...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 62482

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015**

Mr & Mrs

Stop mocking Jonathan,ex-ministers tell Buhari

COLUMNISTS:

•P.19This is anemergency,rescue the police!

The poison infurtherdevaluation •P.36

•What are Jonathan's ministers afraid of?— Presidency•Says anti-corruption war non-negotiable•APC lists fresh cases of looting, blasts Jonathan's govt

Continues on Page 5

•P.20

SettlingFashola’s hash

DONU, VANGUARD'S COLUMNIST ABDUCTED

Donu Kogbara. See story on Page 7.

1035 princes jostle for Ooni stool

By Soni Daniel,Northern Region

Editor, Henry Umoru& Levinus

Nwabughiogu

A B U J A —MINISTERS,

who served under formerPresident GoodluckJonathan, yesterday,tackled PresidentMuhammadu Buhari onhis on-going probe of hisimmediate predecessor.They asked the presidentto stop unwarrantedattacks on Jonathan andshow due respect to himand his administration.

The Presidency, in its

•See pull-out

tomorrow

DSSarrests14 BokoHaramsuspectsin Lagos,Enugu,Kano

8

SSANUasksBuhari torevoke oillicences toindividuals

14

8

CASH CRUNCH:CBN interveneswith N212bn

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Continues from Page 1

Stop mocking Jonathan,ex-ministers tell Buhari

IT'S UP TO YOUBY AYO ADIO

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

CONFERENCE—From left: Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, MrGboribiogha Jonah; representative of the Governor of Rivers State, Mr RufusGodwin and Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa, at the banquet for the11th All Nigerian Guild of Editors Conference in Yenagoa, weekend.

BEYOND our inadequacies lies the true genius.If we decide to move past what seemed to limit

us, that which held us back will become Leveragefor our Elevation. It’s up to you.

Be a beacon of light and let no one steal your joy— Take Heart Quotes

WHATEVER you do in your relationship withothers, if another is constantly your shadow

and always bent on having something you’ve outgrown, let it be their dream. When you let go, you’llhave room to grow, to allow magnificent things tofill the vacuum more beautifully. And you’ll havespace in your universe for higher altitude.

reaction, however, took aswipe at the formerministers, saying theyshould reflect on thekind of government theyhanded over to thepresent government.

This happened on aday the ruling AllProgressives Congress(APC) listed new casesof looting under theJonathan administration.The party said thecorruption mess thatcharacterized theAdministration was sopervasive that until itwas cleaned, Nigeriawill not be able toactualize her potential.

The former officials ina joint statementreleased in Abuja,yesterday, and signed byformer NationalPlanning Minister, DrAbubakar O. Suleiman,pointed out that whileBuhari and his party, theAPC had the right tochart their path, theyconsidered thevilification of theJ o n a t h a n ’ sadministration as ill-intentioned, unduly

partisan and in bad faith.They maintained that it

was wrong for the Buhariadministration to castaspersion on Jonathanand the ministers whoworked under him,deliberately discreditingthe monumentalachievements and theinnovative measures itadopted to tacklecorruption in the country.

They said it was alsowrong for the newadministration to portrayeach and every memberof the Jonathanadministration as corruptand irresponsible.

The former ministers,who boasted that theyserved Nigeria diligentlyand to the best of theirability, pointed out thatthe results of their sweatwas what Nigerians nowenjoy under the Buhariadministration andshould be so applaudedrather than beingvilified.

They insisted thatcontrary to the claim bythe APC, Jonathan didnot encouragecorruption. He ratherdevised means and

measures to stamp outcorruption within thecontext of the rule of law.

While calling on Buharito carry out the probe ofwhoever he wants toprobe, the ministersadvised that suchinquiry must, however,follow due process andrespect for humanrights.

Stop ridiculingJonathan

The statement said:“We, the ministers whoserved under thePresident GoodluckEbele Jonathanadministration, havewatched with increasingalarm and concern theconcerted effort by theBuhari administrationand members of the AllProgressives Congress(APC) to condemn,ridicule and underminethe efforts of thatadministration, inaddition to impugningthe integrity of itsindividual members.

“While we concede thatevery administration hasthe right to chart its ownpath as it deems fit, wenevertheless considerthe vilification of theJonathan administration,to be ill-intentioned,unduly partisan, and inbad faith.

“The effort that hasbeen made to portrayeach and every memberof the Jonathanadministration as corruptand irresponsible, in anorchestrated and vicioustrial by media, hascreated a lynch mentalitythat discredits our honestcontributions to thegrowth and developmentof our beloved nation.

“We are proud to haveserved Nigeria and we

boldly affirm that we didso diligently and to thebest of our abilities. Theimprovements that havebeen noticed today in thepower sector, in nationalsecurity, and in socialservices and othersectors did not occurovernight. They areproducts of solidfoundations laid by thesame Jonathanadministration.

“Contrary to what theAPC and its agentswould rather have thepublic believe, theJonathan administrationdid not encouragecorruption, rather itfought corruptionvigorously, within thecontext of the rule of lawand due process.

“For the benefit of thosewho may have forgottenso soon, it was theJonathan administrationthat got rid of the fraudin fertilizer subsidies,which had plagued thecountry for decades. Thishelped to unleash arevolution in agriculturalproduction andproductivity.

“It was also theJonathan administrationthat supported thei n s t i t u t i o n a ldevelopment of strongsystems andmechanisms to curbcorruption in the publicservice and plugrevenue leakages.

“These included thedevelopment of theGovernment IntegratedFinancial ManagementPlatform, The SingleTreasury Account (TSA),and the IntegratedPersonnel and PayrollManagement Systems(IPPIS), in addition to thebiometric registration ofcivil servants andpensioners which savedthe country over N100billion paid to ghostworkers and ghostpensioners.

“To ensure greatertransparency andintegrity in the oil andgas sector, the Jonathanadministration orderedinvestigations and putmechanisms in place tocheck the theft ofNigeria’s crude oil. “Itwas also under theJonathan administrationthat a Nigerian Contentpolicy was introduced,which opened up thatsector to Nigerians in amanner that was notpreviously the case.

“It was also theJonathan administrationthat mobilized andsecured the support ofour neighbouringcountries to ensure arobust multinationalresponse to the menaceof terrorism andinsurgency, resulting innotable advancements inthe fight against terror.“President Jonathanpersonally initiated thecollaboration that led tothese advancements andensured that Nigeria

provided the neededfinancial support for theMultinational Joint TaskForce.

“It was the Jonathanadministration thatrepaired andrehabilitated over 25, 000kilometres of our nation’sroads. Nigeria alsobecame a profitable andpreferred investment-friendly destination. Itwas under PresidentJonathan, for example,that Nigeria’s electricpower sector becamemore competitive andattractive to local andforeign investments.

“The sameadministration promotedthe rule of law, freespeech, fundamentalhuman rights, and arobust freedom ofinformation regime.Women’s rights toparticipate in public lifeand the FederalCharacter principle aswell as otherConstitutional principleswere also respected. Inevery respect, ouradministration promotedinclusive governanceand encouraged allstakeholders includingthe private sector to playkey roles in thetransformation ofNigeria.

“It should also not beforgotten that theJonathan administrationstrengthened electoralinstitutions and createda peaceful environmentfor democracy to thrive.On this score, it is sadand ironic that the chiefbeneficiaries of that samelegacy are the mostvociferous today incondemning PresidentJonathan and his team.

“In addition, the Buhariadministration should befair enough toacknowledge the goodworks of the Jonathanadministration. Noadministration can beeither completely bad orcompletely good.President Jonathan’sachievements in movingthis country to greaterheights deserve to beduly acknowledged. Weurge PresidentMuhammadu Buhari tobuild on theseachievements.

“We also urge him topress on with the anti-

corruption fight, but in afair and non-partisanmanner, in line with dueprocess, and not as apolitical witch-hunt.

“The various lies andfabrications beingpeddled by some self-a p p o i n t e dspokespersons of theadministration mayentertain the unwary, butsuch sensationalism mayachieve the unintendedeffect of de-marketingour country within theinternational community.

“All such personsplaying to the gallery forwhatever gains should becalled to order. Thename-calling of membersof the Jonathanadministration and thetrial by news mediashould also stop.

“We encouragePresident Buhari tocontinue with the probes,but this must be in strictaccordance with his oathof office to treat allNigerians equally andwith the fear of God.

“We have reserved ourcomment until now, inthe fervent hope thatonce the euphoria thatmay have inspired thevarious attacks on thepast administrationwears off, reason willprevail. But we areconstrained to speak upin defence of the legacyof the Jonathanadministration, and shalldo so again, for as longas those who aredetermined to rubbishthat legacy areunrelenting in theirusual deployment ofblackmail, persecution,and similar tactics,” theysaid.

What areJonathan’sministers afraidof?

For asking PresidentBuhari to be sincereenough and publish thereports the formeradministration handedover to him, thePresidency has taken aswipe at the formerministers under theimmediate past PresidentJonathan, saying theyshould reflect on the

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Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015—7

PORT HARCOURT—VANGUARD newspaper

columnist, Donu Kogbara, hasbeen abducted in Port Harcourtby unknown gunmen.

The state Police PublicRelations Officer, DSP AhmedMuhammad, confirmed theugly development, sayingpolice were on the trail of thekidnappers.

Kogbara, who maintains acolumn in the Vanguard, wasabducted in the early hours of

Donu Kogbara, Vanguard columnist, abductedyesterday by unknown gunmenat her Nkpogu residence in aHonda CRV SUV.

It could not be confirmed if thekidnappers had establishedcontact with the family forransom at press time,

Meanwhile, Rivers Stategovernment has condemnedthe abduction.

Governor Nyesom Wike, whospoke through his media aide,Mr. Opunabo Nko-Tariah,expressed strong hope that shewould be released unhurt.

He said government was

making efforts to ensure everyresident in the state enjoyedadequate security.

He said: “No responsiblegovernment will brook suchact of criminality. On thispremise, the kidnap is roundlycondemned and we believethat by God’s grace, she willcome out alive.

“Government is working toensure a crime-free state. Thatis why the governor hasstopped at noting to providethe necessary tools, includingthe donation of 64 security fitted

By Jimitota Onoyume

OLEH—THREE personshave been killed and two

others injured in renewedhostilities between Fulaniherdsmen and residents ofOkuke, a satellite village atAmorji in Ndokwa West LocalGovernment Area of Delta State.

The people of the community,it was gathered, had been atloggerheads with the herdsmenwho they accused of destroyingtheir farmlands and terrorizingthem over the last three years.

An indigene of the communitytold newsmen that theherdsmen had threatened tochase the residents out ofOkuke, a development which,he said, prompted Amorji toconstitute a 15-man delegationto meet with them (theherdsmen) for a peace talk.

The community indigene, whocraved anonymity, said thedelegation was on the way forthe peace talk when they wereambushed by herdsmen, whohe alleged opened fire at them,killing three and inflictinggunshot injuries on two others.

He said one person was stillmissing and that those injuredwere receiving treatment at ahospital in Kwale, headquarters

of the Ndokwa West LocalGovernment Area, while thebodies of the deceased hadbeen deposited in the mortuary.

He lamented that indigenesof the community could nolonger go to their farms ormarkets in neighbouringcommunities for fear of beingambushed and attacked by thearmed herdsmen.

Police statementContacted, Police Public Re-

lations Officer of the state po-lice command, Celestina Kalu,confirmed the killings and said

the incident was a suspected re-prisal attack.

She disclosed that a Fulaniherdsman had earlier beenreported killed in thecommunity in the last one week.

Kalu said: “After some days,some of the villagers went to thepolice to complain that three oftheir indigenes were missing.A search party was raised andthe bodies of three persons werefound.”

Kalu said the command wastrying to curtail the situation,and that efforts were on to bringthe feuding parties together.

Fulani herdsmen kill 3peace emissaries in Delta

LAGOS—NO fewer than 109persons were, weekend,

arrested by men of RapidResponse Squad, RRS, of LagosState Police Command, andofficials of Kick AgainstIndiscipline, KAI, for crossingthe expressway at Ketu BusStop, along Ikorodu road,instead of using the pedestrianbridge.

The arrest, according to Mr.Olatunji Disu, RRSCommander, is to instil

discipline towards the use ofpedestrian bridges in the stateto prevent loss of lives onhighways and ease the free-flow of traffic.

Among those arrested were102 men and seven women.

In another development,fleeing robbers, weekend,opened fire on a team ofpolicemen attached to RRS inIkeja area of Lagos.

However, they werereportedly forced to abandontheir operational vehicle, aToyota Camry with number

plates GGE 204 DG and fledinto the bush.

Recovered from theabandoned car were six mobilephones, an axe, a pair ofcanvass, passport photograph,taxi signboard and documents.

The robbers, according toDisu, an Assistant Commissio-ner of Police, attacked a couple,Mr. and Mrs John Udoh, whowere on their way to board anEast-bound vehicle at about5.40a.m., Saturday.

They raised alarm and theofficers responded.

Donu Kogbara.

vans to the Police. By God’sgrace, she will be released ingood health.”

109 persons arrested for crossing expressway

By Evelyn Usman

AKURE—A father ofthree, Victor Aduloju,

58, weekend, slipped whilefetching water from a well,fell in and drowned, inAkure, Ondo State.

He had just returned fromwork and wanted to take ashower with water from thewell located behind hishouse at Iyange area of Oke-Ogba, Akure.

His corpse was discoveredwhen a neighbour arrivedthe well to fetch water.

The neighbour was said tohave discovered that thewell was not closed and thata bucket was filled withwater, while another washalf full.

She reportedly raisedalarm when she finishedfetching her two buckets andnobody came for the onesshe met by the well.

A search party found thecorpse floating in the well.

His landlord, Vanguardgathered, later reported theincident at Fanibi DivisionalPolice Station.

Contacted, policespokesman in the state, WoleOgodo, said the corpse hadbeen deposited in themortuary of the State PoliceSpecialist Hospital.

Father of3 drownsin well

By Dayo Johnson

I B A D A N — S E V E Npersons reportedly died

in an auto crash on IbadanOgbomoso road yesterday,while several otherssustained life-threateninginjuries.

According to aneyewitness, the casualtyfigure in the accident ishigh.

He said when he got tothe accident scene somemoments after it occurred,people were seen assistingthe victims.

From informationgathered, the accidenthappened when an Ilorin-bound commercial busovertook a Sport UtilityVehicle, SUV, and tried tomanoeuvre its way back toits lane, but failed.

It was gathered that thedriver of the SUV increasedhis speed and made itdifficult for the commercialbus to join the lane.

The eyewitness said:“When the driver of the SUVincreased speed, there wasan articulated truck comingfrom Ilorin. The driver of thetruck saw the commercialbus and applied brake.

“The impact of the brakewas so much that the truckkept moving and thecommercial bus driver couldnot control the bus, whichwas coming from Lagos attop speed. It collided withthe truck.

“Six persons died on thespot, while another victimdied on the way to thehospital. Only the driver ofthe bus survived theaccident.”

The accident reportedlydelayed motorists plying theroad for more than 30minutes.

At press time, securityagents were said to havetowed the mangled vehiclesoff the road.

When the state policecommand was contacted,the spokesman said hewould contact their men inOyo town and Ogbomoso.

In another development, atruck loaded with 33,000litres of fuel was said to havesomersaulted at Taki area ofOgbomoso and emptied itscontents.

Many people were said tobe scooping fuel from thescene as security men weresaid to have beendespatched to the scene toprevent an explosion.

7 die inOgbomosoroadaccident

By Ola Ajayi

As residents scoopfuel from fallen tanker

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State driving a truck while inspecting the Arowa-Darlimorechannel project in Ado-Ekiti, yesterday.

By Ochuko Akuopha

8—Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

COLLOQUIUM: From left— Dr. Bruce Onobrakpeya, Melinda Akinlami, Mr. Kolade Oshinowo, Professor Pat Utomi,Founder/ CEO, Centre for Values in Leadership, CVL; Dr. Ifeoma Utomi and Mr. Fred Agbeyegbe, at CVL's Leadership Tributecolloquium in honour of Dr. Onobrakpeya, on his 83rd birthday and Mr. Agbeyegbe at 80, in Lagos. PHOTO: Shola Oyelese.

A bail out liquiditymanagement by the

Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN,may ensue in the bankingsystem if liquidity situation failsto improve significantly thisweek, as the money marketsituation toughened last week.

Vanguard learned that theapex bank had alreadyintervened following atightening up in net liquidityflow in the system last week withan injection of N211.9 billionworth of Standing LendingFacility, SLF, to push downinterest rates which was risingastronomically by Wednesday.

SLF is a mechanism that centralbanks use when lending fundsto primary dealers (banks anddiscount houses).

The facility provides financial

institutions with access tofunds to satisfy reserverequirements using theovernight lending market.SLFs are also used to increaseliquidity over longer periodssuch as by using term auctionfacilities.

The apex bank also steppedup intervention in the foreignexchange market in theBureau de change segment toreverse exchange rate rise inthe parallel market last week,while also closing the hugegap between official andparallel market rates.

The low liquidity in thefinancial market continued lastweek on the heels ofnarrowing deposit inflow fromthe public sector due toFederal Government’sTreasury Single Account, TSA,policy, causing money marketrates to trend high.

With liquidity openingbalance of N72.3 billion onMonday, Open Buy Back,OBB, and Overnight, O/N,rates, which settled at 35percent and 37.5 percent,respectively, had surged upto 100.8 percent (OBB) and105.3 percent (O/N) onWednesday as no majorcredit was received within thefinancial system.

OBB and ON rates are themost sensitive to liquiditysituation on the moneymarket, while pointing to thepossible spill over to lendingrates if sustained over aperiod of time.

Also, banking industryliquidity balance had crashedto below N50 billion as aresult of the 48-hourrequirement for banks tofulfill their forex obligationsto the apex bank, forcing

ABUJA—THE Departmentof State Services, DSS, said

yesterday that it had arrestednotable commanders and frontline members of the notoriousIslamic sect, Boko Haram, fromdifferent parts of the country,especially, those responsible forthe coordination and executionof the suicide attacks inPotiskum, Kano, Zaria and Jos.

DSS, in a statement by TonyOpuiyo, said a number of theterrorists were also arrested inLagos, Kano, Plateau, Enuguand Gombe states, following re-strategized counter-terrorismmeasures deployed to combatthe menace of insurgency inNigeria.

DSS noted that the group’snew pattern of movement andspread is necessitated by thepressure being put on them in

DSS arrests 21 Boko Haram suspectsin Lagos, Enugu, Kano, others

Notable commander, leaders in custodytheir core areas of strength inthe North-East.

The services gave the namesof masterminds of suicideattacks in Potiskum, Kano,Zaria and Jos, currently in itscustody to include, UsmanShuaibu, alias Money; AhmedMohammed, alias Abubakar;Adamu Abdullahi, aliasBabpa; Ibrahim Isa, aliasMohammed Sani, andMuttaqa Yusuf, aliasMudtaka.

ConfessionsAccording to the statement,

“during interrogation, UsmanShuaibu revealed that hecoordinated the attacks underreference with N500,000,which was provided by hisAmir, one Isa Ali.

It said: “He claimed that thesaid Isa Ali has links to theleader of the Boko Haram sect,

Abubakar Shekau, fromwhere he collects funds foroperations undertaken bytheir Markaz. Also, herevealed that he hadparticipated in several BokoHaram attacks, including theattacks at Gwoza DivisionalPolice Station in 2014.

“Shuaibu admitted beingthe leader of the team ofnine sect members that wasdispatched from SambisaForest to carry out theattacks. He disclosed thatfour out of the nine memberswere used as suicidebombers.

“Another suspect, AhmedMohammed, who is animprovised explosivesdevices, IEDs, expert,confessed to the preparation

of the IEDs used for theattacks. He also averred thathe (Abubakar) was the onewho strapped the suicidebombers, notably Sule andhis wives, with IED vests,which they used in theattacks in Jos.

“Adamu Abdullahi hasconfessed that UsmanShuaibu motivated him towork closely with Mohammedin the preparation of the IEDsused in the attacks underreference.”

Ibrahim Isa, DSS said,confessed that he was the onewho carried outreconnaissance on the targetsin Jos ahead of the attacks.

Muttaqa Yusuf, in hisconfession, disclosed thatone Aliyu, believed to be

CASH CRUNCH: CBN intervenes with N212bnBy Emeka Anaeto,Economy Editor

By Chris Ochayi

Aliyu Gombe, in SambisaForest, was the one that orderedthe serial attacks which thesyndicate carried out. Hefurther confessed that heassisted Usman Shuaibu inplanning and executing thesaid attacks.

Arrested in LagosOther terrorists suspects

arrested by the service includeBakura Modu, arrested on July20 at Kara, Isheri Berger, IkejaLGA, Lagos State; MustaphaAlli Jamneri, arrested on July24, at Gowon Estate, Egbeda,Alimosho LGA, Lagos State; andAbuyi Sherriff, arrested onAugust 7, at Ebute-Meta, LagosMainland LGA, Lagos State.

Others are Babagana Ali andBabagana Koloye, who werearrested on August 7, at EricMoore, Bode Thomas Street,Surulere LGA, Lagos State;Abba Modu Sagma, arrested onAugust 9, at Ijora Badiya,Apapa LGA, Lagos State.

Grema Abubakar and TijaniBagudu were arrested onAugust 10, at Amukoko, IjoraBadiya, Apapa LGA, LagosState; and Baba Alhaji andAbass Ibrahim, arrested earlieron the same day, at AlabaInternational Market, Alaba,Ojo LGA, Lagos State.

Enugu, KanoAlso in the custody of DSS were

Ibrahim Audu, who was arrestedon August 19, at New ArtisanMarket, Enugu, Enugu State,and 30-year-old IbrahimHaruna from Kanawa village,Sumaila LGA, Kano State, whowas arrested on August 21, atKwomi village, Kwami LGA,Gombe State.

Mal Ali Mohammodu, a 33-year-old suspect, was arrestedon August 22, at Ibrahim TaiwoRoad, Fagga LGA in Kano State,and Adam Wakil Abdul Jilbe,arrested on August 23, atObanikoro Area, Mushin LGA,Lagos State. MohammedUsman was arrested on August25 at Atuashe Estate, Gbagada,Kosofe LGA, Lagos State.

DSS said: “Nigerians andindeed the general public haveto note that the arrest of UsmanShuaibu, alias Money, and thecore members of his cell,stemmed the spate of bombingsby the extremist sect.

“Money and his group werearrested on their way to BauchiState, to execute another bombattack.

“Furthermore, the suddeninflux of Boko Haram membersinto Lagos State points to thedetermination of the sect toextend its activities to otherparts of the country.”

CBN to intervene with the SLFto bring down the rates— OBBand O/N to 30.0 percent and40.9 per cent, respectively,week-on-week.

However, in the new week,money market operatorsexpect rates to rise marginallydue to further withdrawals ofcash by Nigeria NationalPetroleum Corporation,NNPC, and probable OpenMarket Operation, OMO,auctions by CBN.

In the face of near zerofiscal policy complements,the apex bank has beeninundated with monetaryrates instability withconsequences on the macro-economic indices, especiallyinflation and gross domesticproducts, GDP, since theadvent of PresidentMuhammadu Buhari’sregime three months ago.

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015—9

Commercial transporters clash with FRSCover Sept 1 introduction of speed limiter

ABUJA—NIGERIAN DepositMoney Banks, DMBs, have

begun a campaign of beggingthe federal government to reviewthe implementation of the SingleTreasury Account, STA, asdirected by PresidentMuhammadu Buhari.

Top executives of three leadingbanks in the country ran to theAccountant-General of theFederation, AGF, Alhaji AhmedIdris, in Abuja, at the end of lastweek to plead that the stringentcondition of transferring allgovernment revenues to the STAbe relaxed.

It was gathered that thedecision to meet the AGF followedan analysis by the banking sectoroperations with no governmentfunds, after which they concludedthat should the STA beimplemented as directed, somebanks would certainly go under.

Currently, collecting bankssweep all Nigeria CustomsService revenue to the Central

ABUJA—A major crisis thatmay disrupt road

transportation in Nigeria for along period if not averted by thePresidency has broken outbetween commercialtransporters in the countryand the Federal Road SafetyCommission, FRSC.

The crisis of confidencebetween the two parties arisesover the decision by thecommission to introduce speedlimiter technology oncommercial vehicles witheffect from September 1 thisyear.

N35,000 for device,N1,000 for installation

A document, which wasexclusively obtained byVanguard last night, indicatedthat the FRSC is working inleague with a private Nigerianfirm to enforce the controversialdeal, which would require eachvehicle owner to buy the devicefor N35,000 and pay additionalN1,000 for installation.

The transporters claim that witheach of the 25 million vehicles inNigeria paying N36,000 to theFRSC, it would rake in at leastN900 billion from innocentNigerians for a technology thatwould not add value to their lives.

The transporters in a protestletter to the FRSC, which wasobtained by Vanguard last night,warned the commission to desistfrom going ahead with theproject, as it would endanger thelives of vehicles owners ratherthan protect them.

They accused the FRSC ofbringing to Nigeria an outdatedtechnology, which had long beenphased out in Britain, India,Kenya, Tanzania, United Statesof America and Uganda because

AGM: From left: Mrs. Joan Ihekwaba,1st Vice President, Advitisers' Association of Nigeria, ADVAN, Mr. David Okeme,President, ADVAN, Mr. Anthony Aletor, Chairman, Capital Express Group/guest speaker, Alhaji Garba Kankarofi, APCONRegistrar, and Dr. Rotimi Olaniyan, at the 16th Annual General Meeting/Marketers Evening of the ADVAN in Lagos. Photo:Akeem Salau.

By Soni Daniel, NorthernRegional Editor

of its adverse effects.

Threat to sueThe road transporters writing

under the aegis of InternationalHuman Rights and Anti-corruption Society gave the FRSCone month with effect from August17, 2015 to publicly declare thediscontinuation of the device orface a court action.

In the letter addressed to theCorps Marshal of the FRSC, andsigned by the Director General,

Dr. U.O. Udofia and SecretaryGeneral, Barrister E.A. Egbebu, thegroup also drew the attention of thecommission that it lacks the powerto introduce the said device underthe Section 10 (3) of the FRSC Actof 2007.

It warned that the FRSC shouldadopt and use the world acclaimedSpider Technology that comes witha 3-in-one high definition camerawith long range monitoring ofhighways to capture over speedingvehicles.

Banks beg FG to relax Single TreasuryAccount

By Emma Ujah, AbujaBureau Chief

The group pointed out thatwhile it does not oppose the useof technology to control roadspeed limit on the highways, itwould not fold its hands andallow the FRSC to bring inanything for money-makingpurpose and endanger the livesof vehicle owners.

They complained that whilethe Spider technology wasbeing used globally it waswrong for the FRSC tocontemplate installing speedlimiter on vehicles so that theydo not run beyond the fixedlimit even when pursued byarmed robbers, kidnappers,hired killers and car snatchers.

“Speed limiter in all developedand African countries had beenbanned. Again speed limiterdevice had been discovered toexpose motorists to danger suchas armed robbery, car snatchers,hired killers and kidnappers.

“Therefore, in a country likeNigeria where there is seriousprevalence of insecurity, theinstallation of speed limiter invehicles would becounterproductive and self-defeating,” the transporters said.

Meanwhile, the Federal RoadSafety Commission has insistedthat the speed limiter will beenforced by the commission with effectfrom tomorrow.

Adefuye was a patriot—BUHARI

ABUJA—PRESIDENTMuhammadu Buhari

has described the late NigerianAmbassador to the UnitedStates of America, ProfessorAdeola Adefuye as a patriotwho made remarkablecontributions to thedevelopment of the country.President Buhari who spokewith the wife of the lateambassador on Saturday onphone also expressed shockover the death.

President Buhari recalled thevaluable assistance and helpoffered by Adefuye during hisrecent official visit to the U.S.

He noted that the lateambassador was visible in allhis engagements, explainingthat he was proud to have had

Bank of Nigeria, CBN at the endof each business day. The samepolicy applies to the revenuecoming through the FederalInland Revenue Service whichcollects taxes and Royalties.

The only exception among themajor revenue generatingagencies had been the NigerianNational Petroleum Corporation,NNPC. But with the STA it hasalso been brought into the fold oftimely revenue remittance.

Most other MDAs were notdesignated as revenue agencies,thus making it possible for the topexecutives to play around with thefunds they generate. Such MDAswere allowed to keep theirincome, spend at will and onlyreturned fractions to the treasuryas operational surplus, at the endof each fiscal year.

Until the Buhari directive,Deposit Money Banks were saidto be heavily dependent of publicsector deposits which were oftenabused.

There had been reports of topexecutives of Ministries,

Departments and Agencies,MDAs lodging huge sums ofmoney with some banks atnegotiated fixed interests and thebanks lending same money toother government MDAs, therebylending government money togovernment and at high interestrates.

Sources privy to the threeseparate meetings between thebanks and the AGF said that thetop executives did not secure theassurances of review they sort.

Rather, Alhaji Idris was quotedas telling the bankers that the TSAwas introduced to enhancetransparency, boost revenuecollections against leakages andensure timely disbursement offunds to beneficiaries of theFederation Accounts.

The AGF insisted that the policywas part of the reforms of thegovernment to institutionalize amore effective and transparentmanagement of public finances inthe country and that the STA wasalso impacting positively onfederation revenue.

an encounter with Adefuye whohe further described as “anardently patriotic diplomat, whoput higher national interest abovepartisan loyalty, and that his finevirtues should be emulated byother Nigerian leaders.”

In his own reaction, SenatePresident, Bukola Saraki saidNigeria has lost a strong voice inthe death of late Adefuye.

In a statement by his ChiefPress Secretary, Sanni Onogu,Saraki described the death as amonumental loss to Nigeriawhose international imageAdefuye passionately shapedand defended in the U.S until hislast breath.

He commiserated with theFederal Government, theGovernment and people of OgunState and the immediate familyof the deceased over the suddendeparture of the Nigerian envoy.

By Henry Umoru,Joseph Erunke &

Levinus Nwabughiogu

10 — Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

35 princes jostle for Ooni stoolGENDER-BASEDVIOLENCE:Lagosengagesmonarchs

GLO LITERATURE PRIZE: From left; Prof. Olu Obafemi of University of Ilorin; Prof AkachiEzeigbo of University of Lagos; Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka; Prof. Mohd InuwaUmar Buratai of Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria and Dr. Ogochukwu Promise, Secretaryof the Panel at the launch of Glo Literature Prize for undergraduate students in Lagos.

Eko DISCO sacks 300 workers

OSOGBO—AT least 35princes from the four

ruling houses in Ile-Ife arenow jostling for the vacantstool of the Ooni of Ife.

For instance, the GiesiRuling House which claimsit is its turn to produce thenext traditional ruler for Ile-Ife after the demise of ObaOkunade Sijuwade at theweekend set in motion plansto present qualified personsto the king-makers.

The ruling houseaccording to usually reliablesources met on Saturday atthe family compound atAgbedede lane in Ile-Ife toreceive the report of itsSelection ScreeningCommittee.

It was gathered that thecommittee with Prince RopoOgunwusi as the Chairmanand Prince KehindeOgunwusi as secretarysubmitted its report to theHead of the family, PrinceModupe Fadehan.

According to the source,notable among thoseconsidered as top contendersfor the vacant throne arePrinces Aderemi AdeniranAlani Adelowo, AdeyeyeEnitan Ogunwusi, Taye

Ogunleye, AdegboyegaOlogbenla and GbadegesinOlogbenla.

Others are Princes AdetunjiAdeyemi Ogunwusi, BankolaOjulalayo Adediwura,Adegboyega Adedira, OlajideAdejoba, Adetona Sikiru Ayedun,Ademoyowa Omomadelo andAdegoke Adeyemo.

A competent source who

attended the meeting toldVanguard that, “Well, that isa good development for usand we are sure that the rightperson will be picked as theOoni. This is the normalprocess and we know it won’tcause disaffection.

“The normal thing is that theRuling House will sendnames of qualified candidates

to the kingmakers. Forinstance, the Ogboru familysent 14 names out of which lateOba Sijuwade emerged”, thesource added.

Meanwhile, it was gatheredthat the ruling house mayreceive the official letter fromthe local government callingfor names of candidates forthe Ooni’s throne.

By Evelyn Usman

L A G O S — E K OE l e c t r i c i t y

Distribution Company, Eko

DISCO, has sacked no fewerthan 300 workers creatingfear among the staff of thecompany.

Mostly affected wereengineering, marketing,

accounts, human resource,security, medical, records,cleaning and drivingdepartments.

However, themanagement said it onlysacked 272 staff

The sacked workers,Vanguard investigationrevealed, having worked withthe new company followingthe privatization of theelectricity two years ago, wereexpecting confirmation lettersonly to be served terminationletters.

One of the affectedworkers told Vanguard thatno fewer than 300 of themwere affected after workingas contract and casual stafffor about two years.

While the GeneralSecretary of the NationalUnion of ElectricityEmployees, NUEE, Mr. JoeAjaero could not be reached,an official of the union toldVanguard that the union wasalready looking into thedisengagement matter.

However, reacting PublicAffairs officer/AssistantGeneral Manager of thecompany, GodwinIdemudia, said theagreement reachedbetween the Bureau ofPublic Enterprise, BPE, andvarious DISCOs,discouraged any form ofsack in the first six months,but thereafter such actioncould be justified.

By Victor Ahiuma-Young & Ediri Ejoh

L A G O S — T H ELagos State

Domestic and SexualViolence Response Team,DSVRT, at the weekendengaged traditional rulersin the state on sexual andgender-based violenceand their role asresponders as afurtherance to itscampaign against thedastardly act.

Coordinator of DSVRT,Mrs. Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, who led the teamto the meeting which hadthe Oba of Lagos, HisRoyal Majesty, ObaRilwanu Akiolu and 30other Obas in the state inattendance, said astraditional rulers, thecounsel they give tovictims of rape,defilement and domesticviolence and their familymembers can go a longway in making or marringa case.

She said; “Thisengagement waspremised on thegovernor ’s desire toengage members of thecommunity and relevantstakeholders about thesecrimes, enlighten themon the impact on thevictim and the society andin most communitieswhere these acts are beingperpetrated, the firstresponders are usuallytraditional rulers.’’

LAGOS—PRESIDENTMuhammadu Buhari’s

fight against corruption and

plans to probe the lastadministration has beendescribed as a step in theright direction towardsrepositioning the country.

Giving this assertion duringa press briefing to herald the90th anniversary of theCherubim and SeraphimUnification Church of Nigeria,yesterday, the Supreme Headof the church, ProphetSolomon Adegboyega Alao,expressed dismay overclamour by a group ofNigerians against the anti-corruption war.

Represented by theChairman, National ExecutiveCouncil of the church, SpecialApostle Olusesi Sowandedescribed the out cry by thegroup as mere distraction.

He said: “The Church is fullyin support of attempt to probepast misdeeds. We have readand seen some people sayingthe probe of the pastadministration is a witch huntby the Federal Government. Tosay the least, this is laughable.How on earth would anyone beafraid of being probed whenyou have left office?

Clergy lauds FG as C&S marks 90th anniversary

LAGOS—THE MurtalaMuhammed International

Airport Command of NigeriaCustoms Service at the weekenddisclosed that it has generatedover N20.111 billion as revenuefrom its operations betweenJanuary and July 2015.

Head, Public Relations Officerof the Lagos Airport Command,Thelma Williams who disclosedthis stressed that the NigeriaCustoms Service, Lagos AirportCommand have also collected

over N5.209 billion in the monthof July being the highestrevenue collected by the airportunit since inception.

Williams noted that First BankNigeria Plc has beendesignated as the bank for thecollection of import duty whichis processed using thePassenger Electronic BaggageEntry System, PEBES.

According to her, over N179,326,833.00 million have beencollected by the Command atthe international wing of theLagos airport between Januaryand July 2015 as such revenuewere from informal trade alone.

MMIA Customs generates N20.111bnin six months

By Daniel Eteghe

Fashola, Obiozor forBishop Okonkwo’s70th birthday

L A G O S — E M I N E N TNigerians including the

immediate past Lagos Stategovernor, Mr. Babatunde RajiFashola and former Nigerianambassador to the United States,Prof. George Obiozor are expectedat the annual lecture to mark the70th birthday anniversary of theformer national vice president ofChristian Association of Nigeria,CAN, and presiding bishop of TheRedeemed Evangelical Mission(TREM), Dr. Mike Okonkwo.

By Sam Eyoboka

By Gbenga Olarinoye

THE Ikeja ElectricDistribution, IED, said its

notifying customers in Alausa,Ikeja axis of its operation of theimpeding interruption of powersupply to the area.

Those to be affected as listed andsigned in a statement by PekunAdejanju, Head, Communicationsstrategy, Ikeja Electric includecustomers at Alausa, IkejaShopping Mall, Allen Avenue,Ogundana, Alade, Aromire andenvirons from Sept 2nd to 5th, 2015.

IED announcespower interruptionin Ikeja

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015 — 11

Ogun customscommandgeneratesN3bn in sixmonths

OFFENSIVE EXAM: Ogun links issue toattack on gov’s wife

ABEOKUTA—THESecretary to the

Ogun State Government,Mr Taiwo Adeoluwa, hasreacted to the spate ofcriticisms against thestate government in themainstream and socialmedia linking it to therecent sanctions imposedon some educationworkers by the CivilService Commission,describing the attacks aspart of the price ofleadership.

He said: ''While a few ofthe critics were genuine,having commented basedon the limitedinformation available tothem at the time, the vastmajority were sponsoredby frustrated politicianswho lost electionswoefully and were nowdesperate to get intopublic reckoningthrough the back door.''

In a release signed byhim yesterday,Adeoluwa said thatgovernment hadremained unperturbedby the negativecommentaries becausethey were misplaced,having been premised onwrong information.

“However, the cynicalopposition have nowchosen this period toorchestrate a campaign ofcalumny not only againstthe governor but hisfamily as well. The mostunconscionable of thelies being peddled bythese oppositionelements is that the wifeof the governor wasarrested in London.

' 'Nothing could befurther from the truth.Mrs Olufunso Amosun isa paragon of decency andan example of all that isnoble. These falseallegations are totallycondemnable. The questfor power need not

By Daud Olatunji

ABEOKUTA—THENigeria Customs

Service, Ogun StateCommand said it hasgenerated over three billionNaira from impoundedvehicles between January andJune this year.

Comptroller of the statecommand, Haruna Mamudustated this yesterday, saying,the command fared betterthan last year when itgenerated over two billion.

He said; “The command hasgenerated a total sum of threebillion, four hundred and onemillion, six hundred and fortyseven thousand, fourhundred and seventeenNaira and thirty four kobo asagainst two billion, fivehundred and forty threemillion, two hundred andsixty six thousand, threehundred and twenty threenaira and forty three koborecorded in the sameperiod in 2014.”

By Daud Olatunjidescend to this level ofinfamy,” Adeoluwa said.

While noting thatgovernment would not bedeterred by the name-calling and maliciouslies, the state scribecalled on the public to bewary of ''mischief makersand failed politiciansnow in the borrowedregalia of publicdefenders and theirmedia hawks.''

Adeoluwa said the stategovernment wouldremain focused on itsmission to rebuild Ogunand make its residentssecure and prosperous.

MEANTIME, there is palpable tension

in Ogun State as theTribunal on governorshipelections sitting inAbeokuta, on Saturdaygranted an application bythe Peoples DemocraticParty and its governorshipcandidate, Gboyega Isiakaseeking to tender moreexhibits against the victoryof Governor IbikunleAmosun of the AllProgressives Congress.

The tribunal extended itssitting till10.30pm onSaturday which resulted ina tense atmosphere aroundthe court premises assuspected party thugscaused panic, forcing manyto leave the court in fear.

The PDP and itsgovernorship candidatehad approached the tribunalchallenging the victory ofAmosun, which they saidwas fraught withirregularities and non-compliance with electorallaws. The petitionerswanted elections in ninelocal councils cancelled anddeclared Isiaka the winnerof the election.

The applications, dated18th August, 2015 wasbrought pursuant to section151 of the Electoral Act, 2010

(as amended) andparagraphs 41 (8), 45 (4)(5)of First Schedule to theElectoral Act, 2010.

Among other prayers, theapplication sought an ordergranting leave to thePetitioners to file and use asevidence to maintain thePetition, the sworn witnessstatement of last witness,Benjamin Ibikunle andreport of inspection ofelection materials carriedout on the order of theTribunal.

In his reply, counsel to thepetitioners, AdetunjiOyeyipo (SAN,) said theTribunal would be overruling itself since it was thesame court which grantedthe order of the inspection.

The tribunalsubsequently admitted thepress statement in evidenceand marked same as exhibitP4272.

The court also admittedoffloaded data from cardreaders used for theelection in the nine localgovernments undercontention and markedsame as exhibit P4273.

The manual used for theelection was also admittedin evidence and markedexhibit P4272 while thetendering of ballot papers

as exhibit failed as theTribunal ruled PW9incompetent to tenderoriginal document.

The witness was alsoinvited to identify all theexhibits already admitted inevidence and crossexamined by the lead

counsel to Amosun,Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).

The court, howeveradjourned till tomorrowfor continuation ofhearing, especiallycontinuation of crossexamination by otherrespondents.

… As Tribunal admits more exhibits against Amosun

EKITI State Governor, Mr Ayo Fayose,has promised a better deal for the

traditional institution and monarchs in thestate, saying no monarch will suffer anyform of humiliation under his government.

He spoke in Ado-Ekiti at the weekendduring the celebration of the annualUdiroko Festival at the palace of the Ewiof Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugbe.

In a statement yesterday, by his ChiefPress Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, thegovernor also promised that cultural

festivals in the state would be projectedto attract global attention and earnrevenue for the state.

Commenting on the Udiroko Festival,Fayose said the state government wouldwithin the next few months complete thegallery being constructed in the palaceground.

He solicited the support of the Ewi,the people of Ado-Ekiti and EkitiState in general for the programmesof his government, adding thatgreater dividends of democracy areon the way for the people to enjoy.

By Rotimi Olaleye

Fayose promises better days for Ekiti monarchs

PRESENTATION: From left: The Manager, Oyigbo branch of First City MonumentBank (FCMB), Mrs. Chioma Onuigbo; the Zonal Head, Port Harcourt 2, Mr.Chime Aliliele; one of the winners of N5m at the grand finale draw of the FCMBMillionaire Promo, Mr. Peters Emmanuel; the Bank’s Regional Director, South-east & South-south, Mr. Okey Ezeala and the Regional Retail Head, Mrs. ChristianaIbe, during the cheque presentation ceremony to the winner in Port Harcourt.

12—Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

Samuel Oyadongha

Police repel pirates' attack on passengerboat in Bayelsa

By Emma Amaize

DESOPADEC: Lori-Ogbebor insists on courtaction as Okowa visits Warri monarch

Adegboruwa faults Buhari on dissolutionof NDDC board

By Innocent Anaba

YENAGOA—MEN of themarine division of the

Bayelsa State Police Command,have reportedly repelled anattack on a passenger boat bysuspected pirates along thewaterways of Southern IjawLocal Government Area of thestate.

The attack occurred less thantwo days after suspected seapirates ambushed two passengerboats and allegedly kidnappedtwo chiefs and security operativeon the Ogbia Brass waterway ofthe East senatorial district.

It was gathered that the latestpirates attack occurred weekendon Ginagbene waterway inSouthern Ijaw council.

Occupants of the passengerboat escaped unhurt as a policepatrol team came to their rescueby forcing the hoodlums to retreatinto the creek following ashootout.

Confirming the incident,Asinim Butswat, spokesman ofthe state police command, saidthat the state Marine Police,stationed at Koluama, inSouthern Ijaw council,successfully repelled the piratesattack on the passenger boat.

He said that the suspected

LAGOS—LAWYER andactivist, Mr. Ebun-Olu

Adegboruwa, has said thatPresident Muhammadu Buhariacted in error in his dissolutionof the board of the Niger-DeltaDevelopment Commission,NDDC.

In a statement, yesterday, inLagos, Adegboruwa, said: “OnDecember 16, 2013, the FederalGovernment inaugurated the 4thGoverning Board of the NDDC,after members of the said Boardhad been thoroughly screened bysecurity agents and were allcleared and confirmed by the twoChambers of the NationalAssembly. The appointment wasfor a four year tenure, to end onDecember 15, 2017.

“Under and by virtue of section3 of the NDDC Establishment Act,“... a member of the Board, otherthan an ex-officio member, shallhold office for a term of four years

WARRI—A group of hostcommunities in Delta

South senatorial district, DeltaState, led by Niger-Delta activist,Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor,weekend, rebuffed the move byGovernor Ifeanyi Okowa, to stopits planned court action againstnew Delta State Oil ProducingAreas DevelopmentCommission, DESOPADEC law.

Governor Okowa had visitedthe Warri monarch, OgiamaeAtutwase, recently, to prevail onLori-Ogbebor and her group towithdraw their threat.

A former state commissionerwho is also from the area, Mr.Omolubi Newuwumi, toldVanguard, yesterday, “I guessyou must have seen the responseof the Olu of Warri in thenewspapers, where he saidOkowa should not take forgranted the words said by ChiefLori-Ogbebor.”

He said that even theappointment of an Itsekiri son,Godwin Ebosa, as chairman ofDESOPADEC Governing Boardwould not prevent their courtaction.

He said, “We are proceedingwith the court action because ourposition has never been whobecomes the DESOPADECchairman or whose ethnicnationality produces the

Gov aspirant disagrees with Edo govt on WorldBank loan

chairman, but with the recent billsigned into law by the presentadministration of Okowa, as itrelates to the host communities.

“Our argument has been thatthe new law does not favour thehost communities, especially theissues of constitution of the boardand having equal representativeswith other senatorial districts,which do not produce oil or areimpacted with oil exploration asstated in the law.

“The issue of whether an Itsekiriman or an Ijaw man becomes the

chairman is not the issue becausethe board has a chairman, aManaging Director, three executivedirectors and nine representativescoming from the three senatorialdistricts that make up Delta State.That to me is not being fair to theoil producing communities, thelocal governments or the senatorialdistricts that produce oil and gas.They bear the burden of oilexploration and exploitation.

“For you to say you are sharingper senatorial amounts tomarginalization of these ethnic

nationalities and its people. Iam against this as stated inpage (2) paragraph (4) of thenew law because it does notrepresent the true principle asstated in the constitution.”

“We are also going to ask thestate government what they aredoing with 50 per cent of the13 per cent derivation fundbecause it is clear that the statebudget is planned according tothe revenue allocation from theFederal Government and itsinternal generated revenue.”

pirates ran into a nearby creek andabandoned their speed boat,mounted with 75HP YamahaEngine, with the Inscription

‘DEEP SEA MARINE’.Items recovered from the

hoodlums, he said, include, one AK47 rifle, three magazines loaded

with four live ammunition, onebag, one voter’s card and fourlife jackets.

BENIN—A Peoples DemocraticParty , PDP, governorship

aspirant for next year ’sgovernorship election in Edo State,Chief Solomon Edebiri, hasinsisted that the state governmenthas no business borrowing, as it

at the first instance and may be re-appointed for a further term of fouryears and no more.

“The NDDC Establishment Actmakes no provision for the removalof the Commission’s Boardmembers before the expiration ofthe four year tenure, except themember resigns, is of unsoundmind, is convicted by a court or isdisciplined by his professionalassociation or is found guilty ofmisconduct. None of these isapplicable in this case.Consequently, the dissolution of

the NDDC Governing Board isillegal and violates the clearprovisions of section 5 of theNDDC Act.

“It is important to state that theNDDC Governing Board is inthe same category of thoseagencies established undersection 153 of the 1999Constitution, as amended,whose tenure enjoy statutoryflavour. It cannot be dissolvedby a general circular, withoutcomplying with the provisionsof the enabling Act."

Gabriel Enogholase

has all it requires naturally andtraditionally to survive andprosper.

Edebiri, who addressed someEdo Professionals groups inBenin, weekend, which visitedhim at his residence, said thata responsible government in thestate can harness and musterall the resources to improve the

living standards of the people. He said, “Edo State must be self

sustaining. We cannot beborrowing all the time. This isunacceptable. Who will pay thesedebts, our children? We need toput in the right pegs in the rightholes. We need to move from aconsuming economy to aproducing one."

Memberswantreconciliationof aggrievedAPC factionsin Delta

W A R R I —A G G R I E V E D

members of the AllProgressives Congress,APC, in Warri South-WestLocal Government Area,Delta State have calledon the three leaders ofthe ruling party at thenational level to reconciletheir factions in the partyin the interest of peaceand unity, so as to deliverthe party in the area infuture elections.

The APC members, whoconverged at theresidence of SmartEdema, the party'scandidate for the stateHouse of Assembly inWarri, weekend, toreconcile all aggrievedpersons, noted that therewas an urgent need forreconciliation and appealed toChief Adolor Okotie-Eboh,Temi Harriman and PrinceTemi Omatseye to come totheir rescue in theirrenewed effort to fashion away forward and brightenthe fortunes of the party infuture election.

The Warri South-West APCreconciliation meeting,which was attended by astate Executive Councilmember of the party, Mr.Choice Olueh had Mr.Smart Edema, RobinsonEruaye, Julius Kenaobor,Frank Akpieyi andGoodluck Ekpebide, severalformer contestants and over30 party faithful inattendance.

They maintained thatdisunity was the bane of thecouncil in the 2015 generalelections and appealed to allto bury the hatchet.

The convener of themeeting, Mr. Edema andother leaders, admonishedthose returning to the partynot to attempt to hijack thestructure on ground, whenthey eventually return aftertheir sojourn, saying thatthey must respect thecurrent leadership andcontribute to moving theparty ahead of theopposition.

GRADUATION: Rivers State Deputy Governor and Founder, Caywood Brown Foundation,Dr. Ipalibo Harry Banigo, presenting a certificate to one of the graduands of herentrepreneurial/leadership communication skill training, Miss Lauretta Orrone, during theGraduation/Certificate presentation in Port Harcourt.

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015—13

By Emma Amaize

ASABA—POLICE in DeltaState have burst a syndicate

of politicians and officials of theIndependent National ElectoralCommission, INEC, who brokeinto the commission’s strong roomin Asaba and stole original copiesof 137 result sheets used for thelast governorship and House ofAssembly election in the state.

The police recovered 47completed copies of original resultsheets, Form EC8A for thegovernorship election held inparts of Warri South and 16completed copies of original resultsheets, form EC8A (1) for Houseof Assembly held in parts of WarriSouth from the suspects.

Detectives also recovered sevencompleted copies of original resultsheets, Form EC8 forgovernorship election held inparts of Ughelli North; fivecompleted copies of original resultsheet , Form EC8A(1) for Houseof Assembly election held inUgheli North.

Other items recovered wereone copy of original form EC8B(1)for summary of results from

W A R R I — I T S E K I R Ileader and All

Progressive Congress, APC,chieftain, Dr. Alex Ideh, hasurged Nigerians to be patientwith President MuhammaduBuhari, who he said wasworking hard to steady the shipof the Nigerian state.

Appraising the performance ofBuhari after more than threemonths in office, Ideh, in astatement, yesterday, said thatthe President’s seemingly slowpace but meticulous approach togovernance since he assumedoffice was due to hisdetermination to lay thefoundation for ‘’sustainablestructures for good, transparentand people-orientedgovernance.”

Ideh, a former commissioner inDelta State and secretary to theAPC National ConventionCommittee that produced Buharias the party’s flag bearer,defended the activities and stepstaken so far by the three-monthold administration of Buhari andcalled for patience andunderstanding of Nigerians in

PORT HARCOURT—CHIEF of Air Staff, Air

Vice Marshal SadiqueAbubakar, has expresseddeep pain over the crash ofan Airforce jet in Kaduna,saying a probe panel hasbeen constituted toinvestigate the immediateand remote causes of thesad incident.

Speaking weekend at the97 Special Operationsgroup, Airforce base, PortHarcourt, Rivers State aftera visit to the scene of thesad incident in Kaduna,noted that it was tragic,adding that he will not wantto pre-empt the outcome ofthe findings of the body setup to probe the painfulincident.

He said: “These are someof the hazards associatedwith flying. We have set upa board to find out theimmediate and remotecauses of the accident. Wewill look at the report of thatboard to see the cause."

CASconstitutespanel toprobeAirforce jetcrash

By Jimitota Onoyume

100 DAYS Buhari working hard to steady Nigeria—ALEX IDEH

Police recover INEC election result sheetsfrom syndicate in Delta

polling units in Warri South, 149original copies of polling unitmaterial receipt forms, EC25Band 139 copies of forged formsEC25B among others.

A source hinted, weekend, thatthe police would soon arraign thesuspects, including thechairman and top officials of oneof the political parties in the state

in court for conspiracy to steal,forgery and receiving stolen INECproperty.

Deputy Commissioner of Police,Mr Hafix Inuwa, in a report,reference number, CR3000/DTS/SD3/VOL/3/230, dated June 25,said acting on a tip- off, detectivesswooped on a popular hotel inAsaba, where they arrested the

suspects.According to the report,

addressed to the Commissionerof Police, “The recovered andidentified result sheets aresensitive materials that shouldnot be found outside thecustody of INEC or officials ofINEC.”

rallying support for the President.“I can assure all Nigerians that

the President is actually working

out a template for good,transparent and people-orientedgovernance. Things might appear

to be somehow slow on thesurface but a lot is going onsilently."

TRIBUNAL: Abe faults PDP on conduct of security agenciesBy Dapo Akinrefon

ASABA—GOVERNORIfeanyi Okowa of Delta

State has charged the 14-manGoverning Board of the StateOil Producing AreasDevelopment Commission,DESOPADEC, to ensureprudent management ofresources of the commission

Okowa inaugurates 14-manboard for DESOPADEC

By Festus Ahon

THANKSGIVING: Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade (2nd left), wife, Linda(middle), former Governor of the state and wife, Sen and Mrs. Liyel Imoike(right), andParish Priest of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Catholic Church, Kakum, Obudu, during athanks giving service in honour of the farmer governor.

PORT HARCOURT—SENATOR Magnus Abe has

absolved the All ProgressivesCongress, APC, in Rivers Stateover alleged use of securityagencies to their advantage atthe election petitions tribunalsitting in Abuja.

He described the allegationas a cheap attempt to misleadNigerians.

In a statement, yesterday,Abe urged PresidentMuhammadu Buhari todisregard an earlier petition bythe Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, in the state on the matter.

Abe stated that the petitionwas “Calculated to ridicule andpaint in bad light, the highlyrevered institution of theNigerian Army and the officerof the Director-General of theDepartment of State Security,DSS.”

He said: “For the record, it ispertinent to clearly state thatwhat transpired at the tribunalwas that the tribunal, at therequest of the petitioners(myself and other petitioners)issued a subpoena directed atthe Chief of Army Staff (or anyof his designated officers) toappear before the tribunal andgive evidence of what theywitnessed during the conductof the National Assemblyelection in Rivers State onMarch 28, 2015, being some ofthe security agencies thatprovided security at the saidelection.”

Faulting the PDP’s claim that theAPC attempted to use securityagencies to their advantage, hesaid “It is therefore, mischievousand indeed unreasonable foranybody, especially the PDP inRivers State to cast baselessaspersion on these gallant officers

of the Nigerian Army and DSS.One can only wonder whetherit would not have beenfoolhardy for the Chief of ArmyStaff and the DG of the DSS torefuse to comply with thesacrosanct order of the tribunal.In fact, such an act would notonly have been foolish, same

is indeed a crime as refusal tocomply with the tenor of subpoenais outrightly punishable with acriminal contempt proceedingagainst the culprit.”

He accused the ResidentElectoral Commissioner in RiversState, Mrs Gesila Khan of plansto subvert justice.

Godwin Ebosa as Chairman,Chief William Makinde,Managing Director; ChiefAskia Ogieh (ExecutiveDirector), Mr. Chris OchorOchor (Executive Director);Mr Philip Gbasin (ExecutiveDirector); Engr. OristetimeyinWood (Executive Director)while the representatives ofthe oil producing areas areChief Amos Itiwhe, Chief PiusOvbije, Mr Jonathan Amitaye,Mr. Ovie Oghoore, ChiefThomas Ereyitomi, MrNnamdi Ezechi, FidelisOputa and Chief FavourIzoukumor.

He enjoined members of theboard to imbibe the principlesof fairness, equity and justice,which are the watchword of hisadministration.

for the benefits ofthe people.

S p e a k i n gduring thei n a u g u r a t i o nceremony of thenew board, hecharged membersto pursue themandate of theboard to the later.

The constitutedboard has Mr.

CMYK

14— Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

VISIT: Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State with some top government officials, newZonal Director of the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, network centre and her entourage,when the latter paid a courtesy visit to the Governor in his office. On the governor's left is thenew MD, Hajiya Hadiza Abu-Lawal.

Gov Okorocha mandates bailout fundc'ttee to clear unpaid salaries

By Chidi Nkwopara

OWERRI—GOVERNORRochas Okorocha of Imo

State, has set up a committee toadminister the bailout fundallocated to the state with themandate to clear all unpaid

salaries and allowances ofworkers.

While disclosing that hisadministration has now accessedthe bailout fund released by theFederal Government, Okorocha,weekend, told workers andlabour leaders, that thecommittee included the

Accountant-General, the Chief ofStaff, the Principal Secretary,Permanent Secretary, Ministry ofLocal Government and Head ofService, as members.

The Governor directed thecommittee to ensure that all thesalaries owed workers werecleared and payment must be

made by cheques in line with thepolicy of the state government tocheck the ugly case of ghostworkers.

“Apart from the July salaryowed Civil Servants, teachers and local government workers,they should also be paid for themonth of August and even themonth of September in advanceif the workers so desired”,Okorocha directed.

Although the workers objectedto the payment of the month ofSeptember salary in advance,Chief Okorocha also directedthat the salaries owed parastatalsshould equally be cleared.

He announced that he wouldbe meeting with heads of theparastatals and labour leadersnext Tuesday, to discuss on howto make the parastatals productiveafter paying them the outstandingsalaries.

The Governor equally directedthe committee to ensure that thepensioners benefit from thepayment, “even when the pensionbailout fund has not come”, andstressed that steps would be takento reposition the civil service inthe state.

Forum blastopponents ofNike LakeRoaddualization

E N U G U — A NINDIGENOUS

group in Abakpa Nike,Enugu, Nike YouthDevelopment Forum,NYDF, has lampoonedresidents of the communityand its environs opposed tothe plan by GovernorIfeanyi Ugwuanyi ofEnugu State, to ease trafficon the Nike Lake Road,through the dualisation ofthe road.

In a statement by thegroup’s President-General,Chief Nwoga Ozoemena,it noted that there was notension in Enugu over planto demolish property as aresult of the road anddismissed the publicationsagainst the dualization ofthe road as self-servingand mischievous attemptbeing sponsored by somelandlords to smear theimage of the presentadministration and distractit from its commitment todualize the road for overallinterest of the people.

By Francis Igata

ONICHA-UGBO—THE newly installed

Isama of Onicha-Ugbo inAniocha North LocalGovernment Area of DeltaState, Chief Michael Diji,has described theappointment of Dr. IbehKachikwu as the GroupManaging Driector, GMD,of Nigerian NationalPetroleum Corporation,NNPC, by PresidentMuhammadu Buhari as astep in the right direction.

Diji also a Lagos-basedbusinessman in aninterview with newsmensaid Dr. Kachikwu at thehelm of affairs in the NNPCwould no doubt use his overthe year’s outstandingantecedents to uplift the oilsector.

Diji who commendedPresident Buhari forfinding a worthy son ofOnicha-Ugbo for theappointment, and statedthat he was convinced thenew GMD would deliverand make things turnaround for good not only tohis community and state butthe entire nation.

Isama ofOnicha-Ugbo laudsKachikwu'sappointment

SSANU urges Buhari to revoke oil licences, extendprobe to Obasanjo’s govt

Ebonyi PDP stalwart condemns Buhari's‘northernization policy'

By Peter Okutu

ABAKALIKI—A prominentPeoples Democratic Party,

PDP stalwart in Ebonyi State,Chief Abia Onyike, weekend,described the recentappointments made by PresidentMuhammadu Buhari, as allegednorthernization policy againstthe South East and South Westgeopolitical zones of the country.

In a statement issued in

Abakaliki, the politician said,“Buhari has ignored the fact thatNigeria is a multi-ethnic nationstate. He is deliberately pursuinga Northernization policy ofalienating Nigeria’s two otherpowerful regions - the East andthe West. By making the sort ofappointment he made sinceassuming the Presidency, he hasshown that he lacks the qualitiesof a Nationalist and patriot.

“The lopesided appointmentsportrayed him more as a Northern

operative and Caliphate fanatic.As it is now the South East andSouth South have beenvindicated for having viewed hiselectoral bid very critical.

I made the observation longago that Buhari was wagging asecret war against the Igbo. Histragic electoral performance in theSouth East should havecautioned him to make friendswith the East instead of becomingfiendish and jittery and planningto annihilate the Igbos politically."

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

ABUJA—SENIOR StaffAssociation of Nigerian

Universities, SSANU, weekend,called on President MuhammaduBuhari to revoke all oil licencesallocated to individuals withoutthe competence to manage suchoil wells but had made themselvesricher than the country.

The association also told thepresident to show he was notselective in the war againstcorruption by extending the probein recovering looted funds to theformer President OlusegunObasanjo’s administration of1999.

President of SSANU, SamsonUgwoke in his address at theNational Executive Councilmeeting/Pre-National DelegateConference in Jos, Plateau State,said the association was in totalsupport with President Buhari onthe ongoing fight againstcorruption.

Ugwoke said, “The presentadministration seems to bepursuing anti-corruption war.Corruption has killed this country.We have heard of billions andtrillions of Naira being looted byofficers of government and all ofthem stashed abroad, not even inour country.

“They use Nigerian money togrow and improve the economyof other countries, leaving us inpoverty. SSANU supports the fightagainst corruption but with acaveat, Mr. President shouldpursue whoever has stolen our

money to return it to our coffers.“The probe of the looters should

not be selective, it should be total,that is the position of SSANU. Itshould be total and be extendedto 1999, so that those who havekilled this country since 1999should be brought to book.”

The SSANU presidentlamented that some individualsin the country had become richerthan the country, stressing that itwas only in Nigeria that such anabnormality had been allowed topersist for a long time.

According to Ugwoke: “This isa country where an individual isricher than a country and he madehis money from the country.

“We are endowed with oil wellsand these oil wells were given toindividuals who do not have thecapacity, even in oil technologyor in business or economics, but

they were given to them becauseof their positions in federalgovernment, because of theirpositions in the society.

“They have packed trillions ofdollars into their own pockets,giving the country nothing. Theposition of SSANU is thatgovernment should revoke all oilwell licences and set up acommittee to recover the oil wells.

“A Commission should be in-charge of Nigeria's oil wells, allmoney generated from the oilwells should be channeled intothe treasury of the FederalGovernment so that the countrywill be rich. Rich from theresources of the country, not anindividual being richer than thecountry because he owns an oilwell.

“The Constitution states that theminerals of the country belong to

the state, they do not belong toan individual. It is only in thiscountry that individuals own theresources of a country.

“So the position of SSANU isthat, a commission should beestablished for the oil wells of thiscountry so that the revenue fromthe oil from A to Z should accrueto the Federal Government intothe Central Bank Single Account.”

While commending the ViceChancellor of University of Jos,Prof. Hayward Mafuyai forcreating the enablingenvironment between themanagement and staff as well asthe massive infrastructuredevelopment going on in theuniversity, Ugwoke, however,noted that “there cannot be gooddevelopment in the universitywithout commensurate staffwelfare.”

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015 — 15

SESSION: From left, former Executive Vice Chairman NCC, Ernest Ndukwe; Copley Partner,Seni Adio; GM Commercial Legal, MTN Nigeria, Oghenerume Rotimi, and DG, NBC, EmekaMba, during the technical session on 'Information and Communication Technology: A ProvenGrowth-Enabler,' at the 55th annual general conference of NBA, in Abuja, yesterday.

ANTI-CORRUPTION: Ajaero-led NLC factiondissociates from NASS planned protest

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

NIGERIA LABOURCongress, NLC, faction

led by Joe Ajaero, weekend,dissociated itself from the anti-corruption protest being plannedby the National Assembly, whichalready received the backing ofthe Ayuba Wabba faction, sayingthere were several things wrongwith the planned protest.

Ajaero’s group said amongothers, for Nigerian workers, themost pressing issue was unpaidsalaries and allowances toworkers and pensioners by stategovernments and some federalagencies.

Reacting to report credited toMr. Wabba that NLC wouldcollaborate with the NationalAssembly over its planned protestin support of PresidentMuhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war, Ajaero, arguedthat it would amount to hypocrisyto work with the legislators whohad refused to reduce theiroutrageous pay and allowancesin line with the mood of the nationwhich labour was planning toprotest against.

Speaking to Journalists inLagos, Ajaero contended that inthe spirit of thereconciliatoryprocess anchored by GovernorAdams Oshiomhole of Edo Stateand NLC veterans led by AlhajiHassan Sumonu, both partiesought to have met to iron outcertain fundamental issues anddo some in-house cleansingbefore taking such action.

According to him, “Tocollaborate with the NationalAssembly to protest againstcorruption when they have notallowed their salaries to fall in linewith the minimum wage, iswrong. If we do that, that ishypocrisy at its highest level. Iam saying this without mincingwords, the two NLC factions canstill meet and agree on a date toprotest in support of anticorruption moves of PresidentBuhari but not to be hypocriticalabout it. Before we do that, wemust cleanse our house; we mustmake sure that the allegationsover the Kriston-Lally Housingissue, over the labour citytransport issue, and NLC electionrigging and all others that havebeen destroying labour arecleared. Part of the issues thatComrade Oshiomhole and others

looked into and which we allagreed to, was that we must gothrough the ethics of themovement, the rule of law andprocedures in handling issues.If we have not gone into all theseones and we want to play to thegallery that we are protesting insupport of anti-graft, we think thepublic will mock us and that isnot the kind of NLC some of uswant to see.

“The issue is that the other party(Wabba faction) did not consultus. They were supposed toconsult before we even takecertain decisions in the spirit ofreconciliation. No party wassupposed to fix a date to take anaction without the two factionsrubbing minds.

"But if one party goes out andtakes a decision, it may be a gooddecision, but that may not be in

line with the ideals of the otherfaction. We just read it in thepapers and definitely we have torespond to it that we are not a partyto a rally with the NationalAssembly. I have never seenwhere this collaboration workedbefore, unless we do not want tobe sincere with ourselves,especially when we are evenplanning to picket the NationalAssembly on the jumbo pay.

"At what point did we drop thatidea of picketing the NationalAssembly over the furniture andwardrobe allowances and whenworkers salaries have not beenpaid. The two cannot work. If youunderstand the labour movementvery well, that collaboration cannotstand. It is a collaboration basedon deceit and not based on theideals of labour."

NIPEN accuses firm of faking productBy Gabriel Olawale

NIGERIA BALL Point Pen Industries PLC, NIPEN, makersof BIC shaving stick has accused an Onitsha-based

company (name withheld) of faking its products alleging thatthe company has lost several millions of naira, forcing it to relieveseveral workers of their jobs.

This came on the heels of a reportby Counterfeiting IntelligenceBureau of International Chamber ofCommerce and Industries thatcounterfeit goods made up five percent to seven per cent of World Tradebetween 2007 and 2009.

Briefing journalists in Lagos on thedevelopment, Namal SalesManager, NIPEN Plc Ikeja, Mr.Olasore Fatai alleged that thecompany pushed a minimum of 26to 30 million units of fake BICshaving sticks into Nigerian marketwith its network across the country.

According to him, the company hadcontinued to depend on importationof finished fake BIC shaving stickswhich had made it more difficult totrack it for seizure by the authorities.

Lamenting the economic effect of theactivities of faking company on NIPEN,Fatai disclosed that information atNIPEN's disposal revealed thatbetween April and July this year, thecompany had resumed its activities insome markets in Lagos including Ketu,Idumota, Okokomaiko Trade fair, andAgege area of Lagos.

“They are also in Onitsha, Oba,Enugu, Port Harcourt, Aba, Ibadan andBenin, just to mention but a few. Thishad led to loss of several millions ofnaira by the company.

“As a local manufacturer, we giveemployment to hundreds of employeesand increase the GDP, Gross DomesticProduct of Nigeria whereas theactivities of this fake and fraudulentimporter constitute a threat to ourcountry,” he added.

On the implications on NIPEN'simage, Fatai, narrated how a costumerfrom Enugu metropolis called thecompany to relay his awful experiencehaving fallen victim to adulterated andsubstandard BIC shaving stick.

Clubempowers 50women

THE INNER WheelDistrict 911 has called

on young Nigerians to stoplooking for non-existingwhite collar jobs andacquire skills to make themself-employed andemployers of labour, evenas it commenced theempowerment of 50 womenthrough its skills acquisitionprogramme.

Speaking on the essenceof the skills acquisitionprogramme by theorganisation, the DistrictChairperson, IWM YinkaAyanwale, said the training,which would run for fourweeks, was aimed atempowering the youths tomake them self reliant.

By AmakaAbayomi

Angryreactions trailRev FrOsuagwu'sassassination

By ChidiNkwopara

OWERRI—ANGRYreactions have

continued to trail the recentassassination of Rev. Fr.Dennis Osuagwu, inOwerri, as the ClaretianMissionaries prepare forhis burial at MarylandInstitute of Philosophy,Nekede, Owerri West localcouncil area of Imo State.

Already, some Anglicanclerics, Bishops David O.C. Onuoha of OkigweSouth Diocese andGeoffrey Okorafor of EgbuDiocese, have charged thesecurity agencies tounravel the killers of theCatholic priest.

While describing themurder of the Catholicpriest as “horrific, shockingand most unfortunate”,Bishop Onuoha,wondered why anybodywould lift his hands againstthe anointed man of God.

“The assassination ofRev. Fr. Osuagwu hasclearly shown the level ofinsecurity in this land.Nigerians now contendwith Boko Haram menace,kidnappings, armedrobbery, assassination,child trafficking and otherserious crimes”, BishopOnuoha said.

In his reaction, BishopOkorafor wondered whatcould have informed thekilling of the Catholic priestin the manner they did.

16 — Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

SIR OLUREMI OMOTOSO'S 70TH BIRTHDAY HELD AT METHODISTCHURCH OF TRINITY, TINUBU, LAGOS, WEEKEND. Photos by Akeem Salau.

From left; Sir Oluremi Omotoso, former chairman of Oodua Group (The Celebrant);his wife, Ebunoluwa; HRM Oba Solomon Ajibade and Olori Ajibade at the event.

From left; Mrs Ellen Olufunke Adenubi; Prof Olufemi Adenubiand Mr Folarin Ajidagba.

L O K O J A — F O R M E Rgovernor of Kogi State,

Prince Abubakar Audu, yesterdayemerged the governorshipstandard bearer of the AllProgressives Congress, APC, forthe November 21 governorshipelection.

Declaring Audu winner, thegovernor of Kaduna State, MallamNasir El-Rufai, who was thechairman and Returning Officerfor the primary election, said Auduscored the highest number of 1,109of the 3400 votes cast to becomethe party flagbearer for the poll.

The primary, which was

contested by 27 aspirants, afterBabatunde Irukera withdrew fromthe race on Saturday morning, sawYahaya Bello coming second with703 votes, while the immediatesenator who represented centralsenatorial district in the Senate inthe last dispensation, NurudeenAbatemi, who joined the APC a fewmonths ago, scored 400 votes andSanusi Abubakar came fourth with309 votes.

In his acceptance speech, Audu,who urged other contestants toaccept his emergence and work forthe victory of the party at thegeneral election, also pledged toabide by the party’s ideology indriving the state if elected.

Conceding defeat, second-placed Yahaya Bello called onhis supporters to accept theresult of the election and planahead for the 2019 election.

He described himself as the“party's son that will become aman for 2019 guber race.”

El-Rufai, also urged other

KOGI GOV POLL: Audu wins APC ticketBy Boluwaji Obahopo contestants to accept Audu’s

emergence as candidate and buryany differences towards making theparty victorious at the governorshippoll later in the year.

The primary election, whichstarted on Saturday morning andlasted till 11 am on Sunday wasfree, fair, credible and transparent.

...As gale of defections looms in Kogi APC

THE last may not havebeen heard about the just

concluded APC governorshipprimary in Kogi State as manyof the aspirants who failed topick the ticket of the party havethreatened to pursue theirinterests in other parties.

Sources informed Vanguardover the weekend that no fewerthan 10 of the aspirants are onthe verge of abandoning theparty over grievances relatingto the outcome of the primary.

Many of the aspirants are notcomfortable to work with theparty’s nomination.

An aspirant from Kogi East toldVanguard that he was prepared

to work against the emergence ofPrince Abubakar Audu.

He said Prince Audu remained apart of the problem of Kogi Stateand should stop parading himselfas the Messiah of the people.

“Today, APC made the mistake ofnominating a failure as itscandidate. I wish them the best ofluck. But as someone who loves thisstate, I owe this state a responsibilityof working against the emergenceof Prince Abubakar Audu as thegovernor of this state.

‘’We shall be meeting in the next24 hours to ensure Kogi is notsubjected to another tenure underAudu,” he said on condition ofanonymity.

Another aspirant from KogiWest said he had already decidedto move to another party, stressingthat he could not face the peopleof the state to tell them to vote forPrince Audu.

But a loyalist of thegovernorship candidate of theparty, Alh. Jimoh Isah, toldVanguard that the opponents ofthe governor were those afraid ofthe former governor ’scontributions to the developmentof Kogi State.

“Let me commend APC forconducting a free, fair andcredible primary. The primaryelection won by Prince Audu is aconfirmation of the popularity ofthe man. We will work to put ourhouse in order,” he assured.

Political watchers are of the viewthat the rift in the party may cost itin the next governorship election.

By Kingsley FanwoL O K O J A — K O G IState government

has said it was looking intothe case of localgovernment council staffwho were employed in2010 but later retrenchedfrom the service.

Deputy Governor of thestate, Abayomi Awoniyi,stated this while on aconsultative visit to PDPstalwarts at Iyah Gbede inIjumu Local GovernmentArea of the state.

He told the PDP big wigsat the meeting that anotherfour years for Capt IdrisWada, would change thingsdramatically in the state,saying the governor hadlearned the ropes ofgovernance.

Awoniyi said thegovernment was lookinginto issues relating topensions, teachers wagesand local government staffsalaries, with a view tosettling the backlogs ofarrears when it received itsbail out from the FederalGovernment.

“At the moment, we cannotpretend not to bear thepains of our pensioners,teachers and LocalGovernment staff. They bearthe brunt of the meltdownravaging the globe at themoment. I can assure youthat we shall addressthese issues when we getour bail out,” he assured.

KADUNA—SENATORShehu Sani (APC Kaduna

central) said weekend thatPresident Muhammadu Buhariwould address the perceivedimbalance in federalappointments, describing theSouth East as one of the mostvibrant areas of Nigeria.

“President MuhammaduBuhari is President for allNigerians and I am of the firmbelief that he is sensitive to this

issue and he is going tointervene to make sure that thesouth east is fully representedin government,’’ he said.

Sani spoke during the launchof his Talakawa GrassrootRevolutionary Developmentprogramme in Kaduna, apoverty alleviation measure forhis constituency.

According to him, “ThePresident is going to address theimbalance and the perceivedmarginalisation of some areas,especially the South East.''

Boko Haram kills68 in Borno village

Buhari to address imbalance inappointments, says senator

By Agaju Madugba

We're lookinginto case ofretrenchedcouncil staff—AWONIYI

By KingsleyFanwo

MAIDUGURI—AT least68 people were killed

while several others sustainedinjuries as Boko Haraminsurgents invaded BaanuVillage in Nganzai localgovernment area of Borno Stateon Friday night.

A resident of the area, YuramMusa, who fled to Maiduguri toavoid the attack, said theinsurgents came on horses atabout 8:30 shooting sporadicallyand killing everyone they cameacross.

He said: “We had to flee intothe bush and hide and after theyleft, we return back to pick someof our belongings. I counted 68corpses, some were slaughtered,while others were with gunshotwounds. The number of thosekilled is worrisome as corpseslittered the streets of the village.

“Government should dosomething, otherwise, theseBoko Haram members will

continue to kill innocent citizens.Every surrounded villages, whichis five kilometres away fromGajiram, the headquarters ofNganzai, had been taken over bythe insurgents, as most of themare residing around the area.’’

By Ndahi Marama

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015 — 17

OPINION

18— Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

OPINIONJonathan and democracy in Africa

By Eni Blessing

WHAT made the last general electionsmore significant is that for the first

time in the political history of Nigeria, asitting president was defeated in an election inwhich he was a candidate. The truth and realityis that in most countries of Africa “the power ofincumbency” has largely been used often tosubvert the will of the electorate. Nigeria hasnot been an exception until, of course, the lastpresidential election. This, in itself, is a pointto note in favour of former President GoodluckEbele Jonathan who, it could be recalled, madea firm promise during his campaigns that underhis watch, the general elections would be freeand fair.So, in what today is being referred to ashistoric move, President Jonathan concededvictory to the candidate of the AllProgressives Congress, APC, MuhammaduBuhari, hours before the results were concluded. Not a few Nigerians have, however, arguedthat the action had no significance as,according to them, the former President hadno choice but to do what he did. I beg todisagree. Such Nigerians may haveforgotten the incident of June 12, 1993,when a military President stopped thecollation of election results and declared thewhole exercise inconclusive, null and void.Also such people have only to look atcountries like Somalia of today, Rwanda,Southern Sudan and of course Liberia torealise the worth and character of thesacrifice made by former PresidentJonathan. Take Liberia for instance,although that country is today comparatively

stable under the Presidency of Ellen JohnsonSirleaf, Liberia was enmeshed in years ofbloody civil war that almost consumed itsmulti-ethnic groups. It was an aftermath of anattempt by then incumbent President, SamuelDoe, to subvert the result of the Presidentialelection in that country in 1985. This sparkedoff a protest which resulted in an attemptedcoup by one General Thomas Quiwonkpa andother members of the original junta that seizedpower with Doe in 1980. Though the coup wassuppressed, it further degenerated into ethnictension and civil war prompting the formationof ECOMOG, a sub-regional intervention forceled by Nigeria, which finally brokered thepeace that is in Liberia today.But, most commendably, President Jonathanchose that path of honour and conceded victoryto his opponent instead of contesting the resultsor taking any other available option that couldpossibly scuttle that election. After all, it is notas if he, or indeed his Party, the PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP), was bereft of supportfrom Nigerians. As a matter of fact, the Presidentwas standing pretty at the time of the electionsbased on his administration’s notableachievements across various sectors of theeconomy. Such sectors include Agriculture,where significant efforts were made to return

the country to the green days when palm oilfrom the East, cocoa and rubber from the Westand groundnuts from the North constituted themainstay of the nation’s economy. AndTransportation where the hitherto comatoseNigerian Railways across the country has beenfully revitalised. Also, in spite of the poorperformance of the energy sector under hiswatch, it is evident today that he madesignificant impact in that sector given thefact that there has been a significantimprovement in the supply of electricityacross the country while our refineries areabout to commence full capacity production.All these go to show that there was indeedsignificant groundwork under the formerPresident as the said improvements couldn’thave been achieved by the incumbentgovernment in just less than three monthsof assumption of office.But at the time of the general elections, thetender rope that bound the nation togetherseemed clearly under stress. With what wasgoing on in the North East of the country whereinsurgents held sway, and are still do, as well asother long standing disenchantment whichpredated his administration, if the formerPresident had contested the results of theelection, rancor could have set in; and giventhe fragile nature of the polity, ambitiouspoliticians would have taken advantage of itto create confusion, a scenario which clearly isagainst the humane nature of the formerPresident who had sworn, and indeed madespirited efforts during his tenure, to protect theunity of the country above all other interests . The scenario of a Nigeria engulfed in a modernwarfare is simply unnerving. Take for examplethe menace of the Boko Haram in parts of theNorth East today. Just think of the heavy military

hardware that the insurgents use to inflictholocaust on the population. A Nigeria in amodern war, therefore, is likely to be disastrous.Firstly, insurgency may become morepronounced with other militia groups rising totake up arms. The nation would also be exposedto infiltration by foreign murderous groups likethe Al Qaeda. And with these modern weaponsin the hands of the unorganised and largelyilliterate Nigerians, coupled with the not tooskin-deep hate syndrome that pervades thedifferent ethnic, religious and even politicalsegments that make up the country, such a warwill certainly set the country ablaze in recordtime.What would be the implication of such a warto the rest of the African Continent? The firstimplication of course is that of refugeemanagement. Where would 180 millionpeople migrate to? Most of Nigeria’sneighbours are poor and dependent onNigeria for sustenance. On the whole, theimplication of a war in Nigeria would bedisastrous for Africa both economically andsecurity wise. That former PresidentJonathan took the bold step to save thisnation, and by extension the Africacontinent, from what would have certainlybeen a disastrous consequence, he deservescommendation Nigeria, the Giant of Africa, is no mean burdento be shouldered by just any country. The shortand long term impacts would be that theeconomy of the continent would be adverselyaffected and many countries in the region wouldbe in trouble as the economies of most are tiedto that of Nigeria.

The implication of awar in Nigeria wouldbe disastrous for Africaboth economically andsecurity wise *Mr. Blessing, a political analyst, wrote

from Lagos.

Army recall ofdismissed troops

At last, the Nigerian Army hasstarted making good its plans toscreen and bring back into theservice, some categories of itspersonnel sent home or other-wise sanctioned as a result of se-rious misconduct, such as deser-tions, acts of cowardice, insubor-dination and even mutiny com-mitted at the height of the war onthe Boko Haram jihadist insur-gents.

A panel set up to review the sen-tences passed on the erring offi-cials started work on August 17th2005, following the resolve of thenew leadership under Chief ofArmy Staff, General Tukur YusufBuratai, to revisit the series ofsanctions that included deathsentences passed on 57 soldiersafter court martials conductedagainst no fewer than 579soldiers.

The review became necessarywhen it was established thatthough some of the erring offic-ers were accused of colludingwith the enemy and sabotagingour troops in their gallant and

patriotic endeavour to safeguardthe nation from the terrorists,many of the desertions owed topoor equipment and motivation tofight a formidable enemy in anasymmetrical warfare.

Though many Nigerians hadpoured venom on the Governorof Borno State, Alhaji KassimShettima, last year when he re-vealed that Boko Haram was“better equipped and motivated”than our troops, the immediatepast Chief of Defence Staff, AirMarshall Alex Badeh, had la-

mented, after retirement, that in-deed, the troops lacked adequatefighting equipment at the earlystages of the campaign. Thismade it possible for the terror-ists to gain ground.

In view of this home truth, wecommend the federal governmentand the Nigerian Armed Forcesfor taking a second look at the is-sue with a view to screening theover 4,000 soldiers involved andreabsorbing those found fit andwilling to return to the service.

It is never a sign of weakness,

even for the fighting forces, to cor-rect their mistakes and do justiceto whoever deserves it. We believethat this gesture will buoy themilitary as a whole as they realisethat the Army is capable of listen-ing to the voices of reason and ad-minister justice and fair play. Itis part of the motivation necessaryfor morale boosting.

We, however, urge the militaryauthorities to be very prudent ingoing about the exercise. Thereare genuine cases of saboteursand people of questionable mo-tives joining the Armed Forces.These elements must be keptwhere they belong to avoid en-dangering the lives of other pa-triotic, loyal troops and the nationby extension.

We applaud their retraining atthe Nigerian Army Training Cen-tre in Kontagora, Niger State andother institutions to bring them upto date with the current demandsof their profession, and wish ourheroic armed forces the best ofluck.

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015 — 19

CMYK

Send Opinions & Letters to:opinions1234@yahoo.com

By Francis Agbo

*Mr. Agbo, a public affairs analyst,wrote from Yenogoa, Bayelsa State.

This is an emergency,rescue the police!

THE Presidency inannouncing that 10,000

more policemen and women areto be recruited, accompanied itwith a warning that there mustbe no extortion of potentialrecruits. This is not only anindictment, but also a vote of noconfidence in the police. Thepublic Presidential warning,tears away at the self-esteem ofthe police.

I understand the police a bit.This, and my sympathy for it,partly stems from my experiencegrowing up in Obalende, an areaon Lagos Island surrounded bypolice barracks; Obalende, Ijeh,MOPOL, Canine and PoliceMounted Troop.

The neglect of the police sincecolonial times, is responsible forits rot. The Force is used bysuccessive governments to dodirty jobs, and abandoned. Soyou have a disoriented anddemoralised police, withunsanitary training schools andbarracks mainly unfit forhuman habitation. It is seen, andunfortunately, presents itself alot of times as a lawless body thatcan even kill citizens at will. Farback in the 1970s, the anti-riotpolice was known as ‘Kill-and-Go’while in areas like Benin where

citizens believed that policemenand armed robbers colluded,they were called ‘Share andDivide”. The Police had tried toredeem its image, telling thepopulace, “The police is yourfriend” and that “Bail is free”.

Another problem of the policeis that it is over burdened withunnecessary tasks includingsettling family disagreements,domestic disputes, juveniledelinquency and other issueswhich in our traditional societies,families and communities solved.So much is expected from thepolice, but the State gives it solittle.

The fundamental problem ofthe police stems from its Britishcolonial birth. The British policewas set up as the enforcementarm of the State; a body,responsible not to the people, butto the sovereign lord, the richand powerful. In our own case,the police was established as acolonial force to oppress andrepress the colonised and ensurethe perpetuity of colonialism.Because it was essentially an armof repression, the populaceviewed it with suspicion. TheYorubas for instance, call thepolice, Olopa; the man whowields the stick or the baton. The

Hausa word for it, Dansada,virtually means the same. TheIjaws call the policeman,kemekoruowei; the man whoeffects arrests.

Like the British and Americanpolice, the Nigeria Police, profilesthe poor as criminally-mindedpeople who need to be closelymonitored. When the policepatrol affluent neigbourhoods, itis to protect life and property, butwhen it patrols poorneigbourhoods, it is to detectcrime and maintain law andorder. That was why until a fewyears ago, when a person, seenas poor, is found in an affluentneigbourhood, he could bedetained for ‘wandering’ andcharged and sentenced. Poorneigbourhoods are classified ascrime prone, or black spots. Sopart of police mentality is to

protect the rich from the poor;the powerful, from the powerless.The policeman is like an enforcerin the Mafia family. Therefore,a primary orientation of theForce, is to police the people, notto protect the citizenry, preventor detect crime.

So the policeman becomes asymbol of oppression andinjustice. He believes he isprotected by the State and thathe has immunity. When hephysically assaults a citizen, hedoes not expect retaliationbecause he is in uniform.

The lower ranks of the police, islike a disoriented mob. Ayoungman from the creeks, whojoins the police, finds himself faraway from home on the streetsof Sokoto, wielding a gun underthe hot sun; cannotcommunicate with the localpopulace, does not understandtheir culture and religion, andof course, is unfamiliar with theenvironment. How is such analienated man expected torespond to the people or a distresscall? The Investigating PoliceOfficer in a case in Ikot Ekpene,is on posting to Zungeru, how cansuch a case be diligentlyprosecuted? Some years ago, Ihad a discussion with a youngcorporal from the North East,who said after moving his familyaround due to transfers, hedecided that they stay put inKano. He was required to go tohis old posting to sign for hissalary; the cost of transportationwas enough to wipe out hissalary. So he allows it toaccumulate, and he is worried hehardly gets to see his family orsend them upkeep regularly.How can we expect the best fromhim?

The police does not seem to havemuch self-esteem, good publicimage or support; it may be

decrepit and in urgent need ofrebuilding, restructuring andreformation, but the reformersmust themselves be reformed. Sowhen the ruling APC partypromises to recruit 100,000 newpolicemen and women, it needsto answer the question, intowhat Police Force? Beyondemployment and boostingnumbers, very little will begained unless there is a completereformation of the police. Itwould just be garbage in, garbageout; no quality improvement.

Our policing system has failed;whether it is typified in settingup road blocks, doing stop-and-search or vigilantes and ethnicmilitia taking over the securityof the populace. We need a civilpolice, not a ‘force’ Areorientation and bettertraining, not more sophisticatedarms like the American policewhich is hardly distinguishablefrom the army and whosementality like the latter, is toshoot to kill. We need a police forall, not a section. Also,government needs to check theneedless proliferation of agenciesessentially doing police worksuch as the Civil Defence, RoadSafety and the anti-corruptionagencies; ICPC and EFCC.

The confidence of the policeneed to be rebuilt; better pay andwelfare, adequate life insurance,better equipment includingCCTV. More importantly, thecitizenry need to be involved inpolicing. We need communitypolicing, state police as well asFederal Police.

Since this is said to be ademocracy, we should elect thetop hierarchy of the policeincluding the Inspector Generalof Police and his lieutenantswhich will make it loyal to thepeople not the appointingauthority.

Bayelsa: Heart of Dickson's politics (2)

THE story of Dickson’s rise bespeaks thepossibilities that can emerge when

responsible governance lends a catalytichand to those without access to thetraditional levers of privilege and power.Like the overwhelming majority of the state’sindigenes who identify with Dickson’sgoverning philosophy, the governor’sappreciation for modest beginnings and thetransformative power of opportunity isexperiential, not theoretical.

Governor Dickson’s life story is acompelling illustration of how opportunity,when combined with hard work andtenacity, can propel one from obscurity to aplace of fulfillment. This inspirationalpersonal story and the leadership trainingand mentorship he has received havebecome the fulcrums of his politics, theorganising principle of his governingtechnique. The problem is that those unableto relate to the nuances of this story becauseof their own personal histories,circumstances, and choices have struggledto understand what motivates the governorand what informs his philosophy of havingthe needs and voices of regular citizens drivethe process of governance. The question is:should the governor apologise to those withelitist pedigrees for translating the story ofhis personal ascendance into a coherentideology of governance?

Since becoming governor over three yearsago, Dickson has tried to resolve this paradox,making strides in critical developmentalmatrices but also actively and respectfullycultivating the state’s political stakeholdersfor their buy-in. This may be why hisadministration has awarded manycontracts to indigenous firms owned by localelite and political actors, appointed over 500

Bayelsans into government positions, andengaged over four thousand youths asBayelsa Volunteers to complement thepolice in securing the littoral state. Oneparticular developmental gesture of thegovernor that betrays his politicalmagnanimity is the Ogbia- Nembe road,which is to be commissioned in December.Chief Timipre Sylva, his predecessor anddetractor, hails from Nembe but hadneglected the project. Dickson’s decisiveintervention on the project ensures thatSylva will now enjoy a smooth drive to hishomestead! Before now, Nembe was onlyaccessible through water.

The governor’s political gestures arepowerful symbolic illustrations of howenlightened political outreach can coexistwith and be structured aroundtransformational infrastructuralintervention. But there is a limit to symbolicpolitical gestures, no matter howenlightened and generous they may be.Ultimately, any governing institution andthe leader who superintends it have to reckonwith the fact that, in our section of the world,development is meaningful only in itsphysicality, its tangibility, and its ability topositively impact the lives of the governed.

In this domain of social infrastructure,Dickson’s accomplishments are not juststaggering; in many instances they acquireadditional gloss by being firsts either in the

whole country or in Bayelsa. This principleof “firstness” applies to Yenagoa’s first everflyover, the Ecumenical Centre, the Sports/Football Academy, the Catering/TourismSchool, Multi- Door Court, the TraditionalRulers Secretariat, the drug mart, teacherstraining institute, the commercial cassavastarch plant, a diagnostic centre built to firstworld standard, and a host of others.

Staying with the theme of GovernorDickson’s “firstness,” he has created a socialwelfare/ security scheme for the aged,ensuring that Bayelsa citizens who toiled intheir youth to give their best to theiroffspring and their state will live out theirold age in dignity and sufficiency instead ofin shame and want. His opponents may faultthis social intervention as feel-good populism,but the satisfied beneficiaries are betterpositioned to evaluate the programme.

In addition to these firsts, the governor’sscorecard is packed with the kind ofimpactful developmental interventionsthat improve lives in the present andconstitute a down payment on the future.The governor’s administration hasrenovated and in some cases, rebuilt entirecomplexes of public buildings. It has built450 kilometers of roads in the last three yearsin spite of the difficult terrain and creditcrunch, the crowning glory of which is theIsaac Adaka Boro Expressway, which wascompletely rebuilt into a six-lane highway.Furthermore, the Dickson administrationhas constructed 18 bridges across the statein addition to the conversion of 18 existingroads to dual lane roads. Work on the threesenatorial roads, which was abandoned byhis successor, has reached advanced stage.

The governor’s investment in the futureof Bayelsa follows a two-pronged approach:educational projects as well as measuresdesigned to position the state to survive andeven thrive in a post-oil future. In thisrespect, the governor’s investments ineducation deserve special mention. Hisadministration has built 400 primaryschools across the state, 24 model boarding

secondary schools in the state’s 24constituencies, and rebuilt many secondaryand tertiary schools, including thepreviously moribund Bayelsa State Collegeof Arts and Science.

A programme of free primary andsecondary education is complemented by arobust tertiary education scholarshipscheme that now funds bachelors, mastersand doctoral studies in Nigerian and foreignuniversities for thousands of Ijaw speakingpeople. To further support this educationalrevolution, the state government underDickson’s leadership pays the NECO, WAEC,and UME fees of all students in the state inaddition to supplying them with schoolbags,uniforms, sandals, textbooks, and writingparaphernalia. As of this moment, the freeeducation programme of government hasgulped N24 billion while the scholarshipscheme has so far gulped N7billion.

The second arc of Governor Dickson’sdiversification of the state’s economy beyondthe false fiscal security of finite oil resourceshas involved massive investments incutting edge agricultural productiontechniques and in the tourism andentertainment sector. So ambitious is thegovernor’s investment in the agriculturalsector that the state is now dotted by large-scale agricultural plantations that producerice, cassava, plantain, vegetables, andpalm produce in industrial quantities.

Like all mortals, the CountrymanGovernor has his human failings. But in thisrace of governance, he has a head start andis a distant runner. He is, in addition, apolitician of integrity who clearly stands farabove the maddening crowd of serialgovernorship aspirants who desperatelycrave power in order to put the glory of alllands in reverse gear. So, on December 5this year, Bayelsans are expected to renewtheir social contract with Dickson when theygo to the polls to elect a governor.

Concluded

The police doesnot seem to havemuch self-esteem, goodpublic image orsupport; it maybe decrepit andin urgent need ofrebuilding,restructuringand reformation,but thereformers mustthemselves bereformed

Dickson’saccomplishments arenot just staggering; inmany instances theyacquire additional glossby being firsts

20—Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

OPINION

CMYK

Settling Fashola’s hash

Ogoni clean up: A promise keptBy Chukwudi Enekwechi

ON January 9, 2015 in the course of his presidentialcampaign at a town hall meeting organised by then

Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State in Ogoni land,President Muhammadu Buhari promised that if electedpresident, he would approve the clean-up of Ogoni landas recommended in the UNEP report. Over the years,the problem of environmental degradation in oil-bearingcommunities of Niger Delta has been a recurring one.Indeed, the issue was at the heart of the struggle by NigerDelta youths before peace was restored through theamnesty programme. With this approval by the Buhariadministration the people of Ogoni land can heave a sighof relief that their decades of struggle over environmentalrelated issues have finally yielded result.

What this goes to show is that Buhari is a listening andcaring president, and has the interest of all Nigerians atheart.

Considering the negative impact which environmentaldegradation has on the Niger Delta ecosystem, especiallyaquatic life, agriculture and water pollution, we cansafely draw the conclusion that the recent approval tocommence the clean- up will greatly improve the qualityof lives of the people of the Niger Delta in general andOgoni land in particular.

Though this is coming some decades after the agitationby late Ken Saro Wiwa started, yet it is gratifying that anew administration has made it a priority in its policies.

EVERY Nigerian loudly proclaimstheir hatred of corruption.

Corruption has made majority of us poorand our country backward, with only ahandful of super-rich folks, most of themcrooks. We all want corrupt peoplebrought out to the public square andlynched. But how many of us can castthe first stone? When this question wasposed to a Biblical lynch mob, none ofthem had the nerve or conscience to doit. But I bet you, if the same question isposed to a Nigerian lynch mob,everybody will immediately stone MrCorruption dead. In Nigeria, corruptionis seen only in the context of “the otherperson” and never “me”.

No one has demonstrated this Nigerianmentality more than our first two-timepresident, General Olusegun Obasanjo;a man who came out of General SaniAbacha’s prison with his chicken farmin Ota in ruins. But after his eight yearsas Nigeria’s president, during which hewas the Minister of Petroleum Resourcesfor six years and presided over the salesof our vital public assets, no one is left indoubt as to his new level of affluence.Obasanjo is at the forefront of the effortto probe former President GoodluckJonathan for corruption, but he does notwant the probe to be extended to his owntime.

Former Governor of Lagos, BabatuneRaji Fashola (SAN) displayed this traitto show he is a “true Nigerian” duringthe “unveiling” of the candidate of theAll Progressives Congress (APC) Mr.Akinwunmi Ambode, to senior editorsat the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island,in December last year. Dressed in asimple pair of jeans and long sleevedcheckered shirt, Fashola, vibratingwith fervour over the presidentialcandidacy of General MuhammaduBuhari, was asked how Buhari would fixthe economy.

“All that the president (referring toBuhari) has to do is to tackle corruptionand insecurity, and that will jumpstartthe economy”, he said. For about sevenyears, Fashola had stood like an ebonycolossus as the highly performinggovernor of Lagos. He cut a folk image,even among kindergarten pupils, as themuch-loved “action governor”. Duringthose years, he worked but left the politicsto the Leader, Tinubu, and the rest of theboys. When Fashola spoke, he onlyaddressed governance issues. Hisinsulation from the murk of party politicsreally shielded his “other side” from thepublic, but by the time Ambode was beingunveiled, Fashola had plunged headlong,thus exposing his “other side”, and the restof it is now madly trending.

Fashola first took that plunge after theJune 21st 2014 Ekiti State governorshippoll which Mr. Ayo Peter Fayose of thePeople’s Democratic Party (PDP) won.The loser, Governor John KayodeFayemi, duly congratulated the winnerand was ready to leave office like thegentleman he was widely known to be.But of course, Tinubu his politicalgodfather rallied his party to rejectFayose’s victory. Fashola wrote acontroversial article on the back page ofTHISDAY Newspaper on June 30th 2014entitled: “Ekiti Poll: My Takeaway”, inwhich he propounded the now famous“stomach infrastructure” mantra as thetrick Fayose used to “deceive” Ekitipeople to reject Fayemi, a man who builtcastles in the air for them. Fayose, neverto be outdone when it comes to politicaldevilry, appointed a Special Adviser onStomach Infrastructure shortly after hisinauguration.

From that moment, Fashola becameone of the frontline infantrymen in theAPC propaganda machine, which, evenafter winning the election, has

continued to paint the PDP and thegovernments it produced as horriblycorrupt. The APC federal governmentclaims that Buhari is slow to fully set uphis government because he is boggeddown by the “deep rot” left by sixteenyears of PDP rule. The Governor of EdoState, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole,never to miss an opportunity to be inchummy terms with any president inpower, took up the job of town-crierabout how the Jonathan administrationlooted the treasury. Apparently as areward, he got his request for a $75million loan “for development” granted.What a pity, all that Governor RochasOkorocha of Imo State has got so far forpromoting Buharimania is a trip to USto shake President Barack Obama’s handand erect billboards to show he wasthere!

Reworkingstructure of goverance

It has turned out that GovernorAmbode, who has been reworking thestructure of governance in Lagos Statehas apparently been “cleaning the deeprot” from Fashola’s regime. Everydaynew allegations illustrating allegedcorrupt dealings of the Fashola regimeare spewed out. They are many, but themost outstanding includes the allegedN78.3 million of public funds spent onsetting up the Tundefashola.comwebsite, something that should not takemore than N50,000 of his own moneywhich he can eminently afford.

A PUNCH Newspaper report alsoalleged that N139 million was spent ontwo boreholes, which should not havecost more than a couple of millions atthe most. Another is N640 million spenton reconstruction of a car park in thegovernor’s official residence. The list goeson. If you read or listen to the Tinubu-sponsored media houses and online sites,you will know that Fayemi and Fashola

(as well as Senate President BukolaSaraki and Speaker of the House ofRepresentatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara)have fallen out of favour with Tinubu.

Fashola and Fayemi incurred Tinubu’swrath because they jumped too close toBuhari. Just before and after thegeneral elections, Fayemi had virtuallybecome Buhari’s spokesperson. He even“unveiled” the then president-elect’s“economic agenda” at a business forumin Lagos. Meanwhile, he was beingcalled an “ingrate” in a Tinubu-sponsored newspaper. Fashola alsobecame almost a second shadow ofBuhari during this period, and manyphotos of them together in a merry moodon their visit to Germany were flashedacross the Internet. Fashola was beingpromoted as the next Attorney Generaland Minister of Justice for Buhari.

Tinubu obviously detests the idea ofhis boys jumping out of his hands intoBuhari’s direct embrace. He sees thedanger of his own hold on the APCsupreme leader being endangered.Tinubu wants to be Buhari’s right handman in the APC. He wants to be the oneto name people from his flank intoBuhari’s government; a ploy thatFashola and Fayemi were defying byjump straight and direct. Tinubu knowsthe danger in Fashola, Fayemi andothers from his camp openly displayingtheir direct loyalties to Buhari. If heallows this to continue, these chaps willlater become “Buhari’s men in the SouthWest” when a split between Buhari andTinubu happens. They could become thesecond Akintola, who broke with ChiefObafemi Awolowo to create an alliancewith the Northern People’s Congress(NPC) in the First Republic, thusplunging the West into crises. The crisesclaimed the life of Akintola; and Awocame out of prison to become the civilian“prime minister” of Col. Yakubu Gowon’sNorth-controlled military regime.

Tinubu’s camp knows thevulnerability of Fashola and Fayemi inview of Buhari’s trumpeteddetermination to employ only peoplewith unblemished records as ministersand what not. They know that withthese allegations making the rounds, itwill be scandalous for Buhari to bringthese men on board. Any surprise thatboth Fayemi and Fashola have goneoddly quiet since the heat was turnedon them?

The question is: how far can these guysbe pushed before they also turn overwhat they know of their estrangedgodfather to the media – and the anti-graft bloodhounds? This thing they callPOWER, e get as e be o!

While this policy direction is laudable, it is hoped that asthe clean-up starts in earnest, that pre-emptivemeasures will be put in place to avoid a repeat. This is toensure that the remediation programme endures andachieves its defined objectives.

It could be recalled that due to the massive degradationwhich oil exploration had on Ogoni land, its farmland,waters and peoples, the Movement for the Survival ofOgoni People, MOSOP, began a campaign for the greatercontrol of oil and mineral resources through the “OgoniBill of Rights” in 1990. This was under the militaryregime of the President Ibrahim Babangida. ByNovember 1992, MOSOP made a demand for $6 Billion

prominent Chiefs, whose role some members of thecommunity considered treacherous towards therealisation of the main objective.

The resultant effect was that the government of theday blamed the killings on Ken Saro Wiwa and hisfollowers, and after undergoing a secret trial he was putunder the hangman’s noose in November 1995.

The agitation culminated in the intervention of theUnited Nations at the behest of Obasanjo administrationwhich undertook a comprehensive study of the area andreleased a report, which itself formed another platformfor the continued struggle for total restoration andremediation of the affected areas by the Ogoni people.

Since then, no administration has made any tangibleor strenuous effort to address the concerns of Ogoni peopleuntil President Muhammadu Buhari came to the saddle.By redeeming his campaign promises to the Ogoni people,he has demonstrated by extention an irrevocablecommitment towards the needs and aspirations of allNigerians.

To demonstrate the seriousness he attaches towardsthe realisation of the above stated objectives, he hasconstituted the board of Trustees and ProjectManagement Team of the Hydro Carbon PollutionRestoration roject (HYPREP) in accordance with therecommendations of the United Nations. The report hadalso recommended an initial capital of $1billion to becontributed by oil prospectors in the region, withparticular emphasis on Shell which has its oil pipestraversing the length and breadth of Ogoni land.

•Mr. Enekwechi, a journalist, wrote from Abuja.

to be paid by Shell within 30days as compensation for oilspills on their land and itsenvironment impact,failure which the companywas asked to vacate Ogoniland.

Subsequently in 1993Saro Wiwa mobilised acrowd numbering over300,000 to press home theirdemands, and this opened apandora’s box in a way thatviolence envelopedOgoniland and laterconsumed the lives of four

Continues tomorrow on pg 18

To demonstratethe seriousnesshe attachestowards therealisation ofthe abovestatedobjectives, hehas constitutedthe board ofHYPREP

Tinubu knows thedanger in Fashola,Fayemi and othersfrom his camp openlydisplaying theirdirect loyalties toBuhari. If he allowsthis to continue, thesechaps will laterbecome “Buhari’smen in the SouthWest” when a splitbetween Buhari andTinubu happens

CONTRIBUTION TO GDP% AT 2000 BASIC PRICES

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015 — 21

AUGUST 31, 2015

INDICATION emerged weekendthat about 10 million barrels ofNigerian crude oil cargoes for

September-loading are still looking forbuyers, and face steep competitionfrom other crude oil grades. This iscoming on the heels of Shell shuttingin about 162, 000 per day as it declaresforce majeure on Bonny light crude.This would mean delay in realizingrevenue from crude export into thefederation account.

The development may mean morehard time for state government as theirability to pay salaries are furtherjeopardize d by low level inflow intothe federation account.

There are mounting doubts aboutthe ability of the government toachieve even 20 per cent of capitalproject this year.

Shell’s Nigerian unit, ShellPetroleum Development Company(SPDC), declared force majeure onBonny Light crude oil exports aftershutting down two key pipelines in thecountry due to a leak and theft. TheTrans Niger Pipeline and the Nembe

Creek Trunkline are two of the biggestonshore pipelines in Nigeria, andcarry Bonny Light crude oil to vesselsfor export worldwide.

Planned exports of 162,000 barrelsper day (bpd) of Bonny Light inSeptember accounted for just over 8

per cent of Nigeria’s total plannedexports of nearly 2 million bpd.

A leak was reported on the TransNiger Pipeline at Oloma in RiversState, which has the capacity to carryaround 180,000 barrels a day ofcrude oil. SPDC closed the Nembe

Creek Trunkline to remove crude theftpoints, it said in a statement.

Shell, whose SPDC subsidiaryoperates the pipeline with Nigeria’sstate oil company NNPC, did not givea timeline for restarting either line,and did not elaborate on the scale ofthe leak. Traders said the forcemajeure was unlikely to last long,depending on the size of the leak.

Theft is rampant in Nigeria’s oilindustry, and Shell has been forcedseveral times over the past year to closeits pipelines to remove theft points orclean up oil spills.

The pipeline closures do not alwayslead to a force majeure declaration, andeven when they do, it does not precludesome export cargoes from loading.Shell has also come under increasingpressure to pay damages for oil spills.Earlier this year, it agreed to pay 55million pounds ($85m) to the Bodocommunity for a spill in the NigerDelta.

The issue could create a problem forShell on the physical oil market, astraders said it was still holding the bulkof the export cargoes, but it could alsoalleviate the general oversupply ofcrude oil in the Atlantic Basin.

Shell Nigeria declares force majeureon Bonny Light crude exports

BY OMOH GABRIELwith Agency report

Mall: Abuja’s one-stop leisure,restaurant and retail destination; ThePalms, the first ever international-standard diversified retail mall inNigeria; Heritage Place: a world-classoffice development in Lagos’scommercial and retail area; Ikeja CityMall: a world-class retail and leisuremall in Ikeja, Lagos; Vlisco Group: themarket leader in designer wax fashionfabrics; UAC of Nigeria Plc, theleading food-centric conglomerate;Upstream: the leading emergingmarkets mobile monetisationcompany; Emerging Markets

ACTIS, a pan-emerging marketinvestor said it has investedover $300 million

(N5.91billion) in Nigeria to date, whileit made an investment worth $3 billionin 23 other countries across the Africancontinent.

Actis’ previous and currentinvestments in Nigeria include:Mouka Foam, owners of the MoukaMatress brand, Diamond Bank: one ofNigeria’s leading banks; Jabi Lake

Payments Holdings (EMPH):a pan-African payments business.

These investments so far wasresponsible for winning the ‘Mostimpactful private equity firm inNigeria’ courtesy of the LagosChamber of Commerce and Industry,LCCI.

According to LCCI, Actis won theaward for ‘positively impacting theNigerian economy and changing thestatus quo, by developing theNigerian private sector’.

Speaking, Natalie Kolbe, Partner atActis, said: “through its legacy, Actis

Actis invests N5.9bn in NigeriaBY PRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

Continues on Page 22

has been successfully investing inAfrica for over six decades. The firmcurrently has $3 billion invested in23 countries across the continent.”

Nigeria is a highly attractiveinvestment destination for Actis dueto its favourable demographics, GDPgrowth and consumer opportunity;Actis has invested over $300m inthe country to date, he continued.

He further stated that Actis’experience, global network and

22 — Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

CMYK

Cover

Continued from Page 21

The focus is on the rolesof technology and

vocational education inenhancing entrepreneurialskills that will equip studentsfor entrepreneurshipeducation in Information andCommunication Technology(ICT.) driven technologicalenvironment. The world hasbecome globalized and thefuture prosperity depends oncomparative advantage. Thiscomparative advantagehinges on people and theirtechnical or technologicalsophistication. Towards this,some crucial entrepreneurialand technical skills neededby the students in colleges ofeducation (technical),polytechnics and universitiesto meet the trends in a globaleconomy is analyzed.

Technology education is tobe considered as the keyagent of technologydevelopment, either as a wayof developing humancapacity, increasing theshield work force form o d e r n i z a t i o n ,industrialization, envi-ronmental development or asa matter of personnelfreedom, developingcapability and empowerment.Technology education isincreasingly recognized to becentral to both the origins oftechnological developmentand challenges and to theprospects for successfullydealing with them (Alam,2009). Decision makers at alllevels, need timely, reliableaccess to knowledgegenerated by technology andtechnical education tointroduce rational policiesthat reflect a better globalunderstanding of complextechnical, economic, social,cultural andarticle issuesconcerning thesociety, and oure n v i r o n m e n t .T e c h n i c a ldecision makingand prioritysetting is anintegral part ofo v e r a l ld e v e l o p m e n tplanning andformation oft e c h n o l o g yd e v e l o p m e n tstrategies. Above

Vocation and technicaleducation – a key to improvingnigeria’s development. part 4

all, technology education is ahuman right and, as such,should receive priority in theallocation of nationalresources. It has become verynecessary not to only keeptechnology education bound tothe role of manufacturingskilled manpower but also toeconomic development andglobal economy. In Nigeria,technology education waspreviously not seen asfundamental for nationaldevelopment, or for theeconomic development, but forthe school dropouts, and othersocial and politicaldevelopment within the nationand for individuals. Hallak(1990) argues that technologyeducation is also linked tohuman resources developmentand that this has an impact onmore than just economicgrowth, but also an impact onthe wider development ofindividuals and societies.According to him, itcontributes to:

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

(b). Improved understandingof an individual and heirrespect for others, thuspromoting social cohesion andmaterial understanding

(c) Improvement in healthand nutrition.

(d). Improved chances ofeconomic development.

(e). Improved technologicaldevelopment.

(f). Socio-cultural change.(g). Democracy and equality(h). Ecological development/

quality of life (increasingpeople’s awareness of theirenvironments).

From our analysis so far, it isclear thatmodernization ande c o n o m i cd e v e l o p m e n t ,depends oninvestment andappreciation ofmodern trends int e c h n o l o g yeducation. Accordingto Woodhall (1997)investment int e c h n o l o g i c a leducation andtraining producesbenefits for theindividual and forsociety as whole.

sector specialisationuniquely positions the Firmto work with investeecompanies on all aspects oftheir growth and valuecreation. The Firm has anoverriding focus onmaximising shareholdervalue and adhering to thehighest standards ofgovernance.

On the award he said; “Weare delighted to win the mostimpactful private equity firmin Nigeria from such a

prestigious organisation. Weare excited about theopportunity in the countryand look forward to

Actis invests N5.9bn in Nigeria

As cyber-security threatsshift from hacking for fun

to deliberate efforts in orderto get financial information,an expert in informationsecurity has warned thatbanks, other financialinstitutions and largecorporations in the countrymay experience cyber-attacks before the end of theyear, unless they strengthentheir cyber resiliencethrough implementation ofadequate technology.President, InformationSystems Audit and ControlAssociation, ISACA Abujachapter, Opeyemi Onifade,gave the warning recently aspart of the preparation forISACA’s forthcoming tenthyear anniversary andannual conference in Abuja.According to him, as amember of the globalsociety, “Nigeria cannot beinsulated from the

Banks warned of increased cyberBanks warned of increased cyberBanks warned of increased cyberBanks warned of increased cyberBanks warned of increased cyberattacksattacksattacksattacksattacks

Actis has beensuccessfullyinvesting inAfrica for oversix decades

REAL GROWTH RATE BY SECTOR %

Decisionmakers at alllevels, needtimely,reliableaccess toknowledgegenerated bytechnologyand technicaleducation

continuing our work withleading Nigerian businesses.”

The Actis acquisition ofCompuscan was also named‘Catalyst Private Equity Dealof the Year 2014’.

Earlier this year Actis wasnamed ‘2014 Firm of theYear in Africa’ by PrivateEquity International and‘2014 African InfrastructureFund Manager of the Year’ byInfrastructure Investor,reflecting its investmentexpertise in Africa and theenergy sector.

BY JONAH NWOKPOKU opportunities and threats ofglobalisation.” To overcomecyber-attacks, he warnedthat banks would need tostrengthen their cyberresilience throughimplementation andadoption of process-oriented good practices,technology and standards,and engagement of rightskills and competencies.According to him, “We needto understand that wecannot succeed by accident.The cyberspace is nowrecognized as the fifthdomain of warfare inaddition to land, air, sea andspace. Unfortunately, inNigeria, our cyberspacedomain is still a neglectedand unprotected territory.Yet, we depend so much onmobile telecommunications,electronic banking andelectronic commerce for oursocio-economic survival.” Onifade said it has becomeimperative to addressNigeria’s collective capacity

to respond to the inevitabilityof cyber threats, especiallyAdvanced Persistent Threats(APTs). “The purpose of themajority of APTs is to extractinformation from systems—this could be critical research,enterprise intellectualproperty or governmentinformation, among otherthings. Talking about the shiftin the motive for hacking (i.e.compromising the securityprofile of informationsystems), you will find thatthere is an evolution in themotivation for attacks.“Motivation for attacks canbe explained as beingattacked because you are onthe Internet and you havevulnerabilities. Or becauseyou are on the Internet andyou have information ofvalue or because of who youare, what you do or the valueof your intellectual property.These would include state-sponsored attacks andcorporate espionage.

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015 — 23

Business & Economy

user, and expectations for asignificant build-up insurplus oil stocks this year,most oil traders areunwilling to stabilize crudeoil prices. The market seemsto be stuck in a relentlessdownward trend.

The collapse of oil price isalready taking its toll on theNigerian economy. As itstands, there is no light at theend of the tunnel yet.Nigeria's situation is furtherworsened by the currentgovernment delay inappointing ministers andforming a government. Thishas left an economicvacuum as there seems to beno policy direction at themoment.

The vacuum created by lackof fiscal policy has left theCentral Bank of Nigeria withno option than to attempt tocombine monetary and fiscalpolicies in an attempt todirect the economy. The lackof apparent policy directionof the present governmenthas left a lot of decisionshanging.

Investors are playing await-and-see game; somehave pulled out their fundsin the capital and bondmarkets. Because there areno ministers, all activities arein the presidency. This initself has one implication,delay in decision-making ingovernment circles as thereis little the President alonecan do in a day in theeconomic and political arena.

It is sad that the gains allNigerian financial markets

Nigerian economy headingtowards recessionhad from the electionoutcome have proved to beshort-lived. The naira whichappreciated immediatelyafter the elections hassuffered reversal, the samewith the capital market. As attoday, the global hazy cloudsand the impatience of someinvestors with the newPresident have broughtabout a market reversal inNigeria's financial marketsand the economy.

Looking at the way thingsare, it is worrisome that the2016 budget will be difficult toput together. Nigeria'spolicy-makers do not expectto be rescued by a strongpick-up in the oil price anysoon. Oversupply in themarket, China worries andthe Iran deal militate againsta recovery before 2017. So itis apparent that the 2016budget has to be lean andNigerians should not expectany major improvement intheir welfare in theimmediate term.

Already, some quarters inthe international communityare calling for a thirddevaluation of the naira. Butthe CBN/MPC at the moment,is not disposed to doing so,rather, it favours a managedrate, and may well introducemore administrative measuresfor this purpose. Ongoing

happenings in theinternational currency marketa nd the widening gapbetween the parallel marketand the inter-bank rate maycompel the monetaryauthorities to adjust theexchange rate to N210 to thedollar before long.

The previous twodevaluations have erodedconsumer spending,impoverished Nigerians moreand increased the cost ofproduction in the country. Thishas started to have adverseeffects on the economy.

Figures released by theNational Bureau of Statisticson Thursday last week attestto this. The data indicated thatthe economy is going downthe slope and if correctivemeasures are not appliedsoon, by the end of the year,it will enter into recession. Inthe second quarter of 2015,the nation’s Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) grew by 2.35per cent in real terms. This waslower by 1.61 per cent fromgrowth recorded in thepreceding quarter. It is alsolower by 4.19 per cent fromgrowth recorded in thecorresponding quarter of 2014.During the quarter, aggregateGDP stood at N22.859 trillionat basic prices. Compared tothe second quarter of 2014value of N21.7348 trillion,nominal GDP was 5.17 percent higher. Nominal GDPgrowth was also higherrelative to growth recorded infirst quarter of 2015 by 0.85 percent.

The Nigerian economy canbe more clearly understoodaccording to the oil and non-oil sector classifications.During the period underreview, oil production stoodat 2.05 million barrels perday; 5.9 per cent lower thanproduction in first threemonths of 2015. Oilproduction was also lower

relative to the correspondingquarter in 2014 by 7.3 percent when output wasrecorded at 2.21mbpd.

Growth in the non-oil sectorwas largely driven by theactivities of trade, cropproduction, construction andtelecommunications. The non-oil sector grew by 3.46 per centin real terms between Apriland June of 2015. This was2.13 per cent lower than thatof January to March of 2015and 3.26 per cent lower thanthe corresponding quarter in2014. In real terms, the non-oil sector contributed 90.20per cent to the nation’s GDP,marginally higher from sharesrecorded in first three monthsof 2015 (89.55%) and that ofApril to June of 2014(89.24%)

The economy, to those whounderstand trends and crossdata analysis, needs attentionand appropriate policymeasures to fix it. Thisseemingly directionlessgovernment had better rise tothe occasion or the gains ofrebasing the economy will belost. Looking at the way theeconomy is drifting, and nodecisive action is being takenon the fiscal side, very soon,workers will begin agitationfor wage increase, prices willgo up, cost of living will risefurther. The cost and theburden on the general welfareof the Nigerian people will besuch that it will spark offgeneral protest that will becommon place in 2016 andbeyond. A stitch in time, theysay, saves nine.

It is apparentthat the 2016budget has tobe lean andNigeriansshould notexpect anymajorimprovementin their welfarein theimmediateterm

He said Iran is a fertileinvestment destinationoffering immenseopportunities for Nigerianbusiness men who are willingto explore them.

He said Nigerian businessmen should look to invest inIran because it is one of fewcountries that do not requirea local partner for foreigninvestment, a factor, he saidhas led to many foreigncompanies makinginvestment in Iran evenduring the sanctions.

Momoh said a great numberof investors will be ready toenter Iranian market afterrestrictions are fully liftedfrom international trade and

N I G E R I A Ne n t r e p r e n e u r s

should prepare to explore theimmense opportunitiesprovided by the imminenttotal lifting of internationaltrade restrictions placed onthe Islamic Republic of Iran,to boost local export anddrive economic growth in thecountry.

Pioneer member ofNigerian-Iran BusinessCouncil, Mr. Prince HassanMomoh stated this during aworkshop organised by theCouncil on the businessopportunities in Iran in Lagos.

Iranian banks, before reaching2016 and that, Nigerianbusinessmen should be ready aswell to explore opportunities.

According to him, “The factorsthat have turned Iran to an idealplace for investment are: Lowprice energy, cheap and youngskilled workforce with higheducation, tens of Free-TradeZones, government incentivesfor foreign investment, stronginfrastructure in transport, waterand energy, market demand forhigh-quality products andservices and production of manyrequired minerals andpetrochemical raw materials.”

He said Iran also offersimmense import and exportopportunities because it has a

huge population of over 80million people, extensiveindustries and thirsty market,where all commodities haveboth import and exportpermissions without anyrestriction in the market.

He said: “Imported productsto Iran are foodstuffs orprepared food, agriculturalseeds, pharmaceuticals, meat,spare parts, production lines,clothing, electrical products,home appliances and almosteverything that is produced inthe world can enter and be soldin Iran.

“Products that are exportedfrom Iran are pistachio,carpets, cements, apples, dairyproducts, plastic, metalproducts, tomato paste,

chocolate and candy, tiles,copper, dates, plaster,polyethylene, nitrogen-releasefertilizer, lead, methanol andany petrochemical products. Ifyou would be willing to buy anyproduct(s) from Iran,IranPartner will introduce thehigh quality producers to youat no cost; all cost will becovered by the Iran party.

“Also, if you are not willing tobe personally present in Iranbut would like to market yourproducts, IranPartner will do itfor you free of charge, you willonly give them the permissionto be your representative of yourproduct in Iran for 18 monthsand during this time, they willmake the necessary contactswith real Iranian buyers thatwill market your products.”

How Nigerian entrepreneurs can benefit fromlifting of Iran sanctionBY JONAH NWOKPOKU

As crude oil prices dived lower threatening to dip below $40 a barrel forthe first time since the financial crisis of 2008 and notching their longest

losing streak since 1986, economies around the world are catching cold.Investors across the world are losing their investment in stock and propertyowners are also suffering losses as a result of depreciation in currencies. Withdeepening gloom over demand growth from the world’s second-biggest oil

24 — Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

The Tin-Can Island Command of theNigeria Customs Service, NCS said

it collected N185.7 billion revenue fromJanuary to July 2015. The Public RelationsOfficer of the command, Mr Chris Osunkwo,made this known in Lagos. He described thesum collected as a remarkableimprovement over the N162.3 billion collectedin the corresponding period of January to July2014.

“ Last year in Tin-can Island Port command,we made N162.3 billion between January andJuly. This year, so far we have had N185.7billion within the same period of January toJuly 2015. If you look at it, it’s approximatelyN20 billion difference and that is a remarkableimprovement, intensifying effort and qualityleadership. Above all, we do not believe thatthe volume of cargo translates to collectablerevenue. No! but rather the quality of cargo -the value.

“Looking at that and taking it from there,you can agree with me that officers improvedon their performance because they have beenmore dedicated. From the available cargo, wedo not need the whole of Europe or U.S. orAsian market to relocate to Nigeria before wecan get maximum revenue for government.So from the available cargo, the job is doneprocedurally and the way most appropriately

Tin-Can CustTin-Can CustTin-Can CustTin-Can CustTin-Can Customs command collectsoms command collectsoms command collectsoms command collectsoms command collectsN1N1N1N1N185.7bn in 7 months85.7bn in 7 months85.7bn in 7 months85.7bn in 7 months85.7bn in 7 months — Spok — Spok — Spok — Spok — Spokesmanesmanesmanesmanesman

it should be done. From there, the accruablerevenue to government is realised andaccounted for.“

He explained that the improvement in theamount of revenue collected was the result ofthe dedication and commitment of officers ofthe command. The command’s spokesmansaid that the volume of imported new andused vehicles dropped sharply because of thenew policy on automobiles importation.

Osunkwo said that the command also maderemarkable collection from the massive influxof general cargo. He explained that seizuresdropped, an indication that the level oftraders’ compliance to import regulations hadimproved. Osunkwo said that officers of thecommand were on the alert and ready toimpound smuggled poultry products in linewith its operation ‘Hawk Descend‘.

He spoke of the need for terminal operatorsto provide adequate equipment to facilitatecargo examination at the port.

“This issue of minimum equipment andmachinery to conduct examination is stillhampering seamless operations; still we havedevised strategies to surmount that.

That notwithstanding, the other day, myArea Controller called the terminal operatorsfor a meeting and read the riot act; that look,all of them must be up and doing.

SON renews commitment to riddingNigerian market of sub-standard productsBy JIMOH BABATUNDE

Director General andC h i e fExecu t ive ,

Standards Organisation ofNigeria (SON), Dr. JosephOdumodu, has re-iterated theagency’s readiness to reducesub-standard products to 10per cent by the end of 2015,noting that the days ofmanipulation of the systemwill no longer be permissible

Speaking at an expandedstakeholders' seminar in Lagosentitled, “Trade Facilitation viaAutomation of SON’s Services”in Lagos.

Dr. Odumodu said thecurrent level of 40 per cent ofsub-standard productsremained unacceptable to thefederal government.

He assured that StandardsOrganisation of Nigeria (SON)would not rest on its oars toensure that life threateningproducts are adequately anddecisively eradicated.

Dr. Odumodu made it clearthat all and sundry shouldembrace the change mantrawhich the Buhariadministration has beenprojecting; adding thatstakeholders must supportPresident Buhari to eliminateand check financial leakagesand corruption in both publicand private sectors of thenation’s economy.

The SON boss describedNigeria Integrated CustomsInformation System (NICIS)which the agency’s servicesand businesses have since beenintegrated as a “Nigeria projectthat would enable us to transactbusinesses no matter where weare”.

He described NICIS as “asystem that no longer allowsyou to come to SON’s officesacross the country to seekcertification.

“What we as an organisationhas done concerningdeveloping trade portal andNICIS covers the followingcritical areas – converting allSON Certifications andcertificates to electronic format,online transmission ofcertificate to trade portal/NICISby consignee for Form ‘M’ andPre-Arrival Assessment Report(PAAR) Consignmentprocessing at the comfort of theperson’s office.

He said that will eliminatingdirect contact or visits to SONoffice for certificationprocessing, “providing HSCodes regulated by SON andthe requirements forregulated products onwww.trade.gov.ng/son as wellas setting up a Customer/Consumer Help desk at Apapa,

Lagos and Abuja”.Odumodu told participants

that trade facilitation has sincebecome a sing-song amongnations of the world as nocountry wants to be left behindin international trade andglobal competitiveness.

“Trade Facilitation wouldentail ensuring that Nigerianindustrialists, importers andoperators in both organisedprivate sector and publicinstitutions carry out theirtransactions smoothly andsuccessfully through mainlydeploying the instrumentalityof Automated System forCustoms Data (ASYCUDA),

which allows businesses to betransacted electronically.”

Powered by Web Fontaine,about 20 government agenciesare connected to the service.Some of the agencies inter-connected to the ASYCUDAsystem are RevenueMobilisation Allocation andFiscal Commission, EFCC,NPA, National Bureau ofStatistics, Nigerian ShippersCouncil, NIMASA, thePresidency, NCS, SON, as wellas NIS.

The SON boss said they havebeen able to improve andenhance inter-agencycollaborations and synergies

although moreunderstanding and co-operations are needed in thisregard.

“Indeed, since the removalof some agencies from thePorts in 2011, we have foundout that inter-agencycollaboration and co-operation have not beensmooth as it should be.

“What we have been doingin SON, as one of thoseagencies affected by thefederal government’sdirectives to leave the Ports,is to be on the alert and wehave been able to use muchinsiders’ information and tipoffs to intercept trucks loadedwith fake and sub standardgoods coming out from thePorts.”

BY NAOMI UZOR

The StandardsOrganisation of

Nigeria (SON) has said thatwith the introduction of theintegration of systems andcertificates into NigeriaIntegrated CustomsInformation System (NICIS),the era of shoddy deals andundercover transactions isover.

The Director General of SON,Dr. Joseph Odumodu,disclosed this in Lagos duringa one-day workshop tagged“Trade Facilitation throughAutomation of SON’s Services”for stakeholders towardsboosting import/exporttrade. he added that, theorganisation wants to ensurethat their members of staff donot engage in unwholesometransactions and sharppractices with companies,importers, associations orindividuals.

He said “You will agree withme that cutting corners,fraudulent and unscrupulousacts would not only subvertand circumvent anyorganisation’s efforts butequally create bad blood."

Business & Economy

Era of shoddydeals andundercovertransactions over– SON

FG seeks toboost wheatoutput, cutimports by half

By JONAH NWOKPOKUwith agency report

The Federal Governmentsaid it plans to boost its

wheat output and cut importsby half by 2017 as farmers rampup production of two newstrains that thrive well inwarmer climates.

Two wheat varieties releasedto farmers since 2014 canproduce from 3.5 metric tons to6.5 tons per hectare (2.471-acres) and could grow with rainwater or irrigation, OluwasinaOlabanji, Executive Director ofthe Lake Chad Research toldReuters news agency in an e-mailed response to questionson Monday.

Previous strains hadmaximum output per hectare of4 tons for irrigated farms and2.5 tons per hectare for thoseusing rain water.

He said: “I hope that by 2017,our production will hit 1.5million metric tonnes andreduce importation by 50 percent. This is our target and itis achievable. Annual wheatproduction should grow at 20per cent from 2017.”

MEDIA PARLEY - From left: Amaechi Okobi, Head, Strategic Brand Management; AinaAkintonde, Head, Women Banking and Victor Etuokwu, Executive Director, Personal Banking;all of Access Bank Plc during a media parley at the Bank’s Head Office in Lagos .

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015 — 25

CMYK

Fitch Ratings hasdeclared that

Nigerian banks are operatingin increasingly difficultconditions as this may resultin a sharp deterioration oftheir profitability, assetquality, liquidity and capitalratios.

Fitch in its report releasedweekend said “The sectoroutlook is negative inDecember. Gross DomesticProduct, GDP figures forsecond quarter show weakeryear-on-year growth of 2.4per cent , down from 4 percent in the previous quarter,the slowest quarterly growthrate for over 10 years.”

The volatile operatingenvironment is highlyimportant in determiningratings for all Fitch-ratedNigerian banks, keeping theirViability Ratings low, in thehighly speculative ‘b’category. Nigerian banks arehighly exposed to theirdomestic market and theeconomic slowdown will affecttheir performance.

According to Fitch“Nigeria’s oil sector growthslowed in second quarter,2015 and non-oil growth wasjust 3.5 per cent , down from5.6 per cent in first quarter ,2015. Part of this slowdownwas caused by temporary fuelshortages, which causedindustrial production andmanufacturing output tocontract. Lower oil prices,reduced governmentspending and restrictions onforeign exchange availabilityare also taking their toll onperformance across theeconomy. Positively,agricultural output,c o n s t r u c t i o n ,telecommunication services,internal trade and financialservices continued to grow.”

Fitch explained thatNigerian banks have had tocontend in recent monthswith the increasedvulnerability of the oil and gassector, pressure on the naira,the slower economy andtightening bank liquidity.“These are all credit negativefor the sector. Since thebeginning of August, publicsector deposits, whichrepresent around 8% of totalsystem deposits, have exitedthe commercial banks andmust be held at a singletreasury account at the centralbank. This adds pressure toliquidity. No significantchanges in economic policy

have materialised followingthe change of government atend-March 2015, but until anew cabinet is formed and aclear policy framework isannounced, uncertainty willweigh on the outlook” it noted.

According to Fitch “Loangrowth contracted in first half2015 which is likely to translateto weaker bank financialmetrics for the year. We

believe sector non-performing loans will riseabove the central bankinformal cap of 5 per cent ,but below 10 per cent of totalsector loans by end-2015.Regulatory capital adequacyratios are likely to fall furtherdue to lower earnings,weaker asset quality and alimited ability to raise capital.Tier 1 capital ratios could fall

below 15 per cen for manybanks, which is low byhistorical standards forNigeria.

“In our opinion, keyfinancial metrics reported byNigeria’s banks are likely tocontinue to decline in theclosing months of 2015. Aprolonged economicdownturn would likely to putpressure on bank ratings.”

Ecobank , Global Fund partnerto eliminate Malaria, others

Banking & Finance

By PETER EGWUATU

First Bank of NigeriaLimited, has opened a

window of moneymanagement opportunitiesto encourage Nigerianteenagers to develop a healthysavings culture while buildingprudent expenditures andinvestment profiles. The bankhas introduced the MeFirstprepaid card specially designedfor teenagers between the agesof 13-17 years (MeFirstAccount holders), to enablethose within this age categorydevelop financial responsibilityand money management skillsearly in life, as well as help themimbibe a cashless culture earlyon as part of their bankingexperience in line with CBNpolicy.

The card is to be preloaded byparents/guardians and it has aquarterly spending limit ofN50,000.00. However, this isflexible and can be set to suitthe preference of the caregivers.In view of the savvy nature ofteenagers and to creatediversified choices, the MeFirstprepaid card comes in fivedesign options to suit differentpeculiar tastes; it is acceptableworldwide, can be used on allelectronic platforms carrying theVisa logo and comes at adiscounted cost compared withother prepaid cards.

First Bankboosts savingsculture amongteenagers

Fitch: Nigerian banks in trouble, may postdecline performance indicators

Ecobank and the GlobalFund have

continued their innovativefinancing partnershipprogramme to contribute tothe fight against malaria,Tuberculosis, TB andHuman Immune Virus,HIV/AIDS. The programmeis designed to strengthen thefinancial management skillsof program implementers inNigeria, South Sudan andSenegal. Ecobank haspledged $3 million towardsthe scheme.

During the second phase ofthe programme, whichofficially kicked off in Abuja,six Non-GovernmentalOrganisations, NGOs whobattle TB and HIV/AIDS inNigeria will receiveextensive onsite trainingover the next twelve weeks.

“This unique partnershipdemonstrates thecommitment of Africaninstitutions like Ecobankusing their own resources

and knowledge to make asignificant contribution tosustainable developmentacross Africa,” said JulieEssiam, Head of HR, andCEO of the EcobankFoundation. “Aligned to ourvision and mission todevelop Africa, at Ecobank,we help develop thecommunities we serve.”

Technical training will bedelivered by Ecobank Nigeriaand through the placementof Accounting forInternational Developmentconsultants, who are allmembers of the NigerianDiaspora taking time off tovolunteer on this specificproject.

“The Global Fund sets upinnovative partnerships withprivate sector partners inorder to roll out game-changing strategies to reachall those who are vulnerableto AIDS, TB and malaria.There are enormous benefitsto working with a partner like

Ecobank, who can bringvaluable expertise to theprograms, as well as to theGlobal Fund itself”, addedAndrew Redpath, PrivateSector Portfolio RelationshipManager at The GlobalFund.

The partnership projectsare expected to have a long-lasting effect. Training of theNGOs not only strengthensfinancial stewardship ofGlobal Fund grants; it willalso improve transparencyand accountability for theuse of public funds andgrants from other donors.

The impact of theprogramme has alreadybeen recognised as over 80people working for 10 grantrecipients in Nigeria andSouth Sudan were trainedduring the first phase of theproject last year. The GlobalFund country teams havealready noticed first-handthat grants implementationhas become more efficient.

Poised to provideeverlasting solution to the

continent’s infrastructuredeficiency as it has beendiscovered to be the root causefor most of the socio- economic,political and societal malaise, aSwiss based, AfricanInfrastructure DevelopmentPartnership, (AFIDEP), hasconcluded plans for aninternational forum in Zurich thisyear. The three day event whichis tagged, “The Private PublicPartnership or PPP Initiative2015” has been billed to bringtogether speakers based in USA,Japan, Switzerland, Zimbabweand Nigeria.

According to Dayo Ogunsola,the speakers were drawn frompeople from different walks of lifeso as to provide the participantsa thorough and well-roundedview of the situation.

AFIDEP to holdconvention ondevelopment

By ANOZIE EGOLE

Source: FMDQ

26 — Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015 — 27

CMYK

Corporate Finance

The Group ChiefExecutive Officer,

Deutsche Post DHL Group,Frank Appel visited Nigeria todemonstrate the importanceof the emerging markets inthe company’s strategic2020 growth focus. In thisinterview with Vanguard,he spoke on DHL’scommitment to Sub-SaharanAfrica and how the companyis well-positioned to tap thepotential of the region, itsfinancial position and thechallenges of globalisation inlogistic business, amongstothers.

Excerpts:

How do you see theemerging market and Nigeriamarket in particular?

You should note that today,emerging market revenuescontribute over 20 percent toDeutsche Post DHL Group’srevenues, but by 2020 theGroup expects this figure toclimb to 30 percent. Therefore,we will continue to concentrateon organic growth by investinginto promising present andfuture markets.DHL alreadyhas a strong footprint in Africa,but we see some excellentopportunities to furtherincrease our presence in theSub-Saharan region. SouthAfrica’s exceptionalgeographic location as thegateway to Africa, andNigeria’s growing grossdomestic product (GDP) anddiversifying markets are onlytwo of the many importantindicators for this. As a Grouplook for opportunities tocontinue to grow organicallyand expansion into newterritories and new innovativesolutions to target newsegments of the market are keydrivers of our global strategy.

How important is Nigeriaand Sub Saharan Africa to theGroup and how much are youcommitting into Nigeriamarket?

For a group with a strongnetwork business and a globalfootprint of over 220 countriesand territories, having a strongpresence across the globe isessential for us to provideservices to our customers,facilitating trade around theworld.

We have been present inAfrica for some 40 years, and

In a move to ensure thatNigerians have

access to quality products,Fidson Healthcare Plc,aquoted company on theNigerian Stock Exchange,NSE has entered intopartnership with US firms,Immune Therapeutics, GBPharma and AmericanHospitals & Resort, AHAR, forthe marketing and distributionof LodonalTM, a patent-protected product that isindicated for the managementof patients with immune-compromising diseases.

The new partnership willleverage Fidson’s strong andexperienced marketing base,robust distribution channelsand efficient customer andtechnical support services topromote LodonalTM inNigeria.

The distribution will becomeeffective, upon completion ofthe ongoing NAFDACapproved 90 day bridging trialevaluating the efficacy andsafety of the product.

Disclosing this in astatement, ManagingDirector, Fidson HealthcarePlc, Dr Fidelis Ayebae, saidthe company is excited aboutthe collaboration. Accordingto him, success in theindustry into the future will bedependent on having theright partnerships, hence, thecompany could not haveasked for better partners atthis stage of its growth.

“The internationalexperience of ImmuneTherapeutics and GB Pharma/AHAR in different markets,and their strong commitmentto research will be of immensebenefit to Fidson. Likewise,Fidson’s towering presence inthe Nigeria Pharma space willopen a great door for the groupto access one of the biggest andmost rewarding markets inAfrica,” he noted.

He further explained that thepartnership was anotherstrategic approach by themanagement of Fidson tofurther strengthened thecompany’s growth.

On his part, President &Chief Executive of GB Pharma,Dr. Gloria B. Herndon, said:This is the crescendo of a greatmasterpiece that partnership ofGB Pharma, AmericanHospitals & Resorts, ImmuneTherapeutics, each with itsdistinct role. Fidson Healthcaremarkets and distributesthroughout the extensiveNigerian Network.

We expect emergingmarkets revenuecontribution to increaseto 30% — DHL

By PETER EGWUATUhave consistentlyinvested in theinfrastructure tobolster ourinfrastructure. Inour Expressdivision, wehave a plannedinvestment ofEUR 20 millionin 2015. Thebusiness hasb e e nexpandingits footprint and now has over3,500 service points. Inaddition to facility upgrades,Express now has a number ofvehicle and technologyupgrades in 2015, along withongoing employee and SmallMedium Scale Enterprise, SMEdevelopment programmes.

What are DHL’sexpectations for Africaregion in terms of tradeand infrastructuredevelopment?

We believe in the long termgrowth and there is hugeopportunity in the region. Withgood legislation , ease of doingbusiness, good infrastructure,finance sector on world-classlevel, significant amount ofresources, excellent scienceskills in part and reliable, andindependent legal system.

We are best performer inAfrica for trade facilitationlogistics. So we need open tradepolicy and comparatively strongdomestic market. We shouldnote that more than 75 per centof manufacturing firms exportto African countries

Our logistics performanceoutperforms regional peers(excellent infrastructure of

airports, extensive railnetwork (14th largest in theworld), the longest roadnetwork of any Africancountry). For Nigeria, it is anew economic giant /strongest economy in Africa(South Africa moved to 2ndplace). It is 21st largesteconomy worldwide and hashuge, young and urbanisedpopulation; large oil and gasreserve and increasinglydiversified economy.

Given the attractions of e-commerce market in Nigeria,how is DHL prepared to takeadvantage of the futuregrowth?

We are prepared to tap fromthe growth of e-commerce, sowe are investing heavily inNigeria .e-commerce createssignificant opportunity for us.We are not a manufacturingcompany but we are in thebusiness of supply. So we areready to benefit from e-commerce growth in Nigeria.South Africa has the secondlargest number of potentialonline shoppers (70 per cent ),compared to Nigeria (89 percent ) and Kenya (60 per cent). South African e-commercesites are popular destinationsfor shoppers from Nigeria

Research shows 30 per centof Nigerian cross-bordershoppers (online shoppers whohave made purchases onlinefrom another country) havepurchased goods from SouthAfrica in the past 12 months.There is huge potential for e-commerce in the region,compared to emergingmarkets, e-retailing in Africa isstill in its infancy. A recentretailing study2 conducted byUrban Studies on behalf ofSouth African Council ofShopping Centres (SACSC),revealed that Africa and theMiddle East’s share of globale-commerce in 2015 is just 2

per cent, but that it showshigh potential. This issupported by a recent reportby McKinsey & Company,which revealed e-commercecould account for 10 per centof retail sales in Africa’slargest economies by 2025.Google also predicts that amassive e-commerce marketwill emerge in Africa by 2017as the continent becomesmore familiar withtechnological advances.

How is DHL financialperformance like, especiallyin the first half of 2015?

After the successful executionof Strategy 2015, the currentyear represents a year oftransition. In the secondquarter we worked very hardand took important stepstowards the successfulimplementation of our Strategy2020. With that, we want toensure the long-term,profitable growth of the Group.To achieve this, we haverecorded some short-termimpact on our results. At thesame time, we are convincedthat these measures willcontribute to acceleratedearnings growth in the nextyear and enable us to achieveall our targets set for 2016 andbeyond.

The second quarter saw ayear-on-year revenue increaseof 7.3 per cent , or EUR 1billion, to EUR 14.7 billion(2014: EUR 13.7 billion). TheDHL divisions grew by 9.1 percent and the PeP division by1.9 per cent. Adjusted forcurrency effects, Grouprevenues increased by 0.6 percent with lower fuel surchargeslimiting stronger growth.

In the first half of the year,Group revenue increased by8.1 per cent , or approximatelyEUR 2.2 billion, to EUR 29.5billion (2014: EUR 27.3billion).

We have beenpresent in Africafor some 40years, and haveconsistentlyinvested in theinfrastructure tobolster ourinfrastructure

*Managing Director, DHL Group, Frank Appel

Fidson partners USfirms on newproduct marketing

By CHIOMA OBINNA

28 — Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

CMYK

Corporate Finance

The Chief ExecutiveOfficer of the Nigerian

Stock Exchange, NSE, Mr.Oscar Onyema, has called onthe federal government toaddress the uncertainties in itspolicies to stall further crashof the stock market.

The equities marketextended weekly losses for thefourth consecutive week asthe local bourse closed in thenegative at the end of tradingsession on Thursday, August27, 2015. Consequently, the AllShare Index (ASI) declined by1,656.58 basis points or 5.5per cent to close at 28, 221.75points on Thursday from29,878.33 points on Friday,August 21, 2015. Similarly,market capitalization slumpedby N542 billion or 5.3 per centduring the same period,closing at N9.699 trillion fromN10.241 trillion on Friday,August 21, 2015.

On Monday alone, the twinindicators, the ASI and marketcapitalisation, crashed the

Uncertainty in FG’s policy cripples capitalmarket growth — NSE boss

By NKIRUKA NNOROM

VISIT -From left: Director, Administration and Finance FCT Education Secretariat, Mrs.Biki Naomi, Director FCT Scholarship Board Mal. Ahmad Rany, Executive CommissionerCorporate Services Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Hon. Zakawanu Garuba andDirector General SEC, Mounir Gwarzo when members of the FCT Scholarship Board visitedthe Director General in Abuja

most, dropping by 2.2 percent, an action the NSE

termed ‘an over-reaction byinvestors’. market place.

“As you know, investors donot like uncertainties and aswe begin to remove theuncertainties aroundexchange rate, aroundeconomic policies, you willsee investors be able toappropriately react to theremoval of theseuncertainties. That is thefeedback that we are gettingfrom investors” Onyemadeclared.

Speaking on reverberatingeffect of the crumblingeconomy in China on theglobal markets, Onyema said" As you know, we are livingin a hyper-connected world;a world where shocks in oneregion end up manifestingthemselves in another region.We’ve seen a slight slowdownin China and two currencydevaluation that have sentsome shocks.

“When you compare them tothe fact that the U.S is beginningto consider whether they shouldstart increasing interest rate,and you also have the situationin Europe and Greece, whichis really a European story. Soif you have all of that, andyou are looking from a globalperspective where we arelooking to have global growthof 3.5 percent, and we havethe largest second economy inthe world slowing down,which is a major source ofthat growth that we haveseen across the globe. Sureit is going to affect economiesthat are highly connected tosuch economy.”

Fidelityemerges bestbank to workfor in Nigeria

Fidelity Bank Plc has beenadjudged the best bank to

work for in Nigeria.In a recent study conductedby Ventures Africa, an onlineplatform for news andanalysis about Africanbusinesses, in conjunctionwith Jobberman.com,Nigeria’s leadingemployment website, FidelityBank Plc., emerged the onlybank among the top 12 mostpreferred places to work inNigeria.The report tagged “Top 100Companies for NigerianMillennials” surveyed youngNigerians born between 1982and 2003 and measuredcompany culture, dream-company, staff welfare, genderequality, governmentinstitution, company ’sprestige, salary, and non-salary benefits. It also lookedat the level of satisfaction,salary consideration, level ofcontentment, career growth,concerns outside work andwork-life balance amongstothers.According to the organizers,Fidelity led all other banks inthe country in all themeasuring indices.In a statement, ManagingDirector/CEO, Fidelity BankPlc, Nnamdi Okonkwo, saidthe development is atestament to the bank’s robusthuman capital managementpolicies which focuses onenhancing the lives and well-being of employees.He explained that the bankplaces a premium insupporting and rewarding theperformance of its people. “Weare proud to be honoured,especially because of ourstrong initiative and focus notonly on staff welfare but alsoon the well-being of theirfamilies”. Okonkwo alluded to thegreat work the managementhas done in making FidelityBank a great workplace.Citing the Great Place to Work(GPTW) studies conducted inmore than 44 countries and4,500 organizations, whichhad seen corporations likeGoogle, Goldman Sachs andMicrosoft emerge as winnerstogether with Fidelity,Okonkwo said that he isproud that Fidelity Bankbelongs to this league havingwon the award on twooccasions.

Accordingto Onyema,who spokein a chatw i t hn e w s m e nin Lagos,i n v e s t o r sl o a t huncertaintyand wouldbegin tor e a c tpositively ifthe grayareas areremoved.

“Concerningthe currentchallengeswe arefacing, Ihave to saythat ourmarket isreflective oft h ee c o n o m y,and as youknow, thee c o n o m ytowards theend of lastyear facedsignificantshots fromcrude oilprices andthat hasi m p a c t e dthe foreigne x c h a n g erate, andc r e a t e duncertaintiesin the

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015 — 29

Homes & Housing

National PensionCommission (PenCom)

has issued draft guidelines onwithdrawals from RetirementSaving Accounts (RSA) forequity payment of residentialmortgage.

This is contained in adocument released by thecommission on its website lastweek, the guidelines help todetermine the eligibilityrequirements, procedures anddocumentation required toenable RSA contributors toaccess and utilise part of theirRSA balances.

It would be recalled that the2014 Pension Reform Act hadmade provision for RSA holdersto access part of their pensioncontribution for mortgagedfinancing.

The document was titled:“Draft Guidelines onwithdrawals from RetirementSavings Account (RSA)towards Equity Contributionfor Payment of ResidentialMortgage”. It stated as follows:“The Guidelines seek toprovide the operationalmodalities for Pension FundAdministrators in determiningthe eligibility requirements,procedures and documentationrequired to enable RSAContributors to access andutilize part of their RSAbalances towards equitycontribution in respect of firsthome ownership mortgages.All applications by RSA holdersto access and utilise apercentage of their RSAbalances as equity contributionfor mortgage loans shall beapproved by the Commission.A RSA holder shall access aportion of the RSA balance asequity contribution forresidential mortgage, only oncein a lifetime.

“A RSA holder shall make aformal application to the PFArequesting for a portion of theRSA balance as equitycontribution for a mortgageloan. A RSA holder that hasutilised a portion of the RSAbalance as equity contributionfor residential mortgage maynot be entitled to a lump sumpayment at retirement. Aneligible RSA holder shall beallowed to access a maximumof 25 percent of the RSAbalance as equity contributionfor a mortgage loan. The RSAbalance shall be the Value ofan Accounting Unit of the Fund(VAUF) of the RSA Fundmultiplied by the accountingunits held by the RSA holderas at the date the applicationwas received by the PFA.

Eligibility criteria for RSAholder

“In order to qualify to accessthe RSA balance as equity

FHA courtscooperatives toboost housing

Federal Housing Authority(FHA) has initiated

moves to engage the supportof cooperatives across thecountry to ensure success ofits social and co-operativehousing scheme.

Managing Director/ChiefExecutive of the authority,Professor Mohammed Al-Amin, who disclosed this,noted that the authority isdeliberately cultivatingcooperatives in various partsof the country so as tostrengthen them to tap intothe programme. He saidmany of the cooperativescame on their own uponknowing about the housingscheme of the authority.

According to him, 50,000members out of about 800 co-operative societies across thecountry have shown interestin the social and co-operativehousing scheme of FHA. Hesaid that FHA is alsopartnering state governmentson the implementation of arent-to-own housing scheme,which would convert rentspaid by tenants for theeventual ownership of suchhouses.

Al-Amin said financiallyweak members of cooperativesocieties could latch on to thestrength of the group to maketheir home ownership dreamsbecome reality. He said theAuthority had developedspecial packages forcollaboration with non-governmental, Faith-basedand Community-basedorganisations, with a view toenhancing housing deliveryto no-income, low-income andmiddle low-income earners.

contribution for a mortgageloan, the following eligibilitycriteria shall apply: The RSAholder shall be in activeemployment, either as asalaried employee or self-employed person. The RSAholder shall have beencontributing consistently for aminimum of 10 years, prior tothe application for drawdown.The RSA holder ’s Debt toIncome ratio shall not exceed33.33 percent of his/her netmonthly income at the time ofapplying for the mortgage. TheRSA holder’s debt shall be thesum of the monthly mortgagerepayments and other personaldebt obligations that impact onhis monthly income. The RSAholder shall provide therequired documentation asrequired under Section 5.0and/or other additionaldocumentation requested, fromtime to time.”

Eligibility criteria formortgage

“An eligible RSA holder shall

Group, for investing inCameroon which, he noted, isconsistent with hisgovernment’s policy of invitingindustries to contribute to thegrowth of the Cameroon’s grossdomestic product. He addedthat Dangote has shownwillingness to play a significantrole in the industrialisation ofthe Cameroonian economy.

Biya said the new cementgrinding plant and jetty areclear indications thatCameroon is open andwelcome to investments fromNigeria and Africa, adding thatas a liberal economy, thecountry supports investmentfrom the private sector.

C A M E R O O N I A NPresident, Paul Biya,

has commended Aliko Dangotefor his massive investments incement plants across Africa.

He gave the commendationat the commissioning of a 1.5million metric tonnes perannum Dangote CementGrinding Plant in DoualaCameroon, last week.

The country’s Prime Minister,Philemon Yang, whorepresented the president, alsolaid the foundation stone for a200m jetty in Base Elf area, PortAutonome, De Douala.

Speaking at the ceremony, helauded Alh. Aliko Dangote,President/CE), Dangote

Dangote in his speech, saiddue to the warm welcome givento Dangote Cement, thecompany has decided to beginwork on the second phase ofthe plant, which will see thedoubling of its capacity from thecurrent 1.5 million MT perannum to 3.0 million MT perannum. “Our desire to increaseour investment with the Phase2 project is based on not onlythe fast growth rate of theCameroonian economy but alsodue to the warm welcomeextended to us and theenabling environment createdby the government ofCameroon.

Our choice of Cameroon for

Biya lauds Dangote on African cement plants

use the proceeds of themortgage loan to purchaseeither a single-family home oran apartment in a multiunitbuilding, which must be owner-occupied. The title to theproperty must have a fullyperfected title and free from anyencumbrance. The propertyshall have comprehensiveinsurance policy in the nameof the borrower, to cover thereplacement or reinstatement

cost of the property. Theinsurance policy must note theRSA Fund as one of the firstloss payees, to cover the equitycontribution released by thePFA. The valuation of theproperty to be purchased withthe mortgage loan shall becarried out by a licensed,independent valuer who is amember in good standing withthe Nigerian Institution ofEstate Surveyors & Valuers(NIESV) and must carryProfessional IndemnityInsurance with an insurancecompany licensed and in goodstanding with NationalInsurance Commission(NAICOM). The mortgageloan amount shall be aminimum of N1.5 million anda maximum of N50 million. Thetenor of the mortgage loan shallbe for a minimum of 5 yearsand a maximum of 20 years.The interest rate on themortgage loan shall be at afixed rate for its wholeduration.”

PenCom urged stakeholdersto forward their feedback,comments and enquiries aboutthe draft guidelines to Director-General of the commission onor before the close of businesson September 11, 2015.

this multi-million dollarinvestment is quite strategic.Cameroon is the largesteconomy in Central Africa andis well endowed with abundantnatural resources. The countryalso enjoys political stability,adequate security and growinginfrastructural development,”he stated.

The richest man in Africa saidthat the desire to ensure that Africabecomes self-sufficient in cementproduction informed the recentsigning of a $4.34 billion contractwith Sinoma InternationalEngineering Company Limited, aChinese construction giant, for theconstruction of 11 new cementplants in 10 African countries, andNepal in Asia.

PenCom issues draft guidelineson mortgage financing

•Typical houses requiring mortgage financing

A RSA holdershall access aportion of theRSA balance asequitycontributionfor residentialmortgage, onlyonce in alifetime

Stories by YINKA KOLAWOLE

30—Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

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Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015 — 31

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32 — Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

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An army is a nation withina nation…” Alfred De

Vigny, 1797-1863.(VANGUARD BOOK OFQUOTATIONS, VBQ, p 14).

President Buhari will notprobe Obasanjo’s government,not because it will constitute adistraction, as eagerpropagandists will like us tobelieve but because of themilitary tradition of esprit decorps. Once an officer was yoursuperior officer in service, youdon’t disgrace him in public.The rare exceptions occur whenthere is a coup arising out ofdisagreements among theofficers.

That explains why Abacha’sarrest, prosecution, convictionand attempt to executeObasanjo was such anaberration to the military class.Once, we “bloody civilians”understand that, it should notcome as a surprise to us thatour President is not too eagerto probe the former MilitaryHead of State under whom heserved as Minister forPetroleum Resources and whowas his superior officer.

However, while Buhari had

In support of Senate probeof Obasanjo — 2

washed his hands of probingObasanjo, he had notforeclosed any inquiry intowhat happened to the nation’seconomy between 1999 and2007. From my reading of thesituation, Buhari had simplyleft the task to others toundertake. At any rate, his tripto the United States duringwhich it was allegedlydisclosed that America willassist in tracing some $150billion of funds illegallytransferred from Nigeria didnot state that the entire sum wasstolen under former PresidentJonathan.

All the crimes committed byNigerians in collaboration withHalliburton and Siemens,major multinationals, tookplace under Obasanjo. So anyloot with respect to thosefraudulent transactions, still inforeign accounts can only berecovered by conducting aprobe of the Obasanjo regime.Without such an investigation,Nigeria cannot lay claim to thefunds. Unless President Buhariis saying that we should forgoall the loot sent abroadbetween 1999 and 2007, he has

no alternative but to allow theSenate to do what he, forreasons stated above, cannotdo.

In fact, we must ask ourselvestwo questions. One, if askingquestions about our stolenwealth under Obasanjo isdiversionary, why are we stillpursuing Abacha’s loot whichcame earlier? Two, supposingany country in the world wereto discover billions of dollars ofNigerian money laundered toits banks between 1999 and2007, will we reject it becauseObasanjo’s government is notbeing probed?

It is possible that such lootcan be somewhere if theSenators read Chapter 8 of mybook PDP: CORRUPTIONINCORPORATED. That sectionof the book went to greatlengths to demonstrate howone of our current self-righteous“saints” went aboutimpoverishing our nationNigeria. Like others, hismembership of the ruling partyhad sanitized and deodorizedhim. He, of course hasimmunity. But, it will beinteresting to see if he wouldwaive his immunity to answer

questions on his stewardship.Obasanjo himself no longer

enjoys immunity under the law.His partial immunity has beengranted by President Buhari –who refuses to go further thanY a r ’ A d u a / J o n a t h a ngovernments as far as probesare concerned. It is a pity thatmilitary tradition superceedsnational interest in this matter.But, let me draw the attentionof Mr President, his advisersand all Nigerians to thesummary of the Senate Ad HocCommittee, established to lookinto the disbursement of fundsfrom the PetroleumDevelopment Trust Fund,PDTF, account, which wasmanaged by Obasanjo wereillegal in many respects.

Chapter 6, of PDP:C O R R U P T I O NI N C O R P O R A T E Dsummarized for Nigerians thefindings of the Senate Ad HocCommittee under SenatePresident Nnamani. Permit meto quote from page 193 of thatbook.

“Various amounts werementioned in the Senators’submissions which weremisapplied (read vanished intoillegal ends). As they were allrendered in dollars, it isnecessary to reduce them toNaira in order that we mighthave a proper understandingof the amounts involved and inrelationship to the variousneeds of the people of Nigeriathat were ignored during theperiod under review.

1. US1.76 billion = N228billion..at the time.

2. US11 million = N1.43billion.

3. US222 million = N28.86billion.

4. US1.76 billion (N228billion) drawn down to US142.5million (N18.53 billion) meantthat N209.47 billion waswithdrawn without record ofbenefits to the nation.

The sum total of misappliedfunds so far amounted toN268.29 billion; not countingthe undisclosed amounts thatwere denied the PDTF for threeyears. In the next volume of thisseries we shall see how thePDTF was milked to the tuneof close to N500 billion from1999 to 2007, while thePresident of Nigeria[Obasanjo] claimed to befighting corruption.”

Among the most nauseatingexpenditures made out ofPDTF account was thepurchase of a Peugeot 607 fora lady. Former Senator DaisyDanjuma remarked after theinquiries as follows: I wasshocked and disturbed at theextent of gross abuse of office,privileges and misapplicationof public funds by… thePresident..” (p 198). Therecords of the Senate Ad HocCommittee are there in theSenate Archives; those wantingto know more about Obasanjocan go and read them. If thatdoes not appall the readerenough, then there is a needto visit page 290 of the samebook and read about how an oilblock developed with our $2billion [N260 billion] was soldat $5 million [N650 million].

Who in those unfortunateyears – 1999 to 2007 – couldhave had the impunity to do somuch damage?” So, let’s probehis holiness to find out how onecan get away with so much andstill keep accusing others ofcorruption.

“

Micro-Finance

ACCION MicrofinanceBank (AMfB) has

rewarded Mr. Kotiko Okoye,Best Graduating Student in theChartered Institute of Bankersof Nigeria MicrofinanceCertification Programme in linewith its commitment to aidmicrofinance education.

The award, which is part of aN2million endowment to theinstitute was presented at theCIBN Induction/Prize GivingAward Ceremony in Lagos.

Commenting at the event,Managing Director/CEOAMfB, Ms. Bunmi Lawson,said that is in fulfillment of thebank’s commitment torewarding excellence inmicrofinance bankingeducation.

The development ofmicrofinance within the

Nigerian economy will helpimprove access to financialservices for those currentlyexcluded. At Accion, we willcontinue to support CIBN andits programmes aimed atbuilding adequate capacity forthe microfinance banking sector

in Nigeria.“With a reputation for best

practices in human capitaldevelopment, AMFBcontinues to set the pace inhuman resource management,particularly in training anddevelopment. The bank whichaims to attract fresh talents andthe highly skilled in

microfinance banking for herworkforce, is taking keeninterest in the results of theCIBN MicrofinanceCertification Examinations “,she added.

Meanwhile, the CIBNMicrofinance CertificationExaminations which holdstwice a year (April andOctober) is open to studentmembers of CIBN, all thoseworking in the microfinancebanking sector, anyone whointends to come into the sector

and the general public at large.Accion Microfinance Bank,

with a reputation for bestpractices in human capitaldevelopment, continues to setthe pace in human resourcemanagement, particularly intraining and development. Thebank which aims to attract freshtalents and the highly skilledin microfinance banking for herworkforce, is taking keeninterest in the results of theCIBN MicrofinanceCertification Examinations.

STAKEHOLDERS inTextile Sector,

weekend, called on the FederalGovernment to patronise madein Nigeria fabrics even asNigerian Export PromotionCouncil (NEPC) called for anenabling environment for thesector to thrive.

The stakeholders made the

BY PROVIDENCE OBUHAND BISOLA OLOGUNDE

Accion MfB rewards CIBN bestgraduating student

call at a One-Day CapacityBuilding Workshop organisedby NEPC for stakeholders inthe Garment and ApparelSector on the “Opportunities inthe Rising Global Market” inLagos.

The stakeholders maintainedthat government patronage,provision of enablingenvironment and theavailability of necessary

infrastructures would reduceunemployment and createmore jobs for the populace.

In a separate interview,President, Fashion DesignersAssociation of Nigeria(FADAN) Mrs. Funmi Ladipo,stated: “manufacturing isgoing on in other countries butwe are not encouraged tomanufacture in Nigeria, ourtextile industries are dead, we

don’t even have a productionhub.

“A designer is not suppose tostart a job and finish it, it is notsuppose to be so, what peopledo is to take cloths to theproduction hub. If we haveproduction hubs in almost allthe states, then fabrics can bemass produced and that iswhen we can now encouragefashion.

Textile sector seeks govt patronage as NEPC demandenabling environmentBY PROVIDENCE OBUH

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015 — 33

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E-Commerce

WORKSHOP — From left: Jaji Habeeb, Principal, Toyibat Group of Schools; Alhaji MustaphaBako, Gateway Mining Co; Prince Hassan Tai Momoh, President, Virgin Gold Nig Ltd and MrOlubayo Akinola, MD/CEO, Assurex Risk Solutions Ltd at the Nigeria-Iran Business Councilworkshop held in Lagos. Photo Lamidi Bamidele.

An attempt to increase thevalue added tax by 10

per cent as announced by theFederal Inland RevenueService, FIRS recently willlead to high inflation, furthercurrency devaluation andeventual serious economiclosses, said some technologyoperators who spoke toVanguard on the matter.According to them, theincrease will not only hurt theeconomy but result to highercost of living and morerevenue losses forgovernment.

They argued that the bestoption would be to expand thetax net and increase revenuegeneration instead ofcompelling some honestenterprises that are alreadypaying to pay more.

Speaking to Vanguard,Founder/CEO of Hotels.ng,Mark Essien said: “I think thatthe focus of the governmentshould be to encourage moreeconomic activity, not less. Ibelieve increasing the salestax will reduce economicactivity, and this will lead tooverall less governmentearnings. In my opinion, itwould be better thegovernment focuses on a moreefficient use of the capital italready has before takingmoves that will reduce howmuch business transactionvolume happens in thecountry.”

He added: “Small andMedium Enterprises, SMEswill be worst hit by the move,as it instantly increases theirtax burden without acorresponding increase inimprovement of governmentproduced infrastructure. In myopinion, when SME’s do nothave to pay for services that

Tech operators fault planedincrease of VAT

Stories byJONAH NWOKPOKU

are to be government-controlled like electricity,then government can taxmore. As it stands, suchincreases will simply lead toa price hike, which can leadto inflation and currencydevaluation.”

Also speaking, ManagingDirector of Jovago.com, MarekZymslowski said: “In an idealworld, raising taxes is rarelya good move for the businessecosystem. I do howeverunderstand the economicenvironment and limited timeto use other solutions that the

Federal Government is facing.I would just like to point outthat raising taxes is notenough if it’s not followed byeffective tax collection. Wewant everyone to pay taxes,not only the honestenterprises.

He added: “The personthat will pay the price of anincreased tax is the customer.Most probably most SMEs willincrease their rates by theincreased level of the tax.”

Also speaking, ManagingDirector, Carmudi Nigeria,Amy Muoneke, said: “I

understand why governmentwould want to increase tax, togenerate more revenue, yes.But I think there are more efficient means of achievingthe same goal, withoutincreasing tax. One way is tofocus on collection. Ifgovernment focused onensuring that citizens pay taxat the current percentage, thiswill definitely increaserevenue. In my opinion,increasing tax is not a longterm solution, a sustainablecollection process is the key,if not you will just have morepeople dodging tax paymentonce it’s increased.”

Chams Plc, an indigenousICT firm in Nigeria, has

announced the shutdown of theIkeja ChamsCity digital Mall,due to lack of use of its digitalcitizen registration and massenrolments infrastructure,losing about N9.2 billion. Otherbusiness process outsourcingservices offered at the digitalmall that includes contact

Chams shuts digital mall, loses N9.2bncentre services, computerbased testing, pre-qualificationemployee tests and stafftraining, will now be offered byChamsCity from Its newlocation in Victoria Island,Lagos.

In a statement, Mr. OlaOlasiyan, Chief Service Officer,Chams Plc, said: “We lost N9.2billion on ChamsCity,ChamsSwitch and CardCentreoperations and have decided toclose down loss makers tied toour concession on the nationalidentity project.”

It would be recalled thatChamsCity was built in 2009after its parent company, Chams Plc got a concessionagreement from the FederalGovernment under theadministration of ChiefOlusegun Obasanjo to deliverthe National Identity project forthe country. ChamsCity malls inLagos, Abuja, Benin and PortHarcourt were established asNigeria’s pioneer digital mall toprovide enormous capital-intensive resources which willaccelerate citizen enrolment

and registration for Nationalidentity management systemand for large scale datamanagement in a conducive,serene, and securedenvironment.

“We have remained resilient,and have taken learnings fromthe frustration of our concessionon the national identitymanagement project. With thesuccess recorded on the ongoingBank Verification Number (BVN)Project and a good number ofother Identity related projectsthat Chams is working on, wenow see a clearer, more-timelyand potentially large opportunityto help transform the identitymanagement sector of theeconomy. Hence our decision torefocus our efforts andinvestments by streamliningChamsCity,” said Olasiyan.

Closure of Ikeja ChamsCitydigital mall in Lagos means thatall four ChamsCity facilitiessituated in Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt, and Benin have nowbeen dissolved without servingthe primary purpose of theirestablishment.

A new comer into the e-commerce industry,

Efritin.com has launched intothe online market, therebyincreasing the profile of theindustry, employing over 100Nigerians.This was stated at theofficial launch of the company ata media conference held recentlyin Lagos.

According to Mr. BabakTighnavard, Chief OperatingOfficer, Saltside Technologies, inLagos. Saltside Technologiesparent company of Efritin.comwas founded to build leadingonline marketplaces in

Efritin.com boosts Nigeria’s e-commerce profile

underserved markets, creatingsustainable value for thecommunity. Saltside started in2011 with just 4 employees butin 2015 they are now 500employees in Bangladesh,Ghana, Sri Lanka and now inNigeria with over 100employees. Their success story ineach market is hinged on doingthings locally and employingquality staff.” Mr. Zakaria Hersiinformed that part of their successstory of doing things locally ineach market gave rise to the name‘Efritin.com’ meaning‘Everything’ in pidgin language.

Mobile applicationdeveloper, Yuzah has

entered into partnership withAirtel Nigeria, to improvedelivery of diesel in Nigeriathrough a mobileapplication.The mobile app, Yuzah allowsusers to request instantdelivery of diesel to theirhomes or offices, using theirmobile phones.Recall that the simplicity ofthe product and distributionmodel earned Yuzah, the onemillion naira prize money inthe Airtel catapult-a-startupcompetition held earlier thisyear.Chief Commercial Officer,Airtel Nigeria, Mr. MauriceNewa described the service,which is the first-of-its-kind inNigeria, as part of efforts bythe Telco to deliver productsand services that offerconvenience to itscustomers.“Airtel has collaborated withYuzah, one of the winners ofAirtel Catapult-a-Start-upcompetition, to offerNigerians this unique servicewhich will further enhancetheir access to diesel andaddress the inconveniencesassociated with the logisticsinvolved in delivery,” he said.According to him,“interested users candownload this app on theirmobile phones. Once this isdone, the app will locate theirplace on the map and theywill be able to see all thediesel trucks within theirradius. Users can then orderdiesel through the app andthe product will be deliveredwithin 30-60 minutes onceaccepted by a Yuzahapproved supplier.”Commenting on thepartnership, the ChiefExecutive Officer ofYuzah.com, OvoEmorhokpor expresseddelight at the partnership andmaintained that the servicewill offer Nigeria optimalconvenience to purchasediesel through their mobilephones.“We are extremely happy andexcited about thispartnership with Airtel.Yuzah was birthed out ofnecessity to create a seamlessprocess to purchase dieseland from the initial customerresponse, we stronglybelieve the service will beextremely useful to thelarger population who use theproduct.Airtel Nigeriacontinues to show its growingsupport for entrepreneurshipand innovation in Nigeria,and we believe we will have asuccessful partnership,” hesaid.The service is currently beingrolled out in pilot areas inLagos, with plans to expandthe service to other parts ofthe country before the end ofthe year.

Yuzah, Airtelpartner toimprove dieselde l ivery

34 — Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

CMYK

By Patrick Dele Cole(OFR) CBN, domiciliary account

and the economy

Economy

The principal reason inthe heedless pursuit ofa cashless society is the

belief that this will stopcorruption. This is a Westernnotion which we haveembraced fully – bringinglots of jobs to the West – thecomputers, the dispensingmachines, the chips, pin,cards, etc. In the process ithas changed banking beyondrecognition. The bankers nolonger want to see theirclients: Their attitude is this:bring your money to thebank, but speak to the ATM.The rationale isfundamentally flawed in adeveloping economy. Thesystem – cashless – ispresaged by an assumptionthat all of us have computerrelated devices – i.e. phonesthat we are literate, that theATMs work, that there iselectricity and that ATMs areavailable nation wide. If youlive in the cities, you may beable to do all of this; ( inEurope and US they evenhave receiving ATMs wherethe traders can actuallydeposit end of day sales, thuswe have the beginning ofmaking high street Banksirrelevant and unnecessary.)Bottom line is to reduce costof banking and increase profitfor bank owners. Thequestion we should ask ourWestern minders is this:- wascorruption eradicated orreduced in their countriesbecause their society wascashless?In Nigeria the outcomenecessarily is mixed. In myvillage we have one bank, oneATM, no light therefore mostof the time the ATM is notworking. The traditional localbank manager is anencyclopedia of localcustom, he knows who iscoming up in society so thatwhen CBN, for example,intervenes in agriculture thebank manager is able tointerpret that intervention topotential clients who stand tobenefit. Such intervention insmall scale agriculture maybe the saving grace of Nigeria.But our suited CBNbureaucrats obviously havenot created the agriculturalintervention for the farmersbut for a class of fast thinking,fast talking computer literatemanipulators, who know howto fill the CBN forms withoutleaving Lagos, Ibadan,Kaduna, Kano, Maidugurietc. These city sleekoperators are thebeneficiaries of nearly allCBN interventions whetherfor agriculture or transportetc. No true farmer,fisherman, transporter canunderstand the jargon inthese same form. That themoney disappears oncevoted is due to collaborationbetween the sleek operatorsand the bankers.Now the CBN has moved intothe Domiciliary Accountsarea with predictable heavyhandedness which will makeits intervention fail. At first

the banks announced thatthey would no longer takeforeign exchange cashbecause their vaults are full,that Nigeria was awash withforeign bank notes whichbanks cannot take any moreinto their vaults. If the vaultsare full, then the logicalanswer is building morevaults. Surely all vaults of allthe banks cannot be full atthe same time, there wouldhave been ways to continueto receive bank notes.Nations, and Governments,love secrecy but this is notime for the Government tobe less than candid to itspeople, who are not fools andcould smell a rat tenkilometers away. NoGovernment which respectsits people could tell suchbarefaced lies. When banksrefuse currency it is becausesuch currency is worthless orwould very nearly be so, forexample, the millions ofDuetsmarks in Germany, justbefore the end of the worldwar ll.When doubts were raised, wethen began to hear the mainreasons for the CBN directive– because the CBN now tookthe bull by the horn anddirected that banks shouldno longer accept foreignbank notes for domiciliaryaccounts CBN officers hit thenews outlets with the mostimplausible of nonsense Ihave heard for a long time:Naira is the legal tender; nonation sits by while itscurrency is substituted byanother, and then finallydirected legitimate businesstransactions could only bedone through the old regimeof form A, form M etc.Only fools fail to learn fromhistory. We have beenthrough the regime of formsM, AI, A2 etc. That ordeal ledto the cement armada and the1975 coup etc. Moreover,much of the trade that is doneby most people cannot bedone under the regime ofform M etc. A woman has US$10, 000 – flies off to Dubaito start her small business. Ayoung man has US $10, 000he flies off to Taiwan, China

etc to get some spare partsfor cars; others buyelectronic goods or parts,still others – fridges, clothes,bras, pants etc, many moreget off to Dubai with evenless. The tycoons of Alabamarket, Ladipo markets,many Nnewi industrialist, thetransporters – Chidi Ebere,Ekenedili Chukwu, The youngshall grow etc – this was howthey started. Many fashionand boutique housesemploying thousandsstarted this way. I rememberseeing hundreds of Nigerian,spare parts dealers in Brazil,beginning what are to-daybooming businesses.Are these the peoplecarrying millions of dollars,Pounds etc into domiciliaryaccounts? No. The bankshave a policy of “know yourcustomers” and have anarmy of marketers who go outcanvassing for deposits; sothe banks know those whohave these massivedomiciliary accounts. If theyknow, the CBN also knows;the present Governor leftZenith a short while ago andZenith was a big bank. It musthave had people with largedomiciliary accounts intowhich more cash was paid.The Nigerian Governmentand State Governments mustbe large customers for cashusage and disbursements.After all US $9.6 million wasfound in an aeroplane inSouth Africa on agovernment mission. Whohas access to huge amount ofcash? Prima facie that would

be the Federal and stateGovernments and otheragencies under them.These are the people CBNcould have talked to and stopthem from continuing to putour country in jeopardy byputting large sums intovaults; now too small to carrythe money. A politicianreceived US $650,000 froma businessman who testifiedto giving that politician thismoney in cash? What hashappened?

The last election saw anunprecedented flow of

foreign currency – whobrought it, who used it? Doesthe CBN not know this? Thereis little purpose for a man togo to a sea shore and shout inthe wind if he really hassomething to say and heknows who to say it to!! Thevaults are not full. Thecirculation of large amount offoreign currency may affectthe value of the Naira butthat cannot be stoppedmerely by banning foreignbank notes. By the way, howmuch is this foreign banknotes slush? How much is inthe banks? Most of the roundtripping done in Nigeria, asthe CBN well knows, is notdone via bank notes but viatransfers from internationaloil companies, Embassiesand other large internationalconglomerates by the formM the CBN now wishes toimpose. Form M cannot stopround tripping. The issue ofNaira stabilization is a marketproblem which the CBNknows how to handle and hasbeen doing so for a long time.The use of form M, Al etc arestrict foreign exchangecontrol mechanism to beimposed only at the most direof economic problems:inability of the nation tomeet it trade obligations.These measures will bringback the old nightmares ofconfirmed Letters of Credit(LC), then the unconfirmedLCs etc. It took Nigeria morethan a decade to get out ofthis quagmire and ended onlywhen Nigerians could legallyoperate domiciliary

accountsI think the CBN should ask thebanks to talk to those largeforeign notes depositors.Opening and operating adomiciliary account in thebank was itself not against thelaw. If the issue is to know thesource of funds then say sobut do not make up somenonsense merely, becausethe US has cracked the whip.The present CBN policy willstart putting hundreds ofthousands of Nigerians out ofwork.Domiciliary accounts shouldcontinue to accept cash sayup to $10,000 at a time.Larger amount could beaccepted e.g. from duty freeshops; other exception to thetotal ban – BTA returneeswho did not spend all themoney overseas; estacodereceiving officers,diplomatic envoys etc.I suspect that eventuallydomiciliary accounts will besubject to the interference ofthe West who assumes thatall Nigerians are corrupt.This is a bit rich from theWest who themselves overthe years have benefitedfrom moneys whose originhave been opaque; wholeGovernments, and Nationsdepended on deposits whoseorigin were unknown if notquestionable, such countriesas Switzer land, VirginIslands, Jersey andGuernsey, Luxemburg, theBahamas etc. China does notaccept our ATM charge/Debit cards. Was the 2008world banking crash notlargely due to corruption?I cannot believe that CBNfinding itself in a wonderfulsituation of the vaults ofNigeria’s banks being filedwith domiciliary account,bank notes does not have thebrain power to use thismoney to help the Nigerianeconomy, rather thanemploying the scare mongertactics now being used. Ifindeed, as it seem, the moneycame out of the CBN system,then it is unjust to allow theCBN to benefit from itsnegligence or malfeasance oreven its lack of provenance.

Opening andoperating adomiciliaryaccount inthe bankwas itselfnot againstthe law

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015 — 35

CMYK

Advertising & Promotions

THERE might be one wayto enter the Nigerian

mobile market, but nothingmakes a signature entrant thancoming in with a phone withplethora of uniqueness toattract consumer attention.

In the last few weeks, theNigerian mobile device markethas witnessed entrant ofvarious phone brands, with thelatest Huawei P8.

The device debuted inNigeria at a formal launch atthe second building of Orientalhotel, Lekki, Lagos, housingHuawei TechnologiesCompany Nigeria Limited,manufacturer of the device. Itheld a separate businessevening with existing andprospective marketers toannounce the arrival of theproduct.

According to OlanipekunOkunowo, Senior MarketingManager, Consumer Businessgroup, Huawei Technology, theHuawei P8 takes beauty to thenext level, striking a flawlessbalance of artistry andcreativity.

Continuing, he stated: basedon a deep understanding ofhuman –machine design, thedevice delivers a new level ofusability for applicationsimpacting everyday life-at workand at play.

With craftsmanship thatpushes the bounds ofpossibility and newrevolutionary light paintingmodes, the P8 provides

consumers with an inspirationfor creativity.”

Analyzing the journey of thep series, he went on to say thatthe Huawei P series hasredefined style, while the P1marked the debut of Huawei’sjourney, taking the stage witha new ethos based on beauty.

The P2 built on themomentum of the P1, breakingnew boundaries of processingspeed; the P6 brought out anew and elegant sleekness;and the ultimate

craftsmanship of the P7stunned the market.

His words, “the P8 design isdeeply rooted in literarytradition, combining elementsof ancient manuscripts,illuminated books and theessence of sunlight in stainedglass library windows. It isinspired by the best humandesign from different culturesacross the centuries andembodies the human spirit ofexploration and beauty.”

Further he stated that the

design details of the deviceevoke the pages, bindings andhad covers of traditional books.The one-piece aluminium bodywith the diamond shapeblasting craftsmanshiphighlights the texture of themetal. The phone comes withfour elegant colour options;silver, gold, black and grey.

The device comes in atranslucent package and theand the unboxing experienceis like taking a book from theshelf, he reiterated.

From left: Sonu Shewakramani, Managing Director, SUN Group of Companies; RamachandranNambiar, General Manager, International Sales & Head EXIM Business Unit with PradeepPatil, Executive Vice President & Head – Kitchen Appliances Business Unit both of Bajaj ElectricalsLtd. and Parimal Vipani, Managing Director, PTL at the inauguration of Bajaj Home Appliancesand endorsement of PTL as sole distributors of Bajaj Appliances at Eko Hotels & Suites VictoriaIsland Lagos.

P8: Setting standards for connectivitySTORIES BYPRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

A visit to Curves’ a weightloss centre in Nigeria,

exclusively designed forwomen, Princewill Ekwujurutakes a look at the strategiesadopted by the company torule the fitness market.

It is no longer news thatCurves International hasarrived in the market. ManyJournalists on Health, Fashion& Style beats have done justiceto that.

Unfortunately, they have onlyannounced the launch but havenot done anything about itspositioning.

With the brand promise toassist the emergence of a newgeneration of healthier andhappier women, CurvesInternational has thus tappedonto the consciousness of thefemale folk of the Nigeriamarket. As information have itthat some Nigerian womenwho have already registered atthe centre.

What the fitness Centre hasdone is to successfully tacklecompetitions through its nichestrategies, low operating coststhat attract franchisees and

CAPRI-Sonne and Universal Studios,Chi Limited, maker of Capri-Sonne

natural fruit drink in Nigeria, has unveileda promo package to coincide with theglobal release of the movie The Minions.

Children across Nigeria are in for anexciting treat as they now have anopportunity to win free Minions gifts insideevery carton of their favourite Capri-Sonnethat they get within the promo period.Great gift items include Beach Ball,magnet, goggle, magnetic frame, keychain, activity set and various minionmerchandise and toys.

The Capri-Sonne Minions Promo isbeing amplified nationwide with an

effective media campaign running on major regionaland national television channels and radio stationsin the country. Simultaneously, campaign is beingdriven through advertisements on Print, Billboardsand digital platforms like Twitter and Facebook whereyoung fans can win loads of free gifts by participatingin fun Minions games. Consumer engagementplatforms such as trade activations in open marketsand consumer activations like taste trials in schoolsand shopping malls has commenced in various citiesto connect with the consumers.

According to Deepanjan Roy, Managing Director,Chi Limited, “we are confident that the Capri-SonneMinions Promo will resonate with children acrossNigeria and increase product consumption and brandaffinity.

quality services.While differentiating itself

from standard gymnasium, byoffering three things: a fitnessprogramme, a meal plan, aswell as personalized coaching.

Beyond its internationalstatus and the fact that aregistered member in Nigeriacan receive the company’s

service in over 90 countries ofthe world, another majoradvantage the brand will rideon in the market to excel is itsexclusivity. According tofindings, in countries wherereligion and culture restrictmingling of both sexes, CurvesInternational is said to havegained tremendous customers

among the women.Speaking on how the

company will be able to reachwomen outside Lagos andthose on the mainland of thecommercial city, the CountryDirector, Curves International,Emma Esinnah said theNigeria office was designed tofollow the business philosophyof the parent body, whichencourages franchise.

As Curves International operates in Nigeria... Targets female folks

Capri-Sonne excites kids with Minions promo

BrandmycarBrandmycarBrandmycarBrandmycarBrandmycarrrrrrolls out paolls out paolls out paolls out paolls out payyyyy-----per-dataper-dataper-dataper-dataper-data

Brand My Car, Nigeria’sfirst out-of-home vehicle

advertising company has rolledout an initiative gearedtowards giving more value toits customers on its uniqueadvertising platform.

Tagged “Pay-Per-Data,” theinitiative frees brands from thedoubts about upfront OOHadvertising rentals and enablesthem to pay based onestimated eyeballs reachedduring campaign periods.

According to the ManagingDirector of Brandmycar,AmakaOkolo, the initiative isdriven by emerging globalbest-practice in the industrywhich prescribes the inclusionof measurable and verifiabledata in the business, givingroom for a lot moretransparency in OOH rentalbilling processes.

NigeriansNigeriansNigeriansNigeriansNigerianscrowned Mscrowned Mscrowned Mscrowned Mscrowned MsTTTTTourism UNourism UNourism UNourism UNourism UN

Nigerian beauty queens,E b e l e c h u k w u

Enemchukwu, the current holder of the Mrs. NigeriaUnited Nations 2015 title andTubosoye Charles-Dokubo, has been crowned Mrs.Tourism United Nations 2015and Ms. Category respectivelyin Kingston, Jamaica.

In addition to that,Enemchukwu also won the award for the People’s ChoiceAmbassador, topping the worldchart across all categories ofthe competition with a total of63,900 votes.

Mediacraft signsMediacraft signsMediacraft signsMediacraft signsMediacraft signspact withpact withpact withpact withpact withFleishmanHillardFleishmanHillardFleishmanHillardFleishmanHillardFleishmanHillardSASASASASA

FleishmanHillard SouthAfrica, the world’s

most complete globalcommunications firm,specializing in publicrelations, public affairs,marketing, paid media, andtransmedia and social content,has announced the expansionof the firm’s offering in Africathrough a newly concludedaffiliation agreement withMediacraft Associates inNigeria.

Mediacraft Associates is oneof the leading full-servicepublic relations firms inNigeria, with a track record ofworking for high profile clients,and a culture of high ethicaland professional standards.

Email:lesleba@lesleba.com, lesleba@gmail.comBlog page:www.lesleba.com/blog2Website: www.lesleba.comTel:0805 220 1997

36 — Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

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. ReporterIfeyinwa Obi - Maritime ReporterRosemary Onuoha - Insurance ReporterNkiruka Nnorom - Capital Market Reporter

CONTRIBUTORSPrincewill Ekwujuru - Media/MarketingJonah Nwokpoku - E-CommerceNaomi Uzor - IndustryProvidence Obuh - Micro FinanceLAYOUT - Graphics Department

The Governor of BenueState, Dr. Samuel

Ortom has commendedNigerian Breweries Plc (NBPlc) for the bold step it took torevamp its Makurdi brewery.

Ortom who made thecommendation during afamiliarization tour and theunveiling of a mock up bottleof the new More lager beer,applauded the company’s driveof sourcing its raw materialsfrom the state which he says willgo a long way in empoweringlocal farmers and boosting the

Ortom commends NigerianBreweries for revamping Makurdi Brewery

that our primary products canbe processed. Benue is thefood basket of the nation andyour local sourcing initiativewill ensure that the statecontinues to benefit in thiscapacity

Earlier in an address, MD/CEO NB Plc, Mr. NicolaasVervelde stated that followingthe merger of NigerianBreweries and ConsolidatedBreweries in December 2014,the company began anupgrade of facilities at thebrewery to match the worldclass standards of NigerianBreweries.

BY NAOMI UZOR local economy.Gov. Ortom said “The Benue

State government is committedto providing support to thebrewery for the giant strides ithas already taken. Similarindustries were established inthe 1980s but are nowmoribund; it is great to knowthat the Makurdi Brewery isstill functioning, so I join mypeople in commending you forrepackaging the product whichnow looks good and tastesbetter. I want to assure you thatyou’ve found a partner in usas we strive to create jobs andopportunities for our people so

Business & Economy

THE Punch edition of16th July, 2015, carriedan Agency report titled

“CBN has no option but todevalue Naira”; in which, RaviBhatia, a Director in‘Standard and Poors’, anInternational Rating Agency,observed that inspite of therecent measures by the CBN,“another devaluation... possiblyby more than 15%, isinevitable” to satisfy theexpectations of overseasinvestors.

In a Business Day report of22/7/15, titled “CBN may failHedge fund speculators’betting on Naira devaluation”,Sewa Wusa, Head of Researchand Development of SterlingCapital observed that “the onuslies on the CBN to devalue theNaira before it is too late”;according to Wusa, “what isactually pushing the Nairasouthward is the banning of 41items from the forex market”.

Similarly, research analysts atFBN Capital Plc also counseledthat “devaluation fears arediscouraging the offshorecommunity from re entry”.

Indeed, in the Punch editionof 26/6/15, in a report titled“Bank CEOs call for furtherNaira devaluation”, the GroupManaging Director of FirstBank Plc, Bisi Onasanya,warned, that “the banks couldnot support the Naira at thepresent artificial level of lessthan N200 in the officialmarket”, and therefore called“for further devaluation of thecurrency”. Onasanya insistedthat “the rate is not sustainable,and the longer we continue tohold unto this, the more wesend signals to theinternational market that we arenot serious as a country”.Besides, according toOnasanya, “the economy willbe at a standstill unless thereis some adjustment to thepresent level of the Naira”.

Similarly, Mr. Femi Olalokun,the Executive Director, Treasuryand International Business of

UBA, also chorused that “thereshould be a little adjustment inthe currency”.....and thereforesuggested that “interest rateswould have to be increased for(external) funds to come in, tosupport our quest fordiversifying our economy,broaden the base of income andrestore liquidity in the forexmarket”.

Indeed, some financialinterest groups haveuncharitably engaged in anopen smear campaign torubbish CBN’s efforts tomaintain sanity in the forexmarket; for example,“The Economist”brazenly questionedthe competence ofGodwin Enefiele asCBN Governor and ina venomouslysimplistic article titled“Nigeria’s Currency:Toothpick alert”, alsoridiculed his attempt tocontrol forex demand.

The overridingmessage, nonetheless,is loud and clear;speculative overseasinvestors and theirmedia organs are inagreement with the movers andshakers in Nigeria’s bankingindustry to demand furtherreduction in the Naira’sexchange rate beyondN199=$1; additionally, theseinterest groups want CBN toalso instigate higher rates ofinterest within the Nigerianeconomy, so as to promote theprofitability of speculativeforeign investors.

But the question is, whatwould happen to Nigeria’seconomy and the social welfareof our people, if Emefiele andthe CBN are intimidated andstampeded by the clarion callof these financial hawks, tofurther devalue the Naira andalso increase domestic rates ofinterest, for government

borrowings and real sectorcredit?

Indeed, Naira devaluation isprobably the most potentweapon against the prosperityof Nigerians. Nigeria’smigration from a potentialindustrial power house withbustling social affluence, to asubdued and stumblingeconomy clearly began with theadoption of IMF’s StructuralAdjustment Programme duringBabangida’s regime: the chorusfrom International Agencies, atthat time, was also that fallingoil prices with an unserviced

debt burden and theconsequent restriction of tradecredit to Nigeria, were theproducts of an allegedlyovervalued Naira exchangerate.

Ultimately, the overwhelmingpressure from InternationalFinance Agencies, with thegovernments’ craving forinternational support for anillegal military junta,precipitated serial Nairadevaluations from less than N2to over N22=$1 by 1993. Thisrash decapitation of the nairaexchange rate pauperizedNigerians, includingUniversity professors andtechnocrats and tragicallytriggered the brain drain tomore stable economies in

Europe and America; sadly thisdisenabling phenomenon hasgathered speed and persists tilldate, as beneficiaries of ourindividual and collectivesacrifices still abandon servingtheir country in preference fordollar pay packets abroad.

Indeed, wages soon becamedecimated by unyieldingdevaluation, such that itbecame necessary for mostNigerians, particularly civilservants to make awkwardadjustments and engage in‘Extra-curricular’ activities tosupplement their paltryincomes; although the impact

of Naira devaluationmay not have been theorigin of corruption inNigeria, it certainlycontributed to itsspread and publicapathy to the diseaseas more Nigeriansbecame beneficiaries ofthe wages ofcorruption.

Clearly, Babangida’sdecision to drasticallydevalue the Naira didnot recognize itsimpact on fuel price;indeed, the notion offuel subsidy

apparently became inevitablewith Naira devaluation.Regrettably, successiveadministrations have remainedin denial of this relationshipand the most recentdevaluations from N155 toN199=$1 within 4 months alsotriggered another 20% rise infuel prices despite the irony ofprevailing lower crude oilprices. Consequently,additional Naira devaluationabove 20% as demanded byoverseas ‘investors’ would onlystoke fuel prices and makesubsidy removal a majorchallenge for Buhari’sadministration; ultimately, fuelsubsidy will exceed the allegedburden of about N1tn annually

and account for over 20% ofexpenditure, if Federal budgetsremain below N5tn.

Furthermore, an additional20% devaluation, will alsoreduce minimum monthlywage to about $75, down fromalmost $120 only 5 years ago;indeed, with inflationconsistently nearer 10%, thecurrent minimum wageundeniably buys much lessthan was earlier possible, witha collateral reduction inconsumer demand.

Consequently, if CBN nowyields to the current pressureto promote higher interestrates, the rate for governmentborrowings will inch closer to20% to impress overseasinvestors; in this event, cost offunds to the real sector mayapproach 30% to furtherdiscourage investments, reducecapacity utilization andemployment opportunities, andalso turn the possibility ofdiversifying our economy to amirage.

In other words, higherinterest rates will constrain jobcreation and also increase adebt burden that will beserviced by future generationsat oppressive and anti-growthinterest rates.

Nonetheless, some analystsstill suggest that weaker Nairaexchange rates will promoteNigerian exports; regrettably,Nigeria’s non oil exports havecontinued to dwindle as theNaira collapsed overtime fromstronger than N1=$1 toN200=$1!

Instructively, the strategies torescue the Naira Exchange ratehas consistently related to thereduction of dollar demand;however in view of theapparent failures, it may nowbe time to recognize theunceasing systemic excesssupply of Naira as the actualvillain; clearly, a market withsurplus Naira constantlychasing rations of dollar supplywill always constrain Nairaappreciation.

The poison in further devaluation

Instructively, the strategiesto rescue the Naira Exchangerate has consistently relatedto the reduction of dollardemand; however in view ofthe apparent failures, it maynow be time to recognize theunceasing systemic excesssupply of Naira as the actualvillain

Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard, MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, AUGUST 31, AUGUST 31, AUGUST 31, AUGUST 31, 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015—37—37—37—37—37

UNDOUBTEDLY, coronaryproblems are increasing

worldwide for various reasons likediabetes, high blood pressure andabove all smoking has taken thecentre stage in the society. Unfor-tunately, many Nigerians are ig-norant of all these factors.

A Senior Consultant Cardiologistfrom Apollo Hospital, New Delhi,Dr. Rajeeve Kumar Rajput saysmaking lifestyle changes will pre-vent coronary related diseases.

Experts are worried that coronaryproblems are on the increaseinNigeria as a result of diabetes,high blood pressure and smokingamong others. Today, sedentarylifestyle is commonplace. Manypeople no longer walk distance,most people now move from air-conditioned house to an air- con-ditioned cars and offices. Yet sed-entary lifestyle contributes to fac-tors that cause blockages in theblood supply to the heart whichcauses chest pain, artery pain andheart problems.

India andNigeria

He said a lot needs to be done totrain local doctors In Nigeria.

"The gold standard of managingheart attack is to do a gene venog-raphy of these patients and openthe artery and put a stent. I spoketo some Nigerian doctors who par-ticipated in our training, whereover 100 doctors were trained, thereis one centre doing it sometimesbut it is not routinely available inAbuja.

"With Abuja population of aboutfour million, if it were a developedcountry, we need to have 12-15cardiology hospitals to take care ofcardiac problems. The informationI have is that there are only twobig cardiac centres here and thetwo are not offering the bestservices. There is room for improve-ment.

Speaking on a comparative ba-sis between Nigeria and India,Rajput said it was probably howDelhi was 10-15 years back.

"What we have today is a gen-eral reflection of the developmentof the economy. When you better

Improving your lifestyle improves your heart healthBy Chioma Obinna

Igbobi Hospital eulogises Dr. Jerry Grange

THE management of the National Orthopaedic Hospital,

Igbobi, Lagos, NOHIL, has de-scribed the death of its formerMedical Director, Dr. JeremiahJose Grange, as a big loss to thehospital in particular and thecountry at large.

The late Grange whose re-mains have since been laid torest in Illinois, in the USA,where he passed way on August24, 2015, at the age of 79.

In a condolence message tothe family of the deceased, theinstitution's Medical Director,Dr. Rotimi Odunubi said he re-ceived news of the death withshock saying that the lateGrange will be forever remem-bered for his numerous contri-butions and dedication towardpatient care, staff empowermentand dedication.

Odunubi who noted that thehospital had opened a condo-lence register, observed that inthe area of clinical services, chil-dren born with deformitieswould be forever grateful to thedeceased.

"He established a special clinicoutside his routine clinic, wherehe normally looked after chil-dren born with club foot and

By Sola Ogundipe &Gabriel Olawale

not have good facilities and onlygood hospitals, the two come to-gether. Health in all developingcountries does not get as muchmoney as it should get."Preventionof coronary problems

There are lifestyle changes thatcan make this possible like quit-ting smoking. Avoid second-handsmoke too. Quitting smoking maybe the best thing you can do toprevent heart disease. Exercisetoo. There are lots of ways thatexercise boosts your heart health.It can improve cholesterol andblood pressure. It can also helpyou reach a healthy weight. Talkto your doctor before starting anexercise programme to make surethat it's safe for you. Eat heart-healthy foods to control your cho-lesterol and blood pressure. Stayat a healthy weight and beactive.Lose weight if you need to.

Use lifestylechanges

The best way to prevent coro-nary artery disease is to make sig-nificant lifestyle changes. Improveyour diet. Live an active lifestyle.You'll also see the following ben-

ers. He introduced some new pro-cedures in the hospital that en-abled total hip replacement.

"When he left the hospital as amedical director he alwaysshowed interest in the progressof the hospital. Even about fivemonths ago before his travel outof the country for medical treat-ment, he visited the hospital toinform us about his trip but un-

fortunately we receive the newsof his death.

Also speaking, an OrthopaedicSurgeon, Dr. Olawumi Popoolawho worked for several years withthe late Grange as a subordinate,pointed out that he was an easy-going person.

"It was very difficult for an un-faithful person to work with himduring his life time. He wasverystraightforward and hated lies alot. He was not diplomatic be-cause he would call a spade, aspade. He wanted people to takehim as he was and he took otherpeople as they were. He was veryhardworking person."

Findings by Vanguard revealedthat the Club Foot clinic startedby the deceased was the first ofits kind in the country. The clinicruns to this day.

In her own contribution, the Di-rector of Administration, NOHIL,Mrs. Margaret Pikuda, describedthe late Grange as a man that gaveno room for nonsense. "He wasdisciplined. I remember backthen, when people came to worklate, he was there to challengethem. When it came to punctual-ity, he always wanted you to beat work and be efficient. He be-lieved so much in local expertise,and so much in Nigeria profes-sionals. He placed them first inhis heart."

other deformities. He alsoensured that all these activitieswere properly documented andmade available for the youngergeneration."

Further, Odunubi said when theLate Grange was Medical Direc-tor of Igbobi between 1989 and1995, he ensured improvement inarea of training programme fordoctors and nurses among oth-

•As remains is laid to rest in Illinois, USA

Cutting out fast foodlike fries, burgers,breakfast sand-wiches, and dough-nuts is one of theeasiest ways to re-duce your intake ofsaturated fat, whichraises blood choles-terol Late Dr. Jeremiah Grange

the economy, better educationand infrastructure, better hospi-

tals will come up. There is nocountry in the world which does

efits: weight loss, leaner body,lower blood pressure, better moodand lower stress level, strongerbones and a reduced risk of de-veloping osteoporosis and greaterlung capacity and more endur-ance - for example, so you canclimb stairs without stopping torest

Tips forEating Better

Your diet should be low in fatand cholesterol and heavy on veg-etables and whole grains. Eat fiveservings of fruits and vegetablesa day. If you don't have time toprepare fresh veggies, buy themcanned (look for low-sodium op-tions) or frozen; it's better thanskipping them. Cut down on salt.Look for low-salt versions of thefoods you enjoy, and add less saltto your food at the table.

Buy whole grains. Choosewhole-grain bread, cereal, pasta,and rice, and cook with wholegrains like oatmeal and barley.

Cutting out fast food like fries,burgers, breakfast sandwiches,and doughnuts is one of the easi-est ways to reduce your intake ofsaturated fat, which raises bloodcholesterol.

INTERVIEW: Dr. Rajeeve Kumar Rajput.

CMYK

38 — Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015 — 39

40 — Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015 — 41

42—Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

ON the firstanniversary of the

Ebola outbreak in thecountry, the United Statesgovernment, weekend,restated its commitmenttowards fostering apartnership with Nigeria bystrengthening response tofuture epidemic diseaseoutbreaks.

Making the commitmentin Lagos, the DeputyAssistant Secretary forGlobal Affairs, USDepartment of Health andHuman Services, Dr.Mitchell Wolfe, said theworld has been watchingand will continue to watchwhat happens in thecountries affected by Ebola,including Nigeria.

Wolfe, who led adelegation from the USConsulate General inLagos on an official visit tothe First ConsultantsMedical Centre,Obalende, Lagos, whereNigeria’s index Ebola case,Mr Patrick Sawyer died onJuly 24, 2014, said the UShad learned a lot and wasprepared to learn morefrom Nigeria's experience. His words: “It’s just not atechnical assistance, I thinkit’s a two way street. Wehave a lot to learn from you,from each of your stories,from what happened, whatthe successes are and thechallenges you saw andovercame.

Diseasecontrol

"We also have lessons thatwe are able to share withyou and the world ondisease control, responseand protocols to strengthenbasically all the countries inthe world. Hopefully, thiswill strengthen Nigeria tobe able to better detect andrespond to the diseases."

On global happenings asa result of Ebola outbreak,Wolfe said there were majorefforts in the world todevelop vaccine to treatEbola. He said “There ismajor effort to improve andreform the way that globalhealth response structurecan assist other countries totry and ensure that whenthere are outbreaks of otherinfectious diseasesincluding Ebola, we canbetter respond as a world.We must also realise that arisk of infectious diseasesanywhere is also a riskeverywhere. We want toreally help make the worldrespond not just country bycountry, but have allcountries have a capacity ofcommunication so that wewill be able to respond asquickly as possible.

Also speaking, the ActingConsul General, USConsulate General Office,

Ebola: US strengthenscollaboration with Nigeria

By Sola Ogundipe &Gabriel Olawale

Lagos, Mrs. DehabGhebreab, said the USConsulate Office and theNigerian governmentdeveloped a successfulpartnership to defeat Ebola.She said, “This is our firstvisit to the hospital (FirstConsultants). For us, theEbola outbreak in Nigeriawas a priority for thecountry and it was a priorityfor us as well and thepartnership was very close."

Ghebreab said theConsulate engaged withdiplomatic partners fromother Consulates andEmbassies, and alsoengaged the communitiesthrough the religiousleaders and leaders ofassociations working withthe media, to ensure thatthey increased awarenessof the people.

“For us, it was apartnership that was verysuccessful. The Lagos Stategovernment was incrediblyinvolved and responsive,just as FederalGovernment was involvedand responsive.Governments at the threelevels came together towork with the healthproviders to contain thevirus and that is whyNigeria is getting all thekudos because a lot ofhavoc was prevented.”

In his response, MedicalDirector, First ConsultantsMedical Centre, Dr.Benjamin Ohaeri, paidglowing tribute to thosewho died in the battle tostop Ebola in the country.Recounting the hospital’sexperience, he said:“Nobody could put all thistogether alone, but we hadto take the lead, because forus it is personal. We hadthe problem of care. MrSawyer had just died. Weput a call through to theGlobal Affairs office inrealising that the body of adead Ebola patient wasmore infectious thananything else.

“The Global Affairs officetook the unprecedentedstep of calling the WorldHealth Organisation,WHO, command centreand interrupting theirmeeting, saying that theyshould step down whateverit was they were doingbecause Nigeria had aproblem that was toppriority. I was on the phone,I could hear thishappening. I still have notgot over it, because I do notknow how you caninterrupt WHO CommandCentre office, but we did.”

Ohaeri said thedevelopment was a gamechanger because as soon ithappened, the WHO wasable to step down whatthey were doing andimmediately gaveinstruction about what to doand what not to do.

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Vanguard, Vanguard, Vanguard, Vanguard, Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015—43

CMYK

WHEN gunshots were heard at Tipper Park,

Majidun, Ikorodu last Monday,residents immediately took totheir heels thinking that dare-devil armed robbers had invadedtheir community. But they werewrong. It soon emerged that thecommotion was caused by aNaval rating who let loose withhis gun. In the event three tipperdrivers were seriously injured.The names of those whosustained bullet wounds from theshooting were given as LanreAgbor, Abass and Timothy. Theyare currently in a criticalcondition even whileundergoing treatment at theLagos University TeachingHospital, LUTH.

Sporadicshooting

The rating was a member of anaval team deployed to protectthe Nigeria National PetroleumCorporation, NNPC, pipelinesfrom vandals since October2014. He was said to have beendrunk at the time he suddenlypicked his rifle and began toshoot sporadically.

According to residents, Lanrehad just returned from a trip andwas fixing his tipper when theshooting began on Majidunbridge. He quickly joined hiscolleagues who went runningfor their dear lives, raising theirhands in solidarity at the sametime.

The seemingly disorientedrating, however, kept onshooting, in the process of whichstray bullets hit three of thedrivers. But for the timelyintervention of their colleagueswho quickly rushed to them tohospital for medical attention,they probably would have bledto death.

However, residents claimed thevictims were rejected at theIkorodu General Hospital. It wasat this point they were taken toLUTH where they are currently

Majidun shooting: The naval officer wassomewhere drinking;suddenly, he got up,marched to thebridge and startedshooting; peoplebegan to run; Lanrewho just returnedfrom a trip was shoton the arm andstomach

•Some of the protesting residents at Majidun

on admission. A seven-daypeaceful protest is currently onin the community to protest theaction of the rating.

Victims’ relatives recount

ordealSpeaking to Vanguard Metro,

VM, two of Lanre’s elderbrothers, Monday and MosesAgbor, claimed their brother hadjust returned from a trip whenthe incident occurred. ‘’We areorphans and none of us wantedto stay idle. That is why we stayedin this community to eke out aliving. But the shooting of ourbrother has dealt a painful blowon our family and we don’t knowwhere and who to run to. Beforethe incident, the naval officer wassomewhere drinking. Suddenly,he got up, marched to the bridge

and started shooting into the air.People began to run helter-skelter, raising their hands. Inthe process, Lanre who justreturned from a trip was shot onthe arm and stomach. He wasrushed to the hospital but hiscondition remained uncertain. Tomake matters worse for us, wewere disallowed from seeing himin the hospital. We are indigenesof Ilaje Ese-Odo in Ondo State;but we were born and bred atMajidun where we have lost bothour parents,” they informed.

Another resident, Wasiu Jimoh,confirmed the story of theshooting as narrated by thebrothers.

Chairman of Majidunresidents, Rev OloyedeEgbodofo, urged both the LagosState and federal governments tocurtail the activities of the navalofficers who have allegedly beenusing their position to terrorisethe community. ‘’The navalofficers are doing more harm thangood. On several occasions, theyforced innocent residents to drinkdirty water from the drainage.Last Monday’s incident was nota surprise as they had doneworse things since October2014,” he said.

Enugu Road reconstruction: Respite at last forNsukka residents

By Francis Igata, Enugu

RESIDENTS and motoristsplying the Enugu Road in

Nsukka, Nsukka LocalGovernment Area may soon heavea sigh of relief courtesy of the recentamendment of the 2015Appropriation Bill by the EnuguState House of Assembly. Theamendment is expected to pave theway for the reconstruction of the roadwhich is constantly waterloggeddue to non-existence of drainagechannels, a situation which oftenforces motorists to resort to plyingsingle lane.

Indeed, the Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi-led administration had in its maidentour,earmarked the road,amongothers, to receive urgent attentionfrom government following thepivotal role it is said to play in theexpansion of the socio-economicgrowth in the rural areas.

Socio-economicgrowth

Vanguard Metro, VM, checksshowed that lack of drainagechannels along the two flanks of theroad had always caused rain waterto remain on it even as residentialand business premises were oftensubmerged after a downpour.

Further checks revealed thatresidential and business houseswere built on drainage or waterwaychannels which blocked thepassage of flood water any time it

rains. The situation had led to totaldecay of the road accessories, deep-ened yawning craters just as prop-erties have been lost as haplessresidents are resigned to fate.

Due process on re-allocation:The House passed into law, theamended, revised, appropriationbill,2015, of N9,878,419,200.00presented to it by the stategovernment. The bill tagged“Enugu State of NigeriaAmendment (revised)Appropriation Bill, 2015” as movedby the leader of the House, Hon.Ikechukwu Ezeugwu, is to makeway for internal re-allocation ofresources in the existing budget ofover N96.735 billion as passed bythe previous administration offormer Governor Sullivan Chimeto enable the government embarkon important development projectsin the state.

According to the amendedbudget, allocations were adjustedto accommodate the eight newprojects that were hitherto not

included earlier.The new projects are the

construction of two kilometres NikeRoad; construction of 3.6km NikeLake Road; 5km AirportRoundabout/Orie Emene/EkeObinagu Road; 2km Okutu/OdoruRoad; 1.5km 9th Mile/NsukkaRoad and 9th Mile/Onitsha RoadBypass; 10.8km Opi/Nsukka Road;Installation of Streetlights alongOpi-Nsukka Road andconstruction/Rehabilitation ofNsukka Urban Roads.

Ogige market leader elated: TheChairman,Ogige Market TradersAssociation,second largest marketin Enugu State,Mr. FestusChibuike noted that the move bythe Ugwuanyi administration toconstruct major roads in Nsukkaurban which incudes Enugu Roadwill not only give the town a face-lift,but also attract investors into theUniversity Town.

Chibuike said: “We are glad thegovernment of the day has takenthe bold step to rehabilitate roadsin Nsukka in despair. The EnuguRoad in question leads to theOgige Main Market which is thesecond largest market in the state.If constructed, it will no doubt, at-tract investors into the UniversityTown and bring it at par with it con-temporaries nationwide. We willalso give government the muchneeded support to actualise itsaims.

“We learnt we may be forced torelocat to a new area earmarkedfor traders called the Ikpa Marketto enable government removeproperties and wares that may ob-struct the construction exercise.

“We are ready to partner withgovernment in any area to betterour collective lot as a people,especially now that ourbrother,Ugwuanyi,is in the saddle.”

*Festus Chibuike

*A section of the water-logged Enugu Road,Nsukka

By Bose Adelaja

Residents recount ordeal,embark on protest

44—Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

L-r: General Manager, Regulatory Affairs, MTN Nigeria, Ms. Oyeronke Oyetunde; Co-Founder, ONE Campaign International, Borno; CEO, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Mike Ikpoki andExecutive Secretary, MTN Foundation, Ms. Nonny Ugboma during the visit of the ONECampaign International’s team at the MTN Nigeria Corporate Head Office in Lagos

L-r: Otunba Wasiu Taiwo, president, Nigeria Union of Tailors, and Garment Workersof Nigeria, Mrs. Funmi Ladipo, president of Fashion Designers Association ofNigeria, Mr. Babatunde Faleke of NEPC & Mrs. Joke Ladoja, Fashion Designer atthe one-day capacity building workshop for stakeholders in garment & apparelsector organized by NEPC in Lagos.

CMYK

VIRGINIA

KAPTAIN AFRIKA in “HEY’ By Andy Akman

dadadekola@yahoo.com

TERROR MUDA in “Scavenger Elite” By Lanre Kehinde

HOME & ABROAD By Lawrence Akapa

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Counselling, PCounselling, PCounselling, PCounselling, PCounselling, P.M.B 1.M.B 1.M.B 1.M.B 1.M.B 100000000007, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos

YOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAY

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015 —45

L E I S U R ETHOUGHT FOR TODAYTHOUGHT FOR TODAYTHOUGHT FOR TODAYTHOUGHT FOR TODAYTHOUGHT FOR TODAY

By Richard EromoseleLIBRA: Pressure that came your way suddenly will giveway unexpectedly, today, to the betterment of your course.The more financially ambitious you are today, the betterfor you. Be steadfast.

SCORPIO: You sincerely believe in intelligent argumentor discussion. And if you allow your ability to bediplomatic come to play today, you’ll be better for it. Enjoyyour love life.

SAGITTARIUS: You’ll tend to become both creativeand persuasive to the administration of others. Then thosewho’ve been resisting secret love may slip suddenly andbecome excited.

CAPRICORN: Even if opposition persists, supports youare getting from the influential people will be enough tosee you through. Yet, the more cooperative you are thebetter.

AQUARIUS: Your creativity quotient within yourworking arena will today be enhanced. You’ll be blamedif you keep official issues secrets from your challenges atwork.

PISCES: After a few tension soaked days, you’ll havethe needed opportunity to look through windows of theworld and have your way as well. Magnetic and/or magicdays is predicted for lovers today.

ARIES: Even if you continue to work under pressure viaincreased workload, you will have good results to showfor your efforts today. Be steadfast.

TAURUS: Promise made to genuine personalitiesshould be kept if not because of today but for bettertomorrow. Be reasonable and clean.

GEMINI: Those of you willing to let go hard feelings atwork are for a progressive day to the betterment of yourfinances. Let go yesterday, move ahead.

CANCER: Once again, you’ll have the neededopportunity to assert yourself to the administration ofothers. Both love and financial success can be yours withefforts. Reason with your tried and trusted friends.

LEO: You can make it a successful day with positiveapproach on your part. You will be in a better position todefuse tension within your working arena. Try to be moreambitious.

VIRGO; Yes! You’re not scared a bit even, whenopposition and/or competition come your way but, if yougive in to diplomatic approach, you’ll fare better today.

What’s my Horoscope?Dear Joshua,Kindly tell me how the planets lined up when I was born

and the day of the week I was born but don’t publish mydate of birth.. Please tell me my full horoscope

Anonymous. Nigeria.

Dear Anonymous,You were born on a Sunday.YOUR HOROSCOPE DATADay of Birth = SundaySun Sign = Scorpio. Sun in Zero Degree of ScorpioMoon Sign = Libra: Moon in 5th Degree of LibraMercury in 12th Degree of ScorpioVenus in Zero Degree of SagittariusMars in 1st Degree of AquariusJupiter in 29th Degree of CancerSaturn in 10th Degree of ScorpioUranus in 27th Degree of CancerNeptune in 25th Degree of LibraPluto in 26th Degree of LeoNorth Node in 8th Degree of CapricornSouth Node in 8th Degree of CancerNo planet in earth spar sign, one in available, two in

fire, three in air, four in cardinal, fixed and water starsigns hosted five planets each.

PHYSICAL INFLUENCE = 50%NON-PHYSICAL INFLUENCE =50%PLANET AT HOME = NONEANALYSIS OF THE HOROSCOPE DATAYou are both an intelligent and emotional person. And

as there was planet at home when you were born, too manyideas will always struggle for prominent place in yourmind, thus decision making is difficult but most times,your intelligence comes to the rescue.

Certainly, you appear to other as a gentle person whocan be mistaken for soft fellow but your inner-self is thepersonality with a steel like will power.

You are the consistent type who may find it difficult tochange once you have made up your mind as indicated bydistribution of the planets as written out in paragraph twoof this exercise.

One major challenge you have been battling for a verylong time is constant worries, some times, necessarily andthe other time, uncalled for, as indicated by conjunctionMercury and Saturn formed when you were born.

So The Rich Also Cry?A N O T H E R

fallacy that Ifound very difficult toaccept is the beliefthat the rich can’t bebroke. And I ask,why can’t the rich bebroke? In fact, therich man is more

prone to beingbroke than the poorman. For instance,he needs workingcapital to keep hisn u m e r o u sb u s i n e s s e srunning. He needs

funds to service hisoverhead, he needsmoney to maintainhis status, he alsoneeds funds toservice thenumerous requestsfor f inancial

assistance fromfriends, relationsand acquintances.Can you now seethat the rich alsocry?

Rich or poor, noone is immune fromcrying. Yes, the richalso cry!

CMYK

46—VANGUARD, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

Build special prisons for corruptNigerians—Balarabe Musa tells Buhari•Says in spite of his antecedents Buhari better than his 2015 opponents

IN his time as the governor of Kaduna State, AlhajiBalarabe Musa and most of his colleagues lived a spartan lifedue to the fact that corruption was very minimal andgovernors were excitedly submissive to the president andtheir parties. But with corruption becoming a lifestyle ratherthan an exception and corrupt politicians being worshipped asgods and President Muhammadu Buhari wielding thesledgehammer against the monster as a cardinal objective ofhis administration, Musa has thrown his weight behind thepresident’s renewed effort to eliminate the cankerworm fromthe polity. In this interview, Musa thumps up for Buhari’santi-graft drive and encourages him to build special prisons toincarcerate corrupt Nigerians to serve as a deterrent topotential treasury looters in the country.

•Musa: Leaving corrupt politicians with their loot will endanger our democracy

HOW do you feel aboutgovernors, who use their

positions to amass wealthwith impunity and make amockery of public office?

I feel bad because these areresources that should be used toliberate the people and providewelfare and security for them. Itis even more worrisome that inmost places those in power havenot provided even the basic thingsfor their subjects while they swimin opulence and mindlessextravagance, creating a big gapbetween them and those whoelected them into office. That isdirectly responsible for thenegative things the nation isgrappling with today characterizedby unemployment, poverty,insecurity and lose of confidencein public service.

Nationalinterest

That is why I strongly advisePresident Muhammadu Buhari tourgently build special prisons forthose people as a matter of urgentnational interest.

The danger is that if he does notgo after those who stole so muchfrom the nation’s treasury, thesemalevolent elements could use theill-gotten wealth to topple Nigeria.Many of them are believed to havestolen as much as trillions of Nairaand stashed away in foreignaccounts. A recent report revealedthat some crooked Nigeriansmight have stolen more than theannual budget of Nigeria.

Do we have stronginstitutions to carry out thisanti- corruption war?

Let us establish them.What should he establish

again since we already havethe EFCC and ICPC?

The President needs tostrengthen them and give them theneeded independence to operateoptimally and send corruptelements to prison. For instance,he should be able to set up special

By Soni Daniel, NorthernRegion Editor

judicial committees to investigatethe fundamental aspect of thestate of the nation, whichcontributed more to this level ofmind-boggling corruption andstealing and such committeeswould determine which aspect ofcorrupt matter should go to theEFCC for further investigation orprosecution.

It should not be left to him orthe EFCC to decide who shouldbe tried because the EFCC itselfhas become an institution ofcorruption. EFCC can also on itsown identify such an area anddeal with. But certainly, thecurrent state of investigation andprosecution by the agency leavesmuch to be desired and it is aserious setback to the anti-graftwar.

Are you not afraid thatBuhari may end up sendingmany Nigerians to prisongiven his resolve to wage anall-out war against thecorrupt among us?

Let them go to prison. In fact I

would advise him to build specialprisons for those who plunderedNigeria because it has to be done.If you allow these thieves tocontinue stealing and eventuallycontrolling political power in thecountry, you will lead this countryto destruction, anarchy, sustainedinstability, military coup and socialrevolution.

That is why I strongly adviseBuhari to go the whole hug indealing with those who plunderedNigeria’s wealth.

You seem to be highlyunpredictable given the wayyou have been speakingabout leaders in Nigeria.When Dr Goodluck Jonathanwas in power you neither fullysupported him nor distancedyourself from him. With theemergence of Buhari it is alltoo clear that you really donot support him. Where doyou really belong?

Well, whatever my position is,is a matter of principle. It is notpersonal at all. Now you got itslightly wrong because in 2003,2007 and 2011 I supportedBuhari because I considered himto be the least risk. I didn’t say hewas the best among all Nigeriansbut I considered him to be theleast risk because in a situationwhere money and power playleading role in politics it is notpossible to know the best but you

If you allow thesethieves to continuestealing and escapingand eventuallycontrolling politicalpower in the countrythey will lead thiscountry todestruction, anarchy,sustained instability,military coup andsocial revolution

will have to choose between twoalternatives that are notfundamentally different.

For instance, when it comes tothe election of the president inyour country you may not have asuitable president but there will bea president whether you chooseone or not and it is better to havereason to align with one becauseremaining neutral maysometimes be negative.

Confidenceof the people

In 2003, 2007and 2011 weconsidered Buhari as the least riskin choosing who will become thepresident. We supported him.

But since Buhari has beenelected by Nigerians, what areyour expectations of him?

Let me tell you in totality withoutwasting time. We think Buharican’t deal with the negative stateof the nation, which ischaracterized by poverty,unemployment, hunger,corruption, collapse of publicinstitutions and lack ofconfidence of the people in theleadership.

But why would Nigerianslack confidence in a presidentthey freely elected?

I want to say that in spite ofwhat I believe, Buhari is still betterthan all those he contested the

election with and that is why hewon. Buhari is still better thaneven those who have alreadybegun to position themselves for2019 even though we are still in2015. I am very confident thatthese elements will not do betterthan Buhari given the way theyhave tried to position themselvesalmost through the back door.

Given what you have said,what do you think that Buharishould do to succeed in hiswar against treasury looters?

What he should do now is toconvert himself into arevolutionary.

What does that mean? What it means is that he will

confront the problems of thecountry realistically withoutpretence and without deceit andface the problem of the countrywith open mind in order to changethe system.

He and his cabinet shouldenthrone public interest over andabove self interest. Nigerians havesuffered enough under corruptadministrations and he needs toadopt radical measures to changethe way things are being done inthe country and give Nigerians a new lease of life, restore their hopeand sense of pride as citizens ofthe largest black nation on earth.It is his place to make Nigeriansto be respected across the globe

Continues on page 47

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015—47

Continues from page 46

•Musa: Buhari should probe all including himself, he is sparing some people

by adopting global best practicesin all facets of our national life.

But how should he do this?Is it by way of legislation thatwe don’t have or deployingpolitical will?

He should show the neededpolitical will in confronting ourproblems. For instance, inprosecuting this anti-corruptioncampaign, he shouldn’t spareanybody. But at the moment, heseems to be sparing some of thosewho looted the land with impunity.He said he would probe onlyJonathan’s administration; hewould not probe the otheradministrations. That is negative,that is short sightedness and it willnot solve the problem.

So you want him to go thewhole hog?

Yes the whole hog from 1966up till date because it was from1966 that this level of corruptionstarted to disable the government;that was when the military tookover and they are the people whobrought about this level ofcorruption to Nigeria. He shouldprobe everyone including himself.

Publicresources

If he cannot probe himself, heshould appoint a dispassionatecommittee to do so. All thosefound to have corruptly enrichedthemselves while serving in onecapacity or the other should bejailed.

Do you support the settingup of a committee to advisethe government on how to endcorruption in Nigeria?

Absolutely but my only fear isthat the committee is too smallcompared to the size of ourcountry. Nigeria is very big. Letthe president expand thecommittee and even spend thenext four years to deal with themonumental level of corruptionand criminal waste of publicresources and register progressthere.

Even if progress in other sectorsis relatively smaller than what hehas done in stamping outcorruption, at least at the end of four years, he would have dealtdecisively with the issue and hewould never be forgotten and hewould have made it easier for anyother leader to continue with thecampaign successfully.

During the colonial era and theFirst Republic, there wasn’t thislevel of corruption and I can tellyou that whoever stole a kobo ofpublic funds was investigated andprosecuted.

Some have called for thesetting up of special courts totackle corruption. Do youthink this would help?

Build special prisons forcorrupt Nigerians—Balarabe Musa tells Buhari

O yes, that should be doneimmediately because thesegeneral courts are even part andparcel of the problem.

Where do you think thejudges for the special courtswill come from? Are they notstill Nigerian judges whohave not performed well in thenormal courts?

Look, there are courageous andincorruptible judges from all partsof Nigeria and they can do thejob satisfactorily.

What was wrong and whatwas right with the Jonathanadministration from yourown point of view?

In the first place, Jonathanshould not have been the presidentof Nigeria.

Experience andcompetence

I am saying so because he didnot have the experience andcompetence. Look, we are talkingabout Nigeria with over 170million people and it is not a joke.America can have anybody as itspresident because there is asystem which controls everythingand there is a standard of conductin public affairs, which nobody isexpected to go below.

But we don’t have suchstandards and it is whoeverbecomes the president that setsup that standards. For instance,Umaru Yar’Adua and GoodluckJonathan never had suchstandards. None of them hadsocial experience in terms ofpublic or private sector servicebefore becoming president andvice president of Nigeria.

Yar’Adua never had more thantwo years’ experience in the publicsector of Nigeria. The samething goes for Jonathan who wasin the university. But simplybecause it served Obasanjo’s

interest, he brought the twoinexperienced men to rule overNigeria. But none of them wascapable of running Nigeria. So onecan say that Obasanjo broughtthe tragedy of selecting unqualifiedNigerians to rule over the rest ofus.

Nationalunity

The problem with Nigerians isthat they don’t assess theirleaders before bringing them onboard.

But there were certainthings that Jonathan did verywell and was applauded byNigerians.

Of course, even the devilhimself sometimes does thingsright.

So, how would you adviseBuhari to succeed?

I would like him to convincehimself that he is morally andpolitically capable to undertakethe responsibility of cleaning upNigeria. I would advise him toconstitute a government ofnational unity drawn from themajor political parties in Nigeria.He should deal decisively withthis monumental level ofcorruption in the country andshould do so honestly withoutemotion and ensure that theinterest of Nigeria and Nigeriansis protected. He should not do itwith any malice.

Do you support the claimsby the opposition that Buhariis going after his opponentsand being selective in theanti-graft war?

Yes, it is Buhari himself whomade it clear that he would onlygo after those who served under

Jonathan. I will not mentionnames but I want to say thatthere are people in both thePeoples Democratic Party, PDPand All Progressives Congress,APC, who are even dangerousthan Jonathan.

Looking at the NationalAssembly and whathappened during and shortlyafter the election of principalofficers, do you think all iswell with the polity?

I am genuinely worried overwhat happened because it hasthe potential to torpedo thesystem and distract thegovernment from workingeffectively for Nigerians. It maymake it very difficult for Buharito get the cooperation of theSenate in carrying out his setagenda for the country.

Agenda forthe country

We know there have been issues that the president hastaken to the Senate and theywere approved with dispatch. But when you look at the bodylanguage, the behaviour andrelationship between thepresident and the Senatepresident you would doubt thatwhen it comes to critical issueswhether there would be thiscooperation.

If this develops into somethingworse and a completebreakdown of relations betweenthe president and the senatepresident, to the extent thatNigerians have to choosebetween the President of thecountry and the President of theSenate, then the choice would bequite obvious: They would stick

with the president of Nigeriabecause Nigerians elected him toconduct the affairs of the country.

As important as the Senate andthe House of Representatives arein the country, they were merelyelected to play their roles aslegislators to assist the presidentto succeed in promoting anddefending Nigeria’s sovereignty.

Breakdown inrelationships

So, if Nigeria faces anarchy, asa result of the fact that there isno cooperation between thepresident and the NationalAssembly, Nigerians know whoto blame. Nigerians should bemindful of the consequences ofsuch breakdown in relationshipbetween the President and theSenate which may includemilitary coup, anarchy, socialrevolution etc, and I hope theNASS will hear this and begin towork harmoniously with thePresident and for Nigerians.

But from your own point ofview, was it right for a fewmembers of the NASS tohave gone ahead of theelection of principal officerswhen most of the APCsenators were waiting tohave a meeting withPresident Buhari on June9?

We cannot blame them forthat. The blame cuts across.Both the APC and their senatorswere at fault. In the first place,the Senate election was wellpublicised. Why did the APCsenators go for a meeting withthe president at a time they wereexpected to be at the NASS forthe crucial election?

I will notmention namesbut I want tosay that thereare people inboth the PDPand APC whoare evendangerous thanJonathan

CMYK

48— Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

You’ve hidden agenda againstJonathan, IYC accuses Buhari

ABUJA—IJAW YouthsCouncil, IYC, has

called on PresidentMuhammadu Buhari toextend his anti-corruptionwar to 1999 to cover theChief Olusegun Obasanjoera so as to be takenseriously over his anti-corruption war.

The Ijaw youths, who arekinsmen of Jonathan,wondered why Buharishould skip the Obasanjoera and concentrate hisprobe on the GoodluckJonathan’s administration,accusing him of having ahidden agenda againsttheir son.

The National President ofthe IYC, Udengs Eradiri, ina statement in Abuja,yesterday, said it wassuspicious for Buhari tochoose to probe only theJonathan’s administrationand leave out Obasanjo.

The IYC noted that for theBuhari regime to be takenseriously in the anti-corruption war, thePresident must extend theprobe to 1999 so as to probe

the Obasanjo governmentand recover stolen wealthcarted away at that time.

The IYC pointed out thatwhile they were notopposed to the probe, theywere, however, not happythat Obasanjo was beingexcluded from the probebecause of the support hegave to Buhari during thelast election.

“While we are not againstany effort of the Presidentto investigate previousadministrations and indeedtake steps against thescourge of corruption in thesociety, we hereby statewithout equivocation thatthe period covered by thisprobe is suspect.

“It would have made a lotof sense for somebody whois genuinely interested inrevisiting alleged cases ofmalfeasance which hasheld our nation back toeither commence such aninvestigation from 1960when the country becameindependent or from 1999when Nigeria became ademocracy after years of

military dictatorship.“The President’s decision

to leave out the eight-yearperiod covered by thePresidency of ChiefObasanjo, from 1999 to2007, suggests that thecurrent anti-corruptioncrusade is beingmanipulated to spare somesacred cows. We hold thatthis is unfair and that thetenure of Chief Obasanjo isbeing exempted because ofthe role he played inBuhari's emergence asPresident.

“In fact, if there issomebody that should beprobed, it should be ChiefObasanjo who lackedforesight and failed in thecritical job to adequatelyarm our military, in spite ofthe huge fundsappropriated for defenceunder him. If he had doneso, the menace of BokoHaram would have longbeen dealt with in the earlystages. It took theadministration of Jonathanto buy the weapons weneed."

Stop mocking Jonathan,ex-ministers tell BuhariContinues from Page 5

kind of governmentthey handed over to thepresent.

According to thePresidency, the formerministers should allowthe President the peacehe required to handlethe reconstruction of theeconomy and the nationin a manner that mostserves Nigeria’s bestinterests, adding thatPresident Buhari doesnot need these types ofdistraction presented bythe so-called associationof former ministers.

In a statement signedby the Senior SpecialAssistant to thePresident on Media andPublicity, Mallam GarbaShehu, the Presidencyasked the country ’slatest trade unionformation, theAssociation of Ex-Jonathan Ministers to doa bit of self-reflection onthe sort of governmentthey handed to PresidentMuhammadu Buhariback in May todetermine for themselvesif it would have beenright for any incominggovernment, not just thisone, "to ignore the issueof the brazen theft ofpublic assets, perhapsthe first of its kind wehave ever seen in thiscountry".

The Statement said: “Inthis regard, that there isno witch hunt or maliceagainst anyone in thepursuit of the county’sstolen assets still stands.This war againstcorruption knows nofriend or foe.

“There is no intentionto deny anyone of theirgood name where theyare entitled to it and thatPresident Buharireserves the highestregards for the country’sformer leaders includingDr Jonathan Goodluckwho he continues topraise for the way andmanner in which heaccepted defeat in thelast election.

“That singular actionremains a feat that hasearned the formerpresident and Nigeria asa country befittingcommendations all overthe world, the latestcoming from Mr Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary-General of the UnitedNations who visited aweek ago.

“For the purpose ofemphasis, the issue offighting corruption byPresident Buhari is nonnegotiable. It is sine quanon to the overallreconstruction of theeconomy and socialsystems which suffereddestruction and severedenigration under the

last administration.President Buhari will notbe deterred orblackmailed into retreatand surrender.

“No one in the PDP canaccuse President Buhariof undermining theeconomy when all theyhanded over to him, atbest, was a totteringeconomy hobbled bycorruption and theabsence of due process.

“Things have becomeworsened by thecontinuing fall of oilprices, which is expectedto fall even further withthe imminent full returnof Iran to the market. Allhe has been doing whilearound is to put thingstogether, organizing todefeat Boko Haram,paying outstandingsalaries, cleaning up themess left behind,improving security andrestoring ourrelationships withneighbours and theworld.

“So what are the formerministers afraid of inthese things? Have theybecome a new tradeunion?

“Let this collection ofex-VIPs allow thePresident the peace heneeds to handle thereconstruction of theeconomy and the nationin a manner that mostserves Nigeria’s bestinterests. PresidentBuhari does not needthese distractionspresented by the so-called association offormer ministers.”

APC lists newcases of looting

Meanwhile, the APC ina statement signed by itsNational PublicitySecretary, Alhaji LaiMohammed said:"Those who would rathergive comfort to thelooters by dismissing themedia exposure oflooting cases as merehell-raising shouldrealize that no saneperson can be silent inthe face of what isunfolding as the worstcases of brazen stealingof public funds inNigeria’s history.

"On August. 16, 2015,we listed some instancesof the breath-takinglooting of the treasury bysome officials of theimmediate pastAdministration. Today,we bring three moreheart-rendering cases tothe attention ofNigerians. We will notrelent until closure hasbeen brought to thisissue," it said, listing thenew cases as:

- A mind-shattering 2.2

billion-US-dollar armsscandal.

- A 6.9 million-dollarfraud the Chief SecurityOfficer (CSO) toPresident Jonathan,committed under theguise of buying threemobile stages for thePresident.

- A 2.5 billion-Nairascam involving the rentof house boats.

"While those chargedwith handling thesecases are finalizing thedetails of bringing thesuspects to justice, ourimmediate concern isthe attempt by the PDP,under whose umbrellathe looting took place,to blame the BuhariAdministration for themess and then infer thatthings have been worsein Nigeria in the pastthree months under theAPC-led federalgovernment than in the16 years under the PDP.This is totallyprovocative, shamelessand uncharitable.

"They say we are yetto fulfil our campaignpromises to Nigeria, butthey have forgotten thatif only the PDP/J o n a t h a nAdministration had notstolen Nigeria blind,there would have beenmore than enoughmoney to give schoolchildren in Nigeria notjust one but three mealsa day and even payN5,000 to 50 millionmost vulnerableNigerians, not just the25 million we promisedin our manifesto," APCsaid.

Despite the almostdaily discovery of casesof corruption under theJ o n a t h a nAdministration, theparty assured Nigeriansof better days ahead, asall i ts campaignpromises will be keptbecause of thecommitment anddetermination ofPresident Buhari notonly to clean theAugean Stable but alsoto ensure purposefulgovernance for thebenefit of all Nigerians.

"It is clear to allNigerians that thedebilitating impact of16 years of PDP’smisrule cannot bereversed in just threemonths. It is an obvioustruth that it is alwayseasier to destroy than toconstruct, but nothingwill stand in the way ofthe BuhariA d m i n i s t r a t i o n ’ scommitment toimproving the quality oflife of Nigerians andmaking our country tofunction again," it said.

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015—49

L -r: Sales Director, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, Mr. Adewale Ari-kawe; N1m winner of the Peak Reach for Millions Promo, Aniamalu Nnamdi Fabi-an; and Managing Director, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, Mr. RahulColaco at the Peak Reach for Millions Promo Prize Presentation in Enugu, weekend

L-r: Mr. John Abhumen Mikado, USN Products Sales Representative, Vivian Ozoma,Mr. Gbenga Bamkefa, a customer, and Mr. Adewale Osiyemi, Mikado, USN TradeMarketing Manager, during the ongoing USN Products Actvation at the newly openedFestival Mall in Festac Town, Lagos. Photo: Diran Oshe

50 — Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015 — 51

IAAF World Championship:

52— Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

Blame game as Nigeriafinishes with no medalNIGERIA’s last

hope for a medalat the IAAF WorldChampionships, whichended yesterday inBeijing, China, camecrashing as thecountry ’s 4x400mWomen’s relay teamgave their all but couldonly finish 5th inSunday’s final.

The quartet of ReginaGeorge, Funke Oladoye,Tosin Adeloye andPatience Okon ran thesecond fastest time inthe semi-finals; andmany were hopeful theycould nick a medal inSunday’s final.

However, that was notthe case as Jamaica sawoff the fierce contestfrom USA to win goldwhile the Americanssettled for the silver andGreat Britain headedhome with Bronze in the4x400m Women’s event.

The finishing time of3:25.11secs posted byNigeria could only seethem pick 5th spot.

While some would betaken aback at the no-medal finish by Nigeriaat the WorldChampionships, manywill see the outcome asthe expected endespecially with theinjury setback for thecountry ’s brightestmedal prospect BlessingOkagbare.

Before Okagbareperformed well at theMoscow 2013 WorldChampionships whereshe won a sliver and abronze – Nigeria hadgone 14 years with nomedal at the biennialathletics meet. Thatmomentary feat gave afalse sense that thecountry’s athletics wasback on track; but thetrue situation has nowbeen brought to the foreyet again in Beijing.

The last nine days inBeijing has elicitedvarying comments onthe true state of athleticsin Nigeria.

While the country ’sathletics officialsmaintain they are doingall within their limitedcapacity to raise thestock especially whenconfronted with thereoccurring problem ofunderfunding, the

athletes on their parthave hit the officialshard; going as far aslabelling them clueless.

One of the athletes thathas not hidden hisdisappointment on howathletics is currentlybeing run is TripleJumper, Tosin Oke, whofinished amongst theworld’s top eightjumpers despite claimsof shoddy treatment bythe AFN. Oke accusedthe AFN leadership ofconcentrating on oneathlete at the detrimentof the others.

“How can an athlete bereceiving five digitsevery month and I getzero,” Oke queried.

Oke canvassed for achange in leadershipstyle if Nigeria is to getit right at the RioOlympics next year .

Aside Oke, GloriaAsunmu who is thecurrent National 100mWomen’s champion, didnot spare the officials inthe blame game.

“I am not disappointedwe couldn’t scalethrough because this iswhat you get when youdon’t prepare,” Asumnusaid in Beijing.

She declared herunhappiness with theway the AFN went aboutthe arrangement andwants a change.

“The federation shouldalways be prepared. Putpeople in charge whoknow what they aredoing. Up till the(national) trials in Warri(Maurice) Green (theformer world andOlympic 100, 200m and4x100m champion) hasbeen our coach.

“But when we gothere, we found out he isnot. The team bondingand chemistry we hadunder him wasdestroyed. Everydaywhat we have beenhaving here isconfusion. This is nothow to prepare for aworld championships.This is embarrassing,”fumed Asumnu.

Far way in the UnitedKingdom, OlusojiFasuba who is Africa’sfastest man ever, alsolent his voice to thegrowing debate.

Fasuba, writing on his

facebook page, queriedthe investment made bythe AFN on athleteswhose best returns so farhave been just in theAfrican championships.

“Nigerian athletics hasfinally become a placewhere dreams arereduced to Africanchampionship and thosethat they deem can’tmake a future thrownaside. But those thrownaside are taken at ayoung age by othercountries and turned toworld class in a coupleof years.( unlike us whobuy retired 100mrunners to try anddevelop).

He continued: “Whena country like Kenya canproduce worldchampions in the 400mhurdles, then hope is notlost for Africa.

“But when a countrylike Nigeria thinksAfrican championship isthe ultimate of allultimate because theyrefuse to give or havefaith in their athletes atthe world stage. Thenmy people we are lost asa country. How can mynation Nigeria moveforward when they limitthe abilities of the malesprinters by keepingthem because they feelthat they wouldn’t get amedal.

Going forward, Fasubahas promised to proffer‘solutions’ in duecourse.

“I would put asuggestion that can or

might help the people incharge to help athleticsback home. It doesn’tneed everybody to bethere to do it,” the nowBritish soldier stated.

While Nigeria licks herwounds of another poorshow at the world stage,Kenya finished tops ofthe medal standingswith 16 medals; seven ofwhich were gold.Jamaica emergedsecond while the UnitedStates came third.

KENYA finishedstrongly and

ended up beingproclaimed King of theWorld AthleticsChampionship thatended yesterday in theBird’s Nest Stadium,Beijing, China.

The East Africancountry garnered a totalof 7 gold, 6 silver and 3bronze medals to emergetops, ahead of Jamaicathat came a close secondwith 7 gold 2 silver and3 bronze medals.

Team USA with 6 gold,6 silver and 6 bronzemedals placed 3rd in thetable.

Kenya conquersWorld Athletics

It is the first time thatan African countryachieved the title of aWorld Cup, and alsoKenya’s best-everperformance at theglobal meet.

Russia that won thechampionship inMoscow-2013, wasrelegated to ninth place,while China finishedeleventh in the firstWorld Cup it organised.

As the second countryin Latin America and theCaribbean Cubafinished thechampionships with twogold medals and onesilver.

THE delegation ofU-17 National Team,

Golden Eaglets, departedfor the Four-Nation SuwonInvitational Tournament onSunday without teamcaptain Kelechi Nwakaliand coordinator PrinceUdofia.

The Embassy of KoreaRepublic in Nigeria hadreturned the passports ofthe Eaglets’ skipper andteam coordinator as‘unreadable’ – a ratherstrange explanation giventhat the two persons hadbeen traveling with thesame passports for yearsnow.

“We don’t know what they

Eaglets head to Koreawithout Nwakali, Udofia

mean by ‘unreadable’because the player, Nwakaliand the team coordinator,Udofia, have been usingthese same passportswithout any issues.

“In any event, we areworking hard to see whatwe can do and make theEmbassy issue visas tothese two persons onMonday, so that they cantravel on Tuesday to join theGolden Eaglets’delegation,” said an NFFprotocol official.

The development meant17 players traveled by QatarAirways on Sunday, toarrive at Korea Republic’scapital, Seoul on today.

BAFETIMBI Gomisscored the winner

once again as Swansea Citytriumphed 2-1 to spoilLouis van Gaal’s 50thmatch in charge ofManchester United.

The France internationalscored a somewhatfortuitous second whenSwansea beat United bythe same scoreline at theLiberty Stadium inFebruary to complete a2014-15 Barclays PremierLeague double over theOld Trafford outfit.

And it was the in-formGomis, who now has ninegoals from 10 top-flightmatches, who settledmatters in south Wales onSunday, rounding off aSwansea turnaround in the65th minute.

Juan Mata had putUnited in front early in thesecond half with his 50thgoal in English football,before Andre Ayew headedSwansea level.

Swansea shock Man U 2-1

ENYIMBA remained on top of the NigeriaProfessional Football League (NPFL) after

Week 26 games.‘The People Elephants’ now have 49 points from

26 games following a goalless draw at Sharks, whilesecond-placed Sunshine Stars lost 2-1 at Wikki.

Enyimba forward Ahmed Kone failed to score inthe 20th minute after he had beaten two Sharksdefenders with Henry Ayodele making easy save.

Enyimba remain top Ayew heads in the equaliser against Man U.

•Okagbare

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015 — 53

AAG:Para-Athletespromiseglorious outing

By Jude Opara, Abuja

AS the Nigerian contingent to the forth-

coming All Africa Gamesgets set to travel for thesporting fiesta, the Para-athletes and officialshave promised to givethe country quality rep-resentation in their var-ious events.

Para- athletics coachand former 100 metresworld record holder,Adesoji Adekunle toldjournalists in Abuja overthe weekend that he hasadequately prepared hisathletes to give in theirbest at the champion-ship.

“We in the Para-athlet-ics are promising Nige-rians that we are goingto return from Congowith medals. For now Icannot say the number ofmedals to expect but wewill surely do well, it isa promise.”

According to him, theNational Sports Com-mission (NSC) has giv-en the athletes andcoaches all they neededto adequately competefor honours includingtraining kits and logis-tics adding that the en-tire contingent is in high

spirit.Adekunle however ad-

vised the athletes not toindulge in drugs be-cause it will only bringshame to them and to theentire country.

“I will not advise any-body including noneathletes to go to drugbecause it will damageyour image, damage theimage of the AthleticsFederation of Nigeria(AFN) and that of thecountry. All that a goodathlete needs to do is toadequately prepare forthe games by traininghard and putting hismind in a competitionmood.”

He expressed confi-dence that the positionof the Director Generalof the NSC, Mallam Al-hassan Yakmut, a formerathlete will really makeit easier for the admin-istrators and the athletesto communicate under-stand each other better.

Quadri makes top eight at Czech Open

NIGERIA’s ArunaQuadri has put the

disappointment fromprevious matchesbehind him after his

excellent performanceaided him to make thelast eight of the men’ssingles at the justconcluded InternationalTable Tennis Federation(ITTF) World Tourtagged Czech Open.

2014 ITTF Star Playerwas seeded number 30in the tournament andhe began his campaignfrom the main drawwhere was pitchedagainst Iran’s NimaAlamian.

True to his rating,Quadri fought wellagainst the Iranian toclinch a tough 4-3 winto secure a place in the

round of 32 of thechampionship.

In the round of 32,Quadri was set upagainst Germany ’sPatrick Baum who wastournament’s numbereight seed.

In their two previousmeetings, Quadri haslost to the German butat the weekend, therecords were tumbled asthe Nigerian bashed theworld number 25 9-11,11-7,3-11,14-12,6-11,6-11 (4-2) to progress

to the last 16 of the com-petition.

Just like he didagainst the German,Quadri once againfaced tournament’snumber 10 seed,Japan’s MasatakaMorizono, who defeatedhim at same stage lastyear.

Without much efforts,Quadri walloped theAsian 11-8, 9-11, 11-8,11-7, 11-9 (4-1) to makethe quarterfinal round ofthe match.

Nnabuife winsUltimate Chase

•Carts homeHyundai Elantra car

IT was fun, sports andleisure put in one

package as 123 journal-ists invited from all overNigeria took part in thekick-off of the nationalconsumer promotion,launched by Gulder, lastweek in Enugu.

The event which heldat the Michael OkparaSquare saw the journal-ists in a competition thatwas determined more byMother luck than phys-ical ability and intellect.

The journalists wereasked to walk, run oreven crawl round theexpansive MichaelOkpara Square, pick abox at one end and re-turn to the startingpoint. When all hadreached the finishpoint(which was indeedthe starting point), theywere asked to open theboxes. Those who foundone scroll in their boxeswere asked to openthem. Each scroll borethe diagram of an item.Any item one found inhis box was his lot.Those whose boxes boretwo scrolls qualified forthe final stage of thecompetition. In the end,Mr. Chuka Nnabuifewho works with Nation-al Light newspaper inAnambra State,emerged the winner offirst Hyundai Elantracar. Other journalistswent home with consol-atory prizes.

Speaking on his featNnabuife said: “I feelhighly rewarded by abrand that I have fol-lowed for over 21 years.Initially I never wantedto be a part of the Ulti-mate Chase but eventu-ally I participated. Ithank Gulder for creat-ing this platform whichI have benefited im-mensely from.”

16 kids for Chevron Tennis AcademyBy John Egbokhan

THE 2015 NNPC/Chevron Summer

Tennis Clinic has ended atthe Lagos Lawn TennisClub in Onikan, with thesponsors thrilling the kidswith tennis bags andsumptuous lunch.

After 21 days of coachingand mentoring by coachesand instructors the 100 kids

who participated in theclinic had one lastopportunity to refresh andlook back at the gains of thelast three weeks when theymet the sponsors who saidthey were proud of theirconduct and performanceduring their stay.

“We are impressed withyour behaviour andperformance and wish thatyou keep up the good work

as you depart from thecamp”, said Chevronspokesman, Deji Harstrup.

Coordinator of theChevron Tennis Clinic,Chris Enahoro told reportersthat 16 kids were selectedon merit from the 100 toundergo further training atthe Chevron TennisAcademy in preparation forthe Chevron TennisMasters slated for October.

Lucy Ejike

Quadri

Kids lísten to an instructor during the Chevron Tennis clinic

54 — Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

Mikel secretly fathers twochildren from different women

BABY No1Sex: MaleAge: 4Mother: Woman Mikel invited to a party and hada brief fling with.Home: £500,000 house in Home Counties hebought for the mother.Upkeep: He gives the mum several thousandpounds a year and a new car every 3 years.

BABY No2Sex: FemaleAge: 1Mother: Woman he met in a trendy Londonnightclub in 2013 and had a short relationship with.Home: Child lives with mother in South ofEngland. Mum is not well off but drives a new car.Upkeep:Mikel provides for the child but is said towant no contact with her.

Mikel is pictured in an Instagram snap along with current girlfriend OlgaDiyachenko

PREMIER Leaguestar John Obi

Mikel has fathered twosecret love children withdifferent women, reportsThe Sun on Sunday.

The Chelseamidfielder, 28, has afour-year-old son whowas born after he had abrief fling with the lad’smum.

He also has a one-year-old daughter by awoman he met in anightclub two years ago.

Nigeria internationalMikel, whose team werebeaten at home byCrystal Palace onSaturday, is now datingRussian businesswomanOlga Diyachenko andhas posted onlinephotographs of the pairtogether.

The footballer — paidabout £80,000 a week —is not named on hisson’s birth certificate,but bought a house inthe Home Countieswhere the boy lives withhis mother.

Mikel paid more than£500,000 for thedetached property in2013.

He is said to haveexpressed a desire toplay a part in the boy’slife — even though he atfirst refused to believehe was the dad.

However Mikel is notbelieved to see his babydaughter, who lives withher 23-year-old motherin the South of England.

Both women aresupported financially bythe player, but it is notthought they knowabout each other.

A source revealedMikel, a role model tolegions of fans ofChelsea and Nigeria,did not believe the boywas his when first toldby his mum.

The source said: “Theymet ages ago when Johninvited her — and afriend, I think — to anafter-party after someLondon celebrity event.

“She got together withJohn briefly and endedup pregnant.

“She got in touch withJohn and told him aboutit, but he initiallyrefused to accept orbelieve the baby washis. His name was not onthe birth certificate.

“After the baby wasborn there were somenegotiations about it. Hethen agreed to pay hera decent amount ofmoney. She wasallocated money to buya house.”

The mum moved to theHome Counties after theproperty purchase. Our

source added: “John alsoagreed to give her tensof thousands a year inupkeep and, I think,agreed to give her a newcar every three to fiveyears.

“He said he wanted toplay a role in the boy’slife.

He and the mum areon friendly terms andshe doesn’t harbour anybad feelings towardshim, perhaps becausehe’s looked after her sowell.

“When you think aboutit, it is not that surprisingJohn has not movedaway from Chelsea.

“I have read things

about him going,possibly abroad, but thepeople saying thatmight happen wouldnot know that he has ason and a daughter inthe UK.”

When his son was two,Mikel had a shortrelationship with themother of his daughterafter apparentlymeeting her at anightclub in Londonduring 2013.

The girl was born lastyear, but again Mikel’sname did not appear onher birth certificate.

A friend of the tot’smother said: “John hasprovided for her and thegirl, but does not seemto want to be involvedwith the child.

“She is not from awell-off family and doesnot now earn much, butshe drives around in anew car.

“She seems to havecome into money sincehaving the baby and iskeeping a low profile.”

Mikel, a huge name inhis native Nigeria, hasspoken previouslyabout his love life andabout how difficult it isto find a wife and theimportance of his familyat home.

Recent photos showhim with Olga in his car,while there are alsopictures of his tworottweiler dogs Troy andDiva. He is also seenrelaxing in hisswimming pool andsitting at a kitchentable.

Talking to journalistsin Nigeria last October,he said: “I’ve beendating seriously for twoyears now, I’m in love.

I’ve found love.”However he has

denied being engagedto Olga and vowed toreveal if he popped thequestion.

Mikel, who has alavish home in Oxshott,Surrey, said: “She is mygirlfriend but I have notproposed to her. If thathappens it will not behidden and everyonewill know.”

Talking of how jealouswomen had attackedOlga on social media,he added: “I’m beggingNigerian girls to pleaseleave her alone.”

The star, left on thebench by Chelsea bossJosé Mourinho foryesterday’s defeat, hasplayed more than 300times for the Blues sincejoining the championsin 2006.

In an interview forChelsea TV, he spokeabout the importance offamily. Mikel, whosefather Michael waskidnapped then freed inAugust 2011, said:“Never forget whereyou’re from. I spendlots of time with myfamily.

“Every time I go backI spend lots of time withthem (friends) andspend lots of time withmy family.”

Talking about growingup, he added: “Whenyou start growing upyou start to think what’sreally important to meand my family.”

He added about hisfather ’s ordeal: “Mydad being kidnappedwas terrible, that wasthe hardest. My mumwas on the phonecrying, my brother wascrying — I had to be thestrong one.”

In an interview lastmonth the player saidhe wanted to stay atChelsea because theclub felt “like myfamily”.

A spokesman for thefootballer said of thelovechildren: “This isan entirely privatematter. John providesfor and cares for hischildren and willcontinue to do so. Heasks that their privacybe respected.”

—Culled fromwww.thesun.co.uk

•Mikel

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015 — 55

CMYK

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How to Play Sudoku

Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line canhave two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (alsonine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within abold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1through 9. This means that no number can appear twicein any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, divisionor multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

FRIFRIFRIFRIFRIDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSTODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLE

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

CMYK

QUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORD

Dolphins 2 Akwa 0El Kanemi 2 Rangers 2Giwa 2 Lobi 0Heartland 1 Warri 0Ifeanyi Ubah 1 Bayelsa 0Nasarawa 3 Kwara 0Sharks 0 Enyimba 0Shooting 2 Abia Worriors 0Taraba 1 Kano 0Wikki 2 Sunshine Stars 1

NPFL Results

Mikel secretly fathers two childrenfrom different women — Pg. 54

Blame game as Nigeriafinishes with no medal

IAAF World Championship:

Kenya ConquersWorld Athletics

•Mikel

•Okagbare

Top 10 countries1 Kenya 7 6 3 162 Jamaica 7 2 3 123 US 6 6 6 184 GB 4 1 2 75 Ethiopia 3 3 2 86 Poland 3 1 4 87 Canada 2 3 3 88 Germany 2 3 3 89 Russia 2 1 1 410 Cuba 2 1 9 3

Swansea shock Man U 2-1Enyimba remain top

Details inside

Eaglets headto KoreawithoutNwakali,Udofia

ACROSS3 Enquired (5)9 Astounded (6)10 Sick (6)11 Cost (5)12 Pitcher (4)15 Pleasant (4)17 Guard (7)20 Child (3)21 Domesticated (5)23 Diplomacy (4)25 Temper (4)26 Flutter (5)28 Stray (3)30 Gemstone (7)33 Soon (4)35 Declare (4)36 Sphere (5)38 Bureau (6)39 Tenant (6)40 Inclined (5)

DOWN1 Rescued (5)2 Principal (5)3 Serpent (3)4 Severe (6)5 Every (4)6 Expire (3)7 Number (5)8 Heron (5)13 Occidental (7)14 Attain (5)16 Pardon (7)18 Relaxed (5)19 Border (3)22 Doctrine (5)24 Pull (3)27 Tape (6)28 Premature (5)29 Waken (5)31 Egg-shaped (5)32 Parched (5)34 Mirth (4)36 Solidify (3)37 Newt (3)

ACROSS: 1, Topple 5, Staple 9, Enter 10,Easier 11, Winner 12, Rodeo 14, Clot 17, Lad18, Hope 20, Hired 22, Waned 23, Rallied 24,Messy 26, Tepid 29, Idle 30, Wed 32, Sole 33,Faded 35, Repeat 36, Panted 37, Tenor 38,Rudder 39, Tendon.

DOWN: 1, Trench 2, Pastor 3, Leer 4, Enrol5, Sewed 6, Trio 7, Pennon 8, Earned 13,Dallied 15, Lived 16, Terse 18, Hades 19,Peril 21, Day 22, Wet 24, Mirror 25, Sloped27, Posted 28, Deaden 30, Water 31, Depot33, Fate 34, Dare.\