aftermath of pdp primaries senators plot to impeach mark

...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 62298

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

MONDAY, DECEMBER 15 , 2014**

Senators plot toimpeach Mark

Mr & Mrs

Continues on Page 4

•P.20

COLUMNISTS:

•P.44

•Consider APC senators, Saraki, Akume as replacements•Vow to mobilize support for Tambuwal•Mark dismisses impeachment plot as rumour•APC Reps' plot to impeach Jonathan thickens•168 Reps endorse notice

GAS EXPLOSION VICTIM—Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko ( left) and others during the Governor's visit to victimsof the Akure gas explosion, at the Ondo Trauma and Surgical Centre, at the weekend.

Victims ofdevaluation

A new signpostfor disaster

AFTERMATH OF PDP PRIMARIES: By EmmanOvuakporie &

Johnbosco Agbakwuru

A B U J A — T H ESenate may

witness a change ofleadership if the threatby aggrieved senatorsfrom the two mainpolitical parties, thePeoples DemocraticParty, PDP, and the AllProgressives Congress,APC, to impeach SenatePresident David Mark

Adeboye to ministerat VanguardThursday 8 6

Pregnant woman, 7 othersinjured; 20 shops razed inOndo gas explosion

•P.8

OIL PRICEFALL:Preparefor hardtimes, FGcautionsNDIC,others

We're yet to choose Buhari's running mate — APC•P.10

CMYK

2—Vanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2014

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2014 — 3

CMYK

POCKET CARTOON


PDP PRIMARIES: Senators plot toimpeach Mark

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

LIFEWORDSBY PASTOR ITUAH

Always dream and shoot higher than you knowyou can do. Do not bother just to be better thanyour contemporaries or predecessors. Try to bebetter than yourself —William Faulkner

YOU can adopt to fit your goals and aspirationsand structure it within your own development

principles to actualize your mission statement in life;it varies for everyone but there is a common factor,one most important rule is to always write down alist of things that you want out of life, and all theways in which you want to live most ideally.

This is where you get to decide and affirm yourdreams in life, and actualize them. So how do youwant to live? Do you want to be a great businessperson or relevant sociopolitical or religious figure?Do you want to be wealthy and live a life of luxury?Do you want to find love and perhaps start a family?Do you want to live in some idyllic location? Do youwant to travel and go on adventures? Are thereamenities you have always dreamed of having? Arethere any amazing things you want to “do” (likeactivities) in life? It is important to know what wewant our life to be most ultimately, because as youare engaging in this personal development workand becoming your best self then you can reallybegin to live a better life and effectuate all of yourwildest dreams. So if you have not yet started todream about them, do so now! Figure out what youwant in life, it’s always the first step.

Joseph took nothing to Egypt, he knew nobodythere but he took over the situation of his life. Hissecret was God’s divine favour in his life, whichhe used for influence and affluence –Bushell. Youcan become what you are supposed to becomewherever you are

Continues from Page 1

TRAINING—From right: Group Head, Audit, Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), Ms.Yosola Popoola; the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Christopher Penninck; Nigeria Civil Aviation Agency(NCAA) representative, Mr. Olumide Osinneye; a resource person, Mr. Essien Udoh, closing the AviationSecurity Training Programme for staff of BASL's security department, at MMA2 in Lagos.

Continues on page 5

for not protecting themin the just concludedparty primaries is carriedout.

If successful, the plotmay see the APCproducing the SenatePresident in addition tothe House ofR e p r e s e n t a t i v e sspeakership. This is

coming as 168 membersof the House of Repre-sentatives have endorsedthe plan to impeachPresident GoodluckJonathan.

Some of the vocal andprominent PDP senators,who had defended theparty with everyavailable meanswhenever the oppositionAPC senators raised eye-

brow over some of Presi-dent Jonathan’s policieswere surprised that boththe Senate leadershipand the National Work-ing Committee, NWC, ofthe party could not recip-rocate the gesture. In-stead the senators wereleft at the mercy of stategovernors.

Consequently, theaggrieved senators inboth the PDP and APC,who lost return tickets atthe various partyprimaries have decidedto move against theSenate leadership for notprotecting them duringthe primaries.

It's a rumour— Mark

However, SenatePresident Mark hasdismissed the allegedplot to unseat him,saying the claimed plotexisted only in theimagination of thoseparading the rumour.

The alleged plot toremove Mark came onthe heels of theimpending plan tocommence impeachmentof President Jonathan bysome senators, which isexpected to be presentedbefore the Senate onresumption this week.

In what may look like achange of gear, it wasgathered that theaggrieved senators, withsome PDP senators nowjoining their ranks, havedecided to rather kick-start the removal of theSenate leadership

instead, starting withMark.

A senator, who wasprivy to the deal,yesterday evening, toldVanguard: “The plan haschanged. We neverexpected the party totreat us this way. Westood by the party whenthere was turbulenceoccasioned by theemergence of the newPDP.

“There was a plot thento impeach the sameleadership but westepped in and stoppedit with our sheernumber. In fact, we usedour personal contacts totalk to the organisersand they backed down.We prevailed on themnot to rock the boat moreso as the Seventh Senatehad just a few months togo.

“We thought the partywould take note of whatwe did and also note ourloyalty to the party andreward us. Rather, wewere not even protectedin these primaries. Canyou imagine the partyleaving us at the mercyof state governors?”

Saraki or Akumeas Mark’sreplacement

It was gathered that theaggrieved senators wereconsidering replacingSenator Mark with theSenate Minority Leader,George Akume (Benue)or another staunchmember of the APC andChairman, Senate

Committee on Environ-ment and Ecology,Bukola Saraki (Kwara).

The choice of eitherSenator Akume orSenator Bukola was toensure that “the SenatePresidency does notleave the North Central.”

Support forTambuwal

The Senators alsovowed to mobilizesupport for the embattledSpeaker of the House ofRepresentatives, AlhajiAminu Tambuwal toensure that he is notremoved by the PDP andthe presidency.

The support forTambuwal was in linewith last week’sjudgement by the courtthat the PDP governorsthat left the party shouldnot leave their seats.

Although the Senatewill resume plenarytomorrow, the aggrievedlawmakers have not fixeda date to execute theplanned impeachmentplot. They were alsomute on whether or notthe plot against Jonathanis still on the front burnerand if it would be tabledin the chamber thisweek, contrary toSenator Alkali Jajere’sinterview with newsmentwo weeks ago.

But reacting to thealleged plot to unseatthe Senate President,Mark, his SpecialAdviser on Media andPublicity, KolaOlogbondiyan dismissedthe alleged plot, saying,“There’s no such plot.”

50 senators losereturn tickets

About 50 servingsenators lost their bid toreturn to the red chamberfollowing their inabilityto pick their parties’tickets.

Only two senators,Mark and the SenateChief Whip, Bello

Gwarzo, have survivedre-election since 1999.Every election year since2003, the Senate hadwitnessed exodus ofmany of the 109legislators who fail toreturn starting withlosing re-election ticketsand then the electionproper. A similarscenario is expected in2015 when the EightNational Assembly willbe inaugurated.

Why? Official resultsof the primaries acrossthe 109 senatorialdistricts in the countryshow that about 50 of theserving senators failed topick return tickets due todefeats occasioned byhigh-wire manoeuvre bystate governors andthose highly placed ingovernment. It is alsonot certain whether someof those who picked thetickets would win in the2015 elections followingthe outcry that theprocess was manipulatedto favour some.

Old timers to bemissed

Going by the outcomeof the primaries, all thethree serving senatorsfrom states like AkwaIbom, Adamawa, CrossRiver, Edo and Kebbi lostout completely by eitherbeing defeated by newcontenders in the race orschemed out by powerfulforces in their respectivestates.

Old timers whoseabsence may affect theSenate include theSenate Leader, VictorNdoma Egba (PDP CrossRiver Central) who hasbeen one of the pillars ofthe Red Chamber; theChairman, SenateCommittee on Rules andBusiness, Solomon ItaEnang (PDP Akwa IbomNorth East) and BelloMohammed Tukur (PDPAdamawa Central).

In states like Abia,Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu,

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Vanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2014—5

BOOK PRESENTATION—From left: Wife of Ogun State Governor, Mrs Olufunso Amosun;Author and Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Mr Soyombo Opeyemi; Mrs Funke Fowler-Amba, Secretary to Ogun State Government, Taiwo Adeoluwa; Commissioner for Information, AlhajiYusuph Olaniyonu; Commissioner for Health, Dr Olaokun Soyinka; Mrs Oluwaseun Adekunbi; andCommissioner for Commerce and Industry, Bimbo Ashiru; during the public presentation of the book,Ogun State: The Golden Years, at the DLK Events Centre, Abeokuta, weekend.

PDP PRIMARIES: Senators plot toimpeach Mark

Continues from Page 4Imo, Kaduna, Kogi andPlateau, two out of thethree serving senatorslost out in like manner.

For instance, SenatorsUche Chukwumerije(PDP Abia North),E m m a n u e lAguariavwodo (PDPDelta Central), IgwePaulinus Nwagu (PDPEbonyi Central), GilbertNnaji (PDP Enugu East)and Nenadi EstherUsman (PDP KadunaSouth) would be missedin the Senate.

Other senators caughtin the web of theimpending mass exodusfrom the Senate nextJune arising from theirfailure to get returntickets include MargeryOkadigbo (PDP, AnambraNorth); NurudeenAbatemi Usman ( PDP,Kogi Central); BoluwajiKunlere (PDP, OndoSouth) and MudashiruOyetunde Husain (APCOsun West).

Senators whoopted forgovernorship

However, some of thenon-returning 50senators did not seek toreturn to the NationalAssembly because theysought for governorship

seats of their respectivestates.

In this category areSenators Aisha JummaiArhassan (APC, TarabaNorth), Simeon Ajibola(PDP, Kwara South),Jibrila MohammedBindowo (APC,Adamawa North),Benedict Ayade (PDP,Cross River North),Ifeanyi Okowa (PDP,Delta North), Ayogu Eze( PDP Enugu North),Gyang Pwajok (PDPPlateau North), UmaruDahiru ( APC SokotoSouth) and BaguduAbubakar Atiku (APCKebbi Central).

Ndoma Egba who iscurrently in thecategory of senators thatmay not return going bythe result of his CrossRiver Central senatorialprimary which he hadalready appealedagainst, had in October,admonished stakeholders in the polity todo the needful and stophigh turnover ofsenators every electionyear in the interest ofthe country ’sdeveloping democracy.

N d o m a - E g b alamented at a mediachat with journaliststhat not up to 30 of the109 Senators elected atdifferent times from the4th Senate in 1999 to thecurrent 7th Senate of

the Federal Republic ofNigeria, got re-elected.

The developmentaccording to him, hasled to massivehaemorrhage andmassive erosion ofinstitutionalization inthe Senate and byextension, in theNational Assemblysince similar highturnover of federallawmakers everyelection year alsohappens in the Houseof Representatives.

He specifically statedthat only Senator DavidMark representingBenue South SenatorialDistrict of Benue Stateand Bello Gwarzo fromKano North SenatorialDistrict, have alwaysbeen returned by theirconstituents whichmade them to currentlybe the reservoir ofp a r l i a m e n t a r yknowledge in the Senatefrom whom othersenators learn from.

High turnover oflawmakers

According to him, thehigh turnover ofparliamentarians at bothchambers, if not checkedby Nigerian electoratewould continue tohamper the neededvibrancy and capacity of

the parliament for goodgovernance throughconstructive legislativeapproach in the nation'sdemocracy.

He said: “Whatconstitute theinstitutional memory ofparliament is theaggregate memory of itsmembers. What has beenour experience? Peoplesay National Assembly isnot doing well, why arewe not doing well eventhough I don’t agree withthem? From 1999 tilldate, we have only twosenators who hadsurvived. They areSenators David Markand Bello Gwarzo.Secondly, Nigeria lost107 senators and we didnot notice. All theinstitutional memory ofthe lost 107 senatorshave been eroded. Whenmemory is eroded,capacity is equallyeroded.

“In the United States,if about four or sevensenators lose theirpositions during anelection year, it is anupheaval but here inNigeria, there is noelection year that wehave up to 30 senatorswho would return to theirposition. Thisdevelopment constitutesmassive haemorrhage,massive erosion ofinstitutionalization.

“What have we ben-efited from the experi-ence of David Mark andBello Gwarzo? The Sen-ate had achieved stabil-ity and peace. Before2007, during the musicalchair era, some days youcould even have two sen-ate presidents. One pre-siding over plenary inthe morning and theother emerging beforethe session.

“However, from 2007,because we have thesetwo very experiencedsenators who startedsince 1999 now at thehelms of affairs in theSenate, we have stabilityin the upper chamber.There has been noscandal from 2007 tilldate and Nigeria hasbenefited a lot from thatstability. The stability inthe Senate also stabilizesthe polity.”

APC Reps' plot toimpeach Jonathanthickens

Meanwhile, 24 hours tothe resumption of theHouse ofRepresentatives, theimpeachment plot bymembers of theopposition APC againstPresident Jonathan isgathering momentum.

There are indicationsthat about 20 PDPmembers in the Housemay defect to the APCtoday.

Lawmakers of otherparties in the House,who are aggrieved thatthey lost out at therecently concludedprimaries, are alsodecamping to APC.

One of the arrowheadsof the impeachmentproject who spoke toVanguard confirmedthat the idea is not“dead” as beinginsinuated in certainquarters. However, theimpeachment noticemay not be tabled beforethe House yet as thegroup has not gotten therequired two-third.

The lawmaker said sofar, 168 members of theHouse have appendedtheir signatures to theimpeachment notice.

“It is uncharitable foranyone to insinuate thatthe impeachment plot isover. We are serious andfor your information, thepresident has committedimpeachable offences.Right now, 168 membershave signed the paper.There is impunity andyou saw what he usedthe police to do here atthe National Assembly.There is no going back.Has the Jonathan admin-

istration stopped corrup-tion? Is the widespreadinsecurity over? You cansee for yourself and wewill show him the wayout.”

PDP members toboostimpeachmentprocess

He said theimpeachment process isbeing boosted by therecruitment of more PDPmembers particularlythose who lost out in thejust concludedprimaries, adding “Onething you must be awareis that even Mr.President’s loyalists whocould not secure returntickets to the House havedeclared intention to joinus in the project”.

Asked how many hadidentified with theimpeachment plot, thelawmaker responded “Ican tell you that inBayelsa, the president’shome state, five out ofthe six lawmakers lostat the primaries andmajority of them willappend theirsignatures. There aresome of his (Jonathan’s)loyalists who before nowcould not see anywrongdoing by thepresident but I’m tellingyou they have now seenthe light and are readyto work with us. Thisscenario I have paintedhere is obtainable invirtually every state.There are manyhonourable memberswho were hesitantinitially but have boughtinto the project. I cantell you it is on course.”

Speaking further, theprincipal officer fromNorth West disclosedthat about 20 moremembers would defectto the APC on Tuesday.

On November 20when the InspectorGeneral of Police, IGP,Suleiman Abba invadedthe National Assemblymore than 120lawmakers appendedtheir signatures to theimpeachment notice.

Most of thesignatories were APCmembers who felt theSpeaker, AminuTambuwal was il l-treated by the executivearm of government.Also, the APC Reps hadcompiled impeachableoffences against MrPresident which theyplan to make publicsoon.

CMYK


Pregnant woman, 7 others injured inOndo gas explosion

By Dayo Johnson

20 shops razed

AKURE — EIGHT persons,including a pregnant

woman, were seriously injuredwhile property worth millions ofnaira were razed in an infernooccasioned by a gas explosionin Akure, the Ondo State capitallate on Saturday.

No fewer than 20 shops wereburnt.

Also, 12 miscreants were saidto have been arrested forallegedly looting shops whilethe fire raged.

Governor Olusegun Mimiko ofOndo State and the state's PoliceCommissioner, Mr Isaac Eke,visited the scene yesterday andaddressed the market womenand shop owners affected by thefire.

National EmergencyManagement Agency, NEMA,and the state police commandsaid nobody died in the incidentcontrary to some newspaperreports, yesterday.

Vanguard gathered that theincident started around 6.30p.m., on Saturday at a gas outletlocated beside Saint Thomas’Anglican Church, Arakale areaof Akure metropolis.

An eyewitness said after thegas outlet was supplied with gas,his neighbours discovered thatone of the cylinders was leaking.

The odour of the leaking gas,according to the eyewitness,became so much, prompting theowner of the outlet to be alerted.

Vanguard gathered that lessthan 10 minutes after the ownerof the outlet was informed, theexplosion occurred.

One of the cylinders reportedlyburst and the explosion spreadto other shops, razing them inquick successions.

It was gathered thatimmediately the explosion tookplace, owners of shops andpeople who came for shoppingran for safety, thinking it wasbomb explosion.

It took several hours beforemen of the Federal Fire Serviceattached to Akure Airport couldarrive the scene, by thenproperty had been consumed.

Irate youths almost lynchedthe fire officers thinking that theywere from the state fire servicewho failed to show up on time,despite repeated calls to them.

It was learned thatsympathisers who trooped to thestate fire service were told thatthey had no fuel in the fire truckand could not go for water.

It was gathered that despitethe combined efforts of men ofthe Nigeria Police Force, NigeriaSecurity and Defence Corps andmen of the 323 Artillery Brigade,some miscreants still lootedwares from the burning shops.

Officials of NEMA, led by MrSaheed Akiode, who is the Head

of Operations for Ekiti Statecovering Ondo and OsunStates, told newsmen that

Scene of the explosion.

there was no casualty in theinferno.

He said those injured had

Pipelinevandalism:17 suspectsremanded inprison

By Esther Onyegbula

LAGOS — SEVENTEENsuspected pipeline

vandals have beencharged to court by theInspector-General of PoliceAnt i -p ipe l ine / I l l ega lBunkering Unit fortampering with oil pipeline,wilfully and maliciouslybreaking of oil pipeline andtampering with the free-flow of refined productswithout lawful authority orappropriate licence.

The suspects includeDennis Tare, 32, HellenDennis Tare, 32, VentureOkpako, 38, JosephineAkowe, 55, Akowe Jacob,41, Emmanuel AkpamaOduburu, 35, OrogbemiEniola, 23, MichealWilson, 26, Yusuf Akorede,30, Ajele Saveme, 23,Noteyi Lots, 35, AdeyemiAdeiye, 35, TajudeenAdebayo, 35, Saye Gbemi,40, Kehinde Alawiye, 41,Ebiye Christopher, 31 andMoibi Azeez, 29.

The unit headed byAssistant Commissioner ofPolice, Friday Ibadin, tolda Federal High Courtsitting in Lagos, that thesuspects did conspireamong themselves andcommitted felony to wit:tampering with oil pipelinethereby committed offencepunishable under section 3(6) of the miscellaneousoffence act Cap M17 of theFederation 2004.

The second charge reads:“That you (suspects) andothers now at large didwilfully or maliciously breakoil pipeline in Arepo for thetransportation of refined oiland thereby committed anoffence punishable undersection 7 (a) of themiscellaneous offence ActCap M17 laws of thefederation 2004,” while thethird count reads that theydid tamper with the free-flow of refined productthrough the oil pipelineand thereby committed anoffence punishable undersection 7 (b) of themiscellaneous offence ActM17 Law of the federation2004.

After hearing the chargesby the prosecuting officer,and the responses by theircounsel, the trial judge,Justice Mohammed Buburemanded the suspects inIkoyi Prisons, Lagos andadjourned further hearingtill January 19, 2015.

From right: Ondo State Commissioner for Health, Dr Dayo Adeyanju, Governor OlusegunMimiko and Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development, Dr Bade Omoloja, duringthe Governor's visit to the victims of the Akure gas explosion, at the Ondo Trauma andSurgical Centre, weekend.

Gunmen kill man, 65, injure three in EdoMy father was assassinated —Son

By Simon Ebegbulem& Gabriel Enogholase

BENIN CITY—SUSPECTED assassins,

weekend, invaded theresidence of the Odionwere(Community Head) of Power-Line Community in Ugbowo,Benin City, Edo State Pa JohnAsemota. He was shot deadwhile three of his tenantsreceived gunshot injuries.

The 66-year-old communityhead was shot on his head andback when the gunmennumbering over seven stormedhis residence at 9:30p.m,Saturday.

The deceased son, MrOsemudiamen Asemota, whonarrated the tragic incident tonewsmen, said that three of hisfather’s tenants who were alsoshot by the gunmen are beingtreated at the University of BeninTeaching Hospital, UBTH.

Dismissing insinuations that itmay have been robbery operation,Asemota, who stated that heinformed the police immediatelythe incident happened, said hisfather might have beenassassinated over communityissues.

He said: “The police actuallyresponded quickly. It was thepolice that took my father’s body

to the mortuary while they alsorushed those shot to hospital formedical attention.

"But one thing that is clear isthat it was not a robberyincident, they were sent to killhim. I am appealing to the policeto investigate the matter with allseriousness."

Contacted, the Edo State PoliceCommissioner, FolunsoAdebanjo, confirmed theincident, saying: “My men inUgbowo rushed to the sceneimmediately when we wereinformed. Crack team ofdetectives are investigating thematter. That is all I can tell younow.”

been treated while those whowere severely burnt were takento hospital.

CMYK


West-Idahosa’s nephew buried inBenin amid tears, condemnation

By Gabriel Enogholase

BENIN — TEARS flowedfreely, weekend, in Benin,

Edo State, as the nephew to MrEhiogie West-Idahosa, Mr.Perebowei Ogei, who waskilled along with his policeorderly while returning from abank few metres from hishouse was buried in his familycompound on Uwa Street,Benin City.

Family members, friends and

well-wishers could not holdback tears as his body waslowered into the grave at12.10 p.m., after a gravesidefuneral ceremony.

Those who spoke toVanguard on condition ofanonymity condemned hiskilling. They, meanwhile,praised Mr. Idahosa for stilltaking part in the primariesdespite the psychologicaltrauma the killings may

have caused him.They called on the Edo State

Police Command to expediteaction in fishing out thoseresponsible for the killingsand ensure that they werebrought to book.

West-Idahosa was asenatorial aspirant of thePeoples Democratic Party,PDP, for Edo South senatorialdistrict and was preparing forthe party’s primaries to elect

who will represent the zoneon the ticket of the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, whenthe incident occurred.

He lost the ticket to Mr.Matthew Urhoghide, whowon the primaries.

Late Perebowei Ogei hadjust returned to the countryfrom abroad where he hadhis Masters degree when hemet his untimely death.

Police nab Fulani herdsmen, recover 3 locally made gunsBy Esther Onyegbula &

Ifeanyi Okolie

Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State (left) sympathising with victims of bomb explosion during his visit to PlateauSpecialist Hospital in Jos, Saturday. Photo: NAN

LAGOS — THE Nigeria Policehave arrested two Fulani

herdsmen who specialised inattacking travellers on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

The two suspects identified asHassan and Umaru aka DG Dogo,are members of a five-manhighway robbery gang that hasbeen terrorising the region.

According to reports, Hassanwas arrested on November 14,2014, by OP-MESA operatives onthe Lagos-Ibadan expresswayduring an unsuccessful operation,while other members of his gangfled. His arrest consequently ledto the arrest of Umaru, the leaderof the gang and recovery of fourlocally made guns and cartridgesat Abule-Egba abattoir.

Confessing to the crime, 22-year-old Hassan told Vanguard that hewas introduced to the gang byUmaru, who promised to assisthim secure a job when he came toLagos.

He said: “I am from Kebbi State.

I reared cattle in my state. WhenI came to Lagos sometime lastyear, I met Umaru, who saidhe would help me secure a jobsince I was new in the state.He led me and the othermembers of the gang to thescene of the operation onIbadan highway.

"I was terrified when theybrought out four guns andgave me one. Initially, I refusedbecause I have never held agun before. I do not even knowhow to operate one either. ButI had to take the gun when theythreatened to kill me.

“Immediately we launchedthe operation, the first vehiclewe flagged down escapedwhile the next one was amilitary vehicle carrying OPMESA soldiers. The othermembers of the gang fledimmediately they sighted themilitary vehicle and that washow the soldiers arrested me.”

In his defence, 28-years-oldUmaru said he steals cows fromOyo State which he sells to

cattle dealers in Lagos State.He said: “I am not a highway

robber, I only steal cows fromcattle rearers in Oyo State andsell them in Lagos State. Hassanframed me up because we had adispute sometimes ago. I workin the abattoir in Abule Egba area.

“Each time I travel to Eruwa in

Oyo State to steal cows I wouldhide in the bush and watch thecattle rearers closely, when theyare asleep, I would steal a cow.I stole 10 cows through thismethod. I sold six cows to AlhajiKajeri for N500,000 while I soldfour cows to (one) Alhaji Maruin Agege for N350,000."

HEALTH ALERT: Roadside food vendors at Oshodi, Lagos State. Photo: Bunmi Azeez

Police nabsuspectedIndian hempdealer inBakassi

By Ike Uchechukwu

CALABAR — THE CrossRiver State Police

Command has nabbed asuspect, Okon, with 104bags of items suspected tobe Indian hemp.

Two drums containing thesubstance were alsoconfiscated from thesuspect at Ikot-Nkese inBakassi Local GovernmentArea of Cross River State.

The suspect, who is in hislate 50s, looked frail whenhe was paraded at theheadquarters of the statePolice Command inCalabar.

Okon had claimed that hewas not the owner of theseized marijuana, addingthat he knew nothing aboutit.

But speaking toVanguard while paradingthe suspect, the state PolicePublic Relations Officer,Mr. Hogan Bassey, said thesuspect was arrested in hishouse around 5 a.mfollowing a tip-off.

“We acted based oninformation. The 104 bagsand two drums werestocked in his house whenwe got there around 5 a.m.He was arrestedimmediately and brought tothe commandheadquarters.”

Bassey said the commandhad concludedarrangement to transfer thesuspect to the NationalDrug Law EnforcementAgency, NDLEA, for furtherinvestigation and eventualprosecution.

“From here, we will movethe suspect and all the itemsrecovered from him to theNDLEA office for furtherinvestigation after which hewill be prosecuted,” headded.

CMYK


OIL PRICE FALL: Prepare for hard times,FG cautions NDIC, others

LECTURE: From left: Former Managing Director of Champion Newspaper, Mr EmmaAgu; Publisher, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu; Prof. Maurice Iwu and Deputy Speaker, Houseof Representatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha during the 25th anniversary and annual lectureof Champion Newspaper in Owerri, Imo State, weekend.

Adeboye to minister at VanguardThursday

By Sam Eyoboka &Olayinka Latona

Mandates RCCG members to register and vote in 2015

LAGOS — GENERALOverseer of the

Redeemed Christian Churchof God, RCCG, Pastor EnochAdejare Adeboye, will be aguest of Vanguardnewspapers on Thursday ashe ministers at VanguardMedia Christian Fellowshipend-of year thanksgiving,praise and worshipprogramme.

Pastor Adeboye will beministering on the topic:“Divine Success andProphetic Breakthrough”, atVanguard corporate headoffice in Kirikiri Canal,Apapa, Lagos by 11:00 am.

Meanwhile, Adeboye hasmandated every member ofthe church resident in thecountry to ensure that theyregister for the forthcomingelections scheduled for earlynext year.

Addressing the mammothcrowd of worshippers at thejust concluded 17th HolyGhost Congress at theRedemption Camp, PastorAdeboye also urged all theparishes of the church withinand outside the country tomake a special collection toalleviate the suffering ofbrethren in the North who arevictims of terrorist and otherviolent attacks in the region.

According to the GeneralOverseer, who adopted amore mathematical approachto his ministrations duringthe congress, it was expedientfor every Nigerian of votingage to register and participatefully in next year’s electoralprocess by electingcandidates of their choice,stressing that any Nigerianwho desires a change muststrive to acquire a voter’scard and must endeavour toregister and vote at theelections.

He also said that RCCGpastors across the countryhad been mandated todemand members’ voterscard on the first Sunday ofJanuary 2015 before theusual thanksgiving blessingwould be pronounced onmembers of the church.

He said: “If you have tosleep at the local governmentoffice to enable you registerand acquire the neededPermanent Voter ’s Card,PVC, do so. It may beinconveniencing but it isimperative for you to get one.I have two cards here(displaying them) one ofthem is my own and the otherbelongs to my wife, and I amsure that my children havegotten their own.

“First Sunday of 2015, you

must come to church with yourvoter’s card. We will check forcompliance before wepronounce the usual blessingson that day.”

On terror victims

On the army of displacedpersons in different parts of thecountry, the man of God said:“A lot of persons have beenwounded by the series ofviolent crises in the northern

region of the country. As achurch, we have done our littlebit by donating relief materialsand cash to the victims but Iwant to give you all a platformfor you to contribute your quotato make life a little comfortablefor the displaced persons inparts of the country.

“If you want to contribute,please package your materials,money and whatever you wantto give and send them to thenearest offices of the Christian

Association of Nigeria, CAN,for onward transmission to thevictims,” he appealed to thearmy of Christian worshippers.

He repeated theannouncement on Saturday,apparently to underscore theimportance of the issue, notingthat Christians should learn tobe their brothers keepers bysending all donations to CANbranch offices across thecountry or the dedicatedaccount of the Association.

By Emmanuel Elebeke

ABUJA— THE FederalGovernment has urged the

Nigeria Deposit InsuranceCorporation, NDIC, and otherregulatory institutions in thenation’s financial sector to put inplace pro-active mechanisms toensure continued depositorprotection and a safe and soundfinancial system that wouldminimise the impact of the fallingoil prices on the economy.

Minister of State for Finance,Ambassador Basir Yuguda, madethe call, weekend, in Abuja at theNDIC 25th anniversary gala/awards night.

The minister said though theaccomplishments and successesrecorded by NDIC over the yearscalled for celebration, theimminent economic down turnstaring the country on the facedemanded that the corporationand other sister regulatoryinstitutions should adoptmeasures to save Nigeria frompossible dangers.

He said: “While we celebrateon this auspicious occasion, Iwant us to spare a moment’sthought to some issues which arestarring us in the face, and whichmay dictate our economic fortunesin time to come, because they will

inevitably determine how wellbanks supervisors andregulators should prepare,position and pro-actively react tocircumstances as they occur.

“Another time for caution ishere. Red-flashes have onceagain appeared on the globalhorizon, which we must as anation, take note of, and preparefor. Anyone or nation that doesnot learn from previous crisis isindeed unwittingly placing him/itself squarely in the line of fire.Similar events to those whichheralded the most recentrecession are once again playingout.”

The minister, who lamentedthe recent shocking impact of thefall in oil price on the naira and2015 budget, charged allgovernment agencies to ensurethat the current situation iscontained with less impact to theeconomy.

According to him, “it isunfortunate to note that thefalling oil prices have alreadybegun to take a toll on us. Wehave seen in the most recentpast, the value of the nairabattling to remain at a reasonablelevel against other foreigncurrencies. This is alreadyhaving an effect on our 2015

budget by ways of theannounced cuts and belt-tightening measures.

“I call on NDIC to once againrise up to this challenge asalways. You must ensure that youput in place pro-activemechanisms to ensure continueddepositor protection and soundeconomic system.”

CongratulatesNDIC over award

He, however, congratulatedthe corporation on the receipt ofthe international award, IADI, asthe best deposit insuranceorganisation of the year, whichhe described a testimony to thecorporation’s commitment toexcellence in the discharge of itsmandate and roles as a depositinsurer.

In his goodwill message,Chairman, NDIC Board, HassanAdamu, said since theestablishment of the NDIC 25years ago, it had remained astrong player in the safety-netmechanism of the Nigerianbanking system, therebyensuring the protection ofdepositors and continuedstability of the Nigerian financialsystem.

Volkswagen,Stallion beginvehicleassembly inNigeria

LAGOS — AN agreementto establish a vehicle

assembly plant in Nigeriahas been signed betweenglobal automobilemanufacturer VolkswagenGroup and regionalconglomerate, StallionGroup

This will mark a historicreturn of the German carmaker after more than 20years of their departurefollowing the collapse oftheir joint venture with theFederal Government leadingto the closure of theirmanufacturing facility inLagos and the subsequentsale of government shares tothe Stallion Group.

In line with the new autopolicy announced by theFederal Government inOctober 2013, thecollaboration between theVolkswagen Group andStallion will result in localassembly of primeVolkswagen brands inNigeria.

Stallion will assemble theJetta, Volkswagen CC, andAmarok models during theinitial phase, followed by thePassat, Tiguan and othermodels in subsequentphases.

The Volkswagen Groupwith its headquarters inWolfsburg, Germany is oneof the world’s leadingautomobile manufacturersand the largest car maker inEurope.

The Group operates 107production plants in 19European countries and afurther eight countries in theAmericas, Asia and Africa.The Volkswagen Group sellsits vehicles in 153 countries.

Stallion Group is already theexclusive distributor for severalbrands of the VolkswagenGroup including Volkswagen,Audi, Skoda, and Porsche.

Stallion Group is amultinational conglomeratewith a 45-year historyoperating in Nigeria and in 18countries and is engaged indiversified industries.

Commenting on thepartnership, Stallion’sChairman Sunil Vaswani said“This is a proud moment forStallion in partnering with aworld-leading global brandlike Volkswagen.

He said further that “Stallionis fully committed to achievingits objectives in establishingassembly operations inNigeria, and expanding intoother aspects of the automotiveindustry value chain.”

CMYK


Fuel scarcity looms as oil workersbegin nationwide strike

By Victor Ahiumayoung& Jimitota Onoyume

LAGOS—NIGERIA Union ofPetroleum and Natural Gas

Workers, NUPENG, and itsPetroleum and Natural GasSenior Staff Association ofNigeria, PENGASSAN, willtoday begin an indefinitenationwide strike, to protest theinability of the government tocarry out Turn AroundMaintenance, TAM, of therefineries and reduce pumpprices of petroleum products inline with the slump in globalprices of crude oil.

Other grievances includedelay in the passage of thePetroleum Industry Bill, PIB;non-implementation of theNigeria Oil and Gas IndustryContent Development,NOGICD, Act to reflectNigerians in managementpositions and expatriate quotalaw; appalling state of accessroads to refineries and oil depots’facilities and insecurity in thecountry that has led to the deathof members.

Other complaints areappointments in governmentagencies in disregards tosuccession planning,compulsory deduction fromworkers’ salaries for the NationalHousing Fund, NHF;casualisation and contractstaffing and unfair labourpractice by companies andgovernment agencies.

The grievances also includetermination of appointment ofthe Port Harcourt Zonal Secretaryof the association by TotalExploration and Production,Total E&P, Nigeria Limited;retardation of staff promotion inthe Petroleum TechnologyDevelopment Fund, PTDF; non-standardisation of nomenclatureand collective bargainingagreement of the NigerianNuclear Regulatory Agency,NNRA, in line with what isobtained in other agencies in theoil and gas industry and refusalof the management of Addax/Petrostuff Nigeria Limited andChevron/Sudelletra to recallsacked staff.

The oil workers issued a 14-day ultimatum to governmentOctober 31, 2014, threateningthat at the expiration they wouldno longer issue any notice togovernment because the issueshad been protracted andgovernment and other affectedcompanies had not shown anycommitment to addressing theworkers grievances. .

The unions had issued astatement that all levels of theunions had been fully sensitisedand mobilised for the inevitableindustrial actions that wouldaffect every value chain in theupstream, midstream anddownstream of the oil and gas

industry.Vanguard gathered that

ahead of the strike, branchleaders of the two unions metat the zonal levels in Lagos,Port Harcourt, Warri andKaduna and had set up jointmonitoring committees to

From left: Alumni Relations Director, Lagos Business School, Pan Atlantic University, HenryOnukwuba; Education Secretary, Local Government Education Authority, Ibeju Lekki, AlhajiOlatunde Talemu; IMP1 CSR Project Coordinator, Mr Olufemi Williams and Class PresidentIMP1, Mr Kayode Falowo at the handover ceremony of the block of classroom renovatedat Awoyaya Primary School by IMP1 Class, in Lagos.

Falana petitions Coca-Cola over allegedbreach of int'l standards

LAGOS — Human rightsactivist and a member of the

inner Bar, Mr Femi FalanaSAN, has petitioned the UnitedStates-based Coca-ColaCompany, over the failure of thecompany in Nigeria to respectinternational standards in itsmanufacturing process and itsrefusal to subject its productsto inspection by the ConsumerProtection Council of Nigeria,CPC.

In a letter addressed to theChairman of the Board andChief Executive Officer of theCoca-Cola Company, MuhtarKent, Mr Falana accused Coca-Cola of exhibiting doublestandard as it would not breachinternational standards in itsoperations in the United Statesor the United Kingdom as itdoes in Nigeria and threatensto seek redress in court if Coca-Cola persists in violating thefundamental right of Nigeriansto health by supplyingproducts which are injurious totheir health.

Falana in his letter said: “Ihave confirmed that the refusalto effectively comply withNigerian laws and regulationsis selective on the part of yourcompany because I am fullyaware that Coca-Cola will notset out to breach internationalstandards in its operations inthe United States or the United

Kingdom without seriousconsequences and punishmentby the appropriate authorities inboth countries.

“In the circumstance, thefollowing questions are pertinent:Why has the Coca-Cola companyengaged in impunity in itsoperations in Nigeria? Whywould the Coca-Cola Companyexpect not to be held responsiblein Nigeria when its productscontain rusty bottle crown corks,rusty cans and foreign particles?Are the health conditions ofNigerians less important thanthose of Americans? Why wouldCoca-Cola Company refuse toestablish a Shelf Life Policy fortheir products in the countrywhich clearly would help tofacilitate the removal of expiredproducts from the market?

“I contend that the doublestandard clearly being exhibitedby the Coca-Cola company inNigeria is not only unethical butalso inconsistent withinternational best practices andstandards such as the GuidingPrinciples on Business andHuman Rights: Implementingthe United Nations Protect,Respect and RemedyFramework. The GuidingPrinciples were endorsed by theUN Human Rights Council inJune 2011.

“In the light of the foregoing, I

am compelled to urge Coca-Cola Company to ensureconsistency in its practice andoperations whether indeveloped countries like theUnited States and the UnitedKingdom or developingcountries like Nigeria.

"Coca-Cola should show agreater level of responsibility byensuring that its products are notharmful to the Nigerianconsumers and to allow the CPCand other authorities to carry outtheir mandates in cases whereCoca-Cola Company’soperations or services are foundto be directly or indirectlyinjurious to the health ofNigerians.

“Take notice that if the Coca-Cola company continues to defythe authority of the ConsumerProtection Council and persistsin violating the fundamentalright of the Nigerian people tohealth by supplying productswhich are injurious to theirhealth we shall not hesitate toapply to the appropriate HighCourt for redress which willinclude the payment ofexemplary and punitivedamages and the suspension ofthe operations of the Coca-colacompany in Nigeria until it isprepared to operate within theambit of the law.”

BankersC'ttee topursueimportsubstitutionthroughMSMEs

By BabajideKomolafe

LAGOS — THEBankers Committee

has resolved to channelmore funding to MicroSmall and MediumEnterprises (MSMEs)sector to boost importsubstitution anddiversification in theeconomy.

This decision wastaken at the 2014 editionof the committee’sannual retreat held inCalabar, Cross RiverState.

The committeecomprises ChiefExecutives of banks,Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) and the NigeriaDeposit InsuranceCorporation (NDIC).

A statement issued afterthe retreat said:“Following the recentdepreciation of the localcurrency, the committeesees the MSME sector asthe next growth area inthe economy provided itis given full attentionand support.

"At the end of thedeliberations, thecommittee resolved tomassively channelresources in agriculture,power and MSMEsectors of the economy.The aim of the reneweddrive is to boost thecountry ’s importsubstitution andd i v e r s i f i c a t i o nstrategies.

"The committeeexpressed full convictionin the fact that the longterm success of thebanking sector lies in thegrowth of these sectors. Itwas noted that there is askew in the distribution ofcredit facilities in thecountry as about 100companies in the countryaccount for more than 75per cent of the loans whichthe banks offer in thecountry."

The CBN Governor onassumption of officeunveiled an agenda,which included focus andfacilitating rapid growthin three key sectors ofPower, Agriculture andthe Micro, Small andMedium Enterprises(MSMEs).

ensure the strike is effective.

On crude oil theftOn crude oil theft and acts of

vandalism, NUPENG andPENGASSAN alleged highlevel collaboration of thesecurity agencies, politicians

and highly placed Nigeriansin the buccaneering racket ofoil and gas installations andthe resultant crude oil theft,lamenting that the ugly trendsignified a looming extinctionof the oil and gas industry withattendant job losses.

CMYK


FRESH crisis isbrewing at the Lagos

State University, LASU, as thegeneral congress of theAcademic Staff Union ofUniversities, ASUU, of theinstitution, weekend,suspended its union’sexecutive members led byMr. Adekunle Idris for lackof focus and poor leadershipstyle.

The decision which wasarrived after an extensivedeliberation by the congresssubsequently, announced theestablishment of an interimexecutive led by AsokereAyodele to take charge of theunion’s affairs until aproperly constitutedexecutive for the union is putin place.

The congress also directedthat a five-man investigativepanel be constituted to probeactivities of the suspendedASUU-LASU executives.

LASU crisis: Congress suspends ASUU excosBy Olasunkanmi Akoni

THE All ProgressivesCongress, APC, has

assured Nigerians that thechoice of its presidentialrunning mate will be madewithin the context of the bestdemocratic ideals, just likethat of its presidentialcandidate.

In a statement issued inLagos, yesterday, by itsNational Publicity Secretary,Alhaji Lai Mohammed, theparty urged Nigerians toignore the widespread andmisleading reports in thetraditional and social mediaabout the choice of the APCpresidential running mate,saying the party has yet toeven meet, not to talk ofpicking a running mate.

It described the reports thata running mate has beenpicked to run with the APCpresidential candidate, Gen.Muhammadu Buhari, asunnecessarily sensational,downright speculative andtotally misleading.

Mohammed said, "We areusing this opportunity to tellNigerians to pray for us as weseek to pick a running matefor our presidentialcandidate. This is becausethis choice is not just for usbut for all of Nigeria."

Party yet to choose Buhari’s running mate — APC

From Left: Managing Director, Lafarge Africa Plc, WAPCO Operations, Peju Adebajo; LagosState First Lady, Dame Abimbola Fashola; Chairman, Ovie Brume Foundation, Evelyn Oputu;Ogun State First Lady, Olufunso Amosun; Group Managing Director/CEO, Lafarge Africa Plc,Guillaume Roux and winners, at the grand finale of the maiden edition of the Lafarge LiteracyCompetition, in Lagos

suspended executives.“At a well-attended congress

meeting of the union, wereviewed the eventsunfolding within the union inthe last 21 months under theregime of Mr. Adekunle Idris-led exco. After extensivedeliberations, it was decidedthat since the Idris–led excoshas lost focus and hasdisplayed gross incapabilityto hold the union as one,leading to its balkanization,the exco is hereby suspended.

Eminentscholars

“An investigative panelcomprising eminent scholarsis hereby constituted to probethe Idris–led excos and reportback to the congress within14 days. Therefore, dearmembers of the press, theentire public is hereby notifiedof the suspension of Mr.Adekunle Idris–led excos andshould cease to parade

themselves as chairman andexcos of the union.

“Finally, an interim exco ledby my humble self has been putin place to steer the ship of ourunion until a properlyconstituted exco is put in place.”The interim chairman said.

While fielding questions fromjournalists, Asokere explainedthe rationale behind thesuspension of the excos, sayingmembers were tired of Idris’leadership style and lack of unityin the union.

He said: “Generally, apart fromtrainings, there are individualtraits and there is what is calledleadership style. Adekunle hasgrossly displayed that he lackedboth the capability andwillingness to hold his subjectstogether. Ability to harmonizevarious groups is an importantingredient of leadership, but ithas been displayed that thesuspended chairman of ASUU-LASU that he lacked thisqualities.”

The party said each of thecandidates that has beenspeculated as a running mateto Gen. Buhari isunquestionably competent tobe a Vice President or evenPresident, adding, however,that no choice has yet beenmade by the party.

"We are glad with the

feedback we have receivedfrom Nigerians on thetransparent and rancour-freemanner in which ourpresidential primaries wasorganized. We are assuringNigerians that the choice ofour presidential running matewill also be guided by bestdemocratic ideals.

"We appreciate the nationwideinterest that the choice of ourpresidential candidate and hisrunning mate has generated. Itis a mark of the confidence thatNigerians repose in us. Weassure that we will notdisappoint our compatriots whohave seen our party as the agentof the change they so muchcrave,"he said.

IJEBU ODE – THEFederal Road Safety

Corps, FRSC, has warnedthat convoys found guiltyof disregard for traffic lawsand reckless driving willhenceforth be exposed andprosecuted.

The FRSC Assistant CorpsCommander, Isah Seidu,gave the warning in Ijebu-Ode, yesterday, during theflag-off of the ‘Ember ’months road safetycampaign.

Seidu said the actionbecame imperative tocurtail the excesses ofconvoy drivers whoseactions endangered thelives of other road users.

He said, Experience hasshown that during thefestive period, because ofthe heavy vehicularmovement, convoy driversshow their impatience byunjustified blaring of sirensand reckless driving.Tracking them down hasalways been very difficult,but this time around, ratherthan trying to track themdown, we will expose themthrough our new ‘Show ofShame’ directive.

“We have designatedcameras on the highwaysto film convoys violatingthe law whose video clipswould be sent to mediahouses for the public tojudge."

FRSC warnsagainstharmattandriving

THE senatorial ambitionof Dr. Abisola Sodipo-

Clark received a boost,weekend, in Abeokuta, OgunState following endorsementsshe received from two non-governmental organizations,

Groups drum support for Clark’s wifenamely a women advocacygroup, Women for ChangeVanguard, WCV and a mediapressure group, GatewayMedia Front, GMF. They aregiving her support after shepicked the Peoples Democratic

Party, PDP senatorial ticket forOgun Central district.

At separate fora, the twogroups championed thecause of the senatorialaspirant describing her as an“epitome of virtue”.

The medical doctor turnedpolitician recently won the ticketof the PDP to contest thesenatorial election in a keenlycontested exercise. She is aformer health commissioner inOgun State.

Omotoshopromises regulartown hallmeetings

MR. Anthony BakareOmotosho who is

contesting for the Eti-OsaFederal constituency on theplatform of the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, haspromised that if elected intooffice, he will hold regulartown hall meetings with hispeople.

Omotosho said whileaddressing newsmen inLagos that the town hallmeeting is to enable thepeople express their needsso that he can translatethem into law for them.

He said he was a testedhand and a grassrootsperson, adding that if votedin and he disappoints hispeople, it could cause hispeople not to trust andbelieve in any personagain.

According to him, sincethe previous occupant ofthe office has not performed,he doesn’t deserve anotherterm.

By Rosemary Onuoha

Asokere, along with twoothers, Afobuno Sunday andRasaq Adewale Olowuconveyed the congress’decisions at a media briefingat the weekend. They said thatthe union’s emergencycongress held on Thursday,December 11, 2014 had inattendance about 150 academicstaff out of the 450 staff who areactive on campus at the periodof the congress.

According to Asokere, thecongress was well-attendedgoing by records of the pastattendance, adding thatavailable records of members’attendance at previouscongresses showed that thenumber of attendees wasnormally between 50 and 100.

The interim chairman saidthat the notice of the exco’ssuspension was beingcommunicated to the variousgroups affected by the decisionincluding the ASUU Lagos, theASUU national, the LASUmanagement and the

CMYK


Oyo 2015: Why we're fielding Alao-Akala —LPBy Dapo Akinrefon

COMMISSIONING: From left: Prelate, Methodist Church Nigeria, His Eminence SundayMbang; former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Governor Godswill Akpabio ofAkwa Ibom State, during the commissioning and dedication of Mbang's Methodist ChurchNigeria, in Eket.

THE Labour Party has saidthat there was nothing

strange in Alao Akala clinchingits governorship ticket in OyoState.

In a statement by its NationalSecretary, Mr. Kayode Ajulo,the party said: “It is just amatter of water eventuallyfinding its level. The issuesmust be put in correctperspective. It is not enough tolimit ourselves to mere toothpicking analysis or fixatedsocial media opinion."

Ajulo, however, argued thatthe LP decided to opt for Alao-Akala due to his achievementswhile he was governor of OyoState.

He said: “When we take thecase of Akala, for instance, it willbe recalled that during histenure as governor of Oyo State,he carried along the workers inthe various unions, includingthe National Union of RoadTransport Workers, NURTW,teachers, market women, civilsocieties, etc. While othergovernors in states controlledby supposedly progressive andpro-people parties placedembargo on employment andwere not ready to implementthe minimum wage, Akalaemployed more workers and didnot denigrate the position of theworking class.

“Equally important is the factthat Akala did not just get theLabour Party ticket in Oyo Stateon a platter of gold or for theasking. It was not also a matterof giving the ticket to thehighest bidder. Akala workedhis way rigorously andpainstakingly up the ladder. Hewas endorsed by all those who

matter in the party after athorough check on his renewedcommitment to the cause of thecommon man. He, indeed, hadthe support of other aspirantswho acknowledged his worthand surrendered everything tohim.”

Ajulo added that theleadership of the party iscurrently “inundated withrequests by politicians from theso-called large parties, whohave either been betrayed orshortchanged and are seekinga credible platform on which toblossom and achieve their

objective of truly transformingthe polity. Some of our leadershave left their usual abode inorder to avoid the deluge ofpoliticians. They are coming inslews, seeking succour frominjustice, seeking refuge frombackstabbing, and seeking hopein a political future free frommoney mongering and selfishgreed. This is anacknowledgement that theLabour Party is the last hope ofthe people.”

“Ordinarily, Labour Partyshould be the ruling party or themain party, as we have in the

United Kingdom, and not justone of the opposition. InNigeria, most aspiringpoliticians often findthemselves in the parties theyconsider as the ones withprospect to win in their ownlocality. Ideally, principles andprogrammes of a party, itsmanifesto, should determine itsmembership. But in Nigeria alot of primordial considerationscome to the fore. Only very fewparties indeed have clear-cutideology. Labour is one of suchparties founded on principle,”he added.

OGUN State Governor,Senator Ibikunle Amosun,

has commended the maturity andstatesmanship displayed byaspirants and delegates at thejust concluded presidentialprimaries of All ProgressivesCongress, APC.

In a statement signed by hisSenior Special Assistant onMedia, Mrs OlufunmilayoWakama, Amosun alsocongratulated the winner,General Mohammadu Buhari,on his overwhelming victory, andthe APC, for conducting free, fairand credible presidentialprimaries, acceptable to allcontestants.

He described the election ofBuhari as timely and welldeserved, adding that theeventual election of the APC’spresidential flag bearer in the

2015 poll will restore investorconfidence in Nigeria and alsobring an end to the insurgencyin the nation.

“With his experience and trackrecord, I strongly believe thatwhen elected, come 2015,Mohammadu Buhari wouldtackle the spate of insurgencyand restore investors' confidencein our economy and indeed thenation.

“I also commend thestatesmanship of the otheraspirants and the maturitydisplayed by all at the primaries.Other contestants congratulatedthe winner and that is veryworthy of emulation,” thegovernor said.

Amosun enjoined all partyfaithful and well meaningNigerians to vote massively forthe APC and its candidates at all

levels, pointing out that thequantum of development across theAPC governed states and thepeaceful conduct of the presidentialprimaries are clear demonstrationthat the party is not only committedto democratic ideals but alsopassionate about fulfilling itselectoral promises.

Buhari presidency'll restore investors’ confidence—Amosun

Amosun hasdelivereddividends ofthree termsalready—AIDE

SPECIAL Assistanton Media to the

Governor of Ogun State,Mr Soyombo Opeyemi,has said that the SenatorIbikunle Amosun-ledadministration hasdelivered democraticdividends of three termsin just three years of hisfirst term.

He noted that thegargantuan investmentin social services such assecurity, education, road,health, employmentgeneration, etc, whichwas unprecedented inthe annals of the state,was a testament to thee x t r a o r d i n a r ycommitment of thegovernor to the welfare ofthe people of Ogun State.

Soyombo disclosed thisyesterday during thepublic presentation ofhis book, Ogun State:The Golden Years, at theDLK Events Centre,Abeokuta.

He explained that byvirtue of Amosun’ssterling performance injust three years in office,“the much-elusivedevelopment is actuallywithin our reach andattainment despite oursuffocating unitarysystem disguised asfederalism.”

Soyombo opined that“A journey can be longand uneventful while ajourney can be short andfull of events. Amosunhas proved that one doesnot need 20 years tomake the difference inthe lives of your people."


Delta 2015: Nobody can blackmailTompolo —Ijaw leader

Bayelsa West PDP primaries: Stakeholdersdivided over Senate flag bearers

Why change must come in 2015 —OshiomholeBy Simon Ebegbulem

By Samuel Oyadongha

Army destroysillegal refineryin Sapele

Patani youthsvow toprotectGanagana’semergenceas Delta PDPAssembly flagbearer

BENIN—GOVERNORAdams Oshiomhole of

Edo State, yesterday, said thatthe 16 years rule of PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, in thecountry has re-partitionedNigerians along ethnic andreligious divides, adding thatthe situation had not onlyweakened the foundation of thecountry’s unity, “but has alsoplayed brothers againstbrothers, leading to a lot ofbloodshed.”

He said that the only solutionto the nation’s problems was forNigerians to vote for change in2015, adding that the PDP-ledFederal Government has showncrass incompetence in fixing theproblems despite its 16 yearsrule so far in the country.

The governor, who addressednewsmen shortly afterattending the 22nd convocationand 50th anniversary of FederalPolytechnic, Auchi,admonished the PDP to leavethe stage and “do soulsearching to know why after 16years in power, they have notfixed power, education, healthsector and roads. They havedashed the expectations of theyouths and have polluted thepolitical atmosphere andweakened the foundation of ournational unity. They have re-partitioned the country along

religious and ethnic divide,have played brothers againstbrothers and sisters againstsisters.

“They are buffeting us withprimordial sentiments in placeof issues of development andthe country is weaker today. Weneed people who fought to keepNigeria together to come backand fix what PDP had brokenand it is all about all of us today.

Nigerians should vote forchange. Even PDP needschange. You can see that theinternal contradictions withinthe PDP is like a weak fabric,the more you patch it, the moreit gets torn and after 16 years,even PDP will agree that theyhave not delivered on thepromises of democracy.

“Look at the newspapers, theyhave issues today because the

cost of production is going upbecause of escalating cost ofprocuring diesel because youare still not able to print withpower despite all the reformsand deforms of the power sector.Look at the typical newspapertoday, you don’t find productsadverts, what you find isobituary, birthdays , endlesscongratulatory messages."

FOLLOWING theoutcome of last week’s

governorship primaries of theruling Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, in Delta State,politicians and mischief makershave been warned not to blameChief GovernmentEkpemupolo, alias Tompolo, fortheir failure.

Ijaw leader, Chief Beck Hitler,who gave the warning,yesterday in Warri, said thosetrying to blackmail Tompolo willcertainly fail, noting thatnobody should blame Tompolo

for the outcome of the primaries.Hitler said that since the

outcome of the governorshipprimaries which produced Dr.Ifeanyi Okowa as thegovernorship candidate of PDP,there have been maliciousand misleading text messagesand publications to undermineTompolo.

“In politics, it is either you loseor win. It is wrong for anybodyto attribute his failure in thePDP primaries to Tompolo, whowas not even a delegate in anyof the primaries," he said.

By Chioma Onuegbu

I'll lead APC to victory in A-Ibom —Umana

UYO—GOVERNORSHIPcandidate of All

Progressives Congress, APC,in Akwa Ibom State, Mr.Umana Okon Umana, haspromised to ensure that theparty wins most electivepositions at all levels in theforthcoming general elections.

Umana, yesterday, briefednewsmen in Uyo, noted thatwith the migration of manyAkwa Ibom electorate to APCin their desire for change, hehas no doubt that allcandidates of the party willemerge victorious at the 2015polls. He thanked the party forallowing a level playingground for all eligibleaspirants in the just concludedprimaries.

He said: “As you know verywell, the Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP decided to excludetwo senatorial districts inAkwa Ibom State from theircontest and for thegovernorship at the level ofthe primaries. Certainly thatis undemocratic andunconstitutional. I must alsoadd that the primary reasonwe had to leave the PDP wasbecause of the lack of internaldemocracy in the party.

“So, I thank the leadership

of my party at the national,state, local government, and atthe ward levels for the verywarm way they embraced meand my supporters who left thePDP to join the APC. We are

happy that we have a newplatform which is anchored onthe tenets of democraticprinciples and embraces allwho are eligible to contest forany position.

“We are done with theprimaries and we are back asone united party, and thereis no victor, there is novanquished."

Y E N A G O A —STAKEHOLDERS in

the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, Bayelsa State, appeareddivided over the outcome of theparallel party primariesconducted at the West senatorialdistrict of the state, whichproduced Senator HeinekenLokpobiri and Evangelist FosterOgola, respectively.

While a former aide to theimmediate past administration inthe state, Prince LuckyYuobougha, insisted that theprimaries conducted by thefaction of the party loyal toSenator Lokpobiri was authenticand should be upheld by theNational leadership of the party,a socio-political group under theaegis of Bayelsa Youths forNational Interest, BYNI, called forthe cancellation of primaries,describing same as unacceptable.

Yuobougha, who is from the

senatorial district, said that thedecision of party members tosupport Senator Lokpobiri againstthe choice of Governor SeriakeDickson was based on the needfor pragmatic leadership at theSenate.

He said: “Senator Lokpobiri

was the choice of the people.Aside the fact that Lokpobiriplayed a vital role in securingsupports for Dickson byconvincing aggrieved party mento support the governor, thechoice of the people should beupheld."

By Festus Ahon

ASABA—YOUTHSof Patani Local

Government Area, DeltaState, have vowed to resistthe rumored attempt tosubvert the will of Patanipeople as reflected in theNovember 29 PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP,House of Assemblyprimaries, which saw theemergence of the DeputySpeaker of the state Houseof Assembly, Mr BasilGanagana.

The youths, in astatement, said: “We willnot hesitate to mobilise allstakeholders in the area touse legitimate democraticmeans to protect theoutcome of the primaries.”

The statement, by itsspokesman, Mr. TimiPreye, frowned at theunconfirmed reports thatsome politicians in the statewere engaging in“clandestine moves to alterthe PDP primary election inthe area that producedGanagana as winner with31 votes as declared by MrUdju Isaac, the partyReturning Officer for thatelection to defeat Mr. TonyeTimi, immediate pastCommissioner SpecialDuties (DESOPADEC),who polled 18 votes toemerge second."

By Godwin Oghre

S A P E L E —SOLDIERS of the

19 Battalion, SapeleBarracks, in conjunctionwith the Joint Task Force,JTF, Operation PuloShield, have discoveredand destroyed an illegalrefinery behind KokoGarage, between SapeleAthletic Club and theSapele Township stadium.

A senior military officerin the team, said that thedestroyed illegal refinery,operated by a middle agedEdo woman, currently onthe run, was just one ofabout six sites located instrategic positions acrossthe town, discoveredrecently through a tip offby the soldiers.

CONVOCATION: Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State (left) and Mallam IbrahimShekarau, Minister of Education, at the 50th Anniversary and 22nd convocation of FederalPolytechnic, Auchi, Edo State, weekend.

CMYK


Delta PDP primaries: UPU accuses Ibori of sell out

By Festus Ahon

Islamic clerics kick against closure ofEgyptian consul office

ASABA—THE leadershipof Urhobo Progress

Union, UPU, yesterday,accused former governor ofDelta State, Chief James Ibori,and other Urhobo politiciansof masterminding the failureof its endorsed PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP,governorship aspirant in theDecember 8 primaries of theparty, Chief David Edevbie.

President General of UPU,Chief Joe Omene, who spokewhen Chief Great Ogboru paidhim a courtesy visit, allegedthat Ibori worked against theinterest of the Urhobo byinstructing Urhobo delegatesto vote against Edevbie.

Disclosing that the UPU wasyet to decide on appropriatesanctions against all those“who sold Urhobo” during thePDP governorship primaries,he insisted: “We still stand bythe Uvwiamughe declaration.”

On the rumouredendorsement of thegovernorship candidate of AllProgressives Congress, APC,Chief O’tega Emerhor, Omenesaid that UPU was yet toendorse anybody for the 2015governorship in the state,adding: “Such rumour shouldbe disregarded.”

He said that the UPU wouldsoon meet to take a positionon the governorship poll,adding that the Urhobo wouldnot vote for any political partythat does not give itsgovernorship ticket to an

Urhobo.He said that the Urhobo

would stand by the LabourParty and the APC in 2015.

He, added that the UPUwould soon take a decision onwho to endorse in the 2015governorship, adding that thedecision would be reached af-

ter wide consultation withthe youths, women andelders .

He noted that the UPUwould support the mostpopular and marketablegovernorship candidateirrespective of his politicalparty, adding that the

Urhobo will not vote for thosewho betrayed them in thePDP governorship primaryelection.

Warning against namedropping, Omene said thatthose dropping names werelazy politicians, who do notwant to campaign.

By Babatunde Jimoh

THE League of Imams andAlfas in South-West, Edo

and Delta States, hasexpressed dissatisfaction overthe move to close down theLagos consul office of theEgyptian Embassy inNigeria.

The group, in an open letterto the Minister of ForeignAffairs of Arab Republic ofEgypt, Mr. Sameh Shoukry,said: “The proximity of South-West and South-South to Lagoscannot be compared to Abuja,where the embassy hasanother consul office. Askingpeople from these areas totravel to Abuja will amount toputting their lives at risk as aresult of bad road networks insome parts of the country.“

The letter by Grand Imam,State/President, League ofImams and Alfa, Sheik HaroonShuara, also noted that the

proposed shut down of Lagosconsul office will affect a vastmajority of Nigerian Muslimsand also inconvenience manyEgyptians living in Lagos andother South-West states.

It urged Shoukry to borrowa leaf from other embassieswhich, apart from allowingonline application, stillmaintain consul offices inLagos and Abuja.

Elumelu commends Clark on DeltaPDP primaries

THE Ijaw national leader,Chief Edwin Clark, has

been commended for hisdetermination to ensure equityand fair play in politics ofNigeria, especially in the justconcluded Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, governorshipprimaries in Delta State.

A former PDP governorshipaspirant and memberrepresenting Aniocha/Oshimili federal constituency,Mr Ndudi Elumelu, while

acknowledging the role theelder statesman played in hisbid for the governorship ofDelta State, described Clarkas a detribalized man, whoalways supports a just causeand believes in the unity ofDelta State.

Acknowledging his fatherlyadvice during his consultationvisit, Elumelu urged Clark tocontinue to ensure that heplays the role of a bridgebuilder as posterity will justifyhis contributions to humanity.

APC, PDPaccused ofsowing seedsof discord inOwan

THE OwanProgressives Youth

Solidarity Vanguard hasblamed the ruling, AllProgressives Congress,APC, in Edo State and theopposition PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, inthe state of what itdescribed as “a deliberatemove towards instituting along lasting feud andsowing seeds of discordamongst a united Owanpeople.”

The youths frowned at thefielding of candidates byAPC and PDP, who are bothfrom Owan East LocalGovernment Area for theHouse of Representatives,Owan federal constituencyin the state in the 2015general elections at time itwas the turn of Owan Westcouncil, saying it “is adeliberate attempt topolitically sideline andsilent indigenes from OwanWest Local GovernmentArea.”

Mr. Braimoh Ofemu, ina statement, weekend inAfuze, said “We appeal toour traditional rulers,leaders, elders, wellmeaning sons anddaughters from both OwanWest and East councils towade into the matter inorder to maintain theexisting statues quo."


ENUGU 2015: APC, UPP blast PDPover multiple parallel primaries

By Francis Igata

ENUGU — TWO oppositionparties, the All

Progressives Congress, APC andUnited Progressives Party, UPP,yesterday, bombed the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, EnuguState, chapter over the multipleparallel primaries thatcharacterised the House ofRepresentatives, Senate andgovernorship primaries to electcandidates for the variouspositions.

The PDP had been enmeshedin crisis over the authenticdelegates list used for the conductof primaries for the House ofRepresentatives, Senate andgovernorship, forcing aggrievedaspirants to conduct parallelprimaries in the state.

Reacting to the uglydevelopment, the Chairman,APC, Enugu State, Dr. BenNwoye said: “I announced thedemise of PDP in the state a monthago. The evidence is what you arewitnessing now. PDP will not field

governorship, and Senatecandidates in the forthcomingelections in the state. This isbecause PDP will be tied down incourt trying to seek them out.They will not come out of it beforethe February general elections.The evil they committed have cometo track them down.

“Look at the primaries forEnugu-North/Enugu-Eastsenatorial districts. Multiplecandidates emerged winners frommultiple primaries. The aspirantsjostling for these offices are not

seeking to serve the people.Rather, they are seeking theirown selfish interest. That is whyyou see them conduct multipleprimaries.

“That is why they havedestroyed their own party in theirself political pursuit. I raisedalarm when the endorsement ofgovernorship candidate wasfraudulently conducted by theparty. The beneficiary of theexercise went to town thankingEnugu people as if he has beenelected governor by Enugupeople.

"Now the truth is out. The partyhas used non-delegates to electhim as the governorshipcandidate in disregard tosubsisting court order andNational Working Committee,NWC, stance.

In the same vein, NationalChairman, UPP, Chief ChekwasOkorie, bemoaned thedevelopment in Enugu State PDP,saying, “it is a clear reflection ofthe level of internal democracy inthe party. It started from the topwhen the governors and other topparty officials gathered andendorsed the President and gavehim right of first refusal. The samething trickled down to the states.Enugu people should rise to theoccasion and jettison PDP’sgambling going on the state.

Maritime workers threaten nationwide strikeBy Kelechi Azubuike

MARITIME WORKERSUnion of Nigeria,

MWUN, will shut thenation’s ports' operationsnationwide and beginindefinite strike, Wednesday,over lingering disputes withgovernment.

Ahead of thecommencement of the strike,the union had, weekend,notified Nigerian PortsAuthority, NPA, NigerianMaritime Administration andSafety Agency, NIMASA,and the terminal operatorson the looming shut-down of

all ports ' formationsnationwide.

The strike would be to forcegovernment through theNPA to address the lingeringissue of Tally Clerks/On-board Security, minimumstandard for Dockworkersand NPA staff welfarematters, among others.

It was gathered thatdespite several ultimatumsand agreements, thegovernment had concludedplans to do away with thetally clerks/on-board securitydespite their importance toports ' operations andnational security.

According to the union, thelatest ultimatum togovernment to address theissues of the tally clerk/on-board security, among otherpending issues, wouldexpire today, (Monday,December 15) and haddecided to put operators onnotice so that they would notbe caught unawares.

An officer of the unionconfided with journalists thatthe strike would commenceWednesday after thePresident-General and someother leaders of the unionwould have come back froma foreign trip.

In a letter to NPA by theunion dated December 12and signed by Mr. EdwinSambo, Deputy SecretaryGeneral (Admin), entitled,“Notice to shut down theseaports,” the union wrote:“Please, be informed that theUnion will be forced to closedown the nation's seaports ifthe under- l isted issueswhich are affecting ourmembers are not addressedbefore Monday, December15, 2014 - Tally Clerks/On-board Security, minimumstandard for Dockworkersand NPA staff welfarematters."

EBONYI MINING LICENCE: Court summons Steel minister, othersBy Abdulwahab Abdulah

JUSTICE AHMEDMohammed of a Federal

High Court sitting in Abujahas ordered the Minister ofMines and Steel Development,Jidech Mining CompanyNigeria Limited and threeothers to appear before it,Wednesday, over a suit inrelation to a dispute about amining lease agreement on asite in Agbaja, Ebonyi State.

The judge also directed thathearing notice be served onthe defendants, expected to

appear before the court onDecember 17.

A firm, Eze-Chuks StandardLink Limited has instituted asuit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/957/14, challenging thepurported sale of the miningsite covered by the MiningLease Certificate No: ML2280(formerly ML17228) held by it,to a third party, GreenexResources Limited.

Joined as respondents in thesuit are Jidech MiningCompany Nig. Ltd, itsManaging Director, Elder E.N. Ezedebego, Greenex

Resources, the FederalMinistry of Mines and SteelDevelopment and the Ministerof Mines and SteelDevelopment.

Eze-Chuks Standard said inits statement of claim filed byits lawyer, Professor YemiAkinseye-George (SAN) that itentered into Mining SubleaseAgreement, SLA, with JidechMining in 2011 to mine solidminerals on the site located atMkpuma/Akpatakpa Villagein Agbaja Community, IzziLocal Government, EbonyiState, covered by the Mining

Lease: ML 2280.The plaintiff noted that in

pursuance of Clause 2(vi) of theSLA, the 1st defendant (Jidech)on December 8, 2012 sold itsmining rights over the site to it(the plaintiff) for N30 million.

It exhibited a receipt issued toit by Jidech to that effect and itwas surprised to learn in 2013,after expending huge funds indeveloping the site to a profitablestate and settlement of debts andfinancial commitments made toinstitutions and the hostcommunity by Jidech, thatEzedebego and his company

Apologise toNdigbo forlosing APCpresidentialprimary,OkechukwutellsOkorocha

By Austin Ogwuda

ENUGU — A chieftainof All Progressives

Congress, APC, in theSouth-East, OsitaOkechukwu, has accusedImo State Governor, OwelleRochas Okorocha ofallegedly gambling with thechances of the Ndigbo tobargain for Vice Presidentslot in the 2015 generalelections.

Okechukwu, who is thespokesman of APC in theSouth-East, in a statementyesterday, while reacting toGovernor Okorocha’sstatement after his failedbid to get the presidentialticket of the party, saidGovernor Okorocha’s“statement is one of selfdenial, rather thanapologising to Ndigbo forhis gambit, which madeNdigbo to lose the nationalchairmanship of the APC,placed us in a weakposition to vie for VicePresident, he is regrettablyjustifying the unjustifiable.

“One had thought that asa leader he could hadplaced the collectiveinterest of Ndigbo above his'Nollywood' show, since heis quite aware of theposition of the party asregards zoning.

"For the avoidance ofdoubt, in a South Eastcaucus meeting at HisExcellency, Dr. OgboninyaOnu’s residence at Abujain July, 2014, some of usagreed that he is eminentlyqualified to vie forpresidency, but given theprevailing understandingthat the presidency is goingNorth, we should vie forchairmanship and vicepresident slots, waiting forthe next eight years whenit is coming South.

MEETING: From left, Mirabel Goodwill Ambassadores for Gender based Violence: Ice Prince, musicartiste; Queen Ubah,Nigerian Centenary Queen; Mrs. Itoro Anaba, Managing Partner, PartnershipFor Justice; Bimbo Akintola, Noolywood actress; Kofi, Comedian, and Wana Udobang, journalistand writer during their meeting, in Lagos.

(Jidech) purportedly sold the siteto a third party, Greenex, inviolation of the provisions of theSLA of 2011, which allowed it (theplaintiff) the first right of purchase.

Last week, the trial judge,Justice Ahmed Mohammed, afterhearing Professor Akinseye-Georde moved an ex-parteapplication for interim injunctions,ordered the defendants to appearin court on December 17 to “showcause why the interim orders ofinjunction being sought by theplaintiff vide the motion ex-partefiled on December 5 should notbe made by the court.”

CMYK


DECLARATION: APC Chieftain, Chief Lanre Rasaq; Alhaji Shakirudeen Seriki, EpeConstituency aspirant for House of Reps,Hon. Wale Raji; Lagos East senatorial aspirant,Senator Gbenga Ashafa, and APC Chietain,Hon. Wasiu Odeyemi, after the declaration ofSenator Ashafa as the sole winner, during APC Lagos East senatorial district primaries, inEpe, Lagos.

RECAPTURED ADAMAWA TOWNS: Emirof Mubi returns to palace

By Kingsley Omonobi

ABUJA — FOLLOWINGsustained air and land

assault by troops of theNigerian Military to flush outBoko Haram terrorists fromAdamawa State and thevarious successes recorded,the Emir of Mubi, AlhajiAbubakar Isa Ahmadu and hisemirate council have returnedto Mubi. It will be recalled that in thewake of Boko Haram’s attackon the second largest town inAdamawa State more than amonth ago, hundreds ofresidents of Mubi, includingthe emir, fled the town to Yolawhile the terrorists renamedthe town Madinatul Islam. But with the re-invigorationof the security forces with newweaponry and speciallytrained soldiers, Nigeriantroops have been advancingsteadily and clearing thetowns of the terrorists. At the weekend, Vanguardgathered that there was seriousexchange of gunfire betweentroops and the insurgents. The fierce encounter resultedin substantial casualtiesincluding loss of lives andequipment on both sides. Confirming the bloodyencounter, the Defenceheadquarters said anArmoured Personnel Carrier

used by the terrorists wasdestroyed, while GeneralPurpose Machine Guns,Rocket Propelled Grenades,IED, Rifles, ammunition aswell as, bows, arrows, locallymade pistols and gunscaptured from them have beentaken into custody. Meanwhile, troops have

continued their advance backedby highly coordinated air strikesagainst the terrorists. Communities and locationssuch as Garkida, Vimtim,Kumare-Uba, Mararaba, Mubiand others are also underregular patrols and surveillancewhile Vanguard gathered thatother towns like Gulak,

Michika, and Madagali willsoon be recaptured. Already, security sourcesdisclosed that following therecapture of Mubi and KumareUba, Boko Haram terrorists inadjourning towns have startedmoving away towardsMadagali and Gwoza.

...advancing troops destroy Boko Haram's Armoured Personnel Carrier

Jonathan hosts ECOWAS Heads of State overregional security challenges today

By Ben Agande

ABUJA — PRESIDENTGoodluck Jonathan will,

today, host the 46th OrdinarySession of the ECOWASAuthority of Heads of State andGovernment which will, amongother things, deliberate on thecurrent political and securitysituation in the sub-region. A statement by the SpecialAdviser to the President onMedia and Publicity, Dr. ReubenAbati, Sunday, said PresidentJonathan and other participatingHeads of State and Governmentof the regional body will alsoreceive a briefing on recentdevelopments in Burkina Fasoand review the report of the 33rdMeeting of the ECOWASMediation and Security Council. He added that also on theagenda of the summit are theconsideration and adoption of the2014 annual report of thePresident of the ECOWASCommission, the considerationand adoption of the report of the73rd Ordinary Session of theECOWAS Council of Ministers

and the election of the Chairmanof the ECOWAS Authority ofHeads of State and Governmentfor next year. President Jonathan, the currentChairman of the ECOWASAuthority of Heads of State andGovernment, President JohnMahama of Ghana, theChairperson of the African Union

Commission, Dr. NkosazanaDlamini Zuma and the UnitedNations Secretary General’sSpecial Representative for WestAfrica, Mr. Mohammed IbnChambas will presentstatements to the one-daysummit before it goes into aclosed-door session. Some of the participating

Heads of State and Governmenthave already arrived in Abujaahead of the opening of thesummit tomorrow. A communiqué on the summit’sdecisions is expected at theconclusion of their deliberationstomorrow, the statementconcluded.

ALLEGED N15BN LOOT: Umar to face probeSoni Daniel, Regional

Editor, North

INDICATIONS EMERGEDlast night that the sacked

Taraba Acting Governor, GarbaUmar, would soon be draggedbefore a special probe panel toaccount for the alleged lootingof the state’s N14.9 billionwithin two years. A top-ranking official close toGovernor Dandali toldVanguard in Abuja that thepanel would be named withinthe shortest possible time totake on Umar along with thosewho connived with him toallegedly siphon the huge

amount. The official said that governorDandali was shocked at thelevel of monumental lootingwhich was perpetrated by theadministration of Garba Umarbefore he was sacked fromoffice last month by theSupreme Court. The source, a commissioner,pointed out that the governor wasreally saddened by the discoveryof the huge amount stolen withimpunity by a few persons underthe sacked governor while thedisgraced administration failed topay contractors for clearing refusein Jalingo. It was learnt that beyond the

panel being raised by thegovernor, the state was alsoexploring the possibility ofdragging Umar before theEconomic and Financial CrimesCommission, EFCC, with a viewto recovering the amount. But a media aide to Umar toldour correspondent that the formergovernor was studying theamount said to have been spentby him before makingappropriate response to theallegation. “My boss has been in Abujasince the document was releasedby the governor and he willstudy it and react to it when hereturns to Jalingo,” the aide said.

Emefieleflags offissuance ofcommemorativebanknoteDec. 19

THE COMMEM-ORATIVE N100

banknote unveiled recentlyby the President, Dr.Goodluck Jonathan, is to beofficially issued intocirculation by the Governorof the Central Bank ofNigeria, CBN, Mr. GodwinEmefiele, on Friday,December 19, 2014. The ceremony billed forthe Abuja Branch of theCBN will be immediatelyfollowed by a simultaneousissuance of the currencyacross the branches of theBank. The commemorative note,which is embedded withfeatures to assist the visuallyimpaired recognisegenuine notes, also hasother security featureseasily identifiable throughlook, feel and tilt of thecurrency note. It will be recalled that theCBN Governor, at theunveiling of the newbanknote, explained thatthe new note was designedwith enhanced security tooffer robust resistanceagainst counterfeiting. Authentication features ofthe note include windowmicro-optics, showing thenational flag and numeral100 indicating the value ofthe denomination and theattainment of the centenaryperiod. The new design retainsthe portrait of ChiefObafemi Awolowo both inthe ink, that is the interglowlevel, as a portrait and alsoin a paper as a shadowimage. In addition, there isa spark feature of a rollingmanila bar, which was theinstrument of transactionduring the slave trade era. At the back side of thecurrency is the introducedQuick Response Code,QRC, a digitalcommunication feature thathighlights and sources allthe information about thecentenary. With the QRC application,the barcode on the banknotecan be scanned by users toread a brief history ofNigeria. According to the Bank, thecommemorative note willcirculate alongside theexisting N 100 note.It will be recalled that theBank, in 2010, issuedcommemorative N50polymer note to markNigeria’s 50thIndependence Anniversarycelebration.

By BabajideKomolafe


COCKTAIL: From left, Mr. Martin Mabutho, General Manager, Marketing and Retention,MultiChoice Nigeria; Mr. John Ugbe, Managing Director, MultiChoice Nigeria; Mrs. WangiMba-Uzoukwu, Regional Director, M-Net West Africa, and Mr. Yibo Koko, Head of Production,M-Net West Africa, at the AMVCA 2015 Nominees Announcement Cocktail, in Lagos.

SHETTIMA TO NGE: Set up fund forfallen editors’ families... donates N10m for take-off

BORNO STATE Governor,Kashim Shettima has

made a strong appeal to theNigerian Guild of Editors, NGE,to set up an endowment fund toprovide financial and othersupport to families of deceasededitors with a take-off ofN10million which the Governor

announced as donation for thefund.

Shettima made the appealweekend, during an interactivesession with editors in Lagos.

The governor was in Lagos forthe All Progressive Congress,APC National Convention .

Shettima’s suggestion was

based on a story he narratedregarding his experience withthe family of a late editor, whomhe said, happened to be hisfriend years before he(Shettima) assumed the officeof governor in 2011.

Shettima begged to concealthe identity of the deceased

editor while making hisnarration, a step the governorexplained, was meant to respectthe memory of the dead.

“Before I go into thisinteractive session, there issomething that has beentroubling my mind for a verylong time. I don’t know if thisis the right moment to say mymind, but I crave yourindulgence to tolerate me so Ican pour out my mind.

"I had a friend that died yearsago, he was an editor of aNewspaper in this country,sorry, I want to conceal theidentity of that person, I won’ttell you the number of years orgive you clear clues, you editorsare extremely smart withanalytical minds, you canguess the person if I give toomuch clue and I want to respectthe memory of that friend ofmine.

"Like I said that my friendwas an editor of a Newspaperin one part of this country. Wewere close while I was inbanking sector. He worked withextraordinary devotion to duties,he was always passionate aboutwork, he took his Newspaper likean only child, very protective andvery competitive and promotionalbefore he retired and died."

We'll form the next govt in Kwara — PDP gov candidateBy Demola Akinyemi

THE GOVERNORSHIPcandidate of the Peoples

Democratic Party, PDP, inKwara State, Senator SimeonAjibola, has boasted that theparty will form the nextgovernment in 2015, dedicatinghis victory at primaries to God.

Ajibola in a statementyesterday, through hispersonal Assistant, GaniyuAbolarin, said the PDPgovernment would usher in anew direction that would bringa new lease of life to the peopleof the state.

He said “Words are notenough to express our heartfelt

appreciation to all people whodirectly or indirectlycontributed to the successrecorded so far in our journeyto our desired freedom. I amshort of adequate words toexpress the depth of mygratitude to all aspirants. Wefought for the enthronement ofdemocracy in Kwara PDP. We

did not receive it on a platter ofgold. The struggle has broughtunity among us all. The PDPmandate was to replace theAPC led government whiteelephant projects with peopleoriented programmes, ensureeven development andredistribution of wealth infavour of the masses.”

Ajibola said all hands mustbe on deck to achieve PDP’sgoal and mission of bringingprosperity to bear on the livesof the people in the state.

According to him, there wasthe need to put smiles on thefaces of the civil servants andsmall and medium scaleentrepreneurs that were theengines of growth anddevelopment of the State.

He commended the electoralcommittee from the nationalheadquarters of the PDPheaded by Gabriel Suswan,Governor of Benue State forconducting a transparent andhitch free primaries.

He also commended theconduct of the security agenciesespecially the statecommissioner of Police, theDirector of State Services, thecommandant of the CivilDefence Corps, the commanderof the Airforce the SectorCommander of the FederalRoad Safety Commission,FRSC, and others.

Senator callsfor divineinterventionin Nigeria'spoliticalproblems

APC senatorial aspirant rejects result ofprimaries in Ogun East

By Tina Akannam

A SENATOR r e p r e s e n t i n g

Jigawa East senatorial Zone, SenatorAbdulazeez Usman, hassaid Nigeria is in apolitical dilemma andmisdirection, and calledfor constant prayers frombelievers to seek fordivine intervention.

The senator who spokeweekend in an interviewwith newsmen in Jigawa State, said only ferventprayers could save thenation from political chaos.

According to him, “Onlyconsistent prayers from allreligious men and womenand even non believers cantake this "country out of itspresent political, economic and security woes. Nigeria is relativelytensed up political andsocially due to theinsecurity in the countryand others. We need collective collaboration totackle the insurgency andothers problems."

By Olasunkanmi Akoni

AN ALL ProgressivesCongress, APC,

senatorial aspirant in OgunEast, Otunba Oluseyi Oduntan,has rejected the result of lastweek ‘s primaries at the Ijebu-Ode township Stadium,alleging rigging, manipulationsand multiple voting.

Already, Oduntan, haspetitioned both the state and thenational secretariat of the party,claiming that the election wascharacterised by massiverigging, intimidation, coercionand manipulation.

Otunba Tai Bela, an ally ofOduntan, who was a memberof the House of Representativesin a chat with Vanguard,confirmed the development,saying that Oduntan had

forwarded a petition to the partysecretariat.

Bela stated, “There wasnothing free or fair about theprimary election. It was such adisgraceful primary in OgunEast Senatorial district. Howcan we have an election on theauspices of the APC conductedin such a shameful manner?

There was nothingprogressive about it.Government officials, includingCommissioners, Chairmen ofLocal Governments, partyChairmen, state partyexecutives, government liaisonofficers, among others,intimidated, and coerceddelegates like sheep andpersonally wrote ballot papers.

We challenged them and theysaid they were acting on‘instructions and orders fromabove’. It is unfortunate that the

government decided to act inthis manner.

“There was no primary election,but a thoroughly teleguidedarrangement towards apredetermined outcome, becausethey knew that Seyi Oduntan wasgoing to win landslide. Ipersonally saw servingcommissioners, councilchairmen, policemen andgovernment officials writing onballot papers several times. Whenwe spoke to them, they said itwas ‘order from above’. Theelection was a sham. Our people,particularly the Ijebu people,have protested and promised thatthere would be a backlash at thegeneral election. The perfidiousaction of the government againstthousands of faithful partymembers shall receive its justrewards in the coming election.”

Bagudu HIrseemerges LPgov candidatein Plateau

JOS — FORMERMinister of State,

Foreign Affairs,Ambassador BaguduHirse, has emerged thesole governorshipcandidate of the LabourParty, LP, in Plateau State.

He emerged the Party’sflag bearer after hisnomination had beenendorsed by the Stateleadership of the party andhis name forwarded to theIndependent NationalElectoral Commission,INEC.

The state chairman of theparty, Bulus Ibrahim, saidthe choice of the formerAmbassador was arrived atbecause the LP was hopefulthat its candidate wouldstand a good chance toclinching the position,especially when “thePeoples Democratic Party,PDP stakeholders areaccusing governor JonahJang of imposing Pwajokagainst the wish of thepeople.”

By Marie-ThereseNanlong

CMYK


CMYK

OPINION

18 — Vanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2014

By Eze Onyekepere

OPINION

Sustainability in power reformsMODERN economies,

institutions, families and day today life require power, particularlyelectricity. From a review of high levelnational standards, the goal of theNigerian electric power sector reformsis to build a power sector that is selfreliant, environmentally friendly,sustainable, promoting universalaccess to affordable and qualityelectricity to support nationaldevelopment. This raises severalquestions including the criteria electricpower needs to meet to be compliantwith this goal. How can we secure thepresent day needs while taking care offuture generations? Indeed, thechallenge of sustainability has becomepart of everyday discourse that electricpower generation, transmission anddistribution cannot be exempted fromits dictates. We have been so slow inmaking the required gas collection andutilization investments including policyand legislative change; that we preferto flare than to use gas and indeed, weare second on list of countries that flaregas after Russia.

It will be recalled that the NationalEconomic Empowerment andDevelopment Strategy (NEEDS 200-2007) had made elaborate provisions

*Mr. Onyekepere, a lawyer, wrotefrom Abuja.

for the improvement of electric powersupply. The provisions include massiveinvestments through the value chain ofgeneration, transmission, anddistribution and the gas and pipelinescomponent. This was reinforced by the7- Point Agenda of the Yar’Aduaadministration and the Power SectorRoadmap of the Goodluck Jonathan era. The provisions also made reference toexploring alternative and renewableenergy sources, a veritable means ofaccessing sustainable power.Recommendations coming from initialstudies have urged the government totarget renewable energy contributionto the national energy mix at 15% by2011; and new investments inrenewable should be encouraged byfiscal incentives. It also urged forenvironmental standards in theindustry limiting emissions and greenhouse gases.

Since then, Nigeria has spent anindeterminate sum of money to reformthe electric power sector. There havebeen heavy investments especially ingeneration during the Obasanjo yearsand the figures that came out of theNational Assembly probe kept shiftingfrom $20billion to less than that. The

Yar’Adua and Jonathan governmentshave also spent massively on powersector reforms. The estimate is thatfrom the Obasanjo government to thepresent day, more than $30billion ininvestments has gone into the sectorwith little or no results. New challengeskeep emerging in the sector to the extentthat improvements in power supply tohomes, offices and industries have notkept pace with investments. If it is notabout the lack of transmission capacityto wheel the available generatedmegawatts; it is about lack of gas to firethe generating plants. Thus,procurement planning for the sectorwas poor and there seems to be no lightat the end of the tunnel. It can thereforebe affirmed that the more theinvestment in the sector, the less energyand more darkness available to thepopulation. However, the governmentdid not explore and invest in alternativeenergy platforms or provide theenabling environment to enable privatesector operatives to do so. If we haveinvested so much in traditional energyplatforms and it is not working; is it nottime while continuing to see to thelogical conclusion of those investmentsto try something new? Despite our

abundant solar, hydro and wind energyresources, they have remainedpromises that may not materialise.Instead of increasing investments inrenewable energy, there are promisesof investments in dirty coal and eventalks of nuclear plants. This is coming ata time advanced countries like Japanand Russia found it difficult to managenuclear power stations and accidents inthose countries were a massive disaster.Unless we are determined to commitmass suicide, then we can go for anuclear power generating plant.

It is time to look up to renewableenergy especially in their small off-gridforms which can take care of the smallenergy needs of distant and far flunglocations, not necessarily connected tothe national grid which looses 40percent of wheeled energy. Theadvantages of this approach are legionincluding reduced carbon emission,employment generation, electricitythat is sustainable and does not take longto develop and use; local control andparticipation in generation andmanagement of electricity, etc. The timeto act is now.

BETWEEN November 2 and December 6,criminals struck at prisons in Koton Karfe,Kogi State, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State andMinna, Niger State, leading to escape of695 convicted criminals. A similar breakin Akure last year, freed 175 criminals.

Before Akure there have been jail breaksin Ibadan, Warri, Bauchi, Kano, Abuja (atthe anti-robbery detention centre), andPort Harcourt. We had stated then that thewarning Akure signaled should not beignore. It was ignored.

The latest break let loose various calibresof convicts and those still waiting trial,ranging from armed robbers, kidnappers,murderers, terrorists, ritualists, rapists andmembers of secrets cults booked for a datewith justice into open society at a time ofhigh security concerns. Gallant efforts atmaintaining law and order and huge publicresources expended to control crime wentto waste within hours.

A jail break is at one of the highest pointsof organised criminality. Its consequencesdepend on the criminals involved and theirmotives. These indicate the failure of theauthorities to realise the importance ofsecuring convicts. There is still a hightendency of dismissing the schemes

Rashes Of Jail BreaksRashes Of Jail BreaksRashes Of Jail BreaksRashes Of Jail BreaksRashes Of Jail Breakscriminals plot even while in jail. Thereactions after jail breaks had been todescend on the prison authorities forembarrassing government, though prisonsare at the lowest rungs for budgetaryallocations. Security at prisons reflects theunimportance accorded prisons.Poorly armed warders, who can easily be

over powered, manage prison security. Thealertness of warders, the numbers deployedto secure the facilities, and the equipmentat their disposal make jail breaks easier.The authorities who know these do nothingabout them, except regurgitating practisedrage after each break.However, criminals cannot make

successful prison breaks without insiderinformation, and other assistance. How didthey know the type of equipment theyrequired to blast the walls? They wereobviously aware of types of arms wardersbore, and possibly how many warders wereon duty.Armed with such information, the

criminals knew what to do. The fact thatthey could operate without interruptionshould bother the authorities. When willwe improve security at prisons? When wouldmodern security gargets that could foilattacks be installed? When wouldintelligence be at heights that connivingprison officials can be fished out beforethey do more harm?The Federal Government must arrest the

situation by fortifying prisons.Compromised officials should beprosecuted, and dedicated ones rewarded.Government must also explore modernoptions for effective prison management,including state and local governmentprisons, as well as privately-managedcorrectional services.Criminals should never be in doubt about

society ’s ability to put them where theyrightly belong and keep our people safe.

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2014—————1919191919

CMYK

By Eric Teniola

•Mr. Galadima, a commentatoron national issues, wrote fromBauchi, Bauchi State.

By Abubakar Galadima

Changing tide for the Niger Delta

LONG before the Boko Haramcrisis reached the present

crescendo, a former AmericanMarine combatant, believed to bean accredited diplomat, managingone of the world’s largest privateintelligence organisations,Gordon Duff; writing in anAmerican publication, VeteransToday, had weaved a plot of howwestern powers, someFrancophone West Africancountries, and some powerfulNigerians were involved in aninsidious conspiracy to undermineNigeria.

Not many took that publicationserious until it was reposted lastyear, but recent curioushappenings are proving that ifDuff was not right on some scores,he definitely was in many aspects.Today, it is public knowledge thatthe Americans who activated theirweapons of psychological warfarethrough the international mediaand their local allies, just to havea foothold in the search for themissing 200 Chibok girls, havesuggested that Nigeria moves herweapons of war from the battlefield against the terrorist BokoHaram group, to a trainingground in Jaji, Kaduna State.

Happily, the Nigerians havecalled the bluff of the meddlesomeAmericans, and even sent thempacking by backing out of a

Boko Haram: The West and Francophone WA conspiracyfight terrorism.”

But in reaction to the less thanconvincing explanation byFrance that its army owned thechoppers and other equipmentstuck in Kano, the Nigerianintelligence services caused to bereleased comments that it was notin a hurry to release the plane.The French had suggested thatthe plane was to be released. Anunnamed top security official,through the intelligence servicesrecent regular channel ofcommunication, an agencyknown as PR Nigeria, said“Nigeria has no reason to releasethe aircraft and its cargo untilinvestigation is concluded.”

PR Nigeria further quoted theofficial to have said, “In view ofthe evidence of activecollaboration with Boko Haramterrorists by some Frenchspeaking neighbouringcountries, it has become pertinentfor Nigeria to be conscious andbe more careful in these matters.”The agency said while Nigerianofficials have agreed to releasecrew members of the aircraft tothe Russian Embassy in Abuja,the plane would remain detainedbecause “the explanations so fargiven by the French Embassyconcerning the source anddestination of the cargo were lessthan convincing.”

training arrangement for Nigeriansoldiers, because, though theNigerian government officials didnot say so, the commitment of theAmericans to Nigeria to flushaway the terrorists had becomedoubtful. Before this time, theYankees had refused to sell to theNigerian government neededweapons to fight Boko Haram. Asif that was not enough, the USgovernment stopped othercountries from selling to Nigeria,because of , wait for it, the humanrights records of the Nigerians.What a laugh! There are so manyother countries the Americanswine and dine with that makeNigeria a saint in the matter ofhuman rights abuses.

Meantime, there is popular talkof a western lackey in the nameof Amnesty Internationalplanning to release damningreports of the country’s humanrights atrocities just before theFebruary elections, all designedto further give the country a badname in order to hang it in thediplomatic world. Interestingly,the main opposition political partyin the country is enjoying the badpress and name the presentgovernment is getting because ithopes to garner political capitalfrom it. The All ProgressivesCongress (APC) has in its fold aprominent Nigerian who is everwilling to do the bidding of theAmericans, because they caught

Nigeria.The Nigerian minister of

National Planning, Dr. AbubakarSulaiman, blamed the continuedonslaught of Boko Haramterrorists on Nigeria on allegedanimosity the country shares withFrancophone West Africancountries. Suleiman said, “First,the issue of terrorism is global,regional and sub-regional.Second, the terrorism we have inNigeria has internal and externaldimensions to it. Some of theterrorists are not just Nigerians;they are not operating fromNigeria; they are operating fromNigerian borders and they havesome back up from neighbouringcountries.

“When you look at Nigeria’shistory, we have been consistentin the kind of animosity we sharewith the Francophone WestAfrican countries. Nigeria shouldrevisit, for instance, itsfrancophone policy. We shouldlook at the French policy onNigeria. We should look at theposition of France to Nigeriasecurity. We should look at whathas been, over the years, thestrategy in the area of politics.What have been the relation,attitude, orientation, conduct andposture of France to Nigeria?Again, we need to go back to whathad been the attitude of Franceand French government to theBoko Haram issue in our effort to

ALMOST every Nigerian leader,has attempted to solve theproblems of the Niger Deltaregion. Some did by establishingbodies to ameliorate the problemsof the region while some createdmore states for the region.

These attempts may not havebeen satisfactory to the people ofthe region though, but that is notto say that the leaders did nottried at all.

In 1960, for example a bodyknown as the Niger DeltaDevelopment Board wasestablished. The establishment ofthat board formed part of the 1963constitution of the FederalRepublic of Nigeria. According tosection 159 of that constitution, itclearly states that “There shall bea board for the Niger Delta whichshall be styled the Niger DeltaDevelopment Board. Themembers of the Board shall be- aperson appointed by thePresident, who shall be chairman;a person appointed by theGovernor of Eastern Nigeria; aperson appointed by theGovernor of Mid-WesternNigeria; and such other personsas may be appointed in suchmanner as may be described byParliament to represent theinhabitants of the Niger Delta. Amember of the Board shall vacatehis office in such circumstancesas may be prescribed byParliament. The Board shall be

responsible for advising theGovernment of the Federationand the Governments of EasternNigeria and Mid-WesternNigeria with respect to thephysical development of theNiger Delta, and in order todischarge that responsibility theBoard shall- cause the NigerDelta to be surveyed in order toascertain what measures arerequired to promote its physicaldevelopment; prepare schemesdesigned to promote the physicalof the Niger Delta, together withestimates of the costs of puttingthe schemes into effect; submit tothe Government of the Federationand the Governments of EasternNigeria and the Mid-WesternNigeria annual reportsdescribing the work of the Boardand the measures taken inpursuance of its advice.Parliament may make suchprovision as it considersexpedient for enabling the Boardto discharge its function underthis section. In this section, “theNiger Delta” means the areaspecified in the Proclamationrelating to the Board which wasmade on the twenty-six day ofAugust, 1959. This section shallcease to have effect on the firstday of July 1969".

At the time the board wasestablished, the Mid-Westernregion has not been created fromWestern region but its creation atthat time was forgone conclusion.

On August 9, 1963 under thetenure of Sir Abubakar Tafawa

Balewa(1912-1966) as PrimeMinister, the Mid-WesternRegion was created and the firstPremier of that region was ChiefDennis Chukadebe Osadebe(1911-1994) from Asaba withChief James Ekpre Otobo (1925-2011) from Uzere, Isako South inthe present Delta state as deputyPremier while Chief JerritonSamuel Marriere (1907-1971)from Enweren in Urhobokingdom was appointedGovernor and Chief HumphreyOmo-Osagie (1896-1977), theIyasere of Benin Kingdombecame deputy leader of the newregion. At that time Asaba waspart of the Benin province.

On May 1 1967, ChiefObafemiAwolowo (1909-1987)from Ikenne in Ogun state in hishistoric speech in Ibadan

advocated for the creation of twostates in the Eastern Region ofNigeria as a way of solving thethen political crises in the country“It would be perfectly in order tocreate a Calabar state or a Riversstate by decree and without aplebiscite”, he pleaded on thatday.

On May 27 1967 the then Headof state General Yakubu Dan-Yumma Gowon (80), an Angasfrom Plateau state split Nigeriainto twelve states and createdSouth Eastern states and Riversstate out of Eastern region.

General Gowon named Calabarthe new capital of South Easternstate and appointed BrigadierUdoakaha Jacob Esuene (1936-1993), an Ibibio from Eket in thepresent Akwa- Ibom as Governor.He also named Port-Harcourt asthe new capital of Rivers state andappointed the then Lt.Commander Alfred PapapreyeDiete-Spiff (72), an Ijaw now theAmayanabo of Twon-Brass in thepresent Bayelsa state, as pioneerMilitary Governor. ThroughGovernment notice 955 aspublished in FederalGovernment gazette volume 46,General Gowon appointed JusticeDarnley Arthur RaymondAlexander from West IndiesIsland of St. Lucia as Chief Justiceof South- Eastern state. He laterbecame Chief Justice of theFederation 1975-1979.

General Ibrahim BadamosiBabangida (74), from Minna inNiger state created Akwa Ibomstate on September 28, 1987 and

appointed Major GeneralJonathan Tunde Ogbeha (67)from Lokoja in Kogi state aspioneer Military Governor. OnAugust 27 1991, GeneralBabangida created Delta statewith Asaba as the state capital andnamed Group Captain Luke ChijiUba Ochulor from OkpofeEzinihitte Local Government inMbaise in Imo state as thepioneer Military Governor.

In 1992, General BadamosiBabangida through decree 23created OIL MINERALSPRODUCING AREASD E V E L O P M E N TCOMMISSION (OMPADEC)and named Chief Albert KorumbuHorsfall(73) from Degema in thepresent Rivers state as thepioneer chairman of thecommission.

It was the commission that gavethe first job to the presentPresident as assistant Director, aposition he held before he becamedeputy Governor of Bayelsa statein 1999.

On October 1 1996, GeneralSanni Abacha (1943-1998)created Bayelsa state withYenogoa as the state capital andappointed Captain PhillipOladipo Ayeni from Oke-Imesi inthe present Ekiti state as MilitaryGovernor. Captain Ayeni hasbeen bedridden with stroke sinceFebruary 28 1997, and ispresently at a dilapidated housein Apapa in Lagos state.

•Mr. Teniola, a former directorat the presidency, wrote fromLagos.

Continues tomorrow onpg. 18

Theterrorism wehave inNigeria hasinternal andexternaldimensionsto it

These attemptsmay not havebeen satisfactoryto the people ofthe regionthough, but that isnot to say that theleaders did nottried at all

him in a web of criminal activitiesthat are drug and scam-related.

While all of these play out, theFrench got their fingers burnt ina terribly embarrassing situationof weapons of war on their way toChad, a West AfricanFrancophone country, gettingstuck right on Nigerian soil,because a Russian Antonov planecarrying them was forced to landin the northern Nigerian city ofKano. The French are in a frenzyto explain what the weaponswere meant for, just as a seniormember of Nigeria’s executivecabinet confirmed what mostNigerians had feared: that Francehad its hands and legs in theterrorist problem plaguing


OPINION

Time for New bornsBy Nnenna Ihebuzor

FACED with the enormous challenge ofovercoming Ebola earlier this year, Nigeria

now has cause to celebrate. In October, the WorldHealth Organization officially announced Nigeriaas free from Ebola. Our nation applied the lessonsand resources from our extremely effective polioprogramme to respond to Ebola. And oursuccessful approach to stopping Ebola is now amodel for other countries. Nigeria has the chanceto lead again to save lives. For every mother-to-beand her newborn child in Africa, this could be aturning point.

Globally, and in Nigeria, we have made significantprogress in saving the lives of women and children—more women are surviving childbirth and morechildren are living beyond age five than everbefore. But progress on newborn survival andhealth has lagged.

Nigeria accounts for nearly one-quarter ofAfrica’s maternal and newborn deaths. In 2013,260,000 babies died in our country in their firstmonth of life, and an additional 295,000 were *Dr. Ihebuzor, is Director, Health Systems, Nation-

al Primary Health Development Agency.

THE ruling People’sDemocratic Party (PDP)

and the “wanna rule” AllProgressives Congress (APC)have chosen their flag-bearersfor the presidential election ofFebruary 2015. The PDP,through a ratificationconvention on Wednesday,December 10th, affirmedPresident Goodluck Jonathanat the Eagle Square, Abuja. TheAPC took their act to TeslimBalogun Stadium, Surulere,Lagos where AlhajiMuhammadu Buhari dustedfour other contenders to thepresidential ticket.

The PDP event was dull asditchwater, since there was nocontest. It is normal for anincumbent president seeking asecond term in the presidentialsystem to enjoy this politicalfree-ride. Those who arebadmouthing the presidentand the PDP for this are eitherignorant or mischievous. IfAPC wins the presidency in2015 it will stage an affirmationconvention when Buhari goesfor a second term in 2019.There will only be a contest ifhe, in an unlikely event, ownsup to his promise to do onlyone term.

The real thrill was with theAPC primaries. Three of theaspirants – Buhari, Alhaji AtikuAbubakar and GovernorRochas Okorocha – are serialpresidential contenders.Governor Rabiu Kwankwasoand Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah werethe only newcomers to thegame. Kwankwaso surprisedmany by edging past Atiku intothe distant second place with974 votes leaving Atiku thirdwith 954 votes. Buhari, aswidely expected, scored alandslide win with 3,430 votes.It was a well-organisedprimary and it ended insuccess for the party. Why not?After all, it was based on theopen-secret ballot system anda voting template which thePDP has perfected since their1999 Jos primaries. Winnersand losers watch events unfoldbefore their eyes, and winnersand losers are known longbefore the exercise is over.

At the end of it, former VicePresident Atiku, who was

A new signpost fordisaster

losing the presidential bid forthe fourth time, concededdefeat and congratulatedBuhari. This was also a PDPinnovation in Nigerian politicspioneered under the regime ofthe late President Umar Yar’Adua and extended to thepresent under PresidentGoodluck Jonathan. PDP lostgovernorship elections inOndo, Edo and Anambra andcongratulated the winners.Atiku was the second APCpolitician who lost an electionand congratulated the winner.The first was former GovernorKayode Fayemi of Ekiti Statewho initially congratulatedMr. Ayodele Fayose, thewinner of the June 21 2014governorship election in EkitiState and pledged a smoothhandover. He was lateroverruled by his APC party, anact that set the stage for thecurrent do-or-die powerstruggle, which has crippledactivities in the Legislature andJudiciary in the state. Thenobility of Fayemi’sconcession of defeat was thusdefeated and APC came out asa bad election loser. On thisscore, PDP is holding the highermoral ground.

Questions have arisen as towhether Atiku’s concession ofdefeat will result in a whole-hearted support of Buhari inthe campaigns ahead. WillKwankwaso offer his support?Will Okorocha do so? Only timewill tell. But one thing is almostsure. Atiku, Kwankwaso andOkorocha are unlikely to leave

the APC or return to PDP. Theyare likely to stay in the party.But will they bring out theirresources and abundantenergies to campaign forBuhari’s election as president?That is something we watch tosee. Politicians are selfishpeople. My guess is that Atikuwill pipe down and roll in histent, with minimalintervention. He will like to run

again in 2019 when both PDPand APC are likely to sourcetheir presidential candidatesfrom the North. Atiku knowsthat if Buhari wins, his ownburning presidential ambitionis buried forever. He is unlikelyto vie for president at 77 in2023. In any case, theSouthern elements in the partymay feel it is their turn. I,therefore, see Atiku andperhaps Kwankwaso fancyinganother opportunity to vie in2019.

However, whether Atiku,Kwankwaso and Okorocha willthrow their weights behindBuhari or not, Buhari is goingto run his most successfulpresidential race ever in thenext two months. Those whoare saying the PDP hasperfected ways of defeatinghim should take note that thistime is different. In the past,Buhari failed because he reliedon regional political parties,such as the All NigerianPeople’s Party (ANPP) andCongress for ProgressiveChange (CPC). Even though theAPC started off as a regionalgang-up between Arewa Northand the South Westmainstream, it has becomemore of a broad-based nationalpolitical party today. It hasgrown beyond the originalNorth West, North East andSouth West alliance. Right now,it has albeit tentative footholdsin the South East (Imo) South-South (Rivers and Edo) NorthCentral (Nasarawa and Kwara).It has strong candidates inAkwa Ibom, Benue and Kogi.It has made inroads into theMinorities’ heartlands. If APCwins the presidential electionit will take over dominancefrom PDP.

I see a contest where themargin of victory will be thin.Whoever wins will not have alandslide. It will be by a coupleof millions, or even thousandsof votes. A close call will be arecipe for disaster. Such a closecontest, given the prevailingatmosphere and threats offorming parallel governments,could set Nigeria on fire. Itmight spell doom for ourdemocracy. Nigeriandemocracy has survived for

sixteen years because therewas a dominant ruling party.But with two parties of almostequal strength going for brokein a do-or-die manner, it mightbe a different story afterFebruary 2015. Wepray that the “blood of themonkey and baboon” will notmix, as a weeping MuhammaduBuhari had vowed before hisardent supporters shortlybefore he re-entered the racefor the presidency some threeyears ago. Nigerian politiciansthreatened to make thecountry ungovernable ifJonathan won the 2011 polls.He went on to win, and the BokoHaram insurgency blew out ofcontrol, losing us more than15,000 citizens. We also hopethat ex-militants of the NigerDelta, particularly MujahidAsri Dokubo, will not unleashthe arms and ammunition theyhave been stockpiling on the oilinstallations and cripple theeconomy if Jonathan loses.Nigerian politicians know howto make good their threats ofviolence. They haveabundantly demonstratedtheir capacity to carry outtheir threats.

The only hope – a verydistant one at that – is forProfessor Attahiru Jega’sIndependent NationalElectoral Commission (INEC)to eschew its regional bias,which was evident in thebotched creation of additional30,000 polling units, and giveus a credible election. Only acredible election – seen to beso by the contestants andindependent observers – willsave Nigeria from the calamitythat the strong two-partysystem may have foisted on us.

I congratulate APC for scalingall the hurdles to emerge as astrong national political party.Fears had been expressed thatit would not get this far. But letits coming of age, itsemergence into virilemanhood, be a blessing toNigeria and not a curse. Let itfertilise our democracy ratherthan bring on a scorched earth.Let the PDP and APCremember that if they destroyNigeria there will be no countryfor them to govern.

I see a contestwhere the marginof victory will bethin. Whoeverwins will not havea landslide. It willbe by a couple ofmillions, or eventhousands ofvotes. A close callwill be a recipe fordisaster. Such aclose contest,given theprevailingatmosphere andthreats of formingparallelgovernments,could set Nigeriaon fire

stillborn. Newborns currently account for morethan 33 percent of all of our deaths of childrenunder age 5.

We must respond to this crisis. In October, theMinistry of Health, with encouragement andsupport from our President, First Lady, StateGovernors and parliamentarians, convened theNigerian Newborn Health Conference, a high-leveladvocacy event. At the convening, we addressedthe newborn crises and set in place a plan that willdrastically improve newborn survival in Nigeria.

Evidence that was presented from the The LancetEvery Newborn Series showed that by 2025,Nigeria could save the lives of as many as 375,000mothers and babies each year through proven,cost-effective solutions, quality care delivered atthe right time, and focused investments. Theseinterventions can turn the tide for newborns andcontinue to advance progress for women andchildren in Nigeria.

Our government responded by making a

commitment to newborns and their mothers bysigning the Call to Action to Save Newborn Lives,initiating the drafting of the Nigerian EveryNewborn Action Plan (NENAP). The NENAP has thepotential to be the nation’s most ambitious plan todate to save the lives of mothers and babies whoare currently dying at alarming rates. The rest ofAfrica will be watching. If significant progress inmaternal and newborn survival around the time ofbirth can be achieved in Nigeria, it very likely canbe done in their country as well.

Nigeria has proved a leader on health challengeslike Ebola, and it is time for Nigeria to lead oncemore. We have the evidence and we know thestrategies needed to create a change that willforever shape the lives of mothers and newbornsacross our continent. The time to act is now. Let usnot miss this moment.

CMYK

CMYK

Continues on page 22

INDUCTION: From left, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) representative, Mr. Abubakar Ambursa; CEO,Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar N. Onyema (OON), and Executive Director, Market Operations & Technology,NSE, Mr. Ade Bajomo at the induction ceremony for newly qualified authorized dealing clerks of the exchange inLagos.

Beginning from this week, theCentral Bank of Nigeria(CBN) will commence the

withdrawal of N1.2 trillion from theeconomy in its bid to maintain singledigit inflation and reduce demand forforeign exchange.

Meanwhile, the FinancialDerivatives Company has predicted200 basis points drop in inflation to7.9 percent for November, from 8.1percent in October.

In order to achieve its objective ofsingle digit interest rate, the CBN haspersistently pursued a tight moneysupply policy, through aggressive mopup of idle cash (excess liquidity) inthe banking system, by selling treasury

CBN begins mop-up ofN1.2trn to curb inflation

By BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE bills.Treasury bills (TBs) are short term

government debt instruments. Theyare usually issued by central banks toborrow money on behalf of thegovernment from the public. They arealso used to control the amount ofmoney in the economy.

In continuation of its tight moneysupply policy, the CBN announcedthat from this week till first week inMarch of 2015, it would sell N1.22trillion worth of treasury bills. The TBscome in three variant of 91 days, 182days and 365 days. This week theCBN intends to sell N248 billion worthof TBs comprising N55.41 billionworth of 91 days TBs, N83.13 worth of182 days TBs and N110.4 billion worthof 365 days TBs.

In January 2015 the apex bankintends to sell N385 billion worth ofTBs comprising N80 billion worth of91 days TBs, N98 billion worth of 182days TBs and N205 billion worth of365 days TBs. In February, the apexbank will sell N77.62 billion worth of91 days TBs, N60 billion worth of 182days TBs and N197 billion worth of365 days TBs, totalling N334 billionworth of TBs to be sold in February. Inthe first week of March, the CBN willsell N254.95 billion worth of TBscomprising N17.85 billion worth of 91days TBs, N50 billion worth of 182days TBs and N187 billion worth ofTBs.

Investigation however reveals thatthe treasury bills are being issued towithdraw cash injection from TBs that

would mature within this period.Analysis show that payment for thematured TBs would have resulted intocash injection of N1.22 trillion andhence undermine the decision of theCBN to rid the banking system of idlecash (excess liquidity).

The apex bank at its last MonetaryPolicy Committee (MPC) meeting hadblamed the recent upsurge in foreignexchange demand on the excessliquidity in the banking system. TheCommittee in its communiqué stated,“Available data indicates that bankingsystem liquidity has been lavishlydeployed in pursuit of speculativeforeign exchange trading at the short-end of the market.” As a result, itincreased the cash reserve requirement(CRR) of banks on private sectordeposit to 20 percent from 15 percent,while it increased the Monetary PolicyRate (MPR) to 13 percent from 12percent.

Defending the decision of the apexbank during an oversight visit by theHouse Committee on BankingCurrency, CBN Deputy Governor,(Corporate Services), Mr. BayoAdelabu, said, “We believe that thepressure on the naira, apart from thedeclining oil prices is also as a resultof liquidity in the banking industrywhereby a lot of frivolous demands forforeign exchange are being made bycustomers of banks, because the banksare able to extend credits to them. Weare saying no. We want you to lend tothe critical and productive sectors ofthe economy not trading, not to importtoothpicks. So we are saying that theonly thing we can do to reduce thecapacity of the banks to grant loans tothese customers for trading is to mopup more of the monies available to thebanks, which is why we increased theCRR on private sector deposits to 20percent from 15 percent, which willamount to about N500 billionwithdrawal from the banking industry.We believe it will reduce the pressureon the foreign reserves. If we don’t dothat, the impact on the common manis going to be increased cost ofproduction.”

Inflation falls to 7.9%in November

Meanwhile, analysts at FinancialDerivative Company (FDC) havepredicted 7.9 percent inflation. They

DECEMBER 15, 2014


Cover Story

Technical education is aplanned programme of

courses and learningexperiences that begins withexploration of career options,supports basic academic andlife skills, and enablesachievement of high academicstandards, leadership,preparation for industry-defined work, and advancedand continuing education.Vocational education andtraining prepares learners forcareers that are based inmanual or practical activities,traditionally non-academicand totally related to a specifictrade, occupation or vocation.In other words, it is an“education designed todevelop occupational skills.”Vocational and technicaleducation gives individualsthe skills to “live, learn andwork as a productive citizenin a global society.”

Technical and vocationaleducation has been an integralpart of national developmentstrategies in many societiesbecause of its impact onproductivity and economicdevelopment. Despite itscontributions the leaders ofNigeria have not given thisaspect of education theattention it deserves, and thisis one of the reasons for thenation’s underdevelopment.This article focuses on thedearth of skilled technical andvocational manpower inNigeria and argues that

Vocation & technicaleducation: Key to improvingNigeria’s development (1)

technical andv o c a t i o n a le d u c a t i o nholds the keyto nationaldevelopment.

Every facetof theeconomy hasbeen affectedby lack ofs k i l l e dtechnicians.The financialsector lackstechnicians toregulate thebanks and tod e v e l o pf i n a n c i a lsoftware top r o p e r l ytackle ther i s i n gf r a u d u l e n tactivities in

the banking sector. Withoutsecurity, development isimpossible in a society; nonation can sustain itsdemocracy if the citizens lackconfidence in the police. Thepolice violate the citizens’human and civil rights andlack forensic laboratory andfingerprint technicians toconduct criminalinvestigations. And due topoor training, military officersare known to beat up thecitizens who challenge theirpowers and go scot free fortheir inhumane actions.

The danger posed byenvironmental pollution andfake drugs is alarming. Theless educated in the societylack the skill to manage AIDS,cancer and diabetes amongother serious health problems.One wonders what thenation’s health minister andthe 36 state healthcommissioners are doing totackle these issues. Everygood citizen is aware that theneglect of technical andvocational education issocially and economicallyinjurious, because it is robbingthe nation of the contributionsthe graduates would make onnational development. Forthat Nigeria is today wearingthe toga of a poor state.

Although technical andvocational education seemdeficient in ‘citizenship orleadership training’ (Friedman1982). It provides students

with “life skills tob e c o m ep r o d u c t i v eentrepreneurs asit engenderscreative andinnovative ideas,enlarge theeconomic pie, andincrease personalfreedom. Most ofthe so-called“ e x p a t r i a t eengineers” whoare being paidmillions of dollarsto build Nigeria’sroads and bridgesare graduates oftechnical andv o c a t i o n a lcolleges. Yet theleaders do nottake technicali n s t i t u t i o n sseriously.

DISCOURSE: From left, Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund and guest lecturer,Prof. Suleiman Bogoro; Former Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Agriculture, Umudike, Prof.Placid Njoku; Registrar/CEO, Nigerian Institute of Animal Science, Dr. Godwin Oyediji; DeputyVice Chancellor (Admin), University of Ibadan, Prof. Emilolorun Ayelari; and Vice Chancellor,University of Ibadan , Prof. Isaac Adewole at the Post Graduate School, University of Ibadan,62nd Interdisciplinary Research Discourse, held at the University in Ibadan, Oyo State.

CBN begins mop-up ofN1.2trn to curb inflation

Continues from page 21 level. FDC’s Lagos urbaninflation declined to 7.66percent y-o-y compared to the8.11 percent y-o-y recorded inOctober. This is the fifthconsecutive month that theLagos urban index hasdecreased. The non-foodindex declined to 8.45 percent from 9.09 per cent inNovember while the harvestdependent food index alsorose to 6.33 per cent from 6.09per cent in the previous monthas market inventoriesdecline.” On inflation outlookfor December and January, thecompany said, “The pressure

on the naira is expected to besustained at the interbankmarket in the near term asforeign investors take outtheir funds to mitigatepossible political risks as theelections draw near. Increasedfiscal overdrive and politicalspending will increase moneysupply. In addition, thepsychological and artificialscarcity of petroleum productsat the end of every year islikely to have negativeimplication on transportationcosts. These are majorconcerns for consumer pricesin December 2014 throughJanuary 2015.”

Absence of export logistics makestrade expensive — NEPC

By PROVIDENCE OBUH their competitiveness, reap thebenefits of globalization andfight poverty more effectively inan increasingly integratedworld.

“Therefore, we must worktogether to identify the gaps inthe export logistics processesand address it appropriately.

“The market leadership inglobal economy requires globalsupply chain-suppliers,carriers, agents, customs andgovernment agencies anddistribution network that canreact quickly to changes in theglobal environment and adaptto long unforeseendevelopments. “To be a worldclass player and a gamechanger in the global economyrequires supply networks thatare efficient, streamlined andare able to move quickly tobalance three variables."

Technical andvocational

education hasbeen an

integral partof national

developmentstrategies in

many societiesbecause of its

impact onproductivity

and economicdevelopment

CMYK

however warn that increasedpolitical spending ahead ofthe general election andincreased demand for foreignexchange might exert upwardpressure on the inflation rate.

According to the FDCEconomic Bulletin

released on Friday, “FDC’sprojection of Nigeria’sheadline inflation inNovember is 7.9 percent year-on-year (y-o-y), a moderationfrom the level in October of8.1%. The marginal decline inmoney supply, slight increasein agricultural and thecontinuous fall in globalcommodity prices (indexdeclined by 11.74 percentyear-to-date are major factorscontributing to the projecteddecline in the headlineinflation”

“If the rate comes in at 7.9percent, it will be within theCBN target range for 2014.The CBN will not be swayedby this decline consideringthe impact of the devaluationof the currency on prices.Therefore, the hawkish stanceof the CBN is not expected tochange.

Furthermore, the rate ofchange in consumer priceswill be within the CBN 6percent -9 percent band. Thisis partly due to thecontractionary monetarypolicy and low globalcommodity prices. “OurNovember 2014 Lagos urbaninflation survey revealed adecline in consumer pricesfrom the previous month’s

Nigerian ExportPromotion Council,

NEPC, has said that theabsence of export logistics inthe African region has madetrade expensive. ExecutiveDirector/CEO NEPC, Mr.Olusegun Awolowo, stated thisduring an interactive forum on“Export Logistics: Bridging theGap,” held in Lagos.

“The absence of vessels ofAfrican origin has made tradeacross the region not onlycumbersome but expensive," hesaid. Awolowo who wasrepresented by his Director,NEPC, Abuja, Mr. OlajideIbrahim, said that the capacityto connect to internationalmarkets using effective tradelogistics is critical fordeveloping countries to improve


Business & Economy

President Goodluck Jonathan in his June 2012 Democracy day broadcaststirred the hornet’s nest. He raised fundamental issues of the economy,some of which with the benefit of hindsight were wishes as usual with

Nigerian leaders. He said during the broadcast: “We must use our population tocreate markets for what we produce. We must grow local, buy local and eat local.To promote this, I have directed that all official functions of government servelocal foods, especially our local rice and cassava bread and other foods. In theState House, I am faithfully keeping to my promise of eating cassava bread andlocal rice.”

This is December 2014; Mr. President, is cassava bread still being served inState House Abuja? Is the President being served local rice? How has the Presidentkept his promise to ensure that all government Ministries, Departments andAgencies buy locally made goods? How many hotels in Nigeria serve local riceand cassava bread? Does the yearly Christmas package from Mr. President,governors, ministers and others contain made in Nigeria items? The key to Nigeria's

Rebuilding Nigeria'seconomy is a taskthat must be done

survival, economically, is localproduction.

Nigerians must buy Nigerianproducts to encourage furtherproduction and generateemployment opportunities.The need to promote locallymade goods is more pressingnow that government hasintroduced austerity measuresto conserve the nation’sforeign reserves. ThePresident and his team mustreturn to the basics. They mustlead by example. They mustshow the nation that they meanbusiness to carry all along inthe bid to rebuild the Nigerianeconomy. Ministers and otherfunctionaries must take a cuefrom Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iwealawho wears Nigerian attireanywhere she is in the world.It is not about slogans butmatching words withmeasurable actions.

Yes, Nigeria has a hugepopulation that couldconstitute a big market, but outof the 160 million Nigeriansalive today, official figures put112 million as poor. It is thepurchasing power in the handsof the individual, thedisposable income thatconstitutes a market. A largeproportion of the adult andyouth population areunemployed; yes, the marketpotential is here but notrealistically the way thePresident wants us to see it.

Rice and cassava farming inNigeria today is constrained byaccess to finance and the smallholding nature of the farmers

as well as the traditionaltechnology applied to farming.Besides, the land tenuresystem and its availabilitymake commercial farming amirage.

Has this President askedhimself the question why inthe world Nigeria should beexporting crude oil andimporting finished petroleumproducts? This President iswell aware that about 445,000barrels of crude oil meant forlocal refining are sent toforeign refineries by NNPC forrefining and brought back tothe country as finishedimported products for whichsubsidy is paid. Apart from thefact that the crude was sourced

at reducedprice, whathappens tothe by-p r o d u c t sassociatedw i t hpetroleumref ining?Who keepst h eproceeds?

W h a tb u s i n e s shas Nigeriaimportingfuel? Is itnot ashame thatwe haveused upthe nation’sf o r e i g nr e s e r v e

importing products we shouldbe producing locally? WhenPresident Barack Obama cameon the American politicalscene, he invented a slogan:"Yes America, Yes we can." Hepromised Americans thatduring his tenure, he willensure that America dependsless on imported crude oil.Five years down the line,America is about becoming anet exporter of crude. That hasdented Nigeria's foreignearnings. That is a man whois a president indeed. Mr.President, Nigeria has toproduce local. Industries haveto source local raw materials.By now, the expectation is thatNigeria would have built up

facilities to process all itsexportable produce and sell inthe international market athigher price. Why is Nigeriastill exporting raw cocoa?Cocoa should have beenturned into semi-finishedproduct so that those who cannot sleep without tastingchocolate will come asking forit. Why should Nigeria beimporting cotton and its seedswhen there is an expanse ofuncultivated lands lying fallowall over the cotton belt?Nigerians' expectation ofJonathan’s transformationagenda is identifying out-of-the-box innovative technologyoptions that would addsignificant value forsmallholder farmers inagriculture, encourage masslocal manufacturing andprocessing of raw materials byreducing inefficiencies in thevalue chains, especially theharvest and post-harvest valuechain elements. The roadmapto transforming the economy ismassive investment, local andforeign.

While it is important to seekto attract foreign directinvestment into the country,creating the ministry andPresidential directives to buyNigerian and eat Nigerianmenus are no baits for foreigninvestors to want to come toNigeria. Globally, investors areinterested in places wheretheir return on investments ishigh. Nigeria certainlyqualifies as investors have

found out that they reap higherbenefits if they invest inNigeria. The few that havedone so, despite thechallenges of infrastructure,have found this to be true. Yet,Nigeria is not a haven toforeign investors. Manyinvestors who speak privatelyto Nigerians at investment foraare quick to point out that inNigeria, there is no sanctity ofcontract and property rightsare not clearly defined.

Most foreign investors seethis as the most inhibitingfactor that scares away would-be investors. They are notworried about the lack ofinfrastructure as is alwaysclaimed by those who explainaway the Nigerian situation.Shell, Mobil, Chevron, MTN,UACN and others know toowell the infrastructuraldeficiency in the country, yetthey invested and are reapingthe benefits.

The truth is that both localand foreign investors are waryof investing in Nigeriabecause the state and itsagents have no respect forproperty rights and sanctity ofcontract. They are worried thatif they invest in Nigeria, theirinvestment can be taken overby the state. Contracts havebeen breached with impunityby federal and state agentsand servants who haveoutright disregard for courtorders. Mr. President, it is timeto match your words withaction so that others can learnand fall in line.

•President Goodluck Jonathan

WORKSHOP - From left:Mr.Rotimi Omotoso, the Registrar,Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria(ICAN);Mr.AyoOni, Past President of ICAN; Mr.Chidi Ajaegbu, President ofICAN, and Alhaji Razaak Jaiyeola, Council Member of ICANat a one-day workshop for Not-for-Profit Organisations organ-ised by ICAN in Lagos.

FG to save N128bn through cassava inclusion in bread—FIIRO

The Federal Institute ofIndustrial Research (FIIRO)in Oshodi has said that properapplication of five per centcassava inclusion in breadbaking will save the nationabout N128 billion in foreignexchange. Dr. Gloria Elemo,the Director General of FIIRO,said this at a capacity buildingseminar of the Commerce andIndustry Association of Nigeriain Lagos. The theme of theseminar was: “IndustrialInfrastructure Development:The Private and PublicInitiatives”.

Elemo said that Nigeriawould be saving N128 billionthat ought to be used for wheatimportation.

She also said the initiativewas capable of generatingthree million jobs in thecassava value chain. ‘’l believeit is a policy that should begiven a serious and speedyconsideration by the NationalAssembly to ensure properimplementation,” Elemo said.

She said over 1,200graduates were trained in2013 on various skills such asmachine fabrication and

commodity processing, amongothers. She rated Nigeria verylow in Research andDevelopment (R&D).

“The R & D investment inNigeria only accounts for 0.01per cent of global expenditureand consequently ranked 94out of 134 nations in globalcompetitiveness in 2010,” shesaid.

She called for hugeinvestments in research,technology and innovation toachieve the nation’s aspirationto become a developedeconomy in the near future.


CMYK

Economy

Of all the policy options atthe disposal of the

Federal Government inresponse to the recent slump inthe price of crude oil, fiscalausterity is the most morallyjustified. It is also the least riskyoption. But as with all economicpolicies, there arecountervailing arguments. So,we can decide to maintain fiscaldeficit at the same level. Or findsome reasons to widen the gapbetween Government’s revenueand expenditure. This would bein the hope of financing thefiscal deficit by issuing bonds(debt capital) or increasingmoney supply throughquantitative easing (printingmoney).

Raising the level of debt at atime of dwindling revenue isboth unrealistic andproblematic. The debt financewould be more expensive.Investors would be swayed tobuy the bonds only if they offerhigher risk premiums. But thenthe higher cost of raising thefinancing also comes with twoadditional problems. Oneinvolves the reputationaldamage to the Government asthe market would perceive thepricey issuances as junk bonds.The other problem is that suchbonds, being sovereignissuances, would invariably setvery high benchmarks forcorporate bonds. Nigerianbanks and other private sectorissuers would have to payhigher costs for raising debtcapital in the internationalcapital market. In the end, thisoption would be too costly; notonly for Government, but alsofor the private sector.

If the Government thereforeditches debt capital financingfor quantitative easing, as hasbeen suggested in somequarters, the implications wouldalso be dire. There would be noescape from the consequences;the inflationary expectations thatwould greet the policy would beself-fulfilling. Out through thewindow would go price stabilitywhich has been achieved by thisAdministration throughmonetary policy. Not only wouldthis affect affordability by thecitizens, the ensuinginflationary outlook would deterprivate capital flows andinvestment in the country.

Quantitative easing mighthave become very appealingbecause of its effect instimulating the U.S. economy togrowth since the global financialcrisis of 2007 to 2009. But there

Nigerian fiscalausterity is amoralarmament

By ROBERTS ORYA is a fundamental difference inthe structural composition of theNigerian economy and that ofthe United States. Besides,while the U.S. FederalReserve’s QE diffused volatilityrisks around the world, similarpolicy in Nigeria would mainlylocalize the risks as we don’thave the reach of the U.S.economy. To underscore the factthat the success of quantitativeeasing is not beyond question,the policy has produced inJapan the very opposite of itsaccomplishment in the UnitedStates. The Japanese economyhas returned into a recession,making a monkey out of theAbenomics mantra.

The reason why Nigeriawould pursue either of the twopolicies of raising debt capitalor printing money, as opposedto fiscal retrenchment, is tocreate a false impression that noserious adjustment is necessaryin response to lower revenue bythe Government on account ofthe fallen oil prices. This iscompletely out of nature withthe Administration of PresidentGoodluck Jonathan. In the pastfive years, the Government hasbeen very pragmatic and honestin implementing neededreforms in the country. TheAdministration has backed thenecessary tough choices thatpolicymakers have made inmaintaining healthymacroeconomic variables.Examples include tightmonetary policy, reforms in thebanking industry and tighterregulation of the capitalmarket.

The Administration has alsomade a shift with regard topublic debt. At the time ofabove-$100-a-barrel oil price,the fiscal regime had opted forconsolidation, to slow down therate of growth of public debt.External borrowing was tied toinfrastructural projects, anexample being the $1 billionEurobond that was successfullyissued in 2013. While theCoordinating Minister of theEconomy (CME) andHonourable Finance Minister,Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala hasassured of government’scommitments to development ofinfrastructure, the strategy is notand cannot be to fuel public debtat an inauspicious time as weare in. Instead of that, andrightly so, Dr. Okonjo-Iwealahas announced spending cutsin the areas that will not hurtthe economy – internationaltravels and consolidation ofsome government agencieswhose functions seem to overlap

as recommended by the StephenOronsaye Report. This will becomplemented by raising moretax revenue.

The best scenario of raisingpublic debt to fund infrastructuralprojects under the ensuing fiscalhead wind is that futuregeneration of Nigerians will havethe benefits of the infrastructureand also the burden ofrepayment of the loans.However, a different propositionthat is morally unassailable is tofund infrastructure without alsobequeathing a debt overhang onthe future generation.

Yes, whereas the response ofthe U.S. economy to quantitativeeasing has been positive so far,fiscal austerity in much of theEurozone has perpetuated weakeconomic performance. Whilethe U.S. economy is now growingat above 3 per cent annualized,Europe continues to have acombination of mediocre growthand economic contraction. Italyhas just fallen into triple-deeprecession. As a result of these,fiscal austerity has become anorphan. But the jury is out onwhat the outcome of QE in theEurozone would be, and whetherthe U.S. will face a painfuladjustment with the end of QE3.

Even then, there are

fundamental differencesbetween Europe — whereausterity measures have provedto make matters worse beforepossible improvement — andNigeria — where austeritymeasures are expected to helpin managing external shockand also help intensify structuraltransformation of the economy.Europe introduced fiscalausterity when and wherepublic debt had reachedunsustainable levels, almostequal to or exceeding the GDP.But the level of Nigeria’s publicdebt is sustainable, well under40 percent of GDP ceiling. As aresult of the financial crisis andthe public debt crisis, southernEurope especially had plungedinto a recession. But GDPgrowth has been very solid inNigeria. Even with the cuts inthe GDP growth projections asa result of the fallen oil prices,Nigeria will grow at above 5per cent this 2014 and in 2015.Again, because austeritymeasures in troubled SouthernEuropean countries wereimposed by their seniorpartners in the Eurozone andthe IMF, the standardconditionalities for thefinancing left policymakers inthe countries no legroom formanoeuver. But the austeritymeasures that have recentlybeen declared in Nigeria are notan external imposition. TheGovernment has a lot ofheadroom in applying thepolicy. Therefore, spendingcuts have been applied to areasthat are in the least likely toconstrain growth.

Nigeria’s austerity measuresare not just a belt-tighteningframework. It is an opportunityto improve fiscal managementand widen the tax net.Following the recent rebasingof the Nigerian GDP, theeconomy became 89 per centbigger than the previous size.But as a result, Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio became muchsmaller, magnifying the

problem of low tax base. Rightaway, tax on luxury goods hasbeen announced. In that onestroke, the tax will helpgovernment to generateadditional revenue and at thesame time help inredistributing income. Whenthe new tax on luxuryproperties are viewedalongside the areas that theGovernment wants to cutexpenditures, it becomesapparent that the initialresponses of the Administrationare decidedly pro-poor; the cutsare unlikely to hurt the middleclass and less fortunateNigerians. These initial stepsshould assure the generality ofNigerians that the Governmentis very mindful of protecting oureconomic interests if and whenadditional measures touchareas that are likely to havewider reach.

As has been acknowledged,every crisis presents anopportunity. Lower oil pricesmay not change in a hurry.Indeed, the CME, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, has said theGovernment takes the view thatlower oil prices are most likelyto remain permanent. In thatcase, the structuraltransformation that has gainedpace under this Administration,as attested by the GDPrebasing, will now intensify.The main reason why veryadverse conditions are notimmediately expected inNigeria (and may neverbecome a reality) is because theNigerian GDP growth is led bythe non-oil sectors. Oil revenuewill hurt government revenue.But the economy can adjust andcope with that. Growth inservices, agriculture andmanufacturing will remain ontrack and will help create jobs.

Even within the oil and gassector, we are seeing astructural transformation at play.The implementation of thepower sector reform hassuddenly increased domesticdemand for gas. The thermalpower stations – existing andthose coming on stream – havemade gas a local commodity.Similarly, I foresee the situationwhereby the Nigerian oil willessentially serve the domesticmarket. Industrial activitieshave begun to grow and willlikely reach a tipping point ina few years, transformingNigeria into an industrial hub.At that time, the price of oil willmatter very little for Nigeria.Indeed, higher oil price at thattime would hurt us becausemost of Nigeria’s oil would besold locally. The country wouldbe more concerned aboutincreasing the oil reserves sothat Nigeria’s oil wouldcontinue to be available to fuelits economic growth. At such atime, we would look back to thisAdministration and appreciatethe Transformation Agenda ofPresident Goodluck Jonathanas being well-appointed.Implementation of non-oilgrowth dimension of theTransformation Agenda hasbeen the pre-occupation ofNEXIM Bank in the last fiveyears. It will remain so.

Roberts Orya is MD/CEO,Nigerian Export-Import Bank.

Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister ofFinance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala.

Raising thelevel of debt at

a time ofdwindlingrevenue is

bothunrealistic

andproblematic.

The debtfinance would

be moreexpensive


Business & Economy

Nigeria requires $113bn to revamp 3 criticalsectors of economy —BPE BOSSBY EMMANUELELEBEKE

The Director General ofthe Bureau of PublicEnterprises, BPE,

Mr. Benjamin Dikki saysNigeria requires freshinjection of about $113 billionin six years for thedevelopment of three criticalsectors of the nation’seconomy, namely Oil andGas, Power and Transport.

He made this known in apaper presented at theAnnual General Meeting ofManufacturers Association ofNigeria, MAN entitled:Making Nigeria Work – Adialogue between the RealSector and the Reformer.

To modernize the Nigeriantransport system, he saidinvestments of about $33billion will be required in sixyears for Roads and Railsdevelopment to undertakerehabilitation andmodernisation of theNigerian Railway and theconstruction of new Roadnetworks across the country.

He also stated that in thenext six years, Nigeria willrequire about $18 - $20billion of investment in thepower sector. He posited thatthe current reforms in thesector has enabled theprivate sector to invest in therehabilitation of existinginfrastructure and in newprojects.

Dikki further noted thatNigeria will require about$60 billion investments in Oil& Gas sector in the next sixyears, to unleash thepotentials in the Sector.According to him,“government was not in a

position to finance all theseinvestment requirements, thusthe private sector needs toparticipate in investing in thevarious sectors of Oil and Gas,roads, railways, inland waterways and so on.

“It is in order to attract theseneeded private sectorinvestments that governmentthrough the transformationagenda is fine-tuning policiesand legal and regulatoryframeworks to give confidenceto the private sector to invest.

He emphasised that theenactment of the PetroleumIndustry Bill, PIB andtransport bills midwifed byBPE will be critical.”

The BPE boss added thatwithout the passage of thebills, the country is estimatedto be losing for exampleadditional revenue of about US

$287 million in accruals togovernment from the threeProduction Sharing Contractsevery month the PIB is notpassed

On the impact of reform andprivatisation on the nation’seconomy, the Director Generalsaid the BPE has concludedreforms in eight sectors of theeconomy namelyTelecommunications, Power,Banking and Finance,Marine, Mining, Industrial,Steel, and Oil and Gas,Government has also so farPrivatized 123 enterprisesincluding the recentlyconcluded Power HoldingCompany of Nigeria, PHCNsuccessor companies andrealised over N564.3 billion.

Dikki further noted that thereform of thetelecommunications and

banking sectors remain so farthe most successful in terms oftheir impact on the Nigerianeconomy. He added thatNigeria’s tele-density has beenraised from about 450,000telephone lines in 2001 to over134.5 million as at September2014.

He also disclosed that access totelecommunication facilities hasgreatly improved the ease ofdoing business and especiallyimproved ease ofcommunications betweenbusiness partners therebyreducing costs; increased thenumber of employees in thetelecom sector, GSM phonesellers, repairers and rechargecard sellers. On the volume ofinvestment in the sector, he saidthe telecom sector ’s contributionto Nigeria’s GDP is now 8.53 percent, compared to less than threeper cent in 2001.

Some capital marketo p e r a t o r shave called for review

of investment channels in theinsurance industry ascontained in the InsuranceAct 2003 .

They told newsmen in Lagosthat the review was necessaryto win the confidence ofmajority of Nigerians to thesector.

They said that the people’sapathy to insurance productswas responsible for its poorperformance on the NigerianStock Exchange (NSE) andeconomic development.

Mr Adebayo Adeleke,National Secretary,Independent ShareholdersAssociation of Nigeria(ISAN), said the 2003 Actshould be reviewed to

Experts call for review of investment channels in Insurance Act

accommodate investment inother sectors.

Adeleke said that theconcentration of the sector onmoney and capital marketsinstruments would retard itsgrowth. According to him,voluntary mergers andacquisitions with incentivesshould be encouraged forinsurance companies totransact into big businesses.He said that the industry hadyet to take its pride of place asan engine room fordevelopment and capitalformation due to lack of trust.

“The directors andshareholders shouldscrutinise expenses to controlexcesses of managerialcapitalists who are feeding fatat the expense of seedproviders.

“There remains a pervasivenegative impression about theindustry. It bothers on trust.Captains of the industry arenot ready to roll up theirsleeves and penetrate themass market. So, insuranceremains very elitist,” Adelekesaid. He stated that the pooroperational results,occasioned by bloatedexpenses and non-payment ofdividends contributed todismal performance of thestocks on NSE.

Mazi Okechukwu Unegbu, aformer President, CharteredInstitute of Bankers of Nigeria(CIBN), said that NationalInsurance Commission(NAICOM) should introducestiffer sanctions for illegaloperators to create sanity inthe industry.

Unegbu said that operators inthe industry should cometogether and review their codeof conduct to ensure integrityand transparency.

“The insurance industry hasfailed to contribute its quota toeconomic growth anddevelopment due to investors’apathy to insurance productsdue to non-payment of claimsby some firms. Investors willcontinue to shun insurancestocks on the NSE if erring andillegal operators are notsanctioned,” he said.

Malam Garba Kurfi, theManaging Director, APTSecurities and Funds Ltd., saidthat many insurancecompanies on the NSE had yetto improve after the financialmeltdown.

UNVEILING - From left Mr Anselm Alokha, Business Manager, Nigerian Breweries PLC ;Mr Moses Ogbodo, Regional Business Manager, Lagos; Mr Walter Drenth, Marketing Director,and Mr Steve Onu, Yaw, Radio Presenter at the unveiling of Ace Passion Apple Spark drink byNigerian Breweries PLC in Lagos.

Entrepreneurial skill:Unilever gives winnerN3.3m

Unilever Nigeria Plc, underthe instance of its NESCAFEyouth entrepreneurshipempowerment program hasrewarded the winner with $20,000 (N3.36million).

The winner Adamu Muazu,from Kogi state, developedwhat he called poweroptimizer, which was designedto help increase the outputperformance of generatingsets, helping it to power moreappliances without causingdamage.

To arrive at the winner, theNESCAFE #GetstartedAfricatoured cities in central and WestAfrica to collect works of youngAfricans for the competition.

The Managing Director, Mr.Dharnesh Gordhon,represented by Head, HumanResources, Marie Owoniyi,said that because NESCAFEbelieves in the young peopleof Central and West Africa,who are full of dreams and arechanging the status quo,overturning conventions andcreating new things with everyshift, twist and turn andbecause they rewriting therules and setting a new agendamoved the company to embarkon the competition.

NBC restates commitmentto environmentalsustainability

The Nigerian BottlingCompany, NBC Limited,

one of the companiespromoting sustainablepackaging by light –weightingand recycling beveragecontainers within the beverageindustry has once againdemonstrated its commitmentto conducting its businessactivities responsibly with dueregard to environmental impactand sustainable performance.

As part of its ExtendedProducers Responsibilityinitiative, NBC has recentlydonated a bailer, (a machineused to compress PolyethyleneTerephthalate (PET) bottles,cans, etc.) to Wecyclers NigeriaLimited, a beverage packagingwaste collector to support theorganisation’s expansion of itscurrent waste collectioncapacity, leading to packagingrecycling.

Over the years, NigerianBottling Company Limited hasimplemented laudableprogrammes on energyefficiency, water conservationand promoting sustainablepackaging focusing on thereduction of carbon footprint byengaging with businesspartners to actively exploresolutions to a “green” culturethat supports sustainability.

CMYK


Banking & Finance

MEETING - From left, Executive Director, Corporate Banking Group, FirstBank,Adetokunbo Abiru; Managing Director and Chief Executive of Financial DerivativesCompany Limited, Bismarck Rewane, Group Executive, Institutional Banking Group,FirstBank, Basirat Odunewu; and Chief Treasurer, FirstBank, Ini Ebong at the FirstBankBusiness Breakfast Meeting in Lagos.

CBN’s stabilization cash boost forpower sector players

Hopes of stable powersupply in the country

have received another boostwith the introduction of theN213 billion Nigeria ElectricityMarket Stabilization Facility(NEMSF) designed to addressobstacles to increasing powergeneration.

The successful privatizationof the PHCN successorcompanies last year had raisedhopes that Nigerians wouldsoon begin to experiencesignificant improvement inpower supply. But almost ayear after new owners took overthe five generating companiesand 10 distribution companies,power generation hasremained below the 4000megawatts, and most timesdropping below 2000megawatts.

Breaking the Gas barrierA major factor for this below

expectation performance wasthe issue of gas supply, as mostof the power generating plantsare gas based and their outputdepends on gas supply.Though the generatingcompanies were willing toincrease power output, theyare however constrained byinadequate gas supply.Standing between them andadequate gas supply was….debt. The debt was for gassupplied to the powercompanies while they wereowned and managed by thePHCN successor companies.The gas companies insistedthat the new owners have topay this debt before they canincrease and guarantee gassupply. Their argument wasthat they needed the money toincrease production capacityrequired to raise gas supply.But because the powercompanies could not increasepower generation, they hadchallenge generating enoughrevenue to be able to repay thedebt to the gas companies.

Realising the potentialdanger of this vicious circle tothe possibility of recouping theloans they had extended tofund the power sector reform,and also to the nation’sobjective of adequate andstable power supply, banks andthe Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) under the aegis ofBankers Committee inSeptember decided to step intothe matter by helping the powercompanies to repay the debt tothe gas companies.

Briefing Journalists at theend of the Committee’smeeting in September,Managing Director, Ecobank

By BABAJIDEKOMOLAFE

Nigeria, Jibril Aku, said theCommittee resolved to servicethe debt, to enhance gassupply and boost power outputin the country. Aku said thebanks will recover the fundfrom the Multi-Year Tariff Order(MYTO) deductions.

He said the Bankers’Committee is willing to supportthe initiative with government,where a Special PurposeVehicle (SPV) will be set up toprovide loans to clear the debt,and overtime, the loan wouldbe recovered through MYTOtariff deduction.

Aku said the essence of thepower transformationprogramme is to achieveefficiency and improve powersupply, which was constrainedby gas shortage.

He said: “Obviously, gascoming into the power stationswould affect the revenue.Many of the operators have notraised their productioncapacity because of shortage ofgas. The gas companies havealways been agitating that thisdebt be paid; otherwise, theywill not produce and will beginto accumulate new debts. TheCommittee believes that mostof the problems associated withgas-to-power would beresolved and Nigeria willbegin to see a generatingcompany that is inspired toincrease power generation.”

That decision materialisedinto the Nigeria ElectricityMarket Stabilsation Facility(NEMSF) which becameeffective last month followingthe signing of the DefinitiveAgreements by the CBN, theMinistry of PetroleumResources, Ministry of Powerand Nigeria ElectricityCommission.

Features of the Facility

According to the guidelines,the NEMSF is aimed at settlingcertain outstanding debts inthe Nigerian Electricity SupplyIndustry (NESI) amounting to213 billion and guarantee thetake-off of the TransitionalElectricity Market (“TEM”). Inspecific terms, the proposedfacility will cover legacy gasdebts and the shortfall inrevenue during the InterimRule Period (IRP). The facilitywill be administered throughdeposit money banks. TheFacility will be disbursed at therate of 10 percent per annum.The tenure shall not be morethan 10 years. A SpecialPurpose Vehicle (SPV) thatcomplies with section 31 ofCBN Act 2007 will serve as anintermediary between thebanks and the Electricitymarket players. NigeriaElectricity RegulatoryCommission (NERC) shallreset the Multi Year TariffOrder (MYTO) to ensure thatit provides for the loan

repayment including thecosts of setting up andoperating the NEMSF.The other power sectorvalue chain players mustalso agree to specificservice relatedcommitments whichinclude the following:Gas Suppliers to committo assured gas supply athigher volumes;Generating companies(GENCOs) andDistribution Companies(DISCOs) to commit toutilizing the funds forequipment/infrastructureacquisition, refurbishmentand/or upgrade; Allparties that are licensedby the Nigerian ElectricityRegulatory Commission(NERC) to operate in theelectricity market to acceptto be immediately boundby performanceagreements signed withthe relevant authoritiesincluding the Bureau ofPublic Enterprise (BPE).All parties will also besubject to additionaloversight mechanism tobe developed by NERCand CBN to ensurebusiness continuity andthat all power sectorplayers meet obligationsthat are critical forcontinued electricitysupply.

A New Gas MarketSpeaking at the signing

of the DefinitiveAgreement in Abuja, theCBN Governor, Mr.Godwin Emefiele, said theintervention would resetthe economics of the powersector and addressliquidity challenges.

Today’scommitmentwill bring tothe grid an

additional 2.5billion cubic

feet per day ofgas over theperiod fromnow till 2017

Ecobank donatesmalaria preventionkitsEcobank has donated

malaria prevention kitsworth several millions of nairato various schools andhealthcare Centers in ruralcommunities across Nigeriabeing part of activities to mark“Ecobank Day”, observedsimultaneously in 36 Africancountries where Ecobank ispresent. Ecobank Day which isan annual event is acommunity action day set asidefor the bank staff to directlyengage with and renderservice to the community.

The 2014 edition with thetheme: Malaria Prevention &Control in Sub-Saharan Africasaw Ecobank Nigeria staffoffering the malaria preventionsupplies that includes easy touse SD Malaria Testing Kits,Mosquito Treated Nets andMosquito Repellant Creams topupils and officials in 9 schoolsand 9 basic healthcare centersacross the geo-political zonesof the country.

Some of the healthcarecentres and schools visitedinclude St Kizito Clinic, Jakande Estate Lekki Lagos;Cherubim & Seraphim PrimarySchool, Majidun, IkoroduLagos; Community BasicPrimary School, Ladogan,Iseyin, Oyo State; GovernmentSecondary School, Jos; Queen Amina College inKaduna and Eastern AcademyOnitsha, among others.

Six Winners Emerge inSterling Bank’s PromoSix lucky winners with

Sterling Bank Arsenalaccounts will have the privilegeof an all- expenses paid trip towatch home matches involvingArsenal Football Club andother top clubs in the EnglishPremier League at theEmirates in the first SterlingBank Gunners Promo.

The six lucky winners whowere picked at the promo drawheld at the Sterling Towers, theBank’s corporate head office inLagos to watch the Arsenalversus Aston Villa match areOlaiya Joseph Rotimi;Oduntan Femi Abimbola;Oseni Adekunle; Segun John;Tamunokubie Tamunobaraoand Obi Blessing Uwachukwu.

An excited Rotimi, whencalled during the drawexpressed his gratitude to theBank for fulfilling its promiseto reward owners of ArsenalAccounts. Although he statedthat the account was notopened for the purpose of thedraw, “but to identify with abank supporting the darlingteam of millions of Nigerians."


Corporate Finance

We are impressedwith Access Bankcapital marketsactivities – EMEAFinance

The publisher and CEOof EMEA FinanceM a g a z i n e ,

Christopher Moore hascommended Access Bank Plcfor its impressive dealings inthe capital market. This wasdone at the EMEA Financeaward ceremony which washeld recently in London. Atthe ceremony, Access Bank,which was nominated in akeenly contested category,emerged victorious as theBest Local Bank in Africa.

While presenting the awardto the Bank, ChristopherMoore said “Access Bank’sinterim results showimpressive growth not just inincome and profit, but also inthe bank’s loan portfolio anddeposit base. Theseaccomplishments aretestament to a strongmanagement team andbusiness. Additionally, we areimpressed with the bank’scapital markets activity, whichincludes the bank’s secondinternational bond issuanceraising US$400mn and itsupcoming rights issue”, saysTim Burke, editor of EMEAFinance Magazine”.

12 finalists emergein UBA FoundationNational EssayCompetition

Twelve finalists have beenannounced in UBA

Foundation’s National EssayCompetition. UBAFoundation is the CorporateSocial Responsibility, CSRarm of the UBA Group.

The competition, which isopen to all students of SeniorSecondary Schools inNigeria, is a follow up on theFoundation’s Read AfricaInitiative and aims atproviding a competitiveplatform to develop theintellectual and writingabilities of senior secondaryschool students in Nigeria.

The competition has beenheld annually since 2011 withstudents being challenged towrite on different engagingtopics. This year, studentswere asked to write on thetopic “Is Social Media a safeplace to make friends?” The12 finalists emerged from thenearly 2,000 entries receivedfrom students who wrote theessay.

By PETER EGWUATU

The recent decline in thetrading activities at the

Nigerian stock market hasbeen attributed to exposure ofthe geo-political and currencyrisks facing the country.

The Group Chief ExecutiveOfficer of UBA Capital Plc ,Oluwatoyin Sanni, whodisclosed this during aworkshop for capital marketcorrespondents held recentlyin Lagos said, ”NigerianEconomy is greatly exposedto geopolitical, geo- economicand currency risks which areforcing foreign investors towithdraw their funds fromthe stock market."

She stated that the Nigeriancapital market is currentlyfacing some challenges thatmust be addressed in order tosustain the market recoveryand prevent another crashand adverse effect on theeconomy.

Sanni, who delivered apaper titled 'SustainingCapital Market Recovery' atthe workshop said, “Therecent decline in the stockmarket activities is partlycaused by the upcominggeneral election in 2015 asmost of the foreign and localinvestors are beingapprehensive of the likelyoutcome of the election. Theyare being cautious and thusare selling their stocks.”

According to her, “someinternational and local investors have withdrawntheir investments inanticipation of the outcomeof the election.”

Sanni further noted that thedrop in oil price andperceived policyinadequacies also affectedthe international investors'confidence, adding thatrelatively low daily tradedvalues and low turnover arebeing recorded at the stockmarket.

She added that theinsecurity in the country isalso a challenge to theNigerian stock marketrecovery.

According to Sanni, the lowfinancial literacy and lowfinancial inclusion are alsopart of the hindrances to thegrowth of the capital market,adding that the lack ofdiversification options is achallenge in the market asfew products are available toinvestors.

She noted that the financialsector still dominates thetrading activities on theNigerian Stock Exchange ,which invariably affects thegrowth of the market

Economy exposed to geopolitical, currencyrisks — EXPERT

She also said that theNigeria’s Pension FundAdministrators, PFAscurrently have limitedexposure to equity market

adding that PFAs have theopportunity to greatlyincrease their equity exposureas this will increase long termreturns to contributors,

encourage the Initial PublicOffering, IPO market as thiswill lead to an increasedabsorption capacity andimproved liquidity in themarket.

*Emerges overall winner of the 2014 Pearl Awards

FG names Forte Oil one of Nigeria’stop 100 companies

Forte Oil Plc (formerly AP Plc)Nigeria’s foremost indigenousintegrated energy solutions provider

has been awarded one of Nigeria’s top 100companies by the Federal Government ofNigeria in a ceremony at the PresidentialVilla in Abuja.

The top 100 Businesses Initiative,according to the Minister of Industry, Tradeand Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, wasset up to celebrate major investors andcompanies that are contributing to thedevelopment of the economy, whilst creatinga platform for public-private sectorinteractions on Nigerian economic policies.

This achievement followed the company’semergence as the overall winner of the PearlAwards set aside for companies listed on theNigerian Stock Exchange at award ceremonyin Lagos on Sunday, November 30, 2014. Theaward which is the overall honour of thePEARL awards, is instituted to recognizeachievers, performers and drivers in thecapital market. Forte Oil also clinched twoother awards; the ‘market excellence in shareprice appreciation’ and ‘sectoral leader inthe Oil & Gas sector’ to emerge the starattraction of the glamorous event.

Chief Molade Okoya Thomas whopresented to Pearl Award to Forte Oildescribed the feat by the company as atestament of hardwork, diligence andcommitment to providing valuable service to

customers and value to its shareholders.Mr Tayo Orekoya, the President of the‘PEARL Awards’ commended Forte Oil forwinning the 2014 edition and urged themnot to rest on their oars, but strive to sustainthe drive for excellence.

Commenting, Mr. Akin Akinfemiwa, theGroup Chief Executive Officer, Forte OilPLC said: ‘We are very pleased to berecipient of these awards, which aretestament of our commitment to excellencein performance and an unflinching questfor value creation of our shareholders. Weremain dedicated to sustaining the trust ofthe general public and our stakeholders aswe continue firmly in our drive to build along-term successful company; makingForte Oil PLC the investment of choicethrough positive actions that boost investorconfidence at all times”.

Other companies that bagged awards atthe prestigious event include; JuliusBerger (Sectoral leader construction),Custodian & Allied Insurance (Sectoralleader Insurance), Stanbic IBTC (Sectoralleader Banking), Dangote Cement(Sectoral leader Industrial Goods-Buildingmaterial), UAC Nigeria (Sectoral leader,Conglomerates), Nestle (Sectoral leader,Consumer Goods-Food & Beverage),Nigerian Breweries (Sectoral leader,Consumer Goods- Breweries).

AWARD - From left: Publisher/CEO, EMEA Finance, Christopher Moore; Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Access Bank UK Limited, Jamie Simmonds; Head, Strategic Brand Management,Access Bank Plc, Amaechi Okobi; and Editor, EMEA Finance, Tim Burke, at the EMEA AfricanBanking Awards 2014 held in London where Access Bank was named the Best Local Bank.


E- Commerce

VISIT - Managing Director, May & Baker, Mr. Nnamdi Okafor flanked by MD\CEO Bank ofIndustry, BOI, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa and General Manager, Large Scale Enterprises, Mr.Joseph Babatunde, (right) during the visit of the management of BOI to May & Bakerpharmaceutical industry, Ikeja industrial estate in Lagos.

Stories by JONAHNWOKPOKU

To mark its one yeara n n i v e r s a r y ,C a r m u d i . c o m ,

Nigeria’s online carclassified, unveiled itsredesigned website with anew online user experienceon multiple devices.

Hosting over 43,000vehicles online in Nigeria and230,000 globally, Carmudisaid its new website has madeonline car shopping simplerand faster.

The new website comeswith various new featuresincluding a compare featurewhich allows users toeffectively view and comparetwo or more cars. As you clickon the ‘park and compare’option below your shortlisted car, your car is automatically saved in ‘MyGarage’. The new featurewould show your findingswith car specifications suchas make, model,transmission, engine type,fuel, etc. on a single pagegiving you a bird’s eye viewbefore you toss your choices.

The website users can nowexperience a highlypersonalized experiencewhich allows car buyers tochoose their wheels based on

Carmudi Nigeria marks one year anniversarywith website re-launch

not just the conventionalchoices of price, mileage,colour or brand type, but alsolifestyle in three steps.

Global Managing Directorof Carmudi, Stefan Hauboldsaid, “The idea is to make theusers feel as if they wereinteracting with a salesmanwho shows them around as

per their specific needs anddesires.” He said, “Save thefact that there is no constantpestering to make thepurchase instantly, you canrelax in your living room asyou cruise through different car showrooms virtually onCarmudi. The sharing optionis also one of my favorite as it

allows you share yoursearches and also allows yourfriends comment on yourpotential purchase.”

Also speaking, ManagingDirector of Carmudi Nigeria,Christian Keller, said, “We arededicated to ensuring thatusers have a great Carmudiexperience. With the newwebsite, I can say we have beenable to do that as users nowenjoy an easier and fasterexperience.”

How best to empowerMicro, Smalland Medium

Enterprises (MSMEs)owners was the focus of aworkshop organized recentlyin Lagos by the ComputerWarehouse Group plc (CWG).

The workshop with theTheme: ‘Learn how to set-up,operate and advertise yourown store online,’ was aimed

CWG empowers merchants with IT skills at e-commerce training

at equipping businessowners with the skills theyrequire to take their businessto the online community byoperating an online store andselling to people other thanthose in their immediatephysical community.

Welcoming the participants,Success Nmerife, the HeadMarketing Communications,CWG, informed the

participants that theworkshop was designed tointroduce them to solutionsand methods they can employto maximize the benefits thatthe internet affords ingrowing their business.

She observed that the shiftin the global focus fromtraditional business model toonline commerce has madethe utilization of the electronic

media in business promotionand sales an indispensabletool for merchants.

Similarly, Adriana De laCruz Duffo, BusinessManager, Openshopen toldthe participants that‘Openshopen’ has beendesigned to respond to thechallenges of online tradingencountered by SMEs in theNigerian businessenvironment.

According to her,“Openshopen is easy to use,cheap and profitable. Itaddresses the fears ofpayment gateway security. Italso takes care of the logisticsof delivery. It is a platform youas merchants can adopt, ifyou want your business togrow”.

According to him, “CWG’spartnership withOpenshopen to introduce thee-commerce platform is inline with our vision to enableNigerian merchants acquirebusiness enabling technologywithout incurring businesskilling own-infrastructurecosts.”

Africa’s mobile streaming service, Aflixhas unveiled its ABC studios ina move that will see it providing

some of ABC’s best contents to Aflix users withinthe continent.

This is coming on the heels of partnershipbetween the television production division ofDisney – ABC Television Group, that saw Afixacquiring licences to show some of its popularcontents through its streaming service.

Some of the titles will include The River,Missing, Samantha Who? Melissa and Joey,Happy Endings and Once Upon a Time. Thelicence period for these titles will extend to May,2015. In a bid to boost access to its content,Aflix also went into partnership with theElectronic giant, Samsung to preinstall the Aflixapp in all Samsung Smart TVs within these

Scandal, Revenge, others debut in Aflix as ABC contents unveilregions of operation, excluding South Africa.

Speaking on the unveiling of the ABCstudio, Chief Executive Officer of Vonetize,Noam Josephides whose company, Aflix isbased on its SmartVOD offering, said, “Theunveiling of the ABC studio heralds thepremium quality brand in terms of contentwhich Aflix is building. We are happy thatthis partnership with ABC pulled throughand that we are helping Aflix live up toexpectation and their resolve to provideHollywood premium contents to the Africanaudience.”

According to him, Aflix users should expectmore premium contents from ABC studiosthrough licensing of more titles even as talkis in progress to partner with otherHollywood studios to bring to Aflix users thebest of Hollywood entertainment.

Jovago revampssite, creates moreaccessible hotelbooking engine

Hotel booking portal,Jovago.com has

unveiled a more user-friendlywebsite in order to make hotelbooking more accessible totravellers in Nigeria andaround the world.

In a statement, Jovago said,with the opening up of over5,000 hotels online in Nigeriaand 200,000 around theworld, Jovago.com has easedthe stress of the bookingprocess.

“Now holiday makers donot have to visit several hotelsby themselves or waste timeon long waiting loops inorder to secure bookings,Jovago has created a cheaperand more secure means ofsearching for and bookinghotels online. With the filtersystem, customers can easilychoose what hotel amenitiesthey prefer during their stayand make their selectioneasily,” the statement said.

Jumia, Foundationpartner to boostchild literacy inNigeria

Jumia Nigeria inpartnership with ‘1

Child 1 Book’ Foundation haslaunched a Corporate SocialResponsibility initiative tohelp improve the literacy rateof thousands of children inNigeria, by providing booksevery month to schools acrossthe country.

The partnership wasnominated in the Best CSRInitiative of the Year in therecent World retail Awards2014 and has seen thousandsof children reached sinceinception.

Speaking about thecollaboration, Tosin Jegede ofthe 1 Child 1 Book said, “OurMission is to providesustainable tools that willfurther the educationaldevelopment of Nigerians,starting with primary schooleducation and we, incollaboration with JumiaNigeria, will stop at nothingto ensure this becomes areality”

To further promote literacythis Christmas, Jumia said,together with the foundation,it will be embarking onbuilding a state-of-the-artLibrary with up-to-date toolssuch as computers, gamesections and many otherlearning tools for the Nigerianchildren across Lagos state.


CMYK

Corporate Finance

He said, “I think it might bea bit difficult for us to reallyargue that you must shareyour company once you aresuccessful. In addition, keepin mind as well that a companycan avoid being a certain sizeif it wants to, simply bysplitting its business. Insteadof having one company, it willhave 10 different companiesthat are doing different things;it will incorporate them into10 different companies and itwill be one tenth of the sizeand it will be below yourthreshold, whatever thresholdthat you come up with.

“Imagine a bank with 200

branches, each state is adifferent bank because theywant to avoid being that size,it’s possible to do. I think weshould be careful in settingthose thresholds of sayingonce you hit a certain level ofprofitability or once anythinghappens, you must share. Ithink it will penalize successand therefore, we need toreally rethink that module.”

“If we create that kind oflegislation, we may be makingNigeria seem to be a difficultcountry. Remember, there isassessment worldwide as toease of doing business andone of the key criteria that theyuse in determining ease of

doing business in any countryis the ability to hold contractsand the contract to bedefendable,” he added.

Agreeing with him, Mr.Nnaemeka Onyeka Obiaraeri,MD/CEO, Taurus Capital andAdvisory Limited, stated thatit will be verycounterproductive to force acompany to list in a freemarket economy. “It does notmake sense to me, becauseyou are simply tellingsomebody whether you like itor not, you must list. If theysucceed in the Bill they willend up driving away thoseforeign investors that willwant to play in this market,.”

market-driven partnershipsand alliances with the differentstakeholders in the mobilemoney value chain thatStanbic IBTC Bank went intopartnerships with the fourmajor telecom operators inNigeria, enabling mobilepayment services to take root,proliferate, and scale upacross the country.

On his part, Dr. Ado J.G.Muhammed, ExecutiveDirector/CEO, NationalPrimary Health CareDevelopment Agency, said theSURE-P MCH Project is aninitiative that builds on thegains of the Midwives ServiceScheme (MSS) and is utilizinga combination of supply anddemand-side interventions toprovide health services tomore Nigerian women andchildren.

seamlessly and instantly intomobile money accounts.

“We are very pleased topartner with SURE-PMCHProject on this strategicinitiative. The partnership willhelp in actualizing our goal ofenhancing access to mobilemoney services by moreNigerians through theStanbic IBTC mobile moneyplatform. This collaborationprovides another entry pointfor fast and convenient meansof sending and receivingmoney, and furtherdemonstrates ourcommitment to continuouslydeliver innovative productsand solutions, part of whichincludes enhancing therobustness of our mobilebanking and mobile paymentssystems,” Abajue stated.

He said it was inrecognition of the need for

in the rural and hard-to-reachlocations in the country toreceive cash through StanbicIBTC’s mobile money serviceas incentive for their increasedaccessibility and utilization ofmaternal and child healthservices.

Speaking at the launch atDobi Primary Health CareCentre, Gwagwalada, Abuja,Executive Director, Personaland Business Banking,Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mr.Obinnia Abajue, said thepartnership representsanother major way toleverage evolvingtechnologies and partnershipsto enhance value propositionsand bring affordable financialservices closer to Nigerians.He said the service willleverage on Stanbic IBTCBank’s unique bulk paymentsolutions to transfer money

FLOUR Mills Nigeria Plchas commended its

employees for theircommitment to the growth ofthe company over the years,promising to increase itsinvestment in its manpowerresources.

Speaking at its 2014Employee Awards Day inLagos, Mr. JohnCoumantaros, Chairman,Flour Mills, said theinvestment will be in the areaof recruitment, training,development and recognition.

In addition, he further statedthat to further develop itsworld class systems andprocesses, it will also focusthe investment in its strongbrands, in the right productsor marketing strategies andin the most technologicallyadvanced equipment.

He said, “Our success iseven most criticallydependent on our people: Onhow we all work together oncommon goals. With over12,000 people andmultifaceted operations infood, agro-allied andsupporting businesses, wecan only be as strong as theweakest link in our chain.

“Our success depends onour collective commitment toour vision and to our workingtogether in achieving it. Wemust pull together, shoulderto shoulder, with ourcolleagues towards ourcommon purpose. Oursuccess depends as much onthe ‘we’ as the ‘me’.”

For their contribution to thesuccess of the company,Coumantaros assured theemployees of commensuratebenefits when the companybegins to reap from itsstrategies.

“We will invest in your jobsatisfaction, training, careerdevelopment and careerrecognition. Moreimportantly, we will all beproud of our variedcontributions to creating thenew Flour Mills, the premierfood and agro-allied companyon the continent,” heexplained.

Continuing, he said thecompany will leverage onsome of its criticalinfrastructure, the ApapaBulk Terminals, its power andtechnical division and itspackaging and transportcompanies, to help it reach itsgoals.

STAKEHOLDERS inthe Nigerian capitalmarket have

continued to expressdivergent views on the“Private CompaniesConversion and Listing Bill,2013” which seeks to enforcelisting by companies withcertain turnover on theNigerian Stock Exchange,NSE.

The Bill, which has passedthrough second reading at theNational Assembly, seeks tocompel private companies toconvert to public companiesby becoming listed on theNSE.

The thresholds for themandatory conversion are:shareholders fund in excess ofN40 billion (around USD 250million) and turnover or totalassets of N80 billion (aboutUSD 500 million). A privatecompany that meets any of thethresholds must be convertedto a public company and belisted on the NSE within 12months of passing the Bill intolaw.

In his own submission, Mr.Bola Ajomale, ManagingDirector/CEO, NASD Plc,said that passing such Bill intolaw will not reduce Nigeria’sjeopardize the country’s ratingin te ease of doing business,but will also amount topunishing success.

He said that companies thatwish to escape the listing maysimply decide to split theirbusiness thereby making itpossible for them to reach therequired threshold.

STANBIC IBTC Bank, inpartnership with the

Subsidy Reinvestment andEmpowerment Programme(SURE-P) Maternal andChild Health (MCH) Project,have launched the mobileconditional cash transferprogramme tagged ‘Moni formy Phone,’ in a movedesigned to enhance financialinclusion and boost thecashless policy in Nigeria.

The SURE-P MCH mobileconditional cash transferprogramme is part of ascheme being implemented inthe Federal Capital Territoryand 17 other states in supportof SURE-P MCH’s demand-side interventions in thehealth sector.

The service, now rolling outin selected primary healthcarecentres across the country, willenable Nigerian women living

Stanbic IBTC, SURE-PMCH Project partner on cash transfer services

Stakeholders express divergent views on Billcompelling coys to list

From left: Team Lead, Sponsorship and Events, Frst City Monument Bank Limited, Mr MatthewObiazikwor; Retail Cluster Head, FCMB, Mrs Bukky Akintade; Corporate Affairs/Media RelationsOfficer, Mr Rafiu Mohammed; and Branch Manager, Mobolaji Bank-Anthony, Mrs AdedayoSobajo during a road show on 2014 Edition of COPA Lagos Beach Soccer Tournament in Lagos.PHOTO;BY AKEEM SALAU

PIX: Corporate Finance page 2 pix(Financial Vanguard folder)

Caption:

Stories By NkirukaNnorom

Flour Millsplans increasedinvestment inmanpower,technology

By Michael Eboh

Vanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2014 — A1

CMYK

A2 — Vanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2014

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CMYK


Economy

THE Independent CorruptPractices and Other

Related Offences Commission, ICPC, and the Ministry ofAviation on Tuesday in Lagossigned a Memorandum ofUnderstanding , MoU, toeliminate “ low levelcorruption at the nation’sairports.”

According to the chairman ofICPC, Mr Ekpo Nta, some ofthe ways to check this “lowcorruption” will includemandatory training on ethicsand integrity at the anti - graftagency ’s academy forpersonnel of all stakeholdersdeployed to work at theairports .

He added that theagreement “ would alsoinvolve a comprehensivesystems study of the FederalMinistry of Aviation , itsparastatals as well ascontinuous sensitisation of thetravelling public andforeigners who use the airportsnot to compromise with offersof tips or bribes and reportunwholesome acts to theICPC.”

Speaking while signing thememorandum, Minister ofAviation, Chief Osita Chidokadescribed corruption as aroadblock to nationaleconomic development .Heordered the Federal AirportsAuthority of Nigeria , FAAN ,

and the Nigerian Air Force towithin two weeks flush outtouts loitering around thearrival hall of the LagosInternational Airport.

Chidoka also urged FAAN tocancel concessions involvingthe use of trolleys at theinternational airport. Headded that the FederalGovernment will install newclose circuit television

cameras at major internationalairports to providesurveillance to check corruptpractices.

He said the installation ofbrand new close circuittelevision cameras In strategicplaces around the airportwould deter airport workersfrom either soliciting for bribesor tips, a development he saidhas become one of the sore

points in the travel experienceof many Nigerians usinginternational airports .Chidoka said “ We need tostamp out corruption at ourairports because its practicehas become a roadblock toeconomic prosperity.Corruption destroysprocesses and truncateoutcomes. It does not create alevel playing field .”

NIGERIAN CivilAviation Authority,

NCAA, has said that the 187workers of the agency sackedlast week were sacked overirregular employment by thepast management. Most ofthe effected staff wereemployed by the formerActing Director-General,NCAA, Engr. BenedictAdeyileka

Engr Benedict Adeyileka,now Director of Airworthinessand the Human ResourcesDirector of the agency, MrAustin Amadi, have since alsobeen placed on suspension bythe current NCAA DG, Dr.Mukhtar Usman and this hasreceived the approval of theMinister of Aviation, Chief.Osita Chidoka.

A letter with referenceNCAA/DG/GEN/Vol.11/2014signed by Mr A.M Yamsikit ,General Manager, HumanResources, and distributed tothe affected staff said “I referto your appointment andsubsequent resumption toduty and to inform you that the

REGIONAL Manager ofEmirates Airline, West Africa,Mr. Manoj Nair has assuredNigerian passengers that theairline would continue to giveits best to them in terms ofcomfort and affordable fareswith the overall aim of givingthem value for their money.

Speaking to newsmen inVictoria Island, Lagos, Nairaffirmed that Emirates airlinehas a lot of packages for itteaming consumers which isclassified into variouscategories for both leisure andbusiness trips.

Enumerating some of thepackages to include Emiratesholidays, Travel on your own,Dubai stopover amongstothers Nair said that all thepackages entails hotela c c o m m o d a t i o n ,transportation, feedingstressing that all the packagesguarantees passengerscomfort as it overall aim.

He added that to facilitatethe seamless travel experienceof Emirates passengers acrossthe world, the airline hasdecided to use it’s best aircraftlike the Airbus A380’s andBoeing 777 with adequatefacilities onboard to ease andbring comfort to thepassengers.

According to him, Emiratesflies to over 140 destinationsin the world with a crew of 130nationals who speaks over 60languages stressing that theairline has 232 aircraft in itsfleet as that wouldaccommodate the growth of itpassengers’ traffic.

He also pointed out that asa way of giving back to thecommunity and Nigerians atlarge, the airline is planningto embark on a massivecorporate social responsibilityproject that would bringdevelopment to the country.

According to him, the PublicRelations agency of the airlinehad already swong into actionand soonest a proposal on thecorporate social responsibilityproject would be made knownto the public.

“We have our PR agencywhich is currently evaluatingas to a particular corporatesocial responsibility projectthat we can be dedicated to,so we are waiting for theirproposals but having saidthat, any event that wesponsor in this part of theworld is linked to ourcorporate social responsibilityto the community and to thecountry at large” Nair said.

large amount of fine dust particles (0.5 to 10micrometers) which are transported hundredsof kilometres over the south. The effect of thedust and sand stirred by the wind is known asHarmattan Dust Haze.”

“In addition, the consequence of theHarmattan is a heavy fog hence air – to – groundvisibility is considerably reduced. Aerodromevisibility may fall below the prescribed minimaand in severe conditions; dust haze can blot outrunways, the markers and airfield lightings overwide areas. This makes visual navigationextremely difficult or impossible.”

“Resultantly, where visibility falls below theprescribed weather minima, flight operations arelikely to be delayed, diverted or outrightlycancelled.Therefore, all Pilots shall obtainadequate departure, en route and destinationweather information and briefing from NIMETprior to flight operations at all the airports.”

THE Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority,NCAA, has issued a weather alert to

all Pilots indicating hazards associated withHarmattan dust haze in flight operations atthis period of the year.

According to Mr Fan Ndubuoke, GeneralManager, Public Affairs, NCAA, “Thiswarning is important as Harmattan is knownto pose an obvious threat to aircraftparticularly in areas of challenging terrainsdue to low visibility.”

“This alert is in line with the SeasonalRainfall Prediction issued by the NigerianMeteorological Agency (NIMET) on thecessation of rainy season in 2014.TheHarmattan is a dry and dusty wind that blowssouthwards from the Sahara across thecountry between the end of November toMarch, the following year.”

“On its passage over the desert, it picks up

Ministry of Aviation directedthat your appointment besuspended with immediateeffect, pending the completionof an investigation beingconducted by the Ministry”

“In the meantime, you aredirected to hand over all

NCAA property, includingyour identity card to yourHead of Department whilefurther developments on thematter will be communicatedto you in due course, please”

The management furthersaid that the engagement of

the employees did not followdue process and receiveapproval from higherauthorities. The salaries of theaffected workers, a source inNCAA said, had since beensuspended by themanagement.

ICPC, Ministry of Aviation sign MoUBy Lawani Mikairu

187 staff were sacked over irregularity — NCAABy Lawani Mikairu

NCAA warns pilots on hamattan haze

We will alwaysgive our bestto Nigerianpassengerssays Nair

By Daniel Eteghe

The Registrar Institute of Entrepreneurs, (IOE) Dr Rotimi Oladele, (R) decorating Mr WaheedOlagunju Executive Director,Small and Medium Enterprises, Bank of Industry as Fellow, Instituteof Entrepreneurs in Lagos, assisted by Director of Marketing IOE, Dr Folu Olagunju left at the 14thAnnual Entrepreneurship conference and 4th Quarterly Induction ceremony in Lagos.

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34 —Vanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2014


CMYK

People in Business

PSC Solar commences N5b solar panelmanufacturing plant

Power blackoutsin Nigeria are a

smokescreen andcan be completely

eradicated ifgovernment hasthe will to do so

As the price of crude oilplummets globally, Nigeriais in for a hard time because

most of her revenues come fromcrude oil sale. Unfortunately, notonly is the price decreasing but alsosales as many of Nigeria’s customershave now either discovered crude oilin their country or are moredependent on renewable energy.

Nigeria, blessed with abundant sunlightand wind, has no excuse not to make themost of these resources to generate enoughpower for domestic use and export theexcess. It is in this light that PSC SolarIndustries, solar PV panel manufacturersand total solar electricity power integrator,decided to set up a 10-mega watt solarpanel manufacturing plant in Nigeria, tonot only make solar electricity more

...to create over 1,000 jobs

affordable, but alsocreate jobs for Nigerians.

The ManagingDirector/Chief ExecutiveOfficer of PSC SolarIndustries, Dr. PatrickOwelle and the SiteEngineer, Mr. Ntogo BakorAlex Alee speak on thislaudable project. Excerpts:

What inspired the project:Speaking at the official

groundbreaking ceremony atthe project site, a 100-acreproperty in Warewa, alongLagos-Ibadan Expressway,Ogun State, the Site Engineerwho is also the Senior ProjectEngineer, PSC Solar UK Ltd,Mr. Ntogo Bakor Alex Aleesaid the idea behind theproject is the company ’sdesire to further reduce thecost of distributed solarelectricity power by this localmanufacturing initiativethereby making alternativeelectricity affordable inNigeria and the West Africasubcontinent.

The project which hedescribed as first of its kindin Africa, already has over 20earth-moving equipment andover 100 construction siteengineers on ground,underlining the local contentcommitment of the company inthis endeavour.

Also, he stated that over “N3billion worth of solar panel PVmanufacturing equipmentprocured from Rimas BV inthe Netherlands, are onground in Nigeria includingsun simulators, stringers,larmators, automatic framersetc.”

Training local engineers:“Twenty local engineers are

already cleared and

registered for advancedSolar, Electronics & ElectricalEngineering training at the

MPPT Versions from 12V –440V.”

Expressing their joy at theevent, two of the many PSCSolar Industries distributorsfrom Ghana, Togo, Benin,Cameroun, Niger, Chad andMali, Mr. Etienne T. Dazanfrom Benin Republic andMonsieur Ayuba Ibrahim fromNiger Republic bothexpressed deep optimism andjoy that they can henceforthpurchase inverters, solarpanels, charge controllers,solar streetlights etc in Lagosand have them delivered totheir respective countries byroad same day or next daywithout paying extra Customsduties or exorbitant shippingcharges. Mr. Dazan whonormally imports solarrenewable electricitycomponents from France wasextremely pleased at this newdevelopment and reaffirmedhis support for this initiativeand attendant economicbenefits for the West Africasub-region.

The Site Engineer invitedthe public to visit the CompleteSolar-powered Project MiniDisplay Home at the projectsite in Warewa, Ogun Statealong Lagos – IbadanExpressway to get a free no-holds barred free guided tourof the 3KWp solar-poweredmodel home alreadyfunctioning at the site.

“This goes to confirm that thepower blackouts in Nigeria area smokescreen and can becompletely eradicated if thegovernment has the will to doso.

Nobody in Nigeria shouldever be without electricity 24

hours, seven days a week,” hesaid.

Looking ahead:Speaking on their plans for

2015-2016, the ManagingDirector/Chief ExecutiveOfficer of PSC Solar UK Ltd.,Dr. Patrick Owelle said that theplanned expansion of PSC SolarUK Limited is now underwaywith offices and warehouses inAbuja, Benin and Kano, andadditional locations in PortHarcourt, Calabar and Sokotoare planned for late 2015.

He indicated that plans areunderway to develop a 100-unit, total solar power luxuryestate at the 100-acre projectsite which is slated for takeoffin June 2016.

Dr. Owelle stressed the hugeresearch and developmentcapabilities of the firm andannounced the introduction ofthe new All-In-One Solar LEDStreetlights with integratedmotion sensors. He declaredthat gone are the days when solarstreetlights were not bright andpowered by cumbersome andheavy deep cycle batteries, largesolar panels and controllers andit took over four – five hours toinstall just one streetlight.

“The All-In-One Solar LEDStreetlights are a compact lightweight unit with integrated nanosolar panel and credit cardsized Lithium Iron Phosphate(LiFePo4) batteries. Thestreetlight weighs less than8kgs and can be installed withinfive minutes. They areextremely bright (7,500Lms)and cost far less than thetraditional solar streetlights,”Owelle said.

The ceremony attractedvarious international and localdignitaries.

prestigious German Academyfor Renewable Energy &Environmental Technology inBerlin, Germany for Januaryto February 2015. Thecompany is committed totraining an additional 20engineers yearly for the nextfive years at the GermanAcademy,” said Alee.

Expected products:“Solar panels to be produced

in Nigeria include 12V/80Watts, 12V/160Watts, 24V/200Watts, 24V/250Watts, andall super efficiency monocrystalline solar PV panelswith efficiencies in excess ofover 35 per cent, way aboveindustry average efficiency of15 per cent,” stated Engr.Alee, adding that “Africa nowhas a reliable manufacturer ofsuperior quality Inverters,Solar PV Panels, Solar ChargeControllers- PWM, Hybrid &

•The site •All-In-One streetlight

BY EBELE ORAKPO

SMEDAN starts newsurvey on MSMEs

The Small and MediumEnterprises Development

Agency of Nigeria(SMEDAN) on Thursday saidthe agency had commenced anew national survey of Micro,Small and MediumEnterprises (MSMEs) in thecountry. The agency’sspokesperson, IbrahimMuhammad, said this duringan interview with the NewsAgency of Nigeria (NAN) inAbuja. According to him, thesurvey is meant to update the2010 report which showed thatthere are over 17millionMSME’s with a cumulativeemployment of over 32 millionnationwide. “I am veryconfident that this figurewould have significantlyincreased and that explainswhy the agency is conductinganother survey,” he said. Hesaid that the need to assess thecontributions of MSME sub-sector to the nation’s economypartially inspired the 2010national MSME survey.

DMO to sell N65bnworth of bonds Dec. 17

The Debt ManagementOffice (DMO) says it

plans to sell N65 billion worthof sovereign bonds on Dec.17. In a circular posted on itsWebsite on Thursday, theDebt Management Office saidthat the bonds’ maturity dateswould range from three, 10 to20 years.

According to the DMO, thethree-year bonds will be forN10 billion, the 10-year tenorbond would be for N30 billion,while the 20-year tenor bondwill be for N25 billion.

The bonds will mature onAugust 2016, March 2024 andJuly 2034, respectively

The DMO said that thebonds would have 13.05 percent, 14.20 per cent and 11.15per cent yield rates,respectively.

Customs bosspromises higherrevenue drive atPTML

Mrs Tallatu Isa, thenew Comptroller, Ports

and Terminal Multi-ServicesLtd., (PTML) Command of theNigeria Customs Service, onThursday said she would becommitted to higher revenuedrive. Isa, who made thepledge in Lagos onassumption of duty, said shehoped to surpass the revenuefigures she inherited from herpredecessor.

Isa took over fromComptroller FolorunshoAdegoke who has beentransferred to the Murtala Muhammed InternationalAirport Customs Command inLagos.

“I promise to surpass thefigure I inherited from mypredecessor. I don’t joke withmy revenue,” she said.

38 — Vanguard, MONDAY,DECEMBER 15 , 2014

CMYK

Commodity Index

Dec. 05 - Dec. 11, 2014

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Tax Matters

BY ANUYA, F. O. (PH.D)

DIRECT LABOUR PROCUREMENTOF GOODS AND SERVICES ANDCONTRACT IMPLICATIONS

Opadiran (1987) defined DirectLabour Procurement as a

process by which a project is executedby the workers of an organizationinstead of the project being contractedout. It can simply be described as a ‘doit yourself ’ approach to projectprocurement.

Direct Labour could also be definedas a method of procurement whereby aclient otherwise known as “the owner”uses his or her own in-house resourcesfor the design and execution of a project.The in-house resources here willinclude both supervisory staff, skilledand unskilled labour force besidesEquipment. Worthy of note in thissystem is the elimination of thecontractor, which makes the directlabour method distinct from otherprocurement methods.

According to Iyagba and Idoro (1995),Direct Labour method of procurementcan take various forms among which are;

Fully In-House Direct LabourHere the organization has the human

resources in place for all the phases ofthe project. The organization pays themonthly wages or otherwise of theHuman resources.

Partially In-House Direct LabourHere the design and production

information could be prepared bypracticing consultants, whileconstruction is handled by permanentpersonnel.

Hire-Labour Direct LabourHere the project owners do hire of

labour, machinery, purchase materialand coordinate the construction work,possibly engaging a qualifiedprofessional for the management of theconstruction process.

Self-help Type of Direct LabourSelf-help construction where the

inhabitants of a community areorganized and mobilized with the directlabour establishments of a GovernmentMinistry.

Others are:-- The developer provides the

necessary recources, buys the necessarymaterials, hires the men and themachinery required, and mobilizes theresources on his own.

- Communal construction withthe use of voluntary labour drawn fromfamily members and friends.

- A self-help constructionwhereby the inhabitants of a communityorganize and mobilize themselves toexecute a project.

These arrangements were seen tooriginally represent the true context ofdirect labour construction. Based on thedefinition, the following comments aremade on the different forms of DirectLabour presented above:-

FORMS C O N T R A C TIMPLICATION

Fully In-house Direct LabourNo contract

Partially In-house Direct LabourDesign and production of informationby third parties are contracts.

Taxation of contract and direct labour procurement of ministries,departments and agencies (MDAS) of government in Nigeria (3)

Hire-Labour Direct Labour H i r eof labour,machinery, qualifiedprofessionals and contract purchase ofmaterials will not qualify as Directlabour. Cash purchase of materials mayqualify.

Self-help type of Direct LabourDirect Labour of the Direct LabourEstablishment of the GovernmentMinistry

Others May qualify as DirectLabour when executed through cashadvance to a staff of the MDA withinapproval limit. They may not qualifywhen managed by a third party.

Contract can be inferred from the basisfor payment by the project owner.

a. Cash advance to staff to beretired after the procurement – Nocontract

b. Payments for staff invoices –Contract (staff should not invoice his/her employer)

c. Payment to staff for third partyinvoices - Contract

d. Payment based on certificate ofjob completed - Contract

procurement and within approved limit.DIRECT LABOUR PROCUREMENT

AND THE NIGERIAN TAX LAWSThe schedule to the Companies

Income Tax {Rate, etc of Tax deductedat source (Withholding Tax)}Regulations 1995 exempts thosetransactions which are, and indeedconstitute “Outright sale or purchase ofGoods and Property” and which takeplace “in the ordinary course of thatparticular kind of business”, from Taxdeduction at source. Where a sale orpurchase transaction becomes repetitiveor habitual, it will not qualify forexemption. The sale of goods on a once-for –all basis will qualify for theexemption in so far as it meets thesecond condition. A sale takes place inthe ordinary course of business when ittakes place in the course of thatparticular business. Where, for instance,a trader sells goods directly to thirdparties, he will be seen as acting in theordinary course of his business, that is,trading. However, where the traderenters into contract for the sale of the

fluctuation requirement in the terms ofspecialist skills or equipment , or wherethe open market provides a moreefficient and commercial alternative. Itis also its policy that Services, Materialsand Equipment shall be acquired byProcuring Entities at the most favourableterms compatible with the desiredquality and delivery requirements,taking account of total life cycle costsand in a manner that safeguards andpreserves the reputation of theprocuring entity; and to support thedevelopment of an indigenouscontractor base in Nigeria andparticularly in the area in which thevarious Procuring Entities operate.Despite these comprehensiveprovisions in the Procurement Act andthe Financial Regulations, manyGovernment Agencies deliberately setaside contract award procedures infavour of Direct Labour Procurementoption.

The pertinent questions would be:- why are the MDAs interested in

Direct Labour Procurement method?Could it be for better quality delivery,availability of more competent In-housestaff, cost saving, non availability ofcompetent contractors or Tax planningetc? Whatever the reasons, their actionsshould be guided by relevant Laws.They should be sure and ready to provea case for Direct Labour in the PublicProcurement Act, that they haveascertained:- that a schedule of rates,cost – plus or target contract would notbe feasible, as quantities of work to becarried out cannot be defined inadvance; that works are small andscattered or in remote locations with nolocal contractors and demobilizationcosts for outside contractors would betoo high; that works must be carried outwithout disrupting existing operations;that the risk of unavailable workinterruptions is better borne byprocuring entity than by a contractor;that no contractor is interested inconducting the work at a reasonableprice; that it has been demonstrated thatForce Account (Direct Labour) is theonly practical method for constructingand maintaining works under specialcircumstances; or that national securitywould be compromised if any othermethod was used. Any Tax planningthat violates the provisions of the Taxlaws is illegal.

Some Government AccountingOfficers are quick to argue that thereason for Direct Labour Procurementoption is the absence of budgetaryprovision for the payment of VAT whichare invoiced to them by the contractors.It is advisable that Accounting Officersof Ministries, Departments andAgencies of Government should includethe VAT payable in the budget estimatefor approval instead of violating theprovisions of the relevant laws. Fromthe content of the Financial Regulationsand the Accountant General Circular of2009, it is instructive to note that anypayment for public procurement aboveTwo Hundred Thousand Naira may notbe accepted as a payment for DirectLabour, and could be deemed asTaxable Government Expenditure.

L-R: 1st Runner-Up, Business Day Risk Manager of the Year, Mr. Omokay-ode Oluwole of Mansard Insurance; CEO, Mansard Insurance, Mrs. YetundeIlori; Winner, Business Day Risk Manager of the Year, Mr. Adewale Akin-wale; of NAHCO; Executive Director and Chief Risk Officer, Skye Bank, Mr.Dotun Adeniyi; Group Head, Enterprise Risk Management, Skye Bank, Mr.Femi Aribaloye and Mrs Ona. Peters of NAHCO at the 2014 Nigerian RiskAwards held in Lagos.

Any Direct LabourProcurement mustpossess thesecharacteristics toqualify as non contractprocurement-

a. Ownership ofprocurement facilities- The Ministries,Department andAgencies ofGovernment must useonly the in-houseresources for thedesign and executionof the project.

b. Absence ofc o n t r a c t u a lrelationship with bothstaff and non staff, inthe procurement.

c. P a y m e n tshould be throughcash advance to staff.The cash advancemust be retired at theend of the

goods, he is no longer actingwithin his ordinary course ofbusiness, that is, trading, buthas made an adventure intoanother business, that is,contracts. Further, amanufacturer who makescontractual sale or purchase isno longer acting within hisordinary course of businessthat is manufacturing, but hasgone into another business,that is, contract. Although themanufacturer may use theitems purchased or sold in hismanufacturing business, thecontractual arrangement forthe sale or purchase will besubject to 5% withholding tax.

CONCLUSIONIt is the Public Procurement

Bureau’s Policy that ProcuringEntities outsource thoseservices that are either not partof their core business activityor for which there is a

The pertinentquestions would

be:- Why are the

MDAs interestedin Direct Labour

Procurementmethod? Could it

be for betterquality delivery,availability of

more competentIn-house staff, cost

saving, nonavailability of

competentcontractors or Tax

planning etc

Micro-Finance


CMYK

Also, most market watchersand economists now

believe that the currentsituation in the oil market maynot be transitory, but, seeminglypermanent. Godwin Emefiele,CBN, Governor, at CharteredInstitute of Bankers Dinner, inLagos, December, 2014.

The Governor of the CentralBank of Nigeria, CBN, ischarged with formulatingmonetary policy which isexpected to be complimentaryto the fiscal policy for which theMinister of Finance isresponsible. Unlike theMinister, the CBN Governor,once appointed and confirmedby the Senate, cannot beremoved by the President forfive years unless provedguilty of an indictable offense.That was why PresidentJonathan's suspension offormer CBN Governor, LamidoSanusi, would have establisheda legal precedent if Sanusihad not been made Emir ofKano. Generally, the autonomyof the Central Bank, in mostcountries is sacrosanct andcannot be intruded upon byelected officials.

For the sake of those whomight not know, as well asthose who already know, theCBN Governor, in settingmonetary policy aims to achievethree main objectives:exchange rate stability, interest

The age of oil is overfor Nigeria — 1rate and full, or near fullemployment. Full employment,however, does not mean allthose needing jobs will beemployed. The term fullemployment allows for aboutfour per cent unemployment. Nobody needs to be told thatNigeria had achievedrelatively stable exchange rate,about N155-158/US$1 forseveral years; — until lastmonth when the CBN wasforced to devalue. Even now,nobody can predict where itwill settle. The safe bet is thatthis is only the first in a seriesof devaluations. Interest rates,although high by globalstandards, had also remainedfairly stable. Inflation, which isa reflection of how those tworates had been managed, hadbeen below ten per cent foralmost three years — until now.Only the jobless rate had beenway off the mark; and is nowset to get worse.

Those remarkableachievements, until now, hadbeen made possible by theprice of crude oil which had

stayed above $100 per barrelfor more than three years. But,unfortunately, while the priceof crude had stayed high, thevolume officially sold haddeclined in the last two yearsfor several reasons, chiefly,stolen crude, vandalisation ofpipelines, loss of market share,and, lately, global economicslump. Until this year, mostNigerians had been spared thenightmare of the day the Ageof Oil might be over. Now, the

dreaded day has arrived andthe CBN Governor's warningto the bankers, as well as allNigerians, comes years afterGovernor EmmanuelUduaghan, of Delta State,had attempted, in vain, oneshould add, to get the peopleof the state to start thinking ofDelta Without Oil. But, evenUduaghan's prescient warningcame a few years after I hadbeen preaching, like the lonevoice in the wilderness, thatNigerians should startplanning and workingSERIOUSLY for the end of theAge of Oil. The CBN Governordeserves commendation for thisrevelation. It is the first signthat somebody at the topmostlevels of government, in Abujais, at last, taking thehandwriting on the wall of timeseriously. For one top officialto be half-awake in agovernment full of sleep-walkers is a sign that all is notlost.

Decades ago, when AlvinToffler wrote his best sellingbook, FUTURE SHOCK, as a

subscriber to a book club inAmerica, I was one of the firstrecipients. The book was inmany respects an eye-openerfor me because it drew myattention to the need fornations, states or regions,corporate entities, and, evenindividuals, to undertakeserious studies to determinethe future of those things thatdefine their existence. ForNigeria, since the mid-1970s,that has been crude oil. For allthe talk about our agriculturaloutput, including the phantom80% self-sufficiency in riceproduction and cassava bread,the Federal and stategovernments still gather, inAbuja, every month, to sharecrude oil proceeds. Obviously,until something else comesalong to replace it, crude oil hasbecome the second god weworship. That second god isthreatening to let us down themoment at a time whengovernment must choosebetween guns and garri. Weneed to pray.

But, prayers are neverenough. Nigeriangovernments, Federal andState, should have officers whoknow the crude oil market inand out; or ask for help.Granted, futurism is not anexact science, and forecastingfive, ten years into the futureis fraught with dangers.

A survey carried out byEnhancing Financial

Innovation & Access (EFInA)Access to Financial Servicesin Nigeria in 2014 revealedthat 2.6 million Nigerianadults representing 2.8percent, currently have amicrofinance bank account.

Further findings showedthat an additional 31.5 millionadults said that they wouldlike to have a microfinancebank account, EFInA revealedat a Financial InclusionConference in Lagos.

The survey finds that thenumber of Nigerian adultswho are banked increasedfrom 28.6 million (32.5percent) in 2012 to 33.9million (36.3 percent) in 2014.However, 36.9 million adults,representing 39.5 percent ofthe adult population, arefinancially excluded,

Stories byPROVIDENCE OBUH

2.6m adults have micro financebank accounts – EFInA survey

meaning that they have noaccess to financial services.

Also, mobile moneyawareness and usage remainslow; 11.9 million adults (12.7percent of the adultpopulation) are aware ofmobile money, and only800,000 Nigerian adults (0.8percent of the adultpopulation) currently usemobile money, while uptakeof insurance is also low, withone million adults (1.1 percent

of the adult population) usinginsurance, although 14.3million adults said that theywould be interested inmicroinsurance products.

In a statement, ChiefExecutive Officer, EFInA, Ms.Modupe Ladipo, said, “SinceEFInA started measuringfinancial access in 2008, thenumber of Nigerian adultswith access to formal financialservices has increased by 25million.”

The Institute of CharteredAccountants of

Nigeria (ICAN) canvasses theneed for mergers andacquisition of Small andMedium-sized AccountingPractices (SMPs).

The practicing firms werebrought together to discuss thebenefits and impacts of comingtogether to build a strong firmat a one day Forum of FirmsWorkshop organized by theinstitute in Lagos.

Speaking in an interview,

ICAN canvasses mergers forsmall & medium accounting firms

President of ICAN, Mr. ChidiAjaegbu, said that the ideabehind the workshop was tobridge the perceivedknowledge gap among solepractitioners with the auditmarket. According to him, “theobjective of this workshop isto bring both the big and smallpracticing firms to cometogether in the interest ofcomplementing each othersstrength.

“We have knowledge gapamong the sole practitionerswithin the Nigerian auditmarket, the whole idea is toencourage the big ones tostretch a hand of fellowshipand see what they can do toupscale the competences of thesmaller firms.

“The audit quality in Nigeriawill improve and flow into amore reinforced financialreporting chain to give moreintegrity and confidence tofinancial statements that arepublished about thecompanies,” he said.

The Institute of Directors (IoD)penultimate week, engaged about

500 director s from different sectors, who havemade significant contributions to business,finance and the economy even as it conferredits fellowship award on four eminentNigerians. The fellows were honoured at theIoD annual directors’ dinner held in Lagos,as part of their contributions to the growth ofthe Nigerian economy,

Those awarded include: Chairman, Heirs

IoD engages about 500 directors, award 4 othersHolding/United Bank for Africa Plc, Mr. TonyElumelu, for his entrepreneurial endeavors;Ex-Chief Executive Officer, NigerianBreweries, Mr. Felix Omoikhoje, forleadership and excellent; former President,Nigeria Institute of Management, ChiefLugard Aimiuwu, was honoured for directordevelopment and former ExecutiveChairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service(FIRS), Mrs. Ifueko Omoigui Okauru forgood governance.

Obviously, untilsomething elsecomes along to

replace it, crude oilhas become thesecond god we

worship


CMYK

Homes & Housing Finance

•Beach house with thatched roof

Housing corporations seek socialhousing regulatory role for FHA

By YINKA KOLAWOLE

Association of HousingCorporations of Nigeria

(AHCN) has called on theFederal Government toinitiate steps to re-desgnatethe Federal HousingAuthority (FHA) as NationalSocial Housing RegulatoryAuthority with a mandate todrive social housingprogramme in Nigeria.

The association, which isthe umbrella body of statehousing corporations inNigeria, made the call in acommuniqué issued at theend of a two-day nationalworkshop on Social Housing

as Agent of PovertyAlleviation and its 92ndcouncil meeting heldrecently, in Minna, NigerState. It also called for theprovision of special fundingto the authority to enable itpursue government’s socialhousing programme.

AHCN lamented theexclusion of FHA frombudgetary allocation, notingthat the action had limited theability of the agency to deliveron its mandate. Members ofthe association alsocounselled againstgovernment’s plan tocommercialise or privatiseFHA, noting thatcommercialising or

privatising the authority willdefeat the purpose for whichit was established. Whilecommending government forits efforts towards developinga viable social housingprogramme for low and no-income earners in thecountry, participants urgedthe National Assembly toexpedite action on theenactment of a law to promotethe implementation of theprogramme. They also calledfor the development of wellarticulated andcomprehensive strategiessuch as subsidy, tenureoptions and eligibility criteriato enhance the production ofsocial housing for the most

vulnerable income groups.The association noted that

by setting aside 5 percent ofthe accruals to the EcologicalFund as capital grant for theprovision of social housing,the federal government couldaddress inadequate financewhich is a major challenge tohousing delivery in thecountry. It also called on stateand local governments toallocate at least five percentof their receipts from thefederation account for thesame purpose.

The workshop participantsrecognized the potentials ofsocial housing as the mosteffective and sustainablepoverty alleviationprogramme. They urged localgovernments to be proactivein their approach to socialhousing as enumerated in thenational housing policy andembark on profitable venturesthrough partnership andcollaborative efforts withhousing agencies inproviding social housing forthe people. The participantsidentified availability oftrillions of naira lying idle inpension and insurance funds,unclaimed dividends andother related instruments thatcould be harnessed to the realestate sector. They imploredgovernment to urgently put inplace necessary parametersfor effective collaboration ofFMBN, Nigerian MortgageRefinance Corporation(NMRC) and PenCom tochannel funds from pensionfunds to real estate sector.

The communiquéacknowledged the efforts ofNigerian Building and RoadResearch Institute (NBRRI)for its breakthrough inmaterial development aimedat reducing the cost ofhousing production throughthe use of local buildingmaterials. It called ongovernment to createawareness, sensitize andencourage people to embraceNBRRI technology inhousing production bypatronizing local buildingmaterials in most of thenational housing programsand schemes.

Ogun Stategovernment hasdistributed 5,000

Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-O) and other land titledocuments to property ownersacross the state, under itsHomeowners’ Charterprogramme which is aimed atdeepening the propertymarket in the state.

Governor Ibikunle Amosunsaid that government initiatedthe scheme to assist propertyowners in the state through theregularisation of title documentand building plan approvals.He noted that without properdocumentation of land titles, itwould be impossible forgovernment to make properplans for the development of

‘4,000 benefit fromLafarge housingscheme’

Lafarge Nigeria Plc said4, 000 Nigerians have

so far benefited from itsaffordable housing

scheme. The schemetagged, “Ile Irorun”, wasinitiated by the company inresponse to the challengesof urbanisation in thecountry, with a housing gapestimated at about 17 millionunits.

General Manager,Industrial Performance,Lafarge Nigeria, Mr LanreOpakunle, who disclosedthis in Lagos, said that theproject is a step towards therealisation of the company’sambition to help build bettercities in Nigeria. “Lafarge’scommitment to buildingbetter cities is unwavering,hence we initiated thisproject to help provideaccess to affordable housingfor Nigerians”.

According to Opakunle,with the development of thereal estate, the mortgagesystem is beginning to comeup that is the way we canhave a good growth incement consumption. InNigeria, 70 per cent ofcement consumption is forindividual homes builderswith 17 million housingdeficiency. He said that thecompany has been workingwith LAPO MicrofinanceBank, adding “we providedthe professional expertiseand LAPO provides thefinance as this would bringa sustainable solutions to theneeds of local population interms of housing”.

US mortgageapplications rise

Applications for UShome mortgages rose

last week as both purchaseand refinancing

applications increased,Mortgage BankersAssociation has said.

MBA said its seasonallyadjusted index of mortgageapplication activity, whichincludes both refinancingand home purchasedemand, rose 7.3 percent inthe week ended Dec. 5. TheMBA’s seasonally adjustedindex of refinancingapplications rose 13.2percent, while the gauge ofloan requests for homepurchases, a leadingindicator of home sales, rose1.3 percent.

Fixed 30-year mortgagerates averaged 4.11 percentin the week, up 3 basispoints from 4.08 percent theweek before. The surveycovers over 75 percent of USretail residential mortgageapplications, according toMBA.

Homeowners’ charter: Ogun distributes 5,000 Cs-of-Othe state. He added thatproperty owners who are ableto secure their title documentcould use same to apply tofinancial institutions for loansto boost their businesses.

In his remarks, DirectorGeneral, Bureau of Lands andSurvey, Adewale Oshinowo,pointed out that theHomeowners’ Charterprogramme was intended toassist numerous propertyowners in who had lost hopeof titling their properties. Hesaid that government was wellpositioned with investment intechnology to issue up to 1,000C-of-O per day until allgenuine applications havebeen processed.

Property experts noted at the

event, in Abeokuta, that themove by government to easeand fast-track the processing ofland, property and land titledocuments would deepen theproperty market in the state.According to them, the actionis bound to attract more realestate investors to the state.

Chairman of Ogun StateChapter of Nigerian Institutionof Town Planners, RantiOshoko, said the programmemarked a unique significancein creating access to land,property and land titledocuments. He noted that itwould provide a uniqueplatform that boost land andproperty market in the statesince access to land titles hasbeen simplified by government.

According to him, the policywhich ensured the distributionof C of O to 5,000 home andproperty owners is uncommonin the country. He asserted thatthe materialisation of theHomeowners’ Charter woulddefinitely bring investors and,in the long run, boost thestate’s economy.

On his part, IsaiahOlatokunbo, state chairman,Community DevelopmentCouncil, commended the stategovernment for thepresentation of the 5,000 C ofO, adding that simplifyingaccess to land in the statewould deepen propertybusiness in the state .


CMYK


CMYK

Advertising

Stories By PRINCEWILLEKWUJURU

Following the communiquéafter the 2014 annual

Brand Journalists Associationof Nigeria, BJAN conference,,stakeholders in the Nigerianproject have called fordiversification of the economyfrom its mono-product natureto tourism to avoid immediateinsolvency.

The conference titled, ‘Tourism Marketing as Catalystfor Economic Development,’which was held in Oshogbo,the State of Osun capital, hadin attendance Media andPublic Relations professionals,government officials, studentsof tertiary institutions andstakeholders in various sectorsof the economy.

As a result of this, the

BJAN Conference: Stakeholders callfor diversification of economy

conference which assessedthe current crude oil pricesituation in the world market,called on governments at alllevels to immediately considertourism as another majorsource of revenue.

It cited countries in Europe,Asia and Africa which haveused tourism as a majorsource of revenue, andrecommended that Nigeriashould borrow a leaf from

those countries.The forum also

recommended thatGovernment should assessthe poor infrastructure nature,insecurity and take urgentsteps to address thesechallenges to boost tourism,a sector which had a globalearning of $1.03 trillion in2011.

The conference called on themedia to help in setting an

agenda for tourismrepositioning by highlightingthe importance of tourism andeconomic consequences ofcontinuously relying on oil(‘Abuja feeding bottle’) asmajor revenue earner.

The media should highlighttourist attractions in thecountry, and should beconstructive in their reportsabout the country asdamaging reports have thetendency to discouragetourists to Nigeria, the forumrecommended.

The Nigerian media shouldalways make efforts to projectthe positive sides of Nigeriawithout necessarilycompromising on facts.

The conference urged thefederal government tosupport states in everynecessary areas and statesshould also carry the federalgovernment along in spottingtourism sites

The forum in furtheranceadvised governments at alllevels to provide good healthcare system so that touristscan have access to goodhealth care when they visitrespective tourist sites inNigeria.

The federal government/States should engage brandanalysts and marketingcommunication professionalsto help in marketing tourismin Nigeria.

That Nigeria should inother hand constantlyinnovate and improve onexisting tourism platforms tokeep them globally relevant.

Chi Limited, manufacturerof Hollandia yoghurt said thenewly introduced televisioncommercial, TVC titled ‘It’sAll Good,’ promotesgoodness.The new TVCtends to stimulate yet anentertaining and vibrantadvertising campaigns on the

New Hollandia yoghurt TVC preaches ‘goodness’company’s brands, featuresone of Nigeria’s femalesingers, Seyi Shay, promotes‘goodness’ whilehighlighting the benefits oftaking the brand.

On why she lovesHollandia yoghurt, Shay said:‘I love drinking Hollandia

Yoghurt, because it burstswith goodness. It makes mefeel real good on the insidethat I can’t just stop flauntingit on the outside. I have hadsome of my fans say that Ihave great skin, healthy nailsand hair. And for me, itdoesn’t just stop at that.Hollandia Yoghurt gives meimproved energy levels fornon-stop performance.”

Essentially, the TVChighlights the connectionbetween consumption ofHollandia Yoghurt that isnutritionally fulfilling and arefreshingly radiatingpersonality which Shayrepresents in her person andmusic. It draws attention tothe success that is within thereach of those who dare todream big. In the TVC, SeyiShay achieved her dream ofbecoming a star in the sameway that every customerexperience is a brand momentof truth.

Shay, who prefersHollandia yoghurt, opinedthat the partnership was a no-brainer and a flawless matchfor brand Hollandia and mybrand. She stated.

Thermocool reward trade partners, introduces new products

class products that were technology relevantin that era and even surpassing it”.

“As we celebrate these past four decades,we are glad to make a bold re-commitmentto an enduring partnership andrelationship, and also a renewed pledge toour Nigerian customers that we will notwaver in our resolve to constantly ensurethat through all of family best moments “wewill always be there” providing supportthrough our world class innovative rangeof household appliances for an enhancedlifestyle” Katsis added.

According to the Marketing Director; Mr.Vikramjeet Singh, “At Thermocool, our age-long tradition of bringing peace of mind toNigerian households remains our resolve;today that tradition is resplendent in ourextensive product range including;refrigerators, freezers, air-conditioners,washing machines, microwaves, televisionsets, generator and sound systems.

‘Shake & Share’promo Tic Tacrewards winners

Tic Tac, a mint brand,from the Ferrero

company, a subsidiary ofCFAO Group has rewardedthree winners who emerged atthe just concluded panNigerian Tic Tac brandactivation project tagged“Shake and Share” promo.

Tic Tac, a brand from thestable of Ferrero is one of theleaders in the confectionarysegment of the market.Winners of the promotion’sgrand prizes of iPhone 6include Buoyant Ikor- LagosEjimole Loveth Chiamaka-Port Harcourt and Ita Okokon-Lagos.

During the roadshow,orchestrated by Route 712Agency, Tic Tac promotedspecial promo picture contest“shake and share” that offerconsumers the opportunity towin 3 Apple iPhone 6 andother numerous consolationprizes such as Samsung SmartPhones, Limited edition TicTac T-Shirt, Face cap, Keyholders, Flash drives, Pen andFree Tic Tac product.

Announcing the winners ata prize presentation ceremonyin Lagos, the CountryRepresentative of Ferrerocompany, Adewale Adediran,said the mint confectionarybrand was embarking on theinitiative as a mark of respectfor its teeming consumers andas a way of showing deepappreciation for theirconsistency toward the brandsince inception.

Worldcom PRGroup addsPFCAfrica toroster

Worldcom PublicRelations Group has

announced new capabilities inthe United States, Europe,Africa and Asia via the additionof four leading firms to itsworldwide roster. The newPartner agencies were electedduring the recent WorldcomAmericas Region Meeting inChicago and EMEA/AsiaPacific Region meeting inDubai, where partners from theU.S., Canada, Latin America,EMEA and Asia Pacificconvened for strategicplanning and best practicessessions on overall Groupbusiness growth andinitiatives.

“These firms are a reflectionof Worldcom Public RelationsGroup – diverse, expert,focused and deeply embeddedin respective geographies andsectors,” said Todd Lynch,managing director, WorldcomPublic Relations Group.

TRAINING - From Left: Pastor Tope Dada, Head, Technical Training, Nigerian BottlingCompany Limited (NBC); Mr Ben Langat, Managing Director, NBC; and Best GraduatingTrainee, Miss Sylvia Ofiani, during the commemorative event at the completion of a 15-monthNBC’s Graduate Training Certification in Beverage Bottling Operations for 19 engineers heldat the NBC Plant, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos recently..

Thermocool, household appliances companyhas rewarded its trade partners, as it

introduces new products.Speaking, Managing Director, Thermocool, Mr.

Panos Katsis, expressed delight at the continuoussupport the company has enjoyed from its tradepartners and Nigerians as a whole.

“We are very honoured to be here to celebrate,recognizing and rewarding our esteemedpartners who have consistently demonstratedgreat loyalty to our company with their unflinchingsupport to our growth and aspirations over thepast 40 years. Your immense efforts havecontributed to the phenomenal growth of thecompany, and we are indeed proud and thankfulto be associated with you”

Katsis said further, “when we started businessin Nigeria in 1974, we were aware of thepotentials in the Nigerian market. We recognisedthe need, the desire of Nigerians to enjoy life;run their businesses and personal chores withrelative ease and as an innovative company, wesought to fulfill these needs by providing world

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

44— Vanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2014

Omoh Gabriel - Group Business EditorBabajide Komolafe - Deputy Business EditorClara Nwachukwu - Energy EditorPeter Egwuatu - Asst. Business EditorYinka Kolawole - Snr Bus. CorrespondentFavour Nnabugwu - Insurance CorrespondentGodwin Oritse - Maritime CorrespondentGodfrey Bivbere - Maritime CorrespondentMichael Eboh - Energy ReporterFranklin Alli - Industry/Agric. ReporterEbele Orakpo - Energy ReporterIfeyinwa Obi - Maritime ReporterRosemary Onuoha - Insurance Reporter

CONTRIBUTORSPrincewill Ekwujuru - Media/MarketingNkiruka Nnorom - Capital MarketJonah Nwokpoku - E-CommerceNaomi Uzor - IndustryProvidence Obuh - Micro FinanceLAYOUT - Graphics Department

Business & Economy

CMYK

Regrettably, inspite of theearlier assurance to

maintain the stability of theNaira in his inaugural address,Emefiele, the CBN Governor’s,policy summersault with Nairadevaluation shortly afterwards,has since led to the NationalCurrency trading aboveN173=$1, thus establishingNaira depreciation of about13%; alarmingly, the pressureremains unabating and thereare real fears that sooner thanlater, the Naira exchange ratemay tumble below N200/$1 withthe attendant severe social andeconomic consequences.

It will indeed be difficult toexempt any stakeholder oreconomic sector from theravages of the ill wind of therecent Naira devaluation. Indeed, some reports alreadysuggest that the Naira mayhave begun a suicidal slide intoignominy a la the experiencesof Ghana and Zimbabwe, wherethe local currencies becamevirtually worthless untilredenomination temporarilyrescued the Ghanaian Cedi,while the adoption of US dollarsfor transactions eventuallystabilised Zimbabwe’s moneymarket. Predictably, wherever acurrency looses significantfractions of its exchange value,deepening poverty anddisenabling economicdistortions will prevail and thepublic will increasingly rejectholding such currency as astore of value!

Hereafter, we will look a bitmore closely at the mostvulnerable victims of the currentNaira devaluation.

The extent of price increaseson all imported goods andservices, as a result ofdevaluation, may still bedifficult to determine, but whatis quite clear, is that theminimum increase on shelf/retail prices of goods mayexceed 20% since payments formost of such imports will be

Victims of devaluationsourced at the interbankexchange rate, which isdestined under presentpressure to approach N200=$1in the short term. The resultantsteep rise in prices will not berestricted to Retail outlets likeShoprite, where, well over 90%of goods (including fruits &vegetables) on offer areimported! Sadly, the prices ofthose goods sold in ourtraditional markets and sideshops may not also fare anybetter, as imports haveincreasingly also taken up shelfspaces in these markets. Nigerians must, however,immediately dismiss any hopethat increases in the prices ofimports will ultimately spur localproduction; evidently, so longas industries struggle with thehuge cost of energy and theexcessive cost of borrowing(with interest rates above 20%),our industries may never be ableto successfully compete withimported goods, (which includeprocessed foods andbeverages). Besides, theabsence of sustainable localsources of raw materials willcontinue to make it necessaryto source such industrial inputsas imports for many years tocome.

Indeed, if industrial rawmaterials costs increase by over20%, inevitably, finished goodsfrom local production willsimilarly carry higherproduction cost which willrestrain their competitivenessagainst cheaper importedequivalents. Ultimately,cheaper, oftentimes subsidizedimports will prevail andadditional factory space maybecome available fortransformation to event centersor churches and mosques;ultimately factory closures willonly compound our already

oppressive yoke of a high rateof unemployment and itsabiding collateral of insecurityand violence.

Similarly, loan default willbecome increasingly rampantfor both private and corporatedebtors who had thought it wassmart to accept (5-7%) cheaperforeign denominated loansoffered by banks as substitutefor the much more expensive(17-25%) Naira denominatedloans. Thus, beneficiaries offoreign loans will,unexpectedly, have to find over20% more Naira to service andor repay their debts. SomeNigerians may recall themisfortunes of the beneficiariesof government’s NERFUND(Nigerian EconomicReconstruction Fund) dollardenominated loans over 20years ago! Sadly, most of thebusinesses funded with thosedollar loans became groundedand many erstwhile successful

and diligent entrepreneurs losttheir ‘shirts’ while some otherspaid the ultimate price fromstress and hypertension as aresult of pressures to repay theirrapidly bloating debts as theNaira rate plunged abysmallyto a small fraction of its previousvalues. Sadly, It may be difficultto identify any survivingindustrial beneficiary of theNERFUND scheme today!

As it is with the private sector,so also with public sectorexternal loans. Indeed, OkonjoIweala, the Finance Ministerassured Nigerians, thatrelatively cheaper externalloans would be sourced tosupplement revenue shortfall asa result of contracting crude oilprices; on the surface, this mightsound sensible, however, theMinister failed to also warn thateven if such foreign loans arecheaper we may ultimately stillrequire over 15% more Naira toservice or repay these externaldebts if the Naira continues toweaken. Indeed if the Nairaexchange rate tumbles further,the cost of servicing our externaldebt will eat deeper and deeperinto our annual budgets and wemay ultimately expend over 20%of the federation’s projectedrevenue for debt services andrepayments annually;undoubtedly, infrastructuralenhancement and povertyalleviation will consequentlyremain a challenge to fund withannual budgets.

Furthermore, parents andsponsors of children and wardsin overseas educationalinstitutions are also victims ofthe recent Naira devaluation.Indeed if school fees are paidat the current interbank rates,the Naira burden may increaseby almost 20% for mostsponsors. The cost of airticketing for overseas travel will

also go North in deference tothe current devaluation of theNaira, consequently travelexpenses (whether foreducation, holiday or business)for both private and governmentpassengers will increase andmay ultimately lead tocurtailment of travel plans andmanpower developmentprogrammes; alternatively,distasteful tradeoffs in thecapital and expenditurebudgets may become imperativefor all concerned.

Foreign Portfolios Investorswho were erstwhile eagerpatrons of Naira denominatedequities and government’sbonds and bills are presentlyquickly making a beeline to exitthe Nigerian market, as Nairadevaluation continues to wipeoff, the once exceptional yieldsfrom such instruments. Theresultant capital flight has alsoinstigated over a N2000bn fallin equity values in the NigerianStock Exchange in the last 6weeks, the trend remainsunyielding, with destabilisingeconomic consequences thatwould shake the confidence ofthe investing public in the stockmarket for some time. Nigeriansare of course concerned thatinspite of almost 40% drop incrude oil prices, domestic fuelprices have remained resistant.The reality of course is that thefall in crude prices will largelybe compensated by Nairadepreciation and may justreduce the element of subsidyin fuel pricing from 50% tobetween 10-15% if the Nairaexchange rate rises aboveN190=$1.

In conclusion, devaluationwill instigate a general price risewhich will push inflation intodouble digits and deepenpoverty as all incomes willultimately lose over 50% ofpurchasing value every 5 years!

Save the Naira, Save

Nigerians!!

Centre Base Consult(CBC) Limited has

unveiled plans to deliver aN10 billion worth of housingunits in the residential areaof the Warri IndustrialBusiness Park (WIBP) knownas “Park Garden”.

The project proposes about400 units of houses on sixhectares of land spaceincorporating different typesof structures with adequatetouch of luxury, comfort andstyle.

CBC is a propertydevelopment company set upwith the aim of providing

CBC to deliver N10bn worth of housing unit in WIBPBy PROVIDENCE OBUH quality and efficient support

services within the buildingand civil engineering industrywhich is basically generalcontracting, sourcing andsupply of componentmaterials.

Speaking at a one dayInaugural Customer Forumorganised by CBC with thetheme: “Seasoned & Stylish”in Lagos, Managing Director,CBC, Mr. Sesan Obe, saidthat the project would bedelivered in phases of 100units each, adding that thefirst phase will commence byJanuary 2015 and that theaverage rate for each unit willcost about N2.5 billion.

According to Obe, “It is ajoint venture project. WIBP istrying to stimulate the Warrieconomy in such a way as toprovide infrastructure in thepark, while we are coming totake part in the buildingaspect of the park. N10 billionis for the entire project and anaverage unit of each phase isabout N2.5 billion.

“In the building we haveterrace apartment, detachedand semi detachedapartments and blocks of flatwith different price range.”

On affordability, he said thatthe houses are of differenttypes and that the choice willdetermine the cost.

It will indeed bedifficult to exemptany stakeholder or

economic sectorfrom the ravages ofthe ill wind of the

recent Nairadevaluation


L-r: Founder of the Ajesola Solarin Majekodunmi Foundation, Prof. AjesolaMajekodunmi, chairman of the occasion, Sir Teju Ogunjimi and the founda-tion's chairman, Prof Soga Sofola at the launching of the foundation in Lagos

Rev. Fr. John Damain Adizie flanked by Sam Ajufo, cordinator of the eventand Ezinne Charity Onuoha with other participants during the InternationalConference on Religion & Politics in Lagos

CMYK


CMYK

51—Vanguard,51—Vanguard,51—Vanguard,51—Vanguard,51—Vanguard, MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 15,DECEMBER 15,DECEMBER 15,DECEMBER 15,DECEMBER 15, 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014

Breast cancer: New vaccine’s clinical trial shows promise

SCIENTISTS have recorded a breakthrough incancer management as a breastcancer vaccine designed byresearchers at WashingtonUniversity School of Medicinein St. Louis is safe in patientswith metastatic breast cancer.

Preliminary evidence of thesmall clinical trial suggestedthat the vaccine primed thepatients’ immune systems toattack tumour cells and helpedslow the cancer’s progression.

The study was published inthe December 1, 2014 edition ofthe Clinical Cancer Research.

According to the researchersthe new vaccine causes thebody’s immune system to homein on a protein calledmammaglobin-A, found almostexclusively in breast tissue. Theprotein’s role in healthy tissueis unclear, but breast tumoursexpress it at abnormally highlevels, past research hasshown.

The leader of the team,William Gillanders, a Professorof Surgery said: “Being able totarget mammaglobin is excitingbecause it is expressed broadly

• Breast cancer patient

By Chioma Obinna in up to 80 percent of breastcancers, but not at meaningfullevels in other tissues.” Thebreast cancer surgeon alsostated that in theory, it meansthey could treat a large numberof breast cancer patients withpotentially fewer side effects.

“It’s also exciting to see thiswork progress from identifyingthe importance ofmammaglobin-A, to designinga therapeutic agent,manufacturing it and giving itto patients, all by investigatorsat Washington University,” headded. The vaccine primes atype of white blood cell, part ofthe body’s adaptive immunesystem, to seek out and destroycells with the mammaglobin-Aprotein.

Vaccine’ssafety

In the smaller proportion ofbreast cancer patients whosetumors do not producemammaglobin-A, this vaccinewould not be effective.

In the new study, 14 patientswith metastatic breast cancerthat expressed mammaglobin-A were vaccinated. No severe

TO further raise awarenessin communities on the need

to eradicate polio in Nigeria,Rotary club of Lagos Palm-Grove Estate weekend stagedyet another community serviceproject aimed at creatingawareness on the devastatingeffects of polio in children.

The walk took off from thepremises of the Indiancommunity in Lagos through itsneighbouring areas.

According to the President ofthe Club, Ramesh Biswal, poliois a deadly disease that leads topermanent disability in affectedchildren.

Biswal who explained that atimely preventive care can betaken through theadministration of two drops oforal polio vaccine duringimmunisation days mentainedthat “Only a timely two drops ofPolio vaccination can keep thedisease away from a child forlife.”Unfortunately, Nigeria isamongst the only threecountries apart from Pakistan andAfghanistan that is yet toeradicate polio.

He stated that the club isdedicating its year 2014- 2015 asPolio-Eradication Year adding thatmany programmes and eventshave been organised both at theState and Federal levels.

Rotary Club of Palmgroovewalks against polio

• Members of Rotary Club of Lagos PalmGroove Estateduring a walk on polio recently in Lagos.

acquired as a dietician will helptransfer nutrition experience intodiet which will in turn facilitate incuring of diseases and help toshorten the days of admission inthe hospital, even preventdiseases.”

“Currently, people are gettingdiabetes because they are eatingthe wrong foods but with adietician, when they are properlycounselled, the individuals willknow the kind of foods to eat.Exercising and dieting arerequired for somebody to stay fitand maintain desirable way ofliving.”

Keshinro regretted that morechildren are suffering frommalnutrition due to the nature ofthe foods they consume.

“Malnutrition is eating less ofthe nutrients because no singlefood can give you all the nutrients;

you require coordination ofdifferent foods to help providenutritious diets.”

Corroborating his views,Professor of Community Healthand Nutrition, College ofMedicine, Ladoke Akintola,University of Technology,LAUTEC, Ebenezer Ojofeitimisaid that increasing rates ofchildhood obesity is alarming andthis can produce a generation ofless healthy adult with shorter life.

“The health risks caused byobesity in children of thisgeneration are more than everbefore. If care is not taken,parents would begin to outlivetheir children. Obesity is as aresult of our lifestyle.”

In the past we were eating ournatural foods, combined withphysical activity but globilisationhas changed the trend.

Place hospital food services underdietitians — EXPERTS

By Gabriel Olawale

PROFESSOR of Dietetics inNigeria, Prof. Oluremi

Keshinro has called for theplacement of food and cateringservices in the hospitals under thesupervision of a qualifieddietitian.

Making the call at the 42ndAnnual General Meeting/Scientific Conference of theAssociation of Dieticians inNigeria held in Kogi State,Keshinro explained that suchaction would promote quickrecovery of the patient as well asgeneral healthy living amongNigerians.

According to him, healthy foodcooked in a hygienic environmentwould also help shorten theperiod of admission in thehospital. “The knowledge

“In the last eight years, the Clubhas been working rigorously forsuch social causes and intends tocontinue its work. Rotary Club ofLagos Palm-Grove Estate didn’twant to lag behind towards theClub’s determination to ensuringthe end of polio in Nigeria. Thewalk is part of our contributionsto that process. “During the walkwe enlightened people aboutPolio – its causes, its effects andhow it can be prevented.”

The walk was flagged-off byMrs Cecilia Ibru, the RotaryAmbassador for Polio-eradicationProject. Participants at the walkinclude; members of the Club,teachers and students of Ajenifuaschool, medical doctors fromMushin Health Centres amongstothers.

or life-threatening side effectsoccurred. Although the trial wasdesigned to test vaccine safety,preliminary evidence indicatedthe vaccine slowed the cancer’sprogression, even in patientswho tend to have less potentimmune systems because oftheir advanced disease andexposure to chemotherapy.

“Despite the weakenedimmune systems in thesepatients, we did observe abiologic response to the vaccinewhile analysing immune cellsin their blood samples,” saidGillanders. Of the 14 patientswho received the vaccine, abouthalf showed no progression oftheir cancer one year after.

Alomo Bitters bags Medicinal Herbal Drink award

THE Institute for Government Research Leader-

ship Technology has awardedAlomo Bitters, a flagship brandof Kasapreko Company Nige-ria Limited the MedicinalHerbal Drink of the year 2014in its Africa Product Forum,‘Abuja’ 2014 with the theme,“Building Brands, HandingCompetition”.

Receiving the award, theMarketing Director KasaprekoNigeria, Mr. Kojo Nunoo saidKasapreko Company NigeriaLimited is pursuing a vision tobuild a world class brand usingauthentic traditional herbalblends and world class technol-ogy in an environmentally re-sponsible manner to satisfy cus-tomers.

“it is with great delight andhumility that we at KasaprekoCompany Nigeria Limited re-ceive this award, recognitionslike this further give a lift to ourdreams and encourage us to domore research and ultimatelyproduce innovative products forour consumers’ satisfaction” hesaid.

He added that “this awardmeans a lot to us, becauseAlomo Bitters is the only prod-uct in its category that is pro-duced with hundred percentnatural ingredients, we arehappy that our effort is been

recognised in this regards”.Kojo said since the introduc-

tion of Alomo Bitters into theNigerian market about 4 yearsago, its growth has been drivenlargely by consumerdemand.”Nigerians love thedrink because it is the only drinkin its category that is producedwith hundred percent naturalingredients which makes itgood for health. We get testimo-nies for the medicinal potencyof Alomo Bitters from consum-ers”

Also speaking at the awardceremony the Sales Director,Kasapreko Company NigeriaLimited, Mr. Sam Osafo said“as a reputable company we arefocused on the quality of ourproduct that is why from thepoint of extraction to mixing anddistilling, careful scientific pro-cesses have been put in placeto ensure that we maintain thehigh standard we have beenknown for”.

CMYK


WERE you expectinganything different from

the result that was posted atthe end of your nationalconvention?

No, because I have looked atAPC as having come at a timethat Nigeria needs to berescued and the disposition ofthose who formed the APC hasshown one clear thing: that weare all putting collectiveinterest over and above selfinterest. So, to that extent, I saweverybody’s disposition for afree and fair election.

I knew that with the waythings were going and with thekind of feelers that we weregetting across the country, wewere going to end up in a freeand fair election where peopleare very conscious of theproblem that Nigeria is facingtoday and the most critical onesbeing insecurity andcorruption. And truly, lookingback into history, we judgepeople by what they have done.

Of those people who came outto contest, Buhari had thehighest credential in the areasof anti-corruption and to alarge extent in managingsecurity. So, to a very largeextent, I knew these wouldplay a critical role in who wasgoing to win and they wereindeed critical.

The emergence of Buhari isjust in tandem with ourmindsets.

The reasonswe went forBuhari — Gov Ahmed

•Ahmed: We think Nigerians will vote according to their conscience

GOVERNOR Abdulfatah Ahmed, a formerbanker turned politician was before his nominationas governorship candidate of the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP for the Kwara 2011 election,the commissioner for finance in the state. Anintegral member of the Bukola Saraki politicalstructure, he followed Senator Saraki into the AllProgressives Congress, APC and was recentlynominated as the governorship candidate of theparty for the forthcoming governorship election.On the fringes of the recently concluded conventionof the party in Lagos, Governor Ahmed spoke withsome newsmen on the issues that shadowed theconvention, the nature and norms of the politicalstructure in Kwara and his achievements in office.Excerpts:


POST APC PRIMARIES:

It was predicted as a twohorse race between Atiku andBuhari. So, what happened?

Those predictions were notpremised on anything onewould say as empirical. Theywere largely suggestive, Iwould say by the followers ofeach of these contenders andas it were, it was just a mediaperception.

The reality on ground wasthat people came in and votedwhat their conscience directedthem to do. In fact, even asgovernors when we sat downto review the issue it waslargely about taking opinionsfrom one another on the feelerson ground and this was whatcame out at the convention.

Buhari and Jonathan is thatnot a serious gamble for theAPC?

We may not be taking agamble to the extent that weallow critical issues that arebothering Nigerians to come tothe fore because we are at thepoint where the issue ofinsecurity is getting tofrightening dimensions.

Unfortunately the progressmade by the current leadershiphas not suggested any serioussense of comfort for an averageNigerian. We are all witnessesto different bombings invarious parts of the country.

Insurgency is not new toNigeria and we are allwitnesses as to how it was

handled in the past. We sawhow it was handled by Buhariand how he was able tomanage the Chadians and weare all witnesses to his anti-corruption fight whichunfortunately was not allowedto stay.

So, for us, we think Nigerianswill vote according to theirconscience and unfortunately,we think that the economy isnot doing much as it should.Yes, there is growth but thereis no development.

The areas that have propelledthe current growth that we aretalking about are the servicesectors but it is not touching thelives of the majority ofNigerians. Unfortunately, it hasnot been able to rejuvenate themiddle class that the Obasanjoadministration attempted tobring back.

So, the disappearance of themiddle class has put muchmore pressure on the currentsystem such that moreNigerians feel the pain ofdeprivation now, socialdeprivation, economicdeprivation and securitydeprivation is truly felt now.

I am sure that Nigerians willlook at now that if we truly wantto have a difference from theway things are going that weneed to do it differently fromthe way we are doing it now.

We try to judge people byantecedence. He (Buhari) hasdone it before, he can do itagain. And why we feelconvinced about his desire andcapacity to do it, at his age, Idon’t think he has any wealthhe wants to accumulate now.

He said it clearly that hedoesn’t have money to give toanybody other than makinghimself available for service.

How are you preparing todefend yourself given thepresident’s assertion that theywould recover their stolenmandate?

The political system in Kwarahad been hinged on a structurewhich has allowed us to playan inclusive system. Thestructure is largely built oncontributions from every nookand corner of the state from the16 local governments.

The choice of who getsnominated, the way andmanner in which people getnominated and mostimportantly in driving the needof the people into anencapsulated desire for growthand development. I want to letyou know that as a state inKwara, we have that structurein APC and that structure hasalways delivered.

So, the next election is notgoing to be an exceptionbecause the same structure has

delivered goods and servicesto the people, the samestructure has allowed forinclusiveness, the samestructure has allowed peoplewho ordinarily would neverhave thought of ascending tolevels of position, myselfinclusive, so this structure hasallowed a democratisedprocess of ascending intopolitical offices.

So for us, this same structureis still at play and will continueto get itself running the affairsof Kwara and we are happy thatthe structure has a leadershipin Dr. Abubakar Bukola Sarakiwho has strengthened theinclusive process of arriving atdecisions that are generallyacceptable to the majority of thepeople.

So, we are using that structurealongside with ourdevelopmental programmeswhich we have outlined,especially taking the mostcritical area of Nigeria’sproblems today which is youthunemployment. We haverecorded a lot of milestones inreducing youth unemployment.

We have created programmesdespite our lean resources tolet youths see that they are theleaders of tomorrow and theyrequire to be managedaccordingly. That has led us tofor instance, setting up one ofthe best international vocationalcentres.

We have also supported thehealth systems. We have notonly raised infrastructure, wehave also widened accessthrough the community healthinsurance. I am happy to letyou know that we received anaward just recently in Paris,France of having one of the

Of those peoplewho came out tocontest, Buharihad the highestcredential in theareas of anti-corruption andto a large extentin managingsecurity

By Emmanuel Aziken,Political Editor

•Nigerians 'll judge Buhari and Jonathan by theirantecedents•Why the Saraki structure 'll remain viable inKwara

CMYK


Nigerians 'll judge Buhari and Jonathanby their antecedents — Gov Ahmed

most successful communityhealth insurance schemes inthe world, not just in Africa orNigeria because the award wasdesigned to be looked at froma broad perspective, not just aKwara perspective.

So with all these on groundand with our understanding ofour peoples’ needs havingbeen very close to them, we aretruly positioned to carry on tothe next level in terms of growthand development.

So for us, the 2015 electionwill usher us into a secondterm, God willing to broadenwhat we have been doing since2011 in terms of infrastructure,human capital developmentand the economy.

So you don’t see thepresident’s assertion as athreat?

We have never seen them asa threat because it is all aboutplatforms and ability to delivergoods and services to thepeople which we havedemonstrated. Those are justmere pronouncements. Whatreally matters is the issue ofbeing able to articulateresources and to meet theneeds of the people which weare currently doing and whichwe hope to upscale God willingin the second term.

What are the issues that willshape the emergence ofBuhari’s running mate?

One key issue that will shapeit is where the person iscoming from. If the presidentcomes from the north, obviouslythe vice will come from thesouth. Also, capacity to supportthe president in set goals andtargets will be a key area andthis will largely be driven bythe antecedents of the personwho will be chosen. Forreligion, people who arebringing religion into thepolitics of Nigeria are those whostand to benefit from it.

Not for balance of faith?Faith on its own does not play

any role in Nigeria’s economicsystem. So for us, religionshould have no role in themulti-religious environment,religion should have no role ina multi-ethnic environment.

What has brought us togetherhas no religious implication.So, on no grounds should welook at religion as a basis forchoice of those who will carryon our social contract todesirable levels that will suitthe interest of Nigerians

Continues from page 52 Can we have an insight intohow you have been able tomanage the successor –predecessor crisis in Kwarathat you and Bukola Sarakihave co-existed cordially? Andis it good that the structure isestablished around a family?

It is an inclusive processwhich allows for inputs from allstakeholders. It is not taken asa family affair as if restricted toa single family. The family isas Kwarans in 16 localgovernments. So when we referto the structure as a familything, it is for stakeholders.Bukola Saraki is an exceptionalleader who has defined hisleadership throughinclusiveness, throughstrategic and methodicaldesign of how he wants to seeeverybody’s inputs galvanisedinto a working process for thecommon interest. To that extent,he has approachedgovernance from the normalway you expect to see goodbusiness run. Strategically, youlook at your strengths, yourweaknesses, your opportunitiesand your threats.

Also, in getting any system torun it has to be given aninclusive outlook. Governancecan be successful anywhere inthe world if you allow forinclusive process, if you allowfor stakeholders’ input. It is thesame structure that BukolaSaraki ran his eight yeargovernment, which I was partand parcel of and I waspositioned as the commissionerfor finance and got theunderstanding of howresources are collated and theyare methodically and optimallyallocated to areas of need.

Having been well positionedin that administration, it was

only sensible for me to use thatprocess to develop an upscaleof service delivery to thepeople. And that is exactlywhat we are doing. We havenever driven the system froman individual’s angle, we havealways driven the system froma collective inclusive process.People don’t know that that iswhere the success of ourrelationship is. He is not adictator, he is an inclusiveperson and he has allowedeverybody to create inputs intoevolving the process that willbe suitable to everybody and onaccount of that, I have alsoimbibed that system to drivegovernance in Kwara.

So, rather than seeingdifferences we are seeingstrength, we are seeingunderstanding in driving goodgovernance, we are seeingunderstanding in deliveringgoods and services and we areseeing understanding incarrying everybody along asstakeholders in driving theprocess for the common goodand that is where the secret ofthe success in Kwara politicslies.

Some say that the structureyou are talking about is deadand buried.

It cannot be dead and buriedif it is still delivering goods andservices. It cannot be dead andburied if it has one of the mostsuccessful electoral processesbeing carried on at the localgovernment level and statelevel.

Of course if you see the wayand manner our people haveapproached all electoralprocesses, you will see thediscipline largely induced byleadership that encapsulatescommon interest into itsstrength. It cannot die becausethe interest is collective, theone that will die is the one thathas individual interest. It diesbecause self interest overridescollective interest and that is thekind of thing you are seeing inPDP. What has brought themtogether cannot be harmonisedinto a congruence to drive theminto a common goal. Selfinterest of wanting that positionof governorship is what broughtthem together and if they arenot getting it they have nooption to not getting it. Unlikeus where we have a

compensatory programmewithin the structure and that iswhy you don’t see rancour anddisagreements.

You see the way and mannerthey have carried on theiractivities. The only slogan isthat they are looking forfreedom. Freedom from where?From who? You cannot be freerfrom a process that allowsinclusiveness.

Is political amity still possiblebetween Bukola and Gbemi?

Why not? In politics you don’toverrule anything.

Still on the issue of stolenmandate. When the presidentsaid it did you feel like thebearer of a stolen mandate oras a thief?

(laughter) No, I didn’t feelthat way. You need tounderstand that there arecategories of people in politics.There are seasonal politicianswho come in once every fouryears when elections are aboutto start and there are those ofus who are regularly sittingdown with the people. Thosewho felt that their mandate hasbeen taken away are those wholive in Abuja and are regularlyfeeding the presidency withwhat they want the presidencyto hear, but those of us at homewe sit with the people day inday out, 365 days a year we arewith them. So when you talkabout stolen mandate, I don’tknow whose mandate has beenstolen, but as far as I amconcerned we have themandate of the people todeliver goods and services withrespect to the resources that areavailable from them on anoptimal level that will allow forinclusive processes.

Are you frightened by thenomination of Senator SimonAjibola as your challenger bythe PDP?

No I am not because SenatorAjibola has been made by thisstructure. Every success he hasrecorded has been on theplatform of this structure fromnomination to campaigns toalso even getting to do thingsfor the people have been bythis structure.

Now that he has moved outof the structure that hassupported him and I am still inthe structure, why should I befrightened? For example, theonly major thing he has donefor his people, which is themajor road leading to his place,I personally did it for him asgovernor to make him enjoy apolitical mileage.

•Ahmed: Religion should have no role in a multi-ethnic envi-ronment

Bukola Saraki is anexceptional leaderwho has definedhis leadershipthroughinclusiveness,through strategicand methodicaldesign

CMYK


Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, Commissioner on Rural Development, with his team oninspection of ongoing grading of inner roads at Lanre Mabawonku Street, Iba LCDA,Lagos

L-r: Ms Erica Chiusano of the United States Consulate in Nigeria, Mrs Yemi Adamolekun,Executive Director, Enough is Enough Nigeria, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, President, Centre forDemocracy, and Mrs Rhoda Robinson, Director, Gender Development Programme/ HaceyCoordinator Youth Square Project, during the one day Dialogue Session on promoting theactive participation of women in elections and local governance in Nigeria, organised byHacey Health Initiative and the United States Consulate in Nigeria in Lagos. Photo: KehindeGbadamosi

Ugwu tasks manufacturerson brandingBy Emmanuel Elebeke

FORMER Minister ofCommerce, Charles

Ugwu, has tasked Nigerianmanufacturers not todepend on marketing offoreign brands but showmore commitment indeveloping their brandslocally for enduringeconomic benefits and jobcreation.

Ugwu made the call at theformal launch of threeISONEM products,ISONEM Sin-Out;ISONEM ISOMIX andISONEM in Abuja.

He said Nigerianmanufacturers andmarketers of foreign brandswould be better off, whenthey start building andbranding their productslocally as that wouldposition them to set goodrecords of marketpenetration.

He commended thechairman of Divine RewardServices Limited, DRS, forcarving a niche for himself

by introducing theinnovative products into theNigerian market and urgedhim to be upward lookingin marketing ABS paintsand other allied produts.

“Branding is a very keyelement in the purchase ofany product. This youngguy has started very well,and have carved a niche forhimself. I am encouragingthem to make sure theybrand their products to getreal value, because downthe line, they will beinvolved in manufacturingand in manufacturing, youdo not only manufactureproducts but createemployment for the people.Only your own brandis important.

“When Nigerians getinvolved in manufacturing,they will get a continuingreturn on their investmentand efforts they have madein the past. That is why Iurged them to brand theirproducts in their name andhave exclusive right acruedon that products."

By Emman Ovuakporie

ISOKO-YOUTHS under the aegis of Aviara

Interest Group, weekend,endorsed Hon. Leo Ogorfor another term in the Fed-eral House of Representa-tives.

The youths who applaud-ed Ogor for his qualitativerepresentation in the GreenHouse said the lawmakerhad properly representedthe Isoko nation and shouldbe given another chance tocontinue.

Speaking at a rally in Avi-ara, ‘Governor’ youth Pres-ident of Aviara Mr. OreriCornelius, declared thatOgor has performed well inoffice to merit another termand will be supported torealize the ambition. Hecalled on Aviara electorateto support a man who has

brought massive develop-ment to Isoko federal con-stituency, stressing that“Isoko people are honour-able and won’t take non-sense".

The group which beganthe day with a specialprayers at Aviara TownHall called on all aspirantsto brace up for issue-basedcampaigns in pursuit oftheir ambition as they pre-pare for next year generalelection.

Ogor who is seeking re-election on the platform ofthe Peoples DemocraticParty (PDP), said after hisemergence as PDP flagbearer that he will take Iso-ko Federal constituency tothe realms of amazing graceif given the opportunity tocontinue to serve his peo-ple.

Isoko youths endorse Leo Ogor

CMYK

VANGUARD, MONDAY, DECEMBER 15 , 2014 — 55

UN members agree deal at Lima climatetalks

Delegates listen as COP 20 President and Peru’s Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar Vidal makes anannouncement during a plenary session of the U.N. Climate Change Conference COP 20 in Lima De-cember 12, 2014

UNITED Nationsmembers have

reached an agreementon how countriesshould tackle climatechange.

Delegates have ap-proved a framework forsetting national pledg-es to be submitted to asummit next year.

Differences over thedraft text caused thetwo-week talks in Lima,Peru, to overrun by twodays.

Environmental groupssaid the deal was an in-effectual compromise,but the EU said it was astep towards achievinga global climate dealnext year in Paris.

The talks proved diffi-cult because of divi-sions between rich andpoor countries over howto spread the burden ofpledges to cut carbonemissions.

Peru’s environmentminister, Manuel Pul-gar-Vidal, who chairedthe summit, told report-ers: “As a text it’s notperfect, but it includesthe positions of the par-ties.”

Miguel Arias Canete,EU Commissioner forClimate Action and En-ergy, said the EU had

wanted a more ambitiousoutcome but he still be-lieved that “we are ontrack to agree a globaldeal” at a summit in Par-is, France, next year.

The agreement wasadopted hours after aprevious draft was reject-ed by developing coun-tries, who accused richnations of shirking theirresponsibilities to fightglobal warming and payfor its impacts.

There was a good dealof optimism at the startof these talks as the re-cent emissions agree-ment between the USand China was seen asan historic break-through. But that goodspirit seemed to evapo-rate in two weeks of in-tense wrangling be-tween rich and poor herein Lima.

Abe’s coalition secures big Japan election win withrecord low turnout

JAPANESE PrimeMinister Shinzo Abe’s

coalition cruised to a bigelection win yesterday ,ensuring he will stick to re-flationary economic poli-cies and a muscular secu-rity stance, but record lowturnout pointed to broaddissatisfaction with his

performance.NHK public TV said

Abe’s Liberal DemocraticParty and junior partnerthe Komeito party wereassured more than the 317seats in the 475-memberlower house required tomaintain a two-thirds “su-per-majority” thatsmoothes parliamentary

business.But the LDP was set to

fall slightly short of the 295it held before the poll,NHK figures showed.

“I believe the public ap-proved of two years of our‘Abenomics’ policies,” Abesaid in a televised inter-view. “But that doesn’tmean we can be compla-cent.”

Many voters, doubtful ofboth the premier’s “Abe-nomics” strategy to enddeflation and generategrowth and the opposi-tion’s ability to do any bet-ter, stayed at home.

Final turnout will be arecord low of 52.4 percent,media forecast, below 59.3percent in a 2012 poll thatreturned Abe to power fora rare second term onpledges to reboot aneconomy plagued by de-flation and an aging,shrinking population.

Market analysts said thewidely expected outcomewould be positive forshares and negative forthe yen in the near termgiven expectations Abewill stick to a “Three Ar-rows” strategy of hyper-easy monetary policy, gov-ernment spending andreforms.

“Since the Abe adminis-tration puts emphasis onshare prices, short-term,this will be a tailwind forhigher stocks and a weak-er yen,” said TsuyoshiUeno, senior economist atNLI Research Institute.

“But medium-term, in-vestors will be watching tosee if Japan is changedstructurally.”

Doubts persist overwhether Abe will knuckledown on his “Third Arrow”of reforms in politically sen-sitive areas such as labormarket deregulation andan overhaul of the highlyprotected farm sector.

Turkey police raid oppositionmedia with Gulen links

Turkish police havemade at least 23 arrestsduring raids on a news-paper and TV stationwith close ties to US-based Islamic clericFethullah Gulen.

Those detained areaccused of forming anillegal organisation andtrying to seize control ofthe state.

Mr Gulen, the spiritu-al leader of the Hizmetmovement, is a rival ofTurkish President Re-cep Tayyip Erdogan.

The raids come daysafter Mr Erdoganpledged a fresh cam-paign against MrGulen’s supporters.

Among those arrested

are journalists, produc-ers, scriptwriters and apolice chief in easternTurkey.

Police attempted to raidthe offices of the Zamannewspaper, one of Tur-key’s biggest, early onSunday morning, but acrowd of protestersforced police to turn backbefore they could makearrests.

Staff at the paper alsoreported on the incidentas it happened.

The paper’s editor-in-chief, Ekrem Dumanli,tweeted a picture of him-self at his desk, saying:“Officers [forced] backbecause of democraticreaction of my friends. I

am at my place andwait.”

But they returned andarrested him in a secondraid in the afternoon.

Staff and supporters ofthe paper held placardsand chanted “free presscannot be silenced” aspolice raided the build-ing.

Mr Dumanli smiledand studied police doc-uments before being ledthrough the newspa-per ’s headquarters toapplause from staffcrowded onto balconies.

“Let those who havecommitted a crime bescared,” Mr Dumanlisaid as he was led away,according to Reuters.

Families of Newtown, Connecticut,massacre victims plan lawsuits

PARENTS of almosthalf the young children

killed by a gunman at anelementary school in New-town, Connecticut, twoyears ago on Sunday havetaken initial steps towardfiling lawsuits tied to oneof the deadliest schoolshootings in U.S. history.

For a second straightyear the leafy suburb hasplanned no public eventsto commemorate the mas-sacre, which left 20 firstgraders and six educators

dead at Sandy Hook Ele-mentary School, an inci-dent that inflamed the U.S.debate over gun control.

The parents of eight of thechildren killed in the Dec.14, 2012, carnage, which20-year-old gunman AdamLanza ended by shootinghimself dead as he heardpolice sirens approach,have notified Connecticutcourts that they may filewrongful death lawsuits instate or federal court.

Their initial court filings,related to legal entities cre-

ated in memory of theirchildren, do not indicatewho the families could tar-get in their lawsuits, ac-cording to a chief courtclerk for North FairfieldCounty Probate Court.

While the parents couldnot be reached for comment,a spokesman for Bridge-port law firm Koskoff, Ko-skoff and Bieder said thata lawyer at the firm had re-cently met with some of theNewtown parents aboutpotential suits.


Lagos PoliceCommand parleyson humantrafficking, childlabour

THE Human RightsDepartment of Lagos

Police Command holdsworkshop on HumanTrafficking and ChildLabour with a focus on theproblem facing the societyand the country as awhole. Guest speakersfrom all sectors that haveto do with humanrelations matter such asthe United Nations,Nigeria Bar Association,Crime VictimsFoundation, NAPTIP,e.t.c. are expected toattend the workshop.

Mr Famakin Joseph,who spoke on humantrafficking as a modernday slavery, said itinvolves forceful anddeceitful acquisition,sales and resale ofpersons especiallychildren and women. Hesaid this was rampant inthe country now, addingthat it is the duty of thelaw enforcement agents toinvestigate, arrest andsuccessfully prosecutetraffickers without relyingsolely on the cooperationand testimony of thevictims.

He said thatintelligence gathering isalso necessary, stressingthat human and technicalsurveillance are some ofthe tools in curbing these.

Joseph said thatundercover deploymentsis essential in upholdingjustice and ensuringsocial justice and socialequality.

According to the officerin charge of human rightsat the Lagos State PoliceCommand, Asst.Superintendent OluFalomo, the idea ofhuman trafficking andchild labour are vices thatshould not be tolerated.

BARR. Osagie, theminority chief whip

of the House of Repre-sentatives has been cho-sen by his people to rep-resent them in the Sen-ate in the just conclud-ed Senate APC prima-ries.

He scored l, l20 votesagainst a formidable fel-low APC contestant, Igo-domigodo, the currentchief of staff to GovernorOshiomhole, who alsowas a former member ofthe House of Represent-atives. Igodomigodoscored 894 votes. Othercontestants for the EdoSouth district includeJim with l62 and Emok-pae who scored 28.

Osagie inlandslide winto Senate

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O G U N G B E M I — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissFolake TemitopeOgungbemi, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Folake TemitopeAdebisi. All formerdocuments remainvalid. Four Point BySheraton and generalpublic please take note.

A D E M O L A — I ,formerly known andaddressed as JoyceTosin Ademola, nowwish to be known andaddressed asOritsemisan PopoSalami. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

OGAGBE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss OgagbeVivian Oghenemine,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.O n o r i e d eVivian Oghenemine.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

ALAKPA—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss AlakpaMavis Edesiri, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Okene Thomas MavisEdesiri. All formerdocuments remainvalid. Delta stateUniversity Abaraka,NYSC and generalpublic please takenote.

Confirmation of nameThis to certify that OsoKaigho Favour andOso Kaigho is thesame and one person,but now wish to beknown and addressedas Oso Favour Kaigho.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

OKOLI—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss ChiomaChristiana Okoli, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Chioma ChristianaObiorah. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

O K O D U G H A — I ,formerly known andaddressed asTemitope MariamOkodugha, now wishto be known andaddressed as TemitopeMariam Jaja. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

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ADVERTHOTLINE

01- 4544821

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CMYK


Siasia: I’m not dependingon foreign based starsWITH only a hand

ful of the invitedoverseas based playersshowing up to the team’scamp for screening,Dream Team VI coachSamson Siasia has saidthat he will not be overlydependent on overseasbased players as he bidsto raise another Olympicteam for Nigeria.

“You have to learn fromother people’s mistakesand I know I have to fo-cus on the players basedhere in Nigeria andthat’s why we have a lotof them now. These guys(overseas based players)will come and go and inthe long run they may notcome because it’s not aFIFA free period so wehave to focus more on thehome based players, es-pecially those we feel canhelp us through the qual-ifying period,” Siasiasaid.

Tennis teens break into senior top 8•Set For N.25m Ikoyi Masters

THREE top teenagetennis stars who re-

cently graduated fromthe junior tennis circuithave broken into the top8 ranking as of right.They could easily havebeen four if MosesMichael, winner of theLagos Governor’s Cup,did not quit the NPASenior championships togo abroad in search ofATP points. JosephImeh, Emmanuel Idoko

and Sylvester Emmanuelwill feature at the inau-gural Ikoyi Club TennisMasters which kicks ofon Tuesday December16 to Saturday Decem-ber 20 from 4.30 pm eachday.

Angel McCleod, na-tional 16 and underchampion and quarterfi-nalist at the Governor’sCup will also feature inthe ladies category

thanks to a ‘wild card’from the organisers. Theother ladies in the Mas-ters event are: ChristyAgugbom, Sarah Ade-goke, Blessing Samuel,Osaremien Airhun-wunde, Ronke Aking-bade, Aanu Aiyegbusiand Loveth Donatus.

The rest in the of theMen’s version are: Clif-ford Enosoregbe, Mu-muni Babalola, ShehuLawal, Henry Atseyeand Candi Idoko.,

Speaking over the

weekend, tournamentdirector, Mr ThomasOlorundare said, “this isan inaugural tourna-ment which we plan tohost every year. This isthe first ever Masterstournament based on thecumulative performanceof the players throughthe year. We hope thatthis event will help raisethe standard of the play-ers by motivating themto work hard from thebeginning of the year toqualify”

RVP: Mata was offside againstLiverpool

ROBIN VAN PERSIEhas admitted Juan

Mata was offside whenhe put Manchester Unit-ed 2-0 ahead againstLiverpool this afternoon.Mata appeared to be inan offside position whenhe headed past BradJones just before half-time.

And speaking after the

game, Van Persie admit-ted he got a touch onAshley Young’s crossfrom the right, meaningMata was definitely off-side.

“I have to be honest,”Van Persie said. “But youcan put that down as anassist!”

“The fans were brillianttoday. Again, they were

our 12th man. And again,David (De Gea) was out-standing. He was bril-liant - it’s not often ateam wins 3-0 and thegoalkeeper is man of thematch. “I think MichaelCarrick made the differ-ence today, he is so con-fident on the ball. All ofthe defenders were calmtoday.”

JUBILATION: Wayne Rooney slides in to join his fellow goalscorers JuanMata and Robin van Persie after the latter finished off their third againstLiverpool

Balogun ready for Dream Team

•Siasia

•Iheanacho

BARCELONA starletBoluwatife Balogun

has made his servicesavailable to the OlympicNational Team and FlyingEagles after committinghis international future toNigeria, despite being el-igible to represent Hol-land and France.

‘’I have been called uponce for Nigeria’s nation-al under 17 team but Ididn’t come to camp due

to injuries. If I get anycall now, I will honour itbecause I want to servemy fatherland, if I’m in-vited,’’ Boluwatife Balo-gun said to SL10.ng.

”’I was born in Nige-ria. My mom is Frenchand I have a Dutch pass-port, so I’m also eligibleto play for Holland andFrance.

‘’I don’t have any spe-cial reason why I am

picking Nigeria ahead ofthese countries, that’swhat my dad wants.’’

Boluwatife Balogun hasadmitted that he modelshis game after Barcelonasuperstar Andres Iniesta,and he believes he willbring more quality to Ni-geria’s age - grade teams.

‘’Andres Iniesta is myrole model, he is a greatpasser of the ball. He hasgood dribbling skills, hethinks what to do with theball before it gets to him.

‘’There are good play-ers there that has somegood qualities in the Ni-geria team. But with whatI possess we will be spec-tacular,’’ he concluded.

BET9JA tohonouragents,others

IN appreciation of theirrole in positioning

Bet9ja to occupy a primeplace in the sports bet-ting business in the lastone year, the manage-ment of KC Gaming Net-work Ltd is rolling out thedrums in honour of itsagents and workers withoutstanding performanceduring the year.

According to The CEOof Bet9ja Ayo Ojuroye ‘ Wehave decided to roll outthe drums to celebrate ouragents and other workersthat played key role inensuring that Bet9ja be-comes the number onesports betting company inNigeria. Through the ef-forts of our agents andcommitted workers, we notonly delivered on ourpromise of prompt pay-ments of winnings, butempowered them by pro-viding a good ambiencefor betting.

Ojuroye disclosed thatthe event which is slated for Tuesday December16th at the Time Squareevent center in Ikeja , La-gos will be a celebrationof excellence. •sBalogun

CMYK


Sports spectacular

EARLY last week, the latest addition to the vibrantlist of national teams media officers Timi Ebikag-

boro, called to enquire about FIFA and the AppealCommittee imbroglio. I told Timi to go to sleep anddream, soundly. “Oga if you say so” I told him I amsaying so, that nothing will come out of it, that FIFAwill throw out the case and allow our football somebreathing space.

Last week I said in this column that there is hardlyanything to write about our sports, especially foot-ball.

The same distractions, from the same quarters, menwho don’t sleep at night, plotting, looking for loopholes, spanners to throw into the works of our sports.Men who rabidly believe they have been neglectedand the only way to be noticed is to throw up confu-sion to the detriment of the common good.

Will we ever get to rein them? Not likely. Even thegood book says temptations we will endure just asour master was subjected to same, but that there isno temptation that will befall us that we will not beable to surmount. The Appeal drama has been putbehind us, but let us not sleep with two eyes closed,they will rake up something soon, just wait.

Waiting for Godot was about the past that remainsrelevant in the present. Last week I also told you abouta book I will recommend to all sports enthusiasts, SportsSpectacular by Chukah Momah.

Before I continue let me borrow the Momah literarystyle by telling you an interesting story.

When I arrived Barcelona for the Olympics in 1992 Idiscovered that my accreditation limited me to onlyfour sports ( track and field, boxing, basketball andswimming). Quickly I ran to the IOC office to protest.That I needed to cover more sports, that I was the onlyone sent by my Newspaper Champion, to cover theOlympics and I needed to be as mobile as possible.

The short of this story is that the IOC people wereconvinced I was a lunatic. They told me it was notpossible to cover all the sports in the Olympics. Thatreporters come specialized, that even in track and fieldthere are those who come to cover only the sprints.

In the company of my colleague Sam John then ofthe Guardian, I begged and pleaded. No show. Theyinsisted I could not cover three or four sports that Ilacked the capacity.....

Sports Spectacular is about a sports writer, a colum-nist who has capacity in as many sports as he chose towrite on and in this case Athletics, boxing, Cricket,football, golf, basketball and tennis. Yes. Not only writeon, but an authority in them. Here I quote the versa-tile Bisi Lawrence “ The attractiveness of this book iscompounded of the best elements of sports writing,

the knowledge of an expert, the exposition of factualdetail enamoured of historians; the unpretentious de-livery of a master story teller creating excitement withdeadpan dexterity”

Sports spectacular is a compilation of what I will callthe classics of Chuka Momah over time. The rele-vance of this book today cannot be over emphasized.In “ Of saints and sinners, a new morality” written asfar back as 1983, Chuka talked about the concept ofpunishment and it’s impact on the overall interest ofthe team as related to Tarila Okorowanta, Henry Nwosuand Wilfred Agbonavbare. That discipline can neverbe compromised, but that such should be placed inthe context of morality. If we had read that piece be-fore and after the World Cup as related to the so called“ Keshi bad boys” perhaps we would have gone far-ther in the World Cup, and in the running to defendour Nations Cup diadem.

In a piece written in April 1984 he talked about thefeud between NFA and NSC that “ has tormented foot-ball for so long.....”

When he wrote “ A tale of two cities” he was evok-ing emotions of the state of Nigerian football that havelived with us even till this day.

Do you read and hear of lesser sports? How they arestarved and neglected advantage football? Chukamakes us realize it did not start today. In a piece enti-tled “ beg we must if we must beg” he lamented thehumiliation that the Cricket Association, gentlemen

all, have to undergo in sourcing for funds due to theirneglect by the National Sports Commission but quicklyadds that “ authorities must make it easier for us tobeg successfully” in today’s jargon we call it “ en-abling environment”

This book is therefore an historical tool a referencematerial in the hand of a sports enthusiast as attestedto by Dan Agbese.......” Few sports columnists or re-porters in the world can match the range of his au-thoritative ness in boxing, golf, athletics, tennis, crick-et, soccer and basketball. Every piece bears that un-mistakable mark, the touch of the master as a reporterand columnist. He does the younger generation ofsports reporters a favour by publishing this collection.May they follow the footsteps of the master”

Dele Adetiba concurs “ Facts and statistics- thosehave been the hall mark of Chuka Momah over theyears. He thrived on them - he laced his writing withsuch details, making a collection of his columns a re-searcher’s dream- a sweet blend of facts and flavour”

Follow they should. If they do not, how will theyknow that World Boxing Champion Hogan Kid Bas-sey who picked up the job of National coach after re-tirement was promoted only thrice in twenty years asa national boxing coach once stood up to Isaac Ak-ioye, then dreaded boss of the National Sports Com-mission?

If they don’t, how will they know that Our own JayJay Okocha made Ruud Gullit’s list of world’s bestnumber 10 ?

Sports Spectacular is about flowery prose, detailedhistory and command of the English language, mixed,blended to form a unique and refreshing style......”Olajuwon makes a basket of money”......”Only Cas-sius Clay could have beaten Mohammad Ali”......

For me the highlight of this book perhaps lies in twopieces. “ Reporting Sports with Passion” which waswritten to commemorate 25 years of Newswatch Mag-azine and “Sports Development in Nigeria” A lecturehe delivered to a group of sports enthusiasts in 1984.Total packages all, unmistakable clairvoyancy.........lackof adequate sports infrastructure, blackmail by sportsmen and women, fraud and corruption by sports offi-cials, neglect of youth development.

Sports spectacular is laced with facts and tell talepictures, quotable quotes presented as “afficionadospugilistica”

Another wordsmith, Mitchell Obi sums it up whenhe wrote “ Chuka talks of his subject with a commandthat is bewitching and I think that is what makes thiscollection so special. Boy oh boy open the pages”

At dour times like this, one needs a cheering com-panion. See you next week.

Khan shuts down Alexander,eyes MayweatherAMIR KHAN threw

down the gauntlet toFloyd Mayweather afterbeating Devon Alex-ander in Las Vegas.

The Bolton fighterclaimed the WBC Silverwelterweight title with aunanimous points victo-ry after dominating formuch of the fight at theMGM Grand.

The fight was scored119-109, 118-110, 120-108 and Khan was quickto reiterate his desire tofight Mayweather.

“Floyd’s one of the bestfighters in the world,don’t get me wrong, butI want my chance now,let’s see what happens,”Khan said.

“I really believe thatI’ve earned my shot

against the best fighterin the world.

“I believe Khan v May-weather will be huge,

the UK fans will come towatch and come to sup-port and we’re going totake the belt off him."

OLAM Nigeria Limited has emerged the

champions of the Olam-All football tournament,

which ended weekendat the Legacy Pitch ofthe National Stadium,Lagos. They defeatedCrown Floor Mills 5-3after the game ended 1-1 after extra time.

The game started ona cautious note withboth teams trying to es-tablish dominance, butit was a ding dong af-fair in the first half,which ended without agoal. At the resumptionof the second half, bothteams became morebusiness-like as theymade incursion into thevital area.

The winners had morescoring chances, but itwas Crown who scoredthe opening goal in the

dying moments of thegame which sent theirfans into wild jubila-tion. However, Olamequalized in added timethrough a penalty afteran opposing player han-dled the ball in the 18yard box.

The match went intoextra time and both teamfailed to register moregoals and it took penal-ty kick to settle the tie.In the third place game,Olam Sanyo Foods de-feated Ok Foods 2-0 topick the bronze medal.

David Omotosho, whoscored three goalsemerged the highestgoal scorer, while Baba-tunde Aremu was ad-judged the MVP of thecompetition.

R-L: Director, Pepsi Football Academy, Chief Kashimawo Laloko(1st right),Head Marketing, Seven-Up Bottling Company, Mr. Norden Thurston(3rdleft) and Brand Manager, Seven-Up Bottling Company, Mr. Segun Ogunleye(2nd left) pose with Pepsi Football Academy and Barcelona F.C play-ers after their match Copa Lagos at the weekend.

Olam wins football tourney

"Sports spectacular is lacedwith facts and tell tale pic-tures, quotable quotes pre-

sented as “afficionados pugi-listica"


MFM wins Church World Cup!

Continued frombackpage

It was just a matter oftime for top striker, Ade-kunle Adegboyega toopen the flood gate ofgoals. Midfielder Sher-iff Alashe made it 2-0while two more goalscame off the boots ofNelson Kenedinum andAdegboyega to give histeam a 4-0 lead after45minutes.

Adegboyega contin-ued from where hestopped in the first halfto complete his hat trick,elastic winger, SikiruOlatunbosun found theback of the net twicewhile midfielder NelsonKenedinum completedthe rout. MFM FC end-ed the competition with-out conceding a goaland scored a whopping

twenty goals in fivegames.

Meanwhile, It was aclean sweep for MFMFC as striker, Adegboye-ga won the top scoreraward with eight goalsand diminutive midfield-er, Onuwa Emmanuelwas voted the Most Valu-able Player of the com-petition.

MFM FC’s road tomaking history at theChurch World Cup inIndia started with a 3-0win over Colombia, nextto fall was Egypt wholost 2-0 while Uzbekistanwere hammered 7-0 andthe host, India conced-ed a goal in the semi fi-nal which catapulted theOlukoya Boys to the fi-nal of the competition.The participating teamswere host India, Colom-

bia, Egypt, Brazil, Nige-ria, Ghana, Uzbekistanand Portugal.

An elated MFM Gen-eral Overseer, Dr DanielOlukoya was full ofpraise for the boys andhas promised a befittingwelcome for them on re-turn to Nigeria this Tues-day.

“Wow! This is wonder-ful”, exclaimed the sportloving clergy.

“The boys have madeNigeria and Africa veryproud. I’m really happythat this feat wasachieved by footballerswho are ambassadorsfrom MFM, they ’vemade us proud in faraway India.

“As a church, we willappreciate them,” con-cluded the first class mi-crobiologist turnedpreacher of the gospel.

Yobo

disposed to rounding upa career that hasspanned over 17 yearsand taken him toEngland, France,Belgium and Turkey.

The defender, whowon a record 100th capfor Nigeria at the WorldCup in Brazil earlier thisyear, is so serious abouta move to South Africathat he is already

Continued frombackpage

discussing buying ahouse in that country.

“Yobo fell in love withSouth Africa afterleading Nigeria to boththe 2010 World Cup and2013 AFCON there. Heeven now wants to buya house there and hasalready begundiscussions in thisregard,” the sourceinformed.

“He has not playedagain since the WorldCup in Brazil in the

summer, but he stillbelieves he still hassomething to offer in thegame.

“His likely destinationwill be one of the topthree clubs in SouthAfrica.”

Yobo, who is one ofonly seven players toplay every minute ofevery game in the EPLfor Everton in the 2006/07 season, is currentlyback in Nigeria.

Victor Moses toreturn in New YearS UPER Eagles

forward Vic torMoses, could make areturn to action forStoke City in aboutthree weeks.

Accord ing to theStoke Sentinel, thePot ters manager,Mark Hughes ,expressed optimismthat the winger looksset to make a returnbefore or a f te r theNew Year s ince heturned up at the club’s1-1 draw at CrystalPalace on Saturday.

Hughes i sencouraged by the 24-year-old’s recoveryfrom the thigh injurythat has sidelined him

since late last month.Moses had been

projected to be out forat least six to eightweeks, but Hughesnow appearsopt imis t ic that theformer Wigan Athleticcould even re turnbefore the New Year.

“It was good to seehim. The (medical)lads had a quick lookat h im and werehappy with how he is.

“Hopefully, we willget him back beforethe New Year. Or ifnot, soon after. It ’sprobably anotherthree weeks before hecomes back ,” sa idHughes.

Red Devils rout LiverpoolM A N C H E S T E R

UNITED in-creased the pressure onLiverpool boss BrendanRodgers with a thump-ing victory at Old Traf-ford.

Louis van Gaal’s mengained revenge on theReds for last season’sdouble with a clinicalperformance to stretchtheir winning run to sixgames.

Goals from WayneRooney, Juan Mata andRobin van Persie settledthe contest, although theRed Devils were onceagain thankful for anoth-er inspired performancefrom David De Gea.

The Spaniard deniedboth Raheem Sterlingand Mario Balotelli onthree occassions as theRodgers’ side failed tomake the most of their

chances.At the other end, Brad

Jones endured a day toforget on his return tothe side in place of theaxed Simon Mignolet.

His first touch was topick the ball out of theback of the net after be-ing wrong-footed byWayne Rooney’s firsttime shot from the edgeof the box after 12 min-utes.

3 Zambian players stable afterfatal accident

THREE Zambia national team players in-

volved in a road accidenton Sunday are said to bein a stable condition.

Nyambe Mulenga, whoplays for Zesco United,Changwe Kalale of PowerDynamos and SatchmoChakawa from Green Ea-gles were reportedly trav-elling to Lusaka on a Zesco

United Football Club mini-bus.

The minibus collidedwith another vehicle in Ka-bwe.

The Football Associationof Zambia (Faz) said therehave been fatalities andthat Mulenga has brokena leg.

“Sources at the accidentscene reported that the

FCMB commits to youths, as COPALagos ends

driver of the Zesco Unitedbus died at the scene, asdid three others on the oth-er vehicle,” said Faz on itswebsite.

Zesco United FC havesince released more detailsabout the condition of theplayers involved and oth-er club officials who wereon their minibus.

THE 2014 edition of theCOPA Lagos Beach

Soccer tournament,sponsored by First CityMonument Bank (FCMB)Limited, came to a colourfuland impressive endlastnight with the GroupManaging Director/ChiefExecutive of the Bank, Mr.Ladi Balogun, assuring ofthe Bank’s commitment tocontinuously supportinitiatives that will promotethe well-being ofNigerians and the countryat large.

Cote D’ivoire won thetrophy this year. Thetournament, whichkicked-off on Friday at the

Eko Atlantic Beach Soccerstadium, featured theBeach Soccer teams of CoteD’ivoire, Ghana,Switzerland and Nigeria.The Beach soccer teams ofBarcelona Football Club ofSpain, Enyimba FootballClub, Stationery StoresFootball Club and PepsiAcademy; all of Nigeria.

Speaking at the closingceremony, Mr. Balogunexplained that, ‘’FCMB’sinvolvement in thistournament is part of ourcontributions to sportsdevelopment. It alsoprovided us an avenue tobring our customers,Nigerians, soccer fans,families, players and other

stakeholders together in anatmosphere of relaxation,excitement and bondingwhich is very important tohealthy living and nationbuilding. He added that,‘’Beach Soccer isbecoming more popular inNigeria. We believe thatour sponsorship of thetournament in the last fouryears has helped to raisethe profile of the gamegoing by the large turnoutof spectators and otherdignitaries that havewatched the matches. Thistournament has becomeone of the most excitingevents not just this festiveseason but during theyear”.

My team is work in progress —AmunekeBy Jude Opara,

Abuja

AHEAD of the 2015African Cadet

championship comingup in Niger Republic,chief coach of thenational U-17 team,Emmanuel Amunekehas declared that histeam is still work inprogress for every goodNigerian player withinthe age bracket.

He added that to makesure that the team was

adequately prepared forthe continentalchampionship whichwill equally serve asqualifying series for thenext edition of the FIFAworld cadetchampionship, the campof the team will reopentoday in Abuja for thecontinuation of thescreening of players.

Amuneke told

Vanguard Sports in achat in Abuja that due tothe fact that the GoldenEaglets are the worlddefending championsmakes the task ofqualifying for the 2015edition or the worldchampionship moredifficult becauseeverybody will beinterested in beating theteam.

•Moses


CMYK

Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Phone: Newsroom: 018773962. Deputy Editor: 01-4548355. Advert Dept Hotline: 01-4544821; Abuja: 09-2341102, 09-2342704. E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. Advert:[email protected]

Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: MIDENO BAYAGBON. Phone: 01-7742861, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

How to Play Sudoku

Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line canhave two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (alsonine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within abold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1through 9. This means that no number can appear twicein any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, divisionor multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

YESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSTODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLE

Vanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2014

QUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORD

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONSACROSS1, Stop 4, Rig 6, Slap 9, Cad 10, Collapse 11,Opal 14, Mad 16, Inter 19, Embrased 21,Rebel 23, Diligent 24, Harsh 27, Tip 31,Mute 33, Presence 34, Ton 35, Mere 36, Ray37, Tied.

DOWN2, Tool 3, Pale 4, Replaced 5, Grew 6, Scorn7, Lap 8, Adage 12, Berth 13, Abhor 14,Mar 15, Debit 17, Tried 18, Route 20, De-livery 22, Lip 25, Acute 26, Scene 28, Spar29, Feat 30, Ache 32, Tor.

Across4 Rescued (5)7 Bully (6)9 Evil (3)10 Performed (3)12 Madness (5)13 Ooze (4)15 Dissuade (5)17 Calm (6)19 Nobleman (4)20 Lariat (5)22 Sick (3)24 Twisted (7)27 Spoil (3)28 Penniless (5)31 Overlook (4)33 Conquer (6)35 Cogs (5)37 Chessman (4)38 Bird (5)39 Fish (3)41 Consume (3)42 Erase (6)43 Long (5)

Down

1 Tool (6)2 Entry (6)3 Deity (3)4 Secure (4)5 Worship (5)6 Amplified (8)8 Travel (4)11 Defame (9)14 Plague (4)16 Inform (4)18 Wander 4)21 Height (8)23 Loaned (4)25 Title (4)26 Intense (4)29 Rubber (6)30 Pulled (6)32 Guide (5)34 Cast (4)36 Dash (4)40 Meadow (3)

MFM wins Church World Cup!It’s official. The Moun-

tain of Fire and MiraclesMinistries Football Clubof Lagos have been de-clared the best footballplaying church in theworld.

The Nigeria represen-tatives achieved this featafter defeating the Unit-ed Church of Colombia7-0 in the final of themaiden edition of TheChurch World Cup on

sunday afternoon inGoa, India. MFM FCwhich plays in the Nige-ria National DivisionOne League dominatedthe encounter from theoutset in what wouldturn out to be a missmatch.

Siasia: I’m not dependingon foreign based stars Pg 59

Yoboreturns toS/Africa

Former Super Eaglesskipper Joseph Yobo isbelieved to beconsidering asensational move to oneof the top clubs in SouthAfrica in January.

Yobo, 34, is a freeagent after he wasreleased by Turkishchampions Fenerbacheand a top source hasinformed the highlyexperienced centraldefender is favourably



•YoboJAW BREAKER — Amir Khan won in a unanimous decision over Devon Alexander in Las Vegas.

Top storiesinside

•VictorMoses toreturn inNew Year

•3 Zambianplayersstable afterfatal accident

•Paul Basseywrites onSportsspectacular

CMYK

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