BusinessDay 27 Mar 2018

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NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I **TUESDAY 27 MARCH 2018 I VOL. 15, NO 19 I N300 @ g 

Milost says Unity Bank lied to NSE on $1bn financing deal 

IHEANYI NWACHUKWU & 

LOLADE AKINMURELE 

Milost Global Incorporated 

yesterday 

released a confusing 

and rambling 

response to BusinessDay’s Monday 

report in which it accused 

Unity Bank of lying and said 

N650bn subsidy: FG 

finally seeks approval 

from National 

Assembly for payment 

OLUSOLA BELLO 

A 

major relief may have 

come the way of the troubled 

downstream sector 

of the petroleum industry as 

there are indications that the 

Federal Government has finally 

sent a document to the national 

assembly seeking approval for 

payment of N650 billion subsidy 

Continues on page 38 

Nigeria has been 

turbulent under 

me - Buhari 

TONY AILEMEN, Abuja 

President Muhammadu 

Buhari Monday admitted 

that the country had been 

very turbulent under his reign, 

as he inaugurated the National 

Council on Food Security. 

Speaking while formerly inaugurating 

the National Council 

Inside 

MMM founder, 

Sergei Mavrodi, 

dies at 62 of 

heart attack P. 4 


... insists bank CEO visited New York office; agreed to move listing to US 

... CBN, SEC to swoop into investigations, sanctions loom 

the tier two lender agreed to 

delist from the Nigerian Stock 

Exchange (NSE), and move its 

primary listing to the USA. 

The purported U.S based 

IFEOMA OKEKE 

Efforts to promote exports 

across the country 

is still be a mere 

dream as most cargo 

airports have failed to 

take-off five years after the federal 

government designated 13 

airports for imports and exports 

of agro allied products. 

A recent visit by Business- 

Day to five such designated 

airports, which include Lagos, 

Uyo, Akure, Port Harcourt and 

Owerri show that only Lagos and 

Port Harcourt currently import 

Private Equity (P.E) firm said 

that “On Monday, October 23, 

2017 at 11:05 EST, Milost Global 

Incorporated was visited by 

Oluwatomi Somefun, the CEO 

of Unity Bank Plc, at its New 

York Offices. The meeting was 

scheduled for 11:00am EST and 

it went ahead as planned. 

“The meeting was attended by 

Milost Global Inc. analysts and 

the Chairman Egerton Forster. 

At the meeting, she explained 

the need for capital funding at 


Babatunde 

Fashola, minister 

of power, works 

and housing (l), 

with Barnabas 

Gemade, chairman, 

Senate 

Committee on 

Lands, Housing 

and Urban Development, 

during 

the committee’s 

final 2018 budget 

defense meeting 

on the Housing 

Sector of the 

Ministry of Power, 

Works and Housing, 

held at New 

Senate Building, 

National Assembly 

Complex, Abuja, 

yesterday. 

Nigeria’s cargo airports fail to take 

off after billions invested by FAAN 

BD INVESTIGATIVE SERIES 

and export cargoes to various 

countries, while others barely 

function as passenger airports. 

Recall that the Federal Airports 

Authority of Nigeria, 

(FAAN), five years ago revealed 

that 13 airports were designated 

as perishable cargo airports in a 

bid to transform the aviation sector 

into a major revenue earner 

for the country. FAAN promised 

to develop with international 

standard perishable cargo facilities 

to enhance their operations. 

BusinessDay’s checks show that 

Paache Construction, which was 

handling the Cargo Terminal at 

Jos Airport, received N459, 214, 

790. 85 out of the total contract 

sum of N785, 348, 493.56. There 

is no infrastructure on ground 

to facilitate cargo in the airport. 

For the construction of the 

cargo terminal at Markurdi Airport, 

Paache was paid N613, 860, 

476.67 out of N818, 480, 635.56 

but there is currently no cargo 

facilities on ground. 

Lugapego Nig, Limited was 

contracted to build the cargo 

terminal at Akure Airport. Job 

completion rating remains zero 

percent despite receiving N322, 

727, 000.40 out of the total contract 

sum of N452, 950, 176. 00. 

Yakubu Dati, the former Coordinating 

General Manager, 

Aviation Parastatal said then that 

“the strategy is to create the much 

needed storage infrastructure in 

view of the large volume involved 

and to facilitate the evacuation of 

agricultural produce to domestic 

markets in conformity with international 

standards.” 

“The development of Eco- 

Continues on page 4

2 

BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 

Tuesday 27 March 2018

Tuesday 27 March 2018 C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 

3

4 BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 

Tuesday 27 March 2018 

NEWS 

Abuja High Court quashes EFCC’s declaration of 

Aiteo chairman Benedict Peters as ‘wanted’ 

...Orders removal of ‘wanted’ declaration from EFCC website 

DIPO OLADEHINDE 

A 

High Court sitting in 

the Federal Capital 

Territory, Abuja, Nigeria, 

has quashed 

the declaration of Executive 

Vice Chairman of Aiteo, 

Benedict Peters, as ‘wanted’ by the 

Economic and Financial Crimes 

Commission (EFCC). 

In a judgement given on March 

22, 2017, the court stated that the 

anti-graft agency has no power to 

declare Peters or anyone ‘wanted’ 

without a court order. 

This was in response to a suit 

FCT/HC/CV/23/2017 filed by 

Benedict Peters, accusing the 

EFCC of declaring him wanted 

on its website without following 

due process. 

As affirmed by the court, “Peters 

has never been charged with, 

nor tried for any criminal offence 

in any Court of law, nor has he 

ever jumped bail for any offence 

howsoever in Nigeria and cannot 

be declared wanted by administrative 

fiat, without any prior order 

or leave of Court.” 

The judgement delivered by 

Justice Othman Musa further 

reads: 

“The very act of declaring the 

Applicant (Benedict Peters) a 

WANTED PERSON on the official 

website of the 1st Respondent 

(EFCC) without any prior order or 

leave of a Court of competent jurisdiction 

to that effect is unlawful, 

illegal, wrongful, ultra vires, unconstitutional 

and constitutes a flagrant 

violation of the Fundamental 

rights of the Applicant to personal 

liberty, private and family life, 

freedom of movement and Right 

to not to be subjected to inhuman 

treatment and degrading treatment 

as guaranteed under Section 

34, 37, 41 and 46 of the constitution 

of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 

1999 (As amended) and Articles 

2, 3(1) & (2), 4, 5, 6, 7, and 12(1) of 

the African Charter on Human and 

Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and 

Enforcement) Act 2004.” 

On the 15th day of August, 

2016, Peters was declared wanted 

by EFCC without an order of 

Court and in the absence of a 

valid charge in a Court of law. The 

said declaration was published 

in Punch newspaper, Premium 

Times as well as Sahara reporters 

and specifically on the official 

website of EFCC. It was also carried 

by top tier news platforms 

across the country. 

EFFC claimed that Benedict 

Peters was summoned on several 

occasions before he was declared 

wanted. However, evidence presented 

in court showed that Peters 

was out of the country on health 

grounds and this was communicated 

to EFCC by his legal representatives. 

Peters requested 

for a rescheduling based on the 

aforementioned reason, however, 

a day before the date on which 

he had been required to attend 

armed men and police officers at 

the behest of EFCC, invaded his 

company premises ostensibly and 

made some arrests. 

EFCC’s defence of its actions is 

that it acted based on a warrant of 

arrest issued by a magistrate court. 

Upon scrutinizing the contents 

of the document constituting the 

warrant, the Judge discovered that 

the said document was dated 5th 

of August, 2016, suggesting that it 

was made or signed by the issuing 

magistrate on that date. But, 

curiously, EFCC endorsed it as 

having been received on the 4th 

of August, 2016 at 10.32am. This 

inconsistency completely flawed 

EFCC’s defence and the judge 

remarked: 

“I am left with no option but to 

conclude that the 1stRespondent 

(EFCC) has presented to this 

Court an absurd and unimaginable 

case of receiving a signed 

document a day before it was 

actually signed by the person who 

purported to have signed it. Am 

afraid, such a thing is not possible 

in our physical world. Perhaps, 

it is possible in the spirit world. 

This renders the circumstances 

surrounding the procurement of 

this document doubtful.” 

Since EFCC’s declaration was 

not within the ambit of the laws 

of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 

and did not comply with the 

conditions precedent to the said 

declaration, the court dismissed 

the case thus: 

“An order is hereby made 

directing the 1st Respondent 

(EFCC) to remove from its website 

the purported declaration made 

against the applicant forthwith.” 

This latest ruling in favour of 

the oil magnate follows a series of 

recorded victories where his earnings 

were declared as legitimate 

and several money laundering allegations 

levied against him were 

thrown out of court based on lack 

of evidence. 

MMM founder, 

Sergei Mavrodi, dies 

at 62 of heart attack 

MICHEAL ANI 

Sergie Marvodi, a 62 year 

old Russian businessman 

and founder of popular 

Ponzi scheme, Mavrodi Mondial 

Moneybox (MMM), has died of 

a heart attack. 

Businessday gathered that 

the 62-year old Russian mathematician, 

was rushed to the 

hospital on March 25 with pain 

in his chest, but died several 

hours later in Moscow as the 

emergency team failed to save 

his life. 

Mavrodi, whose MMM financial 

pyramid was a typical 

Ponzi scheme in which earlier 

investors receive profits from 

subsequent investors in the form 

of mavros, promised a returns 

of 30 percent a month, as well 

as and bonuses for investors. 

As soon as the number of new 

clients stopped growing, the 

pyramid collapsed, causing 

huge financial losses. 

Reports say between 10-15 million 

people in Zimbabwe, China, 

South Africa and Nigeria lost 

money invested in the scheme. 

Sergey Mavrodi was born in 


Nigeria’s cargo airports fail to take off after... 

Continued from page 1 

nomic Free Trade and Export 

Processing Zones will be targeted 

alongside cargo airports and 

agro-allied industrial clusters, 

based on local opportunities and 

the state’s competitive and comparative 

advantage in agriculture 

production.” 

Cities prioritized to host perishable 

cargo terminals are 

Abuja, Akure, Calabar, Ilorin, 

Jalingo, Jos, Kano, Lagos, Makurdi, 

Minna, Owerri, Port Harcourt 

and Uyo. 

Sadly, checks by Business- 

Day’s show that only Lagos, 

Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt 

have the facilities on ground to 

facilitate cargo trade with infrastructure 

solely provided by 

two ground handling, Skyways 

Aviation Handling Company 

Limited (SAHCOL) and Nigerian 

Aviation Handling Company, 

Nahco Aviance (NAHCO). 

After FAAN managed to construct 

a foundation for the cargo 

shed at Akure airport, the project 

has since been abandoned and 

taken over by weeds. Uyo airport 

also does not have a cargo shed 

as all cargo emanating from Uyo 

are sent to Lagos for processing, 

before being exported out of the 

country. 

Port Harcourt airport also 

largely lacks the needed infrastructure 

to facilitate cargo 

exports and imports. The cargo 

screening machines provided by 

FAAN at one of the cargo warehouses 

has been unserviceable 

for two years now. As a result of 

this, the cargo handlers engage 

in manual search, which slows 

down the process. 

Although no cargo is currently 

being processed at Owerri 

airport, the State government 

is erecting about eight 

structures, currently under 

construction aimed at boosting 

economic development in 

the South East geo-political 

zone of the country. 

The air cargo handling companies, 

SAHCOL and NAHCO, 

which handles 100 percent of 

all export and import cargoes 

going through Nigerian airports, 

provide almost all infrastructures 

for cargo processing 

across airports where cargoes 

are processed. 

Experts tell BusinessDay that 

these infrastructure gaps are 

hurting the participation of Nigeria 

in the N250 billion annual 

air freight export market out of 

Africa. 

“Countries like Kenya, South 

Africa, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, 

Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia, Tanzania 

and Egypt are participating 

in trading in commodities such 

as fruits, fresh fish, vegetables 

and flowers while Nigeria, which 

produces these goods in abundance, 

has very low participation 

as a result of poor infrastructure 

across airports that are supposed 

to help farmers and exporters 

process cargo,” an exporter who 

identified himself as Tunde Ajayi 

told BusinessDay. 

L-R: Bimbola Wright, head, coverage and corporate banking, FBNQuest Merchant Bank; Olusegun Obasanjo, 

former president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and Olubunmi Aboderin-Talabi, chairperson, WIMBIZ Executive 

Council, at the 2018 WIMBIZ annual lecture in Lagos. 

Ajayi said that it sometimes 

cost a lot of money for farmers 

from the hinterlands to ship their 

products to Lagos for processing 

and those who cannot afford 

the cost for shipment just sell 

to people who live around their 

locality. 

John Ojikutu, member of aviation 

industry think tank group, 

Aviation Round Table (ART) and 

Chief Executive of Centurion 

Securities, told BusinessDay 

that the decision by the government 

to build cargo terminals 

across 13 airports was a way to 

siphon money, adding that the 

job should be given out to the 

private sector. 

“Anything that has to do 

with cargo or terminal building 

should be left to the private sector. 

It is not the area for government 

to invest in. These areas 

should be concessioned out to 

people. The area government 

should concentrate on are security 

areas such as the runways, 

perimeter and security fences,” 

Ojikutu added. 

BusinessDay’s checks show 

that the cargo designation was 

part of the airport infrastructure 

renewal project embarked upon 

in 2011 by the Federal Government 

through Stella Oduah, the 

then Aviation minister, which 

gulped an estimated $870 million 

(N174 billion).


BUSINESS DAY 

5

6 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 

NEWS 

LUC: Lagos seen facing hurdles executing 2018 budget 

JOSHUA BASSEY 

Lagos State government 

is seen travelling 

a rough road 

in the implementation 

of the 2018 

budget following a groundswelling 

opposition to its 

Land Use Charge (LUC) increases 

from where it hoped 

to partly fund its biggest ever 

budget of N1.04 trillion. 

The state had been forced 

to slash the charges by between 

15 and 50 percent. And 

against the continuing agitation 

by stakeholders - Nigeria 

Bar Association (NBA), Organised 

Private Sector (OPS), 

investors in real estates, landlord 

and residents, among 

others, to either suspend the 

implementation of the law or 

further review the rates, the 

Lagos State House of Assembly 

is today organising a public 

hearing to receive further 

inputs by Lagosians. 

Officials of the state were 

not explicit yesterday, when 

contacted on the percentage 

contribution of the new 

FITC engages HR managers on workplace diversity 

The Financial Institutions 

Training Centre 

(FITC) has engaged 

Human Resources 

(HR) managers to enlighten 

them on the need to promote 

diversity in the workplace. 

Lucy Newman, FITC managing 

director/CEO, says in 

Lagos that the 2018 FITC Focus 

Group Discussion with 

the heads of Human Resources 

and heads of Learning in 

the FITC was meant to deepen 

the knowledge of human 

resource managers on human 

relations in workplace, 

and creates the environment 

that allows every individual 

contribute meaningfully to 

the company’s growth. 

According to Newman, 

FITC is a special purposedriven 

organisation with a 

mandate to continually build 

capacity and advocate for best 

LUC to the state’s 2018 revenue 

projection of N897 

billion. However, the projected 

monthly Internally 

Generated Revenue (IGR), 

which comprised taxes majorly 

inclusive of the LUC, 

is put at about N50 billion, 

up from between N25 and 

N30 billion in 2017. Over 

the last 10 years, Lagos had 

depended more on IGR to 

finance its budgets up to 

about 70 percent. 

To drive the implementation 

of the 2018 budget, the 

state targeted an approximately 

N720.123 billion IGR, 

which represents about 80 

percent of the N897 billion 

total revenue the projects to 

earn in 2018. 

Of the N720.123 billion 

IGR, the Lagos Internal 

Revenue Service (LIRS) 

alone was projected to net 

N440.121 billion, which is 

equivalent to 61 percent of 

the total IGR. 

As part of the strategies to 

actualise the projections, the 

practices in the financial services 

sector and economy at 

large. 

“One of our main objectives 

is to promote and advance 

the knowledge and 

practice of banking and 

finance in Nigeria and Africa 

sub-region, as may be required. 

To effectively execute 

this role in a collaborative and 

value adding manner, FITC 

periodically organises the Focus 

Group sessions to share 

and aspire for improvements 

to respective organisations 

represented and FITC’s customised 

services,” she says. 

The event holds annually 

to review feedback on services, 

improvement areas and 

any new skills for the attention 

of the associates. 

“In 2012, in furtherance of 

an aspiration to share emerging 

knowledge and co-design 

services, we added the edition 

with Heads of HR & Heads of 

government set out to improve 

state’s revenue-to-GDP 

ratio from 2.18 percent level 

in 2017 to about 5 percent 

or more in 2018, by bringing 

more people into the tax net 

and promoting improved filing 

of returns and self-assessments 

by taxpayers as well as 

driving fiscalisation of consumption 

taxes. 

Akinyemi Ashade, commissioner 

for finance, had 

said that government expenditure 

would be largely 

driven through proceeds 

from enhanced revenues. 

“The Enhanced Revenue 

Reform (ERF) will focus on 

fiscalisation of consumption 

taxes, improved enumeration 

and collection of 

land use charges, improved 

administration of motor 

vehicle administration 

laws and expansion of activities 

of Ministry of Physical 

Planning and Urban 

Development and related 

land agencies towards ensuring 

that all trapped rev- 

Learning, with a knowledge 

sharing insert. This year, we 

are extending the conversation 

by discussing the topic 

Managing Diversity in the 

21st Century Workplace,” she 

says. 

Speaking further, she 

notes that FITC has over the 

years executed several initiatives 

to remain relevant to its 

stakeholders and meet the 

dynamic needs of the various 

industries within the sector. 

“In furtherance to FITC’s 

role as defined in the Competency 

Management Framework 

for Banks, FITC has 

had the Competency Based 

Trainings available from 2015 

to date. In 2017, FITC signed 

an exclusivity agreement with 

the Finance Accreditation 

Agency to deliver the Certified 

Training Professional 

programme in Nigeria and 

commenced the certification 

process of 15 of its courses. 

enues are released to the 

coffers of the state government,” 

Ashade said. 

According to Ashade, 

the state’s initiatives under 

the ERF were being supported 

by relevant enactment 

and re-enactment 

of laws and regulations by 

the House of Assembly, of 

which the LUC was part. 

Ashade said the reforms 

in the LIRS and the opportunities 

provided by Voluntary 

Assets and Income Declaration 

scheme (VAIDS) in 

conjunction with the Federal 

Government agencies 

would deepen the tax base 

and widen tax net from 5 

million (in 2017) to about 8 

million people this year. 

“Our monthly IGR target 

in 2018 is N50 billion, and we 

consider this very conservative 

because our revenue 

to GDP ratio is still about 3 

percent, which means there 

are huge opportunities for 

growth under the reforms for 

revenue enhancement. 

L-R: Simon Lalung, governor, Plateau State; Dave Umeahi, governor, Ebonyi State; Atiku Bagudu, governor, Kebbi State; 

Akinwunmi Ambode, governor, Lagos State, and Ifeanyi Okowa, governor, Delta State, during the inauguration of National Food 

Security Council at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. 

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE 

… may miss IGR target of N720bn 


Zuma gets court summons 

over corruption allegations 

Obaseki urges tougher measures against slavery 

Governor of Edo 

State, Godwin 

Obaseki, has urged 

world leaders to 

strengthen existing laws and 

policies against all forms of 

slavery, to uphold the dignity 

of the human being. 

Obaseki made the call in 

commemoration of the United 

Nations International Day 

of Remembrance of the Victims 

of Slavery and the Transatlantic 

Slave Trade, marked 

on March 25 each year. 

The governor decried the 

reappearance of slavery in 

Libya and other parts of the 

world, several decades after 

it was abolished, and hailed 

the efforts of the Benin Monarch, 

His Royal Majesty, Omo 

N’ Oba N’Edo, Uku Akpolokpolo, 

Ewuare II, at bringing an 

end to human trafficking in 

the state. 

“Since the intervention 

by Oba Ewuare II, we have 

… Angola charges son of former leader 

It was bad news yesterday 

for two former 

African leaders beginning 

with the former 

South African president 

Jacob Zuma who was formally 

charged for corruption 

and ordered to appear 

before a Duban court on 

April 6. 

In Luanda, the son 

of former president José 

Eduardo dos Santos was 

charged over allegations 

that he was involved in a 

$500m fraud while head of 

the oil-rich southern African 

country’s sovereign 

wealth fund, state radio reported. 

Zuma’s lawyer confirmed 

that he was served 

with official notice Monday 

and he is facing 16 charges 

of corruption, fraud, and 

other offences relating to 

alleged bribery in a decades-old 

arms deal. 

South Africa’s national 

prosecuting authority said 

this month that it would 

finally pursue a long-delayed 

prosecution of Mr 

Zuma over the charges — 

compounding his humiliation 

after the ruling African 

National Congress forced 

him to resign as president 

in February. 

Zuma was succeeded 

as president by Cyril 

Ramaphosa, the ANC leader, 

who has pledged to fight 

corruption that flourished 

under his predecessor and 

has moved swiftly to remove 

a number of the former 

president’s allies from 

government. 

José Filomeno dos Santos 

was removed as head 

of the $5bn wealth fund by 

his father’s successor, João 

Lourenço, in January. Angola’s 

attorney-general said 

received positive feedbacks 

from the camps of the human 

traffickers in Europe and 

other parts of the world. They 

have been rattled and many 

of them have given up the 

inhuman trade for decent lifestyles, 

knowing the weight of 

the royal pronouncements,” 

the governor said. 

The governor assured that 

“with the extensive and speedy 

work that have been done by 

the Edo State House of Assembly 

on the ‘Bill to Prohibit 

Trafficking in Persons and Establish 

the Edo State Taskforce 

Against Trafficking in Persons,’ 

the stage is set for an all out war 

against human traffickers and 

their collaborators.” 

He said the Bill, when 

signed into law, would 

strengthen existing Federal 

Government laws and agencies 

in tackling human trafficking. 

Obaseki noted that 

the United Nations Internaon 

Monday that the younger 

Mr dos Santos was also 

being barred from leaving 

the country in connection 

with the probe into claims 

that funds were transferred 

abroad from an account at 

the central bank. 

The former governor of 

the National Bank of Angola 

has also been charged 

over the alleged transfer, 

state radio added. Maka 

Angola, a site run by Rafael 

Marques de Morais, an Angolan 

investigative journalist, 

reported in January that 

the alleged transfer took 

place as part of a scheme 

involving an offer to lend 

money to the Angolan 

government that was later 

found to be fictitious. 

As president, the older 

Mr dos Santos appointed 

his children to key economic 

positions, including 

naming his daughter, Isabel, 

chief executive of the 

state oil company, before 

stepping down from nearly 

four decades in power in 

elections last year. 

Mr Lourenço has reversed 

the appointments 

amid signs of a power struggle 

within the ruling MPLA, 

which has governed Angola 

since independence. Mr 

dos Santos, who remains 

the head of the MPLA, indicated 

this month that 

he would delay his departure 

as its chief. Before the 

younger Mr dos Santos’ 

dismissal from the wealth 

fund, civil society activists 

accused him of cronyism in 

picking a Swiss investment 

firm run by an associate, 

Jean-Claude Bastos de Morais, 

to manage its assets. 

Mr dos Santos and Mr Bastos 

de Morais have denied 

the claims. 

tional Day of Remembrance 

of the Victims of Slavery and 

the Transatlantic Slave Trade, 

should remind everyone of 

the millions of lives that were 

lost; namely women, children 

and young men. 

“We must never go that route 

again. In Edo State, we have lost 

thousands of our young men 

and women to illegal migration 

and human trafficking and this 

is unacceptable. 

“My administration is 

committed to a new order 

that will engage our productive 

youths in dignifying and 

rewarding economic ventures 

that earn them decent 

wages,” he added. 

According to the United 

Nations, “for over 400 years, 

more than 15 million men, 

women and children were 

the victims of the tragic 

transatlantic slave trade, one 

of the darkest chapters in 

human history.

Tuesday 27 March 2018 C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 

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BUSINESS DAY 

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BUSINESS DAY 

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C002D5556 

COMMENT 

AfCFTA: Why is Nigeria hesitant? 

comment is free 

Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline.com 

MAZI SAM OHUABUNWA OFR 

sam@starteamconsult.com 

Nigeria is the most populous 

country in Africa with current 

population estimated 

at about 194 million growing 

at about 2.6% per annum. 

It is said that every one of four black 

people in the world is a Nigerian. With an 

estimated GDP of $ 405 billion Nigeria is 

still the largest economy in Africa in spite 

of its recently ended descent to economic 

recession. So with the largest population 

and largest economy, it is natural that 

Africa expects leadership from Nigeria. 

The discussions for the conversion of 

the African Union (AU) into a common 

economic zone like the European Union 

(EU) had been going on since 2012 and 

actually intensified since 2015. Nigeria’s 

current Minister of Industry, Trade and 

investment, Okechukwu Enalamah was 

the Chairman of the African ministers of 

Trade (AMOT) that signed off the legal 

instruments establishing the African 

Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), 

thereby paving the way for the heads of 

states and governments to gather in Kigali 

Rwanda last Wednesday 21st April to 

ratify the agreements and protocols for the 

common customs union that will become 

effective in 18 months time. But Nigeria 

was conspicuously and you could say 

embarrassingly missing when 44 African 

countries signed the agreement. 

The question is why would Nigeria 

‘dodge ‘ at the last minute, even when the 

meeting was almost on the way? Does it 

show that President Muhammadu Buhari 

(PMB) and the government he leads do 

not understand the benefits of having free 

trade within the continent? Removal of 

trade tariff barriers on 90% of goods and 

liberalizing services have many advantages. 

One, it will create a market of 1.2 

billion people with a GDP size of $2.2 

trillion with a potential to quickly reach 

$3.4 trillion. Two, it will allow people, 

goods and services flow seamlessly from 

one African country to another and in 

the process create more opportunities 

for entrepreneurship. Three, because 

tariffs will be removed on most of the 

goods imported within the free trade 

zone, costs of imports will fall and prices 

of imported goods will come cheaper to 

African consumers including the suffering 

people of Nigeria. Four, it should 

lead to creation of more jobs which will 

help us solve a major economic challenge 

confronting Nigeria. Five, because 

African countries can now trade with 

each other with minimum inhibition, 

African capital will circulate more in 

Africa creating great benefits. It is so 

embarrassing that when African countries 

need anything, their first instinct is 

to look up to Europe (especially UK and 

France,) North America (especially USA) 

or Asia (particularly India & China). They 

hardly looked next door, despite nearness 

and similar market and cultural 

characteristics. 

Today intra-African trade is only 

about 15% of total trade within the 

continent, indicating that 85% of African 

trade is done with ‘outsiders’. In contrast, 

Europe has 67% of its trade done in the 

European Union; Asia has 58% as intraregional 

trade; and North America has 

48%. Therefore it should be clear to 

all those who want Africa to come of 

age and begin to compete fairly with 

the rest of the world and to stop being 

over-dependent on charity or aid from 

the rest of the world, Africa must grow 

its intra-regional trading muscles. And 

given the size of Nigeria and its several 

factor endowments, Nigeria should be 

a major beneficiary of the AfCFTA deal. 

So why would Nigeria dither and give 

the impression of a confused country? 

We must quickly undertake the 

consultations with all stakeholders 

and take on board all concerns and 

design how to contain them and then 

go to Kigali or Nairobi or Addis Ababa 

and sign the agreement and begin the 

process of rapidly expanding intra- 

African trade. 

Certainly, I disagree with the inelegant 

way Nigeria carried itself in this embarrassing 

last minute refusal to take its proper 

position as Africa was making history in 

Kigali, forming the largest Trade block 

since WTO. Nigeria had all the opportunity 

to discuss this matter with all stakeholders 

before this day to reach a consensus. To 

allow the Federal Executive Council (FEC) 

to approve the terms of the agreement, 

authorizing PMB to go to Kigali only to 

abort the trip at the last moment demeans 

Nigeria’s standing in Africa or indeed in 

the rest of the world. This kind of behaviour 

which has the trade mark of Trump’s 

“America First” and weird behaviour in the 

international arena does not fit Nigeria. 

But when all is considered, I will still think 

that PMB made the right decision not to 

attend. Firstly, it was an acknowledgment 

that though he had failed to consult with 

the organized private sector prior to getting 

the FEC’s approval, he regarded the red flag 

raised by the Manufacturers ‘Association of 

Nigeria (MAN) especially and the Nigeria 

Labour Congress (NLC) serious enough. 

Despite the embarrassment and the apparent 

slur on Nigeria’s image and standing by 

being absent in Kigali as Africa made true 

history, I salute his courage in deciding to 

err on the side of caution. It is my thinking 

that he was showing that Nigeria had learnt 

lessons from the WTO debacle in 1994. The 

Nigerian government at the time was criticized 

severely for rushing to sign the WTO 

agreements without fully understanding 

the ramifications of globalization. Buhari 

seemed not to want a repeat, where we 

would sign this African trade deal as good 

as it sounds without a full understanding 

of its ramifications on local manufacturing 

and domestic security. 

Secondly, critical issues raised by 

MAN truly require full answers. The 

area of major concern is how are we 

going to enforce the rules of origin? The 

inconvenient truth is that except for a 

few countries - Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, 

Nigeria and South Africa, there is little real 

manufacturing going on in much of Africa. 

Primary commodities yes, but not manufacturing. 

Today Nigeria perhaps has 

the largest manufacturing base outside 

South Africa. In normal circumstances 

that should give Nigeria an advantage as 

it could easily seize the new open market 

opportunities to dominate the African 

market in manufactured goods. But 

experience from the ECOWAS Common 

External tariff (CET) for example, seem 

to dampen the enthusiasm of Nigerian 

manufacturers. It has been alleged that 

foreign companies set up ‘shell’ manufacturing 

companies in neighbouring African 

countries and simply import finished 

or almost-finished products into such 

countries and subsequently off load them 

on the Nigerian market, often at lower 

prices than local manufacture. Matter is 

worsened for Nigerian manufacturers 

because much of their products are globally 

uncompetitive due to infrastructural 

deficits, especially power and the overall 

high cost of doing business. Thus Nigerian 

manufacturers suffer double jeopardy. 

They cannot easily export to other African 

countries because those countries have 

easy access to cheaper imports from Asia 

and Latin America especially. And then 

in the domestic market, the free import of 

what one may call pseudo- manufactured 

goods or what really are trans-shipped 

finished goods using African countries as 

‘transit camps’ compromise the viability 

of the locally manufactured goods. That is 

the fear of the local manufacturers. 

It is this reality that has made the 

growth of the export of Nigeria’s manufactured 

goods to remain dismal and 

indeed has forced many Nigerian manufacturers 

to focus almost exclusively on 

the domestic market. This is the reason 

crude petroleum has remained the major 

export and foreign exchange earning item 

on the Nigeria’s economic menu. But 

having said all these, I still believe that in 

the long run it is imperative that Nigeria 

signs the treaty and joins the Continental 

Free Trade Area (CFTA). The issues raised 

by the manufacturers and labour are not 

insurmountable. The primary need is 

to work out a water- tight mechanism 

to ensure no African country allows its 

territory to be used as a transit route to 

dump products on the Nigerian market. 

Nigeria must insist on getting legally 

enforceable assurances on this. Secondarily, 

the government must continue to 

devote maximum effort and investment 

on bridging the power deficit in Nigeria. 

This is a major issue for Nigeria’s global 

competitiveness. The current effort at improving 

the ease of doing business must 

be sustained with increased urgency. Also 

the federal government should continue 

to offer incentives like the Export Expansion 

Grant (EEG) and tax deductibles for 

‘own’ energy to manufacturers to help 

overcome existing uncompetiveness as 

interim measures. 

So we must quickly undertake the 

consultations with all stakeholders and 

take on board all concerns and design 

how to contain them and then go to Kigali 

or Nairobi or Addis Ababa and sign 

the agreement and begin the process of 

rapidly expanding intra-African trade. 

The benefits are enormous and certainly 

exceed the concerns of any particular 

trade group. And lastly, let us as nation 

learn to get our act together and avoid 

dancing naked in the market place. Let 

the right things be done at the right time! 

Send reactions to: 

comment@businessdayonline.com 

STRATEGY & POLICY 

MA JOHNSON 

Johnson is a marine project management 

consultant and Chartered Engineer. He is 

a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering, 

Science and Technology, UK. 

If this writer was told by a friend 

that an appointee of the President 

of Nigeria disobeyed an executive 

order, it would have been taken 

as one of those mammy market jokes 

of the year. A Nigerian proverb says 

that when a cockroach dances by the 

roadside, it is in response to sounds of 

drums emanating from a nearby bush. 

So, when any appointee disobeys the 

order of his principal at the executive 

level of government, there is likely to 

be someone somewhere giving the 

appointee confidence to flout his 

superior’s orders. 

The crux of the matter in this piece 

is Mr President’s expressed shock that 

the IGP, Ibrahim Idris, did not spend 

24 hours in Benue when the latter was 

directed to relocate to the state and 

remain there till peace was restored. 

Accountability, responsibility, and disobedience to Mr President’s order 

One is surprised why the IGP did 

not comply with a presidential order, 

and why Mr President did not 

follow through his orders. Both Mr 

President and any of his security 

chiefs are accountable and responsible 

to Nigerians and Nigeria in the 

discharge of their duties. 

Every elected and appointed 

public officer irrespective of rank and 

position of authority is accountable, 

responsible and must obey lawful 

orders. Authority must not be mistaken 

for responsibility. And anyone 

responsible can only delegate his/ 

her authority but not the responsibility 

attached to the office occupied. 

The responsibility of a leader is to 

be responsible for actions of subordinates. 

The order, according to Mr 

President, was for the IGP to remain 

in Benue state until he found solutions 

to farmers/herdsmen attacks 

which claimed several lives, and 

displaced thousands of indigenes 

of the state. The IGP was alleged to 

have barely stayed in Benue for a day 

after which he moved to Nasarawa 

state. This act of insubordination 

compelled Mr President to demand 

for a full report on the Nigeria Police 

Force operations till date after which 

the presidency will take further decisions. 

After flouting his principal’s 

orders, the IGP remains in office. 

Certainly, The IGP knows that Mr 

President has authority over him, 

just the same way his police men and 

women are under his authority. 

Nigeria‘s 1999 Constitution is supreme 

and confers on the President 

broad executive and enforcement authority 

to manage resources and staff 

of the executive arm of the government. 

The Constitution is binding on all authorities 

and persons with discretionary 

powers given to the President in emergencies 

or wars to deploy the military 

and other security agencies. That is why 

the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence 

Corps (NSCDC) has been deployed by 

Mr President to provide physical security 

to schools in the North East. 

In leadership roles, accountability 

is the acknowledgement and assumption 

of responsibility for actions and 

decisions. It includes the obligation 

to report, explain and be answerable 

for resulting consequences of one’s 

actions. Accountability is universal, 

and it is of importance in all spheres of 

our national life. But in Nigeria, most 

people in the public space gloss over 

accountability. 

The importance of accountability in 

the military cannot be overemphasized 

because it is the last bastion of security 

of the country. The same goes for the 

NPF which is the first layer of security 

in protecting lives and properties of 

citizens in a democracy. A nation whose 

security is seriously compromised by 

incessant kidnappings, herdsmen attacks 

and armed robbery will barely accept 

a blame game between the security 

operatives when there is a display of 

ineptitude as reflected in the Dapchi 

incidence. Thank goodness, almost all 

the Dapchi girls abducted have been 

released to the FG by Boko Haram. 

It is necessary to state that handing 

over of security operations between 

the military and the NPF or any security 

organization is not done orally. 

There is a procedure which middle 

level cadre officers of the military, the 

NPF, and other security services have 

been taught. A security sector that is 

bereft of accountability would not be 

able to function cohesively in order 

to achieve its objectives of providing 

national security. 

The reason why accountability is 

so important in the security sector, 

particularly the military, is due mainly 

to situations of life and death which 

personnel of every rank could be 

confronted with in war, and war-like 

situations. Every officer and soldier is 

accountable for some phase or aspect 

of any operation, and if there is laxity 

by any one, it can have an adverse 

effect on completion of the assigned 

mission as well as on the safety of 

all ranks involved in it. That is, any 

security personnel who deliberately 

or erroneously does not execute his 

superiors’ orders is a disaster waiting 

to happen. The refusal of a security 

personnel to respond positively and 

timely to superior orders may lead to 

the destruction of thousands of his/ 

her colleagues. 

So, the IGP did not yield to that 

particular presidential order. Why? 

May be the IGP wants Mr President 

to believe that he did not acquiesce 

to his orders directing him to remain 

in Benue state because of the implication 

of such an order. Anyway, only 

the IGP knows what went wrong in 

executing Mr President’s orders. Some 

of my friends have expressed their 

views that these guys in the security 

sector are trying their best. I agree in 

Toto. But the fact remains that some of 

them are not living up to the expectations 

of Nigerians. Those in leadership 

positions in the security sector should 

note that effective and progressive 

discipline must be enforced to instill 

accountability amongst all ranks. It is 

the view of Thomas Paine, American 

philosopher and political theorist, 

that “a group of men holding themselves 

accountable to nobody ought 

not to be trusted by anybody.” All 

authorities and persons throughout 

Nigeria should bear in mind that it 

is morally wrong and unacceptable 

to seek to escape the consequences 

of their acts. 


comment@businessdayonline.


COMMENT 

RAFIQ RAJI 

“Dr Raji is chief economist at Macroafricaintel. 

He was previously an 

Africa Economist at Standard Chartered 

Bank, London, UK. (Twitter: @ 

DrRafiqRaji)” 

Ahead of the run-off 

poll, my column this 

week republishes the 

article I wrote about the 

presidential election in 

Sierra Leone for the March 2018 issue 

of African Business magazine.) 

Sierra Leoneans go to the polls 

on 7 March. Thankfully, President 

Ernest Bai Koroma would not be 

on the ballot. This is no mean feat, 

it is believed. Had there be no opposition, 

Mr Koroma could have 

contested, some say. The “more 

time” campaign started as early as 

2012 under various guises. A review 

of the constitution, which started 

in July 2013, and would take another 

four years to complete, was 

controversial in part because of 

speculations Mr Koroma might be 

desirous of staying longer in office. 

More recently, about a year ago, 

there were reports of plans by the 

ruling All People’s Congress (APC) 

party to tamper with the electoral 

calendar. About the same time, Mr 

Koroma was endorsed by the youth 

wing of his party as “chairman for 

life”, further fuelling speculations he 

C002D5556 

Salone decides in likely tight polls 

still planned to hold on to the reins 

of power; in one form or another. 

The budgeting of just about half 

of the $48 million estimated cost 

of the polls by his administration, 

supposedly because of strained 

finances, and a seemingly less than 

enthusiastic pace of disbursement 

to the National Electoral Commission 

(NEC), have been viewed 

with suspicion by some as well. 

Mr Koroma’s officials dismiss such 

insinuations, of course, averring 

instead that the outgoing president 

never aspired to staying beyond 

the constitutionally mandated two 

5-year terms. 

There is a precedence for the 

“third-term” phenomenon in West 

Africa. Former Nigerian president 

Olusegun Obasanjo was believed 

to have desired a third term as 

well; if the ample media coverage 

of the speculation back then is 

anything to go by, at least. There 

are interesting parallels. Just like in 

the Sierra Leonean case years later, 

there were indicators to suggest 

Mr Obasanjo might have “tried his 

luck” if there had not been much 

resistance. Similarly, Mr Koroma 

was perennially at loggerheads with 

his former deputy, Samuel Sam- 

Sumana, who desired to succeed 

him; and seemed a little hasty to 

do so. Accusing him of formenting 

violence and anti-party activities, 

Mr Koroma fired him in March 

2015. To this day, Mr Sam-Sumana 

insists it was because he opposed 

his former principal’s third term 

agenda. By and large, however, 

West African countries are proving 

to be excellent democratic 

West African countries are 

proving to be excellent 

democratic exemplars. 

Neighbouring Liberia, 

which had its first successful 

civilian-to-civilian 

transition in January, is a 

sterling example of how 

better things are becoming, 

for instance 

exemplars. Neighbouring Liberia, 

which had its first successful civilianto-civilian 

transition in January, is a 

sterling example of how better things 

are becoming, for instance. The trail 

Liberia just blazed, however, was 

long trod by Sierra Leone in 2007, 

when former president, Ahmad 

Tejan Kabbah, passed the baton to 

the incumbent. Thus, what the Sierra 

Leonean case proves is that even a 

powerful president would struggle 

to usurp the will of the people or 

flout the law. 

New blood tightens race 

The ruling APC chose foreign 

minister Samura Kamara as its 

presidential flagbearer in October. 

The other main candidate in the 

presidential race is Julius Maada Bio 

of the Sierra Leone People’s Party 

(SLPP), who Mr Koroma beat in 2012. 

Mr Bio could prove formidable for Mr 

Kamara. Even so, what could poten- 

comment is free 

Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline.com 

tially make the upcoming polls very 

interesting is how perhaps none of 

the two establishment candidates 

would be able to secure a firm win. 

Increasingly popular technocratic 

candidate and former United Nations 

Under-Secretary-General, 

Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella, could 

eat into the support of the SLPP, his 

former party; under the auspices 

of the National Grand Coalition, 

the political party he set up after 

his defection. Perhaps in recognition 

of his potential, Mr Yumkella’s 

candidacy is being challenged in 

court for allegedly having dual 

citizenship; which if proven, would 

disqualify him from running. Alliance 

Democratic Party’s Mohamed 

Kamarainba, who was once an APC 

stalwart, is a potential threat to the 

ruling party in the north. The trio 

of Kamara, Bio, and Yumkella are 

believed to be the real contenders 

in an expected close vote, though. 

Some Sierra Leoneans want a full 

departure from the Koroma era. 

Thus, the president’s avid support 

for Mr Kamara may prove to be a 

disadvantage. The Chinese, who 

hold great sway in the country, back 

the ruling party’s candidate, though, 

freely campaigning for him – much 

to the discomfort of some locals. For 

SLPP’s Bio, there is little evidence 

his popularity has increased since 

his last attempt at the presidency 

five years ago. As defectors from 

the two leading parties, Yumkella 

and Kamarainba make the poll the 

tighter; raising the likelihood of rigging 

and violence. 

Economy needs a boost 

International prices for iron ore, 

BUSINESS DAY 

11 

the country’s key export has been 

ascendant lately. With one of the 

two major iron ore mines remaining 

closed, however – the Marampa 

mine was a casualty of London 

Mining’s troubles – the improved 

price outlook has not had as much 

revenue impact as it could have. To 

shore up its finances, the Koroma 

administration secured $224.2 million 

funding from the IMF in July 

2017. As part of the conditions, the 

authorities were forced to cut fuel 

subsidies; with the effects more 

painfully felt by the masses as oil 

prices rose. Never mind that the awful 

experiences from the Ebola epidemic 

and more recently, a massive 

mudslide in the capital, have been 

greatly dampening for the economy. 

Together with the mining sector 

slump, the central bank estimates 

economic growth likely slowed to 

5.6 percent in 2017, from 6.1 percent 

the year before. Annual consumer 

inflation rose significantly in 2017; at 

an average of 18.6 percent (Jan-Nov), 

from 10.8 percent in 2016. A 25 percent 

depreciation in the Leone was 

one reason why. So, “economic conditions 

heading into the elections 

leave a largely sour reading”, says 

Wale Okunrinboye, a fixed income 

and currency specialist at Ecobank, 

a pan-African bank. “Set against an 

uninspiring economic scorecard, 

amid fractures within the ruling 

APC, the March 2018 elections look 

set to be a keenly contested affair”, 

Mr Okunrinboye adds. 


comment@businessdayonline.com 

AYO ONIKU 

Ayo Oniku (PhD) teaches Marketing at 

University of Lagos and a Senior Consultant 

at Ayo Oniku & Associates 

The retailing sector of the 

economy is currently 

witnessing an unprecedented 

boom which 

has brought the sector to the front 

burner of discussion in many 

business fora and academic discourses. 

The crucial advantage 

that the new evolvement has 

achieved is modernisation and 

contemporariness of channel and 

logistics management, efficiency 

of intermediation, shopping 

culture, neighbourhood retailing 

and development of shopping 

mall in Nigeria. Expectedly, the 

system enjoys rapid development 

in supermarket, departmental 

stores and grocery in a way that 

spurs and re-orientates consumer 

shopping behaviours and 

patterns. Importantly the evolvement 

has injected new shopping 

attitudes which may be described 

as ‘imported shopping habits 

among the elites and educated 

consumers and Nigerian-style 

shopping habits among the less 

educated and the joneses’. 

The belief that visiting shopping 

malls or patronising supermarkets 

was exclusively meant 

for foreigners, elites, educated 

and Nigerians who had once lived 

abroad has disappeared in shopping 

mall attendance and patronage 

in today’s retailing survey. 

The boundary or segregation has 

collapsed and it is a market for all 

and sundry irrespective of status 

Retailing: Before the hell is let loose (1) 

or education. For instance, up 

to early 90s, Obafemi Awolowo 

University, Ile –Ife had Leventist 

Stores that was visibly present to 

serve the needs of the university 

community and the elites in the 

entire city. The retailing strategy 

in the post-independence till 

mid-90s favoured citing supermarkets 

and departmental stores 

at highbrow areas and selected 

community populated with 

elites and educated consumers 

like university campuses. 

The post-independence retailing 

sector was, either by 

omission or commission, developed 

to grow on the two sides 

of the economy demographical 

landscape of educated and 

non-educated; the elites and 

the commoners; the rich and the 

poor; and the educated youths 

and non-educated youths. Resultantly, 

we have a retailing 

sector where the traditional retailing 

systems of town markets, 

village markets, open shops, and 

kiosks were retailing platforms 

for the commoners, non-educated 

and low-profiled citizens. On 

the other side, the then Kingsway 

Stores, Leventist Stores, Domino, 

UTC stores, etc. served the rich, 

educated and elites in the society. 

Equally, modern supermarkets, 

departmental stores, 

etc. that served the elites were 

strategically located to achieve 

proximity and convenience factors 

for the elites and educated 

major clients while the retailing 

platforms for the low-profiled 

citizens dotted every nook and 

cranny of the society. 

Another significant factor that 

characterised post-independence 

Nigeria till early 90s before the 

advent SAP policy and its effects 

on purchasing power of the 

populace was, it was clearly and 

largely a market for the middle 

class. A visit to supermarkets and 

departmental stores in those days 

brought you to another melting 

pot of the likes of bankers, medical 

doctors, academicians, law professionals, 

etc. who were believed to 

possess the wherewithal in terms 

of finance, status, socialisation 

and sophistication. This made it 

easier to pre-determine where to 

site retailing outlets and the class 

of consumers meant to patronise 

the markets. 

Currently, the economy is witnessing 

a rapid expansion in retailing 

sector wherein both foreign 

and indigenous retailers are found 

across the nooks and crannies of 

the nation competing for consumers’ 

pockets. On the surface, 

this is a welcome development 

considering certain factors like reemergence 

of middle class since 

the beginning of the democratic 

rule; consumer sophistication; 

improvement in GDP; and different 

government policies that 

strengthening effective demand. 

Nonetheless, the euphoria has 

its silent negative sides that government, 

Nigeria Manufacturers 

Association and different organising 

and regulatory bodies of SMEs 

need to give due consideration 

and monitor before they get out 

of hand. Having different retailing 

outlets dotted the landscape 

of a city or State capita is not the 

problem but the multiplier effects 

on the survival of convenience 

stores on the street corners 

- the Mallams’, the corner-piece 

groceries and the landladies’ 

shops. Equally, the numerous 

convenience stores represent a 

critical means of creating employment 

for certain categories 

of citizens. By international 

standard and practice, certain 

square meter measurement/ 

dimension is used to determine 

the size of retailing outlet and 

this further spells-out the suitable 

location for such operation 

(the dimension may vary across 

nations). Unfortunately, the experience 

so far in Nigeria is entrenching 

a misnomer whereby 

shopping malls and modern 

retailing outlets are cited in the 

heart of the city and the corollary 

is the closure of Mallams’ shops, 

Landladies’ mini shops and other 

convenience stores that by no 

means can compete with the 

superstores and departmental 

shops. The fact of the matter is 

that superstores, hypermarkets, 

departmental stores, etc. enjoy 

economy of scale that influences 

the pricing strategy that small 

convenience stores like Mallam 

shops cannot afford neither attract. 

In economies like UK and 

other developed markets, supermarkets, 

departmental stores 

and even certain categories of 

shopping mall are not given 

neither do they enjoy the rights 

of convenience stores so that 

healthy competition may be created 

in the industry. Traditionally, 

consumers travel a distance 

to shop in superstores, super 

markets, departmental stores and 

generally shopping malls so that 

convenience stores may remain 

convenient or stone-throw to 

consumers. The style and strategy 

of citing shopping malls and departmental 

stores in any available 

space in the heart of a city being 

pursued by both foreign and indigenous 

retailers, and with what 

looks like government collaboration 

needs to be halted. Failure to 

do so will in the long run create a 

danger or reality of ‘robbing Peter 

to pay Paul’ or ‘killing goats to 

save cattle’ 

In reality, the present status 

and practice of convenience 

stores in Nigeria is not encouraging 

and not contemporary 

but it has been a saving grace of 

employment for a stratum of employable 

citizens that government 

policies would have neglected. 

Thus the policies should focus 

on how to improve the sub-sector 

and not to make a sacrificial lamb 

for large scale retailers. 


comment@businessdayonline.com

12 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Tuesday 27 March 2018 

EDITORIAL 

PUBLISHER/CEO 

Frank Aigbogun 

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 

Prof. Onwuchekwa Jemie 

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS 

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CIRCULATION MANAGER 

John Okpaire 

GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (North) 

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Ignatius Chukwu 

HEAD, HUMAN RESOURCES 

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EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD 

Dick Kramer - Chairman 

Imo Itsueli 

Mohammed Hayatudeen 

Albert Alos 

Funke Osibodu 

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Maneesh Garg 

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Bolanle Onagoruwa 

Fola Laoye 

Chuka Mordi 

Sim Shagaya 

Mezuo Nwuneli 

Emeka Emuwa 

Charles Anudu 

Tunji Adegbesan 

Eyo Ekpo 

Gates’ free advice to Nigeria 

Last week Thursday in 

Abuja, at an expanded 

meeting of the 

National Economic 

Council (NEC) at the 

State House themed: ‘Human 

Capital Investment in Supporting 

Pro-poor and Economic 

Growth Agenda’, renowned 

business man and philanthropist, 

Bill Gates, made some 

suggestions that could help 

the country reposition itself 

for rapid economic growth 

and development. While commending 

the government’s 

Economic Recovery and 

Growth Plan (ERGP) for identifying 

investment in the people, 

he faulted it for failing to reflect 

it in its implementation. “The 

Nigerian government’s Economic 

Recovery and Growth 

Plan identifies investing in the 

people as one of three strategic 

objectives. But the execution 

priorities don’t fully reflect 

people’s needs, prioritising 

physical capital over human 

capital,” Gates was quoted as 

saying. 

“To anchor the economy 

over the long term, investments 

in infrastructure and 

competitiveness must go hand 

in hand with investment in 

people. People without roads 

ports and factories can’t flourish. 

And roads, ports and factories 

without skilled workers 

to build and manage them can’t 

sustain an economy...If you invest 

in their health, education, 

and opportunities- the human 

capital we are talking about 

today, then they will lay the foundation 

for sustained prosperity. If 

you don’t, however, then it is very 

important to recognise that there 

will be a sharp limit on how much 

the country can grow. 

“By 2050, Nigeria is projected 

to have the world’s third largest 

population. For this next generation 

to thrive as adults and drive 

economic progress, we need to 

invest in their health and wellbeing, 

and in their ability to learn 

and apply new skills in an ever 

changing global economy.” 

“That, at its core, is what 

we mean by ‘human capital’ – 

healthy and productive and well 

educated young people – who 

are then enabled to succeed, lift 

up themselves and their families 

and contribute to society through 

their own ingenuity,” he said. 

While what Gates said wasn’t 

particularly new and many Nigerians 

and experts have been expressing 

this sentiment for long 

without anyone paying attention 

to them, the same message 

coming from one of the world’s 

richest man and philanthropist 

has given it some force, which the 

government must now ponder 

and take on in planning Nigeria’s 

economic agenda. 

But while the Vice President, 

who presided over the meeting, 

gracefully accepted the advice of 

Gates promising that the government 

will deepen its investment 

in human capital, some of President 

Buhari’s blind supporters 

and loyalists have chose to take 

aim at Gates, who, perhaps, has 

contributed most to human 

capital development in Nigeria 

by investing over $1.6 billion 

and willing to do more, and 

vehemently continue to defend 

their principal and the policies of 

this administration. Prominent 

among them is Kaduna state 

governor, Nasir el-Rufai who vehemently 

disagreed with Gates. 

“On the review of ERGP as suggested 

by Gates, it is not correct to 

say that the economic recovery 

and growth plan does not give 

primacy to human capital, it is 

not correct,” el-Rufai said. 

“The economic recovery and 

growth plan has enough provision 

for human capital, it is a 

federal government plan, what 

is needed is for states to have 

similar plans as well as adequate 

provisions for healthcare and 

education.” 

But we feel el-Rufai and his 

like are missing the point. What 

rational government could afford 

to leave millions of its citizens 

in poor health, ravaged 

by avoidable diseases such as 

malaria, yellow and Lassa fever, 

cholera, typhoid etc while it continues 

to spend billions of dollars 

yearly to subsidise consumption 

of petrol by the rich and the middle 

class? Despite Nigeria being 

a signatory to the World Health 

Organisation recommendation 

for every government to spend 

at least 13 percent its annual 

budget to health, Nigeria has not 

allocated more than 6.57 percent 

of its budget to the health sector. 

A good example is the 2018 

proposed budget where only 

N340.45 billion, representing 

3.9 percent of the N8.8 trillion 

expenditure plan, was allocated 

to the health sector. Same goes 

for education, which has been 

virtually neglected by the government. 

There is also no way a rational 

government interested in the human 

development of its people 

will continue to leave its people 

in near total darkness without 

electricity while it continues to 

waste amazing amount of gas 

through flaring while its power 

stations have no gas to generate 

electricity. 

We hope the government will 

be humble enough to listen to 

sound advice and begin to prioritise 

investments in its people 

rather than seeing construction 

of roads and subsidy on petrol 

as dividends of democracy and 

evidence of government’s performance. 

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Tuesday 27 March 2018 BUSINESS DAY 13 

COMPANIES 

& MARKETS 

Company news analysis and insight 

Rencap upgrades Lafarge to 

BUY on rights issue 

Pg. 14 

UBA’s consistent earnings growth 

validates diversified operations 

Storiesby BALA AUGIE 

United Bank for 

Africa (UBA) 

Plc has been 

growing earnings 

over the 

last 5 years, leveraging on 

scale and scope of operations 

as well as geographic 

diversification. 

The Pan-African Bank, 

with operations across 19 key 

African markets, London, 

New York and Paris, posted 

net income of N78.59 billion 

to end 2017 financial year, 

the highest since 2013 when 

it recorded a profit of N46.60 

billion. 

Profit increased by 8.76 

percent to N78.50 billion in 

December 2017 as against 

N72.26 billion the previous 

year, thanks to contributions 

from interest income and 

noninterest income. 

Gross earnings increased 

by 20.30 percent to N461.55 

billion in December 2017 

as against N383.64 billion 

the previous year. There 

has been steady growth in 

gross earnings in the last five 

years. See Chart. 

Interest income, which 

contributed 70.46 percent 

of gross earnings, grew 23.36 

percent, driven by better 

pricing and asset allocation 

as well as contributions from 

interest income on loans and 

advances. 

A breakdown of interest 

income shows term loans 

spiked 23.36 percent to 

N159.21 billion while interest 

income from treasury 

bills were up 47.94 percent to 

N67.15 billion in the period 

under review. 

Noninterest income was 

up 12.53 percent to N118.93 


from N105.68 billion as at 

December 2016; driven by 

contributions from fees and 

commission income and 

trading income. 

UBA is benefiting from an 

Continues on page 14

14 

BUSINESS DAY 

COMPANIES & MARKETS 

C002D5556 


Rencap upgrades Lafarge to BUY on rights issue 

BALA AUGIE 

Analysts at Renaissance 

Capital Limited 

have upgraded 

Lafarge Africa 

to Buy following 

the completion of a rights issue 

as the cement maker seeks to 

reduce debt and strengthen 

working capital. 

“We downgraded Lafarge 

to Sell in our report 27 percent 

cut in TP on capital call, 

published 10 October 2017, 

given the arbitrage that the 

rights issue presented at an 

exercise price of NGN42.5 vs 

the market price of N57,” said 

Temilade Aduroja, analysts at 

Renaissance Capital in a note 

to client. 

“Following the rights issue 

we now see value in Lafarge 

and think this is a good time 

to buy,” said Aduroja. 

Lafarge Africa had on November 

24, 2017 launched an 

offer to raise N131.65 billion 

through a rights issue of about 

3.1 billion ordinary shares of 50 

kobo each at N42.50 per share. 

The company said the proceeds 

from the rights issue 

will be used to reduce the 

company’s debt meet working 

capital requirement and fund 

future expansion plans 

A total of 3,577 applications 

were received and processed 

successfully, leading to a 100 

percent subscription of the issue. 

Of the N131.6bn ($366mn) 

proceeds, 71 percent will be 

used to convert $258mn of 

Lafarge’s $595mn shareholder 

loan to equity, leaving cash 

balance of $108mn on its balance 

sheet for working capital 

requirements, according to the 

Rencap report. 

Lafarge Africa has a total 

of N252.34 billion in debts as 

at September 2017, a 49.44 

percent increase from N168.85 

billion incurred the previous 

year. 

Finance costs spiked by 

134.05 percent to N17.31 billion 

in September 2017 as 

against N7.39 billion the previous 

year. 

Interest coverage ratio of 

1.06 times operating profit 

means the company’s ability 

to generate sufficient revenue 

to cover interest expense is 

questionable. 

Net margins stood at 0.15 

percent in September 2017, 

this compares with Dagote Cement’s 

32 percent net margin. 

Lafarge Africa has been 

grappling with rising cost 

of production and interest 

expense which are responsible 

for the squeeze in 

margins. 

The Nigerian cement marker 

has generated N8.59 billion 

in net cash flow from operating 

activities while total assets 

stood at N609.52 billion as at 

September 2017. 

“Our TP increases to 

NGN66 (implying 25% potential 

upside at current levels) 

following the completion of 

Lafarge’s rights issue as we: 1) 

increase our long-term growth 

rate to 8% (from 5%),” said 

Aduroja. 

Analysts at Rencap said 

that they ungraded Lafarge 

to BUY (From SELL) because 

they see value in the stock at 

current levels owing to the 

company’s stronger cash and 

balance-sheet position and 

growth in the Nigerian cement 

market, bolstered by the recovery 

in the economy. 

The gross domestic product 

of Africa’s largest oil producer 

expanded for three straight 

quarters last year after a 1.6 

percent contraction in 2016, 

with year-on-year growth 

reaching 1.9 percent in the 

final three months of 2017. 

Analysts are upbeat that 

the speedy passage of the 

2018 budget, ease in the foreign 

exchange market and 

government’s borrowing to 

fund capital expenditure will 

spur cement makers to growth 

this year. 

Lafarge Africa’s shares have 

gained 11.38 percebnt since 

start of the year, outperforming 

the NSE ASI. 

UBA’s consistent earnings growth... 


improving economy as progress 

in unpaid loans, higher 

interest income from holding 

government debt, and 

a rise in profit has helped 

the lender bolster its capital 

buffers. 

UBA closed the year with 

a Basel II capital adequacy 

ratio of 19 percent and a liquidity 

ratio of 50 percent, 

well ahead of 15 percent and 

30 percent. 

The gross domestic product 

of Africa’s largest oil producer 

expanded for three 

straight quarters last year 

after a 1.6 percent contraction 

in 2016, with year-on-year 

growth reaching 1.9 percent 

in the final three months of 

2017. 

An increase in crude 

prices and the introduction 

of a new foreign-exchange 

system that ended a crippling 

shortage of dollars helped 

attract more investment 

flows into the country, while 

improving liquidity for the 

lender. 

In the face of currency 

devaluation and cost of doing 

business maintained a cost to 

income (CIR) of 58 percent to 

end 2017 financial year. Operating 

expenses increased 

by 23.67 percent to N188.61 

billion in the period under 

review. 

The Nigerian lender’s 

loans and advances to customers 

increased by 9.82 

percent to N1.67 trillion in 

the period under review as 

it continues to leverage on 

its robust liquidity and capitalization 

to support good 

businesses through this challenging 

economic cycle. 

Serving over 14 million 

customers, through one of 

the most diverse channels in 

Africa, UBA’s total assets has 

hit N4.06 trillion, a 16 percent 

increase from the N3.50 trillion 

recorded last year. 

UBA shares have gained 

11.65 percent, outperforming 

the NSE ASI of 8.44 percent. 

It has market capitalization 

of N393.28 billion and shareholders 

fund of N529.43 billion. 

Nigeria missing out as China’s demand 

help US LNG project reach FID 

ISAAC ANYAOGU 

Absence of a comprehensive 

strategy in the 

Chinese market by Nigeria 

and its Africa gas 

producing peers may cause 

them to lose a foothold in the 

Chinese Liquefied Natural Gas 

(LNG) market where demand 

growth is being recorded. 

Cheniere Energy’s Corpus 

Christi export terminal in Texas 

could start producing its first 

liquefied natural gas (LNG) 

this year, a company executive 

told Reuters this month. This 

is spurred by growth in the 

Chinese LNG market helping 

it reach Final Investment Decision 

(FID). 

“Some LNG players in Africa 

may have missed or ignored 

this window of growth,” Olufola 

Wusu, a commercial/Oil & Gas, 

lawyer and Policy Consultant 

with Megathos Law Practice 

based in Lagos said. 

Construction of two 0.7 

billion-cubic-feet-per-day 

(4.5-million tonnes per annum) 

units at Corpus Christi is over 

80 percent complete, Douglas 

Wharton, director origination 

of Cheniere Marketing in Singapore. 

Wharton said while 

speaking at an LNG industry 

conference in the city-state. 

“We will hopefully start 

producing first LNG by this 

year and have made significant 

progress on train 3 which we 

are hoping to take a final investment 

decision (FID) on soon,” 

Wharton said. 

With glut in the global LNG 

market, more volumes are being 

pushed into the spot market 

currently valued at over $90billion 

but the Nigeria LNG has 

no appetite for the spot market. 

“The first set of contracts 

from the base project (trains 1, 

2 & 3), which are 20+ years contracts 

are scheduled to expire 

between 2021 and 2023/2024. 

In line with the provisions of 

the contracts, NLNG has commenced 

the remarketing activities 

of the expiring volumes with 

prospective counterparties. The 

remarketing campaign commenced 

with a marketing roadshow 

at the Gastech Conference 

in Tokyo Japan in March 2017,” 

said Tony Okonedo NLNG 

Manager, Corporate Communications, 

in an earlier email 

response on the subject. 

New volumes of LNG are 

entering the global LNG market 

from the United States which 

used to be a major importer 

and Australia, with a slowdown 

in expected economic growth 

in Europe and Asia. The LNG 

spot market is making a strong 

showing as more buyers shun 

long term contracts in favor of 

spot contracts. 

These developments analyst 

say is the reason why Nigeria 

should be proactive about 

developing LNG for the local 

market. But issues such as gas 

pricing, a domestic gas supply 

obligation producers are required 

to send to power plants 

and the absence of serious investments 

in gas infrastructure 

in the country. 

Economist advises FG to prioritise domestic debt payment 

An economist, Aminu 

Usman has advised the 

Federal and States Governments 

to prioritise 

domestic debt repayment to 

boost the economy. 

Usman, the Head of Economics 

Department, Kaduna State 

University, gave the advice in an 

interview with the News Agency 

of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in 

Abuja. 

He said focusing on payment 

of domestic debt would help to 

ease cash flow. 

“I will advise government 

to prioritise domestic debt 

repayment, especially for 

local con- tractors so that 

local economy can deflate to 

ease cash flow. “Government 

should avoid frivolous budget 

with huge debt content 

which eats up significant 

percentage of the budget in 

repayment. 

“New sources of revenue 

and funding the budget must 

be sourced and prioritised,’’ the 

don said. 

The value of foreign debt 

is presently put at 19.9 billion 

dollars, while domestic debt is 

N3.35 trillion at the end of 2017, 

according to the National Bureau 

of Statistics (NBS).

Tuesday 27 March 2018 C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 15 


United Capital’s profit whipsawed 

as FX gains wane 

…Net income down 27% in FY17 

Business Event 

BALA AUGIE 

United Capital 

Plc has been 

whipsawed by 

the non-recurrence 

of foreign 

exchange revaluation gains 

as rising costs and weak revenue 

continues to undermine 

margins. 

For the year ended December 

2017, United Capital’s 

pre-tax profit slumped by 


as against N6.36 billion the 

previous year. 

Profit after tax also 

nosedived as it dipped 

by 27.33 percent to N4.63 


from N6.0 billion the previous 

year. 

The investment house 

attributed the drop at the 

bottom line (profit) to nonoccurrence 

of foreign exchange 

revaluation gains of 

N1.30 billion in 2016. 

In 2016, the Group recognized 

one off foreign exchange 

gains of N1.30 billion 

following the devaluation of 

the Naira. 

Analysts say the investment 

house ought to have intensified 

its products to help 

grow revenue by a double 

digit as FX gains are one off 

events and exceptional items 

that are not expected to recur 

in the life of a firm. 

United Capital has not 

able to translate each Naira 

of revenue into higher profit 

as net margins fell to 48.89 

percent in December 2017 

from 66.70 percent as at December 

2016. 

The company’s total revenue 

dipped by 1 percent to 

N8.91 billion in December 

2017 as against N9 billion the 

previous year. 

However, net operating 

income increased by a mere 


in December 2017 as against 

N6.67 billion the previous 

year. 

The rise in Group operating 

profit was driven by 

efficient execution of key 

mandates in investment in 

investment banking, trusteeship 

and security brokerage 

and by introducing 

innovative products such as 

Nigerian Euro Bond Fund 

and the wealth for Women 

Fund……, according to the 

company. 

United Capital’s share 

prices have declined 3.68 

percent since the start of the 

year, underperforming the 

8.44 percent NSE ASI. 

L-R: Segun Ajibola, president/chairman of council, CIBN; Aliyu Ibrahim, rector, Jigawa State 

Polytechnic and Iliyasu Hassan Jahun , registrar, Jigawa State Polytechnic during the presentation 

of text books to the banking and finance department of Jigawa State Polytechnic recently. 

L-R: Hamilton Iyogbon, head of governance, Guinness Nigeria; Titilola Alabi, sustainable development 

& alcohol in society manager, Guinness Nigeria, Mr Hyginus Omeje, corp commander, Federal Road 

Safety Corp (FRSC); Akoji Amedu, Lagos State Command, customer service and logistics associate 

director, Kingsely Imade, site director, Guinness Ogba Brewery, and Adebay o Oluwafemi, logistics 

safety manager, Guinness Nigeria, at the Guinness Transport and Safety Week 2018, held in Lagos 

recently. 

Phase3 commits to improve healthcare 

grants for indigents in FCT 

Monday Aghaeze 

West Africa’s largest 

independent fibre 

optic infrastructure 

and telecommunications 

services provider Phase3 

Telecom says its grant access 

portfolio has been expanded 

to support local high impact 

health based initiatives nationwide; 

principally those that are 

designed to combat the disproportionate 

access of the poor to 

affordable and quality healthcare 

services. 

Stanley Jegede, chief executive 

officer, Phase3Telecom said 

in the past four years, the scope 

of the company’s health based 

grants have significantly increased 

to a greater percentage 

almost at par with its ICT grants 

portfolio. 

Jegede observe that this development 

is due to the obvious 

alarming increase in the death 

rate of the nation’s citizenry from 

causes that are less terminal or 

natural; and it is quite disconcerting 

that chief causes of death 

beyond security and social crises 

often stem from treatable causes 

that only requires timely, effective 

and affordable medical care. 

According to the him, “In 

Phase3 also believes that the 

nation’s low global ranking in 

terms of human development, 

especially in the area of access 

to affordable and quality 

healthcare as well as standard 

medical facilities or clinical 

health centers would improve 

quicker if more individuals and 

organizations support credible 

programs that focus on equal 

access to healthcare and its 

outcomes; as government and 

allied agencies alone cannot 

resolve this”. 

He further said the company 

will ride on its partnership with 

Global Initiative for Peace, Love 

and Care (GIPLC) to provide 

financial assistance to indigent 

patients in the capital’s general 

hospitals with Gwagwalada being 

the first stop; as GIPLC is a 

credible NGO and an organization 

that thrives on collective 

actions and is well versed 

in building networks that can 

sustainably combat healthcare 

disparities beyond Nigeria such 

as South Sudan. 

More so, since the scope of 

this partnership is to cover the 

medical expenses of the most 

vulnerable indigents at each 

target medical facility or centre 

per quarter - Phase3 resolved 

to deploy its health based grant 

for this program through GIPLC 

due to the fact that the NGO 

understands the criteria of assessment 

and measurability of 

such near complex medical aid 

initiatives as well as the integrity 

required in ensuring that grants 

are disbursed in the names of 

each beneficiary. 

L-R: Lillian Ikokwu ,head, Lubes, OVH Energy Marketing; Morufu Arowolo, MOMTAN State 

chairman ; Huub Stokman, CEO, OVH Energy, and Bamidele Osipitan, chairman, MOMTAN 

Agidingbi Chapter, at the MOMTAN secretariat unveiling ceremony in Lagos recently. 

L-R: Gbenga Ashafa, chairman, senate committee on land transport, Alban Igwe, deputy president, 

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and Ehianeta Ebhohimhen, business executive, 

Abuja, Sterling Bank Plc at the 2018 Africa forum organised by the Chartered Institute of Logistics 

and Transport in Abuja...Friday


16 BUSINESS DAY


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

17 

Buhari government makes U-turn 

on APCON council appointment 

Stories by Daniel Obi 

Media Business Editor 

Advertising practitioners 

in Nigeria must be popping 

champagne for 

victory in their continuous 

stand against illegality. 

This is as Buhari government 

has seen reasons to reverse itself on 

the appointment of politicians and 

non-advertising practitioners into 

APCON council against the law. 

In December, 2017 the present 

government had announced 

names of politicians and non-advertising 

professionals as members 

of the council, in contrast to APCON 

law. But BusinessDay gathered that 

the government has reversed itself 

and will not inaugurate the council. 

This development followed pressure 

from the industry that the appointment 

was illegal. 

“The government has reversed 

itself on the appointment of nonadvertising 

individuals into AP- 

CON council. Kudos to the Minister 

of Information and sectoral groups 

in the marketing communication 

industry who condemned the appointment”, 

the source close to AP- 

CON said. 

After the appointment, advertising 

practitioners kicked against the 

appointment saying the action was 

contrary to the APCON law which 

demands that council members 

Media central to changing Nigeria’s 

narrative - Conference 

While various conferences 

have suggested 

different routes to 

achieving national 

branding, speakers at the ‘Building 

Africa’s reputation through 

Mediatainment’ conference laid 

the responsibility at the doors of 

the media. 

Borrowing examples from the 

Western world, especially America 

which employs all forms of medium 

of communication including films, 

T-shirts, word of mouth, print and 

broadcast to project their positive 

sides, the speakers at the Innovention 

Series conference said the 

media and entertainment are core 

to changing Nigeria’s narrative. 

Leading the discussion, Bolanle 

Austen Peters, founder of Terra Kulture 

believed that Nigeria can package 

its rich food, festivals, fashion 

and arts to international standard 

and employing media to project 

them and Nigeria. 

She regretted that Chinese, 

American, Indian and Brazilian 

foods and festivals are all over us 

while Nigeria has not been able 

to package its foods for foreign 

market. 

While emphasising the importance 

of media and technology, 

Bolanle said Africans have for years 

employed oral method in passing 

history while the Western world 

has told our stories with distortions 

through mass media and technology, 

and this has been accepted as 

true to media consumers around 

the world. 

“It is not possible to re-brand 

ourselves without the media. We 

need to use the media to project the 

country”, she said. 

Also speaking, Bisoye Fagade, 

CEO of Sodium Brand Solutions 

said though Nigeria and Africa 

must be fellows of the regulatory 

body. This delayed the inauguration 

of the council which led to the 

recent cancellation of the appointment. 

It will be recalled that in 2014, 

government under former President 

Goodluck Jonathan appointed 

Prince Ngozi Enioma, a nonadvertiser 

as APCON Chairman. 

There was uproar in the industry, 

and Jonathan reversed the decision, 

replacing the rejected council 

with another one headed by 

Udeme Ufot. 

But in July 2015, Buhari government 

dissolved APCON council 

alongside parastatals’ boards. 

Since then, the APCON council 

has not been re-constituted which 

has been delaying the effective 

functioning of the apex advertising 

body. 

Flouting of APCON rule by the 

government especially on the appointment 

of non-advertising 

practitioners in to the council may 

continue to happen as APCON 

continues to collect yearly subvention 

from the government who 

sees the organisation as a political 

entity. 

understand the role of media in 

changing the narrative but the 

same media is not appreciated. 

He said government and companies 

spend little in the same 

media for image projections and 

products. 

Ramsey Nouah, a famous actor 

said there should be plan and strategy 

for changing the narrative and 

believed that government should 

provide the enabling environment 

for this to happen. 

Speaking earlier, the convener 

of the conference and CEO of 

Verdant Zeal group, Tunji Olugbodi 

said Africa’s ignoble past as a 

continent ridden with corruption, 

poverty, human rights violations 

amongst others has started changing 

largely through entertainment. 

He said entertainment sector 

valued at over $3.3 billion in 2014 

is experiencing some challenges 

including revenue loss to piracy. 

He therefore said there should 

be concerted efforts to make the 

industry achieve its potential to 

contribute to building Africa’s 

reputation. 

Swift Networks partners global brands, shops 

to provide free internet service to Nigerians 

Swift Networks, Nigeria foremost 

broadband service 

provider to enterprises and 

residential customers has 

entered into partnership with global 

brands and shops in Lagos to offer 

free broadband Wi-Fi service to Nigerians. 

Under the partnership, Swift 

Networks will provide systems for 

free Wi-Fi for consumers. 

The service code-named Red 

Cheetah, a new brand under the stable 

of Swift Networks will start with 

initial 10,000 hotspots distributed all 

over the state, supported by advertising 

revenues from global brands and 

partners. Other cities will follow. 

The product which is expected to 

solve consumers’ quest for internet 

will help to deepen Nigeria’s broadband 

penetration and aspiration for 

universal internet access for greater 

social equity and inclusion. 

“The Red Cheetah service model 

follows in Swift’s tradition of demystifying 

and making technology to 

work for Nigerians so that they can 

hook up to the digital world to explore, 

work and entertain more efficiently”, 

says Charles Anudu, the entrepreneur 

behind Swift Networks. 

He told newsmen at the unveiling 

of the product that Swift is excited 

to pioneer this cutting edge service 

model and will rapidly extend 

it to more cities in Nigeria and the 

continent. 

According to Anudu who explained 

that entrepreneurship is not 

about making money first but solving 

society’s needs said security of 

every user’s access is enhanced by 

the Red Cheetah App which establishes 

a distinct and secure Virtual 

Private Network connection to the 

internet for each device on the platform. 

“I strongly believe that this 

dogged work of over two years is 

the ideal model that will empower 

Nigerians to live their most productive 

lifestyles in a digital world. I am 

proud that everything about Red 

Cheetah is Nigerian and shows what 

we can achieve when we commit to 

solving the problems of our society 

taking our context into consideration” 

In his view, Chukwuma Okoye, 

the Chief Operating Officer of Swift 

said the company’s plan is to roll 

our an initial 10,000 Red Cheetah 

hotpots in Lagos which will be the 

largest Wi-Fi footprint of its kind in 

Africa and will cover many verticals 

including schools, airports, buses, 

taxis, shopping malls, bars, clubs, 

open markets and hospitals. 

He said the service is fast, secure 

and reliable and supported by 

legendary sponsor brands which 

also have strong commitment to 

CSR. The company has presently 

achieved 500 hotspots. 

CSR: Oral B takes free dental care to communities 

Oral-B, the Oral-Care 

brand of Procter & 

Gamble, has taken its 

Mobile Dental Clinic to 

residents of Iyana Ipaja Lagos to 

commemorate this year’s World 

Oral Health Day. The event, which 

held recently is in line with Oral B’s 

goal to promote good oral hygiene 

among Nigerians. 

The World Oral Health Day is 

celebrated every year, March 20, 

to bring to the fore the benefits of 

a healthy mouth and to promote 

worldwide awareness of oral health 

and the importance to both old and 

young. This year’s theme “Say ahh; 

Think Mouth, Think Health’ aims 

at drawing attention to the fact that 

a healthy mouth is crucial to maintaining 

overall health and quality of 

life. 

Speaking at the event, Tolulope 

Pogoson, Brand Manager Oral B 

stated: “Healthy teeth and gums 

are fundamental to overall health 

and well-being of all; because we 

understand this, we are committed 

to making Nigerians fully aware of 

the benefits of having good oral hygiene.” 

She added, “Oral-B is dedicated 

to improving the oral health of all Nigerians 

through our programs, most 

especially our mobile dental clinic. 

We are pleased that Nigerian consumers 

trust Oral-B when it comes 

to the dental health of their families. 

DAAR confers lifetime achievement award on Shobanjo 

The Management of DAAR 

Communications, owners 

of Africa Independent 

Television (AIT) and Ray 

Power FM, has conferred on Biodun 

Shobanjo, Chairman of Troyka 

Group, a Lifetime Achievement 

Award for his remarkable contributions 

to the development of the 

Integrated Marketing Communications 

industry in Africa. The conferment 

of the Award took place 

at the 2nd Edition of the DAAR 

Awards held at the Sheraton Hotel 

in Abuja recently. 

While congratulating him on the 

Award, Raymond Dokpesi, Chairman 

of DAAR Communications, 

remarked that Shobanjo’s outstanding 

career and trailblazer role in the 

Integrated Marketing Communications 

sector has set him apart as a 

Custodian of history and posterity 

as well as a standard to which future 

generations should aspire or seek to 

surpass.



C002D5556 

BRANDING 

Why First Bank is resilient even at 124 years 

A strong belief within some organisations including 124- year old First Bank of Nigeria is that there is no success and sustainability without 

succession. The bank’s management also believes that battle field and competition as witnessed today requires adequate preparation. The 

bank is leaving no stone unturned in this direction. This report Daniel Obi looks at the bank’s current strategies for further long term survival. 

Key things that 

organisations 

crave for are 

profit and long 

term survival. 

While some companies 

take different approaches 

to these goals, others wish 

it. However, preparing for 

growth and long term survival 

is now more critical. 

Also, planning for organisational 

survival has become 

more dynamic especially 

in this constant changing 

world assisted by technology. 

In fact, today’s business 

environment is totally different 

from the past. Businesses 

are now competing 

globally, horizontal and 

vertically, staff movement 

across sectors has increased, 

ICT has brought new thinking 

and there is product 

and service revolution. It is 

simply a disruptive business 

environment. 

Just like the pilot who 

thinks faster than his speed 

jet, business managers today 

need to think faster than the 

fast changing environment 

to ensure business growth 

and survival. According 

to Business Insider, “The 

new strategy for leaders 

has to be about constantly 

adapting to change in an 

ever changing landscape. In 

order to achieve this, the focus 

must be to look beyond 

competition and market 

share to more fundamental 

questions of survival and 

sustainability in a turbulent 

and continuously changing 

environment”. 

ExecBlueprints explained 

in its site that understanding 

sustainability 

is the ability to implement 

strategies that contribute 

far beyond the current year. 

“As the rate of change in the 

business world accelerates, 

companies need to embrace 

change and accept a 

constant forward motion, 

or else they will quickly be 

left behind. Though a company 

may be the market 

leader today, if it does not 

continue innovating, there is 

no guarantee it will hold that 

position tomorrow”. 

Thinking deeper in this 

direction, management of 

First Bank of Nigeria, an organisation 

which has operated 

for 124 years acknowledged 

that in all approaches 

to long term survival and 

continuous growth, quality 

and trained staff is key as 

they will drive the systems, 

but aligning the workforce 

to long term-tem objectives 

is also imperative. 

More significant in the 

mind of the bank’s management 

is a succession 

plan and strategy for the 

bank which has remained 

dominant in the competitive 

Nigerian banking sector. In 

this connection, therefore, 

the bank recently organised 

a six- month Senior Management 

Development Programme, 

SMDP, designed 

to equip senior managers 

for higher responsibilities 

and top leadership roles in 

the bank. 

The bank which grows 

in strength as it grows old 

planned the intensive programme 

with quality facilitation 

from industry experts 

for the initial 23 senior to 

principal managers as a 

succession tactic and for 

competitiveness in the sector. 

The select group of senior 

to principal managers, 

according to the bank, has 

proven leadership in their 

individual respective functions 

and have been identified 

as central to the bank’s 

succession plan. 

This first set of staff members 

in this category (13 men 

and 10 women) were identified 

across the Bank’s departments/branches 

in the 

six geopolitical zones of the 

country and were made to 

undergo the unique learning 

experience that fosters 

the professional, intellectual 

and personal development. 

The senior managers for 

the programme were also 

Adesola Adeduntan, MD, First Bank 

carefully selected along strategic 

business units of the 

Bank such as Retail, Corporate 

Banking, Information 

Technology, International 

Banking, Financial Control, 

Credit Risk, Human Capital 

Management and Development, 

Marketing and Corporate 

Communications, 

and Procurement. 

At the end of the programme, 

these candidates 

will be exposed to various 

leadership developmental 

opportunities such as executive 

coaching by renowned 

career and coaches, strategic 

and executive job shadowing 

and handholding by 

Bank executives as well as 

prioritization for international 

assignments. 

The managing director 

of the bank, Adesola Adeduntan 

underscored the 

objective of the programme 

when he said at the end of 

the course last week in Lagos 

that there is no success 

without succession. “No 

matter what we do today, we 

must quit. Even if we don’t 

want to quit, the natural 

biological factors will force 

us to quit as we may not be 

able to run again in the near 

future as fast as we want to 

run” and that is why it is 

important to prepare successors, 

he said. 

Adetuntan who recognised 

that competition is 

tough in the industry, also 

said that the bank is creating 

the next level of leaders who 

are adequately prepared for 

the challenges ahead. He 

said that it will be dangerous 

to go to the battle field 

without preparation. 

According to him, the 

bank’s transition will be incomplete 

without developing 

the workforce for leadership 

roles. He therefore 

challenged the graduands to 

embark on continuous personal 

development, warning 

that any professional 

that fails to improve will 

become a dinosaur. 

He said the concept 

of SMDP was to have an 

army of well trained, well 

groomed, very broad skill 

and capable middle level 

officers that are prepared 

to transition to the general 

management role. This will 

enable the bank to look 

inwards to fill very senior 

management positions. 

The CEO also encouraged 

them to mentor those 

under them explaining that 

promotion comes to seniors 

when the management 

knows that there are capable 

people who can take over 

from the superiors. The 

CEO also encouraged them 

on networking in business 

saying that Strategy without 

execution is hallucination. 

Also speaking, Ini Ebong, 

the chairman of the first 

academic governing council, 

appreciated the CEO 

who has kept his promise to 

develop the people through 

courses seen as catalyst to 

the continuous growth and 

survival of the bank. This 

is because the people are 

the most important asset 

the institution has and the 

bank has to invest in them 

to become effective leaders. 

He said that the plan was 

to develop leaders in the 

bank across different cadres. 

However the bank is on a 

journey on this but there was 

the need for immediate targeted 

programme intervention 

to look at existing crop 

of senior staff to prepare 

Just like the pilot 

who thinks faster 

than his speed jet, 

business managers 

today need to 

think faster than 

the fast changing 

environment to 

ensure business 

growth and 

survival 

them for next level of most 

senior management. 

He charged the graduands 

to unleash their potentials 

as the bank believes 

that they have something 

to offer. He was confident 

that the programme was 

a world class course. He 

also told them that beyond 

what they were taught in the 

classrooms, the important 

aspect is how the graduands 

continued to develop 

themselves. “There would 

be executive mentoring and 

couching for you to develop 

further” 

Also speaking, Malam 

Waziri, a board member of 

First Bank said that success 

today does not guarantee 

success tomorrow and that 

is why human capital is 

important to guaranteeing 

continuous success. 

Appreciating the bank’s 

management, one of the 

graduands, Yemi Adesanyan 

who spoke on behalf of her 

colleagues said the SMDP 

prepared participants on 

what purpose of leadership 

is which she said is to mobilise 

others to genuinely 

want to struggle with you for 

shared aspiration. 

According to her, the 

SMDP explored relevant 

subjects like how to manage 

growth and complexity, 

digital transformation, 

execution, discipline and 

customer focus, operational 

efficiency and effectiveness, 

corporate governance and 

sustainability. The course 

also dwelt on different factors 

that will help a leader to 

succeed such as innovation, 

creativity and continuous 

learning and improvement, 

motivation and networking. 

While congratulating her 

bank for being on the right 

path, and noting the fierce 

competition, constant organisational 

change and 

challenging regulatory regime, 

Adesanya promised 

that the graduands will live 

up to the expectations of 

higher responsibilities. 

Consumer engagement: Chivita co-sponsors World Speech Day Lagos 

As part of its consumer 

engagement 

and brand 

building efforts, 

Chi Limited, through its 

range of innovative, high 

quality, refreshing Chivita 

Juices recently co-sponsored 

this year’s edition of 

World Speech day Lagos. 

In partnership with organizers 

of the World Speech 

Day Lagos, Chivita Juices 

was the exclusive beverage 

partner to provide refreshment 

to participants 

as they unleashed their potentials 

through the power 

of speech. 

According to a statement, 

participants at this year’s 

edition of World Speech Day 

Lagos expressed satisfaction 

at the refreshing and 

delicious beverages from the 

range of Chivita Juices that 

brought a lot of excitement 

to the event. 

With 35 speakers delivering 

persuasive speeches 

that addressed local and 

global challenges, whilst 

proffering innovative solutions, 

this year’s World 

Speech Day Lagos was 

about tapping into the truly 

original and inspirational 

and then making those 

voices heard. 

Speaking at the event, 

Licensee of World Speech 

Day Lagos, Florence Atunwa 

Olumodimu, thanked the 

management of Chi Limited 

for partnering as the exclusive 

drinks partner to refresh 

participants at the World 

Speech day Lagos 

“It is heartwarming to see 

company like Chi Limited 

which is driven by the power 

of innovation, identify with 

us and offer quality refreshment 

to participants at the 

World Speech Day Lagos 

event. Through this, Chi 

Limited inspires excellence 

by celebrating the simple 

power of a speech to encourage 

new ideas and change 

lives” she stated. 

According to Chi Limited’s 

Managing Director, 

Deepanjan Roy, by leveraging 

innovation and excellence, 

Chivita Juices have 

maintained market leadership 

in its respective categories 

and it’s proud to partner 

with the World Speech day 

Lagos as the exclusive beverage 

partner.


BUSINESS DAY 

19 

CITYFile 

I-G Ibrahim 

Idris (l), 

addressing 

students 

of Yelwa 

Government 

Girls Secondary 

School 

in Maiduguri, 

during a courtesy 

visit to 

the school on 

Friday. NAN 

NDLEA seizes 5.9 tons of 

illicit drugs in Kano 

ADEOLA AJAKAIYE, Kano 

National Drugs Law Enforcement 

Agency (NDLEA) says 

it intercepted over 5.9 tons 

of illicit drugs in Kano State 

from January to date. 

Hamza Umar, commander of the 

agency in Kano, said on Friday that in 

January alone, the agency seized over 

2,593 tons, and in February, over 3,288, 

were confiscated while 98.4 tons have so 

far been seized in March. 

Umar explained that “from January 

to date, we seized over 831kgs of Canavis, 

Cocaine 0.5kgs and Tramadol over 

Edo hands over father, sons to police for defiling minor 

IDRIS ABUBAKAR MOMOH, Benin 

Edo government has handed over 

70-year Francis Ezomo, and his 

two sons; Nosa Ezomo, 26, and 

Festus Ezomo, 29, to the Police 

Commissioner, Johnson Kokumo, for allegedly 

defiling a nine-year girl, said to be 

a relation of Francis Ezomo’s wife. 

Joan Osa Oviawe, acting chairman 

of Edo State Universal Basic Education 

Board (SUBEB) and special adviser to 

the state governor on basic education, 

told journalists, at the weekend, after 

the suspects were handed over to the 

police at Government House, Benin, 

that the case was reported to her office 

by the headmistress of the school the 

minor attends. 

“The issue came to the limelight when 

the headmistress of the minor’s school 

noticed a change of behaviour in the girl 

4,848kgs. The agency during various 

operations seized over 107.7 grams of 

Diazapam, Pentasosin 150 grams and 

only 14 grams of Rehynol was intercepted. 

The commander said 122 suspects 

have been arrested in connection with the 

illicit drugs. The breakdown showed that 

57 suspects were arrested in January, 33 

in February and 32 so far in March. 

Umar said out of the 122 suspects arrested, 

33 have been convicted and serving 

various jail terms, while the others 

were still undergoing trial at the Federal 

High Court in Kano. 

“During this period, we were also able 

to counsel 57 drug users that we arrested 

and decided to ask her what the problem 

was. The girl narrated her ordeal to the 

headmistress who then informed the education 

secretary of the local government 

council where the alleged crime took 

place. We then swung into action and got 

the ministry of women affairs and social 

development involved,” Oviawe said. 

The SUBEB boss added that when 

“we could not get the necessary action 

required from the police, the state government 

swung into action and these 

three men were apprehended almost 

immediately.” 

She explained that the ministry of 

women affairs and social development 

has taken custody of the child who is now 

in a safe place and assured that SUBEB 

would ensure that her education is not 

truncated. 

“What the men have done is bad and 

their actions have attempted to destroy 

and those that were brought by either 

their parents or guardians,’’ he said. 

According to him, the command recently 

arrested two suspected drug traffickers 

from Niger Republic together with 

two Nigerians who specialised in trafficking 

illicit drugs within Nigeria, Niger and 

other neighbouring Arab countries. 

The NDLEA commander added that 

the suspects who were arrested with two 

land cruiser jeeps are currently facing 

prosecution. 

He appealed to the general public to 

continue to give the agency all the necessary 

support in order to end the menace 

of drug abuse in the state. 

the life and future of the minor. The three 

men took advantage of the child and 

exposed her to trauma. We have waded 

into the case to ensure justice prevails,” 

Oviawe said. 

The commissioner of police assured 

that his men would investigate the allegation 

and charge the case to court. 

“Scientific investigation for the minor 

was sent to the hospital and a doctor report 

has shown that her hymen has been broken. 

The scientific report has established 

that the minor was sexually abused. We 

will investigate the case and charge them 

to court,” Kokumo said, and urged parents 

not to leave the duty of nurturing their 

children to teachers in schools. 

“Nurturing a child is not just the responsibility 

of the school, both parents 

and guardians have a lot of roles to play 

in the proper training up of our children,” 

the police boss said. 

Herdsmen: Nasarawa to rebuild 

destroyed communities 

Governor Umaru Al-Makura of Nasarawa 

State says the government 

will be rebuilding communities 

destroyed by terrorist attacks in the state. 

Al-Makura said at weekend in Lafia 

that peace was gradually returning to 

most of the affected communities. 

“We will soon embark on the rehabilitation 

and reconstruction of some of the 

houses destroyed and provide security 

bases among clusters of community settlements 

to assuage the fear of insecurity,” 

Al-Makura said. 

He noted that although some of the 

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) had 

returned home, others were still taking 

refuge in camps. 

“We are really concerned about the 

people still in IDP camps because there 

is no amount of relief material you can 

offer in the camp that is equitable with 

their abode,” he said. 

Al-Makura pointed out that it would 

be irresponsible of any government to demand 

that the IDPs returned home where 

their security could not be guaranteed. 

“So, we are working tirelessly with the 

security agencies to ensure that all those 

in IDP camps return to their homes. We 

must be sure that when they go back, 

there would be no relapse of security. 

He said the major challenge at the 

moment was the apprehension being 

entertained by the displaced persons. 

“We are trying so hard to erase the fear 

of the unknown from the psyche of the 

people given the efforts by the security 

forces. 

The governor, however, said the state 

would continue to provide needed assistance 

to the displaced persons, pending 

when they would be safe enough to return 

to their homes. 

Over 25,000 people were displaced, 

due to bloody attacks along Nasarawa/ 

Benue border communities. 

Fake visa agent charged 

with N1.7m fraud 

The police have arraigned one Innocent 

Augustine, 31, in a Wuse Zone 

2 Magistrate Court, Abuja, for allegedly 

defrauding one Onyebuchi Nnaji of 

N1.7 million through visa racketeering. 

The defendant is facing a three-count 

charge of criminal conspiracy, cheating 

and forgery. 

The prosecutor, Adeyemi Oyeyemi, 

told the court that Augustine committed 

the offences in January 2017. 

Oyeyemi said that the defendant conspired 

with one Jude, now at large, and 

deceived Nnaji, the complainant, into 

giving them N1, 700,000. 

He said that the accused and his accomplice 

obtained the said sum on the 

pretext that they were going to change 

Nnaji’s travel visa to Hong kong to enable 

him to travel to Australia. 

According to him, a fake visa was issued 

to the complainant and all efforts to 

retrieve the money were abortive. 

The prosecutor said the offences 

contravened Sections 97, 322 and 364 of 

the Penal Code. The accused, however, 

pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

The magistrate, Mabel Bello, has admitted 

the accused to bail of N1, 000, 

000 with two sureties in like sum, and 

adjourned the case until May 28 for hearing. 

NAN



STRATEGYBRIEFING 

IDEAS THAT POWER HIGH PERFORMANCE 

Creating a competitive advantage 

Tesla Motors is at the 

heart of the auto 

news. CEO Musk 

has demonstrated 

that electric cars 

production is real after all. On 

March 31, 2013 around 10pm, 

Elon Musk tweeted, ‘Tesla is 

in California, so it is not April 

Fool’s yet!’. ‘First profitable Q 

for Tesla thanks to awesome 

customers and hard work by a 

super dedicated team’ he had 

tweeted a few minutes earlier. 

On May 8 the company announced 

a net income of over 

$10 million on $560 million in 

sales. That beats the sales of 

incumbents Nissan and GM 

in electric cars in the US combined. 

Its Model S had sold 

more than the BMW 7 and Audi 

A8 put together. How was Tesla 

able to achieve this when its 

peers like Coda and Fisker had 

filed for bankruptcy? What gave 

Tesla the advantage? 

To answer that question I 

will like to reemphasize the 

dangers of competing with rivals 

on the same dimensions. 

If Tesla had approached car 

manufacturing like its competitors 

did it would have definitely 

filed for bankruptcy like its 

peers. All superior performing 

companies focus on creating a 

unique position in the market. 

The Tesla narrative shows a 

company that made a unique 

value proposition to its target 

market based on a uniquely designed 

value chain. First, Tesla 

understood that an electric car 

is nothing more than a computer 

and a battery in a box. 

So the founders began by assembling 

a team that was a mix 

of specialist in the car industry 

and Silicon Valley and that gave 

Tesla an important edge. 

Unlike Fisker that adopted 

a value chain similar to that 

of IC engine car makers and 

outsourced almost everything, 

Tesla brought everything about 

the design and full assembly 

of its car under its roof. That’s 

rethinking the value chain, 

that’s seeking a unique position. 

Tesla will not sale its cars 

through dealership as was the 

norm, it will rather use its own 

sales people who earned salary 

rather than commission as 

was consistent with the auto 

industry. They adopted this 

model because it will be hard 

for a dealer to emphasize the 

benefits of an electric car since 

that will mean encouraging a 

prospect to overlook the internal 

combustion engine cars he 

deals on. So to win, Tesla had to 

evaluate the entire value chain 

and created a model that gave 

them a competitive advantage. 

That’s strategy! 

You see when strategy is 

defined as positioning of a 

company in its competitive 

environment, understand that 

every single element in the 

value chain is a candidate of 

positioning. The reconfiguration 

of your value chain in a way 

that sets you apart from others 

is what strategy is all about. This 

was what Musk and his team 

understood and applied. 

One thing that I love about 

the Tesla strategy is their marketing. 

In marketing the Model 

S, Tesla stressed speed, comfort 

and handling, before talking 

about low emissions. It also 

focused on the potential cost 

savings from gas and reduced 

service and repairs. Why was 

that important? Nobody cares 

about technical details and 

configuration of your product. 

What they want to hear is 

something that connects with 

their emotion. For a car- speed, 

comfort, savings, that’s what 

someone wants to hear. That’s 

something someone can connect 

with, so they communicated 

that. 

The key take away is that 

strategy is about establishing a 

unique rather than a best position 

which you can protect and 

the ability to do this lies in your 

entire value chain. That’s how to 

create a competitive advantage. 

Brian Reuben(@brianoreuben) is an advisor on 

strategy and leadership. He regularly conducts 

keynote presentations and senior executive 

workshops with companies around the world on 

strategy and leadership. He heads BusinessDay 

Training 

Was this article helpful? Share your thoughts with 

us on Facebook @bdtraininglive or email us on 

trainings@businessdayonline.com 

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This Page Is Open For Sponsorship, for details call 07039092902.


BUSINESS DAY 21 

EDUCATION 

Weekly insight on current and future trends in education Primary/Secondary Higher Human Capital 

Nigeria still lags peers in equal 

access to education for girl-child 

STEPHEN ONYEKWELU & BUNMI BAILEY 

Nigeria, Africa’s most 

populous nation still 

lags behind its peers 

in equipping girl children 

for the knowledge 

economy through relevant 

education programmes. 

Education data from the Global 

Gender Gap index 2017 published 

by the World Economic Forum 

(WEF) shows Nigeria slipped to 

135th position scoring 0.813 out of 

144 countries in 2017 from 134th 

where it scored 0.814 in 2016 (Score 

of 0.00 means unequal and 1.00 

means equal) 

The index captures the gap between 

women and men’s current 

access to education through ratios of 

women to men in primary, secondary, 

tertiary level and female literacy 

to the male literacy rate. 

“Overtime in the last few years 

they have been a very bad turn 

out in girls going to school. For 

example if you drive through the 

streets of Lagos and the busy urban 

areas you will see that girls are 

being trafficked for house jobs and 

are basically in the streets hawking 

sachet water,” Odumosu Omolara, 

chief executive officer, Class Climax 

Consulting said 

Some studies have shown that 

every woman has her own job or 

duty in this modern society in which 

A cross section of education stakeholders listening to discussion on the 

way forward for children with special education needs 

men are still the ‘strongest gender’ 

and married women have lots of 

worries and they lead more stressful 

lives than married men. 

“Most married women who want 

to deepen their educational skills 

don’t have time because they have 

to take care of their homes,” Omolara 

further said 

Some African countries did better 

in their ranking and scores while 

some did not do that well. The top 

five countries were Botswana, which 

scored 1.000, Lesotho scored 1.000, 

Namibia scored 0.999, Swaziland 

scored 0.995 and South Africa scored 

0.993 The top five countries that 

were ranked low in Africa were Angola 

scored 0.763, mail scored 0.741 

Benin scored 0.714, guinea scored 

0.699 and chad scored 0.572 

Based on the trend from 2013 till 

2017, Nigeria is still lagging behind 

in terms of inclusive education for 

girls in all areas. Based on the trend 

in 2013 the country scored 0.811, in 

2014, it scored 0.777 and in 2015, it 

scored 0.802 

Most stakeholders in the education 

sector attributed the poor ranking 

to the mind-set and perception 

of what women are meant to be in 

the society 

“We have traditional drawbacks 

after many centuries that still play 

today in our society telling women 

that we are only good for domestic 

activities and these drawbacks still 

make it difficult for the girl child to 

be educated,” Edobong Akpabio, 

executive director, Living Green 

Farms and Garden Foundation said 

to BusinessDay in a phone interview 

Jennifer Chukwujekwe, chief 

executive officer, Jenniez School 

of Africa Interior Design said that 

at the moment women have be 

only delegated for domestic activities 

meaning that women are only 

meant to be in the kitchen. 

Some benefits of gender equality 

in politics include: variety of 

perspective in the decision-making 

process, which tends better mirror 

the needs of more members of society 

but this must begin with gender 

parity in education. 

“Women should support each 

other in terms of decision making 

and also push each other to politics 

or election posts so as to minimise 

the disparity between men and 

women in politics. And this will 

be only achieved if there is gender 

parity in education,” Alison Phido, 

Executive Director, African Radio 

Drama Association (ARDA) said. 

Landmark Varsity gives 

scholarship to agric 

students 

SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin 

David Oyedepo, the chancellor 

and chairman of the 

Board of Regents, Landmark 

University, Omu- 

Aran, Kwara State, has approved free 

tuitions for all for students offering 

agricultural programmes at the university 

beginning from the 2018/2019 

academic session. 

Adeniyi Olayanju, the Vice Chancellor 

made this announcement at the 

7th Founder’s Day Celebration held 

on Friday at the University General 

Faculty Fellowship. 

According to him, the students are 

still expected to pay other components 

of the school fees through the 

payer-friendly mode of payment in 

two installments. 

Olayanju appreciated the chancellor 

and the entire members of the 

Board of Regents for this magnanimity. 

The agricultural programmes 

are Crop Science, Animal Science, 

Agricultural Extension and Rural 

Development; Agricultural Economics; 

Agribusiness Management, and 

Environmental & Natural Resources 

Economics. 

Others are Aquaculture & Fisheries 

Management; Tourism and 

Recreation; Horticulture and Landscape 

Management; and Agricultural 

Engineering.Related Posts The 

vice-chancellor who appreciated the 

chancellor and the entire members of 

the Board of Regents for this magnanimity, 

noted that the gesture did not 

only validate the abiding support of 

the visioner and chancellor, it was also 

meant for attracting youths to sustainable 

agriculture and its value chain. 

Day Waterman College promotes physical 

literacy, holistic education 

STEPHEN ONYEKWELU 

Day Waterman College, 

Abeokuta, during its 8th 

Annual Sports Competition 

demonstrated 

commitment to provide holistic 

education to its growing population 

of students through sports, which 

builds character and consistency. 

Sports can be a positive, character-building 

experience. It provides 

one of the best opportunities for 

children to come in contact with 

rules and social values. It defines 

the need to get along well with oth- 


Nigeria must tackle increasing incidents of 

students with special education needs - HIIMA 

KELECHI EWUZIE 

With the prevailing surge 

in the number of Nigerian 

children with special 

education needs, industry 

expert in the field of Education has 

called for public private partnership 

to address this trend. 

Nike Agunbiade-Etiebet, Chief Executive 

Officer, HIIMA International 

Education Network, called on the 

Federal Government to implement 

policies that would encourage educational 

institutions at the primary and 

secondary levels to practice inclusive 

education to cater for children with 

learning difficulties. 

Etiebet observes that about 98 per 

cent of Nigerian schools do not accept 

special needs students, thereby pushing 

parents to isolate such children 

at home. 

While speaking during the HIIMA 

Business Opportunity Meeting with 

education stakeholders in Lagos, 

Etiebet reiterated the need for inclusion 

in Nigerian schools at all levels 

adding that if a child finds it difficult 

to perform tasks children his/her age 

can perform; such a child has special 

education needs. 

According to her, “A child has special 

educational needs when he or she 

has significant learning difficulties 

that make it more challenging for 

him or her to learn like other children 

of the same age. Special educational 

needs include intellectual disabilities, 

medical or health conditions, learning 

difficulties, behavioural, social, 

and emotional difficulties, sensory/ 

physical needs” 

Etiebet while explaining the meaning 

of Hiima said it depicts ‘High Love 

of Children’ stressing that the model 

recognises children’s individual differences 

thus it teaches them with 

love and respect to unleash their 

potential for greater heights and to 

make positive difference in the world. 

To her, “Hiima professionals have 

been in education for over two decades 

teaching in the early years up 

to the sixth form with unique, well 

proven and result oriented methodology 

based on the inherent attributes 

and the child’s capacity to learn, using 

the absorbent mind and the sensitive 

periods according to Maria Montessori 

as well as the idea of Multiple 

Intelligences of Howard Gardner.”

C002D5556 



EDUCATION MY CAMPUS MY BUSINESS 

‘My biggest achievement so far is being 

the first face modelling agency in Lagos’ 

CHRISTIANA SEMILORE ADEWARA, CEO, KBS Facemodelling Agency at the University of Lagos is 

a final year law student and has redefined modelling; she spoke to BusinessDay’s STEPHEN 

ONYEKWELU about how she started, the challenges and joys thus far. Excerpts: 

Introduce yourself, 

please.My name is 

Adewara 

Christiana. 

I am a final 

year student 

of the Faculty of Law at the 

University of Lagos. 

What have you been doing 

as a student entrepreneur? 

As a student entrepreneur, 

I run KBS Models. It is a face 

modelling agency in Lagos. 

We work for vendors such as 

artists, photographers, fashion 

designers and all of that. 

What inspired KBS? 

What inspired KBS was the 

fact that I used to do modelling 

myself alone as a means 

of contributing financially to 

myself. But people started 

saying to me, you know what, 

this stuff you are doing, do 

you know you could conveniently 

combine it with 

school and earn some money 

out of it. 

Then, I asked myself, okay, 

why not employ people; provide 

a platform that conveniently 

combines working 

and schooling with the added 

advantage of earning some 

financial rewards? In addition 

to the financial rewards, they 

models will equally have their 

pictures everywhere, which 

is cool, because it can attract 

adverts and more business 

for them. So, this was what 

motivated KBS. 

How old is KBS? 

KBS is surprisingly seven 

months old. But if you asked 

people outside, they might 

guess it is about two or three 

years old. This is because 

of the rapid growth that we 

had. We have worked with 

big brands such as: BMPro, 

that is, Banke Meshida Lawal, 

Oshewa Beauty and many 

other such brands in the 

beauty industry. These names 

stand out. We have worked 

with Tara, in fact with the 

top beauty entrepreneurs in 

Lagos. Everyone in the beauty 

industry knows KBS. 

You are student of law with 

volumes of cases studies and 

others to read. How do you 

balance studies and business 

demands? 

Time management and 

discipline are very important. 

I know my timetable; I know 

which days I have off. So, I 

know the days I can shoot, 

work and the days I have to 

be in class. 

For managing KBS, it runs 

online. I don’t have to be present 

anywhere in person. Once 

I have my phone and it is 

connected, I am working. This 

means I am taking orders. I 

am sending out models and 

they are going to work and I 

am seeing feedback. Money 

and commissions are coming 

into my account. 

How many models does 

KBS have? 

Currently, I am working 

with over 50 models. Most 

of them are students, they 

aim is actually to empower 

students, meaning, you give 

them something to do. Instead 

of being jobless and 

apart of school you are sleeping 

or probably doing idle 

things that you should not do. 

When they realise they 

can actually go to work, take 

decent pictures and get paid, 

they are naturally interested. 

What do you look out for 

in your models, the selection 

process? 

We usually will have a casting, 

which means, we call for 

models, if you are interested 

you apply. When you apply 

and fit the criteria, a particular 

height, skin tone, or whatever 

it is we are looking for, then, 

we accept you. You fill some 

forms. 

Are you registered how 

easy or difficult was the 

process? 

Sure, KBS is registered 

organisation. We have a website 

and everything running, 

basically. 

Was it easy or difficult? 

Well, I am a final year law 

student, Section 573, of the 

Companies and Allied Matters 

Act (CAMA), provides 

for the registration of business 

name first. So, because 

of the kind of environment 

and course I am studying, 

it was very easy for me to 

register my business. I have 

many lawyer friends. I had to 

do it in order to protect my 

intellectual property. It took 

two weeks. 

How profitable is KBS? 

It is very profitable, both as 

the agency and lead model. 

There are two parts to it; one 

hand, I am a model; on the 

other hand I am running 

the agency. For every model 

that goes out to work, the 

agency gets a commission. 

This means I don’t have to 

be everywhere, it is like a 

part of me is everywhere. As 

we speak, we have ten models 

or more working today. 

Someone is always working 

Christiana Semilore Adewara 

somewhere. Imagine they are 

paid N20, 000 and the agency 

is getting like N5, 000 in ten 

places in one day, which is 

a lot. This is something that 

occurs every day. 

What is your take about 

the perception that student 

entrepreneurs are generally 

not good in class? 

That is very surprising and 

wrong. I am in a class of over 

300 and can proudly say I am 

one of the best in my class. 

We usually do not have first 

class students in my faculty. 

The highest you can get is 

second class upper (2:1). I 

am in my final year and in the 

2:1 bracket. This means I am 

doing very well, too good to 

be true in our class. 

I am able to achieve this 

because of discipline and 

consistency. For instance, 

when I know I have a test next 

week and have to run KBS, 

I will make sacrifices. When 

others a playing, you might 

not have to play, because you 

are an entrepreneur and have 

to run your business and read 

for school. Perhaps you have 

to read in the midnight and 

work during the day or the 

reverse. You need to strike a 

balance and get really organised. 

Whatever I do is seen 

from the point of view of what 

value it is adding to me or my 

business. The secret is passion 

for what you are doing. This 

is because it can really get so 

overwhelming you want to 

sometimes quit. 

Where do you see KBS 

in the next five to ten years? 

The bigger picture for KBS 

is this; I am going to be a lawyer 

in one year, officially, so 

my plan is to have a studio, 

one similar to BMPro, which 

is my role model in the beauty 

industry. 

She has her studio at Lekki 

Phase 1 with different departments. 

So, I want a studio that 

does everything beauty for 

a lady, meaning, KBS would 

have its office in the studio, 

there will be a makeup artist, 

photographer and nail artist 

all in the studio. 

And it will be named KBS 

– Krismix Beauty Studio. KBS 

right now means, Krismix 

Beauty Squad. The bigger picture 

is to have a studio for the 

models. So, you walk in and 

have your make up, nails and 

hair done anything that has to 

do with the beauty industry. 

I would have become a 

lawyer. I plan to practise for 

about two years, just to have 

a taste of it. As I practise law, 

I will have a manager and 

come in during the weekends. 

It is really at the weekends that 

things really happen anyway 

– the shoots, weddings and 

makeup. 

Tell us about a big challenge 

you have had to deal 

with. 

A lot of challenges, but one 

big one should be managing 

the models. When you have 

people working with or for 

you, you have to be able to 

balance business and good 

human relationship with 

them. Sometimes they might 

do something that is unethical 

and retards the growth of 

the business. At the same 

time, you do not want to shout 

at them. Yet you have to be 

strict and let them know it is 

a business. This is a big challenge, 

especially when you 

are working with ladies. So, 

you have to be very careful not 

to hurt theirs, without making 

your business suffer. 

And what will be you 

biggest joy or achievement 

so far? 

KBS is a dream that became 

a reality; I never expected 

it to be as big as it is in 

a few months. So far, my biggest 

achievement is being the 

first face modelling agency 

in Lagos. Other modelling 

agencies specialise in other 

things, meaning, your body, 

run way and all of that. That 

way, they have just slim, tall 

and very dark or fair models. 

But when you come to face 

modelling, that is, anything 

that has to do with your face, 

you don’t have to be slim, tall 

or any of those conventional 

modelling criteria. We are for 

face modelling strictly and 

KBS is number one. 

We are responding to 

the need for face models. 

Makeup artists and vendors 

go through a lot of stress find 

models for their shoot because 

there is no particular 

agency dedicated to strictly 

face modelling. We save them 

the stress of having to search 

endlessly for one. All they 

need to do is just gives us a 

call and be rest assured that 

whoever is coming is beautiful 

and knows what to do 

and they do not have to pay 

through their nose. 

What is the entrepreneurship 

culture like at 

UniLag? 

I think UniLag students 

are hustlers. We go out of 

our way to do things. Some 

people make hair, they sell 

things in school, they generally 

try to establish multiple 

streams of income apart from 

what they get from their parents 

as allowance. I think we 

are growing, because I have 

heard of other schools that 

have a better culture when it 

comes to entrepreneurship. 

We doing well, I would say. 

But with the entrepreneurship 

club about to launch, 

people like me would like to 

join and other enterprising 

students. This will make it 

more organised. This is similar 

to the modelling convention 

that will take place next 

semester at UniLag, which 

will bring together modelling 

agencies and their owners 

who are coming to scout for 

models and network too.


EDUCATION 

higher 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

23 

Be comfortable with discomfort 

Ngozi Adebiyi 

Pain is underrated. 

Underrated, 

meaning diminishing 

or 

underestimating 

the extent, 

value, or importance of what 

it brings. “It” is plain old pain 

or its many other relatives 

with first names like suffering, 

affliction, agony, trial, 

tribulation or worry. 

We typically avoid it and 

would rather not talk about 

it especially when we are 

going through it. We tend to 

avoid it even when we’re not 

going through it, hoping it 

won’t come our way in the 

near future. 

As humans obviously we 

are averse to any type of 

discomfort but the more we 

observe life, nature, biology, 

agriculture, chemistry, 

the sciences and life forms, 

the very experience of pain 

usually brings forth “more”, 

“another” or “birth”. 

The challenge is as we go 

through life, how do we prepare 

mentally to be comfortable 

with discomfort? Talking 

about it is the first step. 

Seedlings have to be buried 

to germinate; butterflies 

have to wriggle out of their 

cocoon to strengthen their 

wings in preparation of a life 

of beautiful fluttering. 

Teeth hurt as it grows 

through the gum and babies 

need to push through the 

birth canal to make their 

grand entrance to life. 

The whole concept of 

discomfort really is a necessary 

evil. An evil that leads 

us through a tunnel with a 

surety of light at the end, a 

tunnel that sometimes takes 

days, weeks and years and 

each period causing just 

enough pain to propel you 

forward. 

So what’s the current discomfort 

that’s happening 

in your career and on your 

entrepreneurial journey? 

Might this be the necessary 

soil, gum and birth 

canal required for the new 

season? 

The way discomfort is 

handled also determines 

the additional length of 

time required to come out 

of it. Operative word here 

is “additional”. It doesn’t 

quite determine the time 

in itself though as in the 

analogy of birth, children 

still need to be carried for 

seven to nine months to 

most likely survive. The type 

of birth process, hospital, 

staff, possibly experience 

of the gynaecologist on the 

other hand may determine 

the length of labour and 

possible outcome of birth 

and or birth defects if any. 

Short circuiting the process 

does not in any way 

help ease discomfort – it just 

leaves one with a limp or 

weakened wing like in the 

case of the butterfly. 

Ignoring discomfort is 

usually counterproductive. 

Feeding discomfort with the 

right dose of help required 

per time gives it an ample 

chance of the individual 

surviving that phase. So it’s 

important that discomfort 

is not “taken like a man” or 

dismissed with a “weep not 

child” response. 

Figuring out how to deal 

with discomfort is one of the 

early steps of becoming comfortable 

with it. Getting help, 

talking through it rather than 

dying in silence is a lifesaving 

technique in this situation. 

So do you have a sounding 

board, outlet or anchor as 

you journey through career 

life, role changes and career 

bumps? Are you discussing 

your discomforts with someone 

who can proffer help as 

an entrepreneur? 

Mentally sizing up your 

discomfort and assigning 

it an expiry date or in cases 

where dates cannot be ascertained, 

assigning your 

discomfort an expiry season 

is life changing! Once you’re 

able to park it or assign it an 

expiry date in the future, a 

mental shift occurs which 

enables you pace yourself 

and process an end date for 

the discomfort. 

So the next time you go 

through discomfort process 

it differently, this may just be 

what is required and needed 

to birth a new part of you 

that propels other areas of 

your life. 

Ngozi Adebiyi is the Lead 

Consultant at OutsideIn HR; 

contact the author: Ngozi@ 

outsideinHRng.com 

Edo Varsity signs MOU with foreign 

universities for exchange programmes 

Idris Umar Momoh, Benin 

The Acting Vice- 

Chancellor of Edo 

University, Iyamho 

in Etsako West local 

government area of Edo state, 

Emmanuel Aluyor , said the 

institution has signed a Memorandum 

of Understanding 

(MoU) with two foreign universities. 

Aluyor, made the disclosure 

during the matriculation of 350 

students for the 2017/2018 academic 

session of the institution 

held at the school premises on 

Thursday. 

He listed the foreign universities 

to include Worcester 

University in the United State 

of America and Sunderland 

University in the United Kingdom 

for exchange programme 

for students of the institutions. 

He disclosed that the institution 

currently run six programmes 

since its inception 

in 2015. 

The acting vice chancellor, 

also listed the six programmes 

as Faculties of Arts, Management 

and Social Sciences, 

Faculties of Basic Medical 

Sciences, Faculties of Clinical 

Sciences, Faculties of Engineering, 

Faculties of Law and 

Faculties of Science. 

He noted that the university 

was established by the state 

government to be a Centre of 

Excellence in line with best 

practices to produce highly 

rated scholars and graduates, 

who will contribute significantly 

to the development of 

the nation. 

He assured the students 

that staff and management of 

the institution would provide 

the enabling environment for 

them to excel. 

“The idea of excellence in 

academics and industry stems 

from the motto of the university, 

which is “Quality Education 

for Development”. 

“I want to assure you that 

the Edo State Government 

and the management of Edo 

University will not relent in 

their efforts to ensure that all 

teaching and research facilities 

are provided for your learning 

benefits, “he said. 

Aluyor, who whoever, 

warned the newly admitted 

students against indulging in 

social vices, threatened that 

any act of gangsterism and 

violence will not be tolerated 

by the school’s management. 

“An act of gangstarism and 

violence will not be tolerated 

by the university management. 

It is management belief that 

students who err will be disciplined 

while students who 

do well should be rewarded 

consequently. 

“I want you to bear in mind 

‘Recall Conference for Men’ to berth in Lagos 

STEPHEN ONYEKWELU 

The Yetunde Bernard 

Company set up to 

help individuals and 

business owners craft 

and refine their messaging and 

project for maximum influence 

and impact globally is 

organising its first City Centre 

Conference for Men in Africa. 

An inaugural edition of the 

Recall Conference for Men has 

been slated for April 28, 2018 

at The Balmoral Convention 

Centre, Federal Palace Hotel 

Victoria Island, Lagos. 

Recall Conference for Men 

is designed and presented by 

City-Centre conference for the 

urbane man aged 20-45 years 

convened by The Yetunde 

Bernard Company, a personal 

brand development agency in 

Ikoyi, Lagos. 

It is a day live conference targeted 

at providing the African 

man living in today’s urbane, 

competitive and demanding 

society with insights and 

practical tools to enable him 

meet his evolving world with 

intention, clarity and a deep 

sense of tenacity. 

The inaugural theme, ‘The 

21st Century Man: The Hustle 

Is Real’ will explore a world 

currently embroiled in an 

equality dispute, this conference 

focuses on Purpose and 

Passion, the place of identity 

in finding freedom and peace, 

proffering practical steps to 

create a more balanced and 

fulfilling life for Men. 

RCM 2018 brings organisations 

and delegates from 

around Africa to interact 

with thought leaders and 

learn how to leverage on the 

status of the African man to 

create productivity platforms 

on all fronts. 

According to Olakunle 

Soriyan, thought revolutionist, 

knowledge owner, mas- 

that most effective way to put 

across your demands and 

grievances is through dialogue 

and all the established channels 

of communication in the 

university must be used,” he 

added. 

While pointing out that the 

institution is three years in its 

existence, he added that it is 

looking forward to producing 

its first set of graduates. 

“This is the third matriculation 

ceromony of Edo University 

and we are looking forward 

to producing our first set of 

graduates. 

“My dear matriculants, you 

are celebrated for being the 

lucky ones that were offered 

admission. I congratulate you 

for be the third set of students 

to take matriculation oath. 

As students of this university, 

i advise you to take your to 

take your studies seriously,” 

he stated. 

termind, and the principal 

transformation strategist at 

the Olakunle Soriyan Company 

and the lead strategist 

of the Recall Conference for 

Men, “The Recall Conference 

for Men is an invasion of the 

norm. It is designed specifically 

to serve as a resource 

point for men. 

Men have become the endangered 

species not because 

they have more challenges, 

but because they don’t speak 

about these challenges. This 

conference is to serve as a platform 

where men can converge 

and connect, sharing thoughts 

and ideas.” 

Day Waterman College... 

Continued from Page 21 

ers and be accepted as part of 

a team. It plays a prime role 

in promoting values such 

as tolerance, fairness, and 

responsibility. With proper 

leadership, sport provides 

the opportunity for children 

to acquire an appreciation for 

an active lifestyle, develop a 

positive self-image by mastering 

sport skills, learn to 

work as part of a team, develop 

social skills with other 

children and adults, learn 

about managing success and 

disappointment and learn 

respect for others. 

The idea that sport builds 

character comes from 19thcentury 

Britain where many 

believed the playing fields 

were the training ground 

for the discipline necessary 

to produce leaders in adult 

life. Physical activity, they 

thought, was a social experience 

that powerfully influenced 

attitudes and values. 

“Sporting activities play 

central role in what we do 

at Day Waterman College. 

During the weekdays from 

Monday to Saturday and 

this is an opportunity to 

celebrate and compete with 

one another on a grand occasion, 

involving parents 

and other members of staff” 

Stewart Cowden, the Principal 

of Day Waterman said in 

an exclusive interview with 

BusinessDay. 

As boarding school, Day 

Waterman College is responsible 

for the pupils from the 

first minute the wake up in 

the morning before the go 

to bed and between that the 

colleges has to make sure 

they are properly looked after, 

in terms of their personal 

welfare and safety along with 

their learning needs. 

“We all look at ways of 

scaling up to prepare students 

for the 21st Century, 

we do not only focus on the 

academic needs of the child, 

we do very well at academics 

if check our International 

General Certificate of Secondary 

Education (IGCSE) 

scores. It is an English language 

curriculum offered 

to students to prepare them 

for International Baccalaureate, 

A Level and BTEC Level 

3 (which is recommended 

for higher-tier students)” 

Cowden added. 

The College ensures there 

is variety of sports activity for 

all the students. For example 

the College is looking at the 

possibility of how it can introduce 

ballet because it has 

a fantastic dance studio and 

looking at how to deliver that 

to its students. 

Cowden said “the world 

is becoming increasingly 

smaller and smaller, not 

physically necessarily, but 

it’s becoming a global market 

and we have got to make sure 

our students can compete 

anywhere in the world. This 

is about being flexible, adaptable, 

knowledgeable, creative 

with problem-solving skills 

and ability to take initiative.” 

According to Tiwa Jopelo 

Adeduyigbe, a Day Waterman 

College athlete, he has 

learnt a lot of learns participating 

in sporting activities. 

“The first one is consistency, 

because if a player is 

not consistent you can get 

dropped. When you are consistent 

you are reliable and 

you always find a place in 

the team. It teaches me that 

in everything you are doing, 

if you are at the top, someone 

wants to be at the top as well. 

And if you are not at the top 

you can get there.”

24 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Tuesday 27 March 2018 

Harvard 

Business 

Review 

Tips 

& 

Talking Points 

TALKING POINTS 

The Future of Search 

50%: By 2020, more than 50% of all online 

searches will be conducted by voice 

rather than by typing, according to the 

marketing firm ComScore. 

+ 

Lack of Learning Opportunities 

Leads to Boredom on the Job 

46%: According to findings from the 

2016 Workplace Boredom Study, 46% of 

respondents said that a lack of opportunities 

to learn new skills was among their 

top reasons for feeling bored at work. 

+ 

Engaged Workers 

6 times: According to data from the polling 

firm Gallup, workers are six times 

more likely to be engaged at work when 

their job focuses on individual strengths. 

+ 

Billions in Steel and Aluminum 

Imports 

$7.3 billion: The European Union is 

the second largest source of steel and 

aluminum exports to the U.S., and is 

now subject to tariffs. In 2017, the U.S. 

imported about $7.3 billion worth of steel 

and aluminum from the E.U. 

+ 

Two-Earner Families in Canada 

Two-thirds: More than two-thirds of 

couples with children in Canada are 

dual earners. 

Stay calm during a tough 

conversation by grounding yourself 

Having a tense 

conversation 

brings up a lot 

of negative emotions, 

leaving 

you feeling like 

an active volcano. 

To prevent 

an outburst and 

stay in control 

of your emotions, 

physically 

ground yourself 

in your environment. 

One of the best ways to 

do this is to stand up and walk 

around, which activates the 

thinking part of your brain. If 

you and your counterpart are 

seated at a table, and suddenly 

standing up seems awkward, 

you might say, “I feel 

like I need to stretch. Mind 

if I walk around a bit?” If that 

doesn’t feel comfortable, you 

can do small physical things 

like crossing two fingers or 

Persuade a know-it-all to consider other points of view 

When someone is sure that they’re right, 

convincing them otherwise can be tricky. To 

help the person consider another point of 

view, use two conversation cues. The first is 

to ask questions: If the know-it-all is clinging 

to one side of an issue, you can say something 

like, “Have you ever seen a situation where 

the opposite was true?” Try to get them to 

rethink their assumptions and look at the 

situation differently. If questions don’t work, 

stall for time. For example, you might delay 

placing your feet firmly on 

the floor and noticing what it 

feels like. Mindfulness experts 

call these actions “anchoring.” 

Whatever you can do to focus 

on your physical presence and 

your senses will help you stay 

grounded and get through 

that tough conversation. 

(From “How to Control Your Emotions 

During a Difficult Conversation,” 

by Amy Gallo.) 

To be friends with your 

employees, set clear boundaries 

It’s possible to be 

friends with someone 

who works for you, but 

you need to set boundaries. 

For example, 

there may be times 

when you’re privy to 

information that will 

affect your friend, but it 

would be improper for 

you to share it. To make 

the friendship work, be 

transparent about what 

you can and can’t share, 

and emphasize that 

it’s a matter of ethics, 

not trust. When sensitive 

topics come up, be 

clear about what kind 

of conversation you’re 

having. Say something 

like, “Let’s talk about 

this in friend mode” or 

the conversation to gather data that supports your 

argument. You can say, “Before we make a decision, 

I’d like to collect some data on how our people view 

their service quality. We can meet again next week 

to discuss it.” Then use that time to consider other 

options or seek colleagues’ advice on how to change 

the know-it-all’s mind. 

(Adapted from “How to Deal with the Know-It-All 

in Your Office,” by Priscilla Claman.) 

“This is a work topic that I’d 

like to bring up.” And check 

that you and your friend 

want to have the same kind 

of conversation. You might 

say, “I want to find out 

how things are going with 

your project. Can we have 

that discussion now?” This 

way, you can maintain your 

friendship without crossing 

any lines. 

(From “How to Be Friends 

with Someone Who Works 

for You,” by Sabina Nawaz.) 

If You’re Procrastinating 

on a project, do the First 

Piece of It 

We all have tasks that we put off 

and put off, but actually accomplishing 

them is rarely as bad as 

we expect. Sometimes beating 

procrastination is about just 

getting over the initial hurdle. 

Instead of forcing yourself to 

tackle the entire task at once, 

focus on the first piece of it. Start 

by thinking about the task and 

your resistance to it, and then 

find a time period that you’d be 

willing to commit. Could you 

focus on the task for an hour? 

What about 30 minutes? Shorten 

the amount of time to something 

that doesn’t make you resist 

getting started. Then figure out 

the bare minimum you can 

do — writing a few paragraphs, 

reading a few pages, or whatever 

won’t make you return to your 

procrastinating ways. Once you 

begin, the task will seem much 

more manageable. Working on 

something, even in small pieces, 

means you’ll continue to process 

it, which makes you more likely 

to resume the work later on. 

(Adapted from “5 Research- 

Based Strategies for Overcoming 

Procrastination,” by Chris 

Bailey.) 

To get constructive feedback, 

encourage others to give it 

Constructive feedback is essential 

for getting better at your job, 

but a colleague may hesitate to 

give it if they’re worried about 

hurting your feelings. To ease 

their fear, try three strategies. 

First, introduce the conversation 

by giving yourself negative 

feedback. Say something like, “I 

know I tend to work quickly and 

sometimes overlook important 

details. Do you have thoughts 

on how I could improve?” By acknowledging 

the problem area, 

you take the pressure off your 

colleague to bring it up. You 

can also frame your request as 

a commitment you’d like their 

help with. Tell your colleague 

that you want to improve in a 

specific area — say, time management 

— and that you’d like 

their support in reaching the 

goal. A third strategy is to ask, “What is 

something you think I could learn from 

you?” This gives your colleague a chance 

to reflect on their talents and skills, 

which makes people feel good about 

themselves. 

(Adapted from “How to Solicit Negative 

Feedback When Your Manager Doesn’t 

Want to Give It,” by Deborah Grayson 

Riegel.) 

c 

2017 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp. Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate


BDTECH 

In association with 

BUSINESS DAY 

Why securing mobile devices have become more necessary 

Andrew Voges is the threat prevention sales leader for Middle East and Africa at Checkpoint Software Technology Limited, provider of cyber 

security solutions. In the interview with Jumoke Akiyode-Lawanson, he discusses the immediate need for mobile phone protection, offerings 

available to enterprises and the impeding generation five cyber security risks. Excerpt. 

25 

Andrew Voges, threat prevention sales leader, Middle East and Africa, Checkpoint 

Software Technologies Limited. 

Why has cybersecurity 

for mobile 

devices become 

so important? 

What we are 

talking about today is something 

called Generation five (V) of cybersecurity. 

If you think about Generation 

one (1), it was more about viruses 

attacking the computers. This 

happened in the 80s and 90s. In the 

late 90s to the year 2000 we had the 

networks and they were more of internet 

based attacks and that was 

Generation two. What we see from a 

threat landscape, specifically around 

Nigeria and other parts of Africa and 

even globally, is that customers have 

anti-virus protection from a generation 

one perspective. So, they are 

protected on the basic level. Generation 

two was more on the perimeter 

gateway which was the network. We 

have noticed that 100 percent of our 

global customers are protected on 

generation one and two. Generation 

three was more on the application 

base and that is where IPs kind of 

protection comes into play and we 

only see about 50 customers in Lagos 

or Nigeria protected around that. 

The protection levels for generation 

three attacks is also very low globally. 

Generation four was more about 

expert level attacks and that is where 

the sandbox and anti box plays a roll. 

Only seven percent of Africa or globally 

is protected there. So, if you look 

at it from that perspective, there is 

still a lot of work to do, with regards 

to security, specifically around public, 

government and enterprises. 

Generation five is where you have 

got the mega type of attacks such as 

state owned type of attacks. That also 

happens on the enterprise level but 

if you look at the attack surfaces and 

how they come about, and you think 

of how we actually access resources 

to our corporate environment, you 

will see that this is usually accessed 

through mobile. Mobile has become 

the new perimeter and these types 

of attacks happen across all the surfaces 

and that is why you need those 

type of protections. Specifically, with 

mobile, most people use their mobile 

phones to access email, cooperate 

resources, applications and all 

sorts. If the phone is vulnerable to attacks 

such as the ‘man in the middle 

attack’ which is highly likely when 

people join free Wi-Fi available in 

public spaces; the malicious code or 

application installed on your phone 

through that attack will give criminals 

full access to everything on your 

mobile. We normally use a capsule 

workspace, which is a capsulated, 

encrypted file storage on the phone 

to secure that portion of your corporate 

information, but if this phone is 

vulnerable, criminals will still gain 

access to it. That is why Checkpoint 

also says that you need to have some 

form of protection on the phone to 

make sure that it is not vulnerable. 

How do you intend to successfully 

create awareness and increase 

adoption of these types of security 

levels in the Nigerian market? 

Checkpoint has a local team 

in Nigeria and we also educate 

through channel partners. We also 

have cyber events, where we get 

customers involved to educate internally. 

Part of Checkpoint’s roadmap 

is to ensure that our customers 

are secure. Not just from a network 

perspective or desktop perspective, 

but also from a mobile and cloud 

perspective. So, the education is 

driven through channel partners, 

events and we also go face to face to 

customers and talk ab out the full 

scope of security. It doesn’t help 

just talking about what is currently 

relevant to the customer, you need 

to also make them aware of other 

benefits to them. So there is a drive 

on awareness on a Checkpoint internal 

perspective. 

Who are Checkpoint customers, 

are your security solutions developed 

only for government and 

large enterprises? 

Our customers vary. We have 

got financial service companies, 

we have got some government 

agencies, public sector and some 

commercial and SMBs. The focus 

for Checkpoint is not just from an 

enterprise or corporate perspective, 

because we also see that from 

a consumer perspective, it is also 

necessary. 

In percentage terms, how high 

are the chances of mobile phone 

breach globally and what is Nigeria’s 

risk level? 

Only 7 percent are on sandboxing 

as I said earlier, so you can 

imagine that the number for mobile 

is much lower. Only about two percent 

of mobile phones are protected 

globally. From a checkpoint perspective, 

Nigeria should be at least 

50 percent with regards to protecting 

the mobile, considering that the 

country is a mobile first nation and 

most people are accessing the internet 

through their mobile devices. 

We should be working towards 100 

percent protection for mobile globally, 

because the amount of threats 

coming through the mobile channels 

are much higher because mobile 

has become a more accessible 

opportunity for attacks. 

What is checkpoint doing to 

buy the cooperation of telecommunications 

operators to secure 

mobile channels? 

We are engaged with the telecoms 

providers in Africa and not 

just Nigeria. We also engage the local 

telecoms players wherever we 

are present and get them on how to 

do the enterprise type of protection 

for their customers, for themselves 

and from a consumer base perspective 

because we also believe that 

its important. On the enterprise, 

we have got the sandblast, which 

is protection for the mobile device 

to make sure that it is not vulnerable, 

also to protect the enterprise 

workspace and we sell that in conjunction 

to make sure that the data 

is protected and encrypted on the 

phone. From a consumer perspective, 

we have something called Zone 

alarm and it is more or less the same 

product, but to make sure that their 

data is not compromised. 

Apart from the Sandblast and 

Zone alarm, are there any other 

unique cybersecurity products 

that Checkpoint offers for mobile 

phone security? 

Our technology is quite vast, so 

we have end to end security products. 

Apart from the traditional firewalls 

and gateways which offer threat 

prevention, which includes the zeroday 

protection. Zero-day protection 

is for things that have never been 

seen, so any type of new malware or 

ransomware can be prevented with 

Checkpoint solution. If you think 

about the network, we have a blade 

architecture on the gateway. There is 

a firewall that allows access control, 

identity awareness and allows IPS 

in that blade architecture. Then we 

have a cloud service that actually has 

the sandbox, and it is not your traditional 

sandbox which is first generation 

and only inspects on OS level, 

we also inspect on central processing 

unit (CPU) level, which is patented 

to Checkpoint and is important, because 

the zero-days come through as 

expert type of malware and actually 

goes into the CPU. We have a 100 percent 

invasion resistant sandbox. On 

the end point, we have the sandblast 

agent, which allows you either to 

have the full end point, anti-ransomware 

forensics which allows you to 

see the full insight of the malware or 

attack and to mitigate quicker. From 

a cloud perspective, we have cloud 

guard, which is an offering to office 

365, google apps suite, drop box and 

the likes. That gives the same type of 

protection that you have physically 

on the network or endpoint into the 

cloud space or the cloud workspace. 

Then we have public and private 

cloud and we can actually have the 

same type of protection into the 

cloud environment and that can 

mitigate or suspend into the public 

cloud environment. 

What are the solutions that 

checkpoint provides to rescue already 

breached devices? 

If a customer does not already 

have Checkpoint solutions in his organisation 

or as a security vendor, we 

have got incident response as a service. 

What will happen is that we can 

actually inspect what has happened 

with the customer and effectively 

mitigate for them. These are services 

that we offer to customers.

26 

BUSINESS DAY 

BDTECH 

E-mail: jumoke.akiyode@businessdayonline.com 

What you need to know about 

Samsung Galaxy S9, S9+ 

JUMOKE AKIYODE LAWANSON 

Samsung Electronics 

recently launched 

its newest flagship 

smartphones, the 

Samsung Galaxy S9 

and S9 plus globally, and these 

phones have been available in 

the Nigerian market since the 

23rd of March 2018, although 

customers were able to pre-order 

the devices before this date. 

Some people know that the 

company has upgraded basic 

functionalities of the new 

smartphones and has added 

a few new features, however, 

many people still do not know 

exactly what makes the Galaxy 

S9 completely different from 

the Galaxy S8 which was released 

last year. 

Finger print sensor position: 

The position of finger 

print sensor at the back of the 

phone has been moved for 

convenience. The sensor on 

Galaxy S8 was placed right 

beside the rear camera, this 

made it almost impossible to 

unlock your phone with finger 

print sensor without having to 

smudge your camera lens. In 

fact, the finger print sensor will 

not work on the S8 if you have a 

bulky phone cover on your de- 

•Mats Granryd 

•Director General 

•GSMA 

Mobile money has 

not just changed the 

economic and social 

fabric of Africa. 

It has changed the world. Latest 

research shows that in 2017, the 

mobile money industry processed 

transactions worth USD$1 billion 

dollars a day, generating direct revenues 

of over $2.4 billion. Today, 

there are more than 690 million 

registered accounts in 90 countries. 

Mobile money has evolved 

into the leading payment platform 

for the digital economy in many 

emerging markets. 

The pioneer of mobile money, 

Sub-Saharan Africa is still the global 

leader in the sector, accounting 

for almost half of all registered customers 

globally. Last year, mobile 

money transactions in Sub-Saharan 

Africa reached USD$19.9 billion 

– 63 percent of the global figure 

– and represented two-thirds 

of the volume of total transactions. 

While Sub-Saharan Africa 

remains the epicentre of mobile 

money and growth in the region 

shows no sign of slowing, mobile 

money has also gained traction in 

other parts of the world. In 2017, 

vice. With the sensor now positioned 

below the camera lens 

on the S9 and S9+, it makes it 

very easy to scan without having 

to touch the camera. The 

S9 sensor is also more sensitive 

and reads your finger print a lot 

faster than it did on the Galaxy 

S8. 

Blood pressure sensor: 

Samsung has added a blood 

pressure sensor to its new devices. 

This is in addition to 

heart rate sensor which is also 

present in its other devices. 

Improved camera features: 

The S9 and S9 plus have been 

key staple in Samsung’s design 

heritage. In addition, the 

Galaxy S9 and S9+ will come 

with the new SmartThings 

app, which unites Samsung’s 

existing IoT services into one 

single, smart experience. The 

camera on the S9 can physically 

switch between F1.5 and 

F2.4 depending on your lighting. 

Solomon Osibeluwa, Software 

engineer at Samsung 

says that “the camera has been 

re-imagined to mimic the human 

eye, which means that it 

dilates to take in more light.” 

Super slow-mo: The new 

Galaxy S9 and S9+ have the 

unique feature of capturing 

960 frames per second for a 

video, allowing for a super slow 

motion video. The phones also 

offer automatic motion detection. 

An intelligent feature 

that detects movement in the 

frame and automatically begins 

to record – all users have 

to do is set up the shot. 

AR Emoji: Samsung lets users 

create an emoji that looks, 

sounds and acts like them. 

AR Emoji uses a data-based 

machine learning algorithm, 

which analyses a 2D image of 

the user and maps out more 

than 100 facial features to create 

a 3D model that reflects 

and imitates expressions, like 

Sub-Saharan Africa remains the dominant force in mobile money 

for the first time, industry growth 

was led by another region. With 

47 per cent year-on-year growth, 

South Asia was the fastest-growing 

region in terms of registered mobile 

money accounts and now 

represents 34 per cent of registered 

accounts globally. 

Mobile money is clearly reaching 

scale all over the world. A steady 

increase in active customers, transactions 

and direct revenue are all 

signs that mobile money is evolving 

into a sustainable industry and 

represents an important driver 

of economic growth in developing 

markets, particularly through 

formalising payments, increasing 

transparency and boosting GDP. 

The spread of mobile money beyond 

traditional footholds is also evident 

in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2017, 

Western and Middle Africa were the 

fastest growing areas regions, led by 

tremendous growth in registered accounts 

in countries including Cameroon, 

Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. 

For example, in just four years, 

MTN Ghana has experienced exponential 

growth in mobile money 

account activity. Regulation played 

a role here, following the introduction 

of a new set of rules by the 

Bank of Ghana in July 2015. Between 

2012 and 2017, activity rates 

grew from seven per cent to over 70 

per cent. 

improved to match up with 

time and technology advancements. 

Redesigned with a new 

Dual Aperture lens that powers 

an innovative low light camera, 

Super Slow-mo video capabilities 

and personalised AR 

Emoji, the Galaxy S9 and S9+ 

ensure users do not miss a moment 

and make their everyday 

epic. The Galaxy S9 and S9+ 

deliver an enhanced entertainment 

experience with powerful 

stereo speakers tuned by AKG, 

immersive audio with Dolby 

Atmos and a refined edgeto-edge 

Infinity Display1– a 

As mobile money matured 

in 2017, new trends inevitably 

emerged – in Sub-Saharan Africa 

and beyond. These trends include 

the accelerated growth of bank-towallet 

interoperability, the growing 

adoption of smartphones, the proliferation 

of “fintech” companies, 

the digitisation of new sectors of 

the economy, and renewed efforts 

by companies and governments 

to reach the most vulnerable and 

underserved. 

Change must be embraced, 

but the future is complicated: industry 

players once celebrated as 

innovators are now seen as incumbents, 

as fintech and tech giants 

bring a new wave of disruption. 

The digital ecosystem is evolving, 

and providing services is no longer 

enough. 

As Africa’s mobile money industry 

positions itself as the gateway 

of choice for new digital services, 

many traditional tools will 

remain relevant. The persistence 

of the cash economy in emerging 

markets means that complex distribution 

networks will continue 

to be crucial for digital services to 

interface with physical lives. In a 

business that relies deeply on trust, 

the role of longstanding brands 

and the understanding of local 

context will undoubtedly remain 

integral to reaching people outside 

of the formal system. 

winks and nods, for true personalisation. 

AR Emoji shares 

users’ real-life emotions not 

only in video but also with a 

range of stickers and uses a 

standard AGIF file format so 

users can share their emojis 

across most third-party messaging 

platforms. 

During the official launch 

of the devices in Lagos on Friday, 

23 March 2018, John Park, 

President Samsung Electronics 

Central Africa said that 

Samsung is known for constantly 

upgrading with intelligent 

features to suit the ever 

changing needs of people. 

Jingak Chung, Managing 

Director, Samsung Electronics 

West Africa said; “The 

way we use our smartphones 

has changed as communication 

and self-expression has 

evolved and with the Galaxy S9 

and S9+, we have reimagined 

the smartphone camera. Not 

only do the Galaxy S9 and S9+ 

enable consumers to shoot 

great photos and videos anywhere, 

it’s a smartphone that’s 

designed to help them connect 

to others and express themselves 

in a way that’s unique 

and personal to them.” 

The devices are available 

in Midnight Black, Titanium 

Gray, and Lilac Purple colours. 

Some concerning trends in the 

realm of mobile money regulation 

have emerged, most notably the 

spread of taxation in sub-Saharan 

Africa. As governments seek to 

boost public revenues, the instinct 

to tax mobile money has sometimes 

reflected confusion about 

the difference between the value 

of transactions flowing through the 

mobile money platform and the 

fees earned by the provider. The 

two can differ by a factor of one 

hundred. GSMA research published 

in 2017 showed that mobile 

money in one country is now taxed 

at a higher excise duty rate than alcohol 

and cigarettes. 

The policy and regulatory environment 

in Sub-Saharan Africa 

will play a vital role in driving a new 

phase of growth. Mobile money is 

delivering access to health and education, 

empowering women with 

employment opportunities and 

reducing poverty. In an increasingly 

turbulent world, it is also providing 

a lifeline, with digital humanitarian 

cash transfers and affordable 

international remittances giving 

refugees safe and convenient ways 

to meet pressing needs. 

As regulators confront questions 

around data protection, 

taxation and more, the policy end 

game of greater inclusion must remain 

at the fore 


ISPON discusses 

ways to prompt 

Nigeria to 

digitalisation 

Jumoke Akiyode- Lawanson 

The Institute of Software 

Practitioners of Nigeria 

(ISPON) is planning 

discussions on how Nigeria can 

benefit and tap into opportunities 

of the fourth industrial 

revolution in order to create a 

digital economy. 

Discussions with Information 

Communication Technology 

(ICT) experts, software 

practitioners and captains of 

industry will be held during the 

annual ISPON, president dinner 

which will hold in Lagos on 

April 6, 2018. 

According to ISPON, Isa 

Ali Pantami, Director General 

of National Information 

Technology Development 

Agency, NITDA, and DanAzumi 

Mohammed Ibrahim, Director 

General, National Office for 

Technology Acquisition and 

Promotion (NOTAP), have been 

confirmed to attend. They will 

address members of corporate 

Nigeria and software industry 

stakeholders on the strides 

taken towards the actualisation 

of the Executive Order No.s 003 

and 005 as well as the advancement 

of the indigenous software 

industry. 

The forum, according to 

ISPON will have Adebayo Shittu, 

Minister of Communication as 

the special guest of honor. 

James Emadoye, President 

of ISPON, disclosed that the 

theme for the 2018 dinner is 

“The fourth industrial revolution, 

a golden opportunity for 

Nigeria to leapfrog into the 

league of developed nations.” 

Emadoye said that the 

forum which will be chaired 

by Olukayode Pitan, managing 

director/chief executive officer, 

Bank of Industry (BoI) is expected 

to discuss other industry 

issues especially local content 

and its benefit to the Nigerian 

economy. 

BusinessDay learns that the 

event will have the participation 

of Microsoft Nigeria, IBM, Tecno, 

among other international 

organisations, and the keynote 

will be delivered by Emmanuel 

Ekuwem; secretary to the Akwa 

– Ibom State Government. 

According to Emadoye, the 

fourth industrial revolution is 

a build up from the third and 

is characterised by a fusion 

of technologies with a direct 

impact on the physical, digital 

and biological spheres of life. 

This revolution is peculiar for its 

speed, reach and impact and it’s 

evolving at an exponential rate. 

He explained that the key 

aspect of this revolution is the 

level of disruption it will create 

in any industry and in any part 

of the world bringing about total 

transformation of everything. 

“We intend to critically 

analyze how Nigeria can seize the 

golden opportunity that this revolution 

presents”, Emadoye said.


BUSINESS DAY 

Energy Report 

C002D5556 

27 

Oil & Gas Power Renewables Environment 

Powergas partners Etefa to reduce Nigeria’s 7b scm annual gas flare 

…tackle GHG emissions 

KELECHI EWUZIE 

Powergas, pioneer of 

virtual gas pipeline 

supply in Nigeria 

says it partnership 

with ETEFA, Austrian 

clean tech company on 

a project called Clean and 

Environmentally Sustainable 

Transportation (CEST) 

Programme which involves 

refurbishment and conversion 

of city buses and trucks 

in Lagos and the Niger Delta 

from diesel to gas will address 

the challenge of over 7 billion 

Standard Cubic Meter (SCM) 

of Natural Gas being flared in 

Nigeria annually. 

The 18 months pilot project 

of the CEST Programme 

which targets include improving 

environmental and health 

conditions by reduction of 

emissions, lowering the cost 

of public and commercial 

transportation, while fostering 

local talent employment 

with technology transfer and 

strategic knowledge sharing 

will surly change the environmental 

landscape of Nigeria. 

The company observes 

that Natural Gas Flaring is 

one of the biggest environmental 

disasters of Nigeria 

leading to casualties of up to 

2,500 individuals in the Niger 

Delta Region (due to gas flare 

related pollution and emissions), 

contributing to 20% of 

L-R Sumeet Singh, general manager, Powergas; Aloy Duru, director, Powergas; Nella Hengstler, commercial 

counsellor, Austrian Embassy; Pulak Sen, managing director, Powergas and Johann Rieger, CEO ETEFA 

at the media briefing organised by Powergas and Etefa in Lagos. 

the entire Greenhouse Gases 

(GHG) of the country causing 

a massive waste of energy and 

financial resources. 

Pulak Sen, Managing 

Director, Powergas Nigeria 

said Gas Flare Monetisation 

Projects can potentially save 

Nigeria over US$ 2.5 billion 

per year by reducing fuels 

costs in the transportation 

and power generation sector 

by over 30%. 

Sen stated this at a media 

briefing on Flare Gas Recovery 

in Nigeria organised by 

Powergas Nigeria, ETEFA with 

the support by the Austrian 

Development Agency (ADA) 

and the Commercial Section 

of the Austrian Embassy in 

Nigeria in Lagos. 

Sen further reiterated the 

company’s commitment to 

positively contributing to the 

clean environment of Nigeria. 

He said, “As a company, 

Powergas is committed to 

providing an environmentally 

friendly fuel source to 

spur economic growth and 

industrialisation in conjunction 

with reducing the carbon 

footprint. we believe that 

Natural gas fired power generation 

emits up to five times 

less nitrogen oxides than 

comparable diesel generation 

and near-zero particulate 

matter. Today, Nigeria’s annual 

diesel importation is the 

same as the natural gas being 

fl a r e d ”. 

Sen said, “Powergas has 

long been promoting natural 

gas as a preferable substitute 

to conventional liquid fuels; 

being cleaner and cheaper 

than petrol or diesel, natural 

gas offers both financial 

savings and environmental 

benefits. Powergas’ partners 

with Cummins Power Generation 

Nigeria who are also 

championing for cleaner gas 

fired power generation. Cummins 

lean burn gas generators 

meet emission criteria in even 

the most environmentally 

sensitive areas including California, 

USA.”. 

Johann Rieger, CEO ETEFA 

emphasised the need for Natural 

gas compared to diesel as 

it is the most environmentally 

friendly energy sources. He 

said, “The quality of the imported 

diesel (according to 

United Nations Environment 

Programme (UNEP)) hardly 

fulfills EURO 1 emission standards 

because of its high Sulphur 

content. Diesel imports 

are US Dollar dependent, 

hence increasing the cost of 

fuel and decreasing the country’s 

scarce forex reserves. 

Rieger observe that Natural 

Gas is one of the most 

environmentally friendly energy 

sources. With abundant 

reserves of 188 tcf (Trillion 

Cubic Feet), Nigeria has the 

largest gas reserves in Africa. 

“As a domestically available 

natural resource, effective 

utilisation is extremely 

important for import substitution 

(of liquid fuels) and forex 

savings. Gas Flare Reduction 

Program sponsored Projects 

can clean and process flare 

gas into Natural Gas, along 

with other by-products like 

Propane, Butane, LPG”, he 

said. 

According to him, “If all of 

Nigeria’s Gas Flare is captured 

and processed, it can power 

up to 200,000 city buses (public 

transport) or 200,000 trucks 

(commercial transport), or 

even double Nigeria’s power 

generation capacity, while 

significantly improving the 

quality of the air (lower carbon 

& particulate emissions”. 

“In other words, recovery 

and utilisation of flare gas will 

contribute positively to the Nigerian 

economy by bringing 

down fuel and energy costs 

which will have a trickle-down 

effect on food prices, transportation 

costs and ultimately 

rein in Inflation. 

“The good news is that 

with the available gas reserves, 

it is still not too late! 

The introduction of gas-fired 

city buses for public transport 

would significantly lower 

ticket prices for passengers. 

This would especially have a 

positive impact on the lower 

income populace who spend 

up to 40% of their monthly 

income on public transport”. 

On the partnership of the 

two companies, Pulak Sen 

explained that POWERGAS 

will provide all the necessary 

infrastructure for CNG Supply 

and ETEFA will supply highly 

efficient gas engines and associated 

technology. Eventually, 

ETEFA intends to locally 

manufacture gas-fired buses, 

trucks and engines in Nigeria 

with its Nigerian partners. 

Senate to ensure Nigerians derive more benefits from oil/gas industry 

OLUSOLA BELLO 

Members of 

the Senate 

Committee 

on Local 

Content 

have promised to support 

the Nigerian Content Development 

and Monitoring 

Board (NCDMB) to ensure 

that Nigerians derive more 

benefits from the Oil and Gas 

Industry. 

The senators also identified 

the urgent need to 

resuscitate technical and vocational 

education (TVE) as 

a vector for human capacity 

development, observing that 

the curriculum of science, 

engineering and technology 

courses offered in Nigerian 

Universities and other tertiary 

institutions needs to be 

reformed and reorganised to 

meet requirements of the Oil 

and Gas Industry. 

They made the commendations 

at the close of the 

three–day capacity building 

workshop organised for the 

Senate Committee on Local 

Content in Accra, Ghana. 

The Senators however 

lauded the Nigerian Content 

Development and Monitoring 

Board (NCDMB) for its 

strategic implementation of 

the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry 

Content Development 

(NOGICD) Act and the steady 

growth in local capacities in 

the Oil and Gas Industry. 

After several insightful 

presentations on the Board’s 

mandate, operation, the 

regulatory framework in the 

Nigerian Oil Industry, the 

journey so far and the challenges 

of enforcing compliance, 

all the eight Senators in 

attendance lauded NCDMB 

for the significant milestones 

recorded, despite very many 

drawbacks. 

Solomon Adeola, chairman 

Senate Committee, 

stated that from all that he 

had heard and seen, the 

Board is fulfilling the purpose 

for which it was established. 

The Senate Minority Leader 

and Vice Chairman of the 

Committee, Godswill Akpabio 

as well as other Senators 

re-echoed the same opinion 

and promised to support 

the Board to ensure that 

Nigerians derive more benefits 

from the Oil and Gas 

Industry. 

Abiodun Olujumi, deputy 

minority leader of the Senate, 

said the participation of two 

principal officers of the Senate 

- with six other senators 

clearly showed the importance 

the upper legislature 

attaches to the issue of local 

content in Nigeria. 

Earlier in his opening 

speech, Solomon Adeola 

reminded members the purpose 

for creating the Senate 

Committee on Local 

Content, which includes 

to ensure the use of local 

manpower by companies 

operating in Nigeria; design 

policies that would engender 

the patronage of locally 

made goods and services; to 

oversight the work of NCD- 

MB and to identify the gaps 

in the NOGICD Act with a 

view to amending it to reflect 

current realities. 

He opines that the Senate 

capacity building workshop 

was necessary to develop 

legislators’ understanding 

of NCDMB’s mandate, the 

journey so far, what has been 

achieved, the challenges and 

further actions required “to 

ensure that Nigerians derive 

more benefits from the 

industry. 

Simbi Wabote, executive 

secretary, NCDMB while 

speaking on the topic, “Structure 

and Operation of the 

Nigerian Content Development 

and Monitoring Board, 

reaffirmed the determination 

of the Board to fulfil its mission 

“to be the catalyst for the 

industrialisation of Nigerian 

oil and gas and its linkage 

sectors”. 

He acknowledged the 

encouraging remarks of the 

Senators noting that their 

commendations and positive 

feedback will act as fresh 

tonic to the Board in the pursuit 

of its strategic objective 

to increase Nigerian Content 

performance to 70 percent in 

the next ten years. 

Olusola Bello, Team lead, Analysts: Kelechi Ewuzie, Isaac Anyaogu, Graphics: Joel Samson. Email: energyreport@businessdayonline.com, Tel: +234-8023020011; +234-7037817378; +234-8036534708



C002D5556 

Energy Report 

Oil rebounds despite trade war fears 

...as oil curb could be extended to 2019 

OLUSOLA BELLO 

Oil prices rebounded 

on Friday having 

fallen the day 

before due to 

growing tensions between 

the Trump administration 

and China regarding tariffs 

and the increasing likelihood 

of a trade war. 

Oil prices fell sharply 

on Thursday on news of 

$60 billion worth of tariffs 

on China. China followed 

up on Friday with an initial 

announcement of $3 billion 

worth of tariffs on U.S. pork, 

fruit and recycled aluminum 

and steel pipes. Wall Street 

fell sharply over fears of 

a brewing trade war. That 

dragged down oil prices, 

although benchmark prices 

rebounded in early trading 

on Friday. 

Oil prices rose by 1 percent 

on Friday morning after 

Saudi Arabia said that 

the OPEC production curbs 

could be extended into 2019. 

“We still have some time to 

go before we bring inventories 

down to the level we 

consider normal,” Saudi 

oil minister Khalid al-Falih 

told Reuters. “We will hopefully 

by year-end identify the 

mechanism by which we will 

work in 2019.” 

President Trump tapped 

former U.S. Ambassador to 

the UN, John Bolton to replace 

H.R. McMaster as National 

Security Adviser. The 

reshuffling is widely seen 

as a major shift towards a 

hawkish foreign policy, raising 

the odds of conflict with 

Iran and North Korea, in 

particular. As the year wears 

on, U.S. confrontation with 

those two countries could 

be incredibly bullish for oil. 

The Trump administration 

announced plans for a 

variety of tariffs targeting an 

estimated $60 billion worth 

of Chinese goods. The move 

was met with a stock market 

selloff, which also dragged 

down crude oil. 

Top shale companies like 

Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN) 

and Marathon Oil (NYSE: 

MRO) scooped up acreage 

during the market downturn 

several years ago, and production 

is now coming on- 

Court quashes EFCC’S declaration of AITEO boss wanted 

...orders removal of declaration from EFCC website 

Benedict Peters 

man treatment and degrading 

treatment as guaranteed under 

Section 34, 37, 41 and 46 of 

the constitution of the Federal 

Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As 

amended) and Articles 2, 3(1) 

& (2), 4, 5, 6, 7, and 12(1) of 

the African Charter on Human 

and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification 

and Enforcement) Act 

2004.” 

On the 15th day of August, 

2016, Peters was declared 

wanted by EFCC without an 

order of Court and in the 

absence of a valid charge in a 

Court of law. The said declaration 

was published in some 

major newspaper in the country 

and specifically on the 

official website of EFCC. It was 

also carried by top-tier news 

platforms across the country. 

EFFC claimed that Benedict 

Peters was summoned 

on several occasions before 

he was declared wanted. However, 

evidence presented in 

court showed that Peters was 

out of the country on health 

grounds and this was communicated 

to EFCC by his 

legal representatives. Peters 

requested for a rescheduling 

based on the aforementioned 

reason, however, a day before 

line. Devon says its output in 

STACK will jump to 140,000 

barrels of oil equivalent per 

day (boe/d) by the end of the 

year, up from107,000 boe/d 

in early 2017. 

Most of Devon’s spending 

in STACK will be directed 

at the Meramec formation. 

The bottom line is that shale 

companies are looking at 

the Meramec because of low 

breakeven prices, combined 

with the fact that Permian 

land prices are already 

sky-high, which has forced 

many in the industry to look 

elsewhere. 

OPEC said that oil inventories 

in the OECD are only 

44 million barrels above the 

five-year average, which 

suggests the oil market is getting 

close to “re-balancing.” 

However, OPEC officials 

have recently commented 

that the measurement might 

not accurately portray the 

state of play in the oil market, 

and the group is looking at 

other metrics. Some ideas 

include non-OECD inventories, 

floating storage, and 

days of coverage, although 

nothing has been decided. 

A 

High Court sitting in 

the Federal Capital 

Territory, Abuja, Nigeria, 

has quashed 

the declaration of Executive 

Vice Chairman of Aiteo, Benedict 

Peters, as ‘wanted’ by 

the Economic and Financial 

Crimes Commission (EFCC). 

In a judgment given on 

March 22, 2018, the court stated 

that the anti-graft agency 

has no power to declare Peters 

or anyone ‘wanted’ without a 

court order. 

This was in response to 

a suit FCT/HC/CV/23/2017 

filed by Benedict Peters, accusing 

the EFCC of declaring 

him wanted on its website 

without following due process. 

As affirmed by the court, “Peters 

has never been charged 

with, nor tried for any criminal 

offence in any Court of law, 

nor has he ever jumped bail 

for any offence howsoever 

in Nigeria and cannot be declared 

wanted by administrative 

fiat, without any prior 

order or leave of Court.” 

The judgement delivered 

by Justice Othman Musa further 

reads: 

“The very act of declaring 

the Applicant (Benedict 

Peters) a wanted person on 

the official website of the 1st 

Respondent (EFCC) without 

any prior order or leave of a 

Court of competent jurisdiction 

to that effect is unlawful, 

illegal, wrongful, ultra vires, 

unconstitutional and constitutes 

a flagrant violation of 

the fundamental rights of the 

applicant to personal liberty, 

private and family life, freedom 

of movement and Right 

to not to be subjected to inhuthe 

date on which he had 

been required to attend armed 

men and police officers at the 

behest of EFCC, invaded his 

company premises ostensibly 

and made some arrests. 

EFCC’s defence to its actions 

is that it acted based 

on a warrant of arrest issued 

by a magistrate court. Upon 

scrutinizing the contents of 

the document constituting the 

warrant, the Judge discovered 

that the said document was 

dated 5th of August, 2016, 

suggesting that it was made 

or signed by the issuing magistrate 

on that date. 

But, curiously, EFCC endorsed 

it as having been received 

on the 4th of August, 

2016 at 10.32am. This inconsistency 

completely flawed 

EFCC’s defence and the judge 

remarked: “I am left with no 

option but to conclude that 

the 1st Respondent (EFCC) 

has presented to this Court 

an absurd and unimaginable 

case of receiving a signed 

document a day before it was 

actually signed by the person 

who purported to have signed 

it. Am afraid, such a thing is 

not possible in our physical 

world. Perhaps, it is possible in 

the spirit world. This renders 

the circumstances surrounding 

the procurement of this 

document doubtful. 

Since EFCC’s declaration 

did not comply with the conditions 

precedent, the court 

dismissed the case thus: 

“An order is hereby made 

directing the 1st Respondent 

(EFCC) to remove from its 

website the purported declaration 

made against the applicant 

forthwith.” 

Much I do about modular refineries 

GODSWILL IHETU 

In September 2016 in 

the heat of the agitation 

in the Niger Delta 

which resulted in the 

major disruption of oil and 

gas production, the Petroleum 

Club issued a press 

statement suggesting that 

encouraging the building 

of mini (modular) refineries 

could be one of the many 

ways of procuring employment 

for the youths in the 

oil producing communities. 

It was also suggested 

that that would also be a 

way of addressing the problem 

of illegal refineries, 

oil thefts, pipeline vandalism 

and the accompanying 

environmental damage in 

the region. The Petroleum 

Club cited the example of 

the Niger Delta Petroleum 

Development Company 

(NDPDC) which, alongside 

oil and gas production from 

its marginal oil field located 

in Rivers State, had since 

2012 been successfully operating 

a 1,000 barrels per 

day mini refinery. 

This suggestion caught 

the attention of the Ministry 

of Petroleum which took 

interest in this success story 

and subsequently decided 

to encourage all the oil producing 

states to establish 

mini or modular refineries 

as businesses in each of 

their states. This item has 

featured in the several and 

prolonged ongoing negotiations 

between PANDEF and 

the Federal Government. 

In fact, the Federal Government 

has pronounced 

that it would encourage the 

establishment of modular 

refineries at each of the ten 

states of the Niger Delta. 

Some Niger Delta States 

like Edo and Delta states 

have since started moves to 

establish modular refineries. 

Only recently the Office 

of the Minister of State 

Petroleum confirmed that 

the Federal Government is 

in talks with the CBN, IFC, 

NSIA to provide funding 

for investors in the Niger 

Delta states. The government 

would also guarantee 

crude oil supply to the refineries 

and also grant tax and 

customs duty waivers to the 

companies. So it looks like 

the Federal Government is 

seriously committed to this 

venture in the oil producing 

states. 

In addition to these 

modular refineries being 

promoted by the Federal 

Government, several entrepreneurs 

had over the 

last many years announced 

their intention to construct 

modular refineries. Many of 

these proposals have been 

on the drawing boards for 

several years. However the 

Minister of State, Petroleum, 

has restated that the 

government is not promoting 

modular refineries as a 

strategy for increasing Nigeria’s 

refining capacity because 

the capacity of these 

modular refineries are only 

in the range between 5,000 

to 20,000 barrels per day. 

The Federal Government 

is therefore relying 

on the rehabilitation of its 

own three refineries with 

a combined capacity of 

445,000 barrels per day to 

be augmented by the proposed150,000 

barrels per 

day refinery being promoted 

by Agip in collaboration 

with the NNPC. The 

proposed 650,000 barrels 

per day Dangote refinery, 

when completed, would 

also add to the nation’s refining 

capacity and would 

be sufficient to bridge the 

deficit in petroleum products 

availability. 

Investors in modular 

refineries may take a good 

look at their projects in 

many respects such as 

crude oil sources, ability 

to procure funding, economic 

viability and markets. 

My friends who are 

experts in this area tell me 

that the approximate cost 

of a 10,000 barrel per day 

modular refinery would be 

in the range of $50 million. 

In fact those in the range of 

20,000 barrels per day could 

be touching $250 million. 

They also believe that mini 

and modular refineries will 

struggle to be profitable and 

will not be able to compete 

with the larger capacity refineries 

if they do not have 

the advantages and incentives 

that the Federal Government 

is willing to give 

to the Niger Delta modular 

refineries. 

Last year, presentations 

on the prospects of modular 

refineries were made at 

the Villa to the then Acting 

President by the Society of 

Chemical Engineers. Similarly, 

the Nigerian Academy 

of Engineering held a public 

lecture last November 

titled “Modular Refineries: 

Prospects and Challenges”. 

These events demonstrate 

the level of interest being 

shown by Nigerian entrepreneurs 

and investors. 

About twenty two licenses 

have so far been 

awarded to applicants, most 

will not take off for reasons 

already mentioned 

above - economic viability, 

funding challenges, crude 

oil sourcing, product market, 

evacuation facilities 

and challenging logistics. It 

would be interesting to see 

how many of these licenses 

will translate into real projects. 

It is worthy of note 

that apart from the three 

NNPC refineries in Warri, 

Kaduna and Port Harcourt, 

the NDPD 1,000 barrel per 

day modular refinery soon 

to be expanded to 10,000 

barrels per day capacity, 

is the only other operating 

refinery in the country and 

the only one brought to 

production in at least the 

last thirty years. 

Godswill Ihetu, former 

group executive director 

at the NNPC and former 

managing director NLNG.


BUSINESS DAY 

THE BIG HEART DIGEST 

In association with Delta State Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Developement Agency (DEMSMA) 

DEMSMA, political appointees, unite to support 

Home-Grown School Feeding scheme in Delta 

- No alert, no food for 40,000 uncovered pupils worrisome – Shimete Bello 

33 

MERCY ENOCH, Asaba 

The Home-Grown 

School Feeding Programme 

(HGSFP), a 

federal government 

intervention whereby 

pupils in primaries one to 

three are given free meal during 

break-time on school days, has 

continued to receive boost in 

Delta State, courtesy of the commitment 

of the Delta State Micro, 

Small and Medium Enterprises 

Agency (DEMSMA) and political 

appointees in the state. 

This has marked the state out 

as one succeeding in the programme 

despite challenges. The 

programme in most states had 

been greeted with criticisms as 

there have been series of allegations 

about individuals enriching 

themselves to the detriment of 

the targeted beneficiaries, culminating 

defeat of the purpose 

of the programme. 

A total of 2,113 caterers ought 

to be cleared and paid by the 

federal government, to feed 

240,000 pupils in Delta State, 

but as at early last month, a 

total of 1,900 caterers had been 

cleared and paid to cook and 

feed 200,000 pupils while 40,000 

pupils continued to wait for their 

200 caterers to be cleared and 

paid to feed them. 

In an exclusive interview with 

The Big Heart Digest, Shimite 

Bello, executive secretary of 

DEMSMA, said since the 200 

caterers were yet to be paid, the 

state was still pushing for them 

to be cleared for payment. “Everyday, 

we try our best to ensure 

that everybody eats. We take our 

time to explain to the affected 

children that if their caterers have 

not received alert, they would not 

eat and they have understood it. 

She described it as a worrisome 

situation to the children, the 

teachers, the caterers and to all 

concerned”. 

While caterers in some states 

cry that they find it difficult to 

meet up cooking for the children 

with the paltry amount they are 

paid, in Delta State, it has been 

a different story because Bello 

and her team devised methods to 

help the caterers feed the children 

and yet make some profit. 

The agency, under Bello’s 

leadership, first educated all the 

caterers on the need to have gardens 

where they could plant vegetables 

to help them prepare the 

meals without necessarily buying 

vegetables from the market. Next, 

she wooed her fellow political 

appointees to join in empowering 

women cooks and farmers. 

The empowerment programme 

which began late last 

year, features agric experts training 

the cooks and farmers on 

modern farming techniques and 

on the skill of gardening. It also 

features donation of seeds worth 

millions of naira as well as donation 

of farming equipment to the 

beneficiaries. 

Bello said, “Basically, we were 

looking at adding value to what 

Shimite Bello (centre) and women cooks and farmers during 

the empowerment programme held in Akwukwu-Igbo recently. 

the federal government has done 

for the home grown school feeding 

programme and as well as 

the farmers. A lot of the foods 

that the children had to eat, they 

needed to have vegetables in 

it. They need tomatoes and the 

rest and the price of tomatoes 

sky-rocketed. The prices of vegetables 

have also sky-rocketed. 

So, we engaged with a resource 

persons who could teach us how 

to do gardening. She said even if 

it is one plot of land within a kilometer 

from where the persons 

reside, the person can use it to 

farm. I tried it at the back of my 

house – I planted okra, I planted 

spinach, tomatoes, pepper and 

onions and four months after, I 

could eat the fruit of my labour.” 

“So, after testing it, we said we 

can go ahead and start it. We have 

a lot of testimonies from some of 

the women cooks as well as the 

farmers that joined them. They 

said ‘Oh, we didn’t even know 

that Delta State could grow onions 

and some of the basic things 

we thought could only grow in 

the North’ So, one of the whole 

essence of it (the empowerment 

programme for women cooks 

and farmers) is to ensure the basic 

things that were needed to feed 

the children”, said DEMSMA boss. 

She added; “The well-being 

of the children is the most important 

motivation – to make 

sure that nobody is going to 

put tomato paste, or red colour 

of whatever to make it seem 

as if they were vegetables. The 

vegetables are readily available 

because we supply the seeds to 

the women; by that, they neither 

buy nor invest anything. The only 

thing they need to invest is their 

own labour – to plant the seeds 

and then find water to water 

them and to the Glory of God, 

Delta State has enough water.” 

“So, we are getting testimonies. 

We’ve heard from Aniocha 

North that asked us to come and 

see their farms; we’ve heard from 

Ughelli. We’ve not been able to 

go round the 25 local government 

areas. I think we have only 

visited six LGAs. So, hopefully, as 

this year 2018 begins we would 

be looking at more LGAs to visit 

with the hope that before the end 

of the year we would have visited 

the 25 LGs”, she said. 

The empowerment programme 

had been misconstrued 

by some Deltans as being 

politically motivated but Bello 

explained, “We got political appointees 

to contribute funds to 

make the empowerment more 

robust. It’s a way for you to fellowship 

with us. I’m a political 

appointee. And so, most of the 

political appointees are my colleagues 

and friends”. 

She revealed further: “From 

every local government we’ve 

approached the political appointees; 

they were very ready to contribute. 

Some of them came to 

the programme as well as those 

that had other assignments, because 

so many people had different 

schedule of duties. They were 

just sending their greetings but 

they always contribute to help the 

people within the vicinity. That’s 

where the political appointees’ 

aspect came. Those who could 

support willingly contributed 

from their purse not by force, 

but the people (beneficiaries) 

also are their own people. We’ve 

been blessed because we haven’t 

gone to anybody that has made 

us feel bad.” 

On her assessment of the 

HGSFP in the state, she noted that 

many things have gone wrong in 

the field but assured that “we are 

on top of the situation.” 

According to her, “People 

reach out to me on Whatsapp 

and facebook. My number seems 

to be everywhere. So, I have got 

used to attending to one problem 

or the other. We have a very 

good project coordinator, Eddie 

Nwamaka, and he also is on top 

of checking. We have committees 

at all the LG levels. We have 

traditional rulers and different 

people on it. There is a committee 

that lives in the riverine area and 

goes to check schools. If I tell you 

we would get up to 100 percent, it 

is a lie. Everyday, we correct and 

rebuke people”. 

In addition, Bello said “We 

have people in the office that are 

assigned to do surprise inspections 

to know who is cooking or 

who is not cooking. We want to 

know if anybody is offering bribe 

for anything. I think in Delta, the 

children are eating. We are doing 

the best we can as human beings 

to manage issues we see and to 

see the bottom line which is that 

the children eat well”. SN 

Editorial coordinator’s corner: 

Understanding Delta’s 2018 fiscal direction: 

The 2018 budget estimates 

IGNATIUS CHUKWU 

I 

wish to announce a 

budget proposal of 

N298.078bn for the 

services of Delta State 

Government in 2018. This 

amount comprises the sum 

of N147.5bn or 49.48% for 

recurrent expenditure, and 

N150.5 or 50.52% for capital 

expenditure. The summary 

is as follows: 

The 2018 budget proposal 

shows an increase 

of N3.62bn or 1.21%, compared 

to the 2017 approved 

budget of N294.4b. 

Sources of fund: The 

main sources of funds for 

the 2018 budget as proposed 

are as follows: 

IGR: The reforms we 

are undertaking in revenue 

collection, the plugging 

of leakages in all revenue 

sources, as well as the anticipated 

return of oil producing 

companies to Delta 

State is expected to impact 

positively on our IGR in 

the forthcoming year. It is, 

therefore, our projection 

to generate the sum of 

N71.3bn as IGR in 2018, 

representing 23.94% of the 

total projected revenues. 

The IGR estimates for 2018 

is higher than the 2017 approved 

estimates by N1.1b 

or 1.67%. 

Statutory allocation: 

Using the forecast derived 

from the State’s Fiscal 

Strategy Paper as a guide, 

the sum of N178.1bn or 

59.73% of projected total 

revenue for the 2018 fiscal 

year is expected to come 

from Statutory Allocation. 

This amount is more than 

the sum of N148.9bn projected 

for the 2017 fiscal 

year by N29.1bn or 16.35%. 

The increase is based on 

the optimism that the current 

peaceful atmosphere 

in the Niger Delta region 

will be sustained and that, 

with the relative peace being 

experienced, some of 

the oil companies who vacated 

the region will return 

to the State. It is also our 

realistic expectation that 

the gradual improvements 

the Federal Government 

has recorded in the agriculture 

and manufacturing 

sectors will continue to 

impact positively on the 

overall expected returns in 

the 2018 fiscal year. 

Other capital receipts/ 

miscellaneous: The proposal 

for Capital Receipts 

for the 2018 budget has 

been scaled down from 

the sum of N64.8bn in the 

2017 budget to N37.9bn or 

71.09% in 2018. The reduction 

is hinged on the overriding 

objective to reduce 

the loan burden on the 

State.

34 

BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 



BUSINESS DAY 

35 

Live @ the Stock exchange 

Prices for Securities Traded as of Monday 26 March 2018 

Company 

Company 

Market cap(nm) Price (N) Change Trades Volume Market cap(nm) Price (N) Change Trades Volume 

PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES (Equities) 

BANKING 

ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC 957,593.06 30.50 0.99 460 58,418,406 

460 58,418,406 

OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS 

FBN HOLDINGS PLC 452,280.69 12.60 2.86 404 16,313,233 

404 16,313,233 

864 74,731,639 

BUILDING MATERIALS 

DANGOTE CEMENT PLC 4,345,329.39 255.00 - 23 8,124 

23 8,124 

23 8,124 

887 74,739,763 

CROP PRODUCTION 

FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC 462.00 0.21 -4.55 4 687,120 

OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. 68,681.52 72.00 - 22 242,865 

PRESCO PLC 72,000.00 72.00 4.80 15 222,042 

41 1,152,027 

FISHING/HUNTING/TRAPPING 

ELLAH LAKES PLC. 511.20 4.26 - 0 0 

0 0 

LIVESTOCK/ANIMAL SPECIALTIES 

LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. 2,850.00 0.95 3.26 31 524,800 

31 524,800 

72 1,676,827 

DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES 

A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. 1,773.68 0.67 - 10 86,540 

JOHN HOLT PLC. 210.14 0.54 - 0 0 

S C O A NIG. PLC. 2,111.93 3.25 - 0 0 

TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC 79,263.58 1.95 6.56 229 22,925,500 

U A C N PLC. 52,439.60 18.20 0.28 76 6,210,754 

315 29,222,794 

315 29,222,794 

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION 

ARBICO PLC. 711.32 4.79 - 1 1 

1 1 

INFRASTRUCTURE/HEAVY CONSTRUCTION 

JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. 34,188.00 25.90 - 28 160,930 

ROADS NIG PLC. 165.00 6.60 - 0 0 

28 160,930 

REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT 

UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED 7,847.16 3.02 -2.58 14 278,434 

14 278,434 

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITS) 

SKYE SHELTER FUND PLC 2,000.00 100.00 - 0 0 

UNION HOMES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST (REIT) 11,300.89 45.20 - 0 0 

UPDC REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST 26,682.70 10.00 - 0 0 

0 0 

43 439,365 

AUTOMOBILES/AUTO PARTS 

DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC 1,670.43 0.35 - 0 0 

0 0 

BEVERAGES--BREWERS/DISTILLERS 

CHAMPION BREW. PLC. 21,217.94 2.71 - 2 6,361 

GOLDEN GUINEA BREW. PLC. 242.22 0.89 - 0 0 

GUINNESS NIG PLC 229,990.20 105.00 - 24 136,565 

INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. 489,964.13 57.00 - 20 41,766 

NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. 1,031,600.36 129.00 1.98 116 992,848 

162 1,177,540 

FOOD PRODUCTS 

DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC 79,750.00 15.95 0.95 109 1,612,775 

DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC 253,800.00 21.15 0.71 71 2,510,984 

FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. 99,721.01 38.00 - 77 3,225,561 

HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC 19,904.80 2.51 0.80 64 2,690,973 

MULTI-TREX INTEGRATED FOODS PLC 1,489.00 0.40 - 0 0 

N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. 1,113.75 6.25 - 4 15,322 

NASCON ALLIED INDUSTRIES PLC 55,373.26 20.90 -1.65 36 5,616,100 

UNION DICON SALT PLC. 3,676.41 13.45 - 0 0 

361 15,671,715 

FOOD PRODUCTS--DIVERSIFIED 

CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. 28,642.58 15.25 4.81 105 1,044,108 

NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. 1,046,306.25 1,320.00 0.23 43 414,825 

148 1,458,933 

HOUSEHOLD DURABLES 

NIGERIAN ENAMELWARE PLC. 1,680.31 22.10 - 0 0 

VITAFOAM NIG PLC. 3,127.11 3.00 - 45 760,918 

45 760,918 

PERSONAL/HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS 

P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. 87,549.02 22.05 - 22 132,708 

UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. 301,325.53 52.45 -4.98 17 223,829 

39 356,537 

755 19,425,643 

BANKING 

ACCESS BANK PLC. 328,332.48 11.35 0.44 390 77,912,662 

DIAMOND BANK PLC 47,478.80 2.05 -4.65 145 10,706,198 

ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED 330,291.92 18.00 1.12 49 245,903 

FIDELITY BANK PLC 78,521.70 2.71 -0.37 162 15,108,313 

GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. 1,333,232.42 45.30 -3.41 213 3,083,876 

JAIZ BANK PLC 26,812.47 0.91 - 11 337,680 

SKYE BANK PLC 11,104.24 0.80 1.27 85 8,177,444 

STERLING BANK PLC. 51,822.75 1.80 3.45 111 2,890,961 

UNION BANK NIG.PLC. 195,109.04 6.70 - 39 147,479 

UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC 408,683.09 11.95 3.91 356 43,945,128 

UNITY BANK PLC 15,780.61 1.35 4.65 40 3,601,796 

WEMA BANK PLC. 30,088.08 0.78 4.00 49 3,111,356 

1,650 169,268,796 

INSURANCE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES 

AFRICAN ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC 4,528.70 0.22 -4.35 1 100,000 

AIICO INSURANCE PLC. 4,781.84 0.69 1.45 42 2,613,512 

AXAMANSARD INSURANCE PLC 26,775.00 2.55 - 9 141,620 

CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE PLC 2,240.00 0.32 -6.25 19 1,863,313 

CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC 18,567.21 1.79 4.68 14 865,800 

CORNERSTONE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC. 5,597.21 0.38 - 3 2,500 

EQUITY ASSURANCE PLC. 4,900.00 0.35 - 0 0 

GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC 2,411.47 0.53 - 0 0 

GREAT NIGERIAN INSURANCE PLC 1,913.74 0.50 - 0 0 

GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. 2,456.00 0.40 - 0 0 

INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE COMPANY PLC 642.04 0.50 - 0 0 

LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. 2,636.44 0.36 2.78 70 14,688,228 

LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. 3,050.39 0.71 4.41 4 203,857 

LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC 6,720.00 0.84 5.00 8 2,517,200 

MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. 2,960.00 0.37 -2.63 3 600,000 

N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. 14,574.19 2.76 2.22 58 3,519,963 

NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. 2,631.42 0.34 -2.86 7 209,788 

PRESTIGE ASSURANCE CO. PLC. 2,593.60 0.47 - 0 0 

REGENCY ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC 1,867.25 0.28 3.57 4 652,006 

SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC 2,001.80 0.24 -4.00 1 100,000 

STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC. 5,680.85 0.44 - 2 7,000 

STANDARD TRUST ASSURANCE PLC 4,483.72 0.48 - 0 0 

UNIC DIVERSIFIED HOLDINGS PLC. 464.81 0.18 - 0 0 

UNITY KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC 3,328.00 0.24 9.09 6 17,116,612 

UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY PLC 8,000.00 0.50 - 0 0 

WAPIC INSURANCE PLC 7,628.16 0.57 1.75 49 3,844,365 

300 49,045,764 

MICRO-FINANCE BANKS 

FORTIS MICROFINANCE BANK PLC 11,799.67 2.58 - 0 0 

NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC 4,847.67 2.12 - 15 660,627 

15 660,627 

MORTGAGE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES 

ABBEY MORTGAGE BANK PLC 5,460.00 1.30 - 0 0 

ASO SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC 7,370.87 0.50 - 0 0 

INFINITY TRUST MORTGAGE BANK PLC 6,005.46 1.44 - 0 0 

RESORT SAVINGS & LOANS PLC 5,664.87 0.50 - 0 0 

UNION HOMES SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC. 2,949.22 3.02 - 0 0 

0 0 

OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS 

AFRICA PRUDENTIAL PLC 8,140.00 4.07 0.49 44 539,955 

CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC 26,527.21 4.51 10.00 25 431,188 

DEAP CAPITAL MANAGEMENT & TRUST PLC 720.00 0.48 - 0 0 

FCMB GROUP PLC. 48,120.59 2.43 0.82 66 1,757,269 

NIGERIA ENERYGY SECTOR FUND 411.91 552.20 - 0 0 

ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. 1,595.06 0.31 -6.06 19 2,033,618 

SIM CAPITAL ALLIANCE VALUE FUND 3,312.39 103.20 - 0 0 

STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC 465,290.26 46.30 1.42 27 248,345 

UNITED CAPITAL PLC 20,220.00 3.37 -0.88 74 1,267,147 

255 6,277,522 

2,220 225,252,709 

HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS 

EKOCORP PLC. 1,680.29 3.37 - 0 0 

UNION DIAGNOSTIC & CLINICAL SERVICES PLC 1,776.57 0.50 - 0 0 

0 0 

MEDICAL SUPPLIES 

MORISON INDUSTRIES PLC. 544.04 0.55 - 0 0 

0 0 

PHARMACEUTICALS 

EVANS MEDICAL PLC. 366.17 0.50 - 0 0 

FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC 9,000.00 6.00 9.49 31 979,710 

GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. 33,544.34 28.05 10.00 24 1,344,306 

MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. 2,675.40 2.73 - 21 391,350 

NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC 1,415.74 0.82 - 5 100,009 

NIGERIA-GERMAN CHEMICALS PLC. 556.71 3.62 - 0 0 

PHARMA-DEKO PLC. 487.85 2.25 - 0 0 

81 2,815,375 

81 2,815,375 

COMPUTER BASED SYSTEMS 

COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC 923.52 0.26 - 4 122,934 

4 122,934 

COMPUTERS AND PERIPHERALS 

OMATEK VENTURES PLC 1,470.89 0.50 - 0 0 

0 0 

IT SERVICES 

CWG PLC 6,413.06 2.54 - 0 0 

NCR (NIGERIA) PLC. 680.40 6.30 - 0 0 

TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC. 435.56 0.88 - 3 26,149 

3 26,149 

PROCESSING SYSTEMS 

CHAMS PLC 2,254.11 0.48 - 0 0 

E-TRANZACT INTERNATIONAL PLC 19,950.00 4.75 - 0 0 

0 0 

7 149,083 

BUILDING MATERIALS 

AFRICAN PAINTS (NIGERIA) PLC. 865.88 2.35 - 0 0 

BERGER PAINTS PLC 2,854.76 9.85 - 4 28,351 

CAP PLC 27,125.00 38.75 - 5 31,531 

CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC 23,562.71 18.75 - 7 32,100 

FIRST ALUMINIUM NIGERIA PLC 1,118.49 0.53 - 2 29,900 

LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. 416,324.56 48.00 -4.00 60 537,686 

MEYER PLC. 361.24 0.68 - 0 0 

PAINTS AND COATINGS MANUFACTURES PLC 467.82 0.59 - 0 0 

PORTLAND PAINTS & PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC 1,666.17 2.10 - 3 35,831 

PREMIER PAINTS PLC. 1,279.20 10.40 - 0 0 

81 695,399 

ELECTRONIC AND ELECTRICAL PRODUCTS 

AUSTIN LAZ & COMPANY PLC 2,256.91 2.09 - 0 0 

CUTIX PLC. 2,474.66 2.81 - 14 177,600 

14 177,600 

PACKAGING/CONTAINERS 

BETA GLASS PLC. 37,847.88 75.70 - 1 1,000 

GREIF NIGERIA PLC 388.02 9.10 - 0 0 

1 1,000 

96 873,999 

CHEMICALS 

B.O.C. GASES PLC. 1,914.73 4.60 - 0 0 

0 0 

METALS 

ALUMINIUM EXTRUSION IND. PLC. 2,023.60 9.20 - 0 0 

0 0 

MINING SERVICES 

MULTIVERSE MINING AND EXPLORATION PLC 980.25 0.23 9.52 21 3,461,995 

21 3,461,995 

PAPER/FOREST PRODUCTS 

THOMAS WYATT NIG. PLC. 83.60 0.38 - 0 0 

0 0 

21 3,461,995 

ENERGY EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES 

JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC 4,321.26 0.69 4.35 103 18,084,741 

103 18,084,741 

INTEGRATED OIL AND GAS SERVICES 

OANDO PLC 74,464.16 5.99 - 26 489,833 

26 489,833 

PETROLEUM AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS DISTRIBUTORS 

11 PLC 66,529.83 184.50 0.27 28 61,827 

CONOIL PLC 23,212.70 33.45 - 18 31,073 

ETERNA PLC. 8,007.45 6.14 0.16 16 459,136 

FORTE OIL PLC. 52,099.24 40.00 -9.09 79 372,597 

MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. 6,857.69 27.00 - 28 57,220 

TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. 82,741.47 243.70 - 23 72,962 

192 1,054,815 

EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION 

SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD 411,970.04 700.10 -3.03 16 63,213 

16 63,213 

337 19,692,602 

ADVERTISING 

AFROMEDIA PLC 2,219.52 0.50 - 0 0 

0 0 

AIRLINES 

MEDVIEW AIRLINE PLC 20,866.39 2.14 - 2 27 

2 27 

AUTOMOBILE/AUTO PART RETAILERS 

R T BRISCOE PLC. 564.65 0.48 - 0 0 

0 0 

COURIER/FREIGHT/DELIVERY 

RED STAR EXPRESS PLC 3,536.98 6.00 - 0 0 

TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. 421.96 0.90 - 0 0 

0 0 

HOSPITALITY 

TANTALIZERS PLC 1,188.30 0.37 -2.63 3 102,000 

3 102,000 

HOTELS/LODGING 

CAPITAL HOTEL PLC 4,878.66 3.15 - 0 0 

IKEJA HOTEL PLC 3,700.26 1.78 - 0 0 

TOURIST COMPANY OF NIGERIA PLC. 7,862.53 3.50 - 0 0 

TRANSCORP HOTELS PLC 56,623.01 7.45 - 2 2,000 

2 2,000 

MEDIA/ENTERTAINMENT 

DAAR COMMUNICATIONS PLC 5,760.00 0.48 - 2 14,000 

2 14,000 

PRINTING/PUBLISHING 

ACADEMY PRESS PLC. 302.40 0.50 - 0 0 

LEARN AFRICA PLC 748.31 0.97 - 4 51,000 

STUDIO PRESS (NIG) PLC. 1,183.82 1.99 - 0 0 

UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC. 940.47 2.18 4.81 7 230,600 

11 281,600

36 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 

NEWS 

L-R: AbdulGaniyu Mohammed, general manager, small and medium enterprises (South), Bank of Industry (BoI); Waheed Olagunju, 

executive director, SME, BoI; Simon Aranonu, executive director, large enterprises, and Omar Shekarau, general manager, SME 

(North), during the Interactive session on the operation of the Bank’s Business Development Service Providers (BDSP) Scheme 

in Lagos, yesterday. 

Political aspirants face high nomination fees 

over stalemate on Electoral Act amendment 

OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, ABUJA 

As the stalemate 

over the 2010 

Electoral Act 

(Amendment) 

Bill continues, political 

parties will continue to 

enjoy the luxury of imposing 

arbitrary nomination fees on 

their aspirants if the proposal 

is not signed into law. 

This is because the new 

bill passed by both legislative 

chambers of the National Assembly, 

to which President 

Muhammadu Buhari has 

declined assent, prescribes 

limits for fees payable for each 

elective office in Nigeria. 

Recall that President Buhari 

had withheld assent to 

the Electoral Act (Amendment) 

Bill, 2018. 

In a letter addressed to 

both Senate president, Bukola 

Saraki, and speaker, 

House of Representatives, 

Yakubu Dogara, the President 

gave three reasons for 

declining assent to the bill. 

FAAN security personnel to bear arms across Nigerian airports 

IFEOMA OKEKE 

Minister of state, 

aviation, Hadi 

Sirika, Monday 

said aviation 

security personnel of the 

Federal Airports Authority of 

Nigeria (FAAN) would soon 

be licensed to carry arms at 

airports across the country in 

other to complement other 

agencies in security threat. 

Sirika, who made this 

known in Katsina at the 2018 

AVSEC retreat, said discussion 

was at its final stage for 

approval, saying it would further 

strengthen the integrity 

of the airports in view of the 

growing threats to the aviation 

industry. 

“The Federal Government 

approved for AVSEC to 

bear arms, which is a notable 

achievement in this administration’s 

effort at improving 

the general safety of its citi- 

The reasons include: That 

the amendment to the sequence 

of the elections in 

Section 25 of the Principal 

Act may infringe upon the 

constitutionally guaranteed 

discretion of the Independent 

National Electoral 

Commission to organise, 

undertake and supervise all 

elections as provided in Section 

15(a) of the third schedule 

to the Constitution; 

The amendment to Section 

138 of the Principal Act 

to delete two crucial grounds 

upon which an election may 

be challenged by candidates 

unduly limits the rights of 

candidates in elections to a 

free and fair electoral review 

process, and that the amendment 

to Section 152(3)-(5) of 

the Principal Act may raise 

constitutional issues over the 

competence of the National 

Assembly to legislate over local 

government elections. 

The 2010 Electoral Act is 

silent on arbitrary nomination 

fees charged by parties. 

RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta 

Having detected 

3,222 cases of tuberculosis 

(TB) and 

105 drug resistant 

cases in recent time with possible 

prevention of the condition 

in the future, the Ogun 

State government has opened 

216 treatment centres across 

20 local governments and 37 

local council development areas 

for effective diagnosis and 

treatment of TB cases. 

Speaking at an event in 

Abeokuta, the Ogun State 

capital, to commemorate 

2018 World Tuberculosis Day 

tagged, “Find and Notify All 

TB Cases,” Babatunde Ipaye, 

commissioner for health, 

said TB was the ninth leading 

cause of death worldwide and 

could have been prevented 

with early diagnosis and effective 

restatement. 

According to Ipaye, a total 

of 3,222 TB cases and addizenry 

and passengers passing 

through our airports,” he said. 

According to Sirika, who 

was represented by Mohammed 

Abdulsalami, rector, 

Nigerian College of Aviation 

Technology (NCAT) Zaria, 

said arming AVSEC would 

ensure proper policing of the 

sector by AVSEC personnel, 

saying it was part of efforts by 

the President Buhari administration 

to give the country 

dividends of democracy. 

Rebranding of AVSEC is 

important in the building 

brand identity and creating a 

recognisable corporate identity 

for officers with the aim 

of making them much more 

professional and customer 

friendly to meet up with the 

initiative of the Ease of Doing 

Business, he said. 

Most countries have shown 

keen interest in the country’s 

growing and expanding aviation 

industry, he said, stressing 

However, the amended Act 

abolishes arbitrary nomination 

fees imposed by political 

parties and prescribes 

limits for each elective office 

to include: N10 million 

for a presidential aspirant 

and N5 million for a governorship 

aspirant. 

Others are: senatorial 

aspirant (N2m), House of 

Representatives aspirant 

(N1m), House of Assembly 

aspirant (N500,000), area 

council chairmanship aspirant 

in the Federal Capital 

Territory (N250,000) and 

ward councillorship aspirant 

in the FCT (N150,000). 

In the last general elections, 

the All Progressives 

Congress (APC) sold its 

presidential nomination 

form for N25 million to each 

contestant, while that of the 

People’s Democratic Party 

(PDP) went for N20 million. 

Analysts have expressed 

concern over the lack of legal 

framework with less than 

a year to the 2019 elections. 

that aviation security was seen 

as a pivotal tool to sustaining 

safety in all the airports, which 

remained a model to the integrity 

of the nation. 

He noted that the United 

Nations decision to establish 

two aviation security training 

colleges in the country was 

another notable achievement 

of the present administration. 

This was aimed at assisting 

not only in the war against 

terrorism but also to provide a 

special class of professionally 

trained AVSEC unit through 

the training of 30 selected aviation 

security master trainers 

who will in turn train others. 

The certification of FAAN 

training centre by the Nigerian 

Civil Aviation Authority 

can not be overemphasised, 

as it will further strengthen 

and boost the capacity and 

technical know how of aviation 

security personnel in the 

country, he said. 

They express fear that if 

the Electoral Act (Amendment) 

Bill is not signed into 

law, political parties will 

continue with the practice of 

imposing exorbitant fees on 

aspirants. 

Clement Nwankwo, executive 

director, Policy and 

Legal Advocacy Centre 

(PLAC), also faults the restraining 

order of a Federal 

High Court, Abuja, against 

the National Assembly from 

taking further action on the 

Electoral Act. 

He calls on both the Executive 

and the Legislature 

to urgently resolve the matter, 

adding that besides the 

inclusion of the controversial 

sequence of elections, 

there are other critical aspects 

of the amended Act 

that cannot be discarded. 

“At this time, we know 

there is a stalemate. It is a crisis 

situation, the matter is in 

court. Certainly, we think the 

court should have allowed the 

process to complete. 


Edo floats new waste management scheme 

Ogun detects 3,222 cases of tuberculosis, 

opens 216 treatment centres 

Conservationist says urban planning must incorporate green, woodland spaces 

CHUKA UROKO 

Foremost conservationist 

in Nigeria, the Nigerian 

Conservation 

Foundation (NCF), says 

forests are fast thinning out in 

the country and has, therefore, 

advised that government at all 

levels must ensure that urban 

planning efforts incorporate 

green and woodland spaces at 

every stage of development. 

At the moment, less than 5 

percent of the total land area in 

Nigeria is afforested, and even 

the sparse forest remainders 

are under threat with land use 

pressures from agriculture, 

infrastructure, housing and 

resources-harvesting which, 

NCF notes, are critical drivers 

of deforestation. 

Phillip Asiodu, NCF’s president, 

recalls that at independence, 

Nigeria had about 30 

percent forest cover, but due 

to human activities, the for- 

Edo State government 

says a new 

waste management 

scheme will be 

launched in April to monitor 

the activities of waste managers 

across the state. 

Reginald Okun, commissioner 

for environment and 

sustainability, said this in an 

interview with journalists 

in Benin City, the Edo State 

capital. 

According to Okun, the 

new waste management 

scheme will ensure effective 

monitoring of activities of 

waste managers and ensure 

that the people are better 

served by the service providers, 

noting, “Waste managers 

in the state will be required to 

register with the state’s waste 

management board.” 

Warning that the state 

will no longer tolerate the 

practice where operators go 

about their activities without 

following the set guidelines, 

he said, “With the new 

ests have depleted to about 4 

percent, urging for concerted 

efforts at reforestation of the 

country. Government at all 

levels in Nigeria have underappreciated 

forests, not just 

for their important ecosystem 

functions, but also for human 

survival and sustainability as 

carbon sinks and oxygen pool, 

together with the numerous 

other benefits they offer. 

“While developing a comprehensive 

reforestation 

strategy, we must however 

develop a national database 

of tree species indigenous to 

Nigeria, understand the status 

and plan a wholesome 

intervention”, advised Joseph 

Onoja, NCF’s acting directorgeneral, 

who spoke at this 

year’s World Forest Day. 

Oloja had a few messages 

on the importance of forests to 

humanity. According to him, 

forests and trees store carbon 

which helps mitigate the imwaste 

management scheme 

in place, before anyone goes 

about claiming to be a waste 

manager in the state, he or 

she must be certified by the 

state’s waste management 

board.” 

Those who fail to register 

with the board will be considered 

as criminals and will 

be prosecuted, he said, adding, 

“Those who also patronise 

these illegal waste managers 

will also be prosecuted. 

Individuals and companies 

are also required to have 

waste managers in place for 

evacuation of wastes.” 

The commissioner urged 

Edo people to support the 

state government in her effort 

to control and manage 

waste effectively, saying, 

“People must ensure they 

patronise waste managers 

who are duly registered. We 

will continue to focus more 

effort in sensitising people to 

develop the right attitude to 

waste management.” 

tional 105 drug resistant TB 

cases were detected and managed 

in Ogun, saying the state 

currently had Gene Xpert Sites 

spread to over 10 local government 

areas of the state with 

health workers that were regularly 

trained to provide quality 

TB management services. 

He also said several innovation 

approaches were 

embarked upon such as increased 

collaborations with 

Private Health Practitioners, 

Patent medicine vendors, 

Community Pharmacists and 

active case finding through 

community outreaches including 

the Wellness on 

Wheel project to tackle TB. 

The commissioner therefore 

advised religious leaders, 

private care providers, 

and health workers as well 

as individuals to refer people 

with cough for more than 

two weeks to provided health 

facilities for necessary treatment. 

pact of climate change in and 

around urban areas, adding 

that trees also improve the local 

climate and save energy used 

for heating by 20-50 percent. 

“Strategic placement of 

trees in urban areas can cool 

the air by up to 8 degrees celsius, 

reducing air conditioning 

needs by 30 percent; urban 

trees are excellent air filters, 

removing harmful pollutants 

in the air and fine particulates; 

trees reduce noise pollution, 

as they shield homes from 

nearby roads and industrial 

areas”, he said. 

Continuing, he said, “local 

populations use the fruits, 

nuts, leaves and insects found 

in urban trees to produce 

food and medicines for use 

in the home, or as a source of 

income; wood fuel sourced 

from urban trees and planted 

forests on the outskirts of cities 

provides renewable energy for 

cooking and heating.


OPS, MOMAN, DAPPMAN kick against 

one regulator for oil, gas industry 

OLUSOLA BELLO 

Strategic groups in the 

Nigerian economy 

have kicked against 

the oil and gas industry 

having just 

only one regulatory commission 

as presently contained 

in the Petroleum Industry 

Governance Bill (PIGB), saying 

one regulator for both the 

down and upstream is detrimental 

to the industry and 

economy. 

They urge President Muhammadu 

Buhari not ascent 

to the bill until he ensures 

that two different regulatory 

agencies are created with 

each of them taking care of 

upstream and downstream 

of the petroleum industry, 

respectively. 

They also frown at the 

composition of the board 

members of the proposed 

commission, which is alleged 

to be skew towards civil 

servant. This situation they 

Bayelsa, Century Group partner for OML 46 oil/gas development 

DIPO OLADEHINDE 

The Bayelsa State Government 

as a key stakeholder 

in the oil and 

gas industry has made giant 

strides to effectively and efficiently 

harness her interest 

in a thousand ways, most 

notably through its oil company 

(Bayelsa Oil Company 

Limited) and its partners in 

OML 46 Atala field. 

The field was discovered, 

drilled, cased but not completed 

in 1982 by Shell Petroleum 

Development Company 

(SPDC). In 2004, it was 

farmed-out to the Bayelsa State 

Government and operated by 

the Bayelsa State Oil and Gas 

Company. 

This field was dormant for 

over a decade as the Bayelsa 

State Oil Company sought out 

adept ways to fund, develop 

and produce the asset. 

This challenge was not peculiar 

to the Bayelsa State Oil 

say may deny the industry 

the necessary operational vibrancy 

if the President finally 

ascent to the bill. 

The groups, which comprised 

the Organised Private 

Sector (OPS), Major Oil Marketers 

Association of Nigeria 

(MOMAN) and Depot and 

Petroleum Products Marketers 


(DAPPMAN), allege that 

too much bureaucracy may 

cause the proposed commission 

in the PIGB to be inefficient 

in performing its function, 

as operations of both 

the downstream and upstream 

sectors of the industry 

are not the same despite the 

fact petrol is the only link that 

binds them together. 

According to Olufemi 

Olawore, the executive secretary 

of MOMAN, one regulator 

for the industry will be 

too big, or omnibus and may 

make it to lose focus. 

He says: “There was a 

time there was one regulator 

Company as she was among 

a league of State owned Oil 

companies that had been 

unable to develop fields they 

farmed into. 

In the turn of the year 2018, 

its fortunes changed as it along 

with her funding and technical 

partner- Century Exploration 

and Production Limited 

(CEPL) successfully defied the 

paradigm and false belief in the 

Nigerian Oil and Gas industry 

that state owned oil companies 

cannot produce oil. 

The Bayelsa Oil and Gas 

Company and CEPL have successfully 

transformed the lot 

of the ATALA field despite the 

inherent challenge of funding 

and technical expertise. They 

deployed top drawer solutions 

and leveraged on a vast 

network of relationships to 

turn things around. 

The global energy market 

is one anchored on complex 

demand patterns and money 

moves. 

in the oil and gas industry, 

but it could not police the industry 

and this was what led 

to the creation of Petroleum 

Product Pricing Regulatory 

Agency (PPPRA).” 

The downstream needs a 

regulator that will only focus 

on what is happening at the 

sector alone, he says, adding 

that it may get to a stage 

that one regulator may not be 

able to get whatever revenue 

the government wants alone. 

With two regulators there 

will be speed, efficiency and 

required staff to promptly attend 

to issues with ultimate 

urgency, he says, saying, 

“The downstream and upstream 

have nothing in common 

as their characters are 

different. So, there is need for 

specialists in both sectors of 

the industry.” 

Reginald Odia, chairman, 

Economic Policy of the Manufacturers 


(MAN), bemoans the 

fact that the proposed com- 

L-R: Ayodeji 

Dawodu, head, 

research, 

Investment 

One; Ivy 

Ojigbede, 

group retail 

sales, 

Investment 

One, and Akin 

Afere, at the 

launch of the 

Investment 

One Top 10 

Investment 

Report in 

Lagos. 

mission board members will 

be mostly civil servants with 

private sector being schemed 

out of such an important 

commission. 

He states that oil and gas 

products service the machines 

used by OPS members, 

adding that the bill has 

removed a critical stakeholder 

from the settings. 

“Upstream of the petroleum 

industry does not have 

much for Nigerians. Nigerians 

are playing prominent 

roles in the downstream 

through generations of employment 

and other services 

rendered to the economy,” 

he says. 

He says they want two 

regulatory bodies that will 

have their board members 

spread across critical sectors 

of the economy, saying the 

OPS want a commission with 

voice and capacity to make 

contribution to the overall 

development of the downstream. 

ceed as well as the efforts of 

the Nigerian Content Development 

and Monitoring Board 

(NCDMB) to transform the 

capacity and competence pool 

of the country. 

Today, privately owned 

companies are doing very 

well in supporting the NNPC, 

NPDC and IOCs quest to 

achieve set objectives and this 

support must be utilized by 

state governments and state 

oil companies. 

The Bayelsa state success 

must be replicated as it is proof 

that the financial responsibility 

to develop and produce 

fields can be undertaken by 

indigenous companies and 

the technical know-how is also 

not lacking. 

The blueprint of Bayelsa 

State shows that states can be 

involved in the oil business 

without spending a kobo of 

tax payers’ money but through 

quality partnerships geared 

towards a common good. 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

37 

NEWS 

Economic crisis rife in early days of Buhari’s 

presidency due to less than 15% GDP - Fowler 

BOLA BAMIGBOLA, Osogbo 

Chairman, Federal 

Inland Revenue 

Service (FIRS), Babatunde 

Fowler, on 

Monday in Osogbo, capital 

of Osun State, said gains of 

various initiatives of President 

Mohammadu Buhari’s 

administration aimed at reviving 

the nation’s economy 

were already yielding desired 

results. 

Fowler explained that 

the report by International 

Monetary Fund (IMF) and 

World Bank that any nation 

with Gross Domestic Product 

(GDP) below 15% was at 

risk of economic crisis, was 

the main cause of the past 

recession experience and a 

cause of panic in the early 

days of the present administration. 

Speaking at the opening 

session of the 140th quarterly 

meeting of the Joint Tax 

Board attended by chairmen 

of Internal Revenue Service 

of all states across the country, 

tagged, “Deepening 

Internally Generated Revenue 

(IGR) Beyond Personal 

Income Tax (PIT),” Fowler 

said the reason Nigeria’s 

economy could not meet up 

the 15% GDP benchmark set 

by the world economic regulators 

was because it relied 

only on oil. 

Oando shares Nigeria perspective 

at Africa CEO forum 

FRANK ELEANYA 

Heads of states, public 

decision-makers, 

bankers, capital 

investors as well 

as African and international 

corporate leaders, are gathered 

at the Africa CEO Forum 

in Abidjan, Cote d’ívoire to 

discuss and take learning’s 

from success stories of the African 

private sector as well as 

dialogue and propose strategic 

solutions regarding the development 

of African enterprise 

and markets. 

Nigerian representatives 

including Wale Tinubu, Group 

Chief Executive, Oando PLC 

alongside C suite executives 

from the Company; Olusegun 

Obasanjo, Former President, 

Nigeria; Alhaji Abudulsalam 

Rabiu, Chairman and Chief 

Executive Officer, BUA Group; 

Akinwunmi Adesina, President, 

Africa Development 

Bank; Akin Dawodu, Chief 

Executive Officer, Citi Nigeria, 

will be sharing their experiences 

and the Nigerian perspective 

at the two day event. 

Africa CEO Forum is the 

foremost annual meeting of 

the private sector in Africa. The 

event has recorded over 3,000 

participating businesses from 

over 63 countries since its first 

edition in 2012 and continues 

to grow in popularity as an 

important setting for publicprivate 

sector dialogue. The 

Forum presents CEO’s and investors 

with the opportunity to 

meet high-level Government 

“But with all the measures 

introduced to diversify 

the economy since we came 

on board, our GDP that was 

6% in 2016 has increased in 

2017. We are not there yet, 

but we are gradually improving,” 

he said. 

Commenting on efforts 

but the Osun State government 

to raise its IGR, Fowler 

affirmed that records had 

shown efforts by Aregbesola’s 

administration to stimulate 

Osun state’s economy 

with determined efforts to 

create new spenders and 

through them, its revenue 

generation would improve. 

He called on other states 

to use Osun’s model of revenue 

generation policy, 

which grew the state’s IGR by 

over 30% within 12 months. 

He said: “What Aregbesola 

has done in increasing 

tax revenue in Osun is 

amazing; while the Federal 

Inland Revenue Service is 

advocating for at least 25% 

increment from states, it is 

worthy of note that Aregbesola 

has increased the tax 

revenue of Osun above 30% 

between 2016-2017. 

“Another significant 

observation having gone 

round Osun is that one can 

easily see that tax players’ 

money is working, a lot can 

be learnt from Osun on what 

taxation can do for a state.” 

For this reason, stakeholders 

in the sector simply 

cannot sleep. The landscape 

is ever dynamic and this 

explains why a lot of things 

that were previously thought 

to be impossible are now 

happening. There is now 

more pressure on field owners 

to develop and produce 

their assets to trigger genuine 

transformation and growth. 

It is believed that this rebirth 

initiated by the Bayelsa 

Oil Company and her partner, 

CEPL has left the door 

open for other state owned oil 

companies to look inwards 

and partner with indigenous 

companies to finance, operate, 

and develop erstwhile 

comatose assets for optimum 

youth engagement and improved 

revenue. 

Analysts say this is the only 

way out as privately owned 

indigenous companies are 

growing stronger thanks to 

their strong resolution to sucofficials 

of African counties to 

gain deeper insights into economic 

development strategies 

on subjects ranging from the 

business environment to the 

most important public and 

private investment projects 

being implemented in their 

countries. The Forum also 

serves as a platform for attendees 

to expand their network of 

high-level business contacts, 

promote their companies, 

take and share country and 

sector specific business learning’s, 

identify new financial 

partners and be a driving force 

in the development of Africa’s 

private sector. 

Some of the panel themes 

in the 2018 edition of the Africa 

CEO Forum include The New 

Nigerian Economy; Reinventing 

African Business; Gas: A 

$2000 BN Opportunity which 

will be discussed by industry 

experts such as Wale Tinubu. 

Wale a fervent speaker at similar 

events like the World Economic 

Forum, Davos, World 

Economic Forum, Africa and 

the FT Summit, will share his 

experiences on the best ways 

to exploit gas deposits in Africa 

as well as the opportunities 

and challenges that exists 

within the Nigerian Gas space. 

Wale is best placed to speak on 

gas because Oando who are 

also Oil & Gas industry sponsors 

at the Forum, pioneered 

the private sector distribution 

of natural gas to industrial and 

commercial consumers across 

Nigeria through its midstream 

Gas and Power business.


C002D5556 


NEWS 

MMM founder, Sergei Mavrodi, dies at... 


1955, Moscow with his father an 

Ukarian and Greek origin. He is a 

computer programmer and also 

a mathematician. 

In 1989, he founded the corporative 

society known as MMM 

in the middle of an economic 

downturn that hit Russia at that 

time. 

In 1994, the Russian government 

were threatened about 

the increased popularity of 

the scheme, thus they arrested 

Sergey mavrodi and seized over 

four Rubies of peoples cash. 

Report has it that the swav team 

that arrested him took about 17 

trucks of cash. 

However, while in prison, 

he collected signature for registering 

as a candidate in the 

state duma (a kind of legislative 

house in Russia) as member of 

the parliament for the sake of 

parliamentary immunity, but 

he was stripped of his mandate 

in 1996. 

A Moscow court found him 

guilty of financial fraud in 2007 

L-R: Abiola Lamikanra, executive chairman, Association of International School Educators of Nigeria (ISEN)/ 

guest speaker; Titi Osuntoki, executive director, business banking, Access Bank plc; Femi Akintunde of the 

University of Lagos; Joy Ogugwua Ojeah of Ministry of Education, Lagos State, and Ebuka Abudu, immediate 

past president, ISEN, at a breakfast meeting with the theme, ‘The Role of Education in Transforming The 

Nigerian Economy’ hosted by Access Bank in Lagos. 

N650bn subsidy: FG finally seeks approval... 


arrears owed oil marketers. 

A source close to the presidency 

told BusinessDay that the 

document seeking approval for the 

payment was sent to the national 

assembly on either Wednesday or 

Thursday last week. 

Industry sources contacted by 

BusinessDay said they have heard 

the development but they are still 

trying to confirm it from national 

assembly members. 

Joseph Akinlaja, chairman 

House committee on Downstream 

when contacted simply asked 

when was it that it was sent to the 

national assembly and when he 

was told it was last week Thursday, 

he said, if it is true the Speaker of 

the House would read it on the 

floor of the House today Tuesday. 

Depot and Petroleum Products 

Marketers Association of Nigeria, 

DAPPMAN and Major Oil Marketers 

Association of Nigeria, (MO- 

and sentenced him to 4 1/2 years 

in a penal colony leading to the 

second crash of the scheme. 

After being released, Mavrodi 

launched another pyramid 

scheme called MMM-2011, 

calling on investors to purchase 

so-called Mavro currency units 

in a bid to get rid of the “unfair” 

financial system. The project 

was however halted after a few 

months. 

Between 2011 and 2016, Mavrodi 

launched Ponzi schemes 

under the MMM brand in India, 

China, South Africa, Zimbabwe, 

and Nigeria. 

The scheme was lauched in 

early start of 2016, and attracted 

lots of Nigerians who rushed 

into it as a result of the economic 

recession that hit Africa most 

populous black nation that was 

similar to was Russia face at that 

time. 

Despite several decry by government 

and regulated agencies 

to Nigerians on the dangers in 

participating in an unregulated 

scheme such as that offered by 

MAN), had written to President 

Muhammadu Buhari on January 

24 and also to Ibe Kachikwu, 

Minister of State for Petroleum 

Resources, on the debts. 

In the second letter, the marketers 

conveyed their decision to 

engage in mass sack of staff and 

closure of depots in less than 14 

days. 

The marketers had said that 

a series of constructive engagements 

and meetings had been held 

between them and the Nigerian 

National Petroleum Corporation, 

NNPC, the Ministry of Labour, and 

the presidency. 

They expressed hope that the 

payment would be approved by the 

national assembly, bringing an end 

to the crisis faced by them. 

“Marketers have been reassured 

about the FGN’s commitment to 

make payment as evidenced by 

the request for approval for appropriation 

of same to the national 

sergey mavrodi, many Nigerians 

turned deaf ears since they felt 

the scheme could offer a much 

more higher interest than what 

the banks could offer. 

Many Nigerians participated 

with their hard earned money. 

Report has it that some even borrowed 

huge amount of money 

to invest into the scheme with 

the hope of getting a 30 percent 

return in a month time. 

On December 14 2016, participants 

of the scheme who 

logged into the MMM website 

to Get help (GH) as it was called 

from the money they provided 

as help(PH), noticed that their 

matured Mavro(Money) where 

frozen by the scheme in the 

name of the scheme closing for 

the year ended but will reopen 

on the 14 of January the following 

fear(2017) 

However, their maths did not 

add up well, as the said scheme 

opened but never released the 

huge amount of people’s money 

that was trapped in the system, 

resulting to loss of live as some 

participant committed suicide in 

the event of this drama. 

assembly,” they said. 

“It is our hope that this approval 

will be given promptly and these 

long overdue payments made 

subsequently. All marketers are 

to ensure there is no disruption in 

the supply and distribution of PMS 

nationwide.” 

Last year, Vice President Yemi 

Osinbajo directed Minister of 

Finance Kemi Adeosun to pay oil 

marketers all outstanding subsidy 

claims, estimated at about $2 billion 

after verification and study of 

the legal implication of continued 

delay. 

The minister, however, noted 

that although the Federal Executive 

Council approved promissory 

notes for settlement of the arrears 

and other liabilities inherited from 

the previous administration, the 

National Assembly was yet to approve 

the payments. 

Having waited years for the 

payment, which continues to 

attract huge bank interests, the 

Nigeria has been turbulent under... 


on Food Security at the Presidential 

Villa, President Buhari 

said, “Nigeria’s journey in the 

last three years has been a very 

turbulent one.” 

The President however said 

his administration was doing 

everything necessary to stabilise 

the country and improve 

the nation’s economy, saying, 

“The country’s need for critical 

job creating sectors, which has 

been ignored for decades, is now 

beginning to yield results.” 

Buhari promised to develop 

“new programmes and projects 

that will protect, and indeed 

create more jobs in farming, 

fisheries, animal husbandry and 

forestry.” 

He listed some of the policies 

put in place to ensure food security 

to include efforts to reverse 

Lake Chad Basin shrinkage and 

issuance of the first evergreen 

bond that would act as a catalyst 

for investments in renewable energy 

and afforestation projects. 

“This was oversubscribed, 

sharing market confidence in the 

country and our government. 

“We established the Agro 

Rangers Unit within the Nigeria 

Security and Civil Defence Corps 

to protect the billions of naira of 

investments recorded in Nigeria’s 

agricultural sector across 

the country,” he said. 

He also listed the introduction 

of the National Social Investment 

Programmes targeting 

millions of Nigerians living from 

hand to mouth, and the launch 

of agricultural programmes 

focusing on import substitution, 

job creation and rural 

development, thereby bringing 

socio-economic transformation 

to the millions of citizens living 

in some of the most remote rural 

parts of our country. 

“We commenced the longterm 

Pollution Remediation 

Projects in the Niger Delta with 

the hope of restoring dignity 

and normalcy to the millions of 

Nigerians impacted by decades 

of pollution in their communities. 

Fishing and farming will 

resume once blighted areas are 

rehabilitated. 

“As we all know, land is use 

for farming, grazing and forestry. 

Water is used for irrigation, livestock 

sustenance and fishing. 

Therefore, any strategy for land 

and water management must 

take into account the interconnectivity 

of all these key sectors 

to ensure equity and sustainability,” 

he noted. 

The President also listed challenges 

to be tackled to include 

population growth, urbanisation, 

industrialisation, rural 

infrastructure development and 

climate change, as part of plans 

to ensure food security. 

“We are well aware that the 

full results will not be felt or seen 

overnight. The journey is long. It 

is therefore our collective duty 

to ensure the actual and potential 

positive impacts of these 

programmes are sustained, improved 

and expanded,” he said. 

Farmers and herdsmen clashes 

had threatened to derail food 

security across the country with 

thousands of farmers abandoning 

their farms. 

But the Chief of Army Staff, 

Gabriel Olonisakin, who briefed 

State House Correspondents 

after the inauguration, said the 

Army had been mandated to 

“step up operation under the 

new arrangements to ensure 

protection of farmers to ensure 

food security.” 

The army chief said the military 

was aware of security challenges 

facing the nation, and 

listed such challenges to include: 

farmers- herders clashes and 

militancy, which he said all had 

direct effects on food value chain. 

“The job of the military is to 

ensure that a safe environment is 

guaranteed for food production,” 

and listed measures put in place 

by the armed forces to achieve 

such a safe environment to include 

operations Lafiya Dole, 

Nawase in Niger Delta, Sarendaji 

in North-West and Safe Haven in 

Jos, North-Central. 

association, therefore, petitioned 

the Federal Government, noting: 

“Marketers are continually 

under pressure by banks and the 

Asset Management Company of 

Nigeria (AMCON), with looming 

threats of imminent take-over of 

our petrol stations and tank farms 

by creditors, labour unions, Nigerian 

Association of Road Transport 

Owners and Petroleum Tanker 

Drivers (NARTO/PTD), to whom 

we are substantially indebted due 

to past freight services.” 

In the light of the foregoing, 

the association said it had no option 

but stop borrowing to pay 

staff and immediately commence 

massive disengagement of staff, as 

forewarned in its January 24 letter, 

where it gave the Federal Government 

a 21-day notice to pay up. 

The association said: “The unfortunate 

primary fallout of this 

step is the likely shutdown of all 

DAPPMAN depots nationwide 

due to lack of manpower to operate 

same, pending the time the 

Federal Government will pay off 

its indebtedness to petroleum 

marketers. This, unfortunately, 

will have a multiplier effect on the 

nationwide supply and distribution 

of petroleum products, which 

currently is still a struggle.” 

The ultimatum, contained in a 

letter signed by Executive Secretary 

Olufemi Adewole, notes: “Subsequent 

to our letter ref: DS/ES/ 

Presidency/16 dated January 24, 

2018 and copied to you, we again 

observe a lack of response on the 

part of the Federal Government 

to the plight of petroleum marketers, 

many of whom have become 

financially insolvent.” 

The demand became inevitable 

as a result of buck-passing between 

the executive, represented by the 

Ministry of Finance, and legislators. 

While the ministry insisted the sum 

had been forwarded for legislative 

approval, the lawmakers denied 

receiving any notification.


Milost says Unity Bank lied to NSE on $1bn... 


the bank and also their expansion 

plans.” 

“Last week, Unity Bank issued 

a false statement which denied 

signing a binding commitment 

agreement, disputing a factual 

and founded Bloomberg article 

that initially reported on the 

transaction”, according to Milost. 

Unity Bank was not immediately 

available for comments 

when BusinessDay called. 

The statement by its Managing 

Partner and CEO, Kim Freeman, 

Milost Global Incorporated 

also officially announced the 

termination of the Unity Bank 

Plc transaction. 

Milost Global said on August 

7, 2017 it received a request for 

a call with the CEO and CFO of 

Unity Bank Plc, adding that on 

the call, Unity Bank expressed its 

interest in working with Milost 

Global Incorporated as its funding 

partner for its growth plans 

in Nigeria. 

“Following the call, a desk 

top due diligence was conducted 

by Milost to its satisfaction. 

On September 4, 2017 a $1 billion 

financing term sheet was 

fully executed by both Milost and 

Unity Bank. The facility, a combo 

of equity and debt, was provided 

on the exciting understanding 

that Unity Bank would delist on 

the Nigerian Stock Exchange and 

move its listing to the USA. The 

signed term sheet was approved 

by the board of Unity Bank,” Milost 

said yesterday. 

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) 

has been monitoring the whole 

drama at Unity Bank Plc, which 

is under regulatory watch. Insider 

sources said CBN is swiftly 

moving to start investigations on 

this development. CBN would 

need to acknowledge receipt of 

Certificate of Capital Importation 

(CCI) for all alleged inflow of 

funds from Milost to its targeted 

companies in Nigeria. 

Bloomberg had on March 19, 

2018 reported that Milost was 

looking to inject as much as $1 

billion (about N360billion) to 

recapitalise Unity Bank Plc. 

Milost said Bloomberg article 

was “very factual except that 

Milost was to acquire 30percent 

of the bank, whereas in reality 

Milost was to take a controlling 

60percent of the bank at closing, 

in a transaction that would 

retain the same board members 

and the same management for 

continuity of operations.” 

On March 21, Unity Bank Plc 

in a letter to the Nigerian Stock 

Exchange (NSE) notified shareholders 

and other stakeholders 

of the bank that it has not 

reached any agreement with Milost 

to warrant such speculation. 

The bank made further clarification 

that’s regarding its 

on-going recapitalization programme 

that it has not received 

any commitment for investment 

of $1billion from Milost Global 

Incorporated. 

Milost added that Bloomberg 

tried to reach them by “email but 

we didn’t respond as we don’t 

usually entertain journalists”. 

This is exactly the same manner 

they disregarded Business- 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

39 

NEWS 

L-R: Group head, Cards, Digital Banking, Yinka Adedeji, United Bank for Africa (UBA); Executive director, Risk Management/ 

Compliance, Ike Uche; Group executive, Digital/Consumer Banking; Executive director, group chief operating officer, Operations, 

Chukwuma Nweke; Group head, Retail/Consumer Banking, Tomiwa Sotiloye; Head UBA Academy, Human Capital 

Management, Ayo Orungbe, flanked by the 2nd set of UBA Campus Ambassadors, during their Inauguration ceremony at 

the UBA House in Lagos. 

Day emails and calls but in their 

statement they said, “Milost 

Global Inc. wishes to clarify this 

due to the repeated unprofessional 

conduct of Business Day 

Nigeria...who are failing to verify 

facts and communicate with all 

sides before print.” 

“It was then agreed that Milost 

Global Inc. would start further 

due diligence on Unity Bank 

Plc. Further due diligence process 

started on the same week on 

the instruction of the Chairman 

of Milost Global Inc., Egerton 

Forster. Further due diligence 

was satisfactory and Milost issued 

a binding commitment 

agreement to Unity Bank which 

was approved by the board of 

Unity Bank and executed by both 

parties on November 14, 2017,” 

the statement reads. 

“It is normal practice for all 

the publicly quoted companies 

which we fund to notify the 

market regulator on signature 

of the commitment letter since it 

has material effect to the stock; 

however, Unity Bank did not. 

Milost assumed that this did 

not happen because Unity had 

agreed to move its listing to the 

USA,” according to Milost. 

Milost claimed in the statement 

that soon after the Bloomberg 

story broke, the New York 

based PE firm “started receiving 

threatening emails from a gentleman 

who says he is politically 

connected to the powers that 

could shut Milost out of Nigeria if 

Milost didn’t terminate the Unity 

Bank transaction.” 

“The said individual was very 

well informed about our dealings 

with Unity Bank such that 

he knew the audit group Milost 

had hired to carry out the final 

due diligence. 

“He told Milost to tell the 

board of Unity Bank that the 

audit firm had instructed Milost 

that Unity Bank was a bad investment, 

failing which he would unleash 

the media on Milost using 

among other things accusations 

that would cause the government 

to send Milost packing. 

These threatening emails were 

shared with the CEO of Unity 

Bank and the then CFO Ebenezer 

Kawole”, Milost further stated 

in the statement. 

Milost claims that following 

the purported threatening 

emails from those it said are 

‘politically connected’, “negative 

articles by BusinessDay Nigeria 

started appearing accusing Milost 

of operating a pump and 

dump operation.” 

“At that point Milost realized 

that the original threats had begun 

to materialise, because after 

that first BusinessDay article 

on its alleged pump and dump, 

another email was received confirming 

that it is the work of the 

blackmailer.” 

Questions are now being 

raised on the market surveillance 

unit of the Nigerian Stock 

Exchange (NSE) seen to have 

been asleep and not spotting the 

misleading disclosures. 

Meanwhile, our source at 

the Securities and Exchange 

Commission (SEC) said the 

commission is swooping in with 

investigations on Milost operations 

in Nigeria. 

“If anyone is found guilty definitely 

we will apply sanctions,” 

our source added. 

For the Nigerian Stock Exchange, 

it was a hard start to the 

week as most of their staff engaged 

in marathon meetings after 

BusinessDay report exposed 

the activities of the Milost entity. 

This would have sullied the 

Nigerian stock market adjudged 

amongst world’s top-3 best performers 

in 2017. Whistle blowing 

is allowed in the stock market 

and the media professionals are 

integral participants in the whole 

process. 

Before now, the Nigerian 

Stock Exchange has shown commitment 

to maintaining a fair 

and orderly market. 

On May 12, 2017, the Nigerian 

Stock Exchange issued a circular 

on publication of announcements 

or press releases via the 

issuers’ portal which among 

others require that information 

on that portal “must not be misleading 

and shall not exclude or 

omit any material facts.” 

Through the NSE issuers’ 

portal, Japaul Oil & Maritime 

Services Plc, a Nigerian oilservices 

company said it signed 

an agreement with Milost for 

$350 million (N126billion) in 

shares and loans for business 

expansion. 

Japaul said Milost will invest 

$250 million (N90billion) in 

equity and add another $100 

million (N36billion) in convertible 

loans. 

Japaul Oil Plc is valued at 

N3.945billion on the stock exchange 

and has 6.262 billion 

shares outstanding. 

Also using the NSE issuers’ 

portal, Resort Savings and Loans 

Plc, another listed company disclosed 

its link with Milost over a 

deal worth $250 million. 

Resort Savings said the transaction 

will take place through a 

private placement, subject to the 

approval of the NSE, SEC and the 

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). 

For Resort Savings, the financing 

agreement with Milost 

Global is that it will invest $250 

million in the bank comprising 

$100 million (N36billion) as 

equity capital and $150 million 

(N54 billion) as debt. 

In the past years, the shares 

of mortgage bank have not attracted 

equity investors. At the 

NSE, the mortgage provider 

remains a delinquent filer of 

audited accounts with a raft 

of MFR (Missed Regulatory 

Fillings) for non-rendition of 

audited financial statements for 

2015 and 2016. 

The mortgage bank’s market 

capitalisation is just N5.6 billion, 

according to data on the 

Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). 

Interestingly, BusinessDay 

in a March 12 article titled “The 

Math does not add up with Milost,” 

laid bare the incongruity 

of some of the proposed investments 

by Milost. 

Despite these, the Market 

Surveillance Unit of the Bourse 

which is a key unit within the 

Regulation Division, slept off 

in its mission to protect the 

integrity of the capital market 

from fraud, manipulation and 

abusive practices. 

The Unit is expected to 

closely monitor all market 

activity on the Exchange to 

cultivate an open, competitive, 

transparent, and financially 

sound market. 

Their areas of focus include: 

inside trading, market manipulation 

and abuse, pump and 

dump, false press release, paid 

promotions or analyst recommendation, 

churning circular 

or triangular trade, front running, 

and violations of rules 

governing members’ on-floor 

trading. 

BusinessDay has it in confidence 

from a regulatory source 

that a Managing Director of a 

listed company was upset with 

the Chief Financial Officer 

(CFO) for “running his own 

show on Milost Global Incorporated”. 

“CFO has his own 

game he is playing. He seems 

to be working with Milost”, the 

source added. 

Amid this disclosure, the 

Surveillance Unit of the NSE 

failed to question issuers’ 

move that created bubble and 

brought some uninformed investors 

down their knees in an 

N15trillion equity market. 

In 2013, The Nigerian Stock 

Exchange joined the Intermarket 

Surveillance Group 

(ISG). ISG is an international 

group comprising of securities 

exchanges, market centers and 

market regulators that perform 

front-line market surveillance 

within their respective jurisdictions. 

The NSE’s membership 

validates its strong commitment 

to operating at high 

standards. 

Solly Asibey, Senior Partner 

& CIO of Milost, stated, “We 

will not be deterred by media 

attacks that are baseless and 

unfounded. Our funding objectives 

for the Nigerian market 

remain solid and unwavering.” 

Asibey claimed that: “Milost 

Global Inc...will soon be releasing 

the first and second drawdowns 

to Japaul Oil & Maritime 

Services Plc to the total of $21 

million in a combo of equity 

and debt. Another first and 

second draw down proceeds 

of $10 will be released to Resort 

Savings & Loans PLC; the 

funds will be released to both 

company within the month of 

April.” 

Analysts tell BusinessDay 

that with the regulatory authorises 

now actively monitoring 

the situation, it will be easy to 

tell if an actual Certificate of 

Capital Importation (CCI) will 

be issued by the CBN on these 

proposed deals. 

Unity bank’s share price rose 

4.65 percent to N1.35 Monday, 

according to Bloomberg data, 

outperforming the banking 

average of 2.47 percent.


NIMASA calls for 

establishment of national 

maritime policy 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

Electricity consumers to bear meter burden as 

NERC commences third metering option 

HARRISON EDEH, Abuja 

Nigeria’s electricity 

consumers 

will now have 

pre-paid meters 

following 

stakeholders’ endorsement 

of a new metering option as 

a better strategy to close the 

increasing metering gap and 

avoid huge losses by the energy 

providers. 

This is a major agreement 

reached between the electricity 

distribution companies 

(Discos) and the Nigeria 

Electricity Regulatory Com- 

AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE 

Director-general, 

Nigerian Maritime 

Administration 

and Safety 

Agency (NIMASA), Dakuku 

Peterside, has called for the 

implementation of a National 

Maritime Policy in 

Nigeria to enable the actualisation 

of the objectives of 

the Africa’s Integrated Maritime 

Strategy (AIMS) 2050. 

Peterside, who made the 

call while declaring open 

the meeting of the Inter- 

Ministerial Committee for 

the Implementation of Africa’s 

Integrated Maritime 

Strategy (AIMS) 2050, held 

in Lagos recently, said a 

maritime policy for Nigeria 

would provide a platform to 

implement the framework 

for the protection and sustainable 

exploitation of Africa’s 

Maritime Domain. 

Peterside, who was represented 

by Rotimi Fashakin, 

executive director, Operations 

of NIMASA, urged 

the committee to take cognisance 

of the current maritime 

security architecture 

in Nigeria that had been 

structured in line with international 

best standards 

and practices. 

He said in order to realise 

the dream of a blue 

economy, strategies must 

be put in place, pointing out 

that security and capacity 

building were key areas to 

unlocking the opportunities 

that abound in the blue 

economy. 

“The Gulf of Guinea is 

being perceived as not being 

safe because of few security 

attempts we have on 

ships. But, I can assure you 

that the Nigerian Navy and 

NIMASA are working hand 

in hand to secure the Gulf of 

Guinea,” he said. 

He also used the opportunity 

to applaud the committee 

for involving ship 

owners in the AIMS 2050 

implementation process, 

noting that the blue economy 

cannot be realised without 

them as they were the 

major assets owners. 

mission (NERC) to enable 

the effective implementation 

of the new Meter Asset 

Provider regulations (MAP) 

about to be implemented by 

the regulator. The pre-paid 

meters were hitherto free - 

albeit on paper. 

The actual meter service 

charge is yet to be determined, 

but will be fixed after 

competitive procurement 

bidding process to be supervised 

by NERC, Frank Okafor, 

a commissioner at NERC, 

told BusinessDay. 

Those knowledgeable 

on the matter say the new 

strategy could enable Nigeria 

bridge huge metering 

gap by over 30 percent 

yearly, amounting to over a 

million consumers. 

The regulations will 

also facilitate revenue enhancement 

for the power 

sector and ensure energy 

accountability, which is a 

key component of sustaining 

Nigeria’s power value 

chain, and sustaining Nigeria’s 

power reforms. 

At the release of the MAP 

draft regulations, Business- 

Day had reported that the 

Discos had kicked against 

the third metering option, 

demanding for a Meter Access 

Maintenance Charge to 

help them recoup costs. 

Okafor said all parties 

in the electricity value 

chain had now agreed on 

the meter charge and there 

was already a seamless collaboration 

plan to ensure 

payment of the third party 

meter providers. 

“It is a welcomed development 

and offers a wider 

opportunity to close the 

metering gap in the country. 

There is at least a payment 

assurance,” he com- 

missioner said. 

The Meter Asset Provider 

Regulation was adopted 

by NERC to ensure proper 

billing of Nigerian electricity 

consumers with a meter, 

which is a key factor in ensuring 

proper revenue collection 

in the value chain, 

while also facilitating the 

efficiency of Nigeria’s power 

sector reforms. 

The regulations grant a 

permit to a third party meter 

provider who is not a Disco 

to give metering services, 

including meter financing, 

procurement, meter tests, 

A1 

NEWS 

supply, installation, maintenance 

and replacement to 

energy consumer. 

Speaking with Business- 

Day, Chuks Nwani, an energy 

lawyer, described the initiative 

as a bold statement from 

the government, pointing out 

further that, “It is a comprehensive 

way of facilitating efficiency 

in the power sector. 

“I sincerely believe that 

these regulations will increase 

metering availability and close 

the gap by 30 percent since the 

regulator and the operators 

are largely on the same page in 

this development.”

A2 

BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 



FT FINANCIAL TIMES 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

A3 

“ 

World Business Newspaper 

Lagarde jumps into EU debate 

with ‘rainy-day fund’ plan 

Northern countries unenthusiastic about IMF chief’s idea for ‘insurance’ against downturn 

CLAIRE JONES AND 

MEHREEN KHAN 

Christine Lagarde, the head of the 

IMF, has jumped into the internal 

politics of the EU by unveiling 

plans for “a rainy-day fund” for the eurozone 

to help cushion the next economic 

downturn — a proposal about which 

some northern countries are highly 

unenthusiastic. 

In a speech in Berlin on Monday, 

Ms Lagarde compared such a fund to 

car insurance, with a premium in good 

times based on the benefits a country 

receives in bad times. She added that it 

could halve the size of a downturn for 

“the relatively modest cost” of 0.35 per 

cent of gross domestic product a year. 

“By itself, the capacity may not be 

enough to solve the next crisis — but it 

certainly would help,” the IMF managing 

director told the DIW think-tank in the 

German capital. 

Her proposals complement the campaign 

by Emmanuel Macron, France’s 

president, for closer economic and 

monetary union, including a sizeable 

common EU budget. Ms Lagarde herself, 

a former French finance minister, is 

thought to want to return to Europe in 

a big role, possibly as European Commission 

president, for which she would 

need Mr Macron’s support. 

But a number of northern EU countries 

— notably a coalition of eight fiscally 

conservative member states led 

by the Netherlands — are reluctant to 

contribute to such a fund and fiercely 

oppose some of Mr Macron’s proposals. 

The northern alliance also includes 

Nordic and Baltic countries and Ireland. 

Germany, which is not part of the 

Dutch coalition, is also lukewarm about 

Mr Macron’s budget plans. 

In a nod to the coalition’s complaints 

that it would be left on the hook for the 

profligacy of other member states, Ms 

Lagarde said the IMF’s proposal would 

be “a temporary cushion and not a permanent 

pillow”. 

SoftBank opens investigation 

into shareholder 

campaign 

Many engineering graduates have chosen Wall Street and the City over manufacturing 

Unlike most people I actually 

enjoy manufacturing,” James 

Dyson says, “[but] I genuinely 

believe that the British middle 

class despises it, largely thanks to 

Charles Dickens’ Hard Times and 

William Blake’s ‘dark satanic mills’.” 

The UK designer of vacuum 

cleaners and hand-dryers enjoys 

railing against national “cultural 

disdain for factories”. 

At the FT Boldness in Business 

awards, where he made these 

remarks, he also laid into the film 

director Danny Boyle for his London 

2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony. 

He said it conveyed an image 

of Blake’s “green and pleasant land 

being besmirched” by the chimneys 

of the industrial revolution. 

Sir James is half right about 

Dickens and Blake. Dickens was one 

of many 19th-century writers and 

thinkers appalled by the social and 

“Our suggested approach requires 

members to take greater responsibility 

for putting their own houses in order,” 

she said. 

Her remarks tie in with the publication 

of a paper by IMF economists on 

Monday which details how the rainy-day 

fund would work. The commission is 

expected to publish its own proposals in 

May, but officials say a consensus on the 

issue has not yet been reached 

“We don’t understand why fiscal 

capacity is necessary; the weather is 

nice and everyone should lower their 

national debts,” said a senior eurozone 

diplomat. “The first question should 

not be how to construct a fund for extra 

fiscal capacity. You should ask instead 

when and why.” 

A central idea behind such a fund 

is to take some of the weight off the 

shoulders of eurozone monetary policy 

to stave off an economic downturn. Instead, 

it would place more emphasis on 

governments using the fiscal resources 

available to them. 

A separate facility, the European 

Stability Mechanism, would be used in 

the event of a more serious economic 

collapse, such as the crises that afflicted 

Greece over the past decade. 

Under the IMF’s proposals, governments 

could draw down on the funds 

when unemployment rose above a seven-year 

average rate for their economy. 

In addition to countries’ contribution 

of 0.35 per cent of GDP each year, 

the rainy-day fund could also finance itself 

privately “in extreme circumstances”. 

The IMF believes it could do so at rates 

similar to those investors demand from 

the European Stability Mechanism. 

Ms Lagarde argued that the design of 

the rainy-day fund would alleviate tension 

over risk-sharing between northern 

and southern countries. 

Under the rainy-day fund, countries 

would be both creditors and recipients, 

depending on where they were in the 

economic cycle, and fiscal transfers 

would not be permanent. 

Banking and finance have vacuumed up the talent 

ANDREW HILL 

Page A5 

environmental fallout from rapid 

industrialisation. In the UK, his novels 

are still set for teenagers’ exams. 

I think he is wrong about Mr 

Boyle, though. True, the director 

called the dramatic industrial 

section of his opening ceremony 

“Pandemonium”. But he also told his 

volunteer-performers that it was the 

workers who “built the cities that are 

now settings for every games”. And 

he made Isambard Kingdom Brunel, 

an engineer through and through, 

the hero of the piece. 

Whether the ceremony put bourgeois 

Brits off joining the march of 

the makers is as hard to measure 

as whether they pay attention to 

Blake’s “Jerusalem” — now part of 

the muzak for all national sporting 

occasions — let alone read Hard 

Times and its account of northern 

industrial city “Coketown”. 

A more plausible reason why 

Continues on page A4 

Uber exits south-east Asia with sale to rival Grab 

Deal echoes US group’s withdrawal from China and may prompt questions about India 

Uber is to exit south-east Asia, 

selling its operations in the 

region to Grab in exchange for 

a 27.5 per cent stake in its erstwhile 

local rival. 

The deal replicates the US ridehailing 

group’s withdrawal from China 

and, according to some bankers, could 

set the stage for a similar departure 

from India where it is battling with Ola. 

San Francisco-based Uber has 

been bleeding cash, and suffered a 

string of scandals last year that cost 

Travis Kalanick his role at the helm. 

However, under new chief executive 

Dara Khosrowshahi, the company 

has tightened financial discipline and 

narrowed adjusted losses to $741m in 

the fourth quarter, from $1bn in the 

previous three months. 

While Uber already has traded a 

weak hand in China and Russia for a 

minority stake in the market leaders in 

each country, Mr Khosrowshahi sought 

to draw a line under Uber’s retreat, stating 

in a blog post that this was the end 

Italy’s unlikely bedfellows hint at potential political union 

Co-operation on speakers fuels talk of Five Star and League trying to form government 

JAMES POLITI 

As Italy’s hung parliament gathered 

last week for the first time since the 

general election, a mural appeared 

in a Rome side street showing Luigi Di 

Maio, leader of the anti-establishment 

Five Star Movement, and Matteo Salvini, 

who heads the rightwing League, locked 

in a passionate kiss. 

The image was quickly removed but it 

has become emblematic of the budding 

political romance between Mr Di Maio 

and Mr Salvini. The two were rivals during 

the campaign for the March 4 polls 

but emerged as the big winners when 

a wave of discontent swept through the 

eurozone’s third-largest economy. 

On Saturday, the chemistry between 

Mr Di Maio and Mr Salvini was apparent 

when the pair struck a deal to join 

forces in the parliamentary vote to elect 

speakers for the upper and lower houses 

— fuelling talk that they could team up to 

form a government in Rome. 

How Alibaba and Tencent 

became Asia’s 

biggest dealmakers 

Page A6 

Christine Lagarde’s proposals complementFrench president Emmanuel Macron’s push for eurozone reform, including a 

sizeable common EU budget © AFP 

LOUISE LUCAS AND 

RICHARD WATERS 

of the company’s retrenchment. 

He tried to forestall the inevitable 

questions about which country would 

be next. Raising the question of whether 

“consolidation is now the strategy of 

the day”, he said: “The answer is no.” 

Mr Khosrowshahi has been particularly 

keen to damp down speculation 

about Uber’s position in India, travelling 

there recently and declaring it “a 

key component of our growth plan” as 

well as “one of our healthiest markets 

in terms of growth rate”. 

Uber also sought to paint its fiveyear 

venture in south-east Asia as a 

financial success despite its failure to 

win the battle for market share. 

In return for a $700m investment in 

its business in the region, Uber claimed 

to have received a stake in Grab worth 

“several billion dollars”. The deal has 

valued Uber’s stake in Grab at more 

than $2bn, putting the value of the 

entire company at more than $7bn, 

according to one person familiar with 

the terms. 

Grab is valued at $6bn, according 

to CB Insights. Uber’s latest funding 

round — a complex deal that included 

An alliance between the populist Five 

Star and the League, which is strongly 

Eurosceptic, has long been considered 

the worst scenario for EU policymakers 

and investors. They fear it could lead to 

economic reforms introduced in recent 

years being reversed and defiance of 

Brussels on everything from budget rules 

to sanctions against Russia. 

“Let’s face it, the election of these 

institutional figures [the presidents of parliament] 

foreshadows the scheme for the 

future government,” wrote Alessandro 

De Angelis, deputy editor at Huffington 

Post Italy. 

The agreement on the top legislative 

posts involved Mr Di Maio agreeing to 

support Elisabetta Casellati, a veteran 

centre-right Forza Italia lawmaker, as 

president of the senate, while the League 

backed Robert Fico, a Five Star lawmaker, 

to be president of the chamber of deputies. 

But what mattered most was the 

rapport and level of co-operation that 

two prices for its shares — valued the 

US group at $54bn. 

But the decision to throw in the 

towel in south-east Asia — a market 

that spans Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore 

and the Philippines as well 

as Myanmar — highlights the role of 

SoftBank, the Japanese technology 

conglomerate that has stakes in Uber, 

Singapore-based Grab and India’s Ola. 

SoftBank poured $9.3bn into Uber 

in December and board director Rajeev 

Misra joined Uber’s board. In an 

interview with the Financial Times at 

the time, Mr Misra said he was urging 

Uber to focus on the US and its key 

markets rather than on spreading itself 

across the globe. 

The latest development takes Masayoshi 

Son, SoftBank’s founder, one 

step further in his ambitions to dominate 

ride sharing worldwide. In arguing 

for and securing a substantial discount 

to take a stake in Uber, one of SoftBank’s 

arguments was that it was invested in 

and could therefore influence Uber’s 

competitors across Asia, according to 

two investors with direct knowledge 

of the matter. 

developed between Mr Salvini and Mr Di 

Maio as they negotiated the settlement in 

a series of talks and phone calls late last 

week and on Saturday morning. And this 

was despite an attempt by Silvio Berlusconi 

to scupper the entente by pushing 

a rival candidate for Senate speaker. 

The former prime minister and ally of 

Mr Salvini has long been at loggerheads 

with Five Star. 

“I speak to Di Maio more than my 

mother,” Mr Salvini told reporters at one 

point during the talks. “Salvini proved 

that he is a person who keeps his word,” 

Mr Di Maio said in an interview with 

Corriere della Sera, the Italian daily, on 

Sunday. 

But forging a joint path to government 

is a far greater challenge than crafting a 

deal on parliamentary speakers. It is also 

unclear whether Five Star and the League 

want to move towards a full alliance that 

could mean painful compromises and 

would risk a backlash from purists on 

both sides.

A4 BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 Tuesday 27 March 2018 

FT 

Banking and finance have 

vacuumed up the talent... 

NATIONAL 

Stormy Daniels says she was threatened to stay silent over Trump 

Porn star tells in TV interview of approach by man in car park over affair claims 

KADHIM SHUBBER 

Porn star Stormy Daniels claimed 

on Sunday night that she was 

threatened in 2011 to stay silent 

about her alleged affair with Donald 

Trump. 

The actress, whose real name is 

Stephanie Clifford, told the 60 Minutes 

programme that an unnamed 

man approached her in a Las Vegas 

parking lot after she agreed to tell her 

story to a magazine and told her to 

Continued from page A3 

innovative juices are channelled 

away from manufacturing could be 

the sucking sound from the City of 

London. The rewards of banking 

and finance still vacuum up talented 

graduates. 

Adair Turner, then the chief financial 

regulator, implied as much 

in 2009, when he remarked that the 

sector had become “swollen beyond 

its socially useful size”. 

“Consider what percentage of 

highly intelligent people from our best 

universities went into financial services,” 

he told a round table on “How 

to tame global finance”, organised by 

Prospect magazine. 

Two academics have now considered 

just that — though they have 

analysed the US, not the UK — and the 

findings are fascinating. 

The boom in financial services 

in the decade to the 2008 crisis did 

indeed attract the most promising US 

engineers and computer scientists, 

they conclude. Some 10 per cent 

moved to finance within five years of 

graduation. In turn, those engineers 

were much less likely to found their 

own companies or become innovative 

patent-holding entrepreneurs. Most 

ended up shelving engineering skills 

and working as traders and analysts. 

The trend continues. “After a brief 

[post-crisis] lull, engineers are moving 

again into finance,” Nandini Gupta, 

co-author of the study, told me. 

Prof Gupta and Isaac Hacamo, 

both of Indiana University’s Kelley 

School of Business, make no 

judgment on the relative value of 

entrepreneurship, engineering and, 

say, investment banking. They point 

out, however, that their sample of 

engineers who stayed out of finance 

included the founders of file-sharing 

site Dropbox and online education 

platform Khan Academy. 

When I contacted Lord Turner, he 

told me he still believed the boom of 

the early 2000s had pulled stars into 

less useful areas of high finance. 

Some of them probably deployed 

their entrepreneurial skills there. 

But he reiterated that “if they are 

ultimately just playing poker, [that] 

doesn’t increase the sum total of human 

welfare”. 

The phenomenon was not as 

marked in the UK, though. Even 

when the bubble was at full stretch in 

2007, the percentage of engineering 

graduates who moved into finance 

and insurance within three years 

of leaving higher education did not 

top 5 per cent. Lately, the figure has 

dropped to 3.4 per cent. A Dysonpleasing 

25.5 per cent now go into 

manufacturing — not enough to 

cover a projected annual shortfall of 

20,000 engineers in the UK, but still 

respectable. 

“leave Trump alone. Forget the story.” 

“And then he leaned around and 

looked at my daughter and said, 

‘That’s a beautiful little girl. It’d be a 

shame if something happened to her 

mom.’ And then he was gone,” she 

claimed in her first televised comments 

about her alleged affair in 2006 

and 2007, and subsequent legal battle 

with Mr Trump. She said she was 

scared to go to the police at the time. 

Ms Clifford told 60 Minutes she 

was speaking out to set the record 

straight. “People are just saying whatever 

they wanted to say about me. I 

was perfectly fine saying nothing at 

all, but I’m not OK with being made 

out to be a liar, or people thinking that 

I did this for money,” she said. 

The interview is the latest twist in 

the long-running dispute between 

Ms Clifford and the president, who is 

facing claims of a sexual nature from 

two other woman. 

Summer Zervos, a former contestant 

on The Apprentice, the show 

that made Mr Trump a television star, 

is suing the president for defamation 

after he denied sexually harassing 

her and suggested she made up the 

allegations. 

On Tuesday, the New York state 

supreme court said her lawsuit could 

go forward, which means Mr Trump 

could be interviewed under oath and 

forced to hand over documents as 

part of the discovery process. 

Two days later, former Playboy 

model Karen McDougal told CNN 

China’s Liu He, left, and Steve Mnuchin spoke at the weekend in the hope of averting a trade war © Reuters 

China steps up effort to avert US trade war 

Beijing set to ease foreign investment rules and buy more American semiconductors 

TOM MITCHELL AND 

SAM FLEMING 

Chinese officials are rushing 

to finalise new regulations by 

May that will allow foreign financial 

groups to take majority stakes 

in securities companies as they seek 

to avert a looming trade war with 

the US. 

According to people briefed on 

the discussions, Beijing has also 

offered to buy more semiconductors 

from the US by diverting some 

purchases from South Korean and 

Taiwanese manufacturers, in an effort 

to help reduce annual $375bn merchandise 

trade surplus with the US. 

Last week US president Donald 

Trump threatened to impose tariffs of 

up to 25 per cent on $60bn of Chinese 

industrial exports, in retaliation for 

allegedly “forcing” foreign companies 

to transfer technology and other 

intellectual property in mandated 

joint ventures. 

Beijing subsequently outlined its 

response to Mr Trump’s earlier threat 

to impose tariffs on $3bn of Chinese 

steel exports. The counter-move was 

intended as a warning that Beijing 

would respond in kind if Mr Trump 

proceeded with the much larger action 

against industrial exports. 

The discussions to avert a tit-fortat 

trade war are being led by Liu He, 

China’s vice-premier and President Xi 

Jinping’s most trusted economic adviser, 

and US Treasury secretary Steven 

Mnuchin. On Saturday, China’s 

official Xinhua news agency said Mr 

Liu told Mr Mnuchin during a phone 

call that the US actions were in violation 

of global trade rules and warned 

him that Beijing was prepared to 

defend its interests. 

The US Treasury confirmed the 

call on Sunday, saying that the two 

men had discussed “mutually agreeable” 

ways to cut America’s trade 

deficit with China. 

According to the people briefed 

on the discussions between the leaders 

of the world’s two largest economies, 

Mr Liu and Mr Mnuchin have 

also exchanged letters during the past 

week about further opening China’s 

financial services sector and reducing 

Chinese tariffs on imported cars. 

They said Chinese officials had 

initially been working to allow foreign 

majority control of securities 

companies by June 30, but that Mr Liu 

was aiming for formal State Council 

approval as early as May. 

The liberalisation, which would 

raise the 49 per cent ceiling to 51 per 

cent, was first outlined by China’s 

finance ministry in November. At the 

time, Zhu Guangyao, vice-finance 

minister, also said the cap would be 

lifted within three years. 

Chinese officials have told their 

US counterparts that they would 

accelerate this three-year timetable 

— as well as additional plans to ease 

limits on foreign investment in commercial 

banks and life insurance joint 

ventures within three to five years. 

“But this cannot be done overnight 

because everything has to go through 

a process,” said one person close to 

the negotiations. 

Further moves to ease foreign 

ownership limits in China’s commercial 

banking and insurance sectors 

could be revealed next week when Mr 

Xi addresses the Boao Forum for Asia, 

an annual meeting modelled on the 

World Economic Forum and hosted 

by the Chinese government on the 

southern island province of Hainan. 

It is unclear how Washington 

will react to Beijing’s proposal that 

Chinese companies purchase more 

semiconductors from the US rather 

than South Korea and Taiwan, because 

that could drive a wedge between 

the US and two of its traditional 

allies in the region. “The US would 

basically be stealing from their surpluses 

with China,” one person said. 

Over the weekend, senior Chinese 

officials mingled with global 

executives at an annual development 

forum in Beijing, with many of 

them promising further ambitious 

— but often vague — market opening 

moves. 

Wang Shouwen, a vice-minister 

of commerce, said on Sunday that 

China would also lift or remove restrictions 

on foreign ownership in 

the telecom, medical and education 

sectors. 

In his first remarks as the newly 

confirmed central bank governor, 

Yi Gang said the People’s Bank of 

China was committed to opening up 

the country’s financial sector, adding 

that Chinese and foreign companies 

would ultimately receive equal treatment. 

But the Chinese government is 

sensitive to potential criticism at 

home if it is seen to react too readily 

to foreign pressure. In a statement 

on his ministry’s WeChat account 

on Sunday night, Zhong Shan, commerce 

minister, said China would 

alone determine the pace of new 

opening measures. 

Speaking at about the same time 

in Washington, Mr Mnuchin told Fox 

News that the US was “not afraid of 

a trade war” with China and would 

proceed with its tariff plans if needed. 

she had slept with Mr Trump dozens 

of times in 2006 and 2007. 

Mr Trump’s representatives have 

denied he had affairs with Ms McDougal 

and Ms Clifford. 

In January, Ms Clifford signed 

a statement Michael Cohen, Mr 

Trump’s personal lawyer, provided to 

the media stating she did not have an 

affair with Mr Trump. She told 60 Minutes: 

“I felt intimidated and honestly 

bullied. And I didn’t know what to do. 

And so I signed it”. 

US to expel Russians 

over UK poison attack 

France, Germany and other EU states kick out 

Kremlin envoys in solidarity with Britain 

KATRINA MANSON AND 

MICHAEL PEEL 

The Trump administration is to 

expel what it said were 60 Russian 

intelligence officers based in the 

US in retaliation for a nerve agent attack 

carried out on UK soil. 

Senior administration officials said 

the move would reduce the ability of 

Russia to spy on Americans and show 

Moscow that “its actions have consequences”. 

In what appeared to be a co-ordinated 

move by western powers to show 

solidarity with Britain, several EU states 

including France, Germany and Italy 

said they were also throwing out Russian 

diplomats following the poisoning of 

Sergei Skripal, a former Russian agent, 

and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury 

earlier this month. 

Donald Tusk, European Council 

president, said a total of 14 EU member 

states intended to kick out Russian officials 

in protest at the attack. He added 

that additional co-ordinated countermeasures 

by European governments 

against Russia should not be excluded 

in the coming days and weeks. 

Jean-Yves Le Drian, France’s foreign 

minister, said the Salisbury attack constituted 

a “serious threat to our collective 

security and international law”. 

The UK last week threw out 23 diplomats 

from Russia’s embassy in London. 

Moscow has denied responsibility for 

the Skripal attack. 

The Russian foreign ministry issued a 

“strong protest” against the co-ordinated 

expulsions, calling them a “provocative 

gesture” which would only lead to further 

escalation. 

The ministry said the expulsions 

would “not remain without consequences, 

and we will react.” 

A senior US official framed Washington’s 

expulsion order as a response 

to Russia’s wider “malicious contempt” 

for the sovereignty and security of other 

countries and a response to its “steady 

drumbeat of aggressive and destabilising 

actions”. 

It marks a toughening of Washington’s 

stance towards Russia, putting 

western alliances at the forefront of 

US foreign policy that has until now 

been shaped by the isolationist stance 

of “America First” rhetoric of President 

Donald Trump. 

The president has been criticised 

for failing to address robustly allegations 

that Moscow meddled in the 2016 

elections that delivered him to power, 

disdaining a special investigation into 

Russian election interference as a political 

“witch hunt”. 

“This is absolutely his decision,” said 

a senior administration official, adding 

that while Mr Trump had not spoken to 

Mr Putin since their apparently warm 

conversation last week, it was “a decision 

he was involved in from the beginning 

and that he personally made after several 

meetings last week with his team”.


FINANCIAL TIMES 


@ FINANCIAL TIMES LIMITED 

SoftBank opens investigation 

into shareholder campaign 

Internal inquiry directed at figures behind allegations against senior executives 

ARASH MASSOUDI AND 

KANA INAGAKI 

SoftBank has launched 

an internal investigation 

to determine who was 

behind a shareholder 

campaign against two of 

its executives and whether there 

was any insider involvement, according 

to people with knowledge 

of the probe. 

The investigation is related to 

allegations brought by shareholders 

to the SoftBank board starting 

in January 2016, which targeted 

the conduct of Nikesh Arora, the 

company’s former president, and 

Alok Sama, the chief financial officer 

of the group’s international 

operations. 

Both executives denied all of 

the allegations and claimed they 

were victims of a smear campaign. 

SoftBank commissioned Shearman 

& Sterling, a law firm, to carry out an 

independent review that found the 

allegations were “without merit”. 

The company was unable to determine 

the source of the allegations. 

SoftBank’s board created a special 

committee to investigate the 

matter after it was contacted by 

The Wall Street Journal last month. 

Earlier on Monday, The newspaper 

reported that the central figure in 

the campaign told associates he 

was working, in part, for the benefit 

of a SoftBank insider. 

In a statement on Monday, Soft- 

Bank said: “The special committee 

Peter Lynch, the American 

fund manager, once observed 

that corporate executives had 

numerous reasons why they might 

decide to sell the stock of their own 

companies, but only one reason to 

buy: because they thought it would 

go up in value. 

Executives will frequently sell 

shares in their own companies for 

tax-related reasons, to raise cash to 

buy art works, or to settle expensive 

divorce bills. An open market purchase 

of stock by an insider, however, 

is frequently viewed by the market 

as the single strongest signal an executive 

can show about a company’s 

prospects. 

With that in mind, investors 

who are nervous about recent stock 

market volatility and valuations may 

want to pay particularly close attention 

to what corporate insiders in big 

companies are doing with their own 

money at the moment. 

In recent months a number of 

high-profile insider holders of shares 

in large technology companies have 

been trimming down their holdings, 

while the ratio of insider buying to 

selling in the US has not shown any 

signs of the former. 

During the market volatility seen 

in February corporate insiders did 

has reached no conclusions in its 

investigation and does not intend to 

comment further until the completion 

of its investigation.” 

Questions over who was behind 

the campaign have lingered in the 

Japanese technology-to-telecoms 

conglomerate over the past two 

years, a period in which SoftBank 

has transformed itself into a powerful 

global investor with huge 

funding at its disposal. Last year, 

SoftBank raised a $93bn investment 

fund, backed by the governments of 

Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. 

Mr Arora, who was named heirapparent 

to Masayoshi Son, Soft- 

Bank’s founder and chief executive, 

when he joined from Google 

in 2014, resigned abruptly in June 

2016, citing a clash over the timing 

of an expected leadership change. 

SoftBank said his departure was 

not linked to the allegations, which 

were raised in letters that were sent 

to SoftBank’s board by Boies Schiller 

Flexner and Mintz & Gold, the 

law firms, on behalf of shareholders, 

with just one named investor, 

Nicolas Giannakopoulos, a Swiss 

national. 

K2, the corporate investigations 

company, was commissioned in 

2015 to compile information on Mr 

Arora, according to people familiar 

with the investigation. The Financial 

Times could not determine who 

had commissioned K2. An 11-page 

letter was sent to SoftBank’s board 

in January 2016 containing some of 

the K2 work, said a person familiar 

with the situation. 

Why aren’t US executives buying more 

of their company’s shares? 

Nervous investors may want to watch what corporate insiders do with their own money 

MILES JOHNSON 

not take advantage of slightly lower 

prices to buy their own stock, according 

to research by Argus Vickers, 

which said its measure of insider 

buying went negative that month for 

the first time since August last year. 

Since then their index has shown a 

more positive balance, with Vickers 

noting insiders appeared “generally 

sanguine about the state of affairs at 

their respective companies”. 

Last week Naspers, the South 

African media conglomerate, sold 

$10bn of shares in China’s Tencent, 

with shares in the Asian tech giant 

losing almost $50bn in value after 

the move. Other large insider sellers 

of stock have included Facebook 

founder Mark Zuckerberg, who has 

sold more shares than any other US 

corporate insider in the past three 

months, according to Argus Vickers. 

Both have given convincing reasons 

for selling their shares, and have 

either committed to holding their 

remaining stock for a long period of 

time (Naspers said it would not sell 

any more for three years) or continue 

to own large amounts of their net 

worth in stock. 

At a time when US tax reform is 

expected to result in materially higher 

earnings for many companies, investors 

may start to question why more 

executives are not reaching for their 

wallets. 

BARNEY THOMPSON 

Michael Woodford, the former 

head of Olympus, “shut 

his eyes” to his responsibilities 

as a director when he set up an 

executive pension scheme to boost 

his own benefits, London’s high 

court has heard. 

Mr Woodford, who was ousted as 

the Japanese company’s chief executive 

in 2011 after blowing the whistle 

on a $1.7bn accounting scandal, is 

defending a £55m lawsuit brought 

by KeyMed, a UK subsidiary of the 

camera maker. 

KeyMed claims Mr Woodford and 

a former colleague, Paul Hillman, 

used their positions to protect and 

enhance their retirement benefits 

while they were KeyMed directors. 

The medical equipment group 

alleges the defendants received the 

go-ahead to establish a separate 

pension scheme for themselves in 

December 2005 without properly 

advising the board of the cost implications. 

By transferring their pensions out 

of the company plan into a discrete 

entity, it is alleged, they acted purely 

in their own interests even though 

this threatened the security of the 

C002D5556 

existing staff scheme. 

Both men deny the allegations, 

with Mr Woodford saying the lawsuit 

over his £64m pension is motivated 

by “a desire for revenge”. His lawyers 

have called the claims he faces 

“inherently implausible” and say all 

decisions concerning the pension 

scheme were scrutinised by external 

legal and actuarial advisers. 

Over two days of often combative 

cross-examination, culminating on 

Monday, John Wardell QC, acting 

for KeyMed, challenged Mr Woodford 

over his actions as trustee of 

the pension scheme, his behaviour 

as a senior executive and his role 

as trustee of a road safety charity to 

which KeyMed donated hundreds of 

thousands of pounds. 

“I suggest the sole function of the 

setting up of the [separate executive 

scheme] . . . was the security of your 

pension,” said Mr Wardell during his 

cross-examination. 

Mr Woodford strongly rejected 

the claim. He said pension liabilities 

for high-earning employees such as 

himself and Mr Hillman were falling 

due in the next few years and 

creating a separate executive plan 

was “the most cost-effective way” to 

manage them. 

BUSINESS DAY 

Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive of SoftBank, left, and Nikesh Arora © Bloomberg 

Woodford ‘shut his eyes’ to pension responsibilities, court hears 

Former head of Olympus is defending £55m lawsuit brought by UK subsidiary KeyMed 

First-quarter correction set to spill over into April 

FTSE All-World index is poised just above the 200-day moving average 

MICHAEL MACKENZIE 

As the first quarter begins 

its final week, traders are 

focused on whether equity 

markets can hold the line. 

Some major equity markets 

have broken or are close to testing 

their lows of early February, 

suggesting that the first quarter 

correction may well spill over 

into April and before the arrival of 

earnings season. 

The FTSE All World index is 

poised just above a key measure 

of momentum, as measured by 

the 200-day moving average. The 

swoon in equities in early February 

pushed the All-World benchmark 

towards this line, before 

shares duly bounced. 

Given its heft in global share 

market measures, plenty rides on 

whether the US S&P 500 can stabilise 

and rebound after suffering 

its worst week in two years. With 

equity markets firmer on Monday, 

such sentiment should keep the 

S&P 500 above its 200-day MA 

of 2,585, which was last Friday’s 

intraday low. 

Matthew Maley, equity strategist 

at Miller Tabak + Co, notes that 

a break of this key level could well 

prompt “a bout of forced selling”. 

He also writes, “on the bullish side 

of the ledger, as weak as the tech 

stocks have been over the past 

two weeks, they have not broken 

any longer-term support levels”. 

A retest and indeed a break 

of the February lows for equities 

would reflect a deeper fear that 

global growth has peaked — 

thanks to signs of slower data out 

of China and the eurozone — with 

the outlook enduring a further hit 

from growing concerns over trade 

protectionism. 

The early February swoon 

A5 

He was also challenged over 

KeyMed’s support for the road safety 

charity of which he was a trustee, 

with the claimant’s QC saying the 

company had spent “simply enormous 

sums” on the charity. 

Mr Woodford defended the 

spending on “a cause which was 

extremely successful in enhancing 

our reputation” as a company. 

The claimant’s counsel also alleged 

the former KeyMed director 

had supported the writing of “threatening 

letters” to organisations that 

failed to act on road safety and had 

tried to pass himself off as an expert 

in trauma medicine. 

Mr Woodford said he had spent 

considerable time in operating theatres 

and with doctors while setting 

up a new medical equipment division 

at Olympus and stood by the 

description of himself. 

The claimant’s lawyer also referred 

to occasions on which Mr 

Woodford had lost his temper with 

subordinates and written them 

angry letters. “This one-sided and 

threatening approach was not just 

how you dealt with the outside 

world, it is how you conducted 

yourself towards your employees,” 

he said. 

reflected the first recognition 

among investors that elevated 

asset prices were not compatible 

with global central banks withdrawing 

monetary support. However, 

we have not seen a pick-up 

in price pressures — after strong 

US January wage gains rattled 

sentiment. 

Analysts at JPMorgan note that 

tamer inflation and a moderate 

tightening cycle from the US Federal 

Reserve will help support a 

rebound in risk assets. The other 

two key ingredients identified 

by the bank are stable activity 

data and a de-escalation of trade 

conflict. Here JPM says these four 

factors could well align during the 

second quarter, with US equities 

bolstered by a first-quarter earnings 

growth of at least 15 per cent 

year on year, plus a seasonal stepup 

in share buybacks to a record 

pace of $800bn in 2018.

A6 

BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 



We get customers’ BVN from CBN 

to track VAIDS defaulters - OGIRS 

RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta 

Chairman of Ogun 

State Internal 

Revenue Service 

(OGIRS), Adekunle 

Adeosun, says 

the state-owned revenue 

board will soon have access 

to all customers Bank Verification 

Numbers (BVN) from 

the Central Bank of Nigeria 

(CBN) to track anybody who 

fails to declare assets and 

income under the Federal 

Government Tax Amnesty 

scheme tagged, “Voluntary 

Assets and Income Declaration 

Scheme (VAIDS). 

The disclosure was made 

on Monday in Abeokuta on 

the heels of the March 31, 

2018, expiration of the tax 

amnesty scheme launched by 

Federal Government in July 

2017. 

Adeosun says at the expiration 

of the scheme there 

would penalty and prosecution 

instituted against any 

culpable defaulters, and there 

would not be any waivers for 

anybody again. 

Speaking at a briefing with 

some journalists, Adeosun 

said, “March 31st, 2018 is the 

deadline for Voluntary Assets 

and Income Declaration 

Scheme (VAIDS). VAIDS is 

an Executive Order signed by 

Professor Yemi Osinbajo in 

July 2017, and it is to expire 

March 31st, 2018. It is to give 

tax amnesty to all the people 

that declare their assets and 

income within the stipulated 

time. 

“It covers assets and income 

on rental, dividends, 

profits on all contracts, payment 

receipts in Nigeria and 

abroad, among others. So, 

March 31st is the deadline 

and anybody who does not 

comply with it will face prosecution 

and will be penalised. 

“We have information on 

everybody. One thing that I 

will tell you is, I don’t think 

there is any exchange of information 

collaboration that the 

Federal Government has not 

signed with major corporations, 

countries of the world 

and major bodies. 

“This is disclosure of information 

for financial regulations. 

Also, the CBN has 

agreed to give us BVNs of all 

people that have accounts in 

all Nigerian banks. They have 

agreed to give us information 

and very soon, we will have 

that.” 

Also speaking on new 

strategies put in place to collect 

taxes due for government 

this year, the OGIRS chairman 

said effective electronic technology 

would be deployed to 

monitor sales in bars, hotels, 

restaurants, event centres, 

pools and lottery centres, saying: 

“We have consumption 

tax of 5% in Ogun State which 

is chargeable on hotels, restaurants, 

bars and event centres 

for food and drinks that 

the public consume on their 

premises, it is not payable by 

the establishments, but it is 

paid by the consumers. 

ExecuJet base in Lagos 

granted free trade zone status 

ment, the company will be 

allowed to keep stocks of 

parts for the aircraft manufacturers. 

This will reduce 

the time needed to supply 

such parts to customers in 

the West African country, 

which will benefit both regional 

airlines and business 

jet operators there. 

According to the aviation 

company official, the 

FTZ is the latest addition 

to its services in Nigeria, after 

welcoming a number of 

manufacturers to our facility 

in 2017. 

In his words, “Our MRO 

in Lagos is on an exciting 

trajectory, and we expect 

this to continue as we serve 

our customers with evermore 

competitive pricing to 

match the quality, performance 

and efficiency that 

ExecuJet demonstrates on a 

local and a global scale.” 

ExecuJet is part of the 

Luxaviation Group. It provides 

a wide range of aviation 

services, including the 

management of privately 

and commercially registered 

aircraft, charter, fixed 

base operations as well as 

MRO. 

It has a major facility at 

South Africa’s Lanseria International 

Airport, north 

west of Johannesburg and 

south west of Pretoria. 

Uproar in PH as FG attempts to change YouWin from 

grants to all winners to ‘soft loan for lucky few’ 

IGNATIUS CHUKWU & INNOCENT IWARA 

Hundreds of YouWin 

Connect winners 

who trained in Port 

Harcourt out of the 

5,000 that participated in the 

exercise in 25 centres in Nigeria 

last week protested when a 

representative of the Federal 

Government allegedly announced 

new rules, especially 

the cancellation of grants, 

now replaced with ‘soft loans 

to lucky ones.’ 

The 5,000 participants 

emerged from a total of 61,000 

applicants after rigorous 

screening exercises and were 

asked to proceed to the 25 

centres to undertake in-class 

training for three days on entrepreneurship 

and business 

module canvas to help them 

understand how to use the 

module to prepare business 

plans. 

Problem however started 

when a representative from 

the Federal Ministry of Finance, 

John Erikoro, allegedly 

told participants on Wednesday, 

March 21, that, despite 

being termed ‘winners,’ not 

every one of them was going 

to receive funding for their 

businesses anymore. 

Erikoro rather said: “You 

should get it (the fund) if you 

are lucky and among those 

that would be selected.” At 

this point, it was gathered that 

MIKE OCHONMA 

Aviation company, 

ExecuJet, said on 

Monday that its 

maintenance, repair 

and overhaul (MRO) 

facility in Lagos had been 

designated a free trade 

zone (FTZ) by the Nigerian 

authorities. 

As a result, spare parts 

and services supplied by 

ExecuJet to its customers 

in Nigeria’s commercial 

capital will now be exempt 

from value added tax 

(VAT) and customs dues. 

The company further 

said these savings would be 

passed on to its customers. 

This should result in savings 

of 10% to 15% or even more 

on supply and MRO costs. 

Obtaining the FTZ 

took approximately two 

years, during which time 

the ExecuJet team had to 

demonstrate how the FTZ 

would benefit Lagos and 

Nigeria as a whole. 

As reported by Gavin 

Kiggen, ExecuJet vice president, 

Africa, “We’re very 

proud now to announce 

the approval of the FTZ 

in Lagos, and the successful 

negotiation of zero VAT 

and zero duties for Execu- 

Jet customers.” 

As part of the agreethe 

participants went rowdy, 

protesting and demanding 

more explanation. 

Erikoro allegedly explained 

further that ‘fund 

managers’ had been raised to 

decide what and what business 

to fund. This was seen as 

a clear deviation from what 

participants knew as the rule 

before applying for the programme 

and undertaking the 

training. 

The participants said they 

interpreted the explanation 

to mean an introduction of 

favouritism and nepotism, 

especially when Erikoro allegedly 

said some businesses 

within the chains of aquaculture 

and shea butter were 

chosen in Abuja and Lagos 

for a pilot study and funding, 

prior to the training. 

To compound issues, participants 

were allegedly told 

that even the few would-befunded 

businesses would 

rather get ‘soft loans,’ and not 

grants. “Let me tell you, it is 

not a grant, it is soft loan; a 

very soft loan,” Erikoro was 

quoted to have said. 

At this point, participants 

allegedly began venting their 

disappointments. 

“When we got the message 

from YouWin, it read ‘you are 

now winners’, and then all of 

a sudden winners have been 

turned into something differe 

n t ”. 

C002D5556 

ENDURANCE OKAFOR 

Spending more than 

$1.6 billion in Nigeria, 

even though 

grinding poverty 

remains and for many an 

absence of political leadership, 

Bill Gates in his visit 

to Nigeria, stressed on how 

the quality and quantity of 

investment in the education 

and health sector of 

Africa’s biggest economy is 

not good enough. 

“Nigeria has young people, 

but the current quality 

and quantity of investment 

in this young generation 

in health and education is 

just not good enough,” Bill 

Gates, founder of Microsoft 

Corporation said in a statement. 

Meanwhile, the Nigeria 

health sector in the proposed 

2018 budget was 

allocated N340.45 billion. 

This represents 3.9 percent 

of the total N8.6 trillion 

expected to be used to 

fund the entire budget for 

the year. The allocation is 

however, less than the 4.16 

percent and 4.23 percent 

made to the health sector 

by the government in the 

2017 and 2016 budgets respectively. 

Comparing Nigeria with 

its per of Africa’s largest 

BUSINESS DAY 

A7 

NEWS 

Nigeria’s investment in health, 

education not good enough- Bill Gates 

economies, South Africa 

had spent $46 billion on 

health between 2014 and 

2017, while Africa’s largest 

economy had only managed 

$3 billion within the 

period, according to analysis 

by BusinessDay. 

This is despite the fact 

that Nigeria is home to 

some 180 million people, 

which is three times the 

size of South Africa’s 55 

million population. 

Nigeria’s education sector 

on the other hand was 

yet again allocated much 

lower than the 26 percent 

of national budget recommended 

by the United Nations, 

in its 2018 education 

budget. 

The global organization 

recommended the budgetary 

benchmark to enable 

nations adequately cater 

for rising education demands. 

The Nigeria education 

sector was allocated 

only 7.04 percent of the 

N8.6 trillion budgeted in 

for expenditure in the period 

under review. 

The amount allocated 

to the sector is N605.8 billion, 

with N435.1 billion 

for recurrent expenditure, 

N61.73 billion for capital 

expenditure and N109.06 

billion for the Universal Basic 

Education Commission.

A8 

BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 


BUSINESS DAY 

Quick-Takes 

a different look at business &market news 

NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I TUESDAY 27 MARCH 2018 

C002D5556 

Micro insurance guideline and concerns… 

The National Insurance 

Commission 

(NAICOM) last week 

released the revised 

guideline for take-off of micro 

insurance business in Nigeria, 

setting minimum capital requirement 

for licensing. 

Analysts concern on new 

licensing is whether this will 

not increase the number of 

operating companies beyond 

manageable size?, Is this not 

likely to bring more fragmentation 

in the industry? Does the 

required capitals big enough to 

set up quality offices, with the 

right technology, manpower for 

quality service delivery? Does 

NAICOM have the required 

capacity in terms of manpower, 

technology to monitor and 

supervise the activities of the 

emerging micro insurance 

companies, alongside existing 

61 underwriting firms? What 

happens to existing companies 

that are doing micro insurance, 

do they need a new license? 

These are a few posers that will 

require clarifications as NAI- 

COM interpret guidelines. 

Micro insurance is the big 

deal being expected to deepen 

penetration of insurance in Nigeria, 

by reaching the grass root 

in line with NAICOM’s Market 

Development and Restructuring 

Initiative (MDRI) project. 

In the guideline released by 

the Commission, the document 

said “as part of the Commission’s 

determination to improve 

financial inclusion in Nigeria, 

particularly to the underserved 

and excluded segment of the 

populace, the Commission has 

reviewed the Microinsurance 

Guidelines of 2013, and hereby 

releases a revised guidelines. , 

The Revised Microinsurance 

Guidelines which becomes effective 

from 1st January, 2018 

further stated that, “No person 

shall commence or carry on any 

class of Microinsurance business 

without being registered or 

authorized by the Commission. 

According to the guideline, 

the following capital requirement 

shall obtain for the different 

business structures: 

Unit Microinsurer: The 

Company’s Minimum Capital 

Base is N40 million (General: 

N2S million & Life: NIS million). 

It is to operate only in anyone 

(1) location within a local 

community and the Company 

shall prove to the Commission 

through their business plan that 

they are going to access the low 

income earners spread across 

the location within a reasonable 

time frame. 

The Commission shall grant 

a state microinsurer licence to 

a unit microinsurer upon application 

following 36 months 

of successful business operation 

and approval by the Commission. 

State Microinsurer: The 

Company’s Minimum Capital 

Base is NI00 million (General: 

N60 million & Life: N40 million). 

It is to operate only in anyone 

(1) State of the federation (for 

this purpose Abuja is regarded 

as a State) with at least 3 branches 

or office locations, each in 

a different Local Government 

Area. The Company shall prove 

to the Commission through 

their business plan that they are 

going to access the low income 

earners spread across the state 

within a reasonable time frame. 

The Commission shall grant a 

national microinsurer licence to a 

state microinsurer upon application 

following 60 months of successful 

business operation and 

approval by the Commission. 

National Microinsurer: The 

Company Minimum Capital 

Base is N600 million (General: 

N400 million & Life: N200 million). 

Its operation is nationwide 

with presence in at least 

6 states within 3 geopolitical 

zones of the federation. The 

Company shall prove to the 

Commission through their 

business plan that they are going 

to access the low income 

earners spread across the country 

within a reasonable time 

frame. Registered Insurance 

Companies shall be granted 

national microinsurer licence 

upon application. 

Nigeria’s improvement on the ease of doing business ranking 

It is exactly a week since the 

World Bank delivered the 

good news on November 7 

that the country has moved up 

24 places on the World Bank ease 

of doing business ranking. The 

country has moved up from its 

169 position to a current position 

of 145. Even though, still relatively 

low considering that we are still 

ranked very low on several key indices, 

it is gladdening to note that 

we progressed upwards rather 

than deteriorated. At 145, we still 

remain one of the worst places to 

do business on earth and that is 

something that must be changed 

urgently. 

But the good news from the 

ranking is the fact that it once 

more affirms the fact that when 

we put our mind on achieving 

something as a country, we often 

do. In October 2016, President 

Muhammadu Buhari approved 

the Presidential Council on Ease 

of Doing Business with a clear 

mandate to “remove red tapes and 

other impediments associated 

with investment in the country.” 

Located in the Vice President’s 

office and led by Jumoke Oduwole, 

the council has been clearly 

focused on achieving its mandate. 

It has had strong support from the 

Presidency and this has translated 

into actual gains on the ground. 

Even though, removing red tapes 

and bureaucracy is not the easiest 

of things, breakthroughs have 

been made especially in the areas 

of business registration, transparency 

on government charges and 

service delivery as well as in access 

to credit, where Nigeria now ranks 

number six globally. 

The National Assembly has 

also been largely supportive 

identifying 12 economic bills 

which they want to pass to unlock 

economic growth in the country. 

It is the passage of the Secured 

Transactions in Movable Assets 

Act (otherwise known as Collateral 

Registry Act) and Credit 

Reporting Act, that essentially 

pushed up the country’s ranking 

in access to credit. This indicates 

that if the legislature and the 

Presidency can put aside their 

differences and work together, 

Nigeria can achieve even far 

more. 

Credit must also go to the Lagos 

and Kano state governments 

who cooperated with the ease of 

doing business council to ensure 

that they removed several of the 

red tapes in their government to 

make it easier to do businesses in 

their state. It is also great that a subnational 

ranking of states on the 

ease of doing business has commenced 

and we are sure that this 

will create competition among 

states and enhance the business 

environment in the country. 

It is important the governments 

at all levels realize that 

the most important reason for 

their existence is to create jobs 

for their people. This can only be 

done by having a great business 

environment. When there are 

jobs, wealth is created and when 

wealth is created, tax revenues for 

the government is enhanced and 

when tax revenues are enhanced, 

it puts the government in a better 

position to build the infrastructure 

that enables businesses to thrive 

and create more jobs. So now that 

we have moved up the ranking, 

the next challenge is to ensure we 

sustain the upward momentum. 

There is no reason that Nigeria 

should not be the place on earth to 

do business. It can be done. 

Maximizing social media 

for business growth 

One of the things 

people do when they 

wake up is check 

their Facebook, Twitter, 

YouTube, favourite blogs 

or other online communities 

they are belong to. This active 

(addictive) use of social media 

as a way to connect with virtual 

communities reveals that 

invariably, social media fulfills 

our human need for expression, 

connection and social 

validation. Popular application, 

Facebook boasts of having 1.86 

billion users all over the world 

surpassing its counterparts’ 

number, collectively: Twitter 

(284m) and Instagram (200m) 

users. A statistics report says 

that YouTube records at least 

1.3 billion users and almost five 

billion videos are watched on 

YouTube daily. 

In Nigeria, Nairaland has 

more than 1.7m registered 

accounts since its inception, 

and so far this year it has hosted 

more than 8.8 million unique 

visitors from non-account 

holders. On the other hand, 

new networking site Linda Ikeji 

Social (LIS) owned by popular 

blogger Linda Ikeji registered 

50,000 users on the first day of 

its launch. More and more social 

media outlets sprout daily 

and, thankfully, cheap data 

and affordable smart phones 

facilitate the sustained growth 

the Internet population enjoys 

while allowing for these outlets 

to be more accessible. 

Interestingly, social media 

operates in an uncontrolled exchange 

environment whereby 

users generate and share 

contents in form of comments, 

pictures or videos, which have 

as many receptors from various 

sources unlike traditional 

media. An implication of this 

for business owners is objective 

feedback from customers on 

products bought or for services 

rendered. For instance, first 

time customers will likely 

Google products to check reviews 

and compare prices making 

a buying decision. While 

poor reviews may discourage 

potential customers, good 

reviews will boost customer 

base, sales and profit as well as 

enhance brand perception. 

Social media benefits businesses 

in a number of ways. 

First is the global audience 

and potential leads brands 

have at their disposal. Second, 

information on customer demographics, 

tastes and attitude 

changes is cheap and available. 

Companies can get insights on 

customer’s preferences in real 

time through the use of selected 

analytic tools. Such information 

if well exploited could direct 

advertising to the right audience. 

Also a business’ presence 

online can shape its public 

perception from the type of 

information on its websites or 

social media platforms. There 

is the opportunity to connect 

with consistent interactions, 

and provide rich customer 

service experiences, resulting to 

customer retention and brand 

loyalty. 

Moreover, business owners 

get to track competitor activities 

as well as industry trends, 

which helps strategic decisionmaking. 

Businesses can examine the 

impact of its marketing efforts 

on set goals using a number of 

unique social media analytics 

tools. For instance, Google Analytics 

by Google can be used to 

track website traffic. Brand- 

Watchers provide demographic 

information about markets. 

Crowdbooster ensures that 

contents reach the right audience. 

While Hootsuite analytics, 

apart from posts scheduling 

can monitor time spent in 

resolving customer service 

issues. These tools coupled with 

some listening applications 

on smart phones extract data 

in form of likes, tweets, shares 

or comments or chats across 

multiple social platforms thus 

playing a huge role in business 

intelligence. 

It is one thing to monitor its 

activities; however, businesses 

may utilise social listening tools 

such as Google alerts, Quora, 

Social mention, etc. to learn 

what is being said about its 

products and services. With 

these tools, managers can 

identify customer needs and 

pain points by tracking conversations. 

This is very important 

especially in the development 

phase of a product in the sense 

that only useful features are 

added. 

Should A Business Have 

Accounts On All Social Media 

Platforms? 

There’s an argument on 

whether businesses should 

be present on all social media 

platforms. While there is 

a need to have online presence, 

not all social media 

platforms are effective for 

business growth. Factors 

like business type and 

needs, target market (audience), 

budget etc should be 

considered when deciding 

what accounts to have. It 

is also essential to know 

how to maximize selected 

outlets. 

Published by BusinessDAY Media Ltd., The Brook, 6 Point Road, GRA, Apapa, Lagos. Ghana Office: Business Day Ghana Ltd; ABC Junction, near Guinness Ghana Limited, Achimota – Accra, Ghana. 

Tel: +233243226596: email: mail@businessdayonline.com Advert Hotline: 08116759801, 08082496194. Subscriptions 01-2950687, 07045792677. Newsroom: 08169609331 

Editor: Anthony Osae-Brown. All correspondence to BusinessDAY Media Ltd., Box 1002, Festac Lagos. ISSN 1595 - 8590.

BusinessDay 27 Mar 2018

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