 fights

RESULTSNPL

Sharks 1 I/Ubah 0Taraba 1 Giwa 0Enyimba 2 Dolphins 0W/Wolves 3 Kwara 0Sunshine 2 Nasarawa 3K/Pillars 3 A/ Warriors 0Rangers 2 S/Stars 1Akwa 1 Heartland 0Lobi Stars 1 Wikki 1B/Utd 4 El-Kanemi 1

EPLS/land 0 Tottenham 1Leicester 3 Aston Villa 2

SERIE AVerona 2 Torino 2Empoli 2 Napoli 2Palermo 2 Carpi 2Sassuolo 2 Atalanta 2Lazio 2 Udinese 0

LA LIGAGranada 1 Villarreal 3Bilbao 3 Getafe 1

Ben Efe reporting live

Team Nigeria win 13 gold, 21silver, 17 bronze medals

All Africa Games nowrenamed “African Games”

AFTER 11 editions, asthe All Africa Games, theGames has now beenrenamed the “African

Games”, an officialsaid.

The Games returned to

its birthplace, Brazza-ville, in 2015, where itwas first held 50 yearsago in 1965 as the AllAfrica Games. The

AS at the time of goingto Press lastnight,

the Team Nigeria won 13gold, 21 silver and 17bronze medals at the

ongoing 11th AfricanGames in CongoBrazzaville.

The boxing team wonfour gold, and two silvermedals. Team Nigeriahad earlier won eightgold, 17 silver and 10bronze medals from someother events, whileNigeria won gold medal

in cycling team event inthe 25km race and silverin the road race,62.5km.

Team Nigeria also wonsilver in women’ssingles and one bronzein team.

•Okagbare

Floyd Mayweather lands a punch on Andre Berto during the fight at theMGM Grand Garden Arena.

•Page 54

•Page 54

Continues on Page 55

ACROSS3 Showy (5)9 Thoroughfare (6)10 Consuming (6)11 Perfume (5)12 Thought (4)15 Sapient (4)17 Permission (7)20 Expire (3)21 Shy (5)23 So be it (4)25 Entrance (4)26 Symbol (5)28 Fix (3)30 Protection (7)33 Revise (4)35 Caribou (4)36 Nativity (5)38 Frank (6)39 Alighted (6)40 Drugged (5)

DOWN1 Fundamental (5)2 Number (5)3 Coach (3)4 Modern (6)5 Remit (4)6 Headgear (3)7 Inflexible (5)8 Tally (5)13 Gave (7)14 Advantage (5)16 Quiet (7)18 Weary (5)19 Large (3)22 Old-fashioned (5)24 And not (3)27 Irritate (6)28 Calm (5)29 Titan (5)31 Poor (5)32 Wear (5)34 Swimming-point (4)36 Offer (3)37 Owned (3)

ACROSS: 1, Detest 5, Rescue 9, Power 10,Forget 11, Ashore 12, Dance 14, Clad 17, Let18, Cute 20, Tidal 22, Arson 23, Recline 24,Gaped 26, Tepid 29, Iced 30, Act 32, Diced 33,Cited 35, Totter 36, Native 37, Depot 38,Darted 39, Reined.

DOWN: 1, Defect 2, Thread 3, Sped 4, Total5, React 6, Erse 7, Crocus 8, Eleven 13,Neglect 15, Lilac 16, Dared 18, Creed 19,Tonic 21, Led 22, Ant 24, Gifted 25, Pester27, Pinion 28, Depend 30, Aired 31, Tenor33, Cede 34, Date.

Scores of Boko Haram terrorists surrender

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