Jonathan to delegates: Let's re-launch Nigeria

...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 62102

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014**

Mr & Mrs

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COLUMNISTS:

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CONFAB INAUGURATION: Hon Aminu Tambuwal, Speaker, House of Representatives (4th from left); Justice Mariam Mukhtar, Chief Justice ofthe Federation; Vice President Namadi Sambo; President Goodluck Jonathan; Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, Conference Chairman; Professor Bolaji Akinyemi,Vice Chairman and other conference delegates after their inauguration by President Jonathan in Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida. More photoson pages 52 & 53.

•Tells delegates to shun ethnic agenda, as confab opens•Says confab won't usurp functions of legislature•Why Constitution needs to be amended

Jonathan to delegates:Let's re-launch Nigeria

COLUMNISTS

BY SONI DANIEL,REGIONAL EDITOR,

NORTH & HENRYUMORU

Continues on page 4ABUJA — PRESI-DENT Goodluck

Jonathan, yesterday, ad-vanced reasons his ad-ministration opted to con-voke the National Con-ference this year, citingnational unity, peace andprogress as some of thecompelling factors.

Jonathan, who inaugu-rated the 492-memberconference at about 5 p.mat the premises of theNational Judicial Insti-tute in Abuja, said thechallenges staring thenation in the face and theneed to move the nationforward also informed

the convocation of thedialogue.

Making his remarks,Jonathan received intermit-

Immigration deaths: Presidentqueries Interior Minister, Moro

Obiano sworn in asAnambra governor

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•P.9Privatisation: Court stops BPE on Alaoji,Omoku, Gbarain power stations •P.12

CMYK

2— Vanguard, TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014

CMYK

Vanguard, TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014—3

CMYK

POCKET CARTOON4—Vanguard, TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

LIFEWORDSBY PASTOR ITUAH

Most times what you want from life is what youget out of life. It is how you see yourself that youfind yourself.

All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch an-other human being not just with my hands but withmy heart — Tahereh

If you’ve ever seen a rosebud in a blooming proc-ess, the feeling is indescribable. When I witnessedthis beautiful wonder of creation, I felt a transfor-mation from within with each opening, and as theprotective coat sheds off and a beautiful petal peeksout, behold a lovely rose dancing in delight to thesun. I understood and could see more clearly themiracles of divine love and the wonders of its ways.

The significance of this experience for me is beingmore aware of the limitless potentials in every waythat life offers to unfold and be successful in allthat we do.

There is a higher force that governs all of life andsometimes things may not be as you want them tobe, but in time, with trust and a believe in yourself,the universe will attract your heart desires to upliftyour life. But always align your thoughts and de-sires to be of service to others.

Continues from page 1

tent applause from thedelegates and guests as hewent memory lane to jus-tify the timing and impera-tives of the confab at thistime.

The President said the tim-ing of the conference couldnot have been better thannow that Nigeria had justcelebrated 100 years of ex-istence as a nation andurged Nigerians to see it asa veritable platform for re-solving the nation’s head-aches.

The President urged thedelegates not to bow to thepressure being mounted byethnic jingoists to promoteethnic agenda during theirdeliberations but to work forthe overall interest of Ni-geria.

He said: “The NationalConference is, therefore,being convened to engage

in intense introspectionabout the political andsocio-economic challengesconfronting our nation andto chart the best and mostacceptable way for the reso-lution of such challenges inthe collective interest of allthe constituent parts of ourfatherland.

“This coming togetherunder one roof to conferand build a fresh nationalconsensus for the amicableresolution of issues that stillcause friction amongst ourpeople must be seen as anessential part of the proc-ess of building a moreunited, stronger and pro-gressive nation.

“We cannot continue tofold our arms and assumethat things will straightenthemselves out in duecourse instead of takingpractical steps to overcomeimpediments on our path totrue nationhood, rapid de-

velopment and nationalprosperity.

“It is our expectation thatparticipants in this confer-ence will patriotically articu-late and synthesize our peo-ples’ thoughts, views andrecommendations for astronger, more united,peaceful and politically sta-ble Nigeria, forge thebroadest possible nationalconsensus in support ofthose recommendations,and strive to ensure thatthey are given the legal andconstitutional backing toshape the present and thefuture of our beloved father-land."

Confab won't usurpfunctions oflegislature

Justifying the conveningof the conference despite aNational Assembly in ses-sion, the President made itclear that the conferencewould not in any way usurpthe functions of the legis-lature.

According to him, theNational Conference is avery important avenue forthe voices of our people tobe heard. He said: “Ourpeople have yearnings anddesires that need to be dis-cussed. Their representa-tives at this conference areneither usurping the role ofthe National Assembly northe executive.

“They are complement-ing us in our march towardsa greater and stronger un-ion.”

Constitution needs tobe amended

He said the constitutionof Nigeria, which had beencriticised by many as a mili-tary document and out-dated, needed to beamended to cope with theyearnings and aspirationsof Nigerians since every

constitution is a livingdocument that needs to berevised and improvedupon from time to time.Jonathan also disagreedwith those opposed to theconference, saying the chal-lenges of the time were dif-ferent from those of the pastand the future.

He said: “It makes sense,therefore, that as the chal-lenges before us evolve, wemust be constant andproactive in our search forfresh solutions. We cannotcontinue to proffer yester-day’s solutions for today’sproblems.”

Areas of focus forparticipants

In what appeared as aclear agenda for the del-egates, the President enun-ciated the areas of focus forthe participants, saying:“This conference is open forus to table our thoughts andpositions on issues andmake recommendationsthat will advance our to-getherness.

"The issues range fromform of government, struc-tures of government, devo-lution of powers, revenuesharing, resource control,state and local governmentcreation, boundary adjust-ment, state police and fis-cal federalism, to local gov-ernment elections,indigeneship, genderequality and children’srights, among others.

“We must not approachthese issues with suspicionand antagonism. Rather, weshould be open-mindedand work to achieve whatis best for Nigeria. Eventhough you come to the con-ference as nominees andrepresentatives of differentinterest groups, I urge youall to make a more united,stronger, indivisible andprosperous Nigeria your

preoccupation and refer-ence point at this nationalgathering. Whatever thepressures on you may be, Icall upon you to put the bestinterest of Nigeria before allother sectional or group in-terests.

No room for divisivecleavages, ethnicjingoism

“Indeed, I am quite wor-ried when I hear people saythat some participants inthis National Conversationare coming here to defendand promote ethnic or clan-nish agenda. It is very re-grettable that there are per-sons who believe that wecannot undertake any col-lective task in our countrywithout the hindrance ofethnic rivalry even after 100years of nationhood. Thisconference gives us an op-portunity to prove such per-sons wrong and I believe itwill. As we start a new cen-tury of nationhood, wehave an obligation to re-shape and redirect ourcountry for the benefit of ourchildren.

“There should be no roomfor divisive cleavages andethnic jingoism. Thereshould be no room for self-ish considerations that de-feat the purpose of nationalprogress. There should beroom only for the nationalinterest. My expectation isthat the outcome of this con-ference will be a positiveturning point for our coun-try’s development. We mustseize this opportunity to ce-ment the cleavages andfault lines that tend to sepa-rate us. We must re-launchour country.

Nigerian Agenda“I know the task before

you is onerous, but theremust be only one winner,and there can only be onewinner if we do everythingright, and that winner mustbe Nigeria. I urge youtherefore to focus strictly onthe Nigerian Agenda. I ex-pect that, as persons of in-tegrity and honour, you willdo nothing in this confer-ence that will undermine

our efforts and desire tobuild a truly great nation. Ialso expect that your dis-cussions will be informedonly by the noblest of in-stincts and persuasions.”

Patriotic desire forbetter, greater nation

“Our sole motivation forconvening this conferenceis the patriotic desire for abetter and greater nation.We are determined thatthings must be done in away and manner that willpositively advance that ob-jective. While we recognisethat groups and communi-ties are the building blocksof our nation, we must alsoemphasise that we needone another to build thesolid and prosperous coun-try of our dreams. We can-not join hands together tobuild with a collective visionif we continue to harbournegative biases and preju-dices against ourselves.

Today is a new day“Yesterday’s prejudices

should die with yesterday.Today is a new day. This isthe dawn of a new era. Thisis an opportunity to thinkanew. We must jettison thepoisonous mind-sets of thepast, which were built onunhealthy competitionamong our diverse groupsand peoples.

“We need a new mind anda new spirit of oneness andnational unity. The time hascome to stop seeing Ni-geria as a country of manygroups and regions. Wehave been divinely broughttogether under one roof. Wemust begin to see ourselvesas one community. We arejoined together by similarhopes and dreams as wellas similar problems andchallenges. What affectsone part of the communityaffects the other.”

The Chairman of the Na-tional Conference, JusticeIdris Legbo Kutigi, pledgedto do his best to ensure thatthe conference was success-ful and thanked all the del-egates for accepting theirnominations and turningup.

Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State (middle), Hon. Victor Ochei, Speaker, Delta State Houseof Assembly (right) and Mr. Charles Ajuyah, Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General, whenthe Governor signed 2014 Appropriation Bill into law at Government House, Asaba, yesterday.

Jonathan to delegates: Let's re-launch Nigeria


I AGREE we should go back to the 1963Republican Constitution for the

following reasons: The first reason isbecause it provided for true federalism anda fiscal federation.

One of the things that I like about thatConstitution was that you couldn’t justbecome a minister; your people mustaccept you by voting for you.”

He continued:”You would first be amember of parliament before you becamea minister. But under the presentdispensation, a Minister who doesn’t knowhis people or where he comes from couldbe appointed into office. Such a personwould not be accountable to his people orto the parliament. But if he was elected,he would be accountable to the parliamentand his people who voted for him.Secondly, the correct fiscal arrangementsare contained in that Constitution.”

Commenting on the present bi-cameralstructure of the National Assembly he said:“ It is not the two chambers that matter, itis the expenditure and corruption at thelegislative, executive and judicial levelsof government.

“It was not expected that the NationalAssembly was meant for poor people whowould go there to look for money andappointments. You must be ready as aNigerian to serve your country and notexpect what your country could do for youall the time.

“Today, members of the NationalAssembly are not ready to tell the nationhow much they earn. I was a Senatormyself between 1979 and 1983.We had twochambers too. Sometimes, the salary wegot was not up to 1/3 of what we spent.

“There is a second chamber in theparliaments of both Britain and the UnitedStates of America. It is because of the waywe corruptly organise our own parliament

Clark, Akinjide disagree on regionalism

STORIES BY OKEY NDIRIBE

AS the National Conference kicked off yesterday in Abuja, two prominentdelegates Chief Edwin Clark and Chief Richard Akinjide sharplydisagreed on the form and structure the country should take. Clark,erstwhile minister of information and senator in the second republic andpresently a confidant of President Goodluck Jonathan called for theadoption of the 1963 Republican Constitution which he said provided for

HOWEVER, Akinjide disagreed

with Clark.Said he: “I don’t believe in transferring

any power to the states again at all. If youare not careful and you make the statestoo strong, we may have instability. I wasinvolved when we had the dichotomy ofthe states having a lot of power. This ledto instability. The states had their ownpolice just like the Federal Governmentand we had no peace.

“I have studied how the constitutions ofUSA, Australia, Canada and India werefashioned and those of us who wereexperienced including the late ChiefNnamdi Azikiwe, the late Chief ObafemiAwolowo and the late Sardauna of SokotoAhmadu Bello, the late Chief LadokeAkintola and the late Chief DennisOsadebey deliberately agreed that we musthave a very strong centre and weak states.if you reverse that and make the statesstronger, we are going to have instability.

“The exclusive list of the 1999Constitution is very important for thiscountry and should not be touched lightly.Unless you have a good reason, youshould not touch that aspect of theConstitution. I was involved inimplementing it under the first republicPrime Minister Sir Abubakar TafawaBalewa and under President ShehuShagari during the second republic.”

He also disagreed with those proposinga return to the parliamentary system ofgovernment.

Said he: “I have heard peopleadvocating that we should return to theparliamentary system of government.Many of those who are saying so don’tknow what they are talking about. I wasinvolved in the parliamentary system. Iwas involved in the process which led totightening of the Constitution and making

No to regionalism— Akinjide

Why I support regionalism — Clark

•Clark: We should go back to the 1963 Republican Constitution

that has made Nigerians to ask for a singlechamber parliament.”

Clark also advocated for the practice oftrue federalism as a panacea to the nation’smultifarious problems.

Said he: “We cannot adopt unitarism asa system of government in Nigeria. Wewant United States of Nigeria. We wanttrue federalism. A unitary type ofgovernment would not help us. We wanta region where the regions are thefederating units.

“ If you like, create 20 local governmentareas for your state and pay them. If you,

•Akinjide: I don’t believe in transferring any power to thestates again

centre is controlling the oil money, whilethe states were generating revenue fromcocoa, groundnuts and palm oil, we hadto be very careful.

“I have been to USA, Australia, Canadaand India to study how their federalsystems work. I know the British systemtoo. It was based on the vast experiencesof Chief Awolowo, Chief Azikiwe,Sardauna, Chief Akintola and Osadebeythat we created what we have. Peopleshould not touch it lightly. I say this withthe greatest sense of responsibility and Iam ready to debate it anywhere in theworld. I expect the best from this

the centre stronger. Wehad our reasons fordoing those things.We had militaryintervention. Wedidn’t want militaryintervention again.

“The CentralGovernment is criticalbecause we produceoil which generatesabout 80 percent of ourpublic revenue. Thecontrol of that kind ofrevenue is critical. TheCentral, States andlocal governmentsshould have their ownshare of this revenue.”

H econtinued:”However,I want a federal systemwith a stronglegislative list. In asituation where the

,

,

like create 20 states for your region andpay them. But let the Federal Governmentknow that there are eight or 10 federatingunits. The states would then become likeprovinces within the region. Their powerswould be lessened and they would havenothing to do with the FederalGovernment.

“The resources of the nation should beshared between the states and localgovernments. This would make the statesto work harder. There is no way the statescan develop if they remain lazy and don’tcollect taxes. If they know that they wouldhave to struggle to generate their ownrevenue everything would be okay.”

I agree we should goback to the 1963RepublicanConstitution for thefollowing reasons:The first reason isbecause it providedfor true federalismand a fiscalfederation

conference.”Akinjide further stated that he had been

involved in conferences like this before,and after Nigeria’s independence addingthat the outcome of this NationalConference should go to the NationalAssembly.

Said he:” This is because it is the ultimatelegislative body. You cannot get somethingout of nothing. I believe members of theNational Assembly are responsible peoplewho should be ready to receive theoutcome of this confab.”

,

,I agree we should goback to the 1963RepublicanConstitution for thefollowing reasons: Thefirst reason is becauseit provided for truefederalism and a fiscalfederation

strong regional governments.However, second Republic Minister ofJustice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Richard Akinjide,opposed the move. Both spoke to Vanguard on the fringes of theinauguration of the National Conference by President Jonathan at theNational Judicial Institute yesterday.

SEE MORE REPORTS ON PAGE 56

6—Vanguard, TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014

Man, 20,rapes8-yr-old boy

Ekiti commissioner arrestedfor beating up NYSC member

Pastor drives self to hospital,shouts halleluyah, dies

Bizman accusedof rape, N10m theft

WATER: Fetching water in Kwaja, a border village with Cameroon in Mubi SouthLocal Government Area of Adamawa State, yesterday. NAN PHOTO.

I was protecting him— COMMISSIONER

1 dead asBayelsayouthsclash

BY GBENGA ARIYIBIDUTSE— THE Jigawa

State Command ofthe Nigeria Security andCivil Defence Corps,NSCDC, says it hasarrested a 20-year-oldman for allegedly rapingan eight year old boy inDutse Local GovernmentArea of the state.

The Commander, Mr.Muhammad Gidado,disclosed this yesterday.

Gidado said that thesuspect was arrested inthe Jigawa Tsada quartersof Dutse town on Sundayfollowing intelligencereport. He said that thesuspect allegedly luredthe boy into his room andcommitted the offence.

Gidado added that amedical report byRashidi ShekoniSpecialist Hospital,Dutse, had confirmedthat the boy was raped.

He said that the suspectconfessed to havecommitted the offencewith the boy on previousoccasions, and that helured the child with N20each time. Gidado saidthat the suspect would becharged to court.

YENAGOA— A youthwas reportedly

stabbed to death Saturdayat Oruma in Ogbia LocalGovernment Area ofBayelsa State, followinga violent clash betweenyouths.

The deceased, anindigene of Otuasegaalso in the Ogbia councilarea died when violenceerupted at a wake keepbetween youths fromboth communities. Thevictim was said to havedied before he could berushed to the hospital bysympathisers.

It was learnt that thetimely intervention of thepolice prevented thesituation fromdegenerating further.

The Commissioner ofPolice, Mr. Hilary Opara,confirmed the incident.He said three persons,including the mastermindof the crisis, had beenarrested by the police.

BY SAMUELOYADONGHA

ADO-EKITI— POLICEin Ekiti State has

arrested the state’sCommissioner for Youthand Sports, Mr. Kayode

Olaosebikan, for questioningover the beating up of aNational Youths Service

Corps, NYSC, member at aregistration unit in OtunEkiti, Moba Local

Government Area of thestate.

Olaosebikan, who is alsothe Chairman, NYSC boardin the state, was seen at theCriminal InvestigationDepartment, CID, makinghis statement.

Olaosebikan allegedly beatup a youth corps member,Mr. Thompson Enobong,NYSC number EK/13c/1859,who is one of the NYSCmembers assisting INEC inthe just-concludedregistration.

Enobong was subsequentlyrushed to the FederalMedical Centre, FMC, IdoEkiti, where he is said to bereceiving treatment.

Olaosebikan, however,denied beating up the corpsmember, saying he merelyprotected him.

Vanguard also gatheredthat a soldier, PrivateClement John is beinginterrogated by the police fordisrupting the exercise inEmure Ekiti.

The soldier, who claimed tobe serving in an Army unitin Borno State, wasreportedly over powered byothers at the registration unitand handed over to thepolice. John has equallybeen transferred to Ado Ekitifor further investigation.

Also one Paul Ezekiel wasarrested in Ikere Ward 2 forallegedly threateningofficials of IndependentNational ElectoralCommission, INEC, duringthe rush for registration.

Spokesman of the statepolice command, Mr. VictorBabayemi, who confirmedthe two cases, said the soldierwould be handed over to theArmy formation in OndoState to ascertain whether ornot he is a soldier.

Meanwhile, the Director-General, Prince AdedayoAdeyeye Movement, PAAM,the political organisation ofone of the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP,gubernatorial aspirants, BisiKolawole, has called on therelevant authorities to protectNYSC members.

ABEOKUTA— Aclergyman, Timothy

Elugbemi, 55, drovehimself to a hospital inSango Ota, Ogun State,shouted hallelujah anddied.

It was gathered that thedeceased was attended toby Dr. Ayo Adeoye,proprietor of Lolade Clinicand Maternity Home,where he checked in formedical attention.

Confirming the incident,Dr. Adeoye said theclergyman complained offeeling unwell and wassubsequently attended to.

He said that after beingconfirmed medically fit, thepastor exchangedpleasantries with thenurses at the reception, butsuddenly started saying“halleluyah.”

Adeoye said: “I cannotbelieve this. This was a manwho drove himself into thehospital and was attendedto and equally found fit.

“He suddenly startedsaying ‘halleluyah,’‘halleluyah’ and before weknew it he lost consciousness

and died. I have neverwitnessed this type ofincidence since I started mymedical practice.”

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

LAGOS— A 62-year-oldbusinessman, Clement

Chukwu, who allegedlyraped a widow, SamariaDanladi, and obtained N10million from her by falsepretence, yesterday,appeared before an IkejaMagistrate’s Court.

The defendant is facing athree-count charge borderingon conspiracy, obtaining andrape, preferred against himby the police.

The victim, who is a trader,was said to have boarded ataxi from Agbara marketgoing to Satellite Town, whenshe met the defendant andothers, at large, who

brainwashed her andcollected the said sum fromher, after which she wasraped.

The mother of three, whois a widow of a late Navyofficer, was said to havecollected the N10 million,being the gratuity that waspaid to her after the deathof her husband.

The defendant pleaded notguilty. Magistrate EniolaFabamwo granted him bailin the sum of N500,000 withtwo responsible sureties inlike sum. He is also todeposit N150,000 into theaccount of the courtregistrar.

She adjourned the matterto April 28 for mention.

BY ONOZURE DANIA

THE killing of one Mrs.Odibe and twins from

Obosi, but resident in Awka,weekend, brings the deathtoll of the cult war betweenAyes and Baga in Obosi,Idemili North Local

OBOSI CULT WAR

Vanguard, TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014 —7

Laboureraccused ofraping12-yr-oldgirl

BY CHINYEREABIAZIEM

Government Area ofAnambra State, to 16.

A visit to the ancientkingdom of Obosi,yesterday, revealed thatvirtually every youth crossingMike Ajegbo Federal by pass

was tortured.Investigation further

revealed that one PopeOkereke, a mason from DeltaState and Mr. Nnoso Obi,alleged to be a staunchmember of one of the cult

groups and other youthswere among those that havelost their lives.

According to reports, theAyes and Baga were said tohave capitalised on thewithdrawal of the militarymen posted to the town from82 Division, Enugu, and thewithdrawal of the localvigilant group.

: Death toll rises to 16

PROTEST: Students protesting lecturers' strike in Lagos, yesterday. NAN PHOTO.

BY OLA AJAYI

DUMPSTER: Abandoned refuse on the Iyana-Ipaja motorgarage, yesterday. PHOTO: Bunmi Azeez.

10 burnt to death in Lagos-IbadanExpressway auto crash

IBADAN— NO fewer than10 people were burnt

beyond recognition in an autocrash that occurred on LagosIbadan expressway,yesterday. Four others wereleft with serious injuries.

Three vehicles, includingtwo trucks and one 18 seaterToyota Hiace commercial buswith number plate BDG 767XB were involved in the autocrash.

Confirming the accident,Federal Road Safety Corps,FRSC, Oluyole Unit

Gridlock in Lagos as studentsprotest lecturers' strike

LAGOS— THERE wasgridlock on Lagos roads,

yesterday, which lasted forhours as over 1,000 part-timestudents across varioushigher institutions oflearning took over the roads,protesting ongoing strike byAcademic Staff Union ofPolytechnics, ASUP, and thatof College of EducationAcademic Staff Union,COEASU.

The students were drawnfrom University of Lagos,UNILAG; Yaba College ofTechnology, YABATECH;Lagos State Polytechnic,LASPOTECH; IlaroPolytechnic and EdePolytechnic, among others.

The students carriedplacards with inscriptions,chanting solidarity songs asthey headed towards

Maryland bus stop from thejunction in front of UNILAG.

The protest which started at9am and ended at 3pm, alsoinvolved Educational RightsCampaign, ERC. Policemen,officials of Lagos State TrafficManagement Authority,LASTMA, and other lawenforcement agents were onpatrol while the protestlasted.

One commuter said: “It israther unfortunate that thistraffic hold up is a result ofstudents’ protest. If they wantto protest against the strike,they should have done that onthe premises of their schoolsor go to the seat of powerinstead of causing untoldhardship to innocentcitizens.”

It was gathered that theprotest was also against HND/B.Sc discrimination,improper funding of

BY BOSE ADELAJA

Commander, Mr. SanyaAdeoye, said four peoplesurvived while the unluckyvictims were taken to themortuary at Adeoyo StateHospital.

He said an Ibadan boundbus from Lagos was waitingfor a truck from the quarry

to link the expressway.Another truck without

registration number, said tobe coming from Lagos end,ran into the stationarycommercial bus.

Adeoye said the accidentwas due to over speeding,adding that the commercialbus caught fire immediately.

He said the four peoplewho sustained injuries werethose in the trucks and thatthey had been taken to theUniversity College Hospital,UCH, for treatment. At presstime, Adeoye was trying toreach out to families of thevictims.

20-yr-old man docked for defiling girl, 7

educational sector and lackof upgrading of lecturers.

LAGOS— A 20 year oldman, John Peter, charged

with assaulting and defilinga seven year old girl,yesterday appeared in anEbute Meta ChiefMagistrates Court in Lagos.

Peter, a trader, was said tohave defiled the minor at2pm on February 15 in hisapartment.

The prosecutor, InspectorRichard Odigie, said theaccused and parents of thegirl were neighbours.

Odigie said that the victim’smother was asleep when the

accused called the victim tohis room. He said that whenthe woman woke up and didnot see her daughter, shewent outside and saw thegirl’s slippers in front ofPeter’s room.

He said: “The victim’smother told the accused toopen his door. He opened thedoor and pushed the victimout of his room.”

He said the victim said theaccused had, on two previousoccasions, inserted his fingersinto her private part.

The accused, however,pleaded not guilty and theChief Magistrate, Miss S. O.Solebo, granted him bail inthe sum of N50,000, with twosureties in like sum.

Solebo adjourned the case toApril 1 for continuation.

BY CHINYEREABIAZIEM

LAGOS— ONEIkechukwu Egbo, a

labourer, was remandedin prison by an Ebute-Metta Magistrate, Ms. S.Solebo for allegedlyraping a 12 year old girland strangulating her todeath.

The girl was said to beon her way to a tailoringschool where she was anapprentice when theaccused attacked her atthe defunct NigeriaTelecommunication,NITEL, office at AjaraDokon Badagry.

The magistrate ruledthat the accused beremanded in Ikoyiprison while adjourningthe case for April 11.

In another murdercase, one MichaelAyodeji, AbdulramanOjikutu and AbiodunOyedun were arraignedin an Ebute-Metta courtover the alleged murderof one Femi John.

The 28 year olddeceased was said tohave died as a result ofa gun shot fired at himby the accused atObadina Street, TinubuSquare.


25 killed as Fulani herdsmen, Tivyouths clash in Benue

BY PETE DURU

MAKURDI—NO fewerthan 25 persons were

feared dead, Monday, in afresh outbreak of heavy fightingbetween suspected fulanimercenaries and Tiv youths atAgasha and Yelwata, in Gumalocal government area of BenueState.

Vanguard gathered from aneyewitness that at the time offiling this report themercenaries had sacked andtaken over Tse-Gaa and Tse-Kpaegh, Kaambe district whilefighting was still raging atYelwata.

According to our source, theinvaders who opened up twobattle fronts in Guma thismorning were matchingtowards the ancient town ofAgasha but were being repelledby youths of the community.

“Several houses and farmlandhave been set ablaze by theherdsmen and many arefleeing the besiegedcommunities.

“They stormed ourcommunities in their hundredsearly Monday morning,

shooting sporadically andkilling anything in sight, over25 persons must have beenkilled on both sides; they tookaway two of our youths alive butmany of our people are missing.

“They came into Agasha aftercrossing River Buruku at Ayilafrom neigbouring Nasarawastate; same for Yelwata which is

also a border community.”The Special Assistant to

Governor Gabriel Suswam onBanking and Investment, Mr.Ayoosu Bem who hails from oneof the invaded communities saidyouths of the area were puttingup a resistance to the invaders.

Bem said, “the attackers camethis morning and started killing

and burning down houses;some of our people are missingwhile many are fleeing theirhomes.”

When contacted, the PolicePublic Relations Officer, PPRO,Superintendent, SP, DanielEzeala confirmed the attack butsaid the command was yet toconfirm the number ofcasualties adding that securitypersonnel had been drafted tothe affected communities.

THE Central Bank ofNigeria, CBN,

yesterday unveiled plans tomop up N1.866 trillion fromthe banking system throughthe sale of treasury bills.

According to the treasurybill issue programme for thesecond quarter releasedyesterday, the apex bank saidit would sell N933.2 billionof secondary market andN933.2 billion primarymarket bills from March 20thto June 5th.

Secondary market bills arepreviously issued bills whichare resold by the CBN. Theyare also referred to as openmarket operations (OMO)bills. They are most used tomanage the amount of idlecash in the banking system.Primary market bills arefreshly issued bills and theyare used to borrow money onbehalf of the federalgovernment.

The CBN said that itwould sell N202.59 billion ofOMO bills in the last weekof March, N334.25 billion inApril, N258.39 billion in Mayand N137.97 billion in thefirst week of June.

Similarly, the apex bankwould sell N202.59bn ofPrimary market bills in thelast week of March,N334.25bn in April,N258.39bn in May andN137.97 bn in the first weekof June.

In the last quarter 2013, theapex bank issued N4.49trillion worth of treasury billscomprising N2.431 trillion ofOMO bills and N2.06 trillionof primary market bills.

In another development,the CBN yesterdayexpressed concern over thequality of cheques printed bybanks, saying that accreditedcheque printers were notcomplying with the approvedstandard. The apex bank saidthis has resulted in high levelof cheque rejection at itscheque processing center.

This concern wasexpressed via a circular titled‘Submission of samplecheques, pre and postproduction’. The circularwas signed by Mr. DipoFatokun, Director, Bankingand Payments SystemDepartment. The circularstated, “Though the chequetruncation system wasdeployed nationwide on 1stJune 2013' reports reachingus indicated a high level ofrejects at the MICRprocessing centers.

CBN tomop upN1.8tr in3 months

BY BABAJIDE KOMO-LAFE

ABUJA—THE FederalGovernment, yesterday,

gave indications that it hassuspended the plannedimplementation of theTransitional Electricity Market,TEM, indefinitelyas it disclosedthat it is not concerned aboutthe declaration of TEM, but isinstead bothered about puttingthe right market conditions inplace for the sector to thrive.

The Federal Government alsodisclosed that there are noplans to remove the N700 fixedelectricity charge per customer,in the next couple of years,saying that Nigerians willcontinue to pay the chargesirrespective of whether there ispower supply or not.

Speaking at the Nigeria PowerConference in Abuja, Mr.Chinedu Nebo, Minister ofPower, declared that the newowners of the distributioncompanies (Discos) of the defunctPower Holding Company ofNigeria, PHCN, are responsiblefor the delay in the declaration ofthe Transitional Electricity Market,TEM.

According to him, the newowners of the distributioncompanies needed to be sure oftheir ability to recoup theirinvestment, especially throughrevenue collection.

The TEM was initially slatedto commence, March 1, 2014,after the initial postponementlast year. The postponementwas due to the fact that certainconditions were not met.

Some of the conditions whichwere expected to be met duringthe interim period between thecompletion of the privatisationprocess and the start of TEM,include the execution of themarket participation agreement,market operations systemregulations, market settlementsystem, and the procedures forregistration and admissionprocesses for market participants.

The Electric Power SectorReform Act (EPSRA) 2005established three market stagesthat define gradualcompetitiveness in the powerprivatisation market, whichinclude TEM, mid-termelectricity market and final/matureelectricity market.

The TEM stage represents theintermediate step to move theelectricity market in an orderlymanner from an integrated wholeutility to a fully competitivemarket structure with moredifferentiated players.

Nebo further blamed the delayin the implementation of the TEMon challenges in gas supply,inadequate transmission networkand security challenges,especially in the protection ofpower installations and facilities.

Also speaking, Mr. BenjaminDikki, Director General, Bureaufor Public Enterprises, BPE, saidTEM implementation is beingdelayed by the level of powersupply, revenue collection bydistribution companies andissues surrounding payment ofcertain amounts by Discos to theNigerian Electricity RegulationCommission, NERC.

...Stands firm on N700 fixedcharge

On his own part, Mr. SamAmadi, Chief Executive Officer,Nigerian Electricity RegulationCommission, NERC, said theFederal Government is not fixatedon TEM, but with conditions inthe market.

He said that the introduction ofthe N700 fixed charge is to protectthe new owners of the privatisedassets, who he said might losetheir investments if the chargesare not introduced.

According to him, that is howthe business is done, and this ishow investors are assured ofrecouping their investments inthe running of the companies andin facilities upgrade.

He, however, apologised toNigerians for the erratic powersituation, saying that the FederalGovernment is working to bringabout an increase in powersupply.

Amadi maintained that the newinvestors needed time to test-run

the facilities and the market,saying that the interim process isneeded to enable the governmentcreate a level playing field, so thatthe investors will come to termswith conditions of the market.

Also, Managing Director,Nigerian Bulk Electricity TradingPlc, Mr. Rumundaka Wonodi, saidTEM will only come wheneverything is put under control,adding that the FederalGovernment will not have to waitfor the implementation of theTEM before steering the electricitymarket to great heights.

FG to sell stake in power assetsvia IPO in 2017

Also, Benjamin Dikki, DirectorGeneral of the BPE, disclosed thatthe Federal Government’s stakein the privatised distribution andgeneration companies, will besold through an Initial PublicOfficer, IPO, on the Nigeriancapital market, by 2017.

He, however, noted that inaddition to the investingpublic, some states in thecountry will be given somestakes in the power facilitieswhen the Federal Governmentdecides to sell its stake.

He said, “We have to allowthem two or three years ofoperations so that they canproduce the necessary financialstatement and operational reports,that people can look at and relyon for investment.

Power: FG suspends implementation of TEM indefinitely...To sell stake in power assets via IPO in 2017 ...Insists on N700 fixed charge

BY MICHAEL EBOH &CHRIS OCHAYI

COMMISSIONING: From left —Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Dr. Festus Okubor and Prof. andDr. (Mrs) Monye at the commissioning of African Institute for Public Policy in Asaba.


Immigration tragedy: Jonathan queriesInterior Minister

Why it’s difficult to stop terrorists in N/East — Yuguda

FOLLOWING the outrage that continued to trail the

death of 15 job applicantsincluding a pregnant women atthe various centres across thecountry during the recruitmentexercise by the NigerianImmigration Service, NIS,President Goodluck Jonathanyesterday issued a query to theMinister of Interior, ComradeAbba Moro to explain within 24hours the poor handling of theexercise even as he rejected callsfor him to resign over the incidentsaying “I will not resign”.

One of the survivors of thestampede at the Minna centre,has also recounted her experiencejust as the Nigerian LabourCongress staged a protest inKaduna asking the governmentto probe the incident.

The Interior Minister, AbbaMoro and the ComptrollerGeneral of the NigerianImmigration Service DavisParradang were yesterdaysummoned to the presidentialvilla by President GoodluckJonathan

The Interior minister who wasdressed in white Caftan,appeared disturbed afteremerging from the President’soffice in company of theimmigration boss. He had earliermet with the Chief of Staff to thePresident, Jones Arogbofa, wherethey spent over an hour beforemeeting the President.

When the trio emerged from thePresident’s office, Moro andParradang refused to beinterviewed by State HouseCorrespondents.

Sources at the Villa saidPresident Jonathan who wasworried by the Saturday’sincidence had queried the interiorminister to explain within 24hours the poor handling of theexercise as witnessed across thecountry.

President Jonathan whileinaugurating the NationalConference which kicked offyesterday in Abuja lamented thedeath of young applicants andasked for one minutes of silencein honour of those who died.

President Jonathan said, “justas we were preparing for thisconfab, a tragic incidenthappened on Saturday; I don’twant to bore you with details, butwe are investigating the incident.Let us observe a minute silencefor them.”

I will not resign —MoroMeanwhile, Comrade Abba

Moro declared yesterday thathe will not resign hisappointment saying such a

move will amount to runningaway from the problem.

He made the declaration just ashe stated that the federalgovernment would sooninaugurate a panel of eminentNigerians and stakeholders, toprobe the tragedy and come upwith a template for futureexercises, to ensure that thenation does not experience suchdeaths in future.

Comrade Moro confirmedthat fifteen of the job seekersincluding six women, one ofthem pregnant died in theaftermath of the stampede thatoccurred at the variousrecruitment centers.

The minister, who wasspeaking during an interviewin Abuja, disclosed that a total of522, 650 applicants from acrossthe nation were shortlisted for the4, 556 to be recruited noting thatseven persons comprising fivefemales and two males died inAbuja, five persons died in PortHarcourt, a pregnant womandied in Benin while two personsdied in Minna, Niger State.

Disclosing that all otherrecruitment exercises in otherparts of the country have been puton hold, he said, “To be fair to thepeople who lost their lives and toensure transparency in theremaining exercise, it has to beput on hold. That of Lagos Statewas postponed because the crowdwere unruly adding that stadiumswere selected for the exercisebecause of the physical fitnessaspect of the interviews”.

He disclosed however thatdespite the unfortunate stampedeand deaths, the exercise wasconcluded in the venues wherethe interviews for written andphysical tests were carried out.

Asked to comment on whypregnant women were allowed totake part in the exercise, Morosaid, “Pregnant women were notqualified for the exercise and nopregnant woman was shortlistedfor interview. The truth is thatmany people who had nobusiness being there includingthe pregnant women gate-crashed at the venues for reasonsbest known to them.

On why the exercise was notdone in batches considering thehuge number of applicants for thejobs, the minister said, “Wewanted to ensure a level playingground for everybody that wasqualified. That was whyeverybody was asked to turn up.If it had been done in batches,the same Nigerians will makeaccusation of attempts to influencethe outcome through favouritismamong others.”

While praying for the repose ofthe souls of all those who lost theirlives, Moro said, government willtake care of the medical bills ofthose who sustained injuries

adding that “we will take care ofthe burial of those that died. Wewill also put in place appropriatemeasures to assist the familiesmitigate the hardship andchallenges these unfortunatedeaths have brought on thefamilies of those that lost theirlives during the exercise” he said.

One of the survivors of thetragedy in Mina, Niger State,Miss Regina Akachi has alsorecounted her experiencesaying that she would havebeen dead by now but for theassistance given to her by oneof the Immigration officers atthe venue of the examination onSaturday.

Speaking exclusively toVanguard, Regina said she wasalmost falling on the ground as aresult of the stampede when theofficer rushed at her and pulledher from the crowd to safety.

Meanwhile, the corpsesdeposited at the Mortuary inMina General hospital are yet tobe claimed while all the patientswho were admitted at the hospitalhave also been discharged.

Commissioner of health, Dr.

Ibrahim Sue who confirmed thedevelopment said that thosebrought to the hospital on Sundayhave been discharged.

NLC urges FG to investigatedeath of unemployed youths

The Nigeria Labour Congressofficially reacted the death ofabout 20 unemployed youthswho died while scrabbling jobsin a recruitment exerciseorganized by the NigeriaImmigration Service, NIS andcalled on the federal governmentto . “ authorize an investigationof the Nigerian ImmigrationService, query the methods itadopted and interrogate thediscretion it exercised in collectingmoney from hard pressedapplicants.”.

Blaming the NIS for the deathof the youths, NLC president,Comrade Abdulwaheed Omarin a statement issued in Abujasaid, “The explanation by theMinister of Interior, Abba Morrothat 520,000 applicants wereinvited for screening for 4,556spaces and that the applicantsdied in a stampede due to

impatience and non-adherence tolay down orderly procedure, israther weak and untenable”.

The Congress also yesterdayin Kaduna staged a peacefulprotest at the state command ofthe Nigeria Immigration Service(NIS) over the incident.

The protesters led by the NLCVice-President, Mr Isa Aremu,arrived the NIS state commandearly in the morning and blockedits entrance and prevented thestaff from entering their offices.

The union members carriedplacards that contained variousinscriptions and a letter of protestwhich they wanted to deliver tothe state controller.

However, the officers on dutyrefused the workers access intothe premises and explained thatthe controller was not on seat.

In his address, NLC Vice-President, Isa Aremu,demanded immediatecompensation for the families ofthe 19 victims and appealed toPresident Goodluck Jonathan todemonstrate that no life of anapplicant will further be wastedat any recruitment centre.

BY FUNMI KOMOLAFE,KINGSLEY OMONOBI, BENAGANDE & WOLE MOSADO-

MI

INAUGURATION: Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko (middle) cutting the tape to inaugu-rate the Igbokoda Caring Heart Mega Primary School, in Ilaje Local Government Area, weekend.With him are; the Amapetu of Mahin Kingdom, Oba Lawrence Omowole (3rd left), Commissionerfor Education, Jide Adejuyigbe (left), Olu of Igbokoda, Oba Afolabi Odidiomo (2nd right) and others.

ABUJA—BAUCHI StateGovernor, Mallam Isa

Yuguda, has blamed the seemingdifficulty in tackling the BokoHaram onslaught on Nigeria’sNorth-East on the infiltration ofthe sect by armed groups fromneighboring countries.

Yuguda, who spoke in a BBCinterview monitored in Abuja,pleaded with the internationalcommunity to collaborate with theFederal Government in curtailingthe spate of attacks beingunleashed by the terrorists inparts of the North.

The governor said that theinvolvement of terrorists fromneighboring countries hadchanged the face of the

insurgency, making it moredifficult to contain.

“It is my belief that since someof the attackers come from acrossNigeria’s northeast borders withChad, Niger and Cameroon, theface of the insurgency has shiftedfrom a national to an internationaloperation.

“Fighting a guerilla war is verydifficult especially if you havepockets of insurgents in variouslocations that are not easilyidentifiable and accessible.

“We have reasons to believe thatthis is not a national affair but aninternational one,” Yugudaalleged.

The governor dismissed claimsthat the terrorists were bettermotivated than the Nigeriansecurity agencies, pointing out

that the soldiers have done theirbest to contain the militias.

Reacting to the development, agroup, Nigeria Arise AgainstTerror, NAAT, endorsed the call byGov. Isa Yuguda of Bauchi Stateon the international communityto urgently intervene in efforts bythe Federal Government to stemthe tide of terror currently ravagingthe Northeast part of the country.

The group in a statement by itsInterim National Coordinator, Mr.Emeka Kanu-Nwapa, andNational Publicity Secretary,Malam Abba Aliyu, said it hadreasons to believe that most of theattacks in the region recentlysuggested that the war had gonebeyond the Boko Haram andassumed an international faceand character.

BY SONI DANIEL


BY INNOCENT ANABA

BY ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH

Ikuforiji'strial sufferssetback

LAGOS—FURTHERhearing of the on-

going trial of formerManaging Director ofBank PHB, Mr. FrancisAtuche, over allegedN25.7 billion theftpreferred against himand two others wasyesterday stalled due toepileptic supply ofelectricity.

Atuche, his wife,Elizabeth and a formerChief Financial Officer ofthe bank, Ugo Anyanwu,were dragged before thecourt by Economic andFinancial CrimesCommission, EFCC.

Moment the case wascalled before JusticeLateefat Okunnu whopresided over the case, sheannounced the

N27.5bn: Power failure stallsAtuche’s trial

BY ABDULWAHABABDULAH

LAGOS—THE trial ofSpeaker, Lagos State

House of Assembly, Mr.Adeyemi Ikuforiji beforea Federal High Courtsitting in Lagos, was,yesterday, stalled due tothe absence of the trialjudge, who wasattending a judgesseminar.

Ikuforiji is standing trialalongside his personalassistant, Oyebode Atoyebi,on an amended 54-countcharge of moneylaundering.

The case was adjournedtill yesterday, forcontinuation of hearing, butcould not go on as earlierscheduled, due to a judges'seminar organised by theAssets ManagementCorporation of Nigeria,AMCON.

When the case was called,the prosecutor, said that hewas aware of theengagements of the court inthe AMCOM seminar, andtherefore, gave his consent for anadjournment.

LAGOS—THE FederalGovernment has been

dragged before the UnitedNations over the tragedy thatbefell some graduate job seekerslast weekend while participatingin the recruitment exercise by theNigerian Immigration Service,NIS, last weekend.

In a petition to the UN SecretaryGeneral, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, bySocio-Economic Rights andAccountability Project, SERAP, itrequested him to use his officesand leadership to “publicly

NIS recruitment: SERAP dragsFG before UN

adjournment, followingthe power outage in thecourt.

The situation has been arecurring one since lastweek when several of thecourt rooms cannot sitbecause of irregular powersupply.

Several of the litigantswere left to their fate as thecourt could not hold theproceeding and were left indarkness.

It would be recalled that,at the last proceeding, theCourt had dismissed theapplication filed by Atuche,asking the court to stayfurther proceedings of histrial.

Atuche, through hiscounsel, Chief AnthonyIdigbe, SAN, had prayedthe court to stayproceedings on the trial.

The senior lawyer said

the stay was necessarypending the determinationof the various appeals filedby both the EFCC andAtuche before the LagosDivision of the Court ofAppeal.

But in his response,counsel to EFCC KemiPinheiro, SAN, argued thatthe application should bedismissed for being anabuse of court processes.

Pinheiro said: “The lawas it stands mandates thecourt to uphold Section 40of the EFCC Act.

“It is a deliberate ploy todelay and truncate thisproceeding.”

However, Justice LateefatOkunnu, in a short ruling,held that Section 273 of theAdministration of CriminalJustice Law prohibited herfrom entertaining theapplication.

LAGOS—RESIDENTS ofAnthony Village, in Lagos

weekend, enjoyed freemedical services, courtesy ofan International NonGovernmental Organisation,the Comforter’s CompanionsFellowship.

The medical outreachprogramme, which attractedmany people , both young andold was held at 9, Odunlamistreet in Anthony Village andinvolved free hypertensivescreening, diabetic screening,free eye check up and glasses,HIV testing and counselling,free medical consultationsand treatment.

According to Mrs. GraceMonye, Vice Chairman of thefellowship; "Our aim is to takethe medical outreach to peoplewho are less privileged, thewidows, prisoners andmissionaries who cannotafford it.

"Everything here is free; freeglasses, free diabeticscreening; HIV screening,counselling and so on. It is aquarterly event and the

Anthony Village residents enjoy freehealthcare by NGO

BY LAMIDI BAMIDELE programme is commencingfrom Anthony Village becausethis is where we started from."

Speaking on the source offunds for the programme, shesaid: “We don’t havesponsors, we task ourselveswithin the fellowship. It is thepassion we have and we

came together to do it, but ifpeople want to help us wewill say thank you.”

Pastor Bimbo Ajayi, afoundation member of theFellowship further stressedthe objectives of Comforter’sCompanions Fellowship,saying, "We are not a

pressure group, we are notpolitical activists, we are justpeople who have passion tohelp others. We feel there isa gap where perhaps thegovernment has not touched,which we need to touch andwe have sustained this forsome years now."

condemn and refer the unlawfuldeaths and inhuman anddegrading treatment of job-seekers by the Nigeriangovernment to appropriateUnited Nations human rightsbodies.”

Among the human rightsbodies mentioned in the petitionare: the UN Committee onEconomic, Social and CulturalRights, the Office of the HighCommissioner for HumanRights and the Human RightsCouncil.

This was coming as Human

Rights Writers Association ofNigeria, HURIWA, through theNational Coordinator,Emmanuel Onwubiko and thenational media affairs director,Miss Zainab Yusuf, demandedthe immediate dismissal of thetop officials of the NigerianImmigration Services and theFederal Ministry of Interior,including the minister andpermanent secretary and furtherprosecute them for negligencewhich led to the high fatality rateat the ill-fated recruitmentexercise by the NIS.


BY DAUD OLATUNJI

ABEOKUTA—FORMERPresident Olusegun

Obasanjo yesterday, called for thecreation of a platform forinfrastructure development whichcould address Africa’senvironmental challenges.

The former President statedthis in Abeokuta at the openingceremony of the 3rd InternationalConference on InfrastructureDevelopment in Africa.

The theme of the three-dayconference is “EnvironmentalSustainability, Safety and HealthIn Infrastructure Development inAfrica.”

It was organised by the BellsUniversity of Technology, Ota, incollaboration with the Universityof Johannesburg and the KwameNkrumah University of Scienceand Technology.

Obasanjo also called for achange in policies and techniquesin order to adequately addressAfrica’s challenges of humaninsecurity such as food, power,transportation and. healthcare.

Obasanjo said: “Withoutadequate infrastructural base,efforts at socio-economic

Obasanjo calls for platform for infrastructure devt

development, growth andprogress will amount to futilityand our youths will wallow inunemployment, frustration andpremature death.”

He particularly urgedparticipants at the conference tobreak new grounds for progressin infrastructure development.

Speaking earlier, the Chairmanof the Local Organising

Committee of the conference,Prof. Olusegun Areola, notedthat infrastructure was a criticalelement of the humanenvironment system.

He, however, noted thatinfrastructure had been poorlydeveloped and managed in mostAfrican countries.

Also, yesterday the formerpresident said he remains one

of the easiest persons to workwith, saying he could work onlywith trustworthy people.

Obasanjo stated this inAbeokuta , while paying host to ateam of authors; MuyiwaAkintunde and Des Wilson, aProfessor of University of Uyo ona proposed book on a formerSecretary to the Federation,during his administration, ObongUfot Ekaete.

Says ‘I can work with only the trustworthy'

ABEOKUTA—HUNDREDSof lecturers of the Olabisi

Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoteyesterday, protested theirregular payment of theirsalaries by the Ogun StateGovernment in the past threeyears.

The protesting lecturers whoare members of OOU branch ofthe Academic Staff Union ofUniversities carried placardswith various inscriptions such as“It is ungodly to owe people theirmonthly dues,”We needgovernment intervention at

OOU lecturers protest alleged non-paymentof 3 years salaries

BY DAUD OLATUNJI Olabisi Onabanjo University,”“The sweat of the labourer mustnot dry” and “Ogun StateGovernment please save OOUfrom imminent collapse.”

Others bore placards saying,“Ogun Government pays lessthan 70 per cent of our salaries.Is Ogun government reallybroke?,” “We have earned oursalaries, we should be paidpromptly” and “OOU needsmore funding. We say no to thepresent poor funding.”

Addressing the protestinglecturers, the chairman of theOOU branch of the Academic

Staff Union of Universities, Dr.Deji Agboola said that the stategovernment had in the past threeyears formed the habit of notpaying them their salariesregularly.

The lecturers who began theirdemonstration at the OOU mini-campus, Ago-Iwoye at about10am took their protest to theinstitution’s permanent sitelocated about seven kilometresaway where they sensitised thestudents on their action.

They later presented their letterof grievances to the ViceChancellor, Prof. SaburiAdesanya for onwardtransmission to GovernorIbikunle Amosun.

LAGOS—DR. Mrs. ObyEzekwesili, Erelu Bisi

Adeleye-Fayemi, wife of theEkiti State governor and ahost of other renownedwomen have been selectedto speak during the 2ndannual Women’sConference organized bythe Daughters of Destiny,DOD, InterdenominationalFellowship.

The conference tagged,‘The Woman as a ChangeAgent’, which comes up on21st and 22nd March 2014,at the Orchid Hotels, byChevron Toll Plaza, offLekki -Epe Expressway,Lagos, is designed as acapacity buildingprogramme to charge andempower women from allworks of life as positivepolitical, social, economicand spiritual change agentswithin their sphere ofinfluence

Ezekwesili,Fayemi's wifeto addresswomenconference

ABEOKUTA—THEOgun State

governor, SenatorIbikunle Amosun hassaid his government willcontinue to welcomeinvestors to enhances o c i o - e c o n o m i cdevelopment, urging theChina/Africa InvestmentClub to present ablueprint for possiblecollaboration with thestate.

Amosun stated thiswhile receiving adelegation of the Club,made up ofconglomerate ofbusiness concerns inChina, in his officeyesterday.

He said Ogun State isfast becoming theinvestors haven with theadvantage of suitableland, nearness to Lagos,the nation’s commercialcapital and the gatewayto the West/African Subregional market amongothers.

Speaking earlier, theleader of the Chinesedelegation, Mr. WilliamWang said the team madeOgun State its first portof call in Nigeriabecause of theoutstanding performanceof the governor and histeam.

Ogun govtto partnerChineseinvestors

ABUJA—MOVES to get aconsensus candidate as the

standard bearer for the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, for theJune 21 Ekiti State governorshipelection, has failed. Therefore, allthe aspirants will this Saturday gofor primary election.

The inability of the 14 clearedaspirants to come up with aconsensus candidate after aclosed door meeting at the PDPpresidential campaign office,Legacy House, Maitama, Abujayesterday, forced the nationalleadership of the party to insiston the conduct of primaryelection.

The meeting which had most ofthe aspirants in attendance waspresided over by the nationalchairman of the PDP, Dr. AdamuMu’azu.

The cleared aspirants toparticipate are Obafemi Peter;Bejide Oluwadare; CalebOlubolade; Adedayo Adeyeye;Ayodele Fayose; AdeyanjuBodunde; Ogundipe ModupeMargaret; Abiodun Aluko;Oladeji Omoyeni; Sen. GbengaAluko; Oluropo Ogunbolude;Omalara Adubiaro; Ajayi AyodejiEldad and Adewale Aribisala.

It was learnt that while most ofthe aspirants backed theconsensus candidatearrangement as advised byPresident Goodluck Jonathan,former governor of the state and

BY HENRY UMORU

Ekiti Guber: Consensus candidate failsto emerge in PDP

an aspirant, Mr. Ayo Fayoseinsisted on the conduct ofprimaries.

Speaking at the end of themeeting with the aspirants, PDPNational Publicity Secretary,Chief Olisa Metuh whodisclosed that the party’snational leadership told theaspirants that the party wouldonly support the consensusarrangement if all the aspirantsagreed among themselves, said

that if a candidate refuses withthe consensus arrangement, theparty would have no choice thanto organise a transparent, freeand fair primaries so that theconstitutional right of allaspirants are secured.

Metuh who disclosed thatWard congresses for the selectionof its delegates for the primarieswhich was scheduled to hold lastweek would hold tomorrow, said:“It is the desire of the PDP thatwe have a consensus candidate

in Ekiti State with a proviso thatit must be unanimous.

“By chance if one or twopersons disagree, we mustrespect the Constitution of thePDP by concluding the exercise.

“We have sold forms and wewill go for the electionaccordingly. We are in Abuja, weare not looking for governor ofAbuja, we are looking forgovernor in Ekiti State and Ekitipeople will participate inchoosing their governor."

COURTESY CALL: From left: William Wang, President, China/Africa Investment Club,Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Bimbo Ashiru, Ogun StateCommissioner for Commerce and Industries, Dr. Chukwu Chime, Regional Vice President(Nigeria), China/Africa Investment Club, during a courtesy call on the Governor by adelegation of the China/Africa Investment Club in Abeokuta, yesterday. Photo: Wumi Akinola.


Privatization: Court stops BPE on Alaoji, Omoku,Gbarain power stations

BY IKECHUKWUNNOCHIRI

Deaths at NIS recruitment, embarrassmentto the world —Edo SSG

BY GABRIELENOGHOLASE

BENIN—SECRETARY toEdo State Government,

Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, hasdescribed as sad, unfortunateand an embarrassment to theworld, the death of over 18applicants at the Nigeria Im-migration Service recruitmentexercise. He also consoledthe families of those who losttheir loved ones during theexercise.

Prof. Ihonvbere, who wasreacting to the unfortunateweekend incident, recalledthat, “two weeks ago, I repre-sented Governor Adams Os-hiomhole at the meeting of theForum of Progressive Gover-nors, where we discussed thisissue of unemployment.

“The truth of the matter isthat the pictures you saw atthe NIS recruitment testsacross the country demon-strate the problem of Nigeria.The incident shows failure atall levels, particularly at thefederal, to stimulate growthand development that will cre-ate investments and jobs, sothat people will not be dyingwhile trying to write job tests.

“This is an embarrassmentto the world because, this isthe number you have in vir-tually all the states and it tells

you where criminality and crim-inal gangs recruit their mem-bers from, the pressure on fam-ilies and why the middle classcannot grow.

“We have no training to pack-age people who have qualifi-cations that can work. We haveno serious training on how toget people self-employed, noteven on how to encourage peo-

ple to go for post-graduatetraining on specialisedcourses so that they can beemployed or self-employed.We just abandon young peo-ple and when they are toldto come to write test in a sta-dium without tables, peopleare dying. It is very sad andunfortunate. I weep for Ni-geria.”

He also noted that his sen-atorial district was sufferingbecause men of integrity andcharacter were not represent-ed it at the national level,saying: “We had no teachinghospital, no university andno industries until the com-ing of Adams Oshiomhole,who is now involved in in-dustrial investment."

Forget 2016 guber, Oshiomhole tells Edo PDP

Rescue ofJonathan’scousin:Bayelsachiefs,youths laudpolice

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

BY SAMUELOYADONGHA

Y ENAGOA—THEOdioma Communi-

ty Council of Chiefs andyouth leaders in Brass Lo-cal Government Area ofBayelsa State, led by itsparamount ruler, the Igo-ni 21st and the Amanay-abo of Odioma Kingdom,HRM Cadbury Omieh,weekend, lauded the Po-lice in the state and othersecurity agencies in-volved in the operationthat led to the rescue ofChief Inengite Nitabai,cousin to President Good-luck Jonathan.

The police through thestate Commissioner of Po-lice, Hillary Okpara, hadWednesday midnight res-cued the abducted septu-agenarian from his kid-nappers den, where hewas abandoned at Ogbo-ma, off Odioma in Brasscouncil.

The people of Odiomathrough their paramountruler, said that though“the act of kidnappingand violent crimes is notpart of the culture of thepeople in the area, theconduct of the investigat-ing officers from the statepolice command and oth-er agencies was profes-sional and commenda-ble.”

B E N I N — G O V E RNOR Ad-ams Oshiomhole

of Edo State has told the Peo-ples DemocraticParty, PDP, in thestate to forgetabout winning thestate in 2016, say-ing that Edo Statewas not “a goatthat must be cap-tured.”

The governor,who was reactingto the boast by thePDP in the statethat the partywould “capture”the state after histenure in 2016,said: “When I hearthe PDP say thatafter Oshiomhole,

they will capture Edo back,I ask, ‘is Edo a goat thatmust be captured?’ In 2007,PDP stole the peoples’ man-date. I battled with them

with your support and by thegrace of God, the mandatewas restored.”

He spoke in Irrua, EsanCentral Local Government

Area of the state, where themember representing the areain the state House of Assem-bly, Mr Victor Edoror,dumped PDP for the All Pro-gressives Congress, APC.

ENDORSEMENT OF POWER OIL: From left: Executive Director, Nigerian Heart Foun-dation, NHF, Mr. Kingsley Akinroye; President, NHF, Professor Oladipo Akinkugbe; PublicRelations Manager, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, Mr. Tope Asiwaju; Chief Operating Officer, DufilPrima Foods Plc, Mr. Adhi Narto and General Manager, Power Oil, Mr. Gaurau Dwivedi,during the endorsement of Power Oil by Nigerian Heart Foundation, at Protea Hotel, Ikeja,Lagos, yesterday.

ABUJA—JUSTICE AbdulKafarati of a Federal

High Court sitting in Abuja,yesterday, stopped the Bureauof Public Enterprises, BPE,from taking any step towardsopening the bidding processfor the privatization of threepower stations in the country.

The power stationsthe courtyesterday ordered the BPEnot to put up for sale pend-ing the determination of a suitbefore it, were Alaoji, Omokuand Gbarain power stations.

It will be recalled that theBPE had on March 7, 2014,commenced the process ofselling the three power sta-tions.

However, a company, Ethi-ope Energy Limited, wentbefore the high court, alleg-ing subterranean plot by someofficials of the BPE to circum-vent due process and sell thestations to choice firms.

The claimant told the courtthat though it entered bid forthe power stations, the com-pany said it was deliberatelyskewed out of the process.

Consequently, Ethiope,

urged the court to order the BPEto suspend the entire biddingprocess, pending the determi-nation of the suit.

In the statement of claim filedthrough its counsel, Dr. Alex Iz-inyon, SAN, the company, spe-

cifically accused the Chair-man of the Due DiligenceCommittee, Mr. Atedo Peter-side, of having enormousinfluence on the BPE andthe bidding process for thethree power stations.

Ethiope accused the BPE

of bias, prejudice, conflict ofinterest, manipulation in thetechnical bid evaluation duediligence exercise, insistingthat Mr. Peterside, ought tohave completely excusedhimself from the whole eval-uation process especially asit relates to the plaintiff.


Don't disgrace Nigeria, Kuku warns amnesty traineesBY SONI DANIEL,

Regional Editor, North

Rights groups in Edo protestBEDC's N750 monthly charge

BY SIMONEBEGBULEM

B E N I N—COA LI -TION of civil soci-

ety organisations in EdoState, yesterday, protest-ed the collection of N750from customers by theBenin Electricity Distri-bution Company, BEDC,as monthly charge irre-spective of whether thecustomer enjoys electric-ity or not.

The protesters, whogathered at the KingsSquare, Benin, circulat-ed fliers specifying theirgrievances againstBEDC, some of whichinclude the contentiousfixed charge of N750,which it tagged “illegal

and an extortion,” failureto supply the 8,000 pre-paid meters already paidfor, estimated billingswithout meter checksand poor power supplyeven when customerspay monthly electricitybills.

Reacting, the Manag-ing Director and ChiefExecutive of BEDC, Mrs.Funke Osibodu, ex-plained that the N750fixed charge representsthe capacity charge oncustomers for power sup-plied by power generat-ing and transmissionfirms to the BEDC.

She said: “It is not aBenin DISCO issue, ithas been on before now,it is not new. It used to

be N500 and was in-creased to N750 and itwill still be increased toN1, 500 this year. Onceyou are connected to us,you pay a fixed chargeevery month. But whenyou don’t have power,you are not authorised tobe charged. If we don’thave supply and we geta feedback, it will be re-funded, it depends on aperiod of time not onemonth.

“Again, understand theimportance of fixedcharge. Transmissionhas to work. The gener-ating company will haveto make capacity availa-ble so there is nothing il-legal about it.”

SPECIAL Adviser to thePresident on Niger Del-

ta Affairs, Mr. Kingsley Kuku,has warned Nigerians beingtrained by the Federal Gov-ernment in foreign institu-tions not to do anything thatcould embarrass the govern-ment or be repatriated.

Kuku gave the warning atthe decoration of 18 trainedcommercial pilots who hadgraduated from the Royal Jor-danian Air Academy, RJAA, bythe Presidential Amnesty Of-fice.

The presidential aide madeit clear that Niger Delta dele-gates who failed to meet upthe academic requirementswould henceforth lose theirfull financial support andmight be made to withdrawfrom such sponsorship.

Kuku, who was excited bythe feat recorded by the Ni-gerian pilots, said, however,that it was important for theinstitutions training them tooffer employment to them soas to empower them and re-duce the number of joblesspeople in the country.

He explained that the specialattention being paid by the gov-ernment to the development ofthe trainees through aviationwas to strengthen the sector andto enable the trainees to actu-alise their dreams of becomingpilots.

Kuku said it was not enoughto just train the Nigerian pilotsand send them home at the endof their course since the goal ofthe training was to prepare thepilots for gainful engagementin the aviation industry withinand outside Nigeria.

While boasting that the Presi-dency had done more in thesector than at any other periodin the nation’s history, Kukupromised to dispatch more del-egates to renowned aviationcolleges to acquire the relevantexpertise in piloting, aircraftengineering and maintenance.

Kuku said: “As far as we areconcerned, the Nigerian avia-tion industry is the most suc-cessful aviation space in Africaand we still intend to do morein order to consolidate on thegains already recorded.

“It is in the pursuit of the lev-el of excellence required thatwe sent out our boys to reputa-ble aviation institutions around

the world for training. Wewould want them back onthe completion of their train-ing but if you find them use-ful in your country, pleasedon’t hesitate to engagethem.

“They are not yet up to thenumber Nigeria needs andwe are going to send out

more for training, particular-ly in the areas of Air TrafficControl and Ground Han-dling Operations,” the advis-er said.

The team leader of the Ni-gerian trained commercialpilots, TCP, at the RJAA, Mr.Victor Ezinwa, thanked Pres-ident Goodluck Jonathan for

approving their training un-der the PAP and pledged tojustify the confidence reposedin them by the government.

Ezinwa said that the Presi-dency had made their dreamsof flying jets to come true,adding that they were proudto graduate as pilots alongwith others from other coun-tries of the world.

PROTEST: Members of civil society organizations in Edo State, protesting N750 monthlycharges by Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC, in Benin City, yesterday. Photo:Barnabas Uzosike.

CMYK


SWEARING IN OF ANAMBRA STATE NEW GOVERNOR, DEPUTY

From left— Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State, his wife, Ebele, and ChiefJudge, Justice Peter Umeadi (right).

The swearing in of Dr. Willie Obiano and Dr. Nkamakonam Okeke as Governor and DeputyGovernor of Anambra State, respectively, held at Dr. Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka, yesterday.

PHOTOS: Akpokona Omafuaire, Obi Ikechukwu.

From left— Chief Peter Obi, immediate past Governor ofAnambra State, Governor Willie Obiano and Chief Victor Umeh,Chairman, All Progressives Grand Alliance.

A cross section of traditional chiefs. Red cap chiefs.HRM, Igwe Emeka Achebe, Obi of Onitsha and

his wife.

Crowd at the event.Chief Emeka Odumegwu, Jnr, and wife.

Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu arrives.Governor Obiano delivering his speech.Chief Obi inspecting a guard of honour.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014 —15

Governor Willie Obiano, delivering his speech after the swearing in.

Obiano sworn in as Anambra govVows to tackle power, security challenges

AWKA—DR. Willie Obianoand Dr. Nkamakonam

Okeke were yesterday, swornin as governor and deputygovernor of Anambra Staterespectively with a pledge totackle headlong the perennialproblems of power failure andinsecurity which they identifiedas the biggest constraints to thefull manifestation of the ingenuityfor which Anambra people wereknown.

Chief Judge on courtorder

This was even as the state ChiefJudge, Justice Peter Umeadi,denied ever flouting any courtorder by swearing them intooffice.

However, the Special Adviserto the President on Inter-PartyMatters, Chief Ben Obihasannounced the appointment offormer Governor Obi, as thehonourary Adviser on Finance toPresident Goodluck Jonathan andwould soon become a member ofthe Federal Executive Council,FEC.

Society’s enduring virtues oflove, unity and brotherhood weresome of the central themes thatdominated the inaugural addressof the new Governor, Obiano aftertaking the oath of office, in anelaborate ceremony in Awka, theAnambra State capital.

Tackling challengesAt the colourful ceremony held

at Dr. Alex Ekwueme Square,Awka and attended by eminentpersonalities from Anambra andbeyond, Obiano said that therealisation of his dreams forAnambra State depends on howwell these two challenges weretackled.

He said: “The good news is thatthere is hope for Anambra State.We shall aggressively address thechallenge of power supply withthe proposed citing of ultra-modern Independent PowerPlants, IPP, in the three industrialhubs in the state, especially, inOnitsha, Nnewi and Awka. Whenfully operational, these plants willgenerate enough electricity topower the entrepreneurialdreams of our people.”

On securityIn the area of security, he said:

“Anambra will be different undermy watch. Not only shall weredraft the operational manual ofthe entire security apparatchik toensure a lightening-quickresponse, we shall also re-orientate our people to see thatevery citizen has a role to play inthe security of our communities.The concept of communitypolicing or what is better knownas the Vigilante Groups, hasworked well in Anambra State.

“The next challenge however isto re-train, re-equip and refocusthem to meet the dynamics of ourtime. Along the same line, we willstrengthen the police and otherlaw enforcement agencies in thestate to enhance their efficiency

BY TONY EDIKE &VINCENT UJUMADU,

NWABUEZE OKONKWO

Obi ‘ll soon become FEC member —President

and response rate to distresscalls.”

Clamour for capital cityObiano also said that his

government would address thelong clamour by Anambra peoplefor a capital city “that fully reflectsthe essence of our people,”adding that Awka would be re-designed and remodeled to meetthe structural and aestheticrequirements of a 21st Centurycity that the people would beproud off.

Apart from these, he also saidthat his government wouldfaithfully implement the masterplans of Onitsha and Nnewi.

He listed other priorities of hisgovernment to includeaggressive mechanisedagriculture, oil and gasdevelopment, trade andcommerce and industrialisation.

Eulogises DimOdumegwu Ojukwu

While paying a glowing tributeto the late APGA leader andIkemba Nnewi, DimChukwuemeka OdumegwuOjukwu for building a newpolitical ark for Ndigbo, Obianoalso expressed gratitude to thepeople of Anmabra for theoverwhelming support they gaveto him during the lastgubernatorial poll.

President Jonathan, who wasrepresented at the occasion by hisAdviser on inter party matters,Chief Obi, said he had enjoyedthe support of the former governorand assured that “he remains myhonourary adviser on Finance.

“Sooner or later Peter Obi willbe a member of the Federal

As CJ denies getting court action to stop swearing inExecutive Council,” thepresident said.

Earlier in his valedictoryspeech, former governor Obi haddescribed the transition ashistoric pointing out that sincethe creation of both old and newAnambra State, “no governorhas handed over to anybody.”

Obi speaksHis words: “Chief Jim

Nwobodo did not hand over toChief Christian Onoh (in theSecond Republic);Chukwuemeka Ezeife did nothand over to Dr. ChinwokeMbadinuju; Mbadinuju did nothand over to Dr. Chris Ngigeand Ngige was not available theday I took my oath of office.’’

He also claimed that when he‘’was sworn in, Anambra did nothave the Governor’s Office, therewas no Governor ’s Lodge.When I was sworn in, I camewith my car but today as we leavehere after the new Governor hasbeen sworn in, he will move in abrand new Governor’s car andhe will move into a Governor’sLodge. Anambra State hasreturned to the path of peace andprogress because when westarted the journey all of us knewwhat it was but today, we can saywe have a state.”

He denied entering into anypact with Obiano, advising hissuccessor to give priorityattention to the future of theyouths in the state.

Roll callThe inauguration ceremony

was attended by eminentpersonalities including formerChief of Army Staff, Gen.

Azubuike Ihejirila, rtd, Gov.Theodore Orji of Abia State,Special Adviser to the Presidenton Inter-Party Affairs, Sen. BenObi, GOC 82 Div, Major Gen.S. Yusuf, APGA NationalChairman, Chief Victor Umeh,Business mogul, Prince ArthurEze, Sir Emeka Offor, wives ofDelta and Cross River StateGovernors, Roli Uduaghan andObioma Imoke, NigerianAmbassador to Spain, Mrs.Bianca Ojukwu and APCChieftain, Chief AnnieOkonkwo.

Meanwhile, the state ChiefJudge, Justice Umeadi, hasdenied ever flouting an allegedcourt order restraining him fromswearing in Obiano as governorof the state.

In a statement signed on hisbehalf by the Chief Registrar, N.D. Ezeani, yesterday, after theswearing in ceremony, JusticeUmeadi noted that there was asuit seeking a mandatoryinjunction to stop him fromswearing in Obiano and Okekeyesterday, but that the suit hadnot yet been determined.

He noted that from thenumerous legal authorities listedin the publications, wonderingwhether the plaintiff would stillachieve the purport of his reliefsif he continued with his suit.

The suitDr. Chike Obidigbo had in a

suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/118/2014, asked the Federal HighCourt, Abuja for an injunctionrestraining the swearing in ofObiano and his deputyyesterday.

Joined in the suit were thefactional Chairman of APGA,Chief Maxi Okwu, APGA, INECand Chief Judge of Anambra State.

Umeadi, however, observed thathe would obey all orders of courton matters which come to hisnotice, even as he would notevade service of any court process.

He said he would equally allowaccess even where it is to beserved on him personally, addingthat even where he is absent andthe court process is received in hischambers, it would certainly cometo his notice and he would abideby same.

Umeadi further said that therewas nothing to show thatinjunction was granted againsthim on the matter as none wasserved on him, adding that he wasa nominal party in the said suit.

Chief Obiano, ex-banker andtechnocrat who won theNovember 16, and run off electionon November 30, 2014 on theplatform of the All ProgressiveGrand Alliance, APGA, took overfrom the immediate past governor,Mr. Peter Obi whose two tenuresof eights were been largelydescribed as successful

In a highly inspiring addresstitled, Expanding the Frontiers ofExcellence; Obiano who is thefourth democratically electedgovernor of Anambra State soughtto rouse the consciousness of NdiAnambra by reminding them ofthe Igbo industry and ingenuitywhen he said: “A people whoastonished the world with theiringenuity and resourcefulnessduring wartime can lend a weightyhand to efforts to re-make ourworld in peace-time."


.... Reps may scrap SWV

BY EMMAN OVUAKPORIE

Service Wide Vote: House c'ttee accuses SGF office,others of diverting N16trn

ABUJA — INDICATIONS haveemerged that the House of Repre-

sentatives may call for the scrapping ofthe Service Wide Vote, SWV, fund usedby the executive to combat emergenciesdue to lack of accountability.

Sources said that the House took intoaccount, the massive fraud associatedwith the SWV before agreeing informal-ly to recommend its scrapping.

The House Committee on Public Ac-counts had uncovered financial irregu-larities in the disbursement of the fund toMinistries, Departments and Agencies,MDAs, between November last year andthis month.

On March 5, the committee alleged thatabout N16 trillion was diverted by the Of-fice of the Secretary to the Governmentof the Federation and Budget Office, evenas Hon. Olamilekan Adeola had earlier

on December 22, last year, raised an alarmthat N4 trillion was spent between 2004and 2012 by the Federal Government fromthe SWV without the approval of the Na-tional Assembly, in accordance with Sec-tion 80 of the 1999 Constitution.

The committee had also alleged that be-tween 2005 and 2006, the administrationof former President Olusegun Obasanjospent N250 million on the feeding of formerPresident of Liberia, Charles Taylor and hisfamily, who were then on an asylum in thecountry.

Olamilekan said the money was spentillegally without parliamentary approval,adding that the trend had continued fromObasanjo’s regime.

Chairman, House Committee on PublicAccounts, Rep Solomon Olamilekan, AllProgressives Congress, APC, Lagos hadalso, at different interactive sessions withMDAs, called for the scrapping of the fundwhich he described as “a slosh account.”

Olamilekan explained that “most of the

2015: Court strikes out suitagainst Jonathan's eligibilityKADUNA — THE Federal High

Court, sitting in Kaduna, yesterday,struck out a suit challenging the eligibilityof President Goodluck Jonathan to contestthe 2015 general elections.

The suit, instituted by Shuaibu Lili andone other, had sought a declaration bar-ring the President from contesting the 2015presidential election.

Counsel to the plaintiffs, MohammedIbrahim, had argued that Jonathan hav-ing been sworn twice into office as presi-dent has no constitutional right to contestfor the post again.

He cited Sections 145, 142 and 146 ofthe Constitution which limits the tenure ofthe president and governors to a maxi-mum of eight years.

The plaintiffs had also sought for an or-der to restrain the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, joined as defendant, from fieldingJonathan as its presidential candidate in2015.

In her ruling Justice Evlyn Enya-Dike,said the plaintiffs had failed to convincethe court in all the prayers they sought,and struck out the case.

She said that Jonathan was yet to obtainor declare formally his intention to con-test, adding that the suit was “at best hy-pothetical, pre-emptive, speculative andmere conjunctures.”

Enya-Dike also said that Section 308 ofthe Constitution insulated the Presidentfrom civil and criminal actions until hevacates office, adding that the plaintiffsalso lacked locus-standi to institute thecase.

“The plaintiffs,” she said, “had failed toshow that they would suffer any specialdamage more than any member of thepublic if the President contests in 2015.”

The judge, however, did not make anydeclaration on whether the suit was anabuse of court process.

Enya-Dike, however, dismissed the casewithout any cost.

Reacting to the judgement, counsels toJonathan and PDP, Mr. Nnamdi Ekwem,expressed satisfaction with the court’s de-cision.

On his part, Ibrahim said they wouldappeal the ruling, contending that therewere many flaws in the judgement.

expenditures to which the SWV releaseswere deployed are routine in nature anddid not qualify for emergency funding.

“For instance, between 2004 and 2012, atotal of N1.20 billion was spent on public-ity and publication of various governmentprogrammes.

“Between 2004 and 2005, another N14.57 billion was also released from the SWVfor the payment of judgement debts againstthe Federal Government.

“The office of the Accountant-General ofthe Federation, Budget Office and theMinistry of Finance released to their vari-ous offices a total of N2. 1billion to a fewauditors as audit fees and in 2011 alone,the Office of the Accountant-General of theFederation paid out N809,358,504 as au-dit fees to some external auditors carryingout audit of the Federal Government fi-nancial activities instead of the Office ofthe Auditor-General of the Federation.”

He had also alleged that over N160 mil-lion was released for the Budget and Ac-countant General’s offices without expla-nations on what the money was used for.

Olanipekun said: “The expenditure ofN162 million from the 2011 SWV releasestagged, 'Closing Accounts' was incurredjointly by the Office of the Accountant-General and the Budget Office of the Fed-eration.

“An expenditure of N1,059,177,589.31($6,619,859.93 at the rate of $1 to N160) in

2010 and 2011 was said to be for paymentof outstanding tax on Nigeria House inNew York.

“Such releases were mainly used to fi-nance recurrent expenses not targeted atcritical and strategic sectors of the econo-my and the releases were random and didnot follow any clear pattern.

“The SWV had become an alternativebudget which government prefers to pa-tronise than the annual budget, leadingto poor implementation of such budgetsas approved by the National Assembly.

“Successive governments have from 2004to 2012, spent a whopping N4.17 trillionas against N1.8trillion approved by theNational Assembly as SWV component ofthe budgets of those years, translating toN2.27trillion extra budgetary spending or220 per cent above the SWV as approvedin the budget for the period. Such extra-budgetary expenditures constitute abreach of Section 81 of the 1999 Constitu-tion (as amended) and an illegality.”

In most cases, the heads of the agenciesalso, did not have documentary evidenceon how the money allocated to them wasdisbursed.

The committee also raised questions overvarious sums of money totalling N5.1 bil-lion said to have been used to finance theactivities of Presidential Advisory Commit-tee, PAC, led by Gen. Theophilus Danju-ma (rtd) in 2010.

FG approves 25 Justices ofCourt of AppealABUJA — PRESI-

DENT GoodluckJonathan, yesterday, ap-proved the appointment of25 Justices for the Court ofAppeal.

This is contained in astatement signe by Mr. SojiOye, Acting Director, Infor-mation of the National Ju-dicial Council, NJC.

It said the approval fol-lowed recommendation bythe council chairman, Jus-tice Aloma Murkhtar.

The Justices are: HammaBarka, Gombe; Joseph Jel-la, Taraba; Bitrus Sanga,Bauchi; Muhammed Mu-stapha, Borno; Yargata

Nimpar, Gombe andSai’idiu Hussein, Kogi,

Others are: MudashiruOniyangi, Kwara; AminaWambai, Niger; RidwanAbdullahi, Nasarawa; TaniHassan, Kano; Mu-hammed Shuaibu, Jigawa;Musa Alkali, Kaduna;Jamilu Tukur, Katsina; PaulElechi, Ebonyi and Ugo-chukwu Ogakwu, Enugu.

Included also are: Nony-erem Okoronkwo,Imo; Jo-seph Ekanem, Akwa Ibom;F.E. Oho, Delta; AbimbolaAdejumo, Edo; BolokuromoUgo, Bayelsa; BiobeleGeogewill, Rivers; Oludot-un Adefope-okojie, Ogun;

Misitura Bolaji-Yusuf, Oyo;J.O.K Oyewole, Osun andE.O Williams-Dawudu, La-gos.

The statement said theappointment was in linewith the new Court of Ap-peal Act as amended thatstipulates an increase in thenumber of Justices of theCourt from 70 to 90.

It said the appointmentwas also to fill the vacan-cies occasioned by the de-mise, retirements and ele-vations of some Justices.

The statement said theJustices are expected to besworn-in on March 24 byJustice Mukhtar.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014 — 17

,

,

NIGERIANS are sooverwhelmed by the

inadequacies of Nigeria; weeasily ignore its strengths. Iam not talking here aboutNigeria’s potentials; I amtalking about Nigeria’s currentactual status in the worldeconomy. I am talking aboutNigeria as a country with thebiggest consumer market inAfrica. Just think about it: theentire economy of Kenya isonly equal in size to that ofLagos State in Nigeria.

Says Nigeria’s foremostindustrialist, Aliko Dangote:"Nigeria is the best kept secretin the world. Anybody whodoesn't invest in Nigeria onlyhas himself to blame, goingforward, if he misses out. Idon't really know of any placewhere you can make as muchmoney as you make inNigeria."

South African invasion

I don’t know to what extentrank-and-file Nigerians areaware of this, but South Africais already making a bigonslaught on this lucrativeNigerian market. If we don’tbuck up and take charge, wemight wake up sometime inthe not-too-distant future anddiscover that, out ofindolence; lack of imaginationand dearth of enterprise, wehave surrendered thecommanding heights of oureconomy to our junior SouthAfrican brothers. I call themour junior brothers because wepaid their “school-fees” in theform of assisting them in theirliberation struggle against theapartheid system.

In a slow but steady manner,South Africans are beginningto entrench themselves intokey facets of the Nigerianeconomy. From aviation tobanking to construction toentertainment to revenuecollection to telecoms; South

The South Africanisation ofNigeria

The South Africans are herein Nigeria with a plan totake over the economy

African companies are stakinga very forceful claim toNigeria. With MTN, they nowreign like a colossus over thetele-communications industry.With Multichoice DSTV, theyare now king of pay-TV. TigerBrands has signaled itsdetermination to dominateNigeria’s food business bytaking over majority shares inUAC Foods and DangoteFlourmills; two of thecountry ’s leading foodmanufacturing companies.

Take a look at the followingfirms which are quicklybecoming Nigerian brandfavourites; you might not beaware that they are all SouthAfrican. Chicken Republic;Critical Rescue; DefreshProducts; Entech and Broll;Eskom; Global OutdoorSemces; Grinaker-LTAConstruction; Massmart(Game); Oracle Airtime; Mr.Price; Nandos; Protea Hotels;SAB Miller; Sasol; Shoprite,South African Airways; Stanbic

IBTC; Standard Chartered; St.Elmos; Truworths; UmgeniWater and Woolworths.

At the moment, Nigeriancompanies don’t seem to beable to compete with most ofthese companies, for thesimple reason that we don’thave in Nigeria a culture ofgood planning, soundmanagement and efficientservices. However, these arethe major selling-points of theSouth African brands, makingthem increasingly thepreferred choice of Nigerians.Consider this: in 1994, SouthAfrican companies made apaltry $11 million in Nigeria.By 2005, they made awhopping $11 billion.

On the flip side, theNigerian economic presencein South Africa is insignificant.Nigerian companies cannotadequately serve the hugeNigerian market, thereforemost have little incentive orcapacity to explore the SouthAfrican market. Those thatmake forays abroadconcentrate essentially on the

ECOWAS sub-region. Apartfrom companies like DangoteGroup, Financial Standard,First Bank, News Media,Philips Consulting andThisDay Newspapers,Nigerian companies are fewand far between in SouthAfrica.

MTN supremacy

There is really no goodreason why a South

African company like MTNshould dominate the mobiletelecom market in Nigeria, ifit were not for the fact thatNigerian policy-makers don’tseem to appreciate that,wherever possible, Nigeriansshould be preferred overforeigners in Nigeria. On thecontrary, foreigners often getmore special treatment. Youmay not have realised this, buta foreigner is more likely to geta loan from a Nigerian bankbefore a Nigerian.

With regard to the mobile

phone system, Nigeria hadlocal people, like MikeAdenuga and Hakeem Belo-Osagie, who were not onlyinterested but were alsosufficiently enterprising andqualified to participate in theproject. However, someclassical Nigerian blunderswere made. The scheme wasmade open to the highestbidder, a requirement whichworked in favour of foreignerswith access to larger capital.By the time the bid reached$285 million, Belo-Osagie wasconstrained to drop out. WhileAdenuga stayed in, there wassome hiatus with his paymenttransfer and he wasdisqualified.

The road was then clearedfor MTN, a South African firm,and ECONET wireless, aZimbabwean firm, to pioneerthe mobile-phone system inNigeria. Those two companiesquickly ripped-off Nigeriansby introducing an extortionateservice of N50 per minute. Bythe time we woke up to whathad happened and finallyallowed Adenuga back in withhis Glocacom system to breakup their market monopoly andsubvert their high pricing,MTN had already cleaned upthe market. Belo-Osagie toohas since come back in,partnering with the giantEtisalat, but there is noquestion that, short of amiracle, it will be impossibleto overcome MTN’s head-start.

Thanks largely to thatadvantage; South Africa’sMTN now controls some 52%of Nigeria’s mobile telecomsmarket. According to statisticsprovided by the NigerianCommunications Commission(NCC), MTN stands head-and-shoulder above the restwith as many as 55 millionsubscribers; Globacom comesa distant second with 25million; Airtel comes third with21 million; and Etisalat isfourth with 15 million.

I have no problem withMTN or other foreign firmsbeing in Nigeria. I personallyhave an MTN line, and I cansay without being liable toaccusations of bias that theirservices are lousy.Nevertheless, my position isthat non-Nigerians should notbe given a head-start vis-à-visNigerians in the Nigerianeconomy, especially in those

areas where Nigerians aremore than able to make auseful contribution. IfNigerians end up beingdiscriminated against inNigeria, it means we areeffectively orphans in our owncountry.

With currently now over 115million mobile-phone users inNigeria, a figure more thandouble the entire populationof South Africa which is 52million, Nigeria has becomeMTN's biggest cash cow. Thecompany now makes over$2.5 billion in profits annuallyfrom Nigeria alone. That isvirtually equal to the totalannual budget of Lagos State,by far economically the largeststate in Nigeria. This is notan argument against foreigninvestment in Nigeria, but itmeans money that could havebeen earned in Nigeria andre-invested in Nigeria getsrepatriated from Nigeria. Weneed some people somewhereamong our policy-makers tostart thinking for Nigeria.

Multichoice monopoly

Another South Africanflagship in the Nigerian

economy is MultichoiceDSTV, which accounts for over90% of the viewers of satelliteTV. Multichoice had thedistinction of being thepioneer Pay-TV operator inSub-Saharan Africa. Thisearly-bird advantage enabledit to acquire a number ofexclusive content agreementswhich makes it virtuallyimpossible for others tocompete on a level-playingground with it. The criticalone in this regard is the rightto the English Premier League(EPL), the most popular TVprogramme on the continent.

This has ensured thatMultichoice has been morethan a competitor for the localNigerian Television Authority(NTA). Supplementing itsdifferent Super-Sportschannels with severalNollywood (Africa.Magic) andHollywood (Movie Magic)channels, as well as local andforeign music stations andmore, Multichoice isincreasingly the preferredchoice of Nigerian televisionviewers. The near-monopolyof Multichoice has enabled itto rip off its subscribers bymaking Nigerians pay for

films that they don’t evenwatch. By having fixedcharges instead of pay-as-you-go, Multichoice has beenlaughing all the way to thebank.

The government attemptedto break the Multichoicemonopoly by insisting that theright to show the EPL inNigeria could not be bundledwith the right to show it in therest of Africa. Given therelatively large size of theNigerian market, a separatebid had to be made for Nigeriaalone. This enabled a localrival, HITV, to bid for the rightand receive it for three years.

However, HITV turned outto be one big disaster. ItsNigerian CEO, Toyin Subair,got carried away by hisvantage position in havingexclusive rights to the EPL.He went on a spending spreebuying luxury cars, jet-settingall over the world andthrowing lavish parties.Within three years, HITV wasbankrupt and Multichoicereclaimed its exclusive rightsto the lucrative EPL.

No retreat, no surrender

This is not a call todiscrimination against

South African firms; our SouthAfrican brothers are good forNigeria. It took South AfricanShoprite Supermarket for us torealise that there is a marketfor modern retail outlets inNigeria. Shoprite’s overnightsuccess has prompted otherinternational retail stores tojoin the fray, such as Spar,Massmart and Woolworths.Shoprite CEO, Whitey Basson,said he saw the scope for 700Shoprite stores in Nigeriaalone, up from the current two,arguing that even if 60percent of Nigerians live inpoverty, the other 40 percentwould still outnumber SouthAfricans.

Where then are the Nigerianentrepreneurs? It appearsthey are either asleep orlooking for oil. This is anattempt to embarrass us bychallenging Nigerians to riseto the South Africanchallenge. Nigerians need torealise that there is alreadyunderway a South African playfor Nigeria, and this challengeis not simply at the level of theSuper Eagles and the BafanaBafana where we have tendedto reign supreme. This is atthe more cogent level ofeconomic supremacy. It is atthe level of determining thepreeminent andrepresentative black Africancountry in the world today.

The South Africans are herein Nigeria, and they are herewith a plan. They are here totake over the Nigerianeconomy. At the moment, weseem to have been lulled intoa widespread and deepeningsurrender. This is a “call toarms.” We must neither banSouth Africans nor impedethem. But we must match themand best them. We must alsorecognise that, whereverpossible and necessary,Nigerian firms must be givenpriority over foreigners. SouthAfricans should not receive inNigeria the concessions thatNigerians cannot receive inSouth Africa.

CMYK

OPINION

18 Vanguard, TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014

BY KELECHI DECCA WEF Nigeria and the Davos outing

*Mr. Decca, a financial journalist, wrotefrom Lagos.

THIS year’s World Economic Forum,WEF, in Davos Switzerland confirmed thatthe annual WEF meeting remains the foremostgathering to contemplate and shape globaleconomic agendas. The prestigious gatheringcaptures in all ramifications the anxietiesglobal business and finance are currentlycontending with and highlights the crisis oftrust facing both public and privateinstitutions. Increasing investment andeconomic production, deciding optimal levelsof taxation and use of public funds, and jobscreation are some of the key issues which needto be resolved in advanced economies as wellas Nigeria albeit with varying degrees ofurgency. What has become very clear sincethe 2008 global economic crisis is that policyactions are required both in the advancedNorthern economies as well in developingcountries such as Nigeria to create conditionsconducive to profitable investment of capitaleverywhere. An investment by a New York-based privateequity group in an e-commerce business inNigeria not only creates jobs and theopportunity to buy goods more easily and atcheaper prices in Nigeria, it also creates widerand more efficient markets for Western andNigerian manufacturers as well as enablinginvestors to pay pensions of former British orAmerican pensioners.The denseinterconnections between the flow of capitaland global patterns of production,consumption and welfare explain the intereststhat the members of the World EconomicForum who are also the world’s biggest firmshave in countries like Nigeria, hence thedecision to hold the 24th World EconomicForum in Abuja.

not succeed unless there is a “handshakebetween government and the private sector”.That handshake between government and theprivate sector is what the World EconomicForum for Africa, Abuja, 2014 will seek tostrengthen. WEF on Africa, holding in Abujabetween May 7 and 9, 2014 with the theme,"Forging Inclusive Growth, Creating Jobs"reflects the economic priorities and strategyof the Nigerian government. The forum willbe co-chaired by chairman of the DangoteGroup, Aliko Dangote, and the chairman ofBharti Enterprises, Sunil Bharti Mittal, whoare major private sector players in Africa.The Coordinating Minister of the Economyand Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala used the showing in Davos to highlightthe importance of the event coming to Nigeriafor the very first time. This event is coming ata time when Nigeria is becoming moreintegrated into global capital markets andwhen the country’s aspirations to attractforeign investment into non-mineral sectorsis becoming increasingly viable. Hosting theWorld Economic Forum on Africa is like acoming party for Nigeria in the globalinvestment circles. Dr. Nwanze Okidegbe,Chief Economic Adviser to the President, saidrecently in an interview: “Sometimes, whenpeople think of Nigeria, they think of oil. Butwe have far more than oil. The non-oil sectoris even growing much faster. There are lots ofinvestment opportunities in manufacturing,infrastructure, agriculture and so on. We aregoing to use the World Economic Forum onAfrica to maximise the benefits by getting bothinternational and Nigerian companies to gettogether, share information that will furthershowcase that Nigeria has a lot of

opportunities”.Perhaps, more effective is the boost thatNigeria received to its investment story inDavos from non-Nigerians. Michael Vincent,Director at Monitor Deloitte, bluntly toldSouth African firms that if they want to “playoutside South Africa you have to be inNigeria”. According to Mr. Vincent, theEconomist Intelligence Unit is busy rebasingits gross domestic product data on Nigeria, inpart because the populous West Africancountry beats other nations in Africa “handsdown” when it comes to foreign directinvestment, FDI. “I’m seeing a lot of globalcompanies coming into Nigeria”.There seem to be a general consensus that theDavos meeting has changed the tone ofinvestors on the state of the global economy.There is a consensus that a durable recoveryis on course. According to one participant:“Businesses and investors are expandinggeographic horizons to break into newmarkets: research shows that while stillfocused on containing costs, they are migratingto second-tier cities to meet business demandsand to take advantage of skills and new marketopportunities". Nigeria’s big challenge is to build on theouting in Davos and the confidence expressedin its growth potential by investors. We arehosting the first World Economic Forummeeting after the most upbeat Davos meetingsince the global financial crisis hit in 2008.The organization of the WEF on Africa inAbuja has to be splendid. Nothing should gowrong. And this is just a basic requirement.

WHERE would the 10-point road map of AllProgressives Congress, APC, lead? APCclaims it will unchain the potentials of Ni-geria, leading it to peace, progress, and pros-perity.APC may have new intentions, but it draws

membership from Nigerians, many of who ap-plaud when Nigeria ‘s challenges are men-tioned, without any inclinations to admit theycontributed to the state of Nigeria today.APC is a new experiment in redeeming Ni-geria . Those conducting the experiment haveto explain why earlier experiments, in whichthey participated, failed. They are also taskedto expunge themselves of a past that has noplace in their current aspirations.APC wants to change Nigeria through:*Better management of our natural resourc-

es* Building roads, power and infrastruc-

ture* Creating jobs* Fighting corruption* Free, relevant, quality education* Healthcare plan for children and adults* Housing plan* Restoring Nigerian agriculture

APC’s ChallengingAPC’s ChallengingAPC’s ChallengingAPC’s ChallengingAPC’s ChallengingRoad MapRoad MapRoad MapRoad MapRoad Map

* Social welfare plan for the less advan-taged* Strengthening peace, security, and for-

eign policyThese are noble ambitions that could really

change Nigeria. Any organisation that isable to free Nigerians from these shackleswould be creating the new country we desire.Criticisms of the road map are expected. Inthe contest for power, the opposition wouldkeenly disagree with the ruling party inalmost every issue. The country wouldbenefit from better ideas that are distilledfrom the contentions to serve the peoplebetter.APC’s road map sets high standards of

conduct for politicians and public officeholders. Constant APC statements onserving Nigerians better would start makingmore meaning once APC is different. At themoment, it is not.The road map is a challenge to all who

aspire to lead Nigerians. It is more so forAPC, its originator. Only two of the items –natural (mineral) resources and foreignpolicy - require federal legislation for Statesto act.APC should commence the changes the road

map promises by implementingthe other eight items through its localgovernments and States. Its impressivespread of presence in every geo-politicalzone - South East (Imo), South South(Rivers, Edo), North East (Adamawa, Borno,Yobe), North Central (Kwara, Nasarawa),North West ( Kano , Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara)and South West (Ekiti, Lagos , Ogun, Osun,Oyo), 16 States - are enough platformsforAPC to change Nigeria .A shift from rhetoric to results will make

APC different from the other parties. It shouldstart, now.

The interconnections between capital flowsand production were also reflected in theopportunity given to Africa to promote herinvestment potential in Davos in January.President Goodluck Jonathan, leading arobustNigerian delegation, underscored thecontinent’s understanding that politicalstability is critical for investment andeconomic growth. He touted the continent’shuge and youthful population, calculated torise to two billion by 2050 as a magnet forinvestment.PresidentDramani Mahama ofGhana weighed in, stating that while anenabling investment climate is crucial forgrowth and jobs creation, Africangovernments must also enhance theircapacities to efficiently distribute the fruits ofeconomic growth to make growthsustainable. Africa was thus “on message” atDavos.Aliko Dangote, President and Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Dangote Group, Nigeria, and a Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum AnnualMeeting in 2014, pointed out that the majorityof foreign investors are too cautious in thelead-up to elections.“Today there is nogovernment that will be against business, sogo ahead and invest,” he urged. Dangoteadded: “People always underestimate whatAfrica can be. By 2050 we could have a unitedAfrica with one common market. Can youimagine if we had sufficient power? Our GDPwould be US$ 9 trillion by 2050. It canhappen,” he quipped. Julian Roberts, GroupChief Executive, Old Mutual, UnitedKingdom, told participants that: “Africa is onthe move and it is moving forward. But weneed to ensure we have an enabling platformfor business.” Roberts said the continent will

CMYK


,

,

,

,BY FOLA AKINKUOTU

*Miss. Calebs, a public affairscommentaor, wrote from Abuja.

BY JUMMAI CALEBS

*Mr. Akinkuotu is the Director-Generalof NCAA.

Empowering women: TheJonathan approach

Aviation after Oduah

SATURDAY, March 8, 2014, wasthis year ’s International

Women’s Day, the first of whichwas celebrated in 1911. Thecelebration is a reminder of theplight of women all over the worldwhile it marks their economic,political and social achievements.In history, even among the mostsocially advanced nations of theworld, the status of women wasalways seen as inferior to that ofmen. Not only were women’s rolessecondary, women were, in severalcases, totally excluded fromparticipation in certain activities.

All that is now changing fast!The 1995 International Women’sConference, held in Beijing, was asignificant turning point forwomen. The Conference endedwith what is now referred to as theBeijing Declaration and Platformfor Action, unanimously adoptedby 189 countries, including thedeveloping nations of Africa.Nigeria was signatory to thishistoric agenda for women’sempowerment and genderequality.

Before Beijing, socialconsciousness among Nigerianwomen could be said to bevirtually nonexistent. We knew ofwomen leaders/activists likeQueen Amina of Zaria, FunmilayoRansome-Kuti, Flora Nwapa,Margaret Ekpo and HajiyaGambo Sawaba. Of course, wealso knew of events such as the AbaWomen’s Riot of 1929, which wasone of the very few struggles for

the liberation of womanhood inNigeria, if not Africa. It is, however,wrong to give the impression thatsince then, Nigerian women havebeen politically docile or sociallyinactive, either collectively orindividually. There have beenother notable Nigerian womenleaders and role models such asKudirat Abiola, Grace Alele-Williams, Bolanle Awe, HajiyaUsman, to mention but a few.

Since the current democraticdispensation in 1999, the Nigerianpolitical space has been enlargedfor the participation of women whonow occupy key positions in thelegislative, executive and judicialarms of government. Again, thelist is long and the careers areassorted – Justice Aloma MaryamMukhtar, Chief Justice of Nigeria;Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,Coordinating Minister for theEconomy and Minister of Finance,female Deputy Governors in anumber of states, Ministers,Ambassadors, Commissioners,Permanent Secretaries andDirectors in the Federal as well asState Civil Service. It is needlessto say that the nation’s agriculturesector and the informal economy,especially the small and mediumscale business sector, aredominated by women.

What is striking is that it is underthe Jonathan administration thatNigerian women have attained thehighest level of participation in thenation’s social, political andeconomic life. PresidentJonathan’s TransformationAgenda contains a National

Gender Policy which itmainstreams into all aspects ofgovernment planning anddevelopment. A major componentof that policy is womenempowerment in politics. Here,there has been a remarkablesuccess in the creation ofawareness on the participation ofwomen in politics. Not only has aPolitical Trust Fund beenestablished to provide support towomen aspirants willing toparticipate in general elections, adatabase of women politicalaspirants has also been created.

The implementation ofJonathan’s Gender Policy has

also resulted in an increase inwomen’s representation inGovernment from 10% in 2011 toover 33% 2013, with theappointment of 13 femaleMinisters out of 42, representing31% and four Special Advisers outof 18, representing 23%. Theseappointments have set the stage forthe attainment of the MillenniumDevelopment Goals, MDGs, target

number three on Gender Equityand Women Empowerment.

Outside politics, two micro-credit schemes have been set up toassist women: (1) the Women Fundfor Economic Empowerment,WOFEE, in collaboration with theBank of Agriculture and the stategovernments and (2) the BusinessDevelopment Fund for Women(BUDFOW), in collaboration withthe Bank of Industry. The twoschemes are revolving facilitieswith an interest rate of 10%. Inaddition to these efforts, 77 skillsacquisition centres have beenconstructed and equipped acrossthe country to increase incomegeneration, through job creation,for women, especially at thegrassroots level. A recent research,conducted and published in abook, titled Goodluck EbeleJonathan, Champion for Women,shows that Nigeria was 23rd outof 188 countries studied, in termsof women mobilisation,appointment into positions,participation in governance andwomen empowerment.

What, precisely, accounts forPresident Jonathan’s passionatedrive to transform the lives ofNigerian women and improvetheir welfare and opportunities?Part of the answer is that thePresident is married to aremarkable woman, DamePatience Jonathan, who isendowed with some of the greatesthuman attributes and who is anatural mobiliser of women. ThePresident has, in his private andpublic life, benefitted immenselyfrom his wife’s virtues. It isgenerally acknowledged, forinstance, that it was DameJonathan’s mobilisation effortsthat secured Jonathan the massivevotes of Nigerian women duringthe 2011 presidential election.

The 2011 experience was enough

for Jonathan to consolidate hisfaith in the qualities of Nigerianwomen. He did not entertain anydoubt whatsoever about theircharacter, capacity andcompetence in playing any role inthe land, whether political,technical or administrative. Thatis the reason behind Jonathan’sPolicy of Gender Equality andwhy, as some Nigerians would say“the President has surroundedhimself with women and entrustedthem with some of the most criticaland sensitive positions.”

The good thing is that Jonathan’sconfidence in Nigerian women hasnot been misplaced. Some of hisadministration’s greatestachievements, since he came intooffice, have been in Ministries,Parastatals and Departmentsmanned by women. For example,since the inception of the Jonathanadministration, the nationaleconomy has been strong andsteady. A recent forecast by theIMF has it that the Nigerianeconomy will grow by an averageof 7.3% in 2014, which is animprovement on the 6.7% averageof 2013. The person who has beenworking hard to ensure thisresilience of the national economyis a woman, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, theCoordinating Minister for theEconomy and Minister of Finance.Another success story of theJonathan administration is theAviation Sector, which has beenremarkably transformed all overthe country. Again, thismonumental feat was achieved byyet another woman, Mrs. StellaOduah, former Minister ofAviation. Nigerian women, servingin various other capacities, havenot been less successful inperformance.

Jonathan’sconfidence inwomen has notbeen misplaced;some of hisadministration’sgreatestachievementshave been inministries mannedby women

THE departure of Princess Stella Oduahas the Aviation Minister brings to a

screeching halt one of the most controversialcareers in Nigerian public service.

As the dust begins to settle, it is fitting to x-ray her services to Nigerian aviation in thecontext of one project that was not only specialto the former minister but would have had far-reaching impact on infrastructure and theconduct of aviation business in Nigeria. It isone of her least known but most ambitiousdreams, which could be realised just becauseshe had the good sense and prescience to putthe right minds in place to manage it.

Princess Oduah was the spearhead of thedrive to remodel 12 airports in the first phaseof a major infrastructure upgrade. It is temptingto think that this may be her legacy. By allmeans she deserves full credit for remodelingthe airports; this is a valid achievement,especially in an industry where previousministers tended to underperform.

MMA’s Terminal 1, once known as GAT, wastaken down and rebuilt from the scratch. Itwas opened to passengers in 2012. The terminalbuilding of the MMIA has been given anextensive makeover.. Both fingers have beenextended to create more space, improving thepassenger experience. With great help fromthe Chinese, government is building brandnew international terminals at four airportsacross the country.

But on its own, refurbishing airports or evenbuilding new ones may no longer rank as suchan extraordinary feat. It pales into second best,especially where the word Aerotropolis ismentioned. Aerotropolis loosely means airport

city. According to John D. Kasarda, the apostleand acknowledged developer of the concept,aerotropolis is a “new urban development formcomprising aviation-intensive businesses andrelated enterprises extending up to 25kilometers outward from major airports.”Kasarda, who is the Director, Center for AirCommerce, University of North Carolina,believes the cities that will thrive in the 21stcentury are the ones that put airports at theircentre.

His widely quoted words: “Airports will shapeeconomic activity and urban development inthe 21st century as much as highways did inthe 20th century, railroads in the 19th, andseaports in the 18th.”

As a business model, aerotropolis must havevalue, air connectivity, urbanisation and localaccessibility. The numbers are irresistible: thereare seven times more high value job growth inAerotropolis than traditional downtowns;3000 jobs are directly and indirectly supportedby each regularly scheduled long haul service;10 percent passenger volume increase resultsin 2 percent regional job growth while 1 in 6people live within 20 minutes of an airport indeveloped countries.

In Europe, the United States and lately someAsian Tigers, aerotropolis is not just a concept;it is a reality. Calling her project AerotropolisNigeria, Oduah had wanted it to also be areality in Nigeria. Was this merely wishfulthinking or a dream?

Observers believe it was more than wishfulthinking. A few facts bear this out.

Aerotropolis is an important part of theformer minister’s Aviation Master Plan, whichincorporates an extensive airport remodeling

programme, the establishment of 13 cargoterminals, some of them designated forperishable goods. Days before she was sacked,Oduah laid the foundation in Asaba for one ofsuch terminals. A manager has been appointedto bring Aerotropolis Nigeria from the drawingboard to reality. To drive the high airfreightcontent of the project, she appointed a directorof cargo services (Uchenna Ofulue) for theFederal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN.

Special publications touting the concept,“From Airport Cities to Aerotropolis” are incirculation complete with a website.

Commercial hubs such as Lagos, Abuja,Kano and Port Harcourt were designated asthe first hosts of the aerotropolis. The idea is toimprove infrastructure in and around theselected airports and systematically encouragethe development of businesses and relatedventures around them. As conceived by Oduah,Aerotropolis Nigerian would evolve from“Airport to Airport City and then toAerotropolis”; it would be in two phases anddriven by the private sector with hugegovernment support. It would also generatemassive investment opportunities for local andforeign businesses.

The former minister was also eager to learnabout the business model. Nigeria made astrong showing at the 13th Airport Cities WorldConference and Exhibition, ACE, in the City ofEkurhuleni, South Africa in 2013. (Malaysiais hosting this year’s edition of the conference)

Other countries have turned what was oncea conference topic into successful businessmodels. For example, Amesterdam’s SchipolAirport is believed to be the world’s first airportcity with more than 58,000 people workingdaily within the airport grounds. Its moderntransport hub integrates people and businesses,logistics and shops, information andentertainment.

Munich Airport has a full-service hospital, afull-service grocery store, two bakeries, aswimming pool and spa, a microbrewery anda huge, open-air covered forum that serves asa concert venue. It employs well over 30, 000people.

The famous Rijksmuseum exhibits art inAmsterdam’s Schiphol while the LondonPhilharmonic Orchestra performs atHeathrow. Even Dubai is fondly described asan “airport with an emirate attached.”

If Aerotropolis Nigeria and the airportremodeling programme are sustained asenvisioned by Oduah, it could safely affirmher legacy as a visionary for an industry that isin dire need of one.

The good news is that even in Oduah’s ratherstormy exit, the industry would remain in safehands - all by her design. She left behind acrop of technocrats who could effectively mannthe critical systems such as FAAN, NigerianAirspace Management Agency, NAMA andthe Nigerian Civil Aviation Agency, NCAA.

If Aerotropolis Nigeriaand the airportremodeling programmeare sustained asenvisioned by Oduah, itcould safely affirm herlegacy as a visionary foran industry that is indire need of one

CMYK

20 — Vanguard, Vanguard, Vanguard, Vanguard, Vanguard, TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014

,,

Tension as Uvwie women marchagainst soldiers over Ohorhe land

BY FESTUS AHON

A storm of discontent is presently brewing in Ohorhe vil-

lage, Uvwie Local GovernmentArea of Delta State as the Nigeri-an Army moves to demolish allthe buildings in the area. Lastweek Uvwie women, numberingover 3,000, blocked the ever busyEast/West road in protest, describ-ing the move as wicked and in-human.

The women, who came out asearly as 6:30am with placards,barricaded the road for severalhours, thereby causing serioustraffic jam. Chanting songs suchas ‘Soldiers oleh; leave our land’,the women called on PresidentGoodluck Jonathan to come to theiraid, decrying that Ohorhe villagewas at the verge of being sackedby soldiers.

Marching through the CouncilSecretariat Road to the palace ofthe Ovie of Uvwie, HRM Emman-uel Sideso Abe I, with placardswhich bore various inscriptionssuch as: “Our land is our heritage,abi na soldiers get am?”, “We needour arable farmland for farming”,“You cannot acquire existing vil-lages,” “Stop this inhumanity andreturn our land” to express theirgrievances before the monarch, thewomen said they would not leaveany stone unturned in getting thesoldiers to stop further encroach-ment into their land.

Furtherencroachment

Speaking during the protest,Women Leader of Uvwie King-dom, Mrs. Sarah Agoda, said: “Weare protesting against attempt bysoldiers to demolish Ohorhe com-munity. Soldiers are selling allour lands to foreigners. They aretelling us indigenes to pack to en-able them sell the land. We don’tknow where the Ohorhe peoplewill pack to. Federal Governmentshould tell us where we will betaken to”.

One of the protesters, Mrs.Mary Unuagba who also spokesaid: “We came out to block theroad in protest against illegal salesof our land by the soldiers. We didnot give them land to sell but forthe purpose of establishment ofNigeria Defense Academy. We nolonger want soldiers in our land.We want President GoodluckJonathan to intervene by withdraw-ing the soldiers from our land”.

Mrs. Margaret Aka said: “We nolonger want soldiers in our landbecause they are trying to take allour land away from us. They areraping married women and younggirls. They should leave Uvwie forpeace to reign”.

An indigene of Ohorhe commu-

nity, Chief Jimoh Eshenake, whileaddressing newsmen, informedthus: “About a week ago, the Armycame to Ohorhe and marked allthe houses for demolition. In fact,they gave our people 48 hours tomove out of their houses, that theArmy is coming to demolish theplace. They told us that their rea-son was that the land being occu-pied by the community belongs tothe army. That it is part of the armyacquisition. But I must tell you thestory behind it.

Acquisitionof land

“In 1975, that land was acquiredfor the army by the defunct Mid-Western government but before1975, Ohorhe and other villagesaround that place had been in ex-istence. The law is very clear onthis: you cannot acquire a land al-ready occupied by people. If thereis even a need to occupy it, youmust re-allocate them but thisdidn’t happen. And somehow ourking wrote to the Acting Presidentthen in March 2010 to complain

about this acquisition.“The truth is that the army ac-

quired over 2,000 hectares of land,and the area they have occupied,the army barrack, mammy marketis less than 10 percent of the landbut they are now selling it to pri-vate companies and individuals.They have turned to landlords inour own land. We the originallandlords have turned to refugeesin our own land. We are callingon the Federal Government tolook into this issue critically. We,Ohorhe people, are farmers whoneed enough land for farming.The Federal Government mustimmediately come to our aide. Theland was acquired for Army Bar-racks, Market and Defense Acad-emy but they didn’t build the De-fense Academy. The area occupiedby them is less than 10 percent ofthe over 2000 hectares acquired,they are now selling the remain-ing part to private developers”.

On his part, the President Gen-eral of Uvwie Kingdom, ChiefMacDonald Ugbewanku, said thepeople had decided to embark onthe protest to ask for justice. “Gov-ernment usually acquires land for

a purpose, the purpose was defi-nite, they wanted to put a DefenceCollege which they did not do.What has been put into use is lessthan 10 percent of the total landacquired. We have been askinggovernment to dis-acquire the areasince the purpose for which theplace was acquired has not beenachieved.

“But instead of doing that wenow found that the army has nowincorporated a property companyand through that they are nowselling Ohorhe land to their cro-nies. Even we the indigenes arenot even privileged to buy”.

Addressing the aggrieved wom-en at his palace moments after, theOvie of Uvwie Kingdom, HRMEmmanuel Sideso Abe 1, said:“The Ministry of Defense neededland to establish the NDA, thecommunity generously gave outland for that purpose. All along wehave been looking at developmentat the area for the past years. Ofrecent it was observed that the

away but in the actual factthey supposed to benefit fromit. We will continue to protestthis marginalization and op-pression peacefully becausewe want peace and dialoguein Delta state. We are notagainst any development butdo not go outside the agree-ment. Can you imagine that avillage is on the verge of be-ing thrown away? All thehouses where marked for dem-olition. Where are they goingto stay if you throw them out?This is what they have justcame to tell me. “Although inthe past, I have written sever-al letters but I promise that Iwork with those in authorityhere to take the message oftheir protest to the Presiden-cy. We want our undevelopedlands back so that we can makeuse of it. We want Nigeriansto come tour aide”.

Effort made to reach theCommanding Officer of the 3

We are protesting against attempt by sol-diers to demolish Ohorhe community; sol-diers are selling all our land to foreigners;they are telling us indigenes to pack to en-able them sell the land

Ovie of Uvwie Kingdom, HRM Emmanuel Sideso Abe 1, addressing theprotesters

*Placard-waving women protesting the planned demolition of their village by the army (inset) One of the buildings marked for demolition

place is now being commercialised,being sold to companies, and ad-ministered by the army.

“That was not the purpose. Ofcourse no reasonable communitywill accept that. This is our place,we welcome development, inves-tors but at the same time peopleshould not cheat, marginalise usin our own place. You could seemost of the houses there are notmeant for the army. They areowned by private individuals.

“Our people cannot get a shopthere, they are being thrown

Battalion, Effurun, Lt Col If-eanyi Otu proved abortive ashe told newsmen on phonethat he would not entertainquestions on the matter.

A military source, howevertold newsmen that they haveacquired the land, adding:“No amount of protest willchange it. They are just mak-ing noise; perhaps they wanttheir voice to be heard, hencethe protest. We have giventhem notice and we hope theyabide by it”.

CMYK


From left : Executive Director, Market Operations and Technology, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Ade Bajomo; Chair-man, Vetiva Fund Managers Limited, Mr. Chuka Eseka; Chief Executive Officer, NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema; Managing Director,Vetiva Fund Managers Limited, Mr. Damilola Ajayi and Executive Director, Business Development, NSE, Mr. Haruna Jalo-Waziri at the Facts Behind the Listing of Vetiva Griffin 30 ETF in Lagos.

THE Benin ElectricityDistribution Company,BEDC, said to over-

come the power challenges inthe areas covered by it, overN45 billion would be requiredin order to improve the networkand increase meter availability.

Managing Director of thecompany, Mrs. Funke Osibodu,who said this in a presentation,

maintained that this massiveinvestment is required over asustained period of severalyears before positive resultscould be visible in states ( Edo,Delta, Ekiti and Ondo) coveredby the company.

Located in transmissionnetwork hob of Edo, Delta,Ondo and Ekiti states, theBEDC, Osibodu said, isallocated nine percent butsometimes gets up to 12 per-

cent power availability, whichis the highest in the country.

She said: “Massiveinvestment of over N45billionis required over a sustainedperiod of several years beforepositive results can be visible.BEDC management focus is toaddress the rot in infrastructureand to reposition the companyon the path of providing goodservice to the customers andensuring operational viability.”

Others, according to theBEDC Chief executive Officer,are “ensuring financial viability,meeting the requirements ofthe regulators, especiallyNigerian Electricity RegulatingCommission (NERC) and hav-ing well trained, motivated andhighly competent workforce.

“We are in the largest gasproducing terrain - key sourceof cheapest power- Delta Stateand the company has largestnumber of power plants aroundit.”

Benin power company plansN45bn investments

MANUFACTURING andpower sectors are

currently groaning under thesevere gas shortage and itsimpact on their production. A major cement manufacturerhas hinted that the twin prob-lem of pipeline vandalisationand the maintenance work onsome Chevron gas installationstaking place at the same timeis responsible for the disruptionof gas supply to the cementplants and other manufacturingoutfits in the country.

The Nigerian NationalPetroleum Corporation(NNPC) had in the wake of thegas supply disruptionattributed the development topipeline vandalism. The NNPCGMD, Andrew Yakubu, hadlamented that about N800million had been spent on fix-ing the damaged pipelines andblamed it on alleged outrightsabotage of some crucial pipe-lines, which he said had sig-nificantly eroded available gassupply to the power plantsleading to incessant blackout.

The shortage of gas supplyhas also impacted negatively onthe electricity supply in thecountry. Mr Doyin Salami, aneconomist and member ofFaculty at the Lagos BusinessSchool was quoted to have saidat a Rand Merchant BankExecutive discussion that ‘’itmay take three to five years toget sustainable power supplyin Nigeria.”

IN response to the change and theincreasing need for improved quality

of service with latest technology, Etisalatand Ericsson have signed aMemorandum of Understanding, MoU,for a new collaboration to actualise theobjective.The collaboration will enable a high-speed, responsive network, laying thefoundation for next-generationinfrastructure for m-government andsmart city initiatives.High-speed broadband connectivity isfundamentally changing the way peoplelive, interact and do business; consumersexpect access to information,entertainment and businesses with fasterspeeds.Through this partnership, Etisalat Groupwill launch trials of innovative Ericssontechnologies such as LTE Broadcast,Ericsson Radio Dot System, andEricsson’s heterogeneous network

solutions.Speaking on the development, the ChiefTechnology Officer, Etisalat Group, Mr.Hatem Bamatraf, said “Over the years,Etisalat Group has demonstrated its abilityto build and sustain the most advancedand innovative networks.“Conducting such innovative trials is onlythe first step. This will pave the way forfurther collaborations and the eventualdelivery of more advanced, reliable andfaster broadband access to users across theregion,” he added.Etisalat will jointly collaborate with Ericssonto roll out a mobile identity based service,and to explore opportunities for expandingthese services across each of the countriesEtisalat Group operates in. Mobile identityis a key foundation for m-government, m-commerce and m-health services.The service allows subscribers to use theirmobile identity securely via a one-click signin, giving access to diverse applications,government services and websites, withoutthe risk of being data-mined by the various

ID providers.Together, Etisalat and Ericsson said they willsupport regional government initiativeswith key enablers such as ubiquitousconnectivity, citizen proximity, ease ofaccess, and open platforms.The parties will work together to ensure thatcitizens have seamless access to servicesthrough the devices of their choice, withoutcompromising on performance or userexperience.Also speaking, the Chief Digital ServicesOfficer, Etisalat Group, Khalifa Al Shamsi,said “Innovative experiences must bedelivered to our customers anywhere. Forthat, we are always looking for the latesttechnologies that enable the most advancedcustomer experience. Enabling theNetworked Society across our network willsupport m-government initiatives.’“Over the years, partnerships with Ericssonhave placed Etisalat at the forefront ofdeploying leading technologies, guiding usto enable the Networked Society.”

Etisalat group, Ericsson partner to powernetworked society initiatives

BY EMMANUEL EBELEKE

BY PETER EGWUATU

Manufacturersgroan unde gas

shortage

CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING

CBN Exchange rate as at 17/03/2014

DOLLAR 154.75 155.25 155.75STERLING 257.5195 258.3515 259.1836EURO 214.8085 215.5025 216.1966FRANC 176.2328 176.8022 177.3716CFA 0.3088 0.3188 0.3288WAUA 239.3639 240.1373 240.9107RENMINBI 25.2076 25.2895 25.3714RIYAL 41.2612 41.3945 41.5278KRONA 28.7778 28.8708 28.9 8SDR 239.6304 240.4046 241.1789YEN 1.497 1.5022 1.507

108.51 +1.12

98.67 +0.47

201.35 -3.7

3,008.00 +54.00

17.28 -0.54

22————— Vanguard, TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014

Top 10 performing stocks By NKIRUKA NNOROM

IF you are a depositor in anyof the 48 banks that col-

lapsed between 1994 and 2006,and you have not collected yourmoney, you can still recoversome or all your money. You canrecover the part of your moneycovered by the insurance pro-vided by Nigeria Deposit Insur-ance Corporation (NDIC).

That portion of bank depositsinsured by the Corporation iscalled ‘maximum insured de-posit’. It used to be N50,000,and later N100,000. Now it isN500,000 for banks andN200,000 for microfinancebanks and mortgage banks. Sodepending on the ‘maximuminsurance deposit’ as at the timeyour bank was closed, you canstill recover part of your depos-it in the dead bank. There isalso the possibility of recover-ing the remaining portion ofyour deposit not covered by theNDIC insurance cover. Thisdefinitely sounds strange. Butthe truth is that it is possible andsome people and organisationshave actually recovered all their

deposits in dead banks.When a bank is closed by the

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),and NDIC commences the liq-uidation of the bank. The Cor-poration first pays depositors themaximum insured deposit.Thereafter, it sells the assets ofthe closed bank, and uses theproceeds of the sales to pay for

deposits above the maximuminsured deposit. For example,if you had N1 million in a deadbank, and N500,000 is the max-imum insured deposit. NDICwill pay you N500,000 as soonas the bank closes shop. Theremaining N500,000 will bepaid from the money the Cor-poration received from selling

the assets of the bank. This iscalled liquidation dividend. Ac-cording to the Corporation, ithad declared N1.5 billion as liq-uidation dividend for eightbanks-in-liquidation as at De-cember 31st 2010. But out ofthis, it has only be been able topay N848.127 million. Thisleaves a balance of over N600

million yet to be collected as liq-uidation dividend by depositorsof these eight banks. Your mon-ey that you believe is gone orlost might be among this N1.5billion. You never can tell.

Now, if you have money inany of the 48 closed banks, themillion dollar question on yourmind would be, ‘how do I re-cover my money from thisNDIC? It is very simple.

The first thing is to either vis-it the Corporation’s office, or itswebsite for information. Mostimportantly, you will be re-quired to complete relevantforms for deposit insuranceclaims. You will also be requiredto provide as evidence of own-ership of account in the closedbank, accounts documents suchas unused cheque books, oldcheque stubs, passbooks, fixeddeposit certificates etc. You willalso have to identify yourselfwith a valid identification doc-ument such as National ID card,driver’s licence or internation-al passport. After verification ofthe ownership of the accountand account balance, the depos-itor would be duly paid the in-sured deposit or liquidation div-idend by cheque or deposittransfer through an agent bankor acquiring bank.

Dead banks and living deposit (2)By BABAJIDEKOMOLAFE

ened capacity in some key are-as of its business, particularlyrisk management and oil andgas. Despite the huge claim in-curred in 2013 following theDana Air crash incident, thecompany’s profit before tax in-creased to N870 million in the2012 financial period fromN157 million in 2011. Also, theprofit after tax increased by811 percent from loss positionof N34.7 million in 2011 toN603 million in 2012. It hascontinued the winning streakinto the current financial peri-od as could be seen in the ninemonths results for September,2013, where it recorded profitafter tax of N344.785 million asagainst N308.682 million re-corded in the correspondingperiod of 2012, a 12 percent in-crease.

NPF Micro-finance Bankplaced third with 6.85 percentor N0.05 price appreciationfrom N0.73 to N0.78. Of the two

ber, 2013, showed 18.5 per-cent decline in gross premi-um to N1.153 billion fromN1.414 billion; net premiumearned fell by 17.4 percentto N889.56 million from theprevious N1.040 billion in2012, while the underwrit-ing profit for the period de-clined by 31.1 percent fromN644.139 million toN443.699 million. Howev-er, profit after tax soared by huge131.6 percent to N100.706 mil-lion from N43.477 million. Thestock initially rose by 30 percentto 65 kobo from following the an-nouncement on the first week be-

fore sliding to thepresent marketprice. Oasis is li-censed to carry onnon-life insurancebusiness in Niger-ia, spanning fire,general accident,

motor, marine, aviation, oil &gas, bond and engineering all-risk policies.

Prestige Assurance followedwith 7.14 percent or N0.04 priceincrease to close at N0.58 fromN0.54 per share. It is one of the39 underwriters to have migrat-ed to international financial re-porting standard, according toinformation from the national In-surance commission, NAICOM.Prestige, according to the chair-man, Dr. C.S. Sankey, strength-

ON the top 10 performingstocks last week were

shares of Oasis Insurance Plc,Prestige Assurance Plc, NPFMicro-finance Bank Plc, ConoilPlc, Skye bank plc and FidsonHealthcare Plc.

The rest were 7-Up BottlingCompany plc, Academy PressPlc, Ikeja Hotel Plc and UnionBank of Nigeria Plc.

Oasis Insurance Pc led thepack with 16.00 percent orN0.08 price appreciation toclose at N0.58 from N0.50 itstarted the week at. Last month,FBN Life acquired 71.2 percent

equity stake in the companythrough acquisition of 4.63 bil-lion ordinary shares of 50koboeach. The acquisition, accord-ing to the company, was effect-ed through the execution of ashare sale and purchase agree-ment with the majority share-holders of Oasis. The businesscombination is believed to havethe potential of to enhancing ef-ficiency and profitability of bothfirms. Nine months financialstatement of the company forthe period ended 30th Septem-

micro-finance institutions list-ed on the NSE, NPF MfB is theleast priced with Fortis MfB,the next enjoying more patron-age and consequent price in-crement. It had recorded 52week high of N1.30 beforeslowing down to the presentmarket price. Available finan-cial statement for the secondquarter ended 30th September,2013 showed a decline in profitafter tax for the year though thetax expenses reduced signifi-cantly. It ended the year withN312.945 million, as againstN375.285 million. Similarly, thefees and commission earnedwithin the period fell to

N344.042 million from N452.527million. It, however, grossedN1.292 billion compared toN1.235 billion recorded in cor-responding period of 2012.

Conoil Plc was the next with5.66 percent or N2.78 shareprice increase as it rose fromN49.12 at the beginning of theweek to N51.90 per share. It was

one of the stocks approved lastyear for margin lending by theSecurities and Exchange Com-mission, SEC. Conoil ranksfourth in terms of share valuein the petroleum and petrole-um products distributors quot-ed on the Nigerian Stock Ex-change, NSE, trailing Total Ni-geria Plc, Mobil Oil Nigeria Plcand Forte Oil Plc. It recorded255 percent increase in profitafter tax from N450.9 million in2012 to N1.6 billion at as halfyear-ended June 30, 2013. Theprofit before tax jumped toN1.98 billion as against N663.1million recorded in 2012, whilethe revenue rose to N79.6 bil-

lion from N76.2 bil-lion in the same pe-riod of 2012.

Skye Bank ad-vanced by 5.62 per-cent or N0.20 fromN3.56 to N3.76 pershare; Fidson addedfive percent orN0.15 from N3.00 toN3.15; 7-Up Bot-tling Co rose by fivepercent or N4.13 to

close at N86.77 from N82.64;Academy Press advanced by4.65 percent or N0.08 to closeat N1.80 from N1.72; Ikeja Ho-tel went up by 4.55 percent orN0.03 to close at N0.69 fromN0.66, while UBN appreciatedby 3.87 percent or N0.38 toclose at N10.19 from N9.81 pershare.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014 ————— 23 23 23 23 23

2014, while that of GDR hold-ers is 24th March 2014. ZenithBank Plc is also recommend-ing payment of N1.75 dividendon 4th April, 2014. Closuredate is 24th to 28th March,both days inclusive.

In the same vein, Mrs. OilPlc notified the Exchange thatits Board of Directors is sched-uled to meet on Thursday,March 27, 2014 to deliberateon 2013 audited financialstatement and accounts and torecommend dividend. Courte-

ville Business Solutions Plcalso notified the NSE of theintention of its Board to rec-ommend payment of dividendfor the year ended December31, 2013. According to thecompany, due to the unavail-ability of some members of itsBoard to formally convene ameeting, the resolution ap-proving the recommendationof payment of dividend shallbe circularized to the membersof the Board for execution.The written resolution and the

date of the AGM upon exe-cution by the Board of Direc-tors of the company shall becommunicated to sharehold-ers.

Skye Bank Plc: In compli-ance with the Appendix IIIof the General Undertakingof the NSE, Skye Bank Plcnotified the Exchange that itsBoard of Directors is sched-uled to meet to deliberate onthe bank’s audited financialstatements for the year end-ed December 31, 2013, whichmay include a proposal forthe recommendation of divi-dend for shareholders’ ap-proval at its next annual gen-eral meeting.

During the week, a totalof 159.40 million units

of Vetiva Griffin 30 ETFSecurities at N17.27 wereadmitted to trade at theExchange on Friday, March14th, 2014. The fund is anopen-ended ExchangeTraded Fund managed byVetiva Fund ManagersLimited. Termed VG 30 ETF,it is designed to track theperformance of the constitu-ent companies of the NSE 30Index and to replicate theprice and yield performanceof the Index. The fund seeksto give investors optimalexposure to the Nigerianbourse (over 90 percentexposure on a market capi-talisation basis).

The underlying securitiesare held by a Custodian inthe name of a Trust forinvestor protection, while theentry and exit costs for ETFsare generally lower whencompared to traditional UnitTrusts. Information from theNSE website stated that thefund is expected to pay bi-annual distributions.

The Executive Director incharge of Business Develop-ment, NSE, Mr Haruna Jalo-Waziri, in a statement notedthat the Vetiva Griffin 30Exchange Traded Fund (VG30 ETF) is an open-endedfund that will be listed onthe Exchange. “The VG 30ETF is designed to track theperformance of the constitu-ent companies of the NSE 30Index and to replicate theprice and yield performanceof the Index. The NSE 30Index comprises of the top30 companies listed on theNigerian Stock Exchange interms of market capitalisationand liquidity and is a priceindex weighted by adjustedmarket capitalisation”.

“In order to provide analternative investmentwindow for investors, thefirst ETF was launched onthe Nigeria bourse in De-cember 2011. We are usingthe ETF product category toopen up cost-effectivediversification opportunitiesfor investors, while givingthe broker-dealer communityan instrument to betterservice their clientele.Thislisting of the VG 30 ETF isanticipated to help advancethe investor market inAfrica’s fastest growingeconomy by further broaden-ing the choice of assetclasses open to local inves-tors,” said Jalo-Waziri.

Speaking about the newETF, the Exchange’s ProductLead for ETFs, Mr OsahonAire, explained that “ETFsare essentially index fundsthat are listed and traded onthe Exchange like shares.Buying and selling ETFs isas simple as buying /selling

of shares. Unlike shares andmutual funds however, theETFs will trade continuouslyall day long and allowinvestors to lock in a pricefor the underlying stocksimmediately, rather thanbeing bought and sold basedon end-of-day prices”

The Managing Director ofVetiva Fund Managers

Limited, Mr. Damilola Ajayi,said “In line with the grow-ing ETF industry, Vetivadeveloped the VG 30 ETF togive investors optimalexposure to the Nigerianbourse by tracking themovement of the NSE 30index. The offer for subscrip-tion of 100 million units ofthe Vetiva Griffin 30 Ex-

WITHIN the weeksome companies indi-

cated the likelihood of reward-ing their shareholders withdividend payment. Okomu OilPalm Plc for instance, recom-mended N1.00 dividend forthe financial year ended De-cember 31, 2013. The paymentdate falls due on 11th June,2014. Glaxosmithkline pro-posed N1.30 dividend, to bepaid on 12th June, 2014, a dayafter the annual general meet-ing.

Guaranty Trust Bank pro-posed dividend of N1.45 divi-dend to be paid on 14th April,2014. Closure date for ordinaryshareholders is 28th March,

MARKET NEWS

Expected Dividends

From left: Deputy Group Managing Director, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Mr. Abdullahi Sule; Chief Executive Officer,the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema; Group Managing Director, Mr. Graham Clark, and ChiefFinancial Officer, Mr. Suleiman Yusuf, both of Dangote Sugar, on a courtesy visit to introduce the company’s new man-agement and also ring the Trade Closing Bell at the NSE.

change Traded Fund Securi-ties commenced on Monday,13 January 2014 and closedon Friday, 31 January 2014”.

“Further to the successfulcompletion of the offer, weexpect that the VG30 ETFsecurities will be listed onthe Floors of the NigerianStock Exchange by March2014” said the Vetiva Chief,

ahead of the listing.According to the third

largest multinational profes-sional services firm in theworld, Ernst & Young, theglobal ETF industry as atOctober 2013 had 5,042ETFs, with 10,053 listings,assets of US$2.3 trillion, from215 providers on 58 ex-changes and annual growthof 15 percent to 30 percent ispredicted around the globeover the coming five years.

Vetiva Griffin 30 ETF listed on NSE


CMYK


THE NigerianExtractive Industries

Transparency Initiative, NEITI,has recanted its earlier positionthat it uncovered $22.8 billion un-remitted oil revenue by the Ni-gerian National Petroleum Cor-poration, NNPC.

NEITI’s Director of Communi-cation, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji,said also that media reports fromthe presentation attributed toNEITI that the nation loses $8billion annually through crudeoil swap were not only wrong butmisleading.

He said, “The media reportfrom that presentation attributedto NEITI that the nation losses$8 billion annually throughcrude oil Swap. This is not onlywrong but misleading. WhatNEITI presented and explainedat that hearing was that there isno cost efficiency in the transac-tions with the offshore process-ing organisations.

“By this we mean that the totalcost of offshore processing whencompared with the reported priceof PMS, DPK, AGO and otherretained products proceeds paidto NNPC is not economicallybeneficial to the country. This isas a result of the under deliveriesof petroleum products to the tuneof $866 million by the companiesinvolved in the swap.”

Furthermore, Orji also notedthat reports that the Agencyuncovered $22.8 billion unremit-ted funds to the FederationAccount, carried by several news-

papers were equally inaccurate.According to him, “What NEI-

TI presented and explained atthe public hearing was that “theFederal Government, throughthe NNPC entered intoalternative funding/financing ar-rangements with its JV partnersin the form of third partyfinancing from external financialmarkets, i.e. banks, and Modi-fied Carry Arrangements (MCA)which are loans from existing JVpartners, IOCs.

“NNPC’s share in the thirdparty financing is paid to CBN/NNPC crude oil and gas Dollarrevenue account and subse-quently swept to the federationaccounts while under the MCAan escrow account is opened atthe lenders’ bank into whichbuyers pay proceeds from thecrude oil and gas sales.

“NEITI observed that thesetransactions which sum up to$22.8billion are off balance sheetitems, not disclosed in NNPC’s

audited financial statements. Theimplication is that there may besignificant contingent liabilitiesto the federation that is not beingdisclosed.

“We need to state further that itdoes not mean that NEITI hasdiscovered some funds hiddensomewhere or monies that wereunaccounted for by the NNPC.That was why NEITIrecommended that all alternativefunding arrangements should bedisclosed in the audited financial

statements of NNPC for clarityand openness in line with theEITI principles.”

He, however, expressed NEI-TI’s concerned that the contentsof its presentation to the legisla-tive Committee “have beenlargely misconceived, misinter-preted and misrepresented bysome sections of the media,” evenas he thanked them for their con-tinued support for the agency.

Consequently, he said that “Asan Agency with principles,methods, procedures and man-date firmly rooted in transparen-cy, accountability and integrity,we are constrained to make someclarifications on key issues thatwere certainly not correctlyreported by the media followingthat presentation.

“This clarification has becomenecessary in the overridingpublic interest, NEITI stakehold-ers, our international partnersand the global ExtractiveIndustries Transparency Initia-tive.

Orji explained that, “NEITI’spresentation to the Committeewas based on the findings andrecommendations of its 2009 -2011 independent Oil and GasIndustry Audit Report, is in thepublic domain and on the NEITIwebsite.”

He added that “All relevantgovernment agencies, relevantcommittees of the National As-sembly, companies, the mediaand civil society have copies ofthe Report which was also madepublic since last year.”

NEITI clarifies alleged NNPCunremitted $22.8bn

BY CHRIS OCHAYI

THE Nigerian ElectricityRegulatory Commission,

NERC, has granted distributioncompanies, DISCOs, the libertyto disconnect government agen-cies which failed to pay their bills.

The Chairman of NERC, Dr.Sam Amadi, stated this after themeeting of the operators of theNigeria Electricity Supply Indus-try, NESI in Abuja. He alsorevealed that circulars have beenissued to the Ministries,Departments and Agencies,MDAs in 2012, on the need topay their electricity bills as atwhen due.

He said, “The federal govern-ment has already issued a circu-lar in 2012 that every governmentagency should pay their bills asprovided in their budget and theaccountant general is being man-dated by that circular to deductfrom source if after 90 days thatagency has not paid its bill.

“We want to restate that evenwith the DISCOs, we have com-

municated to them the Presi-dent’s directive that they shouldprovide meters to all governmentagencies. We also want to restatethat because we are a newmarket every agency orcustomer be it public or private,will be cut off after due processbecause we want to make surethat the suppliers of electricityservices have enough revenueto continue to supply those serv-ices.

“So we want to appeal to con-sumers, private of public entitiesto pay their bills on time. Evenas we are working hard toensure that all forms of energytheft and tempering will bepunished drastically, we cannottalk about improvement in thissector except we are prepared toplay by rules.”

Noting that the DISCOs couldcut off supply after following laiddown procedures, Amadi addedthat the circular mandated theOffice of the Accountant Generalof the Federation, AGF, to deductdefaulting agency’s debts from

the source after three months.He recalled that President

Goodluck Jonathan had last yeardirected government offices topay up the electricity bills, notingthat with the private sector nowin charge of the sector, govern-ment agencies and offices could

no longer enjoy the privilegesthey were used to.”

He said, “Now, if the DISCOgoes through that process theywill be at liberty to cut off thatconsumer and NERC will sanc-tion that such consumer shouldbe so disconnected. And because

there are some of theseconsumers that are in strategicsectors what we are saying is thatthey should now recognise thischange in the power sector andthey should put in placemechanisms for paying their billsas at when due.

FG permits DISCOs to disconnect indebted agencies•AGF to deduct debts from source

TOTAL E&P Nigeria Ltd, the operator of theNNPC/Total Joint Venture, has denied recent media reports claiming it had shut

down its Ofon-2 project.The denial comes even as the company acknowl-

edged receipt of a notice of non-compliance withthe Nigerian Content Act, from the Nigerian Con-tent Development and Monitoring Board, NCD-MB, against one of its contractors, Hyundai HeavyIndustries, HHI.

A statement from Total on Sunday, read in part,“Contrary to some recently published media re-ports, the Board has not now and did not at anytime, make a request or issue an instruction thatthe Ofon-2 project be shut down.”

The statement, which was signed by the compa-ny’s Deputy General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr.

Charles Ogan, also denied reports suggest-ing that there were only two Nigerians work-ing for HHI on the Ofon-2 project.

He said, “…this is incorrect. There are overone hundred Nigerians currently workingfor HHI, which is just one of the Contractorson the Ofon-2 project.”

The statement further said that “Total willbe meeting with HHI and NCDMB to en-sure a timely and satisfactory resolution ofthe issues raised by the NCDMB notice.”

It also noted that the Total Group world-wide and all its contractors “are required tocarry out all operations in a diligent and pro-fessional manner and in full compliance with,and respect for, all national laws and regu-lations.”

Total denies shutting Ofon-2 project

BY CHRIS OCHAYI

•Port Harcourt refinery

26 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014

quarterly import allocations,outstanding subsidy paymentsand a host of others, but theMinistry and NNPC insistedthat the scarcity was artificial-ly induced.

Petroleum Minister, Mrs Die-zani Alison-Madueke, whileon a two-day intensive moni-toring of fuel depots and retailoutlets in Lagos last week,promised to apply full sanc-tions against any oil marketeror product dealer found culpa-ble in the hoarding or diver-sion of products.

While re-assuring Nigeriansof enough products in strate-gic reserves to meet the de-mand, she said, “…It appearsthere are lots of factors militat-ing against efficient delivery offuel. We learnt for example thatsome tanker drivers werechanging the number plates oftheir trucks after loading tomake it difficult for tracking.This is obviously being doneto aid diversion of productsfrom areas that are meant toreceive them to other areas.”

Accordingly, she directed the

IN the recent times, the Nigerian National Petroleum

Corporation, NNPC, has beenfaced with a legion of issuesrelating to crude theft andpipeline vandalism, divest-ments, finance and accounta-bility, products distribution anda host of many others.

Some of these issues particu-larly those of crude oil theft, fi-nance and accountability hasoccupied the public discourseand further compounded by theallegedly induced recent fuelshortages.

While these challenges re-main daunting, the Corporationsaid it is resolute in its deter-mination to become a globallycompetitive national oil compa-ny, NOC, of other oil produc-ing countries in the likes of theSaudi Aramco, Venezuela’sPDVSA, or even Algeria’sSonatrach and many more.

Rather than allow these chal-lenges to weigh it down or dis-tract it from its bigger objectiveof becoming a world class com-pany, the incumbent leadershipof the NNPC, under the watchof the Ministry of PetroleumResources, has struggled totake them on in its strides.

Fuelscarcity

While still smarting from al-legations of financial impropri-ety levied against it by the Cen-tral Bank of Nigeria, CBN, thecountry was thrown into anoth-er round of nationwide fuelscarcity with attendant negativeeconomic impact.

Although fuel marketers at-tributed the supply shortagesto delays in the release of the

ministry’s relevant agenciesincluding the Department ofPetroleum Resources, DPR;Petroleum Products PricingRegulatory Agency, PPPRA, aswell as the marketing arm ofthe NNPC, Pipelines andProducts Marketing Company,PPMC, to arrest the situation.

”I want to establish that thereis diversion. If we can estab-lish there is, I want to knowwhen and how this is beingdone. They need to supply mehow these trucks are beingtracked because diversion isnot easy to do. The perpetra-tors will be sanctioned and I’mready to publish names of an-ybody that may be involved,”she said.

Apart from the ministerialdirective, NNPC as the sup-plier of last resort, in the wakeof the scarcity had immediate-ly swung into action by releas-ing additional 209 million li-tres of petrol for distributionnationwide, the bulk of whichwas for the Lagos market.

NNPC’s Group ManagingDirector, Mr. Andrew Yakubu,

Growing globally competitive national oil company

also undertook a similar moni-toring of products distribution inAbuja the nation’s capital. Hedisclosed that the Corporationhad increased the number oftrucks loading for Abuja from 100to 150 per day, where each truckcarries approximately 33,000litres.

Finance and remittancesSince late last year, the NNPC

has battled with allegations bythe CBN Governor, Mallam Sa-nusi Lamido Sanusi over thenon-remittance of about$49.8billion into the FederationAccount. It took a Joint AuditCommittee made up of the min-istries of Finance; Petroleum Re-sources; Federal Inland Reve-nue Services, FIRS, the CBN;and NNPC to discover an un-reconciled $10.8billion.

Even at this, the NNPC’sGroup Executive Director, Fi-nance, Mr. Ben Otti, clarifiedthat the outstanding sum is notmissing. He said some of thiscould be traced to maintaininga national strategic reserve of 40million litres for 32 days, worthabout $0.37billion; products and

crude oil losses $0.72billion;and pipeline management andrepairs of $1.22billion.

Otti went further to quote thatthese expenditures were sup-ported under the NNPC Act,Section 7 Sub-section A and B,which states:

The Corporation shall main-tain a fund which shall consistof -

(a) such monies as may, fromtime to time, be provided by theFederal Government for thepurposes of this Act by way ofgrants or loans or otherwisehowsoever; and

(b) Such monies as may bereceived by the Corporation inthe course of its operations orin relation to the exercise by theCorporation of any of its func-tions under this Act, and fromsuch fund there shall be de-frayed all expenses incurred bythe Corporation.

Transparency andaccountabilityPerhaps the declaration by the

Attorney General of the Feder-ation and Minister of Justice,Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke,with regard to transfer of inter-ests of some oil mining leasesto its subsidiary, the NigerianPetroleum Development Com-pany, NPDC, underscoresNNPC efforts to institute trans-parency and accountability inthe oil industry.

Adoke affirmed that by virtueof Paragraph 14 to 16 of theFirst Schedule of the Petrole-um Act, CAP.P.10 Laws of theFederation of Nigeria, LFN,2004 (NNPC Act) and Regula-tion 4 of the Petroleum (Drill-ing and Productions) Regula-tions 1969 as amended, theNNPC can legitimately trans-fer its participating interest.

NIGERIA is one of the topten nations in the world

with huge natural gas reserves.Nigeria’s estimated provedplus potential reserves stood at184 trillion cubic feet (tcf) as at2007. This is made up of 95 tcfof associated gas and 89 tcf ofnon-associated gas. The com-bined total of proved, probableand possible reserves is esti-mated at 300 tcf.

Unfortunately, there havebeen no significant gas explo-ration activities and the mod-est developments in gas re-serves are largely connected tooil exploration (i.e. associatedgas). As at 2006, estimated dai-ly gas production was 4.6 bil-lion cubic feet per day (bcfd),and nearly 55% (about 2.5 bcfd)was flared. The balance 45%was channeled towards gasreinjection into producing oilwells, domestic usage and asfeedstock for the Nigerian Liq-uefied Natural Gas (NLNG)project.

Gas policy & Gas Master PlanGas development in Nigeria

has been constrained by theabsence of clear fiscal terms;gas pricing mechanism; legaland regulatory framework; andinadequate financing. Conse-quently, government intro-duced a natural gas policy anda gas master plan. The naturalgas policies was targeted atpromoting a public – privatesector partnership for anorderly and speedy commer-cialization of the nation’s gasreserves, and so contribute to

the development anddiversification of the domesticeconomy. Similarly, the gasmaster plans was developedas a framework for maximizingthe value inherent in thenation’s gas reserves, andthus ensure the multipliereffect of gas usage in the econ-omy and enhance the high val-ue gas export market.

The gas master plan hasthree main components: thenational domestic gas supply;pricing policy and regulations;and the gas infrastructureblueprint. The domestic gas

supply obligation is meant todeal with the issue of improve-ments in domestic gas supply byimposing supply obligations onpetroleum upstream operators.The gas pricing policy is predi-cated on a pricing framework thatsegregates the demand sectorinto three categories (domestic,industrial, and commercial), towhich the different pricing re-gimes apply. The domestic cat-egory consists of the use of nat-ural gas for domestic cookingand for power generation. Thiscategory has direct multipliereffect on the economy. The in-dustrial category comprises ofindustries that consume naturalgas as a raw material (feedstock)for the production of secondaryproducts, such as methanol, fer-tilizer, gas– to- liquids (GTL).The commercial category con-sumes natural gas as an indus-trial fuel for manufacturing firms.The gas infrastructure blueprintwas developed as an integratedinfrastructure strategy to support

domestic, regional, and exportLNG markets.

The key challenge to realiz-ing the objectives of the gasmaster plan is ensuring theavailability of gas for powergeneration and domestic con-sumption. Oil and gas resourc-es are internationally tradedproducts, and domestic pricingfor these has been an issue inthis country. Therefore, pricingthese resources below their in-ternational prices for domesticconsumption is considered incertain quarters as providingsubsidy and so, unacceptable.As a result, the core interna-tional oil companies (IOCs)have developed a strong port-folio interest that is biased to-wards export of liquefied nat-ural gas (LNG). The gas mar-ket (associated gas) is control-led by the few oil majors, andso their bias towards the exportmarket creates a major conflictwith, and resistance to, plansfor a significant boost in domes-tic usage of natural gas. Fur-thermore, this bias impedesplans to put a stop to gas flar-ing.

Maximising natural gas in Nigeria: Prospects, constraints

•FELIX AYANRUOH

Oil &People

[email protected]

•NNPC Head Office, Abuja


FG grantsPinnacle Oilwaiver for$250m projectsTHE Federal Government

has said that over 30 mil-lion Nigerians have no accessto electricity supply becausethey are yet to be connected tothe national electricity grid.

The Minister of Power, Prof.Chinedu Nebo, who disclosedthis while declaring open, theNigerian Renewable EnergyPrivate Equity seminar in Abu-ja, said most of the affectedNigerians are in the rural are-as.

Speaking at the seminar or-ganised to sensitise investors,fund managers, policy makersand other stakeholders on theneed to support the develop-ment of renewable energy, theminister called for more privatesector financing to improveelectricity supply.

Represented by the Perma-nent Secretary in the ministry,Amb. Godknows Igali, he not-ed that the training is meant tosensitise and mobilise stake-holders to initiate an equityfund through private sectorparticipation to promote sus-tainable energy.

Citing the United NationsReport on access to power, hesaid, “there is still a wide gapin power supply. Sadly for ushere in Nigeria, we still haveabout 30 million people that donot have access to power at all.”

“This is the reason the feder-al government is focusing onRenewable Energy (RE) partic-ularly off-grid solar and smallhydros that would not need todepend on the national grid,”Nebo explained.

He disclosed further that gov-

to sell, the accuracy of theconsumption level in their areasthat NERC did not know before.

“When these data come in,what follows will be to look at thefacts, with the facts we have inthe multi-year tariff order, MYTO.Remember MYTO hasprogressed. Before now, we usedto have one flat tariff system forthe entire country. Now, it hasbeen disaggregated into 11.NERC agreed that it is not whatsomebody in Yola pays that theperson in Lagos or Port Harcourtshould pay,” he said.

Okoro also explained thatthough the next major tariff isexpected in 2017, it may not becarried out until NERC gets allthe needed data which have beennon-existent in the past.

“The problem is the data weused in the last review came fromPHCN and sourced from PHCN.PHCN was good in opaquemanagement. They neverrevealed their facts. They did notdo their financial reporting. Theydid not want to reveal theircustomer base properly. They did

ernment is now rounding up onfinancing process for the3050mw Mambilla hydro damand would soon be flagged offby President Goodluck Jonath-an.

He said, “There are 264 hy-dro dams which have not beenfully utilised, so in this firstquarter, government did astudy and is fixing the turbinesand other components in 12 ofthem to increase their genera-tion capacity.”

In his remarks, the Coordi-nating Minister of the Econo-my and Minister of Finance,

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, saidthere is a need to supplementmainstream power generationthrough the harnessing of re-newable energy.

Okonjo-Iweala, who was rep-resented by Hajia Lare Shuai-bu, said that the Nigerian BulkElectricity Trading CompanyPlc (NBET) has received pro-posals and enquiries on devel-oping the vast renewable en-ergy in Nigeria.

“Giving the national resourc-es of sunlight, wind, biomassamong others, we need to startthinking of how they can be

harnessed for the power sec-tor,” she added.

The Chief Executive Officer,Henshaw Capital Partners,Ms. Barbara James said in herremarks that business financ-ing through banking lendingand capital market lending ata percentage of the GDP is stillrelatively low, about 20 percentunlike in other advanced coun-tries like Brazil.

James noted that the seminaris to prepare the grounds foran intended development of aPrivate Equity and VentureCapital where resources would

be pooled to develop a sustain-able renewable energy for thecountry.

She stated that private equi-ty is an ecosystem that involvesinvestors, fund managers, en-trepreneurs, and the policymakers adding that, “We workwith these different groups inthe ecosystem to raise theirawareness, engage them inpre-investment and post invest-ment activities in the sector.”

Also speaking, the Chairman,Senate Committee on Power,Senator Philip Aduda, saiddespite the vast renewable en-ergy sources, Nigeria still ex-perienced acute inadequatepower supply, adding that re-newable energy needs to bedeveloped to boost supply.

NIGERIAN electricityconsumers may no

longer pay flat tariff rate, if thepromise of the Nigerian Electric-ity Regulatory Commission,NERC, is anything to go by.

The Special Adviser, Researchand Strategy, NERC, Mr. UcheOkoro, stated this in a chat withVanguard on the sidelines, at thejust concluded refinancing assetsin the Nigerian power sectorworkshop, organised by DetailCommercial Solicitors in Lagos.

According to Okoro, NERC hasmandated the new owners of theGENCOs and DISCOs toengage consultants to help checkhow healthy they are.

“NERC has mandated the newowners to engage consultants tohelp check the health of theirGENCOS and DISCOS. That isto get the number of theircustomer base, the loss base, thebypass levels and everything thatis happening there, thetransformers that are down, thequantity of electrons they need

not want to say how many peoplethey gave meter to. They did notwant to be open because they didnot want to show their real fiscalstate. They knew that change wascoming and so their mind wasnot in the business any longer.We could not rely on their data.

Financialpenalty

“But we have to still use thedata and there were a lot ofapproximations in the MYTO.And now, the new owners, thepeople we can put financialpenalty on if they give us inac-curate data, the independentpeople who have something tolose if they put inaccurate dataon the table, the people who putin billions and will be in thebusiness in the next forty to fiftyyears, so they have a future inthe industry, it is not in theirinterest to manipulate figures.They are vulnerable to the whipof the regulator, because they arenot government backed likePHCN,” he said.

Okoro also said that the datacollected from the new ownerswill determine when and howtariffs will be adjusted.

“All the studies they are bring-ing in the result are going to bedisco specific. When they comein, as we look at the tariffs, thebuilding blocks in the multi-yeartariff order, we start to look at thedata which they bring, which arenow close to reality. Thedifferentials between it and theone PHCN gave us, which aremore of estimates and guesswork; we will now start to seewhat needs to be adjusted.

“If the differentials are huge incertain issues and you look at thewindow of MYTO, your start offto understand that maybesomething has to change. Youdon’t have to wait for 2017 tochange, because you are nowlooking at a very huge variable.That is the problem with tariffincrease. We should not beobsessed with tariff increase orbe sensational with it. It is aboutthe reality in the building block.

30 million Nigerians lack access to electricity — FG

NERC abolishes flat tariff systemBy SEBASTINE OBASI

THE Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company,

IKEDC, has concluded ar-rangements to partner with theLagos State Government onenergy conservation to reduceunnecessary wastage of elec-tricity by consumers.

This is one of the issuesraised during a courtesy visitto the General Manager, LagosState Electricity Board, LSEB,Mrs. Damilola Ogunbiyi by theManagement of IKEDC led bythe Managing Director/ ChiefExecutive Officer, Mr. AbiodunAjifowobaje.

Ajifowobaje said the inci-dence of energy wastage inLagos is part of the problemsmilitating against the effectivedistribution of electricity, as theenergy being wasted could beeasily utilised by other custom-ers. He noted that consumershave formed the habit ofputting on electricity, when notin use.

He therefore sought the as-sistance of the State Govern-ment to partner with the Com-pany in enlightening electrici-ty consumers on energy con-servation.

The IKEDC Managementalso sought the assistance ofthe State for the removal ofstructures erected under pow-er lines, as these posed seri-ous threats to human lives aselectrical lines may snap andaffect people living or tradingunder the lines.

Responding, Ogunbiyi saidthe issue of energy wastage isat the heart of the State Gov-ernment, and is part of the is-sues in focus for its upcoming7th Lagos Economic Summit,tagged, “EHINGBETI 2014.”

She said that the Governmenthad started an awareness cam-paign to educate Lagosians onhow to manage electricity wise-ly and economically.

IKEDC partnersLASG on energyconservation

BY CHRIS OCHAYI

•Egbim power plant

ABUJA: The Executive Secretary, Petroleum Tech-

nology Development Fund,PTDF, Dr. Oluwole Oluleye,has said that the discovery ofoil in neighbouring Niger andChad Republic has given anencouraging prospect that oildiscovery in the Nigeria’s sed-imentary basins is realistic.

Oluleye, who said this at the close out seminar of the 2011/2013 Annual Oil and Gas Re-search Grant Competition inAbuja, was optimistic that thedevelopment will boost the na-tion’s oil reserves.

He stated further that find-ings from the research conduct-ed on the Nigerian section ofthe Chad Basin revealed that

oil discovery in the sedimen-tary basins is realistic andachievable.

According to him, “I want touse this opportunity to informthis gathering that adequateattention shall, henceforth, begiven to renewable and uncon-ventional energy in our grants.The discovery of oil in neigh-boring Niger and Chad Re-public has given an encourag-ing prospect of oil discovery inthe Nigerian sedimentary ba-sins. This no doubt will boostthe Nation’s oil reserve.

“While progress is made inthe discovery of fossil fuels inthe Chad Basin, we should notlose sight of the fact that thereis a global shift to environmen-tally source of energy. In thisregard the Fund will sponsor

more researches on the produc-tion of biofuels and biogas fromnon-edible fruits.

“Resources have been com-mitted in this area and I am gladto inform you that the result hasbeen positive although morework needs to be done, as wecontinue our efforts at ensuringbiofuel production on a commer-cial scale in the next researchcycle.

“The Fund has already en-dowed professorial chair on re-newable energy in the Univer-sity of Benin and the success-ful research work of Dr. FrankOroka and his team furthershows our effort in this direc-tion. Findings from the researchof Prof. John Adekoya and histeam on the Nigerian sector ofthe Chad Basin shows further

that oil discovery in the sedi-mentary basins is realistic andachievable. “I wish therefore tocall on National and Interna-tional Oil Companies to coop-erate with PTDF sponsored re-searchers by providing themwith relevant data and otherassistance when needed. Thiswill aid the solving of specificindustry problems; enhance jobcreation and knowledge trans-fer in – country.

Oluleye, who was the pioneerExecutive Secretary of Petrole-um Products Pricing and reg-ulatory Agency, PPPRA, saidthe sponsorship of indigenousresearch into critical areas of thepetroleum industry is an aspectof PTDF’s intervention pro-grammes to develop capacityfor the industry.

Oil discovery in Chad Basin realistic — FG

THE 2014 World Energy Issues Monitor, a report by

the World Energy Council(WEC), has identified Energypoverty and corruption as thetop critical uncertainties for Ni-geria.

These factors, the report said,have significant impact on thecountry’s sustainable develop-ment. Although equipped withextensive and diverse energy re-sources, more than half of theNigerian population still had noaccess to electricity. As in manyAfrican countries, the challengeof modern energy access isacutely visible here.

Largely driven by the oil sec-tor, the WEC reports that theNigerian outlook for economicgrowth remains positive. Thisgrowth is not inclusive, howev-er, as it does not translate intopoverty reduction and sharedprosperity.

The proposed oil and gas in-dustry reforms of the PetroleumIndustry Bill have not yet beenvoted on by the National Assem-bly. This remains a source ofconcern to the industry keystakeholders and operators,with implications for invest-ments says the WEC report.

The country’s power supplyremains unstable and unrelia-ble, with poor performance anda weak infrastructure. This neg-atively impacts business, socialand economic development.

Together with six other coun-tries, Nigeria is now part ofPresident Obama’s Power Afri-ca Initiative, aimed at acceler-ating investment in Africa’s pow-er sector and improving electric-ity access over the next fiveyears.

Corruption is another criticaluncertainty and has been anongoing concern for the Nige-rian Administration. In spite ofmany efforts to improve trans-parency, it remains a critical is-sue yet to be solved.

Cooperation with China, In-dia and Brazil has been strength-ened, and has resulted in moreopportunities for the energy sec-tor says the report.

The report says the most im-portant need-for-action issues inNigeria include: China and In-dia, large-scale hydro, renewa-ble energy and energy efficien-cy. Nigeria’s cooperation withChina and India is being rein-forced. As emerging countrieswith similar challenges to Ni-geria, much can be learned fromtheir cases and success stories.With a huge potential of about15 GW (with less than 1.4% ex-ploited thus far), large-scalehydropower is perceived as aclean renewable energy optionthat needs to be further devel-oped to meet energy needs in asustainable way.

BY CHRIS OCHAYI

BY ONYEGBADUEAMAMDI

•problematic assets, faulty evaluation

Tough times await buyers of PHCN assets

BY MICHAEL EBOH

BUYERS of the assets of thedefunct Power Holding

Company of Nigeria’s,(PHCN) are in for tough times

in the days ahead.A former Chief Executive Of-

ficer, Nigerian Electricity Reg-ulatory Commission, NERC,Mr. Ransome Owan, disclosedthat the assets are problemat-

ic, while a faulty valuation sys-tem was used in the sales proc-ess.

Owan, who disclosed this ina document obtained by Van-guard, titled, ‘Operation and

regulatory, technical and non-technical issues.

On the part of the power gen-erating companies (GENCOs),Owan, noted that the gencosfair a bit better because of theirsmaller footprint and feweremployees, noting however,that plant readiness, schedul-ing and dispatch frequencyand capacity payments are con-cerns.

He questioned the capacity ofthe Nigerian Bulk ElectricityTrading Plc (NBET) in termscash sufficiency, saying, “Doesthe central wholesale buyer,NBET, have sufficient casheven with 90-day Letter ofCredit (LC)?”

He noted that evacuationchallenges and ability to meetready and suppressed demandwill linger, while proper Reve-nue Cycle Management(RCM), metering, billing andcollection challenges are hereto stay.

Other problems facing thesector, according to him, in-clude meeting loss trajectories(LTs), lack of power, unmetvesting contract supply orquotas, change integration andmanagement, culture wars, fearby retained staff, insiderfinancial manipulations,unknown consumers, poorpayment culture and theft.

He predicted mass retrench-ment in the power sector, say-ing that the privatisation exer-cise will bring about a workforcere-balancing between technicaland non-technical staff.

Owan further disclosed thatdependency on vesting con-tracts alone would lead to slowprogress, stating, however, thatengaging in direct purchase ofpower from embedded gener-ators at approved competitiverates would accelerate progressto 24 hours, seven days a weekpower supply.

Maintenance( O & M )issues in thepr iva t i sedp o w e rmarket’ saidt h etransactionleading tothe sale of theassets wasbased ongovernmentasset valua-tion and not ab u s i n e s svaluation.

He furtherstated thatthe businessturnaroundplans ten-dered duringthe bid roundrequire re-examinationbased on factsdiscovered.

H edisclosed thatthe privatisedbusinessesare full ofp r o b l e m sincluding thesupport sys-tems, bothfrom withinand without.

Accordingto him, thekey chal-lenge is howto turn theb u s i n e s saround toprofitability,i n c l u d i n ga b u n d a n t

WEC identifiespoverty,corruptionas critical toNigeria’s energy



CMYK


AT the outset of his presidency, President Barack Obama

must have calculated that it wasnot in his strategic interest to sin-gle out minorities in the U.S. forspecial attention. His mantra wasthat he was elected the presidentof the United States, not of a fac-tion or fraction of its population.It was a way of being politicallycorrect. He needed to serve twoterms of office and sending anysignal that he would pay moreattention to the two most impor-tant constituencies that electedhim to office – African Americansand Hispanics - may have beenpolitically naïve.

But, times have changed.Obama will soon waltz into whatAmericans call ‘lame duck’ pres-idency where real attention willshift to whoever his successormight be; and the aura and in-deed the power of his office willbegin to diminish, at least in pub-lic’s eye. He no longer has anyre-election to worry about. Per-haps, Obama is now looking to-ward shaping his legacy, for how

At last, Obama tackles ‘minority’ issuesmight it be said that a presidentfrom the minority group servedfor two consecutive terms of of-fice and left no tangible imprintthat would enhance the status ofhis constituency of origin.

President Obama chose the lastweek of February (27) to do whatsome critics say he should havedone years ago. He addressed theissue of uplifting the economiccondition of young black and His-panic men, and went on to iden-tify never-has-been-done con-crete steps to deal with the issue.

Unlawfulactivities

The fact is, minorities, especiallyAfrican-Americans perhaps un-fairly populate the jail houses inthe U.S. They are more likely tofind their way into doing drugsand other unlawful activities thatare likely to land them in jail. Theyare more frequently harassed andkilled by the police. When theyappear before judges in court,they are more likely to get harsh-

suffer from other forms of discrim-ination more than their compatri-ots. And, the worst scenario is thatthe cycle goes on from one gen-eration to another.

Having engaged other minori-ty issues such as gay rights andthe rights of women, PresidentObama must have found it ap-propriate to focus on AfricanAmericans and Hispanic youngmen. So, he called them to theWhite House and brought in someaffluent and powerful people tomatch words with money and ac-tion. And the businessmen andpower-brokers pledged an initialsum of $150 to support the pro-gramme which Obama appropri-ately called My Brother ’sKeeper,and whose primary objec-tive is to find credible ways touplift the socio-economic condi-tions of minority kids.

Here is what Obama said whileinaugurating the body that willchampion this initiative: “I believethe continuing struggles of somany boys and young men - thefact that too many of them are fall-

ing by the wayside, dropping out,unemployed, involved in nega-tive behaviour, going to jail, be-ing profiled - this is a moral issuefor our country. It’s also an eco-nomic issue for ourcountry…….We’ve become numbto these statistics, we’re not sur-prised by them, we take them asthe norm. We just assume this isan inevitable part of American life,instead of the outrage that itis.But these statistics should breakour hearts. And they should com-pel us to act.”

President Obama has acted.But, even before the event at theWhite House was over, criticshave started making scurrilousremarks about it.

Scurrilousremarks

Of course, at the vanguard ofthe attacks is the conservativewing which sees anything withan Obama imprint as bad andrepugnant. One of the acolytesof this wing, Bill O’Reilly of FoxNews, apparently fired the firstsalvo while interviewing ValeriaJarrett, White House senior ad-viser in his programme. To him,the trouble with the African-Amer-ican youth has to do with their“gangsta” culture that lands themin jail or at the morgue.

I suspect that the next phaseof attacking Obama’s My Broth-er’s Keeper campaign will be toremind him that he also has broth-ers who are neither African-Amer-ican nor Hispanics. He might bereminded that he had pledged to

be the president for all Americans,not just that his African -Ameri-can community. Now that all ef-forts by his critics to situate Obamain Kenya where his father wasborn have apparently held notraction, it might be easier to char-acterize him as a sectional leaderof the “gangsta” race. The con-servative groups never get tiredof creating anything, any labelthat will make the president looklike a misfit in the White House.

But, I like the argument put upby CNN’s Don Lemon to pre-empt this charge of sectionalismagainst President Obama. Headmits that for once Obama hasshown himself as the Black Pres-ident but opines that it is a goodthing to do so, because it does notdiminish his position as the pres-ident of the entire United States.Then, he stated that no one calledObama the president of the autoindustry when he bailed out theailing industry; nor did anyonelabel him the president of the WallStreet when he bailed out failingbanks and financial houses.

My Brother’s Keeper is notonly a bold programme but onewhose time has indeed come. Itis equally commendable. It isoverdue. The beneficiaries of theprogramme are no less Americansthan their mates on the more priv-ileged side of the economic andsocial fence. When the young menof today succeed tomorrow andbecome creative in ways thatwould uplift America, it is theircountry that will take the pride,not just their minority communi-ties.

er sentences. Theyhave a higher schooldrop-out rate. Theyare more likely to bea product of singleparentage in theirupbringing (includ-ing Obama). Themurder rate result-ing from black-on-black violence isquite high, especial-ly in Chicago(again, Obama’shome city). They

CMYK


By Theodore Opara

THIS is good news for LandRover Discovery fans in

Nigeria. The Land Rover Discoveryis now available with a powerfulsuper-charged all-new V6 enginewhich out-performs the normally-aspirated V8 petrol engine. Thenew petrol engine delivers 250 kwand 450 Nm with emission of 285g/k. Improvement in fuelconsumption is 12.01/100 km asagainst 14.11/00 km on the V8engine.

The new engine was part of thenew upgrading of the Land RoverDiscovery which now has arefreshed exterior with distinctivebadging, as well as extendednavigation for unrivalled courage ofAfrica. Other changes on theDiscovery include new wheels, andnew colours to go with them as wellas new technologies such as wadesensing and T-Junction camera.

Vanguard Motoring was amongjournalists from across the sub-Sahara Africa that test-drove the newDiscovery in Botswana recentlytitled: “Discover the Africa you love-in the new 2014 Discovery.”

The test-drive was from Khwai(pride of Africa Tented camp) toKasane airport in Botswana, havingvisited some villagers with officialsof Jaguar Land Rover in Khwai todistribute mosquito nets as part ofthe company’s corporate socialresponsibility.The new Discoveryproved itself as master of all terrain,as it contended with the toughterrain worsened by the heavy rainin Botswana. Sometime the

Land Rover launches most fuelefficient, powerful Discovery

THE Managing Director of PANNigeria Ltd, Ibrahim Boyi has

disclosed that the company’s car salesquantity and turnover declined from 11,768vehicles and N31.75b in 2007 to 659 vehiclesand N1.75b in 2013 respectively.

The Managing Director who made thisdisclosure in Lagos recently at the launchof new Peugeot range of vehicles also statedthat direct employees of the company werereduced to 230 from 1,120 staff over the lastdecade. According to him, dealershipnetworks and service centres along over70 local auto component manufactures were

PAN turnover declines from N31.75b to N1.96b in six years

Continues on Page 29

journalists had to go through thebush part as most of the road wereflooded. But the Discovery neverdisappoints. It finds a way wherethere is none.

The new Discovery, is the mostfuel efficient Discovery ever made.It has raised the bar in luxury andLeisure ride with its new features interms of engine performance, fuelefficiency, audio system, new rangeof driver assistance, comfort andsafety. According to Nigel Clarke,Operations Director, Jaguar LandRover sub-Sahara Africa, “It is fittingand right that we launch the modelyear 2014 Discovery at the same timeas we announce the Discover theAfrica you love programme.” Therehas never been a vehicle moreappropriate for discovering Africathan a Land Rover Discovery and itremains the perfect vehicle for

people who enjoy living an activelifestyle.

Continuing, he said: “with theintroduction of the superchargedV6, which supersedes the V8, wecan now offer a more fuel efficientvehicle, and a number of otherupgrades to make the acclaimedDiscovery better than ever.” For 2014,the Land Rover Discovery has beengiven a new ‘face’ and numerousdetail exterior changes.

Daytimerunning lights

The grille, front bumper andheadlamps are all new while newdaytime running lights with adistinctive LED signature and amore premium execution to thefroglamp surround furtherenhances the Discovery’s

appearance.There are three types of

headlights, vehicle grade-dependent. XS and S models usebi-halogen bulbs with a singleDaytime Running Lamp (DRL)while the SE gets Xenonheadlamps with Signature DRLsand flagship HSE models get theAdaptive Xenon version. Tocomplement the design changesseen at the front of the vehicle, therear light units receive a black maskfor an especially clean look.

Two new alloy wheel designshave been introduced and, to givevehicles a heightened level ofdistinction, the optional ‘BlackDesign Pack’ remains available for2014 models, featuring reviseddetailing and a choice of 19-inch or20-inch black alloy wheels. Newcolours include Corris Grey, Loire

Blue, Scotia Grey, Chablis andLuxor which have also been addedto the palette. In a change drivenby form and function, the 2014Discovery has redesigned exteriormirrors. They’re more aerodynamicthan before but also support theintroduction of new technologies:they house the cameras for thesurround camera system, and thesensors for the all-new WadeSensing system. In recognition ofthe Discovery’s established identity,the refreshed exterior design for 2014also incorporates a change ofidentity. For the first time ever, the‘Discovery’ name replaces ‘LandRover’ on the bonnet and thenumber 4 will be removed from thetailgate leaving just the word‘Discovery.’ Engine badging movesfrom the tailgate to an ingot mountedon each of the front doors.

decimated and agreement with PeugeotFrance was also suspended four years ago.

Despite all these, he said, PAN Nigeriahad kept its plant in good condition, andready to do business. “In its current form, itremains the best and most comprehensiveassembly plant in the west coast ofAfrica.The Managing Director blamed themisfortunes of the company on unstablegovernment polcies, inadequate tariffprotection for local assembly plants, globalfinancial meltdown and weak managementin different degree in the last decade. Themanaging director further noted that the

declining fortunes of the company led tothe intervention of Asset ManagementCompany of Nigeria (AMCON) in 2012.

“In 2012, AMCON acquired the debts ofthe company and converted a portion of equity,leading to 80 percent shareholding in PANNigeria Ltd, acquiring board andmanagement control. The managing directorexplained that a new board, led by Alh.Muhammed Munir Ja’afaru, Yarima Zazzau,appointed in July last year was mandated toturnaround the fortune of the company. Key

•Land Rover Discovery

CMYK

By Theodore Opara


THE Land Rover Evoque hasscored yet another first by becom-ing the first sport utility vehicle(SUV) to be fitted with a nine-speed automatic transmission.The new transmission devel-oped by transmission experts,ZF specially for front-transversedriveline cuts fuel and emissionsto the bearest minimum.

The facelifted Range RoverEvoque which was unveiled tothe sub-Saharan Motoring jour-nalists recently during a test-drive from David LivingstoneSafari Lodge, Zambia to Botswa-na Boarder boasts more per-formance, less fuel consumptionand lower emission.

Other features of the 2014Range Rover Evoque include ex-terior and interior design en-hancement as well as new alloywheel designs.

Compared to previous 6-speedautomatic transmissions for front-transverse installations, ZF’s9HP cuts fuel consumption andconsequently also CO² emis-sions. The technical basis for thegreat efficiency of the 9HP is thevery high transmission speed –and yet particularly small gearsteps thanks to the nine ratios.This not only enhances ride com-fort but also makes sure that theengine always runs in the mostefficient speed range.

A revolutionary transmissionconcept uses four individualgearsets and six shifting ele-ments. This required some very

EvEvEvEvEvoque geoque geoque geoque geoque gets wts wts wts wts world’s forld’s forld’s forld’s forld’s fiririririrst 9-speed autst 9-speed autst 9-speed autst 9-speed autst 9-speed autoooootransmission, refreshes ftransmission, refreshes ftransmission, refreshes ftransmission, refreshes ftransmission, refreshes for 20or 20or 20or 20or 201111144444

THE annual Toyota Dream Car ArtContest recently took place in three dif-ferent geographical zones of Nigeria.The contestants were Students in theJunior Secondary Schools as well asPrimary school pupils cutting acrossthree different age categories viz:CategoryOne:children under Eightyears, children ages Eight to 11 andchildren ages 12 to 15. Some privateand public primary as well as second-ary schools across three zones: Lagos,

Eight winners emerge at Toyota DreamCar Art Contest

innovative packaging and thegearsets are not stacked one be-hind the other on a longitudinalaxis but are ‘nested in’. This con-cept was supplemented by us-ing hydraulically-operated con-stant-mesh elements: They canbe integrated without major im-pact on the transmission lengthand feature a high level of effi-ciency. Remarkably, it is just 6mm longer but 7.5 kilograms

lighter than the six speed trans-mission it replaces. A torqueconverter is used as the stand-ard starting element in the 9HP.A multi-level torsion dampingsystem minimizes hydrauliclosses by quickly closing thetorque converter. With its directdrive it reduces fuel consump-tion and enhances comfort aswell as driving dynamics. Ad-vanced software and extensive

testing has reduced shift and re-sponse times below the thresh-old of human perception.

Direct multiple gearshifts arealso possible with the 9HP andgive the automatic transmissionits sporty character: shift pointsand shift dynamics can be high-ly variable depending on condi-tions and driving style. It hasalso been designed with an eyeon the future; and can cope with

torque outputs of up to 480Nm,is start-stop capable and can behybridized. With the torque con-verter replaced by an electricmotor it easily works as a paral-lel hybrid. The ZF 9HP is manu-factured at a freshly-built plant inGray Court, South Carolina, USA,using the very latest manufactur-ing techniques.

In 2013, the Range Evoque soldnearly 34,000 units worldwide andhas remained the preferred com-pact SUV. It has won severalawards since its launch.

Winners of eight Toyota Dream Car Art contest

PAN turnoverdeclines fromN31.75b to N1.96bContinues from Page 28

objectives of the new management according to himwere to re-acquire the company’s last market shareand re-start assembly operation. This he said themanagement is already on course in realising asevidenced by the recent product launch in Lagos. “Therecently unveiled Auto Development Plan is designedto restart the local assembly plant and local componentsmanufacturers. PAN and Peugeot France have keyedinto the policy and I am glad to announce thatassembly of Peugeot vehicles at our Kaduna plantwill restart in June this year,” he said.

Also speaking at the unveiling, the Chairman, PANNigeria, Alhaui Ja’afaru told the audience thatPeugeot b rand is back, bigger in terms of what it canoffer you and better in terms of architecture, design,technology and cost.”

He recalled that many years ago Peugeot brand ofvehicles had carved a niche as a reliable partner toNigerians as the standard vehicle for pursuit ofpeoples daily businesses, commercial and domesticschedules in all nooks and crannies of the country.

“Perhaps we can share fond memories of thepopular Peugeot 404, 504, 505 which tremendouslyserved diverse families and the corporate sector.”

Abuja, and Port Harcourt took partin the thrilling competition. At theend of the exercise, over 1000 par-ticipants were collated and a panelof Creative Arts professionals andautomobile engineers was constitut-ed to do a careful selection using en-vironmental friendliness, safety andfuturistic as yardsticks for selection.

Eventually, the zonal contest pro-duced eight best entries .The win-ners of the entries, accompanied by

their parents/guardians and art teacherswere invited to the prize and certificatepresentation ceremony which held inToyota (Nigeria) Limited, head office, Le-kki, Lagos to receive their certificates ofexcellence from the General ManagerCorporate Services, Mr Bunmi Onafow-okan who represented the duo of the Man-aging Director Mr ChandraskekerKrishnadas Thampy and the ExecutiveDirector, Mr Kunle Ade Ojo. In additionto the certificates, the children werepresented with lap tops and other giftsthat would make event to linger in theirmemories for a long time to come.

Speaking on behalf of the winner MasterTomide Olunloyo described Toyota as astandard setter in Nigeria. In his opin-ion, Toyota has forever been engraved inhis mind. He thanked the company forproviding the platform for him and othercontestants to showcase their talents. Heprofessed to be an owner of a Toyotamodel in future.

Mr Datoru Tammy who spoke on behalfof parents and guardians submitted thatthis gesture on the part of Toyota is tanta-mount to opening a novel dimension inthe realm of knowledge impartation andmental development of children across theworld in general and in Nigeria.

•Range Rover Evoque

CMYK


THE Lagos state government, through the

state Waste Management Au-thority, LAWMA, has sanc-tioned at least three PrivateSector Participants, PSPs sad-dled with waste collection anddisposal and issued warningto several others over allegedincrement in the monthly ser-vice charges to residentsacross the state.

At the Local Governmentlevel which is the third tier ofgovernment, waste/environ-mental management unit han-dles general environmentalsanitation.

The unit is headed by a ChiefEnvironmental Health Offic-er, CEHO, under direct super-vision of the Executive Chair-man .

The CEHO is responsible forpolicy formulation, implemen-tation, inspection, monitoringand prosecution of defaultersof any environmental offenc-es at that level. They also li-aise with the state governmenton environmental issues,through the Ministry of theEnvironment.

However, the peculiarity ofthe metropolitan status of La-gos could not allow the con-stitutional framework to oper-ate, as regards waste man-agement structure and re-sponsibility.

Generalsolid waste

LAWMA is responsible forgeneral solid waste manage-ment and the management ofall government disposal facil-ities. The PSPs involvementwas as a result of irregular anderratic services of governmentowned agencies (Necessityand Invention).

PSP pilot scheme project in1996/1997 started with 22 Pri-vate Sector Service Providers(PSSPs). Today, over 750 for-mal PSPs operate in the state.

Recently, residents haveraised alarm over incrementby PSP operators on themonthly service chargesamidst erratic services.

roads, appear on days conve-nient to them and not asscheduled.

Many residents who patron-ize them after the cart push-

operators on the increment inservice charges claim to havebeen authorized by LAWMA.

Many wondered whatshould necessitate the incre-ment in-spite of no added val-ue to service.

One of the letters read;The Landlord/ Occupier; We

are directed to inform you thatas a result of increase in ev-ery aspect of waste manage-ment cost, the Authority re-viewed monthly disposalcharges as follows; Duplex;N1000, room, N200, room andparlour N400, shop N300while flat is N750, bungalow

N800 and self contain/ miniflat N500.

These charges will take ef-fect from January 2014. Let usjoin hands together to keepLagos clean for healthy envi-ronment. Thank you for yourcontinued cooperation.

When contacted, ManagingDirector of LAWMA, Ola Ore-sanya, said it is illegal for anyPSP to increase the monthlycharges as LAWMA has notapproved any increment.

According to him: LAWMAhas not approved any gener-al increase in the tarrif for res-

Mess in filth business, asLAWMA sanctions erring PSPs

BY OLASUNKANMIAKONI

LAWMA truck picking garbage

,

,

idential waste collection byPSP. Any erring PSP will besanctioned immediately.

“Though, presently, threeerring PSP operators havebeen sanctioned in the lasttwo weeks and many havebeen served warning to desistfrom such act.”

Oresanya, who did not dis-close the names of the erringoperators, therefore, urgedresidents to report any PSPoperator that increase the ser-vice charges to LAWMA forappropriate action againstsuch operator(s).

ers had been banned, wereshocked when letters startedflying around from their PSP

In some cases, the PSPwhich often have their vehi-cles broken down for days on

LAWMA, is responsible for generalsolid waste management and the man-agement of all government disposalfacilities


PROPERTY worthmillions of Naira were de-

stroyed in Lagos last weekendduring different fire outbreaksacross the state.

The fire outbreaks affected over22 rooms, a two- bedroom apart-ment in Osoba Street, Iyana- Ip-aja axis and a section of Elephantcement building at secretariat,Alausa.

Of the 22 rooms, 10 rooms wererazed in the fire outbreak at Ba-dia, Yaba Local Council Devel-opment Area, LCDA, 12 in Idimuaxis of the state.

Sources said that the fire out-break in Badia started around04:00 am on Saturday, while thetwo- bedroom apartment in Oso-ba Street started at about 02:06am.

Vanguard gathered that thesefire outbreaks were due to elec-tric surge which apparently start-ed in one of the rooms beforespreading to others.

In Alausa, Vanguard gatheredthat the fire which razed a sec-

tion of the Elephant cementbuilding, ASSBIFI road, Alausa,Ikeja occurred at about 8:00 amon Sunday.

Though, no casualty was re-corded but eyewitnesses said thatall they saw was the buildingenveloped by smoke.

Confirming the incidents, Di-rector of Lagos State Fire Service,Mr. Rasak Fadipe said; “For thefire outbreak on Saturday, thesewere among the seven distressedcalls the fire officials in the stateresponded to.”

On the Elephant house infer-no, Fadipe blamed the cause ofthe fire on electric surge from oneof the split air conditioner in thesection. According to him, “wereceived the distress call at 8:10am this morning (yesterday)from one of the officers who ranto our Alausa fire station.”

He said that the fire affected adepartment on the fifth floor ofthe building, adding “it was dueto our timely response thathelped reduce the effect, if notthe damage would have beenmore .”

Part of Elephant building, 22 rooms burn in Lagos

LAGOS state has scoredanother first, being the

pioneer state to delineate a lawfor consumer protection,expected to guard against theexposure to harmful usage ofgoods and exploitation byconsumers.

Basically, consumer protectionlaws are designed to protectconsumers by ensuring that theyhave access to accurateinformation about products andservices for sale.

Consumerism is the protectionof rights and interests ofconsumers especially withregard to price, quality and

those that are not fit forconsumption into the market,adding that he expects that thelaw should tell consumers thatthey should not be helplessagainst erring manufacturers orvendors or service providers inLagos because the stategovernment has deemed itproper to give support to themso that their voices can be heard.

Naturally, the over 20 millioninhabitants of Lagos applaudedthis new law but how effectivecan it be since the there is anexisting protection agency of thefederal government which hasmade little or no impact on thelives of Nigerians since itsinception many years back.

government provide adequatecover for consumers.

CPC’s Director general, Mrs.Dupe Atoki, made the call whenshe led a delegation on a courtesyvisit to the Speaker of the Houseof Representatives, AminuWaziri Tambuwal, to canvass forthe speedy passage of the bill toreview the CPC laws as well asto seek for an improvedbudgetary provisions in a bid toenhance the performance of thecouncil.

She affirmed that the presentConsumer Protection Act hassome gaps so it cannot protectNigerian consumers and it wasbecause of the gaps in the Actthat multinationals come todump goods in the country withno law to hold them responsible.Will this turn out to be the casein Lagos too?

The Founder of the ConsumerAdvocacy Foundation of Nigeria,

Sola Salako, had said recentlythat Nigerian subscribers remainhighly frustrated even after manyyears of the GSM technology inNigeria.

Also, Executive Secretary of theConsumer Rights Project, OnuUche, blamed the situation on thegeneral lackadaisical attitude ofNigerians and the lack of laws toprotect Nigerian consumers.

Rightdirection

He commended the LagosState Government for passing theConsumer Protection Law, whichhe said was a step in the rightdirection.

National President of theNational Association of TelecomSubscribers, Deolu Ogunbanjo,also said that the regulators weretrying in the sense that they werebeginning to introduce featuresthat make the subscribers morecomfortable. He cited the number

portability introduced by theNigeria CommunicationCommission which allows theuser to choose as laudable.

However in signing the Lagosversion of the law, the governorsaid; I hope everybody benefitsbecause this law will raise theservice levels of providers, it rais-es compliance levels, it improvesthe quality and standards ofgoods that are put in the marketand the manufacturers and ser-vice providers also now know thatthere is at least a minimum ser-vice level expectation that themarket will expect.

He explained that one of theselling points of Lagos stateinternationally and nationally isits large population and theconsumption power that thepopulation brings, adding that nogovernment that is alive to itsresponsibility will not seek toprotect consumers who expendmoney in order to ensure thatthey get value for their money.W E E K E N D O F R A G I N G F I R E :

Odds against the LagosConsumer Protection Law

By MONSURUOLOWOOPEJO

By DOTUN IBIWOYE

A consumer in a supermarket setting in Lagos

Part of Elephant House engulfed by fire

enacted andcustomers andc o n s u m e r sbecame moreaware of theirrights whenp u r c h a s i n ggoods andservices.

Recently, theCPC called forspeedy passageof the reviewedc o n s u m e rprotection laws toenable the

In Nigeria, protection isprovided for in the ConsumerProtection Council Act, CPC Actunder Chapter C25, Laws of theFederation of Nigeria 2004.

It is an act to provide for theestablishment of the consumerprotection council and for mat-ters connected therewith.

The slogan that;The customeris king and is always right’gained worldwide acceptance asconsumer protection laws were

safety.Last week, Governor

Babatunde Fashola (SAN) ofLagos state signed the StateConsumer Protection Agency Billinto a law, stating that thepurpose is to protect consumersand to ensure that they get valuefor their money.

He noted that consumers mustbe able to seek relief or remedyagainst manufacturers who putgoods that are substandard or

No government that is alive to itsresponsibilities will not seek to protectconsumers who expend money in order toensure that they get value for their money

,

,

CMYK

YOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAY

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGSend ySend ySend ySend ySend your datour datour datour datour date and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bir th tth tth tth tth to the Aso the Aso the Aso the Aso the Astrtrtrtrtrologicalologicalologicalologicalological

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

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

VIRGINIA

KAPTAIN AFRIKA in “Princess Shii’ By Andy Akman

[email protected]

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” By Lanre Kehinde

HOME & ABROAD By Lawrence Akapa

38—Vanguard, TUESDAY, 38—Vanguard, TUESDAY, 38—Vanguard, TUESDAY, 38—Vanguard, TUESDAY, 38—Vanguard, TUESDAY, MARCH 18,MARCH 18,MARCH 18,MARCH 18,MARCH 18, 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014

By Richard Eromosele

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139

VIRGO; You will have more to gain if you back yourplans with positive actions early in the day. 6.43 to9.04pm can bring misunderstanding.

LIBRA; Unnecessary aggression and behind-the-scene activities are potential agents of avoidable troubletoday.6.43 to 9.04 may force others to break promises.

SCORPIO; Unexpected challenges can comethrough financial transactions, but your being practicalwill see you through. Watch what you do between6.43&9.04pm.

SAGITTARIUS; Romantic Venus moves to positiveangle to your Star sign and give you the needed urgeto create time for the betterment of your love life. Yetyou will need to be more careful in other areas so thatyou don’t work against your own interest. Be loving.

CAPRICORN; Provided you are in control ofhappenings within your base of operation you will nothave cause to worry. It is important you respect the law

AQUARIUS; Other people money and/or jointlyowned fund can be sources of challenge today. If youtake friends for granted you would be disappointed.Be steadfast.

PISCES; Both your personal career/business linesand partnership related issues are what can bring youunder pressure. Be diplomatic between 6.43&9.04pm.

ARIES; Your being steadfast will not go unrewarded.But then your subordinates may unconsciously makethings difficult for you.6.43 to 9.04pm can be a bitsensitive.

TAURUS; You must know the difference betweenenterprising endeavour and gabling so that you willnot walk your way into avoidable trouble. Love canexcite you

GEMINI; There may be domestic challenges but ifyou carry your mate/spouse along early enough therewill be solution. Watch your steps between 6.43 and9.04pm.

CANCER; Even if unnecessary argument upset you,eventually you will have cause to smile probablythrough money. Watch your tongue especially around6.43&9.04pm

LEO; Doing things before planning will only lead toavoidable loss financially. Matters-of-the-heart arefavoured. 6.43 to9.04pm may be sensitive.

What are my lines?Dear JoshuaI am interested in your column; more ink to your pen.

I hate poverty and will like to know how I can be rich ina positive way; here I want to know about my careerline (what are good lines for me) and my finance

Ogunbowale, Jos.

Dear Ogunbowale,Nobody likes poverty. But first rule that must be

observed by would be a rich person is HARD WORKwhile the second is being PRAYERFUL.

You were endowed with powerful brains/mindindispensable to very important positions and luckilyfor you your talents have been polished by soundeducation. As communication related Mercury waspowerfully placed at positive angles to both political/electronic related Uranus and Jupiter the planet of goodluck, communication industry, POLITICS, electronicsand the bridal needs are good areas where you canrightly expect remarkable success. Whatever areas youdecide to go, your aspiration must be towards importantLEADERSHIP POSITIONS. When talking ofelectronics here computer and its’ accessories are themain thing. And because Mars and Neptune conjoinedwith positive aspects from Pluto OIL and food relatedbusinesses are truly good for you.

All said and done it must be known by you that themore positively AMBITIOUS you are the better for you.

Libra that hosted Jupiter-the planet of good luck, isone of the Star signs related to MONEY andCOMFORT. Luckily for you Jupiter conjoined Uranus(the planet of genius) at positive angles to Mercurymeaning that your brilliant ideas will always bring youfinancial success on one hand, on the other hand Jupiterand Uranus are also related to POWERFULLY PLACEDand INFLUENTIAL PERSONALITIES. ThusPOWERFUL MEN and WOMEN will one time or theother aide your FINANCE. But don’t forget that themore positively AMBITIOUS you are the better for yourcause. What you will need to guard against here aredeceit and emotion.

Can You See YourTomorrow?I guess you are won

dering whether to-morrow is a physicalthing that you cansee. You see, what weare simply askingyou is: what is yourvision for your future.If you don’t have avision for tomorrow,honestly, I will say, it

is a tragedy.Everyone that must

be somebody shouldhave an idea of howhis future will looklike. And in order torealise his vision, it

should have a realis-tic feature. For exam-ple, if you want to bean Engineer, youmust be seen to beengaged in thingsthat could lead you to

to be an engineer –do the necessary ex-amination etc.

Be an active partic-ipant in the businessof life. Have a clearpicture in your heartof what you wantfrom life. Remember,there can’t be a placefor you in the futurethat you can’t picture.


2015: GroupurgesJonathan todeclareintention

2015: Ijawgroup asksManager tocontestDelta guberpoll

....As NYSCDG cautionscorpsmembersahead ofpolls

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME

Confab: Rivers delegates told todemand for new constitution

Immigration tragedy: Rep decries deathof job seekers

BY DANIEL GUMM

PORT HARCOURT—RIV-ERS State delegates to

the national confab have beentold to demand for a fresh con-stitution that will guarantee fis-cal federalism.

Speakers at a mini-conferenceorganised by Rivers Main-stream Coalition, weekend inPort Harcourt, said the confabshould not aim at constitution-al amendment, adding that itshould rather give Nigerians afresh constitution that will ad-dress defects in the country’sfederalism.

Former OMPADAC chair-man, Chief Albert Horsefall,who spoke at the event, urgeddelegates from the state to pur-sue issues that would promotea healthy federal system.

A communique at the end ofthe conference also called ondelegates from the state to en-sure that obnoxious laws suchas the Land Use Act, Petrole-um Act, Oil Pipeline Act,among others, were abrogated.

Meantime, the people ofEtche, an oil-rich area in Riv-ers State, have described thefailure of the Federal Govern-ment to appoint one of themas delegate to the confab asanother act of marginalisation.

Dr. Acho Nwokogba, whospoke under the aegis ofEtche Heritage Foundation,said it was shocking thatEtche, the third highest pro-ducer of oil and gas in thecountry, does not have a del-egate in the conference.

The group said the nation-al conference should havebeen composed of the vari-ous ethnic groups since itsessence was to chart the wayforward for the country.

The group further called forlegislation to back power ro-tation at various levels ofgovernment in the country,stressing that it will reducetension in the polity.

WARRI—THE death ofseveral job seekers at

the recruitment exercise organ-ised, weekend, by the NigeriaImmigration Service, has beendescribed by a House of Rep-resentatives member, Mr. Dan-iel Reyenieju, as a nationaltragedy which must be thor-oughly investigated with aview to preventing a recur-rence.

Reyenieju, who spoke at theNnamdi Azikiwe InternationalAirport, Abuja, said: “ThoughI am not in possession of thefull report as it affects the dif-ferent centres where the apti-tude tests were scheduled tohold, one fact that is clear from

the reports I have gathered sofar is that some of our youngwomen and men lost their livesin the process of seeking forjobs. This clearly epitomisedthe degree of the problems con-fronting this country, particu-larly in the area of unemploy-ment. The incident must bethoroughly investigated to pre-vent a re-occurrence.”

Reyenieju, who is Chairmanof the House of Representa-tives Committee of Inter-Par-liamentary Union, decried theincident and called on govern-ment agencies to put in placethe necessary mechanisms forinter-agency collaboration andsharing of expertise.

He said: “If the ImmigrationService must conduct aptitudetests in which tens of thou-

sands are being expected,what it should have donewas to approach any of suchagencies like WAEC, JAMB,among others given theirexpertise and experience,and such tragedies wouldhave been avoided.”

The lawmaker was on hisway to Geneva to join morethan 715 parliamentariansfrom 141 countries for theInter-Parliamentary Union,IPU, at its 130th Assemblyholding in Geneva, Switzer-land, from March 16-20,2014. The global parliamen-tarians will commit to effortsto make the world free fromnuclear weapons and elect anew Secretary-General of theIPU.

A non-governmentalorganisation, Tell

Nigeria Initiative, TNI,has appealed to Presi-dent Good-luck Jonath-an to declare his inten-tion to contest nextyear’s presidential elec-tion, noting that the is-sue of security requiredconcerted efforts from allcitizens of Nigeria, whoshould see it as every-body’s business, ratherthan the sole duty of gov-ernment.

TNI, in a statement byits Director-General, MrGodwin Okaka, alsourged Nigerians to sup-port the proactive gov-ernment of PresidentJonathan, who it said,represents a paradigmshift in the country’s de-mocracy.

It said: “The Boko Har-am insurgency in theNorth-East, is not intrin-sic or developmental, asit is not a fall out of badgovernance by PresidentJonathan. Security in thesociety is everybody’sbusiness and not that ofthe government alone,and so, requires the con-tribution of every citi-zen.”

The group expressedsatisfaction with some ofthe remarkable achieve-ments of PresidentJonathan’s administra-tion, which it describedas a welcome develop-ment, saying: “The pres-ident being a responsi-ble number one citizen ofNigeria, decided to setup a national conferenceto ensure the unity andstability of the nation.

“It is a welcome devel-opment, as the confer-ence will create a forumfor Nigerians to dia-logue, ventilate theirgrievances, and proferworkable solutions forthe country. Again,Jonathan, as a responsi-ble leader, accented tothe bill passed by theNational Assembly onAnti-Gay Marriage,which is condemned instrong terms by bothChristians and Muslims.

“For the first time inNigeria, the Presidenthas made provisions fordry farming and N14 bil-lion earmarked, so as toensure that oil is not theonly source of the coun-try's revenue. With thisdevelopment, more in-vestors are trooping intoNigeria to grab the larg-est market in Africa."

VISIT: Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State (right) and Air Vice Marshall B. A.Ajawo, Tactical Air Command, Markurdi, during a courtesy visit at the Governor's Office,Uyo.

BY FESTUS AHON

U G H E L L I — Agroup, Move-

ment for the Socio-Politi-cal and Economic Devel-opment of the Ijaw Nation,MSPEDIN, has called onthe member representingDelta South in the Senate,Senator James Manager,to contest the governor-ship seat in Delta Statecome 2015.

They argued that sincethe creation of the state in1991, no person of Ijawextraction has occupiedthe number one seat de-spite its huge contribu-tions to the economy of thestate and country in termsof crude oil and gas pro-duction.

MSPEDIN, in its state-ment by its Chairman,Mr. Isaac-Boro Benin andothers, described SenatorManager as a performer,visionary and a charismat-ic leader that will bringthe needed developmentto the state, calling on theIjaw nation, Deltans andPresident GoodluckJonathan to throw theirsupport behind him.

BY SAMUELOYADONGHA

Y ENAGOA—THEDirector-General of

National Youth ServiceCorps, NYSC, Brig-Gen.Johnson Olawumi, haswarned corps memberswho will serve as prospec-tive electoral officials in the2015 general elections, toresist any form of induce-ment from politicians.

The DG gave the warn-ing, yesterday, while ad-dressing 2014 Batch A corpsmembers deployed toBayelsa State, during anunscheduled visit to theNYSC temporary orienta-tion camp in Kaiama, Kolo-kuma/Opokuma Local Gov-ernment Area of the state.

Olawumi, who remindedthe corps members of theirrole in ensuring a free, fairand credible election in2015, noted that they mustalways be seen as unbiasedumpires.


Continues on page 49

,

,

WHAT is your reaction tothe decision by opponents

of the National Conference tostop it in court?

This is a democratic society,every citizen is free to go to thelaw court if he or she feels thathis or her rights are beingthreatened. The other way oflooking at it is that everybodyought to know that the Nigerianfederation is not at ease and thatall is not well with our federation.

Therefore something must bedone so that all of us can feelhappier in this country.

A dialogue or a conference todiscuss issues is a well knownway out of that kind of dilemmaand therefore, I expect every wellmeaning Nigerian to welcomethe opportunity to discuss theseissues with a view to resolvingthem and ensuring thatNigerians are happier people,more satisfied and morecontented.

Ethnicnationalities

Therefore, if you take thatsecond view, you will thenwonder why should anybody goto court to stop Nigeria frombecoming a better country. So,those are the two ways of lookingat it but I believe the judiciarywill handle the matter and Ibelieve the conference will goon.

There are various estimates ofthe ethnic nationalities we havein Nigeria but the most generallyaccepted is about 400 distinct

We've been running Nigeria likea big prison — Olu Falae•Says conference will determine our collective future

CHIEF Samuel Olu Falae is a former Secretary tothe Federal Government and also the jointpresidential candidate of the All People’s Party, APPand the Alliance for Democracy, AD in 1999.In this exclusive interview with Vanguard, Falae

BY DAPO AKINREFON

•Falae: The total size for the conference is too small

government in Nigeria whereyou have more than three ethnicnationalities. If you think that isa reasonable hypothesis, then,you can say that a nationalconference of three delegatesmultiplied by 774, which willenable everybody to beaccommodated. The question isthat, is it too large for a populationof 160 million people?’ It meansthat one delegate will represent

a method of ensuring everybodyis there and there is a reason whyeverybody should be therebecause the decisions to be takenare so fundamental that nobodyshould be excluded.

So, if you are going to have aconference that will make a newconstitution, every ethnic groupmust be there. Therefore, myposition is that every ethnicnationality should be at theconference because it is ourcollective future that is going tobe determined.

Why should some people bethere while others are notthere?

The government did notaccept my approach of an allinclusive ethnic nationalitiesconference. A grudgingrecognition was made to theethnic nationalities by conceding15 delegates to them per zone.

That is 90 delegates out of 490

to the owners of Nigeria, that ishopelessly inadequate and thatis why some ethnic groups arenow left out because they don’thave enough slots for them.

That is the truth if the matter.The number is a recipe for badblood, for quarrel and for anger.

But some have argued that thenumber of Federal governmentnominees for the conference istoo much. Do you think so?

No, my position is that the totalsize for the conference is toosmall. That is where the problemscomes from. That is why Iproposed a conference of 2262 toaccommodate the ethnic groups.Everybody must have a chanceto speak out. You see, we havebeen running Nigeria as a bigprison and as long as thatcontinues, so many will want tomove out of the prison.

Do you think Nigeria’s unityis negotiable?

Nobody in his right mind willgo to a meeting and say let’sdiscuss the unity of Nigeria. Abreak up is something that canhappen if there is no agreementor meeting of minds. It is not atopic to be discussed, it is anevent that can occur if people arerigid and unreasonable.

Nobody will go and debate itbut it can happen if people areunreasonable. What I am sayingis that without debate, it canhappen.

Another concern that has beenraised is that the composition ofdelegates should have beenmore of the youngergeneration. What is your viewon it?

My view is that the conferenceshould reflect the reality of theNigerian society. When you wantto go to a place like that, you willwant to send the people whohave the best education, the bestexperience, the best exposure,contact and outreach so that yourinterest can be maximallycanvassed.

Preponderance ofmore mature people

That is why you have themajority being older people. Thatis what has happened,everybody wants to send his firsteleven and how do you knowyour best eleven, people whohave played for you in a longtime and who have not failed.People who are known to haveintegrity over time.

They want to send testedpeople who can canvass theircourse and win for them. That iswhat has informed thepreponderance of more maturedpeople in the conference. That ismy own rationalization.

But the Afenifere RenewalGroup has come up to say thatdelegates’ list for the south westdoes not represent their first 11?

Well, everybody has his ownopinion. But what are the criteriafor deciding? It is a matter ofopinion but all I can say is thatthe list I see and not just the

My position is that every ethnicnationality should be at the conferencebecause it is our collective future that isgoing to be determined

expresses his concern about the national conferenceand at the same time, faults the number of delegatesgoing for the dialogue saying it is too small. He alsobares his mind on the resuscitation of the SocialDemocratic Party among sundry issues. Excerpts:

ethnic nationalities that speakdifferent languages in thecountry.

There are 774 local governmentareas in the country and myhypothesis is that it is mostunlikely that you can have a local

almost 100,000 people whichmeans that the answer is no. Dowe have a hall that can take us,the answer is yes.

The International ConferenceCentre in Abuja is designed tosit 3000 people and so, we have



Conference 'll determine our collective future — Falae

Yoruba list, contains a goodnumber of people who arecredible, who have beensuccessful in their chosencareers, who are regarded ashonest and credible people.

That is what is at stake. Wecannot say the list is the bestthat we can produce.

As an elder statesman, whatare your concerns for theconfab?

I have concern for everything.Nigeria should not be where itis today. We have beenindependent for more than 50years. If we had solved theproblem of infrastructure, todaywe would have first class roadslinking Nigeria.

We should have establishedpower generation, oureducational system should beimproving and notdegenerating but that is a verysad thing because in our time,

•Falae: Nigeria should notbe where it is today

graduates from Nigeria were inhigh demand in schoolsoverseas.

The best universities in theworld were fighting forNigerian graduates at that timebut today, you have a first classfrom Nigeria who goes abroadbut they will ask him to go andtake their own exams to showthat you deserve to be agraduate.

That tells you a story aboutthe huge decline in the qualityof education because educationdetermines the future. Oureducation has declined.

We are not where we aresupposed to be and that is whyI am very concerned. How dowe turn this thing round? Howdo we begin to raise thestandard of education? We haveno plan and that is one of thegreatest tragedies that ishappening now.

The activities of Boko Haramgives one concern andsomeone suggested that BokoHaram members should bepart of the conference...

(Cuts in) Boko Haram has nowproved to everybody what Ialways knew it was. It was nota group of religious people, whocould be talked to. I have alwaysthought that they were a groupof evil people, devil incarnatewho are in the world tomaximize murder and mayhem.

Murder andmayhem

They now go to murderchildren in their beds inschools and throw bombs intodormitories, behead and shootthem. These are evil people.The government has nowrecognised that the only wayyou can deal with them isthrough force.They have nowrealized that it is now war.

What informed your decisionto resuscitate the SocialDemocratic Party, SDP?

It is very obvious. Where arethe parties in Nigeria that I can

join? What are the ideologiesof these parties? You are in PDPtoday, tomorrow, you are in theAPC, there is no ideology.Ideology is what captures whatyou will, do for the people.

Ask some of the so called bigpoliticians running aroundwhether they have ever seenthe manifesto of their party? Theydon’t even know whether oneexists. So, when this nonsenseis going on serious mindedpeople must go for that which isprincipled and that is why wewent and resuscitated the SDP.

We remembered what it didwithin its short span oflife.These parties are notinterested in the individualNigerian.

Graduates have no jobs, thereis no water, there is no light,there is nothing. We are goingaround in a circle. We cannotrely on any of those parties todo the job because they havefailed woefully.

THE Deputy MajorityWhip, Peter Onwusanua is

to emerge Speaker of the DeltaState House of Assembly todayfollowing the formal resignationof Victor Ochei as presidingofficer of the House.

Ochei had occupied the officesince the inauguration of theHouse in 2011 and hisresignation has been generallytraced to intrigues and politickingaround the 2015 gubernatorialcontest in the state.

Ochei’s resignation with effectfrom today, Vanguard learnt,followed the realization by someof his opponents in the Housethat Governor EmmanuelUduagahan was not backing his2015 gubernatorial aspiration asmany of the members had

Delta 2015: New permutations trail Ochei’s exitTHE resignation of Engr. VictorOchei as Speaker of the Delta StateHouse of Assembly has ominoussigns for aspirants the 2015governorship contest in the state.

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN,POLITICAL EDITOR

they would be stepping on thetoes of the governor. The kind ofapprovals he got and the way hecarried himself drove fear intomany members,” a Housemember confided on the basis ofanonymity.

“The whole state thought thathe was being prepared for 2015

Over time, concernedassociates of the governor weresaid to have increasingly leakedto the Government House theirapprehensions over Ochei withsome asserting that with theinfluence he was already pullingthat he could become a problemfor everyone should he becomegovernor in 2015.

The governor it was learnt wassaid to have recently disownedhis patronage of Ochei’sgubernatorial aspiration, adevelopment which emboldenedhis local enemies within andoutside the House to launch anonslaught against him.

With the tide turning againsthim last weekend and withmajority of the House membersbelieving that the governor hadabandoned him, it was not easyfor Ochei’s enemies to use the

name of the governor to wipe upsentiments against the speaker.

“Me, I would not have signedfor his removal because of thesimple fear that the governor isthe one protecting him, but whenwe got the clear signal we allsigned,” a member of the Houseordinarily close to the formerspeaker told Vanguard.

Meanwhile, Ochei according tosources is to sustain hisgubernatorial ambition in a fieldof increasingly crowded aspirantsthat had been dominated byhimself, Senator Ifeanyi Okowaand lately, the governor’s chiefof staff, Dr. Festus Okubor.

Meanwhile, the contest for thePeoples Democratic Party, PDPgubernatorial ticket is expectedto be jolted in the next few dayswhen a serving commissionerand a major associate of Governor

Uduaghan from the Delta Centralenters the race.

The serving commissionerVanguard learnt is exploiting theopportunity of the absence of astrong candidate from DeltaCentral to press home hisambition to replace Uduaghan in2015.

The expected challenge fromthe commissioner follows thelacuna created by the death lastyear of Senator Pius Ehweridoone of the most formidableaspirants expected to haveshaken the contest from whateverparty.

He is expected to push hisadvantage in the face of thestrong division in Delta Northbetween the three majoraspirants, Okowa, Ochei andOkubor.

•Okubor•Okowa•Ochei

“ H o u s em e m b e r sthought thatthe governorwas carryinghim andpreparinghim for 2015,so manym e m b e r stoyed alongfearing that ifthey dida n y t h i n ga g a i n s tOchei that

generally been led to believe.The realization which dawned

on the members last week alsofollowed allegations that Ocheihad stepped on sensitive toesoutside the legislature in hiscarriage and conduct in the past.

and that is why people starteddrifting to him and you knowmany people with interests in2015 did not want to hurt him orthe governor,” one of the principalarchitects involved in thedevelopment told Vanguard.

,,

Ochei according to sources is to sustain hisgubernatorial ambition in a field ofincreasingly crowded aspirants that had beendominated by himself


CMYK


08102479985 By Bartholomew Madukwe([email protected])PEOPLE SPEAK

On withdrawal of fuel subsidy

Uduaghan signs 2014 budget into lawI neverabandoned myjob — Sackedsenator's aide

3,998 trafficoffendersconvicted in Edo,Delta, Anambralast year — FRSC

Akpabio tasks Akwa Ibom confabdelegates on unity

I was not happy that sub-sidy was removed on the 1stof January 2012 but at themiddle of 2012, I supportedthe removal. All that is nowhistory and I pray Nigeriansshould always look beforeleaping. Removing the sub-sidy is really good for Nige-rian, instead of enriching oilmarketers. Ms. ChimezieEzembu - Student

If removing the oil subsi-dy will stop corruption inthe oil sector, make kero-sene readily available tothe poor masses and helpcreate jobs for our teemingyouths, why the delay? Ifwe survived PHCN hightariff, communication firmshigh billing, we won't die ifsubsidy is removed. Mr.Emmanuel Iyoke- Worker

The problem of fuel sub-sidy removal lies with theapplication or misapplica-tion of its principle. In es-sence, a subsidy is a sup-port, in financial benefits bygovernment to the people.In agriculture when ferti-liser is sold to farmers at re-duced costs, that is subsi-disation. Mr. Jonas Odocha- Businessman

I am in support of totalsubsidy removal. It is onlythe importers and market-ers who present over-inflat-ed import and landing costreceipt to the governmentfor re-imbursement benefit-ting from it. The poor mass-es are not enjoying it in anyway, so let it be removed.Mr. Abraham Alexander -Video coverageman

Why should the focus beplaced on oil subsidy re-moval or retaining, insteadof a spirited, effective andconscientious action to stemthe tide of the massive cor-ruption and racketeeringgoing on among petroleummarketers, NNPC and sig-nificant politicians? Ms.Mgbemena Mabel- Busi-nesswoman

If Nigerians had allowedthe subsidy to be removedin 2012, by now we wouldhave got used to it and theeconomy would have beenbetter off. Also, the billionspaid to marketers will notbe there again. Why can’twe suffer this thing onceand reap the lifetime bene-fit? Mr. Ademola Tunde-Businessman

BENIN CITY — A total of 3,998 traffic offenders have

been convicted in Zone RS5,Benin City, comprising of Edo,Delta and Anambra states by themobile courts constituted by theFederal Road Safety Corps,FRSC, in conjunction with thejudiciary within the zone in its2013 operational year in the threestates.

Zonal Commanding Officer ofFRSC in the area, Mr NseobongAkpabio, who made thedisclosure in a chat with newsmenin Benin City, Edo State at theend of his three-day working visitsto FRSC formations in Auchi andIgarra Unit Commands (AkokoEdo), said the judiciary in Edo,Delta and Anambra statescharged 4,263 traffic offenders lastyear to mobile courts along thestrategic corridors of Benin –Ore highway; Benin – Asabaand Benin – Warri among otherroutes where the corps carriedout mobile court exerciseincluding Asaba- Onitsha,Onitsha- Owerri, Awka- Enuguand Asaba – Benin highways.

ASABA—DELTA State governor, Dr. Emmanuel

Uduaghan, yesterday, signedthestate 2014 budget into law,assuring Deltans that hisAN aide to Senator

Domingo Obende,representing Edo North inthe National Assembly, Mr.Dominic Ifidon, allegedlysacked for working foranother senatorial aspirant,Professor Julius Ihonvbere,has denied abandoning hisjob.

Senator Obende said hedid not sack Mr Ifidon, butthat the former aideabandoned his job for oversix weeks.

His words: “I do notunderstand how this will bea story for the newspapers ifat all it happened. The youngman abandoned his job forthe past six weeks and I donot know if this will now betreated with sentiment. I amsure he wants people to besympathetic to his deliberateaction that encourageslaziness and lies all in thename of politics. For me, Iwish him well.”

It was gathered thatSenator Obende sackedIfidon for allegedly spyingfor Professor Ihonvbere.

Speaking on his allegedabandonment of his job,Ifidoh said; “we were theclosest in the senatorialdistrict. I worked for him withall my heart and he knowsthat. I was never disloyal tohim. I did not abandon myjob. Some people told himthat I was working againsthim and that I was workingfor Ihonvbere. I have noteven spoken with Prof sinceDecember. He sent me thetext message on February 4,2014. He did not even botherto verify the truth of theallegation. I was the oldeststaff with him. I worked forwith him for three years."

ABUJA — GOVERNOR Godswill Akpabio of Akwa

Ibom State, has charged AkwaIbom delegates to the nationalconference to be united anddefend the unity of Nigeria as anindivisible entity.

He urged them to showpatriotism in their deliberations atthe conference.

Governor Akpabio gave thecharge in Abuja during a meetingwith delegates from Akwa IbomState on the eve of the conferencein Abuja.

He commended PresidentGoodluck Jonathan for conveningthe national conference, addingthat it would afford Nigerians theopportunity to design a road mapfor the country.

He said “as a state, we haveconfidence in your ability to

represent Akwa Ibom well andmake us proud. I urge you toremain united and speak with onevoice on issues that affect us as astate.

“I commend PresidentJonathan for his foresight inconvening this conference at thispoint of our national life and I amconfident that Nigeria willemerge from this conferencemore united as I expect that everyissue that has confronted us as anation would be discussed franklyand resolved amicably,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of thedelegates, former militaryadministrator of the state,Atuekong Idongesit Nkangathanked the governor and thePresident for their nomination asdelegates to the conference. Hepledged the delegates’ resolve tobe good ambassadors of AkwaIbom State at the conference.

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

BY VICTOR AHIU-MA-YOUNG

BY EMEKA MAMAH

administration was poised tofinish strong, hence more moneywould be spent on capital projectswith a view to completingongoing projects.

He signed the budget of N451billion, comprising N161.74

billion or 36 percent of the totalbudget for recurrent expenditurewhile N289.2 billion or 64percent for capital expenditure.

Initially, the governor hadpresented N391.51 billion budgetproposal for the 2014 fiscal yearbudget of ‘Consolidation,Sustainable Economic GrowthAnd Development,’ comprising ofN159.78 billion or 48.8 per centfor recurrent expenditure andN231.72 billion or 59.1 per centfor capital expenditure to the statelawmakers.

But in passing the budget, thelawmakers increased it withN59 billion. Uduaghan, whilesigning the budget into law,explained that “capitalexpenditure was higher thanrecurrent in this year’s budgetas the state government in thelast few years had tried tocontrol recurrent expenditure,so as to free up more funds forcapital projects so we arespending more on capitalprojects as this is what thepeople benefit from directly.”

Also signed into law, yesterdaywere three other bills passed bythe state House of Assembly,namely, the Delta State LocalGovernment Bill 2013; Delta StateSecurity Fund Bill, 2013 and theRenumerations, Salaries,Gratuities and Allowances ofother Public Officers Bill, 2013.

Embattled Speaker of the StateAssembly, Mr. Victor Ocheipresented the four bills to thegovernor for assent.

Power failure looms in S-South astanker destroys transmission cables

...It will be fixed in 6 months — MinisterBY SIMON EBEGBULEM

BENIN CITY—POWER failure is looming in the

South South, following thedestruction of some transmissioncables and towers estimated atover N1 billion in the Warri areaof Delta State.

The transmission lines, whichincludes 12 towers were damagedduring an accident involving a 33,000 litre tanker, which caught firein the area, damaging thetransmission cables and towersseriously.

According to the Minister ofPower, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, it willpose a threat to the resolve of theFederal Government to providesteady power supply forNigerians, if the problem was notfixed soonest.

The minister, weekend duringan on-the-spot assessment of thedamaged cables, appealed toNigerians to help protect powerfacilities rather than destroy themand lamented the destruction ofother power facilities in Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State.

He noted that the funding of analternative transmission line bythe Federal Government made itpossible to evacuate the 350megawatts of power beinggenerated from the Delta axis ofthe country.

According to him, “This is thepoint, Tower Number 8, there wasan accident where a 33,000 litretanker with fuel fell and explodedand the fuel in it caught fire andbecause of the intensity of the

heat, the conductors caught fireand were affected. All the towersare under tension and once theheat reached its limit, it will snapand because it snapped, itaffected 12 of them, though twoothers were affected but theydidn’t fall. The ones that fell wehave started repairing.

“It is not something that can bedone overnight, but we are goingto make sure that something isdone soonest. It will take aboutsix months, but we can hastenit if we put more men to it.


CMYK


60% out-patients seek malariatreatment

BY MONSUR OLOW-OOPEJO

LAGOS — LAGOS Stategovernment, yesterday, said

60 per cent of out-patients thatvisit the state health facilities,seek treatment for malaria.

Commissioner for Health, Dr.Jide Idris, made this known inIkeja to herald the commence-ment of the 2014 Indoor Re-sidual Spraying, IRS, whichbegan yesterday and will endon April 23, 2014.

Out-patients are patients thatare not admitted in the hospi-tal, who only visit for treatment.

Idris said: “Malaria remains

endemic, and one of the leadingcauses of morbidity and mortal-ity in the state.”

He noted that this was the rea-son the state government com-menced the distribution of insec-ticide nets and IRS, as majormeans to reduce and eliminatemalaria transmission in the statebefore 2015, especially in a tar-geted area.

The commissioner explainedthat IRS is the application ofchemical insecticide on walls androofs of all houses and domesticanimal shelter in a given area.

Idris, however, urged residentsto cooperate with the officialswhenever they visit their housesto apply the insecticide.

Disengaged PHCN workers protestnon-payment of entitlements

BURIAL: From left, former Minister of Establishment, Chief Innocent Nwoga; Deputy Speak-er, House of Representatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha; Chairman, FWE Construction Com-pany Limited, Mr. Henry Ojinere; Chairman, House Committee on FERMA, Hon. OforChukwuegbo, and Deputy Chairman, House Committee on FCT, Hon. Raphael Igbokwe, atthe final burial of late Pa Athanasius Ojinere Odom, at Ahiazu, Mbaise, Imo State, weekend.

BY CHINYERE ABIAZIEM

LAGOS — ONE hundred andthirteen disengaged staff of

Ikeja Distribution Company,IKEDC, formerly under PowerHolding Company Nigeria,PHCN, yesterday, protested non-payment of their entitlements,pleading with President GoodluckJonathan to come to their aid inensuring they were paid.

The disengaged staff, who tooktheir protest to the Ikeja headquar-ter office of the company, said they

would not relent in their pro-test until their entitlementswere paid.

But Public Relations Officerof IKEDC, Pekun Adeyanju,said in a quick reaction that theaggrieved protesters were re-lieved of their duties becauseof the change in the firm’s se-curity outfit, adding that someof them were not entitled toany severance benefit.

He also said the contract staffwere only entitled to a monthsalary.

Spokesman of the protesters,Bolanle Otunuga, said: “Themain reason for our protest is tolet the public know that we theregularised security staff offormer PHCN, who were disen-gaged two weeks ago byIKEDC, are yet to paid all ourentitlements, including our sev-eral pay; two years leave bonus,two years bulk rent.

“Some of us have been in ser-vice close to 30 years, but weredisengaged as mere commis-sionaires, it was the same man

that signed our regular letter, thatis now referring to us as commis-sionaires.

”Our problem dated back to2011 when the corporate head-quarters in Abuja, headed by Al-haji H.S. Labo, issued a secularsigned by Apuye, the executivedirector on April 8. In that secu-lar, Ikeja management of PHCNwas instructed to regularise cor-porate guards that meet the re-quirement outlined.

”The Ikeja human resourcemanager waited two years for rea-sons best known to him before ef-fecting the instruction on the 8thof April 2013 and backdated it toFebruary 24, 2012.

“After doing this he wrote to thecorporate headquarters in Abujarequesting for our staff numberswhich are necessary for us to getour entitlements.

”But Alhaji Labo refused issu-ing our numbers referring to usas newly recruited staff of PHCN,whereas we had been in the sys-tem for a very long time.

“Because of the refusal of Labo,we petitioned the National As-sembly, which was published lastDecember, but up till now, noth-ing has been heard, whether itwas received or not and no ac-tion was taken relating to the pe-tition.

“After the selling off of PHCN,we went to the Bureau of PublicEnterprise, BPE, they said theycould not help us, that we did nothave staff numbers, that weshould go and meet Abikoye, whois the source of our problem, thathe failed to do the regularisationwhen other zones were doingtheirs and he also did not makeus go through the biometrics donefor all PHCN staff through- outNigeria. They said they advisedIkeja management to pay us ascommissionaires.

“We are bread winners of ourvarious families, we are sufferingand dying, we are appealing tothe president to intervene.

FG identifies threats to National Parks…says parks now upgraded to para-military status

BY FUNMI OLASUPO

ABUJA — THE Federal Gov-ernment has identified

parks’ degradation and poachingof wildlife as some of the threats tothe development of National Parksand sustainability of wildlife in Ni-geria.

Minister of Environment, Mrs.Laurentia Mallam, made the ob-servation at the inaugural meetingwith MESSRS T. Y. Holdings Ltdand the Nigerian ConservationFoundation on private sector par-ticipation in the management ofnational parks in Nigeria, in Abu-ja.

The Minister also revealed thatthe National Park had been up-

graded to full status of a para-military organisation, explain-ing that with the new status, theNational Park Service would beable to curtail incidents ofpoaching and sporadic attackson park personnel.

Speaking on challenges fac-ing the parks, the Minister list-ed degradation of parks,poaching of wildlife as some ofthe factors leading to threats ofextinction of some of the wild-life species in the country.

According to her, while theseaffect various wildlife species,attacks on parks protection of-ficers, habitat destructions andinfrastructure decay are alsosome of the daunting challeng-

es facing the nation’s parks.She noted that the Ministry

had stepped up efforts to ad-dress some of the challenges,as she called for government’scollaboration with the privatesector to overcome the ‘teethingchallenges.’

Mrs. Laurentia appealed tostakeholders at all levels to com-mit themselves to the protectionand conservation of the environ-ment and its natural resourcesfor sustainable development.

Land allottees decry loss of N81m to Obi’s govtBY ENYIM ENYIM

ONITSHA — ABOUT 500land allottees in Anambra

State yesterday protested therefusal of Governor Peter Obi’sgovernment to approve beforeleaving office, the land allocat-ed to them at the cost of N81million by the Commissioner forLands, Survey and Urban De-velopment, Mr. Okoli Airika.

Addressing reporters in Awka,a spokesman for the group,Chief Cyril Nweke, who de-scribed the land allocation as a

rip-off, said it was expected thatObi’s government should not havecollected money from applicantswhen it knew it would not approveit before the end of its tenure.

”Anambra State government un-der Mr. Peter Obi, in August lastyear, advertised for applications forland allocation at the Hill Top, nearNNPC, Awawbia, and the BusinessDistrict, all in Awka and over 500applicants met the criteria andwere approved for land allocationby the Commissioner for Lands,Survey and Urban Development,Mr. Okoli Akirika,” he said.

He said the applicants wereasked to pay N2,000 for struc-tural plan, three years tax andN10,000 to APLUC,a state gov-ernment agent, adding thateach of the applicants paidN150,000 as tax.

He said: “ We have complet-ed all the processes required forthe land allocation and the in-dividual files of applicants asapproved by the commissionerwas pushed to Governor Obi,but he refused to sign the allo-cation files till this day of his exitfrom Government House.”

Okorochaorders streettraders torelocate toRelief Market,Owerri

Mushin LGpartnersOhanaeze onpeace inmarkets

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

OWERRI — GOVER-NOR Rochas Okoro-

cha of Imo State has or-dered street traders alongDouglas Road and otherstreets within Owerri mu-nicipality to relocate imme-diately to Relief Market,Owerri.

Okorocha, who gave thedirective when he made anunscheduled visit to ReliefMarket, also said the opensheds in the market wereready and would be openfor the petty traders to oc-cupy.

“The sheds would be pro-vided for the traders at nocost. Application formswould soon be made avail-able to the street traders,”Okorocha said.

CHAIRMAN OFMushin Local Gov-

ernment, Olatunde Baba-tunde Adepitan, has ex-pressed readiness to workwith Ohanaeze Ndigbo tomaintain and sustain peacein the Ladipo Auto spareparts market.

He spoke when the pres-ident of Ohanaeze Ndigboin Lagos State, Chief Fabi-an Onwughalu paid him acourtesy visit.

“I am happy and delight-ed to see that a body thatcan bring about peaceful co-existence between govern-ment and the traders hasbeen established.

“The perennial problemsand misunderstandingsbetween Mushin LocalGovernment and sometraders within the marketcan now be better handled."

CMYK


Chairnam, Amuwo Odofin Local Government, Mr.Ayodele Adewale (middle), Secretary, All ProgressivesCongress, APC, Lagos State, Primate Charles Odugbesi(left), and Hon. Femi Afikuyomi, during the tour ofon-going road projects in Festac Town, Amuwo OdofinLocal Government, Lagos.

AWARD: From left: National President, Associationof Akwa-Cross Indigenes, Nigeria, Mr. UnyimeSamson, awardee, President, International BibleAcademy, IBA, Dr. Murphy Akrasi, and Treasurer, AkwaIbom State Community, AKISCOM, Lagos, ElderNsebot Williams, awardee, during the induction,graduation and awards ceremony of the IBA, in Lagos.

AWARD: From left: Sales Director, Nigerian Breweries, Hubert Eze, Nigerian BreweriesManaging Director's wife, Clementine Vervelde, Managing Director, Nigerian Breweries,Nicolaas Vervelde, National Champion of the Distributors Award, Joy Igwe; her husband,Sir Gabriel Igwe of Ifeoma Chukwuka Nigerian Ltd, and Nollywood icon, PatienceOzokwor, during Nigerian Breweries distributors award, in Lagos. Photo: LamidiBamidele.

From left: Mr. Paul Mba, Product Marketing Manager,Home Entertainment Division, LG Electronics Nig., MissCaroline Edoh, LG Elrctronics West Africa Operationsand Mr. Adeniyi Adewunmi, LG Elrctronics West AfricaOperations, during the launching of the new LG xboomPro Hi-Fi System in Lagos. Photo: Diran Oshe.

BOAT CRUISE: From left: Group Managing Director/CEO, ArcoPetrochemical Engineering Co. Plc, Mr. Alfred Okoigun, his wife, Julie andNollywood actor, Desmond Elliot, during a cruise on Arco Fast Crew Boat 4to celebrate its arrival in Lagos.

From left: Justin Korte, GM, GSK Consumer Nig Plc., ChiefOlusegun Osunkeye, Chairman, Chidi Okoro, Outgoing MD, hiswife, Nneka Okoro, Lekan Asuni, MD, GSK Pharmaceuticals,Osaretin Jaiyeola, Regulatory Affairs Director, Africa, at the sendforth for Chidi Okoro in Lagos.

From left: Delta State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Misan Ukubenje, PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, Ward 9 Chairman,Warri North LGA,Mr. Morrison Omagbemi,Special Assist to Governor Uduaghan, Mr. Egert Omoneukanrin,and Special ProjectDirector, Mr Francis Maku-Eyituoyor, during the rally in Abigborodo community todrum support for Governor Uduaghan's senate ambition in 2015 election.

PRESENTATION: From left: Project co-ordinator, SMP 47 Class, LagosBusiness Schools, Pan Atlantic University, Mr. Thomas Eze, President, Mr.Ubong King, Home co-ordinator, Ozanam House, Sister Stella Mbanu, andmember, SMP 47 Class, Ms. Irunna Ejibe, at the cheque presentation toDaughters of Charity, Ozanam House in Lagos.

Regional Director, South-East/South-South, First City Monument Bank,FCMB, Ltd, Mr. Okey Ezeala (left), Deputy Managing Director, FCMB, Mr.Segun Odusanya (third left), Principal, Community Secondary School, AkaOffot, Uyo, Mr. Jehu J. Obobikpe (3rd right), and some students of the school,during the Financial Literacy programme organised by FCMB in Uyo, AkwaIbom State.

CMYK


B'Haram kills two, sets churches,houses ablaze in fresh Borno attack

The Vice President, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and General Secretary, National Un-ion of Textile Garment & Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, NUTGTWN, Comrade Issa Aremu(middle) with the Deputy General Secretary, Comrade Sylvester Chimeze and Comrade EmekaNkoala at the protest rally on the Nigeria Immigration Service recruitment stampede, inKaduna, yesterday. Photo: Olu Ajayi.

BY NDAHI MARAMA

MAIDUGURI — SUSPECTED members of Boko

Haram sect, yesterday, invadedPela Birni village in Hawul LocalGovernment Area of Borno State,killing two residents before settingablaze two churches and manyresidential houses.

Pela Birni is one of the thicklypopulated and remote villagesunder Kwajafa District in southernBorno with Christians as majority,and about few kilometres fromGarkida town in Adamawa State.

Eye witnesses said the gunmenarrived the village at about 10p.m., Sunday, with sophisticatedweapons and opened fire on theirtargets as hundreds of residentsfled to the mountainous areas ofKwajafa District and its environs.

Mallam Musa Anjili Birni, whospoke in a telephone interviewwith Vanguard said, he narrowlyescaped being killed by the attack-ers as the house he was sleepingin was also set ablaze.

He said: ”The gunmen invadedour village at about 10 pm on Sun-day and started shouting 'God isgreat'. In some houses, they didnot shoot at the residents but or-dered them to vacate their housesbefore setting them ablaze, sayingwe are here for God’s work.”

Another resident who spoke on

condition of anonymity saidmost of the neighbouring housesnear the Church of Brethren(EYN, in Hausa) were set ablazeincluding the church, while twopeople lost their lives with sev-eral others sustaining injuries.

He said the gunmen who werelarge in number carrying AK-47rifles, petrol bombs and Impro-vised Explosive Devices, IEDs,had a field day wrecking havocon the poor civilians.

The Chairman of Hawul LocalGovernment Area, Dr. AndrewMalgwi, confirmed the incident,lamenting that the rate at whichsuspected insurgents were hold-

ing people to ransom in BornoState had become worrisome.

He said: ”Yes, there was anattack in one of the villages (PelaBirni) yesterday (Sundayevening) which led to wantonkillings and destruction of prop-erty. We have communicated thematter to the relevant securityagencies who have swung intoaction with a view to apprehend-ing the perpetrators.

"We have also mobilised ourpeople to ascertain the level ofdestruction to how we could as-sist the displaced persons as aninterim measure,” he added.

2015: Aliyu asks aides nursingpolitical ambition to quit

BY WOLE MOSADOMI

MINNA — GOVERNORBabangida Aliyu of Niger

State has asked his commission-ers and other public officer hold-ers nursing political ambitions in2015 to resign their positions byApril or face being sacked fromgovernment.

Sources said that Aliyu gavethe directive following the openinvolvement of the public officeholders in partisan politics tothe detriment of their official as-signments.

It was learnt that the governorgave the directive during lastweek’s State Executive Council,SEC, meeting at GovernmentHouse.

Vanguard reliably gatheredthat although the governor wasnot against any of his officers oraides aspiring for political officesin the next political dispensa-tion, he was however, totallyagainst those who fail to performtheir primary assignments dueto politics, even when the whis-tle for politicking was yet to be

blown.Among the public officers al-

legedly eyeing political officeswere said to include the stateCommissioner for Works, AlhajiMu'azu Mohammed Bawa; theHead of Service, Alhaji AbbasBello; Chief of Staff, Mr. JoshuaBawa; Secretary to the State Gov-ernment, Alhaji Idris KpakiSaidu, and the Deputy Chief ofStaff, Alhaji Mohammed Saba.

The Deputy Governor, AlhajiAhmed Musa Ibeto, said to beeyeing the governorship seat isnot, however, affected by thedirective as he was constitution-ally protected.

Works Commissioner, Bawa, isreportedly angling for the gov-ernorship slot along with thedeputy governor, Alhaji Ibeto,while others were eyeing theNational Assembly seats fromtheir various districts or constitu-encies.

The ruling People’s Demo-cratic Party, PDP, had zoned thegovernorship seat to Zone Cwhere the deputy governor andthe commissioner hail from.

FUT, Minna expels 5 students overexam malpractice

MINNA —THE authoritiesof the Federal University

of Technology, FUT, Minna, haveexpelled five students of the in-stitution over alleged examina-tion malpractice.

This is contained in a statementsigned by the university’s Reg-istrar, Mrs Victoria Kolo, inMinna, yesterday.

The statement stated that the

action would serve as deterrent toothers nursing similar ideas.

They are: Ishola Kolawole, De-partment of Chemical Engineer-ing; Sani Francis, Agriculture andBio Resources Engineering; WoleAgbaje, Electrical/Computer Engi-neering; Akpan Augustus, Chemi-cal Engineering and MichaelIdahosa, Library and InformationTechnology.

Yeroabandonsint'l confabover Kauraattacks

KADUNA— GOVERNOR Mukhtar Yero of

Kaduna State, yesterday,abandoned a scheduledofficial assignment in theUnited States and returnedto the country followingweekend’s attack on threevillages in Kaura Local Gov-ernment Area of the state.

Suspected Fulani herds-men attacked the commu-nities, killing over 100 peo-ple.

Already, the KadunaState Emergency Manage-ment Agency, SEMA, hascarried out an assessmentof the affected communitiesand victims in a bid to pro-vide relief materials to thedisplaced victims.

Yero was already in theUnited Kingdom en-routethe United States to attenda symposium on peace andsecurity in northern Ni-geria, organised by theUnited States Institute ofPeace, USIP.

According to a statementby the Director General,Media and Publicity,Ahmed Maiyaki, the gov-ernor was billed to addressthe conference on the se-curity challenges in theNorth, with particular ref-erence to Kaduna State, buthad to cancel the trip onreceiving the sad news thatsome hoodlums had at-tacked some villages inKaduna and killing manyinnocent citizens.

Yero departed the coun-try Friday morning but re-turned on Saturday withoutattending the USIP confer-ence.

The USIP symposium wasto be attended by gover-nors in the northern statesnow facing security andeconomic challenges aswell as lawmakers and in-vestors from the US andEurope.

The aim was to seek col-laborative solutions thatwould hasten the securityand economic developmentof the north.

Oko polycrisis:GoverningCouncildenies plansto relocateinstitution

OKO — THE Governing Council of the Fed-

eral Polytechnic Oko,Anambra State, has dis-missed claims of plans torelocate the polytechnic toa neighbouring communityby the Rector, Prof. GodwinOnu.

The Council Chairman,Dr Christian Azubuike, af-ter an emergency meetingin the institution, said theaccusation against the rec-tor of attempting to movethe federal institution to hishome town, Ezira, was un-true and misleading, de-scribing it as a desperateattempt to smear the imageof the school management.

The council also con-demned recent demonstra-tion by Oko People’s Un-ion (OPU) and the womenof the community, who de-manded the immediate re-moval of the rector.

He noted that the reasonsadduced for the protestwere merely speculativeand untrue and urged peo-ple dissatisfied with theactivities in the institutionto seek other legitimatechannels to express theirgrievances.

“Placards suggesting thatthe Rector is responsible forthe ASUP strike, absence ofstudents in the schoolamong others are avoid-able if the persons involvedin the demonstrationsought better informationfrom the school authorities,”the Council maintained.

TambuwalwantsUwechueimmortalised

ABUJA— THE Speakerof the House of Rep-

resentatives, Alhaji AminuTambuwal, has called on thefederal and Delta StateGovernments to immortal-ise the late RalphUwechue, former Presi-dent-General of OhanaezeNdigbo.

He said they could dothis by instituting mecha-nisms for the study of hislife and works.

The Speaker’s call is con-tained in a statement is-sued by his Special Adviseron Media and Public Af-fairs, Malam Imam Imam,in Abuja, Sunday.

CMYK


CMYK


INAUGURATION OF THE 2014 NATIONAL CONFAB

From 8th left, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, Speaker, House of Representatives; Justice Mariam Mukhtar, Chief Justice of the Federation; Arch. Namadi Sambo,Vice President; President Goodluck Jonathan; Justice LeboKutigi, Conference Chairman; Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, Vice Chairman, and others, outsidethe Justice Aloma Mukhtar Banquet Hall, after the inauguration of the 2014 National Conference of the people of Nigeria, at the National Judicial Institute,Airport Road, Abuja , yesterday. Photos: Abayomi Adeshida, Gbemiga Olamikan (State House)

From left, Sen. Jack Tilley-Gyado, Peter Odili, former gov-ernor of Rivers State; Chief Olusegun Osoba, former gov-ernor of Ogun State, and Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan ofDelta State.

A cross-section of delegatesAmanyanabo of Brass, Chief Diette Spiff (left), and Lamido of Adamawa, Dr.Muhhamadu Barkindo Mustapha.

Former Industries MInister, Chief Onikepo Akande (r) and other delegates Cross-section of traditional rulers

From left, Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar; Speaker, House ofRepresentatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal; Vice President Namadi Sambo, President GoodluckJonathan, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, Chairman of the Conference, Hon.Justice Idris Lebo Kutigi; Deputy Chairman of the Conference Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi , Secre-tary to the Conference Dr. Valerie-Janette Azinge, and SGF, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim.

CMYK


Cross-section of diplomats.

From left, Gov. Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State; Gov. RochasOkorocha of Imo State, and National Chairman of Labour Par-ty, Chief Dan Nwanyanwu

Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar (left), andother officers of the security services.

From left, Taraba State Ag. Governor, Alhaji Umar Garba; Governor Godswill Akpa-bio of Akwa Ibom State; Chairman PDP BOT, Chief Tony Anenih, and former PDPChairman, Alhaji Ahmadu Ali

From left, Chief Nosakhare, Sen. Bello Yusuf, and Sen. Anyim Pius Anyim, SGF

MOSOP Leader, Mr. Ledum Mitee (r) and other delegates.

From left, former Speaker, House of Representa-tives, Alhaji Ghali Na’aba and Alhaji MohammedGambo Jimeta, former Police Inspector-General

From left, Amb. Yusufu Mamman and ChiefMike Ozekhome.

Thisday Publisher, Nduka Obagbena (left), and ChiefRaymond Dokpesi, Chairman, AIT/Raypower.

,


Consumers have right tochallenge unfair tarrif in court

infrastructure. So, there is no waythe same capacity will still carrythe same number of people. Forthe past 20 years or since theadvent of this democracy, you willdiscover that the level of economicactivity in the country hasexpanded, so you can expecthigh level of energy consumptionfrom the populace and there isno commensurate increase onground to carry it. That is why Iam even suggesting to the newinvestors like Eko and Ikeja andthose who bought generationand distribution companies tochange the old infrastructure andput in the latest cutting edgetechnology that will go a longway to save lot of us and evencapture the possibility of publicexpansion in the next ten years.

It is not enough for you to saythat you are targeting 10,000megawatts of electricity withoutconsidering the potentialspopulation expansion and hugeeconomic expansion; all of themneed to go together. Then on theissue of metering, I think we haveto accuse the DISCOs for notdoing enough.

Payment forthe meters

Dr. Sam Amadi of NERC cameup with a wonderful policy calledCAPMI where consumers aremeant to pay for the meters inadvance and unfortunately, Ineed to say that the DISCOs arenot doing what they are meantto do.

They gave us licence tomanufacture and import metersand make it available toNigerians. We equally told them

that we have the capacity to getit done but when you get to theDISCOs, you will discover thatthe process of driving the schemeto the grass root to make sure thatelectricity consumers are meteredis slow. What we need to do isthat since they have variousbusiness units in all the PHCNoffices, they should go and dothe jingles, encourage the peopleto make the payment and we will

have a window to put movethings forward. Why on earth doI produce from Mambila or fromwherever and I take it to the gridand somebody somewhere in thegrid will determine what I get.

Some parts of Nigeria don’t payelectricity bill because they don’thave the money to pay but theyhave light and essentially thosewho are paying in other placesare subsidising it. That is thesystem we have been running inNigeria, but now we have achance to break from it. One ofthe points I am hoping that wemove to is the point where wewill have captive generation andit is expanded to regionalgeneration so that they candevelop their electricityinfrastructure and they willdevelop at their own pace.

Engr. Kola Balogun: The manfrom West Power and Gas hasactually highlighted some of thepoints I wanted to make, but themost important thing that isactually derailing the process isstill information gap. There is notenough informationdissemination from the regulator,NERC. That is why I said earlierthat somebody needs to upholdthe reform, somebody needs toprocess and drive it.

NERC needs to drive it moreand from my own judgment, theyare not doing enough. Let themstand up and drive the processlike what NCC did in telecomssector. They need to educate theentire populace about thebusiness opportunity within thepower sector. For instance, hemade mention of somebodyconstructing a power distributionline in accordance with thedistribution company. I havenever heard it before, so theseare the opportunities that some

On Friday March 14, wepublished the second part ofthe participants' examinationof the privatisation of thepower sector. In thisconcluding part, they arguethat consumers have the rightto challenge unfair tariffs incourt.

LAST year, we used to haveat state capitals, but we

discovered that perhaps we weretalking above people’s head. Itwas then brought down to localgovernment and we picked threelocal governments in each of thegeographical zones. Ogun Statewas picked in south west and Iwas at Ota, Ijebu-Ode, and I wasalso at Abeokuta.

So, it is a gradual processbecause we have started fromstate capital and now we havemoved to local government, butyou also need to know of the factthat what Nigerians need mostis electricity. If you are tellingthem to pay their electricity billand the power supply is notthere, you even stand the risk ofbeing stoned. Let us not deceiveourselves, electric power supplyis not readily available. So youdon’t shout more than necessary,otherwise, you will become anuisance to yourself and thepeople you are talking to.

The reality on ground is thatwe don’t have enough andanytime we have power, 10 otherpeople are being disconnected.The fact of the matter is that weare moving gradually and just asI said earlier, it is good that wehave a broader perspective,alternative and counterperspective of the way we aregoing so that whatever mistake

we have made, we will be ableto correct it and it will be betterfor us to listen to ourselves.

Mr. Charles Ilofulunwa: Youdid mention that some peoplewere given licence to generatepower and since 2005, they havebeen unable to do that. I thinkwe need to view it from this angle,we have been having what iscalled policy inconsistency on thepart of the federal governmentwhereby one government willcome up and initiate a policy thatis mass-driven. At the end of theday, another government willcome and change everythingwithout regards to the cost ofwhat investors have put onground as if that person hassomewhere he brought themoney to ‘dash’ the people ofNigeria.

Licenceto invest

You will discover that mostforeigners who have the moneyare still watching to be sure ofthe direction government isgoing. People who were givenlicences to generate power arealso still watching the bodylanguage of the governmentbecause they can give youlicence to invest, then you willgo and borrow money andmobilise your technical expert tocome into Nigeria and invest.The project may have gone about60 percent and they will come upand say they don’t want to gotoward that direction again.

As at last census, we said therewere 170 million Nigerians. 20years after, we are still using thesame power, the same

,


In the next five years, we should not betalking about prepaid meters, but smartmeters, but the DISCOs are not doingenough and they have refused to sensitisethe people

L-r: Mrs. Nkiru Nnorom, Victor Omoregie, George Etomi, Hugo Odiogor, Michael Faloseyi, Joe Ajaero, Charles Ilofulunwaand Kunle Kalejaiye

make the pre-paid metersavailable to them. We are nottalking about analogue meter, butprepaid meter. Analogue metersshould be phased out. Even thepre-paid meters we are talkingabout now is not what we shouldbe talking about. Smart meter,which is in vogue, has thecapacity to measure the quantityof energy you consume and thetime it was consumed. In the nextfive years, we should not betalking about prepaid meters, butsmart meters, but the DISCOs arenot doing enough and they haverefused to sensitise the people.

George Etomi: It is importantthat we understand where we areall coming from. Afterindependent, everything wasworking, from education toagriculture. In fact, everythingwas working because regionswere competing to catch up withone another. Let’s just put thingsin perspective because we now

new millionaire will be able toinvest in and get some return oninvestment.

My factory as at today has thecapacity to produce 100,000 pre-paid meters in a month. I have astock of pre-paid meters in mywarehouse but I cannot sellbecause the new DISCOs arejust waking up, trying to adjustto the reality on ground. They arenot encouraging CAPMI, theyprobably don’t have sufficientfund now to actually say theywant to buy meters in bulk andstart distributing.

Joe Ajaero: Let me respond tosome of the points that have beenraised here. It was mentionedthat the new investors will invest$250 million for over five years. Iwant to say that I don’t think thatis realistic because I am awarethat they have started operationson debts and I have to say it

again that the new investors started theiroperation on debts because they borrowedfrom banks and that is the major problemwe are having now. Before they took off,they have started paying back, that is tosay that they have started servicing theirloans from the banks.

Moderator : They have increasedelectricity tariff, I have a case of a consumerwho was billed N50,000 for the month ofNovember alone even when she has beenpaying her bills in a duplex in Ago, Okota,in Lagos, which is purely a residentialbuilding.

Joe Ajaero continues: It is not official.NERC has never approved any tariffincrease as we talk now. Now, the newinvestors borrowed money and they areusing borrowed money to run theirbusiness, which means they are alreadyin debt and they must finance the loanand to post profit is another issue. Now,you are saying that $250 million will beinvested in the power sector. At whatreturn on investment are these guys doingbusiness that they will service their loan,make profit and invest this amount.

The situation you are seeing today is thatthe power situation is going down,transformers and other powerinfrastructure are going down. About what

Continues from page 54 development and Nigerians should havefollowed suit by building more powerplants. Some oil companies started tobuild power plants, but corruption camein along the line. Mobil and Agip generateand they sell to PHCN at N11 per kilowatthour, while PHCN sells to customers toN4 per kilowatts hour.

The same thing is applicable to EnronAES in Egbin. They generate about 220megawatt. Whether they generate or not,it was said that they had an internationalagreement that at the end of the month,PHCN must pay them. Even if theygenerate one megawatt, PHCN must paythem for the 220megawatts and PHCNpays them at N11 per kilowatt hour, whileit sells at N6 per kilowatts hour aftertransmitting distributing and all otherservices.

They were there as generatingcompanies with people that are highlyconnected that must force PHCN to buythe power at N11 and take N5 loss. So,that was the way PHCN was operatingwith these companies - Agip, Mobil, AESand so many other companies. It waseasier then because PHCN could get gasfrom the gas companies and say they willpay since PHCN was government agency.

Now, if it is the private man that takesthat gas from the gas company, he must


Hugo OdiogorJoe Ajaero

Michael Faloseyi George Etomi Kola Balogun

Charles Ilofulunwa

development. The Nigeria Electricity Sup-ply Company, NESCO, Jos, and I havemy members there, has been in existencein Nigeria since 1929. They generate anddistribute power in Jos up till today beforethe birth of NERC. In fact, they werecovering about two to three states beforeand they are still there today making theirsmall profit with that customer base. It wason that background that we felt that peoplewho were given licences could equallyfunction even if it is 20megawatts or50megawatts, we will add to what wehave. It is only when they have finishedselling to their customers that they willnow send to the national grid. Then,PHCN will pay them for the power theysupply them.

So, I don’t think this is a new

pay them and still recoup his profit. Thepoint I am trying to make is that there ismuch to be done for you to say that youare investing $250 million. We can bet onthis on this our programme now andmonitor it and see how far they can go ininvesting this amount. They are not re-investing and if they are not re-investing,the little system that we have will be goingdown. So, all this noise that we are makingthat we are targeting 10,000megawatts isnonsense because our networks are notokay. The distribution networks will notcarry it. All the transformers are on over-load. So, until we decide to work and westart somewhere, we will still be speakinggrammar.

the NERCrepresentative saidabout companies thatgenerate anddistribute power, Idon’t think it is a new

, ,If we generate 6,000megawatts in thiscountry, the transmission network willnot carry it

Consumers have right tochallenge unfair tarrif in court


S-East leaders sing discordant tunes

A CHEIFTIAN of thePeoples Democratic

Party, PDP Senator LeviNwokeafor has said that forthe National Conference tohave a genuine outcome,delegates from various partsof the country should visitevery geo-political zone, so asto have an idea of theconcerns of the zones.

Nwokeafor in an exclusivechat with Vanguard arguedthat the diverse compositionof the various zones, made itimperative for delegates toembark on a fact finding tour.

His words: ‘’My views onthe National Conference isthat delegates from thenorthern part of Nigeria,should visit the South East,because some of the

Delegates should go on tour of the politicalzones — Sen Nwokeafor

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

THE opening of theNational Conference

was an opportunity forPresident Goodluck Jonathanto give strong indications thathe would not let the death of16 job seekers during therecruitment exercise into theImmigration Service be sweptunder the carpet.

delegates do not know theenormity of the challenges theeasterners are contendingwith in this country. That willassist them in theirdeliberations about the needsof the Easterners. The same

thing also applies to the West.‘’The delegates should also

come to the West andunderstand the concerns ofthe West, that will go a longway in providing a fruitfuldeliberation on the concerns

of the West." The people of the south on

their part, should also cometo the north. When thissuggestion is followed, I amof the opinion that a newNigeria will emerge from the

conference. All thecontentious national issues,particularly the one relatingto population dichotomybetween the north and Southwill be addressed throughsuch visit.’’

One minute silence for 16 dead job seekersSTORIES BY HENRY

UMORUIt would be recalled that the

employment test forrecruitment into Immigrationconducted across the countrylast week Saturday turneddeadly as stampede at threecentres claimed the lives of 16applicants and left manyinjured.

At the National Stadium,Abuja, eight lives were lost;at the Liberation Stadium,Elekkahia, Port Harcourt, five

persons died, while threeapplicants were also feareddead in Minna.

Speaking yesterday beforethe inauguration of 492delegates to the NationalConference and six officials atthe National JudicialInstitute, NJI, Abuja,President Jonathan whoarrived the hall of the eventat 4.34pm and started hisspeech at 4.45pm paused for

a minute silence for the youngNigerians who lost their livesin search for job.

President Jonathan said, ”just as we were preparingfor this confab, a tragicincident happened onSaturday; I don’t want to boreyou with details, but we areinvestigating the incident. Letus observe a minute silencefor them

THE national leadershipof All Progressives

Congress, APC yesterdayshunned the inauguration ofthe 492 delegates to theNational Conference and sixofficials by President GoodluckJonathan.

While the party did notattend, some of APC governorswere at the venue of theconference for the openingceremony. Some of the APCgovernors spotted wereSenator Ibikunle Amosun ofOgun State; Owelle RochasOkorocha of Imo State;Comrade Adams Oshiomholeof Edo State, among others.

APCleadership

They joined many governorsof the Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP who flocked theconference venue yesterday.The PDP governors includedDr. Emmanuel Uduaghan ofDelta; Isa Yuguda of Bauchi;Aliyu Babangida of Niger;Acting Governor of Taraba,Umar Garba; Liyel Imoke ofCross River; Godswill Akpabioof Akwa Ibom and MartinElechi of Ebonyi.

Dr. Olusegun Mimiko ofOndo State who belongs toLabour Party, LP was alsopresent.

While the APC leadershipshunned the inauguration,former National Chairman ofPDP and ex- Deputy NationalChairman of PDP, Dr. AhmaduAli and Chief Olabode Georgerepresented the PDPrespectively, just as Labour

APC leaders shun conference

confirmed, ActingSpokesperson of APC, ChiefLai Mohammed who notedthat the party had taken a

MEANWHILE, delegates are to usethe first two days of the conference

to digest the speech delivered by thepresident before the commencement of thepleanary session.

Besides that, the delegates are to alsouse the first two days to study the reports

Tough first two days for delegates

Party, LP National Chairman,Dan Nwanyanwu andComrade A.A. Salamrepresented the party.

It was however not sure if AllProgressive Grand Alliance,APGA’s representatives, ChrisEjike Uche and Dr. Sagir AuwalMaidoya were there for theparty because of legal waramong the leadership of theparty.

APC reactsBut in a swift reaction on why

the APC was not representedand also to confirm statementby Anyim that all the delegates

decision not to attend,explained that Governors ofAPC attended because it was astate matter, just as he stressed

that it was not compulsory forpeople to attend theconference, adding, “let Anyimbe deceiving himself”.

produced by similar past conferences.The reports and other documents for theconference are to be delivered to thedelegates in two boxes today, normallyreliable sources told Vanguard followingthe inauguration by the presidentyesterday.

•L-r: Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, Justice Legbo Kutigi, Deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, President Goodluck Jonathan,Vice president Namadi Sambo, House of Representatives Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal and chief justice of the federation,Mukhtar

Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard, TUESD TUESD TUESD TUESD TUESDAAAAAY, Y, Y, Y, Y, MARCH 18,MARCH 18,MARCH 18,MARCH 18,MARCH 18, 2014— 2014— 2014— 2014— 2014—5757575757

‘IT all began one evening in 2008 when I was a

Police Officer on incident dutyin Anthony area of Lagos. Weencountered armed robbers. Iwas alone in the car, my boyswere not with me althoughnearby around 11pm. I neverknew the occupants of thevehicle were armed robbersuntil they got close and openedfire at the Police van. Luckily Idid not sustain any bulletwound.

I shouted to my men to returnfire and we were able to gundown one of them. After thatincident, I was no longermyself. I went to the hospitaland was told it was shock fromthe armed robbery incident.”

Bartholomew was taken tovarious hospitals withouttangible investigations until2009, when he ended up atReddington Hospital inVictoria Island, where he wasdiagnosed with Chronic

Many Nigerian Policemen are dyingsilently from kidney disease

POOR awareness about kidneydisorders as well as high cost of

treatment and mangement of thedisorder, especially after a kidneytransplant, have been identified asmajor obstacles to the survival ofkidney patients in the country.

Making the revelation in Lagos lastweek, participants at an eventorganised by Kidney Foundation ForAfrica, to mark this year ’s WorldKidney Day, with the theme: “Whenthe Kidneys Fail- What Next? , RenalReplacement Therapies” expressedworriy over the rate of people who diedue to financial constraint and poorknowledge, calling for support to savelives.

A transplant survivor, Mr PaulSolomon, who narrated his bitterexperience of the battle to stay aliveconfessed how he stopped his

Financial constraint, low awareness hindersurvival of kidney patients

By GABRIEL OLAWALE

• Kidney transplant survivor, Rtd. DSP BartholomewOsuji

medication due to financialchallenges.

"I don't intend to stop taking mydrugs, but what will I do? I had twochildren in school before I went forsurgery, but since I returned fromIndia, they stopped schooling andjoined a Poverty Alleviation Centre inthe state. From my pension, we haveto feed. Will I let my two children dieof hunger? Is is not better I go so theycan live,” he lamented.

Findings from an Enugu-based studyshowed that 15,000 new cases ofkidney failure occur every year inNigeria. While statistics revealed that30 million Nigerians are sufferingfrom kidney disease and currently,patients pay up to N150, 000 for threesessions of dialysis every week or N5million annually, the cost oftransplant ranges between N2 millionand N3 million and a patient needsabout N150,000 monthly to get

immunosuppressive drugs after asuccessful transplant.

Professor of Nephrology andTransplantation, Institute of KidneyDiseases and Research Centre,Ahmedabad, India, Dr. ManojGumber, who was on a visit to Lagos,noted at the interactive session thatchronic kidney disease can beprevented by early detection throughsimple inexpensive tests of urine,blood sugar and blood pressure.

According to him, “Hypertensionand diabetes remain the major cursesof kidney failure and if detected early,the progression can be preventedthrough diet, regular physicalexercise, taking care of blood pressureand diabetes.

"Cultivating a healthy life, eatinggood food and going for regularmedical check up will go along wayin preserving your health," he added.

WORLDWIDE, the incidence of End Stage Renal Disease,ESRD, is increasing by 6 to 7 percent every year and about 16million (10 percent) of 160 million Nigerians are sufferingfrom kidney disease. Apart from high cost of treatment andkidney transplants, patients are faced with challengessustaining their treatment for life as they are expected to beon drugs and ensure regular checks from time to time.

In this chat with CHIOMA OBINNA, kidney transplantsurvivor, Bartholomew Osuji, a retired DeputySuperintendent of Police, DSP, relates his experience as aPoliceman and his life after transplant. He expresses worryover the lack of any form of support or insurance forPolicemen who come down with ESRD: Excerpts:

• Inspector General of Police, Mr. MohammedAbubakar


Kidney Failure, CKF, and waseventually rushed to India.

Role of the Nigeria PoliceAt this point life became

tough. Bartholomew’s familyexpected the Nigeria Police tocome in as their bread winner’sproblem began while he wason duty. Unfortunately, hisemployers failed him and evenindicted him.

“The Police did not take anypart in my treatment. Theyclaimed that I did not get anypaper from the FederalMinister of Health and PoliceAffairs before I was flown toIndia. I told them I was flownto India unconscious. My sonwent to Abuja twice while I wasin India, but nothing came outof it to date. When I returned, Iwent to the Police and I was toldthe same thing.

Policemen dying: “ManyPolice men are dying of kidneydisorders today because of lackof money. The Nigeria Police

will not do anything. At FalomoBarracks where I lived, threePolicemen have died since Ireturned from India.

The transplant was financedby the Church of Assumption,Falomo. Reverend FatherInnocent who was in charge atthat time was of good help tomy family. It was he whocontacted some parishionerswho rose to the occasion. . Andthat was how I got to India fortreatment.

Life after kidney transplant

After the transplant, thingshave changed. I cannot do asmuch as before. I was warnednot to strain myself. I havebeen on drugs since thesurgery. In a day, I take drugsfive times. To date, I don’t knowwho paid the initial US$15,000the Indian hospital demandedbefore I was given my visa. Mylast check up in India was alsoa miracle. Before I got to thehospital, someone had paidUS$1,000 into my account.Now, I drink water faithfully, Idon’t eat anyhow again. As I

go out, I prepare my food. Iabide by the doctor ’sinstruction that I will nevermiss my drugs. That is how Ihave been managing my life.”

Coping with cost of drugsEvery September /October, I

go for check up in India andeach time I require aboutUS$10,000 because I must buythe drugs I will use for one year.But I go for regular check upat St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos.I was to go every two weeks,sometimes I do that monthlybecause of the funds involved.

The drugs are not cheap. Ihave been able to cope with theassistance of my Church andmy family.

Call toGovernment

While I was in India, I learntthat the Lagos Stategovernment is working towardsbuilding a cardiac centre,Government should do that asquickly as possible. In thehospital in India, many of thedoctors are Nigerians. A boyof eight years who did thesurgery with me on the sameday died last year. There is needfor government to invest in thisline because many of ourpeople are dying.

I thank God I am alive todaybecause of people whocontributed to my transplantsurgery. I don’t even knowthem all, particularly theperson who paid for the lastUS$10,000 for my check up. Iadvise people to believe Godin all things. All the period Iwas sick, I told my wife thatnothing happens without Godknowing it. If you believe God,he will deliver you.

I would also remain gratefulto my wife. She went througha lot throughout the period. Theeight months were not easy forher.”

Kidney transplant survivor reveals:

Nigerian food companies shun labellingrequirement

MOST food manufacturingcompanies in Nigeria have

not complied with therecommendation to adopt theNigerian Heart Foundation, NHF,Heart Check Food Labellingprogramme introduced in 1988.

Worried by the development,which is allegedly fuellingcardiovascular diseases amongNigerians, health experts havecalled for immediate mandatoryrequirement of heart check foodlabelling in the country.

The experts who spoke in Lagosare also of the view thatcompulsory food labelling wouldensure proper dietary manners aswell as promote good nutrition inNigeria.

Making the call in Lagos lastweek, Emeritus Professor ofMedicine, Professor OladipoAkinkugbe, disclosed that out of300 Nigerian food manufacturingcompanies only five have so faradopted the NHF recommenda-tion.

Akinkugbe, who is President,Board of Trustees of the NHF, ex-pressed worry about the highnumber of unhealthy food prod-ucts in the Nigerian market.

He observed that although theheart check food labellingprogramme is currentlyvoluntary, it is of importance toNigerians as it is designed to haltthe spread of commoncardiovascular diseases, such ashypertension and stroke whileimproving the welfare of thosealready afflicted.

BY SOLA OGUNDIPE& CHIOMA OBINNA

• L-R: GM, Power Oil; Chief Operating Officer, Power Oil, Mr Adliu Narto; President, Board of Trustees,NHF, Professor Oladipo Akinkugbe; Executive Director, NHF, Dr. Kingsley Akinroye and GM, PaslimGyan, Mrs Pamela Umebuani during the official endorsement of Power Oil by NHF in Lagos last week.

• A free screening exercise held at Freedom Park, Lagos by St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos, tomark this year’s World Kidney Day, Thursday last week.

The NHF’s labelling pro-gramme is a systematic endorse-ment of food items certifying themhealthy for consumption andheart friendly with emphasis onlow fats and cholesterol, lowsodium and low glucose.

“It means eating the rightamount of foods that are heart –healthy and nutritious which ispart of the global strategy toreducing non communicablediseases, Non CommunicableDiseases, NCDs, including heartdiseases, cancer and diabetesmellitus,” he said.

Akinkugbe spoke during theformal endorsement of Power Oil,a product of Raffles LFTZ (Dufil),

Nigeria. “We are determined toreduce suffering and death fromheart diseases in the population.Therefore, NHF is calling ongovernment to make the heartcheck food labelling programmecompulsory. We want to ensurethat food products such asvegetable oil, water, beverages,fruit juices and fish have the heartfriendly logo.

“The food labelling programmeaims to emphasize theimportance of creating awarenessand sensitisation of manufactur-ers in the food and beverageindustries on the importance ofreformulations and marketing offoods which are heart – healthy.

The programme aims to facilitatea reorientation of foodsmanufacturing companies andthe public towards demand forhealthy and nutritious foods,” headded.

He further identified dearth ofanalytical laboratories in thecountry to carry out detailed foodanalysis as stipulated by theinternational requirements as amain challenge towardsachieving the objective o f theprogramme. Akinkugbe furtheradvocated provision of wellequipped laboratories to evaluatefood products and certify themheart friendly.

Unskilled persons are running most dialysis unitsin Nigeria — BAMGBOYE

A CONSULTANTNephrologists, and Clinical

Director, St Nicholas Hospital, Dr.Ebun Bamgboye, has raisedalarm over the running of dialysisunits in the country by unskilledpersonnel.

Bamgboye who is alsoPresident, Nigerian Association ofNephrology, NAN, told GoodHealth Weekly, that “an idealdialysis unit should have anappropriately trained nephrologydoctor, a nephrology nurse, adialysis technician and good watersupply amongst others. But mostof the centres have none of these.

“Dialysis in some extent lookslike a simple procedure but tosome extent it is technical andthat is why it requiresappropriately trained people toensure safety of patients,” heasserted.

“Some people do not requiredialysis but some of the units arecarrying out dialysis just for themoney. There are units that willgo ahead and dialyze a patientthey know could not withstand theprocess and the outcome is

usually negative. Some centresare using inappropriateconsumables at inappropriatetime.

“You don’t put a patient that isanaemic or whose blood pressureis not appropriately high ondialysis but some centres aredoing it today. There are thingsin the process of training, thedialysis nurse and doctors ortechnicians acquire. It isimportant that any unit be staffedby skilled individuals and this iswhy government must come in,”Bamgboye alleged.

He disclosed that NAN isworking on guidelines for dialysisunits,for onward subsmission tostate governments.

In his lecture during a kidneyscreening exercise organised bySt Nicholas Hospital for over 500people as part of activities to markthe World Kidney Day, Bamgboyesaid if CKD is detected early andtreated it would dramaticallyreduce the growing burden ofdeaths and disability from chronicrenal and cardiovascular diseaseworldwide. He said the two types- acute and chronic kidney failure

BY CHIOMA OBINNA are quite common conditionssuch as hypertension, diabetes,chronic glomerulonephritis,analgesic nephropathy,bleaching creams and soapscontaining heavy metals, sicklecell amongst others are commonamong Nigerians. Decrying

shortage of functional dialysisunits in the country, Bamgboyecalled on the three tiers ofgovernment to help increaseaccess to treatment byestablishing more treatment anddialysis centres.

Urging government to investin the health of people livingwith kidney disease, Gumbersaid: "The cost of treatment ishigh globally, but the only wayout of this challenges is for thegovernment to subsidisetreatment for kidney failurejust like it is done in somecountries.

“This should not be limitedto transplant but also dialysisand other drugs. That is theonly way outcome for kidneyfailure can improve in thecountry," he stated.

Founder, Kidney Foundationfor Africa, Dr Bose Petersworried over the level ofawareness and care availablein the country.

"The level of awareness isrelative low in the country, thatis why our Foundation istaking it upon itself to createawareness and educate thepublic about the causes,prevention and gains of earlydetection of chronic kidneydisease and kidney failure."

Regretting that facilitiesrequired to routinely accessand treat patients with kidneydisease are not readilyavailable within the country,she said this has remained achallenge for the nephrologyand renal community.

Peters, who is also a kidneytrasnplant survivor appealedto well-meaning Nigerians,government, public andprivate individuals for supportparticularly to save indigentkidney patients who cannotafford to travel abroad to obtainrequired health care servicesto ameliorate their condition.

The Foundation has set upa support bank account inachieving this noble coursewhich can be made throughKidney Foundation for Africa,FCMB 2075409015 or call08033052000.

58—Vanguard,58—Vanguard,58—Vanguard,58—Vanguard,58—Vanguard, TUESD TUESD TUESD TUESD TUESDAAAAAY, Y, Y, Y, Y, MARCH 18,MARCH 18,MARCH 18,MARCH 18,MARCH 18, 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014


Financialconstraint, lowawareness hindersurvival of kidneypatients

VVVVVanguardanguardanguardanguardanguard, TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014 — 59, TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014 — 59, TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014 — 59, TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014 — 59, TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014 — 59

BRIEFSCrimea votes: US, EU sanctionRussiaCRIMEA has voted to

join Russia againstdiplomatic moves by theWestern countries to usethe U.N. Security Coun-cil to block the vote,butRussia blocked the move.

The ministers met aftera referendum on Sundayshowed an overwhelm-ing majority in Crimea infavour of joining Russia,a vote the EU condemnedas illegal and in violationof Moscow’s own inter-national commitments topreserve the territorial in-tegrity of Ukraine.

Crimea’s regional as-sembly declared inde-pendence from Ukraineafter the referendum, andapplied to join Russia,saying all Ukrainian stateproperty on the peninsu-la would be nationalised.

“The republic of Crimeaappeals to the UnitedNations and to all coun-tries of the world to rec-ognise it as an indepen-dent state,” read a docu-ment approved on Mon-day by the assembly.

It followed the an-nouncement by introduc-ing the Russian ruble asa second currency along-side the Ukrainianhyyvnia. Crimea’s depu-ty prime minister alsosaid the region has set upa new central bank andis expecting to get $30min support from Russia.Nevertheless the Euro-pean Union and UnitedStates have agreed toimpose sanctions againstRussian and Ukrainianofficials deemed respon-sible for a contested in-dependence referendumin Crimea, officials havesaid.

Lithuania’s ForeignMinister Linas Linkevi-cius said in a tweet yes-terday that 21 officialswould be targeted bytravel bans and assetfreezes, with “more EUmeasures in few days”.

The US has also im-posed financial sanctionson 11 Russian and Ukrai-nian government officialsand politicians, includingtwo top advisers to Rus-sian President VladimirPutin and former Ukrai-nian President Viktor

Yanukovich. The list ofofficials who will see anyproperty, assets and in-terests blocked in the USalso includes DmitryRogozin, Russia’s depu-ty prime minister.

Washington says itssanctions targets thosewho “undermine demo-cratic processes and insti-tutions in Ukraine”. De-spite these moves, Presi-dent Putin signed a de-cree on Monday recogn-ising Ukraine’s Crimearegion as a sovereign

state, Russian news agen-cies cited the Kremlinpress service as saying.

France moved forwardwith cancelling a trip toMoscow by its Defenceand Foreign Ministersthat had been planned forTuesday, ahead of theEU summit talks to beheld in Brussels onThursday and Friday,where the crisis inUkraine is expected totop the agenda.

The list of those sanc

•Obama•Putin

Missing Plane: Pakistan, India, Taliban deny link

Merkel seeks greater role for Ukrainein OSCE

GERMAN ChancellorAngela Merkel told

Russian PresidentVladimir Putin Sundayshe backed a bigger rolein Ukraine for the Organ-isation for Security andCooperation in Europe(OSCE), her spokesmansaid.

In the latest in a seriesof often heated telephonetalks between the twoleaders since Russiaseized Ukraine’s Crime-an peninsula earlier thismonth, Merkel’s officeindicated that she andPutin had found a point

of agreement.“The chancellor sug-

gested quickly expand-ing the OSCE’s presencein Ukraine and sendinga greater number of ob-servers to the crisiszones, in particular east-ern Ukraine,” her spokes-man Steffen Seibert saidin a statement summaris-ing the conversation.Merkel said she hopedfor a decision approvingsuch measures by the Vi-enna-based OSCE yes-terday. Seibert said Mer-kel and Putin had spoken“about the tense securitysituation in Ukraine de-spite their differing takes

on the referendum inCrimea and the issue ofterritorial integrity andsovereignty”.

The chancellor con-demned yesterday’s inci-dent in the area of Kher-son on the Ukrainianmainland in which Rus-sian troops occupied anatural gas pumping sta-tion,” Seibert said.

The Ukrainian foreignministry said 80 Russianmilitary personnel hadseized a village on theArabat Spit called Strilk-ove with the support offour military helicoptersand three armoured per-sonnel carriers.

A CONTINGENT of 24countries have joined

the expanded search forthe missing Malaysian air-plane Aviation officials inPakistan, India and Cen-tral Asia as well as Talibanmilitants said claimed thatthey knew nothing aboutthe whereabouts of FlightMH370.

Malaysia Airlines FlightMH370 vanished onMarch 8 about an hour intoits flight from Kuala Lum-pur to Beijing with 239people aboard and inves-

tigators are now increas-ingly convinced it was di-verted thousands of milesoff course.

Malaysia said it had sentdiplomatic notes to allcountries along an arc ofnorthern and southernsearch corridors includingIndia and Pakistan, re-questing radar and satel-lite information as well asland, sea and air searchoperations.

This came as the NewsCorp. executive chairman,Rupert Murdoch had Twit-

ted at the weekend thatthe missing aircraft mayhave been stolen and “ef-fectively hidden, perhapsin Northern Pakistan, likeBin Laden.”

The News Corp. executivechairman didn’t stop there.He said It’s not the firsttime Murdoch hasweighed in on the Malay-sian Air mystery.

Diaspora Nigerians wooChinese investors

BY VERA SAM ANYAGAFU and PRISCA SAM-DURU

NIGERIANS in Diaspora have stressed the needto increase the drive for Chinese investment

following plans to build up Nigeria-China bi-na-tional trade and investment relationship.

The initiative which was conceived by China-Af-rican Investment Club (CAIC) in collaboration withBeijing Yeaco Investment Consulting firm, havepledged their readiness to intensify efforts towardsensuring that Nigeria-China bi-national trade rela-tionship grow from strength to strength.

Speaking at an investment partnership meetingyesterday with some Nigerian key industrialists inLagos, head of delegation Mr. William Wang ex-pressed that the Chinese government is interestedin the progress of Nigeria and expects a cordial andwell meaning collaboration towards ensuring thatall parties achieve their desired goal.

Obama tasks Abbas, Netanyahauon Middle East peace

US President Barack Obama yesterday told Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas that both he

and Israeli leaders must make tough political deci-sions and take “risks” for peace.

Meeting Obama at the White House, Abbas saidIsrael’s release of a fourth tranche of Palestinianprisoners by March 29 would show how seriousPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was aboutextending peace talks.

“As I said to Prime Minister Netanyahu when hewas here just a few weeks ago, I believe that now isthe time .... to embrace this opportunity,” Obamasaid as he sat side-by-side with Abbas in the OvalOffice.

Deadly car blast hit militaryin BenghaziA CAR bomb targeting a military academy in Lib

ya’s restive eastern city of Benghazi has killedat least nine soldiers and wounded more than 10,military and hospital sources said.

The medical centre in Benghazi reported that “fivebodies plus an indeterminate number of body parts”had arrived at the hospital, along with “more than10 wounded people”. It was not immediately clearwhere other bodies were taken.

A military source said the car parked in front ofthe academy blew up as soldiers emerged from anawards ceremony for army promotions. Benghazi,cradle of the 2011 uprising that toppled veteran Lib-yan leader Muammar Gaddafi, has seen near-dailyattacks on security and other targets in recentmonths as the weak central government strugglesto rein in former rebel brigades turned militias.

US SEALs seize rebel oil tanker

A TEAM of Navy SEALs has taken control of astateless oil tanker seized earlier in the month

by Libyan rebels, the Pentagon said yesterday.The SEALs boarded the tanker Morning Glory late

Sunday in international waters in the Mediterra-nean Sea near Cyprus. Rear Adm. John Kirby saidno one was injured in the operation, which wasapproved by President Barack Obama.

The vessel, whose ownership remains a mystery,was carrying stolen Libyan crude oil from the portof Al-Sidra. Libyan officials had ordered the tankerconfiscated, but it managed to escape.

•The missing plane


DIDIER Drogba admits he is nervous

about returning to formerclub Chelsea on the eveof Galatasaray’s Cham-pions League tie atStamford Bridge.

‘First of all I was hap-py to play against my ex-club, against my friends.But at the same time itis a very special momentbecause I do not knowwhat my reaction will be,

‘You know that I spenteight years at Chelsea,so I really don’t know, Iam quite apprehensiveabout it.

‘It’s the club where Iexperienced everything.It allowed me to get clos-er to the best players inthe world.

‘I hope thatGalatasaray qualify. Itwill be difficult, but Ithink that regarding thewelcome, I think I’m al-lowed to say that I willreceive a warm welcome,because I know Chel-sea’s fans and our rela-tionship is really spe-cial,’ the 36-year-oldadded.

Drogba nervous over Stamford Bridge return...warns I won't spare Blues

Mancini: Mourinho doesn't have friends

ROBERTO Mancinihas fired another pot

shot at Jose Mourinho be-fore Chelsea’s ChampionsLeague meeting withGalatasaray by claiminghis old rival does not wantfriends in the game.

”I said some perfectlynormal things but some-one stirred it up into con-troversy and he got offend-ed In Istanbul we saweach other and said only‘hello’. We certainly aren’tfriends. I don’t thinkMourinho wants to havefriends, or maybe that’sjust the way he likes toappear.”

•Mourinho•Mancini

REAL Madrid holda 6-1 aggregate

lead going into the sec-ond leg of their Cham-pions League round of16 tie against Schalkethanks to a demolitionjob at the Veltins-Arenain February.

According to ESPN’sDermot Corrigan, how-ever, Carlo Ancelotticonfirmed in his pressconference on Mondaythat Ronaldo will startthe second leg at theSantiago Bernabeu,bucking the trend of re-cent management tech-niques which usuallyinvolve resting key play-ers for dead-rubbergames.

CR7 will have affirmedhis wish to play thegame before Ancelottigave the okay and thePortuguese will line upalongside Alvaro Mora-ta—the Daily Mail re-ports that he’s an Arse-nal target this summer—and Jese in a front three.

There will likely be astart for other fringeplayers such as Isco,Asier Illarramendi andAlvaro Arbeloa too.

It can mean only onething: Ronaldo is keento extend his lead at thetop of the ChampionsLeague scoring charts,with the European Gold-en Shoe firmly in hissights for 2014.

The Portuguese haswon it twice before.

Ronaldo eyestop-scorer title

Real sufferBenzemablow

REAL Madrid willbe without Karim

Benzema for tonight’sChampions League gameat home to Schalke but heshould be fit for Sunday’sLa Liga “Clasico” againstBarcelona, coach CarloAncelotti said yesterday.

France forward Benze-ma took a knock to thethigh in a collision withteam mate Cristiano Ro-naldo in Saturday’s 1-0 LaLiga win at Malaga andhad to be replaced byAngel Di Maria in the32nd minute.

THERE was goodnews for Chelsea on

Monday as David Luizand Samuel Eto’o returnedto training ahead of to-day’s UEFA Champions

Luiz, Eto’o boost ChelseaLeague round of 16 secondleg against Galatasaray.

David Luiz has been outof action since comingback from internationalduty with Brazil on 5March.

Samuel Eto’o scored inChelsea’s 4-0 victory overTottenham Hotspur on Sat-urday 8 March. Neitherplayer made the trip to Vil-la Park on Saturday.

However, Ashley Colehas not returned to train-ing yet and will be una-vailable for the Galatasaraygame. The England left-back picked up a lateralligament injury prior to theTottenham game, 10 daysago.

JUAN Mata hasclaimed that “the

storm will pass and thesun will rise again” fol-lowing ManchesterUnited’s dire 3-0 defeatto Liverpool on Sunday.

“The storm will passand the sun will riseagain. I have no doubt.Besides, no one said thiswould be easy, but thisis football. It gives youfantastic moments butalso very hard times you

Mata: Sun will rise again at Man U

have to cope with, whenyou have to show prideand professionalism until

the end. And when all thisis gone I’m sure I will bea more mature footballer."

NOVAK Djokovicis a title winner

again after fighting hisway past Roger Feder-er to clinch victory atthe BNP Paribas Open

Djokovic rules Indian Wellsin Indian Wells.

The Serb’s start to theseason has offeredplenty of cause for con-cern and another pain-ful defeat looked on thecards when, havingfought back from a setdown, he failed to serveout the match. But Djok-ovic was much thestronger in the tie-breakand triumphed 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 to end Federer ’s11-match winning run.

The victory broughtDjokovic his third titleat Indian Wells andclosed the gap in hishead-to-head recordagainst Federer to 16-17.

The world No2 hadended his on-court in-terview after beatingJohn Isner in the semisby declaring there wasno favourite for the fi-nal but the form guidedisagreed.

•Djokovic

•Mata

•Drogba

•Eto'o


maintain our bonusesand for the record, the2010 figure was $75,000and so we should main-tain the 2010 figure be-cause we are all goingthrough challenges,”he told Accra-basedPower FM.

Black StarsContinues from BP

”[Winning bonuses]will also be main-tained.”

Cabinet over theweekend approvedUS$ 9.6m budget forGhana’s participationfor this June’s tourna-ment.

NigeriaContinues from BP

dat Ajibade who scorewith a shot, 1-0.

At the beginning of thesecond half the Nigerialooked the better sideand in the 63rd minutethey scored againthanks to a header fromUchenna Kanu, 2-0.

China were back in thegame a minute laterwhen captain Fan Yugiucalmly finished off across from Yan Liu to

make the score 2-1.The Chinese contin-

ued to press for anequaliser during the fi-nal 25 minutes but theNigerian backline heldfirm.

China will look to earntheir first points inGroup D when they faceMexico on Wednesday,while Nigeria will lookto secure a firm graspatop the group whenthey take on Colombia.

NIGERIA defeatedChina 2-1 to

begin their Costa Rica2014 U17 Women’sWorld Cup campaign ona bright note in Group Don Monday morning inAlajuela.

Goals from RasheedatAjibade and UchennaKanu either half gaveNigeria the victory overthe Chinese at the

FIFA U-17 W/World Cup: I’ll score more goals – AjibadeAlejandra Morera Sotostadium.

Speaking after thegame, Flamingoes firstgoal hero and Man-of-the-match winner,Rasheedat Ajibadeexpressed delight atwinning the award andpromised to performbetter in subsequentgames as well as makeNigerians proud.

WTF Youth Olympics qualifiers:Team Nigeria arrives Taipei City

THE nine-mancontingent of

Team Nigeria at theweekend arrived TaipeiCity in Chinese Taipei inreadiness for the WorldTaekwondo Federation(WTF)-organised 2014Youth Olympics Qualifiers,

which kicks on ThursdayMarch 20.

With support from the

National SportsCommission (NSC) andunder the guidance of thenew national coach, JinBeom Kim, the duo ofEsther Godwin (-63kg)and Ogeh Ogochukwu(49kg) will weigh-in onWednesday March 19,while the draw will alsohold same day.

THE CAF Confederation Cup enters the 1/8thfinals this week end with Warri Wolves and

Bayelsa United set to move into the last but onelucrative league stage, just as Nigerian referees havecontinued to find favour with CAF.

Referee Joshua Amao, assisted by Peter Edibi,Robert Aundugh and Ferdinand Udoh as fourthOfficial are biled to handle the return leg matchinvolving Zesco Utd and Medeama of Ghana.

The match is billed next week end in Lusaka,Zambia.

Bayelsa United will jet out on Thursday toZimbabwe, to face How Mine FC at BoubafielsStadium, Bulawayo.

Nigerian refs go to Zambia asBayelsa, Wolves get CAF officials

Flamingoes jubilate after victory over China


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.

YESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSTODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLE

Sudoku

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

VANGUARD,VANGUARD,VANGUARD,VANGUARD,VANGUARD, TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014 TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014 TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014 TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014 TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014

QUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDACROSS4 Courage (5)7 Stank (6)9 Owing (3)10 Child (3)12 Wed (5)13 Excursion (4)15 Harmonium (5)17 Usual (6)19 Inform (4)20 View (5)22 Father (3)24 Scorned (7)27 Illuminated (3)28 Recent (5)31 Go by (4)33 Fixed (6)35 Engine (5)37 Turn (4)38 Biscuit (5)39 And not (3)41 Circuit (3)42 Erase (6)43 Motionless (5)

DOWN1 Free (6)2 Delineate (6)3 Damp (3)4 Animal (4)5 Inclined (5)6 Remiss (8)8 Fate (4)11 Custom (9)14 Pool (4)16 Pleased (4)18 Stagger (4)21 Waterfall (8)23 Adroit (4)25 Gap (4)26 Sketched (4)29 Revised (6)30 Concealed (6)32 Aroma (5)34 Trampled (4)36 Spoken (4)40 Material (3)

ACROSS: 1, Teach 5, Rather 8, Radio 10,Delete 11, Part 14, Ermine 15, Portion 18,Tee 19, Sad 21, Dray 23, Liked 24, Else 27,Ten 29, End 31, Doorman 32, Rancid 34,Dope 35, Eating 38, Fudge 39, Expect 40,Erred.

DOWN: 2, Eke 3, Create 4, Hat 5, Rope 6,Termed 7, Remedy 9, Deposit 12, Art 13,Tier 16, Opal 17, Naked 20, Denoted 22,Aura 24, Enrage 25, Send 26, Encoded 28,Writer 30, Dip 33, Deft 36, Age 37, Nee.

Black Stars to get N13mWorld Cup appearance fee

Nigeria beat China

Drogba nervous over Stamford Bridge returnChampions League: Page 60

Chelsea v Galatasaray 8.45pmReal v Schalke 04 8.45pm

Today's Champions League fixtures

Costa Rica 2014: Omagbemi onFIFA duty

F L O R E N C EOmagbemi, the

former Pelican Stars mid-fielder who captained theSuper Falcons for morethan 20 years, is one of theFIFA officials working at theWomen’s U17 World Cupin Costa Rica. This will bethe second time Omagbe-mi will be called upon byFIFA to work at the women

cadet championship, fol-lowing her stint in Azerbai-jan two years ago. Omag-bemi is a member of theFIFA Organising committeefor this age group competi-tion, and their major role isto work as Match Commis-sioner at games.

The former Falcons skip-per was the Match Com-missioner in the first gamebetween Germany andCanada.

EACH of Ghana’s23-man squad for

the 2014 FIFA World Cupfinals will be paid an ap-pearance of US$ 75,000.(N13m).

Sports Minister ElvisAfriyie-Ankrah has con-firmed the amount re-mains unchanged fromwhat was paid four yearsago in South Africa.

”Based on our discus-sion the government in-sist that we shouldContinues on Page 61

Black Stars' captain, Gyan

NIGERIA beat China 2-1 in their

Group D clash at the2014 Fifa Under-17Women’s World Cup inCosta Rica on Sunday.

The Nigerian’s tookthe lead in the 21st-minute when UchennaKanu corner kick wasinitially saved but fell toRasheeContinues on Page 61 Chinwendu Ihezuo (r) stops a Chinese opponent

Jonathan to delegates: Let's re-launch Nigeria

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Transcript of Jonathan to delegates: Let's re-launch Nigeria