Poverty receding in Paul Holmes (l),

founder and chair,

PRovoke Media,

India, worsens in Nigeria presenting the 2023

SABRE Award for
African Innovator of
By Dipo Oladehinde lifting 100 million people out of
the Year (Brand) to
poverty within a decade.
INDIA, one of the world’s most Funso Aina, senior
Nigeria is home to huge oil
populous countries, has lifted and gas resources, whose ex- manager, external
more than 415 million people ports account for more than half relations, MTN
out of poverty in the last 15 of the government’s revenue, Nigeria, at the PRo-
years. What is going on in a yet the country has at least 133 voke EMEA Summit
country that is 7,000 kilometres million people living in poverty. at Gesellschafts-
away from Nigeria shows how BusinessDay evaluates how haus Palmengar-
Africa’s biggest economy can India’s economy evolved and ten, in Frankfurt,
achieve an ambitious goal of Continues on page 38 Germany.

News you can trust * Monday 27 March 2023 Vol. 21, No 1,383 N400 www.businessday.ng facebook/businessdayonline @businessdayng @businessDayNG
FMDQ Close
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ARM, Stanbic
IBTC, Pension Soaring costs, naira scarcity
Alliance lead in
frustrate cancer patients
BIG STORY

micro pension
By Modestus Anaesoronye
AT the end of 2022 financial
year, ARM Pension Managers
Limited, Stanbic IBTC Pensions
Managers Limited and Pension
Alliance Limited were ahead of
other pension fund administra-
tors (PFAs) in Micro Pension
Plan (MPP) enrollment.
Out of 89,327 registered en-
rollees (contributors), ARM
Pension led with 22,580 mem-
Continues on page 38
Four new
deep seaports
set to attract
investments
>> Turn to page 39
•LUTH, LASUTH raise treatment costs By Temitayo Ayetoto-Oladehinde
A WAVE of price hikes by hos-
pitals and the impact of naira
scarcity are frustrating strug-
gling families of advanced can-
cer patients like Regina that are
already grappling with the cost
of living crisis in the country.
Hospitals hit by soaring
maintenance and consumables
costs have begun to pass the
buck, leaving patients scram-
bling for more money to cover
Continues on page 37
Nigeria’s late-stage cancer crisis
could worsen by 2030 – Page 37
Tinubu’s plan for long-term diseases
to face test of scale – Page 37

Number of Zenith Bank

Nigerians CEO, Onyeagwu,
studying in UK bags doctorate
hits 8-year high Frank Aigbogun (l), publisher, BusinessDay Media Limited, with Helmut Rumm, managing director, Krones LCS Center West Africa
degree from UNN
>> Turn to page 39 Limited, during the visit by BusinessDay’s management team to Krones in Lagos. Pic by Olawale Amoo >> Turn to page 32
2 www.businessday.ng MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023 www.businessday.ng 3
4 www.businessday.ng MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023

We look forward to working with you in 2023.

MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023 www.businessday.ng 5
6 www.businessday.ng
MARITIME
Nigeria’s economy gains N3.9trn WAEC goes digital for confirmation
from port concession - Haastrup of results, stamping of certificates
By Amaka Anagor-Ewuzie
VICKY Haastrup, the chair-
man of the Seaports Termi-
nal Operators Association
of Nigeria (STOAN), said
the Federal Government’s
port concession programme
had saved the country about
$8.5 billion (N3.91 trillion)
which was hitherto paid to
foreign shipping lines as
congestion surcharge.
She also said that conces-
sionaires are ready to inject
more funds into the port
once pending concession
agreements are renewed.
Haastrup told journalists
after a courtesy visit to her
by Frederik Klinke, the new
country managing director
of APM Terminals Nigeria.
She said in addition to
the huge savings to the
economy, terminal opera-
tors have also made signifi-
cant investments running
into billions of dollars at the
six major seaports across
the country.
“Nigeria’s port conces-
sion programme has been
a monumental success.
Many African countries
send representatives here
to understudy our port con-
cession regime and how we
were able to substantially
increase investment and ef-
ficiency within a very short
period of time. It shows the
can-do spirit of Nigerians.
“The port concession
Advancing Insurance Services Using
Technology
Can the emergence and impor-
tance of technology ever be dis-
puted? Probably not. At least,
it will be a challenging feat for
whoever wishes to do so. Going
by all its intricacies, technology,
to a large extent, is delivering
on what its pioneers and vi-
sionaries had promised: to ease
almost every aspect of human
endeavour. This technology has
achieved and is still achieving
more in other sectors including
the insurance sector.
From the deployment
of bottomry contracts oper-
ated during the early Asian
and Greco-Roman eras for
the management of maritime
and shipping-related emergen-
cies to the mid-1600s when
the Great Fire of London gave
rise to a number of companies
created to protect properties
against fire incidents; and the
programme reduced the
waiting time of vessels com-
ing into our ports from an
average of 45 days before
2006 to less than three days
at present. It has helped in
eliminating the notorious
congestion surcharge hith-
erto imposed on our ports by
major shipping lines under
the aegis of the Europe-West
Africa Trade Agreement
(EWATA),” she said.
She explained that the
elimination of the port con-
gestion surcharge has re-
sulted in saving Nigeria’s
trading community over
$500 million per annum,
which totals $8.5 billion
when multiplied by the 17
years of port concession.
The STOAN Chairman
said port concession has
also led to the injection of
private capital into port
development; which has
helped to free up govern-
ment resources for other
developmental purposes,
eliminated port congestion
and led to the modernisation
of the country’s seaports.
She listed others ben-
efits of port concession to
include improved avail-
ability of cargo handling
equipment, increased com-
petition among terminal
operators, improved wel-
fare and training of port
workers and the institution
of a condition of service for
dockworkers.
Lloyd’s of London which sup-
plied merchants and bankers
with underwriters, history has
made it undeniably evident that
the emergence of insurance was
to proffer a potent solution to
the inescapable phenomena
of risk. Thus, making it one of
the most important industries
in the world, and the advance-
ment in proffering this very
important service cannot be
understated.
Risk management services
have evolved over time, and in
contemporary times, it has im-
proved in tandem with the level
of development in technology.
This is evident, especially in
the deployment of insurance
services to customers. Nowa-
days, there is a prevalent focus
on customer satisfaction, data
analysis, and simplified claims
processing. Hence, technologi-
NEWS
EDUCATION
By Charles Ogwo
THE West African Exami-
nations Council (WAEC)
Nigeria has announced
the suspension of manual
confirmation of results or
stamping of certificates
for candidates who sat the
West African Senior School
Certificate (WASSCE) from
1999 till day.
A press statement is-
sued by the public affairs
department of the Council,
and signed by Moyosola Ad-
esina, acting head of public
affairs at WAEC, Yaba, La-
gos for head of national of-
fice on Sunday, said that the
Council suspended manual
processing for confirmation
of results and stamping of
certificates in favour of
digital processing.
“WAEC Nigeria is
pleased to inform institu-
tions, organisations, agen-
cies, embassies, high com-
missions, and the general
public that the Council will
no longer provide manual
confirmation or stamping
of certificates of candidates
who sat the WASSCE from
1999 till date, as the Council
has launched the WAEC
digital certificate platform
for a seamless and timely
mode of availing stakehold-
ers of their candidates’
certificates”, the statement
read.
The statemint, in addi-
cal tools such as Customer Re-
lationship Management (CRM)
systems, Data Analytical sys-
tems and Field Management
Service software are entrenched
in the global practice and oper-
ations of insurance companies.
However, the insurance
market of today has optimized
to the level of attaining cost ef-
ficiency using technology. As
such, players within the sector
have transcended from their
early basic functions of provid-
ing customer-related activities,
handling inquiries, collecting
data for predictive risk analysis,
and boosting productivity to
improve the quality of services.
NEM Insurance Plc, Nige-
ria’s highly reputable insurance
company, has distinguished it-
self in the business of risk man-
agement with a keen interest in
customer satisfaction. Prioritis-
tion stated that efforts are
underway to expand the
platform to accommodate
candidates from 1980 and
that updates will be pro-
vided to the public as they
become available.
The WAEC digital cer-
tificate platform allows can-
didates to access, download,
and share their original
WAEC certificates. Institu-
tions and organisations can
also promptly and securely
confirm the certificates of
candidates.
The Examination Coun-
cil further affirmed that
certificates accessed and
shared through the plat-
form are authentic and
sourced directly from the
WAEC database.
“We implore stakehold-
ers and the general public to
utilise the digital certificate
platform developed to ease
the bottlenecks associated
with the manual access and
confirmation system.
We kindly request that
institutions, organisations,
agencies, embassies, and
high commissions, among
others provide email ad-
dresses for the digital shar-
ing, receiving, and verifica-
tion of certificates.
Furthermore, all con-
cerned should please up-
date their portals to ac-
commodate the sharing of
the WAEC certificate,” the
statement reads.
ing the customer and meeting
their ever-growing needs pro-
fessionally with the aid of tech-
nology.
Expressing his delight in
the company’s technologically
driven processes, the Group
Managing Director and Chief
Executive Officer, NEM Insur-
ance Plc, Mr. Tope Smart, said,
“At NEM, we pride ourselves as
a forward-thinking and pro-
gressive insurance company.
We currently use an application
known as Insurance Enterprise
Solution for underwriting our
business. With the level of tech-
nological tools at our disposal,
we are able to guarantee our
customers a simplified process
in line with international best
practices.”
“In addition to simplified
technologically aided process-
es, we appreciate the impor-
EASE OF DOING BUSINESS
Gombe retains top position as easiest state
for business in PEBEC 2023 report
By Gbemi Faminu
THE Presidential Enabling
Business Environment
Council (PEBEC) in the sec-
ond edition of its Subnation-
al Ease of Doing Business
report for 2023, has retained
Gombe as the easiest state
for business, rating it ahead
of the other states and the
Federal Capital Territory.
Gombe, referred to as
the Jewel of the Savannah,
recorded a weighted score
of 7.15 to emerge as the state
providing the friendliest
environment for business,
followed closely by Jigawa
and Sokoto with 6.79 and 6.88
respectively.
Further analysis of the
report by geopolitical zones
shows that Plateau (5.8)
topped the states in North
Central; with Gombe (7.15)
topping the states in North
East; Jigawa (6.88) topping
tance of an enabled workforce.
Our highly skilled and profes-
sional staff are not only given
the necessary tools to perform
optimally but are recognised
and celebrated for their enor-
mous efforts and contributions
towards the delivery of top-
notch quality services all the
time. Customer satisfaction is
our top priority and as such,
we pay adequate attention to
the data provided and accord-
ingly deploy the right tools
that will enable an efficient and
smooth running of automated
processes and of course, the
provision of value-driven prod-
ucts and services. Some of the
technologies we have deployed
include; Visitors’ Management
Solutions, Printing Solutions,
E-Insurance Solutions- for
digital distribution of our retail
products etc.”
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
North West; Anambra (6.19)
first among the states in the
South East; Rivers (5.76) on
top of South South; and Ekiti
(5.79) on top of South West.
Other findings from the
report shows that there has
been marginal improvement
in the satisfaction with the
ease of doing business in
Nigeria from the 2021 base-
line with the 2023 EoDB
weighted score increasing
to 5.69 as against the 5.45 in
the baseline.
Furthermore, Infrastruc-
ture as well as a secure and
stable environment are the
key drivers of satisfaction
both accounting for 41.1
percent (22.8 percnt and
18.3 percent respectively) of
satisfaction
While there is marginal
variation in satisfaction
across business sizes, there
is noticeable dispersion in
satisfaction across sectors.
NEM has a variety of prod-
ucts and services that cut across
almost all spheres of human
endeavour. From Maritime to
Aviation, to Life, Property and
Vehicular insurance as well as
protection for agricultural in-
vestments, goods-in-transit,
and engineering.
With a commitment to
excellence and exceptional ser-
vice delivery, NEM is achieving
enviable new heights. A 26%
growth rate from 2021 to 2022
is a testament to that. With
its core values of discipline,
empathy, integrity, and cour-
age aided by innovation, and a
capable workforce supported
by contemporary technology,
NEM Insurance Plc, no doubt,
is advancing insurance practice
in Nigeria through the deploy-
ment of innovative technology
across the board.
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023 www.businessday.ng 7
8 www.businessday.ng MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023 www.businessday.ng 9

NEWS
EMPOWERMENT

Business Women Hub hosts

conference, targets 500 entrepreneurs
By Damilola Odifa
AS part of efforts to support
female entrepreneurs and
business leaders, Business
Women Hub (BWH) is set to
hold a conference in Lagos,
focusing on digital innova-
tion and technology.
Business Women Hub
Conference is a two-day
event organised by BWH,
a platform dedicated to the
growth of female-owned
businesses through sales
and marketing training,
general business work-
shops, and financial sourc-
ing for businesses in Africa,
especially within their first
five years of existence.
In line with the goal of
this year’s International
Women’s Day, the 2023 edi-
tion of the BWH Conference
is themed ‘Expanding HER-
economics Using Digital In-
novation and Technology’,
and is scheduled to hold
on March 30 and 31, 2023
in Lagos, according to a
statement.
It said the event would
begin with online sensi-
tisation (Instagram Live
Session) on March 30, while
the conference and exhibi-
tion would take place the
next day.
The keynote address is
to be delivered by Marga-
ret Olele, CEO of Amer-
ican Business Council,
Nigeria; and Neya Kalu,
chairman/publisher, The
Sun Nigeria, with Clau-
diana Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu,
first lady of Lagos State,
invited as the special guest
of honour and speaker, ac-
cording to the statement.
It said topics of dis-
cussion would be on the
need to expand processes
through innovation and
technology in the busi-
ness sector, how to become
relevant in one’s business
niche, as well as ways
to provide top-notch ser-
vices.
“The event is set to host
over 500 entrepreneurs,
exploring bespoke net-
working opportunities,
learnings, and transac-
tions through the exten-
sive range of discussions,
receptions, inauguration
ceremony and a dedicated
exhibition area to gain the
most traction for your busi-
ness and brand,” BWH said.
The conference will host
16 speakers including Fo-
lashade A. Coker, director,
informal sector and spe-
cial duties, Lagos Island
Revenue Service; Meflyn
Anwana, special assistant
to the executive governor
of Akwa Ibom State on
entrepreneurial develop-
ment; Ini Edo, actress/
producer and girl child ac-
tivist; Imelda Usoro Olaoye,
founder, Business Women
Hub/managing partner,
Thinkmint Nigeria; and
Toni Sanni, head, corporate
finance and venture capital,
Emerging Africa Group.
Others are Bolanle Ty-
son, head, SME digital
product, Sterling Bank;
Ayo Bankole Akintujoye,
strategy and transforma-
tion professional, Cala-
dium Consulting; Ubong
Ita, CEO, Koboaccountant;
Linda Ochugbua, head, dig-
ital services, BusinessDay
Media; Olubayode Agbi,
CEO, Pillar Craft Consult-
ing and founder, USAWA
accounting; Asekun Olu-
watobi, programs coordina-
tor, operations and alumni
engagement, Google; Nike
James, tax partner, KPMG;
Blessing E. Macauley,
founder, PR Fusion; and
Kikelomo Atanda Owo,
CEO, Z-Edge Consulting.

AVIATION erate two weekly flights

between Israel and Nigeria.
Air Peace begins first direct flight “So far, no direct flights
have been operated be-
from Nigeria to Israel April 20 tween the two countries
and the thousands of pil-
Abuja and Lagos. In the grims who come to Israel
By Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha every year from Nigeria
first phase, the Nigerian
AIR Peace, Nigeria’s big- company (airline) will op- have flown through Turkey
gest carrier, has attained or Ethiopia.”
another milestone, as it
begins the first direct flight
from Nigeria to the State of
Israel on April 20, 2023.
This is a huge relief to
Nigerians and Israelis who
have to travel for 27 hours
from Nigeria to Israel via
other nations, but direct
flight between the two
countries would take just
five hours.
Israeli Government has
confirmed that Air Peace’s
inaugural flight to Ben Gu-
rion International Airport,
Tel-Aviv, Israel would be
April 20, 2023. Miri Re-
gev, the Israeli Minister of
Transportation and Road
Safety, who disclosed this
in Israel, noted that this
would be a historical feat,
as there had never been a
direct flight between the
Middle East nation and Ni-
geria.
“Nigeria’s flag carrier
Air Peace will begin oper-
ating direct flights to Israel
for the first time, starting
on April 20, the Minister of
Transportation and Road
Safety announced today
(Sunday). Minister Regev
today approved the avia-
tion agreement signed be-
tween Israel and Nigeria,
and submitted it for govern-
ment approval.
“The signed agreement
will for the first time allow
the airlines of each of the
countries to operate regu-
lar flights at Ben Gurion
Airport to several destina-
tions in Nigeria, such as
10 www.businessday.ng
OPINION
By Gregory Kronsten
THE Russian invasion
of Ukraine in February
2022 has changed our ex-
pectations of the impact
of environmental, social
and governance (ESG)
criteria. We can all see the
impact of climate change
on the weather conditions
around us: too much rain
(and flooding) in Western
Europe, too little rain
(and drought) in much of
East Africa. Pastoralists
in the Horn of Africa have
suffered six successive
years of drought and, if
the World Meteorologi-
cal Office is to believed,
a seventh beckons this
year. However, our abil-
ity to reverse or at least
contain the change has
been diminished by the
invasion.
Voters are accustomed
to regular supplies of fuel
By Nene Bejide
MAKING the right In-
vestment choices is im-
portant in determining
portfolio growth across
business options. These
decisions are based on
the investment’s objec-
tives, risk profile, and
expected performance. A
well-planned investment
increases the chances for
returns by identifying the
A little realism injected into the debate on climate change
and foodstuffs at stable
prices, and governments
are scrambling to meet
these concerns. In ad-
vanced economies, they
have the public funds for
the subsidies. They have
also rowed back on clean
energy. The UK once em-
ployed 1.2 million people
in coal mining at 3,000
collieries. Its last deep-pit
mine closed in 2015 but
the government gave the
go-ahead for a new one
in north-west England in
December 2022, arguing
that the output would be
allocated to steelmakers.
In Germany coal pro-
duction picked up last
year and supplied more
than one third of the fuel
for power generation. It
is phasing out nuclear
power in response to the
disaster at Fukushima
in Japan in 2011 and had
the same plans for coal
with a deadline of sorts of
2030. However, Russia re-
sponded to international
sanctions imposed after
the invasion of Ukraine
by limiting the flow of gas
through its pipelines to
Western Europe. Germa-
ny is the most vulnerable
country in this respect.
Admittedly, Europe-
an natural gas prices in
the market have been
on a broadly downward
Viable investment strategy amidst rising inflation in Nigeria
opportunities that come
with it even in periods of
uncertainties.
While investors and
portfolio managers dedi-
cate time to ensure op-
timal returns, there are
macro-economic forces
that influence the market.
Of these forces, inflation
is of concern because it
portends the risks of mar-
gin decline due to a rise
in prices and reduction
of purchasing power. In
an inflationary environ-
ment, organisations are
affected by increased cost
of inputs for production or
delivery, preceding high
costs to consumers in a
bid to offset the burden.
According to the recent
report by the National Bu-
reau of Statistics (NBS),
headline inflation in Nige-
ria for the month of Febru-
ary printed at 21.91% rep-
resenting 0.09% increase
from January’s inflation
rate of 21.82% and 6.21%
year-on-year increase
trend since peaking in
August 2022 and in Janu-
ary were back at pre-war
levels. This brings down
the fiscal cost of subsidy.
Once we remove the froth and exuberance
from the narrative, we can see that the war in
Ukraine has induced more realistic thinking
on climate change and our efforts to resist it
That said, we are wary of
complacency and will not
jump to triumphalist con-
clusions about the failure
of the Russian strategy/
success of European co-
operation and resource-
fulness in tapping new
sources of supply.
The oil majors have not
fallen into such a trap. In
February BP reported re-
cord profits of USD27.7bn
for 2022 and announced a
change in some of its most
watched targets. It had
planned to cut its oil and
gas production by 40 per
cent this decade but now
aims to reduce output by
25 per cent. This implies
that the company will still
be producing 2.0 million
barrels per day (mbpd)
equivalent by 2030, which
compares with the cur-
rent level of 2.22mbpd.
Average annual capital
spending is projected at
USD18bn this decade, di-
vided equally between fos-
compared to 15.70% in
February 2022; this is the
highest we have seen in 17
years. Except in Decem-
ber 2022 when the con-
sumer price index slowed
to 21.34% from 21.47% in
November, the index has
consistently increased
since January 2022. How-
ever, this inflationary
trend is not peculiar to
Nigeria alone, record high
inflation rates have been
witnessed across major
economies of the world
largely due to disruption
of supply dynamics as a
result of the Ukraine-Rus-
sia conflict which started
in Q1’2022. For context, in-
flation rate in the United
States of America touched
an unprecedented level
of 9.1% in June 2022 be-
fore slowing down to 6%
in February 2023 while
United Kingdom’s infla-
tion rate got to as high
as 9.6% in October 2022
before gradually easing to
8.8% as at January 2023.
sil fuels and renewables.
The chair of BP Amer-
ica was adamant that the
strategy for the green
transition was unchanged
while Bernard Looney,
the chief executive of the
parent company, rebut-
ted suggestions that the
new targets were driven
by a desire to boost valu-
ations (and reduce the
gap with the US giants,
Exxon and Chevron). It
also emerged in February
in the Financial Times
that the board of Shell had
considered moving the
listing and headquarters
of the company to the US
in 2021 before deciding
to leave the Netherlands
and consolidate its base
in London. Its chief ex-
ecutive, Wael Sawan, is
known to be concerned
about the same valuation
gap. The US giants are
valued at about six times
their cash flow, compared
with three times for Shell.
All oil producers, no-
tably those listed in the
“West”, are under pres-
sure from the media, ac-
tivists and new research
It is pertinent that in-
vestors prepare for infla-
tionary periods because it
defines price stability and
avoids panic. By having a
structure to protect funds
from inflation, more ca-
pacity is built to weather
the market volatilities,
especially for long-term
investments.
According to Joshua
Olutola, Head of Bro-
kerage & Trading at
Baige Capital Limited
(an Inter-Dealer Fixed
Income Brokerage firm),
the inflation rate is ex-
pected to remain ele-
vated in Nigeria in the
short to midterm due to
unique factors plaguing
the economy which will
add pressures to costs
of producing goods and
services such as relative
fuel scarcity, potential
removal of fuel subsidy
and cash crunch making
business activities even
more difficult to conduct.
Despite these infla-
bodies for failing to live
up to their proclaimed
green credentials. The
critics are surely correct
on projections for low-
carbon investment. Black-
stone and other leading
asset managers are also
under fire for their ESG
investing. Large public
relations departments
in the majors indulge in
greenwashing.
We should say, how-
ever, that the ESG indus-
try is not without influ-
ence or resources. It is not
yet an even match with
the majors but nor is it a
case of David vs Goliath.
Sovereign credit ratings
now incorporate a score
for ESG considerations.
MSCI in the US offers the
same for listed companies.
Its ESG research unit
has produced a 165-page
document to explain its
Kronsten has more than 30
years’ experience in banking,
publishing and forecasting on
Africa in research.
tionary trends, adopting
a portfolio approach to
investing will assist in-
vestors to weather the
storm and reduce value
erosion of investments.
In line with the invest-
ment objectives and risk
profile of the investor, a
percentage of the portfo-
lio should be allocated to
stocks that have the twin
advantage of good funda-
mentals and attractive
(double-digit) dividend
yields. Investors should
also take advantage of
high yields in the money
market space in order to
minimise negative real
returns on investments;
several commercial pa-
pers have been issued in
recent times which offer
decent interest rates for
less than one-year dura-
tion.
Finally, investors
should consider increas-
ing exposures to alterna-
tive assets such as real
estate, foreign-denominat-
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
methodology, boasting of
1,000 data points, data on
100,000 individual direc-
tors and coverage of up
to 20 years’ annual share-
holder meetings. MSCI is
not alone in this market:
Refinitiv has a compara-
ble product.
Once we remove the
froth and exuberance
from the narrative, we
can see that the war in
Ukraine has induced
more realistic thinking
on climate change and our
efforts to resist it. This has
bought some additional
time for oil producers in
the emerging markets
universe to make the nec-
essary adjustments for
their transitions. A few
have begun work in ear-
nest (such as Saudi Ara-
bia) but many have barely
started (such as Nigeria).
That time is limited be-
cause there is irreversible
momentum behind inter-
national moves at official
level to address climate
change. The US Treasury
secretary, Janet Yellen, is
pushing for a new trans-
formational agenda at the
World Bank once a new
president is installed. We
will get there (life with
limited use of fossil fuels)
one day but not nearly as
fast as the purists believed
at the outset.
ed investments, private
equity, commodities etc;
some of these alternative
assets are not common in
Nigeria, however, they
offer decent returns on
investments as well as di-
versification benefits due
to their lower correlation
to traditional assets like
public equities, fixed in-
come instruments. Com-
modities like currencies,
Gold, Iron Ore, agricul-
tural produce etc can even
be traded on recognized
Exchanges. Historically,
Gold has often been con-
sidered a hedge against
inflation; on Bloomberg,
spot price of Gold is up
by 4.8% Year-to-Date and
a market consensus es-
timate the price rising
even further in 2023. In-
vestments in alternative
assets, however, involve
sophisticated knowledge
of the market and should
not be undertaken with-
out understanding the
associated risks.
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
By Etim Etim
IT’S been 12 years since
Akwa Ibom State govern-
ment purchased an execu-
tive Gulf Stream jet for the
use of its governor. The
plane was bought for over
$40 million and equipped
at over $10 million with
modern avionics and oth-
ers facilities, bringing the
total costs to over $50 mil-
lion. Gov. Akpabio used it
for the last three or four
years of his administra-
tion and handed it to his
successor, Gov. Udom
Emmanuel, who has used
it for all of his eight years.
I am now asking Mr. Umo
Eno, who may take office
in May and succeed Udom
Emmanuel, to avoid the
temptation to use the air-
craft. He should please
sell it and spare us the
rising costs of keeping the
12-seater aircraft.
It is becoming increas-
ingly very costly to main-
tain the aircraft. An air-
plane is like a car, or any
other equipment. The
older it gets, the higher
the maintenance costs. So
far, Akwa Ibom State gov-
ernment has spent over
N150 billion in the last 12
years to keep the aircraft.
The cost components
are crew salaries and al-
lowances (three pilots,
flight engineer and flight
attendants); insurance
premiums; parking fees,
fuelling, depreciation,
monthly maintenance and
the twice-yearly C-checks.
The costs of maintenance
and C-checks are increas-
ing every year as the air-
craft gets older. Remem-
ber, apart from the sala-
ries of domestic crew staff
and parking fees, all other
costs are denominated in
dollars, with implications
for exchange rate fluc-
tuations. With inflation
rising almost every day,
these costs will continue
to increase, and the state
will find it increasingly
difficult to bear them.
Akwa Ibom State has
many urgent needs to take
care of. Unemployment
rate is over 51%; poverty
rate hovers above 70%
and misery rate has hit
the skies. Our people are
poor, very poor, miser-
able and almost helpless.
Our education, health and
many other key sectors
require urgent attention.
It is heart-breaking to see
our kids sit on the floor
in our public schools –
OPINION
Time to sell off state-
owned aircraft
even in schools in Uyo. State with an IGR above
Right now, the average N70 billion in a month
cost of maintaining the does not have a dedicated
aircraft in a month is ris- aircraft for its governor.
ing above N1 billion. It is Lagos governors fly com-
therefore unconscionable mercial to wherever they
for a governor to continue want to go. Kaduna State
to use this aircraft. I urge with a huge IGR – about
the next governor to put N50 billion a month also -
up the plane for sale and does not have a private jet.
dispose of it immediately. Rivers State has a private
It is time to save Akwa jet or two, but its IGR is
Ibom from this huge fi- well above N50 billion in
nancial burden. It is good a month. Akwa Ibom State
enough that Akwa Ibom is therefore in a wrong
State has an airline, Ibom league. With only N3 bil-
Air, which in the last lion in IGR and less than
three years has carved a $3,000 in per capita GDP,
niche for itself as a well- our state has no business
managed air transport maintaining a private jet
business. With its focus for its governor. Umo Eno
on customer satisfaction should please sell it off, or
and overall impressive put it on lease and gener-
prompt service, the air- ate money for the state.
The average cost of maintaining the aircraft
in a month is rising above N1 billion. It is
therefore unconscionable for a governor to
continue to use this aircraft
line has taken a good
slice of the market share The administration
within a short period. of Gov. Akpabio bought
Our governor can use the aircraft in the hey-
the services of Ibom Air days of the oil boom when
in and out of Uyo. Where crude oil was selling for
it is very urgent and im- above $100 per barrel; the
portant, he can charter country was producing
a jet. But it is no longer about two million barrels
judicious to keep this one daily and oil theft was
permanently. still at artisanal level.
I have heard that Umo Our state was earning
Eno is a humble person close to N100 billion in
with a humble back- monthly allocation (now
ground. I have also heard it is around N20 billion
that he has no tinge of on average). I did not like
arrogance in his DNA. the idea of the govern-
Well, I don’t know him ment buying the aircraft,
personally, but if these and I raised it with the
are valid testimonials, he then governor in a phone
should not have a prob- call. The acquisition was
lem flying Ibom Air with already generating some
the rest of Akwa Ibom controversy. Akpabio
people. our past gover- took time to explain why
nors, including the iconic he acquired the plane,
Obong Victor Attah, who which was essentially for
fought tirelessly for the him to travel efficiently
oil boom we enjoy now, and effectively for official
flew commercial out of business. “Sometime, I
Calabar or Port Harcourt have reasons to travel
Airport. We had no air- out of Uyo at night when
port then. I know that the commercial airlines
many people around the had closed’’, the governor
new governor would be told me. He then, sur-
telling him: “Your Excel- prisingly, referred me
lency, your predecessors to speak with the late
have enjoyed the private Idongesit Nkanga (a re-
jet. Why are they telling tired air force pilot who
you not to enjoy it? Why is was then the Chairman of
it now that it is your turn? the Ibom Airport Author-
Why Sir?’’ Truth is that ity and was well informed
Akwa Ibom State is not about the purchase of the
as wealthy as some people plane) to establish its cost-
think. IGR is about N3 bil- effectiveness. I called the
lion in a month, but Lagos retired air force officer,
and he dutifully informed
me about the costs and all
that, and emphasized that
it was a fair deal. I agreed
politely, but inside me, I
was not impressed. Well,
we cannot turn back the
hands of the clock. Our
governors have used the
aircraft for 12 years now.
It has served its purpose,
I suppose. It is time to
Etim, a social commentator
dispose it off and use the
writes from Lagos
money for other things.
By J.K. Randle
WE are entitled to take a cue
from Albert Einsten (1879
to 1955) who although not a
Chartered Accountant (or
bean counter) declared:
“What counts can’t al-
ways be counted; What can
be counted doesn’t always
count”
Nevertheless, the Randle
family is obliged to imme-
diately count its blessings
while simultaneously em-
barking on damage control.
For all we know we may be
at risk of further dangerous
oppression at the hands of
our tormentors – the govern-
ment which has infiltrated
our ranks and compromised
our friends in addition to
suborning our foes as well as
the forces of darkness.
On 28th August 2022 we
celebrated the 113th (post-
humous) birthday of Chief
J.K. Randle with a Thanks-
giving and Memorial Service
at Christ Church, 1 Robinson
Street, London SW3 4AA.
Although now retired, Most
Reverend (Dr.) Brian Lethard
was there. The new vicar
Reverend Sam Hoyle sup-
plicated the Almighty on our
behalf as follows:
Psalm 103, 1-8
“Bless the Lord, O my
soul,
And all that is within me,
Bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And do not forget all his
benefits –
Who forgives all your
iniquity,
Who heals all your dis-
eases,
Who redeems your life
from the Pit,
Who crowns you with
steadfast love and mercy,
Who satisfies you with
good as long as you live
As that your youth is re-
newed like the eagle’s.
The Lord works vindica-
tion
And justice for all who are
oppressed.
He made known his ways
to Moses,
His acts to the people of
Israel.
The Lord is merciful and
gracious,
Slow to anger and abound-
ing in steadfast love.”
Perhaps he should have
added the homily by Oprah
Winfrey:
“The more you praise
and celebrate your life (and
the lives of others), the more
there is in life to celebrate.”
In the case of my dad,
Chief J.K. Randle there was
(and remains) plenty to cel-
ebrate – as businessman,
sporting legend and philan-
thropist extraordinaire. He
was profoundly passionate
about Lagos and was right
there in laying the founda-
tion of Nigeria that we would
be proud of where neither
tribe nor creed would divide
us. As Chairman of Lagos
Cry havoc and “buga” dancing
at the United Nations (grime,
ruin & remnants) (3)
Race (Horse Racing) Club and
Chairman of Lagos Island
Club he was stoutly against
racial discrimination. He
was also the Lisa [Prime
Minister] of Lagos.
In his Will he bequeathed
very generous donations to
both Christian and Moslem
schools in Lagos:
1. C.M.S. Grammar
School, Bariga
2. St. Peters School, Faji
3. Holy Cross School,
Catholic Mission Street
4. Ansar-Ud=Deen Col-
lege, Isolo
5. Ahmmadiya College,
Agege
as well as the Federation
of Boys and Girls Club.
In addition to the Chief
J.K. Randle Memorial Hall,
Onikan, Lagos, J.K. Randle
General Hospital, Surulere
was named after him. So
also were Randle Junior
School, Apapa; Randle Senior
School, Apapa; Randle Road,
Surulere and J.K. Randle
Road Onikan.
He and others of his gen-
eration would undoubtedly
be turning in their graves
if and when they read the
verdict delivered by Chidi
Amuta on the front page of
“ThisDay” newspaper on
August 7, 2022.
“I live in Lagos, the heart-
beat of global cacophony
and hotbed of instantaneous
universal madness. The
police want to arrest a young
“Danfo Molue” bus duo for
traffic offences. They obey
the police by clearing off the
main street. They park their
rickety sunflower bus by the
roadside on a busy street in
central commercial Lagos.
But they decide on a drama
sketch apparently rehearsed.
Instantly, both boys de-
cide to strip butt naked, dan-
gling in full view of all on the
open street and adjoining
market. Someone screams a
warning to the police: “keep
clear of them o ! When mad-
ness degenerates to naked-
ness in the market, it is risky
to go near the naked ones. If
they bite you, you, too, will
go raving mad!” Spectators
gather. Some run in horror.
But the policemen looked at
each other and did the wise
thing. They run away ! The
Police College never trains
you to arrest two naked mad
men in the middle of a crowd-
ed street. The boys laughed at
the fleeing cops and quickly
put on their clothes. Mission
accomplished . They zoom
off in the yellow bus. Les-
son: Fear naked mad men in
the sun on a crowded Lagos
street !!”
It is tempting to resort to
Latin: “Omnibus morien-
dum est.”
[We shall all end up in
death].
Regardless, we must
weather the storms. Our
mission remains intact – to
turn the dreams of our ances-
tors to reality and a worthy
bequest to our children and
Randle is Chairman/Chief
ExecutiveJK Randle Profes-
sional Services Chartered
Accountants
www.businessday.ng 11
grandchildren.
However, the government
(and by extension the politi-
cians) are our major problem
and formidable/obstinate
barrier to the sublime great-
ness that beckons.
Fortunately, Dr. John
Arbuthnot (1667 – 1735) has
provided us with the pros-
pects of eventual relief rather
than perpetual damnation:
“All political parties die
at last of swallowing their
own lies.”
Hence, we shall not al-
ways (eternally) be at the
mercy of government – no
matter how callous, tyranni-
cal, ruthless and rapacious.
When the government bull-
dozed both Chief J.K. Randle
Memorial Hall and Dr. J.K.
Randle Swimming Pool it
was not just on a rampage.
It was sacrilege.
Some of us were around
in the 1950’s when during
the “Lagos Slum Clearance
Scheme.”, John Henderson
(an Englishman from War-
wick) who was the Chief
Executive of the Lagos Ex-
ecutive Development Board
[LEDB] was warned by the
inhabitants of Idita on the
fringe of Isale Eko that if he
insisted on destroying their
sacred ancestral home, the
consequences would be dev-
astating. Henderson would
not listen. In rapid succes-
sion each and everyone in the
demolition squad died sud-
denly in mysterious circum-
stances. When the casualty
reached twelve, it was my
father Chief J.K. Randle who
prevailed on John Henderson
to cease fire before the con-
frontation became a war of
attrition with monumental
death and other calamities
for those who underesti-
mated the hidden powers of
our ancestors.
Even though Chief J.K.
Randle died on 17th Decem-
ber 1956 shortly after his
national service/duty as
Chef-De-Mission of the Ni-
gerian Team to the Olympic
Games in Melbourne, Aus-
tralia, he has remained in our
hearts and as an angel on our
shoulders. That the goodwill
and values he bequeathed
have remained intact is truly
miraculous. Nevertheless,
we must remain vigilant and
ever watchful of the latest
egregious plot and menda-
cious scheming to balkanise
his legacy and our herit-
age. We were naïve not to
have picked up the warning
signals early enough. We
must now listen to our own
echo chamber as we struggle
to come to terms with the
tragedy of the Chairman of
the Trust conniving with
the wayward trespasser and
unscrupulous transgressor to
dispossess us and thereafter
cast us into the wilderness –
like the Lost Tribe of Israel.
Through friendship and
marriage as well as shared
grief we came to believe that
our alliance with the Maje-
kodunmi’s was rock solid.
What we now have on our
hands is the monumental
task of rebuilding trust and
friendship anchored on the
sanctity of the everlasting
love between Chief J.K. Ran-
dle and his bosom friend
Chief (Dr.) Moses Adekoyejo
Majekodunmi.
12 www.businessday.ng MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023

EDITORIAL
PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Frank Aigbogun Is Nigeria’s poverty artificial or natural?
EDITOR
Tayo Fagbule POVERTY is easier to de- the already poverty stinking Due to a lack of social education, access to land or
tect or acknowledge than country. Like other coun- his in effect has protection, the poor and property, and employment,
to describe or define. Yet, tries, Nigeria experienced vulnerable are disadvan- among others.
DEPUTY EDITORS it can be defined in the real several waves of COVID-19, im lications not onl taged. Most Nigerians live The Gini coefficient,
Lolade Akinmurele
John Osadolor, Abuja
sense as a situation in which
an individual’s or family’s
which affected various eco-
nomic activities. This, in
on health ut also on below the national poverty
line of $1.25 per day. Many
used to capture income
inequality, which stood at
resources are insufficient to effect, has implications not economic and social households have adapted 38.68 percent in 1986, rose
NEWS EDITORS provide a socially acceptable only on health but also on their lifestyles to deal with to 44.95 percent in 1992,
Femi Asu (print) level of life. economic and social impact, im act increasing the decreasing incomes by low- worsened to 46.50 percent in
Temiloluwa Bamgbose (online) In every country of the
world, poverty exists, al-
increasing the food insecu-
rity issues in the country
ood insecurit issues in ering their food consump-
tion. These negative welfare
1996, and stood at 48.83 per-
cent in 2010, shows that the
MANAGING DIRECTOR
though the rate differs from and raising the poverty rate. the countr and raising impacts have been exacer- gap between the haves and
country to country. This im- Nigeria’s poverty rate bated by high inflation. have-nots has continued to
Dr. Ogho Okiti plies that poverty is not only has thus grown into a giant the o ert rate Furthermore, house- widen. In recent years, the
for Nigeria or, in particular, monster despite the wealth of holds in Nigeria are not Gini coefficient has risen
CHIEF SALES & MARKETING developing countries. It has resources in the country. De- only poor; they also face above 52 percent.
OFFICER been a plague affecting both spite impressive economic 2019 report showed that 40.1 significant disparities in as- Furthermore, the un-
Ijeoma Ude developed and developing growth and stabilisation percent of the population sets (such as education and employment rate has in-
countries for ages. witnessed in the decades was impoverished. In other health), control over public creased in the country. The
World vision report preceding 2016, with an an- words, 4 out of 10 Nigerians resources, and access to es- NBS report shows that un-
GM CONFERENCES shows that over 10 percent of nual economic growth rate sential services, as well as employment and underem-
had real per capita spending
Obiora Onyeaso people in the United States, of 12.8 percent in 1990, 7.61 widespread insecurity. ployment stood at 33.3 per-
of less than N137,430 each
as of 2019, are poor. Accord- percent in 1996, 10.35 percent year. This equates to roughly The degree of poverty is cent and 22.8 percent. Also,
GM BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (North) ing to the World Bank, South in 2003, 7.84 percent in 2010, 82.9 million Nigerians living primarily determined by youth unemployment and
Bashir Ibrahim Hassan Sudan has an 82.3 percent and 6.31 percent in 2014, in poverty, according to na- average income and income underemployment were
poverty rate, Burundi has a though 2016 growth rate was tional measures. It’s worth disparity. Poverty is re- 42.5 percent and 21 percent,
ADVERT MANAGER 64.9 percent poverty rate, and -1.62 percent accompanied by noting that this figure does duced when average income respectively.
Central African Republic has weak recovery of 0.8 percent not include the state of Borno. rises, while it is increased In a country blessed
Queen Nkwocha a 62 percent poverty rate. growth rate in 2017. Nigeria when inequality increases. with abundant human and
By 2022, statistics show
There are 133 million poor was classified as one of the an increase in the number As a result, changes in natural resources, poverty
FINANCE MANAGER people in Nigeria today. The world’s poorest countries, of people living in extreme poverty have two compo- is still rising daily as mil-
Adedayo Adetoye country’s poverty rate has with a GDP per capita of poverty to approximately 90 nents: the growth compo- lions of people are pushed
skyrocketed, making it world $2,175.67 in 2016, which is million. This implies that al- nent, which is related to a below the poverty line due
COPY SALES MANAGER poverty headquarters in 2018, low compared with other most half of her population change in mean income, to corruption, bad govern-
Florence Kadiri according to report. Since its developing countries. still is wallowing in abject and the other is the inequal- ance, and over-dependence
independence in 1960, Nige- Although Nigeria’s GDP poverty. ity component, which is on oil, etc. Thus, poverty
ria has faced several social increased by 3.98 percent Furthermore, in Africa, associated with a change in in Nigeria can be seen as
DIGITAL ADVERT SALES MANAGER and financial changes rang- year-on-year in the fourth inequality. artificial and not natural.
Nigeria is one of the few
Linda Ochugbua ing from recession in eco- quarter of 2021, marking the The magnitude of these In the light of the forego-
countries that experienced
nomic activities, inflation, country’s sixth consecutive a rising inflation rate as two components determines ing, since we have been able
HEAD, HUMAN RESOURCES civil unrest, and displace- quarter of growth, despite income fell, making it the the relative sensitivity of to establish that poverty in
Oluwadamilola Abifarin ments of significant popula- the country’s continued re- seventh country with the poverty reduction to growth the country is man-made;
tion size to deterioration of covery from the pandemic highest inflation rate. Be- and inequality. what it means is that the
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD publicly provided services. crisis that wreaked havoc on tween 2020 and 2021, the Inequality thus has a sub- problem can be eradicated
In addition, natural dis- the country’s oil sector. “inflation shock” forced stantial impact on poverty. through creative solutions
Imo Itsueli asters like the COVID-19 However, the National Nigerians experience in- from the various levels of
Mohammed Hayatudeen nearly 8 million Nigerians
pandemic further strained Bureau of Statistics (NBS) into poverty. equality in income, health, government in Nigeria.
Afolabi Oladele
Vincent Maduka
Opeyemi Agbaje
Amina Oyagbola
Bolanle Onagoruwa
Fola Laoye
Chuka Mordi
Mezuo Nwuneli
Charles Anudu
Tunji Adegbesan
Eyo Ekpo
Wiebe Boer
Paul Arinze
Boye Olusanya
Ayo Gbeleyi
Haruna Jalo-Waziri
Clement Isong
Konyin Ajayi

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MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023 www.businessday.ng 13
14 www.businessday.ng MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
TECHTALK
Explainer: How the payment system work in Nigeria
By Chinwe Michael &
Francis Onyemachi
THE introduction of technology-based
payment systems has increased the
convenience of bank customers as well
as society at large.
Today, paying and receiving money
between buyers and sellers are not nec-
essarily done through raw cash, as such
payment can be made using electronic
payment channels such as Point of
Sale (PoS), Automated Teller Machines
(ATMs), Mobile Money, Unstructured
Supplementary Service Data (USSD),
NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP), National
Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT), and
many others.
In 2012, with the provision of favorable
regulatory policies by the Central Bank
of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria made great
progress in creating a robust payment
system through several reforms targeted
at growing the system. In providing a
sound payment system infrastructure,
where stakeholders and customers can
consummate business transactions with
confidence, trust, and timeliness,
Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Sys-
tem (NIBSS) and other payment indus-
try players have enhanced the Payment
Systems by continuously providing
solutions to increase the resilience of
infrastructure to encourage the usage
of electronic payment methods across
the nation.
The industry player has put in place
modern world-class infrastructures for
handling inter-bank payments in order
to remove potential bottlenecks associ-
ated with inter-bank funds transfer and
settlement.
These payment channels explained
below have gained more traction in the
Nigerian market and have changed the
narrative of payment in Africa’s biggest
economy while attracting partnerships
and investments in the country.
NIBSS instant payment (NIP) – NIP
is a payment service used by banks and
other financial institutions to power
real-time bank transfers for customers
and businesses.
The instant nature of NIP payments
can be very critical for time-sensitive
TECNO, MTN tap SPARK 10 to boost 5G device affordability
By Francis Onyemachi
TECNO in partnership with
MTN Nigeria has launched the
SPARK 10 5G smartphone. The
latest smartphone series aims
to drive digital inclusion and
make fast internet accessible to
Nigerians.
The SPARK 10 5G according
to the smartphone company is
payments like rent, bills, and health
emergencies; for businesses, instant
NIP payments reduce the amount of
working capital needed for daily opera-
tions. The faster a business can access
revenue from customers, the less it
has to rely on cash reserves or interest-
bearing credit facilities to pay suppliers.
According to ACI Worldwide, NIP
helped Nigerian businesses save an esti-
mated $296 million in 2021. as it remains
the widely used platform in Nigeria.
Data from the NIBSS shows that
on a yearly basis, NIP has recorded
traction both in value and volume over
time, stating that more Nigerians are
more confident in the system and are
embracing the cashless policy.
In terms of volume, transactions
processed in the twelve months of 2022
rose 42 percent to 5.1 billion from 3.4
billion in 2021.
While in value, electronic transac-
tions recorded under the NIP platform
increased by 42 percent to N387 trillion
in 2022 from N272 trillion recorded in
2021 and these largely reflect the sus-
tained growth of electronic payments
in Nigeria.
Point-of-sale (PoS) – The Point-of-
Sale service known as (PoS) is a Pay-
ment channel or device that is used
for processing transactions by retail
customers. A cash register is a type of
PoS. The cash register has largely been
the latest addition to its Spark
series with advanced features
that appeal to tech-savvy con-
sumers who demand high-speed
internet connectivity, a fast
processor, and a long-lasting
battery.
Abel Huo, marketing man-
ager, TECNO Nigeria comment-
ing on the new partnership with
MTN said, “the partnership
In association with
replaced by electronic PoS terminals
that can be used to process credit cards
and debit cards as well as cash.
A PoS is either located physically in
a brick-and-mortar store or a checkout
point in a web-based store.
The PoS business operation in Nige-
ria is currently one of the thriving busi-
nesses to start for the average Nigerian.
It is slowly taking over ATMs because
of the ease and convenience it provides
consumers. A PoS business or mobile
money agent makes cash available to
people in exchange for a commission
or fee through a PoS machine.
According to 6Wresearch, Nigeria
PoS Terminal Market is projected
to witness growth during 2020-2026.
Growing initiatives towards digitiza-
tion of banking services, rising usage
of PoS terminals in retail, wholesale,
tourism, and fast food sector, growth of
e-Commerce, as well as improvement in
payment infrastructure in Nigeria, are
some of the key growth drivers of the
PoS terminal market in Nigeria.
Between 2017 and 2022, the number of
Point of Sale (PoS) terminals in Nigeria
grew significantly, from around 155,000
to 1.1 million as of April 2022. Business-
Day also published a special report on
the PoS market which showed that
while the PoS market is growing, with
the total number of PoS agents hitting
1.9 million, distribution remains grossly
highlights their commitment
to providing Nigerians with the
latest technology that enhances
their mobile experience.”
The New spark series deliv-
ers clear vivid visuals with Its
6.6-inch HD+ display while the
50 MP camera allows users to
capture stunning photos and
videos in any lighting condi-
tion.
lopsided. Cities like Lagos, Abuja, and
Port Harcourt, where the income levels
are high, command a large concentra-
tion of banking agents at the detriment
of rural communities, which the agents
were originally meant to serve.
Automated teller machine (ATM)
–The Automated Teller Machine known
as (ATM) is an electronic telecom-
munications device that enables bank
customers to perform financial transac-
tions such as cash withdrawals, depos-
its, funds transfers, balance inquiries or
account information inquiries, at any
time, without being physically present
with the bank.
ATM machines have spread across
Nigeria making financial transactions
easier and reducing the burden for both
banks and customers.
The CBN’s cashless policy has led to
the expansion of various payment chan-
nels across the country. For example,
the number of ATMs rose from 10,865 in
2011 to 19,355 in 2021 in Nigeria.
Using an ATM, customers can
access their bank deposit or credit ac-
counts in order to make a variety of fi-
nancial transactions, cash withdrawals,
balance checks, as well as transferring
credit from mobile phones.
Mobile money – Mobile money is an
electronic wallet service. This is avail-
able in many countries and allows users
to store, send, and receive money using
their mobile phones.
Safe and easy electronic payments
makemobilemoneyapopularalternative
to bank accounts. It can be used on both
smartphones and basic feature phones.
Mobile money stores funds in a
secure electronic account linked to a
mobile phone number. In some cases
the wallet number will be the same as
the phone number, but not always –
they can be different. Before sending
funds to a mobile money wallet, check
with your recipient to determine the
correct number.
Similarly, the West African Eco-
nomic and Monetary Union (WAEMU),
‘the Global Financial Inclusion Da-
tabase and employs logistic models’
highlighted the drivers of mobile money
adoption. It said: “having a bank ac-
“The partnership between
TECNO and MTN Nigeria aims
to provide Nigerians with a top-
of-the-range smartphone that
will deliver 5G connectivity
and exceptional performance.
TECNO will provide cutting-
edge technology and design
to make 5G-enabled phones
available to Nigerians. With
this partnership, Nigerians can
www.businessday.ng 15
count, being in the workforce, receiv-
ing domestic remittances, owning a
mobile phone, and having a national
ID favor mobile money adoption when
measured as a global state.”
The number of registered mobile
money agent outlets per one thousand
square meters in Nigeria has increased
by 380.2 percent to 680.9 in 2021 from
141.8 in 2020, an International Monetary
Fund (IMF) survey has shown.
Unstructured Supplementary Ser-
vice Data (USSD) – is a Global System
for Mobile Communications (GSM)
protocol that is used to send text mes-
sages. USSD is similar to Short Message
Service (SMS).
USSD uses codes made up of the
characters that are available on a mo-
bile phone. A USSD message, which can
be up to 182 characters long, establishes
a real-time communication session
between the phone and another device
-- typically, a network or server.
Typically, USSD involves a query
from a mobile phone user, such as a
request for a bank account balance.
Once the user sends the request, the
USSD gateway forwards it to the user’s
USSD application, which response to
the request.
The process is then repeated in re-
verse, i.e., the response goes back to
the USSD gateway, which displays the
content of that response on the screen of
the user’s mobile phone. Generally, the
responses, which contain a maximum of
182 alphanumeric characters, are sent in
a format that’s easy to display. The user
sends and receives data by dialing a spe-
cific short code -- usually, five numbers.
USSD applications run on the net-
work, not on a user’s device. As such,
they don’t have to be installed on the
user’s phone, which is an advantage
for users with feature phones that have
limited storage space. USSD apps are in-
stantly available to every subscriber the
moment they’re deployed to a network.
According to the central bank fi-
nancial stability report for the first six
months of 2020, the volume of USSD
transactions carried out by Nigeria
declined to 267 million from 278 million
recorded in the same period in 2021.
experience ultrafast MTN 5G
connectivity with low latency
on their TECNO SPARK 10,”
the company said.
Techno said that SPARK 10
5G is available in all TECNO-
authorized stores nationwide,
and customers who purchase
the device will enjoy up to
5GB and an additional 11GB of
FREE data.
16 www.businessday.ng MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023 www.businessday.ng 17
18 www.businessday.ng MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023 www.businessday.ng 19
20 www.businessday.ng MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023 www.businessday.ng 21
22 www.businessday.ng
INTERVIEW
Nigeria can benefit from
Europe’s energy crisis - SPE boss
Felix Chijioke Obike is the chairman of the Society for Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Nigeria Council, with over 31
years of industry and academic experience garnered while working for Shell Nigeria and Abu Dhabi National Oil
Company, among others; he currently works for Seplat Energy Plc.In this interview with ‘FEMI ASU, he speaks
on the global energy transition, how Nigeria’s oil industry can attract funding, and the upcoming Oloibiri Lecture
Series and Energy Forum, among other issues.
IN light of the global shift
towards clean energy, do
you think Nigeria should
put more efforts towards
growing its oil and gas re-
serves or focus on diversify-
ing away from fossil fuels?
There should be long-term
and short-term goals. For the
short-term goal, like in the
next 30 years, the answer
is yes; Nigeria should put in
more effort towards growing
her reserves and at the same
time delving into new tech-
nologies that drive emission
reduction or total elimina-
tion. Nigeria could focus on
diversifying away from fossil
fuels in the long term, but we
are not there now.
The Nigerian oil and gas
industry is struggling to
attract funding. Why is
funding a major challenge
for the industry, and what
is the way out of it?
Funding oil and gas-related
businesses has been a chal-
lenge in recent times simply
because of the outcome of
COP21, which erroneously
placed reliance on alterna-
tive energy sources other
than oil and gas. This led
many international oil com-
panies to sell their foreign
assets. However, the recent
global energy crisis has re-
awakened the exploration
and production business,
especially with gas, which is
a transition fuel.
One of the ways to solve
this challenge is by commu-
nicating the right informa-
tion about the energy tri-
lemma. By trilemma, I mean
the need to find the balance
between energy reliability,
affordability, and sustain-
ability and their impact on
our everyday lives. The right
information should invoke
investors’ confidence.
What is your outlook for
the energy transition in
Nigeria and other African
countries?
In the short term, Africa
and Nigeria are not going
to transition away from oil
and gas. Rather, there would
be a transition away from
emissions. Technologies,
processes, and frameworks
are emerging to take care of
Funding oil and gas- carbon dioxide and methane
related businesses emissions and also harness
them for safer use.
has been a challenge
We are located in areas
in recent times
with substantial solar in-
simply because of the
tensity, and as such, in the
outcome of COP21, long term, Nigeria and Af-
which erroneously rica would witness a more
placed reliance on advanced energy mix with
alternative energy a very diminished domi-
sources other than nance of fossil fuels and an
increased footprint of solar
oil and gas. This led
power. Africa is expected to
many international
be powered by alternative
oil companies to sell energy sources.
their foreign assets. At least in the next 50
However, the recent years, oil and gas will domi-
global energy crisis nate the global energy mix,
has reawakened and that means those with
the exploration and the majority of oil assets are
still in good business.
production business,
In less than three months,
especially with gas,
the country will have a
which is a transition change of government; what
fuel can the next administra-
tion focus on immediately to
boost the growth of Nigeria’s
oil and gas industry?
We are located
in areas with
substantial solar
intensity, and as
such, in the long
term, Nigeria
and Africa would
witness a more
advanced energy
mix with a very
diminished
dominance of
fossil fuels and an
increased footprint
of solar power.
Africa is expected
to be powered by
alternative energy
sources
In my view, the energy
crisis in Europe has cre-
ated a very high demand for
alternative gas sources in
Europe, and the incoming
administration could har-
ness this opportunity as a
money spinner to revamp the
economy and the oil and gas
industry.
There is still a future for
fossil fuels. However, there
would be advanced tech-
nologies emerging to tackle
emissions and the traditional
exploration and production
processes.
What advice does the SPE
Nigeria Council have for
the government regarding
policies and regulations
to actualise the country’s
energy transition plan?
For Nigeria, the already
established Petroleum Indus-
try Act should be allowed to
run smoothly, with room for
adjustments as circumstanc-
es demand, in accordance
with changing global best
practices and local energy
outlook.
W hat are the primary
goals of the SPE Nigeria
Council in organizing the
annual Oloibiri Lecture
Series and Energy Forum
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
(OLEF)?
Oloibiri Lecture Series and
Energy Forum is an annual
lecture series focused on con-
tributing to oil and gas policy
development for Nigeria in
commemoration of the first
oil well drilled in Nigeria by
Shell Darcy at Oloibiri, in
Ogbia, Bayelsa State, in 1956.
The first edition was in 1991.
The upcoming SPE OLEF
2023 is focusing on effec-
tive gas resources utilisa-
tion. Could that be SPE Ni-
geria’s way of pushing the
energy transition agenda?
Yes, it is. OLEF is one of
several SPE events held in
Nigeria, and SPE uses these
events to highlight areas
of concern in the industry
both globally and locally, as
well as to express our posi-
tion. The vision of SPE is to
“advance the oil and gas pro-
ducing and related energy
communities’ ability to meet
the world’s energy needs in a
safe, secure, and sustainable
manner”, and all these are
embedded in the vision.
What key factors differ-
entiate the SPE from its
industry peers?
The extent of dissemination
of technical knowledge and
the availability of technical
materials to SPE members
make us stand out in the
delivery of our day-to-day
tasks. The quality of the lead-
ership and soft skills that are
acquired through SPE volun-
teerism compares to no other
training institution in Nige-
ria. SPE also creates great
networking opportunities for
businesses and careers.
In SPE, we are very inno-
vative. Over the last decade,
there has been a significant
increase in and f lexibil-
ity in how we communicate
with our members and the
industry. Several events
and activities are targeting
our industry, the govern-
ment, associated industries,
academia, future leaders,
and the very young ones
in primary and secondary
schools with energy-centric
information.
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
INTERVIEW
Nigeria’s agriculture potentials hang on quality
assurance, value addition – Smith
The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently marked 70 years of its existence
and in Nigeria, it has been present for over 30 years. GERALD SMITH, counsellor for agricultural affairs at the US Consulate in Lagos, in this
interview with CALEB OJEWALE, speaks about opportunities for both countries to collaborate. He also addressed food safety issues and
restrictions on export of some Nigerian agricultural products, correcting the notion that Nigerian catfish was banned from the US. Excerpts:
RECENTLY, the FAS marked
seventy years of being in exist-
ence, which is quite a milestone.
On a global level, what has that
journey been like and the impact
in countries you’re present?
In terms of impact over the years,
we have a program called the food
for education program, which is
a school feeding program for pri-
mary school children worldwide
but mostly developing countries are
eligible for it.
We hear narratives in most
developing countries where rural
families can’t afford to send their
kids to school. This program was
set up to provide a daily meal, and
lunch for school children, with
emphasis on the girl child.
In this position, I have regional
responsibilities for Cameroon and
Benin. In Cameroon, for the school
year 2022-2023, we are going to be
feeding in excess of 116,000 primary
school children, while in Benin,
around 110,000 school children.
It is an all-inclusive project be-
cause we want local participation.
So for example, the people who pre-
pare the food for the kids are their
parents, and this ensures buy-in
from the community.
In addition to the program, we
also build libraries, toilet facilities
and others to encourage children to
come to school.
Narrowing down to Nigeria; how
long have you had a presence
here and what has your impact
been?
We have been in Nigeria since
the early 90s and the focus of our
work here is to build relation-
ships with stakeholders. One of
the programmes that we tend to
do is fellowship oriented, whereby
we engage with universities, the
private sector and the government.
For example, with the private
sector, we have a programme that
is called the Cochran programme,
which is a two-week programme
where we take business individuals
to the US in a particular sector. The
one for 2022 was on consolidated
shipping, which involved import-
ers that want to import but don’t
have the capacity to bring in huge
containers of a particular product,
because they are small businesses
and usually have to consolidate.
We took some of those importers to
the US, and exposed them to what
consolidated shipping is all about.
Another thing we do is on the
food retail side, where we take peo-
ple to the US, let them see how food
retail works, from the raw form all
the way to the table, and everything
involved in food safety.
For Nigeria, there is also an
emphasis on livestock production,
especially dairy production. Last
year, we devised a program to send
participants to the University of
Wisconsin, which is one of the ma-
jor locations for dairy production
in the US. Participants were drawn
from different organisations to see
and learn about how dairy produc-
tion is done in the US, because
sometimes, experiential learning
is the best.
We also engage with universi-
ties because they train the upcom-
ing professionals that will be going
into agriculture.
How many Nigerians benefit
from your fellowships?
On average, we try to do 10 fellows
per program. So if we do two or
three, we’re looking at 20 to 30
people a year and then it depends
on the subject area.
For this year, 2023, I have al-
ready drafted three programs,
whereby we’ll probably do some-
thing on SPS and Food Trade, and
then we’ll do something on Seeds.
We should have about 30 Nigerians
participating this year.
Successive governments have
their rhetoric about boosting
agricultural productivity in
Nigeria, but output remains
low virtually in every crop.
Importing
countries need
assurances
and con dence
that the country
that is sending
products to them
is doing all that
it can to ensure
consumers
and also the
environment are
safe from pests
and diseases
From your own experience and
knowledge, what else needs to
be done policy-wise in order to
boost productivity in Nigeria?
Based on my discussions with
stakeholders across the agricultur-
al sector, from farmers to traders to
organisations, the private sector,
etc, I think fundamentally, what
has to happen to get results is for
agriculture to be modernised. And
for it to be modernised, the land ten-
ure system has to be the first thing,
whereby you empower farmers to
have ownership of their land. Many
farmers still cannot use their land
(however big) as collateral for bank
loans. So there is a need to have that
structure changed.
The next is input, particularly
seeds. A couple of years ago, when
computers and programming
started coming out, we heard some-
thing like; garbage in, garbage out.
If you have poor seeds, no matter
what you do; water them 24 hours a
day, put fertiliser on it for 365 days,
if the seeds are poor, eventually
productivity is going to be low.
However, seeds cost money and
in most cases, they are going to
be beyond the reach of an average
farmer. So the government has to
step in to help farmers. But not
only that, in traditional farming,
when a farmer produces a crop,
they store seeds from the previous
harvest from the next one, and that
has to change. We need to educate
farmers that what they store is not
seed but grains.
How can we ensure that more of
what we produce gets from farm
to fork, and reduce post-harvest
losses?
Basically, it is to set the system
straight in terms of handling the
challenges of post-harvest losses.
Storage is very important, from
the on-farm storage all the way to
the consumer.
Yearly, there is always a tomato
shortage in Nigeria, or an Onion
shortage, but if you have an effi-
cient warehouse system across the
country, those things can be stored
and then you are able to go back and
source during periods of low supply.
When we talk about storage
and warehousing, it is not just the
one-side hall, or you just have a cold
room where you dump fish, rather
you have to look at climate control.
For instance, what is needed to
extend the shelf life of tomatoes is
different from that of egg, onions,
etc. If you have a system that is in-
tegrated, or connected around the
country, you prevent those issues of
post-harvest losses, where you have
an effective storage system that is
linked into a cold-chain system.
Even after production and some
go for exports, we often hear of
rejections. What things need
to be done to make Nigerian
produce more acceptable in the
international market?
It’s a responsibility for everybody;
government, regulators and farm-
ers. Farmers should avoid using
agrochemicals (pesticide or even
fertiliser) unless they are trained.
You shouldn’t just dump it on your
crop or add it several times to that
particular weed. There are certain
quantities that have to be used
and so regulators and extension
workers are the ones that have the
responsibility to train farmers in
that.
The next group for responsibil-
ity will be any government agency
that is responsible for promoting
exports. Let’s say Nigeria wants to
export mangoes to the US or to the
EU, it would first have to provide
that particular country with a
list of pests that affect mangoes in
Nigeria because no country wants
another country to export pests to
them through products. Identifying
that pest list is a very huge task that
no single private individual or sin-
gle company can do. It has to come
from the government, and the min-
istry of Agriculture can definitely
dedicate resources to that.
Once you identify the pests that
affect a particular product, then
you have to show the importing
countries the mitigation; what are
you doing to prevent those pests.
When I worked in India, which is
a big exporter of mangoes to the
US, what the Indians do to ensure
that the quality of mangoes meets
US standards is to get rid of all
pests. They have an irrigation unit
that the government has provided
mango producers, so all the exports
of mangoes go through that, and
they’re more than 100% guaran-
teed that pests are basically killed
before export.
Importing countries need as-
surances and confidence that the
country that is sending products
to them is doing all that it can to
ensure consumers and also the
environment are safe from pests
and diseases.
Are there agricultural goods
www.businessday.ng 23
from Nigeria that are currently
restricted from the US?
Currently, there are no Nigerian
products that are banned from the
US. However, there is always a mix-
up in terms of one particular com-
modity, which is smoked catfish.
Nigerian catfish was not banned
from the US.
What happened was that the
US informed all catfish exporters
both fresh and smoked, that from
2018 – which was the deadline - in
order for them to continue to export
to the US, they must present the
regulatory agency within the US
called the Food Safety and Inspec-
tion Service (FSIS), with a roadmap
of requirements and regulation of
catfish safety in each country. This
is for the US to have confidence
that you as a regulator will do
everything to show that Nigerian
consumers have safe catfish or safe
smoked catfish for consumption.
In the case of Nigeria, they
didn’t provide the information in
time and that deadline elapsed so
they couldn’t export. It wasn’t that
the US banned Nigerian catfish,
it’s just that they did not do the
paperwork to continue the export.
However, this is something that
we have been working with the
Federal Department of Fisheries
and Aquaculture, particularly the
quality assurance and fish disease
management unit, to bring them
up to par.
It has taken them a while to
get all the information required
because it was a very extensive
questionnaire and survey that they
had to do. So they put everything
together last year 2022 and sent it
back to FSIS, which has reviewed
it. I know they’ve come back with a
couple of more questions but once
that process is done, and they es-
tablish that the Nigerian system is
taking care of consumers here – in
terms of quality - the export will
continue.
Just to be clear, the require-
ment was to show the fish being
exported is good enough for Ni-
gerian consumers before being
exported to the US?
Basically, it’s called an equivalent
system, meaning that, the way
catfish is regulated - both fresh
and smoked - in Nigeria, it will also
meet US standards so that when it is
exported, the US consumers won’t
get sick and all that.
You can use any science-based
standard to ensure that what you’re
providing for Nigerian consumers
is safe, provide it to the US, and it
will be accepted as equivalent. That
is why it is called an equivalent
system.
Additional insights
There are many Nigerian-Amer-
icans wanting to come back to
invest in some of the Nigerian
states where they grew up, mainly
because they may have an interest
in doing that. This is going to be
another driver in terms of agricul-
tural productivity.
24 www.businessday.ng
LIVE @ THE EXCHANGES
GAINERS
Company Opening
ABBEYBDS [BLS] 1.68
ABCTRANS 0.37
ACADEMY 1.29
ACCESSCORP [MRF] 8.7
AFRINSURE [MRF] 0.2
AFRIPRUD 5.75
Stock market closes week on a negative note
By Iheanyi Nwachukwu
NIGERIA’S equities
market closed the week
ended Friday, March 24
in red zone. The mar-
ket which declined by
0.04percent or N13billion
in the review trading
week came amid three
sessions of negative clos-
es as against two days of
positives.
The market dipped de-
spite expectations of op-
portunities for buy-side
investors to increase
holdings (in the near
L-R: Abiodun Adebimpe, 2nd vice president, Nigeria National Advisory Council (NAC), Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI);
John Osuoha, Country Representative (Nigeria); Ijeoma Onwu, president, NAC; Kevin Moore, director, Global Business Development; Tobe
Nnadozie, divisional head, Technology and Innovation, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) plc, and Nkoli Edoka, Member NAC,
and 1st Vice President, Obinna Okafor, during CISI Members Forum in Lagos.
NGX to launch non-depository receipts, more to boost capital market
NIGERIAN Exchange
Limited (NGX) has an-
nounced plans to launch
Non-Depository Receipts
(NDR) to further deepen
the Nigerian capital mar-
ket.
This disclosure was
made by Jude Chiemeka,
Divisional Head, Capital
Markets, NGX during
a fireside chat themed
“Investor sentiment on
Nigeria: success and chal-
lenges”, at the 2023 Nige-
ria Risk Summit that held
on Wednesday, 22 March
2023 in Lagos.
According to him, the
NDR would grant the in-
vesting public access to
financial instruments
listed on an offshore ex-
change and provide in-
Top Gainers/Losers as at Friday 24 March 2023
Closing Change Company
-- 1.68
AFROMEDIA [MRF]
-- 0.37
AIICO
-- 1.29
AIRTELAFRI
8.65 8.65
ALEX [BLS]
-- 0.2
ARBICO
-- 5.75
term) on fundamentally
sound stocks with im-
proved valuations and
strong dividend yields.
Week-on-week
(WoW), the Nigerian Ex-
change Limited (NGX)
All-Share Index (ASI)
and its equities Market
Capitalisation depreciat-
ed from preceding week’s
54,915.39 points and
N29.916trillion respec-
tively to 54,892.53 points
and N29.903trillion.
The Central Bank
of Nigeria (CBN) last
Tuesday after the sec-
vestors with access to
alternate investment
schemes. “With this ini-
tiative, asset managers
will sponsor this instru-
ment offshore, convert
the receipts and sell off
in our local market,” he
explained. “In the end,
we are not only enabling
exposure to foreign ex-
change, but we are also
preparing a marketplace
with a broader spectrum
of participants.”
While listing other in-
itiatives embarked on by
the Exchange, Chiemeka
noted, “NGX had in 2022
gotten approval from the
Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) on its
Technology Board List-
ing Rules. Our aim with
???
Opening Closing Change
0.2 -- 0.2
0.6 0.57 0.57
1548.7 -- 1548.7
6.5 -- 6.5
1.03 -- 1.03
ond two-day Monetary
Policy Committee (MPC)
in the year, raised its
benchmark interest rate
known as the Monetary
Policy Rate (MPR), by 50
basis point to 18percent,
the sixth straight time.
MPC held other param-
eters constant.
“We note that the cur-
rent rate hike does not
pose any substantial risk
as corporate actions be-
come the main focus for
investors,” according
to Meristem analysts in
their March 22 note.
this is to encourage in-
vestments in indigenous
technologically inclined
companies within Nige-
ria and across Africa by
providing greater vis-
ibility to these compa-
nies.”
“In recognizing the im-
portance of investor edu-
cation to a healthy mar-
ket, NGX had partnered
with the IFC and Islamic
Development Bank to
train capital market par-
ticipants on the impact of
sustainable and Islamic
finance respectively,” he
added.
Speaking further on
partnership opportuni-
ties within the capital
market, the DH Capital
Markets explained that
LOSERS
Company Opening Closing
AIICO 0.6
WAPIC 0.42
LINKASSURE 0.42
INTBREW [BMF] 4.45
TRANSCORP 1.37
[MRF]
BUACEMENT 99.45 89.55
The stock market’s
year-to-date (YtD) posi-
tive return stood lower
at +7.11percent.
Analysts at Lagos-
based Vetiva research
who had expected cau-
tions trading in the
market, as investors
weigh the effect of the
MPR hike on their real
returns, also foresee
investors cherry pick-
ing counters in the new
week. However, they
believe that general
market sentiment is still
cautious.
the Exchange had part-
nered with other stock
exchanges like the Lon-
don Stock Exchange
(LSE) to offer dual list-
ings to corporates and
increase the size of the
market where investors
can invest in a broader-
based market.
NGX had also signed
a Memorandum of Un-
derstanding with the
Luxembourg Stock Ex-
change (LuSE) to aid the
cross-issuance and listing
of green bonds. Addition-
ally, he maintained that
NGX is working with the
Ghana Stock Exchange
(GSE) to improve on sec-
ondary listings that will
develop private market
utilization of technology.
Market Statistics as at
Friday 24 March 2023
Change ASI (Points)
0.57 0.57
DEALS (Numbers)
0.4 0.4
0.4 0.4
VOLUME
(Numbers)
4.35 4.35
VALUE (N billion)
1.3 1.34
MARKET CAP
(N Trn)
97.85
Wema Bank champions financial
literacy for next generation
WEMA Bank Plc is cham-
pioning financial literacy
for the next generation by
participating in the Global
Money Week to commem-
orate the Financial Litera-
cy Day on March 23, 2023.
In alignment with the
theme “Plan your Money,
plant your Future”, Wema
Bank organised financial
literacy sessions for sec-
ondary school students
across all states where the
Bank is represented.
This is to instill an ear-
ly understanding of the
significance of building a
solid financial foundation
and achieving financial
stability and success from
a young age.
Wole Akinleye, Deputy
Managing Director of
Wema Bank led the Fi-
nancial Literacy Session
at Yola Model School, Ad-
amawa State.
The students were
trained on personal fi-
nance topics such as budg-
eting, emergency funds,
saving for goal actualisa-
tion, investment, donating
for positive societal impact
amongst others. He fur-
ther encouraged the stu-
Access Bank Zambia gets final regulatory
approval to merger with Atlas Mara Zambia
ACCESS Holdings Plc
has announced that Ac-
cess Bank Zambia Lim-
ited (Access Zambia), a
subsidiary of its flagship
subsidiary, Access Bank,
has received final regula-
tory approval from the
Central Bank of Zambia
for the acquisition and
merger of African Bank-
ing Corporation Zam-
bia Limited (Atlas Mara
Zambia) into its existing
operations.
This information fol-
lows its announcement
on October 25, 2021. The
Central Bank of Nige-
ria (CBN) and Common
Market for Eastern and
Southern Africa Compe-
tition Commission had
earlier granted their “no
objection” to the Trans-
action in 2022.
Access Zambia will
now move towards in-
tegrating and merging
Atlas Mara Zambia into
its operations, which is
expected to create one
of the top five banks
in Zambian.The trans-
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
54,892.53
2,912
137,560,165
3.873
29.903
dents on the importance
of developing financial lit-
eracy as a life skill.
Speaking on the sig-
nificance of Financial
Literacy Week, Akinleye
emphasised Wema Bank’s
commitment to empower-
ing young minds with the
skills and knowledge nec-
essary to make informed
financial decisions.
He said, “Our hope is
that through these ini-
tiatives, we can empower
more individuals to take
control of their finances
and achieve financial sta-
bility”.
Financial literacy is
vital for the achievement
of financial stability, and
it is essential to ensure
that everyone has the nec-
essary tools to manage
finances effectively and
achieve financial goals.
Wema Bank Plc is
committed to providing
educational resources and
opportunities for children
through the Royal Kid-
dies Account and a range
of other savings products,
supporting financial em-
powerment for the next
generation.
action is expected to
be completed in third
quarter (Q3) of 2023.
Commenting on the
transaction, Herbert
Wigwe, Group Chief Ex-
ecutive Access Holdings
said: “The transaction
builds on our earlier ac-
quisition and merger of
Cavmont Bank Plc into
Access Bank Zambia and
underscores our resolve
to strengthen our pres-
ence in Zambia, a key
African market that fits
into our strategic focus
on geographic earnings
growth and diversifica-
tion.
The combination of
the two banks will create
significant synergies be-
tween Access Zambia’s
world class wholesale
and transaction banking
capabilities and Atlas
Mara Zambia’s market
leading retail and pub-
lic sector capabilities to
form a market leading
universal banking plat-
form that will greatly im-
pact the Zambia market”
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
Start-Up DigeSt
Omirin Aderinsola: Entrepreneur creating
co-working space for start-ups
By Chinedu Ndigwe
AFTER experiencing first-
hand the challenges of start-
ing and growing a business
in Africa’s biggest econ-
omy, Aderinsola decided
to create a working space
where entrepreneurs could
come together to share
ideas, access resources,
and receive mentorship and
support.
Her start-up hub - Start-
up Space, which officially
started on August 17, 2022,
has already become a des-
tination for entrepreneurs
looking to start or scale
their businesses.
From producing unique
footwear for five years to
creating a startup foun-
dation, Aderinsola aims
to provide guidelines, re-
sources and opportuni-
ties to facilitate the speedy
growth of young entrepre-
neurs in Africa’s largest
economy.
Omirin Aderinsola
founded Startup Space- a
startup consulting firm
dedicated to training young
EGO Foundation trains 400 female entrepreneurs on digital, financial literacy
By David Ijaseun
THE EGO Foundation, a
development organization,
is prioritizing financial in-
clusion for women in Lagos
state. Recently, the foun-
dation trained 400 female
entrepreneurs residing in
the Alimosho local govern-
ment area to improve their
digital skills and financial
literacy.
This initiative aims to
increase the penetration
of financial inclusion for
women-owned small and
medium-scale enterprises
(SMEs) in the state.
During the training,
Toluwase Olaniyan, the
founder of the EGO Foun-
entrepreneurs. She is also
the chief executive officer
of Solasoles – a Nigerian
handmade footwear brand
operating in the Lagos met-
ropolitan.
Her start-up foundation
aims to provide an ecosys-
tem that supports entre-
preneurship, innovation,
and growth. It helps create
a conducive environment
for startups to succeed and
contribute to developing
Nigeria’s economy.
The CEO was inspired
to launch the startup hub
due to the lack of founda-
tional skills she identified
in many businesses.
“I noticed a lot of busi-
ness owners were not
yielding expected results
because they have failed
to tackle the foundational
problem. As an entrepre-
neur and coach, I identified
this gap, which needs to be
filled,” she says.
Aderinsola says her
start hub teaches entre-
preneurs the principles
that give room for business
success. “A lot of business
dation, emphasized that
low levels of financial and
digital literacy are major
obstacles to women’s ac-
cess to finance for their
SMEs. This lack of financial
literacy often leads to poor
business structures and
low savings culture, which
discourages financial in-
stitutions from providing
credit facilities to women-
owned SMEs.
“That is why we created
‘She Enabled’,” Olaniyan,
said. “It’s a financial and
digital literacy project for
women running a business
and women living in under-
served communities.”
He also said that: “The
goal for us is to increase
In association with
Omirin Aderinsola
owners ignore this aspect
of business growth. That
is why they are not getting
the required results. Some
businesses always start and
stop because the foundation
is nowhere to be found.”
The young entrepreneur
says that Startup Space fo-
financial literacy and like
digital literacy among wom-
en to deepen their inclusion
in the society and a few of
the things that we’ve done
is to partner with Google
to help them leverage the
digital space upscale their
businesses.”
“We’ve also partnered
with financial institutions
like Access Bank, Padi Mi
Alajo, and Lagos State Em-
ployment Trust Fund, of-
fering financial services
to women, and this helps
women understand the es-
sence of bookkeeping, and
saving, among others.”
According to Seth Usan-
ga, founder/CEO, Padimi.
Co - a social enterprise
cuses on the gradual growth
of entrepreneurs and their
businesses. “A business
does not have a mind, legs,
arms, or ideas. It is the
responsibility of the entre-
preneur to make the magic
happen.
“It is important to bring
using finance technology
to provide social security
to the unbanked, under-
served, and excluded in Af-
rica, ”Women-owned SMEs
or market women are the
most liquid because they
handle cash, but they are
also excluded in the sense
that a lot of them lack basic
information.”
“Your average market
person may have some level
of education, but might not
be enough to be able to go
and pick out the things that
will be beneficial for their
business,” Usanga said.
“They lack the basic
information to help them
structure whatever small
business they are doing so
the entrepreneur into the
picture to transform the
business and entrepreneur
completely.”
So far, Startup Space has
trained over 1000 entrepre-
neurs locally and interna-
tionally. “As a foundational
startup, we gradually train
entrepreneurs virtually
and physically on founda-
tional lessons,” Aderinsola
says.
“There is a whole lot
more in the way this thing
works. Facebook ads and
contention are not founda-
tion skills but pillars you
put in place to foster the
business.”
On the challenges she
has faced building Startup
Space, Aderinsola says,
“Staying awake for my
international clients be-
cause of different times
zones is quite challenging.
However, my ability to plan
blended with the situation.”
Speaking on her short-
term goals, Aderinsola
aims to help entrepreneurs
understand the importance
of fundamental elements in
that’s where we come in.
“We are out to change
the narrative that as long as
they are well positioned and
their businesses well struc-
tured, they can also access
the same services every-
body can, especially social
security which means ac-
cess to healthcare, finance,
and insurance.”
In the same vein, Nne-
buogo Egboh, a develop-
ment consultant and guest
speaker at the occasion
taught the women how to
scale their businesses.
“What do you do differ-
ently will help your busi-
ness survive the first five
years, Egboh said. “The val-
ue you offer your customers
www.businessday.ng 25
business.
“I plan to eliminate en-
trepreneurs’ frustration
from constantly investing
in their businesses without
yielding any profit or posi-
tive outcome.”
On her long-term goals,
Aderinsola plans to publish
and distribute books about
the foundational elements
of a successful business,
locally and internationally.
“Publishing this kind
of book worldwide will
make business owners un-
derstand what to focus on
and the role they plan in
building their business,”
she says.
Aderinsola has advised
entrepreneurs and upcom-
ing entrepreneurs to dis-
card the idea of instant
gratification.
“You have to earn it if
you want to be the person
that exists in your head.
You need constant practice
and preparation by invest-
ing in yourself. And you
need to humble yourself
and learn from others,”
she says.
sets you apart from the next
business or competitor. To
upscale requires planning,
embracing digital innova-
tions to have visibility, and
being insured.”
Kolawole Oluwatoyin,
a fish farmer who lives in
Egbeda said before the train-
ing, her business had no in-
ternet exposure but she has
been enlightened on how to
leverage digital platforms to
scale her business.
“I have learned how I
can use digital marketing
to take my business inter-
nationally, how to access
credit facilities on personal
terms and conditions and
insure my business,” Olu-
watoyin said.
26 www.businessday.ng MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023

In association with

THE WRECKAGE OF IRAQ

After 20 years of trauma, Iraq is struggling to recover

Baghdad is more or less peaceful, but corruption and misgovernment prevail
AFTER two decades of rampant
violence and political dysfunc-
tion, Iraq is at last showing
signs of recovery. Most of the
concrete blast walls that sliced
up cities have come down. Bagh-
dad, the capital, is reviving,
towered over by a new central
bank. The road to the airport,
once dubbed the world’s most
dangerous because of the snip-
ers along the way, is lined with
private universities and hous-
ing estates. “Before, we had to
clear roads of landmines,” says
the head of a paramilitary en-
gineering unit. “Now we clear
people’s sewage.”
Though politics is still messy
and corrupt, with parliament
and government subject to
bitter horse-trading between
parties in hock to sectarian
militias, a measure of repre-
sentative democracy has been
achieved. The Shia majority, oversaw a reign of terror over into the Kurds’ autonomous
suppressed under the vicious much of the north and west in haven in the north. Under the
Sunni-led dictatorship of Sad- 2014-17. caliphate thousands of Yazidis,
dam Hussein, is sitting pretty, Many of Iraq’s ancient mi- adherents of a sect in northern
its leaders content to reap the norities, notably the Christians, Iraq that draws from elements
rewards of power and patron- have been chased abroad or of Christianity and Islam, suf-
age. The application of religious

laws has softened. Unveiled
women again walk the streets.
A main reason for this return
to relative normality is that
violence has largely abated.
Last year about 60 people were
killed every month, according
to Iraq Body Count, a British-
based monitor, whereas at the
height of the sectarian civil war
in the years that followed the
American invasion of 2003, the
toll often exceeded a hundred
a day, with suicide-bombings
sometimes killing whole crowds
in markets. The last big bomb in
Baghdad was over a year ago.
Yet the trauma of the past
two decades cannot easily be
wiped away. At least 270,000
Iraqis, more than half of them
civilians, perished violently
in that period, as well as 8,000-
plus American service people
and contractors, according to
a monitoring project at Brown
University in America. Mosul,
the country’s third city and
heart of the Sunni north, was
ruined as the central govern-
ment recaptured it from the
Sunni jihadists whose caliphate
fered what nearly amounted to
genocide.
Only the Kurds can claim a
more or less unbroken period
of progress and calm as a re-
sult of the American invasion.
Protected initially by American
force and by their own militias,
their autonomous region has
been far less affected by the vio-
lence that shattered the rest of
the country. Their government
in Erbil continued to function
while the rest of Iraq fell into
bloodshed and chaos. But the
Kurds’ bid for complete indepen-
dence looks unlikely to succeed;
in 2017 forces under the aegis
of the government in Baghdad
recaptured a chunk of territory
the Kurds had occupied, includ-
ing the oilfields of Kirkuk.
Ordinary Iraqis have yet to
benefit from the oil wealth of
the country, the world’s fifth-
biggest producer. Some 25% of
the population have incomes
below the national poverty line,
the government says. This is
because billions of dollars from
oil revenues have been lost
to corruption, leaving public
services overwhelmed even as
Iraq’s population has soared,
from 27m in 2003 to 44m at last
guess. A third of young Iraqis
have no jobs. Schools are dilapi-
dated. Electricity is as patchy as
it was after America invaded.
The failures of Iraq’s govern-
ment are making the democracy
promised by America look in-
creasingly threadbare. Elections
are held on time but are manipu-
lated by militia bosses. Turnout
has steadily declined. Freedom
of speech, a big bonus of Saddam
Hussein’s removal, is declining.
Journalists who criticise the mi-
litias may be killed. Protesters
who take to the streets are liable
to be met with guns.
Yet the younger generation,
for whom the American inva-
sion is a distant memory, has
not given up hope. In late 2019
mass protests unseated a prime
minister and called for better
services and an end to corrup-
tion. The protesters were bru-
tally repressed. But their thirst
for a decent government and a
decent society cannot be denied
for ever.
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
INTRANSIGENCE MIXED WITH EMOLLIENCE
Iran wants a detente with its neighbours but not with America
A swooning economy and popular unrest notwithstanding, it is sticking to its nuclear programme
THOSE who see Iran’s clerical
regime as a fount of danger and
discord have had no shortage of
evidence in recent months. It has
supplied Russia with hundreds of
kamikaze drones to bomb civilian
targets in Ukraine, and is thought
to be building a factory in Russia to
provide yet more. In early March
the International Atomic Energy
Agency (iaea) revealed that it had
found traces of uranium at an Ira-
nian facility that were too pure for
any civilian use and almost refined
enough to be made into a nuclear
bomb. The government’s violent
repression of widespread public
protests is now in its sixth month.
And this week it conducted naval
exercises with China and Russia off
its southern coast.
Yet recent weeks have also seen
the biggest easing of tensions in
years between Iran and its geopo-
litical rivals in the Middle East. On
March 10th the government signed
a deal, brokered by China, to restore
diplomatic relations with Saudi
Arabia after a seven-year lapse.
The Saudi government has invited
Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s president,
to visit the kingdom—something
only one previous Iranian president
has done. And Iran’s closest ally in
the region, Syria, is also patching
up relations with its neighbours.
Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s president,
visited the United Arab Emirates
(uae) this week.
This peculiar mix of emollience
and belligerence raises several ques-
tions. Is Iran turning over a new
leaf? What accounts for its apparent
inconsistency? And how will Iran’s
confusing conduct affect the region
and the world?
Just over two years ago, when
Joe Biden became America’s presi-
dent, he had high hopes of eas-
ing America’s long-running feud
with Iran. His predecessor, Donald
Trump, had withdrawn from a deal
struck in 2015 that put limits on
Iran’s nuclear programme. Instead,
Mr Trump reimposed sanctions.
Mr Biden calculated that Iran, its
economy reeling, would jump at the
chance to escape some of the sanc-
tions by restoring the nuclear pact.
Mr Biden’s hopes have come to
nothing. Round upon round of pains-
taking talks in Vienna have yielded
no breakthroughs. Ali Khamenei,
Iran’s supreme leader, appears to
have lost patience. The iaea’s discov-
ery, meanwhile, suggests that Iran is
accelerating its nuclear work.
But Iran’s detente with Saudi
Arabia suggests that it is open to
at least some overtures from its
adversaries. Its relations with the
kingdom in recent years had been
worse, if anything, than with the
United States. Iran and Saudi Arabia
took opposing sides in the long civil
wars in Yemen and Syria, among
other disputes. Iran inflicted a se-
ries of humiliating reversals on the
Saudis via the Houthis, the faction
Iran backs in the war in Yemen. Last
year, for instance, the Houthis fired
missiles and drones at an oil depot in
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s second city,
days before a Formula 1 race there.
Saudi Arabia had been lobbying
Mr Biden to make sure that any deal
America struck with Iran was not
too lenient.
Bridging the gulf
Now, all of a sudden, in addition to
restoring diplomatic ties with Saudi
Arabia, Iran has agreed to curtail
shipments of arms to the Houthis,
according to officials in both America
and Saudi Arabia. On the Saudi side,
Mohammed al-Jadaan, the finance
minister, has held out the prospect
of Saudi investment in Iran grow-
ing “very quickly” if the agreement
holds.
That may be empty talk, but the
thaw in relations does seem to have
an economic logic on both sides. Sau-
di Arabia needs stability to attract the
investment it is counting on to help
diversify the economy away from oil
and petrochemicals. Iran’s economy,
meanwhile, is on its last legs. In Feb-
ruary the rial dropped to an all-time
low of around 580,000 to the dollar,
leaving it 55% weaker than a year
before and 94% down over a decade
(see chart). Partly owing to the weak-
ness of the rial, inflation has hovered
at about 50% for the past year.
Read more from this package
The world according to Xi
What does Xi Jinping want from
Vladimir Putin?
The miserable state of the econ-
omy, in turn, has exacerbated the
protests that erupted in September
after Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian
woman, died in the custody of the
“morality police” in Tehran, the capi-
tal. Though the crowds have ebbed,
unrest still smoulders in places like
the Kurdish north-west. Women
across the country openly defy the
legal requirement to wear a hijab,
a focal point of popular anger (see
Middle East & Africa section).
After the deal with Saudi Arabia
was signed, the rial appreciated by
about 14% against the dollar (though
it later lost some of those gains). “Any
kind of deal that could bring any kind
of stability to their domestic politics,
and therefore to their domestic eco-
nomics, is welcome,” says Mahdi
Ghodsi, an Iranian economist at the
Vienna Institute for International
Economic Studies.
But the same logic does not seem
to apply to the Joint Comprehensive
Plan of Action (jcpoa), the nuclear
pact that America wants to revive.
The jcpoa barred Iran from amassing
any more than 202kg of uranium of a
maximum 3.67% purity. In return,
the West and the un eased sanctions
on Iran’s economy. A similar offer
has been back on the table since Mr
Trump left office. But whereas the
detente with Saudi Arabia involves
marginal concessions for marginal
benefits, scrapping the nuclear
programme—in a deal with the
hated Americans—is apparently too
abject a surrender for Iran’s leaders
to accept.
Since the election of Mr Raisi in
2021 (after all moderate candidates
had been barred from standing),
hawks have controlled all branches
of Iran’s government. Mr Khame-
nei, the ultimate arbiter, was always
reluctant to negotiate with the West.
Mr Trump’s repudiation of the jcpoa
left him feeling vindicated. “He
says, ‘I told you we should not trust
the Americans,’” says Raz Zimmt of
the Institute for National Security
Studies, an Israeli think-tank. “‘We
were ready to do that for the sake
of sanctions relief, but at the end of
the day the Americans violated the
deal, so you have to convince me
why I should make the same mistake
again.’”
What is more, Iran’s leaders
believe they have built a “resistance
economy” capable of enduring pro-
longed sanctions. Never mind the
swooning rial and sky-high inflation:
the regime thinks China and Russia
will keep it afloat. It signed a 25-year
“strategic partnership” with China in
2021 and has boosted ties with Russia
during war in Ukraine. “They want to
www.businessday.ng 27
signal to the West that ‘We have our
partners, we don’t need you,’” says
Mr Ghodsi.
But relations with China are lop-
sided: Iran sends lots of cut-price oil
east, but China does not send much
the other way. Giddy Iranian officials
talked about how the partnership
agreement might spur $400bn in Chi-
nese investment. Last year, however,
Chinese firms injected just $185m.
Soon after Mr Trump renounced the
jcpoa, Iran announced that China
National Petroleum Corporation
(cnpc) had stepped in to replace
Total, a French energy giant, in a
$5bn contract to develop the massive
South Pars gasfield. But cnpc pulled
out a year later. The project remains
unfinished.
Russia has overtaken China as
Iran’s largest investor. The two
countries are also working together
to bypass Western sanctions, using
their own currencies in some bilat-
eral trade, for example, and connect-
ing their banking systems. Trade
has grown to at least $2bn a year, up
from about $1.5bn before the war in
Ukraine (official statistics in both
places can be unreliable).
Gulf of expectations
Still, there are limits to how much
two countries hobbled by sanctions
can offer one another. Talk of boost-
ing trade to $10bn a year, as Mr Raisi
promised last year, is probably fanci-
ful given their weak economies (and
the fact that both countries tend to
export similar products). Investment
is unlikely to surge either. And they
are becoming competitors in energy
markets, where they both seek to offer
discounted oil to Asian buyers.
At a recent talk, a pro-regime
academic gave a sense of the govern-
ment’s view of its economic straits.
Iran, he said, was “selling every drop
of oil it produced” and earning more
in oil revenue—despite the discounts
it must offer because of sanctions—
than it did when the jcpoa was intact.
That is all true. But it omits some
important context: Iran is selling
every drop because production has
fallen almost by half since 2017, from
4m barrels a day to 2.5m. It is only
earning more revenue because the
average price of oil in 2022 was 100%
higher than five years earlier. In
other words, sanctions have severely
reduced Iran’s output and so cost the
country tens of billions of dollars
a year in revenue. Worse, some of
Iran’s earnings come not as cash but
rather through a barter scheme with
China, which means the export rev-
enue does not help to shore up the rial.
Whatever the economic cost, how-
ever, Iran’s “breakout” time (how
long it needs to make a bomb’s-worth
of uranium) is growing ever shorter.
It has already amassed at least 70kg
enriched to 60% purity. The particles
the iaea found had been enriched to
83.7%, just a fraction below the 90%
required to make a bomb. Diplomats
speculate that Iran has not yet accu-
mulated much uranium of such pu-
rity. But it is hard to know anything
for sure: Iran has restricted the iaea’s
monitoring of its nuclear facilities.
Colin Kahl, an American official,
thinks Iran could make enough fissile
material for a weapon within 12 days.
28 www.businessday.ng MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
COMPANIES & MARKETS
Trading revenue swings Stanbic’s gross earning to decade high
By Favour Ashinze
GROSS earnings reported by
Stanbic IBTC Holdings hit
a decade high in 2022 on the
back of a 131 percent surge in
trading revenue, according to
findings by BusinessDay.
Data obtained from the
Nigerian Exchange Group
(NGX) revealed the bank’s
gross earnings grew by 39.15
percent to N287.54 billion
in 2022 compared to N206.64
billion in 2021, while trading
revenue for the period surged
to N34.69 billion in 2022 from
N13.29 billion in 2021.
The NGX data also shows
that the bank generated the
sum of N34.69 billion from the
trading of fixed-income securi-
ties and currencies during the
period and N2 million from the
equities market.
The Central Bank of Nige-
ria, in 2022 increased interest
rates by a total of 600 basis
points, thereby increasing the
interest charged by banks on
loans.
As a result, Stanbic further
added to its revenue stream
by reporting a 45.75 percent
growth in interest income to
N152.67 billion in 2022 from
N104.75 billion in 2021, with
interests earned on loans
and advances to customers
accounting for N119.96 billion
of the total interest income
reported.
“The year-on-year growth
in interest income was driven
by both increase in volume
of risk assets and growth in
average yield due to a higher
interest rate environment,”
analysts at CSL Stockbrokers
Limited said in a note.
Its interest expense also
grew by 34.62 percent to
In race for energy security, Rainoil canvasses optimal gas utilisation
By Abubakar Ibrahim
THE Executive Director of
Rainoil Limited, Emmanuel
Omuojine has said that the
optimal utilisation of gas is
the guarantee to achieving
energy security and equity
in Africa.
Omuojine made this
known at the recently con-
cluded Africa Refiners and
Distributors Association
Conference, ARDA Week
2023, held in Cape Town,
South Africa.
In his presentation ti-
tled “The Critical Role of
Liquified Petroleum Gas in
Africa Energy Transition”,
Omuojine said that despite
the growth in renewable en-
ergy projects, oil and gas will
N39.55 billion in 2022 from
N29.38 billion in 2021 on the
back of a 124 percent increase
in interest generated from
savings accounts and 62.36
percent increase in interest
from borrowed funds.
Fees and commission rev-
enue reported by the bank
during the period grew by
8.77 percent to N96.07 billion
in 2022 from N88.32 billion in
remain a significant part of
Africa’s energy mix, with
gas accounting for at least 25
percent of this by 2050.
He said Africa has over
620 trillion cubic feet of natu-
ral gas reserves which will
be critical to its energy secu-
rity. Referencing the impact
of Russia – Ukraine war on
the global energy sector,
Omuojine said International
Oil Companies such as BP,
Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell
and TotalEnergies raked in
combined record profits of
over $199.3 billion in 2022.
“Unsurprisingly, they
have soft-pedalled on their
aggressive plans to slash oil
and gas production by 2030.”
2021, while fees and commis-
sion expenses declined by
8.05 percent to N5.01 billion
in 2022 from N5.44 billion in
2021.
The growth in the fees and
commission Income was sup-
ported mainly by moderate
growth in asset management
fees (up 6.6 percent) and ac-
counted for 61 percent of total
fees and commission income
He said that for Nigeria
to harness the benefits of its
energy transition is to fully
implement the Petroleum
Industry Act (PIA) especially
as it relates to the optimal
utlisation of the country’s
vast gas reserves.
Focusing on the Lique-
fied Petroleum Gas (LPG)
sector, Omuojine said that
while Nigeria had signifi-
cantly improved its annual
per capita consumption of
LPG from 1.8 kg in 2015 to
at least 5 kg currently, it
still imports well over 60
percent of its LPG demand.
“This was an anomaly
since Nigeria has the most
proven gas reserves in Afri-
ca, at over 209 trillion cubic
in 2022, while card-based com-
mission and brokerage and
financial advisory were up
112.2 percent and 24.4 percent
respectively.
Stanbic IBTC reported im-
pairment loss on financial
instruments totaling N10.29
billion in 2022, down from an
impairment write back of N1.5
billion in 2021.
Cost of risk in 2022 comes
to 0.94 percent, with non-
performing loan to total loan
ratio amounting to 2.4 percent
compared with 2.1 percent in
2021.
As the cost of doing busi-
ness in Nigeria increases due
to energy supply disruptions
and rising inflation, operat-
ing expenses (OPEX) grew
21.4 percent to N129.47 billion
in 2022 from N106.65 billion
in 2021.
The moderate growth in
OPEX compared with the sig-
nificant 40.3 percent growth
in total operating income led
the cost of income ratio (CIR
ex provisions) to improve
by 839 to 53.9 percent in 2022
compared with 62.3 percent
for 2021.
Consequently, profit after
tax deductions increased by
41.85 percent to N80.81 billion
in 2022 from N56.97 billion in
2021, bringing profit margin
up 54 basis points to 28.11
percent in 2022 from 27.57
percent in 2021.
However, despite Stanbic
IBTC reporting profit growth
during the period, data from
the NGX reveals that the
bank’s business activities
are not generating cash, as
net cash flow from operat-
ing activities amounted to
N-84.23 billion in 2022, down
from N83.60 billion in 2021.
feet,” he added. “Nigeria’s
domestic demand for LPG
increased from just over
400,000 metric tonnes (MT)
in 2016 to over 1.3 million
MT in 2022.”
Omuojine also men-
tioned familiar obstacles
to the growth of LPG sector
in Nigeria, these include
persistent gas flaring, in-
adequate gas processing
facilities, poor transporta-
tion infrastructure, and
sub-optimal vessel berthing
facilities.
He highlighted the im-
pact of inadequate fund-
ing to LPG projects, espe-
cially in the recent shift in
global funding from fossil
fuel to renewable projects.
www.businessday.ng 29
Its net cash flow from in-
vesting activities for the pe-
riod was negative amounting
to N98.83 billion due to cash
spent for capital expenditure,
and purchase of financial
instruments.
During the year, Stan-
bic paid dividends totaling
N48.87 billion, repaid bor-
rowings and debt securities
issued of N27.37 billion and
N25.50 billion respectively. It
also received proceeds from
borrowings amounting to
N64.83 billion, and proceeds
from debt securities issued
totaling N46.17 billion, there-
by bringing net cash flow
from financing activities to
N10.25 billion in 2022.
Consequently, cash and
cash equivalents for the pe-
riod, declined by 22 percent
to N611 billion in 2022 from
N783 in 2021.
Its loans and advances
grew by 29 percent to N1.2
trillion in 2022 from N937 bil-
lion in 2021, thereby bringing
total assets to N3.03 trillion
in 2022.
Deposits and current ac-
counts were up 11.42 percent
to N1.74 trillion in 2022 from
N1.56 billion in 2021, while
total shareholders’ funds grew
by 8.17 percent to N407.67 bil-
lion in 2022 from N376.87 bil-
lion in 2021.
Stanbic’s return on equity
for the full year period of 2022
increased by 470 basis points
to 19.82 percent compared to
15.12 percent in 2021.
Ultimately, the bank de-
clared earnings per share of
N603 per share in 2022 from
N420 per share in 2021, and
proposed a final dividend of
N2.00 per ordinary share of 50
kobo each.
The regulatory and policy
frameworks also need to be
effectively implemented to
provide investment incen-
tives and reduce approval
bottlenecks experienced in
project execution.
Rainoil Limited, he said,
is fully vested in the develop-
ment of LPG in Nigeria. Over
the last four years, Rainoil
has invested more than N10
billion in LPG bulk storage,
trucks, filling plants and
retail skids.
“Rainoil is committed to
investment in gas which we
view as critical to addressing
the energy transition tri-
lemma of reliability, afford-
ability and sustainability,”
he said.
30 www.businessday.ng
COMPANIES & MARKETS
Stride ERP to empower 2.5m SMEs across Africa
By Folake Balogun
STRIDE ERP, a provider of
Enterprise Resource Plan-
ning software solutions,
has announced plans to
partner with pacemak-
ers and industry leaders
across Africa, to launch the
SME Accelerator Project,
SME-AP.
The initiative is de-
signed to revolutionise the
pace of digital business
transformation among
Small and Medium-sized
enterprises, SMEs, on the
continent.
The African continent
is home to over 30 mil-
NCDMB trains local firms on quality
management systems
By Dipo Oladehinde
THE Nigerian Content De-
velopment and Monitor-
ing Board (NCDMB) has
embarked on the training
of indigenous companies
on Quality Management
Systems (QMS).
This is part of efforts
by the board to build,
improve and increase the
capacity of Nigerians in
the oil and gas sector.
The QMS training,
which is ongoing in Port
Harcourt, the capital of
oil-rich Rivers State, is
the first series of the sec-
ond phase of the training.
QMS is a structured
system that documents
the processes, methods,
and responsibilities for
accomplishing quality
policies and objectives.
In this context, it will
assist the local organisa-
tions in coordinating and
directing their activities
to better fulfil the needs
PSB unveils financial literacy club in schools
THE 9 Payment Service
Bank set up a Financial
Literacy club in three
schools in three states of
the federation on Thurs-
day.
The club was launched
as part of activities to
mark the 2023 Global
Money Week with the
theme, ‘Plan your mon-
ey, plant your future’.
Speaking at the Lagos
event held at Ajao Estate
Senior Grammar School,
Isolo, the managing di-
rector of 9PSB, Branka
Mracajac, said that or-
ganisations all over the
globe had been able to
reach 153 million young
people in 176 countries
with the message of fi-
nancial literacy.
She told the students,
“Financial literacy helps
you to acquire knowl-
lion SMEs with significant
contributions to economic
growth. Despite their criti-
cal role, SMEs in Africa
face numerous challenges,
including a lack of digital
infrastructure, and limited
access to financial informa-
tion and technology.
In a statement by its
spokesperson, Winner
Kelechi, Stride ERP said:
“The SME Accelerator
Project aims to solve most
of these challenges by pro-
viding 2.5 million SMEs
across Africa with access
to free cutting-edge ERP
solutions, training, and
other resources needed to
of their customers and
regulatory authorities,
as well as to continuously
enhance their level of
effectiveness and effi-
ciency.
The most often used
strategy for quality man-
agement systems is in
accordance with ISO
9001:2015, which is an in-
ternational standard that
outlines requirements
for quality management
systems. The term “QMS”
truly refers to the entirety
of the system, despite the
fact that some people use
it to refer to the ISO 9001
standard or the collection
of documents that detail
the QMS. The document’s
sole purpose is to pro-
vide a description of the
system.
Speaking, NCDMB
General Manager, Ca-
pacity Building Division,
Dr Ama Ikuru, said the
training is imperative to
increase the participation
edge on how money
works in the world.
There’s a cycle, you need
to know; how you make
money, how you manage
your money, how you
invest money, which
means how you turn it
into more money and
then how you use your
money to help others.”
Mracajac also advised
the students on betting
which was raised by one
of them.
“Betting is never an in-
vestment and I hope when
you get older, you will be
smart with your money
and won’t bet,” she said.
On the launch of the
club, the head, of mar-
keting communications
and customer experi-
ence, 9PSB, Shola Ogu-
nyemi, said that the club
would not only support
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
BUSINESS EVENT
succeed in today’s digital
economy, driving business
transformation and im-
proving their competitive-
ness in the global market.”
“The company will part-
ner with industry leaders,
institutions and pacemak-
ers who share their vision
and are passionate about
driving economic growth
and development in Africa.
“As a company with
over two decades of expe- R-L: Ophelia Alex-Iwuanyanwu, vice president customer experience, Access Pensions; Dave Uduanu,
rience deploying informa- managing director/chief executive officer, Access Pensions; Ada Akonobi, head, brand marketing and
tion technology solutions communications, Access Pensions, and Afolabi Folayan, executive director, technical, Access Pensions,
globally, Stride ERP is com- at Access Bank’s International Women Day conference in Lagos.
mitted to driving economic
growth and development
across Africa.”
of Nigerians in the oil and
gas industry as well as
accelerate the attainment
of 70 per cent Nigerian
content by 2027.
Ikuru, represented by
the Supervisor, Capac-
ity Building Division,
NCDMB, Ikenna Umun-
nakwe, expressed delight
with the trainees and
conveyed Board’s expec- L-R: Joy Tim-Ayoola, group head, mobile experience, Samsung West Africa; Dongkyun Lee, managing
tations to them while director, Samsung West Africa; Kayode Thomas, founder/chairman, Rifugio Communications, and Nathan
urging them to take the Lee, mobile experience business manager, Samsung West Africa, during the Samsung Flagship Brand
training seriously. Store Grand Opening, Oniru, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos
“The training is also
part of the Board’s effort
to improve the capacity
of personnel of Nigerian
Oil and Gas companies
in Quality Management
Systems.
“The NCDMB values
training because it aids
in the achievement of
one of our key mandates:
Capacity Building in the
Nigerian Oil and Gas In-
dustry. Training is criti-
cal for increasing local
capacity.
L-R: Victor Alayande, manager, devices and products, MTN Nigeria; Chip Tang, brand manager, Tecno
the students learning Mobile; Osaze Ebueku, senior manager, Go-To-Market, MTN Nigeria, and Thompson Ani, marketing
manager, Tecno Mobile, at the MTN and Tecno media parley to launch the 5G-enabled Tecno Spark 10
but also broaden their Series in Lagos.
worldview on money.
He said, “The Finan-
cial Literacy club will
reinforce learning and
will take place in the
classroom. This club is
to support the efforts of
your teachers to ensure
you get a world view of
what financial literacy
and money management
are. It also drives finan-
cial inclusion and access
for the benefit of other
Nigerians like you.”
Ogunyemi added
that the club was being
declared open at other
schools in Abuja and
Kano State.
The school principal,
Mrs Adebisi Olabiran,
also described the club L-R: Oduneye Olamide, Director Public Health, African Dental Students Association (AFRODSA),Dr.
Adebayo Oluwafemi, Dentist, Yetunde Baderinwa, Lagos State Coordinator, National Youth Service Corp,
as a welcome develop- Anthony Amadin, National Below-The-Line Manager, Colgate Tolaram, during Community Outreach/
ment. Awareness Rally and Free Dental Check activity to commemorate World Oral Day in Lagos.
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
L-R: Sada Ladan-Baki, chairman, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry Export Group; Joana Maduka, honorary life vice president; Michael Olawale-Cole, president; Chinyere Almona, director-general, and Kola Adeleke,
executive director, commercial banking, Ecobank Nigeria, during the export seminar organised by the two organisations recently in Victoria Island, Lagos.
PROGRAMME CERTIFICATION
InfraCredit’s anti-bribery management system
certified ISO 37001 compliant by Lloyd’s Register
By Olamide Ologunagbe
INFRACredit, an AAA-
rated specialized infra-
structure credit guarantee
institution has created an
anti-bribery management
system certified as ISO
37001 compliant by Lloyd’s
Register.
InfraCredit compliance
and anti-bribery program
demonstrates its commit-
ment to upholding the
highest international anti-
bribery standards across
the business in which it
operates.
In a press statement,
Chinua Azubike, the chief
executive officer, said it is
setting a standard for ad-
dressing problems caused
by bribery to the devel-
JUDICIARY
Court dismisses Dumo Lulu-Briggs’ suit
challenging Moni Pulo ownership
By Iniobong Iwok
THE Federal High Court
in Abuja has dismissed a
suit challenging the late
Kalabari High Chief, O.B.
Lulu-Briggs’ transfer of his
shares in Moni Pulo Lim-
ited to his wife, Seinye O.B.
Lulu-Briggs, his daughters
and the O.B. Lulu-Briggs
Foundation.
The suit was filed by the
Chairman of Platform Petro-
leum, Dumo Lulu-Briggs and
three others.
Justice James Kolawole
Omotosho noted that Du-
mo’s suit, marked FHC/ABJ/
CS/1481/2021, was the same as
suit FHC/ABJ/CS/1576/2019,
which was discontinued by
Justice Taiwo Taiwo on Sep-
tember 30, 2021, and which is
pending on appeal before the
Court of Appeal.
The judge held that Du-
mo’s suit was a gross abuse
of Court processes.
The 1st to 4th plaintiffs in
opment of infrastructure
projects in Nigeria.
“As one of the very
few African companies to
achieve the status, Infra-
Credit is leading the way
in tackling the challenges
posed by bribery to infra-
structure project develop-
ment in Nigeria.
“As we endeavour to
maximize our development
impact and to ensure trans-
parency around the use of
proceeds on our guaran-
teed projects and capital
investments, we take any
allegations of corruption
extremely seriously.
“In facilitating sustain-
able and inclusive infra-
structure development in
critical economic sectors
in Nigeria, we adopt a
the suit marked FHC/ABJ/
CS/1481/2021 are Senibo Lu-
lu-Briggs, Dumo Lulu-Briggs,
Sofiri Lulu-Briggs, and ‘Chi-
ma Onimin Lulu-Briggs.’
The defendants are
Seinye Lulu-Briggs, Incor-
porated Trustees of the O.B.
Lulu-Briggs Foundation,
Rachael Lulu-Briggs, Solate
Ovundah-Akarolo, Moni
Pulo Ltd and the Corporate
Affairs Commission (CAC).
The defendants chal-
lenged the plaintiffs’ claims
and asked the Court to
consider if having freely,
unequivocally and fully
transferred their entire
shareholding to the late O.
B. Lulu-Briggs in two settle-
ments and having received
consideration which the
plaintiffs acknowledged as
valuable and sufficient for
such transfer ($3million to
Dumo Lulu-Briggs in 2003
and the other $5million to
Dumo Lulu-Briggs, Senibo
Lulu-Briggs and Sofiri Lulu-
www.businessday.ng 31
NEWS
prevent bribery have been
implemented across our
entire business.
InfraCredit is backed
by the Nigeria Sovereign
Investment Authority
(“NSIA”), Private Infra-
structure Development
zero-tolerance approach rigorous auditing process sessment services. Group companies Guar-
towards bribery and cor- undertaken by the leading The audit involved ex- antCo and InfraCo Africa,
ruption in all its forms,” global assurance independ- amining our anti-bribery KfW Development Bank,
Azubike said. ent body, Lloyd’s Register practices, including report- Africa Finance Corpora-
ISO 37001 is the gold Quality Assurance (LRQA), ing procedures and trans- tion (“AFC”) and African
standard in anti-bribery the world’s leading pro- action cycle, to ensure Development Bank.
measures with a globally vider of independent as- appropriate measures to
stringent audit system.
Developed by 59 coun-
tries to address the global
threat to sustainable devel-
opment posed by bribery,
the ISO 37001 certification
was published by the Inter-
national Organization for
Standardization (ISO) in
2016, recognising compa-
nies with well-implement-
ed systems designed to
prevent, detect, report and
deal with bribery across
their business practices.
It was also said that the
certification comes after a
Briggs in 2004), whether the
plaintiffs could rightly turn
around to impugn the said
share transfer.
They also asked the Court
whether the action was not
statute-barred, having been
filed 12 years after the date
of the consent judgment on
May 18, 2004.
Justice Omotosho, in a
February 15, 2023, ruling
yesterday agreed with the
defendants.
He held, “I hold without
hesitation that filing a fresh
suit on a subject between
parties on appeal is an abuse
of court process.”
“The fresh suit as in the
instant suit is nothing than
to overreach and make the
outcome of the pending ap-
peal nugatory.
“Filing this instant suit on
the same subject matter and
reliefs and against the same
parties is vexatious and noth-
ing more than a gross abuse
of the process of the Court.”
32 www.businessday.ng
L-R: Oluwole Ajimisinmi, executive director, Lagos business directorate, Wema Bank; Jiandi Zhao, MD/CEO, Hongda Industries FZE;
Adewumi Durojaiye, representing the Oloja Ekun; Haruna Ilo; and Tunde Mabawonku, executive director, retail and digital business, Wema
Bank, at Wema Bank’s branch opening at the Guangdong Free Trade Zone, Ogun State recently.
HONOURARY DEGREE
Zenith Bank CEO, Onyeagwu,
bags doctorate degree from UNN
EBENEZER Onyeagwu, the
Group Managing Director/
Chief Executive Officer of
Zenith Bank Plc, was on Sat-
urday conferred with an hon-
ourary Doctorate Degree in
Business Administration by
the University of Nigeria,
Nsukka (UNN).
The award, which is in
recognition of his immense
achievements as Group Man-
aging Director/CEO of Zenith
Bank as well as his contribu-
tions to the growth of the finan-
cial services sector in Nigeria
and across the African conti-
nent, was conferred on him
during the 50th convocation
ceremony of the University.
Speaking during the con-
ferment ceremony, Charles
Igwe, Professor and Vice Chan-
cellor of the University of Ni-
geria congratulated Ebenezer
Onyeagwu for distinguish-
AGRIBUSINESS
Group plans boosting farmers’ productivity, MTN partners Amazon to offer prime
profitability through hybrid seeds
By James Kwen, Abuja
THE Export Trading Group
(ETG) says it has ongoing
plans to boost Nigerian farm-
ers’ productivity and profit-
ability through the introduc-
tion of hybrid seeds and good
agronomic practices.
Ashish Lakhotia, the chief
executive officer of ETG-AGRT
inputs, stated this at a media
briefing on its activities in the
Nigerian Agricultural sector
with incentives available to
Nigerians.
Lakhotia explained that
farmers’ challenge of accessi-
bility of farm inputs is solved
in order for the farmers to have
good seeds for high yields and
profitability.
He said ETG had been
working with various govern-
ments in Sub- Saharan Africa
to educate farmers on policy
formulations, private sector
organisations to educate farm-
ers on the best agricultural
practices, and working with
ing himself in his career and
for his service to humanity,
which made him worthy to
receive the prestigious Doctor-
ate Degree from Nigeria’s first
indigenous University.
In his acceptance speech,
Ebenezer Onyeagwu ex-
pressed his gratitude to the
University of Nigeria for find-
ing him a worthy recipient of
the Doctorate Degree in Busi-
ness Administration of one
of the leading universities in
Nigeria, considering the very
rigorous process of selection
of awardees by the institution.
“For me to have been con-
sidered and to have passed
through the meticulous selec-
tion process makes it the more
dignifying because I have no
connection with the Univer-
sity”, he said.
Noting that the award
represents a validation of
Video to mobile users
extension officers on best ag-
ricultural practices.
Lakhotia said ETG has a
large team of agronomists who
work with farmers, and create
a sense of urgency to go for the
best practices so that the yield
goes up significantly.
“We believe that Nigeria
is the largest importer and
distributor of agri inputs in
Sub-Saharan Africa and we
want to continue on that track
to work together.
“One of the challenges that
farmers face is accessibility
to farm inputs, and for us, the
important thing is to go to the
last point so that the accessibil-
ity problem is solved.
“We are looking for an
enabling environment and to
create an affordable input pro-
gramme, which farmers really
see beneficial to them, these
are some of the things that
we do together for building a
sustainable agriculture in Sub
Saharan Africa,” he said.
Iyad Takrour, the global
NEWS
the outstanding corporate
governance, ethical leader-
ship, and overall outstanding
performance that Zenith Bank
is recording, Onyeagwu dedi-
cated the award to the board
and management of Zenith,
especially the Founder and
Chairman, Jim Ovia, who has
remained a mentor, a leader
and a source of inspiration
to everyone at the Bank and
beyond; the staff, for being the
shoulder and proverbial base
of the pyramid upon which his
achievements and success as
CEO of the leading financial
institution in Nigeria rests;
the Bank’s customers for
their unflinching loyalty to
the brand; and to his family
for their unceasing love and
support.
Presenting the citation
of Ebenezer Onyeagwu to
the assemblage at the 50th
head of Agrochem and Seed
Business, ETG, Dubai, said,
they are partnering with the
farmers to help them bring
the best out of the produce in
order so that they can take the
maximum production.
“The farmer must succeed
in order for us to succeed. So
we are a commercial entity
and we are here as an inves-
tor but we have to make sure
that we are providing the best
solutions for the farmers and
that they are getting the best
outcome for them because it’s
a continuous business.
“They need to invest in
herbicides, insecticides, fungi-
cides and to use the best seed.
So at ETG, we are providing
the farmers with the best seed
quality, the best and the latest
insecticides, fungicides and
other crop protection that are
helping them to combat pests
that are attacking the crop and
also getting the highest deals
and the best quality seeds on
time.
Convocation Ceremony for
the conferment of the Doc-
torate Degree in Business
Administration, the orator
of the University of Nigeria,
Ikenna Onwuegbuna noted
that Ebenezer Onyeagwu is an
alumnus of Auchi Polytech-
nic, the University of Oxford,
England and Salford Business
School, University of Salford,
Manchester, United King-
dom, Delta State University,
Abraka.
Also, he is an alumnus of
Wharton Business School of
the University of Pennsyl-
vania, Columbia Business
School of Columbia Universi-
ty, and the Harvard Business
School of Harvard University
in the United States.
Ebenezer Onyeagwu is a
Fellow (FCA) of the Institute
of Chartered Accountants of
Nigeria (ICAN), a Fellow of
the Nigerian Institute of Man-
agement (NIM), The Char-
tered Institute of Bankers of
Nigeria (CIBN), the Institute
of Credit Administrators
(ICA) and Senior Associate
Member, Risk Management
Institute of Nigeria (RIMAN).
TELECOMMUNICATION
By Chinwe Michael
MTN Nigeria has partnered
with Amazon’s global stream-
ing service, Prime Video, to
offer Prime Video Mobile
Edition – a single-device, mo-
bile-only subscription to its
customers.
MTN customers, who sub-
scribe to a Prime Video Mo-
bile Edition subscription, will
have access to Prime Video’s
full catalogue of 9,000+ mov-
ies and 1,500+ TV shows in
standard definition, with an
affordable and dedicated data
package for streaming and
downloading.
A’isha Umar Mumuni,
Chief Digital Officer at MTN
Nigeria, said, “We are excited
to offer Prime Video subscrip-
tions to millions of Nigerians
providing them with access to
entertainment on their own
terms - where and when they
want it. Video-on-demand has
become a major part of our
lives and this launch offer
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
BUSINESS
Unilever moves to boost,
streamline operations in Nigeria
By Josephine Okojie
AS part of its resolve to
continue to make its op-
erations in Nigeria competi-
tive, profitable and sustain-
able, the world renowned
manufacturer of fast moving
consumer goods, Unilever,
has reaffirmed its commit-
ment to strengthening its
production and operations
in Africa’s biggest economy.
The FMCG manufactur-
er recently announced a
change in its business model
to accelerate growth and
sustain profitability while
enhancing its ability to meet
consumer needs across the
country.
The 100-year-old con-
sumer goods company will
repurpose its portfolio while
putting in place measures to
make the business more ef-
ficient and fit for the future.
APPOINTMENT
Buhari reappoints Gambo
Aliyu as NACA DG
By Godsgift Onyedinefu, Abuja
PRESIDENT Muhammadu
Buhari has approved the
renewal of the appointment of
Gambo Aliyu as the Director-
General of the National Agen-
cy for the Control of AIDS.
The approval of his
reappointment was con-
veyed by the Secretary
to the Government of the
Federation, Boss Musta-
pha, according to a press
statement on Friday by
the NACA Spokesperson,
Toyin Aderibigbe.
The statement informed
that the reappointment of
Aliyu takes effect from
June 26, 2023, for a final
term of four years.
“A statement from the
office of the Secretary to
th e G o v er n m e nt o f t h e
is important to make every
customer’s journey to their
desired content more acces-
sible and affordable.”
She added, “The Prime
Video platform boasts thou-
sands of titles with over 150
Nollywood titles already and
with several Nigerian Origi-
nals currently in the pipeline.
We are confident this relation-
ship will bring value to both
our customers and the Nige-
rian movie industry.”
The company noted that
offering Prime Video Mobile
Edition to its customers has
been made possible through
the collaboration of I Cell
Communications, Vector, and
the Mondia Group
MTN Nigeria, which is the
largest telecommunication
company in the country, be-
comes the first telco in Nigeria
to offer Prime Video Mobile
Edition to its customers.
This relationship brings
together critical stakeholders
including i-Cell Multimedia
Limited, the mobile VAS
“All companies need to
adapt to changing market
circumstances and now is
the right time for us to re-
position Unilever Nigeria
Plc. to better meet the needs
of our consumers, share-
holders, and employees,”
Carl Cruz, the company’s
managing director said in a
statement.
He added, “We are a truly
Nigerian business and the
oldest serving manufacturer
in the country.
“By making these chang-
es, we will unleash the sus-
tained and profitable growth
we need to be here for the
next 100 years as well.”
Cruz noted that Unilever
is repurposing its portfolio
by gradually exiting two
categories, home care and
skin cleansing, affecting
only three brands (OMO,
Sunlight and Lux).
Federation says Presi-
dent Buhari congratulates
both appointees and urges
them to bring their wealth
of experience to bear on
their duties,” the state-
ment read.
Aliyu was first ap-
pointed on June 26, 2019,
after his predecessor, Sani
Aliyu, resigned from the
agency one year before the
end of his tenure.
Aliyu, who is an Epide-
miologist and Public Health
expert, attended the Ah-
madu Bello University of
Zaria, Nigeria, where he
obtained Bachelor of Medi-
cine, Bachelor of Surgery in
1995, before he proceeded to
the University of Maryland
to obtain PhD in Epidemiol-
ogy in 2012.
Aggregator License holder,
Vector Telecoms Limited,
the mobile service provider,
and Mondia Group acting as
Technical Partner to Amazon.
i-Cell Multimedia Lim-
ited, which is a leading and
licensed digital content ag-
gregator, has played a criti-
cal role in this launch. The
company has a reputation
for delivering high-quality
digital content to mobile sub-
scribers in Nigeria, and its
relationship with Amazon
is a testament to its com-
mitment to innovation and
customer satisfaction.
Speaking about the part-
nership, H. Fayad, the Chief
Operating Officer of i-Cell
Multimedia, said, “We are
thrilled to work with Ama-
zon, to enable MTN custom-
ers to subscribe to Prime
Video Mobile Edition. This is
a game-changer for the Nige-
rian entertainment industry,
and we are proud to be at
the forefront of this exciting
development.”
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023 www.businessday.ng 33
34 www.businessday.ng DAY 2 MARCH 2023
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
Peter Mbah (l), governor-elect, Enugu State; and his deputy governor-elect, Ifeanyi Ossai, paying a courtesy visit to Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi,
governor, Enugu State and leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), at the Government House, Enugu to express their profound
gratitude to the governor.
BUSINESS
Nigeria-South Africa Chamber of Commerce
holds breakfast forum in Lagos
AS part of effort to deepen
relationships and eco-
nomic ties between the
the two biggest economic
countries on the African
continent, the Nigeria-
South Africa Chamber of
Commerce (NSACC) will
hold its March 2023 Break-
fast Forum on Thursday at
the RED Restaurant Eko
Hotel & Suites Victoria
Island at 7.30.am prompt.
According to a press
statement issued by the Ni-
geria-South Africa Cham-
ber of Commerce, Ayo
Adegboye, CEO ARRAVO,
will be the Speaker for
March 2023 Breakfast edi-
tion, while Osayaba Giwa-
Osagie (SAN), Chairman
of the Nigeria South Africa
Chamber of Commerce
HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT
Edo public service academy boosts
workers’ capacity on public policy, others mourn Diya’s passing away
By Churchill Okoro, Benin
THE John Odigie Oyegun
Public Service Academy
(JOOPSA), a brainchild of
Governor Godwin Obaseki-
led administration, has
trained about 300 civil and
public service workers in
the state to expand their
capabilities for effective
service delivery.
Speaking after the three-
day session in Benin City,
Precious Ajoonu, Manag-
ing Director of the public
service academy, said the
participants were trained
on public policy, negotia-
tion and conflict manage-
ment.
Ajoonu, who is also the
facilitator, said the train-
ing was part of the acad-
emy’s mission to upskill
10,000 workers in 2023, add-
ing that it is open to civil
and public servants across
all tiers of government with
a view to incorporating
will give opening remarks
and Ajibola Olomola, Vice-
Chairman, Nigeria will
be the moderator of the
Breakfast meeting.
BusinessDay reports
that Ayo Adegboye, CEO
ARRAVO will share in-
sights on the topical issue:
“DIGITAL TRANSFOR-
MATION” in our ever
evolving Society.
Iyke Ejimofor, the Ex-
ecutive Secretary, stated
that the event is for all
interested parties, adding
that the Chairman of the
Chamber, Osayaba Giwa-
Osagie and other Execu-
tive Directors are expected
to attend the forum as the
March edition would be
educative and insightful.
“Since the inaugura-
Obasanjo, Abiodun, Amosun
other private individuals,
civil society groups and
corporate organizations.
The Managing Director,
while noting that the acad-
emy is passionate about
impacting the right knowl-
edge on civil and public ser-
vants, corporate organiza-
tions to enable them reach
their goals, urged members
of the public and corporate
organizations to leverage
on the academy to add
value to their workforce.
“The John Odigie Oye-
gun Public Service Acad-
emy is the training arm of
the Edo state government.
This, no doubt, is a com-
petitive advantage that
few organisations can
effectively harness. The
academy since inception
has been a major driv-
er of Governor Godwin
Obaseki’s transformation
efforts being witnessed in
Edo state civil and public
service.
NEWS
tion of the Nigeria-South
Africa Chamber of Com-
merce in the year 2000,
the bilateral relations
between both countries
have grown tremendously.
The Chamber has been a
veritable economic tool
responsible for the incre-
ment in trade between
Nigeria and South Africa.
“Through the Chamber
activities, many South
African firms have in-
dicated interest in joint
partnership with Nigerian
firms and other forms of
economic co-operations
with several business es-
tablishments in Nigeria.
They participate actively
in Nigerian business en-
vironment.
“Nigeria South Africa
OBITUARY
By Razaq Ayinla
FORMER President Oluse-
gun Obasanjo has described
the life of the late Lt-General
Donaldson Oladipo Oyeyinka
Diya as a great success and ac-
complishments which would
long be remembered after him.
The late former Number
Two man under the Military
Administration of late General
Sani Abacha from 1994 to 1997,
died in early hours of Sunday
in Lagos at age 79.
Obasanjo in a release by
Kehinde Akinyemi, his Special
Assistant on Media, remarked
“with the demise of Diya, there
is no doubt, the ranks of the na-
tion’s leadership have been de-
pleted by the loss of a dedicated
and resourceful patriot, who
served the nation in various
capacities as an Army Officer,
community leader and a legal
practitioner”.
He said, “It is noteworthy
that in the course of his mili-
tary service which straddled
Chamber of Commerce’s
membership covers al-
most the whole spectrum
of business activities in
Nigeria. Such as banking/
finance services, man-
ufacturing, insurance,
advertising, accounting,
auditing and management
consulting.
“Others include airline
services, broadcasting,
engineering, law, freight,
hospitality, health/phar-
maceuticals, oil and gas,
property, telecommunica-
tion, stock brokering, and
information technology.
“Membership is spread
all over the country with
specific presence in Lagos,
Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ka-
duna, Kano, Ibadan and
Onitsha”, he said.
more than three decades, he
acquitted himself as a dedi-
cated officer and a real patriot.
From the thick of the Nigerian
Civil War to the post-war re-
organisation of the Army, he
distinguished himself as a
seasoned soldier.
“The rare diligence, loy-
alty and resourcefulness with
which he carried out his du-
ties and responsibilities, cul-
minated in his appointment
as Commander 31, Airborne
Brigade; Military Governor
of Ogun State from January
1984 to August 1985; General
Officer Commanding 82 Divi-
sion, Nigeria Army in 1985;
Commandant, National War
College, 1991–1993; Chief of
Defence Staff in 1993 and soon
after, Chief of General Staff
also in 1993; Vice Chairman of
the Provisional Ruling Council
in 1994 and later functioned as
Nigeria’s Number Two man
under the military administra-
tion of General Sani Abacha
from 1994 to 1997.”
www.businessday.ng
CRIME
Nursing mother raped to
death in Ondo church
By Jacob Akintunde, Akure
A NURSING mother with
an eleven-month old baby,
Adejoke Oloje, has been al-
legedly raped to death by a
Pastor, identified as Kayode
Salami inside his Church in
Ondo state.
BusinessDay gathered
that the deceased, Ade-
joke Oloje, came to the
Church with her cousin,
one Aderonke to worship
at Cherubim and Seraphim
Church, Oke-Irapada, Alade-
Idanre, in Idanre Local Gov-
ernment Area of the state for
the first time where she met
her untimely death.
According to the mother
of the deceased, Deborah
said her daughter, Adejoke
came to her in Idanre for a
visit and suddenly left the
house without any notice.
“I called her line to ask
about her whereabouts, but
she didn’t pick her calls. So,
one day, some people told
me they saw her in Alade
(Church) with her cous-
in, Aderonke. I collected
Aderonke’s phone number
from their grandmother
and I called her, but she said
Adejoke was staying in the
Church, not her place.
“I called my daughter’s
phone number and she
picked it. I asked for the
description of where she was
staying and she obliged me.
“I went to the church and
eventually found her. She
complained about foodstuffs
and I promised to bring
some for her the following
day. I also pleaded with her
to leave the place, but she
declined and I left.
“The next day, when I got
SECURITY
FG to boost security across airports
with facial recognition cameras
By Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha
CLEM Agba, the Minister
of State, Budget and Na-
tional Planning, has said
the Federal Government
will commence installation
of facial recognition tech-
nology at major airports in
the country.
Speaking when he host-
ed Matsunaga Kazuyoshi,
the Japanese Ambassador
to Nigeria and a team from
NEC Corporation of Japan
in his office, the Minis-
ter added that the airports
would soon be operating au-
tomatic security measures
that would incorporate the
use of facial recognition so-
lution to improve security
around the airports and
easily detect impostors.
Agba explained that the
technology would be de-
ployed to airports through
grant agreements between
the Federal Government
and the Japanese Govern-
ment, with a focus on Lagos
and Abuja international
Airports in the pilot phase
before the project would be
extended to Port Harcourt,
Enugu and Kano Airports.
He said as part of pre-
requisites for the process-
ing of the facial recognition
35
to the Church around past
5pm, I heard her child cry-
ing profusely. So, I moved
close to see what happened.
“I met the door closed.
So, I forced it open. To my
utmost dismay, I found my
daughter on the floor, with
her pant already removed
down her legs and I shouted
for help”, the mother of the
deceased narrated.
The victim’s mother said
they immediately took her
to the hospital where she
was confirmed dead by the
doctor on duty.
She said the case was
immediately reported at
the police station in Idanre
and the policemen swung
into action to apprehend
the pastor.
“When the pastor was
arrested, we noticed that
his trouser was torn under
and he wasn’t wearing any
underwear.
“It is a painful story and
a sad moment for our fam-
ily. She was with an eleven-
month old child before she
met her untimely death. The
culprit must not go unpun-
ished,” she pleaded.
But on his part, Pastor
Salami explained, “I knew
Adejoke through her sister,
Aderonke. They came to my
church to worship and they
went home. After that day,
Adejoke came back on her
own to seek accommodation
in the church, pending when
she would get a place to stay.
“I gave her one room
out of the two rooms in the
church. I did not ask her
what happened between her
and her sister, Aderonke. I
gave her Cam Gas we use in
the church to cook.
system, he would be leading
the Ambassador and the
team on a site survey visit
to Lagos and Abuja Airports
for necessary assessments.
The Minister said, “I
am happy that the series of
meetings, which began in
January this year in Tokyo
on this project, aimed at
recognising faces of per-
sons who pass through our
international airports has
started to yield result.
“This, we believe, would
further strengthen the se-
curity of our people and the
country as a whole. This pro-
ject was conceived in view
of several security concerns
among Nigerians and the
need to nip these growing
concerns in the bud.”
The Minister expressed
his readiness and determi-
nation to leave a worthy
legacy that would be inher-
ited by the next administra-
tion in the area of a more
secured country.
He also pleaded for the
understanding and co-
operation of all relevant
stakeholders that would
make the proposal a real-
ity, assuring that facial
recognition had proven
to be effective globally, in
securing airports.
36 www.businessday.ng
MARKETS INTELLIGENCE
Supported by Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON)
Lannisters always pay their debts, can
Nigeria’s cement makers follow suit?
By Dipo Oladehinde &
Folake Balogun
HOUSE of Lannister, according
to G.R.R Martins bestseller novel
book “The Game of Thrones” is
about a very wealthy and influ-
ential family that does not want
to be indebted to anyone.
This is because there is certain
power, respect and independence
with being in no one’s debt.
That stellar track record
helped the Lannisters including
patriarch Tywin, Queen Cersei
and Sir Jamie become one of the
wealthiest families in the Seven
Kingdoms.
Even when they owe, they look
at their creditors in the face and
say “A Lannister always pays his
debts.”
While the Lanisters have their
castle built on goldmines which
gives them the leeway to meet
their obligations, Nigeria’s larg-
est cement makers (who are able
to deploy their fixed assets in
generating higher sales), are re-
cording mixed reactions towards
debt obligations.
Findings by BusinessDay
analysis showed BUA Cement
and Dangote Cement’s net debts
grew by 70 percent to N614.21 bil-
lion in 2022.
Net debt is a liquidity metric
used to determine how well a
company can pay all of its debts
if they were due immediately. It
shows how much cash would re-
main if all debts were paid off and
if a company has enough liquid-
ity to meet its debt obligations.
Lafarge Africa recorded a
negative net debt of N81.8 billion,
which implies that the company
possesses more cash and cash
equivalents than its financial
obligations and is hence more
financially stable.
Further findings showed the
three-cement maker’s total bor-
rowings stood at N868.76 billion
in 2022, up 29.3 percent from
N671.73 billion in the full year
of 2021.
The firms recorded total short-
term borrowings of N489 billion
while long-term borrowings
amounted to N379.77 billion in
December 2022.
According to market analysts,
cement makers are raising debts
such as commercial papers or
bonds for working capital pur-
poses or quick investment needs.
“Cement maker’s ability to
pay back their loans are never
in doubt, but rising input costs
arising from higher energy costs
prevented the top line growth
from translating into double-
digit bottom-line growth,” Tunde
Adelakun, an analyst at Sofidam
Capital Limited, said.
He added, “if it is judged that
income is not large enough to pay
monthly instalments, they may
be encouraged to take a longer
tenor.”
Findings by BusinessDay
showed Dangote Cement is a
familiar face in Nigeria’s capital
market for new debt through
bonds after its board agreed to
the move, aimed at financing its
operations and some expansion
projects.
Last February, Dangote Ce-
ment issued N50 billion com-
mercial paper sales; the firm
issued the debt instruments in
two maturities, with the Series 4
at a 183-day tenor and the Series
5 at a 267-day tenor.
Last year, the company said it
completed the issuance of N116
billion series 2 fixed rate senior
unsecured bonds under its N300
billion multi-instrument issuance
programme.
In June 2021, the cement pro-
ducer had successfully issued N50
billion series 1 fixed rate senior
unsecured bonds.
“Cement makers will remain
unwavering despite a projected
increase in the proportion of
debt in their capital structure,”
Charles Ogbeide, an industry
analyst with a Lagos-based invest-
ment bank said.
He added, “Cement makers
are investing in various projects
across the continent while setting
up plants in Nigeria in pursuant
of the government’s backward
integration programme”.
Firm analysis
Lafarge
Lafarge recorded negative net
debt which implies it has net cash
of N81.81 billion in 2022, 205.6 per-
cent increase from N26.77 billion
in 2021.
The firm’s short-term borrow-
ings grew 68.5 percent to N35.06
billion in 2022 from N20.81 billion
2021 while long term borrowings
dropped 38.3 percent to N1.53
billion from N2.48 billion in the
period reviewed.
This led to total borrowings
amounting to N36.59 billion in
2022, 57 percent from N23.29 bil-
lion in 2021. Lafarge’s interest on
borrowings dipped 79.6 percent to
N766.86 million in December 2022
from N3.76 billion in December
2021.
Lafarge’s repayment of loans and
borrowings stood at N18.7 billion
in 2022, 48 percent decrease from
N36.05 billion in 2021.
With profit after tax which
amounted to N53.6 billion, up 5
percent from N51 billion in the
period reviewed. Lafarge Af-
rica reported a 27.3 percent year
on year increase in revenue to
N373.25 billion from N293.09 bil-
lion in full year 2021.
“We note that the company,
like its peers, was able to take
advantage of elevated prices.
Going into 2023, we believe the
company is positioned for growth
as it ramps up output on the back
of the debottlenecking exercise
strategy,” analysts at Coronation
Research said.
The company’s cash and cash
equivalents at the end of the year
stood at N116.76 billion, 140 per-
cent increase from N48.63 billion
on the back of net cash flows gen-
erated from operating activities
which amounted to N100.7 billion
during the period.
BUA Cement
BUA Cement net debt surged 42
percent to N191.32 billion in 2022
from N134.71 billion in 2021.
The firm’s short-term bor-
rowings rose to N80.70 billion in
2022, 102.7 percent from N39.81
billion in 2021 while long term
borrowings at N44.74 billion, up
2.4 percent from N43.69 billion in
the reviewed period.
Total bank borrowings grew
50.2 percent to N125.44 billion in
2022 from N83.5 billion in 2021.
Interest expense on borrowings
stood at N6.74 billion, 3.3 percent
decline from N6.97 billion in the
comparable period.
Principal repayment of bor-
rowings amounted to N136.98
billion in 2022, 33 percent increase
from N102.94 billion in 2021.
BUA Cement’s profit after tax
grew to N101 billion in 2022, 12
percent increase from N90 bil-
lion in 2021. The firm recorded 40
percent year-on-year increase in
revenue to N360.9 billion in 2022,
from N257.3 billion in the previ-
ous year.
According to Coronation Re-
search, BUA Cement’s revenue
performance in full-year 2022
was in line with its expectations
(+0.75% variance).
“Amongst its peers in the
industry, we are pleased with
its improved capacity utilisa-
tion (57.3%) reflecting in decent
volume growth while also taking
advantage of the elevated pric-
ing environment,” Coronation
Research said.
Cash and cash equivalents
dropped 23 percent to N48.05 bil-
lion in 2022 from N62.34 billion
on the back of negative cash flow
used in investing and financing
activities.
Dangote Cement
Dangote Cement net debt grew
to N422.89 billion in 2022, 87.9
percent increase from N225.10
billion in 2021.
The firm’s short-term borrow-
ings dropped 4 percent to N373.24
billion in 2022 from N388.38 billion
in 2021. Long-term borrowings,
however, increased by 89 percent
to N333.50 billion from N176.56
billion in the comparable period.
Dangote Cement’s total bor-
rowings climbed 21 percent
to N706.73 billion in 2022 from
N564.94 billion in 2021 while inter-
est on borrowings grew 31.6 per-
cent to N75.24 billion from N57.17
billion in the period reviewed.
Loans repaid stood at N267.18
billion in 2022, 17.7 percent in-
crease from N324.83 billion in 2021.
Profit after tax stood at N382.3
billion in 2022, 5 percent increase
from N364.4 billion in 2021. The
firm’s revenue grew 17 percent to
N1.62 trillion in 2022 from N1.38
trillion in 2021.
According to CSL Research,
the management is yet to provide
details of the drivers of the com-
pany’s strong performance in FY
2022, but we believe this growth
in revenue could be attributed to
increasing prices, amidst a decline
in production volumes as the com-
pany seeks to protect its profit mar-
gin. As of 9M 2022, prices were up
by (+28.1% y/y), while production
volumes declined by (-4.7% y/y).
Cash and cash equivalents
dropped 43 percent to N150.84 bil-
lion in 2022 from N263.4 billion in
2021, on the back of 35 percent dip
in net cash flow from operating
activities and negative cash flow
used in investing and financing
activities.
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
SHORT TAKES
15 years
A review of the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN)’s Money and Credit
Statistics has shown that money
in circulation in the country has
decreased from N3.1 trillion in
December 2022 to N982 billion in
February 2023, the lowest in the
last 15 years
This represents a 68.3 percent
decrease over the period.
The CBN is responsible for
making the naira available for
transactions in the country.
In the last 15 years (since 2009),
currency in circulation has never
dropped to N982 billion. The low-
est was in December 2009 when it
fell to N1.181 trillion.
N20 trillion
Nigeria has lost N20 tril-
lion to the naira redesign
policy of the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN)’s Governor,
Godwin Emefiele, since it
started in January 2023,
according to a report by the
Centre for the Promotion of
Private Enterprise (CPPE)
seen by BusinessDay.
According to the report
signed by the CPPE’s
Director-General, Muda
Yusuf, the losses emanated
from the deceleration of eco-
nomic activities, crippling of
trading activities, stifling of
the informal economy, con-
traction of the agricultural
sector and the paralysis of
rural economy.
N71.19bn
Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi
Osinbajo said the abundance of
Silicon and Silica—major raw
materials for the production of
solar cells—informed the siting
of the NASENI solar cells produc-
tion plant in Gora, Karu Local
Government Area of the state.
“The major raw material
requirements for the produc-
tion of solar cells—Silicon and
Silica—are naturally occurring
in abundance in this area. We
are grateful to the good people of
Nasarawa for hosting this impor-
tant project,” Osinbajo said at the
foundation-laying ceremony of
the N71.19bn ($171.97m) facility
he described as the first solar cell
factory in West Africa.
N500,000
The Court of Appeal sit-
ting in Abuja, on Friday,
set aside the tribunal
judgment that nullified
the election of Ademola
Adeleke as governor of
Osun State.
The appellate court, in a
unanimous decision by
a three-member panel of
justices, led by Justice
Mohammed Lawal, held
that the appeal lodged by
Adeleke to challenge his
sack by the Osun State
Governorship Election
Petition Tribunal was
meritorious.
The court also held that
the sum of N500,000 is
awarded as a cost against
the All Progressive Con-
gress, APC, and its candi-
date, Gboyega Oyetola.
During the ruling, the
justice resolved that the
preponderance of proof
that there was over-voting
in the elections rested on
the petitioner.
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
BIG STORY
Nigeria’s late-stage cancer
crisis could worsen by 2030
…as survival rates slow
By Temitayo Ayetoto-Oladehinde
BY 2030, surgical oncologists
currently in short supply will
be busier with an escalated
crisis of late-stage cancer diag-
nosis and presentation, depriv-
ing many Nigerian patients of
the benefits of early detection,
experts have warned.
They are calling for actions
to reverse the conditions that
enable cancer patients to go
by for many years before their
cases are picked.
Data from the World Health
Organization (WHO) indicate
that out of 2016 million patients
with cancer globally, 17.3 mil-
lion will need surgery by 2030.
Ten million of these pa-
tients needing surgery will
come from low and middle-
income countries like Nigeria
where cases continue to build
up without adequate facilities
for detection.
“From my experience, cases
are rising. More cases of late-
stage cancers are being pre-
sented compared to the first
quarter of 2022. The proportion
between men and women has
not changed,” Jimoh Mutiu,
consultant clinical and radiation
oncologist at Lakeshore Cancer
Center, Victoria Island, said.
Colorectal cancer (CRC)
Tinubu’s plan for long-term
diseases to face test of scale
By Temitayo Ayetoto-Oladehinde
PART of the plan of Bola Ti-
nubu, Nigeria’s president-
elect, to reduce the burden of
long-term diseases is facilitat-
ing systems that enable early
detection of cases and leverage
universal health coverage in
broadening access to treat-
ment.
He has identified preven-
tive care as a tool and plans
to get state and local govern-
ments to key into measures en-
courage such as vaccinations,
eye tests, and cancer screen-
ing, blood pressure monitor-
ing and diabetes testing.
“Such preventative care
patients in Nigeria are, for in-
stance, presented at a younger
age of 53 compared to 68 in the
United States.
However, the stage of pre-
sentation is often much higher
with the majority of stage 4
patients in Nigeria compared
to the US, a study by the Africa
Group for Oncology Consor-
tium shows.
It is almost non-existent to
have stage one tumours in Ni-
geria because screening CRC is
generally not performed.
The group also found that
survival in patients with CRC
in Nigeria is poor. About 62
percent only survive for six
months while only 48 percent
survive under 12 months.
What it implies is that Ni-
geria loses 38 percent of such
patients within six months and
52 percent in a year.
Peter Kingham, director of
the Global Cancer Disparity
Initiative at Memorial Sloan
Kettering Cancer Centre, US,
said it is a similar story in
breast cancer with late-stage
cancer in a presentation by the
majority of women.
Seventy-nine percent of Ni-
gerian women present locally
advanced or metastatics breast
cancer, he said, noting that only
28 percent of Nigerians survive
services will be grassroot
based, gender sensitive, and
affordable,” his health plan
states, noting that President’s
Muhammadu Buhari’s re-
structuring of the national
health insurance scheme will
serve as a great footing to be-
gin its execution.
But if the plan must move
from paper concept to practi-
cal solutions, it must be ready
to pass the test of scale, stake-
holders says.
For cancer treatment in
particular, health advocates
are looking to see a more in-
clusive package that eases the
burden of patients.
The impact of the current
in five years, whereas 85 per-
cent of women present stage
three disease of breast cancer.
“The largest part of my clini-
cal practice here is treating stage
four colorectal cancer in the
liver and in that situation, we
talk about five-year survival in
cures. We don’t talk about one-
year survival here in the US,”
Kingham, who is the associate
professor of hepato-pancreato-
biliary surgery, said during a
seminar on research and ideas.
“This is just reinforcing the
fact that so many patients are
arriving at the hospital with a
very late stage four diagnosis
and dying very soon after they
are diagnosed.”
In 2020, the African Organ-
isation for Research and Train-
ing in Cancer estimated that
there were over 302,076 people
struggling with treatments,
with less than 10 radiothera-
py machines available in the
country. At least 200 machines
are required.
Nigeria faces a 96-percent
deficit of clinical oncologists
as less than 100 oncologists
practice in the country instead
of 3,000.
Despite being preventable
and curable, cancer still leads
to 13 percent of deaths in Nige-
ria on the back of late presenta-
package under the NHIS is
feather weight for roughly
90 percent of the population,
who are uninsured and face
the dire effects of a health
system where about 77 percent
of health expenditure is out-
of-pocket.
The NHIS in 2019 for in-
stance began to cover some
cancer medications which are
used for treatment. They have
been included on the essential
medicine list.
However, the provision
does not cover most of the
expensive drugs required for
treatment which often runs
into millions.
A large pool of cancer pa-
tion, lack of awareness, poor
prognosis and patient denial,
researchers say.
These data stress the impor-
tance of developing methods of
screening for early diagnosis,
and experts are pushing for
them to be effectively applied.
Risk factors
Until recently, Nigeria was
not one of the countries as-
sociated with solid tumours
or colorectal cancers or breast
cancers, Kingham said.
The conventional trend has
been a high rate of associated
cancers but as lifestyle changes
occur, factors such as diet are
changing what tumours are
developing.
A WHO report shows that
around one-third of deaths
from cancer are due to the five
leading behavioral and dietary
risks: high body mass index,
low fruit and vegetable intake,
lack of physical activity, to-
bacco use, and alcohol use.
Cancer is the second lead-
ing cause of death globally and
was responsible for 8.8 million
deaths in 2015, according to
WHO.
The global health body also
estimates that 12,075 cervical
cancer cases and 7, 968 deaths
are recorded in Nigeria an-
nually.
tients increasingly young are
also not under the vulnerable
group which now as a special
fund. The NHIS does not cover
surgery and radiotherapy
among others.
Runcie Chidebe, executive
director, Project Pink Blue,
a non-profit cancer advocacy
group, in an interview, told
BusinessDay he expects the
government will widen the
vulnerable group to include
both people who are indigent
financially, and others battling
terminal diseases or disease
who their treatments are really
expensive.
“The healthcare system in
Nigeria is largely in the hands
of donor agencies and not the
government. The responsibil-
ity on the government to imple-
ment the National Health Act
of that stipulates 15 percent of
the national budget should go
Continues on page 38
Soaring costs, naira scarcity frustrate...
Continued from page 1
the cost of treatment.
In some cases where the
funds are raised in record
time, cash scarcity has
been a major headache
for many patients since
January. Card transac-
tions through Point of Sale
(PoS) machines sometimes
fail them, while digital
money transfers often work
by chance.
Regina’s quotation for
curative treatment of head
and neck cancer was jerked
up to almost N1.4 million
from N1.1 million after the
Lagos University Teaching
Hospital (LUTH) Cancer
Centre hiked the cost of
chemotherapy, radiotherapy
and other treatments by 15
percent in January.
The quotation was only
valid for three days. But
when her husband tried to
pay, the transaction was de-
clined and took two weeks to
resolve. Over a million naira
had been deducted from his
her account and was neither
credited to the hospital’s ac-
count nor reversed.
This delayed her treat-
ment and had consequences.
On one hand, she was writh-
ing from the aftereffect of
eight chemotherapy sessions
that cost between N190,000
and N240,000 each. On the
other hand, her blood level
pitched into a steep drop, re-
quiring several pints more.
The chemotherapy’s at-
tempt to kill tumour cells
was also depopulating
healthy cells, draining her
family’s pockets further for
additional treatments.
For accompanying rela-
tives like Regina’s husband,
the brightly lit wards of the
NSIA-LUTH Cancer Cen-
tre, the cool caresses of the
air conditioners and the
warmth of attendants are
never enough to lift patients
above the ordeal in accessing
care or the hammering of the
disease itself.
He sat at the reception
with a forlorn look, his el-
bows resting on his thighs
and hands leaning on his
chin as he waited for his wife
to conclude her therapy that
March afternoon.
It’s a tiring race with no
end in sight, he said, groan-
ing over the weight of the
cost of managing the condi-
tion of a wife that was once
leading a peaceful life in Eng-
land barely two years ago.
“I’m tired. I’m even think-
ing of trying the native meth-
od. I suffered going back and
forth from banks before my
wife could be treated. She
was chubby when we started
this journey. But now, she
has shrunk, I can’t notice
much improvement and we
keep spending,” he said.
Double whammy
Many patients are faced
with the double whammy
of raising cash for what is
considered one of the most
expensive diseases and mov-
ing past the payment hurdle.
Cancer accounts for 13 per-
cent of deaths in Nigeria,
according to the African
Organisation for Research
and Training in Cancer.
BusinessDay’s sources
at LUTH said the cancer
centre has recorded a 100
percent increase in applica-
tions for financial support to
cover treatment in 2023. The
centre has had to reflect on
www.businessday.ng 37
the impact of the country’s
staggering economy, and
the scarcity of fuel and cash,
among other issues, adding
as much as N500,000 to pa-
tients’ bills.
It has also had to halt the
use of PoS machines for pay-
ment as cases of failed trans-
actions spiralled. It typically
required the intervention of
its accounts department to
resolve the payment discrep-
ancies, which sometimes
lasted months.
“We changed our prices
in November but it didn’t
take effect till mid-January.
The cost of the drugs changes
and affects how we sell. We
give them at the buying
price most times. It is our ad-
ditional charges, which are
usually in administration
and consumables, where we
mark profit,” a source said.
“But recently, we have
had a lot of issues with banks
not reflecting patients’ pay-
ments. The patients almost
don’t get their money until
maybe a month after and
this happens a lot. We try
to call the banks on our end
and they often have to ask
patients to go back to their
banks.”
The NSIA-LUTH Cancer
Centre is almost the most
modern cancer specialty that
is government-run in Lagos
state. Its capacity to provide
rare radiotherapy services
has made it a national rally-
ing point for cancer patients.
Other government-run
hospitals such as the Lagos
State University Teaching
Hospital (LASUTH) also
provide chemotherapy treat-
ments but costs have also
spiked.
Findings show that
chemotherapy rates have
surged by 50 percent for
treatments such as breast
cancer while some male
cancer treatments now go
for as much as N500,000 per
session. At least, five of such
sessions could be required.
Adding to the patients’
headaches, the hospital has
introduced a N10,000 main-
tenance fee that is charged
on each chemotherapy treat-
ment administered.
Adetokunbo Fabamwo,
chief medical director of
LASUTH, said cancer care in
Nigeria is still reeling from
the disruption of the global
drug supply chain caused
by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Imported medical sup-
plies have remained un-
changed at high rates in
the last three years of the
pandemic, worsening cancer
patients’ ordeal.
“The cost of cancer treat-
ment has gone up due to
COVID-19 and the worsen-
ing economic situation of
the world generally and of
Nigeria in particular. When
the cash crunch started it
affected the speed at which
people were able to pay for
services, resulting in unnec-
essary queues. We found that
people didn’t have the cash
to pay and transfers were
not going as quickly as they
should,” Fabamwo said.
“But the PoS machines
helped. Also, there is a com-
pany that helps with fee
collection. That helped too.”
At LUTH, an e-card pay-
ment system that patients
can credit and use within the
hospital has helped to reduce
the effect of the cash crunch,
Continues on page 38
38 www.businessday.ng
L-R: Dipo Onabanjo, past president, Rotary Club of Ikeja; Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, past district governor, district 9110; Sola Akinsiku, president, Rotary Club of Ikeja; Olusegun Osunkeye,
past president; and Thomas Odegbami, past president, at the media roundtable organised by the club, in Ikeja, Lagos.
Soaring costs, naira scarcity frustrate...
C the time they are done, we
a matron told BusinessDay.
The cancer centre
is also using a support
programme to offset the
cost for patients in dire
straits. “Through our sup-
port group, we encourage
people to maybe raise a
quarter of their pay and by
Poverty receding in India, worsens in...
C Monetary Fund (IMF) indi-
how it was possible to re-
duce poverty through strict
policy reforms, especially by
developing a robust manufac-
turing and industrial system.
Findings showed India’s
economic transformation
is kicking into high gear as
the government is spending
nearly 20 percent of its bud-
get this fiscal year on capital
investments, the most in at
least a decade.
In its 2023 economic plan,
India’s Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi says he is ready
to move the country, once
synonymous with red tape, to
a $10 trillion economy.
“India is on the cusp of
huge change,” said Nandan
Nilekani, a founder of Info-
sys Ltd., one of the nation’s
largest technology services
companies.
“India has quickly created
capacity to support tens of
thousands of startups, a few
billion smartphones and data
rates that rank among the
lowest in the world,” he said.
According to Morgan
Stanley, India will drive a
fifth of global growth in this
decade, making it one of just
three countries capable of
generating annual produc-
tion growth of more than
$400 billion.
In addition, India’s pro-
active leadership has been
praised by global leaders.
Klaus Schwab, founder and
executive chairman of the
World Economic Forum,
praised Prime Minister Na-
rendra Modi’s leadership
in a divided world and said
India is a bright spot amid
the global crisis.
This comes amid the re-
port by the International
cover the rest of their cost,”
a source said.
Also, groups such as the
Lakeshore Cancer Founda-
tion help to cover radio-
therapy costs and extend
support for other forms of
treatment to indigents. Proj-
ect Pink Blue and Medicaid
Cancer Foundation also sup-
port through advocacy and
cating that India is better
off than many global econo-
mies. The IMF expects the
country’s growth rate to be
6.8 percent for the current
fiscal year.
Another report from the
United Nations Development
Programme showed that
more than 400 million people
were lifted out of poverty in
India between 2005-06 and
2019-21.
“India is an important
case study for the Sustainable
Development Goals, the first
of which is to end poverty in
all its forms and to reduce at
least by half the proportion of
men, women and children of
all ages living in poverty in
all its dimensions according
to national definitions by
2030, all while leaving no one
behind,” the report added.
The developments in India
contrast with the situation
in Africa’s most populous
nation, where more than 60
percent of the population are
struggling with multidimen-
sional poverty, according to
Nigeria’s statistical agency.
President Muhammadu
Buhari, in his Democracy
Day speech on June 12, 2019,
set a 10-year target for Nige-
ria to lift at least 100 million
people out of poverty.
“This task is by no means
unattainable. China has done
it. India has done it. Indone-
sia has done it. Nigeria can
do it,” Buhari said in a 2019
nationwide broadcast.
There are views that the
National Social Investment
Programmes (NSIP) such
as TraderMoni scheme and
N-Power are not enough to
reduce the poverty level in
the country.
“This TraderMoni that we
NEWS
screenings.
“So far, the foundation
has been able to fund six pa-
tients for radiotherapy. We
have also been involved in
a lot of screening drives for
breast and cervical cancer
both independently and in
partnership with different
organisations,” Tolulope
Adeyoola-Oladipupo, pro-
grammes coordinator at
Lakeshore Cancer Founda-
tion, said.
have been doing, how many
people has it lifted out of
poverty? It has not been able
to combat poverty. How are
we sure that the people who
are given this money really
need it? Or maybe some of
them have exhausted it by
only feeding themselves,”
Maduka Maxwell, an invest-
ment administrator at ARM
Holding Company, said.
“Right now inflation has
eroded the value of the naira
such that N10,000 is noth-
ing. Assuming you give that
N10,000 to a market woman
selling tomatoes at Yaba and
she gets them from Mile 12,
she will spend out of that
money for transportation and
logistics,” Maduka said.
BuisnessDay’s findings
showed Nigerians are spend-
ing three times more on what
they buy today than the usual
consumption basket they
could afford three years ago,
thanks to inflation and re-
cord-high unemployment.
The misery index, which
is an indicator used to deter-
mine how economically well
off the citizens of a country
are, hit 55.2 percent in Feb-
ruary 2023, according to data
from the National Bureau of
Statistics.
The situation has been
worsened by the persistent
naira scarcity induced by
the currency redesign policy
of the Central Bank of Nige-
ria, as well as the surge in
energy costs that has further
reduced consumers’ dispos-
able income.
“It has been a very diffi-
cult year with the persistent
naira and fuel scarcity. We
have to pay to get the naira
we need for transactions,”
Rosemary Adewumi, a moth-
er of three who was at Mile 12
market to make purchases,
told BusinessDay.
ARM, Stanbic IBTC, Pension...
C Pensions and Norrenberger
bers or 25.25 percent, while
Stanbic IBTC Pensions fol-
lowed with 14.962 or 16.75
percent.
Pension Alliance Lim-
ited and Tangerine APT Pen-
sions Limited came third and
fourth with 7,148 and 7,011
respectively, according to
data from the National Pen-
sion Commission (PenCom).
The MPP generated
N42,118,470.69 at the end of
fourth quarter 2022, bringing
the total amount contrib-
uted under the scheme to
N368,034,392.81.
In the fourth quarter,
Stanbic IBTC Pension Man-
agers registered the largest
number of micro pension
contributors of 1,448, followed
by ARM Pensions Managers
(1,205) and Tangerine APT
Pensions (1,065).
Norrenberger Pension,
Crusader Sterling Pension
Limited, First Guaranty Pen-
sions Limited had seven,
four and three contributors,
respectively.
A breakdown of the pen-
sion contributions received
in Q4 showed that Stanbic
IBTC Pension Managers,
ARM Pension Managers
and Premium Pensions had
the highest contributions of
N16,943,318.00; N11,611,148.25
and N3,006,300.00, respec-
tively.
In contrast, the PFAs
with the lowest contribu-
tions were Crusader Sterling
Pensions, First Guaranty
Tinubu’s plan for long-term diseases...
C ment still has to show willing-
to healthcare should be held
to seriously for a change,”
he said.
According to Femi Olug-
bile, 70 percent of things that
typically take people to hospi-
tal are already covered under
the national insurance act.
It could offset the majority of
the health costs and would
provide a significant relief on
the already high out-of-pocket
expenditure of Nigerians.
“It now depends on wheth-
er the government has the
will to implement these plans.
That’s the big elephant in the
room. If they have the muscle
to enforce then that will be a
major game-changer. Govern-
Pensions with N90,000.00;
N57,200.00 and N34,340.00,
respectively.
Out of the total pension
contributions received, Stan-
bic IBTC Pension Managers,
ARM Pension Managers and
Fidelity Pension Managers
Limited accounted for the
largest part: N160,278,158.77;
N50,231,013.09 and
N39,493,887.14, representing
43.55 percent, 13.5 percent and
10.73 percent respectively as
at December 31, 2022.
During the review period,
seven PFAs processed and
approved MPP contingent
withdrawals for 11 contribu-
tors amounting to N2,998,536.62
in Q4, bringing the total
contingent withdrawals to
N26,186,850.22 from 136 contrib-
utors as at the end of last year.
Implementing the provi-
sion of the law which allows
micro pension contributors
to join the Contributory Pen-
sion Scheme, PenCom re-
vealed that a total of 58 micro
pension contributors con-
verted from MPP to the man-
datory CPS in Q4 2022 with
N250,504.88 contribution,
bringing the total conversion
amount to N4,826,280.72 from
477 MPCs as at December
31, 2022.
Meanwhile, PenCom and
other stakeholders in the
industry have continued to
create awareness through
stakeholder engagements
and awareness campaigns.
To ensure the effective-
ness of the media campaign,
ness and deliberate intent and
muscle to execute,” he said.
Stakeholders have also
called for actions towards the
initiative to establish a National
Catastrophic Fund to specifi-
cally address terminal ailments
such as cancer, advanced heart
disease, among others.
Mohammed Sambo, direc-
tor-general of the scheme had
in 2021 said that the contribu-
tions to the health insurance
pool was insufficient to cater
for some packages and pro-
grammes of the scheme.
Sufficient funds could help
the authority cover the treat-
ment and management of
cancers and other terminal
diseases fully, he said.
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
additional outdoor campaign
materials were deployed
for wider reach, especially
through placement of stick-
ers on Bus Rapid Transit in
Lagos, red buses in Abuja,
and taxis in Port-Harcourt,
Aba and Onitsha.
Other efforts are the devel-
opment of incentives, which
has been recognised as a criti-
cal factor for informal sector
workers’ participation in the
MPP. Three service provid-
ers, AXA Mansard Health In-
surance, Leadway Assurance
Company and Tangerine Life
Insurance, were engaged
by Pension Fund Operators
Association of Nigeria to
provide health insurance
cover to contributors.
The MPP, which was es-
tablished through the provi-
sions of Section 2(3) of the
Pension Reform Act 2014,
aims at ensuring that the
informal sector participants
save towards their old age,
as this category of workers
constitutes a large percent-
age of the working population
in the country.
Dauda Ahmed, head of mi-
cro pensions department at
PenCom, while speaking on
the scheme during the Lagos
International Trade Fair held
in Lagos recently, said the
commission was at the event
to enlighten Nigerians on the
benefits of micro pension
The trade fair, he said,
was one of the strategies the
commission was using to sus-
tain the momentum on micro
pension, while also using the
media as a partner to reach
out and enlighten the masses
on its benefits.
Under Tinubu’s plan, the
goal is to increase health spend-
ing braising the allocation
of healthcare in the national
budget. His government plans
to scale-up the National Health
Insurance Authority Act to
cover at least 40 percent of the
population within two years.
“We will also expand
public-sector driven manda-
tory health insurance coverage
while augmenting the financial
mechanism such as the Basic
Health Care Provision Fund
and Vulnerable Group Fund
to cover vulnerable in order to
provide universal basic health-
care to all,” Tinubu wrote.
In addition to other sourc-
es, funds saved by the removal
of the fuel subsidy would be
earmarked to provide health
coverage.
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
Four new deep seaports set to attract investments
By Amaka Anagor-Ewuzie
FOLLOWING the recent
completion of the $1.5 billion
Lekki Deep Seaport in Lagos,
the Nigerian Ports Authority
(NPA) and state governments
are now getting the necessary
approvals from the Federal
Executive Council (FEC) to
develop four new deep ports
in four states across the coun-
L-R: Niyi Adebayo, minister of industry, trade and investment; Abdullahi Sule, governor, Nasarawa State; Vice-President
Yemi Osinbajo, and Mohammed Haruna, executive vice chairman and chief executive, National Agency for Science and
Infrastructure (NASENI), during the foundation laying ceremony for the establishment of NASENI Solar Cells Production
Plant at Gora in Nasarawa on Friday.
Number of Nigerians studying
in UK hits 8-year high
…more than doubles in one year
By Bunmi Bailey
THE number of Nigerians
studying in the United King-
dom has risen to a high of
44,195 in the 2021/2022 aca-
demic year, the latest official
data from the Higher Educa-
tion Statistics Agency (HESA)
show.
According to the UK agen-
cy’s data, the number of stu-
dents enrolment in higher
education institutions in-
creased by 107.4 percent in the
2021/2022 academic year from
21,305 in the previous year.
A breakdown of the HESA
statistics show that in the
top 10 international students
list, Nigeria ranked third be-
hind China (151,690) and India
(126,535).
Other countries on the list
are the United States (22,990),
Hong Kong (17,630), Bangla-
desh (12,700), Malaysia (12,135),
Saudi Arabia (8,750), United
Arab Emirates (8,085) and
Canada (7,485).
Experts say the growing
interest of Nigerians the UK
can be attributed to the coun-
try’s intellectual capacity and
cheap human labour that the
UK needs to grow and develop
its economy.
“Nigerians have a good
try.
The four deep seaports
are Badagry Deep Seaport
in Lagos, Ondo Deep Seaport
in Ondo State, Ibom Deep
Seaport in Akwa Ibom and
Bonny Deep Seaport in Riv-
ers State.
Badagry Deep Seaport is
an investment estimated to
gulp $2.59 billion, which has
been approved by FEC, and
track record of being excellent
in terms of their grades or
results, and UK universities
always get funding based on
their grades,” Jennifer Oy-
elade, director at Transquisite
Consulting, said.
She said the universities
get funding based on how
good their grades are. “So, the
more Nigerian students come
and make their universities
look good, the more money
they get.”
She added that it is a win-
win situation for both coun-
tries as Nigerians get greener
pastures through interna-
tional education while the UK
universities generate more
funding from the government.
Adewale Adetona, co-
founder at Menopays, said
the UK has realised that a ma-
jor way to further develop its
economy “is to attract global
talent, especially as the world
is recovering from the effects
of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“The UK, just like other
developed and future-looking
countries like the United Arab
Emirates, Australia, Canada
and the US, has become a glob-
al talent magnet,” he added.
The UK, one of the world’s
top economies, has become
a global talent magnet by be-
ing a top choice of study for
NEWS
is expected to create about
250,000 jobs and attract for-
eign direct investment.
According to Muazu Sam-
bo, the minister of transpor-
tation, Badagry is expected
to generate a total of $53.6
billion in revenue over the
45-year concession period.
For Bonny Deep Seaport,
which will be located in the
South-South region, the NPA
Nigerians.
An analysis of the overall
Nigerian students’ enrolment
data from the Institute of Inter-
national Education, Immigra-
tion, Refugees and Citizenship
Canada and the Australian
Government show that the
44,195 students compare with
the 14,438 students in the US;
16,195 students in Canada; and
2,372 students in Australia.
“British independent
schools, especially private
boarding ones, view Nigeria
as an increasingly attractive
market. Most of them warmly
welcome Nigerian students,”
Matthew Page, a non-resident
scholar at the Carnegie En-
dowment for International
Peace, said in a recent article.
He said the schools over-
whelmingly see these students
as better-than-average per-
formers and net contributors.
The UK’s withdrawal from
European Union in 2020 creat-
ed a lot of job vacancies at the
middle and low levels in the
economy. And the country’s
acute shortage of labour due
to its aging population and low
birth rate made it challenging
to fill the vacancies.
As a result of this, the coun-
try focused its attention on
other countries with large
youth demographics such as
believes that it will help to
reduce the pressure in Lagos
and open new investment op-
portunities in both the South-
South and South-East regions.
BusinessDay understands
that Ondo and Ibom deep
seaports are being champi-
oned by their state govern-
ments and are presently in
the advanced stages of getting
their outline business cases
India, Brazil, and Nigeria.
One of the measures it used
to attract these countries was
to update its International
Education Strategy in 2021,
which was originally launched
in 2019.
The updated strategy reaf-
firms the government’s goals
of increasing the value of its
education exports to £35 bil-
lion ($48 billion) and to host
at least 600,000 international
students annually by 2030.
Some of the ways in which
this growth is to be achieved
is the Graduate route, which
was launched in July 2021. The
route allows eligible students
to stay in the UK to work, or
look for work, for two years
(three years if studying at PhD
level) after they have complet-
ed a degree in the UK. Others
are high potential individual
visas, global talent visas and
scale-up visas.
Steve Smith, UK’s first-
ever international education
champion, said in the strat-
egy update statement that
he would work closely with
overseas governments and of-
ficials to deepen government-
to-government partnerships,
help to open new international
opportunities for the sector
and work to resolve market
access barriers in priority
markets.
India, Indonesia, Saudi
Arabia, Vietnam, Nigeria,
Brazil, Mexico, Pakistan, Eu-
rope, China, and Hong Kong
are the markets spotlighted
as priorities.
The minimum 600,000 tar-
get was achieved in 2021 as the
total number of international
students hit 605,130 and 679,970
in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
approved by the Federal
Government.
The NPA has identified a
location that has a draught of
17.5 meters for the Ibom Deep
Seaport, which will enable
the berthing of bigger vessels
in order to create economies
of scale. It will also reduce
the cost of doing business for
shippers.
Giving insight into the
importance of deep seaports,
Mohammed Bello-Koko, the
managing director of NPA,
said recently that all deep
seaports in Nigeria would be
automated to bring efficiency
in clearing goods and ensure
faster documentation.
This, he said, would po-
sition the ports to attract
more transit cargoes that
were lost to neighbouring
African ports due to the small
draught of Nigerian ports and
operational inefficiencies.
“It will help Nigeria to
actualise the ambition of be-
coming a hub within the West
African corridor. Landlocked
countries such as Mali, Chad,
and Niger Republic have
shown interest in moving
their cargoes through Nige-
rian ports at the completion
of deep seaports in Nigeria,”
Bello-Koko said.
Dabney Shall-Holma, a
transport expert, pointed out
that the majority of seaports
in West Africa are old and
have reached the end of their
lifespan, adding that now is
the time to build modern ports
with expanded channels and
new quay aprons that will last
for another 100 years.
“We need deep seaports
and also need to create a
network of modern ports. We
need to also create a means
BusinessDay reported last
month that the number of
Nigerians granted sponsored
study visas by the UK rose by
768.7 percent to 59,053 in 2022,
the highest in four years, from
6,798 in 2019, according to the
British government.
“Of the top five nationali-
ties granted sponsored study
visas, Bangladeshi nationals
saw the largest percentage
increase in grants, increasing
from 1,745 to 15,277, closely
followed by Nigerian nationals
whose number increased from
6,798 to 59, 053,” it said.
Oyelade of Transquisite
Consulting said Nigerians are
more likely to get further sup-
port from employers through
sponsorships because of the
skills gap in major sectors like
healthcare and education.
Before the British govern-
ment updated the education
strategy, the country saw its
international student num-
bers grow relatively slowly
as a result of more migration
restrictive policies.
For Africa’s biggest econ-
omy, the number declined
from 18,080 in the 2014/2015
academic year to 10,685 in
2017/2018 but it picked up to
10,810; 13,020; 21,305 and 44,195
in 2018/19, 2019/2020, 2020/21
and 2021/22 respectively.
A recent report by SBM
Intelligence said Nigerian
students and their dependents
contributed an estimated sum
of £1.93 billion to the UK in
2021.
A breakdown of the total
£1.93 billion shows that the
students spent £680.6 million
on school fees, followed by
£408.4 million for rent, £151.3
million for national insurance,
www.businessday.ng 39
of evacuation, whether by
barge or rail. We need to have
a multimodal system that
is very efficient and cost-
effective or we will not reap
the benefits. Other countries
are positioning to do that but
they are small and we control
over 65 percent of the volume
of trade in West and Central
Africa,” she said.
According to Shall-Holma,
Nigerian deep seaports must
be exceptional and modern
so that the turnaround time
of vessels will be fast.
“From the economic an-
gle, building deep seaports
will ensure cost-effectiveness
and will bring efficiency that
will bring down numbers in
terms of time, yard and quay
apron utilisation as well as
demurrage paid for time
wasted,” she added.
Tony Anakebe, a mari-
time expert, said the govern-
ment needs to regionalise the
siting of seaports in Nigeria
by taking the port business to
other regions.
He said that beyond build-
ing deep seaports, the govern-
ment needs to focus on reviv-
ing the existing ports rather
than establishing new ones.
Anakebe expressed con-
cern that some state govern-
ments are beginning to use
deep seaport projects as leg-
acy projects so as to be seen
as working while in office,
without recognising the fact
that developing ports require
huge investment.
According to him, exist-
ing inland container depots
in the country are presently
starved of goods and they
need to be fed with cargo in
order to decongest the ports
in Lagos.
£54.4 million for tax of work-
ing spouse, £41.8 million for
National Health Service (NHS)
and £41.7 million for visa fees.
“Apart from school fees
paid by Nigerian immigrants
to British schools, the UK
gains from visa fees, NHS
payments, rent, economic pro-
ductivity, income taxes (in the
instances where the students
work), etc.,” it said.
High poverty, unemploy-
ment, poor human capital
development, insecurity and
poor education are some of
the major reasons many Nige-
rians are leaving the country
in search of greener pastures.
And seeking higher educa-
tion abroad has now become
a major means of permanent
emigration.
“An average Nigerian is
more concerned about not
coming back home than the
academics itself, “Oludayo
Sokunbi, chief executive offi-
cer at Japaconsults, said.
He said 90 percent of them
are using academics as a way
to ‘never return’ (japa) home
or at least establish themselves
overseas.
Funbi Matthew, a busi-
ness management and human
resource professional said the
ongoing talent exodus popular-
ly called ‘japa’ (a Yoruba word
for “run quickly”) is affecting
companies in Nigeria.
“Right now, businesses are
losing talents that should help
them improve. The govern-
ment needs to start seeing the
impact of this on businesses,
and businesses need to know
how to manage talents by
knowing the factors that im-
pact their talents from leav-
ing,” she added.
40 www.businessday.ng
REVENUE
Revenue growth: Official urges FG to reposition mining, tourism sectors
JAMES Dangana, Senior
Special Assistant to the Na-
sarawa State Government
has urged the Federal Gov-
ernment to reposition its
mining and tourism sectors
to boost revenue genera-
tion and job creation..
Dangana, a former law-
maker of the Nasarawa
State House of Assembly
gave the advice in an inter-
view with the News Agency
of Nigeria (NAN) last week-
end in Jordan.
He spoke on the side-
lines of his prayer during
the 9th batch of the 2022
Nigerian Pilgrims tour in
Jordan.
According to him, gov-
ernment should prioritise
revenue generation drive
in mining and tourism sec-
tors to achieve the desired
goals.
“We are having a tour
in Jordan and observably,
some States in Nigeria are
bigger than Jordan, but see
I appeal to
government of
our fatherland
to leverage the
endowed tourism
and mining
potential that
abound in the
country and make
good use of them
CENSUS
FG confirms May 3 for commencement of 2023 Census
THE 2023 National Popula-
tion and Housing Census is
to commence on May 3, the
Federal Government has
confirmed.
Garba Abari, a mem-
ber of the Publicity and
Advocacy Committee on
2023 National Population
and Housing Census, con-
firmed this on Sunday in
Abuja when he appeared
on the News Agency of Ni-
geria (NAN) Forum.
He said that the three-
EDUCATION
UNIBEN wins Africa outstanding varsity award in Rwanda
THE University of Be-
nin has won the Africa
Outstanding University
Award of the Year for 2023
in Rwanda.
The Vice-Chancellor of
the University, Lilian Sa-
lami, was also honoured as
how developed the country
is. I have noticed they have
taken their mining tourism
and agricultural sectors
serious and using it to gen-
erate revenue and develop
the country.
“These people enjoy
tourism, which had become
another means of revenue;
Nigeria has lots to borrow
from Israel and probably
Jordan, where we visited.
“Nigeria has lots of tour-
ist sites and very beautiful
nature that God has en-
dowed us with, all these has
kept their youth busy, no
none on the streets causing
mayhem.
“This is what Nigeria
should emulate,” he said.
Dangana also urged
state governments to in-
vest in tourism and mining
sectors to increase their
revenue bases and create
wealth for their people.
He said: “Let govern-
ment take advantage of
these abundant blessings
in the country as an oppor-
tunity to create jobs and
put smiles on the faces of
Nigerians.
“Nigeria can take ad-
vantage of that by explor-
ing tourism potential that
is endowed in the nation so
that our GDP can improve.
“I appeal to government
of our fatherland to lever-
age the endowed tourism
and mining potential that
abound in the country and
make good use of them.
“Government can take
advantage of these abun-
dant blessing, as an oppor-
tunity to create jobs and
put “smiles on the faces of
Nigerians .”
day exercise would com-
mence May 3 and end on
May 5 across the country.
Abari, who is the Direc-
tor-General, National Ori-
entation Agency (NOA),
explained that the census
exercise would capture
every person, household
and structure for national
planning and project exe-
cution purposes.
According to him, the
change in the date was
due to the postponement
Africa Pillar of Education
for her impact in educa-
tion development on the
continent.
According to a state-
ment by the institution’s
Public Relations Officer,
Benedicta Ehanire on
NEWS
Yusha’u Dogara (r), director-general of NYSC, presenting a cheque of the insurance benefit on Corps member, Omale Victor EB/21A/1487,
who went missing in 2021, during his service year in Ebonyi State to his father, Omale Samuel (l), at his residence in Lokoja
He said Nasarawa state
was endowed with so many
natural resources, while
oil was recetnly discov-
ered and exploration would
commence soon.
Dangana also extolled
the Nasarawa State Gover-
nor, Abdulahi Sule for his
commitment to the good
cause in terms of develop-
ment of the sectors, urging
that more should be done.
He added: ‘This is to
insure that oil exploration
of the 2023 gubernatorial
and state houses of assem-
bly elections by the Inde-
pendent National Electoral
Commission (INEC).
“That change by INEC
made it mandatory for us to
also adjust the date for the
conduct of the exercise,”
he said. He described the
census and the 2023 elec-
tions as major national
events with significant
importance which had
earlier been planned to
Saturday in Benin, the
awards were presented
at the 1st Africa Educa-
tion Summit, held at the
University of Rwanda in
Kigali.
Ehanire said besides
her leadership role in the
becomes fruitful, revenue
base of Nasarawa State is
boosted to be among league
of oil producing states.
“The state will soon
enjoy 13 per cent revenue
and that will boost the
economy and revenue of
the state, which by impli-
cation translates to greater
development”.
Dangana expressed the
hope that in no distant
time, the state would be
celebrated for investment
hold not too far away from
each other.
“ The census had to
be put forward from the
initial date of March 29
to April 2nd, now to May
3rd to 5th.
“ There are two things
that informed the shift in
date. First, in the course of
our planning by the Nation-
al Population Commission,
it was so factored that INEC
will also tinker with its own
electoral timetable. NAN.
Committee of Vice Chan-
cellors of Nigerian Federal
Universities, Prof. Salami
was also the Vice Presi-
dent of the Association of
African Universities with
headquarters in Ghana.
NAN.
in mineral exploration.
He said: ”Also in the
revamp of tourism sector,
Raw minerals also abound
in the country, particularly
in Nasarawa State,”
The former lawmaker
reiterated that it had be-
come important to emulate
other nations, such as Jor-
dan as they do not rely on
just crude oil or PMS, as
major revenue source.
Dangana said: “Apart
from oil, a lot of mineral
FLIGHT
Nigeria-India direct flight to
commence March 31 - Envoy
GANGADHARAN Balas-
ubramanian, Indian High
Commissioner to Nigeria
says the much anticipated
direct flights from Nigeria
to India is set to commence
on March 31.
Balasubramanian told
the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) in Abuja that Air
Peace, a private Nigerian
airline had concluded plans
for the inaugural flight from
Lagos to Mumbai, Bombay.
“I can announce to you
that that Air Peace will be
flying directly from Lagos
to India on March 31st for
the inaugural flight.
“ T h i s is pa r t o f t h e
implementation of the
Bilateral Air Service
Agreement (BASA) aimed
at deepening relations
between both countries,
so I have been invited
for the inauguration, ”
he said. Balasubrama-
nian explained that the
direct flight would fur-
ther strengthen economic,
trade, bilateral relations,
and people-to-people ties
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
deposits like coal and many
others are exploited in the
state.
“The governor is doing
his best by approaching the
Ministry of Environment
that is saddled with the
responsibility of managing
mineral resources of the
state .
“The ministry is doing
well and a lot of revenue
are being earned from the
available mineral deposits
in Nasarawa State.” NAN.
between both strategic
countries.
“The volume of trade be-
tween both countries as at
2022 is 14.95 billion dollars,
so we believe agreements
such as this will go a long
way in boosting our rela-
tions,” he said.
He expressed optimism
that the new route would
increase the volume of trade
between both countries,
while opening new vista of
opportunities for citizens of
both countries.
NAN reports that Nige-
ria and the Republic of India
had in 2019 signed a Bilater-
al Air Service Agreement
(BASA), to deepen flight
operations end to end.
Minister for Aviation,
Hadi Sirika had expressed
optimism that the agree-
ment would further deepen
cooperation between both
countries.
BASA covers the basic
framework under which
airlines are granted bilat-
eral rights to fly two coun-
tries. NAN.
 DAY 27 MARCH 2023
ACROSS THE STATES
ANAMBRA
Anambra gov’t, EEDC sign agreement
on increased, sustainable power supply
THE Enugu Electric-
ity Distribution Company
(EEDC) and the govern-
ment of Anambra have
signed a Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU)
on modalities that would
ensure a more robust and
sustainable power supply
to the state.
ABIA
Abia lawmakers deny plan to impeach Gov. Ikpeazu
THE Abia House of Assem-
bly on Saturday described as
false, rumours that the law-
makers planned to impeach
the state Governor, Okezie
Ikpeazu.
The Deputy Speaker,
Ifeanyi Uchendu, who dis-
missed the rumours while
addressing newsmen in
Aba, said that the lawmak-
ers had never contemplated
EBONYI
Council Chief pledges to unravel circumstances
behind Ebonyi AA agent’s death
THE Chairman of Onicha
Local Government Area
(LGA) of Ebonyi, Chidie-
bere Agwu, has pledged
to unravel circumstances
behind the death of Oyibo
Nwani, an agent of the Ac-
tion Alliance (AA) party.
The News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) reports
that Nwani was killed by
yet-to-be identified gun-
men at Amautu polling
unit of the area during the
March 18 governorship
election.
Agwu, in a statement
made available to news-
men on Saturday, de-
scribed Nwani’s death as
unfortunate and a loss to
the council.
“I have assured his
family, people of Amautu
community and entire
Onicha-Igboeze clan that
every effort would be ex-
The agreement was
signed inside the Anam-
bra State Executive Coun-
cil Chambers, Govern-
ment House, Awka, last
weekend.
Gov. Chukwuma Solu-
do and Julius Chukwue-
meka, the Commissioner
for Power and Power Re-
such plan.
Uchendu urged members
of the public to disregard the
rumours, assuring that the
Assembly would continue
support the governor till the
end of his tenure.
Also, Solomon Akpu-
lonu, the Majority Leader,
said that the rumours ema-
nated from mischief makers.
Akpulonu said that the
pended to arrest and pros-
ecute the perpetrators.
“I will offer all assis-
tance to security agencies
to ensure that the perpe-
trators face the wrath of
the law,” the statement
read.
The chairman con-
demned the attitude of
certain persons who tried
sources, signed for Anam-
bra government, while
Chief Emeka Offor, the
Chief Executive Officer of
EEDC, signed on behalf of
the company.
In his speech, Praveen
Chorghade, the Manag-
ing Director/CEO, EEDC,
said the agreement is
linking him to the heinous
act.
“Having lost in the
election, the opposition
is understandably angry
and feels that smearing
my name is its only con-
solation.
“I have no hand in any
violence which erupted
at the polling unit. I was
not there and did not send
anyone there.
“The people ped-
dling wrong accusations
against me should be
ready to provide evidence
in court to substantiate
this allegation” the state-
ment read.
Agwu said the opposi-
tion teamed against the
All Progressives Congress
(APC), thinking that it
could alter the existing
power rotation arrange-
ment in the state. (NAN)
aimed at providing en-
ergy security and extend-
ing universal electric-
ity access for residents
of Anambra as much as
possible within its consti-
tutional powers.
Chorghade said the
deal would help achieve
an overall business turn-
around that would con-
tribute to the enhance-
ment of service delivery,
commercial performance,
shareholders and stake-
holders value addition.
According to him, the
Anambra government,
in its desire to provide
dividends of democracy
to the people of the state,
engaged the EEDC strate-
gic sessions with a view
to providing a roadmap
towards the achievement
of the overall objectives of
both entities.
“This ceremony, there-
fore, is the hallmark of
those modest efforts.
(NAN)
assembly was pleased with
the achievements recorded
by Gov. Ikpeazu, especially
in the area of infrastruc-
tural development.
Also, the Minority Lead-
er, Chijioke Chukwu, said
individuals peddling the
rumours were doing so to
malign the state House of
Assembly.(NAN)
LAGOS
Train/Bus collision: BRT driver to face 16-count
charge of manslaughter and grievous bodily harm
THE Lagos State Ministry
of Justice has set up plans
to prosecute Oluwaseun
Osibanjo, the driver of the
BRT bus that collided with
a moving train in Lagos
with a 16-count charge of
manslaughter and griev-
ous bodily harm.
According to a state-
ment signed on Friday
by the Director of Public
Affairs in the ministry,
Grace Alo, the horrific
incident which involved
Lagos State Government
staff heading to work in the
staff bus and passengers of
the train, resulted in six
fatalities.
“About 96 others are
with various degrees of
injuries and the injured
victims are hospitalized
across many government
hospitals in the state.
ONDO
My govt has made huge
investment on education
in Ondo – Akeredolu
GOV. Oluwarotimi Ak-
eredolu of Ondo State last
weekend in Okitipupa, in
Okitipupa Local Govern-
ment Area of the state,
said his administration has
investment so much on edu-
cation in the last six years.
Akeredolu, Visitor to
Olusegun Agagu University
of Science and Technology
(OAUSTECH), Okitipupa,
made this known while
speaking at the maiden
combined convocation cer-
emony of the instruction,
on Saturday.
He noted that education
was a social debt to his
people, hence, one of the
cardinal responsibilities of
the administration.
The News Agency of Ni-
geria (NAN) reports that a
total of 982 graduands were
convocated 26 of them bag-
ging First Class Upper, 307
got Second Class Upper, 488
bagged Second Class Lower,
while 161 graduands were
ranked in the Third Class
category in the six sets,
from 2014/2015 to 2019/2020
academic.session.
Akeredolu said his
The News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) recalls that
on the morning of March 9,
a staff bus collided with a
train at the PWD railway
crossing at Ikeja and the
train dragged the bus with
its passengers along the
tracks until it came to a
stop at Sogunle, a suburb
of Ikeja.
“Upon the receipt and
review of the case file by
the Department of Pub-
lic Prosecution (DPP), a
www.businessday.ng 41
administration, at incep-
tion, was alarmed with
the deplorable condition
of things in the University,
especially in terms of roads,
buildings and other essen-
tial facilities, connected
to a conducive learning
environment.
“I am delighted to recall
that within our 100 days
in office, we facilitated the
asphalt overlay of the first
phase of the university
road network, and inaugu-
rated same for use.
“We have also recently
approved the construction
of a 2.5-kilometre road net-
work for the University,
which is about 75 per cent
level of completion,” Ak-
eredolu said.
Akeredolu specifically
lauded former governor,
late Olusegun Agagu, say-
ing his passion, commit-
ment and magnanimity for
education, made the estab-
lishment of the university,
a reality, for the benefit
of the entire Ondo State
people and Ondo South in
particular. (NAN)
prima facie case of man-
slaughter and grievous
bodily harm were dis-
closed against the driver
of the Staff bus.
“Accordingly, he is to
be charged with 6 counts
of manslaughter and 10
counts of grievous bodily
harm. Both offences are
contrary to Sections 224
and 245 of the Criminal
Law of Lagos State, 2015,”
the statement read. (NAN)
42 www.businessday.ng MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023 www.businessday.ng 43

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36 www.businessday.ng
Senate President: Group canvasses
support for Sen. Akpabio
A SOCIO-political
g r o u p , U s 4 U s M o v e-
ment, has canvassed
the support of the na-
tional leadership of
the All Progressive
Congress (APC) for
Sen. Godswill Akpabio
to be become the 10th
Senate President.
Convener of the
group, Mr Richard
Romanus, made the
call during an inter-
action with newsmen
after an extraordinary
meeting of the group
held on Sunday in Cal-
abar.
Romanus said that
Akpabio had made
huge political sacrific-
es for the party; hence
he should be rewarded
and supported for the
position of the 10th
President of the Sen-
ate.
He explained that
the Us4Us Movement
is made up of young
political enthusiasts
across all political par-
ties in Nigeria.
According to him,
FCT senator unveils N2.8bn constituency projects
SEN. Philip Aduda (PDP-
FCT) has unveiled con-
stituency projects worth
N2.8 billion across the
Federal Capital Territory
(FCT).
Aduda, also Senate Mi-
nority Leader, inspected
the projects across vari-
ous wards of Bwari and
Abuja Municipal Area
Council ( AMAC) aimed
at improving the living
condition of the people at
the weekend.
The News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) reports
that the projects included
the 6 kilometres N1.4 bil-
lion Global Suite Road
in Sabon Gari Area of
Bwari
Others were the N1.4
billion road in Nyanya
which passed through
the Divisional Police
Headquarters, Area F
among others.
He also the 1.5 kilo-
metres Government Sec-
ondary School Kuduru
Road with street light,
and expansive multi-
purpose Ttwn hall in
Kuduru ward in Bwari
Area Council.
Aduda also inspected
the 2.2 Kilometres in-
ternal road project in
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
ators to galvanize their
support for the Senate
Presidential ambition
of Akpabio,” he said.
Romanus added that
in the interest of fair-
ness and expanding
the party in the South
South geopolitical
Sen. Akpabio made zone, the leadership of
in the interest of the the APC should zone
party and for stepping the office of the Senate
down his presidential President to the South-
ambition uncondition- South region.
ally for Sen. Bola Ti- He noted that the
nubu, he should be Us4Us Movement was
compensated. of strong opinion that
“His stepping down the interest of young
overwhelmingly people, especially with-
helped in midwifing in the South-South geo-
a seamless victory for political zone, would be
Sen. Tinubu during the best protected by Ak-
national convention of pabio as Senate Presi-
the APC. dent.
“Also, we are aware “We the members
that Sen. Akpabio of Us4Us Movement
worked assiduously hereby unanimously
to deliver more than adopt and endorse Ak-
the constitutionally pabio for Senate Presi-
required 25 per cent dent, on the strength
vote to the APC in a of his unrivalled track
Peoples Democratic record of performance
Party controlled state and commitment to the
like Akwa Ibom. party and the people of
“The leadership of Nigeria.
Us4Us Movement here- “We urge other
by resolve to support elected members of the
and appeal for Sen. Ak- incoming 10th Senate
pabio to be elected as and the leadership of
the Senate President the APC to overwhelm-
of the incoming 10th ingly support Akpabio
Assembly. in the spirit of fair-
the group exist with wellbeing of young Nigeria. “We call on the vast ness, credibility and
the sole aim of advanc- people and advocating “Bearing in mind majority of elected Sen- competence,” he said.
ing the socio-political for good governance in the huge sacrifices (NAN)
viewed expressed sad-
ness over the failure of
the Senator to secure his
reelection bid at the Feb.
25 general election, as he
lost to the candidate of
the Labour Party (LP),
Ireti Kingibe.
Mr Dauda Babalola,
a resident, said that the
infrastructure devel-
opment brought about
by the Senator was un-
equalled especially in
Jikwoyi.
Similarly, Chief Imam
of Pipeline Mosque in
Gbazango , Kubwa Ward,
Kassim Abdallah urged
the senator not to despair
over the outcome of the
election saying that the
Almighty God would con-
tinue to grant him the
Gbazango , Kubwa ward the National Assembly. benefiting communities. that are developmental grace to serve the people
and the Byhazin Across “I want to be remem- “What I have done is to to your people. and communities alike.
Road in Kubwa. bered for been very mod- take you round the pro- ” For me, the more “For us in this area,
Speaking shortly af- est about some of my jects I have done within a person gets reelected you are a worthy ambas-
ter, the senator said that achievements which is the past few years and into the National As- sador of the masses and
he decided to unveil the infrastructural develop- some people will won- sembly, the more he or downtrodden in govern-
projects even after losing ment. der that within the past she garners experience ment.
election for posterity. “I have also realised 20 years what have you and needed contacts for “The relief brought to
“I did it for posterity that sometimes, if you been able to do,” Aduda facilitation of develop- us by the construction of
and to knock off the argu- don’t say what you are said. ment – driven projects to Gbazango Pipeline Road
ment or remarks by some doing people will wonder He added: “The more his or her constituency is so enormous and we
people that I didn’t do what you have done and you stay as a legislator as I have done for the pray that it will manifest
anything within the last people will wonder and the more you have op- people of FCT within the in success for you in all
20 years as a representa- people will not know portunities to be able to last 20years.” your endeavors,” he said.
tive of FCT residents at except the immediate attract so many things Some residents inter- (NAN)
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
GLOBAL BUSINESS
U.S. vice president, Harris to address
China’s influence, debt distress in Africa
U.S. Vice President Kamala
Harris will begin visit to Af-
rica as the country seeks to
pitch itself as a better partner
than China, which has invest-
ed heavily in the continent
over several decades.
Senior U.S. officials said
Harris would discuss China’s
engagement in technology
and economic issues in Af-
rica that concern the United
States, as well as China’s
involvement in debt restruc-
turing.
One of t he t h ree cou n-
tries Harris would visit is
Zambia, which was the first
African country to default on
its sovereign debt during the
COVID-19 pandemic, and was
working with its creditors,
including China, to reach an
agreement.
A senior official said “we
are not asking our partners
in Africa to choose’’ describ-
i ng t he competition wit h
China, although he added
that the U.S. has “real con-
cerns about some of China’s
behavior in Africa and its
unclear business dealings.
Harris would be in Ghana
from March 26-29, then in
Tanzania from March 29-31.
Her final stop is Zambia, on
China to strengthen exchanges, mutual
learning with other countries on democracy Tunisia say racism persists
CHINA said it was ready to
strengthen mutual learn-
ing with other countries on
democracy towards global
development.
This was contained in a
report titled “The State of
Democracy in the United
States: 2022”, being pub-
lished by the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of China
through its website – htt-
ps://w w w.f mprc.gov.cn /
mfa _ eng/wjbxw/202303/
t20230320 _ 11044481.html
According to the minis-
try, based on facts, media
comments and expert opin-
ions, the report aimed to
present a real picture of
American democracy over
the past year.
The ministry, therefore,
said China was ready to
advocate humanity’s com-
mon values of peace, de-
velopment, equity, justice,
democracy and freedom.
“ C h i n a w i l l p r o mo t e
greater democracy in in-
ternational relations and
make new and greater con-
tributions to human pro-
gress.”
T he r ep or t ex pl a i ne d
that the U.S. had American-
March 31 and April 1.
She would meet with the
three countries’ presidents
and planned to announce
public- and private -sector
investments.
The official, who spoke on
condition of anonymity be-
cause of the sensitivity of the
matter, said Harris would
discuss the best ways for the
inter nationa l community
to address debt challenges
faced by Ghana and Zambia.
The White House hosted
an Africa Leaders Summit in
December, and President Joe
Biden is expected to travel to
African migrants stuck in
styled democracy, China
had Chinese-styled democ-
racy, and other countries
had their unique models
of democracy that suited
their respective national
conditions.
“Democracy is human-
ity’s common value; howev-
er, there is no single model
of political system that is
applicable to all countries
in the world.
“ Hu m a n civ i l i s at ion ,
if compared to a garden,
should be a diverse place in
which democracy in differ-
ent countries blooms like a
hundred flowers.”
More so, it said it was up
to the people of a country to
judge whether their country
is democratic or not, and
how to better promote de-
mocracy in such a country.
“The few self-righteous
countries have no right to
point fingers. Those who
have many flaws themselves
have little credibility to lec-
ture others.
“Attempts to undermine
others for one’s own profit
and destabilise the world
must be unanimously op-
posed.
Africa this year.
Harris had a personal con-
nection to Zambia. Her ma-
ternal grandfather worked
in the country, and she vis-
ited him there as a girl.
“ T he Vice P resident is
very much looking forward to
returning to Lusaka, which
is a part of her family’s story
and a source of pride,” one of
the officials said.
Harris would also meet
with young leaders and busi-
ness represent atives a nd
discuss topics such as climate
change and food insecurity.
(Reuters/NAN)
“A black-and-white divi-
sion of countries as demo-
cratic or authoritarian is
both anachronistic and ar-
bitrary.”
China, in the report, stat-
ed that what the world need-
ed today was to strengthen
solidarity and cooperation
and uphold true multilat-
eralism.
It noted that this should
be on the basis of the pur-
poses and principles of the
United Nations Charter.
“What our world needs
today is not to interfere in
other countries’ internal
affairs under the guise of
democracy, but to advo -
cate genuine democracy,
reject pseudo-democracy
and jointly promote greater
democracy in international
relations.
“What our world needs
today is not a “Summit for
D emocracy” t h at hy p es
up confrontation and con-
tributes nothing to the col-
lective response to global
challenges, but a conference
of solidarity that focuses
on taking real actions to
solve prominent global chal-
lenges. (NAN)
IMF says risks to financial stability
have increased, calls for vigilance
INTERNATIONAL Monetary
Fund chief Kristalina Geor-
gieva said on Sunday that
risks to financial stability
have increased and called for
continued vigilance although
actions by advanced econo-
mies have calmed market
stress.
The IMF managing direc-
tor reiterated her view that
2023 would be another chal-
lenging year, with global
growth slowing to below 3%
due to scarring from the pan-
demic, the war in Ukraine
and monetary tightening.
Even with a better out-
after crackdown
AFRICAN Migrants in Tunisia
have urged their government to
evacuate them, saying the coun-
try is no longer safe as racism
still persists.
Outside the United Nations
refugee agency in Tunis, dozens
of African migrants stood pro-
testing by the temporary camp
where they have lived, including
with children, since authorities
urged landlords to force them
from their homes.
Weeks after a violent crack-
down on migrants in Tunisia
that triggered a perilous rush to
leave by smuggler boats for Italy,
many African nationals are still
homeless and jobless and some
say they still face racist attacks.
“We need evacuation. Tu-
nisia is not safe. No one has a
future here when you have this
colour. It is a crime to have this
colour,” said Josephus Thomas,
pointing to the skin on his
forearm.
In announcing the crack-
down on Feb. 21, President Kais
Saied said illegal immigration
was a criminal conspiracy to
change Tunisia’s demography,
language the African Union
described as “racialised hate
speech”.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of
State Barbara Leaf told Reuters
www.businessday.ng 45
look for 2024, global growth
will remain well below its
hi stor ic aver a ge of 3 . 8%
and the overall outlook re-
mained weak, she said at the
China Development Forum.
The IMF, which has pre-
d ic t e d g lo b a l g r ow t h o f
2.9% this year, is slated to
release new forecasts next
month.
Georgieva said policymak-
ers in advanced economies
had responded decisively to
financial stability risks in
the wake of bank collapses but
even so vigilance was needed.
Source: Reuters
on Thursday that Saied’s com-
ments had unleashed “attacks
and a tidal wave of racist rheto-
ric”, with rights groups saying
hundreds of migrants reported
being attacked or insulted.
Saied and Tunisia’s foreign
minister have rejected accusa-
tions that he or the government
is racist and they announced
steps to ease visa regulations
for Africans and reminded po-
lice of anti-racism laws.
W hile the of ficial crack-
down appeared to end weeks
ago, migrants say they still
face abuse.
“People told me ‘since you
are in our country after the
president’s speech, don’t you
have any dignity?’ I kept silent
and they told me I am dirt,”
said Awadhya Hasan Amine,
a Sudanese refugee outside the
UNHCR headquarters in Tunis.
Amine has lived in Tunis for
five years after fleeing Sudan
and then Libya with her hus-
band. Now 30, she has been living
on the street outside the UNHCR
headquarters since local people
pelted her house in the capital’s
Rouad district with rocks.
“We want to live in a place of
safety, stability and peace. We
don’t want problems in Tunisia,”
she said. (Reuters/NAN)
46 www.businessday.ng
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Ukraine demands emergency UN
meeting over Putin nuclear plan
UKRAINE’S government
on Sunday called for an
emergency meeting of the
U.N. Security Council to
“counter the Kremlin’s
nuclear blackmail” after
Russian President Vladi-
mir Putin revealed plans
to station tactical atomic
weapons in Belarus.
One Ukrainian official
said that Russia “took Be-
larus as a nuclear hostage.”
Further heightening
tensions, an explosion deep
inside Russia wounded
three people Sunday. Rus-
sian authorities blamed a
Ukrainian drone for the
blast, which damaged resi-
dential buildings in a town
just 175 kilometers (110
miles) south of Moscow.
Russia has said the plan
to station tactical nuclear
weapons in Belarus comes
in response to the West’s
increasing military sup-
port for Ukraine. Putin
announced the plan in a
television interview that
aired on Saturday, saying
it was triggered by a U.K.
decision this past week
to provide Ukraine with
armor-piercing rounds con-
taining depleted uranium.
Putin argued that by de-
ploying its tactical nuclear
weapons in Belarus, Rus-
sia was following the lead
In Ghana, Kamala Harris ‘excited about the future of Africa’
VICE President Kamala
Harris was greeted by
schoolchildren, dancers
and drummers as she ar-
rived Sunday in Ghana
for the start of a weeklong
visit to Africa intended to
deepen U.S. relationships
amid global competition
over the continent’s future.
“We are looking forward
to this trip as a further
statement of the long and
enduring very important
relationship and friend-
ship between the people of
the United States and those
who live on this continent,”
Harris said.
The children cheered
and waved Ghanaian and
American flags as she
stepped off her plane after
an overnight flight. She
smiled broadly and placed
a hand on her heart as she
passed by the dancers.
“What an honor it is to
be here in Ghana and on
the continent of Africa,”
Harris said. “I’m very ex-
cited about the future of
Africa.” She said she want-
ed to promote economic
growth and food security
and welcomed the chance
to ”witness firsthand the
extraordinary innovation
and creativity that is oc-
curring on this continent.”
Ghana is one of the con-
of the United States. He
noted that Washington has
nuclear weapons based in
Belgium, Germany, Italy,
the Netherlands and Tur-
key.
“We are doing what they
have been doing for de-
cades, stationing them in
certain allied countries,
preparing the launch plat-
forms and training their
crews,” he said.
Ukraine’s Foreign Min-
tinent’s most stable de-
mocracies, but Harris is
arriving at a time of severe
challenges for the West Af-
rican nation. Its economy,
among the fastest growing
in the world before the
COVID-19 pandemic, faces
a debt crisis and soaring
inflation that is driving up
the cost of food and other
necessities.
A country of 34 million
people that’s slightly small-
er than Oregon, Ghana is
istry condemned the move
in a statement Sunday and
demanded an emergency
meeting of the U.N. Secu-
rity Council.
“Ukraine expects effec-
tive action to counter the
Kremlin’s nuclear black-
mail by the U.K., China, the
U.S. and France,” the state-
ment read, saying these
countries “have a special
responsibility” regarding
nuclear aggression.
also wary of threats from
instability in the region.
Burkina Faso and Mali
have each endured two
coups in recent years, and
local offshoots of al-Qaida
and the Islamic State group
operate in the area known
as the Sahel, which is north
of Ghana. Thousands of
people have been killed and
millions more have been
displaced.
The fighting has created
an opening for the Russian
“The world must be
united against someone
who endangers the future
of human civilization,” the
statement said.
Ukraine has not com-
mented on Sunday’s explo-
sion inside Russia. It left
a crater about 15 meters
(50 feet) in diameter and
five meters deep (16 feet),
according to media reports.
Russian state-run news
agency Tass reported au-
mercenary outfit known as
Wagner, which maintains a
presence in Africa despite
participating in the inva-
sion of Ukraine as well.
Mali welcomed Wagner
after it pushed out French
troops that were based
there, and there are fears
that Burkina Faso will do
the same.
The economic and secu-
rity challenges will likely
be discussed on Monday
when Harris meets with
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
thorities identified the
drone as a Ukrainian Tu-
141. The Soviet-era drone
was reintroduced in
Ukraine in 2014, and has a
range of about 1,000 kilome-
ters (620 miles).
The explosion took place
in the town of Kireyevsk in
the Tula region, about 300
kilometers (180 miles) from
the border with Ukraine.
Similar drone attacks
have been common during
the war, although Ukraine
hardly ever acknowledges
responsibility. On Mon-
day, Russia said Ukrainian
drones attacked civilian
facilities in the town of
Dzhankoi in Russia-annexed
Crimea. Ukraine’s military
said several Russian cruise
missiles were destroyed, but
did not specifically claim
responsibility.
In December, the Rus-
sian military reported sev-
eral Ukrainian drone at-
tacks on long-range bomber
bases deep inside Russia.
The Russian Defense Min-
istry said the drones were
shot down, but acknowl-
edged that their debris
damaged some aircraft and
killed several servicemen.
Also, Russian authori-
ties have reported attacks
by small drones in the
Bryansk and Belgorod re-
Ghana’s president, Nana
Akufo-Addo. They also are
expected to hold a joint
news conference.
The two leaders have
m et tw ic e b e fo r e, b ot h
times in Washington.
During their first meet-
ing, in September 2021,
Akufo-Addo said “our big
challenge — and it is a chal-
lenge of all those who want
to develop democratic in-
stitutions on our continent
— is to ensure and reassure
our people that democratic
institutions can be a ve-
hicle for the resolution of
their big problem — that
is economic development
as the means to eradicate
poverty on the continent.”
Harris is the highest-
profile member of Presi-
dent Joe Biden’s adminis-
tration to visit Africa this
year. After Ghana, she
plans to visit Tanzania
and Zambia. She returns
to Washington on April 2.
The expanded outreach
is intended to counter
China’s influence, which
has become entrenched
in recent years through
infrastructure initiatives,
lending money and expand-
ing telecommunications
networks. Ghana, for ex-
ample, reached a $2 billion
gions on the border with
Ukraine.
On Saturday, Putin
argued that Belarusian
President Alexander Lu-
kashenko has long asked
to have nuclear weapons
in his country again to
counter NATO. Belarus
shares borders with three
NATO members — Latvia,
Lithuania and Poland —
and Russia used Belaru-
sian territory as a staging
ground to send troops into
neighboring Ukraine on
Feb. 24, 2022.
Both Lukashenko’s sup-
port of the war and Putin’s
plans to station tactical
nuclear weapons in Belar-
us has been denounced by
the Belarusian opposition.
Oleksiy Danilov, the
secretary of Ukraine’s
National Security and De-
fense Council, tweeted
Sunday that Putin’s an-
nouncement was “a step to-
wards internal destabiliza-
tion” of Belarus that maxi-
mized “the level of nega-
tive perception and public
rejection” of Russia and
Putin in Belarusian soci-
ety. The Kremlin, Danilov
added, “took Belarus as a
nuclear hostage.”
Tactical nuclear weap-
ons are intended for use
on the battlefield and have
a short range and a low
yield compared with much
more powerful nuclear
warheads fitted to long-
range missiles. Russia
plans to maintain control
over the ones it sends to
Belarus, and construction
of storage facilities for
them will be completed by
July 1, Putin said.
deal with a Chinese com-
pany to develop roads and
other projects in return for
access to a key mineral for
producing aluminum.
Most of Harris’ events in
Ghana will focus on young
people. Africa’s population
has a median age of 19.
On Monday, she plans
to visit a skate park and
co-working space that has
a recording studio for local
artists. Her husband, Doug
Emhoff, who is accompa-
nying her on the trip, will
hold a town hall meeting
with actors from a local
television show and attend
a girls basketball clinic.
In the evening, they will
attend a state banquet with
the Ghanaian president
and first lady.
On Tuesday, Harris will
give a speech and visit
Cape Coast Castle, where
enslaved Africans were
once loaded on ships bound
for the Americas.
Before leaving for Tan-
zania on Wednesday, Har-
ris will meet with women
entrepreneurs and Emhoff
will tour a chocolate com-
pany that was founded by
two sisters. The name of
the company, ’57 Chocolate,
is a reference to when Gha-
na became independent.
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
Honduras establishes ties with
China after Taiwan break
HONDURas established
diplomatic ties with China
on Sunday after breaking
off relations with Taiwan,
which is increasingly iso-
lated and now recognized
by only 13 sovereign states.
Foreign ministers from
China and Honduras signed
a joint communique in
Beijing — a decision the
Chinese Foreign Ministry
hailed as “the right choice.”
The diplomatic victory
for China comes as tensions
rise between Beijing and
the United States, includ-
ing over China’s increasing
assertiveness toward self-
ruled Taiwan, and signals
growing Chinese influence
in Latin America. The new
China-Honduras relation-
ship was announced after
the Honduran and Taiwan-
ese governments made sep-
arate announcements that
they were severing ties.
China and Taiwan have
been locked in a battle for
diplomatic recognition
since they split amid civil
war in 1949, with Beijing
spending billions to win
recognition for its “one
China” policy.
China claims Taiwan is
part of its territory, to be
brought under its control
by force if necessary, and
Rwanda frees Paul Rusesabagina of ‘Hotel Rwanda’ fame
RWANDA’S government has
commuted the 25-year sen-
tence of Paul Rusesabagina,
who inspired the film “Hotel
Rwanda” for saving hun-
dreds of countrymen from
genocide but was convicted
of terrorism offenses years
later in a widely criticized
trial.
Government spokeswom-
an Yolande Makolo told The
Associated Press on Friday
that the presidential order
was issued after a request
for clemency on behalf of
Rusesabagina, a 68-year-old
U.S. resident and Belgian
citizen. Senior U.S. officials
said Rusesabagina arrived
late Friday at the home of
the Qatari ambassador in the
Rwandan capital of Kigali
and was expected to leave the
country in the coming days.
U.S. President Joe Biden
hailed the news, saying,
“Paul’s family is eager to
welcome him back to the
United States, and I share
their joy at today’s good
news.” He thanked the gov-
ernments of Rwanda and
Qatar, as well as U.S. govern-
ment officials who worked
“to achieve today’s happy
outcome.”
Nineteen others also had
their sentences commuted.
Under Rwandan law, com-
mutation doesn’t “extin-
guish” the conviction, Ma-
kolo added.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
refuses most contacts with
countries that maintain
formal ties with the island
democracy. It threatens
retaliation against coun-
tries merely for increasing
contacts.
China’s Foreign Minis-
ter Qin Gang said the estab-
lishment of ties proved that
adhering to “one China”
policy is winning people’s
hearts and is “the general
trend.”
“We inform sternly the
Taiwan authorities that
engaging in separatist ac-
tivities for Taiwan indepen-
“Rwanda notes the con-
structive role of the U.S.
government in creating con-
ditions for dialogue on this
issue, as well as the facilita-
tion provided by the state of
Qatar,” she said. President
Paul Kagame earlier this
month said discussions were
under way on resolving the
issue.
Qatar foreign ministry
dence is against the will and
interests of the Chinese na-
tion and against the trend of
history, and is doomed to a
dead end,” he said.
The Honduran Foreign
Ministry said in a statement
on Twitter that its govern-
ment recognizes “only one
China in the world” and
that Beijing “is the only
legitimate government that
represents all of China.”
It added that “Taiwan
is an inalienable part of
Chinese territory, and as
of today, the Honduran
government has informed
spokesman Majid Al-Ansari
said in a statement that “the
procedure for (Rusesaba-
gina’s) transfer to the state
of Qatar is under way and he
will then head to the United
States of America. This issue
was discussed during meet-
ings that brought together
Qatari and Rwandan offi-
cials at the highest levels.”
The senior American of-
Taiwan of the severance of
diplomatic relations, pledg-
ing not to have any official
relationship or contact with
Taiwan.”
Taiwan Foreign Minis-
ter Joseph Wu told a news
conference Sunday that
Taiwan had ended its re-
lations with Honduras to
“safeguard its sovereignty
and dignity.”
Wu said that Honduran
President Xiomara Castro
and her team always had
a “fantasy” about China
and had raised the issue
of switching ties before
ficials, who briefed reporters
on condition of anonym-
ity under U.S. government
ground rules, declined to
comment on Rusesabagina’s
current health but said they
had made medical and psy-
chological care available.
The case had been de-
scribed by the U.S. and oth-
ers as unfair. Rusesabagina
disappeared in 2020 during a
www.businessday.ng
the presidential election
in Honduras in 2021. Rela-
tions between Taiwan and
Honduras were once stable,
he said, but China had not
stopped luring Honduras.
Honduras had asked Tai-
wan for billions of dollars
of aid and compared its
proposals with China’s, Wu
said. About two weeks ago,
the Honduran government
sought $2.45 billion from
Taiwan to build a hospital
and a dam, and to write off
debts, he added.
“The Castro government
dismissed our nation’s
longstanding assistance
and relations and carried
out talks to form diplo-
matic ties with China. Our
government feels pained
and regretful,” he said.
Taiwanese President
Tsai Ing-wen said her
government would not
“engage in a meaningless
contest of dollar diplomacy
with China.”
“Over these past few
years, China has persis-
tently used various means
to suppress Taiwan’s inter-
national participation, es-
calate military intrusion,
and disrupt peace and sta-
bility in the region,” she
said in a recorded video.
Her office spokesperson
visit to Dubai in the United
Arab Emirates and appeared
days later in Rwanda in
handcuffs. His family alleged
he was kidnapped and taken
to Rwanda against his will to
stand trial.
He was convicted on eight
charges including member-
ship in a terrorist group,
murder and abduction. But
the circumstances surround-
ing his arrest, his limited
access to an independent
legal team and his reported
worsening health drew in-
ternational concern.
One senior U.S. official
said the White House’s goal
was to shift from Washing-
ton denouncing the case —
and Kigali defending its legal
system in response — toward
a “constructive sequence to
work our way mutually, col-
lectively, out of the predica-
ment we found ourselves in.”
As part of the effort,
Biden’s national security
adviser, Jake Sullivan, had
multiple phone calls with
an unnamed close adviser
to Kagame, the official said.
Rusesabagina has as-
serted that his arrest was
in response to his criticism
of Kagame over alleged hu-
man rights abuses. Kagame’s
government has repeatedly
denied targeting dissenting
voices with arrests and ex-
trajudicial killings.
In a signed letter to
47
Olivia Lin said in a state-
ment that relations be-
tween the sides had lasted
for more than 80 years.
Analysts have warned
over the implications of
the newly formed ties be-
tween China and Hon-
duras. Political analyst
Graco Pérez in Honduras
said Beijing’s narrative
would highlight the ben-
efits, including investment
and job creation, “but that
is all going to be illusory.”
Pérez noted that some
other countries have es-
tablished such relations,
but “it didn’t turn out to
be what had been offered.”
For decades China has
funneled billions of dollars
into investment and infra-
structure projects across
Latin America. That in-
vestment has translated
to rising power for China
and a growing number of
allies.
In Honduras, it has come
in the form of construc-
tion of a hydroelectric dam
project in central Honduras
built by the Chinese com-
pany SINOHYDRO with
about $300 million in Chi-
nese government financing.
Honduras is the ninth
diplomatic ally that Taipei
has lost to Beijing since the
pro-independence Tsai first
took office in May 2016.
Taiwan still has ties
with Belize, Paraguay and
Guatemala in Latin Ameri-
ca, and Vatican City. Most
of its remaining partners
are island nations in the
Caribbean and South Pa-
cific, along with Eswatini
in southern Africa.
Kagame dated Oct. 14 and
posted on the justice minis-
try’s website, Rusesabagina
wrote that “if I am granted
a pardon and released, I
understand fully that I will
spend the remainder of my
days in the United States in
quiet reflection. I can assure
you through this letter that I
hold no personal or political
ambitions otherwise. I will
leave questions regarding
Rwandan politics behind
me.”
Rusesabagina was cred-
ited with sheltering more
than 1,000 ethnic Tutsis at
the hotel he managed dur-
ing Rwanda’s 1994 genocide
in which over 800,000 Tutsis
and Hutus who tried to pro-
tect them were killed. He
received the U.S. Presiden-
tial Medal of Freedom for
his efforts.
He became a public critic
of Kagame and left Rwanda
in 1996, first living in Bel-
gium and then the U.S.
Human Rights Watch
said he had been “forcibly
disappeared” and taken to
Rwanda. But the court there
ruled he wasn’t kidnapped
when he was tricked into
boarding a chartered flight.
Rwanda’s government as-
serted that Rusesabagina
had been going to Burundi
to coordinate with armed
groups based there and in
Congo.
48 www.businessday.ng
GOVERNANCE
Setting an agenda for Nigeria’s National Rebirth
By Mike Umogun
“ GOVERNMENT , no mat-
ter where in the world
should use power to help
people. For we are given power
not to advance our own prog-
ress, not to make a great show
in the world, nor a name. There
is but one just use of power, and
it is to serve people - President
George Bush
President George Bush was
right. We abuse our power
when we utilise it for self gains..
it is time for government to
embark on a massive initia-
tive to empower the people.
Empower interestingly means
to give your power away. This
is what the people are longing
for in their leaders to do. This
is echoed in the holy bible. Mat-
thew 20:26. Whoever wishes to
become great amongst you shall
be your servant.
The new set of leaders should
borrow a leaf from former Gov-
ernor Babangida Aliyu of Niger
State who from day one of his
administration showed intent
to be a servant leader instead of
a government that would lord it
over the people of Niger state.
Governor Aliyu at every op-
portunity emphasised the fact
that those elected into positions
of authority were elected or ap-
pointed to serve, and so are sup-
posed to be at the beck and call
of the electorate, not the other
way round. While he was “Chief
Servant” his wife was “Madam
Chief Servant” recognising the
importance of the electorate.
We are delighted that the
President elect Tinubu is talk-
ing about the Government of
Competence and Quality for the
service of the people.
In my short list of priorities
for the new government are the
following: Security , youth em-
ployment, power and the repair
of the damaged naira.
Security and Youth Em-
powerment
The Tinubu - Shettima ad-
ministration must prioritise
security and youth employment
and formulate policies to reduce
security challenges to the barest
minimum. One also hopes that
the economic programmes will
specifically target young per-
sons. The president-elect, Bola
Ahmed Tinubu has harped on
the need for competence, and
we hope he will walk his talk.
Beyond the foregoing, there
is the urgent need to realign
the nation’s educational cur-
riculum with the needs of the
economy. It has been said with
some measure of justification
that many of the school leavers
and university graduates are
unemployable, having regards
to their training and skills.
Therefore, our educational
training curriculum must in-
corporate skills acquisition and
entrepreneurial development so
that graduates leave school with
the capacity to create wealth
rather than seeking jobs. For us
The results of the
study show that
corruption in Nigeria
could cost up to
37% of GDP by 2030
if it’s not dealt with
immediately. This
cost is equated to
around $1,000 per
person in 2014 and
nearly $2,000 per
person by 2030
to end the misery of Nigerians
, we must begin to think along
those lines.
Our educational training
curriculum must incorporate
skills acquisition and entre-
preneurial development so that
graduates leave school with the
capacity to create wealth rather
than seeking jobs
Says Tinubu “If voted into
power, we will make sure that
we replace violence and pov-
erty with peace and agricultural
machinery as well as manage
the nation’s economy to pros-
perity.”
New Economic Managers
It would be nice to announce
key appointments immediately
on assumption of office
The national power system
needs the help of a focused
and known workaholic like
the former Governor of Lagos
Babatunde Raji Fashola. The
President elect Tinubu would be
tempted to make him the Min-
ister for Justice and Attorney
General of the federation but
we think he should return to the
power ministry.
Fashola was the chief of staff
to his predecessor and Presi-
dent elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed
Tinubu. As the candidate of the
Action Congress party, now
transformed to the All Progres-
sives Congress party, Fashola
succeeded Tinubu as governor
of Lagos State on 14 April 2007.
He led the Lagos infrastructural
regeneration initiative consoli-
dating Lagos as the fifth biggest
economy in Africa ahead of Sen-
egal , Rwanda , Cote D’Ivoire,
Ghana , and others
Fashola focused on the reha-
bilitation of Lagos’ infrastruc-
tures. These infrastructures
had been neglected for years
after Abuja was declared the
new capital of Nigeria in 1991.
The modernisation of Lagos,
which Tinubu had begun, ac-
celerated under Fashola’s gov-
ernorship. Both the private and
public sectors were involved in
the realisation of the project .
The same need to be done at the
national level for the comatose
power system of Nigeria. He is
one of the few Nigerians that
can help reenergise the power
sector.
Strengthening the Naira
It has been suggested that in
the long term, a strong currency
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
depends on economic funda-
mentals. To have a stronger
exchange rate of Naira against
other currencies, Nigeria will
need a combination of low in-
flation, productivity growth,
and economic and political sta-
bility to strengthen the naira.
The transition team of the new
government should be talking
to the organised private sector
to understand their pain point
and start early to actualise
solutions for the benefit of all
stakeholders.
Presently, if Nigeria increas-
es interest rates, this might not
have any major positive effect
on the exchange rates hence
buying less foreign products
and more of local products
would help reduce the pressure
on the naira.
Reduce corruption
Corruption is gradually be-
coming synonymous with Ni-
geria . Many politicians have
been accused of not having a
viable means of livelihood than
involvement in politics. It’s a
misery why they are reluctant
to invest in Nigeria.
Most of the political office
holders prefer to invest in UAE,
USA, China and patronise hos-
pitals in UK, Israel, Spain Ger-
many and many thereby gradu-
ally pulling down Nigeria’s
Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Medical tourists from Nigeria
are helping those countries at
the detriment of theirs.
In a report entitled “*Impact
of Corruption on Nigeria’s
Economy* ” by Pricewater-
houseCoopers (PwC), a leading
professional services firm, it
stated that corruption had im-
pacted the Nigerian economy
negatively over time.
“The results of the study
show that corruption in Nigeria
could cost up to 37% of GDP by
2030 if it’s not dealt with imme-
diately. This cost is equated to
around $1,000 per person in 2014
and nearly $2,000 per person
by 2030.
To sustain the value of the
Naira, the government must
find a workable way of fighting
corruption regardless of politi-
cal affiliation.
We wonder if the Tinubu
administration would summon
the courage to do the needful
when in the saddle. .
Finally as part of the healing
process post elections we urge
politicians not to focus on less
divisive issues like ethnicity
and religion because we must
all guard our fragile democratic
system at all cost.
Michael Umogun is a char-
tered marketer with interest in
public policy.
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
FEATURE
That we may triumph over hunger
By Bukola Adewumi
FOOD insecurity in Nigeria has
been on the rise in recent years,
according to March to May 2023
Cadre Harmonise (CH) analysis
report,
Cadre Harmonise is an early
warning tool aimed at timely
sharing relevant and reliable
information on the risks of
worsening food security situ-
ation in vulnerable areas, ex-
perts say.
According to the experts,
Cadre Harmonise is the uni-
fied tool for analysis of acute
food and nutrition insecurity
in such places as the Sahel and
West African Region.
The report says millions of
Nigerians struggling to access
food on a daily basis with about
24.8 million Nigerians in 26
states and the FCT in danger
of experiencing acute nutrition
and food crisis between June
and August.
According the report the
situation has been exacerbated
by the lingering fuel and cash
scarcity in the country.
According to the report,
about 17.7 million people, in-
cluding 14,000 Internally Dis-
placed Persons (IDPs) in 26
states and the FCT, will be in
serious crisis, or worse through
May 2023.
The potential food crisis is
predicated on a number of fac-
tors including those highlight-
ed above as well as insecurity
challenges in several parts of
the nation.
According to the report, in-
security, especially insurgency
in the North East states, par-
ticularly in Borno, Adamawa
and Yobe, has persisted while
armed banditry and kidnap-
ping for ransom in many parts
of the country could fuel the
crisis.
The Country Representative
of FAO and to the Economic
Community Unity of West
Africa States (ECOWAS), Fred
Kafeero, said the prediction is
based on verifiable facts.
Meanwhile the Federal Gov-
ernment through Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Devel-
opment (FMARD) has assured
that in partnership with rel-
evant bodies, through National
Programme for Food Security
(NPFS) there are efforts to avert
the danger.
The programme has already
received technical and financial
support from the FAO, World
Food Programme (WFP), Save
the Children, UNICEF, Mercy
Corps, among others.
Ernest Umakhihe, Perma-
nent Secretary, FMARD, at a
recent workshop on food and
nutrition insecurity analysis
for Nigeria said government
was aware of the impact of
COVID-19 and Russia-Ukraine
war on food availability in the
We need
country.
As part of building the right
to promote
institutions to solve the prob-
sustainable
lem, the Federal Government
in 2016 established the National
farming practices,
Social Investment Programmes
(NSIP).
increase The programmes seek to
guarantee a more equitable
investment in distribution of resources to
vulnerable populations, includ-
irrigation and other ing children, youth and women.
Since coming on board these
technologies,
programmes have supported
more than 4 million beneficia-
and improve ries nationwide through pro-
cess supported by the Min-
infrastructure to istry of Budget and National
Planning (MBNP) and related
ensure that food MDAs.
The programmes include
can be transported the N-Power which provides
to areas where it is
training and job opportuni-
ties for youths, Conditional
needed most
Cash Transfer programme, the
Government Enterprises and
Empowerment Programme
and Home Grown School Pro-
gramme.
Akinwumi Adesina, Presi-
dent, African Development
www.businessday.ng 49
Bank, was recently quoted by
the media as saying that more
still needs to be done.
Adesina prescribes massive
investment in agriculture, add-
ing that “we have to improve
access to credit and other re-
sources for smallholder farmers
to ensure that we can produce
enough food to feed our growing
population.”
Similarly, Adebayo Adedeji,
Executive Director, African
Centre for Development and
Strategic Studies, emphasised
the need for innovative solu-
tions to address the issue of food
insecurity.
“We need to promote sustain-
able farming practices, increase
investment in irrigation and
other technologies, and im-
prove infrastructure to ensure
that food can be transported to
areas where it is needed most”,
he advised.
Addressing food insecurity
in Nigeria will require a coordi-
nated effort from policymakers,
civil society organisations, and
the private sector.
We can ensure that all Ni-
gerians have access to the food
they need by working together.
Bukola Adewumi writes from
News Agency of Nigeria
50 www.businessday.ng
SPORTS
Australia ready to face Nigeria’s Super
Falcons at Women’s World Cup — Envoy
THE whole of Australia
are looking forward to
the Super Falcons’ 2023
FIFA Women’s World
Cup match against the
Matildas on July 27, an
Australian official said on
Saturday in Abuja.
Leann Johnston, the
Charge d’Affaires, Aus-
tralian High Commission
in Nigeria, while speaking
at a forum tagged “Wom-
en and Sports Dialogue
2023”, said the match was
very important to the
FIFA Women’s World Cup
trophy arrives in Nigeria
THE original FIFA Wom-
en’s World Cup trophy
to be competed for by 32
teams from across the
globe from July 20 to Aug.
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
Total commitment now
prerequisite for representing
Nigeria, NFF President warns
PRESIDENT of Nige-
ria Football Federation
country. a gender-based non-profit Johnston, who was a (NFF), Ibrahim Gusau,
“Australians know the organisation. guest speaker at the fo- last weekend in Abuja
Super Falcons’ reputa- Johnston said further rum, also also assured all read the riot act to na-
tion, not only as multiple that Australia were fully the participating teams of tional team players in
African champions but prepared and ready to an historic tournament view of dwindling perfor-
also as a great force in co-host the 2023 FIFA the whole world would mances in recent times.
global women football. Women World Cup with remember for long time. Gusau told Super Ea-
”Our match against New Zealand in July and “We are a nation that gles players that visible
them in Brisbane will August. brings people from ev- total commitment would
not be taken lightly. This She said the FIFA ery corner of the world now be a key factor, apart
game will be a great one,” women’s football show- together with our indig- from competence and
current form, for selec- of the teams going for-
she said. piece would provide her enous community and the
tion for the national team ward,” the NFF President
The News Agency of country a unique oppor- world’s longest continu- at any level.
Nigeria (NAN) reports tunity to showcase her ally existing culture” she said.
The News Agency of He expressed his
that the forum was organ- multi-cultural aspect as said. Nigeria (NAN) reports disappointment at the
ised by Fame Foundation, a nation. The envoy said Aus- that the senior men’s team’s performance and
tralia was committed to national team had on demanded an immediate
promoting gender equal- Friday in Abuja lost 0-1 to reaction.
ity and to ensuring that Guinea Bissau in a 2023 ”I was sorely disap-
women have equal rights Africa Cup of Nations pointed by your perfor-
and ability to flourish. (AFCON) qualifier. mance against Guinea
Thirty-two countries The defeat at the Mos- Bissau and I know that
are to participate in the hood Abiola National Sta- Nigerians at home and
competition, with some dium pushed the Eagles in the diaspora are more
of them being Argentina, down to second place in than disappointed.
Australia, Brazil, Canada, their qualification group. “Things must change,
China PR, Colombia, Cos- “Let us be very clear starting with the return
about one thing: no play- match in Guinea Bissau
ta Rica, Denmark, Eng-
er will ever be encour- on Monday. Our country
land, France, Germany, is too big to be getting
Haiti, Italy and Jamaica. aged against his wish to
wear Nigeria’s colours at these poor results at in-
The rest are Morocco, ternational level,” Gusau
any time.
Netherlands, Japan, Ko- “If an invitation is ex- said.
rea Republic, New Zea- tended to you at any time He recalled that the
land, Nigeria, Norway, but you are not physi- under-23 male team, the
Panama, Philippines, cally, psychologically or Olympic Eagles, also
Portugal, Republic of Ire- mentally up to it, you are failed to score against
land, South Africa, Spain, free to decline. Guinea in a 2023 Africa
Sweden, Switzerland, the “Nigeria demands Under-23 Cup of Nations
U.S., Vietnam and Zam- good performances and qualifier at the same ven-
bia.(NAN) positive results from any ue on Wednesday. (NAN)
We respect Nigeria, but names alone don’t play
football, says Guinea Bissau Captain
JORGE Nogueira, Cap-
tain of Guinea Bissau,
20 arrived in Abuja last says his team had a lot
can countries which will
Saturday afternoon. participate in the finals of respect for Nigeria,
The trophy arrived in —- Morocco, South Africa but did not allow the
Nigeria after being taken and Zambia. ‘big names’ in the Super
to the three other Afri- Nigeria is the fourth Eagles’ squad intimidate
leg of the 32-leg trip the them on the pitch.
trophy is undertaking be- The News Agency of
fore heading to Australia Nigeria (NAN) reports
and New Zealand. that the Wild Dogs of
The News Agency of Guinea Bissau last Fri-
Nigeria (NAN) reports day stunned the Super
that both Australia and Eagles 1-0 in a 2023 Af-
New Zealand are the joint rica Cup of Nations (AF-
hosts of the biggest FIFA CON) qualifier, played
Women’s World Cup in
at the Moshood Abiola
history.
The trophy will be on National Stadium in
display at the Transcorp Abuja.
Hilton Hotel in Abuja Nogueira told news-
from 12 noon on Sun- men during a post- truth is that names don’t They currently top
day, with a photo session match conference that play on the pitch. Group A of the 2023 AF-
planned for a number of in as much as his team NAN reports that the CON qualifiers, with
invited guests. respects the Super Ea- Wild Dogs play hosts to seven points from three
Only four countries gles, they went into the the Super Eagles in the matches, while Nigeria
have ever won the tro- game with the mentally reverse fixture of the with six points, drop to
phy, namely the U.S., that names don’t play qualifiers in Marrakech, the second position.
Germany, Norway and football. Morocco, on Monday. The Leone Stars of
Japan. “First and foremost, Guinea Bissau have Sierra Leone are in third
The U.S. have won it I will like to dedicate Morocco as home venue position with two points,
on four occasions and
this victory to the good for now as they do not while Sao Tome and
Germany have lifted it
twice, while Japan and people of Guinea Bissau. have a Confederation of Principe, with one point,
Norway were champions “We respect all Ni- African Football (CAF)- sit at the bottom of the
once each. (NAN) gerian players, but the approved playing turf. log. (NAN)
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
2023 AFCONQ: Eagles in face
saving clash against Guinea Bissau
By John Salau
THE Super Eagles of Ni-
geria is in a face saving
encounter against the Djur-
tus (Wild Dogs) of Guinea
Bissau in their Group A
2023 TotalEnergies Africa
Cup of Nations qualifier on
Monday.
The Super Eagles of Ni-
geria on Sunday morning
flew out to Guinea-Bissau
for the reverse fixture of
their 2023 Africa Cup of
Nations qualifier against
Guinea-Bissau.
The players and their of-
ficials departed the Nnamdi
Azikiwe International Air-
port, Abuja early Sunday
morning for Bissau.
The Super Eagles had
their final training session
on Sunday night at the Es-
tadio 24 de Setembro.
Tonight’s encounter will
Oparanozie recalled as Waldrum invites 23 players for Haiti, New Zealand friendlies
CHINA-based Desire
Oparanozie has been re-
called to the Super Fal-
cons squad, following a
23-player list released by
Head Coach Randy Wal-
drum on Sunday.
The list made avail-
able by the Communi-
cations Department of
Nigeria Football Federa-
tion (NFF) also has team
captain Onome Ebi, and
forwards Asisat Oshoala
and Rasheedat Ajibade.
The News Agency of
South Africa held by Liberia in thrilling
2-2 draw, as Morocco pick 1st AFCON
SOUTH Africa were held
to a 2-2 draw by Liberia at
the Orlando Stadium in
Johannesburg, South Af-
rica in the 2023 TotalEner-
gies Africa Cup of Nations
qualifier in the three team
Group K fixtures.
start at 6pm Nigeria time.
The three-time African
champions lost top posi-
tion in Group A to Baciro
Cande’s side following the
defeat in Abuja.
Guinea Bissau stunned
Nigeria 1-0 in Abuja as the
Nigeria (NAN) reports
that the Super Falcons
are opening camp ahead
of next month’s couple
of international friendly
matches in Turkey.
The nine-time African
champions have a date
against World Cup-bound
Haiti women’s national
team at the Emir Sports
Complex in Antalya, Tur-
key on April 7.
They will thereafter
take on World Cup co-
hosts New Zealand at the
South Africa had nu-
merous chances, but
couldn’t take them and
were punished by a hard
fighting Liberian side.
“There is so much disap-
pointment and anger in my
body. If I should say now
SPORTS
Eagles were unable to fly
against the Wild Dogs.
Mama Samba Balde
scored the solitary strike,
as the Wild Dogs sustained
their 31percent ball posses-
sion with a stunning vic-
tory over the Super Eagles
Mardan Sports Complex,
also in Antalya, on April
11.
In February the Super
Falcons were at the Four-
Nation Revelation Cup in
Leon, Mexico where they
played three matches,
two of which were against
World Cup-bound Costa
Rica and Colombia.
April’s two matches
are to further test the
strength of the former Af-
rican champions against
other teams heading to
what I think, it might not
be nice. Today is very dif-
ficult,” Hugo Broos, head
coach of South Africa said.
Broos was left red faced
as the Bafana Bafana
dropped a two goal lead to
draw 2-2 with Liberia.
infront of their home fans.
“We knew it was going
to be a tough game and
having watched them play
in the previous matches,
we knew they love scoring
early to destabilize the op-
ponents. We made sure we
didn’t concede early and we
scored a good goal and kept
the lead. I am delighted
with the players,” Guinea
Bissau head coach Baciro
Cande, said.
The victory away from
home saw the Djurtus scale
top of the group with seven
points, one ahead of Nige-
ria with six points after
three matches.
The visitors broke the
deadlock in the 29th min-
ute, Balde picking a long
ball behind the defense
from Opa Sangante before
sliding the ball past Francis
Uzoho.
this year’s FIFA Women’s
World Cup, regarded as
the biggest in history.
Lyle Foster’s first half
double had given South
Africa a comfortable cush-
ion, but the Lone Stars
of Liberia fought in the
second half with substitute
Mohamed Sangare scoring
at the stroke of 90 minutes,
after Tonia Tisdell’s free-
kick had brought them
within reach.
Liberia’s head coach
Ansumana Keita was de-
lighted with the result.
“This is my first interna-
tional game as head coach
of Liberia and my first
huge game against a big op-
ponent. There were a lot of
critics, but now the critics
are backing us.
“It was a tough game,
South Africa are a good
side and play good football,
but the game is about 90
minutes We were here to
compete and we competed.
I told my players at half-
time to keep calm, focused
and just go. I am happy we
got the result,” Keita said.
Lawrence Okolie dominates
David Light to retain WBO belt
LAWRENCE Okolie dom-
inated his cruiserweight
bout by outpoint David
Light over 12 rounds at
the AO Arena in Man-
chester on Saturday
night.
The Brit retained
his WBO world cruiser-
weight title in Manches-
ter after a year lay-off
with a new trainer.
New trainer SugarHill
Steward, told Sky Sport
that Okolie remains the
WBO world champion
and, arguably, the most
difficult fighter to beat
in the cruiserweight di-
vision.
The event will see 32
teams, just as it was at the
men’s finals in Qatar late
last year.
ALL THE INVITED
PLAYERS:
Goalkeepers: Chiama-
ka Nnadozie (Paris FC,
France); Yewande Balo-
gun (AS Saint-Etienne,
France); Inyene Etim
(Abia Angels)
Defenders: Onome Ebi
(Abia Angels); Osinachi
Ohale (Deportivo Alaves,
Spain); Ashleigh Plumpt-
Football enthusiasts call for
more work on Eagles’ defence
SOME football enthusiasts
in Enugu on Friday urged
the Super Eagles’ technical
crew to work more on the
team’s defenceline.
A cross-section of the
football enthusiasts told
the News Agency of Nige-
ria (NAN) that this was
necessary to avoid another
defeat in the 2023 Africa
Cup of Nations (AFCON)
qualifiers.
NAN reports that Nige-
ria lost their Match Day 3
fixture in the AFCON quali-
fiers 0-1 to Guinea Bissau
on Friday at the Moshood
Abiola National Stadium
in Abuja.
The Chairman of the
Enugu state chapter of
Sports Writers Association
of Nigeria (SWAN), Gideon
Iwueke, noted that the Su-
per Eagles defence let the
country down in the match.
He then called on the
players to be more seri-
ous while on duty for the
country.
www.businessday.ng 51
According to Steward,
it was a bout Okolie domi-
nated, controlling the ac-
tion almost entirely apart
from the occasional lapse
and cuffing right hook
from his challenger.
Despite easily beating
Light to retain his WBO
cruiserweight world ti-
tle, Okolie was not overly
pleased with his perfor-
mance due to ring rust.
But when he had Light
hurt, Okolie did not pro-
vide the knockout the
crowd in the Manchester
Arena was baying for.
His coach Steward,
however, is confident
re (Leicester City, Eng-
land); Glory Ogbonna (Be-
siktas JK, Turkey)
Rofiat Imuran (Stade
de Reims, France); Mi-
chelle Alozie (Houston
Dash, U.S); Oluwatosin
Demehin (Stade de Re-
ims, France)
Midfielders: Halimatu
Ayinde (FC Rosengard,
Sweden); Christy Ucheibe
(SL Benfica, Portugal);
Ngozi Okobi-Okeoghene
(FC Levante Las Planas,
Spain)
“I think the coach has a
lot of work to do on the de-
fenceline because the goal
scored by Guinea Bissau
showed the high level of
complacency by the defend-
ers or the defenceline.
“But I believe that the re-
turn leg game will be better.
”It is just that the play-
ers have made it a hard
task. But Nigeria need to
be at the AFCON.
“The result is not good at
all because it has put us in
a precarious position as we
are now second to Guinea
Bissau with six points, as
against their seven points,”
Iwueke said. (NAN)
www.businessday.ng sign up for https://bit.ly/bdnewsletters
INSIGHT
Could mother tongue usage improve
Nigeria’s primary education?
By Charles Ogwo
EARLY childhood education is the
foundation for much of what a person
would invariably learn over their
lifetime. That early stage is also the
phase where a child is exposed to
only the mother tongue used to com-
municate with him/her at home. For
some experts, that mother tongue is
also the best way to communicate
and in fact, properly educate a child
in their early years.
Language, after all, is a medium
by which thoughts are conveyed
from person to person, and from
place to place. Hence, some education
stakeholders have said the teacher
and pupils must belong to the same
speech community, especially at the
basic education cadre for them to be
able to understand and comprehend
the teaching message effectively.
The debate was first stirred by
the late Babs Fafunwa, a one-time
Nigerian minister for education. In
1975, after Fafunwa had observed that
many people finished primary educa-
tion with no proficiency in either the
language of instruction, English, or
their native language, he advocated
that the language of instruction in
the nation’s primary schools should
be in the native language.
Elizabeth Ohaka, an educationist,
with specialisation in early childhood
education believes there is a great
need for teaching the first level of
education in a child’s mother tongue.
She explained that teaching chil-
dren in their mother tongue bring
about a better understanding of
concepts while making adaptation
easier.
She strongly believes that this
should start from the pre-nursery
stage because creativity and exper-
tise start with the understanding
of the concepts behind the subject
involved.
Ohaka, who is also a certified UK
Jolly Phonics trainer, cited China as
a good example of countries where
children are taught in their mother
tongue right from their early child-
hood education.
“Learning is a partnership cum a
relationship activity. It is something
that must be concretised and must be
authentic. Learning is environmen-
tal and is much more than simply
an academic exercise. It involves
the conscious and the unconscious,”
she said.
Vincent Brian, a professor of lan-
guage at King’s College, University of
London, believes that the two major
concepts involved in literacy (teach-
ing and learning) are autonomous
and ideological concepts.
The first deals with the universal
skill or aptitude of being able to learn.
The second sees literacy as a social
construct that takes on complex,
cultural, and ideological meanings
in different specific settings.
Some experts believe the need for
a mother tongue in teaching young
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children is hinged on the fact that
communication and language satu-
rate our lives as community- beings.
Hence, they argue that the mother
tongue enables the children being
taught to have the ability to build up
critical thinking and analytical skills
at a younger age.
For these stakeholders in educa-
tion, mother tongue usage is a funda-
mental requirement to help children
become successful students who can
actively and effectively replicate
what they are being taught.
Even though some research find-
ings have shown that students benefit
more from using their mother-tongue
language in education in their early
grade years, many developing coun-
tries, especially those with hetero-
geneous societies continue to use
other languages for teaching in their
schools. Nigeria is a good example.
In Kenya, the language of instruc-
tion is English, and some students in
urban and cosmopolitan areas speak
and understand some measure of
English by the time they join the
When
teaching
starts in the
teacher’s
and
student’s
mother
tongue, the
experience
is more
natural
and less
stressful for
all
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correspondence to
school. However, students in rural
areas enter school with only their
mother tongue language.
But research has shown that
this kind of student, taught with the
mother tongue in early education,
has a better understanding of the
curriculum content and has a more
positive attitude towards school than
those taught in the English language
at an earlier age.
Many reasons are adduced for
this: First, learning does not begin
in school. Learning starts at home
in the student’s mother tongue.
Although the start of school is a
continuation of this learning, it also
presents significant changes in the
mode of education.
At this point, the school system
structures and controls the content
and delivery of a predetermined
curriculum as against the previous
practice, when the child was learn-
ing from experience - (an experien-
tial learning mode).
On starting school, children find
themselves in new physical environ-
ments. The classroom is new, most of
the classmates are strangers, and the
teacher, who is the centre of author-
ity, is also a stranger.
The structured way of learning
is also new. If, in addition to these
things, there is an abrupt change in
the language of interaction, then the
situation can get quite complicated.
Indeed, it can negatively affect a
child’s progress.
However, by using the child’s
mother tongue, schools can help the
students navigate the new environ-
ment with the experience they bring
from home.
Second, by using the child’s
mother tongue, students are more
likely to engage in the learning
process. The interactive learner-
centered approach recommended
by all educationalists thrives in an
environment where students are suf-
ficiently proficient in the language of
instruction.
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It allows students to make sug-
gestions, ask questions, answer
questions, create, and communicate
new knowledge with enthusiasm. It
gives students confidence and helps
to affirm their cultural identity.
Many educationists believe that
this positive impact on the way
students see the relevance of school
to their lives. Likewise, there is a
belief that using a child’s mother
tongue at the start of school also
lessens the burden on teachers,
especially where the teacher speaks
the local language well, as research
has shown that in learning situa-
tions where both the teacher and the
student are non-native users of the
language of instruction, the teacher
struggles as much as the student,
particularly at the start of education.
But when teaching starts in
the teacher’s and student’s mother
tongue, the experience is more
natural and less stressful for all. As
a result, the teacher can be more
creative and innovative in design-
ing teaching cum learning materials
and approaches, leading to improved
learning outcomes.
On the other hand, Mrs. Janet
Anwo, a retired Deputy Director
of Education with Lagos State,
observed that when children start
school in a language that is still
new to them, it leads to a teacher-
centered approach and increases
passiveness and fewer interactions
in classrooms.
“This in turn suppresses young
children’s potential and freedom to
express themselves freely. It dulls
the enthusiasm of young minds,
inhibits their creativity, and makes
the learning experience unpleasant.
“All of which is bound to have
a negative effect on learning out-
comes. Learning should be fun, and
that is where the medium of com-
munication becomes very essential,”
she said.
Experts point out that a basic
crucial learning objective of early
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MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023
education is the development of
basic literacy skills such as reading
and writing.
These skills come to children
with the ability to associate the
sounds of a language with the letters
or symbols used in the written form.
These skills are built on the foun-
dational and interactional skills of
speaking and understanding. When
students speak or understand the
language used to instruct them, they
develop reading and writing skills
faster and in a more meaningful way.
Researchers have also shown
that skills and concepts taught in stu-
dents’ mother tongues do not have to
be re-taught when they transfer to a
second language.
A student who knows how to read
and write in his mother tongue will
develop reading and writing skills
in a new language faster. Omotayo,
who is a Biology Science teacher in
her teaching expatiating on this,
stated that knowledge and skills are
transferable from one language to
another.
“The use of a child’s mother
tongue in the classroom promotes
a smooth transition between home
and school. It means students get
more involved in the learning pro-
cess and speeds up the development
of basic literacy skills.
“It also enables more flexibility,
innovation, and creativity in teacher
preparation. Using students’ mother
tongue is more likely to get the sup-
port of the general community in
the teaching-learning process and
creates emotional stability which
translates to cognitive stability. In
short, it leads to a better educational
outcome,” she said.
However, there are many chal-
lenges facing the realisation of
the objectives offered by teaching
children in their mother tongues
in schools. Society is getting more
cosmopolitan, whereby people from
different tribes and tongues find
themselves dwelling together to
form a community. This has gradu-
ally eradicated the mother tongue in
many such urban areas.
Another challenge to achieving
this goal is teacher preparation.
Many of our today’s teachers are not
prepared enough to be the vehicle to
deliver this goal.
“If a child is to be taught in his
mother tongue, there must be a teach-
er who understands both the mother
tongue and subject well enough to be
able to translate or interpret them to
the student,” Ohaka said.
These challenges seem to be the
major bottlenecks that are facing
the full implementation of the noble
idea of conducting early education
in Nigeria in the mother languages
of the students.
How education experts and ad-
ministrators are able to find a way
out and let society enjoy the inher-
ent advantages of this idea remains
to be seen.
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