Security, economy top wish list

IBB faults FG’s strategy in fi ght againt B’Haram

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Shitta-Bey mosque, a deserving Shitta-Bey mosque, a deserving national monumentnational monument

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Eyo festival: Eyo festival: The true face of LagosThe true face of Lagos

Street shopping on Broad StreetPHOTO: SAMUEL ADETIMEHIN

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Shitta-Bey mosque, a deserving national monument

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APC renews call for probe of missing NLNG dividends

IGP orders tight security for sallah

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Nigeria, France trade volume hits N1.1trn

...says information management key to confront insurgents OBIORA IFOH AND INUSA NDAHI

Former military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida,

has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to keep secret most military actions and strategies in

A building being pulled down by officials of Lagos State Building Control Agency, at Oloto Street, Ebute Metta, Lagos, yesterday.

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Ajimobi, Okorocha, Oshiomhole in Buhari’s team to USROTIMI FADEYIABUJA President Muham-

madu Buhari leaves Abuja on Sunday

for Washington DC, on a four-day official visit to

the United States.During the visit, Buhari

will hold high-level talks with President Barack

ABUAD: Pace-setter in Quality and Functional Education –Justice Yinka Ayoola

AFE BABALOLA UNIVERSITY, ADO-EKITI (ABUAD)AFE BABALOLA UNIVERSITY, ADO-EKITI (ABUAD)

ANOTHER BUILDING COLLAPSES IN LAGOS P.7

Domestic airlines record 40,574 cases of delayed fl ights in 15 monthsMeter manufacturers want NERC to open up market for free competition

Ajimobi, Okorocha, Oshiomhole in Buhari’s team to US

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net2 Thursday, July 16, 2015News

Nigeria, France trade volume hits N1.1trn

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

L-R: Chief Executive Officer, Tony Elumelu Foundation, Pariminder Vir; Chairman/CEO, Ebonylife T.V, Mrs. Mosunmola Abudu; Chief Executive Officer, Bestman Games Ltd, Mrs. Mimi Akinkugbe; Chairman, Heirs Holdings, Mr. Tony Elumelu; former Director-General, Security and Exchange Commission, Ms. Arunma Oteh; actress/entrepreneur, Mrs. Omotola Jolade Ekehide and Managing Director/CEO, Bank of Industry, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, during the Tony Elumelu Enterpreneurship Programme Booth Camp at Covenant University, Otta, Ogun State, yesterday.

Electricity Meter Manufacturers As-sociation of Nigeria,

EMMAN, yesterday advised Nigerian Electricity Regula-tory Commission, NERC, to open up the meter market for free competition.

Executive Secretary, EM-MAN, Mr. Muydeen Ibra-him, said in Lagos that such liberalisation would check the challenges of estimated billings.

He said liberalisation would enable local manufac-turers sell meters in bulk to barracks, government insti-tutions, private estates and other vendors accredited by NERC.

He said several EMMAN members had been forced to reduce their workforce as a result of non-patronage by electricity distribution com-panies in the country.

The EMMAN scribe said such prepaid meters should be installed by Discos, in-stead of the current practice where Discos only provide metering facilities.

He said that while con-sumers were clamouring for pre-paid meters to enable them get value for their mon-ey, majority of the Discos were yet to patronise local pre-paid meters.

Ibrahim said importation of meters was counter-pro-ductive to the local content policy put in place by NERC.

He faulted claims by inves-tors that local firms lacked the capacity to provide the vol-ume of meters needed locally.

He added that the production capacity of EMMAN members was far in excess of what was needed for the local market.

According to him, at the moment, the huge investment of indigenous operators is be-ing threatened as banks want local investors to pay loans borrowed from them.

Trade volume be-tween Nigeria and France has reached

N1.1trn, French Ambassa-dor to Nigeria, Mr. Denys Gauer, has said.

Gauer told newsmen in Abuja that Nigeria was France biggest trading partner in Africa.

The envoy explained

that France exports to Nigeria worth N330bn, while Nigeria’s export to France was in the region of N770bn.

“Nigeria is France big-gest trading partner Af-rica but this is mainly be-cause of Nigeria’s oil.

“The volume of our bi-lateral trading relations is

around five billion Euros. But French exports to Ni-geria are only 1.5 million Euros.

“That means our bilat-eral trade is quite unbal-ance and it is in favour of Nigeria because of the oil.

“About 97 per cent of what we are importing from Nigeria is oil and

France is exporting to Nigeria electronic prod-ucts, pharmaceuticals, machines and electricity equipment,” he said.

Gauer explained that there were many French companies now operating in the country, adding that that France encouraged more of its companies to

invest in Nigeria.“We now have more

French companies present here. We are encouraging more French companies to come to Nigeria and also to establish more partner-ships with Nigerian compa-nies.

“We don’t want our com-panies to invest only in ex-

ports but we are ready to engage in long-term part-nerships with the Nigeria’s private sector,” the envoy said.

The ambassador said there were now French banks in Lagos while a French company recently bought a Nigerian company in the Insurance industry.

Nigerian Civil Avia-tion Authority, NCAA, said yester-

day that domestic airlines operating in the country recorded 40,574 cases of delayed flights, while 600 others were cancelled be-tween January 2014 and last March.

This is contained in a document issued by NCAA’s Consumer Protec-tion Department which was made available to newsmen in Lagos.

The document said

84,449 flights were operat-ed by 10 domestic airlines during the period under review.

It said airlines in opera-tion then were: Aero Con-tractors, Arik, Air Peace, Azman, Dana, Discovery, First Nation, Medview, Overland and Top Brass.

Arik, which operated 34,489 flights, topped the chart of delayed and can-celled flights with 16,041 and 244 respectively.

This was closely fol-lowed by Aero Contractors

which recorded 13,564 de-layed flights and 203 can-cellations out of its 24,160 flight operations.

Dana operated 6,290 flights with 1,807 delayed flights while only one flight was cancelled.

It was, however, gath-ered that some of the de-lays and cancellations were caused by technical, weather conditions, air traffic control restrictions, security risks and indus-trial disputes.

Some passengers who

spoke on the issue ex-pressed concern about the frequency of delayed and cancelled flights by air-lines.

A lawyer, Mr. Clement Uchechi, urged NCAA to urgently address the prob-lem in order to restore sanity to air traveling in Nigeria.

“I think the issue is very frustrating and disap-pointing. It is not a good experience for travellers and it needs to be ad-dressed urgently,” he said.

Another passenger, Mr. Olatoye Adebiyi, said as a businessman, he had suf-fered several loses in the past due to the problem.

Adebiyi said: “There was a time I needed to be in Abuja by 3 p.m., for an urgent business transac-tion but my flight was can-celled and I could not meet the deadline.

“There have been some other instances where my flights were delayed by the airlines and I was really not happy about it.’’

Obama and his senior offi-cials.

On the President’s entou-rage are Governors Rochas Okorocah (Imo), Umaru Tanko Al–Makura (Nasar-awa), Adams Oshiomhole (Edo), Kashim Shettima (Borno) and Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo)

Others are Governor of the Central Bank of Nige-ria, CBN, and Permanent Secretaries in the Federal Ministries of Defence, For-

eign Affairs, Industry and Trade and Investment.

A statement signed yes-terday by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina on the visit said topmost on the agenda of Buhari’s talks with Obama and US Government officials would be measures to strengthen and intensify bilateral and international cooperation against terrorism in Nige-ria and West Africa.

Buhari, who would meet

with Obama at the White House on Monday, would later hold further discus-sions with the Chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey and the Deputy Secretary of Defence, Rob-ert Work on military and defence cooperation.

The President would also meet with Vice President Joe Biden and confer with the Attorney-General, Lo-retta Lynch, Secretary of Treasury, Jack Lew, Secre-

tary of Commerce, Penny Pritzker and Trade repre-sentative, Michael Froman on United States’ support for his administration’s war against corruption as well as fresh measures to boost bilateral trade relations.

The President would be received by the Secretary of State at the State Depart-ment in Washington DC.

He would later hold meet-ings with Senate and Con-gressional Committees on Foreign Relations, as well

as the Black Caucus of the House of Representatives.

Before leaving Wash-ington DC, Buhari would address the Chamber of Commerce and Corporate Council for Africa.

The trip would also afford President Buhari the oppor-tunity of a reunion with members of the American War College Class of 1980 in which he was a distin-guished participant.

He is due back in Abuja on Thursday, July 23.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 3Thursday, July 16, 2015

Some Nigerian and foreign astronomy instructors at the inauguration of African Summer School by the Centre for Basic Space Science, Nsukka, and international collaborators, in Enugu State, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

L-R: Corporate Relations Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Sesan Sobowale; Country Director Nigeria, Concern Universal, Tim Kellow and Sustainable Development Manager, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Osita Abana, during media briefing to showcase Guinness Nigeria/Concern Universal Safe Water and Improved Sanitation and Hygiene (SWISH) Project in Cross River State.

Rotimi FadeyiABUJA

The Presidency yester-day denied the claim by a pirate radio sta-

tion that President Muham-madu Buhari expressed anti-Igbo sentiments in a recent interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, Hausa Service.

It described such claim as false, malicious and slander-ous.

A statement issued by Se-nior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Pub-

Buhari denies anti-Igbo sentiments claim

L-R: Coordinator of UNESCO-UNEVOC West African Cluster, Dr. Mrs. Amina Idris; Rector, Yaba College of Technology, Dr (Mrs.) Kudi Ibiyeye-Ladipo and former Director, Yabatech UNEVOC Centre, Lady Ify Marinze, during 2015 United Nations World Youth Skills Day in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: SAMUEL ADETIMEHIN

L-R: Executive Chairman, Safari Books Ltd, Chief Joop Berkhout; Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola and Prof. Johnson Ekpere, after a meeting at Ibadan Airport, yesterday.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net4 Thursday, July 16, 2015 Photo NEWS

National News

licity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said the voice being ascribed to Buhari in the recording repeatedly played back by the pirate radio station was not the President’s and the claim that the station got the recording from a BBC inter-view was totally untrue.

The statement said: “One should not be deceived by the pirate radio station’s hate propaganda against the President.

“President Buhari has not had any interview with BBC’s Hausa Service since assumption of office as al-

leged by the agents of dis-unity behind the pirate ra-dio station’s inflammatory and divisive broadcasts.

“The last interview he had with the BBC Hausa Service, lasting not more than five minutes, was on the day he was declared win-ner and given his certificate of return as President-elect by the Independent Nation-al Electoral Commission, INEC.

“Thankfully, the BBC Hausa Service Editor, Mr. Mansor Liman has dis-tanced the BBC from the

false interview clip being as-cribed by the pirate radio sta-tion to President Buhari.

“President Buhari is the President of all Nigerians

and will continue to treat all citizens on the basis of fair-ness, equality and equity.

“Nigerians should there-fore ignore all propaganda de-

signed to sow seeds of discord among them and promote a separatist agenda against national unity, solidarity and progress.”

Department of Pe-troleum Resources, DPR, has assured

the public of adequate and continuous supply of petrol before and during Eid-el-ftri period.

Mohammed Saidu, Zonal spokesperson of DPR, Abuja, stated this in Abuja yesterday.

Saidu said 6.5 million litres

Eid-el-ftri: DPR assures of adequate petrol supply, deploys 197 trucks to FCT

(197 trucks) of petrol was supplied to Abuja yesterday to ease fuel queues in the city.

While assuring the public of adequate and continuous supply, he cautioned motor-ists against panic buying and stockpiling of the prod-uct.

He warned petrol stations

to avoid hoarding the product, adding that DPR would moni-tor to sanction any defaulter.

“Petrol filling stations have been warned against product diversion, pump manipula-tion or hoarding, profiteering, adulteration of petroleum products during the Sallah pe-riod,” he said.

Doctors at the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, have

been on a five-week strike fol-lowing insecurity at the out-patient clinic of the hospital.

Investigation by the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, re-vealed that only skeletal ser-vices were being offered by consultants available to see the few patients who visited the hospital since the strike started.

The emergency unit, which is usually filled with patients, was empty due to absence of health personnel.

President of the Associa-tion of Resident Doctors of the hospital, Dr Oyetayo Jeje, said lack of security at the outpatient clinic was a major challenge.

Psychiatrists on strike over insecurity, poor working conditions

“There are no escape routes for health workers in case of an emergency, that is, if an aggressive patient breaks out to harm doctors, patients and patient rela-tives.

“Also, there are no alarm systems to alert for help in case of an emergency and even consultants have re-fused to run clinics due to the security challenges.

“The Federal Ministry of Health needs to step in to avoid loss of lives and bodily harm to health workers as well as patients and their relatives,” she said.

She said other griev-ances of the doctors include the unconducive working conditions as seen in the dilapidated state of consult-

ing rooms, including broken chairs.

Jeje said salaries of doc-tors had not been fully paid by the management even though complete salary had been re-leased from the ministry.

In an interview with NAN, the Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Rahman Lawal, said the hospital was running skeletal services in spite of the strike.

He said that various heads of units were on ground to at-tend to the few patients avail-able.

Lawal noted that the hospi-tal had security personnel on ground and that the manage-ment had recruited more to be stationed at the outpatient clinic.

IBB faults FG’s strategy in fi ght againt B’Haram

APC renews call for probe of missing NLNG dividends

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

L-R: Director, Banking Supervision, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mrs. Agnes Tokunbo-Martins; Managing Director/CEO, Bank of Industry, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa and Managing Director/CEO, Central Securities Clearing System, Mr. Kyari Abba Bukar, during Risk Managers Association of Nigeria annual national conference in Lagos, yesterday.

OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU

All Progressives Congress, APC, has renewed its

call on the Federal Gov-ernment to probe the whereabouts of the divi-dends paid to the Nigerian National Petroleum Cor-poration, NNPC, by the Nigerian Liquefied Natu-ral Gas, NLNG, as well as taxes paid to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, Federation Account prior to the latest payment in June 2015.

APC, in a statement is-sued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Sec-retary, Alhaji Lai Moham-med, said the call has be-come more urgent against the backdrop of published reports that NNPC has withdrawn $1.2bn from banks for deposit with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

Mohammed said the move by the NNPC is a panic reaction to the ex-pose that over $4bn are missing in past dividends paid to it by NLNG.

He said: “Whereas NLNG’s dividends are paid to NNPC’s account with JP Morgan, from where they are supposed to be paid into the Federation Ac-count in accordance with the law, some unscrupu-lous NNPC officials have apparently been moving such funds to local banks so they can collect huge commissions on them.

“Now that the cat has been let out of the bag, they have started mov-ing the funds from the banks to the CBN. We be-lieve what we are seeing now is just a tip of the iceberg, hence the need for the authorities to call NNPC officials to give ac-counts of the paid NLNG dividends to date.”

APC said any delay in calling the officials to ac-count for the dividends may give them enough time to cover their tracks, adding that sud-den withdrawal of such huge fund from NNPC accounts with the af-fected banks poses great dangers to the banks and by extension, to the econ-omy.

the fight against terror-ism, saying information management is key to confronting an unconven-tional warfare.

In his Ramadan mes-sage, the former mili-tary leader said recent Boko Haram attacks have raised concern and anxi-ety across the country.

According to the for-mer President, military strategy against the in-surgents ought to be top priority by the presidency and the Defence Head-quarters.

Babangida said: “Events in the last four weeks have continued to raise our adrenaline, in a season of apprehension and utter suspicion, about our security engagements and the sum total of our collective sufferance as a nation.

“The heightened ten-sion is occasioned by renewed hostilities and mindless bombings pre-dominantly by suicide bombers who have decid-edly chosen the option of death to life.

“We have seen the worst of human follies in the conduct of these avoidable carnage and bloodletting by unscru-pulous persons under the guise of religion, doing havoc to our sense of na-tionality.

“I expect, with a deep sense of patriotism, to see a greater deal of positive news promoted in support of military efforts at con-fronting this menace than a celebration of Boko Ha-ram carnage, day in, day out.

“Strategic efforts and initiatives of the military targeted at curtailing the spread of the Boko Haram should remain most often top secret within military hierarchy and the presi-dency.

“Collaborative efforts should also follow similar patterns so that little or limited information is let loose for the consumption of members of the sect.

“Coordinated efforts by the security agencies should be strengthened and refocused to gain new dimensions towards com-

bating the unwholesome activities of this sect, and when such dimensions are sought and cultivated, they should remain the exclusive preserve of top military brass.

“Information manage-ment is very key to con-fronting an unconvention-al warfare such as the one under reference, which is further complicated by the unfashionable method of suicide bombings.

“It is a strange dimen-sion to this whole exercise of insurgency and has further compounded our earlier strategies in help-ing to nip this monster in the bud. “The media, it must be emphasised, has a greater role to play in this information manage-ment system where a well defined synergy is en-couraged between mem-bers of the media and the military hierarchy.

“On a good day, as is often said, the idea of taking some Boko Haram suspects and prisoners to Anambra State should not be public knowledge, if we are truly serious about in-

formation management.”Babangida said al-

though, the media has a greater role to play in the management of informa-tion, the type of headlines and lead stories that are promoted in favour of the insurgents could only help to motivate members of the sect rather than de-motivate them.

He said President Bu-hari, as a military officer, understands the import of his “altruistic sugges-tions.”

He added: “I trust that he will take steps to apply some of them that fit into the mainstream strate-gies already in place. “The approach has to be a holistic one, well coordi-nated with full onslaught launched by the day and night to route these insur-gents to surrender.”

In a related develop-ment, suspected Boko Haram yesterday invaded Hambagtha and Limanka-ra communities in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State, killing scores of people.

The terrorists also in-

jured others, after looting foodstuff, including live-stock.

Gwoza was declared as an Islamic Caliphate by the group’s leader, Abuba-kar Shekau last year when his fighters seized the town which is south and about 150kms from Mai-duguri, the state capital before it was liberated early this year by troops.

Sources said Gwoza and other surrounding villages, recently repop-ulated by fleeing resi-dents were attacked by the terrorists on Tues-day.

It was learnt that there was a failed at-tempted attack by the in-surgents on Gwoza town last week. The attack was repelled by the mili-tary, with over 50 of the insurgents killed.

It was learnt that Hambagtha, Limankara and surrounding villag-es were destroyed in the fresh attacks.

Meanwhile, Command-ing Officer, 72 Special Forces Battalion, Makur-di, Benue State, Col. Tim-

othy Lagbaja, has said that the battalion has lost 28 soldiers to insurgency in the North East and in Benue State.

Lagbaja told newsmen in Makurdi yesterday that between 2012 and 2015, the battalion lost four officers and eight soldiers to the Tiv/Fulani and Agatu cri-ses in Benue State.

He said the remaining 16 were lost to insurgency in the North East, while many others who sus-tained varying degrees of injury were either flown abroad or treated in the country.

The commander said the battalion alone had deployed about 500 sol-diers to serve in the special security outfit ‘Operation Zenda,’ to maintain internal secu-rity in the state.

According to him, the effort is paying off as weapons hitherto in the hands of wrong people have been recovered.

He said the high crim-inality in the state had been reduced to “few iso-lated cases of killings.”

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 5Thursday, July 16, 2015 News

It said: “Top NNPC of-ficials and others who met on Monday and de-cided to withdraw the $1.2bn from the corpora-tion’s account to the CBN must be asked a number of questions, including their motive for the deci-sion and the whereabouts of the commissions paid on such funds.”

The party insisted that despite the attempt

to pull the wool over the eyes of Nigerians, the Federal Government must remain undaunted in unraveling what hap-pened to the dividends as well as previous taxes paid by NLNG, as part of ongoing efforts to plug all financial leakages, ensure the payment into the Federation Account of all relevant funds and stop looting of the trea-

sury by unscrupulous public officials who have opted to abuse their office.

“It is not by accident that until the advent of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, which has decided to enthrone trans-parency in governance, no one has heard anything about NLNG dividends and taxes, while the funds there from have not been shared as they should have

been. This is not right.“A situation in which

funds meant for all Nige-rians are eaten up by a few will no longer be tol-erated. Those who are op-posed to the efforts by the Buhari administration to clear the rot left behind by the past government and restore transparency to the system are enemies of Nigeria,” Mohammed added.

People taking advantage of a fuel tanker accident to scoop fuel at the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, yesterday. PHOTO: ABIOLA ABDUL-HAMMED

Rotimi FadeyiABUJA

Former Secretary General of the Com-monwealth, Emeka

Anyaoku, yesterday ex-pressed confidence that President Muhammadu Buhari would fight cor-ruption in the country.

Speaking with State House Correspondents after meeting with Bu-hari at the Presidential Villa, Anyaoku said from the strong impression he got during his discussion with the President, he was very determined to fight corruption.

“I can tell myself talk-ing to a President who is very determined to effect a real change in the cir-cumstances of our coun-try and very determined too to bring to bear on his administration the gener-ally perceived attributes of his character, which I believe many Nigerians would support.

“I believe that before he became president, he was known as somebody who has very strong pas-sion for anti-corruption. I believe that he is deter-mined to fight and would go a long way in doing so. Corruption is a very en-demic issue in our society and I’m quite impressed with his determination to do something about it,” Anyaoku said.

The former Common-wealth Secretary General explained that he had posi-

omeiza ajayiABUJA

Worried by the re-surgence in ter-rorist activities

in the country, Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari, and Comman-dant-General, Nigeria Se-curity and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Dr. Ade

Abolurin, have called for improved welfare scheme for security operatives in the country.

The duo made the appeal yesterday at the commis-sioning of the first phase of the 125 mass housing units for middle-level officers of NSCDC in Katsina.

Commissioning the first phase, which had about 46

units of two-bedroom flats, the governor said an opera-tive with welfare challenge is incapable of securing the nation as he is bound by his own insecurity.

While lamenting the prevalence of bad leader-ship in most national in-stitutions, the governor hailed Abolurin for inspir-ing confidence in the per-

sonnel through various welfare schemes.

Masari said security op-eratives deserve the best welfare that will help them focus on the fight against organised crime.

He also noted the need for the government and other critical stakehold-ers in the building sector to work towards bridging

the current housing defi-cit in the country.

“Housing is not only for those who earn salaries. Those who are not work-ing also need to own hous-es. Therefore, the develop-ers should look for ways of providing less expen-sive houses for those who are not earning salaries,” he said.

Buhari determined to fight corruption, says Anyaoku

•Watch for new moon, Sultan urges Muslims

Some medical experts yesterday advised Nigerians to adopt

a coordinated policy and right attitude to control ris-ing cases of stroke-related deaths in the country.

The medics told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Abuja that the rising cases of vascular disease required urgent at-tention.

An expert, Dr Kenneth Uba, said stroke was treat-able and manageable if the necessary steps were

taken.“In the country, there

is this wrong perception that non-communicable diseases have yet to reach an epidemic level.

“This is wrong because available statistics indicate that stroke prevalence is 1.14 per 1,000 persons and mor-tality from stroke has gone up to 40 per cent in Nigeria,’’ Uba said.

He said the known causes of stroke include HIV, sickle cell, diabetes, cigarette smoking and hy-

pertension, among other causes.

According to Uba, HIV increases the risk of stroke by 40 per cent and 11 per cent of sickle cell patients have stroke before age 20.

It can also occur in 24 per cent of patients less than 45 years.

He advised Nigerians to avoid lifestyles that could trigger stroke, such as depression and too much indulgence in sleep.

Uba added that people

omeiza ajayiABUJA

In a bid to ensure a hitch-free Eid-el-ftri celebration, Inspec-

tor-General of Police, IGP Solomon Arase, has mandated Command Commissioners of Po-lice nation-wide to pro-vide water-tight security for Nigerians across the country.

Arase gave the charge in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday and made available to journal-ists.

IGP orders tight security for Eid-el-fitri

‘Nigeria needs coordinated policy to curb stroke-related deaths’

Masari, Abolurin seek better welfare for security operatives

Signed by Public Rela-tions Officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, the statement quoted the IGP as in-structing that special attention be paid to all places of worship, critical public places and other vulnerable points prone to criminal attack.

“The Police High Com-mand is hopeful that the operational strategies ad-opted by the Force and re-newed collaboration with the public will yield posi-tive results,” he said.

The IGP, while felicitat-ing with Muslim faithful

tive discussion with the President on international affairs, including his forth-coming visit to the United States on the invitation of President Barack Obama.

“We also touched on some national issues be-cause of the strong link between foreign policy and domestic issues. I put at his disposal the benefits of my long experience on governance matters with Heads of Governments of 54-member countries of the Commonwealth and also other issues related to internal affairs.”

Similarly, Publisher of Ovation magazine, Dele Momodu, who also met Buhari yesterday, told newsmen after the meet-ing that he advised the President on the way for-ward for the country.

He said his discussions with the President focused on security, anti-corrup-tion crusade, stressing that Buhari assured him that he knows what he is doing and is determined to make Nigeria work.

as they round off the Ra-madan, enjoined them and other citizens to maintain utmost vigilance and cou-rageously continue to sup-port the police and pro-vide useful information towards preventing and unearthing crimes and their perpetrators.

Meanwhile, Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, has urged Muslims in the

National News Thursday, July 16, 2015 National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net6

country to look for the new Moon of Shawwal on Thursday.

This is contained in a statement issued yes-terday in Sokoto by the Chairman, Sultanate Advisory Committee on Religious Affairs of the Sultanate Council, Prof. Sambo Wali.

The statement said that Thursday (today), which

would equal the 29th day of Ramadan, 1436 AH, would remain the day to look for the new Moon of Shawwal.

‘’Muslims are therefore requested to start look-ing for the new moon of Shawwal on Thursday and report its sighting to the nearest district or village head for onward commu-nication to the Sultan,’’ it

added.The News Agency of Ni-

geria (NAN) reports that if the new Moon of Shaw-wal is sighted on Thursday, the Eid-el-fitr would be cel-ebrated on Friday.

However, should the new moon not be sighted on Thursday, Muslims will fast on Friday while Sallah would be celebrat-ed on Saturday.

who are at risk should avoid smoking and should constantly check their blood pressure and other vital signs in their bodies.

Owner of Vin Health Care, Abuja, Dr Vincent Otti, called for synergy among stakeholders in the medical sector to check the deaths caused by stroke.

He said Nigeria is blessed with the required human resources needed to address the menace.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 7Thursday, July 16, 2015

…to commence probe soon

News

BOLADALE BAMIG-BOLA OSOGBO

Osun State House of Assembly yesterday said

it has received “de-tailed response from Governor Rauf Areg-besola” to the petition

of Justice Oloyede Fo-lahanmi, who wrote the lawmakers, de-manding probe of the state’s finances under the governor’s watch.

This was contained in statement signed by Goke Butika, chief press secretary to the Speaker, a copy of

Senior civil servants demand N46,000 minimum wage

Another building collapses in Lagos

We’ve received Aregbesola’s response to Oloyede’s petition –Osun Assembly

Less than one week after a building col-lapsed in Yaba, La-

gos, another three-storey building yesterday col-lapsed in Ebute Meta, the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports.

NAN said about half of the building located at 29, Oloto Street, col-lapsed on the right side, leaving the other half hanging dangerously over adjoining build-ings.

The building has not been occupied since 2012 after a portion at its back had collapsed, forcing residents in the front apartments to va-cate.

A correspondent of NAN observed that res-cue workers from the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, and Lagos State Building Control Agency, LASBCA, were at the scene working.

NAN further reports that the officials were using sledge hammers to demolish the build-ing from the point of the partial collapse.

Some residents of the area who spoke to NAN expressed fear that if

the demolition is not properly carried out, it might endanger other buildings in the area.

Mr. Folami Goriola, a tenant in one of the buildings on the street appealed to the state government to ensure a controlled demolition to safeguard other build-ings.

Goriola told NAN that the occupants of 27, Oloto street where he resides had been given notice to run an integrity test a second time.

He noted that the test would ensure stability of their building which is adjacent to the re-maining portion of the collapsed building.

“We are nursing the fear that the wrecks may fall over our build-ing,’’ he said.

An eye witness, Dr. Femi Adagunduro, told NAN that the building collapsed in the early hours of yesterday.

“The collapse hap-pened at exactly at 5.28 a.m. precisely and I called the police emer-

gency number and they responded immediate-ly,’’ he said.

Adagunduro ex-plained that the build-ing had been marked for demolition since 2012 and that the occupants had made efforts to en-sure it was pulled down without success.

He lamented that the building was a hideout for social miscreants and refuse dump, posing danger to the people’s health.

Another resident, Mr. Rotimi Azeez, told NAN that the back portion of the building had killed about 10 persons when it collapsed in 2012, lead-ing to it being marked for demolition.

“The demolition was delayed till it collapsed after 5 a.m. in the morn-ing today,’’ he said.

Efforts to get the re-action of LASBCA on the issue failed as an official told NAN that they were not allowed to speak to the press.

“We are not allowed to speak. Our general manager and other

executives came here this morning,’’ she told NAN.

However, Mr. Mi-chael Akindele, general manager, LASEMA, told journalists that all buildings that had been served demolition no-tice in the area would be pulled down without delay.

“Let me assure those that their buildings have been marked for demolition that we have commenced the demoli-tion.

“Once there are proofs that tests have been done, we will de-molish such buildings,’’ he said.

Akindele said the agency was already put-ting up a local system to overhaul emergency management to ensure more effective, speedy response to all emergen-cies.

He said the claim of residents that the col-lapsed building had ear-lier been marked for de-molition in 2012 would be investigated and nec-essary action taken.

which was obtained by National Mirror in Os-ogbo.

The statement said the Assembly was ready to address the pe-tition sent to it by the judge, having obtained the detailed response of the state’s helms-man on Tuesday.

It added that the Assembly was com-

pelled to set machin-ery in motion on the investig ation of al -le g ation of f inancial hiccups ag ainst the gover nor.

The parliament as-sured of fairness and thoroughness in its in-vestigation of all the issues raised with a view to reaching a logi-cal end that would give

all parties concerned a sense of justice with-out fear or favour.

The statement also quoted the Speaker of the Assembly, Mr. Na-jeem Salaam, as tell-ing Justice Oloyede to prepare for personal appearance before the investigative commit-tee whenever a date is fixed for it, to shed more light on the peti-tion.

The statement reads: “I have constituted an investigative commit-

tee that will look into the petition forwarded by Justice Oloyede, and I have given the committee mandate to interact with Justice Oloyede in person, for she is in the best po-sition to further shed light on her position as expressed.

“However, I assure all the parties con-cerned that the matter would be treated with fairness and sense of justice without fear or favour.”

Rev Dada Nuhu, Rev Anthony Onubiyi, Rev Benzaliy Ishaya, all of Assemblies of God Church, and Mrs Tombra Alapiya, a private school proprietor in Yenagoa, accused of trafficking 36 children rescued by the Department of State Services in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

Against the back-drop of worsening hardships facing

civil servants, the Associ-ation of Senior Civil Ser-vants of Nigeria, ASCEN, has demanded N46,000 as minimum wage for work-ers.

S e c r e t a r y - G e n e r a l of ASCEN, Mr. Basir Lawal, told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Lagos yes-terday that the cur-rent N18,000 minimum wage was no longer feasible.

He said the new wage being sought by work-ers was arrived at after the association’s meet-ing with the National Public Service Joint Negotiating Council, NPSJNC.

“In the past one year, we have presented a proposal for salary re-view to the Federal Government but the government said the price of crude oil had fallen.

“We argued that if the price of crude is $30 per barrel and the resources of the coun-try are well-managed, money will be enough to pay workers decent salaries.

“From the memo we submitted to the NPSJNC, we computed what it will take for an average worker to sur-vive and we arrive at N66,000.

``So we took 75 per cent of that and we ar-rived at N46,000 mini-mum wage,” he ex-plained.

He said the joint ne-gotiation council used the table for the pay-

ment of N18,000 mini-mum wages to arrive at the N46,000 being de-manded.

“If the govern-ment believes that the amount will create cri-sis, we will tell them what to do to ensure that everybody is car-ried along,” he said.

He urged government to show understand-ing with workers on their demand and do the needful to make life worth living.

The unionist said government should itemise the income gen-erating areas of the economy and set realis-tic targets.

Lawal advised gov-ernment to also appoint manageable number of special advisers and ministers to reduce cost.

He said government should be able to use money generated from oil to improve the wel-fare of workers, “rath-er than paying slave wages.”

According to him, if President Muhammadu Buhari has 30 ministers and a sizeable number of them do well, it will trickle down and Nige-rians will feel the im-pact.

Lawal also advised government to ensure that a percentage of the budget is set aside on regular basis to serve as backup for the rainy day.

He wants Buhari to appoint only credible people as ministers to ensure good gover-nance and sustainable development.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net8 Thursday, July 16, 2015South West

OjO Oyewamide and BOladale BamigBOla

Suspected assassins hit the academic community of Oba-

femi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile Ife, following the assassination of a lectur-er in the department of Agricultural Economics of the university, Dr. Deji Adejobi.

The lecturer was re-portedly assassinated at his residence located at The-Dawn area, near Ife toll gate in Ile-Ife, on Tues-day evening.

Adejobi, it was learnt, was trailed to his resi-dence around 10pm and shot twice.

Younger brother of the deceased, who is public relations officer for Ogun State Police Command, Prince Olumuyiwa Ad-ejobi, confirmed the inci-dent, describing it as “pa-thetic.”

Also, the police public relation officer for Osun State Police Command, Folashade Odoro, DSP, when contacted, con-firmed the incident and added that the command has already commenced investigation into the matter.

One of the children of the deceased, Oyin, while narrating how the inci-dent happened, said: “As we finished our evening prayer at 10.05 pm, dad drove into the compound.

“I then overheard an ar-gument between the gate-

Ejigbo torture: Judge orders journalists, others out of court

Suspected assassins kill OAU lecturer

Two suspects killed in police, robbers’ gun duel

Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode (right) and South African Consulate-General to Nigeria, Amb. Mokgethi Sam Monaisa, during his courtesy visit to Lagos House, Ikeja, yesterday.

matthew irinOye

A Lagos State High Court presided over by Justice Olu-

watoyin Ipaye, yesterday ordered journalists out of court in the ongoing trial of 10 accused persons over the torture of Ajoke Agomo and her children over al-leged theft of pepper in Ejigbo market, in Lagos, two years ago.

The judge made the or-der when one of the vic-tims, Nike Agomo, was in-side the witness box to give her testimony relating to the incident of February 2, 2012.

Prior to the develop-ment, Director of Public Prosecution, Mrs. E.I. Al-akija, had requested that since the witness was a mi-nor, the gallery should be cleared.

Justice Ipaye, however, ordered the people sitting at the gallery to leave the court.

All media organisations were ably represented in court before the order was made.

Earlier, during a cross-ex-amination by counsel to the 2nd and 3rd defendants, Mr. Tunji Busari, the witness, Mrs. Ajoke Agomo, had said that Buhari Yusuf and Aru-na Abdullahi, were asked to bring the ground pepper they rubbed on her body.

The witness added that they mixed the ground pep-per with Chelsea dry gin and robbed it on her and her two daughters.

8

aBiOdun nejOADO EKITI

Two armed robbery suspects were yes-terday killed in a

gun duel between the po-lice and armed robbers in Ado Ekiti.

Spokesman for the po-lice in Ekiti State, Mr. Al-berto Adeyemi, said one of the suspected armed robbers was arrested dur-ing the shootout.

Adeyemi told journal-ists in Ado Ekiti that the arrested suspect was al-ready helping the police

with investigation to un-ravel crime in the state.

The police spokesman assured that the police were working round the clock to make all Ekiti roads safe.

Adeyemi said: “In our quest to rid Ekiti roads of criminals, the DPO of Ikere and Safer Highway Patrol team got information that robbers were attacking in-nocent commuters along Ikere - Akure road. They swung into action and chased the robbers to their hideout along Akure road.

“The robbers, on sight-

ing the police engaged our men in gun battle. In the process, two of the rob-bers were gunned down and one of them arrested. The arrested suspect is helping us in our investi-gations.

“We want to ensure that all roads in Ekiti are safe. We are patrolling all roads. We want people to continue to render infor-mation about criminals and their activities to the police so that the police can continue to protect the society better,” the po-lice PPRO said.

•ASUU lamentsman and some strange people and I quickly looked from the window and I saw another black car that entered our com-pound together with dad’s car. Our gateman was que-rying the occupants of the other car but they hit him and ordered him to lie down.

“The men in the black car came out before dad could alight from his car and one of them shot into the air. Two of them advanced to dad’s car while others came inside. Grandma started begin those that came inside. Suddenly, we had gunshot twice from the outside.

“The assailants left at 10:20 and took dad’s car away. I overheard dad begging them that they should not take him away. When they left, we thought they took him away and we started pray-ing for the safety of dad without knowing that he had been killed. When the police came, they saw his lifeless body in the flow-er.”

Reacting, OAU public relations officer, Mr. Abio-dun Olanrewaju, said the incident was unfortunate.

He added that the man-agement, staff and stu-dents were shocked when the news broke, stressing that it was unfortunate that university lecturers have become the target of kidnappers, armed rob-bers and assassins, warn-

ing that the trend was dangerous for the nation’s educational system.

Meanwhile, the Aca-demic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, FUTA, yesterday expressed sad-ness about the incessant killing of highly educated people in Nigeria.

The union stated this at a press conference in Akure, Ondo State capital, while officially reacting to the gruesome murder of the former Vice Chan-cellor of the university, Prof. Albert Ilemobade, by his domestic staff.

Its chairman, Bola Oniya, described the gruesome murder of late Ilemobade as shocking, calling on security agents to protect the country’s intelligentsia.

Oniya, who noted that the two domestic staff of Ilemobade could not have killed the late don just to steal his car, tasked the state Commissioner of Police to unravel other factors that may be re-sponsible for the killing.

He said: “The cruel na-ture of his murder calls to question yet again the incessant attacks on the nation’s intelligentsia. The union is following de-velopments with keen in-terest and hopes that thor-ough investigations are carried out by the state police department to un-ravel every detail that led

to the brutal death of our former vice chancellor.

“The union had fol-lowed the developments with keen interest even up to the arrest of the sus-pects, their confessions, subsequent arraignment and detention. While we await the outcome of the court, we are moved to la-ment the loss of a revered academic to such a cheap, evil and cruel death.

”We were bedeviled recently with a flurry of kidnapping painting our career as threatened. Before this profession is turned into a jumble bird, we call on necessary au-thorities to step up secu-rity and surveillance rou-tines that will decimate completely, these attacks on university teachers.”

The union asked secu-rity agents to look inward

in their investigation of the death of late Ilemo-bade, saying there was more to the killing than what was revealed by the two suspects.

The final burial plan for the late FUTA VC has been released, showing that the lying-in-state will take place at his resi-dence, along Gani Fawe-hinmi street, off Ade-mulegun road, Ondo, and Christian wake keep at Oba Adesanoye Civic Cen-ter on July 29.

The funeral service and interment will hold at the All Saints’ Angli-can Church, Ogbonkowo area, on July 30 while the reception comes up at Oba Adesanoye Civic Center. The thanksgiving ser-vice takes place at the All Saints’ Church on August 2, 2015.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 9Thursday, July 16, 2015

Shitta-Bey mosque, a deserving Shitta-Bey mosque, a deserving national monumentnational monument >10 >47

Eyo festival: Eyo festival: The true face of LagosThe true face of Lagos

Street shopping on Broad StreetPHOTO: SAMUEL ADETIMEHIN

INSIDE

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net10 Broad Street Diary Thursday, July 16, 2015

Shitta-Bey mosque, a deserving national monument Shitta-Bey mosque, Mar-

tins street, Lagos, is the oldest mosque on Broad

Street, Lagos.The 121 years old mosque

has been named one of the nine national monuments in Lagos State it also stands in the rich history of Nigeria and Broad Street in particular.

Construction of the mosque started in 1892 and was com-pleted and opened on July 4, 1894.

According to the Chief Imam of the mosque, Alhaji Habee-bullah Tawfeeq Muazu, who as-sumed the duty of Chief Imam of Shitta-Bey mosque on May 3, 2012, the mosque was solely financed by Mohammed Shitta-Bey, the first Seriki Musulumi of Lagos, Nigeria, after whom it was named.

“I learnt that he built the mosque with (£ 5, 000).”

Being the first of its kind on Broad Street, Alhaji Muazu narrated with enthusiasm the opening of the mosque. Al-though he was not born then, but said he learnt from history how the whole thing went and had since allowed the image of the opening ceremony to re-main in his mind till date.

He said, “I learnt it was a

great day. The opening cere-mony was an important social and religious event in Lagos. It was witnessed by sheiks, kings, chiefs and Imams from all the Muslim communities in the west coast, some parts of West-ern Sudan as well as Muslims, Christians and other well wish-ers within and outside Yoruba land.”

He continued; “Thousands of Muslims on horsebacks, in carriages and on foot lined the Marina Front from one end to the other. The torrential rain which greeted the day was not a hindrance, as many jubilant men, women and children were parading the streets singing various songs.”

On whether there was any account of foreigners who wit-nessed the opening ceremony of the mosque, Muazu said representative of Abdul Ha-mid, the Sultan of Turkey (Mr Quilliam) was to arrive for the opening ceremony, but he was unable to make it and his fail-ure to arrive that day kept the crowd waiting till the next day.

He added that since then, Imams of Shitta-Bey mosque have since been chosen from his lineage. “Long before my turn was my father, who reigned

Shitta-Bey mosque

as imam for twenty years. Af-ter his demise was my uncle’s turn who also reigned for eigh-teen years, then my turn to reign. ‘’Like I said, it is close to three years now that i became the imam of this mosque.

A foreigner cannot be made imam. It is also the tradition that a new imam can only be chosen after the demise of a reigning imam,” he said.

Shedding more light on why the Friday Prayer is not said in Shitta-Bey mosque, Muazu said: “Shitta-Bey mosque be-ing the oldest mosque here used to conduct the Friday congregational prayer long be-fore the new Central Mosque was built. But since the new Central Mosque was built, we have moved there for the Fri-day prayers. It is bigger and can accommodate more people. The normal daily Salat still hold here, we only go to LCM for Jumu’ah prayers.

Also, Muazu revealed that Shitta-Bey had been named a National Museum. “On De-cember 10th, 2013, the Direc-tor General of the National Commission for Museums and monuments notified the fam-ily that Shitta-Bey mosque is one of the nine national

monuments. The remaining being Kings College, Lagos Is-land, Christ Church Cathedral (CMS), Marina, Independence Building, Lagos Island, First storey building in Nigeria, Badagry, Brazilian Slave Bara-coon Museum, Badagry, Iddo railway terminal building, Lagos mainland, National the-atre, Iganmu, Nigeria first flag raising memorial, TBS, Lagos Island,” he explained.

Reminiscing on how he was born and brought up on the Lagos Island, he simply described it as very sweet. Muazu said his family house, which used to be 25, Oluwole Street, was demolished and a shopping mall was built on the land. “ I attended Lagos Secondary Commercial Acad-emy before I later went to an Islamic school in Ilorin and al-Azhar university, Cairo, Egypt.”

“There was enough space to play, we would play and eat in other houses. We were taught good things. We would go out in the afternoon, plucking fruits and mangoes at Marina. Everywhere was safe, there was peace. Our parents had time for us, unlike most of to-day’s parents who do not have

enough time to nurture their children”

He added that they would gather at the mosque early in the morning to learn, go to school from there and go to Madrasah (Quranic school) in the evening.

Speaking about the general belief that the Lagos Island is not a safe place to live, Muazu said: “It is still secure, there is no fight or stealing, Oluwole especially. We all sit and play together; we don’t fight or en-gage in violence because we all have names to protect.”

Reacting to issue of scarce and expensive accommodation on the Island, he said it is the same everywhere. “A room can go for five thousand in Surulere whereas you can get it for three thousand here on the Island. Only new buildings are some-how expensive because they used to be old buildings that are demolished and rebuilt; that ac-counts for their high cost.”

Speaking about the rich cul-tures on the island, especially those passed down by the Por-tuguese and Brazilians, Muazu said some of them still remain as people on the Island still celebrate carnivals in remem-brance of those old days.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 11Thursday, July 16, 2015 South West

FEMI OYEWESO ABEOKUTA

An Ogun High Court 4, sit-ting at Isabo,

Abeokuta, yesterday sentenced a 22-year-old house-help, David Idah, to death over the mur-der of a retired Senior Magistrate, Mrs. Olu-funmilayo Timeyin.

Benue State-born Idah, who was convicted on a one-count charge of unlawful killing by the court presided over by Justice Abiodun Akinyemi, is to die by hanging.

The convict, who was represented by defence counsel, Felix Dalley, had worked as a domes-tic staff to the late Se-nior Magistrate, before

deliberately taking the life of his boss.

The convict had on March 28, 2014, slaugh-tered the 65-year-old Timeyin around 3pm at her residence in La-derin Housing Estate, Abeokuta.

Prior to the attack that claimed late Time-yin’s life, National Mir-ror recalls that she had sacked Idah after he was caught stealing.

Idah had also been ar-raigned before an Abeo-kuta Chief Magistrates Court in Isabo, Abeoku-ta on April 7 this year.

Ruling over the mat-ter yesterday however, the judge held that the offence contravened Sections 316 and 319 of the Criminal Code Laws of Ogun State 2006.

Domestic help to hang for murder of ex-boss

ABIODUN NEJO ADO EKITI

A 46-year-old mother of three identified as Mrs Ajibola

was found hanging from the roof of her house on Ajebamidele Street, Ado-Ekiti, at about 6:30pm on Tuesday.

Residents said the de-ceased had told landlords in the area to be part of a World Press Conference she intended to address that fateful day by 6:30pm.

The landlords, who waited in vain to see her at the stipulated time, went to her residence only to find her lifeless body dangling from the roof.

Some residents, who preferred anonymity, said the woman who had been sick and treated sev-eral times had before now threatened to take her life by jumping into a well in the neighbourhood.

They stated: “It was when some of us arrived

to listen to what she had to tell us at the press con-ference she promised to address that we discov-ered she was nowhere to be found.”

“While searching for her, we saw her body dangling from the roof of her house,” a landlord said.

He said: “There was even a time she said she would jump into the well and we had to announce to all landlords that they

L-R: Former Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola; CEO, Kausar Abdulsalam Hassan Establishments, Abdulwaheed AbdulRaheem and La-gos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Oluranti Adebule, during the presentation of award of excellence to Fashola as the best former governor on pilgrims welfare in Nigeria from 2007-2015, in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday.

France, S’Africa seek closer economic ties with Lagos

Buhari hailed over new service chiefs

FRANCIS SUBERU

France ambassador to Nigeria, Denys Gauer, and South

Africa’s Consul General, Mokgethi Monaisa, yes-terday paid separate cour-tesy calls on Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, with the duo indicating their countries’ interest in increasing eco-nomic presence in Lagos.

Gauer, who was joined by Consulate General of France and Head of Mis-sion, Marcel Escure, Head of Regional Economic Department, Dominique Simon, and Commercial Counsellor, Head of Re-gional Economic Depart-ment in Lagos, Francis Widmer, said France was interested in Lagos as it is the economic capital of Nigeria as well as West Africa.

He said more French

companies were consider-ing establishing presence in Lagos and partnering the state government on infrastructural develop-ment.

According to him, “the French community in Ni-geria, the greatest part of which are in Lagos, not in Abuja, our companies are all present here in La-gos. We have more than 50 offices of big French companies all established here in Lagos and more are coming.”

He cited the French Development Company as currently partnering Lagos in the financing of certain projects re-lating to city planning, public transportation and waste management, while it hopes to expand its scope in the nearest future.

Responding, Governor Ambode told the French envoy that Lagos is ex-

panding its frontiers to accommodate investors willing to set up their businesses in the state, assuring that his admin-istration would ensure their investments are se-cured.

He said the state gov-ernment is putting fin-ishing touches to policies and strategies that will strengthen its economic ties with neighbouring French-speaking coun-tries in West Africa.

He assured investors that the government would create an enabling environment for their businesses to thrive, not-ing that opportunities abound in the area of public transportation and security.

The governor, who later received the Consul-General of South Africa, who visited to inform on the line-up of activi-ties to mark the birth of

late South African icon, Dr Nelson Mandela, ex-pressed his administra-tion’s readiness to extend the frontiers of trade and economic relations with South Africa.

He recalled the impor-tant role Mandela played in the institutionalisation of democracy in Africa, saying the South African leader was instrumental to the political emancipa-tion through his activi-ties in African National Congress, ANC.

He urged African coun-tries to draw from the he-roic ideals of great men like Mandela to continue to propagate ideas of the common good.

He listed Information Communication Technol-ogy, ICT, tourism and hos-pitality as well as oil and gas sectors as possible strong areas where such bi-lateral relations could be strengthened.

KEMI OLAITAN IBADAN

A cleric, Prof. Sabit Ariyo Olagoke, has

commended President Muhammadu Buhari on the changes effected in the leadership of ser-vice chiefs, even as he called on all Nigerians to pool resources to re-solve the conflict in the National Assembly.

Olagoke, who gave the plaudits at a Rama-dan prayer session in Ibadan, said the change of service chiefs, which was done on merit, should be supported by all and sundry in view of the magnitude of in-surgency in the country.

He urged the new ap-pointees to justify the confidence reposed in them by the Federal Government by rooting out the terrorists from wherever they may be in the country.

While describing the conflict in the Na-tional Assembly as ca-pable of derailing the course of change the citizenry voted for and got through their sac-rifices, the cleric stat-ed: “We clamoured for change in Nigeria and change has come. But how do we sustain the

change in view of the protracted leadership crisis at the National Assembly, which is ca-pable of distracting the executive?”

President of Aja-gun Esin Consultative Forum appealed to all National Assembly stakeholders as well as political leaders to put national interest above personal or narrow party considerations, warning that God might punish them if they take offices to feather their own nest.

Olagoke frowned at the jumbo allowances earmarked for lawmak-ers and recommended a downward review in the interest of the masses, saying: “There is need for pay cut and moderate governance funding as against the present expensive run-ning of government and wasteful spending of politicians without attending to people’s welfare.”

He further charged the current crop of politicians to emulate former President Uma-ru Yar’Adua, describ-ing him as the best president and first to publicly declare his as-sets.

Mother of three found dead in Ekitishould make sure that their wells were well secured and covered to avoid any mishap.”

Her house, a bungalow on the street, was desert-ed and under lock and key just as sympathisers and relatives gathered in groups to discuss the tragedy at Ologede Police Division.

A source said the corpse had been depos-ited at a morgue in the state capital.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net12

Participants at the maiden National Annual Conference of the Association for Moral Education in Awka, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Rotimi Fadeyi and aliuna Godwin

Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State yesterday

met with President Mu-hammadu Buhari to seek approval to rehabilitate federal roads for easy access to resources that could boost the fortune of the state.

Umahi told State House Correspondents after the closed-door meeting with Buhari that Ebonyi’s vast re-sources is solution to the problems of the country.

According to him, the state is ready to contrib-ute to the development of the country, stressing

Umahi seeks approval to rehabilitate federal roadsthat he was at the Presi-dential Villa to discuss with Buhari on how to best harness the resourc-es.

The governor said his discussion with the Pres-ident also focused on developmental issues in the state, which require immediate attention and adequate funding.

“I came to see the Pres-ident; we have issues in Ebonyi. We have solu-tions to the problems in the nation, in the area of agriculture, mineral resources like cement, lead, zinc, copper and coal. We also have large deposit of salt.

“A lot of investors after learning of the patron-

age the President intends for local production of these items besieged the state; they want to invest in these areas. We have issues; the roads leading to these sites are federal roads, they are very dif-ficult to access.

“I asked Mr President for two things: some banks are willing to lend money to Ebonyi to con-struct these roads and want assurance from Federal Government that when they lend us money to construct the roads, the Federal Government would reimburse them.

“There are people or companies that want to do PPP (public private partnership) with the

state government on the development of these roads and want a guar-antee from the Federal Government that they would allow them put toll gate so as to get back their funds,” the gover-nor said.

Umahi added that Eb-onyi has a lot of farm-lands that support ag-ricultural production, including rice and cas-sava, but the roads were not in good condition.

He said he had a fruit-ful discussion with the President, who he de-scribed as very interest-ed in assisting the state.

The governor, who was elected on the platform of the Peoples Democrat-ic Party, PDP, said he had no plan to defect to the All Progressives Party,

Thursday, July 16, 2015 South East

APC, and assured that he would continue to support the President in his fight against corrup-tion.

In another develop-ment, the governor yesterday tasked the Nigeria Labour Con-gress, NLC, to wage war against corruption, just as he enjoined workers to support government to enable it achieve un-common development in the states.

Umahi spoke during a courtesy visit to the NLC chairman at his office in Abuja. He not-ed the challenges that would prevent payment of new salary structure in Ebonyi, just as he tasked the chairman to compel workers in the state to accept the old salary structure.

He said: “I suggest that NLC should come up with a committee on how to check corruption in the public service. You need to do every-thing to cut corruption. I believe one major problem we have in this country is corruption.

“In Ebonyi State, we are facing serious challenges because of the nation’s economic downturn occasioned by dwindling price of oil, hence the decline in federal allocation to the states.

“Teachers are being owed May and June sal-aries at the local govern-ment level, while civil servants are owed June salary. Sadly, the last ad-ministration at its twi-

light increased salary by 50 per cent, making it to be almost comparable to what is obtainable at the federal level.

“This has created a lot of problems for us be-cause civil servants want to earn the new wage. We have been dialoguing with them because we don’t have enough to pay the new wage.

“Ebonyi received about N1.2bn during the last allocation to states. If we pay based on the new salary structure it means we won’t have anything to run the gov-ernment. We need to provide democracy divi-dends to the people.

“We have set up a com-mittee to dialogue with the workers on this. We have told them to accept the old wage while we owe them the balance on the new wage which we would pay as the income of the state improves.”

The NLC chairman, Ayuba Wabba, commend-ed the governor in his quest to pay salaries to workers, stressing that NLC was ready to sup-port the state govern-ment.

Wabba, who lauded the governor for the visit, however lamented the challenges states face in paying salaries, urging them to redouble efforts and look inwards in the interest of the people.

The labour leader par-ticularly expressed ap-preciation that Ebonyi was not part of states ow-ing huge salary backlog.

•Tasks labour leaders on corruption

ChRis njokuOWERRI

People of Egbelu Nguru community in Ngor Okpala

Local Government Area of Imo State now live in constant fear following activities of kidnappers and rapists, who have turned the community into their operational base.

Investigation revealed that no week passes without reported cases of kidnapping and rap-ing by criminals in the community.

It was gathered that the gangsters had even overwhelmed the local vigilante and police in the area as they move about with impunity.

Indigenes of the com-munity, who protested yesterday over activities of the criminals, com-plained that they now live in perpetual fear as crime rate in the commu-nity “is horrifying.”

A community leader, Elder Linus Eke, com-plained that the villagers have been living in fear because of the criminal

activities going on in the community.

“Crime occurs almost every day in the commu-nity, including kidnap-ping and rape cases,” he lamented.

According to another elder in the community, Gregory Alozie, who was among the protesters, “criminal activity has become a reoccurring decimal as cases of rape, 419 and abduction are re-corded on daily basis in the community.”

Alozie accused the po-lice of not doing enough

to arrest the criminals, who he described as hav-ing freely operated for over eight years.

While calling on the state governor, Rochas Okorocha to intervene, he said the terror going on in the community is unimaginable.

Also, the youth secre-tary of the community, Okere Casmir, disclosed that the activities of the criminals were aided by some people in the com-munity.

“Our own people even partner with the criminals to victimise

residents and also assist them to escape when se-curity agents come after them,” he regretted.

He therefore called on the governor and com-missioner of police to wade into the matter and rescue the people from the hands of the crimi-nals.

Also, the community Vice Chairperson, wom-en wing, Mrs. Jovita Anyanwu, said women had been going through hell in the hands of rap-ists who torment them on daily basis.

The secretary gen-eral of the community, Mr. Henry Ugwulor, dis-closed that the activi-ties of the criminals had gone beyond local secu-rity, adding that the com-munity records more cases of kidnapping and rape cases than any-where in the state.

Efforts to get the re-sponse of the state po-lice command was not successful as the Public Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP Andrew Enwerem, did not respond to call and text message sent to his phone.

Kidnappers, rapists invade Imo community

In the hIstory of nIgerIa polItIcs, I don’t thInk we have ever had a sItuatIon

whereby an opposItIon becomes dsp, sInce the rulIng party knew how

dangerous It Is.

Ekweremadu

Barrister Nkechi Chukwueke Onyedim, an All Progressives Congress, APC, chieftain and Special Assistant on Women Ethnic Group Mobilisation and Empowerment, to the immediate past governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, tells ADELEKE ADESANYA that Ike Ekweremadu’s Deputy Senate Presidency is unhealthy for President Mohammadu Buhari. Excerpts:

How will you assess the new administration of Akinwunmi Ambode?

I am surprised that Nigerians are so much in a haste to see what political office holders have done. Though I am not against that but when you look at it, the time spent so far by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is too short to assess him or any other political office holders in the country; people are just looking for a way to make news. But having said that, you know the track records of our governors in Lagos State, it is just like train of success from the days of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to the ac-tion governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, and now the turn of Governor Ambode whom I believe will perform better.

Lagos Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, recently called on Ambode to probe Fashola’s mismanagement of Lagos State fund. What is your take on this?

I don’t know if what they are crying for is true; like-wise if Ambode himself has settled down to begin to look into probing people. I believe that shouldn’t be his prior-ity now. Moreover, I believe that when issues like this are from oppositions, they do it to disrupt our progress and I don’t think PDP cry is something serious because as I see it, it is not a serious minded party. It is not its busi-ness to tell the governor who to probe or not, if he finds it necessary to probe people he will.

PDP should face its business and concentrate on its house that has collapsed all over the country. It should not even try to dream of any trick in Lagos by any means. I will just advise it to hold its tongue instead of trying to distract the governor.

How would you react to the crisis rocking the National Assembly over its leadership?

All Progressives Congress, APC, is my party, which I’m so much proud of its progressive change. What is happening in our party is not a big deal; it is what is ex-pected in any civilised society. The fact that it happened in the political corridor of our party is not the issue. Peo-ple disagree to agree, and I believe that is one of the ways to live, and when you trace political records very well, you will see that people, who in most cases start how we started get things right on the long run. But if they start on smooth level and crisis erupt later, it may affect the party’s performance and people’s expectations from it.

For instance, look at former President Goodluck Jona-than, when he first came, people were happy, and Nige-rians thought they have seen the Messiah who will turn things around for them, but at the end of the day look at the mess he put Nigerians through. So it is better you have misunderstanding at the beginning and later settle for smooth running. When you look at PDP, you will see that its later fight was what actually births its fall. And I don’t see the crisis affecting our unity because our party leaders are putting all efforts together to ensure that the National Assembly crisis is solved while the real busi-ness of the day immediately commences, because, as far as I’m concerned, the business of the day has not com-menced yet. And I believe with the President, all will be well. He is a man of integrity and an action man, you know his background. The crisis is expected, even hus-band and wife fight, but that does not mean they will tear the family, but instead they have to settle it and keep on with their lives. Though some people expect APC to split, but with the look of things and efforts being put in place by our leaders, I don’t see anyone leaving the party. In fact, I don’t see APC breaking from whatever crisis that is rocking it.

Do you think the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekwere-madu, should be removed as some APC members have been advocating?

For the sake of a smooth running administration, it is not healthy to have Senator Ike Ekweremadu as Dep-uty Senate President, DSP, in an APC administration. It is as good as having enemy in camp and that is why I don’t, to an extent, like the mathematics that was played by Bukola Saraki in becoming the Senate President. In

the history of Nigeria politics, I don’t think we have ever had a situation whereby an opposition becomes DSP, since the ruling party knew how dangerous it is. So, why should we have a PDP member as our DSP? If you think of this very well, you will not blame the people that have been calling for his removal. But on the other hand, if he constitutionally wins the seat as an individual, there is no problem. But for a healthy APC administration in the next four years, I think for him to be there as DSP is disastrous for our party.

Do you think PDP senators that allegedly helped Saraki emerged Senate President portends well for APC?

The story of how Saraki emerge the Senate President is not a good development for the party. I believe the par-ty is supreme to everyone in it. It is like an umbrella for all the candidate, so whatever the party says should hap-pen is what is expected to be done by its members. So, for Saraki to have gone the other way round to embrace the

opposition in fulfilling his personal ambition, against the party’s decision, is a big blow on the party, and I think it was attempt to put the labour of all of us in the party to jeopardy. Be that as it may, the party has to move forward. We should not allow the opposition to mock us, and that is why I will advise and implore our party lead-ers to ensure that the case is well resolved to ensure that the trust Nigerians reposed in us is not betrayed.

Some people have said the crisis in APC is a plot by some people to checkmate Tinubu having been perceived he may dominate the party.

For whatever it is, there are people I called special breed. Tinubu is among these people. There are people who I see operating with special grace from God in what-ever they are doing. Tinubu is one of the politicians in this country who is operating with special favour from God. I remember when I ran as deputy governorship candidate under the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, there were a lot of things I thought he did which I never like, and I braced up to confront him, but instead of fighting me, he just told me that I cannot fight him because he has a special grace from God, and looking at the antecedents of all he has done in this country, you will clearly see it that there is hand of God backing and protecting him.

Having said that, Tinubu has worked so much to get APC to where we are today, and he is a leader by making. He is the type that picks you, spend his money and time on you to ensure you are useful to the society; he has a way of making people to love him. So I wouldn’t see him as someone who wants to work against or dominate the party. Maybe there are other reasons why some people rose against him, but whatever the reason may be, I be-lieve he has done so much for people in the party and do not deserve people rising against him. You will see that since the issue of National Assembly broke in June, he has never said a word, instead, I believe all his concern is how the party will move forward, and he is a prototype of the President who is a mature minded politician. So, whether the issue in the party is against Tinubu or not, I don’t see him been short-changed, he is an unshakable pillar in Nigeria political cocoon.

What is you view about President Buhari’s lateness in appointing ministers which has been generating differ-ent reactions?

President Muhammadu Buhari is exceptional person. I have been on his track record for over thirty years, and I found out that he is a leader who can deliver us in this country. I have been telling people right from my days in ANPP when we were not even in the same party, that Buhari has all it take to rule this country properly. Be-cause if you look at his antecedent and his first tenure as the leader of this country, you will see that he is a per-son without any trace of corruption and he has fear of God. Likewise, Buhari is not a President that anyone can push over, and anyone with such character will take a firm decision and stand by it. On his lateness to appoint ministers, people should just try to understand him and persevere a bit; he is taking his time to ensure that good hands are selected.

Ekweremadu as DSP, disastrous to APC govt –APC chieftain

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 13Thursday, July 16, 2015

Politics14, 15

Buhari’s government and resurgence of Boko Haram

there is a strong resurgence of insurgency

within the past one month. from all of these attacks,

680 people, minus the terrorists, died in 45 days, translating to 15 deaths

every day since may 30.

Buhari

In less than 50 days after the inauguration of Muhammadu Buhari as Nigeria’s President,the ferocity of attack by the outlawed Boko Haram sect had intensified. No less than 29 attacks were recorded within the first 45 days of the Buhari administration with over 680 deaths. OBIORA IFOH, GEORGE OJI, ROTIMI FADEYI and UBONG UKPONG highlight these attacks and what the government is doing to overcome the challenge.

When President Buhari took over office as Ni-geria’s democratically elected President, as well as the Commander-In-Chief, C-i-C, of the

Armed Forces on May 29, his first decision was the relo-cation of the Military Command and Control Centre to Maiduguari, Borno State, the heart beat of insurgency. For him. this was best thing to do as a panacea for the Boko Haram insurgency, but it is proving ineffective.

Sequel to this directive, the Nigerian Army Headquar-ters, AHQ, announced its compliance and establishment of a Military Command and Control Centre, MCCC in Maiduguri and another smaller centre in Yola, Adamawa State.

The MCCC is now to serve as the military headquarters, where all the Service Chiefs now operate from, for effective command and administration in the ongoing operations.

The Service Chiefs had since been operating from Mai-duguri, where virtually most of their activities are now centred.

While the admirers of the change jubilated the decision and applauded it as a vital decision that his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, could not take, the following day into his government, there was a blast in Maiduguri, killing several persons to welcome him.

For a long time after the request by military to shift elec-tion for six weeks from February 14 to March 28, to enable it prepare the North-East for the election, bombing and killings were not heard of again as troops recovered all captured towns, killed insurgents, chased others into the Sambisa forest which they had vowed to cleanse in a short while.

However, reports said that insurgents were shouting “Sai Baba Buhari”, while throwing the bomb in Maidu-guri and killing people.

Since then, the insurgents have been breathing some air of freedom and are now everywhere, even extending their attacks beyond the North-East to other parts of the North.

On Saturday May 30, less than 24 hours after his inau-guration, Boko Haram insurgents struck in Maiduguri that morning and at least 11 people were killed in the fighting.

This happened as Buhari swore to crush the Islamist militant group, after all his campaign promises that he had the antidote for Boko Haram insurgency.

Since then up till date, Boko Haram attacks have al-most been very consistent on weekly basis with at least 680 deaths reported in less than 50 days of assumption of office.

At least on June 12, several days of night time raids on six remote villages that left at least 37 people dead in Borno State were reported.

On June 22, a crowded mosque was bombed in Maidu-guri, where at least 30 people were killed. Two young fe-male suicide bombers carried out the attack. The second teen appeared to run away and blew up further away, kill-ing only herself, eyewitnesses report said.

Again between July 1 and 2, Boko Haram militants attacked multiple mosques and about 48 men and boys were killed on the first, at one mosque in Kukawa. 17 were wounded in the attack. 97 others, mostly men, were killed in numerous mosques on the second, with a number of women and young girls killed in their homes. An un-known number were reported wounded.

On July 5, a suicide bomber attacked a church in Po-tiskum area of Yobe State, killing about six worshippers.

Heartless Boko Haram suspects also on Sunday July 5, carried out coordinated bomb and gun attacks on wor-shippers at Ýan Taya mosque, Dillimi Street, off Bauchi Road in Jos, where the holy month of Ramadan tafsir was holding.

Also, Shagalinku Restaurant, along Bauchi Road, Jos, was also attacked, leading to the death of over 48 persons, injuring several other persons and destruction of prop-erty.

Similarly, the terrorists carried out another bomb at-tack on hapless workers undergoing verification exercise at Sabon Gari Local Government Secretariat, Zaria, Ka-duna State resulting in the death of over 25 people, includ-

ing a two-year-old child and destruction of property.Consequently, the Army said: “Security cordon was

established in the general areas especially along Bau-chi, Gombe and the North-Eastern part of the country by troops of 3 Division and Special Task Force, as well as the Department of State Services.

“This culminated in the successful arrest of the mas-termind of the heinous terrorist acts and two of his ac-complices at a checkpoint in Dadin Kowa, Gombe State.

“The terrorist kingpin and his colleagues who dis-guised in a trailer while trying to evade checks were fished out by troops of Nigerian Army. The arrested terrorists are currently being processed for further ac-tion and would soon face the full wrath of the law.”

The list being a few cases of reported attacks since Buhari assumed office, there are several that are not reflected here and those that have not been reported, which clearly demonstrates that there is a strong resur-gence of insurgency within the past one month.

From all of these attacks, 680 people, minus the ter-rorists, died in 45 days, translating to 15 deaths every day since May 30.

Appointment of new Service Chiefs, NSA Last Tuesday’s appointment of Service Chiefs and Na-

tional Security Adviser, NSA, by President Buhari, nearly 45 days after assumption of office could definitely change the security game.

Major-General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin was named the new Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, replacing Air Chief Marshal Alex Sabundu Badeh; Major-General Tu-kur Yusuf Buratai, Chief of Army Staff, CoAS, replaced Lt-General Kenneth Minimah; Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, Chief of Naval Staff, CNS, replaced Vice Ad-miral Usman Jibrin.

Also named were: Air Vice Marshal Sadique Abuba-kar, Chief of Air Staff, CAS, who replaced Air Marshal Adesola Amosu; Air Vice Marshal Monday Riku Morgan, Chief of Defence Intelligence, CDI, and Major-General Babagana Monguno (rtd), NSA, who took over from Col. Mohammed Sambo Dasuki, rtd.

The appointment coming at a time when the security challenges are taking grave dimension, is believed will check the menace and push back the terrorists to their trenches.

Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, while ap-plauding the appointment of two Generals from Borno State said the fight to overcome insurgents “is now or never,” because with the duo, Nigeria now stands the best chance to overcome the challenges of insurgency facing it since 2009.

According to him, the President’s choice of retired Major General Monguno and Major General Buratai as NSA and CoAS respectively, was a classic case of putting square pegs in square holes, since both men now have the mandate of liberating their state, which is at the centre of Boko Haram activities.

Jonathan’s renewed call to support Buhari

Former President Goodluck Jonathan, while recently expressing his views on the wave of terrorist attacks in the country, said the death of any Nigerian at the hands of terrorists was a sad reminder that the war on terror was a task for all Nigerians, and not just the armed forces.

The former President, who made efforts to tackle the challenge of insurgency in the country before he left government, urged all Nigerians to continue to pray for peace in the country.

He also called on Nigerians to support the administra-tion of President Buhari as the government does its best to bring an end to the acts of terror and secure all Nige-rians.

Jonathan had conceded defeat in the March 28 presi-dential election and congratulated Buhari on his victory at the poll.

The former President explained that he decided to con-cede defeat because of his conviction that one does not have to scuttle national progress for personal ambition, adding that his action was based on the fact that the unity, well-being and progress of Nigeria must supersede all personal ambitions.

Even before handing over power to Buhari on May 29, Jonathan had appealed to world leaders, international organisations and Nigerians to give maximum support to the Buhari administration so that he could succeed in moving the nation forward.

Jonathan also called on all Nigerians to cooperate and do everything possible to assist Buhari in leading the country to more accomplishments, while also appealing for patience, understanding and cooperation from all stakeholders in the country.

Buhari’s government and resurgence of Boko Haram

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netPolitics14 Thursday, July 16, 2015

it is believed that with the appointment of the service chiefs and the

regional integration efforts, the fight will take a shorter period

to quell.

The visit of #BringBackOurGirls# campaigners to BuhariThe abduction of over 200 schoolgirls of Govern-

ment Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State came to the front burners last week when the #BringBackOur-Girls# campaigners stormed the Presidential Villa to meet President Buhari.

The group was led by former Education Minister, Oby Ezekwesili. The group had been calling for the rescue of the Chibok girls since their abduction on the night of April 14, 2014, during the administration of former President Jonathan.

Shortly after he was elected as President, Buhari and his wife, Aisha, met with some parents of the school-girls.

The group pleaded with Buhari to ensure that his government locate and rescue the abducted school-girls, provide security as well as needed infrastructure for Chibok community to ensure that the community is safe and conducive for the people of the area.

Therefore, the fact that Buhari agreed to host the #BringBackOurGirls# campaigners at the Presidential Villa was no surprise. The warm reception and the at-tention that the campaigners got was contrary to the situation under Jonathan when they were prevented from coming into the Presidential Villa and haunted by armed policemen and other security agents.

The visit of the group to Buhari at the Presidential Villa came exactly 450 days after the abduction of the schoolgirls, an incident which had brought trauma, pains, agony and tears to the parents of the schoolgirls and attracted global attention and condemnation.

Attempts by the group to meet with Jonathan before he left office were unsuccessful as the government was not ready to meet with them, even though some of the girls that escaped from the hands of the Boko Haram sect as well as some parents of the missing schoolgirls later met Jonathan where the matter was discussed

Since the meeting, efforts by the military to locate and rescue the girls never yielded any result, resulting in growing fear on the fate of the schoolgirls and the question of whether they are still alive.

South-East opposition to Boko Haram prisoners

The decision by the Federal Government to transfer some Boko Haram suspects to prisons in the South-Eastern parts of the country has met with very strong opposition from the people from that region.

First, it was reported that the Nigerian military transferred over 100 suspected Boko Haram members from Maiduguri, Borno State, to the South-Eastern part of the country.

Out of the number, at least, 47 of the dreaded con-victs were reportedly escorted to Ekwulobia prison in Anambra State. That action was promptly greeted by general outcry, including strong opposition from Gov-ernor Willie Obiano and protests by Anambra traders, who shut their markets over the issue last Friday.

The reported transfer of Boko Haram prisoners also compelled the South-East governors to meet under the aegis of South-East Governors’ Forum, SEGF, in Ow-erri, the Imo State capital.

In a communiqué issued after that meeting, the gov-ernors regretted that the relocation of the suspected terrorists was already creating palpable fear and se-curity tension in the zone, especially around Aguata, Anambra State where the prisons are located.

Briefing journalists shortly after the closed door meeting that lasted about two and a half hours, the host governor, Rochas Okorocha, said that they have delib-erated on the possible consequences of the relocation of Boko Haram suspects and concluded that it was not in the best interest of the zone.

Admitting that the decision was a purely security matter, the governors stressed that it has a far reaching effect on the psyche of the people in the zone, adding: “We are appealing to the Federal Government to have a rethink on the relocation of the Boko Haram suspects.

If there is any place they should be relocated to, it should be Abuja where they have enough security. The issue is already creating security concern in the zone.”

After the Anambra State protests, other states of the South-East, have also followed with similar pro-test, aimed at pressuring the Federal Government to rescind that policy.

Is Femi Fani-Kayode on point?

A former Minister of Aviation, Fani-Kayode, said that Nigerians must be living in fantasy world to think that Buhari, who secretly shares the same vision and core principles of Boko Haram and who spent many years defending them would do anything other than give them a free hand to operate.

He allegedly said: “Anyone that honestly believed that a man who secretly shares the same vision and core principles of Boko Haram and who spent many years defending them can do anything but give them a free hand when he comes to power is living in cuckoo land.

“I am not surprised by all the recent bombings and killings. I am not surprised by the resurgence of Boko Haram and their new found barbarity, courage and zeal. Military checkpoints have been removed from our roads so what do you expect?

“Boko Haram suspects are now being kept in prisons in the Eastern part of the country in order to ‘spread the word’, and no less than 182 Boko Haram suspects were released on the President’s orders, just a few days ago. Is all these just a coincidence or is something that is dark and sinister now afoot in our country?

“Whatever each of us may or may not believe, one thing is clear- that Boko Haram now have powerful friends and secret allies right at the epicenter of power and those friends and allies are running the affairs of the country.

“There is a much wider picture unfolding here which the Nigerian people have yet to see and which they find

difficult to accept, understand or comprehend. There is a hideous and frightful hidden agenda which is slowly manifesting before our very eyes.

“Though we warned them, the Nigerian people want-ed ‘change’ so they must live with the consequences of their choice. One of those consequences is the new-found audacity, courage, growing power and rising strength of Boko Haram.”

What next for the government?

Former Education Minister, Ezekwesili had cau-tioned that until the Chibok girls are released and re-turned to their families, the agitation to free the girls abducted over a year ago will not cease. There is also pressure in virtually all parts of the nation that the se-curity situation should be addressed.

However, it is believed that with the appointment of the Service Chiefs and the regional integration efforts, the fight will take a shorter period to quell.

Olonishakin

Buhari’s government and resurgence of Boko HaramTimeline of deadly Boko Haram sect attacks:

May 30 - 13 killed during an attempted night invasion of Maiduguri

May 30 - 26 killed, in bomb attack on a mosque near Borno market

May 31 - Four killed at Gamboru market, MaiduguriJune 2 - 17 killed at Maiduguri abattoirJune 3 - Four killed in attack on mechanic workshop

on Baga RoadJune 4 - Female suicide bomber kills two near mili-

tary checkpoint in MaiduguriJune 5 - 40 killed in suicide attack on Jimeta night

marketJune 7 - Three killed in suicide attack on Baga/Mon-

guno highwayJune 11 - 37 killed in separate attacks on six Borno

villagesJune 15 - Twin suicide bomb attacks kill 11 persons

in PotiskumJune 17 - Accidental explosion kills 15 persons in

MongunoJune 22- Eight killed in twin suicide attacks on Baga

fish market, MaiduguriJune 23 - 15 killed in suicide bomb attack on Nannaw-

aji Village, Gujba Local Government AreaJune 23 - 20 killed in attack on Debiro, Hawul Local

Government Area June 27 - Five killed at General Hos-pital, Molai, Borno State

June 30 - 48 killed in Mussaram I and Mussaram II near Monguno

July 1 -- 158 killed in Kukawa VillageJuly 2 -- 11 killed at Malari village along Bama/Kon-

duga highwayJuly 2 -- 30 killed in Zamfara by gun menJuly 3 -- 29 killed in Mussa Village, Askira-Uba Local

Government AreaJuly 5 -- Seven killed in a church suicide bomber at-

tack in a Bauchi churchJuly 5 - RCCG church bombed in Potiskum and six

killed including the pastor.July 5 - 51 killed in twin blast in JosJuly 6 - One killed in suicide bombing at Kano Mosque

along Zaria Rd.July 7 - 26 killed by suicide bomber in Zaria as civil

servants collect salary.July 10 - 43 killed in three Borno villages of Kalwa,

Misala and Gwollam in Monguno Local Government Area.

July 11 - Two killed, scores of terrorists killed at Bor-no Motor Park

July 12 - Multiple bomb explosion rocked ECWA church in Jos, no casualty.

July 13 - Suicide bomber blew himself at a military check point in Jimtilo, Maiduguri.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net Politics 15Thursday, July 16, 2015

L-R: Former Rivers State governor /APC Campaign Director-General, Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, National Leader of APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and President Muhammadu Buhari, during breaking of fast at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, on Tuesday. PHOTO: NAN

PDP alleges plot to use DSS toinfluence election tribunals

Benue SSG pledges probe of Suswam’s administration.

and influence election mat-ters.”

He further noted the dis-solution of local govern-ment councils in Plateau and Katsina States where the APC is in control, with-out valid court judgement.

Metuh argued that in Rivers State where the court has dissolved local government councils il-legally put in place by the past administration in the state, the police have in-terfered and stopped the caretaker committees ap-pointed by the state gov-ernment.

The PDP spokesperson also disclosed that the par-ty had noted wide range of agitations concerning the reconstitution of the Board of Truees (BoT), and assured that the NWC will work with party stakehold-ers to fill vacancies created in the BoT as a result of death, defection to other political parties and pas-sivity of some members.

Metuh added that the party’s ward and local con-gresses in Anambra State will hold from Tuesday next week. Political thugs surrender ammunition in Benue

Governor Ortom said this on Tuesday while re-ceiving different kinds of weapons and live am-munitions at the Peoples House in Makurdi.

He said: “We are happy to receive these arms to-day based on the amnesty granted to possessors of il-legal weapons in the state.

“Security of lives and property is the sole re-sponsibility of the govern-ment, so there is no need for citizens to carry arms in the name of protection and at the same time us-ing them to commit atroci-ties.

“That is why we are

the last administration handled its contract jobs; in some instances the jobs were shoddily done while others executed were sub-standard and cannot stand the test of time and conse-quently the figures of the contracts were also inflated to an alarming propor-tion.”

He however stated that under the Ortom-led administration,”we are go-ing to ensure that quality jobs are done and we shall not hesitate to go the extra mile by also probing the past administration where necessary.

Targema maintained that “we will not divert any fund meant for public use; we will do everything hu-manly possible to ensure that all the funds accruable to us are used for the pur-pose it was meant for.”

Urging members of the public to keep faith with the change revolution, he stressed that people should begin to take the govern-ment by its words, saying that “we shall not renege on the policy trust of ad-ministration, which is bent on fighting corruption and holding public officers accountable for their ac-tions.”

paying very reasonable amount of money to those willing to submit their arms before August 31. However those who fail to do so would be arrested and punished according-ly.”

He explained that the amnesty was for both indi-genes and non-indigenes residing in the state.

Earlier, state Commis-sioner of Police, CP, Mr Hyacinth Dagala, urged citizens in possession of illegal arms to surrender them or risked being ar-rested at the end of the amnesty.

Dagala averred that

those with the arms would be hunted down and made to face the law if they re-fused to embrace the am-nesty program offered them by the state govern-ment.

Special Adviser to the governor on Security Mat-ters, Col Edwin Jando, rtd, disclosed that the weap-ons were been returned by citizens who want peace in the state.

Jando explained that weapons such as automat-ed raffle, pistols, maga-zines, live ammunitions, AK 47 among others were among the weapons been submitted.

INEC registers DPC as political partycal party.

In a letter dated July 8, with reference number INEC/DEPM/DPC/511/11 and signed by its Secretary, Mrs. Augusta C. Ogakwu, INEC said the DPC was registered at its meeting of

June 19It further stated that the

party’s constitution, mani-festo, logo/flag and list of its national executives were also approved, adding that the certificate of regis-tration would be issued in

due course.DCP National Chair-

man, Olusegun Peters, as-sured in a press statement that the party will partici-pate actively in the demo-cratic process in our quest at building a just society.

NASS: PDP candidate challenges APC’s victory in court

Wole AdedejiILORIN

A Peoples Democrat-ic Party, PDP, sena-torial candidate in

the last general elections for Kwara South senatori-al district, Architect Lola Ashiru, has told the Na-tional Assembly Election Tribunal sitting in Ilorin that some electoral mate-rials used for the exercise on March 28 had already been signed and stamped by the Independent Na-tional Electoral Commis-

sion, INEC, on March 27, a day before election.

Ashiru’s lawyer, Prof Rasheed Ijaodola, who led hin in evidence before the tribunal tendered 92 bal-lot papers alleged to have already been stamped and signed by INEC, signifying that they had already been used a day before the elec-tion.

The revelation was made as hearing contin-ued before the tribunal where other documents like Forms EC8 (A1&A1), which allegedly contained voting results in four local

government areas of Oyun, Offa, Ifelodun and Irepodun in the state.

Counsels to the first re-spondent, Mr Adebayo Ade-lodun, SAN as well as the All Progressives Congress, APC, did not however ob-ject to the admissibility of the documents as exhibits.

Ashiru in his statement on oath alleged these were the irregularities, malprac-tices and misconduct in Offa, Oyun, Ifelodun and Irepodun local government areas.

He averred that the votes recorded for him by INEC

…brings pre-thumb printed ballot papers to court

…as Ortom threatens to hunt those who refuse to comply

AdeolA TukuruABUJA

Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has registered

the Democratic Peoples Congress, DPC, as a politi-

Henry iyorkAseMAKURDI

Benue State Gover-nor Samuel Ortom has commenced the

official mopping up of il-legal arms following the declaration of amnesty program for possessors of illegal weapons in the state by the government.

It will be recalled that the governor had earlier an-nounced amnesty program those in possession of all kinds of illegal weapons in the state with a cash reward in accordance to the type of weapons submitted.

obiorA ifoHABUJA

Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has al-leged of plot by the

governing All Progres-sives Congress, APC, to use the Director General of Department of State Services, DSS, Lawan Daura, to interfere in some election petitions pending before the tribu-nals.

PDP National Public-ity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, who briefed jour-nalists at the end of the party’s weekly National Working Committee, NWC, yesterday, said the party has received information that the DG DSS has invited some people handling elec-tion cases in Rivers and oth-er states to discuss matters before the tribunal.

He said: “PDP want to alert the nation and inter-national community that this is gross interference in democratic affairs, which can lead to draconian re-gime where security forces and apparatus of govern-ment will be used to decide

Henry iyorkAseMAKURDI

Benue State Secre-tary to the State Government, SSG,

Barr Targema Takema, has expressed the willing-ness of the present ad-ministration in fighting corruption at all tiers of governance in the state.

Barr Takema made the declaration yesterday in an interactive session with journalists in Makurdi, noting that the Governor Samuel Ortom-led admin-istration is determined to wipe corruptly tendencies to the barest minimum.

He expressed dissatis-faction with the immedi-ate past administration of former Governor Gabriel Suswam, whom he said did not apply due process in the awards of contracts to indi-viduals in the state.

The SSG further frowned at the lukewarm attitude of the immediate past admin-istration, which he said did not deem the application of the rule of law necessary in the way government affairs were handled, but rather chose a lackadaisical atti-tude.

He said: “I am con-strained with the way

in the four councils were not the valid votes emanat-ing from the senatorial elec-tion held in the senatorial district on March 28.

He said the election in the aforementioned coun-cils was characterised by massive rigging, over vot-ing, multiple thumb print-ing, ballot box stuffing, and allotment of votes, altera-tion and inflation of results.

According to him, these irregularities and malprac-tices amounted to gross non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2010.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netPolitics Thursday, July 16, 201516

El-Rufai and Kaduna beggars News has it recently that some phys-

ically-challenged street beggars in Kaduna threatened to sue the

Kaduna State government for violation of their right to life. The development flows from the ban recently slammed on street begging and hawking in the state by the administration of Mallam Nasir el-Rufai. The beggars comprising men, women and children, reportedly stormed the Kaduna Secretariat of Nigeria Union of Journal-ists to ventilate their grievances.

Their spokesperson, Malam Abdul-lahi Jugunu, was quoted as saying: “Apart from feeling insulted, we will be seeking legal redress against the government. Our right to life is now under threat because our existence is hinged on begging activi-ties on the streets.

“We are giving the authorities three days to rescind their decision or risk be-ing victims of a spell we would profess against them. Our promise for now is that we will be returning to the streets for our normal business.”

It will be recalled that that Governor Rufai banned took the action after the Zaria carnage by a female suicide bomber, which resulting in not less than 40 fatal casualties. It is my take that social prob-lem like street begging should never be controlled by outlawing through fiat or-der; it should rather be gradually phased-out through people empowerment.

Let us face it, nobody likes to beg to earn a living. It is when people fall into a condition of abject privation and penury that they take to begging. What govern-ment should have targeted is systematic

IT IS WHEN PEOPLE FALL INTO A CONDITION OF

ABJECT PRIVATION AND PENURY THAT THEY TAKE TO

BEGGING

FRYNDUBUISI

fryndubuisi@nationalmirroronline.net (08023016709 SMS only)

Professor Ndubuisi is of the Dept of Philosophy, UNILAG

EXISTENTIAL HUMANISM

We have been practising democ-racy for over a decade now; and it appears Nigerians seem to be

more comfortable with this system of government. At least there are opportu-nities for the electorate to freely express their preferences through the ballot box. To this extent, the option of acquir-ing power through the ballot box is pre-ferred over that of the barrel of guns.

The beauty of democracy lies in the fact that if a government performs be-low expectations, or perceives promises as a self deceptive mechanism for the sole purpose of catching votes, it re-ceives packages of surprises in its next attempt at reelection. Nigerians have been denied the opportunity of letting their votes count. Frauds and electoral violence have been the misfortune of democracy in our clime. This has led to maladministration and impunity among the members of the ruling politi-cal class.

The last general elections, in spite of

Between development and democracy IT IS A SHAME THAT

SOME STATES OWE CIVIL SERVANTS SALARIES

RANGING FROM FIVE TO EIGHT MONTHS

Send your views by mail or sms to PMB 10001, Ikoyi, or our Email: mail@nationalmirroronline.net mirrorlagos@yahoo.com 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.

whatever reservations anybody may have about them, were made possible by internal vigilance and the deploy-ment of information technology. That the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in power for a record of 16 years was not because it had been winning elections fairly all these years. It is an open secret that both the national elec-toral body (INEC), the judiciary and law enforcement agencies play less than noble roles in keeping the party in power. This situation has not helped the fortunes of the common man in any way. Politicians, at the federal, state and local government levels, have been known to swim in luxury at the expense of the interest of the commoners. It is quite embarrassing.

It is a shame that some states owe civil servants salaries ranging from five to eight months. This is incredible. How on earth should such deprived people survive? Most of the affected people are parents that have bills to pay in schools for their children and wards, in hospitals, for food, etc, yet most chief executives of such states go about as if all is well. It has since become a com-mon practice for state governors to own private jets, in addition to luxury apart-ments they keep all over the world. It is an abuse of office and exercise in bad faith for our so called leaders to act as if they are living in fool’s paradise. This must stop; and it can only be checked if the electorate are given the power to

change their leaders legitimately unimpeded.

This is where there is a strong imperative for reformation of our electoral system through effective legislations. The introduction of permanent voter’s cards (PVCs) and card readers is a welcome develop-ment. We got it partially right last time around; we need to upgrade it to an acceptable level. The card readers should be upgraded to make them able to read, not only genuine voters, but also to be able to detect under age voters. Politicians will be prudent with our resources and cautious of their life style if they are aware that it is only perfor-mance that will keep them in the office. The trend now is that as long as the necessary state instruments of power are on your favour, you are a winner no matter how unpopular you are. The election petition tribu-nals, with the level of accusations and counter accusations against these compromised politicians, have not helped matters. Aside from

this, there is the problem of assem-bling evidences that will unveil the electoral frauds perpetrated and the intrigues that go on in all our elec-tions, no thanks to poor technology.

That some governors are reported to be cutting their salaries by half to check the paucity of funds in their states is like scratching the surface of our problems, and this is ridiculous. The salaries of governors and their nu-merous assistants constitute a minute part of what consume funds in the land. What of security votes that are unac-counted for and funds that are wasted on avoidable travelling expenses?

It is very disturbing that with all the resources available and the petro dollars that avail this nation, their impact are not seriously felt any-where. Our roads still remain death traps; the educational system is as rotten as ever, and it is the same ugly story in the health sector. Added to these is the precarious security situ-ation in the land that does not allow people to freely go about meeting their economic and social needs.

This is not what a representative government is all about. This is the more reason why we must streamline our electoral system properly to en-sure free and fair elections. It is only when this is put in place that we will be able to build the necessary institu-tions that will pave way for real de-velopment in the country.

elevation of the people to at least a condi-tion of meager subsistence.

What about the argument that the state government took the action as a security measure? Is government not then right in placing the ban on street begging to fore-stall recurrence of terroristic disasters? The argument is hardly persuasive. Crim-inals would always commit crime and methods used should not be the point. Af-ter all if one method does not work, they would resort to other methods.

Besides, if someone who disguised as a medical doctor, donning a white gar-ment with stethoscope dangling from his neck, had detonated bomb, would the gov-ernment have placed a ban on all doctors from practising their trade? If a person who donned wig and gown of the lawyers turned out to be a terrorist in disguise, would the government ban legal practice in the state? That will never happen; it is only those who cannot protect themselves that may be easily sacrificed.

Well, the “calling” of these beggars may be so lowly and wretched, but that is where they earn their living. And at any rate beheading is hardly an apt prescrip-tion for curing head lice infestation, as our people say.

Placing a sudden ban on street begging is, therefore, a callous and inhumane op-tion. Beggars are not known to have sav-ings they can fall on as the live day-in day from hands to mouth. Where will they now go? In saner countries, what govern-ment should have done is to invite the beggars for registration and then put them into some skill learning institutions or engage them in some productive ven-tures that would fetch them subsistence.

It is also remarkable that no dia-logue was held with them or their rep-resentatives before the fiat of ban was given. The beggars are just scum of the earth who are meant to be directed and controlled at the whims and caprices of the powers-that-be!

On the other hand, this is a society that thrives on class oppression as evinced in elite profligacy in the midst of suffering masses. If all the legisla-tors from Kaduna would donate their multimillion naira wardrobe allowanc-es alone to the beggars, it will take a lot of them off the street.

If a nation that has earned trillions of petrodollars within the past few de-cades and which also prides itself as having the largest economy in Africa now have hordes or unemployed grad-uates and armies of street beggars, whose fault is it? Should we still con-tinue to be punishing the victims?

The 1999 Constitution after all pro-vides in its section 16 (2) that “The State shall direct its policy towards ensuring the promotion of a planned and balanced economic development;

that the material resources of the nation are harnessed and distributed as best as possible to serve the common good; that the economic system is not operated in such a manner as to permit the concentration of wealth or the means of production and ex-change in the hands of few individuals or of a group; and that suitable and adequate shelter, suitable and adequate food, reason-able national minimum living wage, old age care and pensions, and unemployment, sick benefits and welfare of the disabled are provided for all citizens.”

I, therefore, pitch my tent with the beg-gars, let them sue the government!

Ketefe may be followed on twitter @Ketesco

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 17Thursday, July 16, 2015 Views

KAYODEKETEFE

kketefe@nationalmirroronline.net 08032147720 (SMS only)

CRITICAL STROKES

18 National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Grand deception as Second Niger Bridge

As many as 27 children died and 25 others were hos-pitalized after they ate lunch served at their school in eastern India. The incident occurred at a primary school in the village of Dharmashati Gandaman in the Saran district of Bihar after the kids ate the meal con-taminated with pesticide. Angered by the deaths and illnesses, villagers took to the streets in many parts of the district in violent protest.

July 16, 2013July 16, 1999

John F. Kennedy, Jr., son of former United States’ Pres-ident, John F. Kennedy, piloting a Piper Saratoga aircraft, died when his plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. His wife, Carolyn Bes-sette Kennedy and sister-in-law, Lauren Bessette, were also killed. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr. (1960 – 1999) was an American socialite, magazine publisher, lawyer and pilot.

Chinese milk scandal: The scandal involved milk, in-fant formula and other food materials and components adulterated with melamine. Sixteen infants in Gansu Province, China, fed with the tainted milk powder, were diagnosed with kidney stones. In all, an estimated 300,000 infants were affected. A kidney stone is a solid concretion or crystal aggregation formed in the kid-neys from dietary minerals in the urine.

ON THIS DAY

Gradually, yet steadily, the construction of a second bridge over the Niger River

between Asaba, Delta State capital; and Onitsha, the commercial hub of Anambra State, is being turned to a political hubris. It has become a delusion desperate leaders ride on in their ego trips or vote-hunt. The first Niger Bridge was built in the First Republic (between 1964 and 1965) by the government of the late Prime Minister, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, at which time the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was Ni-geria’s ceremonial President. The bridge is the only link between the entire eastern part of the country and the western and northern parts. The only other alternative is the East-West Road, which links the East and Niger Delta states through Benin to the Yoruba states of the South West and the North, including the Federal Capital Ter-ritory (FCT), Abuja.

The Nigerian civil war (1967-1970) affected the integrity of the bridge. Though redressed after the war, the strength of the strate-gic bridge has been diminishing since the end of the war in 1970. Experts in civil and structural engineering, political leaders and Nigerians of goodwill have voiced either threats to the bridge and its staying power, or the danger the facility now constitute to the lives of millions of Nigerians, east-erners and non-easterners alike,

who commute across the roughly 50-year-old bridge, and the need for the construction of a second bridge across the Niger River. The Second Republic government of ex-President Shehu Shagari (Octo-ber 1979-December 1983) derisorily played politics with the Second Niger Bridge idea. It attracted no government attention during the ill-fated 3rd Republic that suffered still-birth under ‘President’ Ibra-him Badamasi Babangida. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2007) in 2006 also ‘inaugu-rated’ the second Niger Bridge project; and did not see it through fruition.

But perhaps most pathetic of the foolery was the Monday, March 10, 2014 purported flag-off of the construction of the 2nd Niger Bridge at Onitsha, Anambra State, by the nation’s immediate past President Goodluck Jona-than, which many, including this newspaper, erroneously hailed as having marked a watershed in the annals of Nigeria’s history, but which, in truth, appears a mission in furtherance of the derision and grand deception of opportunistic leadership. “It is interesting that all the funding arrangements have been concluded to ensure that the project is not abandoned as was the case in the past”, Jonathan was quoted as saying during the March 10, 2014 flag off. Nigerians were told the 1,590-metre Second

Niger Bridge would be completed in four years at a total cost of over N117 billion under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement. It is just a little over a year after, and reports say work has stopped on the project at the preliminary stages of foundation-laying and sand-filling.

Whereas a French construction firm, Dumez, built the Nigeria Bridge now in use at the cost of about £5 million, Julius Berger Nigeria Limited won the contract for the construction of the Second Niger Bridge. But reports have it that Julius Berger has not only stopped work on the project “due to financial constraint”, but has sacked some of its technical core staff working on the bridge. Ac-cording to the report of a national newspaper (not National Mirror) early in the week, “some of the

heavy duty equipment working on the site have disappeared, while only few security personnel and some foreign nationals were seen loitering at the site. The plant house along the (Onitsha-Asaba-Benin) expressway has also been shut”.

The said development has roundly ridiculed former Presi-dent Jonathan’s claim that all funding arrangements were made to ensure the project is not aban-doned as had been the case in the past. It is a sad commentary that there is no end, as yet, in sight for the grave risk to life and discom-forting social dislocations – traffic snarls, man-hours waste – and so on, which commuters, who for lack of alternative routes, are forced to contend with between Asaba and Onitsha. This smacks of callous-ness, man’s inhumanity to man and irresponsible governance. There is no arguing the fact that the East-West highway, which is largely decrepit, has remained one of the busiest roads in the country, as the majority of goods cleared at Lagos ports are conveyed south-wards through it. It is too early to predict President Muhammadu Buhari’s government’s thinking about the Second Niger Bridge project. But should the bridge find favour in his eyes, he should place the requisite premium the project deserves on it, and shame all his predecessors that treated the job as a vote-catching scorn.

IT IS A SAD COMMENTARY THAT

THERE IS NO END, AS YET, IN SIGHT FOR THE GRAVE

RISK TO LIFE AND DISCOMFORTING SOCIAL

DISLOCATIONS… BETWEEN ASABA AND

ONITSHA

July 16, 2008

Thursday July 16, 2015Editorial

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

ISE-OLUWA IGE ABUJA BUREAU CHIEF

AUGUSTUS IMEKAN ACTING HEAD, GRAPHICS

Wale IbrahImLOKOJA

There is palpable fear among the management staff and engineering students of

Federal Polytechnic, Idah, Kogi State over the recent ban by the National Board for Technical Edu-cation (NBTE) on the admission of fresh students into the institu-tion’s School of Engineering.

NBTE is an arm of the Federal Ministry of Education regulating technical and vocational educa-tion outside the university system in the country. It aims, among others, to promote quality techni-cal and vocational education and training for the sustainable devel-opment and leadership roles of Ni-geria in African and global affairs.

However, the 34-year-old insti-tution has remained in a state of panic since June 26, 2015 when the board imposed the ban in its letter with reference C/TEB.235/VOL.I A/235 and signed by its execu-tive secretary. It will be recalled that some OND students who are studying engineering courses and are also on Students’ Indus-trial Work Experience Scheme (SI-WES) programme had petitioned NBTE complaining of the institu-tion’s inability to engage them in meaningful practical learning as its workshops and laboratories were permanently locked while its classrooms are always overcrowd-ed during lectures.

Based on the petition, National Mirror further learnt that the board carried out an undercover investigation and found out that both the allegations were true and consequently placed a ban on the institution from admitting new students into its engineering pro-grammes.

It also instructed the Joint Ad-mission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to comply with the ban until all the observed deficiencies are corrected.

This development however has thrown the school community, especially the rector, Dr. Mathew Akpata and the final year engi-neering students into confusion.

While Akpata is worried that the development, if not well managed, could damage the school’s repu-tation, which he said was hard earned, the students are worried that they may overstay on campus while their certificates may not be recognised for further studies or in the labour market if they even-tually graduate.

When National Mirror visited the institution during the week,

most of the workshops and labo-ratories on the campus were opened with students and instruc-tors engaging in practical learn-ing.

Contrary to the reports, there were no visible signs that the workshops had been under lock and key for several months. For instance, the refrigerator/air-conditioning, fluid power and

CONTINUED ON PAGE 21

Anxiety in Idah Poly over NBTE’s ban of engineering programmes

Main entrance to the polytechnic

NBTE Executive Secretary Akpata, rector

... Board says it’s to ensure standards

Education TodayNigerian universities rankings: Chaotic and misleading!

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 19Thursday, July 16, 2015

23

16 years after, OAU students remember fallen heroes

We’ve more workers than students —VC, FU, Otuoke

‘Govt officials must follow due process in spending’

212420

Prof. Mobolaji Aluko, Vice-Chancellor, Federal University, Otuoke, Bayelsa State, is the eldest son of the late renowned economist, Prof. Sam Aluko and also the INEC’s returning officer in charge of Delta State in the last presidential election. He is a researcher and Professor of Chemical Engineering at Howard University USA where he taught for many years. He also had a brief stint in University of Washington and University of Maryland, both in the USA and the University of Ado-Ekiti(now Ekiti State University), Nigeria. He speaks in this interview with TUNBOSUN OGUNDARE about his experience as a VC of a new university in the home town of the immediate past president and other sundry issues. Excerpts:

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net20 Thursday, July 16, 2015Education Today

We’ve more workers than students —VC, FU, Otuoke

past governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi was in govern-ment. Soon after he became gov-ernor was when the President then, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s government mooted the idea of establishing nine new universi-ties to be sited where there were no federal university and Ekiti State was one of them. The gov-ernor was asked to suggest the site and a name for the posi-tion of the vice-chancellor and that was how Governor Fayemi put in my name. Ordinarily, I thought I would be asked to be in charge of the one in Ekiti as an indigene. But between Novem-ber 2010 and February 2011 when the announcement was made, the president in his own wisdom said he did not want indigenes to be appointed the vice chancellors for the universities. Honestly at that point, I lost interest because I would have loved to be in Ekiti State. But before announcement was made, I was invited by the National universities Commis-sion (NUC) and the Federal Ministry of Education to Abuja where I was told I would be the vice chancellor of the univer-sity in ex- president’s home town. They told me that some money had been raised by the commu-nity as a start off. That was how I ended up in Otuoke. So by and large, it was my governor then that nominated me for the job.

What then is your vission for the university?

I will like to have a world-class university, a public university with a private mirror, where stu-dent are going to acquire world class education with adequate facilities, and a university that cares for students and members of staff. We want to be produc-ing well-rounded graduates and problem-solving researches.

How do people see you for being the VC of a university in the home town of the sit-ting president then?

This is an interesting ques-tion. Many people liked to visit

How has it been so far as the VC of this university?

We started academic activi-ties in 2012 a year after the uni-versity was established as one of the nine universities estab-lished by the Federal Govern-ment then. We started with a few number of students. Now, we have about 1, 500 students across the two faculties-humanities and science- where we are currently running six programmes each.

Now we want to add business and engineering faculties so as to bring in more students. We don’t want to rush and that is why we are being careful so as not to admit students we cannot cope with.

We have about 200 acres of land with large part of it yet to be developed. We have just acquired additional acres for our skill ac-quisition centre, which we have started building. We want to ensure that our students are ex-posed to entrepreneurial skills that will make them self-reliant. So, we are moving on gradually as we are hoping to have our first set of graduates next academic year.

What did you meet on ground on your resumption?

We met virtually nothing. Although, the community had been putting up some buildings as a start-off for the university, the Tertiary Trust Fund helped in upgrading them. We started with three buildings but now we have about 30 to 40 buildings all together and more are coming up as resources permit.

Could you please share with us how did you get into this of-fice?

I will only say it was by divine arrangement. I was abroad and in the US to be precise. I am one of the nine vice-chancellors ap-pointed at that time with three of us from overseas. And I didn’t lobby for the appointment. It came as a surprise indeed. I al-ways love to tell the story. All happened when the immediate

the university just because the town is not that well known, all the ex presidents come from pop-ular towns like Obasanjo from Abeokuta, Shagari form Sokoto, Abubakar from Minna and so on. All these are popular towns. Only the immediate past presi-dent is from unknown town. So, many people just want to visit Otuoke. And interestingly, many thought the university has more money than other universities just because it is in Otuoke. Fed-eral Government can’t be giving us money independent of other universities. The only advantage I could say if at all was that we got some money from Ecological Fund and the NNDC involve-ment constructing a 16-kilome-ter road network. We also benefit just like every other tertiary in-stitution in the country from the TETFund. But on the whole, ad-vantages I can say we have over others are not about money but goodwill and the town itself has been transformed significantly.

There must have been pressure on you from people of Otuoke for employment; could you please share your experience on this?

Truly if there is anything I am not all that comfortable about, it is the community. This is because we have more staff than students because of the pressure from indigenes. What

AbdulgAfAr OlAdimejiKANO

A Kano High court sitting at Miller road has ordered a school(NIIT) to pay more than half a million

to a former student, who was denied of completing her studies.

The plaintiff, Florence Ogbonugafor had dragged her former school before the court, accusing it of terminating her stu-dentship halfway without any reasonable justification.

Ogbonugafor who was at the Kano af-filiate of the school, Next Trust, urged the court to pronounce the decision by both NIIT and Next Trust to bring to an abrupt end the continuation of her course of study as an act of breach of trust.

She further prayed the court to order the two institutions to refund the reg-istration and school fees amounting to N475.000.00 to her.

But Justice Aisha Mahmud in her judg-ment instead awarded a sum of N575, 000 as special and general damages to her. The amount stood for expenses incurred while in the school and the psychological trauma she suffered as a result of the ac-tion as well as cost of hiring solicitor who handled the case.

Court orders school to pay N.58m compensation to former student

Aluko

brings many people around is employment. Nobody asks how the institution is faring but to ask for employment. This unemploy-ment of a thing is a serious issue in the country. The government gives us money to pay salaries but how about maintenance of structures? If the government wants tertiary education to sur-vive, they must have to address the issue of proper funding. There must be evaluation of the cost of education and know those who can pay and those who can-not. Those who can go to Ghana where they pay big money and those who can afford private uni-versity for example will likely pay one third of such amount in public universities if they know they can get sound education in the country. When you tell people abroad that the student pay N50, 000 per year for tertiary educa-tion and divide it by N200 (at the rate of one dollar to N200), the amount will be equivalent to $250. They believe you can’t get qual-ity education with that amount. But if you put the figure around N500, 000 and you offer right courses that are relevant, many of the families who can afford to send their children abroad will pay such amount while children from poor homes can access edu-cational grant and be fixed imme-diately after graduation and not be roaming about the streets for employment.

ezekiel TiTusBAUCHI

Bauchi State College of Agricul-ture has warned its newly ad-mitted students to exhibit good

character throughout their stay in the institution.

The Provost of the college, Profes-sor Ladan Muhammad Shehu gave the warning while addressing them during their matriculation ceremony recently. They are 1,263 in all, admitting into the various departments of the college for the 2015/2016 academic year.

Noting that gaining admission is not the ultimate but how well they do in their academic and other activities in-cluding behaviours, he urged them to make good use of the limited facilities in the college.

He observed that provision of sound education was not government’s respon-sibility alone but also involved other stakeholders including parents.

He however noted that as a mono-technic institution receiving nothing as intervention fund from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), the college is surviving on internally gener-ated revenue, which he termed meager.

Professor Mohammed added that with the little resources, the college was able to execute many projects including ren-ovation of male hostel, academic staff-room complex, construction of over half a kilometer long drainage and resuscita-tion of boreholes, among others within one and a half years of its existence.

He used the occasion to appeal to the state government to extend a take-off grant to the college to ease its operation.

Bauchi college warns freshers against unruly behaviour

electronic sections as well as mechanical and flitting/machine workshops were a bee hive of activities as students were seen engaging in different practical works. The students told National Mirror that this had been the practice over time. Euchi John, an HND I Meteorological student who was just coming out of the exam hall denied that the workshops were always locked, saying the students often combine both theory and practical works together.

“Even our practical exam in my depart-

ing it did not represent the true opinion of the majority of students. He corroborated the rector’s earlier claim on the state of the engineering programmes, saying it is one of the best schools of engineering in the nation’s polytechnics in terms of facilities, personnel and graduates being produced.

But NBTE’s spokesman, Malam Sulei-man Gwarzo while reconfirming the ban said the board does not just bark but re-sponds to evidence. He told National Mir-ror that the board carried out secret in-vestigations based on the petition received from the students of the institution.

“It is a common knowledge that if you inform somebody or an organisation that you are coming for a particular mission especially like investigation, such a per-son or organisation will quickly put his or its house in order most times as a window dressing. That is why we don’t inform in-stitutions under us before we carry out any investigation on them and that is the same thing we did in the case of Federal Poly Idah,” he explained.

Gwarzo however pointed out that the ban was temporary pending when all the necessary facilities are in place and the expected practical engineering activities resume in the school.

“NABTE is out for standard and we will not relent in ensuring that our schools are following guidelines,” he stressed.

ment will come up this afternoon!” he stressed, noting that the current situation had really affected them psychologically.

In his own reaction, the rector, Dr. Akpa-ta who also countered the allegations and asserted that all the laboratories and work-shops are not only well-equipped but also functional. He noted that the school and himself in particular received the news of the ban with shock, saying that apart from the fact that all the engineering courses of-fered by the polytechnic, except two, are ful-ly accredited by NBTE, the 32 workshops and laboratories in the polytechnic are also operating optimally.

“As an institution, we had received many commendations in the past from dif-ferent organisations including NBTE on our programmes and products,” he added. “And we are not in any way relaxed but always strive to ensure we build on our achievements.”

That is why, he argued further, it was doubtful if the board actually carried out any investigation before banning the school.

“While we are disturbed by the devel-opment, we are already doing the needful so that the ban can be lifted on time,” he added.

Speaking in the same vein, the Dean of School of Engineering, Engineer Ahon Martins also faulted the allegations, say-

Tunbosun ogundare

The newly graduated students of Federal Science and Technical College (FSTC), Yaba, Lagos have

been advised to be armed with ‘I can do it spirit’ as they go into the larger society to continue with life. They were 604 in all.

Advising them during their graduation and prize-giving ceremonies held recently, the Director of Technology and Science Ed-ucation, Federal Ministry of Education, Dr. Rosetta Isiavwe and her counterpart from the Basic and Secondary Education, Mr. D.C. Uwaezuoke urged the graduands to make good use of the sound moral and academic knowledge, creative thinking and manage-ment skills the school had imparted on them in their future endeavours.

Isiavwe for instance told them that the larger world they are going into are full of challenges that may seem intimidating but that with the positive mindset coupled with the knowledge and skills acquired and above all God’s support, they would overcome and achieve their ambitions.

Emphasising the importance of science and technology education to country’s de-velopment, the director also advised parents to encourage their children to acquire skills that would make them economic relevant now and in future rather than be looking for the non-existing jobs after schooling.

In his own contribution, the Principal\Di-rector of the college, Rev. Chris Ugorji while congratulating the students on the achieve-ment, equally urged them to be guided by the spirit of God, well-behaved and focused wherever they find themselves, saying that would help them to become asset and not li-ability to themselves and the society.

He promised that the college would con-tinue to produce well-rounded students that would compete favourably with their peers around the world.

Students from JSS1 to SS3 who per-formed excellently in academic across sub-jects, behavior, dressing and other consider-ations within the last academic year were all rewarded at the event. Mr. Bede Opara, Gen-eral Manager of Oshogbo Region Transmis-sion Company; Dr. A.R. Awopetu, former HOD of Human Kinetics and Health Edu-cation, University of Lagos and Mr. Rafiu Abiodun, CEO of Fomort Nigeria Ltd were chairman on the occasion, and guest speak-ers respectively at the event.

Be guided by positive mindset, FSTC graduating students told

Govt officials must follow due process in spending —FUNAAB bursar saidaT alausa

The Bursar, Federal University of Ag-riculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Mr. Moses Ilesanmi has charged govern-

ment officials to always comply with due process when requesting for or utilising approved funds.

He stated this at a one-day awareness workshop, organised by his department recently. The workshop was aimed at edu-cating officers on how to access available funds for the overall development of the university.

Speaking on the topic, “Essential re-quirements for fund allocation and utili-zation,” the bursar stated that under the

regulatory framework, it was a punishable offence to receive and disburse government money without financial authority.

He pointed out that while engaging in for-mal business transactions, public officers were to ensure that they complied with due process of doing things.

He added that they should ensure that they verify, ascertain and ensure that infor-mation presented or represented in support of any claim or position on a transaction by a customer or client is genuine, real and true.

In his presentation, titled, “The role of in-ternal audit on fund utilisation”, the acting Head, Internal Audit, Mr. Olufisayo Amu-bode, said that the main purpose of audit was to ensure the determination of the de-

gree of adherence to prescribed standards.According to him, Internal Audit played

a vital role in ensuring strict compliance to budget control procedures by ensuring that funds were utilised only for the purposes for which they were allocated in the budget.

He described erroneous, the impression by people, that the internal audit was sad-dled with the sole responsibility of discover-ing fraud.

Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olu-sola Oyewole, who was represented at the occasion by his deputy in charge of Devel-opment, Prof. Felix Salako, charged public officers to ensure that funds were always utilised for the purposes they were meant for, as they would eventually be held ac-countable for such official commitments.

Anxiety in Idah Poly over NBTE’s ban of engineering programmesCONTINUED FROM PAGE 19

L-R: Vice-Chancellor, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Vincent Tenebe; Wife of the Principal\Director, King’s College, Lagos, Mrs. Helen Olapeju; her husband, Otunba Oladele Olapeju during the college’s annual prize-giving ceremony and valedictory service for graduating students of the college, last Saturday.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 21Education TodayThursday, July 16, 2015

A cross section of final year students of Federal Science and Technical College, Yaba, Lagos, during their valedictory service, recently.

z

Students during practical session.Igbo cultural dancers during the school’s Cultural Day

Primary school prefect

Bata dancers displaying

Students on Hausa cultural display

School prefect, secondary arm with some members of staff.

Zenith School produces well-rounded students —ProprietressQuadri BaBatunde

The Proprietress of Zenith Schools, Oke-Aro, Ogun State, Pastor Ibitola Akin-lenbola has said that her school would

not deviate from producing well-rounded stu-dents, which she said the schools were known for since establishment 10 years ago.

She said that was why the schools which comprise crèche, nursery, primary and sec-ondary arms do not joke with the provision of facilities that would enhance both learning and teaching.

Akinlenbola, who noted that the school could boast of functional and safe water, well-equipped library and laboratory, standby

generator, computer laboratory and sporting activities, stressed that all the school teachers and other categories of workers are equally dedicated and committed to duties.

“We also maintain an average of 15 stu-dents per class to enable us have effective communication between teachers and the students,” she added.

The proprietress, who disclosed that the schools operate curriculum in tandem with the Federal Ministry of Education’s speci-fication and an effective optional transport system also give opportunity to students to develop their talents in sport, creative think-ing and other aspects of endeavours. Here are some of the recent news photographs of the school

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net22 Education Today Thursday, July 16, 2015

Nigerian universities rankings: Chaotic and misleading!

It wIll be embarrassIng to dIscover that a

unIversIty so hIghly rated for ‘research

actIvIty’ has no functIonal laboratorIes

In the fIrst place.

According to an ANSWERSAFRICA web publication posted on December 3, 2014 under education titled “Top ten best universities in Nigeria (Latest rank-

ing)”, and citing webometric sources, Obafemi Awolowo Uni-versity, (OAU) Ile Ife, is the first ranking university in Nigeria. Covenant University Ota was the tenth in this list with others including Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Uni-versity of Lagos, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, University of Ilorin in the second, third, fourth and fifth positions respec-tively.

On the contrary, the University of Lagos came first in the University Web Ranking of 2015, followed by Obafemi Awolo-wo University, University of Ibadan, University of Ilorin and Covenant University in the second, third, fourth and fifth places respectively.

However, according to a “THIS-DAY-LIVE” headline of July 6, 2015, the University of Ibadan is Nigeria’s best Univer-sity and number eight in Africa! This was the outcome of a survey of 1447 African Universities and higher institutions by “Journals Consortium” using research publications and citations as well as web visibility for the period 2010 to 2014. In this ranking the University of Nigeria, Ahmadu Bello Uni-versity, University of Lagos and Obafemi Awolowo Univer-sity came second, third, fourth and fifth respectively.

According to a Times Higher Education publication titled “Times Higher Education Reveals Glimpse of Africa Univer-sity Rankings” published on Monday July 06 2015, the Univer-sity of Port Harcourt was ranked first in Nigeria and sixth in Africa. This ranking was based on a single criterion, namely her score for research influence, that is, the number of papers published by her academics and cited by others worldwide over a five year period from 2009 to 2013.

In another ranking of African universities carried out by The African Economist in April 12, 2015, the University of Lagos was rated first in Nigeria but 20th in Africa. Obafemi Awolowo University, university of Ibadan, University of Ilo-rin and Covenant University came second, third, fourth and fifth in Nigeria respectively. The University of Port Harcourt

ranked 9th in Nigeria and 85 in Africa.A ranking of Nigerian universities released by the Ni-

gerian Universities Commission (NUC) for the year 2015 as reported by 360 NOBS.CO produced an identical pattern as observed by The African Economist.

It is obvious from the wide variations in the above rank-ings of Nigerian universities by the various organisations that they do not reflect the true academic attainments of the institutions in question, and hence misleading. One of the most common criteria used for rating Nigerian institutions is their visibility on the web. Visibility on the web often has no bearing on the quality of infrastructure, equipment, academ-ic staff nor the quality of their products. Many institutions now concentrate their efforts to shoring up their Information and Communication Technology units to increase their web visibility without paying attention to the development of core principles of the academic institution. Such institutions may rank high among the Nigerian universities only in the virtu-

al world and have nothing to show for it in the real world.Tangible criteria that are more meaningful in our current

environment may be more useful for ranking our institutions at our present stage of development than web presence. The number and qualification of the academic staff, the adequacy of equipment in the basic science and research laboratories, the adequacy of class rooms and lecture theatres, students preference based on application statistics, and above all, the ability of students to graduate within regulation time may present alternative ranking criteria.

Of greater importance still is the ability of an institu-tion to provide a steady power supply in the academic area to permit routine teaching activity to go on uninterrupted. The ranking will be meaningless if any of the high flying institutions as tagged by the various ranking organizations cannot provide a suitable environment for learning and basic research. It will be embarrassing to discover that a univer-sity so highly rated for ‘research activity’ has no functional laboratories in the first place. This will definitely cast asper-sions on the institution and call to question the integrity of the faculty that reportedly carried out such research.

Times Higher Education, a foremost organization in the ranking of world universities employs a battery of perfor-mance indicators which they classify into five broad cat-egories including the teaching and learning environment, Research, Citations, Innovations, and international outlook. While they produce the most widely acceptable ranking of universities worldwide, these same criteria may be inappli-cable to Nigerian universities because of the current level of development. In their 2014-2015 ratings of world universities, only three African universities made it to the top 400 institu-tions worldwide, and all three are in South Africa!

Though the vision of many Nigerian universities is to be-come a world class institution, I think that for now, we should strive towards building a functional university that would provide the manpower that is needed to drive the rapid in-dustrialization of the country. The next steps would follow, naturally!

Celebrator, Mrs. Janet Adebo(middle) flanked by her husband, Mr. Samuel Adebo(left) and Chairman of the school’s parents’ forum, Mr. Saheed Olalere during the event.

Encomium as Lagos principal retiresTunbosun ogundare

It was an encomium galore for the princi-pal of Aunty Ayo Girls Comprehensive Se-nior Secondary School, Ikoyi, Lagos, Mrs.

Janet Adebo as she bowed out of service after 35 years as a government employee.

Many people, especially teachers, students and their parents paid a glowing tribute to her at an elaborate retirement party orga-nized in her honour recently, saying she was not only a born-teacher, but also a dedicated, hardworking and caring leader.

They said they would all miss especially her wise counsel.

For instance, both the Vice-principals in charge of Academic and Administration, Messrs A.A. Bajo and C.A. Lolo respectively said they really learnt many things that are now helping them in their work and other ar-eas of life. They said they both enjoyed work-ing with her.

In her own remark, the acting principal of the junior arm, Mrs. Olajumoke Osunde said Adebo had been a guide to her success on the job, adding that she was never tired of assist-ing people whether convenient for her or not.

The chairman of the Parent-Teacher As-sociation of the school, Mr. Saheed---also described the former principal as a good lis-tener who enjoyed steady support and coop-eration of parents’ forum.

He noted that within the period she served as principal of the school, there had been no-ticeable improvement in both academic per-formance of students as well as infrastruc-tural facilities in the college.

While wishing her well in her next and other assignments, he urged her not to relent

in doing good.Her husband, Mr. Samuel Adebo, a trained

food technologist told National Mirror that he had no regret marrying a teacher as that had been his dream when growing up.

He noted that apart from the fact that his wife dedicates more time for the family, espe-cially the children than himself, she is ever ready to fill the gap at home.

“Our journey together has been an inter-esting one. I can boldly say that if I have an-other opportunity of coming back into his world, I will marry her,” he said.

Speaking earlier, the retiree, who said she was still full of energy, told National Mirror that she deliberately chose to become a teach-er and that was why she put all her effort in making impact in the profession.

She said even though teaching was not as

lucrative as other professions, she is not re-tired as a pauper.

Adebo, 56, and alumnus of both the Uni-versity of Jos and University of Calabar where she had her first and master degree in 1991 and 2003 respectively, recalled that she had wanted to do nursing before she veered into teaching.

She started teaching in 1980 teaching Eng-lish and Literature in English, awarded the best teacher of the year at Sari-Iganmu Sec-ondary School, Orile in 1998 while her last school won the Governor’s Award on Eko Project in 2012.

The latest award according to her was her happiest moment on the job while her next engagement now is to settle down as a pro-prietress of a private nursery and primary school.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net Education Today 23Thursday, July 16, 2015

A social party will be held today in honour of the immediate past Vice-Principal of Gbagada Girls Junior

Secondary School, Bariga, Lagos, Mrs. Eliza-beth Onafuye who has just retired from gov-ernment service in the state.

The retirement ceremony otherwise known as pen down will be held together with her 60th birthday party, both at the school premises by 10:00am.

Onafuye who started as a classroom teacher at Ire-Akari Estate Model Primary School, Isolo in 1980 rose to become a deputy director in the state’s ministry of education.

She taught Mathematics in many schools before she was transferred to GGJSS where she retired.

She had her primary education at Wes-ley Primary School, Sagamu, Ogun State, secondary education at Sapeola Grammar School, Ode-Remo and St. Joseph Junior College, Idi-Araba, Lagos.

She also studied at the Lagos State (now Adeniran Ogunsanya) College of Educa-tion, Otto-Ijanikin.

Onafuye, popularly known as grandma is an alumnus of the University of Lagos, Akoka as well as Uni-versity of Benin, Edo State, where she graduated in mathematics and Education Management, respectively.

Double honours for Lagos vice-principal

z

Eddy UwoghirEn 300L, MED AND SURG. UNIBEN

Academic activities were put on hold last week at the College of Medicine,

University of Benin, Edo State when the university’s Medical Students Association organised a sporting fiesta.

The weeklong event tagged: “Deans Cup 2015” featured va-riety of sport including soccer, cheese, scrabble, track events, volleyball and table tennis.

Dean of the School of Medi-cine, Prof. Moses Mommoh in his speech at the opening ceremony commended the association for putting the event together.

Stressing that there was need for students to exercise despite the busy academic schedule, he observed that the sporting fiesta goes to underscore the saying that the UNIBEN medical stu-dents are well-grounded in all areas.

Director of Sport, UBEMSA, Anthony Adams said the event was put together to foster friend-ship among the students as well as create an avenue for them to relax.

The opening match was held between the 100 level and 600 lev-el students. It ended 3:2 in favour of the 600level class.

During the week, other games held and the final match was between 400level and 600level.

Edited by: Saidat Alausasaidat_alausa@yahoo.com 08027633686

AOCOED graduates 3,028

AAUA student emerges NAOSS president ‘yomi AyElEso300L BUS ADMIN AAUA

National Association of Ondo State Students (NAOSS) has elected a Stu-

dent of Adekunle Ajasin universi-ty, Akungba Akoko, Adeola Iwakun as the president of the body.

The new president defeated three other candidates in election held in Akure under the watch of security agencies and student ob-servers.

Chairman of the electoral com-mittee, Yusuf Abdul-Rahman who announced the results said the elec-tion was free and fair.

Speaking with Campus News, the new president, Adeola Iwakun popularly known as Solution, ap-preciated his colleagues for the con-fidence reposed in him, assuring that their interests would always be his priority.

Iwakun, a 400-level student of Religious and African Culture ap-pealed to co-contestants to team up with him to move the association forward.

Other elected members are Olamabamiji Oladapo(vice presi-dent); Tosin Akinbulumo(General Secretary); Oluwafemi

Sanni(Assistant secretary); To-sin Amuniu(Public Relations Offi-cer) and Eunice Adewunmi as the Senate President.

Adeniran Ogunsanya Col-lege of Education, Otto\Ijanikin, Lagos State will

hold its 35th convocation ceremony next Wednesday with a total of 3,028 students graduating.

The ceremony which will com-mence with jumat service tomor-row at the college mosque will also feature interdenominational ser-vice on Sunday and convocation lecture on Tuesday, next week.

The college’s spokesman, Mr. Odunayo Adebowale said the Pro-vost of Adeyemi College of Edu-cation, Ondo, Prof. Olukoya Ogen is billed to deliver the convocation lecture. He is to speak on “Teacher preparation efforts: Challenges and the way forward” at 10:00am.

The event was a display of skills in which after 90 minutes of play, 600level won with 2:0.

When the medal table was offi-cially unveiled at the grand finale, 600 level class was the overall winner with 4 Gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze. 400level class was the first

He said students should be prepared so that they can be supported in the quest for establishing justice in the society.

Falana also disclosed that plans were underway to set up a foundation in order to cater for the children of activists who died in the course of fighting for justice.

runner up with 2 Gold, 4silver and 1 bronze.

Presenting the Deans Cup to 600 level, Prof Mommoh com-mended the students for trouping out to participate in the games.

He stated that he was marvelled at the display of sportsmanship

Captain, 600level Class, winner of the football competition receiving the cup from, Dean, School of Medicine, Prof. Moses Mommoh (2nd left) and other members of the team during the fiesta.

Bashorun, provost

Dean, Postgraduate School, Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, FUNAAB, Ogun State, Prof. Ololade Enikuomehin(left), with the representative of the University Librarian, Dr. Fehintola Onifade during a two-day Information Literacy Training Workshop for postgraduate students of the university, recently.

miftAUdEEn rAji 100L, MASS COMM. UNILAG

Legal luminaries, rights activists, students among others on Thurs-day converged on the University of

Lagos, Akoka, to celebrate one-time Presi-dent of the National Association of Nige-rian Students (NANS), Comrade Emma Ezeazu.

Convening in honour of the human rights advocate, Media Rights Agenda in collaboration with the University of Lagos Students’ Union held a lecture, themed: “The role of human rights and democracy activists in a democratic Nigeria,” dis-cussed by Dr. Olisah Agbakoba.

Speakers at the event noted that Nigeria at the moment needs what was described as a new generation of activists.

It was further stressed that it was im-perative for students to reconnect the stu-dents’ movement to the larger society to press down a concerted national struggle.

“Whatever you study in school, there is always connection with the human right movement as to how the country could be salvaged from its current problems.”

As tributes continued to pour in for the late Ezeazu, students were however, ad-

by the classes. Captain of the 600 level class,

Ojemolon Pius said he was hap-py their class came first at the competition, “it was interesting coaching my class to success that is why I am not surprised we won.”

vised to look beyond their immediate interest in building the new generation of activists.

In his remarks, constitutional lawyer and the Chairman of the occasion, Mr. Femi Fala-na advised students and rights activists to in-tervene decisively with the Labour congress and other rights movements.

UNIBEN students hold sport fiesta

Tributes as students celebrate ex- NANS president

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net24 Thursday, July 16, 2015

Committee of Vice Chancellors appoints FUTA VC as chairman

Foreign universities to collaborate with FUNAAB

Tunbosun ogundare

The Committee of Vice-Chancellors (CVC) of Nigeria

has appointed the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), Professor Adebiyi Daramola as its chairman.

He was unanimously ap-pointed by members of the committee in the nation’s federal universities at their special meeting held on Thursday, June 25, 2015.

The letter to that effect was signed by the secre-tary general of the com-mittee, Prof. Michael Fa-borode who explained that by extension, the members of the committee also ex-tend to VCs of both state and private universities nationwide.

In line with the tradi-tion of CVC according to Faborode, Daramola’s appointment takes effect from August 18, 2015 when the serving chairman and his alternate, Professors

saidaT alausa

The University of Ab-erdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom and

the Marshall University, USA are seeking collabo-ration and linkage oppor-tunities with the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB).

For the University of Aberdeen, the proposed col-laboration is in the areas of student and staff exchange programmes while Mar-shall University, will be on manpower development.

The initiative accord-ing to Dean, Sub-saharan Africa Affairs of the Uni-versity of Aberdeen, Dr. Alfred Akinsanya would involve the possibility of students utilising the first two years in FUNAAB and the remaining two years in Aberdeen, while carrying out joint research visits and grant application.

According to him, the

16 years after, OAU students remember fallen heroes

afees lasisi,300L, POL. SCI, OAU, ILE-IFE

The students of Obafemi Awolo-wo University (OAU), Ile Ife, Osun State recently gathered

at the Awolowo Hall Cafe to hon-our their five union leaders killed by gunmen suspected to be members of Black Axe Confraternity on July 10, 1999.

The gunmen who stormed the Awolowo and Fajuyi halls of resi-dence on the fateful day gunned down George Akinyemi Iwilade (alias Afri-ka) who was in 300-Level Law and Sec-retary General of the Students’ Union Government (SUG).

Others were Yemi Ajiteru, Eviano Ekelemu, Efe Ekpede and Babatunde Oke. They were all killed over issues that are not cleared till today.

However, the students organised a

Soweto therefore challenged stu-dents to emulate Iwilade and not allow his tears dried in vain.

He said the only way to mourn him and others was to actively take up their unfinished struggles and that can only be done when “we rise up in our thou-sands in struggle against fee hike and all neo-liberal attacks on education.

Earlier, President of the students’ union, Omotayo Akande, said the slain comrades were dogged fight-ers for the benefits of not only Ni-gerian students, but for humanity and best way to remember them is to join hands with the union in the fight against injustice, impunity and reck-lessness in the society.

Edited by: Saidat Alausasaidat_alausa@yahoo.com 08027633686

L-R: Team Leader, Nigeria, West African Virus Epidemiology (WAVE) for root and tuber crops, DR. Angela Eni,(middle front row), a participant, Permanent Secretary, Ekiti State, Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Ebenezer Abegunde; Regional Coordinator, WAVE project, Dr. Justin Pita; during the launch of WAVE at Covenant University, recently.

Daramola A Cross section of new fellows, West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists during their induction and award of certificates, recently.

public lecture, titled: “16 years since July 10; Afrika’s struggle remain unfinished” as part of the activities of the event.

The guest speaker, the National Co-ordinator of the Education Rights Cam-paign (ERC), Hassan Soweto represent-ed by the secretary, Michael Ogundele, said Iwilade was killed because of his activism, his defence of students’ inter-est, his struggle against high school fees and victimisation of student leaders as well as because of strong stance against campus cultism and his radical belief that a better education system and a bet-ter Nigeria was possible.

He said unfortunately all these vices remain with us in the country and even getting worse by the day.

J.A Ajineka and Abubakar Rasheed would have com-pleted their tenures.

This appointment con-fers Professor Daramola with the authority to rep-resent both the CVC and the Association of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU) in all important meetings, functions and engage-ments that require the at-tention of the two bodies.

Faborode assured Adebiyi of the unalloyed cooperation and support of the secretariat in ensur-ing the accomplishment of his vision during the peri-od of his stewardship.

institution which was estab-lished in 1495 had graduates who had won Nobel Prizes in Chemistry, Medicine, Physics and Peace adding that the university had over 16,000 students with 20 per-cent drawn from 120 nation-alities worldwide.

Speaking on behalf of Marshall University, a Pro-fessor of Statistics in the De-partment of Mathematics of the institution and former staff of FUNAAB, Alfred Akinsete said that the pri-mary collaboration involves the students, but there is an extension to academic staff, who are undergoing their Ph.D programmes may also apply for a period of six months or one year.

Responding, the Vice-Chancellor of FUNAAB, Prof. Olusola Oyewole, who was represented by his Deputy in charge of Devel-opment, Prof. Felix Salako, stated that FUNAAB would follow-up to actualise the initiative.

FCET provost seeks staff, students’ cooperationemeka ChukwuemekaULI

The Provost of Federal College of Education (Technical, FCET),

Umunze, Anambra State, Prof. Josephat Ogbuagu has reiterated his vision to make the only technical college of education the best in the country.

The dream, he said, is achievable if members of staff and students share and support his vision.

Speaking during an inter-action session with the stu-dents, Ogbuagu, a Professor of Industrial Chemistry, said his administration had re-corded tremendous progress in the college, while begging for more supports from the students.

He further called on the students to refrain from ex-cessive patronage of some social networks which ac-

cording to him are major dis-tractions to students’ commit-ment to study hard and make good results in their exams.

He urged the students to re-sist any temptation of involv-ing themselves in anti-social behaviours and warned them against indecent dressing, cheating and exam malprac-tices.

He stressed that the col-lege would not hesitate to deal decisively with all of-fenders and the consequenc-es of these vices is expul-sion.

He assured the students that the college would not renege on its duty to offer them the needed support to enable them actualise their

aspirations. Ogbuagu however urged

them to make their own im-pact, stating that “to whom much is given, much is also expected”.

He declared that at the end of every academic ses-sion, scholarship will be awarded to overall best stu-dents of the College.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 25Thursday, July 16, 2015

Raise/sound the alarm

BELLSTECH lecturer advocates more awareness on food securitySaidat alauSa

A senior lecturer and professor of food technology, College

of Food Technology, Bells University of Technology (BELLSTECH), Ota, Ogun State, Prof. Olugbenga Ogunmoyela has called for more awareness for food se-curity in the country.

This he said is important because food and nutrition security remains Africa’s most fundamental chal-lenge for human welfare and economic growth.

He disclosed this at the maiden inaugural lecture of the university held at the institution, recently.

The lecture was titled, “Food Product Develop-ment, Quality assurance and Nutrition: Whither the Human senses?

According to him, there is an acute need to explore

life, hence the need for prod-uct development initiative which will make food more available, convenient and affordable.

Going down memory lane in Nigeria, the food technology expert said there has been no deliberate policy to promote adequate

public awareness.“Hence it is not surpris-

ing that today even middle level manpower skills have disappeared and we have to depend on importation of such skills from our neig-bouring countries.”

He therefore called for in-creased public and private collaborations in taking preventive actions through nutrition education and awareness to promote a healthier population.

and develop new forms of nutritious foods that will promote health and create wealth for citizens in the country.

Ogunmoyela explained that only few people in the country are able to afford and effectively utilize the food they need for a healthy

NYSC rewards outstanding corpers Kemi BuSari

The National Youth Ser-vice Corps (NYSC) of Igabi Local Govern-

ment area of Kaduna State last Thursday awarded corps members who were outstand-ing in their service year.

The awards were pre-sented during the Collection of Certificates (COC) of the 2014 Batch B corps members at the state secretariat of the scheme.

Suleiman Mubarak, the outgoing Corps Liaison Of-ficer (CLO) was given award for ‘exemplary leadership, Saratu Abdulkadir for ‘hu-manitarian service’ and Kemi Busari, the only Batch C recipient was rewarded for his role as the mouthpiece of the local government. He was given an award for ‘excellence in journalism’

The Batch B corps mem-bers also decorated the local government inspector Hajia Hauwa Dauda with an award of honour.

In her reaction, the Local Government Inspector, con-gratulated the corps mem-bers for the successful com-pletion of their service and appreciated them for their effort especially in carrying out most of the programs for their project.

“I was skeptical about the ability of this set at the beginning but they perform far beyond my expectation. I’m more surprised at the kind of unity you displayed in carrying out your duties.”

He enjoined them to con-tinue the good work as they proceed in their endeavours.

Expressing joy and sur-prise at been honoured, Mubarak said that the award shows that his sacri-fices and effort is been rec-ognised.

Speaking on the task of leading multitude, he main-tained that it wasn’t easy.

“Igabi has more than 900 corps members from differ-ent parts of the country and honestly it has not been easy acting as CLO.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY Front Page of June 28 did not defend its freedom: “Five northern govs raise alarm (the alarm) over ‘evil forest’” In headline cast-

ing, it is usually the tradion to drop ‘the’, but that should not affect fixed/stock or idiomatic expressions. Alternatively, avoid such words or phrases.

“Marcel Witschard Jr. and Carl Witschard said it will (would) take at least a week for them to remove the bees.”

“It declared tomorrow black Monday during which there will be no lectures at (on) all the campuses of the institution in honour of the dead.”

“UN agency praises Nigeria’s drug control (drug-control) master plan”

“As a matter of fact, they (legislators) can even remove each other’s (one another’s) teeth with blows….”

“As we removed his cloths (clothes) to clean him up, we noticed his back.”

Still on THE NATION ON SUNDAY under review: “I use (used) to patch my trousers by myself…”

“At a time like this when the fortune of oil is dwindling and the economy is nose diving (nosediving)…reports that a peep into the potentials (potential/potenialities) in cashew production can be the launching pad.”

“It is only when they fail to act that we may see a full blown (full-blown) crisis over the issue.”

“Media seige (siege) on (of) Abia: The limit of indulgence” (THE NATION ON SUNDAY Bold Headline, June 28)

From DAILY SUN of June 29 comes the following: “Na-tional Assembly crisis: APC holds make or mar (make-or-mar) meeting tomorrow”

“Politician arrested over (for) theft of polls documents”“It was believed that he was abducted by unknown gun-

men.” Crime watch today: Is it possible to know the gunmen?“I will recover all loots—Buhari” (DAILY SUN Front Page

Headline, June 24) ‘Loot’ is uncountable.“Our grouse with (about) oil firm” (DAILY SUN, June 9)The next set of flaws is from Vanguard of June 25: “2

remanded in Kirikiri Prison over N465m fraud” Yank off ‘prison’, which is implied.

DO you know that most people use “change” in place of “balance” when asking for their outstanding money in a transaction. It is very wrong! According to Longman Ad-vanced Dictionary of Contemporary English, among other reference books consulted, ‘balance’ (money/uncountable) means: “The money that you get back when you have paid for something with more money than it costs: Here’s your change, sir. b) money in the form of coins, not paper money: in change/have about a dollar in change. I asked for some spare change (=coins that you do not need). C) coins or pa-per money that you give in exchange for the same amount of money in a larger unit: change for £1/$10 Excuse me, have you got change for a pound?/make change AmE (=give some-one change) can you make change for $20? THESAURUS MONEY

BALANCE: The amount of something that remains after some has been used, spent, mentioned etc SYN the rest: The firm owns about 96% of the portfolio, with the balance be-longing to our family.

FEEDBACKAT the end of your opening paragraph (The Sun blazes on

Shema), you wrote: “Insha Allah, your light will never deem, Your Excellency.” So what happened to DIM?” (Watchingth-ewatcher/08098384624)

THE correct expression is simply “at the helm” without any other thing—affairs, etc. (Folurunsho B. F./09033604976/Ilesa) A news report recently quoted a wealthy lover of foot-ball as saying that “I developed a likeness for the team...” The word “likeness” (noun) means “being alike, resembling sb/sth”, while “liking” (also a noun) means “to become fond of sth or sb”. So, Paul has a liking for Manchester United or Chelsea, but definitely not likeness, a common error.

Also, when someone “controls what happens in a situ-ation, organisation or relationship”, he is said to be “in

the driving seat” (British English) or “in the driver’s seat” (American English), according to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English for Advanced Learners, page 1570. Oxford Advanced Learner’s equally supports “in the driving seat (idiom). Definitely, both fixed expressions are gram-matically correct. Related to this is the expression “driving licence” (British

English) while it is “driver’s licence” in American Eng-lish. (KOLA

DANISA/07068074257)BETWEEN 2006 and 2015, “a lot” (much/a great deal) had

happened on the political plane to further strangulate the economy and further spread mass poverty, since strangely, the so – called paper growth hardly resulted in development, “talk less” (not to talk/not to speak about/not to say/not to mention or let alone) of mass prosperity. – THE NATION ON SUNDAY EDITORIAL, June 28, 2015. Grammar and Us-age Notes: “a lot” (two words) not “alot”, like “a lot of” and “lots of”, is obsolescent, and depending on the context, has been replaced, in modern usage, by the following phrases: a great deal of/a number of/a great number of/plenty of/a good number of/a good many of/a large quality of, and so on.

In affirmative sentences, “many” (for countable nouns) and “much” (for uncountable nouns) are generally re-placed by the above phrases. Besides, Editorials must be written in Editorial English (Standard English) because Editorial writing is a statecraft. Above all, editorialists or editorial writers must keep abreast of the changes and the current tendencies – the dynamics – in the language. Cor-rect usage will always win. Usage is king! (BAYO OGUNTU-NASE/08056180046)

FROM Oguntunase’s language clinic: Health is wealth (wrong); Health is better than wealth (right); Practice makes perfect (wrong); Practice makes perfection (right); All hands on deck (wrong); All hands to the pump (right)

26 National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, July 16, 2015

L-R: Director, Vocational Schools Approval, Ministry of Education, Lagos State, Mrs. Basirat Akin-lade; Director-General, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Mrs. Ronke Soyombo and Director of Planning and Schools Registration, Dr. Remi Olatunde during the 10th summit of League of Muslim School Proprietors in Lagos, recently.

L-R: Executive director, Operations, Port Harcourt Refining Company Ltd, Engr. Afam Ugochukwu; Chairman, Joint Community Relation Committee, Chief Dere Biemgbo Ofokome and Mr. Robert Obinze, during the commissioning of Okochiri access road and other project by the Port Harcourt Refining Company Ltd in Okrika, Rivers State, yesterday.

27

FRANCIS EZEM

Concessionaire in-charge of former Container Termi-nal, Apapa; APM Terminals

Nigeria has revealed that it has invested over $350 million, about N80.5 billion, in its terminal opera-tions, especially in yard expansion from 2006 till date.

Country Manager, Mr. David Skov, who made the disclosure while speaking on the topic: “Eco-nomic Capacity through Maritime Infrastructure Development – The APM Terminals Perspective, at the just-concluded Maritime Ex-hibition held in Lagos state said, the firm also increased the berth depth from 10.5 metres to 13.5 me-tres.

This is in addition to purchasing container handling equipment, linking rail tracks to national rail network as well as establishing a world-class training centre.

He said, “Our investments in information technology have seen significant improvements in in-voicing and tracking of accounts payable while improving cash flow and financial performance. With these investments in infra-structure and human capital, we are pleased to say that APM Ter-minals Apapa is one of the most modern and efficient terminals in

FRANCIS EZEM

A maritime lawyer, Mr. Emeka Akabogu has faulted the Speaker of

the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara over his claims that Price Control Act must be amended before the Federal Gov-ernment could remove subsidy on imported petroleum products.

The Speaker, who played host to members of the Independent Petroleum Marketing Associa-tion of Nigeria, IPMAN, that the National Assembly would not al-low the Presidency to remove the

subsidy on petroleum products, unless the Price Control Act was repealed.

Akabogu, who is also the Chairman of OTL Africa Down-stream, insisted that there is no relationship between the Price Control Act and the proposed re-moval of subsidy on imported pe-troleum products.

According to the oil and gas expert, “with due respect to the Honourable Speaker, his conten-tion is not entirely correct. In-deed, neither the Price Control Act nor facts available relating to its operation show any impedi-ment to the removal of fuel sub-

sidy”, he said.He said: “It is important to

note that what the Price Con-trol Act prohibits is sale of “any controlled commodity at a price which exceeds the controlled price.” A necessary precondition to this provision is that the con-trolled commodity must have had a controlled price fixed in respect thereof”.

He cited Section 5 of the Act, which provides that it is only the Price Control Board that can fix the controlled prices by notice published in the Federal Gazette.

Akabogu, who doubles as principal partner, Admiralty

Resource, a maritime law firm, insisted that he is not aware and that the Speaker has also not suggested that the Price Control Board has at any time fixed a con-trolled price in respect of petro-leum products.

“The position therefore is that where a price has not been fixed by the Board in respect of a con-trolled commodity, the Price Con-trol Act is of no moment as far as that commodity is concerned. As far as petroleum products are concerned, no price has been fixed in respect thereof by the Price Control Board”, Akabogu also argued.

APMT invests N80bn in terminal operations

Subsidy: Expert faults Dogara on Price Control Act amendment

30 35

Broadband challenges: Unending hiccups in

deployment

How to obtain, update and validate your Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)

Online retail market: Issues, business prospects for buyers, sellelers

BusinessNational Mirror

www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, July 16, 2015

31

Africa and a key transportation hub”.

It was gathered that due to the increase in depth of channels, vessels with 1,700 TEUs capacity are now common in the nation’s seaports due to infrastructure developments coupled with more investments.

He insisted that even larger ves-sels will call at the nation’s ports, which will in turn; enhance pro-

ductive capacity of the country while improving the fortunes of its citizens.

“This means that only ports and terminals with sufficient depth, quay front and equipment can accommodate these new larg-er vessels. This also means that ports with better access roads will be able to facilitate faster trade requirements of the future. Our commitment to lifting global trade

is reflected in APM Terminals’ continuous investment in infra-structure”, he asserted.

Available records show that before the company took over the terminal operations in 2006, Nige-ria’s Liner Shipping Connectivity Index. LSCI, which measures abil-ity to move cargo from one place to another with due cost, base on time and services, was constant and low.

Dana Air

AIRLINES’ FLIGHTSCHEDULES

Abuja-Lagos 9am, 1pm, 5.28pm dailyLagos-Abuja 7am, 11am, 1.23pm,3.30pm daily Lagos-PH: 7.20AM, Ph-Abuja9.54am, Abuja-ph: 3.30pm and Ph-Lagos: 5.28pm dai-ly Lagos-Uyo: 9.20am, Uyo-Abu-ja: 11.07am, Abuja-Uyo 1.05pm, Uyo-Lagos: 3pm dailyWeekendsLagos-Abuja: 7.02am, 9am, 3.30pmAbuja-Lagos: 9am, 2.20pm and 5.28pm Lagos -Phc: 11.07amPhc-Lagos: 1.05pm Phc-Abuja: 12.51pm Abuja-Phc: 10.50am Lagos-Uyo: 9.18am Uyo-LOS -3.03pm Uyo-Abuja: 11.07amAbuja-Uyo: 1.05pm

Lagos- Abuja (Mon-Fri): 07.00, 08.50, 12.00, 16.30. Abuja- Lagos (Mon-Fri): 09.00, 14.00, 15.00, 18.30. Lagos-Yola (Mon-Fri): 8.50am. Yola-Lagos (Mon-Fri): 13.00. Lagos- PHC (Mon-Fri): 17.00. PHC-Lagos: 19.00. Abu-ja-Yola: 11.00. Yola-Abuja: 13.00. Lagos-Abuja (Sat): 08.00, 08.50.Abuja-Lagos (Sat): 10.00, 15.00. Lagos-PHC (Sat): 17.00. PHC-La-gos (Sat): 19.00. Lagos-Yola (Sat): 08.50. Yola-Lagos (Sat): 13.00

Lag-Abj: 06.50, 13.30, 16.30, 19.45 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun), 12.30 (Sun) 16.45 (Sat) Abj-Los: 07.30, 13.00, 19.00 (Mon-Fri/Sat, 10.30, 14.30, 19.30 (Sun, 18.30 Sat) Lag-Benin: 07.45, 11.00, 15.30 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun) 12.30 (Sun 15.30 (Sat)Ben-Lag: 09.15, 12.30, 17.00 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun) 17.00 (Sat) 14.00 (Sun)Lag-Owe: 7.45am, 2pm daily

Med-View Airline

Aero Contractors

Enforcement lapses account for reversal of textile ban policy –StakeholdersFRANCIS EZEM

Stakeholders in the na-tion’s supply chain have disclosed that the inability

of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, to enforce blanket ban on imported textile materials forced the Federal Government to reverse the policy.

Federal Government had un-der former President Olusegun Obasanjo placed ban on import-ed textile materials to discourage influx of the products into the country to enhance the growth of local industries.

A source, who spoke on condi-tion of anonymity, disclosed that the Federal Government was frustrated over the failure of the NCS to enforce the ban, noting that imported textile materials were openly sold in major mar-kets without restrictions.

According to him, the prima-ry aim of the ban was to reduce the influx of imported textiles, which observers say, are usually cheaper than locally-produced due to low cost of production, occasioned by availability of in-frastructure as well as access to funds.

“Over the years, government observed that textile materials are sold freely in the nation’s open market, which negates pro-tection of local fabrics, hence

International Finance Cor-poration, IFC, has decried financial exclusion of wom-

en, saying it remains a major constraint for women, particu-larly in developing countries.

According to World Bank Group’s latest Global Findex Report, more than one billion women do not have access to the financial system.

IFC has estimated that world-wide, a $300bn gap in financing exists for formal, women-owned small businesses, and more than 70 percent of women-owned small and medium enterprises have inadequate or no access to financial services.

Developing economies have 200 million more male than fe-male cell phone owners and without access to mobile tech-nology, millions of women are further excluded from secure and convenient digital payment systems.

Without access to finance, women face difficulties in col-lecting and saving income, grow-ing their businesses, and pulling their families out of poverty.

As a result, women remain largely excluded from the formal economy.

IFC recognises that the Bank Group’s twin goals of eradi-cating extreme poverty and increasing shared prosperity cannot be achieved without the full and equal participation of women and men.

IFC decries fi nancial exclusion of women

the essence of the policy has not been achieved in the last 10 years”, he said.

He however argued that, if Customs had enforced the ban, the influx would have been mi-nimised and government would have reinforced the ban, instead of lifting it, adding that no gov-ernment retains any policy that fails to achieve its desired objec-tives.

Meanwhile, the National Pub-lic Relations Officer of the NCS, Mr. Wale Adeniyi, who reacted

to the allegation, admitted that there were foreign textile materi-als in the country amid the ban.

He however noted that the Service did its best to enforce the policy, regretting that despite such measures, smuggled tex-tiles still found their ways into the nation’s market.

Citing recent seizure of smug-gled textile materials in Kano state, he said the Service im-pounded the large consignment based on a tip-off.

Adeniyi, a Deputy Comptrol-

ler of the Service, however as-sured that the Service would continue to intensify its anti-smuggling campaign, not only in textile materials alone, but also on prohibited items, with a view to ensure implementation of gov-ernment’s fiscal policy.

President Obasanjo had in ad-dition to banning importation of foreign textile materials, also made it a policy to wear only dresses made from local fabrics to encourage local textile manu-facturers.

UDO ONYEKA

Moody Investors Service, an accomplished and highly respected inter-

national ratings agency has con-firmed the resilience of Sterling Bank in the nation’s banking sec-tor, assigning a local and foreign Currency Issuer and Deposit Rat-ings of B2 with stable outlook.

The Agency in a release made available to National Mirror de-scribed Sterling Bank as a stable financial institution with solid

quality assets, robust Informa-tion Technology and strong risk management systems. The Agency also assigned a Coun-terparty Risk Assessment, CRA, of B1 (cr)/not prime (cr) to the Bank and declared all ratings of the Bank stable.

While Nigeria’s economy features some institutional and structural weaknesses that can pose challenges to the banks, Sterling Bank, according to Moody’s has also shown strong resilience to shocks and it pres-ents sizable growth opportuni-

ties, which will allow the bank to expand steadily.

The Agency noted that its Baseline Credit Assessment, BCA, also reflects the bank’s solid liability profile. “The Bank is predominantly deposit funded with a low reliance on more sensi-tive market funds. Deposits make up 89 per cent of the Bank’s fund-ing sources compared with an average of around 65 per cent for the system” the Agency stated. BCAs are the measure of an issuer’s standalone financial strength that describes the prob-

ability of a bank defaulting on any of its rated instruments, in the absence of external support.

Moody’s ratings also incorpo-rate one-notch uplift from Ster-ling’s b3 BCA, based on their “assessment of a moderate like-lihood of government support in the event of need. Furthermore, provision coverage is good, with loan loss reserves amounting to 98 per cent of doubtful credit”.

The Agency explained fur-ther: “The B2/Not Prime Local and Foreign Currency issuer and deposit ratings are underpinned

by a b3 Baseline Credit Assess-ment, BCA.

Sterling Bank’s b3 BCA re-flects the Bank’s solid asset quality metrics and provision coverage; improvements to the bank’s IT infrastructure and risk management processes; and high liquidity buffers and a solid de-posit funding base”.

Moody’s explained further in the statement that “an im-portant factor driving Moody’s view of Sterling’s stand-alone assessment is the Bank’s asset quality.

SYLVA EMEKA-OKEREKE

Heads of Multilateral Development Banks, MDBs, have vowed to

work closely with private and public sector partners to mobi-lize resources needed to meet the challenges of new initia-tive-Sustainable Development

Goals, SDGs.According to MDBs Heads,

the SDG agenda, which is ambi-tious, requires more resources than the MDGs.

While MDGs was on aid and debt forgiveness, they also looked at what countries can do for themselves; hence the fo-cus is much more on domestic resource mobilization as well

as creating an environment for crowding in private sector fi-nance.

The third international

conference on financing for Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which was opened by the UN General Secretary, Ban Ki-moon, also saw the inputs of the African Development Bank,

AfDB, represented by Mrs. Ger-aldine Fraser-Moleketi, its Spe-cial Envoy on Gender.

The summit, according to the organizers, was to discuss inno-vative ways of soliciting funds to pay for the second generation of development programmes, known as sustainable develop-ment goals, SDGs.

The SDGs, a UN-sponsored

blueprint, has much wider and loftier ambitions than the Mil-lennium Development goals, MDGs.

Ki-Moon said, ‘’ Africa in 2015 is very different from the Africa at the turn of the century. With over a decade of sustained eco-nomic growth, Africa today has options which it did not previ-ously have.

Moody declares Sterling Bank stable, assigns B2 rating

Development Banks to encourage private, public sector

L-R: A beneficiary, Mrs. Felicia Abee; Acting Chairman, Kwande Local Government, Mr. Nicholas Iorrosu; State Coordinator, Benue State FADAMA III Project, Mr. Godwin Tortya; General Manager, British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation, Abimbola Okoya; Director, Research and Training, Benue State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. J.T. Abbah and Traditional Head of Adikpo community, Chief Zaki Otesi, during presentation of agricultural inputs to the farmers in Benue State, recently.

28 National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, July 16, 2015Business News

Business News

SYLVA EMEKA-OKEREKE

The United Nations, World Bank Group, and Govern-ments of Canada, Norway

As well as the United States have launched Global Financing Facil-ity, GFF, running into $12 billion in domestic and international private and public funding to end maternal and child mortality in some African countries.

The country-led facility is a

five-year investment plan for women’s, children’s and adoles-cents’ health in four GFF front-runner countries of Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ke-nya and Tanzania

Launched at the third Inter-national Financing for Develop-ment Conference, the GFF is said to be a key financing platform in support of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Global Strat-egy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health and Sustain-

able Development Goals.At the launch, the World Bank

Group announced a new GFF partnership with its Interna-tional Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD, to raise funds from the capital markets for countries with significant fund-ing gaps for reproductive, mater-nal, newborn, child and adoles-cent health, RMNCAH.

The ground-breaking part-nership is expected to mobilize between $3 to $5 dollars from the

private capital markets for every $1 dollar invested into the GFF.

Government of Canada is jumpstarting the initiative with a $40 million investment towards two focus areas namely, one that prioritizes strengthening front-line health systems and scaling-up of community health work-ers, and the one that focuses on control of malaria to reduce child mortality.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Canada, Japan, and

World Bank, UN launch GFF to end maternal, child mortality

OLUSEGUN KOIKI

Nigerian College of Avia-tion Technology, NCAT, Zaria has graduated 17 en-

gineering personnel of the Nigeri-an Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, from the Directorate of Air Traffic Safety Electronics Ser-vices, ATSES.

The personnel underwent a three-month preparatory course for Air Traffic Safety Electronics Personnel License, ATSEPL, is-sued by the Nigerian Civil Avia-tion Authority, NCAA.

Spokesperson of NAMA, Mrs. Olajumoke Adetona in a press statement said, the course, which commenced in April this year, was designed to prepare qualified en-gineers to effectively handle Com-munication, Navigation Surveil-lance/Air Traffic Management, CNS/ATM infrastructure, Infor-mation Communication Technol-ogy, ICT, equipment as well as power systems.

Speaking at the NCAT main auditorium, the graduation ven-ue, the Managing Director of the NAMA, Engr. Ibrahim Abdul-salam lauded the participants for

the successful completion of the course.

Abdulsalam, who was repre-sented at the occasion by the Direc-tor of Safety Electronics and En-gineering Services, Engr. Emma Anasi, said the participants had justified the management’s huge investment in training by success-fully rounding-off the programme.

He further expressed confi-dence that the training would equip participants with necessary skills and latest trends to contrib-ute positively towards improving the safety of air navigation in the country.

DAVID AUDU

Determined to alleviate poverty among small-holder farmers in rural

communities, the British Ameri-can Tobacco Nigeria Foundation, BATNF, has supplied agricultur-al support materials to farmers in Oyo state, under its sponsored cassava enterprise value-chain development project.

Board Chairman of BATNF, Chief Kola Jamodu, who was represented at the flag-off cer-emony held in Otu Community area of Oyo state by the Execu-tive Director, BATNF, Mrs. Olu-waseyi Ashade said agriculture

is significant to poverty eradica-tion and wealth creation.

She said, “There is need to provide necessary requirements for the development of the agri-cultural sector like trainings, im-proved agricultural inputs, pro-duction capital, storage facilities and access to markets.”

Acceding to her, the need has posed a challenge to gov-ernments at all levels, even as several farming communities in Nigeria are affected by these challenges, contributing in no small measure, to the problem of poverty, hunger and other eco-nomic challenges.

“The enormity of these prob-lems is such that governments

alone cannot solve them. There is need for the organised private sector and other charitable in-stitutions to come to the aid of the government to address this important issue of agricultural development especially as it af-fects smallholder farmers who are key players in the sector and who are responsible for the pro-duction of a great percentage of the food consumed in the coun-try,” She further stated.

Receiving the agricultural materials from the Foundation, Alhaji Muda Balogun, who spoke on behalf of the beneficiaries, expressed gratitude to the Foun-dation for coming to the aid of farmers.

His words, “We like to thank the management of BATN Foun-dation for coming to our aid, es-pecially at a time when we need to move our farming business to a greater level. As we can see, all the farmers from Otu and Ighoho communities of Oke Ogun are excited because the Foundation has brought succour to us all by making farming simpler, better and more profitable”

“I also want to urge my fel-low benefiting farmers to take good advantage of this inter-vention, by ensuring that they are accountable, hard-working, and most importantly continue to see farming as a profitable business.

Etisalat and voice messag-ing and social media app provider, Kirusa have

launched InstaVoice service for Etisalat customers in Nigeria.

InstaVoice voice messaging is compatible with smart phones and feature phones, according to the statement, which adds that Etisalat customers can use the app to send and receive voice messages locally and interna-tionally.

Etisalat users looking to send an InstaVoice message to a friend need to follow the directives.

Users can also record a mes-sage, if a call goes unanswered or cannot be completed for any reason, as well as use InstaVoice app on Smartphone to send mes-sages by pressing and holding the record button in the app to record and send a message. Mes-sages will go through regardless of whether the recipient has the app or not.

In the event of a missed call, voice, or text message is deliv-ered over the data channel to Smartphone users with the In-staVoice app, so they can view the messages as part of the chat history with their friends. Recip-ients, who do not have the app,

get the InstaVoice message as an SMS with an embedded number.

Recipients can then dial the number inside InstaVoice to lis-ten to the message and reply. In-staVoice messages will be deliv-ered using the Kirusa cloud.

It is the only Smartphone app that consolidates missed calls, voicemail and chatting together in a single chat screen according to Kirusa and Etisalat. The part-ners also claim it is the only app that supports sending voice mes-sages to any user, even to those who do not have the app.

Etisalat Nigeria’s head of digital media Adia Sowho spoke glowingly about the service dur-ing the announcement said that the InstaVoice is one generation ahead of all the missed call and voice messaging apps we’ve been using till date. We are ecstatic to partner with Kirusa and offer such an incredible service to our subscribers.

Smartphone users can down-load InstaVoice app at no cost from Google’s Play Store or Ap-ple App Store.

“If you want to engage in the world’s best Voice messaging and Missed Call experience, then In-staVoice is the app for you.

Etisalat, Kirusa launch InstaVoice

BATNF excites farmers with relief materials

NCAT graduates 17 engineering personnel

the United States announced new financing commitments totalling $214 million.

This is in addition to commit-ments previously made by Nor-way and Canada of $600 million and $200 million, respectively, to the World Bank Group-managed GFF Trust Fund.

GFF has set in motion an un-precedented movement among countries, United Nations agen-cies and multilateral agencies including the World Bank Group, the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, as well as public and private sector financiers and civil society orga-nizations, to increase and align funding in support of countries’ health priorities and plans, to drive transformative improve-ments in the health of women, children and adolescents every-where. .

The GFF partners also an-nounced the next group of eight countries to benefit from the GFF, with the goal of supporting 62 high-burden low- and lower-mid-dle income countries within five years. The GFF is adding Bangla-desh, Cameroon, India, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda as the second wave of GFF countries.

L-R: Marketing Manager, GOtv, Oludare Kafar; Public Relations Manager, MultiChoice Nigeria, Caroline Oghuma; Vice President, NBB of C, Dr. Chike Ilukwe; Public Relations Manager, GOtv, Efe Obiomah and Managing Director, Flykite Production, Jenkins Alumona, during the 3rd GOtv Boxing Night press conference at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, yesterday.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 29Thursday, July 16, 2015

30

How to obtain, update and validate your Taxpayer Identifi cation Number (TIN)The Taxpayer Identification Number

(TIN) is a unique number allocated and issued to identify a person (In-

dividual or Company) as a duly registered Taxpayer in Nigeria. It is for use by that Taxpayer ALONE. Registration for tax pur-poses is a legal obligation of every person who is required to pay tax in Nigeria.

The following necessary details for ob-taining and updating TIN should be pre-sented to the Tax Office nearest to the ad-dress of the Taxpayer.

REQUIREMENT FOR OBTAINING

TINFor a Company, Enterprise or Business

registered with the Corporate Affairs Com-mission (CAC)

1. Duly complete Application form for TIN;

2. EITHER Certificate of Incorpo-ration (for a Company) OR Business Name Registration Certificate (for an Enterprise & Business) showing clearly the Registra-tion Number in each case;

3. Documents containing the follow-ing information:

i. Address of Company, Enterprise or Business;

ii. Principal location of business;iii. Date of Commencement of busi-

ness.

For an Individual who (or whose busi-ness) is not registered with the CAC

1. Duly complete Application form for TIN

2. Any of the following valid (cur-rent) identification documents:

• International Passport; • National Identity Card;• Staff Identity Card (employed per-

sons);• National Driver’s License.The following RULES are important:(i) All information marked * on the

application form MUST be provided;(Ii) The characters of the NAME

i.e. letters and other symbols constituting the name MUST NOT exceed two hundred (200);

(iii) The characters of the ADDRESS also MUST NOT exceed two hundred (200);

(iv) Email address must be UNIQUE and ACTIVE;

(v) Mobile Telephone Number MUST be eleven (11) digits e.g. (08763201210).

UPDATING TINUpdating TIN under the ‘National Single

Window’ System is a requirement for tax-payers with incomplete records with Fed-eral Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

TIN may be updated at the Tax Office where it was initially generated by provid-ing the following additional information:

1. Email Address;2. Phone Number.After updating, the system indicates that

“The TIN has been successfully updated”.

The Joint Tax Board TIN (JTB TIN)It is important for a person to note the

following information about the JTB TIN:(i) The JTB TIN is designed to sub-

sequently replace the current TIN and is al-ready in use within FIRS and several other States of Nigeria;

(ii) The major difference is that the JTB TIN has ten (10) digits, it is uniform and general across Nigeria. It is UNIQUE for every registered taxpayer in Nigeria and not limited to FIRS Taxpayers alone;

(iii) The JTB TIN is presently being issued out at the point of registration and also updated by FIRS and the States which have so far adopted it;

(iv) Every Taxpayer in Nigeria will ultimately be required to possess and use ONLY the JTB TIN.

VALIDATING TINTIN validation is the process of confirm-

ing that the updated TIN meets the neces-sary conditions for transacting business with other Organizations such as Nigerian Customs Service (NCS),

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), etc.

A Taxpayer can validate his/her TIN directly on the FIRS Trade Portal i.e. www.trade.gov.ng/firs by following the simple

procedure and rules below:(i) Enter the TIN and the same email

address that was provided to the Tax Office when updating;

(ii) NEXT, enter the security word (captcha) and click on “Validate”;

(iii) If the validation is successful, the following confirmation notice shall be displayed:

“Register with NCS - Done”(iv) THEN, an automatic email notifi-

cation from “Nigeria Single Window” with a log-in password and instruction on how to complete the registration process would be sent to the Taxpayer’s email address;

(v) Upon completing the validation exercise, an email will automatically be sent to the email address provided con-firming successful validation. A Taxpayer should therefore check the email including spam folder.

AUTHENTICATING TINThis is for the Taxpayer to re-confirm

his/her updated and validated TIN. A Taxpayer experiencing difficulty in

validating TIN (receiving Error Messages) should seek professional assistance from the Tax Office or send email to: tspd@firs.gov.ng or taxpayer.service@firs.gov.ng.

Ogungbesan

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, July 16, 2015

Taxation

There are indications that the la-ment of stakeholders over the problem of last mile challenge of

broadband with regard to the laying of transmission cable otherwise known as fibre optic cable may not have been ad-dressed.

Realising the benefit of broadband to economic growth of any nation, the World Bank recently stated that a 10 per-cent increase in investment in broadband infrastructure can guarantee a 1.3 per-cent increase in economic growth.

Cisco had revealed that by 2018 most part of the world will have residential internet access while Middle East and Africa will have the second highest cloud workload growth rate by same year say-ing that more than half of those users will use personal cloud storage.

In the fourth annual Cisco Global Cloud Index (2013 – 2018), Cisco forecasts continued strong growth of cloud traffic, cloud workloads and cloud storage with private cloud significantly outpacing pub-lic cloud noting that in the next five years data center traffic will nearly triple, with cloud representing 76 percent of total data center traffic.

Cisco observed that African enterpris-es are steadily embracing cloud comput-ing as the next big step in the advance-ment of the Internet adding that the trend is definitely being witnessed in Africa as more and more individuals and compa-nies are embracing could-based solutions.

However, for Nigeria, what it takes to make that happen is not yet on

ground such as broadband connectiv-ity that people can easily access from the comfort of their home either for leisure or business.

According to the Chairman of Teledom Group, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem fast and affordable broadband internet access is

Broadband challenges: Unending hiccups in deploymentIn recent times, the growth of global economies is often linked to the level of advancement in technology, and one of such areas is the deployment of fibre optic cables to serve national development needs. Unfortunately for Nigeria, her huge technology assets of fibre optic cables are laying largely idle, at her seashores resulting to low utilisation due to the last mile challenge. ISAIAH ERHIAWARIEN examines the issues.

FAST AND AFFORDABLE BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS IS A KEY DRIVER FOR ANY ECONOMY AND THE

BACKBONE FOR THAT TO OCCUR IS THERE MUST BE BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE

for research.The MainOne boss noted that about

five percent of the bandwidth capacity available on MainOne network is current-ly being utilised saying that 95 percent is redundant but available for use.

She attributed the poor utilisation of the cable on the absence of distribution and last mile infrastructure required to move available bandwidth capacity across the length and breadth of Nigeria.

According to her, for the citizens to en-joy the benefits of broadband, regulatory and legislative interventions from gov-ernment are required.

However, in the midst of these chal-lenges, the industry has brace the odd to make impact in the laying of fibre optic cable across the country.

West Africa’s largest independent fibre optic infrastructure and telecommunica-tions services provider , Phase3 Telecom already has plans to deploy aerial fiber optic infrastructure network, which will run from Kano state through Katsina state before arriving at Gazaoua.

Phase3 telecom’s, aerial fibre is more reliable than its terrestrial equivalent, and with over 7000km of existing fibre in-frastructure in Nigeria alone.

According to the Executive Vice Chair-man of NCC, Dr, Eugene Juwah, telecoms companies were able to successfully de-ploy 68,124 kilometre of fibre optic cabling as at the end of December, 2013 while in 2014 alone, additional 38, 000 kilometre of fibre optic cables were laid.

Experts said this represents an in-crease of about 44.2 per cent investment in fibre optic cabling by the telecoms compa-nies last year alone despite the challenges saying that when most of the government imposed constrains are removed, the in-dustry investors will be able to do more.

a key drive for any economy and that the backbone for that to occur is there must be broadband infrastructure.

But challenges indentified by industry stakeholders impede on the expected re-sult of fast and affordable of broadband internet access as explained by Ekuwem, a mirage.

According to the President of the As-sociation of Telecommunications of Companies of Nigeria, ATCON, Engr. Lanre Ajayi double taxation and obstruc-tion from government and their agencies while laying optic fibre cables are issues that the industry grabbles with.

He said that although there a number of challenges affecting the spread of in-frastructure, such as optic fibre cable, multiple taxation by different levels of government affects the industry saying that environmental hostilities like bring-ing down BTS, especially in parts of the North by terror groups and some govern-ment agencies together with vandalism and theft of telecoms equipment from sites inhibit access to broadband.

He said that the removal of double taxa-tion will not only easy the financial bur-den placed on exiting telecoms operators by the current global economic crisis but open the way for more investors to come into the country.

Ajayi observed that the rights of way for deployment of infrastructure deter-mines the ease with which service provid-ers can easily and quickly deploy or add new infrastructures at a given time and

place saying that such is often not possible due to double taxation from government and their agencies.

Speaking at an interactive session with journalists, Chief Executive Officer of MainOne, Funke Opeke said that there more than enough broadband capaci-ties from several submarine cables at the shores of the Nigeria, yet less than 10 per cent of the total broadband capacities from the three cable operators are utilised.

For instance, Glo 1, operated by Globa-com, with capacity of 640 Gbit/s, cover-ing distance of 10,000 km from Lagos to UK, connecting 17 African and European countries, landed the shores of Nigeria in 2009, while Main One, which landed in 2010, covers over 7,000 km distance from London, with initial landing stations in Nigeria, Ghana and Portugal.

MTN’s West African Cable System (WACS) commenced operation in 2011, and is delivered to Nigeria by MTN, and has links from Europe, West Africa and South Africa, with bandwidth capacity of over 5.12 Terabytes (Tbps) and spanning a distance of 14,530 km.

Opeke said broadband capacities re-mained low on the shores of the coun-try, with less than 10 per cent utilisation; thereby bring up issues on why these ca-pacities are not yet at the consumers end.

She noted that there is a huge benefit to the nation and by extension the economy if the Nigerians have access to the capac-ity lying at the shores noting that they are needed in the education and health sector

Laying of submarine cable

31National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, July 16, 2015

Info Tech

32 National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, July 16, 2015

Tech Box

Microsoft’s Universal Foldable Keyboard connects to all three

mobile platforms, and it folds. Aside from a slightly odd quasi-ergonomic design, it’s a solid product.

The Universal Mobile Key-board can be summed up quite neatly: it’s essentially Microsoft’s very good Type Cover keyboard, but in a split-keyboard, quasi-er-gonomic layout that connects to all three major mobile platforms via Bluetooth. It’s spill-resistant. And, of course, it’s foldable.

Using it couldn’t be easier. Simply unfold it, and it automati-cally turns on and connects to any devices that you have previ-ously set up to connect to it. Mi-crosoft claims the battery will last for three months, after which you’ll have to charge it using the included microUSB charger.

Ergonomic keyboards usu-ally split down the middle to al-low a user to position his or her wrists in a line drawn from the elbow straight to the tips of the fingers. In practice, that usually means that a typist has her fore-arms pointed slightly inward, or pigeon-toed, and an ergonomic keyboard will accommodate that.

Though Microsoft makes no claims that its Universal Folding Keyboard is ergonomic, the split keyboard features includes both “N” and “T” keys that are twice the width of the others, char-acteristic of an ergonomic key-board. Yet the keys are aligned vertically, much like any other

Android, Blackberry battle for market share

Technology company, MTN Nigeria challenge enter-prise owners in Nigeria to

embrace the global trend where-by businesses are currently been driven by technology.

General Manager, Consumer Marketing, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Richard Iweanoge who made the remark at a press conference an-nouncing TECH+, a major Tech-nology Conference and Exhibi-tions that will hold in Lagos said that the global impact of technol-ogy across all areas of human endeavour has made it more im-perative that people stay in touch with the world around them.

He said that as a major sponsor of the event, MTN is encourag-ing enterprise to embrace the use of technology in their business

saying that they should be able to identify with technological ad-vancements that could reshape their world.

Iweanoge said that technology is fast evolving and the world has become a global village where people from across the globe can communicate with one another with just a touch of a button noting that “it is important that we stay in touch with the world around us and keep track of the latest innovations that impact our world and our current existence.”

According to him, technology is equally shaping the world of business adding that “Enterprise teams now collaborate face-to-face without travel. And with all their business info in the Cloud, SMEs can transact business from

anywhere in the world with ease. MTN Business our B2B arm is proud to be associated with these developments.’’

Other sponsors that have en-dorsed the event are Huawei, Ju-mia, Google, Coscharis Motors, Samsung, Terragon Group, En-plug Africa, Atlantic Exhibition and Lagos State Signage and Ad-vertising Agency (LASAA).

Head of Communications, Jumia, Bertille Guitton said her company’s involvement in TECH+ stems from the impor-tant roles Technology has played in making life easier saying that Jumia has deployed technology to simplify commerce in the last three years of operations in the country.

Microsoft connects to mobile platforms STORIES: ISAIAH ERHIAWARIEN

The battle for supremacy in the mobile operating sys-tems section got messier

in the first quarter of 2015 as the Android is reported to be pushing Blackberry farther out of busi-ness.

Global technology consulting firm, International Data Corpo-ration (IDC) said that Android is particularly dominant in the low to mid-priced bands while BlackBerry continues suffered significant yearly declines across the region Middle East and Africa Smartphone Market.

IDC also said that Nigeria accounted for 14 percent of all smartphone shipments across the continent during first quarter of 2015, while South Africa was re-sponsible for 12 percent.

According to the IDC in its ‘Q1 2015 Mobile Phone Tracker’ re-

port, which was released during the week Nigeria and South Af-rica contributed significantly to the overall growth seen in Africa, with the countries experiencing yearly growth of 135 and 56 per-cent, respectively.

The report said Samsung, Tecno, and Apple were the lead-ing smartphone vendors in Africa with Huawei being ousted from the top three. The three leading vendors accounted for a combined 55 percent share of Africa’s smart-phone shipments in Q1 2015.

The report said that Blackberry shipments fell by 14 percent in Af-rica and 29 percent in the Middle East while Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS continue to spur the smartphones growth in the MEA accounting for over 95 percent of the smartphones shipped region in the first quarter of 2015.

According to a Senior Research Analyst at IDC, Mr. Isaac T. Nga-tia, the launch of a number of

new models by vendor seems to have had little impact on lifting the BlackBerry brand out of its continuing decline saying that “The loss of the corporate seg-ment, spurred by the continued uptake of bring-your-own-device policies among the region’s enter-prises, has had an adverse effect on BlackBerry’s performance in the market.”

IDC said that the strong growth in the region’s smartphone mar-ket is largely being driven by the emergence of low-priced devices that are primarily powered by Android stating that 45.1 percent of all the smartphones shipped across Africa Q1 2015 were priced below $100, while almost 75 per-cent fall under $200. Low-priced smartphones are also having a considerable impact in the Middle East, with the $100–200 price band accounting for the market’s big-gest share.

MTN urges entrepreneurs to embrace technology

standard keyboard. The key-board also lies perfectly flat.

There’s no getting around it: I was able to type at about half the speed I normally would using the Universal Foldable Keyboard, primarily because the split key-board and the oddly-sized keys felt unnatural. Keep in mind, though, that I’m both a relatively lousy typist as well as someone who generally doesn’t use an er-gonomic keyboard. After several hours of use, though, I still didn’t like using it.

And that’s a shame, because otherwise, Microsoft’s keyboard is very well built. I’m probably slightly biased here because it’s nearly identical to the slightly smaller Surface 3 version of Microsoft’s Type Cover; I’ve used the Surface Pro 3 as a daily driver for more than a year, and become quite fond of Microsoft’s Type Cover keyboard for both machines.

Still, there are differences. The key layout doesn’t follow ei-ther the Surface 3 or the Surface Pro 3, but tucks a subset of the most common functions into the top row: volume and playback controls, search, a key to lock the phone or tablet, and a button to change the keyboard to adjust its layout to the three different mobile operating systems—Windows, Android, and “iPad /IPhone” (not iOS). Microsoft doesn’t actually label the top row of keys with function controls at all, although a Function key is indeed present on the keyboard.

L-R: Deputy Secretary General, NUT, Alhaji Kabir Garba Matazu; CSR/Sustainability Manager, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Mrs Emete Tonukari;, Secretary General, NUT Obong Ikpe J Obong and Head Government Relations, Nigerian Breweries Plc at Mr. Vivian Ikem, at the sensitisation campaign for the Maltina Teacher of the Year project, during a visit of Nigerian Breweries to the Headquarters of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) Abuja.

Info Tech

ISAIAH ERHIAWARIEN

Re-occurring issues of po-lices and regulations that have consistently affected

the growth of the telecommuni-cations across the global will be a key focus for global stakeholders of the industry as they assemble in Cape Town, South Africa for the GSMA 2015 Mobile 360 confer-ence.

Speakers for the global event, which has MTN Group as its platinum sponsor has been an-nounced, with executives from China Mobile, Huawei, the Inter-net Society, MTN and Telenor as the first speakers.

According to GSMA, the con-ference which has as its the theme: “Accelerating Social and Economic Empowerment”, will be introducing a special session: ‘Jumpstart’ saying that the three conference, will take place 7-9 Oc-tober at the African Pride Crystal Towers Hotel and Spa in Cape Town. The session is meant to bring together start-ups and the mobile industry.

GSMA said that this years’ event will comprise thought-provoking keynote addresses, fireside chats, pitch sessions and panel discussions stating that the Mobile 360 – Africa will incor-

porate additional programmes that highlight the initiatives and activities undertaken by the GSMA Mobile for Development programme, as well workshops focusing on key policy and regu-latory issues for the region.

Chief Marketing Officer, GSMA, Mr. Michael O’Hara said the mobile industry is playing a key role in driving digital, finan-cial and social inclusion in many African countries by providing access to quality information and services, adding that the Mobile 360 will convene key stakehold-ers to examine the practical steps needed to overcome critical road-blocks in technology, governance, business models and investment.

He disclosed that the Sub-Sa-haran Africa has been the fastest-growing mobile market over the last five years, both in subscrib-ers and connections, noting, “Our research shows that it will remain so through to at least 2020. It is an exciting and vibrant time in Africa and this dynamic and diverse market will be reflected across the entire Mobile 360 – Af-rica agenda.”

He said that chief executive officers, senior executives from leading mobile companies and from throughout the digital eco-system, will address the most pressing trends and issues in mo-

L-R: General Manager, Enterprise Marketing, MTN Nigeria, Mrs. Oyinye Ikenna-Emeka, General Manager, Consumer Marketing, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Richard Iweanoge, General Manager, Marketing & Corporate Services, Mr. Abiona Babarinde, , Coscharis Group during the Media Unveiling of TECH+ Conference and Exhibitions in Lagos.

Stakeholders to address policy, regulation issues at Mobile forum

African insurers focus on innovation to attract digital consumers

Info TechNational Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 33Thursday, July 16, 2015

Government Technology

Financial Technology

STORIES: ISAIAH ERHIAWARIEN

Insurers who are able to in-novate when it comes to the design and delivery of prod-

ucts and services will not only be fostering greater loyalty amongst their consumers, but they will also be helping to change the per-ception that the insurance indus-try is still playing catch up.

A recent Celent survey target-ing innovation on how custom-ers might respond on innovation showed that consumers expect a high degree of innovation from their financial service providers, especially when it comes to ser-vice delivery.

The report stated that while most financial services profes-sionals agree that innovation is es-sential for relating and engaging with customers, only a minority identify innovation as a critical part of their companies’ strate-gies.

This is particularly true for “digital” consumers who are ac-

Airtel unveils new SIM cardIn line with its commitment

to continually delight and provide exceptional experi-

ence for its customers, leading telecommunications service provider, Airtel Nigeria, has introduced a 3-in-1 SIM card, which enables customers switch between Nano, Micro and Stan-dard SIMs as required.

The new SIM card, also known as Airtel Smart SIM, comprises all three SIM card siz-es: MStandard Micro and Nano, and is aimed at making it con-venient for customers to switch devices without having to get a new, different-sized SIM.

Speaking on the product, Maurice Newa, Chief Commer-cial Officer, Airtel Nigeria, said “this is another innovative prod-uct which clearly underlines Airtel’s promise to provide cut-ting edge solutionsto meet the evolving demands of its custom-ers.”

According to him, Smart SIM is the first of its kind in Nigeria and it provides the smart phone user the freedom to switch devic-es and retain the same SIM card. With this new SIM package, which costs N300, customers will no longer need to cut their SIM cards when they change their

mobile device.Newa further explained that

in contrast to the existing 64kb cards, the new card comes in 128kb, which offers more capac-ity and additional space for cus-tomers to store more contact and SMS.

In addition, customers who purchase the new SIM cards will be able to access the Celltick ap-plet, a value added service that displays live content and mar-keting messages on the home screen when phone is idle. Cus-tomers can subscribe to the con-tent by clicking on the messages displayed on phone screen.

bile.The GSMA said that each ses-

sion will tackle a different aspect of the empowerment story noting that keynotes and sessions will delve into subjects such as “The Power to Connect: Providing Ac-cess for All”, “The Power to Dis-cover: Local Content and Digital Literacy”, “The Power to Borrow, Save and Spend: Building the Mobile Financial Ecosystem”,

“The Power to Innovate: Growing Start-Up Ecosystems and Culti-vating Entrepreneurship”.

Among the confirmed speak-ers for the conference are: Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President and CEO, Telenor Group and Chair-man, GSMA, Dawit Bekele, Re-gional Bureau Director – Africa, The Internet Society, Dr. Vanu Bose, CEO, Vanu, Inc, Eric Chin-je, CEO, African Media Initiative,

Sifiso Dabengwa, Executive Di-rector, Group President and CEO, MTN Group, Dr. Wang Jianzhou, Chairman, China Association for Public Companies and for-mer Executive Chairman, China Mobile, Adam Lane, Director of Sustainability Programs, Hua-wei, Dr. Jimmy Shindi, CEO of Econet Services, Zimbabwe and Ayo Stuffman, CEO, VAS2Nets.

tive in managing their finances and expect their insurers to be innovative the report observed noting that “these consumers re-ported that they used technology-driven tools such as GPS location, online purchasing, mobile and video streaming. Conversely, con-sumers who were less digitally inclined reported that they used three or fewer of these technolo-gies.”

Commenting on the report, SSP Business Development Man-ager, Clinton Brown said that Afri-can insurers have a great opportu-nity to improve business models and solutions in order to improve their experience and increase cus-tomer satisfaction.

According to him, innovation will be most widely accepted and celebrated amongst your early digital adopters’ consumers, saying that focusing technologi-cal improvements on this target group will have the highest prob-ability of success.

Brown explained that even within the digital consumers, en-thusiasm for these initiatives var-

ied by age group, suggesting that a broader; more experimental ap-proach might most successfully resonate across the entire custom-er base.

When it comes to appealing to the less digitised consumers, in-novations should be positioned as simple, non-technical solutions to

everyday problems, he said. “Invest some resources in sur-

veying and polling this customer base to find out what these solu-tions could be. Simply by starting these conversations, you begin to raise this target group’s aware-ness of the value of innovation”, advised Brown.

He said that administration ser-vice areas such as claims, online and mobile services, represent the most immediate innovation op-portunities noting that sales and product innovations will appeal to certain consumers, but for broad consumer resonance the clear fo-cus should be service.

The rate of UK Consumer Prices Index inflation fell to zero per cent in June, from

0.1 per cent in May, official figures show.

Falls in clothing and food prices were the main contributors to the change in the rate, the Office for Na-tional Statistics (ONS) said.

The ONS said the rate was also affected by a smaller rise in air fares in June than a year ago.

Bank of England governor Mark Carney has said he expects infla-tion to remain low in the immediate short term.

But the Bank expects it to start picking up around the turn of the year.

The rate of Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation - which includes housing costs such as mortgage interest payments and council tax - was one per cent in June, un-changed from May.

“Inflation has continued its pat-tern of recent months, when prices have been very little changed on the previous year,” said Philip Gooding from the ONS.

“The headline rate for June has dropped very slightly on May, back to zero, thanks to small downwards effects from movements in clothing and food prices and air fares.”

The CPI rate has been hovering around zero since February, and moved into negative territory in April for the first time on record, dropping to -0.1 per cent.

Howard Archer, chief UK econo-mist at Global Insight, said the latest figure was good news for consum-ers.

UK’s inflation rate falls to 0%“With earnings growth current-

ly seeing clear improvement and employment high and rising, pur-chasing power is currently in rude heath,” he added.

While flat or low inflation can be good news for consumers, a pro-longed period of negative inflation is generally perceived as harmful to an economy. The fear is that peo-ple will defer spending in the hope that goods or services will become cheaper later.

The current inflation figure is well below the Bank of England’s target of around two per cent.

Core inflation, which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco prices, fell last month to 0.8 per cent. That was down from 0.9 per cent and the joint-lowest rate since 2001.

“The data therefore raise ques-tions over the whether underlying price pressures are really pick-ing up to the extent than the Bank of England is anticipating,” said Chris Williamson, chief UK econo-mist at Markit.

U.S. retail sales unex-pectedly fell in June as households cut back on

purchases of automobiles and a range of other goods, which could raise concerns the econo-my was slowing again.

Tuesday’s weak retail sales re-port, together with signs of some softening of the labor market, could dampen expectations for an interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve this year, which most economists ex-pect could come in September.

“The underlying tone of this re-port suggests that the recovery is beginning to show some signs of strain. If anything it will temper, at the margin, any consideration for a September rate hike,” said Millan Mulraine, deputy chief economist at TD Securities in New York.

The Commerce Department said retail sales slipped 0.3 per cent, the weakest reading since February, after May’s downwardly revised 1.0 per cent increase.

Retail sales excluding automo-biles, gasoline, building materials and food services dipped 0.1 per cent following a 0.7 per cent gain in May. These so-called core retail sales correspond most closely with the consumer spending component of

A secret International Mon-etary Fund study showed Greece needs far more

debt relief than European gov-ernments have been willing to contemplate so far, as Germany heaped pressure on Athens on Tuesday to reform and win back its partners’ trust.

The IMF’s stark warning on Athens’ debt was leaked as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras struggled to persuade deeply un-happy leftist lawmakers to vote for a package of austerity measures and liberal economic reforms to secure a new bailout.

The study, seen by Reuters, said European countries would have to give Greece a 30-year grace period

gross domestic product.Economists had forecast retail

sales rising 0.2 per cent last month after a previously reported 1.2 per cent jump in May. Core retail sales had been expected to increase 0.4 per cent.

The dollar fell against the yen and the euro after the data, while prices for U.S. Treasury debt rose. U.S. stocks were trading slightly higher on better earnings from JPMorgan (JPM.N).

Coming on the heels of June’s disappointing employment report and sharp drop in small business confidence, the weak retail sales data suggests the economy might have lost some momentum at the end of the second quarter, having struggled at the start of the year.

The economy contracted at a 0.2 per cent annual rate in the first quarter and the drop in core retail sales could see economists trim their GDP growth estimates for the April-June quarter. The second-quarter growth outlook was also dimmed by another report from the Commerce Department show-ing retail inventories excluding automobiles rose only 0.1 per cent in May.

This component, which goes into

the calculation of GDP, increased 0.5 per cent in April.

“Consumers are struggling this year, probably because income has been affected by weakness in the oil industry. The odds of tightening in September just diminished a bit,” said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial in New York.

Fed Chair Janet said last Friday she expected the U.S. central bank to tighten monetary policy “at some point later this year.” Yellen could offer more clues on the timing of the first interest rate increase since 2006 when she testifies before law-makers on Wednesday and Thurs-day.

on servicing all its European debt, including new loans, and a dramat-ic maturity extension. Or else they must make annual transfers to the Greek budget or accept “deep up-front haircuts” on existing loans.

The Debt Sustainability Analy-sis is likely to sharpen fierce debate in Germany about whether to lend Greece yet more money.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble made clear in Brussels on Tuesday that some members of the Berlin govern-ment think it would make more sense for Athens to leave the euro zone temporarily rather than take another bailout.

Assuming Athens fulfils its end of the bargain this week by enact-ing a swathe of painful measures, the German parliament is due to meet in a special session on Friday to debate whether to authorize the government to open new loan ne-gotiations.

“The dramatic deterioration in debt sustainability points to the need for debt relief on a scale that would need to go well beyond what has been under consideration to date - and what has been proposed by the ESM,” the IMF said, refer-ring to the European Stability Mechanism bailout fund.

An EU source said euro zone

finance ministers and leaders had been aware of the confidential IMF figures when they agreed on Mon-day on a roadmap to a third bailout.

IMF Managing-Director Chris-tine Lagarde was present but the IMF did not make the updated as-sessment public, in contrast to a previous study which was released in Washington on July 2.

Lawmakers from Greece’s rul-ing Syriza party and their allies were arguing behind closed doors about whether to back sweeping reforms the government must ram through parliament as it races to meet the terms of the unpopular bailout deal.

Having staved off financial melt-down, Tsipras has until Wednes-day night to smother dissent from hardliners and pass measures tougher than those rejected in a referendum days ago. He can count on backing from pro-European op-position parties but he wants his own majority, without which his government’s days are numbered.

Syriza and its right-wing na-tionalist junior coalition ally held separate meetings to prepare for parliament sittings to pass the laws, which include plans for tax hikes, pension reforms and tighter supervision of the government’s finances.

Yellen

US retail sales dip at slower economic growth

IMF calls for Greece debt relief as Germany talks tough

34 National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, July 16, 2015Global News

North American railroads are pinning their hopes for a second-half recovery on

American shoppers as they prepare to release what analysts expect will be dreary second-quarter results.

No. 3 U.S. railroad CSX Corp (CSX.N) kicks off earnings season for the railroads after the market closes Tuesday. Analysts are fore-casting CSX will report 53 cents per share, unchanged from the second quarter of 2014. Earlier this year, CSX told investors it expected double-digit percentage earnings growth this year, then in April told shareholders to expect single-digit percentage growth.

“This is going to be a lousy earn-

North American railroads show sign of recovery

ings season for the railroads,” said independent railroad analyst An-thony Hatch. “But there are some bright spots out there and in my opinion this is the bottom of the trough.”

Analysts point to shipments of goods meant for shoppers, which are rising as shipments of coal, oil and grain are on the decline.

U.S. consumer spending rose 0.9 per cent in May, the largest increase in nearly six years. The major rail-roads benefited from a 3.9 per cent second-quarter increase in motor vehicles and equipment, and ship-ments of shipping containers con-taining consumer goods were up 4.6 per cent.

Lagarde Cameron

Rail system

The Nigerian online retail space has wit-nessed growth in the past three years, with more players entering the field

and contesting for patronage in a business en-vironment that is dependent on internet and mobile network availability.

Online retail trade in the country is domi-nated by the big names such as Konga, Jumia, Adibba, Amazon, MyStore , Deal Dey, Kaymu, Buyright.biz, Buyam, Tafoo, among many oth-ers. The growth in online retail is predicated on Nigeria’s large population of over 167 mil-lion and a steady growing middle class made up of more than 23 per cent of the population.

This according to experts presents oppor-tunities for entrants who wish to create a safe and dynamic online business.

The lure for online shopping, according to Boston Consulting Group in a recent research, shows that free delivery and lower prices are the top motivating factors.

About 74 per cent of US consumers say that free delivery motivates them to shop more through the internet medium, and 50 per cent say lower prices do.

With many Nigerians hoping to rely on online shopping to get their favourite stuff, many are jittery because of the issue of trust. The question then is how many of the online shops in Nigeria are reliable? Can they deliver the right product without any defect and at the right time?

Though some of them have tried to address customers trust and confidence, it is still a matter of let us try and see.

Prominent among challenges online trans-action is delay in delivery of ordered product.

While customers may not have paid for the product before delivery, the anxieties of wait-ing for the product have been a serious con-cern for many.

Again many online retail shops have bragged about efficient delivery system while convincing customers to buy, the reality may be far from being true, especially, with custom-ers living far away from the city centre.

There is also the issue of corresponding communication to the customer when prod-ucts are not available for delivery. Though there are many advantages of shopping on-line, many Nigerians have become very scep-tical about it.

While they agree that shopping online is a culture which promotes technological ad-vancement, eases traffic congestion on the roads and allows customers to buy things from the comfort of their homes, offices or wherever they may be with minimum stress, some believe more confidence has to e injected into the system, especially, with the wide-spread scam in the e-system.

Speaking to National Mirror on the issue, Managing Director Upticomm Limited, a Pub-

Online retail market: Issues, business prospects for buyers, sellers

TODAY 60 PER CENT OF OUR CUSTOMERS ARE BECOMING VERY COMFORTABLE. IN THE NEXT

TWO YEARS LESS PEOPLE WILL BE PAYING WITH CASH. RIGHT NOW ABOUT 40 PER CENT ARE STILL PAYING WITH CASH AND THAT IS A PROBLEM FOR US, BECAUSE IT IS ACTUALLY

MEANT TO BE A CASHLESS SOCIETY

As more Nigerians embrace online retailing, issues of trust and integrity have become a recurring matter, especially on the use of e-payment and supply of defective products between sellers and buyers. DAVID AUDU examines the trend.

Thursday, July 16, 2015National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 35

Brands & Marketing

lic Relations, Marketing and Media services firm, Mr. Segun McMedal, says online retail business is “essentially a convenient busi-ness service, which goods are delivered to the comfort of the buyers, as such it relies mostly on e-payment system, which is why many Nigerians are sceptical.

It is based on trust, and because of the facts that it is relatively new to our society Nigerians are yet to fully embrace and get used to it.

He said his agency’s independent re-search on the market shows the system is working, and there has not heard much neg-ative experience of it, but admitted he has not personally patronised any.

Also Chief Executive Officer of Logica Media Group, Mrs. Yinka Oguntoyibo, said she once bought a jewery online. She agreed that though people are sceptical, the world is going e-system and the need for Nigerians to gradually build trust in the system.

She said a cousin bought a mobile phone online and has had no cause to complain,

adding that with the e-payment option; the operators are doing their best.

Executive Director of USP, a brand ma-nagent agency wih office in Victoria Is-land, Kunle Ajose told National Mirror that though he is a man who believes in physical inspection of products before purchase, on-line retail is gradually catching on, especial-ly, among ladies, who enjoy the convenience.

He however said a few times he visited the websites of two leading online firm, he was not satisfied with the customer services responses to his inquiry.

On how online retail firms are respond-ing to criticisms and other challenges, the Managing Director of Adibba. Com, Mr. Chris Ogbecie, in a forum last year noted that online retailers musk keep to their words as it is the most essential trust factor in online retail business.

“It is one thing to agree on something and it is another thing to do it. Our custom-ers will tell you how we relate with them so far. Since they started with us they are still

Inside a retail shopping mall

with us, because they will tell you that what-ever Adibba says they will do that is what they will do. If you buy thing and it is not what you want, call us and we will come and refund your money to you. We have kept to this, and it is very important. This country is important to us, and we are doing every-thing possible to maintain its integrity.

“We want to ensure and we are doing everything possible so that people see this country in a positive perspective and this is very dear to us. I strongly believe that we that are privileged to be exposed to the pub-lic should be a good ambassador of Nigeria, because if we don’t do it right, there is this understanding, it is not a Nigerian. We want to do something different”, he said.

According to the fact that Nigerians have not fully embraced online payment is also a challenge to the business. “Some still find it difficult to pay with their cards, but you will not blame them. I assure you it is improving. When we started, it was worse than this.

“Today 60 per cent of our customers are becoming very comfortable. In the next two years less people will be paying with cash. Right now about 40 per cent are still pay-ing with cash and that is a problem for us, because it is actually meant to be a cashless society”, he added.

He further explained that customers may say ‘if I pay you with my card and the prod-uct has some defects, are you going to take them back? But we are getting them to make them understand that if you have problem with the product or if it not what you want, you can return it within seven days.

Customers are beginning to buy into that and that is where the issue of trust and con-fidence has to be exhibited, because if they are disappointed once you might not likely see them again, and that also impinges on the integrity of online business.

Managing Director of Buyam.com, an on-line retailing company, Emeka Mordi, while speaking to journalists in Lagos recently dis-missed these fears saying the challenges of doing business online are the same as doing business offline. “There is a steep learning curve for all members of the value chain and there are significant infrastructure costs.

Also, there are lots of external issues, which can take the focus off your primary goal that is to give the customer, our mer-chants and buyers, the best service possible.”

Speaking on customer security, he said: “Special efforts and measures have gone into fraud detection and prevention. Transaction repudiation and full consumer protection are thing we strive to provide, so our custom-ers can shop in a safe and secure environ-ment.”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net36

As part of efforts to allevi-ate malnutrition among the Nigerian children, CHI

Limited, producer of fruit juice, dairy and snacks products, is join hands with Tetra Pak, a food pro-cessing and packaging company, to explore opportunities for feasible food & beverage solutions in an ef-fort to fight malnutrition amongst children in Nigeria.

CHI is one of the largest part-ners of Tetra Pak in Africa employ-ing use of many of its packaging solutions to serve safe, innovative and environmentally friendly prod-ucts to her customers across the country.

The joint initiative between CHI Limited & Tetra Pak will develop feasible solutions for providing healthy nourishment for Nigerian children. To achieve this, the com-panies will undertake an in-depth assessment of the ground realities of the nutritional requirements and the need gaps specific to chil-

dren in Nigeria. This partnership will provide a platform for the in-volvement of relevant major stake-holders, institutes, governmental and non-governmental organiza-tions for the delivery of nutrition solutions to the Nigerian children.

Mr. C G Vink, Chairman of Chi Limited (the flagship company of the TGI Group), noted that “Child nutrition is important to our coun-try’s future and being a proudly Nigerian company, we are com-mitted to putting in our best to the building and shaping a healthy and brighter Nigeria.”

Mr Dennis Jönsson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tetra Pak, said “Tetra Pak has part-nered with governments, custom-ers and other public and private partners to support school feeding programmes around the world for more than 50 years, promoting children’s right to nutrition, health and education as well as helping to build the demand for locally pro-

duced and processed products. We are happy to have formed a strong partnership with Chi in Nigeria.”

According to the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, up to 80 per cent of Nigerian chil-dren suffer from nutrition defi-ciencies, particularly from Iron, Zinc and vitamins. This leads to slower brain development, con-centration issues, a weak immune system and underdevelopment of memory, vision and hearing. In-vestments in education are signifi-cantly undermined if children are not nourished properly. According to the same survey, over one third of Nigerian children are malnour-ished to the extent that their physi-cal growth is measurably reduced compared to children in peer coun-tries. A case in reference, according to various available statistics from UNESCO, EU, FAO etc, as many as 11 million children in Nigeria are suffering from stunted growth oc-casioned by chronic malnutrition.

CHI, Tetra Pak partner to combat child malnutrition scourge

Airtel unveils special offerings for Ramadan

Telecommunications ser-vice provider, Airtel Nige-ria, has unveiled special

Ramadan offerings to support and encourage its Muslim cus-tomers as they observe the holy month whilst also empowering them to connect to families and loved ones at affordable rates.

The offerings, which are by sub-scription, are in the form of voice, SMS and Data services with ben-efits tailored to educate, inspire and enhance bonding among Muslims across the country during Ramadan.

Throughout the holy month of Ra-madan, customers who subscribe to this package will get access to Quran Arabic recitations, prayer from Mec-ca and also prayer alerts. This service will also help them strictly adhere to their prayer times during this period.

In addition, subscribers will also receive hajj tips and free inspirational messages, which will enrich their

knowledge of Ramadan and Islam as a whole. They can further take ad-vantage of the Airtel Hello Tunes to download or purchase Islamic tunes or prayers as a source of inspiration for themselves or for family and loved ones.

Speaking on the offerings, the company’s Chief Commercial Of-ficer, Maurice Newa, explained that the offerings demonstrate the im-portance which Airtel places on the right to faith of its customers, stress-ing that the company will continue to provide delightful services tailored to meet their needs.

Newa said: “We believe that the purpose for the season would be fur-ther enriched with these offerings as every customer that subscribes to these unique services will benefit greatly. We have carefully balanced the benefits not just in the Islamic contents alone but also on the voice, SMS and data services.”

Posterscope debuts in Nigeria, hosts media conferenceDAVID AUDU

Posterscope, an out-of-home communication agency is set to be officially launched in

the Nigerian market. Managing Director of Poster-

scope Nigeria, Dan Oshodin who disclosed this in a brief chat with the media recently said Poster-scope’s arrival in the market is bound to cause a significant shift in how the medium is considered as the company deploys new systems and methodologies that put con-sumers at the heart of OOH plan-ning and buying.

To herald the entry, Posterscope is partnering with the Outdoor Ad-vertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN) to host key stake holders in the Nigerian advertising indus-try in a thought leadership confer-ence where Posterscope experts from around the world will discuss how technology, convergence and connection are redefining the way brands use out-of-home media.

GlaxoSmithKline, GSK, the multinational phar-maceutical company, is

reviewing its estimated £1 bil-lion global media business, pit-ting UK incumbent MediaCom against its US lead agency PHD.

The GSK review follows the completion of a joint venture with fellow pharmaceutical gi-ant, Novartis, in March 2015. Publicis Groupe’s Starcom is the incumbent for Novartis’ me-dia business.

GSK last reviewed its global media planning and buying requirements two years ago, when it divided the bulk of its activity between Group M and Omnicom Media Group.

OMG’s PHD was appointed to

the US business, previously val-ued up to $1.4bn (£900m) along with Canada and West African markets.

Group M’s MediaCom has handled around £75 million bill-ings for GSK in the UK account and Dentsu Aegis Network was appointed in Japan.

Confirming the review, GSK said in a statement: “Following the joint venture between GSK and Novartis, the new GSK Consumer Healthcare busi-ness combines the best of both companies, and we are commit-ted to ensuring these strengths provide even greater benefit to consumers, customers and our community.

MediaCom, PHD eye £1bn GSK media business

Tagged Pioneering Change OOH Conference, the event which will be held on 21st July 2015, at Protea Ho-tel, Ikeja, Lagos will feature David Gordon, Posterscope’s Global In-sight Director, the man who helped midwife Route, the UK’s OOH au-dience measurement system and OCS, Posterscope’s OOH Consumer Survey which is set to be launched in Nigeria.

Other speakers at the conference include Charles Chijide, President of OAAN, Bruce Burgess, Develop-ment Director, Posterscope Sub-Sa-hara Africa; Vikrant Tandle, Chief Operating Officer of Isobar; and Uzoma Okoye, Managing/Creative Director of Etu Odi.

With 53 offices in 32 countries, Posterscope is the world’s leading media agency with specialist focus on out-of-home communication and a better understanding of emerging technology and consumer behav-iour when out-of-home and how these two combine to create new op-portunities for advertisers.

Thursday, July 16, 2015Brands & Marketing

DAVID AUDU

Chocolate City Group has an-nounced the restructure of its management team with

effect from this month. Accord-ing to a statement by the group re-cently in Lagos, Mr. Audu Maikori, former CEO of Chocolate City Music will step in as President of the Group. In this new role, he will oversee the expansion of Choco-late City across Africa, using his experience to lead the company forward and galvanize its media as-sets in the areas of content in both TV, Radio and Film.

He will also ensure the de-velopment and profitability of Chocolate City Group companies, which include Chocolate City Music(Record Label), Chocolate City Media (Radio, Films and Television), and Chocolate City

Distribution (a partner of 5ive-Music Group). The company has already demonstrated its serious-ness with its plans to expand the brand across Africa with the es-tablishment of the Chocolate City franchise in Kenya in 2012 with the signing of pop diva Victoria Kimani

Paul Okeugo, co-founder of the group will continue to support Audu as Chief Operating Officer of the Group and will focus on de-veloping and driving best practices for a robust Marketing, Sales and Distribution strategy. Ms. Ibukun Abidoye, former General Manager of Chocolate City Music, will step in as General Manager of the Group. Her core focus will be driving managerial processes and ensuring the implementation of the strategies developed within the various companies, with spe-

cific emphasis on Chocolate City Distribution.

The group also announced the appointment of Onche Ugbabe who served as the Chief Strategy Officer of FBN Holdings PLC (for-merly known as First Bank of Ni-geria PLC) and served as its Head of Strategy & amp; Group Coordi-nation before he resigned to pursue other personal interests in 2014. Onche is a graduate of the Har-vard Business School and a former McKinsey consultant.

In a similar vein, Jude Abaga, popularly known as M.I, has also been announced as the new CEO of Chocolate City Music taking over from Audu Maikori. Jude is regarded as one of Africa’s most respected Hip Hop icons and has served as Vice President of the re-cord label for four (4) years prior to his appointment.

Chocolate City Group restructures management team

Female winners among the 12 winners in a group photograph. L-R Miss Chinwe Ottor; Miss Miracle Akagha; Mrs Chinwendu Nwoye and Miss Ngozi Ogboh in the Life Continental Beer young entrepreneur for the South-East recently.

L-R: Assistant Brand Manager Harpic, Longe Ebunoluwa, Marketing Director Reckitt Benckiser West Africa, Ogu-zhan Silivrili, Harpic Brand Ambassador, Helen Paul and the Marketing Manager Reckitt Benckiser West Africa, Bamigbaiye-Elatuyi Omotola at the unveiling of the new Harpic TVC and Brand Ambassador in Lagos last week.

DAVID AUDU

Life Continental Beer, a brand under the stables of Nigeria Breweries, has

given additional N3million cash grant to 12 young entrepreneurs within the South-East to boost their business ideas.

It would be recalled that Life Beer had earlier given out N3mil-lion to 12 young entrepreneurs in its on-going ``Life Continental Beer Progress Booster Radio Proj-ect’’ about a month ago.

Head of Brewery, Ama, Mr Abiodun Ajayi, told newsmen last week that the brand had ear-marked N14.5 million grant to boost 50 young entrepreneurs, who reside and hail from Abia, Anam-bra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo.

The 12 second set of winners are: Mr Ekenne Okpadile (Anam-bra), proposal on domestic and commercial cleaning services; Mr

Uzochukwu Okwor (Enugu), pro-posal on Photography; Mr Ony-inye Onyedika-Orizu (Anambra), proposal on DJ Turn-Table and Miss Miracle Akagha (Abia), pro-posal on mobile small fries.

Others are: Miss Chinwe Ot-tor (Anambra), proposal on gi-ant snail farming; Mr Maxwell Madubuike (Enugu), proposal on palm oil production; Mr Christian Udeh (Anambra), proposal for paint making and Mrs Chinwendu Nwoye (Anambra), proposal on fashion designing.

The rest include: Miss Ngozi Ogboh (Anambra), proposal on shoe making; Mr Prosper Nduba (Enugu), proposal on soya milk production; Mr Solomon Agabae-nwere (Anambra), proposal on commercial tricycle operation and Mr Chukwuemeka Etummu (Anambra), proposal for garment making for wholesale.

Handling over the cheque of

N250,000 to each of the 12 win-ners in Nigeria Breweries, Ama, Enugu; Ajayi urged the winners to ensure that their investment is yielding enough returns to make become employers of labour.

``With this, life has supported 24 talents since the commencement of the programme in May and 26 more to go.

``These young entrepreneurs whose business ideas have been adjudged worthy of Life Progress Booster prizes will each receive N250,000 grant to bring their busi-ness ideas to life.

``As you receive these cash grants today, we expect you to succeed in the business line you have chosen. Make judicious in-vestment of the money given you and ensure that your investment is yielding returns and your busi-ness capable of making you an em-ployer of labour as you trudge on in your business journey

Beer brand doles out N3m grant to 12 entrepreneurs

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 37Thursday, July 16, 2015 Brands & Marketing

DAVID AUDU

Chief Executive Officer of MediaReach, Mr. Tolu Ogunkoya, has said the part-

nership between his company and Google Nigeria has been taken to a new level with the recent hosting of Google @ mediaReach OMD.

Ogunkoya said the event titled Google@mediaReach, was unique as it happened in Nigeria for the first time. He explained that the event was developmental and experien-tial as it focused on demonstration of new products like Google Card-Board, Google Now, and Cromecast.

Speaking in an interview in La-gos recently, Ogunkoya said there was a deal on building digital capa-

MediaReach, Google collaborate on digital capabilities

bilities between Google and mediaR-each before now. The recent collabo-ration between the two companies, he stated, was just taking the bilat-eral relationship to the next level on various Google products.

He said the event targeted lever-aging YouTube beyond advertising and creating content from the con-sumer context and brand connect in the area of Hygiene, Hub and Hero content which consumers would like to see coming from the brand.

Ogunkoya stated that the joint event focused on Connected Con-sumer and role of Digital, as the line between Offline and Online are blurring because consumers travel within physical and virtual world effortlessly and our Media Strategy

should reflect this.His words: “MediaReach has

been one of the lead buyers of Google in Nigeria. It has been an ongoing joint effort of Google and MediaReach to build Digital capa-bilities, both within the Agency and within the marketing team of our clients, titled as Digital Days, which has been happening for a while and Google @ mediaReach is very differ-ent from Digital Days.”

According to him, the objective of this effort is to bring more col-laboration between Google and Me-diaReach in which the clients will directly benefit, it’s about creating best-in-Class examples in-market which the world will see coming out of Nigeria.

People love a good story. Stories are the reason we stay awake late to finish a book, watch a

movie or binge watch on Netflix.Sto-ries engage us like little else. So why do we not see more stories used in advertising? If done right, storytell-ing can make your communications more engaging, more impactful, and more motivating for your brand.What is a story?

A story needs to be a clear narra-tive arc, one scene needs to influence or build upon another to tell a story. Take the example of the Dear Holly ad for Google Chrome. On one hand it is a series of disparate images of a little girl growing up but on the other it is linked by a very clear narrative as the Dad recounts his memories of his daughter’s first years. For the purposes of advertising, however, not any story will do. It takes skill and thought to make a story an effective creative tool for your brand.

Measuring the power of a good story

Millward Brown’s global neuro-science practice uses facial coding to demonstrate the power of storytell-ing as a creative tool to engage view-ers, to identify whether a story is working for a brand and how it might be improved. Based on testing thou-sands of ads facial coding confirms what we have previously found in our Link pre-test: stories have huge potential to both engage the audience and to motivate them.

Emotionally engaging narrativesWhile most consumers are indif-

ferent toward brands most of the time, stories can help brands engage people and overcome their indiffer-ence.

The first job of any advertising is to engage the audience, to attract and hold their attention, and story ads do just that. Story ads typically result in greater enjoyment and engagement than non-story ads, observed in both more expressive facial reactions and stronger ratings on the key Link questions, indicating a greater abil-ity to attract attention and be remem-bered.

Stories can create emotional jour-neys that make us want to act

Once an ad has attracted attention it must then establish a motivating impression of the brand. Academic research has shown that narrative transportation, or losing oneself in the flow of the story, predicts how well a viewer will recall a story and whether they will act at a later date. Our research confirms that, if well-crafted, story ads can have more mo-tivational power than non-story ads. The most successful messaging oc-curs in stories where the brand’s role is necessary, believable, and integral to the plot.

Stories can build brand cues and associations

Story ads tend to be better branded than non-story ads. A story allows you to build and utilize cues that may have nothing to do with your

product. Strong narrative ads allow for significantly more recognizable brand cues and can help you expand beyond your category. For example, through their narrative ads, British sauce brand HP has become associ-ated with eating a bacon sandwich–the scenario itself has become a cue for using the brand. This cuing would be very difficult to establish with ads that depended on a non-narrative ap-peal to the rational.

Stories can make information more compelling

Well-deployed stories can and do improve an ad’s impact, and they are great instruments for engaging people since they generate more emo-tion and are more likely to be enjoyed than other types of ads. Storytelling can also be an excellent tool for con-veying information as long as the brand has a clear role in the story—in other words, the brand cannot be an afterthought. It must have a role, and the role it plays must be believable.

To be effective stories must fit with the brand

We know that stories are powerful devices, but our research shows that story ads are not always more persua-sive than non-story ads. This ineffec-tive persuasion is likely caused by a lack of brand fit in many story ads and a consequent lack of believability. While a story might be enough to en-gage viewers and generate emotions, if it jars with how people think of a brand, then it won’t necessarily be compelling. The mere presence of a story in an ad is not sufficient to make it persuasive, and a bad story is worse than no story at all. If they don’t relate to the brand, or are not integral, then stories can make ads less compelling.

Story telling: Powerful when done right

Neuroscience techniques that use real-time facial coding can be very helpful in determining whether a sto-ry ad is appropriate and working for your brand. Are people responding where you would expect? If not, why not? Does what viewers experience help explain what they take away from the ad? Employing storytelling successfully is about identifying the drivers of people’s responses.

While there may be commonali-ties among summary metrics (lots of expressions are better than no expres-sions, more smiles mean more enjoy-ment, etc.), stories come in many shapes and sizes, so there is no one type of story or storyline that is most effective for all ads. Knowing whether the reactions are correct for the story you are trying to tell is much more useful. You need to know whether your story is working foryour brand.

And rather than merely jumping on the story telling bandwagon, know when to employ a story and when to choose a more straightforward ap-proach. Stories are able to evoke stronger enjoyment and engage-ment, but without a clear and compel-ling role for your brand, the emotion generated by the story will be wasted.

Power of story telling

After the old Tejuoso Shopping Complex that was gutted by fire was rebuilt, the costs of renting

stalls, shops and office spaces at the new complex have skyrocketed beyond the reach of an average trader.

Prior to the unfortunate inferno that consumed the old Tejuoso Model Market on December 17, 2007 and the consequent demolition, the then market ranked high in terms of population and trading among major markets in Lagos metropolis. Mil-lions of ordinary residents in the city, daily thronged the market to buy and sell until the unfortunate incident.

The human and vehicular traffics around the market had made the area to be-come very rowdy and increasingly consti-tuted serious menace to the environment and the larger Yaba community.

The market degenerated to such an ex-tent that the Babatunde Fashola Admin-istration upon assuming office in 2007 considered relocating the complex all to-gether; but for the market men and women who kicked against the idea, saying the move would have adverse effect on their businesses and wellbeing. Hence, when the complex was gutted by fire, the state gov-ernment rather than relocate the market decided to shut it down to pave the way for rebuilding and modernisation, so as to im-bue it with all necessary facilities.

According to the former Governor of Lagos State, Fashola; the reconstruction of the market was part of the long-term radical infrastructure renewal plan by the state. To this end, the commissioning of the beautiful edifice on August 15, 2014; about seven years after its destruction at-tracted a lot of commendations from the stakeholders, traders and Lagos residents in general.

The Iyaloja-General of Lagos State, Mrs. Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, for instance, expressed appreciation to the state govern-ment for fulfilling its promise to traders in the market; even as she urged all the traders to ensure that they abide strictly by the sanitation rules of the market. Oth-ers like Babaloja of Tejuosho Market, Mr. Adeshina Oyegunle and the President Ndigbo Traders in Tejuosho also lauded the government for the project.

Available facilities in the new modern complex, according to the Lagos State Gov-ernment include 2, 640 lock-up shops as against 1, 484 shops which used to be in the old Tejuosho Market.

Instead of the illegal attachments that were used as key-clamps in the old market, the Lagos State Government provided 1,251 key-clamps, almost double the number of the illegal attachments at the old car park.

Other facilities in the market include banking halls, eight lifts to enable move-ment of goods and people to the top floors, two escalators for up and down movement of traders and buyers, two ramps designed

to assist physically challenged people to get into and out of the building and a crèche where nursing mothers can keep their ba-bies and attend to them in-between, while doing their businesses.

There is also a dedicated Fire Service Station equipped with fire fighting systems to prevent fire outbreak or respond to any disaster.

Whereas extensions were created in the space provided as car park in the old mar-ket, a dedicated 800-vehicle capacity car park was built as part of the new shopping complex.

The Fashola administration that con-structed the complex had during its com-missioning issued strong warning against any attempt to convert the parking space into trading space, advising that it would be to the advantage of the traders to ensure movement that would help to bring custom-

ers rather than a traffic gridlock that would scare them away.

These innovations in facilities done to a hitherto rustic market are quite remark-able and highly commendable but the en-tire effort is tainted with the usual elitist characteristics of Fashola’s administra-tion.

The cost of the over 2000 lock-up shops are far beyond the reach of common trad-ers. They are not only expensive, the pro-cess of acquiring one is rather too officious and bureaucratic for the barely literate and poor traders.

Hence, politicians and highly placed public servants hijacked the shops. It was alleged that they have even before the com-pletion of the project, allocated the shops to their relatives and cronies to the detriment of the traders who owned the burnt stalls.

The disappointed traders now feel cheat-

ed and lament their inability to access the shops built by the government with tax payers money.

National Mirror investigations revealed that the shops were taken by influential people in the city at minimal or moderate rates but are now being sublet by the trad-ers at very exorbitant rates. As such, low income traders in the market cannot afford the shops and thus, government’s purpose for building the ultramodern complex is being defeated.

Tejuosho Complex is not an isolated case; facilities at other markets like the Wa-hab Folawiyo Shopping Mart, Suru/Alaba Market, Falomo Shopping Complex and Adeniran Ogunsanya Shopping Complex are way beyond what an average trader can dare venture into.

Just like the new Tejuosho, shops in these markets are believed to have been acquired by the privileged rich and sublet to some other rich traders who are able to afford the exorbitant rents.

The trend had sparked off an insinua-tion in many quarter that the state govern-ment takes delight and special interest in burnt markets so that it could have the op-portunity of taking over the markets, build new ones, and offer them at neck-breaking rents.

Almost one year after the official opening of the new Tejuosho Shopping Complex, Surulere, the beautiful and imposing edifice is yet to be fully occupied. FRANCIS SUBERU and DARE AKOGUN report that exorbitant cost of renting shops is the reason traders are loitering around and hawking their wares in the open, even at other markets in Lagos State.

AVAILABLE FACILITIES IN THE NEW MODERN COMPLEX, ACCORDING TO THE LAGOS STATE

GOVERNMENT INCLUDE 2, 640 LOCK-UP SHOPS AS AGAINST 1, 484 SHOPS WHICH USED TO BE IN THE

OLD TEJUOSHO MARKET

38 Thursday, July 16, 2015 National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netInsight

Tejuosho Market: A beautiful

Side view of the new Tejuosho market complex

A source revealed that shops cost as much as N5million and above depend-ing on size, just as bidders are required to pay the sum into designated banks. Notice should be taken however, of the fact that the shops were offered as mortgage to bid-ders and the entire sum is expected to be paid in eight years.

Simple mathematics shows that by im-plication of the eight-year mortgage, a shop per annum in the complex would cost between N600, 000 and N700, 000.

However, most of the successful bid-ders who acquired the shops succeeded as a result of their connection or affiliations to the powers that be and as such, in a cruel capitalist nature, they sublet the shops to those who can afford it at exorbitant rents, ranging from N1million to N1.5m per an-num.

Some traders who bared their minds on the development said the shops were most-ly concessioned to people who in turn im-posed heavy acquisition costs on them not minding the status of the traders.

The traders accused the immediate past Fashola administration of being highly in-sensitive, saying his government enjoyed milking traders who are supposed to be the beneficiaries of the projects.

According to one of the traders, Shina Adeyemo, who sells cloths at Ayilara street right opposite the New Tejuosho Complex, he would have loved to rent one of the shops but none is within his reach.

“Before the demolition of the old Tejuo-so Market, the price of the shops was af-fordable to many of us, but with the latest development, it has gone beyond the reach of common traders,” he said.

Another trader, Mr. Paul Okafor, who hawks confectioneries, said he collects his wares on credit and pay back after sales. “When will I make such a huge amount of money to get a shop, do they expect me to go into robbery to raise the money?’’ he queried.

Another petty trader who is also a wid-ow, Madam Yetunde Sani, said she has been managing her trading business using a small table in front of her apartment.

She also lamented government’s insensi-tivity, saying many traders are being denied the opportunity to own shops as a result of exorbitant charges. “Why must we suf-fer in the midst of plenty? The rich ones have used their connection to acquire these shops and there is nothing anybody can do,” she lamented.

Olabisi Idris, is yet another trader who indicted Fashola’s government for the hap-penings in the market. He posited that the government had good intention, but lacked monitoring and distributive planning which rendered its intention meaningless, since the hope of the common man was dashed at the end of the day.

Filled with emotion, Thomas Okafor who now sells shoes inside Yaba market must have been crying inside, but could only manage to utter these words, “Just look at how they burnt down Tejuosho Mar-ket and made a rich man like me a mere shoe trader.

“Some of my colleagues who didn’t have anything to fall on have now turned to mere

chase all those people away. I don’t know how they will do it but I know they’ll defi-nitely do it. That’s why we broke the bank to get this small shop for N1.2million and this is one of the smallest shops here.”

On why those in the old market have not relocated to the new complex, Chima Matthew who owns a shop opposite the re-built Tejuosho market said himself and his sisters were unable to raise funds to get the new shops.

According to him, “I guess they didn’t build it for people like us. You can see the market even has two blocks. The main market is for the moderately rich. The ul-tramodern market is for the super rich like Fashola and Tinubu and their friends.”

The traders unequivocally pointed out that until the Lagos State Government un-veils its real plan for the new market and what it intends to do with the rivalling shops opposite it, the new complex will re-main a ghost market, devoid of the lively hustle and bustle of a proper trade zone.

However, the Lagos State Government had said it was not directly involved in the management and allocation of shops to the prospective bidders.

Before leaving office on May 29 this year, former governor Fashola had explained that the shops were offered to prospective traders on Owner-Occupier basis, whereby the owner-occupiers would pay for their shops gradually, saying it would take each successful bidder eight years of mortgage payment to fully pay for the shops.

The state government reasoned that shops and houses are not things that can be bought in one day like other commodities. Hence, the shops are meant to be paid for within a period of eight years.

Fashola’s statement confirmed that those who got the shops on eight years mortgage are the ones letting it out at exor-bitant rates to traders.

“What is good costs money. What we have decided to do is to make it easier and convenient for you to pay for it gradually so that you can do your business and put your profit back to own what you have,” Fashola had said at the opening ceremony.

The ex-governor said without the pro-vision of the complex, the traders would have resorted to all sorts of make-shift shops which would have ended up in a dis-organised market.

He equally said it was a way to encour-age the poor in the society to aspire to a better life and to lead them to that better life. “That is the way to take people out of poverty,” he had added.

While giving his opinion on the new complex, former Commissioner for Physi-cal Planning and Urban Development, Olutoyin Ayinde, said government was conscious of the untold sufferings which the fire disaster in the market brought to the traders seven years ago, pointing out that this informed the determination not to lose the opportunity to restore the trad-ers’ hope.

He believes the beautiful edifice is a proof of the Fashola administration’s de-sire to standout and be unique and not do-ing things the way they used to be done.

THE TREND HAD SPARKED OFF AN

INSINUATION IN MANY QUARTER THAT THE STATE GOVERNMENT TAKES DELIGHT AND SPECIAL INTEREST IN BURNT MARKETS SO

THAT IT COULD HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY OF TAKING

OVER THE MARKETS, BUILD NEW ONES, AND OFFER THEM AT NECK-

BREAKING RENTS

Governor Ambode Folashade Tinunu-Ojo (Iyaoloja-General)

errand boys for shop owners. You see them tugging at you to follow them inside any-one’s shop so they could get a commission from whatever you buy.”

Tales of disappointment continue inside the new Tejuosho Shopping Complex where few traders who could afford N1million and above to get a space not bigger than “a store” lamented low turnout, saying busi-ness had been bad.

According to them, their businesses may not thrive until traders opposite the market are evacuated.

One of them, Yewande Adebayo, told National Mirror that: “We know they will send them away eventually. Their trading activities are rubbing on us negatively. We don’t sell much here because traders and buyers are scanty inside the complex and everyone seems to prefer those on the other side (referring to the old market opposite the new buildings).

“The traders there said they cannot af-ford the new market but we know we had to get this place before they (the government)

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net Thursday, July 16, 2015 39Insight

edifi ce beyond traders’ reach

Entrance to the Tejuosho market

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net40 Thursday, July 16, 2015Cocktail

xx

The giant ATM, sticking out of the back of the getaway truck, wasn’t too hard for police to spot.

An Ohio woman whose infant daughter’s joy-

ful reaction to getting new glasses went viral on Facebook said the girl’s sight was affecting her crawling.

Jessica Sinclair of Cincinnati shared a video on Facebook of her daughter, Piper Verdusco, ini-tially resisting the little pink glass-

es, but soon changing her opinion and smiling joyously while seeing clearly for the first time.

Sinclair said she and her partner, Andrew Verdusco, took Piper to a pediatrician a few weeks ago because they were concerned that she hadn’t yet started to crawl.

“They thought she might have astigmatism,” Sinclair told ABC News. “She didn’t but she’s

extremely farsighted and so needed glasses.”

Sinclair said laughter can be heard in the video, but she was actually in tears.

“You can hear Andrew laughing but what you can’t see is I was choking back tears of joy that she could see the world the way it was meant to be,” Sinclair said. “It was a fantastic moment to witness.”

Oddities

Men arrested after stealing ATM with backhoe

Infant’s joy at seeing through glasses goes viral online

$200K found hidden on treetop in campsite

What seemed to be a real-life money tree in northeast-

ern Germany turned out to be an unfortunate hiding spot when 50 euro notes be-gan falling from its branch-es.

Police have revealed that over $200,000 in cash was held in a plastic bag and sus-pended from a treetop. The bundle was found last Satur-day after a significant heat wave, according to German outlet NDR.

Temperatures soared over the weekend in the

Mirow area, causing a pipe from which the bag of mon-ey was hanging between two tree branches to bend. An elastic used to close the bag reportedly broke, allowing 50 euro notes to slip to the ground like dead leaves.

The owner of the camp-site where the money was discovered has come for-ward to claim it, sources say. Authorities have yet to prove ownership of the money; there is suspicion it is con-nected to a cottage fire that took place earlier that week on the property.

Two men from Clew-iston, Florida, are accused of using a

backhoe to steal an ATM machine from a Center-State Bank location in Win-ter Haven.

The men successfully dislodged the ATM and loaded it into their getaway truck. But they were pulled over and apprehended a short time later while driv-ing back to Clewiston.

Police were clued into

the incident by an automat-ic bank alarm that sounded just before midnight on July 10. Not long after, a warning was sent out to state and lo-cal police, calling on offi-cers to keep an eye out for a large truck carrying an ATM. The would-be thieves were arrested in the wee hours of Saturday morn-

ing, after their Ford F-250 pickup truck was pulled over and police located the ATM in the back.

The men, Francisco Hernandez, 54, and Je-sus Antonio Sanchez, 50, claimed they were out searching for scrap metal and they weren’t sure how the ATM ended up in the

back of their truck. The bank ATM had not been opened, police said. De-tectives determined that the two stole the backhoe from a construction site near the bank.

The two men are cur-rently being held in Polk County Jail, booked on charges of grand theft.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 41Thursday, July 16, 2015 Advertorial

PERFECTER INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS[NURSERY, PRIMARY AND COLLEGE]

4 KASALI ONILERE, NEAR LOWA ESTATE GATE, BENSON, IKORODU. PERMANENT SITE: AGBELE, NEAR GRAMMAR SCHOOL, OTA-ANO, IKORODU

School Teacher, Mrs. Ikemefuna with pupils

Yoruba cultural dance by pupils

Hausa cultural display by pupils

Students in Arts Class with their teacher Students performing science experiment in their lab

Wazobia cultural dance

Students in entrepreneurship class

Mrs Ayinde (left) and Mrs Adabonyin with pupils

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Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Page 1 of 12

Daily Summary (Bonds)

No Debt Trading Activity

Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

AGRICULTURECrop Production Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value Traded

OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. OKOMUOIL 21 26.01 322,236 8,456,330.60PRESCO PLC PRESCO 25 31.19 218,763 6,822,953.58

Crop Production Totals 46 540,999 15,279,284.18

Livestock/Animal Specialties Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedLIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. LIVESTOCK 23 2.05 619,789 1,256,911.45

Livestock/Animal Specialties Totals 23 619,789 1,256,911.45

AGRICULTURE Totals 69 1,160,788 16,536,195.63

CONGLOMERATESDiversified Industries Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value Traded

A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. AGLEVENT 4 1.27 201,018 255,292.86CHELLARAMS PLC. CHELLARAM 1 3.95 100 376.00TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC TRANSCORP 225 2.08 19,593,371 41,190,582.01U A C N PLC. UACN 191 41.00 7,566,433 309,226,470.24

Diversified Industries Totals 421 27,360,922 350,672,721.11

CONGLOMERATES Totals 421 27,360,922 350,672,721.11

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Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

ICTIT Services Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value Traded

COMPUTER WAREHOUSE GROUP PLC CWG 1 3.43 50,000 171,500.00IT Services Totals 1 50,000 171,500.00

Processing Systems Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedCHAMS PLC CHAMS 5 0.50 8,000 4,000.00

Processing Systems Totals 5 8,000 4,000.00

ICT Totals 6 58,000 175,500.00

INDUSTRIAL GOODSBuilding Materials Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value Traded

ASHAKA CEM PLC ASHAKACEM 17 21.05 175,313 3,691,832.33BERGER PAINTS PLC BERGER 13 9.86 332,712 3,280,540.32CAP PLC CAP 24 41.00 132,922 4,924,747.67CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC CCNN 8 11.50 18,966 208,438.38DANGOTE CEMENT PLC DANGCEM 49 168.00 123,233 20,833,174.24PORTLAND PAINTS & PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC PORTPAINT 3 4.85 88,000 405,680.00

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Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Page 8 of 12

Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

INDUSTRIAL GOODSBuilding Materials Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value Traded

LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. WAPCO 23 100.00 11,330,302 1,132,989,248.15Building Materials Totals 137 12,201,448 1,166,333,661.09

Electronic and Electrical Products Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedCUTIX PLC. CUTIX 3 1.50 32,900 47,527.00

Electronic and Electrical Products Totals 3 32,900 47,527.00

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals 140 12,234,348 1,166,381,188.09

OIL AND GASEnergy Equipment and Services Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value Traded

JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC JAPAULOIL 3 0.50 421,920 210,960.00Energy Equipment and Services Totals 3 421,920 210,960.00

Integrated Oil and Gas Services Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedOANDO PLC OANDO 407 12.10 8,293,820 102,144,115.59

Integrated Oil and Gas Services Totals 407 8,293,820 102,144,115.59

Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedBECO PETROLEUM PRODUCT PLC BECOPETRO 1 0.50 9,370,650 4,685,325.00CONOIL PLC CONOIL 7 40.85 6,166 239,302.46ETERNA PLC. ETERNA 10 2.30 163,858 375,744.18FORTE OIL PLC. FO 160 196.87 1,919,158 361,457,333.55MOBIL OIL NIG PLC. MOBIL 23 154.35 56,498 8,472,130.22MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. MRS 4 49.66 80 3,774.40

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Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

OIL AND GASPetroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value Traded

TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. TOTAL 12 159.60 59,797 9,516,188.00Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Totals 217 11,576,207 384,749,797.81

Exploration and Production Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedSEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD SEPLAT 18 319.00 80,135 25,607,486.52

Exploration and Production Totals 18 80,135 25,607,486.52

OIL AND GAS Totals 645 20,372,082 512,712,359.92

SERVICESAutomobile/Auto Part Retailers Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value Traded

R T BRISCOE PLC. RTBRISCOE 3 0.71 75,374 53,515.54Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Totals 3 75,374 53,515.54

Courier/Freight/Delivery Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedRED STAR EXPRESS PLC REDSTAREX 4 4.75 32,137 145,259.24TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. TRANSEXPR 1 1.22 50,000 61,000.00

Courier/Freight/Delivery Totals 5 82,137 206,259.24

Employment Solutions Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedC & I LEASING PLC. CILEASING 3 0.52 30,000 15,200.00

Employment Solutions Totals 3 30,000 15,200.00

Hotels/Lodging Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedIKEJA HOTEL PLC IKEJAHOTEL 12 3.83 197,165 755,572.95

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Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

OIL AND GASPetroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value Traded

TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. TOTAL 12 159.60 59,797 9,516,188.00Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Totals 217 11,576,207 384,749,797.81

Exploration and Production Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedSEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD SEPLAT 18 319.00 80,135 25,607,486.52

Exploration and Production Totals 18 80,135 25,607,486.52

OIL AND GAS Totals 645 20,372,082 512,712,359.92

SERVICESAutomobile/Auto Part Retailers Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value Traded

R T BRISCOE PLC. RTBRISCOE 3 0.71 75,374 53,515.54Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Totals 3 75,374 53,515.54

Courier/Freight/Delivery Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedRED STAR EXPRESS PLC REDSTAREX 4 4.75 32,137 145,259.24TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. TRANSEXPR 1 1.22 50,000 61,000.00

Courier/Freight/Delivery Totals 5 82,137 206,259.24

Employment Solutions Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedC & I LEASING PLC. CILEASING 3 0.52 30,000 15,200.00

Employment Solutions Totals 3 30,000 15,200.00

Hotels/Lodging Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedIKEJA HOTEL PLC IKEJAHOTEL 12 3.83 197,165 755,572.95

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Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Page 10 of 12

Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

SERVICESHotels/Lodging Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedHotels/Lodging Totals 12 197,165 755,572.95

Printing/Publishing Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedACADEMY PRESS PLC. ACADEMY 7 0.91 43,000 40,850.00LEARN AFRICA PLC LEARNAFRCA 5 1.14 200,000 218,000.00

Printing/Publishing Totals 12 243,000 258,850.00

Road Transportation Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC ABCTRANS 6 0.52 1,267,222 658,955.44

Road Transportation Totals 6 1,267,222 658,955.44

Transport-Related Services Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedAIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC AIRSERVICE 6 2.08 10,000 20,355.00NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC NAHCO 11 4.97 117,324 583,453.36

Transport-Related Services Totals 17 127,324 603,808.36

SERVICES Totals 58 2,022,222 2,552,161.53

EQTY Board Totals 3,959 423,140,634 7,492,944,813.95

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Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Page 11 of 12

Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board ASeM

CONSUMER GOODSFood Products Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value Traded

MCNICHOLS PLC MCNICHOLS 1 1.43 10,000 15,000.00Food Products Totals 1 10,000 15,000.00

CONSUMER GOODS Totals 1 10,000 15,000.00

SERVICESFood/Drug Retailers and Wholesalers Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value Traded

JULI PLC. JULI 1 1.75 500 835.00Food/Drug Retailers and Wholesalers Totals 1 500 835.00

SERVICES Totals 1 500 835.00

ASeM Board Totals 2 10,500 15,835.00

Equity Activity Totals 3,961 423,151,134 7,492,960,648.95

Daily Summary (ETP)

Exchange Traded FundName Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedLOTUS HALAL EQUITY ETF LOTUSHAL15 1 10.20 24 244.80VETIVA GRIFFIN 30 ETF VETGRIF30 1 14.10 15 211.50

Exchange Traded Fund Totals 2 39 456.30

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Daily Summary (ETP)

ETF Board Totals 2 39 456.30

ETP Activity Totals 2 39 456.30

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Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATEBuilding Structure/Completion/Other Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value Traded

COSTAIN (W A) PLC. COSTAIN 4 0.67 74,286 49,771.62Building Structure/Completion/Other Totals 4 74,286 49,771.62

Infrastructure/Heavy Construction Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedJULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. JBERGER 2 47.97 2,080 94,806.40

Infrastructure/Heavy Construction Totals 2 2,080 94,806.40

Real Estate Development Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedUACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED UAC-PROP 19 10.20 46,615 467,735.55

Real Estate Development Totals 19 46,615 467,735.55

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Totals 25 122,981 612,313.57

CONSUMER GOODSBeverages--Brewers/Distillers Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value Traded

CHAMPION BREW. PLC. CHAMPION 11 5.58 560,000 2,999,162.35GUINNESS NIG PLC GUINNESS 28 140.00 476,237 66,668,947.24INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. INTBREW 11 18.99 2,905,821 52,677,368.31NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. NB 114 128.60 2,926,034 388,933,659.00

Beverages--Brewers/Distillers Totals 164 6,868,092 511,279,136.90

Beverages--Non-Alcoholic Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value Traded7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. 7UP 19 181.00 32,548 5,858,946.90

Beverages--Non-Alcoholic Totals 19 32,548 5,858,946.90

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Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

CONSUMER GOODSFood Products Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value Traded

DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC DANGFLOUR 39 3.07 653,466 2,018,639.09DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC DANGSUGAR 53 5.92 1,265,894 7,499,162.97FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. FLOURMILL 69 29.20 228,643 6,446,604.55HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC HONYFLOUR 17 2.78 321,580 899,486.20NATIONAL SALT CO. NIG. PLC NASCON 36 6.73 934,084 6,349,063.95

Food Products Totals 214 3,403,667 23,212,956.76

Food Products--Diversified Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedCADBURY NIGERIA PLC. CADBURY 10 35.05 2,615 87,128.50NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE 39 840.00 9,726 8,172,155.35

Food Products--Diversified Totals 49 12,341 8,259,283.85

Household Durables Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedVITAFOAM NIG PLC. VITAFOAM 23 5.60 408,520 2,286,263.15

Household Durables Totals 23 408,520 2,286,263.15

Personal/Household Products Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedP Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. PZ 30 28.00 331,994 9,328,188.26UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. UNILEVER 4 39.90 8,507 322,500.37

Personal/Household Products Totals 34 340,501 9,650,688.63

CONSUMER GOODS Totals 503 11,065,669 560,547,276.19

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Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

FINANCIAL SERVICESBanking Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value Traded

ACCESS BANK PLC. ACCESS 255 4.80 30,641,698 147,729,828.79DIAMOND BANK PLC DIAMONDBNK 31 3.96 1,120,144 4,285,104.51ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED ETI 39 20.34 583,411 11,964,895.75FIDELITY BANK PLC FIDELITYBK 78 1.60 6,840,083 11,039,339.73GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. GUARANTY 270 25.56 7,701,388 199,666,723.24SKYE BANK PLC SKYEBANK 69 2.09 2,770,766 5,805,769.62STERLING BANK PLC. STERLNBANK 27 2.05 2,099,020 4,240,432.78UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC UBA 161 4.33 12,255,111 52,967,069.85UNION BANK NIG.PLC. UBN 30 8.47 66,248 549,321.06UNITY BANK PLC UNITYBNK 40 2.33 4,261,100 10,052,857.22WEMA BANK PLC. WEMABANK 26 0.95 721,328 686,265.60ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC ZENITHBANK 275 17.80 234,743,042 4,213,419,482.55

Banking Totals 1,301 303,803,339 4,662,407,090.70

Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedAIICO INSURANCE PLC. AIICO 25 0.96 6,227,576 5,968,420.36CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CONTINSURE 13 1.00 1,081,500 1,082,300.00CORNERSTONE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC. CORNERST 1 0.50 100 50.00

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Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

FINANCIAL SERVICESInsurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value Traded

EQUITY ASSURANCE PLC. EQUITYASUR 1 0.50 1,000 500.00GREAT NIGERIAN INSURANCE PLC GNI 1 0.50 500,000 250,000.00GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. GUINEAINS 1 0.50 200 100.00LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. LASACO 1 0.50 370,000 185,000.00LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. LAWUNION 1 0.50 3,571 1,785.50LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC LINKASSURE 3 0.50 210,268 105,137.00AXAMANSARD INSURANCE PLC MANSARD 11 2.85 1,137,667 3,242,144.28MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. MBENEFIT 3 0.50 400 200.00N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. NEM 36 0.66 3,737,250 2,385,690.00NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. NIGERINS 3 0.50 41,000 20,500.00REGENCY ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC REGALINS 1 0.50 1,000 500.00STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC. STDINSURE 1 0.50 4,000 2,000.00UNIC INSURANCE PLC. UNIC 1 0.50 133 66.50UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY PLC UNIVINSURE 1 0.50 500,000 250,000.00WAPIC INSURANCE PLC WAPIC 3 0.50 4,278 2,139.00

Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals 107 13,819,943 13,496,532.64

Micro-Finance Banks Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedFORTIS MICROFINANCE BANK PLC FORTISMFB 1 5.42 1,000 5,420.00NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC NPFMCRFBK 13 1.05 1,215,600 1,218,335.00

Micro-Finance Banks Totals 14 1,216,600 1,223,755.00

Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedABBEY MORTGAGE BANK PLC ABBEYBDS 1 1.25 500 595.00UNION HOMES SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC. UNHOMES 1 5.78 1,000 5,500.00

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Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

FINANCIAL SERVICESMortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedMortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals 2 1,500 6,095.00

Other Financial Institutions Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value TradedAFRICA PRUDENTIAL REGISTRARS PLC AFRIPRUD 30 2.73 207,900 563,514.97CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC CUSTODYINS 19 4.00 215,822 861,605.50FBN HOLDINGS PLC FBNH 356 7.60 14,161,354 108,264,357.09FCMB GROUP PLC. FCMB 85 3.00 8,784,388 25,045,476.79ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. ROYALEX 2 0.50 14,507 7,253.50STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC STANBIC 62 23.55 2,721,471 64,124,205.93UBA CAPITAL PLC UBCAP 68 1.33 3,345,660 4,392,507.37

Other Financial Institutions Totals 622 29,451,102 203,258,921.15

FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals 2,046 348,292,484 4,880,392,394.49

HEALTHCAREPharmaceuticals Symbol No. of Deals Current Price Quantity Traded Value Traded

EVANS MEDICAL PLC. EVANSMED 11 0.76 104,100 75,993.00FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC FIDSON 2 3.48 3,550 12,070.00GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. GLAXOSMITH 17 43.50 45,522 1,892,122.64MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. MAYBAKER 1 1.60 10,150 15,428.00NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC NEIMETH 14 1.27 287,587 365,713.49NIGERIA-GERMAN CHEMICALS PLC. NIG-GERMAN 1 6.32 229 1,376.29

Pharmaceuticals Totals 46 451,138 2,362,703.42

HEALTHCARE Totals 46 451,138 2,362,703.42

1st Tier Securities1st Tier SecuritiesSector Company name No Of Deals Quotation(N) Quantity Traded Value of Shares(N)

Stock exchange daily equities summaryEquities as at July 15, 2015

Sector Company name No Of Deals Quotation(N) Quantity Traded Value of Shares(N)

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, July 16, 2015 Capital Market42

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net 43Thursday, July 16, 2015 Young & Next Generation

StorieS by LeoNArD oKACHie

Contrary to claims that younger people don’t care about cars, a recent study

by a leading online car classi-fied, Carmudi, has shown that car ownership is actually a top priority among youths in Nige-ria.

Carmudi analysed data based on more than six million visits to its website during May 2015, and found that majority of us-ers searching for cars are be-tween 18-34 years old.

According to the data gath-ered from the company’s Lagos office, 35% of all sessions in May 2015 came from the millen-nial age bracket, followed by 35-44 year olds (25%).

The organisation noted that it does not come as a sur-prise as convenience is key for younger buyers who are more interested in using online plat-forms for searches and pur-chases.

The report says the rise of the cheap smartphone is en-abling more youths, despite their lesser income, to gain ac-cess to the internet, stressing that it’s now more convenient than ever before for them to de-termine prices and specifica-tions of products online before making a purchase.

“With an estimated 1.8 bil-lion millennials around the world, this group is the first to be born straight into the digi-tal generation. The internet is

Owning a car tops youths’ priority in Nigeria –Report

not a thing to Millennials; it is just the norm. Globally, 8 out of 10 of millennials are expected to make mobile purchases in the next 12 months,” the report says.

Managing Director at Carmu-di Nigeria, Amy Muoneke said, “The shifting demographics in the emerging markets are very important for the automotive industry. Many of these coun-tries have a tech-savvy young population, who are more com-fortable using the Internet in everyday life.

“The millennial genera-tion are willing to spend more money on consumer goods, and are more enthusiastic to spend time researching every little detail before buying. Au-tomakers and car dealers no-tice this phenomenon and are looking for opportunities to win lifelong customers from this age group.”

Meanwhile, after raising $25 million in funding, launch-ing their iOS app and crossing two million listings, Carmudi continues to show exceptional growth and shows no signs of slowing down.

Carmudi, the fastest way to sell and buy cars online in the emerging markets, attracted 6.4 million monthly visitors during the second quarter of 2015, a 17.6 percent increase over Q1.

The number of monthly visits grew in all twenty coun-tries where Carmudi operates, and exceptional growth in traf-fic was seen in Sri Lanka, Ivo-

L-R:Head of Operations (Africa), Mohammed Iyamu; Managing Director, Amy Muoneke and Public Relations Manager, Carmudi Nige-ria, Vivian Iweha, at a meeting with the new managing director and the media, recently.

ry Coast and Vietnam, where monthly visits grew up to 68 percent.

Between Q1 and Q2, Car-mudi Nigeria saw a 30 percent increase in total visits, par-ticularly in iOS visits where we saw an over 700 percent growth since it was launched in February this year.

Out of four regions where Carmudi is currently present, the fastest growing countries are Nigeria, Indonesia, Paki-stan, UAE, and Mexico. In the past eight month period, the number of uploaded listings on the site have increased up to 116.6 percent.

Launched in end of 2013, the online car classifieds now

operates in 20 countries across Africa, Asia, Middle East and Latin America and is already the market leader in Bangla-desh, Myanmar and the Philip-pines. With over two million list-ings in the past year, Carmudi is on the fast track to become the number one place to buy and sell cars in the emerging markets.

“So far, 2015 has been a stellar year for Carmudi and we will continue to provide our users with the best car shopping ex-perience and to be number one in the industry. We want Car-mudi to be a household name, a one-stop-shop for all car related subjects”, says Muon-eke.

Expert trains children on safetySafety expert and convener of For-

warders Group, a developmental group focused on developing the

society, Oluwole Benjamin Eweoya, is presently on a safety training tour of schools in Lagos.

Speaking during a safety training session and safety kits presentation to Ewutuntun Grammar School, Os-hodi, Lagos, he said the tour became a necessity because people are igno-rant of the hazards around them so it’s better to teach children to be safe-ty conscious so that it becomes sec-ond nature to them when they grow up.

Regarding the recent water disas-ters and constant fire incidents that lead to loss of lives in Lagos and all over the nation, he said, “Basically, the major thing that leads to disas-ters is ignorance. Many people are unaware of hazards around them.

Even though some people may be aware, they take things for granted.

“So, our consciousness, what we call behavioural safety, needs to be encouraged in this society. As we walk around, as we live our daily lives, we need to be conscious of the hazards around us. And we must take precautions to avoid accidents that could cause injuries and in some sit-uations lead to death. So if children are beginning to get the awareness of safety from childhood, as they grow up, it becomes part and parcel of them, and it becomes second nature.”

Speaking further, he said, “Ewu-tuntun Grammer School is the third school in this local government that we’ve trained on safety and presented safety kits to. We intend to go beyond this local government, but because I benefitted from this local govern-ment, where I was born and bred,

Oshodi Local Government Area to be precise, and charity they say begins at home, that’s why I’m starting from Oshodi.

“We’ve done that at Mafoluku Grammar School, Ikeja Grammar School and Ewutuntun Grammar School and now we’re proceeding to other schools in the local govern-ment. If we can’t make them this academic session, next session we’ll proceed.”

Asked if his safety training initia-tive of children is just a Lagos thing, he said, “Well, given the opportunity, we’ll do nationwide. And for us to do nationwide, you know it’s going be capital intensive. I’ve a few people who have volunteered to be part of this sensitization, but at the same time, we’ll call on some of the agen-cies to work with us.”

He agreed that school children Eweoya (r) presenting the safety kits at Ewutuntun Grammar School, Oshodi, Lagos.

might become better aware of safety if it was included in their curriculum.

“Yes, fantastic, it’ll be a good idea to have safety in the academic curriculum. If you have it in their curriculum, as one of the subjects they will be learning in school, to a large extent, it’ll help them in the forma-tion of their personalities. But pending when that will happen, we will keep train-ing and sensitizing them on safety,” he said.

Less privileged children

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net

44 Young & Next Generation Thursday, July 16, 2015

Time with parents important for teens’ well-being –Study

Paul ErEwuba

Mirror Entertainment Market-ing and Events Company Ltd, is set to thrill children this

summer to a truly international sum-mer camp experience with a new pack-age, Camp HYPE (Harnessing Young Passion and Energy). This year’s edi-tion which host the children aged 8 – 16, will take place at La Campagne Tropicana, Ikeja.

Camp HYPE is a 3-week residen-tial summer camp which also has the support of Eko Tourist Beach Resort, Akodo.

According to the CEO, Mirror Enter-tainment, Michael Smith, Camp HYPE

is Nigeria’s first full- fledged indig-enous residential summer camp with a primary focus of helping children un-leash their talents in an atmosphere of learning and fun.

Smith stated, “Camp HYPE intro-duces children to powerful, life-chang-ing tools for wholesome living while offering .the fun of a residential sum-mer camp experience.

“We have created a positive, disci-plined yet friendly environment where kids make lifelong friendships and build healthy self-esteem. This unique camp provides kids with the perfect opportunity to enjoy an array of activ-ities that will facilitate their physical and spiritual development while keep-ing their mind and bodies busy.

Teenagers are famous for seeking independence from their parents, but research shows that many

teens continue to spend time with their parents and that this shared time is im-portant for teens’ well-being, according to Penn State researchers.

“The stereotype that teenagers spend all their time holed up in their rooms or hanging out with friends is, indeed, just a stereotype,” said Susan McHale, professor of human de-velopment and director of the Social Science Research Institute at Penn State.

“Our research shows that, well into the adolescent years, teens continue to spend time with their parents and that this shared time, especially shared time with fathers, has important implications for adolescents’ psy-chological and social adjustment,” she added.

The researchers studied whether the ste-reotype of teens growing apart from their parents and spending less time with them cap-tured the everyday experiences of families by examining changes in the amount of time youths spent with their parents from early to late adolescence.

On five occasions over seven years, the team conducted home and phone interviews with mothers, fathers and the two oldest chil-dren in almost 200 white, middle- and work-ing-class families living in small cities, towns and rural communities. At the start of the study, the oldest children in each family were

about 11 and the second oldest were about 8 years old.

During the home interviews, teens re-ported on their social skills with peers and their self-esteem. After each home visit, the researchers also conducted a series of seven nightly phone interviews, asking teens about their activities during the day of the call, including who participated in the activities with them.

According to youths’ reports of their daily time, although parent-teen time when others were also present declined from the early to late teen years, parent-teen time with just the parent and the teen present increased in early and middle adolescence -- a finding that con-tradicts the stereotype of teens growing apart from their parents.

“This suggests that, while adolescents be-come more independent, they continue to have one-on-one opportunities to maintain close re-lationships with their parents,” McHale said.

Furthermore, teens who spent more time with their fathers with others present had better social skills with peers, and teens who spent more time alone with their fathers had higher self-esteem.

The researchers also found that the decline in the time teens spent with parents and oth-ers was less pronounced for second-born than for first-born siblings. Thee also found that both mothers and fathers spent more time alone with a child of their same gender when they had both a daughter and a son.

Camp HYPE to thrill children in summer

Excited children at last year’s Camp Hype, a residential summer campat the Eko Tourist Beach Resort, Akodo

“In Nigeria one of the things we lack is adequate recreational facilities to engage our children during the sum-mer holidays. The camp is designed to take children away from a lifestyle of indoors characterized by I-pads, play stations, TV, game boy and so many other electronic gadgets to a lifestyle of enjoying the outdoors.

Camp Hype provides excellent val-ue for money for parents who are look-ing for a suitable alternative to their children’s summer vacation trips and

overseas summer camps. In nutshell, we help you carry some of the respon-sibility of parenting.

“The security of a child participat-ing in Camp HYPE is taking with every sense of importance. Camp HYPE will

be working with various security orga-

nizations to ensure the safety of each

child on the camp, from the first day to

the last day. There is a security police

post stationed within the camp site to

ensure the safety of the campers.”

aza MsuEKADUNA

In a move to improve the quality of life of the less privileged in Kaduna State, Dr. Ishaku Mabushi Shek-

arau, has set up a charity foundation aimed at assisting the less privileged to access quality education and healthcare delivery, transportation and economic empowerment.

Shekarau, who contested for the Ka-duna South Senatorial seat under the aegis of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and lost to the PDP candidate in the last elections, said the foundation is aimed at giving access to basic amenities of modern life among the less privileged.

He said, “the Shekarau Mabushi Foun-dation (SMF)” is to improve the quality of life in all communities by providing leadership for effective philanthropy that builds human capacity, enduring as-sets and by promoting community solu-tions through application of state of the art technology, research, and communi-ty mobilization to tackle issues that ad-vance their common good by preserving our heritage, protecting our today and bringing about sustainable development for a glorious future.”

He said the foundation intends to em-bark on training of health care service providers utilizing partnership model with indigenous and foreign non-gov-ernmental organisations to ensure rural healthcare proliferation, provide sensiti-

zation programme for rural dwellers on improvement of sanitary conditions and environmental impact awareness.

On education, Shekarau opined that the foundation will collaborate with the Kaduna State Government to develop a ‘Train the Trainer’ system for the con-stant upgrading of knowledge base of teaching staff, establishment of e-library facilities in central locations across the state for shared access amongst schools enabling access to more than five million books on the internet.

Speaking on his plans for agricultural development, the former APC senato-rial candidate said the foundation will organize mobile training facilities for farmers, introducing modern farming techniques and innovations and also dis-tribute high yield seedling to boost farm-ing productivity.

He added that the foundation will en-hance a scientific analysis of farmlands to advise on the class of crops most suit-able to each farming area and to liaise with the state Government to facilitate cheap access to fertilizers and pesticides.

“We shall support Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), encourage submission of small and medium scale business ideas by indigenes, assist in development of viable business models for SMEs, granting soft loans, assist in assessing loans from partner financial institutions as well as encourage the de-velopment of savings and thrift societies and fine-tuning their operational models to finance businesses,” he stressed.

Foundation for less privileged launched in Kaduna

Cardiac and Renal Centre, CRC, La-gos State recently conducted free medical screening for members

of the Lagos Chapter, Nigerian Union of Journalists at the July monthly con-gress.

Speaking to newsmen, Dr. Ngozi Aik-pokpo urged media practitioners and the general public to take routine medical checkups as regular habit in order to en-sure healthier lifestyle.

“Based on this screening, we dis-covered that about 30 per cent of those screened have high blood pressure while about 8 per cent have high blood sugar without knowing which is very danger-ous. These two diseases cause serious complications in people who have them.”

She advised people to cultivate the habit of doing regular checkups, stress-ing, “This is trying to raise awareness among the populace on the essence of regular screening and a social-corporate responsibility, giving back to the society and we feel there is no better category of people to do it for than those who are the custodian of news themselves.”

In his response, the Chairman, Lagos NUJ, Mr. Deji Elumoye commended CRC for their gesture and called on media practitioners to take their health mat-ters seriously despite the pressure of the work.

Many of the beneficiaries of the screening also expressed their apprecia-tion to the union and CRC for the medi-cal screening which many described as quite helpful and enlightening.

Mrs. Tinuke Falariye of Corporate and Publicity Unit, CRC, stated that CRC,

Centre offers journalists free medical screening

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 45MediaThursday, July 16, 2015

StorieS by Leonard okachie

Disturbed by the challenges con-fronting the federal informa-tion services in each state of

the federation, the Federal Ministry of Information has disclosed plans to resuscitate them considering their im-portance to the success of its mandate.

Permanent Secretary in the Fed-eral Ministry of Information, Dr Yemi Folasade-Esan, who discloded this in Abuja, identified inadequate funding as one of the major challenges the min-istry and its agencies were experienc-ing.

Folasade-Esan stated this while speaking with State House correspon-dents after he had briefed President Muhammadu Buhari on the activities of the ministry.

She said that she briefed the Presi-dent on the activities of the nine para-statals and agencies under the minis-try as well as the Federal Information Centres in the states of the federation.

The permanent secretary main-tained that most of the challenges have to do with adequate funding, stressing that they talked especially about National Press Centre that is not working up to the level it should work.

She continued: “We also talked about the Federal Information Cen-tres. You will recall that we have Fed-eral Information Centres in every state of the federation.

“They are not working optimally as well and we brought that to the fore because that is actually one of the strengths of the Federal Ministry of Information.

“We also talked a lot about the ex-ternal publicity and the possibility of reopening the Federal Information Services abroad.”

Folasade-Esan also told the news-men that the President was adequately briefed on the activities of Radio Bi-afra - an illegal radio station and the successful blocking of its transmis-sion signals.

She insisted that the station is not licensed by anybody to be on Nige-ria’s airwaves, adding “We also gave a report on (Radio Biafra) that because right now the signals from Radio Bi-afra have been jammed. The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has successfully jammed that.

``The NBC is also working with se-curity operatives to get those that are behind that radio because it is an ille-gal radio.”

The NBC had recently urged the pub-lic to ignore the inflammatory content of broadcasts by Radio Biafra and con-tinue to work towards national unity.

NBC had through its Director, Pub-

Govt plans to resuscitate federal information services lic Affairs, Awwalu Salihu, posted a statement on its official website say-ing : “The National Broadcasting Com-mission, NBC, has become aware of a pirate radio station transmitting sedi-tious and divisive content contrary to the provisions of the Nigeria Broad-casting Code and the law.

“The Commission wishes to assure the public that it is working in con-junction with the security forces to track the source of the broadcasts and possibly apprehend all those behind the station.

“The Commission further urges Nigerians to ignore the inflammatory content of the broadcasts and continue to work towards a strong, united and prosperous nation.”

Worried by the development, the South-East governors came out in strong terms to say that the station did not have their endorsement.

The governors rose from a day fo-rum held at Imo Government House,

Owerri, with a decision not to recog-nise the radio station.

Gov. Rochas Okorocha, at the end

of the forum, said “the radio does not have the endorsement of South- East governors.’’

Journalists being given free medical screening by Cardiac and Renal Centre in Lagos, recently.

Journalists at a training workshop in Lagos.

the first ultra modern cardiac and renal centre at Gbagada General Hospital, La-gos, is opened for the use of the public in a bid to stop the spate of medical trips abroad.

The facility is designed to handle heart and kidney related diseases and also offers out-patient services, diag-nostic services, ultrasound, CT scan, Echo cardiograph, Stress Electrocardi-ography, laboratory services, fluoros-copy, ocular investigation for complica-tions from hypertension, diabetes and renal conditions, haemo-dialysis for acute and chronic kidney diseases with 24 dialysis machine.

It also includes admission for all cardiac conditions that requires hospi-

tal stay, critical care in intensive care unit (ICU) and high dependency wards, cardiac cauterization, non-invasive cardiology, open heart surgery, renal surgery, nursing and diabetic services, rehabilitation services and corporate wellness program.

It was revealed that due to the in-creasing number of patients present-ing with end stage renal failure, people should be encouraged to do regular screening for early detection and treat-ment.

Journalists were screened for hyper-tension and diabetes which are major contributors to cardiac and renal ail-ment burden as part of preventive and health promotion strategy.

Kenya’s Supreme Court judges sue paper over story

The Sun embarrasses Burnham for refusal to be interviewed

Leonard okachie

KwaZulu-Natal Province is rolling out the red carpet for an influx of stars as MTV Base (DStv channel

322) announces the final performers for MAMA 2015.

Nigerian superstars and MAMA “Evo-lution” Award nominees P-Square will be making a rare appearance in South Af-rica to perform at the show, while Flavour makes a welcome return to the region after his blistering live performance at the MTV Africa All Stars gig back in 2013. Seyi Shay, hotly tipped for Best Female, is making her first appearance in Durban after making a huge impact at the MAMA nominations event in Joburg in May and the recent Road to MAMA club event in Lagos.

P-Square, Flavour and Seyi Shay join a stellar performer line-up that includes 2Face, AKA, Big Nuz, Black Motion, Bucie, Cassper Nyovest, Da LES, Davido, Diamond Platnumz, DJ Fisherman, DJ Tira, Jhené Aiko, NaakMusiQ, NE-YO, Toofan, Wizkid, Yemi Alade and Young Thug. “Blackish”

Seven judges of the Supreme Court have filed a case against a media house they

claim portrayed them as corrupt judicial officers.

Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, Deputy Chief Justice Kalpana Rawal, Justice Jackton Ojwang, Justice Philip Tunoi, Justice Mo-hamed Ibrahim, Justice Smoking Wanjala and Justice Njoki Nd-ungu said an article published in the Star newspaper, a publication of Radio Africa Ltd, implied they receive bribes to make certain key decisions.

The judges said the article could be understood to refer to them col-lectively or individually as it did not make it clear which judicial of-ficer it was referring to.

“The article left it open to the public to conclude that it referred to any one of the seven judges of the court, thus, by inescapable in-nuendo, defaming each one of us. None was excluded from the scope of the publisher’s blanket accu-sations,” said the judges in their court papers.

The seven judges said the me-dia house was unfair as it did not check the veracity of the allega-tions with any of them.

The judicial officers said the me-dia house also failed to carry an apology when requested to do so.

“The article spawned a follow-up in the online media, which also carried the stated accusations,” said the judges.

Media Abroad

MTV Base announces final performers for MAMA 2015

P-Square

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net46 Thursday, July 16, 2015

star Anthony Anderson is confirmed as host.

Among the many nominees from around the continent expected to attend the show are Anselmo Ralph, DJ Arafat, Chame-leone, Dreamteam, HHP, Riky Rick, Samini, OC Ukeje, Bebe Cool, Mpumi, Jovi, Uhuru and Vanessa Mdee.

Other celebrities expected to sashay down the red carpet include comedian Trevor Gumbi, Nigerian OAP Toolz, MTV Shuga star and Mr Nigeria Emmanuel Ikubese, BET “Top Actor” winner Altovise Lawrence, Miss South Africa Liesl Laurie, “Personality of the Year” nominee Bonang Matheba, “Evolution” Award nominee HHP, Boity, Khuli Chana, Joselyn Dumas, Jessica Nkosi, actress Zikhona Sodlaka, and MTV Base VJs Sizwe, Nomuzi, Ehiz and Sandile.

Also involved in the build-up to the awards are Junior B and Touch of Soul, who will both be performing at the VIP cocktail on site at the ICC on awards night, while Uhuru, K.O., DJ Feel, Benny Maver-ick, Jnr De Rocka and King Sfiso will bring

Andy Burnham’s refusal to give an interview to the Sun has not gone down well with - no prize

for guessing - the Sun.The Labour leadership contender

said on a BBC programme he would not do favours for papers attacking him or Labour.

Nor had he, a Liverpool MP, forgiv-en the Sun for its infamous coverage of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.

The response in today’s (Monday) Sun was a page 2 article with a pic-ture of Burnham posing in a taxi with a Sun logo while giving the paper an interview during the 2010 Labour lead-ership contest.

The headline over the embarrass-

it at the official pre-party at Under the Moon in Inanda on Friday night.

The MTV Africa Music Awards Kwa-Zulu-Natal 2015 will broadcast live across Africa on MTV Base (DStv chan-nel 322), MTV (DStv channel 130) and BET (DStv channel 129) this Saturday at 9:00PM.

The show will also be transmitted worldwide on partner stations and con-tent platforms including BET Interna-tional from Saturday. In addition, a spe-cial MAMA-themed edition of MTV’s acclaimed World Stage franchise will air globally on MTV channels around the world on August 27, 2015.

They are aggrieved that they were portrayed as individuals of low moral character, have no sense of obligation to their professional calling and do not deserve the title “Honourable”.

Following the publication of the article, Dr Mutunga requested Di-rector of Public Prosecutions Ke-riako Tobiko to quickly carry out investigations into alleged corrup-tion by Supreme Court judges.

The media house is expected to respond to the case filed by the judges.

- The Nation (Nariobi)

ing picture said “Sunburnt: Is two-faced Burnham the most hypocritical politi-cian in Britain?”

And the paper also ran a leading ar-ticle accusing Burnham of arrogance, pettiness and showing contempt for the Sun’s millions of readers — “the very sort of working people he claims to stand up for”. It said:

“As far as he’s concerned, if you read the Sun you just don’t matter. He’s much more interested in winning the backing of the faithful Leftie few and seizing the Labour party crown whatever the consequences.

That’s astonishing at a time when La-bour so clearly needs to reinvent itself and reach out to voters who deserted them in droves at the election.

It says much that he considers ad-dressing the electorate through a na-tional newspaper a ‘favour’ in the first place.

Burnham shows every sign he would repeat the mistakes of hopeless predecessor Ed Miliband”.

In its news story, the paper quotes Burnham’s Labour colleague, shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt, as telling the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that he wouldn’t take similar stand against the Sun.

He said. “We need to reach out to those votes. We need as many friends as possible”.

The Sun has not offered official support to any of the four candidates for the Labour leadership, the other three being Jeremy Corbyn, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall. But it has previously referred to Kendall as “the only prayer (the party) have”.

Sources: BBCBurnham on Sun’s page

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net Broad Street Diary 47Thursday, July 16, 2015

History

Myths has it that the Eyo mas-querade is not

original to Lagos Island, but was brought to the Is-land sometimes around 1750 by two unnamed per-sonalities from Ibefun an Ijebu community in pres-ent day Ogun State.

However, due to the fasci-nating appeal of the festival, they succeeded in introduc-ing it as part of interment rites of passage for the de-parting Oba at that time, Oba Ado who is believed to have married one of their cousins, Olugbani.

Another version has it that the main deity Adamu Orisha originated from Ibe-fun just as Eyo masquerade came as a result of the need to protect the deity from the activities of hooligans who might seek to destroy or steal it.

Those who hold this view say that the traditional icon-ic staff of the masquerade known as Opambata, was in-vented as part of the regalia for the purpose of warding off undesirable elements.

Another dimension was added to the supposed origin of the masquerade and festi-val as a prominent indigene, Chief Adekunle Alli, opined, “Orisa Ogunran and Orisa Elegbaopopo were original-ly brought to Lagos from Be-nin by Chief Olorogunagan Asagbemi, and Chief Olo-rogunigbesule during the reign of Oba Ado of Lagos, over 350 years ago.”

Since time immemorial, the festival as depicted by the image of a masquerade in flowing white apparel has grown from a rural fes-tivity to an internationally acclaimed event, attracting both local and international tourists, even though the frequency of such festivi-ties vary depending on who the Oba considers worthy of having such play staged in his/her honour.

According to Alli who is an authority on local custom and history as they relate to people of Lagos Island, “The first Adamu Orisa play to be recorded was the one held by King Dosumu for his late fa-ther, King Akintoye, on Feb-ruary 20, 1854, six months after the death of the latter.”

Initially, five groups, dif-ferent from each others have emerged, while participa-tion in the play was restrict-

Eyo festival: The true face of Lagos

Eyo Masquerades

shoulders with the “Opam-bata” and also prays with the praise song of his Iga.

Apart from the friendly and entertaining mood of Eyo festival, it also has vari-ous acts that can be inter-preted as taboos.

Eyo masquerades are not permitted to cross the Lagos lagoon which is the definite boundary that separates the Lagos Island from the main; women are not also allowed to plait their hair in the traditional “shuku” style without loosening it ends. Other taboos include: wearing headscarves, shoes, glasses, smoking, and using umbrella or any accessory that is akin to that of the masquerades.

Also, photographs of the Orisha Adimu, Ologede and Oniko are not to be taken by the spectators.

With the value connota-tions of this festival, many Nigerian from other re-gions and tribes seems not to be aware of the Eyo festi-val. Various tiers of govern-ment must begin to take the festival serious for the fact that it demonstrates the African and Yoruba culture and tradition.

Beyond this, it can be

used as a source of revenue if it is adequately promoted to attract both local and in-ternational tourists. We can make our own festivals as popular as the Halloween and other festivals we cele-brate even when we are not culturally linked to them.

When National Mirror interviewed people from other regions like the South East and Middle Belt zones, it was gathered that the festival is only popular in Lagos. Njide Amadi who is a Social Studies teacher who refused to tell us her school said she has not heard of the festival before and Bright Terseer who is a student at the Benue State University said, he knows about Halloween, but has not heard of Eyo festival. This ignorance could be as a result of the failure of the relevant agencies and governments in promoting our indigenous festivals to become internationally ac-cepted.

In spite of this, the story of Lagos Island, the com-mercial hub of Nigeria cannot be complete without mentioning Eyo festival.

- Isiguzo Destiny

ed to family members of var-ious individual Eyo groups of both the nuclear and extended family members, and any person or group of persons who have no filial link to any of the families can also join them for the purpose of the festival.

EventDuring the main day of

the festival, Lagos Island from the end of Carter Bridge to Tinubu Square al-ways experience heavy traf-fic as spectators and white clad masquerades are seen in a procession that usually begins from Idumota to the Iga Idunganran Palace.

Eyo festival is also known as Adamu Orisa masquer-ade festival, the masquer-ades only come out from La-gos Island.

During the festival, Lagos Island is always in tourists’ mood as spectators all over the state and beyond troop to Lagos Island to participate in the entertaining and co-lourful masquerade festival that has survived over fif-teen decades, with the pre-miere festival said to have been held in 1854, and staged in memory of late Oba Akin-toye.

The masquerades who are also referred to as Eyo are costumed dancers clad in white fabric that symbol-ises purity and the spirit of the departed.

The festival is filled with different beautiful specta-cles and has been described as the precursor of some of the modern carnivals in Brazil and is not just cel-ebrated for entertainment purposes.

The festival has signifi-cance in Yoruba culture of appreciation. Beyond enter-tainment and tourism, Eyo festival is a cultural festival used in appreciating a de-parted Lagos Oba, Chiefs or any other prominent Lago-sian that has contributed to the development of the com-munity, escorting the depart-ed person to the spirit world.

The Eyo also called “Agogoro eye” which means tall Eyo usually chants “Agogoro Eyooo! Mo yo fun e, mo yo funra mi!” which is translated “I,Eyo Masquer-ade, comes rejoicing with you and myself for witness-ing this day!” This is also a greeting that is often ex-changed between the spec-tators and the masquerades as the crowd of spectators

thickens during the festive carnival that brings many Lagosians to the Island.

Speaking on the cultural fiesta, Agboola Odesanya, an expert in cultural communi-cation and also a lecturer at the Department of Journal-ism, Lagos State Univer-sity who was stumbled on at Broad Street where he was shopping said, the Eyo Festival is a ranking festival among world’s greatest cul-tural festivals.

He added that “the Eyo festival is still celebrated for the preservation of our cul-tural heritage, which must transit across generations. The festival has stood the test of time and I am of the opinion that it deserves a similar recognition enjoyed by carnivals in Rio, Notting-ham, the Halloween and oth-ers. The Festival suggests that we are coming from a certain past, which is rel-evant today and will still be relevant tomorrow.”

He reiterated the impor-tance of the festival saying, that “the Eyo festival is rele-vant for preserving our past regardless of the vermin of cultural imperialism, and that it is crucial because what we preserve can out-

live us and can be seen by the coming generations. Again, it has entertainment dimension that attracts peo-ple.

Speaking on Eyo cos-tumes, the culture activist said: “All festivals are mes-sage laden. In the context of the Eyo festival, one per-ceivable message is purity from the white garment of the Eyo masquerades. It is a message to all and sun-dry of the state of cultural sanity of the people and re-minds us of the inevitability of death.

Supporting Agboola’s view, Segun Adewale who spoke with National mir-ror said: “You can’t see the occupant of the costumes or regalia, just as you can’t foresee the afterlife”.

The Eyo Festival is rich in tradition and merry-mak-ing.

The Eyo, when it encoun-ters people, also greets them in Yoruba dialect, “E sun-runkunrun, we ma jagbon die!” which means “Don’t fear anything, have a taste of the palm tree”. It then taps the individual especial-ly a benevolent person who has appreciated him on the

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net48 News Thursday, July 16, 2015

Foundation to empower widows

Senator tasks NEMA on relief for rainstorm victims

PTDF trains welders, fabricators for oil and gas sector

ADELEKE ADESANYA

A non-governmental organisation, Solid Growth Foundation,

SGF, has concluded plans to empower youths and widows in the country with various supports services, like management skills and entrepreneurship develop-ment.

The foundation added that it was equally ready to empower women and the girlschild through pro-motion of supportive pro-grammes and advocacy for gender equality.

Speaking on the third annual lecture series of the foundation billed to hold on July 19, 2015, a member of the SGF Coordinating Team, Mr. Tokunbo Adebe-so, said the organization has also mapped-out strategies to empower communities through initiatives that pro-motes and support responsi-ble citizenship and positive social actions within Africa.

The foundation, accord-ing to him, will also em-power the environment through the promotion and execution of sustainable development initiatives and programmes for a better and meaningful future.

Given summary of the Solid Life Seminar, which gave birth to the Solid Growth Foundation, Adebe-so disclosed that the SLS was a response strategy to eliminate mediocrity in peo-

ple, challenge their corebeing, provide space to

express their potentials, and expose them to new life de-velopment skills so as to en-able them understand and effectively utilise opportuni-ties in their environment.

“A platform that offers these skill will free men from frustration, mental and physical poverty. The appropriate knowledge they would acquire will apprecia-bly improve their lives.

‘’Solid Growth Founda-tion uses the holistic concept of empowerment to deliver programmes that promote human growth and develop-ment, gender equality, a sus-tainable environment and responsible citizenship.” he pointed out.

To him, execution of pov-erty alleviation schemes and entrepreneurship develop-ment programmes, through the Productive Hands (PRO-HANDS) Initiative that gives people skills to become self-reliant and

self-employed wealth creators. He added that the NGO plan to generate a com-munity of 1000 wealth cre-ators within ten years, start-ing from 2015 to 2025.

Solid Growth Foundation came as a result of the suc-cess of the Solid Life Semi-nar, SLS, initiated in 2007, as monthly life empowerment and business seminar and lecture series, delivered, first at Egbeda and

later to other areas in La-gos State.

PRISCILLA DENNISMINNA

Senator representing Niger East Senato-rial District, Senator

David Umaru has urged the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, to provide relief materials for victims of flood disaster which took place in Kuta, Shiroro Lo-cal Government Area of the state.

The heavy down pour rendered over 1000 villag-

The Petroleum Tech-nology Develop-ment Fund, PTDF,

says it is training welders and fabricators to fill gap in the manpower need of the oil and gas sector in Nigeria.

PTDF’s Executive Sec-retary, Mr Femi Ajayi, told the News Agency of Nige-ria, NAN, in Abuja on Tues-day that the Fund was also enhancing the capacity of vocational and technical workers.

He added that the sec-tor’s high manpower devel-

Suspects in the trial of tortured women at Ejigbo market in February 2013 after the court sitting at Ikeja High court, Laogs yester-day.

OLAWALE OLUWADAHUNSI

Awori indigenes of Lagos State whose catchment areas

comprise of Agboyi ketu, Mile 12, Ikosi Isheri and Ojota Local Council Devel-opment Areas (LCDAs) have protested against alleged marginalisation of their in-digenes in the appointment of political offices in the state.

The peaceful protest which took place at the Lagos residence of the Na-tional Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, according to the protesters, was to awaken the conscience of the former Lagos State Governor and the ruling APC party in the state to the perceived injus-

Awori protest marginalisation in govt appointments tice against the Aworis.

Elders of the communi-ties who were present at the venue of the protest, said they have not been given any political appointment for the past 16 years despite their unflinching support for the former governor and the party, (APC) in all elections.

Leader of the group, Ashi-pa of Agboyi, Chief Lateef Balogun, stated that they have been in politics since the days of the Alliance for Democracy, AD, in the South West and have always done their best by ensuring that the party is always victori-ous at the polls.

“We have never failed in our ward. When we were with AD, we won, likewise with AC, ACN, and the pres-ent APC, even though the opposition parties came up with different plots and an-tics.

ing us and taking from our resources to build their vil-lages. We are being cheated.’’ He said.

Meanwhile, Mr Sunny Ajose, the former Lagos State Head of Service and Special Adviser to Governor Raji Fashola, who inciden-tally met the aggrieved Awo-ris at Tinubu’s residence, assured them that the party leaders in the state will look into their complaint.

ers homeless in the area over the weekend and de-stroyed properties worth over N500 million.

Describing the disaster as monumental during a sympathy visit to the vic-tims whose houses were af-fected by the storm, Umaru stressed the need for quick intervention from both the state government and NEMA to reduce the hard-ship currently being expe-rienced by the victims.

While, commiserating with the people, the law-

maker assured them that he will get in touch with relevant authorities to so that urgent intervention in alleviating their sufferings could be obtained.

Welcoming the senator to his palace, the District Head of Kuta, Alhaji Gar-ba Bangajiya whose pal-ace was partly destroyed by the rain storm, said his people were shocked and devastated by the disaster.

The royal father thanked the lawmaker for visiting his community to

share in their pains, while appealing to the govern-ment to assist victims in the areas of provision of building materials, clothes, mattresses, food, mats and blanket among other.

One of the victims a civil servant, Danguma Ahmed Kuta, lamented that he took bank facility in December last year to build his house that has presently been de-stroyed, while appealing to the Senator and govern-ment to assist him.

“I was one of the delega-tions that went to visit him in his office when he was governor in 2002 on this is-sue. He made a promise to us then that we the Aworis will enjoy the tenure and that the new local governments he will create, will benefit us and I thank him because he did as he said then.

But have not been given any opportunity to take up any political position in the

state. So for this, we have come to beg our leader to look into the matter closely and help us.

He created Agboyi, Ikosi Isheri and Kosofe Local Gov-ernment Council Develop-ment Areas for us, we want our indigenes as chairmen and not an outsider,” he ap-pealed.

Chief Imam, Bola Oni-koro, while speaking, also shared the same view with

the Balogun. He said the strangers ruling their land are cheating them and tak-ing from their resources to build their villages.

“We the Aworis are be-ing cheated. From the era of Action Group, NCNC up till now, we have not changed. All our children are educat-ed. They should also appoint our children into the govern-ment offices. The strangers ruling our land are cheat-

opment capacity enhance-ment would help to reduce the dominance of expatri-ates in the area of vocation-al jobs in the sector.

``We found out that rather than just high level manpower development, we also need to look at the low hanging fruits in order to make quick wings.

``And those low hanging fruits are essentially the training of technical and vocational workers for the oil and gas industry.

``Because, the truth is that most of the low level

manpower that you have in the oil and gas industry by way of fabricators and welders are still from Asia and other developing coun-tries.

``Whereas, those are ex-pertise and capacities and competencies that we can easily build in our youths.

`` Within a space of about 18 months, you can raise somebody from be-ing unemployable to a highly-skilled and certi-fied welder or fabricator.’’

Ajayi assured that in spite of the fall in oil reve-

nue, the PTDF would con-tinue to pay priority atten-tion to personnel training and development in the oil and gas sector.

``There is no running away from training, you cannot say because you have financial challenges, you won’t do what you should do. If you say edu-cation is expensive, try ig-norance.

``We don’t have any op-tion, but to devote resources to training. Training in this area is what we must con-tinue to provide.

THEOPHILUS ONOJEGHEN WARRI

A 19-year-old Nigeri-an, Evance Ochu-ko Ivwurie Jnr,

who hails from Abraka, Ethiope East Local Gov-ernment Area of Delta State, has made history by becoming youngest First Class graduate of Royal

Holloway University of London, United Kingdom.

He is also the youngest Nigerian graduate of the university with a First Class Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Economics at 19 since the establishment of the institution 166 years ago.

Ivwurie Jnr is the son of Hon. Evance Ivwurie,

a member representing Ethiope East constituen-cy in Delta State House of Assembly on the platform of Labour Party.

Royal Holloway Uni-versity was first founded in 1849 as Bedford Col-lege. In 1879 its name was changed to Royal Hollo-way College, and in 1900 it became a constituent

college of the University of London.

It’s one of the most re-vered research schools in the world.

According to a state-ment signed by Hon. Ivwurie, “Evance made double history today (Monday) at the Royal Holloway University of London.”

While expressing de-light at his son’s outstand-ing feat, the statement quoted Professor Paul Layzell, the university’s principal (Vice Chan-cellor), as saying that “Evance Ochuko Ivwurie Jnr has made remarkable success and outstanding performance in our ex-tremely competitive and

high quality citadel of learning because of his hard work and resource-fulness.

It added that Prof. Lay-zell acknowledged the feat by saying, “I thank your country (Nigeria) for the opportunity given to us to teach you, and it was a de-light to have you.”

19-year-old Nigerian emerges youngest First Class graduate at London varsity

OSAHON JULIUSYENAGOA

Three pastors, who claimed they were from Assemblies

of God Church, and a woman, who operates a private school in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, were among child-trafficking suspects paraded yester-day by Bayelsa State Com-mand of the Department of State Security, DSS, whose operatives smashed a syndicate in the state.

Also paraded were 36 children whose ages range from five to 12 years, res-cued from homes, where they were being used as house boys and girls.

Addressing journalists at state headquarters of the DSS, Assistant State Director of Security, Mr. Friday Onuche, stated that the children were res-cued from homes in Yena-goa and Kiama in Bay-elsa State; Enugu-Agidi in Anambra State, and Port Harcourt in Rivers State after investigations.

He said the kingpins operate under the guise of missionaries and non-gov-ernmental organisations (NGOs), which target vul-nerable children largely from the northern part of the country.

Among the places tar-geted by the traffickers are Zuru in Kebbi State, Zam-fara State and Zaria in Kaduna States where they approached poor parents to allow their innocent children go with them un-der the guise of assisting to send them to school to get good education.

Mr. Onuche said the children, rather than go to school as promised always

end up as house helps or hawkers on the streets.

He said: “There is need therefore, for members of the public to be sensitised on the need to be circum-spect in the way they give their children or take in children from modern-day slave traders.”

The three pastors who gave their names as Pas-tor Dauda Nurugada (32), from Kebbi State; Pastor Anthony Anthony Onwe-beyi (53) from Anambra State; and Rev. Benaalim Isa-Garba (43) from Ka-duna State as well as Mrs. Tombra Alazigha (38) who is a school proprietor were among the suspects pa-raded.

Speaking to news-men, Pastor Onwebeyi, who confirmed that he had been arrested for the same offense but released after investigations by the Anambra State police command, said he is not a child-trafficker but a mis-sionary whose mission is to help children get back to school. He said he only collect a small amount of money as transport fares from those who eventually gets custody of the kids.

Mrs. Alazigha, said she runs a private school and an NGOs, which take care of vulnerable children, adding that she has six of the children in her cus-tody and that they were all brought to her by the pastors.

She however denied us-ing them as housemaids, saying they attend her school together with her other six children from her meager earning as a civil servant and school proprietor.

DENNIS NAKUPORT HARCOURT

Rivers State govern-ment and five com-panies have entered

into agreement to raise N3 billion to effect repairs of Eleme-Onne section of the East West Road in Rivers State.

Besides, Governor Nyesom Wike yesterday flagged off work on the six-kilometre stretch road, which is being supervised by the Ministry of Niger

Delta Affairs, �at a brief ceremony.

The flag-off of repair works on the road lead-ing to Onne Sea Port and Port Harcourt Refinery was preceded by the sign-ing of a memorandum of understanding by all the stakeholders contributing resources to fix the dam-aged federal road.

The participating par-ties include Rivers State government, Indorama, Intels, West African Con-tainer Terminal, Port Har-

court Refinery, Nigeria Ports Authority and Onne Free Trade Zones.

The parties to the proj-ect pooled an initial N1.5 billion, which represents 50 per cent of the entire contract sum estimated at N3b.

The contractor, Reyn-olds Construction Com-pany, will drive the project to 80 per cent completion before receiving final pay-ment.

Performing the flag-off, Governor Wike said the

road is vital to the econo-my of the state, hence the initiative to fix it.

He noted that the state government could not wait for the Federal Govern-ment to rehabilitate the road because of its impor-tance.

Governor Wike said: “We cannot wait for the Federal Government to repair the road. We had to take the initiative in the interest of the economy of our state.”

SEBASTINE EBHUOMHAN BENIN

Renovation work on Benin Airport has failed to meet the

deadline for delivery. National Mirror, which

monitored the work yes-terday, reports that passen-gers, business operators and workers, who have been lamenting the huge losses they suffer daily since the repair began last

month, would have to en-dure further.

The renovation work that was designed to knock the airport runway back into safety shape for large passenger planes began on June 20 with a delivery date of July 10, 2015.

However, as at yesterday when our correspondent visited the airport, the work had barely gone mid-way.

Speaking on the de-

lay, Airport Manager, Mr. Sunday Ayodele, said the work suffered delay due to bad weather that often occasioned rainfall. He also blamed the delay on other logistics he did not mention, adding that the contractor has formally written to the Federal Air-ports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, and the other own-ers of the airport to request for at least six more weeks to conclude the work.

Ayodele stated that the new date of delivery of the airport runway is now Au-gust 21.

Until now, the airport tarmac had remained open for helicopters and other light aircraft to use for landing while air passen-gers were advised to make use of the Asaba Airport as well as the Osubi Air-strip in neighbouring Delta State.

Rivers, fi rms to pool N3bn on East-West road repairs

Deadline for repair work on Benin Airport shifts to August 21

DSS burst child-traffi cking syndicate, parade 3 ‘pastors’

L-R: Bishop of Bomadi Vicarate, Rt. Rev. Hyacinth Egbebu; Bishop of the Niger Delta West Diocese, Most Rev. Emmanuel Oko-Jaja and Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, during an interactive meeting between the Governor and Christian leaders, in Yenagoa, yesterday.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net Thursday, July 16, 2015 49South South

50 North National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, July 16, 2015

JAMES ABRAHAMJOS

Academic Staff Union of Poly-technics, ASUP,

yesterday warned state governments in the coun-try against diverting Fed-eral Government bailout to other ventures, but to make judicious use of it

to “settle all outstanding salaries and allowances owed its members in order to avert constant disrup-tion of academic activities in the sector.”

The union in a press statement signed by Na-tional Publicity Secretary, Clement Chirman, and made available to Nation-al Mirror in Jos yester-

day, decried the situation where some state poly-technics were shut due to non-payment of salaries to their workers.

While charging the governors to take advan-tage of the bailout, ASUP cited the cases of Plateau, Benue, Osun and Oyo, among others, where the state governments owe

polytechnic lecturers be-tween 6 and 10 months’ salary, an experience the union described as un-healthy in the country’s quest for educational de-velopment, adding that this could impact nega-tively on Nigerian youths.

Commending Presi-dent Muhammadu Buhari for coming to the rescue

of the states on the mat-ter, ASUP called for close monitoring of the dis-bursement of the funds to ensure they are used for the purpose released.

It also used the medium to express dissatisfaction over the lingering dichot-omy between graduates of university and poly-technics and colleges of

education; non-passage of The Polytechnic Act; non-implementation of the NEEDS Assessment re-port, unfavourable work-ing environment at some polytechnics, especially Federal Polytechnic, Oko; and the general poor fund-ing of polytechnic educa-tion in Nigeria.

Don’t divert bailout fund, ASUP warns states

EZEKIEL TITUSBAUCHI

Presidential Initia-tive for the North-East, PINE, yes-

terday donated relief materials worth N350 million to Internally Dis-placed Persons, IDPs, in Bauchi State.

Presenting the items, PINE Chief of Staff, Mo-hammed Danjuma, said PINE had provided relief items for distribution, tar-geting at least 16,000 IDPs in eight local government areas of the state.

Danjuma said the or-gainisation distributed non-food items as well as food items that include rice, maize, mats, blan-kets, dozens of textile materials, sanitary pads, vegetable oil, and palm oil to IDPs in the said local

councils.The official said PINE

had designated eight council areas of Dambam, Zaki, Katagum, Darazo, Alkaleri, Gamawa, Bau-chi and Kirfi to facilitate smooth assistance to the displaced people.

While disclosing that its assistance was buoyed by help from various com-munities in the state, the PINE officer noted: “Com-munities have provided succour; the number is strengthening. Right now, the number of internally displaced people is quite enormous, which is why we are targeting over 16,000 of them.”

He pointed out that the gesture would assist the displaced persons and mitigate their sufferings, adding that it would be a continuous process.

AZA MSUEKADUNA

Kaduna State gov-ernment has an-nounced the re-

tirement of 20 permanent secretaries in line with the resolve to cut the cost of running government.

A statement signed by Governor Nasir el-Rufai’s Special Assistant, Media and Publicity, Samuel Aru-wan, said the decision fol-lows the streamlining of ministries in the state from 19 to 13, “as part of efforts to

free resources for schools, hospitals, roads and other public goods.”

The statement said gov-ernment, which had at in-ception declared its deter-mination to cut costs, drive efficiency and improve service delivery, is continu-ing the restructuring of its agencies to ensure the number of permanent sec-retaries aligns with the new structure. It added, “There will be only 13 permanent secretaries for the 13 min-istries.”

The statement stated

further: “In addition, five departments will be headed by permanent secretaries. These are the Public Ser-vice Office; the Bureau of Establishments; Political and Economic Affairs; Cab-inet and Security Services and General Services. This will bring the total number of permanent secretaries in the civil service to 18.

“The governor has con-veyed his appreciation for the services the departing permanent secretaries have offered the state, and wish-es them the best in their fu-

ture endeavours.”The statement further

said the governor also ap-proved the appointment of Thomas Gyang as Special Adviser, Budget Monitor-ing and Price Intelligence Unit, BMPIU.

He also named Ibrahim Aminu, the Wazirin Zaz-zau, as new chairman for the state’s Local Govern-ment Service Commission.

El-Rufai also appointed Ezekiel Baba Karik as Exec-utive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA.

Governor Samuel Ortom has ap-pointed 15 Special

Advisers and slashed the number of ministries from 17 to 13 to save over-head cost.

The News Agency of

Nigeria, NAN, reports that the state had 17 ministries, 28 special advisers and over 70 personal aides un-der former Governor Ga-briel Suswam.

This is contained in a statement issued yester-

day in Makurdi by Tahav Agerdzua, Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and ICT.

Some of the ministries affected by the reform in-clude Commerce, Environ-ment, Science and Technol-

ogy and Housing.The affected ministries

were merged with related ministries.

It stated that the new ad-visers would be sworn in next Tuesday with the 13 commissioners.

PRISCILLA DENNISMINNA

At least, 11 persons including three vil-lagers were feared

killed following an attack on villages in Shiroro Lo-cal Government Area of Niger State by unidentified cattle rustlers.

The armed rustlers, it was learnt, invaded Kwati, Basa and Kaore villages in Lakpan area of the local government over the week-end, and stole many cows.

Angered by the develop-ment, local youth vigilan-tes mobilised and chased after the cow thieves, which resulted in a fight in which eight rustlers and three of the youths lost their lives.

In an interview, head of the vigilantes in Kwati village, Ibrahim Sule, said

two of his men and 22-year-old Bashir Guduma lost their lives even as eight of the rustlers died during the clash.

According to him, the youths faced the rustlers with bare hands due to lack of police presence in the area.

However, during a con-dolence visit to people of the area, the lawmaker representing Niger East at the National Assembly, Senator David Umaru, de-cried the activities of cattle rustlers and urged govern-ment to step up security in the affected places.

He noted that the ac-tivities of the rustlers had become a major concern which the government needs to give immediate response, saying, “These people in the villages are helpless.

Cost of governance: Kaduna retires 20 perm secs

Ortom appoints SAs, prunes ministries to 13

Cattle rustlers kill 11in Niger villages

FG distributes N350m relief items to Bauchi IDPs

L-R: Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed; Sen. Kabir Gaya and Jigawa State Governor, Badaru Abubakar, after Ramadan Tarawih prayers in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 51Thursday, July 16, 2015 North

Participants at ‘Willow in the Wind’ workshop for teachers handling internally displaced persons in Maiduguri, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Man, 72, mechanic remanded over judge’s kidnap

Tivs protest killing of kinsmen in Taraba

WALE IBRAHIM LOKOJA

A chief magis-trate’s court in Lokoja has re-

manded a 72-year-old man, Ahmed Adoke, and a mechanic, John Sule, 41, in prison for alleg-edly kidnapping Justice Samuel Obayomi of the State’s High Court, Ebo-gogo, on May 25.

The accused persons, who were arraigned be-fore Chief Magistrate’s Court II, Lokoja, yester-day were alleged to have on May 25, along with others now at large, con-spired and armed them-selves with offensive weapons to commit the crime.

First Information Re-port, FIR, stated that the accused persons wielded AK-47 rifles and locally-made pistols, disguised themselves and waylaid the judge on Ebogogo road, close to the court’s premises and “forcefully stopped his lordship’s car.”

The FIR, which was read by prosecuting po-lice officer, Inspector C.S. Ayabatu, said the hoodlums instantly shot at the judge’s police or-derly, Cpl. Usman Musa, who died on the spot.

They were alleged to have “violently kid-napped” Justice Obayo-mi to an unknown des-tination only to release him after collecting an undisclosed sum of money as ransom.

The FIR added that the accused persons were arrested on June 6 by a team of Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, FSARS, from Abuja and brought to the Criminal Investiga-tion and Intelligence Department in Lokoja.

Adoke and Sule - both of Okene - were charged with criminal conspiracy, culpable ho-micide and kidnapping, contrary to sections 97(1) and 221 of the Pe-nal Code Law and Part 1 section 3(a)(i)(ii) of the state’s Kidnapping, Thuggery and Other Re-lated Offences Prohibi-tion Law 2010.

Adoke’s counsel, Muazu Abbas Esq. oral-ly applied for bail for the accused persons, an-choring his application on section 36(5) of the Constitution.

He urged the court to exercise discretion in favour of his client as he pleaded presumption of innocence to the of-fence.

The police prosecut-ing officer vehemently opposed the application on the ground that the offence for which they being prosecuted was not ordinarily bailable.

He stated that the matter was still under investigation, adding that releasing the ac-cused persons on bail at the time would jeop-ardise police investiga-tions, aside the fact that they could jump bail.

ABDULGAFAR OLADIMEJI KANO

A Kano State High Court in Gezawa yesterday ordered

former Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to pay N50,000 to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, as compensation.

Mr. Okechukwu Nwaeze, on behalf of Kwankwaso had dragged the commission before the court, requesting an order restraining the anti-graft body from arresting, quizzing or detaining the former governor.

The court adjourned the matter to July 15, and ordered that the commis-sion be served a notice to appear before the court.

It further ordered the applicant and respondent to maintain the status

quo.When the EFCC coun-

sel told the court yester-day that the applicants were not in court, Justice Mohammed Yahya in-formed the commission that counsel to the former governor had approached the court requesting that the matter be terminated.

Counsel to the commis-sion also informed the court that the commis-sion was not served with the notice of discontinu-ance, praying the court to award compensation against Kwankwaso for luring the EFCC into re-source and material wast-age.

Barrister M. S. Abuba-kar told the court that the private secretary of the former governor had dis-associated Kwankwaso from the case filed before the court by Nwaeze.

JUSTIN TYOPUUSU JALINGO

Angered by con-tinued attacks at them in Taraba

State by people suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, Tiv people yesterday took two corpses of their slain kinsmen to the seat of power in the state in pro-test.

The butchered persons were said to have been killed in their farms in the early hours of yesterday in Dan-Anacha, Gassol Local Government Area of the state by people sus-pected to be Fulani herds-men.

Crisis erupted in the area last week despite on-going efforts by Taraba State Governor, Mr. Dari-us Ishaku, to restore peace to troubled areas of the state.

At least, seven persons were killed during the crisis while many others were injured.

Spokesman of the pro-testers, Chief John Shag-baor, told Mr. Anthony Jellason, Secretary to Taraba State Government, SSG, who received them on behalf of the governor that the Fulani herdsmen started killing his people last Thursday without provocation.

He alleged that prior to the attacks, the Fula-nis in the area who are

Court orders Kwankwaso to pay EFCC N50,000 He requested the court

to discharge the earlier ex-parte order directing parties involved to main-tain the status quo, not-ing that the order was ob-tained fraudulently.

Further in its response, the commission chal-lenged the jurisdiction of the court, stating that the Kano High Court lacks inherent jurisdiction to entertain the matter as earlier filed.

It stated: “This is a state High Court, where-as the EFCC is a Federal Government agency.

“The Constitution is very clear about it. Sec-tion 251(1) R of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, provides that if you are challenging any Federal Government agency, you should approach the Fed-eral High Court and not a state High Court.

“Is there any petition with the EFCC against the former governor that the court should stop the commission from investi-gating? We said: ‘No,’ be-cause in the constitution there is an exception to the rights to personal lib-erty.”

EFCC urged the court to award compensation in its favour, adding that the court should rule that Barrister Nwaeze be subjected to thorough investigation by the Dis-ciplinary Committee of the Nigeria Bar Associa-tion for unethical con-duct.

Justice Yahya, in his ruling, struck out the ap-plication requesting for a restraining order against the EFCC on ground that the applicant has filed for a judicial discontinuation of the matter.

opposed to their return after they were chased out early last year, held a meeting with the leader-ship of Miyetti Allah last Wednesday and started attacking them the fol-lowing day.

Shagbaor explained that a Fulani man, popu-larly called Alhaji Zumo, who has been excep-tionally good to the Tiv returnees, giving them money and food since their return was killed on his way to the farm by people suspected to be Fulanis to steer up the crisis.

The spokesman who said they were armless and peace loving and have not killed anyone since the crisis broke out appealed to the government to pro-tect them.

Receiving the protest-ers, Secretary Mr. Jellason enjoined them to remain law abiding as govern-ment is doing everything possible to ensure that peace returns and the peo-ple return to their homes safely.

Jellason who de-scribed the crisis as un-fortunate, condoled with the people over the kill-ings of their relations, assuring them that gov-ernment has directed the Commissioner of Police to deploy more security personnel to the area to curtail the attacks.

Giving his ruling, the Chief Magistrate, Alhassan Husaini, said the offences were grave, given the attendant con-sequences of life im-prisonment without an option of fine upon con-viction in line with the state’s law on kidnap-ping.

“I therefore hasten to refuse this application in the light of the ram-pant and prevalent cas-es of kidnapping within the state which have been increasing in mon-umental proportion.

“In consequence, I

hereby order that the two accused persons be remanded at the Federal Prisons, Koton-Karfe,” he said, and adjourned the case to July 28, for mention.

Justice Obayomi, the resident High Court judge of Ebogogo in Adavi Local Govern-ment Area of Kogi State was kidnapped on Monday, May 25, by a three-member gang, all dressed in black.

He was released after 34 days in the kidnap-pers’ custody on Sunday, June 27.

South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu will spend a second night in hospital for treatment of a “persistent infection”, his family said.

Archbishop Tutu thanked “every-one who had sent love and prayers” since his admission to hospital in Cape Town, his daughter Reverend Mpho Tutu said.

The family hopes he will be able to return home “in a day or two”, his daughter said in an earlier state-ment.

He retired from public life in 2011 but continues to travel widely.

The 83-year-old Nobel peace laureate cancelled a planned trip to Rome in December following another infection.

The admission is not thought to be linked to Archbishop Tutu’s treat-ment for prostate cancer, which has afflicted him for more than a decade.

Police in Mali have detained about 20 suspected Islamist militants in recent days, including at least two French citizens and the organizer of an attack a restau-rant in Bamako in March, security sources said.

Police arrested a man identified as Saouty Kouma on Sunday in the central Malian town of Melo whom they suspect was behind the assault on La Terrasse restaurant that killed a French citizen, a Belgian security officer and three Malians. The attack was claimed by Islamist militant group al-Mourabitoun.

The remaining men were de-tained on Monday in the southern town of Zegoua after crossing over from neighbouring Ivory Coast. They were transported to the capital Bamako on Tuesday for question-ing, the sources said.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras faced a rising wave of hostility from members of his own party yester-day ahead of a parliament vote on an austerity bill that condemns the country to years of spending cuts but is required to get a new bailout package.

The raft of consumer tax increas-es and pension reforms has led to growing anger among Greece’s governing left-wing Syriza party, while the country’s civil servants’ union voiced its objections with a 24-hour public sector strike.

The vote will almost certainly see large numbers of Syriza lawmak-ers dissent and vote against the package, raising questions of the government’s survival in its current form. The bill is expected to pass with votes in favour by pro-Europe-an opposition parties.

‘Mali detains 20 suspected Islamists, two French’

Greek PM faces hostility as lawmakers vote austerity bill

Archbishop Tutu spends second night in hospital

AFRICA BULLETIN

to end the crisis, said via Twit-ter.

Museveni chaired the open-ing session of talks in Bujum-bura on Monday between the government, the ruling and opposition parties, civil soci-ety, religious leaders and oth-ers.

He gave few indications of the topics for discussion in his opening public remarks. Ugandan Defence Minister Crispus Kiyonga is expected to lead ongoing discussions.

A senior official in the Amizero y’abarundi opposi-tion coalition, Charles Nditije,

said Museveni should demand that Nkurunziza stick to a two-term limit set out in the Arusha peace accords that ended the civil war and create a fair environment for a vote.

Some analysts have ques-tioned Museveni’s authority as a mediator. As president he has overseen the scrapping of term limits and Ugandan opposition politicians are of-ten detained. Museveni is ex-pected to run in Uganda’s 2016 presidential race.

“Museveni’s own disregard for such limits makes him ut-terly unsuitable for appoint-ment as a mediator,” Chris McKeon, Africa analyst at Verisk Maplecroft said in a note.

African efforts to cool the Burundi crisis have stumbled, despite calls by the African Union and regional east Afri-can states for dialogue.

In Rwanda, Burundi’s neighbour, parliament voted this week to support changing the constitution to allow Pres-ident Paul Kagame to extend his rule beyond two terms.

Paul arhewe,WITH AGENCY REPORTS

Ugandan President Yow-eri Museveni urged Burundi’s government

and its opponents yesterday to put aside sectarian and po-litical differences after weeks of violent protests and days of clashes with rebels in the north.

Burundi’s political crisis, the worst since a civil war ended in 2005, was triggered by President Pierre Nkurun-ziza’s decision to stand for a third term in an election scheduled for July 21.

Opposition parties say his re-election bid is unconstitu-tional and are boycotting the race. The president cites a court ruling declaring he can run for five more years in of-fice.

Last week, a rebel general said soldiers loyal to those behind a failed May coup at-tempt were behind clashes with the army in the north of the African country, one of the world’s poorest nations with a history of ethnic conflict.

“I urge the people of Burun-di to forget their past sectar-ian political differences and build their country on unity,” Museveni, appointed by east African nations as a mediator

Ugandan president calls for unity to end Burundi’s crisis

Museveni

Obama

Iran nuclear deal only option to avert arms race –ObamaPresident Barack Obama

vigorously defended the nuclear deal with Iran

yesterday, casting the historic accord as the only possibility to avert a nuclear arms race in the Middle East and reduce the chances of war.

A day after the U.S., Iran and world powers announced the deal, Obama said the U.S. faces a “fundamental choice” about whether to embrace the opportunity to resolve the Ira-nian nuclear issue peacefully. His remarks in a White House news conference appeared aimed squarely at Congress, where lawmakers are discuss-ing legislation to try to stop the deal’s implementation.

“I expect the debate to be ro-bust, and that’s how it should be,” Obama said, imploring lawmakers who are skeptical

of the deal to “remember the alternative.”

Under the deal announced Tuesday, Iran’s nuclear pro-gram will be scaled back and

closely monitored as the U.S. and world powers seek to cut off Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon. In exchange, Iran will see biting economic

sanctions eventually lifted, freeing up billions of dollars in oil revenue and frozen as-sets.

Obama, taking questions from reporters in the East Room, said that in the absence of a deal, the international economic sanctions that brought Iran to the negotiat-ing table will unravel, and the world community will be un-able to put the sanctions re-gime together.

“Without a deal, we risk even more war in the Middle East, and other countries in the Middle East would feel compelled to develop their own nuclear weapons,” Obama said, adding that such a chain of events would risk a nuclear arms race “in the most dangerous region in the world.”

52 National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, July 16, 2015

World News“It’s time for the international community... to stop its policy of double standards and to undertake its responsibilities by pressuring Israel to

join the non-proliferation agreement as a non-nuclear state.”–ARAB LEAGUE CHIEF, NABIL AL-ARABI

Thursday September 4, 2014 53National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Thursday, July 16, 2015

55–Chelsea midfielder, Bertrand Traore

I am loving this turnaround and I want to stay focused for life at Stamford Bridge in the coming

season

Zenith B’ball: First Bank, others in final

•‘No invite if you don’t play in top league’ ...I’m no messiah, he says

Sport

Oliseh sets standard for Super EaglesEvErEst OnyEwuchi and JOEl aJayi

The days of inviting Nige-rian footballers who ply their trade in back water

leagues abroad to the senior na-tional team are over, as the new Super Eagles Coach, Sunday Oliseh, stated yesterday that any player not competing in the top leagues, would not get a call-up.

After signing his three-year contract with option for an ad-ditional year and was unveiled in Abuja to succeed sacked Ste-phen Keshi, Oliseh who said that he has come to serve his country and not to wage war, spoke of the need to have quality players in the Super Eagles.

“My assistants and myself will not invite to the camp of the Na-tional Team of Nigeria, any play-er who is not playing in the top di-vision in the recognised Leagues of the world, including Nigeria.

“The only exception would be those players from any of the age-

grade National Teams that we find exceptional and deserving of an opportunity to try and win shirts in the senior team,” the 40-year-old Oliseh said.

He added, “Gone are the days when we had individual players playing. That’s what we had dur-ing my generation.”

The former FC Cologne cen-tral defender, however, said that he hasn’t got all the answers to Super Eagles problems.

“One thing I will say, dear com-patriots, is that I am not a Mes-siah. I have come to do my very best, give 150% to take Nigeria football to the next level, with the support of my assistants, the NFF and relevant stakeholders. I am optimistic that we will lift the Nigeria game to a new height.

“I have come to serve, and the NFF has promised to give me all the support I need to succeed. They are the employers and I am the employee. That distinction has to be appreciated at all times.

“I have had meetings with members of the Technical and

Development Committee, led by Chief Anyansi-Agwu, very knowledgeable people all. I have met members of the Executive Committee and the General Sec-retary. I believe we will all work together excellently. It is a huge honour to be the Head Coach of Nigeria.”

Speaking at the unveiling cer-emony, NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, disclosed that Oliseh and his assistants would be paid three months salaries in advance.

“As a responsible federation, we have committed Oliseh in ad-vance so that he won’t have any challenge administratively do-ing his job. Today (yesterday) is another historic day in the his-tory of Nigeria football. Today we have been able to present Africa’s Pep Guardiola,” Pinnick said.

The NFF boss added, “We know that Sunday Oliseh can de-liver. Talking to Sunday Oliseh, we are very excited, about his ad-vancement. On the field we have not been able to have a replace-ment for him. As a member of

the FIFA Technical Study Group, he is vastly travelled and trained. I can assure you that we are going to have one of the best coaches Nigeria ever had.

“Before we began talks with Oliseh, some countries were al-ready discussing with him. So we know the stuff he is made of. On

JOEl aJayi ABUJA

New Super Eagles Coach, Sunday Oliseh, has given reasons for choosing his

Belgian and Nigerian assistants. Speaking during his unveil-

ing in Abuja yesterday, the former Super Eagles captain declared, “I think I need to explain to you why I chose a foreigner as my assistant. We have to bring an expatriate to serve and contribute to the growth of sports in Nigeria and I told the NFF president that Jean Francois-Loscuito will be of huge help in this enormous task. We need a for-

the part of the Federation we will give him 100% support. We will follow all the clauses of this con-tract.”

The NFF leadership later pre-sented Oliseh and his assistants to the Director General of the Na-tional Sports Commission (NSC), Mallam Alhassan Yakmut.

eigner who is ready to work and one who is hungry for victory, an expatriate who knows Africa and ready to acclimatise.

“We need Salisu Yusuf desper-ately because we need somebody who knows the league because our aim is to work with local players. We also need Aloy Agu because of his calmness as a goalkeeper trainer that will also give technical input.

“Jean Francois has coaching stints in Africa, with Togolese club, Anges de Notse and led the team during their CAF Champions League games against Enyimba earlier in the year, and also ASFA Yennenga of Burkina Faso.”

‘Why I chose Loscuito, Aloy Agu’

Sunday Oliseh flanked at his unveiling yesterday by NFF President, Amaju Pinnick (left) and General Secretary, Sanusi Mohammed

54 Sports National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, July 16, 2015

Glo backs

to make Nigeria proud

Dream Team, FalconsDream Team, FalconsNational telecoms op-

erator, Globacom, has tasked the na-

tional U-23 team and the Su-per Falcons to ensure that they make the nation proud in their different football en-gagements this weekend.

The Dream Team hosts Congo at Adokiye Amiesi-maka Stadium in Port Har-court on Sunday in the first leg qualifying match for Africa U-23 Championship for the Rio 2016 Olympics, while the Super Falcons will play their Equatorial Guinea counterparts on Saturday

at Abuja National Stadium in the first leg of the second round qualifier for the same Olympics in Rio, Brazil.

“The Samson Siasia-coached U-23 national team is doing the right thing by emphasizing intensive and rigorous preparation ahead of their match against Con-go. We are confident that they will excel against the Con-golese,” Globacom said in a statement in Lagos yesterday.

“The drafting of some of the outstanding Flying Eagles players like Taiwo Awoniyi and Musa Mohammed to the team by Siasia will stand Nigeria in good stead to beat Congo comprehensively to wrap up the qualification for the Dream Team ahead of the second leg,” the state-ment added.

On Super Falcons, the telecommunication com-pany advised the team not

to underrate the Equato-rial Guinea female national team in order to avoid any embarrassment.

“Equatorial Guinea are getting stronger in Women football and would like to give Nigeria a run for its money, but we believe in the capacity of Super Falcons to triumph,” Globacom fur-ther said.

Globacom therefore ad-vised the technical crew of Falcons to work towards a convincing victory in order to make the second leg com-ing up in Malabo in a fort-night a formality.

The national teams’ ma-jor sponsor also urged foot-ball fans in Port Harcourt and Abuja to troop out en-masse to the stadia to cheer the teams to victory.

“The matches are must-win and we must leave no stone unturned,” the state-ment said, stressing, “We need all the support of all Nigerians to propel the teams to qualify for the next Olympic Games.”

Globacom is the official telecommunications part-ner of the Nigerian Football Federation and the major sponsor of the Nigerian na-tional teams.

German World Cup win-ner, Sami Khedira, is looking forward to a

fresh challenge in Italy after joining Serie A club Juventus.

The 28-year-old penned a four-year deal with the Bianconeri last month, having played a bit-part role at Real Madrid last season, and is relishing his new adven-ture in Turin.

“I wanted a fresh challenge and Juventus gives me just that,” he said at his official presentation yesterday.

“It will be a real honour for me to play in this league. It’s a tough championship and full of strong sides.”

Many critics feels the Italian League has dropped in stature in Europe, yet Khedira thinks other-wise.

“I don’t consider the Italian league to be inferior,” he said.

“It’s a high-quality champion-ship and tactically challenging.

“Juve have displayed their abil-

‘Fresh challenge’ thrills Khedira

ity to compete with top European clubs. I’m here to reach another UEFA Champions League final.”

“I’m here to play but I know I have to earn my place in the start-ing XI as there’s plenty of compe-tition in midfield.”

The German international spent five years with Madrid, winning one La Liga title, two Spanish Cups as well as last the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League crown.

City move delights SterlingNew Manchester City

signing, Raheem Ster-ling, says he is delighted

to be joining a club he expects to be challenging for major hon-ours every season.

The 20-year-old winger also thanked former club Liverpool for giving him the chance to de-velop his experience and skills

in the Premier League.After moving to the Etihad

Stadium in a record £49m deal, the highest fee for any English player on a five-year deal, Ster-ling said: “The world-class play-ers are here and a squad capable of winning things year in, year out.

“The more quality players

that are around you, the more quality it brings out in you so I can’t wait to get started and play alongside them.”

But looking back on his five years at Anfield, he added: “It has been a long journey from QPR and I’d like to thank a few people who have helped me along the way.

U-23 team striker Taiwo Awoniyi

Sterling

Khedira

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 55SportsThursday, July 16, 2015

AfolAbi GAmbAri

President of Nigeria Chess Federation (NCF), Mr. Lekan Adeyemi, has

donated 20 chess sets to the Ni-geria International School in Cotonou, Republic of Benin.

Adeyemi, who led Nigerian players to another glorious out-ing in Abidjan recently, said the gesture would soon be extended to public schools in Nigeria.

“We have received about 600 chess sets from the Kasparov Chess Foundation (KCF) which would soon be distributed to states in Nigeria,” the chess boss said.

Nigerian Ambassador to Be-nin Republic, Lawrence Olufemi Obisakin, who witnessed the do-nation, commended Adeyemi’s generosity.

“Nigeria has dominated the west coast of Africa but I want to believe that in the next few years we will dominate the entire Af-rica if the steady development of the NCF programmes under the Adeyemi-led board materi-alised,” Obisakin noted.

The Team Nigeria to the Cote d’Ivoire Invitational Chess Championships also paid a cour-tesy call on the Ambassador to presented trophies won.

NCF boss donates sets in Cotonou

Zenith B’ball: First Bank, others in final

Udofia sheds light on Akwa tourneys

mercy JAcob

Former Super Eagles assis-tant coach, Joe Erico, has advised the Nigeria Foot-

ball Federation (NFF) to give the newly appointed Coach Sunday

Oliseh necessary support to suc-ceed in his job.

“Appointing and hiring a coach is a phenomenon in Nige-ria football, because Nigerians can never be satisfied,” Erico told National Mirror.

“Even if you employ the best

coach in the world, Nigerians would always complain.

“The NFF officials must swal-low their pride and give him free hand to work and support him.

“On a personal note, I am delighted that Oliseh as one of my former players has been ap-

pointed to coach the Eagles.“So, I will advise him to be

firm in dealing with his players towards ensuring that he gives Nigerians the best.”

The NFF unveiled Oliseh yes-terday at a brief ceremony at the Abuja National Stadium.

ifeAnyi eduzor

The founder of Eket Youth Football Competitions in Akwa Ibom State and

former Nigeria international, Victor Udofa, has said that ad-equate arrangements have been made for youths in the area to celebrate the 13 years of suc-cessful hosting of football tour-naments.

The competitions are Eket

Senatorial District Youth Soccer Championship tagged Hon. Mrs. Owidehe Ekpotai Eket Unity Cup and Eket Friendship Youth Soccer Championship known as Hon. David Lawrence Friend-ship Cup.

According to Udofia who featured for many clubs in the country, including Bendel Insur-ance FC of Benin, First Bank FC of Lagos, Police Machine team, defunct Stationery Stores FC of Lagos and Concord FC of Abeo-

kuta, the competitions were con-ceived after the disbandment of Mobil Pegasus FC of Eket in 1999.

“We organized the competi-tions so that the disbandment would not affect the career of the budding stars in our area,” Udofa, an indigene of Eket, who plied his trade with Wintan Thir FC of Switzerland, Stade Dun-boneben FC and Tonnere Kalala FC of Cameroun as well as Com-mand FC of Zurich from where

he sustained a nagging injury that kept him out of football, said.

“Eleven local government councils in the area will com-pete from September 8 to Oc-tober 6, while the Eket Federal Constituency Unity Cup will be staged between October 13 and November 10 , with the Eket Senatorial District Champion-ship holding from November 17 to December 8 at Eket Sports Stadium,” he explained.

PAul erewubA

League champion First Bank of Lagos and seven others will on Sunday be-

gin the third and final phase of the 2015 Zenith Bank-sponsored Women’s Basketball League dunks off at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos.

The eight teams qualified out of the 18 that started the race to the final.

With the eight teams drawn into groups A and B, First Bank who is yet to lose a game since the season started, will be com-peting in group A alongside for-mer champions First Deep Wa-ter, Sunshine Angels of Akure and Plateau Rocks of Jos.

Group B has Dolphins of La-gos who are also unbeaten since the 2015 league started. Nigeria Customs, Inspector General of Police Queens and Delta Force.

NBBF League Director, Ag-boola Pinhero, told National Mirror in Lagos that the teams

would arrive venue of the com-petition on Saturday.

“The third and final phase will be unique and I advise all the participating teams to show sportsmanship by adhering to the rules and regulations guid-ing the game,” Pinhero said.

“The league sponsor, Zenith Bank, has done everything that will ensure success of the cham-pionship. The federation will provide the needed platform that will ensure a befitting final phase that will be devoid of ran-cor,” he added.

Oliseh needs free hand –Erico

Sunday Oliseh (holding a shirt) among NFF officials yesterday in Abuja

NCF boss, Adeyemi

NBBF boss, Umar

El-Kanemi 1 1 Heartland

Pillars 1 1 Wikki

Dolphins 1 0 3SC

Giwa 2 1 Nasarawa

Ifeayi Ubah 1 2 Kwara

Sharks 2 0 Abia

Enyimba 3 1 Sunshine

Bayelsa 0 0 Rangers

Lobi 1 0 Akwa

Rangers 2 1 Pillars

Glo League Result

Taraba vs Wolves

Today’s Matches

Vol. 05 No. 1157 Thursday, July 16, 2015 N150

WORLD RECORD

The largest collection of stickers belongs to Nidhi Bansal (India) and consists of 102,317 stickers as of 16 September 2013, in Bassi Pathana, Punjab, India.

Largest collection of stickers

SolaOjewusi

S lGuest Columnist

Printed and Published by Global Media Mirror Ltd: Head Offi ce: Mirror House, 155/161 Broad Street, Lagos Tel: 07027107407, Abuja Offi ce: NICON Insurance House, Second Floor, Central Business District Area, Abuja Tel: 08070428249, Advert hotline: 01-8446073, Port-Harcourt Offi ce: Suite 115, NICON Hotel, 6, Benjamin Opara Street, Off Olusegun Obasanjo Rd, GRA Phaze 3, Phone: 07032323254 Email: mail@nationalmirroronline.net.

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Any visit by any leader, high or low, first world or developing to the Pennsylvania Avenue, Wash-

ington DC home of the American Presi-dent will forever raise a national frenzy in the visitor’s home country. Nigerians are not excluded. As President Muham-madu Buhari goes to Washington in a few days, the visit has whipped up a diz-zying frenzy among pundits, which is why I consider it worthy to lend a voice to the agenda of this his maiden presi-dential voyage.

First and foremost, I am sure the President and his diplomatic handlers are travelling with bags full of wishes. Diplomatically, economically and oth-erwise, Nigeria expects the outcome of this shuttle to advance positively not only the cause of US-Nigeria relations, but also to cause the Americans respect our position as equal partners in the

global scheme of things, the immense disparity in economic and military strengths notwithstanding.

I expect President Buhari to diplo-matically assert Nigeria’s preeminent position as a major force in Africa, and push for an American backing of our long overdue quest for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. It is quite astounding that till date, despite all we have over the years contributed to world stability and given our standing as the largest black nation on earth with so much invested in world peace and se-curity, our true position in the Security Council is still a subject of debate. It all boils down to the lack of more proac-tive assertiveness by succeeding Nige-rian leaders about the imperative of our unchallenged position in the Security Council. This anomaly should be one of the jobs of President Buhari as he par-leys with Obama.

In pushing our US agenda, President Buhari must also reassert our indepen-dence and demand a more respectful engagement from the world’s most in-fluential nation. The notion of a nation under the throes of America’s imperial-ism must be laid to rest once and for all. Not a few Nigerians believe that quite too often, though not always correctly, America tends to intervene in our inter-nal affairs like a school teacher dictat-ing to her student. One example is the Nigerian national policy on homosexu-ality and same sex marriage, volatile in-ternational moral issues that the US Su-preme Court just gave legal teeth to in

its own national jurisdiction. Buhari, I am sure will reassert our independent opinion on this issue and refuse to be bowled over by an America that ap-pears to be so fixated on exporting this anomaly to other nations, peculiar so-cio-cultural sensibilities notwithstand-ing.

The President must also put on the front burner the crux of recent US en-gagement that virtually forced the pre-vious administration to move eastwards diplomatically. This strained relation was worsened by the failed US-NIGERIA arms deal in 2014 to stem the escalation of Boko Haram hostility. Although the frosty relations appears to have been thawed by the recent democratic suc-cesses and smooth political transition, I think it is pertinent to emphasize the need for America to be more proactive in matters that affect Nigeria’s own na-tional security.

Many Nigerians were appalled by the levity with which America responded to Nigeria’s arms request at a time when the clearly well armed terrorists were wreaking havoc on the nation. The

Sport Extra

Real Madrid President, Flo-rentino Perez, has insisted that the club did not pres-

surise the club’s iconic goalkeep-er, Iker Casillas, to leave after 25 years with the Spanish club for FC Porto.

After a tearful farewell press conference by the captain on

Sunday, Perez surprised report-ers by summoning 34-year-old Casillas to appear alongside him and holding a tribute with fans at the Bernabeu stadium, saying Casillas himself had asked for a transfer.

“We can only respect and ac-

cept that, because Iker has earned that right during 25 years at his boyhood club,” Perez said.

“No one in Real Madrid asked him to leave the club. A few days ago he received an offer from Porto which he told us of imme-diately and asked us to take it

‘Casillas not forced out of Madrid’‘Casillas not forced out of Madrid’

Casillas

An American agenda for Buhari

I AM SURE THE PRESIDENT AND HIS DIPLOMATIC HANDLERS ARE

TRAVELLING WITH BAGS FULL OF WISHES

into consideration and make an agreement,” the president added.

But Casillas had alluded to the tough time he had over the past few years at Madrid at his fare-well on Monday.

“I say sorry to those I have had disagreements with,” he said.

excuse of human rights abuses on the part of the Nigerian Army and malad-ministration on government’s part were considered preposterous in the face of a rabid insurgency decimating the popula-tion on a daily basis. In essence, this dip-lomatic shuttle must get America to show more commitment to the national inter-est of a nation considered her most im-portant partner in sub Saharan Africa.

Many are still baffled that a nation that is so important to American interest is yet to be visited by Obama, almost seven years into his presidency. The statistics of Nigeria’s soft spot for America and her values are of a very positive outlook at most times. Consider this Wikipedia report on Nigeria-US bilateral relations: “Nigeria is consistently a pro-American nation. According to the 2012 US Globe Leadership Report, 77% of Nigerians approve of US leadership with 9% disap-proving and 14% uncertain; and accord-ing to a 2013 BBC World Service Poll, 59% of Nigerians view US influence positive-ly, with 29% expressing a negative view.” The facts of this approval of America and her interests should be enough bar-gaining chip for better diplomatic divi-dends for us, and should encourage them to be our partners in progress.

Having said that, there is still so much our new leadership can learn from the successes of the American sys-tem through this visit. As a born again democrat, President Buhari has a lot to imbibe from the American system that has proved efficacious over the years. He should use the visit to take a close look at American institutions and learn how these have truly sustained the country’s democracy over the past two and a half centuries. He should be ready to truly emulate the values of the institutions upon which the strength of American democracy is built and resolve to apply these principles to his own presidency back home. Ojewusi wrote via solaojewusi@ya-hoo.com