Monday, december 7, 2015 new

...PDP raises alarm over alleged attempt to rig

Wada rejects Kogi guber election result

Women celebrating the victory of Kogi Governor-elect, Mr Yahaya Bello, in Lokoja, yesterday.

OBIORA IFOH AND WALE IBRAHIM

Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday rejected the declara-

tion of All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate, Yahaya Bello, as winner of Kogi State gubernatorial election.

The party described as a waste of time, scarce

national resources and ri-diculous shadow-chasing, the action of Independent National Electoral Com-mission, INEC, in declar-ing Bello as Kogi State gov-

Vol. 5 N0. 1259 Monday, December 7, 2015 N150National Mirror Online @NationalMirror

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MONDAYS, WEDNESDAYS, FRIDAYS

TUESDAYS SATURDAYSTHURSDAYS

SUNDAYS

UPDATED 30/10/2015

DESTINATION FLT NO DEP ARR STOPS A/C

ABUJA TO LAGOS

VL2101 0900 1015 0 B737

VL2105 1400 1515 0 B737

VL2103 1500 1615 0 B737

VL2109 1715 1830 0 B737

VL2107 1915 2030 0 B737

ABUJA TO MAIDUGURI VL2108 1315 1430 0 B737

ABUJA TO YOLA VL2102 1050 1200 0 B737

ACCRA TO LAGOS VL0204 0800 1000 0 B737

ENUGU TO LAGOS VL2117 1750 2010 1 B737

LAGOS TO ABUJA VL2100 0700 0815 0 B737

VL2102 0850 1005 0 B737

VL2108 1115 1230 0 B737

VL2104 1200 1315 0 B737

VL2106 1715 1830 0 B737

LAGOS TO ACCRA VL0203 0715 0715 0 B737

LAGOS TO ENUGU VL2116 1600 1710 0 B737

LAGOS TO LONDON VL0209 1115 1710 0 B737

LONDON TO LAGOS VL0210 2210 0410 + 1

0 B737

LAGOS TO MAIDUGURI VL2108 1115 1430 1 B737

LAGOS TO PHC VL2110 1600 1820 1 B737

LAGOS TO YOLA VL2102 0850 1200 1 B737

MAIDUGURI TO ABUJA VL2109 1515 1630 0 B737


ABUJA TO LAGOS

VL2101 0900 1015 0 B737

VL2105 1400 1515 0 B737

VL2103 1500 1615 0 B737

VL2109 1715 1830 0 B737

VL2107 1915 2030 0 B737


ABUJA TO YOLA VL2102 1050 1200 0 B737



LAGOS TO ABUJA

VL2100 0700 0815 0 B737

VL2102 0850 1005 0 B737

VL2108 1115 1230 0 B737

VL2104 1200 1315 0 B737

VL2106 1715 1830 0 B737




LAGOS TO PHC VL2110 1600 1820 0 B737

LAGOS TO YOLA VL2102 0850 1200 1 B737



ABUJA TO LAGOS

VL2101 1000 1115 0 B737

VL2105 1400 1515 0 B737

VL2103 1500 1615 0 B737

ABUJA TO YOLA VL2102 1050 1200 0 B737



LAGOS TO ABUJA

VL2100 0800 0915 0 B737

VL2102 0850 1005 0 B737

VL2104 1200 1315 0 B737



LAGOS TO PHC VL2110 1130 1350 1 B737

LAGOS TO YOLA VL2102 0850 1200 1 B737

PHC TO LAGOS VL2111 1430 1540 0 B737

YOLA TO ABUJA VL2103 1300 1410 0 B737

YOLA TO LAGOS VL2103 1500 1615 1 B737


ABUJA TO LAGOS

VL2101 0900 1015 0 B737

VL2105 1400 1515 0 B737

VL2103 1500 1615 0 B737

VL2109 1715 1830 0 B737

VL2107 1915 2030 0 B737


ABUJA TO YOLA VL2102 1050 1200 0 B737



LAGOS TO ABUJA

VL2100 0700 0815 0 B737

VL2102 0850 1005 0 B737

VL2108 1115 1230 0 B737

VL2104 1200 1315 0 B737

VL2106 1715 1830 0 B737




LAGOS TO PHC VL2110 1600 1820 0 B737

LAGOS TO YOLA VL2102 0850 1200 0 B737



ABUJA TO LAGOS

VL2101 1230 1845 0 B737

VL2109 1500 1615 0 B737

VL2103 1730 1845 0 B737

VL2107 1930 2045 0 B737

ABUJA TO YOLA VL2102 1355 1505 0 B737



LAGOS TO ABUJA

VL2108 0900 1015 0 B737

VL2100 1030 1145 0 B737

VL2102 1200 1315 0 B737

VL2106 1730 1845 0 B737



LAGOS TO LONDON VL0209 1315 1910 0 B737

LONDON TO LAGOS VL0210 2210 0410+1 0 B737


LAGOS TO PHC VL2117 1430 1650 1 B737

LAGOS TO YOLA VL2102 1200 1505 1 B737


MAIDUGURI TO LAGOS VL2109 1300 1615 1 B737

PHC TO LAGOS VL2111 1730 1840 0 B737

YOLA TO ABUJA VL2103 1545 1655 0 B737

YOLA TO LAGOS VL2103 1545 1845 1 B737

TEL: 0700FLYMEDVIEWEmail: [email protected]://www.medviewairline.com


PHC TO LAGOS VL2117 1900 2010 0 B737

YOLA TO ABUJA VL2103 1300 1410 0 B737

YOLA TO LAGOS VL2103 1300 1615 1 B737


PHC TO LAGOS VL2117 1900 2010 0 B737

YOLA TO ABUJA VL2103 1300 1410 0 B737

YOLA TO LAGOS VL2103 1300 1615 1 B737


PHC TO LAGOS VL2117 1900 2010 0 B737

YOLA TO ABUJA VL2103 1300 1410 0 B737

YOLA TO LAGOS VL2103 1300 1615 1 B737

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2>>

NASS to probe CBN on forex allocation to oil marketers

BUSINESSTHE SECTION

P.5Free insideFreFre ie ie i insinsinsiddededede

Dickson leads as PDP, APC condemn Bayelsa poll

APC calls for cancellation of results in two LGAs

NLC threatens showdown if states reduce wage P.4

OSAHON JULIUSYENAGOA

PDP candidate, Gov-ernor Seriake Dick-son, is leading in the

results released so far by INEC in six local govern-ment areas of Bayelsa State in the gubernatorial elec-tion conducted on Saturday.

The result as announced by collating officers shows that PDP won in Yenagoa, Ekeremor, Kolokuma/Opo-kuma and Sagbama local government areas, while APC won in Brass local gov-


ernor-elect.INEC had declared Bel-

lo, the substituted guber-natorial candidate of APC Kogi State governor-elect, after the supplementary election that took place in 91 polling units across the 18 local governments of the state on Saturday.

Announcing the result in Lokoja yesterday, Re-turning Officer for Kogi State Gubernatorial Elec-tion, Prof. Emmanuel Yen-ube Kucha stated that Bello scored 247,752 to emerge winner, while Captain Id-ris Wada of the PDP polled 204,877 to come second.

He stated that total reg-istered eligible voters stood at 1,379,971, while 526,389 voters were accredited for the election.

Prof. Kucha recalled that the November 21 guber-natorial poll was declared inconclusive because elec-tion was cancelled in 91 polling units with a total of 49,953 registered voters as result of violence, stressing that the margin between the two leading candidates then was less than the to-tal vote cancelled in the af-fected polling units across 18 local government areas.

He stated that the result of the supplementary elec-tion was thereafter merged with the result of the 21 No-vember election.

Earlier, the returning of-ficer, who is also the Vice Chancellor, University Agriculture, Makurdi, an-nounced the result of the supplementary election, with APC polling 6,885, while PDP had 5,363, out of the 13,000 votes cast.

After careful additions of figures, Prof. Kucha read out the result of each of the 22 candidates that contested the governorship election as follows, Dickson F. Fred, Ac-cord Party, 206; Isah Yakubu, AA, 120; Ukwuanya Musa, ACD, 480; Michael Abdul-lahi, AD, 168.

Others are Usman Zainab, ADC, 707; Odoluku Cosmas Shalif, APA, 1,995; Yahaya Bello, APC, 247,752; Akwu Umar Goodman, APGA, 1,040; Yinka Jerry Oloruntoba, CPP, 608; Phil-ip Ezekiel Koleopla, DPC, 465; Abdulahi Ibrahim, DPP, 469.

Ibrahim Adejoh, ID, 179; Raji Ogirima, KOWA, 136; Dr Philip Omeiza Ozovehe Salawu, LP, 8,761, NPC 531; NNPP 290; PDC 895; Cap-tain Idris Ichalla Wada, PDP

204,877; Emaanuel Enesi Ozigi, PPA, 3,048; PPM 239; SDP 90 and UDP 107.

He pointed out that 472,983 was valid votes, while rejected votes was 21, 740 and total votes cast was 494, 723.

“I hereby certified that I was the returning officer for Kogi State governorship elec-tion. That Yahaya Bello of All Progressives Congress, APC, having scored highest votes is hereby declared as winner,” he stressed

Kucha also stated that 3,342 votes were cancelled in four local government areas, Dekina, Ibaji, Lokoja and Omala.

But PDP agent for the election, Joe Agada raised objection as to why INEC did not display the posters of Bello and his deputy at

its headquarters.Agada also drew the at-

tention of INEC and all of-ficials to the fact that Bello has no deputy, following the withdrawal of James Abiodun Faleke, even as he showed a copy of the with-drawal letter.

However, INEC Nation-al Commissioner, Hajia Zainab Zakari told the PDP agent that unless the party notify the Commission, Faleke remains the deputy governor-elect.

She noted that it was a party affair and INEC has no right to dabble into it.

But reacting to the decla-ration, PDP said INEC, in its bid to satisfy the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC Federal Government, succeeded only in making a mockery of itself and the

entire electoral process, by trying to illegally install an individual who, apart from not being a valid candidate, scored, under his name, a paltry 6,885 votes in the supplementary election as against the 204,877 votes polled by its candidate in the overall election.

PDP National Public-ity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh in a statement yes-terday said: “The action of INEC in trying to transfer the votes earlier garnered by the dead APC candidate, Prince Audu Abubakar to another individual is com-pletely impractical and alien to the nation’s consti-tution and the Electoral Act.

“The declaration by INEC that one Yahaya Bello polled the highest number of votes is an embarrass-

ing travesty of the nation’s democracy and electoral process. Not only that this individual is not in any way a valid candidate in the election, he also did not score the overall votes declared against his name by INEC and cannot be de-clared winner under any circumstance within the provisions of our laws.

“The provisions of the constitution and the elec-toral act are clear to the effect that with the un-fortunate death of Prince Abubakar Audu before the conclusion of the election, and the fact that the laws do not permit the replacement of candidates once the bal-loting has commenced, the APC crashed out of the race, leaving the PDP can-didate, Governor

ernment area.In Yenagoa APC scores

14, 563, PDP, 24,258 and PDM, (451); Kolokuma/Opokuma, APC (6,896), PDP (7,619), PDM (137); Ekeremor, APC (7,918), PDP (14,603), PDM (44).

Others are Brass, APC (21,755), PDP (6516), Sag-bama, APC (5,382), PDP (28,934) and PDM (406)

In total, PDP has 81,514 to APC’s 56,929

Results for the other three local governments are still being expected and they are Ogbia, Nembe and Southern Ijaw.

As Bayelsans awaits the results of Saturday’s gover-norship election in the state, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday raised the alarm over alleged attempts by All Progressives Con-gress, APC, to use officials of government in Abuja, to rig the rescheduled election in troubled Southern Ijaw local government.

Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had on Saturday an-nounced the cancellation and postponement of polls in Southern Ijaw and about 25 units in three other local governments in state.

The electoral umpire

had hinged its decision on alleged disturbance and violence in Southern Ijaw, where about five persons were feared dead.

Though, police authori-ties yesterday dismissed the report that five persons lost their lives, the state acting Chairman of PDP, Chief Serena Dokubo-Spiff, al-leged that there was a grand plot by APC to rig the poll in favour of its candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva.

At a press conference in Yenagoa with some nation-al chieftains of the party, which include National Vice Chairman, South, Mr. Cairo Ojuogbo and the Senator

representing Bayelsa West, Foster Ogola, Dokubo-Spiff said APC is doing anything possible to rig the election in favour of its candidate.

He claimed that APC has resorted to using federal might to swing the pendu-lum of the election to favour Sylva in the remaining local government area and twen-ty five units in three local governments.

Dokubo-Spiff also alleged that Sylva had already gone to Abuja to consult with some senior government officials on how to perfect the rigging to give him an edge over Gov-ernor Seriake Dickson.

Dokubo-Spiff said: “The

elections are going on and every responsible candidate should be at the theatre. The candidate for the APC, Chief Timipre Sylva, is in Abuja, having consultations with senior government of-ficials who are giving direc-tive to the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state.

“As a result of this devel-opment, the REC himself, as we speak is in Amassoma, taking steps and giving di-rective that accreditation and voting should go on si-multaneously which is out-side the norm.

“We have told you about the huge logistics challenges and that to go from one point

to another in Southern Ijaw, will take about three and four hours. So, how do we expect the normal electoral process to be undertaken?

“In the event, we the PDP hereby say that is irregular, it is improper, it is unaccept-able, we will resist it; we will not accept it. We must com-mit to do the right thing in this country. We will not ac-cept it.

“The REC should be seen to do the right thing; he must not do the wrong thing at all. How can he say accredita-tion and voting must go on simultaneously in a place

Wada rejects Kogi governorship election result CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed (right); Borno State Deputy Governor Usman Mamman Dwikwa (2nd left) addressing victims of Boko Haram at Bama IDP Camp in Maiduguri during the Minister’s visit to Bama, on Saturday.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1





National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net2 Monday, December 7, 2015News

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 3Monday, December 7, 2015

PRINCE ADEYEYE

ADEYEYE ENITAN OGUNWUSI

Ooni of IFEENITAN OGUNWUSI

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net4 Monday, December 7, 2015

National News

Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has called on state

councils and industrial union affiliates to be pre-pared for a showdown with any state government that attempts to reduce the na-tional minimum wage.

The call was contained in a statement issued by NLC President, Mr Ayuba Wabba, in Abuja yesterday.

The statement said Gov-ernor Abdulaziz Yari, Chair-man, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF,had insinuated plans by state governors to reduce the N18, 000 national minimum wage.

It noted that Yari, who is also the governor of Zam-fara State, had said if there was no reduction in the national wage, the states would embark on massive retrenchment of workers.

“Congress is convinced that Governor Yari is still holding on to his earlier argument, that due to the fall in the price of crude oil at the international mar-ket, state governments are

NLC threatens showdown if states reduce wageno longer in the position to pay the legal minimum wage to their workers.

“The Nigeria Labour Congress wishes to cat-egorically affirm that the path our governors are headed can only lead to one outcome; a head-on colli-sion with Nigerian work-ers and Nigerian people,” the statement said.

It noted that the mini-mum wage was the mini-mum salary a worker was envisaged to earn to sustain himself and de-pendants over a daily or

Senate President Bukola Saraki has called on the French

government to be more decisive in supporting Ni-geria’s war against terror-ism, particularly the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East,

A statement from Yu-suph Olaniyonu, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President of

monthly period.“In simple arithmetic

terms, N18, 000 divided by six persons over 30 days amounts to N100 per day per person or N600 for the six persons per day.

“This amount is ex-pected to feed six people daily while they have to find some amount from the same wage for accom-modation, healthcare, transportation, education, among others,” the state-ment said.

It said the political elite did not find anything

the Senate, yesterday, said Saraki made the call dur-ing a meeting with Presi-dent of the French Senate, Senator Gerard Larcher.

It said the duo met at the COP21 Globe Parlia-mentary meeting in Paris and that Saraki urged the French government to step up and assist former colo-nies in West Africa.

He urged France to

wrong in earning uniform wages and allowances across board irrespective of the state of natural en-dowments.

“No amount of preach-ing or threat from any quarters would stop the congress from insisting on an enforceable national minimum wage.

“We commend the gover-nors of Edo, Rivers, Jigawa and Ekiti states and others who have dissociated them-selves from the insensitive and economically illogical campaign by the chairman

strengthen the existing trade relations with Nige-ria, while also supporting the ongoing efforts to re-build the Nigerian econo-my and infrastructure.

He also canvassed Fran-ces’ support for the comple-tion of Lake Chad project aimed at ameliorating the environmental challenge in the North East region.

While commiserating

of the Governors’ Forum.“The campaign to dis-

card the 2011 National Minimum Wage Act or on the alternative throw more workers into the already saturated unem-ployment market is to-tally unacceptable,” the statement said.

It called on the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to call their governors to order.

It said any attempt to re-nege on the payment of the

with the French people on the recent terrorist attack on the country, Saraki said insurgency was a threat not only to Nigeria but also to other African countries as well as a danger to French interests in West Africa.

He noted that France’s cooperation was needed in intelligence sharing, provi-sion of manpower as well as material support to over-

N18, 000 national minimum wage or engage in mass sack of workers in states would throw the country into industrial disharmony.

“This will result to chaos either now or as we enter the New Year in 2016.

“The Minimum Wage Act of 2010 which legiti-mises the negotiated N18, 000 is part of the laws of the federation.

“Nigerian workers will defend the rule of law, including the Minimum Wage Law,” the statement added.

whelm the insurgents.The Senate president

also solicited the help of France for the more than two million internally dis-placed persons in the coun-try.

Saraki further called for the establishment of a Nigeria-French Forum to address insecurity, trade and other areas of mutual interest.

Saraki lobbies French parliament on security, economy

L-R: Guest, Seyi Macaulay; celebrant/former Photo Editor, Daily Times Nigeria, Most Senior Apostle Raphael Babatunde Awoniyi; his wife Most Senior Mother in Israel, Mrs. Cecelia Titilayo and former Lagos State Governorship Aspirant/Former Managing Director, Gateway City, Architect Kayode Anibaba, during the 70th Birthday celebrations of Most Senior Apostle Raphael Babatunde Awoniyi in Lagos,at the weekend.

L-R: Senior Cabin Crew member, Arik Air, Helen Akabunwa; Winner of #ArikCares Gift Campaign, Beatrice Nkechi Ezegwu and HR, Advisor Arik Air, Annette Egwaikhide, during the presentation of Harman Kardon Wireless Speakers to Mrs. Beatrice Nkechi Ezegwu over the weekend. PHOTO: ADEYANJU OLOWOJOBA

L-R: Vice Chairman, Board of Governors, Olashore International School, Prince Taiwo Olashore; Vice President, Channels IT Nigeria, Mr Inderter Singh; Chairman, Board of Governors, Olashore International School, Prince Abimbola Olashore; Director, Institute of Education, Ireland, Mr Andrew Kearns and Principal, Olashore International School, Mr Derek Smith, during the signing of MoU between Olashore International School and the Ireland Government on Education, at the weekend.

L-R: Past President, Rotary Club of Kakuri, Mr Matthew Enohuean; representative of the Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Musa Zakari, receiving Rotary Award for Service to Humanity on behalf of NEMA DG, Muhammad Sidi, from the President, Rotary Club of Kakuri, Mr Oludare Odele in Kaduna on Saturday.

Photo News

like Southern Ijaw that has geographical component as far flung as from here to Si-beria? It is not right, we fear that there is intending plot to do mischief, that will not be accepted. We are saying this emphatically for pur-pose of the records.”

The PDP chairman, who narrated how he was grue-somely attacked in his home in Twon-Brass, accused the police of looking the other way when he alerted them of his ordeal, which lasted for more than two hours.

He said the hoodlums, said to be APC members, held him hostage, and beat him to stupor resulting in his being admitted in a hos-pital in Brass.

While saying PDP would resist any plot to rig the elec-tion, Dokubo-Spiff noted that the state and national work-ing committees of the party were irrevocably committed to ensuring that the election

was conducted properly.“We will not accept any

irregularity. Enough is enough,” he warned.

The party’s national lead-ership also raised the same alarm.

In a statement by PDP National Publicity Secre-tary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the party said: “This rigging is being coordinated by the same Army Major who su-pervised the killings yester-day. The Major has handed most of the sensitive ma-terials to APC agents to fill and return as results in the evening.

“Southern Ijaw Local Government Area is the larg-est in the state and the APC wants to use this scheme to inflate result figures in fa-vour of their candidate.”

But earlier in another press briefing, police authori-ties, speaking on the disrup-tion of election in Southern Ijaw by some hired thugs, had insisted that nobody was

killed in the area as reported by some media.

Deputy Inspector Gen-eral of Police, Hashimu Argungun, who brief news-men, confirmed the arrest of 10 persons involved in connection to the violence.

The DIG said: “Yesterday, INEC officials and security agencies met and agreed that the only local govern-ment, Southern Ijaw, where election could not take place due to logistic problems and other few areas where the election could not take place, election will take place today Sunday, Decem-ber 6th, 2016.

“The report that some people were killed cannot be confirmed as corpses of the purported dead persons cannot be traced and their particulars could not be ob-tained from any source.

“Information at my dis-posal is that there was no death in Southern Ijaw Lo-cal Government Area.”

He described the stories of killings as mere rumors, adding that rumors are mere psychological projections.

He said the command recovered five AK47 rifles and one berretta pistol from some hoodlums, noting all the arrest made were in connection to possession of firearms and other related electoral violence

On Governor Dickson breaching the electoral law by going to Okpoama and invading INEC collation centre in Yenagoa, Argungu said the command is investi-gating the matter to confirm if it was true.

Meanwhile, APC in the state, through the Slyva/Igiri campaign organisation has called for the cancella-tion of results from Eker-emor and Sagbama local government areas, follow-ing what they described as widespread violence, secu-rity breaches and election manipulation that were al-

legedly carried out by Gov-ernor Dickson and the PDP.

A statement signed by Nathan Egba, it’s Direc-tor of Media and Public-ity, stated that it is now a well known fact that 1,000 armed men suspected to have been imported from Delta and Rivers states by Governor Dickson stormed Ekeremor and unleashed terror on the entire community from the wee hours of election day for many hours before they were repelled by the army, only for them to return in the evening when results were about to be collated.

He said the gunmen were suspected to have been hired for the sole purpose of assassinating Minister of State, Agriculture, Sena-tor Heineken Lokpobiri as they launched a sustained attack on his residence with grenade, dynamite and gun-shots for hours before the army repelled them.

He said the gunmen cart-ed away sensitive election materials to be manipulated in favour of PDP and re-turned for collation.

The statement said: “In Sagbama Local Govern-ment Area, the home of Governor Dickson, the youths, who were again said to have been brought from Delta and Rivers states, also hijacked the materials that were meant for all the riv-erine communities in the LGA, including the ward of the former scting governor of the state, Nestor Binabo. Other wards where election did not hold, includes wards I & II.”

While calling on INEC to cancel the election results in the two local government areas, Egba noted that the violence which cut across the state, largely took place in parts of Sagbama, Eker-emor and Southern Ijaw LGA, where election was later rescheduled.


5

UDEME AKPAN

National Assembly has indicated its readiness to dis-

cuss with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, over al-leged inadequate foreign exchange allocation to oil marketers in the country.

This is with a view to in-creasing foreign exchange for fuel imports.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Senator Uche Ekwunife, gave this hint at the weekend dur-ing the Committee’s visit to some petroleum depots in Lagos.

The lawmaker, who said the planned parley with the apex regulatory banking institution became nec-essary in order to enable marketers import adequate fuel, disclosed that the es-sence of the oversight func-tion of the committee was to investigate ongoing fuel scarcity in spite of the pro-nouncement by Nigerian National Petroleum Cor-poration, NNPC, that the product was available in the country

According to her, the Senate is to engage CBN on the possibility of opening a special window for petro-leum marketers to access forex, which had remained a major challenge to them in the past.

The Senator expressed the lawmakers’ concern over the lingering fuel scar-

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net Monday, December 7, 2015 News

and support government in ensuring availability of petrol to the people on time.

She said: “We cannot continue to have scarcity in the country when depot owners have what it takes to discharge products.

“All depots should beef up their loading capaci-ties to reflect on the com-mon people struggling to buy the product at filling

stations. “We must ensure that

product gets to the end-us-ers and all depots should also build truck parks that will contain many trucks to avoid parking on the highways.”

NIPCO’s Managing Di-rector, Mr. Venkataraman Venkatapathy, said the company would continue to support government’s

efforts to ensure availabil-ity of petroleum products across the country.

Venkatapathy, who explained that the com-pany had been doing this through its depot opera-tions, branded stations and independent marketers’ outlets that loaded from the terminal, said petro-leum products had been loaded at government ap-

proved depot rates.He urged government

to also focus on the area of gas, especially in the realm of Compressed Nat-ural Gas (CNG) as vehicu-lar fuel, pointing out that such a measure would save the nation and its citizenry the hardships always associated with the importation of liquid petroleum products.

L-R: Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Oyo -Ita; Permanent Secretary Budget , Nana Fatima Mede; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Minister of Budget and Planing, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma and Minister of State, Zainab Ahmed, during 2016 Budget Clean Up Inter-active Session with MDAs on the Zero-based Budgeting Template in Abuja, on Saturday.

National Assembly to probe CBN on forex allocation to oil marketers


city, noting however that most marketers have not been importing petrol ow-ing to the myriad of hic-cups in the procurement of forex to bring in products.

She assured: “As soon as we get back to Abuja ,we shall engage the top hierarchy of CBN to get a first hand report from them on how to address the paucity of forex to marketers as well as their plans on how to facilitate forex to them.”

The Senator said Nige-rians expecting a major re-lief of the fuel crisis after the passage of the supple-mentary appropriation bill for subsidy claims of mar-keters would be amazed that the product is still not available in the right quan-tity.

According to her, inves-tigations by the committee had shown that payment of the subsidy claims was no assurance of product availability as marketers are facing an herculean task getting forex to import even as most of them had opened several letters of credit and awaiting forex warranty by CBN.

Ekwunife appealed to NIPCO to increase its load-ing trucks so as to cushion the effect of the scarcity

Ogunwusi: As the reign of Ooni of class, candour begins....Boladale BamigBolaOSOGBO

After successfully completing the rigours of in-stallation rites in Ilofi, new Ooni of Ife, His Im-perial Majesty, Oba Enitan Babatunde Adeyeye

Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, today formally begins administer-ing the ancient town of Ife.

The monarch, who was announced the new Ooni, succeeding the late Oba Okunade Sijuade, who died in a London hospital in July this year, by Osun State govern-ment on Monday, October 26, 2015, will be the 51st Ooni.

Notably, Oba Ogunwusi, a 41-year-old chartered ac-countant, is making history being one of the youngest persons in the history of Ife to be installed Ooni and be-ing the first Ooni to have a living father.

In preparation for today’s event, Enuwa Square, the venue for the installation ceremony is wearing a new look, so also, Ile Oodua, (the palace), just as many intra-city roads across Ile Ife are receiving attention to ensure free flow of traffic.

At all entry and exit points to Ife, heavy security pres-ence was noticed, while many corporate organisations are also on ground to celebrate with the town and its new monarch on the occasion of his installation.

Dignitaries expected at the event include; President Mohammadu Buhari, Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, representative of Queen of England, governors, members of the National Assembly, monarchs across the country among others.

From all indications, the new monarch is inheriting an ancient town that has spartanly fought modernity and won by managing to retain most of its traditional sites and monuments in the face of threatening civilisa-tion, but the state of basic infrastructures in Ife is ap-palling to say the least.

The security challenges mostly occasioned by drug trafficking from Ondo State through Ile Ife and cultism, armed robbery among others are some of the major works awaiting the new Ooni.

Also, maintaining the aura and pride that his prede-cessors, especially the last two, Oba Adesoji Aderemi and Oba Okunade Sijuade drew to the stool of Oduduwa and possibly raising the ante must be of major interest to Oba Ogunwusi.

Right from the point of his emergence, Oba Ogunwu-si’s work appears well cut out, as one of those fully in-volved in the selection process, who is the current chair-man of Ife central local government area of Osun state, Dr. Taiwo Olaiya, said they chose him because of the be-lieve in his ability to get youths engaged meaningfully.

Olaiya in a chat with National Mirror in Ife said then Ooni-elect towers higher above other contestants for the throne with his entrepreneurial abilities as revealed by his curriculum vitae, just as benevolent nature of his, he said also gave him huge advantage.

Getting the youth off the streets, should be of para-mount importance and must be treated with urgency. Oba Ogunwusi is already thinking along this direction with the declaration that he intends to engage youths through sports.

Securing Ile Ife and arresting the menace of cultism is also demanding urgent attention of Ooni. Political parties often made the ancient city of Ile Ife hotbed of violence and banditry as witnessed during the last gov-ernorship poll.

To confirm testimonies from friends and family members of his peaceful disposition, Oba Ogunwusi’s received Ogunsua of Modakeke, Oba Francis Adedoyin, the monarch of a town with history of bloodcurdling communal clashes with Ife, while still in Ilofi, the tradi-tional place of preparation for Ooni-elect. This speaks

Ooni of Ife

volume and was exemplary.Liaising with security agents to check trans-border

crimes along Ondo/ Edo states border towns and adjoin-ing communities to Ife will be key to keeping hitherto high crime rate in the town very low.

The burning issue of unity among monarchs in Yor-ubaland and those from Osun State in particular is not less important to the new Ooni. The declaration by the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland that he has assumed perma-nent chairmanship of state Council of Obas has opened a new vista of disagreement within the group.

Although, from the body language of most monarchs that spoke to National Mirror on the issue, resolving the matter in favour of the new Ooni may just be matter of time, keeping the monarchs in Osun state united as done by the late Oba Sijuade, is however, a must for the new Ooni.

Similarly, the seat of Oduduwa which represents Yo-ruba nation in the National council of Traditional Rul-ers, that Ooni of Ife co-chairs with the Sultan of Sokoto, must further be projected as the rallying point for tradi-tional rulers across Yorubaland and beyond.

MTN Business unveils Prestige Corporate Loyalty Programme

MTN Business, the En-terprise Business Unit of MTN Nigeria, has

launched its MTN Prestige Corpo-rate Loyalty programme to reward its esteemed customers, who have continuously demonstrated their trust in the services of Africa’s leading ICT Company in Nigeria. With over $15 billion invested in the Nigerian economy, MTN Nige-ria has been a catalyst for econom-ic growth and development, provid-ing technology platforms that drive economic inclusion across all seg-ment of the society.

A collection of 100 CEOs and captains of industry on Thurs-day gathered at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, and were treated to a night of alternative music from the Ayo Bankole or-

chestra, capped with a scintillat-ing performance from Nigeria’s music export Asa.

Welcoming the guests, Mr. Fred-erick Udoaka, Chief Enterprise Solutions Officer, MTN Nigeria, acknowledged the existing part-nership between MTN Business and the Nigerian corporate citi-zenry. He stated that the partner-ship has yielded desired results in terms of economic development that is enhanced by world class ICT services provided by MTN.

“Over the years, at MTN Busi-ness, we have built a solid track record of enabling some of Ni-geria’s biggest corporate organ-isations to foster international collaboration through geo-expan-sion, thus eliminating borders and reaching new markets. The

fact that we continually have more and more businesses, big and small, sign up for our solu-tions testifies to the high level of confidence that these busi-nesses repose in us. This evening is about saying thank you to our most valued corporate customers. We believe that loyalty goes with reward, and that is what the MTN Prestige Corporate Loyalty pro-gram represents.” Udoaka said.

Further explaining the MTN Prestige programme, Ms. Onyinye Ikenna-Emeka, General Manager, Enterprise Marketing, MTN Nigeria said MTN Business has continued to work towards providing real trans-formation to different businesses and institutions to enable them to deliver value to their key partners and mar-kets.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net6 Monday, December 7, 2015Features

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 7Monday, December 7, 2015 News

We didn’t approve 35% slash on MTN’s $5.2bn fine —NCC

IsaIah ErhIawarIEn

As controversies trail the imposi-tion of $5.2 billion

fine on MTN Nigeria over regulatory infractions remain unabated, the Ni-gerian Communications Commission, NCC, at the weekend added a new twist to the debate, say-ing it only approved 25 per cent and not 35 per cent re-duction of the fine.

Public Affairs Director of the commission, Mr. Tony Ojobo, who stated this on Friday in an interview with journalists in Lagos, put what the telcom firm is ex-pected to pay federal govern-ment at N780 billion.

According to him, the mo-bile operator has up till two weeks to respond to its letter; thereafter, necessary action will be taken by the commis-sion.

While noting that the NCC regulatory law was

Boko Haram: Again, troops hit Sambisa forestUbong UkpongABUJA

Troops of the Nige-rian Army have com-menced strikes deep

inside the Sambisa forest in Borno State, believed to be the remaining stronghold of Boko Haram terrorists.

A statement issued yesterday by the Nigerian Army through its Director of Army Public Relations, DAPR, Colonel Sani Usman, said scores of terrorists were killed and others ar-

rested during the strikes. Regrettably, the DAPR

said three soldiers also died while some were severely in-jured during the encounter.

Usman further said cap-tives were rescued, camps destroyed and several weap-ons destroyed while others were seized.

This is coming at a time the Presidential deadline to end Boko Haram in three months by December is fast approaching.

Already, some citizens and groups have begun to

Transcorp Hotels launches second tranche of N30bn bond ChIdI UgwUABUJA

Transcorp Hotels Plc at the weekend launched the second tranche of

its N30 billion medium term bond programme.

Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Trans-corp Hotels Plc, Valentine Ozigbo, said the company held a signing ceremony at the weekend to mark the is-sue of second series of the programme.

The Transcorp boss not-ed that the company had secured Securities and Ex-change Commission, SEC, approval as well as a cer-tificate of “Pencom Compli-ance” to enable participation by the Pension Fund Admin-istrator, PFA, community, as one of the target investors in the bond.

He stated that the transac-tion was a five-year fixed-rate bond, due in 2020, adding that the subscription was in addition to a prior issue of N10 billion, being Series 1 in a Senior 7-year 16% Fixed Rate (Unsecured) Bonds Due 2022 issued in October 2015. With this, the total amount the company has success-fully raised to date is N19.758 billion.

According to him, the se-ries II bond will carry a gross coupon of 15.50% per annum for a period of five years. The

redemption on maturity, ex-pected to be 2020, will be at 100% of the nominal amount of the bonds.

The bonds are available in denominations of N1,000, and will be listed on the main market of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, and also the FMDQ OTC platform for enhanced tradability. FSDH Plc is the lead issuing house, while United Capital Plc and Stanbic IBTC Capital Lim-ited are joint issuing houses.

“We are embarking on a full renovation of the histor-ic Transcorp Hilton Abuja and its 670 rooms and on-site facilities. This is the first ma-jor renovation of the historic Transcorp Hilton Abuja for the first time in its 30-year history, save for a minor one 10 years ago. This bond is-sue will finance the upgrade, new hotels and the develop-ment of a 5,000-seater multi-purpose banquet centre,” said Ozigbo.

President and Group CEO of Transcorp Plc, Emmanu-el N. Nnorom, further com-mented on the significance of the bond.

He said: “The availabil-ity of funds enables us to enhance our financial flex-ibility by diversifying our sources of funding, while significantly extending the maturity of the group’s fund-ing and ensuring optimal capital mix.

express doubts on the abil-ity of the military to achieve this deadline.

However, in the state-ment, Usman said, "Various units of the Army have ad-vanced deep into the forest, clearing most of the camps therein, rescuing persons held captive, arresting some terrorists and destroying most of their weapons and equipment.

"Advancing troops of the Nigerian Army, supported by the Nigerian Air Force, NAF, were able to clear and

destroy Boko Haram terror-ists’ camps at Shuari, Adem-be, Yerimari Kura, Yerimari Gana, Gonin Kurmi, Kore, Mainya Kore, and Lopere. Additionally, the Multi-barrel Rocket Launcher Regiment has destroyed the terrorists’ camps at Dure, Dure Kore, Jokwa, as well as several other camps.

"The troops recovered foodstuffs, motorcycles, flags, Improvised Explosive Making Devices (IED) mate-rials and military uniforms. Among other discoveries

touched on the regulators’ capacity to protect investors’ interest at the time of crisis.

He recalled that be-fore $5.2 billion fine was slammed on MTN Nigeria, stakeholders and subscrib-ers had complained about the levity of industry sanc-tions, saying NCC eventu-ally discovered that it was easy for some operators to pay the penalty for infrac-tions due to the leniency of the sanctions.

He said this prompted the fixing of the N200,000 penal-ty for any SIM card that was not properly registered by any operator in the telecoms sector.

“As a regulator, the NCC didn’t expect that any opera-tor would disobey the law, knowing how severe the penalty was. Therefore, it

was really shocking when we discovered that MTN Nigeria flouted the law, and NCC had no option than to enforce the law,” Ojobo said, adding that

the signal that the $5.2 bil-lion fine would be sending to other players in the indus-try was that it is not going to be business as usual, which means whenever the regula-tor issues an instruction, it would be obeyed by all.

The commission’s spokesman further ex-plained that the reduction of the fine would not af-fect future sanctions on the operator if it violates any industry guideline, adding that the reduction of the $5.2 billion fine earlier im-posed on it was a decision taken in the interest of the industry.

meant to protect the weak and sanction players that err, the commission’s spokesman pointed out that as such the regulator can-not act arbitrarily outside the law.

He explained that this was important so that inves-tors can be assured that the regulator will not deliber-ately take actions that could result in the closing down of their businesses, stressing that the industry was regu-lated so that other players’ rights were not infringed.

While acknowledging reasons for the uproar over the sanction, Ojobo point-ed out that every investor should always be concerned about the application of the rule of law in any business environment, a require-ment, which he said, also

were terrorists’ tunnels, weapons and equipment.

"The soldiers also recov-ered 2,000 cows rustled from various persons over time and rescued women and children held captive by the Boko Haram."

He said while the animals have been moved to Kan-wuri, the rescued persons have been evacuated and were being given all neces-sary support.

During the encounter with Boko Haram at Yeri-mari Gana, he said a num-ber of the terrorists were killed while some suspected members were arrested and are being interrogated.

"However, a soldier sus-tained gunshot wound and fracture on the leg.

"Similarly, while advanc-ing to destroy Nefari terror-ist camp, troops discovered and cleared three IEDs laid along the route.

"The camp was success-

fully cleared and troops have continued their advance while a blocking force has been deployed to prevent infiltration and possible es-cape by the terrorists.

"Unfortunately, during another encounter with the terrorists along the axis of advance, three soldiers made the supreme sacrifice, while an officer and two sol-diers were wounded in ac-tion," he said.

In spite of these, Usman said the troops’ morale was very high and being con-scious of their set objective, they were unrelenting in their determination to de-feat the terrorists.

In a related development, he said the troops also de-stroyed Boko Haram terror-ist camps at Bulagaije and Disa, Gwoza Local Govern-ment Area, Borno State, and recovered motorcycles, dane guns and ammuni-tion.

Abdulrashed Maigari and Ibbi Gerorge, Staff of Department of State Services (DSS) involved in the robbery and sharing on 20th November, 2015, the sum of three hundred and ten million naira (N310m) belonging to a Bureau de Change operator in Abuja, after being arrested, yesterday.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net8 Monday, December 7, 2015South West

Ignorance, reason for medical tourism —NMA Abiodun nejoADO EKITI

Nigerian Medi-cal Association, NMA, has said

that Nigerian medical facilities have adequate infrastructure and compe-tent personnel to handle any type of medical chal-lenge.

President of NMA, Dr Kayode Obembe, blamed lack of confidence in the sys-tem and ignorance for medi-

cal tourism by rich men in the country, saying there was need for attitudinal change.

Obembe, who spoke yes-terday at a post National Executive Council, NEC, meeting press briefing in Ado-Ekiti where he read the association's communi-qué, said: "There is signifi-cant improvement in the system.

‘‘The NMA frowns at the dearth of personnel in the country, which ratio stands at one doctor to 6,000

patients instead of one to 600 as recommended by the United Nations,’’ and called on the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), to accredit more public health facilities for the training of interns.

It stated that upgrading of some of the state and federal hospitals and their subsequent accreditation by MDCN would help pro-mote residency training for more experts to be avail-able in the hospitals.

Ife agog as Ooni takes staff of office

VC wants fees introduced in public varsitiesbolAdAle bAmigbolAOSOGBO

Vice Chancellor of Joseph Ayo Ba-balola University,

Ikeji Arakeji, Prof. Sola Fajana, has said many private universities in Nigeria will continue to have shortage of students as long as fees are not charged in government-owned universities.

Fajana disclosed this to newsmen during the sixth convocation of the univer-sity at Ikeji Arakeji.

Out of 816 students that bagged various degrees at the event, 21 graduands made first class; 242 made second class upper; 426 made second class lower di-

bolAdAle bAmigbolAOSOGBO

Ile-Ife and adjoining com-munities were in cele-bration mood on Sunday

in preparation for the instal-lation of new Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogun-wusi today.

As at Sunday afternoon, rehabilitation work was be-ing completed on buildings inside Ooni's palace, while Enuwa Square, venue of to-day's installation ceremony, was also being attended to.

As part of preparations for the event, construction workers were seen complet-ing rehabilitation work on roads in areas like Mayfair,

"Right now, interdenomi-national service is ongoing as part of the weeklong ac-tivities for the coronation. After the service, Oba Ogun-wusi would inspect the level of work at Kabiyesi Resort, along Ibadan-Ife expressway. The project, which would completed soon would rank among the best resorts in the world.

"I can assure our August visitors both from the gov-ernment circles, traditional institution, captains of in-dustries, envoys from foreign embassies and high profile guests from the international community that we are fully ready to host them in the cra-dle of Yorubaland."

vision and 93 third class.The vice chancellor ex-

plained that private varsi-ties were not having enough students because a lot of parents did not want to leave public varsities, where no fee is charged, to private var-sities where they have to pay some amount.

He said as long as there was no level playing ground, private universities would have problem with admis-sion.

Fajana said the univer-sity was collaborating with other institutions to train its medical students when its College of Medicine takes off.

He said the university would require about N3 bil-lion to build and equip a

L-R: Former Special Adviser on Youth, Sport and Special Need, to Osun State Governor, Comrade Biyi Odunlade; Special Adviser to the governor on Security Matters, Tope Adejumo; Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti ; Governor Rauf Aregbesola and some of the state's Under 13 players, during the a visit and presentation of Under 13 trophy of the Maiden South West Football Tournament to the governor in Osogbo, at the weekend.

Olanipekun tasks Buhari on TETFUND for private varsities

tion, Hon. Biyi Odunlade, said the town was ready to host guests who will be com-ing for the event.

Odunlade said: "All nec-essary arrangements have been put in place for the coronation. As you know, the event would attract local and international dignitar-ies and we cannot afford to leave any stone unturned in ensuring a hitch-free and memorable coronation.

"From effective security to logistics, crowd control, reception, among other crit-ical segments, we have made adequate preparations. So, I can tell you categorically that we are absolutely ready for the coronation.

teaching hospital, which would serve the College of Medicine, but the varsity could not afford that now.

Explaining the rationale behind establishment of the College of Medicine, he said the idea was not contrary to the belief of the church, which established the insti-tution.

According to him, divine healing does not mean ab-stinence from drugs and refusal to receive medical treatment, but trust God's intervention especially in cases beyond human capa-bility.

The vice chancellor said the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Julius Okojie, paid an unscheduled

visit to JABU on November 20 and lauded the academic achievements and infra-structural development in the school.

Kemi olAitAnIBADAN

A legal luminary, Chief Wole Ola-nipekun (SAN),

has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to stop the discrimination against private varsities in accessing the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFUND.

Olanipekun, who is Pro-Chancellor and chairman, Governing Council, Ajayi Crowther University (ACU), Oyo, spoke at the weekend during the 7th convocation ceremony of the university.

He said, "I am appeal-ing to the Federal Govern-ment under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene and allow these universities access the fund.

"This new administra-tion came on board with the mantra of change and I challenge them to make the change happen.’’

According to him, the continued denial of these categories of universities to access the fund would continue to make educa-tion non-affordable to many Nigerians.

He said the accessibility of the fund would reduce the exorbitant tuition fees charged by private univer-sities and make it more af-fordable to the people.

He also called on pro-prietor of the university to always release fund to the institution for it to grow beyond their expec-tation.

Olanipekun, however, charged the graduands to go into the world and work with sincerity of purpose and fear of God.

Chancellor of the in-stitution, Most Rev. Peter Akinola, commended par-

Lagere, Enuwa and Ondo road, while motorists faced mild difficulty moving round the town as a result of the work.

A construction worker, who spoke to our correspon-dent on condition of ano-nymity, said rehabilitation work would be completed on the roads on Sunday.

During our correspon-dent's visit to Ife on Sunday, residents of the town set agenda for the new Ooni and expressed hope that his reign would usher in speedy devel-opment for Ile-Ife.

Speaking with newsmen on preparation for the event, chairman, media and public-ity committee of the corona-

ents of the graduands for their efforts at ensuring that the students graduate from the school despite economic downturn the nation is experiencing.

He charged the grad-uands to be fully prepared for the challenges in the labour market, saying the real test of their worth and qualification is at the labour market.

He further disclosed that they would face three challenges, namely: in-security, corruption and unemployment as they go out to work, saying "the country is on the verge of imminent disaster."

Similarly, Emeritus Prof. Oladipo Akinkung-be, who is the chairman, ACU Board of Trustees, said the university is be-ginning to go through some transformations, stating: "We thank God that the university estab-lished few years back is germinating into an oak tree. The university has recorded giant strides in the last 10 years."

He urged the manage-ment to continue to mon-itor the progress of the university, and likewise ensure that it operates in conformity with the laid down rules and regula-tions governing universi-ties in the country.

The best graduating student, Miss Sola Odufu-wa, who spoke on behalf of all the graduands, ac-knowledged the support-ive roles of their parents, the institution manage-ment and their lecturers.

Odufuwa, who was the overall best student with a CGPA of 4.83 out of 5.0, admonished her colleagues to ensure they are guided by the knowl-edge acquired in the school.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 9South WestMonday, December 7, 2015

KEMI OLAITAN IBADAN

Minister of Com-m u n i c a t i o n s , Adebayo Shittu,

has said Nigerians should expect a master plan for the telecommunication industry in the country “within the next three or four weeks.”

He said this at the week-end in Saki during a recep-tion organised in his hon-our by Oke-Ogun indigenes.

He said, “Our responsi-bility is to ensure we have best operating laws for the telecommunication indus-try. Within the next three to four weeks, we shall come up with a master plan for the telecommunication sector.”

He revealed that his man-date as Communications

Minister was to ensure that Nigerians enjoy the best of telecommunication servic-es, assuring that he would not deviate from that man-date.

He maintained that the telecommunication sector was a better alternative to oil in terms of generation of revenue for the country, adding that if the sector (telecommunication) was fully explored, it could pro-vide jobs for the teeming un-employed Nigerians.

Shittu then urged the people to feel free to offer him advice and prayers to make him succeed, adding: “I did not offer money to anybody to secure ministe-rial appointment, so I won’t steal government money and nobody needs to pay any money to see me.”

Expect telecom master plan in three weeks –Minister

Out-Going President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Alhaji Remi Bello (left), decorating the incoming Presi-dent of the Chamber, Dr Nike Akande in Lagos on Sunday (6/6/15). with them are: her husband,Chief Adebayo Akande (2nd r) and former President of LCCI, Chief John Odeyemi.

ABIODUN NEJO ADO-EKITI

Embattled teachers in Ekiti State have appealed for inter-

vention over alleged excess deduction of N44 million from their monthly sala-ries to service loans they borrowed from a bank.

The teachers, who are al-leging conspiracy against them, have petitioned the governor, urging him to probe the Accountant Gen-eral over the matter.

In a petition dated De-cember 2, 2012, by their solicitors, A.O. Adebayo, the teachers accused the Accountant General and First Bank of Nigeria of “continually and illegally” making deductions from their salaries over a loan payment of which they completed in November, 2014.

In the petition entitled: “Refusal to Stop Illegal De-ductions from the Monthly Salaries of some Employ-ees of the Teaching Service Commission, Ekiti State,” the teachers lamented that the deductions had been affecting their welfare and subjecting their families to unwarranted suffering.

They threatened to pe-tition the Economic and Financial Crimes Com-mission, EFCC, if nothing substantially was done to halt the deductions as soon as possible and refund the extra deductions to the

owners.Their solicitors’ peti-

tion to the governor reads: “Our clients are by this letter requesting your in-tervention. Our clients de-mand immediate stoppage of further deductions and refund of excess deduc-tions made, which have ac-cumulated up to N44 mil-lion, to be made to them together with the accruing interest.”

The petition stated that it was worrisome that the deductions continued de-spite a stakeholders’ meet-ing called by the governor on October 23, 2015, where he ordered that all accounts must be harmonised and illegal deductions stopped with immediate effect.

It explained that the vic-tims brokered a loan deal in 2011 with Godswill Co-operative Society, which facilitated a loan from First Bank, which the teach-ing service approached to make unbroken repayment through deductions from their monthly salaries.

“The repayment period of these loans was between December 2011 and Novem-ber 2014 on equal monthly installment apart from the initial payment made up-front by each beneficiary to meet the contingency and charges and to serve equally as buffer in case of delayed payment.

“But in February 2015, our clients discovered to their chagrin that the com-

mission continued to de-duct their monthly install-ment from December 2014 and January 2015 salaries contrary to the mandate and instruction given to the commission. Excess deductions were brought

to the notice of the com-mission and Godswill Co-operative Society.

“It will interest you to note that despite letters of our clients, the com-mission for no plausible reason has continued the

Ekiti teachers cry out over N44m loan deductiondeductions even up to now despite interventions of government, House of Assembly and various groups directing the com-mission to stop illegal de-ductions.

“Our clients are of the

opinion that there is a con-spiracy among the staff of the office of Accountant General, First Bank and officials of the cooperative society. We brought this to your notice for prompt ac-tion and investigation,” it stated.

Hoodlums pour acid on Lagos taskforce offi cer FRANCIS SUBERU

Two paramilitary officials attached to the Lagos State

Environmental and Spe-cial Offences (Taskforce) are now in critical condi-tion at General Hospital, Ikeja, after an acid attack by hoodlums.

One of the victims, Akude Silas, was said to be on an enforcement op-eration at Oshodi-Oke, where he was ensuring free flow of traffic and prevention of street trad-ing when he was attacked by hoodlums.

Silas, who was imme-diately rushed to Lagos

State Emergency Centre, Toll-Gate, sustained seri-ous injuries and had to be transferred to the Gen-eral Hospital, where he is still receiving treatment.

Taskforce chairman, Olubukola Abe, a super-intendent of police, who was at the emergency ward of the General Hos-pital yesterday, said the law will not look kindly on anyone who attacks his officers; even as he confirmed that within 48 hours, two of his men had been attacked by hood-lums.

The other victim, Po-lice Sergeant Robert Ajayi, it was gathered, was seriously battered by

hoodlums at Ojo area of Lagos.

The sergeant was among the security team that supported a govern-ment ministry during the removal of shanties con-structed on an open field at both Ojo Junior and Se-nior Secondary Schools, Ojo, Lagos.

But hoodlums in the area ambushed the task-force men and subjected them to serious beatings, believing erroneously that the officers were on Okada (commercial motorcyclist) raid as they moved around with van.

The taskforce chair-man appealed to members of the public to always

cooperate with security agents, even as he said his men were battle ready to enforce the state’s en-vironmental laws.

Should anyone be in an emergency situation, SP Abe urges that they reach the state’s security agents by dialling the toll-free emergency lines (112 or 767).

Meanwhile, more than 64 miscreants were ar-rested by Taskforce en-forcement operation yes-terday morning at Oko Mala in Oshodi area of Lagos.

The axis is notorious for miscreant activities like pick-pocketing and cultism.

…want accountant-general probed

Female pharmacist kidnapped in OndoOJO OYEWAMIDE, AKURE

A female pharma-cist, Mrs Queen Ehizogie Adey-

eye, was on Saturday kid-napped at her Ishelu Quar-ters residence, Owo, Owo Local Government Area of Ondo.

Adeyeye was reportedly abducted on her way from church where she had gone for prayers to mark

the first anniversary of her husband’s death.

The woman, who works with Federal Medical Centre, Owo, lost her hus-band barely a year ago.

A source said the ab-ductors stormed Adey-eye’s compound on Sat-urday morning when she returned from church in company of her son and sister.

The abductors were said to have entered into

the compound after the gate was opened for the victim to drive in.

The source said: “They were coming from the church vigil on Saturday morning. As the gate was opened for them to go into the compound, the armed men came in with them.

“They asked the wom-an’s son and her sister to come down from the ve-hicle and drove only her (Adeyeye) away. She is a

widow. She lost her hus-band last year.”

It was learnt that the kidnappers have not con-tacted the woman’s fam-ily, but the matter has been reported at Owo po-lice station.

Public Relations Of-ficer of the state Police Command, Femi Joseph, confirmed the incident, saying the command had commenced investiga-tion into the matter.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

…calls for repatriation of youths hawking in Lagos

…he must relinquish all MASSOB’s property —Madu

South East 10 Monday, December 7, 2015

Glo-sponsored Dance with Peter show dazzles guests at Nsukka Laffta Fest

L-R: Traditional Ruler, Hilltop Autonomous Community of Enugu State, Ozo Sunday Orji; Guest of Honour, Ozo Gab Agu and Igwe Jerome Okolo, during the end of year celebration of the community at Enugu North Local Government Area of Enugu State, yesterday.

same vein, Olisa Okeke, an ICT staff of the Univer-sity of Nigeria, Nsukka, asserted that Globacom’s passion for the entertain-ment industry in Nigeria was unrivalled, and that the company's commit-ment to promoting young talent through entertain-ment was commendable.

“I just watched the Dance with Peter real-ity TV show before the Laffta Fest event proper started and I observed that Globacom is doing a lot in the area of enter-tainment.

“Just last week, we also had the Slide n Bounce musical concert here in Nsukka,” he enthused.

Many other guests de-scribed Nsukka edition of the show as memora-ble. Adesina Adegoke, a member of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, thanked Globa-com for giving him a good start to his service year by bringing two shows to Nsukka in two weeks.

In a statement, Globa-com urged subscribers to keep using Glo, saying the company was com-mitted to meeting their expectations at all times.

The company advised subscribers wishing to attend Laffta Fest in Makurdi to use up to N3,000 before the show on Sunday, December 13, and send ‘LOL MAKURDI’ to 33001.

We’re not interested in Biafra movement —Umahi

the South-East zone of the country.

The governor stated this in Abakaliki through the Commissioner for Informa-tion and State Orientation, Emmanuel Onwe, shortly after the state executive council meeting.

He noted that the South-East zone will reclaim its right from the Federal Gov-ernment, but not through violence or crisis.

It would be recalled that MASSOB had on Thursday staged a protest along ma-jor streets of Abakaliki, which disrupted economic

activities in the state.Onwe said: “As regard to

activities of MASSOB, the police is adequately in con-trol of the situation. The situation did not escalate into violence as witnessed in Anambra State.

“The governor made it categorically clear that any agitation or move-ment for secession is not what Ebonyi State or the South-East zone is pre-pared to support because it is not a modern agenda for Nigeria and the South-East. The South- East can still reclaim all their enti-

Fun-seekers in Nsuk-ka, Anambra State, who attended the

city's edition of the ongo-ing comedy fiesta, Laffta Fest, organized by Glo-bacom, had double dose of fun at the weekend as they were treated to the best moments of the on-going parallel show being sponsored by Globacom, Dance with Peter.

Just before real action commenced, the mam-moth crowd gathered at Millipat Hotel venue of the Glo Laffta Fest, were shown the best moments of the reality TV dance show, beginning from the high points of the region-al auditions to the cur-rent episode.

The reality show beamed on a huge mul-timedia screen set the tone for the rest of the evening, as the guests gleamed with excitement.

Many of the guests ap-preciated the added twist to the comedy show.

One of them, Nkiru Njoku, a 300 level student of Microbiology at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, said: “I came here to watch Bovi, Okey Bakassi, Korede Bello, M.I and others perform as had been advertised, but saw another dimension to the show. I watched Dance with Peter. The fusion of dance reality TV, music and comedy is like a three course meal.”

Also speaking in the

AliunA GodwinABAKALIKI

Ebonyi State Gover-nor, Chief David Umahi, at the week-

end said South-East gover-nors are not interested in the Movement for the Actu-alisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, or any other group agitat-ing for Biafra Republic.

The governor said such groups are on their own.

Umahi stated that any-thing that would threaten the unity and progress of Nigeria cannot come from

tlements from the Federal Government.

“The governor supports free movement of the peo-ple or peaceful protest, but not when it has the poten-tial to lead to crisis, vio-lence or breach of law and order.”

Umahi further called for the immediate repatriation of all Ebonyi youths and others, who are hawking in Lagos and other major cit-ies in the country, stressing that his administration has earmarked N3bn to reha-bilitate indigent youths of the state.

Chris njokuOWERRI

Few days after he was dethroned by a pow-erful force within his

Movement for the Actualisa-tion of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike yesterday renamed his faction as Bi-afra Independent Movement, BIM.

Uwazuruike, who an-nounced this yesterday while addressing newsmen at the Ikemba Ojukwu Memorial Library in Owerri, Imo State capital, denied all allegations of financial misappropria-tion leveled against him by his former commanders and administrators, who de-throned him in a palace coup last week.

This is even as Chief Uwazuruike profusely apolo-

Uwazuruike renames faction BIMwhen it matters most, stress-ing that anybody preaching violence to realize Biafra was a day dreamer.

He took exception to the closure of River Niger Bridge by those he called dissidents, which he said runs counter to the interest of the South East.

On the way forward, the BIM leader said: “We are the originators of this struggle and we have to change the system, which gave rise to the demonstration.

He added that all former MASSOB members before should henceforth be known, called and addressed as Biafra Independent Movement mem-bers.

Uwazuruike, who denied

allegations of financial im-propriety leveled against him, said he was not a sig-natory to any of the eight banks’ accounts of the or-ganisation, adding that MAS-SOB survives through levies, which is used to take care of logistics and payment of over 4,000 members.

Meanwhile, Chief Madu, who is the new leader of MASSOB, yesterday insisted that Chief Uwazuruike must relinquish all the organisa-tion’s property, including the multimillion naira Ikemba Ojukwu Memorial Library in his possession.

Reacting to Uwazuruike’s renaming of MASSOB as BIM, Madu told our corre-

spondent in Owerri that MAS-SOB had already expelled the former leader.

“If Chief Uwazuruike has abandoned MASSOB, fine, already, we have expelled him but he must relinquish all MASSOB’s property, houses, vehicles, including Ikemba Ojukwu Memorial Library in his possession,” he said.

According to him, Okwe re-mains MASSOB’s headquar-ters.

He disclosed that very soon the leaders and members of MASSOB will issue him an ultimatum to give him a time frame within which to relin-quish all the property he had acquired in the name of the organisation.

gised to the South East and South South for the recent demonstration by the Indig-enous People of Biafra, IPOB, which he lamented, brought senseless grief, sorrow and pains to thousands of inno-cent members of the public.

“MASSOB was not in any way involved in that dem-onstration but the only dif-ference was that the former MASSOB Director of Infor-mation, Uchenna Madu, who had been expelled, was their spokesman and we sincerely sympathise with families of those who lost their lives and who were in one way or the other affected in that ex-ercise.

“It is our obligation to of-fer this unreserved apology because we were the first to speak of Biafra in Nigeria in 1999,” he said.

Chief Uwazuruike, who

had earlier addressed a mam-moth crowd of MASSOB sup-porters, faithful and loyalists, explained that the change in name became necessary fol-lowing the strange introduc-tion of violence in the struggle to actualise Biafra Republic by a faction allegedly sympa-thetic to Nnamdi Kanu of Ra-dio Biafra, London.

He appealed to the Federal Government to release Kanu and his colleagues, who are currently languishing in de-tention.

Uwazuruike explained that Biafra could not be realised through violence and that South East was landlocked with no neighbouring coun-tries for possible assistance

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net South South 11Monday, December 7, 2015

Rivers APC sets agenda for N'Delta ministersDennis nakuPORT HARCOURT

All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State

has charged Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pas-tor Usani Uguru, and his Minister of State, Cladius Omoleye Daramola, to become agents of change that would turn around the fortune of the region.

Rivers APC Chairman, Davies Ikanya, gave the charge in a statement issued in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, on Sunday.

While congratulating them on their appointment, the party described the duo as seasoned and patriotic ad-ministrators whose appoint-ment demonstrates Presi-dent Muhammadu Buhari’s desire for the immediate emancipation and develop-ment of the Niger Delta.

Ikanya appealed to the

communities and effective partnering between oil com-panies and their host com-munities;

"Relocation of corpo-rate headquarters of oil companies to areas of their operations; need to ensure Environmental Impact As-sessment for all projects to be executed in the Niger Delta; that the Niger Delta gets its fair share of appoint-ments and employment op-portunities so as to reduce the massive unemployment of the youths in the region.

"Give qualified contrac-tors from the Niger Delta priority consideration in the award of contracts as a means of further empower-ing people of the region.

“We are convinced that if some of these ideas are implemented, the vision of President Buhari for the Ni-ger Delta region may have been accomplished,” Rivers APC said.

L-R:Senator Foster Ogola; Bayelsa State PDP Acting Chairman, Barr. Serena Dokubo Spiff and South-South PDP Zonal Chairman, Dr. Cairo Ojugboh, at a Press conference on the rescheduled governorship election in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the State in Yenagoa, yesterday.

Govt names road, stadium after GowonDennis nakuPORT HARCOURT

Rivers State govern-ment has named the Liberation Sta-

dium and old Aba Road af-ter former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (retd).

The stadium, which is located at Elekahia and old Aba Road at Ru-

RichaRD nDomaCALABAR

Sole spiritual Head of Brotherhood of the Cross and Star,

Olumba Olumba Obu, yes-terday cautioned all those agitating for Republic of Biafra to refrain from per-petrating such campaign of disunity forthwith be-cause they won't succeed.

Olumba gave the warn-ing on Sunday at his organ-isation’s headquarters in Calabar during a sermon, where he urged his adher-ents to remain cautious and watchful against un-scrupulous elements that could make them to derail against state and divine au-thorities.

He stated that the agita-tors were wasting their time and that no force can divide Nigeria, adding that if the agitators want, they could move away from Nigeria to the Gulf of Biafra and form

Paramount ruler of Okpella, the Okuok-pellagbe of Okpella

Kingdom, Yesufu Dirisu, has read the riot act over what he termed as incit-ing activities of agents of Bua Cement in the com-munity, warning that his palace would no longer tolerate any group using pseudo names to dent the integrity of his palace and people.

Dirisu gave the warning while receiving concerned stakeholders in his palace at the weekend. He spoke against the backdrop of al-leged report that manage-ment of the firm may be spoiling for a showdown with Dangote Cement over its decision to mine lime-stone for cement produc-tion in the area.

Contrary to report of tension in the community over alleged planned at-tacks by unnamed persons, our correspondent who vis-ited the sleepy community of Okpella observed that the entire area was calm with no sign of any unease.

The traditional ruler stressed, “It’s all lies, no-body has said that Dangote should not come to Okpella to do business or explora-tion. Some people for their selfish interest have been

"Completion and equip-ping the Skills Acquisition Centres in the region, mak-ing them functional so as to train Niger Delta youths and women, empowering them to become meaningfully en-gaged on a sustainable basis.

"Immediate completion of the East-West Road, as well as construction of the East-West Coastal Rail Line;

"Complete overhaul of the Niger Delta Develop-ment Commission, NDDC, to stamp out the massive cor-ruption going on there and make it more effective.

"Release of funds due to NDDC to enable it complete ongoing projects and initiate new ones to meet the needs of people of the region.

Create an Eco-friendly en-vironment by embarking on projects that would protect Niger Delta communities from oil spillage and gas flar-ing.

"Direct funding of host

ministers “to convoke, as a matter of urgency, a summit of Niger Delta Elders and Stakeholders to proffer solu-tions to the myriad of prob-lems facing the region so as to make the work of the hon-ourable ministers easier.”

While hoping that the suggestion would be accept-ed and implemented, Rivers APC drew attention to some of the major issues that need immediate action of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.

It listed the areas as "Re-organisation/Reformation and Streamlining of the Amnesty Programme to make it more effective and thus ensure greater stability and security of the region.

"The programme should also be made to accommo-date Cross River and Imo states as the exclusion of the youths of these two states poses a security risk to the region.

appreciation for creating Rivers State in 1967.

This was contained in a statement issued on Sun-day and signed by Simeon Nwakaudu, Special Assis-tant to Rivers State Gover-nor on Electronic Media.

The statement reads, "The Rivers State govern-ment renamed the sta-dium and road to honour General Yakubu Gowon

muomasi will now be called Yakubu Gowon Sta-dium and Yakubu Gowon Road, respectively.

The two facilities are located in the heart of the oil and gas-rich city of Port Harcourt, the state capital.

This came barely 24 hours after Gover‎nor Nyesom Wike promised to immortalise Gowon in

Olumba warns Biafra agitators

Dangote: Okpella monarch warns against inciting community

their republic there."There is nothing like

Biafra. They are wasting their time and resources. Who said there is Biafra? Let them go and sleep. They can even go to the Bight of Biafra and form their own country because Nigeria can never be divided," Olumba stated.

It would, however, be re-called that during the Ni-gerian Civil War in the late 1960s, the Spiritual head of the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star sounded a note of warning that those who started the rebellion against a united Nigeria were going to fail woefully, that the country would re-main one.

Olumba charged those sponsoring the rebellion in and out of Nigeria to desist forthwith, and rather chan-nel the resources to the ben-efit of the larger society. He also urged them to pursue peace and unity.

publishing falsehood, say-ing Okpella community does not want Dangote.’’

Dirisu said to clear the air, he had personally writ-ten a letter inviting and per-mitting Dangote to come and start exploration. ‘‘If Bua has a cement factory, that does not mean another company should not pros-pect for mineral in our land. As at now, it is Dangote that is delaying; we are fully be-hind him. He has 101 per cent support of all of us in Okpella,’’ he stated.

Later, a youth leader, John Umoru, said there was no security threat anywhere within the com-munity, pointing out that the youths stand for peace. “We Okpella youths, we love peace and like to do anything that would bring peace. It is in the atmo-sphere of peace that busi-nesses can thrive. We need jobs, we need economic em-powerment."

Conducting our corre-spondent round the com-munity, the youth leader maintained that they were weary of havoc wrought elsewhere due to similar incitement of residents against their leaders and would rather work for peace and allow genuine investors come to their area.

for creating Rivers State in 1967.

"It would be recalled that Rivers State Gover-nor, Nyesom Wike, on Sat-urday during a meeting with Gen. Yakubu Gowon and officials of ‘Nige-ria Prays,’ declared that Rivers government will immortalise the former head of state for creating Rivers State.’’

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net12 North Monday, December 7, 2015

Wole AdedejiILORIN

Kwara State gov-ernment yester-day announced

the release of N3.2bn to complete outstanding capital projects in edu-cation, energy, health, roads, works and justice sectors.

A statement signed by Senior Special Assis-tant on Media and Com-munication to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, Dr. Muyideen Akorede, said the fund was released after recent verification of the state’s outstand-ing capital projects,

Akorede added that the fund’s release was based on authenticated and duly certified stage of completion of works on each project.

According to him, the N3.2bn would ensure timely completion of work at various proj-ect sites without delay, pointing out that the money was part of the

Kwara releases N3.2bn to complete abandoned projects

N10bn facility recently approved by the House of Assembly for existing and new infrastructural projects in the state.

The governor, he said, expressed confidence that with the fund all stalled projects would be revived, while funds would be equally re-leased to contractors as soon as such funds be-come available.

The government thanked contractors for their patience and promised that with the new revenue drive in the state, the issue of stalled projects as it was in the past would soon be over.

A breakdown of the N3.2bn as given by Fi-nance Commissioner, Alhaji Demola Banu, according to Akorede showed that the largest allocation of over N2bn went to road sector’ wa-ter projects, N600m; ed-ucation sector, N320m; health, N380m and jus-tice, N18m.

Kidnapped ACPN candidate, Galadima, pays N40m ransom

Borno State will bounce back —Shettima

joel AjAyiABUJA

Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State has expressed

confidence that the state, ravaged by insurgency since 2009, will bounce back and be re-established to her full greatness by 2016.

The governor stated this at the weekend when he received Minister of Infor-mation and Culture, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, at Govern-ment House, Maiduguri.

The minister was on as-sessment tour to ascertain the havoc wreaked by Boko Haram insurgency in the state.

Shettima described the past six years as trying mo-ments for the state, saying his people have had to con-tend with a terrible war.

obiorA ifohABUJA

Presidential candidate of Allied Congress Party of Nigeria,

ACPN, in the April 2015 gen-eral elections, Alhaji Gani-yu Galadima, has regained freedom after more than two days in kidnappers' den in Kogi State, having paid about N40m ransom. Galadima, who revealed his ordeal in the hands of his abductors to our correspon-dent on telephone yester-day, said he was kidnapped

ed a ransom of N40m from each of us and asked us to drop the money at designat-ed location,” he said

Galadima said the two other victims were one Bisi from Akoko-Edo in Edo State, who was going for a burial in his village and an-other person that he could not recollect his name.

The ex-presidential can-didate lamented that no po-liceman came to their aide, despite being alerted, adding that they were only released after parting with the huge ransom.

“In your tour, from Mai-duguri to Konduga, Bama, etc, you must have seen it; there is no any single human settle-ment. Honestly, our people have gone through a war.

“Believe me, the war is over and our focus is to recon-struct, rehabilitate and reset-tle our people.

“I can assure you that Borno State will rise again to its greatness. We are going to bounce back in the next six months to one year. We shall do whatever it takes for the people,” the governor said, adding that his visit was the first by any minister of infor-mation since inception of the Boko Haram uprising.

“Since the beginning of Boko Haram, no minister of information has visited Bor-no except Lai Mohammed, Mr. Labaran Maku never visited Boko Haram affected areas,

L-R: Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Emir of Lafia, Alhaji Mustapha Agwai I and Emir of Fika, Alhaji Dr. Muhammad

Igbo in Niger distance selves from Biafra agitators

spent with them, we trekked all together not less than 40 kilometres,” he said.

While narrating how he was kidnapped, Galadima said he was traveling on Friday morning to his home state to attend a burial cer-emony alongside his junior brother.

He said the kidnappers first robbed occupants of the vehicles before selecting three of them for abduction.

“As I explained before, our kidnappers were Fulani young men between the ages of 25-35 years. They demand-

which he always talked about from Abuja.

“And no fewer than 20 lo-cal governments were under the control of Boko Haram in which so many amenities were destroyed. Just after putting in N1bn for recon-struction it was destroyed again by the insurgents,” he added.

He urged northern gover-nors to improve the quality of governance in their domain.

“Those of us in this part of the north have no choice than to wear our thinking cap and do what is right for our people. We are all product of public schools. Once we cre-ate jobs, invest in education and agriculture, we will be back on track,” he said.

In his remarks, Alhaji Lai Mohammed disclosed that the Federal Government is committed to ensuring that

all those displaced by the insurgency return to their homes.

He said: “With this visit, we have gathered first-hand information because we saw the situation ourselves. There were abject sorrow and poverty in the camps. The IDPs were clapping without even knowing what was said to them.

“The kids basically sleep in the open and don’t even know why they were there. This is very pathetic. But I can assure you that Federal Government cannot leave Borno State alone. It’s a col-lective responsibility and we shall surely get it done.

“We saw some markets, hospitals under construc-tion in Kodunga, which is a clear view that peace is gradually returning to Bor-no State.”

PriscillA dennisMINNA

Igbo residing in Niger State have distanced themselves from those

calling for the actualisa-tion of the sovereign state of Biafra and its chief supporter, Nnamdi Kanu.

They said they were comfortable with the pres-ent Nigeria, while calling on those protesting and blocking the Niger Bridge and prevented free flow of traffic to refrain from such illegal acts and toe the path of peace to seek justice.

Speaking to journalists in his Minna Palace, the state’s Eze Igbo, Eze Pam-pas Wahiwe, explained that it was no longer news that certain group of per-sons from the South East part of the country have conspired to agitate for Biafra State.

He said: “I am aware that every well-meaning socio-cultural organisa-tion in the South East have denounced this vio-lence and disassociated themselves from activi-ties of these mindless agi-tators.

"I want to join them in denouncing and con-demning activities of these miscreants. Igbo all over the world are versed in knowledge, peaceful and highly industrious and have no place for vio-lence in demanding for or asserting their legitimate rights,” he said. He stated that Igbo in Niger State decided to come out and state their position on the matter in order to douse tension created across the nation by the agitation.

He urged Igbo in the state to continue to live in peace and go about their normal duties.

“Igbo in the northern part of the country, es-pecially those resident in Niger State, are living peacefully with their host communities. We the Igbo are peace-loving people and must be appreciated,” he added.

He, however, pleaded with the federal and state governments not to use force on those protesting in some parts of the coun-try, but rather employ dia-logue to resolve the issue amicably for sustainable peace.

few kilometres from Lokoja, close to Obajana town.

He also confirmed that he and two other men were re-leased in the afternoon after paying N40m.

“Our vehicles were robbed by the Fulani men be-fore three of us were selected and marched into the forest.

“After trekking for about 10 kilometres, they now in-formed us that we have been abducted.

“They were Fulani boys, about 12 or 15 of them. Since we were taken into the for-est, in about 50 hours that I

…as reconstruction, rehabilitation begins in Konduga, others

PoliticsNational Mirror

www.nationalmirroronline.net 13Monday, December 7, 2015

Ayo EsAn

The Minister of In-formation and Cul-ture, Alhaji Lai Mo-

hammed, has hailed the Nigerian military for its patriotism and sacrifice for the unity and peace of the country, urging all citi-zens to support the troops who are battling the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east.

The Minister, who gave the commendation on Sat-urday when he led 33 local and foreign journalists on a tour of some of the liberated towns in Borno State, which is the epicen-tre of the insurgency, also hailed the Borno State Government, which has kick-started a massive reconstruction project in the liberated towns.

‘’Nigerians are very proud of you for your sac-rifice and love of coun-try,’’ Alhaji Mohammed said while addressing troops in Bama, one of the towns most affected in the violent campaign by the terrorists. ‘’We’ll tell Nige-rians of your heroics and sacrifice,’’ he added.

The Minister, who said the civilian part of

GloriA UsmAnABUJA

The Coalition of Civil Society Organisa-tions, CSO, under

the auspices of the Nige-ria Civil Society Situation Room, yesterday has called for the postponement of elections in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, LGA, and several polling units in the just concluded Bayelsa State governorship election.

The group which made their position known in a statement made avail-able to National Mirror, expressed concern over delay, wondering why the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has been unable to overcome some of the re-curring challenges with

Information Minister visits towns liberated from Boko Haram, hails military

CSO calls for postponement of election in southern Ijaw

Lagos lawmaker makes case for development in Badagryelections such as late de-ployment of personnel and materials to the poll-ing units.

The Nigeria Civil So-ciety Situation Room expressed its disappoint-ment over the conduct of political actors who have failed to restrain their supporters from acts of violence, saying that elec-tion did not commenced in Southern Ijaw LGA, as at 2:30pm as well as in sever-al polling units in Nembe and Brass local govern-ment areas.

The group then called on INEC to postpone the election in all the ar-eas where accreditation did not commence as at 2:30pm, asking security agencies to re-enforce their deployment of per-sonnel to areas affected.

the war on terrorism is missing, assured that the Federal Government will ensure that the military’s efforts are complemented by all Nigerians through the launch of a massive nationwide campaign to sensitize and enlist the support of all Nigerians for the war, and by bridg-ing the information gap between the military and the media.

He said apart from fighting the insurgency, the military is also sad-dled with the enormous responsibility of winning the peace as well as the hu-manitarian burden.

While in Bama, he also visited the camp for the Internally Displaced Per-sons, IDPs, where he gave words of encouragement to the IDPs, who include young children, women and old men whom he called ‘’the usual victims of the war they know little or nothing about’’.

In Konduga, along the over 70-km stretch from

Maiduguri to Bama, the Minister, who was ac-companied by the Borno State Deputy Governor, in-spected the construction work going on in the dev-astated town where, like Bama, not a single house is occupied by the original residents who have either been displaced or killed.

He saw thousands of blocks that have been freshly moulded, newly-roofed buildings and some

people who were brought in from outside the town to help clean it up and pre-pare it for the return of the original residents who survived the Boko Haram ceaseless attacks.

In Maiduguri, he com-mended the Borno State Government for its efforts to ease the pains and suf-ferings of the affected pop-ulation, which has seen Gov. Kashim Shettima establish the Ministry of

Reconstruction, Rehabili-tation and Resettlement, headed by Engineer Baba Gana Umara.

Alhaji Mohammed told the Governor that the vis-it was to enable him and the accompanying jour-nalists to see, first hand, the scale of devastation that the Boko Haram ter-rorists left behind and the successes achieved by the military, with a view to better telling Nigerians

how the war on terrorism is progressing.

He said the journalists who have seen the dev-astation in the liberated towns would show more restraint in their report-ing and be better placed to write on the insurgency from an informed posi-tion, while anyone who has visited the affected areas ‘’will be more care-ful in beating the drums of war’’.

The returning officer for Kogi governorship election, Prof. Emmanuel Kucha (right), declaring the final results of the election in Lokoja yesterday, with him is the resident electoral commissioner for the state, Malam Hussaini pai (left).

robErt AwokUsE

A member of the La-gos State House of Assembly, repre-

senting Badagry Constitu-ency II, Hon. Engr. Setonji David has solicited for government urgent inter-vention on flood related matters and dilapidated school infrastructures spread across his constitu-ency.

Setonji made the call during a working visit to some of the major flood areas which seem to have been neglected despite several “Save our Soul” letters written to govern-ment over the perennial problem.

He therefore implored the state government to as a matter of urgency man-date its agencies such as Ministry of Environment, through its drainage de-partment and SUBEB to address the problem and bring succour to the people living in the community.

As a pointer to their agitation, the community recently wrote another letter titled “A pathetic situation in Akarapa Igbo-rosun community due to over-flooding” to Hon. Se-tonji David and copied the Ministry of Environment.

The community in the letter craves the indul-gence of the House to save their souls by addressing the problem before an-

other rainy reason comes, tracing the major cause of this menace to lack of drainage system along the main road that link the community from Mowo to Ado-Odo Igborosun to which residents have lost properties worth millions, while several others have been rendered homeless.

They lamented that the flood is from the main road that lead to Ado-Odo.

The Head of Emer-gency Flood Abatement Department, in the Min-istry of the Environment, Lagos Zone I coordinator Ojo, Badagry, Oshodi-Isolo local government areas, Engr. Adedokun Ibraheem, said the com-munity’s request will be

presented to the ministry for consideration and ac-commodation in the 2016 budget.

Hon. Setonji also vis-ited Anglican Nursery and Primary school I and II, Igborosun, in Badagry where he had discussion with the Head teachers.

The school which was founded in 1945 has writ-ten several letters to the Ministry of Education through the education sec-retary, Badagry. The list of the school request include among others: A17+ 1 pro-totype classrooms build-ing, 389 dual desks and 389 dual benches, ECCDE Tables 15 and 250 chairs, school fence, fans, toilets for pupils and teachers.

Politics National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net14 Monday, December 7, 2015

RobeRt Awokuse

Osun State House of Assembly through its chairman,

House Committee on In-formation and Strategy, Oyintiloye Olatunbosun has congratulated Oba Ad-eyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II on his coronation as the Ooni of Ife, asserting towering confidence in his ascendancy which they af-firm would serve as a cata-lyst for the advancement of

Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa, during the 2015 governorship election at ward 2 Sagbama Unit 6 Orueware, Toru-Orua in Sagbama Local Government area of Bayelsa on Saturday.

New Ooni: Osun Assembly felicitates with Ile-Ife, Osun State

Prophet Korode calls on Nigerians to be less selfishebeRe Ndukwu

Prophet Sunday Fun-sho Korode, leader of Cherubim and

Seraphim Church Move-ment, Ayonio Surulere, has called on Nigerians to believe in the power of God to transform the country, saying if Nigeri-ans will be less self-con-scious, that there is hope for the country.

The Prophet who stat-ed this why interacting with newsmen during the church three days an-nual retreat and crusade which held December 4 and 6, called on President Muhammadu Buhari and his team; to know that it is only God that will bring about the desired change in the country.

He said “I want to plead with President Buhari and his team; we know he has competent hands but it is only God that can enable us to achieve the change we want in this country.”

According to the man of God, the real issue in Nigeria is disparity in classes, “the way the haves parade themselves as if the world ends here is the real issue. We need to let people know that af-ter here there is hereafter and that God has provid-ed enough for us to make us happy as a people and a nation. If we can be more of us conscious and less self-conscious, things will become better for the nation because that’s where our wealth really lies.”

He said: “There is need for general renewal, for everybody to start think-ing not just here but here-after and that is the real spirit of abundance. The spirit of poverty thinks about what one can earn and have here but when one start thinking about after here, when we think about the hereafter, that will bring about right spirit which can get us to be contented. When we are moderate in what we are logging onto in life, ev-erybody will be taken care of so that all these rival-ries, corruption, malice, killings and destructions will end.”

Saying that it is not yet Uhuru and that what is happening in the nation is only giving us hope and

not comfort yet, as there is so much hardship, he pos-ited that people should be looking forward to some-thing better because there is hope for the nation.

“What we have in the country now are but basic principles for transforma-tion, the architecture of the nation, the blueprint for its transformation are already here and there. When a plane takes off there is always a rough time, it takes time before it get height for the people in it to say they are now cruising. That’s what we are going through pres-ently and that is what everybody must under-stand. The problem of our country has been so terrible that we are now in a serious morass, cor-recting it is not going to be an overnight activity; it is going to be step by step, but there is hope it will get better soon”, he said.

According to the Prophet, the annual pro-gramme has been a ral-lying point, bringing not just the members together but others to the good mes-sage of Christ which is able to make them better people.

“They come to have an experience of grace in the Holy Spirit and be bap-tized in all those things God normally want to give to his own children and to all intent and purposes there has been series of testimonies from various groups and people includ-ing our members to the wonderful faithfulness of God in our collective life.

“The programme has been tremendous and tru-ly value adding to every member of the church, the community and the nation. It’s a programme no one comes and regrets coming.

It provides an avenue and platform for the peo-ple of this nation to en-counter Christ in a very strong and credible man-ner that is having the real experience of Jesus Christ. You’ll appreciate that the world that we are in today is infested with so many problems and people are going through troublesome times, it be-comes important to pro-vide a solace to draw them out of their anguish to a place where they can find some rest,” he stated.

Ile-Ife, the Yoruba nation and the country at large.

In a statement signed by Oyintiloye on behalf of the legislative body and made available to news-men, he said the legisla-tors are convinced that the credentials and mettle of the monarch is a testi-mony to the ardour and tireless creativity the king would bring to the throne.

The Assembly’s mouth-piece commended the rul-ing houses for the manner in which they harmoni-

ously resolved their differ-ences during the selection process. He also congratu-lated the state govern-ment of Osun, the Council of Obas, and the good peo-ple of the state, especially the descendants of Ile-Ife, home and abroad for the peaceful transition.

“The spontaneous en-thusiasm that greeted the announcement of the new monarch across Ile Ife, the state of Osun, and the entire nation is a sub-stantiation of the better

days ahead,” Oyintiloye explained.

In a goodwill message to the Ooni during a par-liamentary session, the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Hon-ourable Najeem Salam enjoined him to give inimi-table service, and surpass the worthy legacies of his predecessors. He also ad-monished him to work with other traditional rulers and government at all levels to inspire harmony, peace and development in the country.

Bauchi: Former lawmakers threaten court action against Gov’s spokesman

AD to rebrand party to win states, national elections in 2019

ezekiel titusBAUCHI

Bauchi State former lawmakers have threatened court

action against Governor Mohammed Abubakar’s spokesman, saying he has seven days to retract his statement that the imme-diate past state Assembly approved N4 billion loan facility to the current ad-ministration of Abubakar under All Progressives Congress, APC, before

Newly elected na-tional chairman of Alliance for

Democracy, AD, Chief Jo-seph Avazi has pledged to rebrand the party and em-power its members with a view to winning state and national elections in 2019.

The national public-ity secretary, Mrs Olayinka

their exit.The lawmakers urged

the Special Adviser to the governor on media to use the same medium he used to make the statement to retract it.

The former member representing Ningi Con-stituency, Abdulmumini Hassan Ningi who gave this warning in a chat with selected journalists in Bau-chi, said that the immedi-ate past lawmakers had no link and any political ro-mance that warranted it to

Nola, in a press statement said, that the chairman also assured to run an open door policy, strengthen in-ternal democracy and be gender sensitive in the task of building a credible alter-native or platform to offer Nigerians the real change they desire.

Chief Avazi further

approved such loan to the current governor.

“We have our valedictory session almost a week before the inauguration of the APC administration, then how do we approved such N4 billion loan to the governor who came in to power on May 29 when the ex lawmakers had cease to exist immediately after its valedictory session,” said Hassan.

Describing the allega-tion as only an indict-ment, he said it was an abortion of truth to appar-

said he will consolidate on the achievements of his predecessor Senator Akinfenwa and ensure AD becomes the leading pro-gressive party in Africa.

Other national officers elected in the party’s na-tional convention held at AFRI Hotel Abuja on December 3, 2015 include,

ently divert people’s atten-tion from the empty prom-ises of the APC change mantra.

Hassan charge the gov-ernor’s spokesman not to hesitate in tendering the evidence backing his state-ment that the former law-makers approved N4 bil-lion to exonerate himself.

Asked if he was talking on behalf of the former 31 members, Hassan said he have their support to de-fend and pursue the mat-ter to a logical conclusion.

Musa Shehu deputy na-tional chairman (North), Professor Clinton Akuche deputy national chairman (South), Akin Fashogbon national secretary, Mrs. Olayinka Nola publicity secretary, Ismail Ayodele national auditor and Dea-coness Abigail Aina na-tional women leader.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 15Monday, December 7, 2015 Views

ALEX SONDU ATAWA-AKPODIETE

In my book, ‘The Seven Open Secrets Of Success’, I quoted this famous expres-sion: “An unexamined life is not worth

living.” The quote has been attributed to various people, especially Plato, but I lean towards giving credit to Socrates in his speeches during his trial. The essence of the wisdom quote is that wisdom dictates that you look at your life periodically to evaluate your successes and mistakes as a means of changing for the better. It helps in planning because if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Everyone should do this par-ticular exercise, especially as we approach the last days of the year.

Besides examining your life personally, I believe you should examine your govern-ment periodically. The ubiquitous 100-days in office have become a mainstay of mod-ern democratic evaluation of governance. However, 100 days is sometimes not suffi-cient to really look at the affairs of a coun-try. I suggest using 365 days to properly examine the state of a nation. I plead with Nigerians to please jettison party senti-ments and objectively examine the state of their local, state and national governments. Please do not be deceived. Essentially, 99 percent of those in government have been in the corridors of power in one way or the other since our independence in 1960 and over 90 percent since return to democracy in 1999. Our President was in government as well as our Vice President. This article

looks mostly at the nation as a whole.I will suggest using the following yard-

stick to measure the state of Nigeria: eco-nomic price of commodities, wages, infla-tion, foreign exchange, women and youth participation, security, fuel, corruption. I will address first the economy of the coun-try and will require my readers to do some independent research.

On the economy, I will suggest we look at prices of commodities and salaries of workers. Are things generally more expen-sive today and how much goods can you buy for N1, 000 comparatively? Also, the wages of employees must be taken into con-sideration here. Are salaries paid as when due or delayed? Recently, some governors complained that they could no longer pay the minimum wage of N18, 000, but did not offer to reduce the number of their aides or take a pay cut, including reduction of the nebulous “security votes.”

Recently, I attended a gender course. One of the things we discussed was that gender does not mean just female as is generally assumed, but rather both male and female. Nonetheless, will women feel that they are more a part of the government today than 365 days ago? This may take into account the number of female ministers, commis-sioners and governors. Thankfully, we may have the first female governor in Nigeria if the Court of Appeals upholds the Taraba Governorship Tribunal verdict. How about our youths? It is quite interesting that most of the people in government today were in leadership positions while in their thirties

and forties. However, the youths may have some questions about where they belong.

Concerning security, we are all cog-nizant of the Boko haram menace. Last year, the previous government goofed by boasting that it would crush Boko haram by April of that year. Now the current gov-ernment has issued a deadline to the mili-tary command to eliminate Boko haram by December. In the present world situation where terrorism is fluid, it remains to be seen whether the ultimatum is realistic. It is beyond cavil that one of the primary obligations of government is security of lives and properties of its citizens. It is en-shrined in Section 14 (2) (b) of the 1999 Con-stitution (as amended). A failed state is one that has failed to provide security. Are we more secure today?

On corruption, we must look at the num-ber of convictions, not just arrests or ‘invi-tations’ to Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) office. How many defendants have been convicted or acquit-ted? Since, former President Olusegun Obasanjo was compelled by virtue of trea-ty obligations to form both the EFCC and

TUNDE OLOFINTILA

Everywhere in the world today, peo-ple engage in advertisement with-out necessarily intending it. No

wonder that many brands, institutions and companies have come up with all manners of mottos/pay-offs, with some of these pay-offs being pretty philosoph-ical, some mere marketing gimmicks, while some others are out-rightly and arrogantly cocky. But that is advertising for you!

Let us now cast a glance at the world of journalism by considering the highly rational pay-off of the Kwara State gov-ernment-owned Nigerian Herald, which fittingly and richly illustrates our posi-tion in this write-up, to wit: “To Be More Is To Know More”.

Indeed and in truth, to be more is to know more because everywhere in our contemporary world and across the professions today, one can hardly rise beyond the quantum of information (knowledge) available to one. And this seems to be the position of world class academics and education stakeholders, who brainstormed at the 4th Interna-tional Workshop on Teaching and Learn-ing Methods in Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, last week.

It was serious business right from the opening ceremonies, when the frontline legal icon and founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola (SAN), UNESCO represen-tative, Dr. Mohammed Alkali and the

NUC representative, Dr. Noel Saliu, wit-tingly or unwittingly set the agenda for the international workshop. As it were, majority of what the trio said at the opening ceremonies later formed the kernel of the deliberations of the con-ferees and the substance of their com-muniqué.

Aare Babalola pointedly counseled that teachers who constitute the en-gine room through which society over-comes ignorance and disease, conquer poverty and the environment, as well as overcome tribalism and extremism among others, must be properly and adequately trained for them to be able to stand in their position to change the face of education in Nigeria, entrench quality and functional education and restore the lost glory of education in Nigeria.

After three days of rigorous and painstaking sessions and copious drink-ing from the fountain of experience and knowledge of some world class scholars like Prof. Michael Omolewa, an Ambas-sador and Permanent Delegate of Nige-ria to UNESCO; Prof. Oye Ibidapo-Obe, former Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos and Prof. Tola Badejo, former Vice Chancellor, Wesley Univeristy of

Science and Technology, Ondo, among many others, the academics, through the communiqué at the end of the workshop, returned a unanimous verdict that a lot still needed to be done to make the wheel of education run faster and smoother in the overall interest of the education in Nigeria.

Since teachers are not finished prod-ucts, but an entity susceptible to train-ing and retraining, the academics advo-cated that newly recruited teachers must be made to undergo training/orientation before being allowed to teach. This way, they will be acquainted with modern teaching methods so that they don’t dis-seminate ignorance and half knowledge to their students, thereby producing a bunch of unemployable graduates. A teacher, after all, can only teach what he knows and in a manner in which he knows how best to.

And since there is no one-size fits all method of teaching, the academics rea-soned that entrepreneurial skills should be embedded in the country’s teaching skills to enhance the chances of em-ployment of new graduates in the com-petitive global employment market, and particularly to bridge the yawning gap between the academia and the labour market.

In addition to the above, they advocat-ed that the need for teachers to change the way they conduct themselves in class with emphasis on mutual respect between the teacher and the learner. Teachers, according to them, must be time conscious in class, must be firm,

fair, frank and friendly, must be able to use modern teaching equipment, including the Interactive Boards and all forms of ICT platforms, must be audible, confident, affectionate and ap-proachable and above all, they must be disciplined.

As was the practice in those days, they must be well-dressed and clean, keep records of what they do, be original and innovative, be cooperative and col-laborative and move with trends as well as give computer-based assignments to their students.

It is the above parameters among many others that qualify teachers to be described as teachers properly so called and above all, it is only by being teachers so properly called that they impart the required and needed skills and knowl-edge to impact on the society.

For this to happen, however, empha-sis must be placed on infrastructural development in Nigerian universities, while teachers should be involved in policy formulation as they know what they need rather than unwanted and unworkable policy ideas being shoved down their throats.

Olofintila wrote from Lagos.

A TEACHER…CAN ONLY TEACH WHAT

HE KNOWS AND IN A MANNER IN WHICH HE KNOWS HOW BEST TO

WISDOM DICTATES THAT YOU LOOK AT YOUR LIFE PERIODICALLY TO EVALUATE YOUR

SUCCESSES AND MISTAKES…

Is Nigeria better or worse today?

To be more is to know more

Send your views by mail or sms to PMB 10001, Ikoyi, or our Email: [email protected] [email protected] or 08164966858 (SMS only). The Editor reserves the right to edit and reject views or photographs. Pseudonyms may be used but must be clearly marked as such.

Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC), there are usually high-profile arrests that are not commensurate with convictions.

I believe we should move on to the issue of fuel. Last year around this time, there may have been fuel queues. Are there fewer queues today and what is the price of Premi-um Motor Spirit (petrol) comparatively? We now know that fuel subsidy actually exists and were not fabricated. I am not in a posi-tion to state whether it is inflated or not, but clearly we were paying some form of subsidy last year and are still paying subsidies today.

I only ask for an objective comparison. If you believe the country is better today or worse, send SMS to +12407724113 or +2348138391661. Please no political party talk. Give your cogent reason. E-mail can be sent to [email protected]. You may also use twitter (@profatawa) or Facebook using harsh tag #profatawa. Responses will be published at a later date. If you do not want your name used, please say so.

Bayelsa election and Kogi supplemen-tary election are scheduled for December 5. Both elections are featuring old politicians, who were previously in the same party. We have are essentially old wine in new wine-skins. Don’t be carried away. Change is con-stant, but can be deceptively used.

Evaluate all candidates divorced from their political party. The results of this ar-ticle will be posted after the elections.

It is worth thinking about!Atawa-Akpodiete, a public affairs an-

alyst wrote via [email protected]

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

IT WILL BE TO THE CREDIT OF THE SARAKI-

LED NASS IF IT CAN SINCERELY BRAVE THE STORM AND MAKE THE

PIB A REALITY, TO THE SHAME OF ALL THE CONSPIRACIES AGAINST

IT

16 Monday, December 7, 2015 EditorialEditorial

Senate’s purported rediscovery of PIB imperativeIt was reported, late last

month, that Senate Presi-dent, Dr. Bukola Saraki,

expressed the resolve of the National Assembly, particu-larly the Senate over which he presides as President, to break the jinx holding back the pass-ing of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB ) to law. Saraki, it was stated, made a case for the urgent need to pass the bill to pave way for comprehensive reforms in the country’s oil and gas sub-sectors. The 8th Senate, where he holds court, has adopted the PIB as one of the cardinal projects on its legislative agenda, reports say. Saraki spoke while inaugurat-ing some of the standing com-mittees of the Senate in Abuja. The PIB first presented to the NASS in 2009, we reiterate, has not made any headway mainly because of the conflict of inter-est between the Federal Gov-ernment, Joint Venture (JV) partners and local oil cabal, on the one hand; and Nigeria Na-tional Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC) ploy to keep shrouding oil sector operations in secrecy, on the other.

Former oil minister, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, when she spoke on the future of the petroleum industry in 2013, said: “…The PIB cur-

rently undergoing legislative processes at the NASS estab-lishes the legal and regulatory framework, institutions and regulatory authorities for the Nigerian petroleum industry. It also stipulates guidelines for operations in the upstream and downstream sectors”. She said the objectives of the PIB were to “enhance exploration and exploitation of petroleum re-sources; significantly increase domestic gas supplies, espe-cially for power and industry; create competitive business environment for the exploita-tion of oil and gas; establish fiscal framework that is flex-ible, stable and competitively attractive; create commercially viable national oil company; create strong and effective reg-ulatory institutions; promote Nigerian content and promote and protect health, safety and environment”.

Allison-Madueke said at the heart of the PIB is the separa-tion of policy, regulation and monitoring; as well as com-mercial operations; and that the building blocks of the institutional and policy re-forms would include the un-bundling of the NNPC through the creation of a National Oil Company (NOC) that promotes indigenous operational capac-

ity development; the creation of an Asset Management Company (AMC) to manage JV assets on behalf of the federa-tion; and the excision of Nige-rian Gas Company (NGC) from NNPC as a separate, partially privatised entity to cater for do-mestic gas marketing and gas infrastructure development.

Till date, however, the lofty dream has remained elusive. The NASS, apparently cashing in on the conflict of interest imbroglio, had consciously played down the expeditious passage of the PIB for reasons best known to it. The Ministry of Petroleum Resources under Allison-Madueke, in its 2013 budget, tabled a humongous vote of N6.2 billion to oil the passage of the bill. The former minister told the NASS then that the N6.2 billion would be spent on awareness campaigns.

No details!Lately, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, the

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, in his erstwhile ca-pacity as the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, said the country was losing a whopping N3 trillion (about $15 billion) annually from the uncertain-ties created by the non-passage of the PIB by the federal legis-lature. “I can tell you that the average source of volumes in investments that we are losing on an annual basis because of the lack of PIB is in excess of $15 billion; and the reason is simple: it would have been better that you (NASS) didn’t start at all, than announce very flamboyantly that you are going to do PIB; and step back from it”, Kachikwu said when he appeared before the Senate for screening as minister. Ac-cording to him, one of the key things that killed the previous PIB was the lack of “sufficient engagement”, whatever that means. The 6th and 7th NASS that enjoyed a relatively stable leadership having failed to do justice to the PIB, it will be to the credit of the Saraki-led NASS if it can sincerely brave the storm and make the PIB a reality, to the shame of all the conspiracies against it all these years.

Letters to the EditorLetters to the EditorLetters to the Editor

x

Yasser Arafat recognized the right of Israel to exist. Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Ara-fat al-Qudwa al-Husseini (August 24, 1929 – November 11, 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his ‘kunya’ , Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian leader. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO); President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA); and leader of the Fatah political party.

December 7, 1988 December 7, 2007

December 7, 2007The Hebei Spirit oil spill occurred in South Korea after a

crane barge that had broken free from a tug collided with the very large crude carrier, Hebei Spirit. The spill was a major di-saster in South Korea that began on the morning of December 7, 2007 local time, with ongoing environmental and economic effects. Government officials called it South Korea’s worst oil spill ever, surpassing that of 1995 in the country.

December 7, 2005

Rigoberto Alpizar, a passenger on American Airlines Flight 924, who allegedly claimed to have a bomb, was shot and killed by a team of United States’ federal air marshals at Miami In-ternational Airport. Alpizar lived in the central Florida town of Maitland and worked in the Paint Department of a Home Depot. He was supposed to fly with his wife, Anne Buechner, to Orlando, Florida.

ON THIS DAY

All the Facts, All the SidesAll the Facts, All the SidesA PUBLICATION OF GLOBAL MEDIA MIRROR LTD

BARRISTER JIMOH IBRAHIM, CFR PUBLISHER

SUNDAY OLAJIDE MANAGING DIRECTOR/CEO

BEN MEMULETIWON ACTING DAILY EDITOR

GBEMI OLUJOBI SATURDAY EDITOR

AYO OLESIN SUNDAY EDITOR

DOZIE OKEBALAMA COORDINATOR, EDITORIAL BOARD

CALLISTUS OKE EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR

OBIORA IFOH ACTING ABUJA BUREAU CHIEF

AUGUSTUS IMEKAN ACTING HEAD, GRAPHICS

Stock exchange fl oor

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netMonday, December 7, 2015A2 18 Business CourageCourage

Cover

UDO ONYEKA, CO-ORDINATOR

BUSINESS [email protected]

c Global Media Mirror Limited

As the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC and Nigeria Stock Exchange, NSE continue to promote corporate governance and transparency to increase investments in the nation’s capital market, indications show that foreign investors are not seeing the market as investment haven still. Udo Onyeka reports

The indication that for-eign investors are grad-ually off- loading their investments from the

country’s capital market to many fi nancial analysts portends dan-ger to the economy, as foreign investors had remain drives of activities in the market.

According to analysts even though foreign investors control only little above 25 per cent mar-ket share, they control over 6o

percent of transaction activities in the market.

This however means that their continued dwindling investment would adversely affect the capi-tal market’s performance and contribution to the economy as a source of fund for long term in-vestment.

For instance the All-Share Index of the Nigerian Stock Ex-change, NSE, on Tuesday, De-cember 2, depreciated further by

0.26 per cent following the exit of some foreign investors and profi t taking.

The index which opened at 27,385.69 lost 71.69 points or 0.26 per cent to close at 27,314.00. Similarly, the market capitalisation dropped further by N24bn to close at N9.391trn compared with N9.415trn achieved on Monday.

According to Managing Direc-tor, APT Securities and Funds

Ltd., Malam Garba Kurfi , the persistent downward trend was traceable to exit of some foreign investors. Kurfi said that this was due to pressure on the na-tion’s currency at the foreign ex-change market.

He said that foreign inves-tors who were supposed to play the market had developed ‘wait and see’ attitude due to develop-ments at the foreign exchange market.

He said that many things were working against the market, not-ing that there was no activity at the nation’s economy.

But a market summary of last week ended Friday, December

Restoring foreign investors’ confi dence in capital market

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net Monday, December 7, 2015 A3 19Business CourageCourage

‘

‘It is important to note that we are not the only exchange affected by these global developments of all the 24 exchanges in Africa, 20 are experiencing a downturn. Opportunities still exist for investors in stocks, in spite of the current downturn in the capital market. If you look at large, mid and small cap securities; mid cap securities have done well, they have returned about 6 percent positive. Now the whole market is about 18 percent down and that is because of the weight of the large cap securities

Mounir Gwarzo, DG-SECOnyema Kurfi

4, showed turnover of 1.218 bil-lion shares worth N14.685bn in 13,495 deals were traded by investors on the fl oor of The Ex-change in contrast to a total of 1.041 billion shares valued at N13.007bn

that exchanged hands the pre-vious week in 13,407 deals.

The Financial Services Indus-try, measured by volume, led the activity chart with 1.068 bil-lion shares valued at N9.888bn traded in 7,803 deals; thus con-tributing 87.73 per cent and 67.3 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value re-spectively.

The Consumer Goods Indus-try followed with 48.455 million shares worth N2.450bn in 2,560 deals. The third place was occu-pied by the Conglomerates In-dustry with a turnover of 45.914 million shares worth N364.525m in 622 deals.

The NSE All-Share Index and Market Capitalisation however appreciate marginally last week appreciated by 0.05 per cent to close the week at 27,631.05 and N9.500trn respectively.

Similarly, six other Indices fi n-ished higher during the week, except the following Indices: NSE Main Board Index -0.78 per cent, NSE 30 Index-0.10 per cent, NSE Consumer Goods In-dex-0.10 per cent, NSE Oil and Gas Index-n6.19 per cent and NSE Pension Index-0.66 per cent.

Many market watchers have said that the dwindling attrac-tion and returns in the coun-try’s stock market caused for-eign portfolio investors to pull out N410.49bn from the equi-ties segment of the NSE between January and August this year.

According to data obtained from the NSE showed that just as was the case last year, foreign investment outfl ow exceeded in-fl ow in the fi rst eight months of 2015.

Foreign investors had pulled N846.53bn from the stock mar-ket last year although they invested N692.39bn, a devel-opment that caused the NSE All-Share Index to close with a nega-tive return of -16.14 per cent.

This is because the market is dominated by the foreign inves-

tors. They accounted for 57.52 per cent of total transactions in 2014.

In the fi rst eight months of this year, foreign investment in-fl ow was N367.10bn, which was N43.39bn less than outfl ow.

Despite the reported exit of many foreign investors from the stock market and expectations that domestic investors would take advantage of low stock pric-es, foreign investors still domi-nated the market, accounting for 54.36 per cent of the N1.430tn transactions in equities as of Au-gust.

Also further review of the par-ticipation statistics revealed that foreign portfolio investment out-fl ow exceeded infl ow in six of the eight months under consider-ation.

Infl ow exceeded outfl ow in April, as investor confi dence rose after the peaceful conduct of the presidential election, and in June following the change in government. Year-to-date, the NSE All-Share Index has a nega-tive return of -12.40.

The N1.430tn transactions re-corded in the equities segment of the NSE in the fi rst eight months of this year was, however, 5.8 per cent or N88bn less than the N1.518tn transactions recorded in the same period of 2014.

In November Nigeria’s stocks fell to their lowest level in almost three years as foreigners exited the market amid fading hopes that President Muhammadu Bu-hari’s government can revive an economy growing at its slowest pace this century.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index dropped 0.8 per-cent to 27,385.69 at closing in Lagos, the lowest since Decem-ber 2012. The gauge declined on all but three trading days in November for a monthly drop of 6.2 percent.

Head, Investment and Re-search, Sterling Capital, Mr. Sewa Wusu, said, “A combina-tion of factors has actually been affecting the Nigerian economy and by extension we have seen reactions in the fi nancial mar-kets generally. They are head-winds that investors would naturally react to because of the fear of eroding the value of their investment.”

According what is happening does not mean that the economy did not have potential as it were, but rather the economy was be-ing affected by a global problem such as tumbling oil and com-modity prices.

He said concerning the situa-tion in the country the political risk is gradually fi zzling out, and it was time for the government to face the economy squarely, add-ing that “most investors are just exiting to preserve their cap-ital and wait for the tide to clear because they cannot just make investment decisions when there is no clarity in the macroeco-nomic space.”

Stakeholders have said to bol-ster investor confi dence; there was the need for the expeditious complaints management frame-work introduced by the apex reg-ulator, the SEC, to be strength-ened, as it would involve speedy

resolution of investors’ com-plaints by Self - Regulatory Or-ganisations, the NSE, the Admin-istrative Proceeding Committee of the SEC and fi nally the Invest-ment & Securities Tribunal, IST. Some of the factors which led to the loss of confi dence in the capital market, according ana-lysts include: loss in value of investment; total loss of invest-ment; ‘sharp’ practices by mar-ket operators; lack of transpar-ency in fi nancial information rendition; ineffective regulation; perception that the market is not fair; cumbersome practices in is-suance of dividends, bonuses, rights issue among others.

There have being recent at-tempts targeted at restoring the confi dence of investors in the market, some which include; continuous fi nancial literacy and investor clinics; technol-ogy driven management of IPOs, dividends and bonuses; biomet-ric capture as part of Know Your Customer ,KYC, process to fore-stall identity theft; online moni-toring of individual Central Secu-rities & Clearing System ,CSCS, accounts. Other are access to portfolio reports as provided by broker/dealer; improved market structure and technological ad-vancement.

Chief Executive Offi cer, NSE, Oscar Onyema said the Nigerian capital market and the busi-ness of the stock exchange will always be impacted by dynamic economic trends and investor demands.

He said however achieving success through growth that creates value will increase the bourse’s ability to operate ef-fi ciently and profi tably in the transient advantage economy that has unfolded in Nigeria and around the world.

Speaking recently in Lagos a workshop organised by the Capital Market Correspondent Association of Nigeria, CAMCAN, Onyema noted that while there has been no respite in the macro economy and operating environ-ment due to lingering oil price and foreign exchange pressures, long-term outlook for the Ex-change remains positive as listed companies continue to show re-silience.

He said operators have been repositioned to deliver superior value to investors.

“It is important to note that we are not the only exchange affect-ed by these global developments of all the 24 exchanges in Africa, 20 are experiencing a downturn.

“Opportunities still exist for in-vestors in stocks, in spite of the current downturn in the capital market. If you look at large, mid and small cap securities; mid cap securities have done well, they have returned about 6 percent positive. Now the whole market is about 18 percent down and that is because of the weight of the large cap securities”, he said.

According to him at the Ex-change, a lot of our energy has been spent building the foun-dational aspect of the market in terms of transparency, orderli-ness, fairness, disclosure, and more importantly enforcing rules and regulations.

He said in the short term, you will see the huge volatility but that should not distract from those fundamental elements about good companies, making good money, running under a well governed Exchange struc-ture and a well regulated market structure.

“These factors will combine to shore up investors’ confi dence in these challenging times.

As we continue to work to-wards achieving and sustaining this market, the importance of your role cannot be over empha-sised”, Onyema said.

In the same vein Director Gen-eral, SEC, said the commission is making fundamental chang-es for that would bring about growth and development in the market through its 10- year master plan.

According to him some the SEC is currently leading the cap-ital market in implementing the 10-year Master plan initiatives which include; recapitalisation exercise to strengthen market institutions, dematerialisation of share certifi cates which has reached unprecedented level of over 85 percent with 100 per cent in sight before the year ends, E-dividend with excellent collaboration from Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and NIBSS. BC


News

Adeola

L-R: Partner KPMG, Kunle Elebute; Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mahmoud Isa-Duste; Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun and Project Lead, Patience Oniha during the inauguration of the Ministry of Finance Effi ciency Unit Steering Committee in Abuja recently

Group writes Customs CG, laments worsening corruption casesFrancis Ezem

Port stakeholders under the aegis of the National Associ-

ation of Government Approved Freight Forwarders NAGAFF; have raised fresh alarm over what they described as `in-creasing rate of corruption` at the nation’s seaports.

In a letter addressed to the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service dated December 2, 2015 and signed by the national chairman of the anti – corruption unit of the association, Mr Increase Uche alleged that there is a clear case of increase in corruption involving customs offi cers in the nation’s seaports.

The group challenged the Custons CG, Hameed Ali to pay a visit to the Federal Op-erations Unit of the Customs, Ikeja.

According to the association, corruption was getting worse on daily basis at the ports, in-sisting that the change mantra expected has become elusive.

The letter reads in parts: “A trip to FOU Ikeja and revela-tions therein from interventions is a pointer that corruption is in the increase due to improper Customs examination. If the Customs examination offi cers are patriotic and professional in their actions, the valuation unit shall resolve all disputed mat-ters of classifi cation and value question with ease”.

The letter also said that most of the items intercepted on the road were the same goods that had been okayed and cleared at the ports or border stations by offi cers of the service.

The freight forwarding group also frowned at the frivolous rate at which Customs com-mands have been seizing people’s trade goods on the al-legations of under-declaration, concealment and other infrac-tions, arguing that rather than seizure, the service should col-lect appropriate duty on them and allow their owners to take delivery.

Meanwhile, stakeholders have identifi ed the local alerts issued by some offi cers at the Lagos Ports as an epitome of systemic corruption within the Customs operation.

“May we therefore ask, where is CGC Hameed Ibrahim Ali’s change mantra of President Muhammadu Buhari mandate”

Stakeholders have also identifi ed common issues such as re-routing of entries, fake password disputes, local alerting, stoppage of released and exited cargo at the gates, frivolous value assessment, improper Customs examination and duplication of functions, among others as veritable

avenues through which the offi cers extort importers and freight forwarders.

Why we fi nanced Labana Rice Mill, by Sterling BankUdo Onyeka

Sterling Bank Plc has attrib-uted its decision to fi nance

the multi-billion naira Labana Rice Mills, one of the largest rice mills in Africa, to the need to support the agenda of the Federal Government towards guaranteeing food security, de-veloping the non-oil sector and conserving the nation’s foreign exchange reserves.

Between January 2012 and May 2015, the country spent over $2.41bn, about N482bn, on rice importation.

Labana Global Ventures, owner of the Mills is one of the 17 companies granted approval to participate in the Federal Government’s Rice Processing Intervention Scheme under a Public Private Partnership, PPP.

The Bank’s Managing Direc-tor and Chief Executive Offi cer, Mr. Yemi Adeola who disclosed this at the commissioning of the Rice Mill in Birnin-Kebbi

by President Muhammadu Buhari, represented by the Minister for Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbe, also noted that the mass production of rice locally will go a long way to conserving the country’s foreign exchange and reduce demand pressure in the foreign exchange mar-ket. In his speech, the Presi-dent commended Sterling Bank for its contributions to the development of the sector and its alignment with the goals of the current administration in the area of agriculture.

The Sterling Bank chief ex-ecutive who lauded the Federal Government for its focus on the Agricultural sector noted that the commissioning of the Labana Rice Mill would go a long way to meet the local demand on rice by Nigerians, conserve foreign exchange and generate employment.

Asides the rice mill commis-sioned, Mr. Adeola disclosed that the Bank has also fi -nanced a state of the art soya bean oil milling plant as well as major agrochemical and fertiliser companies in the country amongst others. In ad-dition, the Bank has fi nanced various poultry projects and provided advice to poultry farmers on best production performance methodologies.

He assured that the Bank will continue to provide ad-equate fi nancing structures and fi nancial advisory services to individuals and organisa-tions in the sector. As stated by Mr. Adeola, “Sterling Bank will continue to fi nance key ac-tors along the value chain from production to marketing”.

China announces $60bn ‘funding support’ for Africa

Chinese President Xi Jin-ping announced $60bn of

assistance and loans for Africa

at a summit in Johannesburg on Friday, signalling China’s commitment to the continent despite a recent fall in invest-ment.

China’s economic growth has taken a dip this year, trigger-ing a global commodities slump and causing Beijing to slash investment in Africa by more than 40 percent in the fi rst six months of 2015.

Xi said that China would “provide a total of $60 billion of funding support that includes $5bn of grants in zero interest loans (and) $35bn in preferen-tial facility and export credit loans and concessional loans.”

In a slew of pledges at his speech opening the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, FOCAC, he also announced drought aid for the continent.

“China is greatly concerned about the poor harvest caused by El Nino in many African countries and will provide one billion renminbi yuan ,$156m worth of emergency food aid to the affected countries,” he said.

The two-day FOCAC meet-ing is the second time China has brought together African leaders since the forum was launched in Beijing in 2000.

Since then, China’s trade with Africa has overtaken that of the traditional partners, Eu-rope and the United States.

“China is still very active in Africa,” Deborah Brautigan, of the US-based China Africa Research Institute, told AFP.

“They are very competitive. They made it clear that Africa is still their business partner (but) this big sum is mainly loans that will have to be repaid.”

The money will target 10 areas, including industrialisa-tion, infrastructure, fi nancial services, poverty reduction, and peace and security.

Zhong Jinahua, a Chinese diplomat at the summit, brushed off concerns about the recent drop in investment into Africa.

“I don’t think we need to pan-

ic over the fl uctuation in trade volumes,” he told reporters.

A fall in mineral prices has hit African countries who relied on Chinese demand, with large lay-offs by mining companies in resource-rich countries such as Zambia and South Africa.

“We are keen to explore cooperation with China to ensure the long term viability of African mining,” South Africa President Jacob Zuma told the summit.

“This is important in light of the declining demand for com-modities.”

Among the presidents attend-ing were Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, which is Africa’s largest economy, Salva Kiir of South Sudan, Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta.

CBN, Bank Directors partner on anti-money laundering, corporate governanceUdo Onyeka

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, organised a 5-day

training program November 30-December 4, 2015 for Bank Directors on corporate gover-nance and Anti-Money Laun-dering to keep abreast with global trends.

Addressing bank directors and other captains of industry at the event, CBN’s Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Mr. Joseph Nnanna said the issue of corporate governance has become topical globally, more so when it is considered in the role it played during the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, and its impli-cations for the stability of the Nigerian fi nancial system.

According to the deputy governor CBN would be happy to see a proactive board of directors that checkmate the management of banks; add-ing that the apex bank does not want to be in the Grey List of the Financial Action Task Force ,FATF.

“We want you to tell your compliance offi cers to do their work with all the seriousness it deserves. If they come and fi nd any bank wanting, it is not only the MDs of those banks we shall hold responsible. We shall hold the board collectively responsible,” he warned.

According to Nnanna, there is an interface between weak corporate governance and money laundering/fi nancing of terrorism that may not be very obvious to the ordinary observer.

He stressed that the two could be considered as mutu-ally reinforcing, since weak corporate governance can be

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net Monday, December 7, 2015 A5 21Business CourageCourage

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L-R: Enterprise Technology Specialist, Shada Oluwatobi; Global Education, Shelley Shott; Corporate Affairs Manager, Babatunde Akinola; and Business Development Director, Stanley Muoneke, all of Intel during the Intel Business Partners Professional Development Training Workshop held at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce, (LCCI), Ikeja, Lagos recently.

compromised by vendors of money laundering and terror-ism fi nancing and vice versa.

Discussing the issue of cor-porate governance he noted, is made more urgent now that it is obvious that banks’ fi nan-cial performance, reputation and the safety and soundness of the fi nancial system “must be driven by strong corporate governance culture.

“I have no doubt in my mind that this is where this train-ing derives its most important objective and signifi cance,” he stated.

CIIN to extend professional examinations across Africa

The Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, CIIN, is

widening its educational cover-age to other African countries in a deliberate move to extend the frontiers of its professional examinations

President of the Institute Lady Isioma Chukwuma who made this known during her recent visit to the Nigerian Insurers Association, NIA, in Lagos noted that the expansion plan will cover countries in West, East and Central Africa sub-region.

The countries include, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe among others.

She said that during her leadership the CIIN will also reinforce the success recorded with regards to the existing off-shore examination centre in Banjul, The Gambia and the most recent centre in Kigali, Rwanda.

She also promised that the Institute will promote its mem-bers’ benefi ts by ensuring that they get more value for their membership, adding that “In particular, we will focus on de-livering continuous education programmes as well as improv-ing the platforms for engaging members on knowledge update deliberations on a more regular basis”.

“Permit me to state that as an Institute, we are not resting on our oars in the drive to pro-mote Insurance Awareness and Education in Nigeria.

The 2015 edition of the Insti-tute’s Annual Education Semi-nar with the theme “Synergiz-ing Branch Offi ce Operations and Insurance Awareness” was held just last week in Port Harcourt.

The event was followed by our donation of 750 copies of the CIIN published ‘Insur-ance Textbook for Secondary Schools’ to both the Rivers and Imo States’ Ministries of Education for onward distribu-tion to all the Senior Secondary

Schools in both States.The donation of the Text-

books to Rivers and Imo States follows prior donations to the governments of Lagos, Ogun, Edo, Ondo and Kwara States” she said.

The president stated that all of those steps represent the Institutes articulated efforts at expanding the capacity of its offering of insurance pro-grammes thereby guiding them pragmatically towards the im-provement of their capacity to deliver superior and qualitative insurance education.

According to her, I must reiterate at this point that the Institute is fully committed to placing the Insurance Industry in a prime position in the fi -nancial services sector and the national economy as a whole.

NECA urges state governors to uphold law on minimum wage

The Nigerian Employers’ Consultative Association,

NECA, an umbrella body for Organised Private Sector, has urged state governors to up-hold the sanctity of the law on minimum wage.

Director General of NECA, Mr Segun Oshinowo, spoke to the News Agency of Nige-ria, NAN, on Friday in La-gos against the backdrop of unwillingness of some state governors to pay the N18, 000 minimum wage.

He said that the minimum wage was not the product of administrative fi at.

According to him, it is a product of a painstaking tripar-tite negotiation and agreement in which the state governments were duly represented, and was legislated by the National Assembly.

He said that the state gov-ernors, by attaching condition

,falling oil prices, to implemen-tation of the law, were making mockery of governance, which was not acceptable anywhere.

“The minimum wage goes beyond politics and the claim of inability to pay.

“It is either the governors do not understand that the mini-mum wage is backed by an Act, or are simply out to break the law, thereby bringing their offi ce into disrepute.

“I think we should celebrate our governors for trying to break the law. I say this sar-castically because government at all levels should set example in obeying the laws.

“The governors are simply grandstanding. The thing goes beyond ability to pay. The is-sue is that government should respect the sanctity of the law.

“ I am not talking about sanctity of agreement, but sanctity of the law because the sanctity of the law supersedes the sanctity of agreement.

“It will be unfortunate if the governors should go ahead and break the law. They want to indulge themselves in impunity by disobeying the law of the land,’’ Oshinowo said.

NAN recalls that the organ-ised labour had said it had put its organs across the federation at alert, as some of the gover-nors may be ignorant about the import of their proposal on minimum wage.

Intel, TASUED partner on classroom technologyLeonard Okachie

In an effort to integrate tech-nology into classroom learning

to better prepare students for the 21st century, Intel recently organised a four-day training session tagged “Intel Teacher Professional Development Train-

ing”.The training exercise organ-

ised in partnership with the Tai Solarin University of Educa-tion (TASUED), is part of Intel’s global Teach Program to improve effectiveness among teachers through professional develop-ment, afforded participants from the university, the opportunity to interact with various class-room technology solutions that aids problem-solving, critical thinking and collaboration skills.

Speaking on the training, Global Education Specialist, Intel, Shelly Shott, who fa-cilitated the training sessions, emphasized the need for a student-centred environment which according to her is a perfect environment to introduce technology.

“Intel believes that we have to educate our students for the 21st century. The old format of teaching does not necessar-ily support technology in the classroom, which is why we are advocating for a student-centred approach to learning,” she said.

As the fi rst University of Edu-cation, the partnership with TA-SUED, will provide Intel with the opportunity to have a system in place, whereby teachers year in year out are given technology skills before they graduate.

According to the Corporate Af-fairs Group Manager, Intel, Ba-batunde Akinola, Intel through the program, has also provided the school with its curriculum for teachers training which they can apply to both the Pre-service and In-service teachers.

He said, “The course we are running is Intel Teaching Port-folio of Courses and we have been training teachers around the world for the past 10 years. The company has invested over $1 billion in education and we still continue to do that. We see TASEUD as a strategic partner because their mandate is Edu-cation.”

Akinola added that, “Being a

state government University and the fi rst University of education in Nigeria with a mandate to train teachers for the economy, the training will defi nitely fi lter down.”

OPEC fails to agree on production after Iran pledges output boost

OPEC members failed to agree an oil production

ceiling on Friday at a meeting that ended in acrimony, after Iran said it would not consider any production curbs until it restores output scaled back for years under Western sanctions.

Friday’s developments set up the fractious cartel for more price wars in an already heavily oversupplied market.

Oil prices have more than halved over the past 18 months to a fraction of what most OPEC members need to bal-ance their budgets. Brent oil futures fell by 1 percent on Fri-day to trade around $43, only a few dollars off a six year low.

Banks such as Goldman Sachs predict they could fall further to as low as $20 per barrel as the world produces more oil than it consumes and runs out of capacity to store the excess.

A fi nal OPEC statement was issued with no mention of a new production ceiling. The last time OPEC failed to reach a deal was in 2011 when Saudi Arabia was pushing the group to increase output to avoid a price spike amid a Libyan uprising.

“We have no decision, no number,” Iranian oil minister Bijan Zangeneh told reporters after the meeting.

OPEC’s secretary general Abdullah al-Badri said OPEC could not agree on any fi gures because it could not predict how much oil Iran would add to the market next year, as sanctions are withdrawn under a deal reached six months ago with world powers over its nuclear programme.

Most ministers left the meet-ing without making comments.

Badri tried to lessen the em-barrassment by saying OPEC was as strong as ever, only to hear an outburst of laughter from reporters and analysts in the conference room.

A year ago, Saudi Arabia pushed though an OPEC deci-sion to defend market share instead of cutting output, ultimately hoping to drive high-cost producers such as U.S. shale fi rms out of the market.

Many poorer OPEC members have said the group’s largest producer was effectively twist-ing their arms, prompting the Saudi oil minister, Ali al-Naimi, to say he would listen to every-one this time.


Companies & Markets

Nobel Carpet gets MAN’s best industrial premises awardSaidat Alausa

Lucky Fibres Plc, manu-facturers of Nigeria’s fi n-est fl oor covering Nobel

carpets and rugs, has been de-clared winner of the best indus-trial premises for 2015 by Man-ufactures association of Nigeria following the environmental as-sessment of the factory premises conducted by the association’s environmental committee.

The award presentation took place at the 48th annual gen-eral meeting of the Manufactur-ers Association of Nigeria (MAN) held at Ikeja, last week.

The award was the result of

the yearly “Best kept industrial premises competition” among all manufacturing companies in-cluding food and beverages.

According to the Chairman, Manufacturers Association of Ni-geria, Ikeja Branch, Prince Oba Okojie, Lucky Fibres was able to meet the requirements and cri-teria of the association commit-tee and has been awarded the gold medal in recognition of its achievement.

He explained that, adhering to environmental standards set by regulatory bodies was key to the success of manufacturing com-panies, as MAN in collaboration with other environmental agen-

cies deemed it fi t to conduct as-sessment of the environmental state of members’ factory and reward members, who adhere to the strict standards accordingly.

He further commended the Company for its commitment in the branch and its consistent commitment to environmental excellence over the years.

Speaking on the brand’s rec-ognition, General Manager, Lucky Fibres, Mr. Jitesh Pam-nani, expressed joy and delight on the Award and reaffi rmed the company’s commitment to envi-ronmental excellence.

He further added that the company have over they year’s

received the award from the Manufacturers association of Nigeria and would not relent in its effort to ensure it keeps up with the high standards put in place.

Also commenting on the re-ceipt of the award, Factory Man-ager Lucky Fibres Santosh To-mar said “Our clear lead with 86.5 percent to top the score sheets is the reward of clear ded-ication. Winning the fi rst year wasn’t as challenging as keeping up with the standards this year. Lucky Fibres’ top priority is in, continuous improvement and excellence in all areas of endea-vour”.

CSR: Ecobank gives scholarships, learning materials to Indigent Students

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Airtel ‘RedHot’ promo to produce 60 millionaires

Udo Onyeka

Ecobank Nige-ria has awarded scholarships,enrolled

the West African Examination Council (WAEC) exams for sev-eral students of Government Secondary School, Lugbe, Abuja. The bank also donated various learning materials to the school as part of this year Financial Literacy Day.

Breakdown of the bank’s gesture showed that 100 stu-dents benefi ted from the one year scholarship, 20 students got WAEC enrollment fees, while 1000 exercise books and 27 white boards were handed to the school.

The Financial Literacy Day, an initiative of the Bankers’ Committee is set aside to fo-cus attention on children and youths in primary and second-ary schools in the country and to empower them by enhanc-ing their fi nancial knowledge and planning skills. It was held in collaboration with Junior Achievement of Nigeria (JAN).

Speaking at the event, Man-aging Director, Ecobank Nige-

NSE conducts Youth Investors Clinic

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The Nigerian Stock Ex-change (NSE) has hosted its fourth quarter Inves-

tors’ Clinic targeted at youths in the country.

The clinic themed ‘Securing Your Tomorrow, Today’, had over 100 youths in attendance.

The investors’ clinic is a free and open fi nancial literacy and inclusion programmes to edu-cate Nigerian youths on the cul-ture of investment in the capital and money markets.

According to Bola Adeeko, Head, Corporate Services Divi-sion, NSE, “we are committed to building a fi nancially literate

generation and will continue to commit resources to implement a variety of programmes that will enable young people imbue the requisite skills and knowl-edge that will help them navi-gate the future through smart investing .”

Speaking on their experience at the investors’ clinic, Miss Damilola Obafemi an applicant, said “I’ve always heard that the stock exchange is relevant to the Nigeria and the economy. Being here today is an oppor-tunity for me to get information that will allow me to participate in the market”.

Mr. Kayode Awokoya, an ap-plicant and a participant, also said “It is a very well organized event basically for the youths, and I think being here is an op-portunity for me to take away skills and knowledge on invest-ment opportunities available for youth in the country” while Mi-chael Adewunmi from Portfolio Adversory Limited, a stockbrok-ing fi rm, said “I got the informa-tion about this event from the Nigerian Stock Exchange’s web-site. I’m here to acquire knowl-edge about the market and to apply and disseminate such information to people who need

it”.Pai Gamde, Head, Human

Resources at The NSE reiter-ated that “It is imperative that this fi nancial literacy clinic hits home. With the startling statis-tics that 47 per cent of our 29.4 million youths within the ages of 18 and 25 years are fi nan-cially excluded and they have no access to fi nancial services either formally or informally.

As a responsible organiza-tion, we will continue to play our part in deploying fi nancial literacy programmes that will develop our youths to become sound leaders of tomorrow.”

L–R: Executive Director, Business Development, The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Haruna Jalo-Waziri; Chief Executive Offi cer, NSE, Mr. Oscar N. Onyema; Executive Director, Market Operations and Technology, NSE, Mr. Ade Bajomo, and Secretary to Council, NSE, Mrs. Mojisola Adeola, at the Induction Ceremony for newly qualifi ed Authorized Dealing Clerks at the Exchange

Adejuwon Osunnuyi

Airtel Nigeria, has an-nounced the return of its groundbreaking con-

sumer reward initiative tagged Airtel Red Hot Promo.

According to the telco, this year’s edition of the reward initiative will create exciting opportunities for telecoms con-sumers across the country as 60 Nigerians will win an amaz-ing Emirates Holiday in Dubai for themselves and any three of their loved ones. Each of the 60 lucky winners will then choose the other three persons who will accompany them on this all-expense paid trip to Dubai.

To add to the excitement, Airtel will create 60 instant millionaires 60 days by giving out, N1 million in daily draws over the next 60 days.

The telco added that every-one – customers and telecoms consumers - stand a chance to win big as the promo offers lots of opportunities and priz-es, including millions in air-time, smartphones and other mouth-watering prizes.

Announcing the initiative, Chief Commercial Offi cer, Air-tel Nigeria, Ahmed Mokhles, said the telco is committed to connecting Nigerians to their dreams and providing cred-ible platforms and spring boards for telecoms consumers achieve their greatness.

“Airtel’s RedHot Promo is a reward programme that seeks to excite and delight Nigerians. It demonstrates our commit-ment to rewarding our cus-tomers for their continuing pa-tronage and loyalty while also welcoming new users to our network,” he said.

To participate and win in the Red Hot promo, customers need to accumulate points by recharging his/her line, buying any TalkMore bundle, buying any data bundles, registering for Access Money or even call-ing 141 (MAMO)

With a point-based system, customers can improve their chances of winning by increas-ing their recharges.

ria, Jibril Aku, said, the support to the school

worth millions of naira was one of the several ways of promot-ing education and supporting indigent students across the

country.Represented by Business

Executive, Public Sector, Eco-bank Nigeria, Shehu Jafi ya, the MD enjoined the students and school authourity to put

to good use the ‘’kind gestures from the bank.’

“We believe this gesture will help indigent students who are unable to pay fees or enroll for WAEC.. I advise you to face

your studies. The importance of education cannot be over emphasized. We are interested to help you succeed in life,’ he said

He tutored the students some fi nancial tips, how to manage money, make right de-cisions and gain fi nancial free-dom.


gerian Breweries and Exxon Mobil in the education and the promotion of gender equality categories.

Commenting on the awards, Vice President, Regulatory and Corporate Affairs, Etisalat Ni-geria, Ibrahim Dikko said: “we are delighted at not just win-ning these awards, but for be-ing at the forefront of impacting the lives of Nigerians in many innovative and positive ways. At Etisalat we are passionate about making life easier for our customers and members of the communities where we do busi-ness; this is why we focus on three strategic areas of inter-ventions: education, health and environment.”

He reiterated Etisalat’s com-mitment to Nigeria through ef-fective partnership with rele-vant stakeholders and through

the roll-out of more innovative solutions that will impact posi-tively on the overall develop-ment of the country.

In addition to the two awards, Etisalat also emerged as the fi rst runner-up in the Overall Winner for 2015 SE-RAs Awards while CSR Man-ager, Oyetola Oduyemi was named the fi rst runner-up for the CSR Practitioner of the Year category.

The Social Enterprise Report and Awards also known as the Nigeria CSR Awards recognises the contributions of the most socially responsible organisa-tions doing businesses in Ni-geria. SERA seeks to integrate principles and framework of the Global Compact, global report-ing initiative, the Sustainable Development Goals and ISO 26000.

Insight sustains dominance at LAIF Award

Brand Watch

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Etisalat shines at SERAs Awards 2015

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David Audu

Insight Communications dem-onstrated its dominance of the advertising industry in Nigeria

with a strong showing at the 2015 Lagos Advertising and Ideas Fes-tival, LAIF, Awards held in Lagos, recently as itt emerged the most awarded company for the year, and went home with 25 awards, comprising fi ve gold, ten silver and ten bronze awards respec-tively.

Chief Operating Offi cer, Feyi Olubodun, dedicated the awards to the clients who he said trust the company with briefs over the years, adding that “the successful execution of these briefs has given birth to these awards.”

He thanked the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria, AAAN, for initiating and sustain-ing the awards, which according to him have improved the practice of advertising in Nigeria.

“The secret behind the com-pany’s consistent strong profes-sional performance is the hunger to satisfy clients so it looks for-ward to measuring itself against other competent professionals regularly. Olubodun disclosed that.

“The LAIF Awards is something we look forward to every year. It affords us the opportunity to have the industry undertake an independent assessment of what we have done for clients, thereby measuring ourselves against fel-low professionals.”

He explained that each work entered by his company for the awards must fi rst pass the critical test of public acceptance, then cli-ent satisfaction and approval.

According to him, “clients’ en-dorsement of ideas and creatives

is very complex, as clients trust you with their brands and pay for services. To earn formal approval of services from paying clients would always be tough, which is why I also commend the employ-ees who give their all, functioning as a well lubricated machine on daily basis to achieve these.”

Recalling that his company has consistently emerged the most awarded company at the LAIF Awards for ten years run-ning, Olubodun attributed it to a strong system put in place by the founding fathers of the compa-ny – Biodun Shobanjo and Jimi Awoshika. This according to him “has evolved into a functional system where everybody is aware of his/her roles and delivers on

them for the common good of the business. The creative team, the account management team, the strategic planning team, each de-partment brings value to the ta-ble to make Insight a great com-pany. This is what reinforces our confi dence that this dominance is sustainable.”

Similarly, Chima Okenimpe, Executive Creative Director at In-sight Communications Limited, while applauding the LAIF and its contributions to the advertising industry in Nigeria, counselled the organisers to strive to encourage creativity with a view to “identify-ing and celebrating adverts that showcase true Nigerian narrative, so as to gain global recognition for the Nigerian ad industry.”

He traced his company’s con-sistent performance to a culture of institutional excellence backed by a creative philosophy that has the

PZ Cussons unveils new look Canoe detergent

Telecommunications com-pany, Etisalat, has been acknowledged for its com-

mitment to Corporate Social Responsibility in the country as it emerged the “Best Company in Education” and “Best Com-pany in the Promotion of Gen-der Equality” respectively at this years SERAs awards held in Lagos recently.

The SERAs panel of judges awarded Etisalat the best com-pany in education for its com-mitment to Nigeria’s education-al development including the education of the girl child. Also considered is Etisalat Cliqlite, an innovative technology driven educational tool that supports learning and development for children and teenagers from 8 to 15 years.

The judges also voted Eti-salat as winner for the promo-

tion of gender equality in Nige-ria through its empowerment of the girl child, a partnership between the telco and African Women Foundation.

Etisalat beat other contend-ers such as Airtel, Lafarge, Ni-

Matthew Wilsher, CEO Etisalat

In a bid to consolidate its leadership in the mar-ket, PZ Cussons has re-

launched canoe detergent into the Northern Nigerian mar-kets with promise to maintain good standards and quality of product in order to satisfy consumers.

At the product relaunch in Suleja Market, Niger State, which is part of its Pan-Nige-ria Campaign, the company’s brand manager, Fabrics Care, Miss Gloria Jacobs, said the new product package was necessitated by the need “to evolve and make the product more attractive in line with colour care composition” and “to cater for people that have large families at affordable price. That is what we are do-ing in Suleja Market”.

At the market, the com-pany awarded a star-prize of brand new washing machine to a trader simply identifi ed as Mr. Anayo “for displaying 547 faces of Canoe detergent in Suleja Market and for having the best display (of the prod-ucts) in the market”. Other customers were also rewarded with other categories of con-solation prizes.

Miss Jacob stated that the new product does not prevent consumers from maintaining the known genuine quality of their fabrics, stressing that “It is the same Canoe Detergent soap they have always known, coming in an exciting, attrac-tive wrapper; same fragrance; same price; same quality; same value in addition to in-troducing a new 1.8kg size”.

The brand manager added that this new product re-launch was not prompted by any threat from competitors, saying rather that custom-ers have always trusted their products because of the com-mitment to offer customers colour protection on their fab-rics.

“We have created a niche as the leading name in caring for all coloured fabrics, which is why canoe is being endorsed by Da Viva as the best deter-gent for colour fabrics. We do not face any threat from other competitors”, she said.

The canoe detergent brand is reputed for its leadership in preserving the colour and quality of fabrics.

consumer as the chief executive offi cer. “What we have at Insight is a system that watches out for excellence right from recruitment. This is further strengthened by our human capital development strategy that spares no cost. With this culture, each employee is trained and carries about his/her duties with the understand-ing that the consumer is the rea-son for the brands we work for and our existence as a business. Now these are beginning to yield results,” he said.

The LAIF seeks to recognise creative excellence; help improve the quality of creative craft and promote the spirit of healthy com-petition by applying global best practices. The LAIF is also aimed at promoting excellence in brand development, while showcasing and celebrating Nigeria’s creative potential globally.

L-R: FCA, Deputy Director, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs. Osaretin Oyewumi; , President, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede; Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, CBN, Dr. Okwu Joseph Nnanna and Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, CBN, Mr. Kevin Amugo, at a training for directors of banks in Nigeria on Corporate Governance and AML/CFT

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with Esther Ozue

([email protected]) 08059234648 (sms only)

TechnotalkTechnotalk

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Ibeji

Samsung to pay Apple $548m in patent dispute

ASUS launches ZenFone family in NigeriaLeonard Okachie

Leading laptop brand in Europe, ASUS has an-

nounced the pricing and availability of ZenFone fami-ly, including ZenFone Selfi e, ZenFone Laser 5.5, ZenFone Go 5.0, and ZenFone C 4.5, all with comprehensive camera solutions, for users in Nigeria.

Speaking at the launch held at Four Points Shera-ton Lagos Hotel on Friday, ASUS Nigeria Country Prod-uct Manager, Mr. Simplice Zaongo, said “We are very excited to bring our latest ZenFone family to the Nige-rian market. These brand-new innovations are each an empowering luxury that strikes the perfect balance of beauty, functionality and performance, and especially offers Nigerian consumers a comprehensive camera ex-perience via both hardware and software.”

He noted that all Zen-Fone models are equipped with ASUS PixelMaster technology, stressing that PixelMaster is a unique ASUS-developed technol-ogy that combines software, hardware and optical design to deliver incredible image quality.

Zaongo maintained that ZenFone Selfi e is the ulti-mate choice for selfi es, with

its twin 13MP PixelMaster cameras and a dual-colour, dual-LED Real Tone fl ash at both front and rear. Zen-Fone Selfi e also features the new multifaceted polygonal design aesthetic to the Ze-nFone, offering beauty and power in abundance.

He explained that the Zen-Fone Laser 5.5 includes la-ser auto-focus technologyin its 13MP PixelMaster cam-era for clear, near-instant shots in just 0.3 seconds, while the other brands, Zen-Fone Go 5.0 and ZenFone C 4.5 are also equipped with PixelMaster camera for up to 400 per cent brighter photo and video.

While demonstrating Zen-fone’s comprehensive cam-era solutions, the Country Product Manager- Tablet/

Samsung fought until the bitter end to avoid paying

Apple, but the company now says it will fi nally hand over the more than $548m it owes for infringing the patents and designs of its biggest smart-phone rival.

In papers fi led in federal court in San Jose, California on Thursday, Samsung Elec-tronics Co Ltd said it will make the payment by December 14, if Apple Inc sends an invoice on Friday.

Asked if it had done so, Ap-ple declined to comment on Friday.

The payment comes after a U.S. appeals court last May reduced a $930m judgment against Samsung by $382m, stemming from a 2012 verdict for infringing Apple patents and copying the look of the iPhone.

Another trial over remain-ing damages relating to some of Samsung’s infringing prod-ucts in the case is set to go

ahead next spring.Even though the U.S. Court

of Appeals for the Federal Cir-cuit in Washington, D.C. had authorized damages to Apple in May, Samsung again ap-pealed the fi nal fi gure to the same court, and was rebuffed twice more.

Now agreeing to pay, Sam-sung told the San Jose court that it expects to be reimbursed

if it eventually succeeds in a forthcoming appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court over its liabil-ity for copying the patented de-signs of the surface, bezel and user interface of the iPhone, which accounted for $399m of the total award.

South Korea-based Sam-sung also said it reserved the right to be reimbursed in the future if a decision by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Offi ce invalidating one of the Apple patents in the case, related to touch screen gestures, is up-held.

Apple intends to appeal that ruling and said in court docu-ments it “disputes Samsung’s asserted rights to reimburse-ment.”

“We are disappointed that the court has agreed to pro-ceed with Apple’s grossly ex-aggerated damages claims regardless of whether the pat-ents are valid,” a Samsung spokeswoman said in a state-ment.

DT/AIO, Lawrence Lin, said that ZenMotion Touch Ges-ture allows users to open the front camera by simply drawing “S” on the ZenFone Selfi e screen.

He emphasised that the built-in beatifi cation cam-era tool can make the skin smooth, change the skin tone, slim the chick, and enlarge the eyes on a click, adding that as soon as the selfi e is taken, the photo is shown on the laptop screen via ASUS ZenUI app – PC Link, which allows users to operate their phones from laptop.

Lin disclosed that the ZenFone family will be avail-able at Slot, Park N Shop, Konga, Genuss, Onyx, and Jumia from December 12 at the following retail prices: ZenFone Selfi e (N54,990), ZenFone Laser 5.5 (N46,990), ZenFone Go 5.0 (N24,990),and ZenFone C 4.5 (N19,490).

In his remarks, the Man-aging Director of Coscharis Technologies, sole distribu-tors of the phones in Nige-ria, Mr. Mukoro Emomine, stated that Nigeria is the fi rst place ZenFone family is being launched in Africa, adding that his company is not interested becuase of the business but because of the quality and the value its value tom the world.

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Shin Jong-kyun, CEO, Samsung Mobile

Types of online collaboration tools

Indeed, the emergence of online collaboration tools has revolutionised the way individuals and business work together. Most online collaboration tools are simple,

easy to use and inexpensive. If you have not taking advan-tage of these powerful tools, here are few types of online collaboration tools:

Kanban board is visual online collaboration software that enables teams to share a collaborative style of work-ing, by keeping everyone on the same page to achieve same goal.

Wiki technology is an online collaboration tool which helps to manage multiple contributors to documents or projects. It creates a webpage that anyone with permission to access can modify quickly and easily. Users can add to and edit pages or documents on a wiki and can also view changes made by different users or go back to previous versions.

Cloud storage is a system that backs up data on a server instead of using a hard drive or compact disc and is accessible to a single or multiple users via an internet connection. Email is an example of cloud storage. Ser-vices like google drive exit disclaimer allow real-time fi le access and editing by multiple users. Other services that allow shared access to documents include dropbox, exit disclaimer box were by fi les can be accessed with various devices like desktop computer, tablet and mobile phone.

Basecamp is an extremely powerful and useful online collaboration system designed for entrepreneurs, small businesses, freelancers and business groups. This appli-cation allows you to upload, store, edit and share docu-ments and fi les online. The interface also provides users with a convenient overview of the project schedule, as well as an account of who is working on what, to-do lists and time tracking ensuring that everything is kept in order and on schedule, while an in-built messaging system al-lows for effective communication between team members.

Skype is an online video conference. It has become widespread in the modern professional world, helping to cut down dramatically on travel costs and expensive long distance phone calls. Although many online video chat services have emerged but skype remains the most widely used and convenient. Apart from the standard face-to-face video conference chat, Skype’s screen sharing feature allows users to show others whatever is on their screen, which is perfect for presenting slideshows or making vi-sual presentations.

Trello is a perfect tool for individual or smaller group projects. Trello’s friendly interface allows users to create a project by adding items and lists, and assigning people to specifi c tasks. It then provides real time updates on all actions and progress to members of the project team.

Sync.in is a web-based word processor that enables users to view and co-edit the same notes and documents in real time from anywhere in the world. Numerous users can collectively plan projects, brainstorm and compose documents, while color coded text allows people to easily identify who made which edits. A handy time-slider also allows users to recount earlier versions and edits of the document and edit any changes made, while a chat box enables communication between the various collabora-tors.

Blossom is the most direct, and easy-to-use tool basi-cally to track the progress of personal projects, bigger projects, and really anything that comes to mind. It gives you focus and clear visibility on progress and roadblocks instantly and lets you drag to-do items from one list to another in an intuitive way.

Asana is a webapp collaboration tool for people with multiple projects, it organizes your project, helps you keep on top of updates, captures everything you and your team are doing in one place so that everyone can refer to it quickly. You can also track your own responsibilities and projects and everyone can see updates in real time.


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Behind d WheelsThis page is open to sponsorship

Adejuwon Osunnuyi

The Mercedes-Benz E-class is not just a pro-totypical luxury sedan,

it’s the embodiment of the Mercedes-Benz brand.

While the E-class aims to remain the most comfortable sedan in its segment, the re-designed, 2017 version of this all-important model will make its debut at the Detroit show in January.

Unlike previous generations of the E-class, however, the new model seems more willing to tackle twisty roads.

Despite suspension tuning that hews toward comfort, the new sedan provides agile re-sponses, and body roll is held strongly in check. The E-class will be available with 19- or 20-inch wheels.

As is typical, the new E-class will offer a wide range of gasoline and diesel engines internationally, but the choic-es will be more limited in the United States.

Buyers are to expect an E300, an E450 AMG Sport, and the monster Mercedes-AMG E63 S with about 600 horsepower.

Mercedes plans to once again offer a diesel version, as well, and a plug-in hybrid could be added down the road. Eventually, there will be hybrids with an integrated starter-generator based on a 48-volt electrical architecture.

All models come with Daim-

ler’s new nine-speed auto-matic; the AMG version will get the “Speedshift” clutch pack in place of a convention-al torque converter. 4MATIC all-wheel drive will be widely available. From the passen-ger seat, even the E300’s 2.0-liter turbo seems quick and responsive, and its lively character will be underscored by U.S.-specifi c tuning: What passes for Sport mode in Eu-rope is actually used as Com-fort mode in the States, with Sport and Sport+ sharpening the refl exes further.

Mercedes has managed to cut weight by roughly 150 pounds and improved the car’s aerodynamics (the Eu-ropean base model, which won’t be offered here, is pre-dicted to achieve a drag co-effi cient of 0.23). As a result, real-world fuel economy is expected to jump by close to 20 per cent.

With its new bundle of driv-er-assistance systems, the new E-class will also up the ante in the fi eld of autono-mous driving. The “Drive Pi-lot” maintains lane position and the distance to other cars at speeds up to 120 mph, and it doesn’t even need clear lane markings at speeds up to 60 mph. In a curve, there’s as-sisted steering.

Car-to-X Communication warns the driver of dangers lying ahead. In addition, when it’s in autonomous mode, the E-class will change lanes with

a tip of the turn-signal stalk—a not-for-America feature that Daimler initially didn’t feel was essential but decided to include after the enthusias-tic media response to its in-clusion by other carmakers.

What you can’t do is retire to the back seat: The Drive Pilot requires that the driver peri-odically touch a sensor on the steering wheel. As seldom as once every other minute can be suffi cient.

Inside, the E-class im-presses with an opulence that comes close to that of the fl agship S-class and in some cases even exceeds it. The seats can be specifi ed with even more massage options, and the optional instrumenta-tion includes a wide, confi gu-rable screen. The entry-level gauge cluster includes three-dimensional dials, which are housed together under a somewhat aesthetically chal-lenged chrome arch. One of the test cars was fi tted with a Burmester audio system, and it was one of the best we’ve ex-perienced.

In terms of exterior design, the E-class takes a big step forward compared with its boxy predecessor, adopting the familial look of the smaller C-class and the larger S-class.


Inspiring go-getter

Setting goals and achieving the goals are two different challenges. Gbenga

Oyebode is a goal setter and a goal achiever. The suave legal hard-headed emprise started out as a legal con-sultant but soon expand his business sphere to cover oth-er money making points like oil and project management. Today, Gbenga Oyebode has become an enigma of a sort with greater experience in project and infrastructure fi nance, commercial law, en-ergy, natural resources and telecommunications.

Gbenga a managing part-ner of Aluko & Oyebode be-gan their business at an offi ce complex at Moloney Street, Lagos just opposite the Kam Salem House. Af-ter the demise of his partner about 14 years ago, Gbenga took the challenging mantle of leadership of the compa-ny with dexterity cumulat-ing into the great expansion the company has witnessed within these years. One thing is sure, Gbenga’s public rela-

Gbenga Oyebode

The man, Gbenga Oyebode is one of the very few Nigerians who have been blessed with unique business acumen. A quality that has seen him rise from the one time school boy to a prominent lawyer cum business man now occupying the directorship and chairmanship positions of the boards of some companies in Nigeria.

tion has always been intact. He has learnt the right busi-ness rule; to say one thing to one’s client and do the same thing, would lead to greater business break through. As it is, he has surely kept to this business rule as this has opened quite a number of business opportunities for him to rake in more money.

Somehow, Gbenga has be-came a brand himself with immense popularity amongst the very top business mo-guls, the state and federal governments in Nigeria, Eu-rope and America. This may explain one of the very rea-sons why he is much sought after to undertake attractive contracts which carry several billion Naira tag. He is been able to turn around the com-pany from being a law fi rm to being a multi-functional business covering several other sectors. His onslaught in other business areas must have left the core operators with mouth gaping in won-der.

Described as a hard-headed and very intelligent

business man by Who is Who Legal, Gbenga is an unassuming taciturn who is possibly consumed by the greater desire to continue to grow the fi rm to a much more enviable position in the Nigeria than engage in glib. At various times in his career, he has worked with White & Case in New York and the Gulf Oil Company in Lagos and Houston. Places where he garnered the much needed experience in the oil sector that has now become handy in his dealings con-cerning the oil and gas with his various clients. Gbenga Oyebode is the chairman of the fi rm’s management board and heads its energy practice, with signifi cant ex-perience in corporate and commercial law, energy and natural resources, project fi -nance, aviation and telecom-munication.

This group, the Aluko & Oyebode, is one of the fore-most commercial fi rms in Nigeria, and handles some of the largest and most complex transactions in the market. Oyebode


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M&A and capital markets briefs are regular features of the fi rm’s deal sheet, and the team acted as local counsel to Access Bank on a USD350 million issuance of Eurobonds listed on the LSE. Clients have been highly im-pressed by the level of skill on offer across the company’s team and the consideration paid to practical issues: “They were open to business con-cerns, while clearly setting out the legal risks.” Manag-ing partner Gbenga Oyebode is “one of the most highly regarded lawyers in Nige-ria.” His input is sought on a range of top-level mandates. The fi rm handled the NGN30 billion debt issuance for the government of Gombe State, and the above mentioned Eurobond issue. On the con-tentious side of the practice, Huawei Technologies in a USD60 million claim regard-ing sums due under various telecoms contracts. Key lo-cal clients seek this fi rm’s advice on various aspects of their businesses, including transactions, sale and pur-chase agreements and dis-putes. The fi rm’s strength in energy sector fi nancing is especially well regarded, on both the borrower and lender sides. Standout matters in-clude advising the NNPC and Mobil Producing Nigeria on a USD1.5 billion project fi -nancing. LNG work is also a strength, as demonstrated by the fi rm’s ongoing represen-tation of Brass LNG. Manag-ing partner Gbenga Oyebode heads the fi ve-partner energy team and takes a lead role on some of the most promi-nent Jacka Resources in its USD16 million acquisition of an interest in an oil and gas fi eld. Gbenga Oyebode is the chairman of the fi rm’s man-agement board and heads its energy practice, with signifi -cant experience in corporate and commercial law, energy and natural resources, proj-ect fi nance, aviation and tele-communications.

This fi rm is well known as a leading participant in some of Nigeria’s largest commer-cial and project fi nancings. Its clientele includes ma-jor local and international banks, such as Access Bank, Citibank and Standard Char-tered Bank. Clients are hap-py with the “strong legal ad-vice” they receive, and praise the team for its fl exibility and dedication. Managing part-ner Gbenga Oyebode takes a

lead role on substantial mat-ters, and sources value his high-level strategic input.

Key local clients seek this fi rm’s advice on various as-pects of their business, in-cluding transactions, sale and purchase agreements and disputes. The fi rm’s strength in energy sector fi -nancing is especially well re-garded, on both the borrower and lender sides. Standout matters include advising the NNPC and Mobil Produc-ing Nigeria on a USD1.5 bil-lion project fi nancing. LNG work is also a strength, as demonstrated by the fi rm’s ongoing representation of Brass LNG. Managing part-ner Gbenga Oyebode heads the fi ve-partner energy team and takes a lead role on some of the most prominent Jacka Resources in its USD16 mil-lion acquisition of an interest in an oil and gas fi eld. Gben-ga Oyebode is the chairman of the fi rm’s management board and heads its energy practice, with signifi cant ex-perience in corporate and commercial law, energy and natural resources, project fi -nance, aviation and telecom-munications.

Gbenga is currently advis-

ing on the Brass LNG Proj-ect, a joint venture between NNPC, TOTAL, Conoco Phil-ips and Agip for the con-struction of a US$3.5 billion LNG plant, and advised on the US$360 million Lekki Concession Infrastructure Project for the construction of toll roads and bridges in Lagos State – the fi rst major PPP initiative in Nigeria. He also advised on the US$1.25 billion fi nancing of the Exxon Mobil Natural Gas Liquid II Project; the US$1.06 billion fi nancing of trains four and fi ve of the Nigerian Liquefi ed Natural Gas Plant Expansion

Project; and the development, fi nancing and implementa-tion of the fi rst IPP project in Nigeria. He is the chairman of the fi rm’s management board and heads its energy practice

Gbenga attended the Uni-versity of Ife with LLB Hon-ours and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (LLM), graduating in 1979 and 1982 respectively. He is a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria after being admitted in June 1980. He is also an attorney-at-law of the Supreme Court of New York State having been admitted in November

1983. At various times in his career, he has worked with White & Case in New York and the Gulf Oil Company in Lagos and Houston.

Gbenga is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbi-trators and a member of the Nigerian Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the International Bar As-sociation. He is the chairman of the Nigerian Bar Associa-tion’s section on business law.

Mr. Gbenga Oyebode, MFR has been Managing Partner of Aluko & Oyebode & Co. since 1993. Mr. Oyebode serves as the Non-Executive Chairman of The Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc and the Access Bank Plc (formerly, Access Bank Nigeria). He has been Director of Nestle Nige-ria PLC since February 24, 2014. He serves as a Direc-tor at The Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc and Crusader Nigeria Plc. Mr. Oyebode serves as a Director of MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd. He is on the Africa Advisory Committee of the Johannes-burg Stock Exchange. He is a Fellow of the Chartered In-stitute of Arbitrators of the United Kingdom and the Ni-gerian Leadership Initiative. He is the Chairman of the Section of Business Law of the Nigerian Bar Association, a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, MFR and Belgian Royal Hon-our of “Knight of the Order of Leopold and a member of the American Bar Society of the International Law. Mr. Oye-bode was educated at Univer-sity of Ife graduating with the LL. B Honours in 1979. He also attended the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia where he graduated in 1979 and 1982 respectively for his masters degree in law (LL. M Honours).

Gbenga Oyebode is a Bar-rister & Solicitor of the Su-preme Court of Nigeria who was admitted in June 1980 and an Attorney-at-law of the American Society of In-ternational Law. Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Chairman, NBA Section on Business Law. Supreme Court of New York State (admitted November 1983). He is also a member of the Nigerian Bar Associa-tion having been admitted in 1980 and the American Bar Society of International Law and the International Bar As-sociation.

Standout matters include advising the NNPC and Mobil Producing Nigeria on a USD1.5 billion project fi nancing. LNG work is also a strength, as demonstrated by the fi rm’s ongoing representation of Brass LNG

Oyebode


ThebuddingEntrepreneurs

Motivational Business Quotes

In all realms of life it takes courage to stretch your limits, express your power,

and fulfi ll your potential. It’s no different in the fi nancial realm. – Suze Orman

The expectations of life depend upon dili-gence; the mechanic that would perfect his work must fi rst sharpen his tools. – Confu-cius

The fi rst one gets the oyster the second gets the shell. – Andrew Carnegie

Hire character. Train skill. – Peter SchutzThe fi rst rule of any technology used in a

business is that automation applied to an effi cient operation will magnify the effi ciency. The second is that automation applied to an ineffi cient operation will magnify the ineffi -

ciency. – Bill Gates

Look well to this day. Yesterday is but a dream and tomorrow is only a vision. But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well therefore to this day. – Francis Gray

Surviving a failure gives you more self-confi dence. Failures are great learning tools.. but they must be kept to a mini-mum. – Jeffrey Immelt

Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. Thoughts are things! And powerful things at that, when mixed with defi niteness of purpose, and burning desire, can be translated into riches. – Napoleon Hill

B U S I N E S SMamora is a system thinker and advisor whose belief and activator leadership strengths are directed towards improving workers perspective for city and enterprise development. e-mail: [email protected]

K L I N I CWith Mamora Victor Set your

dream free

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To write out your dream is the fi rst exercise for physical expression. It means moving it from your thinking realm into physical realm, on paper

Today, where you have ex-perienced rejection, you will be celebrated now! I

see your dream being fulfi lled. Your dream to move your start-up to great business will come to pass. I believe!

Sometimes, an entrepreneur seems to be held back by threat of survival among established and big businesses. It does look like the big business has every-thing to make a loser of start-up. This perspective often im-prisons the dream of an average aspiring entrepreneur. I believe that you will fi nd courage to live above fear and be inspired as you continue to read on.

In recent time, there was an investment of over $1 million US dollars of seed funding from some of Silicon venture capi-talist including Kleiner Perkins Canfi eld & Byers into suppos-edly unpopular start-up called Dollar Shavers Club. It was a start-up that has a dream of changing the way guys buy shaving gear.

The market for men shaving product according to Euromini-tor for 2010 is $29 Billion US dollars. In an industry domi-nated by Gillette of P&G Cor-poration, it is indeed a scene of David trying to pull it off with Goliath. But Michael Dubin, the shaving start-up fi rm leader will not be coward into hiding their Dollar Shavers Club because of the gigantic presence and domi-nance of Gillette brand. They moved their dream into market, gather support and taking steps daily toward realising their business dream.

Dear friend, this story, I be-lieve should be an encourage-ment for you too. Your dream of starting a business and for a new start-up is seeking ex-pression. Sometimes, startup processes can be very frustrat-ing and especially if you live in Nigeria where I currently reside.

I mean access to funding is really a “prison break” experi-ence if you depend on the banks with double digits interest rate. It can be frustrating in an en-vironment where you have to generate power with scarce fuel to run a business. I have been there too and as start-up that won bid to do housing con-struction project and could not get fund to mobilise and com-mence work on project site.

The truth is that in all these

unpleasant circumstances, many start-ups are making progress and people living their dreams in the same country. If anybody lives her dream here, then it is an indication that yours is possible too. Don’t give up now because help is around, be courageous.

I want us to see together be-low some strategies to set your dream free and commence the journey of fulfi lling your busi-ness dream.

The fi rst strategy; communi-

cate your dream.There are two parts to com-

municating your dream, which are ‘to write” and “to speak.”

To write out your dream is the fi rst exercise for physical expression. It means moving it from your thinking realm into physical realm, on paper. Your

thought captured on the paper.David Hachez, who is a co-

founder of the Dollar Shaving Club I mentioned earlier, spoke concerning his dream that “ We are providing shaving as a ser-vice in the same way fi rms are providing software as a service these days”

This will mean that you do not only write down your dream but also speak it to attract both opportunity and sincerely it will attract opposition too. Opposi-

tion is part of your dream suc-cess equation.

The second strategy; Serve in

other people’s dreamThis means that you should

seek opportunity to help other people fulfi ll their dream. Often, the services you offer in other people’s business dream as em-ployee or a volunteer provides you two good opportunities.

One, you learn the processes of business system, success,

and failure patterns. You have a platform to experiment with your potential for business leadership.

Two, you become a better person in people skill and re-sources allocation with effective management.

The third strategy; focus on

core purpose for your dreamThe truth is that your person-

al life is too small to be the pur-pose for your business dream. If your dream is to build the larg-est bottling drink company in Africa, then the purpose cannot be for damping your personal appetite or to fl aunt adult toys with the proceeds of the busi-ness. There is something bigger and until you fi nd it then you may experience frustrating and dissatisfaction with your life.

The purpose of any equip-ment is revealed in the manual of the manufacturer. Every man and woman is a product or creation of God who often inspire with solutions to world problem packaged as business solutions. I will encourage that you pray or meditate to better understand the purpose of that start-up.

The fourth strategy; guard

your heartOne quick killer of dream is

bitterness. On average, a start-up entrepreneur will face many rejections from investors, fi -nancial institutions, family and friends, while trying to make things happen. This can result to emotional stress and may lead to bitterness and resent-ment against people and your political leaders who seems a barrier to living your dream. I will encourage you guard your heart against bitterness and be grateful for few things that are working in your favour.

The fi fth strategy; move in the direction of your dream.

Channel your resources and energy towards fulfi lling your dream. Be deliberate to associ-ate with people who have po-tential to help you achieve your business dream. It does matter a lot.

Lastly, you have an oppor-tunity to dream again. As the year is winding up, if you make a choice to set your dream free then nobody can stop it. Be courageous!


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ThebuddingEntrepreneurs

Mitimeth is an award win-ning indigenous social enterprise producing

hand-woven accessories from re-newable natural fi bers and non-timber forest resources found across Nigeria.Born in America but spent her early years between Nigeria and the US, Achenyo Idachaba has built a sthriving career as a com-puter scientist and business an-alyst.

A graduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife where she obtained a B.Sc in Computer Science and Economics, Achen-yo also has an M.S. in Applied Computer Science from Illinois State University and worked as an IT Programmer Analyst for a few years before getting an M.B.A from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

Prior to establishing Miti-Meth, Achenyo Idacheba worked for ExxonMobil in the United States, where she held a variety of Regional and Global Advisor positions. In 2009, she bid her corporate career good-bye and relocated to Nigeria, precisely Ibadan, where she set up an environmental consulting busi-ness, to start a new chapter in her life as a Social Entrepreneur.

Idacheba joined the Strategic Hire Development Programme at Mobil Oil Corporation (later Exx-onMobil) upon completion of her MBA programme and spent the next 11 years with the company. As an entrepreneur, her atten-tion to detail and the fact that she was able to create a niche for herself in a fi eld where there is little or no competition is a plus for her as she has won com-mendable laurels doing what she loves doing.

Through serendipity, Achen-yo decided to alter her origi-nal business idea, eventually founding her current company, MitiMeth, in 2011. MitiMeth produces home and personal accessories made from invasive seaweeds that fl ourish in Nige-ria’s waterways. ‘We are all about transforming an environmental

problem into a benefi cial solu-tion,’ says Achenyo.

MitiMeth was coined from the phrase Mitigating Methane, ex-plaining the history of the name, she said, “ Around the time the idea of utilising aquatic weeds for benefi cial use came about, I was doing a bit of research on oppor-tunity areas for mitigating meth-ane emissions (a potent green-house gas) into the atmosphere. My aquatic weed of interest (wa-ter hyacinth) also happened to be rich in methane content due to its organic nature.”

As a social enterprise that exclusively engages people at the bottom of the economic pyramid, she sought how she could clean up the waterways for river-lying communities, while also empow-ering them economically.

“I like to tell people that Mi-tiMeth is a tangible expression of the message being “preached” on waste recovery and utilisa-tion. I saw the prevailing prob-lems caused by the infestation of aquatic weeds in our environ-ment and fi gured there had to be a low cost and high impact prac-tical solution for the environment and the people whose livelihoods are negatively impacted by the presence of invasive aquatic weeds in their immediate envi-ronment. I spent several months working with the weeds to un-derstand the characteristics and was fi nally able to develop a few aesthetic handicrafts. A year lat-er, I was fortunate to participate in the premier business develop-ment training for “Women Entre-preneurs in Handicrafts” organ-ised by WIMBIZ and Vital Voices in 2011 and that training was re-ally a breakthrough moment for me. That’s essentially how it all began,” she recounted.

Since then, Achenyo has used her computer skills in a different context – developing an online presence for the company with its web store, the online market-place Etsy, as well as on the social networks. ‘To date, the majority of MitiMeth’s sales have come from domestic and international

Exploring seaweeds hidden valueIt is often said that the best place to hide valuables is in plain sight, rather than have it tucked away somewhere predictable. Just keep it well disguised in plain sight and nobody would guess the value hidden under that false surface. Seaweeds happen to be one of those things with much intrinsic value which nature concealed in plain sight, until the discerning and creative mind of Achenyo Idachaba, Founder of Mitimeth Creations, unveiled it to the world

exhibitions where we showcase products,’ says Achenyo.

The best-seller is a hand basket, which retails at approxi-mately US$9 and can be pur-chased directly on MitiMeth’s site, where 20 products are cur-rently available. ‘There are very few locally handmade products branded as eco-friendly, so Mi-tiMeth has a fi rst-mover advan-tage in building an indigenous, eco-friendly brand.’

So far, MitiMeth has trained people in seven different commu-nities to harvest water hyacinth and weave it into usable prod-ucts. Looking ahead, it plans to train 80 communities within the next two years in the Niger Delta, the southwest and the northeast of Nigeria. Achenyo also hopes to set up handcraft cooperatives and distribution partnerships while subsidising the costs of product development and train-ing in communities.

Today, MitiMeth is a fast growing woman owned social enterprise focused on convert-ing invasive seaweeds and other non-timber resources in Nigeria into eco-friendly handicrafts.

“We are changing livelihoods for good by partnering with com-munities at the base of the eco-nomic pyramid to create these innovative and functional handi-crafts. We are conscious about preserving our environment and inspired to transform renewable resources into benefi cial use. Multipurpose baskets, lamps, vases, ottomans, mirrors, coast-ers are some of the products de-signed for those who have a taste for unique locally made handi-crafts,” Achenyo said.

According to her, everyone who buys a MitiMeth product

plays a vital role creating job op-portunities and keeping Nigeria’s waterways and land in prime condition for current and future generations.

“If you drive around Lagos, the invasive aquatic weeds are very visible in most water bodies. I remember on several occasions visiting Lagos, looking over the 3rd Mainland Bridge around Iya-na-Oworo and seeing numerous boats hemmed in by dense mats of water hyacinth,” she said.

MitiMeth in partnership with ENACTUS - University of Lagos trained women in Makoko on how to make handicrafts from Water Hyacinth. The training took place from July 8 - 11, 2014 and was held in Makoko. The trainees were excited to learn how to make handicrafts for sale from this water weed also known “Gbeborun”.

According to her, she is will-ing to collaborate with several other states to build capacity. According to a national study conducted by the Nigerian In-stitute of Freshwater Fisheries Research (NIFFR), over 20 states in Nigeria have been infested by various aquatic weeds.

“We are very eager to partner with as many states as possible to build capacity in product de-velopment. In Bayelsa, we part-nered with FACE initiative, an NGO that has done work in the area of gender advocacy and economic empowerment. We trained 40 women and have just scratched the surface in terms of capacity building in Bayelsa,” she enthused.

She plans to have an exhibi-tion in collaboration with other SMEs in the creative arts & de-sign industry, once she gets will-

ing sponsors.“In the interim we plan to par-

ticipate in exhibitions hosted by other organisations. Most recent-ly (in April) we participated in the 2014 WimBIZ Marketplace,” she said.

A recipient of many awards for her creative, environmental and entrepreneurial efforts, she confesses that she felt humbled by the recognition and awards received at MitiMeth.

“All of these have encouraged us to keep on plugging away dili-gently at what we do. We are an indigenous company trying hard to create value from readily avail-able resources perceived to have little value. The 2013 Local Raw Material Content Award nomina-tion from the Raw Materials Re-search and Development Council (RMRDC) was a big one for us es-pecially when you had the likes of Dangote Cement also receiving the 2013 award,” she said

So far, 215 organizations and individuals have won the award since the inception of the pro-gram in 1992.

She was nominated by WIM-BIZ to participate in Standard Chartered Bank’s 2013 Dragon’s Den and Financial Seminar and MitiMeth emerged the 1st Place winner of that event.

MitiMeth was among the 18 fi nalists (1 of 3 from Sub-Sahara Africa) of the 2014 Cartier Wom-en’s Initiative Awards. MitiMeth’s selection was from a pool of near-ly 1900 applicants worldwide. The 18 fi nalists come from 15 different countries and are lead-ing companies that span sectors ranging from high technology to healthcare, education, fashion and protection of the environ-ment.

Idachaba


BC

BC

‘Manufacturing, backbone of economy’Abolaji Adebayo

Industrial stakeholders have submitted that for any econ-omy to thrive, its manufac-

turing sector must be properly harnessed.

Noting the poor state of Nige-ria’s economy and the challeng-es facing the real sector, they believe that manufacturing sec-tor has to be strengthened for brighter future of the nation’s economy.

Speaking on this issue, the General Secretary of the Na-tional Union of Textile, Gar-ments and Tailoring Workers, NUTGTW, Issa Aremu, who noted that the future of Nigeria lies in manufacturing, warned that even with the best prices for crude oil, oil and gas are ex-haustible, and will always fi n-ish.

He advocated for the revival of all the moribund factories, thereby returning the nation’s economy on its feet as it was in the 70s and 80s when Nige-ria earned huge resources from manufacturing. He maintained that the country’s capacity to turn abundant raw materi-als available in the country to goods both for domestic con-sumption and export while the oil may fi nish. He spoke more on the relevance of electricity to the nation’s giant stride to in-dustrialisation without which Nigeria can never be part of the leading 20 countries in 2020.

The labour leader also stressed the need for the pres-ent administration to consider labour’s proposal for a new min-imum wage bearing in mind the weak state of the naira, adding that it is equally one good way to promoting economic recov-ery, as it will improve the pur-chasing power of the workers.

According to him, the chal-lenges are not just for the Presi-dent, not just for the governors, not just for the legislators, but for all Nigerians.

He said: “I think it’s time for

all of us to think outside the box of oil and gas. This is now the time to walk our talk. It is the time to diversify our economy. With the collapse of the price of crude oil, with the fi scal crisis now facing all tiers of govern-ment such that even the Fed-eral Government is also strug-gling to pay salary. I think we don’t need any counselor to tell us that this economy is no more sustainable on the back of rev-enue from oil and gas, with the unstable nature of that sector.

“Even with the best prices for crude oil, oil and gas are ex-haustible, that will always fi n-ish. But what will not fi nish is our capacity to turn abundant raw materials that we have in this country to goods both for domestic consumption and for export. That means the future of Nigeria lies in manufactur-

ing. We need to reinvent indus-try in this country.”

He appealed to the stakehold-ers to intensify campaign on the need for Nigeria to try to produce what it consumes and it must consumes what it pro-duces, adding that the coun-try should see to how it can increase manufacturing value added to this country.

“It is what Nigeria had done before, and it is what we can do again. In 1970s, 1980s, manu-facturing sector was contribut-ing close to 25 percent of our GDP. The country was active in all sector, Nigeria was getting active in automobile, we used to have Peugeot, Steyr, even pro-ducing trucks in Kano, we used to have Volkswagen, the Toyota was about to come in that time. Talking of the 70s, we have left this, Leylards, assembling and

producing all sorts of vehicles. As at 1980s, we are the third largest producer of textile, Ni-geria had shares in Dunlop, Michelin, they were all here be-fore, we must bring them back,

and that is the future.”Speaking on reviving in-

dustrial estates, the Director General of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Muda Yusuf said the country should always refl ect on how to re-vive those industries that are no more functioning, adding that the President, his deputy, governors, as well as all stake-holders should set aside at least one day, to visit the old indus-trial estates, which the found-ing fathers of this country put in place.

He added that they should go to such places as Ilupeju, Ikeja in Lagos State, and take inven-tory how many factories are left, how many are under lock and key while also visiting those in Kano - Sharaddar and Bompai, in Kaduna, Nassarawa, Kakuri among others.

Manufacturing plants

Aremu

Rabiu

BUA to raise production to 10 million MT by 2018BUA Group, one of the ce-

ment manufacturers in Nigeria has put all efforts

together to increase its capacity to 10 million metric tonnes per year by 2018.The Executive Director, BUA Group, Kabiru Rabiu, who made the promise, predicted that ce-ment price would remain stable in the short term and gradually drop in the medium term.

He said that building of infra-structure and housing develop-ment projects are motivation for higher cement production as de-mand for the product would sig-nifi cantly increase.

Rabiu explained that the com-

pany established 30 kilometres of gas pipeline to power its ce-ment plant in Edo State. He said the company acquired a control-ling stake at the Cement Com-pany of Northern Nigeria Plc, as well as Edo Cement in addition to being one of the 13 companies given licenses to bring in bulk cement into the local market.

Speaking at an investor con-ference, Rabiu said though BUA started as a trading company, im-porting rice, cement and fl our, it later turned to be a major integrat-ed manufacturer of these products locally thereby creating thousands of jobs for in the country.

“The company started as a

trading entity importing rice, ed-ible oil, cement as well as fl our into the Nigerian market. Over the years, it began the produc-tion of what it previously import-ed like edible oil as well as rice and fl our milling,” he said.

He said by 2005, the fi rm es-tablished its fi rst fl our mill in La-gos, followed by another in Kano with 5.5 million tonnes milling capacity per day.

Also, in 2008, BUA Group set up the second-largest sugar re-fi nery in sub-Saharan Africa, which is situated in Lagos with installed capacity of 720,000 metric tones, he added.

“At the moment, companies

within the group are separate entities within different divi-sions. We have the Infrastruc-ture division and then we have the foods division. In the infra-structure segment, we have ce-ment, real estate, steel and port operations,” Rabiu said.

He explained that massive infrastructure projects, com-mercial and residential hous-ing development will drive ce-ment demand in Nigeria. The BUA boss said he learnt from informed sources that President Muhammdu Buhari’s adminis-tration planned to spend about $20 billion starting from next year on infrastructure.


Market Indicators for Week Ended 04-12-15All-Share Index 27,559.18 pointsMarket Capitalization 9,508,816,853,479.38BC

Stock market last week

NSE trading hall

Equities

A turnover of 1.218 billion shares worth N14.685bn in 13,495 deals were traded

this week by investors on the fl oor of The Exchange in contrast to a total of 1.041 billion shares val-ued at N13.007bn that exchanged hands last week in 13,407 deals.

The Financial Services Indus-try (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.068 billion shares valued at N9.888bn traded in 7,803 deals; thus contributing 87.73 per cent and 67.33 per cent to the total equity turnover vol-ume and value respectively. The Consumer Goods Industry fol-lowed with 48.455 million shares worth N2.450bn in 2,560 deals. The third place was occupied by the Conglomerates Industry with a turnover of 45.914 million shares worth N364.525m in 622 deals.

Trading in the Top Three Eq-uities namely – Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, FBN Holdings Plc and Union Homes Savings And Loans Plc(measured by volume) accounted for 610.558 million shares worth N7.340bn in 3,262 deals, contributing 50.13 per cent and 49.98 per cent to the total eq-uity turnover volume and value respectively.

ETPs: Also traded during the week were a total of 23,812 units of Exchange Traded Products

(ETPs) valued at N417,201.24 executed in 32 deals, compared with a total of 49,895 units valued at N916,710.90 transacted last week in 38 deals.

Bonds: A total of 90 units of Federal Government (FG) Bonds valued at N109,423.68 were trad-ed this week in 1 deal, compared with a total of 8,262 units of FG Bonds valued at N9.151m trans-acted last week in 7 deals.

Index Movement: The NSE All-Share Index and Market Capi-talization appreciated by 0.05 per cent to close the week at 27,631.05 and N9.500trn respec-tively.

Similarly, six other Indices fi n-ished higher during the week,

except the following Indices: NSE Main Board Index (-0.78 per cent), NSE 30 Index(-0.10 per cent),NSE Consumer Goods Index(-0.10 per cent),NSE Oil and Gas Index(-6.19 per cent) and NSE Pension In-dex(-0.66 per cent).

Summary of Price Changes: Twenty-eight (28) equities appre-ciated in price during the week, higher than twenty-one (21) eq-uities of the preceding week. Fif-ty-one (51) equities depreciated in price, higher than forty-one equties of the previous week, while one hundred and eleven (111) eq-uities remained unchanged, lower than one hundred and twenty-eight (128) equities recorded in the preceding week.

NASD OTC REPORT1 OUTSTANDING OFFERS AND BIDS ON NASD OTC

Outstanding deals since October, 2015.

Security Industry Nominal value (₦) Last Offer Date Volume offered Last Offer Price Last Bid Price Volume Bidded Last Bid DateSDACORN PETROLEUM PLC Oil & Gas 0.50 23-Nov-15 790,000 0.38 - - -SDARM LIFE PLC Financials 0.50 - - - - - -SDARM PROPERTIES PLC Financials 0.50 3-Dec-15 528,791 2.42 - - -SDAFRILAND PROPERTIES PLC Financials 0.50 - - - - - -SDBGL PLC Financials 0.50 - - - - - -SDCAPPA AND D'ALBERTO PLC Industrials 0.50 1-Dec-15 314,074.00 69.99 - - -SDCENTRAL SECURITIES CLEARING SYSTEM PLC Financials 1.00 4-Dec-15 10,000 6.85 6.00 530,000 2-Dec-15SDDUFIL PRIMA FOODS PLC Consumer Goods 0.50 - - - 9.50 1,000,600 1-Dec-15SDFRIESLAND CAMPINA WAMCO NIGERIA PLC Consumer Goods 0.50 4-Dec-15 27,000 168.00 125.01 55,000 1-Dec-15

SDFOOD CONCEPTS PLC Consumer Services 0.50 3-Dec-15 3,400,000.00 0.77 - - -

SDFREE RANGES FARM PLC Consumer Goods 1.00 - - - - - -SDFUMMAN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS INDUSTRIES PLC Consumer Goods 0.50 - - - - - -SDGEO-FLUIDS PLC Industrials 0.50 3-Dec-15 2,307,132.00 0.34 - - -SDGOLDEN CAPITAL PLC Financials 0.50 - - - - - -SDINDUSTRIAL & GENERAL INSURANCE PLC Financials 0.50 1-Dec-15 200,000.00 0.12 - - -SDJAIZ INTERNATIONAL PLC Financials 1.00 - - - - - -SDNIGER DELTA EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION PLC Oil & Gas 10.00 4-Dec-15 204,718.00 148.00 140.15 3,000 2-Dec-15SDNIGERIA MORTGAGE REFINANCE COMPANY PLC Financials 1.00 - - - - - -SDPARTNERSHIP INVESTMENT COMPANY PLC Financials 0.50 11-Nov-15 3,234,000 0.79 - - -SDRESOURCERY PLC Technology 0.50 1-Dec-15 1,035,700.00 0.48 - SDRIGGS VENTURES WEST AFRICA PLC Industrials 0.50 - - - - SDSPRING MORTGAGE PLC Financials 0.50 - - - - SDSWAP TECHNOLOGIES AND TELECOMMS PLC Technology 0.50 16-Nov-15 286,800 0.97 - - -

RUSTRUSTBOND MORTGAGE BANK PLC Financials 1.00 2-Dec-15 3,250,240.00 0.74 - - -

2 DEMATERIALISATION AND CUMULATIVE TRADE IN OTC SECURITIES4-Dec-15

Security Industry Introduced by Company Registrars Year endTotal Share Capital

'000Volume

Dematerialised%

Dematerialised DEALS VOLUME VALUE (₦) SDACORN PETROLEUM PLC Oil and Gas Meristem Securities Limited CardinalStone Registrars Limited 31/Dec 2,000,000,000 64,907,146 3.25% 102 5,232,556 2,061,074.02 SDARM LIFE PLC Financials APT Securities & Fund Limited African Prudential Registrars Plc 31/Dec 5,785,673,000 606,000,000 10.47% -SDARM PROPERTIES PLC Financials Mega Equity Limited African Prudential Registrars Plc 31/Dec 1,900,000,000 28,685,023 1.51% 51 176,730 462,583.80 SDAFRILAND PROPERTIES PLC Financials APT Securities & Fund Limited African Prudential Registrars Plc 31/Dec 1,249,000,000 61,290,528 4.91% 146 28,354,025 67,058,362.73 SDBGL PLC Financials Nigerian Int. Securities Ltd Unity Registrars Limited 31/Dec 12,000,000,000 9,626,657,533 80.22% 5 6,300 18,900.00 SDCAPPA AND D'ALBERTO PLC Industrial UBA Stockbroking Firm African Prudential Registrars Plc 31/Mar 196,875,000 2,652,129 1.35% 28 110,569 8,331,233.60 SDCENTRAL SECURITIES CLEARING SYSTEM PLC Financials Greenwich Securities Limited African Prudential Registrars Plc 31/Dec 5,000,000,000 745,174,282 14.90% 370 531,404,015 2,912,372,030.76 SDDUFIL PRIMA FOODS PLC Consumer Goods Anchoria Investment & Securities Limited Nnenna Ejekam Associates 31/Dec 6,753,333,334 - 0.00% - - - SDFRIESLAND CAMPINA WAMCO NIGERIA PLC Consumer Goods Capital Bancorp Plc First Registrars Limited 31/Dec 976,335,936 184,761,786 18.92% 739 139,674,636 43,710,620,444.32 SDFOOD CONCEPTS PLC Consumer Services Stanbic IBTC stockbrokers limited Meristem Registrars Limited 31/Dec 5,650,000,000 105,711,770 1.87% 95 30,371,199 22,123,987.02 SDFREE RANGES FARM PLC Consumer Goods CSL Stockbroking Limited Meristem Registrars Limited 31/Dec 519,999,631 - 0.00% - - - SDFUMMAN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS INDUSTRIES PLC Consumer Goods Integrated Trust & Investment Limited PAC Registrars Limited 31/Dec 3,600,000,000 69,369,303 1.93% 4 1,400 2,012.00 SDGEO-FLUIDS PLC Industrial Icon Stockbrokers Limited Meristem Registrars Limited 31/Dec 4,257,668,000 567,513,596 13.33% 45 11,128,071 16,284,808.95 SDGOLDEN CAPITAL PLC Financials Sterling Capital Market Limited African Prudential Registrars Plc 31/Dec 1,170,324,536 252,255,056 21.55% 14 5,900 6,140.00 SDINDUSTRIAL & GENERAL INSURANCE PLC Financials Greenwich Securities Limited GTL Registrars Limited 31/Dec 14,231,238,000 1,021,968,270 7.18% 80 144,561,610 114,437,772.85 SDJAIZ INTERNATIONAL PLC Financials APT Securities & Fund Limited African Prudential Registrars Plc 31/Dec 11,829,700,000 315,122,809 2.66% 27 2,108,481 2,526,549.84 SDNIGER DELTA EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION PLC Oil and Gas FCSL Asset Management Co. Limited United Securities Limited 31/Dec 181,408,000 19,820,354 10.93% 195 13,945,525 2,940,304,840.56 SDNIGERIA MORTGAGE REFINANCE COMPANY PLC Financials Cordros Capital Plc Meristem Registrars Limited 31/Dec 1,762,500,000 125,000,000 7.09% 1 125,000,000 568,750,000.00 SDPARTNERSHIP INVESTMENT COMPANY PLC Financials APT Securities & Fund Limited First Registrars Limited 31/Dec 2,875,595,000 197,337,494 6.86% 30 6,834,900 5,811,092.00 SDRESOURCERY PLC Technology APT Securities & Fund Limited EDC Registrars Limited 31/Dec 2,576,686,039 517,000,000 20.06% 53 448,270,580 224,187,829.40 SDRIGGS VENTURES WEST AFRICA PLC Industrial APT Securities & Fund Limited Mainstreet Bank Registrars Limited 31/Dec 1,726,264,230 - 0.00% - - - SDSPRING MORTGAGE PLC Financials Primera Africa Securities Limited PAC Registrars Limited 31/Dec 7,138,199,210 - 0.00% - - - SDSWAP TECHNOLOGIES AND TELECOMMS PLC Technology Signet Investment and Securities Limited PAC Registrars Limited 31/Dec 2,705,378,000 1,525,040,000 56.37% 36 1,179,210 1,376,304.30

RUSTRUSTBOND MORTGAGE BANK PLC Financials Prominent Securities Limited United Securities Limited 31/Dec 10,945,334,000 117,993,505 1.08% 27 22,160 18,384.70 107,031,511,916 16,154,260,584 15.09% 2,048 1,488,387,867 50,596,754,350.85

If you do not see your unquoted Plc on this list or for further enquirys consult your NASD OTC participating broker or visit our website at www.nasdng.com

Offers Bids

DEMATERIALISATION INFORMATION TRADE INFORMATION (JAN 2015-TILL DATE)


DO YOU WISH TO INVEST IN REAL ESTATE

APAPA, VICTORIA ISLAND

WE HAVE OUR CLIENT’S INSTRUCTIONS TO SELL, BUY,MANAGE AND HELP YOU OUT IN THE AFOREMNTIONED CITIESPLEASE CONTACT US TODAY AT NICON PROPERTIES3RD FLOOR NIGERIAN REINSURANCE BUILDING, 784aHERBERT MACAULAY WAY CBD, ABUJA08067770999 & 08033203414Email:[email protected]

WE HAVE OUR CLIENT’S INSTRUCTIONS TO SELL, BUY,MANAGE AND HELP YOU OUT IN THE AFOREMNTIONED CITIESPLEASE CONTACT US TODAY AT NICON PROPERTIES3RD FLOOR NIGERIAN REINSURANCE BUILDING, 784aHERBERT MACAULAY WAY CBD, ABUJA08067770999 & 08033203414Email:[email protected]

NICON PROPERTIES LTD

xx

[email protected]

34

33National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net

Monday, December 7, 2015

It should always be remembered that justice prefers to keep the company of the vigilant while leaving the indolent unattended to his

Justice Niki Tobi, retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

Law & Justice

Couple charged with manslaughter, cruelty to baby

How domestic workers murdered Oboh, female pilot 38

37 CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed NBA President, Augustine Alegeh

Sequel to last week’s appointment of 30 new judges of the Federal High Court by President Muhammadu Buhari, the exercise has been bedevilled by allegations that the process falls short of due compliance with the Revised National Judicial Council Guidelines and Procedural Rules 2015 in the country. WALE IGBINTADE writes on the new guidelines and issues raised by aggrieved lawyers.

Appointment of judges: How nepotism, impunity undermined merit — Investigation

CONTINUED ON PAGE 36

In a determination to embrace best practice in recruitment and selection procedures in the

country, the leadership of the judi-ciary began moves this year to en-sure the system is more open and transparent than it has ever been.

As a result, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Moham-med, on May 13, 2015, disclosed that the National Judicial Council (NJC) had introduced stringent measures to make sure that only honest, hardworking and untaint-ed lawyers are appointed to the Bench.

The essence is to open up the system of appointment to a wider range of suitably qualified candi-dates from different social back-ground and wider range of legal practice.

Speaking at the swearing in cer-emony of Justice Amiru Sanusi as a justice of the Supreme Court, the CJN declared that appointments to the Bench would subsequently be advertised to fill the vacancies for judges.

According to the CJN, advertis-ing to fill vacancies for judicial of-ficers is one of the new measures contained in the 2014 Revised NJC

Guidelines and Procedural Rules for the Appointment of Judicial Officers of All Superior Courts of Record in Nigeria.

He stated that the new guide-lines ‘’provide for a more compre-hensive, robust and transparent method of appointment, leading to the emergence of only the best legal minds with high moral stan-dards to serve as judges in our re-vered temples of justice.”

Besides, the new guidelines make appointment selection pro-cesses competitive and rigorous and stipulated a number of condi-tions that must be met by prospec-tive candidates.

The new guidelines would en-sure that once the right people are appointed to the Bench, the step would reduce the incidence of cor-

ruption among judges. However, there have been alle-

gations of widespread corruption and impunity following the ap-pointment of 30 new judges of the Federal High Court approved by President Buhari.

Acting Director of Information of the Nigeria Judicial Council, Soji Oye had revealed that the President endorsed the recommen-dations of the NJC in the appoint-ment of the judges.

It was gathered that the Fed-eral Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) in the exercise of its statu-tory duties conducted interview for over 100 shortlisted candidates. After the interview the commis-sion transmitted to the NJC a list of twenty five (25) nominees as pri-ority list (Most Qualified) and for

them to be appointed as judges of the Federal High Court.

The commission was also said to have attached additional twen-ty-five (25) names as reserve list (Lesser Qualified) corresponding to the number in the priority list in line with extant practice and tradition.

Investigation revealed that upon receipt of the list, the NJC conducted fresh interview with the shortlisted candidates. How-ever, the outcome of a meeting al-legedly held on November 4, 2015, was said to have made a mockery of the results of the said inter-views held to determine the most suitable persons for appointment.

An impeccable source told our correspondent that some persons, who excelled over and above oth-ers, were allegedly dropped in fa-vour of lesser qualified persons, at the instance of influential members, who appeared to have personal scores to settle or private interests to protect.

According to the source, “mer-it, competence, seniority and ex-perience were sacrificed shame-lessly on the altar of corruption

Many institutions are operating without regulatory laws, says Adetola-Kaseem

The inTegriTy of The process of appoinTmenT was

compromised by The clandesTine recommendaTion of furTher

addiTional five or six judges by The njc.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net34 Monday, December 7, 2015Law & Justice

President Muhammadu Buhari re-cently at the All- Nigeria Judges’ Con-ference called for a complete reform in the judiciary in order to fight corruption and curb the incessant delay in justice delivery. How can this reform be carried out?

The President is stating the obvious in the sense that unless all stakeholders in the administration of justice cooperate and rec-ognise the need to ensure that the system works efficiently and effectively, nothing will change. However, it involves many factors; the judiciary itself, the lawyers, the litigants, the executive arm of government and even the legislature. Imagine a situation where you have the Code of Conduct Tribunal con-ducting trial of a member of the legislature. Then you find that it is that period that the lawmakers remembered that there is a peti-tion against the Chairman of the Tribunal and they want to investigate it. Nigerians must wake-up and recognise that every insti-tution created by law must be respected and must be allowed to perform its duty.

The courts and the extension of the courts like the Code of Conduct Tribunal are con-stitutionally established. To that extent they should be allowed to carry out their functions unimpeded by anybody. We have always advocated at that level of the Nige-rian Bar Association that for the judiciary to function, it must remain independent. It must have financial autonomy and be able to direct its affairs without any interference. For example, the CJN does not have to go cap-in-hand either to the legislature in terms of appropriation or to the executive in terms of release of funds. So all of us have roles to play.

I agree that the appointment of judges and the condition of service constitute a part in ensuring that judicial officers live above board. Because, if you have a judicial officer whose income can barely take care of his ba-sic needs or whose future is not readily guar-anteed, you cannot be too sure you will have a judiciary that is free of corruption.

In the early 90s in my state, I was invited to take up judicial appointment but I declined. Why? Because I know that the salaries of judicial officers as at that time will not be able to meet my commitments. If I went to the judiciary at that time, it is as clear as day that the temptation to be corrupt would be there. For instance, if I have to pay N50, 000 as school fees and I don’t have a dime and don’t know where I will get it and somebody dangles N250, 000 before me, the temptation will be hard to resist.

So, the income of judges must not only be sufficient, it must be enough to take care of their needs. Also, the future of judges must be taken care off. The difference between a judge and a doctor is that for every case a judge decides, he made an enemy. It doesn’t mean that the litigant that got favourable decision will thank him for it but the person against whom he made a decision may not forgive him. Unless you are negligent as a

medical practitioner, if you saved a life, the person will be internally grateful to you. So, a judge’s future must be relatively guaranteed, so that they will have the courage to do jus-tice to all classes of people without fear or fa-vour. However, there are people who will still be corrupt no matter what you do for them. But such ones will not be in the majority, it is when the conditions of service are so poor that majority of them would want to fend for themselves.

Many of your colleagues have diver-gent views on the order of the Supreme Court, granting an application for a stay of proceedings in the trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki, who is being tried by the Code of Conduct Tribunal for false asset declaration. What is your take on this issue?

Somebody has asked me whether the Code of Conduct Tribunal was right in re-

fusing to say proceedings pending the inter-locutory appeal before the apex court and I said no, the tribunal was wrong. This is be-cause if there was an application for stay of proceedings before the Supreme Court the proper thing is for the tribunal to stay pro-ceedings. The court may see some merit in the application, they may also see that there is need to balance the equation on both sides. So, rather than granting a stay or refusing it, they granted accelerated hearing to the en-tire proceedings and get the matter disposed off on its merit.

Section 306 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 pro-hibits stay of proceedings in criminal proceedings. Is the apex court above the law?

For instance, if the Supreme Court de-cides that the Code of Conduct Tribunal lacks jurisdiction, whatever the tribunal did

Adetola-Kaseem, SAN

Chief Gani Adetola-Kaseem, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has 35 years’ post call experience, having been called to the Nigerian Bar in 1980. In this interview with WALE IGBINTADE, he speaks on the ongoing constitutional crisis in the governorship election in Kogi State and the administration of justice in the country, among others. Excerpts:

If you have a judIcIal offIcer whose Income can barely take care of hIs basIc needs or whose future Is not

readIly guaranteed, you cannot be too sure you wIll have a judIcIary that Is

free of corruptIon.

Many institutions are operating without regulatory laws, says Adetola-Kaseem

would have been a nullity. So, rather than going though the rigour of trial which will eventually be a nullity, the Supreme Court decides to give the matter accelerated hear-ing. The apex court did not want to give a sense of assurance to either side. If they re-fused the application, the appellant may be thinking that perhaps they have convicted him without hearing him or that the court is under the influence of the executive. All sorts of speculations will be on in his mind. I think the decision of the Supreme Court is fair to both sides. I am not taking a position to the merit of the case that is for the Code of Conduct Tribunal to decide.

There appears to be a constitutional crisis in Kogi State over how to proceed in the governorship election following the death of the All Progressives Con-gress (APC) Governorship Candidate, Prince Abubakar Audu. How can this be resolved?

The situation is a mixture of law and poli-tics. The stakeholders will have to be very careful in handling the situation in Kogi State, so that it does not become messy. No law will ever anticipate all situations under the sun; we only try our best as human be-ings. Some of these things are product of experience and we never had this kind of experience. Ordinarily, one would have said the deputy governor should be elevated and step into the shoes of the governorship can-didate but then how would he pick his run-

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 35Monday, December 7, 2015 Law & Justice

the moments they filed it, it becomes a public document. I think it is good for the system that it should be done but since the constitu-tion has not made it mandatory that public officers should declare their assets publicly; I think the President can make it mandatory to his ministers or his appointees as a con-dition for being appointed. So, if the person likes he may accept it, if he does not like he can reject it.

What agenda will you set for the new AGF especially as it affects the adminis-tration of justice system in Nigeria?

When the Vice- President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), was the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State, he did a lot of work in collaboration with the Lagos State judiciary. Courtrooms were re-formed and appointment process of judicial officers was also reformed among others. Those are the things the Attorney-General of the Federation must be thinking about. But he cannot do it alone but at least he can work in collaboration with the judiciary and make suggestions in the areas of justice adminis-tration. There are lots of laws that are not re-ally working, laws which are archaic. He can propose amendments to these laws. I happen to know that a lot of institutions are working without regulatory laws. For instance, none of the boards of Specialist Hospitals in the country is operating with statute, they are operating illegally. All the federal medical centres in Nigeria do not have any statute es-tablishing them as separate institutions. I am talking from inside knowledge and all these are things the AGF should look at.

Also in the area of administration of justice, the AGF should build effective team to defend the Federal Government in court when the need arises. If you have ever had a suit against a government institution you find out that the defence is usually not effec-tive. Again, when you get judgement against them, they will not obey the judgement. When we talk about the rule of law, govern-ment should set example. When judgement is given against the government or any of its agencies, they should either appeal the judgement or obey the judgement. When government uses its ‘’big size’’ to suppress its citizens they are in effect sending wrong signals. Any society that is not regulated by rule of law is doomed to failure and it’s prone to anarchy. To ensure there is rule of law in Nigeria, the Attorney- General has a lot of works to do.

The National Industrial Court, NIC was established to ensure labour dis-putes are disposed off expeditiously. But, today we have labour disputes lingering for about three to four years in court. How do you see this trend?

I am very familiar with the National In-dustrial Court. I think there is an improve-ment from what it used to be and what it is now. The Third Alteration Act, 2010 brought a lot of matters under the jurisdiction of the National Industrial Court. There are arguments for and against on whether this should be so. But, there is wisdom in putting them under the National Industrial Court as a constitutional court to deal with all em-ployment matters. This was done precisely to reduce delays in labour matters in the regular courts.

Have you not heard of somebody who sued his employer over wrongful termina-tion of his appointment and an interlocutory appeal on that case went before the Appeal Court and the Supreme Court for 14 years before coming back to the high court. Before that time, the man would have either died or critically impoverished. I think there is wis-dom in putting labour- related matter under the NIC. What the court is doing now is to get more judges, the court is trying and the cur-rent President, Justice Babtunde Adejumo has done a lot of works in that area. Today, there is National Industrial Court in about 20 states and there is hardly a judge that does

not have between 200 and 300 cases. Do you think the decision of the court

should be appealed against up to the Su-preme Court?

The National Industrial Court is a special-ised court and there is a concept that labour and industrial disputes issues should not last too long in court, if judgement obtained in that regard would be of any value.

We have sympathy for that law but we also have reservations. At the time it was first inserted in National Industrial Court Act, (NICA), 2006 it was mandatory that the court will sit as a panel of three judges. But, now it has been narrowed down to a single judge to determine matters. They only seat as a panel when they are taking issues aris-ing from reference or appeal from Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP). Some of the argu-ments we have put forward is that it is dan-gerous and risky to allow a single judge to take matters to finality and makes it a final court.

They are all human beings and they can make genuine mistakes, which may be cost-ly to the litigants. Also, with all due respect to their Lordships, they are individuals with different backgrounds. I think we should al-low the Court of Appeal to entertain appeal from the National Industrial Courts. This is because, three good heads are better that one. When a single judge makes mistakes that cannot be corrected by anybody, it could destroy the reputation of the court itself.

NoNe of the boards of specialist hospitals iN the couNtry is operatiNg

with statute, they are operatiNg illegally. all the federal medical ceNtres iN Nigeria do Not have aNy

statute establishiNg them as separate iNstitutioNs.

Adetola-Kaseem

Many institutions are operating without regulatory laws, says Adetola-Kaseem ning mate? This is where politics comes in, because the political stakeholders particu-larly in the APC have a role to play. This is because, the candidate for the post of deputy governor, James Faleke didn’t contest the primary, and it was after the primary was concluded that the late Audu picked him as his running mate. This is because the consti-tution provides that nobody should run for the post of President or governor without a running mate but the truth is that it was only Audu that contested the primary election.

Whichever way they go at the end of the day, one thing is clear, the matter will end up in court. I agree that that there are argu-ments for and against, so we should have a pronouncement from the court to rest mat-ter. As a lawyer I can hold a brief for either side and proffer plausible arguments. One argument is that it is the party that contest-ed election and not the candidate. That is what the Supreme Court says in the case of Amaechi vs. Omehia. On the other hand, the recent case in Taraba State where the court held that you cannot contest election if you did not win the primary. To that extent, I agree there is constitutional crisis which can only be resolved by the court, so that we can all be well- grounded.

Do you support the suggestion that ministers should publicly declare their assets?

As at now it is true that the constitution did not require even the President to do so. But every administration will have its own policy. The President is the leader of the executive and ministers are agents of the government. The President can appoint his ministers on the understanding that for them to work with him, they must declare their assets publicly. If he made it a condi-tion, anybody who is not ready to declare his assets publicly can stay back. The President cannot compel them but he can refrain from appointing somebody who does not want to declare his assets publicly.

It is one way of reducing corruption be-cause if people know what you’re worth when coming into government, if you now accumulate more during your tenure, we can ask questions. Ordinarily, under the FoI Act, we should be able to apply and get this information from the Code of Conduct Bu-reau. But in reality do we really do it? How many ministries are ready to release infor-mation when there are requests to do so? If the Code of Conduct Bureau will release in-formation, then all of us can apply because

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net36 Monday, December 7, 2015Law & Justice

CJ, Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta Otteh

‘Merit, competence, experience shamelessly sacrificed on the altar of corruption’and impunity”.

Besides, NJC at the said meeting was said to have arbitrarily on its own also recom-mended the appointment of five or six addi-tional persons over and above the 25 persons nominated for appointment by the FJSC despite the fact that the Federal High Court had at all times given notice to the public of only 25 vacancies for appointment.

The source stated further that “the integ-rity of the process of appointment was com-promised by the clandestine recommenda-tion of further additional five or six judges by the NJC”.

By the guidelines of appointment of ju-dicial officers, the NJC does not originate the process. If further appointments are re-quired, the process must begin afresh with notice to the public’’.

‘’By purporting to originate and conclude the process of the appointment of a further five or six judges outside the twenty five, in an underhand manner the N.J.C acted with impunity and placed itself above the consti-tution of the country’’.

“It is lamentable that a body that ought to rein in erring judicial officers is itself manifestly and recklessly guilty. This case of corruption of the process of appointment of new judges of the federal high court and the impunity of the N.J.C undermines the judi-ciary fundamentally.

In the same vein, a judicial advocacy group, Access to Justice, (AJ) also called for the cancellation of the process saying that the process was flawed and not in compli-ance with the Revised National Judicial Council Guidelines and Procedural Rules 2015.

The group in a statement signed by its Executive Director, Mr. Joseph Otteh said “the breaches of the said Guidelines are con-siderable, and if the current recruitment is allowed to proceed, it would seriously under-mine the integrity of the reforms made in the Revised Guidelines,”

The group said the current Federal High Court recruitment had been done in ways that conflict with the core goals of the Re-

vised Guidelines. “The Revised Guidelines seek to ensure

openness, competitiveness, merit and trans-parency in recruitment processes as well as safeguard judicial appointments from being lobbied and politicized.”

“Rule 3 of the Revised Guidelines pro-vides that the Judicial Service Commis-sion ‘’shall call for expression of interest by suitable candidates by way of public notice placed on the website of the Judicial Service Commission/Committee concerned, notice Boards of the Courts and notice Boards of Nigeria Bar Association Branches’’.

“Rule 3 of the Revised Guidelines clearly mandates the publication of a Public Notice of existing judicial vacancies calling for an expression of interest by suitable candidates in at least 3 publicly accessible forums: the website of the JSC/FJSC, Notice Board of Courts and Notice Board of the NBA

Branches. “The word ‘shall’ makes it mandatory

that a call/ announcement be made, in the stipulated forms, for interested candidates to express interest to fill the vacant posi-tions.

“According to Rule 3(3) of the Revised Guidelines, such a call for expression of in-terest/Nomination must bear a closing date. This rule was clearly not followed in the cur-rent recruitment process.”

Following a notice by the NJC calling for the recommendation of qualified judges, Access to Justice had filed a Freedom of In-formation to FJSC and NJC requesting in-formation of the criteria adopted to fill the judicial vacancies.

“We asked to know the details of the modes and avenues used in publicizing/ad-vertising the available Federal High Court vacancies. His (Justice Ibrahim Auta’s) re-

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33 sponse was to the effect that: ‘That the mode of and avenues in publicizing the vacancies are as stated in the Rules 3(1)(a)(i)(ii)(iii) of the 2014 Revised National Judicial Council Guidelines & Procedural Rules for the Ap-pointment of Judicial Officers of All Supe-rior Courts of Record in Nigeria.”

Indeed, under the extant constitution, superior court appointments go through the NJC, established under Section 153 of the 1999 Constitution. Many stakeholders in the country have however expressed the view that the praise or blame concerning quality of judges in Nigeria is a product of the appointing authority that is the State Ju-dicial Service Commission and the Federal judicial Service Commission (FJSC) as the case may be.

Many stakeholders in the country have, however, expressed the view that the praise or blaMe concerning quality of

judges in nigeria is a product of the appointing authority

Lawyer: “Let me give you my honest opinion.” Cli-ent: “No, no. I’m paying for professional advice.”

Only two bullets You find yourself stuck in a hole with a murderer,

a rapist, and a lawyer. You’re armed but you only have two bullets left, what do you do?

Lawyer and beautiful womanA man died and was taken to his place of eternal tor-

ment by the devil. As he passed sulphurous pits and shrieking sinners,

he saw a man he recognized as a lawyer snuggling up to a beautiful woman.

“That’s unfair!” he cried. “I have to roast for all eter-nity, and that lawyer gets to spend it with a beautiful woman.”

“Shut up”, barked the devil, jabbing the man with his pitchfork.

Leaving money for the dead A lawyer, a used car salesman and a banker were

gathered by a coffin containing the body of an old friend. In his grief, one of the three said, “In my family, we have a custom of giving the dead some money, so they’ll have something to spend over there.”

They all agreed that this was appropriate. The banker dropped a hundred dollar bill into the casket, and the car salesman did the same. The lawyer took out the bills and wrote a check for $300.

Culled from Lawyers’ jokes and Funny Lawyers’ Jokes.com

What is the oldest profession? A physician, an engineer, and an attorney were

discussing who among them belonged to the oldest of the three professions represented. The physician said, “Remember, on the sixth day God took a rib from Adam and fashioned Eve, making him the first surgeon. Therefore, medicine is the oldest profes-sion.”

The engineer replied, “But, before that, God cre-ated the heavens and earth from chaos and confu-sion, and thus he was the first engineer. Therefore, engineering is an older profession than medicine.”

Then, the lawyer spoke up. “Yes,” he said, “But who do you think created all of the chaos and confu-sion?”

You’re late The lawyer wandered home at 3 AM. His wife be-

came very upset, telling him, The lawyer replied, “I’m right on time. I said I’d be

home by a quarter of twelve.”My honest opinion

BarJokes

Bar

Jokes

LEGAL TIPS

The law regulating the for-mation of a company is the Companies and

Allied Matters Act otherwise known as CAMA.

*Any two or more persons may form and incorporate a company upon fulfilling the statutory requirements for the particular type of com-pany.

*Responsibility for the for-mation of companies is vested exclusively in legal practitio-ners as contained in CAMA.

*Formation of a company will involve the following:

.Taking instructions from the promoters.

.Preparing the incorpora-tion documents; and

.Filling the incorporation documents with the Corpo-

How to form a company rate Affairs Commission (CAC), payment of the ap-propriate registration fees and obtaining the Certifi-cate of Incorporation.

*From the date of incor-poration, the subscribers and anyone who later on becomes a member shall be a body corporate capable of exercising the powers of an incorporated company, shall have perpetual succession and also a common seal.

*Prospective promoters and businessman should consult lawyers when desir-ous of forming a company.

We welcome feedback and reactions from readers via our e-mail: [email protected]

Yellin S. Bogoro (Bauchi State)Rosemary O. Dugbo Oghoghorie (Delta

State)Taiwo Obayomi Taiwo (Ogun State)Ibrahim Watila (Borno State)Mallong Peter Hoommuk (Plateau State)Isa Hamma Adama Dashen (Adamawa

State)Hassan Dikko (Kebbi State)Jude Kanyioh Dagat (Kaduna State)Olayinka Olusegun Tokode (Osun State)Simon Akpah Amobeda, (Kogi State)Jane Egienanwan Inyang (Cross River

State)Daniel Emeka Osiagor (Rivers State)Prof. Chuka Austine Obiozor (Anambra

State)Iniekenimi Nicholas Oweib (Bayelsa State)Hassan Muslim Sule (Zamfara State)Hadiza Rabiu Shagari (Sokoto State)Saleh Kogo Idrissa (Yobe State)Joyce Obehi Abdulmalik (Edo State)Hillary Ide Osho Oshomah (Edo State)Fadima Murtala Aminu (Adamawa State)Toyin Bolaji Adegoke (Kwara State)James Kolawole Omotosho (Ogun State)Nehizena Idemudia Ekunwe (Edo State)Stephen Daylop Pam (Plateau State)Akintayo Aluko (Ekiti State)Dr. Nnamdi O. Dimgba (Abia State)Emeka Nwite (Ebonyi State)Abdulazeez M.Z. Anka (Zamfara State)Abdu Dogo (FCT)Adamu Turaki Muhammed (Jigawa State)

List of the appointed judges:


Abubakar Tsav

About 17 years ago, a female pilot, Captain Hadiza Oboh, was murdered in her Ikoyi residence, Lagos, allegedly by her domestic workers, who thereafter stole her property and personal belongings. FRANCIS FAMOROTI, Head, Judiciary writes.

The first and only female pilot with the defunct Nigerian Airways, Captain. Hadiza Lantana Oboh

had a promising career in the aviation industry. Oboh, checked out as Flight officer with Nigeria Airways on B732, in the mid ‘80s.

Unfortunately, her rising profile was cut short by some greedy domestic workers she employed. The workers snuffed life out of her in her 43A, Bourdillon Road, Ikoyi resi-dence sometimes in 1998. Being a single lady, who was comfortable in every respect, the domestic staff orchestrated a plot to kill her and take over her property. They succeeded with their diabolical plan. The female pilot did not realise that she had placed her assail-ants on her payroll until she was strangled with a rope on the neck and she gave up the ghost. The assailants then dumped her body in a septic tank.

Prior to her death, Oboh was said to be ever lively. On that fateful day, she left the air-port and drove straight to her residence.

Barely 30 minutes later, she arrived her residence. Her gateman, otherwise known as mai gadi, Abdullahi, among other four persons were at the gate.

Sensing that madam had arrived, they rushed and flung the massive gates open. Oboh drove in and parked her Santana car in the compound.

She entered the tastefully furnished du-plex building and went into her bedroom while one of the domestic workers carried her flight bag. On the few occasions that the domestic workers had had access to the cap-tain’s bedroom, they had noticed that foreign currencies littered the room.

That fateful day was not an exception as the worker that followed her into the expan-sive house had also noticed some foreign cur-rencies.

Beside the currencies, the workers were privy to the fact that Oboh had several wears, expensive laces, gold chains, rings, bracelets, state of the art electronic gadgets and shoes among other costly items in her wardrobe.

This obviously brought diabolical thoughts on their minds.

The gateman‘s petty trading spot at the entrance of the gate became a meeting post for the domestic servants, who hatched plans on how to murder their employer.

According to accounts of the incident, one of the masterminds of the plot was Pe-ter Iduwu Eche, who hails from Benue State. Though trained as an auto electrician, he was employed as a gateman and gardener in January 1993. He was recruited when Oboh sacked Abdullahi for gross misconduct. Pe-ter lived in a single room boy’s quarter as a service occupant inside the compound.

However, it was after Peter left for his vil-lage that the female pilot re-employed Abdul-lahi, pending Peter’s return. When Peter re-turned, Abdullahi co-opted him into the plot to kill Oboh ‘’because she get plenty money

and property’’.Peter quickly accepted the overtures to

join the group and Abdullahi arranged for four assassins, obviously those who often met him at his petty trading spot.

As planned, the killers lurked around when Oboh drove in on the fateful day.

The unsuspecting pilot after relaxing for a while in her room stepped into her kitchen to prepare a dinner she never lived to eat.

Peter opened the gate for the four killers to sneak in and murder her employer. The killers came in through the rear kitchen door .Abdullahi sprang from behind and threw a rope noose round the pilot’s neck. As he tightened the rope, others attacked her.

Having killed Oboh, the assailants dumped her body in a septic tank in the com-pound. They sealed the tank with cement and went on looting spree of the deceased’s personal belongings.

Abduallhi, Peter and others looted the pilot’s belongings including her car, which they converted into an unpainted taxi. Items carted away included, bedroom furniture, fittings, electronics, refrigerators, air condi-tioners, mattresses and kitchen wares. Af-ter the looting, Peter moved from the boy’s quarter and took over the expansive build-ing. He was said to be occupying the late

pilot’s bedroom without any remorse and atonement for the dastardly act.

Each time, any visitor asked about her madam’s whereabouts, he was always quick to respond in pidgin English that ‘’Madam don travel and we no know when she go re-turn.’’

Luck however ran out of them when the policemen guarding the next compound to Oboh’s residence noticed strange move-ments in and out of the premises. The secu-rity men were particularly uncomfortable with the influx of buses being brought to remove the pilot’s personal belongings’ and household goods from the premises.

The security men asked for the late pi-lot’s whereabouts and the domestic workers claimed that she had travelled. On being told this, the men initially pretended as if they showed interest in sharing in the loot. As a result, Peter volunteered information on the deal and how the goods were moved out of the premises.

Curiously, the security agents moved against Peter and others and they were ar-rested by men of Ikoyi Police Station. When the Police swung into action, they initially investigated the case of stealing and unlaw-ful removal of property. They did not doubt the statement made by Peter that the late pi-

lot had travelled outside the country. Worried by the slow pace of the investiga-

tion into the matter, the then Police Commis-sioner, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, later called for the case file. Having studied the file, he re-ferred it to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba.

Tsav, who had a press briefing with the media, at that time said beyond the issue of theft of the female pilot’s property, it was necessary for the police to unravel the mys-tery surrounding her whereabouts.

When the SCID took over the case, its crack team detectives led by Samuel Okaula, then an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) visited on a series of occasions the late pilot’s residence during the course of his in-vestigation. It was during one of such visits that Okaula, now Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), noticed fresh cement patch on a septic tank. He also sighted a half bag of cement next to it, and he quickly suspected something sinister about the freshly patched septic tank.

According to the Polis, a publication of PGM publications, the police officer rushed back to SCID, Panti cell to further interro-gate suspect Peter.

The next day, Okaula and his team, again visited the late pilot’s residence and he or-dered that the septic tank be opened. Im-mediately this was done, the discovery was horrific and shocking; the late pilot’s decom-posed body was found in the tank.

After the recovery of the corpse, the police were sure that Peter, Abdullahi, Itoro Akpan, a driver of the late pilot, and one Denise Osa-ma, said to have received some of the looted goods were in their net.

Indeed, in Peter’s confessional statement, he said ‘’When I hear madam dey shout and plead with them not to kill her, I cry, but I no follow kill her o ‘’.

On June 1, 1998, the four suspects were arraigned at the Chief Magistrate’s Court in Lagos, for conspiracy, armed robbery and murder. While the police were awaiting advice from the Director of Public Prosecu-tions (DPP), the High Court ordered the re-lease of two of the accused on court bail with two sureties, who were alleged to have given fictitious names and addresses to the court.

The Ministry of Justice however later advised that the suspects be re-arraigned for conspiracy, armed robbery and murder. Sadly, efforts to re-arrest the suspects proved abortive because they had bolted away. Their sureties had also used fictitious names and addresses to process the court bail.

17 years after Oboh’s murder, the country’s aviation industry is still a male dominated world. Though over the past few decades, the female presence in the airline industry has been on the increase, by comparison, women still have a paltry presence. According to data compiled by Women in Aviation inter-national (www.wai.com) women represent six per cent of the pilot population.

How domestic workers murdered Oboh, female pilot

FAMOUS CASES

Having killed ObOH, tHe assailants dumped Her bOdy in a septic tank in tHe

cOmpOund; tHey sealed tHe tank witH cement.

38 National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netMonday, December 7, 2015Law & Justice

U.S Marine convicted

China court upholds conviction against journalist

Abortion law breaches human rights, court rules

A Unites States Ma-rine was convicted, imprisoned and

fined in a Philippines court for killing a Filipino trans-gender woman last year af-ter he learned of her sexual status in a local hotel room.

Joseph Pemberton, who was on a break in October 2014 after participating in joint military exercises in the country was found guilty of homicide by strangling Jennifer Laude and dunking her head into a toilet in the hotel they had checked into after meeting in a disco in Olongapo City, northwest of Manila. He was sentenced to six to 12 years in prison, with time already spent in detention credited, said court clerk Gerry Gruspe, the Associ-ated Press reported.

According to Reuters, the Olongapo City regional trial court also ordered Pemberton to pay about 4.5 million pesos ($130,000) to Laude’s family for loss of earning capacity.

It was gathered that Pem-berton also was ordered to pay 155,255 pesos ($3,300) to pay for the wake and burial of the victim, 50,000 pesos ($1,000) for “moral damag-es” and 30,000 pesos ($600) for “exemplary damages.”

Laude’s mother Julita Cabillan said that while she was happy with the verdict, she was not pleased with the jail term, which was less than if Pemberton had been found guilty of mur-der, a more serious crime than homicide, which does not require malicious in-

A Chinese court has upheld a conviction against a journal-

ist accused of leaking an internal Communist Party document to a foreign web-site but reduced her jail sentence by two years in a case criticized by the West and rights groups.

Gao Yu, 71-year-old, was detained in May 2013, over accusations that she had leaked a party document that warned senior mem-bers against “seven mis-taken ideologies”, includ-ing the “universal values” of human rights, according to Gao’s lawyer, Shang Bao-jun.

Rights activists say her case is part of a broad gov-ernment effort to suppress journalists, lawyers and ac-tivists critical of the party.

According to BBC News, Gao was sentenced to seven years jail term in April after being convicted on a

USA

Couple charged with manslaughter, cruelty of baby

SA court set to pronounce sentence on woman for online baby sale

Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull

US President, Barack Obama

manner.Christopher Allan Hol-

land, 31, appeared at Glad-stone Magistrates Court charged with manslaugh-ter and cruelty to children.

He did not apply for bail and remains in custody.

His co-accused, Megan Jean Freeman, 22, is ac-cused of child cruelty and has been released on bail.

The case against both defendants has been ad-journed until later this month.

AUSTRALIA

SOUTH AFRICA

A mother pleaded guilty in a South African court to hav-

ing tried to sell her baby on the Internet for 5,000 rand (346 dollars).

The 20-year-old woman said “I admit that my ac-tions were unlawful and in-tentional, I have no defence.’’

According to the report from Reuters, police said that the woman was ar-rested in October following a tip-off from a member of the public who said that a baby was being sold on the website called Gumtree.

A couple from Glad-stone have ap-peared in court

over the alleged abuse and death of the 11-week-old boy who was found with severe injuries at a home in Rockhampton in May 2013.

The three-month-old baby sustained multiple broken bones and a brain in-jury in the weeks before his death in central Queensland more than two years ago.

Police said the boy’s inju-ries included 22 broken or fractured bones and bleed-ing on the brain.

The baby was flown to the Mater Hospital in Brisbane

tent.“No amount of money

could pay for the years I spent raising my child,” Ca-billan told reporters. “What they did to my child was gruesome. Just because we are poor doesn’t mean we can’t fight for justice.”

Laude’s sister Malou told Reuters the verdict was “not quite a victory. We expected a murder conviction but instead got homicide. We are not con-tented with the decision.”

According to Reuters, Pemberton had admitted in court to fighting with, but not killing, Laude. He told the court he acted in self-defense after he dis-covered that a man, not a woman, was performing a sexual act on him.

The case has sparked renewed controversy over U.S. military presence in the country. According to the AP, activists outside the courthouse warned that they would closely watch to ensure Pember-ton is detained in a Philip-pines jail.

BEIJING

NORTHERN IRELAND

Chinese President Xi Jinping

Micheal D. Hggins President Of Northern Ireland

South African President, Jacob Zuma

but died a week later.Prosecutors said the baby

was also severely malnour-ished with poor fat stores, and died from an incident directly related to violent shaking and a lack of oxy-gen to the brain.

The court was told that the trauma happened over a period of one to four weeks because some of the bones had started to heal in a deformed

charge of providing state secrets to foreign contacts.

The Beijing High Court reduced her sentence to five years but upheld her con-viction.

Shang said the court had decided to reduce Gao’s sen-tence after she “gave a true account of the facts of the crime during the second trial and pleaded guilty”.

Shang said he would con-

tinue to seek Gao’s release on medical parole, which authorities have already rejected three times.

“She has very serious high blood pressure and heart problems,” Shang said. “Taking into account the fact that she’s already 71, from this perspective, we are not satisfied (with the sentence reduction).”

BBC News reported that because of her health, the court had decided Gao could “temporarily serve the sentence outside of prison”. The report did not elaborate.

Court officials did not respond to phone calls or a faxed query seeking comment. China’s Foreign Ministry said that Gao’s case had been handled in accordance with the law.

Dozens of police officers sealed off roads leading to the court and stopped jour-nalists from approaching.

At a daily news brief-ing, Chinese Foreign Min-istry spokesman Hong Lei called on other countries to “respect China’s judi-cial sovereignty”.

British-based rights group Amnesty Interna-tional said Gao’s health had deteriorated since her detention.

Gao was accused of giving the internal party document to Ho Pin, head of Mirror Books.

Gao, a freelance jour-nalist well known for her articles critical of govern-ment leaders, has said she is innocent.

Her trial was held be-hind closed doors and dip-lomats and reporters were blocked from attending.

The case marked the third time Gao has been jailed on charges stem-ming from her activism and for leaking state se-crets.

that the ruling will dilute the right to life of unborn chil-dren in Northern Ireland.

A judicial review found the grounds for abortion should be extended in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland’s At-torney General John Larkin said in a brief statement that he was “profoundly dis-

appointed” by the decision and was “considering the grounds for appeal”.

In his ruling, Mr. Justice Horner said women who were the victims of sexual crime and cases of fatal foetal abnormality were en-titled to exemptions in the law.

He said given that the issue was unlikely to be ad-dressed by the Northern Ireland Executive in the foreseeable future, and that Northern Ireland citizens were entitled to “have their [European Convention on Human] rights protected by the courts”, the current legislation was in breach of their human rights.

Northern Ireland has been a place apart within

the United Kingdom since the 1967 Abortion Act.

It allowed terminations in England, Scotland and Wales at up to 24 weeks of the pregnancy on a vari-ety of grounds, including having abnormalities that could lead to a child being “seriously handicapped”.

Even if this judgement is put into effect - and it is likely to be appealed - the law would still be stricter in Northern Ireland.

The judge made a point of distinguishing between fatal foetal abnormalities, which he ruled should be an exemption to the law and cases where the foetus was “seriously malformed”, which he said should not be exempted.

The High Court in Belfast has ruled abortion legislation

in Northern Ireland is in breach of human rights laws.

Currently, termination of pregnancy is only allowed if a woman’s life is at risk or there is a permanent or serious risk to her mental or physical health.

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) brought the case to extend abortion to cases of serious foetal malformation, rape or incest.

The 1967 Abortion Act does not apply to Northern Ireland.

Bernadette Smyth, the director of the Precious Life group, said she is concerned

She was freed on bail and placed under house arrest, to be sentenced on Febru-rary, 29 at the Magistrates’ Court in the eastern town of Pietermaritzburg.


TO BE CONTINUED

Mahmud is a managing Partner at Sagittarian Berkeleys, a firm of Attorneys

EVENTS

Framework in anti-corruption campaign: Challenges and opportunities

Prof. Sodipo with Law students of Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Ogun State, recently.

Former chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, NBA (Ikeja branch), Chief Victor Odunaiya and the celebrant, Mr. Oremodu at the event.

L-R: Prof. Bankole Sodipo and Mr. Tony Okoroji at the 7th inaugural lecture entitled “The Oracle, Intellectual Property and Allied Right, The Knowledge Economy and the Development Agenda’’, held recently at Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Ogun State.

Lagos lawyer, Mr. Ibukun Oremodu and his wife, Doyin, at a church service marking his 5oth birthday in Lagos, recently.

Aminu mAhmud

This paper is set against the backdrop of two sig-nificant developments in our criminal justice jurisprudence. I refer to the criminal trials in-

volving Chiefs Olabode George and James Ibori, former stalwarts of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Both criminal trials are significant because they highlight how power influences the way the law responds to the political environment. Whilst Ibori’s case posed a more fundamental challenge to our legal and juridical sys-tems by exposing our prosecutorial and court systems to ridicule, George’s case provided grounds, though tem-porary as it were, for observers to applaud our admin-istration of criminal justice system. Here, I have itali-cised ‘temporary’ and the Rule of Law’ to show how we can scratch the surfaces of any phenomena to uncover their meanings and what lies beneath them. For clarity, George’s case showed us how a criminal trial becomes the signifier to the political. But, both cases present their own upsides. And they share common grounds. Firstly, that no matter where and how meaning is given to the law, the law punishes the offender for his or her crime. Here, justice is the objective given of the law. Secondly, both cases situate the collective aspirations of citizens who insist that the law must be shorn of the pol-itics that tends to shape it within the Rule of Law frame-work. Ibori plea bargained the London charges because the UK’s framework of criminal justice, shorn of influ-ence and power, placed him in a spot of bother. Contrast that framework of criminal justice to our administra-tion of criminal justice system. Didn’t Ibori walk out of The Asaba High Court a free man? There are down-sides. The effeminate way Ibori’s case was prosecuted has brought about what I describe as the outsourcing of justice to other jurisdictions. The danger here is the loss of respect for our courts and the enthronement of impu-

nity that outsourcing of justice brings. The anti-corruption framework under which Ibori and

George were tried in Asaba and Lagos posed a certain prob-lematic. The Rule of Law framework that recognises the equality of outcome is that which dispenses justice based on the application of the law. The equality of outcome isn’t about making everybody the same. It is about having a common outcome in a criminal trial, based on same or familiar sets of facts, evidence and the law.

Corruption is pervasive in our country. It is a way of life, the unfortunate life style of the high and the low of our coun-try. From the quarters of political governance to the sphere, Jacques Lacan describes as the ‘democratic imaginary’, cor-ruption defines the social, political, economic and human agencies so much so that these days our country ranks in the Corruption Perception Index released annually by Transpar-ency International as one of the most corrupt countries on earth. With corruption, our country plumbs the shallows.

Let’s pause here. The paper will attempt to establish the connection between corruption and the law and the challeng-es and opportunities that underline the relationship. I propose to take a look at this connection from two perspectives. Firstly, I shall look at the arguments that weave around this rela-tionship; and how this relationship shapes the law. Secondly, I shall do a cursory analysis of the legal framework of the anti-corruption campaign in the middle section of the paper. The concluding section shall deal with the challenges that are encountered in the fight against corruption; the opportunities that are abounding in a corruption-free state shall conclude the section.

Theoretical contextI make two propositions here. Firstly, the law, no matter

how it is construed or analysed, has its peculiar nature that is so often worked upon by powerful interests and by those who wield political power at any given time. Here, the emphasis is on the nature of law itself. Law tends to respond to the politi-cal, economic and social environment. And it is this environ-ment, shaped by interests, that distorts the nature of law. That the environment distorts the nature of law does not imbue the

law with a nature that it exists outside of the law. Sam Amadi misconceives this aspect of the science of law when he argues that the ‘’law is political because men and women of power and means find in it a strong instrument to protect their inter-ests’’. Yes, the law exists within a given political environment; and because it is conditioned by interests, the law does not entirely lose its nature, nor does it become political as Amadi suggests. The law merely responds to the political. To read into the law what exists outside of it, is to misconceive the jurispru-dence of law. Law interacts with all phenomena, including the political.

Secondly, I propose that corruption- as an infraction of the law, or of legally prescribed rules-can be a challenge to the Rule of Law framework that responds to pernicious externali-ties. For me, the challenge is underlined by how the three in-trinsic natures of law, or what Tamanaha Brian categorised as ‘generality, equality and certainty’, are mobilised to stem the tide of corruption. Here, and firstly, the framework should promote the conceptual notion that law should govern. The equality that Tamanaha Brian describes as that which ‘’im-plies that every citizen is equal to the law’’. Here, the attribute of equality stands in contrast to the notion that the ruler is above the law.

Secondly, the framework must recognise the generality of the Rule of Law. It stands to reason, therefore, that the frame-work must not be geography and jurisdictional-specific. And thirdly, the framework must have an unimpeachable degree of certainty. An uncertain regime of the Rule of Law erodes confidence in the enforceability of the law itself.

I place a further caveat, here. I make the above proposi-tion, assuming that the Rule of Law framework is divested of powerful interests and that the purposive interest of the law isn’t shaped by those who shape and map the boundaries of power. I assume that there is a common understanding of the constitutive elements of the framework, that everyone has a common conviction about what it is.

Community MirrorNational Mirror

www.nationalmirroronline.netMonday, December 7, 201540

We require huge investment in public infrastructure, production of energy, health and education to enable us take full advantage of evolving economic conditions.

–GOVERNOR AKINWUNMI AMBODE OF LAGOS

Volunteers vow to end traffic snarl in Lagos

of the criminal Laws of Lagos State 2011.

They also allegedly, on No-vember 2013, at Nwokolo Street, Apapa, Lagos, threatened the

life of One Chief Mukaila La-wal Oluwa, the Oluwa of Lagos and Apapa, with cutlasses and other dangerous weapons and thereby committed an offence

punishable under section 56 of the Criminal laws of Lagos State 2011.

Further hearing has been fixed for December 14, 2015.

4 Lagos princes arraigned over forgery, threat to life

with BRT drivers despite incur-sion.

Contributing, Hon. Segun Olu-lade stated that “it’s not a lie that okada-riders are gradually tak-ing over the road and policemen are extorting money from both the okada-riders and commercial

Danfo drivers in order to let them have access to the road without any interference from LASTMA.”

Speaker of the House, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, resolved to call on the state government to provide the axis with security check to keep the commercial

Wale IgbIntade

A Lagos Chief Magis-trate’s Court, Ikeja, has commenced trial of four

princes from Oluwa chieftaincy family over allegations of forg-ery and threat to life of the in-cumbent Oluwa of Lagos, Chief Mukaila Lawal Oluwa.

The defendants, who had ear-lier been docked and granted bail on August 26, 2014, before Chief Magistrate Akinde are: Abayomi Shamsideen Oluwa (62), Ismaila Abayomi Oluwa (67), Tajudeen Ototo Oluwa (58), and Muse Adegboyega Oluwa (56), pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

The new trial Magistrate, A.A. Adesanya, allowed them to continue their bail after their lawyer, Mr. Ismaila Adebowale, had pleaded on their behalf.

The charge read in part, that the defendants, on March, 2013, about 1230hrs at the High Court of Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, allegedly conspired among themselves to forge the official stamp of High Court of Lagos and signature of Principal Registrar of High Court of Lagos and smuggled it into a public notice and thereby committed an offence punish-able under Section 363(2)(b)

motorcyclists and yellow buses operators from the BRT corridor and also direct House Committee on Transportation to liaise with Commissioner for Transporta-tion and other relevant authori-ties with a view to solving the problems on the road.

Suspected miscreants arrested by Task Force Enforcement operators yesterday at Oko Mala of Lagos.

Coordinator of Lagos State Traffic Control Volun-teers, Seyi Bamigbade,

has expressed his team’s readi-ness and determination to end traffic snarl in Lagos metropo-lis.

Bamigbade, who spoke re-cently after signing a memo-randum of understanding with the management of Jekalo.com at Alausa, Ikeja, noted that as more people sign-up for the ini-tiative and become traffic con-trol volunteers, the perennial traffic congestion in the city will gradually disappear.

He said in areas where many people have come up to regis-ter as traffic controller, the ef-fect has been very tremendous; even as he said more volunteers were still needed to further ease traffic gridlock in Lagos city.

The coordinator added that Jekalo.com will be partnering with volunteer groups in the are of technology by connect-ing road users to available rides in different localities across the state; adding that the platform will engender trust and safety of road users on the platform.

Speaking on his company’s partnership with Road Traffic Volunteers, Managing Direc-tor of Jekalo.com, Mr. Motooni Bolarinwa, said his organisa-tion works by encouraging ride owners to share a ride with one or two people on his route.

“We make this happen by re-warding them with incentives such as fuel voucher, Lekki Toll E-Tag Registration and Fund-ing, Car Maintenance Services, Genuine Motor Third Party In-surance and more at half the price it would have normally cost, using their Jekalo Credit contributed by co-riders,” he said.

Aside Jekalo.com, the Lagos State Traffic Volunteer coor-dinator also said that a chair-manship aspirant at Coker Aguda Local Council Develop-ment Area, Mr. Babatunde Ra-heem was equally partnering with the group and has made commitment by donating traf-fic jackets to members of the group.

It would be recalled that few weeks ago, a socio-political or-ganisation under the auspices of the National Image launched an initiative tagged, “Lagos State Traffic Control Volun-teers” to help check the menace of traffic gridlock in the me-tropolis.

RobeRt aWokuse

Lagos assembly seeks enforcement of restriction on BRT lanes

3 remanded for alleged rape of minorMojesin, 17, explaining further that the accused unlawfully had canal knowledge of Mojesin by using white toy gun and cutlass-es to threaten her.

The offence, according to him, was contrary to section 357 and punishable under sections 86 and 516 (1), (2) of the Criminal Code Cap 34 Vol 11, Laws of Osun, 2003.

Counsel to the accused per-sons, Alaba Awoseemo, pleaded for bail of his clients in liberal terms, and promised that they would not jump bail but produce reliable sureties, he added that the mother of the complainant was not interested in prosecuting the case.

The prosecutor, however, ob-jected the bail application on ground that the victim has been sick since the incident happened.

Magistrate Risikat Olayemi said the complainant was old enough and has the right to de-cide whether to prosecute the case or not.

She then told the defence coun-sel to come with the victim on the adjourned date and ordered the defence counsel to file the writ-ten application for bail of the ac-cused.

She subsequently remanded the accused persons in prison custody till Dec 28 for hearing of the bail application.

boladale bamIgbola OSOGBO

Three men, Biola Akin-wande, 18, Ayoola Awodile, 25, and Sodiq Oyedele, 19,

have been remanded in prison custody for alleged rape of a minor by an Ile-Ife Magistrate’s Court.

Addressing the court, police prosecutor, Cpl Ronke Badmus, said the accused committed the offence on Nov 22, 2015, around 2pm at No. 29, Oke-Atan Street, Ile-Ife.

She added that the accused conspired among themselves to commit felony by raping one

Lagos State House of As-sembly has called on Governor Akinwunmi

Ambode to direct necessary security and law enforcement agencies to stop illegal plying of Bus Rapid Transport, BRT cor-ridor on Ikorodu/Mile12 road.

Hon. Sanai Agunbiade rep-resenting Ikorodu Consistency I, while moving the motion ex-plained that the state government expended huge amount of money in constructing the road and called for a clampdown on any individual that defies the state’s traffic laws.

Agunbiade restated that the BRT lane was only meant for the blue BRT buses but commercial motorcycle operators popularly called okada-riders have abused government’s initiative of effi-cient transportation system by competing with the buses on the dedicated lanes and had on sev-eral occasions resorted to van-dalism at any slightest interface

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 41NorthMonday, December 7, 2015

Children from Stefanos Foundation Internally Displaced Persons Camp, performing during the anniversary at the camp and of-ficial launching of Coalition for Minority Rights in Jos on Saturday.

NGOs to train teachers in Katsina

GOCOP to Senate: Don’t deny Nigerians free expression

JAMES DANJUMA KATSINA

PZ Foundation and Voluntary Services Overseas, VSO,

have entered into an agreement with Katsina State government to train primary and secondary schools teachers in the state.

At the signing of a Memorandum of Un-derstanding, MoU, over the weekend in the state, Governor Aminu Masari lamented the decay in ed-ucation sector, describing it as unacceptable.

Masari, who restated determination to shore

up the fortunes of the sec-tor, said no time and re-sources would be spared in resuscitating educa-tion at primary and sec-ondary schools levels.

He said the state used to set the standard in ed-ucation in the northern part of the country, but now lagged behind all but two states in the north.

According to him, only about 10 per cent of sec-ondary school students, who sit for National Examinations Council, NECO, and West African Examinations Council, WAEC, from the state usually make grade with five credits and above.

JAMES ABRAHAM JOS

A National Assem-bly member, Beni Lar, has confirmed

plans by her colleagues in the lower chamber to bet-ter the lot of internally displaced persons, IDPs, in the country and fully reintegrate them into the society.

According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR, the population of IDPs in Ni-geria following activities of Boko Haram terrorists in the North East part of the country has risen to 2.2 million.

Lar further decried ac-tivities of insurgents at the weekend on the sideline of

Guild of Corporate Online Publish-ers, GOCOP, has

called on the Senate not to deny Nigerians their universally recognised right to freedom of ex-pression.

In a statement in Lagos on Sunday by its Public-ity Secretary, Olumide Iyanda, the guild said the draft bill to “Prohibit Frivolous Petitions and Other Matters Connect-ed Therewith,” which passed Second Reading in the Senate last week, pos-es a threat to the freedom of expression and obliga-tion of the media as en-shrined in the Nigerian Constitution.

It noted that the bill proposes up to two years in prison or a fine of N2 million or both for any-one who posts an “abu-sive statement” via text message, Twitter, What-sApp, or any other form of social media.

The bill also proposes varying penalties for false publications by print, radio and TV out-lets.

GOCOP said on the proposed bill: “We wish to call the attention of the Senate to the UN Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers.

“Nigeria is also a sig-natory to other interna-tional statutes like the Af-rican Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political

Insurgency: NASS planning better life for IDPs, says Lar

Rights and the UN Con-vention against Corrup-tion, among others.”

The guild expressed concern that given the inadequate media and in-ternet penetration in the country, the Senate will lend itself to any move to discourage further growth.

It said: “As other coun-tries adopt more generous and dynamic approach to the protection of free speech to allow citizens access to information without fear of intimida-tion, the National Assem-bly should not shackle the very media for which our present democracy owes its survival.

“Having benefitted from a vibrant media, it is worrisome that the lawmakers have turned around to debate a law which seeks to punish us-ers of online media plat-forms.”

The guild therefore called on the lawmakers to desist from any action that would create fear among media practitio-ners, online activists and whistleblowers who may become likely tar-gets if the bill becomes law.

“While we continuous-ly campaign for respon-sible, objective and trans-parent practice among media practitioners and social media users across platforms, members of the Senate should not re-strain access to informa-tion to protect politicians and other high-ranking individuals who do not want to be held account-able for their actions,” GOCOP said.

“The level of decay in the education sector is unacceptable, and no re-sponsible leader will be content with the deplor-able state of education in the state.

“We will invest all we have to boost education at the foundation level. And in doing that, we are ready, willing and prepared to partner with like-minded organisa-tions that will assist us achieve our goals,” Ma-sari said.

He added that teach-ers’ training and retrain-ing are part of necessary efforts aimed at turning around the comatose

state of education in the state.

He however said rehabil-itation and expansion work on some primary schools had commenced in earnest with the exercise expected to cover every part of the state in due course.

The memorandum was signed by the Com-missioner of Education, Professor Halima Idris on behalf of the state govern-ment, while Engr Tunde Oyelola, Vice Chairman of PZ Foundation and Abubakar Usman, Coun-try Representative of VSO, signed on behalf of their respective organisa-tions.

displaced persons, includ-ing reports to the commit-tee so that starting from this

the one year anniversary of Stefanos Foundation IDP Camp at Zang Com-mercial College in Jos. She said the House was doing all it could to arrest the situation and alleviate the suffering of displaced people.

She said: “As lawmakers, we are really concerned about the plight of IDPs. Recently, for the first time, the House inaugurated committee on IDPs. We re-alised that the mandate of NEMA, which is to inter-vene in emergency situa-tion, is not enough because after one or two months, nobody remembers them again. So, the House is planning and has already requested members to sub-mit names of affected and

Christmas onward the IDPs would be fully catered for by the government.”

NEMA records 1,037 emergencies in FCTGLORIA USMAN ABUJA

National Emergen-cy Management Agency, NEMA,

Emergency Response Bays established to reduce re-sponse time to emergency in Federal Capital Terri-tory, FCT, has recorded about 1,037 cases of emer-gency between September 2013 and June 2015.

Coordinator of NEMA (Abuja Operations), Mr Ishaya Chonoko, while dis-closing this at the weekend, said the bays established by the agency for the stake-holders in line with its co-ordination roles have also

succeeded in building the required synergy in which they are now working effi-ciently together in address-ing emergency challenges in FCT.

Giving breakdown of incidences in a statement made available by the agency, he said about 4,040 persons were involved in emergencies with 1,389 in-jured and 186 deaths with road traffic accidents be-ing the highest with 1, 008 followed by fire, collapsed structures and drowning.

He said the bays, which are strategically stationed with the aim of reducing

response time to emergen-cy situations, are equipped with urban search-and-rescue tools, including fully equipped rescue ten-ders, rapid intervention vehicles and mobile inten-sive care unit ambulances.

The bays are located at Central Area adjacent to the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Express-way (Airport road) Lugbe, Kubwa Expressway and Nyanya by Karu junction.

He further said the bays were being jointly manned with the stakeholders that have deployed their

search-and-rescue offi-cers as well as paramedics drawn from the agencies including the Nigerian Se-curity and Civil Defense Corps, military paramed-ics and Federal Road Safe-ty Corps among others.

Chonoko also said the agency had over the years continued to support oper-ations of the stakeholders including their manpower development, presenta-tion of equipment such as ambulances, maintenance of their tools and experi-ence sharing on global best practices in emergency management.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net42 Monday, December 7, 2015

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l formerly known as NZEREM CHIDUBEM ANTHONY now wish to be known and referred to as VITUS VICANICS. All documents bearing these names to remain valid. General public take note.

Formerly known and addressed as AJAKAIYE RIDWAN, now wish known and addressed as YEKINI RIDWAN. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as MISS OPENIYI AFUSAT OLAYEMI, now wish to be known, called and addressed as MRS. OKUNOWO AFUSAT OLAYEMI. All documents and certificates bearing my former names remain valid. General public and relevant authorities should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as OLUTAYO OPEYEMI DANIEL, now wish to be known and addressed as UMEH BENJAMIN CHIGOZIE DENIS. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

Formerly known and addressed as KAYODE ESHO ADEKUNLE now wish to be known and addressed as ADEKUNLE OBAWWUNMI. All former documents remain valid, general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as SUMAILA MUFUTAU, now wish to be known and addressed as MUFUTAUDEEN ISMAIL. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

Formerly known and addressed as MISS UGWU CHINASA EMMANUELLA now wish to be known and addressed as MRS OKONKWO CHINASA EMMANUELLA. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. NYSC and general public take note. .

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as MENE ABEL JOFOTAN, now wish to be known and addressed as MENE ABEL ODUORE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

Formerly known and addressed as OKWUMOU MICHAEL, now wish known and addressed as IZUCHUKWU MICHAEL OKWUMOU N. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

RECONCILIATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

This is to confirm that IDEMUDIA REGINA IMUETIYAN and IDEMUDIA REGINA refer to one and the same person, henceforth wish to be known and addressed as PETER OJO IMUENTINYAN. All documents reflecting any of the stated names remain valid. Auchi polytechnic and general public take note.

Formerly known and addressed as CHIOMA LAWRENCE now wish known and addressed as CHIOMA PROMISE EKWU. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEI formerly known and addressed as DADA SEKIRATU ASAKE, now wish to be known and addressed as OLANIYAN SIKIRATU. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEFormerly known and addressed as OGUNBIYI BRIGHT OLALEKAN now wish known and addressed as OGUNBIYI AHMED OLALEKAN. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEI formerly known and addressed as NNAJI CHINEDU, now wish to be known, called and addressed as AHARU JOHN CHINEDU. All documents and certificates bearing my former names remain valid. General public and relevant authorities should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as OWUMI MIRIAM OMOESIRI, now wish to be known and addressed as MACAULAY MIRIAM OMOESIRI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

Formerly known and addressed as MOHAMMED MUSTAPHA IBRAHIM, now wish known and addressed as MUSTAPHA IBRAHIM ALABI. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as EKWECHI CHINELO B, now wish to be known, called and addressed as EZEH CHINELO BLESSING. All documents and certificates bearing my former names remain valid. General public and relevant authorities should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEYUSUFF: I, formerly known and addressed as YUSUFF FATAI ABIODUN, now wish to be known, called and addressed as YUSUF FATAI ABIODUN. All former documents remain valid. General public and Authorities Concerned should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAMENDIDI: I; formerly known and addressed as NDIDI JUSTICE FESTUS, now wish to be known, called and addressed as OBIKE JUSTICE ONYEKAOZURU . All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEI formerly known and addressed as ADAGWE CHURCHILL, now wish to be known and addressed as NEWTON FAITH. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAMEI hereby confirm that I, EDEMATIE JOLOMI MENE is same as one person as GERALDO ALLEN now wish to known as EDEMATIE JOLOMI MENE. All former documents bearing these names remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEI formerly MISS CHIMEZIRI PRECIOUS Oluchi, now wished to be known and addressed as MRS. BASHIRU PRECIOUS ZAINAB. All former documents remain valid,the general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known and addressed as ONARO DANIEL, now wish to be known and addressed as DANIEL OFISCO JOEL. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

Formerly known and addressed as BOLAJI RASAQ, now wish known and addressed as MR SALAMI RASAQ BOLAJI. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

Formerly known and addressed as FERDO UBANGHA ENANG, now wish known and addressed as OSIKPONG UBANGHA ENANG. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEI, formerly known as CHINEDU HENRY OSUJI now wish to be known and addressed as CHINEDU DABELECHI CHUKWUEMEKA OSUJI. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEI, formerly known as IFEOMA MARY CHIDIMMA ONWUKWE now wish to be known and addressed as IFEOMA MARY CHUKWUKUBA. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAMEThis is to confirm that OGHENEVWARO OJUGO is the same one person as OGHENEVOKE OJOGO. That henceforth wish to be known and addressed as OGHENEVOKE OJOGO. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAMEThis is to notify the general public that I Mrs Oladipupo Taiwo Anuoluwa is the same person bearing MRS OLADIPUPO TAIWO OYELADE. All my documents with the two names remain valid.General public to take note.

CHANGE OF NAME


Formerly known and addressed as ABBEY OLISE, now wish to be known and addressed as MALCOLM OKOBIA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

This is to confirm that CHIEKEZI MARVELNAPSON CHINAEMEREM and CHIEKEZI MARVELOUS CHINEMEREM belong to one and same person. All documents bearing the names remain valid. University of Port Harcourt and the general public take note.

ADDITION OF NAMEAMODU: I, formerly known and addressed as OJOGBANE ANTHONY AMODU. That I now added ‘ABAYOMI’ to my name. That I now wish to be known, called and addressed as OJOGBANE ANTHONY ABAYOMI AMODU. All documents bearing my former name remain valid. General public and Authorities Concerned should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEPOPOOLA: I, formerly known and addressed as MISS OMOBOLAJI ADEBISI POPOOLA, now wish to be known, called and addressed as MRS. OMOBOLAJI ADEBISI ADUNNI ABAYOMI AMODU. All documents bearing my former name remain valid. General public and Authorities Concerned should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEI, formerly known as AMAKA ETOKWUDO now wish to be known and addressed as AMAKA MADUBUONWU. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEI, formerly known as MRS. ADIJAT OMOTOLA EBEGBE and MRS. ADIJAT KUBURAT OMOTOLA DAWODU now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. ADIJAT OMOTOLA AKINYELURE. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

PUBLIC NOTICE PUBLIC NOTICE PUBLIC NOTICE

LOSS OF DOCUMENT

This is to notify the general public that the above named Foundation has applied for Registration, with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) under part ‘C’ of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990THE TRUSTEES ARE:1. Hon. Kevin Michael Chuhwak2. Mr. Peter Nyam Gyang3. Douglas Chuhwak Davou4. Macusland Gyang Chuhwak

The general public is hereby notified that the above named Association has applied to the corporate affairs commission Abuja for registration under part C of the companies and Allied Matters Act 1990The Trustees Are:1. Mr. Aaron Nwori : Chairman2. Mr. Taofiki Akinboye : General Secretary3. Mr. Jude Anayor : Treasurer4. Mr. Kingsley John : Public Relation Officer5. Mr. Innocent Okorie : Financial Secretary6. Mr. Hilary Akam : Legal AdviserAims and Objectives1. The welfare of the members2. Ensuring availability of quality foodstuffs for the customers3 To promote good business ideas among members4. To foster peace, unity and progress among the members and the general public.5. To work with the appropriate authority in the maintenance of law and order and encouraging members to comply with the government standards.Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to the Registrar-General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420, Tigris crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja within twenty-eight (28) days of this publication.

Signed: Hilary Akam Esq.

The general public is hereby notified that the above named Foundation has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for registration under Part “C” of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990.THE TRUSTEES ARE:1. Mrs. Grace Ibidunni Sopeju2. Mr. Manasseh Alakiri3. Dr. John Ifeanyichukwu Osuoha4. Dr. Adebayo Bamidele Oyeyemi5. Mr. Olanrewaju Adetokunbo Bajulaiye6. Mr. Ifeoluwa Ezra Sopeju7. Mrs. Comfort Mojola Mufutau8. Mr. Joshua Gboluwaga SopejuAIMS AND OBJECTIVES1. Helping the mentally alert but physically challenged youth who are in school but financially handicapped.2. Giving hope to talented youths with physical disabilities.

Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to the Registrar-General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420, Tigris crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja within twenty-eight (28) days of this publication.

Signed: Manasseh Alakiri Esq.

MCVIN AGED HOME FOUNDATION PROGRESSIVE YELLOW GARRI AND OTHER FOODSTUFFS TRADERS ASSOCIATION, ODOGUNYAN MARKET, IKORODU, LAGOS, NIGERIA

JOSHMAN YOUTH FOUNDATION

5. Macauley Dung Kevin6. Marinatha Vou Kevin7. Angela Yop Kevin8. Kevin Kangyang Dorcas

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:1. To care for the aged2. To assist the widows, the orphans and the less privileged in the society3. To help the poor and the sick Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to the Registrar-General Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420, Tigris crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja within twenty-eight (28) days of this publication

SIGNED: Hon. Kevin Chuhwak

This is to inform the general public that MR. NOAH OLADELE MUDASHIRU lost the following items on the 20th of October, 2015. A black travelling bag containing:1. International Passport No: A02476824, 2. ECOWAS Passport Permit/National I.D Card/Driver’s Licence, 3. School Credentials, 4. Original copy of National Electoral Commission letter of participation on Politics (Decree No.25 of 1987/052946. 5. Original copy of Eti-Osa Youth Organization (Lagos State) recommendation letter. 6. Original copy of Birth Certificate (007793).7. Bank Cheque Books-Zenith Bank,UBA,ECO,First Bank. 8. LASRA paper-Noah and Modinot Mudashiru and some other valuables.

Please if found kindly report to the nearest Police Station or call this number 08037277138.


CHANGE OF NAMEFormerly known and addressed as MISS AISHA RASLAN GAGARE now wish to be known and addressed as MRS AISHA RASLAN ALHASSAN. All former documents remain valid NYSC and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAMELUKMAN: Formerly known and addressed as SADIQ ABDULGAFAR ow wish to be known and addressed as GAFAR SADIQ LUKMAN. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEMESCHACK: Formerly known and addressed as MESCHACK PIUS, now wish known and addressed as OLANEMA IMOLE MONDAY. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.


CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

This is to certify that AIPOH BAILIKIS BLESSING is the same as James Billy Patience. Now wish to be known and addressed as AIPOH BAILIKIS BLESSING all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

MATURARE: Formerly known and addressed as UBAIDA SUNUSI SANI now wish to be known and addressed as UBAIDA SUNUSI MATURARE. All former documents remains valid. General public should take note.

Formerly OLOKPOR ELIZABETH AKPALA now wishes to be addressed as YUSUF ELIZABETH OLOKPOR All documents remain valid.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as MRS ORENUGA ELIZABETH ADEBISI OLUFUNMILAYO now wish to be known and addressed as miss OSOBA ELIZABETH ADEBISI OLUFUNMILAYO all former documients remain valid O.O.U Ago Iwoye and generalpublic take note.

ILORI Formerly known and addressed as MISS ILORI DEBORAH. A. TITILAYO now wish to be known and addressed as MRS OJO DEBORAH TITILAYO. All former documents remains valid. LGEA Makarfi, Eco Bank, Keystone Bank and General public should take note.

KARIM: Formerly known and addressed as KARIM SEGUN now wish to be known and addressed as POPOOLA DAYO SEGUN .All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as MISS ADEBANJO GANIYAT AYOBAMI now wish to be known and addressed as MRS IDRIS GANIYAT AYOBAMI all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

AUDU: Formerly known and addressed as IBRAHIM AUDU now wish to be known and addressed as IBRAHIM YUNUSA. All former documents remain valid. CBN, FIRST BANK and General public should take note.

MEMUNA: . Formerly known and addressed as MEMUNA ISA EMOKPARE now wish to be known and addressed as MARGRET ISA EMOKPARE. .All former documents remain valid. General public take .

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as AYANBADEJO TITILAYO IDOWU now wish to be known and addressed as AYANBADEJO SURAJUDEEN TITILAYO Idowu all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

Formerly known and addressed as miss ADENIJI OLUWASEUN ABIODUN now wish to be known and addressed as MRS LAWAL OLUWASEUN ABIODUN. All former documents remain valid Banks and general public take note.

NMADUMEKE: Formerly known and addressed as NMADUMEKE ANGELA IFEOMA now wish to be known and addressed as AJANA ANGELA IFEOMA .All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

Formerly known and addressed as MISS AROWORA NOFISAT REMILEKUN now wish to be known and addressed as MRS ADESINA NOFISAT REMILEKUN.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as MRS RICHARD ADHOWARIE ROSEMARY now wish to be known and addressed as MRS IDIMI RICHARD ADHOWARIE ROSEMARY all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

ANUNOBI: Formerly known and addressed as ANUNOBI EJIKE INNOCENT now wish to be known and addressed as NNAEMEKA EJIKE INNOCENT. .All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEFormerly known and addressed as TAIWO TEMITAYO ADEBAYO now wish to be known and addressed as TAIWO TEMITAYO BABALOLA all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEOGUNMODEDE: Formerly known and addressed as OGUNMODEDE ADEKOLA now wish to be known and addressed as DAVID ADEKOLA DAVID. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEOLAPO: Formerly known and addressed as MISS OLAPO, FUNKE OMOLARA now wish to be known and addressed as MRS DAMILARE-VICTOR, FUNKE OMOLARA .All former documents remain valid. General public take

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as ALHAJI MICHAEL now wish to be known and addressed as FANNAHIN ROBERT all former documents remain valid Banks and general public take note.

I formerly known and addressed as HAJARATU MARKUS, now wish to be known, called and addressed as SUKAR SAMAILA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

Formerly OZOR CHIWENDU LOVELYN now wishes to be addressed as ELUMA CHIWENDU LOVELYN.General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly addressed and known as MISS FADAHUNSI YEMISI BOSE now wish to be known and called as MRS OGUNDARE YEMISI OLANIKE. All former documents remain valid, general public should please take note.

TAIWO: formerly known and addressed as TAIWO OMOWUNMI OMOTAYO FAITH; now wish to be known and addressed as ADEYINKA OMOWUNMI OMOTAYO. all former documents remain valid. the general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as MISS OJEDIRAN WALIYAT ADEKEMi now wish to be addressed and called as MRS ADENIYI WALIYAT ADEKEMI. All former documents remain valid, general public should please take note.

OLODUDE: Formerly known and addressed as MISS OLODUDE VICTORIA ABIDEMI now wish to be known and addressed as MISS OLASUNKANMI VICTORIA ABIDEMI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as MISS BAMIDELE TAWAKALITU AJOLADE now wish to be called and addressed as MRS OYINLOLA TAWAKALITU MOJIRADE. All former document remain valid, Stanbic Bank Plc, First Bank of Nigeria Plc and general public should please take note.

AFOLORUNSHO: Formerly known and addressed as AFOLORUNSHO JIMOH AFOLABI now wish to be known and addressed as AFOLABI JIMOH KAYODE. .All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly addressed and known as MISS ADERINOYE BUKKY now wish to be called and addressed as MRS ADEYEMI BUKOLA CHRISTIANA. All former documents remain valid, general public should please take note.

SAIDU: Formerly known and addressed as SAIDU HANANIYA now wish to be known and addressed as SAMCHI LAZARUS VELMANGI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAMEFormerly known and addressed as MISS AISHA HANNAH MUSA now wish to be known and addressed as MRS AISHA HANNAH MUSA IMAZOBI. All former documents remain valid Banks and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAMEPAUL: This is to Confirm that PAUL AKOBUNDU and IKECHUKWU JAMES refer to one and same person. All documents reflecting any of the Stated names remain valid. Banks and the general public take note..

CHANGE OF NAMEFormerly IBEKWE DEBORAH IFEOMA now wishes to be addresses as NWAKUNA DEBORAH IFEOMA General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME


CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as MISS ADEBAYO AMINAT FUNMILOLA now wish to be known and addressed as MRS SANUSI AMINAT FUNMILOLA all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

YUSUF: This is to Confirm that YUSUFU SILIFATU and YUSUFU ORITOKE AJOKE refer to one and same person, henceforth wish to be known and addressed as YUSUF SILIFATU. All documents reflecting any of the Stated names remain valid. Banks and the general public take note.

Formerly TOGO FRANCIS TEYIMA now wishes to be addressed as ADIGEB PETER ADIGEB General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEI, formerly known as RAMONI ANIKE now wish to be known and addressed as RAHEEM ANIKE. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEADULUGBA: I, formerly known and addressed as MISS ADULUGBA FAVOUR JULIET, now wish to be known, called and addressed as MRS. ABU AMINA JULIET. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEOGBONNAYA: I, formerly known and addressed as OGBONNAYA MAUREEN, now wish to be known, called and addressed as ELIAS ONYINCHI MAUREEN. All former documents remain valid. General public and Authorities Concerned should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEESIMAKUINI: I, formerly known and addressed as ESIMAKUINI PATRICK PETER, now wish to be known, called and addressed as ADEWALE AFOLABI PATRICK. All former documents remain valid. General public and Authorities Concerned should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAMEESTHER BOSE ODUMOSU same person as OLUWOLE BOSE ADEOLA now wish to be known and addressed as ESTHER BOSE ODUMOSU. All former documents remain valid and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEIBRAHIM: Formerly known and addressed as IBRAHIM HASSAN now wish to be known and addressed as DANYARO IRO. All former documents remain valid. CBN, UBA PLC and the general public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEEBEATU: Formerly known and addressed as MISS EBEATU NKEM NNONYEKA now wish to be known and addressed as MRS MBAGWU EBERE NKEM .All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and addressed as BOLANLE BUKUNOLA BECKLEY now wish to be known and addressed as BUKUNOLA BOLANLE JEGEDE all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

JOSEPH: Formerly known and addressed as MISS FUNMILAYO JOSEPH now wish to be known and addressed as MRS FUNMILAYO SAGBALE. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

ADEYEMI: Formerly known and addressed as ADEYEMI BABATUNDE PAUL now wish to be known and addressed as ABAI BABATUNDE PAUL. .All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEOBIGHO: I Formerly known. called and addressed as MATTHEW OBIGHO. now wish to be known called and addressed as OLUKOBA MATTHEW AMUDA. all former documents remain valid .ECO Bank, Diamond and General Public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEFormerly known and addressed as EUGENE DAVIDSON CHIDIEBERE now wish to be known and addressed as ACHINIHU DAVIDSON CHIDIEBERE, All former document remain valid, general public to note.

CHANGE OF NAMEFormerly known and addressed as IDEYI ESTHER UZOAMAKA now wish to be known and addressed as ACHINIHU ESTHER UZOAMAKA,All former document remain valid, general public to not

CHANGE OF NAMEAFOLAYAN: Formerly known and addressed as AFOLAYAN FOLAKE ADEDOYIN now wish to be known and addressed as OLORUNTOBA FOLAKE ADEDOYIN. All documents remain valid. General Public, please take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEFormerly known and addressed as MISS EVBIDARU LINDA IMUWAHEN now wish to be known and addressed as MRS OKUONGHAE LINDA IMUWAHEN all former documents remain valid and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEONONIWU: Formerly known and addressed as ONONIWU CHIDIMMA GLORIA now wish to be known and addressed as.LOUIS CHIDIMMA GLORIA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note


CHANGE OF NAME

This is to confirm that OKAFOR LETICIA UGOCHI, NGINIDIRI LETICIA UGOCHI and OKAFOR FAVOUR refer as one person now known as OKAFOR LETICIA UGOCHI all former documents remains valid general public take note.

KOLEOSHO: Formerly known and addressed as KOLEOSHO BISOLA AMOKE now wish to be known and addressed as OJEDOKUN BISOLA AMOKE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAMECHANGE OF NAMEI formerly known and addressed as IBRAHIM GIMBA, now wish to be known and addressed as GIMBA KAMBA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

FORMERLY KNOWN and address AS PATRICIA OFILI NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AS PHILLOMINA MORDI..All former documents remain valid. Skye bank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAMESCHANGE OF NAMESI formerly known and addressed as DANBATU MANGA, now wish to be known and addressed as GARBA DANBATU. All former documents remain valid. First Bank, ECO Bank and general public take note.

Formerly known as AKERELE IDRIS OKANLAWON wish now to be known and address as AKERELE ALANI IDRIS. All former documents remain valid. Bank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEFormerly known and called as MISS OLADELE DUPE now wish to be addressed and called as MRS AGBOOLA FLORENCE MODUPE. All former documents remain valid, general public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAMEThis is to certified that ADEREMI OLUSEGUN TEMITOPE is the same one person as ADEREMI ADEYEMI EMMANUEL, that henceforth wish to be addressed and known as ADEREMI ADEYEMI EMMANUEL. All former documents remain valid, First Bank of Nigeria Plc and general public should please take note

CHANGE OF NAMECHANGE OF NAMEFormerly known and addressed as MISS. CHRISTIANAH AMADISE-ere Ikuloh, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS CHRISTIANAH AMADISEMO-ERE EDUH . All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I formerly known and addressed as TUNI UMAR, now wish to be known and addressed as HAUWAU MOHAMMED. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAMECHANGE OF NAMEFormerly known and addressed as MISS. ADESUKO OLAMOJIBA GLORIA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS AKINMUTIMI OLAMOJIBA GLORIA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I formerly known and addressed as ADAMU ABDULLAHI JIKA, now wish to be known and addressed as ADAMU GUDU. All former documents remain valid. FIRST BANK, ECO BANK and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEOLOGUN: I, formerly known and addressed as OLOGUN MAJE JAMES, now wish to be known, called and addressed as PHILIP MAJE JAMES. All former documents remain valid. General public and Authorities Concerned should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAMEALFRED: I, formerly known and addressed as ALFRED DICKSON JOHN, now wish to be known, called and addressed as KOME DICKSON TAYE. All former documents remain valid. General public and Authorities Concerned should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAMECHANGE OF NAMEThis is to inform the public that EYITOYO OKILOH TUWAPIRI and ELEMI OKILOH, refer as one person but now known as ELEMI OKILOH . All former document remain valid. U.B.A Bank and general public take note.

Formerly known and addressed as MISS AKINGBOGUN MOPELOLA IYABODE, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. FALEYE MOPELOLA IYABODE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAMECHANGE OF NAMEFormerly known and addressed as MR BAYODE JOHNSON, now MR MUSTAPHA MEJUDI. All former documents remain valid. BANKS and general public take note.

Formerly known as MISS FAJUYAGBE FUNMILAYO RACHEAL. now wish to be called and addressed as MRS. FAWEHINMI FUMILAYO RACHEAL. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

PUBLIC NOTICE

This is to inform the General Public that the above named Foundation has applied for Registration to Corporate Affairs Commission under Part C of the Companies and Allied Matters Act No. 1 of 1990. TRUSTEES:1. Patrick Chinomso Kingsley - Chairman2. Ihekoronye Chinedu3. Mbachu Christian Chidozie AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. A Non Governmental, Non Party aligned and Non Religious Organization that anchors its course on Youth Empowerment. 2. To contribute to the advancement of the global community by providing an enabling environment to young people with the view of developing their Leadership Skills, Social Responsibility and Enterpreneurship, necessary to create a positive change. 3. Any objection to this Registration should be forwarded to the Registrar–General, Corporate Affairs Commission, 420, Tigris Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, P.M.B 198, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days from the date of this publication.

Signed: CHAIRMAN PATRICK CHINOMSO KINGSLEY

PAT-EAGLES YOUTH EMPOWERMENT FOUNDATION

Islamic State militants yesterday claimed responsibility for a blast that killed the Governor of Yemen’s port city of Aden, Jaafar Moham-med Saad.

Saad and several aides died when their convoy was hit as IS said it detonated a car laden with explosives while the governor drove by.

The group, opposed to the gov-ernment and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who have seized much of the country, including the capital Sanaa, has established a presence in Yemen since its civil war broke out.

Earlier this year, Aden was recaptured by government troops backed by a Saudi-led coalition.

Saad, who was appointed Aden governor in October, was a signifi-cant figure not just as the adminis-trative head of Aden, but for the role he played in driving Houthi rebels out of the port city earlier this year.

Libya’s two rival parliaments have reached an initial agreement aimed at resolving the political crisis that has plagued the country for years.

The deal, agreed at talks in Tunis yesterday and intended to lead to a single government and elections within two years, needs to be en-dorsed by both the internationally recognised parliament in eastern Libya and the Tripoli-based General National Congress (GNC).

The agreement is separate from UN efforts at mediation in Libya.

United Nations special envoy to Libya, Martin Kobler, called it a very good basis for going forward.

In October, the UN submitted its own blueprint for a deal leading to a unified government, but neither side has endorsed it.

The UN is due to host peace talks between the two factions next week in Rome.

Air strikes on the Syrian city of Raqqa have killed at least 32 Islamic State (IS) militants and wounded 40 more, an activist group, Syrian Observatory for Hu-man Rights, said yesterday.

The strikes were believed to have been carried out by the US-led coalition.

Other activists however sug-gested Russian jets had bombed the city and that civilians had been killed.

Head of the UK-based observa-tory, Rami Abdel Rahman, which has a network of informants on the ground, said about 15 air strikes had hit IS bases in the north, east and south-east of the city.

“The casualty figures had come from just one hospital and the final death toll could be higher,” Rahman said.

AfolAbi GAmbAriWITH AGENCY REPORT

People in Venezuela yester-day began voting in con-gressional elections that

are seen as the first serious chal-lenge to the governing socialists in 17 years.

Opinion polls have suggested a broad opposition coalition could capitalise on widespread frustration over food shortages, inflation and crime.

The governing PSUV, how-ever, retains wide support in rural areas, and will continue to control the presidency as voters will be electing all 167 National Assembly members.

However, a win for the coali-tion, which includes centre-left and centre-right groups, could mark a potential political shift in the country.

Reports said voting was brisk, both in areas regarded as pro-government and in others lean-ing towards the opposition.

Although the voting process itself, which is largely elec-

The U.S. diplomatic mis-sion in Turkey yester-day warned Americans

to avoid the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul because of a security threat.

The consular website did not specify what kind of threat, only posting a message online that said the warning is due to “information about a possible security threat against the U.S. Consulate compound in Istan-bul.”

The message also asked U.S. citizens to take appropriate steps to bolster their personal security and maintain a high level of vigilance.

The consulate compound in Istanbul has increased its se-curity measures. The road to the consulate is closed off with

tronic, is widely regarded to be clean, the ruling socialist party, in particular, has repeatedly been accused of bending elec-tion rules.

Venezuelans are well used to

metal barricades, and police ve-hicles are stationed in front of it in Turkey’s most populous city.

All U.S. Consulates and the American Embassy in Turkey are closed Saturdays and Sun-

The elections are widely regarded as a referendum on President Nicolas Maduro, the handpicked successor of the late president Hugo Chavez, and the party’s socialist policies.

days, which means there would not be visitors to the compound on the weekend.

The consulate does plan to have normal working hours to-day.

Governor killed in ISIS attack

Libyan factions reach deal

Syria: Air strikes kill ISIS members

Voters casting their ballot at a booth in Caracas yesterday

Paris and California: Two cities united by terror

Syria: US Mission warns citizens off Consulate

Venezuelans vote in ‘tense’ elections

queuing for hours in long lines for basic goods as the economic crisis deepens. Waiting patiently to vote in these nationwide Con-gressional elections is one thing they don’t mind queuing for.

WORLD BULLETIN

fAtimAh Yesuf

The French President, Francois Hollande, had described the recent Par-

is multiple attacks, which left at least 128 people dead and several

others injured as ‘an act of war’, vowing retaliation against the militants and their sponsors in the so-called ‘Islamic State.’

While the world was grap-pling with the aftermath of the Paris attack, a husband and wife team, Syed Rezwan Farook and

Tashfeen Malik, last Wednesday opened fire on a holiday banquet for co-workers in San Bernardi-no, California, killing at least 14 people and wounding more than a dozen others. Authorities said after the event that the mo-tivation behind the California

shooting was not clear, although there were speculations that Fa-rook “might have been radical-ized”.

These latest acts of terror have put the spotlight on the motivation of terrorists and ter-ror organisations. Indeed, over the years a broad array of or-ganisations that include the Red Brigades (Italy), Klu Klux Klan (United States), Aum Shinrikyo (Japan) and Al Qaeda (Middle East) have employed terrorism to advance their political objec-tives.

Whatever their motivation, terrorist organisations such as al Qaeda and the ‘Islamic State’ must be roundly condemned by all men of goodwill and doubly so for using religion as a moti-vation for committing heinous crimes against humanity. Islam as a religion does not promote hate.

What ISIS does to the image of Islam can be likened to a thief stealing a police uniform and pretending to be a cop. It is in the light of this that the ISIS and its murderous operations should be viewed.

President Barack Obama

44 National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netMonday, December 7, 2015

Closer ties between Africa and China will be a “win-win” co-operation where both sides will prosper together.

–SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT, JACOB ZUMA

World News

Sport–ALGERIA UNDER-23 NATIONAL TEAM BOSS PIERRE ANDRÉ SCHURMANN

Now we will prepare for the match against South Africa because it was important to avoid the host

country (Senegal) in the semi-finals


46

Maldini questions Galliani leadership at AC Milan

Rio Olympics qualifier

Siasia rewards team, expects difficult semi with SenegalPaul ErEwuba WITH AGENCY REPORTS

Nigeria coach Samson Siasia gave $100 to each of his play-ers for qualifying for the semi-

final of the U23 AFCON and thereaf-ter vowed they will play to beat hosts Senegal on Wednesday to reach the championship final.

Siasia redeemed a pledge to pay his players cash for reaching the last four of the U23 championship, which doubles as a qualifier for the 2016 Rio Olympics, after they held Algeria to a scoreless draw on Saturday in Dakar.

He then fixed his sight on reaching the U23 AFCON final at the expense of home team Senegal by 4pm Nige-rian time on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Siasia says he expects difficult semi final math with Sen-egal on Wednesday.

The hosts have been in sterling form thus far winning all three of their games in the group stages of the competition.

Nigeria’s Dream Team will howev-er not be fazed by the frenzied atmo-sphere expected at the Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor, Dakar.

“I did not plan for us to meet Sen-egal in the semi finals. It just hap-pened.

“We would have loved to play in the final with Senegal because the atmo-sphere would have been wonderful.

“That scenario would have meant we are through to the Olympics in Brazil but as it is, we have to play against Senegal in the semi finals.

“We are not going to run away. They (Senegal) are a very good side and they are playing in front of their crowd.

“It is going to be a very difficult match but the Senegalese fans will not play on the day.

“It will be down to the 11 players on the pitch on the day.

“So I just want to enjoy this mo-ment (that we have qualified for the semifinals) and make corrections for the next game,” Siasia said.

Algeria U-23 happy to avoid Senegal

Algeria Under-23 national team boss Pierre André Schurmann is pleased to avoid Senegal in the

semi finals of the 2015 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations.

The Algerians sealed a first-place finish in Group B of the continental competition after holding Nigeria to a goalless draw in their final group stage clash in Dakar on Saturday, and will battle South Africa for a spot in the final on Wednesday.

“I’m glad we ended at the top of the group and qualified for the semi-finals of the U-23 AFCON,” Schurmann said after the game.

“Our approach is to take one match at a time. I’m satisfied with our perfor-mance overall and today against a tough opponent like Nigeria.

“Now we will prepare for the match against South Africa because it was im-portant to avoid the host country (Sen-

egal) in the semi-finals.”The young Lions, who claimed top

spot in Group A on maximum points fol-lowing consecutive victories over South Africa, Tunisia and Zambia, will face the Nigerians in their last-four outing.

xxxx

Pierre-Andre Schurman

Dream Team VI

Sports National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net46 Monday, December 7, 2015

doubts top-four finishMourinhoChelsea Manager, Jose

Mourinho, has acknowl-edged the Blues are at

risk of missing out on Cham-pions League football next sea-son.

The English champions’ woes continued on Saturday as they lost 0-1 at home to Pre-mier League strugglers Bour-

nemouth.An eighth defeat in 15 League

games leaves Mourinho’s men 14 points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester United, and just three points above the rel-egation zone.

“Our objective is to finish top four,” said Mourinho.

“Before this game it was re-

alistic to think that our quality would take us out of this posi-tion but maybe now we have to think about top six.”

He added: “I am concerned of course. There is no chance that Chelsea will be fighting relegation.”

The Portuguese lamented his side’s inconsistency.

“If our players are not able to give the maximum every day that is a problem,” he said.

“If you analyse match af-ter match there are a few lay-ers where it is difficult to be consistent. You think there is evolution, but maybe it is just one moment in which they are good.”

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool are in such hot form that rival managers are al-

ready describing them as title contenders.

According to Newcastle United manager Steve Mc-Claren, the revitalised Reds can challenge for the English Premiership title, just a few months since Klopp replaced Brendan Rogers.

Liverpool trounced South-ampton 6-1 in the League Cup in midweek, and in their previ-ous Premiership away match, they stunned Manchester City 4-1.

“They are title contenders, I think now, in terms of the form they are in and the way

they are going,” McClaren says.

One might suspect this is nothing more than pre-match gamesmanship from the for-mer England national coach, but there are others in the Newcastle camp who share the same view.

Geordie legend Alan Shear-er says; “Klopp has been a breath of fresh air … he has a positivity about him and it seems as though he has been around his players for a long time.

“They all look to be really enjoying playing for him and for Liverpool … he has re-ener-gised the whole football club.”

Talk of Liverpool as pos-

sible champions might seem premature, but in this strang-est of English Premiership seasons, just about anything seems possible.

Leicester City are top of the League, second-placed Arse-nal look far from convincing at present and both Manchester clubs failed to win yesterday – not forgetting that champions Chelsea lie just three points clear of the drop zone.

“No team seems to want to win the Premier League this season. City, Arsenal, United, obviously Chelsea, the way re-sults have been going for these teams, none of them have stamped their authority on the title race,” Shearer argues.

Sunday Mba scored for Turkish 1. Lig (second division) club, Yeni

Malatyaspor yesterday in their 1-3 defeat to Adana Demirspor as the competi-tion entered match day 14.

Mba netted in the eighth minute to give his side the lead at Malatya Inönü Stady-umu.

The visitors however

stormed back to claim maximum points following a Gonzalo Gody own goal and stunning strikes from Burak Calik Mikael Pote con-demned the hosts to an em-phatic defeat.

Mba, who rose to promi-nence following his standout performances for Nigeria’s Super Eagles at the 2013 Af-rica Cup of Nations, has now

scored three league goals this season.

There are three other Ni-gerians, George Akpabio, Prince Omego and Azubuike Okechukwu on the books of Yeni Malatyaspor.

Okechukwu, captain of Nigeria’s Under-23 side, is currently in Senegal for the ongoing Africa Under-23 Cup of Nations.

Maldini questions Galliani leadership at AC MilanAC Milan legend Paolo

Maldini doubts the club’s CEO Adriano Gal-

liani understands football well enough to restore the team to past glories.

Milan have shown a resur-gence of late but they lie sev-enth in the Serie A standings.

Maldini, who made over 600 appearances for the Rossoneri, feels Galliani is partly to blame for the Italian giants’ decline in recent seasons.

He told Sky Sport Italia: “If Milan want to become great again they need clarity, ideas and investment.

“They need people who un-derstand football, but at the mo-ment this is lacking at Milan.

“Galliani is an excellent di-rector, but probably is lacking somewhat in his understanding of football.

“He ought to be partnered by someone who can be better at evaluating players and deciding which ones are most suitable,” concluded the 47-year-old, who is currently co-owner of NASL outfit Miami FC.

‘Liverpool are already title contenders’

Mba scores in Malatyaspor loss

Mourinho

Mba

Klopp

Maldini

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net Sports 47Monday, December 7, 2015

Govt rejects Naira rain for victorious EagletsA reward package

proposed by the sports ministry for

Nigeria’s team to the re-cent FIFA U17 World Cup in Chile has been rejected by the country’s govern-ment as “too outrageous”, sources at the Presidency have revealed.

The government of Pres-

ident Muhammadu Buhari has sounded it loud and clear the country’s coffers are hugely depleted and as such it cannot afford un-necessary expenditure.

The Golden Eaglets re-ceived cash gifts as well as national honours when they clinched a record fourth World Cup two

years ago in Abu Dhabi.But the team who re-

tained this championship in November may not be that lucky.

“The proposal sent to the presidency on what should be given by gov-ernment as reward to the Eaglets following their victory in Chile has been

rejected. Government said it does not reflect the cur-rent economic realities,” a source informed.

It was earlier reported that the team will be feted by President Buhari on November 29 at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, but that did not come to pass.

The Association of Pro-fessional Footballers of Nigeria (APFON)

has strongly condemned what it described as unwar-ranted assault on players of FC Taraba by the officers of the Nigeria Army at-

tached to the Taraba State Government House during a peaceful protest by the play-ers over their unpaid sala-ries running to almost 12 months.

The players’ union there-fore tasked the Nigeria Foot-

ball Federation (NFF) and the league bodies to protest to the government of Tara-ba State for “the inhuman and barbaric assault” on the Players for demanding for what they have laboured for over 11 months.

This is not the first time the players are asking for their entitlements. The players have eventually played the 2014/2015 season which has just ended on empty stomach.

The union will take appropriate steps as it deems fit through its legal department in demand-ing justice and fairness on behalf of the players, maintaining “the players are not just sportsmen, they are also workmen with rights”.

U23 AFCON: Ankle injury rules out DimgbaNigeria’s biggest attacking

threat at the U23 AFCON Stanley Dimgba has been

ruled out of the competition in Senegal by a long-term ankle in-jury it has been scooped.

The flying Warri Wolves winger has provided three assists in Ni-geria’s group games against Mali and Egypt, before he suffered the injury which team officials now say will sideline him for some weeks.

“He is out of the AFCON. It’s a big loss to the team especially after what he showed in the first two matches against Mali and Egypt,” a source close to the team disclosed to africanfootball.com .

Dimgba missed Saturday’s

group game against Algeria and he will also not be available for se-lection for Wednesday’s semi-final against hosts Senegal.

Bayelsa United winger Tion-goli Tonbara, who was a second half substitute against Algeria at the weekend, is most likely be a replacement for Dimgba, but he will be operating from the right after the Wolves star played on the left.

Coach Samson Siasia’s team will already be without skipper Azubuike Okechukwu for Wednes-day’s clash with Senegal because he is suspended after he bagged a second booking against Algeria. Glo hails ‘Dream Team’s Semi-final berth.

Nigeria’s biggest corporate supporter of football, Globacom, has congratulated the U-23 National team, the ‘Dream

Team’ for qualifying for the Semi-Finals of the on-going U-23 African Cup of Nations in Senegal.

A statement by Globacom in Lagos on Sunday described the Dream Team as worthy champi-ons, urging them to go for victory in the semi- finals against Senegal to ensure that they pick one of the three tickets available for participa-tion in the football event of 2017 Olympics in Rio, Brazil.

The Golden Eaglets, who drew with Algeria in the last group B match, opened their campaign with a 3-2 victory over Mali before playing a 2-2 draw with Egypt to occupy the second position in Group B with 5 points, same as Algeria who however topped the group on superior goals dif-ference.

“We reckon with the great fighting spirit the team has so far demonstrated and we believe the spirit will help the team to achieve the ultimate goal of lifting the trophy,” the statement said.

“We also advise the technical crew to work on the team’s defence which has not lived up to expectation. The way the defence conceded two goals in quick succession in the first match when the team was already ahead of Mali by three goals and in the second group match when Egypt suddenly equalized from two goals down, requires urgent attention“.

Apart from the defence problems, Globacom also urged the coaching crew to work on other weak links observed in the last three matches in order to present a formidable team against the tough Senegalese team who apart from being the host also led Group A.

“We have utmost confidence in the Dream Team to beat Senegal,” Globacom further said. The company also urged the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and Nigerians to keep support-ing the Dream Team in its quest to fly Nigerian flag at the next Olympics.

Globacom is the major partner of the Nigeria Football Federation and official sponsor of the Nigerian national teams.

Players’ union condemns soldiers’ attack on FC Taraba

Glo hails ‘Dream Team’s semi-final berth…urges team to go for victory and qualify for Olympics

Soldiers’ beating FC Taraba player inside State House

Victorious Golden Eaglets

WORLD RECORD

Emenike

[email protected]

HeartBeatCallistus Oke

[email protected] 08054103275 (SMS ONLY)

VERY CONFOUNDING IS THE ALLEGED ROLE OF COLONEL SAMBO

DASUKI

Return of the locustsNigeria has had several storms these past 16

years, but the newest is the painful betrayal of public trust by her military. The demysti-

fication of our military by the rag tag Boko Haram insurgents, even in the face of trillions of naira de-fence budget since 2009 has had unsettling effects on the nation’s psyche. Security experts and highly perceptive Nigerians knew there was something wrong somewhere. That something has just been discovered, thanks to the cast iron resolve of Presi-dent Muhammadu Buhari to confront corruption in high places headlong to save Nigeria.

Last August 31, precisely three months af-ter Mr. President assumed office, he institut-ed a 13 member Presidential Investigation Committee headed by Air Vice Marshall J.O.N. Ode (rtd.) with Brigadier-General Y.I. Shalangwa serving as secretary to probe arms procurement under the immediate past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan and recommend the way forward

for Nigeria. The interim report of the Committee

turned in last month is very damning. It revealed extra budgetary interventions of N643.8 billion and foreign currency com-ponent of $2.2 billion in security spending. The panel confirmed Nigerians’ worst fear: Very little of the huge financial intervention by the Jonathan administration went into defence procurement necessary to contain Boko Haram. Meaning the larger chunk of the funds was shared by those entrusted with the responsibility to get all the military hardware and software to deal with the Boko Haram menace.

This development is a sad reminder of the disgraceful conduct of our military in our two interregnums - January 15, 1966 - Octo-ber 1, 1979 and December 31, 1983 to May 29, 1999 – periods they took control of the totality of the nation’s life. Social scientists and military historians have all agreed that that phase of our political history exposed the military as a self-serving institution, more of sinners than the saints they claimed to be, on account of the massive corruption and desecration of nation values associated with them.

Since May 29, 1999, the military have been playing subordinating role to the ruling political class. However, at every op-portunity, as it has now been proved, some of the officers in sensitive positions have compromised their office. The exigency of the six year old Boko Haram insurgency jacked up our security budgets so much that

a 2012 report by the Sweden-based Stock-holm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) ranked Nigeria as Africa’s 6th high-est spender on the military with a staggering $2.327 billion expenditure. Algeria was first with $9.3 billion; South Africa ($4.4 billion); Angola ($4.1 billion); Morocco ($3.4 billion); and Libya ($2.9 billion). In 2006, the country only spent $1.067 billion; climbed to $1.825 billion in 2009, no thanks to Boko Haram. By 2010 it was $2.143 billion and $2.386 bil-lion in 2011.

Given our terrorism challenge since 2009, the escalating defence spending became a normal expectation. What, however, is abnor-mal is the dwindling capacity of our military to contain the Boko Haram aggression. Equally benumbing is the lack of the needed arms and ammunitions causative factor touted for the military’s poor showing!

Even the blind would know the facts do not add up. The Air Vice Marshall Ode-led Investigation Committee report has confirmed popular apprehensions. One startling revelation by the Committee is that 513 contracts valued at $8,356,525,184.32; N2, 189,265,724,404.55 and 54,000.00 were awarded during the period covered by the in-vestigation. Of these, 53 of them amounting

to $2,378,939,066.27 and N13, 729,342,329.87 were exposed as failed contracts, euphe-mism for unexecuted contracts paid for.

Very confounding is the alleged role of Colonel Sambo Dasuki, President Jona-than’s last National Security Adviser. Apart from the fact that several phantom contracts running into trillions of naira were linked to him, he was also said to have directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to transfer $132,050,486.97 and 9,905,473.55 to the ac-counts of Societe D’equipmente Internation-aux in West Africa, the United Kingdom and United States of America for unascertained purposes, without any contract documents to explain the transactions.

We must also not forgot in a hurry the traded accusations and counter accusations between Alhaji Hassan Rabiu, managing director of Hypertech Nigeria Ltd and a secu-rity contractor to our military and Air Vice Marshal Atawodi (retd), a onetime chairman of Presidential Implementation Committee on Maritime Security and Safety (PICOMSS) over a whopping N620, 910,000 ($3,760,925.37) meant for the purchase of six K38 military boats and their accessories in 2012. Rabiu stunned the nation when he admitted the boats were not supplied by him, but the fund for payment was shared among them.

“The transfer (of the money) to my ac-count was done without any documentation whatsoever. I never ever presented any in-voice or demand for payment. I did not sign any payment voucher nor was there any contract or agreement between PICOMSS and myself”, was Rabiu’s lurid presentation of the affair.

Colonel Dasuki; some of his aides, serving and retired military, and some civilians have been quizzed or being quizzed over the mat-ter. Such ritualism has been our lot since in-dependence. Governments, past and present, have had to conduct probes, and sanctions and restitutions forced on the indicted. But no sooner are these done than Nigerians blot them from their consciousness.

Will Buhari make a difference? Time shall tell.

Vol. 05 No. 1258 Monday, December 7, 2015

w

Georginio Wijnal-dum inspired New-castle to their third

win of the season as they beat in-form Liverpool.

The Magpies moved above Sunderland into

18th place in the table after Wijnaldum’s shot was de-flected off Martin Skrtel’s knee, before the Dutchman added a second in injury time.

Liverpool, who had won

seven of their last eight games, were poor.

Alberto Moreno was wrongly denied by an off-side flag as Reds boss Ju-rgen Klopp suffered a sec-ond defeat in 12 games.

There were only two shots on target, equalling a Premier League record this season, with the first of them coming in the 89th minute from Dejan Lovren

But in a scrappy game

which lacked quality, New-castle achieved a much-needed victory for Steve McClaren, who admitted earlier this week that con-fidence at the club has been “fragile”.

Newcastle beat in-form LiverpoolSport Extra

Most people to pass an eggThe most people to pass an egg is 259 and was achieved by °C-ute and

their fans (all Japan) at Akasaka Blitz in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, on 22 August 2014.N150

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