BusinessDay 13 Jul 2018

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news you can trust I **FRIDAY 13 JULY 2018 I vol. 15, no 96 I N300 @ g 

NERC unveils plan to tackle 

liquidity gaps in power sector 

OLUSOLA BELLO, ISAAC ANYAOGU, DIPO 

OLADEHINDE, MICHAEL ANI & BUNMI BAILEY 

In a bid to resolve shortfalls 

in the electricity 

sector estimated to be 

about N1trillion, the 

Nigerian Electricity 

Regualtory Commission 

(NERC) has unveiled a com- 

Continues on page 38 

Ekiti shoot-out 

is executive 

recklessness 

- Reps 

…PDP storms 

National Assembly 

…Gana declares for 

President, says Nigeria 

in Civil War 

KEHINDE AKINTOLA, OWEDE 

AGBAJILEKE & James Kwen, Abuja 

Lawmakers on Thursday 

described the shoot out 

by personnel of Nigeria 

Police during the People’s 

Democratic Party (PDP) political 

rally which took place in Ekiti State 


To settle MDA debts through metering, credit advance system 

Plans forensic audit for DisCos 

L-R: Chiedu Ugbo, MD/CEO, Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited; Olufunke Dinneh, GM, legal licensing and compliance, 

Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), and Chinua Azubike, CEO, InfraCredit, during the BusinessDay future of 

energy series with the theme, ‘Making Nigeria’s power market bankable,’ in Lagos. 

Pic by Pius Okeosisi 

Banks’ rising request from CBN lending window raises concern 

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE 

The rising incidence of 

requests for short term 

loans from the Central 

Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by 

deposit money banks through the 

Standard Lending Facility (SLF) is 

raising some concerns. 

The CBN Standing Lending Facility 

(SLF) is an overnight advance 

available to deposit money banks 

and discount houses. 

According to the CBN’s latest 

report on the sector, the average request 

for SLF, inclusive of intra-day 

liquidity facility (ILF) in the first 

half of 2017, amounted to N227.52 

billion, in 122 transactions, while 


Atiku Abubakar 

Atiku parleys 

Reps’ PDP, R-APC 

lawmakers ahead 

presidential 

primary election 

KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Abuja 

In furtherance of his consultation 

for the presidential 

ambition, former Vice 

President on Wednesday 

night met with lawmakers from 

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 

Inside 


Mary Akpobome, 

on marriage, 

work, life’s 

lessons and 

resplendently 

turning 50

Friday 13 July 2018 

2 BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 

NEWS 

UBA emerges best institution 

in digital banking across Africa 

DIPO OLADEHINDE 

Pan-African financial services 

group, United Bank for 

Africa Plc, has been named 

Africa’s best bank in the 

Digital category at the prestigious 

Euromoney awards in London. 

This further lends credence to 

UBA’s dominance in the digital 

banking space. 

Clive Horwood, Euromoney 

Magazine’s Editor explained that: 

“Despite fierce competition, one 

bank stood out in the last year for 

the inventiveness of its efforts in 

digital banking: United Bank for 

Africa. One of its signature launches 

in Nigeria was Leo, an e-chat service 

using artificial intelligence to help 

customers execute transactions on 

Facebook”. 

The Euromoney awards ceremony 

which was held on Wednesday, 

July 11, 2018 covers more than 20 

global product categories, best-inclass 

awards and the best Banks 

in over 100 countries around the 

world, recognising institutions that 

have demonstrated leadership, innovation, 

and momentum in the 

markets in which they operate. 

In selecting its recipients, Euro 

money’s principle is hinged both 

on quantitative and qualitative 

data to honor institutions that have 

brought the highest levels of service, 

innovation and expertise to their 

customers. 

At the awards ceremony, UBA 

beat other nominees taking away 

the prize for best institution in 

Digital banking across Africa, an 

Grounded aircraft cause glut 

of passengers at airports 

… Air Peace, Arik Air benefit 

IFEOMA OKEKE 

The grounding of various 

aircraft by the Nigeria 

Civil Aviation Authority 

(NCAA) belonging 

to over four domestic carriers 

is currently leading to a glut of 

passengers on frequent domestic 

routes such as Lagos, Abuja, 

Port Harcourt, Kano and Owerri, 

BusinessDay’s checks found. 

A source close to the NCAA 

told BusinessDay that currently, 

over eight aircraft have been 

grounded by the regulator, making 

it difficult for the affected 

airlines to carry out daily scheduled 

operations as planned. This 

development has led some of the 

airlines to overbook passengers, 

rather than lose the passengers 

to competing airlines. 

BusinessDay’s checks show 

that the fall out of this development 

has seen Medview enter 

an agreement with Dana Air to 

help them carry their passengers 

while the former struggles to get 

their aircraft operational again. 

A visit by BusinessDay to Lagos, 

Abuja and Owerri airports 

recently saw over ten aircraft 

belonging to Aero Contractors, 

First Nation airline, Arik Air, and 

Medview, grounded as Aircraft 

on Ground (AOG). “Aircraft are 

not supposed to be on ground 

affirmation of its recent investment 

in cutting edge technology, one of 

which gave birth to Leo, the chat 

banker that has disrupted banking 

across Africa. 

In a bid to be the undisputed 

leading financial services industry 

Africa in the area of innovation 

and technology, UBA has steadily 

included new and emerging trends 

to its range of solutions in-branches, 

across subsidiaries and on digital 

platforms. The emergence of LEO, 

has been a continuous directive to 

push the banking sector beyond 

financial services and to show that 

the bank truly comprehends the 

shift in operations and the movement 

of the global world with technology 

today. 

The Euromoney award, which is 

a recognition of innovative products 

and services introduced by the bank 

in recent times and targeted towards 

meeting customer needs, comes on 

the heels of recent awards to UBA, 

including Finnacle Client Innovation 

Awards and Best Bank Awards 

won by five of its subsidiaries across 

Africa by The Bankers Magazine. 

UBA was also declared the best 

Bank in Africa in 2017. 

Receiving the award at a wellattended 

event in London, the 

Group Managing Director, Chief 

Executive Officer, United Bank for 

Africa, Kennedy Uzoka, appreciated 

the organizer’s for the recognition, 

noting that UBA’s dedication to hard 

work and particular emphasis to offering 

quality services to customers 

are being acknowledged. 

but in the sky for operations. If 

aircraft are on ground, it is either 

it has insurance issues, maintenance 

issues or other technical 

issues,” Sam Adurogboye, NCAA 

General Manager of Public Relations, 

said. 

Adurogboye explained while 

some of the aircraft are due for 

maintenance, the operators do 

not have enough funds to fix 

them. He added that other aircraft 

have expired insurance papers 

and the operators are sorting 

out their insurance papers. 

He further explained that “If 

aircraft maintenance is due and 

it is supposed to be repaired 

overseas, operators often book 

overtime to get a slot. It is only 

when they have a slot for the 

aircraft that operators take their 

aircraft abroad for maintenance. 

“Airlines pay heavily to have 

their aircraft parked overseas. So, 

airlines prefer to have it parked 

in their country, where they will 

pay minimal fees.” 

A passenger who simply identified 

himself as Seun booked 

one of domestic airlines to Abuja 

recently. He said he had to pay 

over N50, 000 for a one-way 

ticket to Abuja for a 5.30pm flight 

which did not depart the airport 

till past 10pm. 

Continues on wwwbusinessday online.com 

MARKETS 

Investors reward firms with strong profit margins 

BALA AUGIE 

BusinessDay’s analysis 

shows that firms with the 

highest net profit margin 

have outperformed others 

in the sector. 

Cement Company and Northern 

Nigeria (CCNN)’s net profit 

margin hit a 6 year high of 16.48 

percent in 2017, the largest margin 

expansion in the sector, and the 

Sokoto based cement maker’s 

stock price gained 148.15 in the 

past year, this compares with the 

Dangote Cement’s 1 year return of 

14.85 percent and Lafarge Africa’s 

1 year return of -24.85 percent. 

Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc’s 

net profit margin of 19.18 percent 

in 2017- the highest since 2006- is 

the largest margin expansion in 

the sector as the largest producer 

of the sweetner’s 1 year return 

of 140.07 percent outperforms 

International Breweries’ 1 year 

return of 35.18 percent, Nigerian 

Breweries return of 26.68 percent, 

and Unilever’s 35.18 percent. 

Nigeria Treasury yield among 

highest in the world 

Emeka Ucheaga, David Ibidapo, 

Sobechukwu Eze & Abdullateef Eniola-Giwa 

In a world where investors are 

chasing high yield, Nigeria 

comes in as a first class destination. 

With the one year 

Treasury bill currently around 

13.1 percen t, Renaissance Capital 

reports that Nigeria treasury bills 

currently offers the third highest 

treasury yield in frontier markets 

and the fifth highest local currency 

yield when emerging markets and 

frontier markets are merged. 

High yield in Nigeria has certainly 

attracted foreign investors 

as billions of dollars have been 

poured into the money market over 

the past year. In 2017, up to $3.2 billion 

was invested in money market 

instruments with the majority of 

investments entering the country 

in the fourth quarter of the year. 

Around $2.1 billion was invested 

by foreign investors in Q4 

2017 as inflation continued its 

downward trend compared to 

around $211 million invested in the 

money market in Q1 2017. Foreign 

investors were wary of investing in 

treasury bills at the time possibly 

Seplat Petroleum Development 

Company Plc’s net profit 

margin of 58.66 percent- the 

highest since 2013- is the largest 

margin expansion in the sector as 

its share price has gained 38.49 

percent since the start of the 

year, this compares with Oando 

Nigeria Plc’s one year return of 

-21.47 percent, Forte Oil’s return 

of -42.15 percent, Total Nigeria 

Plc’s return of -17.45 percent, Mobil 

Nigeria Plc -19.98 percent, and 

Conoil Nigeria Plc’s -9.75 percent. 

Guaranty Trust Bank (GT- 

Bank) Plc’s recorded the highest 

net profit margin in the sector 

as its stock price gained 16.69 

percent in the past year, this compares 

with Access Bank’s one year 

return of 7.26 percent. 

An uptick in crude oil price 

and output, introduction of the 

new foreign exchange regime 

by the apex bank, devaluation 

of the currency, increase in the 

price of key products, helped 

propel the bottom lines of firms 

the consumer goods, banking, 

due to high double digit inflation. 

Inflation peaked in January 2017 

before it began its long deceleration 

for 16 consecutive months since 

last year. 

In the first three months of 2018, 

foreign portfolio investors invested 

$3.52 billion dollars in money market 

instruments, that’s more than 

they did in the entire 2017. 

Even though interest rates in 

United States is starting to normalise 

as the Federal Reserve Bank 

of America raised interest rate in 

June for the fifth time since March 

last year, at just 2.36 percent yield 

for the one year treasury bill, it is 

still miles behind yields offered 

in emerging and frontier markets 

around the world. 

According to RenCap currency 

report, emerging economies such 

as Egypt and Turkey have local 

currency yields at 19.3 percent and 

17.7 percent respectively. While 

frontier markets such as Argentina 

(39%), Ukraine (16.5%), Nigeria 

(13.1%) and Kenya (10.4%) are all 

offering double digit rates on their 

sovereign debt compared to their 

counterparts in developed markets 

who are mostly offering low single 

industrial goods and oil and gas 

sectors in 2017. 

“I think what has happened 

is that most of these firms-especially 

the manufacturers and 

goods firms- raised prices of their 

products at a higher rate than that 

at which costs increased,” said 

Ayodeji Ebo, managing director 

and CEO of Afrivest Securities. 

“Most banks return on equity 

(ROE) has improved. That could 

be attributed to the high interest 

rate environment of 2017 combined 

with foreign exchange 

gains,” said Ebo. 

“The rebound in oil price and 

relative calm in the Niger Delta 

region helped strengthen the 

margins of upstream oil and gas 

firms,” Ebo summed. 

For the year ended December 

2017, after tax profits for the 

10 lenders that have reported 

results spiked by 44.28 percent 

to N693.92 billion from N478.19 

billion the previous year (2016). 


digit yields. 

Countries with high yields have 

been attracting more foreign investments 

in the past one year, 

although the two rate hikes in USA 

this year have caused investment 

outflows to increase in emerging 

markets this year. Bloomberg reported 

last September that investors 

were increasing investments 

in emerging countries that pay the 

highest local interest rate. However, 

the story this year is a little different 

as traders now see more risk 

in investing in emerging countries 

at the same time interest rates are 

increasing in USA. 

Bismarck Rewane, CEO Financial 

Derivative explained that due 

to unforeseen eventualities in the 

upcoming election in Nigeria, the 

current yield level is likely not high 

enough to compensate investors 

for political risk. To this end, there 

is a large tendency that foreign 

investors would exit the country 

and return after elections. This 

could push treasury yield higher 

to compensate for additional risk. 

Continues on wwwbusinessday online.com

Friday 13 July 2018 C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 

3




BUSINESS DAY 

33 

BusinessDay Future of Energy Series with the theme: ‘Making Nigeria’s Power Market Bankable in Lagos’ 

Pictures by Pius Okeosisi and Olawale Amoo 

L-R: Rumundaka Wonodi, CEO, ZKJ Energy Partners Limited; Oti Ikomi, 

CEO, Proton Energy; Eme Essien Lore, country manager, IFC; Wolemi 

Esan, partner, Olaniwun Ajayi LP; Olufunke Dinneh, general manager, 

legal licensing compliance, NERC; Chinua Azubike, CEO, InfraCredit, 

and Anthonia Okoh, director, Standard Chartered Bank, UK. 

L-R: Azu Obiaya, CEO, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distribution; 

Chiedu Ugbo, MD, Niger Delta Power Holding Company; Jamil Gwamna, 

MD, Kano Electricity Distribution Company; Rahila Thomas, country director, 

Energy Market and Regulatory Consultants (EMRC); Oluwafemi Adesanya, 

head of power and renewables, UK department for international 

Trade, Nigeria Office; Adiodun Oyelude, representing MD, Eko Electricity 

Distribution Company, and Kolapo Joseph, general manager, business 

development and corporate finance, North South Power/Shiroro. 

L-R: Ademola Adegbusi, head, power, First Bank; Kola Adesina, chairman, 

Egbin Power Plc; Kolapo Joseph, general manager, business 

development and corporate finance, North South Power/Shiroro; Ibi 

Ogunbiyi, partner, Olaniwun Ajayi LP; Hamisu Abubakar, chairman, 

Northwest Power/Kaduna Disco, and Daniel Mueller, head, origination 

and structuring, InfraCredit. 

Rachelle More, director and head, infrastructure finance, Rand Merchant Bank (l), with 

Robert Grant, senior vice president/group head, project finance, FCMB Capital Markets. 

Abiodun Oni, head, power, Stanbic IBTC Bank (r), and Ademola Adesina, 

founder/CEO, Rensource. 

L-R: Chinua Azubike, CEO, InfraCredit; Rotimi Thomas of Siemens, and 

Oti Ikomi, CEO, Proton Energy. 

L-R: Henry Bassey, CEO, Digi Brands; Akinwole Omoboriowo, chairman, 

Genisis Ernergy Group, and Olufemi Ashipa, vice president, marketing, 

Lumos Nigeria. 

Houssam Azem, CEO, Lumos Nigeria (r), with Frank Aigbogun, publisher/ 

CEO, BusinessDay. 

Vera Nwanze, MD, Azuri Technologies (r), with Akinwole Omoboriowo, 

chairman, Genesis Energy Group. 

Tajudeen Ahmed, general manager/group head, business development, BUA Group 

(l), with Eme Essien Lore, country manager, IFC. 

L-R: Joy Ogali, executive secretary, Association of Power Generation 

Companies (APGC); Kolapo Joseph, general manager, business development 

and corporate finance, North South Power/Shiroro, and Justina 

Otedoh, lead partner, Seven Energy. 

Abiodun Oni, head, power, Stanbic IBTC Bank (r), with Daniel Mueller, 

head, origination and structuring, InfraCredit. 

Uche Val Obi, managing partner, Alliance Law Firm (l), with Chiedu Ugbo, 

managing director, Niger Delta Power Holding Company. 

L-R: Chinwendu Enechi and Adeniyi Adebowale, both of Andersen Tax 

L-R: Blessing Odigieh; Oluyemisi Olakanye; Olarade Kolawole; Olaolu 

Omitogun, and Opeyemi, all of GTBank. 

R-L: Udoka Ezeifedi; Nike Bajomo, and Melvin Awolowo , all of Stanbic IBTC. L-R: David Ikponmiren and Funmi Onigbogi, both of United Capital Plc. L-R: Wuraola Jinadu; Jumoke Adeniran, and Babatunde Folami, all of 

Vodacom Business Nigeria. 

L-R: Eme Essien Lore, country manager, IFC; Chima Azubike of Infra- 

Credit , and Rumundaka Wonodi, CEO, ZKJ Energy Partner. 

L-R: Bambo Adebowale; Ayodele Oni, partner, Bloomfield; Dominic Ezekiel 

and Ajayi John, chairman, Dieu Bonde Global Limited. 

L-R: Rotimi Thomas of Siemens; Joy Ogaji, executive secretary, Association 

of Power Generation Companies, and Kolapo Joseph, general manager, 

Corporate Finance and Corporate Development, North South Power Limited. 

L-R: Chuks Nwari, vice president, and Uchenna Nwogu, project supervisor, both of 

Powerhouse International Limited. 

Adeniran Adejumoke (l), with Folami Babatunde, both of Vodacom Nigeria. 

Rotimi Balogun, coordinator, Lagos State Embedded Power Programme 

(l), with Makinde James, business development and commercial manager, 

Shell Nigeria Gas Limited. 

L-R: Irene Ubani of Plus TV Africa and Kemi Ojo of Clarke Energy. 

Kikelomo Akpati of Meristem Securities (l), with Mobola Akinkugbe of 

Auctus Legal. 

L-R: Bimbo Wright of FBNQuest Merchant Bank; Yewande Olagbede, 

and Laide Abudu of Azuri Technology. 

Robert Grant, senior vice president and group head, project finance, FCMB Capital 

Markets (r), with Houssam Azem, CEO, Lumos Nigeria. 

L-R: Heidi Ijomah, investment officer, IFC; Kashetolu Lawal, head, client coverage, 

FBNQuest Merchant Bank, and Adebisi Oduba, power division, UBA. 

L-R: Seyi Akinwale, senior vice president, GE Capital, with Abiodun Oni, 

head, power, Stanbic IBTC Bank

6 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 

NEWS 

AFF to hold 2nd edition of 

Re:Code Nigeria Hackathon 

Following a successful 

first edition of its 

Fintech conference, 

the Africa Fintech 

Foundry (AFF) Disrupt 2017, 

the //Re:Code Nigeria Hackathon 

2018 is set to begin a 

chain of disruptive events 

that will set the tone for the 

biggest Fintech event of the 

year, AFF Disrupt 2018. 

The objective of this edition 

is to create innovative 

solutions in response to the 

distinct challenges faced in 

some of Nigeria’s leading 

sectors – Fast Moving Consumer 

Goods, Agriculture 

and the Financial Services 

ecosystem as a whole. 

Buoyed by the support of 

industry giants such as Unilever, 

Dell, AFEX, Trium Networks, 

Microsoft, IBM, SaS, 

Terragon and the likes, the // 

Re:Code Hackathon takes on 

some of the biggest challenges 

in the ecosystem, which include 

(but not limited to): 

How financial technology 

can address supply chain 

challenges (from finished 

goods to retail) in the FMCG 

sector; Leveraging big-data 

analytics, identity management 

and behavioural analysis 

to identify customers’ 

Terragon releases 2018 Digital 

Trends report for Nigeria 

Africa’s marketing 

technology firm, 

Terragon, has released 

its 2018 

Digital Trends report for 

Nigeria. The report highlights 

the importance of 

personalisation, artificial 

intelligence, online video, 

digital solutions and digital 

partnerships as key drivers 

for growth of businesses 

targeting the Nigerian consumer. 

The report emphasises 

the need for a mobilefocused, 

data-driven approach 

both online and 

Philip Asiodu to chair LAPO 

2018 annual forum 

IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, Benin City 

Management of 

Lift Above Poverty 

Organisation 

(LAPO) 

says Philip Asiodu, former 

minister of petroleum, will 

chair its 2018 Annual Development 

Forum. 

A released signed by 

Sabina Idowu-Osehobo, 

chairperson, planning committee, 

and James-Wisdom 

Abhulimen, secretary, planning 

committee, noted that 

Mike Obadan, a professor 

of economics and non-executive 

director of the Central 

Bank of Nigeria (CBN), 

would present the keynote 

paper. 

The forum, slated for August 

24, has as its theme, 

‘Towards Sustainable Socio- 

Economic Transformation 

A 

London-based Nigerian 

HR consultant, 

Richie Dayo 

Johnson, has urged 

personnel managers in Nigeria 

to explore collaboration 

and other options available 

to HR practitioners for 

greater personnel management 

initiative in achieving 

better results and set goals. 

Johnson, who spoke at 

the recently held Chartered 

Institute of Personnel 

Management of Nigeria 

(CIPM) 10th edition of the 

special human resource 

forum in Lagos, urged human 

resources personnel 

in various organisations to 

constantly set a goal devise 

as a viable approach to 

achieving set goals, and 

engage the support of othneeds, 

providing investment 

advice/lending services; 

Financial inclusion for the 

agricultural and related sectors 

with a focus on improving 

credit scoring and financing 

opportunities for small and 

medium scale operators. 

The //Re:Code Nigeria 

Hackathon 2018 aims to 

bring together multiple 

teams of talented developers, 

designers, problemsolvers, 

out-of-the-box 

thinkers, dreamers, doers, 

makers, and code magicians 

to solve these problems. 

Adeleke Adekoya, AFF’s 

business/digital solutions 

architect, believes the 2018 

edition will be far greater than 

its predecessor. “AFF remains 

fully committed to being at the 

forefront of the Fintech space 

in Nigeria and this edition of 

//Re:Code Nigeria Hackathon 

sets out to solve three of the 

biggest challenges the Ecosystem 

is facing today. 

“We have received enormous 

support from our partners, 

and with the technology 

available for participants to explore 

and leverage, we strongly 

believe the prototypes from the 

Hackathon will be of the highest 

standard,” he said. 

offline, as brands and businesses 

seek to provide a 

seamless experience to their 

target audiences. 

Tolu Odulawa, head, 

business operations, Terragon, 

says going digital is no 

longer optional, and brands 

must embed a data-driven 

approach into every facet 

of their marketing efforts, 

especially in the areas of 

lead generation, customer 

acquisition, and customer 

engagement if they are to 

expect exponential growth 

in today’s hyper-competitive 

marketplace. 

of Nigeria: Options for Non- 

State Intervention.’ 

Osehobo said over 300 

personalities including 

elected and appointed public 

office holders, government 

ministries, departments 

and agencies, nongovernmental 

organisations, 

international development 

agencies, the academia, financial 

sector, microfinance 

institutions, civil society 

organisations and the media 

are expected to attend the 

forum. 

She said the 25th Annual 

LAPO Development Forum 

will provide a veritable platform 

for policy makers and 

critical stakeholders to deliberate 

and proffer practicable 

solutions to the challenges 

militating against the socioeconomic 

development and 

transformation of Nigeria. 

JOSEPHINE OKOJIE 

Nigeria’s expectation 

from its agricultural 

sector 

may never 

crystallise if 

banks remain unwilling to 

lend to the sector. 

Agriculture has long been 

known to hold a great promise, 

and has historically been 

Nigeria’s major source of revenue 

and foreign exchange. 

In the 60s and 70s, the 

country attained extra-ordinary 

height from its agricultural 

production as it generated 

bulk of its revenue from 

it. Then it all happened that 

oil was discovered in commercial 

quantity and Nigeria 

abandoned the sector. 

However, since the 2014 

collapse of global oil crude 

prices, there has been renewed 

focus on the agricultural 

sector as the country 

attempts to diversify its 

economy away from oil. 

The shift was necessitated 

by the growing statistics 

of youth unemployment and 

the vast agricultural potentials 

that can drive a more 

sustainable economic development 

in Africa’s most 


Why Nigeria must de-risk its agric finance 

‘Effective collaboration key to 

personnel management initiative’ 

SEYI JOHN SALAU 

populous nation. 

With the current economic 

downturn the country 

is grappling with, there 

is consensus across board 

that there is no better time to 

leverage the potentials of the 

agricultural sector than now, 

not just to pull out of recession, 

but also to diversify the 

economy and place it on the 

path of sustainable growth 

and development. 

One of the factors that 

have continued to impede 

the sector is finance. Lack 

of access to adequate financing 

by farmers and 

other actors in the sector has 

remained a major impediment 

that prevents investments 

in basic farm inputs 

needed to raise productivity 

and sustain growth of the 

non-oil sector. 

As a result, yields have 

failed to increase significantly, 

leading to pervasive 

hunger and poverty. 

Similarly, agro entrepreneurs 

seeking to build businesses 

that could boost food 

production have continued 

to remain at a subsistence 

level in the country. 

“Funding is the biggest 

problem we have in Nigeria’s 

ers for the attainment of 

such goals. 

John Mattone, the guest 

speaker at the forum, in his 

analysis of the theme, ‘Talent 

and Intelligent Leadership: 

a roadmap to unleashing 

greatness in your 

current and future leaders,’ 

said communication skills 

were necessary for every 

human resource personnel 

to achieve intelligent leadership, 

critical and strategic 

thinking, decision-making, 

in attaining desired results. 

“Have a goal, but know 

that you cannot achieve 

the goal without the support, 

guidance and input of 

those around you, consider 

them to be your critical 

stakeholders, ask for their 

suggestions and always 

thank them for their input,” 

Mattone said. 

agriculture,” Heineken Lokpobiri, 

minister of state for 

agriculture and rural development, 

said at a breakfast 

meeting with banks CEOs 

in Lagos last year. 

“We need finance to put 

all the factors of production 

together to drive growth in 

the sector. We know that 

banks are still finding it difficult 

to fund agriculture but 

until we have the money 

to fund agriculture at the 

production, processing and 

marketing level, we would 

not achieve anything from 

the sector,” Lokpobiri said. 

Nigeria’s agricultural fundamentals 

are robust and include 

an estimated 84 million 

hectares of arable land out of 

which only 40 percent is cultivated 

and less than 40 percent 

is cultivated optimally. 

Two of Africa’s largest 

rivers (Niger and Benue) 

flow through and within the 

borders of the country. There 

is adequate annual rainfall; 

large young workforce and 

over 180 million consumers 

that offer a domestic market 

to support increase food 

production and processing. 

It is only the finance to 

unlock all this potentials 

Jobberman partners LASG, American Towers 

to train youths for employment 

CALEB OJEWALE 

The need to tackle 

youth unemployment 

is getting some 

attention through 

collaboration between the 

American Tower Corporation, 

the Lagos State government 

through the State’s 

Employment Trust Fund, 

and Jobberman. 

They have partnered to 

train about 120 youths in key 

digital skills and get them 

employed and so far, they 

say the initiative has succeeded 

in placing 88 percent 

of them in jobs. 

According to Olalekan 

Olude, Jobberman cofounder, 

“This synergy is a 

perfect one considering that 

American Towers Corporation 

and LSETF decided 

to leverage on the unique 

advantage of Jobberman, 

that is lacking. Experts say 

the glorious days of Nigeria’s 

agriculture could be revived 

when banks start lending 

more to the sector. 

To ensure that farmers 

across the country have access 

to adequate finance 

and also ensure that money 

deposit banks lend more to 

the sector, even as the country 

realize its agricultural potentials, 

experts say Nigeria 

must begin to hedge banks 

against the risks associated 

with funding agriculture. 

With such, experts believe 

that banks would lend 

more to the sector to drive 

growth and development. 

Despite efforts targeted at 

increasing funding to the Nigeria’s 

agriculture sector, the 

role of commercial banks 

in financing the sector still 

remains minimal owing to 

the risky nature of the sector, 

low financial literacy among 

smallholder farmers and difficulty 

in determining their 

creditworthiness. 

Successive governments 

and the Central Bank of Nigeria 

have introduced various 

financing initiatives to 

encourage banks to finance 

agric at lower interest rates. 

L-R: Reginald 

Okeya, director, 

MTN Foundation; 

Pamela Emodi, 

education portfolio 

manager, MTN 

Foundation, 

Henry Ojiokpota, 

zonal controller 

Lagos, Nigerian 

Communications 

Commission, and 

Ekong Udobang, 

senior manager, 

programme 

implementation, 

MTN Foundation, at 

the 11th Graduation 

Concert of the 

MTNF-MUSON 

Music Scholars 

Programme in 

Lagos. 

the biggest jobs website in 

sub-Saharan Africa with 

over 60,000 employers, to 

train the underserved youth 

in skills that can shape their 

lives and place them in quality 

jobs. We, at Jobberman, 

are extremely focused on 

helping Nigerians get quality 

jobs and improve their 

quality of life.” 

This was contained in 

a statement after the third 

cohort of the second month 

long programme tagged Upskill 

in Makoko, Yaba. Currently, 

eight training centres 

have been constructed in 

Makoko, Agege, and Ajah, 

and other parts of Lagos with 

plans to have more than 10 

across Lagos State. 

With the success of this 

partnership, Jobberman and 

American Towers Company 

have plans to extend this 

model across the country.

Friday 13 July 2018 C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY A1 

Human trafficking: Obaseki at EU Parliament 

makes case for improved support, partnership 

Edo State governor, 

Godwin Obaseki, 

has made a case 

to the European 

Parliament for improved 

and sustained support 

that will strengthen the 

state’s efforts to curb human 

trafficking and illegal 

migration. 

Governor Obaseki, who 

said this at a session with 

the European Union Parliament 

Sub-Committee 

on Human Rights (DROI), 

in Brussels, Belgium, noted 

that the state government 

had created structures 

and set up institutions 

such as the Edo State 

Taskforce Against Human 

Trafficking, to ensure reintegration 

of victims of human 

trafficking and illegal 

migration. 

Part of the state government’s 

delegation is the 

chairperson of the Edo 

State Taskforce Against 

Human Trafficking and 

the state’s commissioner 

for justice/attorney general, 

Yinka Omorogbe. 

The governor said much 

as the institutional framework 

had been firmed 

Edo PDP protest demands peaceful, 

fair, free, transparent election in Ekiti 

IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, Benin City 

Members of 

Edo State 

chapter of 

People’s 

Democratic Party (PDP on 

Thursday staged a peaceful 

protest in reaction to 

the alleged attack on the 

governor of Ekiti State, 

Ayodele Fayose, by security 

personnel. 

The party faithfuls, who 

were at the premises of the 

Edo State secretariat of the 

Nigeria Union of Journalists 

(NUJ), also marched 

to the headquarters of 

the state command of the 

Nigeria police to register 

their displeasure over the 

incident. 

The publicity secretary 

of the party, Chris 

Nehikhare, who led the 

protest, described the 

attacked on the sitting 

governor by the security 

agents as undemocratic 

and lacked respect for 

constituted authority. 

“PDP in Edo State condemn 

in strong terms attempt 

by security agents 

loyal to the ruling APCled 

Federal Government 

to rig and write results 

for Saturday’s Ekiti State 

governorship election. 

Nigerians want a free and 

fair election, and not war,” 

he said. 

Nehikhare, who said 

PDP was in solidarity with 

the good people of Ekiti 

State, particularly the 

PDP members, also sympathised 

with Nigerians 

for having such a “despotic 

government” in power 

that had now turned state 

power to power of tyranny 

and that of terrorism. 

The party, who vowed 

to resist any attempt to rig 

and write results in favour 

of a particular political 

party and its candidate, 

said the party as a family 

believes in the rule of law 

and wants a free, fair election 

and not war. 

While decrying the deployment 

of heavily armed 

security personnel including 

over 30,000 policemen 

to Ekiti State, he noted that 

the motive behind the 

heavy security presence 

was to create unnecessary 

tension as well as to intimidate 

voters. 

He also lamented that 

in spite of the numbers of 

security personnel in the 

country, people were being 

killed on a daily basis 

in states like Sokoto, Plateau, 

Taraba, Benue, Zamfara, 

Adamawa, among 

others. 

mittee on Human Rights, 

Josef Weidenholzer, to firm 

up modalities for the EU’s 

engagement with the state 

government on strategies 

for enduring solutions to 

human trafficking. 

Edo accounts for a considerable 

share of illegal 

migrants out of Nigeria to 

Europe, a good number of 

who die in the Mediterranean 

while attempting 

to cross to Europe. But 

the Obaseki administration 

has sustained a campaign 

against the trend, 

with the signing of the law 

against human trafficking 

last June, which has been 

hailed by experts and analysts 

as a major milestone 

in institutionalising the 

campaign. 

The state government’s 

law prohibiting trafficking 

in persons signed into law 

provides an “effective and 

comprehensive legal and 

institutional framework 

for the prohibition, prevention, 

detection, prosecution 

and punishment 

of human trafficking and 

related offences in Edo 

State.” 

Petrobras reaches $1.3bn sale of African project stake 

DIPO OLADEHINDE 

Brazilian stateowned 

oil company, 

Petróleo 

Brasileiro SA, is 

close to agreeing 

to the sale of its stake in 

Petrobras Oil and Gas BV, an 

African venture, for about 

$1.3 billion, according to a 

report by Reuters. 

Petrobras currently holds 

50 percent of Petrobras Oil 

and Gas BV or Petrobras 

Africa, while Grupo BTG 

Pactual SA holds a 40 percent 

stake in the venture 

and Helios Investment Partners 

owns the remaining 10 

percent. 

All three shareholders 

would sell their stakes, valu- 

FG reconstitutes Tax 

Appeal Tribunals 

Federal Government 

has reconstituted the 

Tax Appeal Tribunals 

in the six geo-political 

zones as well as Lagos and 

Federal Capital Territory. 

The reconstitution of 

the Tribunals is in accordance 

with Section 2(1) of 

the Fifth Schedule of the 

Federal Inland Revenue 

Service (FIRS) Establishment 

Act. 

Minister of finance, 

Kemi Adeosun, who announced 

this on Thursday 

in Abuja, said the Tribunals 

would adjudicate over 

disputes arising from the 

operation of Federal Tax 

Laws and Regulations in 

the country. 

The minister said, “The 

reconstitution of the Tax 

Appeal Tribunals is an 

essential part of building 

tax payers trust and confidence 

in the fairness of 

the system. 

“The Federal Ministry 

of Finance has undertaken 

a rigorous process to select 

competent persons on the 

basis of merit who will 

be expected to discharge 

their duties professionally.” 

up, the state also needed 

improved support for sustainable 

implementation 

of its programmes to curb 

human trafficking, which 

would serve to reintegrate 

returnees and provide the 

teeming youths with ondemand 

skills to become 

employable and self-sufficient 

in the long run. 

According to Obaseki, 

“We have a holistic programme 

to curb human 

trafficking and illegal migration. 

Already, the campaign 

has gotten the backing 

of the Oba of Benin, 

whose support has proved 

instrumental to curbing 

the trend. 

“Our programmes do 

not only stop at receiving 

and reintegrating returnees 

into society, but also 

include well laid out plans 

to rebuild institutions for 

capacity building and vocational 

training such that 

our youths would acquire 

globally-competitive skills 

to enable them lead better, 

fulfilling lives.” 

The governor earlier 

met with a member of the 

EU Parliament Sub-Coming 

the venture at around 

$2.6 billion, according to 

Valor, a state newspaper 

citing an unnamed source. 

Heavily indebted Petrobras 

launched the sale of 

Petrobras Oil & Gas BV, or 

Petrobras Africa, in which 

it holds 50 percent, as part 

plans to offload $21 billion 

in assets through 2018. 

Reuters reported on June 

18 that a consortium led 

by international oil trading 

house Vitol was in talks to 

buy stakes in the Nigerian 

offshore fields held by Petrobras 

and its partners valued 

at $2.5 billion. 

The deal would offer 

the consortium a stake in 

some of Nigeria’s largest and 

Aviation experts seek investment in 

safety infrastructure to grow GDP 

IFEOMA OKEKE 

Aviation operators 

and experts in Nigeria 

have called on 

the government to 

invest in safety infrastructure 

to attract investments that 

could grow the country’s 

Gross Domestic Product 

(GDP). 

Aviation currently provides 

93,000 jobs and contributes 

0.2 percent to Nigeria’s 

GDP. These contributions, 

they suggest, can 

improve if the government 

will create an enabling environment 

for the operators 

and provide a deliberate 

policy for businesses in aviation 

to thrive. 

Speaking during its 2018 

summit and Awards put together 

by the Association of 

Foreign Airlines Representative 

in Nigeria (AFARN), Idris 

Yakubu, managing director, 

Nigerian Aviation Handling 

Company (NAHCO), said, 

“The safety of infrastructure 

in Nigeria cannot be compared 

with those in most 

African countries.” 

Yakubu, who was represented 

by Kelechi Amaechi, 

head of commercial in 

NAHCO, said if aviation was 

lowest-cost fields. Vitol is expected 

to shoulder the largest 

part of the investment, 

spending an estimated $1 

billion, according to one 

source. 

It would be recalled that 

in November 2017, Petrobras 

launched the sale of 

100 percent of Petrobras 

Africa as part of the heavily 

indebted company’s plan 

to offload $21 billion in assets 

through 2018, as it also 

faces a massive corruption 

scandal. Petrobras holds half 

the shares in the company 

while 40 percent are held by 

a subsidiary of Grupo BTG 

Pactual SA and 10 percent by 

Helios Investment Partners. 

The venture has stakes in 

NEWS 

top notch in a country, it 

would attract tourism, adding 

that government should 

begin to focus on internally 

generated revenues to attract 

foreign exchange. 

He stressed that investment 

in human resources 

and quality professionals 

would attract investment in 

the sector. 

Basil Agboarumi, acting 

managing director of Skyway 

Aviation Handling Company 

Limited (SAHCOL), 

who also spoke at the event, 

emphasised on the need to 

operate safely or risk losing 

the confidence of investors, 

who would rather prefer to 

patronise other alternatives 

rather than operate in an 

unsafe environment. 

“When there are unsafe 

practices in the industry, 

it leads investors to other 

sectors such as Maritime, 

and this will affect not just 

the sector but the country’s 

economy,” Agboarumi said. 

Also speaking, Obi 

Mbanuzuo, accountable 

manager/CEO of Dana Airline 

Limited, said the GDP 

of the country could also 

be enhanced by improving 

safety awareness and consciousness. 

L-R: Ilham Talab, 

project manager, 

Africa-EU Renewable 

Energy Co-operation 

Programme (RECP); 

Rafat Muhammed, 

zonal head, Ikeja 1 of 

First City Monument 

Bank (FCMB); Gbele 

Olugbebi, permanent 

secretary, Ogun 

State Ministry of 

Rural Development; 

Ebipere Clark, 

special assistant, 

energy, Central Bank 

of Nigeria; Bolade 

Soremekun, chief 

executive officer, 

Rubitec Nigeria 

Limited, and George 

Ogbonnaya, group 

head, business 

banking/SMEs of 

FCMB, during the 

RECP Mini Grids 

Workshop in Lagos. 

two offshore blocs that contain 

two producing fields, 

the major Agbami field in 

OML 127, operated by a 

local Chevron affiliate and 

the Akpo field in OML 130 

operated by Total SA. 

Sources say Glencore was 

looking to back Nigerian 

producer Seplat in bidding 

for the assets while Vitol is 

examining backing several 

bidders in the process. Swissbased 

commodities trader 

Mercuria was involved in 

the initial bidding round but 

was unlikely to continue in 

the process. Oil major BP’s 

trading division had also 

considered participating in 

a possible consortium, but 

dropped out.

8 

WORKPLACE PALAVER 

Laide isn’t 

falling for the 

threats, she 

knows better 

BUSINESS DAY Friday 13 July 2018 

WOMEN’S HUB 

KEMI AJUMOBI 

Laide Adebayo is a beautiful, intelligent and 

focused lady. She loves her job as the HR 

Manager at Gbenga & Sons Limited but she 

got a better offer at MacPhersons & Lloyd Ltd 

and she wasn’t willing to trade it for anything in 

the world. She spoke to her fiancé, Akin Peterson 

about it and he was in support of her decision 

100 percent. 

She was to resume in May so she gave a 3 

months’ notice of resignation to her company 

(now previous). The company tried to persuade 

her to stay but she had made up her mind already. 

7 years was sufficient enough to have 

made her mark in the organisation. It was time to 

move on. 

When she resumed at her place of work, she 

observed certain coldness among the employees 

but she felt it was because she just came and 

trusted that with time they would blend. It mattered 

to her that they were cold towards her but 

central on her mind was what she was employed 

to do, not sentiments. 

One day, she got to her office and observed that 

a letter was on the floor. She saw it immediately 

she opened her door. It was an anonymous letter. 

In it, the writer expressed how he felt (he claimed 

to be David Ojo but there is actually no David Ojo 

in the entire organisation so she knew the person 

wanted to be anonymous) about her position, 

how there was someone he and some other staff 

felt was qualified for the position she was just 

given, how he strongly suggests that she resigns 

and be ‘fair-minded with a fellow woman like her’, 

how God will bless her if she considers his suggested 

‘offer’…he went on and on and on. Laide 

smiled and said to herself “that explains their 

attitude”. After reading it, she shredded the letter 

and continued with her work for the day. 

Two weeks later, as she was walking to her office, 

she saw Biodun Adebayo, the IT Supervisor perusing 

the area just by her office door, to be sure 

he wasn’t seen before he carried out his act. Immediately 

Laide saw him, because she was at his 

rear side, she stepped back and carefully peeped 

to confirm her suspicions. When Biodun saw that 

the coast was clear, he pushed the letter under 

her door and walk away briskly. He had switched 

off the camera on the passage at that time so 

he walked away quickly back to the server room 

and put it on. After he left, Laide walked to her 

office, opened the door and picked up the letter. 

This time, he was issuing threats. Laide had seen 

enough, so she swung into action. 

She sent out a memo to all staff excluding the very 

senior members. 

The meeting was to hold in their mini conference 

room during lunch break. At exactly 1:30pm, they 

were all present. Laide appreciated their punctuality 

and welcomed them all. She further asked for 

someone to define the word Bully. They wondered 

why she asked the question. Different people got 

up to give their definitions but she walked up to 

where Biodun was, looked straight and sternly 

into his eyes and said, “Mr. Biodun, would you like 

to share your more precise definition with us?” 

“Me?” he asked as if he was in doubt of Laide’s 

choice. He intended it to be sarcasm but she also 

‘played along’ and sardonically responded “No sir, 

the person behind you”. Biodun realised his joke 

wasn’t funny so he responded. After he was done, 

Laide said “I will prefer Mr. Biodun’s explanation; 

he surely has the succinct response”. She went 

ahead to explain that bullying in whatever form 

isn’t allowed in the organisation and enjoined 

anyone going through such to report immediately. 

As she was about wrapping up, 

she said “…and oh...Mr. Biodun, I hope the 

cameras were not switched off while we are 

here? We always need to be sure we are safe 

especially when people act strangely watching 

the camera to be sure no one is looking 

at them before they carry out their felonious 

acts” she said looking at him firmly. He was 

confused. He began to question himself in 

his mind “Did she see me?...did someone 

else see me? Does she know?” The thoughts 

came in back-to-back and he knew he must 

respond ASAP so he said “Yyyyes Ma’am the 

cameras are on”, Laide smiled, said “Good 

to know!” and walked away from him. The 

meeting ended and everyone wet to their offices. 

Guilty conscience would not let Biodun 

rest. He was already going nuts thinking 

“Does she know? Does she not know?” so he 

made up his mind to go and see Laide. 

It felt like a confession time. He opened up to 

Laide and apologised for his behaviour. He 

also realised that Laide didn’t let the executives 

know about it and also appreciated 

her for that. “Life is going to play us various 

games. We choose to play it as we like 

however, we must never assume our way is 

always right because our way can lead us to 

the highway. I forgive you Mr. Biodun” she 

said and Biodun was soon on his way. His 

respect for her has gone a notch higher and 

he certainly is behaving himself wisely. 

MADELEINE KNIGHT 

1, Independence 

Economic dependence 

isn’t a good feeling 

for either party in a 

relationship. But it’s usually 

even harder when it’s the guy 

who’s lacking in that area. This 

doesn’t mean you need to have 

all the money in the world but 

it does mean you need to be 

able to contribute equally. 

2, Grooming 

Although there are plenty of 

women who like a good old 

grizzly, rugged, monkey-man, 

when it comes down to it, most 

women appreciate a little bit of 

grooming and personal care. 

3, Positivity 

It means that you exude a 

brightness of spirit that will encourage 

those around you to be 

happy. This is magnetising for 

all people, not just women. 

4, Attentiveness 

Knowing when to talk and 

when to listen is crucial when 

it comes to bagging your 

beauty, but recognising when 

WHAT 

WOMEN 

WANT 

she wants you to solve a problem and when 

she wants you to agree with her about her 

problem and allow her to wallow is a very key 

– and very necessary – distinction you’ll need 

to be able to make. 

5, Sociability 

You might be really good at hanging out with 

your own friends. Most of us are. Who else is 

going to laugh at our worst jokes? It’s the comfort 

zone. But a woman will always appreciate a 

man who steps out of that zone and into different 

social arenas. 

6, Intelligence 

Intelligence is obviously extremely 

relative and when it 

comes down to it, women will 

likely gravitate towards people 

on a similar wavelength, IQ 

wise. 

7, Passion 

This doesn’t mean just in the 

bedroom, it means passion 

infused into every aspect of life 

8, Laughing 

It improves mood, stress levels, 

health in general and genuinely 

makes you a happier, more 

levelled individual. So it makes 

all the sense that women will 

seek to find a man that makes 

her laugh. 

9, Ambitious 

Women are attracted to men 

who strive to be the best they 

can be. Men who set themselves 

clear goals and actively 

pursue them possess an appealing 

strength of character. 

10, Confidence 

Remember the frog who turned 

into a Prince? That could be 

YOU! OK not really but you see 

where we’re going with this?

Friday 13 July 2018 C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 

9



C002D5556 

COMMENT 

comment is free 

Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline.com 

IJEOMA NWAGWU 

Dr. Nwagwu is a Faculty member at the 

Lagos Business School 

email:ijeoma.nwagwu@gmail.com 

Looking at recent events, it 

is fair to say that it is open 

season for entrepreneurship. 

Acknowledging that 

African entrepreneurs 

are essential to the continent’s 

economic transformation, several 

initiatives are providing platforms 

for the growth of local enterprise. 

For instance, the Tony Elumelu 

Foundation (TEF) with the French 

government signed a 1 billion Euro 

development finance agreement 

to support entrepreneurship in 

Africa. The partnership provided a 

platform for 2000 African entrepreneurs 

to network with African and 

French business leaders. 

At the Pan-Atlantic University’s 

Lagos Business School (LBS), in 

collaboration with Arizona State 

University, business development 

leaders engaged in a reboot and 

refresh on innovation practice in 

intra-institutional contexts. LBS 

faculty also linked young startups 

perfecting their craft with a vast 

network of influential business 

leaders and investors. Also, the 

Enterprise Development Centre 

(EDC) of the Pan-Atlantic University 

recently hosted an under- 

Preparing African entrepreneurs for sustainable success 

graduate entrepreneurship fair 

brimming with youthful energy 

and thoughtfully executed business 

ideas. 

The challenge is: how can we 

foster a durable and collaborative 

ecosystem to support African 

entrepreneurs?An entrepreneurial 

ecosystem is the strategic collaboration 

of publicand private 

efforts including government policies, 

financing and human capital 

development opportunities combined 

to drive entrepreneurship. 

Alone each cannot sustain innovative 

ventures but together they 

can. As entrepreneurial activity 

continues to grow in Africa, the 

role of entrepreneurs in economic 

development will be increasingly 

evident, nurtured by investment 

in key entrepreneurship assets. 

Human capital 

For entrepreneurs with more 

technical backgrounds or little to 

no business management skills, 

there is a need for retraining or to 

hire qualified managerial talent 

to complement technical talent 

in the business. Entrepreneurs in 

Africa often face the inability to 

attract and retain sound managerial 

talent, especially since 

well-established corporate firms 

have the resources to hire premium 

talent. Entrepreneurship 

is largely perceived as the means 

for survival, as opposed to it being 

a quest for self-actualization and 

wealth-creation requiring longterm 

investment in people. 

Infrastructure 

The sad state of infrastructure 

An entrepreneurial 

ecosystem is the 

strategic collaboration 

of public and private 

efforts including 

government policies, 

financing and human 

capital development 

opportunities 

combined to drive 

entrepreneurship. Alone 

each cannot sustain 

innovative ventures but 

together they can 

across Africa is a hinderance to the 

growth of entrepreneurial enterprises. 

In Nigeria, lack of constant 

electricity is perhaps the biggest 

infrastructural challenge. Also, bad 

road and rail networks, and poor 

communications infrastructure all 

drive up the cost of doing business 

and cripple businesses. As such, 

recent moves by the African Development 

Bank to finance Nigerian 

infrastructure is most welcome. 

Business advisory services 

Quality advisory services help new 

businesses overcome functional 

challenges, by offering them ac- 

cess to skills they do not have 

themselves. Success becomes 

more attainable where business 

advisory services provide complementary 

expertise which frees 

entrepreneurs to focus on their core 

strengths. While credible business 

support services are lacking in 

Africa, the existing few are mainly 

located in urban areas and at costs 

which exclude millions of local 

entrepreneurs. 

Financing 

Access to patient and affordable 

capital is vital to promoting an 

entrepreneurial ecosystem. However, 

many entrepreneurs complain 

about a limited supply of capital. 

Financiers on the other hand point 

out that many ventures are not 

fundable and often prefer the ease 

of investing in government borrowing. 

Presently, the main sources 

of capital for SMEs are retained 

earnings, informal loan providers 

and investments from family and 

friends. This greatly hampers the 

scale and agility of Nigerian businesses. 

Government programs 

African governments have in recent 

years supported entrepreneurs by 

creating initiatives to encourage 

SMEs through loans or advisory 

services. However, the results of 

these initiatives have been poor. 

First, standardized business assistance 

is impractical because businesses 

have their own peculiarities. 

Second, many government initiatives 

lack the motivation, skills and 

political backing needed to support 

entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are 

best assisted by experienced entrepreneurs 

or by industry experts 

with relevant market expertise. 

Hybrid private-government models 

are evolving which offer the best of 

both worlds. 

Universities 

Most African education systems 

concentrate on preparing students 

for employment in formal 

organizations. Entrepreneurship 

education provides students with 

knowledge and insights about 

entrepreneurial process, develops 

entrepreneurial skills and offers 

networks which provides access 

to resources and expertise. While 

several colleges and universities 

in Africa offer courses in entrepreneurship, 

however, there is a 

lack of focus on the practical skills 

needed to work on entrepreneurial 

ventures. The interdependency 

of Stanford University and Silicon 

Valley startup is a good example 

of how academic institutions can 

have close collaboration with industries. 

Similar collaborations 

are being explored by ‘Yabacon’ 

startups in Lagos and the University 

of Lagos. Given limited 

opportunities for entrepreneurship 

training in schools, incubators 

can also play a major role in 

filling the gap in entrepreneurial 

competence. 

Note: the rest of this article continues 

in the online edition of Business Day 

@https://businessdayonline.com/ 

Send reactions to: 

comment@businessdayonline. 

CHIKA NWOGU 

Chika Nwogu is a Business Strategist/ 

Project Manager and also a Volunteer 

Research Assistant with the CRLE Lagos 

Business School 

In the ecommerce industry, trust 

is the currency that binds all actors 

in the ecosystem. Ordering 

for an item online and receiving 

a different or sub-quality product has 

been one of the reasons ecommerce 

platform customers prefer payment 

on delivery options. On the flip side, 

merchants of these ecommerce 

platforms fear returned goods, the 

associated sunk costs of delivery, and 

possible damage of goods in transit. 

These underscore the trust quotient 

as a critical factor in ecommerce 

transactions. 

Loosely defined, ecommerce is 

the buying and selling of goods and 

services over the internet. Buying 

and selling could be through direct 

online retailing (e.g. Slot Nigeria’s 

online store or Walmart’s online store) 

or online marketplaces (e.g. Konga, 

Amazon marketplace) or online 

auctions (e.g. E-bay, Deal Dey). The 

buying and selling activities are performed 

via online storefronts built using 

information technology solutions. 

This enablement provided using 

information technology to engage 

in commerce over the internet is 

predicated upon the fact that all actors 

involved in the process would 

perform or deliver what is expected 

Trust as the currency for ecommerce platforms 

of them. Trust is what fuels the effectiveness 

of the process; thus, trust 

forms the basis for communication 

and exchange among actors. 

Trust is important for everyday 

interactions and businesses. More 

so, when it is internet based, it 

becomes a key factor for internet 

businesses, merchants, customers 

and payment companies. While the 

merchant would expect the customer 

to make necessary payments 

on goods ordered without undue 

cancellation or return after dispatch, 

the customer expects to see desired 

item ordered delivered on time, 

payment made through a secured 

channel, as well as some form of assurance 

that personal information is 

properly managed. 

Today, ecommerce platforms 

have changed the way products 

and services are evaluated and purchased. 

As internet penetration 

deepens, conversion and growth for 

ecommerce platforms largely depend 

on trust because they now act as the 

agents between the merchants and 

customers, creating a marketplace 

by providing the ability to search for 

items from a vast selection, from the 

comfort of the home or office, and to 

evaluate them based on specifications, 

customer reviews and ratings, 

and pricing, as the case may be. 

Because of its intangible nature, 

trust in ecommerce is capricious 

– difficult to gain and easy to lose. 

The unavailability of the physical 

experience that brick-and-mortar 

stores present leaves actors to rely 

on trust as the social mechanism for 

ecommerce business transactions. 

Unlike brick-and-mortar commerce 

where transactions are done physically, 

ecommerce transactions ride on a high 

level of uncertainty as the customer has 

no idea of the merchant’sownership, 

location or quality. Therefore, customers 

would rely on reviews and ratings to 

make a purchase decision. 

Furthermore, online buyers have 

concerns regarding payments, which 

have led to use of the platforms as online 

catalogues either to increase the 

visibility for the seller or as ‘product yellow 

pages’ for buyers and not necessarily 

as venues for financial transactions. 

In a recent data collection exercise, 

conducted by a research team led by 

faculty of the Pan-Atlantic University 

and driven by IT for Change’s project, 

‘Towards Inclusive Platformisation 

in Nigeria – The Regulatory Framing’, 

sellers on the platforms cited increased 

visibility as an economic benefit the 

ecommerce platforms have provided. 

They seemed comfortable with completing 

financial transactions offline or 

through direct payments with customers 

after their products have been seen 

on these platforms. 

While stating convenience as the 

major benefit of online shopping, respondents 

in the survey still preferred 

going physically to stores to purchase 

items. Two major reasons for this are 

cyberthreats as well as faulty order fulfillment, 

especially for fashion items 

and home appliances. 

For example, one respondent 

expressed concerns in this manner: 

“What you see is not what you get, 

that kind of thing, especially when it 

comes to items like fashion. Like you 

see a really pretty bag and then you 

buy the bag and it’s just some flimsy 

material. But in the picture, it looked 

very good. So, you know, it’s not always 

what it seems.” 

While some scholars have detailed 

that improved design and user experience, 

availability of information, as 

well as security certificates are some 

ways to improve customer trust in 

ecommerce platforms, the data collection 

exercise, also revealed that responsiveness 

to customer complaints 

and feedback, consistent policies over 

a period of time, delivery of exact order 

made, as well as explicit assurance 

of safe and secure platforms, are more 

ways to address the concerns. 

Also, lack of timely response by 

ecommerce platform operators has 

further fueled user (both merchants 

and customers) tendency to engage 

the platform mainly to increase visibility 

of products and services offered (for 

the merchants), and a catalogue that 

compares prices and options available 

in the marketplace (for the customers). 

Trust influences conversion to 

purchase a product or service, as well 

as repeated visits on the platforms. 

Simply put, customers feel they can 

trust your business if their personal 

financial data is safe and if timely 

delivery of the exact item ordered is 

given priority. 

During the survey, respondents 

opined that they still preferred the 

touch and feel experience that traditional 

brick-and-mortar stores give. 

However, before they purchase, they 

would visit ecommerce platforms to 

check for latest models available as 

well as the prices, before proceeding 

to purchase at the brick-and-mortar 

stores. A respondent stated that: 

“it is more convenient to go online 

and check several platforms and 

compare prices before going to the 

store to buy”. 

The recent acquisition of Konga by 

Zinox, led to the merging of Yudala 

(a Zinox subsidiary company) and 

Konga. The “marriage” has produced 

an interesting mix of online and offline 

store components, such that 

customers can walk into a Konga 

physical store and examine the item 

before placing orders. This might be 

a step in improving customer confidence 

regarding placing and receiving 

exact orders made. A further step 

would be deliberate reassurance to 

the customer that personal financial 

data imputed on the platform is safe 

and secure; as most users still preferred 

to use their cards on Point of 

Sale and ATM terminals than input 

the same details online. 


comment@businessdayonline.com


COMMENT 

ADEBAYO SANNI 

Adebayo Sanni, MD of Oracle Nigeria 

The deadline for compliance 

with the General 

Data Protection Regulation 

(GDPR) has come 

and gone. And while it 

happened without too much fanfare 

in Nigeria, companies that think 

they can ignore the legislation and 

maintain a business as usual approach 

are in for a rude awakening. 

Any organisation (irrespective 

its size, industry or geographic location) 

that has dealings with a company 

or people inside the European 

Union (EU) must adhere to it. Those 

not willing to do so, face fines of either 

20 million euros or four percent 

of their global revenue. 

Already, the past few weeks have 

seen a notable increase in emails 

from subscription lists mentioning 

data privacy and how the personal 

information of subscribers are 

stored and kept safe. 

For cloud providers that have 

customers around the world, this 

is a significant piece of regulation. 

However, even a small start-up in 

downtown Lagos that provides a 

service to a person living in France 

must be compliant. While a lot of 

focus is currently on companies inside 

the EU, it will only be a matter of 

time before ‘outside’ businesses and 

services are reviewed and audited. 

Of course, the cloud provides 

many benefits to organisations that 

are required to be GDPR-compliant. 

Not only does it provide a more secure 

platform, but the environment 

is robust and continuously updated 

to reflect the latest technology innovations. 

This results in a smoother 

migration path when it comes to 

data security and management with 

GDPR in mind. 

Changing behaviour 

At 68 pages with 99 separate areas 

of focus, it is hardly surprising that 

many feel intimidated by the GDPR. 

For those providing cloud or ‘as-aservice’ 

solutions, there are four 

key requirements to consider – data 

security; rights of individuals; documentation 

and security audits; and 

data breach notifications. 

But even before one can delve 

into the technical aspects of compliancy, 

the reality is that many Nigerian 

businesses need to change the way 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

11 

comment is free 

Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline.com 

The importance of GDPR compliance for Nigerian businesses 

Companies should 

carefully review 

whether the 

information they collect 

about their customers 

are necessary and, if 

it is, how securely is it 

stored and protected 

from external systems. 

The days of blindly 

sharing customer data 

and insights with third 

parties are a thing of 

the past 

they view and use data. Certainly, 

the situation is not unique to the 

country with many others struggling 

to adapt to a new way of capturing, 

storing, using, and sharing data. 

It all starts with consent and 

whether the user agrees to the kind 

of data being stored about them 

and what it will be used for. This 

forces a re-think in the way data is 

collected. Companies should carefully 

review whether the information 

they collect about their customers 

are necessary and, if it is, how 

securely is it stored and protected 

from external systems. The days of 

blindly sharing customer data and 

insights with third parties are a thing 

of the past. An important aspect of 

this is to make sure the language 

used in data collection policies is 

written in a way that the layperson 

can understand. So, no more hiding 

behind legalese or difficult to follow 

technical concepts. 

Already, there is a groundswell of 

support to the mantra ‘your data, your 

property.’ Nigerian businesses must 

ensure they keep this in mind. This 

is also where the critically important 

‘right to forget’ component of GDPR 

comes in. A consumer can delete his 

or her profile at a business with the 

personal information needing to be 

wiped clear. Just consider the impact 

this will have on social networks. 

Local guidance 

Fortunately, Nigeria has the Digital 

Rights and Freedom Bill for companies 

to fall back on. Even though it is 

still awaiting presidential assent, the 

bill does provide organisations with 

guidance on data handling, collection, 

and use in the country. 

Furthermore, compliance is not 

something that is done once and 

forgotten. Instead, decision-makers 

need to continually review and assess 

their data management strategies 

and policies. The GDPR is an 

ongoing concern that requires an 

integrated approach to data. Fundamentally, 

local companies do not 

have the luxury of using disparate 

databases and systems any longer. 

They must all be integrated, with 

the data securely stored every step 

of the process. 

Even though the deadline of 25 

May is long forgotten, companies 

must review and assess their policies 

to ensure they do not fall foul of 

regulators. The cost of not doing so is 

too severe to ignore. 


comment@businessdayonline.com 

MICHAEL OPEYEMI BAMIDELE 

Hon. Bamidele, former Member of 

the House of Representatives and 

former Lagos State Commissioner for 

Information and Strategy, is the Director 

General of the Dr. Kayode Fayemi 

/ APC Governorship campaign. 

This is a short message to 

the people of Ekiti State. To 

begin with, I want to express 

my utmost gratitude to all 

of you for your supports and prayers 

since the unfortunate incident of 

Friday, 1st of June 2018 when I suffered 

multiple gunshot injuries. The 

massive show of support by wellmeaning 

Ekiti sons and daughters 

which has cut across all social strata 

has left me so extremely humbled. 

From the heavy presence of Okada 

riders, youth and women leaders 

who jam-packed the premises of 

Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital 

that Friday night, with many of 

them pulling their shirts to donate 

blood while I was in surgery, to the 

powerful presence of delegation of 

the Ewi of Ado Ekiti and Oluyin of 

Iyin Ekiti by Saturday morning, followed 

by the personal visit of our 

referred Aare Afe Babalola, who was 

accompanied by his wife and principal 

functionaries of Afe Babalola 

University. On top of the visit, Aare 

Afe Babalola announced that whatever 

bill incurred with respect to my 

treatment should be sent to him for 

payment. Of course, I cannot thank 

Ekiti 2018: I nominate Fayemi 

the management and staff of Ekiti 

State University Teaching Hospital, 

personally led by their CMD, enough 

for their prompt intervention as 

well as brave display of professional 

diligence and depth. I also thank all 

the Churches, Mosques and other 

religious platforms and leaders who 

have been praying for me all over 

Ekiti State. 

The role of our political leaders 

in Ekiti, especially Otunba Niyi Adebayo, 

Dr. And Mrs Kayode Fayemi, 

Engr. Segun Oni and Evangelist 

BamideleOlumilua in ensuring that 

I was stabilised enough and airlifted 

me from Ado Ekiti to Lagos for intensive 

care can only be a matter for 

another day. 

In Lagos, the earliest callers at 

the intensive care centre included 

Governors Akeredolu, Tambuwal 

and Aregbesola of Ondo, Sokoto and 

Osun States respectively. Then 

cameAsiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu 

in the company of Chief Bisi Akande, 

GeneralAlaniAkinrinade, Chief Pius 

Akinyelure, Mr Sunday Dare and 

Senator OlorunnimbeMamora. And 

by the following week, Asiwaju had 

concluded arrangements to move 

me to one of the best hospitals in the 

UK for further treatment, providing 

his private aircraft to fly my wife and 

I to London. Again, what can I say 

except to note this act of extreme 

kindness as a matter for another 

day as saying ‘thank you‘ would 

simply be an understatement. As I 

was settling down in London, I received 

a powerful delegation led by 

the Secretary to the Government of 

Ogun State, Mr. Taiwo Adeoluwa, on 

behalf of His Excellency, Governor 

IbikunleAmosun. This was followed 

by a phone call by His Excellency, 

Governor Bagudu of Kebbi State. The 

show of love continues…… 

However, blessed as I am and 

in spite of this show of love, I still 

feel the pain and trauma of multiple 

gunshot injuries, which can only be 

appreciated and accurately imagined 

by those who actually saw the extent 

of the wounds. So, it is a fact that as I 

write to Ekiti people at this moment 

right on my sick bed and with all 

manners of machines connected to 

my body, I am truly in pain. 

But I am more concerned that 

Ekiti today is a State in PAIN and I am 

more worried about a greater pain 

Ekiti people are going through: the 

pain of hunger. The pain of wants in 

the midst of plenty. Our people are 

going through the pain of poverty, 

which stares both the young and the 

old in the face. There is the pain of 

unemployment among our teeming 

youth population, many of whom 

are graduating from the Universities, 

Polytechnics and Colleges of Education 

to end up as Okada riders. There 

is the pain of insecurity and misplacement 

of priorities. There is the pain of 

the elite not being proud to introduce 

himself as an Ekiti man either home or 

abroad because people will ask where 

exactly did Ekiti people get it wrong. 

It is against this background that 

the Saturday 14th July 2018 Governorship 

elections will be holding. I, 

therefore, consider it important for 

me to make a clarion call to Ekiti 

people not to see the election as being 

a competition majorly between the 

All Progressives Congress (APC) and 

the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). 

But, rather, to recognise the election 

as an invitation to choose between 

light and darkness; between commitment 

to global best practice standard 

and mere playing to the gallery; and 

between a collective rescue mission 

and a one man show. 

I say to you the good people of Ekiti 

State, once again, that our past was 

only a story told while our future can 

still be written in gold. As someone 

you love so much and who also loves 

you so passionately, I implore you 

to trust my sense of judgement and 

accept my sincere recommendation 

of Dr. Kayode Fayemi, candidate of 

the APC as the right man to get your 

votes on July 14, 2018. 

Yes, many of you had your disagreement 

with him in the past. Just 

like I also disagreed with him and I 

know some of you disagreed with him 

even because of me. But come to think 

of it, most of the disagreements were 

not personal but were based on perception 

of policies and programmes 

of his administration at the time. 

Dr. Fayemi did not shy away from 

this issue and he demonstrated 

leadership and a high sense of humility 

and sincerity when, in giving his 

acceptance speech as the candidate 

of the APC in May 2018, he publicly 

apologised to Ekiti people who 

would have disagreed with some aspects 

of the policies and programmes 

of his previous administration. 

Once again, I specifically call on 

our teachers in Ekiti State. You know 

me well as your supporter and ally 

and I am sure you trust I will never 

deceive you. Please do not believe 

the lie that Dr. Fayemi is coming 

back for vengeance. I have discussed 

extensively with him and the leadership 

of the party and I am sure you 

stand to benefit immensely from 

his second coming. Be rest assured 

of a seasoned Commissioner for 

Education you can work with and be 

ready to also nominate a Special Assistant 

to the Governor with the sole 

responsibility of liaising between the 

Governor’s Office and your union. 

Trust me, Comrades, this is not 

the time for anybody to make you 

swear on your first or last born. It is 

the same assurance I give to the State 

Civil Servants. From the appointment 

of a level headed and amiable 

Head of Service that you can happily 

work with to a greater inclusion of the 

Body of Permanent Secretaries in the 

governance process as well as priority 

attention to matters of establishment, 

training and pensions, you can be rest 

assured of a better deal. 

And to the Local Government Staff 

across the State, again you can look 

forward to a better deal regarding 

priority attention to peculiar matters 

and challenges that face you, including 

also in the areas of staff welfare, 

establishment, training and pensions. 

You can look forward to getting a 

Commissioner for Local Government 

you can happily work with as well as 

your own nominee as Special Assistant 

to liaise between the Governor’s 

Office and your Union among others. 

Again, to Ekiti people, I stick out 

my neck to say that Dr. Kayode Fayemi 

of 2018 has a greater scientific 

understanding of what is to be done 

to bring the glory of Ekiti State back 

from sabbatical. He has had the rare 

privilege of a better exposure at the 

Federal level with wider network that 

he can place at the disposal of the 

government and people of Ekiti State 

if given the mandate on July 14 to lead 

Ekiti as Governor yet again. 

Above all, he has come under 

grace and maturity that only comes 

with age: Dr Fayemi is 4 years older 

than when he left office as Governor 

in 2014; he is eight years older than 

when he was sworn in as Governor 

in 2000; and he is eleven and a half 

years older than when he first stood 

for Governorship election in 2007. 

I know you are all praying for 

me all over Ekiti for quick recovery. 

Electing Dr. Kayode Fayemi with your 

votes on July 14, 2018 will be a major 

therapy to boost my healing process. 

I sincerely look forward to it. 

Alale Ekiti a gbe a o! In se re!! 


comment@businessdayonline.com



Editorial 

PUBLISHER/CEO 

Frank Aigbogun 

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HEAD, HUMAN RESOURCES 

Adeola Obisesan 

Fuelling poverty through import ban 

The federal government 

recently 

announced 

that it plans to 

close Nigeria’s 

border with Benin Republic 

to tackle the menace of rice 

smuggling into the country. 

The minister of Agriculture, 

who announced the move, 

said shutting the borders 

had become necessary to 

encourage local production 

and sustain the economy of 

the country. 

The federal government 

and even the president had 

been claiming that Nigeria 

was on its way to self-sufficiency 

in rice production 

as the country’s rice import 

was down by 90 percent. 

The president also boasts 

that rice import will be 

completely stopped later 

this year to encourage local 

production. 

Well, rice importation 

through the ports have been 

technically banned since 

2015 as a discouraging 70 

percent tariff more or less 

effectively dissuaded importation 

through the ports, 

while it remained totally 

banned through the land 

borders. 

The reality though, as BusinessDay 

findings have shown 

is that, as legal importation 

to Nigeria drops drastically, 

neighbouring countries such 

as Benin, Cameroun, Niger 

and others have seen their 

parboiled rice imports increasing. 

Ironically, these 

countries mostly consume 

white rice (another variant 

of the staple), whereas they 

import more parboiled rice, 

which, consideration their 

population, can last them for 

a decade. However, they continue 

to import parboiled rice 

every year while legal imports 

continue to decline in Nigeria 

as smuggling increases exponentially. 

Data by the Thai Rice Exporters 

Association shows 

that Benin Republic’s rice 

imports from Thailand from 

January to November 2017 

stood at 1.64 million metric 

tonnes, a 32 percent increase 

from 1.24 million 

metric tonnes within the 

same period in 2016, and an 

increment of 104.45 percent 

from 805,765 metric tonnes 

exported to Benin republic 

in 2015. Cameroun also 

imported 663, 667 metric 

tonnes of parboiled rice from 

Thailand between January 

and November 2017, a 47.64 

percent increase from 449, 

513 within the same period 

in 2016, and 449, 297 metric 

tonnes in 2015. It is safe to 

say that most of the imports 

to these countries end up in 

the Nigerian market through 

smuggling. 

An investigation carried 

out by BusinessDay some 

months ago also shows that 

smuggling is rife along the 

official border points and 

despite the fact that rice importation 

is banned through 

the borders, traders continue 

to import the commodity 

through official border points 

usually after settling customs 

officials. 

What is more, the prices 

of the smuggled rice are way 

lower than those of locally 

produced rice. Consequently, 

poor Nigerians have continued 

to patronise the imported 

rice, which they feel is also 

of higher quality than locally 

produced rice. 

Now that the reality has 

dawned on the government, 

it is planning to shut the border 

with Benin Republic and 

also use drones to monitor 

smuggling so as to prevent 

or stop them. But we need 

to ask: does the government 

also plan to shut the borders 

with Niger Republic, Chad 

and Cameroon also? Does it 

plan to expel all the custom 

officials at the borders that 

connive with smugglers to 

bring in the rice? 

We must stop chasing 

shadows. We cannot at one 

instance, be advocating free 

trade and be putting barriers 

to free trade all over. Secondly, 

the government cannot 

be stifling competition 

just so to support and protect 

some inefficient but big cartels 

of local rice producers. 

The government cannot be 

claiming to be interested in 

addressing poverty and at 

the same time encouraging 

or supporting monopolies 

that always results in higher 

prices. Imported rice have 

continued to appeal to Nigerians 

because they are 

way cheaper and of more 

quality than the local ones. 

Instead of fighting the wars 

of the local rice cartel, the 

government would do well 

to improve their operating 

environment to be able to 

compete favourably with 

imported rice. 

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BUSINESS DAY 

MoneyInsight 

C002D5556 

13 

Personal Finance: Investing Retirement Taxes Credit Cards Home Buying Small Business Shopping Financing 

How Nigerians reacted to 

Osinbajo’s visit to Silicon Valley 

FRANK ELEANYA 

Since the beginning of this 

week, Nigeria’s Vice President, 

Yemi Osinbajo has 

been on tour of Silicon Valley, 

in California, United States of 

America. The goal of the visit, 

according to the Presidency, 

is to emphasise the Buhari 

administration’s policies such 

as the Ease of Doing Business 

reforms, which have improved 

the country’s ranking in the 

World Bank’s Ease of Doing 

Business Index 2017. 

The tour which commenced 

on Tuesday has seen the Vice 

President visit CEOs like Sundar 

Pichai of Google and Allen 

Blue, co-founder of LinkedIn, 

over 20 “important” tech investors 

and the biggest players in 

Hollywood such as Universal 

Studios, Warner Bros, 20th 

Century Fox, IMAX, and Disney. 

At a fireside chat with Allen 

Blue, Osinbajo described the 

role of the recently inaugurated 

Technology and Creativity Advisory 

Group to drive policy in 

tech innovation and entertainment. 

“By 2050, Nigeria will have 

the third largest population in 

the world,” he said. “We understand 

that we have to explore 

ways of delivering education 

outside conventional classrooms.” 

Since the news of the tour 

was announced by the Presidency, 

Nigerians have taken to 

popular social media platform, 

Twitter to air their views. There 

are those who say the tour is 

ill-advised and a misplaced priority 

as the government should 

have taken care of problems at 

home before venturing to invite 

investors to come. 

“Procter & Gamble just left 

Funding to Nigerian tech startups 

in Q2 outpaces Q1 by 800% 

FRANK ELEANYA 

Nigerian tech startups 

received financial investments 

in excess of 800 

percent in the second quarter 

(Q2) of 2018 compared with first 

quarter (Q1). 

Nigerian Startup Funding 

Report compiled by Techpoint 

and received by BusinessDay 

showed that while the number 

of companies that got funding 

went up by 27, the total value of 

funding was at $73,685,003 from 

the country, one year after 

investing in Nigeria and you 

think tech giants are not aware 

of anti-business policies of this 

administration,” @ChrisEzaka 

tweeted. 

“Do you have electricity to 

sustain any of these tech giants 

even if they decide to invest in 

Nigeria?” @kingikemefuna66 

asked. “You should be meeting 

with General Electric to bring 

power to Nigeria.” 

“The VP proud and intellectual, 

but it breaks my heart 

how he puts the cart before 

the horse. Tech? Where is the 

power to sustain it?” @pearly_ 

al said. 

@adeb123 buttressed the 

point thus “@ProfOsinbajo we 

cannot put the cart before the 

horse. Innovation and technology 

cannot thrive where there 

is no electricity and the internet 

access is expensive. We are 

wasting time.” 

Nevertheless, a significant 

number of Nigerians saw the 

Vice President’s visit as positive 

and could spur new developments 

in the tech sector. 

“Yes, the tech sector has 

done most of its accomplishment 

without government 

help. There has been some 

government help though. We 

have broadband in Yaba thanks 

to @OmobolaJohnson. VP can 

assure investors of a positive 

investment climate and their 

welcome to Nigeria,” “oviosu, 

CEO of @mypaga wrote on his 

timeline. 

“Sometimes we need people 

at the highest level of governance 

to see for themselves 

what is possible,” @OmobolaJohnson 

former minister of 

ICT tweeted. “My trip to Silicon 

Valley when I was honourable 

minister opened my eyes to 

possibilities of tech entrepreneurship 

in Nigeria and the 

role of government in facilitating, 

supporting and catalysing.” 

“We are glad that you are 

placing Nigeria on the world 

map of innovation, technology 

and making the world 

know that Nigeria is a country 

blessed numerous human resources,” 

@kemisolaAdeun1 

tweeted. 

The Vice President is expected 

to be back 

21 deals. 

Two-thirds of the total funding 

worth 98 percent in value 

came from foreign investors. 

Local investors funded less than 

eight deals. 

Financial services remained 

the most attractive for investors 

as startups in the segment 

brought in 75 percent of the total 

funding in value for the quarter. 

Startups got the most funding 

deals from grants, however one 

Series C funding round worth 

$47,500,000 represents 64 percent 

of the total funding in value. 

The total value of Series A funding 

round at $13,500,000 for the 

quarter is higher than the entire 

funding in Q1. 

Pre-seed, seed funding and 

equity investment brought in 

$10,271,143, $1,150,000 and 

$50,000 respectively. 

The month of May saw the 

biggest funding deals including 

Cellulant’s $47,500,000; 

O-Mobile Multimedia Limited 

($10,000,000); and Lidya 

($6,900,000). 

Fintech firms seek 

regulatory clarity to 

address barriers in Nigeria 

FRANK ELEANYA 

Barriers and questions 

that undermine 

growth of the financial 

technology (Fintech) 

space in Nigeria could be 

addressed with more clarity. 

At a Market Makers 

discussion organised 

by Omidyar Network on 

Thursday, 5 July, leaders of 

various fintech companies 

in Nigeria including Paga, 

Flutterwave, and Lidya acknowledged 

the potential 

in the market. 

They however noted 

that growth is not at par 

with expectations as the 

ecosystem continues to be 

overburdened by regulatory 

hurdles. 

“One of the main barriers 

to advance financial 

services in Nigeria is 

amount of licenses a business 

needs to apply for 

and their cost,” Iyinoluwa 

Aboyeji, founder of Flutterwave 

said. 

The Central Bank of 

Nigeria (CBN) licence 

requirement for mobile 

money include three years 

tax clearance of each of 

the founder of the prospective 

fintech startup, 

draft agreements with 

technical partners, participating 

banks, switching 

company, merchants, 

telecommunication companies, 

and any other 

party; payment of nonrefundable 

application fee 

of N100,000 to CBN; and 

evidence of shareholders’ 

fund of N2 billion. 

According to Aboyeji, 

opening the financial 

playing field means having 

some levels of regulation 

tempered per activity, to 

everyone. 

Regulatory barrier is 

also seen as a contributor 

to low funding of the 

ecosystem in Nigeria. 

Tunde Kehinde, CEO of 

Lidyadotco observed that 

the MSME credit gap in 

emerging markets is $2.3 

trillion. 

A WeeTracker’s report 

on funding destination in 

Africa for the first half of 

2018 showed that, although 

Nigerian startups 

had the most deals (31 

deals worth $29.41 million) 

on the continent, 

investors poured in more 

money (about $82.86 million) 

in Kenyan startups 

which closed lesser deals 

compared to Nigeria. 

“We need to create local 

pools of finance to fund 

more businesses and get 

middle managers in financial 

services to take risks,” 

Tayo Oviosu, CEO of Paga 

said. 

He suggested that Nigeria’s 

difficult business 

environment could be 

responsible for failure of 

businesses to replicate 

successful models across 

Africa in the country. 

He also noted that 

the absence of telecom 

operators in the mobile 

payment space was hindering 

growth of most fintech 

companies.



Policy Investments Market Insight Influencers 

MARKET 

Sterling bank provides financing for solar energy projects 

… Appoints 5 Nigerian companies to execute scheme 

Stories by ISAAC ANYAOGU 

Sterling Bank, the 

only Nigerian 

bank with a functional 

renewable 

energy desk is 

making available financing 

for renewable energy 

projects for industrial, small 

business and residential users 

in Nigeria. 

Sources with knowledge 

about the matter informed 

BusinessDay that five companies 

including Abuja 

based BlueCarmel and Elec- 

3city, have signed a memorandum 

of understanding 

to provide offgrid power to 

industrial and residential 

users respectively. 

BusinessDay also gathered 

that Segun Adaju’s 

Consistent Energy Ltd is 

also a beneficiary of the 

project, the other beneficiaries 

are yet to be confirmed. 

Some of the beneficiaries 

confirmed say that they 

have had discussions with 

the bank over the matter. 

“Our firm is in talks with 

the bank,” says Segun Adaju, 

who doubles as the president 

of Renewable Energy 

Association of Nigeria 

(REAN), a trade association 

of alternative energy entrepreneurs. 

The challenge of huge 

upfront costs involved in 

acquiring solar energy is 

the strongest discouraging 

factor for rapid solar energy 

adoption in the country. To 

set up a 2KV system capable 

of power a refrigerator, 5 

lighting points, a television 

and sound system set, a 

user would be required to 

pay as much as N700,000- 

N800,000 in a three bedroom 

apartment. Systems 

that can power an entire 

building including air conditioners 

and pumping machine 

could cost between 

N2M – N4M. 

Considering that the lifespan 

of solar panels is over 20 

years and good batteries can 

last up to five years, the cost 

over time is cheaper than 

buying diesel which pollutes 

the environment. 

However with financing 

from the bank, a residential 

users can acquire a loan of 

N800,000 which the bank 

pays to the supplier who 

procures the and installs the 

solar infrastructure which 

the customer repays over 

a 12 months period at the 

interest rate of 27%. 

“The beauty of the arrangement 

is that the solar 

energy supplier has the duty 

of ensuring that only high 

quality batteries and solar 

panels are provided for the 

customer wherever he can 

get it. The customer will 

have a two year warranty 

and contributes zero equity. 

All he needs is a salaried 

account with a verifiable 

BVN,” said Ernest Akale, 

CEO of Elec3city. 

Nigeria’s city centres are 

replete with shards of broken 

solar projects from constituent 

projects of politicians 

who awarded the contract 

to their cronies, who in 

turn purchase substandard 

solar infrastructure and 

built phony projects. 

Others are due to lack of 

maintenance as actions as 

simple as failing to routinely 

wipe the dust off solar panels 

can reduce their lifespan. 

INSIGHT 

Highlights from Hogan Lovells renewable energy report lll 

Advocates creative financing strategies for off-grid projects 

… Securitisation, Green bonds, Private equity, Chinese-backed loans, Islamic financing 

In the third and final 

series of our analysis 

on the Hogan Lovells 

research on the Renewable 

Energy sector in Africa 

with the theme: Africa 

and Renewables Wholesale 

change or short term surge?, 

we focus on some of the 

approaches recommended 

to raise capital to finance 

renewable energy projects. 

As the report shows, many 

projects fail not so much due 

to lack of financing but the 

absence of the right kind of 

finance structured to meet the 

goals of the project. According 

to the report, financiers and 

governments are increasingly 

looking at innovative financing 

solutions to get projects 

off the ground. 

In South Africa where 

commercial banks are faced 

with concentration risks, have 

resorted to removing assets 

from their balanced sheets 

through securitisation process, 

thereby liberating capital 

for the next opportunities. 

Many of these prospects have 

come from the renewable 

energy sector which is seeing 

rapid growth. 

Another funding mechanism 

highlighted in the report, 

is the issuance of sovereign 

green bond in Nigeria worth 

about $30million in December 

2017. This made Nigeria 

the first African country and 

only the fourth in the world 

to issue green bonds. 

“It takes significant efforts 

for a country to issue its first 

green bonds compared to traditional 

bonds,” said a World 

Bank spokesman cited in the 

report who worked on the deal. 

Nigeria had to build capacity 

within its ministries and 

authorities, schedule its bond 

to coincide with the national 

budget, coordinate its institutions 

and build criteria for 

projects to receive the funds, 

according to the spokesman. 

With more African governments 

using sovereign bonds 

to raise debt for infrastructure 

projects generally more green 

bonds are likely to follow. 

Global green bond issuance 

rose to $155 billion in 

2017 according to a report 

obtained the Market Development, 

Climate Bonds Initiative 

(CBI), and over 1500 

green bonds were issued 

across the globe during the 

period, accounting for 78 per 

cent growth in 2016. 

The group said that projects 

eligible for Green Bonds financing 

were renewable energy, 

pollution prevention, green 

buildings, clean water, energy 

efficiency and climate change 

adaptation, among others. 

Another source of funding 

is private equity which is featuring 

heavily in the financing 

of renewables projects 

in Africa. At least $4billion 

from the private equity and 

hedge funds will be used to 

finance Ethiopia’s upcoming 

geothermal projects as it attempts 

to replicate the success 

Kenya has had in becoming 

the world’s largest geothermal 

power producer. 

East Africa’s geothermal 

potential exceeds 15GW 

and represents a $40billion 

investment opportunity, according 

to USAID-led initiative 

Power Africa. 

The Nigerian off-grid energy 

investment company, 

All On, in February this year, 

Analyst: Isaac Anyaogu, Email: isaac.anyaogu@businessdayonline.com, 07037817378, 

announced equity and debt 

investment to Port Harcourt 

based Green Village Electricity 

(GVE), Nigeria’s leading 

mini-grid player, for expansion 

in the Niger Delta and 

across Nigeria, while Cold- 

Hubs is receiving a convertible 

debt facility to expand its 

solar-powered marketplace 

cold storage business to new 

markets in the region. 

These developments came 

three months after All-On announced 

its first set of transactions 

in Nigeria’s off-grid 

market, and two months after 

the firm and U.S. Africa Development 

Foundation (USADF) 

announced a $3 million partnership 

to expand access to 

energy for underserved and 

unserved markets in Nigeria. 

Chinese participation in 

the financing of renewables 

projects is also another source 

of funding mentioned in the 

report. This has been on an 

upward trend particularly 

in large-scale hydropower 

projects, and this trend will 

continue, the report says. 

Some examples of the 

projects funded by Chinese 

funds include Kaleta and 

Souapiti dams under construction 

in Guinea – which 

will have a combined capacity 

of 800 MW – were financed by 

Chinese investors and have 

engineering, procurement 

and construction contractors 

from China. Another 

Chinese backed hydropower 

project is under construction 

in Uganda. 

A further option includes 

Islamic Financing which the 

report says could offer an 

additional source of funding. 

Islamic lenders will consider 

the bankability of any project 

on its own merits. However, 

the development banks within 

the Islamic space that seek out 

opportunities are not solely 

driven by commercial gain. 

“Renewable energy projects 

in Africa lend themselves 

to the ethos of Islamic finance 

which fundamentally seeks 

to better people’s lives in addition 

to generating a return 

for investors,” said Imran 

Mufti, a Dubai-based partner 

at Hogan Lovells. 

Graphics: Joel Samson

Friday 13 July 2018 C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 15 

COMPANIES 

& MARKETS 

Company news analysis and insight 

African Trade Insurance 

Agency pays first dividend 

without Nigeria benefiting 

Pg. 16 

Jim Ovia wants NCC allow insurers deploy mobile 

phone technology to drive financial inclusion 

…calls for collaboration among regulators 

Modestus AnaesoronyE 

in Abuja 

The Founder of 

Zenith Bank Plc 

and Chairman 

of Zenith General 

Insurance, 

Jim Ovia has called on the 

Nigerian Communication 

Commission (NCC) to allow 

insurance companies take 

advantage of mobile phone 

technology to drive financial 

inclusion, and reach the mass 

of uninsured population in 

Nigeria. 

This he said will not only 

deepen penetration of financial 

services in the country, 

but will also take the mass 

population of Nigerians in 

rural communities out of 

poverty. 

To make this happen, the 

National Insurance Commission 

(NAICOM), the Central 

Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and 

the Nigerian Communication 

Commission (NCC) Jim Ovia 

said must collaborate to allow 

for integration of services. 

Jim Ovia, made the remark 

at the 2018 National 

Insurance Conference (NIC) 

organized by the Insurance 

Industry Consultative Council 

(IICC), at Transcorp Hilton, 

Abuja. 

Speaking on the theme of 

the Conference “Insurance 

Industry and Financial Insurance”, 

Jim Ovia said insurance 

is a primary solution to break 

the poverty cycle, for which 

only a few other financial 

products are as powerful. 

He said that exclusion 

from insurance products 

often results in people being 

trapped in a poverty cycle 

which is exacerbated by poor 

health. This is especially so 

because of the risk transfer 

mechanism of insurance. 

“Everyone is exposed to 

risk either through normal 

everyday existence or via the 

enterprises that they may 

embark on, and so insurance 

enables peace of mind which 

enables people to take more 

risks with higher expected 

returns. It also acts as stabilization 

against shocks should 

these risks materialize.” 

Emphasizing the importance 

of digital distribution as 

a key component of enabling 

financial inclusion, he said 

“Prudential Plc, our global 

partner at Prudential Zenith, 

achieved a rapid take up of 

micro-insurance products via 

mobile technology in Ghana. 

Their mobile offering saw a 

take up of about 1.5million 

people in just over 12 months. 

While appreciating the fact 

that products and bureaucracies 

associated with traditional 

insurance should be 

kept behind in driving micro 

insurance and other associated 

policies towards financial 

inclusion, he tasked the regulators 

to create the enabling 

environment. While however 

thanking NAICOM for making 

the guidelines for micro insurance 

among others. 

He said “Prudential Zenith, 

Nigeria together with 

other insurance companies 

are ready to deploy micro 

insurance products through 

the use of mobile phone 

technology, as soon as both 

the NCC and NAICOM could 

collaborate and approve to 

do so.” 

“I would like to encourage 

NCC and NAICOM to collaborate 

and approve the use 

of mobile phone technology 

in distributing micro insurance 

products in Nigeria, Jim 

Ovia said. 

Earlier, Mohammed Kari, 

commissioner for Insurance/ 

CEO, National Insurance 

Commission (NAICOM) said 

the theme of the Conference 

clearly reflects the direction 

the industry is headed which 

is the retail end of the market. 

Kari said the timing of this 

Conference could not have 

been more significant especially 

as the Commission prepares 

to launch the Nigerian 

Insurance Industry Development 

Plan (NIIDP), which has 

Financial Inclusion as one of 

its major components. 

L-R: Emmanuel Ekuwem, secretary to Akwa Ibom State Government; Brian Herlihy, CEO Black 

Rhino Group; Udom Emmanuel, governor, Akwa Ibom State; Adedayo Ojo, QIPPL Project Advisor/ 

CEO Caritas Communications, during the Community Partnership Agreement signing ceremony 

for the Qua Ibo Power Project (QIPP) in Uyo. 

Jumia sees Nigeria earn N3.63bn from 

domestic tourism by end of 2018 

In what seems like a bright 

prospect for domestic tourism 

in Nigeria, the sector 

is expected to contribute 

N3.63 billion to the country’s 

GDP by the end of 2018. The 

number of international arrivals 

in the country and employments 

generated by the sector 

are expected to grow by 1.5 

percent and 3.4 percent respectively 

by end of year, which are 

1.8 million international arrivals 

and 3.4 million jobs. 

Omolara Adagunodo, managing 

director of Jumia Travel 

Nigeria stated this while over 

viewing the content of the 2018 

Nigeria hospitality in Lagos. 

The report also provided 

insight on the two main components 

of domestic travel: 

leisure and business travel, and 

both grew at 2.7 percent and 

2.8 percent, that is 1.98 billion 

and 1.92 billion contributions 

respectively to domestic earnings 

in 2017. 

Tourism expert and founder 

of Akwaaba Travel Market, Ikechi 

Uko who commended the 

effort of Jumia Travel in compiling 

the report said: “the data and 

figures featured in the report can 

massively expand the footprint 

of the Nigeria travel industry 

and take it to the next level.” 

While announcing that Nigeria 

will soon subscribe to the 

Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), 

which is the internationally 

recognised standard statistical 

framework for the economic 

measurement of tourism, Uko 

urged stakeholders within the 

sector to support and rely on 

the data in reports such as Jumia 

Travel’s. 

Uko also commented on one 

of the challenges plaguing the 

sector, as identified in the report, 

such as insufficient flights. He 

said: “the number of flight pairs 

in Nigeria is very low. Lagos and 

Abuja are already saturated because 

almost all airlines want to 

fly there. As such, we need more 

flights to cut across the country 

because the travel industry cannot 

grow without a functional air 

transport network.” 

The Nigeria Hospitality Report 

from the stables of Jumia 

Travel is fast becoming a primary 

source of data for the experts 

and stakeholders in the travel 

industry as it offers a profound 

and holistic insight into the 

industry that accounted for 1.9 

percent of total GDP as a direct 

contribution, and 5.1 percent as 

a total contribution to GDP. 

Radisson Group appoints new regional director for North Africa 

FRANK ELEANYA 

Radisson Hotel Group 

has announced the 

appointment of Frederic 

Feijs as the regional 

director for North Africa and 

Egypt with immediate effect. 

In a statement released 

to BusinessDay, the Swedish 

hospitality giant said Feijs appointment 

is a homecoming, 

having begun his career in the 

hospitality industry in 1998, 

at Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, 

HARRISON EDEH, Abuja 

Brussels. 

He went on to hold leadership 

positions across multiple 

countries and continents until 

his most recent position as 

regional general manager in 

French Polynesia. 

“I am thrilled to announce 

Frederic’s appointment as he 

assumes responsibility for 

some of our key territories in 

Africa, one of Radisson Hotel 

Group’s core growth markets,” 

Tim Cordon, area senior Vice 

President, Middles East, Turkey 

and Africa. “Frederic’s 

past experience in this territory 

will play a significant role 

in strengthening our network 

in the region and increase 

operational synergies, for the 

greater benefits of owners, 

employees and ultimately 

our guests.” 

Feijs is a Belgian national 

with extensive experience in 

Francophone Africa having 

worked in Tunisia, Ivory Coast, 

Mali and Egypt in recent years 

with Radisson Hotel Group. 

Feijs, in his new role, takes 

responsibility for the group’s 

SON raids, seals Kano shops over substandard textile, phones 

The Standards Organisation 

of Nigeria’s Surveillance, 

Intelligence and 

Monitoring (SIM) Unit, 

in a renewed efforts to stamp out 

sub-standard products across 

the country has swooped on 

various warehouses in the ancient 

city of Kano stocked with 

suspected substandard African 

prints popularly known as “Ata 

m p a”. 

The team with a detachment 

of security agents sealed 21 

warehouses stocked with textile 

materials worth hundreds of 

millions of naira, putting them 

on hold until all relevant laboratory 

tests are concluded and 

analysed to confirm the quality. 

Speaking to newsmen after 

the raid, the Coordinator of the 

SIM Unit, Isa Suleiman stated 

that the owners of the warehouses 

were flouting the law by 

stocking suspected substandard 

African prints that do not meet 

with the requirements of the 

relevant Nigeria Industrial Standards 

(NIS). 

The standard he said, stipulates 

that African prints should 

be made of 100 percent cotton 

and must not be colour fast 

amongst other relevant attributes. 

According to him, initial 

surveillance revealed that the 

textiles being sold as African 

prints were materials suspected 

to have been manufactured with 

up to about 70 percent polyester 

and about 30 percent cotton. 

Some according to him were 

suspected to be completely 

polyester which is at variance 

with the specifications of the 

Nigeria Industrial Standards. 

The SIM Coordinator 

presence in Francophone Africa 

and Egypt. He will play a role in 

the growth of the brand in these 

markets. 

“I am very excited to re-join 

Radisson Hotel Group and 

honored to lead the team in 

Francophone Africa and Egypt,” 

Feijs said. “Our mission is to enrich 

the lives of our guests, team 

members and the community in 

this unique area and make every 

moment matter.” 

Frederic will be based at the 

Radisson Hotel Group’s Area 

Support Office in Dubai. 

stressed in a statement issued 

that SON will not allow the proliferation 

of substandard textile 

materials in the country, pointing 

at the negative effects such activities 

have had on the once buoyant 

textile industry in Nigeria and 

the attendant job losses. 

He further revealed “that 

the textile products found in 

the ware-houses were deemed 

not to have passed through the 

legal channels of entry but rather 

believed to have been either 

smuggled into the country or 

shipped in under false declarations 

at the ports of entry”.

16 

BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 


COMPANIES & MARKETS 

African Trade Insurance Agency pays first 

dividend without Nigeria benefiting 

Modestus Anaesoronye 

ATI has earmarked 

an initial $2.5 million 

in payments 

to its shareholders 

which include 14 

African member governments. 

Unfortunately Nigeria 

that was supposed to benefit 

from this dividend will not be 

getting, for the lack of presidential 

readiness to conclude 

documentation and signing of 

Memorandum of Understanding 

(MOU) between Nigeria 

and the African Trade Insurance 

(ATI) agency. 

African Trade Insurance expects 

its annual insured trade 

and investment portfolio to 

double to $7 billion within five 

years, driven by new members 

including Ghana and Nigeria, 

which are expected to finalize 

their registration before end 

of 2018. 

BusinessDay investigation 

showed that ATI’s request to 

have a workshop in Nigeria, 

with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, 

being present to finalise 

registration requirements has 

not been able to sell through. 

This development analyst 

say is undermining Nigeria’s 

participation in the continental 

insurance agency that was 

established to provide risk 

guarantee for private investors 

coming into Nigeria as well as 

exporters from the country. 

Minister of Finance, Kemi 

Adeosun had in September 

2017 announced the Federal 

executive council Meeting’s approval 

of Nigeria’s membership 

of the African Trade Insurance 

Agency. 

Adeosun said the council 

approved a memo she presented 

which harped on the 

necessity of Nigeria to be part 

of African Trade Insurance 

Agency to provide risk guarantee 

for investment coming into 

Nigeria as well as export from 

the country. 

The continental insurance 

agency she said was set up with 

the support of the World Bank, 

owned by African government 

and is registered under the 

United Nations treaty to provide 

insurance and promote 

economic growth in member 

countries 

Adeosun said joining the 

agency would provide risk 

guarantees, sovereign guarantee 

and risk mitigation, disclosing 

that many African countries 

are already members of the 

agency. 

In a much anticipated announcement, 

the African Trade 

Insurance Agency (ATI) on 

Tuesday declared that its General 

Assembly had approved 

the first ever payments to shareholders. 

The announcement 

comes on the heels of ATI’s 

Annual General Meeting held 

in Abidjan, where the company 

also announced its recordbreaking 

2017 financial results 

for the sixth consecutive year. 

The company’s CEO, George 

Otieno noted “We have been 

planning for this moment for 

several years and I am happy 

to finally announce that we are 

ready to give something back 

to our shareholders. This signals 

our intention to continue 

showing value to our member 

governments and shareholders, 

while providing non-member 

countries and institutional 

investors an incentive to join.” 

In 2017, ATI recorded gross 

exposures of $2.4 billion and, in 

the same period, the company 

covered investment and trade 

L-R: Melvin Ayogu, senior resident fellow, Centre for Public Policy Alternatives (CPPA); Oluwakemi 

Adekunle, micro enterprises directorate, Bank of Industry (BoI); Kelechi Ekegbe, executive secretary, 

Gadal Capacity Development Foundation, and Ije Jidenma, managing partner, Leading Edge 

Consulting, during a report of Hawkers And The Urban Informal Sector: A Study of Street Hawking in 

Lagos State, organised by Gadal Capacity Development Foundation in Lagos. Pic by Olawale Amoo 

activities across the continent 

valued at $10 billion. ATI also 

posted a $10 million profit representing 

a 55 percent increase 

over 2016. 

ATI owes its strong results 

in part to growing demand 

from investors and African 

governments for their products 

as the continent continues 

to position itself as an attractive 

destination for investors. 

Africa’s drive to increase trade 

within its borders is also fuel- 

ling ATI’s success. 

The African multilateral 

insurer also announced the 

Government of India’s $10 million 

shareholding, which will be 

represented by ECGC, India’s 

export credit agency. 

To underscore the 

depth of the symbiotic 

relationship existing 

between them, Lafarge 

Africa, leading building 

solutions provider and a member 

of the LafargeHolcim, has 

rewarded its Nigerian customers 

for a sustainable business 

relationship. 

The company recently rewarded 

her customers and 

key distributors for excellent 

performance in the year so 

far with different prizes like 

tricycles, deep freezers, a fully 

sponsored trip, with spouse 

to Dubai, smart TVs, Laptops 

among others. 

“As our customers, you are 

at the heart of our very existence. 

If you do well, we do well; 

if you don’t do well, we don’t 

do well. Such is our symbiotic 

relationship. So, we have also 

Lafarge reward customers, distributors 

for sustainable business relationship 

CHUKA UROKO 

chosen this time to appreciate 

your performance so far 

this year,” Michel Puchercos, 

the company’s CEO, told their 

customers in Lagos. 

Puchercos added that the 

event also was an opportunity 

to get direct feedback from the 

customers on how to serve 

them better. 

In response, BO Oshuntola, 

the managing director of 

Temitope Oil Nigeria Limited, 

expressed gratitude to the company 

for the recognition and 

encouragement given to them 

as distributors and customers. 

“On behalf of my colleagues, 

who have received an 

all expense paid trip to Dubai, 

I want to say a big ‘thank 

you’ to Lafarge Africa. To 

whom much is given, much 

is expected; so we promise 

to increase our efforts as our 

relationship gets stronger,” 

Oshuntola assured. 

A leading Sub-Saharan 

Africa building materials company, 

Lafarge is a subsidiary 

of LafargeHolcim which is a 

world leader in building materials. 

The company is listed on 

the Nigerian Stock Exchange 

with presence in Africa’s two 

largest economies, Nigeria 

and South Africa. Lafarge is 

actively participating in the 

urbanization and economic 

growth of Africa. 

Combining its operations in 

Nigeria - Ewekoro and Sagamu 

plants in Ogun State, Ashakacem 

in Gombe State, Mfamosing 

in Cross Rivers State, 

Atlas cement in Rivers State 

and Ready-Mix Nigeria with 

its varied operations in South 

Africa, Lafarge Africa has a current 

installed cement capacity 

of 14.1Mtpa. This is in addition 

to strong market leading positions 

in Aggregates, Ready mix 

concrete and Fly Ash. 

More winners emerge in Star Lager Beer’s consumer promo 

A 

total of twenty 

new winners have 

emerged in Star Lager 

United We Shine 

Millionaires Promo winning 

one Million Naira each at a gala 

ceremony in Enugu and Ibadan 

respectively. 

This follows the previous 

week’s presentation event in 

Abuja, where eleven people 

were awarded their prizes. This 

week’s lucky winners include 

Promise Nnabuo, a twenty 

seven year old trader based in 

Ibadan, Michael, a thirty eight 

year old driver, and Adewale, a 

fifty year old mechanic. 

The twenty new winners, 

who couldn’t hide their joy 

and happiness were ecstatic 

all through the evening, 

while meeting with the Star 

Lager teams in Ibadan and 

Enugu during the presentation 

event. 

After the emotional presentation, 

Promise Nnabuo spoke 

of his disbelief and excitement 

- “I’m still in shock to be honest 

because everything still 

feels like a dream to me. I just 

bought my usual bottle of Star 

and I only wanted to chill with 

my friends, but I looked under 

the crown cork and couldn’t 

believe my luck. I’m grateful to 

Star Lager for this promo and 

the prize.” 

Enugu based Itabana Effiong 

echoed similar sentiments 

as he described his 

win as a “life changing experience 

and the best news of the 

year.” Michael was also full of 

praise for the Star brand and 

expressed gratitude and joy for 

the unexpected windfall. 

Speaking at the Ibadan Star 

Gala prize presentation, Lekan 

Olayinka, Regional Trade 

Marketing Manager Ibadan, 

for Nigerian Breweries Plc, 

said, “We are thankful to our 

customers who have been loyal 

to the Star Lager brand over the 

years, and we want to continue 

rewarding Nigerians across the 

country in the United We Shine 

Millionaires Promo. 

Fidelity Bank wins Banker of 

Year at Brands awards 

Fidelity Bank Plc has 

been recognised at 

the 2018 Brands & Advertising 

Excellence 

Awards held recently in Lagos. 

Nnamdi Okonkwo, the 

bank’s chief executive officer 

was named ‘Banker of the 

Year’, whilst the bank was 

adjudged to have had the 

most Outstanding Television 

Commercial in 2017. 

According to marketing 

Edge, the organizers; Okonkwo 

bagged the Banker of the 

Year in recognition of his visionary 

leadership and drive 

which has changed the fortunes 

of the Bank’s through a 

customer-centric approach. 

“Fidelity Bank, under Okonkwo’s 

dynamic management, 

has turned full circle in the 

attainment of brand equity 

and remarkable growth in 

profitability” it stated. 

Commenting on the 

awards, Okonkwo thanked 

the management of Marketing 

Edge for the recognitions, 

stating that they have given 

further boost to the bank’s 

aspiration of becoming the 

financial brand of first choice 

to all. He dedicated the awards 

to all stakeholders, including 

customers and staff members, 

for their support and 

contributions to bank’s steady 

growth and financial perfor- 

mance. 

The ‘Our Word’ campaign 

was launched in 2017 and 

headlined with a television 

commercial to underscore 

Fidelity Bank’s commitments 

to always keep its word to 

customers and stakeholders. 

The campaign was according 

to Divisional Head, Brand 

and Communications, Fidelity 

Bank, Charles Aigbe, was designed 

to underscore the very 

essence of the bank, epitomizing 

its commitment to keeping 

faith with customers no matter 

their class or creed. 

“We wanted to remind our 

customers and the public to 

hold us to our words and reinforce 

our resolve to continue 

to providing excellent banking 

services and solutions in 

easy and convenient ways” 

said Aigbe. Headquarter in 

Lagos, Nigeria, Fidelity Bank 

is a full-fledged commercial 

bank, with over 4 million 

customers who are serviced 

across its 240 business offices 

and various other digital 

banking channels. 

The bank has in recent 

times won accolades as the 

Best SME Friendly Bank, Best 

in Mobile Banking and the 

Most Improved Corporate/ 

Investment Bank among several 

industry awards and recognitions.



‘Home and You’ Furniture Company will 

boost Lagos economy, says Ambode 

Business Event 

MIKE OCHONMA 

The historic town of 

Ibeshe, a suburb of 

Lagos State came 

alive this week following 

the grand 

opening of Home &You Ultra 

Modern Furniture factory in 

Ikorodu. 

In what he described as the 

first furniture company of its 

kind in the Ikorodu axis, Akinwunmi 

Ambode, the executive 

governor of Lagos State stated 

that the commissioning of the 

multi-million naira factory is a 

clear indication that the efforts 

of the state government to provide 

security and infrastructure 

is beginning to yield positive 

results. 

Represented by Rotimi 

Ogunleye, the state Commissioner 

for Environment and 

Physical Planning, governor 

Ambode noted that, the industrial 

made-in-Nigeria furniture 

produced by Home and You 

will compete very well with 

foreign products of their kind. 

At the event attended by 

dignitaries from both the 

public and corporate sectors, 

including the Lagos 

monarchs, the state chief 

executive stressed that apart 

from bringing development 

to the Ibeshe community, the 

factory will play a sustainable 

role towards employment 

creation and increase the 

Nigeria’s Gross Domestic 

Product (GDP). 

Giving more insight into the 

company, Feyisola Abiru, chief 

executive officer and Founder, 

Home and You, said passion 

and undying crave for success 

have been the reason she was 

able to weather the storm in 

the early days of the 21 years 

old business. 

She declared that if not 

for the support from BOI, the 

company would not have attained 

the position it has gotten 

to presently. 

Continuing, the CEO said, 

‘’They gave us the first facility 

in 2006 to get us running. We 

acquired world class machines 

from Italy. And when we needed 

to improve on our quality 

and expand the capacity of the 

business, we approached them 

again for another facility which 

was granted in 2017”. 

On his part, Olusegun Osunkeye, 

pioneer chairman of 

the company, described Home 

and You as a young adult going 

places. Osunkeye, former 

chairman of Nestle Plc , and 

chairman the board of the company 

for seven and half years, 

described Feyisola as a decisive 

lady, who is well focused in her 

business. 

Waheed Olagunju, executive 

director of Bank of Industry 

(BoI) who represented the 

financiers of the project, said 

the bank had supported the 

furniture company for about 

13 years. 

In his words, “What’s being 

commissioned today is 

an expansion. Home and You 

is a role model for others to 

emulate. By every standard, this 

factory is one of the best in the 

world and if the owners come 

again, we will give them loan”. 

L-R Franco Maria Maggi, marketing director, NB Plc; Bisi Deji-Folutile, jury member “33” Export 

Pen Down For Friendship Competition; Kufre Ekanem, corporate affairs adviser, NB Plc; Anthony 

Kan Onwordi, head jury, “33” Export Pen Down For Friendship Competition, and Pelu Awofeso, 

jury member “33” Export Pen Down For Friendship Competition, at the unveiling of “33” Export 

City of Friends in Lagos. 

Pic by Pius Okeosisi 

FCMB calls for stakeholder collaboration to 

boost international trade 

Seyi John Salau 

The Managing Director 

of First City Monument 

Bank (FCMB), Adam 

Nuru, has urged banks 

and other financial institutions 

in Nigeria to brace up to the challenges 

of international trade and 

commerce by collaborating more 

with other stakeholders in order 

to tap into the opportunities in 

the sector. 

This, according to him, will 

boost their performance and 

overall contribution to the development 

of the country. 

He stated this while declaring 

open, the bi-monthly general 

meeting of the International 

Chamber of Commerce (ICC) 

Nigerian Banking Commission 

in Lagos, which was sponsored 

by FCMB. 

ICC is the world’s business 

organization, a representative 

body which authoritatively 

speaks on behalf of enterprises 

Oyin Aminu, Abuja 

from all sectors in every part of 

the world. The body founded in 

Paris, France in 1919, groups 

hundreds of thousands of 

member organisations, including 

Banks and associations 

in over 120 countries. Business 

experts drawn from the 

ICC membership establish 

the business stance on broad 

issues of trade and investment 

policies as well as on a 

wide range of policy subjects 

of interest to organisations 

worldwide. 

Nuru, who was represented 

by, Yemisi Edun, executive director, 

Finance at the Bank pointed 

out at the meeting that maintaining 

a sound culture of compliance, 

due process and capacity 

building among experts on the 

trade desks of Banks, should be 

accorded priority. 

“Due process, digitalization 

and capacity building would go 

a long way to break the myth 

of the perception that international 

trade is a sacred area 

of operation alone by Banks. 

Banks must also collaborate 

more with government and 

other stakeholders to explore 

better ways to maximise the 

new and emerging opportunities 

in the sector’’, Nuru stated. 

He added that, ‘’to ensure 

the business of international 

trade and commerce is conducted 

in a responsible and 

transparent manner, ICC Nigeria 

should continue to ensure we 

operate under full and complete 

compliance with all applicable 

laws, rules, regulations, policies, 

and best practices’’. 

Raymond Ihyembe, chairman 

ICC Banking Commission 

in Nigeria in his presentation 

advised Banks to upscale their 

operations with regards to international 

trade and commerce 

so as to mainstream businesses 

in Nigeria into the global community 

and to promote the creation 

of wealth and prosperity 

through international trade and 

investment. 

NBC urge broadcast stations to abide by NBC’s Code 

of Conduct ahead of Ekiti Elections 

The National Broadcasting 

Commission has 

calk on all broadcasting 

stations who will be 

reporting the Ekiti State Governorship 

elections on saturday 

to do so in conformity with the 

provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting 

Code, especially the 

provisions relating to coverage 

of elections. 

The Director General of 

NBC, Modibbo Kawu made 

the call in a statement issued in 

Abuja on Tuesday. 

He said “attention of broadcasters 

is drawn to the following 

sections of the Nigeria Broadcasting 

Code: 

*Section 5.2.12:* *All 

partisan political broadcasts, 

campaigns, jingles, announcements 

and the use of all forms 

of partisan political party identifications 

or symbols on air shall 

end not later than twenty-four 

hours before polling day.* 

*Section 5.2.14:** A 

broadcaster shall not use any 

vote obtained at different polling 

stations or from exit polls, 

to project or speculate on the 

chances of the candidates.* 

*Section 5.2.15:* *A 

broadcaster shall broadcast 

election results or declaration of 

the winner only as announced 

by the authorized electoral officer 

for the election.* 

L-R: John Goldsmith, marketing director, SPAR Nigeria receiving the award of the Outstanding 

Retail Brand of The Year from Dr Olajide Idris, hon commissioner for health, Lagos State and 

Emmanuel Isangediok, marketing manager, SPAR Nigeria, at the Marketing Edge Brand and 

Advertising Excellence Awards that took place in Lagos recently. 

L-R: Francis Okon, paediatric consultant, Gbagada General Hospital; Gbolahan Olayomi, CEO, 

Equipment Hall; Chioma Sunday, ICU Patient Mother, and Olukoya Adesola, Chief Matron, 

Paediatric Ward, Gbagada General Hospital, during the Equipment Hall’s Charity Visit to Children 

Ward, Gbagada General Hospital 

L-R: Panel Discussants, Uwa Etigwe; Funmi Roberts; Tunde Ajibade; Babatunde Fagbohunlu, 

chairman, Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre (LACIAC), and Tim Martin, 

co-chair AIPN Model Dispute Resolution Contract Committee, at a workshop on International 

Dispute Resolution Co-hosted by the African chapter of the Association of International Petroleum 

Negotiators (AIPN) and LACIAC in Lagos.

18 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Friday 13 July 2018 

FINTECH 

News Products Review Technology Review Personality Review Company Review 

NEWS 

Ativo to disrupt fundraising in Nigeria with largest crowdfunding platform 

Stories by FRANK ELEANYA 

Ativo, a subsidiary 

of Electronic Payment 

Plus (Epayplus) 

Limited, is 

set to unveil the 

largest crowdfunding platform 

in Nigeria on Friday, 

13 July, 2018. The platform 

known as Quickraiz will connect 

Nigerians in need of 

funding for genuine causes to 

benevolent individuals ready 

to help them. 

At a press demo on Tuesday, 

10 July, the company 

described Quickraiz as a digital 

solution to the traditional 

Esusu system. 

Esusu or contribution club 

is a local rotating savings 

and credit association that 

is widely practiced in West 

Africa. Although it encourages 

putting aside money 

today to benefit from a lump 

sum payment in the future, 

the processes are often very 

complicated as its success 

depends on the trust of the 

individuals. It is also limited 

L-R: Olarenwaju O.Babalola, head,quality control; Bayo Adeokun, MD/CEO; Oluremi Jibodu, head, 

sales and marketing for Ativo limited, and Joy Micheal, head of sales and marketing for Epayplus. 

to an individual’s immediate 

sphere of contact. 

Quickraiz plans to be the 

platform where Nigerians with 

real money needs like raising 

fund for ideas or projects, 

wedding, child dedication, 

birthday party, medical treatment, 

education to mention 

a few, can commence a campaign 

that could be funded by 

people beyond their sphere of 

contact. 

Bayo Adeokun, managing 

director and CEO of Ativo, told 

BusinessDay that the communal 

culture in Africa and 

Nigeria in particular cut across 

tribes and religious lines but 

remains cumbersome and 

limited. 

“We are set to transform 

this culture into a digital environment 

where benevolence 

reach are extensive and all 

encompassing,” he said. 

Individuals, groups and 

non-governmental organisations 

can start a funding campaign 

on Quickraiz. Adeokun 

explained that the platform is 

not open for businesses that 

need funding at the moment. 

This is because the regulators 

in Nigeria have banned 

crowdfunding for business 

purposes until regulations 

are designed around it. He 

assured that once there is 

regulation and the go-ahead 

is giving, Ativo will work together 

with other stakeholders 

to provide the service on 

Quickraize. 

Registration on Quickraiz 

requires some level of documentation 

to enable the company 

conduct due diligence 

on people who will be recipient 

of donations. Once registered, 

the individual will need 

to activate a campaign. The 

campaign is shared on social 

platform by the originator as 

well as on platforms already 

created by Ativo. Adeokun 

said the platforms have the 

potential of reaching at least 5 

million potential benevolent 

individuals. 

An important part of these 

platforms is a register of philanthropists 

compiled by 

Ativo. These are consistent 

donors on Quickraiz who 

gets the benefit of a loyalty 

card that could be used at any 

partner merchant. 

Remi Jibodu, head of sales 

and marketing said that the 

coming of Quickraiz was long 

overdue given the geometrical 

increase in mobile and 

internet penetration in Nigeria 

which stands at 81 percent 

and 54 percent respectively. 

“The causes that are considered 

globally as regulars 

on crowdfunding platforms 

are eminent in Nigeria and 

this proffers an opportunity 

to rekindle hope, better lifestyle 

and convenience,” he 

said. 

The company has begun 

partnership talks with the Lagos 

State government on the 

possibility of funding disaster 

victims and provide relief 

for citizens within the state. 

Adeokun disclosed that other 

states will soon be part of the 

Quickraiz platform. 

TECHNOLOGY REVIEW 

Stolen cryptocurrencies triple in H1, 2018 

The amount of cryptocurrencies 

that were 

stolen in the first half 

of 2018 is three times 

bigger than all of 2017, said 

CipherTrace’s new report last 

week. This is just as authorities 

across the world continue to 

pile pressure for cryptocurrency 

regulation. 

Cyber criminals wiped 

off $761 million in the first 

half from digital currency 

exchanges, compared with 

nearly $266 million for the 

whole of 2017. CipherTrace 

estimates that the losses could 

reach $1.5 billion by the end 

of 2018. 

The criminals have also 

stolen $1.2 billion in cryptocurrency 

in the last two years 

according to the CipherTrace 

Cryptocurrency Anti-Money 

Laundering Report for Q2, 

2018. 

“The phenomenal growth 

in the value of cryptocurrencies 

like Bitcoin over recent 

years has attracted investors, 

speculators, and thieves,” the 

authors of the report noted. 

“The first half of 2018 experienced 

a three-fold increase 

over the entire year of 2017. In 

addition, the FBI has reported 

an almost six-fold increase in 

the value of virtual currency in 

complaints from 2015 to 2017.” 

Other security agencies that 

are taking a hard look at cryptocurrency 

privacy include the 

Financial Crimes Enforcement 

Network (FinCEN) and the US 

Secret Service. 

On Monday, 9 July, 2018, 

Chinese local news said China’s 

Da Lian City arrested 20 

suspects from a computer 

technology firm who allegedly 

gained control of a large 

number of computers in order 

to profit from illicit cryptocurrency 

mining. 

CipherTrace explains that 

laundering cryptocurrency 

can be complicated and is different 

from traditional money. 

In the case of digital currencies, 

criminals the more dirty 

crypto money that goes into 

the cryptocurrency system and 

the more it moves around, the 

harder it becomes for investigators 

to see through the web 

of action and trace a path back 

to the source. Furthermore, the 

pseudo-anonymous nature 

of virtual currencies makes it 

exponentially more difficult to 

trace these funds as compared 

to cash. 

“As one caveat, criminals 

will lose a percentage off the 

top to move the funds, but 

in the end the funds appear 

legitimate, making the loss 

worthwhile,” the report stated. 

The next step towards full 

legitimacy is to integrate the 

stolen money into the market. 

According to the report, 

after placing the funds in the 

cryptocurrency system the 

criminals still face risks. The 

risks come from exchanges 

which are mandated to monitor 

activity and may issue 

Suspicious Activity Reports 

(SARs), which flag high-risk 

transactions. 

“Cybercriminals follow 

easy money,” Ilia Kolochenko, 

High-Tech Bridge noted. “And 

many cryptocurrency owners 

are the perfect victims. 

They are virtually unable to 

protect either themselves 

or their digital assets, being 

susceptible even to relatively 

simple phishing attacks. Law 

enforcement is frequently uninterested 

in investigating and 

prosecuting petty offences 

with digital coins theft, as they 

are already under water with 

highly sophisticated nationwide 

hacks.”


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

19 

How Nigeria can tackle 

the scourge of depression 

ANTHONIA OBOKOH 

According to World 

Health Organisation 

(WHO), depression 

causes mental anguish and 

impacts people’s ability to 

carry out even the simplest 

everyday tasks, with sometimes 

devastating consequences 

for relationships 

with family and friends and 

the ability to earn a living. 

Reported cases of suicides 

across the country due to 

challenges of economic and 

mental health have been on 

the rise in the country. 

“Depression affects a lot 

of people cutting across the 

continents, religion, culture, 

all classes of people. So the 

notion that is the leading 

cause of disability and of one 

is commonest form of disorders 

is true,” says Richard 

Adebayo, consultant psychiatric 

and clinical psychologist 

at Federal neuropsychiatric 

hospital Yaba, Lagos. 

“Depression will affect 

not less than 20 per cent of 

any population in their life 

time, so that is life time prevalence 

can affect figures higher 

than 20-25 per cent have 

been quoted of the population 

that will suffer depression 

at one stage or the other 

in their life,” Adebayo says. 

A WHO report stated that 

depression can be treated 

Kasi center hosts memorial healthcare group 

KEMI AJUMOBI 

Kasi International, has 

continued its drive to 

open up the world to 

Nigerians seeking quality care 

by opening fresh talks with 

Memorial Hospital Group for 

a partnership which would 

facilitate easy movement of 

Nigerians seeking medical 

care in Turkey. 

This was made known by 

the Director of Kasi Healthcare 

Dayo Osholowu, who 

hosted the International 

Patient Manager of Memorial 

Healthcare Group, Musa 

Umar, and the Country Director 

(Nigeria) of the Turkish 

Healthcare Council, Adedayo 

Sobamowo, at the Kasi Center 

for Telehealth. 

“The visit of an executive 

from one of the leading private 

hospitals in not just Turkey, 

but the world over, Memorial 

Healthcare Group to us at the 

Kasi Center For Telehealth, 

Lagos International Airport, 

is exciting”, he said. 

“The Memorial Healthcare 

Group has an international 

reputation for its departments 

such as Transplantation, 

Cardiovascular surgery 

and Orthopedic Surgery. Its 

pioneering practices in the 

health sector earned it the 

and the first step is talking to 

people that can be of help. 

The condition is treatable 

with talking therapies or antidepressant 

medication or 

a combination of these, the 

report says. 

“There is a lot that you can 

do to keep mentally strong. 

If you feel that you may be 

heading for depression, talk 

to someone you trust or seek 

professional help. 

“If you live with someone 

with depression, you can help 

them recover but you need to 

take care of yourself to,” the 

report added. 

However, the mental 

health practitioner further 

L-R Country Director (Nigeria) of the Turkish Healthcare Council, 

Adedayo Sobamowo, International Patient Manager of Memorial 

Healthcare Group, Musa Umar, and Spokesperson of Kasi Healthcare, 

Peter Adeshina, at the Kasi Center for Telehealth Lagos Airport] 

JCI accreditation quality certificate 

by the Joint Commission 

International, as the first 

hospital in Turkey and 21st in 

the world to be awarded.” 

“Through this visit, we 

were able to show-case our 

Center for Telehealth, which 

is strategically located 15 

minutes away from the Lagos 

International Airport 

and equipped with the latest 

technology required for 

tele-health, including tele 

consultations. We were also 

able to demonstrate our experience 

and capability to 

facilitate movement of Nigerians 

seeking care in choice 

asserted that until 

Nigeria is able to 

enact the mental 

health bill, the country 

might not be able 

to properly tackle the 

depression scourge. 

They stated that 

passing the bill into 

a law will guaranty 

the rights of patients 

with mental disorder, 

especially patients 

with severe depression 

and psychosis 

who are no longer in 

contact with reality to 

be protected. 

Owoeye Olugbenga 

a consultant 

psychologist and 

clinical psychologist 

at Federal Neuro- 

Psychiatric Hospital Yaba, 

Lagos, said the criminalisation 

of suicide was predicated 

on the Lunacy Law made by 

colonial leaders. 

“Our lawmakers should 

review the Mental Health 

Law in line with what obtains 

in other countries, especially 

developed nations. The bill is 

already with the Senate. They 

should make provision for 

the treatment of those who 

attempt suicide rather than 

get them arrested. 

“As the law is being repealed, 

the government 

should also fund the psychiatry 

hospitals. There are 

fewer than 500 psychiatrists 

destinations across the globe 

with ease”. 

On a partnership possibility, 

the spokesperson of Kasi 

Healthcare, Peter Adeshina, 

explained that such collaboration 

will contribute to Kasi 

International’s large network 

of hospitals across the globe 

and provide Nigerian buyers 

of international healthcare 

services with experienced 

professionals from the Memorial 

Hospital Group across 

varying specialized expertise. 

“In addition to facilitating 

medical travel visas, a 

partnership would mean that 

our clients can access doctors 

nationwide to take care of 

180 million people. We even 

have fewer clinical psychologists 

and psychiatrist nurses. 

These are not enough to take 

care of the psychiatry need of 

the nation,”Olugbenga says. 

WHO noted that increased 

investment is needed in many 

countries saying there is currently 

no or very little support 

currently available for people 

with mental health disorders. 

The world health organization 

also noted that even 

in high-income countries, 

nearly 50 per cent of people 

with depression do not get 

treatment with average investment 

of 3 per cent on 

mental health which varies 

from less than 1per cent 

in low-income countries to 

5 per cent in high-income 

countries. 

Signs and symptoms of 

depression can include loss 

of interest or pleasure in usual 

activities, withdrawing from 

close family and friends, relying 

on alcohol and sedatives 

and unable to concentrate. 

Others are feeling tired all 

the time, headache and muscle 

pains, sleep problems, loss 

or change of appetite and 

significant weight loss or gain. 

These signs may defer 

from individual to individual 

hence the need to seek professional 

help is highly recommended 

by experts. 

and specialists of Memorial 

Healthcare Group from the 

comfort of Kasi Center for 

Telehealth, Lagos Airport for 

consultations and second 

opinion.” 

On his part, the International 

Patient Manager of 

Memorial Healthcare Group, 

Musa Umar, reemphasized 

the leadership of the healthcare 

group in Turkey and 

expressed their interest in Nigeria, 

as well as the partnership 

discussions to join the 

Kasi International hospital 

network. 

“The level of technology 

and organisation available 

at the Kasi Center for Telehealth, 

Lagos Airport, as well 

as the warm and professional 

nature of its staff is commendable. 

Their objective of using 

technology to provide utmost 

patient satisfaction and care 

aligns with that of Memorial 

Healthcare Group, Turkey, 

and we look forward to a positive 

partnership”, he said. 

It should be recalled that 

Kasi International recently 

earned a gold member certification 

from the Medical Tourism 

Association as a result of 

the ground-breaking decisions 

and efforts made by the 

forward-thinking management 

team of Kasi Healthcare. 

Paelon memorial clinic wins 

NHEA SafeCare quality award 

Paelon memorial clinic, 

a multi-specialty 

hospital has won the 

SafeCare facility of the year 

award in Nigeria. This award 

is one of the categories in 

the 5th Nigerian Healthcare 

Excellence Award (NHEA 

2018) that focuses on SafeCare 

quality standards for 

healthcare facilities. 

Paelon memorial clinic 

was established in May 

2010. It has grown from an 

outpatient clinic to multispecialty, 

patient centred 

hospital with two locations 

in Lagos. In October 2016, 

it became the first hospital 

in Africa to be awarded the 

level 5 certification by SafeCare. 

Speaking on the award, 

Unoma Grant, chief operating 

officer Paelon expressed 

the delight of the management 

and staff of the hospital 

and promised that standards 

will not only be maintained 

but improved upon. 

“We will continue to introduce 

new programmes 

and services to make patients’ 

experience and treatment 

meet international 

standards at affordable cost,” 

said Grant. 

In furtherance of this, 

Paelon recently established 

a fertility clinic as a joint 

venture with Lily Hospital. 

“We introduced SafeCare 

facility of the year award in 

this 5th edition to emphasise 

the importance of quality 

certification and standardisation 

in Nigeria healthcare 

facilities. NHEA partnership 

with safecare is to ensure 

C E N T E R F O R 

T E L E H E A L T H 

Lagos Airport 

OPEN AT LAGOS 

INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ROAD 

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Medical evacuation via private air ambulance with ICU and stretcher transport 

D O I N G M O R E SM 

that our assessment follows 

internationally acceptable 

standards.” says Wale Alabi, 

NHEA project director. 

The SafeCare standards 

are designed specifically to 

target health facilities in lowand 

middle-income countries. 

These facilities operate 

in challenging environments 

that are often defined by 

staffing shortages, resourcerestrictions, 

and inadequate 

infrastructure. 

A wide range of facilities 

can be assessed using the 

standards, including public, 

private, and not-for-profit 

facilities ranging from health 

shops, to basic and primary 

health centers, as well as 

district hospitals. 

Ibironke Dada, program 

director SafeCare, PharmAccess 

foundation commended 

Paelon’s management 

and staff for their 

strong commitment towards 

improving healthcare quality 

and patient safety. 

“Although, the Nigeria office 

is delighted to record the 

first SafeCare Level 5 health 

facility in Africa; this is just 

one facility in a country with 

over 30,000 health facilities. 

We are cognisant of this huge 

gap and will continue to 

work with government, regulators 

and health facilities 

to design quality improvement 

interventions as well 

as measure and benchmark 

the quality of health care,” 

stated Dada. 

NHEA is organised by 

Global Health Project and 

Resources in collaboration 

with Anadach Group, USA. 

Call for your appointment 

08177777650 

www.kasihealth.com



NGO advocates separate budget-line 

for family planning, safe motherhood 

SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin 

Awareness Initiative 

for Good living 

(AIGL), a non-governmental 

agency has advocated 

for separate budget 

line for family planning to 

improve child health care 

and drastically reduce maternal 

mortality. 

The Kwara-based NGO, 

established six years, was 

charged with the responsibility 

of family planning advocacy 

where membership 

were drawn from public and 

private sectors, health personnel, 

faith- based group, 

journalists, community 

leaders and social groups. 

“Our advocacy to the 

government functionaries 

is basically on the need to 

create separate budget-line, 

approve and release same 

for Family Planning. 

“The essence of separate 

budget -line is for family to 

be given a priority among 

other primary healthcare 

services, as the fund is 

meant to purchase consumables 

that are not provided 

along with family planning 

commodities to enable our 

women and adolescents 

access family planning services 

free of charge,” said 

Abdulwahab Ajibola, the 

Chairman AIGL. 

The vision of AIGL was 

to ensure improved investment 

on family planning for 

readily available of products 

and services, partner with 

good society and donor organisations 

to support and 

L- R 4th left, Sadiat Asaju; state Cordinator of family planning, Balqees Oladimeji; AIGL, Secretary, Tina 

Olaoye; Director of programmes, Radio Kwara, Abdulwahab Ajibola; Chairman AIGL, Abdullahi Olesin; 

Regional Editor of Leadership newspaper and other media representatives. 

Niger state to establish contributory health insurance scheme 

MICHEAL ANI 

The Niger State Government 

says it would 

establish Contributory 

Social Health Insurance 

Scheme to provide affordable 

and quality healthcare 

services for people in the 

state. 

The state Commissioner 

for Health, Mustapha Jibril, 

said the proposed Bill would 

be targeted at both the public 

and private sectors for the 

achievement of universal 

health coverage for people 

in the state. 

“A memo to establish Niger 

State Contributory Social 

Health Insurance Scheme 

has been approved by the 

State Executive Council to 

ensure affordable and quality 

healthcare for the people,’’ 

he said. 

Jibril said the move to 

present the health bill before 

the State House of Assembly 

strengthen reproductive 

health programmes. 

According to Ajibola, 

in his address at the 2nd 

Media Executive Meeting, 

lamented that “in 2015, 

the state released a sum of 

N2.1m as separate budgetline 

for family planning and 

was geared up to N4m in 

2017, while a sum of N5m 

was budgeted for family 

planning in 2017, none of 

these budget-lines neither 

got approval nor releases. 

He disclosed that, the 

National Hospital Discharge 

Survey (NHDS) put 

maternal mortality ratio to 

6:100 in 1hour. Meaning, 

an average of 168 women 

die daily to complicated 

pregnancy, he urged that, 

“we are committed to keep 

working despite the little 

stipend provided. 

“We plead with governbecame 

necessary as affordable 

and quality healthcare 

was the right of the people. 

“The government came 

up with the scheme because 

many people find it 

difficult to pay for quality 

healthcare services. Through 

the scheme our people can 

afford to pay their hospital 

bills,’’ he said. 

He said under the scheme, 

civil servants and public officers 

including political appointees 

in the state would 

contribute 2.5 per cent, while 

the state government would 

match it with another 2.5 per 

cent to accommodate the 

formal sector. 

The commissioner said 

that government would also 

contribute one per cent of 

its annual consolidated revenue 

fund to the scheme to 

cater for the less privileged. 

Besides, he said the 

bill would cover pregnant 

women, children under five 

ment at all levels to assist us 

with fund as we planned to 

improve on the advocacy 

to reduce death of women 

and adolescents from child 

delivery complications that 

are resulting from either frequent 

child birth, too young 

or too old in age.” 

Bilqees Oladimeji, the 

Secretary, AIGL, in her submission, 

stressed the need 

for traditional rulers’ support 

for family planning, the 

religious leaders propagating 

family planning and 

technocrats contributing to 

the development of healthcare 

programmes. 

“The Reproductive 

Health Initiative (NURHI), 

contributed immensely to 

the development of healthcare 

services in the state and 

since they left, efforts are on 

top gear to make sure that 

they come to Kwara. 

years, people with disability, 

surgery, routine immunisation 

and family planning 

services, among others. 

Jibril said that the document, 

which would soon 

be forwarded to the legislature, 

has stakeholder’s 

involvement like the state 

government, Nigeria Labour 

Congress and Nigeria Union 

of Teachers. 

A document exclusively 

made available to Business- 

Day, indicated that 15 states 

are in the process of implementing 

their legislation on 

compulsory health insurance. 

They include; Lagos, 

Cross Rivers, Kwara, Delta, 

Oyo, Abia, Anambra, Bauchi, 

Ebonyi, Kano, Ogun, Sokoto, 

and Kaduna. In two places; 

Bayelsa, and Abuja, FCT, 

they are currently implementing 

Health Schemes; 

however legislation to transition 

to SSHIA is in progress. 

Other states with “on- 

“We are committed to 

ensure “safe motherhood”. 

The facilities at Olanrewaju, 

Temitope, Kosemani 

hospitals and others are 

still not enough; we need 

to improve their capacity 

to avoid death during child 

birth. We therefore call on 

government and other relevant 

agencies to support 

us financially.” 

Oladimeji, who warned 

that women should not just 

go to quarks for family planning, 

advised them to go to 

the hospital and get proper 

counsel from medical experts, 

just as she enjoined 

husbands to support their 

wives in family planning. 

“Family planning is a 

way of life”, it is beneficial to 

the father, mother and the 

child, added Sadiat Asaju, 

Kwara State Co-ordinator 

for family planning. 

going plans” to make health 

insurance compulsory are 

Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Ekiti, 

and Enugu. Those with “Legislation 

in Progress” are; 

Benue, Borno, Edo, Gombe, 

Imo, Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi, 

Kogi, Nassarawa, Ondo, 

Osun, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba, 

Yobe, and Zamfara. 

In the case of Lagos, 

whose plans appear to have 

been widely circulated, experts 

described “as quite 

commendable, and a step in 

the right direction. However, 

a lot of work still needs to 

be done. 

“The scope of coverage 

and the capitation costs 

must be looked at very closely 

if the objective must be 

realized,” he said. 

Many experts also emphasised 

the need for a truly 

competitive health insurance 

sector, in order for the 

public to get the best services. 

NAFDAC seeks increased compliance with 

breast milk substitute marketing code 

ANTHONIA OBOKOH 

The National Agency 

for Food and Drug 

Administration and 

Control (NAFDAC) has 

called on manufacturers 

of Breastmilk Substitutes 

(BMS) to comply with the 

International Code of Marketing 

of Breastmilk Substitutes, 

and national regulations 

by manufacturers of 

BMS products to protect 

infant nutrition. 

The World Health Assembly 

(WHA), the decision-making 

body of the 

World Health Organisation 

(WHO) adopted the International 

Code of Marketing 

of Breast Milk Substitutes 

in 1981 as a global 

health public strategy to 

protect breastfeeding from 

aggressive promotional 

campaigns by milk formula 

manufacturers. 

According to Mojishola 

Adeyeye, director general 

of NAFDAC, for better 

compliance, it is essential 

to note that “Nigeria voted 

for Code adoption and was, 

therefore, expected to implement 

all its provisions 

in their entirety as a minimum 

requirement for its 

implementation through 

appropriate national measures 

including legislation. 

National legislation to 

implement the Code may, 

therefore, be stronger but, 

certainly, not weaker than 

its provisions. 

Speaking at a one day 

sensitisation workshop 

on “Compliance with the 

Code of Marketing of Breast 

Milk Substitutes” organised 

by NAFDAC in collaboration 

with Alive &Thrive/ 

fhi360 funded by Bill and 

Melinda Gates Foundation, 

Adeyeye said the knowledge 

and lack of awareness 

of stakeholders including 

the media, has also contributed 

to the gravity of 

violations currently being 

practiced in Nigeria. 

“This has necessitated 

the need for the regulatory 

agency in collaboration 

with relevant partners 

to aggressively address 

this unpleasant situation 

through interventions including 

effective sensitization 

of all stakeholders,” 

she said. 

Adeyeye noted that the 

importance of appropriate 

infant and young child 

feeding and resultant effect 

on national economic 

development cannot be 

overemphasized. 

“However, there are various 

challenges hampering 

its actualization. 

Based on analysis of 

the cost of not breastfeeding 

by Alive and Thrive 

with the support of the 

United Nations Children’s 

Fund (UNICEF), improving 

breastfeeding can help 

Nigeria reach its full human 

and economic potentials 

by preventing 10 million 

cases of childhood diarrhoea 

and pneumonia, saving 

103, 742 children’s live 

each year and reducing 

the cost to the health care 

system by $22 million a 

year, it says. 

Also speaking at the 

workshop Patricia Monwuba, 

a retired deputy director 

of NAFDAC, said 

despite the numerous benefits, 

millions of babies 

are being denied of their 

mother’s milk. 

“Breastfeeding provides 

social and economic 

benefits to the family and 

the nation, contributes to 

women’s health by reducing 

the risk of breast and 

ovarian cancers, and it also 

helps to increase the spacing 

between pregnancies,” 

“Breast milk substitute 

pose the risk of not having 

breast milk’s protective 

qualities through the high 

risk of contamination that 

can lead to life-threatening 

infections in young infants,” 

added Thompson Kobata, 

representing Chris Isokpunwu, 

the Head of Nutrition, 

Federal ministry of Health. 

Abdulsalam Ozigis, 

deputy director, Food System 

and Applied Nutrition, 

NAFDAC, however urged 

that government and policy 

makers should create 

an enabling environment 

for Code monitors to carry 

out their work without fear 

or favour and also put in 

place punitive measures 

to ensure enforcement 

compliance and make sure 

that they are enforced. 

He advised that health 

workers have an essential 

role to play in protecting, 

promoting and supporting 

optimal infant feeding 

practices. Noting that they 

should not allow themselves 

to be used as agents 

for industry “ensure that 

financial support and other 

incentives for programmes 

and health professionals 

working in Infant and 

Young Child health do not 

create conflicts of interest.” 

HBL TEAM 

ANTHONIA OBOKOH and ANI MICHAEL / Reporters I David Ogar, Graphics


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

21 

Tayo Elesin, a fast rising actress in the diaspora 

OBINNA EMELIKE 

She may not be a household 

name in Nollywood 

but she is gradually making 

a name for herself as 

an actress in the United 

Kingdom. Tayo Elesin works in 

London as an actress, a place she 

has never stopped calling home. 

Although she is a Briton of Nigerian 

descent, Elesin has lived in England 

all her life. She studied Law 

at the University of Cambridge but 

before she went to university, she 

did musical theatre at Greenwich 

Musical Theatre Academy, which 

is under the accreditation of Trinity 

College of Music, the school that 

produced great musicians like Fela 

Anikulapo-Kuti. 

“I did Musical Theatre which involves 

singing, dancing and acting 

but I look forward to acting more 

than others”, she says. 

She does not work all the time as 

an actress. “The kind of our films do 

not happen every two, three weeks 

or one month even. I was doing all 

of that, I was about 14 but also going 

to school at the same time. As I 

said, in England you don’t work all 

the time. You work as and when the 

productions happen”, she explains. 

Elesin has been able to transit 

from being a Law student to taking 

up acting as a career and has 

decided not to work as a full time 

lawyer but practice a profession 

she loves as a child. “I enjoy acting. 

I come from a family where 

it is like you want to do drama, do 

it. But I wanted to be intellectually 

stimulated and the law did that for 

me. Now that does not mean I am 

going to be in court when I am 40 

years old; that does not mean I am 

in court now but I am very glad I 

did it. I think it informs the way I 

story-tell when I do my acting. Acting 

should be about story telling.” 

Tayo Elesin playing Sikira in the movie; Our Husband has gone Mad Again 

The actress refers London as 

home because that is where she 

was born and her agent is based 

there. “I refer to London as home 

when I want to make a point about 

my agent being in London because 

that is where I live. Nigeria is home. 

I am black, I am African. Both my 

parents are from Nigeria and I 

always say this is home no matter 

what anybody says about it. When I 

come here this is my land irrespective 

of any problem anybody wants 

to shine to it, this is home.” 

She agrees that Nigeria is a 

country of over 180 million people 

that is full of talents. “When you 

go back to London, if you look at 

the Black people in the world of 

entertainment, politics, in anything 

that are high level and black, if you 

look at their ancestry, they are half 

Nigerian or fully Nigerian. Born 

in Nigeria, came here when they 

were young among others. For me 

what are we talking about, Nigeria 

is where it is. The talent is here. This 

is it. It might need a bit of structure 

here and there but it is here.” 

Elesin does not only feature 

in films, she has also done stage 

plays. She featured in the TV 

series, Law and Order, Casualty, 

Doctor, and a lot of BBC productions 

in London. “I have done 

stage as well. In fact, I just finished 

doing a run of ‘Our Husband has 

gone Mad Again’ I played Sikira. 

Do you know my favourite area in 

Lagos? Mushin. I love that place. 

I don’t like all this Lekki and Victoria 

Island stuff; I think they are 

so pretentious. When I come to 

England, I live in isolation in London, 

I don’t want to replicate that 

when I come on holiday. I want to 

feel real. Mushin, I feel is fantastic. 

You can walk 100 metres and meet 

all kinds of people so that’s my 

favourite area in Nigeria.” 

Elesin is familiar with Ola Rotimi’s 

plays but not those of Femi Osofisan. 

This she considers shameful 

because her university teachers in 

the United Kingdom never taught 

them the works of Osofisan. “It 

is for this reason she considers it 

important to stay in touch with her 

root. The only writer we were taught 

in creative literature class back in 

England was Wole Soyinka and it is 

because he’s a Nobel Laureate. And 

even so, we were taught maybe one 

or two of his poetry, no prose work 

per se. And I am a bit disgusted by 

that because there is a population 

of black people in England from 

African origin and I didn’t learn 

about my story. Yet I learnt about 

Shakespeare and Chaucer, it is fine, 

it is well and dandy. You know what 

annoys me? The education system 

here teaches people about Shakespeare 

and Chaucer and all these 

things but back home I didn’t know 

who Ola Rotimi was and that’s disgraceful. 

Now, I’m getting to read 

all the literature. There is so much 

rich material here and I want to 

track them down.” 

In spite all, Elesin plans to come 

to Nigeria more frequently to take 

part in some local production. Even 

though she is not pleased with the 

current structure on ground, she 

hopes to contribute her own quota 

to make a difference in the Nigerian 

film industry. 

“I think there is need for a structure, 

let’s be honest. You will not 

be the best of yourself if there is 

no structure. There is talent but 

structure is needed. It is needed 

number one for ease and legality; 

it makes everybody’s life easier”, 

she concludes. 

Richard Quest explores our ‘World of Wonder’ in new CNN series 

Richard Quest is the host 

of a new immersive 

travel series on CNN 

International which 

launches July 14. 

The show, Quest’s World of 

Wonder, will each month take 

Quest to a different destination 

to dig deep into its DNA, exploring 

what drives a city and the 

people who live in it. Viewers 

will meet larger-than-life characters 

who explain how the city’s 

past has created a unique fabric 

that is still evolving today. But 

this isn’t a show about tourism, 

food or culture – it’s about finding 

the essence of a place. 

“Quest’s World of Wonder can 

be summed up in one sentence: 

We’re going to interesting places 

to meet fascinating people,” says 

Richard Quest 

Richard Quest, host of the new 

series. 

“We’re not tourists, we’re 

travelers. It’s a show about meeting 

the people who reveal the 

heart of the city and help you understand 

what makes the place 

tick, leading you to that ‘wow’ 

moment when you realize you 

belong,” he says. 

The first episode takes viewers 

into the heart of a city the world 

is watching closely: Washington, 

D.C. From the major political 

upheavals past and present, 

Quest explores Washington’s 

power – the good and the bad – 

with the help of those who have 

pulled its levers. 

“People are fascinated by the 

spirit of a city – something built 

up over millennia, centuries or 

decades that defines what the 

place stands for and offers its 

residents and visitors,” says Ellana 

Lee, senior vice president, 

CNN International. 

“No one is better at finding and 

telling those stories than Richard 

Quest – a true internationalist 

with vast experience in travelling 

the world and reporting on 

it. Through this new show, CNN 

viewers will experience a world 

of wonder that will inform and inspire 

in equal measure,” Lee says. 

Quest’s World of Wonder will 

also explore Berlin, Budapest, 

Panama City and more fascinating 

cities this season. The halfhour 

show will be complemented 

by a wealth of content online 

at a dedicated site within CNN 

Travel as well as on social media.



C002D5556 

Movie Review - ADRIFT (2018) 

If you enjoyed the 

movie “Me before you” 

then you would absolutely 

adore this new 

movie called “Adrift” 

Apparently we have had several 

Adrift movies since 1993, 

which I never took note of, 

I was so fortunate to catch 

this before it went off the cinemas, 

and you would need to 

also. Amazing storyline one 

that brings tears to your eyes 

and keep you wishing and 

praying that it never went the 

way it did, making you forget 

it was just a movie, although 

it was based on a true life story 

the cast in this movie made 

it look so real, and it also reminded 

me of “Titanic” I am 

sure everyone remembers 

that movie. A very slow and 

serene movie, but was genuine, 

real, touching and with 

loads of lessons to take away. 

A romantic movie, they had 

just a few cast, and amazing 

words of wisdom. Here are 

a few lessons I walked away 

with, Firstly When you find 

love enjoy every moment of 

it and do not allow anything 

hold you back, Secondly 

make sure you have fun at 

work and enjoy what you do, 

and thirdly when you come 

across the storms of life, trying 

so hard to weigh you 

down, don’t give up, be determined 

and strong to overcome 

no matter, what it takes 

make sure you survive to tell 

the stories, so that others can 

learn also. 

The movie was written by 

Aaron Kandell, Jordan Kandell, 

David Branson Smith 

and directed by Baltasar Kormakur, 

I must say that despite 

the fact that the movie 

was based on a true life story, 

they did have a clear picture 

of what they wanted to 

pass across and the impact 

it would have on the viewers. 

They sure did have a well 

written script, perfect blending 

cast for each role and who 

played their parts well and 

made it so real and convincing. 

It’s always nice to watch 

movies with amazing storyline 

that keeps you wondering 

and thinking even days 

after, making you so excited 

that you can’t wait to write 

the review and tell everyone 

around you to go watch it. 

Although as usual I was so 

sad and disappointed at the 

end, but the honest truth is 

that this particular ending 

always repeats it’s self in every 

drama, romantic movie, 

my prayers and thoughts just 

couldn’t make this movie any 

different. 

“Adrift” started on a very 

slow and exciting way, telling 

us of two sailors who 

were absolutely passionate 

about sailing bumping into 

each other and instantly, it 

was love at first sight. They 

were two abstract people the 

guy who was called “Richard 

Sharp” in the movie was also 

coincidentally the same guy 

from “Me before you” and 

Cast: Shailene Woodley, Elizabeth Hawthorne, Tami 

Ashcraft, Sam Clafin, Grace Palmer, Kael Damlamian, 

Jeffery Thomas, & Luna Campell 

Genre: Drama & Romance 

Director: Baltasar Kormakur 

Ratings: PG 13 (for injury images, peril, languages, 

brief drug use, partial nudity and thematic elements) 

Written by: Aaron Kandell and Jordan Kandell 

Runtime: 120 mins 

Studio: STXfilms 

“Hunger games” I sincerely 

think, he did a very good job 

again in this movie and he 

nailed it. He was very shy and 

reserved unlike “Tami Oldham” 

as she was called in the 

movie, who was extremely 

outspoken and adventurous, 

she was always so happy and 

excited and wasn’t scared to 

try new stuffs. She wanted to 

sail around the world and see 

what it unfolds, she wasn’t 

willing to just leave a quiet 

simple life in the suburban’s, 

she wanted much more and 

Richard was willing to also 

join her on that crazy adventure. 

So Tami meets Richard 

falls in love with him and the 

agree to go on a very long 

sail from Tahiti to San Diego, 

they had no clue that they 

would be sailing right into 

one of the most dangerous 

hurricanes in history. They 

both fought hard through 

the storm, but their fight and 

small boat, could absolutely 

not withstand the huge impact 

of this hurricane and 

so Richard was thrown out 

to the sea and Tami made 

it under to safety, just right 

before it went so bad, so she 

was injured but not as bad as 

Richard, who was in the sea 

for days. Tami bumped her 

head, also work up days after, 

to a bad memory and terrible 

hallucination, which is one 

terrible illness that comes 

with sailing. 

Tami works on the boat 

then finds Richard in a terrible 

condition and has to find 

a way of making sure that 

they both survive, they went 

adrift for 41days and at this 

time, they could only pray 

for anyone to locate them as 

they had ran out of food, water 

and clothing’s. It was funny 

how Tami a veteran had to 

switch to killing and eating 

fish, something she would 

never have though in her life 

she would do, but she faced 

death head on and knew that 

was the only thing left to keep 

her going, Tami eat raw fishes 

and survived a few more 

days, till help came from nowhere. 

She was strong and 

courageous; she knew she 

had to leave to tell this beautiful 

story and experience of 

how she found the only man 

that ever loved her. 

Adrift deserves a beautiful 

8/10 why because I enjoyed 

every bit of the story. 

The movie looked so real and 

touching, at some point I had 

to fight so hard from shedding 

tears. It’s always so nice 

to watch movies with fantastic 

storyline and this absolutely 

one of them. This is a 

sure recommendation from 

me to all the romantic movie 

lovers; you sure will enjoy 

this one. 

Feel free to review any 

movie of your choice in not 

more than 200 words, please 

send us a mail to linda@ 

businessdayonline.com and 

stand a chance to win a free 

movie ticket 

Linda Ochugbua 

@lindaochugbua 

Business Etiquette 

with Janet Adetu 

A Passion for 

Sports Business 

Gone are the 

days when careers 

were fixed 

on pure office 

settings. Talent 

day spreads across anything 

and everything, your skills, 

creativity, sense of style and 

fashion bring out the true 

you. In the spirit of the world 

cup we see that the game of 

football has rapidly become 

a very lucrative business. 

It is not limited to Football 

alone, it cuts across all sports 

to name a few like Football, 

Boxing, Basketball, Long 

Tennis, Volley Ball, Polo, 

Swimming, Athletics and 

more list goes on. To be an 

efficient and effective a sport 

coach you must take the 

business seriously as such 

the real PASSION for the 

game must take precedence. 

Major characteristic traits 

also required include versatility, 

creativity, energy most 

of all professionalism. 

Becoming a sports coach, 

commentator, presenter or 

reporter is a recognized profession, 

that does not start 

or stop simply because you 

were once a great player. It 

will entail a combination of 

experience, extra training 

and certification. You must 

be a guru understanding the 

rules and governing regulations 

of the game. Sport 

business is not what you just 

wake up and venture into, it 

involves years of learning, 

planning, and involvement. 

When you are into sports you 

will literally sleep, drink, eat 

and think sports all day long. 

A few Etiquette Strategies 

are below for Managing your 

Passion for Sports Business 

to help you shape a career 

path out of your passion. 

Managing Your Sports Business 

Choosing Your Lane 

The passion for sports can 

mean many things to you 

if you consider yourself a 

sportsman. If your choice 

is to make it a business you 

cannot have multiple sports 

goals, it is safe to go along 

with the one you desire the 

most. The one that gives you 

great joy and happiness. As 

a coach you will be guiding 

others, as a commentator 

you will be analyzing results 

and live performances, as a 

radio or TV presenter you 

will be delivering accurate 

news. Which area is most 

comfortable to you will be 

your choice as your new 

found career. Choose wisely. 

Passion First Profits Later 

I guess everyone in the sports 

industry has the love for the 

game and hopefull the huge 

passion go along with it. It 

will take a lot of diligence and 

determination to convince 

yourself that you can make a 

winning team. You will need 

that driving force to bring on 

the game. If you are able to 

exert enough passion from 

the players the will to succeed 

will arise and team spirit will 

set in. 

Experience, Energy, Efficiency 

As a coach your experience 

will set the right tone for 

various scenarios. Your team 

will be watching your every 

move for inspiration, 

energy and success. Your 

experience will show you 

how to deal with awkward, 

challenging and difficult 

decision making periods. 

When you are physically and 

psychologically down you 

will need to step up game to 

avoid creating the impression 

defeat. However losing 

is part of the game it should 

be embraced as good sportsmanship. 

Someone has to 

lose while the other has an 

opportunity to win. 

Mix Mingle Network 

As a good Sportsman in the 

business of sports you will 

need to constantly build your 

relationships with players 

and captains in the industry. 

A good sense of networking 

will help you familiarize 

yourself with the correct 

protocol required to be successful 

in your chosen sport. 

Train and Retrain 

No doubt you will have gone 

through numerous trainings 

as a sportsman however to 

manage people is an entirely 

professional skill that must 

be learnt. 

As a coach you will need 

to be conversant of various 

characteristic behaviors 

coming from the team. You 

will need a bit of skilled 

knowledge in the area og 

marketing, branding and 

possibly finance. Adminis- 

trative skills are not ruled out 

too be abreast of the various 

departments and skill sets 

needed. The most important 

thing is be open to learning 

new things all the time. 

Goal Setting 

Taking up the role of a coach 

or management in sports is 

no easy task. The goal always 

is to win the game at all costs. 

However it is not just the 

winning that is considered 

it also entails maintaining a 

good reputation, keeping the 

fans happy, reducing costs as 

well as making the venture 

a profitable one. A lot of 

stakeholders are involved 

not to mention die-hard fans 

who are ready to criticize 

your every move. Your goals 

should be clear, concise, 

consistent and transparent 

to all. Be careful to segregate 

your immediate from your 

longtime goals. Your goals 

should spillover to individual 

goals for each member 

of the team. 

Communicating with Clarity 

Do you communicate with 

clarity or do you find yourself 

repeating most often. To be 

a Sports Manger means getting 

your vision and message 

across in the most understandable 

manner. You will 

also need to subject yourself 

to constructive criticism 

to allow you identify your 

woown weaknesses, flaws 

and strengths too. 

Do your team understand 

what is at stake, and why they 

are there? Your role is to keep 

everyone on the same page, 

resolve undue conflicts, and 

manage the mentality and 

psych of the team. You also 

need to communicate team 

spirit, confidence, determination 

and diligence. That is 

the formula for a great team 

whiter they are one or twenty 

on the team. 

Constant Committed Calm 

The passion for sports already 

indicates some level 

of commitment, it also has 

the potential to raise your 

stress levels, if not managed 

well. Fine tune your health 

to enjoy the game come 

what may. Your advice, guidance, 

direction, support and 

encouragement is what the 

entire management team 

look upo. 

Sports is a business, a 

franchise, a job that is time 

consuming but rewarding 

too. Try to leave a legacy behind 

to be well remembered. 

Goodluck 

Janet.adetu@gmail.com

Friday 12 July 2018 

BUSINESS DAY 

23 

CityFile 

Farmers, herdsmen agree to 

peaceful co-existence in S/West 

Living below poverty line 

Barber battles kidney disease 

Name: Onigbinde Adetunji 

Oluwaseun 

State of Origin: Oyo 

Age: 31 years 

Dependents: Siblings 

Occupation: Barber 

I 

was managing the little 

resources I got from my 

barbing business until 

I was diagnosed with 

kidney disease on May 2, 

2018. I was initially rushed 

to a nearby hospital at Oke 

Ado Ibadan on May 1, 2018 

from where I was referred 

to Molly Specialist Hospital 

at Idi Ape, Ibadan the next 

day, where I was diagnosed 

of this sickness. 

Prior to this, I had been 

admitted severally in different 

hospitals because I often 

collapsed and blackout. On 

every hospital admission, I 

was given drugs and drips. 

Sometimes, I received blood 

transfusion. 

During these times, my 

family especially my elder 

sister would run around to 

raise money for my treatment. 

Sadly, none of those 

hospitals diagnosed anything. 

All they said was that 

I had high blood pressure 

and shortage of blood. 

The doctor said I need 

kidney transplant but I am 

presently undergoing dialysis 

pending the time 

money would be raised for 

the transplant. 

I have been undergoing 

Bandits attack villages in Sokoto 

GODFREY OFURUM 

Some bandits have attacked 

villages around 

Gandi in Rabah local 

government area of Sokoto 

State, killing an unspecified 

number of people. 

Houses in some villages 

in the area were also set 

ablaze by the attackers and 

residents displaced. 

Cordelia Nwewe, the police 

public relations officer 

dialysis 1-2 times every 

week together with blood 

transfusion. I’m also on 

drugs prescribed by the 

Neurologist 

How have you been coping 

with the sickness? 

We struggle to raise between 

N70,000 and N82,000 

weekly for my dialysis and 

blood transfusion. 

We have spent all we 

had and now borrow from 

anyone who is kind enough 

to lend us some money. My 

elder sister had to sell the 

taxi which brought in little 

money for the family upkeep 

to fund my treatment. 

I can no longer work at 

my barbing shop because of 

my condition and we have 

even sold almost everything 

in the shop. My father is late 

and my relatives and friends 

have done all they could to 

help me. 

Challenge: I constantly 

experience severe pain. My 

legs, face and stomach are 

swollen. I have discomfort 

breathing, and can’t urinate 

and defecate normally. 

Sleeping at nights is also a 

problem. I appeal to wellmeaning 

and kind-spirited 

Nigerians to help me pay for 

my treatment. 

If you want to contact 

the writer of this story 

call: +234(0)8038891567 

or email:- chinwe.agbeze@ 

businessdayonline.com 

Sokoto, said that the Commissioner 

of Police, Muritala 

Mani, and the medical 

personnel from the state 

have assessed the situation 

and ascertain how many 

people were affected. 

It would be recaledl that 

the police had also on June 

12, 2018 confirmed that 

eight died in a clash that ensued 

between bandits and 

local vigilance members in 

Isa local government area of 

the state. 

REMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan 

Farmers under 

the auspices 

of South West 

Farmers Association 

of 

Nigeria and the Miyetti 

Allah Cattle Breeders 

Association of Nigeria 

(MACBAN) have reached 

an agreement to maintain 

peace and co-exist in the 

southwest region. 

Members of the two 

parties met Tuesday in 

Ibadan, the Oyo State 

capital, where they acknowledged 

the contributions 

of each group to 

the regional and national 

economy and the need to 

refrain from ruining each 

Imo youths partner ASEPA to cleanup Aba 

Imo youths resident in 

Abia and operating under 

the auspices of Imo 

Youths Association, has 

appealed to residents of 

Aba, to support the efforts of 

the Abia State government 

to regenerate the commercial 

city, by keeping their 

environments clean. 

They also urged the residents 

to dump their wastes 

at designated receptacles, 

to enable the Abia State 

Environmental Protection 

Agency (ASEPA) properly 

collect them for disposal. 

Ihuoma Jude-Panza, 

who recently led about 500 

Imo youths on a cleanup 

and enlightenment exercise 

within Aba, decried the 

attitude of some residents 

that dump their wastes into 

water channels, which according 

to him, is the cause 

of flooding in the city. He 

urged other youths in the 

area to emulate the group, 

by sensitising people on 

…to jointly fish out criminals 

other. 

Segun Dasaolu, chairman 

of the farmers association, 

highlighted 

the importance of the 

meeting, saying it was to 

streamline the relationship 

between herdsmen 

and farmers in the zone. 

Dasaolu explained 

that the meeting was also 

called to strategise on 

how to create a databank 

of all the herdsmen and 

farmers to ensure easy 

identification. 

‘‘The friendliest zone 

for herdsmen is the 

southwest; that is why 

we and herdsmen hardly 

have any crisis. 

the need to live in clean 

environments. 

According to Ihuoma 

said, “We embarked on this 

exercise to appreciate the 

efforts of Governor Okezie 

Ikpeazu in regenerating Aba. 

“We are a non-governmental 

and non-political organization, 

but we support 

good governance. We are 

not happy the way people 

liter the roads that the governor 

is building for our use. 

“It is also a way to show 

that Imo youths are not lazy. 

You can remember that one 

Nigerian leader said that 

Nigerian youths are lazy, so 

we want to tell him that Imo 

youths are not lazy. 

He continued, “Governor 

Ikpeazu was the first 

deputy general manager 

of ASEPA, Aba and environs 

and it was because of 

his performance that God 

elevated him to the office 

of a governor. So, we took 

cognizance of that and 

decided to support him, 

through ASEPA, which is 

his primary constituency”. 

“‘We have agreed today 

that there must be clear 

identity of every herdsmen 

in the South West 

through data capturing,’’ 

he said. 

On his part, Mahammadu 

Kirowo, the national 

president of MACBAN, 

promised on behalf of 

his group to respect the 

terms of the agreement. 

‘‘The association’s database 

will be created 

by the headquarters in 

Abuja; any other one is 

counterfeit. 

‘‘We are peace makers 

in the southwest, our 

herdsmen are proud of 

living in peace. We don’t 

Ogun signs MoU to distribute 

potable, regular water to residents 

Ogun State has 

signed a Memorandum 

of 

Understanding 

(MoU) with the CLACCS 

Associates to distribute 

clean and regular water 

supply in the state. 

Signing the MoU at the 

Ogun State Water Corporation’s 

office in Abeokuta, 

Monsurat Agboola, the general 

manager of the corporation, 

said the MoU would be of 

benefit to all parts of the state. 

“The signing will 

strengthen the state’s water 

sector. Asides from improving 

on the law guiding 

the supply of water to the 

people, the company will 

on regular basis, interface 

with the state government 

to further strengthen water 

policy,’’ she said. 

Tanwa Koya, managing 

director of CLACCS Associates, 

said: “The main 

support any criminal act, 

violence or any form of 

evil; let us fish out the 

criminals in our society. 

“We are peace makers 

in our association and 

not perpetrators of crisis,’’ 

he said. 

Gbolagade Babalola 

and traditional head of 

Iddo town in Oyo State, 

who also spoke at the 

meeting, suggested the 

need for local government 

chairmen and traditional 

rulers to hold 

frequent meetings with 

the herdsmen. 

He also stressed the 

need for herdsmen to 

have identification cards. 

Participants during Road Work at the 2018 EFCC Anti-Corruption Campaign Day in Abuja on Wednesday (11/7/18). 

03693/11/7/2018/Jimah Suleman/NAN 

GODFREY OFURUM 

focus of the MoU is to 

further strengthen the existing 

law in the interest of 

Ogun residents. 

“Particularly on the 

regular supply of potable 

water to the nooks and 

crannies of the state, the 

company will do the needful 

to ensure that it delivers 

on the mandate. 

“The MoU is also set to 

achieve good performance 

in the water corporation, 

boost the revenue base of 

the state and increase coverage 

of services,’’ she said. 

Koya urged all departments 

in the agency to 

support and assist the 

company to make the contract 

a huge success. 

It would be recalled that 

12 companies had bid for 

the contract in May 2017; 

six were shortlisted and 

CLACCS Associates eventually 

won the contract.



FEATURE 

Stuck with ‘bad’ seeds: Nigerian farmers 

struggle in a cycle of poverty 

CALEB OJEWALE 

Rural farmers planting 

ford to purchase good seeds, as a result, 

resorting to the use of what was 

saved from their previous harvest. 

“It is not so much about the availability 

of seeds. The seed may be available 

but affordability is another issue. 

If something is available but you can’t 

afford it, you would want nothing to 

do with it,” said Hamza Ahmed Mahuta, 

a former key accounts manager 

at Syngenta, currently working as an 

agriculture consultant. 

Philip Ojo, director general of the 

National Agricultural Seed Council 

(NASC), in an exclusive interview 

with BusinessDay, said “Farm yield 

in Nigeria is dependent on numerous 

factors chief of which is the genetic 

ability of the seed as well as agronomic 

factors. “Furthermore, what 

comes to mind is how much of ‘seed’ 

farmers are using in Nigeria. The bulk 

of our crop production is still dependent 

use of farm saved seeds partly 

due to the lack of awareness on the 

need to use quality seeds. Over the 

years we have done a lot to educate 

our farmers on the need to drop their 

own saved seeds and use quality 

seeds purchased from reputable and 

approved sources. 

According to Ojo, NASC has also 

in collaboration with the National 

and International Agricultural Research 

Institutes “made effort to 

inject quality early generation seeds 

(Breeder and Foundation Seeds) to 

ensure that certified seeds available 

to farmers are of the best quality that 

are superior to their own saved seeds. 

The changes can be seen in the level 

of increase in the quantity of seeds 

produced over the years.” 

Rotimi Fashola, general manager, 

Elephant Group Plc, however posited 

that “improved seeds are not available 

in sufficient quantities because 

we are yet to fully change from 

subsistence farming to commercial 

farming. This is a process and it will 

take some time and persistence. The 

same for the seed quality. Therefore, 

more and more companies (private 

sector) will join seed production 

once its commercially viable.” 

“Most farmers still re-cycle their 

seeds,” Fashola said. It complements 

Mahuta’s position, when he also noted 

that “many farmers in Nigeria are 

truly peasant. If you look at their lives 

you will realise what they produce is 

hardly enough to last them two to 

three months. The remaining periods 

they have virtually nothing, not even to 

keep as seeds but to feed their families. 

And unfortunately, about 80 percent of 

primary production in Nigeria is in the 

hands of these peasants.” 

He further explained that “there 

is one thing about farmers; generally, 

our people resist change, particularly 

for something that is expensive. So, 

they may not leave what they are 

used to and go for an expensive one 

they don’t even know. So, the best 

way to get (good seeds) to the farmers 

is either donating to them or giving it 

to them at a subsidised rate. 

“This is because, by the time they 

try it and see the difference between 

it and what they are used to, they will 

certainly want to adopt it. That is how 

fertilizer was introduced to Nigerian 

farmers,” said Mahuta. 

Ojo, NASC’s DG, established that 

Nigeria officially has “about 157 seed 

companies already licensed with 92 

others awaiting Ministerial or Board 

approval. An additional 63 companies 

are awaiting the recommendation 

of the National Committee on 

Seed Company accreditation.” 

Out of these, only about 10 are not 

indigenous companies; implying the 

bulk of seed companies in Nigeria are 

indigenous. However, the quality of 

seeds coming from these companies 

suggest their competencies, not 

generally, but individually, may be 

subject to scepticism. 

Getting good, quality seeds into 

Nigeria has not always been easy 

as it appeared government deemed 

it fit to give local companies the 

preference in production, however 

unpleasant the outcomes have been. 

Rutger Groot, chairman, East- 

West Seed Knowledge Transfer, and 

a member of the Supervisory Board 

EWS BV, said in an interview that 

“in the past, there were restrictions 

on import of seeds. It is still not very 

easy, but it is better now. Now we 

can get a few varieties of tomato into 

The average smallholder 

farmer in Nigeria is by 

every standard, considered 

poor. Their largely 

subsistent farming sees 

them toiling hard but with very little 

to show for it. Conversely, in other 

parts of the world, arduous work is 

complemented with innovations, 

particularly good seeds which ensure 

that farm yields are higher than 

average, and farmers in those places 

gradually break free from the cycle 

of poverty. 

As Nigeria’s agricultural development 

is increasingly becoming a 

subject of interest, it is attracting the 

attention of both local and foreign 

players who want to cash in on the 

renewed diversification rhetoric. 

However, if poor farm yield is what 

potential investors will either have 

to show for their investments, or 

perhaps, what limits them from 

getting enough raw materials for 

production, then the journey to agricultural 

development may be longer 

than thought. 

Frans Ojielu, global financial advisor, 

ICMG Commodities, wrote in 

an emailed note, that “the availability 

of quality seeds is critical to agricultural 

productivity. This is a critical 

input and all efforts must be on deck 

to ensure the availability. The yield 

per hectare is bolstered by the quality 

of seeds. The time to maturity is also 

affected by the types and quality of 

seeds used which directly affect the 

economics and cashflow available to 

agri-businesses. 

The importance of good seeds is 

important, not only for the economic 

wellbeing of the farmers, but also for 

food security. With an estimated $5 

billion food import bill, better yields 

in Nigeria will imply less importation, 

while many industries which 

require agricultural raw materials, 

will also get the required inputs. 

However, the problem of seed 

in Nigeria is multifaceted, with two 

notable elements. The first borders 

on dubious seed dealers, who sell 

fake seeds, at times ordinary grains, 

to unsuspecting farmers as hybrid. 

This experience discourages many 

farmers who have used such seeds 

from making a repeat purchase. The 

second; most smallholder farmers 

(responsible for 80 percent of output) 

are too poor to afford good seeds. 

Chris Akor, an Oxford trained 

young Nigerian, who works in Lagos, 

decided to use part of his expansive 

compound in Sangotedo, at the outskirts 

of Ajah in Lagos for farming. 

Akor, being educated, decided 

to buy maize seeds from what ought 

to have been a reputable company, 

but he was soon to be disappointed. 

Two weeks after planting, some had 

germinated, others did not, and by 

the time the crops completed the 

90 day cycle, he could only harvest 

about half of what he had cultivated. 

The quality of maize cobs was in his 

words, “another complete disaster”. 

However, unlike Akor, millions of 

smallholder farmers cannot even afthe 

country. When I was here last 

year, farmers were just astonished 

what new varieties can do instead of 

reusing seeds. 

“You see a lot of farmers in Nigeria 

keep seeds which they reuse; part of 

their last harvest saved as seed for 

the following year. But unknown to 

them, with every generation quality 

goes down. So if you just spend a 

little money on a bag of seeds, the 

quality will always be uniform and 

high level. This is something farmers 

have to learn,” said Groot. 

Lack of quality seeds which deters 

many farmers from making a purchase 

at all, sees several others falling 

victim to it, and losing their capital 

when yields are not commensurate 

with the investment made. 

Ojo, whose agency oversees monitoring 

seed production and distribution, 

said “Farmers’ productivity is 

greatly impacted by the sale and use 

of fake or adulterated seeds. Spurious 

seed dealers involved in the sale 

of adulterated seeds to unsuspecting 

farmers are a big challenge to the 

seed industry. 

“Their activities are a disservice to 

the nation, as they rob unsuspecting 

farmers of their increase in productivity 

and further make farmers to 

have a wrong impression of good, 

quality seeds.” 

Fashola, Elephant group’s general 

manager, also noted that for 

grains that are being repackaged 

and sold as seed, the industry has to 

be better “regulated by the National 

Seed Council by monitoring and 

policing the seed companies so that 

they adhere to the right process of 

seed production. Also, the seed certification 

system must be improved 

by committing more money and 

man-power to it.” 

The unavailability of good seeds 

can also be attributed in part to 

the Growth Enhancement Support 

(GES) programme introduced by the 

Federal Government in 2012, as part 

of measures to depoliticize the input 

sector by withdrawing the state from 

procurement of inputs and developing 

a private sector channel for input 

distribution. 

Since 2014, out of about N67 

billion being owed an estimated 

network of 300 companies that participated 

in the scheme, N18 billion 

remained unpaid as at last month 

when BusinessDay spoke with Kabiru 

Fara, national chairman of the 

Agro Dealers’ Association. 

The impact has been felt throughout 

the country, and more so in the 

country’s northeast where farm 

productivity has nosedived. In the 

Seed Security Assessment in North 

Eastern States of Nigeria by the 

Food and Agriculture Organization 

(FAO) of the United Nations in 2016, 

it was stated that; the withdrawal of 

some private partners from the GES 

Scheme (a government farm input 

subsidy programme) led to reduction 

in quantity of certified seeds and 

fertilizers available at community 

level. Moreover, private seed companies 

reportedly shifted their interest 

to government and INGOs’ orders 

and not individual farmers. This 

was prompted by the comparatively 

low demand or adoption of adapted 

certified seeds by the individual 

farmers and the companies’ interest 

in prioritizing the few large orders 

from DSD providers. Some local 

grain markets were also disrupted, 

especially in the areas extensively 

affected by the insurgency. These 

markets had usually offered an alternative 

source of seed for poor farmers 

who needed to supplement their 

own saved seeds but couldn’t afford 

better yielding certified seeds. Seed 

Aid interventions were limited across 

the three states and largely targeted 

the internally displaced persons with 

access to farming land; not the poor 

farming households. 

Even before the GES scheme 

collapsed (more or less), the quality 

of seed supplies was in doubt, even 

though farmers ‘were still getting 

something’. 

Mahuta, formerly with Syngenta, 

revealed that “Once the idea of 

GESS was introduced, most of the 

senior civil servants registered seed 

companies.” 

“Seed companies are supposed 

to produce seeds but in actual sense 

what do we see, they go to the open 

market to buy grains, package them 

and supply to the areas they are 

meant to provide seeds to. So, that 

is another very big problem, in fact, 

that is why Syngenta had to go into 

rice seed production, because Syngenta 

had very good crop protection 

chemicals, but they discovered there 

were no good seeds available. So, 

for those chemicals to give desired 

effects, they needed to be applied 

on good seeds, and they discovered 

that not that there is no good seeds, 

but they are so limited in number.” 

Making a case for Soybean: High 

demand, abysmal yields 

“There is a small quarrel between 

the United States and China, 

soybeans and sorghum are part of 

items in dispute. The Chinese have 

a preference for the hybrid soybean 

Continues on page 26


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

25 

INTERVIEW 

‘We have cases where landlords have 

asked tenants to stop paying rents’ 

Up to the end of the first half of this year, the real estate sector was still passing through challenging times. In this interview, FEMI AKINTUNDE, GMD, Alpha Mead Group, 

reviews activities and situations in the sector since the last quarter of 2017, noting that with falling demand, rising vacancy rate, especially in retail malls and high end 

residential houses, landlords and mall owners have been compelled to drop rents and offer concessions to maintain reasonable occupancy level. He also speaks on the 

impact of the 2018 budget on real estate sector. He speaks with CHUKA UROKO, Property Editor. Excerpts 

Despite the positive 

outlook that was predicted 

at the beginning 

of this year by 

analysts, the first half 

of the year has come and gone but 

the sector remains in recession 

even with the improvement in the 

wider economy. What is responsible 

for this? 

Real estate generally lags behind 

the key indicators of the economy and 

that is why it is called a laggard. There 

are slight indications that things are 

gradually coming back indirectly but 

we are not yet feeling it in real estate. 

The reason for this could be viewed 

from two angles, but primarily from 

finance angle. 

Real estate is a capital intensive 

venture. It is not recurrent or transactional 

as such. Decision on real estate 

is not short term. If you want to own 

a home, build an office complex or 

a retail mall, the decision is not one 

you just wake up and say you want to 

do. It cannot be conceived within the 

short period we have experienced 

recovery in the economy. Even if you 

have started planning or already on 

site, it takes a while for you to come 

up with the financial involvement 

and capital deployment. Real estate 

lifecycle comes in different phases— 

from conceptualization to planning, 

design, procurement and construction 

before you finally come to the 

ownership phase. 

That cycle, depending on where 

you were before the recession, to 

restart it takes a long time. You have 

to re-establish your position before 

the recession; that this was where 

you was and, based on the recovery, 

you have to determine if the impact 

of the recession has not shifted you 

backwards. If it has, then you have to 

recalibrate and find your way back to 

where you were before recession. So, 

I would say that for those reasons, it is 

not yet Uhuru for the real estate sector 

even after we have seen recovery. 

You have just said that real estate 

is not transactional; what do you 

mean by that? 

This does not mean you are buying 

something and reselling it. By this I 

mean something that is short term. 

Development plan is there. Bits 

and pieces of this are transactional. 

But in any development, you have 

to define the scope and review the 

design. Real estate is a unique asset 

class and we must recognize that. It 

is like an elephant; waking it up is a 

huge task. To move it forward from 

where you were before a stop requires 

a huge amount of effort. It is like restarting 

a manufacturing plant after 

you stopped operation for some time. 

Femi Akintunde 

This can take a week or two to check 

all the components, clean them up 

and get the machine running again. 

But, in spite of what you have just 

said, the property market is still 

running. Demand and supply are 

still happening. In measurable 

terms, what can you say about 

market transactions? 

I will speak on this from two angles—as 

a service provider and as 

a developer. From the beginning of 

the year till now, a couple of things 

have happened. First is that the 

economic impact of recession on the 

financial capabilities of customers 

is well pronounced. A lot of people 

have struggled to meet up with their 

service charge payment. Again, a lot 

of contracts have been renegotiated 

and this has negative impact. A lot 

of people have lost their jobs. Clients 

are now reducing the scope of what 

they are supposed to do because of 

lack of resources. Also the income 

generating capacity of a lot of individuals 

and corporate organizations 

have reduced. A key driver of service 

demand is traffic or usage. So, if one 

was receiving 100-200 customers before 

now and it is now reduced to 40, 

it follows that one won’t have enough 

resources to continue to maintain the 

facilities at the level where demand 

was placed originally. 

Let us look at market situation in 

terms of falling demand and rising 

vacancy level in residential 

houses 

Vacancy rate has gone up significantly 

because a lot of people have 

moved out of where they were living 

before the recession. They have adjusted 

their lifestyle. In terms of where 

we were before recession, the vacancy 

rate is about 20 percent. This 20 percent 

is just the average because occupancy 

level in some houses have reduced by 

40-50 percent while some have not 

changed at all. Some of our corporate 

clients have changed office location. 

Some that were in two to three floors 

have now scaled down to one floor 

because they have sent away a good 

number of their staff due to reduced 

business activities. 

For retail, some retailers have had 

to move out of the malls completely. 

Some landlords have reduced rents. 

We have cases where landlords have 

asked tenants to stop paying rents 

altogether. Just pay the service charge 

to enable us maintain the mall. This is 

because there is a minimum level of 

occupancy you must be able to maintain 

to keep the anchor tenants and 

the mall active. There are all sorts of 

adjustments taking place. Where landlords 

used to ask for annual rents, they 

are now asking for quarterly payment. 

Even service charge has been affected. 

Cost of fund and cash flow to support 

businesses have also been affected. 

Last year, the federal government 

funded the budget about 80 percent 

from domestic debt. What that did 

was to crowd out the private sector. 

Banks were not lending to service 

providers and customers were not 

paying; many of them were defaulting. 

What happened was that service quality 

was affected in terms of response 

and the trickle-down effect on value 

chain. Service providers were joggling 

projects and rationing cash. Some customers 

were feeling the pain more than 

others because the sub-contractors 

under us were being owed and not all 

of them have the financial capacity to 

withstand that pressure. As it is now, 

it is a question of financial dynamism 

for various organizations to be able to 

cope and keep their head above water. 

Not long ago, the 2018 budget was 

signed into law by the president. 

The executive alleged that allocations 

to various items including 

infrastructure the national housing 

programme (NHP) were cut. How 

is this going to affect the housing 

sector? 

Mind you, we are dealing with a 

big economy. When we are analyzing 

a budget, we have to be very careful not 

to be sucked into a narrow perspective, 

otherwise we lose the main substance 

and the bigger impact of the compensations 

for different items. That the 

allocation of N35.4 billion to NHP has 

been reduced to N26 billion is not a big 

issue. This is not where the grey issue 

facing the housing sector is. Housing is 

at the tail end of the built environment. 

Housing cannot exist on its own. 

So, rather than looking at the NHP 

in isolation, let us look at the broad 

perspective. Let’s look at the capital 

expenditure which is about 31 percent 

of the budget for this year. This 

represents N2. 87 trillion in a budget 

of N9.1trillion. This is about 22 percent 

higher than N2.34 trillion of last year. 

Let us bring it further home to what 

affects housing. The budget for power, 

works and housing went up from N529 

billion last year to N555 billion this 

year. This shows a marginal increase 

of about 6 percent. This is the biggest 

allocation in the various components 

of the budget. 

Let us take a critical look at housing. 

Should government really 

look away from housing? 

When you look at housing, you see 

that it is not something that government 

can look away from because it 

is very important for various reasons. 

You look at the effect of real estate on 

GDP which is about 7 percent; you 

also look at its effect on job creation 

and quality of life of citizens. Of the 

basic needs of human beings, after 

food, the next thing is shelter. A man 

that does not have a home cannot be 

productive because his heart/mind is 

not at rest. Housing also impacts on 

security because a man that does not 

have a house lives on the street and 

becomes a security risk to every other 

person. He is vulnerable to attack and 

is also ready to attack other people out 

of anger and idleness. 

The commitment to the development 

of infrastructure is very key and 

it has to be the kind of infrastructure 

that can impact housing. If you want to 

develop a place, you just put electricity 

and good road network to connect 

the towns and villages. Another thing 

that can impact housing and bring 

development is mass transportation 

system. So, rail transportation is key. If 

you go to a place like UK, you see the 

tube working all over the place. The 

train system is working and you can 

travel a distance of 200 kilomretres in 

just one hour. 

If you look at roads infrastructure 

like Lagos Ibadan Expressway and Lekki-Epe 

Expressway, you see the kind 

of developments taking place there 

because the roads are good. Once there 

is good road network, you see developments 

taking place from individuals 

and organizations or companies. So, 

the provision of infrastructure that 

relate to housing is critical. We need 

about N56 trillion to deal with the 17 

million housing deficit in the country. 

The government does not have 

that kind of money. But efforts have 

been made in the 2018 budget to put 

in place those things that can make 

housing development by individuals 

and organizations to provide their 

own housing needs. 

There is no benefit in building a 

beautiful house where there is no 

access road and no electricity. Nigerians 

need just those basic things 

that will make them survive but not 

much is being done. For instance, 

where America is doing 3,300 kilowatts 

of electricity per 1000 people, 

Nigeria is doing just 35 kilowatts per 

1000 people. UK is doing about 1,500 

kilowatts per 1000 people, Ghana 

is doing 62 kilowatts which is very 

low, but still higher than ours. At 35 

kilowatts, it means we still have a long 

way to go. Provision of that critical 

infrastructure improves quality of life 

which, in turn, affects life expectancy 

that, in Nigeria today is as low as 52 

years on the average. 

The government we have may not 

be the best we need but it could be 

seen that they are putting their efforts 

in the right direction. How far they will 

go is still a matter of conjecture. But a 

government that has 30 percent of its 

annual budget on capital expenditure, 

in my view, means well. However, 68 

percent of the budget on recurrent 

expenditure tells you that the size of 

the civil service, political office holders 

and the legislature is too big for 

the economy to cope with. This is why 

most state governments are struggling 

to pay salary. The next best thing to 

do is to downsize, but where is the 

political capacity to do that? Government 

sees itself as the direct provider 

of employment and that should not 

be. Its duty should be to provide the 

enabling environment for ease of doing 

business for the private sector to 

provide jobs. Private sector can work 

faster and deliver more, all to the credit 

of the government.

26 BUSINESS DAY Friday 13 July 2018 

AgriBusinessInsight 

Market Insights 

Analysis Commentaries Experts/Industry Views Commodities watch Policy Reviews 

Send in News content and your Commentaries 

to caleb.ojewale@businessdayonline.com 

Analysis 

Lessons for Nigeria on how Rwandan milk 

production is gaining traction 

CALEB OJEWALE 

Twiiter: @calebtinolu 

In Nigeria, the average 

cow is said to produce 

about one litre of milk 

per day, or maybe add 

an extra half at times. In 

Rwanda, the case is different, at 

least now when dairy farmers 

say they get an average of 20 

litres of milk per cow. This is 

especially so for those who have 

embraced improved breeds of 

cattle from the Netherlands, 

New Zealand, and even South 

Africa. 

This feat has been possible 

through a combination of 

three factors; the government’s 

commitment to developing 

agriculture, determination 

by individual citizens to run 

sustainable businesses, and very 

important; efficiently utilizing 

bilateral commitments which 

have been made by foreign 

governments such as The 

Netherlands. Nigeria not only 

enjoys similar commitments 

from several countries such 

as the Netherlands, but it does 

not appear enough is being 

done to take advantage of these 

unique, potentially rewarding 

opportunities. 

A group of dairy farmers from 

Rwanda are currently in the 

Netherlands, understudying best 

practices and gaining knowledge 

on how to further improve their 

operations. The group is in the 

Netherlands on an exchange visit 

courtesy of Agriterra, a Dutch 

organisation which provides 

support to farmers through 

advice, developing business 

plans, exchange visits, training 

amongst others. The group is in 

Stuck with ‘bad’ seeds: Nigerian farmers struggle in a cycle of poverty 

Continued from page 24 

from Nigeria, and will like us 

to sell them two million tonnes 

of soybean per annum. That 

is quite a place to do some 

business,” said Audu Ogbeh, 

Minister of Agriculture and Rural 

Development, at BusinessDay’s 

Agribusiness and Food Security 

Summit this year. 

But then, the Agriculture 

Promotion Policy document 

shows that Nigeria produces only 

500,000 metric tonnes, with a 

demand of 650,000 thousand. The 

crop is important as an Animal 

feed and alternative source 

of protein which determines 

demand for it annually. 

Mahuta, who says he has 

cultivated Soyabean for the last 

the Netherlands on peer to peer/ 

farmer to farmer learning. 

Hakizimana Pierre Celestin, 

chairperson, IAKIB dairy 

cooperative speaking through 

an interpreter, explained that 

his cooperative is able to collect 

37,000 litres of milk per day from 

different areas where they have 

milk collection centres. They 

have a vision (and ambitions) 

to start up a sort of joint venture 

with a private company. Their 

milk is currently supplied to a 

private company called Blessed 

Dairy, and some of it also goes to 

Inyange industries, which they 

say is a milk processing plant of 

the Rwandan government. 

This cooperative as part of its 

visit to the Netherlands is now 

planning to do beyond simply 

milking cows and selling off, 

it also wants to start adding 

value to the milk produced by 

10 years, explained that it is not 

a high yielding crop. And, even 

less of it is grown since it is not a 

staple food. 

“If you produce it as a small 

farmer, you may be forced to sell 

it at harvest and probably get 

nothing. Only people that have 

capacity to produce and keep for 

some time may benefit from it. It 

is a very low yielding crop, to the 

best of my knowledge. 

“I have been cultivating 

soybean for more than ten years 

now, and I am yet to get the 

variety that gives up to a tonne 

per hectare. Most of these seed 

companies may say it will give 

up to 2.5 tonnes per hectare but 

honestly I have not seen that yet.” 

The demand for soybean will 

dairy farmers, so they earn more 

money. 

According to Rwanda’s The 

New Times, the country produces 

more than 1.5 million litres of 

milk per day, but only 18 per cent 

of this is collected through Milk 

Collection Centres (MCCs) and 

just 10 per cent is processed. It 

would appear production is less 

of a problem, rather, collection 

and processing. In Nigeria, 

the reverse is the case. Local 

milk companies have to rely on 

importation to meet the country’s 

dairy needs. Weather and ability 

of breeds to survive in Nigeria is 

often adduced for the inability 

to achieve better results in 

dairy. But then, this argument is 

increasingly less valid on account 

of cross breeding and varieties 

which have the right attributes 

to deliver better yield, and which 

will also survive in Nigeria. 

however continue to increase 

and according to Olam Grains, 

a subsidiary of one of Nigeria’s 

leading agriculture companies, 

demand could reach 3.5 million 

metric tonnes by 2040. 

Through a systematic field 

research, Olam has identified 

the availability of good-quality, 

high-yielding seeds as a major 

catalyst for boosting farmer’ 

earning, thereby generating 

interest among more farmers to 

grow soybeans. The company 

has also partnered the 

International Institute of Tropical 

Agriculture (IITA), to promote 

the commercialisation of its 

tropicalised soybean varieties, 

suitable for the different agroclimate 

conditions for various 

Just like Agriterra has 

been working with Rwandan 

cooperatives, one company 

in Nigeria, is making similar 

efforts to support dairy farmers 

in getting more from their cattle. 

A BusinessDay report last year, 

explored how Frieslandcampina 

WAMCO Nigeria has since 2011 

been supporting dairy farmers 

in Oyo state, and since 2014, 

introduced what has been 

described as a unique support 

programme in Iseyin. 

Many farmers told 

BusinessDay they have been 

able to learn cross-breeding from 

Dutch farmers who came in from 

the Netherlands, and regularly 

cross-breeds cows brought in by 

FrieslandCampina. 

Experts describe crossbreeding 

as a method of 

producing an animal or plant by 

mating or two different species or 

parts of Nigeria. 

In 2017, the company started 

a 220-hectares trial seed farm on 

its Kaduna site, and proved the 

seed farming model succcesfull. 

In this rainy season, Olam has 

expanded its seeds production to 

500-hactares to offer high-quality 

certified seeds to Soya farmers 

in Nigeria. This is expected 

to contribute towards Olam’s 

ambitious target to increase 

Nigeria’s soybean production to 

2.0 million metric tonnes in five 

to seven years. 

However, for the country 

to produce at least fivefold of 

what it currently does, to meet 

local and export demands, more 

innovations are required in seed 

production. Initiatives such as 

breeds. They say that the major 

advantage of crossbred cattle is 

that they exhibit the strengths 

of all breeds from which they 

descend. 

In Iseyin where 

Frieslandcampina is 

engaging local dairy farmers, 

productivity is gradually 

improving but a lot more 

can be achieved at a national 

scale if a deliberate, strategic 

approach is developed to learn 

from countries that are getting 

it right. 

It becomes imperative that 

conscious efforts are made 

in ensuring that the interests 

by foreign governments and 

organisations to support 

Nigeria, yield desired (positive) 

results for the country to 

develop. The Netherlands 

government for instance has 

expressed its commitment to 

provide support for Nigeria’s 

agricultural development, aiming 

to facilitate the creation of new 

jobs to support the economy, 

and stimulate economic growth. 

Robert Petri, the Netherlands 

Ambassador to Nigeria, 

has delivered this message a 

number of times, saying the 

Dutch mission in Nigeria wants 

to deepen bilateral relations 

with the country. They have 

identified agriculture as the best 

way to provide support, owing to 

the Dutch track record in high 

productivity. Despite being one 

of the smallest countries by size 

at 41,543 Km2, it is the world’s 

second largest exporter of food. It 

appears all that is left, is for Nigeria 

to start practical engagements, 

with countries willing to help the 

country improve local production 

capacities. 

the one being championed by 

Olam and IITA, would not only 

need to be replicated, but actively 

supported across the country. 

When this rapid development 

in capacity happens, Nigeria’s 

local demand for Soybean (just 

like other commodities) will 

not only be met, but the country 

will as well be able to trade with 

China. Their present demand 

of two million metric tonnes of 

Soybean export, which is more 

than four times what Nigeria is 

producing, can then be met, and 

even surpassed to meet whatever 

may be required in the future. 

But for this to be achieved, good, 

quality, authentic seeds need to 

be made available for farmers to 

become truly productive.


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

27 

Hotels 

Hilton opens first hotel in its $50m 

Africa Growth Initiative 

…as Nigeria welcomes Curio this August 

OBINNA EMELIKE 

Barely one year 

after the launch of 

its Africa Growth 

Initiative with 

$50 million to be 

expended over the next five 

years to support the expansion 

of its sub-Saharan African 

portfolio, Hilton has 

opened DoubleTree by Hilton 

Nairobi Hurlingham. 

Formerly known as Amber 

Hotel, the 109-room hotel is 

the first in Africa to benefit 

from the $50 million fund intended 

to support the conversion 

of around 100 hotels in 

multiple African markets into 

Hilton branded properties, 

namely into its flagship Hilton 

Hotels & Resorts brand, the 

upscale DoubleTree by Hilton 

and the recently launched 

Curio Collection by Hilton, 

as well as, providing instant 

benefits such access to over 

69-million Hilton Honors 

members and leading innovative 

technology, including 

digital-check in. 

The initiative, which is expected 

to add roughly 20,000 

rooms from the hotel conversion 

project in the next five 

years across Africa, hopes 

to deliver more hotels this 

year on the continent with 

DoubleTree by Hilton Kigali 

City Centre opening later in 

the year. 

The 153 room-hotel in the 

Kigali central business district, 

which is at the final stage 

of it conversion and rebranding 

process, was formerly 

known as Ubumwe Grande 

Hotel, and will be Hilton’s first 

property in Rwanda. 

However, the Africa 

Growth Initiative is also 

impacting the Nigerian hospitality 

landscape. With the 

initiative, Hilton’s expansion, 

which is long overdue 

in Nigeria, is taking off with 

the launch of Legend Hotel 

Lagos Airport, Curio Collection 

by Hilton in August 

this year. 

Already, the hotel, according 

to a source from 

Hilton in Nigeria, has gone 

through all the approval 

stages, certifications, test 

running and is ready to open 

its doors to discerning public 

this August. 

The 54-rooms and suites 

hotel, which is rightly located 

within the Lagos Airport environ 

with proximity to the 

international terminal of the 

airport, will be the first hotel in 

Lagos and among the pioneer 

100 hotels under the Africa 

Growth Initiative. Also, Hilton 

is bringing its first African 

general manager of Nigerian 

origin to manage the Curio 

in Lagos. 

As well, hotel conversion 

projects are ongoing in other 

West African countries with 

majority of the 100 hotels 

expected to open from 2020. 

It would be recalled that at 

the launch of the $50 million 

Africa Growth Initiative in October 

last year, Patrick Fitzgibbon, 

senior vice president, 

development, Europe, Middle 

East and Africa, Hilton, said: 

“Hilton remains committed 

to growth in Africa having 

been present on the continent 

for more than 50 years. The 

model of converting existing 

hotels into Hilton branded 

properties has proved highly 

successful in a variety of markets 

and we expect to see great 

opportunities to convert hotels 

to Hilton brands through 

this initiative. 

“It enables us to rapidly 

grow our portfolio and delivers 

returns for owners by 

increasing exposure of their 

business to more international, 

inter-regional and domestic 

travellers, and specifically 

to our 65 million-plus Hilton 

Honors members, who look 

to stay with us in our suite of 

industry-leading brands. We 

see huge potential here in key 

cities and airports, as well as 

allowing us to develop our 

offering in resorts and safari 

lodges.” 

Hilton currently operates 

19 hotels in the Sub Saharan 

Africa region with a further 

29 in its pipeline. It has held 

a presence on the African 

continent for over 50 years. 

Top BusinessDay Partner Hotels 

Four Point Hotels 

(Oniru Chiefatancy 

Estate,Lekki) 

The Wheatbaker 

#4 Onitolo(Lawrence Road), 

Ikoyi, Lagos. 

Tel: 01 277 3560 

InterContinental Lagos 

Plot 52, Kofo Abayomi St, 

Lagos 

Tel: 01 236 6666 

Transcorp Hilton Abuja 

1 Aguiyi Ironsi Street Maitama, 

Abuja 

Tel: +234-708-060-3000 

Hawthorn Suites by 

Wyndham Abuja 

1 Uke St, Garki, Abuja. 

Tel: +234 9 4603900, +234 

805 7522500 

Radisson Blu Hotel Ikeja 

#38/40 Isaac John St, Ikeja 

GRA100271, Ikeja 

Tel: +234-908-780 5555 

Ini Akpabio heads Akwa Ibom Hotels Management and Tourism Board 

ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, 

Governor Udom 

Emmanuel has 

approved the appointment 

of Ini 

Akpabio, a foremost hospitality 

and tourism practitioner, 

as chairman of Akwa 

Ibom State Hotels Management 

and Tourism Board. 

Akpabio is credited with 

turning a family business 

into a chain of flourishing 

hotels across the country 

and until his appointment 

was the managing director/ 

CEO, Nanet Hotels Limited. 

He brings to his new position 

more than 20 years 

experience garnered in the 

hospitality and tourism industry. 

His appointment was 

among dozens of others 

announced by the state government, 

which included 

chairmen and board members 

of state-owned agencies 

and departments. 

Akpabio, who has been 

the national president, 

Hospitality and Tourism 

Management Association 

of Nigeria(HATMAN) since 

2008 is also the vice president 

of Federation of Tourism 

Associations of Nigeria 

(FTAN) and a recipient of 

the prestigious Kwame Nkrumah 

Excellence in Enterprise 

Award. 

Reacting to the announcement, 

an industry 

expert said his appointment 

is timely and comes at a time 

the state government has 

initiated moves to diversify 

the economy away from dependency 

on oil revenue 

to agriculture and tourism 

describing it as a square peg 

in a square hole. 

Akwa Ibom State has become 

one of the most preferred 

destinations in recent 

times attracting business 

travellers and tourists due 

to its quality infrastructure 

including excellent road 

network, world class sport 

stadium and a five star hotel 

with a golf course. 

It has one of the longest 

coastlines in the country 

with excellent beaches, a 

first class specialist hospital 

to promote medical tourism 

and various tourist sites. 

Akpabio holds a Bachelors 

Degree in Business 

Administration from the 

University of Lagos, a Masters 

Degree in International 

Hospitality and Tourism 

from the University of Surrey, 

Guildford, United Kingdom, 

as well as, Masters in 

Business Administration 

from Ahmadu Bello University, 

Zaria. 

A widely traveled person, 

Akpabio is seen as a dynamic 

and result oriented professional 

business administrator 

with strong interpersonal 

skills and team spirit, a proactive 

and innovative manager 

of men and materials 

and has managed chains of 

hotels across Nigeria. 

Best Western Hotel 

Hotels 12, Allen Avenue 

C/O Funmi (Front Office Manager) 

Protea Hotel (V/Island) 

Off Ajose Adeogun Street, V/ 

Island 

Radisson Blu Anchorage 

Hotel 

1A,Ozumba Mbadiwe,Victoria 

Island. 

Protea Hotel (GRA Ikeja) 

GRA Ikeja

28 


Harvard 

Business 

Review 

ManagementDigest 

The leader’s calendar: One CEO’s approach 

to managing his calendar 

Spirit Aerosystems’ 

Tom Gentile Shares 

What He Learned 

From Tracking His 

Hourly Activity For 13 

Weeks. 

Tom Gentile spent 20 years as a 

senior executive at General Electric 

before becoming CEO of Spirit 

AeroSystems, a $7 billion aviation 

supplier. Seven months into the job, 

in 2017, Gentile and his assistant 

spent 13 weeks tracking his time as 

part of Harvard Business School’s 

CEO Time Study, and discussed his 

results with the people leading the 

research, Michael Porter and Nitin 

Nohria. Gentile recently spoke with 

Harvard Business Review’s Daniel 

McGinn and HBS research associate 

Sarah Higgins about what he 

learned — and what behaviors he’s 

trying to change. Here are edited excerpts 

from their conversation: 

Q: Earlier in your career, how did 

you learn to manage time? 

A: Back in the 1990s, when I was 

a consultant at McKinsey, I remember 

trying to use the FranklinPlanner 

calendar system. It was manual 

and cumbersome — it was too thick 

to fit in my briefcase. Later I used a 

PalmPilot and then a BlackBerry, 

and now I use Outlook. The tools 

of time management have become 

much more effective during my career. 

But I really learned time management 

from my mentors, especially 

at General Electric. I watched 

leaders who were good at it, and I 

emulated them. I remember one of 

my bosses, Dave Nissen at GE Capital 

Global Consumer Finance. He 

had so many demands on his time, 

but he set clear priorities, and he 

was ruthless about eliminating tasks 

that weren’t important. He went 

home at a reasonable hour every 

night and took all his vacation days. 

He was incredibly effective. That’s 

the model to which I’ve always aspired. 

Q: Did those methods work for 

you when you became a CEO? 

A: They weren’t enough at first, 

because the job was so much bigger. 

When I was leading business 

divisions at GE, I faced a lot of demands, 

but it’s a different order of 

magnitude when you’re a public 

company’s CEO. All of a sudden you 

have board responsibilities, investor 

responsibilities and many more 

media responsibilities. They take 

an inordinate amount of time. The 

requests keep coming in, and the 

schedule fills up so much faster. 

Q: What did you get out of tracking 

your time so closely for 13 

weeks? 

A: Having that detailed a record 

of how I use time and being able 

to benchmark myself against other 

CEOs was useful. Some of what I 

learned was quite surprising. For instance, 

I spend much less time oneon-one 

with my direct reports than 

the average CEO does, and I didn’t 

know that. When I talked about my 

results with Michael Porter and Nitin 

Nohria, the Harvard Business 

School professors who are doing the 

study, it felt like a very intensive performance 

review. They were cordial, 

but they were very direct in their 

feedback. 

Q: Why do you spend less time 

with direct reports? 

A: I tend to structure meetings 

with broader teams — people from 

multiple units or across geographies. 

So I do spend time with my 

direct reports, just not one-on-one 

time. I have monthly one-on-ones 

scheduled with every direct report, 

but they’re busy, and I’m busy, so 

my assistant often cancels them for 

something more important. Porter 

and Nohria think that if I have more 

one-on-ones with direct reports, I 

will delegate more and hold them 

more accountable. We had a healthy 

debate about that, and as a result I 

have stopped canceling the oneon-ones. 

We’ll see if that makes a 

difference. They also suggested that 

business trips would be a good opportunity 

for these conversations. 

Our headquarters is in Wichita, 

which has limited airline service, 

so we rely on a private jet for a lot of 

travel. That can be a great setting for 

a one-on-one conversation. 

Q: What else did the data show? 

A: We noticed that my meetings 

are predominantly one or two hours. 

The good news is, I don’t have many 

six- or seven-hour meetings, and I 

have fewer long meetings than the 

average CEO. But Porter and Nohria 

asked a good question: Why do 

you need an hour? Why can’t your 

meetings be 45 minutes or even 

less? So we have started scheduling 

45-minute meetings, from 1:15 

to 2 p.m., for instance. And we’ve 

continued our practice of having 

my executive assistant come in five 

minutes before the ending time to 

tell us to wrap up and keep us on 

schedule. I’ve found that if a CEO’s 

meetings start running long, it creates 

scheduling problems for everyone 

in the organization. 

Q: The data shows you spend a 

lot of time on email. Is that a problem? 

A: Porter, Nohria and I talked 

a lot about email. I do spend too 

much time on that. Email is impersonal 

and reactive. CEOs have 

to stay human and be authentic, 

and you can’t do that via email. 

Professor Porter and Dean Nohria 

— who by the way was my organizational 

behavior professor when I 

was at HBS! — encouraged me to 

have more face-to-face time, more 

time to walk around. That was 

one of the big takeaways from the 

study. I also need to spend more 

time alone, thinking and being 

proactive. My blocks of unscheduled 

time are too short for me 

to be reflective about big issues, 

and I tend to just go to my inbox. 

It’s been hard to detach from the 

inbox, but I’m working on it. And 

I have been walking around our 

headquarters more. 

Q: Do CEOs really need lots 

of alone time? Aren’t you always 

thinking about the business during 

idle moments — while driving 

or exercising or waiting for flights? 

A: I do have time to reflect when 

I’m driving or when I’m on a plane 

without Wi-Fi. Setting aside time 

for thinking can be valuable. I do 

come up with ideas during those 

hours. And Porter and Nohria’s 

broader point isn’t just about time 

for reflection — it’s about preserving 

time for spontaneity and not 

being overscheduled. 

Q: Can’t your executive assistant 

help prevent overscheduling? 

A: One of the things I learned 

from this process is that your assistant 

has to be a strategic partner. I 

now try to sit down with her on a 

regular basis, to make sure she 

knows what my priorities are. She 

also does small things that help. 

For instance, she blocks out all my 

time so that no one can look in Outlook 

and recognize that I have a free 

half-hour and then request a meeting. 

She makes appointments at 

other people’s offices, which forces 

me to get out of my office. She also 

schedules lunch for me every day. 

I always have a half-hour. That’s a 

healthy habit, so I don’t miss meals, 

and it also allows me to grab somebody 

to talk with informally about 

an issue. 

Q: Speaking of healthy habits, 

did Porter and Nohria give you grief 

about lack of exercise? 

A: Yes, they beat me up a little on 

that. I do need to schedule in time 

to exercise, which I haven’t done 

in the past. I spent only 4% of my 

personal time during this period on 

exercise, which was lower than average 

— and to be honest, I’m lucky 

it wasn’t 0%. They also pointed out 

that I don’t spend enough personal 

time on hobbies. At this point, my 

only real hobby is golf, and I tend to 

play it mostly with customers and at 

industry events. I certainly wouldn’t 

object to playing more! 

Q: You spend more time with 

customers than the average CEO 

does. What do you sacrifice to do 

that? 

A: My focus on customers comes 

from my years at GE — leaders there 

spend a lot of time with customers. 

Jeff Immelt was a role model in that 

regard, the best I’ve ever seen. Our 

industry has a lot of events — association 

meetings, air shows — that 

everyone attends, and they can be a 

convenient way to see a lot of people. 

Going to them means spending 

less time at headquarters and delegating 

more to my team, but that’s 

probably a good thing. 

Q: What do you tell up-andcoming 

leaders about time management? 

A: Think about time very strategically, 

because it is part of your 

strategy. You can’t let it be a reactive 

process that bubbles up from the 

bottom. You have to manage it from 

the top down, and you can’t delegate 

it. And even in an age when email is 

prevalent, you must be disciplined 

about communicating face-to-face 

in a way that lets people see you as 

genuine and approachable. 

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

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C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

29 

BUSINESS SOUTH-SOUTH 

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF SOUTH-SOUTH / SOUTH-EAST 

Walter Ollor Foundation mainstreams 

research for sustainable development 

IGNATIUS CHUKWU 

Going Global 2018 Conference,’ 

which was 

held in Kuala Lumpur, 

Malaysia, from May 

2-4, 2018, was organized 

by the British Council, and 

was attended by over 1,000 delegates 

from around the world. 

The theme was: “Global Connections, 

Local Impact: Creating 21st 

Century Skills, Knowledge, and 

Impact for Society-wide Good.” This 

emphasized the important roles 

that tertiary institutions play in the 

communities, as they help to develop 

citizens to think globally, and 

acting as pipelines for international 

collaborations and partnerships for 

social innovation and social change. 

‘Going Global’ seeks to answer 

certain crucial questions of international 

interest, and this year, 

the conference sought to proffer 

answers to two key questions: 

What are the priorities in ensuring 

national tertiary education is fit to 

shape societies of the future and 

meet the future needs of students, 

employers, and communities? And, 

how can global tertiary networks 

contribute to their achievement? 

These questions were addressed 

through policy reviews, and the 

future of international tertiary education 

narrowed down to five key areas 

of challenge: New skills, new graduates; 

Social mobility and international 

mobility; and demonstrating 

impact. Others are future-proofing 

higher education institution systems, 

and new models of delivery. 

The conference programme 

featured subtitles such as Master 

Classes, Campus Tours, Plenary Sessions, 

Parallel Sessions, Poster Sessions, 

and Exhibitions – all tailored to 

address the conference sub-themes. 

The professor, Walter Ollor and 

wife Helen Ollor (PhD) presented 

the poster titled, “Globalisation 

and its Leaking Umbrella: Creating 

The Nigerian Society 

of Engineers (NSE), 

Owerri branch has 

described Governor 

Rochas Okorocha’s 

ongoing urban renewal programme 

(mainly) in Owerri state 

capital, as a mere destruction of 

the city’s built area, with colossal 

economic waste estimated at over 

N58 billion. 

In a letter to the state commissioner 

for Works, the state branch 

of NSE said the ongoing renewal 

programme has resulted in the 

destructions of many telecom and 

pipe borne water facilities worth 

over N58 billion. 

According to Emeka Ugoanyanwu, 

chairman, Obioma 

Iwuamadi, general secretary and 

Chibuike Onyejietu, publicity sec- 

21st Century Knowledge and Skills 

through Global Societies.” This poster 

highlighted the interconnections 

between climate change, international 

migration, and protectionist, 

policies now invoked by advanced 

countries such as the USA and UK. 

They pointed out that for globalisation 

to serve all and improve 

sustainable livelihood, protectionism 

is not the right policy as most global 

issues such as natural disasters and 

infectious diseases require global 

efforts in their resolution. The case of 

Ebola and SARS viruses are examples. 

Furthermore, international migration 

caused by human trafficking, 

war and violence demand 

multi-lateral and global approaches 

for effective resolution. Erecting 

walls through protectionist policies 

are only Band-Aids and are not sustainable. 

A case in point is the fall of 

the Berlin Wall in 1989. It is a contradiction 

that while formerly autarkic 

retary all of NSE Owerri branch, 

who signed the statement, the renewal 

projects have not measured 

to best practice. 

The urban renewal which 

started about 2016, has seen 

the destruction of tons of buildings, 

underground water and 

telecomm pipelines, drainages, 

electric power installations, shops, 

business premises and other 

constructions. Incidentally, the 

ensuing road expansion works 

have left much to be desired, as 

the projects are done by local 

hired masons who undertake key 

constructions including bridges 

and culverts, with shovel, headpan 

and hand-diggers. 

Earlier in 2016, the Council for 

the Regulation of Engineering in 

Nigeria (COREN) warned that 

Governor Okorocha was embarking 

on his road constructions 

without recourse to set engineer- 

countries like China are opening up 

their economies to the rest of the 

world, UK and USA are becoming 

“closed” economies via Brexit and 

Mexican Wall respectively. 

Ollor was a panelist on the session 

titled, “International Research 

for Sustainable Development.” This 

session was chaired by another 

professor, Richard Davies, Vice- 

Chancellor, University of Swansea, 

UK. Other members of the panel 

included two more professors, 

Sayed Azam-Ali, (CEO, Crops for 

the Future, Malaysia), and Graham 

Kendall (Provost and CEO, University 

of Nottingham, Malaysia 

Campus). Others were Y. Bhg, Datin 

Paduka, Ir Siti, H. B. Tapsir (director 

general, Ministry of Higher Education, 

Malaysia). 

Ollor advanced the idea of globally 

collaborative research networks 

to resolve issues of food security, energy 

security, climate change, and 

How Okorocha wasted N58bn on frivolous urban renewal – NSE 

EFEGADIRIM MADU & 

SABY ELEMBA, Owerri 

Walter and Helen Ollor, resource persons at the Kuala Lumpur event. 

understanding our planet. He advocated 

for consortia of universities, 

research institutes, development 

agencies, and policy makers similar 

to the Global Confederation of 

Higher Education and Research for 

Agriculture (GCHERA) which was 

pioneered by Iowa State University, 

his alma mater, in 1999, to address 

global food security and sustainability 

of agricultural Sciences. 

Ollor, who is the president of 

Walter Ollor Foundation, also called 

on the advanced countries to institute 

an International Higher Education 

Loan Programme (I-HELP) 

to support young researchers and 

practitioners in sustainable development 

to build capacity in 

disaster risk management, conflict 

resolution, consensus building, 

climatology and epidemiology – all 

knowledge and skills desirable for 

21st century management of sustainable 

development. 

ing standards, and was not using 

registered engineers to supervise 

if the projects complied to basic 

safety rules. 

Today, virtually all the roads 

done under the renewal project 

are in one state of disrepair or 

the other. Many others have been 

left half-finished and unfinished. 

Some have been abandoned by 

their contractors on excuses that 

they were not paid. Some of the 

contractors told BusinessDay that 

they were not paid. 

According to the NSE letter 

to the Works commissioner, the 

destruction of Owerri City’s infrastructure 

and wastage of public 

funds on a frivolous urban 

renewal programme arose from 

Governor Okorocha’s engaging 

of non-professionals to execution 

the projects. 

NSE further decried the destruction 

of Owerri’s well-designed 

drainages under late Sam 

Mbakwe (1979-1983), electric 

power installations, markets and 

motor parks; and expressed deep 

worries that the drainages were 

being replaced with cheaply done 

ones. 

They described the execution 

of the programme with nonprofessionals 

as embarrassment 

to the registered and practicing 

engineers. 

According to Ugoanyanwu, urban 

renewal programmes should 

naturally be carried out in phases, 

and must always follow the master 

plan covering about 50 years 

projection, in order to engender 

sustainability. 

The Owerri branch of NSE has 

therefore, asked the Imo government 

to halt the contractors 

handling the urban renewal programme 

and re-evaluate it with 

the aim of correcting the wrongs. 

NGO organises free 

skills training for 

youths in A/Ibom 

ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo 

A 

Non-Governmental Organisation, 

Ibom Development 

and Empowerment 

Assembly (IDEA) has organised 

free skills acquisition 

training for youths in Akwa Ibom 

as part of its first anniversary 

programme. 

The centre which is located in 

Uyo, the state capital has more 

than 100 youths registered for 

the first phase of the training 

programme in areas of tailoring, 

hair dressing, computer operation 

and catering. 

Alfred Itah, a university don 

and chairman of the board of 

IDEA, said the assembly was 

starting the free training programme 

to partner with the state 

government, since government 

alone could not do everything. 

“As a government that has 

touched the lives of people in the 

rural areas, we (in IDEA) want to 

partner with this government. 

We want to see what we can do 

to assist the government. We are 

turning this complex to a skill 

acquisition centre for one year. 

We are going to train the youths 

of Akwa Ibom state,” he stated. 

He also urged members of 

the academia to be involved in 

party politics to find solution to 

the country’s challenges. 

The University of Uyo Microbiology 

lecturer, asserted that, 

it was time for them in the ivory 

tower to reason together and find 

solutions to the country’s lingering 

challenges. 

According to him, the popular 

axiom that, ‘politics is a dirty 

game’ does not hold water; stressing 

that such notion has made 

those who should take active 

part in party politics to stay aloof 

and watched mediocres take over 

the scene; thereby, resulting in 

the rancour being experienced 

everywhere in the country. 

“IDEA is saying, come let’s 

reason together; how do we 

move our state and Nigeria 

forward; let us be creative; love 

one another. Sometimes, we 

see things going negatively and 

fold our hands and keep watching 

and we have the academia 

around us, we should not be 

folding our arms all the time,” 

Itah said. 

He urged that learned people 

should not run away from 

politics on the guise that it was 

a ‘dirty game.’ According to him, 

time has come for us to have a 

re-think about such statement. 

Itah called on more indigenes 

of the state to join the group irrespective 

of their political affiliations; 

saying that IDEA before 

now had paid hospital bills for 

indigent patients, given sewing 

machines to many persons and 

financial assistance to many.


30 BUSINESS DAY


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

31 

Sports 

GOtv Boxing Night returns to Ibadan 

with Joe Boy, Fijabi, others 

Stories by 

Anthony Nlebem 

Reigning African Boxing 

Union (ABU) lightweight 

champion, Oto “Joe Boy” 

Joseph of Nigeria, will 

defend his title on 29 July 

at GOtv Boxing Night 15 scheduled to 

hold at the Indoor Sports Hall of the 

Obafemi Awolowo (formerly Liberty) 

Stadium, Ibadan. The event is making 

a return to the Oyo State capital, 

where it held in March 2017. 

Joe Boy will face crack Ghanaian 

opponent, Nathaniel Nukpe in a 

12-round contest, which is the biggest 

of the seven bouts on the night. 

Another big fight scheduled is the 

international light middleweight 

challenge contest between Nigeria’s 

Akeem “Dodo” Sadiku and Franc 

Houanvoegbe of the Republic of Benin. 

Also billed to fight is the African 

Boxing Union welterweight champion 

and crowd favourite, Olaide 

“Fijaborn” Fijabi, who will square 

up against Kazeem “Iberu” Ariyo in 

a national challenge duel. 

The cruiserweight division will 

feature Idowu “ID Cabasa” Okusote 

against Michael “Lion Heart” Godwin, 

while Prince “Lion” Nwoye will 

L-R: Chidozie Bede-Nwokoye, Marketing Manager, GOtv; Akinola Salu, General Manager, GOtv; 

Jenkins Alumona, CEO Flykite Productions and Neil Bothma, CEO BetKing Nigeria during the 

GOtv Boxing Night 15 Press Conference held in Lagos…recently 

take on Ridwan “Scorpion” Oyekola 

in a lightweight challenge duel. The 

light welterweight category will see 

Vincent “Dada” Essien test his mettle 

against Segun “Showboy” Olalehin. 

There will also be a heavyweight 

clash between Daniel “Big Shark” 

Emeka and Sulaimon “Olags” Adeosun. 

The event, sponsored by GOtv 

and Bet King, will be beamed live on 

SuperSport in 47 African countries. 

The best boxer at the event will go 

home with a cash prize of N1million 

attached to the Mojisola Ogunsanya 

Memorial Trophy. 

Sixteen teams jostle for honor in Premier 

Cool 5-aside football competition 

Premier Cool, a brand of PZ 

Cussons and one of Nigeria’s 

heritage brands is set to take 

its support for the game of 

football to higher level. Premier Cool 

has announced the launch of its 

leisure football competition, tagged 

“Premier Cool Turf Wars” which is 

set to hold in Lagos state. 

The Premier Cool Turf Wars is a 

5-Aside football competition set to 

engage football lovers in a cooler and 

much more exciting atmosphere. 

According to Aisha Anakwe, 

Brand and Activation Manager, 

Premier cool, the Premier Cool Turf 

Wars is a 5-Aside football competition 

that will take the enjoyment of 

leisure football to a whole new level. 

“As you may already know we are a 

football loving brand, which we have 

demonstrated by our partnership 

with Manchester City Football Club, 

as we believe football to be a cool 

sport loved by all,. Our consumers 

are really cool guys who despite their 

busy schedules still make out time 

for the game of football as a leisure 

exercise. It is this love and passion 

we want to reward. So with the Turf 

Wars football we are looking for the 

cool guys out there ready to play for 

pride and walk away with cool cash 

prizes” She said. 

Registration for the competition 

is absolutely free and is open 

to football lovers between the ages 

of 18 – 35 years, till 26th July, 2018. 

Interested participants are encouraged 

to register as teams, each team 

should comprise of a minimum of 4 

players, 1 goalkeeper, 2 substitutes 

and 1 official. Each team will be 

required to choose a team captain 

who will be responsible for registering 

the teams on the competition 

micrositewww.Premiercool.com. 

ng/Turfwars by providing all the 

relevant information. 

Only 16 teams out of the registered 

teams will make it into the 

competition proper, as short listing 

will also include an online voting 

process. The competition will involve 

the knockout stages as well as 

the finals where the eventual winners 

will emerge. The winning team 

will get a cash prize of N3million, 

while the second and third runners 

up will walk away with N1.5million 

and N750, 000 respectively. 

Premier Cool who are the official 

partners of premier league 

champions; Manchester City FC are 

also working with SociaLiga, a local 

social group based in Lagos that 

promotes football culture in West 

Africa, for the Turf Wars football 

competition. 

Premier has been in Nigeria 

for over 30 years and recently relaunched 

the brand with new offerings 

and variants to provide consumers 

with the total personal care. 

Nigerian Bobsled pilot Seun Adigun recognized 

as first African Winter and Summer Olympian 

Nigerian bobsled pilot, 

Seun Adigun continues 

to break new boundaries 

and set standards after 

leading three other team members 

to represent the African country at 

the recently held Winter, Olympics in 

Pyeongchang County, South Korea. 

Adigun who also recently bagged 

a doctorate degree in Chiropractic 

has now been officially recognized as 

the first African, both in the male or 

female categories to compete in both 

the winter and summer Olympics. 

Ayako Itoof the International 

Olympic Committee (IOC), in a message 

noted that The Olympic Study 

Centre has confirmed that Seun Adigun 

is the first ever African athlete to 

compete in both Summer and Winter 

Olympic Games. 

It would be noted the African star 

athlete and bobsled driver is among 

the only two athletes to be so recognized 

at the Pyeongchang Winter 

Olympics. The second being of Pita 

Taufatofua of Tonga, a taekwondoistturned 

skier. Adigun and Taufatofua 

now join a list of elite Summer and 

Winter Olympians catalogued by 

online reference site, Wikipedia. 

Adigun who represented Nigeria 

in Athletics at the Summer Olympics 

and Nigeria in Bobsleigh in 2018 at 

the Winter Olympics expressed her 

delight at being bestowed with such 

a prestigious accolade. 

With a strong support system 

of her management team, Lagosbased 

pan-African agency, Temple 

Management Company, she restates 

her commitment to African 

excellence. She said, “This is a 

real-life example of what it means 

to represent African excellence 

and a true testament to the fact 

that impossible is nothing. This 

milestone is truly a blessing”. 

Discussing her preparations for 

the 2012 Summer Games, Adigun 

remarked, “My preparations during 

athletics was driven by the desire to 

prove to myself that I was capable of 

competing with the best in the world 

in the women’s 100 meter hurdles. 

I wanted to look back on my career 

as a hurdler and know that despite 

any limitations or health obstacles, I 

genuinely gave all that I had to achieving 

the highest level of competition”. 

Adigun further disclosed how she 

prepared for the winter Games, “The 

preparations for the winter Games 

was different in the sense that my passion 

was driven by my self-less intentions 

to create positive representation 

for Nigerians and Africans, globally. 

That passion was accompanied by 

several thoughts of fear and anxiety, 

but it was overcome by God’s grace 

and the support of everyone who 

played a part in the journey, no matter 

how big or small”. 

Adigun added that she dedicated 

myself to creating a legacy that would 

inspire generations, eternally, and 

whatever accolades came along the 

way would be celebrated as blessings. 

L-R: Content Marketing Manager, StarTimes Nigeria, Abosede Adewara; N1million prize winner, Oyegoke Sunday and a representative of National 

Lottery Regulatory Commission, Ibukunoluwa Bamidele during the cash prize presentation to Oyegoke at StarTimes Head office in Lagos. 

StarTimes splashes more millions on subscribers 

… as competition jacks up prices 

More Nigerians have continued 

to benefit from 

the ongoing StarTimes 

millionaire promo, with 

N9 millio already given out to subscribers 

in the last 2 months. 

This is coming amid angry reactions 

to a recent price increment by 

other Pay TV providers in the country. 

So far, N9 million in cash have 

been given out to 9 lucky subscribers, 

45 people have won 43-inch TV sets 

and 1 year free subscription dished 

out to 180 subscribers. 

Lagos based Vulcanizer and 

43-year-old father of 5, Oyegoke 

Sunday, who won 1 million Naira 

expressed his joy at his emergence 

as a winner. According to him, he 

had no dreams of ever winning 

such an amount from any company. 

While speaking emotionally to 

newsmen, he thanked the company 

for coming through for him and 

other Nigerians in such difficult 

times and promised to stay loyal as 

a customer. 

According to the company’s Public 

Relations Manager, Kunmi Balogun, 

“The promo will run for a total of 

14 weeks. With 9 weeks down, 5 more 

lucky subscribers will take home 

N1,000,000 weekly until July 31, while 

20 customers will get a brand new 

43inch StarTimes TV set.” 

He added that “to qualify, existing 

subscribers are required to pay 

for 1 month subscription on any of 

our bouquet while new subscribers 

who buy and activate new decoder 

are automatically entered for the 

draw.” 

So far, 180 subscribers have also 

been awarded 1 year free subscription 

with a total of 100 more to be picked 

to enjoy the free subscription in a 

weekly draw conducted under the 

supervision of the National Lottery 

Commission of Nigeria. 

StarTimes have continued to 

deepen its dominance in the Nigerian 

market with innovative moves while 

constantly adding engaging content 

in entertainment and sports, towards 

expanding its market share which 

have seen it grow its subscriber base 

exponentially.

32 

BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 


IMPACT INVESTING 

In Association With 

structural 

Leveraging Pension funds for 

Impact Investing in Nigeria 

Innocent Unah & 

Abisinuola David-Olusa 

If pension funds with their fund 

assets worth trillion of dollars 

invest a significant portion 

of this fund in impact investments, 

these funds would 

leave a huge footprint in terms of 

impact whilst generating consistent 

returns. Pension funds comprise a 

large pool of assets in the form of 

pension contributions made by pension 

contributors/employees. 

The custodians and managers of 

these large assets therefore have the 

ability to shape the impact investing 

space in Nigeria by increasing the 

scale of the market and influencing 

intermediaries such as the investment 

banks to design more social 

impact products that will create 

varieties for investors. 

Pension funds have for a long 

time played a crucial role in providing 

security for retired individuals. 

They also have the potential to unlock 

capital for entrepreneurs and 

businesses that are impact-driven. 

Globally, the largest pension funds 

have signed onto the Principles for 

Responsible Investment (PRI), a pact 

within which they have accumulated 

own trillions of dollars of assets under 

management; many institutional 

investors have also committed to 

integrate the environmental, social 

and governance (ESG) practices into 

their investment decision processes. 

As at 2017, the total assets of 

the global pension fund industry 

amounted to $41.3 trillion, a significant 

portion of which is deployed 

to productive use through impact 

investment products that yield sustainable 

returns. 

The National Bureau of Statistics 

recently reported that Nigeria’s pension 

fund assets increased by N428 

billion to N7.94 trillion by the first 

quarter of 2018. However, a breakdown 

of the allocation showed that 

69.50 per cent of these assets were 

invested in government securities, 

with only 0.10 per cent invested in 

green bonds. 

Existing impact-driven pension 

funds 

Global cases indicate the way that 

the Nigerian pension industry should 

go in terms of impact investment, 

with many impact-driven pension 

funds, some of which are examined 

below, already achieving desired 

results. 

Environment Agency Pension 

Fund (EAPF) 

EAPF is a pension fund that serves 

the employees of the U.K. Environmental 

Agency and one of the largest 

local government pension schemes, 

with around £3.5 billion of assets. It is 

at the fore-front in ensuring sustainable 

investments and stewardship 

of which over a third of these funds 

are invested in companies that make 

positive contributions to ensuring a 

sustainable economy. 

Church Pension Fund (CPF) 

The Church Pension Fund (CPF) 

is a financial services organization in 

New York that serves the Episcopal 

Church has been actively involved 

in impact investing for nearly two 

Pension fund 

trustees have 

a fiduciary 

obligation to 

their members as 

fund investment 

decisions must 

serve the interests 

of all beneficiaries 

decades and possesses over $13.2 

billion in assets under management. 

In 2018, the fund committed 

$1 billion to impact investments, of 

which $840 million is invested in all 

asset types. The fund has an asset 

allocation of 71.8 per cent equities 

and 28.2 per cent fixed income. For 

equities, 31.3 per cent were allocated 

to global equities, 14.1 per cent to 

specialized strategies, 14.9 per cent 

to private equity and 8.7 per cent, 

2.8 per cent to real estate and real 

assets respectively for equities, 23.9 

per cent to global bonds, 4.2 per cent 

on Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities 

(TIPS). CFS had annualized 

total returns of 6.6 per cent in the 

last 10 years with specific investments 

of $100 million, $369 million 

and $364 million in Environmentally 

Responsible Investments (sustainable 

forestry, clean technology and 

green buildings), economic targeted 

investments (microfinance-related 

initiatives, affordable housing, sustainable 

farming and urban redevelopment) 

and women or minority 

owned investments respectively. 

The fund has invested $17 million 

in a fund that provides loans to microfinance 

institutions, manufacturers 

and distribution companies in the 

off-grid solar sector in sub-Saharan 

Africa and South Asia. 

Impact investments in Africa 

are dominated by foreign investors; 

this goes to show the level of market 

confidence of impact investors in 

the continent, and that there are lots 

of impact investment opportunities 

that can be tapped into by local 

investors. 

Allaying the fears of pension 

funds regarding Impact Investing 

A major reason for the resistance 

from pension trustees towards impact 

investing is lack of proper understanding 

of the concept. There is 

a misconception that there is always 

an imbalance between impact and 

a financial return as one has to be 

forfeited for the other. Considering 

that pension funds have a fiduciary 

responsibility to deliver investments 

with the best risk-adjusted returns, 

impact investing might not, on the 

face of it, look quite attractive to 

them. However, impact investing has 

made noteworthy progress in recent 

years, with ground-breaking and 

impactful strategies now available to 

deliver acceptable level of financial 

returns whilst having positive impact 

on society. 

A report published by Allenbridge 

in 2017, titled “Growing a Culture of 

Social Impact Investing in the UK”, 

emphasized the need for educational 

information around impact investing 

as 82 per cent of the pension trustees 

interviewed felt they lacked data on 

social impact investment while many 

fail to appreciate the potential diversification 

benefits of impact investing 

as many pension fund trustees seem 

to believe that ESG investing is a barrier 

to diversification which further 

leads to underperformance. 

According to the Law Commission, 

key barriers to social impact 

investment by pension funds are 

and behavioural rather 

than legal as there are no regulatory 

barriers preventing pension funds 

from making social impact investments 

provided that they have good 

reason to think that scheme members 

share the concern and there 

is no risk of significant financial 

detriment to the fund. Arguably, it is 

the potential long term investment 

benefits that carry the greatest weight 

both in terms of risk reduction and, 

potentially, of outperformance. 

Pension fund trustees have a fiduciary 

obligation to their members 

as fund investment decisions must 

serve the interests of all beneficiaries. 

Fiduciary duty is the governance tool 

that aligns the interests of investors 

with beneficiaries, and ensures a 

sound decision-making process. 

Pension scheme trustees are being 

called upon to do more to engage 

scheme members with their pensions 

to help them connect with the 

social impacts of the investments 

being made on their behalf. 

The funds can invest directly 

in unlisted companies or utilities 

within agriculture, renewable energy, 

healthcare sectors for instance. 

They can also co-invest with other 

like-minded pension funds in projects 

aligned to their desired impact. 

Impact investors need to work 

with the pension funds to develop 

systems that evaluate prospective 

sectors for impact investment, and 

to link long-term financial performance 

to social and environmental 

considerations.


C002D5556 


NEWS 

NERC unveils plans to tackle liquidity gaps... 


Atiku parleys Reps’ PDP, R-APC lawmakers ahead... 


prehensive plan to tackle liquidity 

gaps in the sector 

which includes auditing the 

books of operators and providing 

credit advance system to 

perenial debtors. 

John Momoh, the vice chairman 

of NERC, who was represented 

by Olufunke Dinneh, 

general manager in charge of 

legal and licensing at the second 

edition of BusinessDay Future 

of Energy Conference, held in 

Lagos, yesterday said the Commission 

will carry out a forensic 

audit of the DisCos to determine 

their income as well as costs. 

“The Commission is carrying 

out a forensic audit of the discos 

in terms of what they really collect, 

spend and save. The commision 

carried out an open book 

review and discovered that it is 

imperative to actually carry out 

the forensic audit of the discos,” 

said the NERC official. 

The process will also include a 

study of the revenue management 

of the DisCos who settle as little of 

15 percent of their market invoice. 

The audit will seek to determine 

what is the basic revenue baseline 

and the minimum they are allowed 

to remit and develop appropriate 

basis for appropriation and disbursement 

of market funds. 

BusinessDay’s examination of 

the financial statements of some 

of the DisCos indicate that they 

are veering dangerously close 

to full blown bankruptcy with 

reported losses of over N196.23 

billion to end the 2016 financial 

year. This compares with a loss 

of N104.69 billion they recorded 

the previous year. 

The commission is also setting 

up an Information Technology 

system that will monitor revenue 

collection in real time and 

also show how money is spent. 

Another aspect, the commission 

is proposing to make the 

eleciricty market financially viable 

is reviwing the tariff methodology 

which has been in place 

for 15 yers and should have seen 

5 major reviews, non of which 

has happened. The Commission 

says it will revisit the methodology 

on which MYTO is placed to 

determine if it is the best way to 

go in terms of tariffs for the sector. 

NERC also said there is need 

to carry out customer enumeration 

which was stipulated in the 

MYTO 2015 to acertain the number 

of customers in a particular 

zone and estimate the amount 

of money that is expected to be 

made from the zone. 

“This is a sector that the discos 

do not know the number of customers 

they have. The numbers 

that the commission has been 

given, are not reliable as such 

the discos have been given the 

instruction to carry out customer 

enumeration to determin the 

number of customer they have in 

a particular zone,” said Momoh. 

In order to resolve debt by 

govenrment ministeries and departments 

estimated to be about 

N27billion, NERC is proposing 

two strategies: providing prepaid 

meters for all govenrment 

ministeries including the military 

as well as an advance credit 

system that allows govenrment 

ministeries to settle their electiricty 

debt after appropriation 

have been made and disbursed. 

The commission said 

henceforth, applications for 

licenses to generate power in 

the Nigeria will be procured 

through competitive bidding. 

The Commission said that 

it had issued over 100 licenses 

out of which 62 are for grid 

connected power but almost 

all were unsolicited. This 

means that investors make 

proposals and regulators issue 

licences when they meet conditions 

without considering 

their capacity to utilise them. 


L-R: John Orchard, managing director, Euromoney; Ebele Ogbue, general manager, Energy Bank; Kennedy Uzoka, 

group managing director/CEO, United Bank for Africa plc, and Sir Geoff Hurst, 1966 England World Cup winner, at 

the Euromoney Award for Excellence where UBA Group was conferred with Africa’s Best Digital Bank in London. 

and Reformed All Progressive 

Congress (R-APC) and other 

stakeholders at the National Assembly 

complex, Abuja. 

Atiku at the meeting solicited 

for overwhelming support of the 

lawmakers who are automatic 

delegates at the forthcoming 

PDP presidential primary election. 

The meeting which was 

earlier scheduled for 9am was 

postphoned to 8pm for undisclosed 

reasons, BusinessDay 

reliably gathered. 

The lawmakers’ meeting with 

Atiku came barely 72 hours after 

the signing of Memorandum of 

Understanding (MoU) between 

PDP, R-APC, and 32 other political 

parties, which led to the formation 

of Coalition of United Political Parties 

(CUPP). 

BusinessDay had exclusively reported 

that some ranking members 

of APC had during an investigative 

hearing into ‘All sums due to Niger 

Delta Development Commission 

(NDDC)’, chaired by Ahmed 

Chachangi (Kaduna), declared their 

membership of CUPP, barely 24 

hours after the signing of the MoU, 

at the Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja. 

The PDP caucus in the Lower 

Chamber was led by Chukwuma 

Onyema, acting Minority Leader in 

the House of Representatives. 

While addressing the lawmakers, 

Atiku who presented his Letter of 

Intent to lawmakers, also assured 

them of facilitating their return 

ticket in the forthcoming general 

election. 

Atiku in the letter of intent, solicited 

for the support of the lawmakers, 

saying the PDP must return to 

power to get Nigeria working again. 

The letter read in part: “After 

thorough consultations with my 

families, major stakeholders within 

and outside the party including 

party stalwarts, traditional and religious 

leaders, various youths and 

women groups, the civil society and 

the private sector; I, Atiku Abubakar, 

wish to inform you about my 

aspiration for the exalted office of 

the President of Federal Republic 

of Nigerian under the flagship of 

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). 

“As stipulated by the Party constitution 

and guidelines for nomination, 

it is mandatory that we go 

through the process of presidential 

party primary election. “It is in 

line with this that I wish to humbly 

solicit your votes during this all 

important process. 

“I am in no doubt that with your 

support, I will emerge victorious 

amongst other candidates at the 

forthcoming Presidential primary 

election. “Together, we can liberate, 

repair and refocus our country Nigeria. 

Together, we can put Nigeria 

back in the right pedestal. Together, 

we can get Nigeria working again,” 

Atiku said in the letter. 

Ekiti shoot-out demonstrates executive... 


on Wednesday, as a demonstration 

of Executive recklessness and 

attempt to stifle opposition. 

The lawmakers expressed the 

concern during the heated debate 

on a motion titled: ‘Urgent need 

to intervene and save our democracy’, 

sponsored by Tajudeen Yusuf 

(PDP-Kogi), who condemned the 

action of the personnel of Nigeria 

Police during the rally. 

The rally was organised ahead 

of gubernatorial election slated for 

Saturday, 14th July, 2018. 

Worried by the ugly development, 

the House called on 

President Muhammadu Buhari to 

mandate Nigeria Police authorities 

to render apology to Nigerians. 

Some of the lawmakers who 

spoke in favour of the motion, 

including Omosede Igbinedon 

(PDP-Edo); Mike Adeniyi, Kingsley 

Chinda (PDP-River); Sunday 

Karimi (PDP-Kogi); Aminu Suleiman 

(APC-Kano) and Ali Isa Jesse 

(PDP-Gombe), condemned the 

action of the police. 

In his lead debate, Yusuf, who 

doubles as chairman, House 

committee on capital market and 

Institutions, expressed concern 

over the barricade of Ekiti State 

Government House in Ado Ekiti 

by Nigeria Police Force, few days 

to the gubernatorial election. 

He frowned at the deployment 

of heavily armed Policemen 

and other security agencies who 

locked up all entry points, preventing 

free movement of people into 

and out of Ekiti State Government 

House and shot sporadically with 

aim of instilling fear in the people, 

ahead of the forthcoming gubernatorial 

election. 

“Nigeria is a democratic state 

Banks’ rising request from CBN lending... 


the actual daily requests ranged 

from N83.61 billion to N478.54 

billion. 

Total interest earned was N21.13 

billion. In comparison with the first 

half of 2016, SLF amounted to N42.55 

billion in the 85 transaction days with 

a total of N2.92 billion earned as interests. 

SLF was utilized by the banks in 

order to enable them square up their 

positions after inter-bank market 

trading hours. 

“The rise in average daily request 

of deposit money banks from the 

Standing Lending Facility (SLF) 

window despite the fact that interbank 

call and OBB rates in April 

2018 declined drastically to 3.34% 

and 2.96% respectively from 15.16% 

and 12.69% in March 2018 remains a 

concern,” said Robert Asogwa, MPC 

member in his statement following 

the last Monetary Policy Committee 

(MPC) meeting, which was released 

on Wednesday. 

“These are all early warning signs 

of future threats to stability in the 

banking industry and as such, any 

significant reduction of Monetary 

Policy Rate (MPR) at this time could 

even further weaken the solvency position 

of these deposit money banks.” 

The banking industry on aggregate 

is said to remain strong with 

increases in profitability, liquidity, 

total assets and total deposits. 

and the complete take over and 

barricade of the Ekiti State Government 

House and violent assault 

on armless civilians, including 

a serving Governor of the State 

does not fall within the general 

duties of the Police under section 

4 of the police Act and indeed the 

tents of true democracy and the 

rule of law. 

“The House is concerned that 

the above state of affairs playing 

out in Ekiti State clearly portends 

great danger for us, particularly, in 

view of the 2019 general elections 

and the heightened insecurity in 

the country,” he noted. 

In his remarks, Sunday Karimi, 

observed that the Ekiti election is 

a litmus test for INEC ahead of the 

2019 general elections, adding that 

the action of the Police to foist APC 

on the people of Ekiti state was 

condemnable. 

Also speaking, Kingsley Chinda, 

chairman House Committee 

on Public Accounts argued that 

the Police action grossly undermined 

democracy. 

On his part, Mike Adeniyi 

(PDP-Ondo) alleged that what 

transpired in Ekiti State during the 

APC rally was executive recklessness 

and attempt by the ruling 

party to stifle the opposition. 

To this end, the House mandated 

all its relevant security 

related Standing committees to 

probe the crisis and report back 

within two weeks. 

Members of the Peoples Democratic 

Party (PDP) on Thursday 

stormed the National Assembly to 

register their grievances over the 

alleged attack on the Ekiti State 

Governor, Ayo Fayose by security 

operatives. 


The Deposit Money Banks’ Capital 

Adequacy Ratio (CAR) increased 

while the non- performing loans 

ratio which from CBN staff report 

had increased to about 16.21 percent 

in February 2018 declined to 14.15 

percent in April 2018. 

In spite of some improvements in 

these financial soundness indicators, 

the banks’ have continued to borrow 

from the CBN’s discount window 

leading to a rise in their average daily 

request from the window. 

Ayodeji Ebo, managing director, 

Afrinvest Securities limited, said the 

increase in the level of Banks participation 

at the CBN discount window 

signifies higher needs of cash to meet 

short term obligations. 

“The rise in the level of takings/ 

borrowings at the Standing Lending 

Facility window may signify that some 

banks have very low liquidity levels, 

hence borrow to meet those obligations. 

Moreover, it may also signify 

a problem of Assets and Liabilities 

mismatch,” Ebo said. 

Asogwa said while inflation, output, 

interest rate and exchange rates 

at both the domestic and international 

levels may be key focus areas 

in shaping the monetary policy decision, 

there are significant downside 

risks with the potential to reverse 

any expected maximum impact of 

the monetary policy decision at last 

MPC meeting. These risks include 

mixed performance of banking sec-


Buhari urged to sign Disability Bill 

OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja 

President Muhammadu 

Buhari has 

been urged to sign 

the Disability Bill into 

law in view of its importance 

to people with disabilities. 

According to a non-governmental 

organisation, Juremi 

Foundation, assenting 

to the Bill will guarantee the 

rights and rehabilitation of 

over 25 million physically 

challenged Nigerians living 

with disabilities. 

Head, public relations 

at the Foundation, Aisha 

Abubakar, stated this at a 

press conference in Abuja, 

where she said the Foundation 

had scheduled July 21, for 

its disability awareness walk 

in Abuja, the nation’s capital. 

The walk, she said, will take 

off from Eagle Square to Unity 

Fountain, adding that it is not 

only meant to draw attention 

to the Bill but also to create 

awareness and sensitise the 

general public about the importance 

of creating equal 

opportunities for physically 

Madiba’s House targets 1m tweets to 

honour Mandela on birthday 

Madiba’s House, 

a non-profit organisation 

dedicated 

solely to 

promoting the leadership 

principles, philosophies and 

qualities of the late icon, Dr. 

Nelson Mandela, aims to 

spearhead one million tweets 

on July 18, 2018, in honour of 

the late icon. 

July 18, which happens to 

be Nelson Mandela International 

Day (or Mandela Day), 

as declared by the United 

Nations since 2009, is a day 

set aside to honour the legacy 

of Nelson Mandela. 

Madiba’s House is targeting 

one million tweets on 

Mandela Day this year to acquaint 

people of the leadership 

qualities and principles 

of the late Nelson Mandela, 

especially the young people 

of Africa where there is a 

seeming dearth of leadership. 

Youth and national development... 

Continued from back page 

can-do nation. It is important 

that we encourage that spirit 

of creativity. 

The lessons of economic 

science make it abundantly 

clear that human capital is 

the driver of the new wealth of 

nations. The new endogenous 

growth theories pioneered by 

economists Robert Lucas at 

Chicago and his student Paul 

Romer – both of them Nobel 

laureates – place emphasis 

on human capital, technology, 

innovation, knowledge 

and creativity as the critical 

factor in creating the society 

of abundance. 

Sir Winston Churchill once 

prophesied that “the empires 

of the future will be the empires 

of the mind”. The great 

British wartime Prime Minister 

was prescient enough 

to foresee the knowledge 

revolution of our twenty-first 

century. In our day and age, 

natural resources alone are no 

longer a guarantee of wealth. 

In fact, they can prove to be 

more of a curse than a blessing. 

The nations that prosper 

today are those that deploy 

knowledge in harnessing and 

adding value to their natural 

resources for domestic as well 

as global markets. The greatest 

wealth of a nation is therefore 

challenged persons in the 

society. 

According to Abubakar, 

the walk tagged Juremi - Ability 

in Disability (J-AID Walk), 

is expected to attract over 

5,000 individuals. 

She said: “As a foundation, 

we are in support of the Disability 

Bill. And that is the reason 

why we are trying to create 

more awareness, because this 

Bill is very important. There 

are discriminations taking 

place against people with 

disabilities. Some in their 

working place; they hardly 

cope because they are not disability 

friendly. Even in banks 

there are lots of places where 

people with disabilities have 

difficulties assessing such 

institutions. 

“And that is what Juremi 

Foundation is all about. And 

we are already partnering 

with people who are in the 

forefront of this Bill to see 

that Mr President signs this 

bill into law. We have to give 

people equal opportunities 

because they are also human 

beings. They are never lesser 

human beings.” 

Bill on State Police passes First Reading in Senate 

A 

Bill for the amendment 

of the 1999 

Constitution for the 

creation of state and 

community police on Thursday 

passed First Reading in 

the Senate. 

When passed into law, 

Nigeria will join the league 

of other nations like United 

States, United Kingdom, Spain, 

Mexico, India, Germany, Canada, 

Brazil, Australia, among 

others, with state police. This 

means states in Nigeria will 

have their own police distinct 

from federal police. 

There have been clamours 

for the creation of state police 

to tackle the rising spate of 

insecurity across the country. 

However, some critics 

are opposed to the bill on 

the grounds that state police 

would be abused by state 

governors to witch-hunt perceived 

political enemies. 

The Bill titled ‘Constitution 

of the Federal Republic of 

Nigeria (Alteration) Bill, 2018’ 

is sponsored by the deputy 

Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, 

and co-sponsored by 

75 other senators. 

The development comes 

nine days after the Senate 

asked its Committee on Review 

of the 1999 Constitution 

to submit a bill on state police. 

The committee is chaired by 

Ekweremadu. 

During a debate last week, 

senators described the current 

centralisation of policing 

NEWS 

L-R: Uche Olowu, president, CIBN; Peter Mulroy, secretary-general, Factor Chain International (FCI); Joseph Nnanna, deputy governor, 

CBN; Abba Bello, MD/CEO, Nexim Bank; Jones Onyereri, chairman, House Committee on Banking, and Kanayo Awani, MD, Intra-African 

Trade Initiatives, Afreximbank, during the NEXIM Factoring roundtable at the 25th Afreximbank annual general meeting. Pic by Tunde Adeniyi 

OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja 

its people. 

Investing in our people 

and building a fair and equitable 

social order is crucial 

to our long-term economic 

success. And without science 

and innovation, the African 

people will never overcome 

their millennial servitude 

and the African Renaissance 

of our dreams will become 

a mere phantasmagoria. We 

must incentivise talent while 

building a merit-based society. 

In Brazil a Nobel laureate 

by statute is entitled to the 

same pension benefits as a 

former President. This sends 

the message that we do not all 

have to be politicians in order 

to achieve greatness. 

According to an ancient 

African proverb, “It’s the 

young trees that make up the 

forest.” We therefore welcome 

the “Not Too Young to Run” 

Act which was recently passed 

by the National Assembly 

and assented to by President 

Muhammadu Buhari. If care 

is not taken we run the risk 

of becoming a gerontocracy. 

We must therefore encourage 

young people of talent to take 

up politics as a vocation. Emmanuel 

Macron, who recently 

made a whirlwind visit to our 

country, was only 39 when 

he won elections as President 

of France, having been 

outdone only by Bonaparte 

who became Emperor at 33. 

Sebastian Kurz was recently 

elected Chancellor of Austria 

at age 31. Beating hands down 

is the eighteenth century British 

statesman William Pitt the 

Younger who succeeded his 

father as Prime Minister at 

the extraordinarily precocious 

age of 22. 

The teaching of history and 

civics is particularly important 

in imbuing love of country 

and patriotism among our 

young people. I do not know 

who advised our government 

to remove history from the 

school curriculum. I consider 

it to be the original sin. 

I am glad that the current 

administration has deemed it 

necessary to remedy the situation. 

I daresay that without 

knowledge of history, a people 

can never know where they 

are coming from, let alone 

where they are going. 

Nation building projects 

also need to be incorporated 

into our various youth policies 

and social development interventions. 

While the NYSC 

scheme was a great success 

in its heydays, I am no longer 

convinced it is still serving the 

original purpose. I advocate 

the Israeli model where every 

young man and woman of 18 

is called up to active military 

service. Those crucial years 

of military service give these 

young people a sense of patriotism, 

loyalty to the fatherland 

and commitment to service. 

When they enter university 

they tend to be more focused 

on their studies. And the 

friendships formed during 

military service are often carried 

into the marketplace in 

setting up some of the most 

successful companies that 

have given Israel worldwide 

fame as the “Start-up Nation”. 

Mentoring the young is also 

crucially important. Among 

the Swahili of East Africa, it is 

said that “What the elders see 

while sitting the young ones 

standing on their toes won’t 

see”. Within the Igbo artisanal 

industry, for example, mentoring 

has been carried to a very 

impressive level. We are always 

impressed to see a young Igbo 

mechanic being trained by an 

elder who takes him under his 

wings. After undergoing the 

necessary training and discipline, 

for perhaps 5 years, the 

apprentice is allowed to go and 

set up on his own. He is even 

given some capital for start-up. 

Unfortunately, this culture 

is not replicated in our leadership 

traditions. In Britain, 

for example, young politically 

ambitious men such as 

Tony Blair and Gordon Brown 

served their apprenticeships 

within the party bureaucracy 

and as parliamentary aides 

in Nigeria as a colossal failure, 

and stressed the urgent need to 

amend the Constitution to allow 

for state and community police. 

Speaking after the Bill 

passed First Reading on 

Thursday, Ekweremadu, 

who presided over the session, 

assured that the Senate 

would expedite action on the 

amendment bill. 

He said: “The Committee 

on Review of the 1999 

Constitution has fulfilled its 

mandate. And now the Bill has 

been taken for the first time. I 

am sure that as soon as possible 

we will take the Second 

Reading and probably send 

it to public hearing through 

the Committee so that we 

fast-track it as directed by the 

Senate.” 

or special assistants to ministers. 

In China they have an 

elaborate mentoring system 

right through the hierarchy of 

the Communist Party. To enhance 

the mentoring culture 

in Nigeria, those in positions 

of responsibility should make 

conscious efforts to identify 

young talents and invest in 

their future. The youth wings 

of political parties should be 

seen as a training ground and 

recruitment centres for young 

talents. Such talents abound 

in Nigeria and the fact that 

we are not mentoring them 

enough is regrettable. 

With the right calibre of 

leadership and the right policy 

choices we could create a 

US$1 trillion economy within 

the coming decade. Investing 

in infrastructures and human 

capital, particularly for the 

youth segment of our population, 

will be a key driver 

for growth and long-term 

prosperity. Education, health 

and wealth go together. Linking 

them to the foundations 

of peace, freedom and social 

justice will be the basis of our 

flourishing as a nation – a land 

of hope and glory. 

• Being the Text of a Lecture 

Delivered to the Lagos 

Business School Alumni Association 

Held at the CBN 

International Training Centre, 

Maitama, Abuja, Thursday 

12 July. 

The national healthcare... 

Continued from back page 

jobs or services for everyone. 

It would have to promote, as 

well as regulate, the growth 

and efflorescence of private 

ideas and initiatives. 

On their part, the private 

healthcare sector, made up 

of doctors and nurses and 

pharmacists and laboratory 

scientists and other traditional 

members of the health team, 

but also now including ICT 

practitioners, banks and fund 

managers, health managers, 

actuarists and a gamut of 

other enablers, would need 

to hone their skills and teamwork 

to function efficiently, 

sustainably and profitably. 

Government must have 

realized by now, surely, that 

‘Centre of Excellence’ was a 

statement of quality, verifiable 

by international quality 

accreditation, and not a title 

it could award to its teaching 

hospitals just because it had 

bought expensive equipment 

for them. What centres of 

excellence there were in Nigeria 

currently were entirely 

in private hands. Somehow 

these facilities, and the rash 

of new ones that were being 

built, would have to make 

income, as well as provide 

world class services accessible 

to all, including the most 

destitute Nigerians. Only a 

mandatory health insurance 

policy for the whole country 

could sustain that. It would 

take pollical boldness for any 

government to proclaim that, 

but it had to be done. 

The boldness to assume 

that, despite the many discouragements 

of the past, the people 

of Nigeria would, through 

the energy and innovation of 

their own citizens, get access to 

world class healthcare in short 

order was the brash notion 

that impelled activities such as 

these awards. 

It was certainly the reason 

why Jimi Coker’s fila was 

rakishly done to one side, 

and his shoes glittered with 

such life as he went up on 

the podium with his team 

to receive the Best Private 

Healthcare Facility award for 

Lagoon Hospitals. 

It was the reason why Wale 

Alabi, the man behind the 

awards, was looking so happy 

and confident about the future 

when he rose from his 

seat to take the microphone.

Friday 13 July 2018 C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY A1 

Abuja Rail: FCTA to borrow 

$194m for 48 coaches 

… Buhari seeks proper maintenance of $830m Abuja light rail 

TONY AILEMEN & JAMES KWEN Abuja 

To ensure effective 

service delivery 

by the Abuja Rail 

Mass Transit, the 

Federal Capital 

Territory Administration 

(FCTA) has concluded an 

infrastructure soft loan 

agreement with Exim Bank 

of China for the supply of 

48 coaches, including their 

maintenance for three years 

at a cost of $194,008,602.43. 

Exim Bank would fund 

the project to the tune of 

$157,001,049.89 (85%), 

while FCTA would bring 

in a counterpart fund of 

$37,007,552.54 (15%). 

Muhammad Bello, minister 

of FCT, who said this 

Thursday during the official 

commissioning of the Abuja 

Rail Mass Transit Project, 

said FCTA had taken delivery 

of the three coaches 

meant for initial operations. 

BOLADALE BAMIGBOLA, Osogbo 

Africa’s biggest cleanup 

powered by 

SHOPRITE brings 

together over 6,000 

people across the continent 

to clean their communities 

in more than 500 different 

events. 

The retailer invites the 

public to join leading experts, 

thought leaders, the 

Lagos State Ministry of Environment, 

Lagos State Waste 

Management Authority 

(LAWMA), Wecyclers, Pick 

That Trash, Visionscape, 

Chanja Datti, Ecobaarter, 

Diamond Shine Nigeria, 

Sustainable Africa Waste Initiative, 

Kids Beach Garden, 

and a host of volunteers to be 

Bello also said the FCTA 

was working on phase ll of 

the Abuja Rail Mass Transit 

project to cover a distance 

of 32.54km from Nnamdi 

Azikwe Expressway at Garki 

Area l via the transportation 

Centre to Gwagwa and from 

Bazango Station to Kubwa. 

He said the Federal Executive 

Council approved the project 

in 2017 for construction by 

CCECC at a cost of $1.3 billion 

and hoped that the minister of 

finance would consider putting 

this key project in the next 

borrowing plans. 

According to Bello, “the 

Minister of Budget and National 

Planning would agree 

to it, the National Assembly 

would approve it and that 

China Exim Bank would 

fund it as a mark of goodwill 

for the cordial relationship 

between our two countries.” 

He further said that, the 

rail tracks, signalling, stations 

and other infrastructure 

were completed six 

months ago and in line with 

international best practices, 

two months were spent testing 

the rail system without 

passengers and one month 

with passengers. 

“I am pleased to state 

that the Federal Ministry of 

Transportation after working 

closely with our team of 

Engineers, the Construction 

Company China Civil Engineering 

Construction Corporation 

(CCECC) and the 

project Consultants, Messrs 

Transurb Technirail Ltd has 

granted the Abuja Rail Mass 

Transit Project (ARMT) (Lot 

3 & Lot 1A) Safety Certificate 

for Commercial Operations. 

“We have also worked 

and are working closely with 

the Nigerian Railway Corporation 

(NRC) in the implementation 

of the project and 

they have granted relevant 

approvals for operations,” 

the minister stated. 

Dickson says Buhari’s stand on restructuring is faulty 

Governor of Bayelsa 

State, Seriake 

Dickson, on 

Thursday in Ile Ife, 

said those clamouring for 

restructuring of the country 

were the real patriots who 

mean well for Nigeria. 

He said the statement 

by President Mohammadu 

Buhari regarding those 

clamouring for restructuring, 

who the President said 

have parochial interest, was 

faulty. 

The governor stated this 

while delivering Faculty of 

Arts, Obafemi Awolowo University, 

Ile Ife, Distinguished 

Lecture with the theme: Restructuring 

and The Search 

For A Productive Nigeria. 

According to Dickson, 

Nigeria in her present shape 

is not working, adding that to 

make the country workable, 

the solution lies in restructuring, 

which he claimed 

would enthrone true federalism, 

devolution of power 

from the centre to the federating 

units. 

Dickson added: “These 

will guarantee the stability, 

prosperity and peace of 

Nigeria. When everybody in 

this country is talking about 

the need to restructure the 

country, our President, Muhammadu 

Buhari made a 

statement that is not only 

wrong, but it is also faulty 

that cannot stand the test 

of time.” 

He further noted that 

President Buhari’s statement 

posed a threat to the continued 

stability, prosperity and 

development Nigeria. 

He continued: “And he 

didn’t stop there, he went 

ahead to say that those who 

There is time to be part of Africa’s biggest clean-up - Shoprite 

part of this history-making 

event. 

Seyifumi Adebote, a team 

leader of Pick That Trash 

in Abuja, noted, “Due to 

increasing levels of waste in 

our environment it has become 

imperative for greater 

awareness of the importance 

of picking up and separating 

out waste to encourage a 

recycling culture in Africa.” 

In the same vein, head: 

Business Development of 

Wecyclers, Omobolanle 

Olowu, said, “We are joining 

the Shoprite team and other 

partners to clean up as many 

locations as possible so that 

people will realise there’s 

value in waste and clean up 

are in support of restructuring 

are doing so for parochial 

agenda. Mr. President, you 

are wrong. In fact the reverse 

is the case. The majority of 

Nigerians from the North, 

South, East, West and Middle 

Belt, who are making a 

case for restructuring, are indeed 

the patriots of Nigeria. 

“We want a Nigeria that 

works with equal citizenship. 

A Nigeria for the many 

as well as for the few; a Nigeria 

that we will be proud 

to call home any day, which 

we can proudly pledge allegiance 

to. 

“I don’t believe that a 

Presidential system is what 

this country needs; it is too 

expensive and wasteful. It 

easily lends itself to abuses 

and is not enough checks. 

We cannot have a productive 

Nigeria the way it is 

structured. 

their neighbourhoods.” 

To join one of the 45 

cleanup events taking place 

across Nigeria from 14-18 

July, register via the website 

www.actforchange.africa, 

which was specifically created 

for this purpose and is being 

managed by the Shoprite 

Group and volunteerism organisation 

Brownie Points. 

Outside of Nigeria, cleanups 

are taking place in 10 

other African countries including 

South Africa, Namibia, 

Zambia and Madagascar. 

Shoprite is the leading 

retailer across Africa, with 

a large following of loyal 

customers. 

Coalition of parties has no agenda to 

improve lives of Nigerians –Moghalu 

Former deputy governor 

of the Central 

Bank of Nigeria and 

presidential aspirant 

of the Young Progressive 

Party (YPP), Kingsley Moghalu, 

says the new Coalition 

of United Political Parties 

(CUPP) has no agenda to 

improve the lives of Nigeria, 

as it just represents name 

changes and new alliances 

that will not deliver what 

Nigeria needs. 

In a press statement, 

Moghalu said, “It is interesting 

to note the MOU signed 

yesterday by the PDP and 

over 30 other parties. On 

the face of it, it is a legitimate 

move; after all, we are 

a democracy. However, we 

must be clear about what 

it represents: power for the 

sake of power, without any 

real agenda to improve the 

lives of Nigerians.” 

With a memorandum 

recently signed in Abuja, 38 

political parties joined the 

People’s Democratic Party to 

create the coalition in order 

to present a single presidential 

candidate in next year’s 

election. 

“The question Nigerians 

must ask is this: How 

have the parties involved 

NEWS 

changed? Has PDP purged 

itself of its bad actors that 

led to its downfall in the first 

place? Have these other parties 

demonstrated any true 

commitment to an open or 

transparent democracy?” 

Moghalu asked. 

According to Moghalu, Nigeria 

needs something new, 

bold and different to place the 

country on a sustainable path, 

emphasising that the current 

ruling party is a product of a 

similar merger consisting of 

many of the same elements 

that have now broken off to 

form yet another coalition to 

capture power.

A2 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 

NEWS 

Abacha $350m loot: TUC disagrees 

with FG’s sharing option 

JOSHUA BASSEY 

Organised labour 

under the auspices 

of Trade 

Union Congress 

(TUC) of 

Nigeria has disagreed with 

Federal Government’s decision 

to share $350 million 

Abacha loot, saying it is another 

way of “re-looting” the 

recovered funds. 

The Labour union says 

rather than share the money, 

the Federal Government 

should tie it to projects that 

will add to strengthen the 

economy and create opportunity 

for the majority of the 

citizens. 

The Federal Government 

plans to share recovered 

$350 million (an equivalent 

of N115bn) being funds 

stashed away in Switzerland 

by late Head of State, Sani 

Abacha, to an estimated 

300,000 households, with 

each getting around $14 

(around N5,000). 

“For us, this is unacceptable 

and can be termed 

another avenue to re-loot the 

loot. The recovered loot has 

to be tied to projects,” Bobboi 

Kaigama, TUC president, 

said on Thursday. 

The union noted that in 

a country where most of the 

citizens lacked everything 

that makes life comfortable 

and worth-living, it was naïve 

to share cash as against 

putting such funds into 

developing infrastructure 

such as roads, modern rail 

system, hospitals and power 

that would be of benefit to 

the majority. 

“Our education has 

collapsed. The technical 

schools have gone into 

extinction likewise science 

and technology: These are 

critical areas that require 

adequate funding. Therefore, 

we say no to sharing. 

Government must tie the 

money to projects. This 

remains the only way it 

would have a significant 

impact on poverty alleviation 

and overall development 

of the country,” the 

union stated. 

Arguing further the TUC 

said: “We have an estimated 

population of 200 million 

and government wants to 

share $350 million: What 

is the formula for sharing?: 

By geographical zones?, 

Through state governors or 

by individual families? 

NPA to sanction shipping firms, terminal 

operators for not using holding bays 

AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE 

Nigerian Ports Authority 

(NPA) has 

vowed to sanction 

shipping 

companies and terminal 

operators that fail to comply 

with the agreement they 

had with the authority to 

make use of holding bays 

in dropping of empty containers. 

A statement signed by 

Isah Suwaid, assistant general 

manager, corporate and 

strategic communications of 

NPA, stated that the agreement 

was reached in November 

2017 between the 

shipping companies, terminal 

operators and the NPA. 

Suwaid said the agreement 

compelled all shipping 

companies and terminal 

operators to provide 

holding bays for their containers 

through the newly 

adopted call-up system. 

“The agreement was part 

of the resolutions adopted 

at the end of two meetings 

between the Hadiza Bala 

Usman, managing director 

of NPA, leadership of 

truck drivers and Maritime 

Workers Union in response 

to recent protests by trucks 

drivers at the Lagos Port 

Complex (LPC) and Tin- 

Can Island Port (TCIP),” Suwaid 

said in the statement. 

BusinessDay understand 

that the meeting was 

based on getting amicable 

solution to issues around 

the operation of the callup 

system as part of the 

Authority’s Traffic Management 

Strategy, alleged 

extortion by security agencies 

and the utilisation of 

holding bays. 

According to Suwaid, Usman 

in another meeting 

held on Wednesday 11th July 

2018, said that the Authority 

has launched an investigation 

into the level of compliance 

to the agreements 

reached between the authority, 

shipping companies and 

terminal operators, warning 

that any company found to 

have contravened the agreement 

will be sanctioned. 

On the newly adopted 

call-up system for trucks 

accessing the port, Usman 

explained that the Authority 

had consulted widely with 

all stakeholders before the 

introduction of the system. 

She added that the system 

has proved to be the most 

effective way of managing 

traffic in the Apapa axis till 

date. 

Chairman, Senate 

Committee on 

Banking, Insurance 

and other Financial 

Institutions, Rafiu Adebayo 

Ibrahim, says Nigeria can 

be made great again, if the 

legislature as a matter of urgency 

empowers the Asset 

Management Corporation of 

Nigeria (AMCON) to go after 

recalcitrant obligors. 

That is the only way AMCON 

can meet its mandate of achieving 

the tough directive for which 

it was set up in 2010, he said. 

Since AMCON over the 

past seven years have done its 

best to resolve these debts but 

are still encountering resistance 

from obligor, the Senate 

would have not option that to 

urge AMCON to compile and 

publish the list of all these debtors 

on major daily newspapers 

in the country, he said. 

The move, he argued, will 

place before Nigerians those 

who are holding the nation’s 

economy to ransom since 

they account for 80 percent 

of AMCON’s N4.8 trillion 

obligation. 

The senator, who spoke 

yesterday at the opening of 

a two-day retreat in Lagos 

where they convened to discuss 

the all-important AM- 

CON Act Amendment Bill, 

said the Senate, as part of 


AMCON’s huge obligation of N4.8trn 

must be recovered – Senate 

its oversight function, has 

decided that AMCON at this 

critical time in its lifespan 

must be given all the support 

it requires to perform as expected 

by all Nigerians. 

He however urged the 

Management of AMCON to 

collaborate with the Federal 

Ministry of Finance (FMF), 

the Central Bank of Nigeria 

(CBN), and the office of the 

Attorney General of the Federation 

to propose that the President 

of the Federal Republic 

of Nigeria and Commanderin-Chief 

of the Armed Forces 

issues an Executive Order on 

seizure of assets of persons 

who are indebted to AMCON. 

In a keynote address he 

delivered at the commencement 

of the retreat, Sen. Ibrahim 

said the upper chamber 

is intent on having serious 

discussions as soon as possible 

with major stakeholders 

such as the CBN, the FMF, 

the Nigerian Deposit Insurance 

Corporation (NDIC) 

and relevant committees from 

the legislature among others, 

where issues hindering 

AMCON from performing 

optimally including the funding 

model of AMCON would 

be discussed to enable the 

recovery agency of the Federal 

Republic of Nigeria finish its 

assignment on a high.


FT FINANCIAL TIMES 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

A3 

World Business Newspaper 

Trump knows Europe needs America 

more than America needs Europe 

The most lethal demagogue is one with a grasp of underlying reality 

EDWARD LUCE 

Donald Trump claims 

Nato allies have agreed 

to spending increase 

Theresa May unveils 

plans for softer Brexit 

UK white paper sets out proposals for ‘association 

agreement’ similar to that reached with Ukraine 

GEORGE PARKER AND JIM PICKARD 

Prime minister Theresa May 

on Thursday unveiled her 

proposals for the UK’s future 

relationship with the 

EU in a Brexit white paper 

that sets out plans for an “association 

agreement” of the kind recently 

agreed between Brussels and Ukraine. 

The white paper, which this week 

sparked the resignation of two Eurosceptic 

cabinet ministers, confirms 

that Mrs May is moving towards a 

softer form of Brexit, with Britain 

aiming to retain close economic ties 

with the EU. 

The 98-page document is meant 

to accelerate negotiations in Brussels 

so as to clinch a Brexit deal in the autumn. 

Mrs May said she wants talks to 

move “at pace”. 

While some European leaders 

have given a polite but guarded welcome 

to the proposals, the expectation 

in Brussels — and among Tory 

Eurosceptics — is that Mrs May will 

have to make more concessions to 

meet EU demands. 

Speaking at the Nato summit in 

Brussels on Thursday, US president 

Donald Trump said the UK was taking 

“a little bit of a different route”, 

adding “I don’t know if that’s what 

they voted for”. 

“I have been reading a lot about 

Brexit over the last couple of days 

and it seems to be turning a little bit 

differently where they are getting at 

least partially involved back with the 

European Union,” he said, before flying 

to London to begin a three-day 

visit to the UK. 

Meanwhile, the new Brexit secretary 

Dominic Raab dismissed complaints 

by Conservatives MPs about 

the soft Brexit plan thrashed out by 

the cabinet last Friday at Chequers, 

Mrs May’s country residence. 

Mr Raab, who succeeded David 

Davis after he resigned over the plan 

on Sunday, urged colleagues to abandon 

any attempts at “parliamentary 

riots and sabotage”. Boris Johnson, 

who quit as foreign secretary on 

Page A4 

Monday in protest at the plan, is now 

plotting his next move from the Tory 

backbenches. 

The white paper, which is based 

on the Chequers deal, creates the 

framework for what Whitehall officials 

expect Brussels will call an “association 

agreement”— the type of deal 

struck by the EU with third countries 

including Ukraine and Georgia, and 

providing them with “privileged links” 

to the bloc. 

The document confirms that 

Britain would seek a “free trade area” 

with the EU for goods, coupled with 

a complex plan to keep Britain inside 

the bloc’s customs territory, to avoid 

“any friction at the border”, including 

Ireland. 

But the white paper also sets out 

proposals for a looser relationship 

between the UK and the EU on services, 

which represent 80 per cent of 

the British economy. This includes 

financial services, led by the City of 

London. 

The white paper says Britain would 

seek the “freedom to chart its own 

path” on services, but acknowledges 

that with regulatory autonomy would 

come a significant problem. “There 

will be more barriers to the UK’s access 

to the EU market than is the case 

today,” it adds. 

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief 

Brexit negotiator, has previously 

warned Britain that it cannot seek 

single market-style access for goods 

while excluding itself from equivalent 

arrangements on services and the free 

movement of people. 

Other key features of the white 

paper include: 

A hint of a generous British approach 

to EU migration. The white 

paper says that tourists and people 

travelling for “temporary business 

activity” would be free to come to the 

UK without a visa. 

Confirmation that the government’s 

“facilitated customs arrangement” 

plan between the UK and the 

EU would be “phased in”. Officials 

said there could be a delay of 12 to 

18 months after the end of the Brexit 

transition period in December 2020. 

Punch-drunk Europe would do 

well to study the fate of American 

liberals. The more Donald 

Trump denigrates Nato, the greater 

outrage he provokes in Europe. Moral 

certainty feels good. But it can bring 

on intellectual blindness. Time and 

again, Mr Trump’s domestic critics 

have chosen righteous indignation 

over analytic clarity. Women could 

never vote for Mr Trump, Democrats 

reassured themselves. Then a majority 

of white women did. The US would 

never withdraw troops from Europe, 

says Brussels. Yet Mr Trump could 

do precisely that. Which side of the 

Atlantic would have the most to lose? 

Mr Trump knows more than his 

critics give him credit for. He invents 

his own facts. But he instinctively 

grasps other people’s bottom lines. Mr 

Trump’s portrayal of Nato is profoundly 

error-ridden. It is also fundamentally 

correct. On the first, America accounts 

Continues on page A4 

Spare oil capacity to be ‘stretched to limit’, IEA warns 

Crude prices rally after steepest one-day fall in two years 

DAVID SHEPPARD 

The International Energy Agency 

warned on Thursday that spare 

oil production capacity risks 

being “stretched to the limit” as supply 

disruptions and US sanctions 

against Iran tighten the market. 

The Paris-based agency said 

that while there were signs the rally 

in oil prices may start to weigh on 

demand growth, for the moment 

the key risk is supply capacity, with 

moves by producers to raise output 

cutting into the thin buffer of reserve 

production. 

“Rising production from Middle 

East Gulf countries and Russia, 

welcome though it is, comes at 

the expense of the world’s spare 

capacity cushion, which might be 

stretched to the limit,” the IEA said in 

its monthly report. 

“This vulnerability currently underpins 

oil prices and seems likely 

to continue doing so. We see no sign 

Broadcom to buy CA Technologies for nearly $19bn 

Shares in software maker jumped 16% in after-hours trade 

ERIC PLATT, JAMES FONTANELLA-KHAN 

AND RICHARD WATERS 

Broadcom has announced it 

will buy CA Technologies for 

$18.9bn, the chipmaker’s first 

major takeover since it was blocked 

by US President Donald Trump from 

pursuing a bid for rival Qualcomm 

earlier this year. 

CA Technologies shareholders 

will receive $44.50 a share in the 

all-cash deal, an approximately 20 

per cent premium to the software 

maker’s closing price of $37.21 a 

share on July 11. The transaction has 

already been approved by each company’s 

board of directors, Broadcom 

said on Wednesday. 

The deal marks a change in direction 

for the chip industry’s most 

active acquirer, taking it into the 

market for infrastructure software 

— the code that runs at the heart of 

corporate IT systems. Broadcom’s 

shares fell 5 per cent on the news, 

as investors worried about its deviation 

into a new market after honing 

The Cambridge Analytica 

scandal echoes 

the financial crisis 

Page A5 

Theresa May’s plans sparked the resignation of two Eurosceptic cabinet ministers © Reuters 

of higher production from elsewhere 

that might ease fears of market tightness,” 

it said. 

The IEA’s comments come as a 

host of outages, from Venezuela to 

Libya, have tightened markets and 

boosted oil prices to as high as $80 a 

barrel in recent weeks. That has led 

Saudi Arabia and other countries to 

lift output to make up the shortfall, 

partly under pressure from the US and 

other big oil consumers. 

While in the short-run that should 

stop markets tightening too quickly, it 

has left traders nervous about whether 

producers will be able to respond if 

a further supply outage hits. 

Oil prices tumbled on Wednesday, 

posting the biggest one-day fall in two 

years, with Libya’s export situation 

improving and fears of a trade war 

between the US and China growing. 

But traders maintain they still 

see significant risks of a supply gap 

materialising. 

Brent crude stabilised on Thurs- 

its dealmaking skills with a string of 

chip acquisitions. 

“Our job is to look at creating 

value relative to our other options,” 

said Tom Krause, chief financial officer. 

“This is just applying what we 

know to an adjacent market.” 

The deal will bring Broadcom a 

software company with solid cash 

flow but little growth. CA has been 

linked to a number of potential software 

mergers over the years, thanks 

to the reliable earnings thrown off 

by its legacy mainframe business, 

coming close at one point to combining 

with BMC. It produced $1.2bn 

of operating cash flow last year on 

revenues of $4.2bn. 

Broadcom does not plan to seek 

approval from the Committee on 

Foreign Investment in the United 

States (Cfius), the inter-agency 

government body that blocked its 

hostile approach for Qualcomm on 

national security grounds. 

The company earlier this year 

moved its corporate headquarters 

from Singapore to the US. While 

day, rising 1.5 per cent to near $75 a 

barrel. 

“Based on current fundamentals 

(falling stocks, lack of capacity) and 

Iranian sanctions on the horizon, we 

see a bit of upside for Brent,” said Jack 

Allardyce at Cantor Fitzgerald Europe. 

The IEA said it saw only 2.1m barrels 

a day of quickly available spare 

capacity in three Opec members: 

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United 

Arab Emirates. 

If Saudi Arabia increases output 

towards record levels of near 11m 

b/d this summer, as it has indicated, 

it would cut the kingdom’s spare 

capacity to “unprecedented” levels, 

the IEA said. 

Saudi Arabia is lifting output, in 

part, because of the reimposition of 

sanctions on Iran’s 2m b/d of oil exports 

that take effect from November. 

Estimates vary widely for how much 

Iranian oil the US will succeed in 

cutting, but the state department has 

said the aim is to drive them to “zero”. 

the group was ultimately prevented 

from pursuing Qualcomm, its new 

headquarters in San Jose, California 

should exempt it from needing Cfius 

sign-off now. 

Broadcom is being advised by 

Deutsche Bank and Bank of America 

Merrill Lynch, while Qatalyst Partners 

are working with CA Technologies. 

Shares of CA surged 16 per cent 

in after-hours trading to $43.02 after 

the Wall Street Journal reported that 

the deal was imminent. Broadcom 

stock slipped 5 per cent to $231.21. 

CA still gets slightly more than 

half of its revenue from selling 

software used in mainframe computers, 

even though the heyday of 

mainframes passed more than 30 

years ago. The business produced 

an operating profit margin of 64 per 

cent last year, a testament to the ability 

of business software companies 

like CA to milk old technologies for 

many years, thanks to the sunk costs 

that many customers have made in 

their systems.


A4 BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 

FT 

Trump knows Europe 

needs America... 

Continued from page A3 

for nothing like 70 per cent of Europe’s 

security budget. Its actual share, as the 

International Institute for Strategic 

Studies has set out, is a fraction of that. 

Five per cent of America’s defence 

budget goes directly on Europe. Nor is 

Europe “delinquent” on its obligations. 

Since pledging four years ago to meet 

the 2 per cent of GDP target within a 

decade, Europe’s Nato members have 

increased their spending by $87bn in 

real terms, which is more than double 

what the US spends annually on European 

security. So much for Mr Trump’s 

relationship with the facts. 

But quietly correcting Mr Trump 

— even shrieking it from the rooftops 

— will do nothing to change his mind. 

Technocracy cannot compete with 

diatribe. The most lethal demagogue is 

one who grasps an underlying reality. 

Mr Trump knows that Europe needs 

America more than America needs 

Europe. Every time Mr Trump meets 

a Nato partner, or listens to many of 

his advisers, he is told his actions are 

weakening US security. That is true. 

America’s power is magnified by alliances. 

Wrecking them reduces Washington’s 

global clout. But the bigger 

loser is Europe. Its survival depends 

on America’s guarantee. A resurgent 

Russia poses deep threats to Europe’s 

eastern borders, its internal cohesion 

and ultimately its prosperity. With 

America’s continued presence, Europe 

can rebuff Vladimir Putin’s probing. 

Without it, Europe would be dangerously 

exposed. 

Mr Trump needs no adviser to tell 

him that America’s position gives it 

greater room for complacency. The 

US is flanked by the world’s two largest 

oceans — the Atlantic and the Pacific. 

In Mexico and Canada, it also has two 

of the world’s most benign neighbours, 

even taking into account Mr Trump’s 

constant needling. Geography is Mr 

Trump’s bottom line. Yet Europe is doing 

its best imitation of Hillary Clinton. 

Like Mrs Clinton, Europe’s leaders 

believe that reason and public sentiment 

are on their side. Like her, they 

overestimate both. 

Mr Trump has shown that unreason 

— the constant repetition of caricature 

and lies — can alter public opinion. 

Worse, big shifts in worldview can be 

pulled off quickly. Two years ago, most 

Republicans believed firmly in Nato. Today 

just 40 per cent of Republican voters 

think America should remain a member 

of the transatlantic alliance. More than 

half of Republicans say that Mr Trump’s 

relationship with Mr Putin is a good thing 

for America. So much for the electorate’s 

wisdom. What about Europe’s voters? 

A year ago, Europe’s leaders could 

be forgiven for misjudging Mr Trump. 

There is no precedent for what he is 

doing. All his predecessors, including 

Barack Obama, called on America’s 

Nato partners to increase their defence 

spending. None of them would have 

dreamt of undermining European 

liberal democracy. Yet that is what Mr 

Trump is doing. 

On Monday, he travels to Helsinki to 

meet Mr Putin. He joins Viktor Orban, 

Hungary’s prime minister, and champion 

of “illiberal democracy”, and Matteo 

Salvini, Italy’s leading populist, in Mr 

Putin’s growing western fan club. The 

first time they met, which was almost 

exactly a year ago, Mr Trump agreed 

to set up a US-Russia task force on 

cyber security. That was like a chicken 

agreeing with the fox to patrol the night. 

Mr Trump’s advisers persuaded him to 

climb down. No one knows what the 

two leaders informally agreed. 

NATIONAL NEWS 

Donald Trump at the Nato summit on Thursday. ‘The numbers are going up like a rocket ship,’ he said, referring to alliance members’ commitments 

to defence spending © EPA 

Donald Trump claims Nato allies have agreed to spending increase 

Macron and Merkel challenge president’s assertion about additional commitment 

DEMETRI SEVASTOPULO, 

MICHAEL PEEL AND ADAM SAMSON 

Donald Trump said fellow 

Nato leaders on Thursday had 

agreed to “substantially up” 

their commitment to defence spending 

although his assertion was swiftly 

challenged by his French and German 

counterparts. 

After a series of blistering attacks 

by the US president on members of 

the alliance over defence outlays, Mr 

Trump said there had been “substantial 

progress” on the second day of 

Nato summit in Brussels. 

He said leaders agreed to lift their 

spending to “levels they have never 

thought of before”. 

“The numbers are going up like a 

rocket ship,” Mr Trump said, hours 

after he wrote on Twitter that the allies 

should go further than their spending 

target of 2 per cent of gross domestic 

product on defence and should aim 

to reach 4 per cent. 

However, Mr Trump’s comments 

on spending appeared to be quickly 

contradicted by French President 

Emmanuel Macron, who said Nato 

allies had not agreed to spend more 

than the existing target. 

“There is a communiqué that 

was published yesterday. It’s very 

detailed,” he said, according to the 

Associated Press. “It confirms the 

goal of 2 per cent by 2024. That’s all.” 

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, 

acknowledged the need to 

address the issue, but indicated there 

had been no additional spending 

commitment. “We presented the 

current situation,” she said. “But 

considering the discussion among 

the European allies, not only the 

Americans, I think we need to ask 

ourselves consistently what more 

we can do.” 

Mr Trump played down suggestions 

that he had threatened to 

withdraw the US from Nato, saying 

the commitment to the decades-old 

military alliance remained “very 

strong”. When asked if he believed 

he could withdraw the US from the 

alliance without Congressional approval, 

he said: “I probably can but 

that’s unnecessary.” 

Only hours earlier, Mr Trump 

launched another stinging attack on 

Germany. 

“Presidents have been trying unsuccessfully 

for years to get Germany 

Unilever shareholders warn on HQ move to Netherlands 

Top investor says leaving the FTSE 100 index could lead to forced selling of stock 

ATTRACTA MOONEY AND 

SCHEHERAZADE DANESHKHU 

One of Unilever’s biggest 

shareholders has warned 

of the forced selling of the 

consumer group’s shares as unrest 

grows among British investors over 

the decision to move its headquarters 

to the Netherlands. 

Unilever has embarked on a 

charm offensive among its UK 

shareholders, which have been 

alarmed by the likely ejection of 

the company from the FTSE 100 

index that many use as a benchmark. 

The company has attempted 

to woo investors through a series 

of meetings ahead of a crucial 

vote on abandoning the company’s 

89-year-old Anglo-Dutch 

structure. 

Nick Train, joint founder of 

Lindsell Train, a top-five shareholder 

with a 2.5 per cent Unilever 

stake, urged holders of Unilever’s 

UK-listed stock to “give serious 

consideration over the summer 

as to whether the proposal is in 

their interest”. 

His comments to the Financial 

Times highlight the tough 

battle Unilever faces in garnering 

the required 75 per cent of UK 

shareholders to vote in favour of 

the move, alongside 50 per cent 

of Dutch shareholders. Unilever 

will seek a premium London listing 

but is expected to fail index 

compiler FTSE Russell’s liquidity 

criteria for FTSE 100 inclusion. 

Mr Train, whose investments 

tend to be long-term, warned of 

possible “inconveniences and increased 

risks for our clients” linked 

to the move, including the “likelihood 

that we will become forced 

sellers of the shares for some of our 

clients at a time and a price not of 

our choosing”. 

Three large shareholders said 

that the company had not given 

satisfactory responses to concerns 

during meetings. A top-10 

shareholder, who has spoken with 

the board twice about the plans, 

said Unilever had been “almost 

belligerently unreceptive” to the 

concerns of British investors. 

“They showed no intent to listen 

to shareholders — almost the 

opposite. I don’t see how they are 

confident that will get it through 

[the vote passed]. I think they are 

in trouble.” 

“The vote is finely balanced. It’s 

and other rich NATO Nations to pay 

more toward their protection from 

Russia. They pay only a fraction of 

their cost. The U.S. pays tens of Billions 

of Dollars too much to subsidise 

Europe, and loses Big on Trade!” he 

wrote on Twitter. 

The US president had stunned 

leaders at the annual Nato summit 

on Wednesday by saying Germany 

was “captive” to Moscow because of 

its Russian gas imports, in televised 

remarks that he would have known 

would be widely broadcast. 

In early Thursday posts on Twitter, 

Mr Trump repeated his criticism that 

Nato was protecting its members from 

Russia while Germany was paying 

Moscow “billions of dollars” for gas 

imports. “Not acceptable!” he wrote. 

Nato members had played down 

tensions on Wednesday but the US 

president was widely condemned for 

the way he had attacked Germany in 

public. At a press conference, Jens 

Stoltenberg, Nato secretary-general, 

highlighted some of the issues that 

the alliance members had agreed. 

“For a quarter of a century, many of 

our countries have been cutting billions 

from their [defence] budgets, 

now they are adding billions,” he said. 

not a slam dunk,” said Samuel Johar, 

of Buchanan Harvey, a board 

advisory firm, who has spoken to 

several large shareholders. 

The vote on the move is due to 

take place before the end of September, 

and investors are waiting 

for a circular with more details 

about how the process of simplifying 

the two sets of shares will work. 

Unilever said: “Unilever will 

remain listed in London; and as 

we continue to engage extensively 

with our investors and shareholders, 

we remain very confident of 

the outcome of the vote on simplification.” 

Graeme Pitkethly, Unilever’s 

finance director, said last month 

that the company was “extremely” 

unlikely to stay in the UK’s FTSE 

100 index were it to become a 

Dutch NV company. 

He acknowledged that ejection 

from the index — in which Unilever’s 

£123bn market value makes 

it the fourth-largest company — 

would have “negative implications 

for some investors that are benchmarked 

to it”. But he added that 

“simplification is the right thing for 

the company and our shareholders 

as a whole”. 

Rust spots emerge in US 

manufacturing surge 

Midwest factories fear chilling effect 

of tariffs as revival gathers pace 

PATTI WALDMEIR AND ED CROOKS 

When Tesla rival SF Motors 

chose a place to manufacture 

its upmarket electric 

cars for the US market, it bypassed 

the US west coast and the manufacturing-friendly 

southern Sun Belt to 

head straight for the crossroads of 

the American Rust Belt. 

The area around South Bend, 

Indiana, which includes the town 

of Mishawaka where the Chinesebacked 

company will start making 

electric cars for sale next year, has 

had decades of practice manufacturing 

automobiles, and a skilled 

labour force that can be quickly 

trained to make the greener vehicles 

of the future. 

Workers in South Bend were 

making electric horseless carriages 

for the legendary US carmaker 

Studebaker back in 1902. That 

legacy of manufacturing skills, and 

the presence of physical infrastructure 

such as the old Humvee factory, 

gave the small Indiana town the 

edge with SF Motors, a privately 

held company whose largest investor 

is Chongqing-based Sokon, a 

Chinese sport utility and commercial 

vehicle maker. 

SF Motors has promised to invest 

at least $160m to equip an advanced 

factory on the site — hiring back 

most of the 330 workers who lost 

their jobs when the same plant 

closed last year — to create 467 

jobs by 2020. 

That is less than half the roughly 

1,000 employees who worked at 

the site in its heyday at the start 

of the 21st century when it made 

Humvees. But it is nearly 50 per 

cent more than worked there in 

recent years, when it made Mercedes 

SUVs. 

The plant’s revival is part of a 

trend that has put several Midwestern 

US states in the top tier for 

factory job gains in the US since the 

2016 election of President Donald 

Trump, an avowed champion of 

American manufacturing. 

The strength of manufacturing 

job gains in states that include key 

battlegrounds for congressional 

elections in November is good 

news for Mr Trump’s Republican 

party. The biggest threat to that 

revival in the Midwest, however, is 

Mr Trump’s trade policy. 

Manufacturing jobs in Mishawaka 

plummeted after the financial 

crisis but since then factory job 

growth here has handily outpaced 

the US average. 

“They know how to build quality 

vehicles, we want those people 

working for us”, said Jason Wallace, 

marketing and branding director 

of SF Motors. “A lot of the skills that 

you need to make a quality vehicle 

and the partners that you need are 

still in the Midwest.” 

“Indiana: a state that works,” 

said SF’s founder and chief executive 

John Zhang, echoing the state’s 

motto, at a ceremony to celebrate 

the investment. “For us to build a 

plant from zero up is not that easy, 

it takes time. All the workers here 

are highly trained, and we have 

good support from the UAW [the 

United Auto Workers union], so we 

can build this plant to full capacity 

in a much shorter time”, he told 

the Financial Times in an on-site 

interview.



@ FINANCIAL TIMES LIMITED 

The Cambridge Analytica scandal 

echoes the financial crisis 

In both cases innovative geeks leapfrogged 

regulators and their creations were abused 

FINANCIAL TIMES 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

A5 

GILLIAN TETT 

Say the words “Cambridge Analytica” 

to a western politician 

— or anyone clutching a 

smartphone — and they will probably 

wince. After all, this year some 

startling revelations have tumbled 

out about how that British consulting 

company harvested social 

media and consumer data to build 

manipulative political and business 

campaigns. 

This week Britain’s Information 

Commissioner’s Office imposed a 

record £500,000 fine on Facebook for 

letting Cambridge Analytica use an 

app to access up to 87m user profiles 

without permission. The ICO intends 

to bring criminal proceedings against 

Cambridge Analytica’s parent over 

its failure to deal properly with the 

regulator’s enforcement notice. 

It makes for lurid headlines: Cambridge 

Analytica did work for Donald 

Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. 

Western intelligence groups say that 

Russia used social media to meddle 

in that election and the UK’s Brexit 

referendum. 

If you want to take a wider view of 

the underlying policy issues, ponder 

the parallels between this year’s data 

harvesting tale and the growth in the 

2000s of financial innovations such as 

credit derivatives. The parallel might 

initially sound odd. Credit derivatives 

allow financiers to make bets about 

whether people, companies or countries 

will default on their debt. Data 

scientists at Cambridge Analytica 

amass consumer data to study (and 

manipulate) humans. Those tasks do 

not seem similar. 

But the parallel — and policy lesson 

— lies in how politicians handle 

innovation; or mishandle it. The idea 

of credit derivatives first cropped up 

in the late 20th century when some 

young(ish) financiers at places such 

as JPMorgan embarked on frenetic 

innovation. Most non-bankers had no 

idea what the whizz-kids were doing, 

or how their inventions might eventually 

change corporate and mortgage 

debt. For their part, the finance geeks 

were not hiding their innovations or 

being deliberately malicious; they told 

themselves (and others) that their inventions 

would improve the financial 

system, while also making them rich. 

But credit derivatives and other 

PETER WELLS 

Wall Street was bouncing back 

in early trade on Thursday 

morning after an escalation 

in the trade war between the US and 

China jolted the market lower in the 

previous session. 

Investors also processed data this 

morning showing headline inflation 

in the US rose at its quickest pace in 6½ 

years, after a solid reading on wholesale 

inflation on Wednesday, which should 

keep pressure on the Federal Reserve 

to lift interest rates another two times 

in the remainder of 2018. 

Brent crude stabilised on Thursday 

after news that Libya’s state oil 

company would reopen four export 

terminals and ease a supply shortage 

sent prices almost 7 per cent lower yesterday 

and hammered shares of energy 

financial innovations were widely 

ignored because they seemed so 

“nerdy” and mind-numbingly dull. 

Politicians and voters had no incentive 

to ask hard questions because 

they were enjoying the cheap 

mortgages and credit cards that the 

derivatives helped make possible. 

Regulators were largely toothless 

because the whizz kids were creating 

financial instruments that straddled 

national borders, regulatory silos and 

outdated laws. The power rested with 

the geeks until their innovations were 

abused in a way that contributed to a 

financial crisis. 

Fast forward to now. Did this saga 

involve a team of young(ish) geeks 

who felt intoxicated by the intellectual 

thrill of fast-paced innovation? 

Yes, although their new intellectual 

frontier was in data science, not finance. 

Did those geeks want to get 

rich? Definitely. As for regulation, the 

innovation in computer science, like 

that in finance, has jumped rapidly 

across national borders and around 

existing laws. 

Politicians and voters also failed to 

demand proper oversight. The world 

of big data seems as geeky and dull to 

outsiders now as derivatives did back 

then. Consumers like “free” internet 

services as much as they enjoyed 

cheap mortgages. No one wanted to 

think about the hidden costs. 

Maybe this will now change. The 

Facebook and Cambridge Analytica 

scandal has finally forced politicians 

to debate the risks of big data — just as 

the 2008 financial crisis sparked public 

scrutiny of finance. Regulators are 

belatedly crafting policy responses. 

Consumers are becoming (a little) 

more savvy about the cost of “free”. 

It is possible to hope that this political 

hand-wringing will eventually 

create a healthier world of data science, 

just as the 2008 financial crisis 

brought the banking system a (little 

more) under control. Innovation is a 

double-edged sword. Big data can be 

misused by unscrupulous politicians 

and businesses, just as derivatives can 

be dangerous in the hands of greedy 

or reckless financiers (mixing them 

with subprime mortgages was a very 

bad idea). But these abuses do not 

make the core idea of data science 

— or derivatives — “bad”; on the contrary, 

these advances can sometimes 

be very useful tools. 

US stocks in recovery mode during early Thursday trade 

companies. Brent was up 0.6 per cent 

this morning at $73.85 a barrel, while 

West Texas Intermediate was down 0.2 

per cent at $70.27. 

The S&P 500 was up 0.4 per cent, as 

was the Nasdaq Composite. The Dow 

Jones Industrial Average, which saw the 

biggest decline among the trio of main 

gauges yesterday, was up 0.5 per cent. 

Today’s inflation data prompted 

a mild-sell-off in US Treasuries. The 

yield on the two-year Treasury, which 

is more sensitive to Federal Reserve 

policy expectations, was up 1.2 basis 

points to 2.59 per cent, while that on 

the benchmark 10-year was up 0.7 bps 

to 2.8529 per cent. 

Yields, which rise as bond prices 

fall, had not recouped Wednesday’s 

decline when investors sought refuge 

from the equity market sell-off in the 

relative safety of government debt. 

Cambridge Analytica’s office in London. The innovation in computer science, like that in finance, has jumped rapidly across borders and 

around laws © Reuters 

China developers may cut prices in tight funding 

Slowing sales and restrictive policy could mean firms will fight to avoid default 

Chinese developers may 

be forced to cut prices 

to avoid defaults as the 

government continues to restrict 

their financing channels. A wave 

of bond maturities in the onshore 

and offshore markets in the coming 

three years will test investor 

nerves as developers scramble to 

raise funds. 

An inventory fire sale would 

be an extreme but unavoidable 

option if more vulnerable borrowers 

find themselves unable to 

service their debt. Although the 

authorities may relax their policy 

stance in some areas to support 

a flagging economy, we do not 

think they will significantly relieve 

funding conditions in the real 

estate market, barring a major hit 

to growth. 

Investors are getting nervous. 

Developer share prices have 

plunged and the second quarter 

saw another sharp rise in the 

volume of their bonds with put 

options that are being exercised. 

Investors are choosing to sell back 

these bonds to issuers as business 

conditions deteriorate, and more 

are likely to do so. Bonds embedded 

with such options still account 

for about 45 per cent of the 

Rmb2.3tn ($344bn) in outstanding 

developer issuance onshore. 

Funding uncertainties are also 

reflected in shortening maturities. 

The average maturity of bonds 

sold offshore fell to 3.4 years in the 

first half of this year from 4.4 years 

last year and 4.7 years in 2016. 

Onshore, average maturities have 

shortened to just over four years 

from 4.7 years last year. 

Maturity pressures on offshore 

bonds are also set to peak from 

JAVIER ESPINOZA 

Germany’s Linde and Praxair 

of the US are in advanced 

discussions to sell a large 

chunk of assets in the Americas 

to CVC and Messer, Linde said on 

Thursday. 

If agreed, the deal that would 

mark a crucial step in a disposal 

plan designed to secure approval 

from regulators for the $80bn transatlantic 

tie-up. 

Under the terms of the deal, 

next year through 2021. Offshore 

bonds present the greater credit 

risk because of the possibility 

of further renminbi weakness 

against the dollar. Investors in 

offshore bonds also lack the 

protection available in the mainland 

markets, where regulators 

still closely control the pace of 

defaults. 

Since 2014, there have been 

145 bond defaults totalling 

Rmb100.5bn in issuance in the onshore 

market, starting with private 

solar cell firm Chaori Solar. But 

none of these onshore defaulters 

were property developers; the only 

failures in real estate have been 

in dollar-denominated bonds 

sold in Hong Kong, involving first 

Kaisa Group and then Glorious 

Property (on July 9, Moody’s Investors 

Service downgraded Wuzhou 

International Holdings, another 

mainland developer, saying it is 

expected to default on $300m in 

offshore bonds). 

The sudden weakening of the 

renminbi against the dollar in 

June highlighted the currency 

risk faced by developers, who sold 

about $32bn in bonds offshore 

in the first half of this year alone. 

The government, whose careful 

control of developer access to onshore 

and offshore financing markets 

depends on its policy bias 

towards China’s all-important 

housing market, has now moved 

to contain this risk. 

The National Development 

and Reform Commission, which 

approves offshore bond sales, 

recently warned of the risks associated 

with such issuance, 

saying funds raised should be 

used to service debt rather than 

private equity house CVC and 

industrial group Messer would 

buy the majority of Linde’s gas assets 

in North America and some 

Linde and Praxair assets in South 

America, Munich-based Linde said 

in a statement. 

Linde said an agreement was 

still subject to the approval of the 

companies’ boards. But a source 

with direct knowledge of the deal 

said an agreement could be reached 

as early as the end of this week. 

The announcement follows an 

to finance new projects or replenish 

working capital. The agency 

denied reports that it is considering 

banning developers from 

selling offshore debt of less than 

one year. 

The offshore bond market accounts 

for a small proportion of 

developer financing, but it has 

been growing. Although the bulk 

of developer funding still comes 

from bank loans, the offshore 

market has helped offset the 

crackdown on shadow finance 

structures such as trust lending. 

Banks face more capital and 

deposit constraints as shadow 

loans are moved on to balance 

sheets. The authorities have relieved 

some of these strains by 

lowering the reserve requirement 

ratio, but made it clear that the 

extra funds are intended to meet 

policy goals such as increasing 

lending to small and micro-sized 

firms. 

Funding conditions are tightening 

even as housing sales 

remain under pressure from 

central government policy. Sales 

have been surprisingly robust but 

are cooling under the weight of 

reduced credit availability. 

Tighter financing conditions 

combined with slowing sales 

increase default risks among 

smaller developers and will 

hasten industry consolidation. 

Developers may decide to sell 

stakes in projects if they need 

to raise funding in a hurry, but 

prices could also be slashed. 

During a liquidity squeeze in 

2011, Zhejiang-based developer 

China Calxon cut prices on some 

projects by as much as 50 per cent 

to raise funds. 

Linde and Praxair near deal with CVC, Messer over Americas gas sale 

agreement by Praxair to sell nearly 

$6bn worth of European assets to 

Japanese rival Taiyo Nippon Sanso, 

also a precondition for their merger. 

A combination of Linde and 

Praxair would create the world’s 

largest supplier of industrial gases. 

Carlyle had been previously 

seen as the frontrunner to acquire 

the North and South American 

assets. Last month the Washingtonbased 

buyout group was sued over 

the alleged theft of trade secrets to 

gain an illegal edge in the sale.


A6 BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 

Harvard Business School Mid-Year Party 

Harvard Business 

School 

Association of 

Nigeria (HB- 

SAN), recently 

held its Mid-Year Party on 

Saturday, June 30, 2018, at 

788 on the Sea Restaurant, 

Twin Waters, Lagos. It was a 

spectacular evening of food, 

drinks, networking, art and 

music which commenced 

at about 6:00pm and lasted 

well into the night. 

The party featured an Art 

Exhibition curated by Red 

Door Gallery, with art works 

from highly demanded contemporary 

Nigerian artists, 

and a live performance by 

Funbi, a Nigerian based R&B 

sensation and nominee at the 

2018 Headies Music Award. 

The HBSAN Mid-Year Party 

fostered interactions among 

the attendees who were 

alumni of HBS, Chief Executives 

of large private sector organizations 

and members of 

Ivy league business schools. 

It provided a medium for the 

formation of new friendships 

and business relationships. 

The party was sponsored 

by the following organizations; 

Platinum Sponsors - 

Pictured below are some faces at the event: 

First City Monument Bank 

(FCMB), Stanbic IBTC, 

Silver Sponsor - Construction 

Kaiser Limited, Strategic 

Partner – Lagos Global, 

while Business Day was the 

media partner. 

HBSAN is the HBS 

alumni group of Nigerians 

and resident non-Nigerians 

driven by a primary objective 

to provide members 

with resources, relationships 

and opportunities to 

enable them build and lead 

organizations that will create 

transformational impact 

in Nigeria and beyond. 

L-R: Tunde Akiode, Founding Member VerifiNG, Kola Masha, MD Baban Gona and Doreo 

Partners, Collins Onuegbu, EVC Signal Alliance, and Ladi Balogun, CEO FCMB Group. 

L-R: Segun Banwo, MD Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, and Ladell Robbins, Vice 

President HBSAN and Capital Alliance Nigeria. 

L-R: Kola Masha, MD Baban Gona and Doreo Partners, Lola Masha, Director Trust and 

Safety, OLX Group, Funlola Abe, Vice President, West African origination, BP, and Obafolajimi 

Otudeko, Lead, Financial Services, Honeywell Group Limited. 

L-R: Chinomso Onuoha, Digital Services, BusinessDay, Collins Onuegbu, EVC Signal 

Alliance, Mohammed Oyibo, Chairman Ajamy Holding, Austin Avuru, CEO Seplat, Labi Williams, 

Head, Leveraged Finance and Debt Capital Market Nigeria, Rand Merchant Bank, 

and Ademola Adebise, Acting MD Wema Bank.

Politics 

& 

Policy 


Ekiti election: Southwest PDP 

raises alarm over attack on Fayose 

…Accuses APC of desperation, colluding with security forces 

INIOBONG IWOK 

The Southwest 

Vice Chairman 

of the 

People’s Democratic 

Party 

(PDP), Eddy Olafeso, has 

raised the alarm over 

Wednesday’s alleged attack 

on the governor of 

Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, 

describing it as a rape 

on democracy and part 

of a plan by the ruling All 

Progressives Congress 

(APC) to intimidate the 

people of Ekiti so it could 

manipulate the governorship 

election. 

Olafeso, who was speaking 

in a media briefing 

with journalists in Lagos 

yesterday, accused the 

APC of colluding with security 

forces in the country 

to perpetrate its plans 

to destabilise the state, 

while giving Nigerians a 

false impression that Ekiti 

State was in crisis. 

He urged Ekiti indigenes 

not to be intimidated by the 

plan of the APC, adding 

that the PDP was ready to 

protect the will of the people 

in the state. 

The PDP chieftain said 

the APC resorted to intimidating 

and harassment of 

the Ekiti indigenes people 

because it was obvious 

the party was not popular 

among the people, 

stressing that the PDP was 

aware of APC plans. 

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose on the ground after he was attacked. 

“We all saw what happened 

in Ekiti State on 

Wednesday; it is a serious 

issue, the national chairman 

has alerted the state 

chapters of the party that 

we must be vigilant; the 

APC is colluding with security 

forces. 

“Ekiti Sate governor was 

seriously manhandled by 

the police and the excuse 

we are getting is that they 

did that to prevent crisis 

in the state. It is on record 

that the Fayose government 

has maintained 

peace in the state; they 

are heating up the polity 

and making it look as if 

we have amageddon in 

Ekiti State. 

“It is the APC and 

their fascism government 

and they are doing this 

to curtail the freedom 

of our people; to force 

themselves on our people 

even when they have 

not done well. Ekiti peole 

should not be scared we 

know they want to use the 

federal might to hijack 

power. We are ready to 

confront them whatever 

machinery they would put 

in place,”Olafeso said. 

Speaking further, Olafeso 

lamented the worsening 

security in the country 

which has led to killing of 

thousands of Nigerians, 

stressing that the country 

was presently experiencing 

its darkest period in 

history. 

“This is the darkest 

moment in Nigeria in the 

last three years. We have 

seen the desperation of 

the APC; our people are 

killed daily, yesterday 

there were report that 

40 people were killed in 

Taraba State while several 

villages were sacked,” 

Olafeso added. 

C002D5556 

ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo 

The Akwa Ibom 

State Governor, 

Udom Emmanuel 

has condemned 

the reported police brutality 

on his Ekiti State counterpart, 

Governor Ayo Fayose, 

saying such actions 

portend grave danger to 

the sustenance of democracy 

in the country. 

Governor Emmanuel, 

the national coordinator 

of his party’s election 

team in Ekiti, said all the 

governors elected on the 

platform of the People’s 

Democratic Party (PDP) 

in the country view the 

action of the police as an 

abuse of the constitution 

of Nigeria. 

The Governor who expressed 

dissatisfaction 

with the occurrence during 

an interaction with 

reporters in Uyo enjoined 

Nigerians to rise in condemnation 

of the unprecedented 

police action. 

Emmanuel said the issue 

was not about Ekiti 

State but the entire Nigeria 

and the sustenance of the 

hard earned democratic 

governance in the country. 

The governor who asked 

some rhetorical questions 

pertaining to the ill treatment 

meted on Governor 

Fayose further stated that, 

“it is not about Fayose or 

Ekiti State, it is about everyone 

of us, if it can happen 

to Fayose, it means it 

can happen to anybody. 

We should not just look at 

Fayose today, we should 

not just look at Ekiti State, 

let us look at Nigeria. So 

BUSINESS DAY 

A7 

Condemnation trails police attack on 

Fayose as Udom sees threat to democracy 

what is happening?” 

According to the Akwa 

Ibom governor, “Elections 

will come and go, 

faces will come and go but 

Nigeria will remain. Let 

us not do something that 

will really bring down this 

country.” 

He charged electorate 

in Ekiti State not to be 

intimidated in the face of 

the challenge even as he 

advised security agencies 

to be civil in their dealings 

noting that the country 

belongs to every citizen. 

The Governor again appealed 

to the law enforcement 

agencies to abide by 

the law and further stated 

that, “this cannot happen 

in any civilised society 

where a sitting Governor 

with full immunity can 

be so abused publicly. It 

is a shame for the whole 

country, it is a shame to 

all of us.” 

Governor Emmanuel 

said the PDP, being a law 

abiding and peaceful party, 

did not want to join 

issues but only interested 

in winning the election in 

a free and fair contest. 

He said the party was 

ready for this Saturday’s 

election and called on security 

agencies to allow the 

people the liberty to vote for 

candidates of their choice. 

The governor stated 

that the essence of getting 

power is to help everybody 

especially the poor and 

advised the Independent 

National Electoral Commission 

(INEC) not to be 

loyal to any single individual 

but to the constitution 

of Nigeria. 

Edo PDP protests security personnel’s attack on Fayose 

...Demands peaceful, fair, free transparent election 

IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, Benin 

Members of the 

Edo State chapter 

of the People’s 

Democratic 

Party (PDP on Thursday 

staged a peaceful protest in 

reaction to the alleged attack 

on the governor of Ekiti State, 

Ayodele Fayose by security 

personnel. 

The party faithful, who 

were at the premises of the 

Edo State secretariat of the 

Nigeria Union of Journalists 

(NUJ), also marched to the 

headquarters of the state command 

of the Nigeria police to 

register their displeasure over 

the incident. 

The publicity secretary of 

the party, Chris Nehikhare, 

who led the protesters described 

the attack on the sitting 

governor by the security 

agents as undemocratic and 

lack of respect for constituted 

authority. 

“PDP in Edo State condemn 

in strong terms attempt by security 

agents loyal to the ruling 

APC-led Federal Government 

to rig and write results for Saturday’s 

Ekiti State governorship 

election. Nigerians want 

a free and fair election and not 

war,” he said. 

Nehikhare, who said PDP 

was in solidarity with the good 

people of Ekiti State, particularly 

the People’s Democratic 

Party members also sympathise 

with Nigerians for having 

such a “despotic government” 

in power that has now turned 

state power to power of tyranny 

and that of terrorism. 

The party, who vowed to 

resist any attempt to rig and 

write results in favour of a 

particular political party and 

its candidate, said the party as 

a family believes in the rule of 

law and wants a free, fair election 

and not war. 

While decrying the deployment 

of heavily armed 

security personnel including 

over 30,000 policemen to Ekiti 

State, he said that the motive 

behind the heavy security 

presence is to create unnecessary 

tension as well as to 

intimidate voters. 

He also lamented that in 

spite of the numbers of security 

personnel in the country, 

people are being killed on 

daily basis in states like Sokoto, 

Plateau, Taraba, among 

others. 

Atiku harps on true democracy, good governance 

Former Vice President 

and frontline 

PDP presidential 

aspirant, Atiku 

Abubakar has said that his 

commitment to the promotion 

of democracy and good 

governance, is borne out of 

his belief that Nigeria must 

evolve through the ethos of 

participatory politics to be 

a competitive nation of the 

future. 

The former Vice President 

made this remarks in 

Lagos during the launch of 

a book titled ‘Fighting Lions’, 

authored by renowned journalist 

and politician, Dele 

Momodu. 

The launch of the book is 

in posthumous honour of 

the late winner of the June 

12 presidential election, 

MKO Abiola. 

Atiku, who was represented 

at the event by the 

former governorship candidate 

of the PDP in Lagos 

State, Jimi Agbaje similarly 

called on Nigerians from all 

walks of life to stand strong 

and be counted in the struggle 

to sustain democratic 

due diligence, rule of law 

and fundamental human 

rights because “those are 

the values that will strengthen 

the country in the future.” 

He paid tribute to Dele 

Momodu, for his courage 

and bravery in capturing 

and preserving contemporary 

history of our national 

socio-political activities for 

the benefit of generations 

unborn. 

Remarking on the decision 

of the author to commit 

his experiences with late 

MKO Abiola into a literature, 

Atiku notes that the title of 

the book, ‘Fighting Lions’ 

actually rings a bell and resonates 

with his entire political 

life, which has been fraught 

with ups and downs. 

“To be candid, some of 

us who have experienced 

the good and bad sides of 

politics must endeavour to 

put pen to paper and document 

our thoughts in order 

to add to the body of human 

knowledge. However, Nigerians 

should not despair 

in the face of oppression 

and intimidation. Rather, 

all must work together to 

defend the sacred tenets 

of democracy, equity and 

social justice,” he said.

A8 

BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 


BUSINESS DAY 

Highlight of the news reports on our digital platforms this week 

Best five stories this week 

‘I’ll declare intention to defect 

from APC soon’ 

As mixed reaction trailed the formation 

of the Reformed All Progressives Congress 

(RAPC) from the All Progressives 

Congress, an aggrieved APC senator, 

Suleiman Hunkuyi, has disclosed that he 

would announce his decision to leave the 

governing party very soon. 

Board of Directors, Pan African Towers 

Limited has announced the appointment 

of Wole Abu as the Chief Executive 

Officer of the company. The appointment, 

according to a statement takes effect July 

1, 2018. 

More trouble for Buhari, APC, as 

nPDP, others form rAPC 

More trouble awaits President 

Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling All 

Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 

2019 general election. 

Qatar gives fans in Russia a 

taste of things to expect in 2022 

FIFA World Cup 

The Supreme Committee for Delivery & 

Legacy (SC), the organisation responsible 

Nigeria oil refinery, fertilizer 

IPO 

The largest indigenous industrial 

conglomerate in Sub-Saharan Africa 

Dangote group has announced plans to 

have an Initial Public Offering (IPO) listing 

of both its fertilizer and refinery plant. The 

IPO is the first of its kind in Nigeria and 

if successful could set the stage for other 

companies to test the market. 

Pan African Towers appoints 

Nigerian CEO 

For more visit our website at 

businessdayonline.com to catch up on full 

news stories. 

POLL RESULTS: 

Poll question:Have you gotten your 

PVC? 

44% say yes, they have gotten their PVC 

while 56% says they have not yet gotten 

their PVC.. 

Write us with your opinion at digital@ 

businessdayonline.com to let us know 

what your preference is. 

Poll of the week 

for delivering the infrastructure required 

for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar, will 

be giving fans at the 2018 FIFA World Cup 

Russia a taste of things to come when 

the tournament heads to Qatar in a little 

over four years’ time – with a series of free 

creative and interactive installations and 

events in Moscow and Saint Petersburg 

from 7th -15th July. 

Dangote to make history with 

Video of the week Tweet of the week Cartoon of the week

BUSINESS DAY 

Opinion 

Youth and national development 

According to our 

National Youth 

Policy document 

2001, youth are 

defined as anyone 

within the age range of 

15 to 35. This departs from 

the universally accepted UN 

definition which specifies 

ages 15 to 24 as the ages of 

youth. I very much prefer 

the UN definition. Among 

the Igbo people, for example, 

when a boy hits 21, he 

is considered a man able to 

take his place among his agegrade 

and can sit in council 

with the umunna. In Jewish 

culture, a boy celebrates his 

Bar-Mitzvah at 13. At that 

age, he is considered to have 

attained the age of moral and 

spiritual responsibility. 

Several years ago, when I 

was a struggling young lecturer 

in the London University 

system, one of my most 

interesting students was a 

Jewish lad of 18; an orthodox 

Jew from Antwerp, Belgium. 

I shall call him Ya’acov. One 

day over launch he narrated 

to me his life-story. His father 

and uncles worked in the 

diamond business. After his 

Bar-Mitzvah at 13, he was 

taught the ropes of the business 

alongside Talmudic and 

formal schooling. 

Ya’acov revealed that he 

made his first million dollars 

when he was only sixteen. At 

NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I FRIDAY 13 JULY 2018 

C002D5556 

18 he got married and moved 

with his wife to London to 

pursue university studies. He 

often represented his father 

on the board of the global 

diamond conglomerate De 

Beers. He once took me on 

a drive around The City, to 

a large impressive building 

without a signboard. “Zees is 

De Beers”, he bellowed. 

At the end of his second 

semester Ya’acov came to 

see me in my office one afternoon, 

looking rather sombre. 

He informed me that he 

had taken the momentous 

decision to withdraw from 

university. I was alarmed. 

He was a bright and studious 

young man, with all 

the future before him. He 

explained to me that he had 

just landed a trading seat at 

Glencore, the Anglo-Swiss 

international commodity 

firm. He revealed that he 

would be able to earn in a 

week what the average graduate 

would earn in a year. I 

could not argue with him. 

What I shall never forget 

about Ya’acov was that at 18, 

he was well beyond his years 

in maturity. He had focus 

and energy and an extraordinary 

can-do spirit. He knew 

what he wanted in life. Typical 

of his people, you could 

never catch him idling away 

his time in socialising. It was 

from our friendship that I 

always understood why Jews 

always seem to be in a hurry! 

When you consider the 

story of my young Jewish 

friend, you would understand 

why it’s absurd for a 

man of 35 to be addressed as 

a youth. It is a sad development 

these days that many 

young men at that age are 

still very much dependent 

on handouts from their 

parents. This may partly be 

attributable to the difficult 

times in which the youth find 

themselves in terms of dwindling 

job opportunities. But 

it is also a mindset problem. 

It is definitely not a situation 

that parents in this country 

should encourage. 

We are told that the Greek 

philosopher Diogenes used 

to go about with a lamp in 

broad daylight in the streets 

of his native Athens looking 

for honest men. Diogenes 

also taught that the foundation 

of every state is the 

education of its youth. 

Nigeria’s population currently 

stands at an estimated 

198 million, of which young 

people are the overwhelming 

majority. Some 70 percent 

of our population comprises 

those within the ages 

of 1 to 24. Nigeria’s average 

life-expectancy is 53 years. 

By contrast, the average lifeexpectancy 

in the Japanese 

island of Okinawa is 100. 

For the vast majority of our 

people, the possibility frontiers 

of welfare have shrunk. 

Thanks to nihilistic violence, 

conflict and insecurity, life 

has become what the English 

political philosopher Thomas 

Hobbes characterised as 

the state of nature – “nasty, 

brutish and short”. 

The youth have borne the 

brunt of the structural violence 

that the majority suffer 

in terms of poverty, disease, 

social deprivation, disempowerment 

and marginalisation. 

School enrolment 

in Nigeria is still a low 57.6 

percent. According to the 

UN, Nigeria’s Youth Development 

Index, a measure of 

youth benefitting from social 

development interventions, 

is at a mere 0.41, placing us 

at 140 out of 170 countries. 

More recently, the Global 

Slavery Index reports that 

some 875,500 of our young 

people are victims of modern 

day slavery. Modern day 

slavery includes things such 

as trafficking in children and 

young people, forced labour, 

forced prostitution, trafficking 

in human organs and so 

on. I am sure many of you 

have seen the gory images 

of young people drowning in 

rickety boats in the Mediterranean 

Sea. Many of those 

shipwrecks are Nigerians. 

Our youth face enormous 

challenges. For one thing, 

our system offers them little 

hope and even fewer opportunities. 

The youth, by 

definition, are endowed with 

tremendous energy. That 

energy, psychologists tell us, 

must find an outlet one way 

or the other. If it cannot find 

outlet in creativity, it will find 

it in destructiveness. But find 

an outlet, it must. 

Our youths have been offered 

no reason to feel proud 

of their country. Most are 

scheming how to leave for 

so-called “greener pastures”. 

There are more Nigerian 

doctors currently practising 

abroad than in our country. 

Most of our youths have 

been brainwashed into believing 

that the streets of Europe 

and North America are 

paved with gold. Those of us 

who have lived abroad never 

tell them the other side of the 

story – of racism, fascism, 

neo-Nazism and discrimination 

in the West. We shield 

the fact of Global Apartheid 

from their consciousness to 

our common peril. 

Do not get me wrong. The 

Nigerian youth also have a lot 

going for them. Far from being 

“lazy”, they are among the 

most enterprising young people 

you can find anywhere. 

Some of our creative industries 

– from ICT to music, 

Nollywood and Kannywood 

THE NEW WEALTH 

OF NATIONS 

OBADIAH MAILAFIA 

Dr. Mailafia is a former 

Deputy Governor of the 

Central Bank of Nigeria, 

a development economist 

and public finance expert 

with a DPhil from Oxford 

obmailafia@gmail.com; 

08036590990 (text messages 

only) 

-- are driven by youths. I was 

astonished to find that youths 

in the Caribbean, South Africa, 

Kenya, Uganda, and 

even as far as the islands of the 

southern seas are wild about 

film stars such as Omotola Jelade 

and Genevieve Nnaji and 

about musical artistes such 

as Tiwa Savage and Tu-Face. 

They are a form of soft power 

for Nigeria. They have boosted 

our image as a creative and 


On Friday June 25, the 

fifth edition of the 

premier Healthcare 

awards in Nigeria 

took place at the Eko Hotel 

and Suites, Victoria Island, 

Lagos. 

It was a ritzy occasion. 

The hall was gaily decorated. 

Elegant men and women sat 

around the white-draped tables 

or milled about networking. 

Some of the individuals 

and brand names were easily 

recognizable for anyone with 

any knowledge of medical 

practice in Nigeria. Jimi Coker 

– Medical Director of Lagoon 

Hospitals, was in black buba 

and sokoto, with a fila rakishly 

draped to one side. His black 

shoes shone in the reflected 

light. Sir Philip Atuehi, with his 

mane of grey hair, sat quietly 

beside his wife. A veritable 

institution in Nigerian health, 

who has continuously published 

Pharma News – from 

as far back as anyone could 

remember. Ngozi Onyia of Paelon 

Memorial Clinic, whose 

hospital had lately become 

the first in the country to scale 

the highest level of safecare 

quality standards. Pamela 

HumanAngle 

FEMI OLUGBILE 

Physician, psycho-profiler and essayist 

The national healthcare excellence 

awards 2018: Matters arising 

Ajayi – who built Pathcare laboratories 

to a gold-standard 

brand in diagnostics over the 

years. Pathcare was rebranding 

now – to ‘SYNLAB’, a name 

that was yet to catch on in 

the Nigerian space. It had a 

swagger to it (‘We do every 

test’ – they would say, matterof-factly). 

That she had taken 

Pathcare into an international 

partnership was evidence 

they were no longer content 

to be ‘local champions’ but 

wanted to play at the highest 

level in the world. A lofty 

ambition in a place where, 

often, everything that could 

go wrong was guaranteed at 

some time or other to go very 

wrong indeed. 

The dual anchors invited 

The boldness to assume 

that, despite 

the many discouragements 

of the past, 

the people of Nigeria 

would, through the 

energy and innovation 

of their own citizens, 

get access to world 

class healthcare in 

short order was the 

brash notion that impelled 

activities such 

as these awards 

a popular comedian onstage 

to warm up the audience 

with risqué jokes. He was very 

good – the comedian. He had 

everyone in stitches. He ended 

on a howler, saying with a 

deadpan expression how the 

President should have been 

invited to the occasion to see 

the best specialists in the land 

– how it was cheaper than going 

to spend weeks in London. 

There were serious issues 

at stake, despite the hilarious 

jokes and the good music, 

and the general bon vivant 

air. Nigerian health was in 

dire crisis and had been so 

for several years. Nigeria still 

lost still too many women in 

childbirth - the equivalent 

of a major plane crash every 

twenty fours. The rate of stunting 

in childgrowth was still 

increasing, and a distressingly 

large number of Nigerian 

children were still not living 

beyond their fifth birthday. As 

evidence of the lack of trust of 

the population in their healthcare 

facilities, citizens were 

spending one billion dollars 

every year to seek medical 

treatment abroad. 

On the surface there was 

not a lot to celebrate about 

Nigerian Healthcare. 

Looking deeper, it was 

clear that, while government 

might appear to be slow to 

action, the private sector was 

stepping up to the plate more 

and more to try to lay the 

groundwork for the health 

service the people desired 

and deserved. Among the 

people being honoured at 

the award ceremony were 

the icons of the industry, as 

well as younger, newer faces 

who had come on the scene 

and were making waves with 

innovative inputs. 

As the evening wore on, 

some predictable victories 

were announced. Lagoon 

Hospitals won the Private 

Health Facility of the Year. 

HealthPlus won the retail 

Pharmacy of the year. Sir Atuehi’s 

PharmaNews won the 

Health Publisher of the Year. 

Dr. Onyia’s Paelon Memorial 

Clinic won the prize for Patient 

Safety. Smile 360 – a very 

visible presence in the social 

media – again won the Dental 

Facility of the year. 

There were some pleasant 

surprises. Harmony Advanced 

Diagnostic Centre, 

located in Ilorin, Kwara State, 

won the Radiology Service 

Provider of the Year. Aminu 

Kanu University Teaching 

Hospital won the Tertiary 

Hospital of the year. 

Some of the young brands 

with innovative solutionsiDokita, 

DoctorNow, Doctoora, 

Ampersand Logistics 

and their fellows, received recognition 

and fulsome praise. 

You reflected that an 

event such as this reiterated 

the fact Nigerians were 

hungry to keep pace with the 

world and were no longer 

content with using the Nigerian 

condition as excuse 

for an inferior healthcare. 

While Health was a social 

service, it was also a business. 

Government might be 

an enabler, but it could not 

really be expected to provide 


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Friday WOMEN’S HUB 

13 July 2018 

BUSINESS DAY 

Reviewing 

World 

Population 

Day 


Laide isn’t falling for the 

threats, she knows better 

UN Women admonish 

women on peacekeeping, 

security processes 

MARY AKPOBOME 

on marriage, work, life’s lessons 

and resplendently turning 50

EDITOR’S NOTE 

On our cover this week 

is the amiable and gracious 

Mary Akpobome, 

who shares with us on various 

aspects of her life, especially 

on turning 50. 

Ufoma McDermott is saying 

that helping the youths to 

build their self-confidence 

will go a long way in helping to 

curb drug abuse. 

We also bring you a story 

on UN Women admonishing 

women on peacekeeping and 

security processes. 

July 11th was World Population 

Day and the theme for 

this year was: Family Planning 

is a Human Right. It makes an 

interesting read. 

In Workplace Palaver section, 

Laide isn’t falling for 

the threats, she knows better. 

Find out what that is all 

about. 

These and more we have for 

you this week. 

Enjoy 

KEMI AJUMOBI 

kemi@businessdayonline.com 

Graphics by David Ogar 

BUSINESS DAY 

Fondly called Mummy Mary by 

many, often described as the 

Mother Theresa of our time. 

Beautiful, determined, intelligent, 

assiduous and benevolent are 

few words that best describes 

her. With 30 years experience 

in the banking sector, she is 

currently the Co-Founder of The 

Purple Girl Foundation. MARY 

AKPOBOME recently turned 

50 and she shares with KEMI 

AJUMOBI on work, family, goals 

and more. 

In 

I 

the beginning 

grew in Calabar, arguably 

then the most peaceful city 

in Nigeria. I’m from a family 

of 8, and with me being the 

last born for some time, then 

after many years came another 

child so I was pretty ‘spoilt’. As a 

little child, I wanted everything, 

but I also grew up very quickly. 

I spent a lot of time on the sport 

field, I loved to play basketball, I 

also played badminton and table 

tennis too so I related a lot with the 

adults. But when I lost my mum, 

then I grew up a little faster than 

I thought I would for my age and 

most certainly, I was having my 

way in a lot of situations but it was 

fun, there were a lot of children, 

family time was fun, I was going to 

the village for Christmas and there 

was a lot I looked forward to do 

during holidays. You could call us 

your ‘aje butter’ growing up. It was 

good. It was fun, it was a big family. 

What way has your earlier 

years helped influence you 

till date? 

What it has done is to enable me try 

to build a family structure that has 

a bond. Back then, as a family, from 

church, (today it isn’t yet a ritual, 

but it’s almost there) in a month 

at least, three times after church 

service, we would eat out. So we 

just go somewhere from church 

and enjoy. It’s really to try to build 

that family structure. It’s a little 

different now because back then, 

everybody lived at home. You only 

left home when you were going to 

the University. But now, it’s much 

different, the kids are leaving at the 

age of seven, at nine, to go into secondary 

school and generally just 

move on and out of the country. 

Mother, wife, entrepreneur, 

banker, Founder. How are you 

able to mix all of this together 

and do it excellently well? 

Well, don’t know if I do it excellently 

well, I just know that I get 

up and I get going because I know 

that I have to get up and get going. 

If you have a purpose to fulfil, you 

stay on that path but the road to 

that path is from several arms. In 

the midst of that, you prioritize, 

you compartmentalize these different 

aspects of one’s life or my 

life as it were, and you do your best 

to give each as much attention as 

is required for you to be able to 

achieve what you want to achieve 

in that compartment. I can’t say it’s 

been easy, because it’s not easy to 

get up every day at about 5, 5.30am 

because by 7:30am, I ought to be 

at my desk. You have that positive 

burden because there are people 

who look up to you, there are people 

who are inspired by you, and 

there are people for whom your 

actions or otherwise are also shaping 

theirs. Basic skills of technical 

skills of being a banker, an entrepreneur, 

to some extent you can 

learn some of those things and apply 

them. Where I found that one 

needs to be able to put everything 

else together, goals beyond the 

skills, is where you need excellent, 

emotional intelligence. It’s where 

MARY AKPOBOME 

on marriage, work, life’s lessons and resplendently turning 5 

you need God’s grace, and I believe that I’ve 

had that in abundance going through these 

different areas of my life and trying to balance 

it. Balancing is just being able to look 

into those compartments and at the end of 

the day you tell yourself “I’ve done the best I 

could have done today in this compartment”. 

It’s really about you being truthful to yourself 

and telling yourself that you’ve done the best 

you could. Grace comes when you realize 

that you are not the most intelligent, you are 

not the most beautiful, you are not the most 

tactical, you are not the most of anything. But 

putting it together as a whole, it’s really not by 

what you’ve done, it is that there is help from 

above that you are able to do everything. 

What does turning fifty mean to you? 

When I turned 40 I thought to myself, ‘they 

say life begins at 40’ and all of that, but turning 

50 means a lot. There are many significant 

decisions that I’m taking at this time, in these 

areas you’re talking about, decisions that 

are huge. At some point, I told myself that 

when I turn 50, I was going to take one year 

off everything and do nothing but go on a 

low budget trip and travel the world. Really 

if I think about it, I’ve just been working. So 

when I say I’m off on a holiday, I’m actually 

going shopping for the shoes and clothes we 

are going to wear for the next work when we 

come back. Back then, when I say holiday, 

I’m like ‘ok let’s go to London and London means 

Oxford Street and back’. So, going forward, when I 

say I am going on a holiday, I’m actually going on 

a holiday. I’m going to learn to go to places and 

that includes, Obudu Cattle Ranch, even some 

places in Nigeria that I’m totally clueless about to 

open up my mind a bit more. The children are all 

grown. The little one is 10years old and will soon 

enter secondary school. So I’m going to have time 

to do what I want to do, to be what I want to be, to 

explore. I’ve got a swimming coach; I’m getting 

someone to teach me how to bake. I’m doing things 

that I didn’t have time to do. I just feel very excited 

that I’m just looking forward to opportunities that 

look really exciting. So this 50 is a big deal. 

What’s the greatest lesson life has taught 

you? 

Life has taught me many lessons. You can summarize 

it with one of my favourite quotes by Mother 

Theresa. That irrespective, do what you know is 

good, do what you know is right. That means, 

smile any way, laugh any way jump anyway…do 

whatever. Life has taught me that I should stay 

real to myself, that I should be kind to people, that 

I should be there for people, because people have 

been there for me. My own quote is that everybody, 

everyone that has come into my life has come for 

a reason and for a season. The season may be a 

day, a month, a year, a life time. But the reason, the 

purpose, whether pleasant or not, is to make me 

a better person. So it’s about me. You throw good


WOMEN’S HUB 

at me, it’s fine, you are there for the purpose 

of throwing good at me. You throw bad at 

me, it’s fine, you are there for the purpose 

of throwing bad at me. But At the end of the 

day, it is what I make out of it that matters, 

and there is always a lesson to learn in every 

situation, good or bad. 

When things go wrong, the first question I 

ask is ‘what did I do wrong?’ That’s not an 

easy question to ask, especially when you 

know the answer to the question. Mind you, 

you are not asking that question so that you 

can have a good answer, but you are asking 

so that you can find a lesson to learn in that 

situation so that, hopefully, if such situation 

presents itself at some point, then you 

would have hoped you’ve learnt from the 

past experience. 

There is a superior being, and He’s there. He 

sees, He watches. Without HIM, I’m nothing, 

I can do nothing. So I’ve learnt. If Maya 

Angelou says “still I rise”, I say “Yes, I rise 

because HE’s with me”. I’ve learnt over the 

years to fall forward. Sometimes you really 

just fall. I’ve fallen with a thud, I’ve fallen 

with a bang but I rise because I fall forward 

and HE’s always there to lift me up, to show 

me where I tripped. That way hopefully, 

you can avoid that road. I’ve learnt to just 

be me. I’ve learnt not to carry titles around. 

So you just see Mary. I’ve learnt that we are 

first human beings before we are anything. 

And I’ve learnt that indeed in the end, we’ll 

all die. What’s the big deal about the things 

you are making? Life is simple. Life is much 

simpler than we make it sound. It’s just being 

nice and kind to your neighbour and your 

neighbour can be anybody. You don’t know 

when that neighbour will be the one saving 

your roof. So just be kind and nice to people, 

be respectful to people, smile at people, be 

there for people as much as you can. Will 

you be taken for granted from time to time? 

Yes! Be kind anyway. I’ve learnt not to judge 

people. I’ve also learnt that there is a good in 

everyone, and you will get what you are looking 

for in people. Of all life’s possession, the 

greatest you have is your relationship with 

God first and secondly, people. 

“ 

What would you like to say to your 

younger self? 

To thyself be true. Know that every action you 

take, you take responsibility for it. Know that 

there are people in the world that God has 

placed along your path for you to be of help 

to, don’t miss that opportunity to fulfil that, 

knowing also that there are people that are 

kept for you, to help you. In everything it’s 

important that you put God first. Know that 

things may not go your way because your way 

may not be the right way. Know that in the 

end, you will see why certain things didn’t go 

your way. In the end, you will see why the way 

things went was how it was supposed to go 

in your favour. In the face of laughter, joy or 

0 

pain, stay positive that at the end, good will 

come out of this. Be good to your brothers, 

With 30 years experience in the banking sector, what reinforce that girls who face multiple disadvantages such as low 

and I don’t mean your blood brothers and 

advice would you give to those who are there or who family income, living in remote or underserved locations, disability 

or belonging to a minority group are farthest behind in 

sisters alone, but everybody along the way. 

intend to go there? 

As much as God puts resources in hands, 

Banking is a knowledge based industry, and you can get terms of access to and completion of education. 

bear in mind that it’s not about you. Stay 

customers literally eating out of your palms if you understand The Purple Girl Foundation was borne out of a desire to provide 

opportunities for enhancing education for the girl-child 

simple, there is beauty in simplicity. Have 

their business. They walk into your office because they want 

respect for people, elderly, regulations, laws. 

their problems solved. They walk into your office because amid these disadvantages. Our main emphasis is on providing 

they want an increase in their business; they walk into your educational support to female children from indigent families 

office because they want to grow their businesses. When at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels. 

you understand their businesses, their sectors, then you For the first three years, the Foundation will focus on female 

understand how to add value to them which is where the children from indigent families in Lagos, Delta and Akwaknowledge 

comes in. Customer will stick to where they can Ibom states with an increased scope across Nigeria. 

get that extra commitment. An excellent spirit in everything 

that you do is being able to see through situations. 

What is it about your husband Alibaba that inspires 

Banking is a service industry. Survey has shown that among you? 

all the various ways customers use to decide who to bank We are simple people. We are pretty normal people. Yes he is 

with, the highest is service. So customers want the right popular in his own way. But I believe while together, he may 

service, at the right time. You make a promise of service to a bring what is actually a very serious side however, because 

customer; he also makes a promise of service to his customer. he’s a comedian, some people think he’s unserious whereas in 

There is a cycle. So where that promise fails, you really don’t everything he says, even in the jokes, there is always a message 

know the pack of cards that have failed along the line. Your he is passing across. I bring the very serious side in the years 

reputation should be such that the customer is the one making 

an excuse on your behalf because you have consistently very high energy sectors because I know the requirement of 

we have been together. I commend couples that operate in 

been what he has wanted –his financial adviser. 

those roles and responsibilities in those roles. But in our case, 

You need to understand the power you have and be able to it is a bit of the obvious. While I have what is called a ‘hard job’, 

use that power for the good of the customer because if the he has a ‘soft job’ even though he earns more than me. So when 

customer is happy, everybody is happy. You also need to he brings that ‘unseriousness’ from his day, and I bring the 

under that banking is a highly regulated industry. You have seriousness from my day, we are able to balance out. We try to 

to be skilled and competent. You need to keep reminding laugh over issues, we separate the things that are serious and 

yourself that you have a duty to the industry, the institution, deal with them. His name has opened doors for me in several 

the customer, yourself, to do things right. So you need the ways. Obviously, that also comes with the burden of the fact that 

skill, and the knowledge that you require. 

you cannot just go in quietly into a place and just leave quietly. 

In our relationship, we behave like 20 year olds. We understand 

Purple Girl Foundation 

each other. I have a lot of respect for him, his creativity, his giving 

heart, his intelligence, he believes in the Nigerian dream, the 

Poverty remains the most important factor for determining 

whether a girl can access an education. Studies consistently Nigerian youth. He is a good man, and a good person to be with.

3 BUSINESS DAY Friday 13 July 2018 WOMEN’S HUB 

Reviewing World 

Population Day 

According to United Nations 

Population Fund (UNFPA), 

family planning is the information, 

means and methods that 

allow individuals to decide if and 

when to have children. July 11th 

is World Population Day and the 

theme for this year was- Family 

Planning is a Human Right. 

Women, youths and adolescents in 

Nigeria must be provided services 

that are accessible, available, and 

acceptable to prevent unplanned 

pregnancies most of which ends 

in procurement of unsafe abortion, 

one of the contributors to 

maternal deaths in the country. 

Akin Jimoh, programme Director 

at Development Communication 

Network’s asserts that “it is important 

to establish Youth Friendly 

Centres dedicated to providing 

sexual and reproductive health 

services that meet young people at 

their point of need rather than resorting 

to practices that endangers 

their lives. These should operate 

based on elements of full, free, 

and informed choice with citizens 

having access to information on 

all methods of contraceptives 

(temporary and permanent) and 

also have the right to make decision 

about what service to uptake 

without coercion and barriers.” 

Family planning is a wise investment 

for national development 

though with a number of differentials 

in level of acceptance 

across the country, that needs 

to be further enhanced for the 

benefits of Nigerians. It is very 

important that government at all 

levels should ensure the availability 

of family planning commodities 

and consumables in 

order to advance access to a major 

means of addressing the country’s 

Clarion Events West Africa 

recently announced the 

relaunch of one of her 

major portfolio brands, tagged 

IGF Expo 2018, formally known 

as Home Décor and Giftware; a 

foremost B-2-B trading platform 

for manufacturers and suppliers 

of Interiors, Gift and Fashion. 

Clarion Events are one of the 

world largest exhibition organisers 

responsible for over 30 market 

leading global portfolios of interipopulation 

debacle. Government 

should realise that without contraceptive 

products there will not be 

a programme to save the lives of 

women, children and others who 

needs it. Government should be 

accountable for ensuring that the 

supply contraceptives products 

and consumables are available at 

the point of needs for every prospective 

user. 

All stakeholders need to collaborate 

in other to make up for the 

unmet needs among target groups 

which according to the World 

Health Organization (WHO) is 

high among adolescents, migrants, 

urban slum dwellers, refugees and 

women in postpartum period. 

Health workers have a key role to 

play in making reproductive and 

sexual health service available to 

those who need it. From when an 

adolescent walk through the door 

of a clinic, to when he/she leaves, 

the services provided, good or bad, 

might shape the future of such 

individual. 

Clarion Events West 

Africa Announces IGF 

Expo 2018 

ors, gift and fashion exhibitions. 

IGF Expo, scheduled to hold 

from 13-15November, 2018 at the 

Landmark Event Centre; is Nigeria 

and West Africa’s most diverse 

interiors and gift trade show, offering 

6 sectors full of retail inspiration, 

and opportunities for new 

brands, trend setting start-ups, 

the best of made in Nigeria and 

the biggest international brands 

to crack the Nigerian market, 

build strong relationships and 

take high value bulk orders from 

interior designers, architects, 

property developers, retailers, 

corporate gift buyers, importers, 

wholesalers, contract buyers and 

procurement professionals. 

According to Bunmi Aliyu, Event 

Manager IGF Expo, Clarion 

Events West Africa, ‘the event is 

a must-attend whether you’re 

on the look-out for design-led 

or mid-low price point interiors, 

furniture, textiles, coverings, gifts 

and objet or fashion and accessories. 

The IGF EXPO presents an 

exciting edition of trend-setting 

brands from around the globe 

including the Best of Made in 

Nigeria, many exclusive to the 

show. Hundreds of suppliers will 

bring their complete portfolios for 

specifiers, installers, hospitality, 

importers, wholesalers and Retail 

businesses to see, touch and feel 

in a showroom setting’. 

Russell Hughes, Commercial 

Director, Clarion Events West 

Africa, in his words, affirmed that 

Nigeria has a lucrative growing 

fashion & apparel market with 

over $4 billion spent annually on 

importing textiles, clothing. It is 

the largest retail market in Sub- 

Saharan Africa worth $215 billon 

per annum. 

Clarion Events West Africa is a 

division of Clarion Events Limited 

based in the United Kingdom established 

since 1947 with capacities 

and expertise in producing 

over 180 innovation and market 

leading exhibitions annually; 

organised across 13global offices.

C M Y K 

Imposition Studio 5.1.1

OSARUGUEMWEN B. OGBEIDE 

AGAINST ALL ODDS 


Evi’s story of survival 

I 

was involved in a serious road traffic accident. I don’t remember how it 

happened and I am grateful for that. The police told me that there was a 

pot hole on the side of the road which caught my front side wheel of my 

car and span me into opposite direction, where my car sadly hit another car 

at a combined speed of 100 mph. 

All I remember was waking up in the car and everything was in a very 

slow motion, in absolute quiet. No sense of smell or touch, just nothingness. 

Then the adrenaline kicked in and I had to drag myself out of the car 

because I could smell smoke. Still not knowing what had happened and 

where I was. The only thing I knew was that my legs weren’t working and 

that I did not want to burn. 

I was taken to St George’s Hospital, Major Trauma Centre. I remember 

being scared as I was in so much pain and dazed from all the painkiller 

drugs. There were lots of doctors, nurses, beeping noises, tubes, many 

questions thrown all in my direction, thousands of voices that didn’t make 

sense to me. I had no idea why I couldn’t feel my legs and what was wrong 

with me. 

It was a hard two months. All my dignity was gone. I became totally 

dependent on everyone around me. I had to learn to trust strangers very 

quickly. Their judgements, statements, advice and believe me it wasn’t 

always easy. 

But, on the other hand, I also had an amazing support from the wonderful 

therapy team, who helped with my rehab. The clinical nurse specialist, 

who was the right hand of my surgeon, always put a smile on my face. 

There was also the porter, the dinner lady and cleaning lady with her enormous 

enthusiasm for life. Meeting other patients and hearing their stories 

also helped and made me appreciate how lucky I was and that it could be 

worse, which became my daily mantra. All these people and their joined 

effort made me work twice as hard so their hard work wouldn’t be wasted. 

Two months down the line I went home. To be honest I was petrified to 

go. For me it meant leaving my “safety net’’, my ‘’new home’’ and the new 

friends I had made. I was leaving to go back home, which was at that time 

6 

McDermott pushes strong self-esteem, flays security harassment as step to remedy 

DESMOND OKON 

Nollywood Superstar, Ufuoma Mc- 

Dermott advocated for a strong selfesteem 

as the first step in curbing 

drug abuse which has become prevalent 

in recent times, at the Goge Africa Foundation, 

GAF, recently held at the National 

theatre, Lagos. 

While she said that good self-esteem 

would enable youths stand against peer 

pressure, in the same breathe, she kicked 

against the tendency of harassing victims 

by security agencies charged with the responsibility 

to check drug abuse. Instead, 

she suggested that the law be made known 

to them as well as the dangers they expose 

themselves to by abusing drugs. 

“A whole lot of times, people become 

victims of drug abuse when they don’t 

have the self-esteem that they require to 

understand their abilities. Some feel that 

the reason why you can’t get the cool girl 

is because you are not a cool guy, and you 

need to take drugs to become the cool guy, 

and you believe that lie. 

You then begin to live a life that is not 

you because someone has convinced you 

that you need the introduction of something 

else to make your life what you want 

it to be. So peer pressure, poor self-esteem 

is most times the first loophole to drug 

The United Nations Women, a subset 

of the United Nations Organisation 

dedicated to gender equality, and 

the empowerment of women, encouraged 

women to become active players 

in the peacekeeping and security 

processes. 

This was done in commemoration of 

International Day for the Elimination of 

Sexual Violence in Conflict, as it celebrated 

ten years since the adoption of the 

United Nations Security Council’s resolution 

1820 in 2008, which classified the 

use of conflict-related sexual violence 

as an impediment to the restoration of 

international peace and security. 

Ground breaking advancements in 

the fight against conflict-related sexual 

abuse” she said in an interview with 

Women’s Hub. 

According to her, “A lot of young 

people have access to these drugs 

and we cannot stop talking about it 

because there are still people who 

are into it. The minute we stop, I think 

we’re a failed society. We need to 

keep talking about it to make sure that 

all our children are secure, to make 

sure that our siblings, our wards are 

secure. Until then, it’s a long road.” 

While many have the tendency 

to blame a youth’s involvement in 

drugs on bad parenting, McDermott 

thinks differently. According to her; 

“If a child wants to do things away 

from the parents, he will. It won’t be 

fair for me to say it’s bad parenting 

that causes drug abuse. It may have 

a hand, but it’d be wrong to lay the 

blame on one person and say ‘This 

parent is bad that’s why his kid turned 

out like this’. I know parents who have 

done everything good in the books 

just to ensure their kids end up well, 

but somewhere along the line, an external 

influence could make you feel like 

you need this thing to feel good about 

yourself, to feel good about a situation. 

For some other people, it could be 

a situation they find themselves and 

they feel like I need a substance to get 

my mind off this thing, anything to 

keep me busy. And it’s a downward 

spiral once you start.” 

She said the security agencies 

who should be curbing the menace 

should have the proper knowledge, 

tools, guidance to execute their duties 

effectively, and also tell both young 

women and men engaging in drugs 

abuse the right things. 

“Don’t just go out there and harass 

them because they might go home 

and not feel like they were in the 

wrong for carrying drugs, and think 

that the policeman was just being 

mean. When you call them into a 

corner, talk to them, show them the 

laws and let them know what they 

have done is wrong. Don’t just be 

aggressive and harassment them. 

Make sure that they leave you learning 

something,” she said 

“For the people who actually take 

these drugs, try and understand this is 

about you. You are the most important 

person in your life. If you mess up yourself, 

you’ve messed up your life completely 

and the sad thing is when you 

mess up yourself, you’ve left a vacuum 

that nobody can fill. So, you’ve robbed 

the earth of you,” she adds. 

UN Women admonish women on peacekeeping, security processes 

DESMOND OKON 

violence have been recorded; including 

successful prosecutions by 

national and international tribunals 

against perpetrators who appeared 

untouchable; legal and legislative 

reforms to enhance protection and 

ensure access to justice for survivors 

and witnesses; comprehensive 

sets of specialized services for 

survivors, including socioeconomic 

rehabilitation initiatives and reparations; 

codes of conduct for security 

forces to ensure sensitization and 

training on conflict-related sexual 

violence; and an overall global 

mindset that firmly renounces 

these crimes and supports the efforts 

of women and their organisations 

to eliminate them. 

However, globally, sexual violence 

continues to be used as a 

tactical, effective and cost-free 

strategy to terrorize communities 

and facilitate territorial, political 

and economic gains in the war field. 

For example, in the Democratic 

Republic of the Congo, sexual 

violence has spread to the once 

non-conflict affected provinces; in 

Myanmar, communities have been 

forced to flee due to gross human 

rights violations, including widespread 

sexual violence. 

UN Women stated that it is persisting 

to implement strategies to 

tackle sexual violence in conflict by 

supporting National Action Plans 

on Women Peace and Security as 

tools to promote women’s participation, 

leadership and protection 

in the middle of nowhere, and where I lived with my ex-partner, so not the 

friendliest surrounding. I was not allowed to weight bare for 6 months and 

all I really wanted was to fly back home to my family but couldn’t. 

One month after being at home I hit rock bottom. The scariest thing is 

I did not see it coming, because that was not me. I am normally a positive 

person, the glass is full. The smallest tasks like getting to a bathroom in 

a wheelchair, or putting my washing on. Not even that, just to gather the 

clothes for washing was an enormous task. The pain and constant exhaustion 

all of sudden became my non-stop companion. I got involved in several 

patient engagement projects, hoping to help others with my experience and 

story. 

I found a new man in my life, who is incredibly patient and supportive 

and who doesn’t see my scars. I have great family and friends who helped 

me when I needed it most. I am alive thanks to amazing team of doctors, 

nurses, therapists, family and friends. I can never thank them enough. I will 

never forget the feeling of having a shower for the first time, going to the loo 

myself, my first step (which I cried and laughed about at the same time with 

happiness) the first time I could brush my hair with my right hand. I have 

learned to cherish my scars as they tell my story, I appreciate how much I’ve 

learned about myself and my own strength. And I hope the reader will know 

that it really does get better, with patience, courage, hard work and time. 

from gender-based violence and 

conflict-related sexual violence, 

and acting as the Secretariat of 

the Women, Peace and Security 

Focal Points Network –an informal, 

cross-regional forum for more than 

80 Member States and regional organisations 

to share best practices.

8 


Laide isn’t 

falling for the 

threats, she 

knows better 


WOMEN’S HUB 

KEMI AJUMOBI 

Laide Adebayo is a beautiful, intelligent and 

focused lady. She loves her job as the HR 

Manager at Gbenga & Sons Limited but she 

got a better offer at MacPhersons & Lloyd Ltd 

and she wasn’t willing to trade it for anything in 

the world. She spoke to her fiancé, Akin Peterson 

about it and he was in support of her decision 

100 percent. 

She was to resume in May so she gave a 3 

months’ notice of resignation to her company 

(now previous). The company tried to persuade 

her to stay but she had made up her mind already. 

7 years was sufficient enough to have 

made her mark in the organisation. It was time to 

move on. 

When she resumed at her place of work, she 

observed certain coldness among the employees 

but she felt it was because she just came and 

trusted that with time they would blend. It mattered 

to her that they were cold towards her but 

central on her mind was what she was employed 

to do, not sentiments. 

One day, she got to her office and observed that 

a letter was on the floor. She saw it immediately 

she opened her door. It was an anonymous letter. 

In it, the writer expressed how he felt (he claimed 

to be David Ojo but there is actually no David Ojo 

in the entire organisation so she knew the person 

wanted to be anonymous) about her position, 

how there was someone he and some other staff 

felt was qualified for the position she was just 

given, how he strongly suggests that she resigns 

and be ‘fair-minded with a fellow woman like her’, 

how God will bless her if she considers his suggested 

‘offer’…he went on and on and on. Laide 

smiled and said to herself “that explains their 

attitude”. After reading it, she shredded the letter 

and continued with her work for the day. 

Two weeks later, as she was walking to her office, 

she saw Biodun Adebayo, the IT Supervisor perusing 

the area just by her office door, to be sure 

he wasn’t seen before he carried out his act. Immediately 

Laide saw him, because she was at his 

rear side, she stepped back and carefully peeped 

to confirm her suspicions. When Biodun saw that 

the coast was clear, he pushed the letter under 

her door and walk away briskly. He had switched 

off the camera on the passage at that time so 

he walked away quickly back to the server room 

and put it on. After he left, Laide walked to her 

office, opened the door and picked up the letter. 

This time, he was issuing threats. Laide had seen 

enough, so she swung into action. 

She sent out a memo to all staff excluding the very 

senior members. 

The meeting was to hold in their mini conference 

room during lunch break. At exactly 1:30pm, they 

were all present. Laide appreciated their punctuality 

and welcomed them all. She further asked for 

someone to define the word Bully. They wondered 

why she asked the question. Different people got 

up to give their definitions but she walked up to 

where Biodun was, looked straight and sternly 

into his eyes and said, “Mr. Biodun, would you like 

to share your more precise definition with us?” 

“Me?” he asked as if he was in doubt of Laide’s 

choice. He intended it to be sarcasm but she also 

‘played along’ and sardonically responded “No sir, 

the person behind you”. Biodun realised his joke 

wasn’t funny so he responded. After he was done, 

Laide said “I will prefer Mr. Biodun’s explanation; 

he surely has the succinct response”. She went 

ahead to explain that bullying in whatever form 

isn’t allowed in the organisation and enjoined 

anyone going through such to report immediately. 

As she was about wrapping up, 

she said “…and oh...Mr. Biodun, I hope the 

cameras were not switched off while we are 

here? We always need to be sure we are safe 

especially when people act strangely watching 

the camera to be sure no one is looking 

at them before they carry out their felonious 

acts” she said looking at him firmly. He was 

confused. He began to question himself in 

his mind “Did she see me?...did someone 

else see me? Does she know?” The thoughts 

came in back-to-back and he knew he must 

respond ASAP so he said “Yyyyes Ma’am the 

cameras are on”, Laide smiled, said “Good 

to know!” and walked away from him. The 

meeting ended and everyone wet to their offices. 

Guilty conscience would not let Biodun 

rest. He was already going nuts thinking 

“Does she know? Does she not know?” so he 

made up his mind to go and see Laide. 

It felt like a confession time. He opened up to 

Laide and apologised for his behaviour. He 

also realised that Laide didn’t let the executives 

know about it and also appreciated 

her for that. “Life is going to play us various 

games. We choose to play it as we like 

however, we must never assume our way is 

always right because our way can lead us to 

the highway. I forgive you Mr. Biodun” she 

said and Biodun was soon on his way. His 

respect for her has gone a notch higher and 

he certainly is behaving himself wisely. 

MADELEINE KNIGHT 

1, Independence 

Economic dependence 

isn’t a good feeling 

for either party in a 

relationship. But it’s usually 

even harder when it’s the guy 

who’s lacking in that area. This 

doesn’t mean you need to have 

all the money in the world but 

it does mean you need to be 

able to contribute equally. 

2, Grooming 

Although there are plenty of 

women who like a good old 

grizzly, rugged, monkey-man, 

when it comes down to it, most 

women appreciate a little bit of 

grooming and personal care. 

3, Positivity 

It means that you exude a 

brightness of spirit that will encourage 

those around you to be 

happy. This is magnetising for 

all people, not just women. 

4, Attentiveness 

Knowing when to talk and 

when to listen is crucial when 

it comes to bagging your 

beauty, but recognising when 

WHAT 

WOMEN 

WANT 

she wants you to solve a problem and when 

she wants you to agree with her about her 

problem and allow her to wallow is a very key 

– and very necessary – distinction you’ll need 

to be able to make. 

5, Sociability 

You might be really good at hanging out with 

your own friends. Most of us are. Who else is 

going to laugh at our worst jokes? It’s the comfort 

zone. But a woman will always appreciate a 

man who steps out of that zone and into different 

social arenas. 

6, Intelligence 

Intelligence is obviously extremely 

relative and when it 

comes down to it, women will 

likely gravitate towards people 

on a similar wavelength, IQ 

wise. 

7, Passion 

This doesn’t mean just in the 

bedroom, it means passion 

infused into every aspect of life 

8, Laughing 

It improves mood, stress levels, 

health in general and genuinely 

makes you a happier, more 

levelled individual. So it makes 

all the sense that women will 

seek to find a man that makes 

her laugh. 

9, Ambitious 

Women are attracted to men 

who strive to be the best they 

can be. Men who set themselves 

clear goals and actively 

pursue them possess an appealing 

strength of character. 

10, Confidence 

Remember the frog who turned 

into a Prince? That could be 

YOU! OK not really but you see 

where we’re going with this?

BusinessDay 13 Jul 2018

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