09042021- Insecurity: Tension mounts in Imo, Abia, Rivers

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18 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021 PROFESSOR Idowu Akanbi Sobowale, described as a “teacher of teachers”, administrator par excellence, astute manager of men and resources and an opinion leader, is a veritable example of how a man can make significant and far-reaching contributions to the development of his country without necessarily occupying any high office. Professor Idowu Sobowale is not a politician, nor did fate ever draft him into the office of the vice chancellor of any university, a position he is eminently qualified to occupy. But his name has gone down history as one of the founding fathers of the Lagos State University, LASU. Before his forays into education, Sobowale had a distinguished career as a journalist. Born March 29, 1941 in Ashipa, a small town near Abeokuta, of a humble background, he began his elementary education in 1954 at the age of 14. He attended the Lagos Baptist ,Prof Idowu Sobowale, renowned educationist at 80 Academy, graduating in 1964. Later, he was employed by the Lagos City Council as a health inspector – a job he did for only six days because he met by chance the late Chief Bisi Onabanjo, a fellow alumnus of Baptist Academy and first elected Governor of Ogun State. Chief Bisi Onabanjo introduced Sobowale to Mr. Babatunde Jose, the editor of the Daily Times who gave him a job in the newspaper. He later attended the University of Lagos, UNILAG, from where he earned a Diploma and B.A (Hons) degree in Mass Communication. In 1975, he left the Daily Times to join UNILAG as assistant lecturer in the Institute of Mass Communication. After one year at UNILAG, Sobowale left for Syracuse University, USA, for his Master’s degree. He returned in 1978 with a Ph.D, specialising in Scientific Journalism. From UNILAG, Idowu Sobowale introduced Opinion Polling to Nigerian journalism by establishing a public opinion polling desk at The Punch Newspapers under the leadership of Mr. Sam Amuka. He later became a Special Assistant to the former Governor of Lagos State, the late Alhaji Lateef Jakande. According to Professor Abisogun Leigh, a former Vice Chancellor of LASU, there were two people who instigated the idea of establishing LASU: Idowu Sobowale and the late Professor Femi Agbalajobi. Between 1999 and 2003, Sobowale served as the Lagos State Commissioner for Education. Later, he was appointed a Professor of Journalism by the Lagos State University. Idowu Sobowale became the pioneer Dean of LASU School of Communication (2004-2007). After his tenure, he moved on to the Olabisi Onabanjo University in his home state, Ogun. For his contributions to national development, former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, decorated him with the Officer of the Order of the Niger, OON. At the age of 80, we wish Professor Idowu Sobowale more years ahead in good health and greater prosperity. In the year 2035 By EDDINGTON OBARO JONATHAN IF you reside in Nigeria and you are not planning to leave the country anytime soon or to be actively involved in the politics of the nation, just take a shovel, dig your own grave, and wait patiently for the year 2035. In 2035, a dollar will be worth a thousand naira or more because our economic experts will have succeeded in devaluing the naira beyond redemption in a bid to rescue the economy. Of course, political thugs and fanatics who help to subvert the will of the people do not care about exchange rate because they do not even know how it affects their lives and personal comfort. However, Nigerians who perform international transactions will understand the nadir of suffering Nigeria will have sunk to by the year 2035. In the next 10 or 15 years, a custard rubber of garri will cost about N4,000. A bag of sachet water will cost about N500. Asmall pack of seasoning cubes will cost over N1,500. A bag of rice will be worth close to N80,000 or more. A bag of cement will cost about N8,000 or N10,000. Only God knows how much a gallon of palm oil or vegetable oil will cost. No doubt, the good leaders we have will have quadrupled the price of petrol, and the crazy transporters will have multiplied transport fare by Godknows-what. If you are expecting to see light in any part of this tunnel, you probably need to dream again because government institutions of higher learning will have increased their fees to about half a million naira or more. On top of these, our good governors will still be deliberating whether their states are capable of paying a minimum wage of N50,000 or N60,000. In countries like Canada, there is an estimated two percent annual inflation rate. This means that the prices of goods and services are expected to increase by two percent every year. In these countries, employers increase the salaries of their employees by a minimum of two percent yearly to meet the inflation rate. In our beloved country, Nigeria, according to statistical data published by the CBN, our annual inflation rate has been higher than eleven percent since 2016. In January 2021, the prices of food items rose by 20.57 per cent. Yet one can work in Nigeria for 10 years without a single increment in one’s salary. The result is quite simple and disheartening: societal forces are bent on ensuring that you become poorer every year as your purchasing power continues to wane as the years go by. By the year 2035, ASUU will have gone on strike for countless number of times. Our Labour comrades will be laughing secretly with their friends in the corridors of power. Snakes will still be swallowing billions in government offices. Stamp Duty (or whatever name it is called) will have been trippled. Arewa will be complaining of being marginalised. Afenifere will be complaining too. Niger Deltans will still be seeing their Northern brothers as the only reason for their poverty. IPOB and MASSOB will be calling all the world powers to come to their aid. Boko Haram will have bombed more public places. Herdsmen and bandits will have ravaged and killed more people and will have extended their school children abduction to the Southern part of the country. Niger Delta militants will have fully returned and will be enacting war films. A new security enigma will have emerged, one that is greater than herdsmen and Boko Haram put together, and we will be seeking help from China, America, Russia or Israel. Billions of dollars will have been budgeted for arms’ purchase, and our kind Generals will have used the money judiciously “to buy weapons”, weapons that OPINION the foot soldiers will never see. And while they will be popping champagne in Abuja, the helpless soldiers will be wasting their lives in a dense jungle. Anyway, more money will have been borrowed from China to service our annual budgets, and 70 percent of that money will have been stolen by those who borrowed the money at the expense of the country. The concept of pension and gratuity will long have been forgotten because we will have extended our borrowing to every nook and cranny of the world, including countries like Niger, Benin Republic, Togo, Chad and Cameroun. The National Assembly will have probed some agencies, commissions or ministries, and some persons will have fainted right in the process of the probe and flown to London, India or Saudi Arabia for treatment, and the cases will have been swept under the carpet just like There are only two tribes in Nigeria – the rich and the poor; if you are not rich, then you are poor: there is no middle ground the NDDC probe of 2020 because money will have exchanged hands or hands will have exchanged money. A senator’s salary will have surpassed the N100 million benchmark which they appear to have set for themselves while the rest of the country will be wondering how we got here or what we did wrong. Most of the brilliant and experienced doctors will have migrated to places where doctors are well taken care of, and we will be left with the ones who are still struggling with injection. Most of our first class and second class upper graduates will have gained scholarship for postgraduate studies in the US, Canada, Germany, Norway, Australia or any other country magnanimous enough to encourage their academic pursuit, and they will have remained there even after their postgraduate Send Opinions & Letters to: opinions1234@yahoo.com studies. After all, nobody will ignore the option of living a “soft life” and opt for a hard life. No wonder Donald Trump said that Nigerians will not “go back to their huts” in Africa. In the year 2035, Dangote’s refinery will have been completed and will be running in full capacity, and all our refineries will have been sold to him at a meagre sum in the name of privatisation, and we will be suffering the pangs of monopoly. Electricitywill still be going and coming or coming and going like it has always been, and power distribution companies will still be issuing obnoxious, estimated bills. And if you think that all these problems are because the man at the centre is Hausa-Fulani, Igbo, Yoruba, Christian or Muslim, then you might need to take some sedatives so you can have some very nice sleep and purge your devilishly tribalistic mind of all tribal and religious sentiments. There are only two tribes in Nigeria – the rich and the poor. If you are not rich, then you are poor: there is no middle ground. Our political elites have always used tribalism and religion to separate us as a people because our unity will bring an end to their reign. That was why heavens fell during the EndSARS protest. In the words of the controversial French thinker, Joseph de Maistre: “Toute nation a le gouvernement qu’ellemerite”, which is translated thus: “Every nation has the government it deserves.” But do we deserve the leaders that have been ruling us from inception? Did we deserve Gowon, IBB, Abacha, OBJ, GEJ and our frail General? Do we deserve the killers of unarmed protesters and embezzlers of our commonwealth? Continues online:www.vanguardngr.com •Jonathan teaches English Language and Literature at Chokhmah International Academy, Port Harcourt.
CBN gets order to freeze 194 accounts in 17 banks By Henry Ojelu MONEY MARKET The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has secured three separate interim orders from a Federal High Court in Abuja to freeze bank accounts linked to 194 business entities and individuals in 17 banks. This was contained in post by the apex bank on its website yesterday pursuant to the court order. The freeze orders were sequel to three exparte applications filed by the apex bank seeking a mandatory order of court to ask the 17 banks to freeze the account of the business organizations and individual pending the outcome of an ongoing investigations the apex bank had initiated. In one of the suits against Nuru Abubakar and 24 others, the court granted the request by CBN to freeze the account of the defendants in the banks for 45 days. Justice A.R Muhammed who made the order in his ruling on March 30, 2021 said: “An interim order is hereby made empowering the applicant to direct the head office of the listed banks to freeze forthwith all transactions on the bank account of the defendants for a period of 45 days pending the outcome of investigation and inquiry currently being conducted by CBN.” In another suit filed by CBN against Sethwealth Ventures and two others, the court granted an exparte application by the apex bank to freeze 50 accounts linked to the three defendants in 13 banks. A similar order was also made in the suit by CBN against Bluebeam Capital Ltd freezing 60 accounts of the company in 13 banks. The 17 banks affected are Access Bank, First City Monument Bank, Fidelity Bank, Sterling Bank, Keystone Bank, Providus Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Wema Bank and First Bank. Others are Guaranty Trust Bank, Ecobank Bank, Heritage Bank, Polaris Bank, Zenith Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Union Bank. The companies affected include Bluebeam Capital Limited, Sethwealth Ventures, Seasons Bureau De Change, Lat-Ade Logistics, Sani Polo Global Investment Ltd, Saneo Global Resources Limited and Romvic Ventures Nigeria Limited. CURRENCY BUYING SELLING US DOLLAR POUNDS EURO FRANC YEN CFA WAUA RENMINBI RIYAL RAND 126.85 +4.75 2,376.00 -40.00 15.16 +0.32 62.86 +0.71 59.42 +0.77 379 379.5 380 523.9675 524.6588 525.35 447.4474 448.0377 448.628 403.965 404.498 405.0309 3.4348 3.4394 3.4439 0.6604 0.6704 0.6804 536.8738 537.5821 538.2904 57.8237 57.9005 57.9772 101.0532 101.1865 101.3198 25.1095 26.1439 26.1784 CBN Exchange rate as at 08/04/2021 Global Money Week – From left: Dabo Japhet Taiwo, Deputy Director/Vice Principal, GSGS, Ikoyi; Olamide Adeosun, Chief Financial Officer, FBNQuest Merchant Bank; Tutu Owolabi- Kadiku, Vice President, FBNQuest and Akintunde Johnson, Principal Education Officer, GSGS, Ikoyi, at the 2021 Financial Literacy Day celebration in Lagos as part of Global Money Week FCCPC casts shadows on Shoprite exit from Nigeria *Says M&A application pending By Princewill Ekwujuru The Federal Competition and Consumer protection Council (FCCPC) said it is not aware that retail conglomerate, Shoprite, is exiting Nigeria, but that there is a pending application for merger/acquisition involving it. The Executive Vice President/ Chief Executive Officer, FCCPC, Dr. Babatunde Irukera, in a telephone conversation with Vanguard said: “We do not know whether Shoprite is exiting Nigeria or not, but we have a pending application for merger /acquisition by a buyer. “The media can report anything, what I know is that there is a pending merger/acquisition application in my office. Merger/acquisition applications do not suggest ECONOMY whether a company is leaving or not. What I know is that we have an application for merger/acquisition here.”. A media report earlier in the week had alleged that Shoprite has finally sold its 100 percent equity in Nigeria and is set to exit Nigeria by December 2021. Recall that it was first reported in August 2020 that Shoprite was exiting operations in Nigeria, citing a re-evaluation of its operating model, which was denied through its Public Relations agency in Nigeria, chastex Consult. The report also said the retailer has in its latest financial reports stated that terms of sale have been ECONOMY Vanguard, FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021 —19 concluded and is waiting for the approval of FCCPC. However, as at the time of filing this report name(s) of the buyer(s) have not been revealed and efforts made to speak with Shoprite PR agency failed as telephone calls did not go through. Vanguard had earlier published a story where Shoprite debunked rumour of its exit from Nigeria some months ago where it said: “Shoprite is not leaving Nigeria. Who leaves a $30billion investment and closes shop?” “We are only just opening to Nigerian investors which we have also been talking to just before now. We are not leaving, who leaves over a $30billion invest and close shop. It doesn’t sound right. We only just gave this opportunity to Nigeria investors to come in and also help drive our expansion plan in Nigeria. So we are not leaving.” COVID: FG may miss N2trn oil revenue target — Agusto Consulting By Nkiruka Nnorom There are indica tions that the Federal Government may not meet the N2.01 trillion oil and gas revenue target as encapsulated in the 2021 budget over low energy consumption occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to an expert. Speaking at a conference convened by First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Limited, Mr Jimi Ogbobine, Head, Agusto Consulting, noted that despite the uptrend in international oil prices, that has seen prices surpass the $40 per barrel budget benchmark, the country would still suffer a period of low oil and gas export revenue this year due to the supply cuts by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). “There may be trends and spikes that may cause oil price to go up, but on the long term, especially this year, we are still not excited about oil prices. Energy consumption is still low because of remote work experience; and consumption of aviation fuel is also low. “Secondly, OPEC is currently curbing supplies to stimulate pricing. So, even when prices rally for whatever reason, Nigeria’s oil supply will still be low because OPEC + has cut our supplies. So, irrespective of the rally in prices, the cut in supply means that we will not be where we want to be in terms of oil revenue,” Ogbobine stated. At the backdrop of the adverse implications of the lower oil export earnings on the economy, he advised women entrepreneurs to expand their online presence, target diaspora consumers and also improve the bankability of their businesses to stay afloat. Mr Adesola Adeduntan, CEO, First Bank of Nigeria, speaking at the event, said the bank gave out a total of N58 billion to over 81,000 female entrepreneurs and professionals in 2020, adding that the FirstGem initiative of the bank takes an inclusive approach to empowering women to make confident and sound decisions with respect to their business, family, and future. Why we restored financial services channel — MTN ECONOMY MTN Nigeria has shed more light on the negotiations that trailed the suspension and restoration of digital banking services last week. In a statement yesterday, the telecom giant said it would revert to its previous cost of sales structures with banking partners until a new long-term agreement can be reached on a sustainable pricing structure going forward. According to the statement, “Following the temporary suspension of sales of MTN products through our banking channel partners on April 2, 2021, services were restored on Sunday, April 4, 2021 with customers able to access all services. This was agreed on the basis that MTN would revert to its previous cost of sales structures with banking partners, until a new longterm agreement can be reached on a sustainable pricing structure going forward. “Consequent on the intervention of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, the Nigeria Communication Commission and the Central Bank of Nigeria, since April 6, 2021, MTN has been participating in a series of meetings to align on longer term pricing structures. We will provide a further market update once these discussions have been concluded. “The streamlining MTN undertook is international standard and best practice as scale is built along distribution channels. We are confident that partners in the banking sector will work with us to ensure this process concludes as quickly as possible to the benefit of the entire industry.” NB invested N36bn in Nigeria in 2020 *Proposes N7.7bn scrip dividend CAPITAL MARKET By Peter Egwuatu & Providence Adeyinka Nigerian Breweries (NB) Plc said it expended over N36 billion in capital investment into its operations across Nigeria during the 2020 financial year, and has recommended N7.7 billion special scrip dividend scheme for its shareholders for the year. Speaking at a virtual pre- AGM media briefing of the company, Managing Director, Jordi Borrut Bel, said aside the investment, the company recorded significant growth in sales volume in the 2020 financial year despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses. Bel explained that the investments included the construction of a PET line inaugurated at Ijebu Ode Plant, the Ibadan Brewery Solar Power project among others, reiterating that the company remains a great believer in the Nigerian economy and would continue to play its part by investing to create more employment opportunities and contribute to the nation’s economic growth. He stated: “The 2020 financial year was a remarkable one for us as it afforded us the opportunity to invest heavily and position for growth. We spent not less than N36 billion on various assets to enhance business growth. “For 2021, we will strive to sustain the performance of the second half of 2020. However, we will still expect a challenging operating environment with devaluation, forex scarcity, inflation and affordability.” Meanwhile, the special scrip dividend scheme would give interested shareholders the option to elect to receive new ordinary shares in the Company instead of the final dividend in cash.
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09042021- Insecurity: Tension mounts in Imo, Abia, Rivers

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