11082020 - Insecurity: Defend yourselves, Catholic bishops tell Nigerians

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18 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2020 THE reappointment of Prof Umar Danbatta by President Muhammadu Buhari and his confirmation by the Senate as the Executive Vice- Chairman and CEO of the Nigerian Telecommunications Commission, NCC, are obvious seals of satisfaction hampered network development), over his first term and approval for multiple taxation, health concerns him and his team to continue pushing relating to the siting of the frontiers in the development of telecommunication towers near our telecoms sector and digital residential areas, improvising to cope economy. with poor public electricity supply and Prof. Danbatta first came to the others. NCC on August 4, 2015. The past five Prof. Danbatta’s eight-point agenda years has been a period in the world and five-year development plan where digital communication has helped in the renaming of the Ministry gone even more digital. Data took the of Communications to accommodate centre-stage. Industry operators the Digital Economy focus. The have struggled with worldwide trends National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, to ensure we are not left too far affirms that the telecoms sector now behind. accounts for 14.7 per cent of our GDP It fell to the mandate of the NCC to (Q1, 2020). Our telephone subscriber skillfully shepherd the industry and base rose from 151 million to 196.3 tackle the challenges posed by high million (June 2020) with a teledensity cost of Right of Way, RoW(which of 102.88 per cent. Tasks before Danbatta at NCC Danbatta’s team surpassed the 30 per cent broadband penetration target set for December 2020, shooting it from eight per cent in 2015 to 41.27 per cent in June 2020. Internet subscribers increased from 90 million to 143.7 million as of June 2020. Apart from the increased empowerment of consumers, NCC has also boosted efforts to eradicate the pre-registered Subscriber Identification, SIM, card syndrome (which had greased the wheel of crime and urban terrorism) and efficiently governed the spectrum resources for greater service delivery. Very importantly, the strategic engagement with the Governors’ Forum over RoW issues has helped service providers to ramp up infrastructural expansion. However, we are not yet there. As of 2018, Nigeria ranked 122 nd out of 159 countries in the global telecoms index of the International Telecommunications Union, ITU. Implementation of the mandatory Code of Corporate Governance will boost the quality of service across the industry. The Task Force on Quality of Service should also deliver on its mandate. <strong>Nigerians</strong> expect to share in the industry’s prosperity. The efforts already being made to get the telecom companies listed on the Stock Exchange should sustained. As we anticipate the deployment of the 5-G technology, Nigeria should not lag behind. To expedite the pace of reforms and reduce political interference, efforts should also be intensified to retrieve the regulatory independence of the NCC from the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. WITH the passage of Senator Ayomide Fasanmi (September 27, 1925 to July 29, 2020) the number of the ninetyfive senators, who served between October 1979 and October 1983, still alive has been reduced. I covered that Senate until Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.), GCFR, terminated democracy in Nigeria on December 31, 1983. Senator Fasanmi contested the Ondo State gubernatorial primaries in the UPN in 1979 along with Chief Adekunle Michael Ajasin (November 28,1908 – October 3, 1997). He lost in the primaries held at Omolere Primary School, along Ado-Ekiti road in Akure. That was when Ekiti State was part of Ondo State. His campaign manager at that time was Chief Adebayo Adefarati (February 14, 1931 – March 29, 2007). After the gubernatorial election which Chief Ajasin won in 1979, Chief Ajasin invited Chief Adefarati to be a commissioner in his cabinet eventually. He was said to have been impressed with the loyalty Chief Adefarati showed to Chief Fasanmi during the primaries. Eventually Chief Fasanmi was elected senator for Ondo North in 1979. Chief Adefarati was later elected governor of Ondo State in 1999. Between 1979 and 1983, Senator Fasanmi was a member of the Senate committee on health and social services. He was also a member of Senate committee on public works. Senator Fasanmi was a front bencher in the Senate, sitting along with senators Jonathan Akinremi Olawole Odebiyi (Egbado North South), Abraham Aderibigbe Adesanya (Ijebu North East), Cornelius Olatunji Adebajo (Kwara Central) and Emmanuel Idahosa Akpata (Bendel Central). During his tenure in the Senate, Senator Ayomide Fasanmi sponsored eight bills, all related to health management. He was a pharmacist. He never missed any sitting in the Senate. Among the senators who served between 1979 and 1983 and still alive are the OPINION One by one those senators are departing former Senate president, Dr. Joseph Wayas (Ogoja) and Senator Isa Obaro, 86, (Kwara South); he was a member of the Committee on Trade and Industries. He was very close to the then Senate Leader, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki. In 1968, he was appointed Kwara State Commissioner for Information and later held the Finance and Justice Ministry portfolios. He is from Okene in the present Kogi State. He was called to the bar on February 5, 1963 During his tenure in the Senate, Senator Ayomide Fasanmi sponsored eight bills, all related to health management and is one of those who fought for the creation of Kogi State. Other senators who are still alive are Senator Ahmed Zakari (Kano North East), Senator Jubrin Salihu (Agaie/Lapai), Senator Suemo Chia (Benue East), Senator Hamisu Musa (Kano South West), Senator Onyeabo Obi (Anambra West), Senator Kunle Oyero (Abeokuta/Ifo/Ota), Senator Ameh Ebute (Benue South Central), Senator Bello Bakori (Malumfasi/Funtua), Senator Iliya Galiya Audu (Wukari), Senator Ahmadu Ada Alli (Benue West), former Chairman of the PDP and Senator Olatunji Cornelius Adebayo (Kwara), who later became the Governor of Kwara state in 1983 and also served as Minister under President Olusegun Obasanjo. Also alive are Senator Mohammed Girgiri Lawan (Borno North West), a successful business man, who traverses between Abuja, Kano and Maiduguri these days, he is a highly polished man and detribalized Nigerian, Senator Stephen Adebanji Akintoye (Ondo Central), a new voice now in the Yoruba cause, Senator David Olatubosun Oke (Ondo West) from Igbara- Odo in the present Ekiti state, who I understand is in Ireland, Senator Michael Atijosan Emmanuel Onunkun (Ondo West), an elder statesman, now in Ondo south Senatorial district and Senator Abba Ali (Katsina/ Dutsinma), a classmate and childhood friend of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, a member of the present Federal Judicial Commission and a member of APC Caretaker Committee. Among those who have departed includes Senators Muhtari Abdularim (Sokoto East), Mubashir Akanbi O. Abiru (Ikorodu), Andrew Abogede (Benue North-Central), Ademola Adegoke (Oyo), Ayoola Adeleke (Osun II), Christopher ‘Laogun Adeoye (Osun I), Abraham Aderibigbe Adesanya (Ijebu North East), Olalere Adesina (Ibadan), Muhammed Musa Agwai (Lafia/Akwanga/Awe), Mohammed Uba Ahmed (Bauchi South East), Adeyiga Omopenu Ajayi (Ikeja), Victor Akan (Eket), Nathaniel N. Anah (Anambra South), Isaiah Nnamani Ani (Anambra North), Joseph Oqua Ansa (Calabar), Tony Anyanwu (Owerri), F.O.M. Atake (Bendel Delta), Obafemi Ayantuga (Epe), Umara Bama (Borno East), Ibrahim Barau (Ikara/Zaria/BirniGwari), Garba Musa Dada (Minna/Kagara), David Send Opinions & Letters to: opinions1234@yahoo.com Omueye Dafinone (Bendel South), Usman Alto Dambatta (Kano North-Central), George Asuquo Daniel (Uyo), Yusuf Aliyu Daura (Daura/Mani/Kankiya), Ibrahim Dimis (Bauchi South), Abayomi Adeyosola Durosinmi (Badagry), Oyibosiya Eberewariye (Rivers V-Degema), Emeka Patrick Echeruo (Okigwe), Francis John Ellah (Rivers II- Ahoada/Ikwerr/Etche), Elijah Ebonine Emezie (Orlu), Donald Dick Etiebet (Ikot Ekpene), Ayo Fasanmi (Ondo North), Garba Gada (Sokoto North), Aliyu Mohammed Gani (Kwara North), Adamu Gaya (Kano South), Gayus Gilama (Numan), Christopher Oladosu Ilori (Ife/Ilesha), Idrisa Kadi (Borno North-Central), Bitrus Bzigu Kajal (Mubi), Ibrahim Kolo (Bida), Garba Kware (Sokoto Central), Daniel Adetola Ladega (Ijebu-Ode/Ijebu Remo), Jacob Kure Madaki (Kachia/Jemaa/Saminaka), Ja’Afar Mangga (Borno South), Garba Matta (Pankshin/Mangu/Kanam), Abubakar Mogaji (Suleja/formerly Abuja), Abdullah Muazu (Kontagora), Hamisu Musa (Kano South-West, Haruna Muza (Sokoto West), Cyrus Nwidonane Nunieh (Rivers IV (Bonny/Bori), Offia Nwali (Anambra East), Jonathan Akinremi Olawole Odebiyi (Egbado North- South), Emmanuel Kayode Ogunleye (Ondo East), Simeon Mba Ojukwu (Umuahia), Basil Charles Okwu (Anambra), John Wash Pam (Jos), Ahmadu Damyama Rufai (Bauchi Central), Abdulkadir Yalwaji Saleh (Bauchi North), Bukar Sanda (Borno West), Abubakar Sola Saraki (Ilorin/Asa), Sikiru Ayodeji Shitta- Bey (Lagos), Samuel Olu Sogbein (Odeda/ Obafemi/Owode), Joseph Sarwuan Tarka (Benue East-Central), John Osiomole Umolu (Bendel North), Jaja Anucha Wachukwu (Aba), Obi Wali (Rivers I (Port Harcourt), Ibrahim Jalo Waziri (Bauchi East), Mahmud Waziri (Adamawa), Thomas Yepwi (Keffi/Nasarawa), Luka Zanya Zing (Muri), Amatai Zuofa (Rivers III-Brass/Sagbama/Yenogoa), Hassan Zuru (Sokoto North) and Sabo Bakin Zuwo (Kano Central). Continues next week
ANALYST’S REPORT: Business activity rises fir irst time in 4 months •As increase in prices creep into H2’20 By Nkiruka Nnorom Nigerian private sector re turned to expansion in July, after three successive months of decline, following an uptick in new orders and easing of the coronavirus (COVID-19) induced lockdown. This is contained in the Stanbic IBTC Bank’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) Report for July, 2020. The report shows that though both business activity and new orders increased, the severity of the COVID-19 downturn meant that spare capacity remained evident, leading to a further reduction in employment. Readings above 50.0 signal an improvement in business conditions on the previous month, while readings below 50.0 show deterioration. The headline PMI posted 50.4 in July, up from 46.4 in June and above the 50.0 no-change mark for the first time since March, signaling only a slight improvement in business conditions following a severe downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The report further shows that the recent surge in prices extended into the second half of the year, with overall input prices rising at the sharpest pace in the survey’s history. In response, firms also raised their output prices at the fastest rate since the survey began in January 2014. According to the report, signs of improving demand were central to a strengthening of business conditions. “New orders increased for the first time in four months. Business activity also returned to growth for the first time since March on the back of higher new orders and an easing of the lockdown,” the report said. CURRENCY BUYING SELLING US DOLLAR POUNDS EURO FRANC YEN CFA WAUA RENMINBI RIYAL RAND 114.85 -0.60 2,543.00 -3.00 12.68 -0.10 44.92 0.52 - - - 379 379.5 380 494.1402 494.7921 495.444 445.4766 446.0643 446.652 412.8091 413.3537 413.8983 3.5708 3.5755 3.5802 0.6652 0.6752 0.6852 534.7618 535.4673 536.1728 54.3267 54.3988 54.4707 101.0586 101.1919 101.3252 21.3326 21.3608 21.3889 CBN Exchange rate as at 10/08/2020 Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2020 — 19 From left: Group Head, Human Resources, SIFAX Group, Oluwakayode Alonge, Executive Director, Ports & Cargo Handling Services Limited, Tobi Afolabi, Facility Department, Ports & Cargo Handling Services Limited, Felix Abumere, an awardee who has spent 10 years in the service of SIFAX Group and Executive Director, Administration, Ports & Cargo Handling Services Limited, Ibraheem Olugbade, during the SIFAX Group Long Service Award presentation which was held across all subsidiaries recently. FG has started implementing Economic Sustainability Plan — Osinbajo ...to stimulate local production By Yinka Kolawole The federal government has commenced the execution of the sustainability measures contained in the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP). The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, stated this at a webinar organised by Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) 2020 Presidential Policy Dialogue over the weekend. He said that the ESP was developed with a stimulus package of N2.3 trillion to boost local production, prevent business collapse and provide liquidity across various sectors, especially micro, small and medium enterprises MSMEs. Osinbajo stated: “Nigeria, like all other countries, has been quite seriously impacted in various ways by the COVID-19 pandemic, either as households or businesses, and is clear that both the pandemic and its effects would remain for a while. “The priority of the Federal Government in response to the economic challenges posed by COVID-19 is essentially to ward off a deep recession and to save jobs and this we are hoping to do by a mixture of stimulus measures to support local businesses; the essence being to retain jobs and to ensure that we create the best possible circumstances for the most vulnerable in the society. “To this end, the federal government developed the ESP with a stimulus package of N2.3 trillion to give fillip to the economy across various sectors. “The size of the stimulus is about 1.5 percent of national income or GDP. This is not as large as we would have liked it to be but it was the best we could do given existing fiscal and monetary constraints.” Stanbic IBTC, Ascon Oil tussle over sale of N2.5bn petrol station By Cynthia Alo Allianz Nigeria pays out N1.8bn in claims By Rosemary Onuoha Allianz Nigeria Insur ance Plc has paid claims totaling N1.8 billion in the first quarter, Q1, of 2020. The figure represents a 130 percent increase from N800 million paid out the same period in 2019. Allianz Nigeria which is a local operating entity of the global insurance company Allianz, also reported a Gross Written Premium (GWP) of N4.2 billion in the period under review, a 47 percent increase from N2.9 billion recorded during the same period in 2019. The Company said it has so far recorded an investment income of N301 million despite the fall in investment and treasury bill rates. Speaking on the development, Chief Operating Officer of the company, Owolabi Salami, said the success attained so far can be attributed to the tenacity and bravery of the people who work in the organization, adding that he was proud to see how fast his people adapted and rose to the challenge in these unprecedented times. Salami said: “the Company will remain unwavering to deliver on its promise of paying claims despite the present economic downturn.” According to Osinbajo, ESP is replete with opportunities for MSMEs to expand their activities in manufacturing and local production and to participate in supply chain activities across various industrial a Ascon Oil Company Ltd said it has recovered its fuel retail station at Block 36, Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos purportedly sold by Stanbic IBTC Bank. According to Ascon Oil, the property with a market value of N2.5 billion was undersold at N1.53 billion, through Stanbic IBTC’s Receiver. It was learnt that Ascon retook possession of the property following a July 24, 2020 order of Justice Mohammed Liman of the Federal High Court in Lagos. The suit, marked FHC/L/CS/567/2020, arose following a N1.7 billion loan facility. The property had been with the receiver manager following the judge’s May 15, 2020 ex-parte order which authorised Police protection for the Receiver to protect and preserve the fuel retail station and restrain Ascon from interfering with the Receiver’s discharge of his functions. But on July 24, 2020, Justice Liman vacated that order in part following Ascon’s claims of suppression, non-disclosure and material misrepresentation of facts against Stanbic IBTC, which the bank has rejected. Before the July 24 ruling, and in seeking to recover its property, Ascon had written to Stanbic IBTC, through its Managing Director, Demola Shogunle, stating that its outstanding indebtedness was now available and that Ascon was ready to make the payment subject to an audit of its account. But the bank, it was learnt, declined, stating that the property had been sold. It also declined Ascon’s requests for details of the expedited process of the transaction or evidence of any cash movement by which the property was purportedly conveyed to the buyer. On May 27, 2020, Ascon approached the court to set aside its earlier orders and nullify all steps taken pursuant to the orders. It argued, among others that since Ascon was not initially allowed to make its own case meant it was denied the right to fair hearing. On July 24, 2020, Justice Liman agreed that the Receiver was wrong in law to have brought his application for the orders, ex-parte and that ASCON should have been put on notice. The court discharged its earlier order of May 15th, 2020 restraining Ascon from preventing the activities of the Receiver. Thus, the order preventing Ascon from resisting the activities of the Receiver was vacated. Ascon had alleged in its motion on notice, that the purported Deed of Legal Mortgage dated June 5th, 2019, through which Stanbic IBTC derived its right or power to either appoint a Receiver or sell the property was a forgery. “At the time the Deed of Legal Mortgage was purportedly executed, Ascon had by letters of 28th and 31st May 2018 protested the inclusion of the property for perfection. Thus, Ascon could not have executed a Deed of Legal Mortgage over the same Property,” the document averred. Ascon also alleged that forensic analysis of the purported Deed of Legal Mortgage revealed significant inconsistencies as two supposed signatures, were materially different from their regular signatures and the signature page of the purported Deed of Legal Mortgage is a counterpart copy of previously executed Deeds of Legal Mortgage.
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11082020 - Insecurity: Defend yourselves, Catholic bishops tell Nigerians

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