Monday, june 17, 2013

P.7

Vol. 3 N0. 644 Monday, June 17, 2013 N150

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Rotarians tackle Portuguese Embassy over N38m visa fees

Arms-laden Russian plane, crew detained, released in Kano

EXCLUSIVEPAUL ARHEWE

Members of the Rotary Club in Nigeria have ex-

pressed anger over non-refund of N38m fees paid to Portuguese Embassy for the processing of visas the embassy has failed to issue.

Investigations by Nation-al Mirror showed that the

Rotarians, who are current-ly preparing to attend the 2013 Rotary International Convention in Lisbon this month, had approached the embassy through an ad hoc committee in August 2012.

SAM OLUWALANA, OBIORA IFOH AND FELIX NWANERI

It appears there is no end in sight to the cri-sis rocking the Nige-

rian Governors’ Forum, NGF, as Rivers State Gov-ernor Rotimi Amaechi yesterday cautioned his Plateau State counterpart, Jonah Jang, against im-personating him.

He also told the governor to stop parading himself as the chairman of the forum.

But Jang insisted he was the authentic NGF chair-man and vowed to go ahead with his meeting scheduled to hold at his faction’s secre-

Pinto-de-Mesquita Kwankwaso

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Amaechi warns Jang against impersonation

President’s wife visits Rivers, shuns cars, lodge provided...I’m the authentic chairman, says Plateau State gov

NGF crisis:

BUSINESSTHE SECTION

P.A7 Free inside

Construction industryposts 13% growth in 2012

ree inside

Party supporters attack Okorocha’s convoy

P.4Girl abducted at Winners Chapel found after two years

Nigeria savesN254bn on cassavabread

P.5,6

P.10

Infl ation rate drops to 9% in May

FG owes 10 states N442.6bn for road repairs –Investigation

P.4

Governors must sign death warrants --JonathanL-R: Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi; Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal; Leader, Action Congress of Nigeria,

Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun; Senator Remi Tinubu and wife of Oyo State Governor, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi, during the burial of Iyaloja of Lagos, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji in Lagos, yesterday. More photos on page 55. PHOTO: BAYOOR EWUOSO

TINUBU BURIES MUM, ABIBATU MOGAJI P.8

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Rotarians tackle Portuguese Embassy over N38m visa scam


President Goodluck Jonathan playing a guitar presented to him by the 2013 Father’s Day Organising Committee in Abuja yesterday.

The committee then sen-sitised all Rotarians listed to attend the convention and encouraged them to participate.

“We packaged Rotarians’ documents, including their guests.

“About 650 applications were treated by the com-mittee and forwarded to the agents with visa fee and agency fee of 100 Eu-ros per applicant,” the past president of the club and chairman of the conven-tion planning committee, Ify Ejezie, told National Mirror.

“From District 9110, about N14m was paid into the said account while a total of about N38m were paid by the three districts in Nigeria,” she added.

“A private Euro account in the name Chrome Execu-tive Services with Ecobank, Abuja Branch with Num-ber 0064419250 was given to us (including Districts 9140

and 9125) to remit all mon-ies in Euro.”

Ejezie said the commit-tee started sensing danger in March 2013 when the Portuguese embassy which had earlier granted waiv-ers on some requirements made a reverse and started asking applicants to make available additional docu-ments to process their ap-plications.

According to her, “On March 6, 2013 the Ambas-sador undertook to issue Portuguese visas instead of Schengen visa, which the Rotarians accepted.

“The Ambassador later confessed that he made a mistake for undertaking to issue the Portuguese visas, rather he now confessed to us that they have been shut down till June as they do not have the equipment and capacity to issue visas.

“No single visa was issued to any Nigerian, rather they choose to hide under the disguise that ev-

erybody in Nigeria were rejected including high profile Rotarians from the three districts, to enable them keep the visa fees paid to them,” Ejezie said.

The European Union eventually intervened and appointed German Em-bassy to begin the process afresh of issuing visas to the Rotarians.

When National Mirror contacted the Portuguese Embassy, it acknowledged that it received several visa requests from the Districts of the Rotary Club Interna-tional in Nigeria but denied the club members’ claims that no visa was approved to any Nigerian.

“It is not true that no visa was granted to any Nigerian, rather to the 358 members of Rotary Club whose requests were sent to Portugal. The fi-nal decision on visa matters is taken in Portugal. Hun-dreds of visas were annu-ally issued to Nigerians who fulfilled the requirements,”

the Consular Section of the Embassy said.

It said, initially the Rota-ry Districts approached the Consular Section stating that the total applications should not be more than 600 but eventually they present-ed 2,065.

The Embassy added: “The Rotary Club Dis-tricts were advised at a meeting at this Embassy, on January 28, 2013, that they should present their documents duly organ-ised, latest February 28, to this Embassy, so that they could be processed and sent to Portugal before the deadline of March 15. To do so, they were advised that it would be conve-nient to use the services of an agency/person with knowledge of Portuguese and English languages and visa processing to help them.

“Effective March 15, the Schengen system of issu-ance of visas was changed

and as the Consular Sec-tion of the Embassy could not issue the new visas Portugal asked Germany to represent it for Schen-gen visas matters.”

“The remaining one thousand seven hundred and seven applicants from the Rotary Club that could not have their visa forms processed had their visas fees refunded directly to their respective Districts, more than one month ago,” the Embassy said.

It further added, that the Embassy is not re-sponsible for the refund of the fees paid to the agency or any person who helped to organise their applica-tions.

“The Consular Section of the Embassy sent 358 ap-plications to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Lis-bon for final decision.

“In another meeting, the Embassy informed person-ally the Governors and District representatives of

Rotary Club on the deci-sion about their demand. By courtesy, they were told that the visas were rejected. The fees for these visas are not refundable.”

Nigerian Ambassador to Portugal, Ijeoma Bristol, when contacted told Nation-al Mirror that the embassy is aware of the issue. “It is currently being handled through diplomatic chan-nels,” Bristol said.

The German Embassy that is now handling the visa processing for the club also told National Mirror that “prior to the applications of the Ro-tary members, no fees have been transferred to the German govern-ment, meaning that the German Consulate Gen-eral, which is part of the Federal Foreign Ministry of Germany, has never re-ceived any visa fees for the handling of visa applica-tions on behalf of Portu-gal.”

tariat in Abuja today. Amaechi gave the warn-

ing while reacting to a purported meeting of the forum called for today by Jang even as the 36 state governors are scheduled to meet with President Good-luck Jonathan today.

The umbrella body of the governors has been po-larised into factions – one loyal to Amaechi and the other to Jang - over the out-come of its May 24 chair-manship election in which both governors claimed victory.

Amaechi, who said that he would have ignored Jang’s summons, noted that as the duly elected chairman of the NGF, he could not but safeguard his integrity and that of the fo-rum, insisting that the pur-ported meeting was not at his instance.

A statement by the gover-nor reads in part: “On Sat-urday, June 15 and Sunday June 16, reports in the me-dia credited to my brother governor, Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State, an-nounced that he has called for a Nigerian Governors’ Forum meeting.

“Ordinarily, I would have ignored these reports as I do not imagine that as gov-ernors who hold our peo-ple’s mandate through the

democratic process of free and fair elections, we would do anything to impugn our integrity.

“However, as chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, elected by my col-leagues to safeguard their integrity and that of the fo-rum it has become impera-tive for me to request my brother and Governor Jang to remain within the con-fines of decorum and cease to impersonate me and to stop parading himself as NGF chairman.

“There is only one chair-man of the forum duly elected by a vote tally of 19:16 on Friday, May 24, 2013.

“For the avoidance of doubt, I, as chairman of the NGF, have not called for any Governors’ Forum meeting for Monday, June 17, 2013. The only meeting scheduled for Monday June 17, is a meeting of all gover-nors with President Good-luck Jonathan scheduled to hold at 9p.m. at Aso Rock Villa. All governors should please ensure attendance at this meeting with Mr. Presi-dent.”

Insisting that he har-bours no ill-feelings to-wards Jang, Amaechi reminded the Plateau gov-ernor of a pending suit on the NGF election, urging all parties to comport them-

selves in accordance to the dictates of the law until the matter is resolved.

His words: “I wish to reassure my brother gov-ernors that this storm shall pass and we all will be reunited as one family committed to our nation’s unity and supporting Mr. President in his vision for a Nigeria that safeguards the rights of all its citizens to good governance and demo-cratic norms.

“Governor Jang is my brother and friend and I harbour no ill feelings against him, but it is im-portant that he stops this impersonation, as it could

threaten all the good work we all have done together.

“May I remind Governor Jang that there is a legal action that has been insti-tuted against him by Gover-nor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State from parading himself as the chairman of NGF. As leaders elected by our people, Nigerians are closely watching us. We must comport ourselves ac-cording to the dictates and principles of democratic and lawful practices and norms.”

Acting Director-General of the Jang backed NGF, Mr. Osaru Onaiwu, told Na-tional Mirror that the meet-

ing convened by the faction would not be shelved.

“We have sent invitation letters to all the 36 state gov-ernors and we are expect-ing not less than 20 to at-tend the meeting scheduled to hold at our Maitama sec-retariat tomorrow (today) by 6pm,” Onaiwu said.

He said the meeting would be devoid of dis-cussing political issues but dwell on the issue of state funding as a follow up to the last Federation Accounts Allocation Com-mittee (FAAC) meeting last Thursday.

“After our meeting the governors will then pro-

ceed to meet with the Presi-dent by 9pm tomorrow (to-day),” Onaiwu said.

Meanwhile, the almost three-year long feud be-tween the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan and Governor Rotimi Amechi of Rivers State deepened at the weekend when both of them boycotted functions, which could have brought them together.

The First Lady fired the first salvo when she reject-ed the cars provided for her and her entourage at the airport, according to proto-cols.

The Okrika, Rivers State-

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net2 Monday, June 17, 2013News

Monday, June 17, 2013National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 3

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net4 Monday, June 17, 2013 Photo News

ROTIMI FADEYIABUJA

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday said state governors

are compelled by law to sign death warrants, not mind-ing how painful such an ex-ercise could be.

The President spoke at this year’s Father’s Day ser-vice at Aso Villa, Abuja.

But he said that jail terms or capital punishment could be avoided if fathers play their role very well by en-forcing discipline in their children.

He said: “No matter what you do, even if you show love and provide the needs of the family, if you don’t discipline your children, it is not good.

“These days, because of modern life, discipline is almost gone. Discipline can be in various forms. In the states, it could be admoni-tion. Magistrates can just admonish and allow offend-ers to go. From admonition

to various forms of punish-ments, it could be imprison-ment. The extreme is capital punishment.

“If in the case of capi-tal punishment, the state governors will sign. Even governors sometimes find it difficult to sign. I have been telling the governors that they must sign (death warrant), because that is the law. The work we are doing have a very sweet part and a very ugly part and we must perform both. No matter how painful it is, it is part of their responsi-bilities.”

According to him, par-ents need to enforce disci-pline so that their children would turn out to be good citizens and avoid social vices.

“For us as parents, it is important to let our chil-dren constantly know that it is good to take the right path. It is good for them to know that they must be up-right,” he said.

Jonathan noted that

apart from providing for the needs of the family, the fa-ther is expected to be a role model for the children.

“The father is the bread-winner of the family, to take care of the mother and the children, to provide food for them and take care of their education. We expect fathers to be role models where children will want to be like their fathers,” he added.

The President of the Church of Christ in Nige-ria, Rev. Soja Bewarang, in his sermon entitled “Fa-thers’ Responsibility”, said if Nigeria must move for-ward; those working with the President must refrain from stealing public funds and must be honest.

“If this country must sur-vive, all men working under the President must practise honesty and they must not steal. He (the President) can-not fight corruption when you are not supporting him. He may try, but he cannot be everywhere. You are his rep-

resentatives, so you must practise honesty and you must not steal,” he said.

Bewarang identified three examples of Biblical fathers that Nigeria does not need. These, he said include those who pitched their tents towards Sodom like Lot; those who do not refrain their children like Eli and those who steal are deceptive and dishonest like Achan.

The cleric admonished

Nigerians to pray for good fathers like Enoch; those who will walk with God like Noah; those who will feat and trust God like Joshua; and men of faith like Abra-ham.

Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State was special guest of honour at the service which was also attended by the Presi-dent’s mother, Eunice; Gov-ernor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State; Deputy

President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, and his wife; Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Peoples Democrat-ic Party, PDP, Chief Tony Anenih; members of the Federal Executive Council; the new Controller-General of Immigration, Mr. David Paradang; Commandant-General of the Nigeria Se-curity and Civil Defence Corps, Ade Abolurin and members of the National Assembly.

Governors must sign death warrants –Jonathan

L-R: General Secretary, Kings College Old Boys Association, Mr. Lucky Idike Jr.; Chairman, Union Bank Nigeria Plc, Mr. Udoma Udo Udoma; Secretary to the Government of the Federa-tion, Anyim Pius Anyim and Chairman, Etisalat Nigeria, Hakeem Belo Osagie, at the Kings College Old Boys Association Business Networking Luncheon in Lagos, on Saturday.

L-R: President/Chairman of Council, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, Mr. Muritala Olushekun; Chairman, Technical Sub- Committee, Mr. Bisi Oni and Chairman, Financial Techni-cal Sub-Committee, Mr. Olu Abayomi Sanya, during the press conference on the forth-coming 2nd Annual National Workshop by the institute in Lagos on Saturday.

L-R: Head, Mobile Financial Services, First Bank of Nigeria Ltd, Mr. Mike Ogbalu; Country Representative of UNICEF in Nigeria, Ms. Jean Gough, and EVP Technology & Services, First Bank, Mr. Akin Fanimokun, during the signing of an agreement to disburse funds to women in rural areas via the bank’s mobile money service, FirstMonie in Lagos over the weekend.

L-R: Managing Director, ITB Nigeria Ltd, Mr. Gabi Massoud; Founder, Society for the Perform-ing Arts in Nigeria, Sarah Boulos and singer, Olufunmi, at the 1st Dance and Music Graduation Ceremony of the society in Lagos on Friday. PHOTO: YINKA ADEPARUSI

National News

A little girl kidnapped from the children department of the

Living Faith Church in Ota, Ogun State, has been found.

The then two year old baby, known as Praise, but who has been rechristened Nneka was brought to the church yesterday where her parents shared the tes-timony of her miraculous reunion with the family.

The girl, now four years

old, was reportedly sold to a woman in Enugu.

Praise was rescued af-ter the man who was the head of the kidnap gang, Benjamin Ajaelu, con-fessed and gave the details of how the little girl was stolen.

In his confession re-corded and played for wor-shippers in the church yesterday, Ajaelu said he was struck with a strange disease after kidnapping

Praise. He also became blind,

adding that in addition to this, he was always seeing the founder of the church, Bishop David Oyedepo, pursuing him with a sword in his dream, hence his de-cision to confess his sin.

The Bishop said the self-confessed kidnapper was taken to a branch of Win-ners church by his wife before the church was in-formed.

Girl abducted at Winners Chapel returned after two years

CONTINUED ON PAGE 9>

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 5Monday, June 17, 2013 News




L-R: Osun State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori; Governor Rauf Aregbesola; RATCON Construction Project Manager, Fady Hamouch; wife of the governor, Alhaja Sherifat; Speaker, Osun State House of Assembly, Hon. Najeem Salam; Special Adviser to the Governor on Works and Transport, Sabitu Amuda during the inauguration of Omoluabi motorways and construction of Chief Adebisi Akande Trumpet Inter-Change Bridge, at Gbongan-Odeomu road, Osun State on Saturday.

OUR CORRESPONDENTS

The Federal Govern-ment is currently indebted to at least

10 state governments to the tune of N442.6bn for the repairs and rehabilita-tion of federal roads, find-ings by National Mirror have confirmed.

The total figure could easy cross the N1trn mark but National Mirror in-vestigations covered un-refunded expenses for the repairs and upgrading of federal roads in Lagos, Abia, Kwara, Ebonyi, Riv-ers, Kogi, Balyesa, Ekiti, Akwa Ibom and Cross Riv-er states.

According to investiga-tions by National Mirror correspondents, Akwa Ibom and Rivers states top the list of creditors, which claimed to have spent N150bn each in the last six years, followed by Lagos, Cross Rivers, Balyesa and Abia states which have expended N51bn, N24bn, N15bn and N14.6bn respec-tively for the repairs of fed-eral roads in their domains.

Other states such as Kwara, Kogi, Ebonyi, and Ekiti have spent N11bn, N10bn, N9bn and N8bn re-spectively.

These states are now begging the Federal Gov-ernment to pay back this money to enable them con-centrate on infrastructural development of their states.

When National Mirror contacted one of the aides of the Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolomemen, he said the issue was political and beyond his capacity.

He enjoined our corre-spondent to direct his ques-tions to the minister.

The road network cover-age in the country has in-creased significantly from 65,704 kilometres at inde-pendence in 1960 to 200,000 kilometres, and only about 60,000 kilometres were paved.

This number falls short of about 300,000 kilometres of paved road required in order to meet vision 20-2020 target in the sector.

Many of the roads were left in deplorable condi-tions over the years in some of the states, being a major reason why the state governments took it upon themselves to intervene in federal roads in their do-mains with the assurance

that the works done will be evaluated by the federal authority for them to get refund.

For some time now it has been an unending struggle for the state governments to reclaim money spent on these roads.

Lagos State Commis-sioner for Works, Dr. Oba-femi Hamzat, confirmed that it is yet to be refunded the N51bn spent on the re-pairs of roads belonging to Federal Government in the state.

According to Hamzat, non-payment of the money, he said has hindered rapid development of more roads and execution of some proj-ects in the state.

Corroborating this, the state Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Adetokunbo Abiru, added that the state had begun moves to ensure its N51bn expended on the federal roads is refunded in due course.

According to him, “I can only talk on the one that we have rehabilitated and sub-mitted its expenses which is about N51bn now and which is being looked into at the federal level.”

Investigations showed that list of federal roads rehabilitated by the Lagos State Government include Broad Street phase I&II, Martins Street (Part I and II), Nnamdi Azikwe Road, Ereko Street, Balogun Street, Brook Street, Cam-pus Street, Tinubu Square, Kakawa Street, Breadfruit Street, Alli Balogun Street, Bamgbose Street, Bamg-bose Road, Odunlami Road, Custom Street.

Others are Adeniji Adele Road, Idunmagbo Avenue; dualisation of Bourdillon/Alexander Road, Ikoyi; upgrading of Murtala Mu-hammed Road and Oyingbo Iddo Road, rehabilitation of Funsho Williams avenue (Phase I&II), upgrading of Apapa Central Business District (phase I&II).

The roads in Apapa con-sist Aerodrome Road, Cala-cuta Crescent, Duala Road, Kofo Abayomi Street, Itape-ju Avenue and Warehouse Road.

Others are the replace-ment of expansion Joint Ogudu-Alapere Bridge; contract awarded for the clearing of blocked drains and repair of damaged sec-tion of Agege Motor Road (Idi Oro to Ilupeju Bye Pass); upgrading of public

infrastructure at Oshodi Bus Stop; rehabilitation and upgrading of Ipakodo Round about, Ikorodu; and rehabilitation of Campbell Street, Ganiyu Smith Road, Catholic Mission Street Mission Street, Kerb Paint-ing at Onikan round about Lagos House; and recon-struction of Onikoyi Road.

Although, the Minister of Works, Onolememe, had on April 9, promised that the Federal Government would pay N20bn to states that had complied with the provisions for the reha-bilitation of federal roads in their states in 2013, but some of the states, especial-ly Lagos State, are yet to be refunded.

While briefing the Na-tional Working Committee, NWC, members of the PDP on the activities of his min-istry at the party’s National

Headquarters in Abuja re-cently, the minister said the N20bn would be shared to the state governments that complied with the provi-sion for carrying out such rehabilitation of roads out of the verified N42bn.

The minister blamed the non-payment of the state’s expenditure on federal roads on failure of some state governors to follow the required guidelines for carrying out such roads re-habilitation.

Onolememe explained that one of the guidelines was that such rehabilita-tion should be done in line with the Public Procure-ment Act of 2007, because federal funds were involved.

His words: “In procure-ment matters, you do not spend federal funds if they are not in compliance with the Public Procurement

Act. That is where some of them have challenges.”

In Rivers State, the story was the same as the state government said it has spent about N150bn on Fed-eral Government projects in various parts of the state with over 90 per cent of such funds expended on re-habilitation of dilapidated federal roads in the state in the last six years.

Some of the beneficia-ries of the interventions in-clude such important roads as the Port Harcourt- Ower-ri Road, which was expand-ed from single lane to a dual carriage at an estimated cost of N24bn. The project has attained more than 95 per cent completion.

The next is the Eleme Junction Interchange, con-structed on the ever busy Enugu-Port Harcourt ex-pressway estimated to have

cost between N8bn. Also the Obirikwerre

interchange located on the East-West road; dualisation of Ikwerre Road and expan-sion of Ada-George Road into six lanes, which has attained about 85 per cent completion.

Others are the Azikiwe road, rehabilitated by the state government and Ru-mukwurushi-Igwurita road among others.

Also, the Federal Gov-ernment owes Akwa Ibom State over N150bn on road projects.

Before the administra-tion of Godswill Akpabio, federal roads had become death traps, but the gover-nor went ahead and built several federal roads which include, Calabar Itu federal road, Abak – Ikot Ekpene road, Uyo Ikot Ekpene –

born native also rejected the Presidential Lodge, which has been prepared for her by the state officials.

These acts are clear de-parture from existing pro-tocols which mandates the state to provide for the First Lady and her entourage, which include a retinue of aides and associates, any-time she is in the state.

A Protocol Officer, who was involved in the provision of the amenities could not hide his disbelief at the airport, when he and his colleagues were ordered to return to their offices with the vehicles they came in to convey the First Lady and her entourage.

He told National Mirror that in his over 20 years in the protocol department of the

state; no functionary has ever rejected the state’s amenities.

“We were taken aback when we got to the airport and the protocol officials of the First Lady rejected the vehicles and also told us that she would not be staying at the Presidential Lodge and that we should go back with the vehicles. There was definitely some-thing amiss in the situa-tion, because she has visit-ed the state many times and she has never rejected these things before. We were horrified at the embarrass-ment,” he said.

Governor Amaechi, however, got his own pound of flesh when he refused to attend the commissioning by the First Lady, an inter-national school donated

by the Israeli government but was represented by his Deputy, Mr. Tele Ikuru.

On Saturday morning, the governor also shunned the wedding and reception ceremony of a Personal Assistant to the First Lady, who is also a member of the State House of Assembly, Evans Bibi Bapakaye. He chose to attend an official function at the Andoni Lo-cal Government.

The First Lady in turn failed to honour an invita-tion to attend the launching/fund raising ceremony of Port Harcourt as the World Book Capital at the Presiden-tial Hotel on Saturday night.

Dame Jonathan, at the wedding ceremony, subtly lashed out at Amaechi. Ac-cording to her, during the

times of Chief Rufus Ada George and Peter Odili, people from all over the world troop to the state to visit then Garden city, but that she prayed that the city should revert to its old glory.

Residents saw her re-buke and the ‘cat and mouse’ game, she and the governor played over the weekend as a rehash of the August 24, 2010 public spat between them, when both were involved in a near-scuffle at Okrika town.

On that day, the First Lady’s two-day visit to the state ended in a fiasco, when she wrested the mi-crophone from the gover-nor to protest his use of certain languages she con-sidered to be insensitivity to the people of her town.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net6 Monday, June 17, 2013News

FG to employ 20,000 PHCN casual workers

TUC faults appointment of ‘unqualifi ed’ judges for NICMESHACK IDEHEN

The Trade Union Con-gress (TUC) has fault-ed the appointments

of new judges to the bench of the National Industrial Court (NIC) and demanded an investigation into how they were appointed.

In a petition sent to the Chairman of National Judi-cial Council, (NJC), a copy of which was made available to National Mirror, TUC Presi-dent, Mr. Peter Esele, said Labour had confirmed that none of the newly appointed judges met the requirement of the law and therefore not qualified to preside over the industrial relations and la-bour matters.

The TUC president said

the Labour is therefore compelled as a major stake-holder in the cases decided by the court to request for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the “illegal” appointment of the 12 new judges of the NIC by the President based on the recommendations of the NJC.

Esele said: “Some law-yers, who were qualified by law, were not shortlisted by the NIC President, Justice Babatunde Adejumo, be-cause they are not connect-ed to people in high places”.

Quoting Section 2 of the National Industrial Court Act 2006, which provides for the appointment of le-gal practitioners of not less than 10 years standing with considerable knowledge

and experience in the law and practice of industrial relations or a graduate of recognised university of not less than 10 years stand-ing who has considerable knowledge and experience in the law and practice of industrial relations and employment conditions in Nigeria, Esele insisted that the new judges did not meet those criteria.

The TUC president said: “Labour has confidence that the NJC Chairman, Justice Maryam Aloma Mukhtar, who has embarked on patri-otic reform of the judiciary, will not allow judges who are not qualified to preside over cases in the National Indus-trial Court”.

In the petition, some of the newly appointed judges

of the court listed by the TUC president are: Chief Registrar of the National Industrial Court, Mrs. R.B. Haastrup; Assistant Chief Registrar, Mrs. L. Mani; As-sistant Director, National Law Reform Commission, Mrs. W. Abali; Director, Ad-ministration Federal Judi-cial Service Commission, Mrs. R.A. Gwandu and Di-rector of Studies, National Judicial Institute, Mrs. O.Y. Anuwe.

Other judges listed as not qualified include Director, National Judicial Institute, Mr. J.D. Peters, Chief Mag-istrate, Mr. O.O. Oyewunmi, Legal Practitioner, Mrs. E.N.N. Agbakoba, Mrs. A.k. Ikechukwu, Mrs. A. Ubaka, Mr. P.O. Lifu and Mr. E.D.E. Isele.

UDEME AKPAN

The Federal Govern-ment has concluded the process of giving

employment to about 20,000 casual workers of Power Holding Companies of Ni-geria (PHCN), thus rais-ing hope for preparation and payment of severance benefits to workers in the power sector.

The accurate computa-tion and payment of the benefits are also precon-

ditions for the successful handover of the 15 Electric-ity Generation Companies (GENCOs) and Electric-ity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) to preferred bid-ders.

Investigations showed that while many got their letters from the PHCN af-ter the clearance of the Ministry of Power, the last set of about 3,000 workers who had some issues were cleared by the government technical committee last week.

L-R: Vice-President, Men Christian Association, First Abuja Parish, Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, Dr. Kenneth Kalu; Minister-in-Charge, Rev. Solomon Umazi and President, Mr. Emmanuel Nsa ,during the Fathers’ Day celebration in Abuja, yesterday . PHOTO: ROTIMI OSASONA

Infl ation rate drops to 9% in MayTOLA AKINMUTIMI ABUJA

Nigeria’s inflation rate dropped to nine per cent in May,

representing a marginal de-cline from the 9.1 per cent it attained in the preceding month. This indicated that year-on-year, rates continue to hold below single digits as observed since the beginning of the year.

The report of the Compos-ite Price Index (CPI), which measures the rate of infla-tion rate, released by the Na-tional Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday and signed by the Statistician General of the Federation, Dr. Yemi Kale, showed that the core sub-index continues to show a muted rise due to base ef-fects.

The year-on-year muted changes for the rest of the year in the Core Index may be sustained until the end of the year, according to the statistical agency due to sub-stantially higher price levels this time last year.

The report read: “As stated in the April 2013 CPI Report, the year-on-year changes in the Core index for the rest of the year are likely to be muted as a result of substantially higher price levels this time last year. The increase in food prices cap-tured by the Food Sub-index, while significant, are also lower year-on-year. Through the first five months of 2013, the Food Sub-index has av-eraged 10.0 per cent, 1.8 per cent lower than rates record-ed over the same period last year.

“Relative to April, the rise in the headline index could be attributable to higher prices in all 12 COICOP di-visions. Higher prices were also reflected in the Food and Core sub-indices. All

divisions (except the Food and Non-Alcoholic Bever-

ages) rose faster that levels exhibited in April. This is also reflected in the faster month-on-month rates in the Core sub index in May vis-à-vis April. On the other hand, the Food Sub-index indicates a slower rate of increase in food prices in May relative to April.”

According to NBS, in May the composite CPI increased by a faster rate than that re-corded in

The preceding month as the index increased by 0.67 per cent compared to the 0.5 per cent in April. The Urban composite CPI was recorded at 144.5 points in May, a 9.4 per cent year-on-year change which was lower than the 9.7 per cent recorded in April. Similarly, the Rural

National CPI also record-ed an 8.6 per cent year-on-year change, lower than the 8.9 per cent in April by 0.3 percentage points.

The Urban All-item index increased in May by 0.6 per cent roughly the same rate as recorded in the preceding month on a month-on-month basis, while the Rural All Items index increased from levels recorded in April by 0.5 per cent.

The statistical agency reported further that the percentage change in the av-erage Composite CPI for the twelve-month period ending in May 2013 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve-month period was re-corded at 10.8 per cent. The corresponding 12-month year-on-year

average percentage change for the Urban index was 12.6 per cent, while the corresponding Rural index was 9.5 per cent.

The Composite Food In-dex increased year-on-year by 9.3 per cent to 146.4 points in May, representing 0.7 per-centage points lower than the 10.0 per cent recorded in April.

A member of the com-mittee, who preferred not to be named, said: “We re-viewed many cases before approving that about 3,000 more casual workers be given their letters of em-ployment.

“The completion of the process and information generated will enhance the work of the technical committee that is saddled with many responsibili-ties, especially verifica-tion and computing of accurate benefits to be paid to workers before the handover of the GENCOs and DISCOs to private in-vestors.”

The National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) National Presi-dent, who is also a mem-ber of committee, Mr. Mansur Musa, said: “This is good as it will enable the committee to complete its

assignment. The commit-tee has been working. The formal engagement letters have provided additional facts and figures, espe-cially date of employment, name, level, age and wages required to compute their entitlements for settle-ment before the handover of the companies.”

President of the Se-nior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies, Mr. Bede Ok-para, said: “The technical committee that reviewed the others with major and minor issues last Saturday cleared more people for the issuance of letters.”

Okpara said on comple-tion of its work, the techni-cal committee would hand over to the implementation committee that was put in place to execute the various aspects of the findings, in-cluding ensuring that pay-

ment is made to workers. He said there were indi-

cations that some workers may be paid N384 billion severance benefits as soon as the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, an-nounced in Lagos a few days ago that the workers would be paid on June 17, 2013.

The minister, who raised hope for payment, told workers of Egbin power plant last week that: “For several months, the technical and imple-mentation committee on payment of severance benefits has been meet-ing on the issue and we thought by now we would have gone far with the pay-ment

Nebo said: “Your lead-ership has signed docu-ments and no one is going to give the workers less than what is stipulated in

the condition of service. Very soon, the money will start hitting your ac-counts.”

He advised workers who may be retained to serve the preferred bid-ders in different capaci-ties to continue to do their best for the development of the nation’s electricity sector.

The bidders included Amperion Power Distri-bution Company Limited which emerged winner with a bid of $132,000,000 as the preferred bidder for the core investor of 51 per cent shares of Geregu Power Plc; Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited, which offered an annual fee of $50,760,665.18 and a commencement fee of $257,000,000 as the preferred bidder for the concession of Kainji Hydro Power Plc.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 7Monday, June 17, 2013 News

Arms-laden Russian plane, crew detained, released in KanoAUGUSTINE MADU-WEST KANO

A Russian plane carrying military hardware and its

nine crew members were detained overnight at the Malam Aminu Kano Inter-national Airport, MAKIA, on the orders of military authorities in Kano.

The weapon-laden plane made a technical landing at the airport ap-parently to refuel.

Security sources dis-closed that the revelation of the cargo manifest upon scrutiny prompted the clamp-down on the jet by security personnel as it was found to be carry-

ing large consignments of arms and ammunition.

Following this discov-ery, it was gathered that the plane was denied take off while the crew mem-bers were rounded up and kept under watch, secu-rity sourcees described as ‘protective custody.’

The arms and the iden-tities of the crew members could not be ascertained as at the time of this report, it was, however, gathered that the plane was heading for Kinshasha, the capital of Congo Democratic Re-public.

Spokesman for the 3 Mechanised Brigade, Nigeria Army, Captain Ikedichi Iweha, declined

comment on the develop-ment, he rather referred National Mirror to the Corporate Affairs Man-ager of the Federal Avia-tion Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Mr. Shawe, who, when contacted, said he was not competent to com-ment on the issue.

However, the aircraft and the nine crew mem-bers were released at about 2.00pm yesterday, 24 hours after the intercep-tion.

Sources said that the plane left Kano for its final destination of Kinshasha later.

However, no explana-tion has been given by se-curity agents over the de-

tention of the aircraft and its eventual release on the orders of the military.

It will be recalled that at about this time last year, an Ukrainian cargo plane from Dubai in the Middle East was impounded at the airport when it landed to refuel, the jet was found to be carrying assorted weapons by security offi-cers at the airport.

After several days of intense investigations and diplomatic shuttle, the arms-laden plane was re-leased to continue its jour-ney to Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, which security authorities claimed was the final des-tination of the weapons.

Tributes as ex-Minister, Dosumu is buried in Lagos

Providence brought ABUAD to Ekiti –Afe Babalola

Two get life imprisonment for gang-raping girl

TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE

Commendations and praises were yes-terday showered

on the former Minister of Housing and Environ-ment and a Peoples Demo-cratic Party, PDP, stalwart, Senator Wahab Dosumu, as his remains were laid to rest at his country home in Ajah, Lagos State.

The body of Dosumu, a former chieftain of the National Democratic Coali-tion, NADECO, who died in the United States on June 9, at the age of 74, arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport at about 6.30 am aboard a Vir-

gin Atlantic Airline and was received by a huge crowd of party members, family and friends.

The corpse was driven to Eko Club, Surulere and later Yoruba Tennis Club, Onikan, where there was a lying-in-state during which club members filed past in a rite of passage to pay their last respects.

The corpse was later tak-en to the deceased family house on Oshodi Street, in Epetedo Area of Lagos Is-land, where, a short Islamic ceremony was held to offer prayers for the repose of his soul before his remains were laid to rest.

Among those present to pay their last respects to the late minister was the

former governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakan-de; PDP former Deputy National Chaiman (South), Chief Olabode George; Chairman Eleganza Group of Companies, Chief Rasaq Okoya; former Minister for State for Defence; Chief Demola Seriki and former Minister for Works, Senator Seye Ogunlewe, the Lagos State Chairman of the party, Chief Tunji Shelle; Senators Khairat Gwadabe, Femi Lan-lehin and Iyabo Anisulowo.

Chief George described the late Dosumu as a front-line Lagosian and a pace-setter, who gave a sense of belonging to the people be-yond party divide, adding that the deceased will be missed for his forthright-

ness and dedication to wor-thy causes.

Jakande also remi-nisced about the late ex-minister, saying that they had a cooperation that ben-efitted the people of Lagos while he was the Minister of Housing and Environ-ment.

“As a governor during Dosumu’s tenure as Hous-ing Minister, he provided land to facilitate our low cost housing projects in Lagos State,” Jakande said.

Chairman of the Yo-ruba Tennis Club, Mr Seyi Joseph, described him as a staunch NADECO chieftain and a thorough bred politi-cian, who was always calm and amiable.

Founder of Afe Ba-balola University, Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD,

Chief Afe Babalola, at the weekend, revealed that the four-year old institution would have been sited out-side Ekiti State, but for the intervention of the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Ad-ejugbe and the former state governor, Chief Olusegun Oni.

Babalola, speaking when the COREN Pre-accredita-tion Visitation Team vis-ited the Ewi in his palace, recalled how an unnamed state government had allo-cated to him large hectares of land with promises of other mouth-watering and near irresistible offers to lure him into establishing the university in the un-named state.

According to him, but for the emotional, financial and spiritual support of the royal father, the univer-sity would have been sited outside the shores of Ado-Ekiti.

Having set up the uni-versity, the legal icon said that it is a combination of faith and the ‘we can do it spirit’ that has sustained the university.

He said: “This universi-

ty is a product of faith. It is not as if I have N80 billion, the current value of infra-structure on ground today. I don’t even have a quarter of it. But I have faith that we can do it and the result is what we have on ground today.”

Relying on the Global Universities Webometrics ranking that has rated ABUAD as the fastest growing university in Afri-ca, Babalola enthused that the university currently has 49 programmes while those licensed about the same time with it can only boast of seven of such pro-grammes.

He called on COREN to always emphasise the place and import of inspi-rational engineering in the quest for Nigeria to take its rightful place in the comity of nations.

Oba Adejugbe, who con-firmed that Babalola has fulfilled his promise to re-form and change the face of education, particularly at the tertiary level in Ni-geria, appealed to people who are blessed, to repli-cate what the legal icon has done in Ado-Ekiti in the other geo-political zones of the country.

Two young men in their early 30s have been convicted and

sentenced to life impris-onment for gang raping a 17-year-old girl after rob-bing the girl’s parents of valuables.

A Delta high court sit-ting in Ughelli has sen-tenced the two notorious rapists to life jail, having found them guilty of the offence of conspiracy, rape and attempted armed robbery.

The court while de-livering the verdict that lasted for over two hours, condemned the action of the criminals and advised young people never to re-sort to crime no matter the condition they found themselves.

The court declined the plea for mercy by the de-fence counsel, M. I. Osh-emele, on the ground of law and proceeded to hand down the mandatory pun-ishment for the offence they committed as pre-scribed by law.

Having cited several

authorities to deliver the judgement, the trial judge, Justice O. Tobi, averred that the confessional statements of the accused which was admitted in ev-idence during trial passed the veracity test and was not in doubt, saying that the prosecution led by P. T. Daubry, had proved the es-sential ingredients of the three count information charge.

Ernest Steve, aged 30 and Jerry Godwin, 29, re-portedly broke into the 17-year-old girl’s (name withheld) parents’ apart-ment located at Young Af-rica Close, Ovwian within Otor-Udu judicial division under the cover of dark-ness on November, 5, 2007 while armed with a gun and knife. After alleg-edly robbing the parents of the young girl of some valuables, whose father was said to be a Pastor, the armed gang had carnal knowledge of her in turns causing her severe bodily injury and psychological trauma.

L-R: Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President on Media, Malam Umar Sani; Kaduna State Governor, Ramalan Yero and Vice- President Namadi Sambo, during the vice-president’s condolence visit to Sani on the death of his wife, in Kaduna on Saturday. PHOTO: NAN

BURIAL OF ALHAJA ABIBATU MOGAJI

KEMI OLAITAN IBADAN

Less than two weeks after the activities of pipeline vandals

caused explosion in Elebu area of Ibadan, another explosion on Saturday night rocked Alapata com-munity in the city.

The community is on Apete-Akufo Road.

During a visit to the scene yesterday, the valve pit of the Nigerian Na-tional Petroleum Corpo-ration (NNPC) pipeline was still burning while thick smoke covered the air with men of the anti-vandalisation squad of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) the police, NNPC team and State Se-curity Service (SSS) offi-cials keeping people away from the scene

An eye witness, who did not want his name mentioned, told journal-ists that the explosion did not claim any life, but de-stroyed some portions of farmlands and other prop-erty.

A farmer, Alhaji Fatai Ayilara, said that security operatives were contacted immediately some strange movement was noticed in the area on Wednesday.

He then called for the construction of the road linking the area to Apata community as part of the measures to check the ac-tivities of the vandals.

Ayilara said: “We sus-pected some strange movement around this area on Wednesday and we informed the security. About eight of them came and we went round to-gether.

“On Friday when I closed from work, I ob-served that the vandals have tempered with the valve pit. I went round and realised the padlock was intact. There was no damage to the iron there too, but I saw foot prints along the bush path.

“Then on Saturday morning, I observed mas-sive noise from the area.”

However, before we got back, fuel had already started gushing out and flowing into farmlands, stream and adjourning areas. We informed secu-rity and I left. I was later informed that the place caught fire.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net8 Monday, June 17, 2013South West

Lagos stands still as Tinubu buries mum

Abibat Mogaji: Nigeria’s markets to be shut todayMURITALA AYINLA

Indications emerged yesterday that mar-kets in Lagos and other

states of the federation will be shut today in hon-our of the late President-

General of Market Women and Men Association, Al-haja Abibatu Mogaji.

Although, there were speculations that some markets in the North may not be shut, sources said markets in the South-West

would observe the closure in honour of the deceased.

Speaking with Nation-al Mirror yesterday, the Iya-Oja-General of Lagos Island, Alhaja Iyabode Fagbemi, said all markets in the country were ex-

pected to be shut as mark of respect for the departed leader.

She said: “As at now, the conclusion is that markets should be shut tomor-row (today). It will be ob-served across the nation

because the deceased was the President-General of the Market Women and Men across the country. That is what we can say for now. By tomorrow or next tomorrow, there may be other development”.

Farmlands destroyed in Ibadan pipeline explosion

ROTIMI FADEYI, MURITALA AYINLA, WOLE ADEDEJI, PRISCILLA DENNIS AND TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE

Lagos stood still yes-terday as the Na-tional Leader of the

Action Congress of Nige-ria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, buried his mother, Alhaja Abibat Mogaji, amid pomp.

The House of Repre-sentatives Speaker, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal; Gov-ernors Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) and Ibikunke Amu-sun (Ogun) paid tributes to the mother of the ACN leader.

Former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyouku; ACN National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande and the ACN chieftain, Chief Tom Iki-mi, also joined hundreds of eminent Nigerians that paid tributes to the late Mogaji.

As early as 8:4am, all roads leading to Ikoyi Vaults and Gardens and Lagos Central Mosques on Lagos Island were busy with heavy gridlock.

Abibat Mogaji’s body was taken to the Central Mosque, Lagos Island, at about 11:24 am for Jan-nazah prayer before the final burial at the Ikoyi Vaults and Gardens.

Speaking after the buri-al, Tambuwal described the late President- General of the Market Women and Men Association of Nige-ria as a widely acknowl-edged philanthropist, who would be greatly missed by all the downtrodden in the nation.

He said: “She was a great woman and a great mobiliser of women and an advocate of people’s right. Her socio-economic contribution to the nation will definitely be missed. She has left a vacuum in the nation. She was a spe-cial gift to this country. Other market women and

men must emulate mama. They should be fair espe-cially in the way they fixe price for their commod-ity.”

Governor Aregbesola said the late Iya-loja was a Muslim who lived an exemplary life by sharing with the needy, regardless of where they come from.

He said: “She was a mo-biliser and a good organ-iser. She was a leader and mobiliser of women. She was a philanthropist. She was charitable and com-passionate. She mentored us so much.”

But speaking at the Fi-dau held at the Blue Roof of the LTV8, the National Missioner of the Ansar-U-Deen Society of Nigeria, Sheikh Abdul Rahaman Ahmad, described death as inevitable, urging the nation’s leaders to always remember death as it would come when it is not prepared for.

He said: “Alhaja Abibat Mogaji came, saw and con-quered. I sympathise with Asiwaju. We came one-by-one and we shall return to Almighty one after the other.”

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday sym-pathised with Tinubu over the death of his mother.

In a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Me-dia and Publicity, Dr. Reu-ben Abati, the President extended his condolence to Tinubu as the body of Alhaja Mogaji was buried.

Jonathan said he joined Tinubu, his family, the people of Lagos and the many Nigerians whose lives were touched by the deceased’s activism over the years in mourning the late President-General of the Association of Nige-rian Market Women and Men.

Senate President David Mark described the late Mogaji as an ideal mother who contributed to the peace and development of the society.

Mark noted that the late Mogaji was a great busi-

Arrival of Alhaja Mogaji’s body at Ikoyi Cemetery.

Sympathisers at the cemetery. PHOTOS: BAYOOR EWUOSO

ness woman and leader whose philanthropic ges-ture cut across ethnic and religious boundaries.

He added that the late Mogaji would be remem-bered for her industry and leadership quality, saying that she was “a great lead-er who brought dignity and honour in administra-tion and purposeful man-agement in commerce and industry in Lagos and the environs.”

Niger State Gover-nor Babangida Aliyu de-scribed Mogaji’s death as a big loss.

In a statement signed by his Chief Press Sec-retary, Danladi Ndyebo, Aliyu described the late Iyaloja of Lagos as a tow-ering business and wom-en’s rights figure who not only brought tremendous change to the business and political landscape of La-gos, but to Nigeria.

The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), in a statement made avail-able to National Mirror yesterday by Francis Ede, Senior Media Assistant to APGA National Chair-man, Maxi Okwu, de-scribed the late Mogaji as a renowned market leader, activist and mobiliser of the womenfolk for socio-economic change and em-powerment.

Governor Fayemi of Ekiti described Mogaji’s death as a great loss for the nation’s commerce and economy.

The governor said in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary that Alhaja Mogaji was a pillar of support for many people in her lifetime as she served as an oak of succour to the less-privi-leged.

Also, Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State recalled the late Alhaja Mogaji’s involvement in

politics from her days as a member of Chief Oba-femi Awolowo’s Action Group (AG) and the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), stating that her footprints on the political terrain, especially in the mobili-sation of the womenfolk, for political and develop-ment purposes can never be wished away.

The governor praised Alhaja Mogaji’s involve-ment in commerce as well and the role she played as the President General of the Association of Nige-rian Market Women and Men, an association with which she fought for the rights of market men and women.

Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed said the death of Alhaja Magaji was a great national loss given her prominent posi-tion in the coordination and mobilisation of mar-ket women for national de-velopment.

•Jonathan, Mark, Tambuwal, others pay tributes

ABIODUN NEJOADO EKITI

Ekiti State govern-ment, at the weekend, appealed to the strik-

ing public primary and sec-ondary schools’ teachers in the state to accept the 15 per cent Teachers’ Peculiar Al-lowance, TPA, being offered them and shelve their two-week old strike.

The state government, which said it could not af-ford the 27.5 per cent being demanded by the teachers in view of its lean purse, as-sured that it would add the remaining 12.5 per cent to the 15 per cent it could afford now when the economy of the state improves.

Information Commis-sioner, Mr. Tayo Ekundayo, spoke at a press conference he jointly addressed with his Education counterpart, Mr. Kehinde Ojo and Labour and Productivity Commis-sioner, Mr. Oluwole Ariyo, at the weekend, following the collapse of talks between the state government and the national leadership of the Nigerian Union of Teachers, NUT.

The Micheal Alogba Olu-koya-led NUT national lead-ership and the state govern-

Aba highway among others. Commissioner for Infor-

mation and Communica-tions, Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Aniekan Umana, said the Federal Government owes the state over N150bn on road construction in the last six years.

The commissioner told National Mirror in Uyo that the government intervened in the construction and reha-bilitation of the roads to ease movement of persons and goods within state and their neighbouring states.

Umana maintained that President Goodluck Jona-than has given assurances to the state that the Federal Government will repay such funds expended on the road projects soon.

Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State has put the to-tal amount of money owed the state by the Federal Gov-ernment over the repairs and reconstruction of ne-glected federal roads in the state at N14.6bn.

Orji had disclosed this debt figure owed his state when members of Works Committee of the House of

Representatives paid him courtesy call penultimate week in Umuahia, Abia State capital.

He told the committee members that the state had submitted to the Federal Government for refund, the sum of N14.6bn.

Orji said the bill covered work done on 16 roads in the state, adding that he is wait-ing for Federal Government evaluation of the works done and approval of the refund to the state.

In Kwara State, the state government, according to the Works Commissioner, Dr. Amuda Kannike, had, in the last two years, spent about N11bn to complete inherited ongoing road projects.

Findings by National Mir-ror showed that Ebonyi State government has spent N9bn to repair Abakaliki/ Ufurak-pa federal road among oth-ers.

The governor in 2008 had awarded roads such as Abakaliki/ Ufurakpa, part of Abakaliki/ Amashiri fed-eral roads among others at the cost of over N9bn.

As it is, the governor had decried the delay in the re-fund of the money, stressing that he had reminded Presi-dent Jonathan several times to task the Federal Minis-try of Works to refund the money to enable him accom-plished the on-going projects it’s embarked upon before leaving office in 2015.

He said: “Let me say that Abakaliki/ Ufurakpa roads for which we have an out-standing claim of over N9bn was not only approved by the President but it was designed that the Federal Ministry of Works should refund us.”

In Kogi State, the imme-diate past administration of Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, spent over N10bn on some federal roads in the state which the state is yet to be reimbursed.

The amount was said to have been spent on the reconstruction of Lokoja–Ajaokuta road, Ankpa-Abe-juKolo/Bagana road, Ejule-Imami-Idah and Idah-Ibaji roads in Kogi East Senato-rial District.

Investigation further revealed that at the com-

missioning of the Lokoja-Ajaokuta road, President Jonathan pledged to refund the money expended on road reconstruction to the state government.

The state Commissioner for Works, Mallam Abdul-lahi Ibrahim, refused to talk on the issue when contacted.

However, impeccable sources stressed there was an effort to reclaim the mon-ey recently when top engi-neers and the Commissioner for Works in the state had an emergency meeting recently.

Also in Bayelsa, the Federal Government owes the state government over N15bn from the expenses in-curred in the construction of federal roads in the state.

State Commissioner of Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Lawrence Ewhrud-jakpo, disclosed this to Na-tional Mirror in an inter-view in Yenagoa, saying the state government had made frantic efforts to recover the money, but it was unsuc-cessful.

The Commissioner noted that the popular Mbiama-

Yenagoa road that was dual-ised at the cost of N6.1bn and the construction of Ekoli bridge that gulped N4.8bn were among federal roads executed by the state govern-ment.

The story from Ekiti is not different from others as the Federal Government is said to owe the state government over N8bn spent on federal roads.

The Senior Special As-sistant to Governor Kayode Fayemi on Roads, Hon. Sunday Adunmo, listed the two roads as the Ado-Iworoko–Ifaki Road and the Aramoko–Ijero–Ido Road, where the state government intervened in the interest of road users in the state.

“If the Federal Govern-ment reimburses us N8bn now, we will be able to meet other needs in the state.

“That amount will con-struct not less than 150 kilo-metres of roads for our peo-ple. That is why the Federal Government needs to rise to its responsibility of working on its roads,” he said.

Similarly, the Cross River

State Commissioner for Works, Hon. Mr. Legor Id-agbor, said in Calabar that federal authority still owes the state government N24bn it spent to rehabilitate some federal roads in the state.

Idagbo, while speaking during a ministerial press briefing, said before now, the federal authority had told the government of Cross River State that what it owed the state government was N13bn and not N24bn.

The commissioner stated that even when the state wanted to claim the N13bn proposed by the Federal Government, the money was not given to the state govern-ment.

The roads include Ikom-Obudu roads, Calabar-Obu-bra / Ikom-Ogoja road and Calabar-Itu roads; all these made the money to accumu-late up to that amount.

Dayo Ayeyemi, Muri-tala Ayinla, George Opa-ra, Wole Adedeji, Aliuna Godwin, Wale Ibrahim, Emma Gbemudu, Abio-dun Nejo, Tony Anichebe and Richard Ndoma

OLUSEGUN KOIKI

Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, BASL, operators of

the Murtala Mohammed Airport Two, MMA2, Lagos, yesterday insisted it does not need the approval of the Fed-eral Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, before put-ting its adverts on its struc-tures within the airport.

BASL said by virtue of its concession agreement with FAAN and the lease agree-ment on the hotel presently under construction, it has the right to place adverts within its complex without interfer-ence from the agency or any other government agencies in the country unless ruled otherwise by the court.

It will be recalled that FAAN said that it destroyed the billboards and others within the airport because some of the adverts were placed without the approval of the agency.

The General Manager, Corporate Communications, FAAN, Mr. Yakubu Dati, had insisted that FAAN as the landlord of the airport envi-ronment, has the right to get rid of any illegal structure placed within its premises and challenged Bi-Courtney to visit the court of arbitra-tion if it was not satisfied

with its step. He, however, added that

the removal of all “illegal adverts” within the airport was not only targeted at BASL, but to all advert agen-cies operating illegally at the airport, stressing that the ex-ercise would continue nation-wide and would soon move to other airports in the country.

“The placement of such advert materials infringed on the advertisement rights of FAAN, since the company or organisation responsible for the placing of the advert ma-terial did not receive FAAN’s permission to do so.”

But, a statement signed by BASL spokesman, Mr. Steve Ajulo-Omolale, yester-day said BASL had dragged FAAN and its managing director before Justice Ste-phen Jonah Adah of the Federal High Court in 2010, seeking the following re-liefs: “A declaration that the defendants are not entitled to unilaterally remove, pull down, destroy, dismantle and/or interfere with the adverts placed on the plain-tiff’s overhead pedestrian bridge at its terminal in the MMA2, without first refer-ring same to the dispute resolution mechanisms set up under Article 22 of the Concession Agreement dat-ed 24th April, 2003.”

Strike: Ekiti offers 15% allowance, appeals to teachers


FAAN’s approval for our billboards unnecessary –Bi-Courtney

Suspected pipeline vandals paraded by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, Oyo State Command, in Ibadan, at the weekend.

ment could not agree as the body rejected the 15 per cent being offered by the state government.

Ekundayo, while appeal-ing to teachers in the state, said the administration “has done and is still doing a lot towards ensuring that education takes its pride of place, through the provision of incentives to teachers, including capacity building, provision of teaching ma-terials and appointment of teachers as tutor-generals, among others.”

He said: “To pay the 27 per cent allowance, the state wage bill will increase by N155.5 million monthly and

N1.87 billion annually. Con-versely, the 15 per cent being offered by the state will also increase the wage bill by N70 million monthly which translates to N848.37 million annually.

“The government there-fore appeals to the teach-ers to accept the 15 per cent allowance in the spirit of patriotism, knowing that other neighbouring states are also paying the percent-age of the allowance they can afford.

The NUT in the state, a fortnight ago, joined their counterparts in some states to embark on strike to press home their demand for 27.5

per cent allowance. The Education Commis-

sioner, Ojo, said: “The Gover-nor Kayode Fayemi adminis-tration is teachers’ friendly. It is this administration that restored the scrapped car and housing loans that was stopped by the immediate past administration and also went ahead and appointed teachers into key offices in-cluding me, the Deputy Gov-ernor, Prof. Modupe Adelabu and others.

“So, I expect the teach-ers to have confidence in the government’s promise to pay the remaining allow-ance when the economy improves."


National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 9South WestMonday, June 17, 2013

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net10 Monday, June 17, 2013 South East

College’s lecturers trained in EnuguDENNIS AGBOENUGU

Nigerian Canada-based Professor of English, Obi Mad-

uakor, has begun a two-week workshop for lectur-ers of the Federal College of Education, Eha-Amufu, Enugu State.

Prof. Maduakor, who was in the Department of English and Literary Stud-ies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, before he left Nige-ria, for Canada, is now edu-cating the college lectures on the modern dynamics of teaching to meet interna-tional best practices.

The college’s Provost,

Prof. Ben Mbah, said that the lecturers welcomed the training and were receiving it with great enthusiasm.

Mbah said that the ex-cess of the training is to sharpen the lecturers’ skills for optimum perfor-mance.

The provost said: “Prof. Maduakor is sharing his experience with teach-ing staff after 10 years of teaching English at univer-sity in Canada. He had ear-lier taught in Nigerian uni-versities for over 30 years.”

Mbah, however, named adequate staff accommoda-tion, robust roads and func-tional borehole as some of the college’s needs.

Abia State Governor Theodore Orji (second right) with Managing Director, J & J Techno Nigeria Limited, Mr. Tony Jamhour (left) and others during an inspection of the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs complex in Umuahia recently.

CHRIS NJOKU OWERRI

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State narrowly es-

caped mob action in Oguta Local Government Area of the state at the weekend as his convoy was attacked by hoodlums believed to be sup-porters of a Peoples Demo-cratic Party (PDP) candidate, Chief Eugene Dibiagwu.

Dibiagwu’s campaign

team was in the local gov-ernment area for the forth-coming Oguta constituency re-run election scheduled to hold next week.

Okorocha, who was in the area to seek support for the All Progressives Grand Alli-ance (APGA) candidate, Wal-ter Okechukwu Uzonwanne,

was reportedly attacked by the miscreants.

It was learnt that as the governor’s convoy ap-proached, Dibiagwu ordered his supporters to block the road in an attempt to pre-vent the governor from cam-paigning.

In the melee that ensued,

the governor’s out-rider was knocked down, beaten up and his radio seized by the hoodlums.

But a source, who did not want his name mentioned, claimed that the governor was returning from an in-spection tour at Awa com-munity when he ran into the

Party supporters attack Okorocha’s convoy

DENNIS AGBOENUGU

A group, Enugu State Roots Initiative (ESRI), has hailed the

pronouncement by Gover-nor Sullivan Chime that it is the turn of the Enugu North Senatorial District popularly referred to as Nsukka zone to produce the next governor in 2015.

The group also commend-ed the Deputy Senate Presi-dent, Senator Ike Ekwerema-du, over a report that he had dropped his alleged gover-norship ambition.

In a statement made avail-able to journalists at the weekend, ESRI applauded Chime for making the pro-nouncement at a Town Hall meeting held at the Nike Lake Resort Hotel, Enugu on May 29, 2013.

Chime was reported as saying that there was an un-derstanding reached by the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) when he was nominated as the party’s flag bearer in 2007 that his successor would come from Enugu North, stressing that he remained committed to fulfilling the understanding.

The statement signed by ESRI’s Chairman, Mr. Joni Icheka; Secretary, Uche Nwe-gbo and Treasurer Emma Nwodo, said that the group was compelled to commend Chime for this forthright and honest disposition which por-trayed him as a man of hon-our and integrity.

The group said: “After deliberating on the positive implications of the state-ment made by our governor, Mr. Sullivan Chime, ESRI is

compelled to commend him for this forthright and honest statement which portrayed him as a man of honour and integrity.

“By the statement, we join the governor to urge politicians in Enugu State to toe the path of honour and support only governorship aspirants from Enugu North Senatorial District in order to have a seamless party pri-mary.

“His Excellency has, by this statement, deflated un-necessary tension and ac-rimony which would have bugged the Enugu State pol-ity and by implication, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, if any political permutation to the contrary is allowed.

“We belief that nothing could be more forthright than the steps and actions so far taken by Governor Chime in

this regard and we pledge to lend our unwavering support towards the actualisation of this noble statement.

“We also commends the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, for the clarification in which he distanced himself from the posters being circulated in Enugu State suggesting that he is interested in the gover-norship race.

“The respected Deputy Senate President explained that he would be happy to see the next governor of Enugu State produced from the Enu-gu North Senatorial Zone.

“We also call on the good people of Enugu State to cash in on these historic pronounce-ments coming from our po-litical titans to institutionalise rotation principle and under-standing in Enugu State for peace and development.”

Group hails Chime, Ekweremadu’ comments on Enugu 2015

ALIUNA GODWIN EBONYI

Vice-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation,

Senator Sonni Ogbuoji, has called on the 36 state gover-nors to respect the constitu-tion and stop misappropriat-ing the funds meant for the development of local govern-ment areas.

Speaking at the weekend

in Ababaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, Ogbuoji said lo-cal government autonomy is necessary to avoid clash of in-terest between governors and the council chairmen.

He said: Once the tenure of a local government chair-man expires, there is urgent need for a fresh election to be conducted to enable fresh set of people take over the affairs

of the council“Conducting elections in

the local government show how much respect the gov-ernors have for the constitu-tion. We have three tiers of government in Nigeria and this means that there are the local, state and federal gov-ernments and each has its peculiar functions.”

The senator, however,

flayed governors who have re-fused to conduct local govern-ment elections in their states.

He said: “Most governors have refused to conduct the local government elections. These governors are breach-ing the constitution. The opin-ion of the National Assembly is that where there is no elect-ed chairman, the local govern-ment deserves no funding.”

Senator asks governors to stay off LG funds

hoodlums. The source said: “The gov-

ernor was returning from Awa community where he went to inspect some projects when his convoy ran into Dib-iagwu’s campaign train.

“For many hours, the irate youths barricaded the road and as some of them threw sachet water and oth-er objects at the governor’s security details who ordered them to vacate the road.”

It was learnt that the situ-ation could have degener-ated to bloodshed, but for the prompt intervention of the governor who directed the security aides to handle the situation with care.

But the PDP candidate, Dibiagwu, described the al-legation as false, saying that he has no power to attack a governor’s convoy.

He said: “I was going to Awa community to address my supporters ahead of next week’s election when I saw the governor’s convoy com-ing from the opposite direc-tion. At first, I thought it was the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha.

“One of the outriders knocked down one of the motorcycle riders in my cam-paign train and the boy was seriously wounded and in-stead of giving him first aid, the security men pounced on him and began to beat him and this infuriated the youths and they blocked the road and asked the governor to kill all of them”.

Claiming that the gov-ernor remained in his car while the impasse lasted, Dibiagwu said: “The gov-ernor could not come out to address his people or

pacify the youths, but when it was almost getting out of hand, I had to plead with the youths before peace was restored”.

Addressing journalists yesterday, the Chairman of Imo State Council of Tradi-tional Rulers, Eze Samuel Agunwa Ohiri, said that the traditional rulers were sad-dened by the development.

He said that the incident would be thoroughly inves-tigated and anyone found guilty would be sanctioned.

Eze Ohiri said: “We are here today because some-thing horrible has happened in Imo State. The traditional rulers are not happy. We can-not understand why any-body could run into the gov-ernor’s convoy. We will no longer tolerate further threat or embarrassment against the governor.

“Let me warn that if any-thing happens to Okorocha, the state will be on fire be-cause the people of Imo State love the governor dearly. We commend the governor for his display of wisdom and maturity in handling the situation which could have resulted to loss of lives.”

The state Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Hon. Chinedu Of-for, described the incident as unfortunate, adding that for the governor’s maturity there would have been a dif-ferent story now.

Offor said: “This cannot happen in Abia, Edo or any other state.”

He, however, commended the governor for his display of his maturity and restrain in the midst of unwarranted provocation which he noted saved the situation from de-generating into a bloody en-counter.

•Seize governor’s walkie talkie • Allegation baseless –Candidate

AMOUR UDEMUDEASABA

Delta State governor, Emmanuel Udu-aghan, has appealed

to the United Nations for as-sistance to the tune of N9bil-lion to tackle the menace of flood in the state.

Governor Uduaghan made the appeal at the week-end, when playing host to the visiting United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordina-tor, Baroness Valerie Amos, in a town hall meeting at the event centre in Asaba.

He said the state govern-ment alone cannot handle the post-flood challenges fac-ing it because of the enor-mous funds involved.

According to Uduaghan, his government was willing to partner with the United Nations to enable it effec-tively manage the post-flood challenges and mitigate its devastating effects on the people.

He said; “As a state with an office dedicated to foreign relations, we place a high premium on partnership with the international com-munities and global organ-isations. We cannot handle these flood challenges alone. The state needs your help.”

In his words; “We engage in a series of meetings in the United States and Nige-ria in order to make certain

that the emergency situa-tion in Delta is accorded its due priority and that the victims benefit directly from the intervening efforts of the WHO, UNDP, UNICEF and other implementing agen-cies of the UN.”

The governor also ex-plained that Baroness Amos and her team were in the state to access the extent of damage done by last year’s flooding and identify areas the United Nations can be of assistance to the state and displaced victims.

Uduaghan said the post-flood challenges facing the state include the provision of farm seedlings and fer-tilizers to farmers in the affected communities, the rehabilitation of affected houses and the resettlement of those who lost their farm produce to the flood, adding that most of the affected vic-tims were farmers.

He said the displaced vic-tims have, however, agreed to be relocated from flood prone areas to new settlements, adding that the decision also had its own challenges.

“As a state govern-ment, we will continue to work hard to support the flood victims, who have remained vulnerable in the aftermath of the flood. With your support, we know we will do even more and build on any modest stride following today’s as-sessment mission.”

ROTIMI FADEYIABUJA

A chieftain of the Peoples Democrat-ic Party, PDP, in

Delta State, Comrade Dan-iel Idonor, has urged the Urhobo ethnic group in the state to support President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice-President Namadi Sambo, if they decide to seek for a second term in the 2015 elections.

Although, the Urhobos have alleged marginalisa-tion in the affairs of the country, particularly in fed-eral appointments, Idonor said his people are ready to give the Jonathan/Sambo ticket their support.

According to him, the concerns about margin-alisation was in the right order, because Urhobos in terms of demographic size is regarded as the fifth larg-est ethnic group in the coun-

try, the second largest ethnic group in the Niger Delta and first in Delta State.

In an interactive ses-sion with State House Cor-respondents, Idonor noted the courage and doggedness of the Urhobos in support-ing President Jonathan’s administration even in the face of provocation result-ing from the non-represen-tation of Urhobos in the cabinet.

“We the Urhobos in our peaceful nature have con-tinued to support President Jonathan since his days as vice-president, acting presi-dent and now as the elected President of Nigeria.

“It is instructive to note that the Urhobos have al-ways regarded the Jona-than presidency as a baby of the Niger Delta/Nige-rian ethnic minorities’ struggle which the Urhobos have spearheaded since the colonial days."

SOLA ADEBAYOWARRI

Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday

Orubebe, has reacted to his purported suspension from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Delta State, describing the action as a ruse.

Orubebe told journal-ists in an interview in Warri that those behind the action were being used by some self-seeking politicians.

It will be recalled that

some loyalists of the Ijaw National Leader, Chief Ed-win Clark, in the PDP in Burutu Local Government Area of the state, where Or-ubebe and Clark hail from, recently announced the suspension of the minister from the party.

The action climaxed the frosty relationship between the minister and the Ijaw leader.

However, Orubebe, in the interview, said the ac-tion could not stay as it was alien to the constitu-tion of the ruling party.

The minister said the

factional executive of the party in the council area which announced his sus-pension lacked power to take such action.

He said; “Some char-latans, who I describe as people that are dancing political dance met and ascribed to themselves the power they don’t have. I don’t want to talk about this, they remain my brothers and sisters, but I feel sad that people who are supposed to know what is right and good do not understand the consti-tution of the PDP and the

kind of power that people should have.

“I don't think about it, I am moving forward and I will continue to support the PDP in Delta State. I will continue to support the governor of this state in all his activities to see that we have a better state and I will continue to sup-port the PDP at the na-tional level to see that we get to where we supposed to be.”

Despite the latest de-velopment, Orubebe de-scribed his relationship with Clark as cordial.

Chinese Civil Engi-neering Construction Company, CCECC,

has offered to partner with the Akwa Ibom State gov-ernment in the realisation of the Ibaka Deep Seaport project.

The new Managing Di-rector of the Company in Nigeria, Mr. Shi Hong Bing, disclosed this when he paid

a courtesy visit to the Gov-ernor of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Godswill Akpabio, in Abuja.

Bing, who was full of praises for the governor for giving the company the op-portunity to be involved in road construction in the state, said the company was involved in similar projects in other parts of Africa and

pledged their readiness to de-ploy their resources to make the Ibaka project a reality.

The managing direc-tor said having visited all the states in Nigeria, he could confirm that Akwa Ibom State had the best in-frastructural facilities and urged Governor Akpabio to keep up the good work.

In his response, Gover-

nor Akpabio thanked the Chinese firm for their in-terest and said it would be fantastic to collaborate with them in the construction of the Ibaka Deep Seaport and disclosed that the commit-tee on the project, which was on a road show, would meet with them to work out the modalities of their in-volvement in the project.

AMOUR UDEMUDEASABA

Following last week’s kidnapping of the wife of the tradi-

tional ruler of Ughelli Kingdom, Queen Gladys Oharisi, by gunmen in Delta State, three build-ings suspected to be owned by a kidnapping kingpin have been brought down in Ovara-Orogun community of Ughelli North Local Gov-ernment Area of the state.

Our correspondent gath-ered that two of the three buildings demolished by a combined team of the police, army and the local vigilance group, were said

to belong to the kidnap king-pin, who they said resides in Lagos. One of the build-ings was allegedly built for his mother and another one rented as hideout for his vic-tims.

The wife of the tradition-al ruler, who has been re-leased, was kidnapped last Thursday by gunmen who intercepted her and others on her way from school, where she went to register her courses at the Delta State University, Abraka.

The suspects were said to have trailed the Queen to somewhere around Oro-gun, on Abraka road before accosting her with their Toyota Sienna car, pointing

guns at her and two others in her company and was pushed into the waiting Si-enna car and whisked away.

In a chat with our cor-respondent, the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Delta Central Area Com-mand, Awosola Awotinde, said; “On June 6, 2013, at about 1:30pm, the king’s wife, Queen Gladys Oha-risi, while returning from Abraka was accosted at Urhuke village by three gunmen in a Toyota Sienna car and was kidnapped and brought to this building here in Ovara-Orogun com-munity.”

According to the senior police officer; “We imme-

diately swung into action with a team of the police, military and the local vigi-lance team and when the news filtered into the com-munity, the hoodlums be-came frightened and imme-diately released the wife of the monarch.

“As directed by the state government that any fa-cility, building or shelter that is found being used by kidnappers must be demol-ished, that is why we are here. As you have known, we started this in Eboh-Orogun, have done it in Warri, Ozoro and we will continue to do it anywhere the owners of any building allows his building to be

Kidnapper's buildings demolished Flood: Uduaghan seeks N9bn assistance from UN

2015: Urhobos urged to support Jonathan-Sambo ticket

My suspension from PDP, a ruse –Orubebe

Chinese fi rm to partner A’Ibom on Ibaka Seaport project

L-R: Chairman of the Town Hall Meeting, Senator Ike Nwachukwu; United Nations Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Baroness Valerie Amos; Prof. Sylvester Monye and Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, at the meeting with the UN under-secretary on 2012 flood in Asaba, at the weekend.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 11Monday, June 17, 2013 South South

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net12 North Monday, June 17, 2013

L-R: Former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar; his wife, Justice Fati and former Plateau State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Pauline Tallen, during a condolence visit to Tallen on the death of her father, in Jos, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

INUSA NDAHIMAIDUGURI

Men of the Joint Task Force, JTF, ‘Operation Restore

Order’ in Maiduguri, the Bor-no State capital, yesterday denied the purported letters/leaflets being circulated by suspected Boko Haram sect threatening the people of the state.

The letters/leaflets were said to be threatening, espe-

cially informants and those supporting security agencies, that their lives will soon be endangered as the sect will visit them one by one and kill them in their homes.

The denial came even as some residents of Hausari, Gwange and other strong-holds of the sect in Mai-duguri metropolis have ex-pressed fear on the circulated leaflets, warning them that anyone who gives informa-tion on their modus operandi

or reveals their identity to security agencies will end up endangering their lives and their families.

The JTF said the purport-ed leaflets and letters claimed to have been written and cir-culated by the sect is not only fake and misleading, but was untrue.

The JTF while reacting to the leaflets noted that the said statements are aimed at discouraging the support and cooperation of the general

public to the security agencies in their effort to nip in the bud the problem of killings, bomb-ings and the destruction of property by the sects.

In a widely circulated statement/release from the JTF headquarters in Pompo-mari ward of the metropo-lis, which were pasted and distributed in strategic areas yesterday, including schools and hospital billboards, a copy of which was made available to our correspon-

dent said; “The JTF wishes to inform the public that such threatened letters are not authored truly by the Boko Haram sect, but by those who do not want the relative peace being enjoyed in the state to be sustained.

The statement therefore “urged members of the pub-lic to disregard such threats as the JTF is working round the clock to ensure that peace and unity return to the trou-bled state.”

JTF, however, said its men are ready to cooperate and continue to discharge their duties according to the ‘Rules of Engagement,’ so as to rid the state of the insurgents.

It also enjoined the gen-eral public to continue to give information to the JTF that will lead to the arrest of any suspected Boko Haram mem-ber in the state, stressing that any information given to the task force will be treated with utmost confidentiality.

JTF denies circulation of Boko Haram’s threat letters

PRISCILLA DENNISMINNA

The planned protest by members of the National Association

of Nigeria Students, NANS, Federal University of Tech-nology, FUT, Minna chap-ter to demonstrate over the death of its members in the crisis rocking the University of Uyo was foiled by the De-partment of State Security, DSS, over the weekend.

This was just as the Niger State branch of NANS de-clared today, June 17, lecture free for its members in all higher institutions of learn-ing to mourn the death of members of the association, who died as a result of the crisis in its Uyo chapter.

It will be recalled that

the crisis that engulfed the University of Uyo last week, claimed the lives of NANS Senate President, Comarde Donald Onokawgu and five others at Umuahia, Abia State on their way to Uyo to mediate in the crisis be-tween the state government and the management of the University of Uyo.

Before the students could embark on the planned pro-test, security men compris-ing of men of the police and the Department of the State Security, DSS, took over the two campuses at Bosso, the temporary site and Gidan Kwano, the permanent site.

The security men conse-quently averted their plan, making it impossible for

them to do anything. However, a press state-

ment signed by Comrade Olusina Oyebisi, NANS Director of Travel and Ex-change, the association said today, June 17, 2013 has been declared lecture free in all campuses of FUT in Niger State to mourn the death of the NANS Senate President, Comrade Donald Onokawgu and five others who died in an auto crash in Umuahia, Abia State.

It stated that the students died on their way to mediate in the crisis at the University of Uyo in respect of the kill-ing of four students of the university by some police-men, which triggered wide protests by the students.

Aside FUT Minna, the re-lease said students of other higher institutions in the state have also been directed to ensure that no lecture takes place today as the day has been set aside to mourn and pray for the repose of the souls of “our dear col-leagues and comrades whose sad demise took place last week.”

Olusina while calling on President Goodluck Jona-than to immediately set up a commission of inquiry to look into the brutal killing of their innocent colleagues by trigger-happy policemen also called for the immediate prosecution of those police-men in accordance with the country’s laws.

Security operatives foil students’ protest

PRISCILLA DENNISMINNA

As tributes continue to pour in for the Emir of Kano, Alha-

ji Ado Bayero, who celebrat-ed his 83rd birthday and 50th coronation anniversary at the weekend, the Northern States Governors’ Forum, NSGF, has described the Emir as a conciliatory force, who worked for peace, unity and tolerance among the diverse ethnic and religious interests that cohabit in his domain.

In a tribute to the royal fa-ther, Chairman of the NSGF and Governor of Niger State, Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, in a press statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary,

Danladi Ndayebo, the NSGF said Bayero’s 50 years on the throne brought tremendous progress and modernisation to Kano, to the emir’s eternal credit.

It reads in part, “We note that since Alhaji Ado Baye-ro’s coronation in June 1963, violence - whether sectarian or otherwise, was a rare oc-currence in Kano, where Christians and Muslims co-habit in peace, thanks to the fatherly role of the emir.”

The 19 governors also observed that Bayero was a bridge builder helping to bring together his people, ir-respective of their political differences, whether or not they were in the so-called po-litical mainstream or in the opposition.

A power outage at the Nnamdi Azikiwe In-ternational Airport,

Abuja, yesterday left many passengers stranded for hours.

The outage, which oc-curred at about 11am, Nation-al Mirror learnt, led to many flights being delayed.

A frustrated passenger said the outage lasted for over three hours, even as he noted that there was no concrete explanation from the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, and other relevant au-thorities as to the cause of the blackout.

FAAN, Abuja office spokesperson, Mrs. Henri-etta Yakubu confirmed the outage when contacted. She however said that the prob-lem was rectified promptly.

Special Assistant to the Aviation Minister, Media, Joe Obi, who also admitted that there was power outage, how-ever debunked claims that many flights were delayed, even as he said that the prob-

lem was rectified within 15 minutes.

According to him, one of the underground cables had problem, adding that it was resolved almost immediately.

He debunked the claim that almost 70 aircraft were delayed from flying.

“The truth is there was a little power outage that lasted for just 15 minutes. The incident happened around 11am when one of the under-ground cables had fault and it was fixed almost 15 minutes after.

“It did not affect any flight operations. I don’t know where you people got the in-formation from that 70 flights were delayed. Whoever said that do not know the fact,” Obi added.

The Federal Government had claimed in the past quar-ter to have provided adequate power from the national grid to the airport, apart from four additional standby genera-tors, put in place to prevent power outage in the facility.

Northern govs extol Bayero’s leadership qualities

Power outage disrupts fl ights at Abuja airport

WOLE ADEDEJIILORIN

Stalwarts and loyalists of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in the Yo-

ruba speaking seven local gov-ernments of Kwara South, at the weekend, converged on Ajase-Ipo, promising to evolve strategies to wrest power from the ruling Peoples Democratic

Party, PDP.Their target was the forth

coming local council polls slated for later this year and the 2015 general elections.

The jamboree was held at the venue of the Ajase Ipo Primary School with the sole vision of going back to their ancestral “playing politics of programme, principle and commitment that would

work in our favour.”They had at the well at-

tended rally averred that; “We are members of the ACN on our way to a new party called All Progressives Party, APC.

“We are also from the Kwara South senatorial district of the state. We are currently not in power in the state, but our aspiration

is to capture power first in the 2013 local government election and finally dislodge PDP from power in the 2015 general elections.”

Speakers after speak-ers at the event extolled the ‘never-say-die’ spirit of dead progressive-minded politi-cians from their senatorial district, chorusing aloud, “Enough is enough.”

Kwara South ACN strategises on 2015 elections

Members of the opposition par-ties in the Oyo

State House of Assembly have x-rayed the admin-istration of Governor Abiola Ajimobi in the last two years and unani-mously passed a vote of confidence on him for his performance.

The lawmakers, who are of the Accord Party (AP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), passed the

EMMANUEL ONANIABUJA

Some Senators have disagreed with the position of a fore-

most constitutional law-yer, Chief Mike Ahamba (SAN), on the powers and limitations of the Nation-al Assembly regarding constitution amendment.

Ahamba had cautioned both chambers of parlia-ment against the ongo-ing constitution amend-ment process, which has reached an advanced stage, saying members lacked the power to car-ry out an amendment to the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

He was of the firm be-lief that only a “Constitu-ent Assembly or a Con-stitutional Conference,” appointed by an Act of the Assembly, could propose amendments to the exist-ing constitution.

However, his position was flatly rejected by the Chairman, Senate Com-mittee on Rules and Busi-ness, Ita Enang, and that of Information, Media and

vote of confidence shortly after listening to the State of the State Address pre-sented to the Assembly by Governor Ajimobi as part of the activities marking the second anniversary of his administration.

The Deputy Speaker, Hon. Babatunde Olani-yan of the AP, described Governor Ajimobi as in-telligent, sound, solid, sincere, industrious and accountable.

He particularly acknowl-edged the harmonious working relationship that has been existing between the executive and legisla-tive arms of government, attributing it to the peace-ful atmosphere created by the governor.

The Minority Leader, Hon. Rafiu Adekunle of the PDP, also said that the governor was “full of vir-tue, humility, respect and intellect.”

Public Affairs, Enyinnaya Abaribe.

Both lawmakers in-sisted that, as representa-tives of the people, they were vested with powers to amend the constitution.

In a text message sent to National Mirror Abari-be said: “The constitution of Nigeria under relevant sections gives the respon-sibility to the National Assembly to be part of the process of amend-ment of the constitution. Two-thirds of State As-semblies are also part of it. See sections 8 and 9 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.”

On his part, Enang stated that, “I respect the views of the learned silk, but I don’t agree with the position that the National Assembly does not have the power to amend the constitution.

“The National Assem-bly can amend and alter the constitution There is no difference between al-teration and amendment, as it is just a matter of semantics; both refer to change,” he observed.

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio (left) and Managing Director, Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company, Mr. Shi Hong Bing, during a courtesy visit to the governor in Abuja at the weekend.

Lawmakers pass vote of confi dence on Ajimobi

Police must probe Fayose’s assassination claim –ACN

Senators fault Ahamba on constitution amendment

The Acting Governor of Taraba State, Al-haji Garba Umar,

yesterday said he cannot tell when Governor Dan-baba Suntai will return to the state.

Umar told newsmen in Jalingo that only the medi-cal experts at John Hopkins Hospital in America could

recovered and would soon return to the state.

Umar, who was accorded a rousing reception, used the opportunity to thank the people of the state for their solidarity and support.

Suntai had his Cessna 208, 5N-BMJ Jet crashed

ment yesterday by its state Publicity Secretary, Tunde Adeleke, called on the Police authorities in the state “to invite Fay-ose to substantiate the as-sassination claims with a view to allowing them carry out a proper inves-tigation into the matter.”

The party said: “This will also help to discour-age those who would like to hide under such spurious claims to introduce a vio-lent dimension to politics in the state as well as those who would like to capital-ise on such claims to perpe-trate acts of violence and brigandage for which they are well noted.”

Adeleke, while fault-ing Fayose’s claim, said that “the present admin-istration in the state had invested hugely in secu-rity, thereby making the state one of the safest in the country.”

Fayose, a Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,

in Yola, Adamawa State on October 22, 2012. Three occupants of the jet died while others sus-tained injuries.

For more than seven months, the governor was under intensive care in a German hospital and

lately receiving treatment at John Hopkins Hospi-tal, Maryland in United States after being airlifted from the National Hospi-tal, Abuja.

He had the initial treat-ment at a specialist hospital in Yola, Adamawa.

aspirant in the 2014 gover-norship election, had on Wednesday alleged that his car was trailed and shot at on Tuesday night along Ado – Afao Road in an assassination attempt by suspected hoodlums in a Toyoya Hilux van.

The former governor, through a press statement by his campaign organisa-tion, had given a detailed account of how the alleged attack was carried out.

Adeleke, however, won-dered why Fayose did not report the alleged attack to the Police authorities in the state, instead of go-ing to the press.

He said: “A thorough investigation into the claim becomes even more imperative given the fact that the present adminis-tration takes the security of life and property of every citizen seriously, a development which it said had reduced violence and insecurity in the state to

the barest minimum.“Knowing Fayose’s

antecedents and his ca-pacity for mischief, it is important for the police to get to the roots of the matter with a view to es-tablishing the truth. This claim by Fayose should not be ignored.”

“We are not unmind-ful of massive killings and maiming of inno-cent citizens under the PDP-led administration, a development which has changed under this ad-ministration.

“We therefore call on the Police and other rel-evant security agencies in the state to do every-thing possible to dis-courage any direct and indirect introduction of violence to the politics of the state, by remain-ing vigilant and carrying out thorough investiga-tion of cases of violence and bringing culprits to book,” the party stated.

tell when Suntai would re-turn to the state.

The acting governor was in the hospital to see Suntai as well as in Saudi Arabia to perform the lesser Hajj.

He told newsmen that they shook hands and ex-changed pleasantries, but there was no long discus-sion between them.

Umar said that he would continue to pursue the programmes and projects embarked on by Suntai to ensure continuity in the governance of the state.

The statement came on the heel of speculations that the ailing governor has

ABIODUN NEJO ADO EKITI

The Action Con-gress of Nigeria, ACN, in Ekiti State

has urged the state Po-lice Commissioner, Mr. Sotonye Wakama, to con-duct a thorough investiga-tions into assassination claims by former Gover-nor Ayodele Fayose last week.

The ACN, in a state-

No date yet for Suntai’s return, says acting gov

PoliticsNational Mirror

www.nationalmirroronline.net 13Monday, June 17, 2013

Nigeria needs restructuring to make progress –Nwuche

14

What is your assessment of the Goodluck Jonathan ad-ministration in the past two years?

I think the government has done very well given the enormous challenges that it has faced from inception. For the first time, the railways are working. They have done the tracks between Lagos and Kano, they have brought locomotives. The airports are being refurbished even though I think government must make haste to privatise them. Government has no business running airports.

Also government has done well in terms of justice to Nigerians. Elections that have been done under President Jonathan were acclaimed to be the best so far since we be-gan our democratic experience. And also you must appre-ciate that this government has been most challenged by security situation in the country. The Boko Haram men-ace hasn’t given the government any breathing space and people have tried to distract government but government has remained focused on developing the country in spite of the distractions. So, I think in the overall, the President has done very well.

How about the performance of the administration on the economy?

Well, I am one of those who believe that whatever we are doing now in Nigeria is temporary, that for a lasting solu-tion to our problems, Nigeria must be re-structured. The current structure of our country does not allow it to achieve its full potential. Nigeria must revert to regions with a weak centre so that people can develop at their own pace and then can unlock the energies of Nigerians. People should keep their resources and contribute to a common pool to main-tain central services at the centre, things like defence. If, for instance, people in Kano want to practice Sharia, it is their own choice, they can do so but we must encourage every region to exploit their resources. If it is agriculture, they should exploit it, if it is solid minerals, they should exploit it but we should not have the centre telling Kano State or tell-ing Lagos State how to use their purse, it is not their busi-ness. So, we must have the courage to decentralise Nigeria, to unlock the energies of our people. The National Assem-bly in spite of its core responsibility must rise above petti-ness and face that task squarely.

Are you saying the structure is affecting the President’s efforts at growing the nation’s economy?

No, no. It is affecting every President, not just this presi-dent. That is why we have not made much progress. Since over 50 years we have been on this journey; we are nowhere near destination. That is what has held Nigeria back. Any president can make limited progress, no matter who is there, if you like bring Bill Clinton there, he won’t make any difference. The structure is faulty. If the structure is faulty, there is a limit to what you can do in the structure.

Do you support the six-year single tenure proposal for the president and governors?

When I went to the Constitutional Review Panel of the Senate to make submission, I argued for a seven-year sin-gle term because the biggest challenge for Nigeria is the wastages of human resources in conducting elections ev-ery four years that produce no difference as most incum-bents must return.

So, why go through a process whereby anybody who is elected will come back automatically and do eight years and waste so much money and raise the tempo of violence in the country; people are killing themselves to get to office and Nigerians go through this every four years. We don’t have enough time for governance because a government will spend the first year trying to find his feet. Governance

begins in the second year, the third year it is already plan-ning to seek re-election which is in the fourth year. So, we have only one year for governance. It is a waste of money and time.

And the biggest challenge in our country is the incum-bent stockpiling money in the first term to do election in the second term. It is obvious that having election every four years is a waste of money. I support a seven-year single term for the president and the governors. It will help Nigeria so that you know that you have a period within which you are supposed to simply focus on governance.

I also support the parliamentary system of government as opposed to the presidential system of government. I think the presidential system is too expensive and it is not working, there are too many members of the National As-sembly. What we need to do is to leave the Senate in that system as the National Assembly and let the House of Rep-resentatives become the regional assembly. That is what I advocate. That way we can manage the cost better and then we will have very strong assembly in the regions that will check the governors.

The governors we have now are guided only by their conscience because the Assembly has no capacity to check them. And that is why the centre, faulty as it may be is still the best arm of government because the President cannot even spend a penny without appropriation from the Na-tional Assembly. The NASS is constantly overseeing the Presidency, not so at the state level. The oversight we have in Nigeria is at the centre. The states are too weak, too small. Some after paying salaries have no money left. So let’s merge them.

What is your position on the current crisis rocking the PDP in Rivers State?

First of all, the PDP in the state prior to the judgement of April 15 was factionalised and the party was without life. I can’t recall any meeting of the PDP in the state since that past six years.

Indeed since that election took place, party members were disenchanted and alienated from the government that they have formed. It was a very strange occurrence. In fact, it was the first time I was seeing politics played in that manner. But with the events of April 15 and the new executives and my appointment as vice-chairman of the Committee on Reconciliation, we will do our best to bring back the party spirit; the spirit that drove the party to several successive victories in the state. We shall seek to rekindle the old days of politics based on camaraderie, brotherhood and consultations.

The old style was one small clique took decision and marked those that had ideas to offer as enemies and shut them out. It is difficult to grow a party and win victories without bringing in your best. It is also most dishonourable for people to use the party to win elections and thereafter

pretend that you have formed government by yourself. It is important that people who aspire to lead demonstrate can-dour and honour by keeping to their words. So, we are hop-ing to bring back various aggrieved members to the party.

After all if politics is about sacrifices as it should be why would a clique seek to exclude others from sacrificing for the masses, why should sacrifice be horded if it is indeed ser-vice? I think that the more the better. Like that day we saw our party men who had worked for the party since 1999 look-ing unprosperous and neglected. People should not be asked to come and work for every election and after victory they are abandoned until the next election. It is not right. You can’t campaign with politicians and govern with techno-crats, there is disconnect. Technocrats by definition should be civil servants or consultants, not commissioners.

You sounded as if you were used by the party and later dumped?

No, no. For me it is not a personal issue at all. No person can use and abandon me because whatever I do I sacrifice for the people. My role in assisting the government to win victory is because I believe the people deserve to be gov-erned properly. And I believe that at a point in time, given the available choice that the PDP was the best to vote for and I still believe so. I will still campaign for the PDP to-morrow, but I will rather campaign for people who keep their promise, those who when they speak they keep their words. It is not abnormal to say that I am only one of many; there are others in the state who also worked for the party.

What is your expectation now with the change in the Riv-ers PDP leadedship?

What I expect is that governance and politics should be about the people. In the sense that until governance begins to impact on the people’s welfare, it cannot be jus-tified. Politics is only a design while the people are the centrepiece of both combinations. So, Nigerians must begin to judge government based on how the quantum of resources they have received have been deployed to their benefits. And in this, there should be an audit list to match receipts with available projects. I think we should begin to judge government at all levels, whether federal, state and local government councils by reference to the quantum of revenue generated internally and received from the feder-ation account against an audit of the projects on ground, excluding overhead recurrent and current.

By the terms of reference of the committee on perfor-mance evaluation, the chairman sounded as if he plans to probe the Amaechi government.

No, I won’t be part of any process that witch-hunt peo-ple. The important thing is that Nigerians begin to imbibe the culture of transparency and be prepared for regular and unbiased audit.

Prince Chibudom Nwuche, a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, is the Vice-Chairman of the Reconciliation Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State. In this interview with GODWIN OKONKWO, he speaks on the Goodluck Jonathan administration, single term tenure, PDP crisis in Rivers State and the need for the restructuring of Nigeria. Excerpts:

Nigeria needs restructuring to make progress –Nwuche

Nwuche

THE CURRENT STRUCTURE OF OUR COUNTRY DOES NOT

ALLOW IT TO ACHIEVE ITS FULL POTENTIAL. NIGERIA MUST REVERT TO REGIONS WITH A

WEAK CENTRE SO THAT PEOPLE CAN DEVELOP AT THEIR OWN

PACE AND THEN CAN UNLOCK THE ENERGIES OF NIGERIANS

Politics National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netMonday, June 17, 201314

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 15Monday, June 17, 2013 Views

CALLISTUSOKE

[email protected] 08054103275 (SMS ONLY)

HeartBeatIN THREE VERY

LONG YEARS, BOKO HARAM HAS MADE NONSENSE OF THE

NATION’S SECURITY APPARATUSES

ALIMOSHO IS A LAGOS SUBURB IN PAINS OF

POPULATION EXPLOSION

Continued from last Monday

Concluding the first part of this article last Monday, I had rea-soned it was dubious to compare

the so-called kid-glove handling of the Niger Delta militants by the late Presi-dent Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to the seem-ingly bullish one of President Jonathan. Reason is that the scenarios are not the same.

Part of General Buhari’s animosity towards the emergency declaration in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states arises from his perception that it places mem-bers of Boko Haram in the disadvan-taged position of being killed and their houses demolished! This is an induced agony arising also from his perception also that Niger Delta militants were flown to Abuja by the late President Yar’Adua where he sat and discussed with them; cajoled them; gave them money and granted them amnesty. In ad-dition, he deposed, they were “trained in some skills and were given employ-ment”.

It is our misfortune as a nation that

Alimosho is the pride of Lagos State. It’s the real face of the Cen-tre of Excellence. When you want

to upturn political tables in the state, turn to Alimosho. It has intimidating population asset. When you want to hide, yet live the Lagos life, Alimosho is your perfect sanctuary.

Alimosho produced a governor for Osun State, in Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; it produced a spokesman for the late Presi-dent Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, in Olusegun Adeniyi. The spokesman for the incum-bent governor of Lagos State, Hakeem Bello, has been part of Alimosho too. Two of the largest church congregations in Africa, the Deeper Life Bible Church and Winners Church, have their roots here.

It’s from Alimosho that the present Missioner of Ansarudeen Mission world-wide, Imam Abdurrahman Ahmad was picked. The National Missioner of NAS-FAT, Abdullahi Akinbode, resides around Ijegun area. The late Missioner of Fati-hul Quarb, Sheikh Taiwo Tijani lived a greater part of his life in Alimosho where he also breathed his last on the praying mat. I don’t know of any part of Lagos where print journalists reside most un-til Lagos NUJ began its estate in Arepo, Ogun State. Victor Ifijeh, Sam Omatseye, Nnamdi Obasi, and Mike Awoyinfa once belonged to Alimosho. This writer is now counting two and half decades as a citi-zen.

But Alimosho is a Lagos suburb in

pains of population explosion. Its popula-tion figure is enough to create a new state out of the present Lagos. No wonder six local council development areas (LCDAs) were carved from her. Its lands penetrate the boundaries of Isolo and Ejigbo areas of Lagos State. A long swathe of the Mur-tala Muhammed Internationational Air-port is shared with Alimosho in Idimu and Shasha.

Any day Alimosho is a vote swinger in Lagos; it also has beauty. You can get opu-lent accommodation, the equivalent of VGC, or Ikoyi or Magodo in Santos Lay-out, Unity Estate and Gowon Estate. So also can you count a number of low cost housing schemes - Isheri, Idowu-Egba, Ayobo-Ipaja and Shagari (Federal Low Cost) and Abesan (Lagos State or Jakan-de Low Cost). You can also be a resident of tongue twister locations like Ijedodo, Abaranje, Oke-Rube, Egbe-Idimu, Mosan-Okuola and Obadore.

My first contact with Alimosho was around 1982 or 1983, I was in class five in Abeokuta when I had accompanied an aunt, almost a grandma, to Lagos to witness the foundation laying of a cous-in’s house at Abule Odu, more or less a virgin forest then. The house was com-pleted in 1985, and as I gained admission to UNILAG that year, my cousin’s new house became my Lagos home. When I se-cured employment in National Concord in 1990, Abule Odu remained my base. Since returning from Yola and establish-

Haba, General!

Alimosho: Blessed, but bleeding

ing my family, I have lived all my adult life in Alimosho in Abule Odu, along Egbeda-Isheri-Idimu road, and in Ikotun, along Ijegun Road.

Alimosho axis is now a phenomenon in Lagos urbanization. From a rustic rural setting, it has exploded into a cosmopolis of unimaginable dimensions. It now pa-rades every bank branch. The number of branches of various commercial banks in the huge conurbation alone doubles or triples that of some state capitals. Drive through Egbeda-Akowonjo Road to confirm this. Almost every eatery you can think of has an outlet in the Alimio-sho axis. Some of the largest relaxation joints and hot spots have their roots in here - Come to Paradise Spot; go to Aso Rock.

A number of soccer talents have emerged from herealso. Check the back-ground of Taiye Taiwo. Abesan grounds harvest a handful of soccer whiz kids. Alimisho was once dubbed Tinubu coun-try. But I can’t figure if the pace of in-frastructure provisioning matches this legend, despite producing two deputy governors in quick succession - Sarah Sosan and Adejoke Orelope.

The present government in Lagos has

dualized a number or roads in this zone and tarred many streets. But the citizens still groan under the yoke of traffic con-gestion, as it is taking ages to complete the Isheri-Osun and Ayobo-Ipaja roads. In Alimosho, the day breaks as early as 4.00 am; many residents, however, reach home as late as 12 midnight because of the traffic gridlock. Visitors and friends dread coming to Alimosho for fear of road frustration.

Alimosho boasts of some of the best private academies, Doregos, St Berna-dette’s and Konsols, for example, but it also parades some of the worst public schools. With a technical college in an area begging for more government at-tention, Alimosho deserves a better deal. Now the government has built a general hospital in Alimosho, but it is left to imagine if it has enough compliments in the number of doctors and facilities to cater for its teeming population.

This is our life in our Alimosho, a mini Nigeria in Lagos.

[email protected], 08090585723 (SMS only)

ABDUL-WAREES SOLANKE

A

Mirror of the moment

100 years of forced marriage between the North and South has only succeeded in breeding extremely chauvinistic lead-ership and particularistic followership who look at issues with the distorted lenses of Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa/Fulani, Izon, Bini, Igala, Tiv, etc. We as a nation have severally demonstrated we lack se-rious policy engagement spirit; when we perfunctorily do so, it is jaundiced by ex-treme parochialism; which is why we are more comfortable with governments run by our kinsmen.

The Niger Delta struggle is all about asking the Nigerian state for intermedia-tions to make life bearable for oil produc-ing communities. Before the recourse to militancy, the people of the region had peacefully engaged the Nigerian state for decades to draw attention to their flight, but only the odious fruits of state terror-ism were what they harvested. The 1995 executions of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders by the late General Sani Abacha is a sad reminder of the oppression of the region. Though the Yar’Adua Amnesty Programme is being

easily quoted as an expression of govern-ment’s magnanimity, it is nothing more than tokenism. This is because the funda-mentals that led to youths’ restiveness in the region – environmental despoliation, deficit infrastructure provisioning etc - are still much evident.

By General Buhari’s own account, Boko Haram sect embarked on armed struggle to avenge the death of their leader. Where does this leave us with the statutory mechanism (courts) for seeking redress for all acts of perceived injustice? What about the over bandied poverty ca-sualty of the sect’s action? Do these sche-mas actually explain the sect’s demand for the Islamization of Nigeria, eradica-tion of western education, and some oth-er political demands made on the state?

In three very long years, Boko Haram has made nonsense of the nation’s secu-rity apparatuses. Its relative superiority over the state’s security agencies actu-ally detracted from the efficiency of the Nigerian state. The superior rating of the sect over the nation’s instruments of coercion, undoubtedly gave the members false air of invincibility; they became ar-rogant, and of course, they looked down on our institutional security forces, which was why they rejected the offer of amnesty.

Let us put the current politics of state of emergency in perspective. We have had three extreme situations that neces-sitated the declaration of state of emer-gency in parts of the country since May 1999 - Plateau State on May 18, 2004; Ekiti

on October 19, 2006 (both executed by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo), and now this one. The socioeconomic and political imperatives for state of emergency in the first two instances paled into insignifi-cance when juxtaposed within the pres-ent context.

President Jonathan acted when it was apparent that the leadership of the Islam-ic sect would be his Achilles’ heel. He was losing face at home and abroad. His label-ing as an inept leader excited to no end his haters in the North.

Let me remind the anti-emergency co-alition in the North that it was Sir Abuba-kar Tafawa Balewa as Prime Minister of Nigeria in the First Republic that used it in 1962 as a political weapon against Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the Action Group (AG) leader and Federal Opposition leader to favour and save his new political friend, deputy leader of AG and Premier of West-ern Region, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akin-tola. Akintola had jumped the AG ship following a major conflict at its Jos Con-vention in 1962.

The ensued power struggle between the two snowballed into a major political cri-sis that the West. On Friday, May 25, 1962, a free-for-all fight on the floor of the West-ern Region House of Assembly, Ibadan to prevent a debate of a motion of confidence that would have eased out Akintola from power was cashed in by Balewa to declare a state of emergency in the region on May 29, 1962.The rest, as they say, is history.

Concluded

16 National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netEditorial Monday, June 17, 2013

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LANRE OYETADE GENERAL EDITOR







IN THE ABSENCE OF THE FCTA PUTTING IN PLACE A ROBUST

AND THE RIGHT MULTI-MODAL TRANSPORT SCHEME IN PLACE,

IT SHOULD SET STANDARDS... THAT WOULD ENCOURAGE PRIVATE TRANSPORT

OPERATORS RUN DECENT MASS TRANSIT BUS

SERVICES














A strong indication that the status of Abuja, Nigeria’s seat of government has

been grossly compromised seems evident in its chaotic public transportation system. Largely dominated by unorganized private sector mini-buses and taxis, not much had been seen on the part of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to redress the anomaly until January this year when it announced a new policy that sought to phase out the ubiquitous mini-buses that are most environmentally unfriendly and unbefitting of the city status, restricting them to neighbouring satellite towns. However, the announcement made on January 12 met with public outrage that forced the authority to suspend the implementation of the policy to allow for public enlightenment and other necessary adjustments.

Now, the policy implementa-tion has taken off, but not with-out souring tales from commut-ers who now endure higher costs of transportation and longer waiting hours at bus stops, ac-cording to reports. The strong suggestion is thus made that the purported introduction of brand new 350, high capacity buses aimed at providing efficient transportation service within the capital territory by the au-thorities might have fallen far below expectations. The FCTA Transport Secretary, Mr. Jonah

Ivoke, disclosed at a recent press conference which heralded the policy that the administration was prepared to ensure its success. He stated that the new policy would lead to 40 percent reduction in transport fares. According to him, the policy was aimed at moving people en-masse, reducing time wasted in traffic gridlocks and improving the economy in general terms.

Public transportation is one area of policy concern that many perceptible and working gov-ernments have tried to address through a variety of options, including the introduction of fran-

chises for private investors and in-vestment in transportation infra-structure like rail lines. While we view the FCTA initiative from this prism, it is doubtful if it is bold enough in meeting the dire needs of Abuja commuters, or restor-ing sanity to the embattled capital city. Impressive as the new policy would appear, it will certainly limit the choice of the teeming commuters in a free, democratic and competitive society.

Still questionable therefore, is whether or not the FCTA trans-portation policy represents the appropriate answer to the real transport needs of Abuja and its environs. We think that what is required in the country’s capital is to squarely address its trans-portation deficit through a mass transit system. The Lagos State example seems a good refer-ence point. It is not just enough to copy systems obtainable in foreign countries, but to also find out how they are managed and sustained.

The provision of an efficient public transportation system is highly capital intensive. Address-ing public transportation chal-lenges in modern cities demands multi-modal approaches that touch on public values and cul-ture, infrastructure provision-ing, including the construction of new road networks, continu-ous improvement of existing ones, and the imposition and

enforcement of certain traffic regulations. Consequently, for a city as strategic as Abuja, the light rail transit or the monorail system would be an ideal alter-native to moving commuters en masse at regular intervals.

However, the introduction of the new public transportation policy in Abuja has brought to the fore some other bigger social challenges bordering on employment generation and crime control. A good profiling of operators of mini-buses will reveal that the resort to com-mercial bus driving was borne by joblessness. It is also not to be disputed that not a negligible percentage of others whose livelihoods revolve around the transport business could be predisposed to crime as the new policy hounds them.

These are just a few of the con-siderations that the FCTA ought to have given thought to before pushing private mini-bus opera-tors to the Abuja hinterlands and satellite towns, where the seeds of social unrest and crime infesta-tion could be sown. We are thus of the opinion that in the absence of the FCTA putting in place a robust and the right multi-modal trans-port scheme in place, it should define set standards and take measures that would encourage private transport operators run decent mass transit bus services that befit Abuja’s status.

FCTA’s ban on mini-buses

ON THIS DAYFollowing a televised low-speed highway chase, O.J.

Simpson was arrested for the murders of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman. Oren-thal James “O. J.” Simpson (born July 9, 1947), nicknamed “The Juice”, is a retired American football player and actor. Simpson was the first professional football player to ‘rush’ for more than 2,000 yards in a season, a mark he set in 1973.

June 17, 1994 June 17, 1972

Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives were arrested for burgling the offices of the Democratic National Committee, in an attempt by some members of the Republican Party to illegally wiretap the opposition. The Watergate scandal was a political scan-dal that occurred in the United States in the 1970s as a result of the June 17, 1972, break-in at the Democratic National Committee head-quarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C.

June 17, 1991

Apartheid: The South African Parliament repealed the Population Registration Act which required racial classification of all South Africans at birth. The Population Registration Act of 1950 required that each inhabitant of South Africa be classified and registered in accordance with their racial characteristics. Social rights, political rights, educational opportunities, and economic status were largely determined by the group one belonged.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netMonday, June 17, 2013 A2 18 Business CourageCourage

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SEMIU SALAMI EDITORADEJUWON OSUNNUYI STAFF WRITERTAYO ADELEKE SENIOR REPORTER

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BusinessCourage

Cover

The Federal Government has over the years taken steps to boost local production of grains,

especially wheat and rice as part of measures to create jobs and also conserve the scarce foreign exchange at its disposal. Few years ago the government of former President Olusegun Obasanjo had imposed a 100 per cent import duty on imported parboiled rice. Under the current dispensation, the government has also in addition to these introduced at different times one form of incentive or the other to the local rice millers just to enable them produce parboiled rice that could compete favourably with those produced in Thailand and other major rice producers in the world.

Government obviously had to adopt these measures following the discovery that rice, which before now used to be preserved of the rich, has become a staple food for most Nigerians, including those within the low income brackets.

The direct implication of this is an increased demand for the product. Regrettably, these efforts have not yielded the desired results.

For instance, offi cial records show that Nigeria is world’s second largest importer of rice with an annual import of 3.7 million metric tonnes valued in excess of N356 billion. Statistics also shows that a total of 5.5 million metric tonnes of rice is consumed in the country annually, an indication that 3.7 million metric tonnes are imported while a meagre 1.8 million metric tonnes are produced locally.

It was probably worried by

this rather ugly development that the current administration in the last two years has introduced far reaching measures to boost rice production in the country.

President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2012 budget speech had reiterated that the principal objective of his administration’s fi scal policy in the area of tariffs and trade was to promote industrialisation and the growth of the manufacturing and agricultural sectors of the economy and above all to generate employment for Nigerians.

Similarly, in the 2013 budget proposal, the president re-emphasised the thrust of the administration’s fi scal policy in the area of the promotion of agriculture and industry; under which it plans to continue the implementation of supportive fi scal measures for some priority areas such as rice, cassava, wheat, and machinery for the agriculture, among several others.

In line with this, the government announced additional 10 per cent import duty and 100 per cent levy on both the brown and polished rice, obviously to discourage the importation and consumption of imported rice.

The Federal Government had also in the 2013 fi scal policy banned the importation of rice through the land borders, an indication that all rice imports into the country must come through the nation’s port. This was part of measures to enable it achieve its projection of making the country attain self-suffi ciency in local rice production by 2015.

However, six months into the implementation of the 2013 budget, there are serious signs that these measures like

those in the past years might really not achieve the desired objectives. Despite the series of measures initiated by the government, massive smuggling of the product into the country through the seaports and most especially the porous land borders and other unapproved routes has continued unabated.

Business Courage’s fi ndings revealed that out of a total of 5.5 million metric tonnes of rice consumed in the country annually, only 1.8 million metric tonnes are produced locally, while the remaining 3.7 million metric tonnes are imported. Sources also hinted that more than 50 per cent of this 3.7 million metric tonnes imported into the country are smuggled in through the land borders and other unapproved routes, which connotes colossal loss of revenue to the government.

Recent fi gures released by the Nigeria Customs Service estimate that the country lost a whopping N27 million for the month of January 2013 alone, to rice smugglers, which would have been earned as import duty and levy, the fi gure which translates to over N3.3 billion annually.

Experts however estimate

that the N27 million monthly revenue loss as a result of rice smuggling might be more than double in the third and last quarters of the year, when there is usually increased demand for the commodity and the attendant high price, which propels the smugglers to increase their smuggling activities.

Recent statistics by Rice Millers, Importers and Distributors Association of Nigeria (RIMIDAN), the apex milling association in Nigeria estimates that Nigeria has lost a whopping $200 million (N3.2bn) between January 2012 and now.

Industry stakeholders are however apprehensive that

this fi gure might double if government does not take drastic steps at curbing this menace.

Investigations also show that there are no fewer than 200 unapproved routes used by these smugglers for their nefarious activities. Most of these illegal routes are located within the Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Kwara, and Cross River States land borders.

Others include illegal routes located in River State, Taraba, Borno, Adamawa, Kastina, Sokoto and Zamfara States even as stakeholders believe that Nigeria- Republic of Benin border located in Lagos accounts for the largest chunk of these smuggled parboiled

By Francis Ezem

The seemingly unchecked appetite of most Nigerians for imported goods, particularly rice, is raising the tempo of smuggling, a situation which experts say portends grave consequences for the government’s policy of self-sufficiency in rice production by 2015 and making a mess fiscal measures to conserve foreign exchange. Can the tide really be stopped?

Smuggled Rice

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net Monday, June 17, 2013 A3 19Business CourageCourage

Cover

rice.Meanwhile, Patriotic Rice

Association of Nigeria (PRAN), which confi rmed that more than 50 per cent of the imported rice into Nigeria is smuggled, believes that this development poses a great danger to the nation’s economy especially in terms of loss of revenue that would have been channelled into other developmental projects. This is in addition to the fact that it will continually put the interest of the local producers at risk, thus stalling the creation of the much needed jobs to check youth unemployment and restiveness, which most people believe is partly the cause of growing insecurity in the country.

This implies that the nation’s economy loses in excess of 50 per cent revenue that would have accrued to government’s purse from import duty and levy on parboiled rice as a result of rice smuggling.

The association blames this high fi gure on the fact that the smugglers do not pay duty and levy to the Nigeria Custom Service, a development that makes them sell at ridiculously low price since they merely stole the commodity at additional cost.

A senior member of the association, who pleaded anonymity said: “Since smuggled rice is sold below the landing price of genuinely imported ones, this has been a source of worry to both genuine rice importers and millers and indeed, other patriotic Nigerians, who understand the economic importance of patronising those genuinely investing in the local economy”.

He had noted that these smugglers have become brazen in their desperate efforts to smuggle the products into the country not minding the economic dangers their nefarious act portends for the Nigerian nation and its people.

He blamed this on the huge profi ts they make from illegally bringing in rice into the country. “To say that rice smuggling is very attractive to them, is to state the obvious, but probably unknown to them is that remaining in their illicit business of smuggling has been a very big drain on the Nigerian economy. Not only does it deny the Federal Government of huge sums of money in revenue, it is currently stifl ing the genuine programmes of industrialisation, value addition and food safety and security of the nation”, he had lamented.

He also said: “The quick money they make in this business of rice importation has become a springboard for smugglers to get the product into the country through the back doors, essentially Nigeria’s land borders, without paying the necessary duty and levy”.

Another stakeholder, who commented on the worsening spate of rice smuggling, blamed the development on the supply gap of the commodity in Nigeria.

According to him, out of the 5.5 million metric tonnes of rice consumed in Nigerian annually, local production accounts for 1.8 million metric tonnes. “This leaves a defi cit of 3.7 million metric tonnes and in order to bridge this gap, the country needs to import about 3.7 million metric tonnes to feed her people. This gap has made rice importation a must”, he had argued

This development further casts serious doubts as to the ability of the Federal Government to achieve its projected self-suffi ciency in local rice production by 2015. This expert had argued that with the huge supply gap, smugglers have seized opportunity to bring rice into the country.

He also disclosed that some unscrupulous importers in order to evade import duty and other levies payable to the government have resorted to diverting their vessels coming to Nigeria to Port Novo, the former capital of Benin Republic and from there, their Nigerian partners in crime would smuggle the products into major rice markets in Lagos and from there to other states.

These markets in Lagos noted for the sale of smuggled rice include but not limited to Alaba, Daleko in Mushin, Iddo and Singer Markets, among others.

“The implications of this is that while smugglers smile home daily, the genuine millers, some of who have invested hundreds of millions of naira in the business, remain in agony”, a rice miller who spoke on the condition of anonymity lamented.

According to him, smuggling of the product makes rice retailers and wholesalers shun genuine importers and instead, patronise sellers of smuggled rice because of the difference in price, lamenting that this development has the capacity to worsen the unemployment situation in the country.

This is against the background that the genuine millers employed over 4.5 million Nigerians in the rice value chain in addition to nearly 2.7 million other jobs created in the areas of logistics, handling and sundry services, whose jobs might be at risk. “The implication is that government, and by extension, the country will lose huge revenue that would have been used to create sustainable infrastructure in the country”,

he lamented further.As part of measures to

complement the efforts of the Customs in combating this menace, RIMIDAN donated 150 vans to the service.

Customs however says there has been appreciable results in the fi ght against smugglers,. Statistics show that the service has impounded 35,194 bags of rice worth N217 million in the last three months, while serious surveillance has been mounted in all the unapproved routes used by smugglers.

But operators are however worried that this is like a drop in the ocean as the smugglers continue to fi nd new ways of carrying out their illegal business to the detriment of the Nigerian economy.

According to Nosike Ogu, an industrialist, if this trend continues, the economy of the country might be on its knee, as government would have less money to fi nance capital projects that would have direct impact in the life of her citizens.

Founder of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, blamed the increasing spate of smuggling to the high rate of unemployment in the country, arguing that many employable adults still roam the streets.

He however noted that Customs has what it takes in terms of human capacity to fi ght the menace of smuggling but regretted that it lacks the equipment in terms of patrol vans, helicopter and platforms for the marine command.

He argued that constant air surveillance of these unapproved routes as well as all the land borders in the country will keep the smugglers off the way and drastically reduce the menace.

However, in a recent interview with Business Courage in Abuja, Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina said that though the issue of smuggled still remains a major issue to the

country’s rice value chain, he believes that with the strings of measures already put in place, rice smugglers would no longer fi nd the business lucrative.

Part of the measures to raise the level of domestic rice production include the coming of Dominion Farms, the largest American rice farm in Kenya which is currently investing $40 million on a 30,000 hectare area with the T.Y Danjuma Group in Taraba state. The minister assured that in 18 months, the rice farm will produce 15 per cent of all the rice currently being imported into the country.

Besides the Dominion Farms initiative, Dr. Adesina said that the government distributed last year, 11,000 metric tonnes of high quality rice seeds and produced about 690,000 metric tonnes of rice paddy in the wet season last year before the fl ood.

In November last year, the minister said that the country started the dry season rice production in Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Bauchi,Jigawa, Niger, Kano, Kaduna, we have unleashed rice revolution in northern Nigeria. “Farmers planted 264,000 hectares of rice in the dry season; we reached 267,000 farmers all by phone getting their fertilizers and seeds support. In just one dry season farming, we had a total production 1.1mmt of rice while the total demand of the 20 rice mills in the country is 1.2mmt paddy in a year. For the country to be self-suffi cient in rice, all the additional rice we need to produce is 3.2mmt of paddy,” the minister said..

He also said that the government raised the tariff on brown and polished rice because of the need to block corruption. “The brown rice attracted fi ve per cent tariff and polished rice had 35 per cent but people were bringing in polished rice disguised as brown rice and make 30 per cent profi t before leaving the ports, thereby milking the economy dry. So we had to raise both tariffs to the same level,” he said.

The minister said that part of his efforts is to protect those that are investing in rice production in the country; “We have every natural endowment to be a major exporter of rice. And within 12 months of launching that policy by the President, 14 large scale integrated rice mills sprang up with total capacity of 240,000 metric tonnes. Today, we have well branded and packaged rice such as Ebony rice from Ebonyi state, Umza rice from Kano, Miba rice from Benue and several other long-grained parboiled rice which beats any rice from India or Thailand. At the least, we should be exporting rice to all of West Africa after we have met our own self-suffi ciency requirement,” he said. BC

Abdullahi Dikko, Custom Comptroller General

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netMonday, June 17, 2013A4 20 Business CourageCourage

Feature

In the past, various govern-ments in the country have always picked foreign con-

tractors and service providers ahead of their local counter-parts for the reasons of satisfac-tory performance and high level commitment. However, since the advent of the present ad-ministration, local contractors and service providers have been accorded some level of patron-age and respect in the scheme of things.

One area where the Transfor-mation Agenda of the President Goodluck Jonathan administra-tion appears to be yielding fruits is on the leverage it has accord-ed local content in the awards of contract and dispensation of patronages.

The Niger Delta Develop-ment Commission (NDDC) has a good report to make in this re-gard. The commission in a few weeks would be commissioning a seven kilometre bridge built in the swampy mangrove area of Ibeno, Akwa Ibom state. Ex-perts who visited the area where the bridge was erected described it as a master piece. Incidental-ly, the Ibeno bridge project was constructed by a local contractor with full blooded Nigerian engi-neers in demonstration of un-common expertise, courage and dedication to national cause.

Since the completion of the bridge, top managers of NDDC have been grinning from ears to ears on their ability to discover the ingenuity in the Nigerian engineers. The prevailing feeling now is that the Commission and government agencies at the mo-ment have indigenous engineers

Indigenous construction firms make inroad into complex areas previously reserved for foreign companies, thus raising the hope for the full implementation of the local content policyBy Samuel Oluwalana/ Port-Harcourt

to turn to for succour as a way of addressing the perceived ex-cesses of foreign engineers and contractors.

The Chairman of NDDC, Dr Christian Oboh, in a recent chat with newsmen in Port Harcourt said that the Commission’s en-counter with one of the indig-enous contractors, Viche Re-sources Nigerian Limited and its landmark achievements in handling most intricate jobs on engineering and construction is a clear indication that Nigerian engineers can truly be trusted with even complicated construc-tion jobs. “It all started when NDDC was eager to construct a seven kilometre road with 600 meter bridge across a swampy mangrove and the stormy Qua Iboe River which empties di-rectly into the Atlantic Ocean at Ibeno, Akwa Ibom state. Earlier, two foreign contractors had attempted the tough job and abandoned it almost at the starting point,” he said.

Oboh said that he had bowed to instinct by inviting Viche for talks, being one of the most rep-utable among the indigenous contractors identifi ed by the Commission then. “I said to the Chairman, I heard that you are a good contractor and you can face challenges. I told him there were land mark projects that needed to be delivered, most es-pecially the Ibeno bridge which was under construction. He sounded very confi dent about the company’s ability to deliver the project before the end of my tenure. We reached an agree-ment and we singled out that particular project. As I am talk-ing to you now, the contractor fi nished the project on schedule and today I am happy he did

not fail me as a local contrac-tor,” Oboh said with a measure of satisfaction.

There were reports that the Viche consortium bided for the contract alongside three other foreign contractors. It submit-ted a quotation which was 600 per cent lesser than what the foreign contractors submitted. Viche got the job eventually and now the rest is history.

The signifi cance of the proj-ect and the prompt delivery of the work by the indigenous contractor speak volumes of the ability of local service providers. The project is located at Ibeno local government area in Akwa Ibom, the operational base of ExxonMobil which is the second largest producer of crude oil in Nigeria after Shell with about

520,000bbls per day. Before now, many commu-

nities in the area had been cut off from civilization because of the challenging terrain of their environment. Foreign contrac-tors who earlier worked on the site had abandoned it after be-ing mobilized, citing security issues, community restiveness and especially, the unfriendly swampy terrain as reasons for abandonment.

From indications, Viche Ni-geria, a subsidiary of ROUDO Group appears to have won the heart of the government and the NDDC management.

Interestingly, it was the former President Olusegun Obasanjo that more or less dis-covered the potentials of the company when he recommend-

ed it to government agencies. Obasanjo had described the company as the emerging “Ju-lius Berger of Nigeria” in Akwa Ibom during the commissioning of one of the projects handled then by the company.

An engineer with the compa-ny, Albert Okoronkwo conceded that the Ibeno job was not easy as according to him, the com-pany did the impossible when it had to cast the beams for the bridge about fi ve kilometres away from the project site, leav-ing no alternative than to trans-port them in barges. He added that the company also had to travel 40 kilometres away to procure sharp sand to fi ll the swamp, just to get a solid sur-face. It also had to contend with violent sea waves all through, to bring the hitherto aban-doned project to a 100 per cent completion. No foreign engineer was hired in the process, while no casualty fi gure was also re-corded.

Dr Effi ong Bassey Achianga Akwaha Owong, Paramount of Ibeno commended Viche and NDDC for building the bridge which he noted, had brought re-lief to his people. The people in the communities, he affi rmed, had been cut off from civili-zation, such that the present generation would be eternally grateful for being remembered by the federal government.

The royal father, howev-er expressed gratitude to the Management of NDDC for its foresight in engaging Viche Re-sources to complete the job in record time, recalling that un-like in the past, the construction of the bridge recorded no casu-alty, notwithstanding the dan-gers involved in the process of construction. “The Construction Company actually impressed me for what he had achieved in our community. I was ini-tially sceptical about their com-petence but having seen what they have done here, today we are happy and I am appealing to NDDC and the Ministry of Niger Delta to allow Viche take up the job for extension of the road to Eastern Obolo and other com-munities within Ibeno’’

With the success achieved by Viche on the Ibeno project, there is a general impression that the government may have to pander to the interest of in-digenous contractors, many of who had been hired by their foreign counterparts to execute projects. There are reports by the NNDP that more than 80 per cent of engineering contracts executed in Nigeria were usu-ally handled by local engineers who work for foreign contrac-tors. Apart from understanding the diffi cult terrains in Nigeria, indigenous contractors, accord-ing to experts can help boost national economy while gener-ating employment opportunities in the event that they get ad-equately patronized by the gov-ernment on contract matters.

A boost for local content

BC

Oboh

Ibeno Bridge, Akwa Ibom

Infrastructure


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Cassava Inclusion policy can yield N127bn yearly–ResearchersBy Emmanuel Ogbonnaya

Research experts from the Federal Institute of

Industrial Research Oshodi, Lagos (FIIRO), have revealed that the Federal Government’s cassava inclusion in wheat policy among other potential benefi ts was capable of returning N127 billion to investors annually.

The Institute’s Director General, Dr. Gloria Elemo who stated this at the stakeholders’ forum on cassava fl our in bread production organized by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), said that the projection was based on thorough research and fi eld studies which also showed that the policy was also capable of generating about three million jobs by 2015.

“I believe the business community will begin to see more opportunities in this industry and the industry will become the one of our dream with the following attendant benefi ts: potential annual foreign exchange savings of N127 billion and generation of three million jobs within the next three years through direct employment by stakeholders within the value chain and its multiplier effects,” she said.

She also stated that the policy has the capacity to increase industrial development through the creation of about 3,000 cassava processing small and medium enterprises as well as the establishment of about 19,350 commercial bakeries within the next three years by entrepreneurs who can recognize opportunity.

She further revealed that based on the research, Nigerians are soon going to celebrate a 15 per cent reduction in the price of bread in the short run and greater reduction in the long run.

“The pioneering research and development efforts of FIIRO on composite fl ours production from cereals, legumes and tubers started way back in the ‘60s with the sole objective of reducing to an extent the importation of wheat into the country,” Elemo said.

She noted that major crops worked on included: cassava, sorghum, millet, rice and soybean and that with each of these crops, different levels or percentages of substitution were experimented with and the results were very encouraging.

“Research results have shown that High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) can be incorporated into wheat fl our for bread making at different levels of substitution. However, 10-20 per cent was considered most acceptable for bread making being the level where no noticeable difference can be detected between bread made from 100 per cent wheat fl our while 15-40 per cent is acceptable for other products,” she stated.

In her remark, the chairperson, Science and Technology Committee of LCCI, Engr. Joanna Maduka, pointed out the need for more enforcement of the policy to protect huge losses by investors which she said was running into billions of Naira.

She stressed the need for development and commercial banks to come to the aid of small scale farmers through affordable credit as they lacked the fi nancial capacity to acquire modern machinery and equipment required for processing.

The Lagos state Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, noted that the development of the value chain of cassava up to its being processed to HQCF which is an industrial raw material is going to better the lots of the rural populace.

The Governor who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Dr. Olajide Bashorun, said that it was gratifying to note that the planned inclusion of

10 per cent HQCF has made the state a major stakeholder being in an advantageous position due to her large population of cassava end users, industrial consumers, fl our millers and proximity to the ports for exportation.

A representative of the National Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria and state chairman of Lagos Branch, Prince Jacob Adejorin noted that inclusion of 20 per cent cassava fl our in bread production must continue to be improved upon until the emergence of a typical “Nigeria Bread” based only on cassava fl our.

NIMASA forecloses closure of non - ISPS compliant terminalsBy Francis Ezem

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and

Safety Agency (NIMASA), has said it has no plan to shut any terminal or port facility that fails to comply with the regulations of the International Maritime Organisation on the International Ships and Ports Facility Security (ISPS) code convention.

The United States Government had about six weeks ago sent a diplomatic note to the Nigerian Government through the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Nigeria to improve its ports security system within 90 days or face trade isolation, which will entail banning all shipping lines that do business with the US from calling at the nation’s seaports.

The essence of this trade blockade is to stop shipping services to Nigeria and also mobilise all US trading partners to do same as part of measures to compel Nigeria to comply with the enforcement of the ISPS Code, which might have dire consequences as Nigeria relies solely on revenue from crude oil export even as it depends on imported goods comprising both industrial and domestic ones.

President Goodluck Jonathan had sequel to this threat given the Nigerian Ports Authority and NIMASA marching orders to do everything possible to see that Nigeria complied fully with the ultimatum to forestall the economic danger it portends.

Executive Director of NIMASA in charge of Maritime Safety and Shipping Development, Captain Bala Agaba, who spoke on the modalities to be adopted in the enforcement of the security, noted that the agency might not need to resort to the closure of terminals that fail to comply with the security code.

He had insisted that the NIMASA Act 2007, which is its enabling legislation does not empower it to close any terminal.

According to him, as government’s designated agency to enforce the security code, NIMASA will adopt international best practice, which will include training and installation of Close Circuit Television sets in strategic port facilities, while ruling out the possibility of closing erring terminals.

The agency had following its selection as the new designated agency following the dissolution of Presidential Implementation Committee on Maritime Safety and Security, which was originally created to handle the issues relating to the ISPS in 2004 appointed a lead Registered Security Organisation and other RSOs as part of the implementation strategies.

The executive director had while ruling out the possibility of closing terminals said: “NIMASA does not have the statutory powers to close any terminal, PICCOMSS, which was made up mostly of military offi cers did not close any terminal while enforcing the code, so we will not shut any terminal”.

He had however noted that port terminal and other facility owners should be prepared to make some fi nancial commitments in the area of installing some security equipment at their facilities as well as payment for training and certifi cation.

It was gathered that in as much as NIMASA is not planning to close any erring terminal, it might decide to hoist Nigerian fl ag as well as that of the IMO on compliant terminals, which is a subtle way of telling the maritime community that such a terminal is not complaint, which might make it incur the wrath of the Federal Government, which desires that Nigerian must comply.

Investigations also showed that the agency may have commenced beaming its searchlights on some depots owned by some International Oil Companies as well as some

private jetty operators, which are believed to constitute major security threats, as some of the jetties now receive and discharge ocean going vessels.

President Jonathan had while speaking through his Senior Special Adviser on Maritime Services, Mr. Leke Oyewole at a stakeholders’ conference on reviving the ISPS Code organised by NIMASA, warned that Nigeria cannot afford any international sanction at this time of her political and economic history.

According to him, following the dissolution of PICOMMSS set up in 2004 to enable Nigeria comply with the Code, which is a security framework put in place in reaction of the World Trade Centre, New York bombing in September 2001, NIMASA has been designated to enforce the provisions of the code.

He disclosed that the decision of the government to dissolve the committee and re-designate NIMASA to takeover the job was because the government needed an agency that has good knowledge about ships and ports operations.

The President, who also frowned at the infl ux of all manner of people, most of who do not have any business at the ports, insisted that the Nigerian Ports Authority must enforce strict access control at the major seaports in the country.

“I have not seen any reason why NPA should put security personnel at the major entry points to the seaports, who look at faces before they determine who goes in or not. Time has come for NPA to install electronic card system at the ports to control access to un-authorised persons”, he said further.

FG’s axe dangles on IOCs over shipping tariff evasion

There are strong indications that the Federal

Government might descend heavily on some International Oil Companies over the evasion of shipping dues and other payments, through which the government has lost huge sums of money.

Minister of Transport, Idris Umar, who spoke in Abuja, disclosed that most IOCs operating in the country are in the habit showing total disregard and non-compliance with the provisions of the National Inland Waterways Act, as it affects payment of tariffs on pipelines crossing the waterways and development of their vessels on the waterways.

This development, it was gathered had cost the Akpobolokemi, NIMASA DG

L-R: Bruce Onobrakpaeya, a renowned artist and Carla Sojinrin of the Corporate Banking Group, Sterling Bank Plc. during the staff children art competition held recently


News

government huge sums of money that would have accrued to it from these tariff collections.

It was gathered that the Minister has concluded plans to liaise with his Petroleum Resources Ministry in order to come up with adequate sanctions for these IOCs and also compel them to pay the backlogs.

Sources at the Nigerian Ports Authority also hinted that the non-remittance of the seven percent Port Development Levy by the various collection agencies, which include the Nigeria Customs Service, designated import duty collecting banks and the Central Bank of Nigeria, especially last year also impacts negatively on the authority’s revenue.

The sources had observed that prompt remittance of the collections will enable NPA carryout its function of developing port critical infrastructure and maintenance of existing ones at the nation’s seaports.

The transport minister, who also listed some of the challenges facing the shipping industry, noted that most o the seaports, especially those in Lagos have been over-stretched, with the attendant cargo overfl ows, which cause congestion at the ports.

“Existing port facilities at Apapa and Tin Can Island Ports both in Lagos have over the years been overstretched and the only ultimate solution to this is the development of deep seaports”, the minister insisted.

He had also observed that inadequate ship building and repair yards constitutes a major obstacle to the realization of the objectives of the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) policy, which requires that the vessels for lifting of cargo within the inland and coastal waters must be built in Nigeria and manned by Nigerians.

On the way out of this problem, the minister noted that the government should adopt a Public –Private Sector Partnership model for the development of existing ship building and repair yards.

He had also made a strong case for the granting of concessionary waivers for the importation of ship yard facilities, equipment and other spare parts while the same approach should be considered for establishment of new ship yards.

He decried the low tonnage of Nigerian-owned ships in the ship registry records despite the face that the country leads in maritime trade within the West and Central African sub-region.

Other challenges facing the ports in Nigeria include the menace of water hyacinth, which poses a great danger to navigation, as the weeds could disrupt the movement of ships in the channels by fi nding their way into the propeller.

It was gathered that the lack of inter-agency cooperation among the government agencies like NPA, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency and NIWA all claim to have statutory powers to remove the weeds from the waters.

It was also gathered that most of the seaports in the country have jurisdictional confl icts with the government of most host states on the inland waterways.

Stakeholders have argued that the only solution to this development is the institution of a legal matter by the Attorney General and Minister o Justice for the courts to determine and spell out the boundaries between the Federal Government and the littoral states of the federation.

Institute advises FG to privatise all sectors of economy

A former Chairman, Nigerian Institute of Town Planners

(NITP), Makinde Ogunleye, has advised the Federal Government to privatise all sectors of the economy.

Ogunleye told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that that was the only way signifi cant developments could be achieved in the country.

He said that lack of a well defi ned national development plan was the bane of economic development of the country.

Ogunleye said that government had approved many projects that had no feasibility studies and plans of execution.

According to him, a project plan gives an overview of what is being required to embark on particular project and how to go about it in order to come out with a good result.

“It provides direction on what are needed for a project

and even the best time of the season to carry it out. But well defi ned plans are lacking in our system and this is the major reason it has became diffi cult for government to execute and accomplish given projects,” he said.

Ogunleye said that the second Lagos-Onitsha express road which was approved 12 years ago had not been executed due to absence of a laid down plan of execution.

“Through a project plan, the government will be able to announce a project and predict that it will be accomplished within a stipulated period of time, maybe in the next two or three years.”

He said that the plan would serve as a guide to successive government and enable it to start from where the previous administration stopped. (NAN)

DMO offers N85bn bonds for sale

The Debts Management Offi ce ((DMO) on Friday

says it will sell Federal Government bonds worth N85 billion.

The DMO said in a statement titled ``June 2013 FGN Bond Offer Circular’’ posted on its website that the bonds to be sold include two fi ve-year and a 20-year paper.

According to the statement, the fi rst of the fi ve-year bonds worth N25 billion will mature in April 2015 and the other worth N35 billion will mature in April 2017.

It also said that the 20-year bonds worth N25 billion would mature in July 2030, adding

that all the three bonds were reopened.

The DMO said the 2015, 2017 and 2030 instruments attracted 4 per cent, 15 per cent and 10 per cent interest, respectively at coupon rate.

The sale is the sixth monthly debt auction for 2013.

‘Port stakeholders lack knowledge on ISPS code’

The Chairman, Port Facility Security Offi cers Forum,

Lagos Maritime Security Zone, Subaru Anataku has said that most stakeholders were unaware of the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code.

Anataku who said there was need to educate maritime stakeholders on the ISPS code, stated that government had been working hard to ensure that the stakeholders are trained and enlightened about the ISPS code.

``The non-compliance is still due to the lack of understanding of the code. If the code is well-understood, then everybody will play its vital roles and when these roles are played, you will see that there will be no much problem.

``The benefi t of ISPS code is that it makes your country to be viable because if the area is safe, the coming vessel would operate at a cheaper rate.

``If the security is heightened, certainly they will be coming with a lot of security devices which will heightened the insurance cover of the vessels, so it will translate to the economy of the nation too.``

Anataku said that ISPS code came into effect after Sept 11, 2011 attack in the US, adding that the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) implemented the Safety of Life At Sea programme.

He said that the programmes would make the maritime industry safe for ports users as well as safeguard the vessels particularly.

He, however, urged the stakeholders to be acquainted with ISPS code in order to have a secured maritime environment.

Bonny channel can now accommodate large vessels – firm

The General Manager of Bonny Channel Company

(BCC), Bart Van Eenoo, has said that the company had made the Bonny channel safer for navigation and could accommodate large ocean-

going vessels.A statement made available

to newsmen by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on Friday in Lagos said that Eenoo made the observation after a familiarisation tour of the Eastern ports by NPA Governing Board.

The BCC, a joint venture of the NPA and the Channel Management Company (TMC), started operations eight years ago. The company is 60 per cent owned by the NPA and 40 per cent owned by TMC.

Eenoo said that the Bonny channel had undergone regular maintenance dredging, adding that 14 critical wrecks had been removed from the channel. ``The BCC has so far dredged the Bonny channel from its previous 12.50 metres depth to its current 14.30 metres and increased its width from 215 to 230 metres. BCC has also provided aids to navigation on the channel and trained its staff as well as offi cers of NPA,’’ Eenoo said.

According to him, over 50 marine and hydrographic offi cers of NPA have benefi ted from the BCC sponsored training programme designed for senior pilots, harbour masters and hydrographers.

Eunice Ezeoke, the Traffi c Manager of the Rivers Port, also said that the Eastern ports had domesticated the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code level 2.

She said that the security and safety situation in the ports were quite impressive in recent times.

Ezeoke said that the management of Rivers port had repaired the vessel MT Umuahia and updated the maintenance of MT Otuoke and MT Balali in order to render effective and effi cient marine services.

95 ships expected at Lagos ports

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on Friday said that

95 ships carrying various products would sail into the Lagos ports from June 14 to 30. This was contained in NPA’s daily publication, ``Shipping Position’’, made available to newsmen in Lagos.

The document indicates that the ships are carrying maize, petroleum products,

Umar Goodluck Jonathan

Bonny Channel dredging

Nwankwo, DMO boss


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bulk fertiliser, new and used vehicles, rice and frozen fi sh.

It said that some of the ships contained steel products, bulk malt, bulk salt, bulk sugar, general cargo, bulk gypsum, steel products, bulk wheat, containers and crude palm-oil.

NPA said that fi ve ships were waiting to berth at Josepdam Terminals, APM Terminals and Apapa Bulk Terminal Ltd.

It said that eight fuel-laden ships were also waiting to berth and discharge kerosene and petrol.

NPA also said that the ships would berth at Single Buoy Mooring (SBM), New Oil Jetty (NOJ), Atlas Cove Jetty (ACJ) and Bulk Oil Plant (BOP).

Nigeria saves N254bn on cassava substitution for bread baking

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development,

Dr Akinwumi Adesina, said Nigeria saved N254 billion through the substitution cassava fl our in bread baking

Adesina said made this known at the 2013 Ministerial Platform, a mid-term report on the progress and achievements of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, in Abuja on Friday.

According to him, the country has also trained master bakers on the application of the cassava fl our

in bread baking.He said that government

had encouraged market growth by instituting the 40 per cent high quality cassava fl our requirements in wheat bread.

He said investment opportunity abound for investors to build new cassava processing plants to capture share in the growing market.

``Processing is a highly lucrative segment of the cassava value chain. An initial investment of approximately 30 million dollars is required to set up a plant with 75, 000 tonnes starch capacity or 50,000 tonnes sweetener capacity,’’ he said.

Adesina said the Federal Government was working to ensure that suffi cient cassava raw materials were available for intending processors.

He pointed out that government would facilitate low interest rates for processors and also implement other fi nancial incentives such as tax holidays and capital allowances.

The minister noted that a number of leading indigenous and global fi rms had indicated interest in the market for cassava starch in Nigeria.

Adesina said that the Federal Government would establish `Staple Crops Processing Zones’ (SCPZ) across the country as incentive to these investors. ``Government has decided to provide the necessary infrastructure such as dedicated power lines and road networks and a one-stop-shop for business set up and registration,” he said.

He said that the cassava subsector was expected to reach $8.5 billion before the year 2020.

Tourism operators want FG to address duplication oflevies

A tourism expert, Ayankojo Ayanyemi, on Friday

appealed to the Federal Government to check the alleged duplication of levies paid by operators in the tourism sector.

Ayanyemi, the Director of Studies, Standard Aviation and Maritime Training Institute, Lagos, made the appeal in an interview said that the imposition of the same levy by local, state and federal governments would hamper the growth of the sector.

`` For instance, the institute pays a particular levy to a local council, state government and the Federal Government every month. For a sector that is still growing, the government should reduce levies or

harmonise them to encourage more investors in the industry. There is the need for a holistic review of our policy on the tourism business,” Ayanyemi said.

He urged the three tiers of government to formulate tourism-friendly policies to encourage students, tourists and investors to play actively roles in the sector.

Ayanyemi said that the government could also encourage investment in the sector by granting tax holidays to operators in the sector.

He remarked that Nigeria’s tourism sector was unique and could contribute enormously to the country’s gross domestic product, if tourism sites were properly harnessed.

Ayanyemi advised undergraduates studying tourism and related courses to go on excursions regularly to update their knowledge about the nation’s tourism potential.

NAFDAC warns bakers against substandard bread in Nasarawa

The National Agency for Food, Drugs

Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Friday warned bakers in Nasarawa State against producing and selling substandard bread.

Eliyomade Matins, NAFDAC Nasarawa State Coordinator,

gave the warning at a workshop organised by the state chapter of the Bakers Association of Nigeria in Lafi a.

Matins said the workshop was aimed at enlightening bakers in the state on the need to maintain high standard in bakery in line with global practice.

According to him, we want to use this avenue to educate bakers across the state on the importance of maintaining high standard in their product.

``If standard is maintained by all of your members, it makes it better for the consumers, producers, and indeed, all of us. If every baker will do the right thing by maintaining high quality bread, the agency will not come after anybody,’’ he said.

He called on the general public to cooperate with NAFDAC by giving it useful information that would help in the fi ght against fake and substandard products in the state.

Judge Musa, the Head of Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) in charge of Benue and Nasarawa States, represented by Abigail Gbonko, urged consumers to buy products with NAFDAC number.

Tony Obiaha, Chairman of the association, thanked NAFDAC and SON for the enlightenment and called on his members to take the workshop seriously.

He promised to set up a committee to monitor the production of members to ensure compliance with the standard.

Construction industry posts 13% growth in 2012

The construction industry in Nigeria is showing positive

outlook, with about 13 per cent growth in 2012, according to industry watchers.

The industry consists mainly of residential and commercial buildings, estates and physical infrastructure development.

Analysts say construction plays a critical role in the economies of developing as well as industrialised countries, contributing signifi cantly to their GDP.

According to Ronald Ashkin, technical director at Growth and Employment in States (GEMS), Nigeria’s construction sector is Africa’s largest, and it grew by 13 per cent in 2012 and is expected to grow at the fastest rate in the world through 2020.

Ashkin, who spoke at a press conference in Lagos to announce the introduction of a new block moulding

technology into the Nigerian property market, explained that GEMS as a development programme, works in Nigeria’s construction and real estate sector, with the objective of increasing income and create jobs for the poor.

Ashkin’s projections corroborate a 10-year forecast from Global Construction Perspectives and Oxford Economics posits, which states that “construction growth in Nigeria will be the fastest of all markets”, pointing out that, though China will overtake the US as the world’s biggest construction market by 2018, the fastest growth will happen in Nigeria.

The report, which named Nigeria ‘global hotspot from here to 2020’, says the nation’s construction growth is even faster than India’s, which refl ects increased wealth.

Analysts note further that in the past fi ve to 10 years, the industry has witnessed considerable growth, which is a direct product of the country’s huge and growing population and rapid urbanisation.

BoA to procure 400 tractors for mechanised farming

The Bank of Agriculture (BoA) is collaborating

with six tractor companies in the country to procure 400 tractors and other farming implements for mechanised farming.

The Managing Director of the bank, Mohammed Santuraki stated this on Friday in Kaduna when he visited one of the tractor companies, Tak Continental Limited.

He said that the bank had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to access N3.6 billion for mechanised farming in the country.

Santuraki said the bank would also inject 35 per cent of the amount as its contribution while the 80

AbdullahiEdem Duke, Minister of Tourism

Ashkin

Adesina

Orhii, DG, NAFDAC


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service support centres to be established would also make contributions.

According to him, the bank would build a vendor fi nancier relationship with the tractor companies, to supply tractors and other services to the support stations.

He explained that the new stations would offer tractors services and other technical support to farmers at reasonable cost.

The managing director said the overall objective was to increase productivity and food security in the country, make agriculture more attractive and help to reduce the cost of farm labour.

`Ìt is shameful that 60 per cent of Nigerians are engaged in agriculture, yet the country imports 12 billion dollars worth of food every year,’’ he said.

Santuraki said mechanised farming would cut down on the numbers of Nigerians in agriculture, who could make more useful contributions in other sectors of the economy.

``The programme is targeted at people who are experienced in this line of business. It is not a political jamboree we want to support agriculture as a business that is viable and sustainable,’’ he said.

He commended TAK for its support to Nigeria’s ``critical economic sector’’.

Nestle collaborates with IITA on cassava production

Nestle Nigeria says its collaboration with the

International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) on cassava production was aimed at increasing productivity per hectare.

Nestle said in a statement in Lagos on Friday that they intended to boost cassava production

through multiplication and dissemination of high yielding varieties.

It said that the company would ensure that small holder farmers benefi tted from improved cassava management practices.

`Ìn 2010, Nestle embarked on Quality Grains Improvement Project aimed at ensuring high quality grains by reducing Mycotoxin contamination in grains through good agricultural and storage practice. ``Nestle Nigeria is also committed to optimising water use and effi ciency in its manufacturing operations and provides clean drink water to the local community, `` the statement said.

Nestle said that the company was planning a two-day Creating Share Value Media Workshop to strengthen journalists’ reporting skills and raise the level of media coverage of nutrition, water, agriculture and rural development.

NIA tasks members to grow insurance industry

The Director-General, Nigeria Insurers

Association (NIA), Olorundare Thomas has urged its members to take advantage of the Federal Government’s transformation agenda to grow the industry.

He made the call at the 2013 Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) International Educational Conference in Lagos.

According to Thomas, the theme of the conference: ``The Nation in Transformation: Repositioning the Insurance Industry,” which is expected to steer the growth of the real sector, will also bring about insurable items.

`Ìf the revolution in the agricultural sector happens, it will generate employment which will give many opportunities for life insurance companies to market group life policies. Those in general business will also engage in insuring farm lands as well as the various value chains that arise from harvesting and processing the crops,’’ he said.

Thomas said that operators should have the vision of what would likely come out of government’s transformation agenda and design their products to accommodate them.

He urged operators to be disciplined and committed to the general growth of the industry as opposed to the growth of individual companies.

Laide Osijo, President,

Santuraki

Nteranya-Sanginga, DG, IITA

Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), said the insurance industry was vital to the realisation of the nation’s transformation agenda.

According to her, insurance is on top of the success stories of developed economies and Nigeria should not be an exception.

She said that insurance practitioners must come out of their comfort zones for Nigeria to be among the 20 most economically developed nations in the world.

Osijo said that insurance practitioners should foresee the changes and take necessary steps to maximise the opportunities.

Lebi Omoboyowa, President, Institute of Loss Adjusters of Nigeria (ILAN), said the adjusters should ensure prompt delivery of reports on jobs given to them.

According to him, the adjusters should network with foreign loss adjusters as well as work together with Forensic Accountants, scientists and engineers.

FG reiterates commitment to support irrigated rice farming

The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment

to support the cultivation of dry season irrigated rice across the 10 states of the North West, North East and North Central regions of the country.

The states are: Kebbi, Sokoto, Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Niger Kogi Zamfara and Katsina.

Dr Akinwumi Adesina, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, made this known in Abuja said that “To augment the production of rice, giving rising demand for paddy as the number of mills expanded, government launched a ``double-up paddy production programme’’ to grow rice in dry season,’’ he said

He said 267,491 farmers from these leading rice producing states received free 50 kilogrammes of seeds, two bags of NPK fertiliser and one bag of Urea fertiliser free of charge.

He added that the farmers were also assisted with water pumps to bring water to their fi elds.

Adesina pointed out that the dry season accelerated rice production drive would produce 1. 07 tonnes of paddy, enough to keep 20 integrated mills running till 2013 crop harvest.

He said that the Federal Government had raised the incentives for domestic milling of locally produced paddy rice.

The minister said that 14 private sector rice mills had sprung up across the rice producing states, with a total capacity of 240,000 tonnes.

``The challenges of local rice which had discouraged consumers, especially when compared to imported milled rice have been overcome,’’ he added.

He said that a major foreign investor, Dominion Rice, has invested 40 million dollars in a 30,000 hectare commercial rice farm with international grade rice mill in Taraba.

He said that 25 of such mills were expected to be in operation by the third quarter of 2013.

Adesina said that the milling capacity of the mills had been estimated at over 850,000 tonnes per annum.

Association advises FG on sale of power plants

The Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied

Companies (SSAEAC) has advised the Federal Government to sell the 10 NIPP plants above their costs.

Bede Opara, the SSAEAC President General, who gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, said that the only way to move the power sector forward was for government to realise more revenue from the ongoing privatisation of the power plants.

``Government should not sell the new power plants less than the amount it built them. The 10 NIPP plants should be sold with 20 per cent profi t because those plants are new and have not been in use,’’ he said.

Opara said that it was totally wrong for government to use billions of naira to construct power plants and turbines and record little profi ts from them.

“We have told government earlier that it should allow investors in; they should build their own power plants instead of buying existing ones. Since government’s decision is to sell all the power plants, we don’t have any choice. In the

US, they are generating one million megawatts out of which the government generates about 250,000 megawatts, while the remaining megawatts are generated by private investors,’’ he said.

Opara said that the national body of the association was also showing interest in buying some of the NIPP projects. ``We have also shown interest in buying one of the power plants and we believe that it will be sold to us,’’ he said.

Anambra to make TIN registration mandatory

The Anambra government has made it mandatory

for the residents to register and obtain their Taxpayers Identifi cation Number (TIN).

The Chairman of the state internal revenue services, Nwanne Ejikeme, , said in Awka at the weekend that the TIN project was initiated by the Joint Tax Board to improve the nation’s tax administration.

``The Federal Government started this initiative to register all facets across Nigeria and integrate it into one single data base. TIN is like the social security number that we have in other countries. It will be a means for you to deal with government and for the government to deal with you. The essence of this registration is to give all of us identity and make planning easy so that the government will know you and know whether you pay tax,’’ Ejikeme said.

He said civil servants would be assigned the TIN upon registration and that this would be indicated in their pay slips. “The identifi cation number would also be a means for you, whether as a corporate organisation or an individual, to deal with the government and a means for the government to deal with you,” he said.

The chairman said the project would commence in June, noting that Anambra was among the six pilot states for it.

He advised the residents to ensure that they registered in their communities, churches, schools and other places when the project commenced.

Opara

Osijo


Global News

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Uganda to tax mobile money transfers

Uganda is to impose a 10 per cent tax on cash

transfers by mobile phones and other money transfer operators. International remittances from Ugandans living abroad are also affected.

Finance Minister Maria Kiwanuka said she also planned to raise $16.5 million (£10.6m) by imposing a levy on incoming international phone calls.

Kiwanuka had to come up with ways to plug a $214 million hole in the annual budget after donors cut aid over accusations of corruption.

Kiwanuka told MPs that in the last year $767 million worth of remittances had been received from Ugandans in the Diaspora.

According to Uganda’s private Daily Monitor newspaper, the new mobile money transfer tax could affect the 8.9 million customers using six mobile phone networks in Uganda.

The government hopes to raise $12 million annually from the tax, it reports.

Mobile money transfers are extremely common in Uganda as many people, especially in rural areas, do not have bank accounts.

Transfers are used to send money to relatives and even settle some bills.

“It’s very unfortunate that Ugandans are being squeezed both ways,” Simon Mpagi, a mobile phone money transfer agent, told the Reuters news agency from his retail shop in Kampala.

“They steal our taxes and donor money... leaving public services to near-collapse and now when donors get angry and cut them off, then they come to us and punish us again by raising taxes to grab even the little income we struggle to make.”

Phiona Wall, communications manager at mobile phone company Airtel Uganda, said she felt there were contradictions in the budget.

“In telecom we are trying to increase affordability and things like mobile money

transfer revolutionised money transaction so when you increase tax, there is a contradiction,” she told Uganda’s state-owned New Vision newspaper.

David Holliday, managing director of Uganda Telecom, said the new tax would mean a signifi cant increase in the cost of the service.

“Mobile money has become part of people’s everyday lives because they don’t need to carry cash. Even those who were formally unbanked have mobile money accounts with a service provider of their choice because it’s cheap,” the Daily Monitor quoted him as saying.

Kiwanuka said the aim of the budget was to target those who avoid or do not pay taxes and set targets for the revenue authority to make sure taxes are actually collected.

“All the tax proposals that have been mentioned add up to about 3% of existing taxes and they’re still subject to parliamentary approval,” she told the BBC.

“That percentage shows you that really the budget is not about new taxes, it’s about… taxes already due be paid. Collecting the uncollected.”

The UK, Denmark, Ireland and Norway have all suspended some aid to Uganda following allegations that millions of dollars had been transferred from Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi’s offi ce into private accounts.

Mbabazi has acknowledged that money has been stolen from his offi ce, but denies any involvement.

Singapore raps banks for rate rigging

Singapore’s central bank has censured 20 banks for

attempting to rig benchmark interest rates.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) found that 133 traders had tried to infl uence the rates in an echo of the 2012 US/UK Libor rigging scandal.

Some of the cases have

been referred to the police, and the city-state’s Attorney General Chambers.

UBS, Royal Bank of Scotland and ING have been told to set aside funds of over S$1 billion (£500m; $800m) each.

Another 16 banks have also been ordered to set aside lesser amounts, including Barclays, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and HSBC, as statutory reserves at the MAS.

The central bank ordered a review into the way banks located in the country set benchmark rates for borrowing and foreign exchange transactions.

The Association of Banks in Singapore and the Singapore Foreign Exchange Markets Committee, which carried out the review, have recommended scrapping publication of the Singapore Interbank Offered Rate (Sibor) - a benchmark for borrowing costs.

Telkom reports largest non-mining loss

Telkom SA SOC Ltd. (TKG) said full-year losses

widened more than fi fty-fold to 11.6 billion rand ($1.17 billion) after it wrote down the value of its assets, making it the biggest loss by a South Africa-based non-mining company.

The net loss for the year through March compared with 216 million rand a year earlier, the Pretoria-based company said in a statement today (Thursday). Earnings per share after one-time items fell 73 percent to 87 cents.

“Our results for 2013 have been largely impacted by the 12 billion rand impairment,” Chief Executive Offi cer Sipho Maseko said on a conference call. “The impairment was prompted by the considerable period of time that our shares have been trading at a much lower net asset value.”

The company, almost 40 percent owned by the South African government, is facing strike action amid talks with labour unions about wage

increases. Revenue fell 1.8 percent to 33.1 billion rand as sales from the fi xed-line voice service, its biggest contributor of revenue, and decreased 4.7 per cent amid competition from mobile and broadband companies, Bloomberg reports.

Telkom shares rose as much as 3.9 per cent and were trading 2.3 per cent higher at 15.66 rand by 11:50 a.m. in Johannesburg, valuing the company at 8.1 billion rand. Older Assets Telkom’s net loss is the biggest of any companies traded on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange since AngloGold Ashanti Ltd.

(ANG) reported a 16.1 billion rand full-year loss in 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The fi xed-line operator wrote down the value of its assets to refl ect the company’s lower share price, which has fallen 21 per cent in the past 12 months, and implied net value, it said on June 11. Other considerations included the value of some of its older assets, which have declined as technology has advanced.

“We are in a comfortable position to support our ongoing capital expenditure program which is largely directed towards upgrading and renewing our network,” Maseko said on the call.

Telkom appointed former Vodacom Group Ltd. (VOD) Chief Operating Offi cer Maseko as chief executive offi cer on March 28 as it seeks to boost growth and meet a target to help deliver broadband to all South African citizens by 2020. The government blocked the sale of a 20 percent stake to South Korea’s KT Corp. (030200) last year, saying it was a strategic asset.

Merkel advises jobless to get mobile

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany has said

the 3.6 million or so young unemployed people in the eurozone should be ready to move for work.

She has long been criticised in eurozone countries like

Spain and Greece where unemployment is rising to previously unknown levels.

In an interview for the BBC, she said their level of joblessness represented a “huge crisis”. But she also resolutely defended the policy of tight controls on spending.

When unemployment among the young had soared in her own area of East Germany, “many young people... only had jobs because they moved to the south”, she said.

There would have to be more “mobility”, she argued.

“I think it’s unfair that it is the young people especially who have to pay the bill for something they didn’t do,” she said.

“But there’s no way around it. We have to manufacture products or offer services in Europe that we can sell.”

Chancellor Merkel maintained that the fundamental policy was right.

She sometimes balks at the word “austerity” but said: “With regard to jobs and growth, the eurozone and other countries are in a diffi cult situation. The issue is not austerity; the issue is to get back to growth.

“This process is under way. Europe has to decide: how do we make a living? What do we want to produce? What do we want to manufacture? How can we cut red tape? How can we intensify trade?”

She said that the policy for Greece and Spain was not her personal idea but one agreed by the “Troika” of the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Union.

What did she feel when she saw anti-German demonstrations? “We have demonstrations not just abroad but also in Germany,” she replied.

“As a government, as politicians, we have to accept that. I want these countries to recover quickly.”She said the policy of balancing budgets had been applied fl exibly.

“You know as well as me that the European countries all agreed to the growth and stability pact,” she said. “Nevertheless, we gave many countries the possibility to have a defi cit above three per cent.

Kiwanuka

Maseko

Ravi Menon, Central Bank of Singapore MD Merkel


The road to success are most times laced with thorns and bumps and for one to suc-

cessfully weather the storm, such person must be extraordi-narily focused, determined and equipped with burning desire to overcome any impediments. Interestingly, the story of John Agboola Odeyemi’s rise to fame is not in any way different.

Odeyemi, the Ile-Ife born accountant grew up with tall ambition. He cherishes virtues of hardworking, honesty and optimism, while he abhors pro-crastination, laziness, deceit, shyness and habitual persons who do not take responsibility serious.

His credentials as an ac-complished accountant, busi-nessman, industrialist, phi-lanthropist and quintessential entrepreneur are no doubt quite intimidating. Born about 74 years ago in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Odeyemi’s journey from obscurity to limelight is quite edifying as the Obasewa of Ife and Fellow, Institute of Char-tered Accountants of Nigeria, once described his life as a tes-timony to the fulfi lment of pos-sibility.

As a son of a poor cocoa farmer, the late Pa Martin Aworinlewo Odeyemi and petty trading mother, Alice Aralola, John Agboola’s early life was quite challenging as he, dur-ing his elementary education days had to trek three to four kilometres from home to school on bare foot everyday for years. On his return from school, the tired-looking little Odeyemi would still have to attend to the father’s job and hawk kerosene for his mother before the fi nal lap, which was the ‘rigorous’ evening house chore.

Odeyemi’s elementary edu-

Like most people in his class, he defied all odds to reach what could aptly be described as the pinnacle of his career. Through a rare combination of vision, determination and courage, John Agboola Odeyemi broke the shackles of poverty as a son of a poor cocoa farmer to chart his path to greatness

By Adejuwon Osunnuyi cation was rather very stag-gered. He at Okemesi Primary School, Ife between 1956 and 1959, moved to St. Leo’s Col-lege, Abeokuta and later to SS Peter where he later got pro-moted back to Paul Catholic School, Ife and St. Paul’s Angli-can School, Ayegbaju, Ile-Ife.

Thereafter, he proceeded to Wednesbury-Staffordshire, England for his Commerce and Technology education in 1966-1967. He qualifi ed with the Chartered Institute of Cost and Management Accountants (CIMA) U.K. in 1966 and Char-tered Association of Certifi ed Accountant (ACCA) UK in 1967.

Like most successful busi-ness persons, the journey to the top was indeed not a rosy one for Odeyemi. “The journey was not a perfect one though and it wasn’t originally designed to be so. There were ups and downs but we thank God for where we are today. I could remem-ber that sometimes when there seemed to be no hope in the air, we still persisted in the deter-mination to excel,” he recalled recently.

The youthful Odeyemi’s dream of becoming somebody in life almost got thwarted at a time when he was affl icted by a strange ailment, with many peo-

ple not given him any chance of survival. About four years ago, when he celebrated his 70th birthday, Odeyemi noted that the occasion afforded him the opportunity to recount his experience. “It’s a time to look back, appreciate God’s grace, parents and guardian’s contri-butions in moulding one’s life into shape,” he said then.

As a student on Sandwich course in Accounting at The College of Commerce & Tech-nology, Wednesbury, Stafford-shire England, Odeyemi won the Rubbery Owen Prize, for the “Most Distinguished Student of the Year”; and “Outstand-ing Performance of the Year” In 1965 and 1966 respectively.

He started his working ca-reer as Audit Senior at Cooper & Lybrand, Birmingham be-tween 1967 and 1969 before joining JKN Limited same year as an Accountant/Admin man-ager.

However, through a dint of hard work, determination and unwillingness to succumb to any obstacles, he was able to get to the top hierarchy of the company and he is currently the Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive of the company.

JKN Limited is a multi-ser-vices engineering company in-

corporated in 1962 and formerly known as “James Kilpatrick & Sons Limited”. The company specializes in electrical, me-chanical, tele-c ommun i -c a t i o n s and infra-structural develop-m e n t s e r -

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‘ It’s a time to look back, appreciate God’s grace, parents and guardian’s contributions in moulding one’s life into shape


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vices. Over the years, its track record has seen it execute proj-ects in the power and telecom-munications sectors as well as public, commercial and hotel buildings. JKN is also noted to have executed projects for the military, government parastat-als, public institutions, fi nan-cial institutions, oil and gas, etc.

JKN Limited specializes in electrical designs and installation. It designs, constructs, installs, com-missions, maintains and repairs and has since 1962 carried out special-ized electrical services such as High Voltage Electrical Power Reticu-lations, Rural Electrifi ca-

tion, Extra Low Voltage Systems, Fire Alarm, CCTV,

BMS, Lightning Protection throughout the federation.

JKN Limited also provides overhead power transmission

and distribution systems such as Transmission Lines, Distribution (Over-head and Underground) 33KV, 11KV, 415V as well

as Substations (132/33KV, 33/11KV abd 11/0.415KV).

JKN also a Training School arm established in 1978 basi-cally to meet the manpower needs of the company in elec-trical, mechanical, refrigeration and air-conditioning engineer-ing relevant to its operations. Over the years, the brief of the school has expanded to include providing these services to other students willing to learn various trades as well as assist the government in its youth em-powerment programme such as the National Directorate of Em-

ployment (NDE).The school c u r r e n t l y

runs p r o -

grammes in three engineering and one catering departments thus; electrical, mechanical, computer and catering depart-ments. With these departments, JKN Training School has the in-frastructure and specializes in training students in electrical installations and maintenance practice, electrical control panel building, plumbing and pipe fi t-ting, refrigeration and air-con-ditioning practice, welding craft practice, computer craft prac-tice and catering craft practice. Each of the courses runs for a period of eight months to three years depending on the course of choice and they can be of-fered as full-time or part-time courses.

While the school has facility to train between 200 and 300 students conveniently, it has been accredited by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) as a Vocational En-terprises Institution, National Business & Technical Examina-tions Board (NABTEB) as an ex-amination centre, and National Common Entrance for Techni-cal/Vocational Schools as an examination centre and college.

Odeyemi is regarded as one of the founding fathers of the Nigerian Association of Cham-bers of Commerce of commerce, Industry, Mines and Agricul-ture (NACCIMA), an umbrella organisation for all City/State and bilateral Chambers of Com-merce with the Federal Repub-lic of Nigeria.

Since inception, NACCIMA has grown into a colossus and acquired signifi cance within and outside the country. It has become the most effective and effi cient organ through which the Nigerian business class in-fl uences government decisions on a wide range of issues affect-ing commerce and Industry.

During the military era, when Odeyemi held sway as the president, the association was

at the vanguard of the struggle for the restoration of democracy in the country. In order to take advantage of the opportunities which the new democratic dis-pensation offers, the NACCIMA has improved on its services to provide prospective investors with the latest information on the variety of investment oppor-tunities in Nigeria. He was also the President and Chairman of Council of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry be-tween February 2002 and De-cember 2003.

Being an astute business-man, Odeyemi has been on the board of many companies across banking, manufactur-ing and construction industry for years. Between September 15, 2006 and March 2010, he served as the Chairman of Ecobank Nigeria Plc where his wealth of brilliance and bank-ing experience were clearly put to test. Prior to his becoming Ecobank’s chairman, he had served as its director from 1998 to 2004. Aside Ecobank, he was also on the board of the defunct Leadbank Plc and the Fed-eral Savings Bank. He was the chairman of Refuge Insurance Company Limited before it was acquired by Crusader General Insurance Limited in the wake of the consolidation exercise in the Insurance Industry.

Presently, he serves as a Di-rector of Oasis Insurance Plc; Emzor Pharmaceutical Indus-tries Plc, Sowsco Well Services Limited and Kinley Securities Limited.

He was a delegate to the Na-tional Political Reform Confer-ence 2005, and Chairman of Nigerian Accounting Standards Board. Odeyemi is a Mem-ber of Metropolitan Club, La-gos, Christian Friends Society, Archbishop Vinning Memorial Church Cathedral, Lagos and Patron of some other Christian and social clubs. He is a Ro-tarian (and a Paul Harris Fel-low) and holds the chieftaincy title of the Obasewa of Ife (the source).

The former NACCIMA presi-dent presently serves as the chairman, JAO Investment Company Limited as well as the Obafemi Awolowo University Investment Company Limited. Others are UNO Foods Limited and Multimalt Limited.

He is one of the directors of Fleet Technologies Limited, a subsidiary of Enterprise Bank Plc (formerly Spring Bank) and a full fl edge Information and Communications Technol-ogy Company. Fleet Technol-ogy evolved from the Electronic Banking Group of the former Fountain Trust Bank Plc.

In recognition of his extra-ordinary brilliance, he was giv-en a Merit Award by the Insti-tute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria in 2005; awarded Doctor of Science in Business Administration (Honoris Causa) by Obafemi Awolowo University

Ife in December, 2007 while he was also given a special award by the Federation of Construc-tion Industry for his contribu-tions to the infrastructural de-velopment in Nigeria in June 2009 and appointed as a mem-ber of the Board of Trustees of Oduduwa University, Ipetumo-du, Osun State in September 2009.

The business magnate and lover of culture is noted as be-ing one of the living Africans with extreme passions for the promotion of African and es-pecially Yoruba culture. Be-ing a philanthropist, Odeyemi at various times had offered scholarships to many and do-nated well-equipped museums to many institutions of learning in the country.

One of the benefi ciaries of this gesture is the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, where he donated a well-equipped Museum of An-tiquities and Contemporary Art to the school as a form of giving back to his society and to mark his 70th birthday. According to Odeyemi, giving back to the society is a thing he has grown to enjoy as he sees life as mere “Vanity upon vanity!”

“The only thing that keeps life going is the quantities of good things that mankind does. Religiously, culturally and whatever, we all know that helping others to achieve greatness in life and being an apostle of the truth makes us feel proud internally and could be substantially rewarded here and hereafter. So, why don’t we rather devote our wealth and resources to individual devel-opment, which in turn would trigger national growth and in-ternational understanding?” he submitted.

At a distance, Odeyemi’s identity might not be properly captured. But with a closer look, one would grab vividly his unrelenting spirit and high level of discipline. And why not, he said that to become mean-ingful and relevant in life, one must design a particular iden-tity for oneself. “Life at this age has taught me to be straightfor-ward as though no one can tell of tomorrow. It equally pointed out to me that good works end with good rewards. I may be a strict person but I take solace in helping others achieve their dreams.”

Comparing Nigeria of his dream to what is obtainable at present, there seems to be a gulf. “As a young man and as a member of the National Youth Movement (NYM), we wanted common good for all (social-ist philosophy). There were big dreams, a Nigeria that would bring good opportunities to citi-zens including free education, good health as well as mak-ing them sustainable. Getting scholarships were not diffi cult. But our hopes were shattered by various military interven-

tions during the civil war and post war activities. Hitherto, our problem was not money but how to spend it. Today, our ap-proach to governance is regret-table whether civilian or mili-tary. Uncontrolled governance has shattered the nation’s de-velopmental process and the earlier we adjust the better,” he refl ected recently.

As an arts and culture en-thusiast, Odeyemi is particu-larly worried over the dwindling fortunes of the African culture. He warns of imminent danger if culture, which he described as “our unique identifi cation” is allowed to perish. For exam-ple, “my children have grown up with their own independent minds. While I prefer Yoruba attire most times, they would wear western dresses. The situ-ation is so pathetic that some parents are even encouraging their children to dump their lo-cal language for English. They don’t bother about whether such a child speaks his or her local language and the con-sequence of this is that our cultural and social values are being eroded. This has thus af-fected our behaviour, relation-ship, and our perspective about existence.

“There is danger ahead if we continue to discourage the preservation and promotion of our culture. What that means is that sooner or later, Africans might end up losing their cul-tural identity to foreign culture that is alien to our system and unique ways of life.”

Married to Cecilia Olateju and Kofoworola Oyinade, Odey-emi was in 2005 conferred with Member Of The Order Of The Federal Republic (MFR) in 2005, while Osun State Gov-ernment also awarded him the state distinguished merit award for philanthropy and commu-nity development in 2007.

He was a member of the Na-tional Privatization Council (Bu-reau of Public Enterprise) be-tween October 2004 and 2006; Member of the Committee on the Assessment and Monitor-ing of the Millennium Develop-ment Goals from June 2005 to October 2006 and currently, he is a member of the Governing Board of UNESCO Institute of Science, Technology and Inno-vation Centre in KUALA LUM-PUR, Malaysia.

vices. Over the years, its record has seen it execute ects in the power and telemunications sectors as wepublic, commercial and buildings. JKN is also nothave executed projects fomilitary, government paraals, public institutions, fi cial institutions, oil and etc.

JKN Limited speciain electrical designs installation. It desconstructs, installs, missions, maintainsrepairs and has 1962 carried out speized electrical sersuch as High VoElectrical Power Relations, Rural Electr

tion, Extra Low VoSystems, Fire Alarm, C

BMS, Lightning Protethroughout the federa

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and distribution syssuch as TransmiLines, Distribution (Ohead and Undergro33KV, 11KV, 415V as

as Substations (132/333/11KV abd 11/0.415

JKN also a Training Scarm established in 1978 cally to meet the manpneeds of the company in trical, mechanical, refrigerand air-conditioning engiing relevant to its operatOver the years, the brief oschool has expanded to incproviding these servicesother students willing to various trades as well as athe government in its youthpowerment programme sucthtt e National Directorate of

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The only thing that keeps life going is the quantities of good things that mankind does. Religiously, culturally and whatever, we all know that helping others to achieve greatness in life and being an apostle of the truth makes us feel proud internally and could be substantially rewarded here and hereafter


Management Principles

ThebuddingEntrepreneurs

Attributes of a good manager

Developing effective management skills to deal with specifi c challenges and problems of each organization is the urgent needs of many busi-nesses and organizations in the global competitive environment, rapid changing of technology and

environment. The new tendency of training and development of successful organizations over the world today is developing effective skills in dealing with specifi c challenge of their own organization to reach their own mission and objectives in the new organization that characterized by networked, fl at, fl exible, diverse, global organization.

Globalisation and rapidly developing technology shows we are in a period of intense competition and proper management is vital in these complex environments. The quality of manager and effective management styles can determine the culture of the organisation, the productivity of its staff, and, ultimately, success or failure.

A manager should have the ability to direct, supervise, encourage, inspire, and co-ordinate, and in doing so, facilitate action and guide change. Managers develop their own leadership qualities and those of oth-ers. Management utilises planning, organisational and communications skills. These skills are important in leadership also, but even more so are qualities such as integrity, honesty, courage, commitment, sincerity, passion, determination, compassion and sensitivity.

An effective manager should have the following skills. Creative problem solving skillsHere, a good manager must have the capacity to (1) Describe and analyze a problem, (2) Identify causes of

a problem, (3) Develop creative options and choosing the best course of action, and (4) Implement and evalu-ate effective and effi ciency of the decision.

Communication SkillsHe must have a listening skills; presentation skills; feedback skills and report writing skills. Confl ict Management SkillsA good manager must have the capacity to identify sources of confl ict – functional and dysfunctional con-

fl icts; understanding personal style of confl ict resolution; choose the best strategy for dealing with a confl ict, and develop skills in promoting constructive confl icts in organization and teams.

At the beginning, the idea was not to be an en-trepreneur per see. He

just wanted to be able to take decision and make those deci-sions happen. As a teenager, the idea of entrepreneurship was somehow alien to him. “Well I wouldn’t say I have al-ways wanted to be an entrepre-neur, but I’ve always wanted to be able to make decisions; not only on what should hap-pen but how I should make it happen. At that time, I didn’t understand what entrepreneur-ship meant” confessed Gospel Ukanwoke, the US based Nige-rian social entrepreneur who at just 24, has attained signifi cant milestone in the area of social entrepreneurship.

Gossy, as he is fondly called had founded the Student Circle Network (SCN), in North Cyprus in June 2010, as a personal project, built as a collaboration tool for students at his univer-sity campus. SCN is a member of the OpenCourseWare con-sortium of member universities across the globe offering free educational services to stu-dents in Business, Computing, Engineering, Sciences and Hu-manities.

The network became popu-lar in more campuses within the North Cyprus and became open for students in West Africa after it was featured on Venture Capital for Africa and African Innovators. It also became open in Brazil after it was featured in - Hoje Em Dia of Brazil and oth-er European news sites on how

He currently receives rare reviews across the globe. Dubbed as “Nigeria’s budding Mark Zuckerberg” by Forbes, his first endeavour was the Student Circle Network, an educational social network for college and high school students which he founded in 2010 and now, Beni American University (BAU), a 21st Century online University with strong emphasis on technology, web 2.0 and entrepreneurship. This is the story of Nigeria’s US-based Gospel Ukanwoke

By Semiu Salami the network is creating a learn-ing environment for students. By December 2010, just six months after take-off, it became open to all students across the globe.

Currently indexing over 10,431 academic courses from over 200 OpenCourseWare member universities across the globe free to students, Students Circle has grown to become a world known social network and has been featured on sev-eral news media worldwide and has been referred to as “Africa’s Top Tech Entrepreneur” by IT-News Africa in 2011.

SCN started off as a social network providing educational help for students on the same campus with Gossy but when requests from other schools started coming in and people started getting interested be-cause users were talking about the website to their friends, Students Circle had to change its focus to a global one.

Today, Students Circle is an academic network for students, teachers and institutions. First, it provides a space for students to be able to interact and have access to resources that can help for independent or group-study. It is a place where students can ask ques-tions and fi nd solutions to their academic diffi culties. Secondly, SCN is a platform where teach-ers can do two things: get ac-cess to resources they can use to add to their own academic contents and interact with their students. Finally, the platform creates avenue for institutions where they are able to connect directly with their students

through groups. However, bolstered by the

feat achieved by SCN within a short period and the urge to help address the issue of in-adequate openings for African, particularly Nigerian students seeking admission to higher institutions, Gossy established the Beni American University (BAU), a web-based university with the vision of ensuring that

education is made available without boundaries to students of all backgrounds, ethnicity, age, sex, religion and income.

The idea, according to Gossy, was conceived through a thought process of fi nding a way to use technology to solve the problem of education in Nigeria. “It became even more interesting to fi nd out that I am not the only one who was

concerned about the issue. I decided to bring all these peo-ple together to form a group of young Africans who are work-ing towards this change. This movement birthed Beni Ameri-can University,” he said in a re-cent interview.

As the Founder and Presi-dent of the institution, Gossy is overseeing all affairs of the institution, from academics

Ukanwoke


BCBC

Personal Finance

ThebuddingEntrepreneurs

BCBC

Negotiation SkillsThis involves the capacity to be able to distinguish distributive and integra-

tive negotiations, position and principle negotiation; identify common mistakes in negotiation and ways to avoid them; develop rational thinking in negotiation, and developing effective skills in negotiation that benefi ts all parties involved.

Self-Awareness and ImprovementThis skill involves understanding the concept of self-management; evalu-

ating the effectiveness of self-management; developing creative and holistic thinking; understanding the importance of emotions in works as well in self-development; understanding of self-motivation, and effective management of self-learning and change.

PlannerA manager has to take a long-term view; while a team member will be work-

ing towards known and established goals, the manager must look further ahead so that these goals are selected wisely. By thinking about the eventual conse-quences of different plans, the manager selects the optimal plan for the team and implements it.

ProviderThe manager has access to information, which the team needs. The role of

a manager is important because authority, which the manager holds uniquely within the team and the manager, must exercise the power for the benefi t of the team for the effective productivity.

ProtectorIn any company, there are problems, which can defl ect the work force. The

manager should be there to guard against these and to protect the team. If someone in your team brings forward a good plan, you must ensure that it re-ceives a fair hearing and that your team knows and understands the outcome. If someone is in your team has a problem at work, you have to deal with it.

Team-Building Skills A team builder can best be defi ned as a strong person who provides the

substance that holds the team together in common purpose toward the right objective. In order for a team to progress from a group of strangers to a single cohesive unit, the leader must understand the process and dynamics required for this transformation. He or she must also know the appropriate leadership style to use during each stage of team development. The leader must also have an understanding of the different team players styles and how to capitalise on each at the proper time, for the problem at hand.

and international initiatives / collaborations, to admissions and student life, and is respon-sible for setting future goals and pathways for the university. His vision is to transform how edu-cation is provided and make it readily available for people who otherwise might not have access or the resources for an educa-tion.

BAU is a hybrid university that uniquely combines the ad-vantages of the online platforms and the stringent qualities of the on-campus learning. As part of the online training, stu-dents are required to take their classes, quizzes, tests and proj-ects online, while as part of the on-campus learning, students are required to take their exami-nations, facilitation, internship, and study offl ine at its designated centres.

Currently, the university runs degree programmes in Business Management, International Busi-ness and Management Information Systems and plans to expand its disciplines to include programmes in International Relations, Political Science, Psychology and other Hu-manities.

The Beni American University is structured along three levels. The leadership is made up of a team of eight individuals that handle the day-to-day running of the in-stitution, as well as its growth and quality management. It has an Ad-visory Council, comprised of highly experienced professionals in busi-ness, technology, policy and edu-cation, who guide the leadership of the institution in all aspects. The academic team has over 30 people led by the Rector and the Vice Rec-

tor for Academics which handle all aspects of teaching, learning and management of the academic facet of the institution. “We are all mo-tivated in different ways, yet we are united by the single vision and goal of educating the under-served members of the community, most especially those in Africa. It is very encouraging to see different individuals from different back-grounds work with determination towards this goal,” he said.

Gossy heads the Business and Technology development arm of the university. The Rector, Prof. Payne has headed faculties in Europe, United Kingdom and the United States in over 40 years while the Vice Rector, Prof. Tan-seloglu is also believed to have headed academic faculties over a 15-year span.

However, like most start-ups, Gossy’s SCN and BAU have not been completely insulated from

the initial challenges that have in most cases, cut short some highly inspiring dreams.

In terms of funding, most venture capitalists that he had spoken to about the idea are a bit sceptical and not willing to stake their funds in a start-up they are not sure of what the future holds for it. “I have shared these ideas with venture capitalists and angels when this was at its infant stage and at the point they felt it was early. The VCs were not focused on early stage start-ups at the time,” he said.

On the infrastructural side, particularly getting the Africans, which are the centre point of his project key into his vision, Gos-sy admitted that his team had an understanding that there is

an emerging problem. “We have considered these problems and have picked out a few ways to deal with them. Firstly, we are working with internationally trained tutors, who are young and understand the dynamics of teaching and learning in the modern environment. They are 80 per cent Nigerians by origin as well. This will allow our students learn from people who understand them, people who have qual-ity backgrounds in their respective fi elds.”

Secondly, Gossy says he is working with a few international Centres for Entrepreneurship as well as Entrepreneurial Hubs to take the students through a rig-orous business development boot camp; which will allow them form teams that it will fund. “Then, they can launch a product in the market upon their graduation from our in-stitution. Finally, we are also part-nering with international institu-tions that are ready to absorb some of our students when they gradu-ate and allow them complete their degrees and graduate-level learn-ing at their institutions.”

The major challenge here is se-curing partnership which he ad-mitted is often delayed when the international institutions realize that the project is going to be Af-rican based and most interestingly Nigeria. “We are working hard at this to ensure we continue working with our African partners whilst building the international collabo-rations that will give our students the edge over others,” he assured.

Gossy has presented at inter-national conferences on Education and Application of Technology in Education and has been a guest speaker at the Girne American University PhD series seminars as well as seminars focusing on Social Networking application in Educa-tion.

He has also written a series of guest articles for leading internet media sites on how education is being changed with technology as well as guest columns on entre-preneurship for emerging markets. Gossy is pursuing a Bachelors of Science Degree in Management Information Systems from Girne American University.

Top 10 management mistakes

Are you a good manager? You may think you’re do-ing a great job managing your small business or department, but how well are you really doing?

Following are the 10 most common mistakes that managers make ... and what to do instead.

Putting policies ahead of people Don’t: Put policies ahead of people. Flexibility with

both employees and customers is particularly important in a small company. Consistently putting policies ahead of people could lose you loyal customers -- and key employees.

Do: When policies need to be bent, search for rea-sonable solutions that keep all parties satisfi ed

Failure to communicate Don’t: Fail to communicate. Communication is key

to being a successful manager. Employees need to know what is expected of them.

Do: Clearly explain when specifi c projects or tasks need to be completed and how they should be done; answer any questions

Not listening to employees Don’t: Be a poor listener. Many managers listen

without hearing what their employees are saying. To manage effectively, you must understand your employ-ees’ needs and concerns.

Do: To make sure you’re listening well, try rephras-ing what you think you’ve heard

Believing you have all the answers Don’t: Be a know-it-all. Good managers don’t try

to solve every problem themselves. It’s important to acknowledge that your approach isn’t the only way to do the job.

Do: Ask others for advice and help -- it’s a sign of strength, not weakness, and helps your team develop confi dence.

Always seeing the glass as half empty Don’t: Be negative. Managers, who continually focus

on the downside of situations, without recognizing posi-tive achievements or employee accomplishments, will soon fi nd their employees are unmotivated and have one foot out the door.

Do: In each situation, look for one accomplishment to compliment employees on

Not accepting responsibilityDon’t: Shift responsibility. Poor managers don’t

accept responsibility for problems that occur on their watch. Some even try to delegate blame. Eventually, this will catch up with you.

Do: Take responsibility -- it’s part of being in charge.Showing Favouritism Don’t: Play favourites. Once a manager shows

obvious favouritism, he or she loses credibility and the respect of the rest of the team. It’s hard to bounce back from this mistake.

Do: Bend over backwards to avoid even the appear-ance of favouritism

Lacking clarity Don’t: Keep employees in the dark. The Nike slogan

“just do it” doesn’t work to motivate employees. You can’t expect your team to work blindly on tasks they do not understand.

Do: Explain how the project fi ts into the team’s and company’s overall goals. The more invested your team is in a project, the better the results will be

Relying too much on Email Don’t: Hide behind technology. Some managers are

more comfortable with technology than with managing people. Embracing technology is a key to success, but not if you ignore your people skills.

Do: Know when text, email, or voicemail are appro-priate ways to handle a situation and when face-to-face discussion is necessary.

Resisting Change Don’t: Be a dinosaur. In today’s rapidly changing

business environment, it’s crucial to be open to change and to learning new things.

Do: Be fl exible and try new ways of doing things -- even if you end up sticking with your old methods in some situations.


In the past year, businesses have seen several serious hacks and breaches. As the

arms race between attackers and businesses continues to evolve, IT departments and se-curity professionals will need to stay on top of the changing tactics and approaches used by criminal hackers in order to protect their organizations. What are nefarious hackers’ top resolutions and the great-est security threats to busi-nesses in 2013? Read on for my predictions.

Social EngineeringThis begins with focusing

on a tried-and-true black hat tactic in both the physical and digital worlds – social engi-neering. Before the comput-er age, this meant sneaking one’s way past a company’s defences with the gift of gab as opposed to a cleverly-worded email. Now social engineering has moved onto social net-works, including Facebook and LinkedIn.

Attackers are increasing their use of social engineer-ing, which goes beyond calling targeted employees and try-ing to trick them into giving up information. In years past, they might call a receptionist and ask to be transferred to a targeted employee so that the call appears to be coming from within the enterprise if caller ID is being used. However, such tactics aren’t needed if the details the cybercrimi-nal is looking for are already posted on social networks. After all, social networks are about connecting people, and a convincing-looking profi le of a company or person followed by a friend or connection re-quest can be enough to get a social engineering scam roll-ing.

APTs Being aware of social en-

gineering is important, of course, because it can be the precursor for a sophisticated attack meant to breach the wall of your organization. This year saw a number of high-profi le attacks (think: Gauss and Flame) targeting both cor-porations and governments. These attacks are known as Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs). They are highly so-phisticated and carefully con-structed. The intention behind

Confronting the biggest Cybersecurity threatsbiggest Cybersecurity threats

APT attacks is to gain access to a network and steal infor-mation quietly. They take a low-and-slow approach that often makes them diffi cult to detect, giving them a high like-lihood of success.

Additionally, APTs need not always target well-known programs, such as Microsoft Word; they may also target other vectors, such as embed-ded systems. In a world where a growing number of devices have Internet protocol ad-dresses, building security into these systems has never been more important.

APTs will continue as gov-ernments and other well-

funded organizations look to cyber-space to conduct their espionage. In fact, APT attacks are running as we speak so look out for those anomalies in your network traffi c.

Internal Threats But some of the most dan-

gerous attacks come from the inside. These attacks can be the most devastating, due to the amount of damage a privileged user can do and the data they can access. In a study funded by the US Department of Homeland Security, the CERT Insider Threat Centre at Carnegie

Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute and the US Secret Service, researchers found malicious insiders with-in the fi nancial industry typi-cally get away with their fraud for nearly 32 months before being detected. Trust, as they say, is a precious commodity – but too much trust can leave you vulnerable.

BYODThe issue of trust comes

into play in the mobile world as well, with many business-es struggling to come up with the right mix of technologies and policies to hop aboard the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend. Users are increasing-ly using their devices as they would their PCs, and by doing so are open-ing themselves up to web-based attacks the same as they would if they were operating a desktop computer.

For attackers, it is likely as well that there will be more at-tempts to

circumvent the app review and detection mechanisms mobile vendors use to guard their app markets. All this means that the fl ood of iPhones, Google Android phones and other de-vices making their way into the workplace are opening up another potential gateway for attackers that needs to be se-cured. Think about it – your smartphone has a camera. It has a microphone. It can re-cord conversations. Add these features to the ability to access your corporate network, and you have the ideal stepladder to climb the walls we are talk-ing about.

Cloud SecurityBYOD is not the only thing

changing the walls corpora-tions must build around criti-cal data however. There is also this little trend called cloud computing. With more compa-nies putting more information in public cloud services, those services become juicy targets, and can represent a single point of failure for the enter-prise. For businesses, this means that security must con-tinue to be an important part of the conversation they have with cloud providers, and the needs of the business should be made clear.

HTML5Just as the adoption of

cloud computing has changed the vulnerability surface, so will the adoption of HTML5. Earlier this year, it was noted at the Black Hat conference, a place where security

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BC

Understanding the concept of Information Security

with Esther Ozue([email protected]) 08059234648 (sms only)

BC

TechnotalkTechnotalkMTN boosts network with 250 2G sitesStories by Kunle Azeez

MTN Nigeria says it has again upgraded its network with

additional 250 Second Generation (2g) sites to improve its quality of service (QoS), especially internet experience for its over 46 million subscribers.

The company’s Corporate Ser-vices Executive, Akinwale Good-luck, said at the weekend that 250 brand new 2G sites were added to the network to improve customer experience.

The forum was organised to discuss an array of industry issues such as the quality of service both for voice and data, mobile number portability, as well as issues both-ering on customer service delivery.

According to Goodluck, with telecoms base stations inching towards 10 million in the country, MTN continues to take initiative to improve access and availability of voice, data and video to its growing customers.

Goodluck, who noted that fac-tors such as vandalism, cable-cut, multiple taxation and others cur-rently impacting networks were not peculiar to Nigeria, said the experi-ence was general for the operators across the sub-Sahara.

Noting that there was a capacity problem in the sector he stated that the industry has been working with the regulator and other government authorities at all levels to ensure that the issues affecting quality of services are addressed.

He particularly pointed out that as it is the case in other sectors of the economy, the extant infrastruc-ture defi cit in the country affects operators as they run more than 70 per cent of their operating hours on generators, which cost them a lot of money in overheads.

“While we are doing our best to upgrade our network, authorities should also create an enabling en-vironment to allow operator invest by addressing the issue of inse-curity and other challenges in the operating environment.

“Quality of service has been im-pacted signifi cantly in areas where State of Emergency has been de-clared. Overall loss to the economy

Goodluck

In the past few years, there have been several highly publicized security in-cidents ranging from fraud to terrorism. These events demonstrate the need for a comprehensive disaster recovery plans and checks either in an organi-

zation or a government. Threats present themselves in various forms, internal or external; in the form of disgruntled employees as a result of social engineer-ing; human error and neglect.

There is a compelling need to address IT governance and compliance issues with a formal information security program through an annual audit and inter-nal controls to mitigate threats and vulnerabilities.

Establishing a culture of information security is critical. An effective security program will reduce the high cost associated with unmanaged risk if it hap-pens. However, the way an organisation approaches information security issue will depend on its appetite for risk.

Security controls are safeguards or counter-measures to avoid or minimize security risks relating to personal property, or computer software and can be classifi ed by several criteria:

Preventive controls intended to prevent an incident from occurring; Detective controls intended to identify and characterize an incident in

progress Corrective controls intended to limit the extent of any damage caused by

the incident e.g. by recovering the organization to normal working status as ef-fi ciently as possible.

Security controls can also be categorized according to their nature such as Physical controls; Procedural controls; Technical controls; legal and regulatory controls

Information security controls protect the confi dentiality, integrity and avail-ability of information.

Risk-aware organisations may choose proactively to specify, design, imple-ment, operate and maintain their security controls, usually by assessing the risks and implementing a comprehensive security management framework such as ISO/IEC 27002, the Information Security Forum’s Standard of Good Practice for Information Security and NIST SP 800-53. Organizations may also opt to demonstrate the adequacy of their information security controls by be-ing independently assessed against certifi cation standards such as ISO/IEC 27001.

In trying to implement the security controls, there are some P’s you need to be conscious of. Although this set of ideas can be applied to most aspects of business, they’re especially helpful in understanding the success or failure of a security program in a given organisation.

The most critical stage in performing risk assessments is the review of poli-cies and procedures often called the P&P.

The P&P is an initial assessment to see whether an organization had laid the groundwork for a successful security program. Without them, chaos rules, and day-to-day operations are inconsistent and ineffective. Policies and procedures clarify what the organization wants to do, why it should be done, and how to do it.

PoliciesThe foundation of all security is strong policies. A policy is intent. It sets

the expectations of performance as well as the standards of behaviour for an organization. A policy guides decisions, provides consistency, and defi nes the corporate culture. To be effective, a policy must be clear and well-written, leav-ing little open to interpretation.

ProceduresA policy is only a set of guidelines; it’s implemented as a procedure. A proce-

dure is a set of discrete steps outlined to accomplish a specifi c task. Procedures normally include step-by-step instructions and any useful or required forms. These instructions and forms are used to ensure compliance with all standards and policies.

Procedures can assume basic competency in the role of the person perform-ing the task, but each procedure should be written in suffi cient detail that the task can be accomplished by someone that has never previously performed this task.

PracticesPractices can be either best practices or common practices. A best practice

is a method or technique that has consistently shown results superior to those achieved by other means. Most organisations seek out related best practices as they develop their in-house practices to accomplish goals like these:

Many sources of best practice information and guidance are available for both IT professionals and security professionals. Microsoft even provides tools to check that critical server components are confi gured in accordance with best practices, with best practice analyzers for SQL Server, Exchange, and even Lync Server.

Common practices on the other hand come into place due to culture, habit, or even poorly defi ned policies and procedures. Certain common practices that violate security policies and procedures include sharing a common adminis-trative password among all system administrators; administrators excluding themselves from password complexity and expiration requirements.

Clearly, information security is a strong factor to consider in the ever chang-ing information technology landscape.

pros can get a sign of attacks to come, that HTML5′s cross-platform support and integration of various technolo-gies opens up new possibilities for at-tack, such as abusing Web Worker functionality. Even with an increas-ing amount of attention being paid to HTML5 security, the newness of it means that developers are bound to make mistakes as they use it, and at-tackers will look to take advantage. So, expect to see a surge in HTML 5 oriented attacks next year, hopefully followed by a gradual decline as secu-rity improves over time.

BotnetsBut even though the arms race be-

tween researchers and attackers fa-vours innovation, expect cybercrimi-nals to spend a lot of time perfecting what they know best, such as making sure their botnets have high availabil-ity and are distributed. While the legal takedowns being launched by compa-nies such as Microsoft succeeded in temporarily disrupting spam and mal-ware operations, it is naïve to assume attackers aren’t taking what they have learned from those takedowns and using it to shore up their operations. Botnets are here to stay.

Precision Targeted Malware Attackers are also learning from

the steps researchers are taking to analyze their malware, and techniques were recently demonstrated that can help render analysis ineffective by de-signing malware that will fail to ex-ecute correctly on any environment other than the one originally targeted. Examples of these attacks include Flashback and Gauss. Both have been successful, especially Gauss, at stopping researchers from automated malware analysis. In the coming year, attackers will continue to improve and implement these techniques and make their malware more dedicated so that it only attacks computers with a specifi c confi guration.

*By Tomer Teller, a security evangelist and researcher at Check Point Software Technologies.


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is huge as a result of ongoing efforts to deal with insurgenc-es. The socio-economic fabric is highly challenged.”

He said though operators continue to deploy facilities across the country, avail-ability is currently hindered by incessant fi bre cuts. “The systematic cuttings that we are facing, especially in the South-East renders our re-dundancy measures in bleed-ing situation, which bring about degradation in service.

Goodluck, however, noted that the Ministry of Commu-nication Technology and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) together with the operators were work-ing with the National Eco-nomic Council to address the issues of multiple taxations right of way (RoW), stressing that “very soon there may be a pronouncement by the Presidency to tackle some of the encumbrances facing the sector.”

Galaxy Backbone gets UN award on e-government initiative

Federal Government’s pub-lic sector-focused Infor-

mation and Communication Technology, Galaxy Backbone Limited has emerged a win-ner of the United Nations Public Service Awards for 2013.

Galaxy Backbone’s “1-GOV.net” initiative was awarded fi rst place in Africa, in the category: “Promoting Whole-of-Government Ap-proaches in the Information Age”.

1-Gov.net is a common ICT platform built and oper-ated by Galaxy on behalf of all the Ministries, Depart-ments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government for the effi cient and effec-tive delivery of public sector services.

The United Nations Public Service Award is the most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service. It rewards

the creative achievements and contributions of public service institutions that lead to a more effective and responsive public administration in countries worldwide.

A letter from the United Na-tions’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs addressed to Galaxy Backbone read: “Your institution’s outstanding achievement has demonstrated excellence in serving the public interest and I am confi dent it has made a signifi cant contri-bution to the improvement of public administration in your country. Indeed, it will serve as an inspiration and encourage-ment for others working for public service”.

Commenting on the UN award, the Chief Executive Offi cer, Galaxy Backbone, Gerald Ilukwe, said that, “This is a recognition of the fact that the painstaking consolidation and expansion of government-wide ICT infrastructure has begun to yield its fi rst fruits – enabling the automation of the Federal Executive Council Memoranda process and the creation of a single hub for citizens to access government services.”

According to him, Galaxy Backbone’s 1-GOV.net initia-tive came up for recognition because it represents a creative and exemplary solution that transformed the chaotic infor-mation technology landscape in the Federal Government and its MDAs into a single, coor-dinated platform for e-govern-ment programmes in the space of 5 years”.

He said the 1-GOV.net has also been recognised because of the role it now plays in enabling other electronic gov-ernment services for internal government operations such as the automation of the memo handling process for Federal Executive Council meetings; government personnel payroll management (IPPIS) thus re-sulting in the gradual elimina-tion of the ghost workers in the Federal civil service; and an IP telephony system which allows for communication within and across government MDAs.

1-GOV.net also supports the delivery of public services such as the provision of bridg-ing assistance for the transpor-

tation of petroleum products to maintain uniform prices across the country with over 1,000 trucks are pro-cessed daily in real time by Petroleum Equalisation Fund.

In addition, the real time implemen-tation of new biomet-ric drivers licensing scheme nationwide, targeting over 20 mil-lion drivers by 30th September 2013; and the processing of over 5 million interna-tional passengers in 2012 by the Nigerian

Immigrations Service.

Task System partners to boost IT business

An indigenous Informa-tion and Communication

Technology solutions provider, Task Systems Limited has en-tered into a strategic partner-ship with Dhanush InfoTech Limited, a global Information Technology fi rm to provide in-novative IT solutions to drive the businesses of their custom-ers.

Dhanush InfoTech has more than 800 IT consultants specialised in a multitude of technology and business do-mains and Task Systems has over 1,000 Engineers deployed on site for customers.

According to a statement, “Both companies are coming together at a time when cor-porate organisations demand a solutions company that will enable them to concentrate on their core competencies and expect a one-stop-shop that provides answers that directly increase productivity and profi t.

Speaking in the statement, the Managing Director, Task Systems, Stanley Okpalaeke, said as global economic down-turn continues to put com-panies under pressure, “Only smart, fl exible and innovative solutions that leverage innova-tive technologies can ensure defi ant growth.”

Okpalaeke said that Dha-nush InfoTech and Task Systems are both customer focused organisations, saying that the customer was the rea-son for this partnership.

“The partnership would de-liver value, speed and effi ciency through the IT departments of its customers. Both companies have built strong domain skills in telecoms, banking, fi nance and Insurance, oil and gas, government, transportation, and retail,” Okpalaeke said.

He said the two companies have a pedigree of successful high level relationships with leading global Original Equip-ment Manufacturers with mul-tiple recognitions and awards from most of them.

“Between both companies, he said, are premium ac-creditations from Microsoft, Oracle, VMware, HP, Dell, IBM, NettApp, Cisco, and APC by Schneider,” he said

The Task Systems MD also observed that these excellent attributes attest to the profes-sionalism embedded in the partnership while guaranteeing positive business outcomes for all customers from the SME to large sized companies,” he said.

In his contribution, the Chief executive Offi cer of Dha-nush InfoTech, DSL Murthy, said his company was being run by professionals with ex-

pertise in research, design, development and delivery of high-end technology solutions.

He said the company had achieved the rank of global thought leaders in IT services, with presence in India, United States, Europe, Australia, Middle East, and Africa.

“The choice of Task Sys-tems as partner in West Af-rica is based on the need to fi nd a local player with the competencies to deliver the Dhanush InfoTech qual-ity services seamlessly to a variety of clients across Africa,” he added

Sony introduces new TV technology in Nigeria

Sony, the leading consumer electronics brand, has

unveiled its latest 84-inch BRAVIA LED television into the Nigerian home and offi ce electronics market.

The Television boasts a 4K (3840 x 2160) LED panel, com-prising 8.29 megapixels, which is four times the resolution of Full High Defi nition standard.

Additionally, the TV in-corporates Sony’s proprietary ‘4K X-Reality PRO’ super-resolution high-picture quality engine.

Featuring Four Times the Resolution of Full High Defi -nition and Powerful Sound, Sony’s Revolutionary Offering Redefi nes Future of Home En-tertainment

Seamlessly delivering high-resolution large-screen picture with powerful sound and visu-als to provide an immersive theatre-like experience, the latest BRAVIA LED television marks a distinctive entry with its class-apart features.

Speaking on the new televi-sion innovation, Managing Director, Sony Middle East and Africa, Hiroyasu Sugiyama, said, 4K, with four times the resolution of Full High Defi ni-tion, will rekindle or even ex-ceed sensation of the shift from Standard to High Defi nition television experience.

“It virtually eliminates the

line between television and reality to offer an unprec-edented and revolutionary viewing experience. The launch of this breakthrough 84-inch 4K BRAVIA television reaffi rms Sony’s commitment to consistently delivering a superior product offering to our consumers.”

According to him, the new television TV incorporates ‘4K X-Reality PRO’; Sony’s proprietary super-resolution high picture quality engine optimised for 4K LED TV.

“This engine is capable of reproducing any content with different resolutions, such as movies, photographs and games, into stunningly crisp, high-quality images with 4K resolution. Even when seated as close as 1.5 meters from the screen, viewers will not be bothered by the pixels and notice images are breathtak-ingly realistic and beautifully clear – an all-encapsulating panoramic viewing experience previously unavailable from a TV,” he said.

For 3D footage, Sugiyama said the ‘4K X-Reality PRO’ super-resolution processing up scales ‘Blu-ray 3D’ Full-HD resolution 3D images to 4K and displays them in high picture quality (3840 x 1080) that exceeds Full High Defi ni-tion resolution, using a polar-izing sheet on the television screen. The accompanying 3D glasses are light and feature a comfortable passive design, requiring no batteries.

In addition, the ‘10 Unit Live Speaker’ side speaker system optimized for large-

size screen combined with Sony’s unique high-quality sound sig-nal-process-ing technol-ogy achieves powerful three-di-mensional sound that envelops the viewer in position-orienting tones, from deep bass to high notes.Ilukwe

Sugiyama


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The Stock Market last week

TOP 10 PRICE GAINERS:Company Open Close Gain (N) % ChangeACADEMY PRESS PLC 1.75 2.45 0.70 40.00PAINTS AND COATINGS 1.40 1.85 0.45 32.14NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL 1.25 1.65 0.40 32.00BERGER PAINTS PLC 9.46 11.38 1.92 20.30VITAFOAM NIG PLC. 3.69 4.30 0.61 16.53IPWA PLC 0.60 0.68 0.08 13.33CUTIX PLC. 2.00 2.25 0.25 12.50FORTE OIL PLC. 15.40 17.01 1.61 10.45EVANS MEDICAL PLC. 3.09 3.40 0.31 10.03CHAMPION BREW. PLC. 4.84 5.32 0.48 9.92

TOP 10 PRICE LOSERS:Company Open Close Loss (N) % ChangePortland Paints & Products Nig. Plc 4.78 3.96 -0.82 -17.15ETERNA PLC 3.99 3.33 -0.66 -16.54OANDO PLC 15.40 13.08 -2.32 -15.06P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. 52.98 45.00 -7.98 -15.06IKEJA HOTEL PLC 0.93 0.81 -0.12 -12.90GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. 28.20 24.91 -3.29 -11.67LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. 5.94 5.25 -0.69 -11.62Transcorp PLC 1.30 1.15 -0.15 -11.54NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. 178.00 157.51 -20.49 -11.51CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED 1.75 1.56 -0.19 -10.86

A turnover of 3.725 billion shares worth of N75.874 billion in 39,060 deals were traded last

week by investors on the fl oor of The Exchange in contrast to a total of 1.917 billion shares valued at N25.133 billion that exchanged hands the previous week in 32,368 deals. The Financial Services sector (measured by volume) led the activity chart with a turnover of 1.702 billion shares valued at N14.698 billion traded in 19,826 deals. The Financial Services sector represented 45.68 per cent, 19.37 per cent and 50.76 per cent of the total traded volume, value and deals respectively.

The Conglomerates sector followed with a turnover volume of 597.153 mil-lion shares worth N1.052 billion in 1,410 deals contributing 16.03 per cent, 1.39 per cent and 3.61 per cent of the total

equity turnover volume, value and deals respectively. The ICT sector came third with a turnover volume of 516.087 mil-lion shares worth N1.007 billion in 264 deals.

Trading in the top three equities namely Transnational Corporation of Ni-geria Plc, IHS Plc and Dangote Cement Plc (measured by turnover volume) ac-counted for 1.348 billion shares worth N48.722 billion in 1,692 deals contribut-ing 36.19 per cent, 64.22 per cent and 4.33 per cent to the total equity turnover volume, value and deals respectively.

Traded during the week were 197 units of NewGold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) valued at

N421, 356 executed in four deals compared with a total of 234 units val-ued at N504, 991 transacted the previ-ous week in fi ve deals.

Also, 1,770 units of FGN bonds val-ued at N194, 830 were traded during the week in 15 deals in contrast to 1,100 units valued at N123, 765 transacted the previous week in seven deals.

INDEX MOVEMENTThe NSE All-Share Index depreciated

by 5.85 per cent to close on Friday at 37,249.93 while the market

capitalization of the listed equities on the main board also declined by 5.33 per cent to close at N11.967 trillion. Also, the NSE 30 Index inch down by 5.86 per cent to close at 1,779.74

All the NSE indices depreciated dur-ing the week: NSE Consumer Goods (7.05 per cent), NSE Banking

(7.23 per cent), NSE Insurance (2.87 per cent), NSE Oil/Gas (5.82 per cent), NSE-Lotus II (7.21 per cent), NSE In-

dustrial Goods (6.59 per cent) and NSE-ASeM (1.24 per cent).

SUMMARY OF PRICE CHANGESThirty four equities appreciated in

prices during the week lower than 58 equities of the preceding week. Fifty-two equities depreciated in prices higher than 26 equities of the preceding week, while 107 equities remained constant lower than 109 equities of the preceding week.

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Last week was a particularly inter-esting week for me. It was the week that Nigerians troop out in large

numbers especially in the South West part of the country, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the criminal annul-ment of the June 12, 1993 Presidential Election, widely believed to have been won by the late business mogul, Mos-hood Kashimawo Abiola.

But for me, what interested me about last week was really not the June 12 an-niversary celebration. No. Not because I do not share and believe in the ideals of the June 12 phenomenon, but for the fact that I have lived with the pains and agonies of an unrealised dream which the late Abiola’s victory symbolises for years unending.

What truly excited me last week was seeing, for the fi rst time in my life, an air-plane being “driven” or “towed” (as they claimed) on the busy Lagos roads. For me, like many others, I guess, it was a combination of fear and excitement; fear that anything could go wrong and the ex-citement to see the big bird crawl on the same pot-holed road.

The fear arose as the news of plane crashes circulated via social media, with warnings to people to avoid places such as Igando, Ojo/Iyana-Iba, Lasu/Isheri Road, Sanya, along the Oshodi/Apapa expressway and Mangoro on the Lagos/Abeokuta expressway, some of the most densely populated areas of Lagos.

Refl ections with Semiu Salami07043280449 sms only

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The day aircraft plied the Lagos roads

However, after the initial fears gave way, the professional instinct took con-trol, only for me to discover that the ru-moured crash was just about a disused aircraft that failed to complete its journey by road from the Murtala Mohammed Airport Ikeja to somewhere in Badagry.

The plane with number N972TF and reportedly belonging to the late founder of Bethel Ministries, Dr Gabriel Oduye-mi, was found in one Dapsey fuel station in Igando, a Lagos suburb.

According to reports, the said aircraft was been toed out of the airport in con-formity with the one-week ultimatum issued by the Federal Airports Author-

ity of Nigeria (FAAN), to owners of aban-doned airplanes across the nation on the ground that such disused aircrafts con-stitute security threat to the country.

This particular aircraft was said to be on its way to Badagry, via the Igando-LA-SU-Ojoo road when it punctured its rear tyre and as such could not continue with the journey. It was parked within the premises of a fi lling station. The disused aircraft was said to have been handled over to one Captain M.J.Ekehinde to be used for educational purposes.

About the same day, at Sanya bus-top along the Oshodi/Apapa express-way, still in Lagos, another aircraft was allegedly sighted, with the metals on the wings eating away. This aircraft too was obviously embarking on a land journey like the one found at Igando.

In other climes, disused aircrafts are used as fi re drills and recycled by aluminium fi rms for use as material for canned drinks. Thanks to the creative efforts of a growing number of people, disused aircraft are being snapped up in other places around the world at an im-pressive rate, to be repurposed and used in an array of ways.

Playgrounds have been constructed for children from abandoned planes in places like Germany, Ecuador, and New Zealand adding a truly exciting twist to the lives of youngsters, while a few res-taurants have also been started from the remains of a plane.

Planes have also been converted to hotels. Jumbo Stay is an incredible look-ing 27-room hotel located near the en-trance of Sweden’s Arlanda Airport that lives inside the body of an old decommis-sioned Boeing 747. Opened in 2008, the hotel’s interior is reported to be “surpris-ingly inviting and the bedrooms all wel-coming; the most appealing being the one located in the cockpit.

The Cosmic Muffi n is one of many ex-planes presently reincarnated as boats. The boat was crafted from the front-end of a Boeing B-307 owned by the legend-ary aviator Howard Hughes and is now privately-owned in the United States.

Some people have even chosen to live on planes, refurbishing them to be hab-itable on a full-time basis while others have creatively made furniture out of air-craft parts; wings, turbines, ejector seats and more.

However, my mind, there is some-thing quite untidy about the way the disused aircraft issue has been handled. Even if the owners or some interested parties are trying to move the planes out of the airports as directed by FAAN, there are clearly better ways to do so, far more refi ned than the embarrassing situation which the disused aircraft that was obvi-ously been toed under the cover of dark-ness has caused.

Roads are meant to be ply by auto-mobiles and not aircraft and even if the roads are to be used for a “clandestine” movement like this, I presume it should have been done with some fi nesse.

Lagos, albeit Nigerian roads are not tarmacs pls.

‘

‘ Roads are meant to be plied by automobiles and not aircraft and even if the roads are to be used for a “clandestine” movement like this, I presume it should have been done with some fi nesse


Behind d WheelsThis page is open to sponsorship

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Whether it’s a friendly Nigerian prince

offering you the deal of a lifetime, a free Apple iPad or a delicious zero-calorie dessert, these op-portunities are illusions. But if someone tells you about a cross-over utility that offers a decent amount of luxury, tons of fea-tures, surprising amounts of performance, and also does so without breaking the bank, you can actually take them at their word. Well, if they’re talking about the 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe, that is.

Capping off what has been an epic march up the rankings for Hyundai, the redesigned 2013 Santa Fe adopts the company’s “fl uidic sculpture” design with favourable results. For the fi rst time, Hyundai is also offering two models of this crossover. The Santa Fe now features a third row of seats, increasing the passenger count to seven and ef-fectively replacing the outgoing Hyundai Veracruz. But if you see little need for that sort of capac-ity, you’re in luck, as Hyundai also offers the slightly shorter, fi ve-passenger Santa Fe Sport.

Under the hood, Santa Fe Sport buyers have the choice of either a 2.4-litre four-cylinder or a more powerful, turbocharged 2.0-litre four. Given the choice between a marginal gain in fuel economy versus a signifi cant boost in output, the turbo is certainly engine of choice. The larger Santa Fe only comes with a 3.3-litre V6.

Whichever version you choose, you’ll no doubt appreci-ate the cabin’s clean and modern design, intuitive controls and ex-tensive number of standard and optional features. Furthermore, passengers in the fi rst two rows will enjoy spacious accommoda-tions that are suitable for taller adults.

There are some very desirable

choices for a crossover SUV this year. The Chevrolet Equinox, Ford Escape and Honda CR-V are all excellent choices for a fi ve-passenger model, while the slightly bigger Kia Sorento is a standout for seven-passenger seating. Overall, though, we think the Santa Fe easily de-serves its place among this top-tier group.

In the case of the 2013 Hyun-dai Santa Fe, you really can be-lieve the hype.

Body styles, trim levels, and options

The 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe is a six- or seven-passenger SUV that is available in GLS and Limited trim levels. The smaller Santa Fe Sport seats fi ve and is offered in base and 2.0T trims.

Standard features on the base Sport model include 17-inch alloy wheels, a rear spoiler,

cruise control, a trip computer, full power accessories, air-con-ditioning, a tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, cloth upholstery, 40/20/40 split-folding rear seats, Bluetooth phone connec-tivity, Hyundai’s Blue Link tele-matics system and a six-speaker audio system with CD player, satellite radio and USB/iPod in-tegration.

To this, the optional Popu-lar Equipment package can be added, which includes au-tomatic headlights, fog lights, heated mirrors, roof rack rails, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, heated front seats and an eight-way power-adjustable driver seat (with power lumbar support).

The Sport 2.0T adds all of the above, along with a more pow-erful turbocharged engine, 19-inch wheels, an upgraded gauge cluster and information display and keyless ignition/entry.

The Santa Fe GLS is similar in feature content to the base Sport model, but gains a lon-ger wheelbase, a V6 engine and 50/50 split-folding third-row seats. Also added are 18-inch wheels, fog lights and sliding second-row seats.

The range-topping Limited essentially includes all off the 2.0T and GLS features, but seat-ing is reduced to six, as the sec-ond-row seats are replaced with two captain’s chairs. Other ad-ditions include a power lift gate, windshield wiper de-icers, dual-zone automatic climate control, leather upholstery, heated sec-ond-row seats, driver seat mem-ory functions, a power passenger seat, upgraded interior trim ele-ments, an auto-dimming rear-view mirror, a 4.3-inch touch screen audio display and a rear-view camera.

Some features are offered as

options on supporting trims as part of bundled packages. Most notably, a navigation system is offered on all trims and is also paired with an 8-inch touch screen display, a rear-view cam-era and a premium sound sys-tem (a Dimension system for the Sport and GLS or a 12-speaker surround-sound Infi nity system for the Sport 2.0T and Limited). A panoramic sunroof is available on all but the GLS. All trims can be optioned with a heated steer-ing wheel. Finally, a blind-spot monitoring system is only avail-able on the Limited.

Powertrains and PerformancePowering the base 2013

Hyundai Santa Fe Sport is a 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine that produces 190 horsepower and 181 pound-feet of torque. As with all other Santa Fe mod-els, front-wheel drive is standard

GM slashes Chevy Volt prices to spur flagging sales

With signs that sales of its Chevrolet Volt battery car could be coming unplugged, General Motors is offering potential

buyers as much as $5,000 in incentives – making it the latest maker to try to cut prices in a bid to boost lagging demand for electric vehicles.

Whether the move will work remains to be seen, as GM has already trimmed the price on the Volt plug-in hybrid. But rival Nissan has had some clear success after cutting the price on its own Leaf battery-electric vehicle, or BEV, earlier this year.

Both vehicles were introduced to high expectations nearly three years ago, but they have so far consistently missed sales targets. Only a handful of battery-based vehicles have come close to meeting expectations, most notably the Tesla Model S.

That might be enough to convince a maker to pull the plug on a vehicle like Volt. But manu-facturers like GM and Nissan are under heavy pressure to make their electric ve-hicle programs a success – at almost any cost – in part because of pressure they face in the nation’s largest state, Califor-nia, where regulators require all major makers to offer a minimum number of so-called Zero-Emission Vehicles.

Chevrolet also is now reducing lease

pricing for the Volt to $269 a month for 36 months, with a $2,399 down payment.

Initially, demand for the Chevrolet Volt outpaced all its rivals but still fell short of its 10,000-unit U.S. sales goal in 2011 and an even more ambitious target of around 45,000 last year.

For the fi rst fi ve months of this year, GM has sold only 7,157 of what it prefers to call an extended-range electric vehicle, or E-REV. May sales, in particular, fell 4.3 percent, to 1,607. By comparison, the overall U.S. automotive market was up 8.2 percent for the month.

According to a report by Inside EVs, Chevy dealers have more than 9,000 Volts clogging inventories, vehicles they need to clear out before the 2014 models start rolling in.

The downturn in demand presents other problems for GM. The maker had high hopes for its electrifi cation programme and has been planning to use the underlying platform for additional models. So far, only two have been identifi ed publicly. The Opel

Ampera, a near twin of the Volt, is already on sale in Europe, China and a few other markets.

Meanwhile, GM plans to roll out a more lav-ish – and signifi cantly more costly – plug-in

model next year, the Cadillac ELR. There has been an ongoing debate within Gen-eral Motors over the original decision to go to market with a relatively main-stream battery-car like the Chevrolet Volt, rather than focus on up-market customers with something like the ELR.

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Behind d Wheels

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Automotive air conditioning repair tips

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while all-wheel drive is optional. The only available transmission is a six-speed automatic. Fuel economy estimates are quite good, with an EPA-rated 21 mpg city/29 mpg highway and 24 mpg in combined driving for the front-drive and 20/26/22 mpg for the AWD.

The Santa Fe Sport 2.0T re-ceives a turbocharged 2.0-litre engine that increases output to 264 hp and 269 lb-ft of torque. Fuel economy drops only slight-ly; the EPA estimates 20/27/23 mpg for the front-drive and 19/24/21 mpg for the AWD. In a typical performance testing, an AWD 2.0T Santa Fe acceler-ated from a standstill to 60 mph in 8.1 seconds, which is on the quick side for this class of cross-over.

The larger GLS and L imi ted

models benefi t from a 3.3-litre V6 that produces 290 hp and 252 lb-ft of torque. EPA esti-mates are 18/25/21 with front-drive and 18/24/20 with AWD.

SafetyStandard safety features for

all 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe mod-els include antilock disc brakes, traction and stability control, front-seat side airbags, side cur-tain airbags, front-seat active head restraints, and hill hold and descent control. Also standard is Blue Link, Hyundai’s emergency telematics system that provides services such as remote access, emergency assistance, theft re-covery and geo-fencing.

In the US government crash testing, the Santa Fe Sport

earned a top fi ve-star rating for overall crash

protection, with fi ve stars for

total fron-tal-impact safety and fi ve stars for side-i m p a c t s a f e t y . Top scores h a v e also been

awarded by the Insurance Insti-tute for Highway Safety, which gave the Santa Fe a top “Good” rating in frontal-offset, side-im-pact and roof-strength tests.

Interior Design and Special Features

Among the numerous com-peting crossover SUVs in its class, the 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe has one of the nicer cabins of the bunch. This is thanks in no small part to its quality of ma-terials, thoughtful placement of controls and overall spacious-ness. As we’ve come to expect from Hyundai, the Santa Fe’s cockpit could serve as a bench-mark for elegant simplicity in the segment. Switchgear is well organized and legible, while the touch screen menus and func-tions are as intuitive as it gets. Build quality in our test car, however, was only mediocre.

The front seats are pretty comfortable for longer drives, with enough adjustments to ac-commodate drivers of all sizes. Second-row passengers will also fi nd the quarters to their liking, with a wide range of recline an-gle and plenty of head- and leg-room for the average adult, even with the optional panoramic sunroof. The longer-wheelbase Santa Fe further enhances sec-ond-row comfort with a bit more legroom.

Hauling gear for said passen-gers is also an important asset in the Santa Fe, as it boasts a healthy 35.4 cubic feet of cargo behind the second row of seats, while the seven-passenger San-ta Fe can hold up to 41 cubes. Bulky items are also loaded with ease, as the second-row seats fold fl at to accept 71.5 cubes, which is right up there with the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4. The larger Santa Fe can hold 80 cubic feet.

Driving ImpressionsOn either side of the driv-

ing spectrum, the 2013 Hyun-dai Santa Fe has the potential to impress. As a leisurely com-muter and kid shuttle, the ride is luxuriously compliant and the cabin remains whisper-quiet, even at highway speeds. On winding mountain passes, the Santa Fe feels fairly light and sporty for this class of car. There are a couple demerits, however. The steering has a tendency to wander on the high-way, and rear visibility is poor due to the Santa Fe’s thick rear roof pillars.

The Santa Fe Sport’s 2.0T engine is equally impressive, with a smooth delivery of power that is on par with some V6 en-gines. As a result, this Santa Fe gets up to highway speeds with authority. Gear changes can be a bit delayed, but they’re so smooth that they’ll likely go un-noticed.

One of the main purposes of automotive air conditioning is to make you feel as comfortable in your car as you would feel in your bedroom. But the fact is that your car’s air conditioning is quite different from the air conditioning present in your bedroom. At the same time, it is more prone to problems and diffi culties. There is no need, however, to take it to the service centre each time some such problem occurs. You can look into many of these things yourself, or solve the problem by replacing some parts. This is a basic trouble-shooting guide. See if it helps.

Blower fan problems When a blower fan problem occurs with your air conditioning, the most signifi cant thing that will happen is that cold air will not cir-culate within the vehicle. You will have to check out the functioning of the blower fan. This is done as follows. Put the AC of your car on. Then start the blower fan and put it up at maximum. If this blower fan is fi ne, you should hear it blowing clear and loud. If you cannot hear it, or if the sound is coming muted, then the blower fan needs repair or replacement.

Fuse problems If there is no problem with your blower fan, most probably the problem then lies in the fuse that connects to the motor of the blower fan. You will fi nd the fuse under the dash area. When this fuse is located, you can easily fi nd out whether the fuse is working properly or not. If it is blown, then you will have to replace this fuse with a new one. When replacing, take care and see that the fuse is compatible with the one you are purchasing. Remove the old blown fuse as instructed and then replace it with a similarly rated fuse. But if the new fuse blows again, then you have a faulty blower mo-tor, or there is a short somewhere in the circuit. In that case, you will need professional help.

Compressor problems The compressor is often called the heart of an air conditioning system, and any problem with it should be rectifi ed without delay. One of the basic problems can be with its magnetic clutch. If there is no cooling in the vehicle, this could be a problem. If you are sure that it is not the fuse that’s faulty, and if the clutch is not getting engaged with the A/C, then there’s a fault there. You will have to replace the clutch. Additionally or otherwise, there could be leakage of fuel around the shaft seal of the compressor. If so, you are wast-ing your precious fuel and also not getting any cooling. Replace the seal.

Fuel problemsOlder automotive air conditioning systems use the R-12 systems which need mineral oils, while the newer systems use the R-134A systems which need PAG oils. Using mineral oil in a R-134A system could create a fault with the cooling. So, you need to ensure you use the right kind of oil. Leakage problems are also quite common. If leakage occurs around the shaft seal, you need to replace it. Newer systems have better fi tting seals, so the leakage problems are anyway reduced. Another place where leakage of fuel is common is around the hose. The hose might develop pores from which the leakage occurs. Regularly check your hose. If you fi nd any stains there, there is leakage. Replace it to get better effi ciency and save on your fuel.

Pressure problemsAll automotive air conditioning systems have two ducts - the low and the high pressure ducts. Erroneous pressures in these ducts can cause a host of problems. If the low pressure duct is subjected to high pressure, then possible faults are overcharge of the refrig-erant (Freon) or air in the system. But if the high pressure end is getting low pressure, then faults could be low refrigerant charge, a stuck expansion valve, plugged orifi ce tube or some other kind of restriction on the high side. You will have to check the manual to solve these problems.

MiscellaneousSometimes, the air does not circulate inside the vehicle because your controls are not working properly. Check all the control but-tons. They should move freely and well. If not, perhaps the buttons need replacement. Even look into circulation button provided with the car air conditioning system. Sometimes, this button is acciden-tally switched off. Problems with intermittent cooling, where you get warm air in between the cooling, are probably due to freezing up of the systems. This can be cured by purging the entire system of blocked air and moisture and then reusing it. For this you will need a vacuum pump.

That’s the strategy Tesla has taken with the Model-S for which demand exceeded the start-up maker’s expectations dur-ing the fi rst quarter, and which is now outselling the Volt. A well-equipped Model S with a 300-mile battery pack can top the $100,000 mark, yet Tesla has found demand for its high-end version so strong it dropped the least expensive, 160-mile model recently.

Among mainstream makers, however, price is clearly an object of resistance among potential buyers. That prompted Honda last month to reduce the lease price on its new Fit EV by a third, to $259 a month. Nissan, meanwhile, effectively reduced the price of the Leaf by 18 percent, or $6,000, when it launched a new, stripped-down model at the beginning of the year.

That followed 2012 sales that fell well short of target, acknowl-edged Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, calling it, “a disappointment for us.”

Makers like GM and Nissan have promised to reduce battery car prices as the cost of the underlying technology – especially their lithium-ion batteries – falls. GM offi cials have hinted the next-generation Chevy Volt could be “thousands” less.

But despite the high price tags for current models, buyers are still getting a bargain. Industry analysts have estimated it actu-ally costs GM as much as $75,000 to build each Volt, or nearly twice the base price. While the maker won’t discuss such details, Fiat/Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has publicly confi rmed that the company will lose at least $10,000 for each of the Fiat 500e electric vehicles it recently introduced. BC


The imperative of industrialisation

BC

BC

The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group

has estimated that the bankable need for private health institutions within Nigeria is about US$3 billion with an available leveraged funding potential of about $1 billion that could be tapped for investment into health.

The fi gures are based on a new study by the Corporation even as it is set to partner with the Federal Ministry of Health and James Daniel Consulting to organize a two-day Nigerian Healthcare Infrastructure Investment Summit slated to kick off today in Abuja.

Speaking on the potential of the private sector to grow the primary healthcare delivery in the country, based on the Study fi ndings, Khama Rogo of the World Bank Group said “the private sector in Nigeria has a bigger chance of excelling more than other countries both in terms of intellectual capacity and in terms of potential resources that are not harnessed yet.”

Rogo’s position was corroborated by the Minister for Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, who also confi rmed abundant opportunities for private sector investments in the health sector and government’s willingness to collaborate with the OPS in national agenda for rapid transformation of the sector.

“Nigeria today is an investor’s dream with abundant opportunities and an unprecedented appetite for public private partnership in the health sector of Africa’s largest market for healthcare investment”, the Minister said.

As part of its commitment

to the sustained growth of the sector, IFC will provide liquidity support and local guarantees for local fi nancial intermediaries to increase health sector lending The two-day summit targets the private sector in healthcare and aims to showcase the best practices of what works within the private health sector in Nigeria and other countries. The IFC will also be launching her maiden edition of the study, ‘Nigeria Health Market Studies’, which details investment opportunities within the Nigerian health sector and how to create value for Nigerian patients through private sector investment. With its Panelists drawn from the private and public sector and session topics ranging from investment models for healthcare and business intelligence for healthcare investment to regulation and quality issues, among others the summit would assess business plans, opportunities and partnerships within the healthcare sector for investment and will provide tips and opportunities to access funding. The objective of this summit is to bring the private health sector market in Nigeria closer to the investment community and forge a pathway that will expand access to healthcare for the Nigerian population.

This is part of the Health in Africa initiative which carries out analysis for decision making for both private and public sectors in addition to credit access through direct credit, funds and local banks to private health care companies and policy and regulatory support to governments.

IFC puts bankable need for Nigeria’s PHIs at N475bnBy Tola Akinmutimi, Abuja

To attract foreign investment, the Nigerian ambassador to Netherlands, Dr. Nimota Akanbi

has said that no fewer than 50 Dutch companies have indicated their interest to either start or expand their businesses in Nigeria.

A statement from the envoy quoted Managing Director of Group Netherlands, Hans Oujendendijk as saying that besides sourcing of cotton locally to stimulate the economy, wooden brand fabrics would be printed in Nigeria factory, while Vlisco would acquire and revamp some factories in Nigeria.

Hans disclosed that 1000 direct and 10000 indirect jobs would be created in the country, stressing that it is a catalyst to kick starts the Nigerian fashion industry.

He said, “Woodin would be manufactured in Nigeria with an output of more than 10million yards annually. We are also to establishing Vlisco Regional offi ce in the country and 50 retail stores”.

The statement explained that textile giant Vlisco Group was ready to acquire not less than four of the ailing textile factories in the Lagos axis of the country even as the company is also set to establish tailoring academies to train hundreds of Nigerians.

According to the statement, the Minister of Trade and Investment Dr Olusegun Aganga and Ambassador Nimota Akanbi during a business forum, held a meeting with top management

of APM Terminal Netherlands led by Christian Moller Laursen who said his company would be constructing a multi billion Naira multipurpose port in Badagry while expansion work on Apapa would cost more than 100million dollars.

The statement added that Aganga who was excited about the development said what Nigeria needs now is job creation, saying that government will be ready to encourage any investor ready to create jobs for Nigerians.

Akanbi commended President Goodluck Jonathan for his efforts at turning the economy around, promising to continue to woo foreign investors in line with the transformation agenda of the Federal Government.

The economic forum attracted some Nigerian governors, Minister of Water Resourses, Sarah Ochekpe, and several heads of parastatals as well as many Nigerians in Diaspora.

Dutch group to create 11,000 jobsBy Johnson Okanlawon

BC

Akanbi

At the recently concluded World Economic Forum held in Cape Town, South Africa to which Presi-

dent Goodluck Jonathan led a high-pow-ered delegation, one of the key takeaways was the substantial economic growth that is expected to occur on the African conti-nent over the next fi ve years.

It was predicted that Africa will have six or seven of the fastest-growing econo-mies in the world, as well as the largest overall growth of any continent within the next fi ve years. Naturally, Nigeria is one of such countries given the current six to seven per cent GDP growth rate.

However, inasmuch as the macroeco-nomic indices look good, the failure to translate this into job creation remains the big minus for our economy.

Indeed, rather than create jobs for the predominantly young population in a period when oil prices are strong and the economy is expanding at a rate Western economies are praying for, the nation is heading towards a sociological crisis with the number of unemployed growing from 9.1 million in 2008 to 16 million in 2011 according to UNIDO fi gures, just as the labour force grew from 61.1 million to 67.2 million within the same period. This translates into an unemployment rate rising from 14.9 per cent to 23.0 per cent within those short years.

Yet, we all know that the great nations of the world – the United States, Germany, France, United Kingdom and lately China and South Korea – have relied on industri-alisation to harness resources both inter-nally and beyond their immediate borders to generate the required wealth and jobs to transform the lives of citizens.

The key to unlocking such immense potential for our economy lies in the hands of the micro, small and medium enterprises sector that account for 90 per cent of jobs created in the developing world, but this is are very sort of people that the banks don’t want to talk to. They have the entrepreneurial drive but in cas-es lack the requisite management skills to run their organisations in a structured way to allow for growth and expansion into mega entities that will outlive their founders.

Compounding the situation is the huge infrastructure defi cit with huge cost implications that make Nigerian goods uncompetitive, multiple tax regimes, expensive documentations processes, diffi culties in securing titles to land and seemingly uncontrollable smuggling of cheap goods from China and the rest that has made manufacturing industries a ready case for failure.

This is why the case for a highly comprehensive and structured approach to deliberately industrialise Nigeria’s economy become even more imperative so that the fi gures our leaders enjoy bandy-ing about in recent times can have real

meaning for majority of the populace.I will readily admit that the current

effort at privatising the power sector is one of the key steps in resolving the unholy paradox of a resource rich na-tion that is unable to feed, clothe and fuel itself.

One also welcomes the recent policy initiatives of the government, especially through the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment in adopting the value chain approach to create the linkage between agriculture and the industrial sector and local and international markets.

Critical to the success of this is access to cheap funds, which in be-ing provided by specialised institutions such the Bank of Industry for compa-nies that would have otherwise col-lapsed under the weight of high interest loans and small fi rms in need of expan-sion. This is with the added benefi t of expert guidance to help entrepreneurs navigate the minefi eld created by the peculiarities of Nigeria business envi-ronment.

Part of the strategy is to help MSMEs reduce costs by encouraging the establishment of industrial clusters complete with small power plants, de-velop entrepreneurs that would convert specifi c comparative advantages in the utilisation of local resources into com-petitive advantages and create linkages between MSMEs and large fi rms with the big picture being employment gen-eration and poverty alleviation through economic empowerment.

What has surprised me personally is the refusal of most state govern-ments to take advantage of some of the emerging opportunities including the matching loans being provided by BoI for small business including cottage industries and service providers, espe-cially those run by women, to stimulate business activity and generate taxes, while they keep complaining of inad-equate funds from Abuja.

Vast opportunities exist in agricul-ture and agro allied industries, tex-tiles, petrochemicals, fi sheries, mining, exports, retailing and services but it seems that it is the foreigners in those states that are able to see beyond their noses.

Yet, this is the time to get productive and build and industrial base at vari-ous levels in order to signifi cantly cut the risks associated with dependence on oil and gas and importation of virtu-ally everything we need.

Apart from targeting sustainable de-velopment of the MSMEs, Nigeria needs to break the jinx that has held down our large strategic industries such as steel and petrochemicals. The time to act is now.


Stock Updates

GAINERS

COMPANY OPENING PRICE CLOSING PRICE CHANGE

NESTLE 962.95 975.00 12.05

TOTAL 160.62 165.00 4.38

OKOMUOIL 46.92 49.00 2.08

GUINNESS 270.00 271.50 1.50

PORTPAINT 3.60 3.96 0.36

LOSERS

COMPANY OPENING PRICE CLOSING PRICE CHANGE

PZ 48.26 45.00 -3.26

UAC-PROP 16.00 14.60 -1.40

UACN 58.01 57.00 -1.01

ASHAKACEM 27.00 26.00 -1.00

CCNN 11.52 10.75 -0.77

Inter-Bank Rates

TENOR RATE%(PREV) 06-June-2013 RATE%(CURR) 13-June-2013

CALL 10.5000 – 13.5000 10.1000 – 11.7500

OBB 10.0500 – 13.0000 10.1500 – 12.5000

Primary Market Auction

TENOR AMOUNT (N’mn) RATE (%) DATE

91-Days 22970.71 11.65 05-Jun-13

182-Days 30,000 12.30 05-Jun-13

364-Days 85,000 12.64 05-Jun-13

Open Market Operation

TENOR AMOUNT (N’mn) RATE (%) DATE

136-Days 50,000 12.10 06-June-13

83-Days 70,000 12.19 31-May-13

70-Days 80,000 12.14 30-May-13

Wholesale Dutch Auction System AMOUNT OFFERED MARKET DEMAND AMOUNT SOLD DATE

$300m $300m $300m 12-June-13

$300m $300m $300m 10-June-13

Market Indicators for Week Ended 14-06-13All-Share Index 37,249.93 pointsMarket Capitalisation N11,966,99,349.603.10

The market indices of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) depreciated further

by 0.42 per cent at the close of trading last Friday due to massive sell pressure.

The market capitalisation returned to N11 trillion mark, dropping N51 billion or 0.42 per cent to close at N11.97 trillion from the N12.02 trillion declared on Thursday.

Similarly, the All-Share Index, which opened at 37,406.73, dipped by 156.8 points or 0.42 per cent to close at 37,249.93.

PZ Cussons recorded the highest price loss of N3.26 to close at N45 per share. UAC Property followed, losing N1.40 to close at N14.60, while UACN

NSE market indices maintain free fall amid sell pressure

African operations of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc contributed

signifi cantly to full year 2012 revenues an indication that the bank is reaping returns from its spread in the rest of Africa.

The bank’s full year fi nancial results shows that the 18 African subsidiaries contributed N42 billion to the UBA Group’s N220 billion revenues which was announced recently. Analysis of the revenue contribution from the subsidiaries partly helped drive the signifi cant 34 per cent rise in the Group’s 2012 earnings from its 2011 levels. Apart from Nigeria, UBA has subsidiaries in 18 different African countries.

The bank’s Group Managing Director Phillips Oduoza, had at a recent address to the stockbrokers and investors at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) stated that the bank has continued to record increasing contributions from the subsidiaries to the Group’s bottom-line.

The UBA Group grew earnings by a signifi cant 34.4 per cent to a new three year high while profi t after tax rose 904 per cent to N55 billion as at the close of 2012, reversing a N1.12 billion loss in the previous year with total comprehensive income attributable to equity holders of N55.53billion, an increase of 5,058.04 per cent.

Specifi cally, UBA Senegal, one of the subsidiaries in West Africa posted a signifi cant 168 per cent in earnings to N3.5 billion in December 2012 from N1.31 billion in December 2011. The bank’s profi t before tax also rose by a 178 per cent to N1.27 billion from N455 million within the same period helped by the fact that management was able to hold down growth in operating expenses at just 3.9 per cent, which resulted in most of the earnings translating into profi t for the bank.

A similar feat was achieved

in Sierra Leone where United Bank for Africa (Sierra Leone) Limited made steady and signifi cant strides in the growth of its profi ts and total assets. According to the bank’s fi nancial statement for last year, the bank posted a profi t before tax (PBT) of 8. 2 billion Leones, compared with 2.4 billion Leones in 2011, representing an incremental growth rate of 239 per cent.

In profi t-after-tax (PAT) terms, the bank grew by 240 per cent from 1.7 billion Leones in 2011 to SLL5.8 billion Leones last year.

There was also a very huge growth in total assets of 213 per cent from December 2011 to the same period last year. The bank’s total assets industry ranking of 10th in December 2011 inched up to sixth in December 2012 with a growth of 167B Leones within the two periods. With this performance, UBA Sierra Leone has consolidated its position as one of the most profi table banks in this country, having achieved a growth in its profi ts far in excess of 200% in one year.

The impressive performance of the bank is also anchored on several cost-effi cient initiatives and a strong risk management framework that optimised the use of resources, and which has resulted in UBA Sierra Leone becoming one of the best banks in cost-income and NPL ratios in Sierra Leone, both of which were 49 per cent and 1.6 per cent respectively by 2012 year-end.

UBA’s African operations contribute 19 per cent to growth

The period under review also saw signifi cant improvement in the bank’s return on equity which increased from seven per cent in 2011 to 19 per cent last year against industry ROE of eight per cent.

The increasing contribution of subsidiaries to UBA Plc’s revenue base is an affi rmation commendable diversifi cation of the bank’s revenue base across countries. It implies that UBA’s country risk exposure to Nigeria is signifi cantly now less.

Indeed, UBA Senegal also witnessed a signifi cant expansion in its market share in Senegal with the bank’s deposit base rising a signifi cant 15 per cent to close the year at N27 billion contributing an average of 84 per cent of the bank’s asset base. This puts the bank in a strong position to continue to support its growth in Senegal. The bank fast pace growth is backed by a strong capital base with a capital adequacy ratio of 60 per cent, well above both domestic and international requirements. The bank’s loan to deposit ratio at 33.2 per cent also means that it is in a strong position to further expand its lending to the local economy in Senegal.

UBA’s presence in certain countries like Mozambique where the world’s largest gas fi eld was recently discovered will have a positive impact on its future earnings. It positions the UBA Group to partake in the expected fast growth that Mozambique will start experiencing because of the gas discovery making its presence in that country strategic. It will be recalled that two country subsidiaries of UBA Plc recently emerged the ‘Best Banks’ in their respective countries. UBA Cameroon and UBA Senegal on March 19, 2013 were named ‘World’s Best Banks in 2013’ in their respective countries by Global Finance magazine in New York.

lost N1.01 to close at N57 per share.

Ashaka Cement declined by N1 to close at N26, while Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) lost 77k to close at N10.75 per share.

Market analysts attributed the persistent decline to massive sell off as a result of profi t taking and reallocation of funds to fi xed income securities where yields assumed upward trend in the last few days.

Conversely, Nestle topped the gainers’ table with a gain of N12.05 to close at N975 per share.Total gained N4.38 to close at N165, while Okomu Oil Palm appreciated by N2.08 to close at N49 per share. Guinness grew by N1.50 to close at N271,

while Port Paint gained 36k to close at N3.96 per share.

Transcorp emerged the most traded equity, accounting for 385.99 million shares worth N431.12 million.

FBN Holdings trailed with a total of 37.11 million shares valued at N669.69 million, while FCMB exchanged 35.79 million shares worth N178.53 million. Fidelity Bank sold 34.95 million shares valued at N109.22 million.

In all, the volume of shares traded increased by 67.74 per cent as investors staked N4.89 billion on 750.82 million shares in 7,430 deals. This was against the 447.61 million shares worth N5.81 billion exchanged in 7,689 deals on Thursday.

Oduoza

BC

BC


BC

The growth rate of Unile-ver Nigeria for the 2012 fi nancial year was very

marginal in terms of revenue and other indices. The rev-enue growth was just two per cent despite the needy sector they found themselves. That is, personal care products sub sector of the manufacturing industry. This could be linked to the stiff competition that is very much available in the sector.

A review of the company’s audited report for the period ended December 31, 2012 showed that profi t after tax rose slightly by 1.5 per cent as the company posted N5.59 billion in 2012 year-end com-pared to N5.52 billion record-ed in year 2011. Also, profi t before tax grew slightly from N8.02 billion in year 2011 to N8.19 billion in the review pe-riod of 2012, representing a growth of 2.1 per cent.

Company’s backgroundUnilever Nigeria Plc, was in-

corporated as Lever Brothers (West Africa) Limited on April 11, 1923 by Lord Leverhulme, but the company’s anteced-ents have to be traced back to his existing trading interests in Nigeria and West Africa generally, and to the fact that he had since the 19th centu-ry been greatly involved with the soap business in Britain. Unilever Nigeria Plc started as a soap manufacturing com-pany, and is today one of the oldest surviving manufactur-ing organisations in Nigeria.

After series of mergers/ac-quisitions, the company diver-sifi ed into manufacturing and marketing of foods, non-soapy detergents and personal care products. These mergers/acquisitions brought in Lip-ton Nigeria Limited in 1985, Cheesebrough Ponds Indus-tries Ltd in 1988. The compa-ny changed its name to Unile-ver Nigeria Plc in 2001.

Unilever Nigeria Plc is a public liability company quot-ed on the Nigerian Stock Ex-change since 1973 with Nige-rians currently having 49 per cent of equity holdings.

Business strategyThe company launched a

Sustainable Living Plan (SLP) in 2010 to bring together its suppliers, consumers and employees in taking action to

Unilever: Battling to stay afloat amid stiff competitorsBy Johnson Okanlawon

build a sustainable business. Through the programme, the company goals are to help 1 billion people improve their health and well being, have environmental footprint of products and source 100 per cent of agricultural raw mate-rials sustainably.

In 2012, the company mi-grated to a new Enterprise Resource Planning Tool-SAP. According to the Managing Director of the company, Mr. Thabo Mabe, the tool has tre-mendously enhanced effi cien-cy and provided leverage need to win in the market place. He added that the result of the employee survey showed that the business improved across all measured dimensions. For

example, reward and recogni-tion recorded remarkable 30 per cent increase over 2010 fi gures.

Also, the company aimed to use mobile as its top mar-keting channel by 2020. The company said that it has al-ready started to implement this strategy by absorbing the mobile data charges when users access Unilever brand websites.

Despite the progress, it maintains one of the biggest challenges it faces is how to encourage consumers to use its products more sustainably at home.

It has also accelerated the integration of sustainability into the heart of its biggest

brands, citing the relaunch of its Dove self esteem pro-gramme for young people.

Unilever claimed that brands which have made sustainability central to their brand proposition or prod-uct innovation accelerated sales during 2012, which it said proves sustainability can drive growth.

PerformanceDuring the year, the com-

pany’s audited report for the period ended December 31, 2012 showed that profi t after tax rose slightly, while revenue increased from N54.7billion in year 2011 end to N55.5billion in the review period, repre-senting an increase of 1.5 per cent. Consequently, the com-pany has declared a N1.40 kobo dividend payout for in-vestors. In 2011 end, Unilever Nigeria paid a similar dividend of N1.40 per share.

Chairman of the board of directors of the company, Mr. Nnaemeka Achebe, had, stated that 2012 was a proof that Unilever Nigeria was well positioned to continue the up-ward growth trend into the future. Clearly, the chairman had said: “Continued im-provement in working capi-tal, arising from better stock management also facilitated funding of investment from internal sources, and reduced fi nancial costs.”

Besides, the he explained that the management has con-tinued to improve on its work-ing capital is far from the real-ity, at least for now. He said the company had to secure a

N2.68 billion bank overdraft and other borrowings to oper-ate during the third quarter of 2012, which was contrary to the situation in the similar period of 2011 when the com-pany run its affairs without such borrowings.

LiquidityThe company benefi tted

from lower inputs costs in 2012, where the trend in in-put cost prices helped offset headwinds on unit growth which stemmed from a squeeze on consumer spend brought about by a reduction in fuel subsidy and increased electricity tariffs amongst oth-ers. In 2013, Crude Palm Oil (CPO), prices are forecast to rise steadily. As such, there was an increasing risk that some of the gains in previous quarters will be eroded.

Pending comments from management, although prod-ucts enhancement and mar-ket penetration may help to limit potential negatives, it is believed that unit growth may continue to be held back going forward.

The company total assets marginally increased by 13.2 per cent to N36.5 billion in 2012’s fi nancial year, from N32.2 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2011. Its sellable assets dropped from N16.1 billion in 2011 to N14.8 billion in the review pe-riod, while cash and balances at bank stood at N1.86 billion from N2.94 billion in 2011.

The company’s inventories dipped to N7.23 billion, from N7.71 billion in 2011, while trade and other receivables and employee loan receivable stood at N5.64 billion, N52.8 billion in 2012 fi nancial year and N5.43 billion, N51.9 bil-lion in 2011 respectively.

Further analysis showed that non- current assets rose by 38.9 per cent to N21.7 bil-lion in the review period, from N15.6 billion in the same pe-riod of 2011. Current liabili-ties increased to N22.3 billion, while non- current liabilities stood at N4.12 billion in 2012, from N3.72 billion in 2011.

OutlookThe launch of Sustainable

Living Plan (SLP) may enable the company to record better performance in the current fi -nancial year.

Mabo

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net Monday, June 17, 2013 A23 39

STOCKWATCH

AGRICULTURE/AGRO-ALLIED Crop Production FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC 0.50 135 160 0.64 0.50 2 200 000 000 0.10 N/A 0.50OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. 49.00 706 843 51.04 14.53 476 955 000 6.73 -4.00 51.04PRESCO PLC 35.00 2 030 881 16.15 6.40 1 000 000 000 2.75 2.94 34.00Fishing/Hunting/Trapping ELLAH LAKES PLC. NT NT 4.26 4.26 60 000 000 0.00 N/A NTLivestock/Animal Specialties LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. 5.25 5 644 997 5.94 0.48 1 199 549 736 0.11 -11.62 5.94CONGLOMERATES Diversifi ed Industries A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. 1.72 229 486 2.54 0.74 2 191 895 983 0.08 8.86 1.58CHELLARAMS PLC. 4.89 3 166 7.60 5.81 963 900 300 0.24 N/A 4.89JOHN HOLT PLC. 1.58 230 8.82 5.32 389 151 408 0.00 N/A 1.44S C O A NIG. PLC. 5.42 140 8.28 5.52 821 666 666 0.35 N/A 5.42U A C N PLC. 57.00 517 339 60.15 28.70 1 600 720 323 6.89 N/A 60.15CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Building Construction ARBICO PLC. NT NT 26.00 14.09 148 500 000 0.00 N/A NTCAPPA & D’ALBERTO PLC. NT NT 95.49 95.49 196 876 000 4.50 N/A NTBuilding Structure/Completion/Other COSTAIN (W A) PLC. 1.48 1 939 842 7.97 2.46 920 573 765 0.00 N/A 1.36G CAPPA PLC NT NT 14.46 14.46 125 000 000 0.00 N/A NTNon--Building/Heavy Construction JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. 60.50 195 521 62.26 21.55 1 200 000 000 4.93 8.04 56.00ROADS NIG PLC. 9.06 5 000 10.00 3.01 20 000 000 4.73 N/A 9.06Real Estate Development PINNACLE POINT GROUP PLC NT NT 7.28 7.28 0.00 N/A NTUACN PROPERTY DEV 14.60 350 532 20.15 8.82 1 375 000 000 1.66 -4.07 15.22Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) SKYE SHELTER FUND PLC NT NT 100.00 97.00 20 000 000 11.75 N/A NTUNION HOMES REAL ESTATE INV 50.00 135 50.00 50.00 250 019 781 0.75 N/A NTCONSUMER GOODS Automobiles/Auto Parts DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC 0.50 166 563 0.50 0.50 4 772 528 415 0.00 N/A 0.50Beverages--Brewers/Distillers CHAMPION BREW. PLC. 5.32 20 125 4.63 2.23 900 000 000 0.00 N/A 4.84GOLDEN GUINEA BREW. PLC. NT NT 0.68 0.68 272 160 000 0.03 N/A NTGUINNESS NIG PLC 271.50 317 540 277.00 186.00 1 474 925 519 9.46 -1.99 277.00INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. 26.00 143 057 27.00 5.23 2 112 914 681 0.25 N/A 25.90JOS INT. BREWERIES PLC. NT NT 3.20 1.61 562 000 000 0.00 N/A NTNIGERIAN BREW. PLC. 157.51 1 878 851 178.00 72.50 7 562 562 340 5.08 -11.51 178.00PREMIER BREWERIES PLC NT NT 0.97 0.93 126 000 000 0.00 N/A NTBeverages--Non-Alcoholic 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. 53.00 29 512 53.00 38.31 640 590 362 2.69 N/A 52.50Food Products BIG TREAT PLC NT NT 0.50 0.50 2 000 000 000 0.00 N/A NTDANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC 9.50 822 852 19.90 4.15 5 000 000 000 0.00 -0.11 9.51DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC 11.00 5 646 595 16.20 3.64 12 000 000 000 0.91 2.33 10.75FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. 104.00 306 245 95.00 52.50 1 879 210 666 3.79 9.29 95.16HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC 3.44 2 075 015 6.60 1.91 7 930 197 658 0.51 4.24 3.30MULTI-TREX INTEGRATED FOODS PLC NT NT 2.70 1.00 3 722 493 620 0.00 N/A NTN NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. 25.91 5 452 43.96 20.41 178 200 000 2.50 N/A 25.91NATIONAL SALT CO. NIG. PLC 12.60 4 661 964 6.70 3.86 1.07 5.00 12.00P S MANDRIDES & CO PLC. 5.94 200 5.66 5.66 40 000 000 0.08 N/A 5.94U T C NIG. PLC. 0.69 265 269 0.88 0.50 1 233 375 004 1.13 -9.21 0.76UNION DICON SALT PLC. NT NT 4.22 4.22 360 000 000 0.00 N/A NTFood Products--Diversifi ed CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. 55.10 2 155 469 55.49 9.15 3 129 188 160 1.35 -3.42 57.05NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. 975.00 214 671 1075.17 367.83 792 656 250 25.43 -9.32 1 075.17Household Durables BETA GLASS CO PLC. NT NT 15.58 10.03 3.90 N/A NTNIGERIAN ENAMELWARE PLC. NT NT 42.66 34.39 63 360 000 1.61 N/A NTVITAFOAM NIG PLC. 4.30 3 531 485 6.75 3.01 819 000 000 0.54 16.53 3.69VONO PRODUCTS PLC. 1.71 1 320 3.67 2.66 300 000 001 0.00 N/A 1.71Personal/Household Products P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. 45.00 272 068 53.00 22.07 3 176 381 636 0.70 -15.06 52.98UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. 63.00 204 396 68.00 22.56 3 783 296 250 1.44 -7.27 67.94Textiles/Apparel UNITED NIG. TEXTILES PLC. NT NT 0.97 0.57 843 284 027 0.00 N/A NTFINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ACCESS BANK PLC. 10.90 9 857 245 11.70 4.76 17 888 251 479 1.42 -2.68 11.20DIAMOND BANK PLC 6.12 7 016 825 9.27 2.01 14 475 243 105 0.90 -10.00 6.80ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INC. 15.00 6 413 439 17.05 9.97 9 873 614 567 2.81 -6.25 16.00FIDELITY BANK PLC 3.12 10 940 522 3.20 1.14 28 974 797 023 0.43 -0.64 3.14FIRST CITY MONUMENT BANK PLC. 4.90 10 139 640 8.30 3.04 16 271 192 202 0.60 -1.80 4.99GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. 24.91 18 059 085 29.05 11.64 29 146 482 209 2.10 -11.67 28.20SKYE BANK PLC 4.60 8 445 080 10.17 2.73 13 219 334 676 0.71 -4.17 4.80STERLING BANK PLC. 2.66 20 257 738 2.91 0.97 12 563 091 545 0.54 -3.27 2.75U B A PLC 8.96 11 926 554 8.70 1.64 32 334 693 693 0.67 2.99 8.70UNION BANK NIG.PLC. 13.00 2 864 043 13.09 1.96 13 509 726 273 0.00 -0.69 13.09UNITY BANK PLC 0.66 59 756 476 1.92 0.50 33 675 576 085 0.00 0.00 0.64WEMA BANK PLC. 1.25 1 343 415 1.75 0.50 12 821 249 880 0.00 5.93 1.18ZENITH BANK PLC 20.49 14 750 303 22.75 11.70 31 396 493 790 2.09 -10.13 22.80Insurance Carriers, Brokers & Services AFRICAN ALLIANCE INS. COY. PLC NT NT 0.50 0.50 20 585 000 000 0.00 N/A NTAIICO INSURANCE PLC. 0.96 3 731 595 1.01 0.50 7 809 391 256 0.05 0.00 0.96CONFIDENCE INSURANCE PLC NT NT 0.64 0.61 211 626 000 0.00 N/A NTCONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INS. PLC 0.50 5 000 0.50 0.50 6 000 000 000 0.05 N/A 0.50CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC 1.25 912 513 1.20 0.61 10 372 624 157 0.14 0.00 1.28CORNERSTONE INS. COY. PLC. 0.50 60 750 0.50 0.50 8 820 010 363 0.02 0.00 0.50CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED INS. PLC 1.56 325 500 3.51 1.31 5 100 846 808 0.28 0.00 1.75EQUITY ASSURANCE PLC. NT NT 0.50 0.50 8 847 298 420 0.00 N/A NTGOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC NT NT 0.69 0.50 4 549 947 000 0.00 N/A NTGREAT NIGERIAN INSURANCE PLC 0.50 10 000 0.50 0.50 3 827 485 380 0.00 N/A 0.50GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. NT NT 0.50 0.50 720 000 000 0.00 N/A NTINTERCONTINENTAL WAPIC INS. PLC 0.97 72 682 0.97 0.50 5 061 804 000 0.00 N/A 0.91INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INS. PLC 0.50 127 000 0.50 0.50 6 420 427 449 0.00 0.00 0.50INVESTMENT AND ALLIED ARN. NT NT 0.50 0.50 28 000 000 000 0.02 N/A NTLASACO ASSURANCE PLC. NT NT 0.50 0.50 7 323 313 227 0.00 N/A NTLAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. 0.50 123 965 0.61 0.50 3 437 330 500 0.00 N/A 0.50LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC 0.50 123 965 0.50 0.50 4 083 713 569 0.03 0.00 0.50MANSARD INSURANCE PLC 2.18 105 900 2.18 0.95 10 000 000 000 0.16 -9.17 2.40MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. NT NT 0.50 0.50 7 998 705 336 0.01 N/A NTN.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. 0.86 804 692 0.86 0.50 5 332 830 881 0.37 7.50 0.80NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. NT NT 1.11 0.50 5 649 693 923 0.02 N/A NTOASIS INSURANCE PLC NT NT 0.50 0.50 5 003 506 791 0.04 N/A NTPRESTIGE ASSURANCE CO. PLC. 0.65 466 714 2.35 0.50 2 508 315 436 0.06 0.00 0.65REGENCY ALLIANCE INS. COY PLC NT NT 0.50 0.50 6 668 750 000 0.04 N/A NTSOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC 0.50 85 000 0.52 0.50 5 203 757 266 0.09 0.00 0.50STACO INSURANCE PLC NT NT 0.50 0.50 6 141 087 609 0.00 N/A NTSTANDARD ALLIANCE INS. PLC. 0.50 60 000 0.50 0.50 8 493 173 450 0.00 N/A 0.50UNIC INSURANCE PLC. 0.50 708 026 0.50 0.50 2 581 733 505 0.00 N/A 0.50UNITY KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC NT NT 0.50 0.50 13 000 000 000 0.02 N/A NTUNIVERSAL INS. COMPANY PLC 0.50 3 627 0.50 0.50 16 000 000 000 0.00 N/A 0.50Micro Finance Banks FORTIS MICROFINANCE BANK PLC 6.60 180 6.00 0.00 0.01 6.60NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC 1.20 584 602 1.15 1.00 0.07 1.19Mortgage Carriers, Brokers &Services ABBEY BUILDING SOCIETY PLC 1.50 500 1.51 1.33 4 200 000 000 0.03 N/A 1.50ASO SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC 0.50 100 000 0.50 0.50 8 679 148 676 0.02 N/A 0.50RESORT SAVINGS & LOANS PLC 0.50 2 000 0.50 0.50 13 175 732 404 0.00 N/A 0.50UNION HOMES SAVINGS&LOANS PLC NT 1 0.99 0.50 7 812 500 000 0.00 N/A NTOther Financial Institutions CRUSADER ( NIG) PLC. NT NT 0.61 0.50 3 778 005 975 0.00 N/A NTDEAP CAPITAL MGT & TRUST PLC NT NT 2.02 2.02 1 333 333 333 0.00 N/A NTFBN HOLDINGS PLC 18.09 37 114 891 19.60 8.50 32 632 084 358 3.03 -0.82 18.24NIG SEW. MACH. MAN. CO. PLC. NT NT 0.15 0.15 5 880 000 0.00 N/A NTNIGERIA ENERYGY SECTOR FUND NT NT 552.20 555.20 2 500 000 12.65 N/A NTROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. 0.59 219 007 0.66 0.50 3 608 657 661 0.00 N/A 0.55STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC 15.82 2 225 055 13.36 6.40 18 750 000 000 0.87 -7.76 17.15HEALTHCARE Healthcare Providers EKOCORP PLC. 4.80 400 5.31 5.05 498 600 908 0.12 N/A 4.80Medical Equipment UNION DIAGNOSTIC &CLINICAL PLC 0.50 3 500 0.50 0.50 3 553 138 528 0.00 N/A 0.50Medical Supplies MORISON INDUSTRIES PLC. 2.23 6 780 10.54 7.39 152 178 750 0.06 N/A 2.23Pharmaceuticals EVANS MEDICAL PLC. 3.40 437 010 3.09 0.50 486 473 856 0.00 10.03 3.09FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC 2.00 790 965 3.20 0.76 1 500 000 000 0.44 -9.91 2.22GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER PLC 67.98 260 437 68.00 19.30 956 701 192 2.62 -0.03 68.00MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. 3.01 578 207 5.61 1.62 980 000 000 0.20 7.50 2.80

NOTE NT=Not Traded on 14-06-13 N/A=Not Avialable

NEIMETH INT PHARM PLC 1.65 61 120 1.96 0.76 1 925 717 268 0.09 32.00 1.25NIGERIA-GERMAN CHEMICALS PLC. 8.17 100 12.91 8.59 153 786 012 0.00 N/A 8.17PHARMA-DEKO PLC. 2.07 400 4.28 3.50 100 000 000 0.00 N/A 2.07ICT Computer Based Systems COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SLN PLC 0.75 2 796 450 0.52 0.50 2 960 000 000 0.10 0.00 0.77Computers and Peripherals OMATEK VENTURES PLC 0.50 1 000 0.50 0.50 2 941 789 472 0.00 N/A 0.50Electronic Communications Services MTECH COMMUNICATIONS PLC NT NT 0.91 0.91 4 966 666 668 0.00 N/A NTIT Services NCR (NIGERIA) PLC. 18.70 80 198 18.28 13.12 108 000 000 0.00 N/A 18.70TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC. NT NT 3.59 2.41 492 825 600 0.01 N/A 2.29Processing Systems CHAMS PLC 0.50 13 873 0.50 0.50 4 620 600 000 0.00 N/A 0.50E-TRANZACT INTERNATIONAL PLC 3.47 200 4.97 4.04 4 200 000 000 0.04 N/A NTTelecommunications Carriers STARCOMMS PLC NT NT 1.47 0.50 6 878 478 096 0.00 N/A NTTelecommunications Services IHS NIGERIA PLC PREF SHARES NT NT 2.25 0.00 0.00 N/A NTIHS PLC 1.82 20 489 000 3.50 2.46 4 400 000 000 0.00 N/A 2.00MTI PLC NT NT 0.50 0.50 4 893 594 400 0.00 N/A NTINDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials AFRICAN PAINTS (NIGERIA) PLC. NT NT 3.32 2.86 260 000 000 0.00 N/A NTASHAKA CEM PLC 26.00 1 253 677 30.00 9.10 2 239 453 125 2.14 -3.70 27.00BERGER PAINTS PLC 11.38 18 292 12.57 7.27 217 367 585 1.09 20.30 9.46CAP PLC 59.89 221 143 43.98 14.50 560 000 000 2.28 0.00 59.89CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC 10.75 700 481 15.49 4.20 1 241 548 285 1.47 0.75 10.67DANGOTE CEMENT PLC 199.00 1 409 089 132.51 95.00 15 494 019 668 8.33 -5.24 210.00DN MEYER PLC. NT NT 3.51 0.93 242 908 200 0.00 N/A NTFIRST ALUMINIUM NIGERIA PLC NT NT 0.75 0.50 2 109 928 275 0.00 N/A NTIPWA PLC 0.68 11 000 0.99 0.91 513 696 000 0.00 N/A 0.60LAFARGE WAPCO PLC. 88.52 856 110 56.50 37.00 3 001 600 004 4.10 -10.68 99.10PAINTS & COATINGS MANFACT.PLC NT NT 3.36 0.52 792 914 256 0.26 N/A NTPORTLAND PAINTS & PRDT NIG. PLC NT NT 5.28 2.27 400 000 000 0.23 N/A NTPREMIER PAINTS PLC. NT NT 13.40 10.93 75 000 000 0.00 N/A NTElectronic and Electrical Products AUSTIN LAZ & COMPANY PLC NT NT 2.00 2.00 0.03 N/A NTCUTIX PLC. 2.25 65 326 2.50 1.33 510 396 608 0.11 12.50 2.00NIGERIAN WIRE AND CABLE PLC. NT NT 0.73 0.50 2 220 000 000 0.00 N/A NTNIGERIAN WIRE IND. PLC NT NT 2.58 2.58 15 000 000 0.00 N/A NTPackaging/Containers ABPLAST PRODUCTS PLC. NT NT 3.98 3.98 25 000 000 0.00 N/A NTAVON CROWNCAPS & CONTAINERS 1.90 1 711 6.91 2.19 683 974 528 0.05 N/A 1.90BETA GLASS CO PLC. 10.00 7-075 12.71 9.53 0.05 10.00GREIF NIGERIA PLC NT NT 15.03 13.28 42 640 000 0.90 N/A NTNIG. BAGS MANFACT. COY PLC 2.70 2 717 101 3.60 1.60 6 215 000 000 0.24 0.00 2.70POLY PRODUCTS (NIG) PLC. NT NT 1.86 1.05 240 000 000 0.22 N/A NTW A GLASS IND. PLC. NT NT 0.63 0.63 199 066 550 0.00 N/A NTTools and Machinery NIGERIAN ROPES PLC NT NT 8.69 8.26 265 409 280 0.00 N/A NTSTOKVIS NIG PLC. NT NT 0.14 0.14 2 918 000 0.00 N/A NTNATURAL RESOURCES Chemicals B.O.C. GASES PLC. 7.50 4 000 9.20 5.70 393 120 000 0.76 0.00 7.50Metals ALUMACO PLC NT NT 7.75 7.75 75 600 000 0.00 N/A NTALUMINIUM EXTRUSION IND. PLC. NT NT 12.39 10.55 100 000 000 0.43 N/A NTNon-Metallic Mineral Mining MULTIVERSE PLC NT NT 0.50 0.50 4 058 989 226 0.00 N/A NTPaper/Forest Products HALLMARK PAPER PRODUCTS PLC. NT NT 3.22 3.22 50 000 000 0.04 N/A NTTHOMAS WYATT NIG. PLC. NT NT 1.38 1.38 220 000 000 0.00 N/A NTOIL AND GAS Energy Equipment and Services JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SER. PLC 0.56 11 299 965 1.02 0.54 6 262 701 716 0.13 0.00 0.56Integrated Oil and Gas Services OANDO PLC 13.08 1 616 357 24.80 10.94 2 262 711 568 1.73 -15.06 15.40Petroleum &Petroleum Products Distributors AFROIL PLC NT NT 20.71 20.71 125 487 475 0.00 N/A NTBECO PETROLEUM PRODUCT PLC 0.50 10 000 0.70 0.50 3 716 976 579 0.00 N/A 0.50CONOIL PLC 24.00 9 845 41.89 19.61 693 952 117 0.47 0.00 24.00ETERNA PLC. 3.33 1 607 581 5.59 2.12 1 249 162 828 0.61 -16.54 3.99FORTE OIL PLC. 17.01 59 209 28.69 9.12 1 080 280 628 0.00 10.45 15.40MOBIL OIL NIG PLC. 119.00 7 720 163.50 111.51 300 496 051 6.11 0.00 119.00MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. 17.80 70 978 72.00 32.29 253 988 672 3.62 N/A 16.70TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. 165.00 353 154 240.00 125.00 339 521 837 14.63 -0.60 166.00SERVICES Advertising AFROMEDIA PLC NT NT 0.72 0.50 4 035 497 307 0.00 N/A NTApparel Retailers LENNARDS (NIG) PLC. NT NT 3.48 3.48 0.19 N/A NTAutomobile/Auto Part Retailers R T BRISCOE PLC. 1.76 582 261 3.65 1.12 980 294 400 0.21 -5.88 1.87Courier/Freight/Delivery RED STAR EXPRESS PLC 4.59 788 318 3.67 2.11 589 496 310 0.58 -4.18 4.79TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. NT NT 6.40 3.28 198 819 763 0.25 N/A NTEmployment Solutions C & I LEASING PLC. 0.51 409 646 1.64 0.85 865 808 912 0.08 N/A 0.51Hospitality TANTALIZERS PLC 0.50 400 0.75 0.50 3 211 627 907 0.01 N/A 0.50Hotels/Lodging CAPITAL HOTEL PLC 4.59 500 8.00 3.00 1 548 780 000 0.18 N/A 4.59IKEJA HOTEL PLC 0.81 1 194 773 2.59 1.16 2 078 796 396 0.92 -12.90 0.93TOURIST COMPANY OF NIGERIA PLC. 4.53 100 4.76 4.31 1 772 884 297 0.00 N/A 4.53TRANSNATIONAL CORP. OF NIG.PLC 1.50 27 080 317 1.95 0.50 25 813 998 283 0.22 0.00 1.50Media/Entertainment DAAR COMMUNICATIONS PLC 0.50 10 000 0.50 0.50 8 000 000 000 0.00 N/A 0.50Printing/Publishing ACADEMY PRESS PLC. 2.45 131 200 3.68 1.64 403 200 000 0.14 N/A 1.75LEARN AFRICA PLC 1.77 99 125 8.00 1.94 771 450 000 0.29 N/A 1.80STUDIO PRESS (NIG) PLC. 2.52 500 2.92 2.78 0.01 N/A 2.52UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC. 5.70 94 443 6.82 3.09 425 641 111 0.50 2.70 5.55Road Transportation ABC TRANSPORT PLCPLC 0.94 7 246 123 0.80 0.50 1 507 000 000 0.00 N/A 1.00Specialty INTERLINKED TECHNOLOGIES PLC NT NT 5.15 4.90 236 699 511 0.00 N/A NTSECURE ELECTRONIC TECH.PLC NT NT 1.88 0.80 5 631 539 736 0.03 N/A NTTransport-Related Services AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC 4.90 287 750 2.78 1.54 634 000 000 0.38 N/A 4.52NIG. AVIATION HANDLING COY PLC 7.70 910 351 11.75 5.15 1 230 468 750 0.81 -1.28 7.80ASeM CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Property Management SMART PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC NT NT 1.43 1.04 45 000 000 0.12 N/A NTCONSUMER GOODS Food Products MCNICHOLS PLC 0.97 11 000 1.02 1.02 201 885 335 0.00 N/A 0.97Personal/Household Products ROKANA INDUSTRIES PLC. 0.60 500 0.60 0.60 30 000 000 0.00 N/A 0.60HEALTHCARE Pharmaceuticals AFRIK PHARMACEUTICALS PLC. NT NT 0.50 0.50 24 898 850 0.00 N/A NTINDUSTRIAL GOODS Electronic and Electrical Products NT NT NTADSWITCH PLC. 1.63 500 1.88 1.63 125 005 250 0.00 N/A 1.63NATURAL RESOURCES Metals W.A. ALUM. PRODUCTS PLC. NT NT 0.50 0.50 6 650 000 0.00 N/A NTOIL AND GAS Petroleum & Petroleum Products Distributors ANINO INTERNATIONAL PLC. NT NT 0.21 0.21 24 200 000 0.00 N/A NTCAPITAL OIL PLC 0.50 20 000 0.50 0.50 5 857 500 000 0.00 N/A 0.50RAK UNITY PET. COMP. PLC. NT NT 0.31 0.31 15 000 000 0.00 N/A NTUNION VENTURES & PET. PLC NT NT 0.63 0.63 98 600 000 0.00 N/A NTSERVICES Apparel Retailers UDEOFSON GARMENT FACT. NIG PLC NT NT 0.50 0.50 20 000 000 0.00 N/A NTFood/Drug Retailers and Wholesalers NT NT NTJULI PLC. 2.14 100 3.05 2.76 194 700 000 0.00 N/A 2.76ETF’s Sector ETF NEWGOLD EXCHANGE TRADED FUND 2 638.00 100 2 706 2 422 0.00 2 638.00

PRICE 52 WK 52 WK SHARES MOV.SECURITY (=N=) QUANTITY HIGH LOW OUTSTANDING EPS (%) Previous

PRICE 52 WK 52 WK SHARES MOV.SECURITY (=N=) QUANTITY HIGH LOW OUTSTANDING EPS (%) Previous

Stock Exchange weekly equities summary as at Friday, June 14, 2013

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Monday, June 17, 2013 National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net40

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Law & Justice“It is settled law that statutes which over-reach the citizen’s right or access to court are subject

to very strict interpretation.”

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 41Monday, June 17, 2013

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JUSTICE DAHIRU MUSDAPHER, RETIRED CHIEF JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT OF NIGERIA

Magistrate’s Courts in Nigeria are the busiest courts – a development that is rooted in the fact that they are in-

vested with wide latitude of jurisdiction. It has been estimated that the courts handle 80 per cent of all the criminal cases in Nigeria while it also handles overwhelming majority of the civil cases.

The establishment of the Magistrate Court is not directly provided for under the 1999 Con-stitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. But it would be wrong to say that the constitu-tion does not envisage its establishment. For instance paragraph (k) of subsection (5) of Section 6 of 1999 Constitution provides that a state may establish: “Such other courts as may be authorised by law to exercise jurisdiction at first instance or on appeal on matters with re-spect to which a state House of Assembly may make laws.”

The implication of the above quotations from the constitution is that even though the state High Courts are the only court that the constitution expressly makes provisions for, it indirectly allows a state to establish a court of first instance that is lower than the state High Court such as Magistrate Court. Thus Magis-trate’s Courts are established under the Magis-trate’s Court Law of each state.

Magistrate’s court wide latitude of jurisdic-

tion enables it to try diverse offences ranging from some felonies and misdemeanors like robbery, arson, auto theft, burglary, child- steal-ing, counterfeiting, conspiracy, forgery, fraud, and sexual assault. Offences like murder, rape, sedition, treason etc are beyond jurisdictional competence of the magistrate’s courts.

In spite of ubiquity and relative usefulness and strategic position of this court, it is widely believed that the Magistrate court system in Nigeria has not been as effective as it ought to be. This is because the problems facing the court are legion. These include the seemingly uncontrollable problems of “Holden charge.” This is a practice where the police bring a person(s) who has committed serious felonies which attract punishments that are beyond the jurisdictional powers of magistrates to impose, (like death or life imprisonment ) The intention of the police for doing this is to get the magistrate to decline jurisdiction and re-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 42

Constitution review: Three SANs differ on creation of State Courts of Appeal

Lawyers have abused use of wigs, gowns –Jimilehin

46

42

Zangon-Kataf clashes: How Lekwot was kept behind bars

44

Yusuf Ali, Ojo, others rate justice Yusuf Ali, Ojo, others rate justice administration in Magistrate’s Courts lowadministration in Magistrate’s Courts low

Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Ayotunde Phillips Attroney-General of Lagos State, Ade Ipaye

About 80 per cent of all criminal cases in Nigeria today are heard and determined by the Magistrate’s Courts across the 36 states. The courts are confronted with a lot of challenges that are hampering their capacity to administer justice efficiently. KAYODE KETEFE, Assistant Head, Judiciary Desk, writes.

ANOTHER PROBLEM FACING THIS COURT

IS THE USE OF POLICE PROSECUTOR TO

PROSECUTE OFFENDERS

mand the accused in the custody pending his formal arraignment before a court of appropriate jurisdiction.

Furthermore, as an inferior court of record which, by legal conception, is also a court of summary jurisdiction, mag-istrate’s courts in Nigeria are rocked with the problem of protracted delay in determination of cases. This fact is not only responsible for soaring apathy to the institution on the part of the masses; it also explains the reason why the prisons are bloated. Another problem facing this court is the use of police prosecutor to prosecute offenders. These prosecutors, who are not lawyers, are hardly equipped for the sophistication of legal practice and do often bungle cases. It is also widely believed that the greatest incidence of ju-diciary corruption occurs at the level of magistrate’s courts with the allegations that many magistrates receive bribes to compromise judicial decisions. Many magistrates’ courtrooms are also not only dilapidated, but are also poorly-equipped.

Until recently, magistrates were poorly remunerated. But this has been taken care of in many states. There are, however, some states where emoluments of mag-istrates are not commensurate with their status as judicial officers.

It is the desire to eradicate most of these problems that made the Government to enact Lagos State Magistrates’ Law The Magistrates’ Court Law, 2009, which was published as Law No. 14 under the State

KENNY ODUNUKAN

Three Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Chief Bolaji Ayor-inde, Mallam Yusuf Ali , Chief Felix Fagbohungbe and a constitutional lawyer, Mr. Fred Agbaje have disagreed

over the report of the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution that rejected the creation of state Courts of Appeal .

The lawyers, who spoke on phone in separate exclusive in-terviews with the National Mirror, differed on the outcome of the report of the constitution review committee on creation of the state Court of Appeal in six geo-political zones in the country.

The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu-led com-mittee had, in its report, rejected the bill proposed by the Sen-ate for the creation of the state appellate courts. The commit-tee took the decision based on the strong conviction that the present arrangement of having a centralised Court of Appeal for the federation should be sustained.

But the SANs and Agbaje, while canvassing their views on the issue, bickered over the report.

According to Ayorinde (SAN),” The creation of state Court of appeal is long overdue; we used to have Court of Appeal during the days of Western Region which took care of all ap-

peals from the High Court in the Western Region”He further said “It will help decongest the workload in the

Supreme Court and also allow the Supreme Court to concen-trate on strictly constitutional matters”.

In the same vein, Ali (SAN) aligned with Ayorinde’s posi-tion and he added that it would be in tandem with the practice of global legal practices.

His words, “It is a good development for our democratic process, it will encourage speedy administration of Justice. It is a practice done in most advanced countries, including the United State. It is absolutely like what we used to have in old Western Region.”

However, Fagbohungbe (SAN) differed on the position can-vassed by his colleagues, arguing that funding would be a ma-jor obstacle to running of state Courts of Appeal.

In his words, “I think the present status should be main-tained, the reason we have salaries of those courts judges and officers paid regularly is because the Federal Government is responsible. If there is creation of State court of Appeal, then there will be major crises of funding”.

Agbaje also adopted Fagbohungbe’s position and he argued that it would amount to waste of public fund.

He queried, “If we create state Court of Appeal, then there should be state Supreme Courts? . It is just a practical waste of public fund. The present practice should be maintained’’, he added.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net42 Monday, June 17, 2013Law & Justice

Constitution review: Three SANs differ on creation of State Courts of Appeal

Government Notice No 51 in the Lagos State of Nigeria Official Gazette No. 40 of Vol. 42 of 29th July 2009.

The new law aims at restructuring magistrates’ court practice, the magistrate as an institution, its perception and place in the justice sector. Unfortunately, the law seems to have become moribund as it has become a subject-matter of litigation between the magistrates and the government and, at present, it has been re-sub-mitted to the state House of Assembly for amendment.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, MalamYusuf Olaolu Ali, in an article entitled , “Delay in the administration of justice at the Magistrate’s Courts – Matters respon-sible and the solutions” identified problems rocking the Magistrate’s Courts to include corrupt lawyers, inappropriate appointment of personnel to Magistracy, misuse of the judicial process by litigants, archaic laws, inefficient prosecution and unprofessional practices and operations by law enforcement agents connected with the administration of justice among others.

National Mirror also spoke with Ali and some other lawyers who are very knowledgeable on the happen-ings in the Magistrate’s Courts.

Ali said “There are some of the provisions in our laws and rules in the magistrate’s courts that are ob-solete and they stand in the way of expeditious deter-mination of cases. The problem of holding charges is still with us. The use of first information report in the

states of the North engenders some delay in criminal trials.

“Furthermore, various calls have been made that only legally qualified persons should be allowed to prosecute cases before the magistrate’s courts.

Many policemen that prosecute before these courts are not versed in procedure with the attendant problem of delays and loss of otherwise good cases. The preva-lent allegations of corruption against these non-lawyer prosecutors are also a source of worry.

The former Second National President of the Nigeri-an Bar Association, Mr. Adekunle Ojo, said “As I speak to you, administration of justice system in the Magis-tracy is nothing to write home about. I believe justice is not one-way affair; it has to be evidence that justice swings to both parties.

“At present, we can’t really come to justice in the magistrate’s courts .Almost every accused person suf-fered great misfortune at the magistrate’s court.

“Hardly will you find an accused person arraigned before the magistrate’s court who is able to walk home on the day he or she was granted bail. What you find out is that the bail conditions are usually out of reach and sometimes very harsh, and most times, all of the conditions are never fulfilled.

The Chairman of Ikeja branch of the NBA Mr. Mon-day Ubani, said “There are many issues in the magis-trate’s courts, particularly in the criminal justice sec-tor, that are absolutely nothing to write home about.

“Accused persons sometimes cannot go home with-out spending two or three days in prison custody. Pros-ecutors are asked by the court to verify the addresses of sureties and impossible bail conditions are often imposed.

“In civil matters, what you discover is that there is slow administration of justice, matters are adjourned indiscriminately.”

In his own view, the Chairman of the Ikorodu Branch, of the NBA, Mr. Sahid Owosile, said “There is so much to do in the magistrate’s court .One of the issues is unnecessary delay in trial. The Magistrate’s court is supposed to be a court of summary jurisdic-tion .What you find out is that cases are given long adjournments thereby delaying trial. We all know that justice delayed is justice denied.

“The second issue is lack of capacity. As much as we

The law of succession basically deals with testate methods of inheritance, and the rules governing them differ.

• When a man dies, the devolution of his self-acquired property depends upon whether or not he has made a will.

•If he has made a will, the property devolves according to the will. If no will exists—that is, under the condition of intestacy—his property devolves in accordance with the applicable customary law. Discriminations exist in both cases, but especially under intestacy.

•Discrimination thus exists in the method of distribution under various customary laws. Unfair practices allow some to inherit while others cannot.

•The discriminatory aspects of property inheritance under customary law in Nigeria manifests in different forms and scope ranging from primogeniture rules, right of spouses, rights of adopted children and rights of illegitimate child; although it is generally agreed rule under customary law of intestate succession and inheritance that succession goes by blood.

PRIMOGENITURE RULE•The general rule of customary law where a land owner dies intestate is that his self-acquired property devolves on his children as family property.

•The head of the family is the eldest male child of the deceased who occupies the family house and holds same as a trustee of the other children, male or female. However, the rule is different in certain localities.

Written by Francis Famoroti, Head, Judiciary. We welcome feedback and reactions from readers via our e-mail: [email protected]

LEGAL TIPS

Ojo Ali


‘Inefficient prosecution, sharp practices prevalent in magistracy’ALMOST EVERY ACCUSED PERSON

SUFFERED GREAT MISFORTUNE AT THE MAGISTRATE’S COURT

have some magistrates who are capable; there are oth-ers who are not up to the task at all. There is a need for capacity building in the magistracy.

“The third issue is that the Magistrate law is long overdue for review. There is a need to review some of the laws that govern the magistrate’s courts .For exam-ple, the criminal justice procedure needs to be reviewed. There is a need to provide more Family Courts.”

Another lawyer and human rights activist, Mr. Ya-haya Oladeji, said “To start with, there are two reforms I would suggest to reposition the magistrates’ courts, first, all the police prosecutors should be replaced with qualified lawyers. Secondly, the process of appointment of magistrate’s should be overhauled to ensure that only qualified persons who have integrity are appointed.”

ISSUES IN LAW OF SUCCESSION (1)

Monday, June 17, 2013National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 43

How do you combine your legal practice with politics?I am a lawyer, that’s my first constituency, but I am a

politician by calling. Like it’s postulated in England, the legal profession is a profession that can conveniently be combined with politics. But, I know the situation in Ni-geria is far away from it. For instance, in England, most politicians in the House of Commons are lawyers. In the United States, we have Bill Clinton and Barak Obama who are lawyers. When you look at parliamentary pro-cedure, it flows with the legal profession.

I was privileged to have attended my course in Eng-land and I belong to the generation of lawyers whereby it was only in England that lawyers were trained. But later we found out that lawyers could be trained in Ni-geria.

It was very controversial when the Law School was introduced in Nigeria because people over there in Eng-land were opposed to it. The argument of those that were opposed to it was that all those that were behind it were trained in England. Why would they now go back to Nigeria, introduce Law School and insisted that even if you have been called to Bar in England, you still have to attend law school here in Nigeria. Their argument was that once you have been called to Bar in England, you should be exempted.

But, why would Nigeria set up a parallel Law School?What they did at that time was to prevent the influx

into the profession. At that time, it was becoming alarm-ing, not to talk of what is happening to the legal profes-sion today. I don’t know of any university in Nigeria that has law faculty at that time, so you were forced to attend the University of London and for those who are privileged, they go to Cambridge, Oxford and after grad-uating you will attend any of the Inns of Court.

Look at the number of eminent lawyers at that time, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Sir Adetokunbo Ademola inclusive. They all belonged to one Inn of court or the other. In fact, Sir Adetokunbo Ademola was the Chief Justice of Nigeria, when the Law School was intro-duced. They, in England, did not know the problem we had in Nigeria at that time. The whole idea at that time was to clamp down on the influx of Nigerians into the legal profession.

After I was called to Bar in England, I came back to Nigeria and was again called into the Nigerian Bar in 1977. It was a Friday, we were asked to enroll the fol-lowing day (Saturday) at the Supreme Court and on Monday morning I appeared in court before Justice Candide-Johnson, who later became the Chief Judge of Lagos State. At that time, legal practitioners observed ethics of the Bar.

Could you compare lawyers back then with the class of lawyers we have today?

Back then, you are proud to be a member of the le-gal profession because there was decorum. Back then, lawyers either go into litigation, the ministry or go into companies and act as solicitors. But now, you find law-

yers doing all sorts of jobs. When Prince Bola Ajibola was the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, I was privileged to be a member the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee and I was amazed at the kind of things lawyers were doing even at that time. If things were that bad at that time, what about today? I will leave it for you to draw you conclusions.

Today, there are cases in court involving lawyers who allegedly defrauded their clients. How do you see this trend?

I feel bad about it. I wonder what the Legal Practitio-ners’ Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) is doing about it, unless it has become a toothless bulldog. At the time when I was a member of the LPDC, there was a senior member of the Bar, who was once a minister. He was summoned to appear before the Committee. On the day he was invited, I saw him staying outside waiting to be called upon. When I went inside, the President of the Bar, Prince Bola Ajibola, said we must go on break but I told the President that we should attend to the senior colleague before we went on break and we called him inside.

So, I am not happy about what is happening today. It appears that the ethics of the Bar is not being followed. When you appear in your wig and gown, they are meant for use inside the court but immediately you step out of the court, you remove them and move into the robbing room and change your bib and collar and put on your tie.

It is then that you can go outside. But, on many oc-casions I have seen lawyers putting on their wigs and gowns on the road. I have had cause to stop some law-

yers walking along Igbosere Road querying them if they were not trained at the Law School not to wear their wigs and gowns outside the courtroom. During our days, you dare not wear your bibs and collars in a taxi, but today, you see lawyers wear wigs and gowns on Okada (commercial motorcycle).

What is your take on the quality of judgements from our courts?

I know a number of judges who did not go into prac-tice before they were appointed to the Bench. I know of a judge who was a legal adviser with a Local Govern-ment Council, I know of a judge who was a legal adviser in a merchant bank back then who was appointed as judge. You know the method of appointing a judge; it’s either from the Ministry of Justice or from the private practice.

You can go and find out and compare the judgement of those who have been in active legal practice before becoming a judge with those who had not. That will tell you about the quality of judgements coming from our courts today. Definitely, there is a lot of difference. Judg-es back then displayed majority, but most colleagues who went into the Bench are nearing their retirement

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net44 Monday, June 17, 2013Law & Justice

Lawyers have abused use –Jimilehin

Jimilehin

WHEN YOU APPEAR IN YOUR WIG AND GOWN, THEY ARE MEANT

FOR USE INSIDE THE COURT, BUT IMMEDIATELY YOU STEP OUT OF THE COURT, YOU REMOVE THEM

Chief Oladipo Jimilehin is an urbane lawyer and he was the National Publicity Secretary of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) during the tenure of Mrs. Priscilla Kuye as the President. Called to the English Bar in 1977, he was a former Secretary, National Constitutional Conference Commission in the mid-1990s. In this interview with WALE IGBINTADE, he speaks on justice delivery system, corruption in the judiciary, the law-making processs, and the future of Nigerian judiciary, among others. Excerpts.

age. But, let me say without fear of contradiction that there are some judges today that deliver good judge-ments. They are serious and often address issues that are before them dispassionately. Just recently, the National Judicial Council (NJC) rec-ommended the compulsory retirement of some judges on ethical ground. How do you see this exercise?

It goes down with what we have been saying ab initio that things are changing, and there is no more value in every sphere of life. When we were young, we heard of the practice whereby judges will never appear at public functions, but what do you have today? Judges are ev-erywhere. Talking about discipline of judges, there is too much outcry about corruption in the judiciary par-ticularly in election petition matters. In my view, the Chief Justice of Nigeria had no alternative but to sanc-tion the affected judges. It is an attempt to restore the hope of the common man in the judiciary. The hope of the common man lies with the judiciary; this is because the common man has lost hope in the judicial system of this country.

Do you think the National Assembly as presently con-stituted has the constitutional power to amend the 1999 Constitution?

Let me add to your question. Who then has the com-

petence to amend the Constitution? I was privileged to be a member of the Constituent Assembly and the pur-pose was to review a new Constitution for the country. At that time, there was so much agitation and, up till now, they are saying it’s not the peoples’ constitution. The question is, where are the people to make the Con-stitution? If you have peoples’ assembly and people are saying they cannot amend the constitution, who then is competent to do it?

People should look at it from two different angles; the National Assembly are the representatives of the people of this country. You’ll recall that an attempt was made during the Obasanjo administration, which end-ed up in confusion over the alleged third term saga. Yet people said they lacked legitimacy to amend the consti-tution. If we agree that members of the National As-sembly are the elected representative of the people, are we saying they don’t have the requisite power to amend the Constitution? There is no other body that can do the amendment than the National Assembly, because they were elected by the people.

What is your take on a bill pending before the National Assembly canvassing immunity for the legislators?

I say no to their request for immunity, otherwise they will make a mockery of the process. In fact, the immu-nity granted the President and the governors are even questionable. I remember when we were at the 1988\89 Constituent Assembly, we were debating on the security votes, I remember telling my colleagues on the floor of the House that president and governors should account for security votes given to them. But, my colleagues re-sisted it, especially, those of them who knew they would soon become governors. Such a request is a mockery of the democratic system.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) recently barred politicians and political parties from embarking on campaigns for the 2015 election. How do you see this step taken by the Commission?

There is need for us to draw a line. There is a dif-ference from campaign and electioneering campaign. There is no electioneering campaign going on any-where.

But, what about posters of politicians for the 2015 election pasted in some states, especially the Federal Capital Territory?

Seriously speaking, there would be no way there wouldn’t be a campaign. For instance, if a governor decided to organise a ward to ward assessment tour of his project, that is a campaign. Electoral law will not go against that. Many of the posters you talked about are being denied. The people whose photographs ap-peared in the posters are saying they don’t know any-thing about it. The President said it, recently a friend of mine, the governor of Katsina State had his posters pasted around Abuja and some other States in the West. When I called him, he denied it saying the people be-hind it are being mischievous. I think the type of cam-paign INEC is talking about is electioneering campaign but you cannot stop politicians from campaigning.

How will you assess your colleagues in the National Assembly?

They are not making any impact. I will not be sur-prised if a non-lawyer is put as chairman, Senate Com-mittee on legal matters. This is because some of the lawyers in the National Assembly may even decline to be in the committee, but will prefer to be members or

chairman of Senate Committee on Petroleum.

What is your take on the crisis rocking the Nigerian Governors’ Forum?

Governors’ Forum is not an issue for the nation to divert us from the reality on ground. The Forum is an association. Ordinarily, parties are proposed to be on ideological divide. That is why governors were elected on the platform of PDP and governors were elected on the platform of ACN and other political parties. But, they want us to believe that there is a union within them at the Governors’ Forum. They are merely using it to feather their nest. So, it is not an issue that we should allow to bother us.

I believe in collective responsibility, within the gover-nors’ forum, you have the PDP governors, you have the ACN governors, you have the APGA governors and the Labour governor, are you saying they are not outsmart-ing each other as far as their political parties are con-cerned? Don’t you think a party has the right to take a stand on issues? Do you think it is morally right for any governor within that set-up to ignore his party’s di-rective? That would be indiscipline? You are aware of the undercurrent surrounding the election purported to have been held by the governors. First, it was said that the election has always been by consensus and not by election. Secondly, they said it has always been on rotational basis. So, why would a governor want to sit tight? It is unfortunate that we have docile masses in this country.

How do you see the kidnap of some members of the family of a Supreme Court Justice, Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour? What impact will this have on judges in determining matters before them?

I do not have the facts. The issues of kidnapping and Boko Haram are serious issues facing the country. It is unfortunate that it has happened to a senior member of the judiciary. But, I do not think it should affect the course of justice. A judge either at the lower court or higher court should be upright and dispense justice without fear or favour. Against all odds, a judge should continue to dispense justice without fear or favour.

How do you feel when you hear of allegations of corrupt practice among judicial officers?

One is disturbed because when you consider that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man and giving the sensitive nature of the institution. The judiciary is the last stable institution that we have. One is disturbed that if anything happens to weaken the integrity of the judiciary, then that will have impact on the credibility of governance in general.

How do you see the future of the law profession in Nigeria?

The future of the legal profession is very bright. Whatever challenges the profession is facing now will be corrected. There was a time in Nigeria, when you’re called to the Bar, you either go into litigation or as a so-licitor. But over a period of time, you find lawyers who having been called to Bar, you will not even see them in court. The number now is alarming simply because every family has at least a lawyer in the family. Today, almost all the military officers are lawyers, but all these things are being corrected.

What will be your advice for young lawyers?Young lawyers should be conscious of professional

ethics and they should adhere strictly to them. Lawyers should not meddle with clients’ funds and they should advice their clients properly. We were taught in England that when you have a difficult case, you should be able to tell your client that ‘’this is a bad case, but I will do my best’’. You are not supposed to reject a bad case and you are not to tell your client to twist or distort or per-vert the course of justice.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 45Monday, June 17, 2013 Law & Justice

of wigs, gowns –Jimilehin–Jimilehin

IN FACT, THE IMMUNITY GRANTED THE PRESIDENT AND

THE GOVERNORS ARE EVEN QUESTIONABLE

A retired army officer, Major Gen. Zamani Lekwot was the Military Governor of Rivers State from July

1975 until July 1978 during the military administrations of Generals Murtala Mu-hammed and Olusegun Obasanjo. He had a successful military career from 1962 till he was retired in 1985 when Gen. Ibrahim Babangida became the Chief of Staff fol-lowing the military coup of December 31, 1984 that brought General Muhammadu Buhari to power. After his retirement, he went into private business.

Sometime in the early 1990s, there were civil disturbances in some parts of Kaduna State between the Christians and Muslims. There was unprecedented ar-son, large-scale destruction of property and loss of lives in the state. According to some press reports, as many as 3,000 persons might have been killed.

The Police and military authorities responded swiftly and arrested hundreds of suspects while the Federal Military Government fingered Lekwot as the ar-rowhead of the crisis.

By far, more worrisome was the May 15, 1992 violence which erupted between the mainly Moslem Hausa and Christian Kataf communities of the Zangon-Kataf Local Government Area in Kaduna State, with many deaths.

Lekwot, a Christian leader of Kataf extraction, was arrested following the February and May 1992 Zangon-Kataf clashes.

It was obvious that he had stepped on the toes of those in the corridors of pow-er at the time.

Lekwot and other Kataf leaders were detained without charge under Decree No. 2 of 1984 until July 29, 1992 when they were charged with unlawful assembly. Along with five other Christians of Kataf origin, Lekwot was brought to trial on four charges, including unlawful assem-

bly with intent to subjugate the Hausa Community in Zangon-Kataf.

The Babangida junta later promulgat-ed a decree which established the Civil Disturbances Special Tribunal pursuant to Decree No 2 of 1987 (Cap 53 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990).

The tribunal was vested with jurisdic-tion over a number of offences under the Criminal and Penal Codes, including the capital offences of treason and murder.

Other offences covered by the Decree include: unlawful assembly, demolition of buildings during riots, insults to a reli-gion, disturbing religious worship, mem-bership in unlawful societies, and arson.

The tribunal, chaired by a Supreme Court judge, convicted no fewer than 75 people. They were sentenced to terms of imprisonment, and, under the Decree, had no right to appeal.

Although the Civil Disturbances Spe-cial Tribunal acquitted Lekwot and five others on August 18, 1992, they were im-mediately re-arrested and detained in Ka-duna prisons.

Lekwot and the five others were charged on September 4, 1992 with cul-pable homicide, a charge which carries a possible death sentence, and other offenc-es. Twenty others were also tried in con-

nection with the riots, but were acquitted.The Civil Disturbances (Special Tribu-

nal) Decree, No. 2 of 1987, gave the head of state the power to constitute a special court, presided over by a High Court judge, to try cases involving civil riots and distur-bances. The decree specifically precluded any right of appeal to a higher court, and gave the power to confirm or disallow con-victions and sentences to the military gov-ernment.

During the trial, the defendants had ap-pealed to the High Court, complaining that their fundamental human rights were be-ing denied and that the Special Tribunal was biased against them.

In response, the government promulgat-ed a new decree in late 1992, Decree No. 55, confirming that defendants before the Spe-cial Tribunal may not challenge any of its proceedings in the High Court. On January 4, 1993 the lawyers defending Lekwot and the other defendants led by Chief G.O. K. Ajayi (SAN) withdrew from the trial in pro-test over the provisions of Decree No. 55.

According to another account, On Sep-tember 4, 1992, the government prepared a new 22-count charge for offences ranging from unlawful assembly to disturbing the peace and culpable homicide, the latter of which is punishable by death.

Lekwot and five fellow Katafs in 1992 were charged afresh before the Tribunal in respect of communal riots that devastated the Zangon-Kataf community of Kaduna State.

According to the Committee for the De-fence of Human Rights (CDHR), Lekwot was tried for being a non-violent vocal leader of the Katafs and a minority Chris-tian leader. [...] It is on record that while all the leaders and innocent Katafs were ar-rested and hurriedly hounded into deten-tion, none of the Hausa Fulani, who engi-neered and ignited the riot, were arrested.

Despite efforts to halt the tribunal pro-ceedings on the basis that, due to the Mus-lim composition of the tribunal, a fair trial cannot be guaranteed for the detainees, and that the charges are triable in regular courts, the Kaduna High Court refused to grant an injunction. The ruling was up-held by the Court of Appeal on November 20, 1992. Lekwot and five other persons

were condemned to death by hanging on February 2, 1993.

Their trial and conviction by the Civil Disturbances Special Tribunal in Kaduna attracted the interests and sympathy of the entire citizenry and the international com-munity as the tribunal found Lekwot, a re-tired army officer, and five others guilty of “culpable homicide punishable by death”.

But their sentences were later com-muted to five- year jail terms. By December 1995, Lekwot had received a state pardon.

When the Obasanjo civil administra-tion set up the Justice Chukwudifu Oputa Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission (HRVIC) in 1999, Lekwot filed a petition before the panel alleging that the Babangida regime violated his constitution-al rights. The petition by Lekwot, which was on request consolidated with the one filed by Aiyap Youth Forum from the same Zangon- Kataf, who complained of vandalisation of the community by the police, was adjourned to Abuja where a term of memorandum of understanding was expected to be filed.

He, however, withdrew the petition and opted to settle his rift with the erstwhile mili-tary regime out- of -court.

But Lekwot, in a recent press interview, explained that 61 Katafs were detained at the time. He said himself and 14 others among those tried for their alleged com-plicity in the Zangon-Kataf clashes were condemned to death. The retired army officer said he had, however, forgiven all his detractors, especially Babangida who treated him, a fellow general like a com-mon criminal during the period.

Major-General Zamani Lekwot (rtd) and some of his Kataf kinsmen were, on February 2, 1993 sentenced to death by the Zangon-Kataf Civil Disturbances Special Tribunal in Kaduna. Their sentences were, however, later commuted to jail terms. FRANCIS FAMOROTI, Head, Judiciary writes.

Monday, June 17, 2013Law & Justice46 National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

FAMOUS CASES

Zangon-Kataf clashes: How Lekwot was kept behind barsLEKWOT AND FIVE

OTHER PERSONS WERE CONDEMNED TO

DEATH BY HANGING ON FEBRUARY 2, 1993. BUT THEIR SENTENCES WERE

LATER COMMUTED TO FIVE-YEAR JAIL TERMS

Babangida Lekwot Ajayi

Law & JusticeNational Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 47Monday, June 17, 2013

Events

L-R: Mr. Abiodun Owonikoko, SAN, Sir Emmanuel Ofulue and former NBA Chairman, Lagos branch, Mr. Chijioke Okoli

Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Lagos Branch, Mr. Taiwo Taiwo and the Secretary, Mr. Alex Muoka at the branch’s General Meeting held in Lagos recently.

Mrs. Funke Adekoya, SAN and Mr. Mike Ajegbo at the meeting. A cross-section of lawyers at the event

Director, Legal Services, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration, Mr. Kingsley Ejiofor and Chief Felix Fagbohungbe, SAN, at the National Association of Judicial Correspondents (NAJUC) seminar held in Lagos, recently.

Journalists at the NAJUC seminar.

My first solo appearance was before an Ogudu Magistrate’s Court. A client approached our chambers and com-

plained that the landlord locked her outside. She said she was denied access to her prop-

erties. She also informed us that her landlord had filed the matter before the court.

My principal counsel, however, assigned the matter to me and asked me to appear in court.

When my matter was called, I was well-

composed because of the several moot training back in school and the fact that my father is a lawyer and has tutored me on how to address the court.

I stood up and announced my appearance and informed the court on what transpired between both parties and also expressed their readiness to settle out of court.

The court was convinced with my argu-ments and thereafter struck out the matter.’’

My father tutored me -Omolola Jones-Idowu

Jones-Idowu

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net48 North Monday, June 17, 2013

Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, arriving for his 50th anniversary grand durbar in Kano, at the weekend.

Dankwambo

INUSA NDAHI MAIDUGURI

Residents of Bulum-kutu, Dala, Alam-deri, Abuja Talaka,

Lagos Street and New Gov-ernment Reserved Area (GRA) in Maiduguri are angry with Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima over the slow pace of roads construction in their areas.

The residents said that the projects, which were awarded two years ago, are yet to be completed despite the huge amount of money

the governor claimed to have spent on them.

This is even as residents of Klorori NNPC Depot area of the city flayed the gover-nor for allegedly neglecting them.

They claimed that the less than one kilometre road linking their community to other parts of the city is in bad condition.

The residents added that they often experienced flooding during downpour.

Speaking with Nation Mirror in an interview in Maiduguri, some residents

of Bulumkutu Ward of the city - Mallam Usman Modu, Ibrahim Yakubu and Hajiya Inna Abdulka-reem - commended Gov-ernor Shettima’s admin-istration for awarding the contract for the construc-tion of the roads and drain-ages, but expressed worry over the slow execution of the projects.

The pointed out that as the rainy season is fast ap-proaching, it would be dif-ficult for them to ply the roads.

“If these projects are not

completed on time, the prob-lem of flooding, which befell our community last year, will recur this cropping sea-son,” Mallam Modu said.

Mallam Abba Umara Abba also told National Mirror that the busy road on Lagos Street awarded to CGC Limited two years ago had not reached 10 per cent completion.

He said that the road is the busiest in the metropo-lis because it links the Uni-versity of Maiduguri (UNI-MAID), its teaching hospital and other public establish-

Borno residents angry over slow pace of projects’ execution

WALE IBRAHIM LOKOJA

The Kogi State Judi-ciary has set a new practice direction

for the High Court in the state with a view to enhance speedy dispensation of jus-tice in criminal matters such as terrorism , kidnap-ping, rape, corruption and money laundering.

The decision was con-tained in a statement signed in Lokoja at the weekend by the Chief Registrar, Mrs. C.E Toluwase.

The statement stated that

the procedure was contained in a practice direction issued by the state Chief Judge, Jus-tice Nasiru Ajanah.

The statement said the direction, which was aimed at fast tracking the adminis-tration of justice, intended to establish a system of case management that would provide for impartial and expeditious disposal of such case so as to eliminate ex-penses

involved for both justice system and parties con-cerned.

“Other objectives include the need to ensure that all

parties involved in the trials are focused on the matter which is genuinely in issue while interlocutory matters would be swiftly dealt with rather than constituting for delay and stay of proceed-ings,” the statement added.

The statement pointed out that under the direction, the High Court would evolve a new practice on fair, firm, impartial and expeditious disposal of cases in addition to guiding and firmly re-minding parties and coun-sel of the strict adherence to the court scheduling order.

The statement said:

“With the new arrange-ment, the High Court judges hearing any application, upon satisfied that there exists prima facie case for the accused to be arraigned, shall grant application there and not later than two days from the date of moving the application.”

It added that the docu-ment, which is contained six parts essentially borders on filling of charges, pre-hear-ing and scheduling trial.

The document was is-sued in line with the provi-sion of Section 274 of the 1999 Constitution.

Kogi moves to fast track criminal justice administration

DANJUMA WILLIAMS GOMBE

The Gombe State Government has awarded over N2 bil-

lion contracts for erosion control and construction of roads in some parts of the state.

Giving the breakdown of the contracts after an exec-utive council meeting held at the Government House, the state Commissioner for Information and Orienta-tion, Revd. Habu Dawaki, said that the roads would be constructed in Kumo, head-quarters of Akko Local Government Area; Deba, Hina and Dadin-kowa towns in Yamaltu-Deba Lo-cal Government Area.

He said the contracts were awarded to reputable civil engineering firms af-ter due process and that the projects have a completion period of 22 months.

Dawaki said the govern-ment decided to award the erosion control contract so as to prevent a major disas-ter in the state.

The government has, however, decided to con-struct 30 public toilets at strategic locations in Gombe metropolis at the cost of N777.954 million.

The commissioner told journalists that the absence of these facilities had led to defecation in the open and in areas where such an ac-tion is disallowed.

He said the contract would make provision for the maintenance of the fa-cilities and their security.

Meanwhile, Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwam-bo has appealed to Presi-dent Goodluck Jonathan to rehabilitate the Dukku and Potiskum roads with a view to curtailing the incessant

accidents on them. The governor, who made

the plea during the com-missioning of the recon-structed bridge on Gombe-Potiskum Road and the Gombe-Numan-Yola Road by the Minister for Works, Mr. Mike Onolomemen, said the that rehabilitating the roads would reduce the crashes caused by articu-lated vehicles plying them daily.

Commending the Fed-eral Government for the rehabilitation of some de-plorable parts of Gombe-Numan Road, he governor reminded the minister of the outstanding stretches from Gombe to Kaltungo, adding that Yolde-Numan Road needed to be com-pleted because of its impor-tance to his state.

He said that the repairs carried out at Gada Uku Road and the 53 kilometres Gombe-Yola Road last year may not survive another downpour this year if there should heavy shower.

Dankwambo also plead-ed for the construction of the Nafada-Gombe Abba Federal Road which he said had become nearly danger-ous to motorists.

The minister, however, assured that the Federal Government would collabo-rate with the Gombe State Government in the con-struction of more roads.

Gombe to spend N2bn on erosion control, roads

WALE IBRAHIM LOKOJA

A group, the Federa-tion of Nigerian Youth Assembly

(FENIYA), has called on Sen-ate President David Mark to contest the 2015 presidential election.

FENIYA National Coordi-nator, Alhaji Bello Hassan, made the call at a meeting with other officials of the group at the weekend in Lo-

koja, the Kogi State capital.Hassan said the group

wanted Mark to contest the election because he (the Senate President) had con-tributed to efforts armed at uniting the country.

He added that the Sen-ate President could also be trusted with the highest po-sition in the country.

According to Hassan, Mark’s endorsement by the group was born out of its belief that the Senate

President has the qualities required to develop Nige-ria.

Hassan said: “We ask the Senate President, David Mark, to contest the 2015 presidential election be-cause of his proven leader-ship qualities in the last six years at the Senate and our belief that he can pilot the ship of Nigeria to a safe des-tination.

“It was the decision by Mark-led Senate that in-

voked the doctrine of ne-cessity that gave President Goodluck Jonathan the op-portunity to become the Act-ing President in 2010.

“We are aware that the incumbent has the right to seek re-election in 2015, but that will not stop us from advancing the cause of our principal, Senator David Mark.”

The group, however, urged Mark to accept the call to contest the poll.

Group urges Mark to contest 2015 presidential poll

ments.Meanwhile, residents of

Klorori called on the state government to construct the less than a kilometre road around the NNPC depot to Klorori, claiming that when the rainy season starts, they would have no option than to abandon their vehicles at home and resort to other means of transportation to their places of work and businesses.

One the residents, Mal-lam Isa Gadambul, said: “Democracy is all about service and we wonder why

the people of Klorori have been clamouring for the construction of a less than a kilometre road within the Maiduguri metropolis, but all their cries fell on deaf ears.”

All effort to reach the state Commissioner for Works and Transport, Hon. Ibrahim Mohammed Bukar, failed as it was learnt that he rarely goes to office and that all the GSM network were out of service in the past one month because of the declaration of the state of emergency.

World NewsNational Mirror


Al Qaeda’s North African wing (AQIM) yesterday confirmed the death of two of its senior com-manders in Mali earlier this year, veteran jihadist Abdelhamid Abou Zeid and brigade commander Ab-dallah Al Chinguetti, Mauritania’s ANI news agency said.

The death of Abou Zeid, who made millions of dollars kidnap-ping Western hostages over the past decade, had already been announced “with certainty” by France in March after clashes with its troops in northern Mali.

AQIM, however, had not until now officially confirmed the death of Abou Zeid, the leader of one of its southern brigades and a trusted lieutenant to the group’s elusive leader, Abdel-malek Droukdel.

The AQIM statement sent to ANI said Abou Zeid had been killed in fighting with French-led forces in February in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains in remote northeastern Mali. France launched a massive military operation in January that succeeded in driving al Qaeda-linked Islamists from Mali’s desert north.

The Mauritanian agency often receives statements from Islamist groups operating in the Sahara region, many of which have Mauritanian members. Mauritania’s press is among the freest in the Arab world.

AQIM said Abdallah al Ch-inguetti, a Mauritanian and the leader of its Al Vourghan brigade, was killed in the same operation. The Al Vourghan brigade was active in northern Mali during last year’s Islamist occupation.

Al Qaeda group confirms death of Abou Zeid, another leader

CAR rebel raid leaves at least 16 dead

At least 16 people have been killed during clashes between rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and villagers in Central African Republic, a military source said.

LRA fighters attacked two vil-lages in the central mining region of Bria on Thursday, initially killing six people and wounding about 10 others as they looted houses, said the source.

“The rebels were pursued and caught by villagers armed with rifles... who killed four of them,” the source added.

The LRA fighters responded with a fresh attack during which they killed six more people, who they decapitated, placing their heads on tree trunks, he said.

The region has suffered regular attacks from fighters of the LRA and other rebel groups.

WORLD BULLETIN

Regional leaders urge Zimbabwe to delay poll

U.S. Police begin manhunt of suspects in gruesome killing of Nigerian

Ex-wife of Nelson Mandela, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (right) and her daughter, Zeneni Dlamini Mandela, at the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa, yesterday. Photo: AP

“If some people naively believe that they can trap us into an election dilemma, let them not tire themselves”

- GREEK PRIME MINISTER, ANTONIS SAMARAS

President Robert Mugabe accused political rivals of seeking to delay elections

in Zimbabwe because they fear defeat, after regional leaders urged his ruling coalition to ask the courts to extend a July 31 deadline for holding the vote.

His rivals said reforms to restrictive media and security laws were essential for any fair election to be held and that it was Mugabe’s party that was not ready to go the polls.

Mugabe, Africa’s oldest leader at 89, last week used a presiden-tial decree to bypass parliament and fast-track changes to elec-tion laws and declare the voting date, drawing a sharp rebuke

from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

In a clear sign that Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party would not give ground on reforms, Justice Min-ister Patrick Chinamasa denied any need for either media or se-curity reforms demanded by the MDC party of Tsvangirai, the president’s arch-rival.

Tsvangirai has previously said Mugabe should approach the courts to extend the election deadline. Mugabe told the Sun-day Mail the government would do so through the justice minis-ter but accused his opponents of running scared of elections.

“The other parties do not want elections, they are afraid of

elections.

They know they are going to lose and it’s a sure case that they are going to lose,” Mugabe told the state-owned Sunday Mail news-paper. His spokesman was not available for comment.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti, the MDC secretary general, countered that it was ZANU-PF that was not ready for elections as factional fighting over who should succeed Mugabe preoc-cupies the party.

PAUL ARHEWEWITH AGENCY REPORTS

Former South African Presi-dent Nelson Mandela is en-gaging with his family and

seeing improvement from the re-curring lung infection that forced him to spend a ninth day in the hos-pital yesterday, the president said.

President Jacob Zuma said Mandela remains in serious con-dition but that over the last two days his doctors have said that the improvements in his health have been sustained.

Zuma said Mandela “continues to engage with family,” according to the prepared text of a speech released by the president’s office. Family members are visiting Man-dela daily.

The leader of South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement, Man-dela spent 27 years in prison dur-ing white racist rule. He was freed in 1990 and became South Africa’s first black president in 1994. His hospitalization in Pretoria, the capital, is Mandela’s fourth admit-tance for treatment since Decem-ber.

Zuma asked the audience at a Youth Day celebration to join him in wishing Mandela a happy Fa-ther’s Day.

Youth Day commemorates

June 16, 1976, when school chil-dren from the township of Soweto marched in protest of a government order that half of all classes in secondary school must be taught in Afrikaans, a deriva-tive of Dutch spoken by the de-scendants of European settlers.

Police fired on the young marchers with live ammunition. Hector Pieterson, a 13-year-old boy, was the first one killed. In all, hundreds of children — who fought the police with sticks and rocks — were wounded or killed in the violence.

Zuma said the youth of 1976 “took on the might of the apart-heid state” and that Pieterson

“became a symbol of the student uprising and quest for freedom and a better life.”

“The bravery of our youth dur-ing those difficult times pushed our country closer to freedom and democracy which we finally achieved in 1994,” Zuma said.

Leeann Foster visited the Pi-eterson memorial on Sunday, where many people had Mandela on their minds.

“It’s a bit strange that he’s not here to celebrate with us as he has done so much for the struggle. But I think that we should all be grateful and appreciate what he’s done so far for us and pray for a speedy recovery,” Foster said.

Economy recovery will take time, says Iran’s president-elect

50

• Rivals scared of sure defeat –Mugabe

The Police in New York began manhunt of two suspects connected with the grue-

some stabbing to death of a Nigeri-an in Brownsville area of Brooklyn on Thursday.

According to local media, the de-ceased, Uro Ama Orji, 54, and a cab driver in the area, is said to have been stabbed in the eye with an um-brella on Thursday.

After he had been wounded, his vehicle crashed into two parked sport-utility vehicles at Lott Avenue and Boyland Street at about 5:30 p.m.

Orji, who resides in Queens, was taken to Brookdale Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Following the development, a 5,000-dollar reward was offered for information that could lead to the arrest of the suspects.

The New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers offered a 3,000-dol-lar reward, while the group of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care offered another 2,000 dollars.

Police said they were looking for a man and woman who were pas-sengers in the cab and seen running from the scene.

A video showed the man getting out of the cab, opening the front door of the vehicle and stabbing Orji with an umbrella.

“It’s clearly on that video. You have a female and male, and the male runs, the young lady walking away, perhaps guilt got the best of her.

Mandela’s health improving –Zuma

President Robert Mugabe signing the Zimbabwe’s new constitution into law in the capital, Harare, recently. Photo: Reuters

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net50 World News Monday, June 17, 2013

Economy recovery will take time, says Iran’s president-elect

Turkey’s crisis: Fresh violence as Erdogan holds rally

Iranian presidential-elect Hasan Rowhani waving to his supporters during a campaign rally in Tehran, Iran, on Satur-day. Photo: AP

Fresh unrest has erupted in Ankara and Istanbul, with police firing tear gas and

water cannon amid continuing anti-government protests.

The unrest flared as PM Re-cep Tayyip Erdogan’s support-ers gathered for a huge show of strength in Istanbul.

Some 1,000 riot police from Turkish provinces have been flown in to the city to try to curb the protests.

Police broke up a protest camp in the city’s Taksim Square, the focal point of the unrest, on Saturday evening.

The protests began on 28 May against a plan to redevelop

nearby Gezi Park, but snow-balled into nationwide anti-gov-ernment protests after the per-ceived high-handed response of the authorities under their

three-term prime minister.Medical officials estimate

that 5,000 people have been in-jured and at least four killed since protests began.

Two major trade union groups - Kesk and Disk - have called a one-day nationwide strike for Monday in protest at police violence.

Kesk spokesman Baki Cinar told Agence France-Presse: “Our demand is for police vio-lence to end immediately.”

Police fired tear gas and wa-ter cannon to clear demonstra-tors in Ankara’s Kizilay Square on Sunday afternoon.

At least four people were in-jured.

Police earlier dispersed a me-morial service in the capital for a protester who died of injuries during a demonstration.

Plainclothes police detaining a protester, yesterday Photo: Reuters

U.N. climate talks have hit a stumbling block that some delegates say poses a serious challenge to their already slow-moving attempt to craft a global response to climate change.

As the latest negotiation ses-sion ended Friday in the German city of Bonn, one track of the talks was paralyzed by a request by Russia, Ukraine and Belarus to review the decision-making pro-cedure in the two-decade-long U.N. process.

Decisions in the U.N. climate discussions are supposed to be taken by consensus — but it’s not totally clear what that means in practice. While many agree the decision-making procedure needs to be clarified, they worry that the issue could block the talks at a time when urgent ac-tion is needed to tackle climate change.

“If we’re not careful, it could collapse the whole system,” said Ronald Jumeau, a delegate from the Seychelles.

UN climate talks marred by decision-making deadlock

Sanctions on Iran should increase –Netanyahu

Five from Egypt’s diverted plane claim asylum in UK

Israel on Sunday warned the international community against easing sanctions on Iran following the election of a reformist-backed president, saying the country’s nuclear efforts remain firmly in the hands of Iran’s extremist ruling clerics.

Prime Minister Benjamin Ne-tanyahu issued the warning a day after the surprise victory by Hasan Rowhani. Although Rowhani is considered a relative moderate and had the backing of Iranian reformists, Supreme Leader Aya-tollah Ali Khamenei is the ultimate authority on all state matters and key security policy decisions, including nuclear efforts, defence and foreign affairs, remain in the hands of Khamenei and his power-ful protectors, the Revolutionary Guard.

Netanyahu noted that the Iranian clerics disqualified candidates they disagreed with from running in the election. He said the international community must not get caught in “wishful thinking” and ease the pressure on Tehran, saying “Iran will be tested by its deeds.”

Five passengers from an EgyptAir flight diverted to a Scot-tish airport over an apparent threat to destroy the aircraft are now seeking asylum in Britain, authori-ties said Sunday.

New York-bound Flight 985 from Cairo was forced to make an emergency landing on Saturday after a threatening note was found in the plane’s lavatory.

British Typhoon fighter jets escorted the plane to Glasgow’s Prestwick Airport, where the flight was met by a heavy police presence, but no arrests were made and the flight was eventually cleared to carry on its journey to the U.S.

A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said that five people out of the flight’s roughly 300 passen-gers were now claiming asylum in Britain.

Briefs

A string of nearly a dozen apparently coordinated bombs and a shooting in

cities across Iraq killed at least 32 and wounded dozens Sunday, extending a wave of violence that is raising fears of a return to widespread killing a decade after the U.S.-led invasion.

Violence has spiked sharply in Iraq in recent months, with the death toll rising to levels not seen since 2008. Nearly 2,000 have been killed since the start of April.

Most of the car bombs hit Shiite-majority areas and were the cause of most of the casu-alties, killing 26. The blasts hit half a dozen cities and towns in the south and centre of the country. There was no claim of responsibility for any of the attacks, but they bore the hall-mark of al-Qaida in Iraq, which uses car bombs, suicide bomb-ers and coordinated attacks to target security forces, members of Iraq’s Shiite majority, and others.

The blasts began when a parked car bomb went off early morning in the industrial area of the city of Kut, killing three people and wounding 14 others. That was followed by another car bomb outside the city tar-geted a gathering of construc-tion workers that killed two and wounded 12, according to police.

In a teahouse hit by the blast, a blood-stained tribal headdress and slippers were strewn on the floor, along with overturned chair and couches. Kut is lo-cated 160 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of Baghdad.

In the oil-rich city of Basra by the Gulf coast in southern Iraq, a car bomb exploded in a busy downtown street, police said. As police and rescuers rushed to the scene of the ini-tial blast, the second car explod-ed. A total of six people were reported killed. Cleaners were seen brushing off debris of the car bomb that damaged nearby cars and shops.

32 killed in Iraq’s coordinated attacks

Iran’s newly elected reform-ist-backed president said yesterday that the country’s

dire economic problems can-not be solved “overnight,” as he took his first steps in consulting with members of the clerically dominated establishment on his new policies.

Hasan Rowhani’s surprise victory in Friday’s elections puts him in charge of an execu-tive branch that traditionally has taken the lead in handling the economy, while nuclear ef-forts, defence and foreign affairs remain primarily in the hands of the ruling clerics and their powerful protectors, the Revolu-tionary Guard.

This creates a challenge for Rowhani, as Iran suffers from more than 30 percent inflation as well as 14 percent unem-ployment linked to Western sanctions for Tehran’s suspect nuclear program. Rowhani has called for reaching out to the in-ternational community but has little authority over the nuclear activities tied to sanctions.

The semi-official ISNA agen-

cy said Rowhani discussed infla-tion and unemployment as well as possible members of his cabi-net with Ali Larijani, speaker for Iran’s conservative dominat-ed parliament.

“Today, we took the first step for cooperation between two branches of power,” Rowhani was quoted as saying. Rowhani will take office in August and needs parliament to approve his proposed nominees for 18 minis-tries.

Meanwhile, the Revolution-ary Guard declared its will-ingness to cooperate with the president. “We announce our comprehensive readiness for in-teraction and cooperation with the next administration in the framework of legal duties and assignments,” the Guard said on its webpage.

The outward displays of coop-eration by Iran’s establishment reflect its desire to close the po-litical rift caused by unrest over disputed election results in 2009, and signal to world leaders that the ruling clerics are not pub-licly standing against Rowhani’s

call for outreach and dialogue with the international commu-nity.

Iran’s stock exchange mean-while climbed for a second con-tinuous day, jumping 1,194 points to close at 47,460 — almost a 2.5 percent increase, the exchange’s website said. The dollar was trading at 34,600 rials in foreign currency shops, compared to 36,300 rials on Thursday, the eve of the election.

The rise came after a night of a celebration in Tehran, as the announcement of Rowhani’s victory sent tens of thousands of jubilant supporters into the streets. Cars honked and blared music ranging from patriotic songs to Lambada.

Riot police, who were fre-quently deployed on Tehran streets in the run-up to Friday’s vote, were conspicuous in their absence. State TV showed foot-age of the celebrations and re-broadcast a speech he made af-ter his victory was announced Saturday, asserting Iran’s readi-ness to improve its ties with the world.

“The practice of same sex marriage, as you all know, is alien to Nigeria”SENATE PRESIDENT; DAVID MARK

Katsina to distribute fertilizer for farmers

Community MirrorNational Mirror


GEORGE OPARA ABIA

The people of Arochuk-wu in Arochukwu and Nkporo in Abia State

have decried what they de-scribed as the snail speed in the construction and reha-bilitation of Arochukwu – Ohafia and Abiriba – Nkporo –Osso Edda federal roads.

It would be recalled that the Federal Ministry

of Works flagged-off the reconstruction and reha-bilitation of the roads on March 29th.

The people of Arochuk-wu and Nkporo who spoke through their traditional rul-ers, Eze Chris Nwankwo of Ekeoha Ututu and his Ethi-tioha Nkporo counterpart, Eze U. I. Eme, said they were not satisfied with the slow execution of the projects.

The traditional rulers, who

commended Senator Uche Chukwumerije and Prince Arua Arunsi for attract-ing the projects, appealed to them to use their good offices to persuade the contractors to hasten progress on the roads.

The site engineer of BEKS Construction Company, han-dling Arochukwu – Ohafia road, Mr. Femi Olawuyi and supervisory engineer for fed-eral highways, Mr. Nnaemeka

Okoli said that two kilome-tres of the road have been as-phalted, while the site engi-neer for Dutum Construction Company, handling Abiriba – Nkporo – Osso Edda road declined comments.

Reacting, the member representing Arochukwu/Ohafia Federal Constituency, Prince Arua Arunsi, said the feelings of the people were right and charged the con-tractors to do thorough jobs.

Residents decry slow pace of roads construction

52

Inset Hon. Olasehinde with the house and charms

OJO OYEWAMIDEAKURE

A former commissioner in Ondo State, Ogunbadejo Kolawole, has raised alarm

following alleged discovery of fe-tish objects in the apartment of the state House of Assembly member, Hon. Fola Olasehinde.

Ogunbadejo said the scary items in the twin-duplex at No. 6, Olas-ehinde Lane, Ijapo Estate, Akure, was occupied by Olasehinde since 2009.

Fetish objects allegedly found included amulets, snail shells, live snails, cow horns of different sizes wrapped in coloured cloth, min-iature coffins, photo images of

humans and animals, concoctions in black clay pots as well as bottles and cans containing all manner of liquids.

Others were charms in bottles labeled: Rasu, Aso Eegun, Eegun Ekun, Iye Agbe, Aluko, Irun ori omo tuntun (hair of a new born baby) and odidi osio. There were other bottles labelled Gbetugbetu, Ajatuka etc.

Some personal effects of the fe-male lawmaker including House of Assembly vehicle plate number, cam-paign posters and hand bills were also said found in the apartment.

But Olasehinde, who represents Ose State Constituency, denied any knowledge of the fetish items, say-ing she had moved all her belong-

ings to a new accommodation at GRA, Alagbaka, Akure, since Octo-ber, 2012.

According to her, she gave the keys to her personal assistant for another co-tenant because the two duplexes share the same water sys-tem, adding that she expected the co-tenant to hand over the keys to the landlord.

The landlord had issued Hon. Olasehinde a quit notice last year, demanding that she vacate the apartment by October, 2012.

Ogunbadejo, said he went to court to get an injunction to force all the doors to the residence open since the lawmaker refused to quit or pay her rent.

He said he was therefore sur-

prised to find stinking and bizarre fetish items in all the rooms in the house.

The landlord claimed that no one had access to the apartment since it was locked by the lawmaker who refused to hand over the keys.

Ogunbadejo said: “She hap-pened to be from Idogun in Ose Local Government Area. She ap-proached me asking for accommo-dation and I wanted to help because I know members of her family. The elder brother was my teacher at the Grade II Teachers Training College in 1961 and 1962.

“I gave her the accommodation in 2009. From then to 2012, she was my tenant. Aside this, she paid rent in the first year, but did not pay in

Fetish objects found in legislator’s apartmentthe second year. Slater, she paid in two installments, claiming her husband was sick. Aside the first year, she never paid rents even when they were due, which led to disagreements between us.

“After appealing to her to pay the agreed sum of N850, 000, she then issued a cheque for N700, 000. I then asked for the outstanding N150, 000 but she said the roof in one of the rooms was leaking, claiming she invited a contractor to cost and fix the problem.

“I told her that I am living in Akure and since she is my tenant, it is my responsibility to fix the leaking roof. If you had told me, within 24 hours, I would have in-vited somebody to fix the problem. She said “I do not want anybody to enter my room”.

“I then instructed my lawyer to write and demand for the rent or I would eject her from the house. I told my lawyer to demand for N120, 000 from her and that she should use N30, 000 to carry out repairs on the alleged leaking roof. If I were to repair it, I would have used only one roofing sheet.

The landlord added: “After a lot of pressure, she paid up and I then gave her an eleven-month eviction notice. Before the expiration, the state government had offered her an accommodation. But on mov-ing out, she locked the gate into the main building.

“We then went to court and the Magistrate asked her to appear but she did not come. Based on this, the court gave ruled that she should pay rent arrears of N498, 033, 33k for seven months.

“We expected her to obey the order but she never did. We again approached the court which gave us the order to force the doors open. The court gave us a staff and two policemen. When we forced the doors open, the police were surprised that the apartment was turned into a shrine.

“We were surprised that a wom-an could have fetish objects in her apartment. Since then, she has re-fused to come and collect the items, until I got someone to take me to the House officers. The Deputy Speaker, Hon. Emiola Dare, came here with 12 people to take pic-tures of the fetish items.

“They were shocked to see a leg-islator converting her residence to a shrine. Since then, I have started renovating the building because the whole compound has been overtaken by weeds.”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net52 Monday, June 17, 2013 Community Mirror

Katsina to distribute fertilizer for farmersJAMES DANJUMA KATSINA

The Katsina State Government says it has earmarked a

total of 20,550 metric tons of fertiliser for sale at sub-sidised rate to farmers.

In a statement issued by the Senior Special Adviser

to the Governor on Press Affairs, Lawal Matazu, the fertiliser products were made available through the office of the Commis-sioner for Agriculture, Musa Adamu.

It stated that the fertilis-er was stocked at govern-

ment warehouses and will be delivered to genuine farmers at their door steps.

The statement said a committee for the distri-bution of the commodity had been set up while three zonal committees are to be saddled with responsibil-

ity of the distribution in Katsina, Daura and Fun-tua senatorial zones.

53National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netMonday, June 17, 2013

To score against Africa’s best goalkeeper and Africa’s best team is

for me a great achievement- NAMIBIA’S INTERIM COACH, RICARDO MANNETTI

SportTurkey 2013: Flying Eagles land in Istanbul

54

Egypt, Ethio-pia and Cote d’Ivoire yes-

terday became the first countries to reach the play-offs in the Africa zone of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.

A spectacular own goal by Ber-nard Parker gifted lowest Group A seeds, Ethiopia, a 2-1 triumph over 2010 World Cup hosts, South Afri-ca, in Addis Ababa and an unassailable five-point lead with one round left.

Mohamed Salah followed up a hat-trick against Zim-babwe last week by scoring the goal that earned Egypt a 1-0 win over Mo-zambique in Ma-puto and created an eight-point Group G gap over Guinea.

Reigning African Footballer of the Year, Yaya Toure, netted twice in Dar es Salaam as the Ivorians recovered from conceding a second-minute goal to defeat Tanzania 4-2 in Group C and

they cannot be over-taken.

Ghana, who were quarter-finalists at the last World Cup, took a significant step toward reach-ing the play-offs with a 2-0 win over Lesotho in Maseru, thanks to goals from Christian Atsu and captain Asamoah Gyan.

The Black Stars moved one point ahead of Zambia in Group D and host the shock 2012 Af-rica Cup of Nations champions in the final series of mini-league fixtures in September.

As the Super Eagles step out today, proud sponsor of the Nigerian Senior Men’s Na-

tional Team, Guinness Foreign Ex-tra Stout, has concluded broadcast sponsorship arrangements to bring matches from the match venue in Brazil, live to Nigerians throughout the duration of the tournament.

A statement sent to National Mirror, said the leading stout brand recently signed a partnership

agreement with Optima Sports Management International (OSMI) to ensure Nigerians do not miss out on any of the actions from the tournament which kicked off on Saturday.

Announcing the partnership, the Managing Director/Chief Ex-ecutive Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr. Seni Adetu, said the partnership demonstrate Guinness’ commit-ment to providing unforgettable

football experience for fans of the Super Eagles.

He further said, “This partner-ship with OSMI will bring the Con-federations Cup action to Nigerians on the following terrestrial chan-nels, Silverbird Television (STV), African Independent Television (AIT) and the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA)”.

Explaining further, Adetu said, “When we launched the Fly with

the Eagles Campaign, we promised our esteemed consumers and fans of the Super Eagles, our continu-ous support for Nigerian football, particularly the Super Eagles. We are bringing these matches live to Nigerians to further reiterate our commitment in this regard. We are really proud of this partnership. We wish the fans happy viewing and hope the Super Eagles get to the finals, probably winning the Cup.”

EVEREST ONYEWUCHI

Cash-strapped Nige-ria Football Fed-eration (NFF) is

already guaranteed par-ticipation fee of $1.7mil-lion (about N272m) as the Super Eagles step out later this evening to bat-tle Tahiti in the ongoing FIFA Confederations Cup tournament.

Total prize money at the Brazil 2013 competi-tion is up 14 per cent com-pared with the last edi-tion held in South Africa in 2009.

Information from FIFA revealed that in to-tal a prize pool of $20m will be shared among the eight participating na-tions, with teams elimi-nated during the group phase and finishing fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth will each receive $1.7m.

As well as the con-siderable prestige that comes with winning the Festival of Champions, which features the best sides from each conti-nent, the victorious team in the final to be played at the reconstructed Ma-racana Stadium on June 30, will take home a cool $4.1m. The runners-up will earn $3.6m.

At the match for third place that same day in Salvador, a podium finish will not be the only thing up for grabs. The winner of that fixture will pick up $3m, while the team finishing fourth will go home with $2.5m.

At the 2009 edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup the total prize fund was $17.6m, with cham-pions Brazil picking up $3.75m along with the coveted trophy.

Nigeria, flying Af-rica’s flag in Brazil is up against European and world champions, Spain; South American champi-ons, Uruguay and Ocea-nia representatives, Ta-hiti.

IKENWA NNABUOGOR

Ahead of their today’s opening match at the FIFA Confederations

Cup tournament, Nigeria’s Super Eagles had the feel of the pitch of the Estádio Gov-ernador Magalhães Pinto arena in Belo Horizonte, yes-terday afternoon after a be-lated arrival at the venue.

Eagles were led out for their first training by Coach Stephen Keshi just few min-utes after settling down at their hotel.

The African champions had earlier arrived in Belo Horizonte after their bonus is-sues were settled by the Nige-ria Football Federation (NFF) in Namibia on Friday evening.

After the bonus row that threatened to mar Nigeria’s participation at the FIFA Con-federations Cup, the Eagles squad finally arrived in Belo Horizonte Tancredo Neves International Airport around

1.40 am on Saturday, according to the online edition of Brazil’s leading Television network, TV Globo.

The team had their first real training a few hours to their group game against Tahiti later this evening. The match kicks off at 8pm Nigerian time

The flight to the capital of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, the hosts of the group B match between Super Eagles and Tahiti, took the team approxi-mately 13 hours, discounting airport waiting times.

African champions Nige-ria flew into Sao Paulo just before midnight on Saturday – the last team to arrive at the tournament in Brazil.

Earlier scheduled to arrive last Thursday, the Eagles were 48 hours late after a stand-off with NFF over bonuses pay-able.

After today’s clash with the Oceanians, the Eagles train moves to Salvador, where they clash with South American champions, Urugua, at the Arena Fonte Nova at 7pm Bra-zil time (11pm Nigeria time) on Thursday.

On Sunday, 23rd June, Eagles take to the pitch at the Estadio Castelao against world and European champions, Spain – one of the most an-ticipated games of the group phase. That match starts at 4pm Brazil time (8pm Nigeria time).

…Guinness brings games live to Nigerians

Nigeria guaranteed N272m

W/Cup qualifi ers: Egypt, CIV, Ethiopia in fi nal

FIFA Confed Cup: FIFA Confed Cup: Eagles battle TahitiEagles battle Tahiti

Super Eagles’ Godfrey Obaobona (14) will be relied on today

Tahitian team after their arrival in Brazil, last week.

Egypt’s Aboutrika

…Match kicks off 8pm

The Results

Ethiopia 2-1 South Africa

Lesotho 0-2 Ghana

Tanzania 2-4 Cote d’Ivoire

Mozambique 0-1 Egypt

Zambia 1-1 Sudan

Botswana 3-2 Central African Rep

Uganda 2-1 Angola

Libya 2-0 Togo

54 National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netMonday, June 17, 2013 Sport

Fying Eagles celebrating a recent win ahead of the Turkey 2013 World Cup

George rues Grand Prix mishap

…Onakoya seeks better outing

T/tennis: Team Nigeria off to China

Ajibade shines in CycleFest

Turkey 2013: Flying Eagles land in IstanbulNigeria’s U-20 team yesterday arrived in

Istanbul, Turkey ahead of the FIFA U-20 World Cup scheduled to kick off on Wednes-

day.The team of 21 players and 10 officials later con-

nected its base Kayseri, about 45 minutes by road, to begin final preparation for the global competi-tion where Nigeria is seeking its first trophy win after participating since 1983.

Reports said the John Obuh-coach Flying Ea-gles’ side was quartered in the four-star Hilton Ho-tel in Kayseri.

The team had earlier trained in Germany and Austria in addition to featuring at the Toulon Inter-national Tournament in France where it drew two

games and lost two others to attract criticisms for what many believed was an under-par outing.

The Nigerian representatives however defeated German third division side Unterhaching 3-0 in a final test game on Saturday to raise hope ahead of the start of their World Cup campaign on Friday against Portugal.

They will also face Cuba in Kayseri on June 24 before they play they meet South Korea in the final group game in Istanbul on June 27.

Flying Eagles reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Colombia.

Meanwhile, FIFA has assured all teams at the World Cup of their safety, despite the on-going anti-government protests in Turkey.

YEMI OLUS

USA-based Nigerian quarter miler, Regina George, has expressed disappointment

over dropping the baton during the Premium Event Women’s 4x100m relay at the Warri Relays/Confed-eration of African Athletics (CAA) Grand Prix last weekend.

George, who made her debut at the Olympics in London last year, was billed to run the second leg of the race but failed to collect the baton from Gloria Asumnu seam-lessly, squandering the chance of the senior team to win gold as the juniors won the race with a time of 44.24secs.

“I thought I had the baton but I didn’t,” she said.

“Thankfully we have already qualified so I’m relieved that this wasn’t the big one.”

Earlier this year, George ran the fastest time by a Nigerian woman this season (51.00secs) in the 400m. She beat a strong field comprising Patience Ukoh, Bukola Abogun-loko and Omolara Omotosho to win the race in 51. 62secs at the Warri City Stadium. Ukoh and Abogunloko returned 51.95secs and 52.18secs respectively.

The 22-year-old is excited at the

prospect of participating in the World Championship which is scheduled to hold from August 10 to 17.

“I’m excited about making it to the worlds for the first time and I’m sure everything will be all right,” she further said.

In a related development, Pres-ident of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Evangelist Solomon Ogba, has appointed former sprinter, Jide Josiah and Olympics gold medallist, Enefiok Udo-Obong, as Special Assis-tants.

Josiah will serve as the spe-cial assistant, (Administration) while Udo-Obong will assist in the Technical area.

YEMI OLUS

One of the quarter milers at the Warri Grand Prix event last week, Abiola

Onakoya, believes the organ-isers could have done better, even as Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) officials and other athletes applauded the men’s 4x400m relay team quali-fication for the forthcoming World Championship in Rus-sia.

Nigeria Team A beat Nige-ria Team B (3:08.41) and the Customs (3:09.03) to cross the finishing line in 3:04.26secs, barely making the qualifying time of 3:05.00.

“We met the International Association of Athletics Fed-erations (IAAF) qualifying time but we would also look for an opportunity to run faster times,” Onakoya said.

“Fortunately, the World Championships is about two months away so we still have time to improve,” he added.

The University of Texas El Paso undergraduate won three medals including two gold medals at the Conference USA Track and Field Champi-onships last month where he led his Miners teammates to a medal sweep in the 400m. He also lowered his Personal Best from 45.89 to 45.82 at the War-ri meet and is confident that faster times will be achieved at the national trials in Calabar, Cross River State.

“We hope for good weather in Calabar and when this hap-pens, the best of Nigerian ath-letes will be on display,” he submitted.

The men’s 4x100m relay squad failed to meet the re-quired time for the Moscow championships as their time of 39:25 fell short of the IAAF standard by five seconds.

YEMI OLUS

Team Nigeria will today de-part Lagos aboard an Ethio-pian Airline to Egypt for

the African Qualifiers of the 2014 World Youth Olympic Games hold-ing later in Nanjing, China.

The six-man team will be spear-headed by Ekiti State teenager, Tosin Oribamise, who recently qualified for the World Cadet Cham-pionship.

Ondo State’s Ojo Onaolapo made it to the last eight of the maiden World Youth Olympics held in Sin-gapore as the only African player and his performance attracted ac-colades from the International Ta-ble Tennis Federation (ITTF).

Other members of the six-man team to be tutored by Dotun Ominiyi are Agnes Onoja, Baba-femi Babatunde, Iyabo Adebayo, Ajoke Ojomu and Olasunkanmi Oginni.

Oribamise, Onoja and Baba-tunde will compete in the cadet event as well as in the junior event, while the trio of Adebayo, Ojomu and Oginni will compete in the ju-nior event only.

The championship tagged ‘Egypt Junior and Cadet Open’ will be staged in Ismailia from Wednes-day 19th to Sunday 23rd June 2013, being the first of a series of tourna-ments where players have the op-portunity to stake their claim for a place in the Youth Olympic Games.

AFOLABI GAMBARI

Ecstasy ruled the air in Lagos yesterday as So-diq Godwin Ajibade of Oyo State emerged winner of the 2013 CycleFest Championship

at the National Stadium, Surulere.The one-day competition graced by a clement

weather also saw Bayelsa and Rivers State flag bear-ers Caleb Kalizibe and Goodnews Clifford emerge as first and second runners-up respectively.

Rivers States’ trio of Gloria Odiase, Rita Aggo and Rosemary Marcus swept the stakes in the in the Women’s Professional category, amidst applause from the crowd of spectators as they stood on the po-dium.

“I commend the organisers-Cycle Shop and GSK-for providing this opportunity to compete,” Ajibade told National Mirror after his feat.

“I look forward to more of this with more govern-ment involvement so that Nigeria can be on the way to gaining reckoning as a force in global cycling,” the Oyo State representative added, stressing that his previous outings in Algiers, Mozambique and at the Rivers State National Sports Festival in 2011 helped latest achievement.

The cyclists raced a total of 270 kilometre stretch of road, starting from the National Sta-dium enroute Eko Bridge-Marina-Bonny Camp-Ahmadu Bello-Bar Beach-1004-Falomo-Bourdilon-Foreshore-3MB-Oworoshoki-Ojota-Otedola

Gardens-Alausa-Awolowo Way- Allen-Opebi-Shera-ton-Bank Anthony-Airport-Agege Motor Way-Osho-di-Anthony-Mary Land-Ikorodu Road-Western Av-enue and back to the stadium.

Lead Principal, Cycle Shop Limited, organiser of the event, Inyang Effiong, said the success of the competition would encourage future hosting.

“We are delighted that our efforts at making cy-cling attractive to different strata of people have achieved the desired effect,” Effiong remarked.

Official drink GSK-Lucozade Sport was joined by Equity Assurance Plc, Books on the Loose, Canig So-lutions, Siji Soetan & Co, CRI and Benola to make the competition eventful.

About 250 cyclists from 16 states’ cycling teams and four recreational cycling clubs participated in the maiden CycleFest National Cycling Champion-ship sanctioned by the Nigerian Cycling Federation and the Lagos State Cycling Association.

Cyclists at the CycleFest race in Lagos yesterday PHOTO: ADEMOLA AKINLABI

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 55TributeMonday, June 17, 2013

BURIAL OF ALHAJA ABIBATU MOGAJI

Representatives of monarchs at the cemetery.

L-R: Managing Director, Maryland Wreckage Ltd, Mr. Fola Tinubu; former Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Muiz Banire; National Publicity Secretary, Action Congress of Nigeria, Dr. Lai Muhammed and former Minister of State for Interior, Chief Demola Seriki.

L-R: Hajia Abba Folawiyo, Chief Olusegun Osoba, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Chief Adeniyi Adebayo.

Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji (2nd left); member, Hon. Wahab Alawiye-King and others. Cross section of Market Women.

Son of the deceased, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu pouring sand into the grave of the deceased.

Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi arriving the cemetery.

Asiwaju Tinubu in a sober mood. PHOTOS: BAYOOR EWUOSO AND YINKA ADEPARUSI

Vol. 03 No. 644 Monday, June 17, 2013 N150

WORLD RECORD

Largest aerial fi refi ghting forceThe world’s largest aerial firefighting force is the Avialesookhrana of Russia. The force was es-

tablished in 1931 and was the first of its kind in the world. There are currently 4,000 ‘smokejumpers’ in the force, who rappel from helicopters or planes into the burning area.

Printed and Published by Global Media Mirror Ltd: Head Offi ce: Mirror House, 155/161 Broad Street, Lagos Tel: 07027107407, Abuja Offi ce: NICON Insurance House, Second Floor, Central Business District Area, Abuja Tel: 08070428249, Advert hotline: 01-8446073, Email: [email protected]. Editor: SEYI FASUGBA. All correspondence to PMB 10001, Marina, Lagos.

Printed simultaneously in Lagos, Abuja and Ondo State. ISSN 0794-232X.

NFF President, Aminu Maigari

Chelsea Manager, Jose Mourinho, has cast fresh doubt over the

future of Fernando Torres after admitting that more could have been expected of the Spanish striker.

The forward, who earned a £50million switch from

Liverpool to Stamford Bridge in January 2011, has struggled to replicate the form from his earlier career and has continued to be linked with a move away from the club this summer.

But the Portuguese gaf-fer said Torres’ record at Chelsea was mediocre and his stay could not be guar-anteed, although it would rest on club owner Roman Abramovich whether or not

he is shipped out.“Fernando so far is so-

so,” Mourinho said yester-day.

“Somebody could expect more because of his poten-tial, because of what he did

before. But I still think he’s not as bad as people some-times try to say.

“Normally, the tendency is to say it was a mistake. But I think it was a mistake because it didn’t work.”

Sport ExtraMourinho hints at Torres’ offl oad

Printed and Published by Global Media Mirror Ltd: Head Offi ce: Mirror House, 155/161 Broad Street, Lagos Tel: 07027107407, Abuja Offi ce: NICON Insurance House, Second Floor, Central Business District Area, Abuja Tel: 08070428249, Advert hotline: 01-8446073, Email: [email protected]. Editor: SEYI FASUGBA. All correspondence to PMB 10001, Marina, Lagos.

Printed simultaneously in Lagos, Abuja and Ondo State. ISSN 0794-232X.

Jonathan in the eyes of RawlingsFlight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings, re-

member him? The archetypal soldier, quintessential revolutionary and for-

mer Ghanaian head of state, was in Nigeria recently to deliver a lecture at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. He is a cred-ible elder statesman and news source who suffers no fool gladly. Therefore, his recent views on President Jonathan and his ad-ministration is instructive.

Recall that while Rawlings was busy cleansing the Ghanaian Augean stable years back and thus paving the way for the unmis-takable all-round progress in Ghana today, his Nigerian counterparts were ceaselessly shouting empty “unity”, “unity”; success-fully blind-folded us; bastardized our federa-

tion and federalism, looted the economy.The result today is all the problems which

ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo tried his best for eight years to solve and which, if the truth must be told, President Goodluck Jonathan has been saddled with. Straddling between these old problems and Boko Haram-induced pervasive insecurity, Jonathan has surprisingly been tackling these problems with visible results, especially in the area of electricity, rail rehabilitation, tertiary educa-tion, and roads and airports rehabilitation. His foreign policy has remained unassailable.

In Awka, Rawlings fielded many ques-tions but the one whose answer attracted my attention most had to do with President Jonathan’s then unpopular response to the security challenge posed by the Boko Haram insurgency. Rawlings had told the reporters that Jonathan’s approach to the matter was in order, because it was in consonance with Nigeria’s fledgling democratic order. In an oblique reference to what happened at Odi, and Zaki-Biam, Rawlings wondered wheth-er those criticizing Jonathan for taking no rash action wanted him to tackle Boko Ha-ram in a manner characteristic of military regimes.

The Ghanaian elder statesman advised that Nigeria ought to develop its democracy, capitalizing on Jonathan’s approach to lead-ership. As somebody who did not vote for Jonathan in 2011 owing to what I regarded then as his kid-glove response to the prob-lem of incipient but evident terrorism, I couldn’t but be taken aback by Rawlings’ baffling commendation of an approach which was overly short of the will to declare instant emergency rule in Borno, Yobe and

Adamawa states. I did not quite come to terms with the

meaning behind Rawlings’ stand until re-cently when President Jonathan finally stunned everyone with what I rather saw as “home-grown emergency rule” in those three states. Why did I associate his action with the so-called “home-grown democra-cy”—the pet object of some discredited Ni-gerian leaders of the dim and distant past? Novelty! Notice the innovation: the entire democratic structures, namely executive and legislature in those states were left in-tact. Not even the crisis-riddled state branch of that contraption that calls itself Africa’s biggest political party was sacked.

A selfish president would have exploited this rare opportunity to sack and later re-place them with his men. What of those an-tagonistic governors and legislators? They could have been easily removed too and replaced with stooge administrators who would deliver the states to him in 2015. But we didn’t see anything like that.

As Nigerians, we have always blamed our woes, and rightly too, on bad leadership. But there is no way we can encourage good or exemplary leadership except we learn to give kudos to any leader no matter his place of origin when he does well, and skin him

alive when he fumbles. The prevailing pull-him-down attitude is not only counterpro-ductive but certainly ridiculous. In any case, whether we admit it or not President Jona-than seems to have noiselessly redefined for us the mantra of “home-grown democracy” and in a way vindicated Rawlings.

Considering the long time it had taken him to weigh available options and arrive at one, it is possible that had he any alternative with a more humane face, he would have certainly avoided emergency rule for its deleterious effects. Quite irrespective of the deafening calls for action, emergency rule, in point of fact, symbolizes one of the ap-palling tragedies of politics that sometimes in democracies great ends can often be achieved only by means which rob the ends of a great deal of their endearing worth. In the present circumstances, however, one only hopes that our troops would be faith-ful, as they appear to have so far proved, to the rules of engagement not only because theirs is no foreign assignment, but also for the obvious reason that the whole world is watching us.

This said, it is also important to warn er-rant politicians in those three states who are mainly to blame for the emergence of the Boko Haram problem. They should make no mistake about it; the President reserves the right to adjust the emergency order in the light of reason, especially to remove any or all of the governors or even clear the state legislatures (based on precedents), should they take anything for granted and continue to behave as if it is still politics as usual.

One lesson seems to stand out and that is that “still water”, as they say, “runs deep”. The same teeth which Jonathan bares in laughter he might use also to bite. I am be-ginning to feel that the man is neither the noodle nor the coward some of us thought he was. His visits to Yobe and Borno states, in my view, spoke volumes and the outcome, particularly his Maidugri Declaration, re-mains a big lesson to the wise.

Nzeakah wrote from Ota, Ogun State

I AM BEGINNING TO FEEL THAT THE MAN IS NEITHER THE NOODLE

NOR THE COWARD SOME OF US THOUGHT HE WAS

GodwinNzeakah

Guest Columnist

Torres

THESE,

Monday, june 17, 2013

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